TLDR: Hey everyone, my neighborhood is currently in a fight against our city, and a business trying to construct 500 storage units in a lot in our neighborhood. This lot is heavily contaminated with hazardous chemicals within the soil and still has an active EPA easement on it. Despite this, the planning board gave the okay for the business to build on this lot. We are currently appealing this decision on our own, but do not have an attorney and have quickly realized we need one as we are now being attacked by the attorney of the business for a $50,000 bond. If you can help us in any way, find an attorney, give us helpful information on who to contact, or do anything at all please let me know.
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Below is a press release that tells a bit more about what is going on:
The Lozierville environmental justice community has appealed the Westfield Planning Board's decision to greenlight the construction of 500 storage units in an empty lot adjacent to their neighborhood. The residents of this close-knit community believe that the planning board's decision did not take the health and safety of the community into proper consideration. The land approved for construction is located at the end of Cleveland Ave, the narrowest road in a neighborhood. There are also many environmental concerns with the approved project. The lot was previously part of Columbia Manufacturing and is currently under an EPA-restrictive easement due to hazardous contamination. Construction on the site would bring contaminates to the surface which could spread through the air and water into the neighborhood. The spring rain has recently flooded the nearby wetlands abutting this property and flooded the residents of Gold St.
Long before the EPA was created, Columbia Manufacturing was a booming business producing bicycles and school furniture. During this time, when Columbia Manufacturing needed to get rid of any hazardous materials, they took the easiest route and disposed of residual toxic sludge into two man-made “lagoons” on the facility property (https://cite.case.law/f-supp/893/1162/). Years later, the EPA found these grounds to be contaminated.
A consent decree was signed by the landowners to only allow a small portion of the land to be used as a working environment and the rest to not be disturbed. The current proposed storage unit plan would go against this decree and dig up the contaminated land below, bringing potentially hazardous soil to the surface and dust particles into the air and the adjacent neighborhood, tobacco fields, and wetlands.
The section of Westfield known as “Lozierville” is part of what is known as Poverty Plains. The neighborhood holds a much lower income population than others nearby and is in fact an environmental justice community. The fact that the city is allowing this project to still be on the table is undermining the health and safety concerns of all the people within this part of town. This a classic case of classism. The neighbors are not standing for it.
The neighborhood has banded together with “Save Our Neighborhood” signs down every street and a Facebook page urging the residents of Westfield to learn more about the current state of their community and this project. The law provides the right to appeal a decision made by a governing body and this environmental justice community has done just that. As more and more residents step up to help the community in their fight, they are seeking legal assistance. If you would like to learn more or help this community please find them on fb u/saveward2b or email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]).
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Again please let me know if you can help us in any way at all. Thank you for your time.

TLDR: Selling my first 'dream home' and returning to renting feels like such a step backwards. I know it's the right choice for me mentally to move to an area that's better for me, but personal development wise I feel like I kinda failed. This was supposed to be my forever home. This was a new construction home. No one else lived here, this was all mine and I had the freedom to do as I pleased. Now I'm going back to being at the mercy of someone who can remove me from 'my home' whenever they want. There's always going to be that sense of "this is home, but not really MY home." For those of you who went from home ownership back to renting, did you experience this?
Below is a bit of a rant and all the things I went through. A bit of a wake up call about homeownership:
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2 years ago I went through the building process with one of the big corporations that does home builds, and it was a NIGHTMARE. The construction manager was an alcoholic and eventually go arrested when many of us in the neighborhood kept reporting him to the police for driving drunk like a madman through the neighborhood. I lucked out and got a 4% interest rate...BUT, it would have been 2.9% but the office lady "forgot to submit my work order" for MONTHS so my property sat with no activity while others who went under contract months after me were already living in their homes when mine was still grass.
While all the outstanding issues in my home are cosmetic, it took years off my life having to come here every weekend to see what the construction crew was messing up this time or what trouble they were getting into. Things like drinking parties, yes, legit all of them blasting music pounding down beers in my unfinished kitchen with the manager, having their kids draw pictures in the concrete with rocks that took me forever to sand away, doing everything wrong and constantly having to remind the manager, it left such a bitter taste in my mouth. I reported it to the director of construction for that company in my region. He even came down, apologized and then ghosted me. No one was ever fired or anything.
When I finally closed on the house and moved in I was so bitter towards the house, which sucked cause before even moving here I would visit this neighborhood and just be like "one day! One day I'll own a house in a neighborhood like this!" and even though it was stressful visiting most weekends to find bad things going on, there was still some hope and excitement that "that's my house! No one lived in it ever, it's mine and I can do whatever I want whenever I want". That sense of freedom.
Eventually I took off my rose tinted glasses and realized the neighborhood wasn't all that. No sidewalks here meant hot blacktop ground, and taking my puppy on walks was going to be difficult and I'd have to get him used to just playing in our yard. I'm like 2 minutes from the beach in a beautiful town, #goals right? but... I'm far, super far from everything. If I were married, retired and settling down this would be a dream come true. Going to the beach every weekend and just living the life. In reality, I'm the youngest dude in my neighborhood by 20-30 years. I'm not a bar kinda guy and pretty introverted, but other than the beach any kind of outdoor activities or even shopping (besides groceries) is a 40+ min drive. It's very lonely and isolating. Not to mention a very very strict HOA that makes me feel limited on what I can do in my back yard. (can't plant a small garden for some fresh herbs to cook with etc).
I found a neighborhood in a town that's perfect for me. Not crazy busy but lots of shops, dog parks, outdoor events like farmers markets, all kinds of vendor events like food truck festivals and things of that nature on the weekends. Plus, only 15 min from the beach still. However, with the current interest rates, there's no way I'd be able to afford buying in that location. The specific neighborhood I fell in love with has all the things I was hoping this one would. A pool, sidewalks, a community of all ages, etc. The rent prices are almost = to the mortgage I'm paying now, and there's always a handful of houses there available for rent.

Well met, weary traveler! Welcome to my humble abode. Be it Fate or your own searching that led you here, be certain that you will not leave my place without clarity or a lighter heart. Beware though, as the cards will tell only the truth, they will not lie or deceive you, be it if you are ready to hear the answers or not. Step in and ask what heavies your soul!
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\Limitations: wont read on pregnancy, illness ,death or legal matters**
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I've been looking for the best (free) approach for a workaround for my ISP's draconian approach to port forwarding, which is to essentially block all of them and has made online multiplayer impossible on my Batocera builds (two 32-bit ARM7 Odroid XU4s and an ARM64 Odroid N2L). The provider is mandatory at my complex.
I tried ZeroTier at first and had luck punching through to play System Shock 2 multiplayer on PCs, but Batocera's stripped-down Linux doesn't appear compatible to install ZeroTier. (It's still possible, but would have to set up bridges on both players' networks with 2 separate SBCs, which is kind of above my knowledge.)
HOWEVER, another LAN tunnel program called Tailscale appears compatible even with 32-bit ARM and Batocera, and another user gave me a guide that he said worked for him. I seem to get stuck on steps 4 and 5 after plugging in my auth key when I tried this on an Odroid XU4, though, and I'm wondering if anyone else has tried this:
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1. Download static tailscale builds
2. Create /userdata/tailscale and move tailscale and tailscaled to said folder
3. Add the following to /userdata/system/custom.sh

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#!/bin/bash if test "$1" != "start" then exit 0 fi /userdata/tailscale/tailscaled -state /userdata/tailscale/state > /userdata/tailscale/tailscaled.log 2>&1 & /userdata/tailscale/tailscale up --accept-dns=false --accept-routes=false --login-server=https://headscale.my.fqdn --hostname batocera.my.fqdn 

1. Now we can run /userdata/tailscale/tailscaled -state /userdata/tailscale/state > /userdata/tailscale/tailscaled.log 2>&1 &
   
2. Start tailscale and provide authkey /userdata/tailscale/tailscale up --accept-dns=false --accept-routes=false --login-server=https://headscale.my.fqdn --hostname batocera.my.fqdn --auth-key=auth.key
   
3. Assuming this worked for you, you can now reboot the machine and check ip a and you should now see the tailscale NIC.
   

This was for tailscale, but I would hope you can do something similar for zerotier. My only complaint is this seems to be ran last which means I can't use it as a way to mount my roms remotely, but should be useful for multiplayer games.
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Greatly appreciate anyone willing to give this a try, and would love to try some multiplayer PSP games if you have luck getting this to work!

I am currently working in an office environment where I work as a project manager. Most of the projects I work on are multi year (5+) projects so there is lots of down time.
I have the ability to use my personal laptop, but not to the extent where I can be on it constantly. I currently use it to check personal stocks and dabble in options.
I’m looking for some ways to utilize my downtime to make some money during this downtime.
Criteria: able to check in and out of my laptop and not need to be on it constantly. Can’t really make consistent calls pertaining to it but am able to step outside every so often if needed. I have roughly 2-3 hours of "downtime" spread throughout the day to be able to do some side hustling.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone, 26m, 5’10”, muscular build, bubble butt, white guy here. Looking for someone who would enjoy doing this.
I want you to get me naked in a situation that’s funny for you and embarrassing/nerve wracking for me. Think like a prank or pantsing a friend, but maybe a little harsher.
Easy example could be we’re taking a walk, maybe on a trail, and you sneak up behind. Pull my shirt up so I’m stuck, pull my shorts and underwear down, and give me a little shove so I step out of them. Or maybe I step into your backyard after a shower in just a towel, and you rip it off me and lock the door. Or I lose a bet and have to get out of your car for a naked lap around a (deserted) parking lot, but when I do you speed off.
Anything where you’re laughing and I’m embarrassed or nervous. Not looking for real trouble or really involving unwilling participants, so we’d have to be careful about where we do this.
Also not looking for sex out of this, so straight and curious guys who get a kick out of it are welcome. DM me if interested!

Passive: parkour specialist: can sprint/slide through doors and over small obstacles, reach a little higher, also mantle faster
Tactical: tactical dash: dash forward in 1 direction for 3 strides with increased movement speed and step length (unknown cool down)
Ultimate: charge up: overcharges your tactical ability for upto 30 secs for unlimited uses (while you are charged up you can pick your downed teammates up, stay still to revive)

Still learning how to program, and a bit stuck on this because im not sure what im missing here or maybe misunderstanding what i wrote is exactly saying. Im trying to have the enemy have a cone line of sight where it will follow the player while in that line of sight cone, but if not it wont move. That all works fine, the problem i have is the third thing I'm trying to do, which is when the player goes out of the line of sight the enemy will move to the last seen location of the player (this is so the player has to hide from the enemy and not just go behind a wall as soon as they are spotted). Any help would be great and if you could explain in simple terms what im stating right now so i have a better understanding of programming I'd be in your debt. Thanks so much ahead of time and here's my script:
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class EnemyTracking : MonoBehaviour { public float detectionRadius = 20f; public float speed = 1; public float rotSpeed = 10; public LayerMask player01; public Transform player; public Transform enemy; public float coneAngle = 45f; // The angle of the cone in degrees public LayerMask obstacleLayer; bool inDetectionRange; bool playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight; private float lastSightTime; private Vector3 playerPosition;
// Update is called once per frame void Update() { inDetectionRange = Physics.CheckSphere(enemy.position, detectionRadius, player01);
if (inDetectionRange) { Vector3 dir = (transform.position - enemy.transform.position).normalized; float angle = Vector3.Angle(enemy.forward, dir); // Check if the player is within the cone angle if (angle <= coneAngle) { RaycastHit hit; if (Physics.Raycast(enemy.position, dir, out hit, detectionRadius, player01 obstacleLayer)) { // Check if the hit object belongs to the obstacle layer if (hit.transform.CompareTag("Obstacle")) { // Player is obstructed by an obstacle, Stop the enemy from moving
Rigidbody enemyRigidbody = enemy.GetComponent(); enemyRigidbody.velocity = Vector3.zero; playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight = true;
}
else { // Player is within detection range, visible in the cone, and not obstructed by obstacles or walls, the enemy will track and follow the player RotateTowardsPlayer(dir); Vector3 moveStep = enemy.forward * speed * Time.deltaTime; enemy.Translate(moveStep, Space.World); playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight = false; lastSightTime = Time.time; // Record the time when the line of sight was cut off playerPosition = player.position; // Record Players location } if (playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight && (Time.time - lastSightTime) >= 1f) { //Player has been detected but only recently has gone out of the line of sight, the enemy goes to last seen location Vector3 lastKnownPlayerPosition = playerPosition; Vector3 moveStep = (lastKnownPlayerPosition - enemy.position).normalized * speed * Time.deltaTime; enemy.Translate(moveStep, Space.World); }
}
}
}
}
void RotateTowardsPlayer(Vector3 dir) { Quaternion lookRotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(dir); enemy.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(enemy.rotation, lookRotation, rotSpeed * Time.deltaTime); } }

This was posted in the AngryObservation subreddit (that I stumbled on two seconds ago)
Essay posted by u/dcmetro7
https://www.reddit.com/usedcmetro7/
Democrats have a branding problem : AngryObservation (reddit.com)

Democrats have a branding problem

😴 Long Observation 😴
I was inspired by u/Randomuser1520 's post about the Democratic Party's seemingly weak bench of future potential presidential nominees.
A lot of the problems trace back to 2016, but I'd argue the Democrats' branding woes go back even further. Think all the way back to the last time the Democrats had a consistently strong electoral record as a party -- the 90s, where the only truly bad year for Ds was 1994. Bill Clinton had successfully rebranded the party under the 'Third Way' label that Dems at any level could embrace and benefit from, and he had a clear successor in Al Gore. But Gore loses narrowly in 2000, and the problems for the Dems' brand begin.
'Yes We Can'
After 9/11, the electorate supports Bush and they support war. Dems' brand takes a hit and they lose the 2002 midterms. In 2004, John Kerry is successfully painted as an out-of-touch Ivy League liberal, disengaged from 'real America.' Dems lose and their brand suffers further.
But by the end of Bush's term, most Americans are disillusioned with Dubyaism. They wanted change, and one man promises to lead them to it with posters that proclaim 'HOPE' and cries of 'Yes We Can,' heralding in a new age of politics. Barack Obama and the Democrats are swept into a trifecta in Washington.
And we certainly got a new age of politics. When Obama was inaugurated, pundits speculated about the 'emerging Democratic majority', and how the GOP may literally go extinct in ten years. By the end of Obama's second term, those same pundits are surveying the absolutely decimated state of the Democratic party at all levels of power. Dems had lost the Senate, the House, most governorships, and most state legislatures. Control of the state legislatures makes the GOP's hold on the House even stronger. Control of the Senate effectively leads to control of the Supreme Court.
While Obama certainly can't be blamed for everything the GOP threw at him, I feel like it's safe to say his rebranding of the Democratic party failed in the long run. The 'Party of Hope' was sunk into the quagmire of a slow economic recovery, some of the most cynical politicking ever, and some of the most dysfunctional White House-Congress relationships in the history of the country. Obama's signature healthcare legislation would languish in the 30s approval-wise until after he left office. By 2015, no one was talking about the Democrats as the Party of Hope anymore. Even the guy who designed the original 'Hope' poster said he was frustrated by the lack of progress under the Obama admin. I'd argue that the Republicans were responsible for the clear majority of this dysfunction, but if their goal was to muddy the waters between the parties, they succeeded. And with the Tea Party, they were better at rebranding themselves even when they were in the opposition.
And none of this was helped by the face that Obama seemed extremely reluctant, even uninterested, in stepping into the role of party leader. Congressional Democrats were frustrated at the way he kept his distance from them, making it hard to solidify the policy goals they'd implemented in his first term. This article (https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/us/aloof-obama-is-frustrating-his-own-party.html) sums it up well, with this prescient quote sticking out:

In interviews, nearly two dozen Democratic lawmakers and senior congressional aides suggested that Mr. Obama’s approach has left him with few loyalists to effectively manage the issues erupting abroad and at home and could imperil his efforts to leave a legacy in his final stretch in office.

And sure enough, Obama's legacy was in peril before he even left office.
'Stronger Together'
In 2016, Democrats didn't plan for a primary, they planned for a coronation. Hillary Clinton had been locking up all the support she could get from the Democratic establishment while Obama was serving his second term. Biden would seem like the clear establishment successor, but by the time he was able to turn his attention from VP duties to the primary he realized Hillary had completely boxed him out. She had already corralled all the big donors, operatives, and endorsements into her corner, and Joe was checkmated before he even sat down to the board. Thus, he turned down the opportunity, likely burying his long-nurtured presidential ambitions.
But then the coronation gets bumpy. Sanders challenges her from the outside, and immediately begins putting her on the spot as to why she's running. In other words, what does she envision for the Democratic brand? Hillary herself doesn't know. Is it a third term of Bill (whose star was starting to fade among everyone whose name doesn't rhyme with Shames Scarville), a third term of Obama (whose Hope posters have since become landfill), or an all-new thing?
To Hillary's credit, she couldn't portray herself as a total break from the past, both because she had been was strongly anchored to the national political landscape for the last thirty years, and because she could hardly attack Obama's record too harshly. In the end, she also struggled to brand both herself and the party. Consider the slogans most associated with her campaign; 'Forward Together' and 'Stronger Together' sound like the slogans of a centrist third party with no concrete policy ideas. They just attempted to project a feeling of unity onto a people who were united only, if the candidacies of Sanders and Trump meant anything, in the feeling that 'establishment' politicians like HRC had failed. And, of course, 'I'm with Her' was barely a rebrand at all, simply associating the party with its uncharismatic yet seemingly unstoppable frontrunner.
In the meantime, Trump had done the opposite, rebranding himself and the GOP as the party of 'America First populism.' What that meant exactly in terms of policy seemed to change from day to day But as a brand, as a forceful statement of intent, it worked, especially when contrasted with a seemingly rudderless HRC campaign that failed to answer the age-old question: 'Why are you running for president?'
'For the People'
After the 2016 fiasco, the Democrats were decimated and leaderless. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had passed his leadership position to Chuck Schumer and passed on soon after Trump took office. Tim Ryan led a mutiny against Nancy Pelosi, blaming her in part for the party's plunge from ascendance to irrelevance in the House. Hillary Clinton disappeared into the woods of Chappaqua. Obama started making a docu-series for Netflix. Joe Biden entered semi-retirement and wrote a book.
But in all of this, they found something they had been lacking. A brand.
Not the one they would have preferred, but one that would work nonetheless for winning elections. House Dems would embrace the (once-again) vague slogan of 'For the People' ahead of the 2018 midterms, but the aim was clear. The Democrats were now the Opposition; the Anti-Trump party.
Trump's approval rating was not just low, but incredibly sticky. People tended to have very firm opinions on him, and so his approval rating barely escaped the 35-45% range, with him almost hitting 50% before the pandemic hit. Thus, running on opposition to Trump would be fine electorally. In 2018, the Democrats had a blue wave year based mostly on opposition to Trump, retaking the house. Ironically, a big policy motivator for voters was backlash against the GOP's effort to repeal and replace Obamacare -- a promise that had driven Republican electoral gains since the bill was passed into law. Republican branding and messaging had been so successful that, for the better part of the decade, people trusted them to 'fix' the ACA until the very last minute before the replacement was signed.
'Battle for the Soul of the Nation'
But the problem remained for 2020 -- who would lead them? This was a difficult decision even before the pandemic. And Democratic primary voters were treated to a veritable buffet on angles on how to rebrand the party to beat Trump.
Should the party embrace democratic socialism under Sanders, or heavy consumer advocacy under Warren? Should it embrace a young, charismatic up-and-comer like Harris, Buttigieg, or O'Rourke or someone just as 'establishment' as Hillary, like Michael Bloomberg? Old-school liberalism with the Klob? Whatever Andrew Yang was doing?
But as the polls drew near, the Democrats seemed to conclude that beating Trump was simply more important than charting a new course for the party. If they could get elected or rebrand, they'd choose the former. And so all the other more moderate candidates dropped out to consolidate the vote around Biden, as the safe, expected pick who could stay the course. Biden and his surrogates began adopting the slogan 'Battle for the Soul of the Nation,' an epic and apocalyptic phrase that is still fundamentally reactive in tone, implying that the biggest motivator to vote for Democrats that fall was not to pass any specific agenda, but to put a stop to the GOP's plans.
Biden wouldn't govern in this way, but he would campaign this way -- as the normal, capable candidate who could lead the country's post-covid recovery in opposition to Trump's perceived incompetence. Biden won, but Democrats didn't get nearly the boost they wanted from covid, and House candidates underperformed Biden nationally, leading to a surprising loss of seats in the House. And after the effort to throw out the election failed, Trump left office with severely damaged standing with independents. The anti-Trump brand had delivered Dems a trifecta; now it was time to use it; hopefully to establish a new brand for a new decade.
'Building Back Better'
Upon taking office, Biden and the Dems lay out their agenda; the 'Build Back Better' plan, which centers on a three-pronged approach; a pandemic relief bill, an infrastructure bill, and a social policy bill. Passing such plans will involve all 50 Senate D's on board in some cases, and a bipartisan filibuster-proof majority of 60 senators in other cases.
People laugh, think back to 2010, and begin arguing whether a prediction that the GOP will control 55 Senate seats by 2023 is too conservative. Nancy Pelosi is trying to manage a mere five-seat majority in the house. Mitch McConnell, who once feasted on the Democrats' lost hopes the way a hungry turtle devours a plate of juicy strawberries, still held enough sway in the Senate to hold up any significant policy not related to budget reconciliation. Even then, Schumer must wrangle mavericks like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. Dramatic divisions still rip across the fabric of American society. But then, something truly strange happens.
The 117th Congress ends up being one of the most productive sessions ever.
Whether or not you think any or all of the 117th's acts were good policy, it's undeniable that this was an unusually politically efficient session, especially considering the last decade of hardball politics. Bipartisan majorities drive the infrastructure act, a gun control act, a tech-manufacturing promotion act, and even a somewhat-legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. Plus, Schumer and Pelosi navigate their tiny majorities toward passing partisan priorities, like the pandemic relief act and the scaled-down Build Back Better social policy bill, rebranded as the Inflation Reduction Act or IRA. McConnell drops his trademark stonewalling and collaborates with Biden on the bipartisan bills, and 'Yea' votes roll in even from deep red states -- Republican senators from Mississippi, West Virginia, and North Dakota get these bills over the line. Bipartisanship returns to Congress in fleeting glances -- something that I feel confident in arguing absolutely no one expected Biden or the Dem leaders to be able to do.
Of course, no one has forgotten 2010, and 2022 looks to be another rough year. Inflation soars, and Biden's approval rating drops. Dems brace for impact. The Dobbs ruling happens, but polls repeatedly suggest that the economy is the top issue on voters' minds, and they don't like Biden's handling of it.
But while these things are true, they ignore a crucial factor -- the GOP is embroiled in an identity crisis of its own. The leader of the party is claiming to be the legitimate president of the United States, which is a bit of a hard issue to ignore. Trump loyalists beat out 'establishment' Republicans in the primaries, and bring their hard promotion of the MAGA brand to the general elections. And they lose.
I think it's fair to say that the GOP lost most of the key races of the 2022 midterms, rather than Democrats winning them. Swing state Republican parties chose candidates who adhered so closely to a brand so toxic that independents still chose the Democrats, even in some cases where they were dissatisfied with the party. Republicans who have managed to establish a brand for themselves -- DeSantis, Kemp, and DeWine among them -- soar, while the Trumpiest candidates fall flat. McConnell remains in the minority, and McCarthy becomes the head of a very, very dysfunctional family.
Will Brandon's Rebrand Stand?
So, coming off an unusually strong midterm, where does the party go in 2024? Probably, as u/Randomuser1520 said, back to Biden. When your party wins one of the most fiercely contested elections in American history, has a productive legislative session, and then massively overperforms in the midterm, you don't usually change horses regardless of what approval polling says. If Biden were just 10 years younger and the health concerns were off the table, there would be no question in anyone's mind who to nominate.
The establishment and progressive wings of the party seem to be behind him if he runs, meaning challenges will only come from real outsiders like Marianne Williamson and Robert Kennedy Jr. The DNC will probably work to make those challenges as unviable as possible.
2024 is tricky to predict. Trump is favored on the Republican side, and as said before, his brand is so toxic that Biden can probably glide to reelection barring any massive economic downturns or serious health problems. I won't get too much into 2024, because it seems pretty clearly on the path to becoming another referendum on the GOP's brand, not the Democrats'. Biden's second term (and the rest of his first term) may be defined as much by implementation of the legislation they passed during the 117th as much as by new legislation, if not more.
So the question becomes this -- where does the party go in 2028? Or, in other words, what will Democrats take away from the Biden presidency, and how will Biden shape the party's brand going forward? Who they choose to lead the party next will tell, and Biden's presidency may already be laying out a blueprint.
In his 1996 State of the Union address, Bill Clinton declared 'the era of big government is over,' essentially conceding that Reagan and his vision of a small role for the federal government in domestic affairs had won out for the time, and that Democrats would need to work within that political reality in order to win elections. Obama's efforts to change that status quo resulted in an avalanche of backlash from Tea Partiers, self-proclaimed champions of fiscal conservatism. Hillary Clinton's failed campaign strategy arguably rested more on that understanding of the political climate than anything else, causing her to miss a series of growing frustrations with Reaganism at times channelled by Sanders and, at times, Trump -- at decimation of the manufacturing sector, at the growing gap between rich and poor, at China's seemingly unstoppable three-decade rise at the expense of the U.S.
Biden's approach to American industry and government is a strong repudiation of Reaganism, based around the idea that it is the government's job to fortify and guide the economy in ways that are necessary where the free market has little incentive to. It argues that the issues of infrastructural decay, manufacturing decline, and the growing need for green energy in the face of climate change will only be solved if the government directs the power of the private sector towards those goals at great upfront cost. And free trade, long held as the unassailable source of America's prosperity, must now only be employed in moderation -- if the U.S. has to arguably break international law to lure foreign investment into the U.S. through generous subsidies, it will be worth it, even if it earns the fury of our economic partners. This may be the groundwork of Bidenism.
These plans may fail. The money may be wasted by incompetent or corrupt administrators and the American people may become even more jaded at the thought of big government. But movement within the GOP may suggest a broader shift in the American mind towards this kind of economic interventionism is already in progress. Promising to reverse the decline of manufacturing through tariffs and other measures would have been political anathema twenty years ago, but it has become a core Republican plank. Florida Republicans' punitive measures towards Disney and the GOP's growing support for government action against Big Tech companies suggests openness towards not just using state power to guide the economy, but also to reshape the social landscape by manipulating the private sector. It may well be that the era of small government is over.
I've sorted some potential 'brands' and some of the people who might be nominated in 2028 / become party standard-bearers should the Democrats go in that direction. These lists aren't exhaustive; I'm just trying to establish a general vibe.
The 'Biden Blueprint': Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, Gina Raimondo
These are members of the Biden admin who have been given great power (and great piles of money) to enact the legislation of the 117th. If American sentiment towards big government changes as quickly as I think it could, a Cabinet secretary could have a decent shot in 2028. Harris would be the natural successor as the VP, but Transportation Sec Buttigieg and Commerce Sec Raimondo, who were empowered to implement much of the Infrastructure Act and the CHIPS Act respectively, could become standard-bearers for this new vision of technocratic governance if they administer these programs well (and in a way that makes headlines). If Energy Sec Granholm were a natural-born citizen, she would definitely fit here as well, considering how much power the IRA gave her department.
The 'New New Deal': Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto, Mark Kelly, Tammy Duckworth, Raphael Warnock
Liberal senators who are capable of working across the aisle to achieve compromise could be a strong bet if Democrats want to recreate the success of the 117th Congress in the future. There's always an argument that effective legislators won't necessarily make for effective executives, but these choices would help with Democrats' goal of rebranding the Democratic party as the party you vote for if you want Washington to function properly and anticipate constituents' needs. Such a ticket could brand itself as the path to bipartisan yet assertive solutions on familiar and emerging issues like immigration reform, federal protection for abortion, the housing shortage, and the drug crisis.
The 'Bulwark': Roy Cooper, Laura Kelly, Andy Beshear
I'll admit that when I began writing this post, I had a more favorable opinion of the above three governors and politicians like them as presidential nominees and the potential 'future of the party.' I no longer feel as strongly about them, however, because I don't believe they do enough to change the brand of the Democrats and the political environment as a whole. These governors are best known for winning races in red states; for holding the line against the most conservative policies while finding areas of compromise, especially on kitchen-table issues.
But this brand of Democrat is fundamentally reactive, even defensive -- it assumes that most of the job will be obstructing right-wing legislation from a red legislature. In other words, it is a kind of strategy you use when you're trying to hold ground, not gain it. It works well when your opponent's brand is toxic (as the GOP's has been since 2016), but this I suspect this brand of 'competent normality' will struggle if the opposition ceases to actively repel voters. If Trump and his acolytes continue to hold a strong grip on the party through 2024 and beyond, this brand may not be a bad bet short-term, but long-term Democrats want to be the ones establishing the rules of the game, not just beating your opponent at theirs. That's what a successful political brand does. While Dems in similar situation should definitely look to these governors for guidance in running their campaigns (and hopefully, their administrations), I would caution at this point against basing the national party's brand on their model.
I think somewhere between these three groups lies a successful path forward for the Democrats that towards becoming the dominant party in U.S. politics at the federal level. There are some other interesting currents in the party; like how Democratic governors like Whitmer, Evers, and Walz have rebuilt D strength the Midwest after a rough 2010s, and how Western Dems like Jared Polis, Mary Peltola, and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez have found unexpected electoral stength by embracing a form of libertarianism. However, these currents may be regional, and Democrats shouldn't necessarily try to nationalize every idea that works in one part of the country. Creating different regional 'flavors' of Democrat would be necessary to keep the party relevant in all parts of the country.
Regarding the 2020 primary runners-up, I don't think most of the visions laid out then work post-2024, and for this reason I tend not to give too much weight to current Democratic primary polling, because it assumes these same people would be running again.
Assuming Biden ends his term without catastrophe, I don't think the party needs to place all their faith in a young, charismatic Obama wannabe like O'Rourke or Swalwell, nor does it need to drastically pivot to the center, nor does it need to proclaim itself the party of 'outsiders,' nor does it need to give the reins to the progressive wing. If everything goes right, they can remain ideologically where they are now (roughly) and establish a solid brand for the first time in a generation.
The Democrats been losing the branding war since the days of Nixon. They may currently have all the tools they need right now to change that, and set the expectations for the next fifty years of politics. Let's see how they do.
This is my first big write-up, so I almost certainly missed some stuff and made some assumptions. Let me know what you think.

Still learning how to program, and a bit stuck on this because im not sure what im missing here or maybe misunderstanding what i wrote is exactly saying. Im trying to have the enemy have a cone line of sight where it will follow the player while in that line of sight cone, but if not it wont move. That all works fine, the problem i have is the third thing I'm trying to do, which is when the player goes out of the line of sight the enemy will move to the last seen location of the player (this is so the player has to hide from the enemy and not just go behind a wall as soon as they are spotted). Any help would be great and if you could explain in simple terms what im stating right now so i have a better understanding of programming I'd be in your debt. Thanks so much ahead of time and here's my script:
using System.Collections; using System.Collections.Generic; using UnityEngine; public class EnemyTracking : MonoBehaviour { public float detectionRadius = 20f; public float speed = 1; public float rotSpeed = 10; public LayerMask player01; public Transform player; public Transform enemy; public float coneAngle = 45f; // The angle of the cone in degrees public LayerMask obstacleLayer; bool inDetectionRange; bool playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight; private float lastSightTime; private Vector3 playerPosition;
// Update is called once per frame void Update() { inDetectionRange = Physics.CheckSphere(enemy.position, detectionRadius, player01);
if (inDetectionRange) { Vector3 dir = (transform.position - enemy.transform.position).normalized; float angle = Vector3.Angle(enemy.forward, dir); // Check if the player is within the cone angle if (angle <= coneAngle) { RaycastHit hit; if (Physics.Raycast(enemy.position, dir, out hit, detectionRadius, player01 obstacleLayer)) { // Check if the hit object belongs to the obstacle layer if (hit.transform.CompareTag("Obstacle")) { // Player is obstructed by an obstacle, Stop the enemy from moving
Rigidbody enemyRigidbody = enemy.GetComponent(); enemyRigidbody.velocity = Vector3.zero; playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight = true;
}
else { // Player is within detection range, visible in the cone, and not obstructed by obstacles or walls, the enemy will track and follow the player RotateTowardsPlayer(dir); Vector3 moveStep = enemy.forward * speed * Time.deltaTime; enemy.Translate(moveStep, Space.World); playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight = false; lastSightTime = Time.time; // Record the time when the line of sight was cut off playerPosition = player.position; // Record Players location } if (playerDetectedButIsOutOfSight && (Time.time - lastSightTime) >= 1f) { //Player has been detected but only recently has gone out of the line of sight, the enemy goes to last seen location Vector3 lastKnownPlayerPosition = playerPosition; Vector3 moveStep = (lastKnownPlayerPosition - enemy.position).normalized * speed * Time.deltaTime; enemy.Translate(moveStep, Space.World); }
}
}
}
}
void RotateTowardsPlayer(Vector3 dir) { Quaternion lookRotation = Quaternion.LookRotation(dir); enemy.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(enemy.rotation, lookRotation, rotSpeed * Time.deltaTime); } }

"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 Zetian 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..."

I have an almost 5 year old son who has recently had a resurgence in aggressive behaviors. He attends ABA which is set up much like a preschool, and within the past month has learned a bunch of new skills, while also seeming to become more sensitive and aggressive. Personally, I never experience this at home and can't remember the last time he's had a meltdown, but he's started having them regularly at ABA, is actively going after the other kids to hit or scratch, is attacking his RBT (who he absolutely adores) and is hitting himself and banging his head. It's all really ramped up in the past month and we're kinda lost as to what's happening.
We saw his developmental pediatrician today about it and the first thing they suggested was medication. When I asked her about other options she said OT, which we haven't tried because I didn't realize it could help with behavior issues as well. Is this normal for the doctor to just immediately suggest medication? He just seems way to young for that to be the first step. I would love to hear some experiences from everyone else dealing with this. Did you give your children medication at this age? Are there other things you've tried and it worked well. I'm hoping he's just having a big development leap and he'll calm down, but right now he's being very violent as school over the smallest triggers and it's just completely out of character for him.

I’m no contact with all family except for my moms sister and her kids. She was also abused and she’s been a safe person for me which has been a huge blessing.
A few weeks ago I felt comfortable enough to name my primary abuser to her—my bio dad. She took it well, said she believed and supported me fully.
She really wants me to report him. She even asked if she could call the police on my behalf so I can stay anonymous.
I understand where she’s coming from. But I DO NOT FEEL READY. He’s my bio dad, my mom is still married to him, and he scares the everloving shit out of me. I’ve had nightmares that he finds me and tries to kill me to keep me quiet.
Right now, my mom knows that I was abused but not who any of my abusers are (I have dozens, thanks to being trafficked by my dad). I don’t feel ready to tell her because I can’t face the likely possibility that she won’t believe me, she’ll choose to stay with him anyways, etc.
I’ve been telling my aunt these things but she just doesn’t seem to get it. She even went as far as to say that my mom deserves to know.
I have felt guilt for my inability to report. I’ve also made steps to try. I’ve contacted lawyers, but they all ghosted me. I’ve done my own research and I had processed and accepted this is something I cannot take responsibility for right now. I simply don’t have the capacity, I need to stabilize myself first. I was able to let it go, and set down that concern almost 6 months ago.
Now that my aunt is bringing it up, all the guilt has come crashing back and I’m really struggling.
Thanks for reading. I could use some encouragement or kind words. Also if anyone has a success story, resources, or good experiences to share about the CSA reporting process, I’m all ears.

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…

I’m female and almost 21. The first time I got SA’D was when I was 15 it was a 28 year old man and it happened in a park on a busy Saturday afternoon with people around and no one stepped in to help me or noticed something wrong was happening.
Then a couple months after that I got into a 1 year relationship with a man 6 years old than me who took advantage of me and raped me.
Safe to say I had a couple horrible experiences close together.
But almost 6 years later now and I still get uncomfortable around men and even my own father which I feel shame in saying.
With this, I have discovered recently that I do not feel comfortable exposing too much of my body to any men. Crop tops, 99% of shorts dresses and skirts I find are too short for my liking. I envision myself being assaulted again if I wear anything that shows too much of my body. I also don’t wanna wear long shorts that go down to my knees and don’t wanna wear “old lady clothing” (no offence to those who like those clothes but it’s not for me). I’ve decided on short sleeve tops that are not too short and lots of dresses and skirts that go down to my knees at least.
Anyone else feel the same way with summer time rolling around and all these revealing clothes that seem to fill stores these days?

One part of WunderGraph is what we call the "Engine", it's the backbone of our product and is used in our API Gateway, the WunderNode. As we're seeing more and more demand for our product, we're looking to extend our team with a Senior Golang Engineer who will be working mainly on the Engine and the WunderNode.
This is why we’re hiring a full-time, fully remote Senior Golang Engineer - Remote in EMEA As a Golang Engineer at WunderGraph, you will work on some fun projects The "Engine" is essentially a Golang application which translates GraphQL requests into any other protocol, like OpenAPI, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, Apollo Federation, etc... You could consider the Engine as a "GraphQL Compiler" or Transpiler. The Engine is responsible for parsing, normalization, execution planning, execution runtime, etc... If you are interested in working with ASTs, AST transformations, etc... you will love this kind of work. We have performance requirements, so you should be proficient in writing performant and low GC code in Golang.
Some of your tasks will take more than a few weeks to complete, Ideally, you're someone who likes to go deep on one topic instead of going wide and shallow on many different topics.
Here's a list of things you might be working on: Extend the Compiler "backend" to support Apollo Federation v2 Extend the Compiler "backend" to support gRPC Implement a native Go-based data source for SOAP and OpenAPI, currently we're using a Node.js based solution with a bridge Improve the batching-implementation of the Engine Improve the performance of the Engine in general, driven by feedback from our customers
If I (the CEO) had more time, I'd do all of this on my own, just because I enjoy this kind of work. Unfortunately, my role requires me to focus on Marketing, Sales, Product, and other aspects of the company. That's why we're looking to expand our "Engine Team" with you!
What you bring to the table You should have enough experience to work independently A hard requirement is that you can dig into hard problems and find solutions on your own. We can help you to understand the Engine Architecture, but then you should be able to work on your own. You should have experience working with ASTs, AST transformations, etc... You should have experience writing performant and low GC code in Golang, and know how to benchmark Go code Experience with GraphQL, API Gateways, Proxies, and Networking in general is a plus Experience with OpenAPI, SOAP, gRPC, GraphQL, Apollo Federation is a plus Ideally, you could show through your Open Source contributions that you're a good match for this role You should be comfortable working with a remote team and be able to communicate effectively in English You should be open to meeting with the team for a few days in a row once per quarter in a retreat-like setting You'll be primarily working on open source projects, so you should be comfortable working in the open The Engine team is currently 2 people, you'd be the third. The team is in EMEA, so you should be in a similar timezone.
How we work We're currently a team of 13 developers. We have cycles of 2 weeks, but we keep the planning and regular meetings to a minimum. We really like async work, e.g. by writing down RFCs and discussing them asynchronously via GitHub or Notion.
It's currently a super exciting time to join WunderGraph, as we're seeing a lot of traction in the market. This means that you will be working on a product that has immediate impact on our customers and their businesses. You'll get immediate feedback after a feature is released and see how it's being used by our customers. We love small iterations and shipping early and often so we can get feedback as soon as possible and adjust our plans accordingly.
At the same time, we put a lot of emphasis on quality, testing, and code reviews. We're currently building out a testsuite of end-to-end tests to improve the stability of our product a little bit more with every pull request.
Why it’s fun to work at WunderGraph Small, fast-moving team (really nice people!) with team members from 9 countries You can make a difference both with your work and your personality Opportunity to be part of a fantastic engineering culture Build something you love Discretionary PTO Competitive compensation Quarterly team retreats across the globe

Note: This is a full-time, fully remote position. We are looking for someone who is available to work during European business hours. 

The Process Intro with our CEO and CTO Culture fit call with the team Reference Check and Offer
We’re looking forward to your application so we can grow together!
Read more / apply: https://www.golangprojects.com/golang-go-job-gbq-Remote-Europe-Senior-Golang-Engineer-Remote-in-EMEA-WunderGraph-remotework.html

I have no idea if this is the right subreddit, but i'm literally too stupid for this right now and need someone to explain to me what exactly is going on on the stack for buffer overflow exercise im trying to do. I have a number guessing game in C, where the goal is to guess 3 random numbers correctly 5 times in a row in order to win. To achieve this, we can pass a parameter to the program when starting it which can be used to exploit a buffer overflow. Here is the code:
#include #include #include #include int counter = 0; char username[16]; void win() { printf("You win this round %s\n", username); counter++; } void loose() { printf("You lose, better luck next time %s!\n\n", username); counter = 0; } int calculate(char *text, int input1, int input2, int input3, int number1, int number2, int number3) {
char name[16]; strcpy(name, text); if (number1 == input1 && number2 == input2 && number3 == input3) return 0; else return 1; } int main(int argc, char ** argv) { int number1, number2, number3; int input1 = 0, input2 = 0, input3 = 0; if(argc < 2){ printf("Please pass at least one argument with your program.\nOtherwise you won't be able to exploit it ;)\n"); exit(0); }
printf("Please enter your name!\n"); fgets(username, sizeof(username), stdin); username[strcspn(username, "\n")] = '\0';
while(counter < 5){ printf("Can you beat this minigame?\n\nEnter three numbers between 0-10 if you guess all correct you win, otherwise you lose!\n");
printf("Enter your first guess!\n"); scanf("%d", &input1); printf("Enter your second guess!\n"); scanf("%d", &input2); printf("Enter your third guess!\n"); scanf("%d", &input3); srand(time(NULL)); number1 = rand() % 10; number2 = rand() % 10; number3 = rand() % 10; if(calculate(argv[1], input1, input2, input3, number1, number2, number3) == 0) win(); else loose();
} printf("Against all odds you beat the game!\nCongratulations %s", username);
exit(0); return 0; }
So the goal is basically to construct the buffer overflow for the "name" array in a way that when "calculate" is called, we jump 5 times in a row into the "win" function when returning (to increase the counter to 5), and then returning to the "main" function instruction at the end of the loop so the program completes correctly. The program is compiled without security options and will be run on a 32-bit system using little endian.
As far as I know, stack memory "grows down", meaning it starts at a high memory address and then every time something is pushed onto the stack it moves to lower memory addresses. An example stack frame for the "calculate" function would look like this:
Example Stack frame "calculate":

Memory address	Name	Length in Byte (Type)
0xbffff3a8	number3	4 (int)
...	number2	4 (int)
...	number1	4 (int)
	input3	4 (int)
	input2	4 (int)
	input1	4 (int)
	text	4 (char pointer)
...	Return address (Saved EIP)	4
...	Saved EBP	4
0xbffff3dc	name	16 (char)

So, since we can explot the writing to char array "name" (due to the use of strcpy), we can overwrite the stack frame starting from the bottom of name up to wherever we want. My understanding is that when we make a function call from within another function, a new stack frame gets created "below" the current stack frame. Conversely, when we return from a function to the calling function, we are returning to the stack frame above (a higher memory range). Considering this, I tried the following buffer overflow string for the "name" array among several others by starting the program using GDB in this way:
> gdb bufferOverflow
> r $(python -c "import sys; sys.stdout.buffer.write(b'A'*16 + b'A'*4 + b'A'*28 + (b'A'*4 + b'\xbf\x58\x40\x80')*5 + b'A'*4 + b'\xb7\x88\x40\x80')")
Explaining the parts:
​

Part	Rationale
b'A'*16	Write 16 byte to overwrite the "name" array
b'A'*4	Overwriting 4 byte for the EBP above
b'\xbf\x58\x40\x80'	Overwriting return address with "win" address
b'A'*28	Overwrite the parameters of "calculate" to get to the address space above
(b'A'*4 + b'\xbf\x58\x40\x80') * 5	Write 5 times a 4 byte padding for EBP followed by return address of "win"
b'A'*4 + b'\xb7\x88\x40\x80'	4 byte EBP padding and return address to jmp instruction in "main" at the end of the loop

I was told that it doesnt matter what values i use for the EBPs, but im not sure thats true. I always get a segmentation fault after entering my guessed numbers. I dont know what im doing wrong, and using GDB to get stack frame information doesnt seem to help me as it never lines up to my understanding.
Here is "info frame" for "main" function with a break point at the beginning:
Stack level 0, frame at 0xbffff3d0:
eip = 0x80486a1 in main (bufferOverflow.c:35); saved eip = 0xb7e20647
source language c.
Arglist at 0xbffff3b8, args: argc=2, argv=0xbffff464
Locals at 0xbffff3b8, Previous frame's sp is 0xbffff3d0
Saved registers:
ebx at 0xbffff3b0, ebp at 0xbffff3b8, esi at 0xbffff3b4, eip at 0xbffff3cc
Here is "info frame" when stepping into "calculate" with break point:
Stack level 0, frame at 0xbffff360:
eip = 0x8048654 in calculate (bufferOverflow.c:23); saved eip = 0x804886f
called by frame at 0xbffff3d0
source language c.
Arglist at 0xbffff358, args: text=0xbffff610 'A' , "\277X@\200", 'A' , "\277X@\200AAAA\277X@\200AAAA\277X@\200AAAA\277X@\200AAAA\277X@\200AAAA\267\210@\200", input1=1,
input2=2, input3=3, number1=5, number2=9, number3=0
Locals at 0xbffff358, Previous frame's sp is 0xbffff360
Saved registers:
ebp at 0xbffff358, eip at 0xbffff35c
Can someone guide me a bit of give me hints what im getting fundamentally wrong? How can I achieve this?

This is my trip report for the time I took 7 tabs of suspected N-bombs. It was the most bonkers, embarrassing, and dangerous psychedelic experience I have ever had. The only experience I kinda regret. I’ll be changing the names of the folks involved out of respect for their identities.
This all happened around Glasgow in late 2019. I had an unfortunate break up with my long time girlfriend and was itching for an escape from reality that I hoped LSD would provide. I met Marty a few months prior, who has since grown to be my best friend, and he introduced me to a drug dealer, Calum, in the area.
I purchased some ALD-52 from Calum, which Marty & I tested & found safe. With this we had 2 spectacular trips; hiking around the hills of Scotland and providing me with some great memories.
So, when Calum mentioned he could get us LSD I jumped on the opportunity and agreed to meet him under a bridge. Under this bridge a white van pulled up, slid open its door, and Calum instructed me from the passenger seat to get in . I decided to obey the call of adventure, hopped in, and we took off.
Inside the back were two men I hadn’t met, a chemistry set, and a big unconcerned dog (probably their security). The man by the gizmos and vials asked me how much I wanted, and I said ‘’14 tabs’’. He used a dropper to make them on the spot before I paid them and they dropped me off back at the bridge.
I rushed home like Charlie with a golden ticket to meet Marty and show him the goods. We decided to dive into the deep end & each take 7 tabs right away, around 6 pm. The tabs tasted the way the fingers of the guy who made them looked: bitter. We had no idea this was a red flag and our dumbasses were too excited to wait and test the tabs. So began the trip.
Shortly after, Marty suggested we take the train over to his friend Ben’s house, because ‘Ben was a chill’. We headed out and I was already feeling its effects. By the time we reached Ben’s place (Maybe 30 minutes later) I was already having the strongest psychedelic experience I’ve ever had to this day. I knew I was in for a ride.
The walls were grabbing onto my hands, my body was losing its form, and I was mostly non-verbal. Everything I saw was made of fractals, faces, eyeballs, and vortices. Everything I thought of was biblically profound. I felt undying love from the universe and was convinced Marty felt the same.
This is a good time to mention Martie’s odd tolerance to psychedelics. He’s listed this as the only true psychedelic experience he’s ever had, amongst the many he’s attempted. The time when we each took a heroic 6g mushroom trip he hardly felt a thing while I was facing ego death. He was definitely blasted on this trip but fortunately wasn’t delusional the way I was, and kept me a little under control.
I remember snippets of what it was like at Ben’s and the rest has been filled in by Marty. Ben was playing Dead Island and kept using the ziplines and his TV’s max volume to trip me out. The environment around me kept exploding into spiraling multi-colored pixels which revealed an empty white subspace behind it. It was like the universe was unraveling. Everything I looked at would explosively dissolve in this way leading me to believe I was god. I thought fate made us meet Ben that day so he could reveal to us our reality warping powers. I thought I could do anything with practice and decided the first thing I would do was make a cup of tea out of whiskey, multiple tea bags, dish soap, and anything else I got my hands on in Ben’s kitchen... He was a good sport about it.
Marty came to stop me and when he did my delusions deepened. I became convinced we were living infinite reincarnations of every life and that we were the physical manifestation of Yin & Yang. I also wanted to call my mom and tell her what I’d learned but Marty assured me it'd be better to tell her later. We returned to the living room & I whipped my shirt off 'with hilarious vigor', as Marty put it.
I was convinced I knew the meaning to life, the universe, and everything, and that Marty & Ben were on the same wavelength as me. I thought we were sharing the same thoughts and were upon the same path of enlightenment. But, my delight turned to devastation when they told me they weren’t as interconnected with me as I thought, and that I was experiencing delusions. This is when the path of my trip changed.
A sense of foolishness hit me hard, and the direction of my emotions took a sharp turn. I understood I didn’t understand what was happening around me or what was real. I thought Marty & Ben were conspiring against me and working to keep me in the apartment for all eternity. I tried keeping track of time to witness its progression but every time I checked the time nothing changed. I thought I had gone insane and that fate had set me to live in that very moment forever. I was panicking and I needed to rebel against fate, so I ran out of the apartment and collapsed in the stairwell.
My escape from that environment satisfied me and I calmed down. The concrete was cool and I laid splayed outside the door. Marty came to see if I was alright and once he confirmed I hadn’t run away, he went back to trip on the couch. This is when my trip reached its peak.
I have no memory of what happened around me at this point. People could have been stepping on me to leave their apartments and I will never know. Everything became fractals. The fractal pattern kept diversifying and growing until it reached its climax. This following experience blows me away to this day.
For the next eternity all I could see was, what I can best describe as, the most realistic representation of a Penrose diagram possible. I could sense the infinities compressed at its edges and all I could hear was an earth shatteringly loud roar. I kept saying, or screaming, or imagining I was screaming: ‘IT’S SO BIG! OH MY GOD THERE’S SO MUCH! IT’S SO BIG!’. I felt like I was in the presence of the immensity of the universe and it was utterly overwhelming.
My trip likely manifested as a Penrose diagram (or, Penrose-Lovecraftian horror) because I’d been learning about them at the time. It’s interesting that something I learned so recently was so present in my trip
Some time later the trip died enough for me to find my bearings. I was wearing Marty’s shoes and my shirt was back on, so I decided it was time for a walk. When I left the building I was exhausted and it was dark out, but the world was fascinating. I remember stepping out in front of a car and it honking at me. So I took note to beware of traffic.
Life was still fractals and things had tracers but I was enjoying the air. I thought I was past my delusional state, but this is when I saw something I can’t explain. A few blocks ahead I saw a crowd of 7-9 people wearing neon safety vests turn a corner and run opposite to my direction. They were followed by 3 police officers a moment later. I wondered what the hub-bub was but my mind quickly wandered elsewhere when they faded out of site. However, when I reached that same corner, the exact same crowd came around and passed by me. I knew they were the same people and I anticipated the police following a moment later. And they did. Those same police came jogging passed and followed the crowd. They all disappeared into the distance leaving me stunned.
It still bothers me thinking about what parts of that experience were real and what was hallucination. It wasn't like predictable psychedelic hallucinations such as geometry and tracers, but, a real situation with context and uncertainty. Seeing them felt like a dream outside a dream.
After this, I hopped onto the first train going the right direction home, but I was kicked off by a ticket inspector a few stops down. I waited for the following train and happened to meet Marty on it with my stuff, which felt like fate truly had my back.
Though I was still somewhat lost in the sauce, Marty recounted the evening to me, and bought me some chocolate on the way home. We got back and Marty passed out quick, though I couldn’t sleep until late the next morning.
This was the most dangerous, embarrassing, and remarkable psychedelic trip I’ve ever had. I’m very grateful I had Marty looking out for me on this one. Since then I’ve entered fractal land and ego death a few times, but nothing compares to this experience. In a more controlled environment, and with a safer drug, I would do it again.
TL;DR Fake LSD showed me cosmic horror
Edit: grammar

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.