I want you to understand what happened, Darcy.
Awakening to the smell of freshly fried eggs and sizzling bacon was the highlight of the day. I felt as if I could hover across the house like an old cartoon character following the smells. I stepped down the stairs, a content smile brandished across my face. I shrugged as I walked past the minor black mold that started to creep in under the door and waved hello at my family, sitting around the circular dining table. You said that you loved me, and handed me a cup of coffee. It was brown and hot, the aroma of which filled my senses. I sipped it slowly as I listened to my children tell me about their fanatical dreams.
Charles, my oldest, was nearing seventeen, had started to dream up strange dreams that bordered on nightmares. He told me of the times he was standing on a golden sand beach with a singular palm tree beside him. In front of him was a wall, a wall of water that peaked past the clouds. It was as if it was a curtain for the very sky. Atop the peak of the curtain was the raging white rapids of a stirring sea… yet the water did not move. It stayed stationary as Charles slowly made a sand castle from the golden sand. Content even in the face of annihilation.
Debra, nearly fourteen, told of her dream. She described a beautiful green oasis within a pit of sand, from which she slid down from the dunes above. Within, she saw various things and beings that sprouted coral like protrusions across their bodies. It would’ve frightened her, had it not been a dream, and they were kind. They spoke to her, of which Debra only remembered a little about. She said they were from a village, one of which they were exiled from. When Debra asked why, she was met with an apathetic shrug, and a word. “Unlucky.” She said the dream continued, from which they had a lovely time. Unfortunate strangers left to be kind to other unfortunates.
Finally, Timmy, my youngest who had reached the age of twelve just a few months prior, told of his dream. He said it was simple, a simple room, with a simple sound. The gentle tings and tongs of a wind chime outside of a window. The room around him was gray and ascetic, as if unlived in. He said that in this dream, he would only stare at the wind chimes, as they slowly rang him a tune. Enjoyment through the dull.
I smiled in interest at each of their retellings. It was a wondrous thing, human imagination. Before long however, the clock struck thirty past nine and work called to me. I pulled my tie ready and lifted the brown suitcase that I brought to work everyday. I stepped outside to the evergreen plastic lawn, and the ideal American suburb. White walled homes with gable rooftops, lawns of grass, and sprinklers wasting the water.
I waved hello at the neighbors, and they waved back. Responses that remained static throughout the past ten years of living here. Stability is good though, I thought to myself.
Half an hour later, I found myself at the office of my work, typing away at the cheap plastic keyboard as lights flickered on the monitor, the slow whirr of the office filled my ears. The chatter of the workplace felt off, where I’d expect a chuckle from a distant corner of the office, I heard only drawn out sighs. Near the front of the office, my manager sat behind closed shutters, perhaps he knew if something was wrong. I pressed down on a button underneath the monitor screen and it shut off with a dull beep. I walked towards my manager’s office, passing a few grim frowns from my coworkers.
I knocked on the door, through the closed shutters I could see a small peek of my manager, where he sat with his head in his arms. I knocked again and he raised his head, “Come in.” his voice was slurred.
I walked in and could immediately tell he was hungover, or perhaps even drunk. His usually well-kept hair was a tangled frizzy mess. This was the first sign. He talked to me with somber words. I don’t remember what he said exactly, but he spoke about the business and how it was failing. He lifted a piece of dead coral he had on his desk, I assumed it was a paper weight of sorts. He sighed to it and asked me to leave.
I returned to my desk with the same grim expression the rest of my coworkers held. Jobs were getting more difficult to obtain, and I could hear it from the grapevines and newspapers. I used the work phone to make a call to you, I told you about the situation, and you understood.
At least, I thought you did.
When I returned home from the long workday, the phone had a message from the office. I was let go over the phone, it came so suddenly; I had a hard time believing at first. I didn’t lose face in front of the children, I just had to find a new job.
Charles and Debra had put Timmy to bed, they were observant and smart kids. They knew something was wrong.
Charles was the first to ask, “What’s wrong?” He asked me. Debra grew the same worried look that Charles had.
I didn’t know what to tell them at first, it was my responsibility as a parent to take care of them. I had to keep up that image of stability, I’d find a job soon enough. I waved their question away, I knew they weren’t content with my answer.
By the time I got around to eating dinner, it was cold. It’s not that important to mention, but it’s just another straw to the ever burdened camel. We talked over the cold dinner, just you and me.
“What are you going to do?” You asked me, I couldn’t look into your eyes. I felt the tinge of disappointment in your words. It was unfair.
“I’ll find a new job, there’s another place, up a bit into the city, not much longer of a commute…” I said, you said something in response, something about your parents. I didn’t want to be co-dependant. I said it was off the table. We weren’t poor. We had enough money to pay the mortgage for six months, eleven thousand dollars in savings. You said okay, I knew you had malice in your voice.
We ate in silence, just you and me. I wish I could have a meal with you again.
The next morning, Debra had come down with something bad. High temperature, disorientation, and molted skin. You let Charles take Timmy to school, and we went to the hospital with Debra together. They said it was sepsis.
She wouldn’t make it if she didn’t get treatment immediately, so we said yes to everything they told us. I was by her bedside that night, listening to the cold quiet breeze that flowed in.
She spoke to me, slowly, “Dad.” I nodded to her. She said kind things to me, supportive, good-natured words. Then she told me about her dream the previous night.
She described it to me in her fatigued state. Debra returned to that oasis, where she met the coral men. She waved at them and they did not seem to recognize her. They let her in with open arms nonetheless. She said they spoke to her about trust, and how she needs to trust you.
You.
Trust you.
I didn’t hear the rest of her dream. She slept with Charles and Timmy by her side in that hospital that night. I had no idea where you went. The next morning, she went into shock. You got there an hour later, frantically pushing the nurses and doctors to the side. You were shouting her name.
She was fine. The treatments worked and Debra recovered. The doctors said it was a thirty to forty percent mortality rate, and you weren’t there. We fought in the lobby, do you remember that? I do.
The hospital always made me queasy. Knowing that the injured and ill filled every crevice of the building made my skin itch to the bone. I had gone there between my job hunts to visit Debra. Charles and Timmy were worried sick about her, I spoke to Timmy out in the hallway. He asked me where you were, if I had known what I knew now, I would’ve never said anything. I gave him your number and said he could call you. Charles called you too, and I returned to Debra’s side. She was still in a fatigued state, her mind clouded. She would repeat a few of the same phrases about her dream.
“Friendly wants to meet you.”
“They’re so kind, and strange.”
“I want their face.”
Something creeped me out about the last phrase, and how’d she repeat it while closing her eyes. I went to the front desk an hour later, and asked for the current bill.
It was eight thousand dollars, I knew I had eleven thousand dollars in our account. I knew it, I double checked it that morning and I did the math on how many months I could pay on our mortgage.
So why was the bill declined? Why was it that when I called the bank, they told me I had only ten dollars and twenty-six cents left in the account? I told the clerk I’d pay later and walked back into Debra’s room. I looked at her, softly fading away, I wondered if she’d ever fully recover from the sepsis. I knew everyday she stayed meant a few thousand dollars more in debt. Her oxygen line was on the floor, I guess back then safety wasn’t such a big concern. I looked into her eyes, I didn’t see my daughter. I saw a codependent person fading away. My foot found it’s way over the oxygen line, my heel to the ground with the front of my foot hovering just over the line.
Debra turned to face me, “They will meet… they know my caretaker.” I didn’t know she was talking about you, at the time. It was enough to get me to move my foot away. I walked to meet Charles, who was standing outside, leaning against the wall of the hospital with Timmy.
“How is Debra?” Charles asked. He was genuine, a good kid. Too good.
I told him she was fine, and if he’s seen you anywhere. He shrugged, and he lied to my face. “She didn’t tell me anything.”
No, Charles and you spoke for far too long for you to have said nothing to him. Why would he lie?
I asked him again, calmly.
Charles raised his hands up to his sides, “Don’t know. What’s your plan for a job? She told us you got fired. Maybe that’s why she left.”
Something started to stir in me, from that question. “Please mind what you’re saying.” I said back to him.
He was a teenager though, so he continued his speech, “You’ve been out of a job for all of three days, and she already left. There had to be something else going on.” A noise started in my mind, like a crescendo to an opera performance, rising orchestral tension.
“No.” I stuttered, my hands were shaking. “There was nothing else.” Charles wasn’t content with my answer, he sighed and whipped his head to the side. He said something along the lines of how much of a failure I’ve become.
I looked down at Timmy. I asked Timmy to walk away. He did, like a good kid.
Charles started to walk too, I grabbed his wrist. You know that feeling? That feeling that some parents have that makes you just want to… teach your kid a lesson? I’ve tried to type this section out in more detail, several times, but I’m now electing to omit it.
I strangled Charles. I did. He coughed, wheezed and struggled in my hands. His kick to my shin made me let him go. A second later I recognized what I had done, and fell to my knees in front of him.
I was killing my son, why?
He shouted something at me, but I had gone deaf, trapped in my own mind. He snapped at me and grabbed me by my shirt, forcing me to focus on him. We cried together, breaking down our emotional walls to expose to each other what we were feeling. I felt that I was disappointing my entire family, that I was a failure. I didn’t mention what I almost did to Debra.
It’s only been three days, what’s going on?
Later that evening, I drove Timmy and Charles back home. That’s where you come in. You were slumped over the dining room table, a glass of red wine to one side and a disconnected landline to your other side. I came in shouting at you, asking— no, demanding, what happened to the money.
You mumbled something, and tipped the glass over. I asked again and you yelled at me. Charles was quick to take your side, maybe he didn’t hear what I said and just heard me shouting.
“Leave her alone!” He yelled. I balled my fists in anger and shouted again. You stood up out of the chair and threw the glass across the room, it shattered into pieces. I pointed at the door, poor Timmy was so terrified. You scared him so much.
You walked out of the house, that was the last time I ever saw you. When you shut that door behind you, I felt a wave of relief, despair, and loneliness. On the counter, I noticed you left behind a piece of dried coral. It was covered in swirls, gray and dead. Hard as stone yet I could crumble bits of the facade with a hard enough press. I needed to talk to Debra.
Charles and Timmy elected to stay at home, I let them. I would visit Debra myself, driving the car that evening through the lonely highway as my heart beat raced. I kept thinking to myself, replaying every situation in my head, thinking about what was the smart choice.
I found myself at the hospital again, I still wished I never went inside. The clerk at the front office was kind as always. She could tell something was off about me too as I walked to Debra’s room. The window into the room was stained, a speckle of red. It didn’t concern me at first— stepping inside the room showed me something much worse.
I know what they told you, they told you that I did it, and what I’ve told you so far will make it sound like I had the reason to do it but I didn’t. I didn't do it. Did you? Did you? Who did? Was it you? Was it them?
Debra laid in that hospital bed, at first I thought her face had been caved in. I ran to her, grabbing her hand. I was close enough to see what really happened. Her left hand was clutching a medical scalpel, it was covered in dried dead coral. Like someone left it in the ocean for a few decades for the sea to manifest upon it. Remembering her face now is difficult, not because my memory is poor, but just… how it was.
Her face’s skin was upside down. A thin bloody line from the top to the bottom marked a large oval frame of her face. It was as if someone picked up that oval and just turned it around. I could see her eyes behind her cut off lips. Behind her eye sockets were her white teeth, cracked and covered in sea growth. Blood spilled from her ears, eyes, nose, and mouth, gently pooling in her bed. The mouth of hers was twisted and curled, in such a large smile that it was unnatural. I placed my hand to her cold cheek, and I cried. Darcy, I cried, is that not enough? Even after all this time, I remember exactly how her face felt. Like cold meat from the freezer, none of the warmth that she once had. The nurse came in a few minutes after me, or maybe a few seconds. I don’t recall. The nurse restrained me, screamed, and soon enough I was escorted out of the building where dozens of the red and blue had parked up by the front. Flashes of her face kept assaulting my mind, the twisted smile, the teeth behind her eye sockets, the feel of her skin. Debra didn’t deserve this, yet, that smile, it was like she had joy before…
The police had me in one of their cars, and I was taken to the station. My eyes and cheeks covered in dried tears, and my hands in blood. They didn’t arrest me, but their questions were numb to me, I wasn’t in the state of mind to answer them and they let me go a few hours later. I collapsed on the sidewalk outside of the station, curled into a fetal position, crying. One of the policemen came outside to talk to me. I remember him, his voice was uncaring and cold.
“You can’t be out here like that.” He said, or something to that effect. I ignored him, and he dragged me off of the sidewalk and into the lot of the station. I asked him through my broken voice to call for Charles, my son. He agreed and returned to the station. My mind started to drift, and wander, as if it was swimming through a ravine. Rocks on either side of my mind, threatening to poke and scratch me if I diverged from the path before me. I started to dream, there upon the lot of the station.
I remember my own nightmare vividly.
A towering being stood within a sand-encircled oasis. It was hundreds of meters tall, the ankles of the being were at the height of the oasis’s trees. I stood before it, atop the dunes that surrounded the oasis. Long strands of hair, thick as trees, flowed from the skull of the being down to the exposed rib cage. The sun was behind the being, but even then, I could see the coral protrusions from every bit of the skin it had. Twisted and curled, dotted and maze-like, the coral flowed throughout the entirety of the being as it held its head in a bowed state. It was the very definition of colossal, like the sea, and the waters it held.
I walked from the dunes towards the oasis, as if the being was calling my name. Within the oasis, there were two figures facing away from me. Both were women, from their silhouettes, a tall one, and a shorter one. I could see that their hands and arms were covered in a similar coral growth that I started to see everywhere.
As I stepped forward, I recognized the figures, it was you. You and Debra. The figures turned to face me, Debra’s face was the same as I last saw it. Twisted, curled, spiraling, evil. Her smile, arcing from the middle of both sides of her face up to an apex at the top of her head opened slightly. Your face was… You know what your face was. You talked to me.
“What are you talking about?” You said to me, I was confused at first, as I hadn’t said anything. I kept my eyes fixed on Debra. I asked you what you meant.
“Psycho. Where’s Timmy!” You shouted at me, I looked at you, your face changed. It would be blank, if not for the dozens of holes in a neatly arranged grid covering your entire face. Every one of them beckoned my gaze, and the sense of vertigo felt as if I was falling. Your face, I know now that it was resembling a phone’s speaker.
I responded, slowly, freezing up in terror as my gaze darted between the two of you, “I.. I don’t know.” I closed my eyes, I could feel the heat of the oasis fade, and the cool breeze returned around me. I felt a hand shake my shoulder and I opened my eyes. A policeman was standing next to me, holding a cellphone to my ear, he snapped his fingers in front of my eyes.
You yelled at me again, through the phone, “What the fuck did you do to Debra?” I felt pleasant though, hearing your voice. Even if it was a yell. The policeman removed the phone from my ear before I could respond, he pressed down on a button and your voice disappeared.
“Some wife, huh?” He chuckled to himself as he held the large phone in his hand. His words hurt. He continued to speak, “Debra… that’s the dead kid from the hospital, yeah?” He narrowed his eyes at me and grabbed my shoulder. He told me to come with him.
I was in a trance-like state from that point, like the environment around me shifted with me in place. One moment, I was at the booking station, the next, the jail cell. They threw me in with a new set of gray dull overalls. Around me, gray concrete, and a singular window. I leaned my head against the wall, staring out into the window. I was tired. My vision blurred and my mind felt as if it was turning on and off, alternating every other moment. I could only smell the bit of blood that remained on my skin and the metal aroma that arose from the bars of the cell. I focused outside, out into the window. A wind chime hung from something outside, slowly drifting around in the breeze. I listened to the gentle melody it played as I started to slowly hit my head against the prison wall.
I awoke to the sunlight against my eyes, I was laying on the hard concrete floor. Every joint in my body ached and felt exhausted. My vision was blurry, but I could see something new in the corner of my cell. It was coral, sharp and jagged, spiral patterns decorated its skin and it was alive. It was a shade of yellow, blue, and green— the air felt thick and heavy— as if I was breathing the ocean itself. I started to cough. A policeman approached my cell, he slammed on the bars with his baton and yelled at me. Then he saw the coral, and he fell.
Then another policeman came.
And another.
They learned eventually. Now three policemen laid, dead, at the foot of the cell. I kept my gaze at the coral. Watching it grow with my own eyes as it reaches out towards me. The swirls and twists of it slowly morphed on the surface. Slowly it molded into Debra’s twisted face. Sour and angry, her smile turned to a frown, two pale eyeballs peeked from behind the lips.
I crawled away from it and reached my hand through the cell, tearing a pair of keys from one of the dead policemen.
The coral came closer, stretching and bending as if it was the joints of a rotting corpse.
I jammed the key into the cell lock from the outside and managed to unlock it. I slammed the door against the corpses and stumbled out of the cell. I slammed out the front door of the station.
Flashlights beamed into my eyes as I could hear frantic shouting from the policemen outside. I shut my eyes and collapsed on the steps of the station. A moment later all I heard was silence. When I opened my eyes, I saw all the policemen twisted and curved, like coral. Spirals across their skin and their faces moved to other parts of their body. One’s mouth had shifted all the way to their hand. I called out for help, if anyone could help. I looked down at my hands and noticed I was holding a scalpel, a scalpel covered in coral. I dropped it onto the floor, blood decorated its exterior.
I fell into another dream, there upon the front of the station.
I was back in the oasis, half a dozen new men were there, covered in coral growths and twisted limbs. Their faces were sinister, curled, like abominations. I watched as the colossal picked up one of the men and tore them apart. It roared, a roar that shook my very spine. It splattered the man onto its ribcage and turned its head toward another man. The colossal being was— absorbing them.
I knew what I had to do. I’m sorry for doing it, I hope you see now, there was a reason. It had to be stopped.
I slammed my head against the oasis floor and I awoke at the station’s front steps. The coral seeped out of the station, curling and twisted. There was commotion outside, but none seemed to notice me as I crawled away. The coral was following me, I could see it slowly inch by inch, twist its way toward me.
I found myself in one of the police cars, driving this time, seeking a way to end the coral safely, without hurting any more people. I remembered at home, I had a gun, kept underneath the bed. I took care not to speed, I didn’t want to hurt anyone else.
I didn’t want to hurt anyone else.
It wasn’t my intention.
I really didn’t mean to.
I stopped the car at home, I rushed inside, ran into our room and tore the place apart. I was frantic, I didn’t even notice them. The coral started to sprout from me, I could feel the calcium structures start to twist within my stomach. I tore apart the final drawer, the gun seemed to gleam at me.
I picked it up.
“Dad?”
Timmy. I turned to face him, the coral was spreading from my body. I remembered the colossal being, what it was doing. I fired the gun at him. It was a haze from then, I remember a scream… Charles’ scream. I shouted for him, yelling at him to come out. I could feel the coral splinter into every bone of my body tearing my flesh from within. My eyes grew bloodshot and my hand started to seize. I fired the gun throughout the house, again, and again. Charles fled outside, tripping on a piece of coral and slamming his chin into the concrete walkway. I pointed the gun at him as he desperately pleaded with his hands in the air and I shot him.
I turned the gun to myself, pain reverberated throughout my entire body. The coral sprouted from my shoulder, a curling bit of evil that twisted and wriggled. I pressed down on the trigger, and the gun’s hammer struck an empty chamber.
I screamed, I threw the gun onto the street and walked back into the house. Coral had grown all over the inside, so I reached the landline. I dialed you.
“Please send your message after the beep.” It chirped back to me.
I left the phone hanging and walked to our home office, passing by pictures of our family as the coral slowly grew over them. I collapsed in this chair, typing on the computer what had happened. I’m hoping by posting this… you would understand what happened.
You would understand.

Koi by Jennifer Wong Among heart-shaped leaves The white fish gleams, red tail. Soft lotuses sleep.

Goodies from goodies: https://imgur.com/a/ik6GLtg
u/welshfancy x 2 Thanks for the *amazing* Barbie card. It’s so cute & fun, I can’t stop smiling! I share the hilarity here for those who share our Bananas-for-Barbie brains: One Barbie says to the other: “If only all men were like Ken…” & the other Barbie replies: “It’d be perfect! When you get bored you just put him away in a shoe-box! LOL!!! Including a close-up pic of it through the link :)
In one of our DMs & in my last thanks post, you shared that you really enjoy jokes. I’m kinda blushing here with some of these jokes, but I wanna gift you some laughs for this beautiful Barbie card. BTW ***I love men***, and I know we all do on this sub (even our friend who’s apparently selling their husband on the meta sub haha), so no offense to any of the lovely men on this sub. K, you sweet manly muffins? These are stupid stereotypes but shared only in the spirit of fun, no harm, & obviously we can’t live without y’all. I don’t think. ;) This is purely to entertain our friend u/welshfancy here because she deserves it after the job rollercoaster she’s been on lately. But if anyone takes offense, I’ll immediately delete them. Better yet - feel free to post some funny revenge jokes about women. But remember, if you do, we’ll be sure to send appropriate “thank you” cards hahaha!
*Do you know what the insensitive bit at the base of a guy’s manhood is called? The man. ;)
*What’s the difference between men & government bonds? Bonds mature. =)
*What’s the difference between E.T. & men? At least E.T. phoned the hell home.
*What’s the difference between men & vultures? Vultures wait until you’re dead before ripping your heart out. ;)
*Why are men like blenders? You know you need one, but you’re not quite sure why.
*When’s the only time you can change a man? When he’s a baby.
*How do men help clean the house? They lift their legs so you can vacuum underneath.
*What did God say after creating man? “Hmmm, I think I can do better.”
*How are men like laxatives? They irritate the crap outta you! ;)
*How can you tell if your husband is happy? Who the hell cares?
*What do men & mascara have in common? They both run at the first sign of emotion.
*What do you call a man who disagrees with you? Wrong.
*Why does it take TWO HUNDRED MILLION sperm to fertilize one damn egg? Because not one will stop to ask for damn directions! ;)
Hope some of these made you giggle. :) I also LOVE this illustrated postcard of the Moon from La Loteria!!!! Thank you. :) Girl, you know I’ll need to hear about your wacky wild 80s adventures in Mexico, right? It’s like you left me with a cliffhanger! Feel free to share your wildest stories anytime - I’d love to share them on the sub in a thank you post. But if you wanna tell me confidential story secrets, that would be fun too! :) Thanks for always bringing a huge smile to my face with your endless mail love! Wishing you infinite joy…along with toilets & men that aren’t full of crap! ;)
u/410bore x 2 Is your PERFECT cool-calligraphy handwriting for REALS?!? OMG if I had your hot handwriting, I’d write all day long on walls & the sides of buildings to show off, graffiti laws be damned! Your handwriting is so hella awesome, you should charge admission to people just to watch you write!!!! Thank you for the vintage NASA card, which was just the icing on top of your gorgeous calligraphy cake! Thanks so much also for the neato wooden postcard!! It’s so unique! I love that you bought it from the Santa Monica Pier. BTW I’ve been to the Adobe Max virtual conference before - super inspiring. Hope you had a blast! BTW don’t be alarmed if you notice that it’s broken in the pic - I didn’t do it. That was courtesy of the USPS, which admitted its mistake. I honestly don’t know how they BROKE a WOODEN postcard LOL! But it’s no less beautiful - my nephew loves it so much he wants to feature it in his room. ;) Thanks for thinking of me, kind friend. =)
u/MelodicEntertainer Thanks for the cool retro sausage ad postcard - love retro ads!!!! Yes, friend, you’re almost ;) right that “Texas = BBQ” (haha, love it). I would edit this: “Texas = blissful, buttery, beefy BBQ” ;) I know it may seem redundant to type “beefy” but I add this because there are weirdos here who think CHICKEN & TURKEY classify as BBQ. I should take my shotgun & shoot them. Kidding. Just ‘cause I’m from Texas, it doesn’t mean I’m nuts enough to own a shotgun. =) I would use my glock. Kidding, again. Seriously I can’t stand gun violence. :( But the people who think that BBQ includes anything other than my blissful buttery beef should never, ever receive any cool stickers from any of us. ;) I’ve heard certain parts of Canada have some BBQ game too! Calgary maybe? Wishing you the sweetest, spiciest slabs of marbled, majestic beef, fabulous friend!
u/likablelobster Friend, there could be no more likable lobster than you. You became more likable by the minute after your adorable illustrated croissant & coffee postcard arrived! Did you use a ***gasp*** TYPEWRITER to type your super likable thoughts on this postcard?!? I’m obsessed with typewriters! I wish I had one from the 1940s! They are so crazy cool & believe me when I tell you that you became even more likable to me by typing crooked! I don’t know if it was intentional or not but THIS is the sweet crazy charm of using a typewriter - having no control over lawless words that don’t align to mad margins! For the first 15 minutes I stared at this card in awe, I didn’t even READ what you typed hahaha! I was entranced by the typing!!!! And then your likability catapulted to the moon when I read what you had actually typed. ;) I loved how you typed so much in such a small amount of space, you likable sweetie!!!! This postcard is now among my absolute favorites - because you typed through tumultuous postcard terrain & included what is the PRETTIEST stamp I have EVER seen (the super colorful illustrated Postcrossing stamp)!!!! Thank you SO much for making me so happy with your beautiful mail!
u/maiiiu Thanks so much for the super cuuuuute handmade “Write” card! Your calligraphy of the word “Write” is just gorgeous! I just love the awesome puffy-ish pastel-colored plant stickers you included - they’re so fun to look at & I can’t wait to use them while sending mail!! I love that you have a mentor, & what a bonus that he makes you laugh! I say, next time, *you* get to decide what y’all have for lunch. Wishing y’all perfect palak paneer lunches that are free from rain & roadside diversions! ;)
u/dekabus Thank you for the pretty floral card with all your sweet sentiments on beauty! I found it delightful that you included the cool sticker that says “Vermehrt Schönes” or “Increase Beauty” in German! I love it!!!! I think the subject of “beauty” is fascinating & want to share with you one of my favorite quotes: “But if a mirror ever makes you sad, you should know that it does not know you.” – Kabir Here’s an interpretation of the meaning from outofstress.com: “The mirror is merely a reflection of your external form and not of your internal form. Hence the mirror does not know you and what it portrays is of little importance.” You are BEAUTIFUL, u/dekabus, for so many reasons. But in this moment, you are most beautiful for spreading so much kindness & cheer to so many across the globe, especially to strangers! Thank you! Wishing you beauty in all its forms, beautiful friend. =)
u/jess_4943 Thanks for the pretty hyacinth postcard decorated with the fun stickers! I really love the lightbulb sticker that has flowers growing within it, like a terrarium! Depictions of mini terrariums housed in unusual objects always delight me!! Wishing you terrariums of joy! =)
u/wabisabi_sf Thanks for the serene RAoC 10th anniversary beach postcard with my name written in your *gorgeous* calligraphy! I appreciate your kind words & wish you beaches of beauty & bacon (if you like bacon ha)!
u/kk6321 Thanks for the cool postcard with all the fun travel stamps! Wishing you a blast in Spain! Re: you wondering if there will be AC…a few years ago I was in Portugal & it was 117 degrees. No AC. I prayed for death & canceled my plans to go to Spain because apparently it was hotter there. :( Wishing you buckets of ice & balmy breezes!!!!
u/omggallout x 2 Thanks for the adorable Arriety postcard - what a fun illustration! Haha, how cool that we unwittingly sent each other space postcards!!! Thank you for the gorgeous depiction of Orion Nebula with the fun planet stickers! Wishing you planets of peace & prosperity!
u/lehmongeloh Thank you for the cuuuuute kitty floral postcard! You are a magnet to cute, my friend! Please DM me with your address & likes if I may send you a card. =) Wishing you all things that are crazy cute!
u/smellyann64 Thanks for the cool vintage Vienna House of Parliament card! I don’t know what your job title is, but you staring down barracudas & hangin’ with octopi wins the RAoC coolest career contest! Wishing you safety & smiles in the sea!! =)
u/mypetitmal x 2 Thank you for the SUPER FUN, beautifully-illustrated Power Woman thank-you postcard! I love it! The artwork is so eye-catching & I love the comic-book panel style! It was my pleasure to send you the kitty card. My thoughts are with you & I hope that you’re feeling better. WHOA you’ve been carding since 2007 - whoa!!!! So awesome! Have you ever counted the number of cards you’ve received? To answer your question…I’ve been a crafter since about 2016 when I started frequenting craft classes at a bunch of different libraries. But I only got into carding when I met the beautiful u/Bridge-etti at a Victorian scrapbooking class & she casually mentioned RAoC to me! Imagine my delight at “running” into her again on accident/BY SURPRISE on this sub when she sent me a V-Day card & I sent her a birthday card!!! I’d been waiting to see how long it would take for me to cross paths with her since I never got her info and it only took about 6 weeks!!! Amazingly fun!! So I have her to thank for my new obsession - RAoC, & for the sad/fun reality that my car now looks like Hobby Lobby had a baby in it. ;) Thanks also for the super cuuuute friendship currency postcard! What cute doodles. Also love the adorable sticker you added! I hear you on the time change - same. Wish they would abolish it so we can prevent traffic accidents & other nonsense! Hope you recover soon & that your trip to Chi-town was a blast! Eat anything tasty there? =) Thanks for thinking of me & looking forward to learning more about you. Wishing you endless smiles & sunshine through RAoC & beyond, sweetheart!
u/thunderlightboomzap Thank you for the pretty illustrated sky card! You shared such wonderful affirmations - thanks for taking the time to share them with me! And so many! I especially love how you shared affirmations focusing on self-worth: “My worth cannot be measured by my paycheck, my job title, or a list of professional or academic achievements” & “There is nothing I need to accomplish to be worthy. I am already worthy.” Right on! These are amazing reminders. Thanks also for the “mental health matters” & self-compassion stickers! You’re such a loving, encouraging soul! Here are some affirmations for you on one of my fave subjects, creativity:
“I am creating in every moment, awake and asleep.”
“I am free to take my imagination anywhere it wants to go.”
This one is a bit wordy, but I like the spirit:
“I effortlessly connect with the universe's boundless inventiveness.”
Thanks again for being so thoughtful & encouraging! Wishing you the same peace, joy, & smiles you gifted me!
u/drguinea Thanks for the beautiful pastel flower postcard! Looking at all the pretty colors brightens my spirits. YESSSSS I’m all about David on Schitt’s Creek! I recall Googling the heck out of him when I first watched the show - it’s so easy to fall in love with him. But sad for me, he’s too hot & gay so what’s the point of living anymore?!? ;) And his real-life/tv DAD Eugene Levy - okay should I be embarrassed to admit that I fell in love with him years ago when I heard him speak live at a banquet in Austin LOL? He is HILARIOUS!!!!
u/LaCuntessa Thanks for the wacky fun Joan Miro postcard - love this art, & especially the smiling sketches!
u/hato_mailing x 2 Thanks for the GORGEOUS wax seals you sent along with the sweet nature postcards. :) The seals are simply stunning & a total wonder to look at, wow! The turquoise & silver seals are especially fun & fanciful! Thanks for letting me be a part of your fun mail wax seal test initiative - super cool. :) Wishing you the hottest of wonderful wax that never burns you! But not ear wax - OMG have you ever gone temporarily deaf because of excessive ear wax? It’s kinda cool & convenient when your mom yells for no reason but kinda torturous otherwise. Kinda like how I’m torturing you by mentioning ear wax for no reason. Sorry I haven’t slept much. Wishing you endless joy in your snazzy snail mail experiments!
u/libertyprogrammer Thanks for the gorgeous Women in Art Ray Eames postcard! I can’t wait to study her films. And as a newbie, I went batcrap bananas over all the flippin’ FUNNNNN & super unique postage stamps you included!! They are EXTRAORDINARY, & so are you for brightening my day with all this beautiful eye candy. Wishing you limitless liberty (LOVE the username)! =)
u/travel4me Thank you for this ****super gorgeous**** Loupaper postcard of the charming charcuterie snacks! You totally nailed the “brightly colored illustration” prompt - I loooove this card so much! Wishing you the crunchiest carrots, sweetest strawberries, creamiest cheeses, & bluest blueberries at your next social soiree! =)
u/missnettiemoore Thanks for the neato retro Absinthe ad postcard! Love vintage ads. I’ve never tried absinthe either. But I’m all about the art! Wishing you days full of intoxicating laughter & love! =)
u/bluedecemberart Thanks for the elegant Alphonse Mucha postcard! Love your thoughts on watercolor vs. lithographs. Holy moly I don’t know anything about art but I can’t believe it’s watercolor either! Astounding. Thanks for sharing your art expertise with me, I love to learn! Wishing you endless joy as you create your art. =)
u/photographyislove Thanks for the exquisite wildflower specimens postcard! I love illustrated cards like this one. =) I was alarmed to hear about your winter storm traffic story but relieved you’re around to talk about it! Wishing you safety & the best of hilarious podcasts while you drive!
u/mostlygoodthings Thanks for the sweet wishes from Spain - adorably written on the Norway postcard hahaha! I’m feeling envious about the gorgeous ambient sunlight scenes you described. =) Wishing you soft, serene sunlight (not like the sunburns we get in Texas ;( ) & smiles!
u/jamiekj Thanks for the sweet surprise wishes from Savannah! How adorable are you to think of me while on your work trip?!? I appreciate your thoughtfulness so much & hope that you had some fun while on your work trip (or at least tried some tasty treats). =) Wishing you lots of exciting excursions & zero work on your “work” trips haha!
u/lspjackie How cuuuuute is this vintage St. Patrick’s day illustrated postcard?!?!? It is sooooo adorable, & you are too for blessing a stranger with it! I’m insane for vintage illustrated ads & this one is just frame-worthy! Thank you. Hope you had a 17th full of luck & laughter! =)
u/tashmash Loved receiving a postcard from your fave ice cream joint! Thank you. What cuuuute diamond washi you used to decorate the postcard. I feel like American ice cream is devoid of flavofat because they jack it up with sugar. I wonder if your ice cream place uses more fabulous fat than stupid sugar in the ice cream. Your postcard makes me wanna pack up & move to NZ just to test out the goodies for myself. ;) Wishing you boundless buckets of chocolate cherry & cookies & cream ice cream without ice cream headaches!!!
u/Proud_Ad_759 x 2 This Winnie-the-Pooh card is crazy adorable but ALMOST as adorable as you are!!!!! I just LOVE your enthusiasm for snail mail & was so charmed by your cuuuute inquiry if I had received your postcard like a day hahaha after you mailed it from 87 states away! Seriously, your positive energy is so infectious & I’m so happy we met! I was also so happy to hear about your 6th sense…okay the same uber weird stuff happens to me. And it IS a “big thing” my friend! Now how can we channel that into winning the lottery LOL? Just kidding. Sort of - I mean, I’ll take the lottery but to be honest, even if I won it, I would NEVER EVER stop exchanging cards with fabulous fun friends like you! I think I’d just use the $$ to juice up the process. Like I’d hire a full-time assistant to take care of all the RAoC tasks while I just read & appreciate the cards. ;) Thanks also for the funny Peter Pan postcard of the little weirdo exposing his beautiful belly! Just loved your funny, creative answer to my macarena dance prompt !!! If you’re okay with me posting your awesome answer, I’ll do that later when I post a special thanks including all the different answers to the same prompt. =)
u/BetterOwl3221 Hello-Hello I’m so happy-happy to receive this STUNNING Halo-Halo recipe postcard!!!!! THANK YOU! =) I'm including a close-up pic of it in case anyone reading my long-winded nonsense wants to check out the recipe. =) I’m bananas for illustrated cards & this one needs to be framed for my future dream house! All of the pastel colors on this gorgeous card instantly brighten me up & I’m even excited to live today if that makes sense hahaha! It’s kinda cool how one beautiful card from a beautiful stranger can instantly be a beautiful balm for one’s mood. I also loved your description of the dreamy dessert. It sounds so perfect & simply scrumptious! The postmark is from last month - it took ages to get here. And funny, this is the *one* card I kept thinking about for weeks out of all the ones I’ve ever requested because it just looked like the happiest card ever on your post & I was hoping it wasn’t lost. So the day I got it in the mail, I started jumping up & down like a lunatic outside near the mailbox & was so giddy that a kid passing by, ALARMED, asked me if I needed help. I was like, really, you kind moron? I’m smiling & laughing like a nutcake while holding this beautiful mail & your instinct is to call the cops on me hahaha?!? I wanted to yell at the stupid sweetie to check out RAoC so he could experience the kind of joy you made me feel. =)
u/Dolliesqueak Thanks for the super cool Night Sky postcard with the awesome Carl Sagan quote!!! I agree that we are made of star stuff =) Wishing you shooting stars & sweet sunshine!
u/doggotoast x 2 Thanks for the gorgeous SG postcard! So cute! I’m digging your affinity for oatmilk. Yummmm - my fave oatmilk is Planet Oat, Extra Creamy - it’s insanely delicious. :) Thanks also for the bright yellow furniture postcard that woke me up! ;) I LOVE how you’d be workin’ the Macarena even though you “hate dancing” hahaha! Wishing you non-awkward dance experiences & the most aromatic cups of coffee, friend!
u/RideThatBridge Thanks for the super pretty illustrated floral card! I just love the Indian proverb you kindly shared: “All of the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today.” This is insanely profound & inspires me to procrastinate a little less with all my work. ;) Here are some of my fave Indian proverbs:
“Don’t poison someone whom you can kill with sweets.”
“They who dream for too long will become like their shadow.”WHATTT!?!? Aren’t these deep?!? Thanks for the lovely inspiration! Here’s hoping your seeds of today blossom into fabulous flowers tomorrow! =)
u/jubilan Thanks for the cool illustrated Hawaiian cocktail postcard with your self-love encouragement! So sweet. Your positive vibes are so beautiful. Wishing you lots of contemplative, wonderful walks & sunny smiles!
u/drivingogre Thanks for the adorable bear postcard FANTASTICALLY FULL (yesssss for zero white space!!!) with the most fun facts!!! “Art used to be an olympic event!” Whaaat?!?!? That sounds amazing! Here’s a cool fact for you: kitty pee-pee glows in the dark! Wishing your lovely brain hoards all the most amazing fun facts forevermore so you can dazzle people dizzy at parties! P.S. Charming u/ellezavech , also a fact fiend like us, taught me a tres cool fact about one of my most fave words, “dazzle”. But you’ll have to work for it by checking out the post ;) https://www.reddit.com/RandomActsofCards/comments/11h673n/thank_you_when_does_bread_rise_when_you_yeast/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1
u/sebisrude Not again with this rude nonsense, sugar! I’m dying to hear about this fun/mean username! I’m happy *as hell* you saved me from a critical Pipsticks expenditure emergency (stupid student-loan-debt-be-damned) by sending me this illustrated pen & pencil postcard!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU! I’m batcrap bananas over it & can’t tell you how badly the nerd in me ached for this card when I missed out on an offer for it ages ago! I had never even heard of Pipsticks before I saw this postcard. And now I hope a rich, evil relative dies soon (kidding) & bequeaths me his/her glorious estate which I will then fill with Pipsticks utopia & host a Pipsticks party to which you will be the guest of honor! Wishing you the peppiest of perfect stickers!
u/shipping_addict x 2 Thanks for the super cool NY postcard in the shape of a stamp!!! What a sweetheart you are, sending me the roasted veggies recipe unprompted. :) Are you sure you’re not a southerner, Darlin’, with all that homemade cookin’ & crazy cool cardin’? Thanks also for the *adorable* Over the Garden Wall tarot card!!! What is it about mini cards that drives me merrily mad?!!? I haven’t dived into tarot readings yet but am intrigued by what you wrote: “success, achievement, failure”. All I know is, if I’m successful & achieve, I’m thanking myself. But if I fail, I’m blaming *you*, Sugar, & will send you the ugliest postcards of all time. I’m collecting a batcrapload of ‘em specifically for this purpose. But you’re so cute, sweet, & strangely southern in your demeanor that your polite self would likely write the most heartfelt, sweet lies about how you love it all. ;) And OMG you sent me a Lindsay Lohan PARENT TRAP sticker?!?!? So hilarious & awesome! Hoarding it for life!!!! Also love the cuuuute lemon stamp sticker & the little pastel illustrated cutie!!! Ooooohh I just saw the cool purple Broadway stamp on the envelope - sweeeet!!!! =)
u/SherlockLady x 5 Thanks for the cuuuuuuuutest homemade Easter bunny card I’ve ever seen!!! The smiling sweetie & the bright orange carrot right next to it on the spring-y lime green paper just put me in the best mood! Also love the “You only live once” card, the super motivating “Be brave be bold be you” superhero card, the super thoughtful self-care card, & the Eiffel tower scrapbook paper card! LOVE the cute washi tape samples you sent! The eye-themed one is so adorable & my fave. Thanks also for the stickers & the tea - can’t wait to try it! You constantly spoil me with so much amazing love & I’m so grateful for your nonstop magical mail surprises!!!
u/stephkempf x 8 Sweetheart, I wish I could say I keep you in the postcard sending “business” LOL!!!!! THANK YOU. =) I can only hope that they appreciate you at work & give you boundless bonuses so you can buy as many stamps as your insane, adorable, gorgeous, generous, syrupy sweet heart desires. :) Truly, you AMAZE me with how much you indulge us with your fun, frightening, & frighteningly fun offers hahaha! I honestly had no idea what in the hot holy hell I signed up for when I filled out your birthday bonanza form. All I know is, I keep wondering if it’s my birthday when I’m surprised with a random birthday postcard hahaha! That’s super crazy fun! I’m so jazzed that you’re upcycling all your cards & blessing us with them. LOVE all the b-day postcards - especially the Snoopy one. I don’t understand how that kid never ages. Thanks also for the soothing floral non-bday postcard. I’ll admit I was jarred that it’s not a b-day card hahaha! I so appreciate all the fun, good vibes, & insane beauty you send my way!

We had been knee deep in pig shit for at least three hours when I finally asked Gramps for a story. The old man had been mostly silent that day, save for his grunts of effort while refilling the trough or corralling the hogs in and out of the different pens.
I couldn’t say that I blamed him - helping Uncle Russ on his hog farm was one of the more physically intensive jobs the two of us ever undertook, and we’d just gotten into the worst part. Shoveling shit. Wasn’t much to say anyways and the longer you kept your mouth open, the more you’d start to taste it.
I was shocked Gramps could still put in such a productive day of work in his increasing age - but the truth was, at nearly 70, the old man heaped pounds of manure into the compost pile even faster than I did at 17. Gramps was a large and powerful man, Father Time be damned.
Gramps liked the work though. Good honest labor was all the man had ever known, and he was gonna help his son in law on that farm whether Russ wanted him to lift a finger or not. That’s what men did.
We’d been working ourselves to the bone since sun-up - I never passed on a chance to spend some time with Gramps, and I knew that Uncle Russ would slip me a few bucks for the day, so I’d enthusiastically hopped in the old man’s pickup that morning at 5:00 sharp.
But it had been hours and I was tired and the air stunk. I hoped it was time for a little break.
“Gramps, can we take a load off? Just for a few.”
The old man sighed. He removed his weathered and stained trucker cap - the same one he’d worn my entire life - and used his forearm to wipe the sweat from his liver spotted head.
He plunged his shovel into the stinking and wet pile of manure we were working from as he spoke. “Ah hell, I guess we could use a break.” Thank god, I remember thinking to myself as I did the same with my own shovel and followed the old man over to the large apple tree that loomed over Uncle Russ’s farm.
We couldn’t head inside with our shit stained clothes and there was no point in changing or washing up. We still had a job to finish after our break. Russ had headed into town to grab some supplies and drop off some hogs to a few buyers, but he’d left us a cooler for the day filled with water and some food.
As we took our seats on the shaded but still warm earth beneath the apple tree, Gramps reached deep into the cooler. From it, he withdrew two bottles of water and two ice cold beers. He winked as he tossed me one of each.
I laughed, and we cracked our beer bottles open then clinked them together before taking a nice deep swig. That ice cold swill just hits the body different on a day like that. Really feels like you earned it. The days stayed pretty warm in Vernon, even in the fall. Especially after some hours of hard work. And these sun soaked days with Gramps were the best of times for me. Whether we were sitting on his porch doing a whole lot of nothing, or up to our elbows in stinking shit. I just loved spending time with the old man.
Of course, the real treat any time Gramps and I got together was the stories.
“Hey Gramps, long as we’re sitting here… got a story?” I grinned as I asked the question, couldn’t help myself.
I’ve mentioned before that Gramps always had a story. My grandfather was renowned throughout the town for his ability to weave a colorful and compelling tale.
Thing was though, no matter how outlandish or silly or sometimes scary they got, Gramps’ stories were always true. Comedy, tragedy. Didn’t matter. That was what made them so damn interesting. Whatever the subject matter, this was a recitation of a true event. I trusted the words that came out of that man’s mouth more than I trusted that the sky is blue and that a human being needs to breathe oxygen to survive.
He laughed - it was a mirthful sound, tinged with juuust a hint of annoyance. It was the way he always laughed when I asked the question. We both knew that he loved spinning his yarns as much as I loved listening to them.
Gramps took another swig of his beer, beads of cold sweat running down the sides of the glass bottle. As usual, he was in no hurry to answer. He set the beer down and cracked his aging knuckles, they popped so loud you’d swear the dusty old bones were snapping in two.
“Ah I s’pose it’s the perfect time for it, better’n sittin’ here with our dicks in our hands.” He leaned towards me, thrusting a knobby finger in my direction. “Just one now fuckface,” Gramps warned me sternly. “We’re not gonna piss our whole day away sharin’ stories under the apple tree. Got a job to do.”
I smiled. I always smiled when Gramps used my insulting but still endearing nickname. The kind of nickname you get living in a family of lively hillbillies who all like to drink and horse around a little too much.
Gramps had agreed to a story, just as I’d known he would. Gramps always had a story. He let the moment hang now. Cradled his beer loosely in his hand. He stared off ahead, into the shimmering summer afternoon.
Gramps’ eyes were locked on the hogs. As they rolled in their dirt and sloppily ate from the trough, milled around in their pigpen. Squealin’ and snortin’ the whole time. I always liked the pigs. Didn’t do much like shoveling mountains of poop but the pigs were alright. They were disgusting sure, but they were intelligent creatures. Cute too.
I didn’t much like the thought of Uncle Russ loading some of those pigs up and selling them to the butcher and market. Packing them into the truck and driving them to their doom. It was the way it always was and the way it always would be, I understood that. Just didn’t much comprehend how you could spend your whole life caring for things just to serve them up to a death sentence.
Gramps cleared his throat, disrupting my train of thought. A serious look crossed his face. He kept his eyes locked intently on the frolicking animals. I could already tell by Gramps expression and demeanor that this story wasn’t going to be a comedy.
“Well,” he finally said. “How ‘bout a pig story?”
I leaned toward Gramps, eyes wide with anticipation.
“You ever hear your uncle talk about a bad sow, fuckface?” I nodded. There were many days on Uncle Russ’ farm that I’d heard whispered talks between adults, talks they thought I couldn’t hear. About things like rifles and needing to take a pig behind the shed.
“Well, all that badness started way back when… had to be about forty years ago now by my estimation. When that damned thing showed up the very first time.”
Delmer Wurlick wasn’t a very nice boy. That’s what the adults in town always said about him. To be honest, that was putting it mildly. He was the kind of nasty little punk who left a bag of flaming dog shit on someone’s front porch and laughed as they stomped it out. The type to key cars just for a laugh, prank call old ladies with sex talk and heavy breathing at 2:00 in the morning after stealing their numbers from the church register.
Those were the things that made Delmer not a very nice boy. But the adults in town, they didn’t all know the extent of Delmer’s misdeeds. He wasn’t just a vandal and a punk. He was a killer. He’d started young - squishing bugs a little too enthusiastically and sticking firecrackers in the mouths of frogs he yanked out of the creek. Eyes lighting up as they exploded into wet and slimy chunks of sizzling gore.
At around age fifteen or so, Delmer upgraded to larger animals. Wrapping stray cats in barbed wire, mixing crushed up glass into hunks of raw meat and feeding it to neighborhood dogs.
There was one summer where livestock at various farms all over town fell prey to a mad shooter - a lone gunman in the dark of night firing one right between the eyes of any cow or sheep or goat he could get his hands on.
All the kids in town knew that that was Delmer Wurlick. He’d bragged about taking the rifle once his old man passed out from the gin, and blowing those defenseless critters’ brains out so fast that them and their farmers didn’t know what hit ‘em.
Delmer talked about how they twitched and sputtered even after the life left them. How red chunky ooze bubbled from their pulped and jellified skulls.
Of course Delmer saw no trouble with the law. There was no hard evidence, just a kid talking. And it helps when your alcoholic mess of a dad was once the town sheriff himself, before the jack and the gin and a few too many glassy eyed and slurred speeches at morning roll call did him in. Friends in high places.
So ol’ Delmer pretty much did what he wanted when he wanted. He had a taste for blood and the imagination to indulge.
Hate to say it, but a lot of the kids hung around him anyway. He had this charisma about him, a strange aura that drew you in. There was somethin’ behind his eyes. You didn’t wanna know what it was but you just couldn’t look away.
Didn’t hurt that he’d take groups of kids for a ride in daddy’s caddy. Cruising the streets of Vernon on the nights he wasn’t busy torturing livestock, getting the other kids involved in his car keying and window soaping and all the debauchery.
Things took a turn in the Autumn of ‘53. Bill Wurlick’s good friend Enis was picked up in St. Claire, cruising the streets for a boy to spend the night with. Enis owned a farm just on the outskirts of Vernon, one he’d inherited from his daddy some years back. A middling and not at all spectacular little patch of dirt. Didn’t grow much there. Enis was no green thumb. He had some livestock - a few cows, half empty chicken coop.
Mostly pigs. Wandering, zombified sows and boars that seemed especially apathetic and lethargic. Brought down by the malaise of the place.
With Enis’ looming legal trouble, he turned to his good friend Bill Wurlick to tend to his farm in the meantime. The only man he thought he could trust. Bill Wurlick, gin drunk and not one to rise from his spot on the mangy living room sofa - ‘cept to buy more gin - turned to his son.
So that’s how Delmer Wurlick became the caretaker
For someone like him, this was an all you can eat buffet. Unlimited access to a cadre of defenseless and sickly animals , on secluded farmland where no one would ask any questions.
He’d wake up at dawn each morning and make the 15 minute drive to the farm in Bill’s caddy, snagging a few of his old man’s beers from the fridge on his way out the door.
Once arriving at Enis’ farm, Delmer would get to drinking and begin his “duties.” He planted seeds - half heartedly, tossing them asunder without really looking. Not taking the time to make sure they were distributed properly on the pathetic and wanting earth. Delmer never could get the old and rusting riding mower that sat still in front of Enis’ run down barn to run properly, and so keeping the grass trimmed was permanently checked off of his list of chores rather quickly.
The animals. Delmer was to feed them, provide water. See that their needs were taken care of. The first day or two, Delmer mostly kept his sadism at bay. Hurled handfuls of dry feed at the chicken’s faces. Splashed water at the cows as he filled their drinking trough, yanking on their tails as he left their corral.
There seemed to be some kind of honest attempt by the boy to truly honor his father’s wishes and help out the man’s good friend.
He got bored fast though. Delmer had some kind of insatiable bloodlust. There was something deep within him that needed to see that pain and that hurt.
Maybe it was that pain and hurt were all Delmer Wurlick’d ever known.
When your mother runs off with a band of coke-addled gypsies before you even turn 3 years old. When your cousin takes you into the bathroom only a year or two later at your grandmother’s funeral. When your father is so down in the drink that he cries tears of pure whiskey during those miserable late nights that he leans on your shoulder and asks you for all the answers
What does somebody like that have to offer the world but pain?
On the third day, he crushed one of the chickens to death with a rock. Then took that same rock inside the coop and lifted it up as he could before letting it fall directly onto a waiting cluster of diminutive baby chicks. Delmer licked his lips as the feathers and chunky gore oozed from beneath the stone.
He withdrew a knife from the kitchen and wandered into the cow pen, casually puffing away on one of Enis’ cigarettes. A small and sickly looking brown calf huddled next to its black and white spotted mother. Delmer slowly ran the blade along its skin as the calf mewled plaintively. Then he turned the knife and started cutting.
He’d hacked the thing to pieces in no time at all, a dark red puddle pooling on the hay beneath them. The mother cow stared at him, expressionless, the entire time.
Delmer wasn’t too concerned about getting rid of the mutilated cow parts. He knew that pigs ate pretty much anything. Taking a sledge hammer from the tool shed, Delmer set about mashing the bits of cow into a more digestible paste. Once he was finished, he scooped the jellified mounds of gristle up with a snow shovel. Deposited heaping helpings into the hogs’ feed trough.
The pigs chowed, snorting and huffing as they hungrily gulped down the chunks of flattened meat. Delmer chuckled as he noticed one exhausted looking sow, pink belly swollen to bursting with a litter of piglets, waddle over to the trough with great effort and try to eat her fill
The threshold was crossed. Delmer’s sickening pastime escalated quickly.
Over the ensuing days, he stabbed and shot and tormented. He’d dunk the chickens in turpentine and take a lighter to their feathers. Drop them into an empty barrel and piss on them to put it out. Twisted a cork screw into the eye of one of the cows, so deep that he couldn’t get a grip to retrieve it. He sliced its neck while it tried to buck him away with its weakened legs.
Delmer’d even invited a few of the local kids over to partake in the booze and the cigs and sometimes yes, even the hurting. Most of them didn’t like it much. Most of them were downright disturbed by it. But the allure of an older boy with ready access to a car and beer and all the tantalizing freedoms of adulthood was hard to pass up. If that freedom meant that the boys and girls had to bash a chicken to death with a fire poker, or slice a pigs snout from its face while it squealed and cried for mercy, many weathered the storm.
The corruption was the part Delmer liked.
Things changed when the sow gave birth. Delmer had watched the fattened pink creature keel over that brisk October day, flatten itself on its side and start breathing frantically. He certainly was excited to see those little piglets.
He hopped on the kitchen phone and called a few of the boys and girls over, telling them he had the beer and the cigs and something they wanted to see.
A small flock of kids had arrived by the time the sow pushed out her first piglet. The soft, squinting thing was covered in a fine layer of fuzz. Its pointed ears pressed backward, a calm expression across its face.
Delmer immediately raised his leg and smashed the piglet in one stomp. He cackled as it exploded into a chunky red mist. The crowd of children looked on, aghast at this display. Cruel and twisted and sick even for Delmer Wurlick.
A boy toward the back vomited, tears streamed down one girl’s face. It suddenly wasn’t so easy to look the other way, or to participate in these atrocities. The adult freedoms, doing what you wanted when you wanted. It was a kind of cage.
The sow seemed to lock its solid black eye on Delmer, and began loudly shrieking as it continued pushing out its litter of newborns. Its body writhed and shook with pain or anxiety or maybe some awareness of what was happening to its kin.
Suddenly, Delmer withdrew a buck knife from his back pocket. He lunged forward and sliced the sow open from neck to ass. The entire contents of its stomach spilled out in a steaming, stinking mess. Purple guts and thick rivers of blood. The rest of the piglets.
Covered in their mother’s gore and introduced to the world via this hellish act.
Delmer’s smile widened as he loomed over the pile of writhing and helpless newborns. His eyes widened as they met one particular pig in the mound of viscera.
Plunging his hands into the mess, Delmer spun around as he withdrew the object of his attention.
Facing the group of neighborhood children, cradled in Delmer’s outstretched hands, was a shaking and blood covered newborn piglet.
It didn’t look like any pig they’d ever seen.
The thing’s eyes bulged out of its head, its snout was basically nonexistent - a receding patch of flesh with two curved holes to breathe. Its mouth hung open wide, wider than a pig’s mouth should. It didn’t look like a pig’s mouth. No, with its broad width and rows of square teeth, it sure as hell looked like a man’s.
On the thing’s head were two pointed, fleshy bulbs. A sobbing boy yelled that they looked like horns.
As the mutated piglet gulped air and clacked its hideous teeth together, the crowd of children went into a frenzy. Many of them sprinted away in fear.
Delmer spun the twisted thing around and stared in its bulbous and swollen eyes. He thought of all the things he’d do to this pitiful creature that should not have been born.
Something happened though, in that moment. Something that even Delmer’s depraved mind couldn’t comprehend.
It spoke.
“You’re going to Hell Delmer. Your soul is going to be raped, your brain replaced with nothing but writhing maggots. You’ll be impaled on the endless and barbed horns of the great one. Forever. Split right down the middle, split in two. An eternity of agony.”
The tiny creature clacked its teeth together maniacally, cackling as it continued, in its garbled and inhuman voice. Delmer was frozen in silence.
“It’s already begun. For eons you’ve been tortured, chewed up and spit out. Forced to relive the evil deeds that placed you here. Your soul is black. Unclean. The kind we love. In that empty world of twisted hills and encroaching dark, you’ll wander and wander. Searching for hope and relief. All you’ll find is torment. We have your mother. Your cousin too.”
The thing’s voice took on an excited lilt as it spoke those last words. A blackened tongue emerged from between its lips, running back and forth across yellowed teeth. Delmer didn’t like to think about his mother or that cousin. He felt his bladder start to lose control.
“They’re suffering too Delmer, that’s all we ever do really. We suffer and we hurt. It’s because of them that the hollow world lives between your ears. We are going to tear your flesh off strip by strip and watch you eat it. You’re a vile creature, just like me. ”
Delmer screamed. He flung the thing to the ground with all his might, and it landed with a wet thud. That didn’t stop it.
It lifted its head and stared at Delmer, that hideous visage glaring up at him from the pile of smashed gore that was once its body.
“You can’t save yourself Delmer. You’re a damned sinner , and sinners reap what they sow!”
The scant few kids who hadn’t had the mental capacity to run watched in abject horror as the bug eyed demon suddenly began rising from the earth. All the mutilated animal parts - the mother pigs guts and the blood slicked bodies of the awful pig creature’s brethren - they coalesced into a terrible form. A mass of viscera in the vague shape of a humanoid.
Delmer screamed as the thing lurched forward, stretching out a long and appendage-like strip of dripping entrails. The wet spot on his jeans grew. In one swift movement, the thing spread itself apart and engulfed Delmer. He was covered head to toe in that horrible mess. Stuck inside of it.
The children could see him, writhing and pushing from inside the thing. Trying futilely to escape.
The pig creature clacked its teeth even more frantically. It suddenly let out a deep and guttural wail, loud enough to split the sky. The movement from within ceased.
It stared at the kids with those bulging, leaking eyes. Wide smile growing so large that it eclipsed its diminutive face, tearing the skin as it opened its mouth again to speak.
“I will come for each and every one of you, come in the night when your parents can’t protect you. I’ll make you feel every ounce of agony that the suffering souls of the endless void have endured for eons. This pain and bloodshed is absolute, and the screaming of tortured children will ring out and echo up to the ebony sky of the hollow world. Delmer doesn’t live here anymore.”
Then, it exploded. Chunks of wet meat flew in every direction, splattering the chicken coop and the barn and the children’s faces.
Mass panic ensured. The children finally dispersed and ran from the farmhouse for the comparative safety of anywhere else on earth. Through their tears and their horror, they screamed a single word.
Devil.
Gramps took a long swig from his beer as I stared at him in disbelief. It was another horror story, a terrible tale of horror and evil. Animal torturers and real life devils.
I had to ask.
“Well… then what happened? What happened with the farm? And to all those kids?”
Gramps signed. “Well, I was already grown and on my own back when this mess first happened. Only really heard about it third hand at the time. Those kids that were there with Delmer Wurlick that day had a real fear in ‘em. Little shits. Got home and told their mommies and daddies everything. Ah, the sheriff cleaned up the mess at Enis’ farm. Burnt the place down not long after. Just didn’t seem like the energy was any good there. All that death and bloodshed.”
I swallowed nervously, saying nothing and allowing Gramps to continue.
“No one much missed Delmer, not even ol’ Bill. Boy’s own father. So I can’t tell you there was a concerted effort to really solve the mystery of whatever bad forces grabbed the little prick that day.”
I could already sense that there was more to this bizarre tale. An epilogue, a postscript.
“But ya see fuckface,” Gramps’ voice sounded tired now. “Ever since that day, every year around October, we see one a’them things.”
My expression must’ve been quizzical, because Gramps clarified
“A bad sow.”
My eyes widened.
“Yep, every autumn a female pig’ll push out a litter, and at least one’a those little bastards’ll have bulgin’ eyes and fleshy horns and rows and rows of square yellow teeth.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But I mean… what do people do with them?” I asked.
Gramps stared at me like he thought I must’ve been stone stupid to ask that question. “Well, we pull ‘em away from the littler and take ‘em behind the barn and we…” Gramps trailed off, his gaze leaving me to settle on the hogs once again. “We do what we need to do.”
“I think Delmer Wurlick brought the devil to Vernon that day, fuckface. Only, the devil never really left.”
Gramps suddenly stood, stretching his legs and groaning as he straightened his back.
I was still comprehending the insanity of what I’d just heard, and stared up at him from my seated position.
“Folk around here though, we always try our best to keep those things in check. Mind our own and deal with the problems as they come. Delmer Wurlick was just a kid but, I reckon he deserved what he got. If you go lookin’ for hell, eventually the devil’s gonna find you.”
Gramps was still gazing out at the pigs when he realized I was still cemented to the ground. “Well god damn fuckface, hop to it. Story time’s over, got a job to finish.”
I leapt to my feet, nodding. I ran my hand over the back of my neck as we made our way back to the pig pen, back to the shit.
Gramps chuckled under his breath. “A’course,” he said with a devilish wink, “who’s to say folk always find the bad sow in time?”
My heart stopped, skin went pale.
Gramps laughed louder now as he withdrew our shovels from the manure pile and thrust mine into my hand.
I didn’t pay much attention to Gramps or the farm or the stench of shit the rest of that work day though. My mind was elsewhere as we shoveled that stinking slop.
I couldn’t possibly focus on anything but the lone pregnant sow wandering about Uncle Russ’ pens. Pink belly full and protruding.
Sure to soon give birth to a happy and healthy litter of beautiful little piglets.

Hey everyone,
I could use some advice on my job search. I've been in the IT industry for almost four years now and have a diploma in information technology. I've even got a couple of Microsoft certifications under my belt (az900 and sc900) and I consider myself pretty tech-savvy.
Right now, I'm working for the government at the helpdesk/desktop support level. While it's been a great experience helping end-users with common IT issues, I feel like my technical skills are getting rusty as I don't get to use them as much as I'd like.
So, I'm on the hunt for a remote system administratoanalyst role. I have a decent resume, a solid LinkedIn profile, decent soft skills, and even a personal website to show off my tech skills, but I'm having trouble getting interviews or job offers.
If anyone has any advice or tips on how to improve my job search, I'd really appreciate it. I'm open to anything, but I feel my weaknesses are a lack of certification and lack of work related projects.
Thanks in advance for your help!

I have a white throw blanket I was gifted over the holidays. I love it, it's soft, warm, cute, and a little heavier than the average throw. I washed it for the first time and now it sheds heavily. It's not something I can ignore as I have mostly dark colors in my closet and in terms of bed sheets. At first I thought it was hair from my cats so I gave it a wash with white vinegar, but it didn't end up being cat hair and the vinegar did nothing. I've also heavily lint rolled it. Tag says it's 100% polyester. I'm wondering if there's a way I can stop the blanket from shedding everywhere? Photo is my blanket freshly washed and dried after laying it on my mattress, no cat hair.

Use a d120 to see what you discover!
​

Roll	Result
1	A little iron horse figurine. If held by a creature that tells a lie it grows white hot, dealing 1d10 fire damage per turn
2	A bird's cage containing a wererat.
3	A bottle of troll's blood. If you drink it you regain 10 hit points at the start pf each of your turns for a minute but you are poisoned for an hour
4	Black Flame Candle of Hopus: The character that lights the candle draws the ire of all cats (and cat based races) and frightens all children that seem them for 24 hours
5	A petrified gazer.
6	A mirror that shows a clown (or some scary thing) standing behind you. It isn't really there, and it doesn't seem to interact with you, but is very creepy.
7	A talking skull.
8	A large firefly in a cage that will listen to commands. Glows red with the effect of Light.
9	A heavy old tome with yellowed pages and a blank cover. The book does not match the design of the surrounding books, and has a somewhat homemade feel to it. Nearly all the pages are filled with impressively lifelike sketches of an assortment of common folk, each with a smile on their face. All the drawings seem to be situated in the same village, with a single family and house appearing more frequently than any of the others. The members of that family each bear a slight resemblance to the hag.
10	A jar of candy wrapped in brightly colored wax paper.
11	A cursed gold chain necklace. Once put on it cannot be removed. When the wearer speaks a lie a link is magically removed from the chain, the link clatters loudly to the ground. Lie enough and it begins to choke the wearer.
12	A drum, covered in a mysterious skin.
13	An immortal monkey that looks normal but quickly reveals his undead nature in the moonlight.
14	A fist-sized gemstone to which the astral form of a trickster being is bound. Touching it allows you to see and communicate with the being. It begs that you reunite it with it's body.
15	A black cat sits curled up on a chair. When you approach, he remains unmoved, and trying to interact with him you find him immovable. If you attempt to sit on him/in the chair, you are cursed by the chair as the cat appears upon your lap and is the same as an immovable rod place on your knees.
16	Two voodoo esque dolls of other hags, with faint magic within, from when she tried to create a coven with the souls of dead hags.
17	An Ogre or Giants severed toe.
18	A crate filled with rotted children’s clothing and old toys.
19	A deep water well built into the room.
20	A spiders hoard disguised as a perfect black cube
21	A suit of armor that was once a man.
22	Six inches of orange tinted water on the floor.
23	A book full of delicately preserved wings from butterflies and other small insects.
24	A harp strung with the hair of 100 different humanoids. Plucking a string will make the harp tell the tale of that particular humanoid's fate
25	Star Chart: A map of the night sky in its current position, even when it's too cloudy to see the sky itself. This is an accurate, shifting map that may be used to help a lost party reorient themselves.
26	A set of giant steel manacles that look like they could hold a giant.
27	An unusually large slug in a cage that produces extremely sticky ooze.
28	An origami figure of a stork. Has a faint conjuration aura to it.
29	A cyclops’ eye that has a bite taken out of it.
30	Dried batwing.
31	The preserved, leathery head of a dwarf.
32	A caged rat with gleaming red eyes and a chitters that echoes inside your head; if released the rat will burrow into the nearest persons mind, eating bits of memories, thoughts and goals. The rat cannot do this while the host is under some sort of anti-magic but it doesn’t get rid of it
33	A glass bottle filled with a foul tasting dark blue liquid. If consumed the liquid convinces the person who consumed it that they are going to die as a result.
34	A skull of any local beast, a candle melting upon it. When the candle is snuffed out, the eye sockets glow red. It then materializes the rest of the body as a specter, until the eyes are gouged out. The candle will then re-ignite. While a specter, the creature is a neutral undead, and simply watches and wanders about, being all spooky. Works best as a small creature, like a cat or raven.
35	An Annis Hag has a huge rusty nail, the length of a forearm. The person holding it feels paranoid and cruel, but gains advantage on Perception checks.
36	A ball of snot-like sludge hanging from the ceiling.
37	A fancy paper hat which causes the wearer to attract bees, wasps, hornets, and bumblebees, which remain non-hostile until the wearer removed the hat.
38	A piece of chalk which when used to write a persons full name causes that person to shiver. It ceases to work once all the chalk is exhausted.
39	Chicken feathers sticking out of the ground in bizarre patterns.
40	An active mirror of life trapping.
41	A mannequin wearing a crusty set of fine clothes which appear to have been soaked entirely in blood which has now dried completely. There are no visible stains on the mannequin.
42	A neatly organized tackle box containing a collection of human fingers and toes.
43	A cage with the skeletal remains of two small humanoids, the hand of one clutching the hand of the other.
44	A small child, apparently unharmed.
45	A large white table cloth that can be used to set a table. When its command word is spoken it cleans itself of all stains and food, then folds itself into a neat triangle.
46	A pair of slippers that automatically adjusts to be as comfortable as possible for their wearer.
47	A scruffy, scarred pigeon that nests in the rafters. Its regular sounds are replaced by snippets of the hags voice yelling insults.
48	An old tarnished silver bell. Ringing it casts Toll The Dead once a day.
49	A child's patchwork doll, missing a button eye and stained in blood.
50	A cauldron that can be used as a ritual focus. When used in ritual magic, the DC goes up 1 per person (limited to 3).
51	A broken arrow atop a bottle of rain. Holding the bottle allows you to walk on water. Holding the arrow turns your hand to steel (you do twice the damage of an unarmed strike, but take disadvantage on tasks requiring two hands. You can pry the arrow from your hand—but careful if you take too long both your hands will turn to steel).
52	Dust of sneezing and choking.
53	The hag's kitchen is a marvel of inventive interior design, with hands that stick out of the walls, as though their owners were forced into the stone itself. The hands hold cups, cutlery, a set of keys, a hat, a dark cloak and hanging vegetables.
54	A strange jar of coloured jelly. Upon closer inspection, you find it is a tiny-sized ooze or oblex in a jar.
55	A picture book with seemingly no story, only vivid illustrations of children running in the woods. Flipping back and forth reveals that the children seem to move when not watched, and there’s something they’re running from
56	A cursed ring depicting a smiling Fox that gives advantage on deception and acrobatics checks but will sever the finger off after 1d12 uses. Cannot be removed without magical means
57	Bones from humanoid hands which have been fastened together into a headdress.
58	An ivory comb, inset with swampy green stones, that causes anyone who uses it to make their hair grow uncontrollably and try to strangle them
59	A display case of flattened beast ears arranged in such a way that a distant observer may mistake it for a butterfly display.
60	A journal by a young lass from a hundred years ago. The entries are positive, optimistic, romantic. Somewhere in the her late teens she falls in love for a fellow and at the same time she's visited by nightmares, headaches and visions. Strangely the visions darkly warn her that her lover is dangerous, something she refuses to believe even when other things she sees in them come to pass. She writes that she plans to run away with him before the journal abruptly ends. A knowledge check might reveal that the symptoms she describes are signs of a changeling coming into her power on the path to becoming a hag.
61	An almost person-sized hourglass dangling from a rope tied to the ceiling. In place of sand, tiny teeth of all shapes and kinds flow between the two bulbs, each one glowing with a faint red light. The flow of the device switches directions at random times for nobvisible reason, with no bulb ever holding all the teeth.
62	Glass orb containing the souls of screaming children.
63	Leather wading boots, made from an unidentifiable leather, that allows the wearer to walk on water, but slowly turns the water they walk on into a swamp
64	A shelf of shoes: fond mementos of the humanoids (at least the most delicious ones) the hag has eaten.
65	A freshly baked pie, its crust perfectly buttered.
66	A male human's foot. There's nothing magical about it though, she hasn't gotten to that project yet
67	A purple glazed donut with sprinkles. When you eat it, it switched your highest and lowest stat for one hour, or in heavy moments of exertion, such as combat, ten rounds.
68	A plant pot containing a Shrieker that screams when you touch it.
69	A collection of clear glass bottles with tiny models of houses, ships, wagons, and things inside them. On closer inspection the tiny things are real and even have tiny people trapped inside, living dejectedly.
70	The still beating heart of some unknown humanoid.
71	A copper ring in the dirt that has a rat's chewing marks in it.
72	Eyes of various creatures.
73	Seven jars filled with blood. One of them has recently been emptied.
74	A life size "voodoo" fetish that looks eerily like one of the PCs.
75	A shattered mirror. The mirror shows a decaying and zombie-like version of the players, but a beautified version of the hag.
76	A taxidermy beholder being used as a chandelier.
77	A stomach and intestines hung on the wall, with a mouth connected to one end, and the other end leading into a barrel (I don't recommend opening the barrel). It must be fed regularly or it will jump off the wall and begin eating everything.
78	Erikkson the Philosophical Scarecrow. This scarecrow sits motionless in a part of the room, but will animate when he deems it necessary. He loves to eat straw (and flesh), and loves to tell riddles. He especially loves it when his riddles win him the flesh of others. But he doesn't cheat. He is a genuine and fair scarecrow. He wont eat any more than has been agreed on. If he says he will play riddles for a PC's hand, then he will keep his word. He also LOVES to talk about the metaphysical nature of the world.
79	An eyeball in a tube of yellow viscous fluid, sealed with a cork. The eye moves and looks around.
80	Eye of newt jar. Half full.
81	An aged drawing of the current PCs that entered the lair.
82	A chest with an ungodly amount of sweets.
83	A jar with an overweight toad crammed into it, that sings when lifted.
84	A stack of love letters written in Abyssal penned by a demon who apparently was smitten by the sight of the hag during a planar jaunt. Appears that the interest was unrequited.
85	Paintings and sculptures of prominent townspeople.
86	A large alembic which is currently distilling a medium ochre jelly.
87	Half of a beehive covered in Infernal writing. When the honeycomb is broken, an Imp is summoned.
88	An undead toad in a glass jar with a miniature Sphere of Annihilation in its mouth.
89	A dresser whose drawers are overflowing with loose hairs. A player who searches through the hair will find a vial of antitoxin.
90	A pin board of insects found in the swamp or Underdark, like strange beetles.
91	A wooden chest with a beating heart in it.
92	A basin of murky water that is constantly scrying a young girl, possibly a changeling. Vials of three colors with a dropper sit on the rim of the basin. Dropping the blue liquid in the basin visits the girl with good luck, red delivers bad luck to a someone near her, but the black inky liquid has no apparent effect.
93	A massive tapestry hung from the wall. Strange symbols and stranger images fill every space, chaotically strewn about the threadwork with no apparent pattern. No centralized theme or focus can be made out, but the likeliness of several important figures and deities can be made out amongst alien creatures and other, unknown people. The tapestry is unfinished on one side, making it obvious that the project is still a work in progress.
94	A severed head taken from a rival long ago. The neck seeps blood from its wound, and constantly softly whispers nigh incoherently, saying all that the witch had learnt from her long-lived life, tales of old, hidden secrets and recipes long forgotten, to name a few.
95	A severed foot with many different types of moss and fungi growing on it.
96	A decorative wine glass that poisons any liquid inside of it with cyanide when a command word is spoken (cheers).
97	A massive bubbling cauldron. Inside it is a disgusting mixture of god knows what.
98	A skeleton on an elaborate wooden throne that will suddenly scream and crumple if a PC approaches it, laying a curse on that PC.
99	A giant cookpot carved from granite, weighing several tons. It's big enough to stew several people inside. [MaxSizeIs]
100	A small collection of caged rats.
101	Tentacle from a vampire squid.
102	People converted into anthropomorphic kelp.
103	A back scratcher made from a severed bony hand.
104	A small box lined with teeth, when opened it begins hopping around a chattering loudly. Can be heard by any creature within 50 ft. Strength or skill check to disarm it. On a failed skill check the target is bitten for 1D4 damage.
105	There is an alchemy desk with the accouterments you would expect. Eyes in jars, fingers in candlestick holders, with thin wicks coming out of the tips, animal parts, and grisly looking things you don't think about too much. Despite everything, you can't but find yourself feeling extremely hungry while examining it.
106	Collection of art pieces depicting each PC worst fears
107	A goblin in a cage that speaks common eloquently.
108	The shadow of a rat on the floor, which moves as a normal rat would. However, there is no rat, not even an invisible one.
109	A group of small children trapped in a cage.
110	A broom of flying that wants to avenge the hags and throws off any character once they are high up in air with it
111	Corrupted rings of resistance (which are cursed to grant vulnerability instead).
112	An apple that reveals itself to be rotten if eaten.
113	A overflowing jar of teeth.
114	A small garden growing a bunch of weird herbs.
115	A tattered ball gown, it’s faded green color and shredded edges indicating its impressive age. It drifts gently through the air as if carried by an invisible wind, moving haphazardly but never touching the room. Attempts to grab the dress automatically fail without the use of magic, the dress always fluttering just out of reach. Once grabbed, the dress stops permanently stops moving and shows no sign of its previously magical nature.
116	A cracked hand mirror, which always shows a shadowy figure to be standing behind the one looking in it. Sometimes, the figure moves.
117	A bouquet of flowers, suspended upside down to dry, smelling pleasantly of notes of lavender and rose buds.
118	A dead bird tied to the ceiling.
119	A starved and maimed goblin in an iron cage. He rattles the bars rather than react to the visitors. It is clear it went mad long ago.
120	A crude iron goblet filled to the brim with algae. Drinking the algae makes the imbiber immune to poison for 24 hours, but also makes them immune to healing potions for 48 hours

Initial list built by d100. See it here. Also contributions from here.
List contributors: u/dndspeak, u/robot_wrangler, u/jonnyCbiggs, u/ToMcAt67, u/DM_Brian, u/bbqturtle, u/TimTamKablam, u/ArchangelCaesar, u/it-started-to-rain, u/Locheil, u/Cerrack, u/LongjumpingLime, u/aquaticLandwhale, u/ThePoIarBaer, u/Hwga_lurker_tw, u/dwemthy, u/crimebiscuit, u/Patchwork18, u/ThePragmaticPimp, u/Psychogent30, u/pinkfloyd1986, u/Dragodar, u/Kardinalin, u/yiorgiom, u/WizzyAC, u/blue-car-guy, u/eekbarbadurkle00, u/ok_prairie, u/area51raidsurvivior, u/jaxolotle, u/MaxSizeIs, u/Selacha, u/DerekHostetler, u/1d2RedShoes, u/SquirelKnight, u/Mike_in_San_Pedro, u/ExJacksie, u/SlapDiscPibbles, u/rodythepterodactyl11, u/Malcorox, u/ExJacksie, u/FlyingHorseduck

Link to Part 1.
(Reposted due to error in the title)

The Photo

My head was spinning.
The polaroid photo of Jared and I was sitting on my laptop. Less than a day after I received his emotional plea to investigate a haunting at his home. It was impossible. The whole thing was impossible! I don’t believe in ghosts, and that photo hasn’t seen the outside of a box in years.
I ripped open my storage closet. Underneath many boxes in the back corner was the small pink shoebox, where I kept all the mementos from college. I tore off the lid and rooted through the contents. The box contained many polaroids of friends, parties, everyday items I framed in an ‘artsy’ way, and a lot of questionable haifashion choices. No Jared photo. I examined the photo placed on my laptop again, it looked exactly like the others in the box. Yellowed from the years and covered in a light film of dust. I flipped it over, and saw a handwritten note. “Love you always - Jared”. His penmanship was almost illegible, and there was a heart beside his name. Wow.
As if I didn’t have enough confusing feelings to process right now. Desperate to hold onto a semblance of reality, I texted Sara asking if she moved my photos. That would make sense, right? She learned about Jared last night, maybe she dug up my boxes from college? My phone chimed. Sara questioned your message “Did you move any of my old college photos?” - for non-iOS users, that means she held down on my message and selected a question mark. Since she’s at work, that’s likely the best response I’ll get for a few hours, but it’s safe to assume Sara didn’t touch the photo.
After covering my shifts at the restaurant for the week, I decided to reply to Jared. I sent him a brief email informing him that I would be taking a ferry to Vancouver Island the next day. Afterwards I found myself writing down the entire experience. This is unlike me, I don’t journal, or keep a blog, or anything like that. I’m not sure what compelled me, but this event felt… significant.

The Ferry

I loaded up my crappy little car with all my equipment, and left at the ass-crack of dawn. Traffic wasn’t too bad this early in the morning, and I made it to the terminal with time to spare. I pulled up to the ticketing booth, and fumbled with my phone until I found my online reservation email. They gave me my lane number and I drove through. The booth opened up to a huge tarmac with around 20 different lanes, and I found my spot in line. I pulled in behind 10 other vehicles and turned off my engine.
Non-locals won’t know what I mean when I say this, but: BCFerries is a racket. It’s like $100 one way with a vehicle. As my bank account drained, I remembered why I don’t visit Vancouver Island all that often. Beautiful though it may be. Maybe I can write this off as a business expense, I just need to learn taxes, and… business. Don’t judge, I went to school to study grainy surveillance footage. On second thought, Jared can cover my ferry costs.
After a long period of waiting, the ferry started loading up cars and I parked on the lower vehicle decks. For those unfamiliar, these ferries aren’t cute little boats. These are massive ships that can fit dozens of vehicles, and hundreds of passengers. They’re several stories tall and contain a restaurant, gift shop, play areas for children, and more. I made my way up to the upper passenger deck and got in line for breakfast. A breakfast meal with coffee cost me $20, and it left me feeling sick for hours. The racket continues.
After breakfast, I waddled over to passenger seating and managed to score a window seat. As I settled in for the rest of my journey, I finalised my plans for Jared’s ghost problem.

The Plan

There are three major events to investigate. The Ten Knocks, the Floating Spoon, and the Shadow Man. Here are my plans for each:
The Ten Knocks: Ten loud knocks ripple through the home every night at exactly 3:24am. According to Jared, the sound seems to come from a different location each night. As you know Jared already has an existing surveillance system. On top of that, I’m going to set up two Zoom audio recorders, and an old phone of mine to record audio throughout the night. From there I’m going to attempt to make a map of the approximate knock locations, and see what data we can generate. I’m hoping we can discover a pattern and isolate the source of these noises. Last time I mentioned a friend of mine who specialises in Forensic Audio. I'm hoping he can help me with this, but at the moment I haven’t heard back from him. I’m not sure I blame him, honestly.
The Floating Spoon: Surveillance footage shows the utensil drawer opening in the kitchen, and a spoon levitating in the air. Since the spoon's movements were quite articulate, I’ll be looking for any evidence of wiring rigs. I also brought a compass for detecting magnetic fields. I’ll be insisting on seeing Jared’s computers, to see if they have software that could fake these things with CGI. I should note that there were a few other objects I caught moving in the raw surveillance footage, but those could be faked with a single string. Unlike the Floating Spoon, which moved in many directions.
The Shadow Man: I’m going to get Jared to stand exactly where the figure appeared in the video, and take measurements for scale. If this man-shaped figure happens to be exactly Jared’s size, that’ll be a strong sign the footage is fake. If they’ll let me, I’m also going to inspect Simon’s bruises. Finger-shaped bruises can be imitated with makeup. A sobering reality here to consider is that if Jared faked the Shadow Man footage, I may have to call Child Protective Services. Simon’s noises and movement in the video indicated he was in legitimate distress. If I do determine the footage is fake, I’ll be demanding a detailed explanation of the hoax from Jared. For Simon's sake.

The Drive

The ferry docked, and I made my way down to my vehicle. Cell reception returned as we got closer to the island, so I entered Jared’s address into Google Maps. For those unfamiliar with Vancouver Island, this isn’t a tiny island you can cruise around in a day. It’s home to over 850,000 people and bigger than the Hawaiian islands combined, or half the size of Ireland. It’s home to a few cities; the largest of which being BC’s capital city, Victoria, and many towns of various sizes. For privacy reasons, I won’t be sharing exactly where Jared lives, but for context I’ll say that it’s a small town.
I’ve driven through the Island a few times, but this visit felt ominous. Pouring rain from the grey skies splattered my windshield. The roads were flanked on both sides by towering evergreen trees, sprawling all the way across distant mountain ranges. As I left the cities and hit a winding stretch of highway, I couldn’t help feeling like I was in the opening scene of The Shining. My speakers blasted upbeat 90s classics to keep my spirits up, but the foreboding feeling was hard to shake.
As I approached the town where Jared lives, I decided to stop at a cute little coffee shop advertising free Wi-fi. Knowing you’re about to see your ex is nerve-wracking enough on its own. Let alone when you’re going to their home, meeting their wife, and presumably fighting ghosts. I ordered a latte, and found a quiet spot in the corner. As the rain pattered against the window, I called Sara on FaceTime. She answered, and I could tell she was walking home from the restaurant. After some small talk, I blurted out what was on my mind:
“Am I making a terrible mistake?” Sara stifled a laugh.
“I mean… How honest do you want me to be?” We both laughed this time, if a bit nervously on my end. “Look. Either you’re about to save a family and fight some ghosts, or somebody’s living in their walls, or your ex is pranking you. What’s your plan if things go to shit?”
“More like when things go to shit. Let’s just hope he pays me upfront.”
Sara knew me well enough to know I’m very safety-conscious. Working for a crime lab tends to have that effect. I had already shared Jared’s address with her, and called ahead to a local motel. I explained that I was staying with someone nearby, but had concerns about my safety. I would have preferred spending all my nights in a motel, but our ‘ghost’ only knocks in the middle of the night. Wendy, the manager, was lovely and agreed to hold a room for the first night. No charge unless I check in! It was their off season, and they had plenty of vacancies. I love small towns.
Sara and I decided on one final safety measure. If I feel unsafe at any time, I’ll text her a code phrase. Like ‘How was your job interview?’
Furthermore, we have a daily check-in, and if I don’t respond within 20 minutes, Sara will call the authorities. Realising Jared IS an authority, Sara wrote down the direct lines for EMT, Fire and RCMP in the hopes that someone will check on me. Our conversation came to a close.
“I love you, Sara.”
“Love you too Marn. Stay safe!”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
The call ended. I collected myself, pulled up the hood of my jacket, and ran out into the pouring rain to my car. I sent Jared a text letting him know I was close, and drove the rest of the way there.

The House

Jared and Jenny’s house is tucked in the back corner of an upper class, surrounded by woods. I pulled up the driveway, feeling very out of place in my crappy sedan. An old woman standing outside in a neighbouring front yard eyed my poor ass with suspicion. I ignored her. The house was modern, bright white with black accents, and completely unassuming. The rain had lifted, and a sliver of sunlight made the house seem positively welcoming. Despite seeing the house in videos and pictures, a part of my brain expected some sort of haunted castle. Which couldn’t be further from the truth.
I had barely gotten out of my car when Jared and Jenny came outside to greet me. It’s always a little awkward sussing out the etiquette when meeting up with your ex after several years. Do we shake hands, or hug, or exchange an explosive fist bump? I was panicking a little, but Jenny cut right through that by springing an enthusiastic hug on me.
“Oh my god hiii!” Jenny had that gorgeous, effortless, hippy-island-girl thing going on. Her shoulder-length straight hair was blonde, and she wore a long, flowing olive cardigan, and black leggings with sneakers. “It’s so nice to meet you! Thank you so much for coming.”
Jared was standing behind her and gave a small wave, “Hey, Marn.” He looked exactly like the video. We exchanged a brief hug. I’m not sure if everyone else over-analyzes every single social interaction they’re in, but I was very cognizant of not letting that hug linger. A professional hug. Jenny chimed in.
“I love your videos!” Jenny’s enthusiasm seemed genuine. “After uh, all this started happening, I went deep down the YouTube rabbit hole. There’s a lot of stuff out there, but your videos made me feel sane.”
“Yeah, I came into the room and saw you on the TV. I was like, whoa, I dated her in college!” Jared added.
“I didn’t believe him at first, but he had proof!” Jenny gave him a playful smack on the arm.
“Evidence is important.”
Jenny laughed at Jared’s terrible cop joke. I could see why he liked her, Jenny’s sunny disposition was infectious. In comparison, Jared and I were two people with very dry senses of humour.
We exchanged pleasantries, and the couple helped me bring my bags into the guest room. Jared gave me something of a tour of the home. Having studied their surveillance footage in detail, I had no issue navigating their home. It was easy to forget I hadn’t been here before. When we got to the kitchen, I made a mental note of the ceiling. Adorned with several wooden beams, perfect for stringing up wires to say, make a spoon dance in the air. Interesting.
Walking down the hallway to the master bedroom, and nursery, Jared pointed out a small blind spot in the cameras. I made a note to place one of my cameras there to cover that gap. While the knocks occurred in different locations each night, the main hallway was where the most activity occurred. I decided that this would be a good spot for my thermal camera, a piece of equipment I’ve owned for several years but never had a good excuse to use. According to the lore, ghosts can affect temperature. I guess we’ll see.
As Jared showed me the nursery, he explained that Simon would be staying at his sister-in-laws for the foreseeable future. I had hoped to take a look at his bruises, but this didn’t feel like the time to mention Simon’s injuries, or the Shadow Man. Jenny’s expression darkened, and she brought it up without my prompting.
“After Jared showed me…” her voice quavered. She paused before collecting herself. “...The video, I didn’t feel safe having him here any more. We visit him every day.”
Jenny’s eyes welled up, and she excused herself. Left alone with Jared for the first time, there was an awkward pause. Wanting to avoid awkwardness at all costs, I asked Jared if he could do me a favour: Stand where the Shadow Man stood, and imitate his movements. For scale, I told him, and that was true. If Jared’s measurements match the Shadow Man, there’s a good chance he faked the footage, either with CGI or some sort of lighting rig. Jared seemed surprised, but he complied. I think he understood where I was going with this.
I grappled with my emotions versus my logic. On one hand, this ‘ghost’ should have a rational explanation, and the most rational explanation was that this was a hoax. On the other hand, Jared’s wife is crying because she doesn’t feel like her child is safe in her home. If this is a prank, to what end? My relationship with Jared ended amicably. Hell, he was the one who ended it. It didn’t make sense. None of it did.
After playing Shadow Man charades, I inquired about Jared’s security system. I wanted to see how he viewed surveillance footage. Jared darted into the bedroom and grabbed his laptop, a Macbook that was several years old. His security cameras uploaded over wi-fi to the cloud, and he was able to access that footage via an app. This app deletes the videos after a period of time, so Jared had been downloading them onto his computer. I noted he had several external hard drives, video files take up a lot of space so this made sense. I asked if I could borrow his laptop for a moment.
“Sure, do whatever you want.” Jared handed me the laptop, which I took into the guest bedroom where I was staying. I took this opportunity to see if his computer had any visual effects, or video editing apps. All he had was iMovie, not a particularly powerful option.
I spent a few hours reviewing the laptop, and then editing some B-roll footage I had shot earlier on my own computer. Jared knocked on the door. I looked up to see him in full police gear, and he let me know he was going to work. After Jared left, Jenny poked her head in the doorway and asked if I’d like to go out for dinner tonight, just the two of us. I agreed. All I had eaten was sickening ferry-food for breakfast, and Jenny seemed nice enough.

The Dinner

Jenny drove us to this amazing little Italian restaurant, and we had a fantastic time! She pushed many appetisers on me (so much bread), and the main course was delicious. I had linguine pescatora, and Jenny had gnocchi. Jenny had one glass, and I had the rest of the wine bottle. The dinner was a little awkward at first, but by the end of the night we felt like old friends. For Jenny’s sake, I won’t discuss every single thing she told me, but here are the relevant bits:
I previously described Jenny as a seamstress. While that is true, it’s under-selling what she does. Jenny knows some specific, technical dress-making techniques. She has her own business, targeted towards Renaissance Fairs and cosplayers. Her work eventually attracted the attention of Hollywood productions. Now she makes beautiful clothing for feature films (period pieces), and high-end clients. I wondered how she and Jared could afford their beautiful home, she appears to be the reason.
Jared and Jenny met a little over 3 years ago. Jared was a few years out of the academy, and got stationed in their small town. By coincidence, he had moved into her apartment building. They struck up a conversation one day when Jared offered to help her haul several bags of dresses to her car. She liked him, and asked him out for coffee. They married two years later, and she got pregnant with Simon around that time.
At one point later in the evening, we got onto the subject of ghosts. Jenny’s always been a spiritual person, her office is full of crystals, and she loves astrology. I also learned she believes she saw a ghost as a child. As she describes it, she was in bed and a bearded old man in a white three-piece suit appeared in the room. He loomed over her with an intense stare, and they locked eyes for a long time. Jenny rolled to her side, and when she looked back he was gone. I asked if she ever saw the man again, and she answered no. I spoke to her about the phenomena of sleep paralysis, and she conceded that was possible. I’m not sure if she believed that or not. Regardless, I could see myself being good friends with Jenny.

Night One

We had such a lovely time at dinner, my reason for visiting had all but slipped my mind. It wasn’t until our drive home that I realised we were heading back to (for all intents and purposes) a haunted house. A pit began to form in my stomach as we pulled into the driveway. At night, the house took on an eerie presence, and the surrounding woods had me feeling like something could leap out at me at any moment. Jenny must have been feeling the same way, as we hurried into the house. Jared still wasn’t back yet, as he worked 12 hour shifts.
I asked Jenny if she wanted to help me set up some of my equipment before bed, and her expression darkened. She declined. She opened up a drawer and pulled out a massive bag of earplugs, offering me some. This seems to be her solution to the nightly knocking sounds. I took some earplugs, though I forgot them on the counter. I got to work setting up my cameras and audio recording devices. I placed one of my cameras to cover the blind spot Jared showed me, and set the thermal camera in the main hallway. I was more than a little tipsy, but I managed to get the job done. After triple-checking that everything was recording, I shuffled back to the guest bedroom to sleep. It was around 10:30 pm, and I was dead tired, but knowing why I was there, I set an alarm for 3:15 am, hoping to be awake for the knocks.
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
I shut the alarm off, and groaned. I barely registered falling asleep. It was one of those sleeps where it feels like you’ve blinked, and all of a sudden it’s several hours later. Awful. I grabbed my phone, pulled myself out of bed, and left my room. I checked the time, 3:20 am. I shuffled into the main hallway, and waited. The minutes felt like an eternity as I stood around, waiting for a noise. It was dead quiet. Impatient, I found myself checking my phone. While waiting for a ghostly knocking. Something must be wrong with my brain. As my phone’s clock read 3:23, I put my phone away and listened.
I couldn’t hear any footfalls, or doors opening. No strange noises from the plumbing or AC units. As I lingered in the silence, I wondered if this would be the night when the noises stopped. Did I scare the ghost away?
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG ! BANG!
I screamed, startled by the incredible volume of noise that surrounded me. It felt like the banging was right beside my head, as if the very walls were screaming at me. Then it started again.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG ! BANG!
I whirled around, searching for a source to this thunderous sound. No such source was obvious to me. Jared came out of the bedroom in his pyjamas, and stared at me for a moment. As if to say, ‘Told you so’, but no lecture came. If anything, he looked sad. Disheartened that this horrible noise was real, not some sort of shared hallucination. He took a step towards me.
“Oh my god…” Was all that came out of my mouth.
“Let’s talk in the morning.” Jared said, shivering a little before heading back to bed. It’s clear he's used to this, but my heart was pounding out of my chest. After a pause, I followed suit, and returned to the guest bedroom. It took a long time to fall back asleep after that. I wished I took Jenny up on her offer of earplugs.

Reviewing the Evidence

I awoke around 8:30 to a gentle knock on my door, and an offer I couldn’t refuse.
“There’s fresh coffee, if you want some.” Jenny announced. God yes.
As I sat down for coffee, nectar of the gods, I couldn’t help but focus on the empty high chair at the kitchen table. There wasn’t much conversation in the morning, but Jenny did tell me she was spending the day at her sister’s with Simon. Later Jared would go there after work to spend the night with him. My heart hurts for them. As Jenny left, Jared encouraged me to check my footage from last night. He did the same with his security system.
I scrubbed through my three audio recordings. The ear-shattering knocks were definitely coming from the main hallway. I marked down where I was standing on my sound map. I checked my blind spot camera, and scrubbed through the night’s events. Nothing of note until I enter the hallway at 3:20, stare at my phone and then jump into the air at the sound of the knocks. As I finished up with this, Jared came into the room. He told me there wasn’t anything noteworthy on his cameras, just the knocks, but he would send me the footage to review. He was about to leave the room, when I asked him if he wanted to stick around to watch the thermal camera footage with me. I opened up the video file.
The thermal camera was pointing straight down the main hallway, now visible in various shades of orange, and purple. The walls were brighter than the doorways, and the lights appeared brightest. I scrubbed through the hours of footage. It captured Jared going into the bedroom around 12:35 am, having finished work at midnight. As the timestamp hits 3:20, I come into frame, my skin orange, and my hair and clothes closer to purple. I watch myself pull out my phone, and I shoot an awkward smile at Jared, who seems unphased. At 3:23, right before the knocking sound, a dark blue spot appears on the floor in front of me.
The dark blue mass starts rising, getting taller and taller until it looms over me. The deep blue shape becomes humanoid.
“What the fuck?” Jared interjects over my shoulder.
At exactly 3:24, I jump at the knocks, and the man-shape follows my movement. It doesn’t have a face, but I can tell that it’s… staring at me. In the video, Jared comes out of the bedroom. The blue mass is still in front of him, but you can see the blue colour turn closer to purple as Jared stands behind it.
As Jared takes a step forward, he walks right through the mass. He shivers, affected by the temperature difference, before he walks back into the room. As I exit the hallway, the mass ‘looks’ at me, its’ featureless head tilting in my direction.
It just stands there. I scrub forward several hours. A distinct man shape, motionless. It’s not until 6 am, when Jenny comes out of the bedroom, that the figure drops back down into the floor. The temperature readings become normal again. The video ends a few hours later, when I come to collect the camera’s memory card.
Jared and I stared at each other for a moment. He collected himself.
“So, in your professional opinion, what, uh… what the hell was that?”
“In my professional opinion?” He nodded.
“Jared,” I stated. “Your house is fucking haunted.”

His bellows rang out along the cold walls of the pit Gavin Magnus was thrown down. He felt the strength of terminal velocity and prayed to whoever was looking over him that there was someone to scrape him off of the ground…when he hit it. And then, his broad shoulders hit something. A mattress. Granted, it was damp, but there was a pile of soft mattresses in a skip. Once his vision had returned and the violent migraine had subsided, he sat up. He looked up the great pit he had fallen down. He didn’t even see any light at the top. It must’ve been minutes he was falling.
Gavin attempted to shift the mattresses to allow him to get out, but under the thick layer of dust and mould was a human skeleton, degrading and forgotten. He stumbled out of the skip in shock, before slowly uncovering about a dozen others. They had no Cortex, but one. This one had but scraps of flesh left on their head. Skin was a dream away. It was experimental and had died a long time ago. They had an Organisation ID tag, but it was unreadable. Gavin silently nodded; they must have been tricked by Oliver. He then turned away in sorrow, before gazing at a peculiar sight.
A partly-dismantled mechanical robot sat at a desk. Another chair was opposite. It had ‘S I T’ carved into the seat. Gavin sat. The robot, all gunked up, salvaged for any useful stuff and its chest cavity open - revealing a large amount of smashed glass - began creaking to life. Its purple metal eyepatch beckoned.
“REBOOTING. BE ADVISED, SUIT IS ON HEAVILY REDUCED POWER. COMBUSTING..” the robot then started clanking as something was flattering about in its head. Then, there was a great punch of fire emerging from the slits in the eyepatch. The flames licked the air, almost beckoning Gavin to hell. It was burning coal. “COMBUSTION ACTIVE. POWER STABILISING TEMPORARILY. ESTIMATED TIME OF NONFUNCTION: 9 MINUTES.”
“LIFEFORM CLASS 8 NOT FOUND. CONTINUING FROM MEMORY…” It then sat upright, with a jaunty expression, despite the air being filled with carbon and death and the room itself looking bloody and beaten.
“Hello there, Gavin! It’s me, Oliver! And I’m here to give you the chance of a lifetime!”
“What the fuck…?” Was this some kind of sick joke? What was this automaton down here in the abyss?
“You don’t see me, but I see you, darling. I’m here to revisit my glory days as a grand old interviewer!”
“You what?” Gavin had no clue about any of this interview stuff. “I’m not doing no interview.”
“Alright. Then you can starve down there. Or I’ll send a few people down there for you to devour. By the by, how are you alive?”
“Some mattresses down here.”
“I wonder who did that…Liam! LIAAAAMM! LLLLLIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAMMMMMM! Ah, there you are. Where did you put our test Comfort Ensurers?…….no, you don’t do that. You incinerate them. It’s your first day in this position, so just…just be more careful. Okay, run along. Boss has someone to talk to. Sorry about that, anyway-“
“You can’t just keep me down here! That’s not right! You evil motherfucker!”
“That really hurt my feelings, Gavin. And here I was, giving you an escape elevator to-“
“OKAY, I’M SORRY! JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE, NOW!”
“…are you done interrupting me?”
“..yes.”
“Thank you. Right, the interview!” The robot then gave a power warning to which Oliver screamed, “SHUT UP!” in agony. He then took deep metallic breaths and consoled himself. “An interview. Then you can come find me or whatever.”
Gavin just nodded his head, camouflaging his disdain for this rampant air-polluting maniac. “Lovely. Right, first question! What do you think of my company’s leniency?”
“I guess it’s alright?” There was the sound of a scratching pencil on paper.
“Al….right. Right, next question! How would you rate our hospitality rate?”
“Oh yeah, definitely a 10. I love it here.” It was only after he heard more writing that he stopped Oliver’s tone-deafness. “No, stop! I hate it here but I guess its alright. Alright?”
“O-kay. Next question..how fast can you dodge?” A voice called from the dark.
“Who’s that?”

Basically I was going to sleep a couple of nights ago and I envisioned this girl who I knew was my wife and she’s incredibly hot. Blond, shoulder length hair, piercing blue eyes, very white and soft skin (due to Germanic origins), shorter than me and incredibly cute. Since then I started hugging my pillow pretending it is someone again. I know I’m crazy and probably borderline schizophrenic, but it’s comforting having “someone” to fall asleep with

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: White
• Residence: Indiana
• Income Bracket: AGI around 160k
• Type of School: Large Public school (~3000)
• Hooks: none

Intended Major(s): Chemistry or Molecular Biology
Academics

• GPA (UW/W): 3.98 / 4.48
• Rank (or percentile): Im 1/17 Summa Cum Laude in my class, so at least top 5%
• # of Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 8 honors classes, 11 APs
• Senior Year Course Load: Orchestra, AP Phys C Mech, AP USGov, APMicro Econ, APLatin, Honors Organic Biochem, AP Calc BC

Standardized Testing

• SAT I: 1540 (750RW, 790M)
• AP/IB: APHug (5), APLit (5), APChem (5), APUSH (4), APLang (4), APBio (5).

Extracurriculars/Activities
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.

1. Science Olympiad, team captain since freshman year. 60+ medals from invitationals/regionals/state
2. Symphony Orchestra, Cello Section Leader since sophomore year. 20 gold medals from festivals for solos I performed.
3. Academic Superbowl, Science + Math team captain since jr year. Numerous 1st place finishes, qualified for state last year with highest score in the state but was unable to attend :(.
4. Latin Club. Was club treasurer last year and put together a fundraiser that raised $750 and 17 blankets for the local animal shelter
5. Science Olympiad tutor. As captain, I started a program where high school science olympiad members go to our middle school and help tutor the middle schoolers in their events.
6. Certamen (Latin-based, jeopardy style competition). Team captain since freshman year. 6 1st place finishes across the state plus other podium finishes.
7. Soccer Referee. I referee U10 and under games in the fall and summer and I help teach the young ones how to play since they're literally like 5 y/o sometimes LOL.
8. National Honors Society. Meh, just a member and participate in the service projects.
9. National LATIN Honors Society. Same as NHS.

Awards/Honors
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. National Latin Exam. Maxima Cum Laude Medals (awarded in 2021 and 2022)
2. National Merit Finalist (though was just a semifinalist when apps were submitted)
3. AP Scholar with Distinction
4. High Honor Roll (9-12 grade)
5. NHS member (meh i know)

Letters of Recommendation
LoR 1: AP Lang teacher in 11th grade, and academic superbowl coach. Pretty close and he's a really great and funny writer. Probably 8/10
LoR 2: Science Olympiad Coach. I helped him rebuild the team after COVID and I helped bring the team from 9 to 23 members throughout HS. Not sure how good of a writer he is, but probably a 9/10.
LoR 3: Freshman Year Chem teacher, I student Aided for her my sophomore and senior year, and I have her for OBC this year. She LOVES me and calls me a genius regularly. Again, not sure how good of a writer she is, but ngl idk how much she reallyyyy knows about me. 7/10.
Interviews

• Princeton: In person and went great. I got to show her pictures of my science olympiad stuff and she was really impressed. She ended the interview by saying how happy I would be at princeton. 10/10
• Dartmouth: My first virtual interview. I didnt connect with this guy as well, but I still got to let my personality shine and we had a few laughs. 7/10
• MIT: Another in person interview. Very similar to my Princeton interview but not quite as good. 8/10
• Harvard: Virtual Interview. The guy was really bland and dry. I tried my best to be charismatic but the dude was a stone wall. 6/10.
• Northwestern: Virtual again. Amazing. Lots of laughing and he was genuinely really interested in my ECs and hobbies. He even talked a bit of shit about the girl he interviewed before me. 11/10

Essays
Overall I think my essays were good, with some great ones. My Common App essay focused around my journey as a leader in science olympiad and how I reformed the team from practically nothing, to a competitive team. I made it unique by tying in my childhood stuffed animal and made sure he was a relevant part to the story. 9/10 for common app essay, 7/10 overall on supps.
Decisions
Acceptances:

• Purdue into the honors college as a chem major (EA)
• IU, direct admit to chemistry

Waitlists:

• Boston University (RD)
• New York University (RD)
• Vanderbilt (RD)

Rejections:

• MIT (RD)
• Northwestern (RD)
• WashU (RD)

Additional Information:
Still waiting on Princeton (was deferred in SCEA), Yale, Columbia, Harvard, and Dartmouth.
It's rough out here.

Unknown Date, Unknown location
*Unknown*
The spacecraft were traveling at no faster than eighteen and three-quarters percent of the speed of light and were no bigger than several hundred meters in length. What little crew they had were all put under cryostasis and all systems were completely shut down, producing no more than a few dozen watts of waste heat for the entire fleet in total, rendering the vehicles almost invisible to anyone, if there were anyone, who was not looking hard enough.
The spacecraft continued on their journey of millennia, sent by their creators with a less-than-benevolent intent.
Standard Year 3275, Day 321, V2 Draconis, Control Center of Laser Highway Station 7G-S
*Sensors and Trajectory Officer Xyvan Karvyk*
Nu Draconis, a binary star system consisting of V1 Draconis and V2 Draconis, was probably the most boring system owned by humanity, having been colonized only recently almost a century ago. The system was barely populated even for its immense volume. It was very unlike Sol, which Xyvan Karvyk departed from, more than 500 years ago, on a ship zipping by at a leisurely twenty percent the speed of light, due to the lack of a laser deceleration system on the then untouched system, save for a few probes sent for fly-bys throughout the centuries.
If Xyvan remembered correctly, the population back on Sol was so high that there were millions of deaths every few seconds. Despite that, death itself, was not problem most folks had to deal with nowadays. Nu Draconis itself was very sparse, with a population of a few billion at most, though this was increasing extremely rapidly and steadily due to incoming immigration from some of the more developed systems humanity has already colonized, though the term “humanity” here is disputed, because this includes uploaded minds, true AI, and genetically engineered humans and animals…
Xyvan himself was a product of a bygone era. He was a baseline human, unmodified by the countless advancements that had been made in the centuries since he was born. It was a rare sight these days to see someone like him, who looked like they could have walked straight out of a history book. While gene editing had become a ubiquitous technology, allowing individuals to modify their genetic code to enhance their physical and mental capabilities, Xyvan had chosen to eschew these enhancements in favor of maintaining his original genetic makeup.
Pick any two people randomly from even the same star system and they would look as alien to each other as an actual hypothetical alien. Some have artificial enhancements, like bionic limbs and computer brains, making them essentially cyborgs. There are also those with animal DNA spliced into their own, resulting in strange new forms of life. And then there are those with completely artificial bodies, where their consciousness is uploaded into a machine. It's even possible for one person to exist in multiple copies or clones. The possibilities are endless, and the distinction between humans and non-human is now almost non-existent.
Xyvan, on the other hand, decided that he wasn’t gonna have any of them newfangled robot arms and computer brains so he decided to stick with his original layout, though with millions of nanomachines loaded inside his bloodstream, keeping him well-maintained and alive, possibly for millennia.
The 7G-S, nicknamed “The Golden Sunbeam” affectionately by its occupants, was of the standard dual-use medium-sized O’Neill cylinder and laser station variety designed to both keep areas traveled by spacecraft traveling at high fractions of the speed of light clear of dangerous debris and to either decelerate or accelerate those spacecraft to those speeds.
Most people on the station chose to remain baseline humans, though some opted for cybernetic enhancements to improve their physical abilities or to supplement their jobs. The residents all came together to Nu Draconis and were part of an interstellar colonization fleet, looking to escape Sol’s relatively cramped conditions, where they felt that they were no longer needed there. As much as they would not like to admit it, the baselines knew that they were no match for the other human variants. The uploaded minds could process information at lightning speeds, the AIs could analyze data with unparalleled precision, and the genetically-engineered humans and animals possessed physical and cognitive abilities that far surpassed their own.
So, they had set forth, on a centuries-long trip to a pristine star system untouched by anything intelligent, so that they’d be of use once again. At least that was the plan anyway. The company that had funded the colonization mission promised not to send anyone else with them for a few millennia, in exchange for developing the system. However, this promise did not stop other non-baselines from coming in much sooner, as they were able to fund their fleets and make their way to Nu Draconis by themselves. Though on the bright side, Nu Draconis is still very undeveloped as a system, especially compared to the inner-volume systems like Alpha Centauri and 40 Eridani, and may take several more millennia to catch up to them.
Xyvan sank into the plush, leather-like cushions of his chair, savoring the way they molded to his body. As he reclined further and further back, the chair let out a soft, high-pitched chirp of protest. He could feel the barely imperceptible vibration of the 1G spin-gravity that kept him comfortably grounded. The faint smell of recycled air and sterilized surfaces filled his nostrils, and the soft glow of the control panels cast a warm light on his face. His actual residence was on the 0.2G spin-gravity level of The Golden Sunbeam, which he complained that he felt too weightless at lower gravities, having grown up on Earth, where he was used to the constant pull of its gravity. Since leaving, he had been stationed on different planets and space stations with varying levels of gravity. While he could adjust to lower gravities after a while, it never felt quite right to him, and he always longed to return to the familiar 1G of Earth. He’d rather spend his time at his workplace, rather than at his residential room because it is at the 1G level, in addition to the Coriolis effect being significantly lesser this far out from the center of spin.
“Heads up, dirtballer,” his colleague Astrogation Officer Fejka Azmah said, jolting Xyvan out of his daydreaming.
“Dirtballer? Didn’t ya come from Mars yerself eh, dustballer,” Xyvan retorted.
“Umm…akshually, I grew up in a rotating drum AROUND Mars, not on it”, Fejka replied half-jokingly, pushing up her glasses for effect, the servos in her arms whirring softly.
“Why’d’ya even have those, yer basically a robot now,” Xyvan remarked.
“Well apparently, glasses are the ‘in thing’ in Sol right now, or at least a century ago, considering light lag. Also, I believe the correct term nowadays is ‘Cybernetically Enhanced Biological Lifeforms’,” Fejka said, smirking a bit.
“Huh? What is ya even talkin’ about? Anyhoo, why the hell is starin’ at screens for ‘ours on end even a job? What’d I even see ‘ere? Hell, these ships and trash floatin’ in space follow a ballistic trajectory, and ‘eir paths should be predictable out for light years, so why can’t the computer just do it itself?” Xyvan grumbled, looking begrudgingly at the screens showing the trajectories of various incoming and outgoing ships and numerous debris.
“Beats me. I guess that these jobs give people like us an excuse to be employed,” Fejka said. “I mean, it's not like anything exciting happens around here. Those VR-addicted slackers might have the right idea, but I’d rather be doing something productive. That being said, I totally agree. We just babysit these silly interstellar ships that come in, which is fine, but it's not exactly thrilling work,”
“True reality,” Xyvan said, nodding. “We're basically glorified security guards for ‘em ships. What’s worse is that we ain’t seeing any of ‘em interstellars passin’ by for years. Even the company stopped sendin’ us extra fusion fuel shipments for the laser, so even the laser’s useless for vaporizin’ debris. Kinda ironic, don’t ya think? ‘Cause we call this spinnin’ bucket the ‘The Golden Sunbeam’, yet the sunbeam’s never gettin’ any use,”
“Yeah, it's pretty disappointing,” Fejka agreed. “But hey, speaking of upgrades, when are you going to get around to it? We might as well make the most of our time here,”
“Upgrade? Um, yuck, no thanks! I’d like to keep me arms and guts until the Iron Star era, thank you. Kinda a waste of perfectly good limbs eh? There’s a reason why I’m in this bucket and not back in Sol!” Xyvan replied in disgust, sticking his tongue out for comical effect.
Xyvan continued, “Heck, ain’t those robo-eyes of yers only good for watching movies and shows all day. Ya sure ye ain’t a VR-addicted slacker yerself?”
Fejka laughed. “Well, you got me there. Though, I still look at the console every so often, so at least it’s considered as ‘working’. Anyway, have you heard that some guy on Epsilon Eridani apparently discovered a ‘cut and paste’ version of mind uploading, instead of simply creating a digital clone?”
“Yer considerin’ to do that?”
“Nah, it’s not worth the risk,” Fejka said with a shrug. “For all we know, it actually kills the user’s original consciousness in the process and replaces it with a digital imposter, with all the memories of the original, thinking that it is the original,”
Xyvan nodded in agreement “Yeah. To an outsider, it ain’t really makin’ a difference, but to the original…Well, it’s safe to say that the original is no longer with us,”
As they continued their conversation, the alarm on Xyvan's station suddenly blared, and red lights filled the room. Both of them jumped up from their seats and rushed over to the screen.
“Ughh…what is it now? Better not be some delivery freighter accidentally shining their thrusters directly at us again” Fejka murmured in annoyance.
“Huh? That's weird. There ain't supposed to be anyone passin’ round these parts—but looksy, a few dozen drive plumes just happened to appear out of nowhere,” Xyvan said, pointing to the infrared view of several blobs on the screen.
“They're decelerating hard too, 7Gs,” Fejka pointed out.
“Ain't that supposed to be rather soft for ya, Fejka? Anyhoo, why are they usin’ their thrusters to decelerate from that velocity, when the system already has lasers to do that for 'em?”
“I only got my limbs and eyes replaced!—Really wouldn't wanna be inside those ships for long. Back to the point, well, they DID seem to want to hide in the first place. Also, their current trajectory puts them on a relatively close fly-by,”
*Captain of 7G-S, Vong Zan’ir*
“Oh come on, why now‽ Why the fuck can’t it happen later!” Vong Zan’ir grumbled irritably, disturbed from his sleep by blaring sirens to a crimson-lit room.
“Hell, I should replace these shitty alarms with some Zen meditation chants,” Zan’ir snarled under his breath as he was putting on his clothing while cursing up a storm, the remaining remnants of sleep washing away as he injected himself with an anti-fatigue stimulant. Since he was a baseline human like the rest of the crew on The Golden Sunbeam, he was still entitled to some damn sleep.
Being the captain of The Golden Sunbeam, his living quarters were right next to the control center, should he be needed on short notice. Zan’ir dragged himself to the control center next door and entered.
“Captain Vong on deck!”, an officer announced.
Everyone in the room stood up and bowed.
“Damnit! What in the hell is happening‽” Zan’ir asked, to no one in particular.
“Cap’n, I think somebody just solved stealth in space,” Officer Xyvan Karvyk answered.
“Holy shit, really? That’s just what we needed today,” Zan’ir replied, rolling his eyes. He strode towards the sensors and navigation stations, and looked at the displays.
“Wha—what the absolute fuck is this?”
Displayed on the screen were the current positions of the ships and their calculated future trajectories. Each ship staggered from each other at varying distances, with some having a separation as far as a few light-seconds.
Zan'ir opened a telescopic view of the nearest spacecraft, located a few light-hours away. A new window on the screen appeared, depicting a view of the nearest spacecraft, displaying an infrared image of it. The drive plume appeared as an extremely bright steep cone, shaded in various hues of yellowish-white, indicating its intense heat. The actual spacecraft was a barely visible dot on top of the long exhaust stretching thousands of kilometers. Zan'ir couldn't help but notice that it resembled a pencil tip, reminiscent of the days when people used to write manually on paper.
Zan’ir further increased the magnification to reveal more details. The ship itself looked like a long needle, except for what seemed to be numerous glowing patches and a pair of huge glowing wings sticking out of its smooth surface. “Radiators”, Zan’ir said out loud. “Looks like they can’t wish away the laws of thermodynamics after all, even though they could somehow manage to sneak past the sensors from whatever place they come from, hmm?” Officer Fejka Azmah commented.
“What in the flaming hell is this crap? Are these jokers lost on their way to a fucking picnic‽ Nobody’s due to drop by for years!”, Zan'ir asked, spit flying everywhere, bewildered at the sight.
“Dunno, cap’n, all we were just here doin’ our thing then suddenly all of these ships appeared in the infrared. What’s funnier is that the LIDAR can’t even detect them on all of the frequencies, even though their RCS should’ve been visible to us at that range and beyond. Though if we used the main laser, we’d see them better,” Xyvan replied.
“Well, since they’ve revealed themselves, they can’t do the same trick they used to hide again,” Fejka mused.
Xyvan nodded in agreement. “Yup, it's the old ‘There ain’t no stealth in space’ problem. Even if they shut off their heat-producin' activities, we already know their velocity, so it's easy enough to extrapolate their current location. Changing direction would require another burn, and that's gonna produce heat, so they're screwed,”
“Well, the fact that they showed up suddenly without a trajectory plan being sent means this is already solid ground for us to blow them up—”
“Captain! We’ve got a message from DC-23-G!”, shouted Communications Officer Kallax Eket.
“DC? Oh, right, Dense Cloud Inc.—the uploaded minds,” Zan’ir sneered, rolling his eyes. “Oh joy. Our robotic overlords have graced us with their presence. What do they want?”
“Seems like they just sent the bogeys a message—it’s gonna take a while to arrive and any replies would similarly take a while to come back due to light lag, anyway, they asked the ‘stealth’ ships what they are doing, and what their purpose is—so, we don’t really need to do anything, for now. Also, they told us to extrapolate the direction they came from?”
Zan’ir groaned. “What a bunch of smug pricks. They don't trust us baselines to make the right decisions, so they send us a message to tell us to find out what the hell these jackasses are doing,” Zan'ir scoffed, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Yeah…the recipients’ list shows that the message is addressed to nearby baseline-human controlled ships and stations,” Kallax said.
"Typical. Bet they're just tickled pink that they get to sit back and watch us scramble to solve this mess," Zan’ir sighed. “Anyway, let’s backtrack their origins,”
“Already did it. Captain, but you probably need to wait a while, the computer’s crunching trying to account for thousands of years of stellar drift, because as of now, it basically traces to the void,” Fejka replied.
“Ah, the joys of interstellar travel. It's like waiting for a snail to crawl across the desert, only slower,” Zan'ir grumbled.
After several dozen seconds of loading, it was ready. Zan’ir took a look at the display and traced the stealth fleet’s velocity line from their current location to their origin. “Wait, that can’t be right…” Zan’ir took a look at the display again. It didn’t change. The label on top of the star system showed “V Puppis”.
“V Puppis? That’s hundreds of light-years away! A round trip to and from there at their velocity would literally take a longer time than we had spaceflight—” Zan’ir eyes widened as he began to put the pieces together.
“Aww…they noticed this first though we’re the nearest and the first to see this?” Xyvan said, finally breaking the silence. “Y’know, due to light lag, those DC guys are what, a light minute further away from the stealth bogeys?”
“Well, that’s the silicon shitheads for you. Fuckers could just hog like a few hundred times more of the electricity and suddenly time slows down a shit ton for them,” Zan’ir said.
“I guess it turns out aliens actually exist, eh?” Fejka commented.
“Yeah, aliens exist, and they're about as subtle as a ferret down your pants. Looks like it's gonna be a fun ride from here on out, folks. Space is too fucking big,"
“What’s a ferret?” Fejka asked, confused.
“Have you been to a zoo bef—actually never mind, you are from Mars,” Sensing that Fejka was about to tell him about her past visits to O’neill cylinder habitat preserves around Mars, Zan’ir quickly changed the topic.
“Egghead!” Zan’ir called out to The Golden Sunbeam’s resident Science Officer, Saikor Qorvan, who somehow managed to sleep through the commotion earlier on. Though Slumber Officer is probably a more accurate description. Nowadays, with nothing to do, and no exploration and research being done, he simply sleeps in the office. Zan’ir, seeing that Saikor has not awoken from his deep sleep, sauntered over to Saikor’s station opposite Xyvan’s and Fejka’s, smirking as he took in the sight of the science officer snoring away.
“Wakey wakey, Egghead,” he drawled, shaking Saikor’s shoulder until the man groggily opened his eyes.
“Wha—what happened,” Saikor asked groggily, barely awake, the last remnants of sleep still holding his eyes shut.
“Wow, you sure are working hard. Someday you might actually get a promotion!” Zan’ir said sarcastically, clapping his hand on Saikor’s shoulder.
“Really?”
“Yeah, someday, millions of years later,” Zan'ir replied, with a wry smile on his face.
“Aww…”
Zan’ir didn’t have time for pity parties. He had more pressing concerns. “Anyway, any guesses on what the cloudbrains mean by ‘sending the bogies a message’? I assume they mean first contact protocols or some other shit. How are they gonna expect little green men from outer space to even understand our message protocols and reply back?”
“Uhh…” Saikor paused, thinking for a while to fully infer the situation. “Oh, first contact protocols! I studied that at university! Hmm, I think first you start with integers like 1, 2, 3, and so on, then universal constants, like Pi or prime numbers, or whatever. Something they can easily distinguish from natural nois—”
“Ah, yes, because that's exactly what aliens are looking for when they encounter an unknown civilization. A lesson in mathematics. Brilliant,” Zan'ir interrupted, shaking his head.
Saikor frowned. “You just told me to explain—”
“Yeah, I told you to explain, not to put me back to sleep! Try concision, Mr. Qorvan!”
“Umm…Start with a radio message by defining natural numbers and then universal constants. And throw in some radio trickery to display an image, if they analyzed the message correctly, so on and so forth until you can finally set up a basic language both parties can understand,”
Saikor, still confused about the whole ordeal, scratched his bald head. “So uh…what’s all this about with aliens and first contact?”
Zan’ir turned to Xyvan, who had been listening in on their conversation. “Tell him, Xyvan. Our poor Saikor here seemed to be sleeping in class and can’t seem to remember the lecture now,”
After a few minutes of Xyvan retelling the events in his slow drawl typical of those who grew up in the then-developing West Asian arcology on Earth back in the 22nd century, Saikor finally got the gist of it. “V Puppis? That system contains a binary pair orbiting a black hole, if I so remember correctly. Well, my guess is they’re dumping their waste heat into the black hole, so that explains the lack of infrared waste heat coming from there. Though that doesn’t really explain the lack of radio waves and other…”
As Saikor continued droning on, Xyvan, who was not listening and instead was going through the infrared images of the stealth ships, noticed something strange. “Hey cap’n, this seems weird,” Xyvan squinted at the display and replayed the stored footage of the stealthcraft for each of them.
Saikor stopped his droning and went over to Xyvan’s station, and so did Zan’ir, thankful that Saikor finally stopped talking.
“Huh. Right before the ships started their deceleration burn, there seemed to be a short heat spike happenin’...”
Saikor suggested, “Maybe they’re restarting the reactors?”
Xyvan shook his head. “Nay, the heat blobs appeared kilometers out from the ships, so it ain’t the ships themselves,”
“Captain!” Kallax called out suddenly. “This just in from DC-23-G again! This time it’s a general alert to watch for relativistic kinetic kill vehicles,”
Zan’ir snorted. “What? RKKVs? Wow, the first thing alien bastards do when they meet us is to shoot. How diplomatic of them,”
Kallax pressed a few buttons and then on the screen in front of Zan’ir a few hundred new velocity lines appeared. “I’ve just sent over the attached trajectories they’ve given out,” Kallax explained.
Suddenly, an alarm rang out. On the screen, hundreds of the kill vehicles changed their directions, as well as new velocity lines appeared.
“They’re course correcting! From the looks of it, sixteen of them will probably hit us!” Saikor exclaimed, a hint of panic evident in his voice.
“No shit, Einstein,” Zan’ir said. “Anything useful for the kill vehicles though?”
“They’re all stealth-coated cap’n. Can’t check the hull materials, though we can assume stuff based on their drive plumes…uhh—” Xyvan said, his characteristic slow drawl being replaced by a more urgent tone.
“From their exhaust velocity and acceleration, the computer thinks they all mass ‘round 350 kilos each…so if any of those hit somebody, at 18.75% c, half-em-vee squared, no relativistic calcs—” Xyvan paused to think. “—it‘d be an excruciatin’ 130 megaton-TNT’s worth of energy. Let’s just say it’d be a very bad day for those unfortunate enough to be in front of these things,” he said grimly.
Zan’ir could feel a headache forming in the deep recesses of his head.
I hate people who throw rocks, he thought.
``` A/N
Hello there, I hope you all enjoyed reading all that.
Feedback would be much appreciated ;)
BTW, do note that this is actually a chapter for a story idea I had originally, but along the way, I thought of another plan, which is something like this story, but modified such that the antagonists are your Soft-Scifi folks you normally see in space opera (so essentially, a Hard Sci-Fi vs Soft-Scifi story instead of purely HSF vs HSF as in the above chapter)
I honestly don't really plan to continue this story and instead go on to the newer idea, but if more people wanted, I might consider going on this route instead.
So yeah, I posted this because I wanted feedback on how I could improve the writing style, things to avoid, what I did great, etc, so that I could implement it in the other route. Also, damn, writing characters are a bit difficult, so I'd like some advice there too.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed writing this. Thank you, and have a great day! ```

Lithium is a hot commodity in the world of technology and clean energy, with demand expected to skyrocket in the coming years. But where does this valuable resource come from, and how do we find it?
Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that is found in small concentrations in the earth's crust. It is commonly extracted from brine pools and hard rock deposits, but the process of finding these deposits can be complex and expensive.
Lithium Exploration:

• Typically begins with geological surveys to identify areas that are likely to contain lithium deposits. Geologists use various techniques to study the earth's crust, including remote sensing technologies such as satellite imagery and aerial photography.
• Once potential deposits have been identified, the next step is to conduct more detailed exploration. This may involve drilling test wells to collect rock and mineral samples, as well as conducting geophysical surveys to measure the electrical conductivity and magnetic properties of the surrounding rocks.
• And if the exploration process indicates that a lithium deposit is economically viable, further studies will be conducted to assess the feasibility of extracting and processing the lithium. This can involve additional drilling, sampling, and testing, as well as economic analysis to determine the feasibility of mining the deposit.

Newfoundland Discovery Corp.($NEWD), a Canadian lithium exploration company, will soon start drilling at their promising project, the Sugaree Property in Hearst, Ontario, in the next few weeks once the weather allows for it. There is high speculation that this project will hit with lithium this year since it is strategically placed next to Brunswick Exploration's newly staked ground, Hearst, which is a lithium-rich mica zone. They have an exciting journey ahead of them as they will soon make significant progress with their main lithium exploration project.
Note: this is not financial advice please do your own research before investing

In a few weeks a lot of fans from all over the country/world will be in New York/New Jersey to see SUGA! Help an ARMY out and let them know about safety, how to get around, where to eat, BTS related things to do or places that BTS has been to before in NY and NJ or anything else that you think someone should know when they come visit!
I heard the concert capacity of these arenas is about 18000! Hmm x 3 dates…I am excited to see at least 54,000 recommendations from all of you 😅
Are you ARMY visiting NY or NJ and have questions about the city? Feel free to ask in the comments below!
I will be compiling suggestions in this post! Let's create our own bangtan guide to New York and New Jersey!

Places BTS has visited/food they ate

• Empire State building
• MET Museum. The pic is from the Cantor Roof Garden. It might be closed right now but you can always ask the staff if it’s open when you do visit.
• Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong
• Kat’z Deli - Tonight show with Jimmy Fallon skit. They have a photo in the restaurant but it’s in a separate room in the back.
• Grand Central Station - ‘On Performance’
• Times Square - BTS NYE Performance and j-hope
• Peter Luger Steakhouse - RM ate here
• Neue Galerie
• Dia Beacon - RM Live @ Dia Beacon
• Cortlandt Alley - ‘on the street’ MV
  • Hamilton Park, NJ - Lovely view of Manhattan skyline as seen here with BTS and RM

Shopping

• LINE Friends Store Times Square - For BT21 merch
• BTS Pop-up Store Opens April 27th! The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards on Level 3.
• Woodbury Premium Outlets (about an hour away from EWR or Manhattan)

Must see/do in NY/NJ

• MET Museum (Buy your ticket on-line to avoid long lines)
• Watch a Broadway or off Broadway musical
• Grab a NY slice of pizza or a hotdog from a cart
• Jog, run or walk around Central Park
• Go to Brooklyn Bridge
• Walk the Highline
• See the Statue of liberty

Where to eat

Please also see comments below for more recommendations!
Bagels/Deli/Breakfast

• Katz Deli
• Russ and Daughters
• Ess-a-Bagel
• Best Bagel & Coffee

Pizza
By the slice:

• NY Pizza Suprema
• Bleecker St. Pizza
• L’Industrie (Brooklyn)
• Best Pizza

Sit down

• Joe’s of Bleecker
• Lucali
• Prince St. Pizza - For square pizza with the lil pepperoni cups!

Asian Food

• Jongro
• Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong
• Gopchang story
• Mei Li Wah Bakery - Get some pork buns or egg yolk bao
• Momosan - Ramen
• Tonchin - Ramen
• The Real Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen (not to be confused with the other Kung Fu steamed buns) - Dimsum
• Wah Fung No.1 - Roast duck/pork/charsiu plates

Mexican Food/Tacos

• Los Tacos No.1 - Get the al pastor tacos! Right around the corner from the Line Friends Store. Tacos then shop!

Dessert/Pastries/Bakery/Cafe

• Levain - Chewy, giant cookies
• Bibble & Sip - coffee and cute desserts
• Daily Provisions - Breakfast sandwiches and grab a maple cruller. There are a few locations in NYC
• Dominique Ansel - The April Cronut is Blackberry Jam & Coconut Ganache. DKAs and madelines are also yummy!
• Venieros - Italian pastries, cheesecake
• Breads Bakery - Buy a babka or 2, pack in your bag, keeps for a week unrefrigerated!
• Magnolia Bakery for banana pudding. Across the one at rockefeller center is where Adels Famous Halal food cart parks. If you get the timing right you can have both lol

Boba/Bubble Milk Tea

• Xin Fu Tang - Brown sugar milk tead or some boba soft serve!
• Gong Cha - various locations
• Boba Guys - try the Hojicha with almond jelly!

Others

• Adels Halal - 49th and 6th . I think it opens at 6PM daily
• Halal Guys - various locations. White sauce is life.
• Chelsea Market - various food options

WeatheWhat to wear

• Weather in April - Highs of 66F/18C - Lows of 42F/5C for that time of year but please check closer to the dates
• Be prepared for light showers/can get chilly

Safety Tips

• Don't walk around alone at night especially in unfamiliar areas
• Please be vigilant of your surroundings whether alone or in a group

How to get around/ Driving Tips

• Mostly paid parking unless you get lucky with free street parking. Parking structures are really expensive in NY
• Check the signs on the curb to make sure you're allowed to park
• Take public transport when possible. Taxis and ubeLyft might be difficult to get after the concert
• PATH NJ - Rail connection between NY and NJ
• NJ Transit - Bus, Rail, River

Airports

• JFK
• LGA
• EWR (Newark, NJ Airport)

Misc

• Plan your itinerary, use Google maps/Apple Maps/Waze to calculate how long it will take you to get to your destination and check traffic conditions
• Make restaurant reservations ahead of time if possible to avoid long wait times
• If you're planning to visit a museum, make sure to check if they're open on the day you want to visit and book your tickets ahead!

<sup>I will be adding your suggestions to the list!</sup>

[Previous] < [First] > [Next]
​
---
USS Cambridge, 2057.12.4, Candidate #103-D.
---
​
A young human stares up at the sight before him. It is not grand in any sense of the word but it still is impressive, a ship built to fly among the stars before him as they both stand on an alien world. The ship itself is full of scars, pock marks, and massive dents in its steel armor plating. Standing out from all the damage were two plates missing entirely, revealing the hull proper beneath.
“Ever weld before Kevin?”
He looks back to see his superior, a well-built woman of tan skin and in a jumpsuit like his but dirty at the sleeves. She pulls along a toolbox and a cart with a drape over it.
“Yes but nothing to this scale and definitely on ship’s my whole life like you… Tara, was it?”
“Yes and it’s time to get used to it, White Hat.” she takes out a portable welder and places it on a toolbox. “New to the ship means you get the big plate to do.”
“Hell of a ritual you all have here.”
“Hey, the Cambridge is a good girl but she needs her maintenance like any other. Especially since we’re supposed to be away from friendly space for long spans of time." She pulls out her own welder and uses her foot to pull over the cart with two large panels of pre-made steel plates. “Especially after losing two plates to a meteoroid. Lucky us nothing else hit or we'd be freezing up till rescue.”
“God’s sake, is this really necessary every time we lose an armor panel?” Kevin asks.
“Doesn’t matter what god you pray to, if something smashes through the side of the ship, we die.” she slaps the unlit welder into Kevin’s gut, “So try not to damage the plating. It’s all we have- got none of those fancy shields or massive 3D printers. Now, stop slacking, start welding.”
“Just great… Is it always like this?” Kevin groans before sliding down the face-plate and lighting the torch.
Tara chuckles.
“Welcome to the reality of interstellar travel.”
​
---
Personal Virtual Recorder File #23-2-AT, 204 D.G, 5th of Gransus - Executive Officer Atai, Kata-Haslin
---
​
The lights of the tracka car flicker as I make my return to the bridge, timing it before the start of Speaker Luril’s sermon. I assume the lights mean that Aran’s work on connecting the derelict is done along with restoring power to the Kata-Haslin. Sometimes, he works miracles… or they found it easier than thought. I presume the latter since he also has a flair for dramatics at times.
Up an elevator and walking about a few halls, I eventually greet a puzzling sight. My deck officers all standing by the doors of the bridge. With them are two other officers aboard: Chief Crewvi Kure and Senior Medic Ijik. I assume they're here to report things to the Captain but, I find they are all arguing to my detriment. Can nothing be right today?
“What is going on? Why is everyone outside the bridge? Why are Chief Crewvi Kure and Senior Medical Officer Ijik here?” I announce as I walk up to the gathering at the door. All eyes and ears turn to me. Most are with relief, though among many, one pair of eyes is far angrier than the rest.
“Well, look who finally decided to appear. Finally here to do work you’re meant to do Atai?” Kure states to me directly, even stepping forward. He is one of few Aavi on this ship able to stand and look me in the eyes physically without straightening our normally bent legs.
“I have been down in the holds, observing what happened with my own eyes. I need to know what we were dealing with personally.” I explain to Kure who in return flicks his tail sharply in his anger.
“Well, while you’ve been off doing that, I’ve been addressing the crew as best I can because a whole group of people refuses to tell me what’s going on! I call the Captain and get drunken rambling. I come up here and I find out she’s locked herself in the bridge and all the deck officers are out here!”
“Why is everyone out here and not at their post exactly?” I ask the other officers of the bridge. Reni and Ikai both look away to a nearby sign with fake interest. Jukli looks up at the ceiling with his interest focusing on the ventilation. Only Zawi stood her ground to answer me.
“The Captain is inside. Threw us all out on her order then locked the door behind us. Turns out, Kure informed her of her mistake.” Zawi snorts in Kure’s direction, to which the Chief Crewvi growls, baring his teeth at her.
“Heel Kure.” is all I give him as a warning. He may snarl and whip his tail at me all he wants but the rest of my officers and crew are off-limits to such behavior.
“Like the Great Darkness I will.” he cuts back at me, getting ever closer to my snout. “You have a lot to speak for.”
“What exactly do you want me to say? We shunt into real-space and debris smashes into us. If it happened in proper Domain space, would you have the same complaint?”
“I wouldn’t because there wouldn’t be random derelicts floating around! We’d also definitely not be taking random shortcuts!”
“So you wish to tell the Captain herself that?” I say, blowing out some of Kure’s steam. The Chief Crewvi just looks me over for a moment.
“No, but I do wish to see the Captain before she passes out.” Ijik finally comments, reminding me of his existence. “Zawi called me up here for a reason.”
“Well, that was when we were still on the bridge but right now…” Zawi comments. I sigh and walk up to the door.
“Well, I can head inside. In an emergency, Executive Officers have the same power as a Captain - including overrides.” I reveal to the relief of everyone here, aside from Kure who continues to look sour.
“And then what? She’s drunk and in the way.” Reni queries me in earnest.
I take a moment to mull over what choice I can have. Shoving her into her quarters and locking her in is impossible. She can let herself out at any time. In no way will she willingly go away. Nothing in the lower decks will distract her, even a sermon.
“Simple. I will speak with the Captain and… we will have her jailed to get her out of the way; especially for her crime of stranding us here.” I look at everyone else with a fierce eye. They all seem wary of the idea. Even Kure has a face of disbelief and timidity. I can't blame them of course. While I relish the idea, I know it may come back to harm us in the future, but it must be done if the Captain will resort to actions like this.
After a period of silence producing an answer for me from all, I continue.
“Zawi, contact Command Officer Myki and Second Command Officer Rune. Have them bring a small security team to the bridge. Do not tell either why they’re needed. If either does ask, tell them I finally snapped and I’m choking Kure out with my tail.” I instruct succinctly to Zawi who slowly nods. A few chuckle at the notion of me choking out Kure - who I know has the same feeling for me.
“Heh, you dream it.” the one I deftly dislike responds aloud. I just shake my head as I pull up an access card on my armband. A usual model alike everyone else that stores cards, identification, and currency.
It takes little effort on my part to take out the override keeping the doors shut with that card. Being XO, even a Captain’s lockdown can be overridden by myself using a simple handprint on an inset panel beside the screen. It recognizes who I am and unlocks without delay. Handy that in emergencies the Executive Officer is given override access as well. Once done, I turn and look at everyone else.
“I remind you all to stay out here. I will speak with her alone and distract her. Once Myki and Rune arrive, you may all come inside with haste. No matter what you hear from within, do not rush in without them aside you.” I order them all deftly.
“...Do you seriously intend to detain her?” Reni finally remarks to me in shock, speaking up for everyone after all the complacency. The other officers look about before voicing quiet agreements, aside from Kure who seems to be indifferent to the idea. If there is one thing I agree with the thick fool, it's that the Captain is an absolute travesty.
I take a deep breath, my tail drags across the ground and I look away. It is tough to relay exactly what the Captain is culpable of to them, even if most before me bore witness to it.
“She is the one who locked the ship’s navigation computer into going this route. Thus, she is the one ultimately at fault. Also, action must be taken to prevent further damage by her hand, especially in the state she is in, considering she is in there doing who knows what.”
“What damage could she possibly do?” Kure asks, curious for once instead of being indignant.
“Chief Engineer Aran told me that if we activate the K-L System, the ship will rip apart. Right now, she is on the bridge. With all the controls. Drunk.”
Finally, Kure and Ijik began to look on in horror at the door separating us all from the bridge. They look to the rest of the officers who look a tad despondent and back away. I finally take my entrance onto the bridge to see what the Captain is up to. The door quietly shuts behind me, sealing me in with the Captain.
I look over the bridge in silence by myself. Well, not myself - myself and the drunk Captain who is currently sprawling herself over what should be her seat but with her current act, a seat she doesn’t deserve.
“Captain Orun. You know well you cannot drink on the bridge, especially on duty.” I tell her, fruitlessly. The woman refuses to ever listen to what regulations require - running to her tempo instead.
“Don… don’t tell me what I can an’ can’t do Atai… I know… I know… I’m the Captain and I say… i’s fine. I’s fine…” Captain Orun replies to my irritation. I hold back the urge to raise my voice or do something rash.
“It’s not fine, Captain. You know what happened, what you caused.”
“I… I caused nothin’ you… you… you liar…” the Captain does her best to stand from her chair but leans on it heavily to keep steady. She then points a shaky, pathetic finger at me. “Liar… Always been a liar an… an… trying… tryin’ to upstage me. ”
“Sir, you’ve been Captain for two Asavai years. I have been Executive Officer for the better part of fifteen. The Kate-Haslin is not just a ship to me but a home and the crew is my family. You only see us all as peons and idiots to use.”
“Tha’s cause rh, you’re all… all from…”
“The Kinsiv Domain while you are from the Capital Domain? Yes, that is correct. What does that change exactly? Does that make us lesser than you? Under the Equalist society regimen, we are all equal aside rank.”
“Well… Rrr, well… equal is for… fools… You’re all not equal jus’ idiots from shit colonies.”
I bristle hearing such a farce. It takes a considerable effort not to clock her for the indignance. Instead, I just clench my fist while my tail whips behind me, the best way to let out my anger for now. The last thing I need is the Security team walking in and seeing me knock out the Captain after all.
“Last I checked, the current Council leader is from a colony in the Neris Domain. Are they an idiot too?”
“Hah… got in on a fluke… she’... she’ll be out by the end of the year. Just a… a… rrhh… An idiot who doesn’ know what is what.”
“Yet we are now stranded by someone who is supposed to know better. An alien ship stuck in the bow. Do not try and pass off what happened as my fault either. You chose the route and you locked us out of the navigation computer.”
“...this route is supposed to be… clear.”
“Well, it wasn’t this time. Prior shortcuts worked but not this one. It was only a matter of time before we end up either harassed by pirates or a statistic our families will all grieve.” I continue to rant. The woman who dares be Captain angering me as she continues to excuse herself.
Captain Orun growls as she throws the bottle in her hand past me. It clatters pathetically on the ground behind me, her angry throw completely sloppy due to her state. One look at it then back to Orun to see her gripping the back of her seat with her claws - a sign of anger and hostility.
“...a sham. Yer’ a damn sham. Always tryin’ to… one up me.”
“You’re already Captain. What could I possibly
“You want my seat! My hat… I… I know you do!”
“And? I can wait. I have the next two hundred years to try.” I comment, trying to keep a calm act as my anger bubbles and froths. In truth, I know I qualify for Captain. Years of experience on the Kata-Haslin and various other ships.
“Wait… wait… to what? Stab me in the back… an’ throw me away!?”
“No, just waiting for you to eventually move on as other Captains have. Running this ship is not glorious nor rewarding. I know and you know it. You don’t want to be here, you’re just here because it’s all you can manage to get assigned to.”
“An’ you can only… can only get assigned to a crap old freighter like this.” she charges back. A hand begins to search through her jacket, if poorly.
“No, I can move on and up but I choose to stay.”
“Move… move… no… I should just get rid of you before you try an’ move me!” Orun suddenly shouts. I spy her sloppily pulling out her light knife from her jacket and I start taking steps back. As much as I want to pull out my sidearm or sword, I would prefer not to get into immense trouble.
“Captain, you have the wrong idea of what I-”
“SHUT UP! YOU LIAR!”
I barely have time to stop Orun nor reply as she rushes forward, knife in hand. The door then opens right as Orun’s light knife slashes me on the cheek. It stings and burns for a moment and I stumble back into my console. The Captain has lost her mind entirely to her ales.
“Captain Orun, Officer Atai, is everything- what the!?” I hear Command Officer Myki call out only to end in shock. The others rush in only to see me block the Captain from another slash at me. Her drunken movements are easy to counter but hard to predict. This one, I deflect up and the knife slashes into my hat.
“Stop right there Captain! Drop that knife now.”
My savior, Rune, runs up and grabs the Captain. The female Aavi struggles, yelling and screaming as the security officer wrangles with her. Myki walks up and disarms her, simply snatching the knife out of her hand before allowing Rune to start dragging her back.
“We got the word you and the Captain were having a heated exchange. I can see it got more than that.”
“One can say that…” is all I can muster as Captain Orun continues to scream and flail.
“You’re all… you’re all dead! I’ll… I’ll have you all thrown out by the Terna for this! Lemme’ go!”
“Not happening sir but you’ve broken one of the top codes - you’ve attacked your crew. That requires, at minimum, time in the brig until the next stopover so judgment can be called.” Myki relays to the furious Orun as she struggles with Rune.
The Second Command Officer eventually manages to shackle the Captain who falls to the floor pathetically. I watch with everyone else as she screams, wails, and writhes. She makes all sorts of promises and threats to try and get us to let her out but no one moves. No one dares even try. We all want this, dreaming of this day to come. No one here is about to thwart that.
Eventually, Myki summons a DG drone to carry the Captain away. He places her on its platform and it whirrs off to the lower decks. He then turns to me.
“Well, I’d like an explanation before anything else.” the black fur Aavi before me says as he sits behind him.
“She found out she got the ship stranded. Came here drunk, and locked everyone out. I got in, confronted her before she could get us all killed and then you all came as she tried to kill me for ‘insubordination’ and else.” I relay in a factly manner.
“Remarkable,” Myki says in a rather deadpan tone. “We will have to review the Bridge Recorder to see if that holds up but considering you’re bleeding…”
I just nod and gently wipe away some of the yellow blood trickling down my cheek.
“How about you skip the sermon Atai? Clean up, gel over the wound.” Ijik recommends. “Seems I will be skipping it myself to sedate our former Captain - you’re the Captain now, by default. Welcome to your new job.”
“Thank you Ijik and I will call up the morning shift officers here to watch over after I’m done. Everyone, dismissed.” I calmly order despite the injury, my first one as the new Captain by technicality.
My crew slowly filters out until only Myki is left, still sitting there next to me. He lets out a soft snort as he stands.
“You know once we head back, we will all have a lot to answer for correct?”
“I will take responsibility, good or bad. If the Terna wishes to punish me… so be it. Anything to keep the ship and crew safe. Because… if she activated the K-L system.”
“The ship would be ripped apart. Yes, Zawi told me how bad it was before we entered. Stressed Orun needs to be detained before she does that.”
“If one thinks she’s mad now, she’ll be even madder when sober.” I say as something I can’t help but comment. Myki lets out a nervous laugh - the call of our people.
“Well, that’s for me and Security to deal with. You just worry about keeping us all alive, alright?”
Myki stands and towers over me. His exo-suit gives him not only incredible strength and agility but also height as his feet are atop metal facsimiles. My own gives me the same capabilities but weaker though it comes with far more computing features instead. Differing needs, as it stands.
“I’ll have to head down and see to her now. We will talk further later.”
Myki leaves me alone on the bridge. For the first time in a while, I have only silence aside from the noise of computer fans. It's comforting but foreboding as well. I settle for going to my quarters to clean up but as I walk out of the bridge, a sensor trip alarm goes off. With everyone away, either to the shrine or tending to Orun, I consider this a chance by the Spirits. Or possibly a coincidence? Either way, I move over to the console delivering the loud news to see it is a life support alarm.
“Odd… how is that possible?”
I check over thoroughly what the alarm is sounding off for exactly. I narrow it down to a fan obstruction - it’s simply not spinning anymore. Debris? Well, the ducts the derelict poke through are already in-active thus their alarms should not be going off. Further investigation reveals it is a duct fan on the side of Hold Twenty without a breach.
“What?” I growl before shaking my head. Whatever it is, it’s spreading. The number of fans jamming up is growing, slowly, one by one. These are not small fans either, the duct is quite large to move hefty amounts of air between the massive Holds. Slowly, I reach up. Do I contact someone for help? And who? Well, there is one Aavi that I call in. This is his field of work.
“Aran. I need you in Hold Twenty and now. Forget the sermon. There’s a problem.”
“...what now Atai? You know Luril is going to give us both a lecture if we-”
“Duct number two. Its fans are stopping one by one. Something is going on. Check your scanner if you don’t believe me.”
Silence comes to me from the comm. A minute passes then two. Five minutes pass before thankfully, Aran responds to me.
“...I’ll meet you there.”
I sigh in relief. It’s to my great thanks that Aran is the most reliable Aavi I know on this ship. I will need him to figure out what is going on and why our life support system is slowly shutting down. I hope no Aavi has decided to hide in the ducts out of sheer mind break.
The trip back to Hold Twenty is not quick, as I head against the flow of the crew to the shrine which lay in the aft. Because of all the delays, I arrive a half hour after I spoke with Aran. Said Aavi himself arrives ten minutes after that riding one of his TYA drones.
“The traki is too busy for this,” he comments as he hops down before me. His exo-suit’s leg springs let out soft puffs of air as they compress to soften the landing for him. “And we are missing a sermon that Speaker Luril wanted us to be there.”
“He can want what he wants, the Spirits can wait. The Kata-Haslin having issues takes priority, always.”
“Always being whenever convenient right? Most of the time, I’m the one who has to set aside personal time for problems.”
“Just check the system again before we look at it ourselves.” I tell him, with a flick of an ear. Aran snorts seeing that and my tone.
“Rrr… Okay so some stopped fans.” he brings up his wrist and begins to flick and flit with the screen. “A problem sure but the system can function without them through induction and…” Aran looks at his wrist to check on the current state of things. He taps away longer than I would like, his face growing slowly in worry as well.
“Is something wrong?”
“How…” he looks up at me with disbelief, “The fans have stopped all the way to Hold Seventeen now but… the last trigger was ten minutes ago. That’s a gap in time, I wonder why…”
“That’s… when I got here?”
I look about, wondering if someone is watching us. Aran does the same yet with our eyes and sensitive ears, we both come up short. Yet… I do feel that something is here, keeping an eye on us. From where though, I can’t fathom.
“Wait, look there. None of my team put that cover there… where did it come from?”
To my surprise, Aran’s observation is correct. Along the cargo floor, a blue plastic sheet drapes over a section of the wall paneling. It is hard to spot behind all the containers but it certainly is not normally there. We look at each other then hop down, letting our exo-suits take the fall for us and walk to it.
“Maybe… someone left this behind?” Aran says, looking it over closely. He moves it aside lightly to reveal a gaping hole leading into inky darkness. “...rah?”
“...rrr, that’s not good.” I finally mumble, seeing the hole.
A wall panel is ajar, leaving a good amount of space for any Aavi to slip through. Aran slumps slightly and I stand there in surprise. To open up the panel would take great strength without the necessary tools but it is clear whoever did this, somehow did. Inspecting closer, we both can see that they left marks behind from the sheer force, even bending the panel slightly.
“They used something blunt and strong. With the marks, a lever action like a bar.” Aran deduces calmly as traces a hand over the panel, “And… rrr… with great strength too. Whoever did this, either has an exo-suit like mine or Security’s.”
“So Engineering and Security. Who within either would wrench open a panel and start shutting off fans?”
“Not a clue, no one in Engineering has any suicidal ideas nor a reason to hide in the ducts. Security… they’re a good sort. If any are missing, the Command Officers would let you know.” Aran tells me. I nod at the thought. No call is coming and I know it - Myki is too insightful to let slip a single missing set of ears.
“I doubt it. There must be several members of the crew involved then. Kure is a fire-minded one, sometimes he can miss obvious holes while looking at dust.”
“Is someone messing with us? Why hide this?” Aran comments as he moves the tarp aside, revealing the full extent of the open panel. The cold air from within hits us both and I can see Aran shiver. It takes a moment for either of us to say anything else but eventually I find my voice.
“Well, it’s pretty clear whoever did this is trying to be as quiet as a jerta.”
Aran clicks his tongue. “They’re good at it too. Brave as well to walk in such a dark, enclosed space.”
I don’t respond. There is a lot to consider. Whoever is in there are disabling fans, which means they don’t have the Kata’s best intentions in mind - thus the crew as well. We simply cannot let them run amuck, as much as I would rather Security deal with the issue. Time is at hand and there simply isn’t much of it. Aside from that, it would take a considerable amount of time with how many are likely at the sermon which leaves only one immediate option.
I slump, my tail plopping on the floor with a quiet thud. Aran looks at me as I eye the darkness intently. “...we might need to follow them in and confront them.”
“You… rrh, you sure? They might-”
“They might break something more permanently. You know how bad that can be.” I quickly retort, to Aran’s detriment.
Aran slowly clenches a fist, his other clenching the hilt of his sword. “I know, I would just rather not confront anyone. I am no warrior. No soldier. No glada.” he lists, stressing the last one in particular. “If they are just… in a bad state, we are not the right ones to speak with them.”
“Better us than no one at all.” I move up to the open gap and look inside. Looking back to Aran, I spy his worry and give him a gesture of confidence: crossing a tight fist over my chest. He lets out a soft breath at it and steps up to me.
“Alright. You owe me plenty now. First repairing the Kata, then hooking up a derelict to the power system now this. Five rounds of kert, at minimum.”
“A deal on my honor then.”
I take a deep breath and step into the duct, turning on a light as I do. The darkness cannot hide them now.
​
---
​
[AUTHOR NOTES]
- A lot of focus on the crew of the Kata-Haslin but that's because I want to slow-burn first before everything else.
- Orun has been thrown in the brig. As deserved of course.
- The ducts are quite large as they must push vast quantities of air across ~8 kilometers.
- As per suggestion, I will add dates to the Cambridge and Kata-Haslin sections.
- Switching from 3rd to 1st Person for the story. Makes it easier to keep track of thoughts and actions.

Howdy! It'll be April in a couple of days, and Morari's monthly freebie will change. The problem is, I have several scents that are in the running. I figured I'd set up a poll here to help me decide :D Here are the unreleased perfumes I've been sitting on for a while.
Ambery Violet - Violet, heliotrope, labdanum, benzoin. The only violet perfume that's ever worked on my skin. Starts with a soft, powdery violet that stays away from plastic/lipstick territory. Warms up over time with subtle ambery notes. Originally a Patreon scent.
Banana Nut Muffin - Exactly what it sounds like. Banana accord, muffin accord, black walnut tincture. If you liked the pastry base of my Key Lime Pie perfume and enjoy banana scents, I think you'll like this.
Blossom Bath - A sudsy bar of almond blossom soap. Originally a Patreon scent.
Coquettish Glances - Rhubarb, bergamot, lotus, tonka, honey. If you like the rhubarb note in my Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble, I think you'll like this. Originally a Patreon scent.
Fig and Bergamot - fig and, you guessed it, bergamot. A simple perfume, but not boring; I created a fig accord that lies halfway between green + snappy and brown + syrupy. Originally a Patreon scent.
Litsea - Litsea, pink and white grapefruit, jasmine sambac, ambergris. Originally a Patreon scent.
Pappy - a cigar box, tobacco, a leather recliner, whiskey, a whiff of vintage cologne.
I wish I could release all of these at once, but I'm slowing down on releases until my Stardew Valley inspired collection comes out in the summer. But rest assured, these will all eventually make their way into my shop!
View Poll

Lithium is a hot commodity in the world of technology and clean energy, with demand expected to skyrocket in the coming years. But where does this valuable resource come from, and how do we find it?
Lithium is a soft, silver-white metal that is found in small concentrations in the earth's crust. It is commonly extracted from brine pools and hard rock deposits, but the process of finding these deposits can be complex and expensive.
Lithium Exploration:

• Typically begins with geological surveys to identify areas that are likely to contain lithium deposits. Geologists use various techniques to study the earth's crust, including remote sensing technologies such as satellite imagery and aerial photography.
• Once potential deposits have been identified, the next step is to conduct more detailed exploration. This may involve drilling test wells to collect rock and mineral samples, as well as conducting geophysical surveys to measure the electrical conductivity and magnetic properties of the surrounding rocks.
• And if the exploration process indicates that a lithium deposit is economically viable, further studies will be conducted to assess the feasibility of extracting and processing the lithium. This can involve additional drilling, sampling, and testing, as well as economic analysis to determine the feasibility of mining the deposit.

Newfoundland Discovery Corp.($NEWD), a Canadian lithium exploration company, will soon start drilling at their promising project, the Sugaree Property in Hearst, Ontario, in the next few weeks once the weather allows for it. There is high speculation that this project will hit with lithium this year since it is strategically placed next to Brunswick Exploration's newly staked ground, Hearst, which is a lithium-rich mica zone. They have an exciting journey ahead of them as they will soon make significant progress with their main lithium exploration project.
Note: this is not financial advice please do your own research before investing