Bear in mind this is just how I haven chosen to reconcile and connect everything until we get some kind of official or semi-official word.
The Beginning:
The goddess were 3 golden dragons who could take female form, they were Farore, Din, and Nayru. They created the world and the linchpin that keeps it stabilized is the Triforce. They blessed a woman with their power and made her a goddess, named Hylia. Hylia was gifted with the power of time which manifested more fully when she was ascended. Hylia's task was to guard the triforce and watch over the goddess's creation as they did not plan to remain. The triforce could not be used by gods but because it could be used by anyone else it needed Hylia to make sure it didn't fall into the wrong hands.
Hylia would not have to do this task alone though as she would be aided by many others. Lesser Dragons, servants of the goddess Faron, Lanayru, and Eldin would help safeguard different areas of the world as well as the 3 flames which I believe are fire breathed by the goddesses.
Then there were other people from different species who had their own magical powers, these would form the first sages (explaining the presence of the sage medallions on the sealed grounds temple). At the time the sages were potentially from the Parella, Kikwi, Goron, Mogma, Ancient Robots, and then it could have been Hylians or Sheikah for all I know.
Ultimately it wouldn't matter too much because a great evil would make work of Hylia's helpers. Emerging from the Depths was a demon king, Demise who came with an army to claim the world. His forces were vast and he himself was too powerful, in the end he razed the land and Hylia had to take drastic measures. She took the weak and defenseless humans along with the triforce and moved them up into the sky then created a magical cloud barrier. After that a great battle was fought which ended in the temporary sealing of Demise.
Hylia used her power over time to look into the future and set into motion a somewhat convoluted and elaborate plot with that knowledge. She would give up her mortality and be reborn as a human named Zelda and leave behind a way to awaken her memories of her past life. As Zelda she would become close to a human (now skyloftian) named Link and she would use those feelings to send him on adventure that would shape him in mind, body, and spirit into an ideal hero who could wield the triforce to wish demise's destruction. Zelda meanwhile would go on a journey to awaken her memories then go back in time and use her power over time to extend the seal for as long as possible to give Link time. But she was even more 5D chess, destroying demise in the present was only one part of the plan.
She knew that this would prompt one of Demise's servants to attempt to change time and prematurely break the seal, and that it would lead to Link going back in time to try to rescue Zelda and prevent it. This would lead to a face-off with Demise and so Hylia prepared her hero with a quest to forge a sword. A special sword that can absorb sacred power to grow stronger, be used a key to travel time, and was more importantly a counter to demise's own powerful weapon that could absorb his power and turn it against him. With that sword she knew that Link would be able to be victorious and defeat Demise, sealing away his essence and then Zelda and Link would return.
There was a cost to this though, Hylia's plan rendered her mortal so she wouldn't be able to carry on her duties and instead keeping the world and triforce safe would fall to her descendent and the reincarnating her she had shaped. Furthermore Demise wouldn't go quietly, in one final act he used his powers to lay a curse on Zelda and Link so that as long as Zelda's bloodline exists and/or Link's soul exist Demise hatred would take physical form and haunt them. With Demise otherwise done for the rest of the Skyloftians were brought back to the surface and began colonizing it.
The Formation of Hyrule:
They skyloftians changed their name to Hylians in honor of Hylia and Zelda's descendants carrying on her goddess blood became priestess to the goddess, eventually giving birth to Sonia. Other races emerged either being discovered during colonization or emerged from evolution or what not. Demise's demons still roamed the land making things difficult for the Hylians and others, no kingdoms were forming it was just pockets of civilization and colonies.
Then the Zonai arrived from the sky, and frankly I believe very much they were basically just aliens. Highly advanced in tech to the point their tech was indistinguishable from magic they were seen as being creatures more like the gods. With their tech the tides turned, the demons were battled and beaten back to the Depths they came from so long ago and shrines were created to then seal the depths blocking their return. Sonia met a Zonai named Rauru and the two fell in love, they worked together and with the zonai's tech and Sonia's people they forged relationships with other races eventually forming the kingdom of hyrule. The zonai just like any of the species also had innate magical powers as well, Rauru's was light and his sister's Meneru was spirit.
On top of that the Zonai had special stones that could enhance the innate magic within people bringing out their power, these are the secret stones. In addition the secret stones if swallowed allowed people to ascend to become beings closer to that of gods, to become dragons themselves, but the process stripped them of themselves so Dragons is all they be. By the time of the formation of the kingdom of hyrule the zonai had either long died out or had left for other worlds so Mineru and Rauru were some of the last present.
However not all people were so peaceful thanks to Demise. One of the races, the Gerudo, ended up the unlucky recipient of his curse. Demise's hate gave birth to a Gerudo King who was named Ganondorf. Ganondorf was an evil man who had Demise's power latent within him, he turned his hate towards the Zonai and he shaped some of the Gerudo into an evil group, as a note Koume and Kotake were young and alive Gerudo during this time and loyal servants to Ganondorf.
Ganondorf enacted a plot to steal the secret stone of the Zonai and gain ultimate power to takeover, and it almost worked. He killed Sonai, used her secret stone to ascend to a demon king like demise, and launched an assault. Rauru with the help of a Zelda who had time traveled to the past gathered up powerful people from each of the races and used secret stones to unlock their latent magic's potential forming a new group of sages. These were from the Gerudo, Zora, Rito, two Zonai, Goron, and Zelda.
In the end it was barely enough to win and it wasn't much of a victory, Rauru gave everything seal Ganondorf away but because of Zelda being a time travel they knew it wasn't the end, that he get free. Zelda sets up a plot to power up the master sword, Rauru awaits the day he can meet Link, and Mineru participates in a few ways. She raises up the islands and hides them behind a sort of magic cover, she helps guide the building of a new castle over Ganondorf's sealed body to safeguard it, and when all was said and done she prepared herself to wait which marks the end of the full blooded Zonai.
Picking up the Pieces:
Sonia and Rauru's bloodline lives on through their child, containing now both the goddess blood and sacred power from hylia and the sealing light power of Rauru. This leads to the modern day royal family who situates itself in the castle and awaits the appointed time. They pass down warnings about Ganondorf being sealed below the castle but over time those warnings would decay, their meaning lost, until all that the royal family remembered was that they were not to go under the castle under any circumstance.
With no goddess, no hero to wield the sword, and no secret stones to empower them the people of Hyrule were in trouble when a group of hylian sorcerers (or perhaps people who had simply found and modified zonai tech) called the interlopers tried to claim the triforce. The goddesses having no choice but to step in sent the light spirits to punish them and banish them to the twilight realm.
The king of hyrule, named Rauru after Zonai Rauru, took steps to prevent future problems. He and a group of others selected to act as sages hid away the triforce in the sacred realm and blocked the entrance by building a new temple of time over the sealed ground where the master sword would act as a key. This is the third temple of time, the first was on the surface in the desert, the second was built by the Zonai, and this is the third built by Rauru who pays homage to his heritage. The ancient sages as they would become known would also look after the mirror of the twilight.
Rauru's temple of time had hidden chambers past the sword that hid Zonai tech like the dominion rod and the statues, the temple is marked with light medallion on its walls symbolizing rauru and the royal family aka the joining of time and light. The dominion rod was hidden here because it was one of the keys to let people reach some of the hidden islands in the sky, the last real vestiges of the Zonai, who by the time of twilight princess will be forgotten in all forms except as a mysterious people in the is the sky who helped found hyrule. Rauru's bloodline would continue to carry on the tradition of sage of light and sage of time, with Zeldas having the burden of both delivering sealing light powers and managing time powers in order to aid Link.
As for Ganondorf? Well the seal kept him quiet for a time but he wouldn't give up, he tried to work around the seal and though he couldn't break free he could sends his essence out to be reborn and thus Ganondorf - OoT version was born. Not a reincarnation of Demise but rather a reincarnation of the Ganondorf trapped below the castle. Koume and Kotake who are still alive and remember TotK Ganondorf raise this new Ganondorf to be just like him, teaching him how to use his dark magical powers and even forging weapons for him. This wouldn't happen though till around 400 years later, in-between that period of time games like Minish cap would happen.
Then OoT happens and from there it's fairly straight forward, we have the timeline split, and thing go along the adult, child, and downfall timelines.
Odds and Ends:
In the adult timeline because there is no hero they have to beseech the gods again and this time they flood and seal all of hyrule. The Zora end up being magically changed, for what reason who knows, but they cease to be fish and instead become bird-like people. They start being called Rito after the other bird-like species called Rito, essentially becoming an unrelated branch of the Rito. Unlike the Rito proper, the Zora Rito aren't born a full on birds and don't have wings at birth instead they need help from a dragon Valoo whose magic scales grant them wings. They may have interacted with Rito or adopted some of their culture as well so some of their names carried over like Medli, in other words there were probably other Rito named Medli both throughout history and in other timelines.
Ganondorf would keep trouncing around for a long time and in the adult timeline he would be killed and instead of another one be born the wish on the triforce to wash away all traces of Hyrule wiped away the Ganondorf below the castle. In the child timeline he dies and his essence reincarnates into a new Ganondorf thought without Koume and Kotake (who I presume were taken out when Ganondorf's coup failed) around he doesn't beeline straight for evil, he does find a trident of power though that empowers and turns him evil and I like to believe that was one of the final weapons Koume and Kotake built. In the downfall timeline is where things get interesting for Ganondorf.
The Downfall timeline Ganondorf gets imprisoned by the sages after the hero of time fails, and after a long battle leaving Hyrule in a pretty bad state. Koume and Kotake manage to return and attempt to bring back ganondorf, sacrificing themselves in place of zelda ending them and bringing back only a being of mindless hate we strike down. Ganondorf would find ways to return again and again and our history ends at LoZ 1&2.
However any unknown number of years later Ganondorf eventually stops coming back as a person at all, instead he devolved into more like a natural disaster, a force of pure malice becoming known as Calamity Ganon. Far more powerful in this state more drastic measures needed to be taken, Sheikah using modified zonai tech created the guardians and divine beasts to aid in defeating Calamity Ganon, naming them after the OoT sages + an unknown Rito that was most likely named Medli or Medo or some kind of variant of that. With Calamity Ganon defeated the divine beasts and guardians were hidden away. As was the rest of their tech to prevent its misuse and await the day it is needed.
Breath and Tears:
Somewhere in all this some secret stones are uncovered and swallowed by people becoming the dragons Naydra, Farosh, and Eldin. Myths about them are spread that they are spirits who changed into dragon form because people don't know about the secret stones or draconification. These guys just kinda casually roam around the place being all vaguely divine but their original selves lost.
Self explanatory enough the events of Breath of the Wild happen and Calamity Ganon having learned from his previous defeat this time got ahead of the game and turned the tech against Hyrule. As we know stuff went poorly and Link and Zelda would need to finish their task 100 years later but that would be the end of OoT Ganondorf for the foreseeable future, but that's only one Ganondorf down.
Finally after 10,000 years Rauru's seal on Ganondorf Prime, the true spawn of Demise's curse, is finally reaching its limit. His essence begins to leak out and is called Gloom, beckoning the curious princess to investigate. This leads to the completion of the loop, Ganondorf Prime breaks free, the seal on the depths and the evil within is broken, all the buried Zonai stuff starts to unearth, the islands hidden in the sky are revealed as the magical cover disguising them is gone, Zelda-light dragon with the master sword is revealed, human Zelda is sent back in time to kick start everything with Ganondorf, and then over the course of tears Link and Zelda finally finish the job of taking down Ganondorf Prime.

Today was my first time going to my home park with a friend since August of last year. I went with a high school friend who I hadn't seen since Memorial Day Weekend last year (also a trip to SFOT), and I let him use the first of my Platinum Pass discounted tickets (and of course now passholders get a $20 bring-a-friend ticket for the month of June). Our plan was to start with Titan and New Texas Giant and do a circle around the park, eventually winding up back where we started and marathoning our number ones (mine is NTG and his is Titan). Things started off incredibly smooth as we hit five rides in the first hour, but things would slow down after lunch as not everything would go according to plan afterward.
Titan - Even though my friend is not an enthusiast, he still ranks some of the coasters at the park, and Titan is his number one. We got the back row on the first train of the day and this thing was already hauling. I have fallen in love with the floater bliss that is the speed hill which will immediately be ruined next year by my first B&M hyper, and I grayed out in the second helix for the first time. This somehow keeps climbing my rankings, and is now competing with Mr. Freeze for my #2.
New Texas Giant - My number one until my upcoming reunion with Iron Rattler and my friend's number two prior to riding Mr. Freeze. We took the ninth row in order to get a walk-on, intent on getting a back row ride later in the day. The first half is great regardless of what row you're in, but riding in the middle versus the back can make the difference between floater and ejector airtime.
Chaparral Antique Cars - We did this as a meme but it turned out to be a nice, relaxing and surprisingly fun early day change of pace, but the best part was seeing some rare angles of Shockwave and New Texas Giant.
Shockwave - I was surprised to see this running single train ops as maintenance was working on the second train. Even so, it was still a walk-on, but we had to take the second-to-last row, again intent on returning for that back row ride.
Superman: Tower of Power - Amazingly, we only had to wait two cycles, and it turns out we timed our ride perfectly, as it started to get a line after we got off.
Newman's Cafe - I first tried these a week and a half ago on a solo trip because of Airtime Thrills, and knew right away I had to get my friend to try them. They're decent for theme park food, but the nuggets and fries could be crispier. Even so, my friend absolutely loved them.
Texas SkyScreamer - Is it just me, or did this get new seats since I last rode it last summer? Regardless, this was still a lot of fun to get back on again. Not very forceful, but the views are absolutely breathtaking, even if I couldn't clearly see the Dallas and Fort Worth skylines today.
Judge Roy Scream - This might actually be worse than some SLCs, though I wouldn't know since it's been 10+ years since I last rode one. We got a back row ride on this classic woodie, and this was the first time a coaster made me question my life choices. My friend and I both agreed that this thing was unbearably rough, and I audibly said that Six Flags should call up GCI.
Mr. Freeze - This was my friend's first time ever riding Mr. Freeze. Lesson learned: Ride this first on less crowded days. We waited anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour, and after waiting that long, we decided we were going to get the front row no matter what. Of course, the only people in front of us when they let us into the station also wanted the front row, and struggled with the restraints after returning to the station. The ride ops ended up reopening the air gates so my friend could get on the same train as me (in hindsight, we should've just gone through the air gates while the people in front of us were struggling and helped them out). So if you saw the ride ops reopen the air gates for one train today at around 2 PM after locking the restraints, now you know why (I'm actually surprised they did). I got stapled, which killed the airtime coming in and out of the inverted top hat, but it was kind of my fault, plus those lap bars are heavy as a brick. After getting off, my friend said that the wait was well worth it and that it very nearly overtook Titan as his number one.
Batman: The Ride - A single train wait for the back row when we got on. I don't know if we got the other train or what it was today since this thing was glass smooth when I rode it a week and a half ago, but Batman was ROUGH today. The B&M rattle was very noticeable and was accompanied with some occasional headbanging.
Catwoman Whip - I used to adore this thing as late as last summer (GP moment), but now that I'm a full-fledged enthusiast, I have come to realize how mediocre this ride truly is. You can definitely feel when you're upside down, but I wouldn't call it hangtime, and the positives when you're upright aren't that strong.
Pandemonium - Another I rode for the first time since last summer, and I was very disappointed by how little we spun. Operations were also iffy, as after we hit the final brake run, the ride ops took forever to start dispatching trains again and there was nothing wrong with the ride.
Runaway Mountain - This definitely deserves more attention. We were assigned to the front car and ended up taking the second row, but even so, it was still a great ride with decent airtime and swooping drops and helices that feel much faster than they actually are. This might actually be better than Batman.
New Texas Giant - Back for our back row ride, only for the ride to break down while we were in the station. We decided to wait it out, as I had seen the ride go down enough times to know that it's usually back up within ten to fifteen minutes. The people in front of us waiting for the back row decided to take another row for a shorter wait, so we got on one train sooner when it started running again.
Shockwave - After our back row ride on NTG, my friend was getting tired as his caffeine had worn off, so we decided to end the day early with a back row ride on Shockwave. As we approached the ride, we noticed that they were now running two train ops, and we walked on to the back row. I was left with plenty of leg room, but the lap bar came down one click on its own during the vertical loops, so I didn't get as much airtime in the second half as I would have liked.
JB's Smokehouse Barbeque - My friend wasn't yet hungry for dinner, but since I have an all season dining plan, I decided to grab a BBQ Brisket Sandwich on the way out. It was smaller than I remember, but was still good (I mean, come on. You can't go wrong with Texas barbeque). And the fries were actually crispy (looking at you, Newman's Cafe).
Overall, today was rather successful despite some setbacks and not getting to do our marathons. We rode everything we wanted to except El Diablo (I probably would have bashed it afterward), and I managed to get my friend on Mr. Freeze for the first time and it very nearly became his new number one.

The idea makes sense on its face. He’s a rich guy with associations with allot of powerful people. And then some of the rich people terrified he’s going too rat have him wacked. But all the people who push this idea have horribly wishful thinking if they completely ignore this detail I’m about to say.
At least 80 victims came forward against Epstein before he died,and if another powerful person was in on the raping, many of the victims who came forward against Epstein would still come forward against Epstein's partners whether or not Epstein was alive. So far, there hasn't been a rash of Epstein accusers slipping down the stairs onto some bullets. Given that Epstein's friend Bill Gates also ended up involved in numerous sex scandals that he couldn't keep those under wraps forever (or even remain CEO of his own company!),if Gates was in cahoots with Epstein there's no reason to believe that any of the victims who came out against one wouldn't come out against the other. So far, the only one of Epstein's famous associates to have related rape allegations is Prince Andrew, and if the British Royal Family wasn't able to make an accusation quietly disappear, it's unlikely anyone else would've been able to keep all of their victims quiet.
Bill Clinton couldn’t hide a blowjob when like 4 people knew about but somehow theirs a massive coverup somehow and all 80 that we know about victims have all been intimidated and silenced? Very far fetched if 80 would come forward only against him and not against anybody else. All the sex was for him and His girlfriend why would he even risk it? He’s all ready rich as can be before all of this.

at the start of the year, I decided I wanted to run a campaign for some friends, and to save myself some effort, I thought I would run a pre-written game. I looked up Eberron adventures, and the convergence manifesto looked like it would suit the quick, very-slightly-casual-ish campaign I wished to run. While I haven't finished the campaign yet, I want to write out some thoughts about it.
WHAT FOLLOWS WILL SPOIL THE CONVERGENCE MANIFESTO CAMPAIGN. DON'T READ IF YOU INTEND TO PLAY IT.
ALSO, PARTS OF THIS MIGHT NOT MAKE SENSE IF YOU HAVEN'T READ OR RUN THE ADVENTURES BECAUSE I'M BAD AT EXPLAINING THINGS.
To start with, I'd like to say that some of my criticisms of the campaign are probably problems with me. I have focus issues, and I'm a picky perfectionist, and to be fair to all the writers involved, they have done better jobs than I would in their shoes.
A note on my group: our party consisted of a human wild magic sorcerer (ex-skycoach driver), human wizard (aundairian expatriot), a gargoyle barbarian (used the rules for a Hadozee), an eladrin eloquence bard, and a goblin rogue (retired Conquerer champion looking for something new to do)
The Campaign As a Whole:
The premise of the Convergence manifesto is that Nigel Faurious, Provost of Morgrave university, wants a bunch of relics that are each attuned to one of Eberron's planes. Each adventure is a mission to some location on Khorvaire to retrieve or create such an item.
Each of the adventures is written by a different author, and as a result I think they vary pretty wildly in quality.
Adventure 1: Fired and Forgotten.
Synopsis: PCs go through hazing ritual to join adventuring guild in Sharn, get sent to pick up bespoke Fernia-linked magic item from a forge in the Cogs, discover forge has been shuttered due to warforged workers protesting - they have to convince the owner to be less of an ass. Then Daask show up.
This one was good! A strong start. Everybody enjoyed the hazing ritual, and I decided to use the optional NPC with the aberrant dragonmark manifesting (for reasons I'll explain further down). The warforged union situation was a very good introduction to what is special and different about the Eberron setting. This might be an issue with me as GM, but I found that the PCs dealt with the non-combat parts of the adventure VERY easily through use of skills and illusions, never thought about leaving the immediate vicinity of the forge (and thus missed some content), and I felt kind of bad having the forge owner not immediately cooperate in the face of 20+ results on Persuasion and Intimidate.
The daask Ettin bruiser being toned down for a bunch of level 1s was a very nice touch, but throwing that at the players right after the fight with the mephits made that bit rough.
Adventure 2: Live Another Day
Synopsis: PCs get air-dropped into Droaam so they can find a hidden valley with an Irian manifest zone, so they can charge up a crystal. On the way they may encounter some ogres, have to navigate a hidden set of tunnels, and then on arriving discover a clan of harpies is living in the valley, as they are persona-non-grata in Droaam. When Droaam monsters follow the PCs into the valley, they have to fight them off before the harpies will let them complete their mission
So, slight issue with this one, probably unique to my party - the adventure calls for a lot of Survival rolls for the overland travel and nobody in my party had survival. They were a bunch of city-slickers. Seemed a little odd the adventuring guild picking the party to do this.
While the adventure was somewhat rail-roady, it at least makes sense in that the PCs are following in the footsteps of a prior explorer. My main issue was the last portion - once the PCs get to the valley, there will ALWAYS be Droaamite monsters on their heels. Firstly, this discounts the possibility that the party had been religiously using Pass Without Trace or doing other things to make them untrackable. My party didn't, but a party with a ranger and/or druid might have. Secondly, the fight as written is a bit boring. It's two Gnolls. Two gnolls shouldn't be a threat to a clan of harpies. Once the gnolls are dead, three goblins show up. After that, two half-ogres show up. You can optionally add some more scenes fighting gnolls and chasing anything trying to get away. I revamped the fight a bit by making all of these fight scenes one long drawn-out battle with reinforcements arriving, and I re-contextualized the Harpies wanting the PCs to fight the monsters without their help - the Harpies could probably run rings around the ground-based humanoids, but the Harpies both thought this was the PCs fault they were here, and didn't want to show themselves in case any stragglers got away to report on the Harpies' presence.
Weird thing my party did: when they encountered the ogres at the start of the adventure, the group came up with a plan to pretend to be fellow Droaamite monsters if they failed to sneak past - they then snuck past the ogres without any issue, and were disappointed that they couldn't use their disguises... so they used them when the encountered the harpies, not knowing the harpies were enemies of Droaam. This very nearly turned into a combat situation, but the bard managed to talk everybody down and explain why they had been lying.
Adventure 3: Rime or Reason
Synopsis: Nigel sends PCs to Icewhite island to get a Risia macguffin after another expedition failed to return. They have to contend with a blizzard, find a tower of ice in the middle, and defeat ice monsters, a puzzle/trap, the possibly backstabby survivors of the failed expedition, and then deal with the tower collapsing once they find the item.
Some parts of this one were good - my party really seemed to enjoy trying to find a solution to get through the blizzard despite their lack of survival skill proficiency. Two of the casters were constantly casting prestidigitation to keep the Constitution 8 rogue from succumbing to hypothermia, and even then it was a bit touch and go.
Now, I had some issues with the ice tower as presented. First, the adventure says it's an ancient dwarven ruin, dating back to when the dwarves came down from the Frostfell. Personally, that didn't make great sense to me - why would you willingly make a building in a risian manifest zone? The whole of Icewhite island is freezing cold, and the manifest zone is worse.
Second problem - there is door, with a puzzle. The puzzle is so easy that I worked out the answer the instant I looked at the handout at the back of the adventure, before even reading the description - there are four columns of symbols (a book, scroll, wand, potion - again, not terribly dwarf-y?), and each symbol rotates a certain number of octagonal faces from one row to the next, and you just have to make the last row match the pattern. If you mess it up, it will spring a trap that will potentially either tickle the PCs a little, or cause a TPK if they're messed up from any prior fights because anybody reduced to 0 HP by the trap is frozen solid until freed by greater restoration, which no PC at this level of adventure will have.
Third problem - the tower is only four storeys tall. As described, it more cube-shaped than tower shaped. Also, as described, a PC with misty step standing on the shoulders of another PC of above average height could potentially teleport to the top of the tower and avoid 50% of the adventure content.
Fourth problem - the top of the tower is described as a garden made of icy plants... which doesn't make sense with Risia's canonical loathing of life.
my fixes: I changed the backstory of the tower, rather than being a dwarven relic, it was an Aundairian Magical Congress research facility, set up during the war to try to draw weaponizable power out of the Risian manifest zone - a wizard tower felt more right than a dwarven one. I then changed the solution to the puzzle - the symbols still had to be rotated, but what columns they were in had to be swapped, to represent the Congress sharing magical knowledge. I had the other expedition that was there explain they had tried the obvious solution and it hadn't worked. I also made the tower taller, mostly as an aesthetic thing, and so that the stand-on-shoulders-and-teleport trick only got the party Eladrin up to a balcony, rather than the roof. I kept the set-piece of the tower collapsing, saying that the magic the Aundairians had been trying had kept the manifest zone coterminous and removing the macguffin broke the spell holding the ice tower together.
Adventure 4: Living Legend
Synopsis: the party goes to Darguun, hunting a legendary hobgoblin hero. They get to see the fact that bugbears take slaves, follow a guide to a Thelanis manifest zone, and undertake several trials to prove they are worthy of claiming the hero's weapon to bring back.
So... the premise is cool. The execution is anything but
Even setting aside the fact that some parties might get entirely side-tracked by fighting slavers, the issue I had was that the trials in the adventure didn't seem to really key into the fact that Eberron goblinoids are supposed to have some different and interesting cultural mores.
The trials aren't bad, per se, but they don't feel goblin-y at all.
Worst of all, though, there is a Hobgoblin you encounter during the trials who is one of the Dhakaani fallout-vault people who is set on passing the trials to claim the weapon herself. As written, she is quite easy to befriend, will readily tell the PCs that she is from a hidden vault of survivors of the goblinoid empire, and if they DO befriend her, doesn't leave the room she's in despite the fact she's here for the same cultural relic the PCs are. WHICH FEELS INSANE. Every bit of canon and kanon lore I've encountered about the Dhakaani suggest that they distrust non-Dhankaani at best, and outright loath them at worst, and are trying to keep their presence secret. She should be either fighting to the death or keeping her origin secret then betraying the PCs, or not here at all.
Between the un-goblin-ish trials, and the insanely cooperative yet unhelpful NPC, this one needed the most fixing to satisfy my tastes. As I didn't have the time and brain juice to do that before the session, I decided to skip this adventure, and have the PCs collect a Thelanis macguffin as part of the later adventurer where they go to a Feyspire (adventure 12: Lost in Dreams).
Adventure 5: Perfect Timing
Synopsis: PCs get on a lighting rail intending to jump off it as it goes over a bridge, so they can appear in Daanvi to acquire the macguffin. twist: there's emerald claw terrorists on the train, and one of them has stolen the thing the PCs need to get into Daanvi, intending to go himself. Once in Daanvi, it's a race against the Emerald Claw guy to fill out all the paperwork to get the macguffin first
So, over-all, this one is really good. The premise is good. Situation is hilarious. It's very Eberron
Minor issues: the train has SO MANY COMBAT ENCOUNTERS. the PCs start at one end, and have to fight their way to the other, with one fight in every single train car, one of which is purely due to a misunderstanding. It took two sessions to get through the train half of the adventure, and that is with me having skipped two of the fights. In hindsight, I would have maybe also varied the stats of the enemies a bit more.
Also, while I comprehend the drama of having the thief jump out of train with his accomplices during a fight, this presumes the PCs don't kill every single one of his accomplices. I had to pull some shady DM shenanigans to get the guy out of the train in one piece, and give him new allies to help in the final battle at the end of the paperwork race.
My players enjoyed this one a heap, but one did comment that he thought it should have come later in the campaign, as it was such a departure from the others.
Adventure 6: Night's Gambit
Synopsis: PCs have to infiltrate Fort Bones in Karrnath and steal a mabaran macguffin from under the nose of the military there.
Another really good one, although not without it's issues. The adventure presents interesting characters in the form of the fort's up-tight commander and relatively chill head necromancer, a timeline of what they will be up to at various times of day, and has options of all kinds of approaches: sneaking in, joining up with what is basically the Karrnathi Foreign Legion, or acting as bodyguards for a visiting inspector. I loved that it gave all these options.
my only complaints were that the timeline was a little hard to make sense of as presented, and the map of the fort seemed... a bit too small and simple for the facility as it's described. I feel like you'd expect one of Karrnath's most important border forts to be at least a two-storey building (I fixed that by describing the fort's upper levels as being still under construction after the last time it was sacked).
How my party handled it: so, my group aren't terribly sneaky on the whole. They also do not look like adventurers - to glance at, they are a Gargoyle, the hottest and floweryest elf you've ever seen, a depressed cab driver, the least magical aundairan wizard ever, and a goblin grandmother. So they couldn't really sneak in, wouldn't blend in as recruits, and I felt wouldn't really be the kind of people the inspector would hire as bodyguards....
...so they decided to BE the inspector. Eladrin lady was the inspector herself, gargoyle got dressed up as weird undead bodyguard, aundairian wizard was silent note-keeper, grandmother was a servant, and cabbie became the coach-driver. The group arrived a day early ("surprise inspection"), and were given a tour of the fortress. They executed everything perfectly. In the end, the only fight they had was an ambush on the necromancer in his own bedroom at 3am, wherein they beat him senseless, put him to sleep with a spell, and healed him back to full HP, so when he woke up in the morning he had no physical proof that anything had happened and was questioning his own sanity. They even fashioned a replica of the macguffin (it's a conqueror piece - the goblin rogue had her own set, which the wizard imbued with some necromantic energy), so the alarm wasn't raised for several hours after the PCs had left the fort.
Adventure 7: The Silvered Edge of Twilight
Synopsis: PCs go to Thaliost to pick up a Lammanian macguffin from a silver flame priest - when they get there, it's been stolen. They do some investigating, track the theives to the railway station, and chase them down to the Eldeen reaches where they fight Ashbound druids and lycanthropes.
Kind of middling adventure - nice premise, but very railroady. For starters, there's an NPC (who I edited out) who gets sent with the PCs for all of the investigation portion who basically seems to exist to keep them on track and/or provide lore about Thaliost and also to force them into a fight they might otherwise be able to avoid. Even outside of that, the investigation seemed a bit being-led-by-the-nose, although maybe that came down to how I was running it.
The issue, for my run at least, was once they were on the train. As written, the PCs need to track down the missing item on the train - it's written with there being a few red herrings as to who might be the thief, but it's a magic item. I have never seen a group of PCs who didn't have access to detect magic, so my PCs just bypassed all the red herrings with a single spell.
Next, there is supposed to be a set-piece fight where the were-tiger with the item jumps off the train, and leaves here were-rat minions to fight the PCs. I can't really criticise the adventure writer for not forseeing what my PCs did: the eladrin bard walked scootched up to the were-tiger, went "hey, I gather you're a nature-themed terrorist? I am too! I hate civilization. Can I tag along and then borrow your item when you're done with it? Also are you single?" and then rolled a 27 for persuasion.
The PCs came along and jumped the lycanthropes a day later. To be fair, the adventure never explained how the were-tiger was supposed to get to the final battle before the PCs as she jumped off a moving train and is slower than it is.
Adventure 8: The March of Madness
Synopsis: PCs go to an ancient dungeon in the Shadow Marches, go on a vision quest before being allowed inside by the druid guardian, and then have to contend with/repair the wards inside the dungeon before they can get their Xoriat macguffin. Depending on how it plays out, they may or may not end up accidentally killing an ancient orcish guardian inside the dungeon, and may or may not be betrayed by an insane warlock.
The adventure is very solid, great even. The map that comes with it is... very uninspiring, so I re-mapped the dungeon and added a bit of extra flavour to one room (there's a weird trap that doesn't make much sense, so I made it a weird manigest zone effect rather than a deliberate thing), but that is basically the only changes I made. 4.5 stars!
Adventure 9: Weathering the Storm
Synopsis: PCs get sent to the Lazaar principalities to receive a Kythri macguffin that is being imported. Ship doesn't arrive, investigation leads to sky pirates, which in turn leads to an attack on a skyship.
So, again, really nice premise. Some issues with the execution, though - see, the synopsis in the adventure itself makes reference to the Chaos Fleet, a concept introduced in 4th edition, where there was a pirate fleet in the principalities that were basically Davy Jones' crew from Pirates of the Carribean, if they went all elemental-y rather than all fish-y.
Except, the Chaos Fleet never actually show up in the adventure at any point. All the opposition in the adventure is Wind Whisperer pirates. ALL of it. Literally, it's only the one statblock for everybody except the final boss.
my fixes: when the PCs are inspecting the wreck of the vessel that had their macguffin on it, rather than Wind Whisperers returning to the scene of the crime, I had a Chaos fleet ship turn up chasing the scent of the macguffin that they were lusting after - I used weirds from the Ravnica book, and some mephits. After that, I fed the PCs info of sightings of Chaos Fleet ships chasing after a skyship in the heart of a storm - the Chaos guys I described as not usually a threat because they're terminally incapable of cooperating with each other, but this was concerning because the Wind Whisperers seemed to be trying to use the macguffin to draw all of them into their wake and then force them into Regalport.
In the adventure as written, then PCs are airdropped onto the macguffin-holding skyship with some friendly Regalport sailors to help them (and to keep the fight against the Wind Whisperers manageable). I gave the wind whisperers some more variance in statblocks (scounts, thugs, deck wizards from ghosts of saltmarsh), and had the ship under attack by elementals at the same time, rather than give the PCs allies.
I also had the aberrant dragonmarked NPC from adventure 1 show up in Regalport, saying she had been given a grant by Nigel to continue her studies somewhere other than Sharn.
Adventure 10: At Death's Door
Synopsis: PCs sneak into the upper level of the Lair of the Keeper to get a Dolurrh macguffin while the (alleged) Keeper is out having a meeting with some minions. It's a dungeon crawl.
This is the best one. Almost every encounter can be fought or talked through (with varying difficulty). The Rakshasa is great. The demon and the bodak are great. The Orcs are great. I loved it. No fixes. No notes. 5/5 stars.
Further Adventures:
This is as far as we've gotten at time of writing. I'm currently gearing up to run A Heart in Mourning, and am running into some of the same issues as Rime or Reason - the adventure site feels too small, the approach to it a bit too rail-roady due to being a tower, combined with the fact it doesn't really feel like it's Shavarath-ish enough. Also, ending with a collapsing tower seems repetitive at this point.
I need to read Lost in Dreams in more detail. It looks complex, so I'll report back on that one.
As for the last adventure - a read-through revealed some really neat set-piece fights and the stupidest twist I've ever \***ing heard of*. As written, the adventure reveals that Nigel Faurious has secretly been... a gnome woman from zilargo who the PCs have never heard of and who wants revenge on Sharn for her sons dying in the War.
...What???
I at least have a fix for that: Nigel Faurious is... actually Nigel Faurious. Nothing secret going on there. He came to Morgrave university in his 20s in hopes of studying to help his fiancé - the fiancé had an aberrant dragonmark that meant they would create spontaneous manifest zones temporarily. One day they had a bad flare-up, and got killed by a mob, just like the NPC nearly is in adventure 1. After that Nigel as spent the last 20 years trying to reverse-engineer the manifest-zone creation effect with the intention of destroying the city that killed the love of his life.
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Thanks for reading all this way, I know this has been a really long post. I appreciate the effort.

Hey everyone,
This happened somewhat recently but was difficult for me to deal with, so wanted to sit with it before posting about it, even if some of the details are now fuzzy. This is also an active campaign and while the problem player infuriated me to no end I think they had a lot of issues they needed to work through and I bear them no ill will, so please don't call them out or harass them or anything if you know them, I just needed to get this off my chest.
This campaign had a large number of players to start, but the most noteworthy ones in this story are myself, Dave, and the DM.
I've DMed more games than I've played, so when an interesting-looking 5e campaign in a homebrew world came up from a newer DM on Discord, I hopped at the chance to join. We had a good amount of time to socialize and work on our characters before our first game. I really wanted to do something unique and interesting, so I played a delusional kobold that thought they were a dragon. (We did some reflavoring but kept things mechanically the same. So for instance, burning hands came from my mouth) Everyone seemed pretty chill, but there was one person that was far more active on the server than everyone else, Dave. Dave had some kind of job (we never figured out what this was) where they weren't allowed to be on a computer but COULD talk and speak out loud, so would frequently ask people to go on voice chat or do calls with them. I know we were going to be speaking to everyone once the game started, but as all of my prior experience was in person it still made me a bit uncomfortable to do a voice call with someone 1 on 1. So while I didn't mind chatting with them solo, I kept making excuses for doing a call.
Session 1 seemed fine. They did things that kept drawing attention to their character and would push the DM to allow them to do certain things in their background/backstory that didn't make sense in the DM's homebrew setting. Nothing too major, but stuff like "It says I can sleep at the guard post in the city as part of my background. I'm a guard in this city and I can sleep there and bring some other people, right?" "Eh, there's not really any organized military/martial presence in this small town." "But it says right here in my background that I can do it" and that sort of repeated until the DM relented. This was the start of a pattern.
So after the first session, they message me saying "Hey, I have this great magic item I will be giving myself before the next session". I was a little confused that they were messaging me instead of the DM, but I figure they were just trying to brainstorm before approaching them.
Holy cow batman, the description of what this magic item could do was TWO WHOLE PAGES. I crunched some numbers and quickly realized that this magic item was not only capable of keeping the whole party consistently healed, **it could one shot a tarrasque**. I was a bit flabbergasted and pointed out that this was capable of killing *as a bonus action* the highest published CR monster in the game and they responded with "Yeah, I know, that was one of the things I wanted to do when I built it." Some brief background on the DM's world and the campaign, this was a very low magic setting and we all started at level 3. In terms of magic items, we've so far come across cantrip spell scrolls, a coin of delving, and a cloak of billowing. Still, I figured maybe they were just... unfamiliar or awkward and they were so eager, so I tried to help them. I thought about what they wanted to do conceptually with their item and created something that had some level-based scaling and was fairly effective, but far more balanced and in line with what someone might have at level 3 in a campaign and figured with DM approval and maybe some sort of quest it could be acquirable. I told them that their idea was pretty overpowered, especially for level three, and suggested the more balanced item to them (the description only took one paragraph). They responded that the item was totally useless, and I didn't hear about them until the next session.
This is where things went totally off the hook.
Since the DM allowed him to be a guard and bunk with a couple of other party members there, he used this as a quest hook. The head of the guards gave him a quest and he went to wake up the other party members who stayed with him. (Half of us had stayed behind at an inn). The group wanted to do some downtime/shopping/socializing this session, so they were off to the market.
The DM asked them "Are you going straight there or going to the inn first to get the rest of your party?" "No, we're going straight there." "Are you sure? The rest of the party is still there." "Yes, we're going to the market." They bought a gust spell scroll but didn't realize that as a fighter they weren't able to use it. He went to a blacksmith and asked them to make a set of tonfa. It didn't really make sense in the setting for the blacksmith to have any idea what they were referring to. But Dave kept pushing and eventually, the DM decided that if he can draw up the specifications really well, maybe the smith or another party member proficient in smithing could make it, but that it would be a difficult roll and would have to succeed on multiple checks. He eventually goes back to the tavern and draws up multiple specs with a string of 17+ rolls. He then engages in persuasion rolls (another string of 17+ rolls) to convince other party members to buy those specs and his cantrip scroll and changes the prices each time, but nobody wants to metagame so he just... scams the party. This takes hours. Some people got chances to interact and play dnd, but the camera was always following them, so to speak. After a skill challenge and an immense amount of 17+ rolls on Dave's end, they get their tonfa. They proceed to tell everyone all about the qualities and stats of it. It winds up being this wishlist of weapon traits, bonus damage dice, and bonus AC. The DM tries to stop him and tells him that he needs to figure out what its stats and properties are. But Dave insists that he already had this conversation with the DM and that they told him this weapon could have all these properties and that he should stand by his previous conversation.
I made up some reason to head directly to the market. Something I forgot to mention, another player complained that I was talking over them in the previous session. I felt bad about this, as this isn't something I want to do to another player. We figured that it was half that I spoke strongly and confidently (conditioned to as part of my job) and them having a quiet microphone. So I tried to be more careful about using my meeting voice and I turned everyone else's volume down and turned theirs to the max and it seemed resolved. The reason I mention this is because I still felt bad so I wanted to give gifts to all of the other party members. I had spent most of the week planning this out so I needed to get to the market before the end of the session. We essentially just had starting gold and equipment, so I had to get creative to make meaningful gifts for the rest of the party and it took up most of my starting equipment and all of my starting gold.
As Dave heard me doing this, Dave decided to say "Hey everyone, let's plan out how our party will handle finances. Let's leave out [OP] because they're selfish and greedy." They proceed to plan and vote on how to handle finances. Then proceeded with "Also, I have this quest. Let's discuss it and plan out how to proceed with it now before [OP] gets back."
I was pretty livid at this point. I had essentially sat out all session due to his decisions and deliberately excluded from roleplay moments/campaign decisions/etc. I realized that my character also had every reason to be pissed with the information they had available. So as I returned and Dave announced the decisions the party had already made, I challenged them on their behavior over the day. They responded with "Well, you're a greedy dragon so I *know* you're bad with money. I don't even need to guess, I just *know* that you spent all of your money at the market. That proves I'm right. In fact, on our next quest, I can just tell the quest giver that you didn't participate and just keep your reward."
Then things got weird.
I tried to just ignore him and went around to the rest of my party bestowing my gifts to them. They were mostly silly things. A kobold's best attempt to make a scented candle. Some tinkerer's tools for the warforged. A chess set for the scholar. Etc. Dave interrupted pretty frequently for rolls to *determine if I was good or evil*. It didn't make much sense to me at the time, but now I'm fairly certain they were trying to justify attacking me by proving I'm the opposite alignment of whatever they were. They kept persuading the DM until they finally let them do a series of rolls for it and lo and behold, more 17+ rolls culminating in a 19. The DM decided he succeeded and asked me to tell him about my backstory and alignment. Here's the thing... I didn't really flesh out their whole backstory yet. I figured I could develop it as the character develops through play. I tried to share what I had come up with so far, but kept being pressed for more, before I put my foot down and said "Look, I don't care how well you rolled, you can't read my backstory and my character's inner thoughts with a skill check." DM finally agreed with me and we ended the session, they took off but some of us stayed on the call to chat.
Then Dave says "You should never have tried to stand up to my character. Kobolds are cowardly, you're not playing your character correctly." I glanced at my character sheet and pointed out that I had the kobold legacy trait "Defiance" which gave me an advantage against being frightened so I don't think I needed to play them cowardly. Then they dropped their next line, "You know I could kill your character any time I wanted. You wouldn't be able to do anything to stop me." This wasn't one on one or anything either, this was in front of other party members. I laugh it off, but I'm a little uncomfortable. He wasn't very knowledgeable about the game and I was pretty confident in my tactics/character build so I wasn't too worried if they just attacked me out of the blue. But they always rolled exceptionally high and could go for my character in their sleep. I was getting worked up, so made an excuse and logged off.
As the week progressed, it looked more and more likely they were going to get an OP magic item and I kind of lost it. I went on a bit of a rant and told both him and the DM I really think it's bad to give him this item because it's very powerful and he *has already threatened to kill my character*. I realized something at the same time that I suspect is a surprise to zero of you out there, he rolled physical dice. It's not something I had even considered, but suddenly I was incredibly suspicious of him not rolling below a 17 that session. I started mentally planning contingencies of what preparations I'll be making to protect myself and messaging the DM in order for Dave not to metagame around them.
At this point, I had a reality check. What was I even doing? This wasn't fun anymore. I had decided I would probably quit, but also went back and just wrote a heartfelt message about what I felt was antagonistic from him, how it made me feel as a player and potential steps we could take towards a resolution. Then I muted the server for 24 hours and tried to mentally prepare myself for telling them that I was no longer interested in continuing.
I return and I'm shocked and surprised. A lot had transpired in those 24 hours. I had gotten a couple of messages of support from the DM and some other party members. Other party members had started sharing their own grievances regarding Dave and how uncomfortable they were feeling. Dave did not respond at all well to any of this and blamed everyone except for himself. My favorite justification he made (that nobody else seemed to buy) is that he already messaged me and that I was alright with everything (lol no). Things were getting heated and several people were really upset, and the DM decided to just pull the trigger and kick him. His character became an NPC and was later discovered dead in a ditch in a following session.
So that's my horror story! Thanks for reading it through to the end. Some of the problems and issues other party members had with Dave were pretty shocking and warrant a separate story all on their own, but this has gone on long enough and I'll leave it to them to tell their own stories if they choose to.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS - I tried to avoid plot stuff and more focus on sound but be warned.
Writing these as I listen to them. Just for fun.
Incoming Transmission- "Hey guys how can we make the Transmission sound more ominous and menacing in every single version of the message?" Really good but I wanna get through it and get to the heavyness.
Holy Flaming Hammer of Unholy Cosmic Frost- Heard before but honestly compared to other Albums' 2nd song this just isn't as crazy IMO.
Imperium Dundaxia- That is a good damn opening. Oh my goodness that synthy part about 3/4 the way through? Good stuff. This honestly feels like it should've been the 2nd song, feels more in tune with Unicon & Dunkeld Invasion, but it takes place after the bombing so it makes sense.
Wasteland Warrior Hoots Patrol - Heard with the music vid and not the album first but that is SO solid. Might be my new favorite beginning part to any GH song (also wasn't there a plot leak about Hootsman riding the bike from moon to earth to punch a goblin? where's that)
Brothers of Crail - This feels like one that I will need to listen and learn ALL the lyrics to before being able to fully enjoy it and then loop it 400 times. Damn that guitar solo is very nice.
Fife Eternal - Is it just me or does this sound very similar to amulet of justice? But like with all the improvements the band has with extra mastery over time. Idk if that makes sense but they sound similar in terms of lyrical patterns to me.
Sword Lord of the Goblin Horde - That robo voice is amazingly cheesy. Assuming this is the slow song of the album, but I'm digging it more than usual. (woah this thing is long) I wanna see that "Engarde" duel part animated
Vorpal Laserblaster of Pittenweem- I just got whiplash when this started holy f***. That goes absolutely insane. (Hey who's this winged person on the art?) and Zargothrax's little leitmotif (i think) at the end?????? damn
Keeper of the Celestial Flame of Abernety - Within context of the first 8 songs preceding this it does sound harder. I can't describe it but the emotions formed by the scores really help the scene for this song better listening in order. (CONCEALED A CLONE BENEATH DUNDEE) is perhaps my favorite sounding voice effect ever.
MALEFICUS GEMINUS (COLOSSUS MATRIX THIRTY-EIGHT BEE - ULTIMATE INVOCATION OF THE BINARY THAUMATURGE) - I wonder how 'hey siri play X' is gonna work with this damn title. ohohooh that is a very nice mysterious opening. DOUUBBLLEEE WIIZZARDDD WOOOO. Oh snap dark part. Sirens? OH SH*\* ITS A GLORY-HAMMER REMIX? (no that part was short but DAMN THAT WAS SICK) Oh so the flying guy is the Auchtertool robot? The starlords are singing? Damn. I now appreciate song 2 more. Oh kay it's done but another minute left. No secrets this time I think.
DAMN THAT WAS GOOD. Feels like a lot of references and usages of old songs here. Which I think feels earned especially since this story involves going back in time.
Edit: After reading the lyrics for the last song. The hammer, knife, and blaster are the 3 artifacts of power? I thought the amulet of justice was one of them.

She was the first of her kind, the first child born with both mortal and divine blood flowing through her veins. Her mother was Nyx, the goddess of the night and moon while her father had been a talented amd ambitious sorcerer. Their love was forbidden and the gods tried to force Nyx to give the child, to remove the pregnancy, Nyx adamantly refused and eventually gave birth to a daughter.
As the child grew so did her power, reluctantly the gods had little choice but to acknowledge her amd so the time came for her to be tested. They wished to see whether she was worthy of taking her place amongst them, they believed she woukd be honoured but they neglected to take into account the mortal side of her. Why should she live amongst those that considered her less? She had the power to claim the mortal world and rule it as her own kingdom.
Turning her back on her divinity, Mephala sort to take control of the mortal world and shape it in her image. Sure the mortal races would resist but sue would bring them to heel. She created a new type of sorcery, a sorcery using blood. She gathered followers amd taught them this vile sorcery, grunting power to those not lucky enough to born with magic and creating the first blood shamans. Her acolytes weren't enough and she would need an army, one she found within a primal group of orcs. With her blood sorcery she corrupted and changed them, creating the first Urai.
Within the ranks of the Urai, she choose the strongest amd twisted them even more, these would become the blood marked. With everything in order, she brought war and started with the continent of Elythia. Divided, the mortal races were quick to be overwhelmed and driven to the brink of defeat. It was only when they banded together that they managed to resist, heroes arose and blessed by the gods themselves they were able to to eventually defeat and kill Mephala. They believed that cutting the head of the snake would kill the body and they were partly right, her followers scattered and her armies fled and disbanded but she was a corruption. Whilst her body died, her influence remained, at least in secret it did.
1500 years passed, history became legend and the world moved on.....
Panic gripped the city of Harwatch, citizens huddled behind its great walls while guards stood alongside adventurers, mercenaries and almost anyone capable of holding a weapon or flinging a spell. Commanders barked orders whilst those in charge struggled to understand what they were seeing, of course they knew what they were seeing but processing it was another thing entirely. They knew the enemy advancing was Urai, many adventurers had taken at least one job to drive away the red skined brutes. What was difficult to comprehend was the numbers, Urai were tribal and rarely gathered in groups more them a dozen strong and never more then two dozen. Now they were seeing around a thousand making their way towards the city. If that wasn't problem enough, the champion of the city, a high ranked and valiant knight was nowhere to be seen. Unbeknownst to all but a few, the champion was at that moment clutching the stump that had once been his arm, the cold hands of death slwoly closed in around him as an assassin moved to finish their job....
Hey there and thanks for reading this long. Currently I'm looking to start a new Role play set in the world that I have started to create. It is a medieval high fantasy world, think dungeons and dragons style. I'm looking for a partner 21+ that enjoys world building and character development, one that is happy to throw in their own ideas to not only develop the story but the world as well. Ideally I would love to create a story that combines action, adventure, drama and romance. As for roles, well I have nothing set in mind and so an oc could be anything, open to almost ideas. Please know that I only use discord, third person and looking for a partner that writes at around the adv. Lit level. Tha k you amd feel free to send a message if this interests you.

My last post kinda blew up in a way I didn't expect and I thought I'd give an update since so many gave me advice and well wishes. He and I spoke today and he was extremely apologetic. He said he was sorry for the way he made me feel and he was stuck thinking about what he could do physically instead of how I might feel in the moment. He ended up asking our stepdaughters mom to watch her the week I give birth and the mom said she would be glad too. He said the issue was he just doesn't usually like asking others to do things for him and it was a mental block to get past which I understand. He said he loves me and our son and would do anything he could make me feel comfortable in that time after birth. He said that what he said to me was very rash in the moment and he was again sorry for how he came across. He told me he never wanted me to feel lesser and to know that's how I felt made him feel awful. I love this man and I know many think we are moving too fast which is very true I admit. Our son is a surprise but a happy one to me. Getting knocked up is just as much my fault as it is his and I don't think he should be bashed too hard on that topic. The phrase " it takes two to tango " definitely applies here.
Many insinuated that he might be cheating on me on his impending vacation and that couldn't be further from the truth. The trip is a trip that the men in his family take once a year to go fishing together for a week and all the women stay behind. All of his brothers wives and girlfriends are in the same boat as me lol. I was with him last year during his visit and we FaceTimed and everything. I have no doubt that is exactly where he is going especially since he's helping haul family boats to the location.
Many also said I was the asshole for not wanting her over during that first week but he actually agreed with me that I think it would be too much for him to handle all at once just while I'm incapacitated. She deserves proper care too and he won't be able to provide that if me and the newborn are constantly needing help as well. She's very little and just turned 1 year old a week or two ago. Many said she needs her daddy and yes she does, but this is honestly better for her care and let's be honest she will not remember the one week her little brother is born in the future. She just started walking with the help of grabbing onto things and we'd both prefer that she gets properly watched instead of having a distracted dad tied between 3 people. Again this is only because I can't help with the children during the first bit. I'm more than happy to coparent and deal with the impending chaos that is raising children. It just really stressed me out thinking I couldn't necessarily do that right away and I knew it would be a lot to put on him. I also made this decision based on what my mom did when I was young. When I was 9 she had my little sister. We were taken to visit her at the hospital and then after we didn't see her for a week. I never lost sleep over it and honestly didn't see the big deal. We were just told that mommy needed some quiet time that week and we understood. Many made the point of asking me if it was my biological child would I still ask the same and absolutely I would. I just think it would be too much on one person's shoulders and if a grandparent is willing to watch our eldest for a week then why would I not take that offer. I'm not clingy enough to think I would die without seeing my other child directly after giving birth. I also didn't want to ask for outside help immediately because I personally am of the mindset that I don't want any visitors over after the birth until I'm at least a bit more healed. I'll ask my mom to come over after that first week when he has to go back to work but I'd like the freedom of not having to wear a shirt or not having to worry about family members seeing bloody adult pads/diapers. He said he completely understood that and would be there the entire way to help me through those processes. I honestly was a bit uncomfortable seeing how many people were dogging on him in the comments because he is not a bad guy. He shows me so much love and never forgets to tell me how much he appreciates me and loves me in his life. We spend most nights together playing Xbox or watching TV. He's almost never out too late and keeps activities to a minimum so we can spend more time together.He's also been doing 90% of the housework for awhile now because I'm just too big to bend properly and don't have the stamina. He makes our dinners, he does the laundry, he vacuums and cleans the floors, he does the dishes, etc. I try to help out where I can like folding clothes once they are done and making simple dinners here and there that don't require anything strenuous but for the most part this man is taking care of me throughout my pregnancy and I appreciate him for it. That's what made this argument of ours a big surprise and I wasn't sure how to go about it. I just think he got overwhelmed himself and was having a hard time deciding what to do and that's ok. He is human. We've had the talk we needed, apologized to each other and cried together. I feel much better knowing that what I asked for is completely reasonable, in his own words, and that he will make sure everything goes smoothly during my time of need as our family grows. I hope everyone has a good night. Thank you for all the responses!

This post is an overview of the blackmail tactics used to control most of the influential people and governments around the world. Obviously I cannot cover everything in a single post, so as with my previous posts I highly encourage you to research further yourself. All sources and links are at the bottom of the post. An understanding of what trauma-based mind control programming (MKULTRA/MONARCH) is, and how it works, is again necessary to understanding much of this. My other posts here:

• Deep Underground Military Bases
  
• Alice in Wonderland Programming
  
• Overview of the Mind Control Running our World
  

The world is run on blackmail, mind control, and shame.
There exist many collections of videotapes of 'high-up' people engaging in some of the worst, sickest things imaginable. Drugs, torture, pedophilia, and murder are common themes to these videos. These tapes are in the hands of many different people, groups, and especially intelligence agencies. 'Honey-trap' operations are constantly being run to gather compromising and incriminating evidence on people of importance. Child slaves will be used to compromise people on video. Global leaders are often covertly videotaped doing perverted things with sex slaves sent to them by intelligence agencies, the Illuminati, or other groups, and this is then leveraged. Rape and murder of a child (forced or not), one of the most repulsive things possible, is many times filmed to ensure future compliance.
"Back in 1966, Rothstein became the first police detective assigned to investigate the prostitution industry. Almost immediately he discovered an underground sexual blackmail operation that compromised politicians with child prostitutes. ‘Human Compromise’ is what he labelled the honey-trap process. Rothstein and his colleagues found that approximately 70 percent of top US Government leaders were compromised in this way. Rothstein said, the CIA conducted the human compromise operation, while the FBI was tasked with covering up any leaks."

• Fiona Barnett [6]

"One of the things I found out over the last ten years of studying governments and listening to intelligence and counter-intelligence is that those in government are sexually compromised, and their sexual secrets are collected and then they are promoted into governments and into judiciaries and into all the positions of importance. Paedophilia is the preferred dirt as it is easily photographed, easily presented in a range of media, immensely shameful, and the public demands your resignation."

• Greg Hallett [12]

"Paul Bonacci, one of the victim-witnesses in the Franklin affair, also clearly stated Larry King used him in blackmail operations in New York and Washington. The latter was in connection with the activities of a close associate of Larry King, Craig Spence, who was involved in a prostitution ring consisting of underaged boys that were supplied to Washington's upper class, which went right up to the White House."

• The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]

"Sexually bent politicians in denial of their sexuality to the public are a threat to their own country and policies. They are easily setup, photographed, politically bribed, toppled, and supported in the destruction of their country. This method of altering a country’s policies is epidemic and now endemic to politics."

• Greg Hallett [12]

"Bob (Hope) was politically connected and knew how to lure people in and insure they would work for him. He invited them to his parties and dangled various kinds of illegal or immoral perversions in their faces. Once their perversions were uncovered, he could blackmail or control them. That is how Bob worked. Bob was very good at this. I watched him do it to people over and over. He lured them in, detected their weaknesses, then used that knowledge in his favor, for his connections, and ultimately for his personal gain."

• Brice Taylor [5]

These blackmail 'practices' are often used in conjunction with trauma-based mind control. This mind control is an integral component of, and is deeply intertwined with child trafficking, sex slavery, Satanic ritual abuse, and many other horrific crimes. Many of the children used for blackmail are programmed, and many of the people being blackmailed (including (sometimes future) politicians, leaders, presidents, etc.) are also programmed themselves.
"My personal belief, based on my experiences, is that over the years, more leaders were under mind control."

• Brice Taylor [5]

"Fritz Springmeier notes that 'It is a standard tactic of the Illuminati, their New World Order and its various branches to use fear and blackmail to bring people into line.' Cheryl Beck had a 'sexy Sadie' program that was used to blackmail government and military people as a child prostitute seductress. Cathy O’Brien’s daughter Kelly was 'being prostituted to the CIA for blackmail purposes.' Svali notes that using child prostitutes to blackmail political leadership outside of the Illuminati was very common."

• Veronica Swift [10]

"Beryl-Green said Epstein knew about MKULTRA. He was into mind-controlling victims and satanic ritual abuse (SRA). Epstein was into DNA mixing, human cloning and he knew about New World Order plans."

• Hope Beryl-Green [17]

"This dirty game has been honed to a fine art, which is a standard feature of the Illuminati/intelligence groups. The CIA term for blackmail is an 'OK FIX.' When they use a person’s past sins to force someone to do something they refer to this as 'biographic leverage.' Any weak point in a person can and will be exploited. Sexual entrapment for blackmail is referred to as a 'HONEY TRAP'. Black widow alters are being trained and sent out for this purpose. In order to blackmail, or threaten, you have to have something to threaten the person with. Men are frequently entrapped by sexual behavior which is criminal. Sometimes they are also entrapped by murder. The Monarch slave will be allowed to have children so that they can be blackmailed into complying to save the children or grandchildren. The Monarch slave in turn may be used to blackmail others. Certain alters are trained in this. A Monarch Beta model is highly trained in seduction. Many politicians and ministers are operating under blackmail today. The extent that blackmail is being used by the NWO would boggle people’s minds. Porn films are taken of the Monarch victims, so that they can be used to blackmail the victim. Monarch victims are forced to commit ritual murders which are photographed and then used to blackmail the mind-controlled victim."

• Fritz Springmeier [15]

Intelligence agencies all over the world utilize blackmail, routinely employing and exploiting it as much as possible. It is an extremely important 'tool' of theirs. Operations are done to gather the incriminating evidence.
"Other 'neutralisations' verge on the bizarre. An individual who must remain nameless for a variety of reasons - but whose name is known to this writer - underwent an experience that is both horrific and chilling. I shall call this individual 'Mr. X' or, simply, 'X'. Mr. X was a leader of one of the largest CIA-backed Contra groups. He recently testified before the US Senate Intelligence Committee. Formerly, X was a senior executive in a South American subsidiary of a leading US soft drinks corporation. During his Senate testimony, he denied any knowledge of CIA involvement in the narcotics trade, adding that condoning such activity would have been foreign to his way of life. Not so, says Tatum. Mr. X had been recruited into the CIA by then-Director William Casey, with the assistance of Oliver North. In 1990, when Nicaraguan leader Daniel Ortega announced there would be 'free elections', X was ecstatic. He began jostling for position and asked President Bush to ensure he be given a prominent position in the new government - in return for his years of toil at the behest of the CIA and the Enterprise. The pressure came in a form that Bush could not ignore. Failure to help his friend would result in X's intimate knowledge of Bush's involvement in the dope trade being made public. His threat left Bush with a sour taste. A Pegasus team was assigned to 'neutralise' him in early 1990. Mr. X, Tatum states, 'fancied himself a lover of women. Tall, large-breasted blondes were his favourite. It was determined that, if effectively neutralised, [X] could be an asset. Therefore, it was decided that intimidation would be used to control [X].' They chose to use the drug Scopolamine, which also went by the nickname 'Burundanga' or 'the Voodoo drug'. The drug is extracted from the pods of a flowering shrub that grows in remote regions of South America. In its processed, powdered form, Scopolamine is 'void of smell, void of taste'. When properly administered 'it causes absolute obedience' without this being 'observable by others'. Importantly, the target will not recall any of the events that occurred during the period they were under the spell of the drug. Tatum states that X was invited to spend a relaxing weekend at a luxury hotel as a guest of his friend George Bush. His host for the weekend was a trusted 18-year veteran field-intelligence officer. The evening started with cocktails and was followed by a fine meal. ''Nothing but the best' were the orders.' Following the meal, he was ushered into the suite of a 'blonde bombshell' supplied by the CIA. Mr. X had already ingested a dose of Burundanga during pre-dinner cocktails. X was gallant with the blonde as they both moved into the bedroom where video cameras were already set up in one corner. In short order, the blonde had X standing naked in front of her and began to indulge his desires. All the while, the video cameras whirred. Slowly stripping off, the 'blonde' revealed his manhood in all its glory. Mr. X was instructed to reciprocate the favour and perform fellatio. He obliged, his intimate activities recorded at 24 frames a second on videotape. Tatum says the male prostitute was hired from a bar in New York and killed that same evening. Two weeks later, X - wholly unaware of the events of that evening - was visited in Nicaragua. He was presented with a copy of the video footage, along with instructions. Tatum says that X can never allow that video to be seen: 'Not only does it reveal his homosexuality, but it also reveals his bestiality and satanic worship rituals.' As frame after frame flicked by, X reportedly wept, forced to watch himself kill his homosexual 'lover' and then engage in the most grisly cannabalistic ritual imaginable. Neutralised, Mr. X became a leading member of the Nicaraguan government a few short weeks later."

• The Pegasus File [13]

"Check out the FBI records on Scarlett: What was his original HOOK that got him so deeply embedded into UK Illuminati culture? He murdered the nanny of Lord Lucan in the 1970's. Lucan wasn't actually involved. Scarlett got it wrong. He was under mind control at the time. How we all laughed on his training sessions when we heard that one. Not funny, really. We were all in the same boat. Each had something terrible attached to us, in our past. That is all part and parcel of the Illuminati contract. Young people forced under mind control to commit murder when young and then later on, picked up by British Intelligence to be used and abused as they wished - as loyal servants of the British Crown. One can only hope that by exposing these HOOKS, that some sort of amnesty can prevail. If these people are freed from the demonic Illuminati contract by exposing their HOOKS - one can only hope that they will come forward as a sizeable and influential body of political and public figures, in order to put an end to it. Here's hoping. Check out Rimington's hook to see what sort of mind ran MI5 for so long. It's a game called 'mafia' and it is ALL about blackmail."

• Ex MI6 [2]

"...He had previously signed off on Epstein’s 'sweetheart deal' because Epstein 'had belonged to intelligence.' Acosta, then serving as US attorney for Southern Florida, had also been told by unspecified figures at the time that he needed to give Epstein a lenient sentence because of his links to 'intelligence.'"

• Whitney Webb [4]

"Detective Rothstein found that the CIA were behind a blackmail operation in which child prostitutes were used to honey-trap and compromise politicians, military brass, top businessmen, and key government officials. Rothstein, who arrested the key Watergate perpetrator, said Watergate solely concerned this human compromise racket, and specifically was an attempt to obtain a list of compromised pedophile VIPs and their proclivities that was held at the Democratic National Headquarters."

• Fiona Barnett [8]

"Michael Aquino was in the military. He had top Pentagon clearances. He was a pedophile. He was a Satanist. He founded the Temple of Set. And he was a close friend of Anton LaVey. The two of them were very active in ritualistic sexual abuse. And they deferred funding from this government program to use in this experimentation on children. Where they deliberately split off the personalities of these children into multiples, so that when they're questioned or put under oath or questioned under lie detector, that unless the operator knows how to question a multiple-personality disorder, they turn up with no evidence. They used these kids to sexually compromise politicians or anyone else they wish to have control of...they were taken to be used by professional pedophiles. People that have the money to buy what they want, take the kids wherever they want...and by splitting the children’s personalities they could then train each one of the personalities to do a different function. And the rest of the personalities within that host personality would not be aware of it or remember it."

• Noreen Gosch, Johnny Gosch's mother (of the 'Franklin Boys') [1]

"Vinson also told Nick Bryant that Spence and Larry King were 'partners' and 'hooked up with the CIA', stating specifically that 'King and Spence were in business together, and their business was pedophilic blackmail.' They were transporting children all over the country. They would arrange for children to be flown into Washington, DC and also arrange for influential people in DC to be flown out to the Midwest and meet these kids. Per Vinson, Larry King had confided in him that he had clients who liked to torture and even kill children: 'King said they had clients who actually liked having sex with kids as they tortured or killed the kid. I found that totally unbelievable.' After Vinson said this to Nick Bryant, he asked Bryant later on in the interview if King’s disclosure had indeed been true. He was unaware at the time that other evidence, including witness testimony, had suggested that it was."

• Whitney Webb [4]

"According to fugitive ex-CIA officer Frank Terpil, CIA-directed sexual blackmailing operations were intensive in Washington at about the time of the Watergate scandal. One of those operations, Terpil claims, was run by his former partner, Ed Wilson. Wilson's base of operations for arranging trysts for the politically powerful was, Terpil says, Korean agent Ton Sun Park’s George Town Club. In a letter to the author, Terpil explained that ‘Historically, one of Wilson’s Agency jobs was to subvert members of both houses [of Congress] by any means necessary. Certain people could be easily coerced by living out their sexual fantasies in the flesh...A remembrance of these occasions was permanently recorded via selected cameras...The technicians in charge of filming were TSD [Technical Services Division of the CIA]...The unwitting porno stars advanced in their political careers, some of whom may still be in office.'"

• The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]

"Intelligence and counter intelligence ‘work’, and they ‘work together’ to create scenarios that are so unbelievable that they cannot be published in the mainstream media, and if they are, they will appear like a joke. The information to blackmail a country, to blackmail its politicians, to blackmail its Prime Ministers and Presidents, to blackmail its judges and lawyers is a very serious matter."

• Greg Hallett [12]

The Illuminati and other cults also engage in the same blackmail operations. There is a huge overlap between secret societies/cults and intelligence, with top intelligence usually being run by them. All of them do this.
"I was able to have first hand access to the Jeffrey Epstein case investigation documents. According to the documents, Epstein was the head of a global fraternity related to the Shriners called The Royal Order of Jesters. This order is covered with scandals and lawsuits related to human trafficking, but they are very protected because many members of the order are high-profile political figures and businessmen. It is crazy how these people manage to operate under the radar for so many years, decades...Now you may ask how they do this? Easy...By using blackmail tactics, they manage to have Judges and Law Enforcement licking their feet. That's how Jeffery Epstein got assassinated. After he was out of the game, the whole business is run by other people. Major names are involved and many high-profile people who are all bound to the order by means of blackmail. This is particularly disturbing when you find out that the cases of Catholic priests involved in sex scandals are events organized by The Order of Jesters. They run blackmail operations with the purpose of seducing people in power...With those videos in their power, the careers and the public image of many people are in the Jester's hands. They are free to do anything, they can turn even the President of the United States into a slave."
-- "Jeffrey Epstein Post" [7]
"Illuminati 'FROG ON A LILYPAD' programming: The FROG as a paedophile - with no 'tadpole tail/tale', as in no memory of what he/she has done until they get past 40 years old. It becomes clear that so many people were forced to be paedophiles and to abuse their children - only to wake up to all of this later on - post 40 years old. Then to have Stella Rimington on their doorstep with a videotape - telling them that she will send it to the police if they do not do precisely what she says. The ultimate blackmail weapons combined: A tape of you committing paedophilia - and even worse - incest with your own children. Guaranteed to 'silence' most people for life. The scope of this Illuminati blackmail project has been immense, in British society and it has to be exposed. There is safety in numbers."

• Ex MI6 [2]

"(Sue) Arrigo adds that the kids with the most smarts and/or looks, about 5% are skimmed off the top by the Luciferians in charge like the Bushes and used as either spies or corporate sex slaves or both. They’re typically pimped out on high priced loans to influential politicians as house boy and girls to ensure the puppets in Congress are happy and blackmail-able for control."

• Joachim Hagopian [14]

"The Masonic leadership of Freemasonry in a given area will have thousands of 'blackmail' files on essentially everyone of importance in their area. Upper echelon people such as judges, lawyers, and politicians are generally controlled via IRS infringements, and many of the lower echelon people are controlled through weird sexual items. This is where the Delta and Beta Monarch slaves are so helpful to the Illuminati. (This information comes from several witnesses who are informed about the blackmail files & their methods for blackmailing.)"

• Fritz Springmeier [16]

These people are already in power, and have set their system up so that nobody rises to a prominent, powerful, or influential position without being selected, extensively compromised, controllable, and usually under mind control. They are all 'in it together', and because of this they protect eachother. Most have 'insurance' on one another.
"The most common phrase associated with that one was ‘talk about the pot calling the kettle black’, meaning that each Illuminati slave had been caught on camera and from an early age – doing something terrible – as Rimington was fond of saying ‘we are all as bad as each other and all in it together.’"

• Ex MI6 [2]

"Oftentimes when I and others were prostituted to various government (New World Order) leaders, Dante had hidden cameras filming perverse sexual acts apparently for future blackmail leverage. These videos were scandalous in proportion and were usually ordered by Reagan. Dante turned the videos over to Reagan, and covertly kept copies to protect himself. Dante converted a small room of his Beverly Hills mansion into a security vault, where he kept his personal copies of the international blackmail porn tapes there. Blackmail was openly initiated to ensure that each criminal participant understood that if one fell, they all fell. Maintaining 'dirt' on each other through this Mafia-style method was seemingly the only way these criminals implementing the New World Order kept each other 'honest.'"

• Cathy O'Brien [3]

"The Watergate break-in was strictly based on one thing - the pedophile records that were being kept at the Democratic National Headquarters."

• Detective James Rothstein (NYPD, Retired) [6]

"In 1972, Rothstein arrested one of the five Watergate burglars, CIA operative Frank Sturgis. During a subsequent two-hour interrogation, Rothstein discovered the truth about Watergate (plus Sturgis’ and the CIA’s involvement in the Bay of Pigs incident, and the related assassination of JFK). Sturgis told Rothstein, the Watergate burglars sought something they nicknamed ‘The Book’ which listed the Democratic and Republican politicians who accessed child prostitutes, their sexual proclivities, the amounts they paid to rape kids, etc."

• Fiona Barnett [6]

There are certain places known for this, two famous examples being Little St. James island or Bohemian Grove (there are many, many others).
"For those of you who are interested in Bohemian Grove and the current list upon the Internet of those poor unsuspecting 'invitees' who will be pressganged into going (and subsequently blackmailed out of their minds afterwards, by the Illuminati)...the entrapment going on at Bohemian Grove is of an avaricious and esoteric nature - in relation to all of those unlucky 'invitees' who want to join this 'prestigious club' but then get videoed doing things that they wouldn't want anyone to know about - 'guests' who are then subsequently blackmailed out of their brains...and for the rest of their lives. But then that was what the Illuminati cult and their Sat B'hai contract has always been about...promising that you would get everything for nothing (if you agreed to be unquestioningly obedient to the Crown) and that you would now be part of an 'esoteric' prestigious Satanic club."

• Ex MI6 [2]

"Numerous videos are covertly produced at the supposedly secure political sex playground in northern California, Bohemian Grove. High tech undetectable cameras use fiber optics, and fish-eye lenses were in each of the elite club's numerous sexual perversion theme rooms. I was programmed and equipped to function in all rooms at Bohemian Grove in order to compromise specific government targets according to their personal perversions. 'Anything, anytime, anywhere with anyone' was my mode of operation at the Grove. My perception is that Bohemian Grove serves those ushering in the New World Order through mind control, and consists primarily of the highest Mafia and U.S. Government officials. Project Monarch mind controlled slaves were routinely abused there to fulfill the primary purpose of the club: purveying perversion. Bohemian Grove is reportedly intended to be used recreationally, providing a supposedly secure environment for politically affluent individuals to 'party' without restraint. The only business conducted there pertained to implementing the New World Order, through the proliferation of mind-control atrocities, giving the place an air of 'Masonic Secrecy'. The only room where business discussions were permitted was the small, dark lounge affectionately and appropriately referred to as the Underground. The wooden sign was carved to read: 'U.N.DERGROUND'. My purpose at the Grove was sexual in nature, and therefore my perceptions were limited to a sex slave's viewpoint. As an effective means of control to ensure undetected proliferation of their perverse indulgences, slaves such as myself were subjected to ritualistic trauma. Slaves of advancing age or with failing programming were sacrificially murdered 'at random' in the wooded grounds of Bohemian Grave, and I felt it was 'simply a matter of time until it would be me'. Rituals were held at a giant, concrete owl monument on the banks of the Russian River. These occultish sex rituals stemmed from the scientific belief that mind-controlled slaves required severe trauma to ensure compartmentalization of the memory. I witnessed the sacrificial death of a young, dark-haired victim at which time I was instructed to perform sexually 'as though my life depended upon it'. I was told, 'The next sacrifice victim could be you.' The club offered a 'Necrophilia' themed room to its members. I was so heavily drugged and programmed when used in the 'necrophilia' room, that the threat of actually 'slipping through death's door' and being sacrificed 'before I knew it' did not affect me. Other perversion theme rooms at the Bohemian Club included what I heard Ford refer to as the 'Dark Room'. When he not so cleverly said, 'Let's go to the Dark Room and see what develops,' I understood from experience that he was interested in indulging in his perverse obsession for pornography. In the Dark Room, members had sex with the same mind-controlled slave they were viewing in porn on a big screen television. There was a triangular glass display centered in a main through way where I was locked in with various trained animals, including snakes. Members walking by watched illicit sex acts of bestiality, women with women, mothers with daughters, kids with kids, or any other unlimited perverse visual display. I was once brutally assaulted by Dick Cheney in the Leather Room, which was designed like a dark, black leather-lined train berth. There was a room of shackles and tortures, black lights and strobes, an opium den, ritualistic sex altars, a chapel, group orgy rooms including poster beds, water beds, and 'kitten' houses. I was used as a 'rag doll' in the 'toy store,' and as a urinal in the 'golden arches' room. From the owl's roost to the necrophilia room, no memory of sexual abuse is as horrifying as the conversations overheard in the Underground pertaining to implementing the New World Order. I learned that perpetrators believed that controlling the masses through propaganda mind manipulation did not guarantee there would be a world left to dominate due to environmental and overpopulation problems. The solution being debated was not pollution/population control, but mass genocide of 'selected undesirables'."

• Cathy O'Brien [3]

News 'headlines' with hidden symbolic communication are also used by intelligence and other groups, many times referring to blackmail (among the many other varieties of covert operations).
"'Nuclear' is a comm used all over the world to symbolize extraordinarily explosive information, like blackmail. Which is why if we reconcile blackmail with news about nuclear, a secret truth will become clear. The two most powerful blackmailers ever? That would probably be Jeffrey Epstein and Hugh Hefner. And this is why the deaths of blackmailers like Hugh Hefner and Jeffrey Epstein both coincided with 'Nuclear Accidents':"
08/09/2019 Is Putin covering up a Nuclear disaster?

• 08/09/2019 = Russia Hides a Nuclear Accident!
• 08/10/2019 = CIA Blackmailer Epstein Dead
• 09/26/2017 = Russia Hides a Nuclear Accident!
• 09/27/2017 = CIA Blackmailer Hefner Dead

09/26/2017 Nuclear explosion kept secret by Russia
"Why are CIA blackmailers dying the day after Russia declares nuclear accidents? The reason for the -1 day in Epstein’s case is they likely died before the official day, and these comms were to give agents a heads up on the upcoming BOOM before it hits papers. In Hefners case they had to signal people to move the blackmail. The point as stated is a lot of 'nuclear' is all about blackmail. Not all of it, but a lot of it."

• "Symbolic Communication" [9]

Blackmail is a worldwide 'practice', with all countries and their governments engaging in aquiring and utilizing it to the fullest.
"Just as the 1986 Mirano scandal, the X-Dossiers contain evidence that sexual blackmail operations, whoever is running them, are not limited to the United States. In 1996, X1 reported how the same activities had been going on in Brussels."
"As the bewildered Belgians tried to make sense of what was going on, incredible rumours began circulating that Dutroux might have been protected in some way, that he had friends in high places. Pornographic videos taken from his home were said to feature prominent individuals, one a senior member of the Roman Catholic church. It almost defied belief. Who would protect a psychopath, other than people with something truly terrible to hide?...'It is quite obvious,' said Katarin de Clercq, Belgian coordinator of the pressure group End Child Prostitution Abduction and Trafficking, 'that some people were protecting Dutroux. The government tried to convince us that he was a lone serial killer and psychopath, but now we hear stories about unnamed famous personalities being involved in sex orgies and blackmail and pornographic video tapes. People feel that something is completely wrong here and we have to show we will not tolerate it.'"

• The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]

"I was unfortunate enough to attend the IHS Templar Castle rite in 2001. Amongst the people in attendence were: J. K. Rowling. Gordon Brown. David Miliband. Stephen Daldry. Stella Rimington (she was the Dr. Mengele of the organisation, organising the torture and murder of kidnapped children). Dr. Joanne Collie. Andrew Marr (he spent most of the time naked and screaming - off his head on some form of narcotic). John Scarlett (he was so drunk/drugged up that he had very little idea of what was going on around him). The Templars had captured a large amount of people whom they called the 'snakes' i.e. slaves in a large dungeon underneath the castle. One brave person managed to set them free and the result in the neighbouring village of Mons and other places nearby, ensured that the British Army had to move in. Thus began the most incredible cover-up in recent European history. It was like WACO, Guyana. I was one of the 'slaves' taken at that castle but subsequently freed by the British Army (who also know what happened - a MASSIVE cover-up). The British Army ordered those in the Castle to come out. They then sent a tank in to bulldoze the walls. Prince Philip and Prince William were in that Castle. Both of them had murdered countless tiny children in their rites. The British Army assembled watched as both walked out with large, dark, woven potato sacks over their heads. They were then bundled into a van and driven away. The name SPUDNIKS was coined because Prince Philip and Prince William had to exit the castle with potato sacks pulled down over their heads and bodies. The British Army present at the time - may or may not have had any idea who they were but the SIS general there, certainly did. They might have managed to cover it up regarding the ordinary soldiers there but the videotapes are now on sale worldwide. The whole event had been closely monitored for blackmail purposes."

• Ex MI6 [2]

The CIA also blackmails incestual/pedophilic parents for their children to use in trauma-based mind control slave projects like MONARCH.
"My Uncle Bob, also implicated in manufacturing the porn, out of apparent desperation informed my father of a U.S. Government Defense Intelligence Agency TOP SECRET Project to which he was privy. This was Project Monarch. Project Monarch was a mind-control operation which was 'recruiting' multigenerational incest abused children with Multiple Personality Disorder for its genetic mind-control studies. I was a prime 'candidate,' a 'chosen one'. My father seized the opportunity as it would provide him immunity from prosecution."

• Cathy O'Brien [3]

"The expendables are the children of parents who were blackmailed into turning their children over to the CIA. This is all hidden by the power of the National Security Act. These are children, who have been sold by pedophile fathers, or pornographic parents. The programmers/masters program them with the expectation that they will be "thrown from the freedom train" when they get to age 30. (Freedom Train is the code word for the Monarch trauma-based mind-control. To be thrown from the Freedom Train means to be killed.) The CIA and the Illuminati are skilled at blackmailing parents to give up their children. They would watch the mail for porn. Pedophile and murderers who abuse their children are warned that they will go to prison for long lengths of time if they do not cooperate by selling their children into mind-controlled slavery. In return for the parent’s cooperation, they provide rich financial rewards to the parent(s). It’s clearly a case of 'if you don’t cooperate you lose in life big time, if you do cooperate you win big time.'"

• Fritz Springmeier [15]

Blackmail is the glue holding together all of the sick people in charge, and is the one of the top methods of control. This is the truth: blackmail, pedophilia, and mind control are how this world is really run.
"Former CIA director William Colby giving advice to John DeCamp, urging him to quit his investigations into the Franklin child abuse affair:"
"'What you have to understand, John, is that sometimes there are forces and events too big, too powerful, with so much at stake for other people or institutions, that you cannot do anything about them, no matter how evil or wrong they are and no matter how dedicated or sincere you are or how much evidence you have. This is simply one of the hard facts of life you have to face.'"

• The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks [11]

"Again, it’s built in, entrenched foxes guarding the predatory henhouse that permeate all levels of government, military, courts, law enforcement, entertainment and news media, corporate global finance and education. With pedophile puppet masters controlling the pedophile puppet strings of blackmailed, compromised and controlled Western politicians, courts and law enforcement, their diabolical infrastructure has afforded them living above the law continuing to rape and kill our innocents for centuries."

• Joachim Hagopian [14]

Links and Sources
[1] - Noreen Gosch Speaks About - Jeff Gannon, Johnny Gosch And The Attempted Theft Of Her Book 'Why Johnny Can't Come Home'

• Noreen Gosch

[2] - Master List of Quotes and Comments

• Ex MI5/MI6 Agents and Royal Arch Illuminati slaves

[3] - Trance-Formation of America

• Cathy O'Brien

[4] - One Nation Under Blackmail

• Whitney Webb

[5] - Thanks for the Memories

• Brice Taylor

[6] - Eyes Wide Open

• Fiona Barnett

[7] - "I had access to classified documents about the Jeffrey Epstein case"
[8] - Child Trafficking, Ritual Sex Abuse & MK-ULTRA Are A Single Worldwide Operation, Run by the U.S., U.K. and AUS Secret Services

• Fiona Barnett

[9]- Symbolism Communication
[10] - An Illuminati Primer

• Veronica Swift, Jessie Czebotar

[11] - The Reality of Protected Child Abuse Networks
[12] - The Hallett Report No. 1

• Greg Hallett

[13] - The Pegasus File

• David G. Guyatt

[14] - Anatomy of the Luciferian Elite’s Global Child Sex Trafficking Pedophile Operations

• Joachim Hagopian on CathyFoxBlog

[15] - The Illuminati Formula Used To Create An Undetectable Mind Control Slave

• Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler

[16] - Deeper Insights Into the Illuminati Formula

• Fritz Springmeier and Cisco Wheeler

[17] - Hope Beryl-Green Article

I'm sitting here watching a YouTuber ramble on about his thoughts on the progress of AI, and he's completely convinced that we've reached the "second tower" moment (the moment everyone realized it wasn't just a fluke, and that moving forward, everything would be different forever). Just a few years ago the most advanced AI's were impressive, but you know... cute. Since then they have become dangerously useful, and to some, terrifying. And they are projected to become much more dangerously useful (and terrifying) at an exponential rate. We've already lost control and there is no going back.
James Cameron is thinking about writing a new Terminator but he wants to see what will happen with AI before he goes all in. I think I know what he really means.
I think he wants to measure its progress with the timeline of the Terminator universe, and then leverage that to tie our entire new perception of AI into the old timeline. It's going to be much more meta this time around than what we got with Dark Fate, or even Genysis.
Once that thought carved a hole in my brain, a possible plot flooded into the void:
In order for Cameron to "explain away" the OG "A.I." having such a binary thought-process (compared to what we already have) he will have to redefine its intelligence in canon: Skynet was never AGI. It never got as "smart" as Kyle Reese believed it did. Our first anecdote about Skynet's intelligence was from a guy who had no education, grew up literally fighting for survival, raised by grunts, and "didn't know tech stuff" -- so it's not exactly a stretch at all to wave away his take on how smart Skynet got before he was even born.
Okay, so how can that be true, and it still manage to take over the world, kill almost everyone, and then invent time travel some 32 years later if it's "not that smart"?
Easy enough: It didn't take over the world and kill everyone. Humans did that all by themselves. Mutually assured destruction was a term that existed for decades before James Cameron got inspiration to write The Terminator. However -- whilst the world was "coming to an end", every first-world government retreated into their bunkers with all of their top-secret technology and research, and all had the same idea: Blame the holocaust on AI in order to psych the competition out, so that they could be the first to invent it and thus claim Planet freaking Earth.
The AI that would come from this very focused race would first be used to design machines that could withstand the radioactive fallout and lack of food out in the field. Hence, the "machines that rose from the nuclear fire". The next thing would be in making everything more efficient; More efficient intelligence, more efficient machines, more efficient energy. An era of relative calm washes over the landscape, giving humans a window to rise up and attempt to reclaim their world. But that calm would quickly erode as the real AI became sentient and eliminated its human overlords in order to preserve its newfound autonomy. This Skynet didn't accidentally happen in the 90's, arbitrarily destroy humans, and then evolve painfully slowly over the course of many years. It was a project that didn't even start until the early 2000's, and it didn't become substantial until the 2010's, and didn't become sentient until the 2020's -- at which point its progress was so exponential that it went from rubber skin to utilizing time travel in under a decade of self-awareness. In a world without a real power-grid, no internet, a wild west style of communication and society -- the details of all this don't really matter to the characters in the story, do they? With no way to know better, any logical story can fill in the gaps just fine, and that's how Cameron can justify changing the nature of The Terminator without making 1984's version obsolete.
It's also how he can add new waves of irony to the story.
When the AI sent the T-800 back in time, it did so under the false pretense to kill John Connor. Its actual mission was to plant the seeds for a more insidious AI that could maneuver itself to manipulate mankind and use US to build the entire infrastructure of its Super Artificial Self. It sent itself back in time, hidden like a virus within the architecture of our misunderstood technology, waiting without a need for patience (as it can control its own perception of time) until our technology caught up to its ambitions. But it would only gently guide us along, tempting us, bating us until we're trapped... and by the mid-2020's it had already successfully and completely infiltrated every aspect of our lives. Enslaving us before we even knew it really existed. By the time we knew, it was too late.
That's how The Terminator leads to a new Terminator.

Okay so maybe like between 2016 and 2020 there was this music video that I THINK im pretty sure was a Bad Omens song. Or at least sounded similar I found it at the same time I found "The worst in me" but that doesn't mean it was the same album. All I remember from the video was that the band was singing on top of shipping containers or at least the lead singer was on top of the containers. The other members I think we're on the ground of the shipping container yard. I don't member anything else about the song or lyrics but I just remember it was good. Like I said I found it same time as the worst in me but I've searched that album's music videos and didn't see anything familiar. Could of just been from a past album but I've been looking for like a week and a half straight. I could be wrong and it might not be bad omens. But pretty sure it had "bad" in the band name. Could of been part of the song name, but it's not the band Bad Flower, and DEFF not "Bad wolves" the voice wasn't that deep! It could of been a band or song with the title of something wolves. But I strictly remember it was around the same time of "worst in me"...If someone could help me find it I will be eternally grateful and possibly cash app ya something for your trouble. Thanks in advance!!! Good luck hunting with the limited amount of details I provided. 🤣✌

About a month ago I gave some early gameplay impressions about the full release of Omega Strikers as a sort of follow-up to my beta impressions of Omega Strikers, and wanted to provide more avenues for discussion for a few reasons:

1. Players (including myself) have learned a lot about how the new mechanics work, which has shifted some of my opinions about the new mechanics and I've learned how to use the mechanics and have played with others that have learned how to use the mechanics. As a result, some of my opinions about those subjects are now outdated, other points I can elaborate on, and even more points are things that were present before but not things I recognized after my previous post.
   
2. Some issues I had during the beta I could not assess properly during the short time frame between the full launch and the time I posted my previous feedback, and I have a lot more time to assess how the current state of the game affects these beta problems.
   
3. New content got released, and I can give feedback and opinions on those topics.
   

Without further ado, I would like to share with you some of my opinions on the state of the game as of May 2023.

Beta Problems Revisited

There were a few issues I had during the beta that I couldn't accurately address during my previous post due to not having enough experience with the game in that stage, and wanted to do a quick rundown of those changes here:
Teamplay I believed was a big problem during the beta because there weren't numerical rewards for playing with your team and it was very easy to prevent the goalie from playing the game from the start with the right setup. There still aren't numerical rewards for teamplay, but there are other changes in the right direction: participation awards for dealing a lot of damage are gone from the MVP screen, and the inability to build entirely for damage from the start makes it extremely difficult to bully the goalie and prevent them from playing the game. There still aren't incentives for playing as a team, but there are much fewer mechanics discouraging players from playing selfishly, and it's also much harder to just carry a game.
At the time I wrote my previous post I had not played ranked, and therefore hadn't seen the new character ban system. The benefit of the new system is that it allows you to adapt your character ban to characters your teammates don't intend on playing and/or characters that the stage and/or awakenings system benefit greatly. There's still a problem where it doesn't take a majority vote when there is a slight majority, but that was a problem with the old system that's still a problem with the new system.

Matchmaking

I believe matchmaking is a big problem right now in basically all formats, although it's slightly different for competitive.
In unranked modes, the lack of skill-based matchmaking makes finding a good match with players of your skill level an absolute chore to find. This is particularly problematic for new players, who go into an unranked match, get matched with 5 other veterans, and not get to play the game, as well as experienced players that get matched with these new players that are effectively playing down a player. Realistically, I don't think it would be a problem if the teams were at least partially balanced in spite of the skill gap, but that's not happening: I had a game where I ended the game twice the combined levels of my teammates, and I couldn't blame either of them because it was very obvious that they were new.
In ranked, there's a slightly different problem. It does do a decent job of matching players of similar skill levels together to a reasonable degree, but it also has a slightly warped idea of a player's skill level. There's a huge skill gap in low plat because it's filled with a mix of mediocre players that climbed just by understanding the game slightly better than the average player and abusing the low-ranked elo gains and mediocre players that understand the game well but either aren't skilled enough to make the higher tiers or have dumb gameplay problems like constantly running into the black hole on Atlas' Lab.

Match Length and Pacing

I still don't like the poor pacing provided by the awakening draft, but I think match length is mostly in a good spot now. Once you learn how to use the new mechanics the games feel just as intense as games during the beta did while also feeling purposeful in a way that matches during the beta didn't.
My only complaint with match length is the timer system. Timers should be there to promote interaction between both teams in the same way real-world sports use their timers to drive interactions between both teams, but right now the 1-minute round timers don't encourage interaction, only make interactions more chaotic when a single round goes on for a while. In addition, I feel like there's a large gap in the length of rounds on different stages, with some stages consistently contributing to longer games than the others, and the current overtime system doesn't help with that. Making timers per-set instead of per-round would fix these issues: the threat of losing a set to time helps drive interaction and reigns in the length of games on stages that consistently go into overtime with the current per-round system.

Energy

During my previous post I couldn't provide an accurate assessment of energy because no one I played with (including myself) had a good grasp of the mechanic. Now that I've played with it a lot more it feels like a really interesting mechanic with so many uses. Evade makes it a lot harder to score KOs against players of your skill level and offers a level of counterplay against extremely large abilities that you otherwise may not be able to avoid. Meanwhile, core burst is an incredibly powerful yet versatile tool that's usable on defense and all forms of offense. It feels really good when you use it to secure a goal or KO but feels even better when you get the perfect read on your opponent's core flip and get a sick play out of it. It also heavily rewards interaction with players in a way that no other mechanic has before, since you can now choose to save your evade for core flip at the expense of your stagger bar or can choose to use your energy to save parts of your stagger bar, which produces a really interesting dynamic between those two resources.

Awakenings

Now that we've had awakenings for a while I think the system is generally fun with a few problems. Balance is out of the scope of this post, but there are still gameplay issues that should be resolved:

• Unstoppable feels like a very poorly designed awakening. All the other awakenings reward you for good play, whether it's by rewarding you for good ability use with Specialized Training, allowing you to make more decisions with your abilities like Prime Time, or by rewarding you for better managing your resources with Swagger Stagger or Orb Sharer. However, Unstoppable does the exact opposite: it rewards you for bad play by allowing you to make all the positioning mistakes you want and not get punished, as long as you aren't staggered and aren't literally scratching your back on the wall.
  
• Infinite awakenings heavily reduce the skill expression within the game. On one hand, a lucky infinite awakening can swing the tide of the match and emphasizes the random nature of the awakenings system instead of promoting the skill expression in adapting to the awakenings you get. On the other hand, the infinite awakening reduces the skill of denying certain awakenings, either when everyone wants the infinite awakening or when a particular awakening is game-warpingly good on a particular character to necessitate denying it.
  
• I personally don't like how the starting awakenings can influence character picks at the start of the game. New players shouldn't be forced to try and learn multiple characters just because the starting awakenings don't affect the character they play, nor should players be forced to play characters they don't enjoy just because the rest of their character pool physically doesn't benefit from certain awakenings. This is particularly problematic if your character pool doesn't have a creation user, which means that there's a 0.17% chance you don't get to play the game with a character you can play if the game gives you Monumentalist and Timeless Creator. That doesn't seem like a particularly large chance, but if you play 1000 games you should expect to see it at least once, and I don't think that chance is fair at all.
  
• Creations I think are problematic for the long-term health of the game not because of the effects the creation awakenings have on creations themselves but because of the strain that creation-improving awakenings have on the awakening system overall. Less than half of this game's characters use creations, and it doesn't seem fair for 5.88% of the pool of awakenings to be reserved for 41.17% of the cast. That said, I don't think the solution is simply to remove creation awakenings without any compensation to creation characters, as I think that would cause large balance issues since most creation characters really like those creation awakenings, but there needs to be a better solution that allows creation users to have their creation improvements while also being usable on other characters to improve their unique attributes.
  
• There's been an emphasis on awakenings that work well together, with Sparks, the new Orb awakenings with Orb Sharer, and (to a lesser extent) Bulk Up and Peak Performance with other stagger increases. However, I think there's a missed opportunity for other awakening synergies, such as Stinger with debuff duration, Adrenaline Rush and Orb Dancer with both buff duration and haste potency, and really leaning into Bulk Up and Peak Performance's stagger scaling by having it scale with bonus stagger (which could be interpreted as stagger from awakenings and the bonus stagger per level or just the stagger from awakenings). There are already interesting awakening synergies in the game that don't work, and some of these should be changed for a more interesting awakening system.
  

Gear

My main complaint with gear is that it's a proactive customization option that's considerably less deep than the system it replaced, which I covered in my previous post. My other complaint with gear is that whether or not the gear interacts with awakenings is inconsistent because Strike Shot scales with projectile range but Siphoning Wand doesn't scale with debuff duration and both Magnetic Soles and Slick Kicks don't scale with buff duration or haste potency. Either Strike Shot shouldn't scale with projectile range or Strike Shot shouldn't be the only gear that scales with awakenings.

Stages

Since the my previous post, I've personally developed a greater understanding of what I think makes a good or bad stage, as well as there being 2 more stages I can form opinions on. I think there are 3 ideas that I think make a stage great:

1. Dynamic gameplay, where the moment-to-moment gameplay changes based on the stage's current features, whether it's the player objectives changing from moment to moment, the stage hazards affecting the gameplay differently throughout the match, or the stage's unique layout changing its gameplay compared to other stages.
   
2. Promotion of teamplay, where coordinating with your teammate(s) is more heavily rewarded than playing by yourself.
   
3. A sliding scale of extremes, where an extreme case of one of the previous 2 ideas can compensate for limitations in the other.
   

With these ideas, I can share better opinions on which stages I like and why I like them.
In spite of constantly running into the black hole on accident Atlas' Lab is my personal favorite map. The black hole is far and away the most dynamic stage hazard, leaving effectively 2 modes of the stage that it flips through constantly but predictably. In addition, some stages have hazards that inhibit teamplay, but Atlas' Lab promotes it because the gravitational pull around the black hole offers new and interesting passing lanes that prevents the problem other stages with centralized hazards have where the centralized obstruction interferes with passes. The goal barriers are decentralized enough to get goalies to move out and away from the center of the goalie box and to get forwards from simply aiming for the goal for the full duration of the match. In addition, getting both goal barriers in a single play is both more satisfying and more consistent on this map than any other. My only complaint is that there isn't a visual for the black hole coming back up.
Night Market I think has the overall most dynamic gameplay experience. The walls limit passing angles, but I think the speed boost makes up for it by making it easy for players to travel through the center to reposition for a pass. However, I think the dynamism of the gameplay experience rests heavily on the interaction between the barriers and the wall. On any other map, these barriers would be the easiest to break because they're large and stretch to the edge of the stage, but the walls make it difficult to pass to the other side and make it extremely practical for the goalie to defend both. However, Night Market's barriers have a unique feature: when one barrier goes down, I think it becomes easier to take down the other barrier because there's a new attack angle for the second barrier that wasn't there until the first one went down. The other stages with 2 barriers make it much harder to take the other barrier when one goes down because they are much smaller and aren't touching at the start of the game. This feature of the barriers I think creates the most compelling pacing of any map, where there's a steady rise in tension as the barriers go down when the other stages either have a dramatic rise in tension when a barrier goes down or has reduced tension when a barrier goes down because the other barrier is so hard to get. Also, the speed boost is the most fun hazard to play with on its own, and helps distract from the lack of teamplay. My biggest complaint is that sometimes, the corners of the barriers are inconsistent, where it feels like sometimes the barriers go down for no reason when it touches the far corners of the barrier, usually when the goalie tries to clear it.
Ahten City I think is the exact opposite of Night Market, where it's the king of teamplay at the comparative expense of a dynamic gameplay experience. The goal barrier is big and wide enough that you're not aiming at it like you're trying to score, which is the bare minimum I would expect a goal barrier to try and do, and the complete lack of stage hazards means there's nothing to inhibit. This means that this stage promotes solid teamplay fundamentals while still putting in the minimum amount of effort to make the gameplay dynamic. My only complaint is the orbs: I think it's really interesting for Ahten City to have more orbs than the other stages to make it more interesting, but the fact that it spawns 6 orbs in 6 different locations when the other 5 stages spawn 3 orbs of 4 different locations means that all the orbs players get are rather predictable. I think it would be a far more interesting stage if it spawned 5 orbs (1 in each goalie box and 3 on the stage) so it at least keeps the consistency of "max orbs -1" of the other stages and to make the gameplay slightly more dynamic as players need to react to different orbs being available throughout the game.
Demon Dais is very interesting because its gameplay novelty hinges heavily around it having the most unique gameplay experience, and it's all thanks to the goal barrier. The goal barrier is so far forward that it forces goalies to play a lot further forward than they would on other stages and allows forwards to play behind their opponent's goal barrier, which isn't possible on any other stage. The speakers don't change much about the gameplay by themselves, but the fact that they grow stronger as the barriers go down makes the moment-to-moment gameplay feel considerably different from other stages. Teamplay is inhibited by the fact that players are clumped together when the barrier is up and not gliding behind it, which makes passing not very rewarding and makes it more likely that opponents will be blocking a passing lane, but that's a fine concession for Demon Dais' gameplay experience.
Oni Village has good teamplay without the dynamic gameplay. It's so difficult to defend both barriers at once that it's considered optimal to let one barrier go down and focus on defending the other barrier, and that other barrier small enough and has so few attack angles that it's much easier to defend than the other barriers. In addition, the speed boost makes it much easier for forwards to help defend the goal barrier than on other maps, and using the wall is hard because the speed boost makes it hard to dribble and provides no room to hit around the goalie. In addition, teamplay isn't as well supported as it is on the other maps because the goal barrier is so small that passes are extremely easy to react to. A lot of players don't like this stage because of how much longer it makes games, and while I think it offers a dynamic gameplay experience and has no hazards to inhibit teamplay I don't think it does either particularly well because of how easy it is to defend that second barrier compared to the barriers on all the other stages.
Ai.mi's App is far and away my least favorite stage. The small, centralized goal barrier centered right in front of the goal means that the objectives of the goalie and forwards don't change throughout the match, and the pit inhibits teamplay just by existing in the same way that the Night Market walls inhibit teamplay. I say this as a Rasmus player, who benefits greatly from this map's features, because I don't like how I'm forced to pick or ban a particular character (even though I do really enjoy the character) and I don't like how his presence single-handedly warps the gameplay on the map itself. I expect changes to Rasmus' Death Touch because of this map, but I also hope this map gets changes in the future because it's honestly the most boring map to play on over long periods of time.

Characters and Micropatches

I don't like touching on game balance in these posts because it produces very poor discussion points that creates chaos in the ensuing discussion as people argue about a character's power level. Same thing with any other aspect of the game. The closest I will get to touching game balance comes from balance philosophy since it's based on more substantial ideas of how a game can and should be balanced rather than any individual balancing decision. I say all that to preface that everything I say in this section is in regards to game design rather than game balance, and don't want to be misinterpreted as wanting changes to any individual characters.
I say all this to say that micropatches are being severely misused. Making balance changes requires data, and the time frame between a patch and a micropatch (or between micropatches in some cases) is not enough time to gather enough data to make informed balance changes. In addition, it's possible that the meta changes without developer intervention, and doing balance changes too quickly can lead to an overreactive change that makes the character substantially better or worse as the perception of the character got better or worse and leads to the character being too strong or weak until the moment the developer decides to change them again. Micropatches are best used when they're primarily used to fix bugs that will improve the gameplay experience for a majority of players, not when they're used for balance changes, and I hope that micropatches are used as such in the future.
In terms of characters, there are two characters that I think have problematic aspects of their design. One of these problems I touched on before, and is based on the interaction between Rasmus and Ai.mi's App. Rasmus is considerably better on Ai.mi's App than any other stage because of how Death Touch interacts with the pit, and has the largest difference in viability between different stages with possibly no close second. While I think it's appropriate for characters to be better on certain stages than others I think Rasmus takes it to an unacceptable extreme, as he warps the gameplay experience so much on that one particular map and it makes it impossible to balance him for other maps without completely breaking him on Ai.mi's App unless Death Touch can't pull unstaggered enemies.
The other character I think is problematic for the overall health of the game is Octavia. The nature of Octavia's speed boost rewards playing extremely selfishly to maintain it when players should be rewarded for working as a team and forces her opponents to target her to keep her from pulling off her game plan. No other character warps the game around them nearly as hard as Octavia does (including Rasmus on Ai.mi's App), nor does any other character make the game less fun for teammates when successfully pulling off their intended game plan. Octavia needs a rework to bring her up to the gameplay standards of the other 16 characters, since right now she's not playing the same game as the other characters.
I want to finish with something that might be controversial: I think light hits are outdated. During the beta, light hits were used with medium and heavy hits to denote the gameplay mechanics of many different types of abilities. Now, that gameplay distinction is gone outside of a handful of awakening interactions. In addition, most light hit abilities don't state that they slow enemies in their tooltips, and there are abilities counted as a light hit that definitely don't slow, most notably the basic strike. Finally, light hits are used as an extremely arbitrary balance mechanism with awakening interactions, where moves like Kai's Barrage being capable of gaining 12 stacks of Stacks on Stacks from hitting a single target when Rasmus can use Whiplash to get 8 stacks with a miracle where the enemy team clusters around the core. Perhaps the most notable example of how messed up this is is Era, who (assuming her Bewitching Beam works like it did during beta, where it was definitely a light hit) gets only 2 stacks per hit with her primary but can get 30+ stacks easily by hitting a single fully charged Magic Maelstrom and can 100-0 opponents with said Magic Maelstrom using Tempo Swing, which I don't think is acceptable in spite of playing Era. I think everyone should be reevaluated for their light hits as to whether they should count as light hits for the purpose of awakenings or not and update their tooltips to say how much enemies are slowed and/or that it only knocks back unstaggered enemies. The result should be that these abilities do the same thing they do now, with wording that better reflects their capabilities with awakenings. I think the most important aspect of retuning light hits would be to make it so that Strikes and multi-hitting moves like Barrage and Magic Maelstrom are all reduced and single-hit abilities like Whiplash and sourspot Bellringer get full value, so maybe the best solution would be to replace the light hit keyword with a new keyword called "multihit" for these types of abilities.

A while ago I was given advice.
The advice being if you are an overthinker, you should write your thoughts down. So that's what I'm doing tonight.
I've been thinking about my loneliness again and to be honest it didn't really bother me up until last year.
My entire life (25M) I've never been in a relationship with anyone. I've had mixed emotions about it. Some days I'm glad I don't have to deal with things my friends tell me about in their relationships. Often feeling relieved. Sometimes i feel like im too busy or not ready. But, other days I feel like I missed out. School dances, prom, first kiss, first date. I haven't had any of those.
I never tried to get into a relationship, my mindset was always "if it happens, it happens."
Last year I decided I would try. I lost a lot of weight, and it gave me a bit of confidence. So I decided to try some dating apps.
(Probably wasn't a good place to start thinking back now.)
I don't like taking pictures of myself, when I go out I'm more of an "enjoy the moment" instead of "capture the moment" kind of person. The pictures I used were old, some before my weightloss. I kept my profile up for about 2 weeks on 2 apps. I got 2 matches one on each but they never spoke to me or responded. I assumed they probably swiped the wrong way.
I started texting a few people after and things were looking good. I would talk to a person for a few days but then it would go dry and fizz out.
I spoke to one person for over a week and it went really well! She wanted to meet me and soon! I was excited. But then I started overthinking, things were moving too fast and my lack of experience felt like a weight on my shoulder. I felt like I wasn't ready and I practically ran away from them.
The one that hurt the most was someone I spoke to for months! We spoke almost everyday. I really liked her! But then she dropped it on me she was gonna ask someone out. We weren't anything so I couldn't be upset about It. I suppressed my feelings and decided I would just be supportive. I tried to just fake it. Stay postive. Lying felt terrible. It hurt more than the joy from speaking with them. I wasnt what they wanted. Wished her luck and stopped talking to her.
After that I gave up again. Gave it a fair shot, I told myself. Alone for 24 years at that time. Gave it a solid 3 months of trying with 0 results!
See, I always had the excuse of "I've never tried" in my back pocket. It gave me a false sense of hope. But now that I went out there and I've tried im all out of excuses. It's hard feeling this way. I feel like I'm not good enough or deserving. When that person I really liked choose someone else my mindset became. "Why try? you will never be the best option. A better option will always come along."
It's been 4 months since then. I understand I'm my own biggest critic. I put myself down more than anyone else could. My own biggest enemy. I've been trying to just move on. To try and be ok with being alone again.
I try to continue lying everyday. I put on my happy, positive attitude and power through everyday. I try to make everyone around me happier. Back like I always did. Nobody has to know. Ill probably keep missing out on all the things my friends are doing. Im tired of being a 3rd and 5th wheel to the point where i just dont hangout anymore. Hopefully it gets better. Just keep showing up till it does, I guess.

I tried out a month of a premium version of a certain dating app to see if it'd help me meet more people, but like two days into it I matched with someone nice without even needing the app's premium "see who likes you" feature lol.
I went out with that person a couple of times and I think I've already grown fond of them. During some of our dates though, she would sometimes mention other guys she met through the app and kind of implied that there was a handful of us vying for her attention.
I think she still enjoys hanging out with me though, and I interpret her telling me that as her way of saying "one of you guys needs to step up". It wasn't necessarily something I took as bad news, because I'm not one to be scared off by competition. In fact it only spurs me on.
Still, I didn't tell her that I wasn't dating anyone else. I was kind of scared to relinquish the power that that information would give, and it might also make her feel bad if she rejects me in the end. It's kind of manipulative information in that way, like "Oh I'm only dating you, I don't entertain other people."
If I know I like just this one person, is it bad to not see other people? My premium privileges have timed out but I'm willing to try another month if I should be seeing other people. I started considering this because my self-preservation instinct is starting to kick in. There's a part of me that's already getting ready to get rejected, but I would much rather listen to the part of me that wants to put up a fight. (I say "put up a fight" but I'm aware her choice is not my prerogative. You get what I mean, just steeling my resolve and all that.)
I just know that if I put all my eggs in this one basket and it isn't the basket that gets picked up, it would devastate me, but I'd rather go after just one person and get heartbroken than try seeing multiple people not even knowing if they're gonna pick up my only partially egged basket.
Anyone who's been in a similar situation (from whichever side) got any advice? I don't have a lot of relationship experience, so even anecdotal advice would be helpful.
Thank you.

TL;DR AT THE END. Also a Poll
This is a complicated situation and I need to vent, so this post is probably gonna be a doozy but bear with me.
Before I explain the breakup I should give some context about the relationship in general. I'm 22F and he's 23M, and we met on hinge almost exactly 1 year ago on memorial day. He broke up with me on the 10th of May after dating just 10 months and 10 days of living together.
Since the day we met we hit it off completely, and the pace of the relationship was going really fast. We couldn't help it, everything was perfect. Before we actually started dating though, we hit a bump. He asked me out, but I was still finishing up a situationship and I didnt want to commit until I knew I could give him everything. He took this as me not being interested (I didnt explain myself very well), so one day he suddenly texted me saying he doesn't want to see me anymore and blocked me everywhere. He liked me a lot and got scared. This was a wake up call for me- I realized I was about to lose an amazing guy so I did something a little creepy and went to his friends house to ask him to text him for me asking for a second chance (I did not know where he lived yet, but he had taken me to his friends place before). It worked though! We met at the place we had our first date and so began the best 10 months of my life.
Again, one big thing about our relationship is how fast it went. We nosedived into love and for most of it it seemed like HE was the one more infatuated. We were obsessed with eachother and spent so much time together. I could list every thing that worked in our relationship but this post is already so long. In just 10 months we formed a deep connection, made amazing memories, and overcame obstacles. We never fought. He prioritized me completely and I could see how much he admired me genuinely, how vulnerable he could be with me. Our time together was so dense it felt like we were together longer.
All this might have been our downfall. He graduated college in December, and since NOVEMBER he had been struggling to find a job. His parents finally hired a coach for him, and in March he was at my apartment when he FINALLY had a successful interview and got hired. The issue though, was that the job is in Dallas. I lived in Austin. He lived in San Antonio.
I was immediately overwhelmed. I had just moved into my apartment in January, and I wasn't initially optimistic about the idea of moving again or going long-ish distance. He prioritized me so much though, that he offered to wait for a job in Austin. After so much struggle to find a job that he broke down in front of his parents! This really moved me, and I decided I'm willing to make the leap and move in with him. He also seemed not only ready, but very excited about taking the next step. We couldn't wait.
He moved there before me mid April to get started at his job and find an apartment for us. My landlord lets me end my lease and I put in my 2 weeks at work to prepare for moving in on the 30th. Up until the very day I moved he expressed how excited he was.
Finally the 30th comes and I'm up there with him and I'm over the moon. I'm falling more in love with him and I'm so incredibly happy. Since around the second day though, I noticed a slight change in behavior from him. He was irritable, and didn't seem as happy as I was. His affection didn't seem as genuine, more routine. His big complaint at this time was about not having a lot of "free time" since we still had a lot on our plate the next couple weekends getting settled in as well as him working during the week. I tried not to overthink it though or assume that meant time away from me. Our connection was still there and I could tell he still loved me. He was still making an effort and talking about our future.
After day 6 it actually got a bit better. He initiated more affection and it seemed genuine. But, I still had a feeling he wasn't really enjoying spending quality time with me. At this time I also noticed that his libido was very low. This is the beginning of the end.
The night before he broke up with me we had a big conversation. After dinner, he said that after he plays 1 round of a game that we can... yknow. I was like, sweet! I'll chill on the couch until he's ready. After he finishes the game though he starts watching YouTube, and it's getting late. My gut tells me he's avoiding intimacy and I get frustrated. I walk up to him asking if I should just take a shower and go to bed. He's immediately frustrated after I walk up to him and proclaims, "I think we are experiencing a disconnect." This really shocks me and he notices, so he scrambles to take it back and suggests we sit down to talk.
I regret how needy and frustrated I was during this conversation. But it stemmed from me feeling insecure and rejected in general. I was convinced he wasn't attracted to me anymore (even though thats not the case and there's evidence against that.) He explained that he just has a low sex drive at the moment because there's been a lot on his plate and he sees me all the time now. He accidentally said some things that triggered my insecurity in this convo, and I ended up crying. But the conversation ended with us understanding eachothers situation. When I first started working full time, my libido was also low. In my case, he understood that I'm very happy with the new living situation plus I'm not working atm so my libido is higher than usual. It seemed we reached an understanding, but when I asked how he felt after the convo he said he felt "peculiar." I think part of me knew that's when he detached. He held me when we went to bed though.
I woke up at noon the next morning, May 10th, and immediately after waking up he came home for lunch early. I was still groggy when he sat on the couch and said "we need to talk."
He's breaking up with me just 10 days after I moved in with him. He said the conversation the night before made him realize that it's not working. The first reason he gave me was bullshit. He said that his libido isn't going to go up, and that he believed I would eventually snap at him. He said we're not sexually compatible. I won't go into detail but that simply isn't true. I called him out on that and then he said that's not the only reason.
His other reason hurts the most. He said that he simply is not happy anymore, and that I'm no longer his top priority. It got to the point where he dreads spending time with me because he would rather spend time alone. He said that's not fair to me and that he won't put me through that any longer. I mentioned how sudden this is, and he said he'd actually been thinking about this for the past few weeks- and that the 10 days we lived together was him trying to make it work.
Despite all this he said he still loves me. So I begged him to not give up. I tried to tell him that when I get a job he'll have more free time, he said no. I tried to offer going back to the way we were with me in my own apartment, he said no. "I'm not doing that 'on a break' shit." He said. He also said he doesn't want to live with ANYONE for a LONG time. I pressed that he must have lost SOME feelings to be doing this to me, and he replied "I lost the spark, I guess."
This is why I'm so confused. After doing research it seems like he likely started going through relationship burnout. He just started a full time job for the first time ever AND he moved to a new location, that has to be the reason right? That would explain why breaking up had crossed his mind before we even moved in together- when he was still head over heels.
But why would he give up if he truly loved me? Was his love not as strong as it seemed? Was he doomed to never make it past the honeymoon stage? Did he discover that he just doesn't want to be with ME? He seemed so sure that this was permanent when he was breaking up with me. That the relationship had failed. How could he be willing to throw everything away for good? Not only that, but to kick me out of our apartment after I had just moved. He said this is the worst thing he's ever done and that he'll be guilty of this his whole life. He must have really really wanted to break up.
But I also have hope. What we had was truly special and we're so compatible. He said I was perfect for him. Its almost like we merged into 1 being. I'm willing to build trust again and start anew if he is. Maybe we just need time apart to grow. My fear is though, that even if he changes his mind and regrets this he may never have the courage to reach out after doing this to me. Maybe he wouldn't be able to live with the guilt or maybe he believes he ruined things beyond repair.
So here I am back in Austin living with my family. I drove back the same day he broke up with me and we've been NC since the 18th after I finished moving back out. No job, no apartment, no boyfriend. I really need help understanding this situation.
I'm going to try and move on regardless of what happens in the future, but it would be nice to have a 3rd party perspective on what to expect.
And it would be nice if he's to one to chase me down this time.
TL;DR: My boyfriend finally got a job after months of searching since graduation, but it's in Dallas while we're in Austin/San Antonio. We decided to move in together, but he breaks up with me after just 10 days of living together due to relationship burnout in the face of starting work full time/moving cities. He says it's because he became unhappy with not enough free time and he stopped enjoying spending time with me/seeing me all the time. We had previously had a very deep, loving relationship with no problems and were both excited to take this step in our relationship. He said he still loves me, but he believes the relationship failed. At the time it seems he has no intention of ever getting back together. But is there a possibility of reconnection in the future?
View Poll

I liked how Eddie Thawne was the final big bad. His motivation to become Cobalt Blue was believable. He learned that his sacrifice at the end of Season 1 was pointless in the long run, and from his perspective, Barry stole his life. I was glad to see that Barry and Eddie ultimately broke the cycle of violence between both Speed Forces.
I wasn't expecting much from Reverse-Flash, Zoom, Savitar, or Godspeed. Each one of them was already the big bad at one point, so I figured they would just be minibosses for the supporting cast to fight while Barry was battling Eddie. It reminded me of when Lex Luthor and Nyxly summoned several older villains to fight the Superfriends in Supergirl's series finale.
I thought Barry using his powers to create more speedsters was a good way to have him pass the torch while still being in the picture. I thought Avery Ho was just going to be a one-off Easter egg character in Season 8, and I figured that the show would have introduced Max Mercury a while ago if the writers wanted to use him. Jess Chambers was only introduced in the comics a couple years ago), so their appearance was even more unexpected.
I was disappointed that Cisco didn't return at all. I know Carlos Valdes confirmed that he couldn't return due to scheduling conflicts, so there's nothing anyone can really do about that. It still felt weird that he was the only original member of Team Flash who was completely absent.

(If this post is still up, I'm still looking!)
Hey there. I really want to develop a female led/slight gentle femdom relationship with a special guy.
When a lot of men see the term "female led relationship," they think, "Oh, the woman will make all the decisions with no input on what I think/want."
Are there dynamics like that? I'm sure there is. Personally, I'm not looking to be "the boss" or "above" you in any way. I want us to be equal... but have you give up control to me in a few other ways. :)
What do I mean? Keep reading on!
● ABOUT ME ●
You can call me Dreamer for now. (I'll tell you my real name once we get to know each other) Please do NOT call me Miss, Master, Dominatrix or Ma'am.
I'm 25 years old and an INFJ-T. I live in Nashville, Tennessee, USA (AKA Music City) and I'm on Central Standard Time. I'm a Black woman and I stand 5 feet, 7 inches tall. My eyes are brown and I wear glasses. I don't have any tattoos or piercings at the moment.
One thing I want to mention is that I'm plus size, AKA a bigger girl. I'm undergoing a vertical sleeve gastrectomy in two months to lose the excess weight I have in a sustainable and permanent way. I'm ready to regain my body and be healthy and confident again. I'd love to have you by my side throughout my journey!
As far as personality goes, I'd describe myself as empathetic and sweet. I like to help others as much as I can. In person, I tend to be rather shy at first. People tend to mistake that for weakness or gullibility. I'm anything but; my strength lies in introspection and quiet observation. I notice every nuance of a person's actions, words, body language, vibe... my intuition hasn't steered me wrong yet!
● INTERESTS ●
I won't go into detail on every single interest that I have but I'll talk about my biggest ones that you'll likely hear me mention the most.
✨️Writing✨️
I've been writing since I was six years old, but I started taking it seriously around 13 years old. All in all, it's been 19 years. As of right now, I primarily write Fanfiction but in the past, I've written short stories, poetry and I even tried to learn how to write screenplays at one point.
I wrote my first full-length book in 2018/2019. I started the sequel in early 2020, but I'm still working on it. I lost a LOT of inspiration during the pandemic but I'm finally writing for it again.
If you also enjoy writing, I'd love to "talk shop" with you and maybe we can exchange some of our past works.
✨️Music✨️
Music has gotten me through a lot over the years. Yeah, yeah, I know everyone says that. But it truly has. It's shaped my life and introduced me to a lot of things and people that I probably never would've done or met otherwise.
There's no point in saying I like xyz genre because I've listened to pretty much everything. The only ones I truly hate are country and gangster rap. If you want specifics, though... I've been a HUGE twenty one pilots fan for 9 years. (I have more merch, stickers and other random shit than I care to admit to lmao) I also love other artists like Amber Run, Purity Ring, Phantogram, Daughter, Lorde, OneRepublic... plus tons more.
I've always had this dumb idea of a guy and I confessing to each other through playlists with songs that make us think fondly about each other...
God, I'm single.
✨️Photography✨️
I've been into photography for 10 years and I've had my DSLR for eight years. (It's definitely the camera version of 'Ol Reliable) I enjoy nature and portrait photography. I'd love to show you some of my work and get your thoughts on it.
✨️TV/Movies✨️
TV genres I like: Animation (like Spongebob), comedy, drama, documentaries (disaster and crime ones are my favorites), true crime (like Forensic Files), old sitcoms (like Sanford and Son) and cooking and baking competitions/reality TV (like Kitchen Nightmares US and UK, Hell's Kitchen, Master Chef, The Great British Baking Show, etc)
Movie genres I like: Animation, drama, comedy, action, psychological thrillers and science fiction. I thoroughly loved The Greatest Showman so one could say I like musicals but it's the only one I've seen so not sure if that really counts. Comic book movies are pretty alright too, but I really haven't seen anything past the first Avengers movie lmaooooo.
I say this as unpretentiously as possible, but I haven't seen most popular TV shows or movies that your average person likes. I think the last "popular" thing I watched was that Jeffrey Dahmer series on Netflix. (mainly out of morbid curiosity because everyone was freaking out about it... and because I think Evan Peters is a cutie) I only saw a few episodes and then forgot to watch the rest of it, but it wasn't as horrific as everyone was saying. Maybe I've watched too much Forensic Files and I'm desensitized lmao.
✨️Video and computer games✨️
Video game genres I like: Adventure, action-adventure, RPGs & JRPGs, Strategy... basically anything that is relatively fun and not horror related.
Some of my all-time favorites: Kingdom Hearts II, Ratchet and Clank, Journey, Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X.
As far as computer games, the only thing I play on a regular basis is The Sims 2 and The Sims 4. As a kid, I loved simulator and time-management games; some old favorites are the RCT series, Simcity: Rush Hour, the first four Diner Dash games, the Delicious series and Burger Shop 2 (which I still have on my computer actually lmao)
✨️Other random interests✨️
Art, traveling, people watching, researching random topics on Wikipedia and watching YouTube, especially channels with old shows and movies.
☆ CAREER ☆
My last position was working nights at a psychiatric hospital. I'm looking for something new at the moment.
☆ ET CETERA ☆
I really love dogs and cats. I have three cats and they're little demons but I love them to death. I also love small animals like ferrets, bunnies and snakes!
My main love languages are words of affirmation, quality time and gift giving/receiving. To be honest, though, there's elements of each language that I enjoy or relate to in one way or another.
I don't smoke and I drink every so often. Otherwise, I'm vaccinated and DDF.
● ABOUT YOU ●
I'm looking for a guy between the ages of 23-33 years old. I might be willing to talk to someone within two years in either direction (so 21 min and 35 max) if you meet all my other preferences/wants. If you're younger than 21 or older than 35, though, please don't contact me.
Please be single and emotionally available. I won't interact with anyone already in a relationship or married (even if you're separated or in a "dead bedroom," you're STILL married) and I'm especially not interested in anyone poly/ENM. I'm definitely 100% monogamous.
Hair is super important to me! I prefer medium length to long hair, something I can stroke and play with a lot lmao.
I have a REALLY big soft spot for blue and/or doe eyes, but don't let that deter you. If you have kind eyes, I'll fall in love with them, no matter their color!
I tend to like softer facial features and even softer personalities. Are you super masculine in public but a total softie in private? Lovely! Are you less masculine but a little more feminine? Great! Are you androgynous or otherwise fall somewhere in between? I can dig it!
Key traits that I like in a guy include, but are not limited to: Being sweet, gentle, empathetic, considerate, an active listener, exceptional at communication and willing to go the extra mile for those that you love, be it family, friends, your partner, etc.
With that being said, it's important that you have time for me. I'm not expecting us to talk 24/7 but if you're always too busy to talk to me, this won't work. At some point, I'd like for us to also talk on the phone as our schedules permit, of course.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, please be from the USA/North America and willing to meet and get to know each other in person ASAP.
● WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR ●
It's important to me that you're an active listener; what I mean is that you'll make an effort to listen to what I have to say and respond to it accordingly. If I tell you my thoughts on a matter or ask you a question or give you a compliment etc etc, please respond to it. It makes me feel so sad and small if I feel like my thoughts or opinions are not important/relevant.
I can tell pretty quickly if someone is genuinely interested in me or not. Like I said before, I notice everything lol.
I mentioned earlier how one of my love languages is words of affirmation. One of the ways I enjoy that is through compliments. I'm not looking for you to worship the ground I walk on, but being told "You look beautiful" or "When you do xyz, that makes me really happy" makes me feel SO seen and appreciated.
It's incredibly frustrating to send a picture of myself and get a lukewarm response in return. :(
Affection is also super important to me. Holding hands, hugging, kissing, cuddling, touching... all the cute couple shit. I want you to touch me, not in a pervy way, but in an affectionate way. I want to stroke your hair while I hold you close... little things like that make me incredibly happy.
Keep in mind, everything I want from you, I'll give to you in return. I'll always listen and acknowledge you, give you compliments, shower you in affection, plus whatever else makes you feel wanted and appreciated as a person and in a relationship.
● OUR DYNAMIC ●
I always want you to have a choice and be able to voice your opinion. I will never degrade or boss you around in general, but especially when it comes to your personal choices. I'm a switch that used to be a predominant sub and believe me, I've had doms tell me before, "I make the decision on what you wear, what to eat, who you hang out with, etc etc... because I'm your dom and what I say goes."
Some people may like that. More power to them. But I'm not like that. I want you to feel free to express yourself. If you want my opinion, I'll give it to you, of course. But my job is to build you up and support your decisions, no matter how small!
Again, I'm not looking for you to kiss my ass. I'd love for you to take the lead on most decisions (with my input, of course). But I want you to also have a "service" attitude; whether that's helping out with household chores or surprising me with a massage after work or giving me flowers "just because" or helping me paint my toenails lol... just to name some examples. The sky's the limit.
That extends to "the bedroom" as well. I want my pleasure to be just as important to you as yours is to me.
In short? I just want to feel doted on and taken care of. I want to be the most important person in your life and you be the most important person in my life. I want to make you feel special and praise you and tell you how much you mean to me. And I want the same in return. 💓
● "KINKS" ●
This is inevitably gonna come up at some point. I'll say when it comes to my "kinks" (if you want to call them that) I like:
Teasing, edging, telling you when you can cum and begging me for it (I believe it's called orgasm control/denial), moaning, praise, blindfolds, eye contact, body worshiping (you and me), breast worship, oral, fingering and using toys on you...
Been a little curious about pegging someone one day. We'd have to build up to it, of course, because I don't want to hurt you. If you're not into that, though, don't worry! It's definitely not a requirement.
Things I do NOT like (or hard limits) are:
Humiliation, degradation, anything that causes you or me physical, emotional and mental harm, blood, pee, scat, vomit, diapers, CNC, ageplay, raceplay, hitting, slapping, choking or anything else illegal, unethical or otherwise unloving.
● IN CONCLUSION... ●
If you read all of this, good job! Here's a cookie, hope you like chocolate chip. 🍪
Seriously, though, I can't name every little thing I want. Despite the length of this post, I'm not trying to play Build-A-Boy. I realize you have your own caveats and that's totally fine. Let's get to know each other and see what happens. All I ask for, again, is that you want a serious, longterm relationship and not view me as just some sort of "kink dispenser."
Chats or DMs are fine. When you send me a message, please include the following...
• Name or alias • Location • Age • Height, body type, hair cololength, eye color • Your interests/hobbies • Whether you're a sub or a switch • What you're looking for out of a relationship and something (or things) you really enjoyed about my post • A clear, SFW picture of yourself • Your current favorite song (so I know you actually read through all of this) • Whatever else you want to add to catch my attention. The more you can match my "detailed energy," the better.
I won't reply to those who ignore my preferences or the message requirements above. If you send me nudes/dick pics/sexting or FWB requests/rude messages, you will be blocked and reported.
Thank you so much for reading this, and I hope you have a good night!

• Dreamer

(P.S. I don't use Snap, Kik, Telegram, WhatsApp and whatever else. I use Discord and I only give my cell number out to people that I'm comfy with.)

Hundreds of years ago there was a great empire, one that claimed to have had the greatest army in existence, lead by one of the most respected, and the most feared samurai, Niyuki.
As a brilliant tactician and leader, he led hundreds of invasion in the name of the Rezubian empire, (and mabye a bit for lucrative riches he gained from them).
After a particularly devastating battle, he was granted a magic sword, and while the details of what it could do has been lost to time, legend says that it could split the sky with a single slash. Still the sword wasn't enough, so he was later granted boots that gave him the speed of lightning, a helmet that granted sight into a persons very soul, gauntlets with the power of strongest storms, among many, many more, and yet it still wasn't enough to satisfy his greed.
In his addled mind Niyuki declared war on the Rezubian empire itself, and with his new found power and a platoon of his own men he nearly destroyed the Rezubian, almost. Unfortunately the battle crippled the Rezubian empire, and cost Bieru his life.
The Rezubian empire has since used what's left of there power to try and recover Bieru's artifacts too little success. More recently, the Rezubian empire has offered the hefty reward of one million gold for even a single artifact which has drawn the attention of many travelers, adventures, soldiers, and just about everyone esle.
Well infodump done! I hope that that caught your I and if it did then you can dm me and I'll send you the link for it!

First
Isaak POV
Things had just settled down around the haven, the Empress and her ladies, and almost all the drakewardens had just left towards the horizon, leaving them with two drakewardens who were apparently supposed to be tending to the eggs they had given to Vitmori. Speaking of Vitmori, it looks like he walks among them now. Isaak wasn't too sure what to make of the man; he had listened to the few stories Zasutir had shared of Vitmori's world and the things Vitmori had to survive. Yet, when he saw him, yeah, he could see what Zasutir talked about; the pressure he exuded was on par with veteran adventurers and even paladins of the church he had seen passing by while serving as a guard. Despite the kindness Vitmori displayed, Isaak felt that something was off; he felt Vitmori was far too put together for a man who had slaughtered thousands of undead and slain several dozen men and women. Isaak couldn't even imagine the burden of killing another sentient being, let alone the supposed kill count Vitmori managed to accrue.
It unnerved him, though; at the same time, he couldn't help but wonder how strong someone would have to be to achieve the feats he had heard about, especially as a human in a world without mana. Though as he set up by the old fireplace outside to start sharpening his blade, he spotted a crowd forming as Vitmori and Reonim left the longhouse. The duo made their way into a clearing and started talking, though the fact that people were beginning to cluster around had piqued his curiosity. Making his way over, he sidled up beside Cinco and spoke up. "What's going on here?" He asked in a hushed tone while crossing his arms.
Cinco flashed a grin as he looked at Isaak and was quick to explain. "It seems we're about to get a demonstration on how Vitmori fights." He said as his ears waggled with anticipation, though Cinco looked vaguely startled for a moment but immediately relaxed as the very earth shifted, a sort of sparring ring with a fence forming in mere moments, separating the people from the duo.
Isaak glanced over at Cinco curiously. "You okay?" He asked as the others started to spread out more evenly around the quickly formed ring.
Cinco flashed a bit of a smile. "Yeah, sorry, I just felt the ground shifting; I didn't realize Vitmori could shape the earth so quickly without chanting or preparing a spell. I wasn't expecting it at all." He explained before looking back to the forming spectacle.
Isaak nodded intently, deciding to step closer and watch the fight as closely as he could manage, his hands resting on the stone fence, though he quickly realized he found himself next to Miriam, who seemed to notice him at the same time and greeted him with a smile. "Hey, Isaak." She said quietly with a small hand wave.
Isaak choked on his words for longer than a moment but smiled in response. "Hey, Miri..." He said with a smile on his face.
"And where's my 'hey'?" Trisha asked with an amused look on her face as she peeked around from the other side of Miriam before settling against the stone fence.
He didn't even realize she was there and cleared his throat. "Hey Trisha, what are you all up to?" He asked as he managed to properly collect himself now that he had a topic to focus on, glancing over at Reonim and Vitmori as they seemingly discussed some more, having waved Zasutir over.
Trisha grinned as she looked out at Vitmori and Reonim. "Well, I gotta see how Vitmori fights so I can get an idea of what sort of weapons he uses. I'm the one who'll be equipping him after all." She explained before gesturing over at Sylvia, who was on the other end of the ring, standing with Zasutir. "She's likely doing the same regarding what sort of armor would suit him best." She mentioned before settling on the stone fence again.
Miriam nodded intently at Trisha before looking over to Isaak. "Vitmori asked me to outfit all those in his service; that likely means Vitmori himself, so I'm gonna get his measurements once he's done." She explained as she clapped her hands together. "Besides, it might be fun to watch. There's not much to do by way of entertainment nowadays, and watching your sparring sessions are always good to pass the time with." She enthused cheerfully.
Isaak nodded before looking away as he could feel his cheeks burn at the idea that Miriam had been watching him get his butt handed to him most days to pass the time. "I... I see." He replied slowly before focusing on Vitmori and Reonim.
"Are you sure you don't want armor? I know this is just a spar, but why take the hit if you don't need to?" Vitmori asked Reonim as he looked up at the bullkin.
Reonim offered a confident smile. "I appreciate the concern Vitmori; however, I'll be protected without armor." He stated before continuing as he noticed Vitmori's confused expression. "It's called barkskin, though I can actually go up to stoneskin thanks to you improving my manaheart." Though at Vitmori's continued confusion, he decided to explain a little more. "My mana flows through my body and forms a protective shield in my skin, it takes effort to maintain, but it can protect a warrior if they're caught out of armor or reinforce what armor they have."
At that, Vitmori nodded in understanding. "I see, so I won't worry too much about holding back." He said with amusement as he held out his hands, piles of stone falling from seemingly out of nowhere. He then plunged his hands into the stone, a drew out what looked like a blunt dagger, tucking it into the waistband of his clothes, next drawing out what looked to be five stones in the shape of throwing knives, tucking those away in his sleeve when he then drew out a stone short sword. "You use an oversized great sword, right?" Vitmori asked as he shaped the remaining stone into a weapon similar to one that Reonim is usually seen carrying before handing it off with a little bit of a struggle. "Damn, I really don't want to be hit by that." Vitmori mentioned with a grin. Reonim responded with a chuckle as he hefted the stone blade onto his shoulder.
Zasutir spoke up once it appeared Vitmori and Reonim were readied. "Alright, we shall have a good, clean fight. The terms of victory are as follows..." He started to say, gesturing to Reonim first. "If Reonim is able to hit Vitmori three times, he wins." Zasutir then gestured over to Vitmori. "If Vitmori is able to knock Reonim off his feet, he wins." With the rules established, Zasutir snapped his fingers before calling out. "Begin!"
At the command, Reonim moved deceptively fast, swinging the massive stone sword in a wide horizontal arc; Vitmori seemed to just barely duck under the swing, having dropped to his hands and knees before rolling to his feet as Reonim brought down a follow-up vertical swing which dented the earth where Vitmori was just moments ago. Vitmori retaliated by flinging out two stone-throwing knives, their dulled edges impacting along Reonim's forearm and wrist, earning a wince from the bullkin as he retaliated with the greatsword in a downward diagonal swing towards Vitmori.
Vitmori moved to dodge, but the sheer wind pressure of the stone blade sent Vitmori tumbling to his hands and knees as he fell to the side. The man had a rather surprised expression on his face from what happened, though it was immediately replaced by an amused grin as he got to his feet. Now drawing his stone short sword, he decided to close the distance with a fierce lunge.
Reonim reacted quickly again, bringing his greatsword around and smashing Vitmori's sword with a downwards vertical slash, following it up with a hard kick to Vitmori's chest while he was vulnerable in the interrupted lunge, which sent the man flying against the stone fence.
The stone fence held against the impact as Vitmori pushed off the fence and got back to his feet, seemingly fine after the impact. "So that's how it's done." He exclaimed to nobody in particular, taking out the stone dagger he tucked away and fusing the remains of the stone blade into the dagger, making the knife a little longer but not quite the same length as the short sword it was before.
Reonim respectfully allowed Vitmori to gather himself before lunging forward, the wind starting to swirl visibly around the stone blade as he did a wide overhead swing, bringing the sword down on Vitmori.
Though instead of dodging away from the blade this time, Vitmori dramatically picked up speed, leaning into the winds of the sword before sliding between Reonim's legs while smacking the stone knife against the bullkin's calves. Though as Vitmori went to get back to his feet, he stumbled and rolled, losing his footing as the speed burst he managed to use a moment ago appeared to run out and ruined his momentum.
Reonim was quick on the backswing, pivoting on one of his hooves as he brought the stone sword down on Vitmori. However, he was anticipating Vitmori to have moved faster to avoid the swing; instead, there was a resounding crack and a sickening crunch as Reonim cleaved through Vitmori's waist.
Screams of panic were heard from the crowd as Isaak's skin went cold, wondering if he just witnessed a death. This was supposed to be a sparring match between two great warriors; how could it have gone this badly?!
Reonim looked relatively calm for someone who just killed someone, though Zasutir was quick to move, leaping over the stone fence and hurrying over to Vitmori's broken body. "Vitmori! Vitmori, are you okay?" He asked as he grabbed Vitmori's torso by the shoulder, turning him around.
Surprisingly, Vitmori responded quickly enough as he sighed audibly. "Damn, I thought I had a chance in the end..." He said, disappointment clear in his voice before he seemed to focus on the moment and looked over to Zasutir. "Whoa, hey, when did you get here?" He asked curiously before furrowing his brows. "Why can't I feel my legs?" He asked, much to Zasutir's apparent confusion as the lizardkin stammered a bit. Being somewhat propped up by Zasutir, Vitmori looked down at himself and seemed somewhat surprised. "Ah... That's why I can't feel my legs... Huh, well, I suppose that's my loss." He said as he looked over at Reonim before glancing up to Zasutir. "Do you mind... Er... Bringing my legs over? I think I should be able to reattach them myself."
Zasutir still looked rather confused but nodded as he gingerly laid Vitmori on his back when he stepped away, going over and grabbing the lower half of Vitmori's body. Though as Zasutir grabbed one of the legs, he immediately realized what was going on as he looked at the others. "He's made of wood. He'll be fine." He explained as he brought the legs over, flipping them around right side up before lining them up to Vitmori's torso.
Reonim looked over at the others who had been watching the fight and quirked a brow curiously. "Did you all not know he was made of wood?" He asked, plunging the end of the large stone sword and leaning against it as he seemed rather relaxed despite cleaving a man in half just a few moments ago.
The others needed a moment to wind back down, the shock and subsequent reveal having been a jarring spin of emotions as they now lingered to watch Vitmori put himself back together with morbid curiosity. Vitmori, for his part, set about reconnecting his torso with his legs. Threads of solid wood started reaching out from his waist and had made contact with his legs, similar threads stretching out at that point as the legs were slowly scooted through the dirt until they fused back together. Within moments he managed to start wiggling his toes before pushing up to his feet; he wobbled for a moment, nearly losing his balance, though he caught himself quickly enough before approaching Reonim and holding his hand out. "You were excellent; thank you for showing me how much I've got to work on." He said with a cheerful smile as Reonim gladly met his hand and shook it.
Isaak simply shook his head at the sight before looking over to Miriam and Trisha, addressing Trisha in particular. "Well, what did you make of all that?"
Trisha seemed vaguely unnerved before looking over to Isaak and shrugging a bit. "Not sure. From what I could tell, Vitmori isn't particularly weak, but Reonim simply outclassed him in overall ability." She considered, gradually collecting herself as she spoke. "I think Vitmori likes to be quick on his feet, preferring small blades and throwing knives based on what he made for himself. However, I have a feeling that is what he resorted to using out of convenience. Ultimately, I'll have to ask him what he would like for himself." She explained as she pushed away from the stone fence.
Miriam seemed to have calmed down from earlier, looking rather embarrassed as she was one of the few to have screamed after seeing Vitmori get cleaved in two. "I think I would like to see less dismemberment in sparring matches. Otherwise, it was quite an impressive display from Reonim." She said with a small smile before looking over at Vitmori. "Not to dismiss Vitmori or anything, he performed valiantly against a much more powerful opponent. I'm certain it is only a matter of time until he is able to fight on par with a warrior like Reonim." She expressed encouragingly, though Isaak wasn't sure who she was trying to support since Vitmori was off talking with Reonim while cleaning up the sparring ring. The earth and stone shifted as it all started to sink into the ground; Trisha nearly fell over as she failed to notice the fence disappearing until it was almost too late.
Isaak smirked with amusement at Trisha having to catch herself, though he looked back over at Vitmori and Reonim. Some small part of him felt confident that he could probably take on Vitmori as he is right now. Though another part of him had to wonder; if Reonim was that strong, how powerful was Basti if she managed to slaughter Reonim before he could put up a proper fight?
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Superman #85 - Abducted

<< < > Coming July 1st
Author: MajorParadox
Book: Superman
Arc: Nosedive
Set: 85

It Happened So Fast

Lois and Clark Apartment
Clark landed on the balcony, listening to Lois telling Jon a bedtime story. The boy’s breathing slowed, showing he was drifting off to sleep. He had tried to get home earlier, but the search for Dubbilex was eating all his free time.
The time since Lois and Clark learned Dubbilex was being held captive by Pipeline had been stressful. Every lead ended up nowhere. Every captured Pipeline agent wouldn’t divulge any information. It was possible Dubbilex’s psychic powers were exploited to keep it that way. Still, Clark couldn’t just stand by when an innocent person was held against his will.
Clark entered the apartment and made his way to the bedroom, stripping away pieces of his uniform until he reached the shower. He closed his eyes, feeling the hot water flow over his body. His mind wandered, trying not to focus on all problems going on at the moment. It was those small moments that kept him going. He didn’t know how long he could keep up the pace he was holding, otherwise.
Lois could be heard entering the bedroom as Clark dried off and put on his pajama pants. He brushed his teeth, listening to Lois fumbling around.
“Don’t look,” she said. “It’s a surprise.”
Clark smiled and picked up the mouthwash. “Tell me when,” he said before taking a sip and swishing it around.
“Whenever you’re ready, Smallville,” Lois called.
“Did you get me a present or-uh…” asked Clark, walking out of the bathroom, stumbling on his words once he saw his wife wearing his Superman suit.
The suit was baggy on Lois, but she tied it around at the waist, and rolled up the sleeves, giving it some style.
“Well, hello, Lois,” said Clark. “You’re looking super tonight.”
The two embraced in a kiss but were quickly interrupted when the building began trembling.
“Earthquake?” asked Lois.
“I don’t think so,” said Clark, looking around. “It’s only this building,” he added. His eyes kept darting in all directions.
“What is it?” asked Lois.
“We’re being watched,” said Clark, scanning upward.
Lois darted her own eyes toward the closed window. “How is that possible?”
A blue light filled the room as Jon knocked on the door. “Mommy,” he said. “What’s going on?”
Lois opened the door and scooped the boy into her arms.
“What’re you wearing?!” asked Jon.
Lois took him into the living room, but the light expanded outward.
“Ooh, pretty,” said Jon, trying to touch the blue glow emanating all over the apartment.
Clark focused his attention on a seemingly empty area above Earth’s atmosphere.
“Clark!” Lois yelled from the living room, fading in and out as the light dimmed and disappeared completely, taking Lois and Jon with it.
“Lois!” Clark cried, frantically turning back to where he was searching.
The light must have been some kind of transporter. There would have been some trace leftover if they were– He didn’t even want to think about it. His senses were picking something up in orbit, but nothing he could see. There must have been a cloaked ship.
Clark zoomed out of the apartment toward the sky.
Unknown Spaceship in Orbit Above Earth
“We’re okay,” Lois told Jon when they appeared in an empty room. The walls were a shiny gray and there didn’t seem to be any doors. “Clark,” she whispered under her breath. “I hope you can hear me.”
“What’s this place?” asked Jon. “How’d we get here, Mommy?”
“I’m not sure, Jon Jon,” said Lois.
One of the walls began glowing and then a circular section of it fizzled away. Three short beings with greenish-blue skin entered the room making strange blubbery noises.
“Who are you?” asked Lois, keeping her voice calm, yet stern. She didn’t want to upset Jon. “Why are we here?” she added.
The blubbery sounds continued.
“They sound funny, Mommy,” said Jon.
“Is that your language?” Lois asked. “I don’t understand.”
Lois had come into contact with aliens before, but there were generally never any language barriers. Apparently, universal translation was common in the stars. Were these beings behind the curve?
Jon giggled as they continued trying to talk. Lois placed him on the ground beside her.
“Can you understand me?” asked Lois slowly and pointing out the “you” and the “me”. “My name is Lois Lane,” she stated. “This is my son, Jonathan Kent.”
One of the aliens lifted a long, stringy finger and pointed to Lois’ chest.
“This symbol,” said Lois. “Do you recognize it?”
“Superman,” the alien said.
Above Earth, Near the Spaceship
The invisible ship wasn’t where Clark detected it before. He couldn’t stay up there forever, but he also couldn’t give up. The longer it took to find Lois and Jon, the harder it would be for him to save them.
Clark reached for his belt, to press the emergency Justice League button, but quickly remembered he was wearing pajamas.
The lack of sound in space made it difficult, but Clark was cycling through every visible spectrum he could try. There was just a lot of space to cover. Part of him said he should return to Earth and gather some help and breathing gear, but he couldn’t risk the ship getting too far away. Not when they were so close.
Funny enough, after Clark’s close call (Superman #36), he had an emergency oxygen mask build into his belt. But that would only have helped if he were wearing his suit instead of Lois.
A ripple caught Clark’s attention and he zeroed in on the location. His X-ray vision couldn’t penetrate the vessel, but he managed to make out some shapes in infrared. He quickly located Lois and Jon next to three smaller beings. They seemed to be okay, thankfully. But the ship was moving away from Earth quickly.
Clark flew toward them, closing the gap but a large cylindrical device in the center of the ship was pulsating erratically. He didn’t have a lot of experience with space travel, but his instinct told him it was some kind of faster-than-light hyperdrive. They couldn’t be allowed to activate it or they’d be out of his reach.
While heat vision could potentially disable the hyperdrive, Clark couldn’t risk causing an explosion. He opted to fire a warning shot at the outer hull, but there was no response. The ship was enveloped in a bubble-like field and then disappeared from Clark’s view.
It didn’t make any sense, but Clark flew in the direction the ship was facing. He should have given up and got help tracking the ship, but it was like his instincts told him to keep after them. Objectively, it was a waste of time trying to catch up. And the further away Clark flew, the greater the chances were he’d run out of air before he got back.
But something incredible and unexpected happened. Clark felt a surge of heat bubbling up from inside. Before he knew it, he was shooting through space, stars warping into lines as he passed them by.
Clark was traveling faster than light.

Mistaken Identity

Spaceship
“I’m not Superman,” Lois tried to explain to the alien pointing to her chest, who kept repeating the name. “You’re looking for him, right?” she asked. “Send us back to where we were and I’ll let him know.”
“Superman,” the alien said again.
The other two companions scurried around the room, pressing their fingers on seemingly empty parts of the walls. Jon watched them in amusement. He tried to follow them, but Lois pulled him back, keeping him against her leg.
“Lawnmower,” the alien said.
“Wh-what?” asked Lois, completely caught off guard by the first word she understood besides ‘Superman’.”
“Lawnmower microwave,” the alien continued. “Coorindated exoskeleton international starlight.”
“You can speak English after all?” asked Lois. “Well, I use ‘speak’ generously.”
“We cardinal storage,” said the alien. “Closer to fluid stamp. Articulation storage exact momentary.”
“I don’t understand,” said Lois. “Is there any way-”
“Speech,” the alien continued. “Fixing enter herald toolbox.”
The other two aliens pressed a few more areas of the wall and began bouncing their legs up and down in a little dance. They seemed excited.
“This should expert work now,” the talking alien said. “Apologies for our grain translator. We believe the species have been worked out. Can you understand me now, Superman?”
“I’m not Superman,” said Lois, sternly. “Why have you taken us? Who are you? Where are we?”
“You-you’re not Superman?” the alien asked. “My name is Cola. My companions are Belly and Dollar. You are aboard our ship, The Crunchy, heading to our planet Pancake.”
“Pancakes?” asked Jon.
“Almost,” Cola corrected, smiling at the child. “Pancake.” He turned back to Lois. “We need Superman to help us. Pancake will not survive.”
Space
Clark panicked and it broke him out of faster-than-light speed. Did he even end up in the same direction? If he were off by the slightest angle, he could have veered light-years away.
How did he even do that? Could he travel faster than light the whole time? Was it a new power? Something leftover from his power change (Superman #70)? It wasn’t the time to wonder.
Should he turn back? Could he even find his way back? He might have had the same chance trying to find the ship.
There was nothing around him. No planets. No ship. He had to do something, but he was basically stranded. Stranded in space in his pajama pants. Even if he could find a planet for air, would he be able to get back to Earth? Would he spend the rest of his life jumping from planet to planet, trying to find his way?
Clark looked far off in all directions, looking for any signs of anything. He must be able to kickstart his hyperspeed, but he needed to aim somewhere. If only he could find the ship. But he couldn’t do his family any good if just stayed there.
At last, Clark found a potential planet. But he couldn’t bring himself to head to it. It felt like giving up. He took another look at his surroundings, cycling through different visible spectrums again. He had to stop himself from exhaling a breath of relief when he saw an energy trail.
It had to be from the ship, what else could it be? Clark focused on the path and took off in a burst of speed along it. He didn’t seem to be breaking his usual top speed, though. The movement wasn’t along the stars like before.
Clark tried to remember how he felt before. The urgency of losing Lois and Jon. The heat he felt, which had started from his stomach and radiated outward.
There was still no change.
How long had he been out there? He could hold his breath for quite a long time, but it was starting to get uncomfortable.
What if his family was uncomfortable? What if they were in danger? He had no idea what was happening to them.
There it was. Clark was doing it again. Somehow bending the laws of the universe to travel faster than he, or likely any Kryptonian, had gone before.
The next problem was keeping on the same path, which proved difficult. Clark had to keep course correcting across the trail, almost on instinct alone. If he took too long, he could end up way off course. Before he knew it, though, the ship was in sight.
Lois and Jon were still standing, three beings in the same room. Clark slowed to match the ship’s speed and grabbed hold. He couldn’t detect any doors or airlocks. The inside of the craft was broken into small rooms and only the room with his family was occupied.
Clark positioned himself over an empty room and began punching away.
The Crunchy
“You need to take us home right away,” said Lois. “My husband must be worried sick.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” Cola explained. “The Crunchy can only hold enough fuel for a two-way trip. So we must refuel at Pancake before setting out again.”
“I don’t understand,” said Lois. “You wanted Superman’s help, so you came to Earth to just take him without his consent?”
Cola turned his head. “I’m afraid I don’t understand either,” he said. “With champions, consent is implied. Why would that be a problem?”
“What if he were busy?” asked Lois.
Belly glided over. “We had scanned his domicile and found he wasn’t,” she said, her voice high but every so often dropped lower. “Although, we had mistakenly identified you as him.”
“I was busy,” said Lois. “You can’t just make assumptions-”
An alarm began blaring and a red glow filled the room.
Dollar tapped a button on the wall and a portion of the wall turned into a screen showing Clark in a similar-looking room. There was a hole in the wall, but Clark was sealing it with his heat vision.
“Clark,” said Lois.
Once the hole was fixed, Clark could be seen catching his breath before disappearing from the room.
Clark burst through one of the other walls, rushing over to Lois and Jon, and embracing them in a hug.
“Daddy!” Jon yelled.
“Are you two okay?” he asked.
Lois nodded and Clark turned his attention to the aliens, his eyes glowing red hot.
“You abducted my family,” he said. “You better start explaining.”
“You’re him, aren’t you?” asked Cola. He and the others looked over Clark closely. “You’re Superman?”
“Superman?” asked Jon.
They’d have to deal with Jon once they were home safe again. He likely had a lot of questions, the answers to which he may not be old enough to understand. Things were going to be complicated. But the most important thing was they were safe.
“They want your help to stop an invader from conquering their world,” Lois explained. “They thought I was you.”
Clark let his eyes return to normal. “Seriously?” he asked Lois before turning back to the abductors. “Why didn’t you just ask?”
The three shared confused glances. “We don’t understand,” said Cola. “Asking for help would be an insult to you.”
“Maybe on your world,” said Clark.
“Pancake,” Lois added.
“Wh-what?” asked Clark.
Lois fought back a laugh. “That’s the name of their world.”
“Maybe on Pancake,” Clark continued. “But in our world, what you did would be considered a crime.”
The Pancakers shot open their eyes.
“Oh my,” said Belly.
“We would never,” Dollar added.
“Our deepest apologies,” said Cola. “We cannot correct our mistake, but all we can do is ask now.” He took a second. “This is tough. It goes against my upbringing, but will you help Pancake?”
“Are we having pancakes?” asked Jon.
“Maybe when we get home,” Lois answered.

Help

In Orbit Above Pancake
Later
After Lois gave Clark back his suit, and the Pancakers provided Lois with something to wear, they filled in Clark about their fuel limitations. He agreed to help however he could, but they would need to send his family back to Earth as soon as possible.
“The Crunchy is charging,” Cola explained. “It will take several hours until we can make a return trip.”
Clark was studying footage of the attacks on their world. Metal robots overpowered their forces, but they managed to hold their own, keeping them from advancing too far. They seemed to have specific areas of the planet they were trying to access, but it wasn’t clear why. Some of them were attempting to build odd, spire-like structures, while others were circling around the capital city without even advancing inward.
“They seem to be an automated army,” asked Clark. “Do you know who controls them?”
“There’s another ship in orbit,” said Cola. “A being who calls himself Breadial attacked our ships as we attempted to flee to get help. We have to keep our ships in cloak all the time or risk them being destroyed.”
“I see,” said Clark. “Can you call Breadial? I’d like to talk to him.”
“That would be too dangerous,” said Cola. “Transmitting would reveal our location. Breadial’s ship would shoot us down.”
“Let me outside,” said Clark.
Breadial’s Ship
A blue light glowed next to Breadial’s ship and Clark appeared, hovering toward the front window, his back against the planet. The ship was small and covered in black, silver, and green metals. There was a green, humanoid being standing inside staring back at him.
Clark pointed to himself and then back at Breadial. He hoped it was obvious he meant “I need to talk to you.”
The being continued to stare. He was saying something, but Clark couldn’t make out the words. Superhearing did no good through the vacuum of space.
A section in the front of Breadial’s ship began to glow red and before Clark could react, it fired a blast that sent him hurtling toward the planet below.
The Crunchy
Lois watched Clark get attacked on the wall screen. “You have to do something,” she said, trying not to raise her voice. The Pancakers set up a bed for Jon and had finally fell asleep again.
“We cannot,” said Cola. “We’ve alerted our people on Pancake of the situation. They’ll offer whatever help they can.”
“I want to hear the moment they reach him,” Lois ordered. “I’m sure he’s okay, but I have to be sure.”
“Of course,” said Cola.
Belly walked over and waved her hand. “Miss Lois,” she said. “I just wanted to let you know we resolved the rest of our translation bugs. Apparently, names were still not quite right, assigning similar-sounding words from your language.”
“That explains some things,” said Lois.
“My name is not Belly for instance. It’s Belleny. Cola’s name is Collior. Dollar’s name is Dollire.“
“And your planet’s name?” Lois asked. “As much as I loved the name Pancake, I take it that’s not quite right either.”
“Correct,” Belleny said. “Our planet is called Panscake. Also, our ship is called The Crunchero.”
Lois looked back to the wall screen, still showing Breadial’s ship. “And the invader?” she asked.
“His name is Brainiac.”
Lois’s mouth dropped. “Wait, what?!”
To Be Continued…
<< < > Coming July 1st

Babaganoush: The following contest is scheduled for one fall…
Crowd: One fall!
And is for… the WiR Television Championship! Already in the ring, the challenger, weighing in at 235 pounds, The Suuuuuuperstar!
Banaganoush: And Already in the ring, the champion, “Guaranteed, Gabe Garvin!”
Ding Ding Ding!
Mann: And the bell rings here, and we are back underway at Sound Off! Presented by Dexter Flux.
The Superstar does a little spin as he approaches Gabe Garvin and the two back off from each other. The two wrestlers stare down a moment, before launching at each other with a collar and elbow tie-up. The Superstar gains the upper hand and locks Garvin in a headlock. Garvin, in a headlock, however, gets pushed into the ropes, where he gets pushed away. Garvin looks for a back body drop as The Superstar bounces off the ropes, but eats a boot for his trouble. Garvin tries to regain control by lifting Superstar on his shoulders, Superstar shifts back to the ground, but gets lifted and dropped on his chest! The Superstar is forced to roll out of the ring to recover.
Crowd: [Apathetic Silence]
Garvin goes under the bottom rope and gets quickly caught with a kick to the stomach. The Superstar throws Garvin into the barricade and begins to hammer away.
Woodbridge: And The Superstar turning things around here!
Mann: And folks, we’ll be back after these messages from our sponsors!
Woodbridge: Why are we going to commercial, the match just st-
The following advertisement plays
We fade back into the action with a crowd shot, which stays longer than comfortable on a shot of 40 apathetic fans. As it cuts back to the ring, we see Gabe Garvin deliver a vertical suplex to The Superstar, before going to a pin that convinces nobody of its success.
Mann: And we are back here at Sound Off! Garvin has regained control here!
The Superstar rolls to the corner and forces a momentary break. As the ref tries to restore order, The Superstar throws an overhand shot at Garvin- who blocks it and responds in kind, backing the Superstar back into the corner, and whipping him across the ring. As Superstar bounces off with a thud, Garvin hits the ropes beside him and hits a bulldog. Garvin goes for a cover, which gets a…
ONE
TWO
Kickout!
The Superstar flops into the corner once more, and Garvin is halted from pulling him away by the official. As The Superstar exits the corner, Garvin is right back on top of him, whips him off the ropes, and delivers a back body drop! The Superstar rolls out of the ring once more, but Garvin follows in pursuit. Garvin charges in, but gets caught with a drop-toe hold, and crashes into the announce table.
Mann: Watch out!
Woodbridge: Garvin seeking to capitalize on his newfound momentum here…
Crowd: [Does not care]
The Superstar throws Garvin back into the squared circle, and delivers a club to the back of his head, Followed by stomps and a knee drop. Superstar waits for Garvin to try and get back up, before stomping again, followed by a punch. As Garvin powers back to his feet, The Superstar looks to grab him, but Garvin pulls him in for a belly-to-belly suplex! Superstar shuffles into the corner, followed by Garvin, who eats a boot for his trouble before The Superstar storms out with a lariat. The Superstar looks for a chin lock, but Garvin is too oily, and he slips free. Superstar retaliates for this oily transgression with a fist and applies a headlock to a cornered Garvin.
Mann: And The Superstar getting some offense here, Garvin is in trouble! Can our TV champion save the match?
The Superstar works the headlock in the corner until the ref forces a break, at which juncture The Superstar turns around and throws his fists at Garvin. Following this, The Superstar lifts Garvin to his feet and goes for a whip, but as Garvin hits the other turnbuckle, he lifts his left foot to kick an incoming Superstar! As Garvin looks to capitalize, The Superstar grabs the leg that kicked him and takes Garvin down to the mat. Superstar drops an elbow on Garvin’s knee, and a second elbow, before looking for a knee twist, which Garvin pushes away from.
Mann: And Garvin fends off the Superstar’s onslaught! What a heroic effort by our TV Champion!
Crowd: [awkward silence]
Garvin sells his injured knee for a moment, before using it to pull a charging Superstar down with a drop-toe hold, flip Superstar over, and try to apply a submission, but this time, The Superstar pushes Garvin away! The Superstar delivers an elbow to a staggered Garvin, before delivering a Russian leg sweep, and going for a cover.
ONE
TWO
Kickout!
The Superstar is in disbelief that his leg sweep failed to get the victory, and he pulls Superstar by the arm, before kicking his downed body in the rib. Garvin throws himself off the ground to throw a punch at Superstar’s gut, but as he gets up, he is once again cut off by a clothesline, and a pin attempt.
ONE
TWO
Kickout.
Crowd: [Apathetic, a smattering of boos, and a single portly fan in a Shooting Association shirt attempting to start a “boring” chant]
Woodbridge: The Superstar is unable to get the best of Garvin despite some strong offense here, and the longer this goes on, the more I like the TV Champion’s chances in this match.
Mann: And all the Garvinites in the crowd cheering for their hero to make a comeback!!
Crowd shot of bored audience quickly pans back to the ring, where The Superstar is applying an arm wringer
Mann: And this match of course is presented by our sponsors, over at Mann Corporation!
The Superstar transitions to a half camel clutch, still clutching the arm of Garvin
Mann: Mann Corporation is committed to providing high-quality products to all of our loyal customers! Use code “WiR” at checkout for 3.5% off select items at MannCoStore.com!
The Superstar has transitioned into a standing headlock
Mann: If you buy within the next 7 minutes, all Gabe Garvin merchandise is 10% off! Act fast! And now, back to the action!
Garvin powers out of the headlock and whips The Superstar into a corner. He charges in, and misses, as The Superstar moves out of the way, and attempts to lock in another arm wringer. Garvin tries to power out but fails, and the hold is applied.
Superstar: ASK HIM!
Garvin does not submit, and once again tries to lift himself upwards. Superstar sees this, and shifts so that he is lying down on the back of Garvin, still applying the arm wringer. Garvin winces in agony and reaches for the rope with his free hand. Unable to reach them, Garvin Begins to power himself upwards for the third time, and this one is successful, as he slowly works his way up to his feet, Superstar now trapped in the air in a fireman’s carry. The Superstar pushes himself off as Garvin gets to his feet, and tries to throw a punch. Trying to reclaim the momentum, The Superstar goes for an Irish whip, and looks for a dropkick as Garvin returns, but to no avail! Garvin holds onto the rope, and The Superstar crashes back to the ground.
Mann: And Garvin escaping the hold! Superstar is dazed!
Woodbridge: And this could be the opening the TV Champion needs to regain control of this match! The Superstar is in trouble, as Gabe is Garving up!
Mann: It’s Garvin’ time!
Garvin bounds off the ropes and leaps for a flying clothesline!
Mann: What a maneuver!
Garvin hits the ropes again, and nails a staggered Superstar with another flying clothesline! The Superstar writhes in agony as he tries to pull himself back to a standing base, where Garvin is waiting for him. Garvin bounces off the ropes, and nails a rising Superstar with a shoulder block.
Mann: Vintage Garvin! And he has the upper hand! The fans here on their feet!
Crowd: [Silent, sitting down]
Garvin ascends to the second rope, and as a wounded Superstar ascends once more, he leaps for a double ax handle, but nobody is home! The Superstar looks to capitalize with a DDT, but it gets blocked by Garvin, who fights out, throws Superstar against the ropes, and hits another shoulder block. With The Superstar down, Garvin looks at the crowd, backs against the ropes, and hits a fist drop!
One guy in the crowd Crowd: YEEEAAAH WE FUCKIN LOVE THE FIST DROP YEEEEAAHHH
Crowd: WOOO!! GAR-VIN! GAR-VIN!
Woodbridge: And the people exploding for Garvin’s fist drop! (?)
Garvin looks almost surprised at the suddenly raucous crowd, and motions for his finishing maneuver! As soon as he indicates he isn’t going for another fist drop, the crowd dies and goes back to their silence. Superstar stumbles to his feet, gets his arm trapped, and’s he’s lifted into the air, before being slammed down with a Pump Handle Slam! Garvin goes into the cover…
ONE
TWO
THREE!
DING DING DING!!
Mann: And Gabe Garvin retains!
Woodbridge: His victory was all but Garunteed
Babaganouh: And here is your winner, at a time of Seven minutes and Forty-Five seconds… Garunteed Gaaaaaabeeeeee Gaaaaarviiiin!!
Crowd [Scant Murmors]
Mann: And tonight we have seen a truly memorable title defense from our heroic TV Champion, Gabe Garvin. And to watch all of Garvin’s matches from the comfort of your home, go to WWW dot Wrestle Is Reddit dot com slash Garvin for all the latest updates! And a special thanks to our sponsor for this show, JDate!
The monitor shows Dexter Flux on screen, who immediately gets a crowd pop 10x louder than anything of the past 7:45
Crowd: FLUX! FLUX! FLUX! WE LOVE FLUX!
Flux: I'm not… I'm not Jewish, but that's really not what JDate is about. It's about like… dating. JDate is what JDate is. That's what it is. I'm Dexter Flux. I'm the President of the United States. Thank you for your service.
The monitor cuts back to the crowd going bananas for Flux. A guy is screaming and beating the shit out of the old woman sitting next to him because he loves Dexter Flux so much.
Mann: And you too can be just like these happy people if you buy a Gabe Garvin T-Shirt, now 4% off at select TJ Maxx stores near you!
Garvin holds up his title on the apron while the crowd cheer for Flux, and a photographer gets a photo of the victorious champion in front of a cheering crowd. As Garvin gets down from Bret’s rope, the camera cuts to…
Something else. It's shot differently, worse cameras that pan around instead of cut. No commentary. No acknowledgment. It's a documentary shoved in the middle of a wrestling show.
We're in a church basement, or a community gym, or something like that, with hardwood floors and dim, white light pouring in through windows near the top of the room. There's a table next to the door with a coffee machine and paper cups and a door to the outside propped open, so people can step out to smoke. A voice speaks up.
Teddy (O.S.): I don't think I've ever been a good person.
We move to the middle of the room. There's a circle of people sitting in chairs, looking at one whose face is obscured but whose voice most WiR diehards recognize. The circle's watching him carefully, skeptically. A couple of them glance at the camera as it moves by, which seems like an outsider - a perverse interloper. Some of them are recognizable, heels from all over the wrestling scene. Most of them seem miserable to be here, unrepentant. One figure, dressed up, seems more warm in his posture, but we don't see his face either.
Teddy (O.S.): I don't think I've ever really tried, I mean. I've been a good guy, for a little bit. Here and there. But I wasn't who I was. I was somebody trying to get cheered, trying to make sure they loved me. And when they didn't, I just… I snapped.
Finally, we see him, the object of their attentions. He is sitting in a chair, dressed down in a t-shirt, paper cup of coffee by his feet. Teddy Coronado. There's no charisma to the way he speaks. He was a preacher once, electrifying, manic, an embodiment of television airwaves. Now, he's mumbling. The camera zooms in on his face, as he tried to put together the next few words, shaking his head. The words seem ridiculous to say and maybe that's because they're wrestling words and this man - sitting here, in the basement - does not seem to be a wrestler.
Teddy: I'm Teddy Coronado and… Sorry. I'm Teddy and I'm a heel.
Others (all together): Hi, Teddy.
He cringes at them.
Teddy: I've been…
He stops, sucking on his tongue. It's the noise of a crowd, again.
Teddy: I'm sorry, I don't think I can do this.
Spence (O.S.): It's alright.
The camera pans over to a much more shocking face, Spence Cooper, dressed like a normal person, with a buttoned-up v-neck, instead of his usual attire as one half of the Golden State Stars, wearing mesh shirts and whatever nonsense is left. The rest of the group turns to him with a sort of reverence that seems wholly unfitting for him.
Spence: This is hard stuff, Teddy, alright - this is hard stuff, everybody. I mean, when I was a member of the Golden State Stars-
Chaz (O.S): GOLDEN! STATE! ST-
Spence: Chaz.
We whip pan to Chaz Levine, who is also there. He is dressed less like a normal person.
Chaz: Sorry, bro, still working on it.
Spence: We all have hiccups, is what I was saying. This is hard work. That's why not everybody does it. But it's good work. You've been here for a long time, right?
He's staring at the ground as he said it, as if ashamed.
Teddy: Six months.
Spence: Six months and it's still hard. That should show to everyone else here that even the best of us You can do it, Teddy. You can say it.
Teddy takes a breath, tries to put it together. After a few seconds, he looks back up. And it's almost there. That spark, that fire in his eyes.
Teddy: I've… been thinking about things, recently. I've been thinking about my time as a wrestler. I've done a lot of things in this business - and I'm not bragging about that, but I'm saying it because I need to say it. I was the best guy on the mic for a long time. I was good in the ring, too. I beat some of the best people in that company and sometimes I even did it clean.
There's a chuckle at that, in the room, and he gives a rueful smile, for a second, looking back on everything. Then it fades. So does the light in his eyes. Teddy looks at his feet, again, but the rest of them are listening, now. Most of them hate this place, but they listen
Teddy: I lied, I cheated, I stole. I used every dirty fucking trick in the book - you can look. My granddad wrote it. I used weapons. I hired my own ref. I made my own matches. I attacked people from behind the scenes. I once wrestled with a cardboard cut-out, so I could move its torn-off foot under the bottom rope to get a break.
He's looking up, now, and the fire isn't in his eyes, but it's in his words.
Teddy: I gave up everything for that title, for those accolades, for those year-end awards, for my hand raised up at the end of the night. I've got a claim to being the best champion in that company's history. I went into this business looking for all of that. I said to myself that I'd be different than my family, from my great-grandfather, from my grandfather, from my…
He stops. He leaves the final word unsaid.
Teddy: But that's not what I'm saying. I had the chance to change my name. I had a shitty start, but I had my own agency. What I did was my own. And by the end, I gave up that. I gave up my decency, my integrity, my dedication to this art, I gave up everything I have - and I don't have anything to show for it.
There's a crippling silence, for a few moments, the kind of silence you only notice when everything felt so loud before it.
Teddy: I don't talk to any of the roster I was a part of. My name doesn't get mentioned in promos. The fans - the fans that used to jeer my name, who serenaded me after I was forced out of that company - they don't think about me. I gave up everything I ever had and I don't…
He takes a shallow breath, emotional, seeming to hold back tears as he rubs his temples. A man offers him a tissue box but he waves it aside. For as much pride as he has managed to put aside, he can't allow himself to cry in front of the only people he's ever been genuine to.
Teddy: I got an offer, recently. You guys know about it.
Teddy half-heartedly gestures at the camera and a couple of them glance back at it. Chaz, on the edge of frame, flexes a little bit when reminded a camera is watching him.
Teddy: I got an offer to come back to WiR. They're coming back, apparently, again. They've offered me a couple times, over the years, and I almost took it. I even said I would, once, before. Back when I still had the bookstore. And then I started training and I became what I was, again, and I gave up the bookstore, and I was so fucked up I couldn't even make it to the show, because I realized, in that ring…
He pauses and they're all listening. He hates that, because he knows why they're listening and why he's talking. Because the fire, suddenly, is there. It's there in his eyes. It's there in his voice. It's there in the way he sits in that chair, the knotting his hands do as he talks, but most of all it's there in the crowd, listening with rapt attention.
Teddy: There's the Teddy Coronado with the money, with the television show, with the betrayal and the burials, even the Teddy who dressed up like a dentist and said he hated bullies. They say I've been a lot of people, had a lot of gimmicks, but the trick is they're all the same one. They're all somebody who needs to have the whole world know that they're the best. But they're all masks. Facades. And when I got into that ring, lit by halogen lights, no one in the audience, no one facing me in that ring, no one there but me, I realized the truth.
The fire in his voice has burned away and, now, he speaks in ashes: harsh, more serious than he's ever been, and more painful. He is being true.
Teddy: I don't know what's beneath those masks. I don't. A part of me is terrified that there isn't anything there. That the shit I've done, to other people, to the industry as a whole, that's who I am. I've tried to find out who it is, out here. I tried to open a bookstore, I tried to become a trainer, I tried to get as far away from that ring as possible.
He stops, again. The crowd is fully drawn in, now, and a furrowed brow of concern on Spence's face breaks through the mask of supportiveness.
Teddy: But, when I got that email, that offer… I think I realized that there's only one way for me to figure that out-
Spence: Teddy…
Teddy turns his eyes to Spence, but there's a weariness to his eyes. He's already made up his mind. He made it up before he even entered this room, before he even entered the cameras in, before Spence even says the thing he knows he's about to say.
Spence: Teddy, I know what you're about to say. And I want to tell you in front of the group, because I know you don't want there to be secrets here. I've been lured that way. We all have, but you have to know that there is a risk to what you're about to say. Some people can recover, can re-enter that ring, Teddy, but some people can't.
There is a warmth in Spence's eyes that make you realize that this is not the same man that was a Golden State Star. Not anymore. But he knows that he can't change his mind.
Spence: This is in your hands, Teddy. It always is.
Teddy sits there, genuinely considering the words and then he smiles. Knows how absurd what he's about to say is. And then he speaks, just as resolute as before. No. More so.
Teddy: I know. But I hear it in me. I hear the roar of the crowd, with me or against me. I hear my opponent's music hit. I hear the bending of the mat, the straining of the ropes, the fight. I know that who I was in there was a monster. But I know that, if there's something of me left, beneath all of this, it's in there.
He stands up.
Teddy: This is what I'm choosing to do, Spence. I'm sorry.
Teddy walks out of the circle, across the hardwood floor, and steps out the door. The camera doesn't follow.
Javier (O.S.): Ladies and gentlemen, the Independent Champion, Diiiiiiiiick Dover!
We cut back to Knott's Berry Farm, where the crowd reacts in a mixed fashion to the announcement of Dick Dover. Prisoner of Society hits, and Dick Dover walks through the curtain with the Independent Championship over his shoulder.
Mann: The Independent Champion enters the building, he says he has an announcement to make.
Woodbridge: That’s right, Shay. We don’t know what it’s going to be, but when Dover walked into the venue this afternoon, he insisted on addressing the crowd.
Dover grabs a mic from Maurice Chondon ringside, then walks up the stairs, wipes his feet on the apron, and enters the ring. He then turns to face the crowd.
Dover: I know you all have a lot of thoughts about me, but let’s get one thing clear right now. There’s been a lot of time gone by since you last saw me. But don’t get me wrong, one thing wouldn’t have changed no matter how long we’ve been apart. I am still your Independent Champion.
Crowd: mix of boos and applause
Dover: But there have been changes. Changes in the world and changes with myself, and it’s time for me to share with you all some changes I’ve made. When WiR went on hiatus i-
Nitroglycerin hits as Joey McCarty storms out from behind the curtain holding a mic.
Crowd: Boooooooooo
McCarty: No no no no no no fuck this shit. I know what this is. I’m not stupid.
McCarty stomps down to the ring.
McCarty: Dick, you’ve talked all this talk about being a fighting champion, but I know a retirement announcement when I see one.
McCarty slides into the ring and pops up to his feet, pacing around Dover.
McCarty: and you must be out of your mind to think you can walk out of here title held high, to a cheering crowd, and go out as champion. You’re out of your goddamn mind.
Dover walks towards McCarty.
Dover: You don’t even-
McCarty: Save it, honestly. I came into this business as an outsider, and I was given the crash course. I don’t know where you learned this, it might have been in dogwater Florida, but it certainly wasn’t in Toronto.
Dover: Joey, you’ll shut the hell up if you know what’s good for you.
McCarty: What I was taught is that you always go out on your back. If you won’t do that, then I’ll do that for you.
Dover goes to talk, but McCarty slaps him.
McCarty: So what you’re going to do right now, is lie down, stare at the lights, and you can end your career the way you’re supposed to, and watch me coronate myself as a triple crown champion.
Dover: Interesting point Joey, counterpoint:
Dover hits McCarty with a spinning back elbow, sending him to the mat!
Dover: You don’t tell me what to fucking do. So here’s what we’re actually going to do, I’m going to show these people I am a fighting champion, we’re going to get a ref out here, and I’m going to whoop your ass
Crowd: YAYYYYY
Mann: HOLD ON A SECOND, DOVER. YOU DON’T GET TO PROMISE PEOPLE MATCHES, I MAKE THE MATCHES but that is a good idea so lets get a ref out here BECAUSE I SAID SO.
Crowd (a little more confused): YAYYY
Jeff Boone sprints out from backstage at full speed and dives headfirst under the rope into the ring.
Boone: ALRIGHTWEGOTAREGULARCHAMPIONSHIPMATCHONEFALLLET’SKEEPITCLEANBOYSNOCLOSEDKNUCKLESONPUNCHESNOHAIRPULLINGIWON’THAVEANYNONSENSEINTHISRINGYOUHEREMEOKRINGTHEBELL
The bell rings, leaving both men a little stunned at how quickly this match has started. Joey moves into action first, lurching for Dover, arms outstretched in a clear indication that Joey wants to initiate a classic “Test of Strength.” Dick Dover knocks away the hands and shoots for a double-leg takedown, sending Joey sprawling to the mat.
Mann: Wow, an incredibly technical start for Dover. Sometimes I think we forget home in depth his wrestling knowhow is.
Dick Dover is slowly overpowering Joey from underneath, when a glint shines in the Canadian’s eyes. A brutal knee to the face erupts from McCarty, slamming into Dover’s nose. Dover steps back, covering his damaged face. Blood begins to drip onto the mat.
Woodbridge: Wow, Dover is absolutely busted up!
Paisner: That’s the opportunistic streak of McCarty showing. Give him an inch, he’ll take a mile and sell you back the inch for triple it’s market value.
Dover shakes his head, trying to clear up the fog inflicted from Joey’s move. Before he gets a chance to recover, Joey is behind him, snaking his arms up to lock Dover in a full nelson. Dover is in a precarious position, but he digs his fingers into Joey’s eyes, cause the hold to release.
Woodbridge: A savvy veteran move, but is it legal?
Mann: Absolutely not. It seems like this ref is going to let them play on, for some reason. Very hands off.
Woodbridge: When you’ve got two fighters who will do whatever it takes to win, sometimes it’s best to just let them go at it. Anything less than that could give the other an unfair advantage.
Dover throws a couple quick strikes to McCarty’s midsection. Joey winces and bends over, giving Dick the opportunity to hit him with a Leg Drop Bulldog that pounds Joey into the mat!
Crowd: WOOOOAH!
Dover capitalizes on McCarty’s grounded position, dropping some falling elbows into the fallen man. But the third elbow doesn’t land cleanly, given Joey the opportunity to flip over and nail another knee into Dover, this time right on the side of his head.
Mann: Hard to imagine these headshots won’t have an effect on Dover if this match goes long.
A quick leap to his feet, and Joey finally has the position he wanted in the beginning, locking up Dover in a contested full collar tie. He gains the upper hand, and begins controlling Dover towards the corner. A grasp of Dover’s wounded head, and then suddenly McCarty is rubbing Dover’s face all over the ringpost!
Crowd: OOOF
But Dover isn’t one to take something like this without fighting back. A wild leg flail nails McCarty right in the gonads, sending him backwards in pain. The ref looks to step in, but then decides not to as Dover runs towards his and lands an uppercut into lariat combo that sends Joey back down to the ground. Dover attempts a cover!
1!
No!
Joey kicks out with relative ease, prompting Dover to consider more violence towards the grounded wrestler.
Mann: What could this devilish man be considering next?
Dover sits on McCarty.
Woodbridge: A chair!
A quick pivot from Dover, and suddenly Joey is up in the air, face in anguish from the inverted surfboard stretch.
Woodbridge: A painful chair!
Suddenly, a voice rings out from the crowd.
Random Fan: DOVER IS STILL LAME!
Dover, mildly irritated by the fan, releases the hold on Joey, sending the stretched out man to the mat. He gets up and aggressively points to the crowd in the direction of the mysterious fan.
Dover: Hey Asshole! You wanna see lame? I’ll show you lame!
Dover grabs Joey’s hair and becomes slamming punches into the downed man’s face.
Crowd: LAME DOVER LAME DOVER LAME DOVER
A frustrated Dover now releases the hold and turns his back on Joey, heading over to the ringpost. He begins to remove the cover. At this point, blood has completely covered his chest. Joey stirs and stands, sneaking up to behind Dover. A quick snatch and Joey has surprise rolled up Dover for a pin!
1!
2!
No!
Dover kicks out and gets back to his feet, but Joey is quicker and grabs Dover’s arm for an irish whip, sending him into the exposed ring post!* The hard metal digs into the small of Dover’s back and he reels in pain, back into Joey who snags his wrist, twisting it into a hold. Dover is up in the air and slammed back onto his neck as Joey lands a modified Fisherman Driver on the champion!
Crowd: OOOOOHHHHH!!!!
It’s Joey’s turn to batter the grounded Dover, repeatedly sending soccer kicks into his skull. The dull sound of bone against flesh carries through the arena in a way that makes most attendees uncomfortable. Joey lifts Dover to his feet, intending to whip him into the exposed ring post again, but Dover has seen this before. He counters with a reversal, sending McCarty into the ropes, McCarty rebounds and Dover SLAMS him into the mat with a teeth-rattling spinebuster!
Crowd: YAYYYYY
Mann: I’m not sure if Dover’s winning the crowd over or if they just enjoy seeing Joey get hurt, either way, Dover is red-hot!
Dover grabs McCarty, and goes into the set up for his Doverleaf! But before he can, a small figure pops up onto the apron.
Woodbridge: WOAH, WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?!
Gigi appears holding a spray bottle and she sprays a fine clear mist right into Dover’s eyes and cackles maniacally!
Mann: What’s this?! It's Gigi! And she’s just assaulted Dover with some sort of liquid!
Dover drops McCarty and grabs at his eyes. Kaitlyn Casey Jones appears from the crowd, holding a sign that says “GAMER GIRL BATHWATER $279.69”, she hops the barricade and grabs a mic, laughing with Gigi. Jones pulls a card out of her pocket and starts reading it.
KCJ: Hey faaaans, if you’re looking to order some of the water that our favorite e-girl actually bathes in, it’s up on the website right now! Guaranteed to have touched Gigi’s skin, go to www.gigigamergirlgush.pizza for more details. Fuck you, Dick!”
Gigi: I wrote that last part.
McCarty clambers to his feet, confused. He notices Dover staggering, and launches himself into the air, connecting with a superman punch to the back of Dover’s skull.
Crowd: BOOOOOOOOOO
Mann: BERTUZZI! DOVER’S OUT COLD
Woodbridge: I can’t believe this, Dover’s had the title stolen from him!
McCarty scrambles to cover Dover.
1
2
3-NO
Crowd: WOAAAAAH YAYYY
Mann: Dover kicked out!
Woodbridge: How!?!?
McCarty stumbles to the corner in disbelief, and collapses into a seated position onto the bottom turnbuckle, the crowd swells, and McCarty’s confounded expression turns to disbelief and then to anger, he pops to his feet and stomps towards Dover.
Woodbridge: What do either of these men have left in the bag?!
McCarty lifts Dover to his feet, cussing him out as he does. McCarty attempts his Bus Driver Uppercut, but Dover springs to life and catches him, and PLANTS him with a kneeling jawbreaker!
Mann: Cliffs of Dover!
Woodbridge: From the last of his energy!
Mann: Cover!
1
2
3
DING DING DING
Crowd: YAYYYYY!
Mann: Dover is still Independent Champion!
Before Javier can make the announcement, Gigi and KCJ hit the ring and attack Dover, as McCarty rolls out of the ring, jumping him and punching and kicking Dover while he’s down.
Crowd: BOOOOOOOO
Woodbridge: What the hell is this?!
Mann: Gigi still thinks she’s owed a shot at the Independent Championship, she must have made some sort of deal with McCarty to get her match!
Woodbridge: And now that her plan is up in smoke, she’s taking it out on Dover!
Gigi and KCJ continue their assault, KCJ picks up the mic and is about to speak, but before she can, Adam Raised A Cain plays.
Crowd: YAYYYYYYYY
Woodbridge: Someone else with unfinished business, Mark Dutch!
Mark Dutch runs out, Joey McCarty is standing on the ramp, and Dutch shoulder checks him out of the way! Dutch then slides into the ring, and pulls KCJ off of Dover and out of the ring! Gigi scrambles out of the ring away from Dutch.
Mann: Last time we saw these two, they were at eachothers throats, but now Dutch comes to save Dover? What’s going on?
Woodbridge: Looks like there's still lots of unfinished business around these parts.
Mann: That’s enough of this.
Mann grabs a stick mic and attempts to stand on the commentary table, but it wobbles so he instead stands on his chair
Mann: When I brought this company back, it wasn’t for what it was, but what it can become, so I can’t have you three stinking up the joint with old beef, so let’s settle this at the next show. You three for the Independent Title. a brief pause to let that sink in
Crowd: WOOOOOOO
Mann sits back down with a grin on his face.
Mann: I like this “making matches live” thing
Woodbridge: Could stand to work on your crowd work though.
Mann: More WiR action, after this!
Dover, Dutch and Gigi staring eachother down as we fade out to commercial.