First Chapter Previous Chapter
TRAGEDY at Concert Hall.
NIGHTMARE performance by renowned violinist and orchestra.
66 DEAD & 100s INJURED in CONCERT MASSACRE!
For an entire month, the media incessantly buzzed about Gabrielle Vilonte's last performance, a relentless stream that wore on Mr. Vilonte's nerves. Reporters bombarded him with calls, clamoring for an exclusive interview. Fed up, he had silenced his phone for days, ignoring every text and call, and stowed it away in the glove compartment. Thankfully, public interest had already shifted to the next headline. The bizarre event was now a distant memory in people's minds. Except, of course, those who experienced it.
Sleep became a nightly struggle. Most nights brought a jolting awakening, leaving him trembling so fiercely that his bones rattled and teeth chattered, while his heart threatened to burst from his chest. The recurring nightmare haunted him relentlessly—the terrifying vision of blood-red waves closing in, his senses overwhelmed as he tumbled blindly and helplessly. His survival was nothing short of miraculous, requiring only a brief stay of a couple of nights at the hospital.
George had insisted he stay with them until Mrs. Vilonte and Gabrielle emerged from their coma at the hospital. Despite the kind offer, Mr. Vilonte politely declined. While he cherished the idea of being surrounded by his family's warmth during such a challenging time, he found solace in the comforting embrace of Sara's soft, ample bosom. While he often disagreed with Mrs. Vilonte's choices, particularly concerning their finances, he was grateful he had yielded to her insistence on hiring a personal assistant.
"Take a deep breath and exhale slowly,” Sara instructed, her hand gently stroking his sweaty, naked back.
He followed her guidance, and as he did, he felt the nightmare fading away, replaced by the soothing sound of her voice. The terror that had gripped him was gradually replaced by a warmth that flowed down his throat, spreading a comforting heat throughout his belly.
"I don't know what I'd do without you," he sighed, pulling her into an embrace. "I wish we could stay like this forever."
"I wish the same, but we should go visit the hospital," she replied softly, gently pushing him aside as she rose from the bed to gather her clothes scattered on the floor.
He sighed again, sinking back onto the bed, overwhelmed by the prospect of abandoning its warmth to face the demands of the day. The thought of rejoining the world outside felt daunting. What finally persuaded him to rise from the bed was Sara's assurance that she would join him on the visit to Mrs. Vilonte, fulfilling her duties as the family's loyal and diligent personal assistant. But, in separate cars, of course.
On the way, he stopped to pick up a bouquet of flowers. Upon arrival, he warmly greeted the nurses and medical personnel he had come to know. They returned his gesture with sympathetic gazes and a small smile. As he entered Gabrielle's room, he found Eric already asleep in a chair by her bedside. Mr. Vilonte's heart sank at the sight. Despite the uncertainty surrounding her condition, he found solace in the fact that her baby remained safe within her womb, miraculously unharmed.
He arranged some lilies in a vase beside her, and pressed a fatherly kiss to her forehead before departing for his wife's room that was at the end of the hallway. Mrs. Vilonte lay peacefully, her complexion a little paler than usual. Gently placing roses on the nightstand, he pulled up a chair by her bedside, ready to share the latest updates.
With a soft voice, he relayed a few light-hearted news - George's pediatric clinic continued to thrive, their granddaughter landed a role in an upcoming school play, and Gabrielle’s condition remained in stable condition, but she had yet to awaken. Once he exhausted his list of news, he veered into trivial chatter about the weather, the traffic delays he encountered en route to the hospital which explained for his lateness (though in truth, he had persuaded Sara to join him for an intimate moment in the shower earlier), and his disappointment with the soggy cafeteria sandwich he bought.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened and Sara waltzed into the room, dressed in her business casual attire, every bit the dedicated assistant his wife had hired. Without saying anything, she walked over to his chair, resting one hand on his shoulder while the other caressed the sparse strands of hair on his balding head. Her touch sparked a warmth within him, kindling a fire that surged through his body.
“Do you think she'll ever wake up?” Sara asked.
“We can only pray,” he replied, then under his breath added, “that she doesn't.”
How he wished things in his life were different. He glanced at his wife, then shifted his gaze to the pillow beneath her head. A thought crossed his mind – it wasn't too late. He could grasp the pillow and silence her forever, altering the trajectory of his life for the better.
“I wonder what's going on inside of her head,” Mr. Vilonte wondered aloud, “Do you think she's dreaming or is it all just darkness?”
XXXXX
In a realm beyond the physical plane, Mr. Vilonte’s words echoed through the forest. Mrs. Vilonte, catching wind of his voice, raced forward barefoot. Her elegant dress shoes, now trapped in the mud, disappeared into the earth. Her gown had become torn and muddied from her struggles against the clutches of vines and twisted branches.
Stopping for a moment, she pondered the possibility of deception, the voice perhaps a sinister ploy by the otherworldly entity, taunting her with the mimicry of her husband's voice.
"Please, let me go home!" she pleaded, her words falling on ears that only responded with mocking laughter.
You love her…you love her… you want her to wake up…no, you loved her. Do it now. Or it's never.
She was sure it was his voice, drawing her towards him and she followed its trail.
XXXXX
When Sara stepped out in search of snacks, he stood by his wife's bedside, peering down at her sleeping figure. Inch by inch, he maneuvered the pillow from beneath her head, his hands trembling with each deliberate movement. Just as he was about to place the soft weapon over her face, he hesitated, clutching the pillow tightly as he paced the room, engaged in a fierce debate with himself.
“You love her. No, no, you loved her.”
In over thirty years of marriage, he found himself reminiscing only about the initial five years, a period suffused with warmth and happiness. The following decades, however, that love had withered away over time like a neglected rose, starved of nourishment.
If he didn't take the chance now, he may not have the opportunity to do so. He returned to her bedside, clutching the pillow. The weight of his decision bore down on him. Just as he prepared to act, her eyes flickered open, their intensity locking with his own. He gasped, stepping back in alarm and stumbling over the chair.
With a sudden jolt, Mrs. Vilonte shot upright, unleashing a piercing scream that shattered the silence of the room. Frantically, she attempted to flee her bed, only to crumple to the floor, her legs betraying her after a month of disuse, unable to bear her weight. She resorted to dragging herself with her arms, making her way towards the door.
As the initial shock began to subside, Mr. Vilonte hastily regained his footing and hurried to his wife's side.
“Isabella..." he gasped, stretching out a trembling hand to touch her shoulder, but she swatted it away.
She struggled to rise to her feet once more, using the wall for support as her legs shook beneath her. The knot of her hospital gown had unraveled, leaving it to drape loosely over her fragile, naked form.
“Gabby! Where's Gabby?” She cried, her eyes were wide and filled with terror.
“Her room's not far from here, just down the hall.”
“I have to see her.”
“No, no, what we need to do right now is to get you back to bed. I'll go get the doctor.”
“You don't understand!”
“What is it that I don't understand? Tell me!”
“The baby…”
“What about the baby?”
“It's not what you think it is.”
“What? What are you talking about? What are you trying to say?”
Mrs. Vilonte let out an angry cry of frustration. “We must put a stop to it. She's going to give birth to something…”
“Something, what?”
Without answering him, she seized the door handle and yanked it open. Despite his attempts to restrain her, she broke free from his grip, landing a sharp blow to his face with her fist. A dazzling flash of white and gold stars burst across his vision like fireworks.
A deafening scream tore through the air, its intensity reverberating down the hallway, freezing everyone in their tracks. The sheer force of it sent shivers of nausea and fear rippling through each person present. The scream jolted Mr. Vilonte out of his daze, a surge of fear flooding back as he realized it was coming from his daughter's room.
He raced to the room and found Eric cowering in the corner, his expression filled with horror as he stared up at the ceiling. Mrs. Vilonte stood nearby, her discarded gown lying on the floor, a pair of scissors clutched tightly in her hand, likely grabbed from the nurse's desk. She, too, gazed upwards. Following their line of sight, Mr. Vilonte's heart nearly stopped.
Crawling along the ceiling like a twisted spider was Gabrielle. She gnashed her teeth like a feral beast and with a guttural hiss, she leapt towards the window, breaking through the glass.
“Gabby, no!”
Mr. Vilonte rushed to the window, crying out in pain as the glass cut into his skin. Through the broken pane, he watched in disbelief as Gabrielle, somehow still alive after her jump from the fifth floor, dashed across the parking lot, dodging cars with uncanny agility.
XXXXX
“Slow down!” Sara screeched, her fingers tightening around the grab handle.
But Mr. Vilonte didn't hear her. He remained steadfast, his foot firmly on the gas pedal, propelling the vehicle forward on the freeway in a desperate attempt to catch up to the police car ahead.
Within the span of an hour, his world was once again upended and crushed by the merciless force of the universe. Gabrielle's escape from the hospital triggered a frantic response from the hospital staff. Wrestling the scissors from the hands of a hysterical and furious Mrs. Vilonte, they pinned her to the floor. Meanwhile, a nurse administered a sedative to calm her down, allowing them to carry her back to her room.
The police were called to locate Gabrielle, prompting him to join the frantic search alongside them. Sara, just returning from the cafeteria with snacks in hand, found herself swept up in the chaos, following him to the car and demanding an explanation.
He slammed on the brakes with a forceful stomp, jolting them forward and then back in their seats. Ahead, several vehicles were stacked up. The police car he had been tailing collided with one of them. Hastily unbuckling his seatbelt, he got out of the car and navigated through the wreckage of the mangled vehicles.
“Gabby!”
He spotted his daughter standing amidst the tumult of the freeway. Upon hearing her name, she turned to face him, her expression clouded with confusion.
“Dad? Why am I here? What's going on?” her voice was laced with fear.
“I don't know. But let's get you out of here.”
“I want to go home,” she sobbed.
“Of course, we'll go home, right after the doctors check you over.”
As Gabrielle moved towards him, the ground beneath them began to tremble, its intensity mounting with each passing second. Cracks spiderwebbed across the asphalt beneath her feet, and long, sinewy vines emerged from the fissures, wrapping themselves around her and pulling her down into the depths below.
Mr. Vilonte sank to his knees, overwhelmed by devastation.
XXXXX
Although the haze of sleepiness had partially lifted, she felt the weight of drowsiness still clinging to her body, like a heavy anchor. Attempting to move her hands, she discovered they were bound by leather cuffs fastened to the bedside rails.
The room lay cloaked in darkness, with only the faint, silver light of the moon filtering through the window blinds, casting a gentle glow across the space. Except for the corner by the door. A sudden drop in temperature sent shivers through her bones. A presence was in the room, and it was standing in that dark corner, watching her.
Mrs. Vilonte stayed silent for a moment, refraining from saying a single word or making even the slightest sound. She clenched her teeth, attempting to suppress a whimper, but it slipped past her lips nonetheless.
A pale foot stepped out of the darkness, then the other.
She sucked in her breath at the sight of Victoria, who greeted her with a sinister grin. Her eyes were as dark as coal. Her teeth jagged with saliva dribbling down her pink lips. Without moving her mouth, Victoria's voice echoed in her head, “The price is high, your soul to keep, give me more to eat!”
Raising her hands, she held up a beating heart, giving it a firm squeeze. Instantly, Mrs. Vilonte was struck by a violent pain in her chest. She was engulfed by wave after wave of agonizing pain, rendering her unable to scream until a brief moment of respite allowed her to catch her breath, prompting her to cry out, "If you want to kill me, do it now! Go ahead, kill me! Rip my heart out. But please, just do it quickly. I can't bear it any longer.”
The entity cackled. "Death will not come easily for you. Instead, you shall endure a long and torturous existence, my dear. A life abundant with suffering and despair, with the sweet release you crave remaining distant for many years to come.”
Its talons closed around the heart giving it one final squeeze.
Mrs. Vilonte erupted in a roar of agony, her body contorting as she strained against the restraints. A nurse burst into the room, switching on the light. Once the lights flickered on, the pain dissipated, and her body eased back onto the bed, her wrists raw from the restraints. Observing her labored breathing and the sheen of sweat across her forehead, he checked her vitals and inquired about her sudden scream and whether she experienced any lingering pain.
She moved her head from side to side. “You wouldn't believe me if I told you,” she said, choking down a sob.
“Oh, I'm sure everything's going to be fine, Mrs. Vilonte,” the nurse reassured with a gentle tone, offering comfort.
“Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?”
“I would, if I had time. I'm sorry I've got other patients to attend to.” And after a final check on her vitals, he turned off the lights and left the room.
Mrs. Vilonte cast a wary gaze toward the darkened corner, a sense of apprehension prickling her skin. A solitary tear traced its path down her cheek.

It is the day, where military force of Valerie here, finally goes into offensive. Jakan and I travel along with one of the heroes of the riven war, Kyrem, who is leading the cavalry archer battalion we are to be his eyes and ears of enemy movement. As we ride our horses, I wondered the source of Jakan happiness.
This time, it is different, this must have something to do with Jakan and one of the five heroes of riven war, Lankensy. They pressed their upper arms perpendicularly against each other, they chuckled to each other, then separated to get to their duties. I chose to not ask as it isn't important but, doesn't stop my curiosity.
We have reached our deployment position, I look at Kyrem, he nods to us. Commence reconnaissance, Jakan and I separate from the cavalry archer battalion to scout in peace. It took us a while to actually find undead formations within the area, but, even Jakan let out a coughing sigh from the sight of the numbers we are seeing.
'Winter's roar... If there is even one more formation like that... The cavalry battalions have a tough time... Something I should have expected but, mostly considered unlikely...' Jakan states mildly alarmed by the number of undead in the rectangular formation.
'Fyregeld would need to take part very early... Which is most likely going to be disadvantageous later?' Ask for a confirmation of what I suspect Jakan is thinking.
'Yes... Fyregeld most certainly will be needed in the fight...' Jakan replies still mildly astounded how large the formation is. We move on to continue scouting, but, this is bad news, I guessing both of us are suspecting that this formation's purpose is to alarm the town that they are going to be attacked very soon.
Unfortunately for us, there is a second formation that is just as large as the first one more to the south of south west of the town, while this one is to the south west of it. 'Great, just, bloody fantastic... I will have some choice words for the Valerian scouts, these are probably twice or even thrice the number of undead compared to what they reported...' Jakan says upset about the situation.
'And, these two are part of the three we are supposed to lure into attacking the cavalry... The Valerians are most certainly going to have a bad day...' Reply quietly to try to ease Jakan's mood. It does work...
'Right, let's go look for the third... Hopefully it won't be as big as this and the previous...' Jakan states calmly, remembering that we aren't supposed to take part in the fight against these, but, reports are almost certainly going to be ugly.
Third formation, behind the first formation we scouted is still big but, probably by a third smaller, still a risky fight but, not unwinnable. Jakan told me that best way to beat this one with the forces nearby, would be, that cavalry archers would jog past it while firing arrows into the formation from the rear and front, as the formation is fairly tight and there aren't enough shields.
The undead casualties would be high, the cavalry archers would only stay as long as to bait the enemy to charge them, which leaves them open to be charged by the Valerian cavalry battalion, under the command of Tyrelia, one of the heroes of riven war. It's going to be a nasty melee but, one that would be the most effective on completely destroying this formation.
Follow up maneuvers would be that the cavalry archers, once they are being pursued, will regroup to attack the large south western formation, while once the cavalry battalion has routed or utterly destroyed this small formation will attack the rear of the southern undead formation, to goad them to pursue them.
Once the cavalry archer battalion has begun the fall back, the cavalry battalion will follow. From there, it is following the plan. The plan discussed yesterday still can be done but, it is going to be a lot more uglier in terms of results than expected. We scouted little bit longer to make sure there aren't other formations nearby.
There is fourth, which we suspect to be a reserve formation for the assault, it is about as big as the third. There is a mistake with it's location however, that is good news for the cavalry archer battalion. They are too far away to assist the large south western formation. Jakan sighed from mild relief. 'Well, at least some kind of good news... Although, once the pursuit is initiated, they most likely will join the battle.' Jakan says to me.
'I agree, thankfully we aren't supposed to give battle assistance in these fights... We would both be sore from the exhaustion later today, or worse, grievously wounded.' Reply to Jakan, he nodded in agreement. Jakan then motioned to me with his head that, this is enough, time to report to battalions. Nodding in agreement we head back.We arrive as Kyrem and Tyrelia are talking with the squadron commanders. 'What are your reports?' Kyrem hails us as we approach.
'Relatively far away from the best news, unfortunately but, there is some good too.' Jakan states calmly knowing that what we have seen, is going bring up mixed feelings. Jakan debriefs all on scene, on what we have discovered.
Kyrem displayed some worry but, when we told about the secondary reserve formation's positional mistake. He began to think about the situation more intensily. Tyrelia also looked worried, she and the battalion under her command, have a work cut out for them...
All squadron commanders deemed the plan still doable but, they all agreed on the fact that, this is going to be a seriously tough skirmish. Now, they need to be quick, Tyrelia gave Jakan a flag pole and a flag for the second part of this operation. 'Anything you would like to say before we begin?' One of the cavalry squadron commanders ask from us.
'For life, for the people, for Valerie.' Jakan states in hardened tone, we must begin and see our parts done in this operation.
'For life, for the people, for Valerie. I agree.' Tyrelia say with high spirit.
'Time to do our duty, all of you ready?' Kyrem asks from all of us.'Yes, sir.' Jakan and I reply without hesitation nor fear. We departed to head towards the north west of the castle. Behind us, pace of the hooves of more than hundred horses began to jog. We will not see them for a while now.
As soon as we arrived to the area we should scout out for any possible formations that might try to take positions north west or west of the castle where the supposed surprise pitched battle is to happen. We begin scouting, for a while, all the way to the past mid day, we do not find any undead formations, they must have combined formations for the assault on the town.
Unfortunately for them, it was done way too early... And now, there is a massive gap in the area control, gap which armed forces of Valerie are now beginning to exploit. We don't know whether the cavalry battalions have made good on their promises at the moment but, unfortunately for the infantry battalions the gap is going to be closed soon.
And there will be a battle that is a hard one for the one Lankensy is leading. These undead formations we are seeing, two of them, are about same size and number as the reserve formations to the south and south west of the town. We will need to improvise, one of those reserve size formations would have been bad enough. As we were heading back.
We see smoke, quite thick and seems to be from the direction where Fyregeld was to be signaled to ignite a forest, which undead infantry would use to try catch up with the formation moving cavalry. Unfortunately for us, we do not know how much damage this has caused and, we, Lankensy and his infantry battalion have a big endeavor ahead of us.
Jakan is still staring at the formations, probably staring at the distance between them. 'We can take them.' Jakan states calmly, which baffled me so much so that I let out an audible what. 'We can take them, We will be outnumbered three to one but, I have a plan.' Jakan adds and shakes his two handed sword slightly.
'I don't think it is enough.' Reply to Jakan in unsure tone as, such numerical advantage is enough for every attacking force to destroy a defending force.
'We will improvise, I will tell you once we reach sir Lanksensy.' Jakan states confidently.
'Okay...' I say slightly shakily, unsure whether it is warrior heart of Jakan making him act stupidly, or soldier's mind that whatever is the adversity, we handle it together... We head to where we agreed to meet Lanksensy and the infantry battalion he is leading in this battle.
Jakan prepared the flag and the flag pole, attaches the flag on the pole, then began to wave it, as the undead formations came into an open ground. Both of soon heard roar from the sky, we looked to the direction and see Fyregeld diving to harass the rear of the second formation of undead behind us.
We continue riding our steeds to the rally point. We reach it in good time, Lankensy was waiting for us with Seirialia. 'Bad news, we will receive undead formation that outnumbers us three to one.' Jakan states immediately before dismounting, I follow him.Lankensy at first seemed quite eager to fight but, such odds sobered his expression. 'We can take them, Fyregeld is already harrassing the formation behind the first one from the rear, so there will be chaos which buys us time.' Jakan says, Lankensy frowns while Seirialia looked grim.
'Tell me you have a plan.' Lankensy says, sounding surprisingly content and a smirk appeared on his lips.
'Yes sir. I will use the runes on my blade to create walls to hide the true number of our forces and act as a small choke point for the infantry to hold, you divide your battalion to three detachments. The center will hold the choke point with all they have, while southern and northern detachments make sure we won't get flanked around the stone walls.
When they begin their attempt to flank, the south and north detachments will begin fighting advance to box in our opponents. Seirialia, your arcane mastery is required, take a high ground and, rain hell on the enemy masses that engage the infantry detachments.' Jakan explains the plan.
Jakan draws his plan on to the dirt with his mace as he speaks. The terrain we are at, most certainly favors us... From that high ground, to the north east, is a perfect place to begin. Lankensy motions the infantry commanders to approach. He briefs them on the plan Jakan has proposed.
'Jakan, this is going to get ugly, but, with this plan... The glory will be quite gorgeous.' Lankensy states as the infantry commanders nod that they will follow this plan.
'This will be an ugly battle but, we will win it. Volarie, I need you to provide me more arcane, if the battle does get bad, with your assistance I will break the ground beneath our foes, so they have to fight from a disadvantageous position.' Jakan says without a hint of worry in his voice.
'Would it be better that I would provide you the assistance Jakan?' Seirialia asks alarmed by proposal from Jakan to me.
'No, we need your skill in magic to disrupt undead and to make sure that they have will have difficult time on concentrating their forces to put pressure on any of the three infantry detachments. Volarie already knows how to do it, and we have done this couple times before.' Jakan replies in calm tone.
I do remember, they were small in scale but, with right amount of concentration, we can do even bigger one. I am still worried though... Seirialia has the better mastery of arcane, I do not have as much skill or energy as her and Jakan's own capacity for arcane is rather limited. The plan is good though...
'Alright, I am ready.' Say finally without hesitation, although, I have some in my heart...
'I will hold the center, Volarie, move with the northern detachment to the position, Jakan you do the same, but with the south. Seirialia, I think you should get into position.' Lankensy says calmly.
'Yes sir.' Jakan and I say.
'Alright, I will trust your judgment.' Seirialia says to Jakan.
'Lady, I will get it done.' Jakan states with serious tone and ready to do everything in his power to win this battle. She nods to Jakan trusting him and I to do our part.
Jakan used the runes on his blade to create the walls, while I went into the position. We began to wait, waiting, the most nerve wrecking part of his plan... Soon, undead were sighted and they immediately rush to engage the choke point, slightly dispersing to begin also go around the stone walls. North infantry detachment began to jog to close the flanks, I go with them.
The plan is so far working, undead began engaging all three points without concentrating to break out through one. Now, we wait again, I listen to the battle raging before me, every now and then look around to see if we are getting flanked. Then I saw big chunks of ice raining into the center of the open left side box, infantry have formed. Second reserve force has now entered the battle.
They also charged right in, this is the moment where Jakan and I, head to the rear of the undead, and break the ground they stand in. As we had practiced, I place my hand on Jakan's left shoulder and begin channeling my arcane energy into him, just as he began to grasp the earth with his hands and began casting an earth rupture spell.
I allowed Jakan to take the lead and just follow him. Spell is complete, and Jakan made a two handed fist, then brought it down onto the dirt in front of him. Like water that got hit by massive weight on it's surface earth ruptured upwards at the center of the box, flinging countless amount of undead into the air.
Soil and stone rained upon the mass of undead, causing further losses of undead infantry. We gaze upon what we caused, both of us spent in terms of arcane. 'It is not enough, the battle still favors them...' Jakan says angrily and looks like he wants to charge in.
'That is a suicide.' Say to him in serious tone. Jakan calms down and thinks.
'Now, we just have to fight hard... Fight your way through to the northern detachment, while I fight to the south. Kills as many as you can cause as much as chaos as possible, when you reach allies, tell them to begin pushing forward with all their might. Because this is it, either they or us, break first.' Jakan says clearly frustrated that it has come to this but, no other options.
We collide our swords and wish fortune to each other, we separated and begin skirmishing. After fighting a while, I reach Valerian infantry northern detachment. 'Push! Push! It is either us or them!' Shout as loud as possible. Their commander heard me, a moment of consideration flashes in his expression, it soon hardens into seriousness.
'Fight, fight, fight with all your might!' He roars and joins the battle. Northern detachment slowly, orderly, but, surely, began taking ground from the undead. I join the commander, who would have distrusted me but, here, in this moment, we are not enemies.
Soon, to the last skeleton, walking dead and fallen's end. The undead were slain, soldiers began collapsing from exhaustion. I hear horses running towards us, turning to look, it is Tyrelia's cavalry battalion, then I look opposite of me, spot Jakan on his knees and relying on his sword, looks more like he is just trying to catch his breath and relax. To my left, I see Lankensy at the center detachment, he also looks quite exhausted
.'Hail hero of the riven war... It is done...' Say with stamina that I still have as Tyrelia approaches us on her steed.
'By the light... How many have you slain?' Tyrelia says as she looks at the ground before the resting soldiers of northern detachment. I think a while...
'Twenty three...' Say still exhausted and look around, Seirialia has reached Lankensy, they embrace each other. Ground quaked a little as Fyregeld landed, he is completely fine, but, his expression tells of bewilderment.
'Fyregeld, we will need to screen for more undead that might head towards here. They need rest not another battle.' Tyrelia states looking at all of the Valerian soldiers who have taken part in this battle.
'I agree wholeheartedly lady Tyrelia. I would like to hear what happened here to have caused a battle of this scale.' Fyregeld says, still quite baffled by the amount of undead that has been slain.
After resting almost to the beginning of dusk. We begin moving back into the castle from the northern entrance. I join Jakan's company who is now feeling a lot better, still exhausted but, at least enough rested that we begin walking our steeds back into the castle. Seeing it better to not ruin the current atmosphere of victorious but, exhausted Valerian soldiers.
I have the intention on breaking the silence between Jakan and I but, then I heard somebody approaching us on a horse and some jogging. We turn to look, and they are Tyrelia, Lankensy and Seirialia. As Lankensy opened his mouth to say something, ground quaked a little and we were joined by Fyregeld.
'What are the reports of commanders Gonzil, Salgi and Tynzio?' Lankensy asks from Tyrelia.
'Only three out of twenty have suffered wounds, by the looks of your battalion, I estimate yours had it worse than them combined.' Tyrelia says in praising tone.
'We ended up having to fight two reserve formations of undead... Thanks to Jakan's plan... It probably would have ended up a whole lot worse.' Lankensy states in humble tone.
'Negative sir...' Jakan sighs out, unwilling to receive praise, not out of that it offends him. 'Real heroes of this battle are the soldiers marching behind us.' Jakan adds mildly worried he might have offended.
'True but, you do deserve some praise draconian... Thanks to your quick thinking, that probably would have turned out to be a victory as bad as defeat.' Lankensy says, mildly amused by Jakan behavior and smiles warmly.
'I would have charged into the center of the undead, if Volarie wouldn't have calmed me down...' Jakan replies keeping composure but, wanting to avoid praise. Curse you Jakan... Don't shove into the spot of light in a cave...
'I only told him, what I believed was on his mind, is a suicide.' Say the truth of the matter.
'Could you both, just stop avoiding our gratitude?' Tyrelia asks teasing us, probably figured out, why we are behaving in this manner.
'With all respect, lady Tyrelia... We are just trying to avoid taking too much praise. We fear that the soldiers wouldn't take it idly.' Jakan replies steadily.
'While I do understand reasoning, you shouldn't downplay your part in this, I believe the commanders would also make it clear to their men, that this was achieved with effort from everybody.' Fyregeld reasons, Jakan just exhales in begrudging manner, probably because what Fyregeld said, is true.
Even I can not find a way to weasel a way out from receiving gratitude from Valerians... 'Alright then...' Jakan replies in slightly defeated tone, declaring his intention to cease avoiding receiving gratitude.
'You are correct lord Fyregeld.' State in slightly defeated tone. Our intention is to maintain as high as possible morale among the Valerian soldiers, we can handle the influence of dark arcane in the air without issues, it is the effect on the soldiers we are most concerned about.
'How bad did it look? Lady Seirialia.' Jakan asks, it makes sense why he asked that. He only had the battle level awareness, while Seirialia had better awareness of the battle situation from the high ground.
'It looked quite bad, after your earth rupture, the battle still was in the favor of the undead, from my position, I could only do so little when I had cast spells that I could.' Seirialia replies smiles warmly, Jaka scoffs in tone telling of his discomfort, knowing that he was correct in his battle assessment in that moment.
'Can you explain the chain of events?' Fyregeld asks from me and Jakan. Jakan looked at me, asking that should we be truthful, I look at him in a manner saying yes. Jakan closes his eyes slowly and rolls his eyes. He explains what transpired in more detail. Tyrelia and Fyregeld listen carefully.
I am more eager to hear their angle on what happened...

It is the day, where military force of Valerie here, finally goes into offensive. Jakan and I travel along with one of the heroes of the riven war, Kyrem, who is leading the cavalry archer battalion we are to be his eyes and ears of enemy movement. As we ride our horses, I wondered the source of Jakan happiness.
This time, it is different, this must have something to do with Jakan and one of the five heroes of riven war, Lankensy. They pressed their upper arms perpendicularly against each other, they chuckled to each other, then separated to get to their duties. I chose to not ask as it isn't important but, doesn't stop my curiosity.
We have reached our deployment position, I look at Kyrem, he nods to us. Commence reconnaissance, Jakan and I separate from the cavalry archer battalion to scout in peace. It took us a while to actually find undead formations within the area, but, even Jakan let out a coughing sigh from the sight of the numbers we are seeing.
'Winter's roar... If there is even one more formation like that... The cavalry battalions have a tough time... Something I should have expected but, mostly considered unlikely...' Jakan states mildly alarmed by the number of undead in the rectangular formation.
'Fyregeld would need to take part very early... Which is most likely going to be disadvantageous later?' Ask for a confirmation of what I suspect Jakan is thinking.
'Yes... Fyregeld most certainly will be needed in the fight...' Jakan replies still mildly astounded how large the formation is. We move on to continue scouting, but, this is bad news, I guessing both of us are suspecting that this formation's purpose is to alarm the town that they are going to be attacked very soon.
Unfortunately for us, there is a second formation that is just as large as the first one more to the south of south west of the town, while this one is to the south west of it. 'Great, just, bloody fantastic... I will have some choice words for the Valerian scouts, these are probably twice or even thrice the number of undead compared to what they reported...' Jakan says upset about the situation.
'And, these two are part of the three we are supposed to lure into attacking the cavalry... The Valerians are most certainly going to have a bad day...' Reply quietly to try to ease Jakan's mood. It does work...
'Right, let's go look for the third... Hopefully it won't be as big as this and the previous...' Jakan states calmly, remembering that we aren't supposed to take part in the fight against these, but, reports are almost certainly going to be ugly.
Third formation, behind the first formation we scouted is still big but, probably by a third smaller, still a risky fight but, not unwinnable. Jakan told me that best way to beat this one with the forces nearby, would be, that cavalry archers would jog past it while firing arrows into the formation from the rear and front, as the formation is fairly tight and there aren't enough shields.
The undead casualties would be high, the cavalry archers would only stay as long as to bait the enemy to charge them, which leaves them open to be charged by the Valerian cavalry battalion, under the command of Tyrelia, one of the heroes of riven war. It's going to be a nasty melee but, one that would be the most effective on completely destroying this formation.
Follow up maneuvers would be that the cavalry archers, once they are being pursued, will regroup to attack the large south western formation, while once the cavalry battalion has routed or utterly destroyed this small formation will attack the rear of the southern undead formation, to goad them to pursue them.
Once the cavalry archer battalion has begun the fall back, the cavalry battalion will follow. From there, it is following the plan. The plan discussed yesterday still can be done but, it is going to be a lot more uglier in terms of results than expected. We scouted little bit longer to make sure there aren't other formations nearby.
There is fourth, which we suspect to be a reserve formation for the assault, it is about as big as the third. There is a mistake with it's location however, that is good news for the cavalry archer battalion. They are too far away to assist the large south western formation. Jakan sighed from mild relief. 'Well, at least some kind of good news... Although, once the pursuit is initiated, they most likely will join the battle.' Jakan says to me.
'I agree, thankfully we aren't supposed to give battle assistance in these fights... We would both be sore from the exhaustion later today, or worse, grievously wounded.' Reply to Jakan, he nodded in agreement. Jakan then motioned to me with his head that, this is enough, time to report to battalions. Nodding in agreement we head back.We arrive as Kyrem and Tyrelia are talking with the squadron commanders. 'What are your reports?' Kyrem hails us as we approach.
'Relatively far away from the best news, unfortunately but, there is some good too.' Jakan states calmly knowing that what we have seen, is going bring up mixed feelings. Jakan debriefs all on scene, on what we have discovered.
Kyrem displayed some worry but, when we told about the secondary reserve formation's positional mistake. He began to think about the situation more intensily. Tyrelia also looked worried, she and the battalion under her command, have a work cut out for them...
All squadron commanders deemed the plan still doable but, they all agreed on the fact that, this is going to be a seriously tough skirmish. Now, they need to be quick, Tyrelia gave Jakan a flag pole and a flag for the second part of this operation. 'Anything you would like to say before we begin?' One of the cavalry squadron commanders ask from us.
'For life, for the people, for Valerie.' Jakan states in hardened tone, we must begin and see our parts done in this operation.
'For life, for the people, for Valerie. I agree.' Tyrelia say with high spirit.
'Time to do our duty, all of you ready?' Kyrem asks from all of us.'Yes, sir.' Jakan and I reply without hesitation nor fear. We departed to head towards the north west of the castle. Behind us, pace of the hooves of more than hundred horses began to jog. We will not see them for a while now.
As soon as we arrived to the area we should scout out for any possible formations that might try to take positions north west or west of the castle where the supposed surprise pitched battle is to happen. We begin scouting, for a while, all the way to the past mid day, we do not find any undead formations, they must have combined formations for the assault on the town.
Unfortunately for them, it was done way too early... And now, there is a massive gap in the area control, gap which armed forces of Valerie are now beginning to exploit. We don't know whether the cavalry battalions have made good on their promises at the moment but, unfortunately for the infantry battalions the gap is going to be closed soon.
And there will be a battle that is a hard one for the one Lankensy is leading. These undead formations we are seeing, two of them, are about same size and number as the reserve formations to the south and south west of the town. We will need to improvise, one of those reserve size formations would have been bad enough. As we were heading back.
We see smoke, quite thick and seems to be from the direction where Fyregeld was to be signaled to ignite a forest, which undead infantry would use to try catch up with the formation moving cavalry. Unfortunately for us, we do not know how much damage this has caused and, we, Lankensy and his infantry battalion have a big endeavor ahead of us.
Jakan is still staring at the formations, probably staring at the distance between them. 'We can take them.' Jakan states calmly, which baffled me so much so that I let out an audible what. 'We can take them, We will be outnumbered three to one but, I have a plan.' Jakan adds and shakes his two handed sword slightly.
'I don't think it is enough.' Reply to Jakan in unsure tone as, such numerical advantage is enough for every attacking force to destroy a defending force.
'We will improvise, I will tell you once we reach sir Lanksensy.' Jakan states confidently.
'Okay...' I say slightly shakily, unsure whether it is warrior heart of Jakan making him act stupidly, or soldier's mind that whatever is the adversity, we handle it together... We head to where we agreed to meet Lanksensy and the infantry battalion he is leading in this battle.
Jakan prepared the flag and the flag pole, attaches the flag on the pole, then began to wave it, as the undead formations came into an open ground. Both of soon heard roar from the sky, we looked to the direction and see Fyregeld diving to harass the rear of the second formation of undead behind us.
We continue riding our steeds to the rally point. We reach it in good time, Lankensy was waiting for us with Seirialia. 'Bad news, we will receive undead formation that outnumbers us three to one.' Jakan states immediately before dismounting, I follow him.Lankensy at first seemed quite eager to fight but, such odds sobered his expression. 'We can take them, Fyregeld is already harrassing the formation behind the first one from the rear, so there will be chaos which buys us time.' Jakan says, Lankensy frowns while Seirialia looked grim.
'Tell me you have a plan.' Lankensy says, sounding surprisingly content and a smirk appeared on his lips.
'Yes sir. I will use the runes on my blade to create walls to hide the true number of our forces and act as a small choke point for the infantry to hold, you divide your battalion to three detachments. The center will hold the choke point with all they have, while southern and northern detachments make sure we won't get flanked around the stone walls.
When they begin their attempt to flank, the south and north detachments will begin fighting advance to box in our opponents. Seirialia, your arcane mastery is required, take a high ground and, rain hell on the enemy masses that engage the infantry detachments.' Jakan explains the plan.
Jakan draws his plan on to the dirt with his mace as he speaks. The terrain we are at, most certainly favors us... From that high ground, to the north east, is a perfect place to begin. Lankensy motions the infantry commanders to approach. He briefs them on the plan Jakan has proposed.
'Jakan, this is going to get ugly, but, with this plan... The glory will be quite gorgeous.' Lankensy states as the infantry commanders nod that they will follow this plan.
'This will be an ugly battle but, we will win it. Volarie, I need you to provide me more arcane, if the battle does get bad, with your assistance I will break the ground beneath our foes, so they have to fight from a disadvantageous position.' Jakan says without a hint of worry in his voice.
'Would it be better that I would provide you the assistance Jakan?' Seirialia asks alarmed by proposal from Jakan to me.
'No, we need your skill in magic to disrupt undead and to make sure that they have will have difficult time on concentrating their forces to put pressure on any of the three infantry detachments. Volarie already knows how to do it, and we have done this couple times before.' Jakan replies in calm tone.
I do remember, they were small in scale but, with right amount of concentration, we can do even bigger one. I am still worried though... Seirialia has the better mastery of arcane, I do not have as much skill or energy as her and Jakan's own capacity for arcane is rather limited. The plan is good though...
'Alright, I am ready.' Say finally without hesitation, although, I have some in my heart...
'I will hold the center, Volarie, move with the northern detachment to the position, Jakan you do the same, but with the south. Seirialia, I think you should get into position.' Lankensy says calmly.
'Yes sir.' Jakan and I say.
'Alright, I will trust your judgment.' Seirialia says to Jakan.
'Lady, I will get it done.' Jakan states with serious tone and ready to do everything in his power to win this battle. She nods to Jakan trusting him and I to do our part.
Jakan used the runes on his blade to create the walls, while I went into the position. We began to wait, waiting, the most nerve wrecking part of his plan... Soon, undead were sighted and they immediately rush to engage the choke point, slightly dispersing to begin also go around the stone walls. North infantry detachment began to jog to close the flanks, I go with them.
The plan is so far working, undead began engaging all three points without concentrating to break out through one. Now, we wait again, I listen to the battle raging before me, every now and then look around to see if we are getting flanked. Then I saw big chunks of ice raining into the center of the open left side box, infantry have formed. Second reserve force has now entered the battle.
They also charged right in, this is the moment where Jakan and I, head to the rear of the undead, and break the ground they stand in. As we had practiced, I place my hand on Jakan's left shoulder and begin channeling my arcane energy into him, just as he began to grasp the earth with his hands and began casting an earth rupture spell.
I allowed Jakan to take the lead and just follow him. Spell is complete, and Jakan made a two handed fist, then brought it down onto the dirt in front of him. Like water that got hit by massive weight on it's surface earth ruptured upwards at the center of the box, flinging countless amount of undead into the air.
Soil and stone rained upon the mass of undead, causing further losses of undead infantry. We gaze upon what we caused, both of us spent in terms of arcane. 'It is not enough, the battle still favors them...' Jakan says angrily and looks like he wants to charge in.
'That is a suicide.' Say to him in serious tone. Jakan calms down and thinks.
'Now, we just have to fight hard... Fight your way through to the northern detachment, while I fight to the south. Kills as many as you can cause as much as chaos as possible, when you reach allies, tell them to begin pushing forward with all their might. Because this is it, either they or us, break first.' Jakan says clearly frustrated that it has come to this but, no other options.
We collide our swords and wish fortune to each other, we separated and begin skirmishing. After fighting a while, I reach Valerian infantry northern detachment. 'Push! Push! It is either us or them!' Shout as loud as possible. Their commander heard me, a moment of consideration flashes in his expression, it soon hardens into seriousness.
'Fight, fight, fight with all your might!' He roars and joins the battle. Northern detachment slowly, orderly, but, surely, began taking ground from the undead. I join the commander, who would have distrusted me but, here, in this moment, we are not enemies.
Soon, to the last skeleton, walking dead and fallen's end. The undead were slain, soldiers began collapsing from exhaustion. I hear horses running towards us, turning to look, it is Tyrelia's cavalry battalion, then I look opposite of me, spot Jakan on his knees and relying on his sword, looks more like he is just trying to catch his breath and relax. To my left, I see Lankensy at the center detachment, he also looks quite exhausted
.'Hail hero of the riven war... It is done...' Say with stamina that I still have as Tyrelia approaches us on her steed.
'By the light... How many have you slain?' Tyrelia says as she looks at the ground before the resting soldiers of northern detachment. I think a while...
'Twenty three...' Say still exhausted and look around, Seirialia has reached Lankensy, they embrace each other. Ground quaked a little as Fyregeld landed, he is completely fine, but, his expression tells of bewilderment.
'Fyregeld, we will need to screen for more undead that might head towards here. They need rest not another battle.' Tyrelia states looking at all of the Valerian soldiers who have taken part in this battle.
'I agree wholeheartedly lady Tyrelia. I would like to hear what happened here to have caused a battle of this scale.' Fyregeld says, still quite baffled by the amount of undead that has been slain.
After resting almost to the beginning of dusk. We begin moving back into the castle from the northern entrance. I join Jakan's company who is now feeling a lot better, still exhausted but, at least enough rested that we begin walking our steeds back into the castle. Seeing it better to not ruin the current atmosphere of victorious but, exhausted Valerian soldiers.
I have the intention on breaking the silence between Jakan and I but, then I heard somebody approaching us on a horse and some jogging. We turn to look, and they are Tyrelia, Lankensy and Seirialia. As Lankensy opened his mouth to say something, ground quaked a little and we were joined by Fyregeld.
'What are the reports of commanders Gonzil, Salgi and Tynzio?' Lankensy asks from Tyrelia.
'Only three out of twenty have suffered wounds, by the looks of your battalion, I estimate yours had it worse than them combined.' Tyrelia says in praising tone.
'We ended up having to fight two reserve formations of undead... Thanks to Jakan's plan... It probably would have ended up a whole lot worse.' Lankensy states in humble tone.
'Negative sir...' Jakan sighs out, unwilling to receive praise, not out of that it offends him. 'Real heroes of this battle are the soldiers marching behind us.' Jakan adds mildly worried he might have offended.
'True but, you do deserve some praise draconian... Thanks to your quick thinking, that probably would have turned out to be a victory as bad as defeat.' Lankensy says, mildly amused by Jakan behavior and smiles warmly.
'I would have charged into the center of the undead, if Volarie wouldn't have calmed me down...' Jakan replies keeping composure but, wanting to avoid praise. Curse you Jakan... Don't shove into the spot of light in a cave...
'I only told him, what I believed was on his mind, is a suicide.' Say the truth of the matter.
'Could you both, just stop avoiding our gratitude?' Tyrelia asks teasing us, probably figured out, why we are behaving in this manner.
'With all respect, lady Tyrelia... We are just trying to avoid taking too much praise. We fear that the soldiers wouldn't take it idly.' Jakan replies steadily.
'While I do understand reasoning, you shouldn't downplay your part in this, I believe the commanders would also make it clear to their men, that this was achieved with effort from everybody.' Fyregeld reasons, Jakan just exhales in begrudging manner, probably because what Fyregeld said, is true.
Even I can not find a way to weasel a way out from receiving gratitude from Valerians... 'Alright then...' Jakan replies in slightly defeated tone, declaring his intention to cease avoiding receiving gratitude.
'You are correct lord Fyregeld.' State in slightly defeated tone. Our intention is to maintain as high as possible morale among the Valerian soldiers, we can handle the influence of dark arcane in the air without issues, it is the effect on the soldiers we are most concerned about.
'How bad did it look? Lady Seirialia.' Jakan asks, it makes sense why he asked that. He only had the battle level awareness, while Seirialia had better awareness of the battle situation from the high ground.
'It looked quite bad, after your earth rupture, the battle still was in the favor of the undead, from my position, I could only do so little when I had cast spells that I could.' Seirialia replies smiles warmly, Jaka scoffs in tone telling of his discomfort, knowing that he was correct in his battle assessment in that moment.
'Can you explain the chain of events?' Fyregeld asks from me and Jakan. Jakan looked at me, asking that should we be truthful, I look at him in a manner saying yes. Jakan closes his eyes slowly and rolls his eyes. He explains what transpired in more detail. Tyrelia and Fyregeld listen carefully.
I am more eager to hear their angle on what happened...

This is a fairly long post, so please grab a drink and some popcorn before undertaking this odyssey
As title, I just want to find my forever person and create our own unique and beautiful life together; I want the whole thing: our own home, a long-term monogamous relationship and kids one day, hopefully a few dogs and a turtle too haha. I got out of a relationship ~6 months ago, and I've decided I want to look for my soulmate again. I miss the feeling of waking up and immediately sending a good morning text, and sending & receiving random memes and texts throughout the day. I want to look at my phone and feel my heart race and a smile emerge across my face just because I've seen a message from you. I am well aware of the likelihood (or I should say unlikelihood) of my future soulmate living within a few miles; I do not want to restrict myself so I'm very happy to accept messages from all over the world! As long as we can see each other on a somewhat regular basis (every few months at the very least) and we both have compatible future life plans, an LDR is absolutely okay with me.
About me:
I'd consider myself to be an endearing and nurturing person, and I just love to see the people around me, and hopefully you, happy. I love to make people smile and laugh, and this is something I want our relationship to be full of. I'm an avid, and shameless, appreciator of dad jokes and darker comedy, so I really hope you also like this. My love languages are definitely physical affection, quality time and words of affirmation, with the affection being the most important to me. I love the idea of sleeping in each others' arms all night long, holding hands whilst in public and more. I wouldn't say I have an ideal date, but I do love the idea of cuddling together under a blanket/duvet on the sofa, watching a silly movie while its snowing or raining outside. I'm also very mental health positive.
I'm quite nerdy, I am a STEM student (studying biology and hoping to progress into molecular genetics in postgrad, and hoping to complete a PhD some day) and I love the humanities, with a specific focus on history, psychology and philosophy. I have an insatiable curiosity for the world around us, and love to read and watch lectures & documentaries to better understand it. I could chew your ear off for hours talking about ancient history, the Enlightenment and why Raphael is the best Renaissance artist, and ninja mutant turtle :). I love to travel, which is definitely fueled by my love of history, and I've been to ~15 countries so far, and hoping to see Iceland, Rome, Egypt and Jordan this year too. My ideal relationship would have us travelling often together and creating a little scrapbook for us to annoy our neighbours, friends and family with haha. I love to try, emphasis on 'try', and touch my creative side every now and again - I play guitar and am in the process of writing an album (though procrastination is bettering me in this department), I like to paint with acrylics and oils, and I enjoy going to the theatre occasionally. I'm also trying to get more into movies, so please feel free to recommend any 'hidden gems' out there! I've never been to a festival, but it’s been on my bucket list for a very long time; hopefully we could go together?
I absolutely love travelling and I just want to explore everything the world has to offer; I’m even going to Iceland, Italy, Morocco and hopefully Egypt this year. I have literally a million trips planned (US/Canada roadtrip, Jordan & Egypt, Scandinavia, etc), I just want to share those experiences with someone important to me. I also love everything outdoorsy including hiking, swimming, kayaking (I did this for the first time last summer and I instantly fell in love), climbing, etc and enjoy most sports though I am terrible at all of them haha.
I also love music and painting, and I will likely play guitar whilst we are chatting. It’s not because I’m bored, it’s actually the opposite - I only really play guitar infront of/to people when I am in a really good mood, so hopefully you enjoy it. I have tried expanding my musical horizons by making myself listen to a new album every day, and let me give you a secret, Blur are goddamn terrible.
Physically, I am 191cm tall (6’3 I think?), I have blue eyes & brown hair that lightens in the sun, Caucasian & tans well in summer. I have very broad shoulders and strong legs from a lifetime of boxing & running. I don’t have any tattoos currently, but do have a few design ideas.
About You:
I’m looking for someone who also shares an insatiable curiosity for the world around us, and wants to explore it and experience everything it has to offer us. For a few years now, I’ve wanted to take a year or two out just travelling the world and seeing/experiencing as much of it as I can, and I have already planned the route for this. Ideally, I’d like to bring someone I really cared for with me. IMO, there's something strangely appealing and wonderful about the idea of living life in a different place each day with whole new experiences and people to meet. Where everything would be different in daily life, the only thing I want to keep the same would be you. I want your smile to be the last thing I see at night, and the first thing I wake up to. I also hope you’re in touch with your creative side. I absolutely don’t care if you’re good at art, but my ideal day would end with the both of us painting something stupid or gently playing music to each other.
I'd like for you to be family oriented; I've spent over half my life looking after children (I have 4 niblings, and they're exhausting haha, but I love them) and one of the many things I've learned is that I 100% want kids myself. I've spent an almost embarrassing amount of time (probably over a month in real time) daydreaming about my ideal future - our own home, that we've possibly built ourselves, filled with love and happiness. I want our kids to always feel safe and comfortable there, I want our home to be the centre of the community where all our friends and neighbours can come to if they need somewhere to stay or just want a chat. I want us to spend our entire lives together, through all the good and bad, but it'll all be okay because no matter what, it'll still be us falling asleep together with you in my arms. I want to wake up everyday with my first sight being your smile, for the rest of my life. I want to build this beautiful life with someone that also shares this dream.
I wouldn’t say appearance is important to me as I am looking for love and I don’t care what shape nor size that love comes in. I only want someone that has a complimentary personality to my own, and will tolerate my nerdiness haha. I don’t have any preference for location, age, weight, skin & hair colour, etc, though I listened to Van Morrison a lot as a kid, so you’re instantly at the front of the queue if you have brown eyes (I love the idea of my very own 'brown-eyed girl'). Also contradictory to this paragraph haha, tattoos and dyed hair (really anything considered slightly ‘alt), absolutely makes me weak at the knees. Also, I am a complete bum-man, where a simple flash of the skirt or a seductive sway whilst walking is enough to make me ravenous; I just thought that was useful to know.
I feel I should mention some potential dealbreakers as these have been important to others in the past - I am bisexual and have dated both men & women in the past; however, I am only looking for a woman right now. Also, I am strictly monogamous, and this is extremely unlikely to ever change, so please do not reply if you would like an open relationship or something similar in the future. Lastly, I don't think I'd like to live in the UK for the rest of my life, so hopefully you'd be happy to move to a country in Europe (maybe Germany, Scandinavia or Belgium) or the Anglosphere (I'd love to live in Australia or NZ at some point in my life - they both look just breathtaking).
Congratulations! You’ve made it through this absolute unit of an essay. If you’re interested in me/what you’ve read, or just want to ask some questions, or even looking for a new Minecraft mate, please reach out. I’m very much an open book, so I will answer any and all questions, thank you!

“Get the fuck out of my house with this ‘ old country’ shit Sylvia, I’m serious. “ I hear my dad say from the kitchen downstairs.
“I give children and idiots three warnings. That’s your first. “ It takes me a second to recognize my aunt’s voice. I’ve only met her a handful of times, and it’s nearly 2am.
“Syl, he’s right, this is crazy. I’m Roma, I’m proud, but your part of the family, and mine are two separate things. “ My mom interjects. Her voice is calm and level.
I woke up about half way through whatever is going on, and I’m fuzzy on the details, but everyone involved is three kinds of pissed.
“So you say, but just because you ignore the other side, doesn’t mean the other side ignores you. “ Aunt Syl replies, I could never quite place her accent, but it makes her statement all the more sinister.
“Might as well make that the family motto.
Syl, there are a couple dozen other kids Nikolas’ age in the family. Half of which are already hip deep in whatever is going on nowadays, you don’t need him. “ Mom isn’t pleading, but I can hear she’s worried.
“Why are we trying to reason with your crazy aunt? Time to go Syl. “ My dad isn’t worried, he’s angry.
“That’s two. “ Aunt Sylvia replies.
I hear a chair squeak then fall to the floor.
“That’s three. “ Sylvia says, her voice is cold, and I swear I could almost hear an echo.
I can hear my dad start to quietly cough, he sounds like he’s trying to talk but can’t. My heart starts to race, I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know it’s bad.
“Syl! Jesus Christ, that’s my husband. “ Mom sounds more offended than scared now. I wish I could say the same.
I stand next to my cracked door, fear beginning to take hold.
I can hear my dad start to take long wheezing breaths, I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing.
“Happy?
Now that any hope of doing this quietly is over, Nikolas and I have a long drive ahead of us. He’s 16, he has a license, yes? “ I hear Sylvia say, sudden footsteps walking up the stairs.
“No, he’s not interested in driving. You can’t take him Syl. “ my mom sounds frantic, Sylvia’s steps are measured and heavy.
“Not interested? You sure we are related? You raise soft children. “ Sylvia ends this with a dismissive laugh.
The few minutes that followed were kind of a blur, with my mom trying to convince me that I was just going to visit family, as if I didn’t just hear everything.
It's a couple hours into a long drive in a small car when my brain finally catches up to the fact that I’m awake, and going 30 miles an hour over the speed limit.
Aunt Syl sits in the driver’s seat, she’s 40 something, olive skinned with pitch-colored hair. Her style, it’s, something.
Her outfit was the middle of a Venn diagram of hippie, punk rock and carpenter. Bracelets, flannel, paisley, and enough piercings I lost count.
“Any chance of putting both hands on the wheel? “ I say, I’m mad, but I don’t even really know why.
She holds up her left arm, and I’m shocked. It’s an ancient looking blued steel prosthetic. She flexes, the clawed, almost mitten-like hand.
“Go through too many steering wheels that way. “ She says with a smirk.
“What’s going on? “ I ask, after an agonizing fifteen minutes of silence.
“You’re a big boy, so if you want the truth, I’ll give it to you. There’s a job that needs to be done, a dangerous job. And I want you to do it.
Now, I want you, not because you’re strong, or smart, or special. We have many strong, smart, special boys.
You, I want, because you’re unknown, and, little one, disposable. “ Sylvia lets this comment hang like rotten fruit.
The next hour goes in silence, at no point do I even entertain the notion this is some kind of joke. Something about this woman’s energy, about the way she carries herself, it scares the shit out of me.
We board a plane, somehow she had all of my travel documents. Even stranger is that we get escorted past the security checkpoints, into first class.
The next words I say to Sylvia are, “You have to put that out! “ as she lights up a short, yellow, hand-rolled cigarette.
She grins, taking a long drag, it smells horrible, the cheapest roughest tobacco odor I’ve encountered.
She relaxes, a cloud of thick, grey smoke forming.
I’m stunned, not a single person says anything. At first I think maybe she’s some kind of, I don’t know, mobster or something.
But that isn’t quite right. No one is looking at her in fear, no one is telling anyone else not to say anything. It’s like no one notices what she’s doing.
“How does she do this? The little boy wonders.
I don’t come offering you a thankless task Nik. I come with an opportunity. “ Sylvia says before crushing the cigarette on the arm of a chair and tossing it into the isle.
I had questions, and between the fear and the confusion I asked every one of them.
The only response she gave me was, “You’ll see when we get there. “.
She was right.
The flight lands, and after an hour or so of driving the world’s oldest pickup through the English countryside, we wind up at an old farm house, in the middle of nowhere outside of Hammersmith.
The sign outside says “ Gritt Auctions” the letters are old, bronze and tarnished, the grounds are littered with car parts, statues, and errata of every type.
Dozens, maybe even a hundred people mill about each stopping for a moment to give a suspicious look at the interloper in their midst.
Sylvia seems amused at my nervousness. I try and give the rough looking folks around me as much space as I can.
“They’re family, mostly, by blood or marriage, with a handful of lost souls and hangers on. “ She explains.
I probably should have guessed, seeing my mom’s family name on the sign, but my brain is basically nothing more than fear, anxiety and jet lag at this point.
“When do I get to know what’s going on? “ I say, waving at a cousin of some form and receive a uniquely English rude gesture in return.
My ear is ringing, and I stumble , the left side of my face burning. I’d say Syl slapped me, but it was more of a polite punch.
“Don’t whine. You’ve been stolen from your mother, treated like a dog, and judging by Robert’s attitude, rejected by your family.
I don’t want to hear whining, you angry, soft boy? “ Sylvia stops and turns toward me. I notice the people around us stop their tasks, interested in our conversation.
“No… “ I begin, not wanting to piss her off.
I don’t even see the next slap, but it puts me on my ass.
“Next one’s with the left hand.
Are you angry Nikolas? “ Sylvia looms over me like a raven.
I feel something before I get to my feet, a hot, quick flash of hatred. A context free rage at the fucked up situation I’m in.
“Answer is still no. Because to be angry, I’d have to know a God-Damned thing about what’s going on.
But my lunatic aunt just picked me up and now I’m standing in the middle of whatever the English equivalent to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family is.
For all I know, I’m your new King. So no, I’m not angry, I’m annoyed, and maybe a bit worried my gene pool really needs some chlorine. “ I’m shocked at what I’m saying, but I see some smiles, hear a few laughs.
Sylvia’s face seems to soften slightly.
“There’s the Gritt in you. “ She says, starting to walk to an old barn.
I catch up to her as I attempt in vain to dust myself off.
Sylvia opens a small, strangely modern looking door, inside a row of lights automatically flip on.
In contrast to the rotten wood exterior, the inside of the barn looks modern, design wise it’s half way between a hospital and a car repair shop. Equipment of unknown purpose, gurneys and cages of all sizes and types surround me.
Sylvia walks to a door at the back, then pauses.
“Before I open this door, you need to understand something.
There is no fortune telling, or reading of cards here. The cloak of the traveller, the bangles of the gypsy, these are all ways of navigating the world to us. Ways to exist on the fringes of society.
The Gritt family, we trade in the unknown. We find, we collect, and we sell. And ours is no petty collection of trinkets and tools not meant for the hands of man.
Our grift, is livestock. “
The woman opens the door, and what I see, sitting, chained in one corner of the industrial cement walled cell shakes everything I thought I knew about reality.
He's six and a half feet tall, his skin a waxy yellow, and every spare inch is festooned with black stitching, rusted pieces of metal or small splinters of bone.
His face is noseless and asymmetrical, almost as if repaired or modified over and over. One eye is a small, sinister looking orb with a red pupil, the other a massive, almost reptilian thing, wildly twitching about.
He wears no shirt, but a long, grey hide Trenchcoat hangs down to his knees. I start to shake as I see it’s made from layers of stitched human skin.
He sneers at us, long, conical teeth catch the harsh halogen light.
The thing strains against the chains, but they bind him tightly enough to the wall he can barely move.
“You’re not lasting more than 4 seconds kid. Just turn the fuck around. I’ll have you slitting your wrists in the corner by nightfall. “ The thing says, it’s voice is foul, almost a physical force. Grating, rage filled, and with a lunatic edge to it that makes me question exactly how much those chains can take.
“ 3/10, Augustus, who do you think you are scaring with that limp dick of a threat? “ Sylvia says, confidently walking up to the creature.
It snaps it’s jaws with a sound like a rifle shot. No where near Sylvia, but enough to make me jump on the other side of the room.
“If I could stop being threatened and hearing my aunt talk about dicks, I’d be a huge fan. “ I say, something deep within me, pushing past the fear and lack of sleep, “And if anything feels like just telling me what’s going on instead of being vague and creepy, even better. “
The chained thing looks to me, curious. Sylvia smirks.
“Augustus is going to be forced to fight others like him until eventually he gets what’s coming to him for years of evil.
You, are going to stand next to him while he does it. “ Sylvia begins to walk away from the thing, ignoring vile threats of both the violent and carnal variety.
I try to follow her out the door and she blocks me.
“If your still sane and alive in the morning, I was right. Good luck soft boy. “ She says before closing the heavy metal door.
Without her, I feel tiny, that spark of rage is snuffed out and replaced with a cold sense of dread.
“You’re going to have to turn around sometime kid. “ The chained creature says.
I turn, slowly, resolving to make eye contact with the thing. I manage a second or two before looking away, the creature cackles, mocking me.
“Holy shit, they sent me an honest to God pussy. Whole family full of void fucked apes and they send me you?
The best part is, you don’t even get it. I can see what you’re thinking kid, I can see that tiny collection of hormones and goo you vainly call a brain going into overdrive trying to figure this out… “ Augustus starts.
The creature kept going, I don’t have an exact count but it was at least twelve hours.
I can only describe it as a verbal assault. Augustus drew from some dark wells, how it knew half of the things it did scared me as much as it’s clawed hands or, piranha-like teeth.
I lost something that night. The fears that thing drug up, the insecurities it played on, the secrets it knew, it crushed any childlike notions of safety or understanding the world I had.
Don’t take that the wrong way, I don’t mean it toughened me up. It broke any sense of confidence I had, took away any feeling of safety. That God Damned thing in the trenchcoat, changed me.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve slept, but I’m brought a tin plate heaped with eggs, sausage and for some twisted reason, brown beans. And realize it’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten.
I sit around an abused, graffiti carved picnic table with an eclectic combination of family I’ve never met. Syl sips a tea I can smell from ten feet away and looks at me like I’m a used car.
“I’m always right soft boy. Remember that. “ She says.
It takes a half dozen guys built like construction workers, with Sylvia following behind whispering things that wilt vegetation, to wrangle the creature into the back of an old, reinforced horse trailer.
The inside is covered in totems, runes, and other spooky looking errata. The entity becomes sluggish and disoriented as the heavy wooden doors close, and get sealed with a massive brass lock.
My mind begins to wander on the three hour trip through the back country of the UK. The sun sets, and my brain screams for sleep. That scream is silenced by the sense of mounting dread as we get closer to our destination.
We pull up to an abandoned theme restaurant, the parking lot is full, the windows are boarded, and the walls covered in graffiti. The place is huge, more the size of a small stadium than a diner.
The parking lot is full, the sputtering, sparking neon sign flashes “Faron’s Funhouse. “
It’s a few minutes outside of a town I forgot to catch the name of. We can see lights on the horizon, but there’s a feeling of wrong surrounding the building that makes them seem a million miles away.
A half dozen ‘cousins’ of mine move Augustus into a strange, almost coffin-like box made of wood, steel and glass, covered in trinkets and symbols. The thing sneers groggily from within, it’s mismatched eyes rolling in it’s skull.
I don’t hear Sylvia approach, I notice her as she smacks me in the back of the head hard enough to make my ears ring. The old, cruel woman is walking toward the doors of this meeting place.
“Eyes forward, sneer on your face, and walk like you know where you’re going. “ Are her only instructions.
For once, they’re clear and simple. What I see inside easily keeps my attention, and I’m equal parts scared and pissed off, so looking edgy and miserable is my default state.
At one point, this place was exactly what you’d think. I know you’re all expecting it to be a run down, rat infested haunted house now, but it was, stranger than that.
The place was well kept on the inside, but everything was either in use or repurposed to house the couple hundred eclectic customers milling around. In the centre, is a massive Lucite Cube, crystal clear and housing a ball pit, jungle gym and what looks to be a functional canteen, complete with a deep fryer and popcorn machine. It’s a couple hundred meters a side, and shaped like a flawed rectangle.
Smoke hangs in the air, my aunt greets old friends in a handful of different languages, I smile and nod, still trying to understand what the hell this place is.
We see Augustus being wheeled to the Lucite box, Sylvia cuts a laughing Cyrillic conversation short, and her and I make our way to the box that barely restrains the hatred and death inside.
At the other end of the Lucite Cube I see a few people dressed in blue and maroon uniforms ( if I were to guess vintage, from when this place served shitty food instead of violence.), they surround a massive, hulking, lanky thing. It’s obscured by smoke, and poor lighting, but it’s nine foot frame, and unnatural gait are clear.
The box holding Augustus sits about ten feet away from me, inside the massive cage. The front opens, my instinct is to step backward, get as much distance between me and the thing inside as possible, but instead, I’m shoved, before I can catch my balance, a workbook clad foot is in front of me.
I fall and stumble into the cage, I turn around to try and get out as fast as I can, I’m standing inches away from the creature, but I see Sylvia closing the clear, impermeable door.
It hits me then. For the first time since this ordeal started, I realize how grim things are.
Just like everyone else here, I’ve been raised on spooky shit packaged to be marketable. Little monsters, The Adams Family, Harry potter, hell let’s throw Pokemon and the like in there as it’s basically just dog fighting with a cute hat on.
And I thought what was happening to me, was somewhere on the Venn diagram of those things.
But as I see the impassive look on the face of a woman I’ve known since I was a child, ( at a distance or no.) as I’m locked in here with God knows what, I get it. I really get it.
His laughter is like an ice pick, I turn to face him, Augustus brushes himself off, casually looking around the massive arena.
“Just hit ya didn’t it, bud? “ He says, walking over to me, his steps impossibly quick, almost insect-like, “You’re not my trainer, or my wrangler, you certainly aren’t my fucking partner. “, the entity grabs my chin between two clawed fingers, “ You’re a bait dog. Something for me and that new blooded walking pun to fight over. “
My blood runs down his thumb, his grin cracks his face like a rotten melon, the monster pulls down, throwing me to the floor.
A buzzer sounds, and a three minute timer, projected in transparent red appears on the walls of the Lucite arena.
“If I’ve got to hunt you down in this shit-hole, things are going to be a lot worse for you. Stay put, bud. “ The trenchcoat clad thing says, casually walking toward the creature on the opposite side of the arena.
Closer now, I see it clearly. Inside of a pristine uniform, is a twisted attempt at the human form. The torso is lumpen, asymmetrical, but lean. It's arms nearly drag on the floor, yellow, infected looking flesh, weeping pus like a snail’s foot.
It's eyes are black caves, with just the hint of something deep within. It’s face is blank, a torn, haggard looking grey tongue runs over rotting green teeth.
The kid beside it looks around my age, he’s big though, just as confused and afraid as I am. He wears a similar uniform to the creature, but his looks, abused, torn, blood stained. Like it's been handed down from one unlucky owner to the next.
As the buzzer rings, the lanky, disgusting creature moves in a flash, tearing off the kid’s right arm and beginning to chew it.
The blood didn’t set me off, as terrible as it was. It was the three seconds between the act, and the poor kid realizing what happened that pushed me over the edge.
He started to scream, a horrible trapped animal kind of noise. He backs away from the monster beside him, gripping the crushed and torn remains of his forearm.
Augustus laughs, his trenchcoat drags on the floor, leaving a streak of blood as he walks.
“Man after my own heart.
So, I say, we split these sides of beef for two minutes then talk shop for a bit. Fuck these pretentious apes and their show. “ Augustus looks up to the massive thing. It remains impassive, gnawing on the hand.
“Don’t be like that. We both know two halves are better than one whole . Win-win for both of us“ Augustus gets a noise that sounds like an angry sewer pipe, and a dismissive wave of a long snake-like arm in response.
The thing in the trenchcoat shrugs, turning around and stalking toward me.
“You have no luck at all kid, I was going to let you go last.
But the pinworm back there wants to be a dick about things, so looks like things are getting started early. “ Augustus grins, his mouth opening shark like.
I stare down certain death, Augustus radiating fear, seeming to become more demonic with each step toward me.
From behind him, a noise.
I would have just assumed it was some part of the worm-like, filth ridden thing eating. Augustus clears up that misconception.
He turns, shaking, body language that of a wild animal.
“Was that a fucking snicker? A giggle? Are you fucking laughing at me, you literal fucking worm. “ He’s panting, hands twitching like dying insects.
He stands, inches from the other creature, dwarfed by it, teeth grinding, muscles straining.
The worm thing casually tosses the flesh bare hand toward Augustus. As it touches his coat, the arena erupts into a kind of wild, senseless, limitless violence.
It doesn’t feel like watching a fight, it’s more like a car wreck, or natural disaster. Pieces of jungle gym turn into lethal shrapnel as the blurred, filth spewing scrum destroys them.
I see the timer, 2:15. My mind starts to catch up, and I see the other kid, pale, whimpering, and trying in vain to staunch the blood spurting from his arm.
I’m running, low and likely poorly, pulling my belt from my pants, and thanking myself for actually listening when I was forced to take a first aid course for a summer job last year.
The kid is scared, he tries pushing me away, but I’m determined, and not down a couple pints of blood. I pull the belt with two hands, pull it through again and twist, it’s ugly, it’s not perfect, but the flow of blood begins to slow, then stop.
We crawl behind a prize counter, decades old candy and stuffed animals surround us as we cower. A liquid filled roar loud enough to crack the cheap glass cases fills the room.
The kid is looking rough, blood still trickling from the torn stump of his forearm. I see some plastic bags and get an idea.
I lean over to get them, and feel something strange, at first I think I pulled a muscle.
Then there is a deep, burning pain, instinctively I pull away, and turn around.
The kid is on his knees, sanity has left his eyes, a cheap hunting knife in his remaining hand he has a look of panic and determination on his face.
“We have to win. “ he says, lunging at me with the blade.
He’s slow, and I avoid it, but not by as much as I’d like. Blood runs down my back, for a moment I wonder how bad I’m hurt, but it doesn’t really matter right now.
I retreat, but the only thing keeping us from being torn apart by the whirlwind of shrapnel caused by the creatures is the counter, I can’t escape.
It's a stalemate, I’m no athlete, and the kid is built like a rugby player, but he’s missing a hand, and delirious from blood loss. I plead, I try and reason, and I dodge crazed strikes by increasingly narrow margins.
Something large, either thrown or knocked loose destroys the counter behind me. Suddenly all is chaos. I’m thrown into the kid in the uniform, plaster dust surrounds us in a grey cloud.
By the time the air clears the kid is on top of me. I have his wrist in one hand, keeping the split tip of the blade inches from my face.
The angle is too awkward, I can’t get any leverage. It’s not a stalemate, it’s a war of attrition that I’m losing.
I catch a glimpse of the two creatures. The worm thing is striking at Augustus, who stands still, limbs moving in arcing blurs deflecting the blows and tearing off chunks of foul, tainted flesh.
The tip of the knife begins to dig into my cheek. A drop of blood hits my eye.
I grab the makeshift tourniquet with a free hand and roughly yank forward. The kid on top of me screams, bloods begins to pour. Torn flesh and a gore soaked belt hit the ground.
For a moment the weight on me eases up, and I push the knife forward. But the kid, he’s too stupid or far gone to just back off. As I feel is strength start to fade, he presses himself harder.
I expect him to back off as I begin to drive the roughly sharpened back edge of the knife into his neck. But he doubles down, leaning forward, trying to press the knife toward me.
For a moment, every other fucked up thing going on around me doesn’t matter. The world is small, silent, and consists of nothing more than the image of the knife ripping away a fist sized strip from the kids neck.
He backs off when he realizes the extent of the damage. Staring at me shocked, as if just not realizing the consequences of his actions.
He dies slowly, poorly, and within inches of me. I feel no victory, no sense of being a winner, just a dark pit in the back of my mind. The loss of something that comes with taking someone’s life.
I stand, shell shocked, staring at the corpse. My safety the last thing on my mind.
The worm thing is hurt, and attempts to dive into the ball pit, but somehow, defying physics, Augustus grabs it, holding the half ton monster out with one hand.
He arcs the thing, slamming it into the floor behind him, the spray of gore and viscera rivals pyrotechnics, the force leaves a blood filled crater in the floor.
Without missing a beat Augustus starts to walk toward me, making a token effort of flicking pieces of bone and organ from himself.
I’m frozen, I know nothing I can do could stop whatever he has planned.
The creature picks up a jagged piece of lumber, and looks at the clock, “We’ve got 45 seconds of fun left kid. “ he says with a sneer.
But as he passes the counter, and sees the corpse the look of imminent violence turns into amusement.
“How’s it feel to be a child killer, bud? “, Augustus laughs, “Not that I can’t tell from the look on your face.
Fuck me, that knocked some gears loose didn’t it? “
The thing walks forward, looking me over like a collectable.
“I can’t let that go to waste, now can I? “ he slaps me lightly, “It’s going to be a fucking blast watching you break down kid, wonder what drives you nuts first, this kid being in your dreams, or the fact that, at some point I’m going to get bored and start giving you all the pain you feel you deserve? “
Of course, I made it out alive. It’d be kind of hard to have posted this if I didn’t.
But now, I sit in a dingy room in a farm house half way across the world from home. Surrounded by family and monsters, all of which seem out to get me. Being forced to risk my life in some kind of blood sport.
Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I’ll be dead by the next time I get a chance to post anything. If anyone has any help, please, post it in the comments. I’m in a dark place here and no one else seems to be on my side.

“Get the fuck out of my house with this ‘ old country’ shit Sylvia, I’m serious. “ I hear my dad say from the kitchen downstairs.
“I give children and idiots three warnings. That’s your first. “ It takes me a second to recognize my aunt’s voice. I’ve only met her a handful of times, and it’s nearly 2am.
“Syl, he’s right, this is crazy. I’m Roma, I’m proud, but your part of the family, and mine are two separate things. “ My mom interjects. Her voice is calm and level.
I woke up about half way through whatever is going on, and I’m fuzzy on the details, but everyone involved is three kinds of pissed.
“So you say, but just because you ignore the other side, doesn’t mean the other side ignores you. “ Aunt Syl replies, I could never quite place her accent, but it makes her statement all the more sinister.
“Might as well make that the family motto.
Syl, there are a couple dozen other kids Nikolas’ age in the family. Half of which are already hip deep in whatever is going on nowadays, you don’t need him. “ Mom isn’t pleading, but I can hear she’s worried.
“Why are we trying to reason with your crazy aunt? Time to go Syl. “ My dad isn’t worried, he’s angry.
“That’s two. “ Aunt Sylvia replies.
I hear a chair squeak then fall to the floor.
“That’s three. “ Sylvia says, her voice is cold, and I swear I could almost hear an echo.
I can hear my dad start to quietly cough, he sounds like he’s trying to talk but can’t. My heart starts to race, I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know it’s bad.
“Syl! Jesus Christ, that’s my husband. “ Mom sounds more offended than scared now. I wish I could say the same.
I stand next to my cracked door, fear beginning to take hold.
I can hear my dad start to take long wheezing breaths, I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing.
“Happy?
Now that any hope of doing this quietly is over, Nikolas and I have a long drive ahead of us. He’s 16, he has a license, yes? “ I hear Sylvia say, sudden footsteps walking up the stairs.
“No, he’s not interested in driving. You can’t take him Syl. “ my mom sounds frantic, Sylvia’s steps are measured and heavy.
“Not interested? You sure we are related? You raise soft children. “ Sylvia ends this with a dismissive laugh.
The few minutes that followed were kind of a blur, with my mom trying to convince me that I was just going to visit family, as if I didn’t just hear everything.
It's a couple hours into a long drive in a small car when my brain finally catches up to the fact that I’m awake, and going 30 miles an hour over the speed limit.
Aunt Syl sits in the driver’s seat, she’s 40 something, olive skinned with pitch-colored hair. Her style, it’s, something.
Her outfit was the middle of a Venn diagram of hippie, punk rock and carpenter. Bracelets, flannel, paisley, and enough piercings I lost count.
“Any chance of putting both hands on the wheel? “ I say, I’m mad, but I don’t even really know why.
She holds up her left arm, and I’m shocked. It’s an ancient looking blued steel prosthetic. She flexes, the clawed, almost mitten-like hand.
“Go through too many steering wheels that way. “ She says with a smirk.
“What’s going on? “ I ask, after an agonizing fifteen minutes of silence.
“You’re a big boy, so if you want the truth, I’ll give it to you. There’s a job that needs to be done, a dangerous job. And I want you to do it.
Now, I want you, not because you’re strong, or smart, or special. We have many strong, smart, special boys.
You, I want, because you’re unknown, and, little one, disposable. “ Sylvia lets this comment hang like rotten fruit.
The next hour goes in silence, at no point do I even entertain the notion this is some kind of joke. Something about this woman’s energy, about the way she carries herself, it scares the shit out of me.
We board a plane, somehow she had all of my travel documents. Even stranger is that we get escorted past the security checkpoints, into first class.
The next words I say to Sylvia are, “You have to put that out! “ as she lights up a short, yellow, hand-rolled cigarette.
She grins, taking a long drag, it smells horrible, the cheapest roughest tobacco odor I’ve encountered.
She relaxes, a cloud of thick, grey smoke forming.
I’m stunned, not a single person says anything. At first I think maybe she’s some kind of, I don’t know, mobster or something.
But that isn’t quite right. No one is looking at her in fear, no one is telling anyone else not to say anything. It’s like no one notices what she’s doing.
“How does she do this? The little boy wonders.
I don’t come offering you a thankless task Nik. I come with an opportunity. “ Sylvia says before crushing the cigarette on the arm of a chair and tossing it into the isle.
I had questions, and between the fear and the confusion I asked every one of them.
The only response she gave me was, “You’ll see when we get there. “.
She was right.
The flight lands, and after an hour or so of driving the world’s oldest pickup through the English countryside, we wind up at an old farm house, in the middle of nowhere outside of Hammersmith.
The sign outside says “ Gritt Auctions” the letters are old, bronze and tarnished, the grounds are littered with car parts, statues, and errata of every type.
Dozens, maybe even a hundred people mill about each stopping for a moment to give a suspicious look at the interloper in their midst.
Sylvia seems amused at my nervousness. I try and give the rough looking folks around me as much space as I can.
“They’re family, mostly, by blood or marriage, with a handful of lost souls and hangers on. “ She explains.
I probably should have guessed, seeing my mom’s family name on the sign, but my brain is basically nothing more than fear, anxiety and jet lag at this point.
“When do I get to know what’s going on? “ I say, waving at a cousin of some form and receive a uniquely English rude gesture in return.
My ear is ringing, and I stumble , the left side of my face burning. I’d say Syl slapped me, but it was more of a polite punch.
“Don’t whine. You’ve been stolen from your mother, treated like a dog, and judging by Robert’s attitude, rejected by your family.
I don’t want to hear whining, you angry, soft boy? “ Sylvia stops and turns toward me. I notice the people around us stop their tasks, interested in our conversation.
“No… “ I begin, not wanting to piss her off.
I don’t even see the next slap, but it puts me on my ass.
“Next one’s with the left hand.
Are you angry Nikolas? “ Sylvia looms over me like a raven.
I feel something before I get to my feet, a hot, quick flash of hatred. A context free rage at the fucked up situation I’m in.
“Answer is still no. Because to be angry, I’d have to know a God-Damned thing about what’s going on.
But my lunatic aunt just picked me up and now I’m standing in the middle of whatever the English equivalent to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family is.
For all I know, I’m your new King. So no, I’m not angry, I’m annoyed, and maybe a bit worried my gene pool really needs some chlorine. “ I’m shocked at what I’m saying, but I see some smiles, hear a few laughs.
Sylvia’s face seems to soften slightly.
“There’s the Gritt in you. “ She says, starting to walk to an old barn.
I catch up to her as I attempt in vain to dust myself off.
Sylvia opens a small, strangely modern looking door, inside a row of lights automatically flip on.
In contrast to the rotten wood exterior, the inside of the barn looks modern, design wise it’s half way between a hospital and a car repair shop. Equipment of unknown purpose, gurneys and cages of all sizes and types surround me.
Sylvia walks to a door at the back, then pauses.
“Before I open this door, you need to understand something.
There is no fortune telling, or reading of cards here. The cloak of the traveller, the bangles of the gypsy, these are all ways of navigating the world to us. Ways to exist on the fringes of society.
The Gritt family, we trade in the unknown. We find, we collect, and we sell. And ours is no petty collection of trinkets and tools not meant for the hands of man.
Our grift, is livestock. “
The woman opens the door, and what I see, sitting, chained in one corner of the industrial cement walled cell shakes everything I thought I knew about reality.
He's six and a half feet tall, his skin a waxy yellow, and every spare inch is festooned with black stitching, rusted pieces of metal or small splinters of bone.
His face is noseless and asymmetrical, almost as if repaired or modified over and over. One eye is a small, sinister looking orb with a red pupil, the other a massive, almost reptilian thing, wildly twitching about.
He wears no shirt, but a long, grey hide Trenchcoat hangs down to his knees. I start to shake as I see it’s made from layers of stitched human skin.
He sneers at us, long, conical teeth catch the harsh halogen light.
The thing strains against the chains, but they bind him tightly enough to the wall he can barely move.
“You’re not lasting more than 4 seconds kid. Just turn the fuck around. I’ll have you slitting your wrists in the corner by nightfall. “ The thing says, it’s voice is foul, almost a physical force. Grating, rage filled, and with a lunatic edge to it that makes me question exactly how much those chains can take.
“ 3/10, Augustus, who do you think you are scaring with that limp dick of a threat? “ Sylvia says, confidently walking up to the creature.
It snaps it’s jaws with a sound like a rifle shot. No where near Sylvia, but enough to make me jump on the other side of the room.
“If I could stop being threatened and hearing my aunt talk about dicks, I’d be a huge fan. “ I say, something deep within me, pushing past the fear and lack of sleep, “And if anything feels like just telling me what’s going on instead of being vague and creepy, even better. “
The chained thing looks to me, curious. Sylvia smirks.
“Augustus is going to be forced to fight others like him until eventually he gets what’s coming to him for years of evil.
You, are going to stand next to him while he does it. “ Sylvia begins to walk away from the thing, ignoring vile threats of both the violent and carnal variety.
I try to follow her out the door and she blocks me.
“If your still sane and alive in the morning, I was right. Good luck soft boy. “ She says before closing the heavy metal door.
Without her, I feel tiny, that spark of rage is snuffed out and replaced with a cold sense of dread.
“You’re going to have to turn around sometime kid. “ The chained creature says.
I turn, slowly, resolving to make eye contact with the thing. I manage a second or two before looking away, the creature cackles, mocking me.
“Holy shit, they sent me an honest to God pussy. Whole family full of void fucked apes and they send me you?
The best part is, you don’t even get it. I can see what you’re thinking kid, I can see that tiny collection of hormones and goo you vainly call a brain going into overdrive trying to figure this out… “ Augustus starts.
The creature kept going, I don’t have an exact count but it was at least twelve hours.
I can only describe it as a verbal assault. Augustus drew from some dark wells, how it knew half of the things it did scared me as much as it’s clawed hands or, piranha-like teeth.
I lost something that night. The fears that thing drug up, the insecurities it played on, the secrets it knew, it crushed any childlike notions of safety or understanding the world I had.
Don’t take that the wrong way, I don’t mean it toughened me up. It broke any sense of confidence I had, took away any feeling of safety. That God Damned thing in the trenchcoat, changed me.
I’ve lost track of how long it’s been since I’ve slept, but I’m brought a tin plate heaped with eggs, sausage and for some twisted reason, brown beans. And realize it’s been at least a day since I’ve eaten.
I sit around an abused, graffiti carved picnic table with an eclectic combination of family I’ve never met. Syl sips a tea I can smell from ten feet away and looks at me like I’m a used car.
“I’m always right soft boy. Remember that. “ She says.
It takes a half dozen guys built like construction workers, with Sylvia following behind whispering things that wilt vegetation, to wrangle the creature into the back of an old, reinforced horse trailer.
The inside is covered in totems, runes, and other spooky looking errata. The entity becomes sluggish and disoriented as the heavy wooden doors close, and get sealed with a massive brass lock.
My mind begins to wander on the three hour trip through the back country of the UK. The sun sets, and my brain screams for sleep. That scream is silenced by the sense of mounting dread as we get closer to our destination.
We pull up to an abandoned theme restaurant, the parking lot is full, the windows are boarded, and the walls covered in graffiti. The place is huge, more the size of a small stadium than a diner.
The parking lot is full, the sputtering, sparking neon sign flashes “Faron’s Funhouse. “
It’s a few minutes outside of a town I forgot to catch the name of. We can see lights on the horizon, but there’s a feeling of wrong surrounding the building that makes them seem a million miles away.
A half dozen ‘cousins’ of mine move Augustus into a strange, almost coffin-like box made of wood, steel and glass, covered in trinkets and symbols. The thing sneers groggily from within, it’s mismatched eyes rolling in it’s skull.
I don’t hear Sylvia approach, I notice her as she smacks me in the back of the head hard enough to make my ears ring. The old, cruel woman is walking toward the doors of this meeting place.
“Eyes forward, sneer on your face, and walk like you know where you’re going. “ Are her only instructions.
For once, they’re clear and simple. What I see inside easily keeps my attention, and I’m equal parts scared and pissed off, so looking edgy and miserable is my default state.
At one point, this place was exactly what you’d think. I know you’re all expecting it to be a run down, rat infested haunted house now, but it was, stranger than that.
The place was well kept on the inside, but everything was either in use or repurposed to house the couple hundred eclectic customers milling around. In the centre, is a massive Lucite Cube, crystal clear and housing a ball pit, jungle gym and what looks to be a functional canteen, complete with a deep fryer and popcorn machine. It’s a couple hundred meters a side, and shaped like a flawed rectangle.
Smoke hangs in the air, my aunt greets old friends in a handful of different languages, I smile and nod, still trying to understand what the hell this place is.
We see Augustus being wheeled to the Lucite box, Sylvia cuts a laughing Cyrillic conversation short, and her and I make our way to the box that barely restrains the hatred and death inside.
At the other end of the Lucite Cube I see a few people dressed in blue and maroon uniforms ( if I were to guess vintage, from when this place served shitty food instead of violence.), they surround a massive, hulking, lanky thing. It’s obscured by smoke, and poor lighting, but it’s nine foot frame, and unnatural gait are clear.
The box holding Augustus sits about ten feet away from me, inside the massive cage. The front opens, my instinct is to step backward, get as much distance between me and the thing inside as possible, but instead, I’m shoved, before I can catch my balance, a workbook clad foot is in front of me.
I fall and stumble into the cage, I turn around to try and get out as fast as I can, I’m standing inches away from the creature, but I see Sylvia closing the clear, impermeable door.
It hits me then. For the first time since this ordeal started, I realize how grim things are.
Just like everyone else here, I’ve been raised on spooky shit packaged to be marketable. Little monsters, The Adams Family, Harry potter, hell let’s throw Pokemon and the like in there as it’s basically just dog fighting with a cute hat on.
And I thought what was happening to me, was somewhere on the Venn diagram of those things.
But as I see the impassive look on the face of a woman I’ve known since I was a child, ( at a distance or no.) as I’m locked in here with God knows what, I get it. I really get it.
His laughter is like an ice pick, I turn to face him, Augustus brushes himself off, casually looking around the massive arena.
“Just hit ya didn’t it, bud? “ He says, walking over to me, his steps impossibly quick, almost insect-like, “You’re not my trainer, or my wrangler, you certainly aren’t my fucking partner. “, the entity grabs my chin between two clawed fingers, “ You’re a bait dog. Something for me and that new blooded walking pun to fight over. “
My blood runs down his thumb, his grin cracks his face like a rotten melon, the monster pulls down, throwing me to the floor.
A buzzer sounds, and a three minute timer, projected in transparent red appears on the walls of the Lucite arena.
“If I’ve got to hunt you down in this shit-hole, things are going to be a lot worse for you. Stay put, bud. “ The trenchcoat clad thing says, casually walking toward the creature on the opposite side of the arena.
Closer now, I see it clearly. Inside of a pristine uniform, is a twisted attempt at the human form. The torso is lumpen, asymmetrical, but lean. It's arms nearly drag on the floor, yellow, infected looking flesh, weeping pus like a snail’s foot.
It's eyes are black caves, with just the hint of something deep within. It’s face is blank, a torn, haggard looking grey tongue runs over rotting green teeth.
The kid beside it looks around my age, he’s big though, just as confused and afraid as I am. He wears a similar uniform to the creature, but his looks, abused, torn, blood stained. Like it's been handed down from one unlucky owner to the next.
As the buzzer rings, the lanky, disgusting creature moves in a flash, tearing off the kid’s right arm and beginning to chew it.
The blood didn’t set me off, as terrible as it was. It was the three seconds between the act, and the poor kid realizing what happened that pushed me over the edge.
He started to scream, a horrible trapped animal kind of noise. He backs away from the monster beside him, gripping the crushed and torn remains of his forearm.
Augustus laughs, his trenchcoat drags on the floor, leaving a streak of blood as he walks.
“Man after my own heart.
So, I say, we split these sides of beef for two minutes then talk shop for a bit. Fuck these pretentious apes and their show. “ Augustus looks up to the massive thing. It remains impassive, gnawing on the hand.
“Don’t be like that. We both know two halves are better than one whole . Win-win for both of us“ Augustus gets a noise that sounds like an angry sewer pipe, and a dismissive wave of a long snake-like arm in response.
The thing in the trenchcoat shrugs, turning around and stalking toward me.
“You have no luck at all kid, I was going to let you go last.
But the pinworm back there wants to be a dick about things, so looks like things are getting started early. “ Augustus grins, his mouth opening shark like.
I stare down certain death, Augustus radiating fear, seeming to become more demonic with each step toward me.
From behind him, a noise.
I would have just assumed it was some part of the worm-like, filth ridden thing eating. Augustus clears up that misconception.
He turns, shaking, body language that of a wild animal.
“Was that a fucking snicker? A giggle? Are you fucking laughing at me, you literal fucking worm. “ He’s panting, hands twitching like dying insects.
He stands, inches from the other creature, dwarfed by it, teeth grinding, muscles straining.
The worm thing casually tosses the flesh bare hand toward Augustus. As it touches his coat, the arena erupts into a kind of wild, senseless, limitless violence.
It doesn’t feel like watching a fight, it’s more like a car wreck, or natural disaster. Pieces of jungle gym turn into lethal shrapnel as the blurred, filth spewing scrum destroys them.
I see the timer, 2:15. My mind starts to catch up, and I see the other kid, pale, whimpering, and trying in vain to staunch the blood spurting from his arm.
I’m running, low and likely poorly, pulling my belt from my pants, and thanking myself for actually listening when I was forced to take a first aid course for a summer job last year.
The kid is scared, he tries pushing me away, but I’m determined, and not down a couple pints of blood. I pull the belt with two hands, pull it through again and twist, it’s ugly, it’s not perfect, but the flow of blood begins to slow, then stop.
We crawl behind a prize counter, decades old candy and stuffed animals surround us as we cower. A liquid filled roar loud enough to crack the cheap glass cases fills the room.
The kid is looking rough, blood still trickling from the torn stump of his forearm. I see some plastic bags and get an idea.
I lean over to get them, and feel something strange, at first I think I pulled a muscle.
Then there is a deep, burning pain, instinctively I pull away, and turn around.
The kid is on his knees, sanity has left his eyes, a cheap hunting knife in his remaining hand he has a look of panic and determination on his face.
“We have to win. “ he says, lunging at me with the blade.
He’s slow, and I avoid it, but not by as much as I’d like. Blood runs down my back, for a moment I wonder how bad I’m hurt, but it doesn’t really matter right now.
I retreat, but the only thing keeping us from being torn apart by the whirlwind of shrapnel caused by the creatures is the counter, I can’t escape.
It's a stalemate, I’m no athlete, and the kid is built like a rugby player, but he’s missing a hand, and delirious from blood loss. I plead, I try and reason, and I dodge crazed strikes by increasingly narrow margins.
Something large, either thrown or knocked loose destroys the counter behind me. Suddenly all is chaos. I’m thrown into the kid in the uniform, plaster dust surrounds us in a grey cloud.
By the time the air clears the kid is on top of me. I have his wrist in one hand, keeping the split tip of the blade inches from my face.
The angle is too awkward, I can’t get any leverage. It’s not a stalemate, it’s a war of attrition that I’m losing.
I catch a glimpse of the two creatures. The worm thing is striking at Augustus, who stands still, limbs moving in arcing blurs deflecting the blows and tearing off chunks of foul, tainted flesh.
The tip of the knife begins to dig into my cheek. A drop of blood hits my eye.
I grab the makeshift tourniquet with a free hand and roughly yank forward. The kid on top of me screams, bloods begins to pour. Torn flesh and a gore soaked belt hit the ground.
For a moment the weight on me eases up, and I push the knife forward. But the kid, he’s too stupid or far gone to just back off. As I feel is strength start to fade, he presses himself harder.
I expect him to back off as I begin to drive the roughly sharpened back edge of the knife into his neck. But he doubles down, leaning forward, trying to press the knife toward me.
For a moment, every other fucked up thing going on around me doesn’t matter. The world is small, silent, and consists of nothing more than the image of the knife ripping away a fist sized strip from the kids neck.
He backs off when he realizes the extent of the damage. Staring at me shocked, as if just not realizing the consequences of his actions.
He dies slowly, poorly, and within inches of me. I feel no victory, no sense of being a winner, just a dark pit in the back of my mind. The loss of something that comes with taking someone’s life.
I stand, shell shocked, staring at the corpse. My safety the last thing on my mind.
The worm thing is hurt, and attempts to dive into the ball pit, but somehow, defying physics, Augustus grabs it, holding the half ton monster out with one hand.
He arcs the thing, slamming it into the floor behind him, the spray of gore and viscera rivals pyrotechnics, the force leaves a blood filled crater in the floor.
Without missing a beat Augustus starts to walk toward me, making a token effort of flicking pieces of bone and organ from himself.
I’m frozen, I know nothing I can do could stop whatever he has planned.
The creature picks up a jagged piece of lumber, and looks at the clock, “We’ve got 45 seconds of fun left kid. “ he says with a sneer.
But as he passes the counter, and sees the corpse the look of imminent violence turns into amusement.
“How’s it feel to be a child killer, bud? “, Augustus laughs, “Not that I can’t tell from the look on your face.
Fuck me, that knocked some gears loose didn’t it? “
The thing walks forward, looking me over like a collectable.
“I can’t let that go to waste, now can I? “ he slaps me lightly, “It’s going to be a fucking blast watching you break down kid, wonder what drives you nuts first, this kid being in your dreams, or the fact that, at some point I’m going to get bored and start giving you all the pain you feel you deserve? “
Of course, I made it out alive. It’d be kind of hard to have posted this if I didn’t.
But now, I sit in a dingy room in a farm house half way across the world from home. Surrounded by family and monsters, all of which seem out to get me. Being forced to risk my life in some kind of blood sport.
Maybe I’ll be back, maybe I’ll be dead by the next time I get a chance to post anything. If anyone has any help, please, post it in the comments. I’m in a dark place here and no one else seems to be on my side.

Calling all love and affection enthusiasts! Agent Twilight, hailing from the clandestine realm of SpyxFamily, embarks on a covert mission to unearth the perfect partner. If you possess the elusive blend of stealthy charm and wit, join forces with Agent Twilight for a romantic espionage adventure! Decode the secrets of our hearts together by applying within.
If you get the reference, I like you already! If you don't, that's okay but I definitely recommend watching SpyxFamily! It's an extremely cute and wholesome anime! On a serious note, falling in love sounds great right about now, okay but like when does it never? Let me go buy you your favorite flowers, get your favorite chocolates, and take you out on a cute, romantic date that will last for the whole day! I will take the time to plan everything out and if it goes great, maybe a second date too? Possibly fall madly in love with each other in the process? Sounds good with you? Bet, let's go!
I'm looking for a potential long-term partner to go on cute dates together, cozy up with some cuddles while we watch movies/shows and just be cute overall together! I'm hoping to meet someone who I can connect and vibe with! Down below is some stuff about me and what I'm looking for in a partner!
Here's a little about myself:

• Age: 23
• Height: 5'10"
• Sexuality: Straight
• Gender: Male
• Pronouns: He/Him
• Ethnicity: Chinese American
• Location: New York City
• Zodiac: Aries
• MBTI/Enneagram: ESFP-T & 2w3
• Religion: Agnostic
• Love Language: Quality Time & Physical Touch
• Occupation: Accountant
• Hobbies:
  • I love watching all kinds of shows and movies ranging from Netflix/Hulu/Disney+/HBO Max to kdramas and animes! I'm also a huge Star Wars, Harry Potter (I'm in the House of Hufflepuff), MCU, and Studio Ghibili fan too!
  • I'm a huge foodie! I love exploring all the restaurants and hidden spots in NYC especially to try out new places which includes dessert and boba spots too! My favorite foods usually start with Asian foods but I'm always open to trying new things! I’m also trying to learn how to cook as well, especially so I can meal prep meals for myself throughout the week.
  • I love exploring the city and chilling with friends, however I do like a balance going on adventures around the city/world and relaxing at home.
  • I do photography on the side. I specialize in doing portrait, food and film photography! If you'd like to see some of my work please don't hesitate to ask me!
  • I'm a gamer as well! I play games like Honkai Star Rail, Azur Lane, Nikke, LoL, TFT, Valorant, , Destiny 2, overwatch 2, Minecraft, etc. but I also own consoles such as the switch!
  • I really enjoy building different things especially Lego's, PC's and keyboards! If you want to see some pics or hear about my specs happy to talk about it! I have a massive lego collection plus plenty of unopened sets waiting to be built.
  • I’m not exactly sure if this is considered to be a hobby, but I really enjoy going to the gym. I’m not some gym rat or anything, but I am trying to lose weight and get fit so I do a mix of weightlifting and cardio whenever I go which is 5x a week haha. I’ve kept a very consistent M-F schedule for the past month and a half so far so I’m pretty happy about that.
  • I don’t really do a whole lot of this, but I however do want to make this a big part of my lifestyle which is having a better skincare routine. While I do have a very minimum skincare routine, I’d very much love to learn how to improve my skin and also fix the scarring and acne I already had. If you’re someone who knows and loves doing skincare, I’d very much love to learn from you!
  • I’m not sure if listening to music is considered a hobby, but I love listening to all kinds of music ranging from American pop modern to like kpop and jpop songs! I also really enjoy classical music too! Crazy enough I just started going to concerts last year, mainly because some of them were free for me (perks of my job) but they were super fun!

Here are some Fun Facts about me!

• I've never been out of the country before but I would love to travel more one day, especially around Asia like South Korea, China, & Japan!
• I was born on Friday the 13th!
• I played piano for about 14 years and plus I also know how to play 3 other instruments too! Can you guess what they are? Also crazy enough, I met this pianist who made song covers on youtube recently and not gonna lie, it blew my mind since i watched their videos years ago.
• I'm a pet owner! I have a dog and 4 cats.
• I know how to solve a 3x3 Rubik's cube and my fastest time was 28 seconds but that was ages ago.
• I really like to collect a lot of cute pins and stickers especially from anime or Asian theme things.
• I’ve met Eric Nam and Ronny Chieng, if you’re Asian, you’ll probably know who they are.
• This is more of a League/Valorant reference for those who play, but I have the Riot Buddy and Riot Fist Bump Ward.
• Personality wise, my friends would describe me as someone who is open-minded, wholesome, sweet, easy to talk to, outgoing, empathetic, trustworthy, etc. I will however let my actions speak for itself though! I'm a great listener as well so if you want to rant/ vent out I'm always here to listen! Honestly though I'm a pretty open person overall so you're always welcome to ask me any questions you wish to know!

Here is who and what I am looking for:

• Someone to build a genuine connection with who is willing to reciprocate the time, effort and energy, I'd put in.
• Someone who can be both a best friend and my partner.
• Someone who can grow together with me to become both a better individual but also better partners too.
• Has similar interests and values as I do! (We can discuss this more in depth later) but for example someone who values transparency, open communication, honesty, trust, loyalty, etc.
• Loves and enjoys voice/video chat - I really enjoy having my partner's presence even if we aren’t exactly talking.
• Enjoys the little things in life. Since my love language is quality time, I personally don’t expect to always do something grand whenever we’re together. I’m always more than happy to be doing grocery shopping together or even just run errands.
• Possibly a gym partner. It’d honestly be nice to have a gym partner as well to workout together.
• I'm a huge hopeless romantic and would love to meet someone who is also a hopeless romantic as well! I absolutely love doing all those cute and romantic couple things you'd always see on like Tik Tok, kdramas and/or romance shows/movies! You know things like , going on cute dates together whether that would be dates in the city or dates at home, exploring the city/ world together, trying new things together and overall just making everlasting fun cute memories together that will last a lifetime!

If you have gotten this far and you feel like we can vibe well or share some common interests please don't hesitate to hit me up! You can send me a message through reddit chat or DM's whichever you prefer. Before you do message me though please tell me about yourself and also include your ASL, favorite foods and ideal kind of date so I know you've read all of this! DO NOT message me with just "Hi", "Hey", "How are you" or any kind of low effort message. I will not bother answering your message if you do that. Also I am strictly looking for females, if you are a male, please do not bother messaging me. I can't wait to hear from you! I hope you have an amazing and wonderful day!

this is mainly to see if my idea has any merit, ive been sitting infront of white pages too long and dont know if its worth realy getting into writing these are my most finished parts because my ADHD has bounced back on them the most if you want more i can see about dropping what bits and pieces i have in the discussion
chapter 1: As Elise and Atlas navigated the dense forest, a sudden tearing noise sliced through the air, chilling them to the bone. Startled, Atlas grasped Elise's shoulder, his expression filled with curiosity. he suggested investigating the source of the disturbance. Pushing through the underbrush, they stumbled upon a peculiar tear in the fabric of space, revealing a group of otherworldly creatures.
One of the creatures emerged fully, its gaze fixating on the two children. With dread sinking in, Atlas acted swiftly, shoving Elise out of harm's way as the creature lunged towards them. The impact sent Atlas reeling, and he found himself being dragged towards the tear. Frozen in fear, Elise watched helplessly until a surge of determination coursed through her.
Ignoring her trembling hands, she seized her basket of berries, smashing it over the creature's back. In response, the creature turned its attention to her, striking her with a forceful blow. As Atlas regained his footing, he armed himself with a sickle, positioning himself defensively between Elise and the creature.
Their desperate struggle continued, with Atlas narrowly avoiding the creature's attacks. However, a moment of distraction proved costly as the creature struck Atlas, sending him crashing into a tree. Elise's cries pierced the chaos as she witnessed her brother's fall, her heart pounding with terror.
The creature, undeterred, focused its aggression on Elise, inflicting a devastating blow that fractured her leg. With a firm grip on her, it began dragging her towards the rift, leaving Atlas helpless to intervene. In his final moments of consciousness, Atlas glimpsed a glimmer of hope as an arrow pierced the creature's neck, and darkness descended upon him.
Saved by the hunters from their village, Elise and Atlas survived the harrowing encounter, the echoes of the tearing sound fading into the night, leaving behind a haunting reminder of the dangers lurking in the shadows.
chapter ?: As the fight against the mages raged on, Atlas could feel his body weakening. He had already taken down three of the giant ogre-like mages, but he could feel his magical reserves dwindling. Meanwhile, Elise was holding her own against her three opponents, but the mages were proving to be formidable adversaries.
Suddenly, one of the mages broke away from the fight and flew towards the party members, preparing a powerful magic artifact. Atlas knew that he had to act quickly, but he was blocked by the second mage, who used wind magic to throw him back towards Elise. But Elise was quick on her feet and used her own wind magic to redirect Atlas into the blind spot of the third mage.
Atlas took advantage of the situation and decapitated the third mage with his sword. But before he could make his way to the mage with the artifact, it had already activated. Atlas knew that he couldn't stop the attack, so he threw himself between the artifact and his party members.
As the attack hit, Atlas felt his body disintegrating. But he could hear a voice in the back of his head, urging him to get out of there. It was the voice of his sister, who had always been protective of him. But Atlas ignored her plea and instead imagined all of his strength flowing into her.
As he closed his eyes, he saw a dim golden aura surrounding him. The aura mixed with the red and black light from the attack, and Atlas's spirit absorbed the massive spell. He defied the laws of the universe and directed all of the power into one thought: "Elise better make it out of this alive."
In that moment, Atlas sacrificed himself for the sake of his party members and the world. But his spirit lived on, infused with all the love and compassion he had for his sister.
chapter ?: Elise walked slowly towards the pile of dust where her brother once stood. She kneeled down and reached out, picking up a small metal plate with an inscription from Atlas. "I saw death yesterday on my watch, I know I won't make it out of this fight," Elise read out loud, her voice breaking slightly. "I know you will hurt for a long time, but I don't want you to get lost. Become the pillar for the future, find a husband, and please carry on. I love you - Atlas."
Elise closed her eyes and held the metal plate close to her chest. Tears didn't come, but her heart felt shattered. She stood up in a daze and began walking with a blank expression, passing through the many battlefields that had taken the lives of her party members.
As she walked, a small gremlin monster suddenly jumped out and stabbed her in the shoulder, the point of the dagger poking out the Front, its tip glistening red. Elise turned slashed the creature's throat, still with the dagger lodged in her shoulder.
For three days and nights, Elise walked without stopping until she finally arrived at the capital, dagger still in her shoulder. The guards at the gate tried to stop her, but they froze up when they met her eyes and let her pass. Elise then made her way to the palace where the royal guards tried to stop her but also let her pass when they realized who she was.
Elise finally stood before the king and explained what had happened in the fight and how the others had fought honorably. Only after her audience with the king and when she returned to her and Atlas's room did she finally let her emotions out, falling to her knees and crying uncontrollably.
Days passed, and Elise didn't leave her room. She remained isolated, feeling the pain of losing her brother and the others. However, one day, she decided to leave the room and go for a walk around the city. As she walked, she heard someone calling her name.
its still a work in progress, my ADHD mind jumps from scene to scene without properly finishing any. the story focuses of Elise and Atlas as there world changes, the "main" world is like our medieval age knights kings and farmers and another world with the slight change that it has magic, and the creatures from that world studied magic instead of science and are now having issues with resources and land, instead of looking up to the stars and going to other planets they use magic to find another earth and are trying to invade it
all thats gets explained in 3 or so half finished chapters, but the main story is gona be Elise and Atlas learning to make use of the limited magic that seeps into their world when the rifts open and trying to stop the creatures from destroying their world, creating adventurer guilds and teaching magic/ how to fight these creatures, in a fight to defend the capital Atlas intercepts a massive spell, and through a way i have yet to properly explain grants his sister immortality,

I [M26], have suddenly been getting terribly itchy all over my body whenever I start getting hot (mainly during mild-moderate exercise, even including doing chores/cleaning/etc.). I don't have any official diagnoses, but from what I've researched, it seems to align mostly with cholinergic uticaria/miliaria. I don't really notice any physical/visual symptoms (bumps/rashes); there may be some mild redness, but it may just be from me scratching there. But the one thing that's not making sense is that it's coming out of no where/hasn't happened to me before.
The first time in my life I noticed this was last year when I was thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. In the beginning of the days when I would start hiking, I'd get itchy all over, but it would eventually subside within a half-hour or so, and it mostly went away after a month or so. After I finished the trail, it was fall/winter, and I would occasionally still get the itching whenever I'm inside being active/doing chores, but it wasn't that severe.
But its been getting WAY worse. Maybe it's due to warmer weather (I live in PA, USA). But its never been nearly this bad before. Whenever I get even remotely warm, I get intensely prickly/itchy all over.
This is probably unrelated, but I did (maybe still do) have some sort of fungal skin condition. It was slightly dark pigmentation in my groin region, but it's entirely asymptomatic. It's come and gone over the past years but it was never enough for me to go get it looked at.
M26, ~160 lbs, 5'8", Caucasian, NKA, 30mg Adderall/day (prescribed for ADHD), and occasional Kratom. Taking anti-histamines (pills/creams) may or may not help (I'm not really sure), but its still not enough for me to actually go outside and exercise/do the things I want to do. I used to play baseball with friends every week, but now I have to stay home because it would be unbearable.

chapter 1: As Elise and Atlas navigated the dense forest, a sudden tearing noise sliced through the air, chilling them to the bone. Startled, Atlas grasped Elise's shoulder, his expression filled with curiosity. he suggested investigating the source of the disturbance. Pushing through the underbrush, they stumbled upon a peculiar tear in the fabric of space, revealing a group of otherworldly creatures.
One of the creatures emerged fully, its gaze fixating on the two children. With dread sinking in, Atlas acted swiftly, shoving Elise out of harm's way as the creature lunged towards them. The impact sent Atlas reeling, and he found himself being dragged towards the tear. Frozen in fear, Elise watched helplessly until a surge of determination coursed through her.
Ignoring her trembling hands, she seized her basket of berries, smashing it over the creature's back. In response, the creature turned its attention to her, striking her with a forceful blow. As Atlas regained his footing, he armed himself with a sickle, positioning himself defensively between Elise and the creature.
Their desperate struggle continued, with Atlas narrowly avoiding the creature's attacks. However, a moment of distraction proved costly as the creature struck Atlas, sending him crashing into a tree. Elise's cries pierced the chaos as she witnessed her brother's fall, her heart pounding with terror.
The creature, undeterred, focused its aggression on Elise, inflicting a devastating blow that fractured her leg. With a firm grip on her, it began dragging her towards the rift, leaving Atlas helpless to intervene. In his final moments of consciousness, Atlas glimpsed a glimmer of hope as an arrow pierced the creature's neck, and darkness descended upon him.
Saved by the hunters from their village, Elise and Atlas survived the harrowing encounter, the echoes of the tearing sound fading into the night, leaving behind a haunting reminder of the dangers lurking in the shadows.
chapter ?: As the fight against the mages raged on, Atlas could feel his body weakening. He had already taken down three of the giant ogre-like mages, but he could feel his magical reserves dwindling. Meanwhile, Elise was holding her own against her three opponents, but the mages were proving to be formidable adversaries.
Suddenly, one of the mages broke away from the fight and flew towards the party members, preparing a powerful magic artifact. Atlas knew that he had to act quickly, but he was blocked by the second mage, who used wind magic to throw him back towards Elise. But Elise was quick on her feet and used her own wind magic to redirect Atlas into the blind spot of the third mage.
Atlas took advantage of the situation and decapitated the third mage with his sword. But before he could make his way to the mage with the artifact, it had already activated. Atlas knew that he couldn't stop the attack, so he threw himself between the artifact and his party members.
As the attack hit, Atlas felt his body disintegrating. But he could hear a voice in the back of his head, urging him to get out of there. It was the voice of his sister, who had always been protective of him. But Atlas ignored her plea and instead imagined all of his strength flowing into her.
As he closed his eyes, he saw a dim golden aura surrounding him. The aura mixed with the red and black light from the attack, and Atlas's spirit absorbed the massive spell. He defied the laws of the universe and directed all of the power into one thought: "Elise better make it out of this alive."
In that moment, Atlas sacrificed himself for the sake of his party members and the world. But his spirit lived on, infused with all the love and compassion he had for his sister.
chapter ?: Elise walked slowly towards the pile of dust where her brother once stood. She kneeled down and reached out, picking up a small metal plate with an inscription from Atlas. "I saw death yesterday on my watch, I know I won't make it out of this fight," Elise read out loud, her voice breaking slightly. "I know you will hurt for a long time, but I don't want you to get lost. Become the pillar for the future, find a husband, and please carry on. I love you - Atlas."
Elise closed her eyes and held the metal plate close to her chest. Tears didn't come, but her heart felt shattered. She stood up in a daze and began walking with a blank expression, passing through the many battlefields that had taken the lives of her party members.
As she walked, a small gremlin monster suddenly jumped out and stabbed her in the shoulder, the point of the dagger poking out the Front, its tip glistening red. Elise turned slashed the creature's throat, still with the dagger lodged in her shoulder.
For three days and nights, Elise walked without stopping until she finally arrived at the capital, dagger still in her shoulder. The guards at the gate tried to stop her, but they froze up when they met her eyes and let her pass. Elise then made her way to the palace where the royal guards tried to stop her but also let her pass when they realized who she was.
Elise finally stood before the king and explained what had happened in the fight and how the others had fought honorably. Only after her audience with the king and when she returned to her and Atlas's room did she finally let her emotions out, falling to her knees and crying uncontrollably.
Days passed, and Elise didn't leave her room. She remained isolated, feeling the pain of losing her brother and the others. However, one day, she decided to leave the room and go for a walk around the city. As she walked, she heard someone calling her name.
its still a work in progress, my ADHD mind jumping from scene to scene without properly finishing any the story focuses of Elise and Atlas as there world changes, the "main" world is like our medieval age knights kings and farmers and another world with the slight change that it has magic, and the creatures from that world studied magic instead of science and are now having issues with resources and land, instead of looking up to the stars and going to other planets they use magic to find another earth and are trying to invade it
all thats gets explained in 3 or so half finished chapters, but the main storys is gona be Elise and Atlas learning to make use of the limited magic that seeps into their world when the rifts open and trying to stop the creatures from destroying their world, creating adventurer guilds and teaching magic/ how to fight these creatures, in a fight to defend the capital Atlas intercepts a massive spell, and through a way i have yet to properly explain grants his sister immortality,

Hey guys I’m looking for some advice as a 21 (m) with 0 knee problems before this accident. Let’s rewind about a year ago!
I was wrestling with my buddy on hardwood (yes stupid idea but we are young and dumb) who is decently bigger than me. He lifted me up and accidentally dropped me, and I hit my knee on the hardwood (I think it was partially bent on the fall). I could not bend my knee backwards for around a week or so, but in that week I progressively got the rotation back (0 swelling). Although, I could bend it while sitting?
Fast forward to about 4 months later I started running decently heavily (around a few miles a day) and started noticing a pain in the middle of the knee, every step I took while bending it, about a mile in. I immediately stopped running for good.
Went to a reputable orthopedic doctor who told me (after doing some stretch tests with my knee) that nothing seemed off to him, but prescribed me PT (which I never, but should have went to).
As of today I notice: - when I walk it’s not stable bending like my healthy knee does. (Which kind of affects my balance). - if I try to lock it, it doesn’t bend all the way back like my healthy knee does. It seems to click from the back when attempting.
Obviously there are more symptoms like clicking, but I don’t want to start rambling on. Does anybody have any idea what type of injury this possibly could be?
Could knees over toes help me? I’m just so worried I’m doing more damage to my knee when trying to workout, or do simple PT. Hoping someone can relieve my worries a bit. Thank you so much for reading this.

Hello. Back in October my father had his left leg above the knee amputated. Due to misdiagnosed diabetis and possible arthritis or muscle shoetening (we cant get a straight answer from any doctor) my dads foot grew a black spot that hurt unbelievably. Got so bad they had to amputate but because of bad blood flow it had to be above knee.
The amputation healing failed. The cut line had completely undone and his bone was stick out a few inches. Went back in and got more taken off. This time with a pintose drain back in November.
The leg is healed this time. Problem is that the pain has not gone away and still very sore. If you look at the leg he has a lump on the side and when you touch it you can tell thats his bone.
It seems that his bone is sticking out of the side of the muscles and pushing on the skin. I don't know how to explain it past that. It seems like all the muscles heald to one side and left the bone sticking out.
I assume this is not normal and is there a way this is fixed? Has anyone experienced this? We have been having trouble to go see the surgeon for a follow up because his scooter tiped a month ago and had a bad fall breaking his hip on the right side.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.

This isn't intended to be critical or anything, but some advice from someone who has attended multiple accidents and administered first aid to head injuries.
The other day I assisted at a bike accident. The subject was lying prone, slightly to his side, in the middle of the road when I arrived, largely unresponsive. There were seven or so other people there. I called 911 while talking to the subject as he rapidly became responsive and it was apparent he hadn't broken any bones, nor was he bleeding badly. He insisted he was OK.
Most of the rest of the bystanders left at that point, which is only natural.
However, in the next few moments, after everyone had left, it became apparent that the subject had a pretty serious brain injury. Although he could remember his name, age, and other details, he could not remember where he was going, or what had happened. His short term memory was shot. He kept asking if he had been in a bike accident. This is all behaviour I have seen before in head injuries.
It was obvious he had hit is head; no injuries on the palms or forearms from trying to brake his fall, deep scratches on an old-school "hockey style" bike helmet, and a bump/minor abrasion on his head in the approximate location of the scratches.
I stayed with him for the 20 minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive.
The advice:

• Concussion/brain injuries might not leave a wound
• Just because someone says they are OK, it does not mean they are OK
• If you see the mechanism of injury (hit his head), report it to the 911 dispatcher
• You need to stay with the person until an ambulance arrives. A brain bleed could easily progress to unconsciousness, something that happened at another incident I attended in 2022.

Thanks to the paramedics who worked hard to get his heavy, awkward EBike into the ambulance with him. I hope the gentleman is OK, concussions can be life altering injuries.

I [M26], have suddenly been getting terribly itchy all over my body whenever I start getting hot (mainly during mild-moderate exercise, even including doing chores/cleaning/etc.). I don't have any official diagnoses, but from what I've researched, it seems to align mostly with cholinergic uticaria/miliaria. I don't really notice any physical/visual symptoms (bumps/rashes); there may be some mild redness, but it may just be from me scratching there. But the one thing that's not making sense is that it's coming out of no where/hasn't happened to me before.
The first time in my life I noticed this was last year when I was thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. In the beginning of the days when I would start hiking, I'd get itchy all over, but it would eventually subside within a half-hour or so, and it mostly went away after a month or so. After I finished the trail, it was fall/winter, and I would occasionally still get the itching whenever I'm inside being active/doing chores, but it wasn't that severe.
But its been getting WAY worse. Maybe it's due to warmer weather (I live in PA, USA). But its never been nearly this bad before. Whenever I get even remotely warm, I get intensely prickly/itchy all over.
This is probably unrelated, but I did (maybe still do) have some sort of fungal skin condition. It was slightly dark pigmentation in my groin region, but it's entirely asymptomatic. It's come and gone over the past years but it was never enough for me to go get it looked at.
M26, ~160 lbs, 5'8", Caucasian, NKA, 30mg Adderall/day (prescribed for ADHD), occasional Kratom, and Fluticasone 50mcg spray. Taking anti-histamines (pills/creams) may or may not help (I'm not really sure), but its still not enough for me to actually go outside and exercise/do the things I want to do. I used to play baseball with friends every week, but now I have to stay home because it would be unbearable.

how old are you? what’s your gender? give us a general description of yourself.
I am 24. I am a woman. I am single, lesbian and currently rewatching YellowJackets.
is there a medical diagnosis that impacts you mentally?
i have CPTSD and am autistic. i also have fibromyalgia which impacts energy levels.
describe your upbringing. did you have religious structuring and how did you react to it?
abusive childhood. i was forced to go to church, i believed for a while until it got intense and i rebelled against everything. i didn’t have many friends, and even less ‘good’ friends (that’s thankfully changed).
what do you do as a job? do you like it? why or why not.
I work in a pharmacy putting peoples meds through and dispensing items and giving them over to the patients. I like it because it’s interesting, I love learning about meds. I don’t like the stress and clique-ness of the staff there sometimes.
if you had to spend an entire weekend alone how would you feel? would you feel lonely or refreshed?
i’d feel fine but i do get lonely. i would feel really refreshed especially if i got to just stay in bed all day lol.
what is your relation with movement and your surroundings? do you like sport or outdoor activities? why? what other activities do you engage in?
i like martial arts and yoga. i don’t like being outside as it can be too overwhelming. i write, draw and journal. I play a lot of animal crossing.
how curious are you? do you have more ideas than you execute? what are your curiosities about? are they environmental or conceptual?
i’d say im 50% curious. I find some things REALLY interesting and will research for hours and days, but it’s hard to find those interests. they are definitely more conceptual, i have a big fascination with therapy / psychology (i studied it in college).
would you enjoy taking on a leadership position? do you think you’d be good at it? what would your leadership style be like?
i do not, though i do when nothing seems to be getting done. i am quite blunt and authoritative probably - efficiency and accuracy is most important to me. I don’t want to be gently guiding people, because, I’d assume they are as competent as I am and so should be able to do what needs to be done.
are you coordinated? why do you feel you are/not? do you enjoy working with your hands in some form? describe your activity.
I like working with my hands, but that might be an autism thing. I like figuring out physical puzzles / fixing things. But overall I am not very coordinated - i can’t even count the amount of bruises i have from falling and bumping into things.
are you artistic? if yes, describe your art. explain your answer.
relatively. my art is usually self expression based. i haven’t done any in many many months.
what’s your opinions on the past, present and future? how do you deal with them?
past - it haunts me lol. but what’s done is done and i can’t worry it into change. present - we are certainly in it. i will do what i can to make it comfortable. future - i have extremely loose plans for it, i know what i want but i don’t know how to get there & it stresses me out.
how do you act when others request your help? if you’d decide to help them, why?
i pretty much always help them, because it is the right thing to do. if i am physically or mentally able to do something for someone, why wouldn’t i?
do you need logical consistency in your life?
yes. i don’t like change
how important is efficiency and productivity to you?
it’s important, as i stated before. I want things to be sorted now rather than later.
do you control others, directly or indirectly? how and why do you do that?
… i guess i sometimes try. i offer suggestions, and if they take them up its great and if not i get frustrated and confused. i don’t see how they cant see the logic behind my answers. i do it to save them from pain or wasting time/money/resources.
what are your hobbies? why do you like them?
atm chess, i like it because it makes me think about something thats not my sad thoughts. i like watching crime shows, surrealist shows etc. something to get me thinking of Anything Else. I listen to a LOT of music and spend a lot of time thinking about fashion and aesthetics.
what is your learning style? what learning styles do you thrive in and which ones are difficult for you?
i need to incorporate pretty much all styles to really process things. visual & manual learning is probably the easiest for me, and verbal instructions etc are the hardest.
how good are you at strategising? do you plan things or wing them?
wing them, usually. i do little plans but they always get ruined so i don’t like to get my hopes up. i know what i want and i push towards that in a very straight line, despite distractions.
what’s important to you and why?
not being a burden on others. i want to be self sufficient more than anything. my friends wellbeing(s) are really important to me too.
what are your aspirations?
I want to succeed in my career, I want to progress and become a pharmacy technician. I want to be able to drive. I want to move away from the small village to a slightly bigger town / small city.
what are your fears? what makes you uncomfortable? what do you hate? why?
i hate being misunderstood that id say its a fear of mine. other than that, i am scared of not being able to care for myself & having to rely on others etc.
what do the highs in your life look like?
moving to my own place (with my friend), getting the qualification to progress at work, the progress i am making in therapy, being more honest with myself and others.
what do the lows in your life look like?
when my mind is whirring too much and i lose a sense of who i am.
how attached are you to reality? do you daydream often? if you daydream, are you aware of your surroundings?
i don’t daydream too much. i have internal discussions / chats with people lol, but i am pretty much always aware of my surroundings. as long as i am awake i am extremely aware of my physical body.
imagine you are alone in a blank empty room, there is nothing to do and no one to talk to. what do you think about?
i’d probably have one of the internal chats, usually with my therapist or a close friend. sometimes ill imagine telling people things i would never irl. i guess if i was alone in that room that’s what i would resort to doing (while flapping my arms around and playing with my hair for some sensory stimulation)
how long does it take you to make an important decision? do you ever change your mind once you’ve decided?
i make it really fast, usually. i don’t like to feel stressed with a decision so i go for an option as quickly as possible. i do change my mind and i am not afraid to say that. i have cancelled things i booked. i have regrets about things i have gone through with etc.
how long do you take to process your emotions? how important are emotions in your life?
i take a very very very long time to process my emotions. they kind of rule over certain parts of my life in ways i can’t comprehend. they ‘ruin’ things a lot.
do you ever catch yourself agreeing with someone just to appease them? how often? why?
yeah sometimes. usually because i can’t be bothered to argue, especially if i think they are not going to understand my pov. this is fairly rare, usually id disagree or just ignore what had been said.
do you break the rules often? do you think authority should be challenged? if you do break rules, why do you?
sure, on occasion. and yes authority should definitely be challenged because a lot of the time it’s just a bunch of egomaniacs playing barbaric games with the rest of us. i break rules because i don’t agree with them and think they are ridiculous or dumb.
what is the ideal life, in your opinion ?
The ideal life would be one where I can push myself mentally and physically but with a lot of time to take breaks when i need to. i want to be left alone but also supported. really i just want life to be gentle and quiet with room for exploration and fun.

Hi, guys my name is Sahill, and I'm 23M (so no minors) sorry for the repost, I'm just really bored, and impatient, and don't want to bother my partners since they might be busy/asleep, my phone is drier than the Sahara Desert and I came up with another idea
I'm really sick of roleplaying with character AI (don't judge me lmao) So I thought why not make a post with some plots that I came up with over the years? Anyways here they are
I was a trauma surgeon who became a cop because he was bored of standing at an operating table. Your character is also a surgeon I would see her every once in a while before I quit that job but never had the chance to talk to you due to being busy. One day we meet when one of my prisoners gets hurt and I have to watch him and we just take it from there!
I’m an ex-military officer with a bad case of PTSD from being deployed and you’re a psychologist who works in the same office my therapist does (it's kinda unethical but whatever 😭)
Your character is a fancy city girl who never worked a day in her life due to her parents having money while my character is a farmer and a mechanic who knows how hard it is to earn money. And we meet when you are forced to move out of the city and into the countryside to help take care of your grandma. While walking to her house you spot me working on my farm and think to yourself “I’ve seen that person before but where…” When you reach your grandma's house, she says something about the Henderson boy(me) being single. You had a crush on me back in high school but you got over it after we graduated. You roll your eyes because she teases you about me. Then you bump into me dropping all of your stuff (I know I know it’s cliche but it’s still good 😭) you get kind of miffed because I made you spill your coffee all over your new expensive shirt or something. You recognize me from earlier and connect the dots. I recognize you from high school, apologize, and ask to grab some coffee so we can catch up and that’s how we continue the plot!
**THE NEW PLOT** Victorious but without the weird stuff that Dan added and mature stuff(possible trigger warning for depression/panic attacks and abuse). Basically, our characters are musically inclined and you find me singing at a restaurant for some money. Your character walks up to me after the show because she wonders why she hasn't seen me at the school for the musically gifted. I would explain that I couldn't afford it due to being homeless since I ran away from my abusive parents. I continue to explain that I'm too busy paying for my expensive medication (Idk if I want to include this because some people have a problem with a disabled character so this trait is optional) and I can't save what I earn since everything goes to food and other things. You feel bad and take me under your wing and ask your parents (they are rich music producers) to see me if they'd be willing to pay for the school fees for me. You get them to see me perform, they are impressed, pay for my schooling alongside yours.
People make fun of me for being poor and you buy me new clothes. I start catching feelings but think that you'll never go for a poor disabled if it's okay with you ofc) guy like me so I hide my feelings. You start dating an abusive prick who reminds me of my dad. I see him being a prick grabbing your arm, and yelling at you. And you realize Ohh shit this guy is insane", I come running up to you guys and promptly sock him in the face. I start rambling on and on about how you deserve better, you shut me up by kissing me on the lips and looking into my big deep blue eyes and you confess how you developed feelings for me too but never knew what they were until now. Anyways after we graduate high school they line up a bunch of auditions and gigs. After we get famous my dad recognizes me from one of my music videos and finds me thinking I owe him. This causes me to have a panic attack (lose all my progress in therapy) and I slam the door on his face. He gets mad and gets aggressive, I call security to take him away from our mansion/penthouse. I end up being really screwed up and turning to harmful habits like not showing up to the recording studios and becoming really depressed (not eating and other things if you're okay with it) your character gets really worried and tries to make me attend remote therapy sessions, your character is really supportive of my character since she knows how my dad treated me. She eventually gets me out of the depressive phase years later. My dad comes back to try and ask for money again, but he comes when you're home and you confront (telling him that he's a shitty person and how I just got better from the interaction one year ago and kick him out by security and yeah this plot is getting too long lmao
if you don't like any of these plots we can come up with one together in DMs (to plan) then move to Discord to actually roleplay! Since discord is better in my opinion
I don't want minors or dry roleplayers who take forever to respond (I understand people are busy but please communicate) or people who leave after making character bios and a couple of responses. oh yeah I'm located on the East Coast and am online pretty much all the time since I'm only taking one college class atm
Here is a couple of my writing samples
This is a starter that I wrote for the surgeon and police plot "I'd be running as I look down at my pager and she’d be running in the opposite direction holding patient charts and her coffee mug we bump into each other causing everything to fall on each other Shit my bad… starts picking up her papers which have flung off the clipboard from the force of us bumping into each other i look up with my big ocean blue eyes and smile as I hand over the papers that dropped from the clipboard as I develop a minor crush on this woman I'm about to introduce myself when my coworker grabs me and starts pulling me to the patient *I yell as he pulls me away: hi I'm Julian nice to meet y-*he yanks me so hard that I almost fall over* OU! WHOA! regains balance and runs away with the coworker" (this is a starter I wrote for the Police and surgeon roleplay)
This is a starter that I wrote for the victorious plot (disability version)
standing on the stage of the crowded resturant trying to hide my struggle since I'm not using my crutches because I dont want to be paid out of sympathy I'm singing my heart out to cars outside by james author since a customer requested it at a bustling cafe type resturant on a friday night has a deep but calming in pitch voice the audiance is listening and talking amongst themselves about me and other stuff all I'm focused on is singing the lyrics the best I can so I get tipped and am able to pay for my food/medicine
she walks into the resturant and notices me singing wonderfully
This is a starter for the military and psychologist plot:
“I pull into the disabled parking spot and sigh well... opens the door and groans as getting out using forarm crutches time to go to my first therapy session! Yay me! rolls eyes as I mumble sarcastically to myself I shut the door and lock my porshe hobbles inside the building and goes into the elevator pushes the button and gets off at the 2nd floor hobbles to the therapists (where Dr. Alina Berkeley also works) waiting room opens door and hobbles to the front desk to check in Hi I'm here to see therapists name this is my first session with her”
Add me if you think we are compatible I’m tired of people unadding me after a couple of responses.
DM's are always open!

Daily Modifiers

Vanguard Ops

• Grenadier: Grenade abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.

Dares of Eternity

• Keep It Loaded: Guardians deal increased damage with Sidearms.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Onslaught: Playlist

• Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Riven's Lair

• Mettle: Power Level: All combatants in this activity will be at least 5 points over the player's current Power level.
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Grounded: Damage taken while you are airborne is greatly increased.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Solar Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Solar damage.

The Coil

• The Coil Rules: Successfully complete four pathways inside Riven's Lair. Escalating Difficulty: Player's Power levels are fixed. Starting at 0 each subsequent pathway increases all combatants' Power level over the player's by 5. Wishing Glass: Wishing Glass is an in-activity currency. They drop from combatants, Glass Collectors, and pots. Wishing Glass comes in multiple rarities equating to their worth. Wishing Glass is used to purchase Dragon's Gifts from Riven. Dragon's Gifts: A set of buffs are randomly chosen, once per run. Between pathways, players can purchase buffs from Riven via Wishing Glass. Buffs are separated into three price point tiers. Rewards: After each pathway, players will return to Riven for their rewards. Subsequent pathways pay out better rewards. Breaking through score thresholds unlock secret chests. Finishing The Coil with a platinum score rewards players with access to the lustrous and lucrative Chamber of Wishes.
• Multiplicity: Combatant difficulty scales with fireteam size.
• Limited Revives: Limited fireteam revives. Purchase additional revives from Riven with Wishing Glass. Small chance to drop from destroying pots.
• Full Extinguish: If all your fireteam members fall with 0 Revive Tokens, everyone is returned to orbit.
• Attrition: Regeneration is greatly impaired. Defeating enemies may create wells of Light.
• Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
• The Pathways: Riven's wish magic stirs. The following are the pathways and their order in The Coil: -Divining Hall -First Steps (Temple of the Queen's Wrath) -Sensorium (Reaver's Orison) -First Steps (Cell of the Sycophant)
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Denial: Taken Vandals summon their shields significantly more often.
• Overcharged Sniper Rifle: 25% bonus to Sniper Rifle damage.
• Overcharged Machine Gun: 25% bonus to Machine Gun damage.

Seasonal

Legend/Master Lost Sector

Exotic armor drop (if solo): Chest

Skydock IV: Legend

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Stagger] Unstoppable
• Threat: [Solar] Solar
• Shields: [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Pestilence

Skydock IV: Master

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Stagger] Unstoppable
• Threat: [Solar] Solar
• Shields: [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Pestilence

Misc

• Terminal Overload: Límíng Harbor Weapon: Synchronic Roulette (Submachine Gun)
• The Wellspring: Attack Weapon: Come to Pass (Auto Rifle)
• Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Heretic (Rocket Launcher)

Guns & Materials

Banshee's Featured Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Masterwork
Timelines' Vertex	Energy Fusion Rifle	Impulse MS3 // Jolt PS	Ionized Battery // Liquid Coils	Lead from Gold	Snapshot Sights	Tier 2: Charge Time
Vulpecula	Kinetic Hand Cannon	Extended Barrel // Fluted Barrel	Tactical Mag // Flared Magwell	Tunnel Vision	Harmony	Tier 2: Reload Speed
Bump in the Night	Heavy Rocket Launcher	Countermass // Hard Launch	Alloy Casing // Black Powder	Stats for All	Vorpal Weapon
Lunulata-4b	Kinetic Combat Bow	Agile Bowstring // High Tension String	Compact Arrow Shaft // Helical Fletching	No Distractions	Headstone	Tier 3: Stability
Disparity	Kinetic Pulse Rifle	Fluted Barrel // Smallbore	Accurized Rounds // Appended Mag	Pugilist	Headstone	Tier 2: Stability

Note: Fixed perks on weapons are not displayed

Master Rahool's Material Exchange

• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Legendary Shards)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Dark Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Phantasmal Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 25 Herealways Piece)
• Enhancement Prism (1 for 10 Enhancement Core & 10000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Shard (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Alloy (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)

Bounties

Commander Zavala, Vanguard

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Horseshoes and Hand Grenades	Defeat combatants with grenades. Defeating them in Vanguard playlists grants additional progress.	20 [Grenade] Grenade	XP+
One Shot, One Kill	Defeat combatants with precision damage. Bonus progress is granted in Vanguard playlists.	25 [Headshot] Precision	XP+
Pride Before Destruction	Defeat powerful combatants. Defeating Champions grants additional progress.	10 Powerful combatants	XP+
Most Meticulous	Complete Vanguard playlists.	2 Vanguard Ops	XP+

Lord Shaxx, Crucible

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Burn Bright	Cast your Super.	2 Supers	XP+
Slice and Dice	Defeat opponents using Strand damage from any source.	5 Strand final blows	XP+
Peak Efficiency	Defeat opponents in a single life.	2 Streak	XP+
In the Zone	In Control, capture zones.	3 Zones	XP+

Saint-14, Trials of Osiris

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Skullshock Alert	As a fireteam, defeat opponents using precision final blows in Trials of Osiris.	15 [Headshot] Precision	XP+
Trials Triplet	As a fireteam, defeat opponents using Pulse Rifle final blows in Trials of Osiris.	20 [Pulse Rifle] Pulse Rifle	XP+
Blundertrust	As a fireteam, defeat opponents using Shotgun final blows in Trials of Osiris.	15 [Shotgun] Shotgun	XP+
Connective Charge	As a fireteam, defeat opponents with Arc weapon final blows in Trials of Osiris.	20 [Arc] Arc weapon	XP+

The Drifter, Gambit

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Big-Game Hunter	Eliminate a high-value target in Gambit.	1 Targets	XP+
Line 'Em Up	As a fireteam, defeat enemy Guardians in Gambit.	5 Guardians	XP+
Sun Charred	Use Solar abilities to defeat enemies in Gambit. Defeated Guardians are worth extra points.	15 [Solar] Solar ability	XP+
Final Ploy	Defeat combatants with finisher final blows.	5 Finisher	XP+

Banshee-44, Gunsmith

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Hand Cannon Calibration	Calibrate Hand Cannons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Hand Cannon] Hand Cannon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Sniper Rifle Calibration	Calibrate Sniper Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Sniper Rifle] Sniper Rifle	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Linear Fusion Rifle Calibration	Calibrate Linear Fusion Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Linear Fusion Rifle] Linear Fusion Rifle	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Solar Calibration	Calibrate Solar weapons against any target. Earn bonus progress using Power weapons and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Solar] Solar weapon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress

Nimbus, Neomuna

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Shockingly Direct	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Arc damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Arc] Arc	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Vexing Void	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Void damage. Vex combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Void] Void	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Cooling Systems	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Stasis damage.	25 [Stasis] Stasis weapon	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Hacker's Paradise	Complete waves in Terminal Overload.	10 Waves cleared	1 Terminal Overload Key & 50 Neomuna Rank & XP+

Lord Shaxx, Hall of Champions

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Onslaught Defender	Deploy and upgrade defenses in Onslaught.	30 Defenses completed	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Defiant Looter	Open a bonus chest at the end of Defiant Battlegrounds using a Defiant Key.	1 Bonus rewards	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Bombastic	Defeat targets with grenade abilities. Combatants in Onslaught and Guardians are worth more.	100 [Grenade] Grenade	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Trick Shot	Perform tricks on your Sparrow or Skimmer.	3 Tricks performed	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation

Spirit of Riven, H.E.L.M.

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
One Path Mind	Successfully clear a pathway in Riven's Lair or The Coil.	1 Lair Pathway	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Rapid Lair Defense	Rapidly defeat combatants. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil are worth more.	60 Rapidly defeated	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragon's Sight	Defeat targets with precision final blows. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	20 [Headshot] Precision	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragonthread	Defeat targets with Solar or Strand damage. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	100 [Solar] or [Strand] defeats	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation

^{Never forget what has been lost. While the API protests have concluded, Reddit remains hostile to its users as their IPO looms in the horizon. More information can be found here.}

Daily Modifiers

Vanguard Ops

• Grenadier: Grenade abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.

Dares of Eternity

• Keep It Loaded: Guardians deal increased damage with Sidearms.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Onslaught: Playlist

• Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Riven's Lair

• Mettle: Power Level: All combatants in this activity will be at least 5 points over the player's current Power level.
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Grounded: Damage taken while you are airborne is greatly increased.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Solar Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Solar damage.

The Coil

• The Coil Rules: Successfully complete four pathways inside Riven's Lair. Escalating Difficulty: Player's Power levels are fixed. Starting at 0 each subsequent pathway increases all combatants' Power level over the player's by 5. Wishing Glass: Wishing Glass is an in-activity currency. They drop from combatants, Glass Collectors, and pots. Wishing Glass comes in multiple rarities equating to their worth. Wishing Glass is used to purchase Dragon's Gifts from Riven. Dragon's Gifts: A set of buffs are randomly chosen, once per run. Between pathways, players can purchase buffs from Riven via Wishing Glass. Buffs are separated into three price point tiers. Rewards: After each pathway, players will return to Riven for their rewards. Subsequent pathways pay out better rewards. Breaking through score thresholds unlock secret chests. Finishing The Coil with a platinum score rewards players with access to the lustrous and lucrative Chamber of Wishes.
• Multiplicity: Combatant difficulty scales with fireteam size.
• Limited Revives: Limited fireteam revives. Purchase additional revives from Riven with Wishing Glass. Small chance to drop from destroying pots.
• Full Extinguish: If all your fireteam members fall with 0 Revive Tokens, everyone is returned to orbit.
• Attrition: Regeneration is greatly impaired. Defeating enemies may create wells of Light.
• Galvanized: Combatants have more health and are more difficult to stun.
• The Pathways: Riven's wish magic stirs. The following are the pathways and their order in The Coil: -Divining Hall -First Steps (Temple of the Queen's Wrath) -Sensorium (Reaver's Orison) -First Steps (Cell of the Sycophant)
• Arc Threat: 25% increase to incoming Arc damage.
• Denial: Taken Vandals summon their shields significantly more often.
• Overcharged Sniper Rifle: 25% bonus to Sniper Rifle damage.
• Overcharged Machine Gun: 25% bonus to Machine Gun damage.

Seasonal

Legend/Master Lost Sector

Exotic armor drop (if solo): Chest

Skydock IV: Legend

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Stagger] Unstoppable
• Threat: [Solar] Solar
• Shields: [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Pestilence

Skydock IV: Master

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Stagger] Unstoppable
• Threat: [Solar] Solar
• Shields: [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Pestilence

Misc

• Terminal Overload: Límíng Harbor Weapon: Synchronic Roulette (Submachine Gun)
• The Wellspring: Attack Weapon: Come to Pass (Auto Rifle)
• Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Heretic (Rocket Launcher)

Guns & Materials

Banshee's Featured Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Masterwork
Timelines' Vertex	Energy Fusion Rifle	Impulse MS3 // Jolt PS	Ionized Battery // Liquid Coils	Lead from Gold	Snapshot Sights	Tier 2: Charge Time
Vulpecula	Kinetic Hand Cannon	Extended Barrel // Fluted Barrel	Tactical Mag // Flared Magwell	Tunnel Vision	Harmony	Tier 2: Reload Speed
Bump in the Night	Heavy Rocket Launcher	Countermass // Hard Launch	Alloy Casing // Black Powder	Stats for All	Vorpal Weapon
Lunulata-4b	Kinetic Combat Bow	Agile Bowstring // High Tension String	Compact Arrow Shaft // Helical Fletching	No Distractions	Headstone	Tier 3: Stability
Disparity	Kinetic Pulse Rifle	Fluted Barrel // Smallbore	Accurized Rounds // Appended Mag	Pugilist	Headstone	Tier 2: Stability

Note: Fixed perks on weapons are not displayed

Master Rahool's Material Exchange

• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Legendary Shards)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Dark Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 10 Phantasmal Fragment)
• Purchase Glimmer (10000 for 25 Herealways Piece)
• Enhancement Prism (1 for 10 Enhancement Core & 10000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Shard (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)
• Ascendant Alloy (1 for 10 Enhancement Prism & 50000 Glimmer)

Bounties

Commander Zavala, Vanguard

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Horseshoes and Hand Grenades	Defeat combatants with grenades. Defeating them in Vanguard playlists grants additional progress.	20 [Grenade] Grenade	XP+
One Shot, One Kill	Defeat combatants with precision damage. Bonus progress is granted in Vanguard playlists.	25 [Headshot] Precision	XP+
Pride Before Destruction	Defeat powerful combatants. Defeating Champions grants additional progress.	10 Powerful combatants	XP+
Most Meticulous	Complete Vanguard playlists.	2 Vanguard Ops	XP+

Lord Shaxx, Crucible

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Burn Bright	Cast your Super.	2 Supers	XP+
Slice and Dice	Defeat opponents using Strand damage from any source.	5 Strand final blows	XP+
Peak Efficiency	Defeat opponents in a single life.	2 Streak	XP+
In the Zone	In Control, capture zones.	3 Zones	XP+

Saint-14, Trials of Osiris

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Skullshock Alert	As a fireteam, defeat opponents using precision final blows in Trials of Osiris.	15 [Headshot] Precision	XP+
Trials Triplet	As a fireteam, defeat opponents using Pulse Rifle final blows in Trials of Osiris.	20 [Pulse Rifle] Pulse Rifle	XP+
Blundertrust	As a fireteam, defeat opponents using Shotgun final blows in Trials of Osiris.	15 [Shotgun] Shotgun	XP+
Connective Charge	As a fireteam, defeat opponents with Arc weapon final blows in Trials of Osiris.	20 [Arc] Arc weapon	XP+

The Drifter, Gambit

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Big-Game Hunter	Eliminate a high-value target in Gambit.	1 Targets	XP+
Line 'Em Up	As a fireteam, defeat enemy Guardians in Gambit.	5 Guardians	XP+
Sun Charred	Use Solar abilities to defeat enemies in Gambit. Defeated Guardians are worth extra points.	15 [Solar] Solar ability	XP+
Final Ploy	Defeat combatants with finisher final blows.	5 Finisher	XP+

Banshee-44, Gunsmith

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Hand Cannon Calibration	Calibrate Hand Cannons against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Hand Cannon] Hand Cannon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Sniper Rifle Calibration	Calibrate Sniper Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Sniper Rifle] Sniper Rifle	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Linear Fusion Rifle Calibration	Calibrate Linear Fusion Rifles against any target. Earn bonus progress with precision and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Linear Fusion Rifle] Linear Fusion Rifle	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress
Solar Calibration	Calibrate Solar weapons against any target. Earn bonus progress using Power weapons and against opposing Guardians.	100 [Solar] Solar weapon	XP+ & Enhancement Core & Gunsmith Rank Progress

Nimbus, Neomuna

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Shockingly Direct	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Arc damage. Shadow Legion combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Arc] Arc	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Vexing Void	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Void damage. Vex combatants grant additional progress.	60 [Void] Void	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Cooling Systems	In Neomuna, defeat combatants with Stasis damage.	25 [Stasis] Stasis weapon	XP+ & 50 Neomuna Rank
Hacker's Paradise	Complete waves in Terminal Overload.	10 Waves cleared	1 Terminal Overload Key & 50 Neomuna Rank & XP+

Lord Shaxx, Hall of Champions

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
Onslaught Defender	Deploy and upgrade defenses in Onslaught.	30 Defenses completed	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Defiant Looter	Open a bonus chest at the end of Defiant Battlegrounds using a Defiant Key.	1 Bonus rewards	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Bombastic	Defeat targets with grenade abilities. Combatants in Onslaught and Guardians are worth more.	100 [Grenade] Grenade	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation
Trick Shot	Perform tricks on your Sparrow or Skimmer.	3 Tricks performed	1 XP+ & 25 Lord Shaxx Reputation & 50 Lord Shaxx Reputation

Spirit of Riven, H.E.L.M.

Name	Description	Requirement	Reward
One Path Mind	Successfully clear a pathway in Riven's Lair or The Coil.	1 Lair Pathway	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Rapid Lair Defense	Rapidly defeat combatants. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil are worth more.	60 Rapidly defeated	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragon's Sight	Defeat targets with precision final blows. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	20 [Headshot] Precision	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation
Dragonthread	Defeat targets with Solar or Strand damage. Combatants in Riven's Lair or The Coil and Guardians are worth more.	100 [Solar] or [Strand] defeats	XP+ & 25 Spirit of Riven Reputation

^{Never forget what has been lost. While the API protests have concluded, Reddit remains hostile to its users as their IPO looms in the horizon. More information can be found here.}