Local institutions that branch out to multiple locations can be really solid or bad…where does Rosebud stand? Solid or avoid?? Is the original still a winner?

Tl;dr I was friends with a girl who repeatedly took advantage of me and everyone else in her life, and now I have to live with the fact that she doesn't care about what she did to me/how I feel about it and will continue to do these things to other people.
I (22f) went to an overseas school for 3 years before transferring to my current university. My school was extremely small and I knew everyone there. While there, I became friends with a girl whom we'll call Abby (22f). During my third year, Abby and I became fairly close and spent a lot of time together. During the end of the second year and a good portion of the third, she had an on-and-off "situationship" with a guy whom we'll call Mike.
While we were at this school, she had a track record of leading guys on only to disappoint them in the end. She hooked up with Mike but would never commit to him, and they did this despite Mike's close friend having a huge crush on Abby (the close friend was unaware that this was happening) and her simultaneously leading the crush guy on, as well. There were another few guys who had crushes on her as well, and she handled these things with varying degrees of success/awkwardness. She was often extremely blunt with people who liked her and hurt several people's feelings a lot (I only found out about this later).
Abby and I lived in the same apartment during this third year with 4 other girls. We were in an all-girls program and established certain set rules at the beginning of the year about when guys could come and what the circumstances should be. The main rule was that no male-identifying person was allowed to set food in the apartment without all of us agreeing to it, that no guy could sleep over, and that certain hours were off-limits. At one point in the year, I had a close friend whom we'll call Jack, and we came into the apartment building one night because it was very cold outside, but sat conversing in the doorway for over an hour because of my apartment's rules (he never stepped over the threshold). Despite this, Abby gave me some shit about it and said it made her uncomfortable, so I told her I wouldn't do it again.
Nobody in the apartment knew that Abby had all of this stuff going on with Mike. We knew they'd dated over the summer between our second and third years, but not that they were regularly hooking up in secret. At one point, she (with our permission) brought Mike over to watch a movie, and then (without our permission or knowledge) they fell asleep on the couch together afterward. She kicked him out in the early morning before any of us woke up, and never told any of us about this. Keep in mind that 2 people in the apartment were very careful about modesty and would have been horrified to know they'd slept in the same apartment with a guy, 2 others were asexual and were generally uncomfortable with men and sexuality, and one was getting over guy-related trauma and was essentially afraid of all men. So this was a shitty thing to do. To this day, I'm the only one who knows, because I didn't want to ruin her relationship with the other people from the apartment.
About a year later, way after all of this had happened, Mike and I got closer and started dating. It turned out he had been in a major depressive episode during most of this year with Abby, and she had taken advantage of this to have a "situationship" with him when he was extremely lonely. He also revealed this apartment story to me. At first I wasn't that upset, but over time I realized how much she'd manipulated us—making a big deal of the rules but then not following them herself, allowing us to accommodate her but then not doing the same when it was inconvenient. I ended up confronting her about it, but she denied the existence of the rules in the first place, denied the conversation ever happened, said it was an accident, and refused to apologize for anything.
After this confrontation, I found out that another one of my friends, Jake (22m), had had a crush on her. She had brutally let him down and then immediately started dating another person in his vicinity and sort of parading this dude around everywhere, and it kind of messed Jake up.
A few months later, Abby and I both ended up at the same party. I was fairly drunk and brought up the thing with Jake, as well as the incident with Mike in the apartment. She continued to deny the apartment rules we'd all made together and asked why I'd pre-judged her regarding Jake. (I didn't tell her that it just happened to fall in line with all of her previous behavior.) We ended up coming to an agreement, she finally apologized, and I asked her several times, "Are we good now? Are you sure you aren't upset anymore?" and she said things were fine and we'd gotten past this.
A few months later, Mike and I got engaged. I made sure Abby knew about it in advance, along with many of my other close friends. She came to the engagement party and seemed to have a good time. A few months later, she got engaged and had a large group chat of over 40 close mutual friends to inform them about the information for the engagement party, but I was specifically not on it. (The party was going to take place on the same day as her engagement, so her fiancé was on it and she'd given him numbers of whom to add.)
I only found out because another person in the chat, whom I interact with regularly, asked me about it because she thought it was a mistake. It turned out to be pretty awkward because I had no idea Abby was even getting engaged. I texted her about it and it turned out she'd lied to my face about having "gotten over things," and was secretly hurt the entire time and didn't know whether she wanted to be friends with me. Rather than confronting me directly, she left me out of a group chat in an obvious way, which was very uncomfortable for me socially. When I asked why she'd done this, she essentially said that things were about her and she'd let people know if she wanted them to know. (I was not in a location where I'd be able to come in on short notice, so she essentially just didn't invite me.) I was pretty blindsided, but I ended up just going to the engagement party as a show of support, because I didn't want to make things awkward and people would notice if I wasn't there.
Afterward, we talked occasionally and she seemed totally fine with things. I invited her to my wedding because I didn't want her to feel left out. She asked me if she could bring her fiancé as a +1, but I said no because a) we weren't allowing any +1's unless people were married (or family), b) her fiancé openly disliked Mike, and c) she had plenty of friends at the wedding, so I wasn't worried about her having nobody to talk to. She came to the wedding and seemed to have a nice time. Afterward, she texted me several times about planning for her wedding, asking how I'd done things and asking for help. I spent maybe 2 hours helping her find a wedding dress, for example. It seemed like she'd gotten over stuff from the past.
When her invitations were sent out, however, Mike and I were only invited to the first part of the wedding. Because people of my religion have huge weddings, some people who aren't very close with the couple are only invited to the actual marriage ceremony, and then don't stay for dinner and dancing. That's typically only done with acquaintances/extended family, but she did it to us. Mike wasn't able to attend the wedding and I didn't want to go alone just to awkwardly bow out after the ceremony in front of all of my friends (not to mention it was 4+ hours of driving total), so I just didn't come. The wedding happened 3 weeks ago now. A bunch of our mutual friends went. It feels like this is in my face no matter which direction I turn.
When we were at our overseas school, we were so close. But it's become increasingly obvious that she is just not a nice person. She has done so many things that are insensitive, careless, and incredibly selfish. I kept trying to extend an olive branch to her because of all of our mutual friends; I really didn't want to have a bad relationship with her, and I did so many things to make sure she didn't feel bad (including inviting her to events comprised of close friends so that she didn't feel left out—after she had already done shitty things to me—which she went to and then badmouthed me after). But again and again, she just screwed me over and made it clear that she doesn't care about me and would never do the same back to me. Her half-assed wedding invitation felt like the final straw.
I just want to get past this, but I'm so angry. Maybe it's because, even after 5 or so mutual friends dropping her because of how she treated them, there are so many more and I know I will continue to see her around. Maybe it's because I spent so many years trying to be kind to her, only for her to repeatedly ignore my needs and not look after me. (This was a pattern in our overseas school; I'd go out of my way to help her with things, and she wouldn't return the favor unless it was convenient for her.) Maybe it's because I feel taken advantage of, or because she lied to my face, or because, despite all of this, I've chosen to keep my mouth shut to all of our mutual friends regarding her behavior, because I am not interested in starting drama. Maybe it's because I know that she doesn't care at all about how she hurt me, while I do and I still can't get past it. And maybe it's just because I know that nothing will change, and she will keep doing these things to people, and that, ultimately, I'm replaceable.
But I need help getting past this. I feel betrayed and I don't know what to do.

Due to lot of reports of scams, hacked accounts and of course regional bank failures in the news, there are lot of distrust in everything that holds your precious investments. People have misconception that your USD fiat in your account in the popular Crypto Exchanges are FDIC insured, such as Coinbase, Kraken or Binance.US. But.. but.. but..but.... u/cocaine_butthole, the Exchanges claiming it or a popular crypto influencer on YouTube said it... or I read on a random website. So it must be true! The answer is Yes and No.
The last two should not be blindly believed. Crypto influencers on YouTube are not financial advisors and they get paid to shill. And our educational system don't produce real investigating journalism like they used to. Most are lazy and repost trending articles without any effort to get clicks. You as a crypto investor knows more about crypto than these "journalists". Now, Crypto Exchanges claiming FDIC insured are little tricky with legal word play and have to read the very fine print in terms of service. You know that huge paperwork that you just scrolled through without reading when you create the account. Don't worry, u/cocaine_butthole got you covered. Now let's read their terms of service.
Coinbase.

Cash balances, such as U.S. Dollars, British Pounds, Euros, customers store with Coinbase are held as a balance in your Coinbase or Coinbase Pro account(s). For U.S. customers, Coinbase combines your balance with the balances of other customers and holds those funds in custodial accounts at U.S. banks and/or invests those funds in liquid U.S. Treasuries or USD denominated money market funds in accordance with state money transmitter laws. Funds could be held in any one of these three manners so customers should not assume that funds are being held in one manner over the other. For non-U.S. customers, funds are held as cash in dedicated custodial accounts. All custodial pooled amounts are held separate from Coinbase funds, and Coinbase will neither use these funds for its operating expenses or any other corporate purposes.To the extent U.S. customer funds are held as cash, they are maintained in pooled custodial accounts at one or more banks insured by the FDIC. Our custodial accounts have been established in a manner to make pass-through FDIC insurance available up to the per-depositor coverage limit then in place (currently $250,000 per individual). FDIC pass-through insurance protects funds held on behalf of a Coinbase customer against the risk of loss should any FDIC-insured bank(s) where we maintain custodial accounts fail. FDIC insurance coverage is contingent upon Coinbase maintaining accurate records and on determinations of the FDIC as receiver at the time of a receivership of a bank holding a custodial account.https://www.coinbase.com/legal/insurance

​
So basically for US customers, they pool everyones USD fiat into 1 or few large bank accounts under Coinbase account in FDIC insured banks. FDIC only insures if the FDIC insured Banks fail. Not Crypto Exchanges. If JP Morgan Chase, Cross River Bank, Customers Bank or Pathward (previously known as MetaBank), FDIC will only cover the owner of the accounts up to $250,000. That means Coinbase gets up to $250,000 per account. Not US customers that pool their USD into those few accounts. I'll explain below because exact thing happened when Silicon Vally Bank and Signature Bank failed which was popular with Crypto investors and exchanges.
Binance.US

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access and use of Binance.US and the Services provided by BAM Trading Services Inc. (“our,” “we,” “BAM” or**“BAM Trading”). Our services include: (1) the content on our website located at https://www.binance.us/ (“Website”) or any other websites, pages, features, or content we own or operate (collectively, the “Sites”) or when you use our mobile app; (2) any application program interface (“API”) made available by BAM to you as a service or third-party applications relying on such an API (“BAM APIs”); (3) the Platform (defined below) which provides Digital Asset (defined below) trading services (“Trading Services”); (4) staking, through third parties or otherwise, of Digital Assets that you may designate (“Staking Services”**) by BAM or entities undertaking Staking Services on BAM‘s behalf; and (5) any other services that BAM may make available, directly or indirectly, from time-to-time (collectively, the “Services”).Fiat Currency. U.S. dollar deposits associated with your Account(s), and available for use in executing trades, are accessible via either (i) a third-party Linked Wallet operated by Prime Trust, LLC, which balances are subject to the additional terms set forth in the Linked Wallet Addendum, as well as the terms of service between you and Prime Trust, LLC; or (ii) a stored value wallet issued by BAM denominated in U.S. dollars (“BAM Fiat Wallet”). The fiat currency (the U.S. dollar deposits) associated with your Account(s) is owned by you and title to the fiat currency (the U.S. dollar deposits) in your Account(s) shall at all times remain with you.BAM Fiat Wallet. All U.S. dollar deposits associated with your BAM Fiat Wallet are owned by you and held by BAM in omnibus accounts for the sole benefit of customers at one or more intermediaries (“USD Custodians&r dquo;) selected by BAM. BAM is not a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and is not a bank, but has worked with the USD Custodians to ensure U.S. dollar deposits associated with BAM Fiat Wallets are held by USD Custodians in omnibus accounts at FDIC-insured banks (“Banks”). Subject to BAM‘s and the USD Custodian‘s compliance with the regulatory requirements for pass-through deposit insurance provided by the FDIC, it is BAM‘s intention that the funds be eligible for FDIC pass-through deposit insurance up to the per-depositor coverage limit then in place (currently $250,000 per eligible individual), which would only be applicable if a Bank were to fail. In the event the Bank does fail, and if you have additional fiat currency held at such Bank, it is possible that your account(s) with Bank and the fiat associated with your BAM Fiat Wallet will be aggregated for purposes of determining your eligibility for FDIC deposit insurance. FDIC insurance does not protect against the failure of BAM or malfeasance by any BAM employee. Digital assets are not eligible for FDIC insurance protections. In the event we terminate our relationship with a USD Custodian and we are unable to find another USD Custodian,, we will provide notice and time to withdraw your U.S. dollar deposits. Any U.S. dollar deposits that are not withdrawn by the deadline provided in the notice will be converted to stablecoin digital assets and transferred to your Digital Assets Account.https://www.binance.us/terms-of-use#

Again. Using confused legal speak to confuse the reader on FDIC insured accounts. Same argument as above. Binance accounts at these FDIC banks are insured. But not yours. They don't create separate bank accounts for each customers. Instead pool everyone into those 1 or few large accounts. It only triggers the insurance only if those FDIC Banks fail. Not Crypto Exchanges like Binance.US, Coinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, etc.
Kraken

1. Risks.

(a) No Kraken entity is or is regulated as a bank or other depository institution. Your Kraken Account is not a deposit account or a bank account. The Opt-In Rewards Program is not a depository or bank program. Opt-In Assets are not covered by insurance against losses or subject to FDIC or SIPC protections or the protections of any comparable organization anywhere in the world.
(b) Kraken does not offer securities services, is not registered under the securities laws of any jurisdiction and the provision of the Opt-In Rewards Program has not been and will not be registered under the securities laws of any jurisdiction or otherwise approved by securities regulators in any jurisdiction.
https://www.kraken.com/legal
Kraken is not FDIC insured. Same argument as above.
Here is an article on Forbes advisor article on "Are Crypto Exchange accounts insured?"

Like with the SIPC, if your FDIC-insured institution fails, you’re covered for up to at least $250,000 per depositor at each FDIC-insured bank. You don’t need to do anything to get this protection, and in the unlikely event of a bank failure, you can generally expect repayment from the FDIC within a few days.

You can use the FDIC’s BankFind tool to determine if your bank is FDIC-insured but you’ll be hard-pressed to find names like Binance or Kraken listed here.
That’s because the FDIC does not insure crypto exchanges or cover cryptocurrency. The FDIC has even issued letters to crypto sites instructing them to take down misleading statements that allude to FDIC protection.
https://www.forbes.com/advisoinvesting/cryptocurrency/crypto-exchange-account-insurance/
Go head and search these Crypto Exchanges on the FDIC government website using BankFind Suite. You can search for active/inactive FDIC insured institutions or banks/branches using Name, Location or websites from today, to last year and all the way back to 1934.
https://banks.data.fdic.gov/bankfind-suite/bankfind
Here is a scary fact on the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank that failed this year.

Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank had some of the highest proportions of estimated uninsured domestic deposits across the entire industry.

Silicon Valley Bank ranked first among banks with more than $50 billion in assets, with 93.8% of its total deposits being uninsured, while Signature Bank ranked fourth, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data as of year-end 2022.Silicon Valley catered to tech startups and many held deposit balances well in excess of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s insured limit of $250,000. For instance, TV streaming platform Roku Inc. announced it had approximately $487 million at Silicon Valley at the time of the bank's implosion.
https://www.spglobal.com/marketintelligence/en/news-insights/latest-news-headlines/svb-signature-racked-up-some-high-rates-of-uninsured-deposits-
74747639https://www.businessinsider.com/signature-svb-us-banks-have-over-1-trillion-uninsured-deposits-2023-3
According to FDIC government website, the FDIC insurance fund was 128.2 Billion USD as of Dec 31, 2022.
https://www.fdic.gov/analysis/quarterly-banking-profile/fdic-quarterly/index.html
Collapse of Silicon Valley Bank will cost the fund $20 Billion USD and Signature Bank of $2.5 Billion USD. That is if they cover only the insured limit of $250,000 per account.
So yeah, even if the Crypto Exchanges happen to fail, it will only cover up to their $250,000 USD per account at their FDIC insured bank. What happens to the $$ that is not covered? There is not enough funds to cover it all. So you can't rely on.... well FDIC will cover it. It may not. Especially if Crypto Exchanges pool all the customers money into 1 or few accounts.

[This is a translated excerpt from Clemens Traub’s “Future for Fridays?”. It’s a reflection about his time as an activist in “Fridays for Future” – the German branch of “School Strike for Climate”. The specific problems of western environmentalism adressed therein is germane to the issue of dysfunctional leftism often discussed on stupidpol and as far as I can tell nothing of this unique to Germany. The book is from 2020 and by now the movement “Fridays for Future” basically defunct. Meanwhile, the preferred tactic of current activists is it to glue themselves on main roads during rush hour. This protest method obviously affects working class people most, who usually have to physically show up at work (and often have to use cars to do so), and is less disruptive for the WFH email caste. The result of this is, surprisingly, a staggering 80+% disapproval rating for the climate organization “Last Generation” which is doing this.]
------------------------------
I know the typical milieu of most “Fridays for Future” protesters well. In a way, it's my own and that of my current circle of friends: metropolitan, left-liberal, hip. A space for the daughters of doctors to meet the sons of lawyers. Gin tasting and discussions about plastic-free shopping and zero waste are equally high on the agenda. Veganism is as much part of the unspoken code of being trendy as frequenting second-hand shops. And the organic grocery store around the corner naturally enhances the location of your own home.
The offspring of the professional class keep to themselves. Does the climate movement represent a cross-section of society? Not even close! Fridays for Future is the rebellion of the privileged, and the movement offers them the perfect opportunity to flaunt their own cosmopolitan lifestyle and talent.
Many of my climate-concerned friends are questioning whether the social background of the demonstrators matters at all. Isn't that absolutely unimportant? The main thing, they are convinced, is that the earth is saved. It doesn't matter by whom. The population has been silent for long enough, and now it is finally time to stand up.
I admit that the consistency of this chain of thought was extremely appealing to me and that using social origin as an argument against a group is of course nonsensical. The outlined combative spirit also enthralled me at first. At the beginning of my participation in "Fridays for Future", saving the world was the only thing that counted for me. It didn’t matter who stood by my side. And it still wouldn’t matter for me today.
But what matters to me is the behavior and reasoning of the people protesting with me. And here the circle closes, because the social background reveals more about the movement than the demonstrators would like to admit.
In fact, I take the view that the exclusive social background of the young protesters is the actual birth defect of "Fridays for Future". But because the movement was far too homogeneous, far too elitist and correspondingly far too aloof right from the start, its members remained oblivious to it. Ultimately, only those who are doing well in material terms have the time and leisure to consider climate protection as the most important and also the only political issue of our time and to subordinate everything else to it.
Located in its ivory tower, the movement doesn't even notice that its criticism is leveled at the lifestyle of many economically disadvantaged people, who for financial reasons do not always have a choice. They are denounced as climate sinners because they don't shop in health food stores but at discounters. It never occurs to the demonstrators that there are people whose worries about ever-increasing electricity bills and rental charges make a discussion about forgoing air travel irrelevant from the outset.
And how could they? In their sheltered world, all of that is very far away. But that is exactly what makes the movement a risk, because it jeopardizes the already fragile cohesion of our society. For a large part of the population, however, other, more pressing everyday concerns prevail. For those who are afraid of being affected by job cuts in view of the announcements by the industry, the slashing and burning of tropical rain forest is currently of secondary importance.
Likewise, the extinction of exotic animal species is very far away for someone who worries every day about their tenuous retirement arrangements. That doesn't mean that everyday worries should completely obscure the problems of climate change, but it does explain why climate change is not the first priority for people with existential concerns.
It also explains why measures to save the climate must take economic concerns into account. And it explains why more and more people are wondering whether protesters will finally also take to the streets to deal with their everyday distress: lack affordable housing, declining pensions... plenty of issues exist.
The entire political discourse, both between the parties and outside of parliament, on the street, completely ignores the reality of life for many people in Germany! And I can well imagine that that's not a good feeling for many. The public discussions, which are often far removed from everyday life, exclude less privileged people. The result: we are all sitting on a social powder keg.
I don't originally hail from this metropolitan milieu, but grew up in a region that is often dismissed as "rural backwater". Publications such as "Landlust" and "Landleben" [trendy magazines promoting life in the country side] fulfill the longing of city dwellers for pure nature, but this dream only seems to apply to those people who consciously decide to have a weekend house in the forest. However, anyone who grew up in a rural environment will hardly benefit from this.
My parents live in the Palatinate. I grew up there too. My heart clings to the region, it is scenically beautiful with rows of wine-growing villages. But for an urbanite in pursuit of self-actualization it has to be the worst nightmare. In case your are unfamiliar with Palatinate’s culture: Schlachtfest instead of whiskey tasting. Very few apartments are actually furnished in this “country style” featured in the magazines. My home village isn’t shooting location for documentaries about gentrification. Maybe a camera team will get lost in one of our many hamlets at a Saumagen-centered village festival. But that would be pretty rare.
Drowsy villages provide the perfect backdrop while growing up. An ideal, idyllic world. But the older I got, the more I was drawn to the big city. I longed for a place that was more vibrant than the Palatinate and which could offer me more adventures and opportunities on the way to adulthood. Precisely this big, wide world I longed for. And I today I indeed enjoy its advantages. Whenever I drive home today, I have a feeling that two worlds that don't really have much to do with each other are colliding.
Shortly after attending my first Fridays for Future rallies, I paid another visit to my old homeland – these are becoming less and less frequent. When I enthusiastically told my acquaintances there about my experiences at the recent "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, I quickly realized how little they were interested. Out of pure friendship and politeness, they listened to me with half an ear.
I was quite surprised by that. What was the most hotly debated topic of recent weeks in my university town was met with absolute indifference among my old school friends here. They were more interested in the last day of the Bundesliga match or their last Tinder date than in the great climate revolution.
To be honest, I was initially disappointed and then increasingly angry at this lack of interest. While we young people in the big cities are trying to save our planet, the people in my home village are letting us down, I thought. Don't they understand that they too only have one planet at their disposal, just like us from "Fridays for Future"? Luckily, out of politeness, I kept those thoughts to myself.
In the days that followed, I started hearing disparaging comments about Fridays for Future with increasing frequency. In the eyes of my old friends, the movement was an "eco-sect", the self-promotion of big-city, left-wing weirdos. Someone called Greta Thunberg a "deranged menace". In addition to insults, they appeared to become increasingly bothered by the patronizing demeanor of many Fridays for Future protesters, who seem to perceive ICE-car drivers and meat eaters as second-class citizens.
The more often this happened, the deeper the wedge was driven between my current city life and my origins in my home village in the Palatinate. Between my old and my new world. For the first time in my life, I was just happy when I was able to drive back to the big city: finally the ideal world again, even if it was on the verge of collapse.
Ever since that visit, I've been quite hypersensitive whenever my enthusiasm for "Fridays for Future" wasn't shared 100 percent. In my eyes, there were simply only climate heroes on the one hand and climate sinners on the other. The absolute good or absolute bad – and nothing in between! It was only later that I realized how much I was already influenced by the “Fridays for Future” movement.
At first I could only offer my my old acquaintances reproaches. I accused them of being apolitical and uninformed about the world anyway. A mechanism of exclusion that is very common in "Fridays for Future", as I later realized. After all, at university I even mocked my old acquaintances as provincials, something I had always hated myself when my new metropolitan friends teased me about it.
But it was so much easier to just dismiss them as uninformed "provincials" than to argue with them and take them seriously. I didn't ask why my friends from my old home country saw "Fridays for Future" as arrogant or aloof, I didn't care at the time. Possible self-doubts could not arise in the first place.
I didn't anticipate, that this would actually fiercely play up in me over the coming weeks! I thought more and more about the experiences in my home country. It just wouldn't let me go. Where does the rejection of “Fridays for Future” come from, I asked myself. Where does the indifference in the face of urgent global climate problems come from? How could it be that my friends didn't see those and that they didn't comprehend the seriousness of the situation? I looked for answers but couldn't find any.
For several weeks, every Friday, there was no longer any plastic dishware in the university cafeteria. This gesture, following the "Fridays for Future" demonstrations, was intended to set an example for environmental protection. What should have caused storms of enthusiasm in theory, however, meant a very special kind of chaos in practice: balancing a piece of raspberry cake on your bare hand without a plate is more difficult than it might sound. Once the first piece of cake hit the floor, a discussion about the plastic boycott quickly broke out in the canteen.
It immediately turned out that the cashiers could only laugh at what they considered to be an idiotic ban on plastic. Their statements shocked many of my fellow students, who are big "FfF" fans. Instead of relaxed humorous small talk, my fellow students reacted with deadly seriousness. In the heat of the moment, the cashiers were even treated with extremely condescending insults. I will never forget how my fellow students lost all human decency that day in the supposed fight for climate protection. For the first time I noticed how fanatical and arrogant many of my "FfF" acquaintances had long since become.
After that event, something actually changed in me. But I didn't want to admit it to myself at first. But the more often I demonstrated at "Fridays for Future", the more alien the movement became to me. Today I know: It took an event like the one in the university canteen or a stay in my old home country to open my eyes and to realize how important sincerely attempting to understand other realms of experience before applying crude labels to people. Due to its exclusionary megalomania, “Fridays for Future” is incapable of this realization. But only a person who approaches other people, takes them seriously and wants to understand their everyday lives will be listened to. Only those people can actually affect something. They might even, in the best case scenario, save our planet!
While "Fridays for Future" was unable to make inroads my home village’s community, the media was showed more interest. Interviews with activists became more and more frequent on television. The talk shows couldn't get enough of them. "Markus Lanz", "Anne Will" or "Hart aber Fair": All of them had at least one "FfF" activist to visit. The more I saw them there, the more their arrogant demeanor bothered me. I suddenly switched off people who I still saw as inspiring personalities a few months ago. They kept raising their index fingers admonishingly. Looking down from the ivory tower at anyone who disagreed.
Finger wagging was slowly but surely becoming the hallmark of the movement. Their image of the enemy was crystal clear. Their worldview is dangerously one-dimensional. My big city friends suddenly fought everyone they saw as being complicit in the misery of the world: the meat eaters, the plastic bag carriers, the ICE-car drivers, the short-haul fliers, the long-haul fliers, the cruise tourists, the farmers, and of course the evil SUV owners. But honestly, don't we all belong to one of these groups from time to time?
Once they suddenly started cursing anyone who accidentally commits a tiny climate sin, even if it's just incorrect sorting of trash, I felt like they were in the ultimate battle against the rest of humanity. Elitist hubris everywhere I looked. In their moral arrogance they were (and still are) completely unaware of how many "normal" people they alienated by doing so. My assessment that "Fridays for Future" is primarily a movement of socially privileged young people has now been backed up by corresponding figures. The Berlin “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” got to the bottom of the social composition of the climate movement. On March 15, 2019, it surveyed “Fridays for Future” protesters at rallies in Berlin and Bremen. The study was financed by the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen-affiliated "Heinrich Böll Foundation".
The study’s results were illuminating: More than 90 percent of those surveyed stated that they had at least completed their Abitur (or advanced technical college entrance qualification) or were currently striving to do so. An overwhelming majority of 90 percent! Not even 1 percent of the demonstrators attended secondary schools [which prepare pupils for non-academic vocational training]. Almost two-thirds of the students considered themselves to be in the upper-middle class. Even before that, I had no doubt that "Fridays for Future" is a movement of the affluent. But what I read in this study surpassed my estimated. "Fridays for Future" does not in any way represent a cross-section of society, as has often been claimed.
I was surprised how little the sobering result of the study was then discussed. Society had to be informed about the privileged background and the resulting aloofness of the young protesters. Doesn't this change the entire perspective on the defining social debate of the last few months?
The figureheads of the movement in particular all come from the “most bourgeois” background. For example, we have Luisa Neubauer, the best-known German "Fridays for Future" activist. She grew up in the relatively expensive Elbe suburb of Iserbrook in Hamburg. Everyone in Hamburg knows: Not exactly a residential area that is known for its social housing. She did her Abitur in Hamburg-Blankenese. It is Hamburg's villa district par excellence. Sightseeing buses now offer tours through the district to present the magnificent villas to curious tourists. She is a scholarship holder of the party-affiliated foundation Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and is also a member of the party. So nothing stands in the way of a career in politics, she says so herself. "I don't want to rule out a career in politics," she told Zeit Campus, for example. [Neubauer is, in fact, a scion of the oligarchical Reemtsma clan; so is her cousin, another figurehead of the movement]
It’s less a rebellion from below and more a case of perfect self-marketing. But now cracks do appear in this underdog stage production. Today Luisa Neubauer can only be reached via her management. Demonstrators as pop stars! And of course you can't just talk to them on the street when you're demonstrating together. At least not with “Fridays for Future”. Please, what a naive notion! Although there are also critics of the excessive portrayal of people within the "Fridays for Future" movement, there is no real change in sight.
In the meantime, the climate movement has become one thing in particular: a career springboard for ambitious young elites. "Fridays for Future" is the perfect stage to make a name for yourself. Many of the educated offspring of academics are of course aware of this. The more media attention, the more attractive it is to be in the front row. Supposedly idealistic activism can now be marketed very well.
But not only the figureheads like Luisa Neubauer want to get some of the public spotlight. More and more "Neubauer disciples" are trying their luck in the "Fridays for Future" profiling machine. There we have, to name just a few examples, Linus Steinmetz, Carla Reemtsma or Sebastian Grieme.
Getting an appearance on a talk show or at least being able to read your name in the newspaper - all of this can become an opportunity of a lifetime. Being in the front row not only feels incredibly good, it is also a kind of free ticket for later professional life. And as if that wasn't enough: A flood of new Instagram followers is of course also a fantastic side effect. With this in mind: full speed ahead!
Who could object? Everyone is looking for recognition. Doesn't everyone want to take advantage of the opportunities in their life? And finally, every society needs ambitious young people who will later enrich politics, business and culture.
At best, people who want to be the center of attention also bear responsibility for themselves and others. So far no problem, you might think at first.
But how will many people with limited financial resources feel when those rebels who constantly lash out at the lifestyles of others take advantage of it for themselves? While many citizens have to accept new climate costs in their everyday lives, they also experience how Luisa Neubauer is offered a position on the supervisory board at Siemens. In view of this, the suspicion of many people that climate activists are making careers at the expense of other citizens is all too understandable.
I have other concerns as well. In our time, the frustration with the elites is growing. The "enraged citizen phenomenon" has become one of the most discussed topics of this decade. Intellectuals around the world are concerned about the cause of this worrying development. Our society is currently experiencing a "rift" between two major population groups. In an anthology they edited, the political and social scientists Wolfgang Merkel, Ruud Koopmans and Michael Zürn differentiate between “cosmopolitans” and “communitarians”.
There are those who benefit from the future and are therefore relaxed about it. Above all, they see opportunities in it and view the globalization of our world with optimism. This group is referred to as cosmopolitans. But many people are also afraid of change. They believe that the future will not hold anything good and, potentially, only the ever-possible economic decline. Given the "opening" of the world, communitarians see the dangers in particular. They often have the feeling that they are not really noticed by society's elite.
The well-known distinction between “anywheres” and “somewheres” by the British journalist and author David Goodhart supports this finding. Goodhart distinguishes "anywheres" who are educated, wealthy and will feel at home in their circles around the world, and "somewheres". They belong to completely different social milieus and are relegated to a specific place where they work, live, have their friends and struggle to assert their status.
Most "Fridays for Future" activists know: the future belongs to them. Many have the classic biography of a cosmopolitan. Because of their social background, they were born with everything they needed to benefit from our system. Everything is just right: the appearance, the social environment and of course the education.
Although they face the end of the world as a constant threat, their future does not scare them. Why? The doors are wide open for them. They master the complicated rules of our individualized knowledge society very well. You will do your internship in Brussels and not in Bottrop. Better the EU Commission than retail, a sector without future anyway. And also: cultivate connections! Your English vocabulary is usually larger than German. Perfectly prepared for the future, come what may - because they are the elite of tomorrow. The dangerous thing about it: most of the demonstrators are not even aware of this.
The well-trained "Fridays for Future" activists prefer to see themselves as misunderstood outsiders in society. Being an outsider is what makes rebellion sexy. At the same time I say to myself: What must a socially disadvantaged person think when suddenly wealthy cosmopolitans like to play the role of the outsider! And they don't just like it the role. No, they are really putting effort into staging it.
The classic distribution of roles between "perpetrator" and "victim" in the social context is thus turned upside down in a negligent manner: no longer the single mother and multi-jobber is seen as a victim of the existing social conditions, but the climate-conscious scholarship holder who has to experience how the consumption of affordable meat endangers our environment.
But that's not all: instead of listening to the concerns of hard-working people, they blame them for their environmentally unfriendly diesel car, which they need for their daily commute to work.
Instead of considering questions of justice with "Fridays for Future", the movement reduced itself from the start to questions of lifestyle. In my circle of friends, too, the extinction of species is simply cooler than poverty in old age and the issue of gender is hipper than low basic pension.
Above all, the privileged know the social code of the new “morally good” life. The new green-bourgeois bearing regulates the friend-foe scheme of the climate debate. A mechanism of exclusion that often pushes fellow citizens who are already worse off even further aside. A good person has long been only someone who can show an ecologically sound certificate of good conduct. The existential feeling of many that they just have to somehow make ends meet does not exist in the living environment of the (upper) bourgeois offspring. In the climate debate of the last few months, worlds have collided that couldn't be more different. Worlds that are moving further and further apart.
----------------------------------
[The author doesn’t mention it, but the social milieu that makes up the bulk of the climate movement is also very fond of importing Anglo-inspired race discourse. Towards the end of its decline, they were increasingly caught in purity spirals. For example: should white musicians with dreadlocks be allowed to play during happenings?
The study from “Institute for Protest and Movement Research” also examined ethnicity of the protesters: they are predominantly of ethnic German stock, much more so than the average German citizen. Who could have known?]

I am going to officially be working in warehouse department for my local area
While I am excited for this new chapter, I am just wondering if there are anyone does the same job branch for the other locations?

Trigger warning: this story has a distasteful element ('Coprophilia') which may bother some readers.
The Earth bore little resemblance to its former self. At least not from the standpoint of what humanity had achieved previously. First the global economy collapsed. As a result, the intimately-connected world we knew was no more. Cities were abandoned. Interpersonal relationships devolved into clan-style family units working together for the basic goal of mutual survival. Sometimes brutally. In just a few years, the priceless wealth of technological knowledge which has been accumulated since the dawn of time, almost completely disappeared.
Predictably, without six millennia of scientific advancement and evolving civility, came revolving waves of disease and premature death. The world’s population dwindled to just a fraction of its former numbers. Our potential for understanding remained, but the desire to flex the intellectual muscles for higher-learning, took a back seat to the daily imperative of simply surviving. There was no time to pursue education when a neighboring clan might try to kill you or seize your food stores at any moment. In only a few generations, 80% of the ’common knowledge’ from the pinnacle of civilization, was unknown to the average person.
Consuming ignorance dutifully filled the void left behind by the collapse. Hunger and the ugliest of primal emotions drove human behavior far more than it had prior to the fall. Rampant starvation and unsanitary conditions were a potent one-two punch in the spiraling descent back to the dark ages. It led to a contemptible practice which would’ve been unthinkable only a half century earlier. The inability to distinguish between justifiable food choices, and ‘things which should never be ingested’.
No, I’m not referring to the abject inhumanity of cannibalism. The unapologetic consumption of human flesh wasn’t surprising in those stark times of desperation. I’m speaking of something far, far worse. The instinct to find feces distasteful was lost in the spiraling downfall of mankind. Those who were old enough to remember the golden era of civilization simply called those who partook in this practice: ‘SE’s. In plainer words, ‘Shiteaters’.
It wasn’t a particularly clever slur but the descriptive euphemism fit well enough. Being labeled that didn’t even qualify as an insult any longer for an entire class of depraved souls who saw no problem with the distasteful practice in the first place. They enthusiastically partook in the disgusting act of coprophilia, out of misguided necessity. Noting went… ahem, to ‘waste’.
Extreme hunger is a highly effective motivator for sure. It pushed them to work past the unpleasant stench and natural gag reflexes which would normally dissuade such abhorrent behavior. In certain unsophisticated circles, the excrement from well-fed scavenger individuals became a ‘delicacy’. Afterward, they were literally ‘full of shit’, if you can forgive the reoccurring string of foul puns.
Understandably, those who held onto some level of prior civility avoided the SE’s at all costs, lest the disgusting practice ahem… ‘rub off’ on them. Distasteful consumption details aside, As with any recycled substance, the level of vitamins, proteins and other nutrients deteriorate with each cycle. That is the law of diminishing returns. Eventually, regardless of portion size, the empty calories contained in their favorite ‘dish’ was no longer enough to sustain regular development.
With the serious level of nutritional deficiency in their daily diet came the side effects of severe physiological and psychological issues. Their intellectual capacity diminished rapidly. In just a short time they lost the ability to speak. For all intents and purposes, they devolved into a lower life form of violent, sub-primates. If a scientific community still existed in academia to label them, they might’ve named this transitory species, ‘Homo coprophilis’.
Despite their diminished cerebral capabilities, they bred in voracious numbers and made up the majority of hominids scavenging the world. Because of their sheer prevalence in numbers, it didn’t matter if they could be individually outwitted. There were too many of them in the wild to completely avoid. If non SE’s were captured by them, they were lucky if they were only held in cages for feces harvesting or forced breeding stock. There were far worse fates possible in the SE dens.
Our community remained lucky for many years. I educated my people the best I could from what remained of books and educational materials. The few brushes we had with the cave dwelling troglodytes were thankfully rare, and led to fortunate outcomes. Sadly, that was all about to change. While we tried to be self-sufficient, we had to go outside our security zone on occasions to get necessary supplies which we couldn’t produce internally. The more frequently we left the relative safely of our compound, the higher risk level we brought upon ourselves.
Their numbers had exploded. They were everywhere and it was only a matter of time before they discovered our tiny little ‘oasis of progress’ and attacked us. My scouts knew better than to retreat back to the compound if they realized they’d been observed. Like a trail of ants, the SE’s would follow them here and find our idyllic home and destroy everything. I believed at the time that the best outcome of any battle was to avoid it completely.
We ‘booby-trapped’ a few pseudo entrances to discourage accidental discoveries, but our biggest danger was to be observed and followed back home. I guess we just took the risk of going outside the compound too many times, or simple ‘dumb luck’ occurred. Either way, they found our home while I was away with my team. We’d spent too much effort in avoiding detection, and not enough planning a defense. Our community was unprepared for an on-site conflict; and with half our most able-bodied warriors on the mission, we took heavy losses. Both in terms of loss of life, and having our remaining people taken prisoner.
My wife was eaten alive right on the spot; while two of my younger children were taken away. Presumably for later consumption, but infinitely worse fates were possible. I shuddered at the thought of what she went through, and what horrors awaited my little ones. The SE’s take immense pleasure in seizing non SE’s and torturing them for being more evolved. They pride themselves in being ignorant and primitive. Furious vengeance boiled in my heart. I wanted to act immediately but I was well aware that raw passion clouds judgement. No matter how anxious I was to save my children and wipe the disgusting scum from the Earth, I had to do it in a meticulous, organized way. The survivors of our village needed a solid plan to strike back.
I gathered every weapon we had at our disposal and assembled our weary band of survivors. Others present in the meeting lost family members too. I had to stop them from rushing to the shiteater cave on a suicide mission. I cooled their rage and tempered my own until we were all better prepared for battle. How do you fight an enemy with no honor? How can you approach a conflict where there is no reason to be had? To suggest it would be a war with ‘apes’ would be an insult to those primates.
Previously I thought the SE’s were a product of the collapse of civilization. Obviously I feared their enthusiastic embrace of primal ignorance but mostly, I just pitied them. If there was one reoccurring theme of universal failure in the remaining history books it was how war is pointless. I hoped to avoid them. As a fellow survivor in the collapse, I tried to coexist. To live and let live but it became glaringly clear they could not be left alive. None of them, or there would never be peace or prosperity for the thinking population. They were a wretched branch of homo sapien species that needed to be permanently snuffed out.
I rallied our reluctant fighters, both men and woman, young and old, able bodied and infirm, to boldly seize the moment. It was our time! It was the human race’s moment to reverse the spiraling collapse. We had to snuff-out the willfully ignorant, sub-human slime holding us back permanently, or there would never be a return to hope and enlightenment. Everyone present accepted the calling. We were going to stop being frightened little sheep. We were committed to fight to the death, but we were also going to do so with technical wisdom and science.
Almost like a grain silo, SE’s were known to keep their fecal ‘food’ stores in a central storage bin. They guarded them almost like bank currency. Their entire community revolved around the supply of manure, so strategically it would be in the center of their caves and living space. More than once, these methane-laden storage areas had been known explode from natural gas build-up and wipe out clans. As a previous pacifist in my worldview and outlook, I’d never considered destroying them with their own storehouse of shit before, but the idea was more than novel in its charm. It was almost poetic in scope.
The only problem lied in the collateral damage to our survivors. How could we get our beloved family members back before annihilating their cave and destroying the sub human vermin? I researched non-lethal means of incapacitating every soul inside so we could rescue our loved ones first. In a medical textbook I’d saved from being burned as fireplace fodder, was a detailed article on anesthesia. Not only did it explain how it worked, but it also offered the chemical compounds necessary to produce it.
As the ‘minister of science’ of our progressive community, I had always tried to keep knowledge alive and maintain a base level of education for our citizens. I taught the children basic chemistry and math, among other things. We had amassed a decent supply of chemicals taken from the crumbling warehouses of the once-great cities near our settlement. It was finally time to put them to use. From those supplies I filled up two canisters of nitrous oxide. My scouts located their lair, and we cautiously amassed there for the extraction and extermination.
Under the cover of darkness we blew the ‘knock-out’ gas into the entrance and waited until they were hopefully incapacitated. Into the lion’s den we crept. The stench of body odor and decay was nearly unbearable. The plan unfolded perfectly. Those we encountered were either unconscious or unresponsive to ordinary stimuli. One by one we dispatched the sub human monsters. There was very little resistance until we reached portions of the cave which our ‘sleeping potion’ didn’t reach. There we experienced some desperate fighting but in the end, we were victorious.
At the center of the dark labyrinth we located the cages and ‘food storage’ area. Thankfully, many of our people and my youngest children were still alive. Sadly not all were physically unharmed and there was no undoing the SE’s carnage and unspeakable acts. I wanted to scream when I witnessed the inhuman atrocities perpetrated on our most innocent but I had to maintain my composure and complete the mission. We carried all the survivors to safety and rigged a time-delayed fuse for explosion at the entrance.
I wasn’t sure how many of the clan were left further back within the cave, but when the methane finally ignited, it was the most powerful man-made explosion in nearly fifty years. Of that I’m sure. The mouth of the cave was permanently closed. Nothing could’ve survived the blast. That was highly reassuring but the vindication I felt was only for the eradication of a single shiteater clan. Globally, there were probably hundreds of others. More importantly though, our little operation to take back humanity was finally underway.
It was day one in the march to rebuild civilization. I discovered other pockets of learning and progress along the way as we explored the larger world. Our small community and the others banded together with the universal goal of wiping out primal clans and rebuilding the infrastructure of the Earth. With a unified group of people worldwide endeavoring to return to a brighter future, we collectively left behind the darkness and despair. Hope has finally returned. It’s a great time to be alive again.

Trigger warning: this story has a distasteful element (Coprophilia') which may bother some readers.
The Earth bore little resemblance to its former self. At least not from the standpoint of what humanity had achieved previously. First the global economy collapsed. As a result, the intimately-connected world we knew was no more. Cities were abandoned. Interpersonal relationships devolved into clan-style family units working together for the basic goal of mutual survival. Sometimes brutally. In just a few years, the priceless wealth of technological knowledge which has been accumulated since the dawn of time, almost completely disappeared.
Predictably, without six millennia of scientific advancement and evolving civility, came revolving waves of disease and premature death. The world’s population dwindled to just a fraction of its former numbers. Our potential for understanding remained, but the desire to flex the intellectual muscles for higher-learning, took a back seat to the daily imperative of simply surviving. There was no time to pursue education when a neighboring clan might try to kill you or seize your food stores at any moment. In only a few generations, 80% of the ’common knowledge’ from the pinnacle of civilization, was unknown to the average person.
Consuming ignorance dutifully filled the void left behind by the collapse. Hunger and the ugliest of primal emotions drove human behavior far more than it had prior to the fall. Rampant starvation and unsanitary conditions were a potent one-two punch in the spiraling descent back to the dark ages. It led to a contemptible practice which would’ve been unthinkable only a half century earlier. The inability to distinguish between justifiable food choices, and ‘things which should never be ingested’.
No, I’m not referring to the abject inhumanity of cannibalism. The unapologetic consumption of human flesh wasn’t surprising in those stark times of desperation. I’m speaking of something far, far worse. The instinct to find feces distasteful was lost in the spiraling downfall of mankind. Those who were old enough to remember the golden era of civilization simply called those who partook in this practice: ‘SE’s. In plainer words, ‘Shiteaters’.
It wasn’t a particularly clever slur but the descriptive euphemism fit well enough. Being labeled that didn’t even qualify as an insult any longer for an entire class of depraved souls who saw no problem with the distasteful practice in the first place. They enthusiastically partook in the disgusting act of coprophilia, out of misguided necessity. Noting went… ahem, to ‘waste’.
Extreme hunger is a highly effective motivator for sure. It pushed them to work past the unpleasant stench and natural gag reflexes which would normally dissuade such abhorrent behavior. In certain unsophisticated circles, the excrement from well-fed scavenger individuals became a ‘delicacy’. Afterward, they were literally ‘full of shit’, if you can forgive the reoccurring string of foul puns.
Understandably, those who held onto some level of prior civility avoided the SE’s at all costs, lest the disgusting practice ahem… ‘rub off’ on them. Distasteful consumption details aside, As with any recycled substance, the level of vitamins, proteins and other nutrients deteriorate with each cycle. That is the law of diminishing returns. Eventually, regardless of portion size, the empty calories contained in their favorite ‘dish’ was no longer enough to sustain regular development.
With the serious level of nutritional deficiency in their daily diet came the side effects of severe physiological and psychological issues. Their intellectual capacity diminished rapidly. In just a short time they lost the ability to speak. For all intents and purposes, they devolved into a lower life form of violent, sub-primates. If a scientific community still existed in academia to label them, they might’ve named this transitory species, ‘Homo coprophilis’.
Despite their diminished cerebral capabilities, they bred in voracious numbers and made up the majority of hominids scavenging the world. Because of their sheer prevalence in numbers, it didn’t matter if they could be individually outwitted. There were too many of them in the wild to completely avoid. If non SE’s were captured by them, they were lucky if they were only held in cages for feces harvesting or forced breeding stock. There were far worse fates possible in the SE dens.
Our community remained lucky for many years. I educated my people the best I could from what remained of books and educational materials. The few brushes we had with the cave dwelling troglodytes were thankfully rare, and led to fortunate outcomes. Sadly, that was all about to change. While we tried to be self-sufficient, we had to go outside our security zone on occasions to get necessary supplies which we couldn’t produce internally. The more frequently we left the relative safely of our compound, the higher risk level we brought upon ourselves.
Their numbers had exploded. They were everywhere and it was only a matter of time before they discovered our tiny little ‘oasis of progress’ and attacked us. My scouts knew better than to retreat back to the compound if they realized they’d been observed. Like a trail of ants, the SE’s would follow them here and find our idyllic home and destroy everything. I believed at the time that the best outcome of any battle was to avoid it completely.
We ‘booby-trapped’ a few pseudo entrances to discourage accidental discoveries, but our biggest danger was to be observed and followed back home. I guess we just took the risk of going outside the compound too many times, or simple ‘dumb luck’ occurred. Either way, they found our home while I was away with my team. We’d spent too much effort in avoiding detection, and not enough planning a defense. Our community was unprepared for an on-site conflict; and with half our most able-bodied warriors on the mission, we took heavy losses. Both in terms of loss of life, and having our remaining people taken prisoner.
My wife was eaten alive right on the spot; while two of my younger children were taken away. Presumably for later consumption, but infinitely worse fates were possible. I shuddered at the thought of what she went through, and what horrors awaited my little ones. The SE’s take immense pleasure in seizing non SE’s and torturing them for being more evolved. They pride themselves in being ignorant and primitive. Furious vengeance boiled in my heart. I wanted to act immediately but I was well aware that raw passion clouds judgement. No matter how anxious I was to save my children and wipe the disgusting scum from the Earth, I had to do it in a meticulous, organized way. The survivors of our village needed a solid plan to strike back.
I gathered every weapon we had at our disposal and assembled our weary band of survivors. Others present in the meeting lost family members too. I had to stop them from rushing to the shiteater cave on a suicide mission. I cooled their rage and tempered my own until we were all better prepared for battle. How do you fight an enemy with no honor? How can you approach a conflict where there is no reason to be had? To suggest it would be a war with ‘apes’ would be an insult to those primates.
Previously I thought the SE’s were a product of the collapse of civilization. Obviously I feared their enthusiastic embrace of primal ignorance but mostly, I just pitied them. If there was one reoccurring theme of universal failure in the remaining history books it was how war is pointless. I hoped to avoid them. As a fellow survivor in the collapse, I tried to coexist. To live and let live but it became glaringly clear they could not be left alive. None of them, or there would never be peace or prosperity for the thinking population. They were a wretched branch of homo sapien species that needed to be permanently snuffed out.
I rallied our reluctant fighters, both men and woman, young and old, able bodied and infirm, to boldly seize the moment. It was our time! It was the human race’s moment to reverse the spiraling collapse. We had to snuff-out the willfully ignorant, sub-human slime holding us back permanently, or there would never be a return to hope and enlightenment. Everyone present accepted the calling. We were going to stop being frightened little sheep. We were committed to fight to the death, but we were also going to do so with technical wisdom and science.
Almost like a grain silo, SE’s were known to keep their fecal ‘food’ stores in a central storage bin. They guarded them almost like bank currency. Their entire community revolved around the supply of manure, so strategically it would be in the center of their caves and living space. More than once, these methane-laden storage areas had been known explode from natural gas build-up and wipe out clans. As a previous pacifist in my worldview and outlook, I’d never considered destroying them with their own storehouse of shit before, but the idea was more than novel in its charm. It was almost poetic in scope.
The only problem lied in the collateral damage to our survivors. How could we get our beloved family members back before annihilating their cave and destroying the sub human vermin? I researched non-lethal means of incapacitating every soul inside so we could rescue our loved ones first. In a medical textbook I’d saved from being burned as fireplace fodder, was a detailed article on anesthesia. Not only did it explain how it worked, but it also offered the chemical compounds necessary to produce it.
As the ‘minister of science’ of our progressive community, I had always tried to keep knowledge alive and maintain a base level of education for our citizens. I taught the children basic chemistry and math, among other things. We had amassed a decent supply of chemicals taken from the crumbling warehouses of the once-great cities near our settlement. It was finally time to put them to use. From those supplies I filled up two canisters of nitrous oxide. My scouts located their lair, and we cautiously amassed there for the extraction and extermination.
Under the cover of darkness we blew the ‘knock-out’ gas into the entrance and waited until they were hopefully incapacitated. Into the lion’s den we crept. The stench of body odor and decay was nearly unbearable. The plan unfolded perfectly. Those we encountered were either unconscious or unresponsive to ordinary stimuli. One by one we dispatched the sub human monsters. There was very little resistance until we reached portions of the cave which our ‘sleeping potion’ didn’t reach. There we experienced some desperate fighting but in the end, we were victorious.
At the center of the dark labyrinth we located the cages and ‘food storage’ area. Thankfully, many of our people and my youngest children were still alive. Sadly not all were physically unharmed and there was no undoing the SE’s carnage and unspeakable acts. I wanted to scream when I witnessed the inhuman atrocities perpetrated on our most innocent but I had to maintain my composure and complete the mission. We carried all the survivors to safety and rigged a time-delayed fuse for explosion at the entrance.
I wasn’t sure how many of the clan were left further back within the cave, but when the methane finally ignited, it was the most powerful man-made explosion in nearly fifty years. Of that I’m sure. The mouth of the cave was permanently closed. Nothing could’ve survived the blast. That was highly reassuring but the vindication I felt was only for the eradication of a single shiteater clan. Globally, there were probably hundreds of others. More importantly though, our little operation to take back humanity was finally underway.
It was day one in the march to rebuild civilization. I discovered other pockets of learning and progress along the way as we explored the larger world. Our small community and the others banded together with the universal goal of wiping out primal clans and rebuilding the infrastructure of the Earth. With a unified group of people worldwide endeavoring to return to a brighter future, we collectively left behind the darkness and despair. Hope has finally returned. It’s a great time to be alive again.

Trigger warning: this story has a distasteful element ('Coprophilia') which may bother some readers.
The Earth bore little resemblance to its former self. At least not from the standpoint of what humanity had achieved previously. First the global economy collapsed. As a result, the intimately-connected world we knew was no more. Cities were abandoned. Interpersonal relationships devolved into clan-style family units working together for the basic goal of mutual survival. Sometimes brutally. In just a few years, the priceless wealth of technological knowledge which has been accumulated since the dawn of time, almost completely disappeared.
Predictably, without six millennia of scientific advancement and evolving civility, came revolving waves of disease and premature death. The world’s population dwindled to just a fraction of its former numbers. Our potential for understanding remained, but the desire to flex the intellectual muscles for higher-learning, took a back seat to the daily imperative of simply surviving. There was no time to pursue education when a neighboring clan might try to kill you or seize your food stores at any moment. In only a few generations, 80% of the ’common knowledge’ from the pinnacle of civilization, was unknown to the average person.
Consuming ignorance dutifully filled the void left behind by the collapse. Hunger and the ugliest of primal emotions drove human behavior far more than it had prior to the fall. Rampant starvation and unsanitary conditions were a potent one-two punch in the spiraling descent back to the dark ages. It led to a contemptible practice which would’ve been unthinkable only a half century earlier. The inability to distinguish between justifiable food choices, and ‘things which should never be ingested’.
No, I’m not referring to the abject inhumanity of cannibalism. The unapologetic consumption of human flesh wasn’t surprising in those stark times of desperation. I’m speaking of something far, far worse. The instinct to find feces distasteful was lost in the spiraling downfall of mankind. Those who were old enough to remember the golden era of civilization simply called those who partook in this practice: ‘SE’s. In plainer words, ‘Shiteaters’.
It wasn’t a particularly clever slur but the descriptive euphemism fit well enough. Being labeled that didn’t even qualify as an insult any longer for an entire class of depraved souls who saw no problem with the distasteful practice in the first place. They enthusiastically partook in the disgusting act of coprophilia, out of misguided necessity. Noting went… ahem, to ‘waste’.
Extreme hunger is a highly effective motivator for sure. It pushed them to work past the unpleasant stench and natural gag reflexes which would normally dissuade such abhorrent behavior. In certain unsophisticated circles, the excrement from well-fed scavenger individuals became a ‘delicacy’. Afterward, they were literally ‘full of shit’, if you can forgive the reoccurring string of foul puns.
Understandably, those who held onto some level of prior civility avoided the SE’s at all costs, lest the disgusting practice ahem… ‘rub off’ on them. Distasteful consumption details aside, As with any recycled substance, the level of vitamins, proteins and other nutrients deteriorate with each cycle. That is the law of diminishing returns. Eventually, regardless of portion size, the empty calories contained in their favorite ‘dish’ was no longer enough to sustain regular development.
With the serious level of nutritional deficiency in their daily diet came the side effects of severe physiological and psychological issues. Their intellectual capacity diminished rapidly. In just a short time they lost the ability to speak. For all intents and purposes, they devolved into a lower life form of violent, sub-primates. If a scientific community still existed in academia to label them, they might’ve named this transitory species, ‘Homo coprophilis’.
Despite their diminished cerebral capabilities, they bred in voracious numbers and made up the majority of hominids scavenging the world. Because of their sheer prevalence in numbers, it didn’t matter if they could be individually outwitted. There were too many of them in the wild to completely avoid. If non SE’s were captured by them, they were lucky if they were only held in cages for feces harvesting or forced breeding stock. There were far worse fates possible in the SE dens.
Our community remained lucky for many years. I educated my people the best I could from what remained of books and educational materials. The few brushes we had with the cave dwelling troglodytes were thankfully rare, and led to fortunate outcomes. Sadly, that was all about to change. While we tried to be self-sufficient, we had to go outside our security zone on occasions to get necessary supplies which we couldn’t produce internally. The more frequently we left the relative safely of our compound, the higher risk level we brought upon ourselves.
Their numbers had exploded. They were everywhere and it was only a matter of time before they discovered our tiny little ‘oasis of progress’ and attacked us. My scouts knew better than to retreat back to the compound if they realized they’d been observed. Like a trail of ants, the SE’s would follow them here and find our idyllic home and destroy everything. I believed at the time that the best outcome of any battle was to avoid it completely.
We ‘booby-trapped’ a few pseudo entrances to discourage accidental discoveries, but our biggest danger was to be observed and followed back home. I guess we just took the risk of going outside the compound too many times, or simple ‘dumb luck’ occurred. Either way, they found our home while I was away with my team. We’d spent too much effort in avoiding detection, and not enough planning a defense. Our community was unprepared for an on-site conflict; and with half our most able-bodied warriors on the mission, we took heavy losses. Both in terms of loss of life, and having our remaining people taken prisoner.
My wife was eaten alive right on the spot; while two of my younger children were taken away. Presumably for later consumption, but infinitely worse fates were possible. I shuddered at the thought of what she went through, and what horrors awaited my little ones. The SE’s take immense pleasure in seizing non SE’s and torturing them for being more evolved. They pride themselves in being ignorant and primitive. Furious vengeance boiled in my heart. I wanted to act immediately but I was well aware that raw passion clouds judgement. No matter how anxious I was to save my children and wipe the disgusting scum from the Earth, I had to do it in a meticulous, organized way. The survivors of our village needed a solid plan to strike back.
I gathered every weapon we had at our disposal and assembled our weary band of survivors. Others present in the meeting lost family members too. I had to stop them from rushing to the shiteater cave on a suicide mission. I cooled their rage and tempered my own until we were all better prepared for battle. How do you fight an enemy with no honor? How can you approach a conflict where there is no reason to be had? To suggest it would be a war with ‘apes’ would be an insult to those primates.
Previously I thought the SE’s were a product of the collapse of civilization. Obviously I feared their enthusiastic embrace of primal ignorance but mostly, I just pitied them. If there was one reoccurring theme of universal failure in the remaining history books it was how war is pointless. I hoped to avoid them. As a fellow survivor in the collapse, I tried to coexist. To live and let live but it became glaringly clear they could not be left alive. None of them, or there would never be peace or prosperity for the thinking population. They were a wretched branch of homo sapien species that needed to be permanently snuffed out.
I rallied our reluctant fighters, both men and woman, young and old, able bodied and infirm, to boldly seize the moment. It was our time! It was the human race’s moment to reverse the spiraling collapse. We had to snuff-out the willfully ignorant, sub-human slime holding us back permanently, or there would never be a return to hope and enlightenment. Everyone present accepted the calling. We were going to stop being frightened little sheep. We were committed to fight to the death, but we were also going to do so with technical wisdom and science.
Almost like a grain silo, SE’s were known to keep their fecal ‘food’ stores in a central storage bin. They guarded them almost like bank currency. Their entire community revolved around the supply of manure, so strategically it would be in the center of their caves and living space. More than once, these methane-laden storage areas had been known explode from natural gas build-up and wipe out clans. As a previous pacifist in my worldview and outlook, I’d never considered destroying them with their own storehouse of shit before, but the idea was more than novel in its charm. It was almost poetic in scope.
The only problem lied in the collateral damage to our survivors. How could we get our beloved family members back before annihilating their cave and destroying the sub human vermin? I researched non-lethal means of incapacitating every soul inside so we could rescue our loved ones first. In a medical textbook I’d saved from being burned as fireplace fodder, was a detailed article on anesthesia. Not only did it explain how it worked, but it also offered the chemical compounds necessary to produce it.
As the ‘minister of science’ of our progressive community, I had always tried to keep knowledge alive and maintain a base level of education for our citizens. I taught the children basic chemistry and math, among other things. We had amassed a decent supply of chemicals taken from the crumbling warehouses of the once-great cities near our settlement. It was finally time to put them to use. From those supplies I filled up two canisters of nitrous oxide. My scouts located their lair, and we cautiously amassed there for the extraction and extermination.
Under the cover of darkness we blew the ‘knock-out’ gas into the entrance and waited until they were hopefully incapacitated. Into the lion’s den we crept. The stench of body odor and decay was nearly unbearable. The plan unfolded perfectly. Those we encountered were either unconscious or unresponsive to ordinary stimuli. One by one we dispatched the sub human monsters. There was very little resistance until we reached portions of the cave which our ‘sleeping potion’ didn’t reach. There we experienced some desperate fighting but in the end, we were victorious.
At the center of the dark labyrinth we located the cages and ‘food storage’ area. Thankfully, many of our people and my youngest children were still alive. Sadly not all were physically unharmed and there was no undoing the SE’s carnage and unspeakable acts. I wanted to scream when I witnessed the inhuman atrocities perpetrated on our most innocent but I had to maintain my composure and complete the mission. We carried all the survivors to safety and rigged a time-delayed fuse for explosion at the entrance.
I wasn’t sure how many of the clan were left further back within the cave, but when the methane finally ignited, it was the most powerful man-made explosion in nearly fifty years. Of that I’m sure. The mouth of the cave was permanently closed. Nothing could’ve survived the blast. That was highly reassuring but the vindication I felt was only for the eradication of a single shiteater clan. Globally, there were probably hundreds of others. More importantly though, our little operation to take back humanity was finally underway.
It was day one in the march to rebuild civilization. I discovered other pockets of learning and progress along the way as we explored the larger world. Our small community and the others banded together with the universal goal of wiping out primal clans and rebuilding the infrastructure of the Earth. With a unified group of people worldwide endeavoring to return to a brighter future, we collectively left behind the darkness and despair. Hope has finally returned. It’s a great time to be alive again.

Toxic Rats: Geoff, Scott, Leshawna, Sammy, Trent
Mutant Maggots: Anne Maria, Katie, Molly, Scarlett, Dave, DJ
Episode 04: Finders Creepers
"Last time, on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!" Chris opened over a stock shot of the camp, the recap montage starting off with a clip of the contestants racing off towards the side of Mt. Looming Tragedy. "Twelve bumbling buffoons battled it out in a brutal buffet of bombastica," Chef was shown gleefully dropping ice blocks on the climbing campers, catching Geoff and Scott but narrowly missing Molly and almost catching Anne Maria.
"Why all the 'B' words?" B was shown demonstrating his couch invention created from junk, "Because, B proved he was a brave and brilliant improviser who scored big time for his team!" B used an ice pick to poke holes onto a shard of ice and placed it on top of the castle, directing the sun beam towards the Maggots' base and melting it effectively. "Until his bitter teammate Scott allowed brainy Molly to botch it on purpose and B got the boot," Molly threw a snowball onto the shard, melting the castle and B was shown being flung into the night.
"And now," Chris said, popping up in front of a shot of the full moon in a cloudy sky with a lit candle in his hand, marking the end of the recap montage, "tonight's challenge is about fear." He made a devilish look. "And everyone knows fear is a dish best served, in the dark!" he said in an exaggeratedly spooky manner, an eerie sound playing as he laughed evilly. "Huh?" he stopped suddenly, the camera pulling back to reveal Chef standing next to him...dressed like a showgirl with lots of peacock feathers. "Chef!" the host said in annoyance.
"Wardrobe was all out of vampire costumes," Chef explained as the series's capstone then began to play.
"It's all scary!" Chris said, walking off to the left. "Other than that," he scowled and gestured back toward his off-screen assistant. "Right here! Right now!" he resumed his usual demeanor. "On Total! Drama! Revenge, of the Island!" He adopted his spooky tone as he finished the title, and ended with another evil laugh.
XXXXX
Frogs and crickets chirped and croaked, joined by an owl's hoots as the episode opened on a shot of the full moon. The camera panned down to the cabins as the sound of snoring was added to the nighttime mix, and the scene cut inside to the girls' side of the Maggots' cabin where Anne Maria and Katie were sleeping peacefully in the bunk they shared. Dave and DJ were also shown sound asleep on the boys' side, and the scene cut to the Rat boys to show Geoff also sound asleep.
The camera cut next to show Sammy waking up with a yawn. She stretched her arms out for a few good seconds and fell right back to sleep...until the sudden shrill wail of a blow horn pierced the air.
"RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Chris hollered from off-screen as the scene cut back outside, the blowhorn continuing even over the panicked shouts of the campers.
The camera briefly cut to a close-up of the blowhorn still blowing, then over to the Maggots' cabin as they ran outside fully dressed – first Katie screaming "What's happening?!"; then DJ just screaming; then Scarlett yelling out "This is unethical!"; then Anne Maria just hollering; and then finally Dave coming out, calling out "I'm wide awake!"
The Rats were shown next, Scott grunting "Me first!" as he shoved Geoff down the stairs and slid down the railing; Leshawna quickly running after him; Sammy screaming at the top of her lungs; and Trent coming out last at around the same time while screaming.
They assembled nervously in the common area between cabins, where Chris – wearing a pair of heavy earmuffs – finally eased up on the blowhorn. "Glad you all could make it," he grinned as he took off his headgear.
Molly soon arrived later. "Is there an attack or what?" she asked her teammates.
Katie shot her a quick glare. "Of course not, but why would you care about anything but yourself?"
Confessional: Molly
"Olay, yes," Molly moaned. "I left my teammates behind, but that was because I wanted to win the challenge first. I was always taught to focus on one thing before moving on to the next, and that's what I did." She grew concerned. "I don't see any problems with that."
Confessional Ends
"I hope you're all ready," Chris continued, "'cause it's challenge time!" He stepped to the side as Chef rolled up a large widescreen television on a wheeled cart. It was currently displaying an aerial map of the island with several additional colored icons – six bright green skulls scattered around the island; three yellowish envelopes over the campfire pit, the western edge of the campgrounds, and deeper into the forest; and a large purple spider in the middle of it all.
"We're gonna do a challenge?" Anne Maria wondered. "In the middle of the woods? At night?"
Confessional: Anne Maria
"Doesn't Chris know that we need our hours of sleep?" Anne Maria criticized. "I haven't even done my hair."
Confessional Ends
"Your challenge," Chris continued as though there'd been no interruption, "a scavenger hunt for three creepy souvenirs. Your locations? A haunted forest," he walked across to the other side of the television, "a scaaary pet cemetery, and an extra spooktastic cave. First team to each location gets a special clue," he said, the camera zooming in as he pointed towards the westernmost letter icon on the screen. "But watch out for booby traps," he added jovially as he moved his finger to one of the skulls, "I really went to town with them, heheh." The campers were shown watching warily.
"So move fast," the host added, "and stick together. You'll be penalized for each player you lose!"
"Umm, what's with the giant spider?" Sammy asked.
"Oh yeah," Chris answered as the shot zoomed in on the icon in question, "there's some kinda gigantic mutated spider sorta running around loose on the island."
The cast immediately started to voice their fears and protests.
"A huge, humongous spider is on the loose?!" DJ hugged Katie out of fear.
"I guess so," Katie said frightfully, but was secretly enjoying DJ hugging her.
The shot zoomed in on Dave in particular as he looked around, moaning "Oh no..." in annoyance.
Confessional: Dave
"Ever since I was a kid, I've never been a huge fan of spiders," Dave admitted. "They leave messy webs everywhere they go, and it takes me a long time to clean them up in places like my uncle's attic or my aunt's basement." A spider soon crawled down on a string. "This is gonna be unpopular, but I'm not a huge fan of Spider-Man because of my dislike of spiders." The spider hissed after hearing the criticism, making Dave flinch.
Confessional: Leshawna
"I may seem fearless on the outside, but spiders are one of the few things I'm terrified of," Leshawna said nervously. "Anything with eight legs is frightening enough."
Confessional Ends
"And since I want to keep things fair for both teams," Chris continued, "I decided to bring back an eliminated contestant for the Rats."
"It's so good to be back here!" the familiar voice of Sierra was heard, becoming more recognizable when she ran next to Chris.
"Sierra! I haven't introduced you yet!" Chris snapped at her.
"If I waited any longer, the episode would've been past the usual 22-minute runtime," Sierra explained. "I'll just go join the Toxic Rats and save you the trouble of doing so since I've rejoined."
Chris watched the fangirl run up to the contestants in annoyance. "Long story short, Sierra is the returnee." Chris regained his smile, and the dramatic and almost heroic tune started playing again. "There's nothing to fear but mortal terror itself! Talk soon," he added impishly, sounding his blowhorn once again.
The twelve campers ran off towards the woods.
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The footage flashed ahead to another shot of the full moon over the forested hills of Wawanakwa, an owl hooting as the scene cut down to ground level. The logo of the Toxic Rats appeared in the corner of the screen just before the team itself did, running up and stopping in front of a tree with a loudspeaker set up in its branches.
"We're in first place! Sweet!" Geoff cheered just before the loudspeaker whined into activity.
"Welcome to the Haunted Forest!" Chris announced over it, the shot panning downward to show the six Rats gathering around a small crack in the ground. "Your clue can be found at the base of this tree!" Sierra reached into the hole...and screamed in pain as something metallic snapped inside the hole.
"Inside a bear trap," Chris finished his announcement with a laugh.
Sierra withdrew her hand from the hole, the trap clamped down firmly on her arm – though she was at least clutching a note in her hand. "Here! Read the clue," she said, passing it to a mildly shocked Sammy. Just as she was about to read it, the sound of approaching footsteps distracted her and her teammates.
"Bad news guys," Anne Maria commented from the six Maggots. "They have the clue."
"Even with a team advantage they still managed to beat us," Katie reminded them.
"We can let the opposing team have their clue," Scarlett said, looking back towards her teammates. "I have another plan," she said, running ahead with her teammates in tow.
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The shot cut to the Maggots as they stopped at a clearing further along the trail. "So what's the plan?" Katie asked the girl in front.
"Find a place to hide so we can follow the Rats and their clue to our first souvenir," Scarlett answered. "Into that bush!"
The Maggots dived and painfully tried to hide in a thorn bush.
"Be quiet," Dave hissed, "They're coming."
"Inside a knot is a nest," Sammy read as the scene cut to the Rats. "Your souvenir lives with a pest. Find Polaris to travel northwest? Polaris is the North Star."
"The North Star is right there, so this way's northwest! There's a path!" Trent declared. He ran off, the rest of his teammates following suit.
"Now we follow!" Scarlett declared as the rest of her teammates came out of the bush.
\
The Rats' logo reappeared as the footage skipped ahead again to them running along through the woods.
"Inside a knot is a nest," Geoff muttered to himself as the shot zoomed in on him. "Hey Sammy, what was the rest of that poem again?" he called back without taking his eyes off the path ahead.
When he didn't get an answer he immediately skidded to a stop. "Sammy?!" he yelled in rising panic, and looked back to see nobody behind him.
The shot cut back to show that the rest of the Rats had stopped in their tracks. "What? Did we lose the mouse?" Scott asked.
Geoff gulped. "We get a penalty for each player we lose, right?" he asked nervously.
"And there's a spider crawling around, right?!" Leshawna said in panic. The shot cut outward as he did so, showing a large purple spider crawling down through the shadows of the forest trees.
"We're looking for a knot with a nest, right?" Scott looked off to the right; the camera quick-panned over to a large tree with a noticeable hollow knot in the trunk with the hints of a nest inside; a few green and red marks had been spray-painted on the bark under it.
"There it is!" Leshawna said, immediately rushing towards it.
"But what about Sammy?" Trent asked his team.
"We'll look for her after we get the souvenir," Sierra assured him.
Leshawna started climbing up the trunk as the rest of her team ran up to join her, and soon began to root through the tree hollow with one arm.
Suddenly, a large eye opened up inside the hollow and stared directly at Leshawna. She screamed, and several squid-like tentacles reached out of the tree's other hollows. One quickly grabbed her around the neck and held her up, while another gave her a few wet slaps then poked her in the eye.
"My eye!" Leshawna yelped in pain and terror. In response the tentacle tightened its grip, and Leshawna began to choke.
"What do we do!?" Sierra yelled in panic.
Geoff looked around, then bent down and picked up a handful of small rocks. "We can throw these stones at the octo guy!"
"Good idea!" Scott said as he and his team picked up rocks of their own and began throwing them at the creature, but they seemed to be hitting Leshawna more than the mutant squid-tree monster. Eventually, the thing just raised its captive up even higher, then slammed her down onto the ground and hissed at the others.
"RUN!" Geoff shouted, turning to flee as a tentacle shot towards them, forcing them to scatter.
Unfortunately, Trent was unable to get away in time and was lifted up by the leg. Trent cried in pain as the mutant began to punch him in the stomach with a curled-up tentacle.
The sounds of pain and wet punches caused Leshawna to get frustrated. "No way am I gonna get pushed around or let a squid attack my teammates!" she declared, getting back on her feet and climbing up the tree-squid's trunk while it was distracted. "Quit buggin' us!" she cried as she punched the mutant in the eye.
The beast bellowed in pain, dropping Trent and retracting into its tree. As soon as he got back up, a strand of spider's webbing shot down from above, sticking on to his head and pulling him away from the floor.
Leshawna reached into the knot once again, quickly and triumphantly pulling out a brass key. "And that's how I roll!" she called down to her teammates.
She dropped down to the forest floor, and landed in front of Geoff, who grinned when he saw it. "We got the key, Trent." Geoff received no response as Scott rejoined.
"Trent?!" Leshawna yelled out in concern. "Where are you?!"
As she panicked, the shot changed to a perspective further away, and the footage switched to an infrared shot of the four Rats.
"Guess he's gone," Sierra sighed sadly. "On the plus side, we found the key."
"We lost two players!" Leshawna said. "Shouldn't we go and look for them?"
"Knowing Chris, he probably has them trapped someplace else, so I'm not too worried right now," Scott brushed it off.
"You've got a point there," Geoff agreed.
Just then, the six Maggots arrived on the scene.
Scott was the first to notice them. "No luck here," he quickly said with faux disappointment, "Do you want to see if Sammy and Trent saw anything better over there?" he looked back and asked Sierra, Leshawna, and Geoff.
"Absolutely. It's not just the three of us," Sierra caught on before they turned and ran off.
"I see something!" Katie pointed off to the camera's right – the direction of the squid-tree. "Team colors!" The camera briefly cut over to the knot in question, with a focus on the marks below it in the two teams' colors.
"Excellent eye, Katie," Scarlett complimented while DJ ran to the tree.
"I'm not just a phone addict, y'know," Katie laughed a bit.
"I got the key, everyone," the camera cut to DJ who was in the tree's hollow and holding out a key. He threw the key in front of Dave and Molly.
"Way to go, DJ!" Molly said.
"Now you want to support us," Dave snarked at her. "Where was that when I was frozen?"
"Are you still mad about that?" Molly groaned.
"Of course we are," Katie snorted.
"You don't just leave your teammates behind," Dave lectured.
"Whatever happened happened," Anne Maria got in between them. "Let's focus more on the challenge and less on squabbling right now."
Confessional: Anne Maria
"I'm here to start no fights," Anne Maria confessed. "What Molly did was messed up, but they can scold her after the challenge."
Confessional: Molly
"Thank you, Anne Maria," Molly let out a sigh of relief. "Finally, someone who won't ride on me for my choices!"
Confessionals End
"You're right, Anne Maria," Dave sighed. "We shouldn't waste anymore time fighting."
As Dave bent down to pick up the key, however, a line of spider silk shot down from the treetops, wrapped around Molly, and pulled her up out of sight.
DJ regrouped with his team. "They said they saw something far away, so maybe-" he paused and looked behind his teammates. "Wait, where's Molly?"
The other four looked behind them and gasped. "Oh no, Molly's got taken by the spider!" Dave cried out.
"What do we do now?" Anne Maria griped.
Scarlett sighed. "Not to sound apathetic, but I think we're gonna have to continue on without her."
"Are you sure about that?" Katie questioned.
"I'm sure we can catch up to wherever she's being taken to," Scarlett waved off her concern.
"Well, I hope so," Katie said as she and the team exchanged nervous looks.
Confessional: Dave
"I don't see Molly in the best light right now, but that doesn't mean that I want her to be taken away," Dave began to shudder. "Especially by a spider."
Confessional Ends
"Why are we running so slow when we're in a challenge?" Geoff said as the scene moved back to him, Sierra, Scott, and Leshawna running through the forest. "We won't beat the other team at this rate."
"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Scott conversed with him.
Confessional: Scott
Scott was whittling another piece of wood with his shark tooth. "I'm heading us back into last place where we belong. Another elimination ceremony for the Rats and it's bye-bye Geoff! Or Sierra. I can't decide."
Confessional Ends
"C'mon, let's rock this! With years of exercise and partying, I've got energy to burn!" Geoff said, snatching the key from Leshawna and jogging ahead. The three followed him, but the camera kept its focus on Geoff as he passed a tree stump, then a rock; then stepped on a mysterious clump of dirt… which exploded and sent him flying.
Leshawna, Sierra, and Scott stopped immediately, the shot showing Sierra and Leshawna being shocked and Scott showing delight as Geoff got launched from one land mine to the next off-screen.
During this, however, a line of spider webbing was shot onto Sierra's leg. It quickly wrapped around it and tugged Sierra away from her team.
The camera finally cut back to Geoff, singed and groaning on the ground in an awkward but still holding the Rats' key. The Maggots approached him moments later. "Sorry that had to happen, doll!" Anne Maria comforted as she ran past Geoff.
Scott and Leshawna came to Geoff's need. "You gonna be alright?" Leshawna helped him up.
"I'll walk it off," Geoff tried to remain cool headed.
"Thanks, focus boy," Scott said.
"I don't want to strain my calves," Geoff added.
"We should leave in a few minutes just to make sure we catch up to the other team," Leshawna said. "Sierra just got captured, and I don't want us sticking around here."
\
The scene cut to the lantern-lit cemetery. The camera panned left across its headstones and crosses, several of which were pet-themed, to the entrance as the five remaining Mutant Maggots arrived, huffing and puffing from their run.
"Welcome to the Wawanakwa Pet Cemetery!" Chris greeted them over the loudspeaker.
"We're first. Nice!" Dave said.
"What's the clue?" Anne Maria asked Scarlett.
The camera cut in close as she opened the lid to a small coffin in an open grave, revealing a ragged piece of paper within bearing a list of numbers: 5 in the first row; 5 in the second; 5 in the third. Notably, while most of the numbers were plain black there were three 6s and the 18 were all an eye-catching red. "Three 6's is normally not a good indication of luck," Scarlett said with a nervous look.
"Let's fan out and look for numbers!" DJ said as the perspective cut back to its usual sideview.
"By ourselves?" Anne Maria asked.
\
"I'm in a creepy cemetery in the middle of the woods looking for three 6s. It's no big deal," Anne Maria said warily as she backed through the graveyard. "Good news is, there aren't any owls hooting around. I think I'm safe," she told herself, pausing to smile. "Now, let's see if I can find any numbers..."
She turned around and started examining the nearest headstone, and the shot cut to a view from afar, the footage switching back to infrared. The monster serving as the camera's viewpoint blinked, and when it opened its eyes it had gotten much closer to the jersey girl, and had extended four sharp limbs with tiny claws on the end towards her...
Anne Maria's scream echoed through the cemetery, quickly catching the attention of Katie, DJ, Scarlett, and Dave as they looked up in shock. "Anne Maria?" Dave asked out in concern, the footage quickly skipping ahead to show all four arriving at the location the tanned young lady had been snatched from.
"I could've sworn she was just here," Dave said in confusion.
They all gasped. "Where'd she go?" Katie asked in mild terror.
"I'm just as concerned as you all are," Scarlett started, "but like what happened with Molly, we should move along and hope to catch up with them."
"I know you're trying to be reasonable," DJ said, "but you're rubbing me off the wrong way."
"Yeah, it's like you don't care about what could happen to our teammates," Dave told her.
"I'm just used to not expressing my emotions on occasion," Scarlett told her team members. "Thank you very much."
\
The scene flashed to the Rats, where Scott and Leshawna were next to grimy coffins propped upright against a couple statues.
"Find the souvenir, hide the souvenir, lose the game…" Scott went in to unlock the coffin, but was interrupted by Fang bursting out of the coffin with a menacing grin.
"AAAAHHHHH!" The devious ran away screaming when Fang moved to chase after him.
Geoff was looking at a grave that was open. "This grave smells like french fries. Weird, but I'm not complaining." He got shoved in thanks to Scott running away from Fang.
The camera followed Scott as he ran past two open graves, one of which with a mound of dirt in front of it.
The mutant shark followed his quarry, but when Scott leapt over the mound of dirt, Fang tripped over it. The shark fell into the open grave and growled.
"Why does this graveyard smell like fries?" Katie wondered aloud, following a scent as she walked through the cemetery. She soon came to the pit Geoff was in. "Maybe it's coming from there."
"Hello? Anybody? I need someone to help me down here!" Geoff called out.
Katie backed away a bit. "Did that hole just talk?"
"It's me. Geoff!" Geoff tried to denounce her belief.
"Oh right," Katie sighed in relief. "You're the guy with the cowboy hat."
"That's right," Geoff confirmed her statement. "I fell down this hole, and I'm covered in grease right now."
"So that explains the smell," Katie realized.
"Can you get me out of here?" Geoff begged her. "Grease doesn't mesh well with my shirt."
"I would, but I have to help my team right now," Katie declined. "One of your teammates could get you out. Bye," she left the scene.
"This sucks," Geoff whined, unaware of four maggots coming by the grave. As soon as they saw the grease and Geoff, they jumped in and attacked him, making him howl in agony.
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The scene cut to Chris, who was watching feeds of both teams on a trio of monitors and laughing hysterically. "Will anyone make it to the spooky cave?" he turned and asked the camera, holding a covered cup with a straw in it. "And if so, how can they possibly make it all the way to the finish line? Less brain, more pain, when we return!" he said, finishing with a sip of his drink.
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(Commercial Break)
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Below are my in-progress workings for a world that extends Gielinor:
Runic Altars and Faction Establishment
All Icons Runes Prayerbook Standard Spellbook Mysthic Spellbook Bosses – details Bosses – drops Bosses – attacks
In the far past there existed the elder god Jun, an ancient deity associated with thought and sentience and the only known elder god within the realm. She is believed to be the creator of this world and the entirety of its life. In the first days of its creation, she established the godless human race, alongside ten sects of beings corresponding to each of the four core elemental, four catalytic, organic, and teleportation runestones, each with specific properties and powers for the sects' followers to dedicate their lives towards. Likewise, she created the ten gods of the world to oversee their assigned followers. The runestones were held by the gods, and runic altars corresponding to each runestone were scattered across the lands for their associated followers to create personal rune supplies for their development. Soon after, the core religions were established for followers to announce their loyalty and allegiance to their associated gods. A further two runestones with modification properties corresponding to global balance were not provided with associated beings, instead being retained by Jun herself with their altars placed upon a remote land to ensure continuity of balance. With peace and unity amongst the sects as they developed functioning societies and branched into further lands, Jun returned to the elder god's realm and becoming dormant in a slumber ever since.
The twelve runic altars globally influence the climate and weather patterns, environment, and societies of the lands, with amplified local effects around their locations:
Light and Shadow Altars: Provide balance, alongside alternating pulsations to trigger global day and night cycles.

• Air Altar: Influences atmospheric composition, pressure, and winds to allow life to thrive.
• Water Altar: Influences global waters and rainfall to provide sustenance through water and aquatic life.
• Earth Altar: Provides structure to the lands, as well as nutrients for vegetation to thrive.
• Fire Altar: Influences global temperatures.
• Nature Altar: Influences vegetative and other organic matter, and provides sustenance through land life.
• Law Altar: Influences social systems and structures, as well as thought and sentience.
• Life Altar: Allows for life to be created and exist.
• Soul Altar: Provides energy to life.
• Death Altar: Allows for life to cease.
• Blood Altar: Provides vigour to life.

The initial religions corresponding to the ten gods evolved into the modern-day factions of the world, each enhanced by their altars’ powers and commanded by dedicated leaders. Although established as a godless division with no dedicated altar, over time some humans pledged allegiance to chosen gods, migrating to the lands of the gods’ followers to seek lifestyles enriched by the powers of their runic altars.
Godless Territory
Map
Breska is a temperate continent situated in the south-west region of the eastern multicontinental landmass. It is considered godless territory where the bulk of the world's human population resides, and is the only continent without a runic altar. The territory consists of two general regions: the Breskan mainland to the west, and the Breskan Intercontinental Strip (BICS) to the east. The latter connects the mainland to the eastern multicontinental landmass via the vast country of Bongola - part of the water territory of Inersia - which houses the World Gate on its south coast for passage into different worlds.
Administration is centralised within the mainland country of Bragos, housing government officials and the territory's militia. The surrounding countries act as hubs for resource-gathering for development of the territory, as well as buffer zones from potential attacks. Countries of the BICS in contrast have some degree of autonomy from the mainland's influence. They generally consist of mixed agrarian and fishing communities due to the abundance of fertile soils and fish stocks, and often supply surplus yields to the mainland in exchange for useful resources.
The natives have established a quick-travel network across the mainland after the unearthing of a strange runic obelisk in Bragos, and subsequently a further nine obelisks with similar properties in various surrounding countries. They discovered a method to tune their spellbook to each obelisk, allowing for basic teleportation capabilities across their lands. It is unknown whether further obelisks exist across the world.
Work in Progress Designs
The Gamminoxious Behemoth Sashekra Azzakari & Jixkari Oloumdra Xitaurus Runica Lokhvius Serix Aurix Gamix Nomestidon Random Workings 1 Random Workings 2
Thought I’d also share WIP images of some of the creatures that are being worked on (all done in MS Paint). They’re a mix of some outdated and new drafts, outdated art style drawings, and newer art style drawings :)
Miscellaneous World Workings
List of Countries and Continents Flag Workings Old World Map
Music Inspiration (Continents)

CONTINENT	MUSIC
AGESIA	1, 2, 3
AUNA	1
BRESKA	1
ESCESIA	1
FRISKA	1
GURESS, ONJURIN	1
INERSIA	1, 2
ORKOS	1
OSCINIA	1
PAIESIA	1, 2
TSUJINIA	1

Music Inspiration (Bosses)

BOSS	MUSIC
EMPEROR G. SINKALAKAS	1, 2
THE GAMMINOXIOUS BEHEMOTH	1
SIL'KRIA	1
ELLISUM	1, 2, 3
TUNOKUBA, SASHEKRA	1, 2, 3, 4, 5
MJAMA	1
AZZAKARI & JIXKARI	1
THE 'JHUBA'	1
OLOUMDRA	1, 2, 3
X. RUNICA	1
UMBISTA	1, 2
LOKHVIUS	1, 2, 3, 4
SERIX	1
AURIX	1, 2, 3
GAMIX	1, 2, 3
SIJINITH UTEGANJIC	1, 2, 3
HOLORYI	1
NOMESTIDON	1, 2, 3

For context, I work in market expansion and feel Kim Wexler's pain.
Mesa Verde's expansion strategy is rushed, expensive, and not likely to be profitable. Here's why:
Kevin's strategy is aggressive, opening a ton of branches in a short time (I think 19 in 18 months). His strategy seems to be to place 1 branch in each midsized southwest city. However:

1. The time, energy, and resources required for just one expansion are hefty. Permits, construction, location scouting, labor, etc. This gets exponentially more complex when moving into a new state, as we saw with the address mix up.

New states require market research, business licenses, adherence to state-specific banking laws, HR requirements, taxes, etc. MV expands to 5 new states after only ever operating in one.

1. These are direct to consumer branches that rely on foot traffic for business. There is no name recognition in these cities and they're spreading themselves very thin by going to multiple cities and states without building and proving 2-3 new markets.

For example, the same resources could be used to put a branch in North Phoenix, then South Phoenix, then Mesa then Gilbert etc. That way they could get economies of scale in advertising, construction, etc. And build a customer base in a new market. Once established they can move on to the next market segment. Kevin has a shotgun approach rather than a rifle.

1. Kevin's decisions are emotional more than practical. He is obsessed with his legacy and is stubborn to a fault. He wants the illusion of growth rather than sustainable growth. Thank God Paige and Kim are there to keep him grounded. Speaking of which...
   
2. Why is Mesa Verde's outside counsel the project manager for this massive project? Do we ever see a PM in any of the important expansion meetings?
   
3. The payback period and ROI for penetration into new markets with no name recognition and branches hundreds of miles away from each other must be dismal.
   

Mesa Verde must have a massive amount of upfront capital that they can use frivolously as they wait several years to turn a profit and capture market share.
Tl/dr: Kevin's strategy is more about his ego than practicality, profit, or sustainability. He definitely did mass layoffs in the 2008 recession.

This post is to collect all news regarding Hololive and this is the only place where news will be posted.
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7. And most importantly, have fun participating in this FAN project. We are all unpaid, unprofessional and running out of free time but we have a lot of motivation and get a lot more enjoyment out of bringing HoloNews to Hololive on any given Tuesday

Article Format Guides / Limits

Article Length Limits
Articles are limited on how many words they can have. The maximum word count is dependent on the content of the article. For example, articles about anniversaries will have the "Feature" word limit, but "Iofi is cute"-type articles will have the "Short" word limit. We probably won't be strictly enforcing these limits, but if you're over it, don't be surprised if it gets cut down.
Feature - 230 wordsThese are articles covering the big events of the week. Examples: • Anniversaries • Birthdays • New outfits • ConcertsImportant - 140 wordsArticles covering abnormal/important information. This is very much so a judgement call by the reporter and editors. If you claim an article is important and it's not obvious why, be prepared to explain. Examples: • Announcements (including breaks & returns) • Misc smaller celebrations/events • Merch with many details • Information that's personally important for a talent or fanbaseRegular - 100 wordsRegular articles that cover a reasonable amount of normal activity. Examples: • Stream summaries/highlights • Funny moments • Business-y announcements • Twitter interactionsShort - 35 wordsShort articles with very little substance/content. Examples: • "Kusa" articles • Funny twitter messages • A single short funny moment

Space Saving Tips

If you find you're having a hard time keeping your articles within the word count limits, here's a few tips for things you can try.1. Cut out or summarize detailsThey can make an article more interesting, but often they can be removed or explained with fewer words. This is an extreme example, but the principle can be applied on a smaller scale.

Together with Uyu, Fuma decided that he wanted to build a house in Minecraft. First they had to get materials from the forest, but they both died to creepers three times. Next, they adventured to the mines to gather stone. They got sidetracked for an hour in an abandoned mine while doing this. During the building process, Astel swooped in with flint and steel and tried to set everything on fire! Together, Fuma and Uyu were able to drive him away and save a majority of the house. They happened to die to creepers one more time after that, but they ended up with a very nice looking Japanese-style house.
📷Better:
Fuma built a Japanese-styled house with Uyu in Minecraft. Astel was opposed to this and tried to burn it down while they were working, but they finished despite the setback.

2. Remove/shorten unnecessary descriptions

Ina gave Calli an illustration of her for her birthday. It features a chibi version of Calli in a spaceship flying to an unknown dimension. On the dashboard, doll versions of all of holoEN could be seen. Farther back in the cabin, Calli's scythe and alternate outfits were present.
📷Better:
For her birthday, Ina gave Calli an illustration of Chibi Calli flying a spaceship.

3. Remove opinions/funny commentaryThis example could be completely removed, and the article it's in wouldn't lose any real information.

She looked very cute in her new outfit. Many deadbeats died (again) when it was revealed.

4. Check for duplicate information

For her Anniversary Fubuki went to the office ... she met A-chan at the office.

Or

Throughout the event, she performed with Bae, Fubuki, and AkiRose. ... She performed Kirameki Rider with Bae, Fubuki, and AkiRose.

5. Use simple wordsIt's better to sound like you're talking to 5-year-olds than a walking thesaurus.

Calli extracted the confection from the adjacent pastry shop to an undisclosed location. She has prepared appropriate arrangements to consume the delicacy in the evening.
📷Better:
Calli bought a donut and brought it home. She's going to eat it tonight.

Report Format Example
Finished: Pekora ER stream
Gen 3: Pekora
Pekora joins the rank of Flare, Miko, and Shishiron to slay the Tree Sentinel as soon as they leave the tutorial area in Elden Ring. It took her over 6 hours and countless attempts to defeat such a strong foe. With her new gained levels, she took on a dragon on the very next stream and annihilated both Margit and Godrick.
Source: https://youtu.be/aEop9s9urX4
Note: Holonews_bot is a bot we've created to push news from our Discord server to the Info Gathering Threads
Be aware that we are reworking the Reporting workflow at the moment. So changes in the Workflow can be expected.

Hi, I’m Jamie. Lovely to meet you! I'm about 6'1, blonde, Welsh, currently living in London and looking for someone to message and hang out with (virtually or irl ). Some quick things about me:

• I love video games but have not been playing as many as I’d like to these days. To remedy this, I’ve recently bought a Steam Deck. I’m traditionally more of an RPG/FPS person but would also like to branch out a bit.
• I’m working hard to try and get the next career goal, which is being able to work from anywhere I want. I already mostly work from home, but for a few reasons my job requires me to be in the UK. I want to be untethered though, so my next career move will focus on that 😎
• Synthwave and cyber punk aesthetics to me are 🤤
• I’m making a big push to improve my health and have been exercising consistently for around a year and a half now (swimming, running etc). For the last 6 months I’ve also been doing weights with a PT. Next up is starting on some flexibility doing yoga and/or pilates.
• I love talking about history and politics. My ideological position is complicated to explain but probably best summarised as left of centre.
• Currently getting into sword fighting. Partly because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Partly in case the apocalypse comes – think it’d be a useful skill to have (especially as we don’t really do guns in the UK...)
• I’m moving in with my Mum over summer to give her some help. She’s recently inherited a large and somewhat shabby house in the countryside so I’m going to help redecorate and make it a nice place to live.
• I don’t drink but do 420 (probs a little more than I should – but fixing that is lower on my to do list than other health things haha).
• I'm very interested in Welsh language and history.
• My number one form of therapy is long walks outside in nature. There is nothing more peaceful and restorative when it’s just you, nature and a path to follow :)

What am I looking for? Good question!

• I’d like to make a new friend or two to chat with. I miss messaging back and forth with someone. It’d primarily though text but also like to hand out on audio and/or video occasionally.
• I'd like to talk to people who share some of my interests. It'd be especially cool to find people who want to play some video games together, keeping each other motivated fitness wise!
• Location isn't a big concern, but I’m primarily looking for people in the UK, Europe, Canada or the US. This is mostly due to cultural and time zone compatibility reasons so no requirement to be in/from those regions, so would be a plus I guess – but not essential

15:14 HT, 28 dic. ca. 2100. —-----------------------------------------------------------------
A massive booming noise propagated through the facility, jolting the unfortunate members of various species off their beds, the lucky ones were those that didn't wake up fast enough to realize what was happening, and in a flash of light, it was all over.
Gone.
A prolific mining-research orbital station simply gone, in the blink of an eye, taking with it tons of expensive first-class equipment, reports detailing important findings, but most of all the oh-so-precious skilled workforce of the Collected that resided within the station.
Such accidents were not uncommon in the Larks' Domains, but they seldom involved sentient lives, and the Larks, despite being a species centuries old, never got used to the shock.
That was going to cause quite the ruckus back at home. —----------------------------------------------------------------
After having sent reparations and condolences to the victims' families, a meeting was decreed between all heads of the Conglomerates -no fancy speeches or debates required- a unanimous agreement was soon reached: a new Great Search was necessary to replace the 4.000 or so life forms that were tragically lost on that day.
Great Searches always were nothing short of an undertaking, requiring the cooperation of multiple Conglomerates; they involved scouting the universe for alien species suitable mainly for physical work, and, most importantly, ones that had a numerous enough population. Once that species had been located, the Larks would make first contact, establish diplomatic relations, and eventually issue a request for some Collected.
This evolutionary mechanism allowed the Larks to survive and thrive, first as the dominant race in the confines of their home world, where Collected were gathered in a much more…brutal manner, and then, having mostly abandoned their violent past, as rulers of numerous lands and seas throughout the Galaxy, organized in decentralized Conglomerates. —-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two Collected from the Jawaii accompanied the young Lark to the Marshal's chamber.
If he didn't know who he was about to meet he would have never guessed the mansion he was walking through was one of a soldier, and a renowned one at that; neatly decorated halls with intricate floral patterns that filled the place, carpets and curtains he guessed were made from the finest cloth, and plenty of religious iconography all made him question if he was truly in the home of a military man or a philosopher. He had one confirmation though: the two towering Collected soldiers walking beside him, carrying old-school, but nonetheless efficient rifles, and, most annoyingly to him, being quite invasive of his personal space.
He had faced the Jawaii in battle before, they were fierce, agile, and could even survive a bullet or two shot at their limbs; one had almost torn his head off at the time. They were the ones the very same Marshal he was going to shake hooks with used to break through his contingent's flanks during the latest war between their respective Conglomerates; if the Marshal's intention was to rub this victory in his face, he was doing a fantastic job at it.
He had an idea of why he was summoned here by a historic enemy of his Conglomerate, and he surely didn't like the thought of working with someone whom he fought valiantly against just a few years prior, but the irony of it all somehow managed to calm his nerves down a little.
One of the two Collected spoke up:
“Tactician, sir, please stand in front of the speaker and await the approval of the Marshal."
There was such a polite tone in his voice that he could almost forget one of them had nearly killed him some 5 years ago.
“Thank you, soldier." He answered.
After a while, a raspy voice was heard through the receiver, the Lark could barely make out the words "Come in."
—-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Marshal was an odd character to say the least. A white warrior cloak full of writing detailing his victories completely covered his body (a tradition of Lark veterans long fallen into disuse), and resting on his hooks were small branches of Arpa, symbol of pride and honor of his Conglomerate. He was putting on quite the show for this young Tactician.
“Please, have a seat.” he mumbled.
To say he sounded drunk is an understatement.
"The United Council has apparently decreed that we soldiers still have our uses huh…"
The Tactician wasn't sure if the Marshal was talking to himself or not, since it almost sounded as if he was whispering.
“Those fiends have the guts to trample on our traditions as they please…stripping us of…of our divine-given rights as veterans…and then they come back running to us when they have an inconvenience…"
It sounded like the Marshal wasn't happy with the recent general demilitarization acts of the council.
"I'm sure you've heard of the accident in sector-B of the Pontus Conglomerate, Tactician" -He was finally sure the Marshal was talking to him- " we have been assigned the mission of conducting the Great Search together and bringing home the new Collected we'll gather as soon as it is possible. I hope our past differences won't pose a threat to our goal."
The Tactician was puzzled at how the Marshal went from vague mumbling about politics to pronouncing a clear and coherent sentence in the span of seconds. He still sounded drunk, though.
“Of course, Marshal, I'm sure they won't."
“Tactician, eh?" -The Marshal went back to mumbling- “You've made quite the career ever since I annihilated your Conglomerate's forces at Harlig…"
This wasn't going to be fun. —---------------------------------------------------------------
19:20 HT, 3 feb. ca. 2100.
A Collected from the Quites, usually employed ad engeneers, ran into the Cabinet, where the Tactician and Mashal were deciding on what to do once a suitable species was found.
Short of breath, he spoke: “Marshal, sir, Tactician, sir, we've just retrieved the search scanners from the population probes we sent out a month ago. They have found something, sentient life, on…"
The Tactician was ecstatic at the rapidity of this finding, but his enthusiasm was quickly shattered.
"...one planet."
“Only one planet? This isn't good. Their species' numbers must be in the hundreds of thousands, while we're hoping for 100 million or so members, so that the Collected we gather won't take a big toll on them, you know the protocol-"
The Marshal quite rudely interrupted:
“Soldier…what are their numbers?"
"The scanner reads 11 billion sentient life forms."
"...What?"

Hi, I’m Jamie. Lovely to meet you! I'm about 6'1, blonde, Welsh, currently living in London and looking for someone to message and hang out with (virtually or irl ). Some quick things about me:

• I love video games but have not been playing as many as I’d like to these days. To remedy this, I’ve recently bought a Steam Deck. I’m traditionally more of an RPG/FPS person but would also like to branch out a bit.
• I’m working hard to try and get the next career goal, which is being able to work from anywhere I want. I already mostly work from home, but for a few reasons my job requires me to be in the UK. I want to be untethered though, so my next career move will focus on that 😎
• Synthwave and cyber punk aesthetics to me are 🤤
• I’m making a big push to improve my health and have been exercising consistently for around a year and a half now (swimming, running etc). For the last 6 months I’ve also been doing weights with a PT. Next up is starting on some flexibility doing yoga and/or pilates.
• I love talking about history and politics. My ideological position is complicated to explain but probably best summarised as left of centre.
• Currently getting into sword fighting. Partly because it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Partly in case the apocalypse comes – think it’d be a useful skill to have (especially as we don’t really do guns in the UK...)
• I’m moving in with my Mum over summer to give her some help. She’s recently inherited a large and somewhat shabby house in the countryside so I’m going to help redecorate and make it a nice place to live.
• I don’t drink but do 420 (probs a little more than I should – but fixing that is lower on my to do list than other health things haha).
• I'm very interested in Welsh language and history.
• My number one form of therapy is long walks outside in nature. There is nothing more peaceful and restorative when it’s just you, nature and a path to follow :)

What am I looking for? Good question!

• I’d like to make a new friend or two to chat with. I miss messaging back and forth with someone. It’d primarily though text but also like to hand out on audio and/or video occasionally.
• I'd like to talk to people who share some of my interests. It'd be especially cool to find people who want to play some video games together, keeping each other motivated fitness wise!
• Location isn't a big concern, but I’m primarily looking for people in the UK, Europe, Canada or the US. This is mostly due to cultural and time zone compatibility reasons so no requirement to be in/from those regions, so would be a plus I guess – but not essential

Spoilers ahead.
This is my complete personal take on Melina that I wanted to share for a while. Most of it is likely common knowledge at this point. And as I already experienced it some will also strictly reject it or parts of it for several reasons. But anyway maybe some enjoy reading 😉
The special kindling
“You must find kindling. Only the smoldering flame in the Great Forge of the Giants, on the highest peak in the Lands Between, can burn the Erdtree. But special kindling is required to reignite the flame. For the flame to burn the Erdtree, a sacrifice is needed. Of one who envisions the flame. And can lead you to the Rune of Death." The thing that I find most interesting about Enias dialog is the fact that she even knows of the very specific requirements of how to burn the Erdtree. This is not your average knowledge. Of course, many would be aware of the first cardinal sin aspect, at this likely something the believe system of the Golden Order shares. Prophets get banished just stating that there will be a Erdtree burning, that shows us how this subject is handled. Of course, the Finger readers have access to special knowledge through the Two fingers, but it feels strange that the Two fingers would even share this specific information, as they very strictly oppose a burning. So, this leaves the close ties of the Finger readers to royalty that could explain Enias knowledge. And here I think it was a turn of events in the past that needed Marika to share this information in the first place. Without something like that the knowledge shouldn’t be around at all.
We know of only two possible kindlings for sure. That is Melina and us after inheriting the flame of frenzy. Interestingly in comparison to Melina we don’t die after sacrificing. To keep it short, I think the whole frenzied flame thing is just out of Enias ruleset. I think Enia isn’t even aware of the possibility to burn the tree this way and therefor her “rules” don’t apply to it. Most likely because this is a very old fundamental power that is even older than the upcoming of Two finger – Finger readers.
We learn from Melina herself that her mother seems to be Marika, and I think most will agree to this. This makes her a demigod. This also can be combined with Enias specific words about the burning of the Erdtree: “That is not the domain of mere men.” That’s strongly indicating that something “superhuman“ or “godly” has to be involved in the process. This at least should rule out other possible kindlings, there is only Melina.
The righteous in distress
As we encounter Melina and learn about her, she tells us several things and she helps us a lot. What do we learn of her, specifically: “I offer you an accord. … You need only take me with you. To the foot of the Erdtree.” “Me, I'm searching for my purpose given to me by my mother inside the Erdtree long ago, for the reason that I yet live, burned and bodyless.” “My utmost thanks. For bringing me to the base of the Erdtree. Here, I can govern my own movement. And thus, the accord is fullfiled. I shall depart to ascertain the purpose I was given. Farewell”
Everything she says is directly supported by her actions. She helps us willingly with her powers, even if for example turning runes into strength seems exhausting for her. She leaves us as soon she is able to move on her own, she does not want to burden us longer than necessary. She helps us with the Morgoth fight, as she also wants to reach the Erdtree and may not be able to pass him herself. That’s good evidence supporting her righteous character. I would therefor assume all of her words true.
Her initial state of being is a problem for her. As she can govern her own movements in Lyndell this would imply she can’t before. This would indicate she is kind of locked at the stranded graveyard. After the cutscene we obtain the flasks. They read “The one washed up on the gravesite was sure to die, until this flask offered its gift of rejuvenation. To seek the Elden Ring.” This seems to indicate that Melina just saved our lives. This hints us that she is very desperate on putting her believe into us to help her. Basically, with Giddeons dialog indicating the lack of fresh Tarnished for quite a while this would mean Melina also had to wait there fairly long for getting a new chance for a “transport”. In Lyndell there is the Two finger barrier hindering Tarnished from entering. There are also the Wandering nobles, their garb tells us: “Travel attire worn by nobles in the capital. Abandoning their birthplace after the Shattering, these undead wanderers are pitiful product of unending life.” This is indicating that they had to leave the capital at some point and with the Archer Golems at the eastern Lyndell Outskirts even shooting at them, are not allowed to return. For Melina to get a “transport” to Lyndell seems very hard at this time around. Without a competent Tarnished it seems nearly impossible. She is in that way very depended which fits giving the flasks to us.
And finally, there is the similarities between her and the Tarnished. Melina uses the words “for the reason that I yet live” for herself and the intro calls us Tarnished “these who died, but yet live”. So, there is also a possibility of very simple kind of sympathy towards us, as we Tarnished share some of her state of being.
The purpose
Melina takes her time opening herself to us, adding details one after another. But over time we learn quite a lot about her. For me it does not seem that she forgot and then suddenly remembers, but that she is over time willing to open. At the beginning we are an “ally by pact” and later she calls us “old friend”.
So, I would propose she is very well aware of her memories and therefor even the details of her past and the given purpose. But as something kind of went wrong she is now trying to understand her current purpose. Her words for this particular search are: “I was born at the foot of the Erdtree. Where mother gave me my purpose. Though now, everything is lost to me. I...have to ascertain for myself. The reason for which I live, burned and bodiless.” She thinks that her current state of simply being alive is something that is not in line with her initial given purpose. All she wants is to understand what went wrong. As her initial purpose was given to her by Marika, her goal is to reach and ask her.
So, for me, this is the conclusion for her initial purpose: she had to die, to be more specific, she had to burn. This adds up with Enia knowing of the kindling. At some point Marika needed a kindling for the flame of ruin and she made Melina, specifically entrusting her with the abilities to do her task.
We find Melinas dagger in a kind of remote and almost secret chamber at the outskirts of Lyndell directly in reach of the Forbidden lands. In front of her chamber there is the officials’ attire, it reads: “Grubby blue robe worn by magisterial officials to carry out their grim tasks. Surveillance, executions, gruesome rituals... The darkest duties drive the wheels of mankind.” Pretty fitting words for someone who watches over the Kindling maiden whose purpose is to die in the flames.
Melina also seems to have a very strained relationship with Marika. In the dialog about Boc she wonders about how Boc is longing for care from his mother. She herself grew up knowing that she was just born to die anyway. If her mother did not give her anything good for her life, like love, perspective or even simple care, then Melinas struggle with Bocs feelings is understandable.
The plottwist
Melina is, like the player, not able to reach Marika. Yet she changes her mind after the battle with Morgoth. I think this is because she then found the thorns. If she is very well aware of her initial power and purpose, to set the Erdtree aflame, then the thorns very plainly tell her, that she not fully succeeded. That there is still need and use for someone with her specific set of abilities. She says: “The only way to stand before the Elden Ring...and become the Elden Lord...is to pass the thorns. My purpose serves to aid in that very act.“
This is sad in a way IMO and a nice story twist, because her then found “new” purpose to reach the forge and die in the flames, is simply her old purpose, again. But she herself experiences this in another way and even tries to justify herself as she says: “My purpose was given to me by my mother. But now, I act of my own volition. I have set my heart upon the world that I would have. Regardless of my mother's designs.” Melina gained hope and love for the world, and to a degree her own mindset and free will that is independent of Marikas.
The implications
If you can relate to this interpretation of Melinas words and actions so far then I would also like to share the implications, which this would have on the surrounding characters and events.
Melina as a child of Marika in the time of the unshattered Eldenring, would be a demigod, and following Miazakis own words, demigods are immortal due to the missing Destined death. This could very well explain why Melina survived her first burning in the flame, it was just the rules applied to her as well. But Melina seems also be connected to Destined death, as indicated through her eye. This affection is most likely a necessity for a kindling, like Enia describes it as “one who envisions the flame. And can lead you to the Rune of Death." But the eye is closed shut, question remains, why exactly is this. But my ideas on that are waaaaay too speculative.
No NPC in the game mentions Melina expect from the hints from Enia. It seems Melinas birth and raising up was a closely kept secret. Yet Melina has Torrent who’s former Master seems to be Miquella. This could indicate that they met which implies Miquella knew or found out about Melina. Quite fittingly the “hugging statue” in the Haligtree has the arms spread wide enough for a third “invisible” person beside Miquella and Malenia, just like an acknowledgement of Melina as a third sibling. This also fits well with the three butterfly types.
If Melina went to the forge once, while being fully alive it seems in a way unlikely that she went alone, as important as she is. I think this is the point where a great champion fitting to be lord comes into play, to guide Melina on her travels. This is Bernahl who before engaging in that task had to vow "See nothing, hear nothing, doubt nothing, and carry on, along the path set in stone." He succeeds to guide Melina but then witnesses her sacrifice. After that he comes to reject the Golden order and is then tarnished. I think, in the time after returning to the Lands between Bernahl didn’t met Melina, he is able to access Farum Azula because he was around at Melinas first sacrifice far in the past.
The prophets of the past envisioning a coming burning of the tree as the kindling was on her way to the forge, were true. But as the religious system itself rejected that possibly strictly and only few higher ups even know of Melina, the prophets were banished. Kind of a sad collateral damage.
Even if I use the words “first burning” of the erdtree, I think, there wasn’t one. There are several hints to a withered old Erdtree that lost its leafs and even branches. This reduces the potential for a wild and raging fire. Melinas butterfly is just the “smoldering butterfly” and the fire we find in the forge is also just a smoldering one. Therefor smoldering is the way I would imagine this burning event. If this event is also the transition from a real but partly withered Erdtree to the current glowing Golden tree, which again has lots of leaves and looks considerably vital, then I doubt this smoldering event would be witnessed as a burning at all, it would look astonishingly positive and rejuvenating. So far as, with time, mentioning the shortly interlude of withering would be considered sacrilegious, like the great clud description tells us.
With Melina being the only kindling, there is the need for another explanation for Vyke. Here I would keep it quite simple. His maiden is located behind the guarded frenzied village, behind the maddening frenzy tower. I would assume Shabiri had just abducted Vykes Finger maiden to force him to meet the three fingers. After all, Vyke most likely had acquired two Great runes at that time and was close to be the new Elden lord and it seems as a knight of the roundtable he was just the heroic type who would not let a maiden die. He even was strong or cautious enough to not get a full grip of the three fingers, they just imprinted him but did not completely access him. This event even changed Shabiris tactic, not forcing someone down there, but getting someone to go there on their own account.
Melina uses the erdtree seal for casting that belongs to the age of plenty. Her birth and raising up therefor seems to belong in the time of transitioning from the age of plenty to the war driven age of expansion with its formless erdtree seal. This raises a lot of questions about the timeline but as this post is already too long, I will not go on diving into this, again this would be waaaay to speculative.

I want to set up a VPN server for a small office so that two other branches can access a database located on a server in that office.
The database server is running on Windows Server 2022 and it runs 24/7.
My question is: can I install a VPN server in the same environment as the database, i.e. on Windows Server or would I be better off getting a dedicated device? If the latter, what kind of devices are usually used for that purpose?
Please excuse my lack of understanding here, but ideally I would want to install the VPN server on the Windows Server, I've had a look at OpenVPN but it looks like the dedicated server software can only be deployed to Linux, cloud or VM, not as a standalone Windows application. Again, I may be completely off in my understanding of the concept.
Any help would be appreciated.

I am actually expecting a lot backlash for this since the majority of the fandom loves the twist lol

Part I: Characters

I.a Sunny
Sunny is the main characters, we spend a good portion of the game exploring his dreams, and even the real world is explored through his perspective.
Sunny tends to dissociate, even before Maris death, as is evident by the excerpt found in the lost library:

"This year, ☐ was lucky enough to get assigned to a desk next to the small window."
"Every day during class, ☐ would gaze listlessly through the opening... at the shadows of the trees, the clouds creeping overhead."
"His mind drifted elsewhere... into his own worlds, his own stories, his own adventures."
"He had a habit of doing this.It was easy for him to get lost."
"Today was the same as any other. ☐ stared vacantly out the small window as the clouds passed one by one."
"Suddenly, a hand playfully slaps his back, snapping him out of his reverie. ☐ looks away from the opening."
"☐☐☐ smiles. He motions that class is over and that it's finally time for lunch. It's pizza day today, and theyneed to bolt to the cafeteria before it's all gone."
"☐'s stomach growls. He looks at the small window one last time."
"He would have to continue his adventure another day."

The dissociative tendencies are very clear, described as his mind being elsewhere.
However, the excerpt also shows off another key-trait: Imagination.
Sunny has extraordinately vivid imagination, as displayed by the entirety of Head Space, as well as his liking of imagining himself and his friends going on adventures, even in the real world, as well as both before and Maris death.
The situation described by the Lost Library is pretty much identical with the real world event involving fighting the recycultists.
One more important, but less dicussed point, is his excellent memory. Sunny can recall the correct order of Basils photographs without failure, even after 4 years of staying inside.
And speaking of the album, he can also accurately recreate their content in Head Space, shown by the HS version containing pretty much the exact same content as the real one, just with the aesthetics adjusted to Head Space. Furthermore, the scribbled out version found in Black Space are 100% identical with the reeal ones, just blacked out with marker.
Considering this, I'd say good memory is an understatement.
I'd go as far as attributing him with Photographic Memory.
But despite this, Sunny forgot something, 4 years ago he repressed something.
And he is aware of this. Dialogue from various HS characters allude to this, and urge him to try and remember:
Stranger:

STRANGER
The truth that you've locked away... You must find it no matter what.
STRANGER
You have to... for the both of us.

Faceless:

FACELESS
Even if you hide something, it will always be there.

Bullet points for Sunny: Prone to dissociation; extremely vivid imagination; amazing memory; knows he forgot something and believes he can recover it
​
I.b Basil
Basil is a very controversial character, receiving a lot of hate, but also a lot of love.
Basil-haters often attribute him with traits such as 'obsessive' or 'manipulative', even though none of these are accurate on closer inspection.
I'll just list of a few of his traits, which will be highly relevant for the crux of this theory, though just indirectly.
- Basil has abandonment-issues. These are repeatedly displyed by franctic pleas for someone to not leave him.
- Basils view of other characters are mostly based on idealization. It is seen through assgining flowers with highly positive meanings to his friends, while ignoring any negatives they might hold.
Furthermore, this behaviour is very prominent in his complete refusal to accept what Sunny had done.
- Basil is also deeply troubled, with latent suicidal ideation and tendencies. The by and large biggest red flag is encountered on '3 Days left', where he says this to Sunny...

BASIL
It's nice to see that you're still around...even if it's only for a little while.
BASIL
Here. Take my PHOTO ALBUM... I want you to have it.

...Basil acts like he is saying goodbye to Sunny, and hands off his most precious sentimental belonging...
...Despite not even knowing that Sunny is moving away.
​
- Basil is highly emotional. He displays extreme emotional reactions when put under pressure or faced with emotional hurt.
The previously mentioned instance of learning of Sunny moves triggers him to run to the bathroom, where he has a mental breakdown.
Judging by dialogue like...

POLLY
BASIL's been going to the bathroom a lot lately. I hope it's not my food...

...and...

AUBREY
And when we got to his room, I tried to talk to him... but he said he had to go to the bathroom and ran off.

...this seems to be his go-to coping-mechanism to deal with stress, and doesn't even seem to be limited to interactions with Sunny.
Furthermore, at the lake-scene, Basil hysterically screams for help, despite the hooligans actively attempting to calm him down, not at all acting hostile towards him.
- Although rare, there is at least one instance of him acting extremely angry, particularily the scene before his boss-fight, and he seems to have huge trouble to contain his anger, actually having to resort to delusional behaviour to quell it.
- Basil displays severe dissociative and psychotic (hallucinations and delusions) symptoms. The dissociation in particular is shown in what appears to be fuzzy memory:

BASIL
A lot has happened since these pictures were taken.Sometimes, it feels like it was all a bad dream.
BASIL
It's hard to remember now, but... I think... at the time...I took photos of what I was most afraid to lose.

Additionally, certain dialogue alludes to severe psychological issues being present prior to joining the friend-group:
Processing img s4afsed5ef3b1...
From the points listed above, the only one I consider to be debatable is the anger-issue. However, the other 5 traits are genuine canon.
Processing img q8mx1difef3b1...
Great, so now we have established for Basil to canonically suffer from Borderline Personality Disorder.

II Plot

II.a Sunnys case

Does Basil have his own White Space and Black Space?
OMOCAT:
The idea of the White Space is based on the ability of some people to completely isolate themselves when a traumatic happens. They isolate their mind and travel through the White Space to relieve their memories. From my personal experience, not everyone it able to do it. If Basil would have had his own White Space it would've been full of disturbing imagery, and, unlike Sunny's, it wouldn't be static but really dynamic with a lot of fast changes. Therefore I don't think Basil would be able to escape his own mind like Sunny does. And that's why his problems manifest in the real world. After all, something exists because of Basil’s idea that it exists in the first place.

Source: OMOCAT interview from Cydonia streaming translated in english : OMORI (reddit.com)
Pay close attention to the part that I highlighted.
OMOCAT openly states that Something exists for the simple reason that Basils believes it to exist to begin with. But if Somethings existence is based on Basils belief, then this raises the question why Sunny can see it, too.
I believe that this cutscene is the answer:
​
Processing gif 5q8azvo6jf3b1...
It seems to me that Sunny only began to be haunted by his Something due to this conversation, in which Basil asks Sunny to remember Something while simultaniously already suggesting what Sunny is supposed to remember.
Essentially, Sunny sees Something because of Basils suggestion of it existing to begin with.
This sets an interesting precedent of Basil unintentionally influencing Sunnys psyche by merely asking a suggestive question.
Another thing to note that this is just a short snippet of this conversation, and that there are more black-and-white cutscenes that display different parts of this particular encounter.
Another one is this:
​
Processing gif 83ofu1h8sf3b1...
This is clearly the first creation of White Space, right?
Wrong.
You see, there are certain special characters explaining the lore of Head Space, one of them being Daddy Longlegs.
He actually has dialogue explaining the creation of Head Space:

DADDY LONGLEGS
You have reached the end of the LOST FOREST... but the beginning of the truth.
DADDY LONGLEGS
I will tell you a story that has been lost through time... a story about the creation of this reality.
DADDY LONGLEGS
In the beginning, there only existed two... the DREAMER and his room.
DADDY LONGLEGS
The DREAMER grew weary of his room and created a door that led to many different worlds.
DADDY LONGLEGS
Walking the path as a visitor to these worlds, the DREAMER would come and go as he pleased.
DADDY LONGLEGS
Slips and falls, tumbles and drops... the DREAMER's curiosity and clumsy exploration eventually led him to a certain world.
DADDY LONGLEGS
One not like the others... one painted with chaos and bathed in darkness.
DADDY LONGLEGS
The DREAMER slowly became filled with dread. Quiet as they may have been, words of malice quietly crept into his mind. Whispering lies, secrets, and truths.

The 'DREAMER and his room...' clearly refers to Sunnys White Space.
Meanwhile, the world 'painted with chaos and bathed in darkness' very clearly refers to Black Space.
This means, according to Daddy Longlegs, that White Space existed way before Black Space. Furthermore, he states that only after Sunnys first encounter with Black Space did he 'slowly became filled with dread', which seems to imply that Sunnys most severe issues started at a later point in time than the creation of White Space.
Now, since White Space already existed prior to Black Space, this creates a problem:
As stated by OMOCAT, White Space exists to provide relief of memory - meaning that Sunny had already repressed memories at this point.
However, if we assume the cause of supression to be 'the truth' about Maris death, both Something and Black Space, and the Black Lightbulb should have already been a thing from the very beginning.
However, this is not the case. The black door as well as the lightbulb make their first appearence in this cutscene.
What this implies to me is that, just like Something, Black Space was created due to suggestions Basil made in this conversation, and subsequently the Black Lightbulb was created to supress Black Space.
In fact, Black Space can be further linked to being the product an external source:
Processing img sjtem9akhg3b1...
White Egret Orchids, at least in this game, represemt the phrase: 'My thoughts will follow you into your dreams.'
Furthemore, Black Space in general is strongly linked to Basil, both due to the overwhelming presence of Stranger as well the fact that it is always Basil that will find the path to 'the truth'.
​
This entire dynamic is very interesting.
Appearantly, there was a period of time in which Sunny was completely free of the influence of both Black Space,'the truth' it contains, and Something.
This might sound crazy, but this seems to imply that all three of Black Space, 'the truth' and Something can be traced back to this conversation, but not any further.
This becomes even clearer when you line up the three cut-scenes in the order they appear in the game:
​
Processing video aed5qnn9ov3b1...
​
The implication here is that this conversation is what triggered Sunnys Hikkikomori-lifestyle and caused a sharp shift in Sunnys behaviour.
This may be hard to accept, but what is being implied here is that this is the starting point of Sunnys 4 years of agony.
This is extremely weird, since 'the truth' about Maris death is supposed to be the source of his suffering, yet it started only about a few months after her death.
Why did Sunny only become haunted by 'the truth' after this point?
It can't be explained by repression either since a) the Black Lightbulb is required to repress it and b) the Black Lightbulb is what caused his Hikkikomorism to begin with, yet Sunny is stated to have gone to school up until this point and was actually willing to let others reach out to him.
This is a stark contrast to his behaviour after this conversation.
​
The only answer that makes sense is the following: 'The truth' simply didn't exist up until this point, not even in a repressed form.
This scene depicts the literal creation of 'the truth'.
'The truth' in it's entirety is an idea that Basil put into Sunnys head.

BRANCH CORAL
A hanging black light bulb... the repression of an idea.

It is openly stated that the Black Lightbulb is not the repression of a memory - that is White Spaces purpose - but in fact the repression of an idea.
Additionally, there actually is dialogue hinting at the replacement and subsequent repression of memories:

BLANK Your memories are not free. To gain a memory, another must be shrouded. And yet... All memories will eventually fade.

What I propose is the following: Basil wanted to talk to Sunny about 'the truth'. Now, the problem is that Sunny had already repressed the memories of Maris true death - suicide.
So, when Basil realizes that Sunny doesn't remember... he fills him in, similar to how he recounts the events of Maris death prior to his boss fight.
This is also the reason for the photo at the treehouse: Since Basil believes that Sunny had already 'forgotten' the truth at least once before, he decides to leave him a physical reminder - a photo and the key to the toy-chest.
This is supported by the 'Don't forget... it's in the toy-chest'-message - there is no reason to write a message urging Sunny not to forget about it unless Basil has a reason to believe Sunny might forget about it to begin with.
Now, Sunnys got a huge problem - since he already had repressed his memory at this point he had no way of falsifying Basils account. And since he trusts Basil, he makes the wrong choice and believes him.
Subsequently, this triggers the creation of both Something and Black Space.

Quiet as they may have been, words of malice quietly crept into his mind. Whispering lies, secrets, and truths.

This is referring to Basils words during this conversation.
Even though Sunny tried to repress them, the only thing he achieved is pushing them to his subconscious - where they then rampaged rampaged and grew in strength over the next 4 years.
In essence, this constitutes a case of both False Memories and Shared Delusional Disorder.
​
And it makes sense. You remember the characterization of Sunny at the beginning of this post?
Well, check this out:

Greater creative imagination and dissociation are known to relate to false memory formation. Creative imagination may lead to vivid details of imagined events. High dissociation may be associated with habitual use of lax response criteria for source decisions due to frequent interruption of attention or consciousness. Social desirability and false memory have also been examined. Social desirability effects may depend on the level of perceived social pressure.
Individuals who feel under greater social pressure may be more likely to acquiesce. Perceived pressure from an authority figure may lower individuals' criteria for accepting a false event as true. The new individual difference factors include preexisting beliefs about memory, self-evaluation of one's own memory abilities, trauma symptoms, and attachment styles. Regarding the first of these, metamemory beliefs about the malleability of memory, the nature of trauma memory, and the recoverability of lost memory may influence willingness to accept vague impressions or fragmentary images as recovered memories and thus, might affect the likelihood of accepting false memory. For example, if someone believes that memory once encoded is permanent, and that visualization is an effective way to recover memories, the individual may endorse more liberal criteria for accepting a mental image as true memory. Also, individuals who report themselves as having better everyday memories may feel more compelled to come up with a memory when asked to do so. This may lead to more liberal criteria, making these individuals more susceptible to false memory.
There is some research that shows individual differences in false memory susceptibility are not always large (even on variables that have previously shown differences—such as creative imagination or dissociation), that there appears to be no false memory trait, and that even those who have highly superior memory are susceptible to false memories.

How convenient. This is literally Sunny. Sunny displays all of these traits.
Sunny is morbidly predispositioned to aquire False Memories, especially due to his great trust in Basil, his best friend.
Additionally, 'recovering repressed memories' is notorious for confabulating False Memories:

However, when memories are "recovered" after long periods of amnesia, particularly when extraordinary means were used to secure the recovery of memory, it is now widely (but not universally) accepted that the memories have a high likelihood of being false, i.e. "memories" of incidents that had not actually occurred.

And there actually are fairly strong hints that can be interpreted as Sunnys recovered memories being memories that were imagined at Basils suggestion:
​
Processing img 6whr115l7n3b1...
Processing img 13x2utk98n3b1...
A basic, common yet effective technique to determine memories as either dreams or imagined events is to look for inconsistencies, either with reality or among the memories in question.
And there are several inconsistencies to be found in those photos.
The problem with this procedure though is that such inconsistencies can be dismissed as simple oversights on the developers side, meaning that this is 100% percent dependent on ones willingness to interpret them either as inconsistencies or a developers oversight.
But for the purpose of this theory I'll continue under the former assumption.
And these are the inconsistencies I found:
​
Processing img vdlj795han3b1...
Truth Photo: Only lower level has vine-pattern, no table bellow the window, hanging photos (Note: The table bellow the window is actually gone in RW present time, but in the past there was one.)
Real World: Both levels have vine-pattern, table beneath the window, photos are on a sideboard.
​
Processing img m6az3bavbn3b1...
Processing img j1l9myucjn3b1...
​
Processing img 8vh1lqzcpn3b1...
Well... no. In reality, it is a sliding door:
​
Processing img 0otxujv6rn3b1...
​
Processing img lfq7am4wzs3b1...
Left photo: Left tree has no branch, right one has one on it's right side.
Right photo: Left tree has one branch on it's right side, right one has none.
​
Processing img aum9y3531t3b1...
Judging by the position of the sun in the photos, the incident is supposed to happen close to sundown.
However, this images shading implies nighttime.
Additionally, Aubrey mentions that Mari was found in the evening. And actually, the neighbours were home.
Or, at least Hero. Hero actually states that he was home in the afternoon of that day.
It is not unreasonable to say that if Hero was home, he would have somehow been alerted of what was hapenning: A crash, a scream, or simply looking out the window to see Sunny and Basil carry a dead Mari.
You know what have not been suspicious at all? Mari, walking across her own backyard towards the tree.
Processing img y16y8reu2t3b1...
​
Processing img j93z2beq6t3b1...
Left: Mari faces away from Basil.
Right: Suddenly, Mari does face towards Basil.
​
As you can see, there are quite a few inconsistencies that can be found in those photos.
​
II.b Basils Case
But up until this point, the only thing I've argued for is that Sunny memory is based on Basils account, and not that the incident in it's entire actually never happened to begin with.
​
Well, let us look at the following question: How realistic, or even feasably possible is 'the truth'?
The answer: Not at all.
​
You see... there is a standard procedure by authorities for suicide-cases.
One, the deceased has the to be officially pronounced dead - and for this, either a doctor or a paramedic is necessary.
The problem is that Mari supposedly fell down the stairs. There absolutely have to be at least bruises. And, in fact, the notesheets that Mari carried while falling are noted to be blood-stained. There also was blood.
The paramedic would find unexplained physical trauma and blood. At this point, they would be required to notify investigative authorities and alert them to evidence of foul play.
Two, in cases of a suicide without a suicide-note, a standard-investigation is carried out, including an obducation.
This procedure is mandatory, and cannot be vetoed even by close relatives.
And even if the investigations would yield no results, this case is more likely to be considered an unsolved homicide rather than a suicide.
​
There's also the matter of physical feasability. Can Sunny and Basil even pull this off...?
Not really.
There's 2 scenarios for this incident. Case I: Basil did it alone and Case II Sunny and Basil did it together.
Case I: Complete nonsense. Basil cannot pull this off.
He's 12 and Mari is 16 and significantly heavier. He's too weak.
The game actually comments on Basils strength, or more percisely his lack of exactly that:

BASIL ... OMORI... You're so heavy...
BASIL Come on... Up the stairs you go...
BASIL Phew... Thank goodness you're awake.
BASIL Are you hurt at all? I was trying to pull you toward this white light at the top of the staircase...

Key word being 'trying'.
This is the scene in question:
Processing img vbf5agr23v3b1...
As you can see, Omori is still lying at the bottom of the stairs. This means Basil didn't even manage to drag him a single step upwards.
Basil completely and utterly failed to even move another 12-yevar-old.
There is no way he can even remotely exert the force necessary to do that to Mari.
​
Case II: Sunny and Basil did it together.
I will concede that if they sling the rope around the branch, and then both of them at once oull at the rope, then they actually can get her to the necessary height.
The problem is the following though:
If they follow this procedure, they still have to fix the rope to the branch.
To do that, one of them has to let go of the rope, scale the tree and then tie the knot.
Now consider this: The setup essentially functions like a ⚖️:
Whatever is heavier at either end of the rope will remain on the ground.
Sunny and Basil together are heavier than Mari.
Either of them alone isn't.
As soon as either lets go of the rope, Mari will plummet, while the other 12-year-old will be lifted of the ground.
Another problem is scaling the tree. Sunny is afraid of heights, to the point that even the staircase is a serious obstacle.
Here's a visiualization of the necessary heights:
Processing img fcjjnly56v3b1...
Height of the branch: ~ Maris height x 1.666
Height of the noose: ~ Maris height x 1.2
​
Lowballing Maris height to the average 1.60m will lead to the following results:
Height of the branch: ~ 2.65m
Height of the noose: 1.92m
​
You can see that 2.65m is pretty high up.
In Basils case, it is actually implied that he is a bad climber due to a fear of height as well:

(5/25):
It's been pretty busy with school lately, but we finally made time to get together and go to the park today. Here's KEL hanging his legs off a tree. He's such a good climber! I wish I was as fearless as him.

This already constitutes a huge problem.
The alternative option is that they first tie the rope to the branch, and only then put Maris head through the noose.
The problem is the height of the noose. They'd have to lift Maris head ~ 1.90m of the ground.
This is problematic, since Mari is dead and thus her body acts like a limp noodle. They'd have to lift her by the head to avoid her body or head slumping over, and this creates a problem of reach.
Mind you that this is a situation in which even an adult would struggle to lift a person of comparable stature to this height.
Can two 12-year-old-boys, who are in a clear state of shock pull this off?
I highly doubt that.
And if we are to assume the scrapped descriptions of the album as a basis, then the case is already clear:
It is impossible, since all problems regarding Case II apply even more glringly to Case I.
​
Now, that still leaves the question on why Basil genuinly believes in this False Memory.
Well, we have talked about Basil and BPD, haven't we?
Well take a look at this:

This paper presents an analysis of dream-reality confusion (DRC) in relation to the characteristics of borderline personality disorder (BPD), based on research findings and theoretical considerations. It is hypothesized that people with BPD are more likely to experience DRC compared to people in non-clinical population. Several variables related to this hypothesis were identified through a theoretical analysis of the scientific literature.
Sleep disturbances: problems with sleep are found in 15–95.5% of people with BPD, and unstable sleep and wake cycles, which occur in BPD, are linked to DRC.
Dissociation: nearly two-thirds of people with BPD experience dissociative symptoms and dissociative symptoms are correlated with a fantasy proneness; both dissociative symptoms and fantasy proneness are related to DRC .
Negative dream content: People with BPD have nightmares more often than other people; dreams that are more likely to be confused with reality tend to be more realistic and unpleasant, and are reflected in waking behavior.
Cognitive disturbances: Many BPD patients experience various cognitive disturbances, including problems with reality testing , which can foster DRC. Thin boundaries: People with thin boundaries are more prone to DRC than people with thick boundaries, and people with BPD tend to have thin boundaries .
The theoretical analysis on the basis of these findings suggests that people who suffer from BPD may be more susceptible to confusing dream content with actual waking events.

If you're interested in this thematic, here's the source.
What this suggests is that people suffering from BPD are significantly more prone to DRC, which is an inability to differentiate between dreams and reality. On top of that, DRC is trongly linked to the concept of nightmares.
And Basil, in fact is hinted to suffer from this by his own dialogue:
​
Processing img kk3tofx0fv3b1...

BASIL
A lot has happened since these pictures were taken.
Sometimes, it feels like it was all a bad dream.

Note that he specifically says 'since these pictures were taken' - in the timeframe he describes, Maris death is included.
​
If it wasn't clear before what I was getting at with this, by now all the pieces should have fallen in place.
Yes, I am suggesting that the plot of OMORI is not some sort of murder-mystery, but instead a tragic tale about two boys who were completely ruined by a mental hell that exists exclussively in their heads.
Essentially, I am arguing that 'the truth' is a Red Herring, and that taking the obvious conclusion at face-value is a fallacy.
​
Here's a general outline for the backstory:
​

At the day of the recital, Mari commits suicide.
Sunny and Basil are the ones to find her. Both develop PTSD. Additionally, Basils BPD drastically worsens due to his trauma.
A few months pass. At an unspecified point during this time, Basil has a terrible nightmare influenced by his trauma, and due to BPD-related DRC mistakes it for a genuine memory.
He goes on to talk about 'the truth' to Sunny. Many reasons are possible: He just wants to comfort him, or maybe he did so in a desperate hope that Sunny would deny this memory to be true.
But Sunny has amnesia. And he is morbidly predispositioned to develop False Memories at other peoples suggestion. And since he has no way of debunking Basil recounting of that day, he accepts it as true.
Meanwhile, Basil had noticed Sunny to have 'forgotten' about 'the truth'. So, to ensure that Sunny does not do so again, he tapes the key to the back of one of his photos, and leaves the 'Don't forget'-message on it's back.
Basils influence on Sunnys vulnerable psyche has triggered the creation of Black Space (Note how the door to BS is located in a field of White Egret Orchid, which represent the phrase 'My thoughts will follow you into your dreams' Black Space is Basils suggestion following Sunny into his dreams).
In order to subdue it, he creates the Black Lightbulb, and starts to shut himself off completely.
4 years of silence follow, and in the meantime, 'the truth' rampages in Sunnys subconscious and grows in strength, as implied by both Stranger and Daddy Longlegs.
At the night of '3 Days Left', Sunny actively tries to remember 'the truth' and destroys the Black Lightbulb.
This causes the 'idea' that Basil unknowingly planted in Sunnys mind to resurface full-force.
What follows is a Sunny 'remembering' a False Memory, based on Basil account of the events. The photos are from Basils POV, in a book labeled 'Basils Memories', and are riddeled with inconsistencies and impossibilities.
Additionally, Basils claim of 'Something behind Sunny' having killed Mari is actually based on a truth: Since Something=Mari, this means 'Something killed Mari' is correct, just twisted beyond recognition.

I'd like to add that this theory also solves certain plot-issues rather nicely, and offers concrete conclusions rather than vague interpretations and shallow symbolism.
Specificall the key and photo in the treehouse, as well as the the meaning of the White Egret Orchid come to mind.
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There is just one question left unanswered:
Mari.
Why?
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II.c Mari
Well...

BASIL Aww, MARI... I wish I could be more like you! You always seem to have everything under control.
MARI That's not true at all! It just seems that way from the outside!

The implication here is that Mari has more going on than she lets on.
Additionally, she expresses a certain strong belief:

MARI
Everyone... I know it's tough right now, but we have to stay positive! We should all try to be like BASIL! Even when BASIL is upset, he always manages to smile.

She essentially says that one should suck it up and smile regardless.
This behaviour is dangerous.
If you actively try to cover up your problems up with toxic positivity, other people cannot offer help, and may result in those problems becoming worse and worse. This behaviour would explain why nobody saw it coming.
Mari is also a perfectionist.

Researchers have begun to investigate the role of perfectionism in various mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders and personality disorders, as well as suicide. Each disorder is associated with varying levels of the three subscales on the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale. For instance, socially prescribed perfectionism in young women has been associated with greater body-image dissatisfaction and avoidance of social situations that focus on weight and physical appearance.

Perfectionism is known to be a great contributor to both mental disorders and suicidal ideation.
I already have a specific disorder in mind, but more on that later.

Perfectionism is increasingly considered to be a risk factor for suicide. The tendency of perfectionists to have excessively high expectations of self and to be self-critical when their efforts do not meet the expectations they have established, combined with their tendency to present a public image of flawlessness increases their risk of suicidal ideation while decreasing the likelihood of seeking help when it is needed. Perfectionism is one of many suicide predictors that affect individuals negatively via pressure to fulfill other- or self-generated high expectations, feeling incapable of living up to them, and social disconnection.

This is pretty much the behaviour I have previously described.
In this context, it would make sense for Maris suicide to come out of nowhere due to a tendency to hide their problems and social disconnection.
Social disconnection is acually hinted at at least twice.

(9/9):
SUNNY giving MARI a big hug! MARI doesn't come home until late now because she's taking extra classes to prepare for college. Me and SUNNY have been hanging out a lot, but I'm sure he still misses her a lot.

According to Basil, Mari doesn't come home from school until very late. Furthermore, she appearantly barely gets to spend any time with Sunny, despite him being her brother and literally sleeping in the same room.
Subsequently, she probably gets little to no time to spend with the others either, including Hero.
This is further supported by the Black Space II area known as 'Mari is home':

AUBREY
Hey, OMORI... I think your sister is ignoring us. Maybe you should go talk to her.
KEL
We can't have a picnic without MARI!
HERO
MARI hasn't been home in a long time... She just needs some room to adjust.

According to Aubrey, Mari is ignoring them. This hints at increased social isolation on Maris side.
Heros wording also brings us to the next topic:
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Adjustment Disorder.
Adjustment Disorder is in essence very similar to depression, but caused by an accute psychologic stressor. The disorder usually disappears once the offending stressor is terminated and the person manages to 'adjust' to the situation. The type I am suggesting is essentially very similar to Burnout.
Adjustment Disorder poses a strong risk-factor for suicide, especially if it is in conjunction with perfectionism.
Mari was extremely stressed in the months leading up the recital:
​

Mine and MARI's school books. MARI has been coming home late because of cram school. She must be tired...

Maris parents are sending her to cram school, which causes Mari to come home very late.
It is reasonable to assume that the majority of her free-time, most notably the weekends, were probably consumed by practicing for the recital.

A table lamp. MARI has trouble sleeping, so she reads books before bed. I often turn off this light for her after she falls asleep.

It is openly stated that Mari has problems falling asleep. This serves to make mental exhaustion and depressive tendencies even worse.
​
The way I see it, Mari was under constant and extreme pressure in the time leading up to the recital. Her busy schedule impeded on her social life, and combined with a prefectionist tendency to try and keep up an image of flawlessness resulted in her problems to go unnoticed by the others.
The closer the recital came, the more the pressure on Mari increased. She wanted it to be perfect, but since only the weekends are left to practice, this severly limited her opportunities to practice.
However, Sunny hated the practicing, and he also hated Mari locking herself away on the piano for hours at a time.
This conflict caused an alienation between the two siblings.
​
All of those issues combined provide both a realistic and believable reason for Maris suicide as well as an explanation as to why nobody saw it coming.
All in all I'd say that this alternative interpretation of 'the truth' greatly increases Mari depth as a character based on actual in-game evidence.
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That should be about everything. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
​
What do you think about this theory?
While I certainly expect a lot skepticism, I think that at the very least I have proven that this is fairly substantiated, realistic, and narratively compelling alternative interpretation of OMORIs plot.
Before you ask, yes, I do headcanon this.
I particularily like the subtle hints, and howthe characters personality, relationships and backstory fall in place very conveniently.
A lot of little details on their own can be dismissed very easily, yet together they converge to a very powerful argument.
Essentially, I love that this interpretation re-defines 'the truth' as an ingenious Red Herring.

Hi, I’ve never shipped with FedEx before so I’d like some advice. I’m attending an artist fair in July and am hoping to ship my merch in advance. Does anyone have experience with the hold at location option in Seoul (specifically the Gangnam branch, that’s the nearest to my Airbnb. I don’t feel super secure shipping to my Airbnb in advance because the hosts don’t actually stay there).
I’m shipping from the Philippines if that’s relevant. If I’m going to do this do I just enter the address of my Airbnb and select hold at location? Or do I actually enter the address of the Fedex branch? Thanks a bunch!

The Essentials

Even the best weather can change rapidly, and even the widest trail can be lost. It pays to take a little extra with you, just in case.
This list is NOT exhaustive – it is just a start – add to this list according to the season and your route.
Notice: Always tell a reliable person where you are going and when to expect you back, leave a detailed trip itinerary, and make sure you know your route and plan accordingly.
The below list assumes you are already wearing appropriate footwear – hiking boots NOT runners. Runners are a terrible choice for hiking. You will slip and or sprain your ankle. Appropriate hiking clothing that is NON-COTTON, such as hiking pants, poly-pro shirt, poly-pro underwear, toque, and backpack. Just remember, these are not get out of jail free cards, electronics can fail, run out of batteries, or lose their signal. Telling someone where you are going, leaving a trip itinerary and bringing the other 9 essentials is critical to a safe outdoor excursion.
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1. Light

Flashlight or a headlamp with extra batteries (and light bulb if not LED). Green cyalume stick or small turtle lights as emergency backup.

2. Signalling Device

Whistle (we recommend the Fox 40 whistle with a lanyard), Bear Bangers, Pencil Flare

3. Fire Starter

Matches (water proof or in plastic bag) or lighter. We also recommend a commercial firestarter and/or a candle. Commercial firestarters can be purchased at outdoor stores like Mountain Equipment Coop.

4. Warm clothes

Hat or toque, gloves or mittens, puffy jacket, gortex jacket, polypro underwear, good quality hiking socks and gortex over pants.

5. Pocketknife

Although a multi tool is preferred, a good pocket knife with a quality blade will suffice. It may also be worth carrying a small pruning saw for cutting branches when building a shelter or fire.
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6. Shelter

Large orange plastic bag and thermal tarp.

7. Water and food

Gatorade crystals recommended and high energy food bars

8. First-aid kit

Should include pocket mask; Sam Splint, bulk dressings, protective gloves, bandage, scissors and blister dressings

9. Navigation

Good quality compass with built in declination adjustment and both topographical and interpretive maps. we also recommend a GPS unit but only as an adjunct to compass and map. Most team members carry a Garmin 60 series GPS unit that has terrific reception in the trees.

10. Communications – Cell phone

We recommend you bring a cell phone with a fully charged battery. It is advisable to keep the phone turned off, and stored in a ziplock bag. This way, if you get into trouble your phone will be dry and have a full charge. Many people manage to call 911 initially but their phone dies before their location can be relayed, not a desirable situation. If you have a smartphone, you should also know how to get GPS coordinates off of it to give to search and rescue if you become lost or injured (eg. MotionX or iphone compass app) . Depending on the terrain and difficulty of your excursion, it may also be worth considering satellite based communications devices like the Spot, Delorme InReach or a Personal Locator Beacon.
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Important Tips regarding the 10 essentials:

The lack of light is the single most cause of overdure hiker calls for NSR. It is so easy to under estimate the amount of daylight left especially if you are deep in the forest. That is why carrying a good quality flashlight or headlamp with extra bulb and batteries per person, is number 1 on our list of the ten essential items. It is also prudent to carry green cyalume light sticks as an emergency backup ONLY. These lightweight items will illuminate the trail around and in front of you sufficiently for you to travel slowly in darkness fro several hours.
Note that training is required to develop efficient skills for use of a map, compass, and first aid kit, as well as to efficiently light fires. However having these items with you can make all the difference in a survival situation.
Why a large orange plastic bag? It’s actually one of the most valuable items on the list. Crawling into the bag helps keep you warm and dry. The orange colour is also highly visible and helps attract attention, particularly from the air.
Why a whistle? It is ideal for siganlling for help as your voice will become very hoarse in a short period of time especially if you are dehydrated. We reccommend the Fox 40 whistle because it works very well in wet conditions and has good range. When sending out a distress whistle blast do three short blasts in timed intervals of 1 to 5 minutes and in different directions from where you are standing as rescuers may be above below or to the sides of you, especially if you are lost in a canyon.If you here whistle blasts from rescuers it doesn’t mean that they can here you. Continue whistle blasts at even shorter intervals 1 minutes or less until they can make voice contact with you and the follow their instructions etc..
We also recommend you carry a heavy duty thermal blanket as this provides excellent shelter and reflects body heat.
Water especially, is an important essential item to take before and during your hike. We recommend you drink between 1-2 litres of water before and carry 1-2 litres. Hydration is directly proportional to your performance but also in maintaining essential fluid balance in your body. This is only a general guideline and is to be adjusted for extreme heat, cold, altitude, terrain etc. We also recommend you carry electrolyte, such as Gatorade in order to replenished salt and potassium that are depleted during excessive exercise. We recommend that you be always fully aware to take short rest and water breaks and hydrate yourself during your hike so as to avoid fluid depletion that leads to heat exhaustion and/or hypothermia.
We combined navigation and communications into number 9 and 10 essential items rather than creating the 11 essential items as they go hand in hand with each other. Knowing where you are and communicating your location in an emergency is a god send, both to yourself and the search and rescue team. As stated above you need proper training to orienteer with compass and map and a GPS should be seen as an adjunct to this. The GPS in itself is a valuable tool and depending on the type and price you want to pay you can get topographical maps downloaded onto the GPS. However, the GPS requires practice and it is not a substitute for orienteering skills especially if you are in terrain with natural obstacles such as canyons, cliff bands etc
The whole strategy to clothing is layering and breathability. This prevents overheating and sweating which can cause dehydration and begin the cycle of hypothermia in cold weather and heat exhaustion in relatively warmer weather. There are many clothing types on the market but you will want to wear underclothing next to the skin that wicks sweat away. It is also important to purchase fleece and gortex clothing that has venting zippers in the armpits and leg areas as this allows excess body heat to vent during times of heavy exercise in inclement weather. A fleece or woolen toque or hat is also a must as a great deal of body heat is lost through the head especially in children. Remember the saying ” if your feet get cold put your toque on”. Good quality woolen or gortex gloves or mittens are a must, especially in winter and inclement weather so as to prevent frostbite or cold injury. This will also allow you to perform tasks such as holding onto rocks or tree branches when traveling in terrain, wood gathering , lighting a fire etc. One additional little tip is to carry two good quality plastic shopping bags in case your boots get wet. You can put on your dry socks and wrap them in the bags then put your wet boots back on. This is great if you are stranded overnight and want yo keep you feet warm and be somewhat comfortbale.It can also prevent frostbite in cold weather in this type of situation.
We did not include footwear as an essential item to carry as it something that goes on at the start of your hike and stays on. Footwear selection from trail runners to approach shoes to light hikers to full mountaineering leather or plastic boots needs to be based on the type of activity you plan to carry out and the type of terrain you will travel in. Remember, if you buy new boots break them in long before your hike and have plenty of moleskin on hand to cover the potential hot spots that always seem to go with new boots. Also, good quality hiking socks are a must as these types of socks will wick sweat away from the feet thus reducing the risk of blisters or skin problems.
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