Hello guys!
​
So basically I am 29 and I started learning coding about 4 months ago in SoftUni(Bulgaria). It's around 2 year program from 0 to Full Stack that I found really good. We have facebook group, schedule, 3 times a week 3 hours live classes with Q&A during it, exercises, homework, exams, mentor help, facebook group and tons of good things. The program is built for people who work and want to enter it steady.
And here comes my problem. I want it fast. I worked last few years mainly logistic work, driving reachtrucks, forklifts and warehouse jobs that I hated every single one of them. I was feeling I can do much more and actually I really can. I feel I am understanding very well the programming, the topics and since I was a child I love logic. Just my path took me to work for safety and never risk. I always had desire for growth, personal, spiritual, intellectual. I always was feeling those type of production jobs I was working for toxic. If e ever met a person that I liked in those jobs, well that person was there temporarily, because he was probably smart and knew this is to sustain his goals. But not me!
I was driven by fear and I kept working those type of jobs, while being abroad in another country, while I even did not make research or something what I have in the area. Even I was not on some stable contract, just working as temp worker for agencies. Every single one of those jobs I nailed, get really good and then get really bored. I tried coding while I was working since 2020 but I always gave up.
Well, April this year, after I finish my shift at the warehouse, I got informed that I will be laid off. That was after I was wondering for 2 months should I quit or not, when I wanted to quit with all my heart. And that was blessing!
I started immediately to code more( I was already in 2 months introcutiry course with C Sharp) and I nailed the exam with 600 out of 600 points, so I entered the full program. Now I am halfway trough the Fundamentals course. So far I learned : statements(if-else if , switch ) , loops, data types, methods, some particle understing of arrays(which i don't push myself) and I feel like i really like this thing. I bough myself a good MacBook Pro with half of my savings, because my old laptop was shit and I have support from my girlfriend and family.
But I keep pushing myself too much, to the point I start feeling stress that I am not doing good enough, i must code every free minute BECAUSE OF FEAR! Fear not ending up again in those type of jobs i worked last 6 years! I am working part time delivery guy right now, so I can code a bit more, but I feel I must find a full time job, even though I can make it normal with part time job, since I can cover all my needs.
But no no, I must be really good! I must be ahead of most of my classmates! I kind of like that mentality, but also sometimes I feel it takes from my enjoyment of life. My goal is to find a job, that will allow me to live comfortably , have decent salary and enjoy my life. I don't want to build something that will change the world or be super competitive and give all my life to coding. Just to find a job, that is challenging, well paid, that I feel proud that I have profession.
I believe in myself and I am 100% sure that I will do it. The thing is, I don't want to burn myself out and I don't want to stress myself too much. What are some realistic tips and advices that you can give me. I think i am a bit affected by all this hustle culture and sleep is for the weak. Part of me is truly believing this is true. I felt like I wasted my last 10 years and now i want to over compensate, but I feel that i am getting a bit burned out, from the high goals and standards I put myself in.
And that stress is mainly coming that I don't have right now stable income, and I feel a full-time job will slow me down a lot in terms of learning to code. I feel really fucked up in my head those days and any solid advice will be of help. No sweet talks, harsh truth is always welcome. If you read all this, thank you for having interest in my story!

CBF = Childhood Best Friend
I need help to figure out if my female best friend of 16 years, may have feelings for me.
Backstory of our friendship: CBF and I have been friends since I was 6 and she was 5. To be honest I’m not sure how we met, but she recalls that we met while waiting for the school bus. All I know is that shes been part of my life for the past 16 years. We lived in the same neighborhood for 8 years and she lived in the house across from me. We also went to school together, From elementary to high school. Growing up we would get teased by family’s and friends because we were always together. I started to find her attractive during middle school years. One day I was dared to asked her to be my girlfriend for one day by my friends, and she said yes. It was awkward af, we both didn’t have experience in dating since I was in 7th grade and CBF was in the 6th grade. So nothing happened, no kiss, no holding hands. Since we only agreed to date one day, we went back to being friends the next day. Since then no kiss or any sexual act has ever happened between us. We both also dealt with depression when were teenagers. And it didn’t help that her parents and my mom don’t believe in depression, so we relied on each other. We were each other’s rock during our toughest time in life. We also never shared the same circle of friends. She has her own group of friends and I have my own. When we hang out it’s always just the 2 of us. We share our secrets, insecurities and goals with each other. We have a strong friendship bond.
Our rough patch: We had a rough patch when I went away for college. We didn’t talk much in my freshmen and sophomore years. Not until covid hit and I went 100% remotely to finish college. Because of this I moved back to my hometown. She chose to attend in our local hometown college and we reconnected when I moved back in my junior year. Since then we’ve been inseparable again.
Present: Were in our early twenties now, we’ve both been in relationships with other people and had flings with other people. We’ve always supported each other when it came to relationships, career, and Mental health. We also talked about our sex life, we’re very transparent with each other. We also never met each other’s bf/gf. We’re also only very comfortable to be vulnerable in each other’s presence. We grew up kinda poor, and we’re both the oldest sibling in our families. Our hispanic parents were hard on us and we had to grow up quick take care of our little siblings. Due to this we don’t have a very healthy relationship with our parents, so we rely on each other for emotional support. Also to add we rarely do physical contact, we rarely hug each other. A couple years ago we had the “talk” where we asked each other if we had feelings for each other. At the time we both said no. I lied, I did have feelings for her but I didn’t want to lose my CBF. So I buried those feelings, if she’s happy with just being friends with me then I’m okay with that. We hang out once or twice a week. But we constantly call or text each other.
This is where the mix signals start to show. In 2022 we started to casually see people. We’ve always supported each other when we started to date other people. But this time, she seemed jealous. She would make snarky comments about the person I was seeing. She would always say how I can do better. She would constantly message me when ever I went on a date with my partner. This seemed way out of character for her. On my birthday, my CBF made me a cake, made muffins and bought flowers for me. She also took me out to eat that day. Now here’s another big mix signal, while she was seeing her fling, she told me that he was jealous of me because CBF wouldn’t stop talking about me to him. One day CBF and I made plans to go to the beach at night and stargaze together. But I also invited my male best friend to hang out with us. Towards the end of the night my male best friend asked if CBF and I dated before. I said no, we’re just friends. He said that we playfully flirt with each other and that I should ask her out. Recently we’ve been joking around of how we act like a married couple, I would joke with her that I want a divorce and her response would be “never, you’re stuck with me forever.” CBF has also started to be more physical with me. When walking side by side she would bump into me with her shoulder constantly, she would also bump her foot with mine accidentally underneath the table to many times. A few days ago we shared a electric scooter together on her recommendation, and her butt was literally touching my crotch. She also recently started to call me sweetheart, and compliments me on my looks saying how cute I look with a beanie. One time we were thinking of moving in together, and her mom joked that we would hook up if we did. Usually CBF would make a gross comment about it or quickly shit the idea down, but this time she said “if it happens it happens.” My male best friend says that she definitely has feelings for me. He says by the way she looks at me and playfully flirts with me. So now I need other peoples opinions on this, does my CBF have feelings for me or am I just overthinking. I would hate to ruin this friendship due to misinterpretation. She’s one of the most important people in my life.
TLDR: Is my female best friend of 16 years giving me mix signals that she may have feelings for me. She playfully flirts with me and has started to call me sweetheart. Am i being oblivious or am I misinterpreting our friendship?

A friend of mine wrote this book that's coming out soon — hope it's OK to share it here, because I think we are exactly the target audience!
Coming in August 2023: "Disobedient Women: How a Small Group of Faithful Women Exposed Abuse, Brought Down Powerful Pastors, and Ignited an Evangelical Reckoning" by Sarah Stankorb:

A generation of American Christian girls was taught submitting to men is God’s will. They were taught not to question the men in their families or their pastors. They were told to remain sexually pure and trained to feel shame if a man was tempted. Some of these girls were abused and assaulted. Some made to shrink down so small they became a shadow of themselves. To question their leaders was to question God. All the while, their male leaders built fiefdoms from megachurches and sprawling ministries. They influenced politics and policy. To protect their church’s influence, these men covered up and hid abuse. American Christian patriarchy, as it rose in political power and cultural sway over the past four decades, hurt many faithful believers. Millions of Americans abandoned churches they once loved. Yet among those who stayed (and a few who still loved the church they fled), a brave group of women spoke up. They built online megaphones, using the democratizing power of technology to create long-overdue change.

And there is a free sample here of the intro and Chapter 3, which introduces some of the women who spoke out against Bill Gothard: https://hachettebookgroup.formstack.com/forms/disobedient_women_chapter

Been a mess for a long time now, but my brother got just retrenched and his family now has to move in with me. Just wife and one child.
I have GAD and Major Depressive, with Aphantasia and High Functioning Autism, anhedonia (reduced ability to feel pleasure), and life has been nothing but stress and panic for years (If not for life) now.
With Aphantasia I feel like I have very little emotional connection to people. Nothing to remind me of good or happy times as I just cannot remember them with any visual imagery and its just facts.
Always thought I was psycho for my numbness to people and life but only found out about Aphantasia very late in life.
Seeing a shrink but the costs are too much and the medications are pilling up. Benzo's seem to be the only thing that work, and I know of the side effects and the withdrawal possibilities.
Ritalin, GABA's, Mood Stabilisers, sleeping aids etc. Jesus its a deep hole and I can't feel like life is worth anything.
Having no real memories of anything that made me happy, its like living in the moment, with no history of emotions and constant stress. Its detachment to my own life and I cannot see how medication and give me attachment to my own life when my mind cannot process what was good or bad. Its like a reset every morning, weekends are a blur and then its work and stress. Everything is vague and like reading a novel, a description of events but no feeling.
Cancer robbed me of my best friend and I miss her, but I cannot mourn for long (Aphantasia) and I have to create thoughts to trigger sadness to just feel the loss. Covid stole my step dad and he was the first real father figure that meant anything to me, but again my family asks, "Did you mourn?"
I did, for a week, and then its out of sight and mind. To miss them I have to make myself sad and them think of them. Otherwise its nothing.
I've got no solutions, nothing I can imagine that will change this.
Please, please, please any thoughts on how to move forward?

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Status change must be done before the expiry of the visit/tourist visa or the grace period (for those with cancelled visas). Only after the status change, the applicant's file will be updated with the new sponsor.
FINE: If the applicant delays, the fine is Dh221 for the first day and Dh25 for each subsequent day. The fine should be paid at the time of the status change or when exiting the country. The fine amount may vary if the applicant is on a Visit/Tourist Visa. Medical examinations can only be done after the status change.
Status Change can be done for Family Residence Visa, Employment Visa, and InvestoPartner Visa. This facility is now available in all Emirates.
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perhaps what i’m feeling is the placebo effect, but i’m day 3 now of performing the medical abortion at home, and i kind of feel…. like my old self?? i was trying to fathom this feeling even before i knew i was pregnant i was longing for it, i feel like i actually want to take care of myself, and go out and do stuff, and live life, while being pregnant, which was for 2 months in total (i was 9 weeks and 1 day when i perfomed the ma) i just wanted to rot in bed all day, i forgot to take care of myself completely, and i was simply just existing for the sake of existing, i wasn’t doing anything, i wasn’t going out or taking care of myself and doing all the things that i used to love, i feel like pregnancy will never be for me, after what i endured, hopefully the MA worked, i had terrible cramps and i’ve been bleeding for 3 days now but not excessively bleeding just like a normal period, but on the first day i did pass out a large clump of blood which it seems that might be the fetus perhaps? i’m not sure i want to book an ultra scan to see what is going on with my body as soon as possible, and get back to my normal life and actually be happy and have a will to live again lol! i’m not even joking when i say being pregnant changed my personality completely all i wanted to do was legit stay in bed rooting i was crying all the time even before i knew i was pregnant, and i was extremely horrible to my supportive bf also, which has done nothing for me but be there for me and support me and love me and now after this situation i feel so in love with him and i love him more than anything in the world and i wanna make him happy!. i feel like also this group has helped me imensely, the fact that more people were going through the same thing that i am for some reason and share the same feelings…

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Hello my favourite people,
I haven't come out of the metaphorical closet to the people close to me back home apart from one person. My community is kind of not a generally accepting one and I've been battling with who to tell. I and my partner have suspected that my best friend is on the spectrum since pretty much day one even before we thought I was.
The complicated part is that she's had trauma and medical issues for a very long time. She is the strongest person I know but with wanting to tell her about my diagnosis to have my best friend to talk to about it, I also have to mind the fact that this additional information may feel way more debilitating to her initially than what I experienced. I'm aware that when I first found out and had it confirmed, it was almost immediately a weight lifted off my chest followed by the sort of regression from things I used to force myself to do. This felt mildly debilitating to me like "I used to be able to do this before, why can't I make myself now?". For her, an additional and lofty extra idea of how she functions may make her feel quite angry for not being diagnosed sooner (as she's had trouble with employment outside of her medical ailments), she may feel that regression I felt even harder, and I don't think she has the familial support that I will, just her partner and two best girl friends.
She definitely has a right to know, I just want to be able to deliver this information correctly. I tend to dump things on people with little context no matter how much I think of how and what to say. My partner suggested he suspected I was on the spectrum in the perfect way but it was following an internal meltdown in what was actually a textbook scenario and I completed a master's in clinical psychology so it was just kind of a matter of agreement.
Does anyone have some advice on maybe how you found out, what part of that interaction or scenario was comforting/uncomfortable, and maybe some tips on how to bring this up periferally?

My ex got out of rehab yesterday. Prior to him going into rehab we had been broken up like 3-4 months. The break up was not my decision and I was pretty upset about it because I had JUST 100% emotionally supported him through 5 months of another rehab program and a year of his downward spiral into alcohol prior to that.
I thought him getting sober would mean that I would be getting my fun loving, great boyfriend back that I had for 3 years so I was heartbroken to say the least. But I eventually went no contact for a couple months after the breakup until I was having a tough time and reached out to him. Since he was sober he seemed pretty happy to hear from me and offered words of support. But I still kept my distance not wanting to get hurt.
Then the end of April the called me randomly and we had a weird conversation where he sounded overly happy and talked to me about meaningless stuff and I could tell he was drinking but I didn’t want to accuse him of anything since we weren’t talking much as it was. Then I didn’t hear from him.
About a week later I heard from a woman I’m friends with that he checked into rehab, she knew because she worked there. I was just happy that he was safe. When I say his drinking is bad, it’s BAD, he is a serious alcoholic with a serious problem. To get him to go to rehab the first time me and his family had to show up with a uHall and pack his apartment up, break his lease, and forceably get him out of his apartment because he literally stayed in there for a YEAR and drank 24/7.
Anywayss, I reached out to his mom about halfway through his stay to see how he was doing because it’s not like I don’t still love and care about his well being. So I was SHOCKED when she told me that his sister had died, which is what triggered his relapse. And even worse, she died from her alcohol problem. I was sad, I knew her well from holidays and what not, and I was even more sad for him and his mom. He had just lost his dad prior to his first relapse. She told me that he only wanted to stay in rehab for 30 days and she wanted him going to sober living. While I wished she pushed for a longer stay in rehab I thought that would be a good idea for sober living because that’s where he was living when he had long term sobriety when we met.
SO, I was surprised when he called me last night. I was really happy to hear from him first of all, I want to say that. A huge part of me really misses him, 4 months after a 3 year relationship isn’t a long time to get over someone that you’ve occasionally been talking to. We talked about how his stay was, his feelings about his sister, my life and then he told me HES STAYING IN HIS DEAD SISTERS APARTMENT. My first thought was “you have got to be kidding me!” His mom has always been kinda spacey and ridiculous. It was super hard for me during his first relapse to get her to do anything meaningful to help him other than her offer him words of encouragement. But considering she just lost her daughter to alcohol and she’s aware how serious his problem is I’m surprised she let him take over her lease. Especially considering we had just learned that his downfall was living alone and having the opportunity to drink in peace with no one watching him. The only way he got to rehab so fast this last time was because he moved in with his moms boyfriend and he was around him all the time and obviously noticed his relapse. From the phone call I gathered that all her stuff was still there too, all her clothes and medications, everything. He said “if the roles were reversed I’d want her to have my apartment” but in reality I think he wants to continue to be alone and that’s his excuse for making it okay for being there.
I’m extremely worried about him. I’m in recovery from alcohol myself and I know firsthand how many people relapse right out of rehab, especially if they didn’t want to be in rehab to begin with….he said he didn’t even remember being taken to rehab. I also want to note that my ex doesn’t have that many friends, if any. He lost most of them when he just stopped going to work (he had a lot of money) and the few friends he made in rehab don’t live here or have relapsed. He’s always had this sad mentality that he has to do things alone and be alone. I hate that for him. He really is a very personable, very attractive, fun, super fit guy when he is sober but when he drinks, he throws his entire life into it. And I just don’t think 30 days is enough to get over your sisters death and then MOVE INTO HER APARTMENT AROUND HER THINGS…wtf. I didn’t contact him today because I’m still in “I don’t want to get hurt” mode. But I worry so much about him. My friend thinks he needs me, from her time checking in on him when she was working. And a big part of me still wants to be with him. But I don’t want to seem like I’m nagging him like he’s a kid that needs to be checked on or that I’m actively trying to get back with him when I know he’s probably fragile and probably doesn’t want a relationship with anyone. Am I being reasonable for wanting to be back in his life? He told me last night that he was sorry for the last few months and not being there for me more and how even his life situations were no excuse for his behavior in the past towards me. What should I do? Do you think I have enough reason to worry as much as I am?

Our community threads are the heart of our subreddit and operate much like a specialized support group – we share our experiences and strive to collectively support one another on the topic at hand.
Please use this space for sharing and discussing any type of treatment or family building measures. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Advice / Updates on current treatment cycle or planned/future treatment cycles
• Questions / Discussion about medications, treatment, diagnostic tests, and lab results
• Any measures taken/evaluated to improve treatment outcomes – supplements, diet, exercise, etc
• Seeking emotional support related to upcoming treatment, treatment outcomes, infertility diagnosis, and confirmed loss
• Commiseration and venting related to treatment
• Supporting and cheering on fellow members as they run the gauntlet of infertility treatments

Essentially, if you mention treatment – it goes in this thread.
​
A few notes:

• Positive HPT or Beta Results (including Beta Hell) should only be posted in the Results thread as per the rules (except for confirmed loss): https://www.reddit.com/infertility/search?q=flair_name%3A%22Results%22
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Kitty knew this guy for four years and he was dating Yuri ( getting pimped out) for money to pay his tuition, it seemed like he was money minded and NEVER explained him self but instead he acts like he can’t talk. He breaks up with Yuri (family doesn’t know), then gets with Kitty, and then breaks up with her again, but still has feelings for her and attacks Min ho? When I watched that scene I was like “oh shit a twist! Dae really isn’t who he says he is” but everything went back to normal after finals??? I feel like I would have enjoyed him more if he was just an asshole who lied to everyone around him and became Yuris fathers Muse while working on his internship. And now that I think about it his friend group was a rich asshole and a top athlete, he seems materialistic low key. And additionally I have not seen any chemistry between him, Q, and Min Ho they don’t seem like friends, just plainly roommates.

Hi, I'm 25f and i started talking to a 53m daddy dom through fetlife some months ago. He has been very upfront, honest, truthful about everything. When it did get a little serious and we were discussing the possibility of meeting, he told me he's married. It's not like he was hiding it but we weren't talking as seriously when we began and it actually felt like an honest mistake on his end. Im a very very cautious person when it comes to men and that didn't feel like a threat to me. I also have bad trauma and i can not stand cheaters. At all.
We went on to explain that he has a seperate bdsm side, and a seperate normal side to him. He told me that his wife had a surgery or some medical examination done when she was young which went wrong and she has pain+trauma from it and that they are basically roommates. They have never had sex. We are indian and i do get that when he was young he would have been forced to arrange-marry like everyone else here. We don't get a choice. And now he can't leave her.
But he's a very gentle, kind and honest man. I really like him. He even shared his socials with me to see everything, even his family pictures. He doesn't have kids.
I just mean that I feel trust and safety with this man. But i feel bad, wrong thinking I'm helping someone cheat? We're supposed to meet in July and j can back out any time, it can just be a simple coffee meeting.
But i feel conflicted. Please tell me what's right or wrong. Am I right to feel guilty? Even though I have Very strong opinions on cheating, I still want to meet him. I'm not sure what I should do

My current coworkers are mean. I was told they’re exclusive, completely ignore people , and bitchy when I started. But a few of them are the meanest people ever.
My parents are toxic as fuck. Literally got screamed at today by my dad bc he locked the door and didn’t bring his key. It took me a few minutes to come downstairs to let him in and he screamed at me insanely angrily. He told me to go fuck myself and fuck me and blah blah. My parents made me late for school everyday growing up bc I couldn’t leave unless my room was perfectly spotless like every speck of dust. I think my parents hate me bc of my bad grades my freshman year of college but they are the ones that wouldn’t let me get help for my learning disorder or let any kids drive so I couldn’t even get a job or do college for. Along time. Even though I’m succeeding post fighting a huge battle to get adderall (mom had a meltdown In the clinic to try and not let me get meds) I am getting good grades now but it takes a long time to get a degree obviously.
My best friends. Well.. in middle school I was bullied by this girl in my friendgroup telling me I had no friends. She’s harass me w these texts all day until I was shaking from crying so hard and no family member cared. My mom told me my grandparents didn’t love me or want to see me as a kid than cut them out and repeatedly screamed and put tg
hat message into my head. Closest middle school friend ditched me by stealing the close friend I made. I had a group in hs. One girl constantly became mine and others best friends to use us than ditch us. A group of friends would dare me to not wear makeup everyday and harass me and make me feel bad for wearing makeup. One of my closest friends does that same thing and was so mean to me for a whole year a year ago but I can’t confront her for it bc she always just says the wrong things she does aren’t in her character. My other hs best friend repeatedly gets close to friends thab ditches them and does this in a cycle. She repeatedly hooks up with or tries to hookup with guys her best friends like and still does this. She always pretends she feels so bad and was a bad person in the past but still acts like this and makes excuses. College best friends were no better bc one flipped out all the time and was genuinly narciistic and a cheater on her bf and the other ditched me and tried to use me to get closer to ppl she thought were cool than tried to be besties again when she was alone

So, I'm feeling an itch to try and do another crossover, this time with Frostpunk of all things. Thus, I am gonna try it. However I must state some thing. In this universe, as the date Frostpunk is set in. Or at least, The scenario "A new home" is happening in. Is somewhere during 1886 to 87. And the invention of the Nukes are during 1933. So for all intents and purposes, The Federation never stumbled upon humanity. At least, in a way they stumble upon them so much earlier than they should. This way, the feds never had a reason to exterminate the species in the first place. They didn't know they existed.
In terms of things regarding the Laws of New London. In this story, both Order and Faith are mixed together. The laws leading to Faith Keepers and The Temple are signed as well as the laws leading to Patrols and Foremen. As for Adaptation laws. Child Labor, Extended Shift, Soup, Extra rations for the Ill, Prosthetics, Ceremonial funerals, Public house. Nearly everything is researched.

For the purpose of the City, they haven't crossed the Line yet. But as any who played the game knows. The other side of the Line is so tempting. So very, very tempting.

Memory Transcript: Felix Hawthorn - Captain, leader of the last City
Date: [standardized human time]: Day 47
I can no longer see the lights out there. The Little fires and candles that lit up the city. The houses are all but covered in ice. The automatons are barely managing to work through the frigid winds. I turn to check the thermometer, even in my office. Built at the base of the Generator. The winds could reach me through the cracks in the walls. I blinked the ice out of my eyes as my vision locks with the thermometer. "Negative... 150 degrees..." I croaked out. Speaking aloud as I slowly turned to face the cloak on the wall.
To my bewilderment, and amazement. It was still turning away. Even when frost threatened to break it. Just a few more hours... just a few more...
I weakly lifted my arm, If I survive. It'll need amputating. I couldn't even feel the burning cold that was coating its' senses yesterday.
No guardsmen, Faith Keeper, or anyone has came to alert me to anything new... The infirmaries were the only buildings with enough warmth for people to at the very least. Feel chilly... Heh... "Should probably go to one..." I shiver at I felt Jack Frost threaten to tear my insides apart, speaking my thoughts won't help much... thinking things out will keep me focused...
I can't go to a Infirmary. We have no space for a new one to be built, nor do we have enough space for everyone... Thus, here I sit. In my chair. Watching the frost grow on my windows... I pray to myself, that whoever plunged us in this Frozen Hell. Would have mercy on the children and the elderly
As the glass in my window gets overgrown in ice and snow, I slowly close my eyes. And lay back. If this is the end of the human race as we know it... I rather sleep through it than see the results. I already wrote down notes so whomever finds me, will know what to do.
Sleep takes me, the frost won't win that battle at least. In the realms of Dreams. I'm sitting under the warm sun, my daughter and son playing in the grass not too far from me. My wife and I play a game, pointing out the different shapes the clouds made in the sky...
​
There is a pirate ship... a bird... that's a whale... "No, silly. That's a dolphin!" she'd laugh, I would respond with a chortle and a "Well, when you're right, you're right."
Such warmth... It's not even that warm in actuality, it is as average a day as any other... but I feel so... warm.
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Memory Transcript: Jannim, Junior Venlil explorer
Date: [standardized human time]: Day 47
I shivered as the ship struggles to handle the temperature of this planet. Of course, sometimes a explorer will never come back. Be it through running into Predators, a error in the systems. Or just bad luck. But I never thought it would happen to me.
I boot up the terminal, thankful it still worked at least. "Explorer Log 21. Jannim. Horkle, our exterminator. Succumbed to the wounds he sustained during the crash. Day 7 after the crash, our pilot, Thalk and captain Fonn still haven't came in from checking on the damages the ship sustained when the storm hit us. Should've left when we noticed it but no... we just had to be heroes to a race we don't even know how to find." I panted as I glanced to the ships' walls. Thanks to the ship I'm alive, but how long will the power last? If Fonn and Thalk were still alive out there... I took a deep breath and continue the log "The captain and pilot left the ship sometime yesterday, to check on external damages and on the engines.-" A growl from the predator-like winds stole my attention away.
You survived a Arxur raid, and this is how you go out? Fearing for your life because of alien nature?
Yes, I was...
​
I take a bite out of my emergency rations, the blandness of it was much better than the chill in the air. "-I-if anyone finds this, leave this planet. Don't go looking for the natives, LEAVE. Before the scans broke down, it appears the planet is gonna undergo various storms similar to the one I am in. Leave at once and mark the planet down as a Deathtrap." I managed to keep myself from stuttering as I continued the message "The planet itself seems predatory, if this is anything to go by. I believe the natives of this planet will have succumbed to the frost during this storm. If not this one, then the next one. Or the one after that. However long it takes. Nothing should be able to survive such harsh winds in this temperature."
I stop myself, taking a few deep breaths, then another bite of my ration. "... If you're stationed near Venlil Prime. Please, find Pallhen. He's my father... tell him... I love him, and that I'm with Mother now." I choke past a tear as I looked to the systems. "Looks like the lights are about to fail, if the controls are anything to go by. Even if the pilot and captain return. We won't be able to even launch... Final log of Junior Explorer Jannim. Protector watch over us." I sighed before ending the Log. Left in silence, I listened to the predatory-storm beat on the ship. And watch Horkles' corpse lay on the medical table of our ship.
Silently counting the emergency rations, and what regular rations we have left. I would last around a week. Perhaps longer if I space my meals out... I think I'll just keep my meals as is, having to do with spacing meals out will just raise my hopes... Can't really have that if this storm lasts much longer.
I resumed eating my ration as I try to guess what the natives were like before this planet became a great, big, Temperature Predator. ------------------------------------------------ Memory Transcript: Felix Hawthorn - Captain, leader of the last City
Date: [standardized human time]: Day 48
"Captain!" A harsh voice awakens me, I use my one good arm to push the Faith Keepers' hands off me. He was apparently shaking me awake. "I'm up, I'm up!" I cried out as I sighed. I could see the relief worm its way onto Brother Collins' face. "Captain. We made it" he exclaimed as a mix of relief and pure joy radiates from his face to his voice. I grumbled in tired bewilderment as I turned to look at the thermometer.
"The storm has passed!" Collin cheered as I mentally froze at the sight on the Thermometer on the wall. -20 degrees Celsius... "Brother Collin! don't just stand there!" I cried out as I stand up with as much my renewed vigor would allow me. Causing the Faith-keeper to freeze in place. "Get out there, and tell the Guards to check the people, check them yourself it you have to. I need information on how our population handled this storm before we move forward!" I shout my orders at Collin, before grabbing my scarf off my neck. The ice still hasn't thawed off my scarf but... I fashion it into a sling for my arm "I'll be here after I have my arm amputated. Can't die now after all we went through." I allow a slight snicker escape my lips as I walk out the doors of my office and marched to the nearest infirmary. I could hear Collin run out of the office shortly after me and went off to find the guards, check families. Maybe both.
To my relief, the infirmary I first arrived at had a place open for me. Due to overcrowding, I was given a seat on the floor. And now... here I wait, listening to the doctors and nurses comfort and calm the ill and wounded. A few shot nasty glares at me... I'd like to see them try and prepare the city for a storm like that. I think I did pretty well... ---A few hours later.--- "So... we're at 307 able bodies, a hundred dead. Five missing. And finally, 246 amputees" I stated to the Head guardsmen, Matthew Williams. And there beside him stood high Priest Jenkins Anderson. "Moral will go up of course, everyone who survived the storm will feel nothing but joy for a while. But now we have to deal with reverting the city to what it was before the storm." I point to Matthew with my newly attached arm, the claw couldn't point fingers but it works when I need to grab something. I shift to point at Anderson as this was for them both to do. "Spread word that we are sending hunters back out and are putting the hothouses back up. I want scouts looking through the wilderness for anything they can find out there. We're not out of the storm yet" I declared as I brought my prosthetic back down. "Take stock of what rations we currently have, and spread them out as much as you can to the population. Send word to the Factory to start churning out Prosthetics... And when you have the scouts ready, inform me." Mister Williams saluted me before leaving the office, while Anderson stays there, watching me... "Did... the two come back?" I asked him, the silent shake of his head told me everything... "We don't have the bodies... find out the name of that father and his daughter, then make a pair of graves for them." Anderson nods and with a respectful bow, stepped out the door.
Finally left to my thoughts, I sat back in my chair. Staring at my desk. So many lives lost... I did what I could, but should I have done better? I could have done better... they are all dead because of me, how many of them were parents?... how many children?
I sat in silence as I start a prayer to the dead. Praying they forgive me for failing them. Praying again that they pass on to a place better than where we are. And finally, Praying that someone up there actually is listening...
Once my prayers were done, I looked to the reports brother Collin had placed on my desk during my time in the Infirmary. Apparently something had crashed during the start of the great storm. There was something flying out there... Going by the calculations the engineers did under Collins' request. The crash is relatively close by... a three day travel on foot, two via riding one of the automatons through the days and night.
I stand from my desk and walk out the door, Paying some mind to a picture of my wife on my way out. I had to be one of the scouts. For this at the very least... if there is some hope there is a survivor out there, if the father and his daughter is there... I have to be certain... we have enough automatons and able bodies to use the coal mines and coal thumpers. And after the storm, I do not believe we required the other laws. I'll leave the high priest in charge until my return. Matthews is a good man but... Anderson is the more compassionate of the two. He'll keep up the moral while I'm away.
​
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This wasn't a lot, but hey. Hope you liked the introduction. If anyone has any questions regarding New London in the story, please feel free to ask. If anyone has anything to just say, feel free to share your thoughts.

I’m so distressed and I have no one to hug me and tell me it’s okay. My suicidal ideations have been so bad lately and I’ve got no one to comfort me or hug me. My parents are unreliable in terms of emotional support. I have no irl friend or family member who would comfort me. I wish I’d kill myself when I had planned earlier. Life is so fucking useless when you don’t have energetic fun friend groups and rich loving parents. I hate being alive. I don’t have much to live for.

My current coworkers are mean. I was told they’re exclusive, completely ignore people , and bitchy when I started. But a few of them are the meanest people ever.
My parents are toxic as fuck. Literally got screamed at today by my dad bc he locked the door and didn’t bring his key. It took me a few minutes to come downstairs to let him in and he screamed at me insanely angrily. He told me to go fuck myself and fuck me and blah blah. My parents made me late for school everyday growing up bc I couldn’t leave unless my room was perfectly spotless like every speck of dust. I think my parents hate me bc of my bad grades my freshman year of college but they are the ones that wouldn’t let me get help for my learning disorder or let any kids drive so I couldn’t even get a job or do college for. Along time. Even though I’m succeeding post fighting a huge battle to get adderall (mom had a meltdown In the clinic to try and not let me get meds) I am getting good grades now but it takes a long time to get a degree obviously.
My best friends. Well.. in middle school I was bullied by this girl in my friendgroup telling me I had no friends. She’s harass me w these texts all day until I was shaking from crying so hard and no family member cared. My mom told me my grandparents didn’t love me or want to see me as a kid than cut them out and repeatedly screamed and put tg
hat message into my head. Closest middle school friend ditched me by stealing the close friend I made. I had a group in hs. One girl constantly became mine and others best friends to use us than ditch us. A group of friends would dare me to not wear makeup everyday and harass me and make me feel bad for wearing makeup. One of my closest friends does that same thing and was so mean to me for a whole year a year ago but I can’t confront her for it bc she always just says the wrong things she does aren’t in her character. My other hs best friend repeatedly gets close to friends thab ditches them and does this in a cycle. She repeatedly hooks up with or tries to hookup with guys her best friends like and still does this. She always pretends she feels so bad and was a bad person in the past but still acts like this and makes excuses. College best friends were no better bc one flipped out all the time and was genuinly narciistic and a cheater on her bf and the other ditched me and tried to use me to get closer to ppl she thought were cool than tried to be besties again when she was alone

during a conversation a friend asked me "well what should government do?" and I wrote the following.
I've numbered items to help comment. There are items that work together so consider the whole too.
Financial 1. Regulate buy-now pay-later finance providers 2. Increase tax rates at higher income levels 3. Require banks to provide loans for cars at a rate pegged to RBA cash interest rate
Regulation 4. Don't allow industries to self regulate but force them to develop their compliance infrastructure to government spec or lose government licenses, contracts 5. Launch government insurance for doctors
Government and Business 6. Streamline law 7. Increase nurse and teacher pay and trainee subsidy and explore how these can be used as economic levers 8. Remove barriers where possible for tourism
Labour 9. Increase unskilled and skilled immigration 10. Study and Work programs for regional youth 11. Decrease tax for people living and working in rural areas 12. Provide young people including visitors with discounted travel passes 13. All military personnel, professional athletes and medically capable unemployed registered to natural disaster response force which can be called up within 24 hours of need
Home prices and Urban sprawl 14. Release land for housing development Government bridging loans for elderly to replace family home with duplex with one home to be aold to cover construction and increase superannuation 15. Create large parking and charging facilities at transport hubs for electric vehicles
Investment and Manufacturing 16. Initiate large infrastructure projects such as internet, rail, water, solar, nuclear. 17. Build the world's largest solar arrays using locally manufactured panels 18. Australians over 30 working overseas to pay a citizenship retention tax which is reimbursed at the same rate if they return to live and work in Australia 19. Tax inheritance
Education and Health 20. Remove financial support for private schools 21. Decrease school and hospital administrator pay and where possible replace with national information systems Increase parent contribution to public school budget through tax system 22. University students in pairs required to teach online science and math evening classes with a social dimension for school age students as an alternative to computer games
Health 23. Increase funding for community mental health clinics and rehabilitation services 24. Decriminalise marijuana
Innovation and Manufacturing 25. invest more in research 26. Do a deal with Toyota to manufacture electric 4WD and utility vehicles in Australia and base it in Lismore 27. Do a deal with CAT to manufacture earthmoving and mining vehicles and base it in Alice Springs. 28. Do a deal for mega factory making solar panels in South Australia
Military: 29. Decrease military budget 30. Training of personnel to include 2 year exchanges with allies 31. Recognise areas in which Australian military excels and that can be components of allied defensive actions ie reconnaisance, air traffic control, community liaison, regional aid from helicoper carrying ships etc 32. Permit allies to build bases on Australian territories 33. Make first responder natural disaster response a part of the military's role including support for communities in crisis such as medical care and teaching in aboriginal communities 34. Export specialised military equipment and only buy equipment from allies that buy ours

Since I started college I have been working full time to support my family, and my job is not in the medical profession, I have two more years until I graduate, but I’m not sure how to go about doing clinical activities, shadowing, and research, because it’s really hard to find a job that counts as clinical experience with the same pay I get right now. I really need to get as much as I can while taking full time school. My gpa is good and I have started studying for my Mcat. In my situation what are my options?

The Old Ways can rub some people wrong — especially those coming into the supernatural world fresh from this modern era of excess, privilege, and internet anonymity. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen societal changes and cultural shifts in every direction you could plot an axis for; live for nearly 3500 years as I have, and you too will come to understand that Change is the one and only constant in this world. But what our more, shall I say, exuberant (indignant, entitled, take your pick) newcomers tend to misunderstand is that Old Ways — and those of us who uphold them — don’t stand in opposition to change; we’ve just already seen all their ‘new’ ideas brought forward before, been accepted, gone stale, and get discarded for the next.
The Old Ways aren’t rules, they’re just how you come to behave once you’ve lived through a few revolutions of the cycle. They’re also not written or codified in any way, but if I had to articulate the particular tenet that seems most abhorrent to our most recent newcomers, it would be this: Respect is owed to your elders, because they’ve already damn-well earned it in the past.
The recent upheaval in the supernatural underworld wasn’t particularly upsetting, or even that surprising: some newly-minted vamp shaking things up, gathering a following, killing off a few of the established vampire lords. I don’t overlap much with the neck-biter scene, so it wasn’t very concerning to me. But as ill-luck would have it, he kept growing more famous, and thus harder to avoid hearing about.
He was turned fairly late for a vampire, in his 40s, having already led a deeply troubling life steeped in conspiracy theory, hoax, and rabbit holes into the occult. So rather than take the traditional path toward amassing strength for a vamp — which is basically just to feed regularly and get older — he instead continued his dive into the occult. To his credit, this did score him the power he needed to oppose (and depose) many of the vampire lords of London; to his detriment, it also placed him rather firmly on a collision course with me.
I’d put a handful of wards and contingencies in place out of habit, but I wasn’t particularly concerned. Vampires are about as dangerous to me as… eh… now that I think of it, I don’t have a great analogy on hand for this. There isn’t much that’s truly all that dangerous to me at all, anymore — about as dangerous as a mosquito, I guess? In that I’d be annoyed if one bit me?
Still, he did manage to surprise me, if only because I never thought he’d be stupid enough to come for me there, in the Tavern. But like I said: in this storied community, the impetuous youth flaunt or ignore the Old Ways at their own peril. And it had started as such a nice, quiet night, with me seated at my usual booth in its dimly lit, secluded corner of the restaurant.
“Here you are, darling, you just let me know if you need anything else, okay?”
The head server of the Tavern is a lovely woman, seemingly 30 to 40 years of age, who despite the many years she’s spent in England, still speaks with an accent from the American south. Her ethnic heritage is clearly from a region further south-west in Africa than my own.
“Of course, thank you Catherine,” I replied as she placed an impeccably plated salad on the table before me. It was one of my favorites at the Tavern, a delightful little number with tender bamboo shoots, and some kind of sweet and spicy mustard vinaigrette. Catherine smiled and whisked off toward another table. I folded a piece of baby spinach over an arugula leaf and pinned them to a bamboo shoot with my fork, and had just lifted them to my lips when the doors to the Tavern slammed open into the walls of the entryway. The small, decorative windows in the doors shattered on impact, showering the hostess’ podium with shards of glass.
Most groups of vampires want to be called ‘covens.’ Some of the weirder, extra culty groups prefer the term ‘hive.’ Judging by the collection of washed out, middle-aged vampire bros who sauntered in through the broken doors, I can only assume this group called themselves something extra stupid, like ‘the posse.’
He was immediately evident. His four goons looked like your average jocks who’d had neither the skill to go pro, nor the sense to plan for anything else in life, and had spent their subsequent years in disappointment of themselves and others.
“Barkeep! A round of your finest libations for the entourage of…” the fucker actually paused, as though for dramatic effect, “the Dread Prince Lestat!”
An audible groan of disgust rose from a table of Lesser Devils in the next alcove down from mine. Abyssal-speech is difficult to decipher even when there isn’t a group of demons all talking over one another, but I did manage to make out from one of them, a trickster muse by the name of Mamenoche, just before he dissolved into a cloud of flies and dispersed. The remaining devils grumbled in disappointment, but still turned with eager smiles to watch the drama unfold.
The keeper of the tavern, for his part, simply raised an eyebrow while he wiped down a freshly washed stein with a drying rag. He nodded to an empty table. “Take a seat, we’ll be right with you,” he said, and then turned away to shelve the clean glass.
The keeper is a slight man, of average height, perhaps in his early to mid 50s. He wears the same costume every day: dark brown slacks and a burgundy tweed vest over a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled back to his elbows. His voice is rich and resonant, and though soft-spoken, he is never difficult to hear. Beyond that, I can only say that the tavern keeper looks exactly as you think he would, and do understand that I mean that literally. His features, his hair, the color of his skin: they all exist only in the eyes of the beholder. It’s part of the Glamour.
The four underlings slid chairs out from the table and plopped down with what some of my younger students have recently informed me is known as the ‘Riker maneuver.’ Lestat remained standing and circled the table while he addressed the patrons.
“Well, well, well. So this is the storied Tavern. Drinking hole for the Greats of the underworld, the movers and shakers, the true titans of the occult.” He smirked and paused for effect again. “At least now it is. Bit of a slow day before I got here, eh barkeep?”
The keeper responded with silence as he filled five elaborately crafted snifters from a small, gold-banded barrel behind the bar.
“No matter, we’ll liven things up here real soon. I’m looking for a woman — no, not you love, some other time maybe.” He gestured across the bar to a woman of simply indescribable beauty, whom he utterly failed to recognize as Titania. Lounging beside her, Oberon narrowed his eyes, but remained otherwise still.
It had been at least 150 years since the last time a patron had stepped out of line in the Tavern, and the mood of the crowd was positively electric with anticipation. The vampire, bless his shriveled little heart, clearly interpreted this as deference to his prowess.
“The woman I’m looking for is… Egyptian. An Empress. Her very name and image carved off the face of history by her own son. Probably on the masculine side, considering how she managed to pass herself off as a Pharaoh and usurp his reign for 20 years. Just a guess, but probably a 2 or 3 out of 10.”
“I’ve had kings put to death for far less impetuous horse shit than that, young man,” I said. How rude — I looked positively fabulous with a false goatee.
He turned to me with a broad smile and threw his arms wide open. “And here she is, The Empress Undying. The ‘last word’ in all things occult and arcane, so they tell me.” He approached, squinting into the gloom surrounding my dining table. “And wow, I take it all back, for a 3,000 year old mummy, you are surprisingly bang-able. You know I love a girl who plays hard to get, and let’s face it — erased from history, all that jazz — you were difficult to track down, Hatshepsut!”
“Really? I have a page on Wikipedia.”
“That’s not— I mean I prefer— that is, well, primary sources are—”
“Which, if you’d bothered reading, would have told you that Thutmose the Second was not my son, but my step son, and that at 2 years old he was not in the best position to rule when my husband passed. Not to mention it was actually his bratty son Amenhotep who ordered the whole defacing of my icons thing.” Which is also untrue. I ate my own name as part of my Ascension. But he doesn’t need to know the details of my life.
“Here’s your drinks boys,” Catherine said behind him with her typically cheerful demeanor as she set the tray of snifters down between Lestat’s posse. “Seeing as how it’s your first round at the Tavern, darlings, this one’s on the house.”
The vampires grabbed their drinks without so much as a thank you. Lestat wisely took the interruption as a reprieve from this sudden hiccup in whatever grand plan it was he had in mind for me, and retreated to the support of his minions. One of them sniffed at the drink suspiciously, while the others simply threw them back like shots and immediately grimaced. One got it down before sputtering and coughing uproariously, the other two spit it out back into their snifters.
“What is this shit?”
“That’s Ambrosia, darling,” Catherine said as she gently patted the coughing vamp on his back. “Nectar of the gods. It’s a bit of an acquired taste for sure, and most people do prefer to sip it. They say it’s ‘too much sensation’ for us lesser beings.”
“They don’t want Ambrosia, you wench,” Lestat howled, “they want blood!”
“Well I’m sorry darling, but we don’t serve blood here. You asked for a round of our ‘finest libations,’ and there’s no drink finer than Ambrosia in the Tavern, nor outside of it as I’ve ever heard. That barrel over there was handed off by Hermes himself.”
One of the vampires dashed his drink on the floor and pointed at Catherine.
“You’ve got blood, don’t you lass?”
“That will be enough.” The tavern keeper’s soft, mellifluous voice draped over the exchange like a weighted blanket. “I’ve served you drinks, and in return you have been exceedingly impolite to my establishment, my staff, and my patrons. Learn the meaning of deference before you visit next, for you will not be well-received without it. Now, leave.”
Lestat’s four hulking minions might have succumbed to the spell of the keeper’s voice had not their ring-leader, to his detriment, managed to shake out of it.
“Leave? No, we just got here,” he turned back to me, “and I’m not finished with her.”
“But I am finished with you,” I said.
“Ten,” the keeper said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the bar.
“The only reason I haven’t ended your miserable existence thus far,” I continued, “is out of deference to my elders. It is not my right to take your life inside the walls of this Tavern. I suppose I’ll soon be forced to do it outside, but do understand, I’ll approach that no differently than I would stepping on a scarab.”
“Nine.”
“The truth of it is, 'Dread Prince,' that you are not worth the breath spent uttering your ridiculous name.”
“Not worth your time, am I? I’ll show you what your time is worth, you decrepit bitch!”
“Eight,” the tavern keeper said, and Lestat flung an outstretched claw in his direction while hissing out a spell in medieval Latin.
Generously translated, it came out to roughly As though caught on a hook, the keeper tumbled over his bar and forward through the air. Lestat caught him by the neck and wrenched sideways, spinning the keeper’s head fully around with a loud crunching sound. Then, with the inhuman speed inherent to vampires, he hoisted the keeper’s body over his head, darted across the Tavern, and slammed him down through a table surrounded by a flock of naiads.
He turned and caught Catherine in the hypnotic gaze his kind uses to trap their prey, and strolled leisurely back over to his group. I crossed my arms.
“Sorry ‘darling,’ but I like my meals a little toasty.”
He hissed in his awful Latin again, along the lines of Catherine convulsed and shrieked, unable to move while locked in his gaze. He yanked her head to the side and made a show of sinking his fangs into her neck with a ripping motion, splattering droplets of blood across the tavern that sizzled and steamed where they landed. Her lifeless body rolled under the table as he turned his bloody face back to me.
“How do you like me now?”
I pushed my untouched salad, now flecked with Catherine’s blood, away from me on the table and let out a deep sigh.
“First, your grasp of Latin is elementary at best, you really should have practiced more before coming to see me. No, now, this is the part where you listen.”
I pinched my forefinger to the thumb to seal the air inside his lungs. He stumbled back and clutched at his neck in surprise — he wasn’t going to suffocate of course, but it’s an unpleasant feeling for sure if you haven’t yet come to the realization that you don’t actually need to breathe in undeath.
“Of course it is the intent that matters somewhat more-so than the language used — but, and I cannot stress this enough, good syntax simply never hurts. The age of your language also should not be overlooked. The older the language, the truer it is to the One Tongue of Magic, before it was fractured and the tower fell. You came with a form of Ecclesiastical Latin from around the 12th century, taught to Catholic priests. Underwhelming at best. You should have at least brought Classical Latin from the time of the Caesars, that would have shown me you were trying.
“Second, you demonstrate a lack of finesse that is simply appalling. I will commend your creativity in bringing your own spells to demonstrate. It is a key craft that many young students of the occult struggle with terribly for many years. You are also clearly capable of drawing significant power to bear, which is always a good start. However, the path to enduring success in the arcane arts isn’t power, it’s efficiency. What you did worked, but it took far more power than it needed to. I can think of a dozen ways to boil someone’s blood off the top of my head, and none of them require much more focus or power than this.”
I released my fingers, letting the air out of his lungs in an involuntary wheeze.
“Since you were turned, I suspect you’ve never met a door you couldn’t break down with brute force. But that’s only because until today, you never really went looking for one.
“Third, and most damning of the indictments against you is this: you absolutely and utterly failed to read the room, nor did you accept the un-earned grace that was offered to you. Thus ends our impromptu lesson, prince. Good luck.”
I leaned back and draped my arms across the cushions of my booth, while Lestat yanked one of his minions to their feet and stood behind him, tensing for a fight.
“Mother… fucker…” came a mutter from under Lestat’s table, as Catherine stirred and rolled over onto her side. The newly-minted vampire lord paused and looked down at her with a furrowed brow.
“Wait, was she not a human? That normally kills humans.” He looked to his cronies, who gave him an array of shrugs and uncertain mumblings.
I said in Classical Latin,
The vampire cocked his head, clearly trying and failing to work through the declensions and figure out exactly what I had said. I pointed across the room to the tavern keeper, standing up out of the wreckage of his table. Loud crunches of grinding bone sounded from his neck as he rolled his head from side to side, reforming the shattered vertebrae inside it. He spat out a mouthful of blood, then plucked a wrinkled pocket square from his vest and dabbed the corners of his lips.
“Zero,” the keeper said once his larynx had reformed enough for speech. “It’s the medical benefits of her employment package: immunity to death, disease, etc. Cuts the insurance middle-men right out of the picture, I find it’s very efficient.”
“Ah.” Lestat eyed the keeper, far too late showing the slightest hint of caution or concern. “So she’s human, but you’re not. Well then, what are you?”
“Immortal,” the Keeper replied simply, as he plucked a shard of glass out of his skull and tossed it aside. It landed with a loud tinkle in the otherwise silent room.
“That means nothing,” Prince Lestat waved his hand dismissively. “I’m immortal. Half your bloody patrons are—”
“No,” the keeper cut him off as he straightened out his vest and stepped out of the wreckage of the table. “You are ageless, thanks to the curse of undeath upon you. That is a very different thing than being immortal. Numerous vampire lords you’ve killed in the last few months would attest to this, were they not dead, no? They may not like to acknowledge it, but this is a simple fact that every entity in this establishment is keenly aware of, save for you.”
Lestat said nothing, but his body language spoke volumes for him, as he shrunk half a step backward toward the support of his underlings.
“My patrons from the Fey realms, or the Abyss? They experience death on this plane of existence as a banishment back to their own. But once there, they age and die the same as all other creatures in existence, if perhaps at a different rate than a human does. My dear employee Catherine, whom you’ve treated with such brazen disrespect, will live as long as she wishes to. But some day, be it centuries or millennia from now, she will grow tired of life, and request I terminate her contract.”
He gestured to me, seated in my quiet, dark corner, and a chill ran down my spine.
“Even the Empress Undying, whom you unwisely came looking for tonight, will only survive so long as she maintains the numerous spells and failsafes she has crafted to preserve and extend her unnatural life.”
My thoughts flickered in succession through my 5 phylacteries, painstakingly secreted away in sealed and warded caches both near and far-flung — and I watched in horror as the keeper’s eyes lifted briefly to the keystone of the stone arch over his doorway, then settled on me, and he winked.
By the gods, my cold heart would have skipped a beat were it able. How did he find it out? Or, more likely: has he simply always known?
“One day, when she has grown tired of this endless upkeep, she too will come to me for release. You see, Edwin, everything dies eventually.”
He held his hand calmly out to his side, and wisps of shadow materialized and snaked through the air into his grasp. The Dread Prince Lestat — Edwin — first shivered, then spasmed, and finally, as his entourage withdrew from him in horror, collapsed in a fit of convulsions. The shadows continued to flow into the keeper’s outstretched hand, gaining solidity and texture, until he was left holding his implement: a bowed farmer’s scythe, worn and battered, but with a keen edge that felt dizzying and somehow wrong to look upon. The keeper stepped forward.
“Everything dies, except for me.”
Been wanting to get back into writing for a while and came across this response I half-wrote last year.
Original prompt either here or here , honestly not sure which one I originally happened across anymore.

J&C Group, established in 1955, is India’s most trusted company in the world of Dimensional Stone Industry. Our founder Shri. Jayantilal D Patel with his modest family background and indomitable entrepreneurial spirit established our company in the city of Ahmedabad. We started our journey by entering in to Basalt Mining catering the needs of the growing city of Ahmedabad with construction aggregates. Today we stand with a strength of backward and forward integration in equal proportion to remain a most cost competitive company with mining and processing of Sandstone, Marble, Granite, Lime stone with latest machines.
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