Wendy free living amoeba model |

I’m (23F) about to finish university in the UK. I currently live with my partner (24M) and we have a really amazing relationship and connection - I’ve never been happier before with anyone.
However, I’ve been presented with an opportunity to move to a Nordic country and go do my masters there for free. If I wanted to do a masters here, I’d have to work for a year or two to save up, and even then, having a masters doesn’t even guarantee me a more highly paid job in the future (at least in this country). Also, when I’ve stayed with my parents (who moved there a few years ago), I’ve was in awe with the culture, language, and the nature.
I’ve really been struggling to envision what life would be like staying in the UK, and to be completely honest, the increasing authoritarianism of the state is terrifying.
That being said, I love my partner so utterly and completely. We’ve talked about moving to a city a few hours away from where we are now as we both want a fresh start somewhere new. I’m excited by the idea but, I’m torn on this opportunity I have.
He’s always been unconditionally there for me. For example, when I spent a few weeks in hospital last year due to an infection, and then had to wait to find out if I had cancer, he slept in the corridor just to make sure I was okay. When I couldn’t even walk, and had to be in a wheelchair, he made sure I got the rollercoaster experience (probably wasn’t medically advisable but it was the best time). It’s even just the little things, like how he just looks at me in the morning and tells me how he never wants to get out of bed.
I only have a few months left to decide and I’m just scared of regretting my decision in the future. Yes, I know the grass is not always greener on the other side, but I don’t have anything to lose from this - apart from the love of my life.

He gets little attention from the fandom despite being a Khaenri'ahn royal mage and the director of Fatui (possibly the closest to the Tsarista) and I'm upset. This subreddit is dead and it needs some cobweb removal. These are very depressing and heavy angst-centric. Viewers discretion advised.
•With whatever remaining heart and warmth she has, the Tsarista uses it to comfort Pierro whenever he has a flashback or on the verge of a breakdown
•He hears the voices of the people closest to him on a daily basis. Because of this, Pierro is constantly on edge and has some difficulty differentiating reality from imagination. Other symptoms of psychosis appear as well.
•Most his free time is spent alone pondering the Fatui's next move, or talking with the Tsarista about their next move. The Jester doesn't have the luxury of relaxing and is constantly planning, strategizing, improvising, etc. Only on rare occasions does he take time to unwind.
•Unhealthily and frequently isolates himself from others. It's a combination of introversion and mental condition for him. Seeing him is uncommon, having a conversation outside of buisness is legendary. The isolation also keeps people at arms length and keeps him shrouded in mystery
•Has tried to commit suicide a plentiful of times but fails at each one. He had a delusion that he was a living corpse, which may or may not be true because of the curse placed on him.
•Nobody has ever seen him smile.

Hi!
An update just went live for Skrupel TNG allowing you to organize players into teams in any game mode! Previously this was only possible in the "Team Death Foe" game mode.
This makes it much easier to setup Co-op games to battle together with friends against AI for instance.
Create a free account or use the following link for a 48 hour guest account if you want to try it out quickly: https://skrupeltng.de/guest-account/7759e308-7137-4f4a-bb18-738a34044834
Any feedback will be much appreciated :)
Have fun!

Imagine a world where everyone's thoughts are audible to others within a certain radius. How would this influence the nature of privacy, personal relationships, and the development of trust among individuals? In such a scenario, would it still be possible for deception or dishonesty to exist, or would society evolve to become more transparent and honest?
If the passage of time were to suddenly become nonlinear, with individuals experiencing past, present, and future events concurrently or in an unpredictable sequence, how would this affect the human understanding of causality, moral responsibility, and personal identity? In this context, would our ethical frameworks still hold, or would we need to develop new philosophical concepts to navigate this temporal chaos?
In a world where emotions can be artificially induced or suppressed through advanced technology, how would the value of genuine emotional experiences change? Would the artificial nature of these emotions diminish their importance in our lives or serve as a means to explore new dimensions of human experience? Moreover, how would this affect the role of empathy, compassion, and emotional intelligence in interpersonal relationships and social structures?
Consider a society in which individuals can choose to upload their consciousness to a digital realm, effectively achieving a form of immortality. In such a world, what would become of the concepts of life and death, and how might this impact the human experience of grief, love, and personal growth? Furthermore, how would the prospect of eternal life in a digital space influence our understanding of what it means to be truly alive, and what ethical implications might arise from the potential inequality between those who can and cannot afford this technology?
Envision a scenario where artificial intelligence becomes capable of creating perfect simulations of human consciousness, indistinguishable from the real thing. How would this development challenge our understanding of consciousness, free will, and the nature of reality? If these simulations possess the same level of awareness, emotions, and experiences as humans, would they be entitled to the same rights and moral consideration? Furthermore, how would the existence of such simulations impact human relationships, our sense of self, and our place in the universe?
I bolded the last one because it's interesting GPT4 it posed such a question...

Inspired by this writing prompt.
***
A thousand years of fighting. Of violence. Combat. Hatred. Pain and suffering. Of evil versus good. Of good people, fighting, dying. Their lives culled too soon. Too many graves for too many too young. Dirt saturated with blood. Skies filled with cries. Aether filled with grief and sadness, so thick, it becomes almost palpable. And all for nought.
A thousand years, of this hell, and nothing changed. Nothing at all.
Then what for, did we fight? Did we struggle? Did we suffer and die? For what did we send our loved ones to their death. Killed one and another?
This is precisely what Keft and Lims asked each other after those thousand years. Both had been 'blessed' with immortality. To fight for their cause, their side. Ordained by the old Gods, they had been called Demon lord and Hero. One stands for Evil, the other for Good. Destined to fight each other, eternally, or until one side won and conquered the other.
And no matter how fierce their fight began, how fiery their fervour once was. They now knew the truth. Their fight was one without meaning. No matter how hard they fought, how hard they tried. They were equals. In life, in death. Their divine boons had been measured and weighed to be entirely equal. Not an atom of power in difference.
Long they talked about this, philosophized about this. During their 'deaths'. They never truly died, they simply descended into a lower plane of being, where they resided until enough energy was gathered to allow them to rise again. A gentle ten years in between cycles of decades of fighting and violence. Not a single theory held up, except for one.
There was no true evil or true good. The world was for too ambiguous and individual for things that were so clear to exist. No, there was but only one reason for their existence. Man, the greatest work of the old Gods, their pride, was flawed. People could show truly wonderful things. Love. Compassion. Kindness. Greatness. And it was this that the Gods liked to show off, to shower themselves in greatness with.
But man was also capable of great evil. What one person could do to another could be so vile, so corrupted, so deeply rooted in evil, that even the Demon lord recoiled in horror. Man was flawed, deeply flawed. And the Gods needed a scapegoat. A reason for these flaws, so that they could wash their hands clean of these mistakes. So, instead of fixing the flaws they created, they made the dualism of Good and Evil. Good, brought forth all that was right. And Evil stood for the flaws. As a cause, not a result. The Gods were, after all, incapable of fault, so it was Evil, this incredibly abstract energy, that caused all that was wrong with the world.
And the people believed it. Gobbled it up. Evil was the reason for man turning on man. For neighbours murdering one and another. For lovers cheating. For children starving. And Good was the only power capable to counteracting that.
But enough was enough. No longer would they be actors in a play orchestrated by the Gods, to hide their own shortcomings. No more fighting each other, decided Keft and Lims. Instead, they would work together, to banish the true evil in the world. The old Gods.
Their arrogance, hubris and eternal, narcissistic greed for worship is what brought all that was bad in this world, they decided. Seven sins, seven Gods fuelling them. A thousand years of service had been enough. And as Keft and Lims prepared for their next resurrection, they did so in an entirely different way than before.
First, they compared notes. Teaching each other the entirety of their boons and magic. Evil and Good magic, when used together, they soon discovered, brought forth incredible power. Power neither of them had ever believed to be possible, aside from that of the Gods. And that was precisely what it was. In their eternal wisdom, the Gods had given each of them half of the key to their divine power. So certain in their own manipulations, that they would never work together.
For once, Keft and Lims welcomed the Gods' hubris.
Ten years went by in a heartbeat. Spend training, working on their new powers. And when they finally resurrected, they first went looking for each other. No starting an infernal legion, no gathering of the knights of the realms. They went straight for each other, shook hands, and then disappeared. Prophesies had foretold their coming, as they had always done. But neither cultist nor priest was able to find their paragon. For they were on the hunt.
The Gods liked to remain on the mortal plane. They liked to taste the mortal pleasures. They liked to celebrate the sins they told their worshippers to deny themselves.
Pereodim was the first to die. His throat cut with a blade enchanted with so many divine inscriptions, that it was capable of cutting through time and space. Cutting through Pereodim's flesh, in every plane he existed, at the same time. His soul blood seeped out, and Keft and Lims absorbed it. Equally, as they had always done.
Ashmaal was next. Poisoned by enchanted wine, fed to her by one of her whores. She was then slowly cut to pieces, with blades just not powerful enough, to make her suffering last. Until the last drop of soul blood was sucked dry.
Andeol found his end the way he told his followers to find it. In brutal battle. Hot headed and always lusting for Glory, he gladly accepted to fight both Keft and Lims head on. Unaware of their new-found power, or that they had killed two of his kind already, he charged them. A brutal fight, lasting a week, followed. But with the power of two Gods inside of them, they crushed him entirely. Sucking him dry as well.
The twins Melio and Iva were next. Brother and sister. They had relatively been good, at least when compared with the others. Their deaths were swift. Painless. Neither got joy out of killing them, but they had to go, as did all the others.
Malifara ran, but not fast enough and not far enough. At the edge of the known world, they found her. Sacrificing many of her followers in a rush, trying to finish her ritual that would let her escape the mortal plane. But not fast enough. Keft and Lims ended her, and all of her cultist followers.
Lodvest was the last God standing. He had always been the strongest one. But Keft and Lims had the power of three gods each now. They had reached a mastery of the divine arts that none of the Gods had ever reached before. And their power was something Lodvest had only been able to dream about. Matter, space, time, all were pliable things to the duo.
The last battle raged for more than a month, and more than one kingdom got devastated in the storm that was their fight. It ended as anyone would guess. With Lodvest headless, sucked dry. And Keft and Lims stronger.
They now stood, finally free. No master above them. No eternal duty to fulfil. They broke their shackles with ease with their newfound knowledge and mastery. And then they spoke to man. All of man.
"Fear not, for you are free. Fear not, for we banished Evil, and Good." They spoke.
"No Gods remain to lord over you. To tell you what is good, what is evil. What can be and what can not. To tell you how to live. How to love. How to sin. How to pray. We took away your shackles. Crushed open your jails. Set free your souls."
"Fear not, for we have no interest in taking their place. We are Keft and Lims. The paragons of Evil and Good. We have fought for you, with you and against you. For over a thousand years now. And we grew tired. Of fighting a battle without meaning. The Gods made you, in their own image. So much is true."
"But the Gods were not perfect. They had flaws. They sinned. And so do you. There is no greater power of Evil that compels you to do so. There is no greater power of Good that prevents you."
"When you do evil, that is you. All of you. When you hate, murder, hurt. You choose to do so. But when you do good, that is also you. When you love, help, be kind. That is you choosing to be good. Choosing to be kind."
"There are no Gods any more, and we will leave too. You will be alone. You will only have each other. But you are enough. You are capable of incredible goodness and greatness. We believe in you. Now, you must believe in yourselves."
And with that, Keft and Lims left. For higher planes of being, leaving behind the mortal plane, and never looking back.

Hi there! My name is Nazario, but feel free to call me Naz. I'm 25 years old and I live on the East Coast, US.
I've just been looking to meet someone for a while now that I can get to know and see where things go from there. Would love to meet someone who wants a relationship as well. Females only please.
I have a degree in Computer Science and have been wanting to get into Game Development.
I currently enjoy playing video games and DnD. I would love to hear about your interests as well :) they dont have to match mine, but it would definitely be a bonus!
I hope you have a great day, and I want you to know that you matter. Always.

Hi, welcome to my success story.
I don't even know how to start, it's been quite a ride. I don't really want to repeat the old story because it is very complicated, but I will say a few things here. So I lost my SP at the beginning of June 2022, he is a friend of my first SP, so that's why the circumstances were so dire. Trust me, manifesting is really simple! How I make it, how you have it. It lasted 10 months, of which 2 weeks I intensively lived at the end of my wish and worked on my self-love and the perception of the people around me. If I had known that it was so simple, I wouldn't have had to worry for the whole 10 months.
I often tried to look for results in 3D reality and I was too attached to the wish, which was not right. ENJOY THE JOURNEY!! Negative thoughts are actually ok, just don't believe them
Within 10 months, I read the entire Bible and found out that a lot is connected with the LOA - "And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." – Matthew 21:22... This really strengthened my faith. So now to the point, 3 weeks ago he unblocked me and we had a long conversation about everything, but his behavior was different every day - warm and cold. I read one post here on reddit https://www.reddit.com/nevillegoddardsp/comments/j1dtz6/hot_and_cold_behavio?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 ;and found that it was just mirroring my inner self about him. So the first thing I did was delete the old story - I used revision, I visualized everything bad as good in meditation, I simply replaced the painful scene with a loving and pleasant scene that made me happy. By living at the end for a while and thinking about the old story for a while, I developed a cold and warm demeanor from SP, IT MIRRORED ME. 2) Living at the end - In the end I lived like that for a week, I didn't act on it, but in my mind I acted on it. 3) Meditation - a great thing to calm your mind and connect you with the universe and help increase your mental and spiritual growth. 4) Writing a diary - sorry, when I wrote a diary, I wrote down a few affirmations and pretended that I already had it - done. 5) Praying to God - I always thought that I and God are one. I did not ask for a miracle, but rather for help and God's blessing. God's timing is great. 6) Perception of myself and my SP/surroundings - THIS IS SO IMPORTANT WHEN DEVELOPING SP!! If you see a man as someone who will always hurt you and who doesn't know how to treat women, that's what you'll get too. I transformed my SP into a loving person in my mind using affirmations and visualization. We also worked a lot on ourselves during manifestation - meditation, skin care, gym, education and overall satisfaction with our journey.
By the way me and my SP made these journals yesterday that have this "quote" “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change.”. My SP does not know that I manifested him or that this quote is associated with Neville Goddard.
We would be very happy if you buy the journal, if anyone is interested in the link feel free to send me a DM.
Thanks for reading my post and feel free to ask me anything, have a nice day <333

Hi there! My name is Nazario, but feel free to call me Naz. I'm 25 years old and I live on the East Coast, US.
I've just been looking to meet someone for a while now that I can get to know and see where things go from there. Would love to meet someone who wants a relationship as well. Females only please.
I have a degree in Computer Science and have been wanting to get into Game Development.
I currently enjoy playing video games and DnD. I would love to hear about your interests as well :) they dont have to match mine, but it would definitely be a bonus!
I hope you have a great day, and I want you to know that you matter. Always.

Hey all! I start with measurements. Using the ABTF calculator, I’m currently measuring 28G (UK sizing).
Previously to pregnancy, I wore a 28F consistently. With my first, I topped out at a 28H. I had good success with Sugar Candy bras, but because of their sizing model I am spilling out of the cups already and I’m only 12 weeks with this second baby so there’s a long way to go.
I have a Molke bra that is comfortable, but not perfect. My sizing there is an XS Cosmic, but the XS band isn’t quite supportive enough to stop my shoulders from aching after a few hours of wear. I’ve tried Hotmilk, and one bra from fit okay, but was quite loose in the band. Kindred Bravely was my next option, but I am in Canada and they don’t ship internationally.
Are there any options for wire free bras that I have missed? I love the style of the Molke, (crossover) and have considered making some sleep bras similar, but I’m not a great sewing. I don’t expect my rib cage measurement to change much, it didn’t the first time, but I can’t keep walking around with no bra!

Females only please.
Hi there! My name is Nazario, but feel free to call me Naz. I'm 25 years old and I live on the East Coast, US.
I've just been looking to meet someone for a while now that I can get to know and see where things go from there. Would love to meet someone who wants a relationship as well. Females only please.
I have a degree in Computer Science and have been wanting to get into Game Development.
I currently enjoy playing video games and DnD. I would love to hear about your interests as well :) they dont have to match mine, but it would definitely be a bonus!
I hope you have a great day, and I want you to know that you matter. Always.

Grand Theft Auto is no stranger to add-on content, but the latest in a long line of leaks suggests Rockstar might be taking a bit of a different approach for the long-awaited sequel — splitting up parts of the game to repackage as DLC.
The rumor comes from established Rockstar leaker Tez2, who says Grand Theft Auto 6 is currently targeting a release in holiday 2024 “which has been pushed back multiple times.” Tez2 adds the game may be pushed back again, into to 2025.
Furthermore, Tez2 claims Rockstar is considering breaking up the game’s content into post-launch DLC, to ensure the game can meet a release date. If GTA 6 launches in 2024, it will be a whopping 11 years since the last release in the franchise.
This wouldn’t be an unprecedented move from Rockstar, considering the approach the studio has taken with GTA Online, incrementally releasing massive updates and new story content. Notably, however, GTA 5 didn’t feature any additional story content, just updates to the Online portion of the game.
GTA Online GTA Online has managed to stay relevant for a decade with consistent updates, and it makes sense Rockstar would pivot to that same approach to single-player content.ROCKSTAR Taking this approach would let Rockstar more easily hit whatever internal timeline is established for GTA 6, and provide a road map of content to make post-launch more appealing to players. Interestingly, this isn’t the first time this kind of rumor has been brought up by Tez2, as last August the leaker reported GTA 6 would “expand over time,” adding on new cities after launch.
The easiest approach would be to create content that ties into both the single-player and multiplayer aspects of GTA 6, and creating new cities in-game could do just that. New locations could be fully playable in the online portion, while also adding on hand-crafted stories and missions. This would allow Rockstar to continue the overwhelming success of GTA Online, while story content could help attract new players or those that might not care to engage with multiplayer.
This tactic of splitting up elements of the game as DLC is something Nintendo has been using for years, to great success. Mario Strikers: Battle League, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Nintendo Switch Sports, have all seen scheduled add-ons for new content, even years after their initial release. At this point, it’s not clear how much of a live-service element there will be for GTA 6, but this Nintendo-like approach would allow Rockstar to retain players who are primarily interested in single-player experiences.
GTA 5 Although GTA 5 never received single-player DLC, Rockstar’s director of design said in a 2017 interview the studio would “love to do more single-player add-ons for games in the future.”ROCKSTAR Nintendo stands apart from other developers, though, in that typically these updates are free or bundled with a Switch Online subscription. It’s a smart move, as games like Mario Strikers, which would typically have a very short shelf life, suddenly provide players with more of a reason to stick with it for the long haul. It also allows Nintendo to continue to sell its older, first-party titles with minimal discounts.
There’s no video game property in existence bigger than Grand Theft Auto, and a report in 2020 estimated GTA Online made a staggering $600 million in 2019. Even in 2023, it continues to hold an enviable place in the sales charts month after month. The popularity of GTA Online has only continued to increase over the years, and that mainstream success is exactly what’s poised to make GTA 6 such a massive success.
Breaking up content into DLC lets Rockstar bring GTA 6 back into the conversation every six months, year, or whatever release timeline suits the studio and the community best. Seeing a big GTA 6 update in a State of Play or other presentation will likely bring thousands of players flocking back to the game, and considering GTA 5 and GTA Online are still alive and kicking a decade later, it’s easy to say Rockstar is hoping for lightning to strike twice with GTA 6.

I always try to hide having mental problems. I’ve lived a very fucked up, unfair life (I’ve witnessed about any and everything)
2 weeks ago my friend asked me if I had any mental health issues because our other friend told her I was in the 7th floor a few times (she had to come get me, I didn’t drive then)
I told her I diagnosed with C-PTSD, major depressive, borderline personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder along with a few other clusters. I’m currently in group therapy 3x a week and seek frequent help for. She told me I’ll be fine that she has PTSD and it’s way worse and more severe than C-PTSD. I didn’t really know what to say back. Caught me very off guard. I’m not open about my mental health for many many reason (I am seriously never okay. I cry in my sleep from trauma flash backs and faint from how hard I get worked up but I do my fucking best to hide this flaw and how beat down I am) I try to act as normal as possible because I never let me guard down with anyone and constantly paranoid what could be said. I just agreed with her while she went on to tell me about all her trauma. She also said what I have must be wrong because she doesn’t have flash backs so that she didn’t really understand why they told me that. It’s been 2 weeks and it’s still bothering me this was said. I feel invalided. I feel I’m a suck up.
I had to force myself to get out of the house in an attempt to have a good, normal time so I can just be normal and like everyone else and like always, fucking always somehow mental health ruined it for me. I feel invalid, I feel I’m a phony, I feel like every night I’ve woke myself up bawling, every time I’ve just stood there in a trance remembering a traumatic event, every time I’ve fainted, completely soaked my shirt from sweat, broke down, beat my head in for the thoughts to go away was for no reason because mine is easier and I’ll be okay that I just overreacted. I’m NEVER FUCKING OKAY!!!! It ended in me cutting again and now my 14 month free self harming has ended. I can’t tell anyone anyways. But I need it off my chest. Maybe I can breathe better now.

Printing miniature bases is a great way to add detail and customization to your models and miniatures. Whether you're a wargamer, tabletop RPG enthusiast, or a painter, 3D printing miniature bases can be a great way to make your pieces stand out! With a resin 3D printer, you can print unique bases and terrain with intricate details and shapes, allowing for the perfect accompaniment for your miniatures.
This guide will provide you with an easy-to-follow, step-by-step instruction on how to print miniature bases with a resin printer. From gathering the necessary STL files and orienting them in the 3D printer's software, to washing, curing, and painting your bases, this guide will help you get started on your 3D printing journey.

Gather your desired miniature bases STL files. You can find some free bases here: https://www.myminifactory.com/users/Admiral%20Apocalypse?show=objects&page=1&price=free
Open the STL file in 3D-builder software to check for mesh errors and, if necessary, fix them.
Load the 3D model of your miniature base into the 3D printer's software. Orient your base model and adjust the settings according to your preferences. Generally, bases should be oriented with the bottom facing the plate at an angle between 45 and 70 degrees. Be sure to support well the first layers, the edges all the way up and the center part of the bottom face. You can download this model and check for both its orientation and support configurations to get an idea: https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-unknown-frontier-free-base-32mm-pre-supported-281791

Supports for bottom face layers: medium support 0,4-0,5mm tip diamater

Start the print and monitor it as it prints.
Let the printed base rest upside-down on the plate to let the resin drip off.
Wash your model with IPA or bioethanol alcohol.
Place the printed model with supports in hot tap water for 60 seconds to remove the supports easily and leave fewer marks.
Let your base dry completely, then start the curing process.
Paint it as desired to make it look even more unique.

Enjoy your custom printed miniature base!

I would say I am on a “mostly” gluten free diet. I am probably being CC’d all the time as I live in a non-gluten free house and eat out a lot. It is just so difficult and unrewarding when you still feel get mild symptoms. Just absolutely hate it. I’m looking at all the menu items on a restaurant and it’s like I can’t have any of it. It makes you feel like you wanna cheat on the diet (I haven’t currently but I can’t rule it out in the future). It just feels like I’m MISSING OUT so much. Like WHY?!
So I eat out at restaurants and get Starbucks and probably get cross contaminated but it gets to the point where I don’t care… because I’d rather be able to eat nice food.

By the time I was sixteen Linda got my dad to send me off to what they thought was boarding school. In reality it was a compound where the Order of the Wren would begin training me so I could be a full-fledged member.
During this time D and I would talk on the phone a few times a week. Since the Order had me move around so often I had to be the one doing the calling. These conversations didn't last as long as I would have liked because there was no privacy in the hotel rooms we would frequently stay at.
By we, I mean the two experienced hunters I would have to learn from. Their names were Williams and King. Neither did much talking and I could tell they didn't like having me around. Not that I could blame them. I was inexperienced and they had better things to do than to hold my hand and explain things to me. That meant that when we had to go somewhere to slay some monstrosity, I would have to wait in the hotel we were staying at.
I was bored out of my mind most of the time when we were traveling the country but I would learn to love those dull moments soon enough.
Williams was alright even though he smelt like a chimney, but at least he was patient with me and kind. However, King was crazy, cynical and had an unhealthy obsession with explosives. I asked him about it once and he told me “In this line of work, some things are vulnerable to fire, monk root, silver and stuff, right? But in my experience nothing can survive when twenty pounds of homemade explosives go boom.”
The days passed slowly so I would kill time by sharpening rune covered blades that would hurt all sorts of monsters, making specialized ammo, documenting everything I thought was noteworthy so future generations of members could learn from us, reading, playing cards and waiting for Farsight to call.
I asked Williams about Farsight on a few occasions and he told me that they were high ranking members of the Order who essentially ran everything. Since they were a secretive bunch, who they were and how they knew where to send all the teams was a mystery.
Most people I spoke to said they thought the biggest clue on how Farsight operated was the history of the Order itself.
Learning about the Order was a top priority during my studies at the compound. The long and the short is: back in the day there were some nerds that saved a bunch of books and scrolls from a fire that was about to consume a library named after some guy named Alexander. Lots of these people died as a result of saving what they could and because of their sacrifice the Order knows how to dispose and kill monsters.
My studies were not limited to history either. Most of the time was spent doing military drills, however on a few occasions I got to try my hand at magic. That being said, magic welders are rare and I was not one of them.
The first time I ever saw any action we were waiting somewhere in Ohio when the phone rang.
King answered the phone, waited and responded with ‘yes’, ‘no’ and finally ‘understood’ before hanging up.
“What did they say?” asked Williams.
King sighed and shook his head. “We got a plane to catch,” King answered as he slapped his knees and stood up.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Alaska.”
“What's in Alaska?” Williams asked before I could.
“Farsight got wind of some town that went missing.”
“A town went missing?” I asked, pinching my eyebrows together in confusion.
“It happens,” King shrugged. “Roanoke, Waterway… Etcetera.”
“Waterway?” I asked. “Never heard of it.”
“That's because it disappeared,” Williams answered before turning to King. “Did Farsight tell you what was there?”
King gave him a look before returning to pack up his things. “Do they ever?”
Getting to our destination meant getting in three different single engine planes that all took off and landed on someone's field instead of an airport. Each of the planes were held together by duct tape and prayers. After that, we rode in a boat for an hour.
The island we were assigned to go to was small and covered with equal parts trees, brush and rocks. There weren't many houses and the nicest one of them was a doublewide trailer in poor condition.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as we made our way off the dock and onto land.
“I don't like this,” Williams added as he took out the HSD (Handheld Supernatural Detector. It sort of looked like half of a bike handle covered in copper wire, black electricians tape and at the end there are two antennas). “Nothing” Williams said after waving it around a little while.
“Keep it activated” King said, his shotgun at the ready as he led us through what passed as a town on this island.
“Maybe the signal is too weak” I suggested.
“Might be,” King responded. “Might not even be supernatural?”
“What else could it be?” I asked.
“Disease? Jobs disappearing” King answered.
“Doesn't look like there were lots of jobs here anyways” Williams pointed out, waving the HSD in different directions but not picking up anything. “Besides, Farsight isn't wrong about these things” he added as King led us to the first house and walked in.
“How many people lived here?” I asked.
“No more than thirty,” King answered.
We kept checking the houses, but time after time there were no clues to tell us what happened to the island's occupants. There were no signs of struggle, the clothes were still on the hangers and there was even food that sat around for so long that whatever it once was became mostly mold.
“So what's the plan?” I asked after reaching the last house before the forest started. I was hoping that they would say something that involved a hot shower. After the trip out here I felt that I could have used one.
Or two.
“It's going to get dark soon,” King answered, looking at the sunset. “And since we don't know what we are dealing with, we should find a place to stay for the night.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Churches are safer than most places” Williams suggested, pointing to a squat, square building.
The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in. The first thing King and Williams did was to see if we were alone. They checked the confessionals, the back office, the bathroom, under every pew and kept their eyes on the rafters.
King figured the safest part of the building was the back office, so we all went there. With the three of us it was cramped. I would have suggested staying in one of the houses, but it wouldn't have felt right sleeping in a strangers house when they were missing, besides, places of worship would provide safety. At least from some things.
On the desk that belonged to the priest was a newspaper and Williams picked it up to check the date. Something I would never have thought of doing, and saw that it was two months old.
“In a place like this, I wouldn't think they would get their news fresh off the press” King responded when Williams pointed this out.
“Still” Williams said. “That's a long time, even for way out here.”
When it came to claiming sleeping areas it was nearly impossible for all of us to be satisfied with the results. Not only was it crammed with all of us in the back office, but both men also suffered from night terrors.
By the time we all had our designated sleeping spots, Williams grumbled about being low on cigarettes and ordered me to run to the island's convenience store and “grab an armful.”
At first I protested, but they told me that since the island was abandoned it wasn't stealing.
It was my turn to grumble, but I did as I was told.
As I walked to the convenience store, I wondered how Farsight would react if they knew King and Williams sent me off by myself like this.
Pulling the door open to go inside, I was surprised to find that the store looked nearly the same as the one in Gray Hill. They had stuffed animals on the walls, pickled pig parts in glass jars, they even had the same off brand food items that I could never find anywhere other than home.
Excited, I raced to the cooler and found the same brand of ginger ale I loved so much. I sucked down one, feeling the carbonation reach up into my nose and burn like hell.
Once I loaded the rest of the bottles in my bag I went over to the counter and hopped over it to grab Williams his cigarettes.
After leaving the store I saw a truck parked out front of the church that wasn't there when I left. Feeling something was wrong I ducked behind a fence. Just in time too because a second later the door swung open and a group of people were dragging King and Williams to the truck.
The people seemed to be wearing the furs of all sorts of animals. From skunk to deer to bear and whatever else that lived on the island. At first I thought their faces were covered in dirt, however thanks to D’s alterations I could see that it was actually black rocks glistening in the dying light. Not only that but they were growing out of these people. One had a large piece coming straight up from behind his left collarbone, another had her face peppered with small rocks but the man who appeared to be their leader had one coming out of his eye socket.
King and Williams were shouting at the group, what they were saying I can’t repeat and if I cleaned it up it wouldn't be much of a sentence.
I stayed still and out of sight until the truck pulled away. Since I was only armed with the buck knife I kept on my belt at all times I wouldn’t be much help. Even less so if I was caught by whoever took the more experienced monster hunters.
As soon as the truck was out of sight I ran into the church to grab the weapons we brought with us. Both shotguns that were filled with special shells we made ourselves and our rune covered machetes.
Just as I was about to leave I remembered the backpack filled with explosives. When I scooped that up I took off in the direction I last saw the truck going.
I ran for about two miles before finally finding the truck which was parked in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road. Most of the journey was uphill, however thanks to what D did to me I had plenty of energy to spare.
It didn't take long for me to see that there were tracks that led into the woods and without thinking about it, I followed them. King and Williams needed my help.
The tracks were easy to follow considering there were six people plus King and Williams who were struggling with their abductors.
I had been tracking these people for fifteen or twenty minutes by the time I came across a rocky hill, and since rocks don't leave tracks, I thought I lost them. However, just then I saw a small cave entrance. Figuring that was where King and Williams were taken, I hustled up the hill to investigate, making sure I kept low and quiet.
When I got in the cave I thought my eyes would adjust, however it didn't. Inside was completely dark and there was no sound other than my own breathing and footfalls. I would come to learn later than caves are like that. Completely dark so even my eyes couldn't adjust and they muffle sounds.
After a short time of navigating down a narrow passageway by dragging my hand on the wall I saw a faint orange glow and slowly walked towards it, careful not to make any sound. As I drew closer, I heard a group of people chanting in a strange language that almost sounded like angry small dogs.
A few stalagmites and stalactites separated the passageway I was on from a large open area with small bonfires scattered around. The people who took King and Williams were circling a large black monolith that sat in the middle of the room and they seemed to be praying to it. To me the monolith resembled the rocks that grew out of the people.
“I’mma kill you” shouted a familiar voice about ten feet below where I stood. It was King. Both he and Williams had their hands tied behind them, around a rock. “Stem to stern, you hear that? You hear that?!”
As King was shouting, I figured I would have less of a chance at getting caught if I climbed down the steep cave wall instead of following the path. Thankfully I managed to get to them without making a sound that Kings yelling didn't muffle.
D made me a borderline superhero, and superheroes save people. So even though my heart was jumping out of my chest, that didn't stop me from doing what I had to do.
“Shh” I whispered to Williams as I put the handle of my knife in his still bound hand. “I’m leaving the bag of explosives behind you. The shotguns and your machete too.”
Williams didn't make a sound, but he nodded and started to cut the ropes.
King was still shouting to his abductors, masking my voice as I told Williams that I was going to buy them time by serving as a distraction.
Without waiting for a nod, I went back the way I came and started climbing. I was sure I was going to get caught when I caused a few rocks to fall, but then Williams started to yell, joining King to mask the sound.
After reaching the passageway I came from, I turned around to see Williams give me a slight nod. Then I shouted for everyone to hear.
“Your mom shaves her chest and you—”
I didn't get any further than that because the people hissed and ran towards me. Some climbed the wall I just did while others ran down the path I chose not to take in order to reach the two more experienced hunters.
Seeing how fast they were moving made me regret not thinking past this part of the plan.
I ran as fast as I could down the dark and narrow path I entered from. The entire time I could hear them behind me and I imagined that they were getting closer.
As soon as I got outside, it was dark and I made a split second decision to run to the coast. This would make it look like I was trying to get to a boat instead of buying the more experienced monster hunters some time. However every time I tried to head towards the beach a few of my pursuers would be in my way, forcing me to change course.
After what D did to me I was fast, not Olympic speed but it was safe to say I was faster than everyone I knew. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that these people were keeping pace with me. If it was just one of them, I wouldn't have given it much thought, but all of them were. Even the fat and the old ones.
I tried coming up with answers that might help my chances if I had to fight these people, or should I say what these people became? The rocks gave them enhanced strength and speed, but other than that the clues I had were minimal. The rocks could have been anything from viral, extraterrestrial, interdimensional or even parasitic.
However it was safe to say that even if it was parasitic it was not demonic. If it was, the HSD would’ve picked it up.
If I knew what language these people were speaking, that would narrow the possibilities that much further.
I must have been running for about ten minutes before I realized three things at once. The first thing was these people were much faster than they were letting on and were just toying with me. The second was that I was being herded back to the cave and the third was that I was going to have to stop running and fight.
As soon as I stopped running, I pulled the machete out from its sheath and turned to face those who meant me harm.
They surrounded me like a pack of wolves, and like a pack of wolves they snapped their jaws and made sounds that reminded me of a group of angry tiny dogs barking. These people also attacked like wolves too because the ones behind me would be doing the attacking.
The first one tried to jump onto my shoulders but before she could wrap her arms and legs around me I quickly turned around and used her momentum to throw her into the others. Immediately another lept towards me and was met with a front kick, connecting right below the belly button.
That was when the third one, the one with the rock growing out of his eye, bit my hand.
I don't know who was more surprised, me because I was bit, or him because it cracked his teeth.
I recovered from the shock before he did and raised the machete up to cut off his head.
As I swung he lifted up his hand to block it. Even though I didn't take his head, I still managed to take his hand and half of his forearm.
If he felt pain he sure hid it well.
He swiped at me with his other hand and I leaned back to dodge it. He was fast though and managed to rake my cheek with his nails.
Before I could swing my weapon again, another jumped on my back and put me in a choke hold. The grip was tight and as I tried to free myself the others tackled me. Thankfully this loosened the grip around my neck. However I was on my back and the others were closing in.
I kicked one of my attackers in the knee so it broke and went backwards. This person didn't make a sound and I doubt they felt it.
One of them kicked me in the face and even though it didn't knock me out, it hurt like hell and made me see stars.
I swung my machete in a wide half circle, managing to open the belly of another.
That bought me some room but as I tried to stand up two more jumped on my back and took me to the ground. The rest all piled on top of me, snapping at me while growling and nipping at each other to get out of the way so they could get to me.
I really thought this was going to be how I was going to die, however just then all of them went limp and fell.
A fraction of a second later I heard an explosion coming from the cave.
As I layed there, in the bottom of the pile of bodies, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I was so close to dying, but I prevailed.
I won.
I let out a warcry that Otis would have been proud of and pushed the bodies off of me.
Standing up, I gave one of my attackers a kick for good measure. However it was like kicking a dried up hornets nest and the toe of my boot went right through. The only part that wasn’t brittle was the rocks that grew out of them.
Wiping my boots off in the grass, I heard shouting on the other side of the hill. As soon as I heard this I knew it was Williams and King and ran towards them, a large grin on my face.
“Hey” I yelled out happily when I saw them, but they didn’t seem to hear me and were yelling at each other. Not because they were angry, but because the explosion made them momentarily deaf.
“What?” King asked as he rubbed his ears.
“You’re an idiot,” Williams shouted.
“I can’t hear you,” King complained, pointing at his ears.
“Are you two okay?” I asked as I jogged closer to them.
Williams saw me in the corner of his eye and jumped. When he saw it was me a grin spread on his face. “Hey, you’re alive.”
“Of course I am.”
“What?” King shouted before turning around and seeing me.
“You saved us” Williams answered as he used his pinkie finger to rub deep in his ear.
“Damn,” King said as he took my chin in hand and turned my head to get a look at my face.
“It was nothing,” I answered.
With a closer inspection of my nose, King sucked air through his teeth. “Could've been worse, I guess.”
“It’s true what they said about you,” Williams yelled. “The Order is going to hear of this.”
“Hear of—-“ I started, nervously. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Williams asked loudly, his ears were still ringing.
“What are you saying?” King shouted.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, louder than before.
Williams and King looked at each other for a moment and there was a fleeting mischievous expression that came over their faces.
“Where's my cigarettes?” Williams asked sternly.
I didn't know what to say to this and stammered.
A smile grew on William's face and he walked past me. “Just playing with you, kid. Just playing with you.”
“You did good,” King said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I think Farsight was right about you.”
“Right about me?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
King smiled. “You remember the first day of training?”
I nodded because dozens of kids jogged in formation for miles at five in the morning, sparring with blunt weapons, performing military drills, eating in the mess hall during mealtimes and sleeping in one of the bunkhouses that were hidden in the woods wasn't something I was likely to forget. “Why?”
“You remember that little test they gave you?”
I nodded. All of the questions involved how to dispose of one monster or another. Most of the monsters I never heard of, but as I filled the questionnaire out I remembered Otis’ wise words during my time mowing the lawn at Miss Luther's house: Gotta hit them with your bullets.
This was what I used to answer all the questions.
“Yeah, what about it?”
King squeezed my shoulder and his smile grew. “The Order was impressed and I don't know if I should tell you this or not, but… they think you're going to save the world.”
WAE

CW: description of how oppression based on being trans & neurodivergent feels
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My experience of being trans (genderqueer, nonbinary) has always been a nightmare. Each moment feels unbearable. Trauma compounds from decades of bigotry, isolation, & precarity. It doesn't get better. Meaningful support doesn't exist.
Dreams of community & solidarity remain far off for me & many other low-income neurodivergent trans folks. Visibility helps little if at all. It ain't hard to see I'm an uncanny freak & target me. Hiding can be a survival strategy, albeit one that's tricky to pull off.
Mistreatment from other marginalized people hurts more than street harassment & pervasive hostility in mainstream spaces. Friends, comrades, & allies detect weakness & take advantage. No one bats an eye at using & discarding trans folks like me. We're expendable.
The radical scenes I'm familiar with rely on exploiting the vulnerable. Various trans people (& others) go through this until they're too burnt out to continue. Nobody cares. Nobody so much as checks in. We're resources in this model. Notions of reciprocity don't apply to us.
Oh, we're visible. You can't miss the trans presence at events & in friend groups. There's regular turnover, with new faces appearing as the old vanish. & you have the successful climbers who make the system work for them, recruiting & inducting initiates with false promises.
Certain folks know exactly what they're doing. For others, using & discarding vulnerable trans people flows intuitively, its implications unrecognized. The instances of acknowledgement & apologies never involve changed behavior.
Those who want to treat us as fully human find themselves unable to, confronted by the uncanny. We're almost within their definition of personhood, but not quite. We're close enough to be useful while still ultimately being revolting monsters.
It makes sense to focus on the surge of open anti-trans bigotry right now. As you do, keep in the back of your mind that even the relatively good times have been barely endurable for countless trans folks on the margins. We need much better to render our lives livable.
#TDOR2023

i feel like a failure. an absolute failure in every way. this month is absolutely kicking my butt and i don’t have anyone to talk to, judgement free. feel free to read my rant, or don’t…. i just need to let it all out.
for starters- i am a freshman in college. i am unhappy with my body and the changes it has made over the course of the year and i am developing a very unhealthy relationship with food and my image.
i am also really struggling in my classes. i am typically a great student who gets all A’s…. as of now, i am sitting at a 75% in three of my classes, hardly passing. i have exams this week and i am feeling drained and helpless.
when it comes to my living situation, i live in a dorm room with three other girls. most of the year has been wonderful with them, but as of recently…. to make an extremely long story short, things are shit. i’m not one for drama, and i mean that. i have such severe anxiety when it comes to people not liking me or being mad at me that i steer far from the drama. basically, it has become extremely toxic in my dorm to the point i am dreading going back there (i am home for the weekend).
i made a mistake the other day that has intertwined me in the roommate drama. basically i told one of them something confidential about another one of my roommates- and they found out. i cant believe i did this. i was drunk but that’s not an excuse. i wont dive further into this but i feel like an awful friend. i pride myself in the fact that i am a trustworthy friend who anyone can feel safe telling things to. now i feel like an awful friend, because i am. this is out of character for me and i hope i don’t lose a friend over it.
anyways, i am also anxious about work. leaving school for the summer, i have no job lined up. i’m struggling finding a position that is okay with only having me for three months since i leave for college again after the summer is over. i am running out of money slowly and i am anxious about getting a job.
overall i feel sad, defeated, and like a failure. can anyone give me some words of encouragement?

Hi, welcome to my success story.
I don't even know how to start, it's been quite a ride. I don't really want to repeat the old story because it is very complicated, but I will say a few things here. So I lost my SP at the beginning of June 2022, he is a friend of my first SP, so that's why the circumstances were so dire. Trust me, manifesting is really simple! How I make it, how you have it. It lasted 10 months, of which 2 weeks I intensively lived at the end of my wish and worked on my self-love and the perception of the people around me. If I had known that it was so simple, I wouldn't have had to worry for the whole 10 months.
I often tried to look for results in 3D reality and I was too attached to the wish, which was not right. ENJOY THE JOURNEY!! Negative thoughts are actually ok, just don't believe them
Within 10 months, I read the entire Bible and found out that a lot is connected with the LOA - "And all things, whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive." – Matthew 21:22... This really strengthened my faith. So now to the point, 3 weeks ago he unblocked me and we had a long conversation about everything, but his behavior was different every day - warm and cold. I read one post here on reddit https://www.reddit.com/nevillegoddardsp/comments/j1dtz6/hot_and_cold_behavio?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 and found that it was just mirroring my inner self about him. So the first thing I did was delete the old story - I used revision, I visualized everything bad as good in meditation, I simply replaced the painful scene with a loving and pleasant scene that made me happy. By living at the end for a while and thinking about the old story for a while, I developed a cold and warm demeanor from SP, IT MIRRORED ME. 2) Living at the end - In the end I lived like that for a week, I didn't act on it, but in my mind I acted on it. 3) Meditation - a great thing to calm your mind and connect you with the universe and help increase your mental and spiritual growth. 4) Writing a diary - sorry, when I wrote a diary, I wrote down a few affirmations and pretended that I already had it - done. 5) Praying to God - I always thought that I and God are one. I did not ask for a miracle, but rather for help and God's blessing. God's timing is great. 6) Perception of myself and my SP/surroundings - THIS IS SO IMPORTANT WHEN DEVELOPING SP!! If you see a man as someone who will always hurt you and who doesn't know how to treat women, that's what you'll get too. I transformed my SP into a loving person in my mind using affirmations and visualization. We also worked a lot on ourselves during manifestation - meditation, skin care, gym, education and overall satisfaction with our journey.

By the way me and my SP made these journals yesterday that have this "quote" “Change the way you look at things and the things you look at will change.”. My SP does not know that I manifested him or that this quote is associated with Neville Goddard.

We would be very happy if you buy the journal, if anyone is interested in the link feel free to send me a DM.
Thanks for reading my post and feel free to ask me anything, have a nice day <333

By the time I was sixteen Linda got my dad to send me off to what they thought was boarding school. In reality it was a compound where the Order of the Wren would begin training me so I could be a full-fledged member.
During this time D and I would talk on the phone a few times a week. Since the Order had me move around so often I had to be the one doing the calling. These conversations didn't last as long as I would have liked because there was no privacy in the hotel rooms we would frequently stay at.
By we, I mean the two experienced hunters I would have to learn from. Their names were Williams and King. Neither did much talking and I could tell they didn't like having me around. Not that I could blame them. I was inexperienced and they had better things to do than to hold my hand and explain things to me. That meant that when we had to go somewhere to slay some monstrosity, I would have to wait in the hotel we were staying at.
I was bored out of my mind most of the time when we were traveling the country but I would learn to love those dull moments soon enough.
Williams was alright even though he smelt like a chimney, but at least he was patient with me and kind. However, King was crazy, cynical and had an unhealthy obsession with explosives. I asked him about it once and he told me “In this line of work, some things are vulnerable to fire, monk root, silver and stuff, right? But in my experience nothing can survive when twenty pounds of homemade explosives go boom.”
The days passed slowly so I would kill time by sharpening rune covered blades that would hurt all sorts of monsters, making specialized ammo, documenting everything I thought was noteworthy so future generations of members could learn from us, reading, playing cards and waiting for Farsight to call.
I asked Williams about Farsight on a few occasions and he told me that they were high ranking members of the Order who essentially ran everything. Since they were a secretive bunch, who they were and how they knew where to send all the teams was a mystery.
Most people I spoke to said they thought the biggest clue on how Farsight operated was the history of the Order itself.
Learning about the Order was a top priority during my studies at the compound. The long and the short is: back in the day there were some nerds that saved a bunch of books and scrolls from a fire that was about to consume a library named after some guy named Alexander. Lots of these people died as a result of saving what they could and because of their sacrifice the Order knows how to dispose and kill monsters.
My studies were not limited to history either. Most of the time was spent doing military drills, however on a few occasions I got to try my hand at magic. That being said, magic welders are rare and I was not one of them.
The first time I ever saw any action we were waiting somewhere in Ohio when the phone rang.
King answered the phone, waited and responded with ‘yes’, ‘no’ and finally ‘understood’ before hanging up.
“What did they say?” asked Williams.
King sighed and shook his head. “We got a plane to catch,” King answered as he slapped his knees and stood up.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Alaska.”
“What's in Alaska?” Williams asked before I could.
“Farsight got wind of some town that went missing.”
“A town went missing?” I asked, pinching my eyebrows together in confusion.
“It happens,” King shrugged. “Roanoke, Waterway… Etcetera.”
“Waterway?” I asked. “Never heard of it.”
“That's because it disappeared,” Williams answered before turning to King. “Did Farsight tell you what was there?”
King gave him a look before returning to pack up his things. “Do they ever?”
Getting to our destination meant getting in three different single engine planes that all took off and landed on someone's field instead of an airport. Each of the planes were held together by duct tape and prayers. After that, we rode in a boat for an hour.
The island we were assigned to go to was small and covered with equal parts trees, brush and rocks. There weren't many houses and the nicest one of them was a doublewide trailer in poor condition.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as we made our way off the dock and onto land.
“I don't like this,” Williams added as he took out the HSD (Handheld Supernatural Detector. It sort of looked like half of a bike handle covered in copper wire, black electricians tape and at the end there are two antennas). “Nothing” Williams said after waving it around a little while.
“Keep it activated” King said, his shotgun at the ready as he led us through what passed as a town on this island.
“Maybe the signal is too weak” I suggested.
“Might be,” King responded. “Might not even be supernatural?”
“What else could it be?” I asked.
“Disease? Jobs disappearing” King answered.
“Doesn't look like there were lots of jobs here anyways” Williams pointed out, waving the HSD in different directions but not picking up anything. “Besides, Farsight isn't wrong about these things” he added as King led us to the first house and walked in.
“How many people lived here?” I asked.
“No more than thirty,” King answered.
We kept checking the houses, but time after time there were no clues to tell us what happened to the island's occupants. There were no signs of struggle, the clothes were still on the hangers and there was even food that sat around for so long that whatever it once was became mostly mold.
“So what's the plan?” I asked after reaching the last house before the forest started. I was hoping that they would say something that involved a hot shower. After the trip out here I felt that I could have used one.
Or two.
“It's going to get dark soon,” King answered, looking at the sunset. “And since we don't know what we are dealing with, we should find a place to stay for the night.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Churches are safer than most places” Williams suggested, pointing to a squat, square building.
The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in. The first thing King and Williams did was to see if we were alone. They checked the confessionals, the back office, the bathroom, under every pew and kept their eyes on the rafters.
King figured the safest part of the building was the back office, so we all went there. With the three of us it was cramped. I would have suggested staying in one of the houses, but it wouldn't have felt right sleeping in a strangers house when they were missing, besides, places of worship would provide safety. At least from some things.
On the desk that belonged to the priest was a newspaper and Williams picked it up to check the date. Something I would never have thought of doing, and saw that it was two months old.
“In a place like this, I wouldn't think they would get their news fresh off the press” King responded when Williams pointed this out.
“Still” Williams said. “That's a long time, even for way out here.”
When it came to claiming sleeping areas it was nearly impossible for all of us to be satisfied with the results. Not only was it crammed with all of us in the back office, but both men also suffered from night terrors.
By the time we all had our designated sleeping spots, Williams grumbled about being low on cigarettes and ordered me to run to the island's convenience store and “grab an armful.”
At first I protested, but they told me that since the island was abandoned it wasn't stealing.
It was my turn to grumble, but I did as I was told.
As I walked to the convenience store, I wondered how Farsight would react if they knew King and Williams sent me off by myself like this.
Pulling the door open to go inside, I was surprised to find that the store looked nearly the same as the one in Gray Hill. They had stuffed animals on the walls, pickled pig parts in glass jars, they even had the same off brand food items that I could never find anywhere other than home.
Excited, I raced to the cooler and found the same brand of ginger ale I loved so much. I sucked down one, feeling the carbonation reach up into my nose and burn like hell.
Once I loaded the rest of the bottles in my bag I went over to the counter and hopped over it to grab Williams his cigarettes.
After leaving the store I saw a truck parked out front of the church that wasn't there when I left. Feeling something was wrong I ducked behind a fence. Just in time too because a second later the door swung open and a group of people were dragging King and Williams to the truck.
The people seemed to be wearing the furs of all sorts of animals. From skunk to deer to bear and whatever else that lived on the island. At first I thought their faces were covered in dirt, however thanks to D’s alterations I could see that it was actually black rocks glistening in the dying light. Not only that but they were growing out of these people. One had a large piece coming straight up from behind his left collarbone, another had her face peppered with small rocks but the man who appeared to be their leader had one coming out of his eye socket.
King and Williams were shouting at the group, what they were saying I can’t repeat and if I cleaned it up it wouldn't be much of a sentence.
I stayed still and out of sight until the truck pulled away. Since I was only armed with the buck knife I kept on my belt at all times I wouldn’t be much help. Even less so if I was caught by whoever took the more experienced monster hunters.
As soon as the truck was out of sight I ran into the church to grab the weapons we brought with us. Both shotguns that were filled with special shells we made ourselves and our rune covered machetes.
Just as I was about to leave I remembered the backpack filled with explosives. When I scooped that up I took off in the direction I last saw the truck going.
I ran for about two miles before finally finding the truck which was parked in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road. Most of the journey was uphill, however thanks to what D did to me I had plenty of energy to spare.
It didn't take long for me to see that there were tracks that led into the woods and without thinking about it, I followed them. King and Williams needed my help.
The tracks were easy to follow considering there were six people plus King and Williams who were struggling with their abductors.
I had been tracking these people for fifteen or twenty minutes by the time I came across a rocky hill, and since rocks don't leave tracks, I thought I lost them. However, just then I saw a small cave entrance. Figuring that was where King and Williams were taken, I hustled up the hill to investigate, making sure I kept low and quiet.
When I got in the cave I thought my eyes would adjust, however it didn't. Inside was completely dark and there was no sound other than my own breathing and footfalls. I would come to learn later than caves are like that. Completely dark so even my eyes couldn't adjust and they muffle sounds.
After a short time of navigating down a narrow passageway by dragging my hand on the wall I saw a faint orange glow and slowly walked towards it, careful not to make any sound. As I drew closer, I heard a group of people chanting in a strange language that almost sounded like angry small dogs.
A few stalagmites and stalactites separated the passageway I was on from a large open area with small bonfires scattered around. The people who took King and Williams were circling a large black monolith that sat in the middle of the room and they seemed to be praying to it. To me the monolith resembled the rocks that grew out of the people.
“I’mma kill you” shouted a familiar voice about ten feet below where I stood. It was King. Both he and Williams had their hands tied behind them, around a rock. “Stem to stern, you hear that? You hear that?!”
As King was shouting, I figured I would have less of a chance at getting caught if I climbed down the steep cave wall instead of following the path. Thankfully I managed to get to them without making a sound that Kings yelling didn't muffle.
D made me a borderline superhero, and superheroes save people. So even though my heart was jumping out of my chest, that didn't stop me from doing what I had to do.
“Shh” I whispered to Williams as I put the handle of my knife in his still bound hand. “I’m leaving the bag of explosives behind you. The shotguns and your machete too.”
Williams didn't make a sound, but he nodded and started to cut the ropes.
King was still shouting to his abductors, masking my voice as I told Williams that I was going to buy them time by serving as a distraction.
Without waiting for a nod, I went back the way I came and started climbing. I was sure I was going to get caught when I caused a few rocks to fall, but then Williams started to yell, joining King to mask the sound.
After reaching the passageway I came from, I turned around to see Williams give me a slight nod. Then I shouted for everyone to hear.
“Your mom shaves her chest and you—”
I didn't get any further than that because the people hissed and ran towards me. Some climbed the wall I just did while others ran down the path I chose not to take in order to reach the two more experienced hunters.
Seeing how fast they were moving made me regret not thinking past this part of the plan.
I ran as fast as I could down the dark and narrow path I entered from. The entire time I could hear them behind me and I imagined that they were getting closer.
As soon as I got outside, it was dark and I made a split second decision to run to the coast. This would make it look like I was trying to get to a boat instead of buying the more experienced monster hunters some time. However every time I tried to head towards the beach a few of my pursuers would be in my way, forcing me to change course.
After what D did to me I was fast, not Olympic speed but it was safe to say I was faster than everyone I knew. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that these people were keeping pace with me. If it was just one of them, I wouldn't have given it much thought, but all of them were. Even the fat and the old ones.
I tried coming up with answers that might help my chances if I had to fight these people, or should I say what these people became? The rocks gave them enhanced strength and speed, but other than that the clues I had were minimal. The rocks could have been anything from viral, extraterrestrial, interdimensional or even parasitic.
However it was safe to say that even if it was parasitic it was not demonic. If it was, the HSD would’ve picked it up.
If I knew what language these people were speaking, that would narrow the possibilities that much further.
I must have been running for about ten minutes before I realized three things at once. The first thing was these people were much faster than they were letting on and were just toying with me. The second was that I was being herded back to the cave and the third was that I was going to have to stop running and fight.
As soon as I stopped running, I pulled the machete out from its sheath and turned to face those who meant me harm.
They surrounded me like a pack of wolves, and like a pack of wolves they snapped their jaws and made sounds that reminded me of a group of angry tiny dogs barking. These people also attacked like wolves too because the ones behind me would be doing the attacking.
The first one tried to jump onto my shoulders but before she could wrap her arms and legs around me I quickly turned around and used her momentum to throw her into the others. Immediately another lept towards me and was met with a front kick, connecting right below the belly button.
That was when the third one, the one with the rock growing out of his eye, bit my hand.
I don't know who was more surprised, me because I was bit, or him because it cracked his teeth.
I recovered from the shock before he did and raised the machete up to cut off his head.
As I swung he lifted up his hand to block it. Even though I didn't take his head, I still managed to take his hand and half of his forearm.
If he felt pain he sure hid it well.
He swiped at me with his other hand and I leaned back to dodge it. He was fast though and managed to rake my cheek with his nails.
Before I could swing my weapon again, another jumped on my back and put me in a choke hold. The grip was tight and as I tried to free myself the others tackled me. Thankfully this loosened the grip around my neck. However I was on my back and the others were closing in.
I kicked one of my attackers in the knee so it broke and went backwards. This person didn't make a sound and I doubt they felt it.
One of them kicked me in the face and even though it didn't knock me out, it hurt like hell and made me see stars.
I swung my machete in a wide half circle, managing to open the belly of another.
That bought me some room but as I tried to stand up two more jumped on my back and took me to the ground. The rest all piled on top of me, snapping at me while growling and nipping at each other to get out of the way so they could get to me.
I really thought this was going to be how I was going to die, however just then all of them went limp and fell.
A fraction of a second later I heard an explosion coming from the cave.
As I layed there, in the bottom of the pile of bodies, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I was so close to dying, but I prevailed.
I won.
I let out a warcry that Otis would have been proud of and pushed the bodies off of me.
Standing up, I gave one of my attackers a kick for good measure. However it was like kicking a dried up hornets nest and the toe of my boot went right through. The only part that wasn’t brittle was the rocks that grew out of them.
Wiping my boots off in the grass, I heard shouting on the other side of the hill. As soon as I heard this I knew it was Williams and King and ran towards them, a large grin on my face.
“Hey” I yelled out happily when I saw them, but they didn’t seem to hear me and were yelling at each other. Not because they were angry, but because the explosion made them momentarily deaf.
“What?” King asked as he rubbed his ears.
“You’re an idiot,” Williams shouted.
“I can’t hear you,” King complained, pointing at his ears.
“Are you two okay?” I asked as I jogged closer to them.
Williams saw me in the corner of his eye and jumped. When he saw it was me a grin spread on his face. “Hey, you’re alive.”
“Of course I am.”
“What?” King shouted before turning around and seeing me.
“You saved us” Williams answered as he used his pinkie finger to rub deep in his ear.
“Damn,” King said as he took my chin in hand and turned my head to get a look at my face.
“It was nothing,” I answered.
With a closer inspection of my nose, King sucked air through his teeth. “Could've been worse, I guess.”
“It’s true what they said about you,” Williams yelled. “The Order is going to hear of this.”
“Hear of—-“ I started, nervously. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Williams asked loudly, his ears were still ringing.
“What are you saying?” King shouted.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, louder than before.
Williams and King looked at each other for a moment and there was a fleeting mischievous expression that came over their faces.
“Where's my cigarettes?” Williams asked sternly.
I didn't know what to say to this and stammered.
A smile grew on William's face and he walked past me. “Just playing with you, kid. Just playing with you.”
“You did good,” King said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I think Farsight was right about you.”
“Right about me?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
King smiled. “You remember the first day of training?”
I nodded because dozens of kids jogged in formation for miles at five in the morning, sparring with blunt weapons, performing military drills, eating in the mess hall during mealtimes and sleeping in one of the bunkhouses that were hidden in the woods wasn't something I was likely to forget. “Why?”
“You remember that little test they gave you?”
I nodded. All of the questions involved how to dispose of one monster or another. Most of the monsters I never heard of, but as I filled the questionnaire out I remembered Otis’ wise words during my time mowing the lawn at Miss Luther's house: Gotta hit them with your bullets.
This was what I used to answer all the questions.
“Yeah, what about it?”
King squeezed my shoulder and his smile grew. “The Order was impressed and I don't know if I should tell you this or not, but… they think you're going to save the world.”
WAE

I always try to hide having mental problems. I’ve lived a very fucked up, unfair life (I’ve witnessed about any and everything)
2 weeks ago my friend asked me if I had any mental health issues because our other friend told her I was in the 7th floor a few times (she had to come get me, I didn’t drive then)
I told her I diagnosed with C-PTSD, major depressive, borderline personality disorder and generalized anxiety disorder along with a few other clusters. I’m currently in group therapy 3x a week and seek frequent help for. She told me I’ll be fine that she has PTSD and it’s way worse and more severe than C-PTSD. I didn’t really know what to say back. Caught me very off guard. I’m not open about my mental health for many many reason (I am seriously never okay. I cry in my sleep from trauma flash backs and faint from how hard I get worked up but I do my fucking best to hide this flaw and how beat down I am) I try to act as normal as possible because I never let me guard down with anyone and constantly paranoid what could be said. I just agreed with her while she went on to tell me about all her trauma. She also said what I have must be wrong because she doesn’t have flash backs so that she didn’t really understand why they told me that. It’s been 2 weeks and it’s still bothering me this was said. I feel invalided. I feel I’m a suck up.
I had to force myself to get out of the house in an attempt to have a good, normal time so I can just be normal and like everyone else and like always, fucking always somehow mental health ruined it for me. I feel invalid, I feel I’m a phony, I feel like every night I’ve woke myself up bawling, every time I’ve just stood there in a trance remembering a traumatic event, every time I’ve fainted, completely soaked my shirt from sweat, broke down, beat my head in for the thoughts to go away was for no reason because mine is easier and I’ll be okay that I just overreacted. I’m NEVER FUCKING OKAY!!!! It ended in me cutting again and now my 14 month free self harming has ended. I can’t tell anyone anyways. But I need it off my chest. Maybe I can breathe better now.

Wendy free living amoeba model

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