Chao Yihun, who could only move in a wheelchair because of an accident, walked into another world and was told that he had a system. As long as the male protagonist went to attack here, he could stay in this world and enjoy the prosperity and wealth with sound limbs. In order to avoid dispersal, Chaoyi followed Qin Que's method of "taking the loopholes" and tried his best to improve the favorabili ... Read Get the Heroine's Script - Chapter 34 - MangaPuma. Read more at https://mangapuma.com/get-the-heroines-script/chapter-34

My gf is wonderful, the most authentic, lovely, caring and beautiful person you could ever meet. Her heart is made of pure gold, but she struggles to see the value in herself. She (27) and I (26m) met on social media, about 4 months ago and everything went well: we became friends and eventually fell in love. She used to send me cute pictures of herself regularly, and we used to get on quite well. Initially, I thought she was single, but when we met, I found out that she's been in an unhappy relationship. She has been dating this 31 year old manchild, who uses her car to drive around, and still does ever since they broke up. They dated since she was 15 and she was unhappy with the relationship two years before she and I met. Being together 12 years, he was her first in everything, but she wasn't happy.
They eventually broke up. The ex still stays in her parents' house, in a separate flat. He drives around with her car wherever he wants; yet she doesn't have access to it. Her dad works constantly until very late in the evening, and when he's not, he goes mountainbiking. He promised that he will help her ex look for another car, but nothing has yet come from the endeavour. When he is at home, he seems to only be present when they have a BBQ every Saturday. Moreover, her brother gets a shit ton of attention from her mother, who constantly breaks down and cries because of him. He had a psychotic episode (not more than a month ago) that rendered him absolutely manic! He had to go to a psych hospital and is now on medication: he also had to leave his weed, because now he is on anti-psychotic meds and constantly depressed after all his friends graduated with their degrees, but he didn't (because of said circumstances). She is always there for him, but nobody ever supports her, I try my best to.
She also still stays with her parents, she has no degree, no stable job, even though she has her own business that seems to sometimes get clients (sometimes not). It doesn't seem like she's actively cultivating clients towards attaining her independence. Her parents are financially supporting her ex-boyfriend, and are helping him look for a vehicle after he (initally) sold his in order to get another one - but he didn't. Now, she's stuck without her car, her parents aren't doing much about it. And she bears the brunt. And so do I...
Now the issue of a (possible) ED comes along. My gf is diagnosed with anxiety, she drinks sleeping medication, because she also has insomnia, and takes other meds for her hereditary low blood pressure. She's a "walking pharmacy", as she sometimes jokes about it. She slept over at my place twice before, and we have been seeing one another every week consecutively, since we met. When we didn't, we would video call in the evening and watch our favourite TV-shows together, or we'd just have deep conversations.
About two weeks back, she came to sleep over at my place and everything was normal, until I suggested we watch a funny (yet, educational) TV-show about sexuality. She wasn't really receptive to the idea, but later conceded when I suggested politely that we could watch something else, if she'd like. We watched the trailer of the first episode, and I immediately paused because she felt uncomfortable: I tried to inquire why, and she told me that her ex used to watch porn and hide it from her, when they dated. She felt that it violated her, and that he was receiving pleasure from other women's bodies, and subconsciously felt he was comparing her with them. She became extremely self-conscious and started working on herself, because she picked up weight (weighing at most 70kg) and brought it down to 50kg. She was healthy and at peace with herself after being very hard on herself and her exercise routines.
To what extent she was hard on herself, I don't know. All I know is she has a fear of being "fat" again and simultaneously doesn't want to pick uo weight for that reason whilst still building muscle. Since our weekend together, and the TV-show episode (pardon the pun). She withdrew from me, and has since been lost in a vicious cycle of dieting and exercising. She drinks coffee in excess, she drinks fatburners. She always mirror-checked herself, when she was at my place (even before what happened - happened). Eventually she told me that what happened triggered her, and that she needed a little time. And that I need to be patient, she will eventually get over it.
I honestly try my best, but I notice that she's not eating properly (even though she tells me she does), she obsessively works out every day. She weighs herself every day, after her workouts. And she calorie counts. Now she's scheduled for a minor invasive eye surgery and this brings along a new set of issues in and of itself. She's doubly exercising, drinking excess caffeine and all our conversations are either about food, or exercise: there's no depth to our relationship anymore, giving me the idea that she has an ED (a form of Anorexia). She doesn't communicate anything to me, beyond superficialities. And even when we do chat, she's exhausted from her exercise routine! Even when we video call, she keeps her camera off because she feels that she doesn't look her best. And I feel as if I've lost her...
It was her birthday that same weekend we spent together and the trigger episode happened. I gave her a promise ring, last week, when we talked through everything that happened and things felt like it became normal. No matter what I say or do, nothing seems to work. I can't seem to reach her, because she's sucked so far in a void of her own body dysmorphia, and I feel like I can't reach her. Aside from the fact that she has severe trust issues and no friends, this makes things even more difficult. I don't want to give up on her, because I really care for her, and I just need help. Her medical aid is exhausted and her parents can't afford expensive treatments now.
What do I do? Do I do nothing? Do I leave it in her hands? She's on a path of destruction that will ultimately destroy her. Sorry for the long writ, I just have nowhere else to go.

It first came to my attention in my 100-level Political Science class.
Week one, the class was absolutely packed. There was energy. Debate. Discussion.
Five weeks in, and now it looks like nearly half the class is gone.
Mind you, Professor Weldon was not only an exceptional lecturer who explained concepts with passion and great insight - he was also a very easy grader. It made no sense to me that people were transferring out of his class. A couple of stragglers dropping off once they realize that Poli Sci isn’t for them? Sure. But this was ridiculous.
It happened in my other 100-level classes too: four weeks in, and a little over 40% of the class transferred out of English 101. Psychology? A lecture hall of roughly 200 people had been reduced to 120 or so.
I brought it up to my friends on campus who were also in their first year.
“People dropping classes in their first few weeks is totally normal,” replied Dinesh. “If I saw you sitting there in one of my classes with that dumb expression on your face, I’d drop it immediately too.”
Ha-ha. Very funny.
I turned to Mallory. She just shrugged and said “I don’t know man,” and went back to reading her book.
I’d known both of them for close to five years now. While none of us were in the same program (Dinesh was a robotics geek, Mallory was obsessed with history), we’d all been very close since high school. We were outcasts who clung to each other over our shared love of D&D, video game music, and badminton. After weeks of nervousness hoping all of us would get admission to this university, we were thrilled to find out that we’d all made it - our little trio would get to continue.
“Guess I’m just overthinking things, then. Don’t know why this isn’t sitting well with me,” I responded to both of them.
As we continued hanging out in the mezzanine, I couldn’t shake the fact that the campus, as a whole, looked much emptier than usual for a Monday.
–-
As usual, I showed up early for the Poli Sci lecture. Yes, I am a tryhard, and yes, it’s important to me that I’m as close to a model student as possible in this new chapter of my life.
I watched as students shuffled into class. I also paid attention to Professor Weldon’s pre-class demeanor. He was his usual chipper self.
I took the opportunity to go up to him and ask a quick question.
“Hey, Professor Weldon…”
“You can call me Michael!”
“Right, hey… Michael, so obviously, we’re only like five weeks into the class and it’s my first year so I’m new to this whole thing… just wanted to confirm it’s normal for students to transfer out of their classes in the first few weeks? I’ve noticed a really big drop off in all of my classes including this on–”
“Totally normal! I mean, students are still figuring out what their interests are and what their overall class workload needs to be, so this is all very standard stuff. Great question though!”
Well, alrighty then. I think I just needed to hear it from a professor. I started questioning why the whole drop-off thing was even bothering me in the first place. I turned to go back to my seat.
“Don’t ever ask that again, alright?”
What?
I turned around. Did the prof just whisper what I thought he did?
He doubled down with a hushed response.
“I’m not gonna say anything about it, but a word of advice. For your own good, just listen to the material and study it. You really don’t wanna be asking people around here questions like that. Are we clear?”
All I could do was muster up a nod and walk back to my desk.
And with that, the lecture kicked off. As Professor Weldon discussed the various types of political systems around the world, I tried my best to forget the weird exchange I just had with him. To his credit, he defaulted to his regular sunny disposition throughout the presentation. I even answered a few questions he posed to the group, and he called on me as if nothing had even happened.
There were moments though, as I looked around the class, where I felt like I wasn’t alone in my… hypervigilance. Most of the students were tuned in or dozing off as usual, but I spotted a couple of faces who seemed… nervous? Like they were anxiously contemplating something?
In the midst of my surveying of the room, my eyes were drawn to a student sitting near me: a student who I remembered being quite outspoken in earlier weeks of the class, but who now seemed very reserved. From my vantage point, I could make out some of the notes he was scribbling in his notebook:
Follow up Q’s for the Dean:
- Has my drop out request been approved?
- Am I allowed to tell my family?
- Why are only some students notified about this?
- Does it emerge from Williams Hall?
As you can probably tell, these questions had absolutely nothing to do with the class.
I wrote them down in my journal. It was time to do some research.
–-
After class, I invited Dinesh and Mallory to my (unfortunately) tiny dorm room for an evening conversation about everything that happened today.
While I waited for them to arrive, I spent my time doing online research to see if I could uncover anything that would shed light on the happenings - looking up things like “dropoff rates increasing” or “odd occurrences” at my university. I unfortunately wasn’t able to uncover much of anything - everything online was very boilerplate and sanitized.
The note - “Does it emerge from Williams Hall?” - from class earlier was the only thing that led to something of moderate substance. After searching through our school intranet, I realized that Williams Hall had been more or less designated as “off limits” for a number of years now. Outside of being the location of some of our final exams and student body meetings, the building had been cordoned off so that construction and renovations could be completed there.
Strangely enough, my research also showed me that prior to Williams Hall being sequestered, it used to be the hub for our Faculty of Arts, and was the former homebase for a lot of our major university clubs (theater, debate). These classes and clubs had all been moved into other buildings at the university over the last fifteen years or so.
As I continued digging, Dinesh arrived.
“Hey cuckoo bird,” he said as he came in. Before I could cut him off and tell him that this was kind of serious, he continued–
“So, uh, something happened actually and… maybe you’re not totally completely nuts.”
“Okay…,” I responded.
“So, we’re in week five right? Up until last week, my robotics class was basically at capacity - one or two stragglers dropped off in the first few weeks, but we were more or less a full group. Today, I shit you not, half the class was missing. I asked the prof, and he said they dropped out, and then he just changed the subject. I looked into it, and if you drop a class after week three, you’re required to pay a full refund. Why the fuck would anyone drop a class this late?”
I nodded. “It’s not just dropping classes and switching into other ones. I think it’s–”
“People dropping out of the university altogether,” Dinesh said, cutting me off. “Feels like there’s… less people in general now, at the campus.”
A rush of anxiety hit me as I realized that Mallory hadn’t responded to any of my texts today. I shook it off.
“So… something really weird happened in Poli Sci class today.”
–-
I filled Dinesh in on everything. He was a bit incredulous, and didn’t totally believe the exchange I had with the instructor (his interpretation being that Professor Weldon was simply offended I was pointing out that people were dropping his class).
Nonetheless, he helped me with my research.
We scoured the web, searching up old Reddit posts, blog posts, discussion board conversations - anything at all that mentioned Williams Hall or bizarre events at the university. Aside from jaded former students calling out the difficult grading scale here, everything we came across was useless. But, we did notice a suspicious trend…
The year 2008 was very interesting for the school… in that there was no record of anything happening here that year. No campus events that took place here (or events that were hosted at the university in general, for that matter), no sports records, no graduation records, the list goes on. Nothing. Were there any professors that taught here in the year 2008? Not that we could find. A 2008 yearbook? Nope.
Dinesh and I went deeper and deeper down our rabbit hole, as I tried to push aside concerned thoughts of still not hearing back from Mallory. Dinesh mentioned that we should hone in on the year 2008 and try to use the Wayback Machine, in case that could help us find anything that might’ve been archived or deleted since. It took a little while, but we were able to dig up an old message board conversation, which I’ll share below.
​
Thread: So are we going to talk about that?
Fuckyou37
06/10/2008, 12:03PM
Title says all… June 8 at Williams Hall. won’t say more at risk of exposing myself, but I know there are lots of others who go to this school or went here, and were there when it happened. Why the actual fuck is no one talking about this?!?
​
LostInTranslation
06/10/2008, 4:33PM
This some Skull & Bones Society shit? :)
​
Fuckyou37
06/10/2008, 4:46PM
No.
​
Fuckyou37
06/11/2008, 12:00PM
bump.
​
Fuckyou37
06/12/2008, 12:05PM
bump.
​
KungFuKid89
06/15/2008, 8:49PM
Yep. Count your blessings and stfu. Nothing more you can do. Remember what they said happens if you blab about it.
​
Fuckyou37
06/16/2008, 9:52AM
That’s insane.
that no one has called the cops in this whole fucking time is insane.
also I swear to god they told some kids to get out of dodge before it happened. Knew a bunch of ppl who pced out a few weeks before. linguistics class with a certain hot professor was emptyyyyyyyy. No one else had a clue…
btw: Have any proof you were actually there? Also wtf is reality? Like that actually happened.
​
KungFuKid89
06/16/2008, 7:46PM
I’m sure people tried to call the cops.
I was the only guy that crawled to the door when it was all over. Apparently the rest of you just stood up and walked out. Maybe different reactions to shock for all of us?
​
steve2204
06/16/2008, 11:18PM
heard about this through a friend, friend knew a guy who went there and said something really messed up was happening there and that the rumor mill was in full swing, like the *final exam* wasn’t normal, he tried to drop out but they wouldn’t let him(?), but left nyways. Apparently they found his body later.
I never believed him tho lol my friend says shit a lot of dumb shit when he’s blazing >_>
​
CidHighwind
06/17/2008, 7:20AM
Thread locked due to inappropriate content.
​
We also found two other threads on a different message board, both created by the same person in 2008. The posts didn’t mention Williams Hall or the university explicitly, but they did mention the June 8th date. The post was of a mother claiming that her daughter randomly disappeared after going to the campus one day. The mother detailed how she didn’t buy the official story she was told by the police that her daughter simply “ran away”. She said that she was speaking with other parents in the area who were dealing with the same situation, and that she would provide updates as they came. Both threads were locked soon after posting.
As I jotted down the recurring date that was coming up in these threads (June 8th, 2008), I heard the door open.
Dinesh and I exhaled as Mallory entered. But that relief washed away quickly - something was off. Mallory was not herself. She’s always been quiet and reserved, preferring to be 'near people but not participating', but this time felt different.
We slowly started filling her in, trying to find a way to make our disconnected musings make sense. She listened as we talked about the student drop-offs in our classes and the overall campus feeling more empty, the peculiar goings-on in my Poli Sci class earlier in the day, and the archived message board posts we discovered during our online research. As we detailed our findings, we realized that we both sounded a little crazy… all of these things were, ultimately, random occurrences that we were stitching together like some sort of conspiracy theory.
But then Mallory spoke up.
“I had a meeting with the Dean earlier today. I’m going to drop out.”
–-
The hours after Mallory said that were stressful. Obviously, Dinesh and I were shocked, confused, and most of all, deathly curious on what spurred this on for her.
Frustratingly, she wasn’t giving us too many details.
She asked us if the Dean had organized a meeting with either of us earlier in the week. When we both said no, she looked really, really miserable. Her reaction only added to our confusion.
We asked her if her reasons for dropping out were similar to what we were researching, and she begrudgingly said yes. When we asked her to elaborate, she said she was sworn to secrecy and couldn’t speak further.
“Why can’t you tell us what’s going on?!” I asked her, for probably the 30th time in our back-and-forth.
“I just can’t. If I say anything more…”
Her eyes trailed off, as if suggesting there was some terrible fate that would befall her if she elaborated further. Most of her answers to our following questions were just a simple “I’m sorry.”
Our one-sided conversation with Mallory continued for quite some time. Eventually, Dinesh asked the question that was lingering at the back of my mind. A question that seemed utterly ridiculous but also very necessary.
“Do you… do you think we should drop out too, maybe?”
It took a while for Mallory to respond. She chose her words carefully.
“I guess it’s random,” she started. “It’s random… which students they explain this whole thing to, and which ones they don’t. If they call upon you, you’re given the option to drop out. But if the Dean didn’t meet with you…”
“What the fuck does that even mean?!” Dinesh responded.
“It… means that I don’t think they’ll approve it. Even if you want to leave.”
Dinesh turned to me with a look of bafflement.
“I mean… we could just, like, leave though, right? Like… physically get up and leave? Like, how could they actually stop us from doing that?”
I saw Mallory’s eyes widen as Dinesh spoke those words to me. I knew that she wanted to say so much more to us, but she just couldn’t. The look in her eyes made it clear to me - us running now would be a mistake.
We struggled to get anything more out of Mallory. Eventually, I jumped in with a softball question that I prayed she’d answer. Referring to the research we were doing, I asked her plainly –
“If Dinesh and I keep digging, do you think we’ll be able to figure out what’s going on?”
She paused for a moment, and then nodded.
And that was all I needed.
“I think it’s time we go on an adventure, Dinesh,” I said.
“Goddamnit,” was his reply.
As we all left my dorm room, the three of us reluctantly gave each other a group hug. We’re not the mushy, touchy-feely types, so this was the first time we’d ever done anything this sentimental. It was awkward and not great, but everything felt too serious for us to not do it. As we let go of each other, I saw the first tears I’d ever seen Mallory cry.
“I”m really sorry I can’t say more. I’m really, really sorry,” she said. All good, Mal.
And with that, Dinesh and I headed out on a nighttime trek towards a certain building.
–-
We made our way through the nearly pitch-black, empty courtyard, towards a bunch of construction signs and scaffolding that suggested we were getting closer and closer to Williams Hall. Dinesh, continuing his research on his phone, was chiming in with some “fun facts” –
“This building’s been under construction for like over a decade… how?”
“It’s probably just an excuse,” I responded.
Past a collection of tools and barriers, we arrived at a side door to the building. To my surprise, it wasn’t locked.
We entered, using our cell-phone flashlights to maneuver through the dark. Past the scent of old wood and peeling wallpaper, in a hallway that I can best describe as “rickety”, a word that I’m aware doesn’t make sense in this context but is the only one that comes to mind -
We arrived at the foyer. The ceiling stretched high above us. We maneuvered around a wet spot on the floor reflecting back at us (probably a leaky pipe somewhere) as our phone lights illuminated the dusty engraving above us that read Faculty of Arts.
“Which way do you think we should head?” I asked as our lights spun around the room, taking in every inch of the once-bustling building. The beam from my cell phone cut through the air, creating a glow that illuminated relics around us: various seating areas that seemed carelessly assembled, abstract art installations that were now covered in grime, and a collection of aged plaques adorning the walls, preserving the wide smiles of professors and administrators of years past.
A sign off in the distance that read Final Exam Room caught my attention. I motioned to Dinesh and he followed.
With our footsteps across the marble floor of yet another hallway that had seen better days, we approached our destination. Along the way, we encountered empty classrooms on both sides of the large corridor. Our brief peeks into all of the rooms revealed perfect preservation and consistency: desks and chairs neatly arranged, and the boards in each room having only one simple message written on them:
REMINDER: FINAL EXAM - JUNE 8TH
“Does every class do their final exam on the same day?” I asked Dinesh.
He didn’t reply. He was drawn to the large doors at the end of the hallway. I flashed my light at the engraving above them -
FINAL EXAM ROOM / STUDENT BODY MEETING ROOM
Huh. Weird combination if ever I’d seen one.
“I feel like coming here was beyond stupid,” Dinesh said.
“Yep. But we’re here now.”
Dinesh shined his phone light on a small sign posted up beside the doors.
Final Exam Room
Most Recent: June 8, 2008
Next Exam: June 8, 2023
Don’t forget to study!!!
We froze up. The obvious question for both of us was why a seemingly abandoned and under-construction building would have a note about an upcoming final exam scheduled for just a few days from now… an exam taking place only half-way through the semester, mind you.
“Do we go in?” Dinesh asked.
I wasn’t voted “most inquisitive” in high school superlatives… because it wasn’t a category. If it was, I would’ve secured it, no competition. This whole thing had been nagging at me from the first couple of weeks. I needed to know what was going on.
“Yes. We go in.”
We opened the doors, revealing a large room with hundreds of desks, all perfectly spaced out from each other. It was an exam, after all.
The hall stretched far and long. As we inched our way in, a pungent smell flooded my senses - like nothing I’d ever experienced before.
I pointed my phone light from desk to desk as I walked on by, realizing why the abandoned room felt so “lively” to me from the second we opened the door.
Nearly all of the desks were occupied by the headless and decayed bodies of students seated upright. Hands on the table. Coats on the chair behind them. Bags under desks.
Before the shock of the sight could overtake us and force us to get the fuck out of there, the sound of footsteps from the other end of the large exam hall caused us to redirect our phone lights to the source of the sound.
A figure emerged from the shadows, dressed in attire that was unmistakably formal. His hands were clasped behind him, a posture of composure and control. A face that I hadn’t seen since my first week orientation. The Dean?
He addressed us.
“Gentlemen - the exam isn’t for a few days now. I suggest you get back to studying.”

Torvan Nikolsim, Shipmaster of Scientific Vessel SE-89.
We had managed to dodge the patrol that found our shuttle. It was evident that the sentients pursuing us here were hostile, given their toting of apparent firearms. However, Talvak and I had managed to find a recess in a nearby geological formation. The engineer was fiddling with the antenna, seeing if he could hotwire it to send at least some signal.
“Talvak, why are you still fiddling with that scrap metal?” I said, still irritated at the uncomfortable heat in the air around me.
“There’s no point in not trying, sir.” He said, some technical piece of metal trapped gently in between his jaws, giving his speech a puffy quality.
“We don’t have any kind of datapad. Even if the antenna was functioning properly, we don’t have a terminal to use it with.”
“We don’t need a terminal.”
My head tilted at this, swallowing a suspiciously thick glob of saliva. Perhaps some water for me?
“What do you mean?”
Talvak looked at whatever he was holding, another green piece of conduit or like, and then turned to me.
“Sir, since there is… well… Can I tell you this in confidence?”
“What?”
Talvak took a second, and opened his maw again.
“I’ve been running something of a data smuggling business back on Enceres.”
My ears twitched in alarm, myself suddenly sitting upright. Smuggling of any kind was a serious crime in the Enceric Union.
“What?!” I bellowed, somewhat outraged. “Do you know how long you could be rotting in a cell if you were caught? You’re idiotic.”
“Well, I… Uhh.” Talvak quieted down at this, sheepishly flicking his tail behind him.
“Look, I don’t care. I’m not a GSPA officer, I’m a scientist. I’m just concerned for my crew. What do you know?”
“I’ve figured out a way to manually run an antenna without using a terminal. The terminal is what reads the data transmissions, so by bypassing it, I can download and transmit data without it being logged. It’s rather a nifty little trick.”
That was, undoubtedly, a smart little hack.
“Talvak, out of curiosity, who were you smuggling data for?”
“Do you really want to know that?”
“We could very well die, might as well do it with a somewhat clean conscience.”
Talvak paused for a moment.
“I’ve been smuggling media and stuff for the Salroan Concord. Mostly cinematics and music and other stuff banned in the Union.”
“You committed treason?!” I shouted, shocked at Talvak’s bold move. “That warrants the death penalty!”
The Salroan Concord occupied a large swath of territory on Enceres, namely on the continent of Salro. They and the Enceric Union were sworn enemies, namely due to massive ideological differences. Accordingly, Spies and other collaborators were not afforded the luxury of a prison cell.
“Eh… Well, technically, still committing.”
“You’re really an idiot, you know that?”
Talvak again looked away sheepishly.
“Look,” I began, “I’m sorry for lashing out. We’re both under a lot of stress. And heat!”
Talvak chuffed.
“So, what exactly are you doing?”
“Well, as I said, I needed a way to bypass the terminal’s logging system, so I’ve figured out how to hotwire something directly to the antenna. It’s fairly simple if you know what you’re doing. All I need to do is loop this here circuit,”
He gestured at some part of the antenna that I couldn’t see,
“And get it so that it sends a looping distress signal. The antenna has a battery charge, so it’ll broadcast for a while. We won’t be able to transmit specifics, but it’ll convey distress, and our position.”
Talvak sat back from his little diatribe, looking somewhat proud of himself. He relaxed his ears and bared his teeth in a relaxed manner, gently drawing back his lip, just barely showing the tip of his canines. I’ll admit, that was a pretty smart thing, even if he did learn the skill by committing a crime.
So I left Talvak to finish his technological fiddling, and I moved to the edge of the cave, staring out. There wasn’t any particular thing I was looking at, I was just trying to pass the time. Nonetheless, I still took more time to stare at those spire-like plants. Annoyingly warm or not, this planet has beauty to it., I thought. In the back of my mind, there were still several concerns floating about.
Why had this operation gone so badly? Establishing outposts on worlds in the Ca’an system was relatively simple; Send a probe, await results of the atmosphere’s makeup, and then send the first colonizers. The weird thing is, not once were any of Cavara’s drones able to transmit atmospheric information, leaving us in a scientific dark. In addition, I was to blame for the deaths of about four crewmen in the shuttle crash. But these were overshadowed by the more immediate concern; intelligent life.
I saw distinctly non-San’tari life forms clambering out of that noisy air transport, weapons in hand, before I darted off into the foliage with Talvak. Sapient and intelligent life would give a very clear answer as to why the drones couldn’t last ten minutes in atmosphere without being destroyed. Sapience explained the lights of cities on the surface that some idiots thought were bioluminescence. But these were violent life forms. Like us. The reaction of blasting a drone out of the sky is completely rational. Enceric Union air defenses wouldn’t hesitate to do the same thing in a similar situation. But there was a worrying aspect to the lack of hesitancy; If they didn’t hesitate to destroy a drone, would they not hesitate to kill me or Talvak? Or would horrifying scientific experimentation await us, things only reserved in the minds of a GSPA interrogation officer?
My musings were interrupted by a sudden cough, leaving me bent over, wheezing for breath. Maybe taking off the hazard mask wasn’t a good idea. When I got back into a sitting position, I realized I needed to relieve myself, so I wandered off a couple paces, and emptied the contents of my bladder against a rock.
However, I noticed a growling in my belly, disrupting my peaceful waiting, so I wandered back inside the cave.
“Talvak, did you happen to find any rations, anywhere?” I said, aware that I probably couldn’t eat any food here, given the biochemistry.
“No sir, you?”
I flicked my ears in the negative.
“Well, this might be an issue.” Talvak said, curling his tail. “But, I’m almost done wiring the loop. We should be out of here in a couple day-night cycles.” Suddenly, an Idea hit me.
“Talvak, this planet obviously has life, right?”
“Sir?”
“Well, on Enceres, glucose is needed for any sort of biological reaction capable of sustaining life to occur.”
“Sir, with all due respect, I’m a technician, not a biologist.”
“You’re also a data smuggler. What I’m saying, Talvak, is we should, in theory, be able to consume certain flora here, and the flora should use glucose. Temporary rations.”
“Is that really the best idea, Shipmaster?”
“Absolutely not, but I’m hungry, and I’m developing a strange cough.”
“Fair.”
With that, Talvak turned back to the antenna, and I turned to the mouth of the cave. It was time for some basic foraging.
—---------------
Colonel Samuel Greene, Douglas MacArthur Airbase
The telescope results brought back from NASA were definitely not what I had expected. I had assumed the high atmospheric transmissions were from some foreign power’s spy satellite, but this was definitely unique. I turned my gaze from my office window to my monitor, and stared at the image again. Two long, sleek objects were visible on the monitor, with a large mushroom-like formation protruding from the front of one of the objects. The images were stills, but I had to assume these were vessels of some kind. One one of them, I could barely make out a small protrusion, not too different from the barrel of a gun.
Sighing, I turned off my monitor, and rose from my chair. The command center had seen a sudden influx of personnel, from NASA scientists to even a few of the kooks from SETI. But with the recent developments, were they really kooks? China was fervently denying any spy activity (reinforced by our own intelligence), and Russia didn’t have enough resources to maintain a space program after the War. Mongolia, The Ukraine, Namibia, and Kazakhstan were too young as space-capable nations (not to mention their friendly terms with the US), and the ESA would have notified us if they were doing something this large.
“Colonel Greene, sir.” “Captain Myer. What’s the results with our ground recovery operation?”
The aging air captain shifted.
“We secured the wreck’s crash site, but we’ve found something concerning.”
“What might that be?”
“Corpses, sir.” Myer shifted again, patting his pockets as though searching for something. Finally, he stopped searching, and gazed around the room. His sight fell on something, and he walked over, procuring a tablet.
“Look at this, Colonel,” He said, signing into the tablet. “This isn’t a human cadaver.”
It took a second to process what I was looking at. The corpse of… whatever it was on the screen was charred to a very severe degree. Through the carbonized material, I could see the white glint of bone, or at least what I assumed to be bone. The corpse had been placed next to a measuring device, like something from a crime scene. A small caption under the image noted that this… thing was at least six feet and five inches tall. The corpse had legs that were similar to a human’s, with the addition of an extra joint above what I assumed to be an ankle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make out anything from the hands and feed, given that the corpse was charred beyond recognition. At the head, the only distinct feature was a large protrusion from the mouth area, possibly a snout.
“What are your thoughts, Myer?” I said, attempting to pass the tablet back to him.
“Wait, here.” The captain responded, gently pushing the tablet back to me. He swiped the screen, revealing three similar corpses next to the first, obviously moved from their original position. I said a small prayer that whatever these things were had suffered a quick and painless death before being carbonized.
Myer swiped again, pulling up an image of what I assumed to be the craft that air defenses had shot down. It was more interesting looking than the objects on the satellite image, with an aerodynamic shape. It was actually not too dissimilar from a small helicopter, minus a rotor system.
“Fascinating, isn’t it?” A feminine voice said from behind me.
Startled, I wheeled in my spot, and came face to face with a dark-skinned woman wearing a modest blouse and a visitor badge. Thick black plastic glasses rested on her nose, and the lanyard around her neck informed me that she was with SETI.
“I’m sorry, who are you?”
“Naomi Charleson, SETI.”
Oh, one of the maybe-not-kooks.
Without prompting from me or Myer, she began, “It’s definitely extra-terrestrials. No earth animal has a body like that,” She said, stating the obvious. “This is huge! We aren’t alone in the universe! Think about the scientific implications. The cultural ones. Hell, even theological!”
“Well, thank you for your opinion, Miss Charleson-”
“Doctor Charleson.”
“Thank you, Doctor Charleson, but we’re a little far away from declaring aliens. There’s a lot of scientific work that needs to be done, as far as I’m aware.”
“That’s why I’m here,” she said matter-of-factly.”
“Eheh, thank you, Doctor, but-”
“Colonel,” Myer interrupted, “This just came in from one of the combat recorders from the recovery team.”
He shoved the tablet back towards me. There was a video queued up on screen. I pressed the play button. The camera feed was shaky. It was only a ten second loop, and the video was edited, zoomed in on a tree line. I saw it; a gray figure just beyond the trees, stalking away into the darkness.
“I’ve already dispatched a second recovery team that specialized in tracking terrorists in the wilderness. We’ll have a result by nightfall.” Myer said.
Regardless of whatever this special team that Myer spoke of brought back, whatever was brought back would determine our response. What that would be, I couldn’t say.
—----
Torvan Nikolsim, Shipmaster of Science Vessel SE-89
My scavenging was relatively uneventful. I had gathered a series of green leaf-like plants from various foliages around the cave, and brought them back to our lair. Talvak had gotten the antenna up and running, and, according to him, either SE-89 or CX-13 would pick up the distress signal.
“So, here’s dinner.” I said, poking some leaves around the floor. The greens did have a visual appeal to them, and my stomach growled eagerly knowing that some form of sustenance was incoming. However, I couldn’t risk dying from toxins, so I broke open the plant, rubbed the inside of the plant against my lips, and waited. Nothing happened, aside from a vaguely distant scent drifting up to my nostrils, eliciting more saliva in my already desperate maw. Waiting a little more, to rule out the possibility of any ill reaction, I finally caved, and began to eat the improvised salad, Talvak following suit.
The leaves were nothing special, they were literally just common ground plants, better suited for some herbivorous animal. But, they were preferable to starvation. Finishing our meager meal, Talvak slinked off to a side of the cave, and curled up. I followed suit, except with the opposite rock wall making up my dormitory for the evening. There was no need to huddle for warmth, nor was there any equality in rank to warrant such physical closeness. I closed my eyes, and allowed oblivion to consume me.
—
I awoke with a start.
Footsteps
Was Talvak awake?
No, too many.
I sat up, and gazed around the dim cave. Something was wrong. I had sworn I had left a small beacon on, but it was turned off. My heart only dropped when I heard a pair of heavy steps stopped right in front of my face, and I felt a cold, hard cylinder press itself against my head.
First Previous Next

A special thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for the fantastical universe.
Have a really long chapter!
[First][Previous][Next]
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
Memory transcription subject: Jaxton, son of a humble sheep farmer
Date [standardized human time]: October 11th, 2136
If someone asked me years ago how many people would travel the globe just to see me. My answer would have been three; my father, my mother, and Dex Mason. My mother and father would have been simply obligated to do so, as I was their son, and I would have done the same thing. Dex was my best friend when I went to middle school in America, and he stayed my best friend when I went back to Wales, going back to Atlanta for many vacations.
What can I say? He had a nice collection of guns, and his general cheerful attitude made many people optimistic, so a day on the range with him led to the both of us being happier.
Then you add in Dex’s older and younger brothers, our mutual friend John Dillinger, and then you have a recipe for a fun time; guns, video games, hiking, and the occasional sheep herding if they ever come to my home: It’s a blast!
An alien porcupine though… I honestly never expected that I would ever in my honest-to-God lifetime, have such an impact on someone before. We barely knew each other for even a few minutes, yet she to my knowledge was merely some sad Gojid that was struggling with depression and loss. All I did was walk in and comfort her, or well, that’s how I saw it.
I still feel like an absolute idiot for forgetting about what I told her. It wasn’t a promise, but based on the implication of how I said it. It may as well have been a declaration to see the girl a few hours later, or however long it took her to get ready.
Now, speaking of Barlim, it’s been a few minutes since she arrived at my doorway at the most unexpected of times. I had her sitting in our living room on our couch. The Gojid, or Gojya, that I had to have explained to me, had her arms wrapped around one of our decorative pillows. She was giving squeezes every few seconds depending on how she felt, and if she was really giving it a firm squeeze, I’d reach over and stroke the top of her head. Barlim seemed to relax every time I did this.
“You holding up better?” Barlim appeared to be holding up better: No longer sobbing out tears from her eyes, or having mucus running from her nostrils.
She merely sniffed weakly for a second, nuzzling into my hand. If I had to admit, I had no idea if I was performing some massive social taboo by patting her like an animal, but if she wasn’t going to complain, neither was I. I mean, I already poked myself twice more! “I’m feeling much better. Sorry for intruding…”
“Don’t be,” I said while holding back a small laugh. “Are you feeling better enough to talk now?” Barlim’s ears flicked in response, and then she nodded in response upon realizing I didn’t know what those ear flicks meant. “Good.”
“Hey, I would just like to apologize for how I acted,” my mother started before I had the chance to speak. “It’s just that I’ve seen on the news and read of murderous xenophobic aliens…-”
“It’s fine,” Barlim let out the most adorable-sounding chittering noise I have ever heard. It sounded as if a porcupine was, well, laughing! “I would not have reacted much differently… Three days ago?” At least she could make fun of herself for how she acted. Her ears gave a few flicks, gesturing towards amusement or self-depreciation if I had to guess. They burned bright blue.
My father took a minute to stand up and walk over to Barlim. She only fidgeted a little bit, but not much when he reached out to her with one hand. “Jameson, again, it’s been pleasant to meet you so far.” The man’s hand hung in the air for several seconds. Barlim eyeing it up with what had to be a quizzical expression. “You’re supposed to grab it and firmly shake it,” my father eventually grunted.
“Oh!” That seemed to snap Barlim out of her stupor. She reached forward in kind with one paw, clasping her surprisingly big paw around my father’s hand, which he shook. The Gojid seemed to have a fair understanding of the action after a few seconds, at which point the handshake ended and my father returned to his seat.
A brief, quiet pause occupied the four of us before there was more knocking at the front door. “Oh, uh, that may be the rest of my friends. I sort of forgot about them when I realized we were so close.” The tips of Barlim’s ears turned a delicate shade of blue. She started to get up, but with a firm palm on the top of her head, I held her down, gently.
“You traveled a long way. Let me get the door,” I state and get up from the couch. My knees and back stretch, giving a satisfactory series of pops before I work my way to the front door. I decide against grabbing the mask, assuming that Barlim’s friends have gotten quite used to the infamous human binocular stare. When I open it, I see a rather eclectic group of individuals, some familiar and some not.
“Arwen, Trivi, Tova, and I take it Barlim’s friends.” Arwen and Trivi issue some friendly waves. Tova has her forearms clasped around Arwen’s neck from behind, jaw resting on the redhead’s shoulders. Her eyes are puffy and orange. It was pretty easy to assume what she had been going through. Meanwhile, the other three flick their ears and tails in a way that was most likely a greeting, but that was just me making an inference based on this being our first interaction, and them not giving waves in greeting.
I really need to learn Gojid and Venlil body language.
“Just delivering the rest of that one Gojid’s friends.” Arwen’s tone was the general cheerful tone it always was. She briefly stepped back from the door and swung an arm to the side, pointing to the three aliens behind her, doing so while under the weight of Tova.
“Barlim,” one of the Gojid said to Arwen. “My name is Pragh,” she then pointed over to another Gojid, “That’s Tack, and,” she indicated to the final Gojid, “That is Telg.” Again, the other two Gojid gave very similar flicks of the ears when they glanced at me with one of their eyes. “I take it you’re Jaxton?”
I couldn’t resist the urge to curl my lips upwards in a smile. The three Gojid didn’t flinch when I exposed my teeth, for which I was grateful. I really didn’t feel like bowing to more people than I needed to at the moment, having not gotten a particularly great amount of sleep last night was not a wise idea. “You’d be correct. It seems I’m the popular man of the hour. What can I do for you all?”
“Well, Tack and I were simply following Barlim, so we were going to stay with her until the UN or whoever really controls the whole Gojid refugee camp situation comes looking for us-”
I cut off Pragh with an amused tone. “So let me get this straight. You wanna come and mooch off my family for a bit because you have nowhere to stay at the moment?” I hold my tongue for just the slightest second, letting Gojid raise up her paws defensively. Even Arwen’s eyes widen briefly at what I just said.
“That’s not-” Pragh doesn’t speak for long before I dismissively wave my hand.
“I’m joking, yes, I’m sure my parents will allow you to stay for a bit, but you’ll have to clean up after yourselves, and all that stuff.” I lean up against the doorframe. “Ok though, jokes aside, what do you all want?”
Pragh rubbed her paws over her blue ears. “Yes, well, you did sort of hit one of them. I will admit, there was very little planning other than we’re going to Wales on our part. You don’t have to worry about Telg though.”
“I scored myself a date! Hah!~ So, I will be going back to Georgia in about an hour or two.” The Gojid paused, popped open one of the pockets on his hoodie, and took a peek inside at a slip of paper he pulled out. “Two hours, yeah, I have about an hour to spend here. So you and Tack are going to stay here?”
Pragh nodded to Telg’s words. “Yep, someone has to make sure Barlim continues to be a responsible Gojid. Also, I still have more research to do over the internet-”
“Ah yes, research, Pragh, research, am I right?~”
“No! Not that! I’m not going to be looking up that!”
The two male Gojid couldn’t help but hold back giggles and chitters, making me feel as if I was missing some sort of- Oh. The second it clicked for me, I just let out a long, slow sigh. “Please, let me just say that humanity is probably not whatever you found. Factory farms are a thing of the past.” Apparently, I was wrong, for the other two Gojid started laughing more uproariously, “Ok, I’m wrong it seems…” The gears proceeds to click a second time after realizing it was something a lot more bawdy than damning. I opened my mouth to say something but quickly realized that I wouldn’t have anything to follow up on if one of them decided to make any sort of accusation, so I quickly shut my plan to speak about that down. “How about you all just come inside now? Your friend Barlim already came by, and I’m pretty sure you all would like a break from your adventure.”
“Actually, Trvi and I were going to take Tova to my home. Might take her to the hospital if Quilix has calmed down. God, I wished they transported him to Ysbyty Gwynedd, but no. He had a freakout and had to be moved to London.”
“It’s all my fault…” The dark venlil whined.
Arwen’s hand managed to work its way between Tova’s ears, giving a few scritches. Scritches that Tova nuzzled into. “Come on you big, big venlil. I know you’re upset. Just, hang in there for a little while longer. I’m sure Quilix will come around. Let’s take you home, see ya Jaxton!” Arwen waved and carried the venlil toward the parked taxi in front of my house. Well, carried was a generous term for half-carry/half-assisted in guiding toward the car.
Trivi followed seconds later, giving his own bye and wave. “Tell your mother and father I said hi, see you tomorrow!” And with that, the blonde venlil scampered off, following after his human lover.
This left me with the three other hedgehog-looking aliens standing awkwardly in front of my door. They looked amongst themselves, thinking about saying something.
Wait, someone’s missing…
“Arf! Arf!”
The three Gojid who looked like they were about to say something all jumped about a foot in the air when Lacey came bounding through them, running straight past me into my home. “Oh, Lacey! Welcome ho- Oh, and ignored.” I shake my head upon hearing the following oof that comes from my father. Lacey must’ve claimed my father’s lap as her seat. “Well, if you want to come inside and meet the rest of my family. Come right on in.”
The next few minutes are filled with more pleasantries being exchanged. The Gojid all take their place on the couch, somehow managing to fit four of them on a couch meant for three. I end up choosing to stand by my father, who gently strokes Lacey across her back. The border collie panting jovially, looking back and forth between us and our alien guest, giving the occasional bark to beg for more attention.
The Gojid guests seem calm for the most part, sitting on that couch, but it is quite clear that the dog makes them uncomfortable since they flinch every time Lacey either makes a noise or stares at them with those heterochromatic eyes. “Not a fan of dogs, are you?” My father breaks the silence once it starts up again.
“I didn’t like…” Pragh started but stopped seconds later. “Listen, I believe you know why most Federation species don’t like humans, right?” Pragh’s words earned an affirmative grunt from my father. My mother and I nodded too. “Well, you’re all sapient and in control of your hunting instincts…” I raised my eyebrow at that but chose to say nothing. “That dog though-”
My father raised a hand, telling Praph to stop speaking for a moment. “I am going to have to stop you right there. Firstly, humans don’t, or we believe don’t have hunting instincts, and secondly, Lacey is a good girl that has harmed no person before, human or alien. I can assure you, as well as Quilix, Trivi, and Tova, that Lacey wouldn’t harm any of you, your pups, or anything else you will be worried about.”
Those few calmly spoken, but sternly voiced words are enough to calm the four Gojid down a fair amount. While I can’t see their muscles under their fur all that well, I can safely assume that their muscles grew lax at such information. Maybe we can do more to ease them around the dog while they’re here?
With an idea springing to mind, I take a few steps over to our old wooden hall tree. It is adorned with a few coats and hats, but what I am interested in is blue colored, six feet long rope of dog leash. The second it makes the lightest noise, Lacey is bolting toward me. “Eistedd!” The dog swiftly responds to the command: Hind quarters hitting the ground the second the word leaves my lips. I reach down and stroke the top of the dog’s head with one hand, getting a jovial arf out of her. “Merch dda, merch dda.~” I give the dog’s head a little bit more tender love with my palm and fingers before attaching the leash.
“Cefn.” I keep my voice low, coaxing Lacey into walking toward the couch.
The four Gojid, three of which have probably spent some time outside with the dog, all had a similar reaction when the dog came over: Paws came up off the ground, retracting safely onto the cushions above. It wasn’t really out of the border collie’s reach, but it was clearly instinctual-driven or propaganda-driven fear. “No need to be afraid, she won’t bite you - eistedd.” True to my words, Lacey gets close, sniffing along the edge of the sofa, but not jumping up onto the furniture.
“I see you’ve been practicing, Jaxton. You showing off for the guest?” My dad jokes.
“Hey, I don’t really get a good chance to speak Welsh. Dam- Darn it, really should’ve paid more attention in school. Might go get some lessons so I’m not part of the ten percent that can’t speak it. All I can do is shepherd a dog around, ask for the bathroom, a beer, where am I, and a few other things.” It’s hard not to let out a disappointed sigh. “I need to get off my backside and stop being so lazy.” I pause for one small moment. “And that probably translated for all of them to their native tongue. Doesn’t matter if I say it in English, Welsh, or honestly, Mandarin.”
My old man grins and laughs, leaning his back into the old rocking chair he claimed. My attention returns back to the dog, the fearful porcupine, and three scared hedgehogs.
The first one to reach out if I recall his name is Tack. The Gojid’s claws lightly brush the top of Lacey’s head in a tepid fashion. The dog stares back up at the curious paw; not growling, barking, yipping, biting, or making any sort of fuss that could freak out the apprehensive Gojid. Slowly, Lacey’s tail beings to wag as the curious touching continues for a few seconds. “Is that normal?”
“Mhm… Yes, dogs’ tails wag when they are happy. If she was really happy, she’d jump on you and start licking your face.”
The four Gojid recoiled with what looked like disgust: The thought of a predator’s maw all over their face, tasting them as if they were her next meal was probably what was coursing through their minds. “I think… That’s something I wouldn’t like from a non-sapient creature.” Telg adds in.
He says he doesn’t want it from a non-sapient, but what about a sapient? Oh, what wonderful thoughts this one has. I internally joked.
Both my father and mother let out an audible cough at Telg’s… Well, it could’ve been an indecent statement, or maybe licking was a sign of greeting? There was no way for me to know with my lack of knowledge of Gojid customs.
God damn; Gojid customs, language, body language, and Welsh! That was leaving out Venlil ear and tail signals as well! Too much to learn.
With a gentle nudge, I guide Lacey down the bottom of the couch, letting each Gojid get about a minute or two of bonding time with the goodest of girls. It’s only been a few minutes, but the four could be easily seen relaxing: Tack and Telg are both confident enough to let their paws touch the floor again.
From fearful of anything that ate meat their entire life to sort of fearfully allowing a dog to sniff them, or them to touch a dog, must be leaps and bounds beyond possibility months ago.
“So, you all more comfortable around dogs?”
I get a non-varied amount of reactions: All of them positive to a minor degree, but none are negative or super positive. “Good.”
With such a positive, or well, lacking in a negative reaction from our alien guests. I reach down and unhook the canine’s restraint. No one flinches and Lacey continues to sit for about another few seconds before lazily pacing around the front of the couch, sniffing at paws for some more time before retreating back beside my father’s feet.
“So… What’s the history between humans and dogs?” Pragh was the one that shot this question. One is no doubt born from the fact that we probably allowed a non-sapient predator into our home.
Well, if I was using their logic, of course: I wouldn’t be surprised if it came from ‘Wouldn’t predators eliminate the competition?’ if I had to guess.
“The history involving our canine companions is long and complex.” I reach behind my head to adust my blonde ponytail, tightening up the black band to keep my hair from falling in front of my face. “Most domesticated dogs you’ll see; German shepherds, border collies, Australian shepherds, golden retrievers, and on and on the list goes. I believe there are hundreds of breeds, but that is another tangent we can go on another date. What you’re more interested in is the history, as you have asked.”
I took a few steps around toward the front of the couch, using this new position to project my voice onto my alien audience. My parents had already heard this story a few times when they spoke with one of our dog breeders.
“It all started roughly speaking, thirty-thousand years ago.” I paused, totally for dramatic effect, but to also allow the Gojid to digest this fair-sized crumb of information. “Our competitor, an antagonizing species of persistent pack predators with a strong social bond, the wolf, would often invade human territories, and vice versa. You see, humans and wolves aren’t too dissimilar. We’re both highly social species, pursuit pack predators as I have heard, emotionally intelligent, highly adaptive, strong parental connections, and good communication skills. I can go into specific details another time, but those are some of the big traits we share. I’d say that the large preference for having a social structure coupled with good communication skills on both sides were the two assets that helped the most. Emotional intelligence and actual intelligence would probably be third and fourth. Dogs and wolves can be pretty smart.”
I take a moment again, allowing my audience to follow along with what I am saying, waiting to see if any of them have a question. “So due to these similarities, humans and these wolves cross species’ barriers?” The bipedal porcupine opined.
I nod to Barlim’s question. “Very close, but not quite.” I take a moment to swing a pointing finger down to Lacey. “I mean, as much as I love Lacey. I don’t see a dog diplomat coming through any time soon to argue for their sapience let alone an alliance.” I then straighten my posture back up, holding back a small laugh by letting a grin stretch across my lips. “It was more along the lines of wolves were desperate for food, and they’d feed off the scraps we humans left behind. This would go on for some time with the braver or more docile canines being allowed to slowly integrate with human society.”
“But they’re eating your scraps and food, but what do they do for you? Other than herd sheep? It just seems like your competition is swooping your food from under your nose, but… You’re not complaining at all.” Pragh was the one to ask that question.
Called it!
“These proto-dogs had many purposes! Just look at Lacey and you can probably see what she has that is superior to a human. Tell me what traits you can see.”
I give the four Gojid some time to look over the dog. They eventually look like they all have something to say, so I slide down the line of them; Pragh, Telg, Tack, and then finally Barlim.
“A better sense of smell to hunt for prey you can’t see?” Pragh opined.“Better hearing for locating threats?” Telg questioned.
“Sharp teeth and claws for fighting off other humans.” Tack would state rather confidently.
“To form an emotional connection with and to not feel lonely?” Barlim tilted her head to the side, giving the dog another look.
I let them stew over their answers for about thirty seconds to discuss amongst themselves. Needless to say, I was kind of shocked, but also not by Barlim’s answer. Maybe my time spent with her gave me some subconscious understanding of her mentality? The other Gojid all looked at her, so I assume her different answer probably made something click amongst all of them.
“Well, to answer your questions; yes, yes, yes, and yes. You’re all correct. Some may say that the first three are probably the priority.” This statement earns a chitter from the four Gojid occupying the couch. “But I like to have hope for that last one: When you’re by yourself. The world is a scary place after all. It’s best not to be alone. I believe you all have herds? Well, we humans have families, tribes, or nations, depending on how deep you wish to look into it, and yes, dogs can be a part of a human family. Family cares not from where the blood comes.”
“Quick question and not to side-track the conversation too far, but I was told by my date that humans dislike being called predators. Is that true here too, or was that a dialect or cultural thing?” Telg was the one throwing this question.
“It is that way here too. When humans refer to other humans as predators, it is because that other human is a gross pervert that does horrific, deviant, and sexual things toward other people, animals, or in this case now that aliens exist, aliens, so I would refrain from calling humans predators unless you personally know the individual and they are ok with it. That being said, humans define predator as more of a relationship adjective when between animals. A deer is a predator to plants as a wolf is a predator to a deer. It is the relationship of consumption rather than dietary traits.” I finish off my statement with a nod.
“Well… If you don’t mind me referring you to as a predator for one statement…” Telg droned on.
I take a brief glance over toward my parents. My dad gives me a nonchalant shrug. My gaze returns back to Telg. “Go ahead and shoot your question or statement at me.”
The four Gojid look stunned for a moment, off-put by something I said-
Oh, don’t tell me ‘shoot’ was predatory… Probably was.
“Just… throw out your question.”
“It was more of a statement, actually, but anyways. Family cares not from where the blood comes, has to be one of the most herd-like statement I have heard from a predator.”
Did he really just say that?
He really did, but I can’t fault him. From his point of view, he’s been spun so many times that up is down, and left is right.
I shake my head, lowering it. A small chuckle slipping from between my lips. I could even hear my mother and father laughing behind me a few seconds later.
“Was what I said really that funny?”
“No, just the logic behind it is kinda funny. Like I said, humans don’t normally refer to ourselves as predators, and this whole alien thing is kind of new to me.” My words carried upon by a light tone earns some laughs as well from our Gojid guests.
I clap my hands together, signaling the end of our little tangent. “Now, if I may resume my, if I do say so myself, informative explanation… The proto-dogs seamlessly integrated into our small tribes at the time; they could track threats and prey miles before we were even aware of them, they could hear the smallest sounds and alert us of their dangers. Moreover, their sharp teeth and claws served as deterrents against other threats such as large carnivores, food-stealing rodents, or hostile human forces. Additionally, their companionship provided solace to lonely humans. As you can see,” I pointed back to Lacey, who was having her back rubbed by my father’s sock-covered foot, “Lacey seems to be enjoying herself quite nicely, but so is my father. In short, interacting with dogs triggers the release of feel-good chemicals in both human and canine brains. Activities such as petting, snuggling, and playing contribute to this positive bond."
Again, I pause, giving everyone some time to follow along. “Thus, they’d impact our evolution and vice versa: Humans that had dogs in their tribes were more successful than tribes without dogs. Humans that bonded more effectively with their canine companions would get even farther. As millennia went by, humans would get better at reading dog expressions, and dogs would get better at reading human expressions.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I typed into it for a bit until an old photo of a wolf showed up. I turned my phone’s screen toward the four Gojid. “Here you can see a wolf. They aren’t extinct due to some wildlife restoration efforts, but we had a few close calls. Wolves are extinct in the UK and Ireland as of now, but not in North America, Europe, or Asia. What you see before you are what thirty-thousand years of evolution has done to us.”
Based on the look that the Gojid were giving me. I would guess it was along the lines of wow.
“Now, before you start asking more questions. I should let you know that humanity has not only domesticated one carnivorous species, but a few others as well; some birds of prey like falcons, felines, and mustelidae such as ferrets. Meanwhile, on the herbivorous side, we have horses, elephants, rabbits, and so on. Yeah, it’s quite a long list. Means more animals for us to pet and touch. Humans can bond with just about anything, even non-living things, but that’s a story for another time.”.
I perform a small stretch, feeling my back pop. A small break in the monotony of speaking for so long.
“Now, to go back to the human-dog bond. I should remind myself to tell you the story of Gelert. It’s quite a sad story, but bear with me for just a moment.”
I clear my throat, getting ready to speak out an old Welsh folklore myth.
“A long time ago, a prince of North Wales by the name of Llywelyn went out hunting without his trusty dog, Gelert. He’d return home later that day to see Gelert, covered in blood, jovially returning to him. This freaked out the prince, who rushed to his son’s crib, finding it knocked over and messy with blood. He feared that the dog had killed his son and immediately plunged his sword into the dog’s side.” The four Gojid wince at the description, having just been told of the forged bond I have described moments ago. “The dog’s pained cry heralds the cry of the prince’s infant son, who lay on the other side, protected from a slain wolf. Gelert had valiant fought to protect Llywelyn’s son from the wolf, and in so was rewarded with a blade through its heart! A tragic tale to discourage impulsive thoughts and rash rushes to judgment. It was said that the prince buried Gelert and never smiled again.”
I never considered myself a great storyteller, but somehow I managed to get the four Gojid all teary-eyed. Barlim was rubbing at her eyes once again, and so was Tack too.
“H-how could he have done that to the dog..?” Barlim’s meek voice trailed off.
“Well, as said, Llywelyn thought Gelert killed his son. It was a rash decision. This moral folklore is supposed to warn against such tragedies, speaking of which, isn’t there an extermination fleet heading this way?”
While I may have been speaking for so long, having taken all our attention away from the potential destruction of Earth, or the general mopey attitude that came from meeting Tova. It probably was wise to bring up the fact that armageddon was on its way to Earth.
The four Gojid just sort of looked down sheepishly at the ground or flicked their ears in a way that probably meant the same thing. I didn’t really mean to put them on the spot like that, considering it was some of their former allies committing this attack, but I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles sometimes.
“I think I can speak for all of us here that we don’t-” Telg was interrupted by my father.
“We don’t blame you, or at least I can attest to myself, my son, and my wife over here. One day, assuming we survive this looming catastrophe. There will be regret, followed by hope, and then love and compassion once again. Though, I don’t think that’s what my son was hinting toward, more over the fact that your allies are about to make a rash decision they don’t understand. Probably one you would have made years ago, but that doesn’t really matter here, or there. We live in the now, and I think it’s time we started stocking up on some goods for our cellar. Well, we got goods actually, and a couple of guns too, but nothing fancy like the Americans and all their machine guns. A .30-30 lever action, an old .44 revolver, a twelve gauge shotgun, and a .22 hunting rifle. Nothing fancy,” he shrugs and grunts. “I’m more worried about my sheep. The best we can do is pray they don’t shoot the barn.”
There’s a brief silence as the seven of us come down from the long monologue that was dispersed between moments of questionnaires. I rub one of my eyes, stretching my jaw open wide in a hand-covered yawn.
How long have by been talking?
“Sprak! I gotta go or I am going to miss my flight!” Telg clamors, quickly hopping off the couch. He quickly taps at his phone with his claws, making his way toward the front door. “See you guys later, and thanks for letting us stay! Yes, I know how to call a taxi!” He opens the door and bolts outside. At least had the manners to close it back without slamming it.
This left us with three Gojid!
“Well,” my mother stood up from her chair. “I’m certain you’re all hungry after such a long adventure, and Telg is probably too, but he’s gone already. Let me see if I can make you all something to eat…” She hesitates for a second before continuing. “Nothing with meat or animal products in it. Just vegetables and fruit,” she iterates before walking off to the kitchen, leaving my father and I with the three Gojid.
You know, that leaves one important question that’s been on my mind. One that I had asked Barlim, but have been quickly distracted by her onslaught of sudden tears due to my forgetful nature. “A quick question if I may have your attention.”
The three Gojid turned their attention toward me, looking at me as they awaited my question
“How the hell did you all get here?”
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
[First][Previous][Next]

A few things from my stay: Tokyo Disneyland Hotel - beautiful. Everything is clean and amazing. Highly recommend staying here if you can. The short walk to the front entrance is unbeatable.
June 5- Tokyo Disneyland -I arrived to the security line at about 7:15 and there was a pretty long line already there ahead. Most people were sitting while waiting so maybe bring something soft to sit on for entry waits and parades? -Employees asked people to not run at park open. They proceeded to run whenever they passed the employees lol -volume on all rides is on the loud side so prepare accordingly for those sensitive to loud sounds. -people WILL just walk right in front of you, no "excuse me" no "oh sorry". Just, walk right past and in front of you on the way to rides (note: we were power walking so its not like we were going slow) -book it STRAIGHT to the beauty and the beast ride. Prepare elbows if needed. It's easily the best dark ride Disney has ever made. Speakers were well hidden, scenery and music was amazing and each "scene" didn't clearly show where you were going next. I remember always thinking "where is the next room?" but it was always themed so well you couldn't tell. -poohs hunny hunt is cute and enjoyable. The bounce scene is my favorite part. -monsters Inc ride was enjoyable. The competitive part of me wishes they had some score or indicator who had the most flashlight reveals/points but still very great fun for all ages. -the staff were all proficient enough at English to help us out with ordering or paying anywhere on property. Most just knew to speak English by looking at us -my capital one venture credit card worked just fine through the park. Even the food carts accept card -papago app helped a lot with non-english menus -at most food places, there is a "pre-order" person that writes down your order on a paper that you take to the register to pay/receive your food. The paper has English on it so you could always just point to the paper if there is a communication issue. They get food VERY fast at all locations and are super nice. -people show up EARLY to stake a spot for parades(like, 2 hours). They are very worth it so consider setting up a bit earlier than you would think to get a good view. Don't panic if you are behind an umbrella, people put them away right before the show. The show music WILL get stuck in your head. -Plazma Ray's and Tomorrowland Terrace have outdoor seating areas that offer shade and a GREAT view of the parade thats out of the heat (hint hint). Get there early if you plan on viewing there. They also have AC inside so it's a great easy resting spot. -most food locations have a free water station with small cups next to them, so don't fear on the water front (you can refill your own containers too) -people straight up brought food and drinks through security. If you need a snack or morning coffee they will just let you take it in if its in the bag going through the security scanner (note: "officially" you are not supposed to, but...) -the pirates and haunted mansion rides seemed to have more "empty space" between scenes than the American counterparts but maybe I am remembering wrong.
June 6- Tokyo Disneysea -there are two security and ticket areas (north and south). If you have the early access pass, when exiting the disney resort line gates, GO LEFT to the Northern lot area (towards miracosta hotel if you follow the signs). There are no signs that tell you early access is this way and its not printed on the ticket. After going left to the security gates, go to the VERY FAR lane and be sure to line up early. Again, there were ZERO signs telling us this and we waited an hour on the wrong side just to see people on the opposite security side entering, and we had to ask a cast member where to go. By the time we got over there into the correct line, it was already enormous with every school child in a 70 km radius in the line. At that point, they were letting in everyone else before we even got to the security check point, making the whole point of the ticket moot. Morale of the story: GO LEFT -the line for soarin' was astronomical by the time we got in and never let up at any point in the day. -we went to journey to the center of the earth first and it was a walk on DESPITE our blunder at security. It was fun, but could be a bit intense for younger ones since it was very loud and had some scary animatronics. I also didn't expect it to be as short as it was. Enjoyable but a very quick ride. -20,000 leagues opened right at 9 and a short line already formed before open. -the seashell ice cream is sold at a large number of ice cream stands throughout the park for 400 yen (about 2.50 usd) It is very cute and yummy without being overly filling. Great for a small snack and photo-op. -Sinbad ride was cute and enjoyable. Similar to it's a small world but more of a storyline. -go in the single rider line for Indiana Jones. It saves a lot of time and there's a small chance you might wind up in the same car as your party anyway -Indiana Jones ride has incredibly comfortable seats? Weird detail but they were super nice lol -curry popcorn from the arabian coast cart is amazing. That and honey popcorn were our favorites. They are both sold in Disneyland as well -creme Brulee churro is amazing. Sushi roll at Port of discovery was a hard pass from us but YMMV -the Nemo ride was a slightly less intense star tours but enjoyable. -the afternoon show has similathe same music as the Disneyland afternoon parade. It's just the characters dancing on a boat so it's an easy skip if you would rather ride more rides.
Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.

Thanks in advance for any help to fix and/or prevent further damage to this flooring (lifeproof engineered hardwood).
As you can guess, the REAL problem is inadequate subfloor prep.
After installing about half of the room, I realized that the floor “ramps up” towards the doorway. The room is an addition and the floor is flatter than every other room in the hoist except for this one portion that’s unfortunately in the entryway (most traffic).
I should have stopped and taken up all the flooring to correct this issue, but I continued onward. Now a year later, it seems like some of the click lock has broken because of the bounce/sponginess.
What’s the best way to fix this without tearing up the entire floor?
There is a rug over this area but I can hear this section clicking/popping when I walk over it sometimes.
Thank you in advance!

Hello (and thanks for reading!),
I am a creative nerd, asocial hermit, and walking stereotype of the melancholic struggling artist.
I guess that doesn't sound great, but I would also like to believe that I am a great friend, attentive listener, problem solver, and quite emotionally intelligent. I am educated (master's degree), self-employed as a freelance writer (I have some goals this year I hope I have the courage and energy to shoot for), and love to make people laugh. My primary "love languages" include quality time, words of affirmation, and physical touch. I want to spend time with you (and give you space), tell you how great you are (without patronizing), and hold your hand and stuff (maybe touch your butt).
Look, dating hasn't been going great these past few years - I wouldn't say I have any horror stories, but it is difficult to find that genuine connection for my balance of grounded, quirky, shy, anxious, fun-loving, creative, loving, and occasional self-loathing that I embody. In terms of typical qualities, I gotta be honest: I'm not an ambitious, travel-loving, type-A grindset kind of guy. I'm a comfortable bug, happy at home or walking in empty spaces with music in my ears, listening to my friends' problems and then watching shows or playing games with them online, looking forward to cooking something simple yet tasty so I can have leftovers the next day kind of guy. I think I can be exciting and challenging, and I'm willing to do a lot for a person I like but you probably won't find a jet-setting whirlwind romance here, sorry.
In terms of hobbies, I love learning about history, cooking, trivia, engineering projects, scientific discoveries, how things work, why things are the way they are. I play a lot of games in my free time, and I'd like to play games with you (although the sweaty PvP ones I might sit out unless we REALLY hit it off). I collect and read tabletop RPGs and board games, and enjoy comics and webcomics as well. Of course I watch shows and often the same shows - I would really enjoy introducing some of my favorites to you. In general I am very passionate about discussing the little nerdy intricacies of things that I am into and in equal measure I'd love to hear you geek out about your favorite stuff as well. My taste in music covers the entire gamut but my top most-played for 2022 included a lot of theatrical rock, shoegaze, prog/jazz fusion, indie pop, and heavy metal/hardcore - I wish I went to more concerts. Horror movies are cool but I'll watch anything if there is someone to talk to during. I don't write much as a hobby these days since doing it for work but running a good tabletop game will get me motivated in a heartbeat.
I also have a cute little chihuahua/terrier who is afraid that every stranger wants to ruin her life, I exercise regularly, and I enjoy hiking/biking/bouldering for more active activities.
Socially, I am very introverted. I'm not interested in meeting strangers (present post excluded, of course), I need my time alone every now and then, and if there's a lot of socialization I will need to like... take a breather for a bit and that's cool, no biggie. I get anxious when I have to talk on the phone, I dread long checkouts at the grocery store, and I am not pleased having my picture taken (although I'll be a good sport about it). I'm very gregarious and jolly with my friends or close-knit groups, but I wanted to make this clear because I have met some people who really don't understand that like, no, I do not want to go to this thing or that event just to meet people or be stuck in rooms with strangers. Please be okay with that. I promise your parents will love me, though (if you get along with them).
Physically, I must apologize on my behalf - I am excessively average in appearance. 5'8", brown haibrown eyes, dad bod although I have been working consistently to reach a more fit figure and would consider that a realistic goal for me. I have a big bushy beard and looong hair down to my tailbone, although I have no particular attachment to it and would let any potential future partner have a strong voice on if it stays or if it goes. I've never tried to dress for anyone else but myself - I tend to wear a lot of grey or earth-tone khaki pants, button-down shirt over t-shirt, and a jacket if it is cold. I might have a suit stashed away somewhere but if I do we're gonna have to tailor that bad boy before busting it out. If you like the "hairy soft bod" trope I think you're in luck, haha.
Your pic gets mine, as they say.
What am I looking for, exactly? Well, dating in the traditional sense has never been my cup of tea - I guess I've never really done much of anything in the traditional sense, for better or worse. I want us to be friends, to get to know each other and spend time together talking or sharing activities and hopefully we start swapping food pics and outfit selfies and shots of places we visit and it becomes difficult to go to sleep because we're each trying to be the last to say "goodnight" and then we realize that damn, we really enjoy each other's company and should really talk about getting serious with it - like, go out and shit. Slap a label on that sucker. I hope you are the kind of cozy homebody nerd or super badass action chick gets along well with cozy nerds who wants to forge a genuine connection. If you're local we can still go on traditional dates for pizza and museums and stuff too of course but I don't mind a long-distance thing either. If the feelings are forged, we'll make it work.
As an admittedly average unfashionable dad-bod guy I know I don't have much place to make physical demands of people but in that department I would hope you are some form of HWP or on the way there, aaand... gosh, that's it really. I'm trying hard to be healthy - I would want to be with someone who feels the same.
So, hey! I know this is a lot but I wanted to paint a genuine portrait of where I am coming from and what I am looking for. I'm not a difficult person and it's easy to say hi to me, although I perform my best with some sort of prompt to go off of. Seriously, ask me stuff - I love answering questions and will be sure to follow up with some for you! Tell me a bit about yourself, what's a hobby you're happy with and what's a hobby you wish you could explore more or had more friends to share it with?

Hello (and thanks for reading!),
I am a creative nerd, asocial hermit, and walking stereotype of the melancholic struggling artist.
I guess that doesn't sound great, but I would also like to believe that I am a great friend, attentive listener, problem solver, and quite emotionally intelligent. I am educated (master's degree), self-employed as a freelance writer (I have some goals this year I hope I have the courage and energy to shoot for), and love to make people laugh. My primary "love languages" include quality time, words of affirmation, and physical touch. I want to spend time with you (and give you space), tell you how great you are (without patronizing), and hold your hand and stuff (maybe touch your butt).
Look, dating hasn't been going great these past few years - I wouldn't say I have any horror stories, but it is difficult to find that genuine connection for my balance of grounded, quirky, shy, anxious, fun-loving, creative, loving, and occasional self-loathing that I embody. In terms of typical qualities, I gotta be honest: I'm not an ambitious, travel-loving, type-A grindset kind of guy. I'm a comfortable bug, happy at home or walking in empty spaces with music in my ears, listening to my friends' problems and then watching shows or playing games with them online, looking forward to cooking something simple yet tasty so I can have leftovers the next day kind of guy. I think I can be exciting and challenging, and I'm willing to do a lot for a person I like but you probably won't find a jet-setting whirlwind romance here, sorry.
In terms of hobbies, I love learning about history, cooking, trivia, engineering projects, scientific discoveries, how things work, why things are the way they are. I play a lot of games in my free time, and I'd like to play games with you (although the sweaty PvP ones I might sit out unless we REALLY hit it off). I collect and read tabletop RPGs and board games, and enjoy comics and webcomics as well. Of course I watch shows and often the same shows - I would really enjoy introducing some of my favorites to you. In general I am very passionate about discussing the little nerdy intricacies of things that I am into and in equal measure I'd love to hear you geek out about your favorite stuff as well. My taste in music covers the entire gamut but my top most-played for 2022 included a lot of theatrical rock, shoegaze, prog/jazz fusion, indie pop, and heavy metal/hardcore - I wish I went to more concerts. Horror movies are cool but I'll watch anything if there is someone to talk to during. I don't write much as a hobby these days since doing it for work but running a good tabletop game will get me motivated in a heartbeat.
I also have a cute little chihuahua/terrier who is afraid that every stranger wants to ruin her life, I exercise regularly, and I enjoy hiking/biking/bouldering for more active activities.
Socially, I am very introverted. I'm not interested in meeting strangers (present post excluded, of course), I need my time alone every now and then, and if there's a lot of socialization I will need to like... take a breather for a bit and that's cool, no biggie. I get anxious when I have to talk on the phone, I dread long checkouts at the grocery store, and I am not pleased having my picture taken (although I'll be a good sport about it). I'm very gregarious and jolly with my friends or close-knit groups, but I wanted to make this clear because I have met some people who really don't understand that like, no, I do not want to go to this thing or that event just to meet people or be stuck in rooms with strangers. Please be okay with that. I promise your parents will love me, though (if you get along with them).
Physically, I must apologize on my behalf - I am excessively average in appearance. 5'8", brown haibrown eyes, dad bod although I have been working consistently to reach a more fit figure and would consider that a realistic goal for me. I have a big bushy beard and looong hair down to my tailbone, although I have no particular attachment to it and would let any potential future partner have a strong voice on if it stays or if it goes. I've never tried to dress for anyone else but myself - I tend to wear a lot of grey or earth-tone khaki pants, button-down shirt over t-shirt, and a jacket if it is cold. I might have a suit stashed away somewhere but if I do we're gonna have to tailor that bad boy before busting it out. If you like the "hairy soft bod" trope I think you're in luck, haha.
Your pic gets mine, as they say.
What am I looking for, exactly? Well, dating in the traditional sense has never been my cup of tea - I guess I've never really done much of anything in the traditional sense, for better or worse. I want us to be friends, to get to know each other and spend time together talking or sharing activities and hopefully we start swapping food pics and outfit selfies and shots of places we visit and it becomes difficult to go to sleep because we're each trying to be the last to say "goodnight" and then we realize that damn, we really enjoy each other's company and should really talk about getting serious with it - like, go out and shit. Slap a label on that sucker. I hope you are the kind of cozy homebody nerd or super badass action chick gets along well with cozy nerds who wants to forge a genuine connection. If you're local we can still go on traditional dates for pizza and museums and stuff too of course but I don't mind a long-distance thing either. If the feelings are forged, we'll make it work.
As an admittedly average unfashionable dad-bod guy I know I don't have much place to make physical demands of people but in that department I would hope you are some form of HWP or on the way there, aaand... gosh, that's it really. I'm trying hard to be healthy - I would want to be with someone who feels the same.
So, hey! I know this is a lot but I wanted to paint a genuine portrait of where I am coming from and what I am looking for. I'm not a difficult person and it's easy to say hi to me, although I perform my best with some sort of prompt to go off of. Seriously, ask me stuff - I love answering questions and will be sure to follow up with some for you! Tell me a bit about yourself, what's a hobby you're happy with and what's a hobby you wish you could explore more or had more friends to share it with?

TW: Mention of suicide.
I feel like I am stuck in the middle with my current situation and idk what to do. I (22F) currently don’t have a job (I’m currently employed but am temporarily laid off work) so I end up staying at home all day waiting for HR to call and see where I’ve been reassigned. I am currently living with my grandparents (75F and 74M) and my step-sister (9F) while my mother (49F) and aunt (her sister) (42F) both have work in the day. My step-sister has recently been diagnosed with ADHD and she has been a very stubborn kid. Lord, I apologize for all the things I am about to say but she is dumbest kid I have ever seen for a 9 y/o. She complains about her food being too hot when it’s been sitting in a bowl for more than 15-30 minutes and doesn’t bother blowing the spoon (it’s not what comes in her mind) and my grandparents, especially my grandmother, isn’t that much help either. She would easily get pissed off with her actions, so much to the point where she tells my step-sister that she was better off dead (and unironically, she doesn’t react much about it or so I think.) my step-sister would then end up asking her, “What did I do wrong?” like blowing the spoon is not in her instincts either. My grandmother then walked out from the dining area and then whispered (I overheard) that she would want me, my mother, and my step-sister to just kill ourselves. Because I currently don’t have a job, I am forced to listed to this all day (yes, at this point this is a normal occurrence here) and looking for a job isn’t the best option yet since I’ll be out of the country next month for 28 days and work from home jobs are impossible to look for where I am, so it would be better for me to just apply by August when I get back. I don’t really have a proper place to stay at as I can’t stay in my room too often so we could save electricity. I know I feel bad for calling my step-sister dumb but I hope someone can understand where I come from. We teach her several times to think of other options on her daily activities and yet she still forgets EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. It’s like her mind is a vacuum without the storage. I just wanted to get this off my chest guys. Apologies. PS. For anyone wondering, I am from an Asian household, so short-temper and mental health issues will be everywhere.

Hi F19 here, so this is a whole weird pile of events but I hope I can make it make sense. So the other day my boyfriend M20 and I were walking around on a date when I started talking about this new video game I liked. I noticed he seemed kind disinterested so I asked him if he was okay and he was like “yeah yeah” and I started talking again but then he very quickly interrupted me pointing at a statue we have passed many times saying “oh shit look at that statue haha”. After that I asked him if he could say anything of what I had just said and he couldn’t. This made me pretty sad because it made me feel like I was boring. Obviously I understand he won’t share the same interests I do and that’s super okay! but just how I do my best to show interest in his passions I wish he would do the same with mine. Later that evening we are in the study rooms with him and some of our friends and I asked him if he wanted to continue this movie we were watching the other night that I had shown him. He actually told me he really enjoyed it which made me happy cause it’s one of my favorites and I told him that. He said sure but he had to finish some work first which I was totally cool with , I actually offered to help him out since he seemed like he was struggling so we worked thru the questions together and finished after a little less than two hours. Once we finished I ask abt the movie and he said sure but he wants to stay in the study room cause he felt lazy to walk go the dorms, so we start watching it and two minutes in one of our friends starts talking to him and they start laughing, I pause the movie and wait for them to finish but he just keeps talking and after like 3 mins I close the computer and I leave. he walked after me and offered to watch the movie but I said no and left. I just felt embarrassed and stupid and wished I never showed him something that meant so much to me. I texted him telling him he kind of hurt me and he said something like “i understand but sometimes it just feels like you shove your interests down my throat”. I didn’t really say anything, I’m just sad. I’m willing to accept I may be overdramatic, what do u guys think?

When it comes to styling your hair, using the right products is essential. Hair styling cream and hair protector cream are two products that can help to upgrade your hair game. These products provide the necessary nourishment to your hair, helping it look and feel its best. In this blog post, we'll discuss why you should be using hair styling cream and hair protector cream, and how they can benefit your hair.
INTRODUCTION
Hair protection is a vital part of hair care. Whether you have straight, wavy, or curly hair, you can benefit from the use of both Hair styling cream and Hair protector cream. Both of these products are designed to protect your hair from damage and keep it looking and feeling its best. Hair styling cream helps to add definition, shape, and shine to your hair while protecting it from environmental elements like humidity and heat. Meanwhile, Hair protector cream is specifically formulated to shield your hair from the harsh effects of daily styling and chemical treatments.
BENEFITS OF HAIR PROTECTOR CREAM – UPGRADE YOUR HAIR GAME
Using hair protector cream can help you maintain healthy, shiny hair. Hair protector cream is designed to create a protective barrier around your hair, shielding it from the damage caused by heat styling tools and environmental factors. By using a high-quality hair protector cream, you can prevent split ends, breakage, and dryness caused by exposure to harsh weather conditions and other forms of damage.
Hair protector cream helps to lock in moisture, giving your hair a smooth and shiny look. The protective barrier created by the cream prevents moisture loss, keeping your hair looking healthy. In addition to protecting your hair from environmental damage, hair protector cream also provides additional benefits such as strengthening your hair and preventing breakage. Lastly, using a good quality hair protector cream can help make styling easier. The protective barrier created by the cream allows you to style your hair with fewer tools and less effort, saving you time and money. All in all, using a high-quality hair protector cream has many benefits for your hair. From strengthening your hair to protecting it from environmental damage, using a good quality product will ensure that your hair stays healthy and shiny for years to come. When applying hair protector cream, make sure to focus on the ends of the hair since they are most prone to damage. To get maximum benefits, it's important to choose a product specifically formulated for your hair type. You may find that you need different formulas depending on if your hair is colour-treated or if it's naturally curly. Hair styling cream also comes in different formulas depending on if you have thick hair, curly hair, straight hair, etc. Experimenting with different combinations may help you find the perfect product for achieving the look that you desire.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Using hair styling cream and hair protector cream can help you keep your hair looking its best. Hair protector cream helps to lock in moisture, adds a protective barrier, and can even help tame flyaways. Hair styling cream adds texture, helps shape and define curls, and can provide hold for up-styles or other creative looks. Together, these two products can provide an added layer of protection to keep your hair looking healthy and beautiful. For the best results, apply hair protector cream prior to styling. This will create a barrier against heat and will help lock in moisture so your hair won’t become dry or damaged during styling. Hair styling cream should be applied after blow-drying your hair. Work it through damp strands with your fingers or use a round brush to help create volume and curl definition as you style. Keep in mind that when using hair styling cream and hair protector cream together, less is more! A little bit goes a long way and using too much may cause buildup or make your hair appear greasy.

B/O: TF2 keys at 1.3 ea. Yes I'm aware its not the best price.
​
Looking to buy knives, gloves, inventories, etc. Offering cashouts.
Not too interested in 5-7/Knife CHs/T3 AKs/Low tier katos/ST knives. I'll still buy them, just expect really shit prices.
Please note that 90% is really only going to be for high tier items.
​
I'll be happy to go first if you have more cashrep than I do
Tradelink
CSGORep Cashrep
Buff store link because gotrade mod requires it for some reason

First / Previous / Next
Fine. I admit it.
The Royal Dawn is a really nice hotel.
And the best part is, after my... demonstration to the Administrative offices today, I didn't have to order the Hotel to give us some rooms! They just offered rooms to us the minute we walked in!
I was given 'The Empress Suite.' I giggled at the name. I wonder if this had something to do with the royal retinue back in the day. Between the opulence, the name, and the theme it feels possible.
It is possible. There was always more than the Throne for you and your retinue. Every Starbase competed to offer you the most luxurious accommodations. After all, if you didn't like them, you could just rest on your starship.
My room - my suite of rooms actually - are easily the nicest place I've slept in my entire life. I made sure Omar, Ava, Um'reli and I each had our own rooms and while I'm glad that they have their own space, I'm too used to being around other people in the close quarters of FarReach or Starbases back home. I rattle around the rooms opening cabinets and drawers until I see it in the corner near a window overlooking the promenade.
They have a bath here!
It's made of some kind of golden flecked white stone, and is carved to look like it was weathered by the wind and water over millions of years. I figure out the taps, and set a bath going.
Once it's finished, I take off my outfit - Ugh, I wish I packed, this is my only clothes unless I use the Nanites to make more - and slip into the bath. It's blissfully relaxing.
I'm laying back in the tub, just floating, and I wish Ava was here with me.
Where did that come from?
I think for a split second about calling her in, but decide against it. I'm sure she'd come running if I called, I'm sure she'd be... enthusiastic about it, but I don't think I'm ready yet. I comfort myself with the thought, and soak for nearly an hour.
After, I dry and climb into the bed naked. I'll deal with clothes tomorrow.
More wild dreams.
My ship, operated and led by my most trusted Builder, Aeche, carries us to her prized Starbase. Built on her order for me, it's beautiful. She takes me on a tour, and we visit all of the highlights. She is especially proud of the transit system, the largest off planet in the Empire.
A team of 10 Builders live and work at the Reach operating in shifts to make sure all the needs of the residents and builders that live here are taken care of. It's one of the most complex Starbases yet and one of the most impressive.
That night, she comes to my rooms while I'm in the bath. She asks to join me, and I accept. For her, this is a culmination of months of jockeying and positioning to catch my eye, it's the realization of a goal years in the making.
For me, it's a fun night. She is easy on the eyes though, I see no harm in keeping her around for a while.
The next day, she leads me to the Throne. The only larger one exists back home on Imperia and I get the impression that this one is smaller only out of courtesy.
Sitting upon the Throne, with a full contingent of Builders behind me, I'm able to instantly take stock of my Empire. Things are going well. There are new reports from the frontier, and I set them to my ship, Worldshaker, so I have something to read while en route to the K'laxi.
This is the last stop before I go see the K'laxi, turn their Gate back on and remind them what the price of insubordination is. Worldshaker is getting reprovisioned and refreshed as the trip is longer than normal and I want to make sure we can stay a while if needed. On my way out, I'll touch the Gate, and commit an upload.
That night, Aeche visits me again, and we have more fun. After, we go to bed and I lay awake thinking about next steps. Aeche sighs and rolls over in her sleep next to me. I stroke her hair gently. Yes, things are going quiet well. It's nice to have some quiet.
I wake up in my bed, alone, in the hotel room, fully myself again. Not only was that the most... idyllic dream I've had yet, it's the first that I felt like it was me doing the things, not some other Empress.
Yes, the Nanites are doing well. You can probably integrate with the Throne if you were to try. It's up to you however. But remember you told The Smell of Soil after Rain to bring everyone today. We should head over there.
Hmm Good point. Okay, let's get up, get dressed, grab everyone and head over. I look over at my outfit from yesterday. It's nice, and it's impressive, but if I'm going to be presenting as Empress to everyone, I need something... more.
I concentrate and think about what would be right. I don't think about specifics, I let the Nanites take my whims into consideration and see what I get. The fog cloud of them surrounds me and my outfit from yesterday and I when they finish I turn and look in the mirror near the bath.
I'm still in royal blue - good, I like that color - but the outfit now is a... strapless ball gown? It's rather severely low cut - I wonder if that's from dreaming about Aeche - and the dress clings on the top half and billows and flows on the lower half and ends in sparking stars and nebulae on a train that flows behind me, rippling gently as if a breeze is blowing it. I check and... yes, it's not touching the ground. That's a neat trick. I'm wearing taller heels than yesterday too, but at least they're comfortable - for now. It's not something that Lieutenant Mullen would ever wear, but it seems... right for Empress Melody The First. I'll roll with it. In deference to who I am, there is a way to mount my rifle on my back. I click it in place and feel complete. I wonder how many Empresses were armed?
Many were. We even have records of a few who would carry a battle rifle with them.
That brings me some happiness. Even after how different we are, there are still some things that I share with Empresses across time.
As I open the door to leave, I see Omar, Ava and Um'reli in the hall already dressed and ready. They turn to see me and Ava and Um'reli both gasp and blush. Omar grins wickedly. "Melody, I have to say that this is the first time since you told us you were an Empress that you look the part. That is an amazing outfit."
I curtsy slightly "Thank you Omar. Did you all sleep well? I have a hunch with the Nanites you had... intense dreams?"
Ava snaps her had up to me. "I did! I dreamt that I was running a Starbase. We were preparing for your visit and I had so much to do, but I knew how to do all of it, and I had a really strong team, and you complimented our readiness when you arrived!"
Um'reli looks at me with an odd expression. "I did too, but... I dreamt I was a human. A Builder. I was operating a Starship, the Sunrunner. We were tasked by you directly to tour the frontier worlds and build a report about how they were doing, if they needed anything and if we thought there was any unrest. We were very proud because you had personally asked for us."
"What about you Omar?" Ava turns and looks at him.
"Yeah, I had a vivid dream. I dreamt that I was a planetary administrator. I ruled over more than a billion people on a world with two suns. One was white and the other was larger and redder. I remember clearly the odd shadows it cast, and how everything had an odd coloration. You had requested an increase in the delivery of Magnesium. We were able to meet the new quota this time, but I was worried that if you had requested to keep the quote high, how we would be able to make it without overworking the miners."
"Wow, so not only did you dream about being a Builder, not only did you dream about being a powerful Builder, but you all were in direct contact with the Empress. I wonder if that's because you received your Nanites from me directly."
"Who knows?" Um'reli looks at all of us. "But I for one am starving. Let's get some breakfast and go back to the Throne. Melody has a performance to give."
We head downstairs and sure enough there is a restaurant attached to the Hotel. We sit down and immediately I ask for a carafe of boiling hot water to be brought. While we wait, I take out my hand grinder and scale and make some coffee. By the time the water arrives, everything is ready. The Mariens who brought me the water is watching curiously as I make the coffee. Soon enough, it's finished, and I take the first sip of coffee in nearly three days.
Ahh, now, I can rule.
"Pardon my asking, Empress, but what is that?" The Mariens points to my beverage.
"It's called coffee. It's the roasted seed of a plant that's native to the planet we lived on. I like to drink an extraction of it made with boiling water. It does have a chemical, called caffeine, that offers a stimulant effect to Hu-Builders, but we've found it to be toxic to other Sapients, like our friends the K'laxi here. You can smell it if you'd like though." I hold out the cup.
The Mariens leans in and gently inhales. They lean back sharply and look at me. "That smells amazing." Their body language expresses wonder. "Truly, the Builders do amazing things. Now, what will you be having for breakfast?"
We order and eat and walk towards the Throne. As we're walking this time, people are not ignoring us. Children wave, people follow us with their eyes. They don't seem to be fearful of us, more respectful this time. As we turn a corner, I see Rapid River Roaring and The Smell of the Ocean. They look worse for wear. Both of them have matted feathers, even a few bare spots. Wild eyed they're looking around. River is clutching a bag of some kind.
Uh oh.
They turn and see me. Relief washes over them and they run up to me "Empress! My Empress!" They both approach me and bow low, head touching the ground. "We have completed your task. We have found Vivvix and Zemmlin and brought them to you."
Ava looks around. "But, where are they?"
I know where they are.
River opens the bag they're carrying.
Inside are most of Vivvix and Zemmlin.
"I see..." I try to not look unsettled. Omar's face darkens and he turns away. Ava look in and nods, satisfied. Um'reli doesn't look in, but she isn't unsettled by this development either.
Well. What's done is done. "I would have preferred they be brought to me alive, but my fault for not specifying that. Where were they?"
"The cowards were hiding in the docks. They were attempting to board another ship and catch up to that traitor, Ottarn. We were able to surprise them, and carried out your order, Empress."
"Yes, I can see that. Er, thank you both for your hard work. Go to High Line and find Starlight on a Moonless Evening. After this presentation, I plan on visiting the ship to assess it for refitting.
They both bow again. "Empress."
First / Previous / Next

This might be more appropriate for another sub, but there’s less chance of it going viral here, I hope. I’m a mom of 4 (21f, 16f, 10f, 6M). For the sake of the story I’ll refer to kids by ages.
I live 3 hours south of my mom, 21F lives with her because my mom lives in a more progressive area; she’s happy and has friends there after some very sad and lonely teenage years. After my best friend moved out of state, I had nobody left to keep me where I live. I’d follow my bestie in a heartbeat, but we can’t afford to leave the state yet. Covid shutdowns set us back years financially.
It’s a long and complicated story but the summary is that my mom rented a cheap house a few blocks from her father’s house she and her brothers inherited. The brother that occupied the house died 18 months ago and basically let it rot for over a decade. She told me and my husband who are both very handy that we should come live there and we could just pay property tax and do the work. Yay, cheap ass rent! Right?
The biggest benefit for me was that I would have help with my youngest two kiddos. Not babysitting, mind you. Not often, anyway. Just another adult to pick up a little slack here and there. 10F has severe ADHD, 6M is autistic. I homeschool them both because their needs were not being met in public school. Mom is retired and 21F is a fantastic big sister. “We can all support and help each other!” She said.
Well, husband and I got to work. Turns out there is termite damage to the upstairs floor joists, a collapsed septic, and root intrusion on the pipes. New HVAC was needed, all new flooring, painting, and kitchen/bathrooms needed remodeling… and not for aesthetics. Still not deal breakers. We could deal with the floor joists and remodels, and hire out the HVAC and plumbing. We already financed the new HVAC and water heater and a few hundred in building materials.
What my mom failed to mention is that her marriage was over. I’d mostly moved into the house and husband was coming to help in his off time. She abruptly left her husband after a fight one night and moved in with me. What she also failed to mention is that she expected me to take over all her finances and medical scheduling. And be her counselor. And be her legal liaison and take over as executor of both her parents estates, one of which is incredibly complex. I overdosed on my ADHD meds less than a year ago because my mental/emotional load was so high. She knows why I overdosed. I was very open about it. I was incredibly put off that this retired woman was so eager to dump her load onto my plate with that knowledge.
Well, I needed to return to the other house to retrieve some items and prepare for the move. She urged me to leave 6M with her and 21F. When I came back, I learn from 21F that my mom complained the entire time I was gone that I’d left her with such a huge responsibility. (21F works full-time) . There was an early morning HVAC appointment I’d set up. She just needed to be there and let them in…and she texted me non-stop complaining about their presence. She knows my son is a full time job.
I went from laying tile and gutting bathrooms to spending all my time handling her business, and listening to her talk about how the man she was married to my entire childhood was a better husband than the one she’d just left. The man who abused me in every way imaginable…and she knew! That was so incredibly triggering for me.
All our talks in recent years about generational trauma, breaking cycles, and being able to self-reflect and recognize how our actions and words can harm our children were just talk. I’d been very open with her about the ways she’d unintentionally harmed me. She’d acknowledged and apologized for those things and it took years, but I was able to eventually forgive.
I recognize that the end of a relationship can bring out the worst in people so I tried to be understanding and gently set boundaries. But it only resulted in the same toxic reactions I’d grown so intimately familiar with as a child. Walking on eggshells. I felt like a broken, helpless child again.
Turns out she bought a 40 ft travel trailer and intended to live on the property without knowing we’d need to do a full upgrade to the electrical to power it, and remove two gigantic live oak trees to get it parked. In the meantime she moved into the bedroom my son, husband and I already occupied and she bought us an air mattress. She was spending all her money on the trailer payment. We’d now have to take on 100% of the repair expenses. Turns out, my husband couldn’t get a comparable job offer in the area. It would halve our income. That was the nail in the coffin. I knew we couldn’t follow through with the move. And that’s not even half the behaviors I dealt with.
The way she spoke of me, you’d think I’d hung the moon. But when I told her we weren’t coming and why (I stuck to the financial reasons when I broke the news) she hung up on me and blocked me after implying I’d fucked her over financially. Once I was no longer doing what she wanted me to, I was no longer the one who hung the moon. That hurt.
I’m done. I sent her an email telling her how that made me feel. Several days later, I got a card from her in the mail thanking husband and I for all we’ve done to make the house a home in such a short time. It was just like old times. Pretend nothing happened after a conflict. Not this time, mom.
Being a mom with zero support system is so hard. And it was really difficult to have a support system, albeit a small one, dangled over my head like that.

I haven’t even flirted for such a long time, and lately, during those boring lunches where people just talk about heiresses’ dogs’ illnesses (a Pomeranian dog shares all her illnesses with her owner) or gossip about some technocrat who has a limp and who may be cheating on his partner, and while rice with cod is served, I am asked “darling, are you dating yet?”. No, I am not, and here I am, mostly because dating apps are too dull – unfortunately the odds of being flashed by a Jewish 19 year-old from Manchester is smaller on these things, though sometimes you might have some luck and end up being insulted randomly by a Portuguese girl, who is visiting her uncle.
I do have names, and surnames, and I was born in a big city in Brazil. My sister used to describe our childhood address as “a building with cars and trees and buildings”, which is a rather good description of much of the city. For a while I wanted to join the seminary but after having to face the fact that this was an inadequate career choice considering I didn’t believe in God and had always found masses to be awfully boring (though fascinating at times – the priest at my childhood church used to go on long rants about things, of which there are many) often turning my back to see the watch, and so I chose the next best thing: I am studying sociology, which involves, in many ways, taking a vow of poverty. I also work at a small online newspaper so I am well informed on sub celebrities and local occurrences such as babies heroically rescued by policemen after choking on the thing babies eat. And yes, I write poetry sometimes.
I am fascinated fairly often by everything, or many things, at least so you won’t be bored. These last days I ended up reading a lot of things about Egypt after reading about Ottoman chief eunuchs being exiled to Cairo after their tenure. In general, I really enjoy the humanities. I follow politics keenly – in fact, there is some chance I might have some thoughts on your country’s politics – and I’d say I am on the centre-left – pro-choice, in favour of a robust welfare state, LGBTQ+ rights, affirmative action. If you know about Brazilian politics, I voted for Marina and Haddad in 2018 (the voting age here is 16), and Lula last year.
As you can imagine, I also really enjoy reading and writing. Besides poetry, I have often thought about writing a novel, but this seems like too much work – and it seems that it would be arrogant of me to write a novel having lived this little, though it wouldn't be uncommon. I really enjoy learning about other languages and cultures and I know a bit of French, German, Spanish, and Russian, besides English and Portuguese. I’d really like to learn Arabic and/or Mandarin. I am really into genealogy, and I know quite a bit about it. I often cry while watching dumb movies (I cried during Minions!) or listening to beautiful music; my music taste has been described as “fairly gay” and in movies as “slightly gay”.
I guess I am pretty introverted, polite, and timid (well, I am on here after all). I am affectionate and I can be really passionate as well. And I am fairly funny, or rather, I have made a few people laugh over the years. I asked a close friend to describe myself, and that is what he said:

I think you’re very communicative. Shrewd, funny, a good companion. Kind of withdrawn but not necessarily shy. You avoid conflict and unnecessary arguments, but love to participate in good conversations. I think you’re very kind too, besides being polite.

As for what I want to do with my life, I am unsure though I am inclined to go into academia. I have been considering applying to a PhD program in the U.S. after finishing my undergrad here in Brazil. My family does want me to go into their business, which is related to politics. I have also considered going into diplomacy.
Who am I looking for? I’d like someone curious about the world around her, and open-minded.
Some poems I really like:

• Litany for our lord Don Quixote by Ruben Dario
  
• Tobacco Shop by Fernando Pessoa
  
• Ash Wednesday by T. S. Eliot
  

Some songs I have been listening to:

• Ariana Grande - 7 Rings
  
• Rosalía - Delirio de Grandeza
  
• Pescado Rabioso - Cantata de Puentes Amarillos