Headlines Youtube: https://youtu.be/yELCni7US84?si=_-nmbRBlyzHn3MAM Spotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/FmC16t1xiKb Pride Resolution / MBTA Communities Act / New Brandeis Dorm / Lexington Solar Plant Canceled / Fernald Updates / Dual Language School Moving to WHS Site / New Police Station / Online Meeting Notifications / Community Events
Debrief Youtube: https://youtu.be/YoOqY4ZylPU?si=CgBUexCDKgukRiJ3 SPotify: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/QTNnAt1xiKb May 2024 Debrief: MBTA Communities Act, Pride Resolution, New Newspapers with guest Colleen Bradley-MacArthur, city councilor at-large. 01:00 MBTA community act updates 17:30 CMB: Digital public meeting notifications/”Board of Truth” 27:00 Waltham Pride resolution 37:30 Fernald update from CBM 38:20 New police station update from CBM 40:50 Clematis Ave Church goes before ZBA 44:44 Waltham Pride Event 46:20 A new Waltham newspaper?/The future of print media in Waltham 51:15 Waltham community leadership group Housing Summit Still waiting on a map of the new police station work, update to come.
Headlines transcript: Happy Pride Month! This year’s Waltham Pride festival will take place on Sunday 6/16 from 11am to 4pm on the Waltham Common. On 5/28 the Waltham City Council passed a resolution recognizing Pride month that was submitted by Councilor Katz and signed by all of the councilors, and several councilors made comments in support of the LGBTQ+ community.The resolution was slightly different than those from the past two years, leaving out a call for a pride flag to fly at city hall for the month and language calling out homophobia and transphobia. Our team discussed that more in our Debrief show, which we just posted, so check it out if you haven’t already.
On 5/20 the city law department revealed a draft plan for changes to Waltham’s zoning ordinances to comply with the MBTA Communities Act. The new zoning would allow for four-unit condos near the Brandeis MBTA station and in North Waltham near Waverley station, but would not make any changes to Waltham Center. According to the Waltham Inclusive Neighborhoods group, the city may have gotten the math wrong. In an e-mail sent to supporters, the group said the zoning would allow for less than 2,500 units which would fall short of the nearly 4,000 required by the law. They also noted these units could not be designated as affordable and would be subject to minimum parking requirements that could drive up the price. That plan was discussed in this week’s meeting of the Rules & Ordinances Committee, which recommended that the council approve it. We also discussed that in more detail on our Debrief show.
Also in housing news, Brandeis University is proposing to build a new dorm on South Street which would house up to 650 undergraduates. They’ll be holding a community meeting to discuss that plan on 6/13 at 6pm at 119 School St.
We have an update for you on the proposed solar plant in Lexington: it looks like it’s probably not happening. You may recall a developer planned to build a solar plant plant near the Cambridge Reservoir on land that’s part of Lexington but abuts a residential neighborhood in Waltham. In 2022, when Waltham told the developer they could not build an access road through the neighborhood, the developer sued the city and won. In June of last year, Waltham and the City of Cambridge both filed lawsuits against the town of Lexington for approving the project. But according to court documents posted on social media by Councilor Hanley on 5/8, the developer has now agreed to sell the land to Cambridge, which plans to preserve it as open space. The plaintiffs asked the court to stay the lawsuit for 90 days as they work on finalizing that sale.
We also have some updates for you on the Fernald site: Construction continues on the recreational area at 190 Trapelo Rd., and the concern about a possible wetland violation has been resolved. At their 5/2 meeting the Conservation Commission heard from the wetland scientist they hired who said he performed soil testing and reviewed maps and images of the site, and determined there is a channel containing water there but it does not fall under the commission’s jurisdiction because the water is not flowing. The commission voted to accept that conclusion.
On 5/5, WCAC reported that in April vandals did about $8,000 worth of damage to equipment belonging to the construction contractor at Fernald. On 5/19, Waltham PD used the Fernald site to detonate an object believed to be an explosive found by people who were magnet-fishing in the Charles River. On 5/28, the city’s purchasing department updated the requests for proposals for three of the buildings on the Fernald site to extend the proposal deadline to 7/2.
Waltham’s Dual Language School will be moving to a new home this summer in the building that’s currently home to Waltham High School. The new high school is scheduled to open in the fall, and this week the School Committee voted to move the Dual Language School from Moody St. to 617 Lexington St. by August. The Dual Language School currently serves kindergarten through 5th grade, and parents have expressed concerns that the high school building is not appropriate and the location is a problem for students who walk or bike to school. Our team is working on a special report to take a closer look at that issue.
The mayor and police chief were at this week’s meeting of the Committee of the Whole to discuss plans for a new public safety complex that will include a new police station. The current complex at 155 Lexington St. was built in 1965, and in 2015 the Waltham News Tribune reported that the police station had serious problems including mold, ceiling leaks, broken toilets, and insufficient locker rooms. Since then several sites for a new station have been discussed including the former Fernald and Fitch Schools. The current plan is to build a new complex at the same site on Lexington St., starting with a new police station with double the square footage. Waltham Fire Department, which shares that complex, will temporarily move to School St. before moving into a new station on Lexington.
On 5/20 Councilor Bradley-MacArthur submitted a resolution in the city council that would require the city to announce upcoming meetings online. As we’ve discussed on our shows, the city posts most meetings to an online calendar, but technically they are only required to post them on a bulletin board at city hall in order to comply with the open meeting law. The resolution would require all meeting notices to be posted online, and I’m happy to say Councilor Bradley-MacArthur joined our Debrief show to discuss that.
The Pride festival is just one of several community events coming up this month.This Sunday 6/9 Waltham Inclusive Neighborhoods is hosting a summer social at Margarita’s restaurant from 3-5pm. Also on Sunday the Waltham Land Trust is hosting a concert by musician Sonya Rae Taylor from 2-5pm at 500 Totten Pond Rd. The Waltham Farmer’s Market is happening every Saturday 9am-2pm at a new location at 65 Lexington Street. Waltham Riverfest is on 6/15 10am-4pm on Moody St. On 6/19 Waltham Boys & Girls Club will host a Juneteenth celebration on the Common from 12pm to 4pm. The Waltham Children’s Business Fair will take place on 6/22 from 9am to 6pm, also on the Common. Waltham Critical Mass, which has changed its name to Bike Together Waltham, will have their next ride on 6/29. Also on 6/29 Waltham Community Leadership Group will be holding their second annual Housing Summit at First Parish Church 1pm-5pm.

Between Esdeath and Ivan, for a while things hadnt looked all that promising regarding the groups plan to save the Lostbelt. But as the blizzard stopped, the thing that made life so harsh and survival the most important aspect of all, Ivan had proven himself to be surprisingly amicable.
The Yagas lifestyle, brutal and loveless as it was, was no longer needed in a world that could be warm. And with the Box (Yang still was pondering the proper name for the device) in place after the Lostbelts Tree was destroyed... their world was for now at least safe. Comfortably stabilized and in stasis until Yang could get off this planet and plant them on a proper world.
So the trio departed for the next target, this time by a matter of logic and reason. The various Lostbelts had been marked on the walkie talkie like apparatus Yang received with various redacted information. Suppsoedly to be revealed as they progressed. It made her wonder what kind of game this was supposed to be but any information could be useful. Each Lostbelt had different ranks of danger, with Russia being the lowest.
In accordance with the danger rating, their next location would be Scandinavia. A land where Ragnarok never proceeded as it was supposed to, with a Mother Goddess fused with Scathach as its Lostbelt King. And its Jumper being... annoyingly hidden. Supposedly this Jack Slash (Corax immediately wanted to kill him no debate involved after she learned of his name... something about Worms?), had talked Surtr into attempting to end all the world instead of only the age of gods.
Skadi was at least much more approachable than Ivan, greeting them like a mother would. Horrific circumstances regarding humanity in this Lostbelt aside, who had to routinely be feed to Giants at young ages, Skadi was elated to hear they could help, defeat Surtr and put an end to the Giant threat. She had guaranteed them her full support in every endeavor.
It was nice to have a proper room in Skadis Palace instead of having to hide out in a cave. All things considered things were looking up, even if a harsh fight was on the horizon. And what better thing to do than train? So she had done just that with Taiyang for the last couple hours. Corax mentioned wanting to discuss... something with a certain Mother Goddess...
Yang wiped away some sweat of her brow, drinking some of the warm tea the Lostbelt King had provided. She honestly hoped the next Lostbelts would be warmer this cold was getting annoying.
As they recovered some of their energy... Yang felt compelled to ask. "Say... how did you meet Corax?"
Tai coughed, having been drinking water at the time of the question being asked- his mind somewhat frantically pondered an excuse that would keep his extradimensional paramour’s secret.
“Well… she found me, after I joined back up with the survivors from my Remnant she came to visit our Citadel and we started talking”
Yang leaned back with an amused smile. "Really? She just popped in and felt like chatting? Well... I suppose thats how I met her and Sephiroth in Animal Crossing but still... What did you talk about? Anything in particular?"
“Well… she gave me a Symbiote- a piece of Quil it’s what helps me use this arm Flowey gave me without losing my sanity or just straight up dying.”
He looks over at her.
“Are you wondering who she is under the mask? She told me that she knew a counterpart of mine and wanted to meet me because of it, I took her to meet Pietro if you remember him? Your friend Penny’s father?”
So thats how she did it. Yang couldnt help but thank the masked woman mentally. Actions like that were an easy way to get in Yangs own good graces. Shed have to voice her thanks to the woman some time.
"Mister Polendina?" the huntress pondered the name. "I heard of him. Ive known what he looks like from studying Remnant but... I never actually got to meet mine. Last ive seen of Penny was when Pyrrha tore her apart on accident and I never left Patch before... you know." Yang gave an awkward shrug, quickly trying to change the topic. "He seems like a cool guy. Would love to know what he thinks of my tech. As for Corax..."
She clicked her tongue contemplating. "I guess... im just curious cause I cant really get a read on her. Why shes here or doing all this. My best GUESS is that maybe she is projecting some of her trauma and trying to make amends... and fuck me if that isnt a running theme in our group." she let out a small sympathetic chuckle.
"I wouldnt rip the mask of her face or something. She needs to deal with her shit on her own time. Just... curious for sure now how her RWBY visit went."
“Yeah… I don’t know the whole story as well, I don’t know how she met Sepiroth or any of the details after the fact- I just know Remnant went… badly for her to say the least and that she cares about you a lot.”
Tai smiled a little sadly.
“She can be such a gray blur sometimes can’t she?”
That made Yang blink. She... maybe figured something like that after hearing Corax voice in her head back when she took Sephiroths challenge. But to hear that this masked stranger cared about her... why? That was the question currently on Yangs mind.
What could she have done to deserve Corax care?
All she could tell for sure was that Taiyang seemed to care about her as well. Good grief what a Trio they made. Their little 'Neo Chaldea'. Misery loves company?
"...Good way to put it." she said with a small mirrored smile. "You probably know her better than I do and if she is a blur to you, she may as well be mist to me. But well... I suppose we just have to wait until she comes out with her own baggage and lend a shoulder for her when she needs it." Yang decided, unaware just what kind of promise she was making.
....Suddenly she felt like chuckling. "You know its weird... the way she acts... it kind of feels familiar. Or well not familiar but like... something I imagined someone to act LIKE..."
“Raven right? What you always hoped she’d be like when you found her back on Remnant? She reminds me of Ray sometimes too… they’re similar people in a lot of ways”
Yangs expression looked blank for a moment, Taiyangs comparison ringing true. "Yeah I think so. When I first learned that a 'Bandit' gave birth to me... I kinda thought of an 'edgy badass who takes no shit but could teach you cool stuff'. Guess thats what a brain of a 5 year old comes up with." she said distinctively... removed. The same kind of emotion and passion one would give towards describing the specific color of grass.
"Corax... oddly fits this idea I had in my brain I suppose. But considering Corax is around and Raven isnt... I fail to see any similarities." she stated neutrally and matter of factly.
“Yeah… I know what you mean”
Taiyang’s voice sounded… sad, he wished Yang had had the chance to get to know Raven back on Remnant, back before all the Ozpin shit.
‘Sorry Corax you’ve got your work cut out for you…’
Trying to lighten the mood Tai nudges Yang-
“She’s a badass though right? I never wanted to use a sword before what she did in the last Lostbelt now I’m wondering if she’ll give me lessons”
And all but immediately the passion and emotion was back in Yangs face. Gone the utter lack of care about Raven... replaced by what Corax had become.
"You can say that again! Shes treating space like it was paper. I don't think I ever saw someone THAT good with a sword its frankly absurd. I'm honestly surprised Ivan lasted as long as he did." she said with a heartfelt laugh... and admiration in her voice.
A golden blade appeared in her hand, brimming with the power of Ea and Rhongomyniad. "I ended up picking up on sword fighting when I saw just so many Items in Jumpchain not just fitting a brawler fighting style alone. Feels like a waste to deny myself of them entirely. But I am the first to admit that I still feel like a complete novice. You think shed be up to give me some training?"
“Well no harm in asking is there? Even if that doesn’t work out the two of us could train?”
Yang gave a small smile in return. "Sounds good to me."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
*Meanwhile*
"Honestly I don't really understand the issue here. You weren't there to fulfill your duties as a mother but now you are here. So what is your problem?" Skadi asked in a remote and secure corner of the Palace the woman standing in front of her... said womans mask in her hand and clutched so tightly her knuckles went white.
"The PROBLEM is that it took me until Remnant literally went to Hell to figure out I have *issues*. The problem is that it took me facing and killing the objectively worst mother in the Omniverse to even THINK about actually being a mother. The problem is that I can not even look at Yang without wanting to vomit out of sheer guilt." Raven said in exasperation. She had the absolutely foolish spur of the moment Idea to turn to a Mother Goddess for advice on her predicament... but it was increasingly looking questionable how smart that idea was.
Skadi hummed in thought. "True... this Ragyo woman really put shame on the role of mother. But you did good in ensuring she can no longer do harm. And I do not think simple absence means you are as bad as her."
"Its not just that I am bad its that I am the worst possible option at the latest time imaginable. I had my chance twice over, once when I had her and left and once again when Summer died. Summer Rose is her real mother and she COULD be that figure in her life. Now she has Aziza who is basically Summer but a cosmic level Pharaoh."
"You are getting too hung up on the idea of motherhood as some sort of competition." Skadi argued, a frustrating amount of compassion on her face. "But such bonds are not easily summarized or put on a ranking. All one can do for sure is love and be there for them. Do you love Yang."
"...Yes. It... took me a while to admit that but I do love her."
"And are you there for her now?"
"...Its not that I-"
"Are you there for her NOW?" Skadi insisted and raven sighed. "I mean... I think so."
"Than that alone means you have what is necessary to be a good mother. As long as you have these two virtues I would never judge you my child."
What in the world was it with people around her being so understanding? Seriously a part of her still wanted Tai to spit on her face when she first met him. It was frustrating in a very complicated way.
"I didnt exactly... HAVE those for a long time. Me and my brother... the tribe wasnt exactly the kind of environment where you make close bonds. I never really had a mother myself and just was too... afraid. Of Ozpins War. Of Salem. Of... caring. So when I had the chance I didnt try."
Skadi just continued to wear a gentle smile. "And yet your Semblance, this power rooted in your soul, manifests as a connection and gate to your loved ones. I believe your Soul is trying to tell you something raven. Something you yourself cant yet see... but I do and Taiyang does and I am sure if you let her Yang would see it as well."
Raven bit the inside of her cheek, brain furiously trying to voice counterarguments. "Skadi."
"Please call me mom."
...Right. Mother Goddess. "...'Mom'... what if it is just too late?"
"It never is too late to show someone you love them. Just as it is never to early to stop with fetishizing ones own sadness."
"But she doesnt CARE about me. And honestly that should be a good thing! Wouldnt I just be selfish if I make her deal with something she put behind her?"
"The woman she moved past is not the woman in front of me today isnt she? You allowed yourself to change Raven and dove into the unknown to be there for her. Mask or no Mask hiding your identity that is NOT something a coward could do." and just like that, raven found herself pulled into a hug, eyes widening from the sudden embrace.
"My child... you are so much braver and stronger than you think you are. I KNOW you will get over this and I can not wait for the day I get to see the both of you act like mother and daughter should."
...Such a notion fell somewhere between pipe dream and insanity for Ravens current mind. But being hugged by a woman that just radiated comfort... she couldnt bring herself to speak these words.

“And for the missing person reports that date back many years, police still have not found any leads to the odd disappearance of multiple people around our little town of Welks, Utah. If police find any new leads, I, Nathan White, will be the first to give you the news.” Nathan White is a small town reporter who is finishing up his final words of the day's news. Charlie Akins, Nathan’s colleague and long time friend is manning the camera. Nathan is your typical guy who never gives up and has the determination of a beaver building its dam. He will take any story he is given and will do his best to make it the best. Charlie on the other hand is about as outgoing as a sloth and so paranoid he can’t go anywhere without thinking the worst, but will never leave his friend’s side. Soon after the two wrap up, Charlie gets a call from their boss who claims to have a new story they could cover. Nathan places their gear in the news van as Charlie walks over. With the way Charlie nervously walks over, Nathan knows something is odd. “So what’s the deal? We got a story or what?” Charlie gets in the driver seat of the van without saying a word and Nathan quickly follows, getting into the passenger seat. As Charlie begins driving, he tells Nathan what their boss had spoken to him about. An old abandoned government facility sits out in the farthest outskirts of the town. It’s in the shape of a dome that’s large enough to house an entire town. There’s no records of anyone ever entering the facility since the 50’s and no one seems to know what it was for. Only thing anyone knows, or suspects, is that it may be cursed or haunted as people who have ever been near it claim to hear screams and voices coming from within. Charlie is hesitant of even the thought of covering the story but continues to drive assuming Nathan will be intrigued. Charlie was correct, of course, as Nathan quickly calls their boss to inform him that they’re checking it out. Without question, Charlie continues driving until they are so far out that Welks is completely out of sight in the rearview mirror. They eventually see a large structure in the distance that they quickly realize is the center of their new story. “Holy shit, Charlie! I’ve never seen this place before and just… Wow,” Nathan says excitedly. “Nathan, I don’t know about this one. Something seems off. Even the boss seemed hesitant to tell me about this place,” Charlie responds. “Come on, Charlie. We’ve always wanted to cover a GHOST STORY.” “No, YOU have always wanted to cover a ghost story. I’ve always wanted to get the hell away from every single person I come in contact with and sleep in my bed.” “Don’t do me like that.” “You know I’ve got your back through thick and thin, Nate. But I’ve seriously got a bad feeling about this one.” “I know but come on, serious-... ly…” Nathan is awestruck by the sight of a large sign on the outer brink of a long driveway leading to the entrance of the dome. The sign reads:
RESTRICTED AREA
ENVIRODOME “WE EXPERIMENT FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR PEOPLE”
SPECIAL ACCESS IS NEEDED BEYOND THIS POINT
Although it was obvious by the city-sized dome in the middle of the desert, this sign fully confirmed they were in the right place. They continue down the driveway until they finally reach a parking lot that lies in front of the only noticeably cube-like design of the entire facility. The parking lot was small, or at least it seemed that way based on how huge the building was. Nathan and Charlie assumed it would be glass, but instead, the decrepit building, now known to be The Envirodome, was made of a strong thick, yet rusted metal. They realized this was most likely by design considering the people who created it wouldn’t have wanted anyone to know what went on inside. Almost the entire building was covered in a thick layer of vines except for the front door. The doors at the entrance were oddly only covered in smaller vine growth that was far more fragile than the rest. Charlie parks the van as an awestruck Nathan barely waits for him to stop and exits the passenger side. Charlie hesitantly follows suit. Nathan reaches the double entrance doors and rips away the vines. He quickly finds the handle of the right door and much to his surprise, it cracks open. “Ooh spooky,” Nathan jokingly says to Charlie. “Shut up,” Charlie snaps back. As Nathan and Charlie open the large metal door and walk inside, they find far more than, yet somehow everything, they had expected. The duo walk inside only to find an entire small community within. Businesses, homes, trees and more fill the miles long dome in all directions, seemingly to no end. “There’s a whole damn town in this place?! How the hell did not a single person know this existed,” Charlie exclaims out of pure shock. “Dude… How the fuck am I suppose to know? That’s why we’re here, remember? To cover the story of this place and get it out to the people…” Nathan sarcastically snaps back. Charlie, nervous as all hell, ignores Nathan as they continue forward in the hopes to find information on this place somewhere inside. They don’t even reach but about 10-15 feet inside before the door slams shut behind them and locks itself into place. Once fully locked, the doors start to change as if there was never a door or wall there at all. It quickly changes into a hyper-realistic hologram of more trees and roads. Soon enough, it looked as if an exit never even existed. Nathan quickly realizes that there seemingly are no walls in any direction. However, realistically and logically, there must be dead ends in all directions, the dome was obviously designed in a special way. Although there was a dome surrounding the town inside, there were still plenty of places Nathan and Charlie could explore. With beautifully green trees all around, houses and even rundown businesses, the entire place looked and felt like a normal little town instead of the inside of a previously government owned facility. Despite absolutely not a single structural flaw in the dome, a small breeze glides through the air, whistling to the ears of any who would listen. Both Nathan and Charlie are confused, yet in awe, by the experience at hand, but still they carry on. Nathan suggests going to the nearest building to search for information as he takes his next steps into the oddly beautiful scenery. Charlie, however, hesitates his next step until he realizes Nathan is already further ahead of him. Trees dance and sway in the cool breeze, grass and vines grow over large rocks and multiple buildings, and even clouds sail through the beautifully blue skies that couldn’t possibly be real but at this point it’s not unbelievable. With so much to admire, Nathan quickly loses focus on the task at hand until Charlie speaks up. “Hey, Nate. Shouldn’t we hurry up and get to wherever the hell we’re going?” “Huh? Oh… Yeah, yeah. Sorry…” Nathan snaps back to his senses and continues forward. As they continue to what seems like a small neighborhood, they notice something in the distant wooded area. It’s a four-legged creature that could be a wolf or coyote. Nathan and Charlie pick up speed as they are unsure of what it could really be and prefer not to be attacked. On arrival to the neighborhood, the two men notice that multiple mannequins are oddly placed around as if they had been living a life. An eerie feeling washes over them as they both become a little more skeptical of being there. Nathan looks back to check on his friend and notices Charlie is visibly paranoid as he looks around. He feels a moment of guilt for making him come here for a story to cover, but that moment was just that. A moment. Nathan quickly nudges Charlie to get him to come with him as he walks up to an open house. As they walk in, they split up. Charlie searches the living room and kitchen. Nathan goes straight to the farthest bedroom in the back. Searching every nook and cranny, Nathan finds absolutely nothing but an old withered bible. He begins to walk into another room when suddenly, Charlie’s voice echoes through the empty hallway. “Holy fuck,” Charlie exclaims. “What’s wrong,” Nathan yells while running into the living room. Nathan finds Charlie holding an old yellowed stack of papers. Charlie hands them to Nathan without uttering a single word. On top is an old document that reads:
Aug. 17, 1953: Testing is ready to commence for Project 718/Operation “SUPER” in the environment dome. However, there are no volunteers for testing just yet.
Aug. 18, 1953: Chief scientist, Dr. Maximus Woods, has volunteered as prime subject under the name: Subject Zero. All tests are now being prepared.
Aug. 20, 1953: Day 1 of testing has started. The Super Serum has been injected into Dr. Maximus Woods A.K.A Subject Zero at approximately 12:53 A.M. It has been hours and nothing has happened thus far.
Aug. 25, 1953: Subject Zero has gained a slight form of telekinesis. Small signs of abnormally quick healing factors have also appeared, taking only a couple of hours to fully heal mid-large wounds made on the subject's body. Tests, so far, seem to be successful with no side effects.
Aug. 30, 1953: Subject Zero has had impressive changes with easy to control telekinesis, rapid healing, and even large amounts of strength.
Sep. 5, 1953: Over the past week, Subject Zero has been undergoing small changes in personality, possibly a slight side effect of the serum. This will be monitored.
Sep. 10, 1953: Subject Zero has become rapidly unstable, showing major signs of insanity. Subject does not seem to realize the environment is simulated and treats test mannequins placed around the environment dome as if they were living beings.
Sep. 17, 1953: Multiple teams have been sent in to try and allow real communication with living beings. However, all teams have been killed by Subject Zero. He also does not allow anyone to retrieve the bodies and it is unclear what he does with them.
Oct. 3, 1953: Subject has become far too unstable to continue any further testing. All research will be abandoned but a small team will remain in the overseer’s office. For full safety measures, this team has agreed that if the facility must be destroyed then they will die with it. This was the intended way in case of emergency. If the facility is self-destructed, no one inside will survive.
“What the hell…” Nathan says fearfully. “Read the newspaper article that’s attached,” says Charlie. The newspaper article reads:
October 3, 1953 Today, the government-run facility, Envirodome, had been shut down after multiple men had been slaughtered at the hands of the company’s very own test subject, Subject Zero. The few men who made it out alive today could not speak of or about the tests done but we were told that their subject is still inside the facility. Test Subject Zero was locked inside only as a safety protocol but many wonder, how long will he remain there?
Upon this discovery, Nathan stops to think and wonders if he screwed up by taking on this story to cover. Nathan, being himself, tries to lighten the mood but before uttering a single word, he is cut off by a rough and deep voice in the distance. The voice now being the only thing to focus on, Nathan and Charlie look out the front windows of the old house and spot the figure of a man playing baseball with a mannequin. Upon further inspection, the man is wearing clothes obviously not of this era. With an old 50’s jacket that is nearly torn to shreds, an old pair of blue jean slacks, a red shoe on one foot and a black one on the other and hair that clearly hasn’t been washed in years, the man is the exact look and description of pure insanity. Not just with his looks but also with his actions, he clearly is not a stable man. In the yard of the next house over, the man is talking and playing catch with a mannequin. “For the last time Jimmy, I’m tired of your shit! Catch the damn ball or at the very least attempt to instead of just standing there,” the crazed man screams as he chucks a baseball at its head resulting in its immediate decapitation. Nathan, with a humor full of bad timing, nearly bursts into laughter. “Shut the fuck up, Nathan! That’s the guy from the document and newspaper article. He’s Dr… Uh… Maximus Woods! Subject Zero! He’s been here since the 50’s,” Charlie fearfully exclaims. “There’s no way in hell, Charlie. The guy doesn’t even look like he’s past his mid-30’s.” “I told you to call me Subject Zero! That old name is dead to me!” The man, now confirmed to be Subject Zero, yells out to another mannequin. “Believe me now, asshat,” Charlie snaps at Nathan. “Shush! What was that?” Subject Zero quickly snaps his attention to Nathan and Charlie’s direction and begins to walk to them. The two men look at each other in fearful confusion and simultaneously say, “oh shit.” Instinctually, Charlie runs out of the house from fear and with a quick, “FUCK!” Nathan follows him. Running out of the house like a couple of preyed upon animals, they run up the street further into the neighborhood. Taking a quick glance, Nathan spots a strange sight. Subject Zero and many other figures are chasing after them. Upon further examination, Nathan realizes that what he’s witnessing is something straight out of a horror movie. The other figures are , in fact, not even humans. They’re mannequins! All the mannequins they had seen back at the other houses are now moving like humans and coming right for them alongside Subject Zero. Nathan is running so fast you could mistake him for a train breaking loose from its tracks, but sadly, Charlie is slowing down, unable to keep up with his friend. Nathan manages to reach a hiding spot behind a dumpster, unintentionally leaving Charlie to await his own horrors as Nathan is nothing but forced to watch. Charlie begins to stumble and trips over his own feet. Soon after, the mannequins catch up to him. Nathan wants to help, but knows he can’t so all he does is watch in horror. Lying on the ground, Charlie gasps for air as the mannequins and Subject Zero surround him. They stare at him for a moment before eventually beating him simultaneously until Charlie is soaked in his own blood, barely alive. Suddenly, they stop. Charlie, nearly lifeless, drags his gaze in Nathan’s direction. He mouths, “GO” before coughing up blood. Nathan holds back tears and vomit as he looks away in guilt. All the mannequins that were once beating the life out of Charlie turn around and scatter before ultimately becoming, once again, inanimate objects. Like a lion searching for its prey, Subject Zero scans the area. With danger nearby, Nathan looks around to find a house with any open doors to attempt to find safety. He spots a nearby house with an open window and decides it's his best option. Without hesitation, Nathan sprints to the window and leaps in like a gazelle escaping its demise. Much to his surprise, he went unnoticed. “I might be insane, but I know I wasn't just seeing double of your little friend here. Where the hell are you,” screams Subject Zero as two mannequins carry Charlie's bloodied, yet still alive, body away. Nathan, afraid, yet determined, locks himself inside the house and sits behind a kitchen counter. He looks up to see if it's safe enough to search the house. Once he realizes it is, he begins to look around. The kitchen is oddly empty. Not a single piece of silverware, plate or food. Out of the entire house, the living room is the best looking part, even though it still looks like a tornado came through it. With hopes of finding something, Nathan scrummages through everything lying on the decrepit wooden floor. After a moment of searching, Nathan notices multiple papers scattered around all dated October of 1953. All the papers say different things about Project ‘SUPER’ and Subject Zero. Although most papers essentially say the same things, one paper stands out the most. It’s a newspaper dated a few days after the imminent shutdown of the facility. October 9, 1953 The project was abandoned and only a few escaped but one former employee of Envirodome decides to speak up about the events. “The main doors may have been closed but they sadly were not locked,” the scientist tells our interviewer, “Oddly, the doors were made to allow people in but not back out unless you went to the overseer’s office and unlocked the main doors. All this means, anyone who decides to go inside without knowing this info will be trapped forever with a psycho maniac. Fortunately, Subject Zero’s insanity affected his mind so badly he doesn’t even realize he’s in a fake little world that’s specially made for him.”
A little further down the same newspaper article it reads:
The former Envirodome employee continues. “All documents will state that Dr. Maximus Woods volunteered to be Subject Zero, but that just isn’t true. We tricked him. You see, we needed someone and Dr. Woods was just this weird scientist that no one really liked. We convinced him that if he volunteered that he would be a hero. Someone who could save our world if the serum worked. He was so happy and we just laughed at him but knew we needed him for the tests. As soon as everything began, it all ended. As he became more and more deranged, he also became more determined to make the serum work. He eventually took living people he kept with him and made his own serum to try and perfect it. But it never worked. It just leads to each person to become crazier and far quicker. He ended up just killing everyone that the serum didn’t work on. God knows what he does to any poor soul that innocently walks into that building and gets trapped.”
With this new knowledge, Nathan knew he fucked up by coming into this beautiful hell. Now filled with dreaded emotions, he gets onto his feet and sets onward through the hallway. As he reaches the beginning of the hallway, the front door is unexpectedly busted down by an already all too familiar figure, Subject Zero. Reacting quickly, Nathan sprints to the farthest back room of the house. Being the master bedroom, it has plenty of space but sadly doesn’t have a lock on the door. Thinking quickly, Nathan slams the door and nervously shoves a large stand up dresser down on its side and in front of the doorway. He knows it won’t hold for long, especially considering, just a mere seconds ago, he witnessed Subject Zero burst a door off its hinges in the blink of an eye. Subject Zero is on the hunt, looking in every room all while Nathan stands in the master bedroom freaking out. Eventually, he comes to his senses and looks out the room's only window. It’s quite a drop below due to the house sitting on a slanted yard. Without hesitation, Nathan prepares himself for his only option. He opens the window and prepares to jump as the door of the room begins to be beaten upon. The door eventually breaks in half and standing on the other side is Subject Zero. Nathan slings himself out the window but it inevitably leads to pain. Nathan, with a possibly broken ankle, stands against the wall to stay as Subject Zero looks through the window wondering how he could lose his only entertainment so easily. Subject Zero eventually angrily wanders off as he cusses at himself. Nathan takes that as his cue to stumble his way into the nearby forest. Nathan manages to make it a decent distance into the forest before stumbling and falling next to a large oak tree. Expecting to be free from danger for at least a while, he relaxes against the tree and closes his eyes. Far too early for assumptions, he hears something and quickly opens his eyes to see Subject Zero’s fist unexpectedly rushing to his face, resulting in a knockout. After a while, Nathan cracks his eyes open, barely able to see. He looks around in a trance until he hears a familiar voice. “Hey, Nate! Nate! Wake the fuck up! I’m not dead!” Nathan fully comes to and looks over to see an upside down Charlie. Confused, he looks at Charlie unsure of what to say. Eventually he speaks. “What the fuck…? Why the hell are you upside down?” Charlie points to Nathan’s feet, revealing he is in fact, the one upside down hanging by his feet. “Oh, fuck… WHAT THE FUCK?!? Get me down, you asshole!” Charlie unties the rope, leading to Nathan falling on his head. Rubbing his head, Nathan gets up with ease, which leads him to wonder why there’s no pain in his ankle. He quickly shrugs it off and looks back at Charlie as he finally realizes the situation. “Wait a damn minute, how the hell are you alive? I saw you get beaten to a pulp.” “Yeahhhh… Well, first off, thanks for leaving me, but I’ll tell you everything I know, just as they did for me.” Charlie points over to a small crowd of people waiting behind the dark shadows of the room. With a short, yet detailed, briefing, he tells Nathan that these people are all the missing people they’ve been reporting about. They all have been curious people who have wandered into the facility but inevitably became a morbid science experiment by Subject Zero. Charlie continues on to tell Nathan that every single one of these people have been injected with a similar serum as Subject Zero but each one is a slightly altered version. “So, let me get this straight… These people have all been injected with the same damn insanity poison as that madman and there’s absolutely no telling who could lose it and kill us with FUCKING TELEKINISIS!” “Yeah, pretty much. But I’ve been told that Subject Zero murders every failed attempt before they hurt any of his other precious test subjects. So far, all he’s done is prolong the insanity effects.” “Charlie, we have to somehow get the fuck out of here.” “We can’t. Do you not understand what I just said?” “Look, I get that these people are innocent but they’re obviously going to be massive dangers to humanity. We can get out of here. I don’t know how but… Somehow!” “Nate! I can’t get out of here.” “What the fuck are you talking about?” Charlie raises up his arm and reveals a small pinprick of a needle in his skin. “Charlie, what is that? No… Wait, you were injected too?” “Yeah.” “FUCK!” “Look, as far as I’m concerned, you haven’t been injected. There’s no needle mark in your skin. YOU could actually get out of here.” “I’m not leaving you behind again, Charlie! It was a nightmare seeing what they did to you the first time.” “Nathan, I -” Suddenly and very unexpectedly, one of the people in the crowd begins to scream from within the shadows. Nathan, confused and afraid, looks over at the man losing his sanity. Within seconds, the man stops screaming as the entire room falls into a deafening silence. The man looks in Nathan’s direction and shines a demonic grin with a stare that could pierce the soul of any mortal man. Knowing the man is coming toward him, Nathan slowly starts backing up against the cold concrete walls. The man, with all new senses, uses his new telekinetic ability to push others from the crowd aside. Charlie, being brave for the first and possibly final time in his life, attempts to stand in the way but is quickly subdued as he’s flung against the wall. Finally reaching Nathan, the man brings his gaze into a full on stare into Nathan’s soul. For Nathan, it’s as if death has come for him. Suddenly, the man’s gaze is ripped away by a familiar face of evil. Subject Zero heard the screams and came to claim his failed experiment. This led to an all-out brawl between the two men. Anyone would describe it in the same way you would if two rabid dogs were fighting over food. One dog gets up after being ripped open and the other gets its face gashed by a hard hitting blow, yet they still fight. Only difference between the two, one is just a dog wanting its food and the other is trained to kill. Suddenly, with a vicious blow, Subject Zero wins the fight when he takes the man’s head and slams it so hard into the concrete floor that his skull cracks open causing blood, brains, and skull fragments to fly over the silent crowd. With one final glance, Subject Zero looks over the entire crowd. He ends his gaze by making sure Nathan is the last to see his devilish eyes. Soon after, he leaves the room and locks the door. Nathan stares at the corpse lying on the ground with a look of pure terror and proceeds to collapse onto the floor while holding back tears. The small concrete room soon fills with despair as everyone watches the tears of pain and fear run down Nathan’s face. Charlie tries to make his long-time friend feel a little more hopeful, although he soon gives up as well until he has a moment of realization. He remembers back to when they first were searching for information he had found an article with some intriguing details. “Okay, so, there may be some hope after all.” “Charlie, what hope is there? Huh?! You’re pretty much fucked and I don’t exactly see a way out of here.” “One of the articles back at the house we were in said something about a self-destruct button. That’s also how you open the main doors. Apparently, no one ever bothered, or I guess, never got the chance to hit the self-destruct timer and run their asses to the door. What if we- I mean, YOU could actually do that?” “Charlie, I already told you I don’t want to leave you behind.” “GOD DAMN IT, NATHAN! I know… FUCK! I know. But I want you to survive. Can’t you just listen to me for once?! I would follow you through hell and back and it kind of feels that way right now. So? Can you just listen to what I want you to do for once while I’m practically on my deathbed?!” “Okay! Okay…” Suddenly, an unexpected chance of escape arrives at their feet. Subject Zero and a few of his mannequins walk in to remove the mutilated corpse from the room. Unexpectedly, one of the people in the crowd begins to scream out in pain just like the other man did moments ago before his demise. “Oh, great…” Subject Zero says irritatedly. Soon after, multiple others begin to scream out in pain until eventually the entire crowd follows suit. Nathan, and somehow Charlie have not been affected. The room quickly becomes engulfed in a hurricane of insanity. This leads Subject Zero and the mannequins to getting distracted by the madness and accidentally leaves the door open. Subject Zero quickly gets attacked by everyone in the room but he holds his ground firmly. Nathan knows this is the perfect chance to escape and signals Charlie to come with him. Charlie hesitantly comes along but right as they reach the door Nathan turns to hear the sounds of Charlie going through the worst pain of his life. Nathan looks in confusion but quickly realizes he’s about to have to accept his friend’s fate. Nathan refuses to accept it, but he knows he needs to. Charlie suddenly lunges at Nathan and uses his last act of sanity and control to push him out the door. “Get. To the button. Please.” “Charlie, I- I’m-” “I’m sorry…” Charlie finally snaps and is engulfed in pure raging insanity. He lunges at Nathan but before he reaches him, Nathan, with teary eyes, slams the door onto his friend, turns, and begins running out into the seemingly vast wilderness. As he runs, Nathan hears the cries of a dozen men and women as they get ripped apart. Knowing that among them is his best friend, Nathan begins to cry as he continues to run away from his previous hell.
End of Part 1.

Ginge is the real winner. No doubts. That decision to take the ticket was the biggest W in the show. Couldn’t give a shit about the two who won.

If I could choose multiple labels for this post I would, I went ahead and categorized it as a rant, but I am very, very open to any feedback anyone might have. If you’ve been through similar, if you have suggestions, anything like that… Let me know!
It’s a long story, but I’ll try to get to the point. To start, one year ago I left a mental hospital on literally eight medications. I have three severe, lifelong mental illnesses. I’ve done my time in mental hospitals, had many professional evaluations etc. Despite over a decade of constant treatment and therapy plus lifestyle changes, I’m still left with serious challenges. Unfortunately, for the longest time I didn’t know my rights, and I would just try to suffer through it. In college, and all throughout my school years, my grades were not great because my severe mental illnesses would interfere with deadlines and motivation. Imagine that…
I was almost too good at hiding how much I was suffering because my family didn’t see me at my worst. They didn’t see when I wasn’t sleeping for six days in a row, they weren’t seeing when I was hallucinating that the moon was talking to me, they didn’t see where I was sleeping in my car for three days peeing in bottles, They don’t know what it’s like to want to un-alive yourself 24/7, even if you’re doing everything you can to resist those thoughts, for your body to almost act against your brain and not be able to control it… To have to go to the emergency room because you’re having delusions and fear you’re going to lose control and hurt yourself or someone else…my family didn’t see a lot of that.
It’s pretty clear I suffered from severe depression, but people really didn’t see how extreme things got, and for how long, and how frequently I have severe mental health complications if I’m not medicated. So I guess I can’t fully blame them for not being entirely supportive. Something I’m working on is being more upfront with my needs and my limitations rather than trying to “blend in“ to avoid feeling like I’ve disappointed someone. (Yes, the fact that there’s probably some trauma to unpack there isn’t lost on me).
So, something I’m trying to do differently in life now is seek accommodations. The good news is that for close to five months now, my mental health has been the most stable and functional it has been ever since I was a small child. Things got out of control as early as age 8 as far as I can remember, so it’s been a long, long road to get here. Since I’m finally a little functional I’ve been able to hold down a full-time job. That’s really, really good for me! I’ve been working for 2 months.
I brought my medical information and what accommodations I was seeking to HR (for the record, what me and my doctor asked for was very simple: 1-3 days off if acute symptoms persist, and if I should need over 3 days off, I’m willing to come back with a medical note. I also stated I do not intend to rely on this more than four times a year so that they are aware that I’m not just trying to take advantage of them and get unlimited time off ‘just because’). please also note that it is a stipulation in the employee handbook that we are not allowed to be on mind altering substances, including prescription medication, while we’re on the job. That means if I’m having an especially difficult day, I’m not allowed to depend on medication such as anti-anxiety drugs to help me get through it. The only real option I have is to take those days off.
The next day I got put on a leave-of-absence (unpaid of course). I’ve been out of work for over two weeks and HR will not get back to me or my direct boss about what’s going on. I’ve tried to follow up with HR a few times and they say that they needed to reach back out to my provider for more information, but the ADA forms that he filled out were very thorough and detailed, and that was over a week ago itself. It seems like HR is really, really dragging their feet because maybe they don’t know what to do with an employee who has a history of severe mental health issues.
Here’s the part where my family asked me to try to just not be disabled, as if I hadn’t already thought about that… as soon as I got home from the meeting where I was placed on an immediately of absence, I called my father because I figured I might need a little bit of financial assistance since they weren’t being clear about how long I was going to be off of work. He immediately catastrophized and told me that they were definitely trying to figure out how to fire me, for the past two weeks has been constantly telling me “it’s a cruel world” and that “employers don’t have to fight fair.” While I COMPLETELY agree, that attitude just hasn’t been helping me in life so far. I’ve made a commitment to try things differently and part of doing things different means pushing back with some resistance when it comes to asking for accommodations that I should be entitled to because my problems are literally not my fault…?
My boyfriend echoes the same sentiment as my dad. While they both agree that -technically- I did the right thing, their outlook is that I shouldn’t have said anything at all and should’ve just kept my head down. I mean, I do get where they’re coming from, but the fact of the matter is that… I have severe psychological Disorders (more than one!!) and sometimes I’m not going to be fit for work. I shouldn’t have to fear losing my job for something that’s completely out of my control. So why not let the company know what’s up before I need the accommodation, right? If I’m otherwise a dependable, reliable, cooperative employee who shows up on time with a good attitude and fulfills my job duties… Would they seriously fire me for just needing a couple of days off?
As far as my family is concerned, while I do understand where they’re coming from, I’m really surprised they’re not more supportive of this because unfortunately, before I took my treatment as seriously as I have been, I was in a position where I needed to be completely financially supported. I’m going to be honest, that’s not really a good option for us. My job is something that we kind of need to make it. By me doing everything I can to work as much as I’m able to without compromising my health, our financial situation is much improved. I think what I’m doing is going to benefit everyone in my life, they just don’t see it yet.
As you can see, I’m full of questions and uncertainty. I’m really questioning if I did the right thing, but my gut tells me that I’m on the right path…. our financial situation is much improved. I think what I’m doing is going to benefit everyone in my life, they just don’t see it yet.

Hello everybody I’m a new hire for Kroger I was hired as a cashier at the beginning of May and was loving it up until recently.
Just a little backstory I have a learning disability from a head injury when I was younger so this is my first job at 21 (M) years old.
I’ve made a ton of new friends and really enjoy the managers and people I’ve been working with. But recently in the past few weeks I believe it’s the associate front end manager has been getting a little too close and personal.
For reference I’m 5’11 165 lbs so I kinda stick out a little in my department and my manager has taken notice.
It all started recently when he took me to the private family restroom to teach me how to properly clean the restrooms. He had me prepare the cleaning cart and took me over to the bathroom area where we both entered the small family restroom with the diaper changing station and he locked the door. He said it was to prevent anybody hitting us accidentally.
At first he was showing me how to clean the mirror but when we started doing the toilets he made me squat down and started I guess touching me. At first it was casual he pushed my arm up to show where to put the brush but then he started reaching his hand down my shirt. He assured me this is all very normal for newbies and not to worry.
I felt very uncomfortable because I wasn’t sure if this was normal or not for managers to teach cashiers how to clean. I am cross trained so I guess it makes sense.
I told him I wasn’t feeling very comfortable and wanted to go back to my register but he insisted on me finishing the toilet. I hurriedly finished up in there and he let me go back and work out my shift.
During my last shift yesterday he’s been coming up and bagging for me and also telling me how strong I look and patting me on the back and massaging my shoulders.
For reference he is in his mid 50s and married and a little shorter then I am. I am too afraid to tell anybody because I’m afraid of losing my first job and my parents would be disappointed if I failed at my first ever attempt at a job.
I feel like I’m in a real bind here because I thought I had a great job with great people but now im not too sure and I’m a little afraid to go back to work. If anyone has any advice or if this is normal for newer huggers please let me know any comfort will help!
EDIT: This is a secondary account because I’m a little embarrassed to use my main.

My late-elementary-aged son and I are attending VidCon for the first time this summer, and we were lucky enough to get matched with a Smosh Photo op, along with a couple of others that my son wants to see (he likes some smosh stuff but mostly just humors me since I’m the real smosh nerd). Between things we already have at home and a couple of strategic Amazon orders, I initially convinced him to agree that him dressing as young chosen for the photo op would be hilarious, but now he’s thought about it more and is worried about being cringe wearing it in public. (FWIW looks-wise he could totally pass as a young Shayne!chosen which IMO makes the costume even funnier). I’m not going to force him to do it if he’s truly uncomfortable with it, but I wanted to get other people’s perspective on:
1) if you’ve been to vidcon before, how common/prevalent is it for people to cosplay in general and/or specifically in photo ops ? Will he stick out like a sore thumb?
2) One of the concerns he has is that if he’s gonna have a photo, he’d rather have it as himself; Since there’s two of us and we used buddy system, we technically get two photo ops in a row; if he wears a non-costume zip up hoodie in the first photo, then takes it off, has chosen-wear underneath, and quickly adds the sunglasses and hair part for the second photo, will that be allowed/welcomed, or does that make us too high-maintenance/likely to hold up the line?
3) Another thing that might convince him is if I dressed up too. I could either be the wish.com version of chosen (with off-white shorts and a lion shirt instead of wolf) or another character. The easiest to do accurately with what I have on hand is Brianna Boho, but since she’s implied to have dated the chosen, that’s a no from me. I thought about Mother of the Chosen, but that’s such an obscure character, idk if anyone would get it, and I don’t really have a fluffy enough robe to pull it off. Any other ideas of who I should be?
4) Are there other times/places during the con where it would be more appropriate to wear the outfit? I know some cons do costume/cosplay contests, but I haven’t seen anything like that in the schedule, and since a majority of YouTubers do personality-based, rather than character-based content it might not be as big a thing at vidcon.
I feel like if I were a creator doing an hour of photo ops I would welcome the break in monotony of some people showing up as iconic characters, but I’m not actually a creator so idk. And if you couldn’t already tell I’m a bit of an overthinker lol. I’d appreciate honest opinions from anyone, but especially from people who have been to vidcon before and know the vibe. Also, any other vidcon pro tips are appreciated.

They found just enough of my best friend's body to mark him down as dead, not missing. The rest of his family wasn't as lucky. They found pieces of Wyatt, Emily, and Alice Forrester—teeth strewn across the parents' bed, strands of the girl's hair caught in the latch of her bedroom window—but there supposedly wasn't enough evidence to determine whether the rest of the family was dead or alive.
After the discovery, my town entered an unofficial, unspoken lockdown. Any peace of mind gained from Fred's arrest was shattered by the realization that, even if he was guilty of grave robbing and killing animals, there were far worse criminals operating in our community. I talked a big game in my last post, saying that I'd put down whatever entity I'd unleashed like some kind of wannabe ghostbuster. In reality, all I did for days was sit in my room, imagining the terror and pain Liam must have felt in his final moments. I submitted an application to visit Fred through the county jail's website, but it took a while to get approved.
Just over a week ago, I received an unexpected visit from Liam's girlfriend, Eleanor. When I answered her knock at my door, she instantly pulled me into a hug and burst into tears, so I figured, despite the two of us not being close, she'd come to commiserate over our shared loss. Not sure what else to do, I invited her inside.
In some ways, it was nice to have someone else who felt the same pain that I did, but in others, seeing her cry just made me feel guilty. She'd come all this way to confide in me, not knowing the role I played in her boyfriend's death. At one point my grandma came in from her garden and made Eleanor some tea, which helped calm her down a little.
It occurred to me that if I was supposed to be investigating the thing that killed Liam, Eleanor might be a good place to start. As gently as I could, I asked her if she'd noticed anything strange about Liam before the discovery.
She shook her head and told me: "He was the same as ever. I just can't see Liam or the rest of his family having any enemies. His parents owned a bakery—that's like the most innocuous job ever. And Alice, I mean, she was only twelve. The only person I might've suspected was your creepy boss. But he was already in jail by that night."
After a minute of silence, she sighed, saying, "That asshole is real bad news. I practically begged Liam not to take that job. We hardly ever disagreed on anything, but we fought about that stupid job all the time." Eleanor started tearing up, so I refrained from asking any follow-up questions. When she composed herself again, she set the teacup down and excused herself, so I walked her out to her car.
I didn't think much about it at the time, but when Eleanor talked about Fred, she seemed really upset. A lot of people in my town have long been wary of Fred, but Eleanor seemed particularly bitter, like there was a painful history between them. Who knows, maybe I'm not the only one who witnessed him messing with dead bodies. I'll have to ask her more the next time I see her.
Before I made it back inside the house, my grandparents appeared on the porch, dressed for an outing. My granddad let me know they were going to The Home Depot for a new raccoon trap, since apparently there was an issue with our current one. He said, "Every morning I find food everywhere and an open trap door. Either the thing's broken or the coyotes have grown opposable thumbs."
After that, they left me alone with the unpleasant notion that something other than coyotes had gotten into the trap. I walked to the edge of our front yard to investigate, and sure enough, the trap door was open and the dog food we used as bait was scattered all over the grass. It looked like someone had reached an arm inside just to knock over the dog food bowl, and yet when I looked closely, I saw a small clump of fur caught in a bottom corner. At some point, there had been an animal in that trap, but something else had opened the door for it. Whether they had done so out of compassion or because they wanted the trapped animal for themselves, I didn't know. I did know that after a week of doing nothing, I finally had a plan.
I spent most of last Saturday gathering supplies, hitting up most of the hunting and camping stores in our small town. My itinerary included four traps in total: two for raccoons; one for mice and other, smaller animals; and one bear trap. I also bought dog food and peanut butter to bait the raccoon and mice traps accordingly. Finally, I bought a pack of four trail cameras. All together, I spent so much that I practically blew through all the money I'd earned at Sundae Central, but I was hoping that it would be worth it.
On Sunday, I set up the traps. My grandparent's house, like all the others on this side of our street, borders a canyon. We've got a nice plot—a huge fenceless yard, at the edge of which sits a greenhouse that my granddad built for my grandma's 50th birthday. Beyond the flat portion of the backyard is a long, gradual decline to the arroyo below, not quite sheer enough to be called a cliff, but too steep and full of trees and boulders to do anything with.
I set up the first trail camera to point to the newly-replaced raccoon trap in the front yard, dedicating the area as Site A. Next, I placed the mouse trap next to the greenhouse, propped up the second trail camera against one of the greenhouse's shelves, and designated it as Site B. I set up the remaining raccoon traps at sites C and D, which lay right at the bottom of the hill and at the very edge of our property respectively. The bear trap, for the time being, I kept in reserve.
Nothing happened on Monday night. I stayed up late, watching the trail cams on my laptop, until I got bored and fell asleep. The following morning, I watched the sped-up recordings, and was both relieved and disappointed to see that nothing had paid the traps a visit.
Site B caught a mouse on Tuesday night. It crawled into the trap near the greenhouse at around 3 AM, but nothing else came to investigate. I released it into the woods the next day. The Site D camera caught something moving in the distance just before dawn, but the trail cam's night vision quality is so bad that I have no idea what it was. From the way the brush swayed in its wake, though, it was something big.
Wednesday night was when things started to get weird. At around midnight, I was sitting at my desk. I've been asked to speak at Liam's funeral, so I was fruitlessly attempting to draft a speech when I looked up at my computer screen to check the cameras. Clicking through the four feeds, I saw that the trap at Site C had caught an opossum. I full-screened the Site C feed and watched the animal scurry around inside the trap for a while. I sat there for a long time. When an hour passed and nothing else happened, I was ready to throw in the towel on the whole stupid operation and just go to bed.
And then, all of a sudden, the trap door slid open.
The opossum was still huddled in the back corner of the cage; the door seemed to have opened all on its own. Cautiously, the creature approached the exit, slowly making its way out of the metal cage. It took a few steps out into the night, and then it stilled. Its head turned to the side, its glowing eyes fixed on something that I couldn't see. I squinted at the video feed. For a moment, I thought I saw depressions in the grass, like something was walking next to the trap.
I blinked, and the opossum disappeared.
I've played back that footage so many times now, and I just can't make sense of what I saw. One second, the creature was standing there in the grass, and the next, it was simply gone. The next morning, when I investigated the area, I saw no trace of the opossum or any other animal. For reasons I still can't comprehend, the thing that's been taking our local wildlife isn't showing up on my cameras.
I focused my efforts on Site C. On Thursday evening, just before dusk, I swapped the dog food in the raccoon trap in favor of a slab of bloody, raw meat I'd bought from the butcher. I also hauled the bear trap down the hill and set it up in front of the raccoon trap, chaining it to a large tree and disguising it as best I could with leaves and dirt. Finally, I sprayed some bear and raccoon repellant around the surrounding area. I've never used a steel-jawed trap on an animal before—I've only ever used humane, catch-and-release-style traps for pest control and I'd like to keep it that way. It was my hope that the repellant would deter the animals from getting too close.
I stayed up the entirety of Thursday night for nothing. No animals graced the trail cam feed, nor did any monsters.
Friday night was similarly slow. I spent so many lonely hours struggling to write my speech and staring at grainy trail cam footage. Maybe I was going a little crazy from my self-imposed isolation, but I kept thinking I saw something moving in the background of Site D.
Last night was when everything went to hell. The slab of meat had been so thoroughly ravaged by flies that I swapped it out for a new one on Saturday evening. Then, I returned to my room to wait. At 3 in the morning, long after my grandparents had gone to sleep, something in the Site C camera caught my eye. Movement in the brush. Depressions in the grass, so slight I never would've seen them if I wasn't looking for them. I held my breath …
And then the bear trap snapped shut.
I stood up from my desk, ecstatic that I'd finally caught my prey and terrified that I'd finally have to confront it. With shaking hands, I quickly tied my shoes and fitted a headlamp over my forehead. As I prepared to leave, the bear trap thrashed around on my screen, presumably as whatever entity it held fought for escape. The last thing I grabbed before I jogged into the night was my granddad's rifle from his gun safe.
Once outside, I made my way towards the bottom of the hill. The weight of the gun in my hand gave me some reassurance as I descended, but I was still more scared than I'd like to admit. Eventually, I drew close enough to the trap to hear the clink of the metal chain. I clicked on my headlamp to see what I'd caught.
There was a woman sitting on the ground, her back towards me. Her hair was blonde, her frame was thin, and she wore a black dress similar to the one I'd seen on the woman outside of Sundae Central. The sight of that dress made my heart sink—instantly, I knew that I was dealing with more than one enemy.
The woman turned around to look at the source of the light, and as she did so, she released her leg. She'd been holding her trapped foot up to her mouth with both hands, and from the look of the gaping wound below her calf, she'd been trying to bite through her leg to free herself. The sight of all that gore made me sick to my stomach. When she saw me, she rose to her feet, though how she could possibly stand in such a state I couldn't fathom.
I pointed the rifle at her. Her lips and chin were completely stained with blood, but I could get a good look at the rest of her face—at her reddish-brown eyes and straight nose, at her freckles and pale skin. Unlike the dark haired woman I'd seen before Liam's death, this woman seemed more corporeal. There was none of the dizzying, distorted effect I'd gotten from looking at the other woman for too long. This woman also seemed younger. She shouldn't possibly have been older than 25.
"What are you?" I asked. She didn't respond, nor did she move at all. Blood dripped off of her chin and pooled on the forest floor beneath her.
"What are you doing in my town?" No response but an unblinking stare and an apathetic expression. I asked her a few more questions, though what exactly I said I can't remember, before finally asking her about Liam.
"My best friend was murdered two weeks ago, for no reason at all. Did you kill him? Did your friend?"
At that, the woman lowered her gaze. Her lips parted, revealing two sets of teeth—a row of normal, human teeth in front, and a row of jagged, shark-like teeth behind them.
"I didn't kill him, but I'm sorry he had to die." Her voice was surprisingly soft, but her words were difficult to make out. It seemed difficult, almost painful, to talk around so many teeth.
"What do you mean 'had to die'?"
"He interfered. He saw too much. And now so have you." Her tone carried no malice and her expression looked almost remorseful. I kept the rifle trained on her, but I took a few steps forward, studying her face. I noticed that she had two beauty marks, one under her left eye and one above her left eyebrow. The weird thing is, I'm pretty sure I've seen a girl with those exact birthmarks before. In fact, the longer I looked at her the more familiar she seemed, but I couldn't for the life of me put my finger on where I'd seen her before.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked her, and she looked surprised.
"I don't …" She started, and then trailed off. She turned away from me, peering intently into the dark woods. I heard something faint, like boughs snapping in the distance, and a familiar feeling settled in my gut. I felt like I was back in the car outside Sundae Central, face to face with the thing that would eventually kill my best friend. Whatever I'd seen that night, I got the sense that it was approaching.
The blonde woman looked back towards me. "You should go," she said, and I didn't have to be told twice. I took one last look at her, trying to take in every detail of her face, and then I turned around and ran for my house.
By the time I was halfway up the hill, I was certain that I was being followed. I could feel a presence behind me, yet I heard no one: no heavy breathing, no snapping of twigs underfoot. Figuring that I couldn't hear my pursuer because they were too far behind me, I risked a glance backwards and failed to stop the scream that escaped me.
Less than five feet behind me was the dark haired woman I'd seen outside the ice cream shop. I have no idea how she got so close behind me without making a sound. Though I only caught the briefest glimpse of her face, I saw that her lips were torn at the corners, allowing her to open her mouth unnaturally wide. Like the blonde girl I'd spoken to, this woman's mouth was cluttered with a double-row of jagged teeth. Figuring I could run faster without my rifle, I threw my it at the woman and put everything I could into that final sprint towards my house.
I didn't stop or look behind me until I was inside with the door shut and locked. I couldn't believe I'd made it in one piece. Hurrying to the back window, I looked out across the backyard and saw, at the very edge of the property, the faint shape of the dark-haired woman. She was perfectly still, staring in the direction of the greenhouse, though at what exactly I'm still not sure. After a few minutes, she turned around and disappeared past the treeline. Her long, black dress swayed around her ankles and made her look like she was floating instead of walking on two feet.
The recording from Site C ended abruptly after I left the scene. When I returned to the scene in the daylight this morning, I found the camera in pieces at the base of the tree it was once hanging on. I also found that the bear trap itself was nowhere in sight. The chain I had used to tie it to a nearby tree was now connected to nothing, leaving me to wonder if the dark-haired woman bit clean through the metal links in order to free her friend.
It's Sunday now, and while I'm in desperate need of some sleep, I wanted to make sure I wrote everything down before I forgot all the details. Though I've learned a lot from my experiment, every new revelation has resulted in more questions. I know that I'm dealing with more than one creature, but I don't know what they are or what they want. I know that Liam was killed for "interfering", but with what exactly I have no clue. The blonde woman's face is still fresh in my mind; maybe I should draw a sketch or something before I go to sleep. She seems so very familiar, and I feel like if I figure out where I've seen her before, I might be one step closer to unraveling this whole fucked-up mystery. I also finally got cleared to visit Fred this week, so hopefully he'll shed some light on what we're dealing with.
Until then, I just have to pray that no sharp-toothed women kill me in my sleep for "seeing too much." I hate that they know where I live now, and that I have no clue how many of them there are. Whatever the case, I'm going to do my best to get to the bottom of it, and try to keep you all updated as I do.
Wish me luck.

Verse 29 - The purpose of sending this chosen messenger:

God says:

"That he may make evident that they indeed have conveyed the Messages of their Lord. He has encompassed what is with them and He enumerated all things in number.” (The Quran 72:29)

The verse uses the past tense verb "أَحَاطَ" (aḥāṭa) which means "encompassed" or "surrounded." The verb "لَدَيْهِمْ" (ladayhim) involves possession and is not bound by tense in the same way verbs are. So an accurate interpretation would be that God has encompassed what is with them, meaning what is with this chosen messenger and his time (i.e. the Quran), or that God has encompassed (past tense) what was with them (past tense), meaning the prophet and his companions. It can refer to a present or ongoing state resulting from a past action but the "he may make clear" refers to a future event, which indeed makes this a prophecy. Either way, Rashad fully fulfilled it all. This is exactly what transpired. The verse continues:

"And He enumerated all things in number."

The preservation and guarding of the Quran was done by way of numerical patterns/codes embedded within the Quran, God enumerated everything in numbers.

Answering the weak claims of liars, doubters and rejecters:

I will quickly go over a couple claims that I found online and refute them. I will only answer claims I personally think are response worthy. The rest are not even worth the time.

Claim: "Rashad's overall message was unlike that of other prophets/messengers":

This is totally false, because he eradicated prevalent Shirk, the same Shirk that still to this day continues to "flourish" amongst traditionalists.
God says in the Quran, interestingly in the same chapter that we discussed above (i.e. Chapter 72, The Jinn):

"And the mosques are for God, so do not call upon anyone with God." (The Quran 72:18)

The traditionalists are all invoking the prophet, in the same manner they are invoking God. They are all (and I mean literally all of them) saying during their 5 daily prayers:

'as-salaamu 'alaika ayyuha n-nabiyyu' (Peace be on you, O Prophet!)

This is literally an invocation directed to an entity other than God, namely prophet Muhammad. Rashad came and eradicated this Shirk from the Muslim community, but traditionalists remain in their worship of the prophet and refuse to be reminded and reformed.
The real question should be; why would an imposter (who hypothetically was inspired by Satan) want to eradicate prevalent Shirk from the Muslim Ummah?

Claim: "All messengers were prophets, therefor there's a seal on messengership as well!"

And when we ask them: why? They indirectly answer: "Because we say so!" and expect us to just take their words for it.
There's literally nothing behind this erroneous analogy of theirs that supports it. They are literally just claiming that God is bound by a rule. They are literally just inventing and fabricating rules they expect God to submit to.
God says:

“but he is the Messenger of God and the seal (i.e. end) of the Prophets” (The Quran 33:40)

They quote this verse and use it as some sort of evidence while this very verse is the exact opposite, it is against them, but they are rendered incapable of perceiving it.
Messengers are not prophets by default, they are just messengers, whereas prophets are individuals who receive prophecies from God that they convey to people, which makes them messengers as well. This is the linguistic definition of these words. It's baffling how this understanding has been reversed by traditionalists, with the claim that messengers are both prophets and messengers, while prophets are merely prophets. This claim is totally baseless and makes no sense at all.
God has not defined these words in the Quran in any specific way because the Quran is not a dictionary or lexicon; the definitions of the words are something we should naturally understand. Just as we naturally should know where Mecca is located or where the former Qibla was located. Both messengers and prophets are sent by God with a revelation (Scriptures or not) and with Clear Signs, whilst calling for submission and the worship of God alone. Prophets, in addition to all of that, also receive prophecies, foretelling the future, which is why they are called 'prophets.'
Rashad was a messenger of God, not a prophet. He didn't receive a new prophecy because the knowledge of the timing of the Hour was already present with us embedded within the Quran. He was only guided by Gabriel and shown how to uncover it. Prophet Muhammad is the one who received this prophecy originally, but it was obscured from everyone (including prophet Muhammad), hence why he was directed to say:

"Say, 'I do not know whether that which you are promised is near, or if my Lord has appointed for it a distant term. [God is] the Knower of the Unseen, and He reveals unto none His unseen, except who He has chosen of a messenger..." (The Quran 72:25-27)

God states:

"And We did not send before you except men to whom We revealed. So ask the people of the scripture if you do not know, with the clear proofs and the Scriptures. And We sent down to you the Reminder so that it may make clear to the people what has been sent down to them, and perhaps they may reflect." (The Quran 16:42-43)

Everyone that was sent by God had some sort of revelation, whether it was by way of Scriptures and Clear Signs. There's no specific thing distinguishing the two (except for the linguistic distinction I mentioned here above).
It is only their fallacious analogy, that's all. It is based on a passage from the Quran saying; prophets ruled according to Moses Law, the Torah, therefor, a messenger is someone who brings a new Law. Did they forget that Jesus was a messenger and a prophet and he didn't abrogate the Torah?:

"[The Day] when God will say, 'O Jesus, Son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Pure Spirit and you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity; and when I taught you writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel." (The Quran 5:110)

Do you see how fallacious their reasoning actually is? Disregard their weak arguments; it is all weak in my eyes and should be equally so in yours too. God says:

"And We do not send the messengers except as bringers of good tidings and warners. So whoever believes and REFORMS - there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve." (6:48)

Messengers are bringers of good tidings and they serve as warners, and their purpose is to make us believe and to reform us (by the Will and Grace of God). Messengers are also described with revelations of the Book and the Balance (which literally has to do with "Laws"):

"We sent aforetime our messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance, that people may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is strong material, as well as many benefits for mankind, that God may test who it is that will help, unseen, Him and His messengers: For God is full of strength, exalted in might." (The Quran 57:25)

Prophets are also specifically described as being sent with Scriptures so they can "judge between people":

"Mankind was [of] one religion [i.e. before their deviation]; then God sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and warners and sent down with them the Scripture in truth to judge between the people concerning that in which they differed." (The Quran 2:213)

Both are described as being sent with revelations containing Laws.

The Sunni definition of "prophet" is derived from the founders of Sunnism, the ancient rabbis:

From a Sunni/Salafi Fatwa:

"The well-known difference between a Prophet and a Messenger is that a Messenger is one to whom a law is revealed and he is commanded to convey it, whilst a Prophet is one to whom a law is revealed but he is not commanded to convey it. But this distinction is not free of problems, because a Prophet is also commanded to call people, convey the Message and judge among the people."

Source
That it is possible for a prophet to receive revelations from God and suppress them and not convey them to the people, is nothing but a copy/paste from ancient rabbinic literature. The Sunnis got this from the rabbis of old (Maimonides, to be exact):

"But with regard to one who suppresses his prophecy because he does not want to share it with the public, and one who contemptuously forgoes the statement of a prophet and refuses to heed it, and a prophet who violated his own statement and failed to perform that which he was commanded to do, his death is at the hand of Heaven, as it is stated: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not hearken unto My words that he shall speak in My name, I will exact it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:19)."

Source: Sanhedrin 89a - 8.
Two points to consider:

1. Why would God reveal something to someone and not command him to convey it to the people? Why are they attributing this sheer stupidity to God?
2. To claim that God would reveal something to someone with the purpose of conveying it to others while simultaneously allowing him the free will to choose whether he wants to convey it or not, and if we hypothetically say that this is the case, then if a prophet were to actually not convey the revelation, then this would imply that God doesn't know the future or that He randomly sends Revelations to people and hopes they will convey it to others. Either way, this is a stupidity God is far above.

To refute both of these points, we have to look no further than the Quran itself:
God says:

"O Messenger, convey that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, for if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message. And God will protect you from the people. Indeed, God does not guide the disbelieving people." (The Quran 5:67)

And,

"Indeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear for the people in the Scripture - those are cursed by God and cursed by those who curse." (The Quran 2:159)

Hiding what God sends down is only done by cursed individuals, to claim that God would send revelations to cursed people stems from nothing other than ancient Rabbinism*.
^\Rabbinism: Rabbinic Judaism has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud, and also "coincidentally" after the advent of the Quran.)
The phrase: "for if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message" - implies that the purpose of the revelation is to convey it to others. It implies that it is expected of him.

The two deleted verses:

It is interesting to note that there's only 2 extra verses, because matching the mastery of the Quran with more than 2 verses is impossible. It's impossible to mimic the Quran with more than 2 verses without making mumbo jumbo phrases and sentences that make no sense. The shortest chapter in the Quran is made up of 3 verses, nobody has ever brought 3 verses that match the Quran.
If you think it is to deny the Quran if one were to believe that 9:128-129 are added verses, not belonging to it, then you would also believe that 'Ali disbelieved, according to historical accounts. This is recorded in the history books of Sunni scholars themselves.
We find in Kitab al-Masahif by Ibn Abu Dawud, where he suggests that Umar ibn Al-Khattab considered adding verses 128 and 129 to a separate Surah if they had been three verses instead of two, indicating some recognition of their contentious nature during the compilation of the Quran. It is also mentioned that Zaid bin Thabit found these two verses with only one scribe, namely with Khuzaima ibn Thabit. A whooping 65 scribes to the disposal of prophet Muhammad, and only one had these two verses written down. They still included them, which was unusual given the strict criteria for including verses based on multiple witnesses (Source: Ibn Abu Dawud, Kitab al-Masahif; Al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran).
In As-Suyuti's Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran, we read that Ali ibn Abi Talib expressed concerns about additions to the Quran. According to a narration by Muhammad ibn Sirin from Ikrima, Ali refrained from pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr because he believed that something had been added to the Book of God, indicating his suspicion regarding the integrity of certain verses (Source: Al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran).
Do you also consider 'Ali to have apostatized? If not, then why would we be? Especially considering the fact that we now even have substantial evidence that two additional verses were added and that precisely these two verses, the verses that always have been shrouded in doubt, that they ruin the 19 code. But when omitted, the code remains in tact.

The verse saying "No falsehood approaches it":

The traditional translation of this verse is:

"Falsehood does not approach it from before or behind; it is a Revelation from the Wise, the Praiseworthy." (The Quran 41:42)

This above is a deviation from the Arabic grammar of the words and the Arabic idiom being used. Let's go through each word, but before doing that, we need to read a few verses before this verse so we get some context:

40: "Indeed, those who are deviating concerning our Âyât (Signs/Verses) are not concealed from Us. Is he who is cast into the Fire better off, or is it the one who safely comes forth on the Day of Resurrection? Go ahead and do whatever you wish. Indeed, He is Seeing of whatever you do."
41: "[these are] indeed those who disbelieved in the Reminder after it came to them. And indeed, it is surely a Mighty Book."
42: "Falsehood does not come to it, neither from its past nor from its future. It is a Revelation from One who is Wise, Praiseworthy."

The phrase: "بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ" (From its past): Literally: "Between his hands" - As I have already explained earlier in this post, this is an idiom which all traditional translators seem to be totally ignorant about. It simply means "his past" or "before him (i.e. his time)."
The phrase: "وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِۦ" (nor from its future): Literally: "And not from after him/it" - The word "Khalfihi" can mean "Behind it" and it can mean "After it." Because the idiom "Bayni yadayhi" precedes it and means "Its past," and has to do with time, therefor "Khalfihi" likewise is about time and should be translated as "its future." The word "Khalaf" is the opposite of the word "Salaf," which is generally taken to mean "predecessors" while "Khalaf" is the opposite, "successors." It is about the past and the successive future.
God is ensuring us that the Quran is immune to falsehood and cannot be corrupted,even if attempts are made to alter it with lies and fabrications. How can this be best demonstrated and proven true? Through a numerical code that preserves every aspect of the text. If a single letter is added or removed, the code fails. This is exactly what Rashad Khalifa discovered during his lifetime. In other words, even if intentional attempts are made to distort the Quran, they will fail because there is a safeguard in place. This verse does not state that people cannot attempt to distort the Quran; anyone can distort its contents (even you or I can do it right now at this current moment). Rather, it means that falsehood cannot successfully infiltrate it at any time and be forever being considered to be the original Quran, thereby ensuring its preservation.
To claim that this verse is implying that nobody ever will be able to distort the Quran and remove or add from it, then you would also essentially be saying that Rashad Khalifa disproved the truthfulness of the Quran because he did just that, he removed two verses from it and millions of Muslims are reading his Quran and fully believe the Quran was distorted while it wasn't (hypothetically).
Another interpretation of this verse (that is fully valid and plausible) is that God is talking about the time during which it is being revealed and written down by scribes. Because the verse ends saying "...It is a Revelation from One who is Wise, Praiseworthy." In other words;

"Falsehood does not come to it neither in its past nor its future, (because) it is a Revelation from a Wise One..."

I.e. It is not falsehood that is being revealed, neither in its past nor will there be any revealed in its future, because it is all from God. The last phrase is what makes this the most likely accurate interpretation.

Weird Sunni translation of this verse exposes their ignorance and thus also their mistranslation of 72:28:

This very verse uses the exact same idiom that 72:28 contains. The "Between his hands" one. This is how traditionalists translate it in this verse (i.e. 41:42):

It cannot be proven false from any angle...
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran
Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it...
— Saheeh International
that cannot be approached by falsehood, neither from its front, nor from its behind...
— T. Usmani
which falsehood cannot touch from any angle...
— M.A.S. Abdel Haleem
Falsehood may not enter it from the front or from the rear...
— A. Maududi (Tafhim commentary)
Falsehood cannot come at it from before it or from behind it...
— M. Pickthall
No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it...
— A. Yusuf Ali
Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it...
— Al-Hilali & Khan

The rendering: "From any angle" is a complete mistranslation because that is not what the Arabic verse says.
The rendering: "its front nor from behind it" - What does this even mean? Does the Quran have front doors and back doors? It is not even an idiom in Arabic, let alone English. These translators just assumed that this is an idiom in both Arabic and English, while the literal translation makes very little sense in both Arabic and English. How would someone come to the Quran with falsehood behind it?
Does it mean "from the frontside" of its cover? And the "backside" of its cover as well? The Quran was not even in book form at that particular time when this verse was revealed, so how is that explained? The fact of the matter is that they have failed to understand this idiom, which is why they also mistranslated the verse where Rashad Khalifa is prophesied:

"Except who He has chosen of a messenger, for indeed he will follow a path from before him (i.e. before his time), and after him will be a (guarding) monitoring."

The same idiom is used in this verse. I see this as a significant sign from our Lord. It seems He used this idiom in these two verses specifically for this very reason, to show that they are ignorant of the Quran's language, its idioms, and that they completely disregard its grammar and structure of the verses and etc. This is why they end up with these awkward phrases like, "Falsehood may not enter it from the front or from the rear," and "Falsehood cannot come at it from before it or from behind it," among others, which we won't delve into any further. Not only is the English grammar appalling, but these statements are also meaningless in English. They pay no attention to this and have likely confused people by the masses.

The only person to claim messengership that has been assassinated is Rashad Khalifa:

It is very notable that, out of all people who ever have claimed messengership (or prophethood), Rashad is the only one who was assassinated. This also speaks volumes. Sure, Sunni Hadiths speak about a few who claimed prophethood and were consequently executed, but we all know how truthful and accurate Sunni Hadiths are.
This is just an interesting tidbit, it speaks volumes to me personally.

Conclusion:

Wasn't everything in Chapter 72 exactly what Rashad Khalifa experienced and accomplished? It undoubtedly was, and it is impossible to deny. Knowing this, a rejector will certainly be called to account and questioned on Judgement Day as to why he rejected and denied something God made confirmable and undeniable.
God has made it evident that the Hadiths are nothing but fabrications and He has made it evident that they even tempered with the Quran. If you keep on believing that the Quran Sunnis uphold is fully from God, you are literally dooming yourself and transgressing against God because He has revealed means for us that enables us to confirm Rashad's claims. You are part of the problem. What is the difference between you and a Kâfir (disbeliever) of the past such as those who opposed prophet Muhammad? Nothing at all. So fear God and submit to Him fully.
I urge you, O Muslims, to fear God! O people, fear God, because denying a messenger of God renders you an apostate or a Kâfir (a rejector who covers the truth after knowing it). You have no right to deny Rashad Khalifa. God did not send a messenger and allowed you to keep living your life doubting him or totally disregarding him. Imagine if the early Muslims behaved like that? Do you think God would have been pleased with them? All the excuses I have found online are very weak and based on flawed analogies and fallacious reasonings, such as "God said that every messenger was sent to people who spoke his mother tongue, therefore, Rashad must be a fake messenger." And these people actually believe this will be a plausible excuse on the Day of Judgement🤦‍♂️.
Fear God, O believers, and submit to Him fully! You have been shown the truth, and it is now upon you to testify it. How you do that is your decision to make.
Another major excuse people use is that Rashad supposedly claimed that his Quran translation was divinely inspired/guided, and this is nothing but a lie. Nowhere has he claimed this (as far as I know). There are interviews on YouTube where you can clearly hear him saying that he made a personal promise to God in a supplication that he would not move past a word (while translating) until he fully understood its definition. This does not mean "My translation was guided/inspired by God Himself."
Remember this Statement God made concerning those who are rendered incapable of seeing His Signs:

"I will turn away from My Âyât [i.e. Signs/Verses] those who are arrogant in the earth without right. And if they see every Sign, they will not believe in it, and if they see the path of right guidance, they will not adopt it as a path, and if they see the path of misguidance, they will adopt it as a path. That is because they denied Our Âyât (Signs/Verses) and were heedless of them." (The Quran 7:146)

With this, I end this article, and may God open your hearts to Truth and guide us all and keep us steadfast upon His Straight Path until we die, âmîn.
/ By your brother, Exion.

This is just a Quality of Life thing, but when you play the first copy of a bloon card (say Swarm Blue Bloons) your opponent knows that you have the other parts of that card in hand. Your opponent should be able to see a face-up version of that bloon card in your hand, next to your other face-down cards, including the missing coin it now has.
There’s already a visual indicator showing that your opponent has seen one of the cards in your hand: the “missing coin” in the top left. You already have an up-to-date record of which bloon cards you’ve already played, so why shouldn’t your opponent?
The screen real-estate is already being taken up by you being able to see your opponent’s cards in hand at the top of the screen: besides hand size, it can also provide information on what bloon cards you know your opponent has access to. Instead of seeing 6 face-down cards, you could see 4 face-down, a Swarm Red Bloon, and a Swarm Blue Bloon (for example).
3rd party “Hand-trackers” have already been made for other card games like Hearthstone. This change will let players who don’t want to, or can’t, download them not have to memorize every card their opponent plays or write it down in a notebook or a spreadsheet.
This kinda stuff matters for things like “what bloon cards does my opponent have to generate Bloontonium” or “how many cards in my opponent’s hand might be Firestorm.”
For example, if you know your opponent is Gwendolyn, with max bloontonium, with Ceramic Bloons in hand, you won’t want to play into them setting your own Ceramics on fire with their 5 cost active, playing the remaining Ceramics, and then destroying them using their 20 cost active. But if you turned away for a second and came back, and saw a Ceramic bloon but wrongly assumed it was created by the storm increasing, you might go for a “Hail Mary” Ceramich rush play that was destined for failure… unless you had a hand-trackethis change was implemented.
I wanted to mention this now, even though the game is in early restricted access still, because I think(?) this sort of change is the kind that is best done at the start of development, so you don’t run into issues like having to program all the previous Bloons cards to work this way.
It matters most for those Bloon cards, but I would like this to be implemented whenever both players know that a certain card is in a certain hand: if you return a Banana Farm into hand using Return 2 Sender, you should still be able to see the banana farm in your opponent’s hand, AND, as that opponent you should have some indicator letting you know that THIS is the banana farm your enemy knows about, the other banana farm is still secret info. That is (probably) more work though, but it’s another kind of thing a hand-tracker would be able to do. If this “my opponent has seen this card” indicator is deemed too much for a new player, you could make it a toggleable setting.

So yes I’m an over thinker and quite insecure no doubt and I’ve been tackling this issue quite a lot for a while now. We’ve been dating for the past two years and for the most part especially the 2nd year a lot of my overthinking has been dealt with myself however my girlfriend told me she’s going on a Girls trip to Italy and I’m super stressed and worried. The fact is I don’t know what she’ll do and I’ll never know and that drives me insane to be honest. Now if I list the things she’s told me at the start of our relationship you guys will say she’s a red flag ( but she really isn’t ) but when we started dating she told me she used to allow guys to flirt with her and she’d flirt back in her last relationships but said with me she’s never wanted and the very thought makes her sick. When she told me this of course I was super worried but I believe she was just being open with me and I’ve had no signs of any of this since I’ve been with her so I thought. Basically two days we got into a big argument well I’d say just me being angry to be honest I was so close to breaking up with her. Basically she said she was meeting up with a friend and then would come see me after. Later on during the day she texted me saying her friend has convinced her to a girls ‘party’ to watch the kardashian show or whatever. I didn’t mind at all but I saw her location on the phone was still at her house. I had a really bad gut feeling that something fishy was up. She however texted me through her friends phone (signing into her own inst) saying she left her phone at her house. Once she got back I texted her I saying I found it really strange she’d leave her phone at hers and then she said do u really think I’m that crafty that I’d go through all that effort of letting u know but here’s the thing she came over the next day but I couldn’t shrug of the bad feeling. When she was asleep I went through her phone and there was no message between her and friend they didn’t even meet up so obviously I confronted her and yep she made the whole thing up and made me feel like the crazy one for thinking that she’d done something. I still can’t believe the texts the previous day so manipulative. Now in the end she simply wanted to stay with her family that night and thought I’d be mad if she chose them over me. Yes that’s dumb in itself ( as I have no problem with that family first) but she’s off her meds so her emotions are all over the place she did also have a panic attack when I said I was going to break up with her not fun but in the end I caved and said I believe you. She’s finally left now and I have a clear mind how can I trust someone to go on a girls trip that can create such elaborate lies for no reason she made me seem like a psycho she literally called me that when we were discussing the girls trip and I said I’m cautious. Then that same night those feelings become real when I check her phone. I’ll never know what she might do on the girls trip and she can lie her ass off with ease. I know i may come off crazy and if that’s the case on the outside clearly im the issue

So my store location is in downtown area. There’s so much theft and incidents happening. My last shift there was an argument between two customers well one of them is a homeless. They believe he was drunk and he was making the other customer mad. To the point the customer jumped and beat up the “drunk” homeless. I had to call the cops and break up the fight till the cops had showed up. I’m a cashiestore associate going to be shift supervisor. I’m not even sure I want to work there anymore or worth it. We did had security but it was only temporary. Due to from past incident. I have a video but I’m not sure I can post it because there is blood in the footage. Is it possible to transfer? Or at least have more protection for us and the customers?

~First~
For Newest England
The Command Centre is dark, full of foreboding shapes that remind her of days...
She’s snapped out of that bit of introspection as Philip finds the light switch and the room goes from almost haunting to merely empty and quiet.
“Do you think any of your old codes will work on this? Or am I going to brush up on my hacking skills?” Philip asks as he opens the side of a roundabout desk and slips inside. He taps on the desk top and a screen activates awaiting his input.
Sally walks up and presses a few holographic buttons. The screen opens up and Philip begins reading through. She presses a few more and he gives her a sideways look. “What?”
“I’m still learning your local language.”
“Ah. Really? How interesting.” She says and she starts reading faster and quickly comes upon something interesting.
“Madam please.”
“It’s rather funny that someone who thinks they can conquer an entire world doesn’t even fully know the language.”
“Considering how often such a thing occurs across the galaxy, to the point that I am aware of at least nine such scenarios within a week’s travel happening right now. I do not think my difficulty is so unusual.” He chides her.
“Nine? Really?”
“Well, technically seventeen, but many of them are tied up in each other. Multiple stations and planets being invaded by a single large force sort of thing.” He answers.
“Oh. Well I just found something interesting. Follow me. I need to see this for myself and you will want to as well.”
“Oh good, is the rumoured armoured division still supplied?”
“It looks to be that way. We might have more firepower than I thought.”
“Very good.” He says standing up and sliding over the desk to follow her out. “I had actually thought that heavier things like the armour would have been taken and at least repurposed.”
“They’re in The Gavali Empire colours... could it be something that petty?” She asks herself in awe.
“Really? I would expect people of their character to at least find some joy in having them repainted rather than simply abandoned. It’s an enormous waste.” Sir Philip chides before pausing and chuckling. “Of course... The Stations. That’s where their pride is. Well, bully for them, my plan is going to work even better now.”
“Oh really?”
“Think about it, if that readout was accurate there are two squads worth of mobile armour in here. That’s the kind of hardware that is never abandoned without good reason. But if that reason is severe pride in another piece of equipment, then it...”
“Will get all the attention.” Shelly says following his train of logic. “Wait, how do you know there are two squads worth on the registry I checked.”
“I’m learning your language, not totally ignorant. I can read it just fine, I just need some more time than I’d like.” He remarks as they head down and he swipes a keycard into lock of the door. Shelly turns on the lights and both of them pause.
“Magnificent.” Philip says with a smirk.
“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.” Shelly says in awe as she beholds the rows upon rows of towering Battle Walkers. Far more than any five squadrons would use. “There was a rumour about one of the bases being used as storage, but that it was this one is just good luck.”
“Bad luck as well, there’s barely any room in this hanger. To say nothing of how much is needed for these beasts to maneuver, it’s why I prefer a Tank myself, but a heavily armed combat walker with the ability to entrench itself to become artillery is an acceptable second place.” Philip says as he walks up to the nearest massive weapon’s platform. It’s easily a hundred tons in weight and while it has several cannons pointed forward, the real prize is on the back.
“This is old school firepower. The Empire has moved away from this kind of combat doctrine and the Vatras have followed. These things are old, but they’ll still hit like a meteor.” Shelly says as she remembers the fast things running around in all sorts of configurations as a massive contest was held for which one would be the main combat walker of The Empire. In the end they had settled on flight capable bipedal platform. Very light compared to these stompers, but comparably fragile.
“Yes, they’re not very fast, but they’re mobile, all terrain artillery units. If we can get our hands on something more modern from the Vatras to support and screen these beasts we might be able to take a station down. Especially if it’s been damaged to begin with.”
“Maybe one, if there are two left then the second will be able to shoot us into a crater before our shots can reach it. As powerful as these weapons are we need the element of surprise for them to work.” She says going over the hunched over posture of the massive battlemech. “And more modern armour will dance circles around these girls and reduce them to slag before they can get a shot off. These beasts are slow and mean, but slow gets you shot down.”
“Which means we need to think of them more like semi-mobile emplacements.” Philip remarks as he climbs up the ladder to the entry port in the side and pops it open. “My word... it has the new car smell.”
“The new car smell?”
“The smell of chemicals and such used in manufacture. This particular piece of equipment was never even used before being placed here in storage. Wicked waste.” He says derisively before closing the door. “So, what do you think of our odds now?”
“Getting better. But I’ll need to do some digging. I was in charge of ground forces, not armoured. I’ll need to see if any of my old friends in command are still around to find someone that can lead a force like this.”
“Good lass.” Philip says as he hops down and lands with barely a bend to his knees. “We have a hundred and twenty of these walkers. Which considering the yield of their artillery lasers they just barely equal the output of a single station.”
“Wouldn’t they go over... no wait, each individual beam would be distorted at least somewhat and the single large one from the station would have less interference. So it would come to roughly the same amount, just a little bit of power one way or the other...” She mutters as she does the math. “Still, we have the equivalent of a station on the ground. That’s... big. Really big.”
“It is, and it’s something to keep very close to the chest. If any of the Vatras realize there’s a direct, pound per pound, threat to their power they can and will do something about it. Stealth is wealth in this scenario and we need to be wealthy indeed to pull this off.”
“You just quoted something.” She remarks and he smirks.
“Yes, I spent some time undercover as a burgler and petty thief. The things you learn in criminal circles my dear, why, it’d make your hair go white!” He says and she considers, thinks and then comes to a realization.
“So how much of your thieving skills have you used here today?”
“In this building? Precious few. In actually casing the area I got the keycards and authentication from? Quite a few. Proper criminality needs both patience and audacity at the appropriate times.” Philip says as he glances down the way. “There seems to be some modifications near the back. Those are likely the Battle Walkers that I assumed would be here.”
“So you were expecting some.”
“I was expecting at worst some mouldering parts and tools left over from Valiance and Determine Squadrons.” He admits. “At best I was hoping for the entire squadron’s walkers. Maintaining all these Battle Walkers is going to be an enormous issue.”
“Can’t win but for winning?”
“Almost.” He admits. “Hmm... There are so many opportunities that are opening up.”
“Opportunities for whom?”
“For you and yours. While each one of these behemoths might need a hundred siblings to match a station. Those stations are designed to leave wounds on worlds. These armours will work as defensive emplacements that can get up and walk away. A station they’ll struggle with one to one, but they can and likely will leave gruesome holes in capital ships.” Philip says.
“So you don’t intend these to be brought out until AFTER you do your insane stunt and steal a station?” She asks.
“That’s correct.” Philip notes as he leads her through the rows upon rows of Combat Walkers and inspects them all in a quick scan to see if any of them jump out at him. He pauses at seeming random and runs his finger over one of the legs and finding the paint cracking off and peeling. “Hmm... must have been produced while the Vatras were taking the planet. Not enough time to get a second coat of paint.”
“How did you see that?” She asks him.
“Because I was looking for it.” He replies.
“You were looking for brittle and cracking paint?”
“I was looking for defects. We’ll get a trusted engineer in here to give everything a look over. For all we know each of these walkers are just waiting to fall apart and a proper push from the side will cause it to crumble.” Philip says and Shelly gathers some Axiom and shoulder checks the nearest Walker. It sways ever so slightly. “You can fight a Battle Walker?”
“They’re powerful, but they have weaknesses. Especially when they’re powered down.” She answers and he smiles.
“Excellent. Now then, shall we see what kind of modifications Valiance and Determine made to their walkers?” He asks as he leads her further back and Sally sighs. “Oh dear...”
“... Yes...” Sally says as she beholds the decal on the side of a walker that just shows a Jorgua man made of muscles and holding a plasma cannon as the only thing keeping him decent. To her surprise Philip actually laughs at the sight of it before mimicking the pose of flexing all the muscles while having a firm and suggestive grip on the cannon.
“What do you think?” He asks and she shakes her head in amusement.
“I think you’re a little overdressed for it.” She chides him. “You don’t take offence?”
“My dear woman, I count on it.” He replies.
“Of course, if someone’s brain’s in their crotch then they’re not doing too well in a fight.”
“Exactly so.” Philip answers. “So... do you have enough to be ready?”
“I need to see one more place. The most important place in any military base.”
“Ah yes, how could I possibly forget?” Philip asks.
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“Hmm... of all the places to have most of the tools go missing I must admit I didn’t expect it from the kitchens.” Philip notes somewhat ruefully.
“People can explain having a spatula, frying pan or big serving spoon. Even butcher knives and the like. Not so much a massive Battle Walker.”
“Very true dear girl. Very true indeed.” He notes as he finds bare cupboards, empty shelves and nothing at all left in the kitchen, stasis storage or pantry. “Did they just walk out with everything that wasn’t bolted down?”
“No, the chairs in the mess hall are mostly here?” Shelly says turning the light on in the mess hall and chuckling at what she sees.
“Mostly?” Philip demands and then he pokes his head in and scans the room. “Unbelievable.”
“Looks like a quarter maybe?” She asks indicating the missing chairs.
“Roughly.” He replies. “This is going to be less complicated to replace than potentially missing Walkers, but still aggravating.”
“Good luck with that. I’ll get to talking to some friends of mine. If nothing else they’ll love the chance for a front row seat into whatever you’re about to do.”
“Ah... good.”
“How ARE you going to take control of a space station?”
“Manuel override during the viral attack. I’ll need to be in engineering to do it, and once we’re in the lake I can deal with the rest of the crew at my leisure as things will be cut off from the outside world as the chaos ensues.”
“And what about Protn based communications? No amount of interference can get around that.”
“Yes, that’s why I need to select my target and time carefully. Scouting is very important after all.” He says. “Protn can be scanned for and detected with ease. I hit those while my forces take the engine room and take us down.”
“And who are you getting?”
“That depends entirely on how easily swayed the engineering staff are. Several of the stations have some very likely prospects and I have the meeting with the first of them in...” He checks his watch. “Three hours.”
“... You’re already on it?!”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“It turns out that the crew you can’t parade around or can’t threaten you with violence tend to be underestimated by despots. It’s almost like those obsessed with power are unfamiliar with the extremely important details of things such as upkeep.”
“Really?”
“Well, that’s the obvious explanation. The more serious one is that people that grasp at power often over or under delegate. Those that over-delegate are often preening fools that are best ignored. Give them some cookies and shove them in a corner with a model and they’re out of your hair. Those that are obsessively in control and under-delegate simply stretch themselves too thin, tire themselves out and miss important details. From my understanding the Engineering staff of several stations are moderately paid, but routinely ignored and will take a pay cut if things go wrong. Even if it was the ignoring that caused the situation to begin with.”
“Right... okay. Holy goddess, even when thigns were working well there were weaknesses you could have danced through weren’t there?”
“No system is perfect. And the trick to infiltration is to find the weaknesses. Although the best advice is to generally go for being as low ranked as you can pretend to be in you’re infiltrating. That way less people will be concerned with who you are and why you’re there.”
“But then anyone can order you around.”
“And following those orders lets you get all over the place and a ready made scapegoat for all kinds of things. Every issue is an opportunity if you play it that way.”
“... Are you trying to make me into a spy?”
“Ah, pardon me. I’ve spent so long teaching the habit has stuck.”
“Teaching? Teaching who?”
“A pair of most adept students that I had the pleasure of seeing blossom into masters.”
“You really enjoy answering questions without answering them, don’t you?”
“Occupational hazard my dear, along with sudden mortality if I let myself slip.”
~First~ Last

I recently decided to rewatch Adventure Time and holy crap, it's a whole different experience now compared to when I was a kid. I used to love the quirky adventures and silly humor but the deeper I get into it, the more I think this show is full of cosmic horror and existential dread, especially after season 3.
First off, can we talk about the Lich? This dude isn't just your regular cartoon villain; he's a straight up a Lovecraftian nightmare. His presence alone changes the show's tone from whimsical to downright terrifying. The way he manipulates and corrupts everything around him is seriously unsettling. And that laugh... shudders
Then there's the whole post-apocalyptic backdrop. As a kid, I never really got the implications of the Mushroom War, but now it's like, "Oh, the Land of Ooo is built on the ruins of a world-ending catastrophe?" I used to want to live in Ooo but realize that it's built upon the scattered remnants of human civilization with lovecraftian monsters roaming the eerie, desolate landscapes.
Remember "I Remember You" with Ice King and Marceline? Watching it now, the sheer sadness and depth of Ice King's madness hit me like a ton of bricks. It's heartbreaking and shows how the show dives into mental illness and trauma.
The Nightosphere episodes with Marceline's dad are a whole new level of weird. The Nightosphere as a chaotic, hellish dimension and Marceline's complex relationship with her dad adds layers of psychological horror. It's not just "haha funny demons" anymore; it's a deep dive into family issues and personal demons (pun intended). Not to mention the disgusting art design in the nightosphere.
Also, episodes like "Puhoy" where Finn lives an entire alternate life in a pillow fort? That’s straight-up existential horror. The whole concept of alternate realities and the passage of time is dealt with in such a mature and thought-provoking way.
Even the characters' personal journeys get pretty dark. Finn's struggles with identity, loss, and growing up are portrayed with a rawness that's almost too real. It's like the show grows up with its audience, and watching it now, I can see how it was never just a kid's show.
The cosmic horror elements, the psychological depth, and the exploration of heavy themes make it a downright disturbing experience as an adult - THANK GOD I never watched Return to the Nightosphere as a kid. That was some Hellraiser type shit.
Am I just stoned or anyone else agree?

The one thing that keeps coming up for me is that mollie is in the cage in rambley rush, but seconds later she’s out in the open, being corrupted by Salem, and at no point do you see her pass you. This wouldn’t make any sense, unless, the one you fight is not actually mollie, but some sort of evil clone. Salem might be keeping the real mascots hostage, and she may have replaced them with evil clones, thus “and all my old friends are united again”. Rambley’s plan might be to get rid of the imposter clones, by killing them off 1 by 1. He might need the help of the real mascots who have physical bodies, to kill Salem. This also explains Lloyd and why the critter cuffs have a built in deterrent, which I assume rambley installed. Also in the music video, where he “fixes” mollie, could be replacing her evil clone with the real mascot. “He hurts Lloyd” might be him trying to hurt the clone. There is proof of a physical Rambley, in the fact that when you show the Rambley mask to Rambley and he plays the audio, the two staff members talk about being replaced, and right after they got the RACCOON costume. These might not necessarily be clones, but also rogue physical counterparts in the sense that all of the characters might have an AI like Rambley, since Rambley has a physical counterpart. This also makes sense because Lloyd used to be the mascot before Rambley was, as seen in the intro video with Isaac indigo. This could make sense, with how Rambley is trapped in the entrance until you free him. Each of the AIs might be trapped in a different area of the map, and in the coming chapters, as we repair these areas, we will set these AIs free.