I have 110 free points to spend on my army and thought a flesh tearers themed vet bike unit would be cool. What gear do yall like to run with them?

Hello! My name is Zeffphur and I am looking for 1-2 adventurers to fill out the party in my homebrew campaign! The campaign hasn't started officially yet but we did do a one shot just to test the waters. Doing so opened up 2 potential slots. It'd be a total party size of 5-6 depending. The current party come is an Orc Kensei Monk (subject to change), Half-Elf Champion Fighter, Tortle Swashbuckler Rogue and a Half-Elf Hexblade. We use roll20 for maps, dndbeyond for sheets and my own discord server for everything else. 21+ just to help keep the age ranges around each other.
Story: This story will take place in my own homebrew world, on the continent of Chairon. It is a fairly high-magic world setting, with limited technology. Things like firearms exist, as do a few arcane powered airships. The story will start small, doing small jobs here and there, dealing with a few bad guys and then itll branch out and become a something quite large. You will be dealing with monsters, villains, political powers, and powerful beings. This game will have some horror elements (I love horror movies and scary monsters are fun) but its not a horror themed campaign. This will have a "standard" fantasy theme with various elements thrown in. You guys are small fish in a big pond at the moment, but over the course of your adventures your fame and fortune will grow.
Nitty Gritty Character Info: Starting at level 3, you get 1 free feat to start. Roll 4d6 drop the lowest. Assign as you wish. Roll 2 arrays and pick the one you want. You cannot pick and choose from either array. Its one or the other. If the score for the stat is lower than 8 you can reroll, if you want to keep it thats fine too. HP wise, it will be rolled HP. If you roll Half or above on your hit die, you keep it. If you roll below half you can reroll. As far as races are concerned here is my list that is set in stone. Aarakocra, Aasimar, Dragonborn, Dwarf, Eladrin, Elf, Firbolg, Gnome, Goliath, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling, Hobgoblin, Human, Loxodon, Minotaur, Orc, Owlin, Satyr, Tabaxi, Tiefling, Tortle. As far as classes/subclasses go, any official class/subclass outside of Artificer, Blood Hunter, Wild Magic, Clockwork Soul and Twilight Cleric. Those 5 are banned.
If you are interested, feel free to fill out the attached form. If you have any questions either add me on Discord (zeffphur) or just ask here. Please only add me if you have a genuine question. I will be taking my time in finding players so don't expect a yes or no right away. We will hopefully be starting on May 10th.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWn2oZbB4Lr3yBpjneNatPLcEFZn5FOXxPIqyaCaEqExc2DA/viewform?usp=sf_link

Most western cartoons have a much different feel from anime. But there are at least a few that come to my mind that I feel harken towards anime type themes and characters and style.
Feel free to drop any below that you think anime fans in this sub may like!

Have you been looking to do a historical or time travel themed RP but everyone seems to want to play an equal character and you just want a world to explore? Look no further, I've always enjoyed GMing and World building far more than I do playing a character. I can pretty much write for most scenes after the 16th century, if you're looking for a GM to your historical scenes feel free to message me with your character, time period, and what kind of story you were looking to do and we can iron out the details together, I'm pretty flexible when it comes to changing up story ideas.

Im a nerdy adult roleplayer who likes to connect with other roleplayers.
Anyone under 21, do not reply!
++How I RP++
3rd person writing only I would say Im lit to novella? I can go over this discord limit a few times, when its juicy. I love playing multiple character to make the world feel alive. I love OOC talk! We can talk about the RP or anything else. No Rush to reply. We are all adults here, lets just have some good fun together. 70/30 story/smut. If I dont wanna make love to their personality, I dont want to erp. Drawings/Anime face claims only.
++Types of of Pairing I enjoy++
I enjoy playing almost any combination of gendesex. Homosexual pairings being my favorite. I also have zero issue with NB or trans characters, so feel free to express yourself.
I like roleplays where there is no top or bottom character. Where, being fem or masc leaning doesnt mean whos doing what in the bedroom.
++Theme I enjoy in RP++
SoL, Romance, angst, dark, snuff, fantasy, happy endings, bad endings. And much more.
I enjoy playing as "villain" type characters, as it brings interesting character exploration! Just tell me how evil you want me to be. I love love wholesome as fuck roleplay as well There are two wolves in side me.
++Kinks/Limits++ Kinks can be talked about in private, as really they are roleplay dependent. Limits: Bathroom, dd/lg, furry, animals, necrophila, highly descriptive gore, gross smells.
++CURRENTLY OBSESSED WITH++
Bg3! Im looking to play as or against Astarion. MxM, or Id love to do a trans masc Astarion roleplay.

Hello everyone,
I’m here to give hope to all the folks that hate Anki. I have tried anki off and on through the last two years and honestly hate it. It feels like a waste of time for me so here’s what I did.
Tested April 8 and passed.
Cbssa 29 December-62% 95% chance of passing. (This is without any step prep and just having done blocks through the first year and half of school USMD) Form 25 february- 72% Form26 march- 77% Form 28 march- 76% Old free 120, 10 days before exam-85% Form 31, 7 days before exam-84% New free 120, 4 days before exam-84%
UW approx 50% complete at 64% correct Amboss 70% complete at 87% correct
My percent correct for amboss is highly skewed because I would use the add-on for anki and study material and then do the relevant practice questions. Again, I did not use anki for study, just the amboss add on. Highly highly recommend this, this was so helpful!
I began dedicated in march, studied for four and half weeks. I was getting a close to pass/safe score before dedicated and here’s how:
I studied material in the blocks thoroughly! I looked at processes and themes. I did not memorize facts, I made flow charts and stories to explain things. I focused on quality over quantity. I did not ever move on pass something unless I I thoroughly understood it, I sent many many emails for extra explanations from professors. I used in house material first to get a basic understanding then I used pathoma and first aid, then I did the relevant questions on amboss from the zanki deck with the amboss add on. The only time I would skip material was if it was low yield or I truly couldn’t make sense of it then I kinda abandoned it (you won’t be able to understand everything and that’s okay)
I scored very well on in house exams doing this. I did not study at all over summer break. I used that as a time to solely recharge. Just chilled back home.
I used sketchy pharm and sketchy micro for hi yields only. (Antibiotics, cardio, renal drugs) and hi yield bugs.
Whenever we moved into a new block, I didn’t necessarily review old material. Instead I just reviewed stuff that related to what I was learning. EX: during neuro the anatomy went over the hypothalamus and pituitary, I briefly reviewed the hypothalamic pituitary axis from endocrine block. I did this throughout the years and I felt it was very helpful to review stuff that related to what I was currently doing. This was not a lot of stuff just a few concepts each week or so.
Dedicated: 5 weeks
Sketchy biochem and pixorize biochem- took about 2 weeks to do those thoroughly and used the first aid chapters on biochem to supplement and review
Pathoma from start to finish and read the pathoma text 2x through
Reviewed pharm and micro that I had already learned. I didn’t add much new material except biochem and biostats was basically starting from scratch for me.
So that’s it folks, I feel like where I was strong was having a good foundation from the start and learning things thoroughly and in a way that made sense to me. I had a lot of doubts bc of how much people push anki, but I often feel that you can memorize a card but not really understand it or the process so it only gets you so far.
Good luck everyone and feel free to ask questions!

In my last story, a space mermaid warned against the dangers of smoking. The Darlings did not heed that warning, so now Space Whale Aesops shall ensue.
____________________________________________________
“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

Good evening.
As the title states, I am looking for literate writers and group of writers to jump back into the writing. I have been writing for the major part of the last decade and then took a respite due to some real life constraints but now as the constraints have worn down leaving me with enough free time to slowly dip my toes back into writing I would love to find a group to work with.
• I am 26 years old, detailed and literate writer. I predominantly write on discord.
• I am open to and interested in most of the genres that do not have extensive fantasy elements in them. I absolutely adore political intrigue, back stabbing, Political High societies, modern realistic, medieval or period drama, dark academia, apocalyptic, horror and such themes.
• I do play in fandoms as well but I prefer writing OCs rather than CC’s.
• I am okay with writing NSFW themes but I prefer not to make the role-play the focus of the thing. It is fun true, but after a specific amount of time it ends up being boring and loses its spark for me killing my muse.
• I am not chronically online but I try to respond at a regular pace. If I have to take an extended leave I always let my partners know so there is proper channel of communication between us.
• I am open to OOC chatter and mingling as well. Huge cinephile, love reading, gaming, geopolitical and history discussion (as long as it remains civil). I am not too big on anime but I have seen a few famous and commonly known titles.
———————————————————————
I guess I have covered most of what I needed to say here. I am an open book and would love to answer any queries you might have.
So if you run a private group and are looking for a decent friendly writer hit my chats, lets have a talk and see if I am a good match for your server and setting.
Looking forward to a few dms 🤞🏻

So, context, I have ADHD, DID, and a recurring problem of seeing a Todd head that tells me to burn things. So I know what I'm talking about here. That said, I'm 100% positive that Todd Chavez, a character in an adult cartoon, who is designed to inhabit cliches in a histrionic way in order to satirize overused tropes in comedy shows, has the same diagnosis as I do, that of being and ADHD DID BAMF Indigo child. Here's why:

1. We are both the proximate cause of severe injuries at a theme park
   
2. We both have had genocides committed in our name.
   
3. We both have arranged false kidnappings.
   
4. We have both created robots designed to rape people.
   
5. Both of our businesses routinely fail.
   
6. We both probably had sex with a dog when the cameras weren't rolling.
   

So I'm pretty sure he has ADHD. Anyone else feel as though their entire identity can be easily summed up in the form of a didactic character inhabiting a care-free manchild trope?
Also, shout out to Rafael-Bob-Wanksbort, for having representation of people like me in his show. The only other example of my condition done well in Media is Schillinger on Oz, so it was nice to finally get some representation.

Hey hey! Jin Locke here and i am searching for people to RP with!
I am looking to try and find new RP partners interested in RPing various fandoms that i am interested in. I prefer to play with literate RP partners who can achieve a paragraph length, and maybe go beyond that if really inspired. Sorry, but two-three sentence responses are just way too short for me to truly enjoy the RP. There is no set limit on "max length" but i wouldnt want you to exhaust yourself typing novellas! Just keep it comfortable but detailed.
I am 26 yo and so expect it to eventually get into NSFW zone, BUT if you dont want to then its also fine to me, we can keep it as a more "innocent" romance. RP can be long or short term, but long terms are preferable since they allow us to explore more themes in it.
For CanonxCanon or CanonxOC or OCxOC i dont really have a hard set preference but would enjoy at least one canon character in a pairing, since OCxOC can get a bit... vague. However i will not judge before hearing you out! By all means, message me if you have any ideas and i will be happy to hear them out.
As for genders... I guess i am on my FxF spell. I can try FxM but its a bit "maybe" for me and i usually only do it with a few specific preferences, so ye be warned.
Plots can be discussed further in DMs or chat, since writing it all out here for ALL the fandoms will take a few pages and i want us to talk about our preferences, themes, scenarios and whatever else we want before we start.
Also you can ask me for my Discord and we can continue there if you like, which i actually prefer since Discord is far easier to track and notice fresh notifications then Reddit, which sometimes does not display them due to a bug of some kind.
Now for fandoms i crave: Genshin Impact, Saiko no Sutoka, Overwatch, Avatar, Fire Emblem, DC/Marvel, Mass Effect, World of Warcraft, RWBY, all kinds of "usual suspect" anime like Naruto and etc... Fate (Grand Order and more!) , Witcher, Resident Evil, Dragon Age and list goes on and on...
Feel free to suggest the fandoms you like, but i may not be too familiar with them... But you never know!

TW: humiliation, COVID vaccines
I finally saved up enough to travel outside Sheboygan County for the first time ever! On Friday evening I landed in Newark, overwhelmed by the city's energy. Hailing a cab at the airport was an adventure in itself. I felt like I was in a movie.
After telling the driver my destination, he paused for a moment and had the nerve to ask if I was sure?! Yeah dude, I'm not an idiot! This was strike ONE against NYC. I was staying in the heart of The City!
Stepping out of the cab, the city hit me like a fist in my ass. The air was thick and gritty, carrying a stale smell that made my nose wrinkle. The dilapidated buildings seemed to lean in close, their windows blank eyes staring down. Finding my Airbnb on 125th and Lexington felt like navigating a treacherous maze, every dark corner holding an unknown threat. Figures huddled in doorways, their faces etched with hardship. One offered me a COVID vaccine. (No wonder they looked so unhealthy. Jab free is the way to be!) A few sat on the sidewalk, talking turns administering the vaccines to themselves – a stark reminder of where I was, the indoctrinated left hidden in plain sight. It was a far cry from Sheboygan, and a little more intimidating than I'd bargained for. (But hey, that budget-friendly room was calling my name!)
Aside from that offer, nobody bothered me, but I was uneasy. It was starting to seem like my favorite Canidae-themed news station was right about this city. Strike TWO!
The third strike was the worst of all. My vacation's peak awaited in Brooklyn. I had dinner reservations at a restaurant overlooking the East River, with a view of a majestic bridge (can't remember what it's called.. not the Brooklyn Bridge, but its less impressive neighbor). This wasn't just any meal; I was scheduled to meet a professional escort for a unique and intriguing evening of anal play. Determined to make a good impression, I wanted to look my best for this special night out.
I'll pause the story here to note that confidence was never exactly my strong suit. Growing up, I had a physical quirk that made me a target for teasing – my substantial ears. My heightened sense of hearing, a supposed benefit, turned into a curse in the schoolyard. Every whisper, every cruel nickname, echoed right into my head. Tonight, I would be brave. For this special dinner, I shed my usual hat, channeling the slicked-back power of a Wall Street tycoon. With my hair styled like Gordon Gekko I could finally blend in, feel like everyone else for a night. Or so I thought.
Struggling with the pronunciation of "Cecconi's," I fumbled with the written address while asking a group of men outside for directions. Their response was a wall of indifference. Some blatantly ignored me, eyes glazed over like Dunkin Donuts -- they were sleepwalking. Others shot me dirty looks, annoyed at the interruption. One man seemed receptive. Pointing south, he barked, "Head down there, Dumbo!"
The insult stung, and sent me back to a painful memory. A childhood Halloween spent in an elephant costume suddenly filled my mind's eye. The echoes of "Dumbo" bouncing off the school hallways, fueled by relentless laughter, played on repeat. It resonated with my biggest insecurity, my undeniably large ears. Here I was, facing a similar feeling of ridicule, years later.
Stunned, I stood there, years of teasing bubbling to the surface with that single word. Taking a deep breath, I politely tried again, asking for directions. The man just stared, then repeated the insult. Shame washed over me. Looking around for even a flicker of understanding, I saw only indifference. Then, a man to my North joined in, mimicking the name and pointing at my ears. "DUMBO! D-U-M-B-O!" Like, I know how to spell, dude. He looked past me, then back at me like I was stupid. I'm NOT stupid.
Tears welled in my eyes. Defeated, I retreated back to my Airbnb. The city, with all the promise in the world,, felt cold and alienating. Booking a flight home, a wave of loneliness crashed over me. The only solace I found that night was in a moment of unexpected kindness – a stranger again offering a vaccine in exchange for a small sum of cash, a gesture I readily accepted despite my hometown's views. His generosity (perhaps the vaccine?) filled me with warmth. I felt like I was cuddling with a pool full of puppies as I laid in bed.
When I awakened I felt achey and full of regret. My dream vacation was shattered, replaced by a deep sense of disappointment and shame. Maybe the city just wasn't ready for me, and that's okay.
To say I'll never return is a HUGE understatement. I can't believe I was treated so poorly and pressured into getting the COVID jab. Hopefully I don't shed for a while.

"The Algebra of Happiness: Notes on the Pursuit of Success, Love, and Meaning" by Scott Galloway is a straightforward and incisive investigation of what it genuinely means to live a fulfilling life. Galloway, a renowned management lecturer and entrepreneur, provides personal experiences, insights, and life lessons that he has learnt over the years.
The book is designed as a collection of short articles, each focused on a different facet of life, from work success and personal relationships to happiness and meaning. Galloway draws on his own experiences, as well as insights from psychology, philosophy, and pop culture, to offer practical advice and wisdom for readers seeking fulfillment in their own lives.
One of the primary themes of "The Algebra of Happiness" is the significance of defining success and happiness on one's own terms, rather than complying to society's expectations or chasing external indicators of progress. Galloway invites readers to reflect on their beliefs, objectives, and aspirations, and to make conscious decisions that line with their actual wishes and interests.
Throughout the book, Galloway recounts candid anecdotes from his own life, including accomplishments, failures, and moments of personal growth. He covers the problems of reconciling work objectives with family duties, navigating relationships, and finding purpose and meaning in life.
Galloway's writing is fascinating, amusing, and refreshingly honest. He combines personal experiences with research-backed insights and practical guidance, making the book approachable and relatable to readers from all walks of life. Whether you're a recent college graduate, a seasoned professional, or someone simply seeking guidance and inspiration, "The Algebra of Happiness" gives vital wisdom and perspective on living a meaningful and successful life.
Overall, "The Algebra of Happiness" is a thought-provoking and motivating book that inspires readers to reevaluate their priorities, redefine success, and pursue happiness on their own terms. Galloway's blend of personal stories, practical counsel, and philosophical insights makes this book a wonderful resource for anybody seeking assistance on the route to a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
Free Audiobook with a free trial of Audible

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition" by Stephen R. Covey is a timeless classic that explains seven core principles for personal and professional effectiveness. Covey's book has had a tremendous impact on millions of readers worldwide, presenting a holistic approach to personal development and achievement.
The book is broken into four parts. In the first half, Covey explains the concept of the "Character Ethic" and the "Personality Ethic." He contends that true efficacy comes from cultivating character and integrity, rather than simply focusing on visible behaviors or procedures.
In the second chapter, Covey discusses the seven habits themselves, which are arranged under three overarching themes: independence (habits 1-3), interdependence (habits 4-6), and continuous development (habit 7). These behaviors include ideas such as being proactive, beginning with the end in mind, putting first things first, pursuing win-win solutions, and attempting to understand before being understood.
In the third part, Covey addresses the importance of attaining a "paradigm shift"—a fundamental change in perspective that allows individuals to perceive the world in a new manner and approach challenges with better clarity and efficacy.
Finally, in the fourth segment, Covey highlights the significance of renewal and continuing growth. He highlights the necessity to invest in self-care, contemplation, and lifelong learning in order to maintain personal and professional competence over the long term.
One of the primary features of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is its holistic and principle-centered approach to personal growth. Covey's framework is built on timeless principles of integrity, responsibility, and mutual respect, and offers a blueprint for achieving success and fulfillment in all areas of life.
Covey's writing is straightforward, interesting, and loaded with practical examples and anecdotes that illustrate the application of the seven habits in real-world circumstances. He encourages readers to take an active role in shaping their own lives and to focus on what Covey calls "the one thing within your circle of influence"—the actions and attitudes that individuals can control and alter.
Overall, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" is a transforming and uplifting book that gives great insights and recommendations for personal and professional improvement. Covey's timeless ideals and practical guidance have stood the test of time and continue to inspire readers to achieve their full potential and live a life of purpose and effectiveness. Whether you're a corporate leader, a parent, a student, or someone looking to improve their life, this book offers important insight and strategies for success.
Free Audiobook with a free trial of Audible

In my last story, a space mermaid warned against the dangers of smoking. The Darlings did not heed that warning, so now Space Whale Aesops shall ensue.
____________________________________________________
“The Darling Twins? Honestly, haven’t we all had enough of them by now?” Seneca ruminated as he tried to placate what was now the de facto triumvirate of the Ophion Occult Order.
Once again, he had been summoned to Adderwood Manor to account for his lapses in judgement, but rather than being on full public display in the Grand Hall, he instead found himself in a relatively small parlour. Across from the coffee table in front of him sat Ivy Noir, with her sister Envy to her right and her husband Erich to her left. Standing just to the side of them was the trenchcoat and fedora-wearing automaton who called himself The Mandrake. The one-eyed dream-catcher carved into his iridescent face rendered his emotions unreadable, but the spellwork pistols holstered in his belt made it clear that he was prepared to defend his employers against anything.
“I mean, this feud between them and Emrys is laughable,” Seneca went on. “They’re no threat to him now that he’s free of his chains, surely? Before there may have been a tactical element to his obsession with them, but now it’s just plain petty. Petra’s just out for revenge, and don’t get me started on the absurdity of that eldritch realtor wanting to flip their playroom. Does he think he can just relabel their torture chambers as BDSM dungeons and pass the Black Bile infestation off as some mould?”
“Seneca, I promised Emrys the Darlings, and the Covenant that we all signed binds us to fulfill that promise,” Ivy reminded him patiently, dropping a cube of sugar into her ouroboros-themed antique teacup. “You knew the Darlings better than any of us. You inducted them into the Order, you used them as assassins and bodyguards, and you let them withdraw every penny they had in your bank when they were fugitives!”
“Well, first of all, Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain is a financial institution, not a bank,” Seneca said flippantly. “Secondly, they had a numbered account and they didn’t show up in person, so the teller didn’t have the slightest idea of who they were dealing with.”
“You still could have frozen the account before they had that opportunity,” Erich stated.
Seneca made a display of languidly stirring some cream into his tea and taking a slow sip before responding.
“I’m very busy,” he claimed without an ounce of sincerity.
“You just didn’t want to get on the Darlings’ bad side,” Ivy said.
“I wasn’t aware they had a good side,” Seneca shrugged.
“There must be a paper trail we can follow,” Envy insisted. “Did the Darlings keep their assets anywhere else besides your bank?”
“Financial institution, and yes, I’m sure they have a proverbial Swiss bank account, but I haven’t the slightest notion of where to find it,” Seneca claimed. “It has come up in conversation that James invested about twenty percent of his income with me, twenty percent elsewhere, and shoved another twenty percent under their mattress. Mary enjoys being shagged on top of money, apparently. Their services commanded quite a high price on the underworld market, and sixty-plus years of compound interest have made them incredibly wealthy. They can afford to lie low for a long while.”
“Even if they can go without a paycheck indefinitely, they can’t go without killing,” Erich countered. “They need to hunt, and their egos mean they aren’t just going to cower from Emrys inside their playroom. They’re going to be out looking for victims and plotting against us, and you know what spots they’re likely to hit.”
“You’re wasting your time. James has had decades to scout out hunting grounds, and I’m sure he prepared for the possibility – no, inevitability – that he and his sister would become our enemies. He’s not going to risk showing up within a hundred miles of any of our Chapterhouses if he doesn’t need to,” Seneca said dismissively.
Ivy opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when The Mandrake took a step forward for the first time since the meeting began. He reached into his pocket and tossed a red and white pack of cigarettes with a shiny silhouette of a stag onto the coffee table.
“What is this?” Erich asked.
“Satin Stag cigarettes,” The Mandrake said flatly before shifting his gaze to Seneca. “That’s the Darlings’ brand, isn’t it, Mr. Chamberlain?”
“Um, yes. I believe I’ve seen them smoke those once or twice. What of it?” Seneca asked, failing to hide the nervousness creeping into his voice.
“These are artisanal cigarettes, and Harrowick County’s the only place you can buy them,” The Mandrake said. “That means that the Darlings, either directly or indirectly, are going to have to make the occasional sojourn back home, and the limited supply of these hand-rolled coffin nails means they can’t stock up too far in advance either. You know Harrowick County better than any of us. You know who makes these, you know who sells them. That’s how we track down the Darlings.”
“That’s preposterous. Do you really think they’d risk coming to Harrowick County rather than just switch brands?” Seneca scoffed.
“The Very Important Person at Pascal’s told me that Mary said they’ve been smoking these since they were kids, so they’re clearly pretty attached to them,” The Mandrake replied. “And somehow, I don’t think they’re the type to ever give up a bad habit.”
***
“Smoke & Mirrors ~ Fine Tobacco Products. Silvano Santoro, Proprietor. Est. 1949,” Envy read aloud as she, Seneca and The Mandrake stood outside the small, heavily fortified brick building.
Cast iron bars crisscrossed the windows and front door, which looked like it stood a decent chance of withstanding a police swat team. Security was obviously the shop’s proprietor’s key concern, as the ugly brown and yellow awning was tattered and faded, and the paint on the sign was so chipped it was barely even legible.
“How exactly does an unnoticeable and unattractive hole in the wall like this stay in business?” Envy asked.
“Repeat customers,” Seneca replied as he took a confident step towards the door. “Silvano knows me, and he doesn’t normally have a problem with me bringing guests along, but I expect both of you to be on your best behaviour!”
Envy gave him a reassuring nod, but The Mandrake continued to stoically stare at nothing with his hands in his pockets. Rolling his eyes, Seneca pressed a bulky plastic button on the antiquated door buzzer.
“Yeah, who is it?” a harsh and smoke-damaged voice demanded.
“It’s Seneca, Silvano. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again as well!” Seneca answered. “Just looking to pick up a few cases of cigars for a party, if you’ve got anything decent in stock, of course.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” Silvano asked suspiciously.
“Envy Noir, sir. I’m here on behalf of my sister Ivy, investigating a matter of considerable importance to the Ophion Occult Order,” Envy promptly introduced herself, much to Seneca’s chagrin. “The gentleman beside me is my bodyguard. Would you be so kind as to let us in?”
“Ah… of course. Just a moment, please,” Silvano replied.
“What’s he need a moment to buzz open a door for?” The Mandrake demanded, his stance immediately switching to full readiness.
“Making the place presentable for customers, I assume,” Seneca explained in exasperation.
“You mean he’s hiding evidence, or he’s running!” The Mandrake shouted.
“He’s a nonagenarian heavy smoker. He couldn’t run if his life depended on it,” Seneca insisted.
“I’ll see about that,” The Mandrake muttered.
Shoving Seneca out of the way, he kicked the door in with barely any effort. Storming into the shop, he saw a slender older man with thick white hair and rimmed glasses seated behind the front counter. His saggy, spotted skin was a living PSA against the products he peddled, and in his tobacco-stained hand, he held the receiver of an ornate rotary phone.
Staring at The Mandrake in cold fury, he calmly set the receiver back down in its cradle.
“Who were you talking to?” The Mandrake demanded.
“A client,” Silvano barked back with a shake of his head, picking up a burning cigarette from a nearby ashtray.
“Silvano, I am profusely sorry for this abject and uncouth behaviour! This being is no friend of mine, I can assure you,” Seneca asserted as he and Envy made their way inside.
“The feeling’s mutual, Chamberlain,” The Mandrake remarked. “Mr. Santoro, I apologize for the damage to the premises, but as Miss Noir has said, we’re here on urgent business.”
“Yes, that’s correct. We’ve been given to understand the Darling Twins are regular customers of yours,” Envy explained, before the smoke-saturated room sent her into a coughing spell. She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a black N95 mask she had left over from the Pandemic.
“I’ve got plenty of regular customers,” Silvan replied defensively. “Customers who pay good money for that smoke you’re so offended by, young lady.”
“These ones have been coming here for over half a century and never aged a day,” The Mandrake said.
“That honestly doesn’t narrow it down that much,” Silvano chuckled, tapping his cigarette on his ashtray. “But yeah, I know the Darlings. What of it?”
“When was the last time they were here?” The Mandrake demanded.
“What’s it to you?” Silvano asked.
“They’re fugitives of the Order now and we want them brought in,” Envy replied, having donned her mask and mostly recovered from the smoke. “Mary Darling held a knife to my throat once in front of my sister, and later threatened to eat me alive in front of her and feed me to her pigs.”
“They were going to put me in their daughter’s doll collection,” The Mandrake muttered.
“And I have nothing but nice things to say about the Darlings, so I’m honestly not quite sure how I got dragged into this,” Seneca said. “That aside, it really would be of great help to us if you could share any information about them that you might have.”
“I don’t know what to tell you. They come in, they buy their smokes, they leave, just like most of my customers,” Silvano told them.
“But now they’re trying to lay low, so I’m guessing they’ve made some sort of arrangement with you to get their Satin Stag cigarettes without having to risk coming here in person,” The Mandrake said. “Maybe they set you up with one of their spare Retrovisions? Emrys said they had a few of those lying around, and they can use them as direct portals to their playroom.”
“Like they’d waste a fancy piece of technomancy like that on an old geezer like me. I haven’t seen them in months. Last year sometime, I think,” Silvano claimed.
The Mandrake casually strolled up to the front counter, rapping his fingers on the cheap glass display case.
“Real nice place you got here, Mr. Santoro. I mean, not really, but I’m sure you get the implication,” he said softly. “Ironic as it may be, a smoke shop isn’t exempt from municipal bylaws about smoking in public buildings and workspaces. You may not have had much trouble with local law enforcement before, but one phone call from my employers will change that real quick.”
“You think I’ve never been threatened before, punk?” Silvano asked, rising from his chair and staring him down.
“Boys, please, there’s no need for this,” Envy interjected. “Mr. Santoro, our Order has considerably more resources at its disposal than the Darlings, and we can certainly offer you a far greater reward for their capture than whatever they’re paying you for some cigarettes. You could retire; close this place down and get as far away as you like. How does that sound?”
“I’m not looking to retire, Miss. This business is all I’ve got, and it wouldn’t be good business to go around ratting out my best customers, now would it?” Silvano asked.
“It would be worse business to sacrifice everything you have to protect two customers,” The Mandrake threatened, his hands clamping down on the display cases so hard they began to creak. “Talk.”
Acknowledging him only with a furtive glance, Silvano took another drag from his cigarette and exhaled.
But this time, the smoke poured out from his mouth and nostrils without limit.
“What the hell?” The Mandrake cursed as he backed away.
Silvano pushed a button beneath the counter, putting his shop into lockdown with security shutters clamping down over every entrance point. As the smoke exuded from his body, it went limp and collapsed into a dried-out husk as the smoke coalesced into an animate form of its own, circling above them around the shop’s yellowed and textured ceiling.
“Damnit. Another egregore,” Envy muttered. “That explains his loyalties. The Darlings couldn’t eat him, but Emrys could.”
“So you’re saying we can’t negotiate it with it?” The Mandrake asked.
“Or fight it,” Envy clarified.
“In that case, it appears we’ve exhausted all our options. Time for a tactical retreat,” Seneca declared as he dashed for the now barricaded exit.
Whatever he was planning to do to get through it, the cloud of smoke cut him off before he got the chance. Rushing in through his nose and mouth, it immediately began suffocating him, sending him spasming to the ground as he choked for air.
The cloud assaulted Envy as well, but was unable to penetrate her mask.
“Godamnit, get away!” she shouted as she swatted it away from her burning eyes.
“Envy, get behind me now!” The Mandrake ordered as he drew out his pistols. “Sorry, Santoro, but you’re going to have to do a lot worse than that if you want to intimidate us!”
Seneca responded by gasping angrily and bashing his hand against the carpet.
“… A lot worse,” The Mandrake reiterated. “I may not be able to shoot you, but I will blow this health hazard you love so much to hell if you don’t tell me where I can find the Darlings!”
“There’ll be no need for that, Mr. Mandrake,” the voice of James Darling crackled in from some unseen speaker. A door off to the side slowly creaked open, revealing a Retrovision flickering with black and white static. The Mandrake wasted no time in shooting at it, but the bullets passed through the glass without causing any damage at all.
A hologram of James Darling manifested in the center of the room, a burning Satin Stag cigarette clutched neatly in his fingers. He saw Seneca suffocating on the floor, then turned his predatory and calculating gaze towards The Mandrake.
“Put the guns on the floor, and I’ll call Silvano off,” he offered.
The Mandrake didn’t seem to be the least bit tempted by this offer, but Envy tugged at his trenchcoat and gave him a commanding nudge. Reluctantly, The Mandrake tossed the guns to the carpet and placed his hands behind his head.
With only a single commanding wag of his index finger, the smoke cloud withdrew from Seneca’s lungs and collected itself above James like a thundercloud.
“No sense in killing you, Seneca. That would practically be doing Emrys a favour,” James said. “But Envy, what’s a pretty girl like you doing wearing a mask?”
“You’d better not let your sister hear you calling me that,” Envy taunted.
“Kind of you to worry, but it’s always the object of my flirtations who bear the brunt of my sister’s wrath,” James reminded her smugly. “Top-notch detective work tracking me down, Mr. Mandrake. Why don’t you walk in through the Retrovision and arrest me?”
“You knew we’d show up here looking for you. You were waiting for us,” The Mandrake growled.
“Again, brilliant detective work. You’ve truly earned that fedora,” James mocked him. “Yes, I knew you’d come here looking for us, so I’ve arranged for Mr. Santoro to set up shop inside our playroom. He was only hanging around here to set a trap for you. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. None of you, not even you, Mr. Mandrake, are going to be able to break out of this building. You can sit there and starve for all I care, or Miss Noir and The Mandrake could take their chances with us on the other side of the Retrovision. Sara Darling really would like to put you in her doll collection, Mr. Mandrake, and I can’t wait to tell Mary Darling exactly how pretty I think you are, Envy. If the two of you come across, I’ll let Seneca go and he can inform Erich and Ivy of your predicament. If they’d like to negotiate for your release, I… may be willing to consider it.”
“You’re a coward! If you’re going to threaten me, step across that screen and do it to my face!” the Mandrake ordered.
He took his hands off his head and took a step towards him, only for the acrid form of Silvano to interject itself between them. James took a casual drag from his cigarette, refusing even to flinch.
Envy took advantage of the distraction and grabbed the pair of spellwork pistols off of the floor, firing two rounds of consecrated lead into the limp body of Silvano. While the body didn’t react at all, the smoke cloud shook and screeched like a wounded animal, losing some of its integrity and dissipating across the room.
“That body’s not just a husk! Silvano’s bound to it!” Envy declared. “James, if you don’t let us go in the next thirty seconds I’ll have The Mandrake tear that body limb from limb and you’ll have to find some other cursed thoughtform to roll your cigarettes for you.”
The Mandrake looked back towards James who now, much to his satisfaction, had flinched.
“Thirty. Twenty-Nine. Twenty-Eight,” he began to count down as he theatrically cracked his knuckles.
Before James could come to a decision, a few wisps of smoke snaked their way back into Silvano’s body. They were enough to animate it like a marionette, its limbs moving jerkily as it input the code to retract the security shutters over the doors and windows.
“There, happy?” James asked facetiously. “You’re free to leave. Put those guns down.”
With a smug smile, Envy shook her head.
“Mandrake, grab that body. We’re taking him with us,” she announced.
When Silvano tried to slam the lockdown button again, Envy shot him, knocking him back into his seat. Before he was able to try a second time, The Mandrake had closed the distance between them. He grabbed him by the waist and slung him over his shoulder, impotently kicking and flailing like a toddler having a tantrum all the while.
“No!” James growled, his hologram disappearing and being replaced by countless others scattered throughout the room.
“What the hell?” Envy demanded as she fell back beside The Mandrake for protection.
“It’s a distraction! Shoot at the Retrovision! He’s coming through to get Silvano!” The Mandrake shouted.
Envy complied, firing multiple rounds at every image of James between them and the Retrovision, but all of them sailed clear through their targets. The smoke cloud suddenly condensed tightly around them, and The Mandrake made a break for the front door while he had the chance.
He was tackled from the side by someone moving at over fifty kilometers an hour, knocking him down and halfway across the room. When he looked up, he was completely surrounded by silhouettes of James bending down in the smoke to pick up Silvano. Jumping to his feet, he made his way back towards the Retrovision in the hopes of cutting James off.
Or at least, he thought that’s where he was going. The tumble to the floor and the encircling smoke had disoriented him, and he ended up tripping over Seneca, who was once again unable to stand from the sickening smoke.
James brushed by them in a blur, and Envy fired every last bullet trying to put him down. Each one either missed or succeeded only in striking Silvano, who was slung over James’ back.
The smoke retreated with them, and The Mandrake dashed after them in one final bid to keep them from escaping. They were just feet away from him before they leapt through the Retrovision, vanishing into the basement universe of the Darlings’ playroom. The Mandrake dared to reach in after them and pull them back, but his hand hit nothing but solid glass.
“Damnit!” he cursed, striking the top of the box set with his fist.
“Don’t break it!” Envy shouted. “If that Retrovision came from the Darlings’ playroom and was modified by James, it could be useful in tracking them down again!”
“It also gives them a two-way ticket to wherever we keep it!” The Mandrake shouted back.
“Oh yes, it would be a gamble taking this old girl with you. No doubt about that,” the black and white visage of James mocked them from the other side of the screen, taking a victory drag from his cigarette. “But on the other hand, it is one of my finer works. It would be a crime, an atrocity even, to destroy it.”
The Mandrake struck the box set again, but deliberately held back on damaging it.
“Mandrake, enough!” Envy commanded. “I know it’s risky, but we need it. Turn it off and pick it up. We’re getting out of this hellhole.”
“Don’t feel bad, Mr. Mandrake. I’m sure you’ll have another chance to end up in Sara Darling’s doll collection very soon,” James taunted just before The Mandrake managed to turn the Retrovision off.
“What an absolute waste of time,” he muttered as he lifted the vintage box set off the floor.
“Not entirely!” Seneca claimed, who had not only recovered from his spectral smoke inhalation but was now holding an unlit cigar. “Crow, Crowley & Chamberlain has a lien on this shop, and since Silvano just ran out on us and has thrown his lot in with the Darlings, this place and everything left in it is ours!”
He was just about to light it before Envy snatched it out of his hands.
“The Mandrake wasn’t bluffing about the municipal health bylaws,” she informed him. “From now on, this is a smoke-free building.”

Ever get that feeling, life ain’t terrible but you’re just floating through, maybe feeling stuck? Life ain’t bad really, just feels unfulfilling. I just seem to go to work and pay bills. I want to snap out of it.
Been feeling it too much lately. It would be great to meet some locals to do fun things with like theme parks, find new food to try, movies, outdoors things!
If you’ve ever been to Frank and Sons, we just might get along!
Open to anywhere but local would be great. Phone calls are also a plus. Feel free to shoot me a message!

Long term partner search!
Greetings everyone! Certainly hope you are all having a wonderful day.
I am searching for a writing partner who enjoys story building, development and more! I do only write on Discord, so if this is something you do not like then you might want to consider a different partner!
I tend to enjoy someone who is able to provide a reply at least once a day, as I understand life can get a bit busy. I tend to write roughly 2-4 paragraphs when replying and tend to put quite a bit of detail into my responses.
I am also uncomfortable doing any X related themes. However, I do not mind the typical injury etc where it is needed when writing a story.
I have a multitude of fandoms that I write for and tend to write as my own OC. However, I do not mind writing canon characters as side characters to help with our story. I am fine with my partner writing as their own OC, but would also prefer if someone did not mind writing canon characters as well.
Below, I have listed some of my favorite fandoms I enjoy writing in- as well as placed a mark next to my favorites. In addition, I have also listed some canon characters I am searching for someone to write as. I do hope some of you reach out that are interested!!
• Top Fandoms •
✓ God Of War - Searching for: Kratos/MimiAtreus (High priority) ✓ Fallout 4 (VERY HIGH) Hancock, Preston ✓ RDR2 - Searching for: Arthur Morgan, Dutch (High priority) ✓ TMNT - Any of the 4 turtles ✓ DC/Marvel - Any
• More Fandoms •
~ Bungo Stray Dogs ~ GTA ~ Warrior Cats ~ Walking Dead
= Feel Free to ask for more! =

Eren, Mikasa, Historia and overcoming fate.
Isayama’s betrayal will be the timeloop, it’ll be similar to the mechanics of Muv Luv (SPOILERS FOR ALTERNATIVE).
Meaning of Ittereshai: “Itterasshai”. Literally meaning “please go and come back”. If Mikasa is truly letting go of Eren, saying "itterasshai" here does not make sense.
​
Sumika(Mikasa) is the root of the timeloops and is making Takeru a causality conductor, everytime Takeru died or he failed to reach Sumika, he was rewinded to the same day…creating diverging timelines all rooting back to the same set point (see you later). In Muv Luv, [“The tree on the hill behind Hakuryou that overlooks Hiiragi Town. Shows up everywhere. First made its debut in Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, being a location held by the students that "if a couple formed beneath that tree they'd be together forever" or something to that effect.”](https://muvluv.fandom.com/wiki/That\_Tree\_on\_the\_hill\_behind\_Hakuryou).
​
Processing img kew5c5mzd9xc1...
Processing img 2idfbtknf9xc1...
Processing img rwjg6f64e9xc1...
​
Processing img swkzq03gf9xc1...
​
Processing img f7qwblthf9xc1...
Now what is causing these loops? It is the vow to wrap the scarf of course. In the anime, the scarf is red, making it a reference to the red string of "fate." When Eren made contact with Dina's titan, he accidentally created a vow to wrap the scarf as many times as Mikasa WANTS again and again forever. We know that vows can influence behavior and personality, such being the case with Frieda.
Processing img 4emje1k0f9xc1...
​
Processing img taslc43cf9xc1...
​
Processing img dnimlwy7g9xc1...
I believe Ymir has a huge role in carrying out this vow, she is much more of an active character rather than a simple plot device. The Last Titan OP hints at some sort of battle between Eren and Ymir. Ymir chose Mikasa because of the vow to the scarf that runs by Mikasa's desire to see Eren.
Processing img p7zr1b2kg9xc1...
[Mikasa and Eren’s relationship has been referred to Isayama as “fate”,](https://www.tumblr.com/lenok993/630892902779895808/from-this-to-this-no-scarf-eds-predicted-all) however almost every AOT Ost and message of the story is about overcoming “fate” itself.
​
Processing img pafz77mgh9xc1...
Isayama opposes the notion of fate, he thinks fated lovers is something to be opposed within his story. Eren’s character is the attack Titan, which represents overcoming “fate” and marching towards freedom. Eren’s character in 139 becomes dormant and opposite to everything the attack Titan represents..
Processing img c9lot9crh9xc1...
Historia and Ymir: Historia represents the opposite of fate. Rather than succumbing to it and accepting it, Historia is intertwined with the themes of 'killing the father' and breaking free from 'fate'
Processing img 2r9qlwc4j9xc1...
​
Processing img zogshby5j9xc1...
​
Processing img 4at6ehu9j9xc1...
This is why Historia is the key, she represents everything that fated lovers do not. Eren and Historia's dynamic is not one of "fate" or a goddess influencing them to be together, but rather, just a natural progression of two characters growing to have a friendship and understanding for one another. This is why Eren told Historia everything he saw in the future.. not to protect Mikasa but rather to have an ally, someone who can bear the weight with him.
Processing img gz22tijml9xc1...
​
Processing img zmqgzk96m9xc1...
I still believe Eren's true plan is not a full rumbling, but rather a deception shown to us.. Only Historia knows his true plan and saw the future Eren saw.
Processing img n9xvcm2vl9xc1...
Like Isayama said, "surpassing the father' and 'overcoming fate' are intertwined, Eren has yet to discover the existence he must overcome..
Processing img h5emsxwnk9xc1...
I think Eren will have to "make a family" to break fate, listening to Kruger's advice and finally be able to break the timeloops.
​
Processing img 7cawj3xzl9xc1...
For the story to end, Eren must become a father.