I've just been theorizing a realistic fighting game, ie no fireballs, no juggle combos, etc. And I think it would either be the most boring or the most fun fighting game. Here's just some ideas.
Jumping is practically worthless: jumping in a real life fight doesn't really do anything unless you're trying to kick someone in the head, but that's just an attack
Projectiles: projectiles in real life are kinda broken(no guns). Zoners will either just be really tall or just throw rocks. My favorite idea is pocket sand
Hp bar rework: Instead of hp bar, there's a stamina bar. Stamina regens quickly but slows down at low stamina. Everything consumes stamina, including movement, attacks, blocking, and getting hit. Getting low on stamina decreases movement speed and dmg output. Connected heavy attacks annihilate stamina. Only a heavy attack that brings stamina to 0 will kill. Blocking and getting hit reduces stamina much faster than moving and attacking.
Dodging: blocking is unrewarding and dangerous. Maybe have tekken's 3d movement system for weaving
Grabs: grabs are very slow but extremely powerful. Grabbed player has so mash to get out and grabber mashes to keep them grabbed. Grabbed player slowly loses stamina while grabbed and die if stamina hits 0. Basically a 100 to 0 if bad at reacting and mashing. Grapplers have big mashing advantage on both sides. ie they don't need to mash as hard. Grab otg is possible
Combos: Not much comboing, definitely no air juggle combos. Biggest combo will probably only be like 4 hits. No true light into heavy combos. Then again Muhammed Ali hit some poor guy with like 50 punches in a row
Attack buttons: street fighter layout seems best fitting. Either that or we can have a 4 button layout with each button controlling a limb, and motion inputs determine what attack each limb throws out. ie. Jab is just press button but a heavy uppercut is dp input
Footsies: it's all footsies
Camera: first person camera would obviously be most realistic but that kinda sounds miserable, up for debate
Blocking: if we go for traditional 2D camera, then we kinda need to have up down blocking, if we go for first person camera, then we can do the more realistic left right blocking
These are most of the things I can see being implemented into a fighting game. Feel free to suggest other things if you know more about fighting games or actual martial arts

Backstory. My SO [34M] and I [30F] had a baby 6 months ago, found out we were pregnant end of March 2022. It was a fast pregnancy as we were only dating 2 months before we were pregnant. So we started dating around end of January.
Today: My SO [34M] went into the store and left his phone in the car and I grabbed it to change some Spotify music and like did the scrolling through the pages and the messages were the next one and it was like the preview page and I could see A* was one of the name in the most recent texts. (This was an EX from like years ago and months before we were dating they were like “talking” or sexting . Side note about her - My SO said she has some mental health issues and like depression/ anxiety and like a habitual liar. She has talked about suicide and years ago when they dated she took an abortion pill cause she said she was pregnant. My SO says he’s not even sure if she actually was because she lied so much.)
The text from her said something like "Hi.um dont know if this is weird but I’m coming to your town to see some friends. would like to hangout and catch up if you can." or something. She sent that his morning at like 9:30 AM and I saw this tonight at like 6PM. So he knew about it and didn’t say anything the whole day which made me upset. But also I scroll up and see they were sexting around the time we started dating. We weren't officially BF/GF yet, but pretty close to the time. I also see she has been messaging him on random occasions like hey how are you? hope things are good. I have been thinking about you. Happy birthday, etc. all the way back to when we knew we were pregnant.
This March when our baby was 4 months, she texted How are you doing? I hope great, you deserve the best. He responded like I’m doing great, appreciate it, hope you are too, blah blah. So nothing inappropriate, but like legit has said NOTHING about being with me and having a baby for the past year. In the car, I was asked about the text and if he was going to say anything to me. He said yeah I was, I just didn’t know when the right time ...... I asked why he didn’t say anything any of the times about me and our child and explained how it hurt my feelings. He said he didn’t even want to involve her in his life cause he doesn’t care, but then mentioned like well she got the abortion and I guess I didn’t want her to feel bad. Then went back to the she's not apart of my life so I don’t need to tell her and didn’t want to deal with the communication ? So then I was like I would like if you messaged her now and told her about me and your child. He was hesitant and like was arguing me on it. He did end up messaging her about us. Him just being “ hard” he’s like you know what I don't think you should tell me what to do, I’m a grown man and so on... Also icing on the fucking cake I went to click her info to see if she’s a local area code and then I see pictures in their messages that are like sex videos and dick pics and whatever else from like 2021 before we got together, but still.... I wish I didn't see that. They weren’t saved, BUT STILL I can’t even look at him rn.
I guess my overall feelings and questions are like: Why did you not say anything about us, Are you trying to hide uf from her for a reason ? Are you ashamed of us? Like why did I have to ask you to do tell her about us? Why are you still responding to a person you say doesn't matter ? Are you trying to keep this person strung along ? I don't get it. I guess I'm just hurt about it all.

There was a little town, nestled in the woods by the shore, that was by all appearances a rather ordinary town. But nestled in this town was a bar, called Big Owl’s Hooty Hoot, and nestled in this bar was a mechanical box nestled into the corner of the dance floor - right next to an old jukebox - and nestled in this curious mechanical box was a secret. A secret no one had discovered after all these years, as hardly anyone danced at Big Owl’s Hooty Hoot. In fact hardly anyone visited Big Owl’s Hooty Hoot at all, except for some old drunkards who admired the cheap stout, a couple of cripples who lived next door, Jim (the town’s talking, fedora wearing black bear who no one really liked) and some other questionable characters who, well, no one really wanted to know why they were there. One hot summer night, Jackie and Wilbert strolled into the bar on what was quite possible the most painfully awkward and mediocre date night ever. Jackie, trying to ease the awkwardness but still not really wanting to be there, suggested to Wilbert they take to the dancefloor and boogie. It was then that Wilbert noticed the curious mechanical box collecting dust next to the jukebox. This fascinated Wilbert. It did not fascinate Jackie. It wasn’t easy to discern how to use the box, or what the box did exactly. It had a few exposed gears, a crank, a roll of marbled paper in the center, and on it were the words “G L AM O U R” up top, and below that “P A S S”. It also had a slot for quarters. Overcome with curiosity - and a good number of stouts - Wilbert put in a few quarters and turned the crank a few times. Ffhhpppt-ding! It spat out the tiniest, thinnest little piece of marbled paper, rolled up like a miniature scroll. And on that scroll was inscribed the words to a magic spell. Wilbert read slowly from the paper, confused as to what it meant. “Please pardon my quiet reserved nature. It’s because I prefer to do the listening and let you lead.” “Oh Wilbert,” Jackie said with a sweet look in her eyes Wilbert had never seen before, “why didn’t you just say so?” She gently put her hand on his face and gave him a peck on the cheek. Wilbert didn’t know what was happening. He didn’t know why Jackie was suddenly so affectionate toward him. He didn’t know why the machine had given him those words. He didn’t know that the words he’d read from the scroll were precisely what Jackie wanted to hear. He didn’t even really know how abysmal their date night had been going up until that moment, although he had a hunch. All he knew was that now, things were different. The long silence pauses between him and Jackie were no longer painful and awkward. They were comfortable and charmed. As if they were an elderly couple, assured in each other’s presence, not needing to talk. They accepted each other as they were. Jackie enjoyed feeling she could steer the conversation and the night’s activities, and the relationship as a whole, in the direction she pleased. Back at the front of the bar, Jim the Bear noticed the change in the couple’s demeanor as they held hands skipping out the door. Jim was curious, for the first time in 16 years of his drunken nights at Big Owl’s Hooty Hoot, about the odd little box that sat in the corner by the jukebox. He put a few quarters in. Ffhhpppt-ding! Out spat another tiny little marbled scroll. Jim unrolled the scroll as dedicated as he could with his big drunken bear claws. He read from the scroll… “I’m just telling you this as a friend, so you don’t have to hear it from a foe.” “What’t that Jim?” called the bartender from across the room, wiping down a glass. Jim let out a gruffled ughrraaharrrr roar. “Gosh, you’re so nosey, Randy,” Jim said back to the bartender. “And hard of hearing too. I said ‘I’m just telling you this as a friend, so you don’t have to hear it from a foe’.” Randy paused for a moment and looked over to the others sitting behind the bar. Randy and them all laughed in good spirits. “Oh, Jim, that is what you do, isn’t it?"“ Randy said. “All these years, you and your big bear mouth have just been looking out for us, eh, buddy?” Jim the Bear gave a confused laugh. “Uh, heh uh… huh”. He took a seat back at the bar. The bearded gentleman seated next to him, who had avoided eye contacted with Jim all night, gave the bear a brotherly pat on the shoulder. “Here ya go Jim, this one’s on the house. Your favorite,” Randy said pouring a honey golden white stout. Hardly anyone could believe it. Jim the Bear. The biggest bear asshat in all of town, now adored by all who laid eyes on him. Nothing about Jim had really changed, except perhaps he was a little more confident and smiley as he made his blunt off-color remarks at every passer by. Naturally, the machine generated a lot of interest. By the time the night had finished, everyone had gone over to that mysterious little machine and purchased a magic scroll. Everyone left that night looking at least a hundred times more favorable in the eyes of everyone else. Soon people from all over town were coming to Big Owl’s Hooty Hoot just to get their scroll from the Glamour Machine. Not long after that people would show up from out of town for the Glamour Machine. Its ability to weave words that adorned its users in flawless linguistic cloaks was a marvelous sensation. Everyone had to have glamour. Everyone. The more glamour one purchased, the easier they found it to rise in the world. To become adored in this little town. To become wealthy in this little town. To become mayor of this little town. To become too big of a hot shot for this little town, and to move to a mansion in Hollywood and become an international star. But with all this glamour about new problems arose. When everyone in town had glamour, the only way left to appear more attractive was to knock down somebody else. The scrolls the glamour machine began to churn out had neighbor attacking neighbor with vicious judgements, put-downs and slander. The most appealing people became secretly the ugliest. A secret to all except, for some reason, certain folk. Perhaps they hadn’t used much glamour themselves. Perhaps they simply had keen senses. Whatever it was, they could see the vicious creatures among them, and whenever they spoke of the highly glamoured ugliness to others, the old Glamour Machine always spat on their name next, punishing them for threatening the veil of the glamour’s power. Eventually the owner of Big Owl’s Hooty Hoot had had enough of the hoopla and sold the prized little mechanicalbox to a PR firm in L.A. where it still resides to this day.

What you are about to read is both a confession and an apology. I don't know how much time I have so I will keep it as short as I can. I was coming back home from work a few nights ago. It was dark and I was tired from my shift when suddenly a deer ran out in front of my truck. I locked my brakes but couldn't stop in time. Feeling my heart pounding I just sat in my truck, staring at the motionless deer laying in the middle of the road. I had never killed anything before, intentionally or accidentally. As much as I wanted to get home, take a shower and go to bed, I couldn't just let it lay there. Someone could run it over causing real damage to their undercarriage or, God forbid, they swerve to avoid it and end up falling over a hundred feet into the river below, hitting dozens of trees on the way down. I couldn't let that be on my conscience, so I did what the good lord Jesus would have done. I put on my emergency lights and got out of the truck to pull the carcass off the road. However, as I was doing this I saw something move in the deers lower gut. Seeing this made my heart sink because at the time I thought maybe the dead deer was going to give birth. While holding in a gag and pulling the body to get it off the road, whatever was in the deer crawled out of its… backside, ran up the leg I was holding onto and bit my hand. It was too fast and the night was too dark so I have no idea what it could have been. Instinctively I flung the creature off of me and heard it scamper away through the grass. Wondering what the hell just attacked me, I inspected the wound. The wound produced very little blood and looked no worse than what a cat would do when it plays a little too roughly. Since my heart was pounding out of my chest and I had most of the deer carcass off the road, I figured I had done my duty and it was time to head home. As soon as I got home, I barely had the energy to take off my clothes, so all hopes I had of taking a shower were lost and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. The next morning I felt sluggish and cold. My teeth were chattering violently. It reminded me of a flu, however my nose wasn’t stuffed up and I wasn’t congested. The wound on my hand was red, but not swollen. Still, I was worried and made a call to set up a doctor's appointment. Thankfully I was able to get seen right away, however after the exam the doctor said he could find nothing wrong with me but the blood tests would take a few days before the results would come in. I am not the kind of person to tell someone how to do their job, especially if their job meant years of education and twice that many having their own practice. However I made it clear that I strongly disagreed with what the doctor said. When I got home, my stomach was complaining. I ate shortly before getting off work the day before so there was no reason for my stomach to complain as much as it was. I tried eating soup but it tasted like fermenting compost. No joke, that's what it tasted like. When I checked the expiration date, I was surprised that it still had eight months left before it was considered bad. At the time I figured that whatever was wrong with me was affecting my senses. My grandma said that 7Up and ginger ale was as close to magic as it gets when it comes to being sick, but since I didn't have any in the house, I made a few calls and had it delivered. However, that too tasted bad. My stomach kept complaining so in an attempt to silence it, I decided to make something that I could never resist. My moms specialty: meatloaf. If nothing else, it was comfort food and my favorite as a kid. Lo and behold, it tasted amazing. However when I tried adding ketchup like I always did, I nearly gagged from the smell of it. I ended up eating all of it in a single sitting and afterwards I felt really good. So good in fact that I decided to head into town to pick up a few groceries. As I walked around with the shopping cart, going down the same aisles as I always did, the items I usually got held no appeal. I love bananas, but they smelt like they had been soaking in gasoline for a few days, the vegetables stank of curdled milk and the cheese might as well have been… Well, I’ll let you imagine what that smelt like. The only thing that smelt good was the meat. No, it didnt smell good. It smelt divine, the way I imagine heaven smells like. I filled up my cart with hamburger, chicken breasts, pork chops, pork butt, whole turkeys, chicken legs, ribs, spiral hams, bacon, hotdogs and so much more. People looked at me funny as I went to pay for the items and some even asked if I was planning on having a cookout. I am ashamed to admit it, but I snapped at those people and told them it wasn't any of their business. When I got home I felt sick again and decided that some pork chops were in order. As I started to get everything ready, I opened the cream of mushroom and the smell that emerged from the can made me throw up in the sink. Later I checked the expiration date and saw that it still had a few months to go. The can wasn’t dented or punctured, so there was no reason for it to smell rancid. I cooked the pork chops plain only adding a little olive oil on the bottom of the glassware so it wouldn't stick. The wait seemed to take forever. At some point before the pork chops were done I found myself mindlessly eating away at the raw hamburger. Taking grape sized pinches here and there. I knew it was disgusting, but I couldn't stop myself. Each bite hit the spot and scratched an itch I didn't know I had. By this time it was after office hours but I called the general practitioner to see if there were any updates. All the while, I kept eating the raw meat. I was too embarrassed to tell them about my new eating habits and instead sounded like an idiot when I had nothing to say other than to ask about the blood test, which I knew the results would be in sometime next week. Because of this I could tell the person on the other line was annoyed. I spent the rest of the day eating and worrying. I must have paced for a few miles before I decided to go to bed. At the time I figured that I might be able to sleep off whatever was happening to me, and if this was not to be it would make the day that the blood test comes in arrive faster. However I couldn't go a few hours without food before the cravings made me wake up and rummage through the fridge. I blacked out at some point during the night and found myself outside at the wooden fence, trying to bait the neighbor's cat with a raw chicken leg that I already ate half of. I was scared. Paranoid that whatever bit my hand might have given me something really nasty. But I knew that worrying about it wasn't going to do me any favors so I decided to do what I normally do to clear my head and went for a drive. Usually this would have worked, but my stomach kept complaining. I had been eating for nearly a day straight, so I knew I wasn't hungry. What else could I do other than wait for the blood test to come back? Trying to distract myself, I decided to turn on the radio and listen to one of the three radio stations that worked in town. As I was fumbling with the knobs in my old beat up truck, I turned the corner and saw a man walking across the street to get his mail. I hit the brakes as hard as I could, but it was too little too late and he bounced off the grill and went flying through the air. Terrified, I ran out to see if there was anything I could do to help him, but when I drew close I could see that he was all sorts of messed up. A broken shoulder, wrist and his leg was bent at a horrible angle. He was conscious and asked me to give him a ride to the hospital because he would not be able to afford the bill for an ambulance. However, that was when I noticed that the femur was sticking out of his leg. I licked my lips and before I knew it I started biting and eating around the bone as the man screamed, and in his condition he was unable to get away or fight me off. I don't know how much time passed, but at some point I became aware that people were starting to gather. All of them were too shocked to do anything but stare. Embarrassed and terrified, I ran to the truck and drove off. It wasn't like I could go anywhere. Since Gray Hill is a small town, most of the onlookers knew who I was. So I did the only thing I could think of and went home. There is so much more I want to say, but I don't have much time. The sirens are getting louder. I am sorry. WAE

What you are about to read is both a confession and an apology. I don't know how much time I have so I will keep it as short as I can. I was coming back home from work a few nights ago. It was dark and I was tired from my shift when suddenly a deer ran out in front of my truck. I locked my brakes but couldn't stop in time. Feeling my heart pounding I just sat in my truck, staring at the motionless deer laying in the middle of the road. I had never killed anything before, intentionally or accidentally. As much as I wanted to get home, take a shower and go to bed, I couldn't just let it lay there. Someone could run it over causing real damage to their undercarriage or, God forbid, they swerve to avoid it and end up falling over a hundred feet into the river below, hitting dozens of trees on the way down. I couldn't let that be on my conscience, so I did what the good lord Jesus would have done. I put on my emergency lights and got out of the truck to pull the carcass off the road. However, as I was doing this I saw something move in the deers lower gut. Seeing this made my heart sink because at the time I thought maybe the dead deer was going to give birth. While holding in a gag and pulling the body to get it off the road, whatever was in the deer crawled out of its… backside, ran up the leg I was holding onto and bit my hand. It was too fast and the night was too dark so I have no idea what it could have been. Instinctively I flung the creature off of me and heard it scamper away through the grass. Wondering what the hell just attacked me, I inspected the wound. The wound produced very little blood and looked no worse than what a cat would do when it plays a little too roughly. Since my heart was pounding out of my chest and I had most of the deer carcass off the road, I figured I had done my duty and it was time to head home. As soon as I got home, I barely had the energy to take off my clothes, so all hopes I had of taking a shower were lost and as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out like a light. The next morning I felt sluggish and cold. My teeth were chattering violently. It reminded me of a flu, however my nose wasn’t stuffed up and I wasn’t congested. The wound on my hand was red, but not swollen. Still, I was worried and made a call to set up a doctor's appointment. Thankfully I was able to get seen right away, however after the exam the doctor said he could find nothing wrong with me but the blood tests would take a few days before the results would come in. I am not the kind of person to tell someone how to do their job, especially if their job meant years of education and twice that many having their own practice. However I made it clear that I strongly disagreed with what the doctor said. When I got home, my stomach was complaining. I ate shortly before getting off work the day before so there was no reason for my stomach to complain as much as it was. I tried eating soup but it tasted like fermenting compost. No joke, that's what it tasted like. When I checked the expiration date, I was surprised that it still had eight months left before it was considered bad. At the time I figured that whatever was wrong with me was affecting my senses. My grandma said that 7Up and ginger ale was as close to magic as it gets when it comes to being sick, but since I didn't have any in the house, I made a few calls and had it delivered. However, that too tasted bad. My stomach kept complaining so in an attempt to silence it, I decided to make something that I could never resist. My moms specialty: meatloaf. If nothing else, it was comfort food and my favorite as a kid. Lo and behold, it tasted amazing. However when I tried adding ketchup like I always did, I nearly gagged from the smell of it. I ended up eating all of it in a single sitting and afterwards I felt really good. So good in fact that I decided to head into town to pick up a few groceries. As I walked around with the shopping cart, going down the same aisles as I always did, the items I usually got held no appeal. I love bananas, but they smelt like they had been soaking in gasoline for a few days, the vegetables stank of curdled milk and the cheese might as well have been… Well, I’ll let you imagine what that smelt like. The only thing that smelt good was the meat. No, it didnt smell good. It smelt divine, the way I imagine heaven smells like. I filled up my cart with hamburger, chicken breasts, pork chops, pork butt, whole turkeys, chicken legs, ribs, spiral hams, bacon, hotdogs and so much more. People looked at me funny as I went to pay for the items and some even asked if I was planning on having a cookout. I am ashamed to admit it, but I snapped at those people and told them it wasn't any of their business. When I got home I felt sick again and decided that some pork chops were in order. As I started to get everything ready, I opened the cream of mushroom and the smell that emerged from the can made me throw up in the sink. Later I checked the expiration date and saw that it still had a few months to go. The can wasn’t dented or punctured, so there was no reason for it to smell rancid. I cooked the pork chops plain only adding a little olive oil on the bottom of the glassware so it wouldn't stick. The wait seemed to take forever. At some point before the pork chops were done I found myself mindlessly eating away at the raw hamburger. Taking grape sized pinches here and there. I knew it was disgusting, but I couldn't stop myself. Each bite hit the spot and scratched an itch I didn't know I had. By this time it was after office hours but I called the general practitioner to see if there were any updates. All the while, I kept eating the raw meat. I was too embarrassed to tell them about my new eating habits and instead sounded like an idiot when I had nothing to say other than to ask about the blood test, which I knew the results would be in sometime next week. Because of this I could tell the person on the other line was annoyed. I spent the rest of the day eating and worrying. I must have paced for a few miles before I decided to go to bed. At the time I figured that I might be able to sleep off whatever was happening to me, and if this was not to be it would make the day that the blood test comes in arrive faster. However I couldn't go a few hours without food before the cravings made me wake up and rummage through the fridge. I blacked out at some point during the night and found myself outside at the wooden fence, trying to bait the neighbor's cat with a raw chicken leg that I already ate half of. I was scared. Paranoid that whatever bit my hand might have given me something really nasty. But I knew that worrying about it wasn't going to do me any favors so I decided to do what I normally do to clear my head and went for a drive. Usually this would have worked, but my stomach kept complaining. I had been eating for nearly a day straight, so I knew I wasn't hungry. What else could I do other than wait for the blood test to come back? Trying to distract myself, I decided to turn on the radio and listen to one of the three radio stations that worked in town. As I was fumbling with the knobs in my old beat up truck, I turned the corner and saw a man walking across the street to get his mail. I hit the brakes as hard as I could, but it was too little too late and he bounced off the grill and went flying through the air. Terrified, I ran out to see if there was anything I could do to help him, but when I drew close I could see that he was all sorts of messed up. A broken shoulder, wrist and his leg was bent at a horrible angle. He was conscious and asked me to give him a ride to the hospital because he would not be able to afford the bill for an ambulance. However, that was when I noticed that the femur was sticking out of his leg. I licked my lips and before I knew it I started biting and eating around the bone as the man screamed, and in his condition he was unable to get away or fight me off. I don't know how much time passed, but at some point I became aware that people were starting to gather. All of them were too shocked to do anything but stare. Embarrassed and terrified, I ran to the truck and drove off. It wasn't like I could go anywhere. Since Gray Hill is a small town, most of the onlookers knew who I was. So I did the only thing I could think of and went home. There is so much more I want to say, but I don't have much time. The sirens are getting louder. I am sorry. WAE

Italics = advisor feedback

1. Congratulations Don Jr., after a contentious primary with Matt Rosendale and Greg Gianforte, you have emerged victorious in the Republican primary. What will be your opening statement as you pivot towards the general Montana senate election with Jon Tester?

• Why screw up this thing. I’ll run a low-risk campaign and cruise to victory. After all, my dad is the Republican nominee for president, so I can certainly ride his coattails to victory “This might work but don’t underestimate Jon Tester, he’s quite popular in Montana”
• I want to nationalize this race as much as possible and attack Jon Tester relentlessly, Tester has voted in lockstep with Biden and Pelosi “This might work, but most Montanans are more focused on state issues rather than national issues”
• I want to appear with my dad, Donald Trump, as much as possible as I campaign “People want to see you differentiate yourself from dad occasionally, and this doesn’t help much”
• I want to denationalize this race as much as possible. I want to take pictures of myself on my Montana ranch and focus on the farmers and workers in this state “nationalizing this race is your best chance, considering that your father is the Republican nominee for president”

​

1. Due to the rural nature of Montana, the average Montanan spends more on gas than almost any other state in the country, and as gas prices continue to rise, what would you do to lower them?

• I would work with Senator John Thune to construct the Dakota Access Pipeline, which will transport gas faster and thus drop the price of gas, unlike Biden and the Democrats who want to shut down the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline “This is good in that it criticizes the Democrats while also offering a different solution.”
• The way you lower gas prices is by getting Biden and the Democrats out of the office and putting in Trump and the Republicans, as gas prices were nowhere near as high as they were when Trump was president “This attack somewhat damaged Biden, but the damage is limited because people want to know what you would do differently from him.”
• One thing we could do to lower gas prices is to switch sides in the Russia-Ukraine war and side with an oil-rich Russia, rather than siding with oil-poor Ukraine, and we could get more oil through deals with Russia “Are you insane?”

​

1. RNG. Your father, who is running for president from within a prison cell, has asked if you could attend one of his rallies that are being held from just outside his prison cell where he will be visible to the large crowd through the window of his prison cell in New York. Would you like to attend this rally outside the prison?

• Yes, I would “Good news, the rally outside of Trump’s prison cell was just the right size, in that it was large enough to fire up Trump’s base in Montana, but not so large that it would grab the attention of the liberal media. Good job”
• Yes, I would. “Bad news, the rally outside of Trump’s prison cell had a lot of both trump supporters and protestors and the two groups quickly turned violent and it drew an enormous amount of media attention and you are getting badly hurt by the controversy.”
• No, I wouldn’t “Good news, the Montana people respected your ability to be removed from national politics of a rally outside of Trump’s prison cell.”
• No, I wouldn't “Bad news, Trump’s base is furious at you for not showing up to your father’s rally from outside of Trump’s prison cell.”

​

1. Inflation continues to ravage the nation. How will you put an end to it?

• We’re gonna stop handing out money and stop all this nonsense spending. “This has fired up your core supporters, but most independents are worried about this kind of messaging.”
• I would like to reduce tariffs and remove regulatory barriers “Trump’s tariffs are popular with the Trump wing of the Republican party, but this answer should win over more libertarian-minded Republicans”

​

1. The destructive conflict between Ukraine and Russia continues to go on. How will you put an end to it if at all?

• I will urge for American neutrality in the Ukraine-Russia war “You’ve pleased your diehard base, but most independents want America to side with Ukraine during this destructive conflict”
• I will keep the current path of issuing sanctions against Russia “This is probably the best answer to please the majority of Montanans.”
• I will urge America to get involved on Ukraine’s side against Russia “This wins over independents at the expense of winning over your base.”
• I will urge the UN to create a demilitarized zone on the Ukraine-Russia border and urge Ukraine and Russia to come to a comprehensive peace treaty “This wins over the neocons in your party at the expense of the Trump wing of your party.”

​

1. China has repeatedly made threats against Taiwan, and there have been fears that China might invade Taiwan. How will you prevent this from happening?

• This is Taiwan’s problem, not ours “This wins over the hardcore isolationists in your party at the expense of mainstream Americans”
• We will issue sanctions against China if they choose to invade Taiwan “This is probably the best answer to please the majority of Montanans”
• I urge America to intervene in this conflict against China “Are you insane, no one wants war with China!”
• I will urge China and Taiwan to create a demilitarized zone between them and a comprehensive peace treaty “This might be a good strategy”

​

1. There continue to be migrants and drugs that are flowing across the southern border. What would you do to stop this from happening?

• We need to strengthen our border security and build a wall “This is a good solution to win over the hard-core Trumpsits in your party”
• Look, this is Montana, we are nowhere near the southern border. Do we need to campaign on this issue? “Fair enough”
• We need a compromise solution of granting the illegals in this country a pathway to citizenship in return for building a stronger immigration enforcement system “This is a good way to win over independent voters”

​
8. Jon Tester, despite being a senator from Montana, one of the most pro-gun states in America, strongly came out in favor of gun control after the Uvalde shooting. What is your opinion on gun control?

• The Democrats are using school shootings as an excuse to take away our 2nd amendment rights “This attack is mildly successful, but the damage is limited because people want to know what you would do differently to stop school shootings”
• We need more armed guards at the front of schools to prevent these shootings, not to take away guns “This is an interesting solution”
• We need to spend more money on mental health clinics to treat these dangerous individuals “This wins over the Trump wing of social conservatives, but many fiscal conservatives are uncomfortable talking about this much government spending”

​

1. Abortion has become an increasingly important issue throughout America, how will you deal with this issue

• I will pass a law that will ban abortion nationwide “This fires up your base at the expense of independents”
• This isn’t our problem. We will let the people of each state decide that for ourselves “This fires up independents at the expense of the base”
• We should pass a law that bans travel from one state to another or traveling from one country to another to receive an abortion “This should meet the fine line of appealing to your base while also winning over independents.”

​

1. Now onto more state-centered issues. The state of Montana has an enormous amount of agriculture, farms, and ranches, and the amount they make has been decreasing. How will you plan to deal with this

• I will fight for Montana exports in trade deals “ an unusual position for a Republican to take, but this could work”
• This isn’t a problem we can solve, this is for the free market “This is a more traditional platform to run on as a Republican, but not a popular one amongst the Montana people.”

​

1. RNG Will you agree to debate Jon Tester?

• Yes I will “You won”
• Yes I will “You and Tester tied”
• Yes I will “You lost”
• No, we have a massive lead “People don’t trust you if you don’t debate, expect this to hurt you badly”

​

1. RNG You are meeting with Libertarian candidate Rick Breckenridge, to see if you can convince him to drop out and endorse you.

• I hope he drops out "Good news. He dropped out."
• I hope he drops out "Bad news. He doesn't drop out."

​

1. There's no way around it. Although you own a ranch in Montana, Montana is not your state of permanent residence and many view you as a carpet bagger. How do you plan to respond?

• I will counter-attack by showing Tester as a DC insider who is out of touch with Montanan values "This doesn't work well, as Tester routinely tours the state"
• I will tout my outsider credentials as an advantage, as I can reform Montana from the outside to Make Montana Great Again “MMGA”

​

1. Which Montana Republican would you like to go on tour with today?

• I would like to go on tour with Montana’s governor, Greg Gianforte “Well this didn’t work out well, as many are still angry about the incident that Greg Gianforte caused in 2017 when he ran for the house and bragged on social media about how he was so far ahead in the polls that he could beat up a reporter and still win, then proceeded to beat up a reporter and still narrowly won. Expect to take a dip in the polls.”
• I would like to go on tour with Montana’s incumbent Republican senator, Steve Daines “This worked out well, as Steve Daines is broadly popular amongst conservatives and independents”
• I would like to go on tour with Matt Rosendale, who ran for the Montana senate seat in 2018 and lost “Campaigning with Matt Rosendale offends no one, but pleases no one either”

​

1. News has broken out about how your girlfriend, Kimberly Gilfoyle, has been fired from Fox News for sexual harassment. How do you want to do damage control?

• As much as I love my girlfriend, I have no control over her behavior and I condemn this incident of behavior completely “This is probably the best you could do given this bad situation”
• Who cares, this is my girlfriend’s sexual harassment case, not mine “Well, you’re the one who’s dating her, so this makes you look bad.”
• I condemn my girlfriend completely for this behavior and I am breaking up with her for it “This is a strong answer which could win over women voters, but this only draws more attention to an incident that already looks incredibly ugly”

​

1. How would you like to attack Jon Tester if at all?

• We need to emphasize that Jon Tester has voted with Joe Biden 91% of the time. Jon Tester pretends to distance himself from Biden, but Tester is just one of Biden’s puppets who happens to be in a Trump +16 state “That’s it, hit Tester where it hurts!”
• We need to emphasize that Jon Tester is out of touch with Montana values lives in Washington DC and constantly votes in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and votes for drag queens and transing the kids “This attack doesn’t win over independents, but it sure does fire up the base”
• We should run compare and contrast ads between Kyrsten Sinema and Jon Tester, showing how Sinema is in a bluish-purple state and constantly stabs Biden in the back while Jon Tester is from a deep red state and constantly votes lock step with Biden “This ad was incredibly effective”
• We should run ads of gas prices soaring under Tester and Biden, while gas prices were falling under Trump Sr. and will continue to fall under Trump Jr. “This ad was mild to moderately effective, but voters want to know what specific policy you will implement to lower gas prices

​

1. One interesting idea that has been proposed by many Democrats is to put abortion clinics on Native American reservations, as their lands aren’t governed by the US. Montana has some of the most native reservations in the country. What are your thoughts on this?

• This is an abhorrent practice that will lead to more children being killed as a loophole around the Dobbs .vs. Jackson's case allowed each state to choose whether or not to allow abortion “This answer fires up the base but hurts you with independents”
• I don’t care either way, this is up for the leaders of the native reservations to decide themselves “This might be the best you can do with a difficult question like this”
• Small government means small government, therefore lands that are not on American soil should be allowed to build abortion clinics to serve the public, as we are the party of small government that favors bodily autonomy “This answer helps with independents and hurts with the base”

​

1. Not to talk too much about abortion, but a new bill has been proposed in the Montana State House that would criminalize pregnant Montanans for traveling out of state or out of the country to receive an abortion elsewhere. What are your thoughts on this bill?

• I think Montana should ban all abortions within its borders, but banning Montana residents from traveling out of state or out of the country to receive an abortion elsewhere is too harsh “No one loves this answer, but no one hates it either”
• Being pro-life means being all the way pro-life, which means that we should criminalize out-of-state and out-of-country travel to receive an abortion elsewhere “Your base eats this up, but this stance makes independents gag”
• As a Republican, I naturally believe in making government as small as possible, meaning that native american reservations should be allowed to have abortion clinics and that people should be allowed to travel out of state and out of the country to receive abortions “Independents are lining up behind you, but your base is threatening to stay home”

​

1. RNG. The Montana state legislature has just passed new laws banning Tribal ID cards and requiring you to present your address to vote, which Native Americans on reservations don’t have as a way to stop Native Americans, who disproportionately vote Democrat, from voting. What are your thoughts on this?

• This should help me win “Good news, Native Americans aren’t getting the new IDs and addresses necessary for voting for Tester, so this will help you.”
• This should help me win “Bad news, Native Americans are now turning out in higher numbers than ever before and are getting the new IDs and licenses necessary to vote. Expect this to hurt you.”

​
20. You have talked about reducing the amount of money that we spend to reduce inflation. Where would you like to make cuts in spending

• I don’t know, everywhere maybe “This is not specific enough, and Jon Tester’s mediscare strategy is working eerily well”
• First, cuts will be made to foreign aid “In general, if you have to cut anything, cut foreign aid first, then again, most Americans are supportive of Ukraine in their war against Russia, so this might also backfire”
• We should cut farming subsidies and allow farmers to properly partake in the free market “Montana is a very agricultural state, so this doesn’t play well”

​

1. Jon Tester has attacked you with an attack ad of you speaking with your father and Rudi Giuliani at the Save America rally on January 6th where you tell the crowd to stand up and fight as they proceed to walk towards the capital and invade it. How will you react

• This was a poor choice of words for me. Although I said the word fight in a physical sense, what I meant to say was fought in a metaphorical stance by protesting the certification of the 2020 election “This might be the best thing you can say to keep your base on your side while not angering independents”
• I played no role in causing the violence that most people did on January 6th as I meant to fight in a metaphorical sense, not in a literal sense. It should be noted that only a small portion of people that attended that rally on January 6th broke into the capital “Most voters believe that you played a role on January 6th, and this answer doesn’t help”
• These people who entered the capital were brain-dead idiots who thought this would be a good idea. Why should I be responsible for their actions “You were the one who encouraged them to do it.”

​

1. Montana has one of the slowest internet speeds in the country due to its rural location. Would you be willing to spend government money to increase the internet speed in Montana?

• I understand the urge to help Montanans with slow internet, but this is a function best served by private companies, not the government “This helps with the base, but hurts with independents”
• We need to spend government money to help Montanans with slow internet “This helps with independents but hurts the base”

​

1. Do you plan to pass more laws to engage in culture wars and ban drag story hour, and critical race theory

• No, these culture wars about drag story hour just distract from the main issues at hand “Some sense a missed opportunity to win points amongst the base, but others appreciate you for not constantly attacking”
• Yes, we need to protect our children from drag story hour and critical race theory “This will win you points amongst your base but hurt you with independents and libertarian-minded voters.”

​

1. What will be your ending message as this campaign draws to a close?

• Don’t let Jon Tester fool you, he’s no moderate and he votes for Biden 91% of the time. Tester is Biden, and Biden is bad. Tester is Biden’s puppet. Make sure to vote for my dad for president and me for the senate. “This is probably a good strategy considering how Tester votes for Biden 91% of the time, and although Tester is somewhat popular in the state, Biden is not.”
• I want to hold a big rally in a field in Billings with a jumbotron where my dad is presented on the big screen from prison. My dad Trump Sr. will carry Montana by double digits, so all I have to do is ride his coattails to victory “Your dad is popular in Montana, so tying yourself to him as closely as possible might be a good idea.”
• I want to nationalize this race as much as possible. A vote for me is a vote for my dad who is running for president, while a vote for Tester is a vote for Biden “This is a good strategy, as you will need your dad’s momentum to gain victory in this senate race.”

​

1. Where in Montana will you spend your last days campaigning

• I will campaign in the Helena area around Lewis and Clark and Cascade counties. Tester may have won them in 2018, but Trump won them in 2020, so with one last push, we should flip them red
• I will campaign in the rural eastern parts of the state to maximize conservative turnout such as in Custer and Prairie counties
• I will expand my appeal by campaigning in the rural northern parts of the state with Native American reservations such as Glacier County
• I will campaign in the Missoula area, a traditionally liberal area and college town in Missoula County

I’m in process of converting 20+ MiniDV tapes to digital and I want some advice on what my best plan of attack is for exporting them to hopefully speed up the process without losing too much quality.
I’m importing the video from the camera via FireWire to an old iMac running OS 10. Not looking to change anything there, as those are the tools at my disposal.
Running iMovie 6, I’m importing the tape via iMovie’s default process, then exporting the video from the iMovie timeline at its current resolution (784 x 576) as an MP4. Is this the best way to do it?

My (20M) cousin (12F) signed up to perform in a talent show next Friday for her school and is going to do the dance from the k-pop song “Ditto” by NewJeans. She has severe anxiety but my aunt convinced her that she should do it to break out of her shell. My uncle agreed to perform with her but on Wednesday he tore his meniscus at work and can’t perform. My aunt would perform with her but she is 26 weeks pregnant so she’s out of the question. My cousin was considering dropping out of the show but my aunt said she would find someone to perform with her.
I came home from college yesterday and my parents gathered all my family members to welcome me back home and my aunt and cousin were there. Later in the night my aunt asked me if I was familiar with k-pop and I said my girlfriend is obsessed with it so I know a couple of songs. She asked me if I have listened to Ditto before and I said yes and she asked if I would be comfortable doing the dance with my cousin for the talent show. I know the song and have seen parts of the dance but I am not a dancer. I took beginner dance my senior year of high school and that’s it. I told my aunt I would get back to her on Monday. I asked her why one of her friends aren’t dancing with her and she said her best friend is performing a song by herself and her two other close friends are going out of town next weekend. My sister (18F) would say yes but she doesn’t return from college for two more weeks.
I’ll most likely say yes but doing a dance with my 12 year old cousin in front of a bunch of middle schoolers is way different than dancing on stage with 25 people in front of adults. I don’t mind performing in front of a crowd. I was in a play in high school and don’t remember having stage fright. I’m in good shape and I have until Friday to learn the dance and I should be able to do with enough practice. Doing this would greatly help my cousin grow out of her shyness. If she talks to someone she doesn’t know she completely shuts down so this would be good for her to grow as a person. I think I’m going to say yes.

New player? Please read the New and Returning Player Guide, Destiny 2 Guided Support & Gameplay Guide.

Want to buy the DLC? Check out the Lightfall Guide.

Returning and not sure what was vaulted? Destiny Content Vault: Year 6

Season of Defiance (Season 20) key dates:

• February 28 - Lightfall launch + Season 20 begins
• March 10 (Week 2) - Root of Nightmares raid launch
• Nightfalls:
  • March 7 (Week 2) - Heist Battleground: Mars
  • March 14 (Week 3) - Hypernet Current
  • March 21 (Week 4) - Arms Dealer
  • March 28 (Week 5) - Glassway
  • April 4 (Week 6) - Lake of Shadows
• April 11 (Week 7) - Grandmaster Nightfalls begin
• Iron Banner weeks:
  • March 21 (Week 4)
  • April 4 (Week 6)
  • April 25 (Week 9)
• Trials of Osiris:
  • Begins March 17 (Week 3) and returns every weekend except during Iron Banner weeks
• May 2 to May 23 - Guardian Games

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Hey guys! I've been seeing a lot of "how do I pick a school" related posts and thought I'd drop some advice, as someone who didn't know any of this stuff when picking a med school (first gen in med woohoo)

1. Prestige - yeah it matters, it's not a nice thing to hear but thats the truth. The days of "pick whatever school you like and get a high Step 1 score" are gone. Names matter. Connections matter. This is not fun to hear but its way less fun to find that out the hard way when you're applying to residency.
2. "But I want to do IM/Neuro/Path" - A LOT of people change their mind in med school, to the point where doing what you decided to do in Undergrad has become the exception not the rule. Do not close doors for yourself based on something that is so subject to change. And keep in mind that if you decided to do a competitive IM field (cardiology or something) down the line, name/prestige will definitely matter. Hell I would say even if you would like to land in a certain location for residency, being competitive matters - people with more competitive apps get more options.
3. Research opportunities - goes along with name. The bigger names institutions usually have more and better developed research opportunities and more connections, better mentorship etc.
4. NBME exams in preclinical - If you have no clue what this means - NBME is the company that makes Step 1 (and the other steps). This means that the curriculum and exams in M1 and M2 would teach you based on Step 1 material and your block exams will be Step 1 style questions. The alternative is called "in-house" curriculum and its not NBME. This is significantly worse for quality of life IMO because your schools curriculum may or may not overlap with Step 1, so you're left to prepare for that somewhat on your own while having to waste time memorizing whatever random molecule and antibody your teachers think is cool for the in house exam. Not fun.
5. P/F - exams in preclinical are pass/fail, usually have to hit some predetermined score like 65 or 70 and you're good. I think it definitely makes the environment less competitive and helpful. Some say it reduces the pressure to prepare for Step 1, but I think the type of people getting into med school already have enough internal panic about the repercussions of failing step 1 that they will have the drive to prepare for it.
6. Curriculum - this doesnt matter that much because the vast majority of med students sit at home and study from the same 4-5 resources on their own in preclinical. The only thing that could matter is preclinical length which many schools are cutting from 2 years to 1.5 years to increase clinical time which could be a bonus. Other than that, the best thing you can do is pick a med school with minimal mandatory bullshit. PBL/TBL/whatever sounds great in paper but usually ends up being a colossal waste of time in practice. They will take 3 hours to teach something that can be covered in a 30 minute video at 2x speed. Less intrusive curriculums allow for more flexibility in studying methods and in personal life in general.
7. On site rotations - This means clinical years will mostly happen at the med schools hospital or on the med schools campus. This means you don't have to drive far away in clinical years which saves you time. Schools that don't have this will send you to farther away places to do rotations and that takes your time up in commuting. I've seen some bad cases where clinical sites are like over an hour away and students need to spend money on temp accommodations because the commute is undoable. Not fun to deal with I'll bet.
8. Location - My advice is that unless it's SUPER inflictive on your quality of life (eg: you get depressed if not in the sun, area is extremely racist) this isn't super important (see exception below). Maybe I am biased but I think the factors above in relation to free time are more important than location itself.
9. Family/Spouse/SO - exception to the above. If you have your own spouse/kids you want to remain near that will have to be prioritized over the other things in this list. Same with if you want to remain near your parents. That one's up to the individual person. I'd be wary basing school choice off a boyfriend/girlfriend, med school is hard and SO many relationships ended in the first year at my school. IMO if you're not at the point of stating relationship permanency is guaranteed, it's not worth it. Or try doing long distance. But maybe I'm biased since my marriage is long distance.
10. Tuition/COL - Obviously this is very much up to the individual how much they want to prioritize this. I'd say up to a point its not worth penny pinching but seeing some schools with a 6-figure tuition...looking at you Illinois OOS. Also very much dependent on how much outside financial support you have coming in and all that.
11. Vibes/get along with class - This seems to be emphasized heavily but I think its not as important as the things at the top of this list. Every class is different from the previous one, so its tough to predict this. Med school changes people anyway, nice people can turn not nice under the pressure. Unless you make a concerted effort not to, you can probably find 2-3 good friends at any school. There will be gunners and toxic people at every school, just avoid them if you don't like them.

How do I find all this information out? IMO unless you know someone personally who goes to that school, internet/reddit/SDN is your best bet. Current students are hesitant to say negative things about their school in front of the admins during those meet and greet things.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in SLO since I was a child. I love this town, and I love the people in it. Unfortunately, as most have probably noticed, there has been a rapid increase in hate messages on this thread, and in our town. The posts about the “white pride” scumbags, and the “hate mongering” clowns outside of target are a perfect example. This is what is tearing our country apart. Yes these people have no heart, and they probably are real POS, but why create more division and hate. You’re giving them power by acknowledging them and posting about it all over social media. Having an adult conversation, approaching them calmly and respectfully to try and make them understand why that is wrong and hateful is a better approach. Or you can chose to hide behind a keyboard creating more division, more hate and antagonism towards people that don’t share the same beliefs. My values don’t align with the Republican Party, I have never voted republican in my life. I still have republican friends and coworkers that are genuinely good people though. Sure we don’t agree on certain topics and we share different core values, but that doesn’t mean I am going to attack them, generalize them, or compare them to nazis. When you stoop down to their level, it only makes you look and sound unintelligent, short tempered, and quite frankly, embarrassing. There is no room for this in SLO. Nothing will ever change if we all don’t come together and start treating each other like human beings. (Yes even the people you don’t agree with). Stop all of the hate. We’re sick of it.

$325
Make & Model: Tactile Knife Co. Rockwall Thumbstud (DLC Titanium / DLC Magnacut) All-Black / Full-DLC one
Timestamp & Pics:
Timestamp Album Video
Price Justification: https://reddit.com/Knife_Swap/comments/12z0s0w/wts_rockwalls_skaha_ii_utx85_protech_para_3_and/
Escrow: u/SrulDog for u/ImmaCallMyN66ABovice
Description: Grade A / BNIB, however, there are some imperfections in the DLC coating. A couple on the scales and flats of blade, only visible in the right light. I’ve recreated them in the video as best could be. One poorly (un)coated pinprick on the show side just above where the grind meets the flats, about 3/4 of the way up to the tip, can be seen better in the video than the pictures. Uncut / Uncarried, all imperfections were there when the knife arrived. I wanted to love this knife, but I don’t see myself reaching for it, so take a thwack at winning it!
International shipping: No thank you.

PayPal Info: https://PayPal.me/wafflesmack
Cash App Info: https://cash.app/$sruliyellin
​
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Honestly this is a super long story but ill try summarizing it as much as possible. So basically I have been friends with these guys since grade 11. It was all going smoothly up until University started and at this point I don't know what to even say anymore. Ever since the summer of last year, they would start making fun of me for no apparent reason like jus talk about my acne or like how i cant do this or that or like how i havent been able to find a job or just pinpoint random shit just to attack me. I took a stand for myself in october and told them to stop and got angry and stood up for myself but then they just completely banned me from the christmas party and emotionally gaslighted me into making me believe it was my fault and that they were just trolling when i have told them countless times its not ok. This one guy in the group who ive known since grade 9 who i considered one of my best friends always claims he has my back but ever since the summer of last year hes been talking behind the backs of my other friends too and always arranges small ball runs with a couple of guys without a certain majority knowing and its always been uncomfortable to me. So fast forward January,
I put it all beside me and we moved on until again in march when they started doing the same shit again and made fun of me for failing my linear algebra midterm which was at a time i was suffering from immense depression due to the course situation at my university and then when i snapped again and quit playing games with them, they began to demand that i give them money for quitting and kicked me from the friend group. This was again a very difficult time in my life but again since i chose to fucking commute and making friends on res wasn't an option for me.
but again I DECIDED TO GIVE them another chance. Now fast forward late may its happening to me again. they keep mocking me about how they have found a summer job and how i havent and never seem to be happy for me when i say things in the gc like how ive gotten interviews and stuff and they always play it down and talk about how they are superior and then kick me out when i try taking a stand for myself. I do not understand why this happens to ONLY me when theres 8 other people in the gc who are trolling each other but for some reason its always jokes when its them but when i say something to defend myself they emotionally gaslight me into believing its my fault.

I lost my baby tiger may 24th, 4 days ago.
It’s been hard and it has hurt me so bad I’ve had tiger since he was a baby and when he passed he was only 1 year and 7 months old.
He had gotten into some chemicals that a lady staying with me had left open and he ingested some. Needless to say my baby was struggling to breathe when we got to the vet.
It was the next day that I decided it would be best to put him down he was only getting worse and the hospital bill was racking up. I am a 17 year old still in high school and my mother is a single elderly women so we couldn’t really afford to pay more. So I decided to put him down.
From the moment I decided it was best i was crying. Bawling really I had 2 panic attacks and couldn’t calm down, eventually when i looked into his beautiful eyes i knew it wasn’t my choice it was his. He was tired of fighting and he wanted to rest, so I let him.
After he had passed I held onto his body and cried I apologized and I held onto his paws and his ears and just cried.
All I did was cry I couldn’t sleep i didn’t eat since he was admitted I had lost my baby and it felt like the world was ending. It still feels that way sometimes.
On Thursday May 25th i adopted another dog. My mother had gone to schedule appointments for my other dog to get spayed since we didn’t want any other puppies now that my baby boy was gone. My mother had seen him from far away a beautiful brindled boy that was so full of life. Immediately she knew I had to have him which sounds cliche but it was true. She came home picked me up and i went to go meet him. Needless to say he looked all like my boy and it comforted me to see him. Poor baby needed a home and I needed comfort.
It sounds like I’m replacing him and that’s what it feels like but I know that nothing can ever replace my baby and I know that Fido is not tiger and will never be and I am okay with that I just needed to feel something again.
I’m so use to having two dogs and sleeping with them. Tiger gave me comfort he gave me love and security. Fido gives me hope that one day I’ll feel normal again.
They look very similar my baby was a brindle pit with the biggest brown eyes you have ever seen, Fido is a plott hound mix with the longest legs I have ever seen.
Should I feel guilty about getting another dog that looks all like the one I lost a day after I lost him???

Day 1
The tributes rose up into a dense pine forest arena. Several small ponds were also included, with drinkable water. The trees were climbable. Poisonous mushrooms were also included in the arena.
The cornucopia included the usual weapons, supplies, and consumables, with backpacks filled with food, water, and throwing knives being included on the outlying part of the arena.
Oceanette and Steward made eye contact, before focusing on a trident each. Zara and Avon both saw backpacks, and chose to look at them.
When the bell rang, Zara and Avon ran forwards and grabbed a backpack each, before fleeing in opposite directions.
Steward and Oceanette grabbed tridents, and stood back to back. They both killed the boy from 11 and the boy from 7, before rushing forward and grabbing some food and water, fleeing into the forest together.
Lara and Viktor, the two Russian volunteers from District 2, had seven siblings back in District 2, and had spoken of a bet between the siblings. The two killed the boy from 10, Vernon (12), the boy from 3, and the girls from 9 and 5. Lara caught Glam trying to sneak away from the bloodbath, and slit his throat.
Steward and Oceanette wandered the forest, until they found Rylo, who grabbed his scythe. But Steward threw his trident into Rylo’s head. Meanwhile Lara and Viktor killed Lucille, and found Avon attempting to climb a tree. Lara threw a knife into his head. Harvard jumped out from his camouflaged spot and tried to run, but Viktor speared Harvard in the heart.
That night, the portraits of Lucille and Glam from 1, the boy from 3, the girl from 5, Harvard from 6, the boy from 7, Avon from 8, the girl and Rylo from 9, the girl from 10, the boy from 11, and Vernon from 12 were shown in the sky, leaving twelve tributes remaining. Zara gasped when she saw Avon’s portrait, and she had clearly expected him to survive the first day.
Day 2
The next morning was started with a cannon. Sarah had mistakenly eaten a mushroom, and had been killed after three hours of agony.
Meanwhile Lara and Viktor found Dalia, who pleaded for her life. Viktor simply snapped her neck. All of a sudden two taser shots were heard, and Lara and Viktor hit the ground. Lara reached for Viktor’s hand, the two held hands as Paulette and Perry fired two more taser shots into their heads.
Zara ate some of her bread, and Steward and Oceanetta discussed what they would do if they won.
That night at midnight, the portraits of Lara and Viktor from 2, Dalia from 11, and Sarah from 12 were shown in the sky, leaving eight tributes remaining.
Day 3
The next morning, Steward and Oceanette found Paulette and Perry sleeping, and looked at each other, before slamming their tridents into their heads.
Meanwhile, Veronique (7) tried to steal from Romeo (10), and their fight ended leaving both of them fatally injured.
Two cannons sounded as Zara saw Lorraine (6) eating chips. Zara pounced on Lorraine, stabbing her multiple times as Steward and Oceanette rushed towards the sound.
A cannon sounded as Zara stood up from Lorraine’s bloodied body. Zara rushed at Oceanette, who begged Steward to help her. However, Steward appeared to realize that only one of the two could win, and simply stood there, tears streaming down his face.
Oceanette’s screams stopped as Zara slammed her knife into her head. Steward simply waited, and admitted to Zara that he wanted to give her a fair fight.
Zara lunged at Steward, who held his trident out. Zara ran right into Steward’s trident. Steward gently lowered Zara to the ground, and held her hand as she died.
A final cannon sounded, and fifteen year old Steward Crowley of District 4 was announced as the victor of the 2nd Hunger Games. Steward collapsed with exhaustion, and was then carried to the hovercraft by a peacekeeper.
Aftermath
Steward spoke during his victors interview about feeling bad for not helping Oceanette, but how he didn’t want to kill her himself. He spoke respectfully about Zara and Oceanette.
Steward returned to District 4, where Oceanette’s sister tried to attack him. Steward refused to allow the girl to be charged, instead insisting upon giving the family some money from his victors fund.
Steward married a woman named Marinetta Boyd, and had two daughters with her, Oceanette and Riveria, and two sons, Harbor and Reef.
Steward lived happily in his home by the sea, and mentored District 4’s tributes until a new tribute took his place.

[First] [Previous] [Next]
Memory transcription subject: Illia, Federation Communications Technician
Date [standardized human time]: October 21, 2136
Kiran and I embraced for what seemed like forever, idly sitting on the rainbow grass that colored the forest floor while huddled together in the darkness. The campfire near us was still full of life somehow, and provided a good amount of illumination throughout the campsite.
It was quite difficult to sit on my haunches upright, with nothing supporting my back. Despite that, It was well worth it and I would sympathize with her for as long as was needed. I remained alert, with my weapon still in my grip in case the human decided to return for round two. I gently massaged the girl’s back with one of my forehooves, hoping that my attempts at soothing her would ward away the trauma she had experienced.
“Illia..” Kiran sobbed into my chest, drenching the fabric of my jumpsuit. “T-thank you, thank you. I was scared that you didn't m-make it.. I don’t know what I would do if you didn’t. P-please don’t leave me.” She pleaded.
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart, don’t worry.” I replied, my voice a faint whisper. “The only thing that matters now is that you’re safe. You don’t have to worry about that.. thing anymore. It’s gone.” I consoled her, wiping the still-wet tears off of her ruffled feathers. “More importantly, are you hurt?” I checked her over, examining her lithe body from multiple angles.
She thought about that for a little while, then sat up, stretching a wing. She let out a cry of pain once it was half-way extended and brought it back down gingerly, wrapping a wing around her upper shoulder. I reached forward out of sympathy, my maternal instincts moving me to comfort her.
“Oh, Jild.. L-Let me see, honey.” I crooned. She heavily reminded me of my eldest, only daughter, and it was amusing how alike they were, despite being of different species.
I tenderly prodded the dull side of my hoof-paw against her supposed injured appendage, trailing it up towards her shoulder, which earned a startled chirp from her, followed by a slight jump away from my touch. The area of where her wing met her shoulder was bruised a deep purple, visible even beneath her feathers from where she collided with the tree. I was beyond grateful that nothing had broken, or even shattered. That would require extensive care, and we were lightyears away from the nearest hospital.
“How d-does it look, Illia? W-Will I be ok?” She sniffled, caressing her discolored limb while being mindful of its positioning. Sadness etched itself across my face, but I forced a hopeful look in Kiran’s favor. Thankfully, the bruising was the extent of her injuries, none of which were life threatening, though were still in need of urgent medical attention. The most I would be able to do would be to give her painkillers and make a sling for her.
Our best option now is to find Orsik and the rest of the crew.
“It’s.. fine, honey. Don’t you worry. I’ll get you fixed up, and you’ll feel all better, ok?” I said while rummaging through my bag for my first aid kit. I had a thorough understanding of how to dress wounds, as well as the proper medical procedures that came with it. Kiran would need her arm immobilized so that any further injury could be avoided. We’d better find help soon, I can only help her so much. I internalized.
Pulling out the kit, I took out a bottle containing the painkillers and a small, square-shaped piece of cloth, which unfolded into a much longer strand of fabric. I cautiously draped the cloth along her shoulder, positioning her arm along her abdomen much to her discomfort, and tied it off. Her arm was now fully supported, and the risk of worsening the injury had decreased. Feeling satisfied with my work, I grabbed the vial of painkillers, urging her to take one. I then grabbed one of the large bottles of water from my pack, holding it a distance away from her beak. “Drink, sweetie.” She welcomed the fluid into her mouth, tilting her head back as I poured the bottle. She eagerly chugged down the substance in record time, unmistakably parched. It had probably been a while since her last drink of water.
I leaned back and returned the now empty bottle to my bag, and observed her checking out my handiwork. Her gaze met the ground suddenly, and she froze, her eyes glossing over. I waited for her to say something, anything. Her abrupt silence was starting to worry me.
“Sweetie?” She gazed off into the distance, no doubt reliving her near-death experience. “Are you alright?” I nudged her, snapping her attention back to me. Tears began to bubble in those wide eyes of hers again; her grip on my jumpsuit tightened, and her hackles raised. She was visibly shaking.
“It.. it came out of n-nowhere. I could feel it w-watching m-me, even before I s-saw it. It.. I knew it w-was there, and th-then.. She whimpered. T-there was so m-much blood, and I-I.. Her voice was hoarse, describing her contact with the predator. “I-I was.. Was so s-scared.. I-I’ve never been more scared b-before in my life..” She choked the words out. “I didn’t know what to do, I-I couldn’t m-move.”
I lay my head gently on top of her own. “That’s just your instincts kicking in, honey.” I assured her. “Everyone has them.” I felt her rapid heartbeat slow gradually as she listened to my words. “You’re safe. Relax, my sweet.” The corners of my mouth turned up in a smile. “I am very proud of you, setting up camp all by yourself. You’ve proven to be very strong and capable out on your own.” My smile died down a bit. “I’m sorry that I didn’t come sooner, but I didn’t forget our promise.”
She released her tight grip on me, reeling back and looking at me with one eye. She swallowed. “Neither did I. I-I knew you would come, so I w-waited.” There was a pause after that, the both of us glad to be in each other's presence. “Thank you, Illia.”
I flicked my ears toward her, and my grin grew wider. “Of course. Let’s get out of here.” I stood up on my hind hooves with a grunt, stretching out my tired muscles. I extended my paw downward towards her, and she took it with her uninjured wing. I helped the virtually weightless girl to her talons, and hefted my backpack over my shoulders. My poor spine ached in protest, practically begging for a break. “Ready?” I turned my head towards her.
“Illia?” She spoke after a moment, craning her neck up towards me.
“Yes, Kiran?”
“That thing, the h-human.. Did you k-kill it? Where did it go?” A worried look crossed her avian features, waiting for my response. I wouldn’t want to worry the poor girl, but I don’t want to lie to her, either.
I inhaled sharply after a moment, inadvertently giving away the answer to Kiran even before my admission. Her brows upturned slightly with worry. My own eyes latched onto hers, and I breathed a sigh, confirming her suspicion.
“Y-you.. You didn’t kill it?! It’s still out there?! Oh, Inatala..” Her feeble legs wobbled, and I kept her from falling over. “W-why? Illia.. Y-you should have killed it when you had the chance! How is it e-even here? Did it f-follow us?!” The distraught avian squawked in alarm, and my ears flattened in response from the sudden change in pitch.
The loud krakotl girl was likely to attract unwanted attention, with how boisterous she was currently. I gently clasped a hoof-paw around her beak, attempting to silence her. “Hey! Calm down, sweetie. Deep breaths. We’re not on Nishtal, or anywhere else. Remember? There’s bound to be predators around here, so we have to be quiet.” That silenced her instantly. “Please, for both of our sakes.” I concernedly whispered. Her frantic chirping died down, and I released my paw.
I inhaled deeply, my lungs pulling in the night’s chilly air. I’d have to answer the many questions that she has bombarded me with now, lest her little heart stops.
A long breath escaped my lips. “I hesitated. I.. I couldn’t pull the trigger, knowing that I would be ending the life of a sapient, living creature. Killing is wrong, regardless of whether it’s prey or predator. I refuse to stoop down to its level.” I explained my actions. “As to how it got here, we must have picked it up somewhere around the time when we boarded the bomber ship. I had a suspicion earlier, I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” I was sorely tempted to put the murderous bastard out of its misery then and there, but it didn’t sit right with me.
She clicked silently to herself, the gears slowly turning in her head.
“I-I thought something was wrong, on the ship, with how you were staring at the door. I was w-worried..” She nervously fidgeted, her talons puncturing the surface she stood on. “Uhm, why.. W-why does the human want to k-kill me? What d-did I do?” She timidly met my gaze again, glancing up at me with watery eyes.
I snorted, raising a four-digit paw and setting it down gently on her uninjured shoulder.
“It isn’t you, Kiran. Killing is in a predator’s nature, their bloodlust drives them crazy. They can’t help it even if they tried, that’s why we can’t live in peace.” I snorted, angering myself over my own rant. “I just wish that we had finished the job.” I muttered, referring to erasing humanity from existence.
Something else was plastered on her face now, something not dissimilar to a look of betrayal. “Illia?” She gulped. “D-do.. do you have predator disease?” Her voice was unsteady, but at the same time, nothing but a faint whisper.
Those words rekindled a flame in me that I thought to be snuffed out a while ago. I snorted angrily, outraged that she would even ask me such a thing, after I had saved her life. She would be dead if I hadn’t intervened, but here she was, accusing me of being the very thing that I had saved her from.
The adrenaline in my system dissipated as I stared into her frightened eyes, and I restrained myself from throwing a fit. Kiran was young, and couldn’t comprehend that predator disease wasn’t an actual illness, but instead was a way for the Federation to retain its chokehold over its citizenry. Though, I wasn’t about to berate the girl over flawed conspiracy theories. She clearly knew nothing of the pain it caused, as naive as she was.
But I knew it well.
She was as stiff as the trees surrounding us, eyeing me expectantly. I felt a pang of sadness as I noticed that she even stepped back a few paces, away from my reach. The Federation had indoctrinated her far beyond the point of recovery with their nonsensical rhetoric. It was insane to think that one misguided accusation was all it took to break apart the bond between two people. There was no use reasoning with her, but I could try.
Is that how she saw me? A predator? That caused me more pain than any weapon could physically inflict, especially coming from her. Where did this even come from? I was nowhere close to matching the Humans’ brutality, or even the Arxurs’, and yet, she still regarded me as one of them.
I released a snort, dismissing the indirect insult. “No.” I said sternly, clearly heartbroken, as much as I tried to mask it. “Honey, we’ve known each other for quite a while. If I truly had.. ‘Predator disease’, don’t you think I would have shown signs of it by now?” I left the question in the air as Kiran attempted to make sense of my reasonable statement. “Well?”
“T-That makes sense..” Her voice cracked.
“Don’t you trust me, Kiran? Why would you ask such a thing?” My own voice wavered as my heart split down the middle, waiting for her reply. Although, I knew what it would be.
“I do.” She squawked a little while after, catching me completely off-guard. “It’s just.. I-I heard you, threatening the p-predator. Y-You were so b-brave, and instead of running the other way, you just.. held it at gunpoint, and shooed it away from me. You weren’t s-scared at all, even when it wanted to kill you.” She gulped.
“Of course I was scared. I was terrified.” I pleaded. “But I couldn’t just stand back and do nothing, not while your life was at stake. I had to be strong, whatever the cost. It would forever haunt me if I had left you to die, to save myself. I would n-never, I c-couldn’t..” I whimpered through ragged breaths, a dam of emotion bursting through my guise of strength. “I have known nothing but pain and anguish since I set hoof on this planet. I’ve already lost so much, and losing you would absolutely destroy me.” I sobbed, gasping for air. I felt embarrassed, having Kiran see me in my current state. I had tried so hard to be strong for her, but the events of this past week have finally caught up to me.
I wept, hiding my tears in the crook of my elbow. I felt a warm touch caress my upper arm, and I moved my arm away from my eyes. Looking down, Kiran had moved closer to me with a comforting smile on her face. It would seem that she had discarded the ‘sulean predator’ claim after witnessing the humiliating waterworks display in front of her.
“I believe you.” She smiled with her eyes. Relief washed through me instantly. She was the one person in the Federation who had wanted to be my friend, let alone even talk to me. Despite being on a mystery planet with a slim chance of escape, she was a light in the darkness. I hope she knows what she means to me.
I grew a smile of my own and latched onto her in another embrace, being careful not to disturb her shoulder. I snorted through my nose contentedly. “Thank you.” I sniffed. Although startled at first, she returned the hug, squeezing me tightly. While embraced, for a brief moment all of my worries had faded away, replaced by a feeling of adoration and hope. We departed from each other, our bond reinstated.
“See? I’m not foaming at the mouth, am I? Guess I’m not a predator after all.” I joked, hoping it would be well received. I gently tickled her side with my hooved manipulators, causing her to giggle.
“Ok, ok! I trust you! The little one laughed, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. Her breathing returned to a calm pace. “So. Where to now?”
“What do you mean, little one?” I inquired. “It’s pitch black out there, surely you’re not thinking of heading out now, are you? The human is still out there, and it probably isn’t the only thing we have to worry about.” Wandering through the wilderness in the dead of night wasn’t the best idea, with the looming threat of predators. We’d have to make do here, where our chances of surviving the night were slim enough as it was.
“O-Oh, yeah, you’re right. I-I’m just.. scared that it may come back.” She sheepishly admitted.
“Listen to me.” I met her frightful gaze. “I will not let that thing hurt you ever again. Not while I’m still here.” A motherly tone painted my words, although sounding a bit too harsh.
“Promise?”
“Promise.” I smiled. “Is there only one tent?” I switched the subject.
“Uh, y-yeah, sorry. Is it ok if we share?” She asked while walking up to the circular formation, opening it up.
“Of course.” The exchange was awkward, but we had to make do with what little we had. I climbed inside of the tent after her after taking out my floodlight, switching it on and setting it down directly in front of the tent’s flap, facing towards the shadowy trees. That’d provide us extra security, I hoped. I set my bag down onto the tent’s floor, feeling much better now without it weighing me down.
I plopped down onto my natural state on all fours. I had been ambling on my hind hooves for most of my stay on this planet, and had forgotten the comfort of having my weight equally distributed throughout my body. The muscles in my back ached, and I slid down and rolled onto my side, being able to relax at long last. I scooted my backpack towards me, intending to use it as a makeshift pillow. I released a snort of contentment as I rested my skull on the surprisingly comfortable rucksack. , the tent floor being surprisingly comfortable. A tired yawn escaped me, and my tongue lolled out of my mouth on autopilot as I felt my eyelids droop.
As much as I had wanted to sleep, I wouldn’t be able to, not with the threat of danger still lurking in the forest. We were most vulnerable while sleeping, especially while it was still dark outside. The fire was still going and was fairly close to our tent, but I wouldn’t trust that it would completely protect us from predators. I groggily sat up from my makeshift restplace and shook myself awake, followed by a tired groan. I grasped my forehooves around the weapon that I had clumsily discarded onto the tent’s floor, checking the railgun’s ammunition. Dread hit me with the realization that I was down to a singular bolt. That didn’t make me feel entirely secure, but it was better than nothing at all.
I looked to Kiran, who was already tucked in and ready for the next day. She lay down on a blue sleeping bag, completely enveloped inside of it, except for her head. I chuckled to myself while watching the adorable child snuggle inside of the bag that was far too big for her size.
She caught me staring at her. “Illia?” She spoke, cutting out the crackling of burning wood for a moment.
“Yes, dear?” I yawned again, the tiredness taking over me became unbearable at this point.
“W-What’s the plan for tomorrow?” She asked me with an inquisitive inflection in her voice.
“Well, I would imagine that we’d try to find Orsik. That’s really the only option we have right now. That way, you can be treated by an actual doctor, and not a silly sulean.” I quipped.
“I-I don’t think you’re s-silly..” She admitted meekly.
I faced her, flattered by her comment. I smiled. “Thank you, sweetie. That is very nice of you to say.” A light in the darkness. I crawled over to her, resting on my side next to where she lay. I had my weapon at the ready with a forehoof resting on top of it. I looked down at her adoringly as she shuffled inside of her covers. “Sweet dreams. I’ll see you in the morning. We’ll go looking for everyone else tomorrow.”
“What about the ship? Shouldn’t we go there?” One of her blue eyes studied me.
“I came from there, it’s nothing but a smoking heap of metal now.” I yawned. “We shouldn’t move too far away, Orsik said he’ll come to us. Besides, we’re safer here than out in the dark, right?”
Kiran whimpered, not satisfied with my answer. “Remember our promise?” I asked.
Her deflated look withered away. “Y-yes, I do..” She breathed. “O-ok, only if that means that we can leave as soon as they f-find us.”
“Of course. We won’t stay here longer than is absolutely necessary. I’ll get a signal started in the morning.”
“A-Aren’t you worried about predators? What if they come while w-we’re sleeping?”
I lay my head down onto my satchel. “I am.” I admitted. “And I would prefer not to meet them anytime soon. I think it’s a great sign that we haven’t already.” I gave a dismissive snort, hoping that was the last of her questions. “They won’t bother us, at least not tonight. The floodlight should keep them away, no worries.” I reassured her.
“Oh, ok. Good night, Illia.” She chirped.
“Good night. Sweet dreams, little one.” I caressed her feathers, then committed myself to watching the tent’s opening for the rest of the night.
- - -
I awoke, cursing after realizing that I had been asleep. I didn’t expect myself to be awake for the entire duration of the night, but I was still upset with myself for giving in to my fatigue. Something could have happened, but I was glad nothing did. I was still tired, having stayed awake for most of the night watching over Kiran. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes with a forepaw. My railgun was still grasped in my other forepaw, and I brought the gun up to my hip, holstering it.
Some of my worries over the human still being out there somewhere had faltered; perhaps it lost interest after witnessing my display of superior strength? Predators preferred a challenge when hunting, but their small brains understood when the odds were not in their favor. This human in particular probably saw our small group as easy pickings, and had developed a taste for krakotl flesh. That’d explain the blood spattered all over it, almost as if it were a trophy.
I looked at Kiran, who was still sound asleep. The beautiful orange of this planet’s sun filtered in through the translucent barrier surrounding us; its angelic rays permeated throughout the tent and casted a wondrous shine onto her dull blue feathers.
I yawned, standing up on all fours and leaned into a stretch. The soreness had worn off, and I was ready for another long journey, this time with the presence of my avian friend. I had another long day of strengthening my hind legs, no doubt. I just hope that the rest of the crew were close.
I unzipped my dirty jumpsuit, checking my small cuts. They seemed to be in relatively good shape and had scabbed over, leaving a soreness behind. After confirming that the wounds weren’t infected, I zipped my uniform back up.
I gently shook the sleeping Kiran awake. “Good morning, sleepy. It’s time to head out.” I whispered softly. She stirred and sat up. “Are you hungry? I have some rations.” I reached for my pack, snatching two cans of processed vegetable bars and handed one to her. “You need to eat to keep your strength up, honey.” I dug into my own helping quite quickly, stowing away the empty can. It wasn’t the best tasting thing in the galaxy as it was made specifically for the krakotls’ sophisticated palate. “How did you sleep?” I spoke between mouthfuls. She ate hers bit by bit, to the best of her ability. I imagine it would be difficult to eat something with a beak as narrow as hers was, so I patiently waited for her to finish.
“I slept well, actually.” She faced me, full of youthful vigor. It was almost as though her self confidence had drastically improved overnight. She stretched her good wing out, and checked the sling on the other. Once she was done with her helping, she got up, brushing her manipulators through her feathers. “How about you, Illia?”
“Good! I’m glad. Me, I slept like a fawn.” I fibbed, stifling another yawn. “Oh, let me take that from you, sweetheart.” I motioned to her empty vegetable bar container. I collected the tin from her, tossing it along with the other. I reached for my bag, leaving the heavy non-essentials inside the tent. I slugged it over my shoulder once more, my spine thanking me for lightening the load. The pack’s weight felt far more manageable than it did before. I might even be able to actually walk around with it this time. I wondered.
“Are we ready to go?” I stood in front of the tent, raising a forehoof to unzip us to freedom. The krakotl girl chirped her affirmative after checking herself over, and we both exited the tent, ready for another adventure. Upon leaving, I was extremely surprised to see that I didn’t even have to reignite the fire, as it was still burning, although not as strong as yesterday. The crimson tree that Kiran had made the campfire out of was highly flammable, if I had to guess. That would explain the randomly scorched trees throughout the landscape that I saw earlier. I was relieved that none of them combusted while we were asleep.
“Alright. Let’s head this way, shall we?” I plucked some of the damp yellow moss from a neighboring tree with a spare piece of fabric in between my hooves in case it was an irritant, which was smart thinking on my behalf. I chucked the large bundle into the blaze, smothering the few flames that remained. The fire choked for a moment, then began eating away at the moss, emitting a white column of smoke that snaked towards the light orange of the morning sky.
We checked if we had everything, then started on our expedition. I wasn’t sure where we’d go first, but it would have to be relatively close to where the campfire was in case anyone was nearby. I eyed the skyline before us, the mountains in the distance were a wonderful gradient of bright reds, purples, and yellows, perfectly blending together.
I breathed in the fresh morning air. This would have been a delightful trip, were we on a civilized planet. It still was, to an extent. The native organisms of this untouched wonder of a planet were truly a sight to behold, regardless of its many dangers. From the vivid colors of the flora to the deep red sky watching overhead, everything about this world was eye-catching.
We ventured throughout the crimson woods, encircling the campsite while keeping an eye on the smoke signal so that we wouldn’t veer off-course too much. I also was wary of the tall grass and dense shrubs around us, concentrating on even the slightest noise or movement. Today was particularly windy, so my efforts were in vain. We kept to the more open areas, even if that meant making sharp detours around areas where a predator could be concealed in.
Every now and then we would stop for a break, as I had done before. Kiran fared well during our hike, if not even better than I. We stopped underneath the shade of some crimson trees for another rest after a long while. I unpacked one of our water bottles, taking a small swig before handing it to Kiran. We rationed our supplies as best as we could, but we were quickly running out of food. We would soon have to resort to checking if the local flora were edible.
The smoke signal was still in my sight, and we only had a small distance to go in order to complete our full circle. I had thought about calling out into the woods, but decided against it, as it was likely that we would attract unwanted attention. I felt extremely uncomfortable within the dark woodland, despite having a firearm in my possession.
I lay on the grassy floor on my side, attempting to cool myself off. Kiran was doing much of the same, though in a sitting posture. I lifted my head up, snorting through my nostrils to get her attention.
“Having fun?” I smirked playfully. She clicked her beak together with amusement.
“I would be, if the sun wasn’t burning into my feathers.” She squawked between pants. She rested her head against a rock that put even the brightest of rainbows to shame.
“It’s not all bad, is it? It's all about perspective; look at the positives! You have to learn to appreciate the little things in life.”
“Ok, I appreciate..” She glanced around her surroundings, looking for something of value. “I appreciate this rock, does that count?” She gestured behind her. I couldn’t help but chuckle. “It is quite the rock, isn’t it?” She giggled in response. I adored bonding with the girl, she was almost an extension of my own child, in a way.
I didn’t find it odd or strange at the time to fawn over the beauty of an inanimate object, as we both admired its various colors. “Alright, that’s enough geology for me, I think.” I stood, dusting myself off. I heard a faint snapping sound, and my eyes traveled back to the avian, who now looked absolutely petrified, a lone eye focusing on me. She looked almost as scared as she had been when the human attacked her, but this is far worse. Is she looking at me?
I tilted my head in confusion. “Honey? Y-you’re scaring me.” I chuckled nervously. “What’s wrong?” She gave no response. I suddenly felt a massive surge of anxiety wrack my brain, and my ears perked up. The same feeling that haunted me on the ship returned for a comeback, and this time, my question didn’t have to be answered. I heard shuffling a good distance away from me, and I whipped my head in that direction, following her blank stare. My ribcage tightened as I struggled to breathe. I watched the tall grass adjacent from our position, waiting for something to happen.
The first thing I saw were its horrible forward-facing eyes with slit pupils, instantly recognizing it as a predator. They both were dilated, intent on feasting on our bloody flesh. The feral predator observed me with its piercing golden orbs as it slunk closer. It stalked towards us with its head low to the ground, stray droplets of drool spilling out of its long, gaping maw of which were lined with dozens of razor-sharp teeth capable of effortlessly crushing bone.
I didn’t know what exactly I was looking at, but I knew it was there. The beast prowled out of the tall grass in short strides with its ghastly head low to the ground, drooling over our new and alien scent. The lengthy blades of grass combed over its rainbow-colored hide as it revealed itself. Both it and the grass were a near match in terms of coloration, as I strained my eyes to focus on its appearance.
As it moved further into the light, I was able to get a better glimpse of it. The creature itself was covered in skin instead of fur, which was odd. The upper body of the animal was speckled with various bright colors that mimicked the grass, only for it to darken as the pattern stretched towards its underbelly, and morphed into a full jet black where it reached its clawed feet. I had never feared death before as much as I did right now.
I snapped myself out of my terrified stupor, jumping up to my hind hooves and quickly yanking my railgun out of its holster, jabbing it towards the thing with shaky hooves. I gasped for air as my lungs felt heavy, staring down the freak of nature. My heart sank even further and nearly burst out of my chest as I saw two other predators just like the first emerge from behind it. Oh, fuck. The weapon in my hoof suddenly seemed insignificant.
My eyes widened. We have to leave, now. I grabbed Kiran without a word, pulling her along rather roughly. I dashed as fast as my legs could take me while gripping around the length of Kiran’s wing. I didn’t look back once, only focused on making it back to the tent. There was no guarantee that the fire at the campsite would dissuade them from indulging in their hunger at all, but what other option did we have? I glanced back, and was horrified to realize that the reason why they didn’t already tear us apart was because they were giving us a head start. The monstrous things were playing with their ‘food’, for fun.
I looked down to Kiran, then up to the smoke rising from the campsite. We wouldn’t make it in time. I had to make a choice. I swallowed with teary eyes. ‘’G-go.” I flicked an ear towards the campsite. “Now!” I squealed. She obeyed my order without hesitation, and fluttered over that way.
I was not at all prepared for what I was about to do, and doing so would most definitely result in my death. Weeping, I stood in place as the grayish-blue feathered girl escaped to safety.
“H-hey!” I bleated at the top of my lungs while hopping around vigorously, doing everything in my power to attract the predator’s attention towards me. “Over here!” My voice was hoarse, filled with a mixture of emotions. I hope Kiran will be able to forgive me.
All three of their large heads whipped towards me, my diversion evidently working. I holstered my weapon and turned tail, speeding the opposite way and galloping wherever my legs would take me. I leaped through twisted trees only large enough for me to fit through, and hopped over large rocks, hoping it would slow the monsters down.
Just when I thought I was clear, my hind leg unfortunately latched underneath a root peeking out of the ground, forcing me into a halt. I stopped moving instantly as my momentum ceased, and a sharp pain shot through my ankle. I yelped in distress, my upper body smacking onto the dirt with a hard thud. I whined as my weapon was flung out of its holster, landing in front of me. I crawled towards the weapon with all of my remaining strength.
The predators sauntered over, a threatening growl reverberating through the pack’s leader. I crawled towards my last chance at living, finally reaching it. I fitted my fumbling fingers around the weapon as the predator leader charged toward me while I turned around, leveling the weapon with the rainbow demon’s skull. I expelled a single and final shot as the round soared through its nose, expelling a fountain of brain matter behind it as it fell limp, a couple of feet away from me. The other two creatures were taken aback at first, but were now furious that I had dispatched their leader. I was hit with the horrific realization that I had just used the last of my ammunition.
They slowly pressed onward as I lay on my back, a hideous expression of hunger plastered on their flesh-eating faces. I shut my eyes tight, bracing for an excruciating death. Is this it? Is this how I die? At least I can rest well knowing that Kiran is safe. Please, don’t let my death be for nothing. I prayed to whatever deity was listening. Let my family I lo-
My thoughts were interrupted by a sickening crack, followed by the predator closest to me snapping its head back and toppling over, painted by its own viscous blood that spilled out of a gaping wound in its skull. It had taken a clean shot to the side of the head, dying as soon as the projectile had landed. The third predator scampered away after hearing the loud noise, staring daggers into whatever it was that ended the life of its friend. It tucked its tail between its legs in submission, hissing towards my savior before retreating back to where it came from. What on Jild just happened?
I turned my head to my side slowly, still wary of my surroundings. Right next to me was the same human whom I had spared earlier, with its signature metal pipe still strapped to its back. Its arm was outstretched towards the dead predator, with a terran-made weapon grasped in its paw. It lowered the gun down to its side, and I screamed as it began stomping towards me, intending to claim its stolen kill. “O-Oh, Jild, no! P-please, don-don’t eat me!” I cried, trying to reason with the predator. Without thinking, I mindlessly raised the spent railgun up to the thing in an attempt to shoot it, and it retaliated, wrapping its gloved fingers around my own. It effortlessly ripped the useless gun away from my grasp with a mighty paw, tossed it to the side, and wrapped its paw around my body.
My nightmares were coming true. I would be eaten alive, without remorse. I would much rather have died at the fangs of the feral predators instead of the human’s. The human would take its time, and enjoy every second of my suffering.
I was lifted up slightly with incredible strength while screaming my head off, struggling to worm away from its mighty grasp. I squirmed violently, not having enough air in me to continue screaming. The murderer held the gun’s muzzle up to my neck and uttered a single sentence with a deep, growling rumble: “Stop fucking moving.”
My translator implant belted out the meaning to me and I stupidly followed its orders. I shut up, both terrified and surprised that it could understand me or even articulate comprehensive words. I was fully expecting it to sink its fangs into me, but instead, the masked figure slipped the straps of my bag off of my shoulders, dropping me onto the ground and taking my satchel. It began to search through it diligently, tossing out what wasn’t to its liking. The human took out the last of my water supply and interestingly enough, a few of my vegetable bars. It tossed my near-empty bag back to me and slung its own massive bag around, stuffing the supplies inside.
I could only watch as it stole what little supplies I had left. For a moment, I was filled with pure, unbridled rage, replacing my fear with anger. “You m-monster!” I stood on my hind hooves, ignoring the pain burning through my right ankle and attempted to make myself appear as big as I could. “Y-you killed them!” I shouted at the emotionless predator. It had ripped my colleagues to shreds until they were unrecognizable, and it would pay. It in turn slightly tilted its mask towards me, unimpressed. I shrunk back down as its gaze fell upon me, and my ears flattened to my skull.
A low rumble came from it, which my translator picked up on as a chuckle. It was laughing. How dare you?! I snorted angrily. “You.. you’re.. Laughing? Wh-What is wrong with you?!” I yelled at the deranged predator. At that moment I wished I could go back in time and pull the trigger.
“I’m the monster. That’s funny.” It sadistically remarked. “I’m not the one who bombed an entire planet full of billions of innocent women and children.” It turned to face me fully, stalking over to me. My posture tightened as I cowered in fear; its hulking shadow loomed over me. This was the closest I had ever been to the human, or any predator, really. It could probably smell the copious amount of fear that my body was producing.
“I should kill you right fucking now.” It growled, practically spitting venom. It gripped its weapon tightly, threatening to break it. The being relented, apparently deciding against it. Wasn’t it going to eat me?
It stood there, staring down at me, unmoving. “W-why?” I whined. “Why did you.. k-kill them?!”
“You’ll have to be more specific.” It taunted me. My anger only grew.
“The.. the forest. Admit it! You killed them! I s-saw, I was there! Only a predator can do what you d-did!” I gasped, not meeting its gaze.
“Forest?” It scoffed. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
What?! That made no sense.. Assuming it really didn’t know what I was referring to.. Had it not killed that group of krakotl? No, that can’t be. Is this a case of predatory deceit?
“Wh-wha..” I stammered, confused.
“If you’re referring to the ship, that was me.” It spoke of the murderous act almost as if it was proud of it, which sickened me to the core. “I enjoyed every second of watching those featherfucks gasping for air, pawing at the airlock. I’d do it again, if I could.” Its grating voice resonated through my bones.
I was enraged at the monster’s admittance of murdering the bomber ship's crew. I felt a wealth of emotions coursing through me, none of which I could openly express. I could only stand there, waiting for its next move. I heard my name being called in the distance, but absent-mindedly ignored it.
It leaned forward until I could see my own reflection in its reflective face mask.
“I’ll give you one last chance: you stay far away from your friends, especially that fucking bird, unless you want to die. If I see you again, next time I won’t hesitate to kill you.” It proclaimed with a gravelly voice. It unfolded upward, straightening its spine. It then turned, walking away with its bounty into the wilderness once again, leaving me alone and confused.
Why on Jild did it save me? That made no sense whatsoever, and went against everything I had been taught. Did it really hold back its bloodlust just to taunt me over how much it loved killing? Why didn’t it eat me while I was vulnerable?
Multiple questions flooded my mind, and I had developed a headache that was worsening by the second. Today was quite the adrenaline booster, I would need a long rest after all of this.
With the human gone, I was left to my own devices. I picked up the scattered contents of my pack, recollecting them.
I heard the rustling of leaves across from me, and I faced the source of the noise. I was spent emotionally, the constant adrenaline rushes taking its toll on me. I could do nothing but lean against a lone stump as I accepted my fate.
I had a good run.
- - -
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i'm new to reddit/this subreddit so i apologize if i'm not posting this correctly but here's my story.
i don't remember the first time it happened but i was in kindergarten so somewhere between the ages of 4-6, it was by one of my close friends' older brother. he did it many times including on the school bus, the woods behind the neighborhood playground and his house when i would come over to have a playdate with his sister. he did it to both myself and my best friend (not his sister), neither of us understood what was happening, we were just kids, he said it was a secret game. years later my best friend and i would talk, even joke about it because we didn't realize it was sexual assault. it wasn't until my sophomore year of high school (i would have been 14/15) when i broke down crying during lunch after making a joke about it to my friends. i still didn't realize it was assault until i told my mom about it later that night and she broke down sobbing, apologizing for not knowing and not keeping me safe.
the next time was the summer before going to college, a guy i graduated with offered to buy me and my coworker alcohol, we agreed, so myself, my coworker, the guy and one of his friends came to my house. we drank, talked, watched a movie and he kept giving me drinks to the point where i was so drunk i had to him walk me to my bed because i couldn't stand up without the room spinning and wanting to vomit. he started kissing me, then he took my clothes off so i was just in my bra and underwear, i eventually blacked out and woke up to him throwing a tshirt and my underwear at me so i could say bye to the other two, i don't remember getting naked or getting the bruises and hickeys around my neck, chest and breasts. i don't want to remember.
two months later, some friends and i go to my house for the weekend. our college canceled classes monday so we had an extra day, i was in a situationship with one of the guys, all we had done until that point was steamy makeout sessions, but that first night we're in my room, we're both slightly drunk and making out suddenly i can't breathe, it's not the guy i've been seeing from college with me it's the guy from high school, from the night i don't want to remember. he's taking my shirt off and i have a panic attack, he gets the two girls of the group to help calm me down and leaves the room, he apologizes and is so kind and sweet to me for the rest of the weekend (except for the next night when he drunkenly yells at me telling me he doesn't care about any of my interests or anything i talk about and just wants to "fuck me already"). once we're back at school i ask him if we can take a break from anything sexual, he breaks up with me and says that's all he wants from me and if i can't give him that then what was i good for. him and i go back and forth, on again off again for the rest of the semester because i truly liked him and if he wanted sex from me, no matter how uncomfortable i was or how much i didn't want to, i would do it. i just wanted him to like me, to want me.
ten months later, it's the summer, a year since the night i don't want to remember and a few months since the last time i was with the guy from college. i tried to have sex, not from being forced, pressured, coerced or unconscious. it's with my friend, he got me away from the guy and the night i don't want to remember, i trust him but right before i panic, i can't do it, i wanted to, but i just couldn't. he wasn't upset, he didn't make me feel bad or tell me that's all i'm good for. he said it's okay not to be ready and i shouldn't force myself to do something just because someone else wants it.
less than a year later, i went to two of my friend's joint birthday parties. i know some people, i meet the rest i don't, i think i made a new friend, him and i joked all throughout the night, i was so excited to make some new friends. the party is coming to an end, i was kinda drunk so my friend said i could sleep on the couch, there are three people already passed out so i grab a pillow and lay on the floor. he lays down next to me, i'm tired, i'm drunk, i just want to go to sleep. he pulls me over to cuddle, i don't mind, i like physical affection with my friends. he asks if i'm awake, i don't answer, i just want to sleep, he starts kissing me, i freeze i don't want this i want to sleep, i just wanted to make a friend. he goes further, i can't move i want him to stop but i can't move. people walk into the room he pushes off me and pretends to sleep just like i had been, i still can't move i'm so scared and hurt, i don't want to know how far he would have gone if they didn't walk in. they leave, a few moments after he leaves, i still can't move, eventually i drive home, i throw away the shirt i bought for the party, i lay in bed but i can't sleep now.