finally received my haul of imps that i got for my birthday and i was so excited. to be honest, not that many of them i would get as a full size bottle, however i for sure discovered some new things i didn't know i liked, and some of the scents were truly like nothing i have tried before.
i'll be very curious to see whether your impressions about the scents were different or the same as mine :)
short overview:
highlights: Vice, The Black Rider, Le Lethe
honorable mentions: Santo Domingo, Port Au Prince, Horreur Sympathique,
Wanda, Iago
didn’t like at all: Jazz Funeral, Sin
dance of death 6/10
dark, murky, smoky, but i think that the patchouli note is kinda off in this one. i am not sure it’s patchouli, but there is some note that is ruining it for me. cool scent, however, and definitely matches the name.
horreur sympathique 8/10
right from the bottle - floral and sweet, smells of orange also. similarly to Vice, it makes me feel like i want to ‘eat’ the skin when it is applied. unexpectedly, i kinda like it. however, as it dries down it becomes a bit nauseating. there is something insidious about the sweetness, and i guess this is what the name is all about.
hellfire 7/10
from the bottle - smells like a smoky cocktail. as it dried down on skin, it became softer; it is smoky and heavy, but the leather note is not great here, and imo it feels a bit imbalanced, i mean it lacks something that would balance the smoke notes, but that’s just me. also the incense notes feel a bit like soap to me.
#20 love oil 7.5/10
wet - smells a bit bitter but citrusy and floral. as it dries down, i can feel more green and citrusy, maybe there is a hint of almond in it. very light and refreshing. not really my thing, but it was given to me as a free sample and i enjoyed it.
bastet 7.5/10
from the bottle smells like amber and maybe almond, i think. sweet and nice, however a bit like cheap perfume. when dried, it became warmer and richer, more spicy and musky. it’s nice, but reminds me of some mainstream perfume, i can’t recall which.
le lethe 10/10
ahh, already smells really cool wet. extremely spicy, like Arabesque but richer and more intense. i quickly start to smell the tobacco and other spices from what i felt originally. love it.
bram stoker 6/10
in general smells like solid masculine cologne, however it is more grassy than the more mainstream ones and has some bitterness to it. it’s good of you like this sort of thing, bit i gave it only 6/10 because i wouldn’t call it interesting or unusual.
lust 7/10
in the bottle - smells like spices and incense, but has a certain freshness to it. i recently tried Arabesque from Alkemia, and this has similar vibes. but this is surely more intense and musky. as it dries down it becomes more flowery. i personally don’t really associate it with lust, but whatever.
after it dried down even more, i think it transformed into a more powdery/musky/skin-like scent, which i could associate with lust somewhat, but in general it is a spice scent for sure.
i am not a big fan of it however i gave it a rather high mark because of its complexity.
vice 10/10
unexpectedly ffing amazing. opens as something reminiscent of a chocolate bar, however i also got sweet chewing gum vibes from it. as it dries down, you feel more of the cherry and orange blossom. it is very sweet and has a strong presence, however it is not the kind of sweet that gives you a headache. as i said, expected nothing from it, mostly ordered because of the cool name, however i might be getting a full bottle of this. by the way, in this case i think the name really suits the scent.
as it dried down a bit more, it transformed into a very soft velvety sweet cherry/chocolate scent, i love it. never thought i’d say this about a perfume, but when applied on skin it makes me want to eat it. i’d rather call this scent ‘Lust’ than the actual one.
for some reason, this scent feels very sexual, it makes me feel sexually aroused, i am not really sure why.
sin 4/10
opens spicy and herbal, reminds me of Boneyard by Black Baccara a bit. as it dries down it becomes more herbal and starts to smell like a pharmacy. frankly speaking, not for me.

The first time you want to buy a laptop Sleeves, you have to look at the size. The laptop must fit well, and the cover should not be too tight (then the zipper could, for example, get caught in the laptop's ports), but not too wide, because otherwise the laptop would "play" through the cover and risk being exposed to accidents.\
Ideally, you can find a case specially designed for your laptop model. Brands like Dell and HP often offer special covers for the laptops they sell. And they guarantee that they fit perfectly.

The material from which it is made

There are two aspects of choosing the material of the laptop case: one is the material itself. Laptop Sleeve are usually made of polyester, suede, microfiber or nylon. The best ones tend to be nylon (or nylon). The way you use your laptop should guide you towards the material of the cover. But in general it is recommended to look for a cover with a durable outer material such as nylon or leather. These covers hold up better against wear and tear and tend to be more efficient.
A second aspect concerns the thickness of the material. In the same way, you have to think about how you use your laptop - you use it in the car a lot, at the office, on the field, etc. Some covers are extremely thin - almost no protection against shocks at all, but be careful, they are useful for protection against scratches. Unfortunately, if the laptop falls or hits a wall, it will not be protected.
You can also look at the design, color and other stylistic elements. But always remember the usefulness of the cover. As a laptop service, we recommend thicker covers because they are more effective in case of impact. On the other hand, we understand the desire of people to carry and display an elegant laptop in a very delicate cover.

See the best cover for your laptop!

AmazonBasics 13.3″/14 Professional Laptop Case Sleeve Bag – Gray

If the owned laptop is 13.4/14 inches, if users want to keep it as long as possible, then the Laptop Sleeve Pakistan Goodis cover will prove not only useful, but also necessary. The cover has a design as simple as possible to be used in everyday life. It has a special exterior and provides guaranteed protection to the laptop. It can be carried in a backpack, briefcase or laptop bag. Because people buy the most expensive backpack for nothing if they put their laptop directly in it 📷
The Sleeve Goodis case fits on any desk, waiting for the end of the activity in front of the laptop and storing it in safe conditions at night. It has a very good quality-price ratio and that is why it is the favorite of buyers.

HP Ultrabook Black Sleeve 15.6”

A black laptop sleeve in Pakistan with an ultra modern design, the HP ultrabook black sleeve model, suitable for laptops with a diagonal of 15.6 cm, lined with artificial leather. What strikes buyers right from the start is the way it looks, but also the ease with which it opens and opens and the reliability it proves over time. Which means that the laptop case has all the necessary qualities to be purchased: a water-resistant exterior, a beautiful and luxurious lining that prevents scratches and bumps and perfect compatibility with 40-inch laptops.
📷
The laptop cover is an HP quality product, ideal for any user, easy to maintain and keep at home. It has a quality seam and zipper, fast wear is a thing of the past, the price is quite good for the characteristics it proves, the lapel will be protected on both surfaces and on the sides and the product fits the requirements of the customers Read more

tomtoc Versatile A13 360 Protective Laptop Sleeve for 13-inch MacBook Light Blue

The happy owners of a MacBook Pro with a diagonal of 15 inches have good news! I can purchase a cover for this model that will provide increased protection against destruction and the appearance of signs of wear. It has an attractive design, the mint color is very pleasant, it stands out wherever the case is stored, it is elegant and fits several laptops, not only this one. The size of the 15-inch screen is very important, so that the cover fits very well and there are no problems that lead to the return of the product.
📷
Therefore, the cover for the MacBook is perfect, the inside is velvety, it protects very well and is recommended by specialists in the field to be used for storing and transporting the laptop in conditions of maximum safety Read more

HP Grip Premium Y1N43PA#ACJ Slip Case (Black) 14.1 INCH

Until now the laptop was kept more in improper conditions, now with the help of the HP protective cover specially created for devices with a diagonal of 13.3 inches. Thus, the laptop can be wrapped in a pleasantly colored cover, made of a resistant, neoprene, durable material, which helps to obtain a long-term protection against all shocks and scratches. The style is flexible, with a reversible design and the possibility to change its colors, and the elegant zipper closure is an additional reason for purchasing this cover and choosing it. Reliability is supported by the HP warranty and quality standards and fits well in any room it is placed in. At such a low price, of only a few hundred Read more

“I stared into the void, and stared back.” I’ve always liked that saying, very versatile in its uses. It can be a metaphor for a primal fear of the unknown, the great infinite of space perhaps, or even for staring death in the face. In my case it is the latter, I just know that I am so fucking dead and it hurts so god damn bad. Back to earlier however is probably a better place to get started.
So I was just minding my own damn business in my truck on the way home from a job interview in the city with the windows down and the smells of the forest in my face, pretty nice if I say so myself. When suddenly a flash out shinned the sun by about a factor of a hundred or so appeared, blinding, but not quite enough to do permanent damage. I slammed on my brakes filling my nose with burning rubber and my ears with that unholy sound, note, I was not going slow. I grunted in pain as I held my eyes shut with a hand over them, tears streaming out and I had that damn effect in my sight, like when you stare at a light bulb too long. After a minute or two letting my eyes recover the air was filled with a different noise, a slow building electric sound and after a few seconds the most earth shattering boom replaced it, the explosion was so powerful I felt winds whipping through my open windows and felt my teeth chattering. By this point I was able to open my tear filled eyes again as I frantically began looking around to see what the hell was going on, then I spotted it, a ship so colossal that it can only be described as biblical in proportion, as if it threatens to swallow the sky itself. I then look down the mountain to see the city I had just come from with huge pillars of black smoke streaking into the sky, like fingers grasping towards the alien craft in the sky, which had now begun falling apart? No those were shuttles, black oval shapes with streaks of blue contrasting the orange sky of the setting sun “... Fucking what?” was all I could say as the sight lay before me, all I could think is that this wasn’t real, there is no way that this could be happening it’s far to cliche, I mean come on a giant alien ship shows up with a flash of light and starts shooting fucking lasers, with god knows how many smaller craft descending upon the earth. Yet… Here I was, so I needed to run, or rather drive, as fast as I could back home, so that’s exactly what I did, wiping the water from my eyes. I punched it much to the protest of my old truck. As I picked up speed I stare into the rearview mirror trying to get a better view of the massive ship, it’s blocky in a vaguely rectangular shape with the middle being wider and falling in sizes by blocks as it moved to both sides with many reflective surfaces at the end of barely visible barrels, and various random glowing lights dotted around the ship. I soaked up as much of the sight as I could before the trees blocked my view of the sky as I sped faster and faster into the forest towards home.
A short drive normally now felt like eons to reach my home in the forest, it wasn’t deep in the woods but it wasn’t just on the border either. I slowed down as I spotted the old rusted mailbox in my gravel driveway before making a sharp left. As I heard the stones crunch beneath me I looked in the mirrors in attempts to spot any strange hunk of metal following me, much to my relief I saw nothing but trees and bugs. As I parked the truck I sat for a second, catching my breath and continuing to look around, my small one story house was tucked in the woods with only 20 feet between it and the tree line and with how the driveway turned there was no way you could see it from the road. I took one last breath and held it for a few seconds before swinging the truck door open and jumping out before running for my fucking life towards my front door, I heard the gravel crushing beneath my shoes and that's it, normally there's at least one bird or the beginning of a cricket’s chorus, but nothing. I came to a halt and quickly jammed my key in the front door, fumbling a couple times but getting it in eventually, it didn't help that my hands were sweating profusely and shaking. I flung the door open and myself inside making sure to relock the heavy ass door, before sprinting like a mad man for my room on the left side of the house. But then I heard it, the sound not too dissimilar to a hurricane outside, looking out the window through the kitchen I saw one of those pods I saw swarming down from the mothership, the body was vaguely oval shaped with a cockpit raised up front through a 45 degree incline, it also had deployed its landing gear and a large door on the left had opened. There was no fucking way I was going to make it to my room, open the safe, load the gun and fire, so I made a horrible decision, I lunged into my kitchen and grabbed the handle of my biggest knife with my left hand while I heard a small explosion at my front door. As I unsheathed the knife from the block I heard things being knocked over in my hallway, but no footsteps strangely. I turned and ran back into my hallway as I heard yelling in some strange language. I looked to my right and saw what can only be described as lamia’s in sci-fi armor pointing a big ass gun at me, the face unseen behind its visor, her visor? It has boobs, but maybe the males of the aliens have boobs and higher voices too. A loud crack and the most horrible pain in my left shoulder and time begins to slow down, and that's where I am now.
Adrenaline is quick to act in dulling pain, but not instant as I learned in this moment. As I look at the creature I see that it is at least 8’ 2’’ and god knows how long with its winding tail. My head is agonizingly slow as I turn to look left, all I see is red, my red spilling from the open wound, blood, that’s the word blood, my blood is spilling out of me in liters. I reach over to the wound and begin grabbing for the stump, there is yelling in the background, I cannot find something that obviously feels like my bicep so I just grab something, falling to my knees. It's hard to breathe now. Something is rising and falling in the wound, wait, that’s my lung, I release it as a horrible taste enters my mouth, I can taste my spleen, that's not good, I think as I slowly turn my head to my murderer. Fear, fear is all I can feel, fear, agony, and rage. There are two of them, maybe more, one is screaming its own lungs out at the one who shot me. I wait there for what feels like years before a third alien shoves both of them aside and slithers up to me, the air is cold now, I swear it was 90 just an hour ago. I fall on my ass as I try to back away from the thing approaching, I try to push away from it but I lack the blood in my body to move my muscles. It turns to the other two and screams at the fighting pair, it then turns to me and lowers its voice in a soothing manner talking to me. It’s hard to keep my eyes open, maybe death will be warmer than here. It opens a large white package and scoops blue goop out of it, I have not the strength to resist as it slathers the stuff all over the gaping hole in my ribcage. The substance makes contact and is unexpectedly warm, but it stings worse than any wasp. Time begins to make its way back to reality, seconds slowly feel like minutes before returning to their former perception. I turn to see my wound and am stopped by a gentle hand and a kind voice speaking an unknown tongue. I slowly close my eyes, surely this is the end, I am dying now, all turns to black as I feel tears I didn’t know I cried, roll down my cheek.

Hello, and welcome to Music’s Biggest Night!
That’s right, it’s the GRAMMYs. The year is 1994 and our category is Best Alternative Music Album. We’ll be rating each of the five nominees on Indieheads, but before we get to the nominees, a quick word about rates.
Hey, quick question, what are rates?
Obviously, if you're familiar with the process, skip this. But if you're new, I'll explain so this doesn't seem like a wild block of text!
Rates are a subreddit game in which a user scores a group of songs on a scale from 1-10, with each individual also given a single 11 and a single 0 to be used exactly once per rate. They will then message their ballot to the rate host, who will tally up all the points and then reveal the final results over a weekend, eliminating songs one by one until the last track remaining wins the rate and bragging rights forever. While there's just a bit more to know, I feel this is the basics of what you'll need to understand what's going on. I do recommend this video made by our popheads brethren to get a fuller picture; while some of the info applies specifically to the way popheads do their rates, the overall format is similar.

Introduction

The GRAMMYs are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. The name derives from the trophy, which is shaped like an old-fashioned gramophone. The awards celebrate a variety of categories, but we’re going to be looking at Best Alternative Music Album or, as it was called at the time, Best Alternative Music Performance. The question of what “alternative” really means can be debated forever, but the original intent of this award was to celebrate non-mainstream rock albums which were heavily played on college radio. The category first appeared in 1991, so in 1994 the award is still pretty new.
And now, let’s meet our nominees!

Belly - Star

Belly are the act here that seem discussed least frequently on Indieheads, so I’m excited to see what everyone thinks of them. By the time of starting Belly, Tanya Donelly (lead vocals and rhythm guitar) had already been in two other classic indie rock bands. She was a co-founder of Throwing Muses with her step-sister Kristin Hersch, contributing vocals and guitar for the band’s first decade, though she’d only get a handful of songs per album. Donelly would later start The Breeders with Pixies bassist and vocalist Kim Deal. The Breeders’ debut, Pod, featured Deal as the primary songwriter because existing record contracts prohibited the two from sharing primary writing credits. While they originally intended to alternate albums, Tanya had begun to form Belly by the time it was her turn to do a Breeders album. She recruited Fred Abong (bass) and brothers Tom (guitar) and Chris (drums) Gorman as they’d all known each other while going to high school in Rhode Island.
Belly co-produced most of their 1993 debut Star with Tracy Chisholm. Gil Norton, who’d previously produced Throwing Muses’ self-titled debut, produced four tracks, including singles "Gepetto," "Slow Dog," and "Feed the Tree." "Feed the Tree," one of the album’s highlights, would be the band’s highest charting hit, reaching 95th on the Billboard Hot 100 and topping the Modern Rock Chart. Star is an effective fusion of alternative rock with jangle pop, dream pop, "haunting" folk, and even some light country influences. At the 1994 GRAMMYs, Belly were also up for Best New Artist with Blind Melon, Digable Planets, and SWV, ultimately losing to R&B singer Toni Braxton. Belly released a sophomore album King in 1995 and Donelly released several solo albums before reuniting with the King lineup to release a third album in 2018. While Star may not have achieved the canonical stature of some of 1994’s other nominees, it is nevertheless a very enjoyable release from a strong songwriter who’d finally gotten the chance to make an album-length statement of her own.
Are Indieheads gonna feed the tree? Will this be an album to die for?
Tracklist:

1. Someone to Die For
2. Angel
3. Dusted
4. Every Word
5. Gepetto
6. Witch
7. Slow Dog
8. Low Red Moon
9. Feed The Tree
10. Full Moon, Empty Heart
11. White Belly
12. Untogether
13. Star
14. Sad Dress
15. Stay

Nirvana - In Utero If you were wondering where “Heart Shaped Box” was in the Guitar Hero Rate, well I’ve got a treat for you!
Kurt Cobain (vocals and guitar) and Krist Novoselic (bass) met while attending Aberdeen High School in the late 1980s. They shuffled through various names, ultimately deciding on Nirvana because Cobain wanted a name that sounded beautiful and nice instead of mean and raunchy. In their early years, they worked with several different drummers, recording 1989’s Sub Pop debut Bleach with Chad Channing on drums. Channing left the band as they worked on their follow-up to Bleach. Kurt and Krist met drummer Dave Grohl days after he’d moved to Seattle following the break up of his Washington DC band Scream. The addition of Dave solidified Nirvana’s classic lineup. The trio began seeking a major label to buy them out of their Sub Pop contract as they were dissatisfied with the label’s lack of promotion and distribution of their debut. They eventually signed with DGC Records per the recommendation of Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon. Upon signing, they began work on their major label debut, Nevermind, with producer Butch Vig. 1991’s Nevermind was an unexpected success, bringing grunge and alternative rock to the mainstream and even surpassing Michael Jackson on the Billboard albums chart.
In the aftermath of Nevermind’s success, Cobain felt he needed to reclaim his punk ethic. Wanting to depart from Butch Vig’s slick production on Nevermind (don’t worry, we’ll still be hearing from Vig a little later), he sought to work with Steve Albini. Albini was pretty famous in the underground for his work as frontman for Big Black and various production work, including PJ Harvey’s Dry, which he sent a copy of to give Cobain an idea of the acoustics in his studio. Albini dismissed Nirvana as "R.E.M. with a fuzzbox" (more on R.E.M. soon!) but decided to work with them because he felt bad for them, recognizing them as "the same sort of people as all the small-fry bands I deal with." The band pushed for minimal label oversight and recorded In Utero fairly quickly, wrapping recording sessions in as little as 13 days. The album was noisier and more abrasive than Nevermind, resulting in much dispute between the band, Albini, and the label. Cobain sought to make the kind of record he’d enjoy owning as a fan and began having second thoughts about the sound when listening to it at home. The press picked up on conflict about the album’s sound. The band denied this and even DGC president David Geffen called Newsweek to explain they would release whatever Nirvana recorded. Behind the scenes, the band tried to fix the album’s sound in the mastering process, which Albini was strongly against, though he’d later supply an alternate mix for the album’s 20th anniversary re-release. R.E.M producer Scott Litt was brought on to remix “Heart Shaped Box” and “All Apologies” which were intended to be the album’s singles.
In Utero was released in September of 1993 following a low-key release strategy which released “Heart Shaped Box” as a promo-only single to various rock station formats but not Top 40. Walmart and K-Mart initially refused to stock the album due to its back cover and the title of the song “Rape Me.” (A content note on that song, while it is interpreted as commentary on the invasive music press, it was intended to be a lyrically literal anti-rape song from the perspective of a victim. As this is a rate, you can score this song however you see fit, but I hope it goes without saying that everyone should please be respectful of this subject matter in their comments.) Despite In Utero’s abrasive sound and reduced mainstream promotion, the album still debuted at number one on the Billboard album charts and was well-received by critics. The music often hits harder and faster than Nevermind, containing more of the “punk” feel that Cobain was aiming for compared to the grunge of Nevermind and the band’s Seattle contemporaries. Check out this MTV clip if you’d like to see how college students in 1993 received this one. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiwhwy7S4qA) The band toured America shortly after In Utero came out and embarked on a European tour that was cut short as Cobain suffered from a drug overdose. A couple weeks later, Cobain died by suicide. As with the subject matter of “Rape Me,” I want to request that everyone is respectful of this in their comments, I will ask for edits (or omit comments myself) if they are inappropriate. Despite the tragic ending, Nirvana is still seen as one of American and alternative rock’s most important bands and In Utero remains highly regarded to this day.
Will our comments be all apologies? Are the results of this rate gonna be, uhhh, dumb?
Tracklist Serve the Servants Scentless Apprentice Heart-Shaped Box Rape Me Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle Dumb Very Ape Milk It Pennyroyal Tea Radio Friendly Unit Shifter Tourette’s All Apologies
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People If there’s a band who can rival Nirvana’s stature in the American rock canon, it’s gotta be R.E.M. They are often cited as one of the first “alternative” rock bands and were important for the college radio format. Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1980, Michael Stipe (vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass), and Bill Berry (drums) released 5 albums with independent label I.R.S. Records, evolving from a jangle rock sound on their early albums to a louder, more anthemic sound on their final record for the label, Document. After “The One I Love” became their first mainstream hit, the band signed to Warner Brothers, kicking off a second act that resulted in yet another 5 album run of great music.
At the start of the 90s, R.E.M. opted out of touring and became a studio band. The band recorded demos for the songs “Drive,” “Try Not to Breathe,” and “Nightswimming” at Prince’s Paisley Park Studios while mixing their 1991 album, Out of Time. Out of Time was a huge success, arriving as alternative rock was becoming mainstream. It spawned the massive single “Losing My Religion” and even ended up winning the GRAMMY award for Best Alternative Music Album in 1992. After concluding some promotional duties in early 1991, the band returned to the studio to continue work on what would eventually become Automatic for the People. This would be the fourth of six records the band would produce with Litt. The band traded off instruments in the studio, with Buck playing the mandolin famously featured on “Losing My Religion,” Mills playing piano or organ, and Berry playing bass. Their initial attempts to make a harder rocking follow-up did not pan out, as the band found they were writing better without drums. The material began to take on a more melancholic tone. The lush orchestration of Out of Time is rendered in a somber greyscale, with arrangements contributed by Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. Lyrically, the album muses on loss and mourning, prompting rumors that recently balding Michael Stipe was dying of cancer or AIDs. Luckily, he was not but that is the lens through which some critics and listeners received this work. The album also finds room for political commentary, most noticeably in “Ignoreland” which pushes against Republican politics of the time, but also in opener “Drive” which calls back to the group’s work with the Rock to Vote movement, for which they added a petition on the longbox packaging of Out of Time.
Automatic for the People released on October 5, 1992 (gotta love the GRAMMYs odd eligibility window) debuting at number 2 on the Billboard 200. Unlike its predecessor, it never quite reached the top spot, thanks to Garth Brooks. Six of the album’s 12 tracks were released as singles including “Drive,” “Everybody Hurts” which has unfortunately been watered down through years of ironic use in comedies, the cryptic, Andy Kaufman referencing “Man on the Moon,” and “Nightswimming,” an emotional piano ballad that has become a fan favorite. The album was critically acclaimed upon release and, while perhaps not as fun as something like Murmur, this nocturnal bummer is regarded by many as one of the band’s masterpieces.
Will everybody hurt? Are R.E.M. going to get a raw deal?
Tracklist: Drive Try Not to Breathe The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite Everybody Hurts New Orleans Instrumental No. 1 Sweetness Follows Monty Got a Raw Deal Ignoreland Star Me Kitten Man on the Moon Nightswimming Find the River
The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream The Smashing Pumpkins formed in 1988 when Billy Corgan (vocals and guitar, he prefers William Patrick Corgan now though) met James Iha (guitar) while working at a record store in Chicago, Illinois. They performed as a duo with a drum machine, eventually adding bassist D’arcy Wretzky after meeting her at a show by the Dan Reed Network. Jazz drummer Jimmy Chamberlain was recommended by a friend of Corgan’s after the trio were booked to perform at Cabaret Metro under the condition that they’d play with a live drummer instead of their drum machine. With Chamberlain on board, the band’s classic lineup had been formed and their sound began to shift in a harder rock direction.
Siamese Dream, the group’s 1993 sophomore album, expands on their 1991 debut Gish in every possible way. The band switched from Virgin subsidiary Caroline Records to Virgin itself. Butch Vig, who produced Nirvana’s massive Nevermind right after finishing work on Gish, returned to produce the follow-up. Where Gish’s $20,000 budget and month of recording time was “unprecedented” for Vig, Corgan and Vig spent four months on Siamese Dream and went $250,000 over budget. This is what happens when you let Billy overdub everyone else’s guitar and bass parts (something the rest of the band wasn’t particularly happy about) to get as many as 100 guitar parts compressed into one song.
The meticulous studio process paid off, as Siamese Dream was a bigger hit than Gish (peaking at 10 on the Billboard 200.) The band’s influences from metal, dreampop, and shoegaze give the album a layered and unique sound compared to the grungier alternative music of the time. Singles “Cherub Rock” and “Today” have been featured in the Guitar Hero and Rock Band videogame series. While never released as a single, “Mayonaise” has become a fan favorite and won a Rolling Stone poll for best Pumpkins song, beating out singles from Siamese Dream and the band’s follow-up double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Judging from some early discussion since this rate was announced, some of you seem pretty excited to rate “Mayonnaise.” While Mellon Collie took the band to the height of their popularity, Siamese Dream is often regarded as their masterpiece and one of the best rock albums of the 90s.
Will we be sweet sweet to the Pumpkins? The rater in me is the rater in you, I’ll send this ballot over to you
Tracklist: Cherub Rock Quiet Today Hummer Rocket Disarm Soma Geek U.S.A. Mayonaise Spaceboy Silverfuck Sweet Sweet Luna
U2 - Zooropa Formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1976, U2 (Bono on vocals, The Edge on guitar, Adam Clayton on bass, and Larry Mullen Jr. on drums) have become the top-selling Irish musical act of all-time, with an estimated 170+ million records sold. Across the 80s, U2 evolved their early post-punk sound to the anthemic rock of The Joshua Tree. While touring America for that album, the band recorded Rattle and Hum, a hybrid live/studio record (and accompanying concert film) which documented the tour and the group’s fascination with American roots music. Despite the album’s commercial success, most consider it a misguided failure. Even Bono admitted at their final show for the album’s Lovetown Tour that “we have to go away and dream it all up again.”
1993’s Zooropa catches U2 at their most adventurous. 1991’s Acthung Baby and its subsequent Zoo TV tour rebranded the band for the new decade. While they continued working with Unforgettable Fire and The Joshua Tree producers Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois, they updated their sound with influences from electronic, dance, and industrial music. On stage, they dabbled in irony to counter the sincerity of their 80s output with Bono playing characters such as The Fly and Macphisto. Emboldened by the critical and commercial success of this album and tour, they began working on a promotional EP during a break between Zoo TV tour legs. Despite working quickly in the studio, this EP expanded into a full-length album, requiring the band to travel between concerts and the studio in Dublin to finish working on the album during the first month of the “Zooropa” leg.
Zooropa finally arrived in July of 1993 and it shows the band doubling down on their early 90s ideas. The sound of the album, built from loops of soundcheck jamming and leftover sketches from Achtung Baby, ventures even further from traditional rock instrumentation and songwriting, bolstered by production from Brian Eno, Flood (moving from an engineering to production role), and The Edge, credited as a producer for his first time. The fragmented nature of the album’s production is reflected in the eclectic tracklist which bounces between the multi-movement art-rock of the title track, dancefloor fillers like “Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car,” and ballads like “For the First Time” and “Stay (Faraway, So Close!)” Unique vocal choices like The Edge’s spoken-word rapping on lead-single “Numb,” Bono’s falsetto on “Lemon,” and a Johnny Cash feature on closer “The Wanderer” help the album feel more varied than U2’s previous material. The album’s lyrics often examine Zoo TV’s concepts of “sensory overload” and technology more explicitly than Achtung Baby.
While U2 are reluctant to acknowledge Zooropa now (likely influenced by the failure of 1997’s Pop, a rushed, mixed bag of an album that stretched audience’s tolerance for 90s U2’s tendency toward electronic music and irony to a Rattle and Hum-like breaking point) the album was successful when it came out. Zooropa debuted at number one in several countries and finished ninth on 1993’s Pazz and Jop poll. It would also go on to win this GRAMMY award for Best Alternative Music album, with Bono shrugging on stage, shouting out Smashing Pumpkins, and promising to “the young people of America” that they will “continue to abuse our position and fuck up the mainstream” in his acceptance speech. (https://youtu.be/-DNXfFy8Ido?t=69)
Will U2 stay the champions in our rate or will they be faraway so close to the top?
Tracklist: Zooropa Babyface Numb Lemon Stay (Faraway, So Close!) Daddy’s Gonna Pay for Your Crashed Car Some Days Are Better Than Others The First Time Dirty Day The Wanderer
Bonus Rate Since this rate is 5 albums instead of the usual 4, a bonus rate has been omitted.

So, this is the story of the first time my girlfriend Gwen and I played D&D. I have our DM Matt here with me to help me with the names, rules and just remembering stuff in general. Matt and Jack have been playing 5th edition for years, but Zach never played 5E. He played 3.5 and 4th and liked them both, so this is his first time playing 5th. Here's all of the people involved and our characters.
Matt (DM) had been playing D&D for years. We played 5th edition starting at 3rd level, and his house rules included letting us use any setting specific race, and the One D&D play test rules.
Me playing as Remy, the non-binary plasmoid Hexblade Warlock, and my bonus feat was Fey Touched. Remy was just an ordinary slime running from predators, until one day he found an ancient temple that he was able to hide in. There, he found a magic sword possessed by the soul of an ancient dragon. The dragon promised to give Remy magical powers as long and Remy took the sword with him around the world cause the dragon was bored and lonely. My character is inspired by Rimuru Tempest from the anime Reincarnated as a Slime, and Matt gave me lots of ideas on how to build this character.
Gwen played as Tea Swift, the female half-elf College of Eloquence Bard, and her bonus feat was Lucky. Tea's father was and adventurer, so she went around telling stories of his adventures to improve his reputation. One day he went missing, and Tea set out to find him. While we were deciding which characters we wanted to play, Gwen found the YouTube video Life of a Bard song, and fell in love with the class.
Zach played Leon, the male leonin Battle Master Fighter, and his bonus feat was Shield Master. Leon was part of a tribe of hunters and warriors. One day his tribe was wiped out and he was the sole survivor. He set out on his own to find the dragon that killed his family, and get his revenge. Zach based his character on Leo from Red Earth, and he picked the battle master so he could have variety in combat.
Jack played John Belmont, the male dhampir Swarmkeeper Ranger, and his bonus feat was Crossbow Expert. John’s family was enslaved by a vamipre lord. The lord’s daughter Rosa fell in love with John, and when he was 24, they tried to run away together. The lord’s minions hunted them down and left them for dead as punishment. To save his life, the Rosa tried to turn John into a vampire, but she died in his arms. He became a dhampir, and vowed to hunt down the vampire lord and kill him. John trained himself in the forest and discovered he has a connection with bats, and could control them.
Matt asked us to make connections to one another so our characters already knew each other, so this is what we came up with. The dragon in Remi’s sword is the sworn enemy of the dragon that Leon wants to kill, Tea befriended John and started telling his story so people would be less afraid of him. Leon saved Tea from a pack of dire wolves once, and John met Remi while training in the forest.
Here’s how the game went. Tea and Leon went into a town to look for leads on the dragon and look for work to make money. At the bar, they found a job offer to take out kobalts attacking merchants on the road. They took the job but another group tried start a fight and take the job offer from them. Tea seduced the whole group, took them to a nearby hotel bedroom, and immediately cast Sleep on them all to put them to sleep and left with the flier for the job offer.
John was training Remy in the forest on swordsmanship, and they were attacked by a group of kobalts. Leon and Tea heard the fight and showed up to help and caught a kobalt as a hostage. Tea recognized John and introduced him to Leon, and then Leon brought up his backstory. John said “I understand your pain, I’m also on a quest for revenge.” Remi’s dragon spoke out loud from the blade and said “I hate Cyan as well. Remi, we should join him on his quest to kill Cyan.” So our party was together and we agreed to work together to take out the kobalts and split the reward. They tried to interrogate the kobalt, but it was being stubborn, so Leon grabbed him by one leg and hanged him over the edge of a cliff by the leg. Tea said “you know his arm is going to get tired sooner or later so you better start talking now.” The kobalt cried for mercy and told us where the main camp was. “I told you where they are, please let me go” he said, and Leon said “sure if that’s what you want” and just let go of the kobalt’s leg and let him fall. We all looked at him and he said “what? I let him go. He should have asked me to put him on the ground first.”
John used the info to track down their camp from a safe direction where we were uphill and could play an ambush. We saw that they had lots of people as prisoners, some of which were soldiers. Remy can use Disguise Self at will with Mask of Many Face, and reshape his body since he is a plasmoid. He looked like a human this whole time, but he changed to look like a kobalt to sneak in and let the prisoners free. Remy got in and started to unlock the cages, but some kobalts saw me and I rolled a 1 to deceive them. Luckily, Tea stayed close and cast Cloud of Daggers in their way, and then Leon jumped down to attack the kobalts as a distraction. He took out his sword, rolled a 20 and killed a kobalt in one shot, cutting him in half from above. Remy shot the kobalts that caught him through the Cloud of Daggers using a blast spell (Eldritch Blast), then finished freeing the prisoners before using Armor of Shadows and summoning his sword to run right into the fight. John was sniping from above with a hand crossbow, and he did so much damage. He had two attacks per round because of Crossbow Expert, could use Hunter’s Mark for more damage and let his bat’s bite his targets for even more damage, so he was killing kobalts left and right. Tea climbed up a tree to stay safe, pulled out her lute and started singing, using Viscous Mockery to make it harder for the kobalts to hit Leon and Remy. She was yelling stuff like “hey, nameless lizard number 2, your so weak, your name should be ‘free XP’.” Matt laughed and said “the kobalt starts to cry and says ‘my name is Joey’” but then Leon came right behind him and said “wrong. Your name is dead meat” and cut the kobalt in half. The soldiers Remy freed grabbed their weapons and helped us capture the rest of the kobalts and the fight was over.
Gwen was a natural and jumped right into the game. Matt said she played like a veteran, who had been playing for months. We all had a lot of fun, and I’ve enjoyed playing D&D with my friends ever since.

Why horror? Let “The Boogeyman” director Rob Savage count the ways. “There are taboo things that we all think and feel that we don’t want to talk about, that in a horror movie you can dramatize without looking straight in the eyes,” he says, sipping an old-fashioned at the aptly named Blue Room, one of his favorite Burbank bars.
🎬🎬Watch Here:The Boogeyman full movie for free [REDDIT}
In conversation, he ticks off his favorite auteurs — De Palma, Argento, Bava, Hitchcock — with encyclopedic knowledge, recounting how his cinematic obsessions led him to experiment with tricks and techniques, and resulted in at least one black eye. (It came from a falling camera, while re-creating the stair shot from “Psycho.”) But Savage‘s love affair with the genre is an emotional one too.
​
“The best horror movies make me feel really seen,” he smiles. In his youth, he aspired to be the next Lynne Ramsay or Andrea Arnold. Now he’s eager to play in as many horror sandboxes as he can before “AI is directing everything.”

To give context, I am still to find a way to make myself lucid dream, however, my body does induce it at random times although very rarely. I am scared to lucid dream because every time my body has induced it, it resulted in me having sleep paralysis. The first time this happened I was on the verge of falling asleep, I was starting to see a person I knew and I was leaning in for a kiss, it felt so real like he was right in front of me, however in a split second he transformed into a black shadow and I woke up into sleep paralysis, I did not open my eyes but I could still feel the dread, the worst fear I have ever felt. Took a while to calm myself down. Another time I was again drifting to sleep, I was laying down on my back and I felt like I was starting to float into space however my body was still in bed, I got scared and I somehow took my own hand and pulled my dream body back to my actual body if that makes sense? I woke up again in fear. My question is: Am I inducing the sleep paralysis myself because I am waking myself up? Does anyone have any points for me to have a full lucid dream without waking up in sleep paralysis? I would love to lucid dream but I am scared based on these experiences.

So, been a while since I posted. Pretty much eroded all relationships by drunk texting family and friends and acting like a lunatic. Spent the Winter planning to end it all. Made it to Spring.
To recap, long term somewhat functional drinker. Got cancer during Covid (breast from alcohol), kept drinking, drank even more since I took a leave from working, partner left me last fall and picked up with someone 15 years younger. He had every reason. I was abusive when I was blacked out and that was often. He enabled which got very complicated in my head. Kept drinking.
At this point, I have few friends or family. No job. My housing is about to be sold. Rent will double. I will probably lose my dream dog. I miss my partner every day and it makes my physically sick at the good man and future I lost. At 46, I feel like my life is over before I started it.
Talked with a friend today who lost much and managed to come out the other side. Sparked a little bit of hope. I’d still like a decent life. Any thoughts appreciated. Thank you.

Showcase Cinema Warwick you’ll want to make sure you’re one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a The Boogeyman Movie movie experience like never before. of our other Marvel movies available to watch online. We’re sure you’ll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you soon! The Boogeyman Movie is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch The Boogeyman Movie for free throughout the year are described
🎬🎬🔶➡Here Do Download “The Boogeyman online Full Movie
​
Where to Watch The Boogeyman Movie?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch The Boogeyman Movie Movie Online.MAPPA has decided to air the movie only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the movie would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer The Boogeyman Movie Movie for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
ABOUT THE BOOGEYMAN FUll MOVIE STREAM
Hours before hopping a red-eye from Los Angeles to London to promote the biggest film of his career, one of horror’s fastest-rising filmmakers is too busy waxing ecstatic over his love of scary movies to worry about making it to the airport on time.
Why horror? Let “The Boogeyman” director Rob Savage count the ways. “There are taboo things that we all think and feel that we don’t want to talk about, that in a horror movie you can dramatize without looking straight in the eyes,” he says, sipping an old-fashioned at the aptly named Blue Room, one of his favorite Burbank bars.
In conversation, he ticks off his favorite auteurs — De Palma, Argento, Bava, Hitchcock — with encyclopedic knowledge, recounting how his cinematic obsessions led him to experiment with tricks and techniques, and resulted in at least one black eye. (It came from a falling camera, while re-creating the stair shot from “Psycho.”) But Savage‘s love affair with the genre is an emotional one too.
“The best horror movies make me feel really seen,” he smiles. In his youth, he aspired to be the next Lynne Ramsay or Andrea Arnold. Now he’s eager to play in as many horror sandboxes as he can before “AI is directing everything.”

Other stories of mine can be found in my wiki
For those who want to go back to the beginning, here's a link to book 1 chapter 1.
An image of Lon'thul
Of Men and Dragons, Book 3, Chapter 45
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The order had finally been given. A bellow arose from thousands of argu'n before everyone surged forward. Dak'ton felt his blood thirst rise as he launched himself ahead, albeit a little more slowly encombered as he was by the new tool Lord B'arthon had insisted they bring with them. Then there was a shout from the enemy lines that preceded the first volley of small spears launched toward them.
Dak'ton hadn't believed they could be thrown this far, but judging by the path they were arching in his general direction, the warrior was suddenly grateful for the large thick wooden planks Lord B'arthon had insisted they carry with them. Raising it over his head, he could hear impacts all around him and a few screams as the wooden planks proved insufficient for some in the face of such a barrage. Dak'ton himself felt a jarring impact as one small spear hit his shield and a second impact as it pierced through the wood and hit his chest plate.
The warrior froze momentarily, wondering if he was dead, before realizing the combination of wood and his bone plates must have saved his life. However, Dak'ton was further delayed by trying to wrench the spear from his chest and planks as more warriors ran past. Finally, there was a sharp jolt of pain as he pulled the spear free. He was dismayed to see a trail of blood leaking out of a wound in his chest, but it wasn't deep enough to be a serious concern, so with a grunt, he threw the spear to the ground and resumed his charge.
Looking around, it was clear others weren't as lucky as him. Several were down when the spears impaled their legs where the wood hadn't protected them. Others had spears piercing through their wood like Dak'ton had, but the spear had gone on to hit them in more lightly armored areas like their arms or sides. One unlucky warrior had his wood now pinned to his arm as he screamed and grasped the small spear in an attempt to pull it out.
As Dak'ton gained more ground, another shout went out, and he raised his wood planks again, this time bracing in place, feeling his blood rush in fear as he waited again for impact. However, he didn't have to wait as long this time and again felt a jarring impact. This time the spear pierced through his planks higher up, punching all the way through and continuing to the ground beside him, narrowly missing his head. Around him, others fared worse a second time. A few had dropped their planks after the first barrage, having been unable to wrench the spears free, and were now paying the price.
Dak'ton blinked stupidly a few times before dropping his planks as instructed and running toward the enemy lines again. Lord B'arthon had told them the enemy would only have time for two barrages before they closed the distance, and rushing there after the second would eliminate the risk of a third, and all Dak'ton wanted was to never experience something like that again. Those small spears traveled so much further and faster than normally thrown spears, and they hit much harder despite their small size.
That was when he looked at the enemy and realized Lord B'arthon had made a mistake. Only half the enemy had fired the second round. The other half was still waiting with those odd spear throwers ready to unleash their second round. Dak'ton had a moment of grudging respect for those workers' discipline before a third shout was followed by more spears launched in their direction. Without the protection of his wooden planks, a spear hit Dak'ton clean in the shoulder, and he felt himself being pulled back as if some large creature had ahold of him and was pulling him bodily to the ground. That was when the searing pain came, as though his shoulder was on fire, and Dak'ton's screams joined the chorus of those screaming around him.
-
Lack'nul had no idea how Jack had foreseen the enemy would have those wooden planks, shields he'd called them, but the guard captain was glad he had. Perhaps the human had even more magic than he let on? He'd even been right about the enemy dropping the shields before engaging in melee, saying they would likely be too crude to wield while fighting due to rushed production. Because of that, the second half of the second volley devastated the enemy's front line in the section in front of his workers.
Further down the line, the warriors of the hill people were hurling more traditional throwing spears to lesser effect, but thankfully the enemy didn't seem to have enough shields to arm their entire front line with, so the spears were still effective.
The spears and belly bows had thinned the enemy front lines, but they were still drastically outnumbered. Lack'nul shouted for the workers to discard their belly bows and take up their spears. The workers threw the bows to the ground a few feet in front of them, hoping to trip up the enemy, then raised their spears and braced for impact.
-
A'ngles frowned from his position overseeing the battlefield. The second half-and-half volley had been unexpected. Not that it had cost them too much in the way of manpower, he estimated in total they'd lost maybe a hundred warriors between all three volleys and perhaps a hundred more across the rest of the front lines to the more traditional spears, only a fraction of the two thousand warriors charging in at the moment. Still, it definitely had an impact on the morale of that all-important center formation. Moreover, they'd slowed enough that the front line had bowed back slightly in the middle. Between that, the enemy's armor, and the obstacle the bulky weapons presented on the ground, the eventual charge had much less impact than he'd expected, with more of his own men going down in the initial exchange than the enemy.
Even all this wasn't nearly enough to change the battle's outcome, but it was just a few reminders that this wasn't their usual opponent, and only the gods knew how many more surprises they had in store.
-
The fighting was starting to get desperate. Lack'nul parried blow after blow with his sword, trying to create openings for the workers next to him to take advantage of with their spears. Occasionally an enemy would go down, taking the spear with him, but then the hill people behind them would hand the worker a new spear, and the fighting continued. Then there were the longer spears being thrust from further behind by the hill people. They didn't account for much in the way of killing blows, but they were one more complication the attackers had to beware of, preventing them from striking with total confidence.
It was strange for the guard captain to be fighting on the side of the hill people against what were likely guards from other villages, but he shoved that thought out of his mind as he parried another couple of spear thrusts around him. He wondered if any of the workers he was now familiar with had already died, but again shoved the thought from his mind as he took advantage of an opening and shoved his sword through an enemy warrior's midsection.
His victim grabbed hold of the blade as he fell, and rather than fight for the weapon and leave himself open for others to take advantage of, Lack'nul let go of the weapon and shouted behind him. "Spear!" Soon enough, the shaft of a spear was pressed into his waiting hands, and the guard captain resumed the fight, spinning the end of his spear in a way meant to shake loose his opponent's grip on their own weapon before thrusting forward and scoring a grazing attack his across the warrior's throat. It wasn't deep enough to kill but more than enough to spook his opponent, who drew back for a moment in shock.
That created enough of an opening that Lack'nul should have been able to get another kill, but then he noticed a spearhead flying toward him from the side, forcing the guard captain to step back and bring up his own spear, spinning the shaft in a way to deflect the strike and allow him to bring his own spearhead around to strike, driving his second foe back before turning his attention to the first, swiping with the butt of his spear before bringing the head around for another strike more designed to buy a moment than land a killing blow.
The guard captain was breathing heavily, wondering how much longer he should try to hold this spot.
-
A'ngles watched intently as the fighting continued, focusing most of his attention on that all-important center line. He could see individual fighters moving back and forth on both sides. Occasionally some fell and were replaced, but the armor on the workers kept them alive longer. But, of course, that also meant they were constantly fighting for extended periods, unable or unwilling to switch out with the less well-armed and armored allies behind them. In a massive battle like this, endurance was the key to victory, and it was just a matter of time before his greater numbers took their toll. Perhaps it was simply his imagination, but it seemed like the enemy line was starting to bow just the slightest amount in the middle. He just had to keep the pressure on...
Turning to two of his aide, the Village Lord issued his orders. "Send a runner to either flank and order fifty warriors from each to peel off and reinforce the center."
The aide nodded and repeated his orders to two runners as the old Lord continued to observe the battle.
-
Lon'thul traveled through the forest with an arrow knocked but not drawn as he crept ahead of the rest. Aside from Jack, Angela, Em'brel, and the wolgen all at the rear, the rest in their group were all hunters, used to moving quickly and silently through the underbrush, but even compared with the proud hunters of the hill people, Lon'thul was the undisputed master of his trade. So he walked ahead of the rest to look for ambushes.
It could have been just another day on the hunt if it weren't for the sounds of battle a little to his right. The hunter was glad non of his friends could see him at the moment, or else they'd notice his characteristic grin was absent in favor of a more stern expression. Something felt off about the forest, and he couldn't quite place a talon on what it was. He felt as if a presence had passed through not long ago, but the only person who could move this subtly was...
That was when the hunter noticed another scout ahead of his position. By Lon'thul's standard, he was moving loudly and clumsily. Looking around to ensure there wasn't anyone else present, Lon'thul took aim while inhaling silently. Once he had his target, he began exhaling while drawing back on the string, letting loose the arrow when he was about halfway out of air. After long hours of practice and countless hunts, he knew the arrow would fly true. However, he couldn't help but momentarily hold his remaining breath as he waited anxiously for a fraction of a second it took the arrow to clear the distance to its target.
As expected, the arrow embedded itself into his target's throat, pinning him to the tree behind him as the scout struggled briefly before falling limp. After ensuring there was no other movement to indicate another watcher, Lon'thul crept up and silently removed the arrow. Jack had once again been proven correct. It looked like B'arthon had sent an ambush to cut off their flanking maneuver. However, if the hunter could get enough of their scouts quickly enough, they might be able to ambush their ambushers. Cupping his hands around his mouth, he mimicked a kovaack's grunt to signal a halt. To his ears, it sounded nothing like an actual kovaack, but other hunters had told him it had an uncanny similarity from a small distance away.
Assuming one to two hundred warriors, they probably had ten to fifteen scouts. As the hunter snuck through the brush, he kept his ears open for any minor disturbances. A shadow out of place, or the sound of a twig cracking where he knew no animal would be. After an agonizingly long minute during which he tried to not think about what was happening in the main battle, he found another hunter, but this one was dangerously close to a second.
Lon'thul frowned, sliding sideways to get a shot from their flank with his back to the position of the one he'd already taken out so he could sneak closer to take his shot. Finally, after a few more agonizingly long seconds, he was in position, and the hunter knocked another arrow.
Standing and drawing in one smooth motion, Lon'thul took quick aim at the further of the two hunters before either knew what happened and loosed his arrow. However, rather than wait for his arrow to hit the target this time, Lon'thul dropped his bow while drawing a knife in one smooth action and flung the blade at the second scout, who was already starting to move at the appearance of the enemy from his supposedly protected flank.
Once again, rather than wait, Lon'thul leaped at his target, who was starting to fall, opening his mouth to shout out, but the hunter wrapped his arm around his victim's throat, slamming his mouth shut on his tongue, turning the scout's shout into a loud whimper as the hunter finished the job.
Lon'thul grabbed his knife and slunk back into the shadows, waiting for more scouts to come to check on the sounds of the scuffle. It was only after none appeared for over a minute that the hunter retrieved his arrow and returned to his bow with a frown. He was confident he'd been quiet enough to avoid detection by the main force, but the next scout over should have heard the twigs snapping as the two combatants struggled. Had he simply run back to report the disturbance without checking on the source of it? Given Lon'thul's reputation, it might have been a good move, but then the whole group would be "ambushing" every medium-sized animal in the forest, giving away their position! It didn't make sense...
The hunter calmed himself. Rather than jumping to conclusions, the only thing for him to do was precisely what he thought they should have done, go and check it out. He'd simply have to trust Angela to inform the rest if he walked into some ambush since she was silently watching everything from his headset.
As he rounded another tree, he found some disturbed underbrush roughly where he expected the next scout to be. As he crept closer, he realized there was a body there. The scout was already dead!
Lon'thul froze, holding his bow and ready to draw in the blink of an eye if any threat presented itself and thought rapidly. He knew he was the only one of his people's scouts out this far, so it couldn't have been any of his men. But what purpose could they have for placing this body here? He'd suspect a trap, but it made no sense. Still, it wouldn't help anyone if he stayed here any longer than he had to, so Lon'thul resumed movement, redoubling his efforts to remain silent and hidden as he moved.
After another moment, he came to another likely location and, after a moment of observation, found another dead scout. This time the hunter crept closer, inspecting the body. The sout's throat had been slit, likely from behind. He could even imagine someone's hand wrapping around the poor scout's mouth to silence any shout before the knife had done its work. That meant someone had walked right up behind the scout as he'd been searching for his own prey. Lon'thul might have been able to pull that off on a good day, but he'd never have risked it with so much on the line. Remembering the presence he'd felt earlier, he realized only one other hunter could pull something this brazen off...
Now Lon'thul was fully alert, scanning every shadow and listening for even the slightest disturbances while waiting with an arrow ready. This time he didn't have the luxury of waiting for his opponent to act first. He had to take the initiative and do it now! But beating his father in a duel wasn't his objective. Outmaneuvering the enemy force was. Putting a hand on the headset, the hunter activated the com and broke silence for the first time. "My position may be compromised, but if you move fast, you can still take the enemy unaware. Tell Jack to charge now!"
Putting his hand down, Lon'thul settled into position and readied another arrow. He knew his father wouldn't kill him like the other scouts, but that didn't mean the old hunter wouldn't try to pull him out of the battle now that he'd given away his location. The younger hunter would just have to be even faster this time...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wiki

In case you missed it and are interested, book 1 is available to purchase in digital or physical form.
If you want to support my work or help me cover the costs of publishing, you can find my Patreon here. Though it's not necessary, I'm really just glad you took the time to read my stories.

55sec ago, Universal Pictures! Here’s options for downloading or watching The Little Mermaid streaming the full 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 online for free on 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s & Reddit including where to watch Universal Pictures’ 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 at home. Is The Little Mermaid 2023 available to stream? Is watching The Little Mermaid on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix or Amazon Prime? Yes we have found an authentic streaming option / service. Details on how you can watch The Little Mermaid 3 for free throughout the year are described below.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH Now The Little Mermaid
CLICK HERE TO Download Now The Little Mermaid
Now Is The Little Mermaid available to stream? Is watching The Little Mermaid on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you'll want to make sure you're one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 experience like never before. of our other Marvel 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s available to watch online. We're sure you'll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you soon! The Little Mermaid is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch The Little Mermaid for free throughout the year are described
If you're a fan of the comics, you won't want to miss this one! The storyline follows The Little Mermaid as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien The Little Mermaidt. The Little Mermaid is definitely a The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 you don't want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, The Little Mermaid online streaming is available on our website. The Little Mermaid online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
The Little Mermaid Release in the US
The Little Mermaid hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch The Little Mermaid for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch The Little Mermaid?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 Online.MAPPA has decided to air the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is The Little Mermaid on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, but it does not include 'The Little Mermaid.' We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like 'The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.'
Is The Little Mermaid on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
Is The Little Mermaid on Hulu?
No, 'The Little Mermaid' is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy 'Afro Samurai Resurrection' or 'Ninja Scroll.'
Is The Little Mermaid on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime's current catalog does not include 'The Little Mermaid.' However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s on Amazon Prime's official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show 'Dororo.'
When Will The Little Mermaid Be on Disney+?
The Little Mermaid, the latest installment in the The Little Mermaid franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you're looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here's an answer to that question!
Is The Little Mermaid on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒: Mugen Train.'
The Little Mermaid Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s online. Here we can download and watch 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s offline. 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s website is the best alternative to The Little Mermaid's (2021) free online. We will recommend 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s as the best Solar𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 alternative There are a
few ways to watch The Little Mermaid online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is The Little Mermaid About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of The Little Mermaid?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming The Little Mermaid. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and The Little Mermaid has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
Production companies : Warner Bros. Pictures.
At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had other people raising eyebrows when he said that his long-awaited superhero debut in The Little Mermaid would be the beginning of “a new era” for the DC Extended Universe naturally followed: What did he mean? And what would that kind of reset mean for the remainder of DCEU's roster, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the rest of the Justice League, Suicide Squad, Shazam and so on.As
The Little Mermaid neared theaters, though, Johnson clarified that statement in a recent sit-down with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above).
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to expand the DC Universe and what we have in The Little Mermaid, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ's The Little Mermaid.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, expand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That's why you see in The Little Mermaid, we acknowledge everyone: Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybo****here's also some Easter eggs in there, too.So that's what I meant by the resetting. Maybe resetting' wasn't a good term.only
In addition to being Johnson's DC Universe debut, “The Little Mermaid” is also notable for marking the return of Henry Cavill's Superman. The cameo is likely to set up future showdowns between the two characters, but Hodge was completely unaware of it until he saw the film.
“They kept that all the way under wraps, and I didn't know until maybe a day or two before the premiere,” he recently said The Little Mermaid (2022) FULL𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 ONLINE
Is The Little Mermaid Available On Hulu?Viewers are saying that they want to view the new TV show The Little Mermaid on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free ****odes of this series streaming at this time. the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
Is The Little Mermaid Streaming on Disney Plus?
Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid is not currently available to stream on Disney Plus and it's not expected that the film will release on Disney Plus until late December at the absolute earliest.
While Disney eventually releases its various studios' films on Disney Plus for subscribers to watch via its streaming platform, most major releases don't arrive on Disney Plus until at least 45-60 days after the film's theatrical release.
The sequel opened to $150 million internationally, which Disney reports is 4% ahead of the first film when comparing like for likes at current exchange rates. Overall, the global cume comes to $330 million. Can it become the year's third film to make it past $1 billion worldwide despite China and Russia, which made up around $124 million of the first film's $682 million international box office, being out of play? It may be tough, but it's not impossible. Legging out past $500 million is plausible on the domestic front (that would be a multiplier of at least 2.7), and another $500 million abroad would be a drop of around $58 million from the original after excluding the two MIA markets. It'd be another story if audiences didn't love the film,but the positive reception suggests that The Little Mermaid will outperform the legs on this year's earlier MCU titles (Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder had multipliers of 2.2 and 2.3 respectively).
As for the rest of the box office, there's little to get excited about, with nothing else grossing above $10 million as Hollywood shied away from releasing anything significant not just this weekend but also over the previous two weekends. When Black Panther opened in 2018, there was no counterprogramming that opened the same weekend, but Peter Rabbit and Fifty Shades Freed were in their second weekends and took second and third with $17.5 million and $17.3 million respectively. That weekend had an overall cume of $287 million compared to $208 million this weekend Take away the $22 million gap between the two Black Panther films and there's still a $57 million gap between the two weekends. The difference may not feel that large when a mega blockbuster is propping up the grosses,but the contrast is harsher when the mid-level films are the entire box office as we saw in recent months.
The Little Mermaid, which is the biggest grosser of the rough post-summer, pre-The Little Mermaid season, came in second with just $8.6 million. Despite the blockbuster competition that arrived in its fourth weekend, the numbers didn't totally collapse, dropping 53 % for a cume of $151 million. Worldwide it is at $352 million, which isn't a great cume as the grosses start to wind down considering its $200 million budget. Still, it's the biggest of any film since The Little Mermaid, though The Little Mermaid will overtake it any day now.
The Little Mermaid came in third place in its fourth weekend, down 29% with $6.1 million, emerging as one of the season's most durable grossers and one of the year's few bright spots when it comes to films for adults. The domestic cume is $56.5 million Fourth place went to Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which had a negligible drop of 5% for a $3.2 million sixth weekend and $40.8 million cume., in fact )
, which isn't surprising considering it's the only family film on the market, and it's The Little Mermaid to grossing four times its $11.4 million opening. Still, the $72.6 million worldwide cume is soft given the $50 million budget , though a number of international markets have yet to open.
Finishing up the top five is The Little Mermaid, which had its biggest weekend drop yet, falling 42% for a $2.3 million seventh weekend. Of course, that's no reason to frown for the horror film, which has a domestic cume of $103 million and global cume of $ 210 million from a budget of just $20 million.

15 sec ago, Universal Pictures! Here’s options for downloading or watching Zara Hatke Zara Bachke streaming the full 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 online for free on 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s & Reddit including where to watch Universal Pictures’ 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 at home. Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke 2023 available to stream? Is watching Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. Details on how you can watch Zara Hatke Zara Bachke 3 for free throughout the year are described below.
​
CLICK HERE: Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Others Languse LiNK
Download Now: Zara Hatke Zara Bachke
​
Now Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke available to stream? Is watching Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you'll want to make sure you're one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a Zara Hatke Zara Bachke 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 experience like never before. of our other Marvel 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s available to watch online. We're sure you'll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you soon! Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch Zara Hatke Zara Bachke for free throughout the year are described
If you're a fan of the comics, you won't want to miss this one! The storyline follows Zara Hatke Zara Bachke as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien Zara Hatke Zara Bachket. Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is definitely a Zara Hatke Zara Bachke 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 you don't want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke online streaming is available on our website. Zara Hatke Zara Bachke online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Release in the US
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch Zara Hatke Zara Bachke for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch Zara Hatke Zara Bachke?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch Zara Hatke Zara Bachke 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 Online.MAPPA has decided to air the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer Zara Hatke Zara Bachke 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, but it does not include 'Zara Hatke Zara Bachke.' We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like 'The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.'
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Hulu?
No, 'Zara Hatke Zara Bachke' is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy 'Afro Samurai Resurrection' or 'Ninja Scroll.'
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime's current catalog does not include 'Zara Hatke Zara Bachke.' However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s on Amazon Prime's official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show 'Dororo.'
When Will Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Be on Disney+?
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, the latest installment in the Zara Hatke Zara Bachke franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you're looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here's an answer to that question!
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒: Mugen Train.'
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s online. Here we can download and watch 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s offline. 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s website is the best alternative to Zara Hatke Zara Bachke's (2021) free online. We will recommend 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s as the best Solar𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 alternative There are a
few ways to watch Zara Hatke Zara Bachke online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of Zara Hatke Zara Bachke?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Zara Hatke Zara Bachke. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and Zara Hatke Zara Bachke has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
Production companies : Warner Bros. Pictures.
At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had other people raising eyebrows when he said that his long-awaited superhero debut in Zara Hatke Zara Bachke would be the beginning of “a new era” for the DC Extended Universe naturally followed: What did he mean? And what would that kind of reset mean for the remainder of DCEU's roster, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the rest of the Justice League, Suicide Squad, Shazam and so on.As
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke neared theaters, though, Johnson clarified that statement in a recent sit-down with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above).
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to expand the DC Universe and what we have in Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ's Zara Hatke Zara Bachke.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, expand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That's why you see in Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, we acknowledge everyone: Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybo****here's also some Easter eggs in there, too.So that's what I meant by the resetting. Maybe resetting' wasn't a good term.only
In addition to being Johnson's DC Universe debut, “Zara Hatke Zara Bachke” is also notable for marking the return of Henry Cavill's Superman. The cameo is likely to set up future showdowns between the two characters, but Hodge was completely unaware of it until he saw the film.
“They kept that all the way under wraps, and I didn't know until maybe a day or two before the premiere,” he recently said Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2022) FULL𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 ONLINE
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Available On Hulu?Viewers are saying that they want to view the new TV show Zara Hatke Zara Bachke on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free ****odes of this series streaming at this time. the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
Is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke Streaming on Disney Plus?
Unfortunately, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke is not currently available to stream on Disney Plus and it's not expected that the film will release on Disney Plus until late December at the absolute earliest.
While Disney eventually releases its various studios' films on Disney Plus for subscribers to watch via its streaming platform, most major releases don't arrive on Disney Plus until at least 45-60 days after the film's theatrical release.
The sequel opened to $150 million internationally, which Disney reports is 4% ahead of the first film when comparing like for likes at current exchange rates. Overall, the global cume comes to $330 million. Can it become the year's third film to make it past $1 billion worldwide despite China and Russia, which made up around $124 million of the first film's $682 million international box office, being out of play? It may be tough, but it's not impossible. Legging out past $500 million is plausible on the domestic front (that would be a multiplier of at least 2.7), and another $500 million abroad would be a drop of around $58 million from the original after excluding the two MIA markets. It'd be another story if audiences didn't love the film,but the positive reception suggests that Zara Hatke Zara Bachke will outperform the legs on this year's earlier MCU titles (Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder had multipliers of 2.2 and 2.3 respectively).
As for the rest of the box office, there's little to get excited about, with nothing else grossing above $10 million as Hollywood shied away from releasing anything significant not just this weekend but also over the previous two weekends. When Black Panther opened in 2018, there was no counterprogramming that opened the same weekend, but Peter Rabbit and Fifty Shades Freed were in their second weekends and took second and third with $17.5 million and $17.3 million respectively. That weekend had an overall cume of $287 million compared to $208 million this weekend Take away the $22 million gap between the two Black Panther films and there's still a $57 million gap between the two weekends. The difference may not feel that large when a mega blockbuster is propping up the grosses,but the contrast is harsher when the mid-level films are the entire box office as we saw in recent months.
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, which is the biggest grosser of the rough post-summer, pre-Zara Hatke Zara Bachke season, came in second with just $8.6 million. Despite the blockbuster competition that arrived in its fourth weekend, the numbers didn't totally collapse, dropping 53 % for a cume of $151 million. Worldwide it is at $352 million, which isn't a great cume as the grosses start to wind down considering its $200 million budget. Still, it's the biggest of any film since Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, though Zara Hatke Zara Bachke will overtake it any day now.
Zara Hatke Zara Bachke came in third place in its fourth weekend, down 29% with $6.1 million, emerging as one of the season's most durable grossers and one of the year's few bright spots when it comes to films for adults. The domestic cume is $56.5 million Fourth place went to Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which had a negligible drop of 5% for a $3.2 million sixth weekend and $40.8 million cume., in fact )
, which isn't surprising considering it's the only family film on the market, and it's Zara Hatke Zara Bachke to grossing four times its $11.4 million opening. Still, the $72.6 million worldwide cume is soft given the $50 million budget , though a number of international markets have yet to open.
Finishing up the top five is Zara Hatke Zara Bachke, which had its biggest weekend drop yet, falling 42% for a $2.3 million seventh weekend. Of course, that's no reason to frown for the horror film, which has a domestic cume of $103 million and global cume of $ 210 million from a budget of just $20 million. nadan

55sec ago, Universal Pictures! Here’s options for downloading or watching The Little Mermaid streaming the full 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 online for free on 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s & Reddit including where to watch Universal Pictures’ 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 at home. Is The Little Mermaid 2023 available to stream? Is watching The Little Mermaid on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix or Amazon Prime? Yes we have found an authentic streaming option / service. Details on how you can watch The Little Mermaid 3 for free throughout the year are described below.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH Now The Little Mermaid
CLICK HERE TO Download Now The Little Mermaid
Now Is The Little Mermaid available to stream? Is watching The Little Mermaid on Disney Plus, HBO Max, Netflix, or Amazon Prime? Yes, we have found an authentic streaming option/service. A 1950s housewife living with her husband in a utopian experimental community begins to worry that his glamorous company could be hiding disturbing secrets.
Showcase Cinema Warwick you'll want to make sure you're one of the first people to see it! So mark your calendars and get ready for a The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 experience like never before. of our other Marvel 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s available to watch online. We're sure you'll find something to your liking. Thanks for reading, and we'll see you soon! The Little Mermaid is available on our website for free streaming. Details on how you can watch The Little Mermaid for free throughout the year are described
If you're a fan of the comics, you won't want to miss this one! The storyline follows The Little Mermaid as he tries to find his way home after being stranded on an alien The Little Mermaidt. The Little Mermaid is definitely a The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 you don't want to miss with stunning visuals and an action-packed plot! Plus, The Little Mermaid online streaming is available on our website. The Little Mermaid online is free, which includes streaming options such as 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, Reddit, or TV shows from HBO Max or Netflix!
The Little Mermaid Release in the US
The Little Mermaid hits theaters on January 14, 2022. Tickets to see the film at your local 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 theater are available online here. The film is being released in a wide release so you can watch it in person.
How to Watch The Little Mermaid for Free?release on a platform that offers a free trial. Our readers to always pay for the content they wish to consume online and refrain from using illegal means.
Where to Watch The Little Mermaid?
There are currently no platforms that have the rights to Watch The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 Online.MAPPA has decided to air the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 only in theaters because it has been a huge success.The studio , on the other hand, does not wish to divert revenue Streaming the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 would only slash the profits, not increase them.
As a result, no streaming services are authorized to offer The Little Mermaid 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 for free. The film would, however, very definitely be acquired by services like Funimation , Netflix, and Crunchyroll. As a last consideration, which of these outlets will likely distribute the film worldwide?
Is The Little Mermaid on Netflix?
The streaming giant has a massive catalog of television shows and 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s, but it does not include 'The Little Mermaid.' We recommend our readers watch other dark fantasy films like 'The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf.'
Is The Little Mermaid on Crunchyroll?
Crunchyroll, along with Funimation, has acquired the rights to the film and will be responsible for its distribution in North America.Therefore, we recommend our readers to look for the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on the streamer in the coming months. subscribers can also watch dark fantasy shows like 'Jujutsu Kaisen.'
Is The Little Mermaid on Hulu?
No, 'The Little Mermaid' is unavailable on Hulu. People who have a subscription to the platform can enjoy 'Afro Samurai Resurrection' or 'Ninja Scroll.'
Is The Little Mermaid on Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime's current catalog does not include 'The Little Mermaid.' However, the film may eventually release on the platform as video-on-demand in the coming months.fantasy 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s on Amazon Prime's official website. Viewers who are looking for something similar can watch the original show 'Dororo.'
When Will The Little Mermaid Be on Disney+?
The Little Mermaid, the latest installment in the The Little Mermaid franchise, is coming to Disney+ on July 8th! This new 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 promises to be just as exciting as the previous ones, with plenty of action and adventure to keep viewers entertained. you're looking forward to watching it, you may be wondering when it will be available for your Disney+ subscription. Here's an answer to that question!
Is The Little Mermaid on Funimation?
Crunchyroll, its official website may include the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 in its catalog in the near future. Meanwhile, people who wish to watch something similar can stream 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒: Mugen Train.'
The Little Mermaid Online In The US?
Most Viewed, Most Favorite, Top Rating, Top IMDb 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s online. Here we can download and watch 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s offline. 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s website is the best alternative to The Little Mermaid's (2021) free online. We will recommend 123𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒s as the best Solar𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 alternative There are a
few ways to watch The Little Mermaid online in the US You can use a streaming service such as Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime Video. You can also rent or buy the 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 on iTunes or Google Play. watch it on-demand or on a streaming app available on your TV or streaming device if you have cable.
What is The Little Mermaid About?
It features an ensemble cast that includes Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Wilde, Gemma Chan, KiKi Layne, Nick Kroll, and Chris Pine. In the film, a young wife living in a 2250s company town begins to believe there is a sinister secret being kept from her by the man who runs it.
What is the story of The Little Mermaid?
In the 2250s, Alice and Jack live in the idealized community of Victory, an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top- While the husbands toil away, the wives get to enjoy the beauty, luxury, and debauchery of their seemingly perfect paradise. However, when cracks in her idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something sinister lurking below the surface, Alice can't help but question exactly what she's doing in Victory.
In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming The Little Mermaid. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, and The Little Mermaid has gone from man to myth to legend. Now free, his unique form of justice, born out of rage, is challenged by modern-day heroes who form the Justice Society: Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone.
Production companies : Warner Bros. Pictures.
At San Diego Comic-Con in July, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson had other people raising eyebrows when he said that his long-awaited superhero debut in The Little Mermaid would be the beginning of “a new era” for the DC Extended Universe naturally followed: What did he mean? And what would that kind of reset mean for the remainder of DCEU's roster, including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the rest of the Justice League, Suicide Squad, Shazam and so on.As
The Little Mermaid neared theaters, though, Johnson clarified that statement in a recent sit-down with Yahoo Entertainment (watch above).
“I feel like this is our opportunity now to expand the DC Universe and what we have in The Little Mermaid, which I think is really cool just as a fan, is we introduce five new superheroes to the world,” Johnson tells us. Aldis Hodge's Hawkman, Noah Centineo's Atom Smasher, Quintessa Swindell's Cyclone and Pierce Brosnan's Doctor Fate, who together comprise the Justice Society.) “One anti-hero.” (That would be DJ's The Little Mermaid.)
“And what an opportunity. The Justice Society pre-dated the Justice League. So opportunity, expand out the universe, in my mind… all these characters interact. That's why you see in The Little Mermaid, we acknowledge everyone: Batman , Superman , Wonder Woman, Flash, we acknowledge everybo****here's also some Easter eggs in there, too.So that's what I meant by the resetting. Maybe resetting' wasn't a good term.only
In addition to being Johnson's DC Universe debut, “The Little Mermaid” is also notable for marking the return of Henry Cavill's Superman. The cameo is likely to set up future showdowns between the two characters, but Hodge was completely unaware of it until he saw the film.
“They kept that all the way under wraps, and I didn't know until maybe a day or two before the premiere,” he recently said The Little Mermaid (2022) FULL𝓂𝑜𝓋𝒾𝑒 ONLINE
Is The Little Mermaid Available On Hulu?Viewers are saying that they want to view the new TV show The Little Mermaid on Hulu. Unfortunately, this is not possible since Hulu currently does not offer any of the free ****odes of this series streaming at this time. the MTV channel, which you get by subscribing to cable or satellite TV services. You will not be able to watch it on Hulu or any other free streaming service.
Is The Little Mermaid Streaming on Disney Plus?
Unfortunately, The Little Mermaid is not currently available to stream on Disney Plus and it's not expected that the film will release on Disney Plus until late December at the absolute earliest.
While Disney eventually releases its various studios' films on Disney Plus for subscribers to watch via its streaming platform, most major releases don't arrive on Disney Plus until at least 45-60 days after the film's theatrical release.
The sequel opened to $150 million internationally, which Disney reports is 4% ahead of the first film when comparing like for likes at current exchange rates. Overall, the global cume comes to $330 million. Can it become the year's third film to make it past $1 billion worldwide despite China and Russia, which made up around $124 million of the first film's $682 million international box office, being out of play? It may be tough, but it's not impossible. Legging out past $500 million is plausible on the domestic front (that would be a multiplier of at least 2.7), and another $500 million abroad would be a drop of around $58 million from the original after excluding the two MIA markets. It'd be another story if audiences didn't love the film,but the positive reception suggests that The Little Mermaid will outperform the legs on this year's earlier MCU titles (Multiverse of Madness and Love and Thunder had multipliers of 2.2 and 2.3 respectively).
As for the rest of the box office, there's little to get excited about, with nothing else grossing above $10 million as Hollywood shied away from releasing anything significant not just this weekend but also over the previous two weekends. When Black Panther opened in 2018, there was no counterprogramming that opened the same weekend, but Peter Rabbit and Fifty Shades Freed were in their second weekends and took second and third with $17.5 million and $17.3 million respectively. That weekend had an overall cume of $287 million compared to $208 million this weekend Take away the $22 million gap between the two Black Panther films and there's still a $57 million gap between the two weekends. The difference may not feel that large when a mega blockbuster is propping up the grosses,but the contrast is harsher when the mid-level films are the entire box office as we saw in recent months.
The Little Mermaid, which is the biggest grosser of the rough post-summer, pre-The Little Mermaid season, came in second with just $8.6 million. Despite the blockbuster competition that arrived in its fourth weekend, the numbers didn't totally collapse, dropping 53 % for a cume of $151 million. Worldwide it is at $352 million, which isn't a great cume as the grosses start to wind down considering its $200 million budget. Still, it's the biggest of any film since The Little Mermaid, though The Little Mermaid will overtake it any day now.
The Little Mermaid came in third place in its fourth weekend, down 29% with $6.1 million, emerging as one of the season's most durable grossers and one of the year's few bright spots when it comes to films for adults. The domestic cume is $56.5 million Fourth place went to Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, which had a negligible drop of 5% for a $3.2 million sixth weekend and $40.8 million cume., in fact )
, which isn't surprising considering it's the only family film on the market, and it's The Little Mermaid to grossing four times its $11.4 million opening. Still, the $72.6 million worldwide cume is soft given the $50 million budget , though a number of international markets have yet to open.
Finishing up the top five is The Little Mermaid, which had its biggest weekend drop yet, falling 42% for a $2.3 million seventh weekend. Of course, that's no reason to frown for the horror film, which has a domestic cume of $103 million and global cume of $ 210 million from a budget of just $20 million.

Hey all! I'm a smart, energetic, naturally curious, and very adventurous guy, and I'm looking for a woman to enjoy some fun experiences with! I've always tended to go for women older than me. I have no limits on age and would love to find an older woman to explore and grow with, both sexually and otherwise! I'll bring energy and enthusiasm, you bring the experience and wisdom :D
For a start I'd mainly be interested in some fun dates and a FWB-type situation however I'm also not opposed to something serious if the vibe is right! I have lots of interesting and cool date ideas, and in general I'm a very outgoing guy who just loves trying new things and exploring - let's visit a cool new gallery or museum, explore some new green space around London, or try out that restaurant you've been seeing everywhere on Instagram :)
Looks wise I'm tall, 6" 4', slim, fairly athletic, I run in my spare time so I have nice legs. I'm South Asian, with brown skin, brown eyes, and luscious long black hair. Happy to swap pics if things go well. I'm a big metalhead and look the part too - if you like guys with leather jackets, long hair, band shirts, and boots, then I'm your man!
In general I'm a very sociable and outgoing person - I love meeting new people, chatting and getting to know people, and I love conversation! Love to talk about how your day went, your hopes and dreams, your favourite band, or whether there's an afterlife (well, is there?)
Personality wise I'm very open minded, laid back, chilled out, and easy going. Love trying new experiences and learning about just about anything! I'm a scientist in my day job and general nerd, and in my spare time I'm mad about music, love concerts, collecting records, and playing the bass guitar. I also love cooking, keen football fan (DM me to find out which team I support!) and love watching F1 as well. Keen on long walks by the river and I enjoy running in my spare time as well.
Fully jabbed and DDF so no worries there!
I'm looking for my Midnight Queen - message me if you'd like to chat :D

--- Table of Contents ---
--- Part 1/2 ---
When Shon woke again, it was to be told he'd slept, not only the rest of the day and night of the incident, but the entire day after as well. Despite the Cleric assuring Shon that this was normal, he still had Shon eat breakfast in the infirmary while the Squires attended their morning lessons. He'd slept through drills, breakfast, and prayer.
The Cleric kept the curtains drawn over the window, though Shon's head wasn't pounding anymore, and had added a second set of standing curtains around the girl's bed. Shon's eyes flicked in her direction with every alternate bite he managed to force down, but there was no movement beyond the white cloth.
Master Daunas came in shortly before tenth bell and armor practice to inform Shon that he was to take the day off to rest but could rejoin the others in training the following day. He was at least allowed to leave the infirmary, though he waited until he could hear sparring outside before he did. He didn't want to run into any of the Squires.
As he opened the door to leave something flew by the window, catching Shon's attention enough to make him stop and look over. But it was already long gone. Just a bird... Assuming he hadn't imagined it. He shook his head, still aching all over. His mind swam with worries and memories, made worse by the fact that the Cleric was trying to hide shivers now that Shon was fully rested. He'd probably just imagined it...
Back in his room Shon huddled over his journal. He could still smell the smoke in his hair and had decided it would be best to shower soon, but finally alone, his thoughts and memories could no longer be ignored.
So he drew. He tried to start safe. Nangran atop his borrowed horse; Ivelm mostly naked and shaking a club in his doorway; the Archmage's workroom lined in shelves filled with magical components. That one had taken a while. But as he released these images onto the page, others forced themselves forward. Smoke billowing over treetops; a burning tower; charred bodies; and a girl reaching out through the flames. A girl lying asleep in the bed next to his. The stillness of the picture made her look dead.
He dropped his pencil, letting it roll right off the desk. Crossing his arms over the book, he rested his head on his desk. The wood felt warm compared to his skin, comforting. What more could he have done? What could a Paladin have done? Or Master Veon-Zih? Shon saw again the bodies and shivered.
No one could save everyone. To think otherwise was pure arrogance. But knowing the facts and feeling them were two very different things. The tower wasn’t that far from Hamerfoss. Shouldn’t they have known something was going on? Shouldn’t they have been able to do something sooner? Years sooner? Long before the fire killed those people?
A loud tapping startled him awake. When had he fallen asleep? Shon searched his room in confusion, trying to piece together his dream and what had awoken him. He'd been in the Temple chapel, but as he'd walked down the middle aisle, the pews had started to decay, the stone walls crumbling. Small plants, then trees began to sprout from the ground, overgrowing the once-holy place now in ruin. Shon pressed the heels of his hands hard into his eyes, trying to remember what had come next... A man with white hair pulled back in a ponytail had been standing at the head altar... something with leathery wings on his shoulder...
The painful screech of something sharp on glass had Shon jumping up, his chair falling to clatter on the ground behind him. He looked to his window but saw only orange sky beyond. Was the sun already setting? He knelt on the mattress and looked out the window, unsure what he expected to see. He was on the third floor, but that was definitely where the sound had come from, and the window was the only glass in the room.
Nothing but open sky.
He opened the tiny window, the pane swinging up and letting in cold and refreshing air that helped clear his mind. Master Daunas's voice bellowed orders from the courtyard below, and Shon stuck his head out to look down and see his fellows working through their dagger forms. He'd slept through lunch and afternoon lessons. And he still needed a shower.
If he hurried, he would be able to shower before the others finished their lesson. Shon left the window open and even opened his door before he remembered to grab a fresh uniform. Obviously, he still wasn't thinking clearly.
The halls were blissfully empty, and Shon could almost pretend that even if he did pass someone, their breath wouldn't show in the air. It was a short-lived fantasy, however. He managed to make it all the way to the showers, but when he opened the door a voice called, "Squire! Why aren't you... Oh..." Shon performed a sharp about face to stand at attention before the Major General.
"At ease, Squire Shon," Selibra sighed, waving him down, "Did you get enough rest?"
"Yes, Sir," Shon answered but then caught movement out of the corner of his eye, again. He hadn't managed to turn his head far enough to see before the Major General started speaking. Shon snapped his head back to give the officer his undivided attention.
"You did well, Squire. Smith Nangran told us what happened at the tower." Sir Selibra managed a strained smile that faded quickly, "If you want to talk about what you saw there... any one of us will be more than willing to listen. You shouldn't have had to experience death so soon." an image of an arm pulling away from a charred corpse flashed in Shon's vision.
Shon swallowed down the accompanying nausea at the memory and managed a nod, adding a quiet "Thank you, Sir." for good measure.
Feeling the need to scrub even more than before, Shon was grateful when the Major General left, allowing him to enter the still-open room. The shower was only mildly comforting, however. What should have been scalding water felt merely lukewarm now, the mist billowing off his truly icy skin thick enough that he could barely see the spigots. Closing his eyes, he scrubbed and tried to imagine the images flowing off of him with the filth...
Something chirped, and Shon slammed the water off. Just the pipes creaking... How much longer would he have to rest before his mind stopped playing tricks on him? But as he moved for his towel, Shon stopped in shock, his new uniform had been scattered around the benches and floor.
He hadn't heard the door open, but had heard the pipes creaking? But who here would even do something like this? Shon started to search the showers, but as he did, he heard something else—voices in the hall. The Squires were done with their practice. He still didn't want to see them and dressed quickly, rushing from the shower and slamming the door behind him.
Something thumped into the door from the other side. Shon held his breath and turned slowly. It was his imagination. It had to be. He reached for the handle again and, standing behind the swing, opened the shower slowly.
"He's been gone three days... Do you think they sent him away?" Thom's voice sounded from around a corner, and Shon jumped in surprise, pulling the door open fully as if he could hide behind it.
"No way. he's the best Squire we have, so what if he's a Sorcerer." They were talking about him... Shon definitely didn't want to see them yet. He dashed down the opposite way, taking a long way around through the Paladin's barracks and back to his room. Or that's what he'd planned before he remembered the Squires hall would be full of people now taking their break and trying to get into the shower before everyone else. His feet faltered, and he turned away again, to one of the hardly used stairs that would take him down to the rest of the fortress.
Barred from his room, Shon made his way to the place he associated the most with comfort, the chapel. It wasn't empty, three Paladins knelt in prayer near the front, but it didn't matter anymore. He felt a wash of calm as he entered the incense-filled room, the sweet-smelling smoke finally banishing the stench of burning hair from his memory.
Shon took a spot near the back, kneeling to pray as he stared up at the statue of Hengist behind the altar. He was dressed in full plate mail, his arm raised in triumph, holding his mighty sword, Darkspliter.
Shon sighed and felt himself smile for what felt like the first time in a very long time. He could tell Hengist anything and everything, and none of it out loud... But then his smile faded. What would he say...?
I'm sorry. I feel like I've been lying to everyone, to you. I've known there was something different about me, something wrong with me. That's why no one likes to touch me, why everyone pulls away at the feel of my skin, like it's somehow dirty or painful. I should've realized... Should have known...
But I worked so hard... You know that, don't you? And I'm not ready to give up. I'll do whatever it takes, atone anyway I can if you just tell me how. The Major General said something about it being a sign. I want to believe he meant the unlikely convenience of Smith Nangran knowing an Archmage who could make an item so I won't have to get the tattoo. Thank you. I just hope I don't disappoint after getting a second chance...
The bell for dinner sounded. Feeling better, Shon considered going with the Paladins as they left the chapel. Until one of them shivered as they passed. "Winters right around the corner," another muttered.
"We'll need to install the heating orbs soon." the last answered before the door closed... He wasn't hungry anyway.
Please, Hengist. Don't let me hurt anyone else. Kefir was trying to help me, and I answered that kindness with pain. What if the healers hadn't gotten to him in time? Would I have smothered him in ice? Please, I'll give up everything if it means that will never happen again...
But he didn't want to give up anything. He wanted to fight, to reach his highest potential, and lead a life of meaning. He thought of Master Veon-Zih. The Monk had told him that he didn't need to be a Paladin to fight for justice, and he was living proof of that. But...
I don't want to be alone... At first, I thought I just wanted you, a god, as a guiding light in my life. But now I realize that being a Paladin gives me even more than that. It gives me brothers and friends, and I don't want to lose them either. But I especially don't want to hurt them.
Shon clenched his hands tighter, as tight as he could, digging his fingers into the spaces between his knuckles; as if external pain might dull internal strife...
They say I'm scary... And I know they aren't really joking. I can see it in their eyes and hear it in their nervous laughs when they try and make it a joke. But they only mean when they fight me... don't they? And I'll never try to hurt them. It's only sparring... they know that... don't they?
He squeezed his eyes tighter shut,
But what about now? Will they be even more afraid? Even when we aren't sparring? Can I blame them if they are?
He actually found himself waiting for an answer... Of course, none came. He wasn't a Paladin yet, and wouldn't be able to feel the god until he swore his Oath and took a piece of Hengist into himself. For now, Shon took in a deep breath, as deep as he could, then let it out slowly, relaxing his hands and face as he attempted to release his anxieties unto his god.
I won't give up. I'll fight this danger within me as hard as I will fight any threat without. I ask for your help with this. Please don't give up on me yet. I'll prove I'm worthy, I swear.
The bell ending dinner and starting study time sounded. Shon stayed in the chapel until a handful of Squires came in to pray themselves. They hesitated by the door, but Shon didn't look at them. He knew he couldn't hide forever. But he also wasn't sure what he should say to any of them. Or if he should say anything at all. Shon waited until they moved away from the door to finally stand. If he had to face any of them, he wanted it to be the ones he considered friends first.
Shon left the chapel and made his way to the library, fighting the urge to just go back to his room. Heads swiveled in his direction the moment he opened the library door. Shon flinched, sucking in a sharp breath and holding it, pulling his energy in as best he could.
He stepped in, and the Squires exchanged looks, but then the Paladin on library duty coughed, and they quickly went back to reading.
His typical spot was available as usual, so Shon made his way there. The others would want to talk after... and if not, he would just go back to his room. Distracted by his continued worries -and the silent effort to hold his energy in- Shon still heard when something behind him hissed along the stone.
He spun quickly, scanning the floor. This time he definitely wasn't imagining it...
"Squire Shon... Shouldn't you be resting?" He turned back to find the Squires trying to make it seem like they weren't staring at him, while the Paladin who called looked openly concerned.
Shon's cheeks flushed, now feeling cool rather than warm. Another change... He cleared his throat, "No, Sir..." and when the Paladin's worried expression didn't let up, Shon added, "I've been resting all day."
"Three days..." Zihler muttered.
Shon met his eyes and the Squire smiled, but Shon couldn't tell if the expression seemed strained or not. He nodded anyway, taking his seat alone at the table by the window.
Books on their current subject of study were already laid out, and he pulled one forward, opening it without checking the title. As he read, he could hear the others occasionally whisper and even caught snippets of what they were saying,
"I found another one. Do you think this will be enough?" Thom asked.
"We have the rest of the hour; we should find all we can," Rerves answered. It didn't sound like they were studying, but Shon had missed three days of lessons; maybe they were working on an assignment... He went back to his reading. He would get any missed work tomorrow.
When the bell rang that would finally begin their last hour of free time, Shon closed his book. It would be best to just go to bed early; everyone seemed to think he should be resting anyway; they could talk after he got the sealing item... But he hadn't stood yet when his six closest friends jumped up, books in hand, and crowded around him, preventing him from leaving. From running away.
"We're glad you're okay." Rehlien blurted out.
"The Major General told us what happened," Baradin added.
Shon looked from him to Kefir and took in a sharp breath, "I'm..." he started to apologize, but Kefir interrupted with a broad smile,
"I'm fine. I even got a day off for it. I didn't need it though, they healed me up right away."
Rerves placed his book down on Shon's table, "It was just really surprising, you know? But hey! Now we know why you're so cold all the time."
Shon looked down at the massive tome on the table, not wanting to meet their eyes. He didn't know what to make of what they were saying. There was no way it was okay. How could they be alright with a dangerous magic user that could kill them all on accident...
"We found these. We thought they might make you feel a little better," Thom whispered, stacking his book on top of Rerves' and opening it to a page he'd marked with a ripped piece of scrap paper. It wasn't a textbook, it was a record book. Shon furrowed his brows down at the page, reading 'Sir Patrich, served 4876-4929, died 4955. Paladin of Hengist, General. Air Sorcerer...'
Shon looked up to find them all smiling down at him. Zihler set his book down over Thom's, opened to another personal record, "This one was a fire Sorcerer, and they're supposed to be the most destructive."
Rehlien took Baradin and Kefir's books and stacked them with his own beside the open records. He ran his fingers over the slew of bookmarks sticking out of the closed pages, "All Sorcerers and Paladins." Rehlien said.
"Master Daunas said you would be back in a few days, but just in case we wanted to find these for you," Thom explained in a rush, "You know... in case the officers or Mages needed to be convinced..."
Baradin cleared his throat before he spoke, clasping his hands behind his back, "We haven't found any ice Sorcerers yet, but they're also the rarest, so that really shouldn't be surprising."
"Yeah, and there are plenty of fire who are crazy dangerous even when they're trained," Kefir added quickly.
Shon could feel a burning in his eyes and blinked furiously, looking away from his friends. He wouldn't cry.. he wouldn't. "Thank you..." he managed to croak out, finally giving in and rubbing his eyes. None of them commented on his show of emotion, or the frost clouding his window.
Rerves took the seat across from him with a smile, "So, what type of familiar do you think you'll get?"
Shon managed to stop blinking enough to arch an eyebrow. Hadn't Ivelm said something about a familiar too?
"I bet you it'll be something really lame." Zihler laughed, "To balance Shon's badassness."
"Squire!" the Paladin librarian barked, "Pushups! Now!"
Zihler groaned, mumbling as he stepped back to perform the punishment, "How do they always do that?"
"Divine hearing," Rehlien snickered as Zihler started the pushups, "Probably only works for curses, though."
"You can join him," the Paladin called without looking up from his book, and Rehlien groaned, dropping down next to Zihler.
"Seriously though," Rerves said, ignoring the boys huffing and puffing through their punishment, "Familiars are animals, they're supposed to be even closer to their Sorcerer than a Paladin and their mount! Like an extension of yourself. You can see through their eyes and talk to them with your mind. It's awesome!"
Thom actually blushed, confessing, "We read up on it a bit over the last two days..."
They knew more about what he was than he did. Shon actually smiled, starting, "I don't..." but chittering, like a particularly loud squirrel, interrupted him. The Squires all swiveled their heads to look around, Rehlien and Zihler jumping to their feet with the Paladin, who stood so quickly his chair fell over. The chittering turned to chirping, and then to a purr, as Shon finally found what was making the noise.
On top of the bookshelf closest to the door, sat a tiny dragon.
The size of a large barn cat, its scales were mostly brown but had streaks and blotches of red and orange, like the few deciduous trees that still held their leaves in autumn. Its leathery wings were folded against its back and its front claws grasped the edge of the bookshelf. Its long tail, complete with a scorpion-like stinger, flicked back and forth, its sinuous neck held high as it surveyed the library.
Some of the Squires let slip breaths of wonder, and the little dragon seemed to preen at the attention, holding its head a little higher and purring even louder. The Paladin, however, stepped around his desk and commanded, "Stay back, Squires," before he started chanting. The little dragon tilted its head at the Paladin, as curious as the rest of them. A moment later, the knight's spell washed over them to fill the room, sending a shiver down Shon's spine and making more than one of the other Squires shudder.
The little dragon let out another string of chittering and hissed down at the Paladin, whose eyes went wide as he announced in a breath, "It's real."
"How did it get in?" a senior Squire asked. Shon started to stand but then fell back again as images flooded into his mind. He watched a window opening from outside the fortress, and saw himself lean out. Then the image shifted, and he saw himself digging under his bed for a new uniform and towel as the him that was watching slipped out the door. It shifted again, and he saw himself in the shower, mist billowing off his shoulders before he dug through the piles of clothes left on the bench. It shifted again, and he darted into the library and behind the bookshelf, watching as he, Shon, walked in and sat down at the little table.
Shon blinked and shook his head furiously to try and clear it. All the pictures had flooded in so fast that no one even had time to answer the question or pose their own, "I let it in..." Shon whispered, then looked at the Paladin, explaining quickly, "I didn't mean to. I left my window open to air out my room and..."
"It's okay, Squire," the Paladin was actually smiling, and the little dragon whistled, "They're goodly creatures, though elusive. I've never seen a live one." the dragon leaned forward on the bookshelf, crouching down on its front claws and wiggling its hindquarters before it leaped into the air, opening its wings to spread as wide as it was long. It glided a lap around the library then hovered in front of the Paladin, chittering again and flapping hard enough to blow the man's short hair back before flying right towards the group of Squires around Shon.
It brushed Baradin's head with its claws, the boy ducking as it swooped down to land on Shon's table. The dragon looked from the open books to Shon, then, before Shon could pull back, climbed up his arm and to his shoulder, purring hard enough to vibrate Shon too. It weighed considerably less than it looked like it should, though its claws were sharp enough to pierce through his clothes as it climbed. It brought its face right up to Shon's eye, and though he tried to pull away, it followed him with its long neck, rubbing its cheek along his face. The scales were smooth and lacked temperature, like being touched by a gloved hand. It nuzzled his cheek again, then down his neck and into his shirt.
Surprised, Shon tried to throw the dragon off, but it just dug its claws into his sleeves, chittering angrily then clawing its way around to his back before lifting itself up to drape over his head. "What..." Shon started, but the Paladin cut him off with a laugh.
"I think that answers your friends' questions, Squire."
Shon was too confused to even arch an eyebrow at the man, but Rerves apparently understood what he'd meant because he said, "But I thought only animals could be familiars, like cats and crows and stuff..."
The Paladin nodded but then shrugged, "That's usually the case, but sometimes, rarely, there will be a Sorcerer who gets something a bit more special, like a winged serpent, fairy dragon, or in this case," he nodded at Shon, "A pseudodragon."
The pseudodragon purred, vibrating Shon's head. The Squires all gaped slack-jawed in awe at it, and Shon reached up slowly. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do, pet it? Push it off? But before he'd even touched it, it lifted its head, stretching its long neck out and nuzzling into his hand, obviously not caring that his skin was colder now than it had ever been.
"Damn..." Zihler muttered in obvious disappointment, "I was really hoping it would be a toad so I would have something to make fun of..."
The little dragon's answering twitter almost sounded like a laugh.
***
She groaned, rolling over and nuzzling deeper into Her pillow. Except it didn’t smell like Her pillow. Her eyes flew open, and She sat up. Then fell back down. That was stupid. Ran and Brom had probably taken more blood than usual again… except She couldn’t remember them taking Her for samples. Not for weeks and weeks…
“It’s alright, you’re safe here,” the kindly voice of a man spoke from Her right, and She sat up again, more slowly this time. A stranger in white robes with a sword embroidered on the chest reached out to help Her up, but after touching Her back he pulled sharply away.
She was too confused to apologize for burning him. “Where?” She asked, looking around the room. Like the stranger, it was covered in white. White blankets, white rug, and white curtains hanging to either side of an open window. A window that looked out onto a blue sky. She gasped, scrambling from the bed and nearly tripping over Her white gown. Of course it was white. How in all the hells did they keep it all clean?
She shook Her head and rushed for the window. The man behind Her gasped, his chair scraping loudly as he stood to follow. She pressed Her hands on the cold glass, staring up into the sky, “I’m on an upper floor!?” She grinned excitedly over Her shoulder as the stranger stared at Her, mouth hanging open.
Turning back to the window, She used Her arm to wipe the fog from Her heat off the glass, letting Her gaze trail down. She didn’t see the treetops She expected. Not close anyway. Instead, the forest was beyond a wide clear field, which in turn was beyond a tall stone wall with people dressed in silver walking along its top. She stood on Her toes to look down through the window. Between the wall and Her was a courtyard full of more people swinging things that glinted in the sun.
This wasn’t the tower. None of those people wore robes except the nice stranger. She spun to him, “My treasures, where are they? Brom? Ran? Where…” She saw a flash of red, heard a pained bark, and smelled iron. She fell to Her knees, grasping Her chest and breathing hard, remembering bits and pieces. He killed them. He killed all of them. Then what? She couldn’t remember...
“You are in a training facility of the Temple of Hengist, Hamerfoss, in Clearhelm.” a new voice, deeper, less kind though not cruel, spoke from the doorway. Lifting Her head, She saw the new man wearing a crisp, white, uniform, with a sword hanging comfortably from his belt. Hengist… so that explained all the white.
The kind man in robes had rushed to Her but dared not touch Her. Wise. With Her head spinning so fast, there was no way She was controlling Her heat properly. “How long has she been awake?” the new man asked the kind one.
“She just woke up, Major General,”
“He killed them…” She whispered, squeezing Her eyes shut, pushing back the rage and sorrow, trying to fill in Her memory. What happened next?
“It will be alright. You're safe here,” the kind man said again.
She pulled Her own hair, lacing Her fingers into the golden strands and squeezing. What had happened? She had run down the hall, but how had She gotten out of Her room? There were strangers in Her tower. These men? She glared up at the brown-haired man who looked down at Her, his hands behind his back.
“Who are you? What did you do to the Mages?” She could feel the hair rise on the back of Her neck and a familiar tingling where the collar should be.
The Major General remained calm before Her building fury, saying only, “Calm down.” It was a command backed by magic. She felt the power flow over Her and try to settle on Her mind. She could almost sense the peace it promised but shook Her head, clearing it of the spell.
He could've used his magic to hurt Her. Perhaps not with the collar as the Archmages did, but in other ways. And yet, he hadn’t moved from his spot, his hands still behind his back. She looked again at the sword of Hengist at his side. She'd read all about the gods. Hengist was good and noble, all about self-sacrifice and protecting the weak… A fool, the Mages had said. And yet his Temple ruled this province. The Mages of Her tower would never work with the Temple of Hengist. Or any kingdom order…
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She didn’t need his help to calm down, not when She had something to focus on. She shoved Her grief to the back of Her mind. “How did I get here?” another image flashed in Her mind, fire all around, a white path, blue eyes.
The Paladin didn’t answer right away; instead, he motioned for the robed man - a Cleric? - to bring him a chair. She tilted Her head curiously at him, but he only sat down with a weary sigh, then gestured towards the bed, “Please, have a seat.”
She stood, returning to the bed and eyeing the door over his shoulder. He hadn’t locked it. “We saw smoke from the woods and found you in a burning tower.” the blood drained from Her face, “We have recovered several bodies from around the structure, but there were no other survivors.” he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and fixing Her with a piercing stare, “What happened? What was going on in that tower?”
She brought Her feet onto the bed and hugged Her legs tight, “I don’t… I can’t remember…” a fire, the tower burning… But it was made of stone. Her fire couldn’t burn that hot… Could it?
“Sir Selibra,” the kindly Cleric sounded stern, crossing his arms and glaring down at the Paladin, “She has just woken up from what was obviously a terrible ordeal. Show some compassion.”
The Paladin, Selibra, actually looked ashamed, leaning back in his chair and clearing his throat, “I apologize, miss…” he drew out the last word, looking at Her expectantly. She tilted Her head. “What is your name?” he asked more clearly. She tilted Her head the other way. Were they going to play that game here too?
The Cleric hummed then said, “Please forgive him, miss, we are all very troubled by the events and deaths at the tower. The Major General merely got ahead of himself. If you could tell us your name, then we can let you rest and…”
“I don’t have a name.”
The two men blinked dumbly at Her, and She rolled Her eyes, “I knnnooowww,” She let Her legs fall back down, so She was sitting properly again, “But I don’t know it yet. As soon as I do, I'll tell you.” She assured them. The men exchanged looks as She glanced again out the window. Maybe She should've just told them what Brom and Ran called Her… But those weren’t names. They were descriptors. No better than ‘Firewyrm.’
If these Temple men were to be believed, everything was gone. She had no room, no books, no clothes, no treasures, and no name. What did She have? She pulled Her hair over Her shoulder and stared out the window as She stroked it. She had Her hair. They hadn’t cut it in months. She had Her body. She straightened Her posture, holding Her head high. And She had Her power—the fire crackling deep inside Her soul. The Mages had taken the first two. The third had destroyed them.
“You should rest,” Selibra stood, and Her eyes snapped back to him, “You can send for me when you feel ready to talk. Until then, focus on recovering your strength and your memories.”
He made it all the way to the door, even swung it open before She called out, “What are you going to do to me?”
Selibra turned back, his eyebrows raised in surprise. The Cleric placed a hand on Her shoulder, slowly and carefully, gauging how much of Her heat he could handle. She turned to him, and he let Her go. He'd held on longer than expected. “We will keep you safe, child.” the Cleric assured Her.
The Paladin grew stiff for a moment, then brought his right fist up to his chest, “By the sword of Hengist’s honor, we will safeguard your life and freedom,” Freedom? “Whatever injustices you endured there, you will find justice in the laws of Clearhelm.” She didn’t know what to say, and so, after an awkward moment of silence, Selibra turned for the door again and left.
She didn’t lay down. Instead, She walked back to the window. The view seemed to stretch on forever from so high up, higher than She'd ever remembered being before. Even when She used to climb the trees around Her tower.
Selibra hadn’t locked the door, but the Cleric bustled around behind Her, and the wall below Her clanked with armored knights. What was freedom anyway?
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

--- Table of Contents ---
Autumn 4986, 16 Aoimoth
Shon slid down the side of a tree to the ground and watched the tower burn. Ivelm did a circle of it, dousing the surrounding trees with his water wand, while Nangran inspected the few bodies he could reach without burning himself. At one point, he tried to pull a corpse further from the fire only to have its arms snap off at the shoulder, meat pulling away from the bone like a well-cooked turkey.
Somewhere in the back of Shon’s mind, he knew he should be sickened by the sights and smells. When they first stepped through the portal, he‘d had to hold back retching from the scent of smoking hair and cooking flesh. Now he could hardly muster the energy to keep breathing. He took long and slow, but shallow breaths. As if he were about to fall asleep despite the horror before him.
So much death. Shon had never seen a dead person before. Though he wasn’t sure if these still counted, so blackened they could almost be mistaken for macabre statues... if it wasn’t for the smell.
“What was going on here ‘Elm?” Nangran demanded of Ivelm as the mage rounded the other side of the tower and rejoined them.
Ivelm sheathed his water wand, pulling forth the diamond-studded wand again. He didn’t answer.
Nangran growled, grabbing Ivelm's arm as it rose to point the wand toward the forest. The Archmage shook him off and spun, his robes fluttering around him as he gestured angrily at the fire, “I don’t know, Flintchest. This tower was supposed to be empty, abandoned. I’m the only Mage with authorization to set up in this area.” he pointed his wand over Shon’s shoulder and spat something indistinct. A rush of cool air flowed from behind accompanied by shouting and armor clanking. Knights running.
Shon rolled limply to the side, planning to stand but finding his arms shaking as he tried to push himself up. Boots stomped around him as Paladins flooded from the magical gate into the clearing. Shon managed to lift his head, though even his neck seemed to be rebelling against his attempts at holding himself up. His vision swimming, he saw Major General Selibra and Master Daunas step through the portal, their mouths agape.
Shon’s arms gave out from under him, and he fell to the side, hearing as if from a great distance, “Squire! Shon… Shon… Nangran, what happened?” From the ground he could see the girl, now wrapped in Nangran’s cloak, leaning against the side of his tree. When had they brought her there? Why hadn’t he noticed?
“He’s fine.” Ivelm’s voice, Shon couldn’t see anymore, so he closed his eyes, “He’ll wake up in a few days. Hell of a Sorcerer that one…” No… no, no, no... he wasn’t a Sorcerer. He was a Squire. He would be a Paladin… For a brief moment, a flicker of an image played in Shon's mind. He saw himself lying on the muddy ground, Master Daunas knelt by his head, and Ivelm spit off to the side. Then, only the sweet relief of darkness as he passed out.
***
“Any other survivors?” Sir Selibra’s soft voice drifted through the darkness.
“Only the girl,” Daunas whispered from nearby.
“I doubt she’s human,” Ivelm spoke loudly, and Shon flinched, his head pounding as the mage didn’t bother to keep his voice low, “No fire-resist spell should have lasted in that heat. Even fire Sorcerers can't survive melting stone.”
“She looks human.” a fourth voice, the Hamerfoss Cleric. Shon couldn’t move. The light filtering through his eyelids sent stabs of pain into his head, making it hard for him to concentrate. He tried to lift a hand to cover his eyes, but the limb wouldn’t obey his call.
“And a table looks like it’s made of wood but does that mean it’s still a tree?” Ivelm snorted, and something wet splattered on stone.
“Archmage, please, this is an infirmary…” the Cleric said, shocked.
The mage didn’t apologize and continued to speak at full volume, “Whatever was going on out there it wasn’t sanctioned by the Guild, and that girl has most certainly been subject to experimentation. Those scales? That hair?” he spat again.
“Archmage, please…”
“Let’s take this outside, shall we?” Sir Selibra said, and three pairs of boots thumped away, a door swinging open. Sir Selibra’s voice retreated as they left the infirmary still in conversation, “We have sent for the Temple and Guild. They should be here shortly.” The boots left, and the door closed again.
Only one pair of feet remained, shuffling around the room before the rustling of curtains being pulled closed accompanied the sweet relief of darkness. Shon steeled himself and forced his eyes to open just a crack. More pain. He closed them again, his ears ringing. With a slow breath, he tried again, blinking in the weak light filtered through the cloth covering infirmary window.
A groan slipped from his lips, and the Cleric rushed to his bedside, “Don’t try to sit up, Squire. You’re drained, but unhurt,” which seemed a direct contradiction to Shon’s pounding head. The Cleric continued, “After a bit of sleep, you should be fine…” Shon let his head fall to the side, wanting to look away from the window, and saw a second bed, where a girl with golden hair slept.
“It happens to Paladins too, you know. You have to be careful not to expend too much of your own energy when casting magic…” the Cleric continued to talk, busying himself by checking Shon's vitals, “It’s inevitable, but with practice, you can mitigate some of the effects…” She was the only survivor, and she had been experimented on… “After you take your Oath, you'll receive training in divine magic…” even if she was okay physically, would she be alright mentally?... “For now, just rest. You did well. It’s thanks to you the girl got out alive…”
Shon closed his eyes. Thanks to him? Nangran had seen the smoke, Ivelm had taken them there. He… he hadn’t known what to do, had frozen at the sights and smells. He'd formed a path of ice, but the girl hadn’t been burning… Her feet had melted his ice... Shon let himself drift back to sleep. He wasn’t a hero. Not yet.
***
The tower was supposed to be empty. General Rasnah and the Mages Guild had combed through their records finding that the building had been abandoned over fifty years ago; when the old alchemist living there passed away. Archmage Ivelm reported that he'd surveyed the tower twenty years previous, before setting up his lab miles further south.
“Having a tower like that is practically begging for wanna-be-apprentices to come interrupt you. Looking for a teacher and free room.” he'd explained, with obvious disgust at the idea, even spitting on the floor of Sir Selibra’s office.
Sir Rasnah personally led the Temple Paladins and Guild Mages through a gate from Smilnda to Hamerfoss and from there to the ruins of the mysterious tower. Mages and Paladins crawled together over the still-smoking remains, now a mear hill. Trying to break apart the stones that had melted together and find anything that could explain what had happened here. Bodies covered in white cloth lay in lines along the edge of the forest, ten in total, though how many had been trapped in the tower was still unknown.
The Clerics of Lune would identify the bodies, though she wished they could do more than just give names. It would take months, possibly years, to scour the records to determine who these poor souls had been in life. And more years besides to track their movements through the meticulous paperwork kept by the kingdom.
She could practically hear Veon-Zih snickering at her, ‘Silly Ras, you gave up the battlefield of blood and stone for one of words and paper…’ she shook her head, banishing thoughts of the Monk. This work would be just as important. How else would those fighting the physical battles find their enemies without information and resources? And yet… She rested her hand on her sword with a sigh, “Some retirement…”
“Sir Rasnah,” a female Mage with dark hair and tan skin approached from the tower, “We found the basement…” she looked over her slumped shoulders back at the pile of melted rock.
“Not as promising a find as we'd hoped?” Rasnah asked, arching her steely eyebrow at the Mage. What had her name been? Vevi…
To her credit, the woman straightened her shoulders and answered clearly, “Oftentimes, we learn as much from a rejected hypothesis as a failed-to-be-rejected hypothesis.” As Rasnah tried to wrap her mind around what in the hells that meant, the Mage continued, “We had hoped that the basement level would be relatively unscathed as heat should rise to destroy the upper levels and possibly spare the lower…”
Those were words the Paladin understood at least, but they implied bad news, “And that wasn’t the case?”
The Mage sighed, “It was. The fire behaved as fire always does, barring external influence,”
“Mage Vevi, I admire your Guild's desire for specificity, but please, get to the point.”
Vevi blinked then shook herself, saying, “Evidence suggests that the fire started in the basement and that the heat there was far greater than we assumed.” Rasnah arched an eyebrow at the woman again and the Mage threw her hands into the air, “It looks more like a cavern carved by pure magma. Nothing but melted stones remain in the form of caves we can only guess were originally rooms.”
“Damn,” Rasnah gripped her sword and glared past the Mage toward the tower, “So we have no way of knowing what they were doing.” The girl still hadn’t woken up. What were the chances that she had any information of value? Archmage Ivelm was convinced that she'd been the subject of magical experimentation. Would those who had abused her also give her information?
“We have one way,” Vevi interrupted Rasnah’s worries, and the Paladin focused on her again. The Mage turned away, motioning to some of her fellows standing near the bodies. An old man with a bent back and shuffling gait split from the group and approached slowly. Rasnah had to resist the urge to walk to him just to speed up the process.
“Sir Rasnah, this is Archmage Meshed, our divination master.” Vevi introduced the old man while he was still a few steps away, “There is a chance we will be able to obtain some information from the tower remains. Though I’m afraid it might not be as clear and concise as you wish. Divination often creates more questions than answers.”
“I am well acquainted with the frustrations of interpreting symbols and signs…” Rasnah led, unsure of the value in this new idea. Arcane magic didn't get its power from a higher intelligence or any god, it utilized the natural magic and energies running through the world and every object in it, manipulating them with precise words and symbols directed by human will. It was all well over her head.
Meshed’s laugh turned into a dry cough. He cleared his throat, “I think you will find, Mage Vevi, Sir Paladin, that the information I will glean from this place to be far more clear and concise than you are accustomed to. It simply won’t be as complete as you wish.”
With a groan and many popping joints, he sat down on the ground, fishing through his robes and pulling out a small bag. From it, he withdrew a massive tome and a silk cloth that Vevi quickly helped spread on the ground before him. Next came a censor and many jars of herbs and incense, which, after checking his book, he carefully measured before pouring into the censor.
He waved a hand towards the tower without looking up from his work, “Stones, please, Vevi. Choose wisely, I don’t want to do this all day…” Despite being a senior Mage, well on her way to Archmage, Vevi rushed off towards the tower herself and eventually returned with two fist-sized stones.
“One from the upper floors and one from the basement, Meshed,” she explained, handing them to the Divination Master. Meshed pulled a set of brass scales from his small pouch, measuring the stones and muttering to himself as he adjusted the volume of herbs in the censor.
He placed the first stone with the herbs, and his eyes glazed over, “A light if you will.” Vevi performed some complicated motion with her hands, flicking her fingers forward at the end with a muttered word. A spark of flame appeared over the censor, lowering onto the herbs and setting them alight. Smoke billowed in a gray noxious cloud, and Rasnah covered her nose as Meshed began to chant.
He ran his hand through the smoke, which wrapped around his fingers, and continued skyward. “No divine magic was cast here…” he mumbled, moving his hand again. The smoke shifted above his fingers as they passed, creating images of people in robes leaning over books, “Arcane magic…” Obviously. Still, for some reason, his brow furrowed. He passed his hand through again, and the smoke turned nearly black. Before Rasnah could make out any shapes Meshed pulled his hand away and shook it violently before rubbing it on his robe, “Warlocks, Sir Paladin.”
“Damn.” Rasnah smothered more colorful curses and managed a half step closer, “What were they doing, Archmage?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he chanted a new spell, and his hand glowed with a soft red light. Reaching into the censor, he plucked out the stone and replaced it with the second. The smoke again turned gray and rose lazily into the air. Once again, he passed his hand through the flowing tendrils, and once again, they turned black. He shook his head, “Obviously… damnation… what to ask… what to ask…” He seemed to settle on something, muttering, “The fire, tell me about the fire…” he ran his fingers through the smoke. Flames leaped from the censor, the smoke turning red and billowing out before them.
Rasnah stepped back as great smoke wings spread wide, illuminated from below by flames. A horned head atop a sinuous neck stretched for the heavens and Meshed scrambled to his feet. Vevi kicked the censor over, spreading burning debris across the silk to smolder, releasing tiny lines of, blessedly, normal smoke.
“What was that? A wyvern?” Rasnah asked, her heart in her throat.
Meshed coughed his dry cough and shook his head. Vevi stared at the upturned censor with wide eyes. “Much worse, Sir Rasnah,” the Mage whispered, “A dragon.”
“It was dragon fire that destroyed this tower,” Meshed confirmed.
***
--- Part 2/2 ---
--- Table of Contents ---
Thanks for making it this far, you are the real MVP

This is part of my little series about the adventures of Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick. If you'd like to read previous parts, they're linked below, along with brief summaries in case you prefer to just jump right into the new part:
Part One: Alien learns what "sleep" is and how humans prefer to do it in a comfy bed with blankets and pillows. And they find it utterly adorable.
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick are sent on a survey mission together. Things go south, Aldrick makes sure they're safe, and then Vr'ocria learns what human sleep is and how vulnerable humans are when they sleep. Vr'ocria's people don't sleep, but enter stasis, a form of rest in which they typically stand, and they are still slightly aware of their surroundings. Vr'ocria finds human sleep utterly adorable, and also decides she will protect Aldrick while he sleeps. And she also develops a massive crush on him. (Her scales turning purple is her version of blushing)
Part Two: An alien + human adventure with such shenanigans as poison drinking, befriending dangerous wildlife, and fighting a space pirate. Oh, and they have a huge crush on each other.
Part Three: When a cold-blooded alien has to cuddle a warm-blooded human for warmth
Part Four: A human leaves a hickey on his alien lover. Her nestmate doesn't understand what a hickey is, and thinks the human injured her
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick end up assigned to be partners. Vr'ocria is a witness to both human shenanigans as well as human durability, but she also begins to learn about the limits of the human body--they are not invincible.
She and Aldrick begin to fall in love, and they finally confess their feelings for one another when Vr'ocria admits to accidentally forming a mate bond with him. Vr'ocria's nestmate, Galek, is not very happy about her being involved with a human, but begrudgingly respects her decision.
Part Five: Space pirates make the grave mistake of attacking a human's loved one. They very quickly learn what happens when a human is angry and full of adrenaline
Pirates come for Vr'ocria in revenge for her killing one of their own. Aldrick goes beast mode. 'Nuff said.
Now for the new story!
(Some of y'all are already picking up what I put down taps nose...)
"'Bumps and bruises' he says," Vr'ocria muttered. "Bumps and bruises!" She crossed her arms. "Bumps and bruises don't bleed, Aldrick."
They were back on the ship, in the med bay. Aldrick was lying on an examination table, naked except for a blanket pulled up to his hips. He was sedated, so he couldn't hear her anyway, but that didn't stop her from grouching.
As soon as they'd boarded the shop, Aldrick began fading fast. He was suddenly slumped and stumbling, eyes tight with pain, and they had to be beamed directly to the med bay. He'd been covered in so much pirate blood that the blood of his own injuries had gotten lost in the mess. Once the med team got to work cleaning him up, all of the cuts, claw marks, and stab wounds began appearing, and as soon as the orderlies let her, Vr'ocria was rushing back to his side. By now, most of his wounds had been closed up, but she still vividly remembered the bloody, black and blue skin that emerged when they peeled his shirt off.
Dr. Fen continued fussing over Aldrick. She was Lymeran, a species similar to humans, made distinctive by their flat noses and bone ridges that curved around the outer corner of their eyes. She swept her dark ponytail over her shoulder as she reached for a new tool. "He also has several hairline fractures in both arms and three cracked ribs," she reported briskly. "Honestly, these humans are going to be the death of me."
Vr'ocria's spine tightened with worry, her scales flushing red. "How could he go so long without collapsing?" She asked.
"Adrenaline," Dr. Fen explained. "It's a hormone that releases into a human's bloodstream during times of great stress. It makes them faster, stronger, more alert." She placed a small and round boneknit device on one of Aldrick's affected ribs. "But it also makes them immune to pain for a short time. That helps them keep going in a life or death situation, but pain exists for a reason. It alerts the body to injuries, it tells you when something is wrong and where. When you don't feel pain, you don't know when you're hurt, and you don't know when to stop if you're pushing yourself beyond your body's physical limits."
"Moons above," Vr'ocria murmured. She moved closer to the table, reaching out to stroke Aldrick's hair. Under sedation, his face was relaxed and free of lines, and she tried to take some comfort in that. "Will he be alright?"
"Oh, he'll be fine," Dr. Fen chuckled. "I'm good at my job, and humans are sturdy. He just needs to follow my orders for bed rest, so don't let him be an idiot and go running off."
That drew a smile from Vr'ocria.
As Dr. Fen continued bustling around Aldrick, she shot a sideways glance at Vr'ocria, a mischievous look in her eye. "So it's true that you guys are like…a thing? I noticed your scales have pink tips."
Vr'ocria blushed purple.
"Ha!" Dr. Fen smirked. "I knew it!"
"Shut up," Vr'ocria muttered.
"What? It's cute! And totally obvious. The whole ship knows at this point."
"The whole ship?"
Dr. Fen laughed. "Oh come on, it's not like you two are any good at hiding it. Anyone who knows anything about Ethyrian physiology knows what pink scales mean–full pink means you're experiencing strong feelings of love, right? And even when you're not particularly emotional, your neutral green with pink tips indicates you're within proximity of your mate. And the way he looks at you–"
Vr'ocria blushed harder and covered her face. "Oh planets, why are so many people invested in our relationship?"
Dr. Fen shrugged. "Well, historically, Ethyrians don't tend to mate outside of their species. It's not every day you see one mate another species, much less a human."
Vr'ocria couldn't help smiling. "Well, it's his fault for being so cute."
"He sure is," Dr. Fen winked.
"Hey," Vr'ocria jabbed a finger at her, "professionalism."
Dr. Fen raised her hands. "I'm very professional! I also have eyes and can acknowledge that you're a lucky girl, and I hope the two of you will be very happy together."
Vr'ocria kept stroking Aldrick's hair, her scales easing into a strong pink. "Me too."
—
By the next day, Dr. Fen had skillfully mended both skin and bone. She discharged Aldrick and let him return to his living quarters, with the caveat that he rest for at least a week.
He and Vr'ocria walked through the corridors arm in arm as she escorted him back to his quarters. They weren't even pretending anymore, and they drew plenty of stares and whispers as they passed by crew members milling about. There weren't many humans onboard to begin with, so Aldrick already stood out. Walking arm in arm with an Ethyrian must've looked even more bizarre.
Despite all the attention, Vr'ocria decided that she wouldn't be embarrassed anymore. She pulled Aldrick a little closer and held her head high as they passed a group of giggling ensigns. My human. My mate.
Aldrick's quarters, like hers, were small but comfortable. The door opened into the living space. Aldrick had decorated it with various Earth flowers and plants that sat in pots scattered about the room, some hanging from the ceiling. The lush greens, pinks, reds, purples, and yellows, made the place feel warm and inviting. The back wall was almost entirely windows with a plush couch pushed underneath them, so that one could recline and watch the stars fly by.
Vr'ocria ushered Aldrick straight into the bedroom, which was similar to the living area, just smaller and furnished with a bed, a nightstand, and a small armchair. "You're going to bed," she ordered.
"Aw, come on," he whined as she shoved him onto the mattress, bending down to pull his boots off.
"Doctor's orders." She put his boots aside and stood, placing her hands on his shoulders to push him down onto the pillow.
"I'm not tired!"
"Liar." She could see the bags under his eyes that she'd come to learn was a sign of exhaustion, and despite his protests, he didn't try to fight her off as she settled him in and pulled the blankets up to his chin.
He couldn't help chuckling. "I haven't been tucked into bed since I was a kid."
She sat on the edge of the bed with a smile. "Well, that's what I'm here for."
He rolled over onto his side and took her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles. She squeezed back, and then made to stand to turn the lights off.
"Wait."
She turned back. Aldrick had pushed himself back into a sitting position. "Something's been bothering me."
She frowned. "What is it?"
"How did the Norvidians know you were the one who killed that guy?"
She blinked. "What?"
Aldrick twisted the sheets in his hands. "How did they know it was you? They knew exactly who you were and where to find you. The only people who knew what happened on Theta-7 is our superiors and people in our department."
Vr'ocria sank back down onto the bed. "What are you getting at?" She thought she knew the answer, but she didn't want to say it out loud.
Aldrick met her eye. "What if someone sold you out?"
Her spine grew tight, yellow rippling across her scales. "...No," she whispered. "No, that can't…who would do that?"
He chewed his lip. "I don't know. I hope I'm wrong, I really do…but…" he blew out a frustrated sigh. "I could blame a leak for them knowing you were the one to kill the guy. Someone could've carelessly mentioned something somewhere, I don't know. But there's no way they would've known exactly where to find you unless they were told. That was a brand new mission, no one knew where we were except for Command."
Vr'ocria felt sick. She didn't want to think he was right…but it made too much sense. "What do we do?"
"I don't know," he said with a pained look. "There's no telling who it could be, and if it's one of our superiors, we'd only tip them off if we approached them with this."
It was a conundrum Vr'ocria could hardly believe was real. Sure, she and Aldrick had some basic combat training, but soldiers they were not. They were survey agents, their job was to explore and study, not fight. And she certainly wasn't supposed be the subject of conspiracies and espionage or whatever was happening here.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Let's worry about this later. You need to get some rest."
Aldrick reluctantly laid back down, but blushed when she bent down to press a kiss to his cheek. It was the first time she'd kissed him since Gamma-5. "I could get used to that," he murmured as he snuggled into the pillow.
"You should," Vr'ocria giggled as she rose to her feet. "I'm not going to stop anytime soon." She switched the lights off, then returned to settle into the chair next to the bed, pulling her file pad out of her pocket. The screen's soft glow was the only light in the room. "Now, go to sleep."
"Yes ma'am."
—
Vr'ocria worked quietly on her file pad for the next few hours. Data entry was tedious, but somehow, she found a comfort in doing it while listening to Aldrick's slow, deep breaths.
So she was quick to notice when his breathing pattern changed.
Aldrick groaned and shifted in his sleep, rolling over onto his back. His breath began to quicken, and Vr'ocria lowered her pad to look over at him. By the low light of the pad's screen, she could only see the silhouette of his chest rising and falling, faster and faster.
"Aldrick?" She whispered.
"Nuuh," he moaned, beginning to thrash.
Alarmed, Vr'ocria stood and flicked his nightstand lamp on, dropping the pad on the table. "Aldrick," she said a bit louder.
His eyes were still squeezed shut. He was tossing and turning now, gasping through parted lips. He cried out again, and Vr'ocria felt her blood rushing fast and hard through her veins, her scales rippling between red and yellow. What was going on? Was he still asleep? She'd never seen him like this before, and it frightened her.
Tears were beginning to seep out from under his tightly shut eyelids. "No…no…" His voice rose in volume as he clutched and clawed at the sheets. "Vr'ocria!"
Whatever held Vr'ocria frozen to the spot snapped the second she heard him scream her name like that. She bent forward and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Aldrick!" She cried desperately. "Wake up!"
"VR'OCRIA!"
"ALDRICK!"
With a strangled cry, his eyes snapped open. His pupils were blown wide and the whites were bloodshot as he stared at her in shock, still gasping for breath, his hands grasping her arms in an iron grip.
She took his face in her hands. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
He only continued to stare at her, the fog slowly clearing from his eyes.
"Say something!" Vr'ocria demanded, resisting the urge to shake him again. "You're scaring me, what's the matter? Does something hurt?"
Aldrick surged up, throwing his arms around her neck and pulling her down to him. She fell forward with an "oof" as her weight landed on top of him. "Hey," she protested with the side of her face pressed into the pillow, "I can't be laying on you, your ribs–"
"You're alive," he rasped into her ear.
She stopped struggling to get up. "What?"
He was shaking, and it took her a moment to realize he was crying. "You were dead, they killed you–I watched them–God, I watched you die–you weren't moving, your eyes–"
He was babbling almost incoherently, and Vr'ocria was terrified.
She finally managed to push herself off of him, and tugged him up into a sitting position. She pulled him forward into a hug, taking care not to squeeze his ribs. "Calm down," she tried to soothe as he clutched her tight, still shaking. "Just breathe." She didn't know if she was even helping, but she didn't know what else to do.
But it seemed to work. After a few minutes, Aldrick managed to slow his breathing down to a more reasonable pace, and she felt his muscles sag in her arms as the tension drained away.
"I'm sorry," he finally croaked. He pulled away and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he struggled to find words. "I'm sorry for making a scene," he finished at last.
Vr'ocria placed one hand on his hip and the other on his knee. "What happened?"
Aldrick wrapped his arms around his middle. "I had a nightmare."
She furrowed her brow. "A night…mare?"
"A nightmare is a bad dream," he explained.
"...I don't understand."
"Sorry, I guess you wouldn't, since you don't sleep…uh…fuck, how do I explain this…" he ran a hand through his tangled hair. "When humans are asleep, even though we're unconscious, our subconscious brain is still pretty active. One thing it does is create dreams. During dreams you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste things that aren't there. Sometimes dreams are pure nonsense, just a mess of sounds and images. Sometimes you might have good dreams–maybe you fly, or go on crazy adventures. But sometimes, you have bad dreams. We call them nightmares."
Nightmare. What an awful word. It sent shivers over Vr'ocria's scales. "So just now, you…"
"I had a bad dream. A very, very bad dream." He dug his fingers into his temples. "When you're dreaming, in most cases, you don't know that you're dreaming. It feels completely real. And bad dreams are usually brought on by stress or fears you have. And my fear–" he broke off.
She squeezed his knee. "It's me dying?" She supplied quietly.
He shut his eyes as if he was in pain. "When I saw what those fucking pirates did to you–I've never felt so much fear in my life. I was so scared they would kill you before I got there, or that I would fail to save you, or–" he covered his face with his hands. "And I dreamed that I did fail. I watched him stab you. I watched you bleed. I held you and you were–your eyes were so blank–"
Vr'ocria didn't want to hear anymore. She yanked him forward, hugging as tight as she dared. "It wasn't real," she whispered. "I'm here. I'm right here."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." His arms still trembled and his voice was thick against her neck.
"Stop apologizing," she said firmly. "You have nothing to apologize for. None of it is your fault, not the attack, not the dream, none of it."
She felt him take a shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you, my love."
Her spine tingled.
"Come on, lay back down. I'll lay with you." She pulled back the covers and crawled underneath next to him. They settled down into a familiar position–him clutching her to his check, her arms around his waist, their legs tangled together. His heart was still pounding, but she listened as it gradually quieted to a gentler pace. Soon enough, Aldrick was asleep. This time, he slept peacefully through the night.
Nightmares can fuck up your whole night, man. I've had nightmares that were so vivid they stuck with me for days afterwards. Shit sucks, and I wish I had someone to cuddle with afterwards lolol
Thank you for reading! Until next time ;)

My sister and I were always close. There was only a year difference in age, her being the eldest one. We liked similar things, had similar interests, and protected one another. We went through things together, like getting over a first boyfriend or realizing how bad period cramps actually are. I was grateful for this, to have someone that understood me so deeply. Of course there were fights too. A lot of “you stole my shirt” and “is that my lip gloss?” But what sisterly relationship doesn’t have a bit of bickering scattered in the mix.
But then… the bickering got worse.
I don't mean to complain, especially on the internet to strangers I’ll likely never know. But lately, my sister has been… extra hostile. It started simple enough. I’d bump into her in the narrow hallway that separated our two bedrooms. She’d groan like normal, but there was a sharpness to the “fake” insults she would sling at me. “Jesus, take up enough space?” There was an underlying venom in her tone. I was used to our average bickering, but this put a crater in my chest. “Sorry, sheesh.” I brushed her off and kept moving.
The day after, I asked her if I could borrow something from her closet. “You’re so fucking annoying, Alice.” She didn’t say it with a tone nor did she yell at me. She said it like it was simply a fact. Her words were flat and she didn’t even spare a glance at me. “What the hell?” I retorted, but she just ignored me.
I started trying to avoid her after that. I figured, maybe she was going through something that she wasn’t ready to talk about yet. It happens, right? Whatever it was, I didn’t want to be in the middle of it. More and more, my sister started shutting everyone out. She would go to school, come home, lock herself in her room and… that was it. We barely saw her around the house. Later in the night I would hear her door unlatch and the sound of her feet scurrying down the hallway. Probably to the kitchen, since she never came down for dinner.
When mom would ask what was wrong, she would shrug her off and call her annoying. Always buried in her cell phone, always with an attitude. I started taking notice of her appearance. Now my sister is pretty, I won't deny it. I was always jealous of how perfectly her hair laid in comparison to my cow-licked part. Her teeth were straight and shiny, and she was a swimmer so it was rare for her to be out of shape. But she started to look… sickly? Her face was always pale, with big black bags under her eyes. Her lips were cracked and dry, even her fingernails started to look brittle. She was chewing on them and ripping the skin along the side of her nail bed. She always looked nervous and her eyes would dart around the room like she was constantly looking for a threat.
Months went by, I started my sophomore year and she was a junior. She wouldn’t acknowledge me in the hall, and even her friends started to avoid her. They said she was gloomy and weird. A drastic change in comparison to the previous summer. She was vibrant, full of life, and usually lit up any room she walked into.
But now she was miserable to be around. She would hurl insults at us, and berate us every chance she got. She would walk by me and pinch me hard enough to bruise the skin. When I'd yell at her for it, I was simply met with a wide grin and a shrill laugh. She made me nervous, like I had to be on guard any time she was around.
This wasn't Gemma. Something was wrong. As her sister, I needed to do something. So, one day, I decided to go into her room and do some snooping.
Now hear me out, I know snooping is wrong. I would never normally invade someone’s privacy like that. But I knew just asking her wasn’t going to get me anywhere. So snooping it was. I started by combing through her closet. I figured if she were to walk in on me, I could just say I was looking for something to wear. I brushed my fingers gently over the hanging clothes. Vibrant colors of pinks, purples, and yellows swirled together as I shoved them to either side. Her clothes would tell me nothing. Especially since she didn’t wear vibrant stuff anymore.
Her closet was pretty empty, just shoes and hanging clothes. A few random pieces of paper but nothing of value. I emptied out some of her spare handbags to find empty tubes of lip gloss and tissues. Useless, I thought.
I moved on to her vanity. I searched each drawer carefully. Vials of lip gloss, palettes of blush and eyeshadow, but nothing to indicate something was wrong. I shut one in frustration and sighed. This is stupid, I thought. She’s a moody teenager. I turned towards the bedroom door when something under her bed caught my eye.
A little piece of paper jutting out from underneath. I moved to the bedside and dropped to my knees. The paper had nothing but numbers scribbled across it, but behind it lay a small… journal? Diary? I picked it up and felt it over. It was damaged, the binding was loose and the cover was worn down. The edges of the paper inside looked… burnt? I stared at the small book for a minute. For some reason I felt a lump of nausea climbing up my throat. This small, seemingly harmless journal felt like a rock in my palm. Sweat broke out down the back of my neck.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I murmured to myself. With a sigh I pulled the front cover back. My hands shook as I skimmed the pages. I swallowed hard. I guess I had every reason to be nervous.
On almost every single page, there was one message.
He is coming.
What the fuck does that mean? I blinked hard as I shifted through the pages. The handwriting on each page got worse and worse. It looked less like an average teenager’s handwriting and more like scribbles from a toddler as the pages went on. The writing started to look desperate the further into it I got.
He is coming
He is COMIIing!!!
HEe IS COMINg!!!
HE IS COMING!!!!!!!!!!!
More of the same as I scanned the pages. I was almost to the end when I heard a thump in the hallway. My heart fell out of my ass as I scrambled to shove the tiny book back under her bed. I flew to the closet and yanked the door open, shifting through her clothes. When her bedroom door swung open, for some reason, I felt uneasy.
“What are you doing in my room?” She snapped.
“Hey, Gemma. I was looking for something to wear.. I was going to a friend’s tonight.” I lied as calmly as I could. I could feel her moving behind me. I was scared she was going to get closer. This is ridiculous, I thought. She’s your sister. Still, I felt like a helpless gazelle being taunted by a lion.
I turned to look at her and was met with a gaze I have never witnessed before.
Her face was twisted into a snarled grimace. Anger seethed from every pore on her face. Her mouth fell open as she stared at me. “I-I’m sorry, Gem. You never used to care..” I suddenly felt very trapped and claustrophobic. Her bedroom door was closed and she stood between me and my one way out. Her head fell to the side as she blinked at me. “You’re useless.” She murmured faintly. “What?” I blinked at her. That was cruel, even for how Gemma was now. “You’re useless.” She shrugged as her head lay to the side in observance of me. It was like she was surveying how I was going to react. Her mouth started to fall open into a wide grin. “You’re useless and one day, Alice, I’m going to rip your tongue from your mouth.” She made a horrible gurgling noise from the back of her throat, followed by her usual shrill laugh. I stared at her in shock. Tears poured over my cheek as I shoved past her to the door. I had nothing to say, I just wanted to get away from her.
After that, we didn’t talk. If she walked into a room, I walked out of it. I didn’t know what was wrong with her, but I knew it had to have something to do with that weird little book. Her moods got worse, and it was making everyone in the house miserable. She started screaming at our parents, throwing glass plates on the ground. She would slam doors so hard the hinges would break. My dad had to replace her bedroom door twice. She would corner me or my mom, getting in our faces and taunting us. My mom tried taking her to therapy, but Gemma refused to go. She would sit in the car and scream until my mom let her out at the house.
And then one night.. Everything changed.
It was late, well past 11 pm. I was laying in my bed reading a manga I’d bought recently when I heard the familiar creak of her door opening. This was a usual routine for her now. She didn’t eat dinner with us, she would wait until we all went to bed and sneak down to the kitchen. I heard her soft footsteps walking up to my bedroom door when they suddenly stopped. I knew she was standing outside my door. My heart thumped in my chest. I stood up from my bed and hovered at the edge. I wanted to walk to my door, to open it, to just.. see her standing there. Hopefully apologetic and asking for forgiveness.
The thought made me laugh. And tear up, if I’m honest.
But instead I slowly approached my door. My heart was beating a mile a minute. There was no reason for me to be so nervous. She was just my sister. Her behavior had been weird, cruel even, but she hadn’t done anything too crazy for me to be fearful of her like this. My palms started to sweat and I felt a lump in my throat. I stood in front of the door and placed my hand on it gently. I stared at the doorknob, and I don’t know what possessed me to do it but… I locked it.
“Alice?”
Her voice startled me. I jolted in position. My mouth was dry and I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. “Alice?” She tried again. It was her voice, definitely. But something about it seemed so unlike her. It felt almost… sinister. “Alice.” This time it came as a statement rather than checking to see if I was actually there. “Are you gonna let me in?” I felt her tap against the door. I still couldn’t bring myself to say anything. My hand hovered above the doorknob, but I wasn’t trying to let her in. I was prepared to grab it if she tried to open it.
Suddenly, she began knocking on my door. Relentlessly. It started as a few light taps, then turned into banging. She was banging on my door. The whole thing vibrated and shook as she smacked and pounded on the other side. “Alice!” She screeched. The doorknob started shaking violently. I grabbed hold of it with as much strength as I could. Tears brimmed my eyes and my heart felt like it was going to seize up. ”ALICE!!!” She was screaming now and my bedroom door was hanging on by a thread. The lock had already busted, and it was just me versus her holding it. I could hear my parents start to shuffle around, and I heard my mom’s voice down the hall. “Gemma? What’s going on?” She sounded half asleep and dazed.
Everything got sickeningly quiet. I took several quick breaths and tried to steady my body weight against the door. “Gemma?” My moms voice traveled down the hallway. I took a breath and pried my door open, just a crack, to try and see what was going on. I was met with an image that is seared into my brain.
Gemma was staring at me. But not just staring. Her mouth was hanging open in a twisted grin. It was an elongated smile, her lips were cracking and bleeding from how wide she had stretched her lips. Her eyes were like saucers. The white spaces of her eyes were filled with black that bore into me. She was making this awful… clicking sound? Like it was coming from the back of her throat. Every time she clicked her head would twitch and bob. Her face was nearly pressed against my door. Very slowly, she reached a hand up to touch her jawline. Her fingers were bloody, and I quickly realized it was because she had ripped her nails off. When I say ripped them off... I mean it looked like she had just peeled them from her nail bed. Quicker than I could react, she shot a hand out into the crack of the door. She snatched a fistful of my hair and with a sharp tug, she ripped a chunk from my scalp. I screamed as my hands flew to my head. She giggled like an excited little kid at how horrified I was. I slammed the door in her face. “Gemma what the fuck!” I smacked my door and let out a sob. What was happening to my sister?
I heard my dad from the end of the hall. “Gemma.. Are you okay? Can we take you to the hospital?” He sounded so desperate to help her. Sadness welled up in my chest for my parents. How could they fix her?
Without warning, I heard her take off down the stairs. Her feet smacked the ground and I heard her jump off the last few steps. I flung my door open and ran to my mom. She threw her arms around me and cradled me. My dad stood there for a minute, like he was weighing his options. Gemma was downstairs throwing glass around in the kitchen. Every few minutes we could hear her shrill laughter followed by those sick clicking noises. “You two, in the bedroom. Now.” My dad ushered us into my parents’ room. My mom and I sat on their bed while my dad paced back and forth. He decided to call 911, to ask for a mental health check. My mom sobbed quietly on the bed beside me. We could hear the loud crashing of glass and things being knocked over downstairs. I couldn’t get that horrible gaunt look out of my head. That wasn’t Gemma, I wouldn’t accept it.
Suddenly, everything stopped. The shattering of glass, the shrill laughter and the awful clicking sounds. Our house became deadly quiet. My dad stared at the bedroom door, his hands balled into fists. My mom kept an arm around me. There was a thump at the door that jolted all of us.
“Mommy?” It was Gemma. She spoke so softly she almost sounded like her old self. I went to call out to her but my dad motioned for me to stay quiet. Small, faint sobs traveled from the other side of the door. I could feel my mom tense beside me. There was a scratching sound, like she was scraping her nails down the side of the door.
Except it couldn’t be her nails… she had ripped them all off. I seized up at the idea of her dragging a knife up and down the door.
Gemma began to laugh. She wasn't just laughing, though. She was sobbing, and cackling, at the same time. It sounded like two different voices bubbling up from her throat. One would wail like it was in pain, and the other would laugh maniacally. I chose to believe the maniacal one was the voice dragging the knife across the bedroom door. She began knocking, or rather banging, on the door. "LET ME IN!" She shrieked, still heaving a mixture of laughter and sobs. The banging increased and I thought for sure the door would bust. My mom was pale and trembling beside me. My dad stared at the door, in disbelief or fear, I couldn't tell.
"You can't hide from me forever, Alice." She spoke so quietly I thought I made it up. I glanced at my mom who put a finger over her mouth, a sign for me to stay quiet.
Suddenly, an echo of footsteps bounded up the stairs from the end of the hall. “Police!” We heard someone shout. I felt my mom shift beside me as my dad approached the door. “Put it down!” We assumed he was talking to Gemma. We heard her giggle maniacally, and what I’m still assuming was a knife dragging back down the door. But following the shrill laughter was a plea that reverberates in my mind. "Please.. help me." She choked out a sob, but as soon as softness came it went. Her feet pounded against the hardwood floor of the hallway. “Stay put! I said don’t move!” But faster than I think anyone could react, we heard a sickening cackle followed by a heavy thud.
Silence.
My dad waited about 10 minutes before pulling the door open. Gemma was gone, but there was a trail of blood streaking down the hallway. It reeked and made my stomach turn in knots. I was panting, both from the smell and the fear. There was a man laying at the end of the hallway, an officer, and it was clear he had been stabbed. We followed my dad down the hall, carefully trying to avoid stepping in blood. The officer groaned and my mom heaved a sigh of relief that he was alive. Backup was called, and an ambulance. They said he was stabbed 11 times, and miraculously survived. I don’t think that was an accident, though. I think if Gemma wanted him dead, he would be dead. I think that softness... that small sign of weakness was actually Gemma trying to save him. From whatever she had become.
There was no sign of her, though police followed a trail of blood through our front yard and onto the street. Strangely enough, it ended there. There was blood on our front door and, I guess, when police arrived the door was already open. That warranted them to search inside, where they found busted glass and shattered windows. Blood was pooled in the kitchen, and handprints stained the wall from floor to ceiling like… like she had been crawling on it. Even the police were at a loss about what happened. They’re still looking for her but, I don’t think she wants to be found. Not by them anyway.
The next day we packed as much as we could to leave. I was stuffing things into my suitcase, snagging a few books from my shelf to bring along, when a familiar sense of dread washed over me. My hands began to sweat and my fingers trembled as I brushed over the tiny diary. My mouth felt like cotton as I skimmed through the pages. I hadn’t seen Gemma, but somehow, I knew she had put this diary in my room. I’m not sure when… but judging by the blood on the pages, it was sometime during the previous night. The pages all looked familiar, except the very last one. This is why I’m reaching out for help, advice… anything. Because I’m pretty sure she’s coming back for me. I’m scared… and I feel like no matter how far away we go, Gemma is going to know exactly where I am.
Hel. He's. he lp here me…. Alice. Alice. Alice. ALICE. ALICE!!!!!!!

"show that the human form of the FOXP2 gene increases synaptic plasticity and dendrite connectivity in the basal ganglia. These results partly explain the enhanced capability of cortico-basal ganglia circuits in the human brain that regulate critical aspects of language, cognition, and motor control." Foxp2 Language Evolution
Cell FOXP2gene -(https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(16)31081-8?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982216310818%3Fshowall%3Dtrue)
Enk(Ea)i- twin Serpent , the creator of mankind was the Genius-Scientist who tries twice to create a civilized man, until Ninmah tells him that they must add their likeness. Thus creating the perfect Man. It is when he put speech in their mouths that Enlil is enraged claiming they make too much noise,as you'll see this was the 1st cataclysm.Enki is the protector and teacher of mankind. He is essentially a god of civilization, and it was natural that he was also looked upon as the creator of man, and of the world in general. Enki Teachings
SacredTexts After his involvement with the original genetic experiment, his compassion for the plight of the Homo sapien (Man the Wise) his role shifted his role from genetic engineer to that of a freedom fighter. Because of the Romans(Enlils offspring) ancient text were edited, altered ,the Garden of Eden describes Enki & Ninti creating humanity at Ea’s headquarters. The House of the God of Water,Wisdom, fertility, known as the Great Serpent, the Garden was his 'den'. Naturally, humanity Would be born in Ea-Den. You will see from the text cited here, that it was Enki who created & then immediately fell in love with his creation. He earned & embraced the nickname of "Trickster', because being the wisest he tricked the other "Authorities"(Elohim- or Council of Rulers) for humanity’s sake.
"The bodies of Adam and Eve were overlaid with a horny skin that was as bright as daylight, like a luminescent garment".
In Ancient India this is also the description given of the Serpent people, benefactors & genetic engineers of humanity. (Bioluminescent i.e. they spontaneously emit light due to a chemical reaction in their body. This would explain the so-called “jewels of the Naga” that illuminates the netherworld. Bioluminescence is found in many deep sea fishes and other marine organisms like jellyfish, algae, bacteria etc., who emit light from their bodies that make the seas glow and glitter. This occurs due to the presence of a light-emitting molecule called luciferin, which produces light when it reacts with oxygen. Many organisms also produce the catalyst luciferase,
In both Sumer & the Jewish text we see the key role of the woman, who did nothing wrong, quite the contrary it is she who breathes the soul or psyche into man. Bit Shimti - "House where the wind of life is breathed in" - Ninmah is the proud mother the "essence" of the blood of a young Anunnaki male was mixed with the egg of a female hominid. The fertilized egg was then inserted into the womb of a female Anunnaki. When, after a tense waiting period, a "Model Man" was born, Ninmah held the newborn baby up and shouted: "I have created! My hands have made it!"[
Enki boasted, “A Civilized man I have brought forth. A new kind of Earthling from my seed has been created, in my image and after my likeness. From seed they from food will grow, from ewes sheep they will shepherd. For Gods, and offspring henceforth shall be satiated.“
In Genesis, it is understood that the Serpent speaks,and was of equal footing wth "God". We saw in the Nag Hammadi, and other ancient texts from around the world. He was also most notable, because he stood on 2 feet like man, and was even taller. The Sumerian term Annun-Aki meant 'tall ones', the height of the Serpent was equal to that of a camel. Chap 3 of Genesis the argument is given that man can't be one of US. He must not be allowed to eat from the tree & live forever". Even here you see they're brothers.
"Enki, the Lord of abundance, of trustworthy commands, The Lord of wisdom, who understands the land, The leader of the gods, Endowed with wisdom, the Lord of Eridu"...
It has always been Enli, the archons who aim to "destroy mankind in his psychological function". Later, it's Enlil who tries to force the other Authorities to keep the secret from mankind.
"Come, all of us, and take an oath regarding the killing Flood!" But as all the others took the oath, Enki resisted firmly. "I refuse. Why will you bind me with an oath?" he asked, "Am I to raise my hand against my own humans?" Meanwhile, our father Enki understands the importance of love and kindness to the raising of consciousness, he acts with kindness in defending humanity and dealing with all the life on the planet.
Ninmah The Ninhursag , an mother of humanity is shown with humanity at her breast.The priesthood of Sumer & Egypt were Dolichocephalic, like mother. the Serpent Cults today still maintains the pure bloodlines that were mandated after the deluge.)
She was the goddess of the stony, rocky ground, the hursag. The H symbol, i described at all the sacred "navel' sites, especially Göbekli Tepe, Puma Punku, has the same meaning. The serpent always represents spiritual wisdom, life and healing. The first symbols of serpents were attributed to Enki or NU.DIM.MUD (Nudimmud), "He Who Fashions Thing and then Ninhursag.("Whose House Is Water") . Nag hammadi-Origin of our World
The text describes Ninti 'let fall a droplet of light, it flowed onto the water, and immediately a human being appeared, being androgynous. That droplet she molded first as a female body. Afterwards, using the body she molded it in the likeness of the mother, which had appeared. This was Eve of Life namely, the female instructor of life. Her offspring is the creature that is lord. Afterwards, the authorities called it "Beast", so that it might lead astray their modelled creatures. (The interpretation of "the beast" is "the instructor". For it was found to be the wisest of all beings.)"
"Then each of them cast his sperm into the midst of the navel of the earth fashioned man with his body resembling their body.His modelling took place by parts, one at a time. And their leader fashioned the brain and the nervous system. Afterwards, he appeared as prior to him. He became a soul-endowed man"
"when the Authorities (Yahweh) had saw Adam/Eve transgressed their rule it came upon them an earthquake and a great threat, to see the result of the help that was give. Their eyes were blinded by him so they were not able to do anything to him. They merely cursed him, since they were powerless. And everything that they created they cursed. There is no blessing from them. Good cannot come from evil."
"Since that day the authorities knew that truly there was something stronger than they. They would not have known except that their commandment was broken. They brought a great envy into the world only because of the immortal human."
Enki possessed the secret of me, 'culture, civilization', which is the genius of progress in knowledge to lead humanity. He invented civilization for the people and assigned to each his destiny. He created order in the cosmos. He filled the rivers with fish. He invented the plough and the yoke so that farmers could till the earth with oxen. In the most recent thread you see each ruler from Egypt to Pharoah carries the plough, the Serpent Priest would assist the Pharoah who was in charge of a successful harvest. "Master Servant " was the Pharoah
"Enki made the grain grow. He is the father of all plants.” Of course he wanted his children to eat from the Tree of knowledge, With the Tree of Knowledge humans had the chance to figure out everything on their own in time, to be as equal or better than him, as any parent wants for there child. . Had they eaten only from the Tree of Life, they would live but not have been more the wiser.
Why should acquiring knowledge be a sin?" (the original sin) and comparing it to modern day observations ought to wake you up to the fact that you live within societal system that was engineered by the members of "God" to empower themselves while keeping those who live within it ignorant
The sacred waters of knowledge had a double meaning, it represents both the creationof the human body(mostly water) & it is talking about the water carried by the Sages in places like La Mana, Ecuador. This water has amazing healing properties, it is apart of ritual today in the Llanganates for visiting initiates. Indigenous elders working with the scientific community have had fascinating results. Electrum Water Hiv nanoparticles Silver "he interaction of nanoparticles with biomolecules and microorganisms is an expanding field of research. Wis. In this work, we demonstrate that silver nanoparticles undergo a size-dependent interaction with HIV-1, with nanoparticles exclusively in the range of 1-10nm attached to the virus"
The Dogon call our Master Teachers, The Monitors, Nummo also meanw 'to make one drink'(water of wisdom). The Hebrews termed these Watchers as nun resh’ayin, meaning “those who watch.” In the Greek this is translated as gigantes or giants, a race that even the 907 B.C. writer Hesiod featured as being monstrous (due to their serpentine aspect no doubt). Now we can understand the role of the giants 2 seen across the world of ancient script in respect to the presence of the Watchers.
The Apkallu, these priest of Enki i wrote about in the last thread, the genetic, archaeologicalevidence has shown R1b-V88 & R1b-M269 were associated with agriculture, cattle domestication, metal working, language, geopolymer construction, everywhere a Pyramid or Navel was Built the Mende/Yoruba & the Austro-Melanesian Pacific Islander Ghost Hominids dna dna is found. The Aunu/Anu people migrated across the globe. Göbekli Tepe The human ummânū is attested in the Uruk List of Kings and Sages, while other references to bird-apkallū are legion
The purādu-fish apkallū is principally attested in Berossus.These seven were each advisers for seven different kings and therefore result in two different lists, one of kings and one of apkallu. Neither the sages nor the kings in these lists were genealogically related however. Apkallu and human beings were presumably capable of conjugal relationships since after the flood, the myth states that four apkallu appeared. These were part human and part Apkallu, and included Nungalpirriggaldim, Pirriggalnungal, Pirriggalabsu, and Lu-nana who were only two-thirds ApkalluKundalini is the spiritual energy or life force present in every human being, located at the base of the spine.
They were believed to have apotropaic qualities, guarding the home from evil.Sages FigurinesThe three types of apkallū are portrayed, with the human ummânū at far left, the Nisroc bird-apkallū type in the middle, and the antediluvian purādu-fish type at far right.3 Apkallu
Remember that it was the woman who was Pharoah, her consort became king. Egypt, like most of the most sophisticated ancient civilizations were ruled by women. Ninhursags the Goddess of the stony, rocky ground that masons use to spiritually ascend higher, the H at Göbekli Tepe & Puma Punku represents mother. 'As above(ninmah), So below(Enki)'. The underworld was never a negative place before the Romans. The Pyramid, the Great house was the Woman's house. Sumerian text speak of the foundation being the stone & the water just as the Pyramid text of Saqqara. The Sumerian E.KUR - "House Which is Like a Mountain." Pyramid was put under the patronage of Ninharsag.in hymns shes recognized as mistress of the "House With a Pointed Peak" - a pyramid. CoffinText 313:Horus says "I created my Eye in flame, I made my Eye a living serpent". Remember, the serpent he saw was bipedal, always. As Robert Monroe reported in the Gateway Experiments.
"House bright and dark of Heaven and Earth, for the rocketships put together; E.KUR, House of the Gods with pointed peak; For Heaven-to-Earth it is greatly equipped. House whose interior glows with a reddish Light of Heaven, a beam of energy of creation which reaches far and wide; Its awesomeness touches the flesh. Awesome ziggurat, lofty mountain of mountains - Thy creation is great and lofty, men cannot understand it"
'House of Equipment, lofty house of Eternity: Its foundation are stones [which reach] the water; Its great circumference is set in the clay. House whose parts are skilfully woven together; House, the rightness of whose howling The Great-Ones-Who-See-and-Orbit brings down the rest . . . Mountain by which Utu ascends. [House] whose deep insides men cannot penetrate . . . Anu has magnified it.
In the Testament of Amram 2 men who resembling Living Serpents were seen fighting over him in his dream-vision. Even in ancient Text later we see "battles of the Gods', but in the very beginning We see the genius, Enki described as a kind, amicable child ONLY gets aggressive when his brother comes to harm his creation. Most importantly, Enlil & his realized he was powerless when Humanity had Enki by their side. So, his campaign was to disconnect us from that knowledge starting with the Bible & the Inquisition, they killed,raped, burned all of the knowledge that had allowed mankind to thrive.. then stashes the rest away, keeping it from the people. Dagon Catholicism
-In Egypt Ptah as Ea/Enki (Sumer he's also a cthonic diety "The Artful Creator") and Ra as his Firstborn son.
After Anu, Enlil, Enki and Ninmah had fashioned the black-headed people, Vegetation that is fruitful they multiplied in the land... In the Edin they placed them..
The descendants of Ham ("He Who is Hot" and also "The Dark-Hued One").... correspond to the African nation-lands of Nubia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Lybia as the core nations of African resettlement, again beginning with the topographically higher areas..They were the Dogon, Hopis ancestors.. The ancient Chinese or Bak tribesmen which dominate China today called the Elamites KASHTI. Moreover, in the Bible the Book of Jeremiah (xlxx,35), we read "bow of Elam". It is interesting to note that both Khaltam-ti and Kashti as the name for Elam, agrees with Ta-Seti, the ancient name for Nubia located in the Meroitic Sudan. Sumerians Had Dolichocephalic skulls Genetic Evidence for convergent evolution SE AsianElamites-Mandig](http://olmec98.net/ElamPersians.png) Semitic speakers of Akkad and the non-Semitic speakers of Sumer were both sag-gig-ga or "blackheads".Elamite language, is closely related to the African languages including Egyptian and the Dravidian languages of India. Alchemy as Taught by Children of Enki
Antediluvian Kings of Sumer were known as Kings of Kush".the major Kushite tribe in Central Asia was called Kushana. The Kushan of China were styled Ta Yueh-ti or "the Great Lunar Race". Along the Salt Swamp, there was a state called Ku-Shih of Tibet. The city of K-san, was situated in the direction of Kushan, which was located in the Western part of the Gansu Province of China.
Here we find the divine decrees presented by Enki to Inanna are those referring to lordship, godship, the exalted and enduring crown, the throne of kingship, the exalted scepter, the exalted shrine, shepherdship, kingship, the numerous priestly offices, truth, descent into the nether world and ascent from it, the music From the tree in the Mesopotamian depiction hang two pieces of fruit. To the right of the tree is the half-moon symbol of Ea; to the left is the planet symbol of Anu.
Lastly the pineal gland(pine cone). In India it is a stick of bamboo with seven knots… which represents the spinal column with its seven centers or chakras… It also indicated the spinal cord…while the serpents were symbolical of the two channels called in Eastern terminology Ida and Pinagala; and the fire enclosed within it was the serpent-fire which in Sanskrit is called kundalini." Even the natural behaviors of the pine cone have an esoteric meaning:
"as it ripens, the pine cone slowly opens to release its mature seeds."
This process is symbolic of the expansion of consciousness that accompanies the opening of the pineal gland and the awakening of the Third Eye. The metaphor is a valuable and stimulating mental lesson of an esoteric phenomenon that cannot otherwise be seen or explained since it occurs inside the brain..
The One sure way, and what's been happening wthin the last century especially is to keep knowledge away from the human race. If we as a collective are so ingrained in our beliefs, how can we ever be open to new ideas pertaining to the nature of reality?