Main idea passage

Been seeing the Ice king banner of him flying with gunters a lot lately and I really want it as a finn main, but I have no idea where it’s at. Im hoping I just missed it in the store but im worried it’s a beta banner that I never got when playing the beta. Thanks.

Thoughts on this stoned idea?
You can buy different ship layouts. Adding a bottom deck to the ship that has a main communal area and a few small connecting rooms that you can be creative with.
You can go to a new storefront and customize this new space choosing from different things to put on the wall, maybe a couple small mini games or something similar to stratagem hero, furniture etc.
I would love to have a break room for the time between missions. No in-mission benefits, just a place for me to sink my money into that’s completely optional and cosmetic and it’s strictly a Req Slip store. No Super Credits, no micro transactions.
90% of the time I earn nothing except for XP from missions and this is pretty common for anyone over lvl 40 or so I would guess.
I just want to spend my money damnit!

TLDR: over the past 6 months I've brought up the topic of divorce with my (soon to be ex) husband, Jay, due to our genuine incompatibility and escalating fights, etc. Instead of agreeing to even really discuss it he said he wanted us to work out. This week he broke the 2 rules we had for our open marriage and I can't understand why he didn't just agree to breakup beforehand.
Holy shit this ended up being SO FUCKING LONG. So if you end up reading this, I appreciate you sticking it out 😂 I wanted to note that I know I am not innocent in this. And I would love people to point out those instances if you see them here. I also realize this is only my half of what's happened, but I really did try to be as unbias as possible. Anywhere you see " " are text messages, most of the time verbatim, but sometimes edited for clarity.
I've talked with this with my friends and family, but I also just want to get it out there in general because I think it's somewhat therapeutic to write it down.
Story line:
Jay (M35) and I (F31) have been together for 12 years, married 8.5. We have two kids, one school age, one getting there next year. When we first got together, I was 18 and we had sex a lot bc there wasn't much else to do. It stayed pretty frequent the first years, and generally started to slow, especially so when I studied abroad twice. I had no appeal for video sex, but I did it because I made the choice to go abroad and he requested it. After that, it became pretty evident that our libidos no longer really matched. Then I had two kiddos - and that brings in a whole other deluge of issues that often spilled into our sex life. Things that seem to happen with a lot of couples new to parenting. However, once they started to get older and easier, things did not improve. We continued to have issues.
About 2 years ago, we were probably frequenting 2x a month, but I kept getting recurrent yeast infections, which in turn made me want sex even less bc yeast infections are super fucking uncomfortable. At the same time I met with my gyno for that (~18mo ago), I told her about my low libido, me not Even masterbating (used to do this maybe 3-4x month, even at my lowest sexual intercourse frequency). She recommended some books, told me to try masterbation again as a catalyst. For a few months I tried, but nothing seemed to help.
Fall of '23, I come across a post here about someone who is asexual. I'd heard the term before but not known much about it. I think I just thought it was people who didn't have sex. After that post I found AVEN, and I read hundreds of posts and comments over the next few months to understand all the differences, people's experiences with how they knew they were asexual, experiences in asexual/sexual couples. It really clicked for me and I was incredibly relieved to realize I was asexual and not that I had low libido.
At the end of Dec '23, I told Jay I had been doing the research and that I was asexual via text (that's primarily how we talk about things since during the day we're at work and kids make free time hard). He was actually pretty supportive that day, but I don't think he ever fully grasped my views on sex. He is a very sexual person (which is normal and okay) and on any given day, 90% of the messages he sends me are sexual in nature. Now as someone who has never really even been on to sext back besides on a pretty superficial level, coming out to ace to him, I asked him to not do that so often because it put a lot of pressure on me. I was still willing to have sex occasionally but when sex is all that's talked about, it's harder for me to get and stay in the moment. When we did have sex for the past 18mo at this point, I was almost always under the influence (weed gummies or tipsy on alcohol) pretty much just to keep my head in it (not really proud of this).
In mid January, he renegged on his support and we got into our first really big fight over lack of sexual intimacy + also household duties. I tried to reiterate my points about how sex made me feel, he insisted he needed it and that he was miserable without it. He even asked if there was a was he could be castrated to stop him wanting sex so much. He kept saying we had 14 years of sex and then all of the sudden there's none. I talked about how I felt I was taking on a much larger childcare, house care and mental load even tho we're both FTE. This fight is the first time I mention divorce in the context of: if we are no longer sexually compatible, I would rather breakup and be friends and co-parents and not continue with all this strife because neither of us seemed like we were going to change (which is okay), nor could we come up with a compromise. He insisted he did not want to split up because our relationship was always more than sex. I offer to open up the relationship for him to fill those sexual needs. I was not planning to ever utilize the openness, but if it helped him in that way, and everything else could work, we could do it. That fight ends, he sends me a long text shortly after saying things like "I lost control of my emotions" "I do support you, and I am happy you have an idea of what's going on and who you are." "I am truly sorry for anything that felt like an attack, it was uncalled for and way out of line." "I'm sorry for any pain that I caused you tonight because that wasn't my intention." "Sex isn't everything and most of our best times have never included sex, I need to look at it as a bonus to being in a loving relationship with you and not a requirement because I do love you more than anything and giving up on us is not an option for me. I know I can be happy with reduced sexual frequency because we have been happy for most of this 13 years."
3 days later he's constantly texting me about sex again. I try my best to respond, but I also don't really know what to say. 2 days later he is talking about scheduling sex (which I suggested to his chagrin). He told me "And this is going to need to be somewhat involved. Some kind of sexy outfit, stockings, drugs, maybe the tripod. Gotta make the most of it." Which I immediately got defensive and asked need be because adding all that in instantly put so much additional pressure. I can see that the conversation is very quickly headed into a fight (again) and I say that the only way I see is finding common ground/compromise is by going to couples therapy. He said he was willing to do therapy but just wanted us to "go back to normal." Then he asked me to set rules for opening up the marriage (which again I made that suggestion just 5 days earlier, I said 1. Condom use and regular STI testing (~6mo, depending on # partners) for you and any potential partner and 2. I want to know about the encounter but not necessarily details. In this same conversation I say again, "But if in the long term we cannot find a way to work out our sexual compatibility, then I don't see why that wouldn't be the natural end to our relationship. And I don't say that lightly, because obviously I don't want that to be the case but I'm also trying to be super rational. From reading about people in or previously in ace/sexual relationships, it seems that about half do end because of the incompatibility." Conversation moves on, there's no real resolution.
He puts a gaming console in the basement and starts hanging down there in pretty much all his free time home, leaving me to be sole caretaker since the kids never go down there (nor is there really a space for them as it's unfinished).
2 weeks pass, things are going okay actually, he still sends occasional sexts but at least more of the household load is being picked up. We have sex later that week. Valentine's Day: I give him this couples night in coupon book which has fun, nonsexual, simple, easy to plan dates to execute at home (think cooking dinner together, no electricity so games by candlelight, etc.). He says he loves it, asks if there was a time frame for using them/planning. I suggest we do 2 a month.
Mid Feb (2 weeks later): I go on a work trip, he tags along. He misunderstands my commitments for the first half of the week and gets frustrated. Bothers me in the middle of the night for over an hour to help him get off when I'm trying to get sleep in bc I have to work 10+ hours on my feet at a conference the next day. I never fully wake up but that interrupted sleep cycle fucks me up and I wake up not feeling like I slept well. Before this trip, we talked about expectations regarding sex and that there essentially were none. It would be nice if it happened, but no pressure. Friday of the trip he tells me he wants sex. Somehow that discussion leads to possibly flying home that day, 3 days early and he says if we do that, the relationship is over. Then he argues I should give up something I love (he chose mountain dew, I drink one can a day, but either way idk that it can be equated to sex), since he had to give up sex.
March-april: jay still sends sexts, I essentially all but ignore them now. We had sex 1 time each of these months. We start playing halo 1-2 nights a week as some non-sexual time together (this ends at the end of April after me asking a few nights and getting nomas a response, I stop initiating). Mid April he starts to hyper fixate on sex in texts with me, talks about crying on the way to work, unable to get the thoughts off his mind. I think about this time is when he started on dating apps (again not an issue, bc I suggested we open it up), and the sexts cool off a lot. We're both pulling our household load.
May 3, 5+6 incidents: first two, jay is upset with me for 1. Being social while cleaning up, while he had to take the children to the playground (after I told them no, he said yes and assumed I would go with them), and 2. Being social with family and friends at a party (where he also knew tons of people) and claiming I was ignoring him. The third incident was me being out of the house for a few hours, doing something and then getting groceries for the week. I come home after 5.5 hours and got really frustrated that the dishes weren't done, the kids were still sitting in front of the TV (they never went off that whole time), and it was obvious he spent the whole time downstairs (not actually having the ability to watch the young kids) playing video games. I called down "thanks for doing the dishes!" Yes I know, passive agressive but I was upset. We fight over the dishes but it's actually just a lot of things over a long time that just kind of made me snap. After this fight I start to feel indifferent about us.
may 8: I see there is a tinder charge on the bank statement. I text him to remind him about the open relationship rules: STI testing being the main concern bc I know he hasn't gotten his done. He kind of ignores my mention of the rules and talks about paying for Tindetrying dating sites in general. I tell him that is important for him to acknowledge and agree to the testing stipulation bc I don't want to get an STI. Jay says "No issue with the testing thing, it's just another stipulation that makes this that much more difficult. Now a random hookup I have to ask a medical history" I tell him regular STI testing when having multiple partners is really common and I gave him an example of what he could say "My spouse and I have an agreement that myself and anyone I am with have regular STI testing. Here's mine, do you have one?" Jay says, "I'm totally fine making sure partners are tested but there will be no partners, bc I'm chicken shit and if it ever came time to meet up I wouldn't do it." He tells me he just likes talking to people to feel warm and fuzzy, I say it's hard to do that when I get a lack of compassion and understanding from him about being asexual, passive aggressive texts, obvious and outward contempt/anger with me at public events. He tried to downplay it, I blow up at him and now what started as indifference is full fledged anger, not an emotion I am used to holding, and certainly not more than a few hours. We argue a little more and he ends it with "Finish the basement and put in a small kitchen and I'll be out of your hair making your life such a miserable mess." On this message, I immediately silence his communications with me because I don't want to be distracted while I try to work. They stay silent even still. Also from here on out, I am essentially barely communicating beyond the absolute minimum.
May 10: I am still full of anger. After having a little campfire I decide to have sex with Jay. My intentions are not great. I do it because I am angry and frustrated, and I thought it would release some emotion. I used him to get off. We did not kiss the entire time. When we finish I immediately feel fucking terrible. I instantly know how huge of a mistake that was, I cry silently in the bathroom for 5 minutes before going back to the bedroom and just turning over and falling asleep.
May 11: This is by far the absolute worst thing I have ever done in my life to another person. I know I need to tell him. He's at work so again, it's thru text. I explain what I did. He knows I feel terrible. (I realize I did not actually apologize to him directly and I should have.) I tell him I don't feel like myself anymore and I don't know how to not be angry at him/us and to get thru it. He suggests he stay with a friend or in the basement for a few nights. There is no further discussion on this at all.
Rest of May doesn't go that well. He says bye every morning with a kiss on my head and an I love you. I am technically awake most mornings but don't make this known (he leaves at 5am, so I wouldn't normally be awake), and I don't respond. Majority of the time he sends ❤️ emoji I don't respond. May 19 we went to an event and on the way home he said he loved me and I nodded my head. Again, not my proudest but I couldn't say it back knowing how I felt. Around this time I start talking to my parents and siblings about likelihood of divorce. I make arrangements for if I need a place to stay in the case we split up. I research divorce in my state, I make the skeleton of a custody/financial plan. We have an open phone policy, but I abuse this in that time to look at his conversations. Mostly it's in Snapchat anyway so I don't see much. I am not proud of this at all, and every time I did it made my stomach turn, but that didn't make me stop.
May 22 he asked if we could hang out that night, maybe have a conversation about finances. I say it's a probably a good idea to talk finances. He asked if that statement had divorce undertones, I said, "Well yeah it kind of does, does it not feel like that's the direction we're headed?" He says 100% no, said he wants to be friends with me again. I say how I'm still angry and don't know how to move forward and he hits me with some toxic positivity, "Negativity leads to negativity, positivity leads to positivity." Anyway, he plays on his phone that night and falls asleep without saying a word meanwhile I am actively looking at finances, make a whole list and send it to him, asking him to tell me what he wanted to talk about I guess.
May 23: Another fight ensues, I bring up that I'm hurt he never really put much effort into being my friend the past 5 months, even after I gave him that coupon book. He says he never gave me one because "a lot of them involve planning" and that he's "not great at that." In this conversation I mention that I think we (relationship) are broken in a way I don't believe is fixable. He said he feels like I hate him. I said I didn't hate him, but that I didn't have active love for him (I still have love for parts of our past). He says "I'm just looking at this like another storm on our journey through life. I don't see separation or divorce as an option sorry." He then says, " what in the world has been so bad that we are talking about divorce. You don't want to have sex I do. We're not going to have sex so we move on. We need to learn how to be better friends without sex involved and that one's on me but it's only been a couple months and I've still not really letting go of the sex thing." I reply that sex incompatibility was one factor but not even the main reasons I was leaning toward divorce. I said it was about all the other aspects of our relationship that we have discussed/fought about with little to no resolution and asked "if it hasn't already changed, why would this time be different?" Again I reiterate that I was leaning toward separation/divorce be we had spent so much time and effort (I felt especially I did) trying to make us work in years past. I say we're incompatible, he disagrees says we only had issues once we had kids. I bring up instances where no, that's certainly not true. Conversation again ends in no resolution butbwe both end it by saying we personally are not okay (headspace wise).
May 24-june 3: things continue mostly amicably. My feelings aren't really changed, but at least conversation via text can be civil, we don't really chat at home.
June 4/5: he asks to go to coworker's (Sam, F30s) after work/sporting event. I've met her plenty of times, we are all on a different team sport that meets weekly. He is there for 3 hrs and texts me when he leaves offering up that what they did was watch some docuseries. He comes home, I get annoyed at the smell of his leftovers and end up falling asleep a few min later. I wake up at 230 and realize he's not in the bed - that's weird. I go and see he's sleeping on the couch and every bad alarm in my body goes off. I take his phone again and see a thread on Snapchat where they allude to the sex and then Jay says to her "oh I was supposed to ask you if you had any STDs first also 😁" she says no (not that it matters). He says he should have stayed the night. I absolutely lose my cool, I am angrier than I have ever been in my life, and we fight right then and there from 245-4am. He says he didn't understand what was required of him regarding STI testing (we talked about it 2x and I gave him a script), says it just happened, and he had no intentions when he went over. Said he just went over to eat and watch TV. I asked him "no that's not all you went over there to do, and what else?" I had read the messages I knew his intentions were to give her a full on massage, oil and all. He's refusing to say so, and only admits it once I say it. Fight goes on for a while, we argue about many a topic discussed above. I say we are done because him not following the open relationship rules he agreed to is cheating, and that's always been a breaking point. He says he will move his stuff into the basement. (He does this the same day, in the evening).
June 6: I wake up fuming, he's already at work, i respond to our discussion 1 mo prior about the STI testing and his agreement to it asking him to reread the conversation, he says he didn't register that a piece of paper would need to be shown, which in my script I said "here's my results, do you have yours" so idk what else that could mean. I say, "You can pretend that you didn't comprehend what I was asking but googling takes exactly 5 seconds to know what you needed to do and do that." I say twice in this fight that I am so excited to play [team sport] tonight and have to see Sam/them interact (obvious sarcasm, not helpful but I was mad). To be clear, I am not mad at Sam, but I don't want to see hethem together Team sport gets cancelled but Jay suggests I go to the bar since other teams were going. I agree to go. 90 min later he tells me he was invited to a bar to watch a sports game that night, if I could be home by 815. I say not really bc I wouldn't even be at the bar for that long before coming right back home (I want to socialize/get away a little, and this was his suggestion I go). When he gets home, Jay asks me if John (coworker who invited him out) could come over to watch the game. I say I don't mind that. 10 min later when I'm with a kiddo, he asks me if I would mind if Sam also came over. I took a beat and responded "no, she cannot come here". After another 5 min I was done what I was doing and he was still in the common area, so I asked him in what world would that be an appropriate thought/question for Sam to come here? He said bc she was apart of the group meant to go to the bar, it would be rude to not invite her to the house with the guys. He said I could just text him on my way home and tell her to leave then. I said no that was incredibly rude for her to have to leave while the others stayed. We fight a bit more he says that when I used him for sex, I broke him (he never once told me how much that affected him until after he cheated). I leave for the bar. He texts me later saying his mom was gonna come watch the girls til I got home and he was going to watch the game. He sends another text saying he will probably stay out that way bc of the time and it's proximity to work (30 min drive). He stayed with her.
June 7/8 the kids want to sleep with him downstairs. He asks me if I think they will be okay down there after he goes to work. I say yes because he doesn't go to work until usually 6am on Saturdays. I have the roughest night to date. A lot of my anger has turned to sadness and pain. since I don't expect my children to come into my bed and I cry harder than I ever have, when I try to close my eyes to sleep, all I picture is them togethethe messages. I send him a text at 1130pm saying as much, and that he broke me, and I couldn't sleep and it was torture. I eventually pass out after wishing someone would just hit me with a frying pan or something. I wake up at 420, he has responded at 4am apologizing for what he did. out of curiosity I look outside and see his car is not there. Again I get that weird feeling. I check his location history (Google maps, bc we have access to one another's accounts) and see he left at 230am, drove to Sam's house, stayed for 20 mins and then went to his work. Again, I was livid. Firstly because he left his kids in an unfamiliar space (they have never slept in the basement) in the middle of the night where I wouldn't have heard them if they cried out. Secondly bc he did so to go to her house. Thirdly, that he read my message when he woke up, made a decision to drive to her place, and then didn't text me until an hour after being at work. I angrily text him (emotion getting the best of me again) and tell him he's gross. That I couldn't believe he would leave them in the middle of the night for her. He trys to play it off like he only left a little earlier than a normal workday at 4, and I ask 230? And I say that I can see he went to her house. He says he "never saw her" and just sat outside her apt for 20 minutes, "her parents locked the deadbolt" I asked what did he want a quickie before work? He says no bc her parents were there. I tell him there's literally no way I'd ever believe he didn't talk to hesee her. After a bit more back and forth he finally admitted that we were through, which was a relief after him refusing multiple times in the days before, and telling his mom we were "just going thru a rough patch."
June 9 - today: day was mostly fine until it wasn't. We talked amicably (in person and via text) about groceries, plans for the day, etc. I had a shower to attend in the middle of the day before a family event later, so I go and he's home with the kids. Right before I leave tho, I ask Jay what he wanted to do for dinner after the family event? He informed me that again, he wants to go out to watch the Celtics. My heart absolutely sinks because I know this means he's going to see Sam and probably stay the night. I don't even know what I responded in person before I left. Jay texts me while I'm at the shower and asks me if we should take 2 cars or 1, options for dinner. I am indifferent and tell him to decide. He ends up deciding one car. We go to the thing and on the way home I am not doing well, just on autopilot driving home. Not talking, no music because I have no desire to listen to anything. Tears welling up frequently. We get home and he makes some comment. I blow up at him in the driveway, end up going inside and slamming a door. All in front of the kids which makes me start sobbing uncontrollably while he still tries to fight with me. I know I'm acting out bc he's going to see her, and I desperately want to be a bigger person but I am not in this moment (I later apologized to the kids for my behavior).
So now we're up to the present. I started writing this because I succumbed again to looking at Google history a while after he left and saw he didn't even go to the bar this time, just directly to her place and stayed there. I feel so low and worthless that he continues to choose her as it's damaging to our ability to coexist in the same space (he doesn't have a separate place to go yet), be good co-parents, and generally hurtful to me because I feel like there is no remorse there for breaking those open relationship rules. On the way home today I started to think that he might have/be doing this intentionally to hurt me the way I unintentionally hurt him when I used him for sex, especially as I didn't know how much it hurt him bc he never expressed that to me. This made me super upset because this whole time (and even after the cheating) is claiming I'm the best person, he loves me, etc, but I would never do something intentionally to hurt someone I love. I'm confused why he doesn't see an issue with inviting her over or continuously going to her place. Most of all I'm so angry that I offered splitting up mostly amicably multiple times before the cheating. This would have been so much easier and 100x less hurtful if we had just done that. Then he could have sex with whoever he wanted without any rules!
I am so hurt and lost. And all I want is to talk to my mom but she's still out of the country and it's not something I want to message her about. This all just sucks so bad an i just want to be me again and be happy.

I have recently graduated with a BA in Digital Arts. By the end of my education, I've realized that my main passions for art is Illustration (mainly character design) and 3D Modeling. My long-term goal is to work in animation or gaming, making designs and models for various creative projects.
However, I am still inexperienced in both. Though I'm proud of the work I've done, and I'm confident in my current skills, my portfolio of works isn't well developed yet, and my education honestly only taught me the basics of each.
Meanwhile, I have spent the past year doing a graphic design internship for a remote startup company that has given me more professional experience in graphic design. While I can't say I'm as passionate about it as illustration, I'm still interested enough that I can work on projects effectively without being bored out of my mind. And though it's only 1 year of experience, it's given me a much larger portfolio of work than in illustration and I think that gives me a better chance at finding GD work in comparison.
My original plan after college was to find work as a Graphic Designer to help support my family. Meanwhile, I'll develop my illustration and 3D modelling skills on the side to be on par with industry-level work. I'll likely jump around to different Graphic Design positions over time as I develop my illustration skills, but I eventually plan to focus my efforts on an illustration career in the long-run.
TLDR My short term goal is to work as a graphic designer for a few years, my long term goal is Illustration (or 3D Modeling. Honestly, I'm stuck between the two, but this isn't the subreddit to talk about that).
With that being said, I was wondering if graphic design work give me adequate experience for illustration work?
I know the two fields have a lot of similarities (need for basic art and design principles, working with clients, flexibility with a variety of visual styles, the same softwares, etc.), but I recognize they are very different from each other in terms of purpose and skills needed. I'm worried that starting with a Graphic Design career will somehow weaken my attempts at an illustration career. I'm worried that I might be wasting my time, and I should instead focus on one or the other.
I also worry that, if I'm open about Graphic Design not being my long-term goal, that I'll seem less valuable to employers. Like, if an employer asks me "Where do I see myself in __ Years" for a GD position, and I say "illustrating for games and film", that they'll think I'm not committed to being a graphic designer and pass me over.
On top of that I've considered taking a risk and putting all my current focus on illustration. I've seen that idea thrown around for artists to focus on their passions, but IMO that sounds really idealistic and having a stable income is an utmost priority for me.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
It's a good thing we have some battery packs with us. Otherwise, my phone would be dead by now. I've been making sure to keep it charged and off unless necessary. We don't want to repeat what happened to Drake at the gym. If I ever end up getting torn apart by zombies to a song I want it to be something more fitting like heavy metal.
Anyway, Jeff and his group were an okay bunch and let us spend the night. We knew we should’ve kept moving, but free weed is free weed. Besides, we were safer in a group than braving it by ourselves. We were enlightened about The Unplagued. It had a long and rich history, dating back to about a week ago.
Jeff and the others saw shit going down and decided, “Fuck it. Let’s live in the woods”.
I don’t quite see the appeal. Then again, it’s not my place to judge, for the most part. Drake and me were sitting with Jeff, playing a round of Go Fish.
“Any fours?” I asked.
“Go fish,” Jeff replied.
I drew a card. While it wasn’t what I wanted, it did match another card in my hand. I put down a pair of sixes.
“By the way, “we meant to ask you this other night. Did any of you happen to see a guy named Van pass through here?” Drake inquired and gave a brief description of Van’s appearance.
Jeff’s confused expression broke into another wide smile.
“Oh, you must mean the chosen one.”
“The what now?” I asked.
“The ceremony will begin at moonrise. You will find out everything then.”
In hindsight, we should’ve taken that as our cue to skedaddle. Instead, we stuck around. Drake ended up winning our game and afterward, Jeff ordered everyone to gather. He then got up onto a tree stump.
“Everyone, Drake and Gus here have been wonderful company among us. Have they not?”
At that, there were cheers of agreement.
“But they are still unaware of all of our customs. What do you say we demonstrate them so that we may have a lucrative harvest? Let the ceremony begin.”
The cheering grew louder, worrying us that it would attract some zombies. We remained safe, though so things proceeded. Everybody started chanting and dancing like the people on Spooky Island from the first live-action Scooby-Doo movie. As this happened, we observed a large square object getting wheeled out covered in a bedsheet.
Everyone stopped and pointed at the sheet that was then yanked off, revealing a wooden cage with someone naked inside, curled up in the fetal position. Upon realizing who it was, our eyes squinted in disbelief.
“Van?” we said in unison.
Feebly, he lifted his head, recognizing us. To put it bluntly, he looked like shit. Dirt, bruises, and cuts covered him. A piece of cloth was gagging his mouth. He muffled something and we assumed he was trying to say, “Help me”.
“Okay, that’s it,” Drake spoke up. “Does anybody want to tell us what the hell’s going on?”
“Friends, there is no need for this confusion,” Jeff told us. “The answer is simple. Van here is the chosen one and his noble sacrifice will yield us healthy crops.”
“Wait, did you say sacrifice?” I asked, a bit concerned.
“Why yes. It is a great honor and your friend here was worthy enough to be chosen.”
While we were far from friends with Van, especially at this point, the idea of him getting murdered didn’t sit well with us. At most, we wanted our money back and maybe to rough him up.
“Take him to the pit,” Jeff commanded.
The crowd parted, revealing a massive tarp surrounded by torches with abandoned construction equipment near it. The tarp was pulled back, revealing a hole filled with snarling zombies. The sacrifice part of things was making more sense now.
“Hey, quick question,” I told Jeff.
He raised a hand, prompting the others to become quiet.
“Yes?” he replied.
“Let’s say hypothetically we weren't exactly comfortable with all this and wanted to get Van out of here. What would happen?”
We thought Jeff would be offended by what I said. To our surprise, however, he was ecstatic.
“Why, nothing would make us happier.”
“Okay, well, in that case-”
“Solidarity is a truly noble gesture.”
“Wait, what?”
“Triple the offerings means triple the harvest.”
The next thing we knew we were surrounded and grabbed.
“What are you doing? Let us go,” Drake demanded.
Jeff ignored him.
“To tell you the truth, we were going to throw you in the pit tomorrow night anyway.”
We froze.
“You were going to kill us?” I said in disbelief. “How do you all even know this whole sacrifice thing works?”
“It’s quite simple really.”
Jeff explained that when The Unplagued was founded, there was little food. One night, a member tried sneaking off with all they had, and in their attempt to flee didn’t notice the pit and fell in. Zombies were already in it that devoured them alive,
“Would you believe that right after seeing this, we were blessed by finding bags of beef jerky and cans of beer?”
“Not be rude, but how do you know that wasn’t a coincidence?” I asked, trying unsuccessfully to appeal to what little remained of the crowd’s reason.
“Because we sacrificed someone to the pit the night after before going into town the next morning. Not only did my followers and I find supplies, we remained safe while doing so. Therefore, it is now our custom.”
If there’s anything this past week has taught me, it’s that things can go to shit fast. Van was taken out of the cage and lifted into the air. We could only watch in horror as he was crowd-surfed to the pit and tossed in. The zombies were all over him like ants to sugar water. As he was getting his insides eaten, the gag was ripped out of his mouth, making his shrieks echo throughout the woods.
It was only as we were getting pushed toward the pit that I found the ability to speak again.
“Can’t we talk about this? It’s not exactly a fair deal for us,” I shouted.
“Of course, it is. After this, you will be in paradise.”
“What proof do you have of that?”
“Our faith. Drake, Gus, your noble offers will not be forgotten.”
“How about you forget us being offerings in the first place?” Drake frantically asked.
“What’s done can not be undone.”
All of our careful planning just to be killed by some cultist nutjobs. At least, that’s what would’ve happened if not for another streak of incredible luck on our part. Storm clouds had been gathering during this ordeal. Following a clap of thunder, rain began pouring down, causing the dirt to become mud. People slipped on it, falling into the hole.
They piled into it, giving the zombies a means of climbing their way out. What followed was two minutes of mayhem. The Unplagued was no longer a fitting name. We were being held by two people each at the time. When the person on my left arm and the other on Drake’s right were tackled away, we seized the opportunity and freed ourselves.
Drake punched the guy holding him in the throat and shoved him to the ground. I stomped the foot of the person holding my arm and then kicked him in the crotch. He doubled over, groaning in pain. Then he was dog-piled by the zombies.
“Gus, look,” Drake said, pointing.
Our stuff was resting by a tree. We rushed over, grabbing our guns. Zombies tried attacking and Drake smashed onto across the face with the butt of his rifle while I shot another with my handgun. Fighting wasn’t easy given the limited visibility except during lightning flashes which meant we were going mainly off sound. Anything we heard coming towards us was getting the pump action treatment.
“Didn’t we pack some flashlights with us?” I asked, then yelled “Oh shit” as a flash revealed another zombie lunging at me.
I put a bullet through its head as Drake was rummaging through his bag.
“Got it,” he exclaimed in triumph and turned it on. “Catch.”
I caught it when he tossed it to me and kept the light on him as he got his weapon ready.
“On your left,” I told him as he was cocking his rifle.
With one turn and pull of the trigger, half of a zombie's face disappeared in a cloud of red mist. To think, a mere few days ago such a sight would’ve made us blow chunks. I guess we’ve become more resilient since then. I don’t know if that’s necessarily a good thing or there might be even more psychological shit we’ll have to deal with later down the road. Either way, it’s helped us survive this long.
Maybe I just shouldn’t think about it too much.
“God damn it, they got us all disoriented,” I said. “Which way should we head?”
After a brief discussion, we decided to go east while the cult members were getting devoured. Along the ground, I noticed someone had dropped the calumet and picked it up.
“Hang on, do you see that?” I asked, shining the flashlight on a nearby bush.
Checking it showed us Van’s stuff. We took the money from his wallet and left the rest of his things behind. We kept running until the cries of people and zombies alike were out of earshot.
“I think we’re safe for now,” Drake said as our lungs were getting some rest. “We need to find someplace to hunker down for the night.”
“Not exactly many options when it’s poring.“Guess all we can do is keep moving.”
We hoped the rain would let up soon. It didn’t and continued all night. We were miserable being soaked from head to toe and having our pants covered in mud. I would have given my right nut for a warm place to dry off and change.
“Rain’s stopped finally,” Drake commented as the clouds parted, revealing the first rays of sunlight. “Hey, Gus?”
“Yeah?”
“Did we grab any energy shots at the store?”
“I think so.”
“Oh, thank Christ.”
We each downed an 8-Hour Energy, temporarily alleviating our fatigue. However, our feet were still screaming at us. Therefore, we decided to sit on some nearby logs for a bit.
“How far do you think we have until we’re out?” I asked.
“Gus, I don’t know. We’ve been traveling for over two days now. We have to be close at this point.”
“I hope so. Hey, do you think maybe we should do something when and if we make it out of here?”
“Like?”
“Well, even before all this, we were spinning our wheels in the mud. I think we deserve to treat ourselves.”
“I get what you mean, man. Tell you what. After all this, let’s get some of that good shit for the peace pipe.”
“Hell yeah.”
We had breakfast, a bag of mixed nuts each with some water. Then we got moving again.
“Hold up,” Drake said. “Is that smoke?”
By this point, another two hours of us waking had gone by. I took out the binoculars from my pack and handed them over.
“Holy shit, it is,” he said ecstatically while looking through them.
“But where's it coming from?”
He gave them back to me. Raising them to my eyes showed me a cabin in the distance.
“Someone's living all the way out here?” I asked.
“Looks like it. They probably want to be off-grid. Let's see if they'd be willing to help us.”
When we reached it, we were met with a medium-sized one-floor log cabin.
“Hello, is anyone there?” Drake asked, knocking on the door. “Sorry to bother you, but my friend and I are in bad shape.”
No answer came. I gestured to the knob. Drake shrugged and tried it, finding, to our surprise, it to be unlocked. He turned it, pushing the door open to a home shrouded in darkness.
“That doesn't make any sense,” I said. “We just saw smoke coming from here.”
“Maybe whoever made it left.”
“Should we wait for them to come back then?”
At the noises of ravenous zombies in the distance, we decided it'd be a safer bet to try explaining our unlawful entry. We went inside, shutting the door behind us.
“Help me find the light switch,” Drake said and I heard him feeling along the wall.
There was a click and the lights came on.
“Good going, Gus.”
“That wasn't me.”
Suddenly, there was laughter coming from someone whose voice was eerily familiar. When he spoke, it chilled us to our core.
“Drake, Gus, it's been too long.”
Our heads whipped in the direction of that voice. Stepping from the shadows was the grinning face of Erickson. His fingers were wrapped around the handles of a glass tank containing a severed head he referred to as his wife.
“I take it you’ve enjoyed my virus?” he asked.
“Your virus?” Drake replied, shocked. “You’re the one responsible for the zombie outbreak.”
“That’s right. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t expecting you both to survive this long. Of course, I knew contaminating the water would take care of most of this town’s residents.”
“The water?” I said, realization splashing me in the face, no pun intended.
I thought back to before everything went to hell in a handbasket. Our faucet had acted up and therefore we switched to drinking bottled water. As far as we knew, Roscoe and Van were only drinking bottled water as well. The latter made sense, seeing as how he had higher standards. As for the former, I think he mentioned once that he didn’t drink from the tap because he heard it would make him gay.
I don’t quite understand his reasoning. To each his own, I guess.
“Give us one reason we shouldn’t blow your head off right now?” Drake asked, pointing his rifle at Erickson.
The mad doctor only smiled. My face broke out in a sweat at the noise of several weapons being trained on us from the darkness.
“You didn’t think I’d be so careless. Did you?” Erickson asked.
More people came out of the shadows. Only then did it dawn on me how oddly lit the place was. The majority of them were a form of cop or security profession. Then there were two that stood out. The first we recognized.
It was former mayor Bill Schneider. With him was a woman sporting a viper smile.
“Why is the mayor here?” I asked.
“Yeah, and why do you look like Hilary Clinton?” Drake added to the woman beside Schneider.
“Now that he mentions it, she does remind me a lot of her,” I thought.
Erickson gave a sinister laugh.
“All will be answered in due time,” he told us. “ Now, would someone be so kind as to show our guests where they’ll be staying?”
At that, we were both struck across the face with batons, making everything go dark. I can’t accurately say where I was taken. I faded in and out of consciousness as they were dragging us away. What I did glimpse, shakes me to my core to even describe. There were windowed rooms with different zombies.
I thought what we’d encountered thus far were abominations. These go against Mother Nature herself. The worst ones I saw were a fused zombified family and one guy without any skin clawing at his window. He was moaning as he did it and I got the harrowing sensation it was due to pain. All my weapons were taken away and I was thrown into this room.
It’s similar to the ones in hospitals with a bed and a sink. I still have my phone on me. I’m not sure why. I guess they don’t realize I have internet access. Either that or they missed it outright.
In any case, I’m able to upload this post. There’s a wifi signal down here. The password wasn’t difficult to crack. It was “EricksonIsAGnnuis_1234”. I have no clue where they took Drake.
I can only hope he’s staying strong. Knowing that Erickson is behind all this and whatever’s in store for us is making my nut hairs bristle. If I don’t get a chance to update again, I want to end with this message. No justice. No Peace. Fuck the police.

Alright here me out y'all: after wracking my brain on how to make this codex work, I think the best, most well-rounded detachment for tricky stuff and doing decent damage is biosantic broodsurge.
5-man purestrains can get turn 1 advance and charges to lock up opponents close to their deployments, and a 10-man with an enhanced patriarch can kill infantry with devs, and some ap3 d3 attacks.
Abbertants with an abominant (probably a 10-man) are on anti-monster (maybe anti-elite) with the +1 to wound strat against monsters.
The real important damage comes from a biophagus and a primus both attached to squads of 10-man mining weapon acolytes. On charge, 18 d3 attacks with the mining weapons, 12 with claws and 6 with the leader weapons. They can flex into killing infantry with a +1 to wound (usually 3/4s), can get full rerolls for lethals, and can still decently damage vehicles with anti-vehicle (they'll bounce off monsters like water, as is canonical for attacking our star children).
Finally, all of these units can get buffed up a bit by running 3 ridgerunners, spamming out the +1 ap for melee and praying our enemies don't have a 4+ invuln. How many of these units can fit into a list will depend on point but I could see this detachment becoming our main one.
The biggest downside to all this is now our big damage bricks, the mining acolytes, are like eldar: do a ton of damage, and if you don't hide properly or don't deepstrike charge, proceed to instantly die from the lightest rain of boltor fire.
Note: Funnily enough, this makes buying 3 of the new combat patrol not even the worst idea somehow, though I don't really want to buy anything more right now since I do still miss the 4+fnp.

Ok…. So, around Dec 2023 / January 24, I awoke with a fever & flu / cold like symptoms. That first day, after a bout of uncontrollable sneezing, I threw up. Little did I know, this would in someway kickstart 5-6 months of hell. The fever only lasted that first day. I maybe threw up once or twice that week. While the majority of the flu symptoms went away after 2 days. But, I did still feel extremely weak. Now, I very rarely get sick. I maybe get a bad cold once a year, but other than that I rarely am legit sick. I get tired (mainly from depression) but everyone else in the house will be sick and I’m the one person who just doesn’t.
Well, slowly the throwing up became more regular until there were far more days that I threw up than I didn’t. I kept saying I would go to the doctor but never did. About 2-3 months ago, it was becoming just overwhelming, but still I ignored it. I help take care of my parents, so I just kept on. Suddenly tho, I started being unable to have the energy to cook meals. Then the last 2 months I started having to sit down and take a break after climbing one flight of stairs - usually I could carry 10 grocery bags up and be fine. But now, just my purse (which is light - I only carry bare essentials in ky purse)…. I stopped going to the grocery store because I just couldn’t physically walk that much.
1 week ago, I went to CVS and while walking around felt like I might pass out at anytime. Now, back to the throwing up, there wasn’t any rhyme or reason to when I would throw up. Sometimes a smell could make me throw up, taking a drink or eating, sometimes I would feel the nausea and would know I am gonna throw up - but it could take an hour or s9 before I would throw up …. I even started puking while driving most times.
Anyway, so I finally breakdown and go to the ER. They do an x ray, CT scan and blood work up. Turns out my hemoglobin levels are around 6.8 and they admit me so I can have a transfusion….. long story short, they haven’t found the cause of why my hemoglobin levels were low, nor the source of why I was puking. But, I haven’t felt nauseous or thrown up since having the blood transfusion. The doctors are clueless as to the cause of all these issues.
Anyway, I guess I am hoping maybe someone with medical knowledge will see this and maybe have an idea of what might be going on with me. I lost 50 pounds during all of this. My worse fear is waking up and finding myself weak or throwing up again.
Any knowledge would be appreciated.

Throwaway because ya i dont want my main to have this shitshow on it.
When i was 16 my family taped me to become my grandfather's caretaker on the weekends and over the summer. I didn't have a car or job at that time so I went with it. I took care of my grandfather until the last 2 weeks of his life where my mother and her brothers stayed with him and a hospice nurse. His passing negatively affected me.
By then i had a cheap $500 car my grandparents helped me get and my grandmother made me pay her back every cent of it. Granted it was interest free but eh. Anyway my uncle took grandma up with him for 6 months and everyone again decided I would live with her until something changed. Well grandma was a drunk and had dementia.
My 19 year old ass had to baby sit her every second I wasn't in school or work. They even wanted me to move her to the Northeast to be closer to family up there. Thankfully she had a massive breakdown that night and while her and my mother fought I finally lost it on both of them. After that my family decided to move grandma into my parents home and build me a room in our garage. It wasn't the worst idea but inadequate ventilation in a florida garage not the best of plans.
But at that point i met and started dating my now wife. After a few months I moved in with her and her father. See my wife is disabled and I was her most the time careguver except when working obviously. Now her dad did want me to pay rent which i did. Granted we are talking almost 25 years ago so it was something like 200-300 a month. Again no major issue with that. But what got annoying was he always found something to get on me about. Nothing serious just things like, i should dust the house 3x a week, vacuum the rug every week, wash dishes everynight regardless of if i was the cook or even ate their that night. Kinda normal chores shit. It did grind me that i felt like i was being used as his personal maid for the house on top of working 50-60 hours a week and taking care of his daughter everyday. But again i live here i can chip in as well.
Well it got way worse over the years because we couldnt afford to move out due to her being disabled and the house we live in was mostly designed with her in mind. Any place we would have to rent we would need accomodations for her and even possible renovations so she could shower, have a lift to assist her into bed and bars so use the restroom by herself. Needless to say there are not many places like that and even less landlords willing to allow us to renovate ourselves. So we delt with him. It was clear to me he had dementia but my wife and her brother wouldnt hear of me talking about it.
Well it got so bad for him i ended up being his caretaker as well. After a few years and fights with doctors he was finally diagnosed as having alcoholic dementia. And he got to the point it wasnt safe to live with him as he got violent and attacked me everynight and when he threatened the kids (yes we have kids) my wife finally said ok we need to go somewhere else. I tried to see if we could spend some time at my parents house but my sister suddenly found herself homeless with her two kids. So we moved to south FL for a few months waiting on her brother to help us.
Now her brother finally took over helping and worked for 4 months to get him help and it ended up with him in a home due to his violent tendencies and his lost grasp of reality. We were able to return to our house (he father left it to her specifically because she was disabled and it was built new specifically to help her) and my father got very sick. We tried to make up for a summer of not being there but in the end my father passed right before christmas. That was a really hard day. Somehow I managed to keep it together and helped in the planning of my fathers funeral. In the end almost none of my ideas or photos got used. The next year due to issues with my wifes caregiver I ended up losing a job. Getting a new one only to get injured and be out of work for 9 months. Then once i finally healed up from injuries and heartache covid happened.
A year later her father passed. After all the covid crap finally cleared up Im now my wifes full time caregiver. We have zero help from most our familes. Her mom who is bipolar decided to sell her house in south florida and moved in with us. She doesnt really do anything and when she does its some batshit idea she came up with. If we shoot it down she will sulk in her room for several days then come out interact with us like a normal person and suddenly come up with a batshit idea the next day.
Sorry this is going on so long i just needed to vent. Im not sure exactly why today is my day to let this loose but almost 30 years of holding it in isn't working anymore so i needed to just say it.
My family has used me as a errand boy for most my life. Need something fixed no problem tired will do it. Need a ride? Again he's got no plans get him. Oh your homeless and want to move into a 3/2 house with a family of 5 already in it? More the merrier i guess. Oh something didnt work out exaclty as planned well unload on him cause fuck him right?
Honestly i never minded being a caregiver. In some ways it makes my life more fufilled because Im helping and I like to be the helper. But god damn sometime people that advantage of that then shit on me when things go wrong. Im not a damnit doll. Im a fucking human being. I know over the years I haven't accomplished much but god damn its hard to try to for example go to school for a degree when you cant get a second of freetime to study or work and when it eventually fails im laughed at and belittled for not trying harder. Hell the firrt time i went to college before my wife was even in the picture my family decided they where not going to pay for it because I failed a english class. A subject ive struggled in my entire life. Hell i even tried to access the schools resources for people like myself that have learning disabilities but they even with 8 years of previous documented learning disabilities decided nah your good. Also never mind for the first time im my life i got As in every other class I took. Nope a single F and i wasnt trying. As i wasnt trying they wouldnt help. Oh student loans you ask? Didnt qualify because drum roll my parents made too much i was too young and they need to help. Pay for yourself you say? Didnt have 2500 every 3 months to register. Or a few years later and no longer living with my family. I got loans but after 2 years of school i was still 6 months behind to graduate (mostly math and english two classes i have learning disabilities it) and mt school recommended i take a semester off to get myself rested and ready to finish. Well the school got shut down before i could go back and as it wasnt a real college (itt-tech scam) i couldnt transfer my credits. Now i owe a crap load of money and no degree to use to improve my employment status. Tried again a decade later and well father in law madenit impossible to study or do work so guess how that turned out.
Honestly im just tired. Tired of being looked down on by our familes because im the loser who couldnt finish school (verbatim spoken by a family member). Im the guy that when they really needed me turned them down because i just couldnt for whatever reason. Well thats enough to cut contact with me for 2 months.
Now i dont want people to think my family or my wifes family are all compelte assholes. They aren't, for example my parents payed off a car loan I had. Mostly because my other grandmother passed and they got an inheritance so they did something for me. However same time my sister who had a job paying more then my father made at the time. Lived with them rent free and didnt contribute to any house hold bills including food. And as she had 2 young kids at the time that was alot.
My wife and I early into our marriage got into a very bad place. We ended up separating for 2 months which i lived with my parents. At that time my sister and her babydaddy lived there as well. I payed my dad 400 a month in rent and gave him enough extra to cover 2-3 of the utilites as well.. when i moved back I got roasted because i only covered the power bill for the next month and didnt give my parents more. Guess who roasted me for this? Hint it wasnt my parents.
God this got really long. Kinda feels like ive unloaded on a therapist again. Havent had that ability in over a decade. Anyway ill stop ranting here. I dont really want people to comment. In the end of the day Ive got the family I created. Ive got a house and I am doing ok. I just needed to write this out just because because. Please dont think im looking for something here. I am not injust needed to unload nothing more.
Thanks if you managed to get all the way down here. This honestly started as a reply to another post. When i saw it was going into adhd rant land i decided to post it by itself. So i end this here and say be excellent to one another.

Back in highschool in 2004 I started watching by accident on the first episode a TV show called LOST. I was hooked and never missed an episode.
Basically half of the people in a plane crash are stranded in an island and need to survive.
I always liked that idea (not the plane crash) of living in an island and being part of a small community. Not sure if subconsciously my mind was liking the idea of being unplugged from modern society.
Back then I played sports, I still keep myself fit still in my late 30s, eat healthy and don't drink or smoke. I'm a chill guy got stem degree and masters.
The main character was a neurosurgeon and I seemed to identify with his personality above all other characters. I do like technology, working out, nature, cars and other modern lifestyle, but not sure why being in an island like that where people are not measured by their income, profession or other material stuff, seemed to make me feel at peace somehow since in a situation like that you are you, no social position etc just who you are as a person.
Why did I liked that show a lot? That was one of my favorites shows to watch, the others where different but somehow I felt part of the people in the show when watching it.

I made a secondary account and followed all my followers from the main account and it got suspended for 2 weeks so I deleted that account and now I want to make a new account. Does anyone have any kind of idea how do I follow everyone from my main account without getting suspended?

He had feelings for his girl bestfriend during our talking stage (June 2023 - April 2024) was claiming that he loves me, we made the relationship official in May 2024 and broke up within a week due to this.
I was focused on him all these months. He never confessed he had a crush on his girl bestfriend until the 10th month of our talking stage. He said she didn't know what she wanted and had asked him to move on.
I questioned my worth for months on why he isn't giving commitment when in reality he had feelings for his girl bestfriend, I didn't see it coming because he was also putting in a lot of effort since the beginning.
I constantly told him I feel uncomfortable for a whole month (throughout April 2024) since he confessed (April 6th, 2024). He said he blocked her.
On our first date (May 2024, he left the city in January 2023, we were classmates, relationship was long distance) she texted him on snapchat asking how the date went. He had a streak with her. He never blocked her. It led to a fight and he blocked her ONLY after his friend's girlfriend told him that he's wrong for having her on his snapchat.
i asked him to ask his girl bestfriend to text me her side of the story to gain clarity. He said he can't.
When I texted her, she told me that he never told her about me. When she brought up my name, he said he didn't like me. He was flirting with her the whole time. He told her that if only she accepted his proposal, he will leave me anytime.
On a conference call, he started abusing her on how I am better and he is going to marry me, he told me he actually loved me from February 2024, he told me he's actually been serious from February 2024 and blocked her.
Since she asked him to date her, it triggered me so much, i did something i regret. I gave her number to guys on Whisper app. It was impulsive and wrong of me. She filled an FIR and a police complaint, then called the guy I have feelings for. He told me about it and i confessed that i was the one who did it. I begged her and she said she'll withdraw the complaint tomorrow. In the end him, his girl bestfriend, and everybody involved blocked me. He told me to move on, he told me he'll hate me forever and that it's worse than cheating, then he blocked me. 2 days later we're back to talking again and he said he understands we all made mistakes and we'll get back together.
I have PTSD from being cheated on and abused by a narcissist in my previous relationship which makes me judge people from a distance and block them because I think they are capable of hurting me before they become my friend. I react aggressively after the smallest trigger and I need to work on it, I take accountability. For some context, I dated my ex from May 2021-December 2022. It was my first relationship and an extremely toxic one. He cheated multiple times, lied about everything, crossed my physical boundaries on a daily basis, talked down on me, controlled me and isolated me. There were 127 red flags and I was severely trauma bonded. We broke up and got back together over 18 times in a year. When I say 18, people think I'm crazy but it's true. I have indeed become insane.
Now we have 2 issues

1. I can't trust him.
   
2. He's afraid of my anger issues.
   

So we will be dating again but we need to prove ourselves.
It still hurts
He booked a train to my city mainly to meet me, he travelled for 12 hours, he was so sick, I saw tears in his eyes on our first date because his stomach was hurting, but he still wanted to meet me because that was our only opportunity and I'll leave abroad for masters. He hugged me and paid for everything and dropped me.
He never follows random girls, when any girl follows him on instagram he would send me a screenshot and ask if I'm comfortable or he should remove her or he should follow back.
But then again he used my love to move on from his girl bestfriend and even talking about unaliving my cats after which I had to ask him if he's mentally okay due to lack of empathy and he apologized he doesn't connect like the way I do as he never had cats.
So how to believe and what????
She texted me that she had no idea,she reassured me that she won't involve herself in his life anymore, we've known each other for much longer than we've known that guy.
And he blocked her everywhere and said he's already moved on from her and wants me, I see a lot of effort from his side but idk if I can trust. He's doing everything in his power to make me feel loved, screenshot proofs that she's blocked everywhere. Whenever a new girl follows him on Instagram he would send me a screenshot and ask me if I'm comfortable enough for him to follow her back otherwise he won't. He never liked posts of other girls etc.
Why is this situation so complicated.

I keep hearing that tunic is like one of the best games of the last few years and a complete paradigm shift. I know a lot of that comes from cheeky explorations of unique mechanics and secrets and the like. Plus I love the whole aspect of picking up pages of the manual which reveal things you could’ve done without the pages but just didn’t realize without them. I also loved Outer Wilds and I hear Tunic get compared to that game in a lot of ways. I’ve played for a few hours and beat the whole area to the right of the starting area as well as cleared most of the obviously visible overworks in the starting region as well, but was getting bored and was unimpressed with combat. The last time I played I played for like 20 min and then just shut it off and said maybe tomorrow. That was a month ago.
I started Death’s door the other day and it instantly gave me a similar but darker and arguably simpler vibe as Tunic. But the combat seems way more well-refined and engaging, though it does pretty much lack puzzles and is more about looking around for answers to what you have todo. There are a few puzzles (the love garden puzzle I still haven’t solved, if there’s even a puzzle there to be solved I honestly have no clue it just seems like it) but mostly it’s more akin to like a Metroidvania where it’s obvious I just need to come back with a new ability in most cases. Which is cool with me.
Here’s what I don’t understand and I’m hoping someone can help me understand: Tunic seems to be a modern classic that everyone keeps talking about while it seems like Death’s Door - while still recovering EXCELLENT reviews - was just a flash in the pan? I haven’t heard anyone talk about this game organically like I have tunic, which comes up in videos all the time on YouTube.
Am I just bad at tunic or is the combat recognized to be the weakest link in that game but is otherwise excellent? Is Deaths Door beloved and I don’t even realize? Anyone have any idea what’s goin on here? If I’m not a fan of the tunic combat will I end up hating the game or is the combat not even one of the main focuses of the people who love the game? Does the combat ever begin to feel smoother in tunic? To me it always feels slow like it’s trying to emulate dark souls or something but the gap between the end of one action to the beginning of it allowing you to do another action is atrocious and feels very punishing in away that doesn’t feel like I’m being punished for being bad but instead feels like it’s the games fault- unlike souls games.
Please help me to enjoy Tunic. Thanks

What I saw in Titans were frontline fighters, leaders using there bubbles to protect their fireteams and the ones taking the hits instead of others. The leaders of the fireteam who, when enemies got close could deal with them and then go back to supporting fire. This is not to say that Titans arent fun but they don't FEEL like a Titan should feel. Maybe Arc and Void with team buffs and area control but they quickly loose their effectiveness in harder content.
Now its just W forward and melee. the idea of the stalwart Titan guiding their fireteam through the Darkness is all but gone. They'll still forever be my main but its undeniable that Hunters and Warlocks have a much wider variety of endgame effective toolkits. being forced into either Banner or Hammer for survivability. Not many of these feel like the class identity that drew me in at the D! beta screen. Titan class is still fun and each has its place but it feels unfocused, exceot for pure melee.

I’m making braised beef short ribs from Jet Tila’s book and then putting them in a curry noodle dish from the book in which he calls for a good amount of the broth to be added from the short ribs. Cooking from this book for Father’s Day as requested by my father. The problem is, he hates celery and my mom hates onions aaand I hate cilantro 😭 and those are the three main flavor components when making the roux for the base of this dish. Was planning on just serving up the cilantro for them to garnish and using basil instead bc we all like basil. They love cilantro but i hate it so they can add it later. Here are my ideas for the onion and celery: - either leave them in big halves and remove them after it’s all been cooked to maintain the flavor (parents just don’t like the textures or raw versions) - or mince them up very finely?
This is going to take hours to cook so if i finely mince them, it should break them down enough that it won’t be a problem right?

Howdy, I'm looking to have an artist do a reskin of a PC (player character) head from the 2003 game *Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic* (KotOR for short). The texture is a 2d .tga file that, when put in the proper game folder, applies itself to the 3d in-game head model. Here's an example.
I'm looking to have this done within a week or two. My cousin's birthday is coming up and I thought it'd be a cool surprise to have one of the PC heads reskinned in his likeness. Every year or so, we replay through KotOR around the same time. Surprising him with a character skin he can choose which looks like him for one of our favorite games would be really cool.
The reskin does not need to be extremely realistic, as it would look quite 'off' compared to the rest of the game. For the artist interested, I can provide a bunch of reference photos of my cousin (front and sides) for you to base the retexture off of. I will also provide some links/images of other reskinned PC heads that other members of the game's modding community have done in case you'd like an idea of the game's style and art detail. The main piece of art would be the 2d reskin, but on top of this I'd like the artist to add a couple of 'dark side' transition skins. This, I believe, would be a fairly simple task, as all you'd need to do is pale or gray the skin tone and maybe add some visible veins around the temples. Here are two different examples of dark side transitions from an in-game PC head.
Anyone with retexture experience for game mods is preferred, but certainly not required. If you do not own KotOR on your computer, then some communication during the process will be required, as you'll need to send me the work in progress texture file so I can apply it to the game and see how it looks on the player head to ensure there aren't any errors.
Sorry for the lost post, I just wanted to try to be as detailed as possible for any artist potentially interested.

So I was just playing Mario and Luigi: bowser’s inside story. And well I took some time to delete some save states I don’t need. But I accidentally locked a save state so then I unlocked it. Then I deleted it, then when I try to load the save state that was at point where I was at for some reason. It always loads the opening animation for main menu and the save file that I can open is when I first saved the game. Any ideas on how I can recover my save

Hit a bit of a dead end in the org I'm in and looking for some inspiration or ideas as to what I could be looking at next.
Done SysAdmin for close to 20yrs, very broad experience and respected by colleagues for my technical and soft skills.
The reactive nature of everything started to wear me down, so in an attempt to get more proactive, took an opportunity that presented itself to shift to security in the same org.
Intention was that in a few years it would either be a role I liked, or I would have gained the experience to move elsewhere.
3yrs later and it's neither of those. Main issues are mgmt are terrified of making decisions and being on the hook for said decisions, so everything gets stuck in discussion limbo indefinitely & security is viewed as a problem to be fought against by almost all technical teams.
With better mgmt and culture being pushed from the top, those issues could be improved, but I'm not seeing that happening.
Only reasons I'm still here are the massive improvements to work life balance (no on call or incident response, finish at 5pm, fully remote) & and the long service pay/benefits.
The job itself is pointless, and I can feel myself dumbing down the past few years, genuinely shocked at how little technical understanding there is and how easy it is to 'wow' people that really should know better.
Anything obvious I should be looking at for the next step?

when we arrived on the other side of the gate, we immediately heard sirens going off to alert the people of an attack. with no time to spare we leaped into action to aid the people in fending off the attack on the stronghold. Mrynova, Xeyu, and i take to the sky to take out the small enemies flying about so that the ground forces can focus the the enemies before them on the other side of the wall. Lobelia formed a wind barrier over the stronghold, while Wakubi started to enchant the walls of the stronghold the demons were attacking. in the sky we were wiping out the imp-like creatures, slicing them down with ease, while any that tried to attack the stronghold were turned to mist when they touch the barrier above it. on the ground the soldiers were holding back any invader trying to make it through cracks in the wall, until Wakubi told everybody to step back. with the enchantment completed, the wall shot out spikes on the outer side of the wall and through the cracks, ripping the hoards to shreds. with the forces pushed back from the stronghold, Xeyu and Myrnova flew back in, Lobelia opening a space in the barrier to let them back in. Lobelia and Xeyu told everyone to stay inside the stronghold and be ready just in case, with most among them confused. from the time spent in the high pressure areas of the mountain, my body had built up an excess of energy and it was time to put it to good use. with a flap of my wings, i transformed into my dragon form and started to charge a blast, multiple elements twisting together and fusing, taking aim at the main body of the invading forces army. the people of the stronghold stood in awe of this as the ground started to shake from the pressure of the attack charging. i released the blast, blowing the enemy forces all over the battlefield outside. Wakubi quickly activated another enchantment on the wall to fortify it a mere moment before the shock wave reached the stronghold, striking it with such force to the point of nearly crumbling. with no reminding signs of demons left, i landed on the ground in front of the stronghold. i charged energy into a claw as i looked for a good spot to distribute it across the field, choosing a nearby stomp to stab the claw into. with this, i poured energy into the stomp and through it's root system, spread energy across the field, at which point Wakubi inscribed an enchantment on the stump as Lobelia cast healing magic at it. after a little bit of time, the fields started to sprout back to life, grass, plants, and trees growing back at an accelerated rate. i turn my head toward the stronghold and lay my tail on the ground, sensing the materials that exist in the ground. i lifted my tail a few meters off the ground before slamming it back down, as the remainders of the walls crumb out of the way, reveals thick metal wall slabs rising from the ground below. Wukubi carved enchantments into the slabs of metal, getting them to bond together into a unified form and becoming a stronger version of the walls that formed the stronghold before.
we walk back inside the stronghold to the cheers of the soldiers guarding it, excited from the show of power we showed while driving back the demon forces. after this battle immediately upon arriving here, we rested up while discussing the plans for this land while we're here. we helped them survey the areas around this realm, looking for any remaining forces and signs of the tears they came through. Xeyu and Wakubi took some down time to work on their idea for before and see what other other ideas they could come up with to aid us in battle. a few days later we found out where the invaders came from and headed out to the area to clear up any remaining problems. as we arrived at the location, we saw the signs of the forces being here, but there was not a single enemy in sight. Xeyu examined the area in search of the tear in space they came through, which we discovered had been resealed. from what we could tell, the demons had retreated for the first time during this journey, possibly regrouping their forces since they didn't believe they could take us on. from what we witnessed here, we now knew we could drive them out of the realms and back to their world. Xeyu took this chance to seal off the space they closed back up so that it couldn't be reopened into this world. when we were done there, we headed back to the stronghold and updated them on what we had discovered and how it's safe for now, since they don't have another way back in. they gave us gifts for our help, such as new and unique items from their world, which we could study and try to make even greater use from them. Xeyu step out of the stronghold and took some time to focus in on the read of spacial energy to find our next lead to a new world. to focus in on the exact location of the rift, Xeyu tested out one of the enchantments Wakubi inscribed onto it's skin. the runic inscription on Xeyu's skin glowed as the location narrowed down to a pin pointed spot half way across the world, in an old little village. with our next goal determined, we gathered up our things and said our good byes to the people, wishing them well in the future, as we headed out the stronghold. i transformed into my dragon form once more and had everyone climb onto my back, flying off in the direction Xeyu determined was were the rift was. i flew us there rather quickly as we found the village and came in for a landing, after which i changed back to normal. we looked around as Xeyu guided us to the location in the village and carefully opened the rift to our next destination. with us all gathered and ready to go, we step through the rift as we done time and time again, ready for whatever this next realm has to throw at us.
upon stepping out onto this new world, something seemed different then normal, yet we couldn't quite figure it out. we started to explore around the world and came across a similar but strange sight during that time. we found signs of an enemy encampment, only it was seemed abandoned, almost like they had to leave suddenly. as we looked around more, Xeyu found a ripple in space where it was torn and sealed it up just to be safe. we decided to look for locals to try and get a better picture of what was going on in this place. after some time of searching we came upon a town and after we introduced ourselves they told us of what had happened in their world. they were under constant attack from evil forces on a daily basis, that is until very recently, when the forces suddenly retreated and haven't returned. we told them of the encampment we came across and how we sealed up the entrance the demons were coming into their world from. since there was nothing for us to do in this world, we decided to move on to the next one we could find. Xeyu located the next spot as we headed off to see what the next world held in store for us. we came to the spot out toward the a forest as Xeyu opened the rift and we stepped through to the next world. to our surprise as we continued to go from realm to realm, we heard a similar story each time, the enemies retreating out of the realm suddenly with no clear reasoning to it. we continued to lend support to each one as we sealed up every distorted area of space they return from to insure the invaders couldn't return. we started to form the theory that they might be regrouping the forces after the events at the gate. this was possibly to try and strike us with greater forces at another location, but this seemed unlikely since they don't know where we will arrive next. we figured that even though it could be dangerous for us to do, that we should take the next chance we find a distorted space not closed correctly to try and peek through to the other side and see if we can get some clue of whats going on. we head off now with a new goal in mind, in hopes of getting ahead of whatever they're planning.

Orginal Story by C.K. Walker
*Written By Ayden M.N. and u/Memisworld_23 *
SPOILERS FOR BORRASCA V
...
One hundred thirty two. That is the amount of people that were rescued that day on the mountain. I would be lying if I said it didn’t take me by surprise to hear the news about the stables let alone the number of people that were there. It makes me think back to when I was a kid and all the strange and tragic things that happened to me then. It's funny how time changes, how everything wilts away. How life goes on without a wait or stop. Sometimes you'll forget what lurked underneath, and when you do remember, it's already too late. I couldn't say my childhood wasn't bad but it's basically not as cheery as most kids have it.
My father was definitely sucked into his job as a lawyer, while my mom was bustling her back at an old diner, drinking her sorrows away. None had any time to spare for me, as a child. It made me a pretty independent child, and when my mother decided to give birth to Lucy, I became that mother figure that I never had. Aside from Lucy, I had nobody else to talk to. School in Drisking was okay, but I would be lying if I said it was a good experience. I was pretty much alone from childhood to teens. Most kids already had their own friends, their designated trio. I would always refer to it that way. It was by sheer luck that I really did find a friend. Someone who I could share my emo playlist alongside with and in return she taught me a lot about DnD.
However like if the world knew I was meant to be alone, she was taken away from me. I never knew what happened to her, but I beat myself about. If only I didn't moved from Drisking, maybe I could had found her sooner.
The one thing that has remained consistent is my ritualistic daily breakfasts at the diner. From the start of my freshmen year, I never missed a day of going to the diner. It was my way of getting my head together and preparing for the day ahead. Even into my adulthood, I never stopped going. Imagine my surprise when I saw a face that I’d honestly thought I would never see again. It didn’t click at first. I just felt like I knew it.
She was about 5’8” with asymmetrical short dirty blond hair. Her clothes were mainly black and I can just see something protruding from her around her waist. She had a plain black shirt tucked into her pants with a well-kept belt. She wore a Nobel 6 zip up jacket -Clearly a Halo fan- and a small d20 pin on it. Where this seems normal to the untrained eye, I can’t help but feel deja vu from looking at this woman. She seemed like this distant dream that is so fuzzy that it’s just familiar enough to almost recognize.
She walked into the diner and was given a table next to mine. I racked my brain trying to figure out who this was. I examined every part of her, again, and again, and again, just trying to make sense of who was sitting right there in front of me. She was so close, yet she was so distant from me.
“May I help you?” She sighs, putting her coffee down on the table in a way that I can only describe as a contained irritation. “Or are you just going to stare at me like I’m an exhibit?”
I wasn’t even conscious I was staring. She turns to me and it all clicks together. The d20, the jacket, and, my new discovery, looking at her closer and can see her, the freckle on her upper lip.
“Kat? Is that really you?” Stunned, I blurted out. I was adamant that that familiar woman had to be her. No one had that exact same freckle like her.
“That depends on who is asking.” She rolls her eyes taking another sip of her coffee.
She doesn’t recognize me? It makes since she didn’t. It’s been so long. Looking down at my empty plate, as I really wanted her to recognize me. Should I introduce myself? I thought, maybe I'll make her remember me.
“So you don't know me? I can give a hint, I'm sure it might give you an idea on who I am.” I nervously laughed, as I dug into my black leather purse.
Quickly, I pulled it out, plopping down a custom made d20 dice on the table. I remember painting my own dice black, since I was super obsessed with the color black as a teen.
“Wait,” Kat puts down her coffee again, this time with more of a clang. “What is that? Where did you get this?”
Placing the dice right next to my plate, I felt my throat lumping already.
“Remember on my 16th birthday, when it was only you and me. I remember we almost burned the house down because we had the dumb idea to bake a cake.”
“Pauly…?” A slow recognition comes across Kat’s face. Replaced soon by unadulterated joy. “Well, I’ll be damned!”
Tears started to well up my eyes, I was so ecstatic to finally see her eyes flashed with recognition. I slowly got up to my chair, every step I took felt like I was stepping in a pile of needles. Getting a great look on Kat, she looked different from the nerdy shy girl I knew. But, I didn’t care how different Kat looked, I was happy to see my old friend alive.
“I just don't know what to say. I thought I've lost you.” I whispered, my voice already trembling as I spoke.
“Oh,” Kat's voice cracks a bit too, pulling me into a hug. “It’s okay. I’m here.”
Kat seemed to be holding back tears. Just being with her now, I couldn’t even wrap my head around it. It seems so surreal. Even when I hugged her, it felt like it was a fabricated dream. But it wasn't, this was all flesh and blood.
“Just…how are you…I'm so sorry that I never found you. Everyone, even the cops told me that you were long gone. I had hoped you'd come back. Just didn't know it would take this long.” Wiping my tears with my sleeve, I hugged even tighter. She was much taller than me, so I couldn't really comprehend it.
“Hey, hey.” Kat chuckles a bit. Still holding back tears, I could tell. “It’s okay. You…There was no way you could have known. I have a lot of explaining to do, I’m sure but let’s forget about that for now.”
“Yeah…I'm just so happy to see you again.” I sat across from Kat's seat, picking up a napkin to wipe the rest of my tears. It rubbed off some of my mascara, making me think it was a horrible idea to try out some make up today. “So, um…what have you been doing over these years? I see you got a gun holster over there?”
“Well, I…” Kat cut herself off. “I was a SWAT operative. It’s, uh, a long story. How about you?”
“SWAT? No wonder you look so tough and badass!” I then continued enthusiastically. “Well, I'm actually a nurse practitioner. I'm very specialized in prenatal care. I know it's funny because I really didn't like babies back then.”
“Oh? That’s…nice.” Kat’s voice shudders. “And I wouldn’t call myself a badass for being SWAT. It…makes you question a lot of things about yourself for sure. It’s all in the interest of others though.”
My smile slowly fell, as I was scared if I might've made her upset. “I see, I understand. We both are doing jobs that help people, and probably had to endure some bad cases once in a while.”
“Did…did you ever find Kincade?”
Kincade. I haven't heard of that name since after moving Drisking.
I took a deep breath, as I responded. “I did manage to find Kincade after your disappearance. They never told me what happened, and I lost contact ever since. Last time I checked, Kincade moved to California.”
“Oh, thank god.” Kat sighs out of relief, as she takes a seat back down. “Knowing that girl, she’s living it up in LA. Well, I was actually in New York all this time. I thought it would be a good place to settle down. For what it was worth, the NYPD was good to me.”
“Oh I can tell she is. I followed her Instagram, and she's always posting pictures of parties and such.” I tucked a strand of hair in the back of my ear, while I pulled out my phone to show Kat Kincade’s page. “Even if they don't want to talk to me, I'm just super glad they're okay.”
I sometimes wonder why Kincade hasn't had contact with me yet, but deep inside I felt like they were somewhat upset with me. The strange thing was that once Kincade showed up, my mother just randomly disappeared. My father had always told me that she's just had it with us, and left to do her own life. However I never believed that story. Sure my mom was a raging drunk chain-smoker, but she always loved Lucy and I. Her just leaving out of the blue isn't in character, and I just know that something wrong might have occurred.
Kat inspects the page. I can tell it struck something in her. I knew from this point she was holding back a bit with her emotions but for some reason, this broke her. Suddenly I saw my childhood best friend break into a waterfall of sadness. She started to sob. As if she had a dam behind her eyes and they just burst.
“Kat.. Oh shit, I didn’t mean to make you cry,” I rushed towards Kat’s side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
It broke me to see Kat this way, yet I couldn’t help but wonder what made her let out her tears. My eyes suddenly landed at one of Kat’s wrist, a light brown scar was marred on her skin. It was half covered by her sleeve, its appearance was more like a stab wound than a slash. I could tell Kat noticed me staring at it, as she quickly covered it up. The sky was now in a vibrant orange and magenta hue, while the bright sun started to slowly settle down.
Kat finally regained her composure after a few minutes of apologizing profusely.
“I know.” Kat weakly pushes out from her lips through her tears. “I know you see them. I know I have a lot of explaining to do. I got that…from a mission that I’m not sure if you’re ready to hear.”
Leaning against her shoulder, I looked up at Kat with an understanding expression. “I think I’m ready to hear about this. Over these years, I wanted to know what happened in Drisking. I don’t want to stay ignorant anymore.”
“Let’s…” Kat wipes her eyes, only for more tears to take the others place. “Let’s go somewhere a little more private.”
∆∆∆
“As you enter into the Church of the Overthrown Gods.” Kat dramatically pauses. “You feel as if multiple eyes are watching you. As you look closer to the rotting wood altar, you see a tiny eye just peeking out…and then another…and then another…and then another… as they rise up from the altar you see they are on tendeles attached to a large spherical mass. You see 10 tenderals rise all with snake-like eyes darting around the room before meeting yours. As the large mass comes into view you see one large eye on it staring at you and an unnerving smile as it laughs intimidatingly at you. As you realize what is staring back at you is…a beholder…and that’s where we will leave off tonight’s session!”
Several protests fill the room. It wasn’t out of character for Kat to leave off on a cliffhanger, but this is what we have been waiting for since the end of 2008. And even a year later, Kat always leaves the carrot dangling over our heads.
“Hey,” Kat shrugs “I gotta keep you hooked or else our three month streak of all of you attending won’t keep going.”
“Oh, fuck you, Kat!” Kami rolls her eyes lightheartedly “We come back every week regardless.”
“Yeah, but it's more fun torturing you.” Kat giggled while combing through her long hair with her fingers.
Shaking my head, I took a sip on my already luke-warm Snapple, “Typical Kat. Why do you always gotta tease us like that? I was literally witnessing my character finally healing from a poison arrow and just to end at that. I totally can't wait till the next!”
“Thank you,” Kat nods before getting up and starting to pack up and the group follows suit. “I cannot wait for next session. It’s a big battle so I recommend you all start doing some research on Beholders to be ready, because this monster is really tough. Remember, we are starting the next session at level 12, and I’ll see you all soon!”
After about 10 minutes, the rest of the group left except for me. I like staying after sessions with Kat. I don’t understand why the other two people in the group don’t stay. It’s not even 9pm by the time we finished and they are already out the door.
It’s sophomore skip day tomorrow and I sure as hell know everyone will be participating so what’s the rush? Well, everyone except for Kat. From all the time I’ve known Kat up until this point, she never skipped a day or cut any corners when it came to her education. It was admirable but also frustrating. I cannot tell you how many plans I had to cancel because she wanted to study. I never understood why she was so serious about it. It’s like her life depended on her making good grades and being a shining student. I have to admit, I am jealous of her dedication to it.
I would typically leave her to her own devices when it came to school but just by looking at her, she looked like she deserved a break. With the exams and the constant verbal battles between her mother and her father, I can tell just by looking at her, the pressure is on her. I could say the same for my home situation, but I'm already used to it, that it is practically normal for me. Kat, on the other hand, really deserved a break, just this one time.
While I was playing with one of the d20 dice, gathering up courage, I asked, “Hey Kat? Whatcha going do tomorrow?”
“Oh, um.” Kat says not looking up from her notebook, making some notes for the next session. “Just going to school, I should be able to go to take our usual walks tomorrow after.”
A smile crept on my lips, as I definitely predicted Kat's answers. Sure, I did hear that the Sheriff in town was going to give tickets to those that didn't go to school, but I didn't really care about that. I just wanted to have a chill day with my friends. After all, I busted my ass to at least have passable grades.
“Hmm. Hey Kat, why don't we…you know,” I nudged her with my elbow. “Skip school tomorrow?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Kat sighs.
“I know, I know. But I just feel like these days have been for us but we just have fun tomorrow.” I could tell that I was losing Kat already, her mind dead set on going to school. I tucked a strand on my blue hair behind my ear, as I followed Kat. “Kat, please. Sometimes I worry about you because you're working yourself out. Just this once, and I'll promise I'll try to raise my Geometry class to a B!”
“I suppose…” Kat thinks for a second. “It wouldn’t hurt to skip one day.”
“Hell yeah!” I tackled Kat, as I tried to spin her around in happiness. “I promise that you'll have the best day. That jackass Sheriff won't ruin our day. I'll make sure of it!”
“Alright! Alright!” Kat giggles “Fine. Just calm down.”
I feel a sense of relief coming from Kat like I somehow unlocked one shackle that she bore on her ankles. There’s still plenty, and this one is certainly not the heaviest but the littlest weight off of her is enough for her to appreciate.
I let her go as I dashed towards my Jack Skeleton backpack, fetching out my half torn notepad. “ I scribbled some of the plans I have for tomorrow. I was thinking we could dine on Prescott Artisan Sandwiches, and then maybe hike the trail over west of Crystal Lake. What do you think?”
“Yeah!” Kat exclaims. “I heard there’s going to be a few people there tomorrow. Probably could use the social interaction, or attempt to at least.”
“We'll have the lake to ourselves,” I chuckled, placing my notepad back to my back. I really did need a new notepad, however I remember my family was very tight on money at the time. “Oh I almost forgot that Kincade might be joining us too.”
“Sounds good to me.” Kat smiles. “Honestly, that girl needs to be a bit more interactive if you ask me.” Kat chuckles. “As if I’m one to talk.”
“That's why I invited her too. I feel like you girls could get along.” I then jokingly added, “Maybe you can indoctrinate her into playing DnD with us, eh?”
“I’m sure I can.” Kat giggles. “Alright, so are you staying the night tonight? I think I can take the car tomorrow so you can stay if you like.”
“I'll stay, but I should pick up Lucy. My mom said she left her by the Landys,” I rubbed my neck in frustration as I continued. “I hate how my mom just randomly abandons Lucy to strangers. Does she know there's creeps?”
My mother always had done this multiple times, even when I was Lucy's age. A seven year old like Lucy shouldn't be in conditions like this, and I knew damn well that my father won't be available till 7AM. I thought about maybe walking up to the Landys house, maybe it was like 3 blocks or so.
“I think I'll walk to get Lucy. You wouldn't mind my little sis joining in our sleepover, right?”
“I mean, I don't have a big problem with it. Honestly, prefer it to just be you and me but I won’t be kicking and screaming if she is here.”
“That's true,” I nervously laughed, “Either way, Lucy is pretty much a sweet kid, and she will probably be distracted playing with her ballet Barbie dolls.”
Peeping through the windows, the sky was pitch black, almost like a void swallowing the whole town. I took a deep breath, before heading out of the door. Before stepping a foot outside of the wooden porch, I called out. “I'll be back, Kat. If I don't come back, the Skinned Men might’ve caught me!”
“Oh, don’t say that!” Kat calls at me as I walk away. She didn’t seem offended more lighthearted but there was a little seriousness there.
Kat always believed in the supernatural. While all of us grew up and just accepted it was just an urban legend that wasn’t real, Kat believed it. Kat even dedicated an entire essay on the history of the Skinned Man, and where the legend originated from. Needless to say, there wasn’t much to go off of and because Kat is very committed to things, she decided to embellish the details a bit and even I knew that a lot of that stuff was all pulled out of thin air and had no actual weight to it. They were just urban legends that little kids would scare others with. Along those tales were the Triple Tree.
Everyone would carve their names in the Triple Tree, serving like a talisman to these Skinned Men. If you didn’t, then I guess you were fucked. I never really carved my name, for some damn reason, my dad never let me. The moon shined brightly, casting light to these liminal streets. I was already used to walking at night, but for some odd reason, something was off. Crossing the right side of the neighborhood, I caught some headlights shining through the bushes. It looked like it belonged to an old police cruiser, and that alone made me start running. I was not a fan of the officers here, plus I was definitely violating a curfew.
“C’mon, Pauly,” I uttered under my breath, jumping through some fences.
I landed on the backside of the Landy’s house, my knees landing on top of the pavement. Hissing in pain, I slowly wobbled towards the front side of the house. It was stupid of me to think that I would magically land on my feet, but then again I had the shitiest luck. Quickly, I knocked on the door three times, after the fourth knock, the white adorned door swung open. In front of me was a cinnamon brown haired 14 year old boy, who had that bored expression that every teenager had. I recognized that boy as Parker Landy, the youngest of the Landy family.
“Uh, can I help you?” Parker wrinkled his nose, while he adjusted his glasses.
I furrowed my brows, “I’m here for my sister. For Lucy.”
“Oh, okay. Um, I guess you can come in.”
Parker reluctantly ushered me inside, as I wasted no time to search for Lucy. There, located in the dinning, Lucy was drawing while Mrs. Landy was brushing her dark little locks of hair. She was wearing a baby pink ballet uniform, the one that my dad bought her for her birthday. Ecstatic, Lucy jumped up from the chair and darted to my direction. We bid farewell to Mrs. Landy, heading out into the night. However, I caught a glimpse of her face morphing into a sorrowful look. ‘She must have been worried for us,’ I thought, mainly because it was just two girls heading out, embracing the unforgiving night.
“Pauly, where’s mommy?” Lucy’s wide eyes looked at me, grabbing my hand ever so tightly.
I sighed, thinking how to word out an appropriate response, “She’s just working a lot in the diner. So we can afford your ballet classes,” I had lied, flashing an assurring smile. I didn’t want Lucy to know the truth, she was an innocent kid after all.
Crossing up that same street again, I could sense that we were almost close to safety. Or so I thought. A slow rumbling sound of an engine followed behind. It was pitch dark outside, so I couldn’t really tell what color the vehicle was, but I did recognize it. What my eyes could grapple from what little information it had at the time, it was just that damn old police cruiser. Just as I was about to run with Lucy, the dark tinted windows rolled down, revealing an old familiar face.
“Ah little Miss Rhoades. What brings you here past curfew, hmm?” Ex Sheriff Clery asked, while flashing a very wide smile. I remember him being the Sheriff since the 1950s, not before being replaced by Robocop Walker.
Lucy bounced up and down, as she exclaimed “Me and Pauly are going home! Mommy and Daddy are still at work!”
Clery’s gaze looked back at me, his grin growing ever so slightly larger. “Oh really? It’s quite dark out here, you girls might need a lift.”
“No thank-” “Yes please!” Lucy quickly cut me off as she threw the car door open.
She quickly slithered herself in the backseat, while I was too stunned to comprehend. It left me no choice but to take this impromptu ride. Trembling, I sat next to Lucy, shutting the car door behind me. A loud click followed, as both doors were locked.
The whole ride I was scared shitless. I didn’t know why, but I guess I scared myself alot reading Missing Persons cases. I mean, I just entered a car with a person I barely knew. Yes, I know he’s a cop and his entire job is to keep us safe, but I couldn’t help but feel this sense of unease creeping into my conscious mind. It might be from the hundreds of “Stranger Danger” PSAs I’ve been fed all my young life. Lucy probably noticed how tense I looked, latching herself onto my arm.
“It's okay Pauly, the Skinned Men won't catch us anymore. We're safe here!” Lucy nuzzled on my arm, clearly obvious about the situation.
Sheriff Clery let out a chuckle, adding on “Little Lucy's right. No need to worry about those monsters when you're the old sheriff, eh?”
I nervously laughed along, just wishing that we’ll be at our destination already. That just put me even more on edge. I decided to dare a glance at the interior back mirror and I saw a pair of eyes seemingly staring at me and my sister with a look that just sent a chill down my spine. I tried to rationalize that maybe I’m just imagining things but the way he was staring at us was undeniably unsettling.
It was not after a minute later we arrived. The whole minute felt like hours, rightfully so I bolted out of the cruiser with Lucy in my arms. Before reaching the front door, the older man called out, “Be careful next time. You won’t know what’s lurking around these parts.”
After that the police cruiser drove off into the dark void of the unknown. That sentence alone carried an unsettling meaning, yet I could never pinpoint why. Objectively, it was quite normal. It was just a man showing a kind gesture but my gut was screaming not to trust this person. I tried to just brush it off as a misunderstanding but it was so strange I couldn’t.
∆∆∆
“So,” Kat began. “The place still has Prescott’s name written all over the place even after everything that happened?”
“I believe so,” I took a deep breath before continuing, “I really hope it’ll be over now. Sometimes, I wished I could live on with life. Like nothing happened, you know?”
The melody of the forest sung around us as we took in the fresh day’s air and the warm embrace of the midsummer’s sun. We’ve walked through this forest hundreds of times before but it’s like discovering uncharted territories every time we step foot in it. It feels different now. It seems bleaker than it was when we were children. Maybe it’s just an optical illusion or that every memory of my childhood feels like a dream.
“God,” Kat scoffs. “I’d scrub that name off the earth if I could.”
“I have to admit, everytime I see that name, something bad always happens. It's almost as if it was cursed.” My gaze shifted back to the abundance of trees, each of them being so eerily identical. “Thomas Prescott really did sell his soul, and everyone had to pay the price.”
“Don’t remind me.” Kat almost growls like a wolf to a degree that caught me off guard.
Shit, I definitely struck a nerve there. Why? Why did that set her off the way it did? I tried to change the subject into something else. I really didn’t want to upset Kat any further, I felt guilty just by saying that.
“It’s so silent here, I don’t know if I should be on edge or relaxed.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that. I don’t know what came over me.”
Kat’s eyes dart around before she runs her fingers through her hair with a sigh. It didn’t occur to me until just now that she had been watching everywhere and everything all at once. Every little movement her eyes locked onto. Could be just a natural reaction. I’m sure her line of work requires her to be hyper-vigilant so maybe it carries into her normal day-to-day life.
“You don’t need to apologize, Kat. I was the one who was pushing too much.” The wind blew softly, remnants of leaves danced in the air. It reminded alot about how life is, always pushing you in unpredictable directions. “I was thinking after this, maybe we should help each other out. My therapist gave me the advice that some wounds can’t heal by themself.”
“I can help you. I don’t really need help myself. When I was on the field, I was given state mandated therapy. It was important to do so to not go actually insane from all the messed up things we see. Trust me, there’s a reason why a lot of us quit after a few years of service.”
“ I see,” I gave Kat a crooked smile, “You're resilient, that's what I admired about you.”
Even after all those years, Kat still had those strong traits of being smart and strong. I could help but feel proud of her, and I wished her the best. I got closer to Kat, as I leaned on one of the oak trees nearby.
With a playful tone, I asked. “So when are you gonna show me how to use one of those?” I pointed at her gun.
“You?” Kat laughs. “I thought you hated loud noises?”
I shrugged, raising one of my brows. “Still do. It's just in case anything goes south. Or maybe I wanna impress somebody.”
“I’ll teach you soon. No doubt about that. I don’t have any ear protection on me and this beauty can get pretty loud.”
As we took in the forest’s lush surroundings, I noticed something that I haven’t seen before despite being out here for god knows how many times. There was a perfectly healthy tree in front of us but it seemed as if the bark had been ripped and torn definitely unnaturally; it had to have been done by someone, not an animal.
Kat and I exchange confused looks as we walk closer to the tree. Then, it all came together. I didn’t want to think that someone would have done this again. Not after the original was burnt to the ground a long time back. On the tree there were signatures. It sent an ungodly chill through my whole body. I looked over to Kat to see her reaction and she looked like she was frozen in time. With a look of shock and fear instilled upon her very body.
“It can't be. There's a new one here, but how?” My mouth was agape as I reached to touch the bark of the tree. My fingers grazed against each little individual signature. Each of them being unique, much like their owners’ names.
I look back at Kat. I realized I was mistaken, or perhaps it just shifted. Her look, it wasn't out of fear, no, it was out of resentment and hate and a boiling rage that I could tell is about to spill through. I know that even if I were to manage to say anything in this situation, I couldn’t prevent it from all coming out. What could I say? This isn’t anything I’ve seen from Kat. She always had a way to relieve her own anger but this was an anger that even the cool-minded Kat could not keep under control. Like a wildfire that had found a negligent camper’s gasoline can.
“Kat–”
“They think they can control me even in death but they can’t.” Kat whispers to herself quickly. I barely had time to process before the wildfire finally found the gas. “THEY FUCKING CAN’T!”
Kat lifts her shirt slightly, revealing her concealed gun. A Pit Viper. She draws it at a speed I barely had time to comprehend as she switches off the safety and takes a stance.
“Wait! Kat!”
That was all I could get out before I was overtaken by an ear splitting explosion. I barely had time to register the second one before the third went off. It was the same for the fourth and the fifth. My ears rang the loudest they have ever in my life as the pain in my ears set in and the agony of my head throbbing so hard that I thought my brain would burst from it alone. The sounds echoed through the forest. All the birds and the bugs and creatures stopped in unison as if Kat slain them herself.
And then.
Silence.