How late is meijer open till

Are you pregnant, supporting someone who is pregnant, or planning on getting pregnant in the future? Then welcome to BabyBumps! This is a daily post where you can introduce yourself and share any photos that you want to share. This is the ONLY place where photos are allowed, please do not make a standalone post with your bump or ultrasound.
Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with our rules. In short, we do not allow spam, advertising, solicitations, or the sharing of any personal information. Polls/surveys/market research must be authorized by the mod team prior to submission. We ask that ALL bump pictures, ultrasound and announcement pictures remain in this daily sticky only. We ask that if you post a picture of your baby you do so only as a bonus to other meaningful content (like a birth story). We do not allow pictures of your pets and we ask that all political discussion be in the realm of pregnancy, family planning, delivery, postpartum care, and/or parenting. Also, be cool. DBaA.
Please do not ask us if you are pregnant, could be pregnant, or what symptoms others have experienced prior to confirming pregnancy. Likewise, please do not request or offer medical advice.
We have some fantastic resources available to you over in Our Wiki. With links for those of you trying to get pregnant, answers to common questions and concerns regarding pregnancy, resources and lists pertaining to pregnancy and/or common symptoms, conditions, and complications thereof, resources pertaining to birth, and a list of acronyms you may run into, we hope your immersion into our community is as seamless and supported as possible.
If you're looking for your Monthly Bumper Sub you'll find links here. Please note that these subs tend to go private and that the moderators of Baby Bumps are not affiliated with private subs. We cannot add you or request that you be added. You'll have to message the moderators of your private bump sub and ask to be added; instructions for how to do this can be found in the link provided.
Flair is awesome and helps you find stuff.
If you can't find what you're looking for here, you may be able to find it in one of these Other Helpful Subreddits.
If you are not yet pregnant, are trying to get pregnant, believe your period may be late, or have questions pertaining to family planning, please check out the Stickied Weekly Introduction Thread over on TryingforaBaby. It's amazing. You'll learn more about reproduction than you ever thought was possible.

Struggling or failing? It's time to own it. Nice guys hide their flaws, trying to put on a false impression of who they are in order to impress others. We don't do that. We're up-front and honest with the fact that we're sinners and failures. James 5:16 compels us to confess our sins to one another and to pray for one another. 1 John 1:9 goes even a step further and makes confession a cornerstone of the Gospel - acknowledging that we are insufficient on our own. So, where are you failing? What do you need to confess?
To do this, it would be helpful to get to know how you're doing in a variety of areas. To that end, just as God is triune, he created us with three core parts of our being: our physical bodies, our heart/mind, and our spirit/soul. Try to cover all three. Use the questions in each category as inspiration, but roll with whatever you need to put out there.
PHYSICAL: How are you doing with lifting? Losing weight? Where's your body fat %? What have you been eating lately? How about your porn/alcohol/drug/cigarette/whatever use? Are you employing kino on your wife properly? Are you going too far with your girlfriend? How's your fashion sense? Are you still lounging around the house in gym shorts and using your ratty flip flops when you go out? How are you spending your time? How's your income doing? Your body is God's temple: are you reflecting that appropriately? For married men: how's your sex life?
MENTAL/EMOTIONAL: How have you been doing reading and learning new things? How's your frame? Do you still struggle with living up to someone else's expectations? Have you mastered Agree & Amplify? Amused Mastery? Negative Inquiry? STFU? Your DNGAF attitude? Are you failing fitness or comfort tests? How are you leading your wife/girlfriend this week? Do you feel pressure from any sources to do something or to act/not act a certain way? Are you depressed or lonely? Are you secure in your heart/mind that God's will is good, even if it's not what you want?
SPIRITUAL: How are you doing on the 7 basics? Rank yourself:

• Assurance of Salvation
• Quiet Time/Devotional
• Bible Study
• Scripture Memory
• Prayer
• Evangelism
• Fellowship

MISSION: Have you solidified your mission - and does it have eternal consequences or does it only affect this world? Does your mission extend beyond the home? Do you have someone discipling you? Are you discipling anyone else? Have you talked with your non-Christian friends about Christ recently? Are there parts of the Bible you're just not understanding? How are things going with your church or small group?
Again, these are all things just to get you thinking. Share where you're really struggling. We may give you some encouragement. We may kick you in the butt and tell you to get to work. Or we may leave you to meditate on your comment yourself. How we respond to your comment and update isn't the point. What matters is that you put it out there so you have a milestone to look back on next week - something where you can ask yourself: have I improved or not?

There's a discussion forum that I have been using for many years, more than 10 actually. I have had many interesting discussions there, received help to some problems and helped others. But quite often, especially during the past months, I've found myself browsing that forum aimlessly when I don't have anything "better" to do. Or grabbing my phone instantly when I feel bored and entering the forum address. Compulsively checking certain threads over and over again to see if there are new posts. I also feel that the general atmosphere on the forum has become increasingly toxic and it doesn't always feel good to read it.
So I decided to stay away for a while. My first target is one month, then I can quickly visit, perhaps post something, and then it's time to have a break again. Maybe another month, who knows. I'm pretty sure that one month is the longest time that I've ever been away from that forum. My previous record may not even be two weeks. In more than ten years. I have been away for a few weeks now, had a couple of relapses, but those will not stop me. I still quite often find myself typing the address in the browser, then I realize that and say nope. Sometimes I already see the front page and remember what I have to do. Close the tab.
I've been almost completely free of video games for a year. Only played a little bit with some online friends last year. I'm not very interested in gaming anymore. Or actually, should I say "serious video games". Because the exception is playing solitaire on my phone. When I'm bored, grab the phone and play some solitaire. When I should start something, grab the phone, and play solitaire. Just one round of solitaire. A way of procrastinating a little bit. A week after starting my forum break, I also decided to quit solitaire for a while.
I'm not having very strong cravings although I often think what kind of interesting discussions might be waiting for me when I return. A little bit of craving, maybe. But I'm also feeling some kind of freedom. That forum, and my identity on the forum, had become a part of me. But lately it was feeling more like shackles that kept me tied to my not so glorious past. I do not have to follow every thread that I used to follow. I can be free.
The next thing to cut down is probably news browsing. Scrolling news sites has been one of my problematic surfing activities. The news site that I've used the most has always been sensationalist and using click-bait titles, but lately it feels that it has gotten worse. Quality of the news is going down, there's click-bait everywhere, re-releases of old articles, just browsing it makes me feel angry. Time to quit I think.
I have been an active member of several gaming communities. Lots of interesting discussions, playing games, feeling some sense of community, being part of something. But most of those communities are dead now. People moved on. Some of them became toxic and unwelcoming places.
I do think that gaming and having good discussions is better than mindless scrolling, but it used to consume a lot of my time. Neither gaming nor participating in these gaming communities brought anything long-lasting to my life. And now there's not much to participate. Empty servers and deserted forums, digital ghost towns.
While I'm feeling that this could be a new beginning, I'm also feeling increasingly lonely. I'm afraid of emptiness when I'm trying to quit my old time-consuming activities step by step. I feel like the 10 to 15 years of neglecting social activities and spending time on the computer has permanently scarred me and I can't get the best years of my life back. But I'm trying to do something. Currently trying to build a gym routine to improve my physical health, and it will take a few hours of time every week. Just walking in the nature helps a bit.
I tried smoking a few times a long time ago, and didn't understand how people get addicted to that junk. But I can now somehow relate to smokers. My computer, and increasingly over the past years, my phone, have been the first things to log in in the morning. Having a break at work, grab the phone. Feeling bored or anxious, grab the phone and get some dopamine kick. Traveling by train or bus, spend the whole trip on the phone or laptop. Surfing keeps pushing my sleep cycle to later and later hours in the evening, which is incredibly bad for my health and feeling.
It's time for a change, but it's not easy.

Hi,
I have recently advanced to the 11th grade, and my 10th-grade results (CBSE) are attached.

Subject	Grades (Out of 100)	Positional Grade
English	92	A1
Hindi	83	B2
Science	95	A1
Maths	91	A1
Social Science	93	A1

My aim is to major in Computer Science and I am seeking a fully-funded scholarship for a four-year course at a university in Canada, New Zealand, or possibly an Ivy League institution. If a scholarship does not cover all my expenses, I am open to undertaking an IT-based internship or part-time job.
I have already earned a professional certification in Data Analytics from Google, and I'm currently pursuing further certifications in IT support and Python Automation.
As for extracurricular activities, I have participated in three Model United Nations (MUNs), and I am set to attend HMUN India for the second time this coming August. Additionally, I plan on competing in Science, Math, and English Olympiads later this year.
Given this background, I am eager to understand how well I am aligned with my goals. Is there more I need to do? If so, would the following actions be beneficial?

1. Starting a blog
   
2. Networking on LinkedIn and Twitter
   
3. Participating in hackathons
   
4. Consistently achieving straight A1 grades in all subjects for the next two years (including my 12th board exams)
   

Please provide your guidance and suggestions on this matter.
Here's your proofread text: Hi, I have recently advanced to the 11th grade, and my 10th-grade results (CBSE) are attached. My aim is to major in Computer Science and I am seeking a fully-funded scholarship for a four-year course at a university in Canada, New Zealand, or possibly an Ivy League institution. If a scholarship does not cover all my expenses, I am open to undertaking an IT-based internship or part-time job. I have already earned a professional certification in Data Analytics from Google, and I'm currently pursuing further certifications in IT support and Python Automation. As for extracurricular activities, I have participated in three Model United Nations (MUNs), and I am set to attend HMUN India for the second time this coming August. Additionally, I plan on competing in Science, Math, and English Olympiads this year. Given this background, I am eager to understand how well I am aligned with my goals. Is there more I need to do? If so, would the following actions be beneficial? 1. Starting a blog 2. Networking on LinkedIn and Twitter 3. Participating in hackathons 4. Consistently achieving straight A1 grades in all subjects for the next two years (including my 12th board exams) Please provide your guidance and suggestions on this matter. Thank you.Thank you.

(Any sentences or phrases wrapped with brackets "[ ]" are designated as inner monologue!)
Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for creating this wonderful literary universe!
< First Previous Next >
Memory transcription subject: Lemva, Venlil Archeologist
Date [standardized human time]: July 13, 2165
The attendant, Harold, had told me that there would be another passenger boarding shortly several minutes ago, and since then I couldn't keep still wondering who I was going to meet.As I sat on the couch, I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation that Harold had just started with the other passenger. As I heard a new voice respond to Harold’s greeting my heart started beating faster. Wait, the voice sounded familiar…
My heart rate quickened as footsteps came closer down the hallway.A man wearing a black suit and indigo tie came walking around the corner and my heart fluttered a little as I looked up at his face.
“Lemva?”
“James?” I squeaked as I said his name. I jumped up off the couch and ran toward him, throwing my arms around him and nearly knocking him over. “Lemva!”
Looking up at him, I realized what I had just done, backing off slightly embarrassed. “James! I haven’t seen you in so long, what have you been up to?”
“Looking into ancient history, studying declassified documents, bringing back ancient history, that sorta thing.” James kneeled slightly and looked at me with a wide smile, I’d missed that smile so much. He opened his mouth to speak. “I wasn’t expecting to see you on this flight. It’s very good to see you!” “It’s good to see you too! So you’re one of the others that the UN’s invitation spoke of.” “It seems that way, yeah.” He chuckled slightly.
“I see you two are getting along well! I don’t even have to introduce you.” I realized Harold had been standing there watching the interaction the whole time. I straightened myself out, even more embarrassed than before. Harold chuckled. “Alright you two, we’re going to be taking off shortly. I’ll be in the cabin along with the captain. If you need me, press these buttons.” He handed us both a device with a singular blue button labeled “call”.
The man turned around and headed through the door leading to the cockpit. Leaving us alone. We both sat on a couch. James spoke, “So, do you know anything about the job being offered?” “I was going to ask you the same thing.” “Hmm, well we’re going to be in for a long flight, may as well catch up on some things.”
Me and James had known each other since we attended MIK, and had a lot of history. We met in the college’s history club, and quickly became friends. We both had a passion for learning about things that most others had forgotten, and theorizing about what life was like in ancient times. He didn’t know it but I had a huge crush on him at the time.
We stayed in contact long after we both got our doctorates, despite the large distances between us. Eventually James suddenly stopped contacting me, I never understood why. I had worried that it was something I did, that I had pushed him away. Then, after a while, he faded from memory, only existing in the back of my mind. I needed to know why. But not now, this was too soon.
“I know I already asked what you’ve been up to since we last spoke, but still. Discovered anything new?”
“Yeah, I got my hands on some recently declassified Fed info and artifacts around 8 months back. Studied them and found out they were ancient Gojid pottery, inscriptions described some sort of fertility god? Found some other inscriptions describing the site of an ancient Gojid city on The Cradle and got in contact with a dig team to go search there. Hit the motherlode and-” He spoke so enthusiastically about his findings. Just seeing him so happy about his work made me bloom, but thankfully he didn’t notice as he kept talking, waving his hands to emphasize his words. “-trying to find a museum that has the room for all of them.”
“Wow, that’s a lot more than what I’ve been doing.” “Really? Lemva hasn’t done anything interesting lately? I find that hard to believe.” James took on an amused expression. “Yes, really. I’ve been on vacation with my family for a little while, that’s all. It had been a while since I’d seen them.”
I could see his smile visibly lessen, he shifted his eyes, seeming to be deep in thought. Had I said something wrong? “Hey, are you okay?” I asked. “Yeah, I’m fine. Your mention of family brought back some… memories.” A singular tear formed below his left eye, before he looked away. I didn’t want to push, despite his failed attempt at hiding his sadness. “Oh, we can change the subject if you want.”
He wiped his eyes and shuddered, before straightening himself out. “No, it’s ok. You should probably know anyway. It’s part of the reason I haven’t talked to you in so long.” I was hoping to get some answers but now I didn’t know if I wanted to if it was making him this upset.
“A- alright, go ahead. You can stop at any time if you want to.” “Before I start I want to say how sorry I am for ghosting you.” He closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply. A somber expression filled his face as he opened his eyes. “Okay. You know my parents right? Bill and Angene?” “Yeah?” “A couple years back, I was doing a small job for a little town on Nishtal. Not much pay but that didn’t matter. This was during the time when the anti-human movement was in full effect.”
My heart stopped, I immediately knew where this was going.
“I wasn’t worried for them cause they were on Earth. I thought they would be away from the violence because the rioters would be too scared to be among so many ‘predators.’” His voice dripped with malice as he spat out the last word. He was always treated… differently from other people. Even so long after the war, “predator” hate was still common. He kept speaking. “Clearly I was wrong, or maybe one of those fucking rioters hated us too much to care about their own safety.” I only now noticed that he had been shaking as he spoke, but he suddenly stopped. He looked defeated, on the verge of a breakdown. “They were just bringing home groceries, that’s all. They were friendly and happy and polite and all they were doing was bringing home some things for dinner. But because they had committed the SIN of being born with forward facing eyes everyone hated them.” “On the phone the next day, I was told that my parents had been stabbed to death when walking home. I had to attend their funeral several days later, and that night the police took me in to meet their murderer. It took every ounce of energy that I could muster to not turn their disgusting little face to orange mulch.”
If anyone else had looked at James’ face at that moment, they would have seen nothing but a rabid animal looking for something to rip apart, but I didn’t see that. I saw a man that just wanted his parents back, a man that wished the world didn’t hate him. James crumpled over and started sobbing violently, and without thinking I got up and gave him the biggest hug my small arms could allow. He wrapped his muscular arms around me and buried his head into my wool, his sobs shaking my whole body. I stroked the back of his head in an attempt to comfort him, and tried doing those shushing sounds that human mothers do to calm down their children but ended up making a strange sputtering sound instead. I heard the sounds of giggling interspersed with the sobbing, leading into a fit of coughing from James. He lifted his face from my shoulder and stared into my eyes, still dripping tears but starting to smile now. He rested his chin back on my shoulder, and I gladly let him.
“I’ve missed you Lemva, you have no idea just how much I’ve missed you. I’m so sorry I left so quickly, I’m so sorry.” “I’ve missed you too James, and you don’t need to apologize, I understand. Why don’t we go drink some water and get some sleep, okay?” The man on my shoulder croaked out a hoarse “Okay” before slowly pulling himself off of me. We both got up and walked into the kitchen to grab some water. James chugged down several glasses before he was satisfied. We made our way to our separate bedrooms before saying goodnight to each other and closing our doors. I pulled the warm blankets over myself and laid my head down, exhausted from the short but intense emotional interaction. As thoughts floated through my mind, I drifted off into a deep sleep.
<<>>
I awoke to a familiar sensation, it felt as if I was standing in a shallow pool of oil. My eyes were met with black for as far as the eye could see, a seemingly endless floor of tar, and a distant orb of light. This sight had become less eerie and more frustrating the more times I had seen it. [Not this again…] I had been having this dream nearly every night for the past 3 weeks, ever since I had received the invitation from the UN. It was always the same. Endless void, endless black oil, a light always seeming within reach but always too far to catch. I decided to play along with the dream and walk towards the light, the faster I go through with this charade the faster I can wake up and talk to James again. My footsteps echoed into infinity as I waded through the sticky oil, the sensation was awful. I stopped and thought for a moment. [Know what? Fuck it, might as well do something different this time.] I turned around and walked away from the orb of light that had been taunting me for 3 weeks straight. As I walked, I could feel the texture beneath my paws slowly change. I looked down to notice that the tar floor I had grown accustomed to was now an endless field of silver sand. My paws were still sticky from the tar and were now covered with sand, great. As I stared down at the ground beneath me, it slowly started glowing brighter and brighter until it hurt my eyes. It was reflecting something.
I looked up to try to find the source of the light and stared in shock at the sight before me, despite the pain in my eyes. I could not turn away. [By the creator…]
Filling the darkness above me was a white dwarf, its brilliance seeming to burn away the darkness surrounding it. Burning streams of plasma buffeted sand in the distance, leaving only glass. I could feel it watching me, judging me. The air around me swirled and roared, picking up fragments of glass and flinging it against my face as I stood in awe. Clouds of silver shards swirled forever around me, scraping away my wool and flesh but I did not move. I could not turn away. The star seemed to fall toward me. I could not turn away. Instantly, the fury of the wind around me calmed, dropping mountains of the glittering sand onto the ground. The sands whispered to me, filling my mind with a single message.
“Find us. We await.”
<<>>
Date [standardized human time]: July 15, 2165
I stood alongside James near the airlock, we were finally here. It had been two days since I and James had boarded the ship, and we were finally on an approach to Aafa’s spaceport. I felt excited theorizing what job the UN had for us, but couldn’t help but notice a feeling of dread in the back of my mind. Aafa was the capital of the Federation before the UN Coalition began their occupation, and as a result there would probably be more xenophobia on the streets. Hopefully we wouldn’t have to stick around long enough to see it.
“Attention passengers, we are now breaking through the atmosphere, brace yourself on a nearby hand-rail or other stationary object until further notice.”
Me and James grasped the hand-rails tightly as the ship jostled through the turbulent atmosphere, the surface outside the airlock view-port slowly grew larger and larger as we descended. A beautiful city came into view as the clouds’ obfuscation subsided. I had been to Aafa twice in my life before and every time I saw its grand cities I felt a sense of wonder. I could feel the ship level out and slow down, we were almost docked. I felt a small jolt as the landing gear gently touched down on the landing pad.
Harold’s voice came through the PA system. “Alright you two, we’ve landed. I’ll be with you shortly to show you to your escort group.” James and I looked at eachother, I could see a glint of worry in his eyes. Though whether he was worried about the reactions of Aafa’s inhabitants or worried about his first impressions with such important UN personnel, I could not tell.
I heard the cabin door open far behind us and heard Harold’s footsteps make their way toward the airlock where we stood in wait. He stepped past us and took a position at the airlock door.“Welcome to Aafa.” Harold pressed a button and the blast-door slid open with a pneumatic hiss. “Follow me.” We walked down the ramp and onto the hangar bay floor. As my eyes wandered around the large room I noticed how much better kept this spaceport, or at least this hangar, was than the port on Venlil Prime or Earth. Harold took us through a door and into the main hall for this level.
As we made our way to the nearest elevator a kolshian man walked toward us, his gait taking on a menacing feel as he drew closer. When he saw me he smirked. “You sure you wanna keep walking with these predators, little lady? You’d be a lot safer with me instead of them.” I was astounded by how blatant this man was with his opinions. I tried to respond calmly to the man but couldn’t hide my offense. “No thank you, I’m perfectly fine walking with these “predators” thank you. Speak your xenophobia to someone who cares to listen.” The kolshian’s smirk disappeared as he walked toward me faster. Harold’s arm shot out in front of me, blocking the man from getting any closer, the chipper smile he usually displayed was gone from his face. “Please leave sir, we have things to attend to.” The kolshian’s angry expression intensified. “I’m not taking orders from any damn predator.” I could see the man pulling out an object from behind his back. Before I could react, I heard a sickening crunch as Harold’s fist connected with the kolshian’s face, and the man tumbled to the ground. I heard a sound as the knife we were about to be stabbed with clattered to the ground, the tentacle he had been using to wield it clutching his bleeding face. Harold in a swift motion kicked away the knife and put the kolshian in a choke hold while a group of UN security officers rushed over. Two officers cuffed the bleeding kolshian and another walked up to Harold most likely to ask for an explanation.
Harold put back on his usual cheerful expression as he turned to speak to us.“You two head down to the first floor, your escort group and the other 2 invitees will be waiting in the main lobby, they should be pretty obvious to spot. I’ll catch up soon but I have to explain the situation with security.” I turned to look at James as we hurried to the elevator. I could tell he was angry, but he had a glint of satisfaction in his eyes, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a little similar. James scrolled down the list of floors on the screen and selected the number 1. The Aafa spaceport was easily the largest structure I had ever seen, I guess there wasn’t enough room for 400 buttons. As the elevator descended, James spoke.
“Hey Lem, you ok?” “Yeah, my heart’s beating pretty fast though. Who knows what would have happened if Harold wasn’t with us.” “Yeah, did you see how fast he handled that? Guy must be a veteran or something.” The idea brought a question to the surface of my mind that I had been pondering since I first received my invitation. “Yeah… I’ve been wondering why we’ve been treated so well ever since we got aboard the ship. I mean, we’re just a couple historians, why spend so much on the ship and all the protection? What could this job possibly be?” As I spoke, James stared past the transparent wall of the elevator and into the city skyline, he seemed to be deep in thought. “Yeah I’ve been thinking about that too… I don’t think we’ll have to theorize for much longer though, just a short drive and we can ask whoever invited us.”
My attention was brought back to reality as a DING sounded from the doorway, indicating that we were at the ground floor. The doors slid open silently and revealed a veritable swarm of people walking through the main hallway loop, several people of different species squeezed into the elevator we were just in as we walked out. James and I followed the signage on the walls for several minutes and entered into the main lobby, where we could see a group of humans with a Gojid in the middle. The humans wore black suits and sunglasses, I could also barely make out earpieces and microphones hidden among their clothing. They reminded me of the secret agents in the human spy movies I enjoyed watching. They must be our escort group.
We approached the menacing humans and they turned to look at us. Before I could speak up I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Harold catching up with us. “Sorry for leaving you alone for a bit. I’ll talk with your escorts.” Harold walked up to the closest escort and flashed a badge at them, turning around once the mysterious man nodded. The escort spoke something into his earpiece but I couldn’t quite make it out. “Well, I’d best be going to sort out matters with the captain. I’ll meet up with you later.” Harold handed us off to the mysterious entourage and walked back into the crowd.
One of the bodyguards spoke up. “Follow me and don’t stray off course, we’ll be taking you to the senate building.” As our guards escorted us to our vehicle, I spoke to the gojid accompanying us. “Hi, my name is Lemva, this is James. Are you one of the other people invited by the UN?” The gojid spoke up in a soft voice. “Yeah, though for what reason I do not know why. My name is Cayek by the way, nice to meet you. Do you mind if we get some introductions out of the way before we arrive at the senate building?” James responded first and stretched out his arm for a handshake. It took a second for Cayek to reciprocate. “Sure! As Lemva told you, my name is James. I was born on Earth and currently live on Venlil Prime. I’m a historian and got my doctorate at MIK, where I met Lemva. We’ve known each other quite a while. I like coffee and hate the ocean.” “Oh cool, I attended there too! Got my doctorate in linguistics. When did you attend?” “Sent in an application in 2140, as soon as it opened. Got accepted around a month later.” “Nice, that was around when I joined too. We must not have crossed paths often. Though your face does seem vaguely familiar.” Cayek looked at me and I began speaking. “My name’s Lemva, though I already said that. I attended MIK with James. Went there to get a doctorate in archeology. Was born on Venlil Prime and I’ve moved too many times to count, but my latest home is on Earth.”
I noticed that we had reached our ride. Our vehicle was a black limousine, it looked slightly larger than others I had seen, perhaps it was armored? One of the guards escorting us, who I could only assume was the one in charge, opened the side door and we all crawled inside. Cayek, James, and I settled in our seats and the guard closed our doors before entering through a door closer to the front to sit facing us. The guard sat unnaturally still, staring directly at us as the vehicle drew out of the underground parking area, making me feel uneasy. I looked over at James and Cayek, they seemed just as uncomfortable as I. The ride to the Senate building was silent.
I watched the buildings glide past us as we drove down Main, toward the Capitol. The large dome shaped building grew larger as we crept closer. Nervousness invaded my mind as I wondered what the task we had been chosen for was. Why did the UN spend so much to get us here? What’s with all the security? Why us? We had reached our destination. The limousine passed through several security gates and slowed to a halt at the entrance of the grand building. The guard that had been staring at us spoke, “We’ve arrived, please exit the vehicle and follow me. As you enter the building you’ll undergo several security checks to make sure you don’t have any weapons or banned items. Don’t worry, this is all standard procedure.” Two guards who had been waiting to the side of the entrance walked over to the car and opened the side doors, allowing us to crawl out. Though it had only been a 5 minute car ride, it felt like I had been stuck in that cramped vehicle for hours.
We walked toward the entrance of the titanic building, a large podium with a hologram of the Coalition logo orbiting an artistic depiction of our sector of the galaxy stood just before the doors. The first time I had gone to Aafa as a child, the podium had supported a large statue of Chief Nikonus, the president of the Federation at the time of the war. Good riddance. Our group stepped past the threshold of the senate building and submitted for the security checks that our escort had told us about. As soon as we were cleared, we were led to one of several large doors, it looked like an oversized elevator. Inside was a holographic display of the building showing us our current position, along with a small keypad to the side. I braced myself for the elevator to start ascending as our escort input some numbers into the pad but nearly fell over when it unexpectedly started moving sideways. James chuckled amusedly and I looked at him with a mock pouty face, my tail flicking in slight annoyance. Our escort tried to wipe a tiny smirk off his face as he helped me back to my feet. “We had these installed after a couple instances of people passing out trying to navigate around. Most Coalition species don’t have the amount of endurance humans do and this building is quite large.”
Several moments later the tram came to a halt and the doors slid open. The escort chaperoned us down a short hallway with a decently sized wooden door at the end. I braced myself for whoever would be behind it. Impressions were of utmost importance when meeting government officials. However, I was not prepared for who I would see as the door swung open.
Is that an Arxur?
(This is my first major post on NatureofPredators, any criticism or advice is welcome! I want to make my stories inviting and pleasant to read! Also, please notify me if you find any formatting errors, Reddit's formatting isn't very good.)

First Prev Next Royal Road Patreon
u/KieveKRS providing the Trash certification of quality!
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The maw of the moss-wolf chomped down on the treat, its partner patiently waiting its turn, an eye trained on the Human providing the sustenance. Joseph reached into the pouch, counting out what he had left and mentally setting a few aside for the raven-like birds that Scarlet had trained to bother him.
Well, ‘bother’ might be a strong word. They would whistle at him and wait for food. Upon getting their hard sought quarry, they would return to share it with the rest. Surprisingly cooperative, all things considered. Scarlet had apparently been getting them to associate certain short melodies with members of the pack, allowing her to send the avians after whoever she wanted for more snacks.
If they didn’t get any, then they would yell something not dissimilar to a caw until either food was procured, or they grew bored. Given that they had taken to humouring Violet in her attempts to be a mobile perch, that usually took a while.
It drove Nalah nuts, which seemed to be part of the reason the blond-furred female was included in the ritual at all. Harrow was apparently the favourite target of the nuisance when she was outside the base, but he couldn’t say why.
The tell-tale scratching had been somewhat muted since the shift in medium, but Violet’s writing was always something he kept an ear out for, his daughter presenting her tablet excitedly. [It blinked!]
He turned his head to the cow-looking thing, the unwavering stare held until he gave up. “I swear you guys are just messing with me.”
“Or we merely enjoy your suffering,” Sahari suggested with a smirk, the black-furred female standing taller than him for a moment as she stretched her legs out. Settling into a height that was level with him, she attempted to offer the wolves food. Receiving a fearful retreat instead, the black-furred female frowned, the two canines shifting in their enclosure to be closer to Joseph and Violet. “They still seem to distrust any but yourselves.”
He shrugged, taking the scrap from her and giving it to the young Atmo to pass along, her chittering laugh when the wolves accepted the morsel breaking the soft sound of trickling rain outside the barn. “Faye was the one who started this. I guess they treat her like an alpha of sorts, and seeing her bow to the two of us so often told them that she’s lower on the pole. That’s my guess, anyway.”
“That is….rather intelligent of them, if so,” Sahari commented pensively.
The Grand Hunter tipped his head in agreement. If anything, it was an understatement. The six-legged canines were remarkably receptive to taming, though he couldn’t say how much of that was due to Faye taking to his suggestion so seriously. He had only offered it as a passing thought, but she had set to it like their god had mandated it.
He fought back a sigh at the reminder of his placement in the whole thing, his foot kicking the ground to adjust the new sandals he was wearing until Pan finished proper shoes.
One day, he was a divorcee flirting with random women on a cruise ship so that the rejection validated his own self-esteem issues. The next, he was a guy in charge of a settlement nearing one hundred people and had become a manifestation of religion condensed into the form of some random moron.
He snorted at a morbid thought. How would Emma react to his ‘rise to fame?’ His acquisition of more than they had ever thought for themselves back on Earth?
Owning a territory? They could only manage a nice apartment that could fit several times over inside the base. Friends? Hell, he had a group of people who have helped him through some of the worst the planet had to offer. Kids...well, nothing could replace Violet. He doubted Emma would see it the same way, though.
A paw enclosed his shoulder, dragging his mind from more sombre thoughts. It had been quite a while since everything fell through and he had moved on, but it still stung every now and again.
“What ails your mind, Joseph?” Sahari asked with a concerned inflection. He looked over at her, a smile becoming easier after a moment.
“Just wondering how my ex-wife would react to seeing what I’ve turned into. What she’d say to all of this,” he admitted honestly with a wide gesture to everything. She patted his back, a small pride in her gaze.
“You continue to heal, Grand Hunter, but you are still scarred. Your previous mate would curse her decisions were she to see what you have accomplished.”
He snorted, a wide dry grin breaking out. “I’d love to see her face going back with two alien wives and this sweetheart as a daughter,” he teased, giving Violet a thorough rub on the head. She purred, chittering between breaths as she fought off the rough affection playfully while keeping her blades tucked for safety.
The black-furred female tilted her head and shifted her weight to her other foot. “You’ve mentioned that there is a specific procedure for binding the lives of your people, no?”
He blinked, his mind flickering to the two rings he had prepared, yet held some modicum of expectation around before he whipped them out. Not least of all was the foreign sensation of doing it again twice, nor finding an appropriate time to do it. It was hard to pick a picturesque moment when each day was paperwork, punching people in the face during spars, and orchestrating the well-being of such a large group. Given that the closest thing he could get to a romantic occasion was laying down on the grass while Nalah barked orders at the construction crews in the distance, he didn’t feel like it was ever a good time to ask. It was even harder picturing himself doing it to the two of them, as if it cheapened the gesture in some way.
Then there was the part of himself that feared rejection—as stupid as it sounded. They could deny the alien practice, not share the same sentiment, or any number of disagreements that would render him kneeling like an idiot. As unlikely as it was, it could even be too great a commitment for them, the implication of their entire lives being pledged solely to him being a crushing weight, rather than a promise of mutual loving dedication.
Sure, now they were speaking as if it was the case, but the circumstances as they were lent themselves to it being a product of necessity. Who was to say that it would remain the same once they got off this rock and—hopefully—in touch with their own people again. Would they still feel the same way with an entire species back on the table as possible romantic partners? Would he still be enough?
“Joseph,” Sahari called out with worry and irritation in equal parts. “You are making me anxious.”
“Hm? Oh, sorry,” he apologized sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he was reminded that more than one person could be afflicted by his emotional state. She placed a paw to her hip.
“Are the proceedings really such a means for strife?”
“Ah, no, it’s just…” He averted his eyes, offering Violet a token smile when she seemed to be concerned about him. He inhaled deeply. “It’s just…I have reservations about it.”
She raised a brow. “I need not a bond to know you care for them deeply enough to toss your life to the Void for them.”
His weak smile faltered further. “Well, yeah. They mean everything to me, but I cant help but remember how things went last time, I guess. There’s a million and one ways it could go up in smoke, and I…” He fell quiet for a moment, Violet pressing herself into his side in an attempt to cheer him up. He rested a hand against her back, the texture comforting in a way. “I want it to be an important moment in our lives, rather than some disposable token that they accept without thinking much. It’s not like they’re swimming in potential romantic partners here, so it feels like they’d be agreeing for lack of options.”
She stared at him with a hesitant expression, her cheek pinched between her teeth and eyes narrowed in thought. “Pan would sooner end her own life than be separated from you, and Tel would end any who so much as suggested such,” she stated finally. “To you, the mark upon your flesh is but a sting that fades. To them, it is their declaration that they have found their reason to live. A declaration that is shown to all others of our people the moment they draw near. Though Pan lacks the means to impart her own, she is rather pleased that another is able to in her stead and treats it as her own for all intents.”
She grabbed him roughly by the arm, pulling him into her breast as she stood to her full height, a surprised yelp stifled by soft clothing and fur.
“Unfortunately for you, openly voiced or not, we all feel as such. Though you bear not the mark of everyone in the den, I assure you that to be removed from you would leave us lesser, regardless of bond.”
He shut his mouth at the last addition. There was a weight behind knowing that people were likely to simply give up on living if you were away for too long. It put the relationship in front of a loaded gun for both parties. They couldn’t afford to break it off from him because existing would become a living hell, and he couldn’t change his mind for any reason because it would be the same as killing them.
What kind of marriage was one built upon such fragile pillars? How could they be happy when every fight was tempered by the threat of the end of everything? What about Sahari? Could she ever pursue her own life with Nalah when she had the bond shackling her to him? How long until that became a stinging poison, rotting away the veins and arteries of her psyche? How long until death became preferable to being around him?
A strong impact to his stomach winded him, though the unnoticed hyperventilating left him little to eject as he fell to his knees. Violet clicked in surprise, the wolves backing away at the unexpected violence.
He coughed, sputtering spittle as he fought the urge to evacuate his breakfast. A pained glance up revealed Sahari still clutching a fist, her expression just as hurt.
“You hear my words and twist them, Joseph,” she chastised softly, crouching to look at him better. “We pledged our lives to you. Not because we had no choice, but because we believed you to be our future. From that moment on, our desire was to remain with you.” Her voice grew weak, almost pleading. She placed her forehead to his, the contact an intimate touch. “Your experiences may suggest our bond a prison, but for us, it is an ambrosia for our soul. It completes us like no equal. Jax and Harrow care for you immensely, Nalah and myself owe you everything that we are, and your mates will fight the Hunt Mother herself if it would mean even one more sun with you.”
He found himself speechless, wading through the emotions behind her words a syllable at a time. The feeling of Violet pressing into his back in an embrace stung as much as soothed, his mind rejecting the idea, yet so desperate to accept it.
“Do not desecrate our affections because you had been scorned by one who did not see within you that which we covet,” she implored sombrely, raw emotion oozing through the confines of speech. “Though you doubt it, none would know how much value you place in the ‘mark’ of your people more than your mates. If merely thinking about the unlikely event that they refuse tortures you so deeply, than the elation they would share with you when they agree would likely see Pan unable to contain herself for many suns after.”
He stayed on his knees, the warmth surrounding him from both sides seeping within and thawing the frozen excuses he held onto to prevent exposing himself to potential rejection. Every step of the way since he had met them, it had made him fearful of losing their company. At first, the thought of being left alone to brave the planet was too much to bear, but he would try. Now? Now he felt like he understood where the minds of those bonded Lilhuns had been. Even considering being away from his new loved ones pulled at a primal part of himself, each tug stronger than the last, each suggestion fanning the flames barricaded behind morals—the depths he would trudge to see it never come to pass.
Sahari nuzzled into his neck for a moment before parting, a somewhat satisfied smile given towards the emotionally fragile Human they had taken to depending on. He returned his own, though it was tinted with a bit of embarrassment.
Violet stepped back to allow him room to stand, the extended joint of her blade asking to be held like he did with her adoptive mother. His expression softening, he did as requested, lightly rubbing the smooth surface with his thumb. It soothed a part of him to be holding his daughter’s ‘hand’ while they watched the wolves slowly approach the front of their enclosure again, now that the momentary intensity had faded.
With a self-deprecating roll of his eyes, he nodded, promising himself to follow through with his small wish the next time the chance revealed itself. It didn’t need to be perfect, but it would be nice if it was at least private. The dull ache in his stomach would be a reminder not to second guess himself anyway.
The wolves yipped, ignoring Sahari as they moved towards the other corner. Joseph glanced at where they were focused, his curious gaze replaced by surprise, then shock.
Raine supported Faye over her shoulder, the deep gold-furred female’s breath short as she rested her weight over her brown-furred counterpart, their black leather coats dripping water onto the floor as it wrapped tightly around them, concealing their armour. A steady trickle of blood flowed from a long gash on Faye’s leg, her free arm clutching across her breast to keep her coat closed.
Without waiting for either to speak, he ran to pick up the Wraith, slinging her across his shoulders and tearing off to the base. He could barely hear Sahari over the rain and his own blood pounding through his ears, his heart hammering in his chest. Though they had established something of a clinic for minor injuries that were sustained constantly, his singular focus was getting Faye into the medbay.
Pack members cleared the way, some jumping to the side as he barrelled through the sparely populated routes between home and workplace. More than one tripped over themselves in shock, the Human never having a reason to go at a full sprint before. He was slower than a Lilhun like this, but he could make it the full distance before them. He didn’t need to slow down.
Harrow pushed open the doors to the hub, her distant expression as she examined thin ironwood tablets perking, his rapid heavy footfalls telling of his arrival before she had the chance to see him. Her eyes lit up, her brows furrowed, and a hurried pull of the door kept it open for him, all in sequence. He didn’t have the spare breath to explain or thank her.
The orange-furred female bolted across the hub, slamming into the crash-bar installed into the facilities wing entrance to force it open, only barely outpacing the Grand Hunter in his rush. She staggered to her feet behind him, rushing to collect herself and assisting in tearing the pants off of the injured female when Joseph laid her on the bed.
Modesty being the least of his concerns, he braced an arm across her pelvis to stop her hips from bucking as Harrow wiped off any dried blood to see the extent of the damage on her thigh.
“What happened?”
He tightened his hold on Faye as his friend tentatively spread the wound to check for debris. “Don’t know. Didn’t ask. Saw her bleeding, rushed her here,” he answered through deep breaths, each strike of his adrenaline-fuelled heart pressing against his lung capacity.
Harrow frowned, grabbing some sterile water to pour over the wound and picking out a stray splinter of wood that looked to be from her missing leg armour. Faye let out a small whine, but didn’t have it in her to talk yet, signs of exhaustion and pain unfocusing her eyes.
The Head of Technology—and current medical expert in the room—pursed her lips against her muzzle. “We need to stitch it. It’s too big for just healroot.”
Joseph nodded, easing his weight off the Wraith and wiping his sweat from his brow. “Pan!”
Noticing the urgency in his voice, he could hear her throw the door to the sewing room wide open and jog to the medbay, her wide eyes steeling as she assessed the situation.
“Idee with you?”
She nodded, ears turned perfectly towards him.
“One of you boil off some palm string, the other sterilize the thinnest quill you can get away stitching a wound closed with. I don’t care who, but we need one of you to close this up.” He glanced at Harrow. “Grab some alcohol. I keep a bit in the closet in my room, next to the old crossbow prototypes. We need to flush this out and kill off anything that might have gotten in.”
The orange-furred female tipped an ear in confusion as Pan took off to do as he asked. “I thought you didn’t have medical-”
“I’ve been around enough workplace injuries, okay? Go!”
His shout jolted her into action, a few steps required to gain traction as she ran out the door. Applying solid pressure to the wound with one hand, he used the other to lightly tap Faye’s cheek.
“Faye? Faye, you with me?”
Her eyes languidly turned to him, slow blinks and meaningless mouthing ceased, a soft smile forming under her pained expression. “Hello, sir.”
He exhaled a relieved huff. “Welcome home, Faye. What happened?”
She seemed confused by his question, glancing down to her leg after a few seconds. With widened eyes, she struggled to sit up, Joseph forcibly pressing her to the bed.
“Stay.”
All resistance disappeared in an instant, her body complying despite the obvious urgency. He hardened his expression.
“What happened?”
She breathed deeper a few times before speaking. Each word was hesitant, as if the memory was hazy and diluted, though he couldn’t tell if it was due to blood loss or exhaustion. “A large grey beast…teeth, large mouth...attacked wolves...”
His brow knitted, Faye’s coat moving. A small whine came from her again…no. Not her.
A small yellow canine head freed itself from the confines of black leather, a weak keening produced from a tiny moss-wolf. Faye looked at him guiltily, a pleading look in her eyes given as she composed herself.
“It lost its parents…”
His protest died in his voice, a distant memory of a wolf being torn in two came to mind. The time before they had even moved to the pod, let alone met the Lilhuns, him and Violet checking snares shortly after his ankle had healed. A time so long ago, yet remained with him under the surface.
“You saved this little guy, huh?” he asked gently, wincing in tandem with her own when he leaned heavier on the massive gash in her thigh. She nodded, averting her eyes. “Did you get the ‘beast?’”
Faye shook her head. “Raine lured it away, but it still remains.”
“That’s fine. You’re back, that’s all that matters right now.”
Harrow bumped into the doorway, failing to shed all of her speed as she returned from fetching a smaller container that Joseph kept in case the rest of the pack burned through their stores of alcohol. Her eyes flicked to the wolf pup before disregarding it to hand him the ethanol. He lifted his hand, Harrow pouring some water to wash off the blood. Volta would be busy later, it seemed.
Gesturing for the orange-furred female to hold the leg down, he poured the alcohol into the wound, grimacing at Faye’s pained gasp. They didn’t have anything for her to bite into, but that would be a future consideration.
Pan and Idee entered the medbay, the former moving like a machine with purpose while the visiting seamstress took a moment to size up the situation. The Paw fetched a tray from the shelf, laying out several strings of softened palm and a few thin quills, threading one and passing it to Idee. The light brown-furred female accepted it, Harrow making room as she stood next to Joseph.
Pan handed him a tough leather strip as wide as his palm. Seems like she saw the problem before he did.
“Open up,” he prodded, placing the leather between Faye’s teeth. “This is going to fucking suck. We don’t have anything to numb you, so you need to stay as still as possible, okay? I’ll be here the whole time.”
The Wraith nodded, staring at him for a moment before closing her eyes in acceptance, her grip on the pup firming.
“Want me to take the wolf?”
She lightly shook her head, him exhaling hesitantly in response. Idee readied herself, looking to him for confirmation, Pan holding Faye’s ankle flat to the bed.
“You’re good,” he responded, pressing an arm to Faye’s chest and hips to hold her down.
The deep gold-furred female managed a quiet muffled groan of pain as the quill pierced her flesh.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
He entered the hub, dropping himself on the couch and ignoring the sweat on his brow. He had only just managed to get the blood off of his hands after Idee finished, but it was still staining his clothing. Pan was off to rinse it out of her fur while Faye slept off her exhaustion. As far as they could tell, she had avoided any infection thanks to Raine half-dragging the female back to them as quickly as she did. The wolf pup was staying with her for now, since—even in her sleep—she refused to let it go. The little guy didn’t seem to be complaining, so they just left it where it was comfortable. Ferra would be by later to check it out, apparently, and he didn’t see a reason to complain; she was their animal expert.
Scarlet offered him some tea, the warm liquid whetting his pallet that had since dried. Sahari had checked on them during the process, leaving to keep anyone who had questions in the loop. Given that half the damn pack either saw or heard about the Grand Hunter running like a bat out of hell, pretty much everyone was worried. Either about some urgent threat that might befall them, or about one of the quiet servants they had grown used to seeing around.
Looked like the Wraiths had taken to offering small services and assistance to people who needed it when they didn’t have anything better to do, so the pack was curious about what had happened. It was a small blessing that the usual armour they wore when ‘on duty’ was covered by the cloaks, otherwise he would have more questions coming that he didn’t want answered.
Raine stood a few paces in front of him, her bowed posture holding a hint of fear under his unwavering stare. He waited for whoever else was going to show up for the report, Tel and Pan insisting that they be involved. Harrow followed behind the two entering from the facilities wing, either because she had gotten wrapped up in the whole thing, or because she wanted to be included.
Pan sat to his left, Tel taking a place behind him to remain standing. Harrow surprised him, her recently elusive presence firmly displaced as she dropped onto the couch to his right, her tail curling around his calf—not that she seemed to notice.
Given that both Tel and Pan trapped a limb or two with their tails regularly, he didn’t stop to put thought into it, the encapsulating appendage crossing him as a common occurrence.
“I don’t know how accurate it was, since she’s still pretty out of it, but Faye said one of those grey bear-deathtraps attacked some wolves before she stepped in to save the pup,” he opened, glancing at Scarlet. The almost black red-furred female was maintaining a surprisingly commanding presence, her attention laser-focused on Raine. The brown-furred Wraith kept her gaze fixed to the floor, too ashamed or nervous to move it.
“I apologize for her error in her stead,” she announced, the slightest of grip in her folded paws digging her claws into her skin. “The fault is also mine for not preventing her misstep. I will accept any punishment for our mistake.”
He exhaled heavily. “I’m not mad that you guys had an original thought, Raine. I’m worried about those iron-maiden-looking fucks being around again, and I’m concerned about you getting hurt.”
“Of course, sir. Forgive me for the arrogance of assuming your priorities.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, Pan squeezing his thigh in support. Tel rested her head on his, the weight somehow comforting despite the grin at his annoyance. “We can talk about not getting yourselves killed later. Are you injured at all?”
Raine’s ear twitched. “No, sir. I am whole.”
“Good,” he sighed, nodding lightly. “That’s good. Faye’s patched up for now, but she’ll be under observation to keep on top of any possible infection. How did the ‘mission’ go?”
The Wraith perked up a bit, the conversation moving away from her perceived failure. She produced a satchel, pulling a rather thick stack of tablets from it and passing them to Scarlet, the latter ferrying them to Harrow. He thought it was an odd choice, but the orange-furred female started giving him an abbreviated translation of the text.
Line after line of transactions. What was offered and received, any debts and who owed them, as well as small notes about what should be brought next time. It was a comprehensive copy of the ledger that the trading caravan kept. His brows raised at the sheer density of information, and for them getting it from something he was only partially sure existed.
“You managed to get this much?” he asked in disbelief. “Jesus. Were you caught?”
Raine shook her head. “If we were to be seen by them, we would be nothing more than a stain against our Blademaster.”
Compliment or boasting, doing this much was damn impressive. Especially with just the two of them.
“Shit. Well, good fucking job, I guess,” he managed, still reeling a bit from the unintended scope of the task. Harrow continued to dig through the report, though stopped voicing it aloud. Joseph turned his attention back to the Wraith. “Anything else of note? Rumours?”
The Wraith grew pensive. “Though we returned partially through their return trip to Grand Hunter Pernel, we did overhear some conversations. There were discussions of other packs simply no longer occupying their settlements.”
He leaned forward in his seat, dislodging Tel as his elbows rested against his knees. “What do you mean?”
“Some of their usual trade locations were purportedly burned down, others merely abandoned. A few were apparently littered with corpses,” she explained more steadily. “From what we could gather, the reason they came to trade with our settlement at all is that the others along the way were in such states. It seems they intended to restock and head back out immediately to accommodate the loss in trading partners.”
He bit his lip as he thought about it, letting himself fall back against the couch.
“What do you guys think of it?” he asked with a glance to his mates. Pan seemed to be mirroring his own apprehension openly, while Tel kept a more serious expression.
“I believe there is something larger happening,” Tel concluded, taking a few seconds before returning to using him as a headrest. Pan nodded her agreement, but didn’t have much to add to it otherwise.
“It would explain how desperate they were for food,” he mused aloud, raising a brow when Harrow shifted to lean against him, one foot placed on the edge of the seat forcing the posture. “Any details of interest, Harrow?”
The orange-furred female jolted, only just stopping from moving her foot back to the floor before committing to using him as a backrest. She turned back-on fully, stretching her legs over the remainder of the seat and placing tablets she had finished with on her lap.
“It didn’t take very long for the methods you sold to propagate,” she responded, holding up a few of the tablets before laying them in their own pile. “Looks like Pernel has been spreading it around by buying some from places that have bows and snares to sell where they don’t.”
“Supply and demand, or arming people with the tools that would help them survive?”
“Hard to trade with the dead,” Harrow commented dryly, starting a new pile. He nodded in exaggerated fashion.
“What about the Atmo?”
She tapped the small stack she just started. “I’m trying to separate these by inventory type. Give me a bit.”
Deciding to trust the woman in charge of managing this kind of thing while she was on the ship, he glanced back to Raine, the female easily mistaken for a statue if not for the subtle sway of her breathing. “The grey-bear-thing. How far away is it?”
“Too close,” she responded firmly. “We did not get a chance to verify their numbers, but there was evidence of at least that singular beast making our territory its hunting ground.”
“Fuck,” he muttered through gritted teeth. “We’re going to need to hunt that thing down.”
Pan looked worried at the prospect, Harrow stiffened in her sorting. The Wraiths were the only ones who seemed completely at ease with the suggestion, Tel not so much as twitching. Harrow laid down the tablets she had yet to categorize, her gaze aimed at her lap.
“Joe, don’t think that taking one out is easy.”
“We have ranged weapons and more than a few people who can use them,” he pointed out with a breath. “Ideally, we go as a larger hunting party and take the damn thing down through sheer volume of fire.”
“Their skin is tough,” Harrow replied with a shake of her head, her ears pivoting back towards him. “I don’t know if our bows could pierce it as easily as we might like.”
He furrowed his brow. “So, what? Let it close in until it eats everything and starves us out? Until it thinks we look tasty?”
“I don’t know. I’m just saying that this won’t be as simple as firing a few arrows and patting ourselves on the back for a job well done.”
Joseph felt the stiffness of his brow start to hurt from how tight they were knitted. A deep breath centred his thoughts. “We’ll arrange an armoured hunting party soon. Better to take it down before it becomes an issue.”
The orange-furred female nodded, quickly leafing through the remaining tablets and only pulling two more out for the pile she indicated earlier.
“Here,” she said, tapping the stack. “These are records for trading Atmo.”
He suppressed the sigh when he genuinely tried to read the mess they called a language. “How many? Who bought them?”
She hesitated, reforming the copy of the ledger—sans the relevant tablets—and placing it on the floor. The remainder in paw, she held them up over her shoulder, Tel accepting it and going over the contents with an interested tilt of her head.
“From what I can see here, Pernel traded two hundred.”
“Two…” he squeaked, his eyes wide. “Two hundred?”
She nodded, pacing around the couch to stop in front of Pan. “It seems others heard of his willingness to barter for them. He accepted quite a few deals before selling them off again.”
“To who?”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
The door to the ship closed with a hiss, Willin shaking his head at Nav’s questioning gaze. “Nothing.”
Tech removed her CARDs, storing them in the weapons locker before shrugging off her AMR to place in its own unit. “Nothing living, anyway.”
“That bad?” Nav asked, deflating after yet another failed attempt to contact a settlement. The dark green-furred male stored his rifle, seating it into its receptacle with a click.
“Tell Comms to add another eighty to the count.”
“Four hundred eighty-two,” the purple-furred female supplied as she walked past Nav to enter the ship proper. Willin followed after, hanging his pistol holster on the side of his chair as he dropped into it.
“Thirty were covered in wounds, twenty or so were executed, twenty-five looked to have died of accumulated trauma, and the rest were found with singular cuts to the throat.”
“Not quite,” Tech remarked, interfacing with the systems. “Only eight of the ‘executed’ seem to have been done up close.”
“Sniper?” Comms asked as he entered the room, nodding his greetings and taking a seat at his station. Nav crossed their arms and leaned against the doorway as Tech Ops ran some numbers on her screen.
“Wounds are consistent with Anti Material Rifles, and debris suggest they took the ‘material’ part into consideration with their shots. There were a few holes in the buildings that didn’t quite get removed by the fires.”
“Covering evidence?” Willin mused aloud, receiving a thoughtful shake of her head.
“No, I don’t think so. My guess is that the buildings were already on fire when they did it, based on the splinters around the exit holes.”
Comms’ eyes widened in surprise. “Shooting through a burning building? That is rather impressive.”
“Blades?” Nav suggested. “Avalon is required to act against those who break the treaty, no?”
“Maybe,” Tech allowed tentatively. “If it was them, then that would explain the lack of targets.”
Willin scratched at his ear, furrowing his brow as Comms ran another scan for any communications being made. Though a few suns had passed since they had unwittingly agreed to involve themselves in what was likely the first case of war that this planet had ever seen, nothing was being sent anywhere. Regardless, the male kept the scans regular, just in case.
Nav switched the foot they were resting on. “Why not just dispose of everyone breaking the treaty?”
“Maybe they did,” Comms commented, turning back to the conversation as the program ran in the background. “Blades typically function under strict conditions. If they removed anyone who was commanding the hostile action, then they did as required of them. The moment the attack stopped, they completed the terms of the treaty.”
“Or if the Grand Hunter here surrendered and allowed their pack to be subsumed,” Willin proposed, the others glancing at him in curiosity. He waved a paw dismissively. “If everyone in the conflict becomes a single pack, then any fighting from those who still disagree with it is now an internal dispute, thus outside of the purview of the Blades. Check the notes on Grand Hunter Toril and High Hunter Bratik.”
Tech’s eyes unfocused for a moment as she accessed the system. “Avalon is forbidden from interfering with internal politics. Toril was sheltered by Bratik. Since Bratik was from outside of Toril’s pack, it counted as acting against their right to manage their own affairs. Hasen was given a perfect reason to take over, and it forced Grand Hunter Trill to exile the both of them to adhere.” She looked around the room aimlessly as she thought, her eyes snapping to Willin when he spoke.
“And a perfect loop-hole to exploit. Toril loses his supporters, Trill loses a member of his command structure, and Hasen rises in power while leaving Avalon to grit their teeth.” He shook his head, both impressed and disgusted. “Once he attacks another pack, he just forces a vassalage and subsequently executes the new High Hunter for whatever reason he wants. The Blades can’t act on a technicality.”
“So Grand Hunter Pernel….”
Willin nodded at Comms' unfinished question. “In the count.”
“There was a bit of a weird holding area,” Tech added after a moment. “Seemed like somewhere to hold livestock, but even then, it was a bit big. I’m not sure what used to be there, but tracks suggest carts left with whatever it was not long before everything went down, so probably a trade caravan.”
“Well, at least someone made it out,” Nav sighed, pushing off the wall to resume their station. “Where are we going next?”
Willin toyed with the odd silver tablet in his paw, the two unrecognizable scripts curious and alien. “The only pack left before we see what all the fuss is about. Let’s pay a visit to Grand Huntress Sunundra. Hopefully she knows something we don’t.”
Next
A/N: Been a while since we’ve had a proper A/N, huh. Welp, here’s this one. Patreon is currently set to ‘per post’ because i made the account ages ago. Waiting on support to help me switch it to monthly, then I’ll post the Silva render i have. RR is at 30k views and 100 followers.
Figured I’d ask how you guys are liking this arc, hows Willin’s team coming across, etc.
Final note: I’m thinking about rewriting the first ‘book’ so i can get it edited and published! Problem: i have no fucking clue where to cut book 1, and editors are expensive. Where should book 1 end? All i know is that I’d prob end up adding extra chapters to it, as well as lengthening the OG chaps. RR is a ‘touch-up’, not a final product, so those don’t count!

hey, everyone! this is something i’ve had in mind to do for a while now. what pushed me over the edge, though, was this post that was recently published that brought up the detail of how toothless’s tongue shape changed in httyd 2 from how it was in the first movie.
now that may seem like a small, almost meaninglessness bit of trivia, but it got me thinking about how his design changed as a whole, and then how his characterization was showed in all three movies (keep in mind, i’m sticking to the movies here, not the shows).
in the first movie, toothless fully resembles a dangerous, apex predator: his features are sharper, he’s sleeker and more aerodynamic, which subconsciously makes us understand how alien he is to civilization and how truly terrifying he can be. his initial characterization reflects this: while he spares hiccup—showing that he’s not a mindlessly driven creature—he still appears untrusting, aggressive and scary. as the movie progresses, we can understand that part of it was, without a doubt, born out of his own fear of the situation he was in: his character and arc are a perfect mirror of hiccup’s own.
both of them are scared of the other (toothless moreso because of the situation he’s in because of his tailfin, but you get the idea), but are also incredibly curious. hiccup keeps going back to him, and toothless never overtly pushes him away or scares him off completely.
the forbidden friendship sequence is when everything truly changes. toothless goes from someone we see as a scared animal to an incredibly complex, intelligent being that is willing and wants to see more of hiccup’s world. showing hiccup trust in the form of placing his snout in his hand is still a display of character that hasn’t been matched again, to me.
in the first movie, toothless represents the bridge between dragons and humans, as hiccup represents the one between humans and dragons. both of them realize the others are beautiful beings that do not deserve the “war” that has been raging for hundreds of years.
now. in the second and third film, toothless’s design changes. not in a drastic way, but in one that wouldn’t be noticed by general audiences unless it was pointed out to them. his features become blockier, his brows get more pronounced and his face gets rounder, his eyes become bigger and he overalls become more "friendly". you could see this as a visual display of how he's changed, i.e. going from hiccup's "foil" to best friend, but i sincerely doubt that was the intention. in my mind, they decided to accentuate his cuteness and playfulness, since that is something that people went crazy over in the last movie (rightfully so, he is very cute!), but made him become... just that. the cuteness, the "aww" moments, are most of what he has for the second film, until the he snaps out of the alpha's mind control thanks to his bond with hiccup, and we get the amazing challenging the alpha sequence. but two good scenes can't really be defined "characterization".
the third movie is where it gets a bit complicated. because toothless does get a lot of characterization and an arc in this one, but it's been a point of contention for a while whether it's good characterization or not. he falls in love quickly, something that despite what you think of the light fury (i mean, i don't even like her) does appear to be in character, as he displays the same blind curiosity that drove him closer to hiccup in the first movie. he decides to become king of dragons even quicker, though, and that's where problems start to arise for me. he'd never displayed any drive or desire to lead dragons, in any of the previous movies (you could point to him becoming the alpha in the second one, but he'd always seemed to moreso accept the role than directly seek it out), which becomes even more jarring when that, paired with a sub-par romance plot where we don't really care about his other half, become his main drives that lead him to abandoning humans--but, more importantly, hiccup.
toothless's desire to protect his best friend, and the love he displays for humanity (once he gets closer to it) were his main points of character. and i do understand that the switch he experiences in the third movie could be seen as a realistic portrayal of someone finding something greater to fight for, and a different drive in life, but to me it was too much, and too late. if they wanted to have him leave feel like a natural progression of his character, they should have committed to it beforehand. maybe create a fourth film to tie it off nicely, i don't know, but it simply feels like they wanted to have the end of the novels (i.e., the dragons leaving) without committing fully to it--and toothless was one of the things that suffered the most from it.
anyways, whew, that was long! i apologize, and i hope this was understandable. english isn't my first language, so do point out any mistakes that i made, and tell me whether you agree or not! do any of you like how he was portrayed in the final film? i'm very curious to hear.

Feeling a bit unlucky here. Not opened them all up fully so don't know if both packs have exactly the same deck but hoping not. I just opened the boxes to make sure we had everything and hadn't been scammed since it was much cheaper than usual. Everything looks to be intact, so great!
We were gonna play prerelease style as I thought it would be a bit of fun after I went to my first prerelease recently and really enjoyed it and my partner has said he's happy to play the game with me. I made him a Luxray deck because its his favourite pokemon but I don't think its very good and though I tried to play hin with a deck I made I thought was on equal ground I have been beating him. So I thought this method of play would definitely be a bit more fair and show him the game better as kt would help show him how to deck build (so it wouldn't be up to me to make his deck) and good practice for me. I'm worried if we both have a very similar deck it'll not be as fun of an experience? Wondering if maybe it might be better to divide the extra 4 packs in the kit up so we have 6 packs to open to edit the decks so we have more variety to chose from instead of having them as prize packs? Or of anyone has any suggestions of other rules we could implement to make sure we don't end up playing with the same deck as I'd like this to be a fun experience for him since if it is he may play more.

PLEASE HELP (need solutions for upcoming meeting): How do you all enforce your neighborhood pool rules? My community pool/ parking lot (right across from my house) is a breeding ground for crime & parties, and there is no rule enforcement of any kind. HOA President says we don’t have the budget for security or any type of police presence to make sure people do not continue jumping the fence, exchanging drugs, or partying.
Background- JUST LAST NIGHT: police shut down a party of nearly 40 young adults at midnight who were playing loud music at the pool and causing a nuisance. Some of them ran from the cops and damaged my property. There is no control. I (24F) purchased my first home in a HOA community last year.
The HOA President is the ONLY person on the board because he said no one is ever shows up to meetings to vote/ vote for an official board. He has full control and his only solution for us who live on this street is to call the cops. But YEAR ROUND it’s terrifying living here because the parking lot and pool are a drug exchange spot, party spot, etc.
They said they have put up ring cameras to deter crime, but the president is on DND before the late hours and is not tracking the cameras, so are the cameras a real solution? Especially because it’s not stopping the crime. I am watching it happen and having to call the cops to protect those around here.
For some reason, the parking lot & pool are a breeding ground for crime. I can tell people living here before me let a lot of things slide and overtime— this became people’s comfortable spot for crime. I’m trying to put a nail in it. I already had a long battle to keep the parking lot gate closed. That’s helped a little, but now that it’s pool season, crime is back at an all time high in this community.
I have a meeting with property managers and the President this week, and I want to come with solutions. Please tell me what y’all do. I am so thankful in advance. I am also going to look in the community handbook to see what else I can do. I appreciate y’all!
I’m at my breaking point. This is summer 2 of this. 😞

Honestly I feel like my whole life I have been trying to get away from being labeled as a girl. I like when people use gender neutral pronouns for me but I don’t know if its because of me being the only girl of my family and my dad making comments about women being fundamentally different and hating that idea or if I really have been feeling some type of dysphoria. I just hated being treated differently then my brothers. I hated the idea of growing up and being called a lady or woman or mrs but I was okay with girl or miss. I also liked being called a tomboy but I definitely did like “girly” things and engaging in stuff that was “for girls” and I think I would not claim it proudly just so I wasn’t doing what was expected. But I also wouldn’t let myself do stuff that was “for boys” either. And in general I always felt the most comfortable and confident in gender neutral clothes.
Another thing is I have never looked at a boy or my brothers and felt sad that my body didn’t look like theirs but when I hit puberty I hated my chest. Ever since I have been hiding it and I hate the attention it could bring and how it looks in the clothes I like or feel like I would like to wear if I didn’t have them. Honestly I think I would wear way more femme clothes if they weren’t so prominent. It’s the thing I hate most about my body.
All of these things have really confused me with my identity. Lately I have been thinking about how much more comfortable I would be with she/they pronouns but that makes me really nervous to admit like idk I feel like maybe I am just making it up. And I probably have some internalized homophobia about the idea because of my family and the things I used to believe about gender. I just have a hard time discerning if I have been just trying to distance myself bc of how I saw women being treated differently as I have grown up or if I really am feeling some type of dysphoria. And if it is dysphoria is it about identity or more about expression?
Has anyone else had this experience or have any advice?

You can chat +447593882116 (Telegram/WhatsApp) if you want The System By Todd.
I have The System By Todd.
Todd Valentine - The System is a revolutionary course, created by the famous pickup instructor - Todd Valentine.
The System by Todd covers everything you need to know to play the game. This program is applicable for beginners, as well as intermediate students.
In The System by Todd you will learn how to OPEN (Open, Premise, Establish, Narrative) as well as much more on how to lead proper interaction with girls, and how to close them (infields included)!
Todd Valentine's The System is one of the best and most effective courses ever created on dating, and one of the best choices you will make if you have decided to improve your game.
To get The System By Todd contact me on:
Reddit Direct Message to u/RequestCourseAccess
WhatsApp/Telegram: +447593882116 (Telegram: multistorecourses)
Email: silverlakestore/@/yandex.com (remove the brackets)

Artificial Dumbness
Prologue
Nadia Khan opened her eyes slowly, trying to make sense of the world around her. She had a pounding headache and felt fuzzy and disoriented, as if she were in a dream.
She lay on the cold, hard wooden floor, the thin blanket barely providing any warmth. The room was dark and uninviting, with only the faint light from outside coming in through the window. She heard the powerful roar of the ocean crashing against the boat and the creaking of the ropes swaying in the salty breeze.
She could feel the hairs on her arm standing up as she surveyed the area. There were several other people in the room, their bodies still and silent in their deep sleep. They were dressed in ragged clothes and had chains around their ankles. Nadia felt a cold metal on her own leg and realized she was also shackled to the floor.
She felt a surge of panic and confusion. Where was she? How did she get here? What was going on?
She tried to remember what had happened before she woke up. A blank space in her memory. She couldn't recall anything.
She reached for her headset, hoping to find some clue or explanation. But there was nothing on her head. No headset, no wires, no electrodes. Nothing.
She felt a sudden chill as a realization hit her. She wasn't wearing her VR suit, either. She was wearing a simple dress that looked like it belonged to another century.
She glanced back at the window. Outside, there was a clear blue sky and a vast ocean. The sun glinted off the distant island, its towering mountains and dense forests silhouetted against the sky.
She noticed something else—a small screen floated in the air next to her. As she looked, it had text and numbers. A game status screen? She wondered while squinting her eyes to read it.
Name: Nadia Khan
Class: Stowaway
Level: 50
HP: 100/100
MP: 50/50
XP: 0/10000
Skills: Stealth, Lock-picking, Dagger Mastery...
Quests: Escape from the Pirate Ship (0/1)
She was in a game world.
But how? And why?
She felt a surge of disbelief and fear.
This was impossible.
This was insane…
Chapter 1
The brave remote shores of the beach next to peaks of Mount Silwan had braved more than they showed on their brow. A local fisher, who most people around him considered as polite as a perched peacock, noticed a foundation stone with a marking that made him think of the taste of his wife’s cooking when she was not in a particularly pleasant mood.
The foundation stone was textured and rough to the touch, and from the perspective of a sparrow soaring high, it seemed of colors ranging from a vibrant crimson to a bottle-green with a hint of blueberry blue.
There was something unique about it—to the fisher, it looked like a hedgehog tumbling around, attempting to imitate a rolling tumbleweed in the Hami desert.
On one fine day, a day which did not seem at all different from any other summer day, the village, the beach, and the entire mount Silwan were wiped out completely.
It was all because of a mistake or rather a series of mistakes which occurred even though they had the minimal probability of occurrence—a probability which was lower than that of a group of Monkeys writing a book about a group of monkeys writing a sonata in the style of Shakespeare.
This story is about that mistake which has no relation to the bad cooking or the fisher, but is linked intrinsically to that Foundation Stone and its weird origin.
It all started with a President’s desire to make an AI to control the world.
Zhavi Mastermind felt the cold Himalayan air cut through him as he gritted his teeth and stayed determined. The task he came here for was worth all the effort and care he showed it. Being a software architect working for a start-up focused on mapping the universe, Zhavi had made himself enough money to pay for his travels and more. He could probably afford hired help. But then knowledge was precious, especially information which could lead to unlimited success or even world domination or more. Besides, he needed to have a tiny footprint. The more people with him, the easier it would have been for anyone to spot his operation. And then someone could interfere. Besides, he wouldn’t want even his hired help to know details about his plan. There was too much at stake here. So, he followed the only option for him that seemed right—he had to work under the radar.
His trip so far had been short and mostly sweet. As he had traveled all the way here, there had been a few hiccups here and there, but overall, it had been event-free. Most people recognized him as a tourist, so it made him easy to be ignored.
The night before had been tiring, as he had set up camp here. To a casual visitor, it would appear that Zhavi had set up his base simply because it seemed the right place. He had planned every step of the way. This was the place to be. It was around 30 feet from the target, which made it easy for him to set up a personal area network which had a range of up to 33 feet.
He targeted the place where a power surge had been detected and ignored. As he sat down waiting, he recalled how he had discovered it truly by chance. He had been working with data from a reconfigurable radio telescope and found a powerful signal—a signal which could only have been signifying intelligent life. As he analyzed, he found out that the source was not from any other place but a place in the Himalayan region in Northern Pakistan some distance from the base camp of one of the most formidable peaks, “Nanga Parbat.”
The encryption that he had cracked had been eye-shattering. Initially expecting it to be some boring secret communication by a government, it had shocked him to see the communication in a language beyond anything that existed on the planet. A higher dimensional language, so to speak, with words with meanings which were impossible to decipher for mere humans. Each word lay in the cross section of concepts. As Zhavi explored, he used brute force decryption with the help of resources from a global public super-computing facility to discover the meanings. And what he found was truly astounding. There were historical, cultural, and geographical references in the signals. It was impossible to understand them without taking notes on each of them. The problem, however, was that none of them were from Earth and that’s when he realized he had to get here.
The data scientists ignored the signal as an outlier even though it had been detected once. As Zhavi dug deeper, he found another incident over two decades back.
Zhavi had been compiling the data for the last three years now. And he knew now was the time for it to activate again. The signal’s source had been camouflaged to prevent human interference, except during this time.
What he had learned from the signal was too complex to be deciphered easily. But he knew it was enough to conquer the world and more.
He took a long breath inside. The freezing cold mountain air made him feel alive. He felt a gush of warmness as adrenaline poured inside him. The icy wind stung part of his exposed areas like mosquitoes made up of ice crystals.
As he moved outside the tent, snow as soft as cotton fell slowly from the sky. Zhavi was fully alert now. Everything was at stake. If he missed now, he would probably never have another chance. In the next twenty-five years, when the signal repeated, who knew if he could make it? That would not be the worst thing that could happen. The worst would probably be if someone else would find out and if he could find it, what would stop anyone else from doing the same? And the probability of that someone being a powerful government agency such as from the US was high.
Everything seemed just right. He had discovered the signal occurred in a particular alignment of the Earth with a certain very active star system in the Milky way.
If he could find it, someone else could find it too. So, it was now or never.
Zhavi authenticated and opened the shiny black box. Inside, lights were turning off and on as he flipped the switches. Screens around him lit as his custom designed distributed operating system booted up and synched.
A soft voice said, “Your secure Personal area network is now operational.”
“Turn on the security system.”
“Security system turned on. Cameras operational. Lasers are operational and looking for targets.”
Zhavi was a pacifist. He would always tell himself he never believed in violence. But he just hated to be disturbed. He was, however, also a realist. He realized the need for sacrifices for some causes. And that sometimes extreme measures need to be taken to attain success. If there was any such day in his life where he should never be disturbed, it was today.
As he listened to the whirring lasers and the automated drones guarding his position and looking for intruders, he focused his cameras on the approximate location where he thought the item should appear and waited. Everything seemed to be fine.
A sudden, blinding flash of light caused Zhavi to flinch in surprise. He took a step back, his eyes widening in wonder as he tried to grasp the magnificence of the object in front of him.
“Dr. GB, Dr. GB, sir, you need to see this. You have a letter.”
“I have a what?”
“A letter, sir.”
“How is it possible? You know, girl, your brain gone mad. We don’t even have an address. How can somebody send us a letter in the middle of nowhere? It’s the Congo river, not some small lake, Mary.”
“Sir, I assure you it’s for you. I just found it on the porch outside.”
It was a hot day, like many other days in Congo, as Dr. GB Smith sat on his reclining chair in one corner of the makeshift hut that he called his lab. He lazily eyed the plump woman standing near the door, her bright clothing standing out in the shadows.
“Why are you standing over there?”
“Sir, you didn’t let me come in.”
“It’s just a lab.”
“Sir, the last time I tried coming in, that fish thing you have in there. It shocked me.”
“Aha, the eel. You should be proud, Mary. You should tell your grandchildren an eel struck you.”
“Sir, I doubt I’ll have any children or even get married if I keep working for you.”
“It’s not that dangerous, Mary. Be brave.”
“Sir, it’s not about just the place being dangerous. Of course, there are no safety procedures or anything. The real problem is that you don’t pay me. It’s not like you paid me some months of salary and then got late with just one. You haven’t paid me anything. So, if I don’t die after being bitten by one of these things that you keep here in this lab, I think I’ll probably die of starvation. To let you in on a little secret, I am probably only surviving because I am living with my parents.”
“Too much information. TMI, Mary,” said GB. As he eyed her, Mary stood still, looking unconvinced by Dr. GB’s invitation or even his attempts at humor, which she probably considered at least distasteful. Her one hand was on the door, with the other holding something with just one foot inside the lab.
GB scratched his white beard, trying to keep up with his planned expression of an air of disinterest, and looked into her eyes. “So? Aren’t you going to give it to me?”
The girl first looked on both sides and then ran towards him. Before he could say anything, the letter was flying on top of him as he masterfully apprehended it on its way to the side.
He said, “So we are all set, right? You are telling me you are fine. Not starving and still alive. Every day, this is just what every animal in the river can wish for.” He looked up only to find her running away towards the door.
GB sighed. As much as he didn’t want to show it, he was worried. This was the third one this year, and he was running out of candidates. Mary had tolerated him for a period far longer than the previous ones.
As he looked at the letter, he felt the texture of the wax seal beneath his fingertips. His eyes opened wide.
Available also on ScribbleHub and Royal Road.
Next

Marvel Comics! Here’s downloading or watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse streaming the full movie online for free on 123movies & Reddit, including where to watch the anticipated Pixar’s Movie at home. Is Lightyear 2023 available to stream? Is watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2023 on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found a faithful streaming option/service.
​
​
​
Over 25 years ago, a little boy named Andy received a Buzz Lightyear action figure in the 1995 Pixar film Toy Story. Now, all these years later, audiences will finally see the movie that inspired that action figure in the Toy Story spin-off movie, Lightyear, which is soaring into theatres this weekend.
​
This is not the Buzz Lightyear you know and love—the one who is best friends with Woody and voiced by Tim Allen. This is the original Buzz Lightyear, a bonafide space ranger voiced by Chris Evans, who is stranded on a hostile planet that is 4.2 million lightyears from Earth, alongside his commander and crew. The Lightyear cast also includes the voices of Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
​
Watch Now: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Free Online
​
With this new Toy Story adventure coming to theatres, you may feel the urge to revisit the classics. The decider is here to help with that. Read on to find out what Toy Story movies to watch before Lightyear and how to stream the Toy Story.
​
Can I Stream Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
​
You can’t stream Lightyear yet — but you’ll be able to soon. As a Disney movie, you can expect Lightyear to drop on their streaming service, Disney Plus, in the coming weeks, but the exact date of when that might happen hasn’t been announced yet.
​
Generally, with their cinematic releases, Disney and Pixar tend to follow either a 30-day release window or a 45-day release window. We don’t know which one they’re going with yet for Lightyear, but this means that given the movie’s global release date is June 17, we can expect Lightyear to be on Disney Plus sometime between July 21 and August 3, 2022.
​
Where To Watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Online
​
With a new Lightyear coming out very soon, you may want to rewatch all the movies. Or, if you haven’t given the animated adventure films a shot, now is your chance.
​
Just click the link below to watch the full movie in its entirety. Details on how you can watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse COUGHING for free throughout the year are described below. If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien planet. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse COUGHING is definitely a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing online streaming is available on our website. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing online free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing Release in US Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing hits theaters on September 23, 2023. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
​
Lightyear can all be streamed using an HBO Max or Hulu subscription. If you’d prefer to rent the movies, only the first two are on Prime Video. Otherwise, all three films can be rented on YouTube, Apple TV+, or Google Play Movies & TV.
​
The second film in the franchise, Lightyear, will be released on June 17, 2022. Right now, it’s not confirmed where the movie will be streamed after its big-screen release.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix?
​
Lightyear is not available to watch on Netflix. Suppose you’re interested in other movies and shows. In that case, one can access the vast library of titles within Netflix under various subscription costs depending on the plan you choose: $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.99 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Disney Plus?
​
No sign of Lightyear on Disney+, which is proof that the House of Mouse doesn’t have its hands on every franchise! Home to the likes of ‘Star Wars, ‘Marvel’, ‘Pixar’, National Geographic’, ESPN, STAR, and so much more, Disney+ is available at the annual membership fee of $79.99 or the monthly cost of $7.99. If you’re a fan of even one of these brands, then signing up to Disney+ is worth it, and there aren’t any ads, either.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on HBO Max?
​
Sorry, Lightyear is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free, and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at $9.99 per month.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Hulu?
​
They’re not on Hulu, either! But prices for this streaming service currently start at $6.99 per month or $69.99 for the whole year. The ad-free version costs $12.99 per month, $64.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV, or $70.99 for the ad-free Hulu + Live TV.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2022 on Amazon Video?
​
Unfortunately, Lightyear is not available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video. However, you can choose other shows and movies to watch from there as it has a wide variety of shows and movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Peacock?
​
Lightyear is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. Like its namesake, the streaming platform is free with the content out in the open. However, limited.
​
Who Is in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Cast?
​
Captain America himself, Chris Evans, will be the voice of the film’s titular Space Ranger. Apart from Evans, Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), Dale Soules (Orange Is the New Black), and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) have also been announced as part of the cast, lending their voices to other ambitious recruits at Star Command. The voice cast includes Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, Peter Sohn, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Bonus: Check out this featurette where the cast talks about what Buzz Lightyear means to them.

Do I have protections available??
First off, my DIRECT Supervisor at work, is a personal friend. We both started the same time (5) years ago. Our relationship started at work.
The issue:
It is Sunday 5pm. Our company does not currently work weekends, and we do not have company phones. We really on emails for work related communications via Outlook on a company server.
My Supervisor called me at midnight a couple days ago. I was asleep, he sent a messenger message asking if we can have a serious conversation. He stays up really late most nights of the week drinking his alcohol. (Functioning alcoholic obsessive over work even after hours late into the night). It is not uncommon for him to call employees after 8pm to have work conversations, on a personal level, while off clock, and obviously drinking. But we deal with this. Because overall, we know he cares about company and employees within his scope of work.
I called him back today at 445pm to talk. Went to voicemail. He calls me back 5 minutes later to tell me we need to have a serious talk.
He tells me I have personality conflicts within the team and a few of the guys want me gone. I ask him for details of complaints but tells me it would be conflict of interest. I understand that and that is fine.
I’ve trained most of the people of the team and know the team well enough to know where the complaints are coming from directly without being said. He tells me I need to make changes or he will be forced to let me go. (We are in a right to work state.) We talk about changes that should happen.
Towards the end of the call I jokingly ask “how long do I really have left at the company?”
He responds, “a week tops and I’m going to fire you regardless”.
I thank him for giving me the “friends heads up” and he welcomes me. We end the phone call.
At this point I’m freaking out knowing I move into a house next week and am going to be job-less!!!
My Supervisor calls me back within 30 minutes. He apologizes for what he said and how he handled the conversation off hours. Told me he spoke to another Supervisor on the same Scope of Work, and has switched me to a different team. And to contact that Supervisor about location of work in the morning.
To which I thank him for sparing my job.
But now, I’m extremely nervous about work this week and moving ahead.
Do I have anything HR related to protect my job given how he addressed the situation? I’m worried I won’t be able to focus on work and fall behind because of the fear, resulting in my termination.
There’s got to be something in my corner?!?
Location is Virginia USA for reference if anyone is local and familiar with state work laws.
Thank you for your time!

PLEASE HELP (need solutions for upcoming meeting): How do you all enforce your neighborhood pool rules? My community pool/ parking lot (right across from my house) is a breeding ground for crime & parties, and there is no rule enforcement of any kind. HOA President says we don’t have the budget for security or any type of police presence to make sure people do not continue jumping the fence, exchanging drugs, or partying.
Background- JUST LAST NIGHT: police shut down a party of nearly 40 young adults at midnight who were playing loud music at the pool and causing a nuisance. Some of them ran from the cops and damaged my property. There is no control. I (24F) purchased my first home in a HOA community last year.
The HOA President is the ONLY person on the board because he said no one is ever shows up to meetings to vote/ vote for an official board. He has full control and his only solution for us who live on this street is to call the cops. But YEAR ROUND it’s terrifying living here because the parking lot and pool are a drug exchange spot, party spot, etc.
They said they have put up ring cameras to deter crime, but the president is on DND before the late hours and is not tracking the cameras, so are the cameras a real solution? Especially because it’s not stopping the crime. I am watching it happen and having to call the cops to protect those around here.
For some reason, the parking lot & pool are a breeding ground for crime. I can tell people living here before me let a lot of things slide and overtime— this became people’s comfortable spot for crime. I’m trying to put a nail in it. I already had a long battle to keep the parking lot gate closed. That’s helped a little, but now that it’s pool season, crime is back at an all time high in this community.
I have a meeting with property managers and the President this week, and I want to come with solutions. Please tell me what y’all do. I am so thankful in advance. I am also going to look in the community handbook to see what else I can do. I appreciate y’all!
I’m at my breaking point. This is summer 2 of this. 😞

Liebe Community,
ich heiße Noé (keine Pronomen, Enby trans*) und suche für meine Abschlussarbeit non-binäre Personen, die zu jeweiligen Erfahrungen im städtischen Raum in Berlin Fotos machen möchten :).
Hard facts:

• Ich suche non-binäre Personen, die zum Thema der Stadtraumerfahrung non-binärer Personen Fotos machen möchten. Es sind keine foto- grafischen Fähigkeiten oder irgendwelche Fachkenntnisse erforderlich.
• Diese Fotos sollen im Anschluss in Form eines Interviews diskutiert werden.
• Die Fotos sollen vom 05.06- spätestens 30.06. in Berlin aufgenommen werden.
• Interviews zu den Fotos können stattfinden, sobald ihr fertig seid (spätestens Mitte Juli).

Wenn Du Interesse hast mitzumachen, wäre das sehr toll. Kontaktiere mich gerne über den Chat oder teil mir mit, wie ich Dich erreichen kann. Es gibt ein umfangreiches Infoblatt mit Details und für Fragen jeglicher Art bin ich offen.
EN:
My name is Noé (no pronouns, Enby trans*) and I'm looking for non-binary people for my final thesis, who want to take photos about their respective experiences in urban space in Berlin :).
Hard facts:

• I'm looking for non-binary people, who are interested in the topic of the urban space experience of non-binary people would like to make photos. No photo- graphic skills or any technical knowledge necessary.
• These photos will be discussed in the form of an in the form of an interview.
• The photos are to be taken from 05.06- 30.06. at the latest in Berlin at the latest.
• Interviews to the photos can take place as soon as you are ready (latest middle of July at the latest).

If you are interested in participating, that would be great. Feel free to contact me via the chat or let me know how I can reach you. There is a comprehensive info sheet with details and I am open for questions of any kind.

Marvel Comics! Here’s downloading or watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse streaming the full movie online for free on 123movies & Reddit, including where to watch the anticipated Pixar’s Movie at home. Is Lightyear 2023 available to stream? Is watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2023 on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found a faithful streaming option/service.
​
​
​
Over 25 years ago, a little boy named Andy received a Buzz Lightyear action figure in the 1995 Pixar film Toy Story. Now, all these years later, audiences will finally see the movie that inspired that action figure in the Toy Story spin-off movie, Lightyear, which is soaring into theatres this weekend.
​
This is not the Buzz Lightyear you know and love—the one who is best friends with Woody and voiced by Tim Allen. This is the original Buzz Lightyear, a bonafide space ranger voiced by Chris Evans, who is stranded on a hostile planet that is 4.2 million lightyears from Earth, alongside his commander and crew. The Lightyear cast also includes the voices of Keke Palmer, Peter Sohn, James Brolin, Taika Waititi, Dale Soules, Uzo Aduba, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
​
Watch Now: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Free Online
​
With this new Toy Story adventure coming to theatres, you may feel the urge to revisit the classics. The decider is here to help with that. Read on to find out what Toy Story movies to watch before Lightyear and how to stream the Toy Story.
​
Can I Stream Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse?
​
You can’t stream Lightyear yet — but you’ll be able to soon. As a Disney movie, you can expect Lightyear to drop on their streaming service, Disney Plus, in the coming weeks, but the exact date of when that might happen hasn’t been announced yet.
​
Generally, with their cinematic releases, Disney and Pixar tend to follow either a 30-day release window or a 45-day release window. We don’t know which one they’re going with yet for Lightyear, but this means that given the movie’s global release date is June 17, we can expect Lightyear to be on Disney Plus sometime between July 21 and August 3, 2022.
​
Where To Watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Online
​
With a new Lightyear coming out very soon, you may want to rewatch all the movies. Or, if you haven’t given the animated adventure films a shot, now is your chance.
​
Just click the link below to watch the full movie in its entirety. Details on how you can watch Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse COUGHING for free throughout the year are described below. If you’re a fan of the comics, you won’t want to miss this one! The storyline follows Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien planet. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse COUGHING is definitely a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing movie you don’t want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing online streaming is available on our website. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing online free, which includes streaming options such as 123movies, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix! Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing Release in US Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Coughing hits theaters on September 23, 2023. Tickets to see the film at your local movie theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
​
Lightyear can all be streamed using an HBO Max or Hulu subscription. If you’d prefer to rent the movies, only the first two are on Prime Video. Otherwise, all three films can be rented on YouTube, Apple TV+, or Google Play Movies & TV.
​
The second film in the franchise, Lightyear, will be released on June 17, 2022. Right now, it’s not confirmed where the movie will be streamed after its big-screen release.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Netflix?
​
Lightyear is not available to watch on Netflix. Suppose you’re interested in other movies and shows. In that case, one can access the vast library of titles within Netflix under various subscription costs depending on the plan you choose: $9.99 per month for the basic plan, $15.99 monthly for the standard plan, and $19.99 a month for the premium plan.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Disney Plus?
​
No sign of Lightyear on Disney+, which is proof that the House of Mouse doesn’t have its hands on every franchise! Home to the likes of ‘Star Wars, ‘Marvel’, ‘Pixar’, National Geographic’, ESPN, STAR, and so much more, Disney+ is available at the annual membership fee of $79.99 or the monthly cost of $7.99. If you’re a fan of even one of these brands, then signing up to Disney+ is worth it, and there aren’t any ads, either.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on HBO Max?
​
Sorry, Lightyear is not available on HBO Max. There is a lot of content from HBO Max for $14.99 a month, such a subscription is ad-free, and it allows you to access all the titles in the library of HBO Max. The streaming platform announced an ad-supported version that costs a lot less at $9.99 per month.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Hulu?
​
They’re not on Hulu, either! But prices for this streaming service currently start at $6.99 per month or $69.99 for the whole year. The ad-free version costs $12.99 per month, $64.99 per month for Hulu + Live TV, or $70.99 for the ad-free Hulu + Live TV.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse 2022 on Amazon Video?
​
Unfortunately, Lightyear is not available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video. However, you can choose other shows and movies to watch from there as it has a wide variety of shows and movies that you can choose from for $14.99 a month.
​
Is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on Peacock?
​
Lightyear is not available to watch on Peacock at the time of writing. Peacock offers a subscription costing $4.99 a month or $49.99 per year for a premium account. Like its namesake, the streaming platform is free with the content out in the open. However, limited.
​
Who Is in the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Cast?
​
Captain America himself, Chris Evans, will be the voice of the film’s titular Space Ranger. Apart from Evans, Keke Palmer (Scream Queens), Dale Soules (Orange Is the New Black), and Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit) have also been announced as part of the cast, lending their voices to other ambitious recruits at Star Command. The voice cast includes Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez, Peter Sohn, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Bonus: Check out this featurette where the cast talks about what Buzz Lightyear means to them.

I (28M) just completed my 1st year working in the current operations job I'm in. I work as a lone operator so I don't ever have back-up unless I am on day-shift. I have a god-awful swing shift schedule that's screwed me over mentally. I want to enjoy and love my job again but lately, I've just started falling behind. This is my first operations job ever. Yes, I have my degree and six months of experience prior in manufacturing, but my real experience is working as a lab-tech for 3.5-4yrs. Regardless, I'm a rookie beyond all means.
I want to say my first year was a success where I'm at, but two weeks ago, I screwed up royally, broke a critical safety standard, and got a letter in my file because of my own stupidity. (I don't want to talk about it but I could see the disappointment in my boss's eyes and more in a sad kind of way.) The last 1v1 we had, he said "You've been making a lot of small mistakes lately and they can add-up. You've got to stop doing that. I'm not saying you can't make mistakes BUT you can't be doing them multiple times a week. Is there any way I can help you or someone else can? What do you need?" And I don't know the answer at all....
I hate being alone. I hate getting overwhelmed with alarms. I struggle to focus when things go haywire and like tonight, I made a simple mistake that ended up causing us extra-downtime by 2hrs. When all we do is "GO GO GO!" that's not okay.... I also hate knowing I have a coworker who loves to gripe and complain about everything I do that it's made me hate interactions with him at work. We don't see each other often but for shift change and it's TOXIC.
I just don't know what to do to get focused again? My production leader recommended carrying all of my procedures with me and I have been trying as best I can. They've helped some but then things like tonight where I misread a step, caused a MAJOR backlash. I'm trying my best. One minute I think I'm doing amazing and then I realize I'm crashing and burning.
Does anyone have any practical advice? Like how can I refocus and get back to working safely? I don't want to be the guy who always makes mistakes at work. I want to be a success story. I chose my career in this field because I wanted to make my grandfather proud (He died when I was young so I want to walk his footsteps!) I'm at a crossroads. I enjoy what I do but between my schedule and everything else, I'm just struggling so much.

I wish for a lot of things right now.
Mainly I wish I could make it easier.
You where there through my divorce...you where there in a huge way for me. Even now with the aftermath of it you continue to be here for me. I feel I am lacking in that area, feel like I fall short of the support you gave me. I can tell you're going through the rollercoaster that is this process, that doesn't exactly take first hand knowledge to understand. Non the less, that dream like state of the fallowing days....I remember that part well. I remember walking through the courthouse to do my own paperwork with Carlos. How empty the building was, the space between me and the person I thought would always be beside me now...a chasm where that connection was. I remember the silence in the polite smile that you'd give a stranger on the street...I now gave to the person I had been with for 7 years.
I remember how my heart was pounding as the women at the office for the paper work guided me through all the paper work, I remember how each one had to be filled out first by me because...I was the one asking for the divorce. It felt like I'd never be done, like the paperwork would never stop coming. Just line after line of my name, over and over and over again...but it did stop. I don't remember what the last page was, but I signed it...and we left the courthouse.
We drove back to the home that we had made for the last time together. He packed the last of his things, got back in the car, and left. I don't remember if I cried then or not, I think I called you actually. I think you talked with me for a bit before having to go and then...I sat on the living room floor and just drifted from my mind. Drifted form that place and that moment in time. I just sat there in that dream like state for a few days, before the email finally came.
Divorce....finalized.
That's when it was real for me, that email. It was official...my marriage was over...I had done it. I ended it. I was now...alone.
But not...I had you. The brilliant man that was meant only to distract me from my reality was holding me together in a way I have never known to be true for me. Whom still holds me together on a fairly often basis. You my dear sweet Bryan...have been the biggest support thought it all and you never had to be any of that. We had known each other for 3 months at that point and already you'd done everything in your power to be there for me. I will never not be grateful for that, for you.
Now you're going through your own process an I...feel extraordinarily inadequate in being anything close to helpful for you. I don't know the kind of support that you need or want or that would actually be helpful. I'm not next to you to be able to see your body language, to notice the differences in your day to day. I can hear the hurt in your voice, and read it in your texts, feel it in the space we share...and I'm useless to it all. I don't know what to say or ask to help, I cant do anything outside of just answering the phone. Nothing outside of just...being here the best I can and I don't feel that it helps at all. You're hurting but you're so quiet, you said talking doesn't help you, yet I feel in that silence I lose the chance to understand what you're thinking...what you're feeling.
I don't want you to feel like you have to talk if you truly do not wish to, and I know that there generally comes a point when you do open up about it, so I do my best to wait for that time. I wonder if that perhaps is in fact a side effect of how you don't often think of your own well being (much like how it is for myself.). I wonder if you've just become so use to not sharing that it doesn't occur for you to share, to think that someone cares to listen...Then again, that could just be me reflecting my own understanding onto you, so I'm just here.
I wish I knew if it was helping, perhaps just being here serves as your own distraction form your reality. Perhaps you find comfort in just sharing space, that since of normal that is our own. Maybe that is enough...yet I wish to do more. I'd give anything to hold you close, offer you that comfort in simple easy touches. Let you feel my warmth and the solidness that is my presence beside you. I wish above all things that I was able to be more than just a silly girl on the other side of the phone....
Maybe all of this has less to do with you than it does my own insecurities, maybe it's a bit of column A column B.... Either way the simple truth is I wish I knew what to do to help ease that pain for you...and I fear there simply isn't anything I can do, that it's easier to wish for it than to make it happen at all.
In the end Bryan I want you to know I am here in all ways you need or want of me, that I love you and believe you worth loving with every fiber in my body. You're worth it all honey. You are more than you know and I love all of who you are. Every eccentricity.
Everything is going to be alright, you're strong, capable, smart, and you're not alone.
​
I am here. Always.

In another sub a “queer nb trans masc” was explaining how being exclusionary is bad, and mentions feeling excluded from queer spaces at times because they have agab passing privilege.
And so, as a female who doesn’t transition but calls self nb trans masc:
-you don’t have an increased risk of being sexually assaulted or murdered over other females because your body doesn’t actually challenge a man’s sexuality. You don’t have an increased likelihood of having your body used as an experiment. -the men you date are more self aware because you have some quirks that turn less open minded men off, like short hair and wearing baggy clothes. -you have privileged romantic and sexual relationships with lesbians because they aren’t challenged or offended by your body. -you maintain continued access to women’s spaces, friendships, and the like, so you never really suffered loss to be who you are -you go out of your way to access trans spaces, and any resistance to it, you can just gaslight the trans people
And so you don’t really have any need or desire to access mens spaces, which, if you did try to enter them, would be your first realization that you are literally the most privileged person amongst anyone who isn’t a cis male.
But instead you insist on crying about how you feel excluded by no other than the one group that actually does experience higher levels of discrimination than cis females, the trans community.
You make trans men feel like shit about themselves You make trans women feel like shit about themselves And you make it all about yourself instead of actually fighting for the thing we want, which is greater access and support for our medical transitions so we can integrate into our sex and move on in life. And because inevitably some of you made mistakes, you then try and get medical care removed for those of us who actually need it. And because cis people don’t get there’s a difference between trans man and trans masc they just assume it’s all the same and worry that their daughters are going to fall victim to irreversible life choices to follow a trend.
What a fking mess

So, I've been very nostalgic for older media lately, so I started re-watching the show, seeing as it was my favorite thing on tv back in my teen vampire-obssesed years. I'm about to start season 4, and I have to say, I've been enjoying it a lot! It's def been interesting comparing my adult thoughts to those I had back when I was 14-15. I've honestly forgotten how goofy the show could, be and how politically charged it was, even in its silliness.
Anyway, I was wondering when should I stop watching though. Despite not remembering a whole lot beyond the basic plot of each season, I know it jumps the shark pretty badly eventually. I have no desire to watch any of that Billith nonsense, or the vamp prison stuff, or Nora or the shadow monster crap or any of the dumber stuff the writers pulled at the end. I do want to watch season four because of the Eric plot, even if the fairy realm/witch storyline isn't that good. As far as I remember, season 5 is when they stopped adapting any parts belonging to the books as well (books aren't a masterpiece, but I liked them well enough in my teens).
Should I call it quits after this season? Season 3 was by far the most interesting one plot wise, but I didn't like how Sookie's screen-time was diminished (as the main character, I'm mostly interested in her storyline).
Not to turn this post into a review, but I do want to say how surprised I was by some of the storylines/backstories and how fucked up they were (I clearly lacked a certain amount of empathy as a kid it seems).
Like, jesus poor Eddie, Tara, Tommy and Jessica! I remember disliking some of these characters, but man their stories are so messed up! Am I supposed to be rooting for 17 year old Jessica to be in a romantic relationship with a grown ass adult? How about Sam being incredibly awful to his little abused brother? (maybe this story continues in season 4, I can't remember).
Sorry for the mini-rant but some of this stuff would never fly today lol
Thanks for reading and leave your thoughts below.