Hello everyone,
I'm seeking four artists or creators to create one digital illustration each for commercial use. These artworks will be printed on aluminum plates, with sizes varying from 20x20 cm to 60x60 cm. As such, I will hold the ownership rights to the finished illustrations.
Compensation and Other Details:
• The payment for each illustration will be around €100-150 (or the equivalent of it of your currency).
• If desired, I will credit you on social media posts and other platforms where the illustration is displayed.
• On top of this, you will receive a 30x30 cm print of your illustration. I'll cover the cost and shipping charges. I only ask you to take 3-5 photos of it, showcasing how it looks on a wall or against a background. These pictures don't have to be professional-grade, but should give a good sense of how the print fits into a space. I would use these photos for my shop and/or social media posts.
Artwork Requirements:
• The illustration should have a 1:1 ratio.
• Minimum resolution of 300 dpi, and should be scalable for printing up to 60x60 cm.
• Art style should be surreal or lean towards surrealism.
Concepts for Illustrations:
I have outlined the four concepts below. Please note that these are just guiding ideas. I'm more than open to your personal interpretations and creative inputs.

1. Dancing Cone (Still open)

A very dark black cone with two silver human legs, seemingly dancing with a small silver sphere floating next to it. The cone has no face or arms. A golden hoop encircles the cone, set against a dark background.

1. Galactic Cat (Still open)

A large cat face, with a friendly grin, set against a dark-blue star-filled background. The left eye houses a galaxy, while the right eye depicts the Big Bang or some other cosmic-scale explosion. The focus should be on the eyes.

1. Golden Tree (Still open)

A large, healthy tree, composed of only golden lines, stands against a dark background beneath a starry night sky. Despite being in a dark wasteland, the tree looks vibrant, its friendly and wise face gazing upon the stars that its branches seem to reach for.

1. Hourglass Desert (Still open)

A gigantic hourglass floats above a desert at night. Sand flowing from a crack in the hourglass forms a procession of animals - a tiger, an elephant, and a giraffe.
If you're interested and have any questions, or if you wish to discuss ideas, payment details, or other project-related information, please feel free to contact me directly. I would also be happy to check out your porfolio first.
Cheers!

Hi all i am gif a grateful fellow in recovery for my sex addiction. Today is my dad birthday he died some 13 years ago and well to me he was perfect. In my healing I have seen my dad was an addict who died because his disease won. I have a lot of baggage with feelings around this that are all intertwined with my own values and beliefs about my own addiction. Sometimes I recover because I don't want to go out like him. Today I am officially 10 years younger than he was when he died and there is something stark about that reality. In my childhood this was the age things started to unravel for him and well I have been trapped in this sadness related to my last relationship and all of the horrible things they have done to me and my kid for more than 2 years now and I can't move foward. I at times wonder will I drown like him? Part of me says I've been in recovery long enough to know how the song and dance of emotional avoidance goes. The other part of me makes nonsensical statements that in my recovery journey I have proven inaccurate lies my disease tried to sell me. I am definitely playing mental pin pong.
Where am I today I have until 6pm to decided if I am going to keep my new gym membership. I have gone 2x and have had positive non compusive reactions. I pretty much tell my eyes to have blinders on and well I haven't recognized a single person because I never looked at them. Although this idea has been lurking under the surface that this is a great way to artificially feed my ego and give me a feelingbof being wNted and desired. Which to the point of my emotional state my x in my mind rejected me in all forms for the love of their life. I can't get past this sadness. The love of their life even showed up to my wedding and for the last 2 years they have been together with love of their life meanwhile doing unspeakable things to me and my kid and I am powerless over them and their behavior. The tie in is that in my mind my dad's inability to recover and that of my godfather who died a year later from my father for similar reasons both rejected life with me. Now I understand them choosing the slow suicide of addiction had nothing to do with me. My x loving someone else was not a measurement of me. These were individuals living their individual lives yet in my brain it all gets mushed together in one big sadness bucket that I am left to unravel without them. I feel rejected of their support.
The asset the physical exercises has been cathartic. One of my outer circle behaviors is staying physically active and having this place to go just move energy has helped especially in walkign distance. I don't know what to think ...is this my disease setting me up to find acting out partners in a highly sexualized space? or is this the Gentle voice of recovery giving me outlets for my feelings. The truth for me is these facility is to close to my house for me to rationalize acting out with people. The other point is I am allowed to use facilities in other towns outside of my required distance and in fact would be in a terrible mental state use the space to act out.
Ultimately recovery has shown me the decision to stay sexually sober is my choice. I decide to use my tools when feelings get overwhelming and I choose to escape the discomfort of now with my disease.
I have no answers my morning meditation told me to ne positive. My spiritual guides yesterday told me they are protecting me. All in all I feel like this little kid today who really wants one more morning coffee with their old man even if it's meeting him in bar at 6 am.

Latest observation

Tuesday, 6 June – 4:20 PM India Standard Time (IST; 10:50 UTC)

JTWC Warning #1		2:30 PM IST (09:00 UTC)
Current location:		11.9°N 66.0°E
Relative location:		1,070 km (665 mi) SW of Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)
Forward motion:		N (360°) at 6 km/h (3 knots)
Maximum winds:	▲	95 km/h (50 knots)
Intensity (SSHWS):	▲	Tropical Storm
Intensity (IMD):		Depression
Minimum pressure:	▼	1004 millibars (29.65 inches)

Official forecasts

India Meteorological Department

Tuesday, 6 June — 11:30 AM IST (06:00 UTC)
(Note: Wind speeds have been converted from ten-minute values to one-minute values.)

Hour	Date	Time		Intensity		Winds		Lat	Long
—	—	UTC	IST	IMD		knots	km/h	°N	°E
00	06 Jun	06:00	11AM Tue	Deep Depression		30	60	11.9	66.0
12	06 Jun	18:00	11PM Tue	Cyclonic Storm	▲	40	70	12.4	66.0
24	07 Jun	06:00	11AM Wed	Cyclonic Storm	▲	45	80	13.0	65.9
36	07 Jun	18:00	11PM Wed	Cyclonic Storm	▲	50	90	13.6	65.8
48	08 Jun	06:00	11AM Thu	Severe Cyclonic Storm	▲	55	100	14.2	65.7
60	08 Jun	18:00	11PM Thu	Severe Cyclonic Storm		55	105	14.8	65.6
72	09 Jun	06:00	11AM Fri	Severe Cyclonic Storm	▲	60	115	15.4	65.5

## Joint Typhoon Warning Center Tuesday, 6 June — 2:30 PM IST (09:00 UTC) JTWC Warning #1

Hour	Date	Time		Intensity		Winds		Lat	Long
	—	UTC	IST	Saffir-Simpson		knots	km/h	°N	°E
00	06 Jun	06:00	11AM Tue	Tropical Storm		50	95	11.9	66.0
12	06 Jun	18:00	11PM Tue	Tropical Storm	▲	60	110	12.4	66.2
24	07 Jun	06:00	11AM Wed	Hurricane (Cat 1)	▲	65	120	12.9	66.4
36	07 Jun	18:00	11PM Wed	Hurricane (Cat 1)	▲	70	130	13.4	66.5
48	08 Jun	06:00	11AM Thu	Hurricane (Cat 1)	▲	75	140	13.9	66.6
72	09 Jun	06:00	11AM Fri	Hurricane (Cat 1)		75	140	15.3	66.5
96	10 Jun	06:00	11AM Sat	Hurricane (Cat 1)	▲	80	150	17.0	66.0
120	11 Jun	06:00	11AM Sun	Hurricane (Cat 2)	▲	85	155	18.4	65.5

Official information

Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC)

India Meteorological Department (IMD)

• RSMC Bulletin
  
• Observed & Forecast Track
  
• Storm Surge Guidance (Not updated)
  
• Heavy rainfall outlook (Not updated)
  

Other national/multinational meteorological agencies

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC, United States)

• Homepage
  
• Warning (Text)
  
• Warning (Graphic)
  
• Prognostic Reasoning
  

National Hurricane Center (NHC, United States)

• Forecast Office – Tiyan, Guam
  
• Tropical cyclone page
  
• Public Tropical Cyclone Advisory
  
• NWS Guam Local Statement
  
• NEW! Experimental tropical cyclone graphics
  

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)

NOTE: PAGASA assigns local names to cyclones which differ from the official WMO list. This system has been assigned the local name Cheseng by PAGASA.

• Homepage
  
• Tropical cyclones bulletin
  
• Tropical cyclone warning for shipping
  
• Tropical cyclone threat potential forecast
  
• Forecast track map
  

Radar imagery

India Meteorological Department

• Goa region
  
• Mumbai region
  
• Bhuj region
  

Satellite imagery

Floater imagery

Single bandwidth imagery

• Tropical Tidbits: Visible / shortwave infrared
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Enhanced infrared
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Enhanced infrared (Dvorak enhancement)
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Water vapor
  

Multiple bandwidth imagery

The options to select individual bandwidths on each of the following websites may vary.

• CIMSS: Cyclone 02A imagery
  
• RAMMB: Cyclone 02A imagery
  
• Navy Research Laboratory: Cyclone 02A imagery
  

Regional imagery

Western Pacific Ocean

• CIMSS: Enhanced infrared
  
• Weathernerds: Western Pacific
  

Analysis products

Best track data

• NOAA SSD

Surface analysis products

India Meteorological Department

• Plotted data charts

Wind analysis and storm intensity estimation products

• NESDIS: Dvorak Fix Bulletins
  
• NESDIS: Dvorak Fix History
  
• NESDIS: Multi-platform Surface Wind Analysis
  
• CIMSS: Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT)
  
• CIMSS: Tropical Cyclone Intensity Consensus (SATCON)
  
• CIMSS: SATCON Intensity History
  
• EUMETSAT: Advanced Scatterometer Data
  

Sea-surface temperature analysis products

• NOAA OSPO: Sea Surface Temperature Contour Charts
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Ocean Analysis
  

Model products

Disturbance-specific model guidance

Storm-centered guidance

• Tropical Tidbits (GFS)
  
• Tropical Tidbits (ECMWF)
  
• Tropical Tidbits (HWRF)
  

Track guidance

• Tropical Tidbits
  
• Weather Nerds
  

Track and intensity guidance

• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Regional single-model guidance

• Tropical Tidbits: GFS
  
• Tropical Tidbits: ECMWF
  
• Tropical Tidbits: CMC
  
• Tropical Tidbits: ICON
  
• India Meteorological Department Several models
  

Regional ensemble model guidance

• Weathernerds: GEFS (120 hours)
  
• Weathernerds: ECENS (120 hours)
  

atheism
CapitolConsequences
cats
CovIdiots
CrappyDesign
Europe
Eyebleach
facepalm
Gamingcirclejerk
gifs
HolUp
iamatotalpieceofshit
Insanepeoplefacebook
Instant_regret
JusticeServed
lgbt
MadLads
MadeMeSmile
MarchAgainstNazis
me_irlgbt
Military
oddlysatisfying
oddlyterrifying
pics
PoliticalHumor
PublicFreakout
SelfAwarewolves
Showerthoughts
Starterpacks
TheRightCantMeme
TIFU
TIHI
ToiletPaperUSA
TransClones
Trashy
WhitePeopleTwitter
I'm willing to keep going until every subreddit is on here.

Grateful for this community.
TL:DR Love yourself for feeling guilty because your heart is true enough to know when it is misaligned. Love yourself for feeling shame because your conscious is true enough to know when your actions are misaligned. These are great feelings to have - without them we would continue to do the same thing over and over with no intent to change.
Full Length:
I recently made it about 5 weeks before relapsing (I'm about 4 days porn free now). I got close to relapsing a couple times today, but remained strong.I am in counseling right now for this, and will share with my counselor at our next appointment.
What started out as just looking for risque photos on instagram and subbing to "SFW" forums here on reddit slowly turned more and more NSFW until I was eventually watching porn. I would look at subs that weren't exclusively porn, but would have the occasional explicit image/gif and I would scroll past, but I mean... come on. What did I expect? I knew what I was doing.
Once I started justifying it a little bit, the boundary became less and less clear. This lasted about a week until suddenly I was back to scrolling on my phone for 2-3 hours at a time, and although not looking at full on porn at first, it was basically the same thing and it was having the same detrimental impact on my life. I knew it was inconsistent with my goals and my recovery but I did it anyways and I didn't want to admit it. I could hear the internal battle the whole time. One voice saying, "Dude. why are you doing this? You're lying to yourself and you know where this road is going to lead you." and another voice saying, "just a little more. It's fine. This isn't ACTUALLY porn. So what if something slips by, you're not intentionally looking for it. It doesn't count"
Yeah... until I gave in and did a search for one of my old favorite accounts. I scrolled through a few clips, watched one for about 10 seconds, took a deep breathe and said, "ok. back to day zero. Let's start again." I came back to this sub, sent a message to someone who had reached out previously to be available for support, re-read my original post, and began cleaning up my feed again.
One thing I do want to note, and for me this IS really important, is that even though I relapsed, I did not masturbate to porn. I feel like this made owning up and starting at day zero again easier for me.
The other thing I want to share with ya'll, and this is especially for anyone who finds themselves relapsing continuously (I have relapsed about 4 times over the past couple years), is be kind to yourself. This is about loving yourself and taking care of yourself; rehabbing your behaviors and patterns. You cannot punish yourself into self love. Victimizing yourself about your shame and guilt are roads that lead back to porn. I'm not saying you're not allowed to feel shame and guilt - in fact its the opposite. Allow yourself TO feel the shame and guilt, and feel it FULLY. Healing comes from moving THROUGH the pain, not avoiding it.
Take a breath, light a candle, cry into a pillow, take a drive, hug your cat, journal it out - there's no right way to do it besides letting your guard down with yourself and allowing the sadness in instead of avoiding it. It's typical for me to get so wrapped up in my own shame and guilt, that I forget that I'm much more than a system of thoughts, emotions, and actions; that there's actually a consciousness within (outside of?) me that is not directly attached to any of that, and has the ability to experience it all, free from the prison of identifying as the experience. Its not that we are victim to this shame, guilt, or whatever it is that drives us to porn, we are humans having a human experience. We're literally sacks of flesh, fat, and meat with electricity and somehow an entire identity gets formed and consciousness arises. There's bound to be some flaws and some short circuits here and there, so take it easy on yourself.
Porn releases a TON of dopamine that literally rewires our sack of flesh, meat and fat. Without introducing something that releases that same level of dopamine (not recommended, you'll just be fighting a different addiction), it takes a lot of time and effort to rewire those connections. Its like trying to reconnect hoses without turning the water off.
Love yourself for feeling guilty because your heart is true enough to know when it is misaligned. Love yourself for feeling shame because your conscious is true enough to know when your actions are misaligned. These are great feelings to have - without them we would continue to do the same thing over and over with no intent to change.
Happy to be back at day 4, much love everyone.

this is not a sex thing. I can’t stress this enough, this = not a sex thing
the past year I have been dealing with some pretty serious family and work woes that I’d rather not discuss somewhere like here … yet … plus the added stress of regular daily life with chronic illnesses and a 11yo who will grab bananas at the supermarket, hold them strategically, and yell PEEPEE
yes we had him tested. it came back the parenting.
my husband is the most loving and supportive, but he’s like … adamant I go to bed with him. it’s caused a couple minor tiffs and misunderstandings recently, so I promised to be in bed twenty minutes ago. I begrudgingly went up, tiptoed in our room … he’s deeply sleep, could-be-yelling-he-ain’t-moving asleep.
so I creeped back downstairs. and turned my laptop back on. and placed my earbuds in. and now I’m playing my heavily modded Stardew Valley farm while dancing dorkily with the cats to my Taylor Swift playlist downstairs while everyone sleeps.
this is my own special little gremlin girl alone time. and I’m savouring every second of it.
I REGRET NOTHING, HUSBAND

I lost Bear last February, just a couple of weeks shy of his 19th birthday. That's a long life for a cat, I know, but that didn't make that last vet trip any easier. It doesn't make things easier now.
I love BB, my current cat, I really do. He's a sweet, silly, goofy baby.
But he's not Bear. He'll never be Bear. I'll never have the bond with him that I had with Bear, I can't, because the circumstances under which they were both adopted are so different.
I was there when Bear was born. I held his tiny little body in the palm of my hand when he was only seconds old. I played with him when he was first learning to walk. He slept on my head and sat on my shoulders and sprawled out across my lap.
I paid $2,000 to fly him from Phoenix to Indianapolis after I graduated from college. When I had to leave him with my mom until I found pet-friendly housing, I visited him as often as I could.
When I finally brought him back home, he had a whole apartment to explore, but he was attached to my hip whenever I was home. Always underfoot, always curled up against my leg or in my lap, when I slept he slept between my feet or draped across my knees. When I had migraines, or was so depressed that I couldn't stop crying, he would lay in my lap with his head in the crook of my elbow and stay there and purr until it passed. Whenever he thought I was oversleeping, he would paw at my face and hands and stick his nose in my ear until I woke up.
He loved to be held, and he hated strangers.
Even when he was old, he would play like a kitten. He loved catnip, and attacking my feet, and he never once used his claws or bit hard enough to hurt (except for that one time he stole an olive right out of my hand and accidentally bit my thumb in the process, but still.)
The few times he needed a bath, he never tried to escape, he just sat in the tub and cried and cried and cried like a little baby. Whenever I was in the bath, he would sit beside the tub and whine, and sometimes paw at my arm, too.
And every single time I came home from somewhere, he would come running to greet me with his little "happy" song and dance. Every time, without fail.
And now he's gone and I'm never going to experience any of that ever again.
Nineteen years wasn't long enough.
I would do anything for nineteen more.

Which Family Guy moments did you find particularly bizarre? I can think of a few:
-Peter flipping through childhood photos when he stumbled upon a picture of dragon-like feet. He then exclaims that he used to be a dragon. That joke made absolutely zero sense, but yet it somehow still managed to be funny.
-The brief gag from Start Me Up where Peter randomly turns into a cat for no reason whatsoever.
-Brian's hallucinations when he was taking shrooms.
-The scene from the Tindr episode where Quagmire has sex with one of the monsters from Where The Wild Things Are.
-The bit from Quagmire's Dad with the alien in a hula skirt dancing.
-The scene from Island Adventure where Peter says he can't be in the episode for too long because he's real-life pregnant.
-Meg doing a very suggestive dance with Pouncey the cat.
-Peter holding a funeral for his own hand.
-Future Chris somehow training his penis to talk in Rich Old Stewie.
-Peter listing off every word he knows and having Lois write them down. That one wasn't particularly surreal or anything, but it's still ridiculous!
-Peter singing the CatDog theme song. This was only weird because I'm used to them referencing mostly '80s cartoons, so seeing Family Guy make a lengthy homage to a '90s Nicktoon was totally unexpected.
-Peter looking at Internet corn.
-The cutaway where they showed RoboCop sipping tea and reading a newspaper while wearing pink slippers.
-Mumm-Ra from ThunderCats watching Brian poop through his magic cauldron. The fact that they replicated the artstyle of the original cartoon made this one particularly odd because they've shown ThunderCats characters in other episodes and they were drawn in the usual Family Guy style.

Cover Art!
Just because you’re transported to another world, doesn’t mean you’ll escape from your pain.
Abused by her parents, thirteen-year-old Frances only wants to be safe and for her life not to hurt so much. And when she and her class are transported to the magical world of Durannon to fight the monsters invading the human kingdoms and defeat the self-titled Demon King, Frances is presented with a golden opportunity. If she succeeds, Frances will have the home she never had. If she fails, Frances will be summoned back to the home she escaped.
Yet, despite her newfound magic and friends, Frances finds that trauma is not so easily lost. She is dogged by her abuse and its physical and invisible scars. Not only does she have to learn magic, she has to survive the nightmares of her past, and wrestle with her feelings of doubt and self-loathing.
If she can heal from her trauma, though, she might be able to defeat the Demon King and maybe, just maybe, she can find a home for herself.
Teaser: The fall of the Traditionalists
[The Beginning] [<=Chapter 189] [Chapter Index and Blurb] [Chapter 191 on June 12 or now on patreon]
The Fractured Song Index
Discord Channel Just let me know when you arrive in the server that you’re a Patreon so you can access your special channel.
The flares had gone up, but the gates remained shut. Martin hadn’t stopped staring at them since the troops had moved into position. He’d only paused to blink.
It was unlikely they’d been betrayed. The Water Tower had fallen to their forces after all. That being said, there were always delays in military operations—
Martin blinked. The gates were swinging open.
“Alright everybody! Up and at them. Mages, smoke us up! Musketeers suppressing fire!”
Cheers rang out along the line as puffs and clouds of mist and smoke began to shroud the Lightning Battalion. Horns blared as the wave of soldiers charged.
Martin was at the head of them, shield raised. He knew his kit was a little archaic, but frankly he could use the extra protection at the moment.
As they neared the gatehouse, Martin could hear sounds of battle within. As he made it over the drawbridge and into the building he could see a ring of soldiers marked with blue and red armbands trying to defend the opened second gate against a flood of soldiers coming from the main castle building.
“For Erisdale!” Martin bellowed.
He and the Lightning Battalion plunged into the melee with troops flooding through the gatehouse,.. Martin managed to slam his shield into one of Darius’s soldiers and stab them, before stepping back to look around.
Already he had teams of soldiers rushing up to help with those fighting in the gatehouse proper. Musketeers were taking position and the mages they had were casting spells at the incoming reinforcements.
There were a lot of Darius’s troops coming, though. They were rushing out of every door, and from every tower to concentrate on the breach.
Martin grimaced. He was sure that he was going to break through at some point, but it would take time. The rest would have to be up to Jessica’s team.
“Come on! We’re nearly there,” said Elizabeth.
Leaning heavily on her, Leila limped as fast as she could. They’d healed her as much as they could but she was still exhausted from the ordeal she’d suffered.
“Why don’t you just carry me—” Leila cut herself off with a Word of Power. Several soldiers were running down road leading to the Citadel, trying to intercept the pair. A fireball erupted from in front of them and smashed into the unfortunate enemies, blasting them off their feet. Leila waved Elizabeth’s arched eyebrow off. “Nevermind. Give me a moment.”
“Yeah, hard to cast if you’re being carried.” Elizabeth paushed to look behind, down toward the city. The way the Traditionalist defense line had been structured was that it left a protected section of the city between the Citadel and the Water Tower.
Before her eyes, Erlenbergian ships were pulling into the harbour, disgorging hundreds of marines and mages that stormed into the city. The Traditionalist forces that had been attempting to retake the Water Tower were now flanked. It would take time however, until they could take control of the area and make their way to the Citadel.
But at least at this moment, the gate that led up to the Citadel proper was unguarded, the drawbridge down. The soldiers having been stripped to defend the city and the main gatehouse or try to secure the harbour.
“You ready?” Elizabeth asked, glancing at Leila.
The Otherworlder shook her head. “Nope, but I need to be at Janize’s side,” she croaked out.
Elizabeth giggled. “Well, since you are hopelessly in love with her. Let’s get you there.”
Leila rolled her eyes. “Fuck you,” she stammered, but she was unable to help herself from smiling.
Scarlet was damn good and tricky to fight against. The head of the Red Order had stored a number of spells into her magical rings, which she used to vary up her arsenal. Fireballs would be followed by vines sprouting from the ground. The earth would suddenly ice up, followed by gusts of wind that would try to knock Ayax off her feet. She was also very fast, and Ayax found herself dancing around Darius’s garden, using whatever cover she could and shields to keep herself safe.
The problem was that as the fight drew on and Scarlet continued to keep throwing spells, the outcome of the fight became clearer and clearer.
Ayax was not the head of a mage order. She didn’t quite have the extensive magical equipment that Scarlet had in her possession. Scarlet also had a powerful magical gift and the cost of it was not a mobility impairment. Leila had told Ayax that Scarlet was missing an eyeball, having replaced her missing eye with a glass replica.
That pupil-less eyeball now glimmered at Ayax as the troll returned Scarlet’s fireball with a larger fireball of her own, forcing the mage to take cover behind a statue of a knight that was blasted apart. Scarlet stepped out to cast, but Ayax was faster, she had already thrown several magical cards. They slammed into the red-robed mage, crackling and popping, smoke and sparks blinding the woman. She barely managed to get a shield up but instead of hitting her again, Ayax paused for a split second before throwing more cards.
These hit Scarlet clean again and she screamed as she staggered, firing magical bolts wildly. Ayax practically just sidled behind a tree and watched the mage pant as she gathered her own power.
No, Ayax had none of Scarlet’s money or ability, but she did have years of seeing the most intense frontline combat of the Great War. She had trained against the most powerful mages of her time, Edana and Frances Windwhistler. She was a gifted mage in her own right with unparalleled athleticism and grace. And to top it all off, she had read Scarlet’s rhythm of casting and was now very much in it and messing with her.
Oh and she’d exhausted Scarlet by making her cast all the spells she had.
So when Ayax threw Frances’s lightning spell over her shoulder, Scarlet only barely blocked it. The woman was knocked backwards and slammed into the perimeter wall of the mansion.
Ayax was soon charging after her. Scarlet managed to fire a torrent of water at her, but the troll sang, drawing up a wind that lent speed to her step and pulling up a mound of earth that blocked the jet. She ducked under the woman’s clumsy attempt to cast a slashing spell at her, and slammed her staff into Scarlet’s head.
Blood poured from the cut across her skull, and the woman crumpled to the ground. Her glass eyeball popped out from the force of the blow, rolling onto the glass. For good measure, Ayax grabbed Scarlet’s wand and pocketed it. She also cast a binding spell that would stick the woman’s arms and legs together so she couldn’t get up.
Then she stared.
One of her parent’s killers was lying in front of her, unconscious and helpless. Scarlet wouldn’t even know if Ayax cut her throat with a dagger. It was more mercy than she deserved.
Biting her lip so hard Ayax thought she was going to cut herself, she turned on her heel. The troll forced marched herself away, thinking of her dear Elizabeth and how she needed help.
Step after step turned into a run and soon Ayax was racing down the city streets for the gate leading to the Citadel.
As she rounded a corner, she saw a column of soldiers fast-marching, also towards the main castle.
“Ayax!” called out a very filthy red-haired woman.
The troll ran up to her friend. “Ginger, oh dear, that was a horrible trip wasn’t it?” Ayax asked as she took in Ginger’s odor.
“Yes. I strongly advise you don’t touch me,” said Ginger. She tilted her head to another approaching mage, whose orange dress quickly gave up her identity.
“Ophelia Voidsailor, good to see you in person!” Ayax exclaimed, clasping her fellow Erlenbergian’s deformed hand.
“Ayax Windwhistler. We never settled who won the Winter Tournament did we?” Ophelia asked.
“I conceded to you if I recall.”
“Bah! That doesn’t count! I want a rematch once this is all over!” Ophelia giggled. She coughed into her fist. “We’ve secured the harbour and the Water Tower. The Traditionalist’s remaining forces are running to the Citadel.”
“Excellent, lets hope Janize holds out long enough for us to get there,” said Ginger, starting to jog again.
It was terribly un-queenly behaviour and perhaps didn’t do the best for the morale of her soldiers, but Janize decided not to sit in her throne. Rather, she was using the very large chair as cover and had opted to sit on a simple wooden chair.
Even then she wasn’t entirely safe and despite herself, she couldn’t help but hold onto a bunch of her crimson hair, as she desperately attempted to keep her breathing level.
Erisdale’s throne room featured the standard long hallway leading up to an upraised dais and two thrones. It also had a second-level gallery meant for nobles to be able to gather and watch the proceedings. This gallery comprised of two large rooms open to the throne room itself. Sculpted stone railings kept the onlookers safe. Underneath the upper galleries were two covered hallways which functioned as ways for people to go up and down the the throneroom without just walking through the main hall.
Normally, there were ways to get to the upper galleries, but the soldiers loyal to Janize had barricaded these entrances. They could not however, barricade the stairways to the entrances that were near the throne room’s main entrance and led up to the galleries. Their defense relied on them holding the throne room’s main front.
Naturally, that had been the focus of the assault by Darius and his soldiers.
“Master George, I distinctly recall you informing me the Throne room was the safest in the Citadel?” Janize mused ass stray bullets whizzed over their heads.
Crouched down beside her behind an upturned table, George smiled wanly. “Yes. It has enough space to hold the soldiers loyal to you, and the entrances can easily be blocked off. The other barricaded entrances can also be opened if we want to make a break for it. So yes, this is the safest place when you consider the other option is your personal chambers which can’t hold all your guards.” Fluidly rising to his feet, George fired a musket down and reloaded. “Hang tight, I’m going to check on the other barricades.”
Janize nodded slowly. She was getting a bit better at not wincing at every crack and whine from the spells and bullets that were sailing through the throne room door. That had been the first to fall and followed by a charge from the Traditionalists. However, the numerous barricades of tables and furniture that had been stacked to form several lines had checked the enemy’s advance.
So a vicious melee had developed at the entrance, with both sides firing guns and spells over the tops of each other’s heads. Janize was no military tactician, but she knew that if Darius’s soldiers gained the galleries, they were in deep trouble. They were also losing those galleries.
Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at Leila. They were now in the castle proper which was unsurprisingly deserted. The non-combatants having fled or hid. “Leila, where are we going. The throne room’s front door is not this way.”
“Yes, but unless you want to get completely fucked by the mass of troops probably fighting there, we’re going to have to break in to help them—” Leila stopped so quickly, Elizabeth nearly dragged her forward.
A column of soldiers were spilling out from one of the corridors into the hall. Their boots were caked in indescribable brown stuff and from this distance, Leila and Elizabeth could smell where they had come from.
At the head of the group of soldiers was a blonde woman with a cat mask. Thier were both Alavari and human and they all had light-blue armbands or hauberks emblazoned with a silver lightning symbol.
“Jessica?” Leila whispered.
“Leila, it’s been a long time.” The masked Otherworlder’s reply was cool. Elizabeth did notice a tremor in her voice.
“Jess, I’m so sorry. I was an idiot and I—”
Tearing off her mask, Jessica took several long steps to Leila and seized her in an embrace. “I missed you.”
Leila couldn’t help but cry. “I missed you too—OW!”
Jessica had flicked Leila’s forehead with a finger. Smiling, crying and scowling at the same time. “Also, fuck you for trying to blast me, several times.”
“Sorry,” Leila croaked.
Jessica gently stroked Leila’s hair. “And I’m sorry for calling you a monster.”
Leila managed a watery giggle. “I deserved it.”
The pair laughed and let go of one another. “Right, which way to save your queen? Also, you alright? You look like a wreck,” said Jessica.
“This way.” Leila said, leaning on Jessica’s shoulder for support. “Oh wow you really did crawl through a sewer.”
“Eat shit, or did you already?”
Jessica snorted. “Fuck you.”
“Glad to see you getting along, but how are we going to make sure we take down a barricade without getting shot at?” Elizabeth asked.
“You’ll see!” warbled Leila.
After dispatching a band of Traditionalist soldiers, they’d come to a doorway that looked fairly ordinary but as Leila laid her hands on the wall it shimmered. “Yo, George! Don’t shoot! Reinforcements are here!”
A slot in the door opened up and there was quick peek. From the other side they heard a great sigh of relief.
“Thank God, get in here.” Their was some scrabbling and the door swung open to reveal the blonde-haired Otherworlder warrior. “They’re making another push. Good thing you remembered the designated escape hatch.”
“Ah, you left an emergency exit, a sally port. Good idea,” said Elizabeth. “Musketeers to the galleries and check your powder before you start shoting. Jessica, Leila, get to the queen. I want a section to guard the sally.”
There was a thunderous bellow from the outside of the throne room. Then another louder one.
“They’re hyping themselves up. This is it!” George bellowed. “Leila get to the queen!”
“Holdup.” Jessica picked Leila up and leapt off the railing. Her friend screamed as they dropped down, only slowing at the last minute due to Jessica’s spell.
George stared at the pair for a moment, but Elizabeth had grabbed onto him and was dragging him. “Let’s get to the front, hurry!”
Janize peaked behind her throne. “Leila!”
The queen was soon embraced by the shaking Otherworlder. “I’m sorry. This is um, Jessica.”
“A pleasure I’m sure, but we are in a dicey spot.” Jessica ushered the pair behind the throne and began casting. Leila soon joining her.
A flood of armored knights had forced the throne room’s entrance. The sheer mass of the column was overwhelming the defenders at the entrance. Leila could see George and Elizabeth fighting furiously back to back against the tide. Elizabeth’s war hammer taking out a knight with every swing, whilst George’s spear flickered into weakspots and gaps in enemy armor like a snake. Far above on the right gallery, the Lightning Battalion’s musketeers were raining musket and magefire down on them.
Yet Darius’s troops were forcing themselves up the staircase to the left side gallery, which didn’t have the additional Lightning Battalion troops.
“Jess! Left side!” Leila hissed.
“I know, shit!” The pair turned their attention to the gallery on the left, unleashing fireballs and bolts of magic. That kept any attackers and musketeers who wanted to shoot back pinned down, but they had a mage on the left gallery that kept shielding their attacks.
It also meant the flood of attackers pouring through the throne room doors only increased.
“Elizabeth where the fuck are your troops!” Leila screamed.
Ayax knew she wasn’t going through the front door, but after running around the throne room’s upper galleries she was wondering if there was any other way in.
As she hammered on a final door, a familiar human face peeked through the slot.
“Captain!”
“Helen, good to see you!”
“Get in here and duck!” Ayax’s adjutant opened the door and lead the troll into the throne room. She instantly could see that things were not going well. Musketeers filled the gallery opposing them they were ducking behind a black-haired mage’s shield due to Leila and Jessica shooting at them. However, that meant Jessica and Leila weren’t casting at the knights charging through the throne room.
Ayax could glimpsed Elizabeth locked in a duel with another knight that she dispatched, another Otherworlder protecting her flanks. The pair were pulling back, though and the Lightning Battalion soldiers trying to come down the gallery stairs were forced to come in single line
And Traditionalist forces kept pushing. No matter how many were shot dead, the armored men and women were storming forward, stepping over the bodies of dead comrades with a desperate, furious pace. At the centre of the column was a man surrounded by the biggest and burliest knights Ayax had ever seen and with gold-trimmed armour.
It was Darius and he was in her sight. Ayax blinked, started forward and shook her head. He wasn’t the priority. He couldn’t be the priority. She could see black magic leaking out from her hand, but she forcefully kept her gaze on the gallery.
Taking a deep breath Ayax bellowed, “Clear the way!” Running forward, Words of Power pouring from her lips, she leapt over the railing.
Elizabeth was very nearly distracted by a glimpse of her girlfriend doing a superhero impression as she flew across the top of the Throne Room, carried by her magic. Ayax, her staff punched forward like a spear, slammed into the first musketeer she saw. The Traditonalists ran, trying to make space but that also gave space for Ayax to run after the panicked looking black haired mage.
Whirling her staff around, she slammed him so hard he crashed into the wall with a sickening thud. Then she was hitting the musketeers, sending them flying with her strikes. Even so, musket balls screeched by her, nearly missing her. More musketeers were pointing their weapons at her.
A massive fireball slammed into the railing, setting enemy uniforms aflame. Ayax glanced over the railing to see Leila give her a brief wave before turning back to keep firing at Earl Darisus’s guards. The troll blinked, but there was no time to contemplate, she had to keep fighting. Leaping forward, she sent another human soldier flying. Torquing around, she ducked under a bayonet stab and punted a human woman into a wall.
When she turned around to look for another opponent, Ayax froze. The remaining musketeers were fleeing, retrating down the gallery stairs and away from her. However, there was a blonde haired woman on the gallery with a fox-fur lined coat. She was aiming a musket, but not at Ayax. Instead, she was pointing it toward the dais of the throne.
Ayax’s eyes immediately took in the trajectory of the musket and the scowling dark-haired Otherworlder she was pointing it at. Leila, while taking cover from the bullets and bolts of magic from the main entrance’s direction, was exposed to the woman’s shot.
I could let her. It wouldn’t be me. It’d be an accident. Janize can’t blame us for a battle. We’d still have her surrender.
Besides, Leila doesn’t deserve to live. Why should she live after all the wrongs she’s committed? Why shouldn’t I just let her die.
Nobody would know. Few would care.
Ayax glanced down at her hands and at her staff. There was no black magic pooling around her. It was just her. Her decision to save or let die, the woman who killed her mother.
This was a woman who’d apologized and promised to let her do whatever she wanted to her. Who sought not her own safety but to protect the life and the child of the one she loved.
Ayax bit her lip and charged the enemy musketeer. However, her hesitation had cost her. She could see the musketeer pulling the trigger. There was no time for a Word of Power. Ayax slammed into her the musketeer. The weapon cracked, the bullet whizzing off course as Ayax pushed the woman over the railing.
But the screaming woman now grabbed onto Ayax and the troll found herself tumbling over.
Acting on instinct, the troll seized her enemy with both hands, her cat-like tail twisting to try to direct their momentum. The pair fell down, but Ayax was managing to get her legs atop the woman. Acting more on instinct, Ayax leapt off the musketeer, slammed into a Traditionalist knight and rolled clumsily over the ground.
Dazed by the impact, her sides and wrists screaming with pain, Ayax could just hear a stomach-churning thud. She chanced a glance and immediately looked away. The woman was very clearly dead, having hint the stone floor headfirst.
It was then she saw that standing over her was the heavily armoured Earl Darius halted dead in his tracks. He lifed his visor, and Ayax could see that despite the sweat that trickled down his face, his eyes remained wide with horror and rage.
“You killed her. You killed my daughter!” Roaring like a wounded animal, Darius swung down at Ayax with his sword. She managed to get her staff up, the metal chomping into the wood. Again and again the Earl brought his weapon down. Aching, exhausted and far far too close for comfort, Ayax scrabbled back, trying to escape. But the earl was possessed with grief and fury and the desperation of a cornered animal.
“Die! Die! Die and join your father and mother!”
Author’s Note: Oh dear, so Ayax has gotten over her anger, but… she pissed off Darius anyway!

July 8th Excerpt from the Diary of Heaven White
‘Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, with your right hand you save me.’
Psalms 138:7
​
Onu’s instructions were clear. I recognize that, and I am fully aware that it is not wise to defy his wishes.
​
But there are things he is not telling me. Things that weigh on his mind at all hours of the day. I see it in his eyes. I hear it in his voice. I had initially suspected that the damage caused by Casey LaBeouf’s betrayal had left him more disorganized and scattered than he let on. But no.
​
I’m not so sure that is the case, anymore.
​
Onu’s instructions were clear. I was to stay out of Family affairs. But in the end, I truly could not help myself. The blood of my family runs through my veins. Their affairs are my affairs. Perhaps in Onu’s eyes, I will need to earn my status, but that does not bother me. In fact for now, it might well be an asset.
​
Unbound by the constraints of the Family, I am free to operate without Onu’s direct oversight. He may not approve, but he can not stop me.
​
I knew he’d be out of town tonight. On what business, I wasn’t sure. But his absence was my opportunity. The man he had assigned as my escort - a gentleman by the name of Doug Coleridge, was attentive but still very much human. When I told him I was going to bed, it did not take long before he did the same.
​
I lay awake and waiting, listening as he got settled in the guest bedroom beside mine, and waited until I knew he was asleep. Then, after about thirty minutes, I left my room to begin my research.
​
Onu’s office was left unlocked. I closed the door behind me as I entered. Then, just like before, I began searching through his desk. This time, I was thorough. Most of the documents he kept there were focused on some of the cases he’d taken on. I couldn’t help but notice how many had popped up since LaBeouf had defected. It struck me just how thinly he was spread. I left those folders alone after skimming through them. It was nothing for me to tamper with.
I left that drawer as I found it, before going through another. The documents there seemed to be more personal. There was a handgun, which I carefully set aside, some trinkets, pens and old newspaper articles.
​
Now those seemed very out of place. I skimmed through them and found no mention of LaBeouf. Most of them detailed an event from several years back. The murder of the Stone family. I couldn’t see why Onu would even care, until I saw the photograph of a woman.
​
Diana Stone was the name under it, and the woman was identical to the girl in the picture on Onu’s desk. At last I could put a name to the face. I glanced up at the picture of the woman, comparing the two before deciding they were the same person. I paused, studying her for a few moments longer. Her eyes were terribly familiar. The same burning amber as the eyes of the Girl who’d pushed my Father. For a moment, I caught myself wondering if they were one and the same, and skimmed through the story. The only useful data it provided, was that Diana Stone had died twenty years ago. A relative, perhaps? I’d need to look into it. But now was not the time. I returned everything to its proper place, and continued my search. Finally it bore some fruit.
​
The files on LaBeouf were plentiful, although disorganized and difficult to decipher. Most of it was from before his betrayal, and I sorted it into a little pile while I read through the newer material. There was very little on him currently, Onu’s notes and scribbles were vague as usual, although they often needed to be. He couldn’t afford to leave his secrets out in the open. I’d need to check the things he didn’t write down.
I looked over at his computer. What I was thinking was a brave move, and not without its risks. I’d not only need to be smart, but careful. A shake of the mouse brought up his login screen that requested a password. There was no hint given, either you knew it, or you did not. I admittedly did not know it.
​
I glanced at the framed picture of Diana Stone. It was a wild guess, perhaps guessing was a mistake, but it was all that I had to go off of. Aside from her possible connection to my Father’s killer (a connection that was only a half baked theory, at best) she was nobody special. She wasn’t part of the Family. The article I’d read had stated she was a dancer, and I doubted Onu had enough affinity for dance to idolize a dead small time ballerina. No… she was special to him, for some reason. Perhaps special enough to guard his secrets. I typed, ‘Diana’ into the box. His computer opened up to me, and from there, it was trivial to open his email. It’s so convenient how computers save passwords, isn’t it?
​
From there, it didn’t take long to find some more useful information.
It seemed that I’d underestimated Onu. He’d kept his eyes all too closely trained on LaBeouf’s brother. There were copies of emails that he’d sent, and a few barely useful status updates that one of his shadows had sent him.
​
The would-be senator hadn’t contacted his brother directly to their knowledge, and Casey’s disappearance had been marked by the disappearance of another man involved in LaBeouf’s defection. This man’s name was Steven Love. A police detective and it wasn’t exactly difficult to determine that their disappearances were likely connected. I found little on him aside from a file attached to an email. There was no concrete evidence tying him to LaBeouf, other than the two men had seemingly left town at the same time, and Love had more or less dropped off the face of the earth since then. He unfortunately seemed to be another dead end. The name only came up once in another email, that suggested he was the one to whom Casey had spoken to. Aside from that, no picture, no address, nothing. Frustrating, but I kept digging. There was little else to find, but not quite nothing.
In one of the emails, from Kasting, there was a footnote that made me go back and look at Love’s files. He had a partner, a man by the name of Vincent Bennett. There were no files on him, but the footnote read as follows.
​
Terry spoke with Bennett, about a week before he went dark. Lexi followed up on it. Can’t find any connection. Bennett says he’d stopped working with Love before he disappeared and he’d heard of LaBeouf, but didn’t work on the case. We’ll keep an eye on him, but I don’t think he’s behind what happened.
​
Kasting seemed to think that this Bennett man was a dead end… but I made a note of the name anyways. Perhaps if Kasting couldn’t get the Detective to talk (assuming he even knew anything at all), I could. I wasn’t sure how… but I was sure I’d think of something.
​
Intrigued, I skimmed a little further until I found another email from one of Onu’s other shadows.
​
I looked into that weird address that was contacting Matt. Far as I can tell, it’s legit. Maybe he just likes Japanese cartoons? TMFI.
-Lexi
​
How bizarre. I looked a little further until I found another reference to the address that had been contacting Matthew LaBeouf. It was a copy of one of the emails that had been sent to him.
​
Hi Matthew!
Thank you again for your recent purchase from Ultimate Waifu! Your new handmade Dakimakura cover has been safely shipped and you should expect it within the next few days. We hope you enjoy this adorable cuddlemuffin! Don’t be too rough with her! She’s delicate!
Please feel free to contact us if there are any concerns or questions and please leave a customer review if you are satisfied with our service!
-Sammy
​
The image was signed with a little pixel art image of a character with short blue hair. I reread the email a few times, before finally finding a copy of the email one of his Shadows had sent the same address.
​
Hi Alexis!
We’re sorry to say that the item you’re looking for is currently out of stock! But if you really, really, reeeeeally want it, we can totally contact you when it comes in again! We’d really hate to deprive anyone of a sweet kawaii cuddlemuffin to keep them warm at night! In the meanwhile, please feel free to browse our quality selection of stain resistant, machine washable, Dakimakura!
-Sammy
​
The same little cartoon character was there by the signature, and I closed out of the emails. I couldn’t make heads or tails of them, so for now, I decided to leave it alone. I moved on to see what else I could find, before a voice in the darkness interrupted me.
​
“Y’know this is the exact thing I’m supposed to stop you from doing.”
​
I looked up, to see a shadow in the door of the office. The light came on, and I was greeted by the sleepy, but sternly disapproving face of Doug Coleridge. He was a tall, broad shouldered man in his early forties with thick hair that was just starting to gray and intense brown eyes.
“What’s the harm in curiosity?” I asked.
“You ever heard that old saying ‘Curiosity killed the cat?’” He asked, his voice still heavy with sleep.
“Well then I’d have plenty to fear if I were a cat, wouldn’t I?”
​
He sighed, and approached me to turn off Onu’s screen. “Don’t be a smartass, Heaven,” He said. “Your Uncle told me to keep you out of this stuff for a reason. So do me a solid, and don’t get us both in trouble.”
“I’m just reexamining what he already knows.” I said, “Technically I haven’t done anything yet!”
“What did I just say about being smart with me? Leave the LaBeouf thing alone. It’s none of your business.”
​
“He betrayed the Family. Of course it’s my business.” I replied, “If I want Onu to take me seriously, then I need to contribute. Simple as that.”
“A lot of things I’d have figured you for, kid. But a glory hound wasn’t one of them” He said, “They’re never gonna to catch LaBeouf, you know that, right?”
​
“Never is a harsh word. I’m not doing it for repute. If Onu won’t give me an opportunity to contribute, I’ll make my own.”
“Yeah, great idea. I’m sure it won’t blow up horribly in your face,” Coleridge said dryly. “Let me know how you plan on doing that.”
“Well, I could use the help… if you were interested,” I offered.
​
Coleridge raised an eyebrow at me before scoffing.
“Last time I checked, I worked for Robert, not for you.”
“Oh come now! Say we did find him, it’d look good on both of us!” I said.
“I’d also be crossing one of the most powerful men in the city.” Coleridge pointed out, as if expecting me to have some sort of answer for that.
“We’d be doing him a favor.” I noted.
“Yeah, I don’t think he’ll see it that way when you get caught,” Coleridge said before sighing. “Look, I admire your dedication, I do. But like I said before, there’s a damn good reason Robert doesn’t want you involved in this.”
​
“Is there?” I asked, “Because I don’t see it! Do you?”
Coleridge was silent for a moment, staring intently at me. Then, finally he sighed.
“Go get dressed,” He said, before turning to leave.
“Why?”
“Because you and me are going for a drive.”
​
“To where?” I asked, feeling a slight pang of concern in my chest as I followed Coleridge out into the hall.
“You wanna know why your Uncle doesn’t want you involved in this? I’m gonna show it to you,” Coleridge said matter of factly.
I watched as he disappeared back into his bedroom, before quietly going to mine to find some clean clothes.
​
***
​
Coleridge and I drove in relative silence through the night. He didn’t tell me where we were going, even when I asked and were I a more paranoid woman, I might have worried that he had some kind of ill intent.
​
I’m not sure if I should have been surprised or not when he brought me to a hospital.
“Is this some sort of underhanded threat?” I asked, as he pulled into the underground parking lot.
“That’s not what I’d call this, no.” He replied as he pulled into a spot. He got out of the car and I followed.
​
“I don’t know how much you know about your Uncle’s reputation, but Robert isn’t the kind of man you double cross,” He said as he headed for the elevator. “If you ask me, Casey had some real balls, doing what he did.”
“And yet Onu still hasn’t found him,” I noted.
“Trust me, he’s been looking,” Coleridge said. I followed him into the elevator and he hit a button, taking us up to the 6th floor.
“So I’ve seen. And it would appear that all he’s uncovered are anime body pillows. That’s hardly progress, if you ask me.”
​
Coleridge chuckled.
“Saw those emails, did you?” He asked. “But no… use your brain, kiddo. You really think your Uncle is going to keep the juicy stuff in his emails?”
​
He might have had a point there. The elevator doors opened and Coleridge stepped out. I followed him. He led me through the pale linoleum halls of the hospital, although to where, I really wasn’t sure.
“After LaBeouf skipped town, Robert sent the usual guy he hires for this kind of stuff after him. Travis Gordon. Can’t really say that he and I were ever friends, but I worked with him from time to time… long story short, he was one a ruthless son of a bitch.”
​
“If he was, you would have thought he’d have found LaBeouf by now, wouldn’t you?” I asked.
“Yeah, you would’ve. Heck, maybe he did find him… not like Travis would tell us.”
He led me down a short hall, before pausing in front of a door.
“Why not?” I asked, before noticing the name on the door.
​
Travis Gordon.
​
I looked back at Coleridge.
“If this is some sort of elaborate prank, Mr. Coleridge, than you can save your energy and-”
“You wanted to know why Robert doesn’t want you involved in this. I’m showing you,” Coleridge replied plainly. “You wanna know why he’s not putting more effort into chasing LaBeouf? Go through that door. See for yourself.”
​
I stared at the door again. Suddenly the world around me felt a little more present. The ground beneath my feet felt a little more real. I stared at the door, but I couldn’t open it. Coleridge stood beside me, watching me quietly. After a while, he just sighed.
​
“Let’s go,” He said, getting up to leave. “It’s probably best if you don’t tell Robert that I brought you here. I don’t think he’d-”
“What happened to him?” I asked.
Coleridge looked back at me.
“What happened to him?” I repeated. “He was injured, right? What happened to him?”
“I don’t know,” Coleridge replied plainly.
​
I looked back at the door. Coleridge stood waiting for me.
“Tell you what, I know a good diner just down the street. Best cheesecake in town. My treat. We’ll go home, forget about this whole thing and-”
​
I opened the door and stepped inside. Coleridge’s voice died in his throat.
The room I entered was dimly lit, but I could see the hospital bed and the figure lying on it. I could hear Coleridge’s footsteps behind me and looked back to see him standing in the doorway, his expression grim. He didn’t say a word to me.
​
Slowly, I approached the still body of Travis Gordon. I could hear the steady beep of a heart monitor and the rhythmic hiss of oxygen. In the dim light of the hospital, I could see that his eyes were open. I paused, thinking that he might have been awake. But his eyes weren’t focused on me. They just stared thoughtlessly up at the ceiling and it took me a moment to realize that the only reason they were open, was because he had no eyelids to close.
​
My stomach turned as the realization hit me, and as I stared at Travis Gordon’s face, each new mutilation became clear to me.
​
Someone had taken a knife to his face, cutting away flesh and letting it fester and scar. In some places, I could even see exposed bone. What was left of him barely even resembled a person anymore. He had no nose, no lips, no cheeks… his face had been almost completely butchered!
​
I clamped a hand to my mouth to keep myself from screaming and took a step back, right into Coleridge’s arms. He stared down at Travis Gordon with an expression that was somewhere between sorrow and disgust.
​
“What… what happened to him?” I asked.
“Last we heard from him, he was following up on a lead in Toronto. Then about three months later, they found him on a plane, looking like this… they needed to use his dental records to ID him.”
​
My stomach turned.
“They took his eyelids, his tongue and did that to his face… they cut his fingers off at the second knuckle and castrated him. His spine is broken. He’ll never walk again, and God only knows how many drugs they pumped into him… I guess the one small silver lining is that I don’t think he’s really in there anymore. Far as I’ve heard, he doesn’t know who he is, where he is or what happened to him. He’s just… gone.”
​
I saw Travis shift slightly and saw his eyes move toward me. My breath caught in my throat. Coleridge stared at him, but didn’t say a word. He just put a hand on my shoulder. Travis’s breathing grew heavier. I saw him try to open his mouth, but the only sound that came out was a dull, wet gurgling noise.
​
Coleridge pulled me toward the door, and I followed. I couldn’t look anymore. He closed the door behind him, and I heard him let out the breath he’d been holding the entire time.
“You wanna know why your Uncle doesn’t want you looking into LaBeouf? You wanna know why he asked me to keep an eye on you? That. That is why.”
​
I didn’t reply.
​
I couldn’t.
​
“Whoever did that to him… and I say ‘whoever’ because it sure as hell wasn’t LaBeouf, they could’ve killed him. Instead they sent him back here to us.”
“But why?” I asked, looking over at Coleridge.
“I figure it’s a message,” He replied. “Back off.”
​
He turned and headed down the hall again, back toward the elevator.
“Well… message received, loud and clear.”
“So whoever did that, they’re just going to get away with it?” I asked, “Onu’s not going after them?”
“Yeah, surprisingly he’s not sending anyone to look for the person who cuts peoples faces off and tortures them until they’re a gibbering mess. Can’t imagine why,” Coleridge said.
​
I stared back at the room, before quietly following him back to the elevator. We rode down in silence.
“Like I said before, it’s probably better if you don’t tell your Uncle I took you here,” He finally said, breaking the silence between us. “And it’s probably best if you drop this whole LaBeouf thing.”
​
The elevator doors opened and Bennett stepped out again, back into the parking garage.
“What about following up on some local leads?” I asked.
He paused, and though I couldn’t see his face, I knew he was rolling his eyes.
“You’re joking, right?” He asked, looking back at me.
​
I wasn’t. I was dead serious.
“If there’s nothing to find, what risk am I putting myself in?” I asked, “And if there is something to find, we can give it straight to Onu. You said that Travis had gone to Toronto, right? We won’t even be leaving town! And you’ll be with me the entire time!”
“Are you… are you actually serious right now?” Coleridge asked, “Did you not see what happened to the last guy who went poking around here!”
​
“Yes and clearly he was onto something!” I argued, “Whoever did that to him… they were trying to scare us, and clearly they’ve succeeded!”
“Yeah, cutting a guys face off tends to do that,” Coleridge scoffed. “And considering how your last assistant got hit by a train, I’m really not a fan of what this little investigation of yours might do to my life expectancy!”
​
“Things will be different this time!” I assured him, “You’re not my Father, you’re different, more experienced! I only want to follow up on one thing, at least help me with that!”
“No! That’s my final answer!” He said.
“Fine, then if you won’t help me I’ll do it myself! You may be assigned to keep an eye on me Mr. Coleridge, but unless you plan on physically restraining me, you can’t stop me!”
​
Coleridge opened his mouth to argue, before signing and rubbing his temples.
“For Christ’s sakes, woman!”
“You’re not supposed to take the Lord’s name in vain.”
​
He gave me an incredulous look, before finally giving in.
“Fine, fine… if it’ll get you to drop this, I’ll help… What is it?”
“I want to follow up on a lead. A man named Vincent Bennett. That’s all.”
​
Coleridge considered it for a moment before sighing.
“I’m gonna regret this, aren’t I? Alright, fine… I’ll help you with this, and then we’re done. Deal?”
He offered me a hand to shake, and I shook it.
“Deal.”

Latest observation

Tuesday, 6 June – 1:30 PM Japan Standard Time (JST; 04:30 UTC)

JTWC Warning #1		12:00 PM JST (03:00 UTC)
Current location:		13.4°N 134.8°E
Relative location:		1,426 km (886 mi) SSE of Minamidaitojima, Okinawa Prefecture (Japan)
Forward motion:		N (360°) at 11 km/h (6 knots)
Maximum winds:	▲	45 km/h (25 knots)
Intensity (SSHWS):	▲	Tropical Depression
Intensity (JMA):	▲	Tropical Depression
Minimum pressure:	▼	1004 millibars (29.65 inches)

Official forecasts

Japan Meteorological Agency

Tuesday, 06 June — 12:00 PM JST (03:00 UTC)

Hour	Date	Time		Intensity		Winds		Lat	Long
	—	UTC	JST	JMA		knots	km/h	°N	°E
00	06 Jun	00:00	9AM Tue	Tropical Depression		30	55	12.8	134.5
24	07 Jun	00:00	9AM Wed	Tropical Storm	▲	35	65	15.1	133.3
48	08 Jun	00:00	9AM Thu	Tropical Storm	▲	45	85	16.1	131.5
72	09 Jun	00:00	9AM Fri	Severe Tropical Storm	▲	55	100	17.0	129.9
96	10 Jun	00:00	9AM Sat	Severe Tropical Storm	▲	60	110	18.4	129.5
120	11 Jun	00:00	9AM Sun	Severe Tropical Storm		60	110	20.5	129.5

Joint Typhoon Warning Center

Tuesday, 6 June — 12:00 PM JST (03:00 UTC) JTWC Warning #1

Hour	Date	Time		Intensity		Winds		Lat	Long
	—	UTC	JST	Saffir-Simpson		knots	km/h	°N	°E
00	06 Jun	00:00	9AM Tue	Tropical Depression		25	45	13.4	134.8
12	06 Jun	12:00	9PM Tue	Tropical Storm	▲	35	65	14.4	134.6
24	07 Jun	00:00	9AM Wed	Tropical Storm	▲	45	85	15.2	134.0
36	07 Jun	12:00	9PM Wed	Tropical Storm	▲	55	100	15.6	133.0
48	08 Jun	00:00	9AM Thu	Tropical Storm	▲	60	110	16.2	131.9
72	09 Jun	00:00	9AM Fri	Hurricane (Cat 1)	▲	70	130	17.2	130.2
96	10 Jun	00:00	9AM Sat	Hurricane (Cat 1)	▲	75	140	18.4	129.7
120	11 Jun	00:00	9AM Sun	Hurricane (Cat 2)	▲	85	155	21.0	130.1

Official information

Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RSMC)

Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)

• Homepage
  
• Tropical Cyclone Information
  
• Advisory
  
• Discussion
  

Other national/multinational meteorological agencies

Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC, United States)

• Homepage
  
• Warning (Text)
  
• Warning (Graphic)
  
• Prognostic Reasoning
  

National Hurricane Center (NHC, United States)

• Forecast Office – Tiyan, Guam
  
• Tropical cyclone page
  
• Public Tropical Cyclone Advisory
  
• NWS Guam Local Statement
  
• NEW! Experimental tropical cyclone graphics
  

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)

NOTE: PAGASA assigns local names to cyclones which differ from the official WMO list. This system has been assigned the local name Cheseng by PAGASA.

• Homepage
  
• Tropical cyclones bulletin
  
• Tropical cyclone warning for shipping
  
• Tropical cyclone threat potential forecast
  
• Forecast track map
  

Radar imagery

Unavailable

Radar imagery is not currently available for this system.

Satellite imagery

Floater imagery

Single bandwidth imagery

• Tropical Tidbits: Visible / shortwave infrared
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Enhanced infrared
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Enhanced infrared (Dvorak enhancement)
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Water vapor
  

Multiple bandwidth imagery

The options to select individual bandwidths on each of the following websites may vary.

• CIMSS: Tropical Depression 03W imagery
  
• RAMMB: Tropical Depression 03W imagery
  
• Navy Research Laboratory: Tropical Depression 03W imagery
  

Regional imagery

Western Pacific Ocean

• CIMSS: Enhanced infrared
  
• Weathernerds: Western Pacific
  

Analysis products

Best track data

• NOAA SSD

Surface analysis products

Japan Meteorological Agency

• Surface analysis homepage
  
• Current surface analysis chart
  
• 24-hour forecast chart
  
• 48-hour forecast chart
  

Wind analysis and storm intensity estimation products

• NESDIS: Dvorak Fix Bulletins
  
• NESDIS: Dvorak Fix History
  
• NESDIS: Multi-platform Surface Wind Analysis
  
• CIMSS: Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT)
  
• CIMSS: Tropical Cyclone Intensity Consensus (SATCON)
  
• CIMSS: SATCON Intensity History
  
• EUMETSAT: Advanced Scatterometer Data
  

Sea-surface temperature analysis products

• NOAA OSPO: Sea Surface Temperature Contour Charts
  
• Tropical Tidbits: Ocean Analysis
  

Model products

Disturbance-specific model guidance

Storm-centered guidance

• Tropical Tidbits (GFS)
  
• Tropical Tidbits (ECMWF)
  
• Tropical Tidbits (HWRF)
  

Track guidance

• Tropical Tidbits
  
• Weather Nerds
  

Track and intensity guidance

• National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)

Regional single-model guidance

• Tropical Tidbits: GFS
  
• Tropical Tidbits: ECMWF
  
• Tropical Tidbits: CMC
  
• Tropical Tidbits: ICON
  

Regional ensemble model guidance

• Weathernerds: GEFS (120 hours)
  
• Weathernerds: ECENS (120 hours)
  

Lost Tribe - intro The Horatii - Annaline The March Violets - My Demons The Bleak Assembly - Wash It Away Shelley's Lullaby - When the Sky Falls Down Sequential Zero - The Banishing Spell Ghosting - Bombed The World The Bellwether Syndicate - And If We Miss The Night Long Night - Black River Descendants Of Cain - The Ceremony WHISPERS IN THE SHADOW - Back to the Wound twice dark - Spiders Slighter - Have No Fear (Single Mix) Derision Cult - Life Unlit Krate - The Needle Brides In The Floodlights - Strangers Again The Secret Experiment - Carrion GIANT CATS! - Sew Our Hands Black Rose Burning - An Anthem for the Strange (Spanish Version) This Eternal Decay - Perfection Theatre of Tragedy - Let You Down Curse Mackey - Smoking Tongues (Delirium Remix by Steven Olaf) Creux Lies - Misunderstanding - (Ash Code Remix) Apoptygma Berzerk - Black Pawn The Crüxshadows - Never Surrender / Citadel (Clan of Xymox remix) HAPAX - Concrete Hives Diary of Dreams - Gedeih & Verderb The Awakening - All Tomorrow's Saints The Wake - Break Me Not Lucida Fila - Sinister Orcus Nullify - Night Dance The InSect - Mister Everything (and Fall) Double Eyelid - Dead Is Better Cinema Strange - Sadist Sagittarius Sex Gang Children - Time of Our Lives Jacquy Bitch - Cimetière The Cult Sounds - Anatomy of a Car Crash Nox Novacula - The Light Below Obsidian - Anachronous Life Cliff And Ivy Alaska's Alaska's goth duo - Reincarnation The House Of Usher - Heart Of Darkness Götterdämmerung - Heaven's Ending

So I originally posted about making Meularas Oddities sell "for fun items like a bag of beans, but then decided to add a quest for her that could do something with the hetch warehouse. The following is a revision of this fleshed out with the added side quest.
As the party of adventurers steps into Meularas Oddities, the bells above the door jingle merrily, filling the air with a sense of anticipation. Shelves adorned with trinkets and odd contraptions surround them, catching their attention. Meulara, the mischievous kender shopkeeper, stands behind the counter, her eyes dancing with mischief.
Noticing the party's arrival, Meulara swiftly finishes locking away a few items in a cabinet behind her. With a mischievous grin, Meulara turns to the party and begins her sales pitch in her characteristic kender voice. "Welcome, welcome, my adventurous friends! Are you in search of a laugh, a jolly good time, or perhaps something utterly absurd? Look no further! Feast your eyes upon the wonders of Meularas Oddities!" She reaches under the counter and begins to produce small trinkets. "Ah, my curious friends, I have just the thing for you. Feast your eyes upon these marvelous little trinkets!"
One by one, Meulara offers the party a series of seemingly insignificant objects. There's a copper bell that promises to summon a crowd or a cat, a tiny wooden figurine of a dancing gnome with impressive footwork, a pocket-sized telescope that allows one to see distant objects up close, a jar filled with glowing fireflies to light up the night, and a small pouch that always seems to produce a single piece of candy when needed. (Or roll on the trinket table for this part)
After the final trinket has been presented, Meulara leans closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Now, my friends, if these aren't interesting enough for you, I have a proposition for you. A rogue wizard has just recently stolen something from my shop - a wand. I don't know much about it, but I'd wager I could've sold it for some fair steel. He's currently hiding in the abandoned Hetch warehouse not too far from here. I've tried going to the town guard, but they don't seem too interested in retrieving something that was stolen from a kender for some reason... they said it was probably already stolen, but Kender do not steal. Retrieve the wand, and I'll make you a special offer on my truly extraordinary items from my special cabinet."
Meulara's eyes sparkle with anticipation as she continues, "Be cautious, though. The warehouse has fallen into disrepair, and the rogue wizard has made it his lair. He's crafty and unpredictable."
The adventurers make their way to where the abandoned Hetch warehouse stands, shrouded in an eerie silence. The once bustling hub of activity now exudes an aura of mystery and neglect. The building is in disrepair, and it is overgrown with vines. Wooden boards creak as the party approaches, their footsteps echoing in the empty surroundings.
Entering the dimly lit warehouse, the party is greeted by stacks of forgotten crates, spiderwebs glistening in the corners, and a thick layer of dust covering the floor. The air feels heavy with anticipation.
Suddenly, a figure emerges from the darkness, his long, tattered robes swirling around him. The rogue wizard locks eyes with the party, a sly smile curling his lips. "Ah, intruders. What a perfect opportunity to test the capabilities of my new wand," he sneers, his voice filled with malicious delight.
Unbeknownst to the party, the wizard had cast an alarm spell on the door and was ready to attack with surprise.
With a flick of his hand, the rogue wizard conjures crackling lightning, directing it towards the adventurers. The bolt sizzles through the air, narrowly missing its mark but illuminating the warehouse in a brilliant flash. The rogue wizard's laughter echoes through the room as he revels in his power. He unleashes a second spell, a burst of energy intended to cripple his opponents.
To his surprise and horror, as the spell leaves the wand, it abruptly backfires. A surge of magical energy envelops the rogue wizard, causing him to convulse and stiffen. Stunned, he stands frozen and begins exclaiming, "Wow, marvelous! Simply amazing!"
In his confused state, the rogue wizard believes that something incredible has happened. He is convinced that the wand has granted him unimaginable power. He starts describing how he feels an indescribable surge of energy coursing through his veins, how his senses have become heightened to an extraordinary degree, and how he is now able to see the fabric of reality itself.
With the threat neutralized, the adventurers retrieve the wand and discover it is actually a wand of wonder. They then make their way back to Meularas Oddities. The kender shopkeeper's eyes sparkle with delight as they return, victorious.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Meulara exclaims, her voice tinged with mirth. "You've managed to reclaim the wand, and in such a spectacular fashion too! Truly remarkable. I wasn't sure if you be able to pull it off, that wizard is tricky you know. "You see, he asked me to see the wand, claiming he was interested in purchasing it. But as soon as I turned away for a moment, poof! He vanished into thin air, leaving behind this funny coin." Meulara reaches under the counter and retrieves a peculiar coin, engraved with odd symbols, and says "it's not like any currency I've ever seen so i figured he must have tried to trick me by leaving this funny trinket and stole my wand.
The party members gaze at the coin, their eyes widening with astonishment. They recognize its immense worth and the opportunities it presents.
One of the adventurers speaks up, their voice filled with awe. "Meulara, this coin is not just a funny trinket. It's made of platinum, a precious metal that is highly sought after. It holds significant value, far beyond its weight. This is a small fortune!"
Meulara's eyes widen in surprise and excitement. "Oh, my goodness! I never would have guessed. I mistook the situation entirely. That tricky wizard never intended to steal the wand from me. He left this platinum coin as payment.
The party members exchange glances, realizing the true nature of the misunderstanding, and Meulara's expression shifts to one of contemplation. She ponders for a moment before addressing the party once more.
"My friends," she begins, her voice tinged with a mix of seriousness and determination, "I believe it is only fair that we return this wand to the wizard who left behind this valuable coin. It seems he never intended to steal from me but had a different motive altogether. Let us find him and make amends."
With a renewed sense of purpose, the adventurers agree to accompany Meulara on this quest. Together, they set off to locate the elusive wizard, their footsteps resonating with determination.
After a brief search, they finally track down the rogue wizard, who stands before them with a mix of surprise and curiosity. Meulara steps forward, holding out the wand to him. "We have come to return what you left behind, dear wizard," she says, her voice filled with sincerity.
The wizard's eyes widen as he recognizes the wand. He extends a hand, motioning for them to keep it. "No, no, my friends," he says, his tone surprisingly earnest. "I have discovered the true nature of this wand. It is far too unpredictable for my tastes. It backfired on me once, and I realized that its powers are too volatile. I believe it has found more deserving owners in you."
The adventurers exchange puzzled glances, astonished by the unexpected turn of events. The wizard continues, his voice filled with a newfound wisdom. "You have proven your worth and resourcefulness by retrieving the wand. It is yours now, and I trust that you will handle its power with caution and bravery." Meulara's eyes sparkle with a mix of gratitude and relief. "Thank you, kind wizard," she says.
And so, the wand remains in the hands of the adventurers, a symbol of their triumph and the trust bestowed upon them by the wizard. They bid farewell to the enigmatic spellcaster, knowing that they now possess a truly extraordinary and unpredictable artifact.
Returning to Meularas Oddities, the kender shopkeeper once again gets a twinkle in her eye. "Well, well, well, my dear adventurers," she exclaims, her voice filled with mirth. "It seems the wand has found its true owners after all. Embrace its magic and continue your adventures with caution and wonder." Now as promised, for all your trouble, I'll show you my special items for sale. With a flourish, Meulara unlocks the glass case, revealing the assortment of extraordinary items. "How about a Bag of Beans, known to produce unpredictable results when planted; the Sovereign Glue, which could stick just about anything together; and the Dust of Sneezing and Choking, guaranteed to elicit laughter and pranks."
However, Meulara had more up her sleeve. She motioned toward some more special items, carefully guarded behind the glass case. "Ah, but wait, my dear adventurers! If you seek something truly extraordinary, I have a few select oddities that might catch your fancy."
She pointed to an Immovable Rod, explaining its ability to freeze in space and serve as a steadfast anchor. Nearby was a set of Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments, promising to bring life to the imaginations of artists and pranksters alike. And next to those, an Alchemy Jug awaited, ready to produce an assortment of liquids, from harmless drinks to more eccentric concoctions.
Meulara's eyes gleamed with excitement. "But wait, there's more! Behold, the Oil of Slipperiness! Perfect for evading enemies or causing hilarious slips and slides. Or the bag of tricks, you never know what you'll get from it. Perhapse this dust of invisibility, great for getting your friends into mischief with you. (Basically just add any items you think may be flavorful as fun to a kender. Preferably one time use items. The idea is to not break anything but also give them some fun items to be creative with.)
And so, the story continues, the adventurers armed with the unpredictable wand and an array of extraordinary oddities from Meularas Oddities, ready to face the challenges that lie ahead.

y'all prolly don't care but I did it anyway so ¯(ツ)¯
Rank Song
1 Michael Jackson - Ghosts
2 afi - Miseria Cantare - The Beginning
3 a-ha - Take On Me
4 Journey - Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)
5 Pearl Jam - Future Days
6 Evanescence - Bring Me To Life
7 Alter Bridge - The Other Side
8 Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody
9 Killswitch Engaged - This Fire
10 Motorhead - the game
11 Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
12 Michael Jackson - Earth Song
13 Michael Jackson - Remember the Time
14 Saliva - I Walk Alone
15 Linkin’ Park - Crawling
16 Michael Jackson - Stranger In Moscow
17 Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror
18 Michael Jackson - Bad
19 Imagine Dragons & JID - Enemy
20 Michael Jackson - Blood On The Dance Floor
21 BANKS - The Devil
22 Eminem - Godzilla ft. Juice WRLD
23 Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
24 Billie Eilish, Khalid - lovely
25 Luniz - I Got 5 On It
26 Dr. Dre - ETA (with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes & Anderson .Paak)
27 Michael Jackson - They Don’t Care About Us
28 grandson & Jessie Reyez - Rain
29 The Cranberries - Zombie
30 Linkin Park - BURN IT DOWN
31 Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic - Smokin Out The Window
32 Earth, Wind & Fire - September
33 Doja Cat - Woman
34 Linkin Park - Numb
35 Shakespears Sister - Stay
36 Michael Jackson - The Way You Make Me Feel
37 Britney Spears - Toxic
38 Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
39 Michael Jackson - Beat It
40 Michael Jackson - Thriller
41 Michael Jackson - Smooth Criminal
42 Bray Wyatt – Shatter
43 Doja Cat - Vegas
44 Linkin Park - In The End
45 Dr. Dre - The Scenic Route (with Rick Ross & Anderson .Paak)
46 Imagine Dragons - Natural
47 Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson - Scream
48 Imagine Dragons - Cutthroat
49 Coolio - Gangsta's Paradise (feat. L.V.)
50 Nirvana - Something In The Way
51 Limp Bizkit - Rollin'
52 Katy Perry - California Gurls ft. Snoop Dogg
53 Doja Cat ft. SZA - Kiss Me More
54 Lady Gaga - Bad Romance
55 Post Malone, Swae Lee - Sunflower )
56 Bring Me The Horizon - Can You Feel My Heart
57 Living Colour - Cult Of Personality (Official Video)
58 Queen - Killer Queen
59 Queen - Another One Bites the Dust
60 BANKS - Skinnydipped
61 Doja Cat - Say So
62 Michael Jackson - In the Closet
63 Rev Theory - Voices
64 Disney - We Don't Talk About Bruno
65 Michael Jackson - Rock With You
66 Britney Spears - Circus
67 Madison Beer - I Have Never Felt More Alive
68 Dua Lipa - Physical
69 Eminem - River ft. Ed Sheeran
70 Jefferson Airplane - White Rabbit
71 Imagine Dragons - Bones
72 Britney Spears - Oops!...I Did It Again
73 Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name)
74 Doja Cat - Get Into It (Yuh)
75 Dua Lipa - New Rules
76 Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra)
77 Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
78 Michael Jackson - Jam
79 Eminem - Lose Yourself
80 Queen - I Want to Break Free
81 Childish Gambino - This Is America
82 Joji - Glimpse of Us
83 Linkin Park - Somewhere I Belong
84 Hamilton - The Room Where It Happens
85 Snoop Dogg - Gin And Juice
86 Michael Jackson - Heal The World
87 Louis Armstrong - What A Wonderful World
88 NF - The Search
89 Hamilton - Satisfied
90 Ren - Money Game
91 Queen - We Are The Champions nn
92 Tech N9ne - Face Off (feat. Joey Cool, King Iso & Dwayne Johnson)
93 Jessica Darrow - Surface Pressure
94 Michael Jackson - Money
95 Motionless In White - Demons in Your Dreams
96 Joji - SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK
97 BANKS - Gimme (Official Video)
98 Dua Lipa - Break My Heart (Official Video)
99 Idina Menzel, AURORA - Into the Unknown (From Frozen 2)
100 Warriors (ft. Imagine Dragons) Worlds 2014 - League of Legends
101 Dr. Dre - The Next Episode (Official Music Video) ft. Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Nate Dogg
102 Eminem - Venom
103 Céline Dion - Ashes (from Deadpool 2 Motion Picture Soundtrack)
104 I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
105 Imagine Dragons - Sharks (Official Music Video)
106 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts Bad Reputation - Official Music Video (1983)
107 Guns N' Roses - Welcome To The Jungle
108 FOZZY - Judas (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
109 Waterproof Blonde - Just Close Your Eyes
110 Sam B - Who do you Voodoo, Bitch
111 Skillet - Legendary
112 Billie Eilish - bury a friend
113 Ren - Money Game part 2
114 Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine
115 Kevin Sherwood - Where Are We Going?
116 twenty one pilots - Heathens
117 Eminem - Without Me
118 Heavy - Linkin Park (feat. Kiiara)
119 Lady Gaga - Paparazzi
120 As The World Caves In - Sarah Cothran
121 Dr. Dre - Still D.R.E. ft. Snoop Dogg
122 Obie Trice ft. Eminem & Dr Dre - Shit hits the fan
123 Eminem - Big Weenie
124 Michael Jackson - Black Or White
125 SZA - Kill Bill Feat. Doja Cat
126 Clean Bandit - Symphony (feat. Zara Larsson)
127 Dua Lipa - Levitating Featuring DaBaby
128 Imagine Dragons - Believer
129 Mario Judah - Die Very Rough
130 Dua Lipa - IDGAF
131 Sabrina Carpenter - Thumbs
132 Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits
133 Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
134 Ariana Grande - thank u, next
135 D'LOURDES - How Did You Get So Good?
136 Queen - We Will Rock You
137 Imagine Dragons - Thunder
138 Eminem - White America
139 Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u
140 Lorde - Royals
141 Billie Eilish - bad guy
142 Wiz Khalifa - See You Again ft. Charlie Puth
143 Leonard Cohen - Hallelujah
144 Michael Jackson - Who Is It
145 Hamilton - We Know
146 Michael Jackson - Speed Demon
147 BAD BUNNY - CHAMBEA
148 K/DA - MORE ft. Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE, Lexie Liu, Jaira Burns, Seraphine
149 Shaman’s Harvest - Broken Dreams
150 Michael Jackson - I Just Can't Stop Loving You
151 Skillet - Hero
152 Michael Jackson - Leave Me Alone
153 Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa & Imagine Dragons w/ Logic & Ty Dolla $ign ft X Ambassadors - Sucker for Pain
154 Ava Max - Sweet but Psycho
155 RISE (ft. The Glitch Mob, Mako, and The Word Alive)
156 Downstait - Kingdom
157 Hamilton - Say No To This
158 Eminem - Survival
159 Backstreet Boys - I Want It That Way
160 Alter Bridge - Metalingus
161 Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time
162 Michael Jackson - Dirty Diana
163 Michael Jackson - P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
164 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Main Theme - Lifelight
165 PinkPantheress, Ice Spice - Boy’s a liar Pt. 2
166 Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive
167 Motorhead - line in the sand (Evolution)
168 K/DA - POP/STARS (ft. Madison Beer, (G)I-DLE, Jaira Burns)
169 Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now
170 Sam Smith, Kim Petras - Unholy
171 Imagine Dragons - Bad Liar
172 Ed Sheeran - Beautiful People (feat. Khalid)
173 Imagine Dragons - Birds
174 BANKS - Deadend
175 Mark Crozer and The Rels - Broken Out In Love
176 NWA - Gangsta Gangsta
177 Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer
178 Toto - Africa
179 Michael Jackson - Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough
180 Ariana Grande - 7 rings
181 Eric Reprid - Vam
182 Imagine Dragons - Demons
183 Halsey - Without Me
184 Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa - One Kiss
185 Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars
186 Jim Johnston - Domination
187 K/DA - DRUM GO DUM ft. Aluna, Wolftyla, Bekuh BOOM
188 Lil Candypaint & Bhad Bhabie - 22 (Remix)
189 Dr. Dre - Gospel (with Eminem)
190 Lady Gaga - Applause
191 Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello - Señorita
192 Billie Eilish - when the party's over
193 Phoenix (ft. Cailin Russo and Chrissy Costanza)
194 K/DA - I’LL SHOW YOU ft. TWICE, Bekuh BOOM, Annika Wells
195 Idina Menzel, Evan Rachel Wood - Show Yourself
196 Ash Costello - Brutality
197 The Gentle Men - Obsession
198 Imagine Dragons - Whatever It Takes
199 Demi Lovato - Sorry Not Sorry
200 Ed Sheeran - Perfect
201 BANKS - Beggin For Thread
202 2WEI and Edda Hayes - Warriors
203 Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
204 Dr. Dre ft. Snoop Dogg - Nuthin' But A G Thang
205 Fall Out Boy - Centuries
206 The Greatest Showman Cast - The Greatest Show
207 Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande - Rain On Me
208 Valerie Broussard - Awaken
209 Eminem - Rap God
210 The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
211 PVRIS - Burn It All Down
212 Fall Out Boy - My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark (Light Em Up) (Part 1)
213 Michael Jackson - Will You Be There
214 K/DA - THE BADDEST ft. (G)I-DLE, Bea Miller, Wolftyla
215 twenty one pilots - Stressed Out
216 Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
217 K/DA - VILLAIN ft. Madison Beer and Kim Petras
218 Loren Allred - Never Enough
219 Carly Rae Jepsen - Call Me Maybe
220 One Direction - Drag Me Down
221 Endeverafter - No More Words
222 Eminem - Fall
223 Zendaya, Zac Efron - Rewrite The Stars
224 Lil Nas X - Old Town Road ft. Billy Ray Cyrus
225 Disney - Remember Me
226 Bone Thugs N Harmony - 1st of tha Month
227 Lukas Graham - 7 Years
228 Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody
229 Ed Sheeran - Shape of You
230 Camila Cabello - Havana ft. Young Thug
231 Selena Gomez, Marshmello - Wolves
232 ZAYN - Dusk Till Dawn ft. Sia
233 The Greatest Showman Cast - This Is Me
234 Lewis Capaldi - Someone You Loved
235 Lil Nas X - STAR WALKIN'
236 Dove Cameron - If Only
237 U.S.A. For Africa - We Are the World
238 Dr. Dre - Fallin Up (with Thurz & Cocoa Sarai)
239 Tyler, the Creator - SORRY NOT SORRY
240 Nicki Taylor - Worlds Collide
241 Taylor Swift - Blank Space
242 Maroon 5 - Girls Like You ft. Cardi B
243 The Gentle Men - 2019 Guy
244 The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
245 Eminem ft. Rihanna - The Monster
246 Charlie Puth - Attention
247 Bruno Mars - Grenade
248 Queen - Radio Ga Ga (Official Video)
249 Julia Michaels - What A Time ft. Niall Horan
250 The Greatest Showman Cast - A Million Dreams
251 Rihanna - Umbrella ft. JAY-Z
252 Lady Gaga - Poker Face
253 Clean Bandit - Rockabye feat. Sean Paul & Anne-Marie
254 Eminem - Love The Way You Lie ft. Rihanna
255 Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One
256 The Chainsmokers - Closer ft. Halsey
257 Eminem - Not Afraid
258 BAD BUNNY - BOOKER T
259 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do
260 Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper - Shallow
261 David Guetta - Titanium ft. Sia
262 E-40 - Captain Save A Hoe ft. The Click, D-Shot, B-Legit, Suga T
263 Sofia Carson - Love Is The Name
264 Christina Perri - A Thousand Years
265 Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera
266 Against The Current - Legends Never Die
267 Eminem - Like Toy Soldiers
268 Abba - Dancing Queen
269 Eminem - My Name Is
270 Shawn Mendes - Stitches
271 Malia J - Smells Like Teen Spirit
272 One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful
273 ZAYN, Taylor Swift - I Don’t Wanna Live Forever
274 Lil Nas X - Panini
275 Fergie - Glamorous ft. Ludacris
276 Ke$ha - TiK ToK
277 Sabrina Carpenter - Can't Blame a Girl for Trying
278 Shawn Mendes - Treat You Better
279 Shawn Mendes - There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back
280 Marshmello & Anne-Marie - FRIENDS
281 Pitbull - Timber ft. Ke$ha
282 CORPSE - E-GIRLS ARE RUINING MY LIFE! ft. Savage Ga$p
283 Hudson Mohawke - Cbat

Greetings,
Our cat had started acting sluggish and had no energy, it was enough to warrant a visit to the vet. After an X-ray and a sonogram they said there was something in his stomach. So he was away from us for 2 days getting a small piece of foam he ate out of his stomach and recovering. For 2 days he was very out of it and I assumed it was the meds. Gabapentin, Zofran.
Tonight we were using a syringe to feed him some Rebound Formula and he started to scream like we never heard before. Then he started coming and going. When he was gone he was lifeless and limp. Then he would come back for a moment and swipe/bite and then go back to lifeless. This lasted a few minutes and then he was gone.
I’m ok I guess. Despite this being the second cat to have died in my arms. But my wife, she is not ok at all. Not even close. She’s a wreck. I hate seeing her like this and I just can’t. It’s bad, very bad.
I just wanted to vent somewhere and this seems like a good place to do it and possibly get some answers/info. We had just spent a whopping $9k for the gastronomy. Well that was $2400 but they charge $78 every time they checked his BP and $108 every time they checked his oxygen right after BP. Even though they charge $500 for every 12 hour block of monitoring. I had looked them up and found countless reviews which all danced around the topic of ‘greed’. We didn’t have the money. We had to pay half up front which was part CCs and part borrowed from family. It was like saving your pets life is a privilege and it didn’t seem right.
How could we ever do this again? How could we ever adopt another pet knowing this is what happens? First, you spend what seems like a fortune to save your pets life. Then immediately afterwards, he’s gone forever? This sucks. My wife is not doing good, AT ALL. I don’t even know how to make her feel better.
What can I do?

Hi. I'm grace 18 F and I'm hoping to find something new against this dull lull of life. I'm looking to be in a long term relationship and I expect it to be an LDR one in the meantime
A bit about me: - I am in love with music and sing almost all the time, sometimes I sing a few lullabies and old classical love songs. - I am an extrovert I could talk for hrs but I try not to - I love all things creative, music, poetry, art, and dance. I appreciate art works a lot. - I write poems or whatever comes to mind based on how I feel. I love to express myself. - I am compassionate, willing to listen to anything you feel like talking about. I love deep conversations or reminising on childhood stories. - I enjoy reading any type of fiction books - I also like working out just for fun and it makes me feel good - Unfortunately, I'm not a gamer and neither do I watch anime or football (didnt have the time) - physical traits: 5’2, African American, not very fit but not obese midsized ya that’s it
What I am looking for: - Anyone from anywhere, preferrably 18-24 years old straight fit WHITE male - Someone kind, compassionate, open, honest, patient, willing to talk and keep the conversation going - Is conscious about mental illnesses and advocates for mental health care - Wouldnt mind having voice calls - Loves cats (just because) - Maybe could sing too? - cute - Doesnt mind the long distance, isn't really expecting sex and is willing to put as much effort as I'm willing to.
DM WITH A FACE PIC
Thanks for reading.