Day 1 A news report breaks in [REDACTED] New York about a man waking up the previous morning, and attempting to turn on his TV to watch the latest episode of his favourite show, only for his remote to crumble in his hand. Confused as to what was going on, the man would attempt to manually turn on his TV, only to accidentally pull a chunk of it off. It was at this moment, that the man would discover that his TV had been replaced with a hyper-realistic cake. The man would question his wife about where the TV went, and why there was a hyper-realistic cake in its place. However, his wife was just as confused as he was about the entire situation at hand. The man would attempt to report this to his local authorities, claiming his TV had been stolen and replaced with a hyper-realistic cake. Only to be laughed off as a prankster due to his ridiculous claim. Angry at this, he would take his story to the local news station hoping for justice to be served to whoever stole his TV. Once again, his claims were laughed off and published as a mere joke. The man would claim that there would be more cases of people’s items being replaced with hyper-realistic cakes going forward and that they would all regret ignoring his case.
Day 29 Police reports coming from all over [REDACTED] New York would reveal the man’s words to be correct. Starting after a young woman would attempt to open her purse, only for the zip to completely come off upon being pulled and quickly break apart, taking some of the modelling chocolate with it. Soon people would begin reporting all over the area that their items had been completely replaced with cake. Phones, laptops, bags, earrings, necklaces, rings and even stacks of cash were discovered to have been replaced with hyper-realistic cakes. Local authorities, having now clearly learned that this was no prank, are looking into the cases to try and track down these valuable items. However, one thing these cases all have in common (aside from the cakes being delicious) is the complete lack of evidence pointing to any suspects. No DNA evidence, no signs of forced entry, and no people in the area at the time. Nobody is even sure when these items were replaced with cakes. They all say they could've sworn they were real a second ago, only to suddenly be cake. Almost as if there was no thief and they had just suddenly turned into cake. Authorities are still on the hunt for a possible suspect in this case, even though the wider New York authorities laugh at them for humouring these absurd claims.
Day 47 The situation has escalated much further than anyone could've possibly anticipated. Now the reports of items being replaced with hyper-realistic cake have rapidly expanded to the rest of New York. Hundreds of people are reporting that their valuable items are being discovered to be hyper-realistic cakes. A man would take his phone out of his pocket to check if he'd received any important emails, only for his phone to crumble into pieces of cake in his hand. A woman would attempt to cash in a check of $100,000 to a bank, only for the modelling chocolate on the check to smash into several pieces when placed down on the counter. A couple would attempt to hurry their kids into the car, worrying they may be late for school. Only for the car to fall apart right in front of them, as the door is pulled off and falls to the ground. People are getting scared, they're worrying that at any moment, any of their prized possessions could end up being a hyper-realistic cake. Nobody is sure what is real and what is cake anymore, so they've taken to trying to cut anything they own, hoping to weed out the cake from the non-cake. Many have ended up accidentally destroying many of the things they own in the process of doing this. But those who still have their stuff have taken to putting stickers on them to ensure they know they're real. That was until an edible sticker was found to be on the back of a hyper-realistic cake emulating a mobile phone. Now, people’s only option is to place all their valued possessions into safes, covered in locks with an 87-number code that not even they know. The governor of New York has commented on the situation claiming that he's doing all he can to try and solve the hyper-realistic cake mystery, but he can only do so much to calm the fear and paranoia that has overcome New York.
Day 93 The situation has dramatically escalated even further somehow, as the hyper-realistic cake plague has now begun heavily affecting the nearby states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and even some parts of Canada. Reports are coming in from all over the USA and even some of Mexico and South America of people’s items suddenly being replaced with ominous (albeit, tasty) hyper-realistic cakes. The president is doing nothing to quell the fear of US citizens, claiming the whole situation is ridiculous and that everyone is a fool for buying into it. People are starting to riot in the streets believing the president is not doing enough to try and prevent the appearance of hyper-realistic cakes. Many other countries are beginning to consider closing off all travel to the USA out of fear, and some like Germany even going through with it. The safes people were using to hold their valuable items are no longer safe. Many have been discovered to have been replaced with hyper-realistic cakes, leading to even greater fear and paranoia among citizens. And the worst thing of all. The police officer who was in charge of the case in [REDACTED] New York was discovered by his wife the previous night to have been replaced with an identical hyperrealistic cake. There is no evidence of where he may have gone, and there is no evidence pointing to who might've taken him. He has seemingly disappeared without a trace.
Day 149 As fear was reaching its limits, a spark of hope managed to emerge. Tension has been rising as countries all over the world have been receiving reports of people disappearing, and being replaced with hyper-realistic cakes. Even including those that shut off travel to the USA. The president has continued to display pure apathy to the situation, claiming the whole thing to be a farce, until he discovered one morning his wife had been turned into a hyper-realistic cake. Outraged at this, he demanded the perpetrator be immediately found and caught. He banned the selling of any ingredients that could be used to make a hyper-realistic cake, including flour, sugar, eggs, butter, baking powder, chocolate, honey, macaroni and cheese (he does not know how to make a cake, and decided it was better safe than sorry). But even then, hyper-realistic cakes continued to appear. Now even houses and everything in them were getting replaced with giant hyper-realistic cakes, twice the size of an average human being. The president was getting desperate now and was willing to do anything to catch the man responsible for this. So he had cameras set up on every street in every city in every state across the entire USA. And he had every cop working 24/7 on the sight of each camera making sure nothing was replaced with a hyper-realistic cake, and if they were to see hyper-realistic cake-related activities, they were to press a button, sounding the alarm. Yesterday, after weeks and weeks of nothing. An extremely tired officer managed to catch a woman attempting to replace a baby with a hyper-realistic cake. The woman, upon being caught, would quickly admit she was behind the hyper-realistic cake shenanigans. She was immediately brought to Washington DC where the president would proceed to scream and cry at her for hours before demanding she be placed in a holding cell so she could be questioned the following day. This was quickly announced by White House officials and the world began celebrating, praising the president as a hero who was able to end the hyper-realistic cake plague. The joyful people of the world are currently awaiting a word from the US president on who this mysterious woman is, what her motives are and where she’s keeping all these missing people.
Day 180 To the horror of everyone around the globe, the following morning, all hope was lost and all dreams were dashed. The woman taken captive last night was found to have been replaced with a hyper-realistic cake, just as everyone was. The president demanded a search for any evidence indicating how she could've escaped, but they were unable to find anything. Even the cameras meant to keep track of the woman had mysteriously failed to capture anything the previous night. This was the breaking point for the president, and as a result of this, he'd soon become wrapped up in an extremely insane conspiracy. He'd soon begin to believe the cake was a being that was more powerful than any of them, and that it needed to be eradicated at all costs. The presidents would proceed to declare Marshall law and cut off all transport to other countries. People, seeing exactly what was going to happen, attempted to escape the country by piloting the planes and boats themselves. Only to discover the planes and boats were all hyper-realistic cakes, that were unable to fly and would easily sink in water. The president would also declare that all cake is to be thoroughly burned, and anyone believed to be a cake is to be executed on sight, preferably by being cut with a blade. The president would have all secret service agents executed, claiming that they were conspiring with the cake and aided the woman in escaping custody. But even if this wasn't enough for the president, soon he’d begin believing that other countries were made of cake too and declared that any countries believed to be “cake countries” would be bombed off the map. Starting with Mexico, he sent wave after wave of bombs to the country until he was sure anyone inside was dead. He'd soon turn his attention to Germany, believing that it was also a “cake country” due to them previously closing off transportation from the USA there. Soon, Germany was no more, and the president would celebrate that he had destroyed another “cake country”. It seemed like to the president, that every country except the USA was a cake country, and no amount of bombing he did would change that. Everyone knew the sheer amount of bombs he was using was going to destroy the planet, but he didn't care. But just as quickly as this began, it ended. Yesterday, a large angry mob stormed the White House. The president would attempt to bomb the mob, only to discover the bomb launchpad had been replaced with cake. The mob quickly overpowered anyone left supporting the president with sheer numbers, and they swiftly beat the president to death in a manner too disturbing to even attempt to describe. Blood was everywhere, but they didn't care anymore, the dictator was dead.
Day 294 Shortly after the president's death, the USA descended into chaos. People were still being replaced with cake, and nobody had any way to contact people outside the USA, as every single phone was seemingly now a hyper-realistic cake. Many don't even believe there's anyone left out there, and that they were all killed by the president. People quickly began to believe the president was right, and that all the other countries were now just cake. But they took it one step further, they now began to ponder if the entire globe itself was just one giant cake. People began getting so scared of others being cake, that they would attempt to cut anyone they meet just to see if they were cake. There is no food left now besides hyper-realistic cakes, and many are so scared of them that they refuse to even go near them, let alone attempt to eat them. Many are dying from starvation, and those willing to eat the cakes are usually branded as “cake people” and killed on sight. There's still no sign of the people who went missing and were replaced with hyper-realistic cakes. Many believe they just vanished from reality itself or that they were taken by the cake. Some people have begun to worship the cake as a god and make sacrifices to it believing it'll bring their loved ones back. Reality is crumbling, society has fallen apart and it won’t be long until humanity is gone.
Day 334 Not even a year following the first-ever incident, the last human being on earth has died today. Alone, cold and afraid. There is nothing left. No trees, no grass, no water, no animals, no humans, nothing. The only thing that remains now is the hyper-realistic cakes. And that, is the story, of how I destroyed humanity with FUCKING CAKES! I guess in the end you could say… it was real.

So I've got this nice music man hd130, but I noticed that with a guitar plugged in, there will be an audible pop or click noise when you touch the strings (or any other exposed metal, like knobs or toggle switches. ) It only happens when you go from touching NO metal to touching something-- i.e. if your left hand is already on the strings, touching other metal components makes no noise. I'm no expert, but this seems like it might be a grounding issue, and I have a touchy history here, so before i go further, excuse a brief aside:
My very first amp was an old solid state Marshall 2x12 combo from the early 80s, and it was in my grandmother's basement. She had an old house without any 3 prong outlets, and although it did have a label stating, "This apparatus must be earthed," I had no idea what that meant or why it mattered as a 12 year old. So I did what any idiot would do and used a 2-3 prong adapter and just plugged it in. I would get constant (but thankfully VERY mild) electric shocks from the strings (or any exposed metal) resulting in a slight tingling, but never having used an amp or electric guitar before, I had no idea how dangerous this was. It was only when I remarked at the local music shop, "I guess that's why they call it 'electric guitar,' right?" that the employees made me aware of the situation and the not insignificant risk of electrocution. That's the first time I encountered the concept of 'grounding' (or being "earthed" for Brits.) I attached a wire from the metal ring of the 2 prong adapter to a cold water pipe and the shocks were gone.
Back to today. After noticing this "popping" noise, I discovered that while the Music Man is plugged into a power strip with 3 prong outlets, when i followed the power strip to the wall, it's going into a 2 prong receptacle with one of those same adapters, and nothing is attached to ground ring. Ruh-roh. I also noticed that there is a toggle switch on the back labeled "ground."
So I've got a few questions I'm hoping you folks might be able to answer: Do you think that this lack of a third ground prong is indeed the source of the popping? What does the "ground" switch on the back of the amp actually do? Considering it's not shocking me, but IS making that popping noise, just how dangerous is it to use like this? (My gut instinct says at the exact moment, it's unlikely to kill me or start a fire as is--the real danger is what would happen should there be any other fault or failure, at which point the danger would be extreme and immediate, and it would be too late. And with an old amp, that could happen any time... I'm not looking for permission to ignore the issue and keep playing, just trying to better understand what the risks are and how likely they are. [If a capacitor in the power supply goes, I'll suddenly have a short that goes to what SHOULD be 'ground ' but since there's no return path for the current, suddenly all those metal knobs on the guitar are energized and My body will provide the return path as soon as I touch it?] Since there are no accessible 3 prong outlets in this area of the apartment (and this time, I'm not in a basement close to a cold water pipe that goes fairly directly to the LITERAL ground, but rather on the 3rd floor with multiple other tenants in the units below), what are my options?
There is a heavy, metal [cast iron?] hot water radiator near by, but I doubt it's tied to ground like cold water pipes usually are, so I think that's out... I could run a really long (30ft) wire along the ceiling into the kitchen and catch the cold water pipe.... but being on the 3rd floor with tenants below, I'm worried that (If for some reason there's a problem with the connection to true Earth ground), I could electrify the whole plumbing and electrocute my neighbors when they touch their sink... I i think and hope that's very unlikely, but I don't know...
Please folks-- give me your insight and advice! I

i'm working on a novel and would like to know if anyone could tell me any improvements i could make to the first chapter and prologue
Prologue
The day had started the same way it had for the past two years. The only difference was that I was going home. The hallway was crowded with people walking to and from their classes. Everyone was crowded next to each other so the halls were making the area feel claustrophobic. All the people talking mixed with the summer heat made me feel like I was locked in a sauna. I walked with Preston to the last class we would ever have together and as usual he was smiling. I never got why he always smiled even in situations where people should be sad he still smiled. He knew what today meant for me and he tried to keep light of the situation. I kept my head down away from what was ahead of me. My mind was too clouded about returning to see my family to notice anything in front of me. I walked into another student. It felt like I had walked into a wall. I knew immediately I had walked into tree. I stumble onto the ground and the commotion around me slows down to make room for us. He turned his bulky body around and apologized profusely without saying a word even though I had walked into him. He helped me off of the ground before hurrying down the hall.
“Alexandria, are you doing okay?” Preston said he had tilted his body downward so I had to look down to look him in his eyes. The way he was standing made him look like an idiot but he didn't seem to care. The way he acted made me laugh, which caused his smile to widen.
“I'm doing fine, just got lost in my head.”
“Thinking about how you’ll leave soon,” he said
“Was it that obvious?” He was the only person I told about me being an exchange student. I came to spend high school in Newkinawa and he was the only person I ever hung out with.
“I see what you mean,” he said “Newkinawa is a beautiful place with beautiful people to live in it…myself included”
“You wish,” I say with a smile we continue walking through the hallway “I'm just not excited to go back yet”
After I say that his smile grows wider “So you will miss me after all”
“I wouldn't say that much” I responded whilst smiling.
We had made it to our last class only to see it closed with a sign labeled “Uma incident” Uma was a student known for messing with the chemistry lab and destroying school property in the process. I've never actually met her but Preston says “She's a little weird but still nice”
“Guess class is canceled for today,” Preston remarked with a smile “Wanna go out to the court till the bell rings.”
“Sure let's go” I respond
The place we ate every day was outside. It used to be a tennis court before I moved in. Now they put trees and flowers all over the place. Preston really liked the blue color of the flowers but it just never clicked for me. I look over at Preston and he's staring up at the sky. There are a number of clouds in almost enough to block the sun but it still pokes its rays through and lands on Preston's face. The clouds swim in front of the sun till they block out the sun's light. Preston faces towards me.
“I'm gonna miss you Alexandria” he says
“You know you can just call me Alex,” I replied. I start to smile again. “I'll miss you too!" He smiles toward me again as we get up to leave as the clouds start to clump together and rain slowly falls. As we're walking back to the school there's a loud tearing sound followed by screams as the ground shakes.
The ground tears itself apart as the dirt and stone erupt from the ground. The sky blackens and a pale blue light escapes the earth. Then creatures erupt from the ground in a violent ejection from the earth creating a white pillar diffusing as they reach higher in the air. Some are clawing their way out of the cracks like maggots out of a corpse. People are swept into the updraft screaming for their lives.
The creatures descend like a tidal wave and tear apart any people caught in their path. They storm out of the crack in hundreds as more cracks in the earth form. Me and Preston started running away as people were screaming behind us. A girl running next to us has her legs slashed by a creature. The monster begins to tear open her chest as she chokes on her own blood. The monster shovels her lungs and innards into its decrepit mouth. Me and Preston keep running until we're met at the entrance of the school and we catch the attention of a monster as it begins to savagely rush toward us. The monster resembles ghosts my father told me about. But this one looks monstrously horrific. It floats in the air and opens its mouth so wide it nearly replaces its entire torso; its jaws hold savage teeth each the same old gray color of its body. Its eyes glow a rotten yellow color through the dark. It stretches out its arms showing its giant hands and claws like fingers. It swipes at us leaving a giant claw mark on the door behind us but Preston ducks my body down to avoid the attack. We run around it as the monster swaps its focus to another bystander. Screaming past us. Me and Preston run into the parking lot as people scream around us. We hide next to a car.
“What the hell is happening!?” I yell to Preston. More of the creatures fly over us and swoop down to people like vultures on roadkill devouring the fleeing people.
Preston starts to breathe heavily ”we need to get out of here and someplace safer”. As we were talking one of the monster phases through the car we were hiding next to forcing us to run into the street.
“Lets go to your house till things cool down” i say to Preston through panted breaths
“Wait couldn't we head to your house instead” Preston says.
“Why would that matter your house is closer anyways” i respond
“But-” Preston is interrupted by two creatures swooping above us to grab another person. The two monsters begin to pull the person apart while he writhes in pain before having his flesh be torn in half and having his organs be devoured.
“Come on lets go!!” I say as I grab his hand and run even faster.
By the time we reach Preston's house any living person is gone. On the street are just corpses laying torn and mutilated on the roads and sidewalk. The air in the neighborhood feels cold despite the season being summer. When I walk down the street I can still hear the occasional horrific wail the monsters give off. We move closer to Preston's house and I can see him sweating. He looked more worried than before when the creatures were chasing us and he kept darting his eyes away from his home.
“Preston, are you feeling okay?” he doesn't respond to my question and keeps darting his eyes. He walks slowly behind me and as I reach for the door handle and when I touch it it feels nearly freezing. I wrap my hoodie around my hand and slowly open the door. The house is quiet so me and Preston creep further into his house. The inside is cold and damp as if we were locked in a freezer. The further we move into the house the louder a subtle chewing sound is heard.
“It sounds like rats are eating a dead cow over there” I whisper. Preston continues to stay silent behind me. We slowly walk closer towards the kitchen and the sound gets louder and louder and louder until we reach the room.
We're met with a rancid smell of vomit and blood. My blood starts to run cold and every instinct in my body is telling me to run. I can feel Preston breathing get heavier as we get closer. We turn the corner and see Preston's mom lying on the ground dead with one of the creatures hunched over slurping her intestines. The sight causes me to vomit alerting the monster to our presence. The creature turns around and its mouth turns into a mortifying grin as it flies into Preston's moms body. The corpse begins to rise and spur splashing blood over the kitchen. When the corpse stops spasming it picks itself up from the ground and with glazed over eyes it holds its intestines in its hand and gives us the same grin it did when it was outside her body. The possessed corpse lunges at me and starts to chase me around the kitchen. The body is running into the walls and cabinets spraying its blood and other loose organs around the area as I'm avoiding its assault. The corpse leans over and ejects one of its loose intestines towards me, wrapping me in it. It pulls me towards it so fast I'm flung towards the ground. The corpse limbers over to me and raises its free hand aiming for my head. The creature's deranged smile causes the corpse’s cheeks to tear apart. It places both of its bloodied and demented hands on my face and starts to press my skull into the ground. I struggle to breathe. The room starts to get dark and blood escapes my head.
Until Preston jumps on top of his mothers corpse with a kitchen knife and repeatedly stabs it in the head. The possessed body tries to shake him off but he keeps stabbing, blood gets in on his face and tears start to escape his eyes. The creature violently ejects from the corpse's mouth causing her head to nearly explode and Preston stops stabbing the body. The body falls over in a splash of blood and organs. The monster leaves phasing through the roof leaving Preston crying over his mother's body. As the blood mixes with the tears he collapses to his knees crying. I walk over and hug him as the air around us turns bitter and the chill of death leaves the room and us with it.
Chapter 1 Eclipse
It's been 2 months since the apocalypse started. We've kept ourselves alive by looting grocery stores and houses, we hide from the creatures as we have no way to fight back against them. Preston came up with the idea to call them glanter’s. He’s looking better since we left his family home but I can tell something is wrong with him that he's not telling me. Everytime I ask him about it he tells me it's no big deal. I asked him earlier today and he just told me
“don't worry about it, I'm over it” without even looking at me. Now we're walking through the street and I'm walking behind Preston, I can barely see his head past the giant bag we're both carrying on our backs we use to carry supplies. I look up at the sky and it's still pitch black except for the moon giving us any amount of light. Preston turns around to face me.
“Let's check out that house, it might have some cool stuff in it” he points to a white house to our right. The house is a two story building with steps leading to the front door. There's a generator poking out from the backyard. The driveway is empty save for a couple of dried blood stains and tire marks. It's similar to the other houses in the neighborhood except for a couple broken windows.
“Sure why not” We head over to the house and I see something shining on the side of the house in the corner of my eye. I turn my head to look at it closer but it quickly disappears before I can see it clearly.
“Probably squirrel or something” I mumble to myself. Preston walks up the stairs to the house and I walk up the steps behind him as a breeze blows past my face. Preston tries to turn the door knob but the door is locked. I start to pull out a lockpick I grabbed at the store earlier. I motion towards Preston to move out of the way as I kneel down to pick the lock. It takes me a couple of minutes to unlock the door so I walk inside the house and Preston follows behind me while closing and locking the door. The doorway of the house leads to a dark room so I take a flashlight out of my bag to illuminate the area. Were put into the living room and bookshelves are on the walls and a large TV sat in front of a large black couch with smaller chairs surrounding it. Dust is covering every surface of the room and spiderwebs litter the corners of the walls. The area smells like moth balls and there's a lack of blood anywhere nearby.
“Guess the owners got out before the Glanter’s got in, '' I say to Preston. When he doesn't respond I turn around and he's already looking further into the house. When I find him he's managed to find a flight of stairs that lead to a lower portion of the house.
“I'll check on him later,” I think to myself as I headed towards the kitchen to see if we could restock on food. I walk past a bedroom and remark on how childish it looked. The walls were painted with blue and green stripes and a bunk bed sat on the right wall. There's a chest at the foot of the bed so I walk over and lift the top off of it. The box is layered with children's toys, a multitude of dolls, bears, and figures all jut out of the box. I notice a small robot toy and inspect it in my hands.
The cold metal makes my hand shiver and the sharp body shape makes the robot bigger than my hand. There's red lining around the robot's buttons surrounded by the cold gray of the robot's “skin”. It reminds me of a toy my little brother had. My heart feels heavy as I worry about what happened to my family. If they're alive, dead, or worse…possessed. The thoughts send a chill down my spine but I push them aside for now. I put the toy in my bag and exit the bedroom.
I can see the kitchen is down the hallway so I walk down the hall and enter. The kitchen is pretty clean except for a couple of dishes in the sink and the dust. There's a table seated for 3 people in the center of the room. I start opening the cabinets in search for any food or water. There's boxes of cereal leftover on top of shelves and a mix of chip bags and cookies in neat boxes stationed in the cabinets.
“Score,” I say to myself as I begin to put the snacks into my bag. When the cabinets are empty I look inside the fridge. The inside of the fridge ran out of power so most of the food inside is rotted. There are a couple of bottles of water in the front so I shove those in my bag. There's also a bag of oranges that still seem to be healthy in the back. I grab them and toss them on the table. There's rotten sandwich meat hidden in the drawer of the fridge.it smells like a dumpster outside of a butcher shop. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. I look around the kitchen for any bread with no luck.
I continue to look through the fridge until I hear Preston scream from another room. Immediately I bolt out of the kitchen leaving my bag behind and run towards the lower part of the house. I run down the stairs and nearly trip on the steps. The stairs lead to a big room. There are posters to tv shows and movies I don't recognize. The walls are painted black and there's a bear skin rug on the floor. I notice Preston standing next to a really big TV hyperventilating. I walk over to him and ask him.
“Are you ok? What happened?”
He talks through deep breaths “I… saw a… spider.”
“What?!” I respond in confusion.
“It was really big and I had jumped at my face”
“Sure it was.” I say while laughing “Let's go upstairs there's some food in the fridge we can eat”
“Wait, I think you should check this out.” He says while pointing towards one of the walls. I grab Preston's flashlight off the floor and face it towards the wall. Hanging halfway off the wall is a large map labeled Newkiwana scavenger hunt of 76.
“I think we should take it,” Preston says “You can read a map right?”
“A little but I'm not the best at it,” I say to him “can you read a map?”
“it shouldn’t be too hard it’s mainly pictures any way I'm sure I can figure it out”
I walk over to the wall where the map is hung there are trophies covering tables and shelved in their own personal cases one of them reads “1st place 100-meter swimming competition for 1986 Zack Hemmingway” and another one reads “2nd place 100-meter swimming competition for 1989 Zack Hemmingway”
“Guess this guy really liked swimming,” Preston remarks while staring at a wall of newspaper clippings. All of them are about the same person in swimming competitions. All labeled different things like “a new record for Zack “the dolphin” Hemmingway”,
‘Zach Hemmingway our star plans for the future” all the newspapers are about this kind he has paler skin and a bulky enough build to swim pretty well. Most of the pictures have him coming out of the water in a pool, his long black hair soaked and sitting at his shoulders. Another one has him sitting at a desk over a pile of books and his hair in a knot , “vicious wipeout ends the Dolphins career”, and “ex-swim champ Zack Hemmingway found in a drunken stupor outside strip club.
“Everyone has their own hobbies I guess,” I say as I take the map off of the wall and fold it up. “Sucks what happened to Zack though” I walked over to Preston’s bag and put the rolled map in one of the pockets. I walk back up the stairs and Preston grabs his bag and follows behind me.
We make our way towards the kitchen and Preston starts looking through the fridge for anything to eat. I grab an orange from the table and throw it at his head. The fruit bounces off his head and rolls on the floor. He turns around and grabs the fruit from the floor
“Why did you throw an orange at me?”
“It's the only food we have unless you plan on eating spoiled a sandwich“ He starts to peel it while walking towards the table. We both take a seat and start to eat the oranges from the bag. He plants his feet on top of the table and bites into the fully peeled orange. I grab a water bottle from a bag and start to drink from it as Preston says.
“I saw a dvd player in that man cave downstairs we could watch a movie if it still has power”
“Sure it could be fun.” Me and Preston spend the rest of our time eating until the bag of oranges is emptied and we head back downstairs. Preston grabs the DVD player from under the table and blows the dust off the top of it; he plugs it into the wall as I plop myself onto the couch. He plugs the DVD player into the TV and sits on the recliner next to me. He presses a few buttons on the remote and the TV lights up. I squint my eyes at how bright it is. It's the most amount of light I've seen that didn't come from a flashlight. I notice there's a box filled with DVDs. I pull the box over towards me. I ruffle through the box and see movies like Silence of the Lambs, Terminator 2, and Home alone.
“Dude some of these came out just before the world turned inside out” I say to him.
“Really? Let's play one.” He responds. I toss him Terminator 2 and he puts it into the DVD player.
We spend the next couple hours watching movies and laughing together. It's some of our only moments of peace we’ve had since the end of the world and to me it's the most fun I've had yet. We're putting in the next DVD when there's a loud crash outside and the TV shuts off. Preston goes behind it to see if it's still plugged in.
“I think the generator outside is busted” i say
“It seems that way” Preston replies while backing away from the tv” i'm gonna go check it out”
“Don't worry I got it” I say as I hop out of my chair. Preston waves goodbye as I head up the stairs. I make my way back through the hallway leading to the living room and front door. I reach the door and start to turn the knob. I open the door wide as a car speeds down the street. I step out of the door to see what had happened when I hear the screech of a glanter. It cuts through the sky like an unholy opera singer. A group of them fly by and chase the car as I rush back inside the house. I slam the door shut and look through the window as I see a couple of smaller glanters grab and shake the car violently looking for the driver. They tear at it, ripping off doors and breaking the windows. The driver screams as the seats cover with blood and he's ripped out of the car as multiple smaller glanters tear and bite off parts of his body like piranha's until his body is completely devoured. I run back to the man cave to warn Preston about what had happened. I spot him laying in his chair spinning a DVD disc on his finger.
“It's not safe outside right now”
“Why not?
“There's glanter's outside, they just ate a dude in his car”
“Did they see you come inside?”
“I don't think so , they flew off before I went inside.”
“well we're not dead so I'm gonna say they didn't see you. But let's stay here for a couple more hours just to be safe”
“Sounds good i'm gonna go find the master bedroom.” I start to walk back up the stairs to the house
“ Hold on why do you get the master bedroom” Preston says while walking after me.
“Because I'm gonna find it first” I say as I start to run to find the bedroom. He chases after me in pursuit of the bedroom. Me and Preston run around the house looking for the master bedroom. We look through room after room finding closets, the garage, a bathroom and a door leading to a balcony in the back of the house. I manage to run into the bedroom and yell out to Preston.``Found it!!”
He comes walking into the room breathing heavily from the running. We both check out the room. The walls are painted a cream yellow and the bed takes up most of the room's center. The bed has burgundy sheets poking out from its bottom and a quilt with multi-colored floral designs lay sprawled out on top of it. There's a wardrobe built into the wall and a black leather couch sits comfortably on the left wall.
“Dibs on the bed” I say as I jump on top of it. I stretch out on top of the quilt and search for a comfortable part to sleep in.
“Where am I supposed to sleep then?” Preston complains
“You can sleep on the couch it looks soft enough” I respond while pointing towards the couch “I saw some spare blankets in one of the closets”
“Alright i’ll be right back” he mumbles to himself “why do i always get the couch”
“ I'll be right here if you need me,” i call after him. I sit up on the bed and start to look around the room more. I notice the entrance to the wardrobe is cracked open slightly. I hop out of the bed and grab a flashlight from my bag as I walk into the wardrobe. I turn on my flashlight and stare in awe at how many clothes are in there. The room is only half as big as the bedroom but it's still bigger than any closet I've ever had. The wardrobe is full of shirts, dresses, pants, and shoes for men and women. I immediately start to look through the shoes to see if any fit my size. I throw a pair of black high heels behind me as Preston finds me in the wardrobe. He looks around before asking me.
“What are you doing?”
“Finding a new pair of clothes to wear cause I've been wearing the same pair of jeans for waaaaay too long”
“Fair enough. Is there any guy stuff in there?”
“Yeah right there” I hook my thumb behind me to point to the other end of the closet.
“I'm sure they won't mind if we take a couple of things…they're probably dead by now anyways,” Preston says with a slight grin on his face. The way he said made me spin my head to look at him but he was already on the opposite end of the wardrobe looking at suits.
I shake away the thought and continue looking for any pair of sneakers in my size. 40 minutes pass before I walk out of the wardrobe holding a new pair of jeans and a black guns-N-roses t-shirt. I toss the clothes on top of the bed and check to see if the shower in the bathroom still works. I turn the dial and wait for a moment. The shower head chokes a little before water comes pouring out. I reach my hand under the showerhead to feel the water. The water is cold, it causes my hand to shiver when I take it out. I shake the water off and say to myself.
“Good enough” as I start to take off my old clothes and get in the shower. The cold water bounces off my skin, it sends shivers down my spine but I still get the old dirt from the last few months off of me. I step out and see a couple of dry towels hanging off of the door. I grab one and dry my body off and grab another to wrap around my head and dry my hair. I step out of the bathroom and Preston is still inside the wardrobe. I put on my new clothes while his back is turned and walk over towards him when I'm finished.
“Still haven't found anything,” I ask him
He turns around “Nothing yet, the only thing interesting was this coat.” He holds a leather coat up to me. The coat is made of black leather and has a skull covered with blue flames on the back. There's a black shirt inside the coat with a skeleton hand making a thumbs-up embroidered on the front.
“ That's pretty cool, it's better than what you're wearing right now at least” he's outfitted in a blue hoodie with holes on the chest and tears at the sleeves. He also has a shirt with a faded picture of a blue flower printed on it.
“I guess you're right” he gets up from the floor and exits the wardrobe. He lays the clothes on the couch along next to the blanket and pillow he brought into the room.
“The shower works so you can get yourself clean In there,” I say to him
“You know, a shower sounds really good right now.” He gets up from the floor and grabs a pair of pajama pants that were laying next to him. He leaves the wardrobe and enters the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After a moment the water turns on and I hop on the bed to get ready to sleep. I squirm myself into the quilt and rest my head against one of the pillows. I shut my eyes and fall asleep listening to the passive sound of the shower like rain on a car.
I'm in a void. It feels like I'm standing in a puddle of water that reaches to my knees. I wade my way forward looking around for anything in the darkness. In the distance I can see 3 figures l. I moved closer to them and their silhouettes get clearer. I realize they are my dad and brothers. I start to run towards them kicking up water behind me until something grabs my leg. It pulls down violently forcing me under the water without a breath of air. I kick at the thing grabbing me until something grabs my other leg. I look down and see two glanter's each with a monstrous smile on their faces. They stare back at me and one of them tugs my leg harder than before and tears it off of my body. The water around me turns red as the glanter laugh's. The other smiles wider as it starts to fling me around the water forcing any air left in my lungs to be forced out as I scream in pain. The glanter throws me away and I can see my family slowly fade into the distance as I'm flown away.
I struggle to swim back to where I was, one of my legs is missing and the other is broken. The glanter's find me again and I try to get to the surface to escape them. I'm flapping my arms in any attempt to escape as one of the glanter's flies in front of me and grabs my arm. I look at the monster with tears in my eyes as it bites my arm and tears my body away from it. It flings my body away and with my remaining arm I clutch the wound as the water floods into my body leaving me in the void I started in. I look around and the glanter's seem to have left. I turn behind me and see my family again, this time I'm closer than before.
I grit my teeth and drag my body towards them slowly as I leave a trail of blood and tears behind me. I finally reach my family and grab one of my father's shoes. I stare up and he looks at me. His stare causes me to feel cold as a grotesque smile grows on his face. I stare in shock as my brothers each have the same look as my father.
I shoot up from my sleep panting heavily in a cold sweat.
“It was just a dream..just a dream…just a dream” I look at my hands as tears fall into them. I look around the room and see Preston sleeping peacefully on the couch. The room feels frozen in place as a chill runs down my spine. I get out of the bed and walk out of the bedroom. I make my way through the dark hallway and find the entrance to the balcony I saw earlier. I creak open the screen door and head outside. The Balcony is pretty large, about the size of the kitchen in the house. There are some chairs knocked over next to a table and I pick one up to sit on it. I look out into the expanse of the neighborhood, houses lined up next to each other, dozens broken apart by roads, and dead bodies scattered across the roads.
I look up in the sky and sit back in the chair. The sky looks empty except for the moon giving this world its only source of light. Without the moon, we’d be left in darkness. It hangs in the sky alone, no stars, no clouds, nothing but itself, and the void of the sky. I think back about the dream I had. My dad and my brother's all dead and possessed and then they kill me. I start to tear up thinking about it. I try to wipe away the tears but it’s no use. I'm too scared for my family. I don't know where they are if they're alive if they're worried about me I don't know anything! I start to quietly cry into my hands. I don't know how long I'm sitting there until I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to face it and I see Preston. He was smiling and looking at me. I turn away to wipe my tears and he walks next to me.
“I heard you sneaking out of the bedroom so I followed you to see where you were going.” he says “but that's not my question.” he pauses and looks at me “my question is what’s got you feeling so down?” he leans over the railing of the balcony
“It's nothing, I just came out here to clear my head.” I say as more tears escape from my eyes in big slow drops that ride down the sides of my face.
“if you don't feel like telling me you don't have to but i'll be here if you ever change your mind”. He looks up at the moon before turning to face me and his smile widens “I'll always be here with you…trust me I'm not going anywhere”
I stare up at him and wipe away my tears as a smile grows on my face to match his. I get up and stare over the balcony with him. “So where are we heading next?” I say to him, Preston pulls the map we got from the man cave downstairs out from his pocket.
“After I got out of the shower I decided to take a look at the map for anything interesting we could see.”
“Ok did you find anything?” i ask
“I did,” he points at a spot on the right of the map. “We should head to the museum”
“I didn't want to go to a museum before the apocalypse why would i want to go now?'' I ask him.
“Well the best part of museums is the cool stuff right”
“Yeah what about it”
“The only problem is that you could only look at the fossils and armor but you could never take them.”
“So you want to rob a museum?” Prestons eyes light up at the question
“Exactly they might have a really cool sword I could use, or I could sharpen a dinosaur tooth and use that as a weapon, there might be a cursed shield that can summon the dead to fight for you. This opportunity is too good to pass up. We need to go!”
“That does seem pretty cool but wouldn't carrying that stuff weigh us down. What if a glanter is chasing us and we can't run fast enough because of the stuff we took from the museum.”
“We’ll only take things that are light. Even then I could just block the glanter with my newly acquired 2000 year old shield.”
“Fair enough we can go in a couple hours” I yawn and stretch out my arms. “Cause I'm feeling way too tired to walk all the way over there right now.”
“Alright i'm heading back to my couch and THEN we’ll head out to the museum” he leaves the balcony and heads back to the master bedroom leaving me alone on the balcony.
“Thanks Preston I'm not leaving either” I say into the sky. I turn around and walk back inside the house, closing the balcony door behind me. I walk back into the bedroom and Preston is hunched over and holding a flashlight looking at the map. He’s drawing lines through roads and marking X’s in different areas.
“What are the X’s for?” i ask him
“They’re places that glanter’s usually stay around. I'm marking them off so we remember not to go through them, or at least be more cautious.”
“Cool. Did you find where we are right now?” He points to an area where the lines all converge out of.
“Right around here is where the neighborhood ends. So if we follow this path we can make it to the museum in one piece” I pat him on the back and take the map from his hands.
“Get some sleep Preston, we have a full day tomorrow” he grins to himself before laying down on the couch. I put the map back into my bag and hop on the bed to get to sleep. I cover my body in the quilt and roll over facing away from Preston as he falls asleep. I nestle myself into the bed and slowly fall asleep to get ready for the next day.
I'm awoken by Preston shaking the bed I'm sleeping on. My eyes open and the room is foggy, I wipe away the sleep from my eyes and focus my attention towards Preston. He's practically jumping out of his skin with excitement, he's already fully dressed for the trip and shaking the bed with a wide smile on his face.
“Ok ok i'm up the air feels heavy as a groggy feeling fills my body. I wipe my eyes and the room starts to clear up. I turn to face Preston. He's still shaking my bed to wake me up, he’s already fully dressed and nearly jumping out of his skin in excitement.
“Ok ok, i'm up you can stop shaking the bed” i say
“Then get up we’ve got a long walk ahead of us” he says as he stops shaking the mattress. He grabs the map from my bag and points to one of the red lines.
“We're gonna follow this way to the museum. We’ll move past the hotel around the ice skating rink and around the park. We’ll mainly stick to walking through the streets, we might have to go rooftop hopping to avoid any glanter’s if we see them but i'm sure we won’t reach that point.” he explains
“Wait, wait, wait, why are avoiding the skating rink and the park” i ask
“ everytime we go near the park there's weird noises and light coming out of it”
“And why can't we go to the ice skating rink?”
“I didn't think it would be important”
“It couldn't hurt to check it out at least”
“Fine we could make a detour”
“Ok and how do you plan on getting on top of roofs?”
“I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get to it”
“Ok man as long as you’re sure '' I yawn and step out of the bed. Preston starts to put the map in his bag. I walk into the bathroom with my clothes and change out of my pajamas. Minutes later I walk out and see Preston sitting on the couch twiddling his thumbs.
“Finally you're out” he smiles at me before handing me my bag and slinging it over his shoulder. We took a last look inside the kitchen to see if we missed anything. Afterwards we leave for the outside. The cold air bites at my face but Preston walks down the stairs, his face buried in the map. I jog to catch up to him as we both head into the street.
“Hey Preston, could I see the map?”
“Sure” he hands over the map and continues walking. I look at the map and the numerous lines drawn on roads. I look at the corner of the map and notice a small map key with numerous symbols for different areas like a library, school, hospital, and more. There's even a way to tell how far away each location is. The text reads “1 inch=5 miles” I quickly count how far we are from the museum.
“Dude this museum is like 100 miles away.”
“Yep it'll be a long walk, it'll take us a while to get there”
“Did you plan on us walking there the whole time?”
“We might find bikes or something.” he pauses “well i did think we would walk the whole way”
“This is gonna take us weeks to get there!”
“Did you have anything else planned?”
“Well…i guess not but we should still try to find some bikes or something”
“Ok if we see any way to travel faster we’ll take it”
“Alright cool” I hand him the map back and he folds it back up and puts it in his bag. We walk further until we leave the gated neighborhood we started in. Preston takes the map back out and looks at it before he turns right and continues walking. I follow him staring forward at the expanse of the road. The outside of the neighborhood is surrounded by roads all leading to different parts of Newkinawa. We walk past a sign that reads “Coretown 20 miles ahead” I nudge Preston towards the sign and he checks the map again.
“Yep, the museum’s in Coretown. Would you believe the residents were pretty proud of it. Should be a fun place to explore” he says
“Yeah but it’ll take us a million years to get there.” i complain
“Lighten up, I'm sure it will be worth it”. We continue walking down the road slowly making our way to Coretown.

BACK
The Pequod Captain
Canto I: Ha...Why'd we all run into that meat grinder? Right...fresh meat.
Canto II: Never...Aaa--g-ain...Brr...
Canto III: That...was just a disappointment. Something to admire...but why was that so disappointing?
Intervello I: Mermaid Meat Pizza...that's something I'd never thought was that good!
Canto IV: We don't belong in seas we can't remember. Did we get the brough?
Intervello II: HELP I CAN'T SWIM!
Canto V: What do you mean I can't kill her!? The All-Withering Crimson Whale was stolen from me, AND YOU LET THAT THIEF STILL LIVE!?
Intervello III: Even back when I was just a little girl, I'll keep cherishing your gift to me.
Intervello IV: Had you've been in a different life, ha - Yi Sang would had been out of a job!
Canto VI: ...Heathcliff, are those the same exact stare I told you to stop doing? No. I can't remember her.
Liu Association
Canto I: Gregor...never thought I'd seen you so angry.
Canto II: So does everybody here agree that was a fun distraction?
Canto III: Lust? Down bad for some boy? Wow, Sinclair - this Nagel Und Hammer's a total joke!~
Intervello I: Leave me to my Ramen, please and thank you.
Canto IV: That old practicegrounds. I really didn't think I've come back to that again, I wonder if my old training dummies are still there.
Intervello II: Back to the bus everybody...I'm sure our idiot of a genius here knows how to build submarine controls from the inside.
Canto V: I think I can understand what Hong Lu said about finding something that picked up their step. As long as she's been humbled, I can walk proudly.
Intervello III: I was right~!...WHY DID WE HAVE TO BEAT HIM UP!?
Intervello IV: Try harder next time Kim.
Canto VI: Damnit. Why'd this all happen Heathcliff? Did you just exist to ruin my love life!?
Edgar Family
Canto I: ...First times for all efforts, Dante.
Canto II: Normally, I wouldn't be enjoying myself with those distractions. The castle was a nice touch however.
Canto III: Honestly, I'd destroy those machines too Kromer. Not with the same feverous lust, just more paranoia consuming me.
Intervello I: Outis? What possessed you to mock a man like that? That was just RUDE!
Canto IV: I knew K Corp was a terrible first job. Didn't think it'd spiral like this.
Intervello II: Every single detail must be accounted for Faust. If you claim yourself as smart, next time don't skip on every single possibility. I'll be in the bus if you need me.
Canto V: I never got to handling with you myself after Kim and the Blade Lineage attacked. But if sparing you for later can confirm your survival, I won't be at split ends about it.
Intervello III: ...Groan.
Intervello IV: I do not thank you for slicing Ahab in half. I only thank you because I've found a better job.
Canto VI: ...And this is how everything began to collapse. Sigh...
Gregor's next!

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I am Shaheer Cassim (pronounced Shuh-HER Kuh-SEEM), editor of Arctic News blogspot. I write on the threat of runaway global warming caused by methane hydrates. Some esteemed scientists I confer with are Peter Wadhams, world leading expect on Arctic Sea ice at the University of Cambridge and Guy McPherson, emeritus professor at the University of Arizona. In 2011 I founded the Arctic Methane Emergency Group, which included esteemed scientists John Nissen and Paul Beckwith, professor of climatology at the University of Ottawa.
In 2011 scientists discovered 100 methane seeping structures on the East Siberian Arctic Shelf, and estimated there may be many thousands of them. There are more than 1700 billion tonnes of hydrate in the ESAS. Methane hydrate has been liked to four of the five major extinctions in earth history. Scientists Natalia and Igor told that 50 billion tonnes of methane hydrate could be released at any time, which Peter Wadhams calculated would cause a 1.2 degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures in a matter of years. This would cause localized warming which would release more methane hydrate causing runaway global heating. In 2012 I applied an exponential best fit line to Arctic Sea ice and predicted that the sea ice would disappear around 2016. Peter Wadhams agreed with this conclusion.
Yet here we are, 12 years later and no news at all from the Arctic. I believe the government is secretly geoengineering the Arctic to prevent the collapse of the sea ice and catastrophic release of methane hydrates.
The ESAS contains 1700 Gt (Giga-tonne, billion tonnes) of methane hydrate. Since methane hydrate is about 10% pure methane, the ESAS has about 170 Gt methane. What would be the effect of a release of 1 Gt methane? Since methane has 105 times the warming effect over 10 years than CO2, that would be the equivalent of adding 105 Gt of CO2. Humans now emit about 36 Gt CO2 annually.
Methane is decomposed in the atmosphere by hydroxyl. The level of methane we have been emitting in the atmosphere has significantly reduced atmospheric hydroxyl. Large releases of methane will further decrease it until there is no more. Methane in the atmosphere will not decompose anymore.
The IPCC, the International Panel on Climate Change, a U.N. body, says we must at net-zero emissions in just a few decades. Net-zero is the carbon we can emit that will not increase the emissions. Net-zero is about 8 Gt, about 1 tonne of CO2 per person. This number may be too high.
The IPCC is lying to us when they say temperatures will only rise by 3 degrees Celsius by 2100. They are killing us.
There is more carbon in methane hydrate than in all the coal, oil, and gas in the world. In 2009 James Hansen, former director of the NASA Goddard Institute of Space Studies, told if we burn all the coal, oil, and gas, we will cause runaway heating turning Earth into Venus. He told it is a certainty. Now when you add in methane hydrate, it is a dead certainty.
If we pass this tipping point in the next year, 2026, in a decade humankind will be extinct.
In 2012 I came up with the idea we should have not an Earth Hour or Earth Day, but an Earth Year. A year to solve our problems. This is the list of what we must do.

1. Abandon the cities and return to the farmland, build yourselves homes and grow food.

Cities cause carbon emissions. They require enormous amounts concrete, which need coal. There is not enough land to grow food. Food grown outside must be trucked in.

1. End all weapons and live in peace.

Weapons kill and cause carbon emissions. Killing creates hatred and a desire for revenge.

1. Have only one child. After 200 years you may have two.

When Jesus Christ died 2000 years ago world population was 200 000 000. At the start of the industrial revolution population was 1 000 000 000. Today it is 8 000 000 000 and climbing by 80 000 000 a year. This is due to fossil fuels. Oil and gas will run out by 2050, coal later.

1. Eat only plants. Fish is allowed on Fridays.

When you hurt an animal, it feels as we do. Farming is suffering. For an egg, you need a male and female chicken. The baby boy chicken is killed. Milk needs a male, female, and baby cow. All are killed. Do not eat shrimp. Why kill 100 lives for one meal when you can kill one. Do not eat shellfish, for they are boiled alive. Wild fish offers B12, essential oils, and fulfills the human need for flesh.

1. Technology is not allowed. Electric bicycles and phones powered by solar panels are allowed.

All technology breaks down and must be replaced. Electric cars use huge amounts of metals and oil, and the battery weighs 1000 lbs. Nuclear power plants use concrete, takes years to build, and uranium supplies are running low. Nuclear plants on tectonic zones must be shut down immediately. Wind turbines use concrete, metal, and oil, and must be torn down after forty years. Batteries are less energy dense than fossil fuels. Ships, planes, and freighters will never be electrified

1. Timekeeping is not allowed. Live by the cycles of the sun and moon.

Humans cannot live by the clock. Timekeeping creates anxious behaviour and effects mood. Only students and professionals must live by the clock.

1. Pay all an equal wage.

The labourer working in the field did not have opportunity and education growing, and deserves more than 12 cents an hour. The doctor had education, and the business owner had capital.

1. Give all the right to a home, food, medicine, and education.
   
2. Sit, eat, and sleep on the floor.
   

Too many trees are killed by furniture

1. Grow hemp.

Hemp grows fast on marginal soil, the seeds provide protein and oil, the stalks textiles, and the residues can be burned for cooking.

1. You may use the body of a deceased animal, but you must not eat it.

Meat is a drug. If you give drugs again, you will become addicted.

1. Cats and dogs must be pescatarian.
   
2. Plastic is not allowed.
   

By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean then fish. There are micro plastics in the rain and drinking water.

1. Tobacco is not allowed.

Tobacco kills. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin. Butts destroy nature.

1. Coffee is not allowed.

Coffee affects the sleep-wake cycle.

1. Sugar is not allowed.

Sugar is the most damaging crop to nature. It's causing a dentistry, obesity, and diabetic crisis.

1. A man and a lady must use their hands and mouths on their partners sensual organs, and avoid normal lovemaking to prevent the creation of new life.

Vaginal love making risks the creation of new life. Every year billions of condoms are thrown into landfills. Condoms must be kept for those with STDs.
What happens when you smoke?
Smoke is composed of tar, carbon, and chemicals, some which are cancerous. Tar clogs up the passageways of the lung and alveoli. These are microscopic sacs that exchange oxygen and carbon. Carbon cuts up the alveoli. Eventually they collapse, and respiration becomes impossible. Chemicals and small carbon pass into the bloodstream and are distributed through the body. Blood cells try to remove the carbon from the body, and are cut up and killed. Another blood cell tries to remove the carbon, and this continues. Small carbon enters the brain and becomes lodged in the brain cells. To be removed from the body, carbon needs to bond with oxygen. Carbon from smoke cannot bond so remains in your body
.Jesus Christ wants you to stop killing yourself. Jesus Christ ❤️
What does it mean to kill someone?
When you take land, and cause someone to die, you have killed them.
When you destroy nature, and cause someone to die, you have killed them.
When you pollute and cause someone to die, you have killed them.
When you deny knowledge, you kill.
When you deny food, water, shelter, or medicine, you kill.
Giving drugs, tobacco, and alcohol kills.
Buildings that collapse, catch fire, or are destroyed by rain.
Enabling weapons.
Why quit motion video?
Flashing lights affects the brain. Motion video is rapidly moving lights. Children viewing motion video become dramatic. Too much of certain wavelengths of light can affect the brain. Sunlight has the perfect light. Go out and enjoy sunlight.
Believe in Jesus Christ and you will Live Forever. See Jesus Christ. Love Jesus Christ. Forever Jesus Christ ❤️

Ok… earlier I posted a theory I had, and now it’s gotten beyond the one I posted. So I needed to make a new post and let you all know what I’ve come up with.
Ok- so I went back and deeply analyzed the theme song, for any clues. And god did they just pop out to me, so let me explain.
The song starts with “got a secret, can you keep it?” But instantly shows a photo of Kelly. Weird, but not too weird.
Well than, feeding into my “church is a cult theory” we see a rose pop up in Ash’s locker, alongside his name. And than the same with Greg’s actor, Elias. Still, could be just a coincidence.
Now we move onto “two can keep a secret” instantly, two - Twins. “If one of them is dead” well, Karen is dead. Or so we think.
Also, during the lyrics “two can keep a secret” it shows Faran, who was close with Kelly, going up the church stairs. Kelly, and her mom are heavily involved now. Could she be about to discover Karen is alive, and bloody rose?
And than when the lyric says “if one of them is dead”, it INSTANTLY shows bloody rose, so instantly I think of Karen. She’s the only one of the two that is “dead”
Now leaving the trailer behind, another thing I picked up on was that the group had to “summon” bloody rose. Well, they’re summoning her spirit, right? So them summoning BR could have just been them “summoning” Karen If that makes any sense. Also, BR wears a cross necklace, as does Kelly.
My final thing to add onto, and this just fuels the theory deeper, is that Bloody Rose was seen at “locations the liars have been”. That’s what the trailers promoted us to believe and to think, but if you think about it,
KAREN was at all of these places before her death.
The soccer field, because Greg was on the team. HER BOYFRIEND.
The Orpheum. The liars embarrassed her.
Davie’s Grave / Graveyard. - Imogen & her talked after the video.
The Ballet Class- KAREN WAS A STUDENT!
Bloody rose has been everywhere they have been, because so has Karen.
The poster, shows Imogen unveiling Bloody Rose, and the poster shows slit wrists, indicating us to think of Davie. And yes, it should, because Karen also saw how Davie died. She was there with Imogen when it happened.
(Also the only kill we’ve seen ON screen by Bloody Rose, has been Sandy, Karen’s best friend. and she was killed for trying to take Greg, who was originally Karen’s man.)
Let me know your thoughts. And if you haven’t checked out my previous theory I for sure suggest reading that too.

Below is a list of some recent releases that are highly rated and some that will be released in June for your perusal. If you know of any other upcoming releases please post them in the comments!

RECENT RELEASES

The Burning Witch 3: A Humorous Romantic Fantasy by Delemhach

Lady Katarina Ashowan is used to getting into trouble, but her latest muddle takes the cake. A moment’s weakness in her attraction to Eric Reyes, crown prince of Daxaria, has landed her in an unexpected marriage with the man . . . just as her father, Lord Finlay Ashowan, arrives in Troivack to check on his headstrong daughter. As if figuring out how to acclimate her father to her scandalous elopement isn’t bad enough, there are rumors of dangerous magical plots afoot at court—with Kat seemingly at the center of them all.
For one thing, the devil is still prowling around, with dubious intentions as to Kat’s powers. For another, an underground network of wrongdoers has been spreading a mysterious and addictive drug throughout both Troivack and Daxaria. And perhaps most concerning, a villainess is hiding in plain sight somewhere close to Kat and her best friend, Queen Alina, hoping to use them to strike at the devil. Now it’s up to Kat—with the help of her kitten familiar, Pina, as well as her friends and family—to untangle the twisted web of courtly and magical intrigue before her hurried honeymoon is cut short by deadly disaster . . .

The Runaway Mate: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (Shifters of the Three Rivers) By Kira Nightingale

After what he did, I never wanted to see my fated mate again…
Mai: Four years ago, Ryan Shaw broke my heart, tore it into little pieces and then stomped on it. Ryan is my fated mate, but when I saw him with another woman at the regional meet of all the Packs, I’d had enough. I finally told him what he meant to me, and being the jerk that he is, he rejected me in front of everyone.
Heartbroken, I ran, trying to get as far away from him and the memory of that night as possible. Except I’m on a roll with picking jerks. So now I’m on the run again and heading back to the one place I know I’ll be safe. My brilliant plan is to lie low, heal, and then take off someplace new to start again. But Ryan knows I’m here now, and he has very different ideas.
Ryan: Mai is back, and my wolf is going crazy. I’ll do anything to protect her. It won’t be easy with secret plots to take over our Pack, her abusive ex sniffing around, and Mai’s urge to run every time she sees me. But there’s no way I’m letting her go, not again.

Fastlander Fallen by T.S. Joyce

Ace has one last promise to fulfill.
His father has asked him to try to join one of the Crews of Damon’s Mountains. When the new Fastlander Crew starts accepting applicants, Ace puts his name in the hat on a whim. Will the new Alpha ever allow him to be a part of his Crew? Not if he finds out who he really is. Ace has been hiding a secret about his lineage since he was a child, and now the Fastlanders are getting way too close for comfort. And to add to the pressure, there’s a human coordinating the Crew’s interview process that has his animal’s attention. At first he thinks his animal is hunting her, but the more he gets to know her, the more he realizes she is important. Corey Gable just might be the glue of the Fastlanders, and she doesn’t even realize her part in the destiny of this Crew. The problem? It’s twofold. One, he cannot under any circumstances bond to a human, and two? His life is in a free fall, and he cannot drag her into what is about to happen. If she wants to live, she’s got to stay human, and stay away from the Fastlanders. And most importantly? She has to stay away from Ace.
Corey Gable has lost someone she loves.
Corey’s cousin, Hallie, has been consumed by her new life with the shifters of Damon’s Mountains, and she’s left Corey behind. The only way to maintain her relationship with her cousin is to get involved in her new life—the ups, the downs, all of it. When Corey is roped into helping with the interview process of creating the new Fastlanders Crew, there are definitely some interesting characters who want the invite. One of them is tall, dark, and mysterious, and there’s something about him that keeps drawing her in—but he has big warnings for her. She’s messing with a destiny that could be the end of her life as she knows it. She wants to heed his advice, truly she does, but there’s just something about the mysterious stranger. And the more she finds out about who he is, the more she thinks she couldn’t leave him alone if she tried.

Hellhounds and Angel Cakes by Zoe Chant

He’s supposed to be a rough, tough, terrifying hellhound. That's hard when you're covered in chihuahuas.
Henry’s used to everyone being afraid of him – being a hellhound has that effect on people. What he’s not used to is having every animal within a four-mile radius suddenly wanting to be his best friend. Pigeons roosting on your shoulder: annoying, but mostly harmless. The local moose population stampeding toward you in the hopes of a hug: somewhat more worrying.
There’s nothing for it but to escape to the mountains, where he can use his hellhound form to intimidate the local wildlife into leaving him alone. But a stop for one last piece of cake before heading into the wilderness leads him straight to his fated mate. He's over the moon... but how can he court her when every animal in town is trying to leap into his arms?
Travel journalist Luna was looking forward to this assignment: covering the first annual Girdwood Springs Food Festival, along with her trademark: Fillmore, the world's ugliest dog. Specifically, she was looking forward to sampling all the amazing, mouth-watering local delicacies.
But there's other delights to sample in Girdwood Springs – such as the mind-bogglingly gorgeous, hunky man who is now covered in cake, thanks to Fillmore. And who seems to be strangely popular with the local animal population.
Suddenly, writing her article is the last thing on her mind…

Wild Scottish Beauty by Tricia O'Malley

“She was sunshine to my storm clouds, and I wondered how the two could ever coexist.”
A chance job offer in Scotland gives Willow Barlowe an excuse to escape the predictable life her overly controlling brother, Miles, wants for her. Excited to start fresh as a fashion intern for the local kiltmaker, Willow lands in small town Loren Brae brimming with sunshine and hope.
Until she discovers that her new boss is none other than Ramsay McMillan, her brother’s best friend, and the grumpiest man this side of the Atlantic. Never mind the ghost Highland coo that haunts the castle, nor the supposedly bewitched waters of Loch Mirren, Willow refuses to work under Ramsay’s watchful eyes, certain he’s reporting back to her brother.
Ramsay Kilts is home to one of the last remaining traditional kiltmakers in Scotland, Ramsay McMillan. Loyalty, continuity, and tradition are important to Ramsay–as is his privacy. After a family betrayal, Ramsay keeps his walls up, running a veritable kilt empire with as minimum fuss as he can. Enter Willow Barlowe–his new intern, good friend’s little sister, and a veritable thorn in his side.
If the thorn is made of sunshine and sparkles that is.
As the two clash, Ramsay must decide if loyalty is really more important than love?

Devious Gods by Caroline Peckham

Callie: Ruin chases close on our heels and the price we have paid for a chance at our salvation is higher than any of us could have presumed.
I have claimed a love so brutal that I fear losing it might destroy not just me but the world I have fought so desperately to save.
The gods watch us more closely than ever, urging us to fulfil the task our destiny demands. We only have to make it to the end of this road, but I fear what we might find when we reach that final destination.
Montana: I am no longer the girl born to ruin and ash, but a woman set on a path of salvation with my heart in the clutches of a monster.
Our eyes are finally open to the true enemies of our kind and now that we have managed to unite against all odds, we are determined to see the games of the gods end.
Time is running out and fate calls our name on a tumultuous wind. Let’s pray that we can answer it before damnation claims us all.

The Throne of Honour and Blood by J Bree

In our arrogance, the high fae forgot everything that mattered.
I carved out a reputation as the Savage Prince for my brutality against witches, but unable to wield our magic, I couldn’t stop my kingdom from being torn apart by war and famine while the Fates demanded my patience.
The worst was still to come.
After almost a thousand years of waiting for my Fates-blessed mate, and thousands of witches dead by my hand, the Fates revealed their cruelest truth yet.
With silver eyes that sliced to the bone and a humility that defied all reason, the witch I’m bound to has tested every inch of my restraint, but that was only the beginning.
Everything I once knew as true has come into question.
Loyalties will be tested, treaties broken, treason committed, and only the strongest will survive.
I am Prince Soren Celestial.
The rightful heir to the throne of the Southern Lands.
Nothing will keep me from my Fates-blessed mate.
Not even her hatred for me.

Devourer of Men: A Captain Hook, Crocodile, and Wendy Darling Reimagining by Nikki St. Crowe

I have few friends and fewer allies. What I do have on the island of Everland is a lot of people who want me gone. So when the Crocodile and Captain Hook reappear in my life, I am in no mood. And worse, they’re unknowingly endangering themselves by asking for me by a name I long considered dead.
Now, not only do I have to save myself, I have to save the two men who I swore I would murder with my bare hands if I ever set eyes on them again considering they abandoned me.
Unfortunately for me, Roc and Hook have other plans, and when I find myself caught between them, I have to make a decision: risk my heart or risk my life?
Devourer of Men is a dark MMF romantasy fairytale retelling. Characters have been aged up for this darker, grittier version. For a full list of content warnings, please visit the author's website.

Bespelled (Bewitched Book 2) By Laura Thalassa

“Neither magic, nor time, can keep us apart. We are like the stars. Eternal.”
No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.
After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.
But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

Beautiful Beast (Dragons of Viria) by Devyn Sinclair

Standing in front of a dragon means dying by fire, but the heart knows there’s more than one way to burn.
Humans and dragons are at war, and I am a pawn in the battle.
Princess of a dying land, my life is not my own, and a marriage to a vicious, dragon-hunting prince will save my people from deadly famine or death by fire.
But before I can vow my life to a monster, dragons drop screaming from the sky with a single aim. End the alliance. Kill me. I welcome the flames, relieved to burn instead of rot.
But the flames never come.
One look in the dragons' eyes, and they carry me away. Three dragons whose gaze burns with hunger and fills me with fire.
They're not what we were taught, and every passing day I learn more of the truth. Dragons are not the enemy we thought they were.
Still, one question remains: for centuries no one has stood before a dragon and survived. If these dragons were sent to kill me, why am I still alive?

Midlife Vampire Hunter (The Forty Proof Series Book 9) by Shannon Mayer

Crash:
I had her in my arms, only to lose her moments later. Frantic doesn't even begin to describe my state of mind as I search for Bree.
That search takes me deep into my past and to a family home that I swore I would never return to.
To find Bree, I must face a queen I defied and a monster that wants my soul. All while being heckled by a demon-infested blade.
Goddess help me succeed.
Breena:
Being abducted by a woman who is supposed to be dead, and weirdly looks a heck of a lot like me, is disturbing. Being told my death is needed to complete a wicked spell and that I'll be turned into a vampire? Even more disturbing.
I can't reach Crash or my friends. I have no idea where I am. My only ally? Alan. My ex-husband. Yup, you read that right,
The path to the end of my story is shadowed in fog, danger, and mystery, but I begin to see through it as the players and truth emerge. And that sight shows me that the sliver of hope is worth hanging onto, that my friends are with me even when I cannot see them, and that a future free of those who mean us harm is possible.
Even if it costs me more than I ever planned on paying

UPCOMING JUNE RELEASES

The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities by Iris Lake

Nepheli’s Little Shop of Grand Curiosities is the last scrap of magic left in the humdrum city of Elora as the Dreadful Mundane slowly takes over its residents’ hearts, and she is determined to preserve it any way she can. But when Apollo, a charming and mysterious traveler from the other side of the world, walks into her Shop, bringing her all kinds of trouble, Nepheli, for the first time in her life, is stolen away from the familiar wonders of her Curiosity Shop and is thrust into a dangerous world of lethal creatures and heartbreaking magic. As the two of them embark on a long journey of self-discovery, Nepheli will soon realize that the most curious things in life lie right beyond the reach of one’s comfort zone.
The Little Shop Of Grand Curiosities is a lighthearted fantasy romance about the true meaning of love, the power of empathy, and the unremitting yearning to be extraordinary as an act of rebellion against the mundaneness of the world.

Filthy Rich Fae by Geneva Lee

Cate Holloway knows the unspoken rule of New Orleans: avoid the powerful Gage crime family at all costs. Of course, that was before her brother got caught in their chaos. Now Cate has no choice but to confront the dark and forbidding prince of New Orleans himself and beg for her brother’s life. But Lachlan Gage is as lethal as he is beautiful…and the only currency he’s interested in is her soul.
Because Lachlan isn’t just some ruthless criminal. He’s fae. And he has his own secret reasons for binding her to him. Tricked and desperate, Cate is torn between humanity and the breathtaking Otherworld. A place filled with shadows and secrets, with members of each fae court plotting against her just as her captor’s motives for trapping her become more mysterious. And if she can’t break this sinister bargain in the next thirty days, she’ll be bound to the inscrutable yet infuriatingly tempting fae prince and his deadly world…forever.

The Princess and the Pack by Fallon English

Princess Ivy and Prince Cillian have been fated since birth. Ivy has always known that one day, she must leave her country to become not only Cillian’s bride, but Namara’s future Queen.
As an Omega and a princess, her life revolves around duty; not the dream that she harbors of life-altering love. Her station dictates she deny Nature’s call for a pack of her own. Instead, she must wed and settle for one - and only one - Alpha to preserve their pristine, royal bloodlines.
But fate has other plans in mind for Princess Ivy. Plans that involve not just her Betrothed, but his best friend and Ivy’s childhood nemesis - a nobleman, and the handsome son of the Royal Gardener.
Will societal expectations and tradition pull them apart? Or will Ivy and her Alphas take charge of their fate and give in to a love with the power to change the world?

A Rival of Hearts by Tessonja Odette

Two rival writers. One prestigious publishing contract. A bargain of hearts and seduction.
They say never bargain with the fae. They also say don’t get drunk on fae wine. Yet romance author Edwina Danforth has managed a blunder with both on her first visit to the infamous faelands. Now she's trapped in a magic-fueled bet she barely remembers with a man she’d be happier to forget. The terms? Whoever can bed the most lovers during their month-long dueling book tour wins a coveted publishing contract.
The win should be easy for Edwina. She’s known for penning scintillating tales of whirlwind romance. There’s just one her imagination vastly exceeds her bedroom experience. But when failure means plummeting her career back into obscurity, losing isn’t an option.
Her handsome fae rival, William Haywood, poses an even greater challenge. Not only are his looks as aggravatingly perfect as his track record behind closed doors, but he has his own reasons for playing to win, and he won’t go down without a fight. Unless, of course, it’s a different kind of going down. In that case, he’s fair game.
Edwina and William clash in a rivalry of romance. But what happens when their objects of desire…turn out to be each other?

PLAYBOY Interview With Conan O'Brien Interview by Kevin Cook For Playboy Magazine February 1998
A candid conversation with the preppie prince of "Late Night" about his rocky start, his show's secret one-day cancellation and how David Letterman saved the day.
He was polite. He was funny. He gave us a communicable disease.
At 34 Conan O'Brien is hotter than the fever he was running when we met in his private domain above the "Late Night" sound stage. A gangly freckle-faced ex-high school geek he is "one of TV's hottest properties" according to "People" magazine. The host of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" has become his generation's king of comedy.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. Congested too, but O'Brien has far more to worry about than his head cold. A perfectionist who broods over one bad minute in an otherwise perfect hour of TV, he worries he might be anhedonic, "I have trouble with success," he says, "I was raised to believe that if something good happens something bad is coming." Sure things look good now "Rolling Stone" calls "Late Night" "the hottest comedy show on TV." Ratings are better than ever, particularly among 18- to 34-year-olds, the viewers advertisers crave.
But O'Brien only works harder. Despite his illness he taped two shows in 26 hours on three hours' sleep. He smoothly interviewed Elton John then burst into coughing fits during commercials. Later in his crammed corner office overlooking Manhattan traffic Conan the Cool gulped Dayquil gel caps. He coughed spewing microbes.
"Sorry, sorry," he said. Of course O'Brien can't complain. He came seriously close to falling to being banished behind the scenes as just another failed talk show host.
At his first "Late Night" press conference he corrected a reporter who called him a relative unknown, "Sir I am a complete unknown," he said. That line got a laugh, but soon O'Brien looked doomed. His September 13, 1993 debut began with O'Brien in his dressing room preparing to hang himself only to be interrupted by the start of his show. Before long his career was hanging by a thread. Ratings were terrible. Critics hated the show. Tom Shales of "The Washington Post" called it as "lifeless and messy as roadkill." Shales said O'Brien should quit.
Network officials held urgent meetings discussing the Conan O'Brien debacle. Should they fire him? How should they explain their mistake?
In the end of course he turned it around. The network hung with him long enough for the ratings to improve and the host of the cooler-than-ever "Late Night" now defines comedy's cutting edge just as Letterman did ten years ago.
Even Shales loves "Late Night" these days. He calls O'Brien's turnaround "one of the most amazing transformations in television history."
O'Brien was born on April 18, 1963 in Brookline, Massachusetts. His father, a doctor, is a professor at Harvard Medical School. His mother, a lawyer, is a partner at an elite Boston Law firm. Conan, the third of six children became a lector at church and a misfit at school. Tall and goofy, bedeviled with acne, he tried to impress girls with jokes. That plan usually bombed, but O'Brien eventually found his niche at Harvard where he won the presidency of the "Harvard Lampoon" in 1983 and again in 1984 - the first two-time "Lampoon" president since humorist Robert Benchley held the honor 85 years ago.
After graduating magna cum laude with a double major in literature and American history he turned pro. Writing for HBO's "Not Necessarily The News." O'Brien was earning $100,000 a year before his 24th birthday. But writing was never enough.
He honed his performance skills with the Groundlings, a Los Angeles improv group. There he worked with his onetime girlfriend Lisa Kudrow, now starring on "Friends." But Conan was not such a standout. In 1988 he landed a job at "Saturday Night Live" - but as a writer, not as on-air talent. In almost four years on the show O'Brien made only fleeting appearances, usually as a crowd member or security guard. His writing was more memorable. He wrote (or co-wrote) Tom hanks' "Mr Short-Term Memory" skits as well as the "pump you up" infosatire of Hanz and Franz and the nude beach sketch in which Matthew Broderick and "SNL" members played nudists admiring one another's penises. With dozens of mentions of the word that hit was the most penis-heavy moment in TV history. It helped O'Brien win an Emmy for comedy writing.
In 1991 he quit "SNL" and moved on to "The Simpsons" where he worked for two years. His urge to perform came out in wall-bouncing antics in writers' meetings. "Conan makes you fall out of your chair" said "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening. O'Brien's yen to act out was so strong that he spurned Fox's reported seven-figure offer to continue as a writer. He was driving for the spotlight.
By then David Letterman had announced he was turning shin - leaving NBC taking his ton-rated act to CBS. Suddenly NBC was up a creek without a host. The network turned to Lorne Michaels, O'Brien's "Saturday Night Live" boss. Michaels enlisted Conan's help in the host search planning to use him in a behind-the-scenes job. But when Garry Shandling, Dana Carvey and almost every other star turned down the chore of following Letterman, Michaels finally listened to Conan's crazy suggestion, "Let me do it!" Michaels persuaded the network to entrust it's 12:30 slot which Letterman had turned into a gold mine to an untested wiseass from Harvard.
O'Brien was working on one of his last "Simpsons" episodes when he got the news. He turned "paler than usual," Groening recalled. The Conan moseyed back to where the other writers were working, "I'll come back with the Homer Simspon joke later. I have to go replace Letterman," he said.
NBC executives now get credit for their foresight during those dark days of 1993 and 1994. They snared the axe and now reap the multimillion-dollar spoils of that decision. In fact, the story is not so simple. We sent Contributing Editor Kevin Cook to unravel the tale of O'Brien's survival, which he tells here for the first time. Cook reports:
"His office is chock-full of significa. There's a three-foot plastic pickle the Letterman staff left behind in 1993 - perhaps to suggest what a predicament he was in. There's a copy of Jack Paar's 'I Kid You Not' and a coffee-table book called 'Saturday Night Live: The First 20 Years.' His bulletin board features letters from fans such as John Watters and Bob Dole and an 8" x 10" glossy of Andy Richter with the inscription: "To Conan - Your bitter jealousy warms my black heart. Love and Kisses Andy."
"Of course it's all for show. From the photos of kitch icons Adam West and Robert Stack to the framed Stan Laurel autograph, from the deathbed painting of Abraham Lincoln, to the ironic star taped to Conan's door - they're all clever signals that tell a visitor how to view the star. Lincoln was his collegiate preoccupation: stardom is his occupation. Somewhere between the two I hoped to find the real O'Brien.
"As a Playboy reader he wanted to give me a better-than-average interview. I wanted something more - a definitive look at the guy who may end up being the Johnny Carson of his generation."
"Here's hoping we succeeded. If not I carried his germs 3000 miles and infected dozens of Californians for no good reason.
O'Brien: Yes, this is how to do a Playboy Interview -- completely tanked on cold medicine. I'll pick it up and read, "Yes, I'm gay."
Playboy: We could talk another time. O'Brien: (coughing) No, it's OK. I memorized Dennis Rodman's answers. Can I use them?
Playboy: You sound really sick. Do you ever take a day off? O'Brien: No. The age of talk show hosts taking days off is over. Johnny Carson could go to Africa when he was the only game in town -- "See you in two weeks!" But nobody does that now. I will give you a million dollars on the first day Jay takes off for illness.
Playboy: Do you ever slow down and enjoy your success? O'Brien: If anything, the pace is picking up. Restaurateurs insist on giving me a table even if I'm only passing by, so I'm eating nine meals a night. Women stop me on the street and hand me their phone numbers.
Playboy: So you have groupies? O'Brien: Oh yes. And other fans. Drifters. Prisoners. Insomniacs. Cab Drivers, who must watch a lot of late night TV, seem to love me lately. They keep saying, "You will not pay, you will not pay, you make me happy!"
Playboy: How happy did your new contract make you? O'Brien: Terrified. The network said, "We're all set for five years." I said, "Shut up, shut up! I can't think that far ahead." Tonight, for instance, I do my jokes, then interview Elton John and Tim Meadows. We finished taping about 6:30. By 6:45 my memory was erased and my only thought was, Tomorrow: John Tesh. And I started to obsess about John Tesh. Sad, don't you think?
Playboy: Not too sad. You got off to a rocky start but now you're so hot that People magazine recently said, "that was then, this is wow." O'Brien: I try not to pay much attention. Since I ignored the critics who said I should shoot myself in the head with a German Luger, it would be cheating to tear out nice reviews now and rub them all over my body, giggling. Though I have thought about it.
Playboy: Tell us about your trademark gag. You interview a photo of Bill Clinton or some other celeb, and a pair of superimposed lips provide outrageous answers. O'Brien: We call it the Clutch Cargo bit, after that terrible old cartoon series. They saved money on animation by superimposing real lips on the cartoons. I wanted to do topical jokes in a cartoony way -- not just Conan doing quips at a desk. TV is visual; I want things to look funny. But we're not Saturday Night Live; we couldn't spend $100,000 on it. Hence, the cheap, cheesy lips, You'd be surprised how many people we fool.
Playboy: Viewers believe that's really the president yelling, "Yee-haw! Who's got a joint?" O'Brien: It's strange. You may know intellectually that Clinton doesn't talk like Foghorn Leghorn. Ninety-eight percent of your brain knows the president wouldn't say, "Whoa Conan get a load of that girl!" But there are a few brain cells that aren't sure. When Bob Dole was running for president we had him doing a past-life regression: "My cave, get away." And then back further, "Must form flippers to crawl on to rocky soil," he says. There may be people out there who believe that Bob Dole was the first amphibian.
Playboy: Do you ever go too far? O'Brien: The fun is in going too far. It's a nice device because you get Bill Clinton to do the nastiest Bill Clinton jokes. We'll have Clinton making fart noises while I say "Sir! Please!"
Playboy: Are you enjoying your job now, with your new success? O'Brien: Well, there are surprises. I hate surprises. Like most comics, I'm a control freak. But I am learning that the show works best when things are out of control. Tonight I ask Elton John if he likes being neighbors with Joan Collins. He says he isn't neighbors with Joan Collins. He lives next door to Tina Turner. So I panic -- huge mistake! But Elton saves the day. "Joan Collins, Tina Turner, it doesn't matter. Either way I could borrow a wig," he says. Huge laugh, all because I fucked up. Later he surprised me by blurting out that he's hung like a horse. The camera cuts to me shaking my head: That crazy Elton. What can I do? Of course, I'm delighted that he went too far.
Playboy: That "What can I do?" look resembles a classic take of Jack Benny's. O'Brien: There's an old saying in literature: "Good poets borrow; great poets steal." I think T.S. Eliot stole it from Ezra Pound. Comics steal, too. Constantly. When I watched Johnny Carson, I noticed that he got a few takes from Benny and Bob Hope. When a comedy writer told me how much Woody Allen had borrowed from Hope, I thought, What? They're nothing alike. Then I went back and watched Son of Paleface, and there's Hope, the nervous city guy backing up on his heels, wringing his hands and saying, "Sorry, I'll just be moving along." Now look at early Woody Allen. You see big authority figures and Woody nervously saying, "Look, I'll just be on my way." Of course Woody made it his own, but he must have watched and loved Bob Hope.
Playboy: Who are your role models? O'Brien: Carson. Woody Allen. SCTV. Peter Sellers. When Peter Sellers died I felt such a loss, thinking, There won't be anymore of that. There's some Steve Martin in my false bravado with female guests: "Why, hel-lo there!" And I won't deny having some Letterman in my bones.
Playboy: You were surprise as Letterman's successor. At first you seemed like the wrong choice. O'Brien: I didn't get ratings. That doesn't mean I didn't get laughs. Yes, I had a giant pompadour and I looked like a rockabilly freak. I was too excited, pushed too hard, and people said, "That guy isn't a polished performer." Fine! But it isn't my goal to be Joe Handsomehead cool, smooth talk show host. Late Night with Conan O'Brien is supposed to be a work in progress, and now that we've had some success there's a danger of our getting too polished and morphing into something smoothly professional. Which would suck.
Do you know why I wanted this show? Because Late Night with David Letterman played with the rules and it looked like fun. Here was a place where people did risky comedy every night for millions of people. We had to keep this thing alive. There should be a place on a big network where people are still messing around.
Playboy: How bad were your early days on the show? O'Brien: Bad. Dave left here under a cloud: his fans and the media were angry with NBC. Then NBC picks a guy with crazy hair and a weird name. And the world says, "Harvard? Those guys are assholes." I sincerely hope that the winter of December 1993, our first winter, was the worst time I will ever have. I'd go out to do the warm up and the back two rows of seats would be empty. That's hard to look at. I would tell a joke and then hear someone whisper, "Who's he? Where's Dave?"
Playboy: You had trouble getting guests. O'Brien: Bob Denver canceled on us. We shot a test show with Al Lewis of The Munsters. We did the clutch cargo thing with a photo of Herman Munster. Unfortunately, Fred Gwynne, who played Herman, had recently died, and Al Lewis kept pointing at the screen, saying, "You're dead! I was at your funeral!"
Playboy: For months you got worried notes from network executives. What did they say? O'Brien: They were worried. The fact that Lorne Michaels was involved bought me some time. But Lorne had turned to me at the start and said, "OK, Conan. What do you want to do?" Now television critics were after me and the network was starting to realize what a risk I was. Suggestions came fast and furious. I kept the note that said, "Why don't you just die?"
Playboy: Did they suggest ways to be funnier? O'Brien: They were more specific and tactical. The network gets very specific data. Say there was a drop in ratings between 12:44 and 12:48 when I was talking to Jon Bon Jovi. I'll be told, "Don't ever talk to him again" Or they'll want me to tease viewers into staying with us: "You should tease that -- say, 'We'll have nudity coming up next!'"
Playboy: You did come close to being cancelled. O'Brien: We were cancelled.
Playboy: Really? You have never admitted that. O'Brien: This is the first time I've talked about it. When I had been on for about a year, there was a meeting at the network. They decided to cancel my show. They said, "It's cancelled." Next day they realized they had nothing to put in the 12:30 slot, so we got a reprieve.
Playboy: Were you worried sick? O'Brien: I went into denial. I tried hard not to think, Yes, I'm bad on the air and my show has none of the things a TV show needs to survive. We had no ratings. No critics in our corner. Advertisers didn't like us. Affiliates wanted to drop us. Sometimes I'd meet a programming director from a local station where we had no rating at all. The guy would show me a printout with no number for Late Night's rating, just a hash mark or pound sign. I didn't dare think about that when I went out to do the show.
Playboy: Are you defending denial? O'Brien: How else does anyone get through a terrible experience? The odds were against me. Rationally, I didn't have much chance. Denial was my only friend. When I look back on the first year, it's like a scene from an old war movie: Ordinary guy gets thrown into combat, somehow beats impossible odds, staggers to safety. His buddy say, "You could have been killed!" The guy stops and thinks. "Could have been killed?" he says. His eyes cross and he faints.
Playboy: How did you dodge the bullet? O'Brien: There were people at NBC who stood up for me. I will always be indebted to Don Ohlmeyer, who stuck to his guns. Don said, "We chose this guy. We should stick with him unless we get a better plan." He was brutally honest. He came to me and said, "Give me about a 15 percent bump in the ratings and you'll stay on the air. If not, we're going to move on."
Playboy: Ohlmeyer started his career in the sports division. O'Brien: Exactly, his take was, "You're on our team." Of course, it wasn't exactly rational of Don to hope I'd be 15 percent funnier. It was like telling a farmer, "It better rain this week or we'll take your farm away."
Playboy: What did you say to Ohlmeyer? O'Brien: There wasn't time. I had to go out and do a monologue. But I will always be indebted to Don because he told me the truth. Wait a minute -- you have tricked me into talking lovingly about an NBC executive. Let me say that there were others who were beneath contempt -- executives who wouldn't know a good show if it swam up their asses and lit a campfire.
Playboy: Finally the ratings went your way. Hard work rewarded? O'Brien: Well, I also paid off the Nielsen people. That was $140,000 well spent.
Playboy: Ohlmeyer plus bribery saved you? O'Brien: There was something else. Just when everyone was kicking the crap out of the show, Letterman defended me.
Playboy: Letterman had signed off on NBC saying, "I don't really know Conan O'Brien, but I heard he killed someone." O'Brien: Then I pick up the paper and he's saying he thinks I am going to make it. "They do some interesting, innovative stuff over there," he says. "I think Conan will prevail." And then he came on as a guest. Remember, this was when we were at our nadir. There was no Machiavellian reason for David Letterman, who at the time was the biggest thing in show business, to be on my show.
Playboy: Why did he do it? O'Brien: I'm still not sure. Maybe out of a sense of honor. Fair play. And it woke me up. It made me think. Hey, we have a real fucking television show here.
Of six or seven pivotal points in my short history here, that was the first and maybe the biggest. I wouldn't be sitting here -- I probably wouldn't even exist today -- if he hadn't done our show.
Playboy: The Late Night wars were hardly noted for friendly gestures. O'Brien: How little you understand. Jay, Dave and I pal around all the time. We often ride a bicycle built for three up to the country. "Nice job with Fran Drescher!" "Thanks, pal. You weren't so bad with John Tesh." We sleep in triple-decker bunk beds and snore in unison like the Three Stooges.
Playboy: You talk more about Letterman than your NBC teammate Leno. O'Brien: I hate the "Leno or Letterman, who's better?" question. I can tell you that Jay has been great to me. He calls me occasionally.
Playboy: To say what? O'Brien: (Doing Leno's voice) "Hey, liked that bit you did last night." Or he'll say he saw we got a good rating. I call him at work, too. It can be a strange conversation because we're so different. Jay, for instance, really loves cars. He's got antique cars with kerosene lanterns, cars that run on peat moss. He'll be telling me about some classic car he has, made entirely of brass and leather, and I'll say, "Yeah, man, I got the Taurus with the vinyl." One thing we have in common is bad guests. There are certain actors, celebrities with nothing to say, who move through the talk show world wreaking havoc. They lay waste to Dave's town and Jay's town, then head my way.
Playboy: You must be getting some good guests. Your ratings have shown a marked improvement. O'Brien: Remember, when you're on at 12:30 the Nielsens are based on 80 people. My ratings drop if one person has a head cold and goes to bed early.
Playboy: Actually, you're seen by about 3 million people a night. Your ratings would be even higher if college dorms weren't excluded from the Nielsens. How many points does that cost you? O'Brien: I told you I'm an idiot. Now I have to do math too?
Playboy: Do you still get suggestions from NBC executives? O'Brien: Not as many. The number of notes you get is inversely proportional to your ratings.
Playboy: What keeps you motivated? O'Brien: Superstition. We have a stagehand, Bobby Bowman, who holds up the curtain when I run out for the monologue. He is the last person I see before the show starts, and I have to make him laugh before I go out. It started with mild jabs: "Bobby, you're drunk again." Bobby laughs, "Heehee."" Then it was, "Still having trouble with the wife, Bobby?" But after hundreds of shows, you find yourself running out of lines. It's gotten to where I do crass things at the last second. I'll put his hand on my ass and yell, "You fucking pervert!" Or drop to my knees and say, "Come on, Bobby, I'll give you a blow job!"
"Ha-ha. Conan, you're crazy," he says. But even that stuff wears off. Soon, I'll be making the writers work late to give me new jokes for Bobby.
Playboy: Did you plan to be a talk show host or did you fall into the job? O'Brien: I was an Irish Catholic kid from St. Ignatius parish in Brookline, outside of Boston. And that meant: Don't call attention to yourself. Don't ask for too much when the pie comes around. Don't get a girl pregnant and fuck up your life.
Playboy: Were you an alter boy? O'Brien: I wanted to be an alter boy, but the priest at St. Ignatius said, "No, no. You're good on your feet, kid," and made me a lector. A scripture reader at Mass. He was the one who spotted my talent.
Playboy: What did you think of sex in those days? O'Brien: I was sexually repressed. At 16 I still thought human reproduction was by mitosis.
Playboy: How did you get over your sexual repression? O'Brien: Who says I got over it? My leg has been jiggling this whole time.
Playboy: What were you like in high school? O'Brien: Like a crane galumphing down the hall. A crane with weird hair, bad skin and Clearasil. Big enough for basketball but lousy at it. My older brothers were better. I would compensate by running around the court doing comedy, saying, "Look out, this player has a drug addiction. He's incredibly egotistical."
I was an asshole at home, too. My little brother Justin loved playing cops and robbers, but I kept tying him up with bureaucratic bullshit. When he'd catch me, I'd say, "I get to call my lawyer." Then it was, "OK, Justin, we're at trial and you've been charged with illegal arrest. Fill out these forms in triplicate." Justin was eight; he hated all the lawsuits and countersuits. He just cried.
Playboy: Were you a class clown? O'Brien: Never. I was never someone who walked into a room full of strangers and started telling jokes. You had to get to know me before I could make you laugh. The same thing happened with Late Night. I needed to get the right rhythm with Andy and Max and the audience.
Playboy: So how did you finally learn about sex? O'Brien: My parents gave me a book, but it was useless. At the crucial moment, all it showed was a man and a woman with the bed covers pulled up to their chins. I tried to find out more from friends, but it didn't help. One childhood friend told me it was like parking a car in a garage. I kept worrying about poisonous fumes. What if the fumes build up? Should you shut off the engine?
Playboy: For all your talk about being repressed, you can be rowdy on the air. O'Brien: The show is my escape valve. When I tear off my shirt and gyrate my pelvis like Robert Plant, feigning orgasm into the microphone, that shows how repressed I am -- a guy who wants to push his sex at the lens but can only do it as a joke.
Playboy: Aren't you tempted to live it up? O'Brien: I always imagined that if I were a TV star I would live the way I pictured Johnny Carson living. Carousing, stepping out of a limo wearing a velvet ascot with a model on my arm. Now that I have the TV show, I drive up to Connecticut on the weekends and tool around in my car. I could probably join a free-sex cult, smoke crack between orgies and drive sports cars into swimming pools, and my Catholic guilt would still be there, throbbing like a toothache. Be careful. If something good happens, something bad is on the way.
Playboy: Yet you don't mind licking the supermodels. O'Brien: At one point a few of them lived in my building, women who are so beautiful they almost look weird, like aliens. To me, a woman who has a certain approachable amount of beauty becomes almost funny. It's the same with male supermodels. They look like big puppets. So while I admire their beauty I probably won't be "romantically linked" with a model. I'd catch my reflection in a ballroom mirror and break up laughing.
Playboy: The horny Roy Orbison growl you use on gorgeous guests sounds real enough -- O'Brien: Oh, I've been doing that shit since high school. It just never worked before.
Playboy: Your father is a doctor, your mother an attorney. What do they think of their son the comedian? O'Brien: My dad was the one who told me denial was a virtue. "Denial is how people get through horrible things," he said. He also cut out a newspaper article in which I said I was making money off something for which I should probably be treated. So true, he thought. But when I got an Emmy for helping write Saturday Night Live, my parents put it on the mantel next to the crucifix. Here's Jesus looking over, saying, "Wow, I saved mankind from sin, but I wish I had an Emmy."
Playboy: Ever been in therapy? O'Brien: Yes. I don't trust it. I have told therapists that I don't particularly want to feel good. "Repression and fear, that's my fuel." But the therapists said that I had nothing to worry about. "Don't worry Conan you will always be plenty fucked up."
Playboy: When a female guest comes out, how do you know whether to shake her hand or kiss her? Is that rehearsed O'Brien: No, and it's awkward. If you go to shake her hand and her head starts coming right at you, you have to change strategy fast. I have thought about using the show to make women kiss me, but that would probably creep out the people at home. I decided not to kiss Elton John.
Playboy: Do you get all fired up if Cindy Crawford or Rebecca Romijn does the show? O'Brien: I like making women laugh. Always have, ever since I discovered you can get girls' attention by acting like an ass. That's one of the joys of the show -- I'm working my eyebrows and going grrr and she's laughing, the audience is laughing. It's all a big put-on and I'm thinking. This is great. Here is a beautiful woman who has no choice but to put up with this shit.
But it's not always put on. Sometimes they flirt back. Sometimes there's a bit of chemistry. That happened with Jennifer Connelly of The Rocketeer.
Playboy: One guest, Jill Hennessy, took off her pants for you. Then you removed yours. Even Penn and Teller took off their pants. O'Brien: Something comes over me. It happened with Rebecca Romijn -- I was practically climbing her. Those are the times when Andy and the audience seem to disappear and it's just me and this lovely woman sitting there flirting. I keep expecting a waiter to say, "More wine, Monsieur?"
Playboy: Would you lick the wine bottle? O'Brien: It's true, there's a lot of licking on the show. I have licked guests. I have licked Andy. Comedy professionals will read this and say, "Great work, Conan. Impressive." But I have learned that if you lick a guest, people laugh. If I pick this shoe off the floor, examine it, Hmmm, and then lick it, people laugh. I learned this lesson on The Simpsons, where I was the writer who was forever trying to entertain the other writers. I still try desperately to make our writers laugh, which is probably a sign of sickness since they work for me now. Licking is one of those things that look funny.
Playboy: Johnny Carson never licked Ed McMahon. O'Brien: We are much more physical and more stupid than the old Tonight Show. Even in our offices before the show there's always some writer acting out a scene crashing his head through my door. A behind-the-scenes look at our show might frighten people.
Playboy: One night you showed a doctored photo of Craig T. Nelson having sex with Jerry Van Dyke. Did they complain about it? O'Brien: I haven't heard from them. Of course I'm blessed not to be a part of the celebrity pond. I have a television show in New York, an NBC outpost. I don't run with or even run into many Hollywood people.
Playboy: You also announced that Tori Spelling has a penis. O'Brien: I did not. Polly the Peacock said that.
Playboy: Another character you use to say the outrageous stuff. O'Brien: Polly is not popular with the network.
Playboy: You mock Fabio, too. O'Brien: If he sues me, it'll be the best thing that ever happened. A publicity bonanza: Courtroom sketches of Fabio with his man-boobs quivering, shaking his fist, and me shouting at him across the courtroom. I'm not afraid of Fabio. He knows where to find me. I'm saying it right here for the record: Fabio, let's get it on.
Playboy: Ever have a run-in with an angry celeb? O'Brien: I did a Kelsey Grammar joke a few years ago, something about his interesting lifestyle, then heard through the network that he was upset. He had appeared on my show and expected some support. At this point my intellect says, "Kelsey Grammar is a public figure. I was in the right." Then I saw him in an airport. Kelsey didn't see me at first: I could have kept walking. But there he was, eating a cruller in the airport lounge. I thought I should go over. I said hello and then said, "Kelsey, I'm sorry if I upset you." And he was glad. He looked relieved. He said, "Oh, that's OK." We both felt better.
....See my other post with the last third of the interview

Here is the man. Drifting through the vast emptiness of space, where his only spectacle are a multitude of twinkling stars. He floats in the void, ragged and tired, though was born with an undeniable power he himself cannot wish to comprehend. Wrapped with linen cloth, what once was his willing spirit is now scattered into fragments of a lost boy.
Here is the man. His folks are known to lights of the world, but in truth, his mother was a musician now dead, and his father a reckless drunk. The life as damaged as his was rot with death and destruction. And now he lays there, staring vacantly at his ancestors turned into magnificent balls of flame. Hatred, fear, and death permeate in his conscious heart, still in him is hope.
Here is the man. He sees the stars fall from the far east. "The night you were born, '73,'" his father told. "They called them the 'PERSEIDS.' Your mother and I saw you as our miracle boy." The man follows the falling stars with a tear streaming down. His father never spoke the mother's name altogether; the man does not bother. He had a brother in that world he'll never see again. But in him carried the legacy of a blues lover, and in him carried optimism and a brighter outlook.
Here is the man, and he's neither big nor strong, but in him brews already the eagerness to save the world from its demise. Though outwardly his soul is shattered, inwardly he is renewed. Hope coursing through him, around him. He will win. For the lives he lost, he will win. For the lives he killed, he will win. Beyond the grave, he will win. He is the harbinger of good news. The presence beyond worlds. And those who witness will stare in awe, saying;
"BEHOLD, HERE IS THE MAN. BOBBY FACE!"
(I do apologise for the name drop lol. I'm planning on using this for one of my books. And if you're wondering, yes, this was inspired by the opening monologue in Blood Meridian.)

Sorry. English is not my first language.
My wife wants me to stop being friends with my friend Mark. He has been my friend since I've moved here 15 years ago. He is quiet man. He has been here for me when I had no family anymore. He helped get me a job. He has always been the moral one in my friend group. He has calmed down situations that would have ended in violence. He is a good person.
He told me he cheated on his wife. I was shocked because he was always the one to do the right thing. He was crying when he told me. He never cries. I did not agree with his decisions. His wife took him back and has forgiven him. I did not expect this because his wife does not put up with that. I've talked to her and I see why she has decided to work on their marriage and continue. My wife does not agree and wants me to discontinue the friendship. She is worried I will be influenced by him and go and cheat. I don't believe this to be true. There are many factors to consider my friend and I believe he needs another chance to be a good person. Reasons why I think he's not like other cheaters. This is what his wife told me.
1.) He admited everything. He did not blame it on it being an accident. He took full responsibility for his actions. He told his wife everything and was even willing to help her if she decided divorce. He told her it was all his fault, he made a series of decisions that led him to cheat on her and he could have stopped at those points but was a bad man and didn't. Many cheaters I know don't take responsibility. They cheat and cheat and blame others for what they did. He blamed himself.
2.) My friend is very sick. He has schizophrenia. He lives on disability because of it. He did not blame his schizophrenia on his cheating but I believe it played a role. He told me there were times he wanted to confess and tell what he did, but spirits and demons would tell him not too and even give him advice on when and how to cheat. He does not blame his schizophrenia on his cheating because he says he made those decisions before the voices came, but I'm not sure. We did not know he had schizophrenia for a very long time. He was secretive of it and told no one. He said taking the pill for his schizophrenia was a blessing and a curse. He was free of the voices, but he was faced of all the wrong he had done to someone he loves very much.
3.) (I post this with his permission) He was sexually abused when he was younger. He does not consider this a factor but I do. I have seen him turn down woman before (he is good looking and ladies go to him). I have seen one occasion where a lady has touched him innappropiately and he freezes like a statue and is very distraut. He tells me when he was first cheating (he would go to massage parlors for his deeds) it felt very similar to when he was abused. It was both exciting and scary for him and it being wrong was addicting for him. He claims it wasn't abuse, but his wife and I and his therapist all claim he was abused. I think this played a role in his actions.
4.) Since telling of his deeds, he has gone and attended therapy every week to talk about why he did the things he did. They say he has sexual anxiety and other things I do not remember. He is faithful with his work and has been open and honest with his wife about progress and allows her in his work. A cheater would not go to this effort of money and time.
5.) He told his story on reddits before. It did not get any replies but people messaged him about killing himself and he took what they said as reality. He had to go to treatment because he believed they are right. Reddit is not forgiving of cheaters. They will forgive other things but will not forgive cheaters. I do not believe he explained himself well with his post. A real cheater would not have taken what others have said so hard. They would ignore it and continue cheating.
His wife is a wonderful woman. She says she can forgive him because he took responsibility of what he did. There was no evidence of his cheating, she would never have known about it if he hadn't said anything. A cheater would have hidden his secrets for the rest of his life. I have known cheaters before, I have a lot of them in my family. They do not share remorse, he does. He deserves a chance. His wife thinks so too. She is not shy or intimidated woman, she is strong woman.
My friend tells me I should not quarral with my wife over this. He tells me he has done terrible things and understands why she would believe her way. I believe that people can do bad things and work to be better. What is the point of life if you can't make mistakes and learn from them? I do not believe he will do these things again.
AITAH for still being friends with a cheater?

After 6 months of being officially broken up, it’s been two weeks of no contact at all. Those 6 months was mostly full of fighting but it’s never got this long of him not reaching out to me. He use to not last two days max of not talking to me and now it’s been two weeks and one day. It’s officially done I can feel it in my heart. We were so unhealthy we were communicating through email you believe that …and here I am checking my fucking email every day multiple times a day, waiting for you to say you miss me or love me or can’t live without me. Anything!!!! Because him saying “fuck you” meant he was thinking of me…but now it’s silence. It kills me and I just want the pondering of ‘what if’ of us to stop. I want the feeling of thinking about what our life would have been like to stop. Im trying to entertain other guys just to fucking distract myself and no one compares. I want the feeling of being horny and thinking of you to go away, the vision of you eating me out. I feel sexually fucked as if I won’t find someone to make me cum the way you did. You have time me your sexually fucked too because of me as well so it makes me feel a little better. I feel sick in my mind over another human being. I miss him. I keep thinking of our memories like a tape, stop rewind pause fast forward pause again and I fucking feel the sensation of us together in that moment, like I’m there. I’ll never forget this man. How do you get over a person who let your walls fall down from your childhood sexual trauma and made you feel safe with your body and to orgasm and made feel you were healing your inner child …? Does this really fade? You know how before you die you supposedly get a flash of images or scenes of your life that was meaningful….favorite memories of people who made an impact of you as well, what if this is a person that will be one of those memories? Now it’s time to really heal from this person but will I find better? It was unhealthy as fuck but I sit here an wonder who was more unhealthy me or him? Or the combo of us…? Who knows. But the combo of us was so beautiful so pure so blissful idk man so passionate. How do I get through the days and not think of him? I love him. Fuck I don’t know what I even said in this but I’ll hit post and go on with my night thinking about a person that’s not even in my life anymore, he will just be a memory.

Just to disclose - I only work 8hrs per week for my NF which is not great for me due to not being enough hours. I only accepted this on the basis that hours were going to double in the coming months - however MB has decided not to increase her hours at work as she wants to continue to spend more time with NK which means my hours remain minimal. Anyway I have recently started working for this family and it has been good up until recently. It seems they are now starting to make adustments to our agreement/ work description, it started with asking me so show up 5 mins early before agreed start time, which was fine and not major and I have done this; but now it's asking me to start 30mins earlier (which means 7am start), which I agree to do but only if they were willing to pay an increased hourly rate for the additional 30mins, as it's not worth it for me to start that early unless it's compensated fairly. They declined this offer and said they would stick to the agreed work hours - which was fine for me because the hours I'm getting from this job are already making it not worth the work, so why would I start earlier at no additional incentive. Anyway following this discussion, I returned to work on Monday not thinking anything about it... however after I put NK down for a nap and cleaned the space after our morning of playing, DB walks in and approaches me entirely off guard like "hey can you do some chores". I was so taken by shock at his approach, because the way we have handled things to date has been for MB to write notes with instructions or tasks for me to do. When MB asks I usually prepare food for dinner or meal prep for NK - this has been my agreement with her and there have been no discussion around any house chores or anything else - cooking and cleaning up after myself was it. Obviously I clean up after NK and any mess we make but to date we haven't discussed anything more than this or agreed to it. FULL disclosure - I'm more than happy to do light house chores if asked (their house is actually spotless and there has been nothing at all I've felt like I could help with in terms of light work). Anyway DB continues talking at me, and then asks if he can show me a few things - like how to empty a dishwasher ?!?!???!? (Which was hilarious because it was empty) but also him mansplaining at me is killing me. He then leads me into the laundry and tells me that if there is something in the washing machine, I should then throw it in the dryer - once again this man clearly has no idea about house chores, to think you can literally dump everything in the dryer ?!?!? Anyway he was so patronising and rude and I kind of just stood there because I was so confused and taken off guard by this approach. After realising his house is clearly spotless he then told me that maybe I could check the drawers in the kitchen, and if I notice crumbs in the drawers I could then take out all the crockery and clean the crumbs. Now I have to admit this chore I felt uncomfortable with - happy to do light cleaning of course but no I will not be cleaning out your kitchen drawers. Anyway after DB finally decided to stop talking at me and swinging all his power around, I politely told him that I would prefer if there are specific tasks that NF want me to do, that they continue to use the note system we have been using to date. I also explained how I'm not comfortable going through there house (which again is literally SPOTLESS ** and I'm and OCD clean freak) to seek out things to do unless explicitly told tasks, I mean they both WTH and I don't feel comfortable going through their stuff unless they have told me beforehand. I told him that I'm happy to do light house chores but will not be doing deep cleaning, specifically because NONE of this had been discussed in our agreement so it's obvious they are now trying to squeeze me, on top of the fact that DB is clearly resentful towards me not accepting the early start times unless compensated. Also to disclose NK only ever sleeps for a max of 1.5hrs, mostly it's around the 40-1hr mark, so after tidying the space and doing some cooking, it's not like I'm always just sitting around. But yes there are sometimes 30min periods when I am and I'm reading my book. Anyway I'm starting to feel like DB is trying to push the boundaries of my role and reacts negatively when I try to stand my ground. It's making me feel extremely uncomfortable around him. Before this issue there were also times when he would come in (as both NPs are WFH) and cuddle NK, which was causing major tantrums, he would then proceed to patronise me as to how to clam down NK when like this - which is so frustrating as he is literally the only reason NK is now having a tantrum. He comes in and does this probably twice every day I'm there and now on top of this recent issue I'm starting to feel uncomfortable with his presence. I really don't know what to do at this point, I have no issues with MB and love dealing with her, it's just when DB is around and tries to tell me things outside of my conversations with MB. I just wish he would let me do my job and deal only with MB. Any suggestions would be great

I twirl a small twister in the air in front of me. I make it dance, rise, fall, and spin around my head. I’m half-listening to the non-super crime boss who’s come to ask for our help. We’re sitting in the front for our headquarters. It’s a quaint bar on what’s been designated squarely as our part of town. Heroes won’t be caught dead on our side of the city. Or if they’re caught, they might end up dead. Same thing.
“So, what do you say, Noxus?” the large man asks. He was stout with greasy black hair and wore a cheap suit. Not quite a big shot yet, but he had the swagger to get it done. “We got ourselves a deal?”
“Let me make sure I’ve got this straight,” I say as I dismiss the small tornado. His proposal sounds intriguing. We could do so many fun things. “You want us to distract the police twice a week at various times in the middle of the night so your shipments can get moved around to your various storehouses? Is that about right?”
“That’s about the gist of it.”
“And you’ll be paying us handsomely for our time, correct? Distracting an entire police department like that is no light feat.”
“I believe our payments will be very generous, Noxus. And if this works out, we got big plans for this city. We can make an empire, spread to other cities, corrupt other super organizations, and make you the de facto kingpin of the entire global community.”
He looked eager but also remained calm. He was made for these kinds of things. He was cool, calculated, and just excited enough to make me want to help.
“No need for all of that. I’m happy with Grand City as is. Brain!” I yell behind me. “Get this man a contract. You know I hate paperwork.”
Braintrust is beside us in an instant. He has built some muscle since becoming a villain but still looks like the same old nerd he had always been to me. Our strength comes from our powers, not our bodies. “Come with me, Mr. Graziano,” he says as he leads the mobster to the back of the bar.
Another deal in place is more secured funding for the Cohort of Villains. And I’m sure everyone will love getting to cause a ruckus every week.
I turn to look at the bar, and a petite figure catches my eye. I don’t recognize them. They’ve got their hood pulled up and baggy pants and seem to be trying to stay unidentified. I don’t trust that in my place. I make eye contact with the bartender and signal toward the figure. Then, signal toward the seat across from me in my comfy booth. He nods in understanding.
I turn back to look out the window as I await my guest. This part of the city is truly beautiful. We got all the little shops and restaurants. The heroes preferred the skyscrapers and to stay in their old headquarters. Which was completely valid. I wouldn’t have it any other way, to be honest. Skyscrapers don’t impress me as much as the earnest folks who own these shops out here. I know when we approached Thomas about using his place as a front for our headquarters, he was taken aback. Then we showed him what we could do for him, and he happily obliged as long as we kept violence out of his bar—a fair request.
Which brings me back to our guest. If I didn’t recognize them, they could be looking for trouble. I haven’t killed anyone recently. Maybe today, that changes. I’ve only been back for a few months, but I’ve worked hard to get these villains under control. Robbing banks, taking CEOs hostage, smuggling things, burning a superstore down, or just interrupting heroes’ contracts. Victimless crimes, really. If someone is here to stir up trouble, I’ll nip that in the bud very quickly.
Finally, the hooded guest is pushed into the booth across from me. It took three people to get them here. They must not be eager to meet me, but they’re also not eager to use their powers if they have any. I wave them off as the hooded figure looks down.
“Take the hood off,” I order.
“No,” the figure says. A woman’s voice. That narrows it down to half the city.
“I’m not asking. Take the hood down, or I take your head. And I have an agreement to no violence in this bar, so I’m not threatening you lightly.”
“Ugh, Charlotte was right. You are a hard ass.” My ears perk up hearing Charlotte’s name. So she’s a hero, whoever she is. But she doesn’t remove her hood. She does, however, look up at me. I immediately recognize her by her blue hair. Two. Probably the most powerful superhero in the entire League.
“Let’s not get ugly here. I like this place.”
“I have no intention of starting any fights. Especially not with you. We didn’t even know you were back. Of course, we heard the whispers, but we thought they were just rumors. But you’re really here. Are you the mysterious new Cohort leader?”
“I am. Tell your whole League. Any show of excessive force will be met in kind. My people are under strict orders not to kill any of yours unless absolutely necessary.”
“Well, that’s nice to know. Even though they just killed a CEO of a major corporation last week.” She adjusts uncomfortably in her seat. She’s uneasy. Why would she come here if she’s so uncomfortable about it?
“I care not for the lives of citizens. What brings you here, Two?”
She immediately raises her hand up to shush me. “Don’t fucking announce it, you dolt.”
“So you don’t want everyone to know?” I ask. I’m not surprised, but a little caught off guard. She has nothing to fear here. Except for me, of course. “Why the secrecy? Surely, you’re not afraid of anyone in the Cohort.”
“I’m not, but I don’t want to upset the peace either,” she whispers through gritted teeth. “And this place has the best lager in town by far. Like, a fuck ton. I sneak down here sometimes and get a pint or two before fucking off back uptown. The bartender knows me; I’ve been a customer of his since I was in high school.”
I sit back, slightly amused. She’s willing to risk a fight just for some alcohol. “Any other heroes come for the best lager in town? Or maybe they hit Antonio’s for the world-famous stuffed shells? Ooh, or Tres for the best burritos in the entire city? We have all the good food on our side.”
“Charlotte wears a wig and dresses like a homeless person to hit Tres sometimes. The only one I know of brave enough to come over here other than me.”
“I could give you a pass, you know,” I say with a smirk. “Tell everyone you and Charlotte are off-limits unless you instigate.”
“And why in the world would you do that for, Noxus? The goodness of your heart?”
“Because Charlotte deserves a break,” I say coolly. “And I’d hate to make you angry. Possibly the only super in the entire city that could give me a run for my money if I don’t kill you instantly.”
“I could take you, Noxus,” she says with an edge that tells me she’s still uneasy about all of this.
“Maybe time will tell,” I say as I try to ease the tension. Emote’s powers would come in handy right about now. “In the meantime, what do you say? You can come and go as you please. Charlotte may come and go as she pleases. None of your other boardmates, I’m afraid. I don’t like how Pharaoh smells, Thronemaker’s an asshole, and Viper gives me the creeps.”
“No bullshit? One hundred percent immunity from the whole Cohort?”
“One hundred percent. But if you betray my trust, I must insist we test your theory of being able to take me.”
“What do you want in return?” she asks.
“Permission to live in my parent’s old house. They left it to me when they died, and I sold it when I left the city. It’s up for sale again. I want to buy it and live in it.”
“Let me guess, it’s in our territory?”
“If it were in mine, I wouldn’t need the permission.”
“I’ll talk to the Board.”
“Thank you. Come back when you’ve made your decision. I’ll tell the Cohort you and Charlotte are off-limits tonight.”

I have been studying this case for a very long while now and thought about each possibility... this is what I have settled on so far:
CW had NK round at the house whilst SW was away, even sharing the marital bed together once the children were asleep and unaware. Something happens, maybe NK notices something that reminds her that he is a married man or the kids wake up and she sees CW doing daddy duties... something that makes her want to leave. She states that she can't do this due to either guilt (or more likely jealousy) and she leaves.
CW changes the sheets ready for SW return but doesn't have chance to put them back on. CW doesn't sleep and NK ignores him, causing him to unravel. In this time, NK manages to look at SW facebook and finds out about the pregnancy etc. Unknowingly, CW sends a photo of the girls eating breakfast to SW whilst planning on leaving to go to NK the moment she is back to take care of the kids. He had even packed his lunch and tools for a normal day at work the following day.
NK then calls him out on what she has discovered and says something that makes CW believe that the only way to keep this women he is utterly addicted to and start a new life... is to completely get rid of anything in the way. A seemingly innocent ultimatum which, if CW wasn't so afraid of SW reaction and didn't lack communication skills... would have simply ended in a divorce. Which is why I believe it had something to do with the pregnancy of baby Nico, the boy she so desperately wanted to give him herself...
The more NK pulls away, the more CW craves her. It unravels all day long to the point where every little thing the girls say or do irks him to the bone. He puts them to bed that night knowing that it is the last time he will ever do it. He kills Bella as she sleeps and then strangles Cece. But Cece wakes up and he determines that she is brain dead (as per the story told to his sisters friend)... panicking and then putting her in the freezer.
He then waits by the door in the dark for SW to return. There is NO WAY he would risk her going up the stairs as he knows she would have checked on the girls. He did not have the balls to speak to her what so ever and certainly was too much of a p***y to confronting her when she found her girls dead. He kills SW as soon as she walks in the door from behind, hence no marks down the stairs etc from supposedly carting her down them. Bella hears her mum come in and surprisingly wakes up, making her way into the living room.
CW acts calmly telling her that mummy is sick and that they need to go to the doctor. He loads the car with Cece first, then SW and then little Bella. I can't even begin to imagine what that journey was like for Bella. Breaks my heart and makes me feel utterly sick. Adreneline pumping, CW thinks about turning back but knows he has gone too far. He knows the only possible way to come out of this is to kill Bella so that nobody knows... but now it is more of a need not a want and he cannot do it straight away.
He loads Cece into the tank as Bella sits in the car. The "are you going to do what you did to Cece" is in regards to what he did at the house and the freezer. I don't believe he strangled Cece in the car like he previously said. He then digs the hole for SW and puts her in. Bella begins to cry and he does not have enough time to conceal SW like he had hoped. He then kills Bella which I believe hurt him most of all. He describes this part in great detail and I believe it was a struggle both physically and mentally.
He then puts her into the container and starts getting calls from everybody so he does not have time to hide everything like he wanted to. He then gets back in a fluster, goes and plants the wedding ring, phone and meds quickly before acting like he's missing a shoe. NA completely ruined his plans of getting any story together as it all happened so quickly. At this point he hasn't had a single moment to think about what has happened and his next steps and is still high on adrenelene and the prospect of being free.
Instead, he uses real memories with different people in different moments surrounding those days to make him believable (in his eyes). Like the "argument in bed he had with SW that caused him to kill her"... I believe that was an argument between him and NK that caused him to kill SW. When he said he had sex with SW... he actually had sex with NK.
I feel like everything he has said in his confessions have been true... just not necessarily with the right people or moment if that makes sense. Because he is a terrible liar... he used actual moments, dialogue and feelings... just not in the right order or with the right people. Now the dust has settled, I believe to this day that he cannot utter the true words of why he did it because he does not want to get NK in trouble... eventhough she didn't kill them... emotionally she kind of did. He was devoted to her then and he is devoted to her still and I do not believe this will all truly hit him... until he has closure from NK.

This episode is where some of the best acting is but also where some of the worst writing is. Also we gets the version of the Greens we will be sticking with for the remainder of the show for the first time. Let me delve into some points that will have a lot of intersection with my criticisms from last episode
-The episode starts with Corlys in a coma after offscreen fighting in the Stepstones. Vaemond and Rhaenys discuss the succession of Driftmark if things go for the worst. Like I said previously Vaemond’s actor is absolutely fantastic (if anybody knows of any other movies, shows or plays where his actor or Corlys appear in please let me know). While on my original watch I obviously agreed Luke has no basis to inherit Driftmark I opposed Vaemond trying to get it either, just because by succession rules normally for lords, it would go to a daughter and her descendants before uncle and therefore should go to Baela, though some people in this sub have brought up the argument that maybe as a Valyrian house they have slighty different succession. I absolutely sympathize more with Vaemond on rewatch, though I still get why people might see him as the standard usurping uncle
-We go to Jace who is really trying to learn Valyrian which to his credit does show at least he takes his duty as Prince seriously even if because of bastardy should not be eligible for the throne and unlike say Joffrey from the main series who for all his many faults actually thought he was Robert’s son, Jace clearly knows what’s up, and is actively contributing to his mother’s usurpation attempt
-Rhaenyra and Daemon gets the news of Vaemond’s petition, and discuss how now with Alicent and Otto in power after Viserys increasingly failing health, and Rhaenys holding being a bit upset with them to say the least after everything that has happened, Luke’s legitimacy might be put to question and by extension Jace’s. Am I supposed to feel sympathetic and worried for you? This is all your fault! She left court to the Greens instead of staying and establishing alliances. Again you could have been made Hand and Regent while Viserys was abed and basically start establishing yourself as ruler. Also you not only have obvious bastards which is an insult and makes a joke of House Velaryon while also as Rhaenys put it perfect putting right in the center of a political storm, but you also made her believe that you killed her own son. Any other House would have probably just outright rebelled against you or at least sided with the Greens, but these are the Velaryons, the House that is so powerful it is a Great House in all but name, but yet always playing as the sidekicks to Rhaenyra despite being established as their own power in their own right in the first half of the season. If she hadn’t fake killed Laenor, she might have even convinced Corlys to take Luke as a ward, and actually get him familiar with the sea and Driftmark. I just don’t get how even TB members that like Rhaenyra personally don’t just pull their hair at every horrible decision she does.
-The Blacks arrive back at the Red Keep. The Strong boys get to watch Aemond training with Cole (I just love Luke’s nervous look upon realization). It’s clear after the whole eye incident, that Aemond saw that his own father couldn’t care less and wouldn’t defend him, and that besides his mother he would have to stand on his own and defend himself, and get stronger both physically and mentally. Also again we are shown how more Faith of the Seven imagery is shown with the Greens, with after them getting into power adding in more religious heraldry. Also I love how people point to Alicent and Otto in control as them and their “evil scheming” without taking into note they have basically been running the realm, keeping it stable and prosperity.
-Dyana. This is always a awful point to talk about. Obviously it’s there to make Aegon look bad, at the same time that Aegon would never do this in the books is debatable, as some lines hint at him accosting servants as users like me and natla among others believe, but others interpret it as merely him having a affair with said servants. Still regardless of book canon and show runner intention, it is obvious this is awful. Some people just dismiss it as awful fan fiction, but I feel if you are engaging with the show as most users due, then you have to engage with its canon to an extent for better or worse. I think you can still believe Aegon is not the best person and is incredibly flawed while still believing, he absolutely has the best claim and the realm would be better with him as king. As to Dyana’s longer implications, some people theorize maybe she will turn into the show’s version of Esselyn, despite the moon tea which maybe it’s focus is supposed to either eliminate or highlight that possibility depending on how you see it. I really hope not though.
-Rhaenyra and Daemon visit Viserys, who for all of our opinions on him, is played by amazingly by Paddy who gives it his all this episode and who also the makeup department did fantastic job. We also get introduced to Aegon III and Viserys II. It does make me curious if they will most likely be recasted or if with the king shooting schedule in between seasons they will use them, since a important part is having the kids old enough to where Aegon leaves Viserys while on dragon back during the Gullet causing him great regret down the line, as well as later with him watching his mother being eaten.
-Rhaenyra and Rhaenys talk where in order for her to back Luke’s claim they would do a dual marriage with Jace and Baela and Luke and Rhaena. Now I have already given my opinion on how this change makes Velaryons previous unwavering support make no sense, and how honestly Corlys and Rhaenys would have already pushed for this realistically before. Something that should be noted is his Rhaenyra says “Jace and Baela son will rule”. This is just hilarious. I’m sure the writers just added it without thinking but it just shows how Rhaenyra sees herself as the exception rather than the feminist pioneer many fans make her out to be
-Rhaenyra just the night before the petitions talks to Viserys and of course talks to him about the Song of Ice and Fire. Now this is setup for one of the worst writing decisions ever, but let me just say, despite giving very little screentime with little redeeming qualities to the point Tom had to to ask give them to give his character more, these writers are so insecure about their golden protagonist they literally have to beat us over the head with this stupid prophecy that will lead nowhere in the end just to make her seem more important than she is. It’s bad enough we had 8 seasons worth of buildup that led to utter disappointment, do we really need more retroactive buildup to that end goal? The fans are literally giving you another chance after the Epitome of horrible endings in pop culture, I would think you would want to cultivate that good will and stay away from that reminder not double down on it. It’s honestly so stupid. Mind you with Jace at the wall and the leaks, it’s not going to be any better, so might as well just mentally prepare myself to roll my eyes with this.
-The petition are put into place between Vaemond and Luke. I have previously stated how originally I was against the race change for the Velaryons not out of some “aNti-wOkE” mentality (my opinion is quite the opposite, I think genres like sci-fi and fantasy are enriched by more representation) but because the Strong boys plotline as all about their physical appearance and how it doesn’t match their alleged father and of their house, and I think this change just completely removes any doubt to the point of entering comedic territory. Not only that but I think unintentionally it adds a very weird undertone where the framing is we are rooting the white guy to usurp one of the few if only prominent Black House in the story. I know that isn’t the intention and to be fair the concept of whiteness and race we have in our world doesn’t exist in Westeros, but still the undertone is there and because the framing is for the audience to root for Luke it is quite uncomfortable.
-Viserys walks in to the throne room, and again it is a spectacularly well acted scene by Paddy (how he didn’t get an Emmy I don’t know). While many in the audience will take this especially TB as Viserys standing up one last time for his daughter to defend what is right though, writing wise I analyze more as a poor man literally on the brink of death having to get up to defend her screw up daughter from the consequences of her own actions. Less charitable I know but I feel closer an interpretation to the truth.
-The Greens and the Blacks with Viserys are together for dinner at his insistence. He gives a well acted speech and we see him at his most vulnerable. It’s really nice. I I don’t mind maybe a more vulnerable scene or two between the factions especially before the storm. It’s when Alicent just stands up and says “you will make a great Queen” that I lost it… Again it was a great speech, but unless this is a D&D session, and Viserys that rolled a Nat 20, there should be no reason why Alicent just completely forgets everything that has happened so far. It’s one thing if maybe she finds it in her to forgive any person insults but after what happened to Aemond, that is absolutely ridiculous. I’m one of the main defenders of show Alicent and her more empathetic portrayal, but this is too far. Her just holding her arm and saying she just got here when she was about leave like some old college friend is just mind boggling. Maybe if they developed it over a couple of episodes with years passing in between, I could see how they might reach a more amicable standing if Viserys is still alive but literally after one speech I am supposed to believe all the buildup of the last episodes is a bygone? What a joke, though only second to the following
-Viserys moments before dying in delusion answers Rhaenyra’s question to Alicent about the whole prophecy and she misinterprets it as Aegon being chosen by Viserys. This is beyond stupid. They are basically solving a problem they just created. Why is this necessary? Alicent was already geared up to fight tooth and nail for Aegon’s claim you don’t need this misunderstanding. If you just remove the prior mistake I mentioned with Alicent now congratulating Rhaenyra on being a future Queen, then you wouldn’t need this. This misunderstanding completely undermines the complex legal dispute that this was is based on, and instead becomes a game of “he said, no wait he said”. The trailers already framing it as the Greens fighting because Viserys chose him, but that never the basis for their claim. Viserys could have chosen Butterbumps for all it matters, the eldest male claimant comes next in line. This just frames Aegon’s claim deriving from Viserys will, which obviously Rhaenyra from that standpoint the audience would know the truth. And it doesn’t even matter since next episode we see the Green Council already making preparations to crown Aegon without even knowing of this, so again it’s completely and utterly unnecessary and stupid. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a last minute change, the writers came up after waking up before coffee and just added without s single second thought. This is clearly the episode that best epitomizes how HOTD strength is it’s acting not its writing. Trust me if we didn’t have talented actors frying the best to make it work it could be far worse but there is only so much they can do with this fanfiction levels of writing.
Listen I try to be positive and respectful, these screenwriters do work hard And again I actually most like show Alicent and think it an improvement over book version, but it’s decisions like this that just GOT season 8 vibes and it literally has just started.

I've gathered some of the biggest research papers on domestic violence. I recommend keeping these studies handy so you can address various myths and perceptions about DV.
In particular these studies will show that:

• There is gender symmetry in perpetration rates.
• There is a significant proportion of male victims even in police reports.
• There is a significant number of male victims when looking at severe injuries and deaths, refuting the idea that women cannot injure or kill men.
• Retaliation explains only a small percentage of DV cases, refuting the notion that women are violent against men only in self-defense.
• Men suffer significant physical and psychological damage, showing that DV is not harmless against men.
• Men face significant obstacles when dealing with the DV service system.
• There is a disproportionate lack of resources available to men that need shelter compared to women.

Studies:
(1) A 2014 meta-analysis of domestic violence showing that men and women perpetrate domestic violence at similar rates.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261543769_References_Examining_Assaults_by_Women_on_Their_Spouses_or_Male_Partners_An_Updated_Annotated_Bibliography

• This is a huge annotated bibliography of 343 scholarly investigations (270 empirical studies and 73 reviews) demonstrating that women are as physically aggressive as men in their relationships with their spouses or opposite-sex partners. The aggregate sample size in the reviewed studies exceeds 440,850 people.

(2) Even in cases reported to the police, men still make up a fourth of victims. Men made up a third of domestic violence deaths in 2021/22.
https://mankind.org.uk/statistics/statistics-on-male-victims-of-domestic-abuse/

• One in 6-7 men and one in 4 women will be a victim of domestic abuse in their lifetime.
• Of domestic abuse crimes recorded by the police, 25% were committed against men.
• There are 302 refuge or safe house spaces for men (1 June 2023) compared to over 4000 for women.
• In 2021/22, 18 men died at the hands of their partner or ex-partner compared to 60 women. For men, it is the highest figure since 2008/09 and doubles that from 2019/20. It is one man every three weeks.

(3) A review of over 200 studies showing gender symmetry in domestic violence and the ways in which gender symmetry has been concealed from the public.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233717660_Thirty_Years_of_Denying_the_Evidence_on_Gender_Symmetry_in_Partner_Violence_Implications_for_Prevention_and_Treatment
Findings:

• "[The] assumption that PV was about men dominating women has been contradicted by a mass of empirical evidence from my own research and from research by many others, which found that women physically attack partners at the same or higher rate as men... The meta-analysis by Archer (2000) and the bibliography by Fiebert (2004) document about 200 studies that have found approximately equal rates of perpetration by men and women partners."
• Severe injuries and deaths: “Men sustain about a third of the injuries from PV, including a third of the deaths from attacks by a partner (Catalano, 2006; Rennison, 2000; Straus, 2005).”
• "Self-defense explains only a small percentage of partner violence by either men or women."

(4) Evidence against the idea that women are only violent in retaliation.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2913504/

• “As mentioned, one well-noted assumption about women who use IPV against their men partners is that they are acting solely in self-defense or retaliation against their presumably violent men partners. This assumption, held by a few researchers, has been refuted by studies assessing women's motives for IPV, which show that, although some women report self-defense or retaliation as a motive, most do not (Hines & Malley-Morrison, 2001; Medeiros & Straus, 2006).”

(5) Further evidence against the idea that women are only violent in retaliation.
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2001-01714-001

• "The bulk of the research on motivations for violence in intimate relationships has shown that self-defense is not the motivation for women's violence in the majority of cases."
• "Other researchers have found that dominance and control are primary motives for female violence."

(6) The physical and psychological damage sustained by male victims - DV is not harmless against them.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3002073/

• “Men sustained very high rates and frequencies of psychological, sexual, and physical IPV, injuries, and controlling behaviors… though the male helpseekers had high rates of perpetrating IPV themselves, their rates are similar to or lower than those found in shelter samples of battered women.”
• Domestic violence is very harmful to men. Often, men who are the victims of domestic violence can be violent themselves in retaliation (at similar rates to women who retaliate against their abusive partners).
• This study challenges the idea that domestic violence is committed almost exclusively by men and that violent resistance is committed almost exclusively by women.

(7) The struggles of men who engage with the DV service system.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3175099/

• “Men who seek help for IPV victimization have the most positive experiences in seeking help from family/friends, and mental health and medical providers. They have the least positive experiences with members of the DV service system. Cumulative positive help seeking experiences were associated with lower levels of abusing alcohol; cumulative negative experiences were associated with higher rates of exceeding a clinical cut-off for post-traumatic stress disorder.”
• Men tend to have negative experiences with the DV service system, which is linked to higher levels of abusing alcohol and rates of exceeding a clinical cut-off for PTSD.

(8) Most shelters do not accommodate men. Most do not even accommodate teenage boys.
https://www.womensaid.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Nowhere-to-Turn-for-Children-and-Young-People.pdf

• “92.4% of refuges are currently able to accommodate male children aged 12 or under. This reduces to 79.8% for male children aged 14 and under, and to 49.4% for male children aged 16 and under. Only 19.4% of refuges are able to accommodate male children aged 17 or over.” (page 27).
• The implication of the above statement is that 80% of shelters do not accommodate male children older than 17. If that is the case for male children, imagine what the reality is for adult men seeking help.

Conclusion:
As you can see, there are hundreds of studies that show men and women experience domestic violence at similar rates. Even when you look at severe injuries or deaths as a result of DV, men still make up a third of the victims. Furthermore, the idea that women are only violent in retaliation to men's violence is also mostly false. Although some women are violent in response to their partner's violence, most are not, and the self-defense rate isn't significantly higher than men. Lastly, lasting impact of domestic violence on men is large, showing the need for societal recognition and assistance. Despite this need, men tend to have negative experiences with the DV service system and have disproportionately fewer resources available to them compared to women.
Citation Information:

1. Fiebert, Martin. (2014). References Examining Assaults by Women on Their Spouses or Male Partners: An Updated Annotated Bibliography. Sexuality and Culture. 18. 405-467. 10.1007/s12119-013-9194-1.
2. ManKind Initiative. (2023). Statistics on Male Victims of Domestic Abuse. https://mankind.org.uk/statistics/statistics-on-male-victims-of-domestic-abuse/
3. Straus, Murray. (2010). Thirty Years of Denying the Evidence on Gender Symmetry in Partner Violence: Implications for Prevention and Treatment. Partner Abuse. 1. 332-362. 10.1891/1946-6560.1.3.332.
4. Hines DA, Douglas EM. A Closer Look at Men Who Sustain Intimate Terrorism by Women. Partner Abuse. 2010 Jan 1;1(3):286-313. doi: 10.1891/1946-6560.1.3.286. PMID: 20686677; PMCID: PMC2913504.
5. Hines, D. A., & Malley-Morrison, K. (2001). Psychological effects of partner abuse against men: A neglected research area. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 2(2), 75–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.2.2.75.
6. Hines DA, Douglas EM. Intimate Terrorism by Women Towards Men: Does it Exist? J Aggress Confl Peace Res. 2010 Jul 6;2(3):36-56. doi: 10.5042/jacpr.2010.0335. PMID: 21165167; PMCID: PMC3002073.
7. Douglas EM, Hines DA. The Helpseeking Experiences of Men Who Sustain Intimate Partner Violence: An Overlooked Population and Implications for Practice. J Fam Violence. 2011 Aug;26(6):473-485. doi: 10.1007/s10896-011-9382-4. PMID: 21935262; PMCID: PMC3175099.
8. Women's Aid. Nowhere to Turn for Children and Young People. 2020. [https://www.womensaid.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Nowhere-to-Turn-for-Children-and-Young-People.pdf.c\\\](https://www.womensaid.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Nowhere-to-Turn-for-Children-and-Young-People.pdf.c)

Edit: formatting

Chapter 10
Location: On the Road to the Citadel
POV: Risp
Risp observes her Captain, Esthala, berate Esthala's husband, Silann. She is pissed that they attacked the Caravan. He tries to explain that one of the guards recognized them. She says that it doesn't matter if a dozen old soldiers are on a trail. He says it mattered to the Guard, but they are all taken care of. No survivors except the boy who ran off. She tells her husband to go find the child. He says there is no point, he'll be dead soon enough. No water or food. She tells him he should be easy to find then. Silann says he doesn't want to kill a child. Risp pipes in that she will lead a troop to find him if necessary. She mentions that SIlann's troop took a lot casualties and that they shouldn't have. Silann says the guards were veterans and one was Gripp Galas. He says he fell to a spear in his back and that firing the wagons was a mistake. Risp does not like the spouses bickering and thinks it gets in the way of their mission. She asks if Hish Tulla is in her keep. If so, she will likely investigate the smoke. Esthala says no. Esthala tells her to take 6 of her own troops and find the boy. If they encounter anyone from Tulla keep to escort them to the scene.
Risp longs for the day they will be in the citadel looking nobles in their faces. She thinks her and her sisters will be the personal staff under Osserc once he takes command of the Legion. The presence of Gripp Galas was unfortunate. He was a footman to Anomander before he retired. She asks Esthala what he could have possibly been doing guarding a caravan. Esthala asks Silann if he examined Gripp's body or gear. SIlann shakes his head and says the spear unhorsed him and his corpse rolled in a crevasse. Esthala asks if he went down and checked if he was actually dead. He said there was no need, he was covered in gore and the crevasse was bottomless. Risp asks, who's gore? Stating that he was stabbed in the back. She tells Silann to get her the soldier who stabbed him. She wants to know what type of armor he was wearing. Silann says the leader of the Caravan killed that soldier. Risp demands to see the spear. Esthala grabs it first and examines it. Says it might have been chain armor and if it severed the spine he was dead, if not he was just wounded. Silann yells that he fell down a crevasse. Risp asks, fell down or rolled down? She dispatches six more of her troops.
Location: Tulla Keep
POV: Sukul Ankhadu
Sukul summons Rancept, the keeps castellan, to the top of the High Tower and asks if he knows about the smoke. "Rancept, it was said, was the offspring of a drunken woman and a sadly sober boar". His face shows that he brawled a lot and his nose was broken and pushed back giving it the appearance of a pig's snout. He is rumored to be a 1000 years old, but looks older. Rancept says that Lady Hish told them to stay put. She said there is trouble coming. Sukul says, it's here and that the burning smells like hides. Sukul fears that it's Orfantal's caravan that has been attacked and wants to investigate. If it's bandits they need to know. Rancept says they aren't bandits. Sukul says she knows and insults him. She says she wants 15 houseblades and a fist of tracking dogs. He says she'll get one houseblade and Risp. She complains that he's supposed to protect her and he says he will. The one will be him. She questions his ability by saying he barely made it up the stairs. He says he's fine except for the nose she keeps trying not to look at. She says fine let's get a horse. He says they will be on foot.
Location: On the Road to the Citadel
POV: Orfantal
Orfantal is alone with no blanket or fire. He feels nothing like a hero. He still feels that he betrayed his horse. He wishes the bandits had cut him down instead of his horse dying. He is very cold and tired. He decides he is not afraid of the dark and closes his eyes. The cold begins to fade. He is jolted awake by a footfall on gravel nearby. A voice says, "there you are". Orfantal tries to run and falls over. The voice says, "Easy! It's me, old Gripp." Gripp touches his shoulder and feels that he is chilled to the bone. He says he has a camp close. Gripp says he wouldn't have lasted the night and what he did with his horse was a smart move because they would not follow him. He picks Orfantal up and takes him to his camp. Gripp has a wrenched knee and a wounded back, so it takes longer to bring him to camp. Gripp sets him down and puts a blanket over him, then proceeds to rub his skin hard. Orfantal pushes him and curls up in the blanket. Gripp says he can't sleep now. He has to wait until he's warm. Orfantal asks if they fought them off. Gripp replies no. Orfantal says heroes always get stabbed in the back. Gripp says not just heroes, then asks if Orfantal can sew. Orfantal says he's seen the maids doing it. Gripp says he needs some sewing in the morning. He also says he may not wake up and if he doesn't to follow the road East, but to stay off of it.
Gripp says they will be hunted. He tells him to take his story to Anomander. Orfantal asks if he killed anyone. Gripp says two on accident. Orfantal doesn't understand and Gripp says it's better to wound. If they have to take care of wounded they won't be as able to track them. Gripp tells him that Haral did well and bought Orfantal some time. Gripp says it took him a long time to get out of the crevasse. He saw what they did to Haral's body. Gripp says he has burned every face into his brain.
Location: Tulla Keep
POV: Sukul Ankhadu
At the gate of the keep Sukul says that Ribs is all bones. Rancept says he has a tapeworm and that skinny dogs live longer. Ribs is 12 and cross-eyed. Rancept took the sword and spear she brought leaving her only a dagger. They open the gate and Ribs goes out scouting ahead. Sukul is skeptical of his ability. Rancept says Ribs knows what we're about. Sukul asks, How? Rancept shrugs and says he goes on occasion with the dog. He goes to speak with the Deniers in the hills. Lady Hish wants no misunderstandings with them. Sukul says they are bandits, Rancept responds that it's a hard life and to think of it as a road tax. She says it's extortion. Rancept replies, "It's only extortion when someone else is doing it". Ribs is waiting in a clearing and as soon they get there, he takes off on a side trail. Rancept says we aren't taking the main path. He also says that Lady Hish has an arrangement with the Deniers. They keep a watch on the paths not patrolled by the Tulla tax collectors. He tells her they can't talk anymore as night carries voices. Sukul complains. Rancept says they can turn around. He tells her to look at Ribs who is sitting ahead. He says Ribs is telling them that there are strangers in the hills. She follows him quietly but is upset that there isn't more grandeur in this outing.
She was sure that Orfantal was lying dead somewhere ahead. Killed only to keep him silent. Lady Hish had hinted at trouble coming and she knew there were lawless people like her sisters. Her imagination of this night is not matching up with reality and she is tired and wants to stop. Daydreaming she bumps into Rancept. Before she can fall he grabs her and pulls her close. He tells her there are riders ahead and to ask no questions. She starts to speak, but he puts his hand over her mouth and says that they wait for Ribs.
Location: Outside Tulla Keep
POV: Risp
Risp and her 12 soldier party are using hidden trails made by the bandit Deniers. Now that the Hust Forge was paying well for minerals, most Deniers had given up banditry. Mining was more lucrative. She wonders why the Hust are making more weapons. She knew civil war was coming. Hunn Raal says it will be short. They will kill all that oppose them and then Urusander will marry Mother Dark. She covets command of the Wardens once they are folded into the Legion. She thinks Calat Hustain is only commanding them because he is noble and that he is mismanaging them. They come upon an abandoned denier settlement. One of her soldiers says the hills don't feel as empty as they should, and suggest 4 scouts. Risp agrees. They come to the sight of the fired wagons. The sergeant with the feeling points out the crevasse that Gripp went into and he tells her he thinks Gripp rolled. Risp says she will climb down with lanterns to check for Gripp's body.
Location: Outside Tulla Keep
POV: Sukul Ankhadu
Ribs comes back to them and indicates that the Riders are coming from the North and that they aren't bandits. Sukul asks if he knows that from the wagging tail. Rancept says, "That and the drooping left ear." They come to an abandoned village. Sukul asks if this is how Deniers live. Rancept says they used these huts, but that the huts have been here for 5000 years at least. He says about a dozen horses went through here going towards the ambush and that they can take a different trail to go opposite of it. Rancept goes to one of the huts and says there is a passageway. Ribs is a bit scared. Roots have grown across the portal and Sukul wonders how there are roots if there are no trees. Rancept says there is a tree just not in the way you are thinking. Sukul notices that she can see all the details of this place, but that there is no light source. That bothers her. As she gets further in the tunnel, she can't see anything. She comes to an opening and Rancept tells her to stop looking with her eyes. She doesn't know what he means. Rancept says, "This is Dog-Runner magic." She says it's impossible as Dog-Runners aren't this far east. Rancept responds by saying these weren't always Tiste lands. Sukul says Tiste were always here, but that it's not Rancept's fault that he doesn't know that. It's his lack of education. Rancept says, "Dog-Runner magic is all about fire, and earth. Dog-Runner magic fears the sky. Fire and earth, and tree and root. They’re gone from here because the forests are gone."
He says that Deniers have some Dog-Runner blood in them and that they are in a Dog-Runner temple and if she opens her sense she will see that. She asks why Ribs is so scared. Rancept says he has memories of the Ay. He takes her hand and says there is a Dog-Runner witch down here with them. Sukul is alarmed. He says the witch won't bother them, she might be dead, but he thinks she's just asleep. She gives up and asks him to tell her how to see. He says close your eyes. He tells her to picture the cavern and says there are hundreds of large wolf skulls. These are the Ay and they are the reason for the Dog-Runner name. She asks him to describe the witch. He says he thinks she was very powerful. There are offerings to her in the form of jewels and animal teeth. Much of her body has transformed into roots and branches. Her skin is like bark. All the roots they have encountered have come from her. She gasps and says, you cut through them. Rancept says in his ignorance he wounded her. He is very sad about it.
He says the Dog-Runners have heavy facial features, but laugh and cry with ease. They do not understand lying and, "To speak with a Dog-Runner, milady, is to be humbled and to feel blessed". Some Tiste didn't like that. She asks if he believes that she sleeps. He says he believes yes that she is the one. She questions the one. He says Dog-Runners believe that their greatest witch, the dreamer, stayed behind when they left to keep emptiness from the world. Sukul wonders if that is in opposition to Mother Dark. Rancept says that is beyond him. Sukul asks if Rancept is a Denier. He says he doesn't stand against Mother Dark. That's not really an answer, but she knows she shouldn't have asked anyway and apologizes. Rancept asks if she can see what he described. She says yes and, "We stand inside the cavern, like errant thoughts inside a skull." He grabs her hand and says those were not her own words. Sukul says they are in the witch's dream and she is trying to make sense of us. There is danger in this and Rancept says they must leave. She pulls her hand away as she can now see with her eyes closed. She asks if the witch has a name. Rancept says, "she is named Burn. She dreams so that we may live. All of us: Tiste, Dog-Runner, Jaghut, Thel Akai, even the Forulkan. She dreams, to give us our freedom." She asks if he had brought her anything. He says he would have to be a Denier to do that. She reaches for her bag. He tells her to be careful. She takes out a stone from the Dorssan Ryl. For her brother lost in the wars. He says this gesture must not be careless. She may bind Mother Dark to the Sleeping Goddess. He says if she has faith in Mother Dark it will bind them and also the Deniers will be bound to the Tiste.
She asks him why he brought her here. She wants the Truth. He says the Truth is that Tiste schooling is rubbish. She laughs at this. Rancept tells her to put the stone away. He says that burn is a Dog-Runner still and what greater gift could you give her than laughter. She has blessed Sukul. Rancept says she has healed the Sleeping Goddess with her laughter. Rancept is grateful. He says the roots no longer bleed. He takes her hand. They both know she no longer needs guidance, but they are friends now. Sukul says the Deniers need to know of that temple. Rancept says there's no need and that he admits he is a Denier, but doesn't like that word. He says that sharing her dreams he saw a river and that she dreams of it.
Location: Outside Tulla Keep
POV: Risp
Risp is climbing down the crevasse. She knew in her gut that Gripp's corpse wasn't down here. She finds his trail and follows it out. She sees that he is bleeding and has a bad knee. Risp's sergeant tells her he went after the boy from here and says they found a chest in the wagons with the Korlas crest. He says the child was likely a hostage on the way to the Citadel. That is the reason Gripp was here. The boy was to be Anomander's hostage. This is very troubling to Risp. Her sergeant now explains the loyalty and pride of house Korlas and she wonders about his loyalty. He says they have to find Gripp and the boy and make it right. Meaning they need to hang Silann. The boy being a hostage complicates the matter and her soldiers have a healthy fear of Anomander. Risp says she must tell Esthala about this change in plans and that Esthala will have to kill her husband, because he couldn't be trusted to keep his mouth shut. She thinks she'll have to kill this sergeant too.
Location: Outside Tulla Keep
POV: Sukul Ankhadu
Rancept tells Sukul that 3 riders had been dispatched from the party of Legion riders. He says they weren't part of the killing, but they are all Legion and they don't want to be seen. Ribs is curled up warming Sukul's toes and she now has fondness for the dog. Rancept says they will go to the scene and maybe Ribs can tell them something. Sukul says he's just a dog. Rancept responds, "Milady, he’s my dog." Sukul asks if he is a priest of the Deniers. He says there aren't any and Dog-Runners have witches and warlocks called Bonecasters. She asks if they throw bones. He says it's more like transforming bone to wood or bone to stone. He says they gave the Jheleck the gift of Soletaken. Sukul says she hopes that Lady Hish values him. If she doesn't she will steal him and ribs away. He says that's nice, but he will serve Hish until he dies. Something tells her of a deeper love than just a Castellan to his lady. Sukul asks if Ribs is just a dog. Not a Soletaken. Rancept says just a dog. If he was a Soletaken at some point, he forgot and is now just a dog.
Rancept surveys the scene and is more sure that it isn't bandits. Sukul says, "I will never be one for war" Rancept tells Sukul that the dead are just sacks of organs. Once they die, what makes them more is gone. It's best to think this way when confronted with slaughter. Sukul doesn't like this because if you can see animals and people as just sacks then it is much easier to tear them open. She asks Rancept if there is a smaller grave. He says the boy got away at least initially. She says she thinks they need to see if Orfantal is still alive. Rancept is surprised that a hostage would only have these caravan guards. Sukul says there may have been a reason for it. She asks if his nose can be healed. He says the best way is to break it again and he's tried it 6 times.
He goes to the cairns and counts them remembering that Sukul asked him to prepare food for seven people. He says someone else got away. He says ribs can track him, but they aren't equipped for more nights. He suggests that ribs goes on and they return. Sukul says he's just a dog. She says we should not take the road back to the hold. She doesn't want to meet the rider sent there by Risp. She asks if there are any more secret temples. He responds, "Nothing we’d call such, milady."
Location: Outside Tulla Keep
POV: Corporal Renth
Corporal Renth had been given orders from Hunn Raal that no violence was to take place. All plans were on hold. Renth didn't like Raal's plans and had thought about defecting to Anomander's houseblades. He didn't because of his loyalty to Urusander. Renth wasn't bothered by the slaughter or Deniers. They weren't Tiste to him and they worshipped old gods. The highborn were different. They were Tiste. His first group to relay orders to was Esthala. On the way he sees a muddy boy in the middle of his path. Renth asks him if he wants to get run down and tells him to move. The boy says, "I am named Orfantal,’ said the boy, ‘of the House Korlas, and I claim the right of protection.' Renth doubts this and sees a glitter in Orfantal's eyes before he feels a stabbing through his chain. Gripp pulls him off the horse and twists the knife as he pulls it out. He says, for Haral. Renth is confused, but dies.
Location: Outside Tulla Keep
POV: Orfantal
Orfantal is horrified when he sees Gripp spit into the dead man's face. They had seen the rider coming and needing a horse Gripp told him the plan. Orfantal thought they would steal the horse and then pay the man back eventually. Gripp grabs the horses reins and tells Orfantal they would ride to Kharkanas. After seeing the look on Orfantal's face. Gripp gruffly tells him that we are in a civil war now and that is the enemy. Gripp wants them to know it was him who killed Renth and that he was coming for them. He takes out a knife and cuts off the head, then carves his initials into it and tosses it in the middle of the road. Orfantal thinks, "All the heroes are dead. I am lost. We are all lost."

First Previous
Matthew Sky is a cowboy at heart, seeking a life of fulfillment and adventure beneath the limitless horizon. Now he's been recruited by an ancient order of pan-universal defenders to help protect humanity from the countless horrors waiting in the dark. With his sentient A/I partner by his side and the limitless potential of his incredible forge ring at his command, Matt is THE LAW on a new world that has fallen to chaos...he is THE FORGE KNIGHT.
Previously on the Forge Knight.
I saved a few elves from a fate worse than death, killed an enforcer for a bunch of crazy mages because he was being an asshole, and then I got ATTACKED by the same dang elves I rescued! This sure is turning into a chore, isn't it?
Dying Light Part 6.
-An interlude.
Dressed in silken finery, the elven mage stepped fearlessly into the darkened tavern and approached its sole occupied table, where a man sat drinking alone. His features were difficult to make out in the gloom of the place, but he was tall. Tall enough to come up chest-high to her even while seated.
“Are you the one they call the mad wolf?” she asked him.
“Aya,” he said without interest.
Janthra Nightveil didn’t care for the tepidity of his response. She was the personal apprentice of a great magus and a powerful practitioner of the dark arts herself. She expected more than a drunkard's nod.
She deserved more than that.
“I am Janthra,” she said proudly. “You will refer to me as mistress.”
“I could, perhaps,” the big man spoke with a lifeless rasp as he continued drinking from his mug. “Probably won’t, though.”
“I speak for a lord of the Advocacy,” she said. “In this matter, my words are his words. For reasons that are beyond me, he has decided that he requires your services, dog. You should be honored.”
“I should, should I?” he asked. “Now why’s that?”
“BECAUSE I TOLD YOU SO!” she shouted angrily as her hand swept the pitcher of mead off the table and sent the glass crashing on the floor.
Through the tavern windows, feeble moonlight struggled to provide basic illumination to the room. It cut off just around the man’s neck, leaving his face encased in darkness as he leaned back lazily in his chair. Only his eyes remained visible; gleaming like sharp orbs of reddish hued gold that stared at her with evident amusement.
That was when he struck a match to light a pipe that Janthra hadn’t realized he’d reached for. In the moment of light provided by it, she learned that the tavern wasn’t empty at all.
Bodies had been tossed aside haphazardly, lying dead all around them. Each of them torn apart in a fashion that she found…
…memorable.
Why hadn’t she noticed that?
Why hadn’t she smelled any blood?
“Well, Miss. If you say so, then you say so. Mind putting him on the line for me?” he asked.
“W-What?” Janthra asked nervously.
“Call him up, girl,” he said, emphasizing the last word.
“It isn’t for the likes of me to—”
“He won’t mind. We’re old drinking buddies,” the man assured her. Then he reached to the center of the table and tapped it firmly with a single, bloodstained finger. “Now,” he said.
Janthra made a swift motion with her hands and then held them before the table. From her palms, traces of darkness extended outward and formed an ebony globe that slowly molded itself into the shape of a faceless figure sitting on a throne.
When Janthra was finished the man snapped his fingers and then pointed towards the exit.
“What?” she asked in surprise.
“L’il above your pay, darling. Don’t take it to heart, though. You’re doing a fine job,” he said as he waited for her to leave. Once she was gone, he turned to the image of the shadow and said, “Howdy.”
“Pandemia Lunatica,” the shadow said, speaking the hunter’s name.
“Been a while,” Pandemia said in acknowledgement.
“My servants have failed me,” the shadow said without preamble. “The princess has escaped their reach and successfully contacted a Forge Knight.”
“And Volm?” Pandemia asked curiously. “What happened to him?”
“Disgraced. Defeated. Dead. His soul burns with contrition. Do not speak of him again,” the shadow said tersely.
“Well, Mister, what can really be said?” asked the amused hunter. “You don’t send a virgin to a cathouse unless you want him to be fucked.”
“Quaint,” replied the shadow.
“Don’t be like that,” said Pandemia. “When you don’t invest in quality, what you get is what you get.”
“I did not contact you seeking your smug advice, hunter,” the shadow said with baleful displeasure. “I’ve come to you seeking a solution. Kill the princess. Kill her companions. Kill the hope of their kingdom. Do these things for me and you will enjoy a considerable reward.”
“And what about the Forge Knight?” Lunatica said mildly as he finished with his pipe. “You want him dead, too?”
“He's interfered in matters that do not concern him once too often,” the shadow said. “If the opportunity presents itself, then kill him as well.”
“Well, now, that does sound like extra work to me,” the big man said as he walked to the bar for more mead and a glass to fill it with. “I’ve never met a forge knight yet who ever died easy.”
“Only because you enjoy taking your time killing them,” the shadow said with an audible sneer. “Stop prevaricating, bounty hunter, and name your price.”
“You know what?” Pandemia said after some consideration. “Just get me a few crates of lager and I’ll call us even on the work. I’ll even take my payment in some goddamn Budweiser. Whatever you can find, hoss, I’m just so very fucking tired of drinkin’ mead.”
The harsh laughter of the shadow filled the dead tavern.
“That’s something I’ve always admired about you, Mad Wolf,” it chortled. “Your genuine appreciation of life’s simpler pleasures.”
“Well, ain’t no need to be fancy about things, Sir,” Pandemia said as he donned his duster and hat. “It’s life’s ephemerality that makes it as enjoyable as it is. Wanting too much from it just dilutes the sweetness of its many flavors.”
“Truly the wisdom of the gutter,” the shadow smirked.
“Truly,” Pandemia said with a smirk of his own. “Got a little bit of bad news for you, though,” he added.
“And that is?” asked the shadow.
“That cute little apprentice o’yers mouthed off to me somethin’ fierce,” Pandemia said regretfully. “I’m gonna have to say something to her about it.”
“I don’t bemoan the price of doing business,” the shadow snorted dismissively as it began to fade away. “Do as you wish.”
Pandemia’s lips curled up into a pleased smile. “Always a nice thing to hear them words.”
He then exited the tavern while whistling a cheerful tune. “Hey, girlie,” he said as he approached her, where she waited impatiently. “Got some news from the boss.”
“What are they? What is the will of my master?” Janthra asked him imperiously. “Go on, dog! Speak up!”
In response, Pandemia stepped into her personal space and grinned at her, doing it in such a way that truly showed her in that moment, the depths of his smile and the sharpness of his teeth. Then he leaned towards her ear and whispered. “He said this is going to be a solo job.”
The apprentice’s eyes widened as she took a step backward. She quickly began speaking, trying desperately to say something that would stop what she now knew was coming, but Pandemia silenced her when he raised his hand and cut off her words.
Among other things.
When he was finished, Pandemia Lunatica began his walk east. He was in no hurry.
Wherever he wished to be, he would eventually find himself.

So I (40F) recently had to move back into my childhood home with my mom (70). This is the first time I’ve ever had to do this since I left Home to decades ago. Coincidentally, my brother (42) also had to move back home due to a medical issue. Oh, joy.
I wish I didn't have to be here bc I feel it's now changed the way I feel about them. Unlike me, my brother comes back here to live once every couple of years and stays for a few years then leaves again. He hasn't paid a bill here in decades. When he's asked to contribute, gets annoyed. He's argumentative and pretty selfish. I used to look up to him so much, but now I can't unsee how he is. My mom used to call me and complain but to see it in action...wow. I've gotten into two arguments with him since I've been back here like we're in high school. It's ridiculous. My mom complains but then they're chumming it up hours later. It's bizarre.
On Saturday I was leaving the house and noticed we'd run out of toilet tissue. (I dont spend alot of time here if I can help it), but assumed someone would get some since they would be in the house all day. I didn't get back until midnight that night. Go to use the bathroom. No tissue. WTF? There's a store three minutes walking from here and my brother just sat on his ass watching TV and couldn't be bothered, I guess. Not even to help out his elderly mother. I certainly didn't expect my mom to go. So I guess they were using paper towels all day? Next day I'm up and outta here at like 8am. I come back around 10p. Again, no tissue. STILL. I was fkn floored, and pissed. I put my shoes on and get ready to head out to the store (after a long fkn day mind you while everyone else is chilling) and now it's, "Oh, while you're at the store, can you get this, get that?" Why wait until I get home?
My brother often calls me while I'm out and says, "Can you bring me back___? I'll give u the money." I never get the money, so I stopped. My mom sits in her room all day in the literal dark (blinds drawn with a blanket over that) watching TV. She only comes out to pee and cook food for herself two or three times a day. But she's not depressed, she says. Idk what most people in their 70s do, but sitting in front of the TV like a zombie doesn't seem like a way to go out, especially when she's relatively healthy and mobile. She asks me to pay her rent out of my bank account (she gives me the money), or asks me to go to the post office to get her a money order instead of opening a checking account. I didn't mind at first, but after a year of doing this, it's inconvenient now because my plate is full and I dont need not one more task. I told her to open an account bc it’s inconvenient. She says no bc some company overdrew her account one time.
My brother complains about his health all day and sits on the couch smoking weed (against dr's recommendation), sniffing and swallowing snot, and burping every three minutes. Literally. He routinely calls my ex for rides, knowing that man broke my heart and disappointed me so much and is not the person he represented himself to be. For all he knows, the man beat my ass (he didn't) and he's riding around cackling with him like buddies. Thing is, he doesn't want to know because then he'd have to choose me over the convenience of having free rides (he doesn't drive). So screw me, I guess. And he lies when he knows my ex is coming and says "Oh, my ride is here", purposely not saying his name thinking I don't know who's picking him up.‘I think my ex does it to make himself look good bc he knows he’s a POS.
I lent my brother money when I was having my own troubles and it took him a year to pay me back when he said I'd have it “by Friday." I dropped everything and flew across the country on my dollar when he had to have emergency surgery right in the middle of my move to make sure he wasn't alone. I don't expect anything, but maybe some respect for my feelings, some consideration. He actually asked me to put money on his cash card at CVS because he doesn't want to open an account because child support will take the money. He’s asked me to hold money in my account so he doesn’t spend it. I used to acommodate him here and there but now I don’t do shit bc this is not normal. He disgusts me now.
The windows don't open in the bedroom I'm sleeping in, which is full of my brother's shit he brought back with him when he moved bk. My mom won't call anyone to fix them because "I don't like the way the house looks and I don't want people in here." I have two feet of walking space in the room. Not kidding. So I sleep amongst boxes and bullshit with no ventilation.
The house itself is mostly dark even during the day because heat rises and the house stays cooler if you block the sun, Mom says. So no natural sunlight. She actually asked me to paint her kitchen, which I know how to do, but there's a whole 6 ft 5 man sitting on his ass in your living room, Mom. Why not ask him? I am a divorced mother of two; one of my children is autistic and he's having mental health issues now caused by Lyme disease. His dad and I are trying to keep him from killing himself. I have no home of my own, a broken heart and soul, no real money to speak of (spent on treatments insurance wont cover and therapies), and I have to deal with the negative energy of living here with lazy depressed people who don't seem to care if I'm comfortable or not.
Am I crazy? Am I wrong? I'm in such a stressful state right now, I can't tell if I am. But this feels fkd and weird and dysfunctional.
I don’t understand how they care so little about...so little. I feel bad for feeling negatively about my family. It wasn't this way growing up. Gotta go, they're bickering again. And I need to grab my headphones to cancel out the constant burping and snorting.

Every time you write do it to be a better writer than you were the last time.
Every time you write a story, write an ending and know how the main conflict will get resolved.
Your idea or the basic synopsis of an outline or pitch is not the story.
I often see folks asking about the quality of their general story idea.
When people ask others if their idea is good they do it like a trailer... but there is no product beyond the trailer.
Or, worse, they'll share their basic notes and ask if they are worth pursuing, as though character attributes is what makes a good story.
Does it matter if others like or dislike the basic idea that hasn't even been outlined or plotted?
No, it does not.
Lord of the Rings can basically be reduced to: a small guy has to throw away a piece of trash and it is really difficult.
Would you want to read that if somebody asked you if that was a good idea for a story?
Luckily JRR Tolkein did write it despite the almost ridiculous simplicity of the idea it is built from.
The film The Gods Must Be Crazy also builds a great adventure out of that basic plot.
Whatever you want to write about that interests you is probably the best thing you can write about.
If it truly moves you, it will probably move others.
If it surprises you, it will probably surprise others.
If it scares you, it will probably scare others.
If you genuinely find it funny others probably will, too.
But don't just write something about some subject that intetests others unless it actually interests you, too.
If you like vampires, write your vampire story.
If you like the uncertainty and weirdness of first dates, write a first date adventure.
If you like cruise ship mysteries, write a cruise ship mystery.
Write what you know, and enjoy writing it.
If you don't know the subject and/or find the researching and writing joyless or even pointless, then (unless it's for school or some necessary report or blog or whatever for work) it probably isn't worth your time to write it.
But it's NOT what the story is about that makes it good, it is the way it is written.
So I love this idea because it is very ingenious, it is not mine:

Scientists on Earth are developing a new weapon which would explode light and that scares Aliens and they come to warn us and threaten us and stop us.
If we would explode light, that could cause a chain reaction that would effect all light, everywhere in the Universe, at the rate of quantum tunneling, and that would destroy the Universe.
Humans ignore the warnings and continue with scientific progress toward the Solaranite Bomb, and so the Aliens use electromagnetic manipulation to reanimate the recently deceased to attack Humans, instead of direct confrontation from the Aliens.
This almost leads to a worldwide zombie panic.

It just ends there; this is the basic breakdown of Edward D Wood, jr.'s Plan Nine From Outer Space long and wide considered by many to be the worst movie they have ever seen.
The final bit that I left out is:

Instead of a worldwide panic, an alien spaceship catches fire and blows up... but it is just one of the many alien ships... and then it just ends.

Ed Wood was long considered the worst director and screenwriter who ever lived, though, nowadays thanks to direct comparison with movies like "The Room" and "Vampire Men Of The Lost Planet" readily available at the touch of a finger, we can see that he wasn't all that bad--but was bad--but also had a few glimmers of obvious genius in his work.
What to do with your idea:
A story goes: situation leads to conflict leads to resolution which becomes a new situation or resolves the entire story.
When the primary conflict is resolved, the story ends.
Scene is long and drawn out like a setup and sequel is abrupt like a punchline and it either leads into a new scene or concludes a chapter or ends the whole story.
Your primary conflict and what it leads to could be anything at all but I want to illustrate with this classic exercise:
Get a man up a tree and have him realize he is afraid of heights. Now get him down.
Situation: Man climbs tree. Primary Conflict: Man is scared of heights and cannot get down. Resolution to Primary Conflict: Man gets down.
When the primary conflict is resolved, the story is over
Scene is his climb and sequel is the realization he is afraid to climb down which leads to scene he ponders a way down leads to sequel it won't work OR sequel he gets down.
If it's sequel it won't work and he is still up the tree then that leads to scene he must try something else. Perhaps a stranger will come by and he can ask them to help him down which leads to sequel the stranger climbs up the tree to help or runs away to get help or throws a rock at the man causing him to fall and he is down.
If it is sequel the person climbs up the tree to help, that leads to scene you now have two people stuck up a tree tying to figure out how to get down.
If it is sequel the person runs away to get help then that leads to scene the man wonders what kind of help will come which leads to sequel the person returns with a tool to help the man get down or the person returns with more people.
If it is sequel the person returns with a tool that leads to scene setting it up and sequel the man gets down.
If it is sequel the person returns with an axe and/or a saw that leads to scene cutting down tree or cutting limb from tree which leads to sequel man is down.
If it is sequel person returns with another person that can lead to scene two people help each other climb up the tree and sequel all three are stuck.
Or that can lead to throwing rocks at the man or forming a human ladder or getting the fire department or stopping traffic to get a ladder off a work truck or confusion about the nature of the emergency bringing a poison control unit out to the tree and they park their truck next to the branch so the man can climb down and just before he reaches the ground they grab him and strap him to a gurney and then they go through all standard poisoning emergency activities like feeding him ipecac and pumping his stomach or maybe the army gets called in and there's a miscommunication about troop movements leading to a huge war or maybe a portal to parallel universe opens and the man walks through it and he becomes the tree and then he finds another portal and it comes out two feet above the branch he was already stuck on so he goes back through and no portals open again anywhere ever or maybe anything you can imagine.
But when the primary conflict is resolved, when the man gets down, however he gets down, the story is over.
The hero may get the girl (or guy) and the gold (or fame or power) but as soon as the primary conflict is resolved--as soon as the plans are transported, delivered, and acted on, the story is over.
Consider the plans from Star Wars IV: A New Hope, the recovery of which were Darth Vader's initial reason for overtaking Princess Leia Organa's Corellian Corvette The Tantive IV, those were the plans which she input into Artoodeetoo that "he" has to get to Obi-Wan, plans that Obi-Wan Kenobi has to get to The Rebels, and it is in an attempt to deliver the plans to the Rebels that, along with Han, Luke, Chewie, Artoodeetoo, and Ceethripio, He discovers the remains of Alderaan as an asteroid field, and when Han Solo decides to pilot The Millennium Falcon over to a small moon, to recalibrate the obviously malfunctioning--or is it?--hyperdrive, they all together discover that it's not a moon, it's a space station, but that's impossible because it is over 2,000 km across, and then they have the opportunity to rescue Princess Leia, who they do rescue and who knows how to extract the data from Artoodeetoo and she knows the way to the secret Rebel stronghold hideout where they need to deliver the plans to, Yavin IV, making Obi-Wan redundant, so Darth Vader kills him, which raises the stakes for Luke, who saw Obi-Wan fall, and to whom the stakes are now as high as they already were for Leia, who saw her home planet destroyed; and so, she told Han how to pilot The Millennium Falcon to the Rebel stronghold hideout where Luke would become a Rebel pilot, and, there, she implemented the plans for their initially intended ends which culminates in Luke's destroying The Death Star, which was the space station they had already been aboard, you'll recall, where Luke had seen Obi-Wan fall; and so, Luke got his revenge; and so, Princess Leia got her revenge, since that was the space station that destroyed her world; and so, Darth Vader's dreams were dashed because Han showed himself to brave enough to go into battle and good enough a pilot to shoot him down; and so, the plans, from the very start of the movie, no longer matter because they were Death Star destroying plans and they had been used to destroy The Death Star, in a way that tied-off a bunch of loose-ends at once in a satisfying climax, and the story is over; and the medal-giving scene seems to just be there because John William wrote a heroes' march and they had a bunch of extras standing around, and unused dressier costumes as opposed to the uniforms and casual-wear costumes worn elsewhere throughout the movie, and so, George Lucas opted to include the medal-giving scene, but the story really ended when The Death Star blew up.
The preceding story description will only really make sense to someone who has both watched Star Wars and read the official novelisation.
Your writing will only get anywhere if you rewrite your story so that it can make sense to someone who doesn't have your personal frame-of-reference and cannot imagine through your mind.
A sentence is a noun and a verb: a thing and an action.
A story is a series of statements about characters and/or things doing things with other characters and/or things with other characters and/or things and/or for other characters and/or things and/or to other characters and or things and/or against other characters and/or things generally for the benefit of themselves or to aid or injure some other character and/or thing, or for some greater ideal than themselves in heroic self-sacrifice for faith that this act will help others survive.
Do this for every character in every new scene:
Who? Do this for every character and every action and every perspective.
What? Do this for every character and for every object mentioned and for every specialized location.
When? Do this with every sentence. Maintain a chronology as a fluidly ordered sequence-of-events and actions, and make sure the reader knows the time of day.
Where? Do this for every location, every character, and every object.
How? Do this for every action and for every sequel and for every situation and for every conflict and for every resolution.
Why? This is unimportant unless you really want to spend the time psychoanalyzing your idea of your character and maybe plotting an entire life history, and perhaps even going so far as inventing a whole history and prehistory for your entire world.
Some do.
Consider the chronology of these examples:
The shot that made [EXAMPLE VILLAIN]'s head explode like a snowball thrown hard at a brick wall was fired after [CHARACTER EXAMPLE] picked up the explodiola gun from the table. [CHARACTER EXAMPLE] had leaned forward to grab it by extending their arm across to it, and then they cocked the hammer back whlie they were turning around. [EXAMPLE VILLAIN] called [CHARACTER EXAMPLE] a weenie and, then [CHARACTER EXAMPLE] said "Hasta mañanas, Poopsie!" and finally put their finger to the trigger and then squeezed it back. [EXAMPLE VILLAIN] had been performing [STOCK "EVIL ACT"] and wouldn't stop.
Versus:
[CHARACTER EXAMPLE] leaned forward and extended their arm as they reached their hand across the table and then grabbed the explodiola gun. Then they spun around, cocking back the hammer, and then faced [EXAMPLE VILLAIN] performing [STOCK "EVIL ACT"], and they wouldn't stop, they had, in fact, called [CHARACTER EXAMPLE] a weenie; so [CHARACTER EXAMPLE] said, "Hasta mañanas, Poopsie!", stuck their finger to the trigger and squeezed it back. [EXAMPLE VILLAIN]'s head exploded like a snowball thrown hard at a brick wall.

Not finished yet but nearly done just need to know if it's decent.
Spider-Man VS The Punisher
A man walking his footsteps sounds like mini explosions as a row of computers with people typing on them. The man stops upon a window looking down to a glass cage with yellow electricity emerging from it.
“He's here, he's taking us all out. We need back up. Noooo.” The man looks at one of the scientists saying “wait for him to get here.” The man cleans up his suit and tightens his tie.
“Ohhh you're getting dressed up just for me. I shoulda brought flowers.” The man looks up where he sees a man in a red and blue webbed suit. “I should have killed you years ago. Well after today you will be.” “We both know that's not going to happen Willy. I'll arrest you and you'll escape, Rinse and repeat, it's always been like that.” The man grinds his teeth and grips his hands. “Unleash him.” the scientist looks at him and then at the computer pressing a button.
“Unleash him Fisk are you cheating on me with another hero.” as he says this a bolt of lightning strikes through the glass levitating in front of him. “You must be Spiderman. I'm electro, the man that's been tasked to kill you.” Spider-Man whispers to himself. “This guy's making my spider sense go crazy. I don't think this will go well.” he coughs then says. “Shouldn't you be at the circus.” Electro looks at Fisk and says “Leave Mister Fisk now.” Fisk and the scientists walk out into an elevator. “Don't disappoint me Max.” The elevator goes up with Spider-Man and Electro looking at each other “So electricity man are we gonna start.” He looks down to his hands where they start to glow brighter with electricity shooting out. BANG electricity shoots out his hand Spider-Man just dodging it. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG Spider-Man narrowly dodges the bolts. He creates a continuous line of lightning towards Spider-Man. Cracking Peter tries to dodge it but fails on the ground Peter feels his muscles shut down. Electro walks over to him, shocking him again. “Ahhhhhhh.” He stops Spider-Man trying to crawl away BANG “AHHHHHH.” An alarm goes off as sprinklers also go off hitting Electro causing him to grunt.
Spider-Man using this crawls up a wall into a vent leaving the building Spider-Man takes off his mask feeling the rain hit his face. He hears Fisk talking to Electro below. “Is the job done.” “No, he escaped. The sprinklers set off burning my skin.” “You let him escape. I gave you one job and failed me." Electro looks at him sternly saying “Mister Fisk you gave me these powers and you want me to kill Peter I will. You know where he lives, I can go over there and kill him and his family.” “You will do no such thing. He will not try to kill us if we just go after him he won't understand.” Electro nods and walks away with an umbrella.
Spider-Man looks at his web shooters. “Great, they're gonna have to get the train. May's gonna kill me when I get back.”
Brooklyn, New York, 21:32
“PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T DO IT. I HAVE A FAMILY LOOK. PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING. WHAT DO YOU WANT MONEY, POWER.” A man shouts breaking down in fear of whoever is trying to kill him. “I want to know why you do it. Why commit crime when there's hundreds of heroes. I think I know why though. They won't kill, they won't just take the godam leap and end you scumbags. So I chose to do it myself.” The man says in a deep voice wrapping a cord around his neck. He picks him up, showing him a fifteen floor drop. “No, no, please don't do this.” He starts to cry as looks at him blankly, throwing off the building with him screaming for about three seconds till the man hears a snap. “Good Riddens.”
Queen's, New York, 9:29 pm
Walking into a house a teenager walks in “Peter where have y- My god what happened to you?” Peter looks at his aunt and says “Some people tried to rob me, it's alright May.” “Did they take anything? Did you call the police.?” “No and no May I'm fine May.” He looks at May. “I'll call the police.” “DON'T. I never saw what they really looked like, you'll just waste their time.” She looks at him saying “From now on you'll be back before it gets dark.” Peter nods “Now Peter time for your cake Happy Eighteenth Peter.” Peter looks at a cake with candles on it. He blows them out “Thanks May I'm just gonna go to my room I've had a ruff day.” May looks at him. “Are you sure you don't want some cake I've made? It's your favourite.” “I'll have some tomorrow really.” Peter walks up to his room turning on the TV playing the daily bugle. “Today Spider-Man failed to capture this so-called Lizard. I think he's just too lazy to put in any work. When the police lose a suspect their back on the streets trying to find him but Spider-Man swip swap swoops his way down and destroys peoples properties.” Peter looks at it in a rage “People would have died if i wasn't there yet I don't get thanked but hated. Why do I do this?” He looks at the picture next to his bed of him and uncle Ben. The time when he didn't worry if Aunt May would see him tomorrow. If she'll be targeted by villains. “Ben would call me stupid for doing something like this. Even more stupid I was responsible for his death. I couldn't just tell him where I was, I just had to storm out. He goes looking for me and ends up getting shot. I'm sorry Ben.”
Manhattan, New York, 06:34
“What will it be?” “Coffee, milk and two sugars.” She turns around and the man looks at his watch as he checks the time. “06:36 still have seven.” “It's ready. Have an amazing day.” he hands her a ten and leaves. He walks to an old burned building. Walking in he goes up five floors and goes towards a sniper pointing out a window. He takes a sip of his coffee checking his watch. “06:42 one minute.” A minute later a limousine drives up to a small building. A man dressed in a white and gold suit walks. “Gotcha.” BANG, a single bullet from the sniper shoots the man in the head obliterating the back of his head. He walks away with screams of people running and people shouting. “It's him, Punisher, he's here.” Pointing their pistols in the air looking where the shot came from.
Queen's, New York, 7:45 am
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BE-. Bang Peter hits his alarm destroying it. “Uhh, great way to start the day.” Peter goes to the bathroom brushing his teeth. He leaves the bathroom getting changed into his new clothes then goes to check on his web shooters. “Thank god for the science lab.” Checking his costume he sees it burnt and destroyed. He messages MJ to ask her to bring his spare costume she's working on. He gets his bag and web shooters going downstairs. “Hey Aunt May I'm off to school.” “Not so fast, I've got some cake for you to take.” Petter goes up to May and takes it. “Thanks May love ya bye.” Peter walks out to the school bus.
On the bus he sits next to his girlfriend Mary Jane. “My god Pete what happened to you. Also you suits in my bag.” Peter looks at her saying “New villain in town calls himself Electro.” “You've got to stop doing this Peter really you're going to kill yourself. How many villains do you have?” Peter looks down and says “Well Theirs the lizard, Shocker, Electro, Fisk, Otto Octavius and sin eater. Don't forget about the small time.” She looks at him saying “God why do I put up with you.” “Because I'm irresistible.” She smirks.
A couple hours later Peter only had two lessons left. Peter in the back of his English class looked at his web shooters making sure they still aren't broken and that he fixed them during science. Peter looks at his phone where he sees a notification from the daily bugle saying that sandman is robbing a bank. “Can I go to the bathroom?” Peter shouts. “Sure Mister Parker uh just take the pass.” Peter takes it and leaves. He goes to the janitor's closet putting on his Spidey suit and web shooters jumping out of the window. He looks at his phone while swinging. “Sometimes I wish I had a GPS in my suit instead of needing to use Oscorpe maps.” He swings wondering why sandman is robbing a bank. “He's stupid but not this stupid to rob a bank, especially during the day.” He swings across Queensboro into Manhattan.
When he arrives the swat team surrounds the area with Captain Stacey on standby. Spider-Man drops down in front of him. “Hey.” Looking up Captain Stacey talks to Spider-Man. “Spider-Man good thing you're here we need your help. Sandman has taken over the bank and he has three hostages.” Spider-Man looks at him saying. “Guess you can say things are getting out of sand.” “Sure just when you go in don't destroy much will you.” “I won't captain you know me, just get your officer's to sand back.” Spider-Man does finger guns at Captain Stacey swinging in. “Everyone shut up. I'm gonna pay it off with this score.” Spider-Man slowly swings down “It's ironic that you're named Flint. You know because flint and steel create fire and fire turns you into glass.” “WHAT.” Spider-Man sighs as he launches a kick towards him. He kicks him with Spider-Man going straight through him as this happens he webs his feet and pulls causing him to fall. He goes to punch sandman but punches him through the glass into a police car. CRASH, the police start firing at him but they do nothing. “SPIDER-MAN GET UP.” Captain Stacey shouts at spider-man. Spider-man jumps in slingshotting himself into sandman. He goes straight through him knocking sandman back as well. “Stop this Flint, think of all the good you've done.” He jumps onto the wall looking at a fire hydrant. “Like you've no that won't cut it. Ok you haven't done anything good but that doesn't mean I have to kick your ass again.” Sandman gets up. “You think you can kick my ass again. Not happening.” Spider-Man sighs. “Ok.” Spider-Man jumps down and grabs the fire hydrant and pulls. CRACK, the fire hydrant breaks splashing water all over sandman. “I told you Flint, I always win.” Flint starts to turn into a pile of wet sand. Spider-Man webs the hydrant to stop the water then walks over to Flint. Barely able to keep your normal form. “Screw you.” Spider-Man looks over at the captain. “He's all your captain enjoy.” Spider-Man jumps onto the side of a swat van. “Where do you go when you finish?” “School, besides I'm only missing one class.” Peter says this jumping and swinging away. “About ten minutes getting there. HEY I'M SWINGING HERE. Five minutes there and ten back is enough to miss english.”
Last lesson goes pretty boring for Peter. He's thinking about the lizard and how he escaped yesterday.
Bronx, New York, 15:45
“Nah he'll be here soon. The boss says after today's shipment the police are going to leave the Bronx alone.” An unknown man, clearly a gangster in a suit, is talking to another man in a suit. “Yeah, isn't he worried, though I mean what happened yesterday? You know Freddy.” One of them says “Nah, his new guy almost killed Spider-Man yesterday. He was talking about how he was crawling to escape only got away because of the sprinklers.”
BANG, BANG, The Punisher walks into a restaurant with seven men in suits in it. “HEY WHO LET THIS GUY IN.” The Punisher grabs his M4 and start to spray into a crowd killing three of them. Two of them pull out micro uzi's shooting at him. The Punisher grabs a grenade and throws it at the bar. BANG, The grenade goes and kills the two of them. The other two put their hands up and surrendered. Frank drops his AR. BANG, BANG, He shoots them with his pistol. He walks upstairs where five line a wall of AK's. The Punisher pulls out a stun grenade throwing it at them. BANG, they all drop their guns blind and staggering The Punisher walks in picking up one of their guns firing on them all. He walks to a door with the dead piled up next to it. He kicks it open to see a man in a suit. “I wondered how long it would take for you to find me, Frank. Now I have some you want and in return you'll let me go, unde-.” BANG, “No deal.” Frank starts to pack a duffel bag with money. Once he's done he lights the office on fire and leaves.
He walks to a van getting into the driver's seat. He drives for about thirty minutes to a small house. Walking in he puts the money in the pantree where about fifteen of the same bags are. He puts on the TV playing the news and works on making bullets. “Spider-Man today was responsible for the destruction of one bank. One I go to, when i wanted to go there today I realised I COULDN'T BECAUSE SPIDER-MAN HELPED SANDMAN DESTROY IT AND WHEN THE COPS SHOWED UP HE THREW HIM UNDER AND PRETENDED TO BE THE HERO. Now why do I have to pay for it? Why doesn't he? We know who Captain America is and he destroys a bank because he's civilised and not a maniac.” Frank looks at the TV turning it off and continues working.
Manhattan, New York, 4:21
“PARKER, PARKER, these photos are blurry I'll give you fifty.” Peter looks at him “Mister Jamerson I need a hundred and twenty.” “I need better pictures.” A man walks in “We need pictures Jonah.” He looks at Peter. “Ok one twenty.” He sighs a check giving it to Peter.
Peter leaves and goes to the woman working at the desk in front. “Hey Betty.” Peter gives Betty the check to Betty who gives him the money. “Thanks.” Peter leaves the daily bugle checking phone. He sees that he's missed a call from Captain Stacey. He calls him. “ you at the station up town.” “Ok but which one?” He runs into the alley next to the bugle changing into his costume swinging away. “So which one.” “You won't miss it kid really.” The call ends. “Ok, quite weird but he didn't even say why he needed me.” It takes him about thirty seconds to realise what he's about. In the distance he sees a giant ball of electricity. “Oh no.”
“Where is it?” CRACK, BANG, Electro kills three police officers. Captain Stacey tells all the police officer's to get into the building. “YOU CAN'T HIDE.” Spider-Man swings down checking the pulse of one of the dead police officers. “no. SURRENDER NOW.” Electro flies in front of him. “Or what. At least I'll get to kill you now. Peter.” Peter feels nervous looking around and Captain Stacey shouts for him to get in. “STAY INSIDE CAPTAIN.” The captain goes to one of his men. “Is it ready?” “yeah” Electro shoots electricity at spider-man. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG. Spider-Man webs a man hole throwing it at him. Electro catches it, Spider-Man using this moment slingshots himself punching Electro multiple times. “I'M DONE PLAYING. YOU KILLED COPS I'M NOT GOING EASY.” Electro smirks at Peter creating an emp knocking Peter down. Electro drops to the ground, shocking him. “AHHHHHHH. BANG, AHHHHHHHH. BANG, AHHHHHHHH.” Electro walks up to Spider-Man who is crawling away. “Poor little Peter Parker. Once I'm done with you I'll deal with the ones you love. Rest in piece Peter Parker.” Electro charges his hands then. BANG.
Manhattan, New York, 16:23
Punisher loads his sniper talking to himself. “Really, they would kill me immediately. At least I'll kill this freak.” He toggles with the scope. “SURRENDER NOW.” “He won't do that kid” he waits for a clear shot. “YOU KILLED COPS I'M NOT GOING EASY.” he waits for his moment. Bang “AHHHHHHH.” Electros hands start to charge he lifts them. “bang.” BANG. A single bullet goes through the chest of Electro. Frank picks up his sniper and walks downstairs.
Walking down he sees Electro holding his chest on the ground and Spider-Man next to him barely alive. The Punisher walks up to Electro with a knife. “No please d-dont do this.” He gets close to Electro as tries to crawl away. The Punisher grabs him and turns him around. Fear in Electros eye's “Once I'm done with you I'll deal with your loved one's.” “No please.” The Punisher stabs him in the throat, killing him. “You know kid stay away from fisk for the next couple of days you understand. Deal with that giant lizard terrorising the city. Got me Parker.” Peter just looks as he starts to lose consciousness. “Good.” Gorge Stacey and his men leave the building telling The Punisher to surrender. He walks away as no one dares goes to arrest him. Gorge gets his men to help Peter.
Manhattan, New York, 7:32 pm
“You've got to take it easy kid. The doctors said you could have died.” Peter listens to Captain Stacey saying. “I know but with this guy out there, bloods gonna spill in the streets.” The Captain sighs. “So what are you going to do.” Peter coughs “I'm going to try and find the lizard first.” “Stay safe kid.” Peter jumps of the empire state building swinging through the city calling MJ to tell May he's staying at hers tonight.
Thirty minutes Later Peter hears on the police radio that a giant lizard is destroying Oscorpe. Swinging over he feels the stitches in him starting to rip.
When he arrives he sees a fire and a chunk of the side of the building gone. He swings in where fire and dead security guards are. “W-who is he?.” He hears a continuous clicking sound. “There aren't any alien space hunters down there, ha ha.” He laughs nervously. Suddenly a human sized lizard runs towards him trying to eat him. He dodges jumping on a wall “Hey I'm from the zoo, they said a lizard needed to be put down. That doesn't make sense. I don't kill. Hey no bitey.” He sees on the lab coat he's wearing it says Dr Connors. Still dodging “Connor's wait Curt Connors how did you. AHHH.” The Lizard scratches Spider-Man across the chest leaving a claw mark. Spider-Man looks up and sees him jumping to bite him. Spider-Man cartwheels backwards into a jump webbing his head and face planting him. “If you chill out I'll give you a box of insects to eat.” The Lizard gets up. “AHHHHHHHH.” Spider-Man looks at him. “Uh I don't know what to say to that. Raw maybe." As Spider-Man gets ready to attack, the Lizard's left arm starts to turn grey. It looks at it and runs away. Spider-Man swings after him through the streets of Manhattan “YOU MIGHT UGLY BUT I'M FINE WITH IT YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN.” As he swings the lizard throws a hotdog stand at him. He webs it to a wall and keeps swinging. “SERIOUSLY A HOTDOG STAND IF YOU DON'T STOP I'LL TURN YOU INTO A LIZARD DOG. WELL I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY.” The lizard goes into an alley into a sewer. Spider-Man follows him slingshotting himself in shouting. “YEAAAAH.”
Inside of the sewers Peter looks around and sees only one way forwards. He crawls ol the walls seeIng the destruction Connor's did. “UH MISTER CONNOR'S, CURT, LIZARD, ANYONE. AM I JUST TALKING TO MYSELF, YES, why did I shout that.” He keeps crawling till he hears shouting. “PLEASE I DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.”
Manhattan, Sewers, New York, 19:28
“Where is this freak? This vermin to society.” The Punisher walks through the sewers trying to find the rat killing innocent people. “HISSSS.” He hears a hiss and feels something watching him. “SHOW YOURSELF YOU FREAK OF NATURE.” A black figure crawls out from the shadow. “Tries to hurt me, hurt Edward. AHHHH.” He hisses and screams at him. He goes to attack him but The Punisher unloads bullets from his M4. Vermin shouts in pain “AHHHHHHHH.” Frank slowly followed him. “YOU CAN'T RUN VERMIN. I'LL KILL YOU MATTER WHAT. I'LL DO WHATEVER, YOU'RE COWARD THAT PREY ON THE WEAK.” “Vermin doesn't prey on the weak. I DON'T HAVE CONTROL, AHHHH. Vermin needs to eat, Edward needs to live.” he scurries away. After a minute of walking he arrived in a circular area where Vermin threw him in. “AHHHHH. Vermin will kill you now.” Frank picks his M4 up again, shooting him. He screams crawling up the wall. The Punisher pulls the trigger when vermin is above it and doesn't do anything. He checks the mag to see it's empty. Vermin drops down Scratching Frank across the face. He pulls out his pistol shooting him in the eye. “AHHHHHH, AHHHHH.” Frank goes up and shoots him on the head, killing him.
He hears a scream further down. Going down the tunnel he sees lab equipment and a lizard transforming into a person. “The Lizard, perfect timing.” Limping, he goes over to The Lizard waiting for him to transform. “AHHHHH, AHHHHHHHHH, HELP PLEASE, AHHHHHHH.” Frank just stands there till he transforms. He pulls his pistol out and points it at Connor's. “You're the lizard. What's your name? WHAT YOUR NAME?” “Connor's. Dr Curtis Connors.” Frank starts to pull the triggers. “PLEASE I DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.”
Peter drops down in front of him webbing his pistol. “We don't kill people, understand.” The Punisher grits his teeth “Back off kid really.” “So you can kill him. Like you did Electro. You told me you were going against Fisk, why are you going for The Lizard.” The Punisher smirks at Peter, making nervous. “I wasn't here for him. It's just a coincidence.” Peter stands there wondering what's next. The Punisher runs towards him Peter jumps over him kicking him in the back. The Punisher hits his head knocking him to the ground Peter uses this to web him up.
“Ok we need to get outta here understand.” Connor's nods and starts to pack his stuff. “I won't kill you kid.” Peter looks at him. “Good because neither will I.” “I'm ready Spider-Man.” Curt says to Peter “Alright let's get outta here.” Peter swings Curt Connors out of the sewers
Manhattan, New York, 8:53 pm
“Ok you need a cure. Uhh, I've got it. I'll take you to the Baxter building. Reed can help you.” Connors thinks. “What if he finds me?” Peter sighs. “It's probably got more security than the raft and it's got four of the best heroes in the world in there.” Connors agrees and Peter swings him there.
When he gets there they walk in. Peter shouts. “REED YOU HERE. REED RICHARDS.” “Peter.” They turn around to see Sue. “Hey Miss Richard's I need your help.” She looks at Peter then at Connor's “What's wrong Peter are you in trouble.” Peter looks at her then Connors. “Not me. Have you ever heard of The Punisher?” She looks confused. “Uhh no why.” “He's trying to kill him. He needs a secure place to stay. And he needs a cure to stop him from turning into a lizard.” She looks. “What about you? Will he kill you?” He sighs “No he won't. He just wants to kill villains.” She looks at Connors saying “Reed is out but he'll be back soon he can make you a cure. Be safe Peter this stuff doesn't end well.” Connor's looks at Peter “Thanks Parker I would never expect you to be a superhero. Miss Richards, can you get my family?”
Peter leaves, going to the top of the Baxter building for some peace. “I'm too tired. I just want to go home but I need to find Fisk.” He checks the wound Connor's left. “I'm losing too much blood. My costume is destroyed and I helped the guy escape death. How am I going to explain this to May my wounds? I can't believe it. First day as an adult and I might not live to see the second. Uncle Ben must think I'm stupid.” He shakes his head. “I've got to go to Fisk tower and warn him.” Peter swings to Fisk tower.
Manhattan, New York, 9:01pm
Spider-Man arrives feeling light headed. He swings up to the office where Fisk and his men are sitting. He opens the door, his men immediately pointing their guns at him. “DROP YOU WEAPONS.” Fisk tells his men. Reluctantly they do Peter Limping towards him. “I need to warn you. A guy, a guy is uh is uh going to kill you.” His voice started to slur and he was barely able to keep his eyes open.” Fisk walks towards him. “You two get the medics now.” Peter falls unconscious.
Waking up Peter wonder's where he is looking around and he sees medical equipment. He gets up and walks through a pair of doors into a room full of men and Fisk working at a desk. “You're awake. You've been out for nine hours.” Peter realises that his face is exposed and Fisk notices this. “We all know who you are, Parker.” Peter walks up to him. “Why did you save me? You're goon tried to kill me yesterday.” Fisk calmly got up saying. “Yesterday you came to warn me. I knew why because of the Punisher. When you came here you were close to death. I saved you because. I need you to defeat the Punisher. I've asked every mercenary in this city and it's the same answer. No before Punisher was a myth but now after the men he's killed. The only one who can defeat him is you.” Peter looks at him. “Who's to say I'll stop him.” “Because yesterday you came here to warn me. The only one who wants me dead that can do anything is him.” Peter looks at him. “Where's my stuff.” Fisk clicks his Fingers and one of his men comes over to Peter giving him his phone, suit and web shooters. Putting them on Peter goes to the window telling Fisk. “Thanks Fisk. You really should leave the city.” Peter swings away.
Queen's New York, 6:09 pm
Peter swings through Queens arriving at his girlfriend's house. He goes to her window knocking on it. She wakes up opening it. When Peter enters he takes off his mask. “I can't do it anymore Peter last night you never showed up. I thought you were dead. This Electro almost killed you and the lizard. Peter I ju- AHH.” She screams seeing Peter's face covered in stitches. “I'm not that ugly.” Peter jokes but MJ says. “What happened yesterday.” Peter sits down “It's a long story.”
Manhattan, New York, Sewers, Time Unknown
“DOWN HERE, THERE'S A LAB.” Two police officers walk down the sewers seeing a lab. They both walk into Connor's lab looking around. “What the hey Chris, what is this place? Chris.” Click the police officer feels a gun to the back of his head. “I'm going to take your gun and handcuffs. And Chris is alright just incapacitated.” Frank takes the cop's gun and handcuffs him to a metal pole.
Leaving the sewers Frank feels the cold air on his face. Checking his watch he realises it is broken. He goes to his van and drives off to his house.
When he gets inside he goes to the kitchen checking the clock. “Wasn't down there for long.” He puts on the TV while he makes shotgun shells. “Breaking news this morning we have word that Spider-Man and the Lizard destroyed Oscorpe hours ago, fleeing in the sewers. They also found the cannibal serial killer known as Vermin dead. They say it's a man dressed in black wearing a white skull on his chest. Now I don't condone murder but I want to personally thank this heroe for dealing with someone Spider-Man probably thinks isn't worth his time.” Punisher looks at the TV and at his shotgun loading. “That's all for now J, Jonah, Jamerson signing off.”
Frank goes into his pantree grabbing a bag of cash. He looks in it seeing about hundred and fifty grand. He takes it to his van with him driving off.
Manhattan, New York, 04:41
Frank walks into a small café and enters. “Mister Castle, quite a busy night was it.” Frank walks up giving him the bag of money. “Do you have the thing?” the man clears his throat. “Yes, your coffee is ready. Hot, two sugars and no milk. That'll be one dollar fifty cents.” Frank looks at the bag and at the device he's buying. He picks it up and leaves. “Keep the change.”