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2023.03.22 06:51 Sevchenko874 [Fan Work of Fan Work] Koishi Komeiji's Heart Throbbing Adventure The Interim Chapter 12
You Matter to Her in a Way No One Else Could
When you died and were reborn, you became divine. You were love, and you were violence, and you were my miracle. A God sprung forth from the decaying machinery of your broken body. Koishi, the God of Love and Hate—have mercy on us all.
Down by the shore of one of the great Lunar seas, there sat a lonely shack thatched with feathers. Inside, there was a massive wani no less than eight leagues long… and her infant son. To that crocodile who had never known true familial love, that delicate little child—who cooed and smiled at his mother’s every move—was nothing less than a miracle. Such a delicate life in her claws, who knew nothing but unconditional love for his mother—to the crocodile, it was proof there was still good in the world.
She was tired, but the crocodile forced herself to stay awake. There was something she needed to do—a memory she wanted to share with the most important person in her life.
So, with all the caution and tenderness in the world, she picked up her child with her jaws and coaxed him into her throat pouch. The newborn child, perhaps having some shared instinct with his crocodilian mother, did not cry or struggle. Instead, he let out a giggle as he poked his head out from between his mother’s jagged teeth. With a snort, the dragon climbed out of her thatch hut, and crawled along the shore, drawing a meandering trail in the sand as she went.
When she reached the point where the water came to shore in gentle waves, the crocodile set herself down in the sand, letting the waves wash in and lick at her child in gentle sprays. Her child giggled as the Lunar sea’s tickled him with its pure waters, and as he did, his mother couldn’t help but feel at peace.
Nothing. Nothing at all would be able to take this from her.
Her miracle.
Toyohime opened her eye to clear blue skies.
She flexed her fingers, and instead of feeling the cold steel of the ship she started to tear apart, she felt so many tiny pebbles, warmed by their time in the sun. Sand? She brought a fistful of the stuff into her vision, before letting it fall through her fingers and run down her face. It was too real to be a dream.
Toyohime sat up to observe her surroundings. As far as the eye could see, there were infinite stretches of sand collected into wind-swept dunes that obscured the horizon. It was hot. Unbelievably so for what was supposedly the void. She felt a gentle gust of warm wind pass by her and toss her hair. This place… this impossible place… was she dead?
She rose to her feet, fighting biting aches and pains from her battle not too long ago. No—not dead. Somehow, she had survived—there was no other explanation. And as she looked down to assess the damage she had taken, her suspicions were only confirmed. Her right arm was missing, and in its place was nothing but a healed stump. The nasty cuts and bruises she had received in the fighting had all healed over for the most part, the only evidence they happened at all being residual scars that were yet to disappear. The ground was covered in dried blood. She must’ve been laying here in this sand trap for hours.
She brought her free arm, completely healed, up to the general space where her right eye was to find an arrow still protruding from it. Wrapping her fingers around the shaft, Toyohime tore it out in a fluid motion, causing the wound to reopen and drip blood onto the sands below. But, through some miraculous action, it was mere moments before the flow of blood stopped as the wound healed shut. Her right eye was still inoperable, but this healing ability was downright uncanny, even for a god.
She flexed her fingers. It felt like there was a hole in her head from which memories and feelings poured out. The mystery of how she got here, who she killed, and whether she could even trust her own senses had no answer—Toyohime knew she herself had made sure of that. She supposed there was a good reason. The less she knew, the better. That was something she could trick herself into believing.
Though no matter how much she forced herself to forget, she had the horrible feeling she had done something unforgivable—something she would kill over. In a sea of atrocities however, she could hardly even begin to suppose what that might have been. Maybe the heat was starting to fry her brain.
After spending a few minutes snapping the arrows lodged in her body by their shafts, Toyohime looked to the horizon, and then up. Ahead, there was a massive sand dune, no less than five times her height, and beyond the crest—a black pillar of smoke. Toyohime was not alone.
As she made her way up the shifting incline, Toyohime got to thinking about her next course of action. If this wasn’t a hallucination, then it most certainly had to be some extension of Koishi's will. Land in an impossible space… the creation of something impossible like that could only be a factor of a deteriorating mind, or God. And Toyohime had no time to consider the possibility of a crumbling psyche—not when she had a duty left unfulfilled.
But then… that would mean this was the paradise of Koishi’s mind. Surely, by her side is where she would find her salvation. She had already come to terms with it—that there was nothing left for her in the old world. Koishi could pervert and corrupt reality in whatever twisted ways she wanted—as long as it was the creation of her heart, it would be sufficient. Everything beyond that was not worth saving to the former princess.
… But that also meant there would be more enemies. More people she had to kill. She was ready. Ready to kill and ready to die in the name of love.
And as she planted her boot upon the peak of that sand dune, she saw the whole world become bare before her. A fair distance away was the crashed wreck of a golden ship, releasing plumes of black smoke as it burnt away. From this distance, it was difficult to make out any finer details, but she was sure the occupants had escaped. Satori was resourceful and stubborn, if nothing else. Dying in a crash was an impossibility.
She then traced a line from the ship through the shifting sands—to a city upon the horizon. Massive towers of glass and steel pushing against the sky, half buried in the sand, bending light around them as they reflected the intense heat of the sun. It gave the sight an unnatural fuzziness, as if the city was threatening to disappear at any moment.
As she traced the decaying visage of those buildings upwards, she saw a thin line reach beyond and into the sky. The line separated into two before converging back on itself. Above the city, etched upon the sky itself, was a pitch black gap in reality, opened and filled with so many eyes. And above still, the object of Toyohime’s desires and her sole driving factor—Koishi Komeiji.
Though the God’s eye was open, as well as the myriad collection of smaller eyes and drooling jaws that had lined every square inch of her squirming appendages, it was hard to tell if she was awake or conscious. Toyohime knew Koishi best, and if she had any guess as to what Koishi had been doing in the time they spent apart, it was receding back into the numbing comfort of her own mind. Even now, Toyohime figured she was still dreaming, avoiding the cruel weight of her responsibility. What manifested outside of her mind must’ve been some sort of twisted runoff.
Down there, hidden in the dunes, Toyohime knew there were those who would take this dream from Koishi. Those who would hurt Koishi. Those people would’ve done just as well to dig their own graves and build their own coffins. Because so long as Toyohime drew breath, she would protect Koishi with everything she could muster—that was her promise and the nature of her impossible, unconditional love.
Koishi was Toyohime’s second chance.
This time, one way or another, there would be no opportunity for a third.
Mima, on the other hand, had woken up quite a bit earlier than Toyohime had.
She had not suffered any fatal wounds or debilitating strikes leading up to the point where the reality around her started to crumble and distort—but she had briefly lost consciousness regardless. She figured that might’ve been a good thing; an action so absurd and so against everything she knew, perpetrated by an impossibly powerful being… even if a mere glimpse didn’t physically tear her mind to ribbons, she had no interest in trying to understand such a nonsensical event.
Mima awoke not in a desert, but in a grand sprawling city of seemingly human construction. Though the sun still hung overhead, the impossible hills and mountains of sand that caged the city in, always seemed to shift and move in the most calculated way… such that the sun was always put out. Caught in the shade, the city looked like it was in a perpetual night, in spite of the blinding yellow of the endless desert just beyond its limits.
Though that was the case, the city was far from dark. Street lamps, blinding neon signs, blinking traffic lights, apartments and houses with windows illuminated by the fluorescent lights within… It gave the impression the city was alive. It seemed exactly as a real bustling city at night, with its breathing and blinking—but there were no people. No matter how far Mima walked, no matter how many buildings she popped in, she would encounter no souls. She would find, in those buildings, immaculate setpieces filled with lived-in charm, hints and implications of life—but not people. Not even Yukari, who she wandered the streets in search of.
She recognized this place. This city—Tokyo. It couldn’t have possibly been, but it was the same Tokyo she grew up in, back before the Moonlight Descent and before the Kaiju. Before her chance meeting with the youkai who used to be her friend. This city, trapped in the middle of the desert, caught in an artificial night that obscured the flow of time—somehow it managed to be the perfect recreation of a long lost city, as if someone had taken a scalpel to the part of Mima’s brain that held onto the precious memories of her past life. It was comforting, being back in familiar territory, but it also carried along a pervasive uneasiness. The nostalgia said it was real, but the rational mind knew better than to buy into an impossible mirage—made all the more uneasy by the deathly silence of its streets.
After wandering around for a dozen minutes or more, Mima eventually came to find Yukari in a 24-hour fast food joint. She was sitting, out of her suit and miraculously healed, on a stool that faced the street outside, with her head down and a small pool of drool collecting at the point where the corner of her mouth met the countertop. Renko always said Maribel could fall asleep anywhere.
Mima floated back and forth around the gently snoring form of Yukari for a bit, considering her options. She changed back into her Renko form for a second, and after adjusting her hat a little, she reached over to tap Yukari on the shoulder… but then shied away. Glancing at Yukari, then back to her bag, she rummaged through its bottomless contents and pulled out a whole host of items: hand mirrors, makeup kits, two liter bottles of listerine, mints and peppermint breath spray and assorted beauty products.
She stole a quick glance back at Yukari to make sure she was asleep before going at it—in one go, she dumped every minty product she could into her mouth before swishing the unholy mixture in her mouth. It was not a moment later that she coughed out all of that liquid ice with a retch and a gag. Sheepishly, she turned her head to see if Yukari had woken up in all the commotion. Luckily, she was still knocked out something fierce. Mima might’ve guessed she was dead, if it weren’t for the occasional snore.
Undeterred, she opened a hand mirror and began to apply her makeup. Carefully. There was a subtle art to it—she only needed enough to hide any unsightly blemishes she might’ve gotten from her rather shut-in lifestyle as a ghost. Anything more, and Maribel was bound to notice Mima was purposefully fixing her appearance around her. None of that. Mima was trying for a more subliminal approach… It’s what worked in the past, after all.
Well, upon further thought, Mima figured “worked” was too strong a word. She did die before she saw any results, after all. But enough of that, Mima thought—now that she regained her memories, she’s finally gotten another shot. This being the apocalypse and all, she figured she should probably make it count.
She clicked close her portable hand mirror and, along with the rest of her stuff, threw it back into her field bag. She stole one last glance at Yukari, who was still sleeping soundly, before straightening her hat and clearing her throat.
“Maribel…” she said in a quiet, sing-song voice. She placed a hand on Yukari’s shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. “Maribel, wake up.”
No response. Mima pouted as she shook her around again. “Merry? It’s so scary around here—I need someone super strong and amazing by my side. Maybe we could hold hands?”
Nothing but more snoring. Mima’s expression fell. “... Okay, seriously. Wake up.”
“Don’t make me break out the big guns, Merry,” Mima said, digging through her bag and pulling out an airhorn. “I’ll do it. You think I’m bluffing?”
A tense beat passes. Mima stows away the airhorn. “... Ah, I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t do something like that to you. You’re too cute, hehe.”
“I’m not above this, though.” She reaches back into her bag and pulls out a spray bottle filled with water… before giving Yukari’s face a couple of quick spritzes.
That quiet, tranquil expression to Mima seemed almost a timeless representation of the relationship she shared with Maribel quickly contorted into one of disgust. After a moment of being pelted with spray after spray of water droplets, Yukari finally was roused from her sleep, a squinty, grouchy mess.
“Who..? Urgh…” She mumbled with a groan. When Yukari saw Renko, immaculately constructed before her with enough accuracy to convince her she came straight from her memories, she froze. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “... Renko?”
“Hehe… Yep, it’s me! Your best friend. Best girl-friend, even. That is, a girl who is also a friend. Not a girlfriend, you know? Aha… Unless? Kidding, kidding.” Mima flashed an easy smile. “Glad you’re awake. Hey, before you say anything else—how do I look? I look cute, right? I know we’re in the middle of saving the world and everything, but I’ve actually been spending a lot of time taking care of my appearance.”
As Mima continued to ramble on and Yukari continued to wake up, her expression made a slow and gradual pivot. Where at first Yukari couldn’t hide her bemusement from her face—as well as that strange pained expression someone would have, seeing a loved one they have long since finished mourning appear upon their doorstep—she eventually came to settle on an empty stare and a neutral, apathetic expression. It hurt Mima a little, seeing such a radical turn in her demeanor.
“Oh,” Yukari muttered. “It’s just you.”
Mima didn’t think she intended it, but there was a layer of latent annoyance in her words. Or maybe it was disappointment? A thousand years or more apart did a lot to shift their relationship. That much was clear—and it hurt.
Yukari took a moment to look Mima up and down. With a scoff and a roll of her eyes, she delivered an unceremonious answer. “You look fine.”
Mima sighed in response. “Hey, I’ll take it.”
“More importantly…” As Yukari continued, she craned her neck around to absorb every detail of her surroundings: everything from the light fixtures above to the tables that were so meticulously set and prepared. “... Where are we?”
Her eyes naturally gravitated toward the front counter and the kitchen section that was just behind—meticulously wrapped burgers and fresh fries, set underneath heat lamps… it was as if they were all made recently. But that wasn’t even the strangest detail Yukari’s eyes were able to pick out. Upon one of the tables was a tray, filled with half eaten food—as if the patrons ceased to exist in the middle of their meal. This was beyond a mere liminal space, where it gave the impression of once being a place where people gathered—it was closer in relation to the scene of an ongoing disaster, where people had left in a hurry.
In that way, it didn’t carry much of the surreal quality of a place no longer meant for humans—it more so felt like a place with a cursed history, its sinister and mysterious narrative etched into its skin and flesh through the vestiges of human presence. Mima could tell, being a ghost herself, there was more to this place than the physical construction. As to what ‘more’ was, she could not place.
She could tell Yukari was thinking something similar by the way she walked around and took in the feeling of the place. Her posture was rigid and cautious, but not necessarily ready and waiting for danger. There was a quiet dread to the things that weren’t, but should’ve been.
“I’m trying to figure that out myself,” Mima replied, following Yukari around with her arms folded behind her back. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but… I think we’re back in Tokyo.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy.” Yukari replied. She walked over to the table with the food and traced a finger across its top. No dust clung to the surface of her finger, as if the tabletop had recently been cleaned. She brought the back of her palm close to the food. It was still radiating just a little bit of heat, as if it had been freshly served. “That’s the part that scares me.”
“... Assuming this is all very much real, this must be Koishi’s doing,” Yukari declared, taking a moment to look down at herself. As she flexed her fingers, her eyes narrowed. Mima figured she might’ve just realized she had been healed and mysteriously back to her usual outfit. She still looked younger and weaker than she once was, but there was an undeniable, albeit subtle increase in the vitality she seemed to convey. As Yukari’s eyes wandered to the empty city street outside, Mima couldn’t help but notice that expression—that idle, faraway gaze that looked like Yukari had trapped herself in a vivid daydream. She couldn’t help but realize how much Maribel had changed—and yet stayed the same.
“Whatcha thinking, Merry?” Mima tried, shuffling up to Yukari’s side.
“Yukari.”
“Oh. Right. Ha, that’s my bad. My bad…”
“I’m thinking: why Tokyo specifically?” With a wave of her hand, Yukari opened a gap next to her. Through that little tear in reality was a bird’s eye view of the whole city, as well as the infinite desert that surrounded it. “... There must be some significance to this location, but I couldn’t possibly imagine what it could be. Not right now, knowing what we know.”
“Hey, I grew up in Tokyo, you know? Maybe it has something to do with that? And… y’know, we were teaching in Tokyo before…” Mima gestured vaguely around herself. “... Everything, I guess. Maybe Koishi’s reacting to our memories.”
“Could be. Could just as easily be something related to Koishi. Could be nothing at all.” The view through the gap eventually fizzled out, leaving nothing but the inky blackness of the pocket dimension Yukari held dominion over. She let out a sigh before stitching the gap closed with a wave of her hand. “I’d suggest we keep on moving. Collect as much information as we can about this place. But only what we need—the plan is still largely the same. There’s no telling when she will appear again. Best be as quick about it as we can.”
“Oh. Uh… Alright. That’s cool.”
“... What?”
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong? You disagree?”
“Oh no, ah…” A sheepish grin crawled across Mima’s face. “I was just thinking about how much you’ve changed, is all. It’s just… you know, a huge city missing all of its people is pretty mysterious, huh? Don’t you want to do more exploring? Poke around a bit and take in the sights? Like we used to—just one last time?”
There was an unsettling period of silence where Yukari stared straight through Mima with that flat look. She averted her eyes for a passing moment. When Yukari returned her gaze to Mima, it was steely and cold. “No. Neither of us are kids anymore. We have duties and responsibilities that we can not abandon. Not for anything.”
Yukari brushed past Mima. The gesture wasn’t very rough at all, but Mima felt it come at her hard. As Yukari opened the door, she looked back at Mima and gestured to her to follow.
“Let’s go.”
Orin did not want much from life.
There was Satori, her master, who she cared about deeply. There was Okuu, her best friend, who she loved. There was Koishi, the younger sister of her master, who she felt obligated to take care of. And of course, there was her job of transporting corpses, which she could do endlessly and without tiring. Those things more or less encompassed everything she cared about—Orin was a simple person.
So as she crawled out the emergency hatch located at the top of the ship her master had so recklessly buried into a sand dune, she couldn’t help but feel so hopelessly out of her depth. With a groan, she hoisted herself over the lip of the hatch before losing her balance and tumbling over.
As she tumbled downward, bumping her head against every little edge the ship had on her way down, the visor to her suit cracked and then shattered. But as she flopped down into the warm sand, her arms and legs spread in a state of absolute fatigue, she couldn’t really bring herself to care about the warning tones in her helmet—or the fact she was able to breathe the air here, in what used to be the void. Frankly, all she could think about was how much she wanted to go home.
“Orin! Are you okay?” A familiar voice called from somewhere outside her field of vision. It was followed by the hasty clattering of boots on metal as they no doubt clambered down the ship in a hurry.
All Orin could offer in response was a weak grunt and the extension of a thumbs up.
“Are… are you insane?” Another voice called soon after, all breathless and hoarse. It cracked with exertion, as if it had already been worn out by so much screaming. “Satori, what form of devil possessed you to do that? We could’ve all died!”
Satori, of course, didn’t respond. Not before she entered Orin’s field of view, her own helmet long since thrown away. Her face was etched with a rare look of concern, and she breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw Orin manage a weak smile. Wordlessly, Satori jostled off the smashed helmet from Orin’s suit and brushed away any remaining debris… before pulling her into a tight embrace.
Orin, dazed and shocked from the crash, could manage little else than to rest her head upon her master’s shoulders as she was pulled in. But through whatever stores of energy she had left, she managed to raise her arms and wrap them around in loose reciprocation.
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”
Satori pulled back from the hug, but stayed kneeling by Orin’s side. Cautiously, she looked to the horizon, as if she had caught a vanishing glimpse of something stalking them from behind the shifting sands. She extended an elbow for Orin to grab on to. “Let’s go. Can you stand?”
“I… I think so,” Orin mumbled, hooking one of her arms around Satori’s elbow and placing a hand on her shoulder for support. Her master lifted, and in response Orin tried her best to stumble onto her feet, with mixed results. As she straightened herself out with the help of Satori, she heard her bones shift and crackle in strange ways—followed by an absolute lightning strike of localized pain in the leg and the fuzzy static that came to replace it.
After a sharp intake of breath and a pained wince, Orin settled into a decidedly unconvincing posture—she plastered a smile on her face and shifted all of her weight onto the other leg in a poor imitation of nonchalance, but Satori’s face only got graver. It broke Orin’s heart. For a moment, Orin tried to separate herself from her master so she could stand on her own—but Satori only squeezed her in closer, as if she would’ve lost Orin the second she let go.
That didn’t surprise Orin much. She knew better than anyone that the events one year ago were still fresh in her master’s mind. Even now, it haunted her every action, and now the consequences were starting to catch up with everyone involved. But to Orin, that didn’t matter. It never did—not so long as Satori was her master, and Orin was her pet. Satori could march to the deepest pit of Hell, pick a fight with a God, oppose reality itself… and Orin would march along right beside her, no matter what.
Patchouli, on the other hand, did not share the same sentiment. She marched up to the two, at least temporarily uncaring of the fantastical environment they found themselves in, and went straight to airing out her grievances.
“Recklessly engaging with Toyohime like that, against all better logic… one day, and this day might very well come sooner than you think, your obsession with that cursed woman will hurt someone you care about,” Patchouli snapped. As she looked to Orin, whose body was riddled with evidence of blunt trauma, her expression softened. “... It already has.”
“As if we had any other choice. It was our best shot to kill her, once and for all,” Satori replied, stone-faced and cold. “... Besides, let Orin speak for herself. As if you know what she does and doesn’t wish for.”
“... Orin wasn’t the only person who got hurt. Or killed.”
“It just so happens that Eirin conveniently falls outside my definition of ‘people I care about.’ I fail to see the issue.” Satori snorted with disgust, as if offended by the mere implication. Orin wanted to speak up and cut between the fighting, but couldn’t find the strength to oppose her own master. “That aside, who says I was the one who got her killed? She got herself killed, following her own incomprehensible mess of half-baked ideas and strategies. What are you coming at me for?”
“How could you be so cold toward someone like her? Especially since we were all fighting out there together, as comrades? Have you no shame?”
“I’ve no love for her. Not after what she did to my sister.” Satori stared straight into Patchouli’s eyes. Sometimes her master was like this—staring straight ahead through a person, as if judging the content of their soul itself. Sometimes, this was literally the case, given that she made liberal use of her opened third eye. “We might be fighting beside each other, but we’re fighting for completely different things. Yukari, Eirin, Kaguya, even you and I—we’re all fighting for something different. Those are just the facts. Just as it was a fact that Koakuma had darkness in her heart. It’s that kind of fact.”
“How cynical. Aren’t we friends?”
Satori fixed Patchouli with a steady glare as she thought through her answer. Even with an open eye, Orin found her master’s thought process difficult to parse.
“... No. We aren’t,” Satori settled. “It’s not a secret—I’m fighting to get my sister back. I’m fighting to kill the person who turned her into a monster. I’m fighting to protect my family. You are doing none of those things—you’re fighting for a more abstract reason: protecting the world, or preventing human suffering, or whatever other justification you assign to your actions. It’s admirable, but recognize that It’s only by convenience that we’re here, helping each other out.”
“... Is that right?” Patchouli muttered under her breath. “Then if it came between Yukari, or Eirin, or me, or anyone else… and your family. Who would you choose?”
Silence.
“It’s best to be honest with ourselves. It saves us the heartache.”
“I see.”
In the silence that came after, the atmosphere seemed to become heavier. Orin spent each passing beat being suffocated by the pressure. Her eyes darted from Patchouli to her master, and then back again.
“Er…” Orin started. “Let’s ah… could we just figure out what we’re going to do next, maybe? Without fighting—that would be nice.”
“Good plan, Orin,” Satori said. Though strangely enough, she wouldn’t take her eyes off of Patchouli. “I’m not quite sure what we would do without you.”
Patchouli looked away. Orin couldn’t help but feel vaguely responsible—though the second the thought even popped into mind, Satori squeezed a little tighter, as if in reassurance.
“... There’s no use in arguing,” Patchouli said with a heavy sigh. “Or rather, it’s a subject for later, when we aren’t all in danger. For now, I agree—we should figure out our next steps.”
The guns had long since run quiet.
Those satellites—their powerful bodies forged by the greatest minds, cast in the strongest metals, and mounted with the fiercest weapons humanity could muster—how could they have possibly matched the horror of God’s wrath? They could never, and for their hubris, their bodies and their souls were scattered and broken as a million glittering lights upon the ocean.
Those were the kinds of things Kaguya Houraisan thought about as she sat beside a flickering fire, her only source of light deep in the darkness of a desert night, not a few meters from the turned and battered wreckage of the CNS Beyond the Sun. In the void, It was battered by unseen force, turned three times—and upon the fourth, struck down and consumed by the void, as was the divine will of God. To its crew, it might have seemed like nothing less than a castigation of divine nature—but Kaguya knew it was nothing more than the temper tantrum of a child. As infant children must necessarily cry, Koishi must necessarily kill—it was her unconscious will.
Woe upon humanity, as its greatest accomplishment was brought low and made worthless before a child. Her own child. What a dubious honor it was—being the mother of such a terrifying, omnipresent killer.
Kaguya was on the ship when it was attacked by Toyohime. She was there to see Eirin march on to meet her. And she was there to see her die. It didn’t bother Kaguya too much—after all, she had watched Eirin die countless times. She will likely watch her die countless more, before all is said and done. But it was there, seized by the temporary shock, that Kaguya lost consciousness. When she woke up, she was deep within the fresh wreckage of humanity’s greatest weapon—alone. On what happened to her crew, and why Kaguya was spared, she could only make guesses.
With no direction and no plan, Kaguya spent what felt like hours wandering the claustrophobic halls of that great metal cage of a ship. But she was alone. Alone in such a way that not even the impression of humanity remained. Even the spot where she saw three men become atomized by Toyohime’s attack, which had burnt dark impressions of their silhouettes into the steel, was mysteriously void of any sign they were killed at all. The damage remained, but the people were gone—erased from existence in a way only God could manage.
When she eventually emerged from the dark recesses of the ship into a darker night, with nothing but the stars above and the inexplicable ground below, she could do nothing but start a simple fire. The night was cold, and she had a feeling it would be long. Warmth would be needed.
This, alone and huddled by a dying fire, must have been the end. Kaguya shifted closer to the flame, and held her knees closer to her chest. She didn’t know what to do. When her own daughter had sought her out, she didn’t know what to say. All she could do was recognize—that in pursuit of an easy life, she had made things so much worse. She wondered if it was too late to make things right between herself and Koishi. If Kaguya had looked up to her daughter now, and said sorry, would she hear? Would she care?
She wasn’t sure. And she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.
As she stared at the stars above, Kaguya heard the shuffling of boots displacing the sand. The sounds came in an irregular, halting motion. When it came to a stop, Kaguya lowered her gaze to the figure who stood at the edge of her fire’s light.
A moon rabbit in a pilot suit, all ripped up, tattered, and blackened by combat. In the gaps of her suit, her skin had melted away from severe burns—and froze in place, creating large patches of gangrenous tissue that covered her body. As Kaguya’s eyes drifted downward, she noticed a patch of body that had a view to the other side. Somehow, by some miracle of medicine, the wound remained stable and closed.
Her face was concealed by her helmet, tinted and patterned by a spider web of cracks, but by the way she stood, so still and lopsided, Kaguya had the impression of an empty gaze just behind the facade.
The moon rabbit carried in her left hand a revolver, its chambers empty and on display as the mechanism that connected the grip to the top half of the hung loose. In her other hand, was an ax, splintered in half at the handle from excessive use and its blade caked in a thick layer of blood.
Without a word, the moon rabbit collapsed into a heap by the fire.
Kaguya rushed to the moon rabbit’s side and, upon removing her helmet, froze.
Atonement—she wondered if it was even possible.
Previous Chapter:
Interim Chapter 11
submitted by Sevchenko874 to touhou [link] [comments]
When you died and were reborn, you became divine. You were love, and you were violence, and you were my miracle. A God sprung forth from the decaying machinery of your broken body. Koishi, the God of Love and Hate—have mercy on us all.
Down by the shore of one of the great Lunar seas, there sat a lonely shack thatched with feathers. Inside, there was a massive wani no less than eight leagues long… and her infant son. To that crocodile who had never known true familial love, that delicate little child—who cooed and smiled at his mother’s every move—was nothing less than a miracle. Such a delicate life in her claws, who knew nothing but unconditional love for his mother—to the crocodile, it was proof there was still good in the world.
She was tired, but the crocodile forced herself to stay awake. There was something she needed to do—a memory she wanted to share with the most important person in her life.
So, with all the caution and tenderness in the world, she picked up her child with her jaws and coaxed him into her throat pouch. The newborn child, perhaps having some shared instinct with his crocodilian mother, did not cry or struggle. Instead, he let out a giggle as he poked his head out from between his mother’s jagged teeth. With a snort, the dragon climbed out of her thatch hut, and crawled along the shore, drawing a meandering trail in the sand as she went.
When she reached the point where the water came to shore in gentle waves, the crocodile set herself down in the sand, letting the waves wash in and lick at her child in gentle sprays. Her child giggled as the Lunar sea’s tickled him with its pure waters, and as he did, his mother couldn’t help but feel at peace.
Nothing. Nothing at all would be able to take this from her.
Her miracle.
She flexed her fingers, and instead of feeling the cold steel of the ship she started to tear apart, she felt so many tiny pebbles, warmed by their time in the sun. Sand? She brought a fistful of the stuff into her vision, before letting it fall through her fingers and run down her face. It was too real to be a dream.
Toyohime sat up to observe her surroundings. As far as the eye could see, there were infinite stretches of sand collected into wind-swept dunes that obscured the horizon. It was hot. Unbelievably so for what was supposedly the void. She felt a gentle gust of warm wind pass by her and toss her hair. This place… this impossible place… was she dead?
She rose to her feet, fighting biting aches and pains from her battle not too long ago. No—not dead. Somehow, she had survived—there was no other explanation. And as she looked down to assess the damage she had taken, her suspicions were only confirmed. Her right arm was missing, and in its place was nothing but a healed stump. The nasty cuts and bruises she had received in the fighting had all healed over for the most part, the only evidence they happened at all being residual scars that were yet to disappear. The ground was covered in dried blood. She must’ve been laying here in this sand trap for hours.
She brought her free arm, completely healed, up to the general space where her right eye was to find an arrow still protruding from it. Wrapping her fingers around the shaft, Toyohime tore it out in a fluid motion, causing the wound to reopen and drip blood onto the sands below. But, through some miraculous action, it was mere moments before the flow of blood stopped as the wound healed shut. Her right eye was still inoperable, but this healing ability was downright uncanny, even for a god.
She flexed her fingers. It felt like there was a hole in her head from which memories and feelings poured out. The mystery of how she got here, who she killed, and whether she could even trust her own senses had no answer—Toyohime knew she herself had made sure of that. She supposed there was a good reason. The less she knew, the better. That was something she could trick herself into believing.
Though no matter how much she forced herself to forget, she had the horrible feeling she had done something unforgivable—something she would kill over. In a sea of atrocities however, she could hardly even begin to suppose what that might have been. Maybe the heat was starting to fry her brain.
After spending a few minutes snapping the arrows lodged in her body by their shafts, Toyohime looked to the horizon, and then up. Ahead, there was a massive sand dune, no less than five times her height, and beyond the crest—a black pillar of smoke. Toyohime was not alone.
As she made her way up the shifting incline, Toyohime got to thinking about her next course of action. If this wasn’t a hallucination, then it most certainly had to be some extension of Koishi's will. Land in an impossible space… the creation of something impossible like that could only be a factor of a deteriorating mind, or God. And Toyohime had no time to consider the possibility of a crumbling psyche—not when she had a duty left unfulfilled.
But then… that would mean this was the paradise of Koishi’s mind. Surely, by her side is where she would find her salvation. She had already come to terms with it—that there was nothing left for her in the old world. Koishi could pervert and corrupt reality in whatever twisted ways she wanted—as long as it was the creation of her heart, it would be sufficient. Everything beyond that was not worth saving to the former princess.
… But that also meant there would be more enemies. More people she had to kill. She was ready. Ready to kill and ready to die in the name of love.
And as she planted her boot upon the peak of that sand dune, she saw the whole world become bare before her. A fair distance away was the crashed wreck of a golden ship, releasing plumes of black smoke as it burnt away. From this distance, it was difficult to make out any finer details, but she was sure the occupants had escaped. Satori was resourceful and stubborn, if nothing else. Dying in a crash was an impossibility.
She then traced a line from the ship through the shifting sands—to a city upon the horizon. Massive towers of glass and steel pushing against the sky, half buried in the sand, bending light around them as they reflected the intense heat of the sun. It gave the sight an unnatural fuzziness, as if the city was threatening to disappear at any moment.
As she traced the decaying visage of those buildings upwards, she saw a thin line reach beyond and into the sky. The line separated into two before converging back on itself. Above the city, etched upon the sky itself, was a pitch black gap in reality, opened and filled with so many eyes. And above still, the object of Toyohime’s desires and her sole driving factor—Koishi Komeiji.
Though the God’s eye was open, as well as the myriad collection of smaller eyes and drooling jaws that had lined every square inch of her squirming appendages, it was hard to tell if she was awake or conscious. Toyohime knew Koishi best, and if she had any guess as to what Koishi had been doing in the time they spent apart, it was receding back into the numbing comfort of her own mind. Even now, Toyohime figured she was still dreaming, avoiding the cruel weight of her responsibility. What manifested outside of her mind must’ve been some sort of twisted runoff.
Down there, hidden in the dunes, Toyohime knew there were those who would take this dream from Koishi. Those who would hurt Koishi. Those people would’ve done just as well to dig their own graves and build their own coffins. Because so long as Toyohime drew breath, she would protect Koishi with everything she could muster—that was her promise and the nature of her impossible, unconditional love.
Koishi was Toyohime’s second chance.
This time, one way or another, there would be no opportunity for a third.
She had not suffered any fatal wounds or debilitating strikes leading up to the point where the reality around her started to crumble and distort—but she had briefly lost consciousness regardless. She figured that might’ve been a good thing; an action so absurd and so against everything she knew, perpetrated by an impossibly powerful being… even if a mere glimpse didn’t physically tear her mind to ribbons, she had no interest in trying to understand such a nonsensical event.
Mima awoke not in a desert, but in a grand sprawling city of seemingly human construction. Though the sun still hung overhead, the impossible hills and mountains of sand that caged the city in, always seemed to shift and move in the most calculated way… such that the sun was always put out. Caught in the shade, the city looked like it was in a perpetual night, in spite of the blinding yellow of the endless desert just beyond its limits.
Though that was the case, the city was far from dark. Street lamps, blinding neon signs, blinking traffic lights, apartments and houses with windows illuminated by the fluorescent lights within… It gave the impression the city was alive. It seemed exactly as a real bustling city at night, with its breathing and blinking—but there were no people. No matter how far Mima walked, no matter how many buildings she popped in, she would encounter no souls. She would find, in those buildings, immaculate setpieces filled with lived-in charm, hints and implications of life—but not people. Not even Yukari, who she wandered the streets in search of.
She recognized this place. This city—Tokyo. It couldn’t have possibly been, but it was the same Tokyo she grew up in, back before the Moonlight Descent and before the Kaiju. Before her chance meeting with the youkai who used to be her friend. This city, trapped in the middle of the desert, caught in an artificial night that obscured the flow of time—somehow it managed to be the perfect recreation of a long lost city, as if someone had taken a scalpel to the part of Mima’s brain that held onto the precious memories of her past life. It was comforting, being back in familiar territory, but it also carried along a pervasive uneasiness. The nostalgia said it was real, but the rational mind knew better than to buy into an impossible mirage—made all the more uneasy by the deathly silence of its streets.
After wandering around for a dozen minutes or more, Mima eventually came to find Yukari in a 24-hour fast food joint. She was sitting, out of her suit and miraculously healed, on a stool that faced the street outside, with her head down and a small pool of drool collecting at the point where the corner of her mouth met the countertop. Renko always said Maribel could fall asleep anywhere.
Mima floated back and forth around the gently snoring form of Yukari for a bit, considering her options. She changed back into her Renko form for a second, and after adjusting her hat a little, she reached over to tap Yukari on the shoulder… but then shied away. Glancing at Yukari, then back to her bag, she rummaged through its bottomless contents and pulled out a whole host of items: hand mirrors, makeup kits, two liter bottles of listerine, mints and peppermint breath spray and assorted beauty products.
She stole a quick glance back at Yukari to make sure she was asleep before going at it—in one go, she dumped every minty product she could into her mouth before swishing the unholy mixture in her mouth. It was not a moment later that she coughed out all of that liquid ice with a retch and a gag. Sheepishly, she turned her head to see if Yukari had woken up in all the commotion. Luckily, she was still knocked out something fierce. Mima might’ve guessed she was dead, if it weren’t for the occasional snore.
Undeterred, she opened a hand mirror and began to apply her makeup. Carefully. There was a subtle art to it—she only needed enough to hide any unsightly blemishes she might’ve gotten from her rather shut-in lifestyle as a ghost. Anything more, and Maribel was bound to notice Mima was purposefully fixing her appearance around her. None of that. Mima was trying for a more subliminal approach… It’s what worked in the past, after all.
Well, upon further thought, Mima figured “worked” was too strong a word. She did die before she saw any results, after all. But enough of that, Mima thought—now that she regained her memories, she’s finally gotten another shot. This being the apocalypse and all, she figured she should probably make it count.
She clicked close her portable hand mirror and, along with the rest of her stuff, threw it back into her field bag. She stole one last glance at Yukari, who was still sleeping soundly, before straightening her hat and clearing her throat.
“Maribel…” she said in a quiet, sing-song voice. She placed a hand on Yukari’s shoulder and gave it a gentle shake. “Maribel, wake up.”
No response. Mima pouted as she shook her around again. “Merry? It’s so scary around here—I need someone super strong and amazing by my side. Maybe we could hold hands?”
Nothing but more snoring. Mima’s expression fell. “... Okay, seriously. Wake up.”
“Don’t make me break out the big guns, Merry,” Mima said, digging through her bag and pulling out an airhorn. “I’ll do it. You think I’m bluffing?”
A tense beat passes. Mima stows away the airhorn. “... Ah, I’m just kidding. I wouldn’t do something like that to you. You’re too cute, hehe.”
“I’m not above this, though.” She reaches back into her bag and pulls out a spray bottle filled with water… before giving Yukari’s face a couple of quick spritzes.
That quiet, tranquil expression to Mima seemed almost a timeless representation of the relationship she shared with Maribel quickly contorted into one of disgust. After a moment of being pelted with spray after spray of water droplets, Yukari finally was roused from her sleep, a squinty, grouchy mess.
“Who..? Urgh…” She mumbled with a groan. When Yukari saw Renko, immaculately constructed before her with enough accuracy to convince her she came straight from her memories, she froze. Her voice was barely above a whisper. “... Renko?”
“Hehe… Yep, it’s me! Your best friend. Best girl-friend, even. That is, a girl who is also a friend. Not a girlfriend, you know? Aha… Unless? Kidding, kidding.” Mima flashed an easy smile. “Glad you’re awake. Hey, before you say anything else—how do I look? I look cute, right? I know we’re in the middle of saving the world and everything, but I’ve actually been spending a lot of time taking care of my appearance.”
As Mima continued to ramble on and Yukari continued to wake up, her expression made a slow and gradual pivot. Where at first Yukari couldn’t hide her bemusement from her face—as well as that strange pained expression someone would have, seeing a loved one they have long since finished mourning appear upon their doorstep—she eventually came to settle on an empty stare and a neutral, apathetic expression. It hurt Mima a little, seeing such a radical turn in her demeanor.
“Oh,” Yukari muttered. “It’s just you.”
Mima didn’t think she intended it, but there was a layer of latent annoyance in her words. Or maybe it was disappointment? A thousand years or more apart did a lot to shift their relationship. That much was clear—and it hurt.
Yukari took a moment to look Mima up and down. With a scoff and a roll of her eyes, she delivered an unceremonious answer. “You look fine.”
Mima sighed in response. “Hey, I’ll take it.”
“More importantly…” As Yukari continued, she craned her neck around to absorb every detail of her surroundings: everything from the light fixtures above to the tables that were so meticulously set and prepared. “... Where are we?”
Her eyes naturally gravitated toward the front counter and the kitchen section that was just behind—meticulously wrapped burgers and fresh fries, set underneath heat lamps… it was as if they were all made recently. But that wasn’t even the strangest detail Yukari’s eyes were able to pick out. Upon one of the tables was a tray, filled with half eaten food—as if the patrons ceased to exist in the middle of their meal. This was beyond a mere liminal space, where it gave the impression of once being a place where people gathered—it was closer in relation to the scene of an ongoing disaster, where people had left in a hurry.
In that way, it didn’t carry much of the surreal quality of a place no longer meant for humans—it more so felt like a place with a cursed history, its sinister and mysterious narrative etched into its skin and flesh through the vestiges of human presence. Mima could tell, being a ghost herself, there was more to this place than the physical construction. As to what ‘more’ was, she could not place.
She could tell Yukari was thinking something similar by the way she walked around and took in the feeling of the place. Her posture was rigid and cautious, but not necessarily ready and waiting for danger. There was a quiet dread to the things that weren’t, but should’ve been.
“I’m trying to figure that out myself,” Mima replied, following Yukari around with her arms folded behind her back. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but… I think we’re back in Tokyo.”
“I don’t think you’re crazy.” Yukari replied. She walked over to the table with the food and traced a finger across its top. No dust clung to the surface of her finger, as if the tabletop had recently been cleaned. She brought the back of her palm close to the food. It was still radiating just a little bit of heat, as if it had been freshly served. “That’s the part that scares me.”
“... Assuming this is all very much real, this must be Koishi’s doing,” Yukari declared, taking a moment to look down at herself. As she flexed her fingers, her eyes narrowed. Mima figured she might’ve just realized she had been healed and mysteriously back to her usual outfit. She still looked younger and weaker than she once was, but there was an undeniable, albeit subtle increase in the vitality she seemed to convey. As Yukari’s eyes wandered to the empty city street outside, Mima couldn’t help but notice that expression—that idle, faraway gaze that looked like Yukari had trapped herself in a vivid daydream. She couldn’t help but realize how much Maribel had changed—and yet stayed the same.
“Whatcha thinking, Merry?” Mima tried, shuffling up to Yukari’s side.
“Yukari.”
“Oh. Right. Ha, that’s my bad. My bad…”
“I’m thinking: why Tokyo specifically?” With a wave of her hand, Yukari opened a gap next to her. Through that little tear in reality was a bird’s eye view of the whole city, as well as the infinite desert that surrounded it. “... There must be some significance to this location, but I couldn’t possibly imagine what it could be. Not right now, knowing what we know.”
“Hey, I grew up in Tokyo, you know? Maybe it has something to do with that? And… y’know, we were teaching in Tokyo before…” Mima gestured vaguely around herself. “... Everything, I guess. Maybe Koishi’s reacting to our memories.”
“Could be. Could just as easily be something related to Koishi. Could be nothing at all.” The view through the gap eventually fizzled out, leaving nothing but the inky blackness of the pocket dimension Yukari held dominion over. She let out a sigh before stitching the gap closed with a wave of her hand. “I’d suggest we keep on moving. Collect as much information as we can about this place. But only what we need—the plan is still largely the same. There’s no telling when she will appear again. Best be as quick about it as we can.”
“Oh. Uh… Alright. That’s cool.”
“... What?”
“Hm?”
“What’s wrong? You disagree?”
“Oh no, ah…” A sheepish grin crawled across Mima’s face. “I was just thinking about how much you’ve changed, is all. It’s just… you know, a huge city missing all of its people is pretty mysterious, huh? Don’t you want to do more exploring? Poke around a bit and take in the sights? Like we used to—just one last time?”
There was an unsettling period of silence where Yukari stared straight through Mima with that flat look. She averted her eyes for a passing moment. When Yukari returned her gaze to Mima, it was steely and cold. “No. Neither of us are kids anymore. We have duties and responsibilities that we can not abandon. Not for anything.”
Yukari brushed past Mima. The gesture wasn’t very rough at all, but Mima felt it come at her hard. As Yukari opened the door, she looked back at Mima and gestured to her to follow.
“Let’s go.”
There was Satori, her master, who she cared about deeply. There was Okuu, her best friend, who she loved. There was Koishi, the younger sister of her master, who she felt obligated to take care of. And of course, there was her job of transporting corpses, which she could do endlessly and without tiring. Those things more or less encompassed everything she cared about—Orin was a simple person.
So as she crawled out the emergency hatch located at the top of the ship her master had so recklessly buried into a sand dune, she couldn’t help but feel so hopelessly out of her depth. With a groan, she hoisted herself over the lip of the hatch before losing her balance and tumbling over.
As she tumbled downward, bumping her head against every little edge the ship had on her way down, the visor to her suit cracked and then shattered. But as she flopped down into the warm sand, her arms and legs spread in a state of absolute fatigue, she couldn’t really bring herself to care about the warning tones in her helmet—or the fact she was able to breathe the air here, in what used to be the void. Frankly, all she could think about was how much she wanted to go home.
“Orin! Are you okay?” A familiar voice called from somewhere outside her field of vision. It was followed by the hasty clattering of boots on metal as they no doubt clambered down the ship in a hurry.
All Orin could offer in response was a weak grunt and the extension of a thumbs up.
“Are… are you insane?” Another voice called soon after, all breathless and hoarse. It cracked with exertion, as if it had already been worn out by so much screaming. “Satori, what form of devil possessed you to do that? We could’ve all died!”
Satori, of course, didn’t respond. Not before she entered Orin’s field of view, her own helmet long since thrown away. Her face was etched with a rare look of concern, and she breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw Orin manage a weak smile. Wordlessly, Satori jostled off the smashed helmet from Orin’s suit and brushed away any remaining debris… before pulling her into a tight embrace.
Orin, dazed and shocked from the crash, could manage little else than to rest her head upon her master’s shoulders as she was pulled in. But through whatever stores of energy she had left, she managed to raise her arms and wrap them around in loose reciprocation.
“I’m okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”
Satori pulled back from the hug, but stayed kneeling by Orin’s side. Cautiously, she looked to the horizon, as if she had caught a vanishing glimpse of something stalking them from behind the shifting sands. She extended an elbow for Orin to grab on to. “Let’s go. Can you stand?”
“I… I think so,” Orin mumbled, hooking one of her arms around Satori’s elbow and placing a hand on her shoulder for support. Her master lifted, and in response Orin tried her best to stumble onto her feet, with mixed results. As she straightened herself out with the help of Satori, she heard her bones shift and crackle in strange ways—followed by an absolute lightning strike of localized pain in the leg and the fuzzy static that came to replace it.
After a sharp intake of breath and a pained wince, Orin settled into a decidedly unconvincing posture—she plastered a smile on her face and shifted all of her weight onto the other leg in a poor imitation of nonchalance, but Satori’s face only got graver. It broke Orin’s heart. For a moment, Orin tried to separate herself from her master so she could stand on her own—but Satori only squeezed her in closer, as if she would’ve lost Orin the second she let go.
That didn’t surprise Orin much. She knew better than anyone that the events one year ago were still fresh in her master’s mind. Even now, it haunted her every action, and now the consequences were starting to catch up with everyone involved. But to Orin, that didn’t matter. It never did—not so long as Satori was her master, and Orin was her pet. Satori could march to the deepest pit of Hell, pick a fight with a God, oppose reality itself… and Orin would march along right beside her, no matter what.
Patchouli, on the other hand, did not share the same sentiment. She marched up to the two, at least temporarily uncaring of the fantastical environment they found themselves in, and went straight to airing out her grievances.
“Recklessly engaging with Toyohime like that, against all better logic… one day, and this day might very well come sooner than you think, your obsession with that cursed woman will hurt someone you care about,” Patchouli snapped. As she looked to Orin, whose body was riddled with evidence of blunt trauma, her expression softened. “... It already has.”
“As if we had any other choice. It was our best shot to kill her, once and for all,” Satori replied, stone-faced and cold. “... Besides, let Orin speak for herself. As if you know what she does and doesn’t wish for.”
“... Orin wasn’t the only person who got hurt. Or killed.”
“It just so happens that Eirin conveniently falls outside my definition of ‘people I care about.’ I fail to see the issue.” Satori snorted with disgust, as if offended by the mere implication. Orin wanted to speak up and cut between the fighting, but couldn’t find the strength to oppose her own master. “That aside, who says I was the one who got her killed? She got herself killed, following her own incomprehensible mess of half-baked ideas and strategies. What are you coming at me for?”
“How could you be so cold toward someone like her? Especially since we were all fighting out there together, as comrades? Have you no shame?”
“I’ve no love for her. Not after what she did to my sister.” Satori stared straight into Patchouli’s eyes. Sometimes her master was like this—staring straight ahead through a person, as if judging the content of their soul itself. Sometimes, this was literally the case, given that she made liberal use of her opened third eye. “We might be fighting beside each other, but we’re fighting for completely different things. Yukari, Eirin, Kaguya, even you and I—we’re all fighting for something different. Those are just the facts. Just as it was a fact that Koakuma had darkness in her heart. It’s that kind of fact.”
“How cynical. Aren’t we friends?”
Satori fixed Patchouli with a steady glare as she thought through her answer. Even with an open eye, Orin found her master’s thought process difficult to parse.
“... No. We aren’t,” Satori settled. “It’s not a secret—I’m fighting to get my sister back. I’m fighting to kill the person who turned her into a monster. I’m fighting to protect my family. You are doing none of those things—you’re fighting for a more abstract reason: protecting the world, or preventing human suffering, or whatever other justification you assign to your actions. It’s admirable, but recognize that It’s only by convenience that we’re here, helping each other out.”
“... Is that right?” Patchouli muttered under her breath. “Then if it came between Yukari, or Eirin, or me, or anyone else… and your family. Who would you choose?”
Silence.
“It’s best to be honest with ourselves. It saves us the heartache.”
“I see.”
In the silence that came after, the atmosphere seemed to become heavier. Orin spent each passing beat being suffocated by the pressure. Her eyes darted from Patchouli to her master, and then back again.
“Er…” Orin started. “Let’s ah… could we just figure out what we’re going to do next, maybe? Without fighting—that would be nice.”
“Good plan, Orin,” Satori said. Though strangely enough, she wouldn’t take her eyes off of Patchouli. “I’m not quite sure what we would do without you.”
Patchouli looked away. Orin couldn’t help but feel vaguely responsible—though the second the thought even popped into mind, Satori squeezed a little tighter, as if in reassurance.
“... There’s no use in arguing,” Patchouli said with a heavy sigh. “Or rather, it’s a subject for later, when we aren’t all in danger. For now, I agree—we should figure out our next steps.”
Those satellites—their powerful bodies forged by the greatest minds, cast in the strongest metals, and mounted with the fiercest weapons humanity could muster—how could they have possibly matched the horror of God’s wrath? They could never, and for their hubris, their bodies and their souls were scattered and broken as a million glittering lights upon the ocean.
Those were the kinds of things Kaguya Houraisan thought about as she sat beside a flickering fire, her only source of light deep in the darkness of a desert night, not a few meters from the turned and battered wreckage of the CNS Beyond the Sun. In the void, It was battered by unseen force, turned three times—and upon the fourth, struck down and consumed by the void, as was the divine will of God. To its crew, it might have seemed like nothing less than a castigation of divine nature—but Kaguya knew it was nothing more than the temper tantrum of a child. As infant children must necessarily cry, Koishi must necessarily kill—it was her unconscious will.
Woe upon humanity, as its greatest accomplishment was brought low and made worthless before a child. Her own child. What a dubious honor it was—being the mother of such a terrifying, omnipresent killer.
Kaguya was on the ship when it was attacked by Toyohime. She was there to see Eirin march on to meet her. And she was there to see her die. It didn’t bother Kaguya too much—after all, she had watched Eirin die countless times. She will likely watch her die countless more, before all is said and done. But it was there, seized by the temporary shock, that Kaguya lost consciousness. When she woke up, she was deep within the fresh wreckage of humanity’s greatest weapon—alone. On what happened to her crew, and why Kaguya was spared, she could only make guesses.
With no direction and no plan, Kaguya spent what felt like hours wandering the claustrophobic halls of that great metal cage of a ship. But she was alone. Alone in such a way that not even the impression of humanity remained. Even the spot where she saw three men become atomized by Toyohime’s attack, which had burnt dark impressions of their silhouettes into the steel, was mysteriously void of any sign they were killed at all. The damage remained, but the people were gone—erased from existence in a way only God could manage.
When she eventually emerged from the dark recesses of the ship into a darker night, with nothing but the stars above and the inexplicable ground below, she could do nothing but start a simple fire. The night was cold, and she had a feeling it would be long. Warmth would be needed.
This, alone and huddled by a dying fire, must have been the end. Kaguya shifted closer to the flame, and held her knees closer to her chest. She didn’t know what to do. When her own daughter had sought her out, she didn’t know what to say. All she could do was recognize—that in pursuit of an easy life, she had made things so much worse. She wondered if it was too late to make things right between herself and Koishi. If Kaguya had looked up to her daughter now, and said sorry, would she hear? Would she care?
She wasn’t sure. And she wasn’t sure if she wanted to find out.
As she stared at the stars above, Kaguya heard the shuffling of boots displacing the sand. The sounds came in an irregular, halting motion. When it came to a stop, Kaguya lowered her gaze to the figure who stood at the edge of her fire’s light.
A moon rabbit in a pilot suit, all ripped up, tattered, and blackened by combat. In the gaps of her suit, her skin had melted away from severe burns—and froze in place, creating large patches of gangrenous tissue that covered her body. As Kaguya’s eyes drifted downward, she noticed a patch of body that had a view to the other side. Somehow, by some miracle of medicine, the wound remained stable and closed.
Her face was concealed by her helmet, tinted and patterned by a spider web of cracks, but by the way she stood, so still and lopsided, Kaguya had the impression of an empty gaze just behind the facade.
The moon rabbit carried in her left hand a revolver, its chambers empty and on display as the mechanism that connected the grip to the top half of the hung loose. In her other hand, was an ax, splintered in half at the handle from excessive use and its blade caked in a thick layer of blood.
Without a word, the moon rabbit collapsed into a heap by the fire.
Kaguya rushed to the moon rabbit’s side and, upon removing her helmet, froze.
Atonement—she wondered if it was even possible.
Interim Chapter 11
2023.03.22 06:46 Adam-best Electric Ionic Styling Hairbrush Having a bad hair day with flyaway, frizz and static? It's time to balance out your hair ions with this Electric Ionic Hairbrush. Constant brushing and towel-drying can strip away negative ions from your hair and that's where this comes in use.
submitted by Adam-best to BestDealsOfTheDay_ [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 06:43 jsgunn The Mother of Heroes Part 12
This happened in the final few weeks of my senior year. I was getting ready to graduate, and trying to decide if I should pass the reins to Amy 3, Pepper or Hannah the eviscerator. I'd undecorated my room, and was getting some studying done for finals, up way past my bedtime when there was a tap tap tap at my window. I looked to see a figure silhouetted against the dark night. I pointed towards the front door and, with a sigh, went to meet the person who'd be keeping me up.
I should have known who it was when I grabbed the door knob and felt it was ice cold. Not realizing the value of these omens, I opened the door to see Dahlia the harpy. She was certainly in a state, hair a mess, cheaters molting, with streaks of mascara running down her face. Her eyes were red from crying. I mean redder than usual. In a pitiable voice she asked "are you Shannon?" I said that I was. She asked if I still let anyone come to me with any problem. I said I did. She said "we haven't met, but my name is Dahlia. Will you help me?"
I stood slackjawed for a moment until a sniff snapped me out of it. I took a moment and thought WWHD (what would Helga do) and decided I would. So I invited her in, grabbed two pints of butter pecan, and sat down. I grabbed two pints because I didn't want to split one with her, and because I knew I'd need my own to get through this one.
She took a bite and then just sorta melted back into her human form, and for a minute just cried. When the wailing subsided, I asked her what her trouble was.
"I'm pregnant." She said. I'll admit with some guilt that the first thing I felt was relief. I was afraid she'd killed an adventurer and was trying to dispose of the body, but by now I'd handled unexpected pregnancies enough to be back on familiar territory. Then through the sobs she explained "I haven't seen my boyfriend in six months and I got lonely and…"
The relief gave way to white hot rage. She'd taken the one guy who had shown any interest without also being either insane or with one foot in the grave, and she had the audacity to do this? "WWHD" I whispered to myself. I realized I'd crushed my pint in my fist and forced my hand to unclench.
Dahlia continued "and Ethan is coming out in two weeks for graduation and I don't know what to do. I could sleep with him and then say…"
"FUCK" I shouted and sprang to my feet. It took everything in me to not strangle that woman where she sat. She looked up at me alarmed and afraid and I shouted "I SPILLED MY ICE CREAM AND I NEED TO GET A TOWEL." I shouted this loud enough that a few curious heads peeked out of their dorms.
Hannah asked if I was ok as I walked by. She heard me muttering "don't kill her don't kill her" and asked if I wanted her to take over.
I replied "no, but I'm going to need you on standby for afterwards. For me." I made it back to my room, screamed as loud as I could into my pillow, got a towel, composed myself and returned to face the monster. I cleaned up the spilled ice cream and was about to sit down, but then I looked at her and my eye twitched and I said "HANG ON LET ME PUT THIS IN THE LAUNDRY."
I was something that resembled composed when I finally got back, less than three minutes after my outburst, and I was able to pick up my ice cream and resume the conversation. Now given its prevalence in the story, it may surprise you to find out that while I do like butter pecan, it isn't my favorite. I don't know why it became the universal comfort ice cream of my college days, but it seemed everyone liked it and it worked to cheer them up so I didn't question it. The rest of that pint, though, tasted like ashes.
Dahila explained that when she told the father she was pregnant and it was his he'd literally run away, blocked her on everything and last she'd heard he'd left the state. Given that Dahlia was an eye eating harpy this response was understandable but absolutely detestable.
"Deliah, honey." That word was a struggle to get out. "Why would you do that? The thing with Ethan?"
She looked up at me and there was only despair in her eyes. "Because if I don't I… I'm… I'm afraid."
"Afraid of what, honey?" I asked.
Her answer was a whisper. "I can't do it on my own." And in that moment I felt a little better about not slamming the door in her face. I let her comment hang for a minute and she continued. "My mom was a single mom, and I never knew my dad and she… I don't want to be like her." Her voice broke. "I can't be like her, Shannon. Please."
I realized what she wanted. She wanted my approval to go ahead with Ethan, for me to tell her that that was the right thing to do. And if she wanted me to tell her that, it meant that she knew it was the wrong thing. I considered my next words carefully. "Dahlia, you're a senior. You're about to graduate. What kind of degree did your mom have?"
"She got her GED when I was nine."
"Well there you go, honey. You're already miles ahead." I said, false sunshine in my voice.
"But what if…"
"Yeah, the job marker sucks right now. But you're Dahlia the h…" I was going to say harpy. "The mighty. You can do this."
"But Ethan… what if I need him?"
I wanted to pull a Hannah, to verbally give her the ol KA LI MA and verbally rip out her heart, but I held myself in check. "Dahlia, you know that this plan of yours is wrong." I said, a little more sternly than I meant to. She started to protest but I interrupted her. "It's also setting you up for misery. You'll live in fear. What if he finds out? What if he realizes? What if he does the math and realizes that you can't deliver at a full 40 weeks if you've only been pregnant 32 weeks. What if he does a DNA test for one of those heritage websites? He might not know, but you will, Dahlia. You'll always know, and it will eat you up inside. What happens if, in ten years, you get in a fight and get drunk and decide to tell him, just to see how much it hurts him? Because it will hurt him. It will kill him. Do you think he's earned that?"
She just cried. She cried and cried and cried. And finally, in the smallest voice, she whispered "no".
"Then you have to do the right thing."
"I can't!" She shouted, then cried some more. "Will you help me? Please?"
Come to Shannon with your problems! She'll always do whatever she can. I got the number from her, and with each digit I dialed I cursed the stupid reputation I'd cultivated. I almost came close to even considering to curse Helga for believing in me.
The phone rang, and with each a sprout of hope blossomed in my heart, hope that it would go to voice-mail. And at last my prayers were answered! "It's Ethan, leave a message. If this is mom, hi mom!" Beep. I hung up, relief flooding into me. I tossed my phone down on the table and took another bite of ice cream.
Then I heard it.
The wrrr wrrr wrrr of my phone vibrating on the table. I recognized the number. Dahlia looked at me, a silent plea in her eyes.
I answered it on speaker. "Hello?" I said.
"Hey, I missed a call from this number?" Ethan said, from his voice he'd been asleep.
"Hi is this Ethan? Hi, my name is Shannon McMatthews, I'm the RA of dorm 6." I waited a moment for a reply.
"Uh…"
Well I suppose that one was on me, I didn't give him much to go on. "Now don't worry" I was about to say that nothing was wrong but that wasn't the truth. "She's not hurt, but I'm here with Dahlia. She needs to talk to you."
I clicked it off speaker and slid my phone over to Dahlia, who took it in shaking hands. I said "I'll give you some privacy. Come knock on my door when you're done."
She did a few minutes later and from her expression I knew how the call went. I just took my phone back and hugged her. She didn't want to talk more, so I walked her back to her dorm, returned to my own and then cried my eyes out. I told Hannah what had happened, and then without explaining to them what was wrong, she got the other girls to come out. And I cried. Because it's me and I guess that's my thing. I realized I'd been burying my feelings. That I didn't want this to end with graduation.
Pepper started it. One by one they took turns telling me about how I'd helped them, about when I'd been there for them, about what I'd done for them. They told me they loved me, how much it meant to just know I was there. Rachel said she thought of me as a big sister. Amy 2 said I was like the mom she never had. Hannah said I'd given her a voice. Girls, if any of you are reading this, know that it was a pleasure and an honor to have been there for you. I remember every single thing you said, I've written it on my heart and the memory of that night is one I cherish dearly.
Classes the next day could fuck right off, though.
I talked to Dahlia a few months ago, and found she'd really turned herself around. Brayden (of course) is a really cute kid. Dahlia herself is doing great. She works for a non profit helping single mothers. She did a bunch of therapy and is working on her MSW. I asked if she was dating anyone and to my delight she said "not at the moment, but it's fine, I might want a man but I don't need one." She's also stopped eating eyes. Well, she's stopped eating HUMAN eyes. So that's a start.
submitted by jsgunn to jsgunn [link] [comments]
I should have known who it was when I grabbed the door knob and felt it was ice cold. Not realizing the value of these omens, I opened the door to see Dahlia the harpy. She was certainly in a state, hair a mess, cheaters molting, with streaks of mascara running down her face. Her eyes were red from crying. I mean redder than usual. In a pitiable voice she asked "are you Shannon?" I said that I was. She asked if I still let anyone come to me with any problem. I said I did. She said "we haven't met, but my name is Dahlia. Will you help me?"
I stood slackjawed for a moment until a sniff snapped me out of it. I took a moment and thought WWHD (what would Helga do) and decided I would. So I invited her in, grabbed two pints of butter pecan, and sat down. I grabbed two pints because I didn't want to split one with her, and because I knew I'd need my own to get through this one.
She took a bite and then just sorta melted back into her human form, and for a minute just cried. When the wailing subsided, I asked her what her trouble was.
"I'm pregnant." She said. I'll admit with some guilt that the first thing I felt was relief. I was afraid she'd killed an adventurer and was trying to dispose of the body, but by now I'd handled unexpected pregnancies enough to be back on familiar territory. Then through the sobs she explained "I haven't seen my boyfriend in six months and I got lonely and…"
The relief gave way to white hot rage. She'd taken the one guy who had shown any interest without also being either insane or with one foot in the grave, and she had the audacity to do this? "WWHD" I whispered to myself. I realized I'd crushed my pint in my fist and forced my hand to unclench.
Dahlia continued "and Ethan is coming out in two weeks for graduation and I don't know what to do. I could sleep with him and then say…"
"FUCK" I shouted and sprang to my feet. It took everything in me to not strangle that woman where she sat. She looked up at me alarmed and afraid and I shouted "I SPILLED MY ICE CREAM AND I NEED TO GET A TOWEL." I shouted this loud enough that a few curious heads peeked out of their dorms.
Hannah asked if I was ok as I walked by. She heard me muttering "don't kill her don't kill her" and asked if I wanted her to take over.
I replied "no, but I'm going to need you on standby for afterwards. For me." I made it back to my room, screamed as loud as I could into my pillow, got a towel, composed myself and returned to face the monster. I cleaned up the spilled ice cream and was about to sit down, but then I looked at her and my eye twitched and I said "HANG ON LET ME PUT THIS IN THE LAUNDRY."
I was something that resembled composed when I finally got back, less than three minutes after my outburst, and I was able to pick up my ice cream and resume the conversation. Now given its prevalence in the story, it may surprise you to find out that while I do like butter pecan, it isn't my favorite. I don't know why it became the universal comfort ice cream of my college days, but it seemed everyone liked it and it worked to cheer them up so I didn't question it. The rest of that pint, though, tasted like ashes.
Dahila explained that when she told the father she was pregnant and it was his he'd literally run away, blocked her on everything and last she'd heard he'd left the state. Given that Dahlia was an eye eating harpy this response was understandable but absolutely detestable.
"Deliah, honey." That word was a struggle to get out. "Why would you do that? The thing with Ethan?"
She looked up at me and there was only despair in her eyes. "Because if I don't I… I'm… I'm afraid."
"Afraid of what, honey?" I asked.
Her answer was a whisper. "I can't do it on my own." And in that moment I felt a little better about not slamming the door in her face. I let her comment hang for a minute and she continued. "My mom was a single mom, and I never knew my dad and she… I don't want to be like her." Her voice broke. "I can't be like her, Shannon. Please."
I realized what she wanted. She wanted my approval to go ahead with Ethan, for me to tell her that that was the right thing to do. And if she wanted me to tell her that, it meant that she knew it was the wrong thing. I considered my next words carefully. "Dahlia, you're a senior. You're about to graduate. What kind of degree did your mom have?"
"She got her GED when I was nine."
"Well there you go, honey. You're already miles ahead." I said, false sunshine in my voice.
"But what if…"
"Yeah, the job marker sucks right now. But you're Dahlia the h…" I was going to say harpy. "The mighty. You can do this."
"But Ethan… what if I need him?"
I wanted to pull a Hannah, to verbally give her the ol KA LI MA and verbally rip out her heart, but I held myself in check. "Dahlia, you know that this plan of yours is wrong." I said, a little more sternly than I meant to. She started to protest but I interrupted her. "It's also setting you up for misery. You'll live in fear. What if he finds out? What if he realizes? What if he does the math and realizes that you can't deliver at a full 40 weeks if you've only been pregnant 32 weeks. What if he does a DNA test for one of those heritage websites? He might not know, but you will, Dahlia. You'll always know, and it will eat you up inside. What happens if, in ten years, you get in a fight and get drunk and decide to tell him, just to see how much it hurts him? Because it will hurt him. It will kill him. Do you think he's earned that?"
She just cried. She cried and cried and cried. And finally, in the smallest voice, she whispered "no".
"Then you have to do the right thing."
"I can't!" She shouted, then cried some more. "Will you help me? Please?"
Come to Shannon with your problems! She'll always do whatever she can. I got the number from her, and with each digit I dialed I cursed the stupid reputation I'd cultivated. I almost came close to even considering to curse Helga for believing in me.
The phone rang, and with each a sprout of hope blossomed in my heart, hope that it would go to voice-mail. And at last my prayers were answered! "It's Ethan, leave a message. If this is mom, hi mom!" Beep. I hung up, relief flooding into me. I tossed my phone down on the table and took another bite of ice cream.
Then I heard it.
The wrrr wrrr wrrr of my phone vibrating on the table. I recognized the number. Dahlia looked at me, a silent plea in her eyes.
I answered it on speaker. "Hello?" I said.
"Hey, I missed a call from this number?" Ethan said, from his voice he'd been asleep.
"Hi is this Ethan? Hi, my name is Shannon McMatthews, I'm the RA of dorm 6." I waited a moment for a reply.
"Uh…"
Well I suppose that one was on me, I didn't give him much to go on. "Now don't worry" I was about to say that nothing was wrong but that wasn't the truth. "She's not hurt, but I'm here with Dahlia. She needs to talk to you."
I clicked it off speaker and slid my phone over to Dahlia, who took it in shaking hands. I said "I'll give you some privacy. Come knock on my door when you're done."
She did a few minutes later and from her expression I knew how the call went. I just took my phone back and hugged her. She didn't want to talk more, so I walked her back to her dorm, returned to my own and then cried my eyes out. I told Hannah what had happened, and then without explaining to them what was wrong, she got the other girls to come out. And I cried. Because it's me and I guess that's my thing. I realized I'd been burying my feelings. That I didn't want this to end with graduation.
Pepper started it. One by one they took turns telling me about how I'd helped them, about when I'd been there for them, about what I'd done for them. They told me they loved me, how much it meant to just know I was there. Rachel said she thought of me as a big sister. Amy 2 said I was like the mom she never had. Hannah said I'd given her a voice. Girls, if any of you are reading this, know that it was a pleasure and an honor to have been there for you. I remember every single thing you said, I've written it on my heart and the memory of that night is one I cherish dearly.
Classes the next day could fuck right off, though.
I talked to Dahlia a few months ago, and found she'd really turned herself around. Brayden (of course) is a really cute kid. Dahlia herself is doing great. She works for a non profit helping single mothers. She did a bunch of therapy and is working on her MSW. I asked if she was dating anyone and to my delight she said "not at the moment, but it's fine, I might want a man but I don't need one." She's also stopped eating eyes. Well, she's stopped eating HUMAN eyes. So that's a start.
2023.03.22 06:34 SithRose Breathe...it's important. Seriously. Mindful breathing is a good thing.
 | Yet another "entertaining" weekend of...well, absolute insanity. Luckily this time none of the fur-family are involved! Poor Hordeling 3 missed our Star Wars game due to a nasty sinus infection, and of course the doctor visits involved there. I felt so bad for them, not even hot showers, menthol spray, and steroids helped. At least the antibiotics did and they're feeling better now! submitted by SithRose to u/SithRose [link] [comments] Unluckily, it did involve the bank. Our bank, that is. We had wondered how a small weekend treat, a rare order in of Taco Bell, which we do perhaps once every three to four months, had caused havoc - havoc that even when accidentally charged twice, it should not have caused. We looked Saturday, we looked Sunday. We looked Monday. Mystery and hair-pulling, and then the penny dropped late today. An unused Shadow Legends account was hacked. And...well, I hated microtransactions BEFORE. Now I REALLY DESPISE them. A wonderful lifesaver helped tide us through until we can get those reversed. They are a truly amazing person and we thank them with all our hearts. At least that's something we can do something concrete about. But oh the headaches and the hassle and the phone calls. It CAN be fixed. But ohhhh Shadow Legends is not known for their cooperation in such things. But there are procedures that banks like, and one of those is "talk to the vendor first" for fraudulent charges. Waiting is, now, for the lawyer representing the mortgage bank to FINALLY send us their paperwork. If there's one thing every lawyer we talked to agreed on, it was "don't talk to them until after we look at your financials". Naturally, it must go by snail mail. Of course it must. And then we look at the details and determine whether it will be Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. For my part...I've finally begun photographing gathered possessions to sell on eBay. An eclectic lot, liable to be moreso as I proceed. Uranium glass, handmade jewelry, feather hair ornaments, steampunk supplies, WastelandeDetonation items...and that's just a small tip of the iceberg, though I've had less than ideal luck with selling my hair ornaments in past days. Adjustment to routines now, and I crave sleep yet cannot reach it. Today was spent working, photographing, and working. One becomes creative when working with a set of human hurricanes and feline assistance - my photography backdrop is presently being held up by a menorah and a broken antique typewriter. This sometimes leads to fuzzy helpers like Gamora investigating what I'm photographing. And it was such a good shot...or would have been without that adorable nose, LOL. https://preview.redd.it/hew5v00q88pa1.png?width=1086&format=png&auto=webp&s=abb9fb108b1eaa220b90fac27657beba43254c1e https://preview.redd.it/24q7cbi738pa1.png?width=1086&format=png&auto=webp&s=cafd251bef85327d7cb7489c3633097ef10122d7 https://preview.redd.it/sw7a3uie88pa1.png?width=1008&format=png&auto=webp&s=3a3c11ed7ac455f968ff53a9e6f9eb3988d1c67c |
2023.03.22 06:32 gringo466 Latest version INI fix (feel free to repost)
fixes some of the hangs and low gpu utilization. Test it out, see if it helps you too.
[SystemSettings]
r.HZBOcclusion=
r.VolumetricCloud.HzbCulling=0
r.D3D.ForceDXC=1
r.D3D12.ExecuteCommandListTask=1
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s.ContinuouslyIncrementalGCWhileLevelsPendingPurge=1
gc.CreateGCClusters=1
gc.MaxObjectsNotConsideredByGC=32
gc.LowMemory.TimeBetweenPurgingPendingLevels=60
gc.LowMemory.TimeBetweenPurgingPendingKillObjects=300
gc.TimeBetweenPurgingPendingKillObjects=300
gc.NumRetriesBeforeForcingGC=3
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r.Emitter.FastPoolEnable=1
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r.RenderTargetPool.AllowMultipleAliasingDiscardsPerFrame=1
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Niagara.GPUSorting.CPUToGPUThreshold=200
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r.Streaming.MaxTempMemoryAllowed=2048
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r.Streaming.HiddenPrimitiveScale=0.0
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r.Streaming.FramesForFullUpdate=2
r.Streaming.PoolSize=-1
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r.Streaming.LimitPoolSizeToVRAM=1
r.Streaming.PoolSize.VRAMPercentageClamp=1024
r.Streaming.UseAsyncRequestsForDDC=1
r.Streaming.FullyLoadUsedTextures=0
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r.TextureStreaming=1
r.Shaders.Optimize=1
r.Shaders.FastMath=1
r.ShaderPipelineCache.StartupMode=1
r.ShaderPipelineCache.Enabled=1
r.ShaderPipelineCache.ReportPSO=0
r.ShaderPipelineCache.GameFileMaskEnabled=0
r.ShaderPipelineCache.LazyLoadShadersWhenPSOCacheIsPresent=0
r.ShaderPipelineCache.BatchSize=256
r.ShaderPipelineCache.BatchTime=10
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r.XGEShaderCompile=1
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r.XGEShaderCompile.Xml.BatchGroupSize=256
r.XGEShaderCompile.Xml.BatchSize=64
r.GPUParticle.Simulate=1
r.MotionBlur.Max=0
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r.FastBlurThreshold=0
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r.Color.Max=1.05
r.TonemapperGamma=1.35
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r.SSGI.Enable=1
r.SSGI.HalfRes=0
r.SSGI.Quality=1
r.BloomQuality=2
submitted by gringo466 to HarryPotterGame [link] [comments]
[SystemSettings]
r.HZBOcclusion=
r.VolumetricCloud.HzbCulling=0
r.D3D.ForceDXC=1
r.D3D12.ExecuteCommandListTask=1
D3D12.MaximumFrameLatency=2
s.ContinuouslyIncrementalGCWhileLevelsPendingPurge=1
gc.CreateGCClusters=1
gc.MaxObjectsNotConsideredByGC=32
gc.LowMemory.TimeBetweenPurgingPendingLevels=60
gc.LowMemory.TimeBetweenPurgingPendingKillObjects=300
gc.TimeBetweenPurgingPendingKillObjects=300
gc.NumRetriesBeforeForcingGC=3
gc.MinDesiredObjectsPerSubTask=4
gc.LowMemory.MemoryThresholdMB=4096
gc.MultithreadedDestructionEnabled=1
r.DontLimitOnBattery=1
r.Emitter.FastPoolEnable=1
r.UseClusteredDeferredShading=1
r.AllowOcclusionQueries=1
r.AllowSubPrimitiveQueries=0
UIManager.PauseMenuStreamingMemoryClear=2048
r.ForceHighestMipOnUITextures=1
r.HairStrands.Cull=2
r.HairStrands.Visibility.UseFastPath=1
r.GBufferFormat=3
r.GTSyncType=1
r.OneFrameThreadLag=1
r.FinishCurrentFrame=0
r.DiffuseIndirect.Denoiser=1
r.ForceSceneHasDecals=1
rhi.SyncInterval=0
rhi.SyncSlackMS=0
r.RHICmdUseDeferredContexts=1
r.RHICmdMinDrawsPerParallelCmdList=512
r.RHICmdMinCmdlistForParallelSubmit=4
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r.RHICmdFlushRenderThreadTasksVelocityPass=1
r.RenderTargetPool.AllowMultipleAliasingDiscardsPerFrame=1
r.RHICmdAsyncRHIThreadDispatch=1
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Niagara.GPUSorting.CPUToGPUThreshold=200
s.AsyncLoadingThreadEnabled=1
s.AsyncLoadingUseFullTimeLimit=0
r.UseParallelGetDynamicMeshElementsTasks=1
s.IoDispatcherCacheSizeMB=512
s.MaxIncomingRequestsToStall=24
s.MaxReadyRequestsToStallMB=6
r.Shadow.MaxNumSpotShadowCacheUpdatesPerFrame=1
r.Shadow.MaxNumPointShadowCacheUpdatesPerFrame=1
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2023.03.22 06:27 brownbitch8 Is wet brush for thin, pcos hair good?
Ive heard that using a wet brush properly coats hair strands w conditioner and was wondering if i should buy one ? Brushing hair when wet is bad too so im very confused!
submitted by brownbitch8 to FemaleHairLoss [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 06:26 Throwaway54996845 Last August a medium-large chunk of the "front" of my hair was ripped out, and I don't think it's growing back, thoughts/advice?
My brother is severely autistic and goes into rages where I have to physically restrain him. During one of these incidents in August he got ahold of my "bangs" (I keep them brushed to the side though, idk if bangs is correct) and would not let go. I yanked his arm away and a good-sized chunk of my hair came with it.
Unfortunately I (26M) already have an annoyingly receding hairline. On top of that the whole point of my hairstyle is for all of my hair to sweep forwards to the front and bunch up at the front, which should be the thickest and longest point. Now it doesn't do that any more.
At the time my family who were present assured me it would be alright, and that it would grow back. It's been 7 months now, I don't think there's been any improvement, and it's really bothering me.
[Here](https://imgbox.com/Z44uwGIk) is a picture of how it naturally falls a lot of the time now, with a gap. Looks kind of bad. [Here](https://imgbox.com/8grDmMHR) is a picture of what happens if I manually fix that gap, and how thin the front looks.
The reason I have this style to begin with is that when I told my hairdresser I didn't like my hairline, she suggested an undercut to basically turn a bug into a feature.
I'm not an expert on hair. If this is a still a problem 7 months later, it doesn't look like it will grow back right? Assuming that it won't grow back, is there any way to fix it?
submitted by Throwaway54996845 to Hair [link] [comments]
Unfortunately I (26M) already have an annoyingly receding hairline. On top of that the whole point of my hairstyle is for all of my hair to sweep forwards to the front and bunch up at the front, which should be the thickest and longest point. Now it doesn't do that any more.
At the time my family who were present assured me it would be alright, and that it would grow back. It's been 7 months now, I don't think there's been any improvement, and it's really bothering me.
[Here](https://imgbox.com/Z44uwGIk) is a picture of how it naturally falls a lot of the time now, with a gap. Looks kind of bad. [Here](https://imgbox.com/8grDmMHR) is a picture of what happens if I manually fix that gap, and how thin the front looks.
The reason I have this style to begin with is that when I told my hairdresser I didn't like my hairline, she suggested an undercut to basically turn a bug into a feature.
I'm not an expert on hair. If this is a still a problem 7 months later, it doesn't look like it will grow back right? Assuming that it won't grow back, is there any way to fix it?
2023.03.22 06:25 Mickrarri0 Just tough
From the lame ref ejecting mann early in the game. To the bad calls. And Lu dort, especially lu Dort stop playing like a god damn football player. Landing in PGs space to land was insane to watch just too much aggression there. Then idk what Ty lue had drawn up but Morris setting those brush screens and ball watching is the reason we don’t want to see him play
submitted by Mickrarri0 to LAClippers [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 06:23 D491234 The Vatican's connection with the Anti Trans Movement
Two arrested as mob sets upon protesters outside Mark Latham event in Sydney Rainbow rights group says peaceful protesters were set upon outside a Catholic church in BelfieldSource https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/ma21/two-arrested-after-mob-charges-rights-activists-outside-mark-latham-event-in-sydney
A gay and LGBTI rights group says a group attacked peaceful protesters outside a Catholic church in south-west Sydney, where One Nation’s Mark Latham was giving a speech.
Community Action for Rainbow Rights said on Twitter that as they were protesting outside St Michael’s church hall in Belfield, a mob set upon the protesters.
“Several people were punched in the face multiple times & hit with rocks and bottles as they were surrounded by a mob 30 times their size,” Community Action for Rainbow Rights said in a post.
Footage posted by the group on Facebook appeared to show a large, mostly male crowd confronting the rights activists and throwing punches as police officers attempt to hold back the group.
One of the organisers of the LGBTI protest, who requested anonymity due to fears for their safety, said they had intended to simply hold signs on the street opposite the church, make their point, and then leave.
“When we got there, we were full-on mobbed,” the protester told Guardian Australia.
“They grabbed one of the protesters by the hair and threw them to the ground, they punched people in the face, they threw bottles, handfuls of gravel.”
“We were just surrounded by these people who were out for our blood, basically. It took a lot for police to push them back and for us to make our escape.”
New South Wales police said two people were arrested following “a public order incident” involving about 500 people.
“During the event, it is alleged a number of glass bottles and other projectiles were thrown at police,” police said, adding that a male constable was hit by missile, which injured his hand and forced him to go to hospital. A 38-year-old man was pushed to the ground and assaulted.
Police reinforcements gained control of the incident, police said.
The protester said police were overwhelmed and struggled to maintain any sort of line between the two groups.
“It was such an extreme situation,” the protester said. “They barely had a handle on it, they barely had enough people to maintain a line between us and them. These … people kept jumping in and throwing their fists at the top of our heads and stuff like that.”
A 34-year-old man was charged with encouraging the commission of crimes and bailed until 11 April. A 41-year-old man was arrested and charged with common assault and ordered to appear at Bankstown local court on 30 May.
Latham, who is an outspoken critic of discussion of gender diversity in schools, said he had been advised by police not to attend the meeting but believed that not doing so was a “denial of democracy”.
Neither he nor One Nation – which is bidding to gain seats in Saturday’s NSW election – organised the event.
He said he had spoken about religious freedom, parental rights, school education and protecting non-government schools from what he called “alphabet activism”, and had not seen any trouble.
However, he said he was told by police that there had been violence “so I thoroughly condemned that and urged everyone to disperse peacefully”.
2023.03.22 06:22 Ralfop 【Last Day Promotion】Fast Hair Dye Set（6 colors） Suitable For All Hair Colors：For Black, white, gold, gray, yellow and other colors of hair, whether it is children or adults, long hair or short hair. Easy To Wash Out: Shampoo, water and towels can clean it up in just a few minutes. It won't be messy
submitted by Ralfop to HANITSYPRODUCTS [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 06:21 Ralfop 2 IN 1 ONE-STEP HAIR DRYER & VOLUMIZER LESS TIME, LESS DAMAGE：Dries and volumizes in on step for less heat damage and beautiful full bodies results.The unique oval brush design quickly creates volume at the root and beautifully full-bodied curls at the ends in a single pass, for salon blowouts
submitted by Ralfop to HANITSYPRODUCTS [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 06:18 SHOW_ME_YOUR_PENGUIN 30 [M4F] #Tampa / Anywhere looking for my person
I’ve posted here a few times and quite haven’t found who I’m looking for.
You don't have to meet all criteria but there are many strong preferences.
What I’m looking for:
I’m very easygoing, sweet, and genuinely want to make someone the happiest they’ve been. I love doing all the cute dates, dressing up together, random dates, road-trips, setting goals, cuddles, cooking together, etc.
submitted by SHOW_ME_YOUR_PENGUIN to r4r [link] [comments]
You don't have to meet all criteria but there are many strong preferences.
What I’m looking for:
- someone single and emotionally available, ready to love and seek their person
- happy person: please love yourself and be happy with yourself; I don’t believe someone can truly love another without being at peace with yourself.
- more than mediocre: please have the ‘drive’ or motivation in life.
- a giver
- someone kind and also looking for their person
- 100% loyalty. I’m a giver and do anything to make my favorite people happy.
- I’m a calm, easy-to-get-along-with person. It’s very rare for me to get upset.
- I’m always the friend that says, “text me when you get home safe”
- I’m independent and not looking for someone to support me.
- want to explore and enjoy life
- I’m average/above average attractiveness. I have a fit body. I’m 5’6 (very likely rounding up slightly) and 130 pounds. I don’t require someone to be fit also, but please take care of yourself to some degree (loving yourself). Exchanging pictures is important to me. I am 100% ok if you’re taller than me.
- Good health
- I'm white, short brown hair, blue/green eyes
- I’m in the top 1-2% in net worth for my age. Don’t even know if I should be posting this. Please have good positive direction in your life regarding this as well. I don’t require you to be anywhere near there, but please have a good head on your shoulders in that department or strong desire to get there. I have been used in the past for that and I don’t tolerate users of people.
- I’m a homeowner. It can either be our future place if it is nice or we can get another and rent this one out.
- masters degree.
- I’m essentially a Jack of all trades and have a can-do attitude about everything.
- I have no kids, no crazy ex’s, no baggage
- I have no STDs, including HSV1/2
- I don’t do drugs.
- most of what I do in life is to be prepared for my person. If something doesn’t benefit me, my friends, or my future person, I tend to avoid it.
I’m very easygoing, sweet, and genuinely want to make someone the happiest they’ve been. I love doing all the cute dates, dressing up together, random dates, road-trips, setting goals, cuddles, cooking together, etc.
2023.03.22 06:15 StillaCentristin2021 Trump's legal troubles extend far beyond Stormy Daniels case
Trump's legal troubles extend far beyond Stormy Daniels case
As debate continues over the possible criminal indictment of former President Donald Trump regarding a $130,000 hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels, several other cases are poised to further complicate his 2024 presidential bid.Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg appears set to make history by handing down the first-ever criminal indictment of a former president, potentially for falsifying business records to hide an alleged extramarital affair so as not to hurt his chances in the 2016 presidential election. Trump denies having had an affair with Daniels, and his legal team has brushed off the payments to her made via then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen as a private matter. But that controversial felony charge, which carries a possible four-year prison sentence upon conviction, is unlikely to be the last legal hurdle for Trump.
Here's a rundown of the most prominent prospective legal actions facing the former president as well as the civil cases that are already underway.
Jan. 6 federal grand jury
More at the link at the top of this post...The worst POTUS in the history of our great country is about to see his deeds go rewarded with several indictments and lawsuits finally heading his way....
2023.03.22 06:14 boxtop-droptop caught openly cishet man using women's communal restroom twice in 3 days
This week, my roommate (f19) and I (f18) have walked in on the same cis gender, heterosexual man (m19) (who I happened to go to high school with) using the women's communal bathroom in our dorm building.
Sunday night, I came out of a stall after using the bathroom and saw him looking at me in the mirror while brushing his teeth, I walked over and began washing my hands, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, I should mention he was also very obviously high. I (not really) jokingly said "you do know this is the women's room, right?" he responded "yeah, the mens bathroom is too far. You wont snitch, will you?" I said I wouldn't and we went about our business. (I should add the men's bathroom is as far for him as the women's bathroom is for me)
Tonight, my roommate walked in on him urinating with the stall door open. She claims to have not realized there was even a person in the stall until she heard the toilet flush and he walked out, nearly running into her. He then apologized and walked out.
After this, we're mildly annoyed, and frankly a little unsettled considering the bathroom is communal and the only thing potentially separating him and us in the shower is a thin curtain. Additionally, he is not a transgender woman nor claims to be. He has admitted the only reason he uses the women's restroom is because he is too lazy to walk 1 hall down to the men's room.
Are we overreacting? Should I report him to the RA? What is the best course of action here? I'm not sure who or if anyone else has seen him and I'm worried he will take it out on my roommate or me.
submitted by boxtop-droptop to college [link] [comments]
Sunday night, I came out of a stall after using the bathroom and saw him looking at me in the mirror while brushing his teeth, I walked over and began washing my hands, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, I should mention he was also very obviously high. I (not really) jokingly said "you do know this is the women's room, right?" he responded "yeah, the mens bathroom is too far. You wont snitch, will you?" I said I wouldn't and we went about our business. (I should add the men's bathroom is as far for him as the women's bathroom is for me)
Tonight, my roommate walked in on him urinating with the stall door open. She claims to have not realized there was even a person in the stall until she heard the toilet flush and he walked out, nearly running into her. He then apologized and walked out.
After this, we're mildly annoyed, and frankly a little unsettled considering the bathroom is communal and the only thing potentially separating him and us in the shower is a thin curtain. Additionally, he is not a transgender woman nor claims to be. He has admitted the only reason he uses the women's restroom is because he is too lazy to walk 1 hall down to the men's room.
Are we overreacting? Should I report him to the RA? What is the best course of action here? I'm not sure who or if anyone else has seen him and I'm worried he will take it out on my roommate or me.
2023.03.22 06:12 jthegamingpanda The Hair Care Conundrum
In the latest episode about leg washing, Matt and Stef ended uptalking about hair care, double shampooing and conditioners.
I just want to share my personal knowledge about hair care and allow you guys to let your hair go soft, and silky!
All sources will be linked at the end, numbered based on first appearance
First off, whats the use for conditioner?
According to Pantene's Australian Blog (1), it's used to lock in moisture by closing the outer layer of the hair, or cuticles, the shampoo opened up. Using conditioner will not only let your hair be soft, but it will help keep the moisture from drying out before the next shower.
Why should I use conditioner if I shower every day?
If you're active and move outside, the sun is going to make your hair abysmally dry and damaged.According to Science Direct (2), Ultra Violet rays from the sun can cause your hair to not only dry our VERY quickly, but can also damage your hair proteins which could cause it to easily thin more and more. Conditioner can rehydrate your cuticles and allow you to have a barrier against the sun and keep it from drying out even just for a few hours.
What if I don't go outside more than once or twice a week?
Depending on your life style, you probably don't NEED to shower every day. I don't leave the house often so I know from my personal experience bi-daily showers are fine and leave your hair well off. I still use conditioner to repair my hair from my shampoo and my tossing and turning in my bed.
Should I use one or two shampoos?
This depends on how frequently you shower. According to hair.com (3), the 2nd shampoo is mainly to get DEEP in there and make sure it's clean. If you do daily showers, the dirt and oil buildup isn't significant enough to NEED 2 shampoos, it's just a waste.
What kind of shampoo and conditioner should I use?
Depends on your hair. Long, thick hair usually needs stuff without sulfate, as that it strips more moisture out of your hair, which could cause more harm than good(4). My personal choice for my hair is Garnier Fructise as their curl line does work fairly well for my kind of hair.
Just like skin care, hair care isn't a one stop shop. Do research on what products you purchase, the ingredients, and what those do for your hair.
Small edit for a few personal tips I use for my hair: 1) If you have long hair, leave it damp after a shower and tie it in a bun for a few hours, itll keep moisture and have a very nice feel when it dries
2) Wear a hat anytime you go outside, It'll block UV rays from causing any damage
3) if you would like leave in conditioner is an option too, just in case you need something for your hair on an off day. I damp my hair and brush some in if I'm in a hurry and can't shower
Anyway, with your hair looking fly with these tips, just remember my friends its just a theory, A STYLE THEORY.
SOURCES
2)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1011134404000375#:~:text=It%20is%20well%20known%20that,both%20hair%20proteins%20and%20melanins.
3)https://www.hair.com/double-shampooing.html#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20remove,cleanse%20and%20nourish%20your%20strands.
4)https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327013#are-they-dangerous
submitted by jthegamingpanda to StyleTheorists [link] [comments]
I just want to share my personal knowledge about hair care and allow you guys to let your hair go soft, and silky!
All sources will be linked at the end, numbered based on first appearance
First off, whats the use for conditioner?
According to Pantene's Australian Blog (1), it's used to lock in moisture by closing the outer layer of the hair, or cuticles, the shampoo opened up. Using conditioner will not only let your hair be soft, but it will help keep the moisture from drying out before the next shower.
Why should I use conditioner if I shower every day?
If you're active and move outside, the sun is going to make your hair abysmally dry and damaged.According to Science Direct (2), Ultra Violet rays from the sun can cause your hair to not only dry our VERY quickly, but can also damage your hair proteins which could cause it to easily thin more and more. Conditioner can rehydrate your cuticles and allow you to have a barrier against the sun and keep it from drying out even just for a few hours.
What if I don't go outside more than once or twice a week?
Depending on your life style, you probably don't NEED to shower every day. I don't leave the house often so I know from my personal experience bi-daily showers are fine and leave your hair well off. I still use conditioner to repair my hair from my shampoo and my tossing and turning in my bed.
Should I use one or two shampoos?
This depends on how frequently you shower. According to hair.com (3), the 2nd shampoo is mainly to get DEEP in there and make sure it's clean. If you do daily showers, the dirt and oil buildup isn't significant enough to NEED 2 shampoos, it's just a waste.
What kind of shampoo and conditioner should I use?
Depends on your hair. Long, thick hair usually needs stuff without sulfate, as that it strips more moisture out of your hair, which could cause more harm than good(4). My personal choice for my hair is Garnier Fructise as their curl line does work fairly well for my kind of hair.
Just like skin care, hair care isn't a one stop shop. Do research on what products you purchase, the ingredients, and what those do for your hair.
Small edit for a few personal tips I use for my hair: 1) If you have long hair, leave it damp after a shower and tie it in a bun for a few hours, itll keep moisture and have a very nice feel when it dries
2) Wear a hat anytime you go outside, It'll block UV rays from causing any damage
3) if you would like leave in conditioner is an option too, just in case you need something for your hair on an off day. I damp my hair and brush some in if I'm in a hurry and can't shower
Anyway, with your hair looking fly with these tips, just remember my friends its just a theory, A STYLE THEORY.
SOURCES
2)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1011134404000375#:~:text=It%20is%20well%20known%20that,both%20hair%20proteins%20and%20melanins.
3)https://www.hair.com/double-shampooing.html#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20to%20remove,cleanse%20and%20nourish%20your%20strands.
4)https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/327013#are-they-dangerous
2023.03.22 06:11 zidaan_rishad Jjfje
Ace Luffy's older brother and former commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' 2nd Division. Arlong A sawshark fishman and former captain of the Arlong Pirates. Aokiji Marine admiral and former member of the Navy HQ. Akainu Marine admiral and current Fleet Admiral. Alvida A pirate captain and the first person Luffy defeated after setting sail. Bartolomeo Captain of the Barto Club and a member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Bepo A bear mink and a member of the Heart Pirates. Bellamy A former pirate and a member of the Donquixote Pirates' Diamante Army. Big Mom Pirates A powerful pirate crew led by Charlotte Linlin (Big Mom) and composed of a variety of unique characters. Boa Hancock Captain of the Kuja Pirates and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Bonney A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the Bonney Pirates. Buggy Former member of Gol D. Roger's crew and the leader of the Buggy Pirates. Buggy's Delivery A delivery service run by Buggy, who employs former members of the Baroque Works. Burgess A member of the Blackbeard Pirates and captain of the First Ship. Caesar Clown A mad scientist and former subordinate of the Big Mom Pirates. Capone Bege A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the Fire Tank Pirates. Carrot A rabbit mink and a member of the Straw Hat Pirates' temporary allies during the Whole Cake Island Arc. Carrot A rabbit mink and a member of the Mokomo Dukedom. Cavendish A member of the Beautiful Pirates and possessor of the Superhuman-Human Fruit. Charlotte Amande One of Big Mom's daughters and a member of the Big Mom Pirates. Charlotte Brûlée One of Big Mom's daughters and a member of the Big Mom Pirates, who has the ability to create and manipulate mirrors. Charlotte Compote One of Big Mom's daughters and a member of the Big Mom Pirates. Charlotte Katakuri One of Big Mom's three sweet commanders and possessor of the Mochi-Mochi Fruit. Chaka A member of the Royal Guards of the Alabasta Kingdom and possessor of the Inu-Inu no Mi, Model: Jackal. Coby Marine officer who was once Luffy's friend and rival. Coby's Marines A group of marines led by Coby, consisting of several individuals who have trained under Garp. Coby's Mentor A Marine vice admiral who served as Coby's mentor during his time at the Marine Academy. Corazon (Donquixote Rocinante) The younger brother of Donquixote Doflamingo and former member of the Donquixote Pirates. Crocodile Former president of the criminal organization Baroque Works and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Dalton A former king of the Sakura Kingdom and a bison mink. Dadan The leader of the mountain bandits on Mt. Colubo and the adoptive mother of Ace and Luffy. Daz Bones A former officer of Baroque Works and user of the Supa-Supa no Mi. Denjiro A member of the Nine Red Scabbards and former retainer of the Kozuki Family. Diamante A former executive of the Donquixote Pirates and user of
submitted by zidaan_rishad to u/zidaan_rishad [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 06:10 zidaan_rishad Hrheh
| Character Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Ace | Luffy's older brother and former commander of the Whitebeard Pirates' 2nd Division. |
| Akainu | Marine admiral and current Fleet Admiral. |
| Aokiji | Marine admiral and former member of the Navy HQ. |
| Bartolomeo | Captain of the Barto Club and a member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. |
| Boa Hancock | Captain of the Kuja Pirates and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. |
| Buggy | Former member of Gol D. Roger's crew and the leader of the Buggy Pirates. |
| Carrot | A rabbit mink and a member of the Straw Hat Pirates' temporary allies during the Whole Cake Island Arc. |
| Charlotte Linlin (Big Mom) | Captain of the Big Mom Pirates and one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. |
| Coby | Marine officer who was once Luffy's friend and rival. |
| Crocodile | Former president of the criminal organization Baroque Works and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. |
| Donquixote Doflamingo | Former king of Dressrosa and a former member of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. |
| Dracule Mihawk | A swordsman and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea known as the "Greatest Swordsman in the World." |
| Edward Newgate (Whitebeard) | A legendary pirate and one of the Four Emperors of the Sea who was once the "strongest man in the world." |
| Eustass Kid | Captain of the Kid Pirates and a member of the Worst Generation. |
| Franky | Cyborg and shipwright of the Straw Hat Pirates who has a cola-powered body. |
| Fujitora | Marine admiral who has the power to control gravity. |
| Galdino (Mr. 3) | Former member of Baroque Works and user of the Wax-Wax Fruit. |
| Garp | Marine vice admiral and Luffy's grandfather. |
| Gol D. Roger | Former Pirate King who discovered the One Piece and started the Great Pirate Era. |
| Helmeppo | Marine officer and Coby's friend who was once a coward. |
| Jinbe | A fishman and a member of the Straw Hat Pirates. |
| Kaido | Captain of the Beasts Pirates and one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. |
| Kizaru | Marine admiral known as the "Yellow Monkey" who has the power to move at the speed of light. |
| Monkey D. Luffy | Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and a rubber man with a dream to become the Pirate King. |
| Mr. 2 Bon Clay | Former member of Baroque Works and leader of the Okama Army. |
| Nami | Navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates who has the ability to forecast the weather. |
| Nico Robin | Archaeologist and member of the Straw Hat Pirates who has the ability to create limbs and eyes from any surface. |
| Portgas D. Rouge | Ace's mother and the wife of Gol D. Roger. |
| Roronoa Zoro | Skilled swordsman and Luffy's first mate. |
| Sanji | Cook of the Straw Hat Pirates who uses kicks in battle. |
| Sabo | Luffy's adopted older brother and chief of staff of the Revolutionary Army. |
| Sengoku | Marine admiral and former Fleet Admiral. |
| Shanks | Powerful pirate and former member of Gol D. Roger's crew who gave Luffy his signature straw hat. |
| Silvers Rayleigh | Former member of Gol D. Roger's crew and the Dark King. |
| Smoker | Marine captain and the wielder of the Logia-type Smoke-Smoke Fruit. |
| Tashigi | Marine officer and Zoro's frequent opponent. |
| Tony Tony Chopper | Reindeer who has eaten the Human-Human Fruit and can transform into a human/reindeer hybrid. |
| Trafalgar Law | Captain of the Heart Pirates and a member of the Worst Generation. |
| Usopp | Sniper of the Straw Hat Pirates and a compulsive liar. |
| Bepo | A bear mink and a member of the Heart Pirates. |
| Charlotte Katakuri | One of Big Mom's three sweet commanders and possessor of the Mochi-Mochi Fruit. |
| Diamante | A former executive of the Donquixote Pirates and user of the Flag-Flag Fruit. |
| Enel | The former "God" of Skypiea and user of the Goro-Goro no Mi. |
| Fisher Tiger | The founder and former captain of the Sun Pirates, a crew composed of fishmen and merfolk. |
| Gol D. Ace | A member of the Whitebeard Pirates and Luffy's older brother. |
| Hancock Sisters | Boa Hancock's younger sisters and members of the Kuja Pirates. |
| Inuarashi | A dog mink and one of the two rulers of the Mokomo Dukedom. |
| Jozu | A member of the Whitebeard Pirates and possessor of the Diamond-Diamond Fruit. |
| Kuma | A former Warlord of the Sea and one of the Revolutionary Army's commanders. |
| Arlong | A sawshark fishman and former captain of the Arlong Pirates. |
| Bartholomew Kuma | A former Warlord of the Sea and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea who became a Pacifista cyborg. |
| Bellamy | A former pirate and a member of the Donquixote Pirates' Diamante Army. |
| Big Mom Pirates | A powerful pirate crew led by Charlotte Linlin (Big Mom) and composed of a variety of unique characters. |
| Brogy and Dorry | Two giant warriors and captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates. |
| Burgess | A member of the Blackbeard Pirates and captain of the First Ship. |
| Capone Bege | A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the Fire Tank Pirates. |
| Caesar Clown | A mad scientist and former subordinate of the Big Mom Pirates. |
| Cavendish | A member of the Beautiful Pirates and possessor of the Superhuman-Human Fruit. |
| Corazon (Donquixote Rocinante) | The younger brother of Donquixote Doflamingo and former member of the Donquixote Pirates. |
| Crocus | A doctor and caretaker of the Twin Cape's lighthouse. |
| Dalton | A former king of the Sakura Kingdom and a bison mink. |
| Denjiro | A member of the Nine Red Scabbards and former retainer of the Kozuki Family. |
| Doflamingo Family | A powerful criminal organization led by Donquixote Doflamingo and composed of several officers with unique abilities. |
| Edward Weevil | A self-proclaimed son of Whitebeard and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. |
| Fukuro | A member of CP9 and user of the Rankyaku technique. |
| Gaimon | A pirate who was trapped inside a treasure chest on an island for 20 years. |
| Gin | A former member of the Baratie staff and captain of the Krieg Pirates. |
| Hannyabal | The vice warden of Impel Down and user of the Devil's Cane-Cane Fruit. |
| Hawkins | A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the Hawkins Pirates. |
| Ivankov | The "Queen" of the Kamabakka Kingdom and commander of the Revolutionary Army's Newkama Land forces. |
| Kaido's Calamities | Three of Kaido's most powerful and feared subordinates: Jack, Queen, and King. |
| Kin'emon | A samurai from Wano Country and a member of the Nine Red Scabbards. |
| Koby's Marines | A group of marines led by Coby, consisting of several individuals who have trained under Garp. |
| Kokoro | A mermaid and conductor of the Puffing Tom. |
| Krieg | The captain of the Krieg Pirates and an infamous pirate who used underhanded tactics to win battles. |
| Kuina | Zoro's childhood friend and a skilled swordsman who dreamt of becoming the world's strongest swordsman. |
| Marco | A member of the Whitebeard Pirates and possessor of the Phoenix-Phoenix Fruit. |
| Momonosuke | The son of Kozuki Oden and a member of the Kozuki Family. |
| Monet | A former officer of the Donquixote Pirates and user of the Snow-Snow Fruit. |
| Mr. 4 and Miss Merry Christmas | A pair of Baroque Works agents who are skilled in explosives and wrestling, respectively. |
| Nekomamushi | A cat mink and one of the two rulers of the Minks. |
| Oars Jr. | An enormous giant and former member of the Thriller Bark Pirates. |
| Pell | A member of the Royal Guards of the Alabasta Kingdom and possessor of the Falcon-Falcon Fruit. |
| Pica | An executive of the Donquixote Pirates and possessor of the Stone-Stone Fruit. |
| Pudding | A member of the Big Mom Pirates and one of Big Mom's daughters, who has the ability to manipulate memories. |
| Rayleigh | A former member of Gol D. Roger's crew and the Dark King. |
| Rebecca | The gladiator champion of the Corrida Colosseum and a member of the Riku Family. |
| Rockstar | A member of the Red Hair Pirates and possessor of the Float-Float Fruit. |
| Ryuuma | A legendary swordsman from Wano Country and possessor of the Shusui sword. |
| Saboady Archipelago Supernovas | A group of rookie pirates known as the Worst Generation, consisting of Eustass Kid, Scratchmen Apoo, Capone Bege, Basil Hawkins, and Urouge. |
| Saint Charlos | A World Noble who was responsible for the enslavement of the Fishman Island. |
| Sabo's Revolutionary Army | A group of revolutionaries led by Sabo, consisting of several individuals who oppose the World Government. |
| Sabo's Family | The family members of Sabo, including his adopted father and brother. |
| Scratchmen Apoo | A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the On Air Pirates. |
| Senor Pink | An officer of the Donquixote Pirates and user of the Nui-Nui Fruit. |
| Shakky | A former pirate and current owner of Shakky's Rip-off Bar. |
| Shiki | A former member of the Roger Pirates and the captain of the Golden Lion Pirates. |
| Silvers Rayleigh's Crew | The crew that accompanied Rayleigh during his time as a pirate, including Zephyr. |
| Spandam | A former member of CP9 and director of the Cipher Pol organization. |
| Stelly | The current king of the Goa Kingdom and Sabo's adopted younger brother. |
| Straw Hat Grand Fleet | A fleet of ships and pirate crews who allied themselves with the Straw Hat Pirates, consisting of the Barto Club, Happo Navy, Ideo Pirates, Tonta Corps, Yonta Maria Grand Fleet, and Beautiful Pirates. |
| T-Bone | A Marine commodore and commander of the 77th Marine Branch. |
| Tom | The shipwright who built the Oro Jackson, Gol D. Roger's ship. |
| Tsuru | A Marine vice admiral and commander of the Navy's Marine Headquarters. |
| Urouge | A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the Fallen Monk Pirates. |
| Vergo | A high-ranking officer of the Donquixote Pirates and undercover agent in the Marines. |
| Wapol | A former king of the Drum Island and user of the Baku-Baku Fruit. |
| Wapol's Family | The family members of Wapol, including his father and brother. |
| X Drake's Marine Fleet | A fleet of ships led by X Drake, who defected from the Navy and joined the Beast Pirates. |
| Yonko | The four most powerful pirate captains in the world: Shanks, Big Mom, Kaido, and Blackbeard. |
| Zephyr | A former Marine admiral and leader of the Neo Marines. |
| Alvida | A pirate captain and the first person Luffy defeated after setting sail. |
| Baby 5 | An officer of the Donquixote Pirates and user of the Buki-Buki no Mi. |
| Basil Hawkins' Crew | The crew that accompanies Basil Hawkins, consisting of several individuals with unique abilities. |
| Bellemere | The adoptive mother of Nami and a former Marine. |
| Blackbeard Pirates | A powerful pirate crew led by Blackbeard, consisting of several officers with unique abilities. |
| Bonney | A member of the Worst Generation and captain of the Bonney Pirates. |
| Buggy's Delivery | A delivery service run by Buggy, who employs former members of the Baroque Works. |
| Carrot | A rabbit mink and a member of the Mokomo Dukedom. |
| Chaka | A member of the Royal Guards of the Alabasta Kingdom and possessor of the Inu-Inu no Mi, Model: Jackal. |
| Charlotte Amande | One of Big Mom's daughters and a member of the Big Mom Pirates. |
| Charlotte Brûlée | One of Big Mom's daughters and a member of the Big Mom Pirates, who has the ability to create and manipulate mirrors. |
| Charlotte Compote | One of Big Mom's daughters and a member of the Big Mom Pirates. |
| Coby's Mentor | A Marine vice admiral who served as Coby's mentor during his time at the Marine Academy. |
| Dadan | The leader of the mountain bandits on Mt. Colubo and the adoptive mother of Ace and Luffy. |
| Daz Bones | A former officer of Baroque Works and user of the Supa-Supa no Mi. |
| Doberman | A Marine vice admiral and commander of the G-1 Marine Base. |
| Drake | A former Marine admiral and captain of the Drake Pirates. |
| Edward Newgate (Whitebeard) | The captain of the Whitebeard Pirates and one of the Four Emperors of the Sea. |
| Foxy | The captain of the Foxy Pirates and user of the Noro-Noro no Mi. |
| Fukaboshi | A prince of the Ryugu Kingdom and a shark merman. |
| Gaimon's Friend | A friend of Gaimon who was stuck inside a treasure chest on an island. |
| Gatz | The host of the Corrida Colosseum and a member of Dressrosa's ruling family. |
| Gedatsu | A member of the Shandia tribe and former priest of the Skypieans. |
| Gladius | An executive of the Donquixote Pirates and user of the Pamu-Pamu no Mi. |
| Gloriosa | The former queen of the Alabasta Kingdom and Nefertari Cobra's predecessor. |
| Hajrudin | A giant warrior and captain of the New Giant Warrior Pirates. |
| Hina | A Marine captain and user of the Ori-Ori no Mi. |
| Hyogoro | A former yakuza boss and member of the yakuza alliance led by the Kozuki Family. |
| Ikaros Much | A member of CP9 and user of the Mogu-Mogu no Mi. |
| Jaguar D. Saul | A giant warrior and former Marine vice admiral who befriended Robin. |
| Jinbe | A former member of the Shichibukai and captain of the Sun Pirates. |
| Kabuto | A member of the Revolutionary Army and a former Revolutionary Army commander. |
| Kaido's Army | The army of subordinates who follow Kaido, consisting of a variety of powerful and unique characters. |
2023.03.22 06:04 Glittery_Gal Question!
How did you guys handle the 12 week wait? As in, waiting until week 12 to kind of unclench? I had two very early losses and I’m now at week 9 (+2.) I have never gotten this far. We already had a confirmed heartbeat at 7 weeks (+1) at 126/bpm. Ultrasound showed everything to be normal, showed baby to be measuring exactly where they should be.
HCG started at 7 weeks (+1) at 30,000 8 weeks (+1) to 70,080.
I’m very symptomatic, HG, food aversions, sore boobs that never seem to stop growing, hair growth, cramping, blah blah blah.
I’m just so nervous. I really want this to work out. I abstain from all the no-no’s despite knowing there is nothing I can do to prevent or cause a loss at this stage. I try to ignore the fear by literally doing anything else- listening to music, cleaning, baking, watching TV, etc.
How did you guys manage? ER docs told me to just not care, that it’s super common, they see it every single day, getting your hopes up sets you up to hurt, all kinds of stuff that I felt was pretty grim and callous to say to someone who doesn’t work in their field. Even my own mom said she would not get excited “until she saw the baby in my arms” which absolutely crushed me.
How did you guys get through it? I’m aware that it can still happen at any time. I just seriously am nervous and honestly wish I could fast forward into the “safe” zone. I feel guilty for being excited. Ughh.
submitted by Glittery_Gal to pregnant [link] [comments]
HCG started at 7 weeks (+1) at 30,000 8 weeks (+1) to 70,080.
I’m very symptomatic, HG, food aversions, sore boobs that never seem to stop growing, hair growth, cramping, blah blah blah.
I’m just so nervous. I really want this to work out. I abstain from all the no-no’s despite knowing there is nothing I can do to prevent or cause a loss at this stage. I try to ignore the fear by literally doing anything else- listening to music, cleaning, baking, watching TV, etc.
How did you guys manage? ER docs told me to just not care, that it’s super common, they see it every single day, getting your hopes up sets you up to hurt, all kinds of stuff that I felt was pretty grim and callous to say to someone who doesn’t work in their field. Even my own mom said she would not get excited “until she saw the baby in my arms” which absolutely crushed me.
How did you guys get through it? I’m aware that it can still happen at any time. I just seriously am nervous and honestly wish I could fast forward into the “safe” zone. I feel guilty for being excited. Ughh.
2023.03.22 06:01 LastStandingg Fiancee (31F) may be struggling with body image issues. How can I support her?
I'll start by saying I'm not an eating disorder expert or a psychiatrist or anything so a lot of this is me spitballing.
Recently I've noticed some changes in the way my fiancee behaves around food and her body. Maybe it was always there and I never noticed but it seems really prominent now. She'll constantly make semi-joking comments about how much she's eating and there have been a couple of times when I caught her looking at herself in the mirror in a way that looked like a body check. I didn't say anything about it because I didn't want to cause her any distress.
I got more concerned this week when (sorry if this is out of bounds) we were being intimate in bed. She is a bit on a plump side and I love that about her and I reached down when I was behind her and ran my hands across her belly. She kinda flinched and looked at me with this horrified look. I asked if everything was okay but she just kind of brushed it off and said everything was fine. Again, I didn't press the issue because I don't know how to approach it in a respectful way.
So that's why I'm here. It breaks my heart seeing her feel bad about herself and I really want to tell her how sexy I think she is, but I also know some people don't like being told they're wrong about themselves. What I do now is laugh when she takes jabs at her food portions and say something like "now that's just crazy talk." One of my friends also suggested complimenting her on things like her clothes or her intellect, things she chooses. I've been doing that now too and it seems like it helps.
One more thing is that she's from Ivory Coast and was raised Muslim but doesn't practice now, and some other friends from there have told me about how young women take hits about their bodies all the time there even from their own families. I know that happens stateside too but apparently it can get pretty nasty. She's not on great terms with her folks so it wouldn't surprise me if that was true for her too.
Would like any advice, especially from those who also struggled with this and what your friends, family or partners did or didn't do that helped.
Thanks in advance.
Tl;Dr: partner might be struggling with her body image and I'd like advice on how I can best be there for her.
submitted by LastStandingg to AskWomenOver30 [link] [comments]
Recently I've noticed some changes in the way my fiancee behaves around food and her body. Maybe it was always there and I never noticed but it seems really prominent now. She'll constantly make semi-joking comments about how much she's eating and there have been a couple of times when I caught her looking at herself in the mirror in a way that looked like a body check. I didn't say anything about it because I didn't want to cause her any distress.
I got more concerned this week when (sorry if this is out of bounds) we were being intimate in bed. She is a bit on a plump side and I love that about her and I reached down when I was behind her and ran my hands across her belly. She kinda flinched and looked at me with this horrified look. I asked if everything was okay but she just kind of brushed it off and said everything was fine. Again, I didn't press the issue because I don't know how to approach it in a respectful way.
So that's why I'm here. It breaks my heart seeing her feel bad about herself and I really want to tell her how sexy I think she is, but I also know some people don't like being told they're wrong about themselves. What I do now is laugh when she takes jabs at her food portions and say something like "now that's just crazy talk." One of my friends also suggested complimenting her on things like her clothes or her intellect, things she chooses. I've been doing that now too and it seems like it helps.
One more thing is that she's from Ivory Coast and was raised Muslim but doesn't practice now, and some other friends from there have told me about how young women take hits about their bodies all the time there even from their own families. I know that happens stateside too but apparently it can get pretty nasty. She's not on great terms with her folks so it wouldn't surprise me if that was true for her too.
Would like any advice, especially from those who also struggled with this and what your friends, family or partners did or didn't do that helped.
Thanks in advance.
Tl;Dr: partner might be struggling with her body image and I'd like advice on how I can best be there for her.
2023.03.22 05:57 Monsterfecker3000 I hate being more of a parental figure than the actual parents
Talking about my younger sibling. They always have gotten dumped off onto me. Its just lately has become extremely obvious to me how much of a parent I am to this kid since I am stuck at home all the time cuz of a temporary disability situation. Rn I am unemployed so in return for living here rent free I have to watch my sibling (not like I wasn't already doing it already) but this is a lot more than just babysitting. I literally would not have a problem with babysitting at all if I wasn't being treated like their replacement. They are almost constantly in my care. I spend a million times more time with them than they do their own parents. Both parents are gone all the time. They only see their dad like one day out of every couple of weeks, sometimes not even that, and our mom they see like a couple hours a day. The rest of the time they are with me or in school. I had to teach them to bathe, to brush their teeth, to brush their hair, to wash their face, how to dress themselves and tie their shoes, how to read, how to properly clean after using the restroom, how to do chores around the house, proper manners, how to do literally anything. This has always been this way but its just more clear to me now. Had the realization the other day that im basically their parent and I've felt so much anger about it since. I never wanted this. I don't want to be a replacement because their own parents don't want to do their job. I don't deserve this and neither does my sibling. Im tired of it.
submitted by Monsterfecker3000 to Vent [link] [comments]
2023.03.22 05:55 Adam-best Useful Portable Handheld Steam Iron
UPGRATED VERSION – Dual steamer and Iron. Produces a powerful and consistent steam. 2 in 1 for Flat hot and Hanging hot. Safer structure design to minimize leaking water. More sufficiently, and bursts strong hot steam swiftly, without water sputtering.
https://zafyn.com/collections/new-products/products/useful-portable-handheld-steam-iron
https://reddit.com/link/11y7hxu/video/nu3x7wivnl261/player
QUICK & POWERFUL – Ceramic soleplate, heating up just 50s, prevents clothes from damaged. Powerful and stable steam to remove heavy wrinkle, odors and degerming.The steam is continuous and powerful, which can penetrate the clothes deeply and quickly.
SUITABLE FOR MOST FABRICS – One handheld fabric steamer to make shirts, suits, down clothes, night dress, wedding dress, pants crease free.
MULTIFUNCTION – Strong steam can be used in many ways-Cleaning dust. Pillow high temperature clean, sofa clean etc.
BEST EXPERIENCE – We also provide 100 ML Measuring Cup. Perfect for travel and home use.
Secondly, adjust the temperature dial to the max, then the working light turned red. After the working light turned off, you can adjust the temperature to what you want, there has three settings, so them you can press the steamer button, and begin working.
Finally, just add water and turn on, waiting for 50 sec, you can start ironing your clothes.
submitted by Adam-best to McrOne [link] [comments]
https://zafyn.com/collections/new-products/products/useful-portable-handheld-steam-iron
https://reddit.com/link/11y7hxu/video/nu3x7wivnl261/player
QUICK & POWERFUL – Ceramic soleplate, heating up just 50s, prevents clothes from damaged. Powerful and stable steam to remove heavy wrinkle, odors and degerming.The steam is continuous and powerful, which can penetrate the clothes deeply and quickly.
SUITABLE FOR MOST FABRICS – One handheld fabric steamer to make shirts, suits, down clothes, night dress, wedding dress, pants crease free.
MULTIFUNCTION – Strong steam can be used in many ways-Cleaning dust. Pillow high temperature clean, sofa clean etc.
BEST EXPERIENCE – We also provide 100 ML Measuring Cup. Perfect for travel and home use.
HOW TO USE IT?
Directly hanging your clothes on the hanger, putting them flat on ironing board or even on the table. (you need to add the water in the tank(100ML) not more than the max line or it will leak or spoil when you ironing).Secondly, adjust the temperature dial to the max, then the working light turned red. After the working light turned off, you can adjust the temperature to what you want, there has three settings, so them you can press the steamer button, and begin working.
Finally, just add water and turn on, waiting for 50 sec, you can start ironing your clothes.
SPECIFICATIONS:
- Weight: 1100g.
- Power: 1000W.
- Color: Purple / Blue.
- Size: 35 x 8 x 10 cm /(13.78*3.15*3.93 inches).
PACKAGE INCLUDE:
- 1 x Base.
- 1 x Metrology Cup.
- 1 x Plush Brush Combination.
- 1 x Portable Handheld Steam Iron.
2023.03.22 05:51 ResponsibleState Advice for navigating work events?
I've made it through several work-related boozy evening events at this point and while I am feeling strong in my decision not to drink, I'm finding myself in the occasional awkward conversation that I would like to either avoid or make less awkward.
For example, people (who are drinking) want to talk to me about how I'm not drinking. I don't mind, exactly, but the conversation usually goes something like, "So great you're not drinking! I don't drink that much during the week any more... Except, well, tonight, but mostly just on weekends... Anyway, so are you not drinking at all?" And while I wouldn't mind having a real conversation with anyone interested, getting caught in someone else's buzzed loop is tiresome.
Or someone is really interested, but because we're work colleagues, I actually don't want to say what I would to a friend or acquaintance – that I was regularly blacking out and often waking up with the remnants of vomit in my hair and always hungover.
Or someone says something, like, "You used to be so much fun!" when I start gathering my things to go back to the hotel while everyone else moves on to the next bar. (Sometimes I go, but mostly after a few hours of sober socializing, I'm ready for some alone time.) And I feel kind of sad having that said to me, but don't have a good answer.
Or, most awkward of all, I inadvertently over-explain about how I'm not drinking and it's easier to not drink at all than have only one or two drinks, and that the whole staying sober thing is great but takes a lot of effort yadda yadda.
I think I need a set of "go to" responses to carry in my mental back pocket. Anyone relate to this?
submitted by ResponsibleState to stopdrinking [link] [comments]
For example, people (who are drinking) want to talk to me about how I'm not drinking. I don't mind, exactly, but the conversation usually goes something like, "So great you're not drinking! I don't drink that much during the week any more... Except, well, tonight, but mostly just on weekends... Anyway, so are you not drinking at all?" And while I wouldn't mind having a real conversation with anyone interested, getting caught in someone else's buzzed loop is tiresome.
Or someone is really interested, but because we're work colleagues, I actually don't want to say what I would to a friend or acquaintance – that I was regularly blacking out and often waking up with the remnants of vomit in my hair and always hungover.
Or someone says something, like, "You used to be so much fun!" when I start gathering my things to go back to the hotel while everyone else moves on to the next bar. (Sometimes I go, but mostly after a few hours of sober socializing, I'm ready for some alone time.) And I feel kind of sad having that said to me, but don't have a good answer.
Or, most awkward of all, I inadvertently over-explain about how I'm not drinking and it's easier to not drink at all than have only one or two drinks, and that the whole staying sober thing is great but takes a lot of effort yadda yadda.
I think I need a set of "go to" responses to carry in my mental back pocket. Anyone relate to this?