Tyler #19 original picture

Welcome to fluffydestros health insurance can 🅱️uck right off sale I really don't want to sell this stuff but being alive is expensive so here we are
Helmet
Everything else
First up is a artisan hand crafted high cut ACH (I took a jig saw to a surplus ach) comes with everything pictured norotos rhino mount the stupid tooth is broken so it can slide freely forwards and backwards I'm a poor and don't have any nods yet so I never got around to fixing it integrated ear pro is opscore it has (as far as I can tell) genuine opscore arc rails I lost a nut for the chin strap LARPing in the basement $350
6360 rds safariland holster comes with mid ride and drop leg mount also has a 3d printed plug to fit a g19 with threaded barrel comes with original as well $130
TLR-1 HL what can I say it's lit, little to no salt $100
Baby's first battle belt condor belt and I think they're condor pouches too $50
All prices are shipped and insured CONUS please no notes, no chats alternatives to paypal are preferred feel free to send Feet pics

Update on a previous two posts (Chapter 19 and Original) with the below table.
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Chapter	Episode	IMDB Rating	Minutes	Director	Writer
1	The Mandalorian	8.6	39	Dave Filoni	John Favreau
2	The Child	8.5	31	Rick Famuyiwa	John Favreau (2)
3	The Sin	8.9	37	Deborah Chow	John Favreau (3)
4	Sanctuary	7.7	39	Bryce Dallas Howard	John Favreau (4)
5	The Gunslinger	7.5	35	Dave Filoni (2)	Dave Filoni
6	The Prisoner	8.3	43	Rick Famuyiwa (2)	Christopher Yost
7	The Reckoning	9.0	41	Debra Chow (2)	John Favreau (5)
8	Redemption	9.2	49	Taika Waititi	John Favreau (6)
9	The Marshall	8.8	52	John Favreau	John Favreau (7)
10	The Passenger	7.8	40	Peyton Reed	John Favreau (8)
11	The Heiress	8.7	33	Bryce Dallas Howard (2)	John Favreau (9)
12	The Siege	8.3	37	Carl Weathers	John Favreau (10)
13	The Jedi	9.3	45	Dave Filoni (3)	Dave Filoni (2)
14	The Tragedy	9.1	32	Robert Rodriguez	John Favreau (11)
15	The Believer	8.9	36	Rick Famuyiwa (3)	Rick Famuyiwa
16	The Rescue	9.8	44	Peyton Reed (2)	John Favreau (12)
17	The Apostate	7.5 (-1)	35	Rick Famuyiwa (4)	John Favreau (13)
18	The Mines of Mandalore	8.4 (-2)	42	Rachel Morrison	John Favreau (14)
19	The Convert	7.2 (-1)	59	Lee Isaac Chung	Noah Kloor & John Favreau (15)
20	The Foundling	8.4*	33	Carl Weathers (2)	John Favreau (16) & Dave Filoni (3)
21	TBD	TBD	TBD	Peter Ramsey	John Favreau (17)
22	TBD	TBD	TBD	Bryce Dallas Howard (3)	John Favreau (18)
23	TBD	TBD	TBD	Rick Famuyiwa (5)	John Favreau (19) & Dave Filoni (4)
24	TBD	TBD	TBD	Rick Famuyiwa (6)	John Favreau (20)

Coming fresh off the worst rated episode of the series, we head off into Carl Weathers second attempt at directing with Chapter 20 - The Foundling.
As predicted in last post, the episode is only 33 minutes long (To be fair, I did say between 35-37, so they made me look shit)
I have gone an updated previous episodes and amended their ratings, which is why you'll see (-1) etc next to their new score. This shows how much they have changed since last week.
Chapter 20 is currently sitting on 8.4, but with only 571 reviews, hence the asterisks next to it. So far, every episode has averaged around 10,676 reviews. Based on the history of how these episodes are scored, the fact Chapter 20 is at 8.4 so early into the episodes release, tells me that it has maxed out and will only go down from here. I expect in a weeks time we'll see if around the 8.1 or even as low as 7.8. But hey, I've been wrong before.
Now, I understand these IMDB ratings are subjective and to some, mean nothing. However, what we're now seeing are low rated episodes in a season that has put The Mandalorian in a never before discussion on whether or not it is good anymore. So yes, I believe that the data is correlating with recent news and negative feedback of this season in particular.
This doesn't bode well for this season, especially after the rumors swirling that Season 3 viewership numbers are so bad, it's sitting 3rd behind Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett.
Next week we head off to Chapter 21, that is directed by Peter Ramsey, who has directed films like Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Rise Of The Guardians, which are actually decent.
But Peter's expertise really is in his long history of being a Storyboard Artist. He's worked on some big, successful films going back to the 1990 classic Predator 2. If you have some time, check out his other work in the art department!
We could be looking at 8.8 episode here, folks. Too much talent to be shit. Then again...it is Disney, and they've proven they know how to ruin a good thing.

The final scenes of earth history! The last days are NOT sometime in the future that we are waiting to experience, the "last days" are now. Don't wait for the Sunday law to dedicate your life back to God. It is wonderful that God gives us such intricate teachings and counsels to guide us through each day so that we won't be afraid of the signs and wonders that we have seen, that we see, and that we will see.
Prophecy is given by God to prepare us, not to scare us.
I pray these words will be encouraging to you in your walk with God today.
You can find the first four parts on my profile.
Thank you for your time and patience in reading these posts.
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THE LATTER RAIN
GC 445 “When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.”
GC 449 “But Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in doing so they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true Christians in every church, not expecting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome, and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshipping the beast and his image. As men then reject the institution which God had declared to be the sign of His authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome—‘ the mark of the beast.’ And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive ‘the mark of the beast.’ “
5T 451 “When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and Republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.”
GC 449 “…the enforcement of Sunday-keeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship of the beast and his image.”
This will mark the fall of Babylon.
This is the real issue.
God’s only answer to the worship of the Beast and his image is the image of God restored in the soul and reflected in the life.
The time of the test is fast approaching. We must prepare now.
7T 141 “The substitution of the laws of men for the law of God, the exaltation, by merely human authority, of Sunday in place of the Bible Sabbath, is the last act in the drama.”
RH May 2, 1893 “The people of the United States have been a favored people; but when they restrict religious liberty, surrender Protestantism, and give countenance to popery, the measure of their guilt will be full, and national apostasy will be registered in the books of Heaven. The result of this apostasy will be national ruin.:
6T 18 “As America, the land of religious liberty, shall unite with the papacy in forcing the conscience and compelling men to honor the false sabbath, the people on every country of the globe will be led to follow her example.”
6T 395 “Foreign nations will follow the example of the United States. Though she leads out, yet the same crisis will come upon our people in all parts of the world.”
GC 591 “Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to convince the rejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great wickedness in the world and second testimony of religious teachers, that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday. Great will by the indignation excited abasing all who refuse to accept their testimony.
GC 607 “The church appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists and Protestants unite. As the movement for the Sunday enforcement becomes more bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment keepers. They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as inducements to renounce their faith.”
The Great Test
2SM 268 “When the law of God is made void, the church will be sifted by fiery trials, and a larger portion than we now anticipate, will give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.”
5T 717 “My brethren, do you realize that your own salvation, as well as the destiny of other souls, depends upon the preparation you now make for the trials before us.
(Review DA 107 last paragraph: DA 173 first paragraph; and Romans 8:14).
7BC 976 “The Lord has shown me clearly that the image of the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided.”
GC 608 “As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth, abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition.”
This may be the time that Satan will personate Christ. Read GC 622-625.
2SM 51 “We are warned that in the last days he (Satan) will work with signs and lying wonder, And he will continue those wonders until the close of probation, that he may point to them as evidence that he is an angel of light and not of darkness.”
5T 81 “In this time, the gold will be separated from the dross in the church. True godliness will be clearly distinguished from the appearance and tinsel of it. Many a star that we have admired for its brilliancy will the go out in darkness.”
DA 630 “Those who apostatize in the time of trial will, to secure their own safety, bear false witness, and betray their brethren. Christ has warned us of this, that we may not be surprised art the unnatural, coral course of those who reject the light.”
The Latter Rain and the Loud Cry
GC 464 “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon His children.”
EW 85, 86 “At the commencement of the times of trouble, we were filled with the Holy Ghost as we went forth and proclaimed the Sabbath more fully ….
“ ‘The commencement of the time of trouble’ here mentioned, does not refer to the time when the plagues shall begin to be poured out, but to a short period just before they are poured out, while Christ is in the sanctuary. At that time while the work of salvation is closing, trouble will be coming on the earth, and the nations will be angry, yet held in check so as not to prevent the work of the third angel. At that time the ‘latter rain,’ or refreshing form the presence of the Lord will come, to give power to the loud voice pop the third angel, and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seven last plagues shall be poured out.”
6T 401 “…when the storm of persecution really breaks upon us, the true sheep will hear the true Shepherd’s voice. Self-denying efforts will be put forth to save the lost, and many who have strayed from the fold will come back to follow the great Shepherd….
The love of Christ, the love of our brethren, will testify to the world that we have been with Jesus and learned of Him. Then will the message of the third angel swell to a loud cry, and the whole earth will be lightened with the glory of the Lord.”
EW 227-279 “I saw a great light resting upon them, and they united to fearlessly proclaim the third angel’s message….
“The glory rested upon the patient, waiting saints, and they fearlessly gave the last solemn warning, proclaiming the fall of Babylon and calling upon God’s people to come out of her that they might escape her fearful doom….
“Servants of God, endowed with power from on high, with their faces lighted up, and shining with holy consecration, went forth to proclaim the message from heaven. Souls that were scattered all through the religious bodies answered to the call, and the precious were hurried out of the doomed churches, as Lot was hurried outSodom before her destruction.”
Read Great Controversy page 612.
GC 606 “Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with the greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the inroads of spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal power, —all will be unmasked. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words like these.”
8T 20 “So mightily can God work when men give themselves up to the control of His Spirit.”
This is the time when the work of the church will be finished in a blaze of glory that shall enlighten the whole world!
5T 754 “…the swiftness of lightning represents the speed with which this work will finally go forward to completion.”
9T 96 “There will be a series of events revealing that God is master of the situation.”
Romans 9:28 “For he will finish the work in righteousness: because s short work will the Lord make upon the earth.”
6T 19 “The message of Christ’s righteousness is to sound from one end of the earth to the other to prepare the way of the Lord. This is the glory of God, which closes the work of the third angel.”
MB 43 (70) “The words of Christ through the gospel prophet, which are reechoed in the Sermon on the Mount, are for us in this last generation: “Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.’ (Isaiah 60:1)….if you have beheld His beauty who is the ‘chiefest among ten thousand’ and the One ‘altogether lovely,’ if your soul has become radiant in the presence of His glory, to you is this word from the Master sent.”
COL 415 “Into the darkness of the world is to be shed the light of His glory, the light of His goodness, mercy, and truth.”
EW 279 “I was pointed down to the time when the third angel’s message was closing. The power of God had rested upon Hi people; they had accomplished their work and were prepared for the trying hour before them. They had received the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and the living testimony had been revived. The last great warning had sounded everywhere, and it had stirred up and enraged the inhabitants of the earth who would not receive the message.
TM 445 “Those who overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil, will be the favored ones who shall receive the seal of the living God.”
7BC 968 “Just before we entered it (the time of trouble), we all received the seal of the living God. Then I saw the four angels cease to hold the four winds. And I saw famine, pestilence and sword, nation rose against nation, and the whole world was in confusion.”
GC 613 “/../.the final test has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts have received the ‘seal of the living God.’ Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above.”
The Close of Probation
EW 279-281 “I saw angels hurrying to and fro in heaven. An angel with a writer’s inkhorn by his side returned from the earth and reported to Jesus that his work was done, and the saints were numbered and sealed. Then I saw Jesus, who had been ministering before the ark containing the ten commandments, throw down the censer. He raised His hands, and with a loud voice said, ‘It is done.’ And all the angelic host laid off their crowns as Jesus made the solemn declaration, ‘He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be h only still.’…
“As Jesus moved out of the most holy place,…a cloud of darkness covered the inhabitants of the earth. There was then no mediator between guilty man and an offended God….
“Then I saw Jesus lay off His priestly attire, and clothe Himself with His most kingly robes. Upon His head were many crowns, a crown within a crown. Surrounded by the angelic host, He left heaven. The plagues were falling upon the inhabitants of the earth. Some were denouncing God and cursing Him. Others rushed to the people of God and begged to be taught how they might escape His judgements. But the saints had nothing for them. The last tear for sinners had been shed, the last agonizing prayer offered, the last burden borne, the last warning given….With terrible distinctness they heard the words, ‘Too late! Too late!’ “
Shall we not do now what many thousands will wish they had done when the plagues begin to fall? Then it will be too late to surrender without reservation and earnestly pray for a daily baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Now is the time to put self aside and make speedy preparation for the Latter Rain.
8T 22 “Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it?”
TM 64 “…why should we not prostrate ourselves at the throne of grace, as representatives of the church, and from a broken heart and contrite spirit make earnest supplication that the Holy Spirit shall be poured out upon us from on high?”
COR 165 “Oh that we as a people might humble our hearts before God, and plead with Him for the endowment of the Holy Spirit.”
TM 310, 223 “Realize every moment that you must have the presence of the Holy Spirit;…
“We need to be sanctified by the Holy Spirit every hour of the day, lest we be ensnared by the enemy, and our souls be imperiled.”
Our task is not just to continue in the Lord’s service making large gains year after year. The hour is long overdue when we should let God use us to quickly finish the work by the might power of His Spirit.
9T 44 “Intense earnestness should now take possession of us.”
This is the hour of greatest danger.
All that will survive the seven last plagues is a holy character.
The vital need—the greatest need of the Remnant church is not more members, more preachers, more money, or more facilities. The greatest need today is Spirit filled men and women.
We have great institutions
We have the greatest literature in the world.
We have the greatest organization in the world.
Who will respond without reservation to the mighty challenge of this climatic hour of earth’s history?
DANGER AHEAD
5T 644 “…if Satan cannot keep souls bound in the ice of indifference, he will try to push them into the fire of fanaticism.”
Faith I Live By 140 “No one who claims holiness is really holy. Those who are registered as holy in the books of heaven are not aware of the fact, and are the last ones to boast of their own goodness.”
SL 7 “Those who are really seeking to perfect Christian character will never indulge the thought that they are sinless. Their lives may be irreproachable, that may be living representatives of the truth which they have accepted; but the more they discipline their minds to dwell on the character of Christ, the neared the approach His divine image, the more clearly they will discern its spotless perfection, and the more deeply will they feel their own defects.”
SC 64 “The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eye: for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature.”
A Snare of Satan
GW 316 “As the end draws near, the enemy will work with all his power to bring in fanaticism among us.”
8T 293 “False theories, clothed with garments of light, will be presented to God’s people. Thus Satan will try to deceive, if possible, the very elect.”
7BC 907 “As we near the end of time, falsehood will be so mingled with truth, that only those who have the guidance of the Holy Spirit will be able to distinguish truth from error.”
TM 55 “False teachers may appear to be very zealous for the work of God, and may expend means to bring their theories before the world and the church; but as they mingle error with truth, their message is one of deception, and will lead souls into false paths. They are to be met, and opposed, not because they are bad men, but because they are teachers of falsehood, and are endeavoring to put upon falsehood the stamp of truth.”
TM 61 “God has a church upon the earth, who are His chosen people, who keep His commandments. He is leading, not stray offshoots, not one here and one there, but a people.
Those who are tempted to aid Satan by criticizing leaders or laity in the Remnant church would do well to ponder the counsel of God’s messenger in the following quotations:
6T 42 “Nothing else in this world is so dear to God as His church, Nothing so offends God as an act that injures the influence of those who are doing His service. He will call to account all who aid Satan in his work of criticizing and discouraging.”
8T 36 “We must be terribly in earnest. We have not a moment to spend on criticism and accusation.”
TM 156 “Those who love Jesus will love the souls for whom He died. The truth planted in the heart will reveal the love of Jesus and its transforming power. Anything harsh, sour, critical, domineering, is not of Christ, but proceeds from Satan.”
The inclination to criticize should be a danger signal to us, for when the Holy Spirit purifies and transforms us, our hearts will be filled with love for God and for our brethren.
While it is true that the majority in the Remnant church are in the Laodicean state, many of whom will be shaken out, yet there is in the church a faithful group that will give heed to the counsel of Christ the True Witness. They will be prepared for the Latter Rain, share in giving the message with a loud Cry, and be ready for translation.
This is the Remnant church. God will not leas another movement. When the faithful ones give the message with great power during the Latter Rain, a great multitude will come out of failed churches, witness for their Master, and triumph with the redeemed on the sea of glass.
Now is the time to prepare for the Latter Rain. And we should remember daily that this work of preparation must take place under the Early Rain.
ADDITIONAL QUOTATIONS FOR MEDITATION
EW 66, 67 “My eyes were taken from the glory, and I was pointed to the remnant on the earth. The angel said to them, ‘Will ye shun the seven last plagues? Will ye go to glory and enjoy all that God has prepared for those that love Him and are willing to suffer for His sake? If so, ye must die that ye may live. Get ready, get ready, get ready. Ye must have a greater preparation than ye now have….Sacrifice all to God. Lay upon all upon His altar,—self property, and all, a living sacrifice. It will take all to enter glory….’
“Heaven will be cheap enough, if we obtain it through suffering. We must deny self all along the way, die to self daily, let Jesus alone appear, and keep His glory continually in view….
“Said the angel, ‘Deny self; ye must step fast.’ “
KH 291 “Our future eternal happiness depends upon having our humanity, with all its capabilities, and powers, brought into obedience to God and placed under control of Divinity….
“Jesus became a man that He might mediate between man and God,… that He might restore to man the original mind which he lost in Eden through Satan’s alluring temptation.
“…Through Jesus Christ every man may overcome…”
1SM 98 “The Lord desires every one of us to be decidedly in earnest.”
9T 44 “Intense earnestness should now take possession of us.”
5T 267 “Pray that the mighty energies of the Holy Spirit, with all their quickening, recuperate,. And transforming power, may fall like an electric shock on the palsy-stricken soul, causing every nerve to thrill with new life, restoring the whole man from his dead, earthly, sensual state to spiritual soundness. You will thus become partakes of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust; and in your souls will be reflected the image of Him by whose stripes you are healed.”
CH 138 “In order to be purified and to remain pure, Seventh-day Adventists must have the Holy Spirit in their hearts and in their homes. The Lord has given me light that when the Israel of today humble themselves before Him, and cleanse the soul-temple from all defilement, He will hear their prayers in behalf of the sick, and will bless in the use of His remedies for disease.”
PK 233 “To the heart that has become purified, all is changed. Transformation of character is the testimony to the world of an indwelling Christ. The Spirit of God produces a new life in the soul., bringing the thoughts and desires into obedience to the will of Christ; and the inward mind is renewed in the image of God.”
7T 33 “All that the apostles did, every church member today is to do.”
AA 49, 50 “Daily they prayed for fresh supplies of grace, that they might reach higher and still higher toward perfection. Under the Holy Spirit’s working, even the weakest, by exercising faith in God, learned to improve their entrusted powers, and to become sanctified, refined, and enabled. As in humility they submitted to the moulding influence of the Holy Spirit, they received of the fulness of the Godhead, and were fashioned in the likeness of the divine
“…If all were willing, all would be filled with the Spirit.”
CH 437 “As the human agent submits his will to the will of God, the Holy Spirit will make the impression upon the hearts of those whom he ministers.”
MH 512 “Nothing is more needed in our work than the practical results of communion with God. We should show by our daily lives that we have peace and rest in the Savior. His peace in the heart will shine forth in the countenance. It will give to the voice a persuasive power. Communion with God will ennoble the character and the life. Men will take knowledge of us, as go the first disciples, that we have been with Jesus. This will impart to the worker a power that nothing else can give. Of this power he must not allow himself to be deprived.”
Unlimited Possibilities
DA 250 “He who loves Christ the most will do the greatest amount of good. There is no limit to the usefulness of one who, by putting self aside, makes room for the working of the Holy Spirit upon his heart, and lives a life wholly consecrated to God.”
MH 160 “To everyone who offers himself to the Lord for service, withholding nothing, is given power for the attainment of measureless results.”
ADDENDA
Page 1, following line 22:
5T 67 “I am presenting to you that which the Lord has presented to me… They are what God has opened before me in vision—the precious rays of light shining from the throne.”
Page 12, following line 35:
5T 158 “We should pray as earnestly for the descent of the Holy Spirit as the disciples prayed on the day of Pentecost.”
Page 14, following line 8:
DA 389 “So fully was Jesus surrendered to the will of God that the Father alone appeared in His life.”
Page 17, following line 21:
8T 23 “My brethren and sister, plead for the Holy Spirit.”
Page 28, following line 29:
But to finish the work of God, we must receive daily a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit.
BEHOLD I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK
2SM 57 “The great sin of those who profess to be Christians is that they do not open the heart to receive the Holy Spirit.”
COR 146 “If you open the door of the heart, Jesus will supply the vacuum by the gift of His Spirit, and then you can be a living preacher in your home, in the church, and in the world.”
7T 33 “All that the apostles did, every church-member today is to do. And we are to work with as much more fervor, to be accompanied by the Holy Spirit in as much greater measure, as the increase of wickedness demands a more decided call to repentance….
“At this time, when the end of all things is at hand, should not the zeal of the church exceed even that of the early church? …Should not the power of God be even more tightly revealed today than in the time of the apostles?”

Originally posted by u/laying_low_for_a_bit in TrueOffMyChest on March 12, '23, updated March 15th
Original Post
I Adopted my bestfriend's (who passed away) son and now I have to face the father who has no idea
I'm sorry but it's going to be long. I just didn't know where else to turn to.
I (32f) had a childhood bestfriend, I'll call her Jiya in this post, who I was very close to. We were always together growing up. Even when we went to different colleges, we still made time for each other and filled each other in of all the details from our life. She used to talk about this guy she was dating and I could just tell how much she loved him. I eventually met the guy and was happy to see both of them so much in love. She eventually married him and they both moved to Canada as he got a really good job there. She uprooted her life here in India and went with her husband. We were all 24 at that time. With time we got busy in our lives and the close bond that we once had, slowly faded away... Part of growing up I guess. We still stayed in touch... just not as much.
After 4 years, one day i got a call from her and she asked me to meet. She told me she was back in India. I was happy to hear that but something felt off. We met and we were so happy and it felt like we were still the same. But then she broke the news to me that she and her husband got a divorce. Her reasons were just that with time they just grew apart and with both their work schedules they couldn't make time for each other. I understood that. But then she broke the even bigger news that she was pregnant with his child and that he didn't know and that she was planning to keep it that way because she wanted him to move on with his life without any attachments to him. I was shocked and I didn't approve of this at all but it was her child hence she was the one to decide afterall. She wanted to have a life of her own back where her parents lived and wanted to give birth to this child. I asked her what her parents had to say about this and she said they were supportive of whatever she wanted.
What I was feeling was a mixture of emotions... As i was happy to have her here but also sad that she was going to face all this on her own. I decided to support her on every step of the way and be the best aunt to that child ever.
Time passed and she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Rehan (fake name) and for a second everything felt peaceful. She was so happy. She moved back into her parents' house who were more than happy to take care of both her and the baby. It seemed like everything was going to be okay. But peace was only short-lived when only 2 years after giving birth to the baby, my friend, my childhood friend who was like a sister to me passed away. I won't be going into details but she had some terrible health issues and she couldn't fight them anymore. We were all devastated. It felt like I lost a part of myself. I couldn't even imagine what her parents were going through. I wanted to be there for them in whatever way possible.
They were old and Jiya was their only daughter. I was worried how they would take care of Rehan who was now 2 and now didn't have a mother. We had a serious discussion one day and I asked them if they would be okay taking all the responsibilities. I even brought up Rehan's father because he still didn't know anything about his son. But aunt seemed a bit agitated and it felt like she wanted to say something but wasn't able to. I asked her what it was and after a bit of hesitation, she finally spoke. She asked me if I would like to be a parent to their grandson. I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. They asked me to not dismiss the idea altogether and to just think about it. I said okay and went home.
What they asked of me was huge but it also kinda made sense, I guess? They were old and they couldn't possibly take care of a child on their own. On the other hand I've been a part of their lives since Jiya and I were 8 and a part of Rehan's life since his birth. And I was a single woman who didn't really have any plans of getting married. I did plan on having kids at one point in life but I just never got around to it. And with Jiya and Rehan, I just felt like it was enough. I decided to adopt Rehan. I informed Uncle and Aunty that I'll do it and they started crying. My parents were also supportive because they were going to be grandparents as well. Amidst everything, things somewhat seemed okay.
I legally adopted Rehan as my son and even though the process took some time... It was worth it. Rehan is 3 now and I was happy taking caring of him and him having two sets of grandparents was kinda nice. Losing Jiya was a shock to all of us but her death brought all of us even closer than before and we became a family.
All of a sudden I got a news from Aunty. That Jiya's ex husband has come back to India. And that he wanted to have dinner with them. Aunt told me that he informed them he never really got married after Jiya and that he was devastated by the news and he was sorry that he couldn't come to the funeral but now that he was here, he wanted to be there for them. Aunty understood his position but she was worried about how things will turnout so, she asked me to join them as well. The Dinner is in 4 days and I am scared. Rehan is my child. He is a part of my best friend. I am scared that if I see Rehan's father, I'd feel so guilty and Jiya's parents and I, we might blurt out the truth. And if we do so... I'm afraid that he'll try to take Rehan away from us. A lot of things that can go wrong. I'm not sure how to approach this situation.
Rehan's father is not a bad person but he might (and mostly definitely will) feel betrayed that he didn't know about all this that we hid his own son from him. We're not sure how to face him and we know we're in the wrong here. We just don't know if we should tell him about his son and if we do, how he will react and what he'll do and what we can do to convince him to not take him away from us. We're all very scared. It's making my heart feel so guilty. I know we're being selfish here. I just don't know what to do here.
Edit: I've taken into account all your views and they helped me a lot in deciding what to do. Thank you so much everyone.
The comments are a bit divided. Some are praising her and some are very upset that they have kept this child from his father
Update 3 days later
Thank you so much everybody for all the support. I really appreciate all your comments and I've read most of them. I've weighed in both sides of the situation and I'd mention a few things first.
When Rehan was born here, his only parent was Jiya. The father was nowhere in the picture. After her, the custody went to her parents. They allowed me to adopt Rehan.
We don't know if Rehan's father is in india for good. All we heard is that he has come and that he wants to meet Jiya's parents.
I understand that all this is based on a hidden truth and that makes us all guilty of robbing a child of his father's love.
I love Rehan so much and I would always do what's best for him. Even though Jiya is no more with us, and I'm the "mom" now... I promised Jiya's parents AND myself that I'll never let Rehan forget about her. And honestly, I want to do the same for his father. I've talked to uncle and aunty and I've decided not to attend the dinner and that I would let them talk to him get all the necessary details about him. Of course we couldn't figure this out in such short amount of time so, we've decided to take one step at a time. We definitely do want to tell him about Rehan but we still need to figure out how. Meanwhile I'll contact a lawyer to see how things should proceed legally.
The first thing we all want to know is for how long he'd be staying here. And if he would ever consider moving back to India. Jiya made a sacrifice when she left India, we would really like to know or at least have an idea if he would ever do the same for someone (in this case, his own child, whose entire family is in India including Jiya's In-laws) What his responses would be to all these questions play a major role in this situation because we're really in the dark and we don't want to take any bad decisions on the basis of assumptions.
All I ever wanted from the very beginning was to be the best aunt to our little Rehan. It's a privilege that I got to be his mom. And If everything really goes well... I'd be more than happy to share custody with Rehan's father.
Reminder, DO NOT comment on the original posts or contact the original poster. I am not the original poster. This is a repost.

Retro Joshi #433: JWP November 29, 1999, NEO December 2, 1999 + NEO final show, Jd’ December 7, 1999 & GAEA November 27 - December 12, 1999 - The Bloody vs. Yoshiko Tamura
JWP Visit 11/29/1999 Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Kaori Yoneyama Debut: Kaori Yoneyama vs. Kayoko Haruyama (9:34)
Haruyama continues to show nothing and Yoneyama was on debut. Very basic and boring, they pretty much just did their holds and a couple of basic spots at the end. 3/4*
Carlos Amano vs. Chihiro Nakano and Azumi Hyuga & Acute Sae vs. Devil Masami & Maecela were clipped. The latter had decent action.
Dynamite Kansai vs. Kana Mizaki (6:02 / 8:46)
The first minute was good and it looked like it would be a fun match, but Mizaki injured her knee on a plancha and that was pretty much the end of that. She continued the match and tried to fight, but shouldn’t have. She couldn’t do anything, Kansai gave her a couple of near falls from flash pins and then pinned her after a Splash Mountain. It’d be unfair to rate this.
They showed highlights of 11/13 Akutoshitei Hamamatsu: Azumi Hyuga & Dynamite Kansai vs. Ran YuYu & Takako Inoue and 11/14 Osaka IMP Hall: Azumi Hyuga vs. Command Bolshoi. The latter match saw Bolshoi upset Hyuga, just in case any confirmation that the company weren’t behind Hyuga as their ace was needed.
JWP Openweight Title Next Challenger Decision Match, Lumberjack Rule: Ran YuYu vs. Command Bolshoi (26:40)
The usual story as with most JWP matches. The work was crisp and good, and they did lots of nice moves, Bolshoi gave an impressive performance and Ran always does a good job. That was all there was though and it fell short because there was little selling and they didn’t build the match to go anywhere. It felt like it went for an eternity too. Ran won with her brainbuster to earn the match with Hyuga in December. **
NEO Ladies Neo REAL LIFE 12/2/1999 Korakuen Hall
We’re coming to the end of NEO and they were trying some wacky stuff here. The show was bookended by an angle with Kodo Fuyuki and Kyoko Inoue, which ended up with Fuyuki challenging Kyoko to a Kanaami Death Match on 12/25. They had also been doing an angle with ASARI and Convini Goto II, which ended up with ASARI making short work of him on this show. They also ran a one night tag tournament. The early matches were clipped and not very good. The semi finals saw W Inoue defeat Tanny Mouse & Chihiro Nakano in another nothing match. The other semi final finally saw a hell of a match with LCO vs. Genki & Tamura. LCO came to work this time and gave the younger girls an exciting match and you could buy Genki and Tamura as a threat. I’d go ***1/4 on this one. The main event saw the finals between W Inoue vs. LCO. It wasn’t as good as LCO’s semi final, and lacked drama. **3/4. LCO won the tournament.
The final original NEO tape saw the shows from 12/25/99 and their final show on 1/6/00. The 12/25 show was headlined by the Kanaami Death Match between Kyoko Inoue vs. Kodo Fuyuki. This was a serious match, I’m not going to rate but it wasn’t as bad as you’d think. Kyoko did a good carry job and Fuyuki bled all over the place. This was a precursor to Kyoko’s run in FMW, which I can’t imagine was worthwhile and I’m not sad that I don’t have any of the FMW tapes from that era to watch it. The final show on 1/6/00 saw Kyoko work 6 matches. She worked hard but none of the matches were really worthwhile and they were all clipped anyway. They final match was a 3 vs. 5 tag match with Kyoko Inoue, Mima Shimoda & Etsuko Mita vs. Misae Genki, Yoshiko Tamura, Saya Endo, Tanny Mouse & Yuka Nakamura. NEO would relaunch in March as NEO Women’s Pro Wrestling, but there’s no tapes from them that exist until 2001. NEO couldn’t be described as anything other than a failure. The company started out hot with his first shows, but fizzled out quickly and for the remainder of its run it was the least popular of the seven women’s promotions. Nothing they did seemed to draw much fan interest. I’d blame a combination of things for that - Market oversaturation, uninteresting booking, a thin roster and Kyoko having little drawing power by 1998.
Jd' Get Miracle 1999 12/7/1999 Kitazawa Town Hall
Tiny Jd’ show with one worth match. The undercard wasn’t much. We had the Yuki Lee retirement ceremony. Sachie Abe vs. Obatchi Iizuka (10:32), comedy match, Obatchi came out dressed as a Christmas tree, grabbed Abe’s boobs a lot and put a stocking over her head. DUD. Hiroyo Muto vs. Fang Suzuki (10:11). These two were okay together and there was none of the usual interference, but it was just basic and uninteresting, at least Muto could do her power gimmick against Fang. *1/4. Megumi Yabushita vs. Ranmaru (4;54). Very short match, which was probably for the best given how green Ranmaru is. The action was good while it lasted. *3/4. Cooga, Yuko Kosugi & Sumie Sakai vs. Lioness Asuka, Morimatsu & KAZUKI (11:40). Again on the short side. It wasn’t too bad, it had plenty of action, though it wasn’t anything close to the normal level from Kosugi, Sakai and Lioness, and the other three are stiffs. **
AWF Joshi Title Match: The Bloody vs. Yoshiko Tamura (15:56 / 19:01)
The match this tape was worth watching for. Bloody wrestled most of the match cleanly, and didn’t bring in the chairs until late in the match. They got off to a slow start, and it was fairly dull, lots of holds but they were quite meaningless. It picked up as it went along and turned into a good match. They had good exchanges in the second half. Bloody did the footstomp with Tamura draped over two chairs again like she did to Kosugi, and hit the Dragon Suplex afterward but Tamura survived, coming back with a double wrist armsault to win the belt. ***
GAEA G-PANIC #28 (11/27/1999 - 12/12/1999)
IRON HEART 11/27 Tokyo Korakuen Hall
They did a 6 vs. 6 match which was Aja Kong, Mayumi Ozaki, Kaori Nakayama, Akira Hokuto, Sugar Sato & Chikayo Nagashima vs. Chigusa Nagayo, Sakura Hirota, KAORU, Toshie Uetmatsu, Meiko Satomura & Toshiyo Yamada. It was under 1 v 1 elimination rules with the loser confined to handcuffs. The matches were mostly the short GAEA sprints we’re used to, and it was fun, if they’re going to do those short matches I’d rather them do it in a format like this, though as usual, it was a washed up veteran going over at the end. Chigusa defeated Aja in 50 seconds, then Ozaki quickly defeated Chigusa. Lioness Asuka’s music played and the crowd went wild, but it turned out to be Hirota. Ozaki went through her, and then was beaten by KAORU. Nakayama was next in and beaten in a couple of minutes. It became the Hokuto show for a while as she ran through KAORU, Uematsu and Satomura before being defeated by Yamada - the best segment of the entire match was Hokuto vs. Satomura. Yamada bleached her hair, got new gear and was painted up, she was barely recognizable and looked ridiculous. Yamada vs. Sato went for 8 minutes, which was a lot longer than any of the other matches but wasn’t much good. The final match was Yamada vs. Chikayo, which was longer again, but stop/start with the psychology being the two trying to avoid falling into the other teams corner where they were all handcuffed. Yamada botched her Reverse Gory Special to a scary degree and had to repeat it, giving her the win. After the match RIE dragged a bleeding Takeuchi around. I don’t know how to rate this, it wasn’t any kind of high quality wrestling but it was very entertaining at times, particularly in the first half. I’ll be generous and give them *** for the whole thing.
PROPHECY HITTING 12/12/99 Osaka IMP Hall
Mayumi Ozaki & Akira Hokuto vs. Chigusa Nagayo & KAORU (4:51 / 8:27)
Joined in progress, and just a bunch of spots. Ozaki defeated KAORU with a strangle hold. *3/4
Lioness Asuka & Sonoko Kato vs. Aja Kong & Chikayo Nagashima (6:13 / 8:43)
Also joined in progress, except this match was actually quality despite being so short. Lioness defeated Chikayo with a Tower Hacker Bomb. Lots of yelling after the match seemed to be setting up Chigusa & Satomura vs. Lioness & Kato, which would be cool, but it's hard to get excited for GAEA matches when they usually just do a sub-10 minute sprint, especially when Chigusa is involved. ***

tldr: FFV is extremely good. Play it.
The middle child of the series’ 16-bit era, Final Fantasy V doesn’t share the same lofty legacy as its immediate predecessor and successor. Final Fantasy IV was a game-changer for the franchise and RPGs on a whole while Final Fantasy VI is still regularly considered one of the greatest games in the series and on the Super Nintendo, but audiences far too often neglect the big bridge between them. Final Fantasy V deserves to be held in the same regard and for good reason. V strikes a perfect balance between the gameplay heavy Job-based titles (I & III) and the denser, story-focused (II & IV) games in a way that neither IV nor VI accomplish.
Philosophically, Final Fantasy V combines the player-driven customization from the odd-numbered entries with the narrative and thematic ambitions of the even-numbered games, albeit not by design interestingly enough. In a 1992 developer interview from Famicom Tsuushin (now Famitsu), series creator and FFV director Hironobu Sakaguchi rejected the idea that V was an intentional culmination of what came before,
“Distilling the essence of Final Fantasy into a single game was not our intention. We created this new job ability system in order to carry forth and further iterate on the good ideas we had in FFIV. In that sense it was a distillation. But rather than summing up all of what Final Fantasy has been, it’s more that we simply wanted to give players a kind of fun they haven’t experienced yet. That doesn’t necessarily imply that we wanted to cut out the good parts from FFIV, though.”
In practice, V takes what works from previous games, but redefines everything to fit its own identity. The Job system has been heavily tweaked to offer greater customization options, while memorable character arcs and dramatic story beats tend to drive the plot forward over pure exploration: it’s the best of III and IV with none of the worst. The kind of “fun [players] haven’t experienced yet” means that everyone will go through the same motions more or less, but no two playthroughs need ever be alike: narrative linearity plays off mechanical flexibility. Even though FFV’s story moves in a fixed fashion like IV, players are afforded an incredible amount of freedom when it comes to building their party courtesy of the revised Job system. The end result is an RPG that will always feel fresh.
The gameplay variety in V is still genuinely impressive to this day. Parties are scaled back down to just four members, but everyone can learn any skill and fulfill any role with enough effort. Every party member starts as a Freelancer who can then be reclassed between 22 Jobs (26 in the GBA port). Party composition is less of a puzzle ala FFIII and treated instead like a proper character building system. Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Galuf all begin as blank slates, but will very quickly fall into different gameplay roles based on how you choose to train each character. The lack of CP (Capacity Points) also means you can swap Jobs whenever you want.
Party members can actually learn and equip Job specific abilities in V. You can mix and match abilities with different Jobs, essentially creating hybrid classes suited to your gameplay interests. Make mages deal barehanded damage like Monks, Monks who attack eight times in a single turn with Rapid Fire, or singing Summoners whose summons and Bardsongs turn them into full-blown utility characters capable of dishing out heavy damage, restoring health, and changing the flow of battle with buffs & debuffs. Where FFIII encourages you to upgrade Jobs with each Crystal, V wants you to find the Jobs you like most and go wild having fun.
FFV is well designed enough where sticking with a single Job is perfectly viable, even if challenging. There’s no wrong way to play according to V’s Battle System Designer Akihiko Matsui,
“There’s so many different jobs, and we decided to make them all viable. Players are free to make any kind of party they want. Player A and Player B might have completely different parties, but ultimately any party can make it to the last boss. After players beat the game, I recommend trying a party that caters to your aesthetic sense.”
Character and Job levels are still separate like in III, but Jobs have had their level caps reduced from a flat 99 to between 1 and 7 depending on the class. Jobs start at Lv. 0 and level up by earning ABP (Ability Points) from completing battles. How much ABP a Job needs is determined by its current level. Lv. 0 Jobs typically only need 10 for their first level, while fully mastering a Job regularly requires hundreds. Since ABP is earned at a slower rate than EXP, ability progression is a gradually paced process. Early encounters will often only yield 1 ABP despite fighting a full team of enemies.
You’re better off relying on boss battles and mid- to late-game battles to master Jobs as enemies will drop more ABP the further you get into the game. You can grind, but simply following the story and getting the abilities you get by playing naturally saves a lot of time in the long run. It’s smarter to go with the flow than to grind for hours off low ABP encounters. At the same time, ability acquisition gives grinding its own rewarding loop and low ABP drops do mean that you can power-level Jobs without necessarily becoming overleveled. Either play style works just fine without completely curbing the difficulty curve.
Each Job level teaches the assigned party member a command, passive, or innate ability that can then be equipped on the Ability screen in the menu. While every Job learns a diverse enough set of abilities to keep them handy, the goal is ultimately to experiment and synergize your party with different abilities. Party members do not learn new spells or abilities by just leveling up, so you need to make use of Jobs to maintain a sense of permanent character progression. Most Jobs can only equip a single ability alongside their class command, while Freelancers have access to two ability slots and Mimes have three at the expense of needing to equip Attack and Items as proper abilities. Ability limits force you to approach Job combos strategically and carefully consider your party’s many options.
V’s Job variety is frankly nothing short of excellent. Job acquisition is fast-paced and you’ll have access to almost every Job before the halfway point. This gives you plenty of time to experiment and find the Jobs best suited to your preferred play style. V also strikes a healthy balance between Final Fantasy mainstays and creative additions that make the gameplay loop even more diverse. Freelancers learn no new abilities, but can equip anything and inherit innate abilities along with stat benefits from mastered Jobs. A perfect Freelancer can inherently dual wield weapons, spot traps in the level design, be able to sprint with B, and counter attacks automatically. A common goal for the endgame is mastering as many Jobs as possible to create the ultimate Freelancer.
The Wind Crystal unlocks the first set of Jobs. Knights can equip some of the best weapons and gear in the game, letting them function as a primary damage dealer and tank. Knights also automatically redirect attacks to themselves when allies are at low health and learn to two-hand Swords, Katanas, or Axes which inflict double damage at the expense of a Shield. Monks have a narrow equipment spread, but are cheap to outfits, always attack twice, counter enemies when struck, and deal heavy damage even without weapons. Their barehanded ability synergizes particularly well with mages, since it allows them to deal decent damage that circumvents their poor weapons spreads.
Thieves have the highest agility in the game, which often means they’ll move first in battle. They can Steal from enemies, later learning the ability Mug, which lets them deal damage while robbing baddies blind. Thieves can also comfortably flee from most encounters, spot hidden passages in the level design, and sprint inside of dungeons & towns by holding B. White Mages play a primarily supportive role by using White Magic to restore HP, heal status effects, and inflict status ailments. Spells are not learned and instead purchased from stores. Purchased spells do not have to be consumed by individual characters and instead apply to the whole party innately. Each Job Level improves the White Mage’s magic capabilities, which is consistent with all magic-based Jobs. Black Mages are squishier than White Mages, but compensate with powerful Black Magic. They play an offensive role, being able to take advantage of elemental weaknesses and status vulnerabilities.
Blue Mages are a new Job created for FF5. Blue Magic cannot be purchased at stores and must instead be learned during battle. Blue Mages learn an ability called Learning that, when equipped, teaches the party any Blue Magic spells enemies use on them. The one caveat is that the attack must connect for it to be learned. Not every attack can be learned, but several enemy spells are obscenely overpowered. Level 5 Death instakills any enemies with a level divisible by 5 and Aqua Breath deals heavy water damage to all enemies on-screen. Regular Blue Magic acquisition and a great spread of attacks makes the Blue Mage one of the most fun Jobs in FFV.
The Water Crystal unlocks five more Jobs once it shatters, with a sixth locked behind an optional dungeon in the final overworld. Time Mages are another new magic-based Job, but they inherit pre-existing magic from previous games. Spells like Haste, Slow, Comet, Float, Teleport, Return, and Meteor are all now considered Time Magic. In practice, Time Mages can use their wide variety of spells to comfortably deal damage, support the party, and debilitate enemies. Summoners can use a wide range of Summon Magic to fulfill different gameplay roles. Summons can deal elemental damage, heal, inflict buffs or debuffs, and the strongest wipe out most enemy encounters with relative ease. While some Summons can be bought at stores, most are tied to side quests and must be found by exploring the overworld & dungeons.
Red Mages can use low and mid tier White & Black Magic in the same ability slot. The best they can cast are -ra spells, but since the best -ga spells are locked off until closer to the end of the game, Red Mages end pulling their weight for quite a while before falling off. Mastering the Red Mage Job is a lengthy endeavor, but ultimately pays off by teaching Dualcast — a borderline overpowered ability that lets them cast two spells in a single turn. Pairing Dualcast with any type of high level magic is one of the best combos a mage could ask for.
Mystic Knights can buff their weapons with Black Magic or Holy via the Spellblade ability. Once enchanted, Mystic Knights combine magical damage with the regular physical capabilities to take advantage of elemental weaknesses or inflict status ailments without compromising attack power. They also automatically cast Shell on themselves at low health to increase their magical resistance. In the right hands and paired with abilities like Rapid Fire and Two-Handed, Mystic Knights end up extremely powerful. Berserkers are an especially unique Job in that they get no active command slots in exchange for dealing considerably buffed damage. While Berserkers can still equip an ability, they cannot be controlled in battle, which limits their overall utility. Berserkers have a great weapon spread, but they need to synergize with the rest of your party well enough to overcome their lack of command slots.
The Fire Crystal unlocks three Jobs right away and then two more once the party explores Black Chocobo Forest. Ninjas are strong, fast, and can dual wield weapons. The Throw command lets them toss items and elemental scrolls at enemies for extra damage, giving them great coverage in combat. Beastmasters can tame, catch, and control different monsters. Controlling a monster gives you full access to their commands. You can make them damage themselves to death or intentionally teach your party rare Blue Magic. Weakened monsters can also be captured and then released in battle, unleashing different attacks depending on the monster. Geomancers fight by altering the terrain with the command Gaia. Their attack types change based on the environment you’re fighting in, along with the character’s level, giving them an impressive amount of gameplay variety. Having a Geomancer in the party will also save you from falling into pit traps and nullify any damage tiles.
Bards make for fantastic utility characters thanks to their variety of Bardsongs. New songs are learned by speaking with NPCs and playing pianos in different towns (like a proper bard!) Singing can buff the party or damage groups of enemies. Songs like Requiem let you lay waste to undead monsters at the cost of 0 MP. Rangers are bow wielders, which means they can deal full damage from the back row. The Aim command increases their accuracy and overall damage, but unlike Rosa from FFIV, bows no longer need individual arrows as ammo. The main benefit to the Ranger class is its mastered ability Rapid Fire, which deals for weak attacks in one turn and pairs excellently with Monks, two-handers, or dual wielders.
The Earth Crystal unlocks the final four Jobs in the original release (sans Mime). Dancers are weaker than other Jobs comparatively, but get by thanks to their unique Dance ability and great access to accessories. Dancing triggers one of four random effects in battle, either confusing enemies, absorbing MP, absorbing HP, or dealing damage. They’re also the only class besides Freelancers who can innately equip Ribbons, which nullify all negative status effects. Dancers on a whole are reliant on equipment to be functional. Gear like Lamia’s Tiara and Red Slippers help raise the chances of Dancers dancing the Sword Dance, turning them into solid attackers. Dragoons are limited to spears and knives for weapons, but have a great equipment spread otherwise. Their abilities let them function as reliable damage dealers who can survive lengthy battles. Dragoons can Jump to temporarily avoid damage mid-air and attack enemies by landing. Lance also drains enemies MP and HP, which pairs well with Mages.
Samurai learn some of the best commands in the game while having access to powerful weapons and gear. With the right set ups, they can obliterate the difficulty curve. Mineuchi is basically a regular attack that sometimes paralyzes enemies. Zeningage lets you throw Gil to deal massive damage. The more Gil you have and the higher your level, the more damage is dealt. Shirahadori raises evasion, turning your party member into a dodge-tank, and Iainuki simply insta-kills most enemies at the cost of requiring two turns to use. Chemists are great support characters designed all around items. They can brew new concoctions mid-battle by mixing different ingredients to different effects. Your existing items can turn into an attack, heal your party, or temporarily buff everyone’s level. Chemists can also drink special potions that buff their stats, and restore more HP & MP by using Potions & Ethers than other Jobs.
The Mime Job can be unlocked by exploring Walse Tower underwater in the final overworld. Mimes are the core of the Job system condensed into a single Jon. They inherit some mastered abilities innate (not all), and have three ability slots that let you fully customize each party member. You can even remove commands like Attack and Items in favor of other abilities. Mimes can also mimic any move used by the previous party member at no MP cost and without consuming items. The Mime makes a great alternative to Freelancers, especially for magic-oriented characters.
Final Fantasy V Advance introduces four extra Jobs. Three of which are available as soon as you unlock all 12 Legendary Weapons and visit the Sealed Temple, with the last unlocked after defeating the Temple’s boss. Gladiators are powerful melee fighters with access to strong weapons and armor whose commands help them make short work of enemies. Oracles are the strongest magic-based Job in the game, but their main command Condemn has a chance of randomly healing enemies, so they’re not the most reliable beyond their stat benefits. Cannoneers can deal full damage from the back row and can combine ingredients together to make new items and the final Job Necromancer learns unique Dark Art spells from enemies like a Blue Mage with Blue Magic. Albeit fun to play with, the GBA Jobs enter the picture too late to actually have an effect on character building.
Overall, V’s Jobs are incredibly fun to play around with and offer a consistently rewarding gameplay loop that lasts the whole playthrough. The early game encourages you to diversify your party, the mid-game pushes you to mix & match dozens of different abilities, and the endgame rewards you for mastering Jobs by letting you customize Freelancers and Mimes into bonafide powerhouses. The Job system gives FFV an incredible gameplay flow that keeps combat and exploration fresh all the way to the credits.
V’s battles flow at a great pace. The ATB (Active Time Battle) system returns from FFIV, albeit with an on-screen bar for each party member that refills and signifies when they can make a move. Taking turns in real-time lends combat a sense of urgency and pressure, especially in boss fights. The difficulty curve is never so high where you’ll be overwhelmed by lightning fast enemies, but V tends to require more strategy and thought than IV on average — although mainly on a prep level. Battles challenge you to diversify your party’s abilities while rewarding you for experimenting with Jobs. Low EXP payout compared to previous games keeps parties from overleveling. The focus is on earning AP, learning abilities, and creating hybrid Jobs.
Enemies are vulnerable to a lot of different elements and status ailments across all types of magic and abilities. Trying with different spells and debuffs usually pays off. There are more status effects to contend with, with some particularly dangerous ones for the party. Old slowly lowers the affected character’s stats. Dischord halves the target’s level. Zombie turns a character against the rest of the party. Smart Job synergy lets you blitz through most random encounters, but you’ll often run into stronger enemies or packed parties that’ll keep you on your toes. It’s not uncommon to fight an army of weaker enemies battling alongside a considerably stronger monster. FFV doesn’t share I or III’s Vancian Magic system despite being a Job-based game, instead maintaining the MP system from FFII and FFIV. MP still needs to be managed to some extent since the best spells require quite a bit of MP to cast, especially Blue Magic.
Combat’s fast and sometimes frantic pace ends up mirroring the game’s overall progression. Final Fantasy V wastes no time opening up. The status quo is always changing and you unlock new Jobs surprisingly quickly. V cycles through three overworlds just like IV. They’re not as striking as Earth, Underworld, and Moon trio, but feel more cohesive. The game begins on the protagonist Bartz’s world, shifts to party member Galuf’s world, and ends in a merged overworlds that’s an amalgamation of both worlds. The story is fairly linear up until the last world where the game finally lets you explore at your leisure. Most of the final dungeons can even be done in any order, most of which are actually optional. V sports more methods of transportation than the average Final Fantasy and cycles through them often, trapping you in specific areas with unique restrictions.
You ride on a Chocobo, set sail on a ship led on a hydra, fly on a dragon’s back, sail a fire-powered boat, fly a Black Chocobo through the air, pilot an airship, and submerge a submarine underwater. The fact you’re always engaging with the overworld in a new way keeps progression fresh and reminds you that anything can change. Some towns disappear and you lose access to them over the course of the story. Multiple dungeons are one-time trips. There are actual consequences to in-game actions. Once you’re done with an overworld, you’re done. There’s no jumping between worlds like in IV. The world permanently changes and stays changed. The space you’re interacting with and how is always being altered. V isn’t the first Final Fantasy with real consequences, but it’s the first one where those consequences fundamentally reshape your experience beyond just locking away a few key areas.
Towns themselves are packed with colorful NPCs who do a good job at directing you. Ancillary dialogue often sets up later story beats or just fleshes out the world in small yet significant ways. V’s game-long side quests encourage you to talk with everyone and hunt the overworld for secret summons and optional dungeons. V’s towns are generally well designed with enough secrets to keep you exploring, but dungeons are the real star when it comes to level design. FFV’s dungeons aren’t as long as III or IV’s, but they’re a healthy length and set pieces are consistently memorable and engaging. There’s a good mix of traps, gimmicks, and environmental variety. Every dungeon feels creatively distinct.
The Ship Graveyard is an early standout, as you explore debris from ruined ships on open water, jumping from wreckage to wreckage. The Library of Ancients features a prominent bookcase maze. Bookshelves move around as you explore the library, opening up seemingly dead-ends and keeping your own navigation confused and claustrophobic. You have to walk into nooks to let the bookshelves collapse back in, creating new ways to traverse the room. The Phoenix Tower is a 30 floor gauntlet with no save points, you only have seven minutes to explore a sunken Walse Tower before you drown, and the Great Sea Trench is filled with damage tiles and pit traps.
The four Tablet dungeons do a great job at closing out FFV on a fight, with the Pyramid serving as a great introduction to the endgame. You only have three party members at this time, which makes things notably harder, but the dungeon itself is packed with different gimmicks. Branching paths lead to chests with monsters ready to ambush you. Sarcophagi that double as secret passages hiding mummies. Wall switches let you deactivate traps and unlock doors. Spike traps block your path and snakes jump out from walls to trigger battle on contact. Mecha Heads patrol the upper floors, and floor tiles that move around every few seconds drop you down to the floor below if you’re not quick enough. By the time you reach the Rift, you’re ready for everything the final dungeon has to toss at you.
V’s presentation really helps bring different set pieces to life and is a big step up from IV. Environments are rich with detail, playing with depth perceptive to add some welcome spatial depth to the level design and using unique effects that help foster atmosphere. Exdeath’s Castle is overflowing with thick fog, dark areas warp the visuals around you, and knee-deep water rushes through Istory Falls. The game’s spritework is nothing short of fantastic. Enemies are the best they’ve ever looked at this point, and each character has a unique battle sprite for every single Job — all of which play to your party members’ distinct personalities. FFV also sports one of Nobuo Uematsu’s most underrated soundtracks. Lenna’s theme is a beautiful song, Fate in Haze is a haunting dungeon tune, and Clash on the Big Bridge is one of the most blood-pumping battle themes in the series. The score has a wide musical range, and is as emotional as it is energetic and ambient.
The scope of Final Fantasy V’s story isn’t as emotionally charged as IV, but it’s no worse for wear. Hironobu Sakaguchi and Yoshinori Kitase worked on the story together, both leaving their own personality behind in V’s script,
“Sakaguchi was in charge of the overall plot, and because FFV was a relatively serious story, I wanted to be sure to inject spots with a little bit of comic relief and humor.” – Yoshinori Kitase, Scenario Writer The end result is a plot that knows when to be dramatic and when to cut loose a little. Final Fantasy V is just as comfortable letting Bartz and Faris share a tender moment at his parents’ grave as it is having the party’s main rival have a very tongue-in-cheek redemption right before the final battle. V is a Final Fantasy with a sense of humor and a sense of heart.
One particular point in the story’s favor is its modern English localization. While V’s original English translation on PSX left much to be desired (to say the least), the revised Game Boy Advance script plays to the story’s natural charm and stands out as a strong localization altogether. Characters joke around together and interact with each other often, playing off each other’s unique personality traits. Bartz is a few men short of a full crew, Leena is an all-loving princess, Faris is a headstrong pirate with a sensitive side, and Galuf & Krile are usually the game’s go-to when it comes to injecting some humor and pathos into the plot.
Character development is gradual in V, trading IV’s big beats for several smaller interactions amongst the cast that help flesh out their relationships, backstories, and motivations. By the end of the game, V’s party of four feels more defined than IV’s cast of a dozen. Little moments highlight their growth as opposed to life-changing events. Bartz and Galuf build a mutual respect for each other over their journey, and share a man-to-man drink in Regole. Lenna and Faris are two sisters torn apart at birth who reconnect throughout the game and mourn their father together. Krile gets to know the party and forms a bond with everyone before replacing Galuf. Bartz, Lenna, Faris, and Krile feel like a close-knit group of friends when all is said and done.
While the crux of FFV’s story is a fairly traditional “good versus evil” plot, the narrative is bolstered both by strong characterization and some light but tight theming. Nature is dying due to man’s abuse of natural resources. The four Crystals are sapped of their energy, draining the world of its elements. The wind will stop, the air will stagnate, the birds will fall from the heavens and drop dead as seas dry up and fires die out. The fact Exdeath is actually a tree can even be read as nature rejecting humanity and wiping the slate clean as a consequence. The story doesn’t really push the theme beyond the surface level, but that it’s present at all gives the plot a minor layer of depth.
Big gameplay moments to advance the story aren’t as frequent as IV, but they’re as impactful and V has more cutscenes in the grand scheme of things. The Battle at the Big Bridge throws constant enemies at you to build tension during a major turning point for the story. Gilgamesh interrupts a fight with an entirely different boss and superseding their battle theme with his own. Galuf’s death and final duel with Exdeath uses the battle system to emphasize Galuf’s sheer force of will. Exdeath peppers you with powerful attacks, but Galuf refuses to die even at 0 HP. You can feel Galuf’s determination and desperation translated through the gameplay loop as he survives Flare, Holy, and Meteor back to back to back. Watching him fight to the very last inch of his life justifies it when the party can’t help him with Curaga, Raise, Phoenix Downs, or Elixirs. Galuf’s death feels painfully earned narratively and mechanically.
Exdeath is a great villain, both in spite of and because of his outlandishly cartoonish malice. He’s outlandishly cartoonish, laughs maniacally, takes every opportunity to torment the party, and has no real ulterior motives beyond his evil. He’s chaos personified, which is perhaps fitting considering how FFV echoes FFI’s story in several respects. Exdeath also stands out for being an active antagonist whose role isn’t taken over by a last minute villain who was secretly pulling the strings all along. He’s nothing special in the greater context of Final Fantasy villains, but Exdeath serves V’s story well.
Between an incredibly charming story and a fantastic gameplay loop, Final Fantasy V is nothing short of one the best games in the series. It’s a perfect marriage of Final Fantasy’s two distinct styles, combining the character-driven storytelling from II & IV with the gameplay diversity of I & II while giving both halves of the experience enough depth to thrive. The story’s stakes are high, the cast is very likable, and the lighter tone gives the plot a strong identity without undermining its drama. The Job system offers an amazing amount of replay value and is freeform enough where there is no wrong way to play. Impressively memorable dungeon design and an ever-changing status quo lend the impression that you’re on a genuine adventure with real stakes. Addictive, endearing, and brimming with heart, Final Fantasy V is a near flawless RPG and one of Square’s finest 16-bit achievements.
Here's that same write-up with pretty pictures and links: https://goombastomp.com/final-fantasy-5-retrospective/

Looking for options on next steps as I am out $8000 due to no fault of mine.
Last week I did regular oil change on my car from a local mechanic. It is a 2012 car with 100k km mileage, perfectly good condition. This week the car stopped working and the engine seized (un-reparable) I towed the car to nearest car shop who informed me the previous mechanic left oil filter plug loose which caused all oil to leak and therefore engine failed. He took a bunch of pictures and wrote a formal report on his diagnosis.
I go to the mechanic who did oil change and ofcourse he does not want to assume any responsibility and no compensation.
I understand this will be very difficult to prove but what are my options to get atleast something from the mechanic? TIA
Not the original OP just wanted to repost since this might be up your guy's alley and wanted to see what you think
Link to Original Post

When interest rates go up, the price of bonds goes down. As Tyler and I discuss in Modern Principles, the inverse relationship between interest rates and prices holds for any asset that pays out over time. In particular, as Patrick McKenzie points out, when interest rates go up, the value of a loan goes down. McKenzie suggests that you can use this fact to buy back your mortgage from a bank when interest rates rise.
For example, suppose you get a 500k 30-year fixed rate mortgage when interest rates are 3%–that loan obligates you to pay $2108 per month for 30 years. Now suppose that interest rates go to 6%, now that same stream of payments is only worth, in present value, about $358k. Thus, the bank should be willing to let you buy your mortgage for $358k–that is, after all, what the market would pay for such a stream of payments if your mortgage was securitized.
I am skeptical that I could find the right person at the right bank to actually authorize a deal like this but it turns out that the Danish mortgage system is built to allow this relatively easily. The Danish mortgage system is built on the match principle:
JYSKE Bank: The match-funding principle entails that for every loan made by the mortgage bank, a new bond is issued with matching cash-flow properties. This eliminates mismatches in cash-flows and refinancing risk for the mortgage bank, which also secures payments for the bondholder. In the Danish mortgage system the mortgage bank functions as an intermediary between the investor and borrower. Mortgage banks fund loans on a current basis, meaning that the bond must be sold before the loan can be given. This also entails that the market price of the bond determines the loan rate. The loan is therefore equal to the investment, which passes through the mortgage bank.
In essence, in the Danish system, mortgage banks are more like a futures clearinghouse or a platform (ala Airbnb) than a lender–they take on some credit risk but not interest rate risk.
Thus, if a Danish borrower takes out a 500k mortgage at 3% interest and then rates rise to 6%, the value of that mortgage falls to $358k and the borrower could go to the market, buy their own mortgage, deliver it to the bank, and, in this way, extinguish the loan. Since the value of homes also falls as interest rates rise this is also a neat bit of insurance. Remarkable!
The Danish mortgage market appears to be very successful and so may be a model for American reform:
JYSKE Bank: The Danish Mortgage Bond Market is one of the oldest and most stable in the world, tracing its roots all the way back to 1797 with no records of defaults since inception. Furthermore, the market value of the Danish Mortgage Bond Market is approx. EUR 402bn, making it the largest mortgage bond market in Europe.
The post In Praise of the Danish Mortgage System appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.
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What is it? My family celebrates it, as some sort of new year.
We are from afghanistan. However i personally have detached myself from many cultural practises and if its not in islam i dont bother following it.
However my family are pushing me to call some family members to congratulate them with this new year stuff. However im a bit suspicious about this. Wikipedia says it originates from zoroastrians.
Ive even had massive arguments because i do not want to celebrate my birthday. Ive told them many time i do not want to, yet each year they force some pictures and gifts.
If this nowruz has some pagan and shirky origins then im prepared to face the backlash from my family.

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/0RI5fYt
I have an Aqua Blue PS Vita slim, it is a Japanese release console (all vitas are region free) this is a perfect candidate for custom firmware, modding etc.
Condition wise, this is almost flawless, it has seen minimal use, there is one minor scratch on the back center you can see in the pictures, only noticeable in certain lighting. The front is mint, you'll be hard pressed to find one in better condition.
Included is the original box, charger, as well as an SD2vita adapter, and 128GB micro sd card.
Asking $180 shipped obo

I spend all of my daylight hours scared and alone in this musty old cellar.
It’s woeful, and I bet it smelled this bad even before everything around here turned to crap. Great. My second sentence and I’ve already resorted to swearing. When I decided I’d start this diary (five minutes ago when I got a tiny sliver of signal) I thought it would be my poetic and deeply-moving goodbye to the world. Maybe I’d write about love and loss, or maybe the splendour of nature. Then, when all is done and dusted, I’d have left something to be remembered by. As well as my corpse, of course.
This was a bad idea.
*
Okay, I’m an idiot. There’s nothing else I can do down here. I’ve rooted through every cardboard box a hundred times, organised and reorganised my supplies, I’ve even built a fort. So, I’m back. Hello. Again. God, this diary is going badly.
But there’s just enough light coming through the boards I nailed over the cellar’s tiny window to type by. So I may as well type. Stops me staring up at the window just waiting for a shadow to pass by.
Maybe I'll just write and not hit Submit. Right, where to start? Well, my name is – actually, I think I’m going to refer to myself as ‘X’. That sounds mysterious. If you’re reading this and want to know my real name, I still carry my purse. My railcard is in there and, if you really want to know who I am, go find me and fish it out. I won’t bite...
So, my name is X. I live in a little English village in the middle of nowhere. Before all this happened, I had a mum, a dad, a sister and there was a boy I liked, his name was Jonah.
*
I couldn’t think of anything else to write so I waited until I came back from my rounds. That’s the stupid name I have for when I go outside at night scrounging for stuff. Drinks are the hardest. I only trust bottles or cans, or did, and I was running out of places to search for them. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.
My leg is doing alright actually; didn’t hold me up at all. I saw Jonah too. He’s looked better, I have to say. It’s strange because this is only the second time I’ve seen him since we came here. Maybe his ears were burning.
Anyway, I found some tinned pineapple in a creepy old caravan I hadn’t searched yet. Had to bust the door open with Old Trusty – which I thought might attract some unwanted attention – but it was fine. I’m actually eating the pineapple right now, tastes good. I also found a radio in there. I already have three down here, but none of them work. Not that the caravan radio works either, all you get is static. It’s just nice to collect something. You know, to have a hobby.
*
I can tell the sun is rising. I managed to sleep for a couple of hours, but I woke up after a bad dream. I know some people can remember their dreams, but I never do. I wake up and grasp at them, but I never manage a hold before they fade away. It’s like trying to pinch the corner of a wisp of smoke; the harder you try, the quicker it fades to nothing. I’m just left with a sensation, a kind of imprint which sums up the most intense part of the dream.
And a cold sweat. That’s new.
*
I’ve been through the box of photo albums I found at the back of the cellar again. I’ve looked through them a few times now, but I always notice something new.
There’s a photo of this little girl playing with a pretend guitar. I can tell it’s pretend because it doesn’t have strings, only brightly-coloured plastic dials. Kind of like My First Guitar Hero or something. The girl has dark hair and she looks a tiny bit like my sister did a million years ago. I don’t have a picture of my sister. I suppose I could go and get one from my old house, but it’s right in the middle of the village. I’m lucky I wasn’t torn to shreds the last time I went back. So, what I’ve done is put this girl’s photo in my back pocket as a substitute.
I guess I should probably write something about my real sister now. But I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.
*
Daylight is starting to fade and I’m getting ready to go out on my rounds. I always take my satchel with me, packed with useful objects. I have Old Trusty (a crowbar) which sticks out of the top for easy access, a small toolbox, a pair of heavy-duty gloves (there’s a good story about how I got those, I might write that one down later) and a hammer. I carry a penknife I found down here in my pocket, my purse and phone, and a torch in my hand.
I don’t like to use the torch because its battery is running out and there’s always the chance it might attract them. I probably shouldn’t have used it last night when I got back. Maybe I’m starting to enjoy this writing malarkey? I need to be careful with luxuries.
*
Okay, that could have gone better.
Picture the scene: I’m using Old Trusty to try and lever a kitchen window open, when one of them just walks right through the garden hedge. Seriously, straight through it. It’s not the mightiest of hedges but, still, it just appeared like it was walking through one of those Japanese paper walls. My satchel was on the ground, but I legged it anyway. I’m not stupid. I know I can go back for it tomorrow. I felt strangely naked without it on the way back here though.
Like I said before, I need to be careful with the torch so I think I’ll try and get some sleep now.
*
I slept pretty well last night; no nightmares or cold sweats. Maybe a midnight chase was just what I needed to blow away the cobwebs.
I actually woke up wondering about you. If you’re reading this, who are you? If you’re like me, living through this village nightmare, how have you managed to go this long without being killed or whatever? Maybe you’re Army or some such. Maybe you’re just some kid who’s played so many videogames that surviving all of this was already second nature to you. Or maybe you’re like me; living on borrowed time and searching for a good place to die. Maybe Future Me was brave enough to tap Submit on my diary and you're currently reading this on your phone or computer.
Here’s an idea. Maybe you can carry on this diary from wherever I left it at. God, I really hope this isn’t my last entry, although I suppose any entry might be. If you do carry the diary forwards, and I'm a corpse, maybe it will become cursed. Spooky.
*
I’ve been preparing for my next excursion.
If I know I’m going somewhere I’ll likely run into an ugly, I like to take extra precautions. And I want my satchel back. It was a present from my dad, and I know it cost him a lot of money.
So, I’m taking a pair of shears from the shelf of old tools down here. That way, if I lose Old Trusty, I’ll have a backup weapon.
If you are local, I wonder how you like to kill them? Pretty morbid question I know, but everyone around here seems to have their preferred method. The last villager I saw alive carried a pair of mini cricket bats and seemed to have bludgeoning down to an art form. He never saw me though, I was watching from a grove of trees as he killed his way along the main road near the village.
That was before I decided to stay inside during the daylight hours. We can at least see a little bit at night; ambient light and everything. They can’t though. I’ve seen them, they bump into things. It’s pretty funny to be honest. If they hear a noise, they walk in the direction of the sound, never trying to avoid any object in their path. They either bash said object out of the way, or, like that hedge, blunder right through it. Obviously bigger things stop them dead (ha!) though. If that happens, they sort of shuffle backwards and then try again a few times. Eventually – and I’ve seen this too – they just give up and stand there, waiting for something else to attract their attention.
That’s not how it works in the daytime though.
*
I think it’s about an hour before the sun sets so it’s nearly time to head out. I’m going to change my bandage. One minute.
Okay, it didn’t look that bad really. The original scratch wasn’t too deep and now the wound seems to be doing that scabbing thing I remember from normal injuries. It just doesn’t smell very good. A bit like when you walk past a bin that needs emptying.
Anyway, I’ve applied more antiseptic and redressed it. Time to go.
*
That was fun. I’m glad I had those shears with me.
I got my satchel back you’ll be happy to know. And I got inside that house I’d been trying to break into as well. More through necessity than choice in the end, but I’m pleased I did. I found more batteries! That means I can justify writing at night a bit more. In fact, the people who used to live there (I think the husband owned the local garage) were pretty well kitted out. There were a lot of tins in their cupboards, and they’d even left a shotgun. It wasn’t loaded though.
Not that I need a shotgun. I didn’t tell you this before, but I have my grandpa’s old service revolver. He always told me and my sister that it was decommissioned, but my dad apparently knew otherwise. I keep it tucked into the back of my jeans at all times. It had three bullets, one of them is gone, so only two left.
I’ll only be needing the one of course.
*
Morning. I’m feeling pretty low today. I think concentrating on getting my satchel back took my mind off things, but now I feel pretty deflated.
Surely that’s understandable? The village I knew and loved has been replaced with this sodding hell. I miss my family, my friends, TV and hot dinners and Instagram. Before all of this I was a pretty positive person. Sure, I had a bit of trouble getting up in the morning, but, once I was up, that was it. I’d meet the day’s challenges head on, try to enjoy myself as much as I could. Not today though.
Maybe if I write about Jonah I’ll cheer up. Not Jonah as he is now of course, Jonah when he was all smooth-skinned, curly-haired and bright-eyed. Now he’s like the anti-Jonah or something. His face looks like it lost a fight with an angry lobster. No, wait, I’m supposed to be writing about Jonah version one here.
He’s one of those people that I can’t remember meeting. My family has always lived around here and so there are lots of people who have just always been, if you get me. I always thought we would drunkenly get it together at a party – that’s what I’d usually do if there was a boy I liked. Classy.
*
I’ve perked up a bit. Out of sheer frustration I went upstairs (naughty, I know) and looked out of a window. Sure, I saw an ugly, wandering aimlessly as they always do, but I saw that the trees are starting to turn too. That means it’s nearly autumn, and I love autumn!
My sister and I always used to go out and kick leaves at each other in the autumn. I don’t know if it was because of her low centre of gravity, but my sister was amazing at it. She could somehow whip up a blazing whirlwind of golden-yellow and fire-red, surrounding us both in a leaf storm that I couldn’t help but flail my arms madly at. Then we’d both fall backwards into the leaves laughing, me wondering how on earth what had happened was possible. She was that good.
God, I let her down in the end.
*
I think I’ll stay away from the house with the shotgun tonight. It usually takes a day or two for a group of uglies to disperse once they’re all riled up. I could use the rest of that tinned food I suppose, but I’ve got plenty to be getting on with for now.
Instead, I think I’ll swing by another farmhouse I was scoping out before I decided to turn nocturnal. I never met the people who used to live there, but I remember Mum telling me they liked their privacy. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind me visiting now though.
Also, there’s a woodland between here and there and I might be able to find some leaves to kick about a bit. I think that would make me feel close to my sister again.
I’ll check back in later.
*
I’m still alive, but only just.
I made it through the woods just fine (only the odd leaf on the forest floor at the moment though, sadly), the trouble started at the farmhouse. I couldn’t get in – the doors and windows were barricaded – so I tried one of the outbuildings. Locked. It had a cat flap though.
My first instinct was to leave it, but then I wondered if there might be something useful inside. Lord knows what thinking about it now. I lifted the cat flap with one hand and shone the torch beam through with my other. That’s when an ugly dived at my pinkies. Luckily, it misjudged its leap and got a mouthful of plastic cat flap instead. As for me, I fell backwards onto my bum.
Next, the damn thing started bashing on the door from the inside. I don’t think it could ever have got out, but the noise attracted more uglies from out of nowhere. I only just managed to outmanoeuvre them and hightail it back into the woods.
That’s not the worst of it though. On the way back my leg started to hurt. A lot.
*
I woke up this morning and I’m walking with a limp. It’s funny, Dad had a limp when he and Mum died. He was nailing planks of wood across our windows and doors because there was no signal (as per bloody usual) and we thought that what was happening here was probably happening everywhere. It's only recently that I realised this was an isolated, local outbreak. Anyway, Dad dropped the hammer onto his toe, he always was useless at DIY. I think it was only a couple of hours after that when he and Mum were taken.
It was like a wave of death. No, not like, that’s exactly what it was. A hoard of uglies swept through the village, probably originating from the secret research facility in the woods we're not supposed to know about. My sister and I wouldn’t have had a prayer if Mum and Dad hadn’t charged down the first few that got into our house. They gave us just enough time to escape, to run away and leave them to die. My sister was screaming all the way and I had to drag her like she was four again.
She wouldn’t speak to me for a few days after that. I didn’t blame her, I hated myself too. But I would have hated myself even more if I hadn’t done what I did next. On my own, I snuck back into our house with the crowbar I found here. Then I dispatched my parents. I can’t bring myself to type it any other way. It wasn’t like in the movies, I didn’t pound their skulls into mush whilst sobbing, ‘Why?’ over and over again. I just found them, or what was left of them, forced the crowbar through each of their eye sockets, and came straight back here.
Then came the crying.
*
I haven’t told you about the heavy-duty gloves yet, have I?
After I got back from our old house, my sister started speaking to me again. A shared, day-long cry will do that for sisters. Once we felt up to it, we decided to explore the parts of the farmhouse we hadn’t searched yet. All the bedrooms were empty, only a few belongings flung about the place (I suspect the previous tenants left in a hurry). The problem came when we investigated the attic. Once we’d opened the ceiling panel in the upstairs hallway, once we’d pulled the compact staircase down, I went up. My sister stood at the top of the hatchway shining the torch beam over my shoulder. And that’s when it touched me. Terrified, I fell to my left, screaming as the thing came crashing down on top of me. I was yelling things like, ‘Shoot it!’ and, ‘Run!’ but my sister was just laughing her head off. I soon realised that my attacker was in fact a shop-window mannequin.
I think the people who previously lived here must have been arty (or into some seriously freaky stuff) because the mannequin was dressed in scarves, bandannas, ties, watches – loads of things. The rest of the attic was pretty empty but at least we got the mannequin’s gloves.
*
I’m not feeling good at the moment. I’ve got a sore throat and I’ve coughed up blood a couple of times. My leg pain is getting worse too.
I don’t think I’ll go out tonight. I have enough tins left and one of them is a Full English In A Can. Sounds pretty disgusting, but intriguing at the same time. I’ve been saving it for near the end. A sort of consolation prize.
*
There are two mattresses down here. Obviously one is mine, and the other one was my sister’s. After she died, I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it. I don’t have a photo of her, only Guitar Girl’s. Her bed is the only thing of hers I have left. And she didn’t even sleep in it that many times.
*
The tinned Full English was vile! You’ve got to laugh though, what else can you do?
*
I’m crying as I write this. Tears of sorrow, shame and regret.
It happened as we were searching a cottage just off of the main road. We’d used Old Trusty to get inside, and I’d rushed straight into the kitchen to find the food. We’d run out more than a day before and I was famished. My sister followed me into the kitchen, a wide grin on her pretty little face because I was sitting there with an open can of beans. Then one of them came at her from behind. I must have walked right past it on my stupid way to the cupboards. It bit into her neck and blood gushed over the tiles in a torrent. As she yelled out in agony, I leapt up and implanted the crowbar right into the thing’s skull. It crumpled to the floor, but the damage was done.
‘Don’t let me lose myself.’ That was the last thing my sister whispered to me before she passed out. Her wound was much more severe than mine is, and much closer to the brain. That seems to make it quicker. I took grandpa’s revolver from behind my back and blew her brains out.
I buried her in the back garden.
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After my sister died I went kind of crazy. I took Old Trusty out across the fields and pulverised every ugly I could find. I don’t even remember it that well, it was just, find, kill, find, kill…
We’d only been going out in daylight before then but, in my anger, I carried on through the nights. That’s how I learned about their inability to evade in darkness. Eventually, though, one got me. I found three munching on a dead cow and ran straight at them. Took out the first two easily enough, but the third managed to scratch my leg with a bloody fingernail just before I clobbered it into oblivion. Once I realised its nail had broken the skin, it was like a switch had been flicked inside me. That’s it, I’m dead too. I lost my bloodlust and came back here.
*
If none of this had happened, I think my sister would have eventually gone into medicine. I was doing okay at College but she was top of her class at school. And she had a really kind nature too. She’d never squish any bugs that got trapped in our house; she’d get a glass, scoop the little critter up and seal it inside with a book. Then she’d take it outside and release it, even if it was a wasp.
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I’ve decided that here’s not the place. I'll hit Submit and then I’m going to do it in those woods I wrote about; consider this diary as my Note. I’ll be able to find a nice spot to sit and look at the trees, some place that's calm and peaceful. I’m going to leave the picture of Guitar Girl in this cellar, she belongs in this house. The tree leaves will remind me of my sister more than any photo ever could anyway.
I guess all that’s left to say is thank you for listening.
I know it’s possible that no one will ever read this, but that’s not really the point is it?
Love,
X
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Thanks for reading! If you want more from this universe check out The X and Wye Anthology Series
-- Jack
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