I’m really struggling. I feel like I’ve been navigating the hardest season of my life the past two years when it comes to my health. And the state of women’s healthcare is insane.
I’ve been having severe perimenopause symptoms for almost 3 years. But since I’m not 40 yet, everytime I bring it up in the doctors office (or even to friends/family) I immediately get dismissed with some version of “you’re too young.” On top of that I’ve had a slew of issues with my pelvic area. I have prolapse on both side of my vaginal canal, cysts on my ovaries, and near constant heaviness and discomfort, sometimes pain. My mom passed away at 39 from cancer. My mom’s twin had horrific endometriosis along with fibroids before her hysterectomy at age 40. My maternal grandmother had her last period at 36. So I know there some family history that would justify what I’m going through but unfortunately none of them are around anymore so I have now one to talk to about it and no motherly support system. Which has been so isolating and caused me so much health anxiety as I try to navigate the unknown by myself.
Anyway, I had an ultrasound a few months ago that found small cysts all over my ovaries but my uterus “looked perfect.” My doctor had me try birth control to help manage the ovaries. The bc helped with some of my symptoms, made me feel a little more even keel in my moods, but I still have this heaviness and pain in my pelvic region all the time. Sometimes when I get up from laying down I can feel things “settling” in there. When I have bad days it feels like something is pushing against my lower back and hips. It hurts to wear pants. It just doesn’t feel right. And I’m so freaking tired. Like deep adrenal exhaustion.
So my doc ordered an MRI but that was THREE WEEKS AGO and I still haven’t gotten the results. (This is where I’m absolutely astounded by our healthcare system).
Every day that passes I hope they’ll call me to tell me what they found. But at the same time I’m terrified that they’re going to call and say “everything looks perfect” and I’ll be stuck in this scary place all by myself back at square one.
I don’t know what it is. Endo would make sense but I’m not in horrible intense pain all the time. It’s more of a heavy discomfort, bloat, nagging pain. I feel constantly inflamed. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had a big fibroid or two swimming around on stalks. Does this sound like anyone else’s story???? I just don’t know. I hate not knowing. I hate feeling awful. 😞 I just want a diagnosis so I can start to get my life back. Thank you for listening.

Let me get this out of the way: there are many teams who I hate more than the Vancouver Canucks. Sure, it was no fun losing to them in the Sedin era, but the twins themselves were decently likable. Except for Todd Bertuzzi, a legitimate piece of human filth, most of their franchise stars are, likewise, pretty likeable. Say what you well about Kesler, but it's hard to truly hate guys like Luongo, Naslund or Linden. Likewise, their team identity is simply cool: I genuinely like their color scheme, their logo, their jerseys, and the general vibe of Vancouver, housing/heroin crisis aside.
It’s a damn shame, then, that the seeds of greatness have been absolutely wasted on perhaps the worst fanbase in hockey. I’m not saying that Boston and Toronto aren’t insanely nauseating, but the Canucks fans are certainly up there. An entire season, we got to hear about how great the Canucks were, about how their team was totally not built upon sand and a high pdo, They plastered us in the regular season. They had six all-stars. Rick Tocchet was Scotty Bowman, but like, way better and balder. They brigaded the Oilers online spaces like few have ever done before. As much as Oilers fans talked a lot of shit, the Canucks kept it together in the regular season and rode that pdo to a division title. When the playoffs began, they capitalized upon one of the most single lucky performances I can ever remember to send the Predators home.
And then, the Canucks played a series against a good hockey team. My God, did the fans talk shit. The Canucks were a better team who would crush the Edmonton chokers. If you want to throw up in your mouth, look at any Canucks game thread: they had this shit in the bad. The Oilers had no defense, offense, or goaltending. And in the end, the Canucks did it. They went up 3-2. They won three whole games! The series went to seven! They came really, really close to forcing overtime! Some of the guys played with heart! They won the moral victory!
Oh, shit, that's right, they lost where it actually mattered, because that's what the Canucks do. They got their asses beat in '82. They got Messier'ed in '94. In '03, they blew a 3-1 lead to a worthless Wild team that scored one goal in the next round. In 2011... well, they took a team that was one of the best ever assembled on paper, almost choked against a husk-of-itself Blackhawks team, and then took that energy to Boston and blew a 2-0 and 3-2 lead, capped off by a 0-4 game seven. The next time you made it anywhere in the playoffs in 2020, you lost a 0-4 game seven. And now, here we are in 2024, and the Canucks have finally climbed the mountain and only lost 2-3 in the crunch.
Now, here come the buts. But Demko. But Boeser. But the refs. But the league. But actually, it was all fun and with no expectations, the second round was just icing on the top. But everything except taking responsibility and facing the truth: so long as they are tainted by the aura of the worst fanbase in hockey, the Canucks will never win shit. Going forward, this is the best roster the Canucks are going to get for years. Enjoy getting to play the "pay-or-let-walk/trade" game with Hronek, Lindholm, Zadorov, and Joshua, while also getting to replace your entire bottom six. This was your best chance, and you had two separate chances to at least make it to the WCF and make some memories. You blew it. Yeah, weird goalie injuries suck, and blood clots suck harder, but real contenders fight through those, or at least don't lay an egg in games six and seven bar a few flukey goals.
Petterson is legitmately bad when it matters. J.T. Miller had a crazy outlier year and is now really on the wrong side of 30. Ilya Mikheyev is a sack of bricks. Conor Garland sometimes looked scary, but then you look at his stats and remember he put up a grand 5 points in 13 playoff games. Hughes got outplayed by Bouchard when it truly mattered. Silovs wasn't good enough to steal the series. And it doesn't get any better from here!
We all know where this will go now: you guys will suck the Stars off and pretend that you would've have attacked them with just as much gusto had you won. You will make a bunch of pathetic posts about "GG Stars bros." We saw this with the Kings, a similarly pitiful fanbase, and we know how it goes. Maybe, just maybe, every team saying the Stars will curb stomp the Oilers will simply speak it into existence and hide the fact that your sorry-ass team can't even make it that far.
And for the record, Messier did you idiots a favor by exposing the rotten core of a soft team that couldn't win shit, and you’re too stupid to see it. Messier's presence on the team didn't force Garth Snow to be your starting goaltender, nor did it force Bure and Mogilny to never play defense. 90% of you morons couldn’t name a single thing about Wayne Maki. No Oilers fan has ever chanted "FUCK STEVE SMITH," because they have rings to cheer for instead of circlejerking their misery.
When will they learn? Even if the Canucks had won against the Oilers, had gone further, we all know that you would've just lost and rioted. Sadly, it’s not even like 2011 was the only time it happened. The Stanley Cup Victory Riot of 2___ (maybe 3___), which always be a hypothetical, will overshadow the Cup so much that when the junkies finally destroy the city for good or the prices cause literally everyone to move, assuming the Canuck fans don’t do destroy it themselves, people won’t even remember the riot was for a championship. You clowns can't handle losing, can't handle winning, and will never win a Cup.

CONTEXT: I (17f) have two elder sisters who are twins (20f). We are going to call them sister A and sister B. They always hated me because they always thought that our mom always spoiled me, even though this was never the case. Hence, they always resented me. And I actually quite adored them, I wanted to be like them, always respected them as my two lovely big sisters. Other than this, we were quite the happy family, our parents always showered us with love equally.
Now, fast forward to when sister A was 15. She met a girl in high school. And all of a sudden, sister A started to resent all of us. And started sh. My mom never understood that, because she and our father did their darn best to give us the universe. Here’s the thing: the sh never came from her having life contemplations, but her “friend” encouraged her to do it, and when she’d show it to her, her “friend” would say: “ just 5? Should’ve gone for 10.” This is something my sister A has actively told. Now that the readers have an idea about how it all started, my sister still does sh. She also has been going to professional therapy since she was 16. Hence, she was diagnosed with bpd.
Now, her behaviour never really affected me other than my parents just ignoring me to give her the attention , to the point that I haven’t had a heart-to-heart with either of my parents in 4 years, since, I was 13. And of course I am crazy jealous, but my love for my sister still remains. The thing is, my sisters, as twins, always operated as a team hence, they always had each other and still do things together (excluding me). And hence, I only ever had my mom to talk my feelings with, which I haven’t been able to do since, I was 13. And even if I have, she has told about it to my sisters who come confront me and start a whole other argument. And that has taken a toll on me and I have been failing my classes. I went from a straight A+ student and now, recently I got a 19/100 in maths. Hence, I have been quite bitter to my family. And obv I also had my own petty arguments with my parents. TLDR: I also have my own teenage issues that have formed due to the lack of communication with my parents.
Now, here comes in my sister. Whenever, I have any disagreement with my parents, big or small, in the middle of my argument, even if my voice isn’t raised, my sister would jump in and SCREAM on the top of her lungs and say that I should lower my voice. And there have been instances that she would even shout slurs at me in front our mother and she wouldn’t even bat an eye. And in all of this, my problem would still be unresolved. This example comes from my following problem: I had private classes, but I had an extra-curricular event going on in my school. So, I was trying to convince my mom to let me skip private classes.
Now, there was another instance where my mom was condemning me from using my phone cause of my grades, and again; my sister started to not shout but, scream at me to lower my voice. And started crying, telling our parents that they don’t deserve a child like me. And at the end of the night, my mom was cuddling her.
These type of things happen quite frequently now, even this morning. As much as I love my sister, I really do. But I am growing frustrated of this. I don’t wish any harm on my sister but I do wish my sister never met that “friend”.
I do not need any sympathy or hateful comments, I just want constructive criticism. How shall I handle such situations?
Point to note: I might be an ah, because when I get frustrated of her antics, I do snap back at her. And my mom does tell me to quite down.
Please, tell me if I am in the wrong, and how to handle this, I want my old loving family back.

I'm a novel writer so I'm debating on turning this dream into one. Also looking for the religious meaning of this dream. Alright so me and my family are at this arcade. But it seems like all the good games are down. So we're walking around until we make it to the prize area. Its just racks upon racks (even hung on the walls) of clothing. I didnt realize it then, but I know understant it was the clothes of the people who lost the game... Alright so we go backstage to ask where the working games are at. And before we can ask we find ourselves caught up in this new line to an arcade machine. Its this white, square path floating above nothing but darkness. We get in line and on the way we see a broken space ship (I now assume this is where the evil clones came from) Alright so we make it to this arcade machine and we're sent into the game. There are never ending levels to this game. Survive as far as you can. There are multiple players playing at a time. One of the players is cloned, we must kill the right one. Once they are killed they turned to white lab mice. Pets may also be cloned so beware. I had been cloned first. My evil twin had everyone fooled until I showed them my friendship braclet and cross neklace it apperantly didn't have. Survived round one. Round two, my dog was cloned. We called names and saw how they responded when a strange man went up to us. That's the end. Meaning, and should I write it?

This isn't a post about the science of fusions or splits, merely about the convenience of Dissociadid's.
Unavailable Meet my Alter video links taken from archives on this post
Nin (Cloe + Nina) The whole Chloe and Nina fusion occured at the same time as their then partner system team pinata. The end result of Nin made a 'cute' couple name, plus there was more pda from that point. Correct me in the comments but I can't recall anything extremely notable from this fusion.
Kya (Nin + Kyle) After the history of their ex came out, plus their ex friends breaking their silence on how they were treated by DD during the friendships, Kiwi saga etc, Nin took a hiatus. Note that Kyle had always been a fan favourite and remained fairly innocent when it came to controversy. When they came back we had Kya. Kya spoke of the Sergio situation, which when coupled with the HUGE break, many people had forgotten they defended a pedophile and all the other shitty things they did. That plus the Braidid interview still on their channel (Transcript) allowed them to be victim of everything, even situations where they were at fault:
Seer & Wraith (previously Nadia) Not a fusion but I want to make a note of Nadia's split. Amongst the Kiwifarms pages and other platforms, instances of DDs racism was being highlighted. Them tokenizing axolotls, racism and sexualisation of their alter Nadia, silencing bipoc during BLM. There was no genuine apology for race claiming with Nadia. Nadia's split into Wraith and Seer, however, did lead to sympathy and support from DDs followers.
Mara: At this point there was no overtly sexual alter anymore. It had been Nina, then Nin but not Kya as Kya was asexual. At this time we were introduced to a new alter, Mara. Mara is feisty and becomes problematic for overly flirtatious comments with fans, inclusive of BDSM themes on her unrestricted Tiktok account whereby children are interacting in pet play commentary with them. As time goes on both Mara and Kya are being exposed for this kind of conduct. Kya believes it should be up to minors to not engage in their Tiktok content rather than age restricting their sexual videos.
According to DD, in 2023 Mara and Kya started fusing. This is supposedly why Kya was acting awful. Examples found here , here, and here. They also liked fans comments that threatened physical violence on their haters. And themself displayed agressive abelist retorts towards another. That said, similar behavior was also occuring in 2022. See here. It is was during all of that that the alleged stalking incident happened.
So now after another hiatus we have Soren. And Soren has a twin.
Personal thoughts : the twin probably has a shitty personality and will be the next scapegoat. She probably acts similar to Mara. Edit: Mara was imo the most in line with what DDs true personality is. Soren is the rebrand of what Kya was supposed to be before they forgot how to act like a nice person.
Tldr; fusions seem to conveniently happen after being called out for being problematic and/or abusive towards others.

The Number 47, Synchronicity & the Law of Time Courtney Jamal Dewar, aka Capital STEEZ, came with perfect timing. Wielding a higher message, he revealed to all those around him through his music and his being the corruption of society and all of its constructs. He was fascinated, some would say, obsessed, with the number 47. For him this number held a higher meaning on many levels. First and foremost, he felt it was about synchronicity. He made all of his homies, including myself, aware of how this is the quintessential random number. We literally began to see it everywhere. You can research the numerological significance of 47. Here are just a few: 47 appears to be the quintessential random number of the universe. When a number appears randomly, more often than not, that number is 47. In other other words, if you asked people to pick a number at random, more often than not, that number would be 47. Of course, if 47 shows up more than any other number then it isn’t truly random, but using the word random makes the whole phenomenon easier to describe. From a spiritual perspective, number 47 is a combination of the energies and attributes of number 4 and number 7. The vibrations of number 4 include those of productivity and application, inner-wisdom and practical-thinking, honesty and integrity, endurance and determination, conscientiousness and discipline. Number 4 also relates to our passion and drive in life. Number 7 brings the qualities of spiritual awakening and enlightenment, intuition and inner-knowing, psychic abilities and mysticism, independence and individualism, persistence of purpose and manifesting good fortune.
There is even a much-viewed YouTube spoof of Jim Carrey’s The Number 23, substituting—you guessed it–the No. 47. Jim Carrey's character named Walter is given a book titled The Number 23. Walter starts reading the book and notices striking similarities between himself and the main character, a detective named "Fingerling". Fingerling is obsessed with the 23 enigma, the idea that all incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23 (Weirdly enough when I was younger I was in cod team called 23Enigma) only noted it as of the coincidence.
Jim Carrey told reporters he was so captivated by the 23 enigma even before reading the script that he renamed his production company from "Pit Bull Productions" to "JC23." (Jesus Christ 23?) Oddly enough the first film Carrey worked on with Joel Schumacher his character The Riddler's real name was 'E. Nigma'. According to Carrey, he was reading a book about Psalm 23 when he was first given a copy of the screenplay to review. He said he asked a friend to read the script and "an hour and a half later he was on page 23, circling every 23rd word. That's the kind of thing I want to do to an audience." When he discovered that the first page of the script involved the lead character trying to capture a pit bull, he was "freaked out," given the change in name of his production company. (Pitbull productions) My Nicknames Pitty, short for pitbul (These are just speculations) Also I've gathered others inputs and went down a deep rabbit hole. Mind you, this is just connections that has been gathered over time, but the consistency of certain "coincidences" are interesting to say the least. Just try to piece together the connections even though it may be out of radar due to us living completely different lives.
James > Cleveland Cavaliers (Cavs) > Number 23 > Nicknames are King James & The Chosen One
Cavs is the nickname of my last name Cavanagh
When you flip the cleveland cavaliers logo upside down it is quite similar
(The hat I've worn since 14, P represents the nickname"Pitty:" short for pitbill a nickname ive had since i was around 10 years old.
Matthew writes that on 23 occasions Jesus blessed 47 people.
The Bible credits Jesus with 47 miracles.
The Declaration of Independence has 47 sentences. Originally published: 4 July 1776 (4/7)
1947 is when the UFO crashed at Roswel
The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are 47 degrees of latitude apart.
Capital STEEZ died from allegedly leaping from the Cinematic Music Group’ either gripping a bible or with it strapped on his back There is also the fact that a blood lunar eclipse will occur in New York at 3:47 am on STEEZ’s birthday in 2047, and then the lunar eclipse which will occur after this one is part of the Lunar Saros series 135. He said he named the song 135 for “5th dimensional synchronization”... whatever that means, this would be a massive coincidence.
How Many People Can See This Eclipse? Number of People Seeing... Number of People* Fraction of World Population At least some of the penumbral phase 4,070,000,000 When the Eclipse Happens Worldwide — Timeline Event UTC Time Time in Melbourne* Penumbral Eclipse begins 7 Jul at 07:47:47 Visible in Melbourne 7 Jul at 5:47:47 pm On capital steez birthday.
STEEZs last tweet “the end” Was posted December (23) 2012 The building steez died (The colliers office) is on 666 fifth avenue, 10103 10+10+3=(23), New York. The building was built in 1878 The bohemian grove was established in 1878 The address of the CMG label building is on 40 west (23)rd st, 10010, New York The Freemasonry Grand lodge of New York is on 71 west, (23)rd st 10010 NY. Directly located across the same building STEEZ died. Yeah. West 23rd st, w is the (23)rd letter in the alphabet. In Hebrew the letter W represents the number 6 The fraction 2/3 in decimals=0.666 The freemasonry grand lodge of New York was founded in December 15, 1782 15, 1782 1+5+1+7+8+2 = 24. December 24 the date that's etched on STEEZs tombstone. A police report about his death has never surfaced, information has never been released, but there is pictures of his gravestone (see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuFVUJJR4Ug) and on that gravestone it says 24/12/12, which actually adds up to 48, yet he tweets on the 23/12/12 stating 'The End. Steez was ready to open up Pandora’s box and expose the illuminati occult in a way that has never been done before. It gets deep. Just think about it guys. Steez was an intellectual genius. He would obviously know that suicide actually makes u go to hell and not heaven. As a believer in the lord he would never commit suicide.
I'm not sure if you're paying attention to the ryan garcia trying to reveal how something tragic happened to him where he was taken to boheiman grove and forced to watch things i wont mention here People said his crazy and on drugs, sad thing is, I believe he is telling the truth Fast forward he wasn't on drugs and
Peep his song "Free The Robots" https://youtu.be/XcmR8DxuHBA
STEEZ has definitely made a positive impact on this world by introducing a new way of thinking and spirituality, even more of an impact than a lot of artists who are still alive... Capital STEEZ was 19 at the time of his death.
There is also gematria behind his death it has to do with numbers. I’ll explain what it is for those who aren’t aware of it. Gematria is the decoding of letters to numbers, it’s used to translate ancient Hebrew Scriptures. But it’s also the code for the entire world. The most basic way I can put it is that it’s as simple as ABC=123, they use these numbers thru media, and the thing that’s being shown on the media always correlates with Masonic numbers and words that correlate with whatever and whoever is being shown on the news or media and whatever event is taking place always correlates 100% of the time. In news, sports, music industry, Hollywood, politics, everything. In Numerology, which is different from gematria. After calculating his name I came across a lot of similarities when calculating mine in various forms.
While calculating his name i came across things relating to me like Like "Melbourne Victoria Australia, Royal Melbourne Hospital, june twenty fourth. From his name which connected to me personally as i was born in that hospital, thats the city i live and my birthday. The similarities left me wondering if it was actually real or not so I used multiple different calculators and paid for a membership on gematrinator to get maximum results and ended up noticing so much our mine and steezs calculations were similar answers in different form, and answers i got with his name ultimately connected to mine, vice versa. So i was intrigued and these are a list of numbers that matched up with our names. This is all speculation based on connections that seem to be very consistent peep this
Calculating these variations of our names such as Courtney Jamal Dewar / Courtney jamal Dewar Jr / Courtney Everald Jamal Dewar Jr / Capital STEEZ / Nathan Cavanagh / Nathan James Cavanagh / Nathan James Cavanagh Sciarra, calculations all listed together when I noted them all I didn't think to label to each name as I was so captivated by the coincidences I just kept going down the rabbit hole. I came across profound links to both our names that binds us both to the unique synchronicities that were to apparent to all be ruled as pure coincidence, such as his name calculating to my birthday, place of birth and city, and city i live to say the least.
These are calculations through gematria, some are our calculations mixed in this as I was just noting down every connection I noticed
The first and the last Eye Of Horus Total Eclipse the numbers of gods matrix coordinated universal time Capital Steez June Twenty Forth (my birthday) came up from steez name Lunar Eclipse Sacrifice July (2047 lunar eclipse on steezs birthday) The Central Intelligence Agency A WISE TALENTED MUSIC PRODUCER Royal Melbourne Hospital (where I was born) The Holy Bloodline Of Jesus The Return of Christ Exodus Luke synchronisation The Synchronicities Of Jesus The Book Of Revelations Vibrational Frequency Biblical Prophecy Melbourne Victoria Australia (where im from), came up on steezs calculations The Royal Bloodline The Divine Bloodline Of Jesus fourth of jew lie Energy frequency vibration The Holy Lineage Of Christ One Who Understands Mysteries december the twenty fifth. ..... speaks for itself A Door to another dimension New Moons And Solar Eclipse twenty four seven (my birthdays the 24th, his is the 7th) the victory of the lamb multidimensional royal regiment of scotland Golden Gate Sacrifice Gods Gift Clairvoyant The Chosen One The Two Appointed Ones Leaving For Heaven David And Daughter Of The Oath Are One Almighty God Roars Upon His Throne Powerful Great Grandma The Lord On Earth Donald Trump Assassination Lords Alignment The Lord Gods Here God Is Really Here God Birthdate Encoded End Of Times God Code The Code Of The Lord Lord Birthday Code Gods Provable Code Gods Alive Loser Access Into Heaven Twenty Three The Anunnaki Gods Jesus Is Coming A True Prophet The Seventh Seal What is Jesus's number? 888 Apollo Is The Beast Of Revelation See Fulfillment Of The Book Of Isaiah Prophecy The Serpent In Genesis Describes The Mark Of The Beast See The Forced Evil Mark Of The Beast Foiled The Victory Of The Lamb May The Lord Fill Your Heart Two Masters Is Cancer (steez and I are both Cancer) God Of Eternity We Are God Twins Maker Of New Earth A Two Edged Swords Xanax Vicodin Addiction (i struggled with bad) The Bible Is Intentionally Concealing Information The Galactic Jesus the Anointed One Moses Will Come The King Is Coming Miraculously Encoded By God Pyramids On Mars Forests On Mars Holy Spirit Of Zeus We Are Absolute Infinite Sent By The Gods Powerful Great Grandma999 Burning Alive The Gang Stalkers. (long story short I was a victim of whay they call gangstalking when I was reaching my peak or enlightenment and have been trying to get back to that state again, all I can describe it as is demonic torment) Enoch 777 on YouTube speaks on it good.) A Fourty Seven Mandating The Poisonous Jabs Knowledge Of God Brings Eternal Life Death Isnt So Scary Anymore Invictus Sol The Lion And The Lamb https://imgur.com/gallery/ztGPJGS The Lord Is Here Coming To Restore The Eternal Kingdom The Blood Of The Lamb Contact With A God Revival Jesus The Annointed One the key to it all I Am The Holy Grail Sun Moon Earth Revelation Nine Spirit World I Am The One Lord Jesus Christ I Know All Codes And Connections The Wisdom Of God Word Of The Lord Quantum Entanglement Theory The Anunnaki Path Almighty God Roars Upon His Throne 173 Enoch Chapter Ninety Five Pyramids Have Hidden Chambers Music Is My Life Revelation Five Everyone Is God Forever Jesus Walking With God Vision Of Gabriel New Revelation Seven Wonders Symbiotic Craft Thank You James (my middle name is James) Words Of The Bible Isaiah Fourteen Thirteen Trumps Last Son He Is Jesus Crown Chakra God Is You Gods In A Body The Resurrection Of Life The Book Lj Enoch King Jesus Gods Wrath We Are At War Truth Hidden In Plain Sight Double Conciousness The Anointed Lay Dead On The Cross Dragon Of China Is The Anti Christ. A Seed Of Jesse Angelic Guidance Black Pyramid Hidden Truth In Plain Sight King Messiah Heavens Dream Let The Decoding Fun Begin Add Up Letters Notorious Names The Child Of Christ Aliens Exist Spirit Of Moses C E R T I F I C A T E Of Baptism Of The Lord Of Christ Alchemist Fluoride To Heaven God Is Number Codes Numerical Language Learning Decoding Is Fun The Lord Of The Messiah The Book Of Hidden Messages Eight Eight Eight Nine Nine Nine Lost Books Of The Bible Rna Vaccine Maternal Ancestors Are Of Royal Descent You Are Gifted Frequency Turn Off Your Smart Phone I Am Eternal Life David Christ Gods Son The Sound Of Jesus Coming Help Others Realize Full Potential Implants During Surgical Procedures The Solar System And Thoughts The Reincarnation Of King David King David Divine Dna Is Activated Jesus Returns To Earth The Lion Of Judah Is With Us (Steez would speak about Judah)
Jamal Dewar; psalm twenty three Jesus son of God Nathan Day Revelation fourteen one Spiritual warfare Gang Stalker (experienced this myself) Satanic Cults Commit Suicide forty seven problem Bloodline of Jesus Christ The End (when this came up my jaw dropped.) And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you Amen The Holy Mother of Jesus christ Are you ready for whats coming july seventh twenty eighteen
Courtney Jamal Dewar, Jr: The Book Of Revelations Vibrational frequency MELBOURNE VICTORIA AUSTRALIA (where I live) Christ Resurrection Satan Rules The World The Divine Bloodline of Christ synchronization Biblical Prophecy Capital steez Exodus Luke The Divine Bloodline of David Second Christ The Return of Christ Jesus Resurrection Jesus Christ Bloodline
I added stuff from my name as it was so coincidental I didn't think to label them at first I just wrote down anything I thought added up This is just deep research into who reminds me of myself My instagram is mistapitty Listen to The Resurrection by Pitty https://on.soundcloud.com/Xn3nN
Listen to Revelation 22 by Pitty https://on.soundcloud.com/gBAja
Peep his song "Free The Robots" https://youtu.be/XcmR8DxuHBA
STEEZ has definitely made a positive impact on this world by introducing a new way of thinking and spirituality, even more of an impact than a lot of artists who are still alive... Capital STEEZ was 19 at the time of his death.
There are four gospel accounts of Jesus' life and ministry. Each of these emphasizes a unique aspect of his sacrifice and ministry. Matthew's focus is on Christ being the son of David and a King.
Look into the etymology of your name. - What Does Nathan Mean? The name Nathan means “Gift of God” or “God has given.” In the Old Testament, Nathan was a prophet and one of King David's sons; he acted as a messenger to King David and is considered one of Jesus' ancestors. (David name of my biological grandfather) (James is my middle name) - James is a classic, traditional and Biblical name (Saint James, of course, was Jesus's brother and one of the 12 apostles) meaning "supplanter" or "replacer." It's derived from the Latin Jacomus which also means "may God protect.
Every letter to Capital STEEZs full name calculates to 147 when done in reverse on the gematria calculator and mine equals to exactly 470 when done in reverse.
"Nathan James Cavanagh Sciarra" = 470 (Reverse Reduction) N a t h a n 104 13 26 7 19 26 13 J a m e s 87 17 26 14 22 8 C a v a n a g h 159 24 26 5 26 13 26 20 19 S c i a r r a 120 = 470 8 24 18 26 9 9 26 Reverse = 470
"Capital STEEZ" = 47 (Reduction) C a p i t a l 26 3 1 7 9 2 1 3 S T E E Z 21 = 47 1 2 5 5 8 Reduction = 47
"Courtney Everald Jamal Dewar" = 147 (Reverse Reduction) C o u r t n e y 41 6 3 6 9 7 4 4 2 E v e r e s t 41 4 5 4 9 4 8 7 J a m a l 35 8 8 5 8 6 D e w a r 30 = 147 5 4 4 8 9 Reverse = 147
On June 24th 2022: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are lining up in the pre-dawn sky, a planetary procession that could be seen above the eastern horizon And what’s even more remarkable about this month’s lineup is that the planets are arranged in their natural order from the sun. The best day to see the spectacle will likely be the morning of June 24 of 2022, weather permitting, as the planetary parade will be joined by the waning crescent moon. This is three days after the summer solstice (or winter in australia), which is June 21. What makes this so unique is the last time we had 5 planets aligned in this fashion, was in March of 1874.
All of the "classical" planets will be viewable in the early morning skies of June 24th 2022. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will be visible, all apparent to the naked eye even under urban light pollution. On the 24th, our moon will be situated between Venus and Mars, so you could say the Earth-Luna system will complete the "perfect" alignment. Under the darkest skies, one will be able to see seven planets in one sweeping gaze. The same year December 24th (25th in Australian time) the planets will align in their correct order outward from the sun for the second time this year, after a pre-dawn alignment in June was on my birthday. STEEZ is said to have died on the 24th of December 👉 https://imgur.com/gallery/0RVIxxA
In australian time it would've been the 25th as we are a day ahead
Alternatively, 25 December may have been selected owing to its proximity to the winter solstice because of its symbolic theological significance. After the solstice, the days begin to lengthen with longer hours of sunlight, which Christians see as representing the Light of Christ entering the world. This symbolism applies equally to the celebration of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist on 24 June, near the summer solstice, based on John's remark about Jesus "He must increase; I must decrease." John 3:30 NRSV.[59] Now check out the following texts from the bible, they speak of the solstice here. 👉 https://imgur.com/gallery/0RVIxxA and I thought I should add this as it seemed to be quite a coincidence of the date i posted this somg and the content of the posts she made. It aligned with those geomatria calculations I made and i wish I could document snd explain why certain ones just synchronzie but it'd be to hard to comphrened.
"AFTER THE SOLSTICE, THE DAYS BEGIN TO LENGTHEN WITH LONGER HOURS OF SUNLIGHT, WHICH CHRISTIANS SEE AS REPRESENTING THE LIGHT OF CHRIST ENTERING THE WORLD. THIS SYMBOLISM APPLIES EQUALLY TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE NATIVITY OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST ON 24 JUNE, NEAR THE SUMMER SOLSTICE, BASED ON JOHN'S REMARK ABOUT JESUS "HE MUST INCREASE; I MUST DECREASE." JOHN THE BAPTIST ANNOUNCES THE COMING OF THE LIGHT THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE, JOHN THE BAPTIST, ANNOUNCES THE COMING OF JESUS, THE COMING OF NEW TIMES, JOHN ANNOUNCES THAT GOD IS GRACIOUS TO HIS PEOPLE BY ANNOUNCING THE COMING OF THE SON OF GOD. BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, AND EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM, EVEN THOSE WHO PIERCED HIM; AND ALL THE TRIBES OF THE LAND WILL MOURN OVER HIM.” –ZECHARIAH 12:10-14; DANIEL 7:13-14 SO IT IS TO BE. AMEN (AGREED, YESHUA HIMSELF IS THE AMEN 3:14). “I KEPT LOOKING IN THE NIGHT VISIONS, AND BEHOLD, WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN WAS COMING."
John the Baptist day is 24th of June.
"The flower of life, represents global consciousness and like there's this thing on the consciousness grid, the last piece, it has to be the flower of life and it has to align with the sun and all that stuff and it will wake up global consciousness & as i further in my ascension I hope to build it one day" "Some people might think this type of thinking, first of all this type of thinking might jump over a lot of people's heads" "I think humans need to lighten up, maybe try lighten up" - STEEZ
Someone regarding STEEZ: "Did he think there were codes in the Bible or something? I’ve heard him say he knows the “code” does anyone know what the code is? He was a truly enlightened person I wish I could understand him better."
STEEZ supposedly said he had to die now in order to save the Earth in 2047, which is when the world is supposed to end. Before he killed himself his friends say he withdrew not only from them, but rap in general, saying he was going to become a superhero.
(My birthday)24th of June 1999 = 2+4+6+1+9+9+9 = 40 STEEZ birthday) 7th of July 1993 = 7+7+1,993 = 2007.) 40 + 2007 = 2047
Now read a conversation he had on Facebook prior to death https://www.kanyetothe.com/threads/rip-capital-steez.354864/page-42?post_id=16781894&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-167818 His song Dead Prez (credit to who found these calculations as this wasn't mine) If you wanna conspire a little, we technically have had 46 different president so far, tho truly only 45 different guys have been in office. This year, if we elect a new president they will be our 47th prezident. You could say that happens when the next president is elected, or when the second new president is elected because then there'd actually be 47 different people. On the contrary, you could predict that once 47 presidents have died, something very significant will happen because the song is about DEAD presidents. It'll happen in most of our lifetimes i wonder what will happen 2047?
https://imgur.com/a/bOpRy
FORTY, THE NUMBER: "Forty days was the period from the resurrection of Jesus to the ascension of Jesus some scholars note that 40 days in the Bible doesn't always mean 40 days literally, but may be a symbolic way of saying "a longer time. A master number and part of the “awakening code”. Also Jose Arguelles’s kin is 11 – he brought forth the Law of Time aka the World Thirteen Moon Cale In the Bible, next to the number seven, the number forty occurs most frequently.
Here's an article on Fader that's kind of aligns some things I've discovered.
https://www.thefader.com/2013/11/26/capital-steez-king-capital
Check out these images, not a lot of people would've seen these: h ttp://i.imgur.com/nPE90.png / http://i.imgur.com/sHtdM.png / http://i.imgur.com/ZcNu2.png - he thought he was the alchemist that had the key for world peahttp://i.imgur.com/ZcNu2.png Deshay posted this on Facebook after his immediate death: "Fxck.... This shxt jus rly fxcked me up. Me and Steezus JUST made plans to record on Saturday now hes gone. RIP Capital STEEZ" Joey said he believed he sacrificed himself for spiritual rebirth.
The End THE WIDELY ACCEPTED STORY is that Courtney ‘Jamal’ Dewar committed suicide by jumping off the Cinematic Music Building in Manhattan on 23.12.12 – which equals 47, the rapper’s favourite number. None of the city’s newspapers reported his death. As a result of inconsistent stories and a lack of police intelligence, confusion surrounds the heart-breaking event for the Dewar family. In a 2013 interview with Fader, an anonymous member of Pro Era said, “STEEZ told some of the Pros that he was thinking of killing himself by jumping off the building where Cinematic had its offices.” Dirty Sanchez a close friend of the late rapper recalled, “Nothing was working. Nothing. It was like too late. He made up his mind already.”
Today I will be briefly explaining the practice of Gematria. Gematria comes from ancient Jewish mysticism. It is the practice of combining the letter with the number, with the word. It is said this is how God created the world.
How does it work? Gematria has 4 major ciphers. The first two are easy as ABC, literally. For example A=1 B=2 C=3. And so on. The code can also be read backward from Z to A. This is called reverse ordinal. There are two more ciphers that are equally important but a bit more nuanced so for the sake of clarity I’ll leave those explanations to the work of Zachary K Hubbard. But to put Gematria into usable terms I’m gonna explain a decode I did recently. If you want to decode a word or phrase without doing the math yourself, there is an extremely helpful calculator at gematrinator.com it will give you all four cipher values for your word or phrase in an instant, as well as compare it with corresponding ciphers. Without further ado let’s look at this example:
Here I will outline some interesting numbers that coincide with the rapper Capital STEEZ and the numbers surrounding the music industry as well as numbers that come up with race, and other things I found eye grabbing.
(Credit to another user on here) First off I’ll start with Capital STEEZ, The interesting number here is the full reduction number, 47. It’s eye grabbing for many reasons, but we’ll start with a little back ground. Before Capital STEEZ’s (aka Jamal Dewar) death (suicide) in 2012, STEEZ was apart of an up and coming rap group known as Progressive Era, or ProEra for short. A known staple among these young men were the belief in “47 chakras” and “indigo children”. The two are a topic on their own, but the interesting part is that such a powerful number in Jamal Dewar’s life also coincides with the Gematria of his rap name. But that’s not it! Let’s continue
Capital STEEZ English ordinal: 137
Full reduction: 47
Reverse ordinal: 187 ( see pushed off a roof)
Reverse full reduction :70
Now keep an eye on 70, as we shall see him more as well.
Next we will decode the gematria of the reported means of STEEZ’s death, suicide. This is where I admittedly started getting intrigued.
Gematria of Suicide:
English Ordinal: 70
Full reduction: 34
Reverse ordinal:119
Reverse full reduction: 47
Wow. The exact same values but flipped.
Just a mere coincidence I’m sure But let’s continue .
With these next two we will see two repeats of values, one new value, 88 and a previously used value, 34. As well as 65
Jamal Dewar
English ordinal: 88
Full reduction: 34
Reverse ordinal: 182
Reverse full reduction: 65 ————————— Phrase: pushed off the roof
English Ordinal: 187
Full reduction: 88
Reverse ordinal: 245
Reverse full reduction: 65
And the next term we will decode will be Jamal’s occupation of rapper. Here we will see a reverse of our main number in question, 47, which I’ve found to be reoccurring as well.
Rapper
English ordinal: 74
Full reduction: 38
Reverse ordinal: 88
Reverse full reduction: 34
I’m beginning to sense a bit of a pattern here... But let me move on Now it’s time to get a little spicy
Jamal Dewar commited suicide on the night of December 23, 2012, though his wiki has his death on the 24 I believe as it was around midnight. Many articles coming out about his death including one I read from thefader.com reported his death on the 23rd. I specifically remember this detail because I was a huge fan of his and Pro Era at the time and it was a huge loss to the community.
December is the 12th month
12
23
12
Care to guess what that equals?
Yep. 47
Here are some other related phrases put into the gematrinator calculator:
Brooklyn New York (where proera is from)
223 79 182 74
Suicide by fall 128 56 223 79
Are you seeing the synchronization of these seemingly unrelated words and phrases?.
The word murder and murdered both have synchronized gematria with Jamal. We also see another repeat with 38, also found in the full reduction of the word rapper.
Murder
English ordinal: 79
Full reduction: 34
Reverse ordinal: 83 (38 reverse)
Reverse full reduction: 38
Murdered ,interestingly enough, though only being two letters away from murder, is actually more closely related numerically to jamals name and the word rapper, But there are similarities abound. Murdered.
English ordinal: 88
Full reduction: 43 (34 reverse)
Reverse ordinal: 128
Reverse full reduction: 47
Wow. This one really stands out to me. Every single number code number is used in the over all code of Capital steez just in this one word.
We see the repeats of 88 and 47 as well as the reverse of 34 for the first time and a repeat in the numbers of 128, which we saw as 182 above.
This one is slightly unrelated so I left it sort of by itself but I still maintain it’s validity as it’s use in the music industry is still relevant. That is the word racist. Race is huge in the overall narrative that msm tries to portray.
Racist
English ordinal: 70
Full reduction:25
Reverse ordinal: 92
Reverse full reduction: 47
racist and suicide are perfect matches on the front end and back end. 70 and 47.
Here’s another nugget.
The phrase : jumped to his death
English ordinal: 178 (pushed off the roof 187)
Full reduction: 70 (pushed off the roof 88)
Reverse ordinal:254 (pushed off the roof 245)
Reverse full reduction :83 (pushed off the roof 65)
Leap also shares 34 and 84.
Suicided 74 38 142 52
Occult
English ordinal: 74
Full reduction: 20
Reverse ordinal:88
Reverse full reduction:34
3 more repeats
The year of his suicide was a leap year
Leap year
English ordinal:83 Full reduction: 38 Reverse ordinal:133 Full res verse reduction: 43
Target audience: 133 61 245 83 Suicidal: 78 33 138 57 Hidden mission: 142 70 209 74 Some of these numbers are conjecture but there’s a lot of links between the numbers. 47/74 being the one of the more prominent, as well as 83/38, 34/43, 70, 245/254, 88, 33, 29/92/209, 182/128 all of these numbers connect in one way or another. Now it wouldn’t mean much if we didn’t know more about the nature of these numbers and how and where they appear. But since these number keep popping up in accordance to things like CONTROL GRID or MYSTERY RELIGION or SUPREME MATHEMATICS it seems almost impossible for it to be mere coincidence. Anyways I urge you guys to think for yourself and put in some work and see if you can find any use of this practice. God bless
Ps:
STEEZ’s debut album ”amerikkkan korruption” Came out on 4-7-2012 another 47. Vibration equals 47
A theory out there is that the cabal needed him to die because STEEZ was really bringing influence to more and more young minds with knowledge and the way STEEZ attacked and exposed certain things is not a good thing for those in power, the label that Joey wanted to sign when they were pro era, was a Jewish man named Jonny Shipes. if you’ve extensively went down the “rabbit hole”, like extensively, and you’d say you’re pretty “woke” (I hate that word), then you may know that most labels especially Jewish owned labels are basically the portals into The Illuminati cult, the Jesuit organization that controls the entire world. Oh and remember the news outrage, and investigation because of the 47 “swa stikkas” all over NY, yea you think these Jonny Shipes fucked with that? Nah. But this is all speculation.
It wasn’t long after Capital STEEZ's unfathomable passing on 12/23/12 – 12+23+12 = 47), which was only days after December 21, 2012, the precise date calculated by the great Mayans to be the end of a Great Cycle, that I received knowledge & became aware of the Law of Time. This seemingly new cosmology felt ancient and I quickly realized it had EVERYTHING to do with Synchronicity! I even found the number 47 to be ever ubiquitous throughout this 13 Moon calendar system.
"The next chapter is unstoppable. And yet, the greatest revolutions sometimes originate from the confines of impossibility, do they not? Break the code. It could make a leap and make possible a decision that defines the order of things that are." " Reality is a mathematical model which gets solved over and over again by the observer your thoughts are computations. And they render this world for you to call your own. Not all processors are alike. Different brains produce different realities. The variations go from the subtle to the drastic. Your mind defines how much you can taste. How much you can feel. How much you can understand. Perception defines perspective. We designed you and made sure to engineer your senses so you could perceive just what we needed you to. Neither more nor less. There are parts of time we preferred you remained blind to. It was a necessity."
The Law of Time, I found to hold the most profound yet simple teaching; our Time is not Money, Time is Art. I was able to grasp a greater vision of how we as humans have created an artificial timing system where our time here equates to how much money we can accumulate, where we are constantly stressed by this false belief of our making, and where there is never enough time… This system of our making and continuous propagation has only served to separate us from our Selves, from each other, and ultimately, from nature. Hence, resulting in the chaos and disharmony prevalent in the world today.
What is the greatest common factor of 23 & 47? 1 is the greatest number that 23 & 47 is divided to. The Chosen One @mistapitty ㄣ

Idea of Balance
Balance is one of the things which depending on the self improvement communities you engage with is either the most important thing or the least important thing. Personally, I am still on a paradox with my view on balance but this is what I think.
OLD IDEA
Balance is one of the things which have been a pretty old idea. Probably the most popular is The Concept of Golden Mean by Aristotle.
GOLDEN MEAN:
The idea of golden mean is that virtues represent a mean between deficiency and excess in some feeling or behaviour.
Like:
Courage: Between Cowardice and Rashness
Generosity: Between Stinginess and Extravagance
Temperance: Gluttony and Asceticism
There are many other virtues in this idea but you can see that middle ground in behaviour.
IDEA OF DICHOTOMY:
If Golden Mean was a pretty old idea this is a new idea which I learned from Jocko Willink. Jocko Willink is a navy seal turned podcaster business and that is pretty different from who Aristotle was. Jocko Willink is probably what most people would consider the most ALPHA MALE but this is probably one of his best ideas.
SOME EXAMPLES:
Disciplined but not rigid
Humble not passive
Nurture people but know when to let go
Aggressive not Reckless
IDEA OF GENES VS NURTURE:
One Idea which we see in a lot of self improvement communities is the idea that we control everything that happens to us or the idea that we can control everything about us. But current research shows a bit different:
Risk of Bipolar Disorder: 70% Genetic
Personality Traits in Twins Research: 30% to 60%
Kids Temperament: 20%to 60%
And we know a lot of our physical attributes like height, eye colour, skin colour are also highly correlated to our genetics.
FINAL IDEA:
Balance is very important and that importance has been emphasised from a long time and it still has been emphasised till today and we also know that a lot of our traits we cannot actually control to a 100%.
So Now we need to balance the fact that we cannot change everything and the fact that we want to change things about ourselves which we don’t like.
HOW TO FIND BALANCE:
Balance is simple: Understand that you can’t control everything but do the best you can do in every single trait and see what happens and how much better you can be, but know and accept that you won’t be able to transform in a super extrovert blue eyes alpha chad if you are an introvert brown eyes normal guy, you can still be better but there will still be walls which just can’t be crossed and to be honest you don’t even need to cross them simply because, when you reach the point of self actualisation you would probably be happy and content with where you are. Also it would be difficult to do a lot of things where you are naturally weak and you can work on that and then be an average person.
Also if you are super into any extreme group no matter what side, left right, redpill, blackpill get out of it. Extreme groups tend to preach extreme things which on average are not completely true as a lot of nuance exists which is not preached. So, Get out of that group and find some better community. Some communities and channels which do use nuance are: Healthygamergg, Natural Hypertrophy, Mike Israetel: Making Progress. These of course are not perfect and you may not like them but they will provide a different and a bit more of a balanced view for your problem.
WHERE BALANCE DOESN’T WORK
If you are in a phase of life where you are going towards a particular goal, like building a business, appearing for exams you will have to let go of balance and focus on what you are aiming at and it works better in the short term like 6 months to an year.
Balance is one of the ideas I juggle with and these are my thoughts. Of course it is not perfect and I would look forward to what you guys think about this and if you have any review for the way I write please tell me in the comments. Thank you.

Idea of Balance
Balance is one of the things which depending on the self improvement communities you engage with is either the most important thing or the least important thing. Personally, I am still on a paradox with my view on balance but this is what I think.
OLD IDEA
Balance is one of the things which have been a pretty old idea. Probably the most popular is The Concept of Golden Mean by Aristotle.
GOLDEN MEAN:
The idea of golden mean is that virtues represent a mean between deficiency and excess in some feeling or behaviour.
Like:
Courage: Between Cowardice and Rashness
Generosity: Between Stinginess and Extravagance
Temperance: Gluttony and Asceticism
There are many other virtues in this idea but you can see that middle ground in behaviour.
IDEA OF DICHOTOMY:
If Golden Mean was a pretty old idea this is a new idea which I learned from Jocko Willink. Jocko Willink is a navy seal turned podcaster business and that is pretty different from who Aristotle was. Jocko Willink is probably what most people would consider the most ALPHA MALE but this is probably one of his best ideas.
SOME EXAMPLES:
Disciplined but not rigid
Humble not passive
Nurture people but know when to let go
Aggressive not Reckless
IDEA OF GENES VS NURTURE:
One Idea which we see in a lot of self improvement communities is the idea that we control everything that happens to us or the idea that we can control everything about us. But current research shows a bit different:
Risk of Bipolar Disorder: 70% Genetic
Personality Traits in Twins Research: 30% to 60%
Kids Temperament: 20%to 60%
And we know a lot of our physical attributes like height, eye colour, skin colour are also highly correlated to our genetics.
FINAL IDEA:
Balance is very important and that importance has been emphasised from a long time and it still has been emphasised till today and we also know that a lot of our traits we cannot actually control to a 100%.
So Now we need to balance the fact that we cannot change everything and the fact that we want to change things about ourselves which we don’t like.
HOW TO FIND BALANCE:
Balance is simple: Understand that you can’t control everything but do the best you can do in every single trait and see what happens and how much better you can be, but know and accept that you won’t be able to transform in a super extrovert blue eyes alpha chad if you are an introvert brown eyes normal guy, you can still be better but there will still be walls which just can’t be crossed and to be honest you don’t even need to cross them simply because, when you reach the point of self actualisation you would probably be happy and content with where you are. Also it would be difficult to do a lot of things where you are naturally weak and you can work on that and then be an average person.
Also if you are super into any extreme group no matter what side, left right, redpill, blackpill get out of it. Extreme groups tend to preach extreme things which on average are not completely true as a lot of nuance exists which is not preached. So, Get out of that group and find some better community. Some communities and channels which do use nuance are: Healthygamergg, Natural Hypertrophy, Mike Israetel: Making Progress. These of course are not perfect and you may not like them but they will provide a different and a bit more of a balanced view for your problem.
WHERE BALANCE DOESN’T WORK
If you are in a phase of life where you are going towards a particular goal, like building a business, appearing for exams you will have to let go of balance and focus on what you are aiming at and it works better in the short term like 6 months to an year.
Balance is one of the ideas I juggle with and these are my thoughts. Of course it is not perfect and I would look forward to what you guys think about this and if you have any review for the way I write please tell me in the comments. Thank you.

Idea of Balance
Balance is one of the things which depending on the self improvement communities you engage with is either the most important thing or the least important thing. Personally, I am still on a paradox with my view on balance but this is what I think.
OLD IDEA
Balance is one of the things which have been a pretty old idea. Probably the most popular is The Concept of Golden Mean by Aristotle.
GOLDEN MEAN:
The idea of golden mean is that virtues represent a mean between deficiency and excess in some feeling or behaviour.
Like:
Courage: Between Cowardice and Rashness
Generosity: Between Stinginess and Extravagance
Temperance: Gluttony and Asceticism
There are many other virtues in this idea but you can see that middle ground in behaviour.
IDEA OF DICHOTOMY:
If Golden Mean was a pretty old idea this is a new idea which I learned from Jocko Willink. Jocko Willink is a navy seal turned podcaster business and that is pretty different from who Aristotle was. Jocko Willink is probably what most people would consider the most ALPHA MALE but this is probably one of his best ideas.
SOME EXAMPLES:
Disciplined but not rigid
Humble not passive
Nurture people but know when to let go
Aggressive not Reckless
IDEA OF GENES VS NURTURE:
One Idea which we see in a lot of self improvement communities is the idea that we control everything that happens to us or the idea that we can control everything about us. But current research shows a bit different:
Risk of Bipolar Disorder: 70% Genetic
Personality Traits in Twins Research: 30% to 60%
Kids Temperament: 20%to 60%
And we know a lot of our physical attributes like height, eye colour, skin colour are also highly correlated to our genetics.
FINAL IDEA:
Balance is very important and that importance has been emphasised from a long time and it still has been emphasised till today and we also know that a lot of our traits we cannot actually control to a 100%.
So Now we need to balance the fact that we cannot change everything and the fact that we want to change things about ourselves which we don’t like.
HOW TO FIND BALANCE:
Balance is simple: Understand that you can’t control everything but do the best you can do in every single trait and see what happens and how much better you can be, but know and accept that you won’t be able to transform in a super extrovert blue eyes alpha chad if you are an introvert brown eyes normal guy, you can still be better but there will still be walls which just can’t be crossed and to be honest you don’t even need to cross them simply because, when you reach the point of self actualisation you would probably be happy and content with where you are. Also it would be difficult to do a lot of things where you are naturally weak and you can work on that and then be an average person.
Also if you are super into any extreme group no matter what side, left right, redpill, blackpill get out of it. Extreme groups tend to preach extreme things which on average are not completely true as a lot of nuance exists which is not preached. So, Get out of that group and find some better community. Some communities and channels which do use nuance are: Healthygamergg, Natural Hypertrophy, Mike Israetel: Making Progress. These of course are not perfect and you may not like them but they will provide a different and a bit more of a balanced view for your problem.
WHERE BALANCE DOESN’T WORK
If you are in a phase of life where you are going towards a particular goal, like building a business, appearing for exams you will have to let go of balance and focus on what you are aiming at and it works better in the short term like 6 months to an year.
Balance is one of the ideas I juggle with and these are my thoughts. Of course it is not perfect and I would look forward to what you guys think about this and if you have any review for the way I write please tell me in the comments. Thank you.

Now that we are finally out of the fever dream of getting through the first three years of having twins (total of four kids), we are looking to upgrade our four person tent.
I’m in a research paralysis though and can’t decide what tent or tents to accommodate our family. We have a 13 year old, an 8 year old, and 3 year old twins. Our 8 year old is autistic and can at times be a bit wandering so I’m not sure if he and his brother can be in a tent alone but we could probably split 1 adult and 2 kids each into two 4-6 person tents (don’t have to be the same model) or one large 8 person tent for all of us.
We are interested in quality, warranty, weatherproofing, and 3+ season. We don’t truly need a 4 season and I’m not necessarily interested in that because it would be so hot in the summer, though if I were, Big Agnes MadHouse is where I’d go. Weather wise, we will be mostly in the Midwest and south.
Our top choices right now are:

1. Big Agnes BunkHouse 6
   
2. TNF Wawona 6 though I’m not sure how this is even categorized as a 6 person. The actual sleep space is so much smaller. I also love the vestibule but hate the front door not having anything but mesh. That makes the cooler months (not winter) a bit more challenging.
   

I haven’t really found many 8 person that aren’t obnoxiously large. I don’t prefer a large cabin style unless it’s a canvas wall tent
We could probably squeeze all of us into the Big Agnes for a year or two but I think we’d have to get two from jump if we went with Wawona.
I’ve thought about going back to canvas as I’ve lived in them for months at a time during my college years and loved them but the square setup of a wall tent makes me anxious that they wouldn’t fit in all campgrounds and idk that the space of a flexbow is all that improved from the above mentioned options. We can also really only afford white duck or kodiak and their warranties aren’t as great but also possibly not as necessary?
What other tents would you recommend that are currently available?
I have a LONG list of tents that would have worked well but are discontinued and can’t be found on marketplace so would prefer not to have recommendations for limestones, etc. 😭

Now that we are finally out of the fever dream of getting through the first three years of having twins (total of four kids), we are looking to upgrade our four person tent.
I’m in a research paralysis though and can’t decide what tent or tents to accommodate our family. We have a 13 year old, an 8 year old, and 3 year old twins. Our 8 year old is autistic and can at times be a bit wandering so I’m not sure if he and his brother can be in a tent alone but we could probably split 1 adult and 2 kids each into two 4-6 person tents (don’t have to be the same model) or one large 8 person tent for all of us.
We are interested in quality, warranty, weatherproofing, and 3+ season. We don’t truly need a 4 season and I’m not necessarily interested in that because it would be so hot in the summer, though if I were, Big Agnes MadHouse is where I’d go. Weather wise, we will be mostly in the Midwest and south.
Our top choices right now are:

1. Big Agnes BunkHouse 6
   
2. TNF Wawona 6 though I’m not sure how this is even categorized as a 6 person. The actual sleep space is so much smaller. I also love the vestibule but hate the front door not having anything but mesh. That makes the cooler months (not winter) a bit more challenging.
   

I haven’t really found many 8 person that aren’t obnoxiously large. I don’t prefer a large cabin style unless it’s a canvas wall tent
We could probably squeeze all of us into the Big Agnes for a year or two but I think we’d have to get two from jump if we went with Wawona.
I’ve thought about going back to canvas as I’ve lived in them for months at a time during my college years and loved them but the square setup of a wall tent makes me anxious that they wouldn’t fit in all campgrounds and idk that the space of a flexbow is all that improved from the above mentioned options. We can also really only afford white duck or kodiak and their warranties aren’t as great but also possibly not as necessary?
What other tents would you recommend that are currently available?
I have a LONG list of tents that would have worked well but are discontinued and can’t be found on marketplace so would prefer not to have recommendations for limestones, etc. 😭

Why didn't Lalo simply just go to the cartel, tell everybody that he's alive, tell them that Gus tried to kill him and eventually the rest of the cartel? And that he is a snake trying to backstab them? I know this was answered before but I'm going to add something new into this argument. The most responses I have seen from people is always "he needed proof" and that without proof, the cartel wouldn’t believe him. Anyways he died trying to get proof and trying to kill Gus.
But see, we all know that him filming the secret underground lab was Lalo’s best idea of getting proof. I mean we all also know why he has been video taping the laundry and him talking to the cartel on his plans to expose and kill Gus. And we all know he died trying to kill Gus trying to get the proof. But here's the new argument I am presenting to change all of that and simply make the situation be in Lalo's favor.
Here’s my presented argument to this:
Lalo go to the cartel
Lalo: Hey everybody, I am alive. Now don’t celebrate because I need to tell you guys something. The chicken man is a snake, he tried to kill me. It wasn’t that snake nachito who switched the pills and caused my uncle to be paralyzed. Which by the way the chicken man knew about that plan and let it happen. That bastard lied for the chicken man to say it was him who caused my death. Instead it was the chicken man, he is the snake who is now building a secret underground lab under the laundry to overthrow the cartel business. That whole Werner Ziegler story was a lie. And he is doing all of this behind your backs. But you, Don Eladio wouldn’t believe this. That the Chicken Man would do all of this. So why not have me with Bolsa pay him a little visit and check out my hypothesis of this secret lab that would prove that he is a lying snake trying to overthrow you? Also have us bring a lot of guards, because that chicken man is very clever. I will also have hector and the twins prepared. And I will tell tuco all of this after this visit is done. If we are attacked or dead, you will know it was the chicken man."
So ta da, they go check the laundry, Lalo checks the place, Gustavo gets nervous, Lalo eventually finds the underground lab, and then the rest is history. Gus is found out and is skinned alive by the cartel. With Lalo taking Gus’s place of owning his territory. All without Gus being aware to all of this. Such as Lalo going to the cartel.
Now don't tell me this isn't the best case for Lalo to think, the reason why he died is because of Gustavo plot armor and the continuity of breaking bad. So with that being said, am I in the wrong? Did I made any mistakes? I mean here, let me answer the first response of someone saying "well how could Lalo find the specific button for the underground lab?" Well is the fact that Lalo knows there's an underground lab, if he couldn't find the button to the lab and Gus was trying to prevent Lalo into finding it. He could simply have the cartel drill a small hole on the ground of the laundry and eventually finding the lab.
In short, Lalo shouldn't have gone on his own for proof and died. That the reason he died is due to breaking bad story. And that this argument proves that he could have done it the smart way. Heck hector was telling Lalo not to go on his own and kill Gus as a way of getting proof.
Edit: I will add a few more details for this post and main questions you may have. I will also add a bit of context towards Lalo’s character. Among other things you may be interested and wanna know. Also if I could add photos, it would further increase my point. But it’s already too late for that.
As for the questions that the cartel won’t listen to Lalo, that Lalo thinks the cartel is against him and working with Gus. That the cartel won’t kill Gus. That the cartel views Gus as a money maker. That the cartel this or that against Lalo. Let me answer all of this by stating a few facts shown in the show.
Fact one: After Lalo’s death, Gus and Mike hides any traces of Lalo’s presence. Now why would they do this? Oh right, because they don’t want to be exposed by the cartel and being found out that Lalo and Hector was telling the truth. Meaning there will be consequences if Gus is exposed for this. And that is death. That just proves the cartel would have killed Gus if Lalo went to the cartel and exposed Gus.
Fact two: Lalo is shown videotaping himself and him talking to the cartel. Now this proves that Lalo knows the cartel isn’t against him. That Gus is the mastermind to caused all the shit to happen. That Gus is plotting against the cartel. And I already said this in my post, that he was talking to the cartel, that Lalo knows the cartel isn’t against him, but people ignored this and say that the cartel won’t listen to Lalo and won’t kill Gus even if they found out the truth. That Lalo somehow thinks that the cartel is against him. Which at this point is debunked.
Fact three: Why is it that in Season 6 Episode 9 of better call Saul, the cartel when meeting Gus was very much shown to be serious and angry at Gus for said allegations being told by Hector? If you guys say that the cartel wouldn’t kill him for what he has done if exposed, that the cartel viewed Gus as a money maker, why is it in the show it showed the cartel being serious about some of the problems I have mentioned. Hector only mentions some of the problems that is listed in my post, such as Gus causing Lalo’s death, Gus lied about the Nacho story, and that he is plotting against them. And these are just 3 problems that got the cartel being angry at Gus they have found this was true. And in my post, I mentioned a lot of problems that Gus has caused for Lalo to wanting to expose Gus.
Fact four: Nacho is literally killed simply by the fact that he told the cartel for causing Lalo death and Hector to be paralyzed. Imagine what would have happen if Gus was found out to be the actual person to cause Lalo death and Hector to be paralyzed. That and other things Gus did.
Fact five: The cartel has shown many times to the viewer that Lalo knows the cartel despises Gus. The show showed many times that the cartel is unknown to Gus’s plans. Also even Eladio knows Gus hates him, he actually took Hector statement seriously by being told by Hector to look Gus in the eye. but his greediness is what caused him to underestimate how much of that hate was actually in Gus. Thus if Lalo did what I explained, Eladio will definitely got him killed after finding out how much hate was actually in Gus’s mind against Eladio and the cartel.
Fact six: Gus’s death will not cause any money problems for the cartel. It sure will cause some but it will not affect them. If they found out what Gus did and what he was planning to do, you bet Gus would have died. Also Lalo literally said in the show that “Imagine the money you could make with this lab.” Well he didn’t say that exactly but it was close enough. Also if you guys think Gus’s death matters to the cartel, then why was Lalo filming himself talking to the cartel about exposing and killing Gus? If you guys said Gus’s death does matters to the cartel? Oh yeah, because after exposing Gus and showing the cartel of what Gus has done, Lalo knows the cartel will skin him alive and have him killed. Lalo isn’t dumb. Also after Gus’s death, they would use Gus territory and whatever Gus has. Such as Gus’s money.
So because of this, simply saying Lalo won’t be listened by the cartel, that they won’t be bothered by some hear say by Lalo about the underground lab, that the cartel is against Lalo, that the cartel is this or that against Lalo. That this plan will not work is all out of the picture. You guys can literally agree and say yeah this could have worked. Instead of saying things being debunked as shown in the show. I can tell the cartel as shown in the show when told by Hector about some of these allegations against Gus will take Lalo seriously. That and basically the facts I have listed.
As for Lalo not doing this, well yes, he would have actually done this if breaking bad didn’t exist. I made this post as closely to Lalo’s character as much as possible. He is shown video taping himself and talking to the cartel about exposing Gus and his secret lab. He is told by Hector to not do this as a way of finding proof. And he literally knows there’s an underground lab. If I could think about this and connect the dots of Lalo doing this, then Lalo would have thought of this already in the show. But if this happened then there obviously wouldn’t be no breaking bad.
As for Lalo showing some hate against the cartel, such as cursing at the cartel. Well did you ever wonder why he did that? It was because of the fact that Lalo when calling Hector, he suddenly had an angry outburst. When he is usually calm and never takes his actions in terms of emotions. Why was he angry and later shown cursing at the cartel? Well it is because they haven’t figured out that Gus was behind all of this mess hector and Lalo was in. The mess the cartel was all gonna be in. That is why Lalo was angry. Imagine if you were in Lalo’s place? The stress you are having all being caused by Gus. So him cursing at them doesn’t mean Lalo will kill the cartel or plot against them. Because as I said many times, the chicken man is the cause of all his problems. Which angers him. But this doesn’t mean he hates the cartel, he is later shown videotaping himself and talking to the cartel of exposing Gus who is causing this stress on Lalo.
There are many chances where he could have simply gone to the cartel and did what I have explained. But the answer as to why he didn’t is—you guessed it—breaking bad. This obviously explains why the creators of the show made sure to make the ending of Lalo arc not to retcon breaking bad. There are posts saying why Lalo failed to kill Gus? And the responses I have seen from people is mostly made up and unnecessary. When the simple answer being—you guessed it— breaking bad. You bet Lalo would have killed Gus if Breaking Bad didn’t exist, instead he just died due to luck. So all of those responses from people explaining why Lalo failed to kill Gus is actually unnecessary.
Now some of you could make up some other low effort reasons, such as arrogance, anger, or whatever as to why he didn’t go to the cartel. But based off of his character, Lalo is known to be calculated, smart, and not like the rest of the Salamanca family. He isn’t crazy and dumb like Tuco, he isn’t grumpy or have anger issues like Hector, he isn’t like the twins who are quiet and robotic. That is why fans love him so much and it even made Gus scared because of Lalo. As again, Lalo is literally shown video tapping himself, talking to the cartel at the very end of his final scene between him and his fight against Gus. Meaning Lalo at the end of his life doesn’t hate the cartel despite cursing at them. And he cursed at them due to what I have already explained. And heck, Hector is angry at Tuco and cursed at him behind his back once he found out Tuco punched a guard while in prison. Further damaging his chances of getting out of prison. Yet that doesn’t mean he will kill Tuco or not work with him.

27/28. Batgirl Begins - 4/5 (Starting this in medias res was a good choice, since if you're already familiar with Batman stuff, you know Barbara was gonna become Batgirl in this (and even if you don't, the title would reveal as much). So starting with a Poison Ivy fight made me more curious to see everything that lead up to it was opposed to just waiting for the "reveal" that Barbara becomes Batgirl and Pamela becomes Poison Ivy. Plus, Barbara's snarky narration was amusing. Introducing Batgirl as Batman's first sidekick (even if this was merely due to a stupid embargo) as well as making Poison Ivy be her best friend turned arch nemesis is pretty fun because of its uniqueness alone. Especially because it makes the stakes more interesting when Ivy has a personal grudge against Gordon. And I liked Batman's "not every child gets the opportunity to rescue their parent" comment. Yeah, it's cliché, but that stuff is the core of Batman, so it's nice to see this side of him acknowledged, since it rarely is in this series. Also, making Gordon not able to recognize Batgirl as Barbara because he wasn't wearing his glasses was pretty "clever". "Clever" in quotations because it's still dumb, but since most DC shows love to sell you on the idea that people cannot recognize each other's face by simply putting a mask on the top half, it's funny that this series bothered to give an explanation at all. He should still have recognized her voice, but you can't win 'em all.)
29. A Dark Knight to Remember - 3/5 (Freezing Poison Ivy in the previous episode, then defeating the Kabuki Twins by freezing them in this as well? Batman is becoming Mr. Freeze. Anyway, here's a pretty standard amnesia cartoon episode. Decent gimmick, and they also added a stock Secret Identity Almost Discovered:tm: plot to spice things up. The circumstances of Bruce's amnesia being the perfect cover for Barbara dropping the idea that he could be Batman is fun, but Bruce's actual amnesia is just cartoonishly illogical. Even if he lost memories of his last few years as the Batman, how would that also genuinely make him a self absorbed playboy? He was always a broody guy with a heart of gold, even before donning the cape and cowl.)
30. A Fistful of Felt - 3/5 (This is just a poor man's Double Talk. It treads the exact same stuff; Wesker is cured of Scarface so he lives a peaceful life before Scarface forcibly reappears at the hands of someone trying to bait him and he succumbs to it before Batman eventually confronts him and Scarface gets destroyed. Except this is way less substantial and lacking in drama and emotion. It's a shame, because during the group therapy scene, I was excited that this could potentially be a formula bender, having it take place entirely in Arkham Asylum and focusing on Wesker's recovery process. But then I remembered this is The Batman, so yeah. Also I HATE Snooty's design!)
31. RPM - 2/5 (Wow, after seeing this, I immediately went out and bought The Batman Batmobile #2 with working lights & sounds, firing disc launcher and opening cockpit! No, but really, did I actually just watch a toy commercial for 20 minutes? I get that that's where action cartoons make their profit, and that's fine, but this was so blatant it's not even funny. Like that scene of Batman arriving in his new CGI Batmobile as the camera spins around it. Give me a break. Not to imply the writers were being hacky or anything. It was clearly an executive mandate. They just wrote a lame episode around it. Gearhead wasn't very interesting, although it's cool he was voiced by Will Friedle I guess. And the episode is just about cars, a subject I do not find interesting. I did laugh at Barbara asking Gordon "taking the car?" and he just opens the door and stares at her.)
32. Brawn - 4/5 (At this point they should rename the series "The Batgirl" since most episodes now put her in the main role, having to save Batman's butt. Not a complaint, it's a nice change of pace from the repetitive Batman Stops Villain:tm: plots. This episode is pretty darn good though, which is surprising since it's really nothing but a long fight scene. Most of it consecutively takes place in real time on one street street as they duke it out. You'd think that would get boring, but Bane-ified Joker is a cool enough concept to genuinely carry enough entertainment value on its own. And Batgirl using the Batbot was fun.)
33. The Laughing Cats - 4/5 (Two Joker episodes in a row? Also a Catwoman episode, which... Yeah, Joker being in it was obviously an improvement. Making her team up with Batman to stop Joker was more interesting than had it been about Batman stopping another one of her generic jewel thefts. Them being stuck in a maze with Joker using their gadgets was fun, and I liked that his hyenas were not loyal to him at all, LOL. As a side note, Kilgore Steed's hunter schtick makes NO sense. Capturing animals to put them in a giant maze full of traps that will just automatically kill them is not much of a "hunt".)
34. Fleurs du Mal - 3/5 (I guess the show isn't going to acknowledge any drama between Barbara and Poison Ivy and she's immediately relegated to stock villain who does her villainous schtick and gets defeated? Clayface all over again. It also wasn't much of a mystery who the villain could be since it literally begins with the mayor being taken over by flowers. The characters themselves uncovering the mystery and battling the plant replicas was neat enough, so whatever. And Batman punching an old lady was funny. I don't understand why Poison Ivy replaced Penguin, though. She's replacing the people who control Gotham, and he's a washed up nobody who's lost his fortune. Also, Batman is lucky he only fought the plant replica or he would have killed Penguin. He fell right into spinning blades which clearly shredded him... Although he's still intact when they land, so I guess logic took a break for this scene. Side note, the show is getting WAY too reliant on ending with a zoomout of Batman and Batgirl as she makes some snappy comment.)
35. Cash for Toys - 2/5 (So Cash can return but not Yin? There is no justice in this world. He wasn't funny in his first appearance, and he's...slightly less unfunny here. So yeah. Add a straight up Toyman ripoff instead of just Toyman, for some reason, and you get a pretty lame episode. I get that he's a Superman villain, but the series didn't have a problem using Solomon Grundy, so Toyman shouldn't have been off the table. You could assume they just embargo'd him because he made cameos, albeit speechless, in JLU. But then, Grundy was the main focus of a JLU episode less than a year before Grundy's Night, so this doesn't add up! Not that Krank being called Toyman would make a difference, because I still wouldn't like him. So, YEAH.)
36. The Apprentice - 4/5 (Joker getting a sidekick is definitely a fun idea, and while I obviously liked this episode, it plays out exactly how you'd expect. I liked how wholesome Joker was to Donnie at first when he was brainstorming ideas and then turned grim when Donnie didn't want to hurt people. It definitely adds at least one more layer than the average Joker Shenanigans:tm: episode. You can definitely feel how genuinely scary it would be to simply be around this lunatic, especially if he has it out for you. Also, Donnie's jokes probably doesn't get laughs because he's in high school doing kindergarten tier jokes.)
37. Thunder - 3/5 (It's Maxie Zeus, the most iconic DC character of all time, doing his typical Olympus schtick. Yeah, so, the episode isn't really about him. His scheme is just a setup to show how well Batgirl can carry herself. And in that aspect, I do find it fun. It's a bit dumb that she yaps to Batman about how she wants to be in the loop though, as if she isn't just Batgirling of her own accord. He never agreed to be a team, she just stalks him. Side note, Gordon sternly correcting Grange with "batarang" made me chuckle.)
38. The Icy Depths - 4/5 (Despite being the umpteenth episode about stealing jewels, this was refreshing due to presenting it more as an actual mystery and having two villains, alongside Alfred and his old chum, trying to uncover it. It was fun how they all got the upper hand on one another, and I always like Alfred being involved in an adventure. I don't understand why Batman even needs to stop this "crime", though. The treasure doesn't belong to anyone anymore. And if it DOES rightfully belong to someone, that would be Penguin. What was up with a random rotating shot of the boat here though?)
39. Gotham's Ultimate Criminal Mastermind - 3/5 (Mr. Freeze's Arkham number is 800B5. I bet they thought they were really funny with that one. Unlike the previous BTAS ripoff episodes, this was only vaguely a ripoff of Heart of Steel, so I'll cut it some slack. But it's pretty thin. D.A.V.E. is just super smart and wants to defeat Batman, then Batman wins by just telling him something that does not compute. I guess it's neat that they finally built on those vague hints about Hugo Strange being "evil". It's just a shame the antagonist is merely his robot, not actually him. And why does he get locked in Arkham after being caught? He's not insane.)
40. A Matter of Family - 3/5 (Who sharpened Bruce's jaw?! Also, Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy. As for the actual episode, I was underwhelmed. It's a pretty straightforward telling of Robin's origin story, but it rushes the emotional moments and doesn't let them get too "heavy", which makes them less effective. Zucco is a pretty upfront mustache-twirling villain instead of a mysterious figure, and they don't really acknowledge how devastating such an event would be, or the awkwardness of immediately being adopted by a rando. Dick just gets some watery eyes then he's instantly comfortable at Wayne Manor. But I liked tying "Robin" into something his mom used to call him. Batman speaks with a much deeper voice in this episode. Must've come with the new jaw.)
41. Team Penguin - 4/5 (Did it really take seeing teamwork in a movie for Penguin spawn the brilliantly unique plan of "more villains = harder for Batman"? This was a fun teamup, though. I'm glad they didn't go for the obvious choices like Joker, Mr. Freeze, Riddler etc and instead opted for the "misfits". Croc is the only one of the group I didn't care for. But I liked seeing Ragdoll again, and Killer Moth was pretty funny. I liked that he remained a suckup even after being horribly mutated. I liked the theme of teamwork the episode had, since it ties nicely together with the valid jealousy Barbara would have for some rando in red becoming Batman's sidekick and knowing his identity when she has been wanting that for ages. Also, Robin immediately wailing on Penguin for calling him a lackey made me laugh.)
42. Clayfaces - 4/5 (Nice to see my buddy Bennett again. Guess they wanted to redeem themselves after the nonsense they pulled with Grundy's Night. But given this is his last appearance, this was a pretty unsatisfying "arc". Him going full-blown villain didn't make sense from the start. His desire to take revenge on Joker I get, but aside from that, it shouldn't have taken him THIS long to realize he should use his powers for good instead. Basil Karlo wasn't a super compelling character or anything, but him being an ugly dweeb was quite funny, and the spectacle of two Clayfaces duking it out more than makes up for it, because that was pretty awesome. Side note, why is this company so picky with who they cast in their fricking dog food commercial? It's dog food. Just show dogs.)
43. The Everywhere Man - 3/5 (I like the concept of the Everywhere Man, but was disappointed at how little they truly utilized it for story/action potential. The first half is just a mystery where you're supposed to think it's two guys (provided you did not read the episode title), then Johnny just expositions how his powers work and Batman fights a bunch of copies. The villain himself being a copy is a cool twist, but it would've been more interesting if the copies mostly worked as a hivemind and they utilized that to make fighting them really hard for Batman since they'd be such a perfectly synchronized army. The episode wrapping itself around some girl saying Johnny was cuter as a nerd, and then the real Johnny getting the girl in the end was so random it's almost hilarious.)
44. The Breakout - 4/5 (Black Mask being in this episode is pretty neat, as he is a fairly well-known character who, despite that, doesn't seem to appear in animation a lot. That said, he was not very compelling. He's just a stern, no-nonsense mob boss. Which for the plot of this episode is all he needs to be, so I won't give him flack for that. It's a fun change of pace to have a mostly Batman-free episode with focus on his sidekicks instead. Batgirl and Robin have a pretty charming dynamic; I liked when they guessed what Black Mask's face looks like and he got pissed off. LOL. And it was interesting how it's sort of a bottle episode, with most of it taking place within the police station as they try to prevent Black Mask's militia from breaking in. Batman ending the episode by telling them to wash the Batmobile was a certified LOL.)
45. Strange New World - 5/5 (This was great. I really like Hugo Strange, so it's fun to actually see his sinister side now that he's been outed as a villain. And while at first it felt mostly like a standard zombie story, the dramaic tone and hellish visuals, alongside the crazy ways the zombies jump around, made the whole thing a pleasure to look at. But the twist is what really got me. I didn't put it all together myself until right as Batman was figuring it out, and it really made all the scenes of him fighting zombie Batgirl/Robin/Gordon amusing to think about in retrospect. That said, isn't this a Scarecrow-tier scheme? I guess since he couldn't be in this show they just gave it to Strange.)
46. Artifacts - 3/5 (For an entire episode set in the future, I was expecting more than just the spectacle of a generic Mr. Freeze battle. But that's really all there is to it. That said, I liked the W I D E Batman design. I know it's an homage to The Dark Knight Returns, but I've never seen or read that, so yeah. Mr. Freeze blatantly saying that title after seeing the Batman was so funny, though. It works contextually, but when you know the reference it felt no different than if he had said "Batman: The Animated Series". LOL. I see Barbara will go the Oracle route in this show. Sad. Also, they can blatantly reference Bennett and Yin, but refuse to show them any further regardless? Screw. You.)
47. Seconds - 4/5 (The Batman's take on Clock King? He's not officially named as such, but it's pretty much a Cosmo Krank/Toyman situation again. I found his time travel abilities fairly interesting, as it was fun to see some random schmuck effortlessly upstage Batman. HOW he got those powers though... He got bored in prison and was surrounded by clocks, so one day he could shift time. What? Also Batman has an atomic clock that is not affected by time literally shifting backwards. What?? Yeah, so, this episode has a lot of "okay buddy" moments. But really, they just added to the fun. If you're gonna be nonsensical, might as well go all in. And that ending really caught me off guard. Imagine reliving 17 years of your life like that, only to still end up a fricking clock repairman. He really couldn't have invested in stocks he knew would have gone up?)
48. Riddler's Revenge - 4/5 (I certainly wasn't expecting this series to try and pull off an emotional Riddler episode. One that actually works, no less. But here we are. It's not the deepest thing in the world, but I thought seeing his origin handled this "seriously" was an fun take, and it was interesting that his own origin was a "riddle" that he got wrong. Wrapping the origin around him and Batman being trapped in a crate was pretty clever. Although after unwrapping his entire life story to Batman, I would've thought he would be a little less hostile towards him after they escape. But no, he just goes back to being evil. I liked Batman's final line though. "When is a villain, not THE villain?".)
49. Two of a Kind - 4/5 (They got Paul Dini in just to write the Harley episode. It's pretty good, though. The different take from Mad Love is amusing to see. I think showing Harleen as a loudly outspoken ditz makes her descent into jester-themed criminal more believable. Especially since they directly give her a personal vendetta to push the criminal aspect further. But since this episode is mostly banking on showcasing the "unique take", it's hard to look at it past comparisons. Without them, it's sort of just The Apprentice but with Harley instead of Donnie. But Harley is funnier, and generally I liked all the zany stuff she and Joker gets into, so this is the better "Joker gets a sidekick" episode. Plus, it has a whole ass Joker musical number.)
50. Rumors - 3/5 (The Batman's take on... Lock-Up? Okay, not really, but the similarities did cross my mind. The premise here is pretty basic. Rumor was not a very thrilling antagonist or anything. He's some generic guy who works for another generic guy, who's just a red herring because he blames being a cripple on Batman. Really, the spectacle of Batman fighting all his past villains in the final scene is the best part of the episode. Although I'm confused why some of them are even there and in costume. Cluemaster only had one goal, why would he still be Cluemastering? And is Spellbinder really Gotham based? How did Rumor even capture him? He's a psychic! And Harley Quinn literally JUST became a villain. I liked Penguin begging Batman to stop him, though. LOL.)
51/52. The Joining - 4/5 (Oh geez, it's Martian Kronkhunter. Couldn't Patrick Warburton voice him instead of Cash Tankinson? I liked the way he casually outs knowing Batman's identity. But on that note, they sure talk about that in public a LOT here. Including the aforementioned scene, both Robin and Bruce himself yaps out "Bruce Wayne is Batman" on two separate occasions. Robin says it in a crowded street, Bruce in a small diner. Yeah, I'm sure absolutely NO ONE within the vicinity could have possibly heard those things. It's not like Bruce and J'onn are having a lengthy conversation about it right where the waitress, chef, and any potential surrounding customers could hear it or anything.
This was a pretty basic alien invasion story, and it's quite a leap in stakes compared to the usual jewel thievery. But I liked the usage of Martian Manhunter. I thought he and Batman had an interesting chemistry. Their initial fight scene was so stupid, though. "Oh no, the Batman discovered I'm an alien. Better not explain anything and instead just beat him up and run away until he catches up and then say I'm on his side". I thought the emotional anchor of Batgirl and Robin feeling unwanted was a bit undercooked, but the moment when Batman says he worries about losing them was sweet, so whatever. And I liked the scene of the villains helping the police fend off aliens.)
53/54. The Batman / Superman Story - 3/5 (With the show finally being allowed to bring in more expansive DC lore, the first thing they make is the most generic Superman story they could think of. Yeah, okay. I liked the way Batman discovered Superman's identity, and seeing the villains of Gotham take him down was fun. But a whole episode just for that that setup, with the second being a prolonged Batman vs. Superman fight scene and then stopping Lex Luthor from doing something evil? Yeah, I didn't really jive with it. Also, with literally ALL of the sky available, did Superman really just fly right into Robin? AND ignored it? Not very boyscout-y.)
55. Vertigo - 3/5 (This was decent, but it mostly thrives off of the novelty of being a Green Arrow crossover as opposed to being an organic Batman story. In fact this would have been improved by cutting out Batman entirely. I liked seeing Green Arrow's origin, and they could've explored his attempt to take revenge on Vertigo and such on his own. And while he DOES do that here, since it's a Batman show, most of it is from Batman's perspective as Green Arrow recaps his story. So, ultimately, they should just make The Green Arrow.)
56. White Heat - 4/5 (Neat revamp of Firefly. He was never a particularly compelling character, but the fact that he was already established in this show makes his descent from petty thief to molten monster in this more compelling by default than had this been his first episode a la Killer Moth or something. And with the inclusion of his girlfriend, it had some genuine emotion. Not a tearjerker or anything, but his last appearance being his girlfriend dumping him and walking away as he's stuck in a pitch black prison cell with him still faintly glowing in the dark is pretty bleak. So the fact that they managed to get all of that out of an episode that can be summed up to "Batman stops molten villain cause he's too hot" is impressive. The battle at the power plant itself was pretty awesome though. But Bruce is really risking his identity fighting with half his face exposed like that.)
57. A Mirror Darkly - 3/5 (Just like the Superman episode, the writers barely do anything to justify its existence besides thinking I should be thrilled by the mere presence of Flash. Well, when the plot is as generic as one of Flash's iconic rogues coming to Gotham to be evil so Flash stops him and Batman helps because it's a Batman show... I'm not. And just like Superman again, Flash didn't leave much of an impression of me. Adding the trait that he talks incredibly fast was amusing, I suppose.)
58. Joker Express - 3/5 (I would have thought with free reign to utilize all of DC lore, this show would be over their generic Joker Scheme:tm: episodes. Guess not. There's literally nothing to be said about this one that hasn't been said about the others, though. Batgirl being infected with Joker's laugh was definitely a very enjoyable scene. But after that, it's as predictable as Topsy Turvy, JTV or The Apprentice.)
59. Ring Toss - 3/5 (Green Lantern. I wonder what fresh, unique plot The Batman crew will conjure up for this one. Oh, Sinestro comes to attack Hal Jordan, but Hal wins. And Batman helps in between, because it's a Batman show. Starting to sound like a broken record here, but that's how unimaginative these episodes really are. It's competent, but it's pretty much shut-your-brain-off-and-enjoy-the-action tier. This one does have the middle part of Penguin with a power ring, which was genuinely gold stuff. The only problem is, it doesn't last for long enough, and ultimately Penguin's inclusion is really just time filler in between Sinestro being defeated.
60. The Metal Face of Comedy - 4/5 (Let me get this straight, Joker is digitally copied by wearing a helmet connected to a laptop while getting shocked? On top of the common trope of cartoon writers not understanding how video games work, logic is clearly not this episode's strong suit. The phrase "mentally download money" pretty much speaks for itself. Regardless, the prospect of Joker vs. Joker is fun enough alone. All the wacky antics Joker 2.0 is able to get into with his morphic abilities were visually fun. It's especially amusing to see the real Joker completely discombobulated by being upstaged and betrayed by, well, himself. Even cheering on for Batman to win.)
61. Attack of the Terrible Trio - 3/5 (The Terrible Trio were fun as a group of misfits, but it's pretty laughable how these college students are being bullied like it's middle school. Also do they really expect me to believe the hot, edgy chick is considered a loser? Jake is the only loser here. It's cool that this show actually had them transform into animals, even if the designs are little...awkward. It's also neat that they gave them a connection to Barbara's personal life, but at the same time it's disappointing that they didn't put Batgirl in a bigger role because of it. Batman's still the one saving the day. Also I was a little disappointing David's final transformation wasn't any more creative than just a griffin. As a side note, it's nice that this closes the door on Langstrom's Man-Bat arc.)
62. The End of the Batman - 3/5 (Fake title, there's three more episodes. The idea of an Anti-Batman and Robin is pretty fun. Wrath served as an entertaining foil to Batman what with figuring out his identity and everything. I think the ending is a little cheap, though. Joker uses his smile-gas so much, you'd think there would be a common antidote by now. Not like Wrath and Scorn are gonna be like that for the rest of their lives. Also a portion of this episode is pretty reminiscent of Team Penguin. Something which they even acknowledge themselves. But just because they point it out doesn't make it not true! Joker being annoyed by being put on menial tasks was funny though.)
63. What Goes Up... - 4/5 (Same as the previous Justice League members, Hawkman didn't leave much of an impression on me. But this time it doesn't matter as much because the episode doesn't put half the spotlight on him. It's mostly focused on Batman stopping Black Mask's, a villain whom I already thought should be utilized more, scheme. Which is stealing a whole building! I mean how cool of an action setpiece isn't an airborne building? On top of Robin being nth metal'd, it was a very fun watch. Really, Hawkman and Shadow Thief feel more like afterthoughts. But even that isn't a bad thing, because they had very enjoyable action scenes. And geez, poor Number One #2.)
64/65. Lost Heroes - 4/5 (Oh, the actual Toyman appears in this show. "Toyman" my ass, that's a damn Jester. Cosmo Krank is more of a Toyman than you will ever be, bud. This episode is pretty fun, if only because I think the narrative of non-superpowered heroes proving their capabilities and humbling the heroes with superpowers when they can't use theirs is amusing. Batman and Green Arrow as a duo was good, and everybody fighting their robot counterparts was cool. I think the robots had pretty rad designs. The only "bad" aspects of the episode is rehashing The Joining as the threat again, and Hugo Strange's inclusion. Not that I don't like him, I think he's a great villain. But this wasn't really a story fitting for him. He's better working from the shadows with the intent of studying the behavior of his victim, not just being a pawn to some alien robot.)

Hey Sportsfans — it's time for Week 8 of baseball Power Rankings: Nearly a third of the way through this ranking season, is your team headed int he right direction? Please enjoy these baseball numbers.
Every voter has their own style / system and the only voting instructions are these:

"To an extent determined individually, you must take into account how strong a team is right now and likely to be going forward. You must, to some degree, give weight to the events and games of the previous week."

The Royalshad a Guest Voter today -- u/Mozilla_Fennekin
TRANSPARENCY: This link will show you who voted each team where and has added neat statistics!
If something is a little messed up, feel free to pester me let me know.
Total Votes: 30 of 30. Another Perfect Vote!.

#		Team	Δ	Comment	Record
1		Phillies	+1	The Phillies went 6-1 on the week with the one loss being in extra innings. The team is just firing on all cylinders. Johan Rojas and Nick Castellanos (and Merrifield, Pache, and Stubbs) are borderline black holes in the lineup and yet they have a team OPS+ of 113. Ranger Suarez had his worst start of the year while giving up 0 earned and getting the win while Zack Wheeler bounced back nicely from a rough outing and pitching into the 8th. Aaron Nola had an Aaron Nola week, throwing a CGSO then looking dominant but giving up 3 runs on sudden home runs. The vibes for this team are just off the charts, and they look to carry that into the next week with 3 against the defending champ Rangers before heading out to Coors for a 3 game set.	34-14
2		Dodgers	-1	The Dodgers ran some questionable lineups this week where it seems like Dave Roberts was kind of expecting to lose? It seemed like at least one of the star players on the Dodgers sat each game. The good news is that there are so many star players that the team can afford to do that and still go 5-2 on the week. With Buehler back and starting to look good (and happy) it seems the Death Star is fully operational.	32-17
3		Yankees	+1	Back-to-back sweeps is fun, even if one was against a minor league team and the other was our version of the Washington Generals. Who do you even rave about on this team right now? Judge and Soto are red-hot simultaneously. Stanton is playing about as well as we could’ve possibly hoped for. The rotation is incredible. Clay Holmes still has not allowed an earned run into mid-May, cementing himself in Yankee lore even if it all falls apart tomorrow. There’s really not any one storyline to go nuts about, the Yankees are really just a well-rounded, high-functioning machine. Most fun the team has been to watch since as a whole unit since 2019.	33-15
4		Orioles	-1	The O's now start a stretch of something like 27 games in 29 days. They are moving to a 6-man rotation, which will shorten their already taxed bullpen. The offense continues to have its ups and downs but the starting pitching has been unbelievable. This week the team travels to St Louis and Chicago to play the Cards and the White Sox. No offense to either of those teams but if there is a time for the bats to get right, this is it.	29-15
5		Braves	0	Ok. It's getting old. It's time to start hitting. This offense was HISTORIC a year ago. So far this year...we are in the bottom half the league in runs scored. Unacceptable. We can talk about how soft the Phillies schedule is all we want...but we have to win too. Pitching has been great recently for the most part (aside from Sunday night's game), but we can't seem to hit when we are pitching well or pitch well when we are hitting. It's gonna click...but how long will it take?	26-16
6		Guardians	+2	When I did this last week, the Guardians had just lost three of four to the White Sox. Maybe that was the wakeup call they needed, because I'd say this was probably their best week of the season so far. They took 2/3 against the reigning WS champs and then swept our biggest division rival. The crowd in Cleveland was so into those games and they were great to be at. Saturday's game was our first May sellout in 11 years.	30-17
7		Brewers	0	The Brewers had another average week, beating the Pirates and dropping a series to the Astros, but their hot start has been enough to stay on top of their medicore division. Bobby Gas is still the GOAT.	27-19
8		Royals	+2	I just watched the new Foolish video which features the 2023 Royals doing something stupid. Last year, the Royals won their 30th game on July 28. They have 29 on May 20. They're 10 games above .500 for the first time since 2015. They have the best position player and the best pitcher right now..... in the AL at least. Our biggest problems are MJ Melendez and a couple outfielders we paid like $10M on combined? Complaining while winning is a privilege.	29-19
9		Cubs	0	The Cubs slumping offense finally hit rock bottom, scoring 3 runs or fewer in 5 out of their 7 games. The injuries to Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner loomed large, as their replacements were totally inept at the plate and a massive downgrade in the field, as numerous additional hitters were able to reach base that wouldn't normally do so. The rotation which had been so excellent was slightly more inconsistent, including a disastrous Kyle Hendricks start, but the lack of run support meant it didn't really matter. While Swanson and Hoerner's returns should help the offense, Hendricks unfortunately would be addition by subtraction from the rotation. The last remaining cub from the World Series team and fan favorite has been the worst starting pitcher in baseball so far, and the Cubs cannot afford to continue giving him starts while they need to win games. They will try to right the ship this week against the Braves and their first meeting with the Cardinals	26-22
10		Mariners	+1	A bit of a mixed week - the record shows 3-3, but it felt like a miracle to even make it there. Injuries are starting to stack up on the (already not-so-great) offense, and something's gotta give there at some point, right? ...right? Dipoto and co. have the farm talent to make an aggressive trade ahead of the market, and getting a solid hitter for an extra month may be huge down the line (especially if the Astros are indeed coming back to life.) *Up next: 4 @ Daaaaaaaaaaa Yankees Lose, 3 @ Walgreens	25-22
11		Twins	-5	What a disaster of a week. The sweep by the Yankees was completely predictible, but then we went to Cleveland and our week did not get better. The sausage disappeared, then the series hinged on bad umpiring, a couple bad pitches, and some excellent Cleveland defense. The 12-game win streak showed how good the Twins could be, and this 6-game losing streak has shown how much we can struggle. Which team will we be for the reat of the season? I don't know, but the rollercoaster is not a fun time.	24-22
12		Padres	0	It really stung to get swept at home vs Colorado, and brought up a lot of bad press, and odd questions about ‘who’s the captain?’ etc. All makes me feel like we're in mid-season form. I really think it’s all overblown. When you lose games you’re supposed to win (or at least not get swept at home), tempers flare up, people in the clubhouse, and in the stands can say things in anger. When you win, everyone talks about the camaraderie, the chemistry between the players, leadership, etc. What I really see here is a team playing to their season expectations so far, and even hanging onto the last spot in the weaker NL Wild Card Race. A few wins in Atlanta was just what the doctor ordered, especially on the national stage Sunday. To make up for the rainout on Saturday, the Padres have a doubleheader today, and don’t have a day off until May 30th. They actually have 12 games in an 11 day span here.	24-24
13		Rangers	0	IL list looking like a MASH unit and the ones who are supposed to be recovering keep getting set back. 3 of the opening day starting rotation are on the IL, and that doesn't even include Scherzer, deGrom, and Mahle who all started the season on the list. Jack Leiter still isn't ML ready unfortunately but his improvements in AAA this year give some hope that development and progress is possible, just going to take more time. Things are going well.	24-24
14		Rays	+2	The Rays certainly aren't winning on run differential, not super sure about fun differential, but last week was a big swing for the division and wild card chances. If this newfound consistency continues, September could be exciting- especially if a few more key players return from injury. Shoutouts to Isaac Paredes who is quietly having a really nice follow up to last year, and to Jonny DeLuca who is OPSing over .900 at the moment.	25-23
15		Red Sox	-1	I'm breaking new ground in theoretical baseball analysis. Folks, the 2024 Boston Red Sox are a perfect analogue to the 2010 San Diego Chargers. Our offense is cracked, Duran figured out how to field, Abreu out of nowhere is a 3-4 WAR player, and TON is gonna crank 40 dingers with 50 RBIs. Connor Wong has a .900 OPS with a cannon arm. Devers has 5 HRs in his last 5 games. Our starting pitchers are out of nowhere one of the best staffs in the league, and our bullpen is nothing to scoff at. 2nd in the AL by ERA, and 4th by OPS. Despite this, we are UNDER .500!!! Like that Chargers team, we fail in the least quantifiable of ways. Our infield defense has been a rotating disaster, contributing to our 37 unearned runs. Our bats have been fantastic when piling on runs in blowouts, but awful in high leverage situations. We are the ultimate analytics failure. A 26 man roster filled with talent and individual performance, but all of it comes together to produce a mediocre product. There is plenty of time to turn things around, but I just do not know if they've got that Dog In Them to win baseball games. But, if you fuck with the WAR, we're killing it.	23-24
16		Tigers	-1	Let's take a moment to notice the sudden emergence of Wenceel Perez, who came into the season as a depth prospect piece. Taking advantage of Parker Meadows' struggles, Perez has slashed a gaudy .300/.373/.533 over his first hundred PAs while maintaining a lot of red on his Statcast page. Whether this will keep up is to be determined, but he's provided a spark in the top third of the lineup while Detroit keeps flirting with the .500 mark. This week: 3 at KCR, 4 vs. TOR.	23-23
17		Astros	+7	The Astros are giving me whiplash. Bad, okay, good, bad, good, okay. It would be nice if we were starting to figure things out though; would make for a more pleasant summer. Not too pleasant, though, because it is damn hot.	21-26
18		D-Backs	-1	The Diamondbacks can't seem to figure it out. The offense rarely scores enough runs to win a game despite being 4th in the NL in runs scored per game. The pitching is both kinda bad and unlucky. The defense has improved, at least. It's not clear the coming reinforcements due to better health are going to be enough.	22-25
19		Giants	+2	The Giants had another 4-2 week and finally beat the Dodgers. I feel okay, and so should you. Snell is back this Wednesday, the bullpen is starting to solidify, the Rivercats are hitting, the schedule isn’t that oppressive right now, Lee is gone forever, and, oh, right. Lee is gone forever. Okay, but other than that one thing, things are okay. Let’s ground ourselves with some numbers: 22nd in MLB in Run Diff, 21st in RS/G, 21st in RA/G, 25th in Bullpen ERA. Well, hmm. But I swear things looked worse 10 games ago. You have to believe me. @PIT and @NYM this week. Believe it or not, a winning week would put the Giants at .500. But I think we’d all be fine with a 3-3 road trip including a good Snell start and no new injuries.	23-25
20		Mets	-2	Now that the Knicks season has ended in heartbreaking fashion, it's time for me to start paying full attention to the Mets again. I'm sure this week must've gone well..... OH DEAR GOD WHAT HAPPENED TO EDWIN DIAZ?	21-25
21		Pirates	+4	Having Paul Skenes and Jared Jones in your rotation is awfully nice, isn't it? That one-two punch allowed the Pirates to take the first 2 games of a 4-game series in Chicago, with Mitch Keller claiming the finale on Sunday to earn a series victory (but Bailey Falter's performance on Saturday in a 1-0 loss was the best of all). The bats have started to come to life a bit, bolstered by the arrival of Nick Gonzales and the (hopfeully) imminent depature of Rowdy Tellez. As bad as the offense was for the past month, the Bucs are still treading water in a NL Central bereft of a dominant team.	22-26
22		Blue Jays	-2	It's the hope that kills you. The Jays very nearly had a perfect week, but lost one to Baltimore and two vs TB by one run in each game, all in uniquely heart-breaking fashion: Baltimore was a walkoff loss after a bad hop led to a man on for Adley to bounce the winning HR off the top of the fence, spoiling a gem by Kikuchi. Then we averted disaster by breaking up a perfect game in the 8th by a not-good pitcher, only to see the comeback fall just short due to a couple bone-headed errors. Then we gave up a late lead on yet another bullpen implosion, spoiling a gem of a game by Gausman. There have been bright spots (keeping things close, Manoah throwing another amazing game, Vlad and others hitting really well), but they're at a tipping point here. With a soft schedule for the next two weeks, they can make a run and get back in the wild card hunt, or stumble and set up an obvious sell-off.	20-25
23		Nationals	-4	Rough week for the Natty Daddies as they got swept by division rival Phillies on the heels of losing a series to the dreadful White Sox. I believe the Phillies are hitting their stride so the sweep doesn't bother me (2 close losses) but being shut out in back to back games vs the White Sox is tough to swallow especially given one was to Nationals legend Erick Fedde. What's next - can someone dig up AJ Cole and throw him against the Nats too?	20-25
24		Reds	-1	We are trapped in the belly of the Big Red Machine. And the machine is bleeding to death. The sun has fallen down. And the scoreboards are all leering. And the Reds flags are all dead at the top of their poles. It went like this: The Reds tumbled in on themselves. Pitchers clutching hitters as they lost game after game, and gave up more and more runs. The skyline was beautiful on fire, rivers of chili stretching upwards. Everything washed in a thin orange haze. I looked at Mr. Red and whispered: "Kiss me, you're beautiful, these are truly the last days". He grabbed my hand and we fell into it, like a daydream or a fever. We woke up one morning and fell a little further down, For sure it's the valley of death. I open up ESPN, and it's full of more losses.	19-28
25		Cardinals	+1	Sweeps are hard. The Cardinals have found some footing and look to have gotten off the mat as they answer a 1-5 week with a 4-2 week. The schedule this week will certainly test how stable that footing truly is as the Orioles and Cubs come to town.	20-26
26		Angels	+1	Somehow this team took two of three from the Rangers. Instead of focusing on any negativity this week, I will note and celebrate what likely was one of the season highlights for this team.	18-29
27		Athletics	-5	We suck lol, have won one game in the past two weeks and a -22 run diff in our L10. Obviously luck plays a role but other than maybe Rooker (with one good season) no one here is a proven quality player. We're still overperforming our Pythagorean W-L by a game to boot	19-30
28		Rockies	0	The Rockies won seven games in a row for their only winning streak of the season so far. Now it's time to see how many games they can lose in a row.	15-31
29		Marlins	+1	Oh look the fish have won back to back series for the first time this season, yaaaaaaay. That being said our bullpen continues to be shaky as a tree branch during a hurricane so that likely wont be happening much against teams over .500. On the plus side, most of our starters have been consistent and luzardo has been doing just fine since returning from the IL. Burger still hasnt quite caught back up to how he was swinging before going out for his oblique injury but hopefully he can start getting on base. Thankfully the prodigal Son Otto Lopez has continued to do work, currently sporting an .885 OPS. Were starting off the week with a 3 game series in milwaukee and then head back home to host the sneks.	15-33
30		White Sox	-1	What is there to say about the White Sox? They are the worst hitting team in the league by a considerable margin. They have the 4th worst pitching ERA and judging by the advanced metrics, they've been lucky to achieve even that. Even since they stopped playing like an all-time bad team in early May, they are still playing like the worst team in the league, with their 230/280/365 slash line. They just got outhomered 8-1 in the Bronx while being outscored 17-5 which is pretty typical for the season so far. The White Sox stink and unless you hate yourself, you shouldn't be watching them.	14-33

Background
It's become accepted wisdom that Arya will return to Westeros, encounter Lady Stoneheart, and grant her the gift of mercy. Not an implausible theory with how the gift of mercy becomes so thematically prominent in Arya's story in ASOS. An early draft of the book adds weight to this idea.
However, fans rarely consider what Stoneheart meeting Arya could mean beyond this assumption. Lady Stoneheart would bring an agenda of her own to this reunion which has important implications.

The Stark Succession

Shortly before the Red Wedding, King Robb Stark decides to name Jon Snow his heir. Catelyn is bitterly opposed and questions why Arya shouldn't succeed him. But Robb counters that Arya's fate is unknown and she's almost certainly dead:

"So you pray. Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the north must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa ... your own sister, trueborn ..."
"...and dead. No one has seen or heard of Arya since they cut Father's head off. Why do you lie to yourself? Arya's gone, the same as Bran and Rickon, and they'll kill Sansa too once the dwarf gets a child from her. Jon is the only brother that remains to me. Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North. I had hoped you would support my choice."
"I cannot," she said. "In all else, Robb. In everything. But not in this . . . this folly. Do not ask it." -ASOS, Catelyn V

The Hunt for Arya

Post-Red Wedding Catelyn is given the kiss of life by Beric Dondarrion and resurrected as Lady Stoneheart. She learns from the Brotherhood Without Banners that Arya was recently known to be alive and in the company of Sandor Clegane travelling en route to The Twins. The BWB are tracking Arya and question Merret Frey on her whereabouts:

"He would have had a child with him," said the singer. "A skinny girl, about ten. Or perhaps a boy the same age." -ASOS, Epilogue

Later Brienne learns from Shagwell at Cracklaw Point that the BWB under Stoneheart are carrying out a significant search operation for Arya Stark in the Riverlands:

"He's the one that's got the Stark girl. The way I hear it, she was making for Riverrun, and he stole her. Damned dog."
Riverrun, thought Brienne. She was making for Riverrun. For her uncles. "How do you know?"
"Had it from one of Beric's bunch. The lightning lord is looking for her too. He's sent his men all up and down the Trident, sniffing after her. We chanced on three of them after Harrenhal, and winkled the tale from one before he died." -AFFC, Brienne IV

The Crown of Winter

When Jaime Lannister arrives at Riverrun he notices that Ryman Frey's female companion is wearing Robb Stark's crown:

Ser Ryman came stomping up the gallows steps in company with a straw-haired slattern as drunk as he was. Her gown laced up the front, but someone had undone the laces to the navel, so her breasts were spilling out. They were large and heavy, with big brown nipples. On her head a circlet of hammered bronze sat askew, graven with runes and ringed with small black swords. When she saw Jaime, she laughed. "Who in seven hells is this one?" -Jaime VI

Later Ryman Frey and his entourage are captured and hanged while returning to The Twins. When Brienne is brought before Stoneheart she sees the undead leader in possession of Robb Stark's crown, utterly fixated on it:

A trestle table had been set up across the cave, in a cleft in the rock. Behind it sat a woman all in grey, cloaked and hooded. In her hands was a crown, a bronze circlet ringed by iron swords. She was studying it, her fingers stroking the blades as if to test their sharpness. -Brienne VIII

Stoneheart's Mission

So, to summarise:
#1 Catelyn was advocating for Arya's rights as trueborn heir to the North.
#2 Stoneheart is overseeing a determined effort to find Arya Stark.
#3 Stoneheart now has Robb Stark's crown.
It's logical that if Stoneheart and Arya ever meet, she will above all want to crown her "last" child Queen in the North. That was her desire in life as Catelyn Stark, and almost certainly more so in death.

Queen in the North

Arya being crowned Stark Queen would serve several key plot and character functions:
#1 Arya's Identity
Since the end of AGOT Arya has been separated from her family and forced to assume a long list of pseudonyms; Arry, Weasel, Nan, Cat etc. Arya is now geographically isolated in Braavos and The House of Black and White is demanding she abandon her identity as Arya Stark altogether and be subsumed into "no one". Yet even this is not enough, and Arya's identity as a Stark has persisted. To be crowned the official Stark successor, Queen in the North, would be ultimate affirmation of her Starkness and a final rebuttal of the forces trying to take it from her.
#2 Arya's relationship with her mother
Arya's relationship with Catelyn is complex. Arya remembers Catelyn as a much more critical figure than her father, and Catelyn's own memories of her youngest daughter in ACOK are conflicted. In ASOS Arya is even insecure about whether her mother would want to ransom her at all with her dirty face and messy hair.
#3 Lady Stoneheart closure
For Lady Stoneheart, seeing her daughter again and having her crowned as Robb Stark's successor would be closure and allow her to finally leave the land of the living content.
#4 Arya's return
Arya is an enigma in Westeros. As far as most of the world knows, she vanished after the Lannister coup in King Landing's and died years ago, putting Ramsay Bolton's bride "Arya" aside.
Being crowned Queen in the North would represent a decisive moment where the real Arya Stark begins to return to the political mainstream of Westeros and is established as a player for the final act of A Song of Ice and Fire. Arya's ascension will undoubtedly mean friction with Littlefinger's plans for Sansa, not to mention Robb's will looming in the background.
Hardly by chance is it that Arya's bonded direwolf, named after the warrior queen Nymeria, is currently leading a huge wolf pack in Westeros. As GRRM said:

"If a twelve-year old has to conquer the world, then so be it."

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Private Helicopter Ride Inclusions

The private helicopter ride included in the Seaside Golf Excursion from NYC to Montauk elevates the entire experience to new heights of luxury and convenience. Travelers can choose between the Private AStar Helicopter and the Twin Engine Helicopter, both of which offer a lavish and exclusive mode of transportation to the golfing destination. The Private AStar Helicopter, priced at $26,600, provides an intimate and personalized flight experience for up to 5 passengers, ensuring a comfortable journey from NYC to Montauk. On the other hand, the Twin Engine Helicopter, priced at $30,300, offers a spacious and enhanced flying experience for the same group size, catering to those seeking a premium aerial adventure.
For travelers seeking the epitome of luxury and style, the Private AStar Helicopter option exemplifies the exclusivity and comfort that define the guided seaside golf excursion. This helicopter model, known for its sleek design and performance, promises a smooth and scenic flight experience over the Atlantic coast, setting the tone for a day of sophistication and relaxation. As passengers settle into the plush interiors of the helicopter, they are treated to panoramic views of the coastal landscape below, heightening the anticipation for the golfing adventure that awaits at Seaside Golf Course. The seamless transition from the bustling cityscape of NYC to the tranquil seaside setting of Montauk is a testament to the bespoke and high-end nature of this private helicopter journey.
Original Link: https://elite-adventures.com/all-offers/f/luxurious-seaside-golf-escape-nyc-to-montauk-by-helicopter

Golfing Experience Highlights

The golfing experience included in the Seaside Golf Excursion encompasses a full 18-hole round at Seaside Golf Course, providing players with the opportunity to test their skills on a renowned and challenging course. As participants engage in the game, they are surrounded by the natural beauty and serenity of the coastal environment, creating a unique and memorable golfing experience. The package not only covers the green fees but also ensures that guests have access to premium golf clubs, high-quality balls, and a golf cart for added convenience on the course.
An illustrative example of the golfing experience highlights at Seaside Golf Course is the signature 18th hole, known for its breathtaking ocean views and strategic layout that challenges golfers to finish their round with skill and precision. As players navigate this final hole, they are met with a sense of accomplishment and awe at the stunning surroundings, making it a fitting conclusion to a day of luxury and leisure. The combination of challenging terrain, stunning vistas, and top-tier amenities ensures that every moment on the course is filled with excitement, relaxation, and the essence of high-end golfing.

Dining Experience at Seaside Golf Course

Indulge in a gourmet dining experience at Seaside Golf Course, where guests are treated to a menu of exquisite culinary offerings crafted from fresh and locally sourced ingredients. The seaside dining setting enhances the overall luxury experience, providing a picturesque backdrop for a memorable meal. Guests can savor a variety of delectable dishes, from seafood delicacies to gourmet desserts, all while enjoying panoramic views of the ocean and the lush greens of the golf course. The culinary experience at Seaside Golf Course is a feast for the senses, combining exceptional flavors with stunning aesthetics to create a truly indulgent dining affair.
To exemplify the dining experience at Seaside Golf Course, consider a signature dish like the lobster bisque, made with fresh lobster meat and a blend of aromatic spices, served against the backdrop of the setting sun over the Atlantic Ocean. This culinary masterpiece not only delights the palate but also captivates the eyes with its vibrant colors and artistic presentation. Guests can enjoy a leisurely meal on the outdoor terrace, basking in the gentle sea breeze and the warm glow of the evening sun, creating a dining experience that is both luxurious and unforgettable. The combination of gourmet cuisine, scenic views, and impeccable service ensures that every meal at Seaside Golf Course is a celebration of culinary excellence and seaside elegance.

Return Journey to NYC Details

After a fulfilling day of golfing and dining at Seaside Golf Course, guests are transported back to Manhattan via a private helicopter, offering them a final opportunity to savor the panoramic views of the NYC skyline from above. The return journey not only provides a convenient and luxurious mode of transportation but also allows travelers to reminisce about the day's adventures while taking in the iconic landmarks of the city below. As the helicopter glides over the Manhattan skyline, passengers are treated to unparalleled views of famous attractions such as Central Park, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty, creating a memorable conclusion to their seaside golf excursion.
An illustrative example of the return journey to NYC is the twilight helicopter flight, where guests can witness the city lights twinkling below as they soar back to Manhattan under the blanket of the night sky. The glittering skyline, illuminated bridges, and bustling streets create a mesmerizing spectacle that encapsulates the vibrancy and energy of New York City, offering travelers a unique perspective on the metropolis from above. The return journey via helicopter not only signifies the end of a luxurious day trip but also leaves guests with lasting memories of their exclusive seaside golf excursion, ensuring that the experience lingers in their minds long after they touch down in the city that never sleeps.

Ticket Options, Pricing, and Inclusions

When considering the ticket options for the guided seaside golf excursion with a private helicopter from NYC to Montauk, travelers can choose between the Private AStar Helicopter priced at $26,600 and the Twin Engine Helicopter priced at $30,300, both offering a luxurious and exclusive mode of transportation. The ticket prices encompass a comprehensive set of inclusions to ensure a seamless and unforgettable excursion that combines adventure, relaxation, and sophistication in a single package. Travelers not only get to experience a thrilling helicopter journey but also enjoy a full 18-hole round of golf at Seaside Golf Course, complete with green fees and premium amenities.
For example, the ticket inclusions extend to a guided tour of Montauk, a panoramic NYC skyline tour during the return helicopter flight, and essential charges such as the helicopter charter and a fuel surcharge. These offerings guarantee that guests are treated to a well-rounded and all-encompassing luxury day trip that caters to their every need and desire, ensuring that every moment of the journey is filled with excitement, comfort, and sophistication. The ticket prices reflect the exclusive nature of the experience, providing travelers with a bespoke and high-end adventure that promises memories to last a lifetime.

Cancellation Policy and Booking Considerations

Familiarize yourself with the cancellation policy for the guided seaside golf excursion with a private helicopter, which stipulates that no refunds are available for this exclusive day trip. It is essential to plan your excursion carefully, taking into account the seasonal availability and weather conditions that may impact the journey. While the experience promises an unforgettable adventure, travelers should be prepared for any unforeseen changes that may arise due to factors such as weather constraints or availability considerations.
To illustrate the importance of booking considerations, imagine a scenario where unexpected weather conditions lead to a rescheduling of the helicopter flight, requiring travelers to adjust their plans accordingly. By staying informed about the seasonal availability and duration details of the excursion, guests can make informed decisions and plan their trip during the optimal months to maximize the enjoyment of their luxury day tour. Additionally, adherence to safety guidelines and fitness recommendations ensures a seamless and enjoyable journey, allowing travelers to fully immerse themselves in the exclusive experiences that define the guided seaside golf excursion with a private helicopter from NYC to Montauk.

Seasonal Availability and Duration Details

The luxury day trip from NYC to Montauk for the seaside golf excursion is available seasonally from June to September, aligning with the ideal weather conditions for a memorable and enjoyable journey. Travelers can take advantage of the sunny skies and pleasant temperatures during these months, ensuring that every moment of their excursion is bathed in the warmth and beauty of the summer season. Planning your trip during the specified months allows you to experience the seasonal availability and duration of the journey to its fullest, capturing the essence of luxury and relaxation in a picturesque coastal setting.
For instance, consider the seasonal availability of the excursion in June, where guests can enjoy the vibrant colors of summer in full bloom, from the lush greens of the golf course to the azure hues of the ocean waters. The duration of each leg of the helicopter journey, approximately 50 minutes, provides ample time for travelers to soak in the breathtaking aerial views and appreciate the scenic landscapes below. By aligning your trip with the seasonal availability and duration details of the excursion, you can ensure that every aspect of your journey is optimized for enjoyment and relaxation, creating a luxury experience that exceeds expectations.

Safety and Fitness Guidelines for Travelers

Travelers embarking on the guided seaside golf excursion with a private helicopter should be mindful of safety and fitness guidelines to ensure a secure and comfortable journey throughout the adventure. The excursion requires participants to possess moderate physical fitness levels to fully enjoy the activities, from golfing at Seaside Golf Course to the private helicopter ride. By adhering to the recommended fitness levels, travelers can engage in the various components of the excursion with ease and confidence, enhancing their overall experience and enjoyment.
An illustrative example of safety and fitness guidelines in practice is the maximum weight limit for passengers on the 5-passenger helicopters, set at 1000 lbs to ensure the safety and comfort of all guests. This precautionary measure is implemented to maintain the aircraft's performance and capacity within safe limits, guaranteeing a smooth and secure journey for all passengers. Additionally, safety protocols are in place throughout the excursion to provide travelers with peace of mind and assurance that their well-being is a top priority. By following these guidelines and recommendations, guests can relax and indulge in the luxury and sophistication of the seaside golf excursion with a private helicopter from NYC to Montauk, knowing that their safety and comfort are well taken care of.
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So I (15f) and twin let's call her Kat(15f) Went to a small fair that our town hosts every year on the last day of school. It's in a rural state. Anyway this year me and my twin decided to go but take our horses cause we see people do it in the oast and this was the first year we got to. I have a brown and white APH/AGH cross named Rainbow and Kat had a bay AQH Named Mattie. So we had got there and parked the trailer near the end of a lot and lead our horses our and mounted as they were already tacked up. We have fun for a few hours walking around evening letting people pet our horses. But we decide to go and eat so we had gone back to the trailer I left to get food Kat was getting hay bags and water buckets out (we had jugs of water we carried around for after long trail rides or such) I was gone for about 5 min and I turned the corner food in hand when I saw 3 preteen girls mabey 11 or 12 I( dont know) Were crowding around the horses laughing and yelling. I don't know where Kat was. So I quickly rushed over gripping the food but slowed as not to frifhten the horses more. The three preteen girls were looking over to me 1 was already trying to climb up the saddle. Rainbow was standing still luckily the girls didn't frightened her or Mattie. I approached standing a foot away asking the girls in a firm and a little angry tone said "Exuse me. What do you think you fu*king doing!?" and the girls just glared at me just saying "Oh we though these were used for pony rides?" And said "Just please leave these are not for the pony rides they aren't even ponies their horses" The girl on Rainbow slid off huffing the others invited to just let them ride the 'ponies' and I kept refusing then Kat came back seeing the chaos she tried help me but by now one of the girl was mad and the other looked upset. After a little more back and forth they left. But just awhile later while we were eating a 3 women I'm guessing mid 30's to 40's came strutting over with their short hair and sandals the 3 prettens in toe smirking. Me and Kat stood up glancing at each other then the first mom began yelling and scolding us for "Not letting her little baby and friends ride the 'ponies' and how rude we were and let them ride or we will be kicked out" By this time the horse were moving their hind end to stand along the trailer they were scared their eyes were darting they pawed the ground their ears pinned with the yelling mom and smirking girls I was livid Kat tried to quiet it down and all the ruckus cased people to watch cause the scene and soon a security person came over to break away the commotion he talked with the moms then kids of their story then to me and Kat. After hearing both sides her had agreed with us then talking to the mom again saying to leave us alone and the pony rides was not here but another place at the park and after more back in forth she and the other mom and gremlins left. And soon after we went back to riding around and we actully saw the girls again they were at a squirtgun game they had lost it seemed as they stomped away.

After playing "Fallout 3" 10 years later I finally visited the famous Vault 108 aka The Gary Vault. While the creepy and surreal atmosphere was great I felt that it was very underutilized. I think that you could make a great quest-line that can feel like a psychological horror with this setup. I made up some characters and stuff but I think that it's a much better story then what we have:
"After a whole week of walking through the wasteland with a small caravan you finally get to Canterbury Commons. You go to Uncle Roe and ask him if there is anything to do around here. He tells you that a hunter called “Dusty” is missing and if he won’t come back, they will have to hire a new guy because the food reserves are getting scarce. You can go around town and ask what they know about him. Everybody tells you that he is a cool guy, likes to smoke a red pipe and has a cowboy hat on him all the time. First it’s nothing out of the ordinary. One of the commoners is a drunk woman in her mid 40s. When you ask her she reveals that Dusty is her boyfriend. She yells “F***ing a**hole, I knew he’d run away from me! F*** him, I hate his guts”. So yeah, here’s the answer – probably didn’t want to deal with his alcoholic girlfriend so he ran away to whatever other town there is… But if you have a high enough Speech Skill you can tell her to “Stop being a b*tch about this because a man is missing, a man that despite her addictions loved her”. She then stops in her tracks and tells you that “Well, maybe I went a bit overboard, listen… we had some ups and downs but he was a good man overall. I didn’t like his new pal, called Freddy. Hell, at least he made some money while selling him hallucinogenic mushrooms.”. You ask “what mushrooms?” and she tells you that on his hunting trips he knew a place where to find them, and Freddy – the local junkie just bought everything from him. So you ask around even more and find out who actually is this Freddy guy. Uncle Roe tells you that he was usually seen lying around somewhere high as a kite, and that he is not around right now but that’s normal – probably sleeping in a ditch or whatever. You ask him about the mushrooms and he tells you that Dusty once told him as a secret that he picks his mushrooms south of here in a small forest. There is a little radioactive puddle and the mushrooms grow around it a lot. After asking if Freddy knew about it, Uncle Roe tells you that… “Yeah, I told him, he bribed me so what was I supposed to do? 50 caps is a fortune for such small info. Also you better go at night because the mushrooms glow yellowish-green, and it’s better to see them that way.”.
You go to the small forest to the south of Canterbury Commons. You see the puddle and that someone just picked all the mushrooms there and left only the stalks. You don’t know why but you feel like you are being watched by someone. You hear some commotion behind the trees and a shadowy figure running away. You go to where you heard the noise and find some footsteps. They are leading you through the dark woods to a nearby rock formation. You see a familiar entrance made of wooden worn out doors. You go inside there and see a giant cave with heaps of trash lying all around. The smell is so putrid it feels like being inside a hot portable toilet. At the end of the cave you see metallic vault doors with a number “108”. When you open them, the smell gets even worse, you barely see anything because your eyes start to tear up. You walk a few steps through a metal corridor and see a glass window to the security booth. You use your sleeve to wipe the dirty window and look through it, searching for anything of use. To your utter astonishment you see a man there. He just stands there looking at a wall, like he was hypnotized. In a fracture of a second he turns his head around and starts walking towards you. You take a look at him. He’s a medium height guy, with a pale skin, dressed in the vault 108 uniform – no characteristic features. The guy looks you right in the eye with a dead stare, not moving, just looking. After ten very uncomfortable seconds the guy asks “Gary?” and runs away. What the hell? You didn’t know anyone called Gary, but maybe the guy got some hallucinations from the mushrooms or whatever. Maybe that was Freddie, he probably got a bad trip, thought that you were a Super Mutant and ran away to this place. You walk further the metal corridor and with every step the smell gets worse. Now it smells like a rotten egg drenched in urine. You enter a small room filled with crates and some bones. Feels typical for a vault, probably the remains of a random dweller. But when you look closely at the bones, they seem fresh. They maybe have closer to a week, not 20 years. You look to the right and behind a crate under another pile of bones you see a corpse. Wait a second… It’s the same guy from the window. He’s the same medium height guy, with pale skin wearing a vault 108 uniform but… dead? Maybe it’s his twin brother? But the resemblance! He really looks identical. Also he is not dead for a long time, the smell is not coming from him, it’s coming from further down the room, through another metal door. You go there and with every step you start hearing chewing noises. Rats? Dogs? Molerats? Better get my trusty 10mm pistol. When getting to another room, you see a guy kneeling in front a corpse. After a split second look at the dead guy, you see a cowboy hat, that’s probably the hunter Dusty, but what the hell is going on here? The kneeling guy gets startled and turns his head around like a rabid dog. His mouth and clothes covered in blood with a piece of flesh still hanging from his mouth. It’s the same guy from the window! He shouts at you “GARY!” and starts running like a maniac with a sharp kitchen knife in his hand. You swiftly point your gun at his head and shoot 3 times. Miss, Miss, Hit. The guy fell on the ground like a bag of bricks and mumbled “Gary…” with his dying breath. You stand there, looking at the gruesome scene speechless. A half eaten cowboy, a dead cannibal and you.
What in the f*ck was going on here?..."

[ First / Previous ]
Memory Transcript Subject: Vili, Venlil Citizen
Date [standardized human time]: December 1st, 2136
The absent adults were due to arrive any time by now. I navigated the crowd of children who milled about the field, taking a head count to ensure everyone was in sight.
Those who had family attending the excursion were bubbling with excitement to see their relatives while a couple others trailed behind me, asking me yet more banal questions about venlil society and how it feels to have fur and a tail.
“I’ll let you in on a secret,” I had told April once. “It’s really, really… itchy. Have you ever had a bug crawling on you? Feels just like that. All the time.”
Chihiro didn’t approve as much of me saying that but Mercy seemed to enjoy the reaction I managed to get from the other kids. While I felt bad for exploiting the apparent human fear of insects, they were quick to forgive me, citing they “couldn't stay mad at a face like mine.”
Truthfully, I too began to enjoy seeing the children react to the things I'd tell them; the genuine nature in everything they did was more than I'd have expected from humans when I first arrived. Some of them would watch me with curiosity and wonder as we spoke, reminding me that this was a species who had only just been introduced onto the galactic stage and still had cause to gawk at the aliens.
Well, most of them.
Toward the edge of the gaggle of children was Lukas, moping away while trying to hide the black eye Amber had given him. A part of me was - flattered - disappointed that she'd risk herself to enact retaliation on my behalf, but I knew she wouldn't understand me were I to even tell her off about it.
Over the last few weeks, I'd gotten to know many of the children, though Lukas remained as distant as ever. In a way, I felt pity to see him so small even after witnessing the pleasure he got from putting others down and how infuriating I found his antics. He was full of anger and clearly had it misdirected at all non-humans for the actions of those who participated in the extermination fleet - at least he has reason.
I brushed at my ear to ward off the tingling sensation and let out an irritated growl. My hackles raised when I heard a sympathetic growl come from behind.
Turning about, I found that the source was Amber, also swiping at her ear in a mimicry of my action. I was far less bothered by her giddy snarl after having her do it every time she approached me, though it didn't make the itch at my back from almost jumping in fear go away.
“You do that a lot,” Amber giggled. “Is your ear itchy? Wait, don't answer that because I won't understand it.”
My ears whirled about and I tilted my head slightly to look directly at the strange little girl who'd been so eager to make friends with me from the very beginning. I'd accepted that, at least in her eyes, I was “Luka” and that I existed for her to talk to endlessly about her favorite hobbies despite her knowing she wouldn't understand anything I said in response.
Even then, I was still rather worried that I'd been so frequent with admonishing the more - sensible - pushy one that Amber had taken note. How many others could have noticed? I wasn't even sure how humans viewed me, but it wouldn't matter so much now that I was getting ready to return home to Luka.
I took a seat on the grass and found myself surrounded by a small following of kids that did the same. Amber, too, took a seat, but directly on my lap instead. I grunted as the surprisingly heavy child settled and I brought her head upon my scruff, allowing her to play with my paw.
“You only have three fingers and a thumb. That's pretty weird.”
“And you only have hair on the top of your head, that’s pretty weird too.”
“I’ll assume you were giving me a compliment…”
The other of the kids understood me and giggled at the back and forth as Amber raked a nail under my claws. While I was certain they were clean, Amber's scrutinizing stare felt as if I was being judged by my mother again.
“Your nails feel like a dog's. Maybe not as sharp.”
My translator interpreted that word as a “domesticated Terran predator” and I flicked my tail in indignation. I'd tried to shut out those who claimed I had traits akin to Earth fauna, though the accusations kept coming regardless.
From what I'd gathered, they believed my fur resembled that of a “sheep”, my tail and paws resembled a “cat”, and my ears were that of a “bunny”; now, I could add claws of a “dog” to that list. I had to keep reminding myself these humans didn't grow up knowing any other metric than that of the creatures from their home planet.
I knew the Terran Richard would return in the group that was due to arrive - Ma had made a point to inform me of such. The mention of the human's name spoiled my mood each time he was mentioned, and yet the Blackfox women continued to speak of him as though he was the most harmless thing.
I was not over the way he seemed to look down on my brother as an obedient servant, laying hands on him as though he were a dumb animal rather than a person. Luka had been the pillar that held me up since we were barely able to walk and talk, and it burned me up inside to see him crave the validation of predators when I knew he didn’t need it.
Amber, seemingly bored with one paw, grabbed the other as I let my arm remain limp. At first, I felt only the tickle as she played at the knuckles on this one as well, but there was a pause as she turned it over to face the palm outwards.
“Where'd you get this?”
I looked at my own palm and felt my heart skip a beat as Amber's claw pointed directly at the cut in my paw. I'd thought she had noticed it before, but the fact she'd call attention to it now when I was surrounded by the other children made a chill run up my back. I was still uncertain if bloodlust was a learned trait, and so being surrounded by juvenile predators at a moment like this did not sit well with me.
Trying to retract my paw, a lump raised in my throat as the human child’s grip hardened on my wrist. The other children watched with curiosity and neither of my assistants nor Martha were around to call for advice. I was to settle this on my own.
I asked with a shaky tone, “Amber?”
She rolled her head back until the tip of my snout brushed against her forehead. I got to look into the depths of her arboreal eyes, letting me see every red-blooded vein, every muscle twitch, every flash as they glistened in the red sun's light while the predator gave me her full, undivided attention. She even offered me her usual flash of the teeth. “Yeah?”
“Pah… Per… Pwers?”
I wiggled my arm in an attempt to indicate what I was asking to have released.
“Hold on, I'll let go in a sec.”
She understood me this time, but I sighed as she promptly ignored my request. She once again played with my claws, twisting them back and forth gently as she hummed to herself.
“Looks like it was made by your claws,” she concluded while continuing to toy with them. “This is why my momma always had us trim Butterscotch's claws, because she kept scratching me up when we played.”
The name once again tripped up my translator, describing it as a candy made from melted sugar and congealed milk fat. I tried to suppress the bile that built in my throat as I considered that worse than the item's description was the fact that she'd named an animal which had a reputation for scratching her after it.
Please, please don't throw away everything we'd built in this one moment.
“I miss Butterscotch,” she muttered. “But now I have new friends! Alien-friends!”
She rolled her head back again and looked back up at me.
“Like you! We're friends, right Luka?”
Her eyes shone with bright innocence and juvenile glee, making my fears melt away.
“Ie-e… I’ezz, frn'dz,” I confirmed. Apparently, my vocals didn't lend themselves to speaking Amber's tongue any better than hers did mine. Every word I spoke felt as though I needed to clear my throat after.
“Cool!”
With that conclusion, the dark-haired girl snapped back to my arm and pressed her lips to the back of my paw. I went slack as she did so and it felt as though all of my muscles had lost their function at once as I sat motionless and silent. I could see and hear the world around me and yet it didn't register that anything existed.
I felt her face lift from my flesh and Amber proclaimed proudly, “Momma did that every time I got bruised up and told me it helped with healing! So maybe you'll get better too!”
“Ah-hah,” was the only response I could manage, made on impulse as the rest of my brain felt a million light years away.
“Alright, everyone,” a voice called from behind us. “They're here, so clear out so they have somewhere to park!”
There was a commotion as the children all scrambled to their feet, including Amber, and they rushed with zealous squeals back toward the body of the camp. But not me.
My jaw remained slack as I stared at the back of my paw, focusing on the wet spot imprinted in my fur. It was a bite of sorts, described exactly as Tac had told me, and yet not a mark was left on my flesh save for the tingling of nerves as I seized up.
My back hit the grass and I let my tail curl around my leg as I held my paw to the sky. “Wuh…”
Something approached and kicked up the grass as I laid still and glared at my decidedly unharmed paw. My eyes traveled up to find Mercy standing over me with the corners of her mouth turned downwards.
“You good?”
“Why did you bite Tac?”
“Lord help us all,” she mumbled while rolling her eyes. “C'mon, let's get you outta here before you’re turned into ven-paté under some truck.”
“Uh huh.”
The elder teen’s grip helped me to my feet as I regained faculties, though I still felt weak. “It was a legitimate question, though,” I told her.
“It's just a sign of affection, I guess. I never really considered it so much before, y’know? It's not like you really think about why everything is when it's so normal, right?”
Speak for yourself, I wanted to tell her, though I held my tongue.
As I took a seat, the thrumming of engines could be heard coming from over the brow of the hill. Apparating as though it were a giant, segmented insect were the adult humans in their ramshackle vehicles, rattling down the hill with each occupied by at least five or six bodies in each of the dozen autos.
The children and elders alike rushed to greet their family as they parked and disembarked from the chain of gas guzzlers. Parents lifted their children in the air and hugged them while the elders chatted with them. But among the troupe of humans that had arrived, I knew something felt off.
“They’re one vehicle short,” I noted to Mercy.
“Hm?”
“I counted them when they left. They’re one short.”
Her piercing gaze scanned the fleet herself before she nodded. “Mike’s missing.”
Michael was the driver that Richard had departed with and so that helped explain the deadpan Terran’s absence. Luka and Hileen both recounted the same human by name when talking of their experiences with them, with both drawing the conclusion that he had to be the worst driver on Venlil Prime.
“Psst,” came a voice hissing from behind. “Mercy.”
Mercy turned to give attention to Tac as he sulked away from the crowd as usual, though I remained with my back turned to him while watching the humans interact.
The tip of my tail tickled at the grass watching children get smothered in affection by their parents, and they in turn received hugs from their elders as others chattered. I itched at the back of my palm where Amber's mouth had been as Johnny's parents each planted a similar bite on his cheek and forehead. Chihiro carried her brother on her shoulders as she chatted with her own parents with brimming snarls.
“Looks like Mike had a bit too much fun and ran his truck off the road,” Mercy told me as she came back from talking with Tac. “They're on their way.”
“I can do without seeing Crow.”
“Yeah, well, I could do with a place to practice rock climbing, but we can't always get what we want.”
“You humans really are strange for wanting to climb stuff.”
“It's in our nature, no matter how deeply buried.”
She playfully bumped me on the shoulder and I returned with a gentle lashing of my tail against her ankle to which she welcomed with hissing laughter. The teenager wandered off in the direction of her family's tent.
The crowd that had gathered to greet the returning humans was slowly beginning to disperse as the vehicles were unloaded of a variety of equipment. I was relieved to find that there were no signs of blood or death to be seen, assuaging the deep-seated worry that I had of the humans being on the hunt. As little trust as I had for Crow, there'd be no redeeming one so sordid as himself were he to be everything he was as well as a murderer.
I looked forward to seeing Luka again, even if the only thing he had to tell me was stories of his human coworkers. Perhaps now I had stories of my own experiences with humans to tell him and maybe I'd get to see that glimmer in his eye once again that had so long ago been tarnished.
Amber's delighted shrieks were heard over the commotion and I could spot her being held in the air above her father's head as her toothy snarl became somehow wider. Her legs kicked while she wriggled in the hefty human’s embrace and turned attention to her mother as she was lowered into her grasp.
Even here amongst predators, thoughts of home still hounded me. The closest I could recall mom or dad ever coming to that was when they brought me along to one of their outings for dinner where I was allowed to pick the venue. I was still not permitted to talk to other people even then, but I didn't mind at the time.
The gurgle of another gas-powered engine roared over the brow of the hill, prompting a few others and I to turn our attention upwards.
Breaching the horizon came the last truck, though I was curious to note that it appeared to be driving backwards. Tilting my head didn't give me any more of a vantage to figure out why the truck backed up down the hill, nor did it help decipher the mindless chanting that ramped up as the vehicle closed the distance.
“John Wayne's teeth, hey-a
John Wayne's teeth, hey-a
Are they plastic, are they steel-a”
A claw tapping me on the shoulder spooked me, though I had grown to suppress the instinct to jump and make a fuss. “Momma would like to talk before we send you off,” Mercy told me. “She's in our tent.”
I obeyed the summons, almost forgetting how to navigate the maze of rickety shacks and tents to find the Blackfoxes’ residence. It was a simple task, though, once I remembered that the elder sibling had given it a “groovy” paint job.
Approaching the government-issued yurt that had been painted with vivid flowers, I found it odd for it to not have a horde of humans gathered around. They'd typically mill about Martha's tent while she spoke with each of them about their concerns, though what became of their talks was beyond my knowledge.
I ducked inside without notifying Martha, finding her seated at the squat table that was situated in the middle of the tent. The matriarch turned her eyes up to face me and she happily set her insulated cup down.
“There's not really any room for more chairs,” she told me. “But feel free to take a seat anywhere.”
My ears gently brushed against the top of the tent before I sat down just to the right of where she rested. In this claustrophobic environment, I'd have assumed I was being lured into a trap before. At the very least, I still kept my ears on a swivel for signs of trouble, but now confidence outweighed caution.
We sat for a moment without saying anything as Ma adjusted her seat to look at me directly, leaning an elbow against the table as she reclined.
She asked, “Enjoy your stay?”
I scratched the scruff on my neck as I wondered that myself.
“No. Not at first.”
“But now you can say you did?”
“Everything here is a new experience. For me, and possibly every other person who'd have grown up under the Federation.”
“You pulled through, despite being surrounded by predators. That's more than can be said for the lady who stabbed a guy in panic on the first day of the Exchange Program.”
My ear waggled in entertainment to think someone had set the bar so low. What fool would brazenly assault a predator to begin with?
“There were a few times where I thought I'd need to run for the hills,” I explained. “The children you raise are an unadulterated look into what life was like back on Earth, if nothing else.”
Martha chuckled and covered her snarl with a palm as she spoke, “I will choose to believe that's a compliment, given your opinion on us before.”
“I'd say it's a stellar review in the face of almost drowning while under your employment.”
Her face fell a bit and she rubbed the back of her neck while averting her eyes. “Yeah…”
“That is to say!” I blurted out hastily. “Th-that everything else has made it worth my time.”
My desperation to clarify myself felt embarrassing and my ears turned warm as they went flush. Martha sat still for a moment before she spoke again.
“When Richard hired you, he told me you wanted to up your price. 1200 credits?”
“It's a big ask in hindsight, I know. I didn't realize how tight your budget was at the time and I'm grateful that you've offered me—”
She waved a hand with a shushing hiss.
“We don't need to worry so much about that now. Where I was going with that was, that you agreed to our terms yourself, and accepted with only a reasonable upcharge. No other local would've been so quick to take on this job for even quadruple the price!”
“Brashness is a quality of mine I'm becoming more familiar with,” I joked.
“Must be something in the water. But payment is why I summoned you here, actually. We have only a few members who were on board with having an ‘alien’ presiding over the children, and fewer still who contributed any funds.”
“So what you're offering is out of the pocket of only a couple of contributors. I see.”
“I hope it doesn't lessen your opinion of us to tell you that.”
I scratched my snout and exhaled, shaking free the impulse to inquire any further with a flick of my ear.
“So I suppose all there is left to do is arrange payment, and I'll be on my way?”
“It would seem so.”
Heavy footsteps shuffled across the grass outside though conversation from the crowd remained distant. They stopped right outside of the entrance and the canvas foyer rattled as knuckles rapped against the cloth.
“Martha, it's me,” growled a familiar voice. “Everyone decent?”
“You’re clear, come on in.”
The flap shot open and my paw balled into a fist as Richard froze upon spotting me. The predator’s blank gaze didn’t hide their confusion when I could clearly spot their eyes flicking between Martha and I.
“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” Crow asked.
“We were just finishing up,” I responded, making no effort to hide my contempt for the interloper's presence.
Martha waved a hand to one of the chairs. “Have a seat, and I'll be right with you.”
Richard seemed almost deflated as he sulked over to the table. I resisted the opportunity to trip him with my tail in front of Martha to humiliate him, instead glowering at him as he afforded me a quick glance. I turned my attention back to the leader figure that was present while he took a seat.
“So 1100 credits was the agreed upon price, yes?”
“It was, though if there's anything else you desire outside the monetary value, you need only ask. We can't offer much, but I'm sure I have the ear of someone who can.”
“Hopefully you don't mean that literally,” I jested, putting on a facade of worry.
I could spot Crow watching Martha chuckle at my quip. His miserable expression was almost unreadable, save for the furrowing of the pelts on his brow.
Let him watch me charm his kind as easily as he thinks he can mine.
I raised my tail behind my head while I leaned against the table and curled the end loosely to convey appreciation. It was a sign that was rarely used outside of close bonding - that is to say, it'd been a while since I had been able to use it.
Recognition didn't light up in Martha's expression but I was content with projecting affection in any way I could. Understanding wasn't as important as the gesture itself.
“So might I at least know the names of those who did contribute? I'd like to express my thanks to them.”
Richard was the one who responded, “I wouldn't ask questions I wouldn't want the answers—”
“What he means,” Martha interjected. “Is that most contributors wouldn't like being mentioned by name. Aliens are still a polarizing subject and can crop up arguments that others may be obligated to avoid.”
My ears and tail sagged a bit. “Did my presence bring up that much of a problem?”
“More like it's one of a million other things these people can't agree about. But of those who I think would enjoy a bit of gratitude, you may already know some of them.”
“Oh? Tell me!”
I made eye contact with Crow who remained quiet as he cradled his chin in his palm against the table. His bored demeanor irked me in ways I couldn't describe.
“The Ito family, of whom you're already familiar with their daughter Chihiro, were the first to pledge. They're good folk and will happily accept your thanks. Next was myself, though I didn't give much. One of our cooks, Raksh, also contributed a bit, though that may have been more out of courtesy than anything else. And lastly…”
She lazily extended a claw toward Richard.
“... is Mister Crow here, your biggest donor who paid damn near half of your wage!”
Slowly, I felt myself deflate as enthusiasm made way for disappointment. I gritted my teeth to keep any brash words from escaping my lips.
“Closer to a third, actually,” he corrected her. “And with me already having the contact details of your brother, that means I can help set up the rest of the transaction.”
Even when I think I'm winning, he finds a way to one-up me.
“Would you mind giving us a moment, Vili? I think Mister Crow came here to say something and I’d hate to keep you from saying your goodbyes.”
Obliging her request, Martha and Richard waited patiently as I shuffled out of the tent. I hadn't realized how tightly my paw was clenched before reaching the outside where I felt my joints creak with relief as the fist unballed.
In the short time I'd been away, I secretly began to crave interaction from any of the humans I'd become acquainted with. My mind drifted to the slop that Big Joe always served, and how he always laughed every time I tried to inquire as to his full name. It wasn't quite dinner time, though, and so I then considered if any of the kids were still roaming about for me to tell stories to.
Whispers came from the tent before I could set a destination and my ears immediately perked up. I'd found that the humans’ ears were not nearly as effective as mine and so I found it easy to go unnoticed around them. I assumed they thought I was out of earshot by now.
I crouched on one knee and raised an ear to listen, though it was garbled hisses from this far. Curiosity got the better of me and I shuffled on my knees toward the tent, hiding in the shadow cast by an adjacent tent to mask my presence.
“... playing games with the lives of children,” came the low growl of Crow.
“Miss Ito and my own daughter are both very capable of defending themselves and the children from a venlil, Richard. You need to have faith that things can turn out alright.”
“Faith! She wanted to—”
There was a pause before I heard heavy stomping through the canvas. The mesh flaps that acted as windows were quickly torn shut one by one. I feared Crow would spot me, but he seemed too focused on hiding whatever it was he was talking about.
“She told me that she would've used my brains to add character development to a fucking snowglobe. Faith wouldn't have saved me if she carried through.”
“The fact that she informed you of her plot should be some small comfort that there's a piece of her that trusts you.”
“We don't know how many pieces there are! Should we wait for her to try to gore me on the street a second time? Perhaps you’ll get some insight if she sticks a claw through my eye?”
“I'd never let it come to that. I do wonder why it is that you're so worried about her. Did you not tell me you knew someone in her position?”
I heard a huff leave Richard before he spoke, “That was while she was getting help from professionals! What, do you hope to get her the therapy she needs from some squalid nowhere shantytown when we're eating out of the aliens’ trough ourselves?”
“It's a preferable alternative to leaving her at the mercy of the Federation's methods of ‘healing’. At least this way, she's getting help that matters.”
By this point, their voices had lowered into hissing whispers that even I strained to hear.
“I expect that you'll be more open with the others about your motives in the future, Martha. Maybe I have no rock to stand on when I say this, but your actions could very well draw the UN's eye, and the last thing I want is to have the Blues down here.”
“Is it related to your incarceration? Perhaps you were on parole before the bombing and fear the UN will be after you?”
I listened to rustling coming from my left and the conversation grew quiet. I turned to see Tac trotting along, surprisingly unaccompanied by Mercy as he shoveled a bowl of stew into his maw. He stopped mid-bite to look at me hunched over next to the Blackfoxes’ tent and narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Shove off, I signaled to him. Come back later.
Weird, he replied before trotting off without fuss, thankfully.
There was something of a release from within the tent as I heard Crow and Blackfox alike exhale.
“I assure you, Richard,” Martha started again. “Whatever fears you have, you're protected by venlil laws of asylum as well as having the backing of myself-”
“We can do therapy later,” Crow butted in. “I'll take Vili home. I hope you're prepared to explain to your son that this mission we've embarked on wasn't the quest for glory he thought it'd be.”
“I've tried my best to tamp his expectations down, but I was hoping that Kanek would be open to publishing our actions. The bus that is taking the ones you rescued into town should be arriving shortly, and Kanek will be here soon after she's shushed them.”
I scampered off when I heard Crow trudge out of the tent, using my paws to crawl as quietly as I could manage out of sight. Blowing dirt off of the scab on my punctured paw, I walked off to find people I wanted to say goodbye to.

Most of the kids were already spending time with their families, but the few who still milled about and played were happy to give one last goodbye. Riley broke down in tears while we embraced and I now had a stain on the fur of my belly where her tears had soaked through.
I tried shifting by a group of the adults that were celebrating their return around a campfire. The looks I got as I did so were unnerving now that I understood the discourse that my presence had caused.
Approaching Crow, I pretended I didn’t know why he was slinking between groups and milling wanderers with a leering eye. He turned about to the sounds of my paws shuffling across the grass and threw his head backwards in a lazy greeting similar to how Mercy would.
“Are you ready to head back home?”
“I'm sure Luka has held the place down on his own… but yes.”
“Good, I'll bring the truck around for you and we'll be on our way.”
“Richa-a-a-a-ard!”
My ears perked up and I snapped my head about to meet the approaching Amber with her arms outstretched. Her voice bounced with each step as she rushed toward the towering Terran. Crow let out a grunt as she forced her arms around his waist and jumped about with glee.
“Mama said you were a party pooper! You told me you'd stay cool!”
“Aw, I'm sure you can forgive me for keeping to myself, Amber. Did you enjoy your time alone?”
Amber turned the corners of her mouth down in a pouty expression. “No, I didn't have anyone to help me with my homework!”
Richard patted the young girl on the back and began trying to pry her arms from him.
“I'm sure you managed just fine, you're smarter than the average second grader. And how did Vili treat you?”
I folded my ears back when Crow's eyes turned back to me.
“Vili? That's Luka!”
Amber finally unlatched herself from Crow and rushed over to my side, jabbing a claw toward me.
“See? The ear is the same color! And she knows when I say her name! Mercy told me venlil don't have boobies like human girls do but she's a girl! You were wrong!”
A couple of the voices closest to us erupted in the familiar, grating laughter that accompanied humans everywhere. I tilted my head while trying to grasp what it was Amber said that had earned such a response. Human and venlil physiology was different for sure, but I'd never considered it so entertaining.
Perhaps it's some in-joke that I'm not knowledgeable on, I thought, humans seem to like those.
Crow lowered his eyes to the ground and pursed his lips before squatting down and beckoning Amber toward him. She obeyed and the taller Terran cupped a hand over her ear, whispering quietly.
Amber's eyes lit up as Crow continued and her mouth hung agape. “Lu- ah, er…you're a twin?!”
In a rush, Amber grasped the fur around my ribs and began shaking me back and forth. “You were hiding it from me-e-e!”
Given this small child was still two-thirds my weight, I wobbled like a sapling in the wind as I tried to grab for the scolding child's wrists.
“Please. Stop. Gonna hurl.”
The little girl groaned and buried her face in my stomach. “You must think I'm pretty stupid too, huh?”
Mustering as much of my understanding of English, I belched out, “No.”
Amber buried her face deeper into my pelt while exhaling.
“l'ou… no donb.”
She raised her head to look me head-on, something which I couldn't return in full for the placement of my eyes.
“I'ou's… Zm’rd. Kappy. Ngai'z.”
“You stink at English,” Amber giggled while shooting me one last face-splitting snarl. I mashed her cheeks between my paws and she relented her grasp.
“I neeb go, fr'nd! O’gee?”
“Okay! I promise I'll try to know how to say ‘hi’ next time! And more.”
Richard butted in, “I'm sure she'll hold you to that promise, but I think it's time we got going.”
As soon as he had suggested as much, I caught sight of a human who was only covered in pelts from the waist down stagger into view. The glassy eyed stare and uncoordinated movement were all too familiar to me even without knowing where they were before.
They growled, “Fucks the alien still doing here?”
“Just about to get going, Paul,” Richard shot back. “Don't concern yourself with her.”
“It has been here long enough! Move along, little lambchop!”
“Man, lay off,” another human intervened. “She's as welcome here as any other guest.”
“Nah, Paul has a point. How do we know she ain't some Baby Burner spy or some shit? Get the xeno outta here!”
The humans quickly began bickering amongst themselves and I felt the firm grasp of Crow on my shoulder tug me away from the commotion. Amber trailed behind, watching the debates unfold behind us while we made our way along.
Crow opened the door in a raggedy truck in even worse condition than the others, standing aside for me to enter. While I didn't want to test the predator's patience in light of the tension behind us, I whirled about to give Amber one last goodbye hug. Her grasp around my neck was like iron though the wet streams on her face were all I needed to know that I should let her have this.
“You're gonna come back, right? You and your brother are gonna come and say hi?”
I saw no point in trying to cobble together an articulate sentence in her own language that'd fall flat as soon as I spoke. I considered my words carefully while I clasped her hands in my paws.
“I want to, but I have class that I need to catch up with, as well as I'm in need of a stable job once I'm through with this one. I don't know when I'll be back, but I want you to know that you've made this the best two weeks I've had in a long time, Amber. I don't know how much of my language you understand, but your enthusiasm has surpassed all barriers.”
She stared back up at me with her lips locked in an “oh” pose before turning to Richard who still watched with a lazy gaze.
“She said ‘maybe’.”
That seemed to suffice for Amber as she broke free and ran off squealing with her arms in the air as she always did when she was excited. I'd gotten used to the ear-splitting shrieks of the kids, and my ears didn't even fold back on reflex anymore.
“That's not what I said,” I grumbled to Crow.
He clicked his tongue as he held the door open for me. “Less is more. She's a kid, so she may not fully grasp your struggles anyway.”
With a huff, I crawled into the truck and kicked my feet up onto the dashboard while Crow ducked in behind the wheel. He twisted the key and the vehicle gurgled to life.
Strangely enough, I found that instead of the truck lurching forward, Crow put the vehicle into reverse, using the mirror to navigate up the hill. The truck seemed to make sure we felt every rock and bump that it struck, and I eventually decided to straighten out my posture so that I didn't get folded in half by a particularly bad bump.
Richard seemed unfazed by the sickness-inducing commotion, guiding the truck up the hill with a steady gaze. Stopping at the top, he whipped out his holopad and tapped away while quietly mumbling to himself.
“... hundred-fifty year-old country shit, sure why not.”
He tapped once more and the truck's audio system whirred with the melodic twang of a stringed instrument accompanied by simple percussion. A human's strange croon came over the speaker in a curious tune.
“You held me up, held me down
Made me crazy, then turned me around…”
Richard twisted the knob to bring the volume down to a more agreeable level and I caught a glimpse down at the camp. A group of humans were now gathered where I'd been talking with Amber just moments before.
Now, I could spot the human Paul bumping chests with a human much larger than he, noses almost touching in a clear display of aggression as they howled at each other. Humans pointed claws at one another and argued while yet more flocked to the scene of the commotion. Whether their motives were to disperse or exacerbate was yet to be seen.
“You were my shelter and my storm
Made me cold, then you made me warm…”
Crow finally put the truck in gear and we rolled backwards yet again, leaving the only sight before me the peaks of the Belimal retreating beneath the grassy brow.
As I let the truck shuttle me back to my brother, I yearned for the comfort of my own bed and blankets, for the soft hum of my own air conditioning unit, and for the obnoxious snoring and sleep-talking of my own flesh and blood.
From here, one might even be able to see the highest of the foothills from which my roots would lay betwixt, a reminder that the pangs of home weren't just knots in my stomach. Luka and I had a long way to go to get away from home, and even longer to be rid of it.
“One step forward and two steps back, nobody gets too far like that
One step forward and two steps back, this kind of dance can never last.”
[ First / Previous ]

Previous
Writer's Note: Meant to post this last week, but work got busy. Probably gonna be another chapter later this week.
As for the story, well, even old dudes have back stories.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joey did what he could to stay as calm as he could as he and Nesvee walked through the streets of the city.
For the first time since coming to this world he actually LOOKED like a mage. Well... minus a few fun dressup sessions when James had taken him shopping for clothes. He couldn't help but try on some robes and things at the time. But both James and the tailors had assured him that most mages didn't actually dress like that. Most dressed like either craftsmen, like Miss Veliry, or else simply dressed like nobles since their endeavors usually earned them good pay. Ekron fell into the latter group.
But Joey looked more like a D&D version of a mage or wizard.
Maybe a blade singer or something? He mused as his thoughts lingered on the rapier in his belt.
The outfit wasn't bad. He wore a long cloak of dark blue, with bits of dark green and light blue embroidery. It had a built in veil that went over his face. The whole thing was enchanted to conceal his magical nature even more intensely than the neck and wrist restraints had, and he was wearing those too. The veil and hood were both enchanted to conceal his antlers and obscure his face.
He looked like a technicolor wraith of some kind.
Even Nesvee had been unnerved by his appearance when he'd left his room wearing it.
That discomfort had quickly been dispelled when they'd gone more than twenty minutes without anyone giving him more than a passing glance.
"So the old man has a list of stuff he needs and where to get them." Nesvee said as she looked at the little notebook he'd given her. "As well as one person to seek out for a bit of assistance?" She said, questioning the last bit.
He looked at her curiously, forgetting that she couldn't see his face behind the veil.
"Some... Garthan... person." She said as she looked at the notes. "At a place called the... um... Tinnetha's Rest.... Says it's east of the lab by about six miles. Near the bar district." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"What else?" Joey asked, eager to simply get the day's tasks over with.
"Mostly just bits and pieces here and there." She replied. "Things he thinks will help with figuring out how to help you."
Joey nodded, making sure to exaggerate it a bit as he did so she would notice, then the two of them set off into the city.
Now that he had managed to calm down, and also wasn't being given any more attention than the occasional passing glance, Joey was able to take in the city of Ospiele with a more critical eye.
Initially he'd thought the city was in shambles. Their journey through the city over the course of the day did nothing to dispel that fact. But he did begin to notice things that gave him reason to think that there was a method to the madness.
For starters the sector of the city that they'd entered, and where Ekron's lab/home were located, seemed to be the only area devoted to dedicated mage laboratories. These buildings ranged from druidic (he assumed) forest groves that frequently spilled into their neighbors' lots, to almost Earth-like office-looking buildings. They also seemed to have been color coded based on their owner's magical proclivities. More than a few times magical outbursts would occur, causing passersby to rush out of the way of anything happening. For red buildings this was usually bursts of flame. For blue buildings it was usually sprays of water or ice. And for one incredibly dirty brown building the outburst actually took the form of half of the building rising several feet unexpectedly, breaking away from the other half with quite a bit of damage. The hastily nailed down boards and tiles spoke to this being a common occurrence.
One building had Cobalt Legion guards stationed outside of it, and people walking past made a point of walking in the street instead of walking on the path in front of it.
That building had been painted black, with subtle bits of red and green in some places.
At his questioning Nesvee explained that she'd noticed the same trend, and that upon questioning it Ekron had explained it was intentional. The Lord of the city, whom they'd met the day before, had required that the labs have their owner's specialties and focuses be easily identified by the city guard. This was so that they could know how to respond, and who to blame, if something went wrong that they needed to respond to.
This made the quiet grey and white coloration of Ekron's lab curious to Joey. He wondered if it was because the elder mage primarily focused on enchanting, and as such worked with more than one magic style.
When they got roughly three miles from the lab they encountered a check point of sorts. The guards there, more of the so-called Cobalt Legion, asked a few questions. Nesvee showed them a letter that explained they worked for Ekron and were simply going for supplies. Then they were allowed through.
On the other side of the check point the city almost looked normal. In fact if it weren't for the difference in architecture, which favored stone construction over lumber, Joey could've been convinced he was back in the Petravian capital.
Well, the architecture and the overabundance of magic users and enchanted items being used in every building they passed. Even in his current magical condition Joey could sense the overwhelming flow of magic. And almost everything that was being used seemed more advanced than in Petravus.
They passed a bakery where the goods were placed on a tray that was then placed on a conveyor belt. The belt then passed them between too sheets of metal that would slowly grow brighter and brighter red until the pastries and breads emerged from the other side. At that point the pan they were on would glow blue while vibrating noisily, cooling itself and also un-sticking the the foods cooked onto it before they could solidify. Then the tray would fall off the conveyor belt and slide into a display case where an employee was ready to take orders.
Don't remember anything that fancy even in the King's castle. Joey thought as they moved past.
"Hungry?" Nesvee asked. "Just wait until you see the shops up ahead." She added. "There's this place selling these new sandwiches from your neck of the woods in Petravus. They called them Hand Bulgers. The dwarf running it has a machine that mixes the meat and then another that shapes it into disks before he throws them on a grill."
"You mean hamburgers?" Joey asked, surprised to even hear of burgers this far from Petravus. Though he knew that the restaurant James had introduced them too in the capital had become insanely popular.
Nesvee shook her head. "No they're definitely hand bulgers."
She couldn't see it but Joey's face scrunched at that.
"Round shaped meat disk between round bread buns?" He asked. "Veggies and cheese and stuff in it too?" She nodded. "That's definitely a cheeseburger." He corrected her.
"Noooot according to the guy running the place." She countered.
"Well he's wrong." Joey assured her. "I would know. I'm FROM Petravus where they came from."
"Well you can tell him that yourself if you're willing to wait an hour to get through the line." She replied.
"I... think I'll pass." He said, still annoyed.
They passed a tavern, at which a few of the Cobalt Legion were resting. They had their helmets off and were enjoying beers and wine, along with something that looked suspiciously like bowls of ramen, or maybe udon.
Can't give James credit for THAT recipe.
He was surprised to learn that the people underneath the helmets looked both incredibly young, AND incredibly aged.
If he had to guess, he would've estimated the oldest of them as being no more than twenty five or so. And yet their eyes had bags under them, and haunted looks IN them. The men bore dark beard shadows and ALL of them had their hair cut incredibly short, including the few women.
In short, they reminded him of how a bunch of James's soldier friends looked when he'd met them a few times. Young, yet prematurely old.
He couldn't imagine what being both a soldieguard AND an anti-mage specialist in a city full of mages did to a person. But the faces he saw as they passed the tavern spoke to the weariness that duty put them through.
One of the guards looked at him curiously as he saw Joey's veiled and hooded head studying them. The guard was reaching for their helmet when the tavern server arrived and put a new round of drinks on their table.
Joey quickly looked away.
"I think that's the first stop." Nesvee said as she nudged his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts. She was pointing at a sign with a drawing of some gemstones and a monocle on it. She held up the notepad and looked at it again. "Yeah. There's a few crystal types on here." She confirmed. "Plus a few things that I think MIGHT... be crystals. I don't know what Mordian ice is. But I figure that jeweler should know."
Joey nodded and followed her. Though he was fairly certain that Mordian Ice was a type of liquid. He wasn't 100% certain, but he thought he'd seen a jar with that name on it in Veliry's lab in Petravus.
And just like that, the two of them were shopping in earnest.
They didn't notice a somewhat pudgy looking man walking about twenty yards behind them. He occasionally stopped to inspect something from the shops they passed, and even bought a cheese filled pastry from the bakery Joey had noticed.
But he always kept the two shoppers in his sight, even if only out of the corner of his eye.
Ekron waved his hand, causing his front door to swing open smoothly and silently.
"Good afternoon Ravyn." He said as he poured a cup of tea and set it in front of the chair to his left. "Timely as always."
The large half orc woman walked in calmly as he put two scoops of sugar in the tea for her. Just like she preferred.
"I still need the enchantment that keeps your door from slamming when it does that." She said as she presented her hand to him. He kissed it lightly, as he always did when he saw his old coworker. She looekd back and smiled as the door also closed itself just as silently. "Mine always makes such a racket." She said as she sat in the indicated chair and sipped the tea. "Mmmmm. Still remember my preference eh?" She asked as she swept her silver hair back over her shoulder and behind her ear.
"Vatrian crimson. Two scoops." He said as she made herself comfortable. "How have you been dear?" He asked.
"Quite well." She replied. "Pan gave birth to my third grand daughter last month."
Ekron smiled curtly. "Congratulations." He said. "I remember her when she was still just a toddler on your hip."
"Those were the days weren't they." She said with a raise of her glass and a similar smile. "Now tell me. What are these rumors I hear of you walking in the company of a messenger?" She asked. "I assume that IS... why you requested me to come here."
Ekron nodded. "It is." He admitted. "Though they AREN'T a messenger."
Her eyebrow rose, and she was about to ask how he knew that. But she was interrupted.
BANG!
The front door slammed open, causing Ekron to chew on his upper lip in annoyance.
"Ekkie!!!"Morris Kestin exclaimed as he swaggered into the building with his arms up as if he was some kind of performer walking on stage. Then he made a point of looking around in an exaggerated manner. "Where's our little messenger friend?"
Ekron did NOT pour a cup of tea for his former teammate.
"I've told you SO many times now, NOT to call me that." Ekron said. "And by the gods, its a door not your ass in a bar where you owe money. There's no need to kick it that hard." He said as he waved it shut again.
"And apparently he ISN'T a messenger." Ravyn said slyly. "Good afternoon Morris."
"Ravyn dear." Kestin said as he gestured for her to hug him. She stood briefly and obliged him. Unlike Ekron she'd never had an issue with Kestin's overly friendly nature. "You let him drag you into this too?"
"The whole city is on edge with news of a messenger." She replied as she settled again. "You know full well why I can't just stay away from something like that. Especially when our friend here is right at the middle of it."
Kestin waggled a finger at her. "In your tea again?" He asked as he plopped down in the chair on the opposite side of the table they were sat at.
Ekron cringed as Ravyn's face soured. To the extent that she ever let it.
She held her cup of tea up as she rolled with the joke, which had been made at her expense.
"Not for a few more sips." She said. It was no secret that soothsayers like her had been struggling for the past decade or so as contact with the gods had faded out, and then essentially dropped off entirely.
"So." Kestin said as he reached across the table and helped himself to the tea. "Is HE... coming? I mean. You called me and Ravyn. Belga is... well... not here anymore. HE's the only one left yeah?"
Ekron nodded uncomfortably.
"He's about to knock on my door as we speak." Ekron said before taking a long sip of his own tea.
^{"No I'm not."} A muted voice said from outside. ^{"Just open the damned thing."}
Ekron took a deep breath. Then waved his hand.
When he did, the Commander of the Cobalt Legion stepped into his home and stood awkwardly in the doorway to the meeting/dining room they were seated at. Like the others from before, his armor sparked and flared as it interacted with the magic of the building.
Even under the dark blue helmet it was obvious that they were staring at Ekron. And he stared right back.
Then after an uncomfortably long silence, the armored knight removed his helmet.
Ekron's clean-shaven doppelganger stared back at him as he beheld the face of his twin brother for the first time in over a decade.
"Good evening Lady Hardfate." He said, breaking the silence as he showed deference to one of the most powerful fortune tellers in the land. Then he rolled his eyes as he looked at Kestin. "Kestin." He said simply.
"Good afternoon Commander." Ravyn said with a soft smile.
The Commander of the Cobalt Legion didn't take the chair so clearly intended for him, opting to stand instead.
"If this is about your NOT-messenger test subject you could have saved me a trip little brother." The knight said with obvious annoyance. "I likely know more about him than you do at this point."
"Oooh." Kestin said, drawing a look of even more annoyance. "Sounds like Lord Tobin has his spies looking into him."
"That's Lord Mattis to you." The commander corrected.
Ekron rubbed at the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"He's a reincarnation... or... or a regeneration of some kind." He cut in.
The rest of them froze mid conversation to look at him in surprise.
"I suspect that whatever happened five and a half years ago in Petravus. Between the Hero and the vanishing blight." He continued. "I believe that whatever occurred... he died as a result. And now, by the grace of the gods, he's back."
"Impossible." Ravyn replied, surprising him. He'd expected that kind of reaction from his brother or Kestin, not her. "The gods are gone."
At that Kestin DID react.
"They're what?" The vagabond swordsman/mage asked.
She waved him away dismissively.
Ekron watched his brother's face intensely.
More specifically he watched how little that information surprised the stalwart man.
The two of them stared at each other as Ravyn and Kestin began to argue lightly with one another.
"Vann?" Ekron asked of his elder sibling. "I'm trying to help him. And prevent him from accidentally causing an international incident. Or a crisis of the faiths."
The other two silenced as they heard the quiet request.
"I've asked you three here to help me with that." Ekron continued. "Please tell me what you know."
Vann considered the not of pleading in his brother's voice as he looked at the others.
These were his closest friends. Or had been once upon a time. The remnants of their old dueling team, which had also doubled as an adventurer's party before he'd been accepted into the legion and started rising through the ranks.
He gritted his teeth a bit. He'd already been given explicit instructions by Lord Mattis.
"I can't tell you much." He said as he finally sat down. "But the Lord's people have come to... similar... conclusions." He admitted. "They're attempting to confirm that as we speak."
Ekron nodded, knowing that that was all he was getting.
"I need..." He said as he leaned forward in his seat. "I believe I'll need your help protecting him until we can figure out the truth about him. And whether or not his return is a good or bad sign from the gods."
Kestin pursed his lips. "You mean you're not dissecting him?" He asked. Ekron looked at him with annoyance. But that didn't make him feel as judged as Ravyn's expression did. "Fine." He said with his hands raised in mock surrender. "But you can tell your little bodyguard our deal's off."
Then they all turned as Vann spoke again.
"You know why I can't make that promise." He said simply. "If he IS who we suspect he is. Than he's a matter of National importance. And if it turns out that he IS... some kind of messenger or something. Then it becomes a religious matter." He tapped his finger on his helmet where it rested in front of him. "I have my duty Ek."
"And all I'm asking is that, until that duty requires otherwise, you and yours help protect him." Ekron countered.
Vann considered the request. But Ravyn spoke first.
"Why are you so invested in this one?" She asked.
"Because." Ekron replied, pointing at Kestin. "It's funny you mentioned Belga earlier." He said, causing all of them to look at him curiously. "He reminds me of her." He rolled his eyes as they all suddenly became uncomfortable. "Oh not like THAT." He reprimanded them. "But his mannerisms. His... I don't know. His temperament. I think that if she were still alive they would be kindred souls."
Vann looked down and away. They all knew the drama that had occurred between the two brothers on THAT matter. Hell, it was part of why he'd joined the legion.
Ravyn placed a hand on his arm before turning back to Ekron.
"If you think he's worth protecting." She said softly. "Then I'll help." She nodded a bit. "Besides, if the gods are affecting the world again then I need to know."
"If Ravyn's in, and if I can save some gold," Kestin weighed in. "then I'm in."
Ekron looked at his brother expectantly.
But Vann's face was as stern and unchanging as ever.

Fortune opened the door to “Nezumi’s Spirits”, it was just past dawn, and they wanted to go watch the Junior’s competition before they got into the Arena. She was surprised to see quite a few extra people in the shop. Tambori and Faedrin were heating up Tambori’s tea, Irezumi was working out. Fortune was surprised to see a small, beautiful but pale woman sitting behind Echo, working with an ink covered needle and scribing in a tattoo. She didn’t have too long to watch uncomfortably as a very large man with a mask on was suddenly directly infront of her.
“Dad! It’s ok, that’s Fortune and Chance. They are expected.” The large man took his mask off, and wore a dumb smile on his face. He bowed to Fortune, his clouded eyes not seeming to see her, though it was obvious that he knew exactly where she was.
“Oh, so YOU’RE Fortune and Chance.” The man said, “It is good to meet you. I am Hibiki Nezumi.” He pointed to the small pale woman. “That is my wife, Lenore. Echo and Irezumi’s mother.”
Lenore stopped, took a moment to clean her tools, and stood, wiping off her hands. She gave a bow to Fortune and Chance. “It is good to meet you.” She said. She opened her mouth to say more, but Hibiki moved very suddenly. Fortune blinked and saw two young men hanging from either of Hibiki’s hands. Lenore laughed a moment and continued. “ This is Obake, and Rei. They are a few of the siblings that have come to watch Echo, Irezumi and Sakusei.” She put her finger in her mouth and whistled. From the back room came a parade of children. First, two girls, obviously twins as they were Identical, even down to the way they walked. They were holding two babies. “This is Kuro and Shiro. They are holding the newest of the their siblings, Sora and Riku.” Following them, were two more children, about 5 years old. “This is Neko and Karasu.” Next a young girl with a very serious face, she dressed oddly, compared to the rest. While they seemed to wear clothes of whites, blacks and browns.. This girl was dressed in pinks and greens. She gave a small curtsy as she was introduced. But no smile appeared on her face. “This is Sakusei’s sister, Sugure.” Finally, one more girl, about 16 years old, who looked like an identical clone of her mother. “And this is Majo.”
Fortune and Chance bowed deeply. “It is nice to meet you all.” Fortune said, she looked back at Echo, who was still seated on a stool at the end of the counter. “You really think getting a tattoo before the games today is a good idea?”
Echo shrugged, and patted the back of his shoulder with a Saki soaked cloth, then sprinkled some salt over it. “Mom’s been working on this piece for a long time. So, we take the opportunity when we can.” He said.
“That reminds me.” Lenore remembered. She went behind the counter and got a small scrap of paper, and drew a complex Character on it. She handed the paper to Fortune. “This is how you write ‘Echo’. Be careful, this little line is very important.” she pointed out the small line.
“Mom.. Geez..” Echo complained, the other kids and Irezumi laughed openly.
“What?” Lenore said. “It’s important for her to know. If she doesn’t put that line in, then it’s Hibiki.. and I don’t want her to make that mistake.”
“I’m sorry.” Fortune interrupted. “What? That little line is the difference between ‘Echo’ and ‘Hibiki’?”
“At home, in our language,” Lenore explained. “the word ‘Hibiki’ means ‘Echo’ in your language. I guess you could say, that Echo’s real name is ‘Hibiki Nezumi jr.’ but we found that confusing, so we call him Echo.”
“Oh, so, does ‘Irezumi’ mean ‘Lenore’?” Fortune asked.
“No.” Irezumi said simply, between pull ups.
“Oh…” Fortune said, after waiting for an explanation that didn’t seem to be coming. “So.. Why are you giving this to me?” She asked Lenore.
“For when the time is right.” She said, and patted Fortune’s hand. “Now, you all get moving. I don’t want you to miss out on the matches.”
“Majo, are you sure you don’t want to come? I can ask someone to watch the store, or we can just close down for the day.” Echo asked his sister
“Are you going to lose today?” Majo asked.
“Of course not.” Echo replied.
“Then I will get to see the next one, and Obake and Rei can watch the store then.” Majo said.
“Pfft.. Fat Chance.” One of the boys, still hanging from their father’s hands said.
Echo rolled his eyes at his brothers. “We will close the store until Sakusei’s match is over, and then I’ll open back up for the intermission. I would like you to be there.”
Majo smiled at her brother. “Thank you.” She said simply, and picked up a light cloak from a peg on the wall.
“Now.. We just have to wait for our Vanguard replacements to come… THEN we can leave.” Echo said.
**************************************************************************
Sakusei sent a series of clicks and whistles to Scraps.
“I have some food.” Scraps said, digging an old wedge of cheese out of his bag and brushing the worst of the mold off. He offered it to Sakusei.
Sakusei clicked again.
“Oh, yeah, I mean, if you want to try them, I guess.” Scraps said. “This way.”
Scraps led the young boy out of the contestants area, and out of the arena. They stopped in front of a street cart where a man was frying noodles.
“Two please! Extra onions and sprouts!” Scraps ordered. The man just nodded and started adding things into his wok.
“You think we’ll be able to catch up?” Scraps asked Sakusei. “I mean, in the points.. I guess we should have made a mistake.. Is that weird? I mean, to make a mistake on purpose, just for points?”
“You should ask your mom that.” A deep laugh came from behind the pair, along with the insult. “She would know about making mistakes.”
Scraps and Sakusei turned around to find a large Goliath boy, from one of the other teams laughing at them.
“How stupid do you have to be? Didn’t your coach tell you that you get points for fighting monsters? Besides, they were just goblins.” The boy ribbed. “I mean.. you didn’t even try.. Pretty sure you two should go tell your team to quit now. You should have been out earlier. Doubt you’re gonna catch up now.”
Sakusei gently pushed Scraps behind him, and growled threateningly at the Goliath boy, his eyes glued to the mask that the boy wore on the side of his head.
The boy and his friends roared with laughter, as Sakusei reached for his sword. “Go ahead, stupid. Bare steel and stab me in the street. It will disqualify you from the games. Do it.. then you can go home and cry to your mommy.”
Sakusei let his hand drop from his sword, but his glare, and growl remained.
“Sakusei! Scraps!” The Voice of Mr. Threadspinner called. They turned as he rushed up. He paid the noodle man a few coins, and handed Scraps and Sakusei their noodles. “Come on.. The Games are about to start!” He ushered them away, and back to their seats.
*******************************************************************************
“Welcome back to the Main Event!” The announcer’s voice echoed over the crowd. “For the First task in the Qadar Games. Our teams will have to secure a treasure!” a large cloud of mist suddenly filled the interiour of the Arena. After a moment or two, a gust of wind blew the mist away, revealing a rocky crag. Coiled around a the top of the Crag, the sibiliant form of a Basilisk curled around a golden egg. At the bottom of the rock, a large group of gnolls yipped and howled. “It seems this tribe of Gnolls has located a powerful Basilisk to worship as their tribes deity. It’s up to our adventurers to capture the egg before it can hatch and fullfill a dark prophecy!”
Tambori was simply a wreck. “A Basilisk? Who do they think we are? This is FAR too dangerous for a game.”
Irezumi and Echo glanced at each other. “It looks like a big snake.” Irezumi said.
“It IS a big snake.” Faedrin said.
Fortune sighed. “It’s a big snake that will turn you to stone if you look it in the eye. It’s very good at getting you to do it.”
Echo just nodded and began loosening up his shoulders.
Irezumi eyed the rock and the Gnolls. “If you can get me there, muscles here and I can get the egg back.” Irezumi pointed at Fortune with her thumb.
Echo turned around to face his team. “What do you all think?”
Faedrin thought for a moment. “Did you guys watch the juniors this morning?” she asked and they all nodded. “So.. Like, Sakusei’s team finished first.. but they didn’t get the most points.. I’m thinking this is similar. I’m betting we get additional points for every different ‘task’ we do. Like, I’m guessing that we’ll have to take the egg and place it in some sort of ‘safe zone’. That’s our timer. We get minimum points for simply completing the task. But, should we defeat the Basilisk and/or the Gnolls.. I’m guessing there are bonus points.”
Echo nodded in agreement. “I’m thinking the same thing.” He looked over at Tambori. “How long do you think you could hold off the Gnolls?”
************************************************************************
“You’re sure about this?” Fortune asked, holding Echo’s mask as he tied a blindfold on. “You’re going to take on a Basilisk, blindfolded and alone.”
“Blindfolded? Yes.” Echo said, making the last knot in his blindfold. “ Alone? Not exactly.”
“You get us up there, we’ll get the egg back here.” Irezumi said, pouring a bowl of sake, and placing it in the dirt, about ten feet from the “return zone” for the egg. “We’ll hold the Gnolls till you’re done, or they are.” She looked up to a cloudless sky. “I wish it were raining.” she said.
“You WANT rain?” Tambori asked, a bit wild around the eyes.
“Yeah…” Irezumi said with a slight thoughtful frown. “You ok, Tambori?”
“This is just.. Alot..” Tambori said, shaking from the nerves. “There are so many people.. and this is such an important thing..”
“Hey!” Irezumi shouted suddenly, taking Tambori by the shoulders. “We don’t have room for fear, here. If you drop your mind into a lake of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybe I should haves’ you’re going to lose it. It doesn’t matter if we have to fight a Basilisk, or Gnolls. Or if it’s a Hundred of each. The reality is, That’s what we have to do. So, it’s time to go to work.”
Tambori calmed herself. “You’re right.. No fear… No fear..” She took a deep breath, and gave a little smile. “You said, you wanted rain? I’ll bring you rain.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Irezumi said, slapping her hard on the shoulder.
“How much time do you need?” Echo asked Tambori.
“I’ll need a minute to lay out the field. After that, it’s game on.” Tambori said.
“Faedrin, Chance…” Echo addressed the other two. “You guys able to defend Tambori for a while until Fortune and Irezumi get back?”
Chance just nodded. Faedrin glanced around to get her bearings. “I’m betting those Gnolls will wait until we try and take the egg. But even if they don’t, yes.”
“Is she really going to make it rain?” Irezumi leaned over and asked Fortune.
“She’s a Windsong.” Fortune said as if that explained everything. Irezumi simply gave her a flat stare. “So, most of the Vanguard follows Jax, the traveler. However, thats not a requirement to join the guild. Tambori is from a family that follows more than one power. The windsongs follow the Path, and The Storm. If she says she’s bringing rain. Get ready for it.”
Irezumi nodded, and Echo put his mask on over his blindfold. “We ready?” he asked
The others voiced their agreement.
Echo raised a hand toward the Judges, signalling that they were ready for their turn. A crisp clear bell sounded, signalling them to start.
Echo sprinted forward, drawing his sword. His free hand making motions as he ran, and he was suddenly flanked by four other beings, seemingly made of dark ink.
Fortune tensed to follow after him, but Irezumi reached out and put her hand on Fortune’s shoulder. “Bring the rain, Tambori.. You’re up.”
Tambori nodded and began her somatic movements. She added her mana to her movements, and clouds began to circle overhead. After a few seconds drops of rain began to fall.
“He’s reached the Gnolls.” Faedrin said, keeping her eyes on Echo. He parried a few strikes, but simply ran through them, and began bounding up the rock, dodging strikes from the basilisk.
“Get ready, muscles.” Irezumi said. “I hope you don’t get motion sickness. This is gonna be weird.”
Echo made it to the top of the rock, and leapt on the creature’s head. He stomped on it, and the Basilisk reared up, throwing him high into the air. Echo grabbed a bottle from his hip, and when he was over the egg, he threw the bottle. It broke right next to the egg.
“Alright, we’re on.” Irezumi said, her hand slid down Fortune’s arm and grasped her wrist. “Try not to puke.” She stepped into the bowl of Sake at her feet, and pulled Fortune with her.
Fortune felt like she was picked up, rolled into a ball, and thrown across a room. The spinning stopped and she realized her feet were on stone, and she was directly infront of the egg. “Pick it up!” Irezumi shouted, as she dodged a swipe from the Basilisk’s tail.
Fortune caught sight of Echo, he and his ink clones were harrasing the head of the giant snake. Slashing and stabbing, keeping it’s attention on him. “How does he…” She started to ask..
“It’s the sound.. He has really good ears!” Irezumi interrupted. “Now, stop oggling my brother and pick that damn egg up so we can get out of here!”
Fortune shook herself from her wonderment, and picked upt the large golden egg. It was extreemly heavy. “Got it.” She said, gritting her teeth.
“Good.” Irezumi said, returning to her side. “Hang on.” She took her arm again and stepped into a puddle of Sake and rainwater.
Fortune found herself back with the others. She went to set the egg down. “Watch it!” Irezumi said, and changed her angle a little bit so she would set the egg outside of the Safe zone. “Don’t want to end the fun just yet.”
“Here they come!” Faedrin said. Fortune looked up, to see all of the Gnolls charging their way. She could see Echo and his clones still fighting the Giant Basilisk.
“Looks like they made a poor choice.” Tambori said, as she finished her movements.. “Now this is MY show.” She said. Planting a foot down hard. She pulled her cloak off, and tightened a strap around her thigh. Fortune saw small nails on the inside of the strap bite into her skin. A loud crash of lightning came and struck her outstretched hand. Her mana rolled out of her as she started singing.
https://youtu.be/1EtDH3SYGJU
**************************************************************************
Venriath looked with interest at the games going on down below. He sat with Alonzo and Jynx, with both of them stealing his popcorn.
“Is that guy putting on a blindfold?” Jynx asked.
“Yup.. you know.. so he can’t see it’s eyes.” Alonzo said, stuffing more popcorn in his face.
“I get that.” Jynx said, “but, how is he going to get to the beast?”
“I dunno…” Alonzo said. “I guess that’s his problem.”
Jynx rolled her eyes.
“I’m more interested in what she’s doing.” Venriath said. “She’s prepping a transmutation field, but it’s huge. I can’t imagine what she’s going to be transmuting.”
“Herself.” Laurana said, as she sat down next to Alonzo, she handed Venriath some nachos.
“I doubt that highly.” Venriath said. “That’s extrodinarily dangerous. Like, remember when Noxian used to do that? I thought my heart would stop every time.”
Laurana laughed. “Why don’t you take a good look at her.”
Venriath did so, in truth, she looked a lot like a very tan Laurana. “I mean, she’s a Windsong.. I just assumed that you know. You and Alonzo…”
“Oh yes..” Laurana said. “When he sacrificed himself, he did, indeed leave me expecting. Which, we still have to talk about.” She said with a warning tone. “However.. That was hundreds of Generations ago. It just so happens, that Noxian’s blood also follows the Windsong name.”
Venriath paled a bit. “So, she can channel her power like Noxian.”
Laurana smiled and nodded.. “And she has my voice.”
Venriath paled a bit more. “So.. She can adjust her transformations with Spellsong? Wouldn’t that run the risk of a feedback loop?”
Laurana laughed. “Yup.. It’s pretty.. Dramatic.” She said and pointed.
Tambori began to sing, Her form elongated and her joints distorted. Electric arcs leapt from her body to the nearest Gnolls. On of her fist enlarged, and became like a shiney metal, that immediately heated up. She swung her huge fist, impacting several of the charging dogs. Her other hand raised and a huge fireball detonated in the main host of enemies.
The others closed ranks around the egg and began to hold off the few Gnolls that got past Tambori. Chance and Fortune ranged a bit, preferring to meet their challengers aggressively. The Two Aristi’s proving to be just as deadly as their name suggests. Faedrin stood guard with Irezumi at the Egg, only occaisionally having to use her shield to block an arrow, or make a few cuts against the lucky gnoll that managed to avoid the others.
It took only a few moments, before the Gnolls were gone, and shortly after, Echo drove his sword through the Basilisks skull, and rode the body down as it collapsed. He removed his blindfold as he returned to his party. He nodded to Fortune and Chance, and the twins picked up the egg, and placed it in the Safe zone, ending the task.

Previous / First
Writer's Note: Meant to post this last week, but work got busy. Probably gonna be another chapter later this week.
As for the story, well, even old dudes have back stories.
Enjoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joey did what he could to stay as calm as he could as he and Nesvee walked through the streets of the city.
For the first time since coming to this world he actually LOOKED like a mage. Well... minus a few fun dressup sessions when James had taken him shopping for clothes. He couldn't help but try on some robes and things at the time. But both James and the tailors had assured him that most mages didn't actually dress like that. Most dressed like either craftsmen, like Miss Veliry, or else simply dressed like nobles since their endeavors usually earned them good pay. Ekron fell into the latter group.
But Joey looked more like a D&D version of a mage or wizard.
Maybe a blade singer or something? He mused as his thoughts lingered on the rapier in his belt.
The outfit wasn't bad. He wore a long cloak of dark blue, with bits of dark green and light blue embroidery. It had a built in veil that went over his face. The whole thing was enchanted to conceal his magical nature even more intensely than the neck and wrist restraints had, and he was wearing those too. The veil and hood were both enchanted to conceal his antlers and obscure his face.
He looked like a technicolor wraith of some kind.
Even Nesvee had been unnerved by his appearance when he'd left his room wearing it.
That discomfort had quickly been dispelled when they'd gone more than twenty minutes without anyone giving him more than a passing glance.
"So the old man has a list of stuff he needs and where to get them." Nesvee said as she looked at the little notebook he'd given her. "As well as one person to seek out for a bit of assistance?" She said, questioning the last bit.
He looked at her curiously, forgetting that she couldn't see his face behind the veil.
"Some... Garthan... person." She said as she looked at the notes. "At a place called the... um... Tinnetha's Rest.... Says it's east of the lab by about six miles. Near the bar district." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"What else?" Joey asked, eager to simply get the day's tasks over with.
"Mostly just bits and pieces here and there." She replied. "Things he thinks will help with figuring out how to help you."
Joey nodded, making sure to exaggerate it a bit as he did so she would notice, then the two of them set off into the city.
Now that he had managed to calm down, and also wasn't being given any more attention than the occasional passing glance, Joey was able to take in the city of Ospiele with a more critical eye.
Initially he'd thought the city was in shambles. Their journey through the city over the course of the day did nothing to dispel that fact. But he did begin to notice things that gave him reason to think that there was a method to the madness.
For starters the sector of the city that they'd entered, and where Ekron's lab/home were located, seemed to be the only area devoted to dedicated mage laboratories. These buildings ranged from druidic (he assumed) forest groves that frequently spilled into their neighbors' lots, to almost Earth-like office-looking buildings. They also seemed to have been color coded based on their owner's magical proclivities. More than a few times magical outbursts would occur, causing passersby to rush out of the way of anything happening. For red buildings this was usually bursts of flame. For blue buildings it was usually sprays of water or ice. And for one incredibly dirty brown building the outburst actually took the form of half of the building rising several feet unexpectedly, breaking away from the other half with quite a bit of damage. The hastily nailed down boards and tiles spoke to this being a common occurrence.
One building had Cobalt Legion guards stationed outside of it, and people walking past made a point of walking in the street instead of walking on the path in front of it.
That building had been painted black, with subtle bits of red and green in some places.
At his questioning Nesvee explained that she'd noticed the same trend, and that upon questioning it Ekron had explained it was intentional. The Lord of the city, whom they'd met the day before, had required that the labs have their owner's specialties and focuses be easily identified by the city guard. This was so that they could know how to respond, and who to blame, if something went wrong that they needed to respond to.
This made the quiet grey and white coloration of Ekron's lab curious to Joey. He wondered if it was because the elder mage primarily focused on enchanting, and as such worked with more than one magic style.
When they got roughly three miles from the lab they encountered a check point of sorts. The guards there, more of the so-called Cobalt Legion, asked a few questions. Nesvee showed them a letter that explained they worked for Ekron and were simply going for supplies. Then they were allowed through.
On the other side of the check point the city almost looked normal. In fact if it weren't for the difference in architecture, which favored stone construction over lumber, Joey could've been convinced he was back in the Petravian capital.
Well, the architecture and the overabundance of magic users and enchanted items being used in every building they passed. Even in his current magical condition Joey could sense the overwhelming flow of magic. And almost everything that was being used seemed more advanced than in Petravus.
They passed a bakery where the goods were placed on a tray that was then placed on a conveyor belt. The belt then passed them between too sheets of metal that would slowly grow brighter and brighter red until the pastries and breads emerged from the other side. At that point the pan they were on would glow blue while vibrating noisily, cooling itself and also un-sticking the the foods cooked onto it before they could solidify. Then the tray would fall off the conveyor belt and slide into a display case where an employee was ready to take orders.
Don't remember anything that fancy even in the King's castle. Joey thought as they moved past.
"Hungry?" Nesvee asked. "Just wait until you see the shops up ahead." She added. "There's this place selling these new sandwiches from your neck of the woods in Petravus. They called them Hand Bulgers. The dwarf running it has a machine that mixes the meat and then another that shapes it into disks before he throws them on a grill."
"You mean hamburgers?" Joey asked, surprised to even hear of burgers this far from Petravus. Though he knew that the restaurant James had introduced them too in the capital had become insanely popular.
Nesvee shook her head. "No they're definitely hand bulgers."
She couldn't see it but Joey's face scrunched at that.
"Round shaped meat disk between round bread buns?" He asked. "Veggies and cheese and stuff in it too?" She nodded. "That's definitely a cheeseburger." He corrected her.
"Noooot according to the guy running the place." She countered.
"Well he's wrong." Joey assured her. "I would know. I'm FROM Petravus where they came from."
"Well you can tell him that yourself if you're willing to wait an hour to get through the line." She replied.
"I... think I'll pass." He said, still annoyed.
They passed a tavern, at which a few of the Cobalt Legion were resting. They had their helmets off and were enjoying beers and wine, along with something that looked suspiciously like bowls of ramen, or maybe udon.
Can't give James credit for THAT recipe.
He was surprised to learn that the people underneath the helmets looked both incredibly young, AND incredibly aged.
If he had to guess, he would've estimated the oldest of them as being no more than twenty five or so. And yet their eyes had bags under them, and haunted looks IN them. The men bore dark beard shadows and ALL of them had their hair cut incredibly short, including the few women.
In short, they reminded him of how a bunch of James's soldier friends looked when he'd met them a few times. Young, yet prematurely old.
He couldn't imagine what being both a soldieguard AND an anti-mage specialist in a city full of mages did to a person. But the faces he saw as they passed the tavern spoke to the weariness that duty put them through.
One of the guards looked at him curiously as he saw Joey's veiled and hooded head studying them. The guard was reaching for their helmet when the tavern server arrived and put a new round of drinks on their table.
Joey quickly looked away.
"I think that's the first stop." Nesvee said as she nudged his shoulder, breaking him out of his thoughts. She was pointing at a sign with a drawing of some gemstones and a monocle on it. She held up the notepad and looked at it again. "Yeah. There's a few crystal types on here." She confirmed. "Plus a few things that I think MIGHT... be crystals. I don't know what Mordian ice is. But I figure that jeweler should know."
Joey nodded and followed her. Though he was fairly certain that Mordian Ice was a type of liquid. He wasn't 100% certain, but he thought he'd seen a jar with that name on it in Veliry's lab in Petravus.
And just like that, the two of them were shopping in earnest.
They didn't notice a somewhat pudgy looking man walking about twenty yards behind them. He occasionally stopped to inspect something from the shops they passed, and even bought a cheese filled pastry from the bakery Joey had noticed.
But he always kept the two shoppers in his sight, even if only out of the corner of his eye.
Ekron waved his hand, causing his front door to swing open smoothly and silently.
"Good afternoon Ravyn." He said as he poured a cup of tea and set it in front of the chair to his left. "Timely as always."
The large half orc woman walked in calmly as he put two scoops of sugar in the tea for her. Just like she preferred.
"I still need the enchantment that keeps your door from slamming when it does that." She said as she presented her hand to him. He kissed it lightly, as he always did when he saw his old coworker. She looekd back and smiled as the door also closed itself just as silently. "Mine always makes such a racket." She said as she sat in the indicated chair and sipped the tea. "Mmmmm. Still remember my preference eh?" She asked as she swept her silver hair back over her shoulder and behind her ear.
"Vatrian crimson. Two scoops." He said as she made herself comfortable. "How have you been dear?" He asked.
"Quite well." She replied. "Pan gave birth to my third grand daughter last month."
Ekron smiled curtly. "Congratulations." He said. "I remember her when she was still just a toddler on your hip."
"Those were the days weren't they." She said with a raise of her glass and a similar smile. "Now tell me. What are these rumors I hear of you walking in the company of a messenger?" She asked. "I assume that IS... why you requested me to come here."
Ekron nodded. "It is." He admitted. "Though they AREN'T a messenger."
Her eyebrow rose, and she was about to ask how he knew that. But she was interrupted.
BANG!
The front door slammed open, causing Ekron to chew on his upper lip in annoyance.
"Ekkie!!!"Morris Kestin exclaimed as he swaggered into the building with his arms up as if he was some kind of performer walking on stage. Then he made a point of looking around in an exaggerated manner. "Where's our little messenger friend?"
Ekron did NOT pour a cup of tea for his former teammate.
"I've told you SO many times now, NOT to call me that." Ekron said. "And by the gods, its a door not your ass in a bar where you owe money. There's no need to kick it that hard." He said as he waved it shut again.
"And apparently he ISN'T a messenger." Ravyn said slyly. "Good afternoon Morris."
"Ravyn dear." Kestin said as he gestured for her to hug him. She stood briefly and obliged him. Unlike Ekron she'd never had an issue with Kestin's overly friendly nature. "You let him drag you into this too?"
"The whole city is on edge with news of a messenger." She replied as she settled again. "You know full well why I can't just stay away from something like that. Especially when our friend here is right at the middle of it."
Kestin waggled a finger at her. "In your tea again?" He asked as he plopped down in the chair on the opposite side of the table they were sat at.
Ekron cringed as Ravyn's face soured. To the extent that she ever let it.
She held her cup of tea up as she rolled with the joke, which had been made at her expense.
"Not for a few more sips." She said. It was no secret that soothsayers like her had been struggling for the past decade or so as contact with the gods had faded out, and then essentially dropped off entirely.
"So." Kestin said as he reached across the table and helped himself to the tea. "Is HE... coming? I mean. You called me and Ravyn. Belga is... well... not here anymore. HE's the only one left yeah?"
Ekron nodded uncomfortably.
"He's about to knock on my door as we speak." Ekron said before taking a long sip of his own tea.
^{"No I'm not."} A muted voice said from outside. ^{"Just open the damned thing."}
Ekron took a deep breath. Then waved his hand.
When he did, the Commander of the Cobalt Legion stepped into his home and stood awkwardly in the doorway to the meeting/dining room they were seated at. Like the others from before, his armor sparked and flared as it interacted with the magic of the building.
Even under the dark blue helmet it was obvious that they were staring at Ekron. And he stared right back.
Then after an uncomfortably long silence, the armored knight removed his helmet.
Ekron's clean-shaven doppelganger stared back at him as he beheld the face of his twin brother for the first time in over a decade.
"Good evening Lady Hardfate." He said, breaking the silence as he showed deference to one of the most powerful fortune tellers in the land. Then he rolled his eyes as he looked at Kestin. "Kestin." He said simply.
"Good afternoon Commander." Ravyn said with a soft smile.
The Commander of the Cobalt Legion didn't take the chair so clearly intended for him, opting to stand instead.
"If this is about your NOT-messenger test subject you could have saved me a trip little brother." The knight said with obvious annoyance. "I likely know more about him than you do at this point."
"Oooh." Kestin said, drawing a look of even more annoyance. "Sounds like Lord Tobin has his spies looking into him."
"That's Lord Mattis to you." The commander corrected.
Ekron rubbed at the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"He's a reincarnation... or... or a regeneration of some kind." He cut in.
The rest of them froze mid conversation to look at him in surprise.
"I suspect that whatever happened five and a half years ago in Petravus. Between the Hero and the vanishing blight." He continued. "I believe that whatever occurred... he died as a result. And now, by the grace of the gods, he's back."
"Impossible." Ravyn replied, surprising him. He'd expected that kind of reaction from his brother or Kestin, not her. "The gods are gone."
At that Kestin DID react.
"They're what?" The vagabond swordsman/mage asked.
She waved him away dismissively.
Ekron watched his brother's face intensely.
More specifically he watched how little that information surprised the stalwart man.
The two of them stared at each other as Ravyn and Kestin began to argue lightly with one another.
"Vann?" Ekron asked of his elder sibling. "I'm trying to help him. And prevent him from accidentally causing an international incident. Or a crisis of the faiths."
The other two silenced as they heard the quiet request.
"I've asked you three here to help me with that." Ekron continued. "Please tell me what you know."
Vann considered the not of pleading in his brother's voice as he looked at the others.
These were his closest friends. Or had been once upon a time. The remnants of their old dueling team, which had also doubled as an adventurer's party before he'd been accepted into the legion and started rising through the ranks.
He gritted his teeth a bit. He'd already been given explicit instructions by Lord Mattis.
"I can't tell you much." He said as he finally sat down. "But the Lord's people have come to... similar... conclusions." He admitted. "They're attempting to confirm that as we speak."
Ekron nodded, knowing that that was all he was getting.
"I need..." He said as he leaned forward in his seat. "I believe I'll need your help protecting him until we can figure out the truth about him. And whether or not his return is a good or bad sign from the gods."
Kestin pursed his lips. "You mean you're not dissecting him?" He asked. Ekron looked at him with annoyance. But that didn't make him feel as judged as Ravyn's expression did. "Fine." He said with his hands raised in mock surrender. "But you can tell your little bodyguard our deal's off."
Then they all turned as Vann spoke again.
"You know why I can't make that promise." He said simply. "If he IS who we suspect he is. Than he's a matter of National importance. And if it turns out that he IS... some kind of messenger or something. Then it becomes a religious matter." He tapped his finger on his helmet where it rested in front of him. "I have my duty Ek."
"And all I'm asking is that, until that duty requires otherwise, you and yours help protect him." Ekron countered.
Vann considered the request. But Ravyn spoke first.
"Why are you so invested in this one?" She asked.
"Because." Ekron replied, pointing at Kestin. "It's funny you mentioned Belga earlier." He said, causing all of them to look at him curiously. "He reminds me of her." He rolled his eyes as they all suddenly became uncomfortable. "Oh not like THAT." He reprimanded them. "But his mannerisms. His... I don't know. His temperament. I think that if she were still alive they would be kindred souls."
Vann looked down and away. They all knew the drama that had occurred between the two brothers on THAT matter. Hell, it was part of why he'd joined the legion.
Ravyn placed a hand on his arm before turning back to Ekron.
"If you think he's worth protecting." She said softly. "Then I'll help." She nodded a bit. "Besides, if the gods are affecting the world again then I need to know."
"If Ravyn's in, and if I can save some gold," Kestin weighed in. "then I'm in."
Ekron looked at his brother expectantly.
But Vann's face was as stern and unchanging as ever.