Kratom exacerbated autoimmune symptoms and may have started colitis
I started kratom 8 months ago to relieve extreme fatigue. I was diagnosed with adhd but I think I struggle more with CPTSD. I was also diagnosed lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. At first kratom was the key, and it was magical. I knew how to space my servings out so that I could feel it in small amounts each day. I thought I was good as long as I didn’t have more than 6 grams a day. I mixed it in organic orange juice. Well, orange juice is super acidic anyways and that itself can destroy your gut health. I didn’t know that. I recently started discovering what a gut health diet truly meant.
I started to notice kratom causing constipation. I got worried and stopped immediately. I thought it would be hard to quit but I’m an ex alcoholic. So if I can drop alcohol, I can drop anything now. I was just desperate and searching for something that was going to help my motivation for working out and getting household chores done.
I was constipated for nearly 3 months. It took an ER visit to diagnose colitis. I tried all the laxatives available prior to that and none of them worked. The ER told me to go on a clear fluid fast. So broth and jello…. Like when I had my gallbladder removed. I had already fasted for 2 days by that point because I was so miserable and terrified to consume anything.
Here’s a list of foods that made me regular again but it truly took 3 weeks of regular consumption for things to finally take effect:
You must consume water first thing in the morning, as soon as you wake up. 8 oz.
Next, research and find a quality brand bovine colostrum. Drink 2 scoops of that to 8oz of water and add Celtic sea salt for additional 82 minerals. Wait 30 minutes.
Introduce 4 oz of kombucha. Not the whole 16 oz bottle. That gave me diarrhea. But kombucha has so many conflicting things out there research wise… I choose to drink it anyways. It’s suppose to be 4oz before each meal. Anyways!! Wait another 30 minutes.
ORGANIC GRASS FED BONE BROTH. Terrible to me, but so so good for your gut. 19 grams of protein too. So you don’t feel starved. Suppose to heal gut if you drink 2 cups in the morning every day for 7-14 days.
I bought some tabouli salad from Publix. It’s a super food. It’s actually spelled tabbouleh. You can make your own. That’s even better. But I’m lazy. I ate it with some crunchmaster crackers even though I read I wasn’t suppose to eat seeds or nuts.
Then I chopped 1 bell pepper, 1 onion, grated 3 zucchini, grated 1 large carrot, and mixed it with 4 eggs. I added garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper like I always do. Lay on sheet pan, 375 for 20 minutes. It’s a crust less quiche I guess you’d call that.
I also had organic 100% pure cranberry juice, no sugar added. Super bitter. Super benefits. Yikes! It sucks but I’m assuming I’ll get used to it. And KEFIR, I drink strawberry kefir right after.
I have a major sweet tooth!! And I just over ate cantaloupe. That wasn’t good enough, so I also ate a smashed banana with organic cinnamon powder and a little drizzle of LOCAL honey. Papaya is also another fruit you can have.
Everything else was a no for me!! I’m gonna miss dairy and gluten. Can’t even eat beans or lentils with colitis. You can have very bland, plain chicken, turkey, or salmon. No spices. No refined sugar. No processed foods. No eating out. No carbonated drinks otherwise. No caffeine as in coffee or tea.
This was bound to happen to me anyways because I have autoimmune issues but kratom definitely progressed it faster. Happy healing! Cheers! 🤦🏻‍♀️💩 and may the force be with you.

Hello, Hopefully there is someone who can help me and willing too :)
(Inherently I searched for answers, but so far no success - in case applicable, a link to a relevant post would be great too and apologies for not searching hard enough)
I want a bubble graph from Excel that represents the following table: Banana Apple Pear Orange Grape Pineapple Lemon triangle 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 plus 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 circle 4 0 1 1 0 1 0 moon 1 0 1 2 2 0 0 star 2 2 0 1 1 0 0 square 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 heart 1 1 1 0 0 1 0
The idea is that the values for triangle, plus, circle, moon, start, square and heart to be placed on the X-axis for the respective components of Banana Apple Pear Orange Grape Pineapple Lemon. These "fruits" are arbitrary (so are the symbols, but they can both be replaced / captured by a number) but should be presented at different line of the Y-axis (to illustrate all the values of Banana should be at Y=1) and the size of the bubble is given by the number at the intersection of the symbol and the fruit. So for the X-value of "triangle" in the case of Banana the position (when the axes have an interval of 1 starting at 0 and having "triangle" positioned at X=1 and "heart" at X=7) would be X,Y = 1,1 with a bubble size of 0 (so not presented), whereas for the position of "triangle" in the case of component Lemon this data point would be X,Y = 1,7 with a bubble size of 3. How do I generate this in Excel? What I got so far is this (which was done by manually selecting the respective values for the fruits from a table expressing all the different X,Y,Z values and not like the matrix above). It is time intensive, but the bigger problem is that I can't (manually) adjust the X- and Y-axes values to respectively the symbols and fruits: "The data range is too complex to be displayed."
https://preview.redd.it/z3oireqmas1d1.png?width=1324&format=png&auto=webp&s=302f35ae0c26baf77888ac88a3662af18690a4ed
Did I miss something or is not possible at all to generate in Excel this in my opinion relative simple chart? (what I think is weird for such an extensive tool...) I hope it is the first and I would be very grateful if someone can help me with it. Thanks for considering!
P.S. If I just ask to make a plot from the matrix above. The closest I get is that Excel presents all the values like above assigned to one category or presenting them all and a difference cannot be seen or all the values of the different categories of fruits are placed at Y=0...

Popheads recently reached the 2 million subscriber milestone, thanks to your continued participation and support!
We wanted to celebrate, and tried to think of fun things that we could do as a subreddit. A well loved Popheads activity has always been our yearly Top 100 lists, where the community comes together to vote to create a list of our favorite 100 songs of the past year. The list reveal is always fun and one of my personal favorite days of the year, and these lists honestly provide a great representation of our community - a snapshot of our own personal taste, if you will.
Therefore, for this subscriber milestone, we will be doing another Popheads Top 100…but this time, of a throwback year: 2014!!!
2014 was chosen for two reasons: one, the obvious, is that this year is the tenth anniversary of that year. The second is that the annual Popheads Top 100 actually started with the year 2015, so 2014 is the most recent year without “coverage”, so to speak. (If this is a success, we would love to repeat this for other years - 2013, 2012, even earlier!)
Without further ado, the rules for participation are below.

How To Participate

NOTE: Thank you so much to raicicle, whose posts for the annual Popheads Top 100 form the basis of this post!
Like with our normal years, you can also vote in the entirely non-official just-for-fun survey: “What song would you remove a vote from?” You can fill that in optionally here even if you don’t submit an official ballot.

I. How To Send In Your Song Votes

Make a list of your favorite songs released in 2014 (January 1st 2014 - December 31st 2014). This list should have a minimum of 10 songs and a maximum of 25 songs. Please see II. Song Eligibility for more details on what you can and can't submit.

• Do not submit more than 3 songs from any one main artist. Songs where those artists are features do not count towards this 3-song limit on your list.^†
• The list does not have to be ordered/ranked. We are not weighting your votes, just tallying.
• PM your lists to our shared account u/Popheads100Throwback by June 16th, 11:59PM EST (03:59AM GMT).
• Songs should be listed in Artist - Song format with features listed with (feat. ____) after the song title. Try to stylize and capitalize artist and song names as closely to the official listing as you can (for example, Beyoncé should have the accent). The fewer discrepancies, the easier it is for us to sort the list later, so it's very much appreciated.
• You can change your list at any time! Just message us and tell us what you want changed.

^† There are always some weird discrepancies and edge-cases every year, so please DM us if you have any queries or post them in this thread to let people know!
We can be DM'ed here at this account, or at our personal Discord or Reddit accounts (@ bigbigbee a.k.a bigbigbee ; @ trailblazer_l a.k.a prettybirbkotori ; @ haobinist a.k.a MoonlightByWindow ; @ haobinfan a.k.a runaway1312 ).
And here's a few more important guidelines.

• Your songs do not have to be singles. Of course, if you're trying to get a certain song on the list, singles tend to get more votes than random album tracks.
• Your songs do not have to be 'pop' songs, nor do vocal songs have to be in English. Songs from any genre, and international songs, are all welcome. After all, no “best of 2014” list can be complete without Orange Caramel’s Catellena...
• We are not encouraging tactical or strategic voting, but we are not exactly discouraging it either. Obviously, some songs are more likely to make the list than others, and you should keep that in mind when making your list (whether that means you choose to stick to the big hits, or champion some lesser-known songs instead).

II. Song Eligibility

Your song must have been first officially available between the dates of January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2014. What does 'first officially available' mean? In essence, legally available to stream (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc.) or buy online.

• If a single was released after January 1st 2014, but was first officially available on a parent album before that date, it is not eligible.
• Similarly, a song on an album released after January 1st 2014 is not eligible if it was released as a pre-album single prior to that date. Sadly, this means Azealia Banks’ 212 is therefore ineligible (probably for the best, we all know it would have won…).
• Official remixes are eligible for the list regardless of the original song's release date, provided that the remix was released between the same dates of January 1st 2014 and December 31st 2014.

If you are unsure on a song's eligibility, please use this thread to clarify or DM us and we’ll be happy to help.
If you would like a reminder of what songs were released in 2014, feel free to have a peruse through these links:

• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 2014 (be careful, a lot of these songs were released in 2013!)
• Billboard Year-End Hot 100 Singles of 2015 (see above addendum)
• List of all albums released in 2014 on website AOTY
• User-rated best albums of 2014 on AOTY
• Pitchfork’s best albums of 2014
• K-pop releases of 2014

III. How We Will Make The Final Top 100 List

To make life easier for everyone involved, as was previously mentioned, you do not have to rank your song choices. Every submission counts as one vote, and the list is simply the 100 songs that got the most submissions in order. There are however caveats to this:
An artist will never have more than 3 songs on the list. Even if after the initial vote an artist manages to have 6 songs numerically in the Top 100, only the top 3 of those will be added. This is an editorial decision, based on the fact that it seems more popular to feature as many different artists as possible and showcase the breadth of the sub's music taste rather than dedicate huge chunks of the list to one artist, or one album (sorry 1989 fans!).
It is inevitable that many songs will get the same number of votes. Songs with the same number of votes will appear alphabetically in the list, but we will make the number of votes that every song received public. There may be some weird stuff happening if the list doesn’t end up being exactly 100 songs long, in which case there may be some discretional tie-breaks.

IV. Writeups

The final list will be presented as a Pitchfork-style Top 100 with small writeups to bring some insight and a bit of a story to the song. If you’ve been around for the yearly top songs lists, then you are likely familiar with the process.
We'll be writing the Top 15 to keep it under wraps. The remaining 85 songs will be given to other guest writers! If you feel like you’re a good writer and you’re interested, just mention it when you send in your list (we will assume that you're interested in writing for one of the tracks that you submitted in your votes).
Write-ups will ideally be 4-6 sentences long, though shorter or longer is completely fine**.** Feel free to talk about anything - its chart performance, its composition, your personal experience with the song, etc. There is no perfect writeup - this list is a collection of our thoughts as a community, not an official list from a music publication!
You can also message any of us on our personal Discord or Reddit accounts as listed above (Discord is slightly preferable) if you’re interested – we will try our best to find a writeup for you if possible!
In choosing to do writeups, you inevitably find out whether a song has made it onto the list to write for it, but to keep the surprise as much as possible, we will not tell you the position of the song if we send you a song to write for.
To get the general gist of what these writeups will be like, feel free to have a look at 2022’s Top 100 list.

V. The List Reveal

The list will be revealed on Sunday, July 7th, 2024 (exact time TBD). The live reveal will be on Queup https://www.queup.net/join/top-100-of-2014, where all 100 songs will be played in order from #100 to #1; as each song goes out, its write-up will be posted to a post on the subreddit.
VI. Other Fun Stuff
Join our discord to discuss this and other music: https://discord.gg/T97SkFNV
Do the currently open rates!

• 90s R&B Princesses Rate: https://redd.it/1bv0rl0 [Due May 24, Reveal May 31-June 2]
• The Popheads Rate Olympics (Mini-Rate): https://redd.it/1cfjmbm [Due May 31, Reveal June 8-9]
• 2023 K-Pop Essentials Rate: https://redd.it/1co3jct [Due June 15, Reveal June 21-23]
• Piano Men Rate: https://redd.it/1co3kcr [Due June 22, Reveal June 28-30]

Rough start from Kremer last night. Combo of not being able to put away batters with 2 strikes and getting squeezed by the ump makes for a pretty frustrating start. They happen though and hopefully it doesn't phase him. Get after the Cards tonight with Bradish on the bump and some runs. Seems the trend is alternating hot offense cold offense. Tonight's offense will be on fire. I can feel it.
Umm, congrats (?) I guess to u/jjk2 (6-4) for a +/- 1 guess last night.
Lucky Guess Standings

Rank	User	Exact	'+/- 1	Lost Tiebreaker	Points
1	u/Global_Painter1020	2	3	0	15
2	u/TommyPickles2222222	1	1	0	7
3	u/ngmatt21	1	0	0	6
3	u/kingfiasco	1	0	0	6
3	u/gnarkilleptic	1	0	0	6
3	u/Efficient_Wishbone93	1	0	0	6
3	u/DudeFoSho	0	4	1	6
3	u/jjk2	0	4	1	6
4	u/King_Clitoris	0	1	1	3
5	u/Sufficient_Expert333	0	0	1	2
5	u/malkusm	0	2	0	2
5	u/uncleslam7	0	2	0	2
5	u/Bmoreorioles1	0	2	0	2
5	u/OrangeBuffalo8	0	2	0	2
6	u/samir_katta	0	1	0	1
6	u/ngmatt21	0	1	0	1
6	u/Jormmy-NcKegHook	0	1	0	1
6	u/jeffreythecat1	0	1	0	1
6	u/Jeff_Banks_Monkey	0	1	0	1
6	u/Individual_Step6688	0	1	0	1
6	u/hiyazz	0	1	0	1
6	u/EarthquakeJake94	0	1	0	1
6	u/DaddyHausen	0	1	0	1
6	u/BowynArrow	0	1	0	1
6	u/bmorebetta	0	1	0	1
6	u/DrDinglberry	0	1	0	1
6	u/ThatTinyGameCubeDisc	0	1	0	1
6	u/VoteForWaluigi	0	1	0	1
6	u/Iciclewind	0	1	0	1
6	u/joystick13	0	1	0	1
6	u/MrTallGreg	0	1	0	1
6	u/Jnbrkt	0	1	0	1
6	u/Impressive-Tank9803	0	1	0	1
6	u/imean	0	1	0	1
6	u/DrThorntonMelon	0	1	0	1

Comments must include:

• Final Score (winner must be specified)
  
• Tiebreaker question
  
• Format: [Score] [Winner] [Tiebreaker]
  

All guesses must be submitted by the posted start time to qualify.
Score will be as follows:

• Exact guess = 6 points
  
• Off by one run = 1 point
  
• In the event of a tie, the loser of the tiebreaker scores 2 points
  

If two users pick the same score with the same tiebreaker, the person who submitted their guess first will be awarded the 6 points. The same rule will apply when two tiebreakers guesses are equally close to the actual result.
Score will be tallied each night and submitted to the post-game thread (sometimes). They will also appear in the "Standings" section of future Lucky Guess posts.

Now let's play ball!

Tiebreaker for today's game is strikes thrown by Kyle Bradish.

As always, please do not upvote any guessing comment until after the game is over and the winner is determined, then upvote the winner.

Matchup Statistics

You can find the lineups here before game time.
Orioles

Starting Pitcher	Throws	W-L	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	BABIP	FIP
Kyle Bradish	R	0-0	13.2	27.9%	9.8%	57.1%	.333	2.42

Cardinals

Starting Pitcher	Throws	W-L	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	BABIP	FIP
Lance Lynn	R	1-2	45.1	21.3%	9.9%	38.5%	.313	4.43

Good luck!

Can or will you be able to make the Argo ships work together in any way?
Like for example one is mining/salvaging the other one transporting or hauling it.
Would be cool to have your own little Argo Company/Team in their orange colours. Having the RAFT as your Main Ship with its nice interior and the others around it as additions for certain task.
So basically doing some game loops just with all the different orange Argo ships as a team.

For context, I'm a 16-year-old living in "socialist" Vietnam. For the uninitiated, you must think that we're a bunch of commies who're still singing praise about Mr. Ho Chi Minh whilst fighting off Agent Orange in guerilla warfare. If that's the case, then, oh boy, you couldn't be any further from the truth.
Last summer break, my dad offered me a position at a traditional Vietnamese food restaurant in the local AEON Mall branch for a month. He said that it would give me good work experience and color my CV, which I agreed with at the time. And so, like the 'pride of the family' that I was (yes, adults call all of their eldest/most academically adept children this in Vietnam), I decided to take him up on his offer. And, despite everything I've read about 9-5s on Reddit, nothing could've prepared me for actually experiencing it myself.
Firstly, the hours are actually 8:30-17:00, so that's 30 extra minutes compared to the average. Secondly, you're supposed to work 7 days a week. Yep, you heard that right. SEVEN. Their rationale was that since we worked in the service sector, we needed to work even on break days to maximize our output as that's when traffic is at its peak. And the best part? We weren't supposed to get ANY days off even on public holidays, because, guess what, that's when everybody goes out to eat. And, for as much as I hated it, I couldn't deny what they were saying. After all, I myself have been guilty of going to restaurants before on holidays with my family, so I am painfully aware of the fact that somebody still had to work their asses off to give us a good time. In this case, I got to place myself into one of these people's shoes for once.
And that's just the time factor. The people there were... well, let's just say that I had a better time just not interacting with any of them in the first place. Like, I get it, you're very worn down just like I am and I'm a rookie making mistakes and messing stuff up, but you don't have to be such a cunt about it. Even I manage to keep a poker face about me almost every day, and yet I'M supposed to be part of the demographic that was known for their erratic mood swings! I swear, only, like, 3 of the employees there had a shred of sympathy in their entire bodies, which didn't make it any easier for me to contort my face into a grin every time I served a customer. Honestly, it's one of the rare cases where the manager had a more likable and understanding personality than his subordinates, which, uh, isn't saying a whole lot, to be frank.
Not to mention the work itself. Somehow, serving there managed to require a lot of finesse to not topple over the tray stacked to the brim with wine glasses and constant physical labor while being mind-numbingly boring. The health and safety regulations there were practically non-existent, and it really showed when I got a nasty cut on my fingertip while skinning some of the hardest-to-peel fruits I'd ever encountered in my entire life. Normally, I'd expect to get at least a break to recover, but NOOO... they just told me to slap on a bandage and get on with it DESPITE the injury I had. Needless to say, I quickly excused myself and found better luck sweeping the floor instead, but that one experience really set in stone for me just how little people cared about each other when push came to shove.
Now, you must be thinking, "Well, at least you're getting paid for it." Yeah, at 24000 VND per hour, no less. For context, that is equivalent to just under a dollar an hour, which goes to show just how fantastic the economic circumstances are in Vietnam. The last saving grace is gone. Whoops.
And the worst part about all of this is... I am still extremely PRIVILEGED compared to the average person in Vietnam. My parents are both start-up owners, so I get to live quite comfortably without having to worry about food or electricity bills, unlike many others less fortunate than I. But knowing that I'm better off compared to so many people doesn't inspire gratitude or confidence in me. It only makes me feel ashamed to be living in such a world, where the only true winner is inevitable decay and the rest of us are playing the part of the fool. Even the ones at the top.
What I went through was like a bucket of ice water in my face, making me realize just how inconsequential my childhood joys truly are. "Remember the good times", huh? Kiss my ass. Good luck following your own advice while dealing with a seemingly endless horde of customers while trying to steady your shaking arms carrying a tray to the other fucking side of the restaurant. So many people keep telling me that I'm too cynical and negative, but you know what? I bet a majority of them have never actually worked a full-time job before. Seeing them get proven wrong only further reinforces my beliefs that adulthood is not an age of freedom for most like it is advertised in Vietnam, but rather one of monotony and frustration, watching as any semblance of a spark or flair in you gets slowly and methodically washed away until everything around you becomes white noise. And that's me just after ONE MONTH of that shit. I can't even imagine how much pain I'd be in if I had to do that for the rest of my life.
If this is the kind of stuff I had to go through just to get by, then I really don't see the appeal in the state of living over the state of being dead. Like, if I'm such a burden to society and this world to the point where I have to inflict torture upon myself daily just to repay my debts and earn the right to exist, then what reason do I have for sticking around in a world that clearly doesn't want me? What's so good about living when "treading water" is the best the average person like me can hope for? The fact that people have to convince themselves that life is worth living with motivational quotes and thought-ending cliches really rubs me the wrong way, and now I'm not even sure whether they're trying to help others or trying to convince themselves. Sorry if I'm being too "edgy" or whatever for you, by the way. You can always just NOT read this if it bothers you that much.
Anyway, that's enough rambling from me for now. This summer holiday, my dad wants me to do it all over again. And you know what? I will. Because it's the best shot I have at increasing my chances of making it in this twisted place we call reality. Maybe, if I'm lucky enough, I'll find a different place to work in with less bullshit hours and more acceptable working conditions. I'll take anything at this point. Oh, and before I go... sorry for wasting your time, but you brought this upon yourself.

Hi there, i try to write a tradingbot with pinescript and chatgpt4. But i have some troubles. The strategy is about this video. Its in german but you can do english subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHoXDctnCzE
The only condition i have added by myself is to tell the bot not to trade in sideways movement.
The strategy worked for me manually pretty good.
Would you be so nice to watch over it and tell me whats wrong in my code ? I was succsessfull to tell chatgpt how to write heikin ashi candles correctly but im not able to find out why my pinescript dont create any orders in the backtest.
I need to backtest my script first. Its my first time in pine script, i have learned python a bit but my skills are very low atm.
//@version=5
strategy("EMA200 + STC Strategy with Heikin-Ashi", overlay=true, default_qty_type=strategy.percent_of_equity, default_qty_value=100)
// Parameter
length = input(200, title="EMA Length")
capital = input.float(160, title="Initial Capital in USDT")
leverage = input.int(10, title="Leverage")
risk_percent = input.float(0.5, title="Risk Percentage per Trade", step=0.01) / 100
extra_buffer = input.float(0.6, title="Extra Buffer for Stop Loss (%)", step=0.01) / 100
// Heikin-Ashi Kerzen berechnen
ha_open = request.security(ticker.heikinashi(syminfo.tickerid), timeframe.period, open)
ha_high = request.security(ticker.heikinashi(syminfo.tickerid), timeframe.period, high)
ha_low = request.security(ticker.heikinashi(syminfo.tickerid), timeframe.period, low)
ha_close = request.security(ticker.heikinashi(syminfo.tickerid), timeframe.period, close)
// Indicators
ema200 = ta.ema(ha_close, length)
k = ta.sma(ta.stoch(ha_close, ha_high, ha_low, 14), 3)
d = ta.sma(k, 3)
// Bedingungen
is_above_ema = ha_close > ema200
is_below_ema = ha_close < ema200
is_trending_up = ema200 > ema200[1]
is_trending_down = ema200 < ema200[1]
// STC Farbwechsel
stc_signal = k > d ? 1 : k < d ? -1 : 0
// Überprüfen ob der STC Farbwechsel ganz oben oder ganz unten ist
stc_upper_bound = ta.highest(k, 20)
stc_lower_bound = ta.lowest(k, 20)
stc_is_extreme = (k > (stc_upper_bound * 0.9)) or (k < (stc_lower_bound * 0.1))
// Überprüfen ob die nächste volle Stunde erreicht ist
is_full_hour = (hour(timenow) != hour(timenow[1]))
// Debugging-Ausgaben
plot(is_above_ema ? 1 : 0, title="Above EMA", color=color.green)
plot(is_below_ema ? 1 : 0, title="Below EMA", color=color.red)
plot(is_trending_up ? 1 : 0, title="Trending Up", color=color.blue)
plot(is_trending_down ? 1 : 0, title="Trending Down", color=color.orange)
plot(stc_signal == 1 ? 1 : 0, title="STC Buy Signal", color=color.green)
plot(stc_signal == -1 ? 1 : 0, title="STC Sell Signal", color=color.red)
plot(stc_is_extreme ? 1 : 0, title="STC Extreme", color=color.purple)
// Überwachung des Gesamtkapitals und Ausgabe von Warnungen bei Verlusten
initial_capital = capital * leverage
total_equity_loss = (initial_capital - strategy.equity) / initial_capital
if (total_equity_loss >= 0.25)
label.new(bar_index, high, "Unstetige Wetterlage!", style=label.style_label_down, color=color.red)
if (total_equity_loss >= 0.50)
label.new(bar_index, high, "Ich habe das Trading eingestellt, es passiert zu viel Verrücktes.", style=label.style_label_down, color=color.red)
strategy.close_all()
// Backtest Zeitraum festlegen
start_date = timestamp("2023-01-01 00:00")
end_date = timestamp("2023-03-01 00:00")
if (time >= start_date and time <= end_date)
// Einstiegsbedingung für Long
if (is_full_hour and is_above_ema and is_trending_up and stc_signal == 1 and stc_is_extreme)
stop_loss_price = ha_low[1] * (1 - (risk_percent + extra_buffer))
take_profit_price = ha_close + 2 * (ha_close - stop_loss_price)
strategy.entry("Long", strategy.long, qty=capital*leverage/ha_close)
strategy.exit("Take Profit", "Long", limit=take_profit_price)
strategy.exit("Stop Loss", "Long", stop=stop_loss_price)
// Einstiegsbedingung für Short
if (is_full_hour and is_below_ema and is_trending_down and stc_signal == -1 and stc_is_extreme)
stop_loss_price = ha_high[1] * (1 + (risk_percent + extra_buffer))
take_profit_price = ha_close - 2 * (stop_loss_price - ha_close)
strategy.entry("Short", strategy.short, qty=capital*leverage/ha_close)
strategy.exit("Take Profit", "Short", limit=take_profit_price)
strategy.exit("Stop Loss", "Short", stop=stop_loss_price)

Hi I am an Italian guy and I am trying to create an intro for a podcast without having any experiences on After Effects. I followed a tutorial on youtube and used the assets/templates provided by the creator. I managed to accomplish this but I have 2 problems that I cannot solve. From the After Effect editing screen the "21st Podcast" logo is orange as it should be and then changes color to blue as soon as it is rendered. Second problem I would like to end the clip without camera movement towards the scene with social links, but remaining on the neon sign, Can someone please help me I’m going crazy and not having skills about it I don’t know how I could do it. Link to the video: https://youtu.be/lSGx9-11OUE

Refreshing your home decor with each season is a delightful way to keep your living space vibrant and aligned with the changing times of the year. Seasonal updates don’t require a complete overhaul; small, thoughtful changes can have a significant impact. Here’s how you can effortlessly transition your home decor through the seasons, incorporating key elements like a black and white carpet and pendant lights for a stylish touch.
Spring: Embrace Fresh and Floral
1. Lighten Up with Fabrics

• Swap out heavy winter fabrics for lighter materials like cotton and linen. Introduce pastel shades and floral patterns through throw pillows, curtains, and bedding to capture the essence of spring.

2. Incorporate Fresh Flowers and Greenery

• Fresh flowers and potted plants bring life and color into your home. Arrange bouquets of tulips, daffodils, or peonies in vases throughout your living space.

3. Brighten Up with Pendant Lights

• Pendant lights can be a focal point in any room. Choose designs with a light, airy feel to complement the spring decor. Consider fixtures with floral motifs or in soft, pastel colors.

Summer: Create a Breezy and Bright Atmosphere
1. Switch to a Black and White Carpet

• A black and white carpet can provide a chic, sophisticated look that remains versatile through all seasons. In summer, it offers a striking contrast to bright summer hues and adds a cool, contemporary touch to your home decor.

2. Use Light and Bright Colors

• Embrace vibrant colors like turquoise, coral, and sunny yellow. Add these through cushions, wall art, and decorative accessories.

3. Maximize Natural Light

• Keep window treatments minimal to let in as much natural light as possible. Sheer curtains or light blinds are perfect for this season.

Autumn: Add Warmth and Coziness
1. Introduce Warm Textiles

• As the weather cools, bring out cozy throws, plush cushions, and heavier curtains in warm, earthy tones like burnt orange, deep red, and mustard yellow.

2. Decorate with Natural Elements

• Incorporate autumnal elements such as pinecones, acorns, and dried leaves into your home decor. These can be displayed in decorative bowls or used in centerpieces.

3. Update Your Lighting

• Swap out light, summery pendant lights for those with a warmer glow. Pendant lights with a bronze or gold finish can add a touch of autumnal warmth to your living space.

Winter: Create a Cozy and Inviting Haven
1. Layer Up with Soft Textures

• Use thick, plush throws and textured cushions to create a cozy atmosphere. Faux fur and wool are excellent choices for adding warmth.

2. Opt for a Black and White Carpet

• The versatility of a black and white carpet continues to shine in winter. It provides a neutral base that complements the rich, deep colors often associated with winter decor.

3. Enhance with Warm Lighting

• Pendant lights with a warm glow can make a significant difference during the darker winter months. Choose fixtures that offer a cozy ambiance, and consider using dimmable bulbs to adjust the light levels as needed.

General Tips for Seasonal Decor Changes
1. Rotate Accessories

• Keep a collection of seasonal accessories that you can rotate throughout the year. This includes things like vases, candles, and decorative bowls.

2. Focus on Entryways

• Your home’s entryway sets the tone for the rest of the space. Update it with seasonal wreaths, doormats, and decorations to welcome each new season.

3. Embrace Seasonal Scents

• Candles, essential oils, and diffusers can fill your home with seasonal scents. Think fresh florals for spring, citrus for summer, spiced apple and cinnamon for autumn, and pine or vanilla for winter.

By making these simple yet effective changes, you can keep your home decor fresh and exciting throughout the year. Incorporating elements like a black and white carpet and pendant lights ensures your home remains stylish and cozy, no matter the season.

Introduction
Welcome to the ultimate guide on finding the Best Summer Perfumes For Women In 2024. As the seasons change, so do our fragrance preferences. In this comprehensive article, we'll explore the top scents that embody the essence of summer, ensuring you stay fresh and alluring throughout the sunny days. Whether you prefer floral, fruity, or aquatic notes, we've got you covered. Let's dive into the world of fragrances that will elevate your summer style.

• Why Choosing the Right Summer Perfume Matters

Before we delve into specific perfumes, let's understand why selecting the perfect summer fragrance is crucial. Summer brings warmer temperatures and increased humidity, affecting how perfumes interact with your skin. Opting for a summer-appropriate scent ensures longevity, freshness, and compatibility with the season's vibes.

• Factors to Consider When Choosing a Summer Perfume

Climate and Weather Conditions
The climate plays a significant role in how a perfume develops on your skin. Understanding your local weather conditions helps in selecting fragrances that perform optimally in hot and humid environments.
Fragrance Notes and Families
Different perfumes belong to distinct fragrance families such as floral, fruity, citrus, oriental, and aquatic. Knowing your preferred scent profile aids in narrowing down your options to find your perfect match.
Longevity and Sillage
Summer perfumes should have good longevity without being overpowering. Sillage, or the trail a perfume leaves behind, is also essential for creating a lasting impression.

• Best Summer Perfumes For Women In 2024

1.Scent de Bloom deodorant Spray
At its core, Ramsons Scent of Bloom is a remarkable blend of floral and spicy scents. You'll be reminded of the sweet scent of a jasmine, lily, and rose by this alluring aroma. This fragrance is rejuvenating and keeps you feeling fresh all day long thanks to a pinch of lemon and pink pepper. Scent of Bloom is a traditional warm and woodsy treat, with notes of cedar, musk, vanilla, and sandalwood at the base.
link : Scent De Bloom Deodorant Spray
2.Scent of Wonder deodorant Spray
The heart of Ramsons Fragrance of Bloom is an amazing blend of floral and spicy notes. This Aroma Will Take You Back To The Sweet Aroma Of A Blooming Lily, Rose, And Jasmine. This fragrance, which keeps you fresh all day, is rejuvenating thanks to a pinch of lemon and pink pepper. Scent of Bloom Is A Traditional Warm and Woody Treat, With Sandalwood, Vanilla, Musk, And Cedar At The Base.
link : scent Of Wonder Deodorant Spray
3.Scent of Love deodorant Spray
The heart-warming blend of musk, cashmere wood, and sandalwood at the base, with a hint of lemon and green apple at the top, is revealed by Ramsons Scent of Wonder, an ozone deodorant. The heart of this woodsy, aquatic scent is filled with notes of lavender, jasmine, and rose. With this captivatingly long-lasting Wonder Deodorant Spray in the captivating Ramsons scent, you may become the Wonder Boy or Wonder Girl of your group.
link : Scent Of love Deodorant Spray
4.U R Sweet deodorant Spray
With a base of musk, amber, wood, and vanilla and a heart enhanced with honey, jasmine, rose, and lily, Ramsons U.R. Sweet is a classic blend. Orange, plum, and peach add a fruity punch to this sweet-smelling floral fragrance. Savor This Magnificent Deodorant Spray From Ramsons That Will Earn You The Title "U.R.Sweet."
link : u-r-sweet-deodorant-spray
5.U R Awesome deodorant Spray
Ramsons U.R.Amazing Is Proof Of Its Unique Blend. To make it even more refreshing, the finest quality ingredients go into creating this warm, woodsy, and sweet-smelling scent. Show Off This Amazingly Seductive Deodorant Spray From Ramsons, Which Will Make You Known As "U.R.Awesome."
link : u-r-awesome-deodorant-spray

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What makes summer perfumes different from other fragrances?
Summer perfumes are formulated to be lighter, fresher, and more vibrant to combat the heat and humidity, ensuring a pleasant scent experience.
How should I apply summer perfumes for long-lasting results?
Apply summer perfumes on pulse points such as wrists, neck, and behind the ears. Moisturized skin holds fragrance better, so consider using a matching lotion or oil.
Can I wear the same perfume in summer and winter?
While some fragrances are versatile enough for year-round wear, it's beneficial to have specific summer scents for optimal performance in warmer weather.
Are floral perfumes suitable for summer?
Yes, floral perfumes with light and airy compositions are excellent choices for summer, providing a refreshing and elegant aura.
How can I enhance the longevity of my summer perfume?
Store your perfumes in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight and heat sources. Avoid excessive rubbing after application to preserve the scent molecules.
Can I layer different summer perfumes for a unique scent?
Yes, layering complementary scents can create a personalized fragrance blend that evolves throughout the day, adding depth and complexity.

Conclusion
Choosing the Best Summer Perfumes For Women In 2024 is a delightful journey into the world of scents that complement the sunny season. Whether you prefer floral, fruity, or aquatic fragrances, Ramsons Perfumes offers a diverse range to suit every preference. Embrace the summer vibes with scents that uplift your mood and leave a lasting impression. Discover your signature scent today!

Introduction

Aesthetic gifts that make a home seem better are always appreciated, whether for a housewarming party or a special event. Well-selected pieces of gifting may provide any living area beauty, cosiness, and individuality. If you're looking for ideas to gift your loved ones with items to decorate their home, consider these delightful gift ideas to add an aesthetic appeal to any home.
Discover fashionable pieces that instantly elevate any house, from trendy accessories to cosily decorated rooms. With these essential house presents; you may give your home a stylish makeover.

Top Gift ideas to give your home an aesthetic appeal

Decorating your home can be a real pain, but with this blog it doesn't have to be! If you're looking to gift some one special an aesthetic gift, check out these easy gift ideas that'll have your place looking magazine-worthy in no time:
1. Shivaji Maharaj On Singhasan in Black by Satguru’s- A brave Maratha king named Shivaji Maharaj repelled the Mughal invasion of western India in the sixteenth century BC. Check out the beautiful Shivaji statue seated on Singhasan. This striking resin statue of the Maratha king has a sleek black finish, giving it a regal look that is perfect for home décor. The beautiful piece is a symbol of pride and caution. Bring back history and traditional touch to your home with this statue of Shivaji Maharaj by enhancing a sophisticated touch to your interior design.

1. Ganesh idol By Satguru’s- A Ganesh idol for a gift can significantly improve a space's aesthetic appeal when added as a gift for the house. An intricately carved Ganesh figurine placed in a central location, such as a mantelpiece or side table, may instantly provide spiritual energy and a feeling of cultural depth to the space. These elaborate statues are available in various materials, from shiny brass to delicate porcelain, so you may select one that precisely matches the current décor. In addition to being extremely beautiful, a Ganesh idol can act as a daily reminder to the owner to remain upbeat, concentrated, and receptive to new experiences.

3. Brass Elephant Urli By Satguru’s- Any space's aesthetic appeal can be immediately enhanced by adding brass hanging diyas. These ornamental oil lamps offer vintage beauty and a warm, comforting glow. The brass's deep golden colour immediately draws the eye and gives the surroundings a hint of refinement. With an elephant structure welcoming, these hanging diyas can be hung in alcoves, stairwells, and entryways to create a captivating atmosphere that instantly sets the tone. They may also be eye-catching accents that improve a room's overall design. Brass-hanging diyas add a touch of classic sophistication and mix effortlessly with modern and traditional living spaces.

4. Mudra Buddha In Orange Finish by Satguru’s- A meditating Buddha statue can significantly improve any space's aesthetic appeal. These sculptures create an ideal relaxing atmosphere by instilling a sense of mindfulness and tranquillity. Placing a Buddha statue in your living room, bedroom, yoga studio, or even outside your garden brings an instant touch of elegant Eastern design. The Buddha figure's delicate craftsmanship and serene demeanour immediately grab your attention and beckon you to take a moment to relax and discover your core. Furthermore, the statue's warm, earthy tones go well with various decor themes, from rustic bohemian to modern minimalist. It's easy to bring some zen into your area and make it feel like a sanctuary.

Wrapping Up

Giving presents that improve a home's visual appeal is a way to express gratitude and help your loved ones furnish a place that suits their tastes and individuality. Many options include wall art to beautify their walls, charming and cozy decorative accents, and valuable products that encourage functionality and organisation.
With a variety of gift shops online nowadays, Satguru's is a must-visit online store for all your gift needs.
https://satgurus.com/

Hi guys, I’ll start by prefacing that I’m quite a skeptic person and never really had an interest in the paranormal at all. This experience changed my skepticism, but I’ve not researched if what I experienced is common, if it has a name or if there are any theories as to what it might have been. Would love to know your opinions.
I’m going to try and be as detailed as I can, and talk about some smaller surrounding events go down to the paragraph with “main encounter” for the main encounter if you don’t want to read everything.
This experience happened back in 2014. A few small things happened before the encounter. I had a toy- the London 2012 one eyed Olympic mascot that would play a song & dance when you pressed a button on its foot. On two occasions this toy turned on by itself, both times in the middle of the night, it would sing, dance & then stop abruptly. It would not complete the full dance cycle. I did a lot of research into this and convinced myself that it was caused by faulty batteries. Apparently that’s a thing, so it very well may have idk.
Next, I was having a shower home alone when the light turned off. The flip was psychically switched. I was the only one home. This could be just a bad switch, it’s not really enough for me to consider paranormal. But worth mentioning in the context.
Then things got a bit stranger, I woke up randomly in the middle of the night to see what seemed like a black tall shadow, but standing up, not like a shadow on the floor. It was facing me but wasn’t in my room it was just outside the doorway in the corridor. As quick as I saw it, it had moved out of view, I immediately ran after it, because I knew if I didn’t confirm it wasn’t a ghost it would freak me out for weeks. I was 13 or so back then. so I got up and ran into the corridor and just about saw a black blurr enter my parents room via the half opened door I run in and nothing was there. I don’t know if this one was a paranormal experience. The whole thing happened extremely fast and I had just woken up that very second. It it was strange. But I have sleep paralysis like twice a week, maybe this was a particularly strong case of it.
Main encounter;
So, the main experience. I was 16 now, with my sister 18, it’s a school morning and we’re in the living room. There’s a corridor that leads into the living room. We suddenly hear very loud running footsteps coming down the corridor, towards the room we are in. we can’t see into the corridor but we can see who pops out as they enter the living room, which is at the end of the corridor. We are weirded out by the sound, since we are the only ones home. We both look up to the entrance of the room in anticipation. The running gets closer and closer until finally in runs what I can only describe as an outline of a human, anthropomorphic shape, but blurry, the kind of blurry things are when in motion (which it was), it runs into the living room and right back out down the same corridor. It barely stops and we hear clear as day the thunderous footsteps that seem to go on for longer than the length of our corridor. The entity itself was short, the height of a child, maybe 7 or 8. we only saw it from the torso up as between us was a sofa. It was wearing a bright Orange plain tshirt and its face was a Caucasian skin tone colour. It seemed to have short black hair It didn’t have any facial features at all. Maybe because it was moving quite fast and it blurred but it definitely seemed to be faceless.
Me and my sister both heard and saw the exact same thing.
What could it be?

“We’re a meat family,” my dad would proudly tell strangers. He’d wait for the quizzical look, then launch into detail, starting with how many freezers we had, how long we could sustain ourselves on the contents. It was just his way of starting a conversation, which made sense when you considered that raising and home-killing animals for food was, for want of a better term, his life-long hobby. His prize possession was one of those industrial-sized vacuum sealers: you could put half a pig inside and wrap it in plastic so tightly that every wrinkle and skin fold waxed unreal with shiny detail.
If we hadn’t lived in a rural area, albeit semi-urbanised, I guess it would have been pretty weird. But the mostly farming-stock locals only found his extra enthusiasm a little bit odd.
When he wasn’t being a bit embarrassing talking about it, I never really paid much heed to his hobby. I had a child’s vaguely grateful awareness that though our family went through some lean financial times, our stomachs never suffered like some of the families around us. All the beef, pork, ham and bacon in those big old chest freezers passed down from his dad really could have fed us for years.
I should preface all this by saying that I wasn’t a particularly bright kid, though neither was I dumb. I didn’t fail badly at anything in school, I just never achieved beyond a pass. I didn’t know it yet back then, still quietly dreaming about being a ballet star or a dressage champion, but mediocrity was my destiny. And I think that’s why I got on so well with my Aunt Liz.
Liz was my dad’s live-in youngest sister. She was one of those women who get described as ‘bubbly’ — not really pretty, not really smart, not a lot going on besides just being… well, all Liz. But she was salt of the earth; kind, caring, and great with kids. She was the only person who would willingly mind my two older brothers, who fought like hellcats and caused more trouble than the whole last generation of my family combined. People would privately lament to my parents that it was a shame Liz didn’t have kids of her own, but dad would just shake his head and say Liz liked it that way – that all the fun of looking after kids is being able to give them back to their parents.
I guess she was like me; nice, but mediocre. Lovely, but somehow forgettable when she wasn’t doing something for you.
But when Liz left us, I couldn’t forget her.
In hindsight, it was pretty weird timing that we had a big fortieth birthday party for Liz right before she disappeared. She was radiant that night; she’d hired a local girl to do her hair and makeup, and it was honestly the first time I’d ever seen her look pretty. She’d even worn a push-up bra under a tight red dress, which flattered her very plump curves well enough that the neighbour’s farmhand was spotted disappearing into the woolshed with her for a snog. In my dawning awareness, that gave a plain girl hope: if Aunty Liz could get a guy at forty, maybe things would turn out okay for me.
Anyway, I couldn’t forget how her pink cheeks, her eyes, her whole self, glowed that night before Liz went to bed. She said it was the best birthday ever, and that she was very much looking forward to the next stage of her life.
Would I have done anything different, if I had known? If I had realised what, exactly, that next stage was?
The week after the party, Aunt Liz said she was going on a little holiday up north, to visit some old school friends. She packed her things – she didn’t honestly have that many – and drove her little orange mini out onto the main road. And with a wave of one fleshy hand, she was gone. Nobody really thought much of it when she didn’t call, because nobody rural had cellphones back then. And Liz was, as I said, somehow kinda forgettable when she wasn’t right in front of you.
When we hadn’t had contact for six weeks, Dad tracked down the land line numbers for their old school buddies. They were surprised to hear from him — Liz had never arrived, so they had just assumed she’d cancelled her visit. No-one had thought to check. I eavesdropped on the conversation, and it sounded for all the world like *they* had forgotten about Aunt Liz, too.
From there it became a missing person case. The local cops came and talked to all of us; the farmhand who’d been seen snogging her was briefly detained, then let go, dad got grilled at length, even my hellion brothers were questioned thoroughly to see if this was one of their wild and dangerous pranks gone wrong.
But everything was a dead end. Nobody knew where Liz was, or what had happened to her.
The remains of her old mini were found halfway across the country, burned out on a beach, on a derelict stretch of ragged, rocky coastline. The police assumed murder and combed the area for remains. But even the most expert divers couldn’t conquer the incredible undertow and fast-shifting seabed of that coastline to look for evidence, so none was forthcoming.
Eventually the cops collectively shrugged and said that there was really nothing more they could do unless more information suddenly came to light. The locals knew nothing, no witnesses had come forward, and the trail was cold. As far as anyone knew, poor aunt Liz had been murdered on some desolate beach, far away from her home.
It didn’t feel fair to me. She’d once mentioned wanting her remains buried on our farm, in the graveyard plot beside grandma and grandad.
So, in my grief, I went into her room to look for something of hers to bury beside them.
Like I said, Liz didn’t have many things. Her room was pretty spartan, and her wardrobe was mostly sensible farm stuff. There was one exception: she, like me, did like to read, and she had a pretty good collection of well-thumbed books. I think it’s the escapism – even the most mediocre girl can lose herself in the plot of some trashy romance novel, imagine there’s still hope of being swept off her feet by that handsome stableboy, his inexplicable yearning for chubby plain girls.
So I set myself the task of going through the books, to find the right one to bury in the graveyard plot.
Most of them were exactly what you’d expect, but some of them were racier than I was used to. I felt various parts of my body flushing and tingling, as I read breathless prose about calloused hands touching the softest flesh of the protagonist. Okay, if I’m honest with myself, I might have got a little *too* invested in my project at that point. But that was also why I persisted going through her entire collection, until I found the ragged paperback from 1970, entitled Tawny Sands. And inside that trashy cardboard romance cover, I discovered not the tale of Tawny Sands, but some carefully hand-cut, stitched-in pages. A handwritten story in my Aunt’s rounded penmanship: Memoirs of a Long Pig.
I read her story twice in a row, utterly gripped.
Aunt Liz was no Stephen King – heck, she wasn’t even the Goosebumps guy – but her story was gripping and compelling, and I couldn’t put it down. Even if I hadn’t known her, I think that would have been true.
The gist of it was that Liz, when she was sixteen, had discovered that our family had a very long history of eating what she described as ‘Long Pork’. It’s an antipodean term, anglicised from the Pacific Islands: human meat.
Like me, young Liz still had some hopes and dreams. In one of her many failed attempts to find a special talent, she’d taken up cooking as a hobby. Naturally, with our family’s overabundance of meat, she’d scoured the freezers in the shed for ingredients: the racks of ribs and stacks of pork chops, butcher-paper wrappings all neatly labelled with the first letter of the name of the animal they came from.
She found familiar meat from Rodney, one of the pigs that had been recently slaughtered, emblazoned with an ‘R’ in her father’s strong, blocky lettering. There were cutlets labelled ‘M’ for Mary, from one of the lambs she’d hand-reared, and ‘F’ for Ferdinand, the steer they’d killed the month before. But she couldn’t explain the many, many curious parcels of meat on one side of the huge freezer, all labelled ‘J’ – at least, not until she took it all out and assembled it as well as she could on the scoured concrete floor of the killing shed. A big, frozen jigsaw puzzle without the box, her best attempt to discover what kind of beast the pieces had come from.
The animal, she quickly realised, was a Long Pig. Her own Aunt Jenny, who had died the month before – just after her fortieth birthday.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, for Liz, her father entered the shed right at that moment and realised his daughter had discovered the family secret. He sat down calmly on the lid of the freezer, and explained to her that this was a long-running family tradition, dating back to at least before his grandfather had been born.
“There are always people in life, Liz,” he’d said, “who won’t really amount to much. They want to be useful, want to be more. They strive and they strive, trying job after job, hobby after hobby, trying to hit on something they’re really good at. Something that makes them special. Those people can waste their whole lives, chasing dreams that never come true. Eventually they die unfulfilled, knowing that all their time has been wasted. That what they leave behind will fade quickly.”
His voice was oddly gentle as he leaned down and patted one of the neatly wrapped cuts of Aunt Jenny, still sitting frozen on the shed floor.
“Your Aunt Jenny was one of those people. So was my Aunt Irene.” He paused to gaze at his daughter, his next words peppered with emphasis. “But you see, my sweet Liz, they did find a purpose in life. They did find a way to be special, and they left this world utterly certain of their gift.” He stood up, stretched his back. “Let me show you.”
Liz waited while my grandad meticulously stacked the meat back into the freezer, all but one J-marked parcel that looked for all the world like a thick venison steak. He took her back to the farmhouse, and reverently unwrapped the deep red, heavily marbled meat to let it thaw. Then he laid it in the family’s ancient, cast-iron pan, basting it with butter and rosemary until a heavenly scent filled the kitchen, and Aunt Liz couldn’t stop her mouth from watering.
“Just try it. Let her show you. You’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.”
Even though she knew it was her aunt, Liz couldn’t stop herself from taking that first bite. There was something transcendent about the smell, overriding her natural revulsion that this was human meat, not one of their farm animals. For the first time, she truly realised it: we’re just another kind of animal. And weren’t her memories of Mary the lamb almost as fond as her memories of Aunt Jenny?
Liz explained then, in her curly handwriting, the explosion of taste that had assaulted her when she tried the steak. It was tender, it was succulent, it was rich beyond imagining. The fats melted on her tongue, lingering somewhere between pork and beef, but oddly neither. The flavour of the meat defied identification; something familiar, yet not.
But one thing she couldn’t deny; it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. Tears dripped onto her plate, mingled with the juice, the grease — not grief, but a pure, real, giddy delight.
“You’re tasting your aunt’s love for this family,” my grandad explained. “Her entire life was carefully curated, to eventually make unforgettable moments for us, just like this. This was her way of being special. This was the greatest gift she could possibly bring to our world – and because she realised that, she died with not a single regret. She knew her life had purpose. She was perfectly, completely fulfilled.”
I felt those words. I felt them lodge in my own belly, settling uncomfortably deep. I knew Aunt Liz, probably better than anyone else in the family. I’d seen how fucking happy she’d been on her fortieth, how goddamn fulfilled she was, despite apparently being a *nobody* and achieving *nothing*. Somehow, in the space of a single day, she had gone from being a forgettable background character to becoming the *main character*, immortalising herself in our family’s history with her sacrifice. Quite literally becoming part of all of us, forever.
I went to the killing shed after I finished with the book. I looked inside the freezers.
But there were no vacuum-sealed packages labelled ‘L’, no matter how deep I dug into the frozen stacks of plastic-wrapped flesh. Panicked now, not sure if I wanted to connect all the dots or unconnect them, I tried to think back over the last few months, recall any meals that had been unusually good. A few Sundays ago, we’d had a stew that really hit the spot and left me craving more. And I realised that the family had a really good night that night; my brothers behaved themselves, my parents didn’t fight, and grandma and grandad had been there. Hadn’t they looked far more… expectant than they should have?
I strained my brain, trying to recall if I’d seen the homekill bag on the kitchen bench – if I’d registered what letter it was. I knew it wasn’t an L. I would have remembered if it was an L.
And then it hit me, the memory, the connection, sizzling as if branded with a hot iron.
It had been an ‘E’.
E for Elizabeth. Not for Edward the pig.
I snorted at my own stupidity – of *course* Liz was short for Elizabeth – and as I comprehended my lack of smarts, I felt something give inside me.
I wasn’t clever, and nothing, nothing would ever make me smart. I had no big talents. I wasn’t beautiful, or even cute – and even if I had a million plastic surgeries, it still wouldn’t fulfill me. It wouldn’t be real.
I was a Liz.
I was a Jenny.
I was whoever the first aunt had been, the aunt who had dedicated her life to making her flesh as delicious as possible, who had worked every damn minute to be the best Long Pig she could ever be.
I wondered how many magical family evenings had been spent eating Aunt Jenny. How many glorious, satisfying, memorable dishes had been made out of her.
And… I wanted that. I wanted to finally know I had a *purpose* in life. One so simple, and so easy to achieve.
I wanted what Aunt Liz had.
***
It's my fortieth birthday today and I’m so fucking excited. For the last twenty-four years, I’ve dedicated myself to this moment; I’ve eaten exactly what I needed to, I’ve exercised just enough, but not too much, to maintain that perfect balance of marbling vs tenderness. I’ve relaxed and meditated to keep all those amazing flavours inside of me. I’ve researched all the greatest meats in the world, from prime Angus beef to A5 Wagyu. I really think I may have outdone myself.
I’m having my hair and makeup done at the local salon this afternoon, and I’m going to look so pretty; all prize piggy on show at the fair. I’m even going to have a big red ribbon in my hair, in memory of Aunt Liz.
Maybe there’ll be a cute boy I can snog in the wool shed, maybe there won’t – I don’t really care; because the most important, most certain thing is that I’m going to be the most delicious Long Pig in the history of our entire family.
I’m going to make everyone so damn happy, and I’m just so glad I can share my story with you all, instead of hiding it in a grubby book like poor Aunt Liz.
My only real disappointment? That you won’t get to taste me.
Reader, I have loved, loved my life. My Long Pork will be out of this world: once tasted, never, ever forgotten.

Wade held Jasmine in his arms as he flew a low height down the long road to another section of the staryard, Tina on his back and Nathan and F right behind them in the air. Together, the five glided across the base grounds, taking care as to not irritate the aerial security during their search for the meeting room. Being outside for the flight, the group considered it a blessing that Wade's 'enhanced cooling unit' allowed his body to tolerate the breaching sun in the still cloudy sky, which, according to F, was dangerous to drones like her due to the inefficient cooling she and disassembly drones like her suffered from. Given F's physical fault, she had to fly under shady areas in order to safely traverse the base at day.
Originally, Wade and his friends had planned to walk to the meeting zone, but after running into a trooper experiencing a health mishap, the group did what they could to help the distressed officer. By the time he was brought to the medical ward by other soldiers, Wade found that him and his team would be at least a few minutes late if they kept on their way with their walk.
Deciding to speed things up, Wade, understanding the concern for performing such an effort, opted to carry the Fowleys around the base to the meeting area. Reluctantly, F decided to come along, carrying Nathan in a similar manner that Wade was carrying Jasmine. Taking notice of the time on his HUD, which read, "9:47 AM", Wade scouted for the building he and his friends were directed to. "8072" He said to himself, the number being for the building that would house the imminent meeting.
"They said it was down here, right?" Wade asked aloud to Tina before stopping himself in mid-air, the girl holding onto him tightly as he tried to speak over the growing sound of a retrofit Apache flying overhead.
Looking about, Tina nodded as she spotted the target building. "Yes, I believe that's the one over there!" Pointing past his head, Wade followed her finger to a large building ahead at his right. The structure was moderately tall, only about two stories high, with several soldiers and officers going in and out of the building. Wade smiled as he noticed the target number, as well as the big, bold words describing the building's designation. "8072, Briefing Center B"
"Good eye, honey. Hang on!" Continuing his low glide, Wade zoomed towards the building's entrance before stopping just meters above the ground, his two friends close behind as they slowed down as well. The troopers around them initially looked startled by the sudden arrival of Wade and his group, but quickly regained their composure as Wade hovered still above them.
"At ease! Just visitors." One of the soldiers declared as they identified the newcomers, who touched down before Wade let Jasmine down to her feet, Tina hopping onto the ground along with her.
Putting his hands up, Wade apologized for his swift surprise. "Sorry for the scare, we got delayed for a meeting we're invited to."
The soldier gave an understanding nod as he replied to the former worker drone sternly. "I can see that, just be a bit more careful next time, Mr. Carter. You gave the boys here quite a scare."
Wade returned the gesture in embarrassment as F put a hand to his back, chuckling at his efforts as Tina questioned the officer. "Is Mrs. J in there? She's the one who called for us."
The guard gave his reply as Wade and Tina pulled out their IDs for clearance. "Yes she is, Miss. The meeting's set to begin in under ten minutes." Checking the two drones' IDs, Jasmine and the others pulled out theirs as well, the watchman motioning another trooper over to verify the group. Once the guard finished checking the five's cards, he nodded in approval as the watchman spoke once more. "You're clear to enter."
"Thank you Sir, again, sorry about that spook back there." Wade replied with a smile as the trooper gave one of his own, the disassembly drone and his allies making their way towards the office door before stopping upon the call of a voice.
"Hey, Felice!" Wade turned to find the origin of the voice, F doing the same as the two quickly spotted a quartet of soldiers walking excitedly towards F. The disassembly drone glanced to her friends with a smile before turning back to the approaching entourage.
Wade examined the four troops as they got closer: Two human men, one woman, and a male worker drone. One of the male soldiers had short, blonde hair, and a small scar to the right side of their face. The second man bore a tan skin tone and had black hair, with blue strips that went down slightly in a mullet style. The woman bore a set of long, dark green hair, with the hair going down and over her left shoulder. As for the worker drone, he wore the standard green soldier helmet, single eye visor and all. He had no hair on him from what Wade could tell, and bore a pair of whiteish purple eyes on his visor.
As F walked over to the soldiers, the same one that called to her spoke again. "Felicity, I didn't expect to see you around here today! Where you been?"
The girl soldier interrupted his initial chatter. "Hang on Carlos, do you even know if she remembers us?"
"Aye, don't she have one o' them memory locks, or sumthin?" The drone added in a heavy Scottish accent.
F waved her hand as she replied to the group. "Easy, everyone. Thankfully I still got my memories, courtesy of my technician back at Central." Lowering her hand, F let down her usual persona as she gave a wide smirk to the soldiers, clearly pleased to see them. "Good to see you guys around here."
The soldiers gave light cheers to F as they all embraced her, the group having a surprise reunion as Wade and the others watched in surprise. These must've been F's old colleagues from when she was in the service, Wade thought. Quite the coincidence for them to be here at this base of all places.
Not bothering with the convenience of the matter, Wade shook the thought off as he and his friends watched F and her old friends breaking the hug, Tina wrapping an arm around her boyfriend as the second male human spoke to her in what the two discerned as Spanish. "Ay, who your new friends, F?"
"Oh, these guys?" F replied in the same language, quietly startling Wade and the others as they had never heard her speak like that until now. Glancing over to Wade, F motioned him and the others to come over. "Everyone, these are some friends I made in the past few days. Wade, Nathan, Tina, and Jasmine." She pointed her hand to the four as she said each of their names. "I met the boys here during my time on Ceres. Jasmine and Tina here are sisters."
The four soldiers gave various forms of excitement, ranging from hearty laughs to low woops and even a whistle from one of the guys. As F stood next to her old teammates, they each introduced themselves to Wade and his friends. The blonde soldier went first. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you all, name's Carlos, Lieutenant Marksman."
"I'm Private Alvaros, good with close-range and stealth operations." Said the tan soldier with a salute.
"Sergeant Lucia Vasquez, usually the one who leads this bunch around these days." The female warrior stated with a humorous smirk.
"And Corporal Duncan Wallace, at your service!" The soldier drone stated proudly as he saluted to the bunch in front of him, who gave warm smiles as Wade shook his hand.
"Quite honored to meet you all, seems you have quite the history with F." The former worker drone said as Carlos patted F on her back.
"Oh, we do! She's the one who took charge when we didn't! Did you all hear of the Pasting of Nola VI?" Jasmine and Tina gave nods of affirmation while Wade, not as familiar with such history, held his hand up in a questioning manner.
"I think, wasn't that the battle where the Navy just barely held the outpost in that system? From the Stryker Clan?" Wade asked as Carlos nodded approvingly to him.
"That's right, and if Felice weren't there, WE would've been the ones getting pasted!" Carlos' statement brought victorious cheers and "oorahs" from the group, F letting a blush loose as she chuckled at her team's praise of her efforts.
"Well, that's not wrong." Although she didn't want to break off from her friends and discuss the past few years since they'd last met, F remembered the briefing. Clearing her throat, she continued. "And as much as I'd like to chat about the good times, I've been called to a meeting here, as have Wade and his crew."
The soldier group gave understanding looks to F as Lucia spoke up. "Thought so, Carl here was real eager to see you, though."
"Maybe we can talk after the meeting?" Nathan proposed as the soldiers collectively nodded in agreement, F readying a smartcomm attachment before turning to face her friends again.
"We're probably getting low on time, you all go in, I'll catch up in a sec." Wade nodded in acknowledgement before taking Tina's hand, the lover drones continuing towards the briefing center as Jasmine and Nathan followed behind them.
Passing through the door, the four guests observed a short hallway, which seemed to split into two paths as they came closer to the other end. Looking to a sign on the wall above, they saw arrows pointing to two separate areas, "Primary Briefing Room; Main Lobby + Secondary & Tertiary" Going to the right, they entered the moderately active lobby, several officers walking and standing about in mass chatter. Walking over to the desk up against the wall to their left, Wade and his group waved a hand to the occupying attendant.
"Welcome, what do you need?" The desk attendant asked as Tina raised a finger to reply.
"We're here for a meeting, Mrs. J called us here."
The attendant nodded in understanding before directing an arm towards the other end of the room, where a single door stood. "She should be in the second briefing room down that way."
"Thank you." Tina replied warmly before she and Wade began walking towards the door, their friends behind them as they proceeded into the room.
The room beyond the door was quite sizable, a large circular table occupying the middle with several chairs surrounding it. The walls went up a few meters, with four whiteish blue lights illuminating the room. On the wall opposite to Wade and Tina were three monitor screens, all of which showed the USN in bright blue. In several of the seats were faces both familiar and unfamiliar, several men and women in varying styles of uniforms conversing about quietly or taking notice of the recent visitors. Standing up near the monitors were three people: A decorated officer whom Tina identified as a ship captain, and the so-called operatives, Tessa, albeit as a hologram, and J.
Walking slowly into the room, Wade gave a low wave of his hand as he tried to hide his nervousness. Noticing his shyness in front of the officers, Tina held his hand and rubbed his arm comfortingly while returning a pleasant smile to the staff in the room.
"Ah, Wade, Tina. Glad to see you all here." J stated with a smile as she scanned the group, raising a digital eyebrow as she noticed one missing guest. "Or, most of you, I see. Did F run off somewhere?"
Wade shook his head as he replied to his fellow disassembly drone. "Oh, no. She just ran into some old friends, she should be back-"
"Right now." F finished aloud as she entered the room, seemingly having heard Wade speaking about her absence. The warrior drone fast walked to Wade's team, taking a seat near them as they prepared to do the same. "Not too late, are we?"
"Not at all." The standing officer answered as the group took their seats, Wade and Tina sitting next to each other as they got comfortable. The captain examined the lot for a moment, glancing to J as he asked about them. "So, these are the ones you helped rescue from the Mojave?"
"Yes Captain, and they helped us out greatly in turn. This is Wade Carter, one of the captured drones whom became a disassembly drone before we could mount the rescue. The luckiest one, if you ask me." Motioning her arm over the others, she continued. "And there's his girlfriend, Mrs. Tina Fowley, and her sister Jasmine." Smirking to F and Nathan, she finished her friends' introductions. "And these two are Serial Designation F and Mr. Nathan, whom I've heard were once under your ranks."
The military captain gave a welcoming smile to the five as they returned the gesture, eyeing F and Nathan specifically before speaking to them. "Indeed they were, we still have records on their contributions to the colonies." Eyeing F, he continued. "Though, in Mrs. F's case, I won't blame her if she doesn't remember us. We've been very well aware of JCJenson's 'memory suppression' protocols when it comes to their DDs."
F laid back in her seat with a smug look as she replied to her former superior. "Well, my friend on the station's a good tech gal. She's... waived that hindrance from me."
"I see, that means your still with us, am I right, Mrs. Lee?" Unlike her friends next to her, F was not startled by her original name being said aloud, rather smiling proudly as she saluted to the captain. "Good to see you again."
"Pleased to be here, Sir." F replied as she lowered her arm, glancing to her companions next to her as J spoke up.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Captain Preston Mitchell, commander of the USNV Vickers down at the stardock."
Wade gave a respectful salute to Preston as he spoke first. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir."
"Thank you, Mr. Carter. I've heard about your efforts from J, you did an admirable job back there, son." Wade failed to hide an embarrassed blush from the compliment, but it quickly faded as a beep sounded from a small device on the table. It was swiftly silenced by the captain as he tapped a button on the small, pyramid shaped timer, then facing Wade's group before continuing. "Though, as much as we could use some small talk, it'll have to wait till later."
"Indeed, we're running late at this point." Said another officer, a highly decorated member of the base with dark skin, dark grey hair and a thin beard. He immediately won the attention of everyone in the room as he spoke up. "I'm General Hugh Hood, overseer of this base. I'm certain you know some of the reasons you're here with us, correct?"
Wade nodded as he spoke to Hood. "Yeah, it's cause of those rogue agents from the JCJenson corporation." Glancing to J, the corporate drone nodded in affirmation before speaking herself.
"Tessa and I spent the last hours of yesterday evening clearing up the matter with General Hood, along with several other officials stationed here." She stopped as the middle monitor behind her flashed with a banner at the top, reading, "INCOMING TRANSMISSION", and in place of the USN emblem was a textless version of the JCJenson logo. Below the profile image was another two lines of text. "N. Jenson (Company Exec); Comms Source: Yottrite IV"
"And also told our boss about what happened here too, he wanted to give his say on this ordeal." Looking to the general, J asked him, "May I put him on?"
Hood only gave a nod of approval to the corporate drone before she picked up a remote on the table and tapped a button, accepting the call as the picture shifted to show a middle-aged man in a pristine-looking business suit on the screen.
Wade and Tina glanced to each other before J introduced their guest on the screen. "Ladies and Gentlemen, the CEO of JCJenson: Mr. Noor Jenson."
Jenson gave a pleased nod to his subordinate as he spoke to J. "Thank you for the pleasantries, J. I see we are ready to discuss our plans on dealing with this 'recall' disaster I've bore witness to on the news this morning?"
J nodded as she replied to her boss. "Indeed, I've explained to General Hood here about our efforts yesterday, and, as of recent, we've just received a message from a source we believe to be close to the company."
Mr. Jenson looked down to J attentively as he spoke to her. "Well, that's quite intriguing news, J. Do you have this message available for us to view?" J and Hood both nodded in affirmation, but didn't get an immediate reply as Jenson gazed to Wade and his friends. "...And I presume these are some of the drones rescued from one of the factories?"
Again, J nodded to her superior before explaining her colleagues. "Yes Mr. Jenson, the two drones at the front in particular were among those taken by the Administrator and their subordinates." Pointing an arm to Wade and Tina, she introduced the drone couple. "The disassembly drone here is Mr. Wade Carter, a brother to his-technically speaking-owner, the late Ron Carter. The latter helped us recover Wade during an initial raid inside the Nevada facility." When bringing up Ron, J gave an apologetic look to Wade as to show she did not mean to be offending on him and his brother's relationship. "And this is his romantic partner, Mrs. Tina Fowley. I heard she and her sister Jasmine are pilots."
Jenson looked over the two drones as his obedient employee described them to him, quietly sighing as Wade and Tina returned the gaze with nervous smiles. Once J finished, Jenson spoke to Wade. "I... would say it's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Carter. But, given recent events, I don't hold fault to you for feeling frustrated at me for my... former subordinate's actions."
Wade shook his head lightly, taking Jenson's light apology with a faint smile as he replied to the CEO. "Actually, I don't. The only person I have such feelings put towards is," He hesitated for a moment, his anger at Dr. Halloway returning for a short moment before he eased himself. "..That bastard Halloway."
"The feeling's mutual, Mr. Carter. Dr. Halloway has been trying my patience for years now, especially with you and your fellow disassembly drones." Looking to J, then F, he returned his gaze to Wade before questioning him on his new body. "I don't know if J has told you of this, but if there's one truth my company has admittedly not held up to for a while, it's our quality. Recently, some of my research staff here made blueprints for an upgraded variant of the disassembly drone design. It's intended to fix several faults we expected to be nonexistent previously, most notably that atrocious cooling unit."
As a schematic pulled up on the left monitor, everyone glanced to the improved design before F spoke up about it. "If I may ask, Mr. Jenson, how big of an improvement is this new cooling unit supposed to be?"
"Good question, F. Frankly, it's supposed to do away with the issue entirely. Saves us from sacrificing enormous supplies of oil for the poorly built unit in the previous iterations. We even tested it with a repaired drone just a few days ago, and it worked flawlessly." Then, glancing to Wade again, he questioned the former worker drone on his new form. "Speaking of, how does your enhanced body feel, Mr. Carter? I'm certain it feels better to not have to-"
"Actually, Mr. Jenson," Wade interrupted, pulling out one of his canteens as he answered the CEO on his upgrades. "I guess Halloway changed up the blueprints, cause unfortunately this new cooling unit didn't cure the overheating problem. I... kinda learned that the hard way." Wade glanced to Tina apologetically, still feeling bad from her seeing him eat the corpse of the dead murder drone back at the factory.
The corporate CEO grimaced in frustration as he took in Wade's statement, already intolerant of the head researcher's actions as he replied. "...I was worried about that, Edgar always likes to run things his own way, making excuses for that 'Administrator' he watches over." Taking an agitated breath, he continued on with his spew on the two culprits of yesterday's events. "It was only because of all the very impressive creations and enhancements she and her research team provided that I tolerated them for so long, but this..." Sitting up straight in front of the camera, Jenson finished sternly. "J said the Administrator... Cyn, I believe? She was apparently something worse than we presumed originally, and I'm very inclined to believe so after yesterday."
"As well as the program tied to the Administrator, the AbsoluteSolver." J clarified before receiving an agreeing nod from Mr. Jenson, standing corrected on his placing of blame.
Raising a hand, Nathan asked about the supposed plans. "Yeah, about this "Solver Project", what do we plan to do about that?"
"Good question, Nate." Tessa replied as she crossed her arms before looking to Jenson and beginning her explanation. "Initially, we were going to investigate the other factories spread across Earth in order to get some more info on the Administrator before things get worse. But, just this morning, it seems someone else saved us the trouble." Just as Tessa neared the end of her sentence, J held up the remote again, tapping a few buttons before the left monitor shifted to show a slightly grainy video onscreen.
The video only showed a single being, a worker drone, dressed in a chrome suit and bearing a set of yellow eyes. Behind them was what appeared to be a vacant room, a few shelves holding many books within them standing still in the back. The drone's visage indicated they were filled with immense anxiety, terrified of being caught as they spoke quietly to the camera.
"I can only hope someone gets this in time, they're gonna be on me once they find out the transmitter screens are down!" Turning the camera, he showed what appeared to be a large factory room, several more of the mysterious conveyor belts like at the factory slotted next to each other. It was hard to discern every detail due to not only the window reflection, but also the dark lighting in the inactive conveyor room. Filming the room beyond, the drone continued. "Dr. Halloway's a madman, he's got more of those stolen drones being brought here and he's going to be overseeing it in the afternoon tomorrow! I've seen what happened back in Nevada, I can't take this any longer! I'm at coordinates ##.######, -###.###### Please, send someo-"
The suspicious, partially scrambled transmission immediately cut off to static, leaving Wade, Tina, and their friends with confused expressions as Tessa spoke up. "Yeah, that caught me by surprise too."
"So, that guy says they got more drones being sent 'there', but... where is there, exactly?" Jasmine asked with immense curiosity.
"I was hoping you'd ask that, Mrs. Fowley." The technician replied as she glanced to J, who tapped a few more buttons on the remote before speaking over her boss-friend.
"While the transmission itself isn't much to work off of, our friends from Comms over here managed to intercept the signal earlier, and even better, discern where it originated from." As J started her explanation, the screen shifted once more to show a large city, with one skyscraper highlighted in red as it was zoomed towards on the screen. "That scrambled audio wasn't a simple glitch, it was intentionally done so as to hide key information for us to uncover. Upon cleaning up the message, we managed to recover a set of coordinates, which direct to this structure here, in San Francisco."
Wade and his friends stared at the building in shock, examining the tall structure as it stood over the shorter buildings in the city. Tina broke the silence in her gaze. "So, this is another factory? It looks... terribly different from the one we got out of."
"Not exactly, Mrs. Fowley." Mr. Jenson answered, Tina and the others looking to him as he continued. "THAT is the Administrator's main laboratory, its location was kept on the down low so other authorities and terrorist groups wouldn't find out what the buildings true purpose was." Sighing, Jenson completed his reply. "But, with this recent mistake of Halloway's, that place has lost all purpose for us at the company."
Wade raised a hand to speak. "So, we're going to pounce on that place? Get Halloway before he runs off again?"
"Exactly." General Hood replied as he looked up to Mr. Jenson. "This whole 'recovery/recruitment' effort has gotten out of hand all across Sol. We've gotten countless reports of people being killed because of this, be it the brutal robberies here in Nevada or the bloodbath on Ceres. Even if Mr. Jenson refuses to cooperate, this has become a dire matter for us now. One way or another, this insanity will be stopped with due haste."
The CEO nodded in acknowledgement before explaining his own plans for the mission. "Speaking of cooperation, upon seeing what was happening at Earth, I ordered a detachment of our corporate starships in orbit at the time to depart for Sol in order to help with investigating the situation. They're not warships, but they are well-armed. I'll dispatch them to your authority upon concluding this call." Glancing to Wade and his team for a moment, Jenson continued. "As for the mission, I may not have much of a say, but let it be known that you have my blessing to do whatever it takes to end this madness. I don't care what you do with Halloway or any of his lackeys, or what happens to that facility down there... I want that program shut down."
"Thank you for the extra hands, Mr. Jenson. We'll make sure this Administrator is dealt with." Hood replied gratefully as Wade sat firm in his seat, Tina and the others following suite.
"General?" The former worker drone said aloud, catching Hood's attention before he made his request. "I know I'm not a soldier, but I want to help with dealing with Halloway and his grunts. After what he did, after losing my brother, I can't rest until I see that man stopped."
Tina raised a finger as well. "As do I, Wade could use a hand with those people, and given how we did during our escape run out of that place, I think the two of us make quite the duo." She glanced to Wade with a smirk as she referenced their combat prowess when flying together.
Nathan and F stood up before the latter gave her own request. "Sir, I wish to take part in this mission as well. I can also recommend Wade for you too, as I fought alongside him during the factory raid."
"Wouldn't mind giving a hand myself! And I'm sure my pal Kurtis would love to help, he's here at the base too!" Nathan added with a confident smirk, the group's determination encouraging Jasmine to stand up as well.
"I'd like to help too." She stated simply, a smile on her face as the general and his companions observed the five guests.
Admittedly, Hood knew it would be a bit absurd to allow these people to take part in an operation which would certainly involve bloodshed, especially considering most of them merely had civilian status at the moment. But, upon careful evaluation of the five, their desire to see this problem dealt with, and the fact that some of them had experience on the field...
He paused his train of thought as Captain Mitchell spoke to him. "General? I read up on the Fowleys' files when we recovered Mrs. Jasmine here, they provided service in their early careers." He smirked to the pilot sisters as he finished adding his say. "And to be frank, we need more people like them here. The records we have of them showed them to be damn fine pilots."
Tina blushed at the praise from Mitchell as she spoke to the general. "That is true, we uh... did get discharged for our... 'fancy maneuvering'."
"Sir?" Jasmine said, the general's attention on her as she added to the conversation. "Even if our flying is a bit out of protocol, Tina saved a lot of people on that starjet a few days back. I can promise you, she's an excellent woman to have at the wheel."
Glancing to Wade again, Hood took in his face, one of begging desperation as he spoke once more. "Please, Sir. My brother, the troops he brought from the Coalition, Halloway's gotten them all killed cause of this. I want to do this. I HAVE to do this, at least for them."
The good general took a deep, quiet breath, considering his decision once more before finally revealing it to Wade and his friends. "Mr. Carter, Fowleys? I'm probably making myself a fool for saying this, but you're permitted to assist us in this mission."
The drone couple contained their gratefulness in the form of ecstatic grins as Wade replied to the general. "Thanks, General. We won't let you down."
"And Mrs. Lee?" Hood said as he glanced to F, who returned the gesture as he told her, "You're technically under Mr. Jenson's authority, whatever his answer is, it's mine as well."
Bringing her yellow-orange eyes to her CEO, F awaited Mr. Jenson's answer. "F, yes? I heard Mr. Hood call you by a different name just now, I assume you have some experience with the army?"
The warrior drone nodded as she explained herself. "I once inherited the name of Felicity Lee, Mr. Jenson. I served under the USN Defense Forces before joining the DD Division." Then, glancing to the military staff near her, she finished with, "I had hoped to provide my enhancements to the Force one day."
Jenson gave a hint of a proud smile as he finally gave his decision. "Well, it seems you'll finally get that chance. From now on, even after this mission on Earth is over with, you're hereby dispatched to serve under the USN."
F admittedly couldn't hide her excited smirk as she flung a salute to her now former boss. "Thank you Sir!"
Looking up to Jenson, General Hood asked the CEO, "Mr. Jenson, how long until your ships can reach Earth?"
Jenson glanced down at his communication console as he answered the military leader. "At max speed, their Ion drives should be able to bring them into orbit in as little as one to two days. I believe there should be some ships within the system that could help as well."
"Signal them when you can, Mr. Jenson. We could use all the help we can get from them." The CEO nodded to Hood as he stood firmly to the viewer, the general turning to face Wade and his colleagues. "And Mr. Carter? We'll be mobilizing our forces immediately after this meeting concludes. It'll be a minute, but I want you to gather whatever items and belongings you'll need for this operation. Be ready to head to the flight pads in no more than three hours."
"Understood Sir!" Wade said with a salute, Tina, Jasmine and Nathan giving their own as Jasmine raised a finger.
"What about the area around the lab? That place looks like it's in the middle of the city."
J raised a finger as she told Jasmine and the others about their resolution of the civilian obstacle. "Shortly after reporting our findings on the transmission, Hood told us that they were sending in some teams to clear out the civilian population within several miles of the facility. Once we get there, it should be of no concern."
Jasmine sighed in relief as Tina spoke up. "So the people should be safe from any sort of danger?"
"Correct, Mrs. Tina." Preston answered before continuing. "Given the resistance Halloway and his men showed during the Coalition's raid, they most certainly won't hold back there."
"One more thing, Sir." Nathan asked. "The Coalition's going to help us out with this too, right?"
"You can count on it, Mr. Nathan." The Vickers' captain replied as he looked to J, then to Jenson as he spoke further. "I met the leader of the Coalition's detachment working with us when I was introduced to J and Mrs. Elliott here, they intend to see this conflict finished. I highly doubt they're willing to sit back and let us do this by ourselves."
"And their help will be much appreciated." Hood added, everyone's attention returned to him as he looked to Tessa, curious eyes scanning her holographic form. "And Mrs. Elliott, if I may. Do you mind heading down here to assist us in our investigations later on?"
"Funny you say that, General. I'm almost done with my own snooping around on the JCJ up in orbit, Cyn has some small departments of hers aboard, and I thought I'd gather some more intel before coming down." Glancing to Mr. Jenson, she saw him giving an understanding nod before returning her gaze to the military staff. "I should be down there by the evening, judging by where you're located."
"Do what you must, Mrs. Elliott. We could use whatever you find." Hood replied firmly as he turned once more to the JCJenson CEO. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Jenson. We will get to the bottom of this."
"It's my pleasure, General." Glancing to J and Tessa, he spoke to them once more. "J? Contact me when you've finished with Halloway and his Administrator."
"It'll be done, Mr. Jenson." The obedient servant answered before saluting firmly, receiving a final nod from her boss before he ended the transmission.
With their off-world guest out of the way, Hood looked to Wade and his friends, J, Tessa and Captain Mitchells sharing the gaze with them as the general spoke to them in finality. "Well, you know what comes next everyone. You're all dismissed for now. And remember, landing zone by 1300."
"We'll be there Sir." Wade said with a nod as he and his friends stood up, pushing in their chairs before making their way out to the door.
As they neared it, Wade stopped for a moment as they heard Hood call to one of his friends. "And F?" The soldier drone looked to the general as he continued. "Before we depart, would you mind changing your uniform? I believe it could help with identifying you from the other disassembly drones more easily." Glancing to J, then back to F, he finished with, "I recall hearing about the most formidable drones having clones prepared, yes?"
"Correct, Sir. I'll stop by the nearest barracks while I can." F replied before turning back to the door with her colleagues, Wade opening the door for them all as they passed through. After them, Wade passed through himself, shutting the door to the meeting room as he returned to the lobby.
Walking about together, F spoke to Wade and the others. "Well, that went smoothly. I'll be heading down to the barracks, then head over to your place to help out."
"Actually," Wade replied, raising a finger up as he asked his fellow murder drone, "You think you could bring your friends over? We could get to know each other while we're getting ready."
F glanced to Nathan with a smile before returning her eyes to Wade. "I could see about that. You're gonna like them, I can promise you that."
Taking Tina's hand, Wade walked with his girlfriend alongside Jasmine and the others, nearing the hallway they came through as they prepared for the walk back to the apartment.

Listen to me. I might not go outside, and my two best friends are co-workers that occasionally tolerate me enough to give me an excuse as to why we won't hang out this weekend, but I am basically a god of social engineering and people reading. For one, I'm an empath. Secondly, I am kind of an expert on taking a heavily edited and stretched narrative presented by reality TV professionals and using it to extrapolate peoples' inner selves.
If you say Q isn't a wholesome king, I will eat your skin and drink your blood like it's orange Gatorade. If you say Hunter and Jake aren't literal golden retrievers, I will run you over with my Honda Accord. (I LOVE MY WHOLESOME PROSECUTOR ZADDY) I'm not here to play games. This is Survivor. Karla is a misogynist and Cassidy deserved to win.
Also, it's not racist to hate Katurah and Soda for being black women. They're just annoying. I don't know why people tell me it's "sus." Nobody plays that game anymore, nimrods.
Hey, does anyone want to hang out at my place this weekend? We can like, go to Taco Bell. Lol

Heyyy I’m 20f looking to find other single women to talk to long term. We can voice chat about anything. I’m open to seeing where the connection goes.
My flair does say strictly clean but I’m not completely opposed to flirting. I actually enjoy it so don’t be afraid to be a little flirty because I personally am a huge flirt.
I love a good deep conversation or just funny ones too. I have kind of a dark sense of humour lol so if you think you can handle that then let’s talk. I can be a little mean but in a teasing way it’s all jokes and love here.
A little bit about me. I’d say my fav tv show is the vampire diaries, I love reading and I write poetry occasionally. Oh and I have an orange boy cat that’s my whole world. I’m bisexual but lean towards women more, can u blame me hehe.
I can be a little shy and do get intimidated easily so bare with me when we voice chat🙈😂
If ur interested please message me and lmk a little bit about yourself as well!