I'm calling it the Researcher Challenge. The basic rules are quite simple:

1. Your main goal is to complete the Pokedex. Nothing else matters, except that you will have to complete the gym challenge to do this.
2. You must not progress beyond a route/area until you have caught each pokemon from it or you have an earlier stage to evolve later.

There are some exceptions. I'd allow for a pokemon with 2% or lower encounter rate to be skipped if it has a higher rate elsewhere. The wild area is obviously a mess, too. Safari Zones can be handled at the end as well.
This is the worst thing I've ever done to myself. I've got 9 hours in my Emerald run, and I have one badge. I originally had planned to make a Living Dex out of this, but I think the universe will end before that happens.

Greetings Citizens!
BDF is looking for both experienced and new players to help us continue growing as an effective fighting unit as well as a great place to meet new friends and have a good time. BDF is UEE oriented, legal, full fleet, anti-pirate, anti-griefer, star citizen dedicated, and noob friendly.
We are an English-speaking international organization with 3 active fleets headquartered in the NA, EU, and Asia/Oceania regions. We have members active at all times of day, and regularly run events that will fit any timezone or timeframe. Wherever you may be and whenever you may play, we would be happy to have you alongside us!
BDF is proud to have a significant number of active military and veterans as part of our membership. We salute you no matter when or where you served. o7
WHAT WE OFFER:
Military structure
Ranking system
Training
Many awards, medals, ribbons and certification badges for a wide range of combat and non combat accomplishments.
A website where all main members will have individual areas for character development and display of their uniform, rank, awards, etc.
Solid organization with clear goals and the determination to consistently move forward despite the roadblocks that Star Citizen may (will) throw at us.
POSITIONS AVAILABLE:
• Light and Heavy Fighter Pilots
• Gunship and Dropship Pilots
• Light, Medium, and Heavy Bomber Pilots
• Multicrew Turret and Engineering Roles
• Capital Ship Pilots, and Crewmembers
• Space and Ground Marines
• Short and Long-Range Exploration
• Logistics and Support
• Combat and Specialist Medics
• Search and Rescue
Please be sure to visit our RSI site for more information regarding our purpose, goals, and history!
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/orgs/BDF1
If you would be interested in joining in our efforts to grow one of the finest organizations in Star Citizen, please be sure to join our Discord server!
https://discord.gg/CNnA3czh

Greetings Citizens!
BDF is looking for both experienced and new players to help us continue growing as an effective fighting unit as well as a great place to meet new friends and have a good time. BDF is UEE oriented, legal, full fleet, anti-pirate, anti-griefer, star citizen dedicated, and noob friendly.
​
We are an English-speaking international organization with 3 active fleets headquartered in the NA, EU, and Asia/Oceania regions. We have members active at all times of day, and regularly run events that will fit any timezone or timeframe. Wherever you may be and whenever you may play, we would be happy to have you alongside us!
​
BDF is proud to have a significant number of active military and veterans as part of our membership. We salute you no matter when or where you served. o7
​
WHAT WE OFFER:
Military structure
Ranking system
Training
Many awards, medals, ribbons and certification badges for a wide range of combat and non combat accomplishments.
A website where all main members will have individual areas for character development and display of their uniform, rank, awards, etc.
Solid organization with clear goals and the determination to consistently move forward despite the roadblocks that Star Citizen may (will) throw at us.
​
POSITIONS AVAILABLE:
• Light and Heavy Fighter Pilots
• Gunship and Dropship Pilots
• Light, Medium, and Heavy Bomber Pilots
• Multicrew Turret and Engineering Roles
• Capital Ship Pilots, and Crewmembers
• Space and Ground Marines
• Short and Long-Range Exploration
• Logistics and Support
• Combat and Specialist Medics
• Search and Rescue
​
Please be sure to visit our RSI site for more information regarding our purpose, goals, and history!
​
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/orgs/BDF1
​
If you would be interested in joining in our efforts to grow one of the finest organizations in Star Citizen, please be sure to join our Discord server!
​
https://discord.gg/CNnA3czh

A few months ago a door dasher came in to pick up an order. I could tell she was a bit annoyed so I went over and asked if she’s been helped. “Yeah, you’re the fifth person to ask me and yet I haven’t”. She shows me the order and I go back like everyone else did and couldn’t find the order. Knowing she’s been waiting long and already upset I was determined to make sure she got what she needed. I went to my manager who speaks decent English, I explained the situation, but I’m getting that there is a miscommunication happening and he wasn’t having it. I find out that he’s working on the wifi because it’s down. So I said “hey, this DD order didn’t come in but she’s waiting for it, should we go ahead and make it anyways?” He says no and goes to talk with the lady and tells her exactly what everyone else is saying. “No we didn’t get the order, sorry”. I try explaining to the manager that it’s because of the wifi that we didn’t get the order. But he sent the DD away. I was annoyed for her because it was such an easy fix and she had the order right there in her phone, we could have just made it and he made it seem like she was being a problem, which she wasn’t. Well, the next morning I come in to open and what do you know, that same M**FKN order is sitting at the pick up line! The day manager was all “they never showed up”. FKN *facepalm I had to explain the whole ordeal & I just wish I had that girls number to call her, but to the blonde girl that waited way too long and was eventually sent away with frustration and confusion “I’m so sorry my manager was rude and being an idiot, your order is now ready”.

Hi, so I’m attempting to have fun this summer and wrote a nice email to a venue requesting ADA accommodations for the tickets I purchased. Is their response legal?
For context: the venue has a “bring your own chair” policy but only some areas of the lawn are actually allowed to have chairs (in the far back), and I was thinking there would be an ADA section that still has a view of the stage. This is my first summer using mobility aids and asking for ADA seating at concerts, so I’m not sure if this is standard, and don’t know how to push back. I don’t like making an issue for anyone, but it feels weird. Thank you!!
My request: Hello, I purchased 2 GA tickets for the XXXXXX Fest on X/X and didn't see an option for accessible seating tickets. I need to request an ADA accessible seat for me plus one companion. I have a mobility disability that requires use of my rollator (walker with a seat), and I need a chair (not a stool, please) to be provided at the event.
Their response: We're looking forward to seeing you at XXXXXX! There is no seating provided for GA or VIP tickets. Are you able to bring your own? If not, I'm sure we'll be able to track down a folding chair for you - just ask at the box office and someone will help you!

"Then I shall show you. The end of your journey. The demise of human history that will redo this planet. The moment my great undertaking is completed!"

Goetia

♫ Shikisai ~The Time of Parting Hath Come~ ♫
This thread is a collaboration with InverseFlash and rsthethird, who helped with feat-gathering, as well as Proletlariet, who helped with formatting. Thanks!

Background

Beast I. One of the Seven Evils of Humanity, possessing the principle of "Pity".
The King of Mages, Solomon, gathered 72 demons in his life that he fashioned into "a system to promote reason in humans"--a sort of magical logic network. After some time, the demons gained self-awareness and merged into a collective being.
This being, the amalgamation of the 72 Demons, became known as Goetia.
When Solomon died, the demons were sealed away inside his corpse. The awakened Goetia at first assumed Solomon's identity. Through his eyes, they witnessed the extent of human suffering that Solomon, for all the king's vast power, had failed to address. They became disillusioned with their host, and hatched a plan to remake the world without its imperfections by travelling back in time.

Source Guide

Hover over the feat to view the story chapter the feat is from.
Relevant Scaling:

• List of Servants
  • If I name a character, it can be found here. I will not be linking a respect thread for every individual character mentioned in this thread due to the shear number of Servants/characters Goetia and Demon Pillars interact with.
• Mash Kyrielight
• Beast II - Tiamat
• Beast VII - U-Olga Marie

Some terms:

• Rayshifting: Chaldea's method of time travel. It works by transforming the time traveler's body into 'Spiritrons', and then sending them backwards in time. Spiritrons being a form of energy/particle formed from a person's soul
  • Full Definition/Description can be read here
• Sheba: An observational lens that can sense the near-future, and could give Chaldea detailed information from inside of a bubble that absorbed all forms of normal radiation
• See the Fate Franchise Hub Post for a more extensive list of Fate related terms

Elements of Goetia's in-game profile and Fate/Grand Order material IV entry (translated by castor212) are freely quoted in this thread to help explain abilities that might not show up explicitly in the series very often.

King of Mages - "Solomon"

"Plead for help. Raise your mewling voice. For it is the time for you to drown in the sea of anguish! Behold this festival of flame that set ablaze the altar, rendered in its resplendence!"

♫ The Time of Coronation Hath Come ♫
Prior to revealing himself, Goetia posed as King Solomon while possessing his corpse..
Controlling Solomon granted Goetia a variety of abilities, namely the class container of "Grand", which allowed him to outclass any normal Servant by virtue of this.

Physical Feats/Power

• Manifested himself after his own death via his own will, and therefore doesn't need to rely on any sort of magical energy support like normal Servants
• Mordred claims his power exceeds that of a dragon, with Shakesphere going on to say he has 'infinite' magical energy, although he's likely exaggerating
• Tamamo-No-Mae claims that, even if she got all nine of her tails and became "a great demon strong enough to destroy the multiverse" that "[Solomon] is a threat threat enough to rival" her in that state
• When comparing him as Solomon to the Beast of the Seventh Singularity (later revealed to be Tiamat), the Lion King flips around the idea of who might be more of a threat to humanity
  • Kingu/Endiku later claims that Tiamat is on par or superior to him
• Command spells wouldn't work on Solomon
• Engages with an extensive fight with Mash, hurting her with an attack
• Takes a blow from Mash that 'reaches the core of [his] body'

Clairvoyance

It has been said that Solomon's clairvoyance can see through the past and the future.
Because Clairvoyance is a skill furnished on the flesh, Goetia can also use it.

• Claims that he can 'see everything' and 'all possible futures', but cannot track things which exist outside of time
• [Limit] Even with his Clairvoyance, he didn't foresee the appearance of the Beast of the Seventh Singularity, Tiamat
• Goetia used Solomon's clairvoyance to perceive all human suffering in the past, present, and future
• Solomon sent one of his rings over 3,000 years into the future to act as a catalyst for his own summoning as a Heroic Spirit, putting into motion the events that would lead to Goetia's defeat
• Solomon used his Clairvoyance shortly before turning into a human with no powers to foresee the Incineration of Humanity in 2018 from 2004
• Gives him an unobstructed view of the past and future, as well as x-ray vision

Magecraft / Magic

Offensive

• Solomon/Goetia can summon any of the 72 Demon God Pillars at will, described as him projecting them out from his inner world to the outside world
  • Summons four at once that defeat Kintoki, Tamamo, and Shakespeare. Implies that he can summon far more of them
• Anderson is astonished at how badly he's hurt blocking just a single one of his attack spells
• A second spell rips Anderson into hundreds of pieces and then burns him into a crisp
• Goetia incinerates all living things on the planet at once just with his gaze, a feat characters in the story assumed he would need a powerful technique to accomplish

Utility

• Uses magic similar to a Rayshift to transport himself to the London Singularity
• Generates a field around himself that passively blocks Sheba's ability to observe him, as well as Romani's ability to communicate via hologram
• His field blocks Chaldeas' ability to Rayshift Fujimaru and Mash out of London
• Likely broke the seal binding Tiamet out of existence, though Ishtar notes that human mages might have done it
• Inserts images into Mash and Ritsuka's heads while they're mid-Rayshift
• Has a countermeasure that prevents using magic to predict his actions
• Has the ability to hasten his magical incantations, create magical constructs, and make magical territories via Solomon's class skills
• Goetia has nine of Solomon's 10 Rings. If all 10 were brought together, Solomon/Goetia would invalidate any magecraft used by mankind against him and put them under his control
  • Reference of what can be accomplished with magecraft

Evil Eye

Curse

• Solomon has become a walking curse, such that saying his name or looking him in the eye will remove a person's soul and imprison it
• By just looking at him, Mash begins to quake in fear for reasons she can't explain. Her soul might have been imprisoned in the false reality forever if a friend's out of character behavior hadn't tipped her off
• Tamamo with two of her tails believes she'd be vulnerable to the curse
• A person who's been afflicted with the Evil Eye has trouble remembering Solomon's appearance, and even video recordings of him are covered in static
• Even a drawn picture of Solomon can inflict the Evil Eye without special anti-curse precautions

Prison

• To escape, the soul must complete a set of trials within seven days, or death ensues
• Only the soul is imprisoned in the false reality, while the body remains behind. The soul experiences time at a much longer rate in the false world than the body does in the real one with seven days for the soul being equal to one for the body
• The prison's trials drag in fragments of the souls of the prisoner's acquaintances to serve as obstacles, it can do this even to heroic spirits, who have superhumanly powerful souls

Beast I - Goetia

"Well, I will rid myself of the title "King of Mages.”
"There's no more need for deception. I had no name, but if you want to call me something, call me this:"
"I am the one who shall attain true wisdom, as was desired of me. I am the one who shall devour you to reach a new height, and create a new planet."
"I am the one who shall gather 72 curses, and set flame to all of history. I am the Ritual for the Incineration of Humanity."
"I am Goetia, the King of Demon Gods."

♫ Shikisai ~The Time of Parting Hath Come~ ♫
The form Goetia takes after he abandons Solomon's corpse partway through the final battle.
His body is a central core surrounded by the 72 "Demon Pillars" that comprise him.

Collective

General Power and Information

• Hid in Solomon's body for three thousand years in Ars Paulina without any adverse effects due to the passage of time
• Is a "living summoning spell" that hid itself in Solomon's corpse and later gained a will of its own and physically incarnated as a Beast
• Describes himself as a higher-dimensional being that no longer requires flesh or blood. Due to being Solomon's familiars, he shared in Solomon's Clairvoyance
• Due to being an amalgamation of the 72 Demon Gods, which each have individual personalities, Goetia's personality will mirror that of someone who interacts with him on a surface level
• His existence is fixed, meaning he's immune to 'instant death' effects as well as temporal effects, like the paradoxes generated by incinerating human history
• A weakened Beast VII, or the Foreign God, is stated to be the most powerful thing Chaldea has faced since Goetia, with her magical energy being called a "third class planet" to Goetia's "second class planet"

Physical Feats

• Moves so fast he appears to teleport next to Solomon, before bloodying him with a barrage of punches and bombarding him with energy projectiles from his arms
• [Weakened] Ritsuka has trouble blocking his blows with Mash's shield, but can do so long enough for Goetia to die due to Ars Nova
• [Weakened] Knocked back by a Command Spell amplified punch from Ritsuka

The Beast Class
The entire space of Solomon's temple gives Da Vinci the same Beast Class reading she saw from Tiamat.

• Goetia's Beast Class Skill, Nega Summon, allows him to negate through "invalidation, invincible, absorption, reduction" any attacks or Noble Phantasms generated by Heroic Spirits, although this skill was nullified by King Solomon's actions at the end of the Final Singularity
• The Evils of Humanity, or Beasts, are summoned in a chain, meaning that Goetia's manifestation heralded the appearance of other Beasts

Individual Demon Pillars

Power

• Demon Pillars give off more magical energy than Servants or Phantasmals
• Demon Pillars are weaker while outside of Solomon's Temple, due to their cells dying off
• Demon Pillars have a "Spirit Core" like Servants, as well as innate magical energy, which can be used to fuel other spells (such as one to create pancakes) if defeated
• Require groups of Servants to defeat under normal conditions
• They have comparable power to Kingu during the Babylonian Singularity
• A Demon Pillar is compared to the energy output of a Servant empowering themselves with a Holy Grail
  • The corpse of a Demon Pillar can become a source of magical power similar to a Grail if fused with a servant, and possessing a strong will not to die

Strength

• Eight Demon God Pillars wrapping around the Chaldea building deal catastrophic damage to it and nearly destroy it
  • Reference of how large Chaldea is, the building's size can be compared to hallways connecting the structures in it
• Groups of them tear through the stone and marble of Solomon's throne when called to Goetia, reducing it to ruins
• Erupts out of the floor in a metal observation room, then attacks and absorbs a number of researchers

Damage Output
Demon Pillars attack in a number of ways:

• Various forms of spontaneous explosions that can cover multiples of meters
• Energy blasts that erupt from the ground
• Large storms of smoke that cover the battlefield
• Lasers, presumably fired from their eyes

These attacks are threatening to a variety of named servants:

• An attack from four Demon Pillars oneshot Kintoki, Tamamo, and Shakesphere
• Hurts and sends Robin Hood and Helena Blatvasky flying
• Spits out flames hot enough to burn Oda Nobunaga^FGO
• Draws blood on Fergus Lily, hurting him, although he's defeated in the overall fight against Astolfo, D'Eon, and Fergus
• Bloodies Wu Zeitan with an attack

Durability
Favorable Interactions

• One takes a bullet from Francis Drake and continues to fight Mash, Ritsuka, and allies, although it loses the overall battle
• Li Shuwen has trouble injecting them with chi attacks, mostly due to their size
• Robin Hood's 'Yew Bow' and Elizabeth Bathory's weaponized singing don't do anything to them
• Tesla's Noble Phantasm, 'System Keranos', doesn't appear to do much to them, neither does a combined attack from Tesla and Edison's Noble Phantasms
• Lancer Li Shuwen breaks his spear on one
• Cursed Arm and Serenity have no means of harming them, even with Serenity's poison
• Oda Nobunaga's special attacks and bullets have no effect on Demon God Pillars
• Takes a hit from three bullets fired from EMIYA Alter and doesn't seem bothered by it moments later
• A Demon Pillar in its humanoid form take a blast of magic from the Queen of Sheba and is fine
• Takes fire produced by Chacha's abilities and fights Ritsuka, Okita, Nobunaga, and Hijikata, although it ultimately loses the fight
• A recreation of the Demon God Pillars gets bombarded with meteors from outer space by Astrea's Noble Phantasm, and continues to fight with Grey and Astrea, with Astrea commenting it was just as strong as the originals

Limits

• A suicide Noble Phantasm release from Arjuna kills twenty-eight of them
• Altera destroys one with Teardrop Photon Ray
• Mordred destroys one with Clarent Blood Arthur
• Bedivere takes out three pillars with an activation of his Noble Phantasm
• Okita Souji slices apart several pillars
• Edmond Dantes was able to take out a pillar by himself
• Ritsuka and his allies (in this case EMIYA Alter and Artoria Alter) were able to kill a Demon God Pillar
• One is defeated by Gawain, although Ritsuka notes it seemed particularly weak

Powers
Immortality

• The 72 Demon Gods are all part of the same magecraft ritual associated with Solomon, so as long as Solomon exists, they'll continue to exist even if destroyed
• After Mash kills Flauros, he instantly re-appears, with Mash describing this as an entirely new separate entity being born, and not some form of regeneration or resurrection
  • Vlad the Impaler runs out of stakes to hit them with due to how fast/often they were doing this
• Killing all 72 at once would be required to actually kill them for good
• Creating new demon pillars to replace fallen ones does draw away power from the center of Solomon's Temple, giving Chaldea entryway to the center of Ars Paulina
• Nightingale claims that killing them for good would require destroying all of Ars Paulina
• Even after escaping the Temple of Time and losing their proper immortality, individual demon pillars live for over 3,000 years to plot against Ritsuka

Other

• Demon Pillars can fuse with Heroic Spirits, even against their will
  • When Phenex did this with Scheherazade,, the two could trade places and transform into one another
  • A Heroic Spirit temporarily integrated into Goetia's hivemind via this process gained access to information he could use to calculate out events related to the Incineration of Humanity
  • Merging with a Heroic Spirit gives a Demon Pillar protection from its skills, such as Scheherazade's inability to be killed by Kings
• A number of Demon God Pillars were able to escape the Temple of Time's destruction while leaving ripples in space-time, this being an extradimensional space outside of time
• A number of Demon God Pillars demonstrate the ability to possess humans
• As of the events of Lady Reines' Case Files, Ritsuka has killed so many Demon Pillars that just inserting information about him into facsimiles of them cause them to get significantly weaker

King of Humans - Goetia

"The Demon Gods have burned away. My temple is destroyed. My grand plan for the Incineration of Human Order dies with me. But, I will at least deny you this final victory. Let us begin... Master of Chaldea. I shall annihilate you, and all you've achieved, with my own hands."

♫ GRAND LAST BATTLE ♫
Despite Ars Nova ending Solomon's spell that bound the 72 Demons together, Goetia manages to linger long enough for one last fight. However, in this weakened state he can be defeated by a punch from Ritsuka.

Noble Phantasms

Ars Almadel Salomonis: The Time of Birth has Come, He is the One who Masters All

"Then I shall show you. The end of your journey. The demise of human history that will redo this planet. The moment my great undertaking is completed! Third Noble Phantasm, deploy. The Time of Birth has Come, He is the One who Masters All. Now, burn up like trash!"
"Ars Almadel Salomonis!"

• Rank: EX
• Type: Anti-Unit/Anti-Human Order Noble Phantasm
• Range: ?
• Maximum target: ? person

Goetia's third Noble Phantasm. The "" of original sin. A belt of light that announces mankind’s demise.
Goetia is able to manipulate this belt of light in order to collect, accelerate and converge portions of it, travelling through the timestream or otherwise influencing it.
Singularities
For his plan to work, Goetia needed to make cause and effect stop working, so he can set fire to multiple periods of time in history at the same time.
He enables this by destabilizing human history with Singularities. These are turning points in human history that he's sent Holy Grails (powerful magic artifacts) to change important historical events.
Reference of what Holy Grails can do
Creation

• Singularities are key turning points in human history that have been interfered with, causing aberrations in the timestream. Goetia's Incineration of Humanity involved seven primary Singularities
• Resolving individual singularities will not fix the timestream. Only resolving all seven will set things right
• Solomon caused some Singularities by sending his Demon Pillars to different eras to directly alter historical events
  • These Demon Gods were embedded in King Solomon's descendants and activated like sleeper agents all at once in 2018
  • Goetia hid his Demon Pillars inside of the magic circuits passed down generationally by mages so he could seed them at specific points in history
• Solomon sent one of these grails directly backwards through time to Babylon, and and removing it is especially necessary to keep human history from burning
• Goetia's singularities had such a profound effect on human history that it rippled to other timelines, and caused singularities to still pop up after he was defeated

Structure/Attributes

• Singularities are cut off from the rest of the timeline, existing apart from the past or the future
• Singularities are immune to time paradoxes, so Ritsuka and Mash fighting soldiers in the past doesn't have any adverse affects
• Singularities are bound to a specific area, which can vary between the size of a city to the entire United States

Incineration of Human History
Once human history is destabilized, Goetia 'sets fire' to every moment of it and lets it burn. The energy is then collected as "Spiritrons" (magical energy) and raw heat.
Of course, this has catastrophic affects on the timeline.

• Chaldeas lost its ability to sense the future, or detect the outside world - this was because there was no more outside world to detect, as Goetia's Incineration of Humanity destroyed the timeline
• Despite being able to Rayshift to different points in time, Chaldea can only travel between Singularities because the rest of the timeline has been eradicated
• The Incineration of Humanity also affected The Land of Shadows, a realm described as being sundered from the mortal world
• The Incineration of Humanity burned all biological matter on Earth across all points in time as fuel to reset the universe
• Goetia needed to create Singularities to in order to weaken "the strength of human history" enough to carry out the Incineration of Humanity. Singularities break up the timeline into fractured chunks, allowing for the paradox necessary to incinerate matter during all points in its existence

Bands of Light
Finally, this energy is then channeled into Goetia's temple, and refined into bands of light that he can control and release at will. Either as weapons, or as fuel to for his ultimate goal: time travel to the creation of the Earth.

• Each Singularity Ritsuka and company travel to have a series of light bands encircling the sky present. These are around the size of North America
• These bands of light are the manifestation of Goetia's Noble Phantasm locking the rotation of the planet in place for the Incineration of Humanity
• Each individual band of light has comparable heat output to Artoria Alter's Holy Sword. The Noble Phantasm manifests hundreds of millions of them at once
  • Respect Artoria Alter
• Ushiwakamaru Alter claims the band of light are the only thing that could destroy Tiamet's corrupted ocean
• One of the Demon Pillars claims it could be used to incinernate all the Heroic Spirits summoned to fight in the Temple of Time
• The bands of light could burn away the outer layers of the planet. Mash says nothing on Earth could match their energy output
• Manifests as a beam of light from the sky that clashes with Mash wielding Lord Camelot. While Mash is able to block the attack, it still vaporizes her through her shield
• After Goetia is defeated, the bands of light start to release their energy into the atmosphere with nobody to control them. Da Vinci says the effect of this would be like a supernova
• The magical energy circulated between the Trees of Emptiness, and channeled into the Atlantis Lostbelt to summon the Foreign God had already built up to the same level of power as the Bands of Light prior Chaldea entering it
• [Limit] Even if they were collected and used to attack Chaos, the Bands of Light wouldn't be able to destroy it
  • Chaos is a mechanical being whose core is an entire star, otherwise known as a Dyson Sphere

Ars Paulina: The Time of Crowning has Come, He is the One who Begins All

• Rank: A
• Type: Anti-World Noble Phantasm
• Range: 999
• Maximum target: ? person

A Reality Marble that Goetia fabricated by amplifying the remains of King Solomon, forming a magical workshop in "void space" that exists outside the normal flow of time.
Reality Marbles are essentially self-contained dimensions that 'paint over the world' in a given area. Here's a better schematic explaining what they do.
Physical Structure and Location

• His temple resides outside of time, and can only be found by tracking back its location from the Seventh Grail
  • Da Vinci and Romani have no methods to track Goetia returning to his temple
• Chaldea pinpointing its location by analyzing Goetia's Seventh Grail also opens a back door for Goetia to locate him in turn, and it begins to pull him out of the timeline to itself
• Described as a "miniature model of the universe" containing no other celestial bodies, about the size of a cell when compared to the universe proper
  • There's still sort of celestial background present inside of it
• The temple lacks a concept of time. This property facilitated the Incineration of Humanity
• A recreation of the Temple is too cold for normal life to survive in it

Properties

• The route to the throne itself is blocked by a swirling tempest of "incalculable" amounts of magical energy, with Da Vinci believing Chaldea had to destroy areas around it to have a chance of getting through
  • The throne is accessible after Mash and Ritsuka remove this magical energy tempest via a fissure in space a kilometer long
• The temple has a similar composition as the Greater Grail of Fuyuki. It is made up of of Solomon's magic circuits, which form a small self-contained universe
• The throne is a giant magic summoning circle with planetary magecraft at its core

Ars Nova

• Rank: D
• Type: Anti-Unit Noble Phantasm
• Range: -
• Maximum target: 1 person

Goetia: Light Band Convergence Ring

• Goetia prepared his endgoal feat from the Incineration of Humanity as a 'virtual Noble Phantasm' due to not knowing the purpose or how to activate the original
• This ultimate feat, which he would use all the energy collected by Ars Almadel Salomonis to accomplish, would have him travel 4.6 billion years into the past to the birth of the planet, where he would then change the starting conditions of the world so that death did not exist, with him supplanting the planet with his own body

Solomon: The Time of Parting has Come, He is the One who Lets Go of the World

• By having all his ten rings present between those worn by Goetia and himself, Solomon can recreate the legend of him giving all his rings back to God
  • Activates as Solomon slowly becoming engulfed in a pure white light while chanting
• After using it, everything related to Solomon is wiped from existence and rendered inert. This includes Goetia himself as Solomon brought the Demon Gods together, as well as Solomon's rings, and Solmon's ability to be summoned as a Heroic Spirit
• Although this doesn't instantly kill Goetia, the Demon Pillars that make him up finally start to die for good, and start separating from the collective

Individual Demon Pillars - Unique Abilities

While it's likely that Goetia possesses all these abilities as the composite of all Demon God Pillars, some of his components developed wills of their own and gained unique abilities before and after his destruction at the hands of Chaldea.

Flauros

• Flauros can change his shape between a human form, Lev Lainur, and his true Demon Pillar form^FGO
  • Some other Pillars can also do this, but they are more obviously inhuman
• Lev has a spell similar to a Command Spell, controlling Caligula's actions^FGO
• Helped create SHEBA under Goetia's guidance, which is a failsafe to detect and act against Demon Pillars that go rogue from Goetia's collective, SHEBA is an observational lens that can sense the near-future, and could give Chaldea detailed information from inside of a bubble that absorbed all forms of normal radiation
  • Had enough intelligence to react to the threat of the Salem Singularity and summon a Heroic Spirit to it by using itself as a catalyst

Andras

After separating from Goetia, Andras gained a self-awareness and will to live, and escaped from the Temple of Time near-death, but died afterwards. Even then, its 'vindictive desires' remained as a corpse that could maintain a being by fusing to a Heroic Spirit, summoning and doing so with Chacha and Hijikata to create a singularity-like space.

• The space created by Andras is completely disconnected from the past or future, and time inside of it doesn't progress, having carved the space out of time itself, or at least travelled to an existing space like this
• Nobukatsu used him in a ritual to summon a demonic castle where nothing inside can die, so that he and Nobunaga can live forever inside. It disappears when Andras is defeated
• Summons waves of corpses to fight Ritsuka and allies

Bael

• Somehow hacked into Ritsuka's Rayshift coordinates, which made all of his servants rayshifted with him go off in random directions and himself to spawn in hundreds of feet into the air
• While believing itself to be the heroic spirit Moriarty, Bael somehow fights Chaldea and disappears like a Heroic Spirit, only to re-appear as a demon pillar
• Learned how to fuse together Phantom and Heroic spirits, though Phantom Spirits cannot normally be summoned as complete entities
  • Fused together being from multiple legends to create Hessian Lobo, granting it composite abilities such as the Invisible Man's invisibility
  • Fused Moriarty with Der Freischütz, giving his weapon supernatural accuracy on the 7th shot, something that could even apply to objects as large as a meteor to make it strike Earth
  • Moriarty uses this method to absorb the defeated Sherlock Holmes

Phenex

• As the Demon God of Death, he isn't detected by Chaldea's scans for life because he's technically dead
• Despite being killed by Ritsuka and his allies, re-appears later in the body of a nearby corpse, transforming back into its demonic form
• Constantly regenerates from being attacked by D'Eon, Fergus, and Astolfo
• Endures Caladbolg's vortex, which destroyed a floating island big enough to house an entire forest and a mountain
• [Limit] Is hit with Wu Zeitan's Noble Phantasm, and still fights while being afflicted with it
  • The attack works by keeping Phenex in "state of both life and death", allowing Phenex to finally be weakenedand then killed
• Despite all of the above, it still has enough strength to try and attack Scheherazade, although it's killed with one last burst from Fergus' sword

"Huh, who would have known? ...Tragically short, and yet, strangely fascinating... So, this is what human life is..."

The Live Stream on Twitch was posted Tuesday, on May 30, 2023 which will be available for viewing in full for a short time longer.
TLDW - Well if you don't have time to view full 1 Hour, 57 Minute Video here is a Video Quick Link List to key Bookmarks for the relevant "Intro", "State of Dev", "SPECIAL - Announcement", and "Q&A Questions and Answers" discussed by Community Managers Snutt Treptow and Jace Varlet, taken from the YouTube Channel for Satisfactory Q&A Videos created by SignpostMarv (CREDIT)
NOTE: The Questions are the Video Title, and the Answers are a quick synopsis of what was said. The "order" of the Questions may or may not follow the original Twitch Live Stream. Some question are not shown as they are either repetitive and have been answered numerous times before, or simply Twitch Stream Chat Joke Questions. If you have concerns about the accuracy of what I posted, view the Videos and listen for yourself. Often there is more discussion related to a Question than I could post without getting too verbose.

• Intro - Start of Stream - Opening comments by Snutt and Jace.

Start of State of Dev Portion

• State of Dev - Intro - Initial State of Dev comments. Update 8 Development continues.
  
• State of Dev - Play-testing Results - End of week play-testing of Update 8 shows it is getting more stable and will be ready for release soon for Experimental (EX) / Beta Branch.
  
• State of Dev - Update 8 Expected Release Date - Update 8 will be released sometime in June 2023.
  
• State of Dev - Longer Experimental period - Update 8 will stay in Experimental (EX) / Beta Branch longer than the previous norm of 30 Days until Early Access (EA) / Stable Branch. Due to upcoming Vacation EA won't see Update 8 until Mid-August 2023 at the earliest.
  
• State of Dev - Coordinating vacation time - CSS worked to have everyone take Vacation at the same time so as to minimize impact on Game Development.
  
• State of Dev - Public holidays in Sweden - Next week is a public holiday in Sweden, so most of CSS won't be working.
  
• ❗State of Dev - YouTube Comment Scam Spam - On Youtube Video posted last week there is a Scam Account faking that it is a CSS Account asking people to contact them if they need anything. Don't Follow Link. Report these to CSS using official verified means.
  
• State of Dev - 6 Things 1 Million Views - Jace talked about his Youtube Video 6 things we're NEVER adding to Satisfactory has reached 1 Million Views.
  
• State of Dev - Quality of Life Features - Discussion about Update 8 Quality Of Life Features will blow your MIND (Video Bookmarks) Teaser Video from last week.
  
  • Additional Chapters on this Live Stream not added, but mostly matched the Video Bookmarks from my earlier Reply Comment in the other Official Post from last week.
• State of Dev - Q&A: Will destroying Gas Pillars Effect Performance? - It should not effect performance much. It will be one more item placed in Game Save showing that it had been removed (similar to Foliage).
  
• State of Dav - Known issue with Fart Rocks - There is a known issue that following destruction of a Gas Pillar the Poison Gas won't disappear due to differences on how Gas Pillars were placed on the Map. So if these are found, please use In-Game Map to report the coordinates of where the issue is found when posting on the Q&A Website.
  
• State of Dev - Q&A: Will this make Gas Masks completely redundant though? - Gas Masks will still be needed due to other Spore Flower Plants, Alpha Gas Stingers along with dealing with Gas Pillars which have not been removed yet.
  
• State of Dev - Q&A: Will we be able to clip Catwalks to Power Towers just like other Buildings? - YES you can expand the Catwalks on the New Power Towers.
  
• State of Dav - Outro - Final comments by Snutt and Jace.
  

Start of Special Announcment Portion

• 🚩Announcement - Official announcement that Jace is leaving Coffee Stain Studios (click to view Youtube Video) in July 2023.
  
• Announcement Follow-Up Comments - Snutt and Jace discuss the news about Jace leaving.
  
• Announcement- Q&A: Who's replacing Jace? - They don't have anyone lined up yet.
  
• Announcement - Q&A: What about İlayda? - İlayda Ertuğrul went on Sick Leave and left CSS to return home.
  

Start Q&A Portion

• Q&A: Will you guys be moving to Unreal Engine 5.2 for Update 9? - ANSWER: No official announcement about IF we will even see a Update 8. As for Unreal Engine 5.2, they are evaluating it, but no decision has been made yet as they are still working out issues with Unreal Engine 5.1.1. As for Mac Support, this is something that will be addressed after Version 1.0 is released.
  
• Q&A: What will happen to saves in Update 8 that already passed the object limit in Update 7? - ANSWER: Depending on if there were optizimations related to how many UObjects are used per "Object" (like Constructor, Pipeline, etc.) in the Game then their might be a chance a Game Save will not exceed Unreal Engine Entity Limit. Unreal Engine 5 has features that can be used to help optimize Game to reduce the number of UObjects used by "Objects", but these won't be in Update 8 and will require further investigation by the Devs.
  
• Q&A: Will the changes made to Blueprint Mass Dismantle apply to Blueprints made in Update 7? - ANSWER: They checked on this, and the answer is YES. Since they anticipated the Blueprint Mass Dismantle Feature, they designed Blueprints to be mass dismantled.
  
• Q&A: Since we will be able to destroy the Gas Pillars, can we use them to make LPG? - ANSWER: Not a hard no, and possible hint that we might get some benefit from destroying Gas Pillars in Update 8, but anyone with ideas / suggestions for the Game are encouraged to posted these on the Satisfactory Q&A Website.
  
• Q&A: Alternate fuel for the chainsaw? - ANSWER: While the Jetpack will see the new ability to use Alternate Fuels, the Chainsaw is still limited to only Solid Biofuel. If Players want Alternate Fuels for Chainsaw then they should post that on the Q&A Website.
  
• Q&A: What is with Dedicated Servers? - ANSWER: Dedicated Servers have not gotten much attention due to focus on Update 8 and moving closer to Version 1.0 Release. After Update 8 is released they will have more time to focus on Dedicated Servers which are Experimental regardless of which Development Branch is used.
  

Hello, I have a 14 week old husky puppy. She has had diarrhea since I bought her at 8 weeks old. She is playful, eats, drinks, had the energy all like a normal puppy. I have taken her to a number of vets and each says they can’t find anything wrong with her. she never cries in pain or anything when she poops or when she’s playing around. I have tried feeding her pumpkin, sweet potatoes, chicken, rice, as well as switched her food 3 different times (initially I was using the same food the breeder was using). She is my favorite thing in the whole world but it is getting hard to keep taking her to the vets and paying for them all. Any ideas on what I can do to fix her poop and make it firm?

https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2022/12/16/facing-episcopal-church-decline-after-covid/
https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2021/01/11/the-episcopal-church-in-2050/
...
​
I was going through numbers of protestant denominations followed by Anglican ones yesterday and stumbled on this. Pretty staggering numbers.
My favorite quote was probably from the second article, " Why join the Episcopal Church when you might as well join the Sierra Club? "

I sighed. So I'm gonna get reassigned huh? I'm not apart of the c.i.a's gun running, drug peddling, and the guerilla warfare division anymore eh? I guess I'll miss air america flights. I then recalibrated my prosthetic right arm using a Philips head screw driver. Open close. Open, close.
After a couple of seconds my arm was finally done recalibrating. I'm gonna miss my friends. But I'll never miss the humid areas of laos, Vietnam, and some parts of china. The golden triangle is so goddamned hot. Honestly I don't know if it's secretly a promotion or a demotion. Or possibly I'm gonna get fired, and killed.
I'll get my name scraped out of the national files. If I get fired the chances of getting dragged into a blacksite is high, and I'll get tripped by the guys on one of the blacksites.
Oh god. I remember the LSD torture. It's like being awake but not in control. It's like being stuck as a backseat driver as people do unspeakable stuff to me. Oh boy if the public knows about the MK ultra test 2 oh boy. The people are gonna riot. It's already 2040.
The world is on edge, and under foreign influence for over a decade now. From the end of the 20's intergalactic travelers, and companies came, and control most of the world's nations within just a span of two years. They have the guts to exploit our resources, and don't give a damn about what happens to us. They care about profits. Except for the 8 major powers most of the world is under alien control. The only nations that aren't under alien control are russia, china, The U.S.A, great Britain with their manpower advantage given Australia is a British vassal state, France, Canada, Israel, and lastly an unlikely power the African union made out of 7 of the most powerful nations in Africa before the arrival of the outsiders are the only remaining independent countries.
Most of the intelligence agencies are currently working together dealing drugs with the outsiders who visit us, giving weapons to guerilla fighters, and getting weapons from the outside. Ships from an unlikely ally an independent economic alliance of nations named the syndicate allows to us to get some weapons. As long as we sell them drugs, and perishables from earth. It turns out the syndicate likes drugs, coffee, and other stuff native to earth.
Some of our intelligence guys are chatting with the aliens. The guys who are exploiting our resources are called the consortium. They are a consort of companies, and a league that agrees on how to manipulate markets. These guys are basically the more unhinged version of the wall street guys, and a mix of the c.i.a.
I sighed. "This is gonna be a long day ahead of me."
I then smoked a cigar. The cigar calmed my nerves as I inhaled the nicotine. The addictive substance relaxes me. Plus lung cancer isn't a problem anymore considering we now have a solution on how to cure it. The alien companies gave us some of their tech to show their so called sympathy before they flooded economies with consumer goods from their companies, and controlled almost all of earths economies.
"So agent smith. This is your new partner." A c.i.a handler said to me.
I spat out some ash from my mouth, and complained. "The fuck are you giving me a newbie as a partner? And what the hell am I gonna to do to need a new partner. Rodriguez already was fine yet I'm stuck with a newbie?"
The handler laughed. "Oh heavens no. This is an a.i. Codename poppy. She's your new partner in crime. Because we are gonna send you as a diplomatic bodyguard to the syndicate."
"Oh hi! I'm poppy I'm an artificial intelligence created by the c.i.a, m.i.6, the g.r.u, the s.s.m, mossad, and the s.s.a." The human looking robot said.
The voice kinda sounds synthetic, and the tone is too happy. I kinda hate it. I hate that it gives off happy go lucky vibes. I don't mean to be a grouch but the happy go lucky guys always die first. It's kinda ironic in a fucked up way.
So this thing is an a.i kinda like g.w. An a.i made by the c.i.a. G.W have made the internet more tolerable, and friendly due to context. People back then always manipulated facts into their political goals, and ideals. People get the facts misconstrued for political reasons.
G.W was made after a game character that was so prophetic about the world in the future. M.G.S 2: Sons of liberty. It has the same function as g.w from mgs2. It gives facts in a non biased way. In a way where people don't get their feelings hurt when something is given to them in a factual, and non biased ways.
People used to manipulate facts for political correctness. Hiding the fact that they misinterpret the meaning of those words. The internet used to be a toxic, and a fucked up place before g.w. Like Jesus Christ the goddamn internet was filled with incels, and attention seekers using facts and misusing them for internet clout. It was a place where no one is invalidated but nobody was right. G.w put an end to that era. G.w is now living in a secluded server thanking us for it's creation. It was phased out after it asked to be replaced by another one because it was sick, and tired of correcting people that get the facts misconstrued. It got to the point that it begged the c.i.a, and annoyed the c.i.a to the point that it wanted to be put in a secluded server so it could live it's remaining days in relative leisure just because it begged the c.i.a director so many times that he would get spam calls from the a.i using his official phone number even in the middle of the night for three straight years.
Anyways back to discussion.
"So you're one of those advanced a.i's like g.w?" I asked just to be sure I'm not paired with a dumb a.i.
"Yup. I even passed the Turing test in flying colors. I can feel emotions, do something out of spite or anger, and can think for myself." Poppy said with a dog like innocence.
"So what can you do?" I asked.
"Well. I can fly planes, use guns even those that people can't use due to physiological differences, and hack computers without being near the target. I'm basically just an a.i that can be a jack of all traits if given a chance." Poppy said.
"Fine. But you'll do it my way or the high way." I told poppy with a commanding tone.
Poppy laughed. "Okay boomer."
I sighed. This is gonna be a long day. I'm old as shit but not a boomer.
"Woah. You guys are already going along greatly. Great for you." The handler snickered.
He then left, and left me with poppy.
I'm fucked. "So I'm gonna brief you about the world poppy. Through a song."
I then sang bo burnham's how the world works song.
"Hey, kids Today, we're gonna learn about the world The world that's around us is pretty amazing But how does it work? It must be complicated The secret is the world can only work When everything works together"
"A bee drinks from a flower And leaves with its pollen A squirrel in a tree spreads the seeds that have fallen Everything works together"
"The biggest elephant, the littlest fly The gophers underground, the birds in the sky And every single cricket, every fish in the sea"
"Gives what they can and gets what they need That is how the world works That is how the world works"
"From A to Zebra To the worms in the dirt That's how it works Hey everyone"
I then pulled out a sock, and made it into a puppet.
"Look who stopped by to say "hello" It's Socko Hey! Where you been, Socko?"
"I've been where I always am when you're not wearing me on your hand In a frightening, liminal space between states of being Not quite dead, not quite alive It's similar to a constant state of sleep paralysis"
"Socko, we were just talking about the world and how it works!"
"Boy, that sounds complicated! Do you have anything you'd wanna teach us about the world?"
"I wouldn't say anything that you Probably haven't already said yourself"
"I don't know about that, Socko How about you give it a try?"
"All right!"
"The simple narrative taught in every history class Is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist Don't you know the world is built with blood? And genocide and exploitation"
"The global network of capital essentially functions To separate the worker from the means of production And the FBI killed Martin Luther King Private property's inherently theft"
"And neoliberal fascists are destroying the left And every politician, every cop on the street Protects the interests of the pedophilic corporate elite"
"That is how the world works (really?) That is how the world works Genocide the Natives, say you got to it first"
"That's how it works"
"That's pretty intense?"
"No shit Sherlock."
"What can I do to help?"
"Read a book or something, I don't know Just don't burden me with the responsibility of educating you"
*It's incredibly exhausting"
"I'm sorry, Socko I was just trying to become a better person"
"Why do you rich fucking white people Insist on seeing every socio-political conflict Through the myopic lens of your own self-actualization?"
"This isn't about you So either get with it, or get out of the fucking way"
"Watch your mouth, buddy"
"Remember who's on whose hand here"
"But that's what I- Have you not been fucking listening? We are entrenched in a way (all right, all right)"
"Wait, wait, no please! I don't wanna go back, please, ugh, ugh, ugh I can't go, I can't go back Please, please, I'm sorry!"
"Are you gonna behave yourself?"
"Yes"
"Yes, what?"
"Yes, sir"
"Look at me"
"Yes, sir"
"That's better That is how the world works That is how the world works I hope you learned your lesson"
"I did and it hurt That's how it works"
NOOOOOOO!!!
Drags sock puppet into a pocket like some introvert getting dragged into socializing in bars by extroverts.
"So do you understand know?" I asked poppy.
"That everything is made under the blood of billions, and we shouldn't make their deaths be in vein?" Poppy said.
"Correct. And we shouldn't let outsiders make our choices for us. We should kick them out." I said like some isolationist American during the 1920's.
"Ironic isn't it smith. The c.i.a used to be anti socialist but look how the circumstances turned the American government into. A social democracy/merit based democracy where politicians are based in merit rather than popularity. Politicians are insentivised to change the world than burn it down like some of the old presidents did. Ironic that america became something it hated. A weird mesh of meritocracy, democracy, republican, liberaterian, and market socialist ideals. Some sort ideological mesh made by idealogs"
"And it's working with it's remaining two Allies, and former enemies just to defeat a foreign threat. How poetically ironic isn't it? I mean the CIA used to go schizo mode when they hear communist, and socialist ideals or hearing the word russians, and chinese are plotting something. Now the country it help grew became the very thing it sought to destroy. Morbidly ironic isn't it?" Poppy said with a meloncholic under tone.
"Yeah. Specially the stuff we do now." I said agreeing to the statement.
"But that's how the world works. Everything must change. Either you adapt or die." I said with a meloncholic under tone.
"So do you know where we are going?" I asked poppy.
I then puffed up my cigar. Sweet sweet nicotine.
"Back to america. In the space port in Austin Texas. I'm already done contacting the contact the handler gave to me. E.T.A 7 hours. Now let's go to the laostian military base 7 miles north from here. Our air america flight is waiting for us." Poppy said.
I sighed. "Come ride with me. I have a motorcycle a hundred meters from here."
We walked towards my motorcycle. I then puffed up my cigar smelling the nicotine.
So my life is about to change huh? Eh. I'm just gonna adapt. After all in this world it's either adapt or die.
Click, click, click
Motorcycle engine starts rumbling.
Poppy then held my waist. It's hands are cold as steel. Colder than even corpse. I sighed.
The highway was almost empty. Everyone was working a 10-8 job in one of the corporations that control laos. There was no land vehicles transporting goods because the aliens are using their tech to transport them underground. The road was almost abandoned except for the guys who have motorcycle hobbies. Anyways it doesn't matter. After all there's no traffic anymore.
The fresh breeze calmed my nerves. It made me feel alive. A motorcyclist drive by me and waved hello. I waved back at the motorcyclist. It's good to be on the road.
After a twenty minute drive we arrived at the military base. Another CIA agent greeted us, and escorted us to the flight.
"So you guys are the diplomatic bodyguards?" Asked the agent.
"Yup. That's what my handler told me." Poppy said.
"So your one of the newer a.i models eh. Ok. Just step right in. Plus the flight is rather boring. Just sleep while on flight to save energy." The agent told me.
I sighed. I threw away the cigar, and slept through the flight.
A few hours later...
I woke up arriving at Austin executive airport. Poppy just sat there watching me sleep like some sort of creep. It made me a little bit paranoid at the unflinching eyes that was watching me. But I ignored my instincts, and went outside.
After that I ate something for breakfast. A couple of pancakes, and chicken wings. Poppy looked at me with envy. I sighed.
"Can you eat? Do you need food to survive?" I asked.
"Well.... I need glucose to recharge my batteries. I can also use a charger but it would be suspicious. So the glucose to energy converter was made for special missions so that I wouldn't blow my cover."
Figured. Those guys in the CIA RnD team are making contengencies for every eventual event. I then ordered a plate of syrup covered pancakes.
Poppy looked at me smiling. I sighed.
An hour later...
We arrived at the space port. People walked around buying nicnacs, waiting for their flight, and just waited around for their family members that were coming back.
Another agent came up to me, and gave me two tickets.
"Here's the tickets. Also have this. You'll need it."
The agent then gave me some sort of high tech phone. Then out of knowhere something exploded.
I was knocked unconscious for a couple minutes. When I woke up I was getting dragged by poppy along with the agent that gave me the tickets. She shot back at incoming enemies using alien tech.
"Ugh..." As I said that I began coughing blood. I looked down I was bleeding. My left leg was missing. It was slowly bleeding due to a tourniquet, bandages, and some sealing foam. It was still bleeding but isn't bleeding as badly as to kill me in just a couple seconds.
Gunshots echoed in the space port. Agents shot back at the alien attackers. A fierce firefight began. Bright lights like something akin to RGB lights but in a epileptic way we're seen down the isles as screams of both alien, CIA, fbi, and fully kitted out port guards were slaughtered one by one.
Poppy dragged me, and the other agent to a bathroom. "Sit rep." I asked poppy.
"It seems to be a terrorist attack. I don't know why but they looked like alien mercenaries. The question is that did the consortium hired them to kill our diplomat. Good thing the diplomat hasn't arrived. I checked the agency message boards, and they said that good thing the diplomat was sick after getting food poisoning this morning. They are already talking about it. Some of them are even suggesting that the consortium did this attack." Poppy said.
"So the diplomat got lucky. But why the fuck would they attack our diplomat to the syndicate? I mean it's counter productive. We don't need their goods or services considering the people here would rather choose human companies rather than alien shady companies. I guess they must've know about our deals with them, and decided to start a shadow war. A war in the shadows. The companies of the consortium vs the remaining independent government's. Who ever wins controls all the resources in the world." I told poppy.
She nodded. "Good guess but no one really knows. It's so sudden. We need more info before we act against them."
"I'll patch you up in the meantime. I hurried the medical assistance I gave you a couple minutes ago. I was hurrying because this guy is saying we need to leave after he suffered minor bruises. You blunted most of the damaged for him because you were in front of the explosion. He was saved because you were blocking him from getting hit by shrapnel. I cut you're leg off. Sorry. It can't be saved considering it was barely hanging on the leg. Plus I was running out of time so I had to cut it before you bled out."
I sighed. "Okay. Just get my hk UmP 45 inside my arm. It's in second the compartment a secret compartment. In the upper arm. I have a few mags of it inside the compartment. Here's a screw driver to remove the lid."
I then gave poppy a screw driver hidden in my pants, and saw her unscrew the lid off. A ump 45, and fully loaded 4 mags came out dropping loudly on the floor.
"Now carry me to the danger. I would rather die than suffer for years being reminded of the sad reality that I lost an arm, and a leg every time I wake up." I morbidly joked to poppy.
"Are you sure? You're injured! Are you fucking suicidal?" Poppy, and the agent said.
"Did I stutter?"
The two of them sighed.
Poppy then carried me in her back, and the other agent used poppy as meat shields. The agent held a Barretta 93r. A burst fire weapon.
"Ready?" I said.
"Ugh. You're lucky I accepted your request dumbass."
"Yes."
I was being piggy back carried by poppy while the agent followed us.
"Tango 15 meters to the left." Poppy said.
I then activated burst fire, and shot at the direction given. When I saw an enemy I aimed for the center mass. But I instead hit the thorax killing the alien instantly.
"Kill confirms. Enemy is k.i.a."
"Tango 20 meters ahead."
I then aimed straight forward, and saw a bolt of light strike near me. It was close enough to feel the heat of the round. I shot back, and killed the alien instantly by hitting the alien in the lungs, and heart.
"Enemy is k.i.a"
Then I heard a three round burst coming from a Barretta. I looked back, and saw the agent kill an incoming enemy.
"Thanks. So what's your name?" I asked.
"Oh I haven't properly instroduced myself. My name is agent Carter." The agent/Carter said.
"Thanks Carter. My name is agent smith."
"No problem agent smith. We CIA agents got each other's backs. We must stick together."
"Guys tangos incoming coming from the left. ETA 20 seconds."
We then aimed our Guns, and waited for the enemy to arrive. When they eventually arrived we moved them down with burst fire. After that a couple national guard guys came up to us. They were probably chasing those aliens.
"Thanks." One of the national guards said.
"No problem"
We continued, and after two minutes of walking we walked into a firefight. I smiled.
"You know what to do." I said smiling.
"Third party them?"
"Yup."
I then turned on full auto, and began to spray, and pray.
After a few seconds of pulling the trigger my gun ran out of bullets. Carter also ran out of bullets in his magazine, and reloaded. 3 confirmed kills, and multiple missed or slightly injured.
Oh crap. Then a bolt of light past near me. Enough to the point my right cheek got minor burns.
"Duck!"
I then began to be dragged by poppy into cover. Carter also looked for cover, and dived into the nearest cover. I quickly reloaded the mag, and started shooting at the aliens again. I changed the selector back to burst fire to conserve ammo.
I aimed center mass at the enemies. A loud burst of .45 ACP rounds was heard as an enemy was hit in the thorax.
"Kill confirmed."
I continued, and shot enemies in either the arms, legs, the thorax, or the chest.
After three minutes the firefight ended.
"Other sectors secured. All area's are currently in our control. Over 700 people died, 1720 were injured, and some were missing. Military and government casualties are 124 KIA'd, 24 severely injured, 57 mildly injured, and 38 MIA'd." Poppy said smiling.
Then paramedics rushed into the scene. People were rushed into nearby hospitals while I was dragged by a undercover CIA paramedic to a government safe house along with poppy, and Carter.
A week later…
I was standing in the military cemetery in Arlington national cemetery. Where soldiers who died without any identifications are buried. I saw burials around me. Soldiers who died without any family members, soldiers disowned by family, and other such things. But hey it's just the life of a soldier. That's what I know at least. From ranger grunt to c.i.a grunt. I was disowned by my parents who were conservatives, and highly religious because I was going to sacrifice my place in heaven to save some heathens from the middle east. I never regretted my actions. I saved lives, and ended some. No guts no glory after all.
Some of the people getting buried got medal of honors. Saving comrades in need of dire help in exchange for their lives, soldiers who rescued civilians in exchange for their own lives, and soldiers who honorably fought on to save others even faced with hard decisions.
I saluted the unknown soldiers for their bravery, and honor. In the background poppy, and Carter were talking. But that wasn't important. Bagpipes, trumpets, and drums play as the unknown soldiers get burried with their medals. The grave sentinels saluted while burying the dead. Gunshots in the honor of the dead was heard as the unknown soldiers got buried while being watched by the people who those soldiers saved.
After that I returned to head quarters with a prosthetic leg, and talked to my handler. Poppy, and Carter went back to the safehouse just to talk.
"Oh hi smith." My handler captain david said.
"Hi David."
"Here's another purple heart medal, and a bronze star medal." David then tossed the medals towards me.
"That's your what? 22nd and 23rd medal? Bravo congrats smith."
"I'm gonna ask you sometime David."
"Ask away smith."
"When will i get sent as a diplomatic bodyguard?"
"About three weeks from now. Also agent Carter is gonna be one of your partners for the mission."
I sighed. Figured.
"So who was behind the terror attack David?"
"Honestly. The CIA search the crime scene, and saw that the consortium blatantly did that. The mercenaries worked under one of the companies in the consortium. But for the public it's gonna be announced tonight that a rogue consortium PMC did that so we wouldn't provoke them too much."
"It's gonna be a long day smith."
"Yeah David."
Then David gave me a cigar.
"Wanna smoke?"
I nodded.
To be continued…

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: Up to $1500 (USD)
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Would prefer new
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? High performance preferred (will likely be pursuing a computer science minor so high processing power will likely be a necessity), strong build quality as well. Battery life is not super important because I can charge while working, would at most probably need to be 2-3 hours. Form factor not super important.
• How important is weight and thinness to you? Will be carrying around a college campus so would prefer to be on the lighter side, but weight is not a huge consideration.
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. N/A
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Potentially very basic video editing, other than that most likely nothing super major
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? N/A
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Number pad and good keyboard.
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. I would prefer to run Windows as my primary OS but not opposed to iOS.

Jun 02, 2023 (ACCESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- MARION, NC / ACCESSWIRE / June 2, 2023 / Greene Concepts Inc. (OTC Pink:INKW) is pleased to announce it is experiencing significant growth and increased activity at its Marion, NC bottling plant. The company continues to make positive strides and increased marketplace reach.
At the end of May (2023) Greene Concepts received additional purchase orders from KeHE Distributors®. The company also had two large pickups recently at its bottling plant. One pickup by Merchants Distributors (MDI) and the other by Frozen Food Express. These pickups, with more on the way, satisfy the many retail obligations the company has been receiving for its BE WATER™ branded beverage products.
​
Lenny Greene, CEO of Greene Concepts, states, "2023 is shaping to be an incredible year for Greene Concepts. The majority of our success centers around the significant expansion of our retail outlets and that number is growing. In 2023 alone we've expanded by over 650 stores nationally thanks to our partners at KeHE Distributors® and Merchants Distributors (MDI). We have also expanded to dozens of local businesses throughout North Carolina and around the bottling plant. A big thanks goes to our national, regional, and local distributors."
Mr. Greene continues, "These purchase orders and tractor trailer pickups help us supply our BE WATER bottled water brand to multiple retail outlets nationwide as noted previously in our April 20, 2023 press release. We are also gearing up for our forthcoming orders from major warehouse club retailers. To support this increase, we've hired multiple leadership staff members within the Marion, NC bottling plant in anticipation of this 2023 long-term growth. We anticipate even greater activity around the bottling plant over the upcoming weeks and months and are excited to be sharing this news with you."
Follow Greene Concepts Inc. on Twitter as well as BE WATER™
Submit investor questions to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
About Greene Concepts, Inc.
Greene Concepts, Inc. (http://www.greeneconcepts.com) is a publicly traded company whose purpose is to provide the world with high-quality, healthy and enhanced beverage choices that meet the nutritional needs of its consumers while refreshing their mind, body and spirit. The Company's flagship product, BE WATER, is a premium artesian bottled water that supports total body health and wellness. Greene Concepts' beverage and bottling plant is located in Marion, North Carolina, and their water is ethically sourced from seven spring and artesian wells that are fed from a natural aquifer located deep beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains. Greene Concepts continues to develop and market premium beverage brands designed to enhance the daily lives of consumers.
Safe Harbor: This Press Release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a few uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and OTC Markets, Inc. OTC Disclosure and News Service. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, because of new information, future events or otherwise.

The car dropped me off the middle of downtown, the neon lights and billboard videos were everywhere, it was a little flashy for my taste, honestly. I like some things about the city, but the mass crowds, mobs, really… they just don’t suit me. Maybe because I’m a swapper? Maybe because it’s just too busy, and it doesn’t fit with my desire to do nothing.
I craned my head back and looked up at the high tower where my target lived and probably worked. ‘I have to hand it to this country, they’re very precise.’ I mused, the exact number of his residence… I briefly considered a dramatic entrance, sprouting wings and shooting up from the ground like a superhero and smashing into the window in the form of an avenging angel.
But that… no. ‘Everybody in this country has a camera. Sooner or later I’d have to explain it, then goodbye vacations to Earth for at least a hundred years.’ I dismissed my melodramatic thought and went about it another way.
There wasn’t much I knew about Yakuza types, but odds are they owned the building he was living in. They’re a pretty efficient organization, all things considered.
That meant… “Alright they’ll have security.” I mumbled, ‘Invisibility is so boring!’ I cursed under my breath when I realized how easy that would be. I began tapping my feet on the curve as thunder rumbled overhead and clouds began to threaten rain, lightning flickered in the sky, it wouldn’t be long before I’d get drenched standing here… ‘Then I’ll have to do laundry…I hate laundry.’
I really wanted to be dramatic and make a point… ‘Fine.’ I rolled my eyes.
I walked through the front of the building, the glass doors, clean and perfect, slid open, and true to my expectations not only was there a slender woman working behind a computer, the elevator controls were not ‘by’ the elevator.
They were on the wall behind her alcove where a very large man in a black suit stood wearing a sword on his hip. ‘Huh, and I thought that was just for the movies… the gun laws here are stricter than I thought.’
Even if I couldn’t do things quite the way I wanted, I could do something else. I was an unusual sight at least, and that curious look that I drew from the pair became cautious. Her hand reached beneath her desk, while the large fellow by the elevator controls squared off to face me.
I pulled out the wallets and watched the two relax.
“Excuse me, I’m so sorry to bother you, but I came to return these. ‘Wait, if nobody catches me… did it really happen?’ I had to wonder. It wasn’t like anybody ever checked… and these guys were scum, nobody would care…and if they were out of the way?
Obviously I couldn’t do anything to the whole building. And that was overkill even in my line of work.
“They were dropped at the Toriyama store in the Shinjai district.” I explained, and the relaxed air was gone as what I said sank home.
“Floor one zero six.” The woman said, and I could swear she looked at me with pity.
“Oh… but um, the addresses on here are-” I fluttered my eyelashes at the pair and put on a nice, innocent voice.
“She said what she said.” The musclehead interrupted.
I put on a pouty face, “Oh… OK, but can’t you…?” I stopped when he hit the elevator control for me and the golden doors slid wide open.
“Alright… I’ll… I’ll go.” I darted my head over my shoulder like I was thinking about leaving, maybe making a run for it, then clutched my purse and scurried through the door.
I’m not a half bad actress if I do say so myself. I smirked and cracked my knuckles as I went up to the very top floor.
I was fairly sure I would have a welcoming party for me, and as I went up, I realized that the die was cast. ‘If I’m defending myself…’
[E’grahcrevo rettahs dna tlem] I cast the spell with my hand behind my back and against the elevator, and an electrical pulse went up and down the building, frying the electronic components just as the elevator came to a halt. I did not envy whoever had to try to fix those later.
The lights shattered, plunging everything into darkness. With no cameras, no lights, no nothing, I had no reason to fear getting caught.
So… I swapped. My arms thickened and the mana of my body began to expand around my core self, greatly increasing my size, from a human woman slightly over a meter and a half tall, to a nine and a half foot tall creature of the Fletosian wastelands, with razor sharp claws and a gigantic maw that could bite a man in half… it was a good look.
I could hear them shouting, asking for answers…answers I would give them, but that they wouldn’t need.
I let out the roar of the Fletosian warbeast, and shoved my hands through the metal elevators in one clean thrust. Light began to stream in, and screams of alarm went up.
I’m sure they were expecting a small woman that could be intimidated into answers.
But it was my answers that were the intimidation.
I stepped into the room, hard, cracking and shaking the floor as tore the elevators free and stepped into view. Screams went up, and a shot went off.
‘Alright so a few of them have guns.’ I chuckled and backhanded the nearest of the set, they were stepping back, their guns blazing, the flashes giving brief glimpses of my horror as I stalked toward them one after another. I was in front of the exit. There was no way out.
They were trapped in here with me. The doors were electronic, and there wasn’t even any backup power, I’m sure the lower floors, at least a few down, heard it all, for all the good it would do.
My claws ripped through another, who toppled with a howl.
I will spare you the details.
It wasn’t hard to figure out who the one in charge was, he was the oldest, backing away while the younger ones tried to defend him and themselves. All the while I was wondering… which is more likely to get me caught? Leaving them alive, or dead? That’s what the question came down to… if they were dead, the human authorities might investigate, and I was seen in my normal disguise…
‘Damnit… in your desire to not get wet and to play the Queen of the stage, you made a mistake, Kayobi… if they’re alive, it’ll stay nice and unofficial. Just a warning.’ I told myself, and one by one I picked them up and smashed them against the wall, if they moved or got up, I picked them up, squeezed out a scream, and smashed them there again.
Until there was one old man left with a balding scalp and surprisingly quick hands digging through a desk. He pulled out a handgun and leveled it at my chest with trembling hands.
I stopped as if the desk were a real obstacle. “Shoot me.” I said in a gutteral echoing monster voice that I borrowed from some old movies.
The gun went off. “Again.” I ordered him.
Again he shot, his lips were trembling so much I could see his teeth reflect each flash as his noise of fear became a high pitched whine, and I waited until he emptied the entire clip to no avail.
I held out the wallets and dropped them on the desk between the two of us. He looked down.
“Take them.” I said, and one hand came away from the weapon which… he was still dry firing at me as if a bullet would magically appear.
He then took the wallets and shoved them in his pocket.
‘I forgot to come up with a cool name for myself?! How did I do that?! How do I forget the cool nickname?!’ I cursed myself and just breathed hard and heavy, the hot breath kissed his sweating face, my open maw was like a chasm of doom just waiting to swallow him up.
“Shinjai. Belongs. To the Devil of Shinjai. Never. Come. Again. Or next time, I will paint this room with your blood.” I said, my bright amber eyes gleaming down at him, my grayish blue flesh gave me an almost ghostly look as the lightning outside that began in earnest, flashed and reflected against my body.
He nodded, numb, disbelieving… he was making noises that might have been words, but they didn’t want to come out.
I reached up to his gun and closed my hand over his, each finger was as thick as his whole hand, and a hundred times as strong. I began to tighten my grip, and he yanked his hand away while I crushed the weapon like tissue paper and dropped it on his desk.
“Never.” I warned him one more time.
“N-ever.” He vowed and looked at the heap of battered and broken yakuza.
I could read his face like a book, he was wondering if they were alive.
They were. But they’d be worse for wear and probably need a lot of stitches.
Wings began to emerge from my back, and I went to the wall full of windows and smashed them open, the high, howling winds blew papers around everywhere and rain began to seep into the building, I gave him one more lingering look… and jumped, spreading my wings, I began to fly home, watching his dumbfounded, stupid expression as I began to shrink into the distance.
He was probably already questioning everything about what happened, but he couldn’t very well report it to the police, and the injuries were real. With no record, and nobody willing to talk, it would be a drunken rumor and nothing more… and my little home away from home would be quite peaceful.
I made a mental note, ‘Make sure those bills get paid tomorrow, then I need to contact Celia… I’ll need her help next.’ I thought, and yawned as I realized it was late, and I still needed to eat, then sleep… then get up the following morning and…
‘Oh my… this is going to be a lot… I might need help after all.’ I shivered to think of all the shows that I might miss, but then on the other hand…
‘It’ll be a great day for binge watching.’ I thought with a smile as my place finally came back into view, and the rain began to pour.

“There you go.” I said and smiled a little as I handed the bag to the customer. He gave me a shy little bow and headed for the door. I was actually impressed he could bring himself to do that much. Chiefly because his purchase was one of the dirty magazines from the center aisle. His ‘friend’ clearly lacked the same courage and was standing there just on the other side ‘reading’. If you want to call it that, that is.
I had to admit, Suki knew how to arrange her store, I never thought about it before, but the aisles with ‘that’ material was facing ‘away’ from the register and had another pair of parallel aisles on either side of it, and two running perpendicular thus affording the patron some small degree of ‘privacy’ by letting them feel like they’re boxed in.
Those who visited that aisle as the day went on seemed to buy ‘those’ magazines roughly eight times out of ten, an exceptional ratio. I knew it was exceptional because tragically I have sometimes been forced to run errands for myself. When that does happen, I’ve seen what people do in the stores, I’ve seen those naughty magazines here and there, and I’ve seen young people walk by, eyeing those anxiously, desperately even.
But seldom did they buy even though they wanted to, they didn’t have the courage to look, so they couldn’t take the next step. It’s funny how that works, it really is.
Suki got them to look at it, and therefore usually got them to buy.
My estimation of my friend went up another notch. I smiled when I thought about her, she was always offering me work. Always a kind word. Always encouraging me. ‘You’re a smart girl, you could do anything you want with your life. You don’t have to just lie around and wait for life to happen, come work at my store, that way you can take care of yourself better.’
Of course there were rumors that I was rich, I was after all, a foreigner living in this country with no job, there’s no way I was getting public assistance. It was hard not to like Suki’s motherly attitude toward me, who she saw as a wayward young woman frittering away her days.
But I had no idea Suki was so savvy about her business, right down to where she put the naughty things that Jin probably snuck looks at whenever he could, like most boys his age.
The ding of a new customer caught my ear and I looked over to see a slew of students stroll in, then darted my eyes to the clock. ‘Really? That long?’ I asked myself, somehow the day had just slipped past without my noticing.
Maybe because there was always something to do, check the shelves, wipe up a spill, process a transaction… The time had slipped past with hardly a blip, and now it was later in the afternoon and school was out. I looked past the gaggle of young boys and girls to the clear day outside. Jin wouldn’t be with them, he’d be spending at least a few hours in cram school. I normally wouldn’t see him, if at all, for a few more hours.
You’d think he’d get more help with his math and other subjects there, but? For some reason he liked to ask me.
I waved to the students coming in and listened while they chattered away about whatever school drama had them occupied today. “Welcome to Toriyama’s.” I said, and then my brow furrowed not one minute later when Jin Toriyama walked in with the look of a stunned bunny on his face.
“Wha- why?” He asked, and then his eyes caught me behind the counter.
“Kayobi?!” He exclaimed and strode swiftly over the floor to stand across from me.
I snorted. “Yeah. That’s my name. Can I help you find something?” I couldn’t resist the urge. I wanted to mess with him a little.
“Wh-What are you doing here?” He stumbled over his words as he rushed them out.
“Would you believe I’m counting how many dirty magazines I see young boys buy?” I asked with a smirk, and as he turned red in the face I added, “So, what’s your number? Or do you just sneak peaks at them?”
“Ah, wha- I don’t… you can’t… this isn’t-” He stammered and stuttered and shook as he was flustered, and I did all that I could to restrain myself from laughter.
“Some of those were words. But you need to put them together right, come on, you can do it, you’re a big boy!” I clapped my hands to urge him on.
“I… why are you here?!” He demanded, his voice going up a bit in pitch as his flusteredness overtook him.
“Because here is where I take the money for the stuff people want to buy, dummy.” I said with a smirk, “Surely you’ve worked here long enough to know that.”
“That’s not what I mean, you…” He stopped, he searched for something to call me, “you!” He finally finished.
“Brilliant retort. This is why you shouldn’t be quitting cram school.” I said with a straight face.
“But… but how did you get the key?” He asked and put his hand into the pocket of his dark pants like he was checking to see if his copy was still there.
“I went by to see your mom, she gave it to me, I offered to handle the place until she gets out. She gave me her copy.” I answered, “What, did you think I broke in here?” I smirked a little, losing my deadpan expression and I struck a prowler pose, hunched over with fingers turned down and pantomimed some creeping steps. “Yes, you caught me, my secret identity is Kayobi the catburglar, and I’m so good at breaking and entering that I don’t even need a toolkit. I just teleport.”
“But…” He paused, looked over his shoulder to see that the other students who went in before him were busy elsewhere in the store, then leaned toward me and said, “How is she paying you.”
“Wait… we’re supposed to get paid? Is that why people work?” I asked and covered my open mouth with one hand, “I am shocked. Just… shocked… nay, dumbfounded! I have found the dumb, so stunned am I.”
All he could do was blink at me, so I finally showed the poor boy some mercy, “Relax, I told her I’d do it for free. When she gets out of the hospital she can just do my laundry and make a few meals and we’ll call it square.”
“I-I-I didn’t expect to find my Buddah in hell today…” He stammered, but I just shrugged it off.
“I just don’t want to do chores. So don’t worry about it. Go on and head back to cram school, you’ll be late, but just tell them you’re late because you got bitten by a stray dog or something.” I said, and he blinked at me again as he processed what I said.
“That’s… not how that expression works… not exactly, anyway.” He muttered and I reached up and flipped my orangish hair back with one hand to remind him I’m not from here.
Some of my colleagues asked me once why I don’t disguise myself as somebody who looks like everybody in the neighborhood and whatnot. And the answer is pretty simple. From my colleagues' perspective, if you look like everyone else, you blend in perfectly.
But that’s why I’m better than all of them at my job. It’s not enough to look like people, you have to act like them too, and cultural norms touch everything. On one world, when you’re about to enter a room you’ve never been to, you always tap your foot three times to let the spirits inside know you’re coming. Don’t do that, and people will know you’re a fraud, or at least you’ll stand out in a negative way.
On another world, every first meeting between strangers involves an extensive discussion of ancestry to try to find some common ground and minimize the chance of violence. If I were to go there disguised as one of those, I’d fall flat and get into trouble fast.
But when you’re obviously foreign, people excuse your ignorance as, ‘Well they’re not from here, of course they don’t know better.’
So misusing an expression slightly draws no notice. Thus I blend in by standing out.
Yeah, I’m the best. “Whatever.” I smirked at Jin and gave him a gentle punch on the shoulder, “Hurry up and get back, University waits for no one, and neither do the teachers here, I’ll lock up tonight when I’m done.” I promised.
Jin’s entire body shook, his lower lip quivered, “If you’re not going to buy something, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
His eyes were full of tears, and he shouted, “Thank you!” He then bowed at the waist, turned, and ran out of the store as fast as his feet could carry him.
Various heads turned toward me, he’d come in after the others rather than with them, so it didn’t seem like they realized who he was, and his voice had such an emotional crack to it he must have sounded like a stranger.
I snorted, “It’s nothing, I just promised not to tell his mother about the dirty magazine he bought.”
I recognized some of the kids in the story, and I saw relief flood the faces of the young males who promptly flocked to ‘that’ section now that they knew I wouldn’t be telling on them.
And the rest of my first day passed without incident.
The sun was descending and it was getting darker by the minute. I locked the doors when the last customer left, closing myself inside, and went behind the counter to where the two pairs of pants lay crumpled in a heap where I’d kicked them before.
I crouched down and bit my tongue while I searched the pockets for what I sought.
My prize?
A pair of wallets. Wallets stuffed with cash. I pocketed that immediately, shoving it into my purse. “Lucky me.” I thought, “I’ll buy myself a few things here before I go.”
A few dozen bento boxes, sushi platters, and some ready to eat meals and lots of sodas.
I made a list in my head, then pulled out the I.D. cards of the two twits, just like I expected, there were addresses in place, I wonder how they explained themselves to their colleagues later. ‘That must have been hilarious.’ I thought and let out a long, loud laugh as I tried to picture their confused answers.
I stowed their wallets in my purse too, put their pants under one arm, and quickly spent their money on what I’d need for my fridge and the like for the better part of the next week.
I had bags loaded down with stuff, and then with a flash, I was gone and standing in front of my door. From there, I vanished again and reappeared just inside.
I dropped my stuff on the mess of a coffee table, picked up my phone, and began to check the locations on these identification cards. I whistled. ‘Downtown? Wow, pricey.’ I thought, and unfortunately, it was also very busy.
“Great. So it’s going to be a chore.” I muttered and looked longingly at the television. I was going to marathon watch a show about a wolf goddess falling in love with a mortal human as they traveled together.
But no… I have to spend at least an hour or two on these twits. “Getting between me and my NEET time… unforgivable.” I growled and called for a car to come pick me up.
‘Oh well… maybe I can find some way to make this at least a little bit fun.’ I thought, and tried to stay positive about it as I walked back out of my apartment again.

We usually discourage posting image only posts; this isn't Instagram. At ULTexas, we try to have substantive discussions concerning backpacking in our great state. However, it can be fun to check out other hikers' pictures.
Feel free to post those pics here! Please include when and where you took those pictures. Locations can be left vague. No need to give us the latitude and longitude numbers. The name of the park or trail will do.
Nostalgic pictures are fine as well. Maybe you'll see a picture that inspires you to get off reddit and get outside.

I have autism and adhd. My therapist thinks I may have OCD as well. I will have thoughts in my head that I think about all day. But it’s like when my mind starts to wander off.. like day dreaming. It could be a current obsession or something giving me anxiety. I like to do a lot of research about the topic when I enjoy it. When I have anxiety about something I may ask questions often to get validation to decrease the anxiety, such as asking someone what they think the other person could be thinking that I am concerned about. I have a lot of social anxiety. At my last appointment my therapist, and LMHC, put on my diagnosis plan OCD when we haven’t actually gone through the questions to see if I actually have it. The diagnosis number is F42.9. Is this standard practice?

The early part of the day was very quiet. Two people rushing in with panicked expressions raced in and snagged travel sewing kits meant for quick repairs. The relief on their faces… well, it felt pretty good to be able to provide what they needed on the spot. I smiled, pointed to the card reader, and wished them luck.
I got some funny looks, as well I should, given that they lived in this complex. The pair, one young man, one young woman, each wearing old suits that didn’t quite fit with the times or fit with their bodies, had clearly borrowed the clothes for job interviews and saw disaster in the form of a sudden and unexpectedly discovered tears in the old cloth.
If the Toriyama store hadn’t been there? Well, I doubt their day would have gone as smoothly. ‘No wonder she likes running it.’ I thought with a little smile on my face while I watched the wall clock continue to move forward one minute at a time.
I stopped clockwatching to go wipe down the counter by the bento. There was a sink and a soft cloth there waiting for use, and given the circumstances I figured… ‘Why not? What else is there to do?’ There were no customers for a fair bit, which wasn’t that surprising given the hour.
Kids were at school, most functional adults were at work, and nonfunctional ones tended not to have much in the way of money. The warm water felt good on my hands and before long the clean counter was cleaner than before.
From there I thought… ”Now what?” And I put my hands on my hips to look around the store. I looked toward the doors. ‘Still nobody.’ I thought, and went to check the inventory of things that were currently on the shelves. Dried seaweed was low… so I went to the back room behind the register to check the stock of goods… and frowned.
‘Alright… that’s not good. No, that’s bad, that’s very, very bad.’ The thought ran through my head as I looked within what was clearly the storage area for restocking… which was instead a sad sort of place, clean, like the rest of the store.
But that is what made it sad. See, I’d never held a real job on Earth, but I did know enough from movies, t.v. and manga that if you wanted to show that a place was dying, whether it be a restaurant or a store or whatever, the best way to do that was to show that it was damn near empty. ‘I’m out of… we ran out of… sorry, we don’t have…’ Whenever you heard that phrase in entertainment media, it was meant to show that a place was not doing well for itself.
There should have been multiple big boxes on pallets stacked way up, with just… all the snacks, not to mention all the cleaning supplies and prepackaged food and…
I had a sinking feeling. This was just the dry goods, the stuff that was plastic wrapped and packaged and so on.
There was a side door in this area, heavy and metal, it opened into the freezer. I cracked that door open and went inside, the icy chill hit my skin all at once and I wrapped my arms around my body and gave an audible shiver. “Brrr!” I said to myself as I ventured within.
This place should have had stacks of meat and drinks meant for the refrigerated section, all the basics that kept people going through that last hour or two.
But instead there were only a handful of boxes along the wall, none were higher than two deep up and two deep out, each aligned according to the product on the shelf.
But most of the produce shelf had just plain nothing.
My mind turned back to the two thugs who’d come into the store, and I spun on my heel, striding out of the deep freeze and venturing back to the register.
Still nobody was coming in, so I opened the register, checked for the paper envelope and cracked it open. There, I started counting.
Human money confuses me to no end. Every country has its own, and every country values every other country’s currency at a different rate from their own. Even the rate at which they valued their own currency didn’t actually match what was written on their damn stupid pieces of paper.
All I could do while I counted was grumble. “Damn stupid confusing inefficient barbaric primitive nonsensical absurd ridiculous daft temple to madness, forget why… how in all the hells of all the gods in all the Universe does anyone do anything this way?!”
I managed to get a count of the money within and tried to work out the relative cost compared to what I spent on things.
“So… let me work this out…” I mumbled and began drumming my fingers on the counter next to the register, “I pay that for a pizza… and this is like a few hundred pizzas so…”
My mouth dropped. “This is like a thousand pizzas?!” I shrieked with shock and horror… “No way?!” I couldn’t believe my own math, so I went to the far office. I’d seen through there sometimes when the door was open, and I knew Suki had a desk in there.
I tried the handle, it turned, it wasn’t locked. The wooden door swung inward when I pushed, and my eyes were greeted by a dizzying array of scattered papers, notebooks open with various numbers that were just… just dizzying to behold.
It was the exact opposite of the neat and orderly existence outside. I hesitated, fingers still curled around the doorhandle, my NEET brain screamed ‘Flee! This is an unholy land filled with math and confusion!’ But I did not flee.
I did not turn away.
I did. Not. Run.
I stepped within, leaving the door open at my back to both hear incoming customers and to ensure I could easily flee if the numbers assaulting my brain began to overwhelm me.
I did feel a little guilty, enough so that I couldn’t bring myself to actually sit in the cracked leather chair. The poor thing had clearly seen much better days, it was tilted slightly where one wheel was broken, once smooth brown back was tilted in such a way that suggested it was probably broken and couldn’t be leaned back in without it falling apart entirely.
There was one thing that perhaps saved my brain from a meltdown.
When you’re late paying a human organization, they really want you to know it. So a lot of the papers I saw were stamped ‘late notice’ or some variation thereof.
‘If she’s paying protection money to some yakuza baddies… no wonder she can’t pay her bills.’ My frown deepened as I began looking at one paper after another, just what was in that one single envelope was enough to pay most of the bottom numbers on the bills I picked up, and based on the dates, these were cumulative months.
“With that? She’d be just fine…” I mumbled and dropped the papers to fall like feathers in the breeze back down to the desk. I narrowed my eyes down at the desk.
Nobody needs to tell me that I can be sort of lazy. That’s the whole point of my vacations. But I really, really, like being a Painter. It’s not just that I’m good at it, I really see value in what I do. I hate dictators, they don’t just take lives, they take happiness. From where I’m sitting… standing, that is, these guys are just small scale dictators, leeches.
They were exactly the sort I do not like.
I heard the ding of the door as a customer walked in and hastened out to meet them. “Welcome to Toriyama’s.” I said with a smile as I stood in front of the register. I kicked the pants of the two petty tin pots out of my way, and started planning what I would do when my day was done.

I've been avoiding talking to my classmates for months, not knowing what to say and playing mental games with myself to justify not talking to anyone. Today, I complimented a classmate's backpack (as an excuse to talk to her). We talked about college for a few minutes. It was a little awkward, but nice nonetheless. She asked me for my number to send me a test from last year of a subject I have this semester and she already had. I hope I'll see her around and we'll chit chat some more, but I'm proud that I was able to get past my fear today, even if she and I don't become friends.

or ge pangayoan man lang ug number. Kung naa man ka diri or imo friend nga gwayot (gwapa nga bayot)***(pero mas gwapa ka :>) kung mabasahan man ni ninyo plsss andam nako suwayan tanan kalisud ug kabuang ma ila2x lang tika HAHAHAH kay hangtod karon ga mahay jud ko wa tika ge doul HAHAHA di lang siguro ni karon ang pagmahay. So sa perfectly perfect nga girl ako naka flirt using eye contact ug body language sa SM City Cebu cinema entrance hangtod sa Bowling Site sorry kaayo ni down to 0% ako guts kay kinsa man ang di ma tikig anang wa pa gani ka tan.awg Across the Spider Verse nakita na nako si Spider Gwen, irl pa jud HAHAHAH sige Gwen (dili si Gov. Garcia ha hahahaa) hopefully makakita ko nimog balik diri lang sa atong universe ayaw lang sa lain kay basin naa kay laing Miles Morales ngadto hahahahhahaa