Okay, so... a few days ago I posted about a rewrite of all Elite seasons, dividing it into two parts (part 1: S1, S2 & S3, and part 2: S4, S5 & S6). It was a rewrite that I did about a year ago, and only a few days ago it occurred to me to upload it here without further ado, but several comments on the post from the last three seasons told me that they felt a little disconnected from the rest, that last seasons didn't had a general harmony between the characters and the story itself, and the truth is, you were right.
So, since I had nothing better to do at home, I began to think of some way to accommodate that, and well, this is what I came to ^-^
This is only the S4 rewrite, and I want to clarify this retains most of the things I mentioned in my original post, but in a better order, and with several additions I took from the comments on that post, which really made this version a 100/10.
I leave you the link of the original post, where you can read the first complete idea:
https://www.reddit.com/EliteNetflix/comments/13yr1r6/fixing_netflix_elite_season_46_english/
I'll be making the new parts 5 and 6 in a few of these days, and uploading them to my profile as well. When I have them, I will leave those links in the comments of this post.
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S4: the main focus of this season would be on excesses, specifically, on the consequences of drug abuse.

• The story of this season should have followed the consequences of Polo's death for our characters, the weight of the pact of silence regarding Lu, and the non-hypersexualized harmony that the first three seasons had between the characters.
• In addition, from this season several things about the school itself raised in previous seasons seem to have been forgotten just like that:

1. Las Encinas is a bilingual school, but we never see another teacher speaking English (French in the English dubbing) again.
2. The school competition with the Ivy League prize that Nadia and Lu compete for during the first three seasons is not mentioned again, when it is supposed to be something that is done every single year.
3. In addition, from this season almost all the scenes are located almost exclusively inside the school, and we see very little about outdoor scenes, or the private lives of the characters. This is also a serious mistake, since that was what best allowed us to know each other's backgrounds, and create empathy with them.

Initial setting for this season:
(in my post about the first three seasons) I made clear my idea for Christian's character at the end of season 3 (I decided to keep the character in the show, for plot reasons of season 2):

• Christian has pleaded guilty to the crime against Polo, partly to protect Lu (with whom in this version he would have had a romantic backstory) but also because he knew he would not bear to have another murder charge on his conscience (in this case, Polo's) after everything that happened with Marina. It was like his way of making himself pay for keeping silent, and at the same time understanding the reasons that Carla had had to protect Polo all that time: for the people you loved, you are willing to do anything; Carla had done that for Polo, and now he was doing it for Lu.
• At the end of the previous season, at graduation, we would very briefly met a new character who happened to be Carla's younger brother. That character (Felipe) will be one of the new main ones of this season and will be a completely modified version of Phillipe's character (who as such does not appear in this version).
• Nadia, Carla, Lucrecia, Cayetana, Ander, and Malick would have successfully graduated the previous season, and would no longer appear in this one. In this version, Omar would not appear anymore either, since he would have gone to the US with Malick, accompanying Nadia and Lucrecia.
• Samuel, Guzmán, Rebeka and Valerio would be the characters repeating the course and staying for one more season. Cayetana would also stay, but as in the original version, she would do so as the new school janitor.
• Guzmán and Mencía become close friends this season, based on how much Guzmán would see Marina in Mencía [For those who didn't know, Mencía was written as a reformulation of Marina's character, adapted to the needs of the new environment with this "new gen"].

Ari, Patrick and Mencía:

• We would find out that they are adopted children of Benjamin.
• The three of them + Felipe would enter the third year of school, that is, a course below the one that Samuel & company are repeating (making Felipe, Patrick and Ari two years younger than them, and Mencía three, since they originally tell us that she is one year ahead).

Benjamín Blanco: The father of the new trio, and the new principal in Las Encinas, after Azucena's dismissal. He is actually Polo's uncle (his late wife was Begoña Benavent's sister).

• Benjamín would have come to Madrid to help his sister-in-law regarding her son's trial, and to try to obtain information about this, by infiltrating the school, since apparently, despite Christian's guilty plea, there does not seem to have been direct evidence implicating him as the killer, beyond the romantic bond he shared with Polo, so police say it's quite possible he'll be released for lack of evidence.
• They tell us that Benjamin asked his three children for "help" to try to find out what really happened with Polo. However, Ari is the only one who accepted his request for help. Patrick and Mencía try to act as if that doesn't happen. Neither of the three mentions that Polo was their cousin.

Felipe Rosón Caleruega.

• Apparently, he had spent all those years attending a sister private school of Las Encinas located in Argentina, called Los Olmos, and when we got to know him properly this season we would discover that it was not his idea to return to live in Madrid, but rather a decision made by his parents. We would later learn that he had actually been expelled from his last school, and that there is something about his past in Argentina that he is trying to keep secret [Remember that he is a new version of what Phillipe was, so he must have something shady behind him].
• Felipe's "dark past" is based on having anger management problems: a video is revealed in which he is seen together with a group of students attacking another boy. There is a heavy complaint against him, and the case is still on trial, and only thanks to the influence of his parents was he able to avoid being arrested.
• Related to the second main plot of this season, which in the future would become the main plot for later seasons:

⠀⠀⠀ → His father, Theodoro Rosón plans to rebuild a public school again on top of the ruins of San Esteban's (Samu, Nadia & Christian's old school), this time by "legal means" to avoid the same fate as Ventura (Guzmán's father, who was arrested in S1), but still solely for the economic purposes that would result from such construction, and a new scholarship program that this new school would have with Las Encinas.*
⠀⠀⠀ → During the next season, the construction of this new institution would have finished, and we would have new scholarship recipients in Las Encinas, coming from this new school. This would be part of the "reboot" that the next generation would mean for Elite.
They make us believe that Rebeka (not Ari) is the main victim of this season... but she is not.

• From the first episode, we begin to have flashforwards at the beginning and at the end of each episode, where we see, to begin with Rebe in a coma in the hospital, intubated, letting us know that apparently and for some reason (which we still don't know at that moment, but you know, we here are from the future so we can already say that this reason was Armando) his life hangs by a thread. One of the flashforewards of the following episodes before the end shows us a scene of the police closing the closure of a funeral bag with a corpse inside, followed by another scene of Cayetana crying, hugging Felipe... apparently, Rebeka is dead...
• In the end, we find out that Rebeka would end up in the hospital because of Armando, after finding out what Mencía was going through all season, and having confronted him to defend her, but ending up severely beaten in the process.
• For the final episode, we finished understanding that the one in a funeral bag was actually Valerio...
• Valerio dies of an overdose, "completing circle" in his drug addiction plot, but not forcing murder into the season.

Armando's fate:

• HE IS NOT KILLED BY GUZMÁN. Seriously, how did the writers come up with the idea that the character we met SEEKING JUSTICE FOR THE CRIME AGAINST HIS SISTER would become the new criminal face, not facing the consequences and ending his story with him running away to avoid charges?
• Armando is imprisoned: During the last episode we see Mencía crying in the hospital, blaming herself for the possibility of losing Rebe because of her. She finally comes clean; Not with her father, not with Ari, not with Patrick... but with Guzmán. Guzmán is the only person she trusts enough to admit the truth about Armando. Just at that moment, Rebeka wakes up. The rest is simply a competent action on the part of justice.
• So that the public is left with a pleasant taste in the mouth... Armando is murdered in prison? Maybe.

Characters' subplots this season:

• The fact that Mencía is one year ahead of her siblings tells us that she has a fairly high intellectual level, which apparently at first would mark her as the new best in her class, and they tell us that if so, she could be the new candidate to win the prize for which we saw Nadia and Lu competing in the first season. However, as her plot with Armando develops, her grades begin to drop, which creates some concern in her teachers, but leaves Felipe as the second candidate for the award, being the second highest grade in the class. This does not create a rivalry between them two: Mencía is affected enough by her own problems to care, and also, we don't want to textually rewrite Nadia and Lu's plot with other characters, but to maintain the coherence of the traditions that we were previously told that the school had.
• Being that Carla and Marina had been best friends as girls, we discovered that Felipe actually knew Marina, although he doesn't remember her very well. He did not know Guzmán at all, however we see him approaching him anyway to offer his belated condolences on his sister's death. Perhaps in this same scene we discover that Felipe also knew Polo, and in fact had once been "close" to him: he was his sister's first boyfriend (with whom, in the first season, we were told that she had dating since age twelve). This means that Felipe was less than ten years old when he met Polo. Talking to Guzmán, Feli remembers how he used to enter the living room where Polo and Carla were, making her angry, although Polo always defended him and offered to play video games with him at the end of the afternoon. Felipe looks grieved over his death, even though he clearly doesn't know anything about what really happened to him.
• After everything that happened with Polo the previous season, Cayetana is at a point in her life where she is not capable of being in another relationship. Her plot remains only in the way that she wants to change her future and focus on her design career, perhaps having aftermath of everything that happened with Polo, making her start having anxiety attacks (but treating the subject delicately, with her beginning to see a specialist by Rebe's obligation). We would see how Caye tries to seek support from Valerio, because of "Polo's issue" and the connection that Valerio also had with him, but she is frustrated when she realizes that Valerio seems to have coped with all this issue through the use of drugs. Another possible plot for her would be her attempt to help him (parallels to her original attempt to help Philippe). Cayetana would be an easy second target for Ari, in her attempt to find information about Polo for her father. However, she would not achieve much due to the gap between them throughout the season.
• Felipe begins to become friends with Valerio (note: in my rewrite of season 3, I mention that Yeray and Carla's drug plot I gave up to Valerio, causing him and Carla to start having some kind of sex-romantic tension plot as client/dealer, before Carla decided to end that relationship in good health). Feli doesn't know about his sister's past with Valerio, nor does he care much either. He, however, although occasionally accepts to get high with Valerio, doesn't fall in the same game as Carla and is one of the people, along with Caye, who try to get Valerio out of his addiction.
• As for the Blanco siblings, Mencía's plot would continue as is, without too many changes (ie: Armando). We would see Ari mostly as her father's informant, initially her going through Samuel's cell phone as she started hanging out with him, seeing if she could find any information related to Polo's death. As for Patrick, his plot this season would be basically the opposite of Ari's: the pressure he has on him due to his father, and the guilt Benjamín blames him for not taking care of Mencía the night of his mother's accident. Throughout the season we would see him begin to despair more and more because of this, these being the bases of the approach that he would have with Valerio (where he would begin to try to get away from his problems through drugs), which would end in their future relationship [see below].
• Christian would appear as a recurring character. His scenes are based on visits given to him by Samuel, or even perhaps Guzmán, in prison. His permanence this season would be used to generate tension for the public, especially since (as mentioned at the beginning), the police would end up releasing him, due to lack of evidence against him. Let's say they take his statement as a result of the alcohol he drank at the party. It is his potential (and definitive) release from prison, which causes the arrival of the Benjamins in Madrid, with Benjamin trying to seek justice for the family of his dead wife.

Characters relationships this season:
Samuel + Ari + Guzmán.

• The love triangle was a pretty dire plot that only increased the public's hatred towards Ari for having separated Nadia and Guzmán, and for being the reason for the loss of all the development that Guzmán and Samu's relationship had had for three seasons.
• Only Samuel remains her love interest, setting up that possible future "fatheson" connection between him and Benjamin.
• Guzmán, for his side, would continue to have a long-distance love relationship with Nadia through video calls, and towards the end of the season, she surprises him with a visit to Madrid.

Samuel and Ari's relationship would not be there just as one more of the season, but would serve as an element for the plot: Ari would have approached Samuel after learning that he was Christian's close friend (the accused in Polo's murder) to try to obtain information. However, her feelings towards him would become true over the course of the season, thus seeing a kind of development in her character, which would allow the public to empathize with her.

• At some point near the season finale, Samuel would learn of Ari's and her family's connection to Polo's family, and the real reasons she had reached out to him. He would break up with her right then.
• Ari finally confesses the rest of the story, filling in the puzzle pieces that Samuel was missing. He claims that it hadn't all been fake, not for her: she had really fallen for him.
• As a possible redemption ending for the character, Ari vows not to tell her father about the truth after Polo's death, guided by the love she had come to feel for Samuel.

Rebeka + Mencía:

• I don't want to make changes to their relationship, because what they showed us about them this season was very beautiful and well developed. As a general rule of the season, they would also fall into the category of "no unnecessary sexualization of characters", which would mean getting rid of scenes like the one with the melted chocolate...
• We know that, aside to Rebeka, Mencía has her own plot with Armando, which is what triggers Rebeka's attack that leaves her in the hospital.

Patrick + Valerio:

• "Replacement" for Ander-Patrick-Omar's love triangle idea, without the drama and toxicity that this trio represented. Ander and Omar are gone. Valerio and Patrick? Both are wild partiers with drug-abusing tendencies. Let's match them up and watch them explode and burn, because that would be very funny.
• Later it could be revealed (or not) that Patrick would have approached Valerio at Ari's request, to try to obtain some information regarding Polo's case, at the insistence of their father.

Felipe ... + Cayetana?

• Since Felipe is a modified version of Phillipe, it would make sense for Caye to take the same position on wanting to help him despite his past, just as she did with Phillipe. Although this season I have said that I want to focus more on Caye's psyche after Polo's death, and that I don't know if she would be in the best place to want to be in a romantic relationship... In this case, maybe in this version we could reverse the roles of this couple...
• The rapprochement between them would (probably) take place thanks to the fact that they would now both have Valerio as a person in common: they both know each other thanks to him, and apparently they feel sympathy for each other when they meet. This could give us shared scenes of them at school, with Felipe defending Caye from Ari's teasing for her being a janitor (as an example).
• The real rapprochement between the two would occur at the moment when Felipe realizes that Cayetana doesn't seem to be in her best moment. He tries to get closer to her, to help her. We see him also trying to talk to Rebeka, to see if she knows what is happening to Caye, and it is Rebeka who, after several attempts, ends up revealing to him that Cayetana used to be Polo's girlfriend, along with Valerio. This was the explanation that Feli needed.
• That night, Felipe would go to Cayetana's house to try to talk to her, to comfort her. We would see a scene of a brief kiss between them before Cayetana separated from him, crying. Finally Caye had snapped. She would be the person who would finally break the pact of silence: she would reveal to Felipe that she knew who had killed Polo, and that it had not been Christian. The scene would end at that moment, tacitly implying that she would have revealed the whole truth to Felipe, although making him swear that he must not tell anyone.
• This confession would be what Cayetana needed to do so as not to fall into madness, so as not to continue feeling guilty. After that, her anxiety attacks would apparently start to subside, little by little. We would see her less nervous, although several times she would go to Felipe repeating that he must not tell anyone the truth, fearing what others could do if they found out that she had broken the silent pact.
• By the season finale, she would finally face Felipe, and the question of "What is this we have?". She apologizes to him, but tells him that it wouldn't be fair to let whatever they had go any further if she wouldn't end up being fully there for him. She was in no condition to have another relationship. Not after Polo... (and for the final ending of the last episode... not after Valerio). He gets it. They both end up on good terms, hugging each other. They are both crying over Valerio's death (this would be the flashforeward scene we would have seen in the first episodes).

By season finale, Guzmán drops out of school: he decides to join Nadia in the US.

• It's reveal that he feels guilty for getting away from everyone, especially because of what he has just discovered about Mencía. Her “brotherly instinct” tells him that he must stay to protect her, but in the end they show us a scene of both saying goodbye to each other in peace, and Mencía crying, thanking him for having put Armando in jail.
• There would be a farewell scene between him and Samuel, closing their plot as "brothers".

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So, that's it! My second take on a season 4 rewrite. Those who read my original post will have noticed that several things were literally a copy and paste of the original post. But I feel that it is the additions that I made thanks to the comments on that post that really end up giving the seasoning to this version ^-^

Hello my lovelies!
Welcome back to our second discussion of Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse. This week we're covering chapters 7-13. Here's a summary of what's happened now:
We jump back in with Serapio, who, 10 years after his mother's ritual, is finally headed to Tova. The intervening years have been hard for Serapio, between his father's neglect and his tutors' cruelty, but he is finally ready to achieve his destiny. Pilgrims have taken him from Obregi to Cuecola, and now Lord Balam has secured him passage to Tova in time for the Day of Convergence.
That morning, Serapio is already on board the ship when the crew arrives and begins to prepare for departure. No one bothers him, but Serapio enjoys the "almost company" as they prepare. Around midday, he hears raised voices and what seems to be a confrontation involving a few men, including Lord Balam. Serapio uses star pollen stored in a bag around his neck to communicate with a nearby crow and allow him to see through its eyes. Through the crow, Serapio sees the crew as they watch the argument between Lords Pech and Balam on the deck. He also sees a woman with radiating power that he recognizes is Teek before she whistles and breaks his connection to the crow, causing him to bleed in the process. Serapio is enamored with her and, as they push off, resolves to get to know the crew and captain during the upcoming journey.
We jump back in time to 8 years before the Day of Convergence. Serapio is fourteen, two years removed from his mother's ritual and death and more or less ignored by his father. One day, as Serapio sits on the terrace feeding and playing with his crows, his father brings a man who claims he will prepare him for his destiny. Serapio replies that he's already aware of his destiny, to be born a crow, and when pressed, reveals the nicknames other crows have given him, such as Grandfather Crow, Nightbringer, and Suneater.
The man confirms that Saaya had arranged for him and two others to train Serapio for his destiny - to become a god. The man hands Serapio a piece of wood and a chisel, explaining that he's going to teach him how to carve. He asks Seraipio a question; Serapio replies with a smart-aleck answer; and then the man strikes Serapio across the face. Before Serapio can call his crows to attack the man, he tells him that he'll hurt them too. The man grabs and strikes Serapio a few more times, telling him that he must become accustomed to pain in order to achieve his destiny, and that it's his responsibility to teach him how. Cowed, Serapio begins to cooperate with the man's questions and instructions. That night, before he leaves, the man tells Serapio he can call him Paadeh. Serapio eventually falls asleep holding the beginning of his first carving - a crow.
19 days before Convergence, Naranpa sits with the other priests during a long Conclave meeting at night. Well, all of the other priests except for Iktan, who Naranpa realized had sent someone in xir place and who slips into the room later during the meeting. Naranpa has spent most of the meeting wondering what Iktan could be doing instead of paying attention, which becomes clear when Haisan asks her if she wants to add anything and Naranpa has to ask him to repeat what he just said. Abah tries to take advantage of Naranpa's lapse in attention, suggesting that it would of course be due to the excitement of the assassination attempt that morning and that it was understandable. She suggests that maybe Eche, the dedicant generally regarded as Naranpa's chosen successor, could step in.
Naranpa refutes this and begins to talk about the assassination attempt plainly, hoping to convey her feelings that it stemmed from the mostly nonexistent relationship between the Celestial Tower and the Sky Made clans and their waning power. Naranpa also suspects that Eche is sleeping with Abah and so the two of them have joined forces together against her. Abah then suggests that perhaps Naranpa's reforms are too ambitious, which is why the assassin targeted her, and that she might be better off stepping down. Abah even goes so far as to suggest that the attempt might be related to Naranpa's family in Coyote Maw, particularly her younger brother. Naranpa bristles at these accusations, even going so far as to tell Abah to fuck off, before deciding that it would be better for her to leave rather than allowing Abah to bait her any further. Before she can leave, a servant arrives with the news that Yatliza, the matron of Carrion Crow, is dead.
This, understandably, makes everyone nervous, given the earlier assassination attempt. Naranpa ends the conclave and dismisses everyone except for the four priest and the servant who brought the news. Naranpa asks the servant to explain the circumstances behind the murder; the servant, confused, explains that Yatliza wasn't murdered, just found dead in her bed, before recounting everything she knew. Naranpa dismisses the servant as Haisan and Iktan begin to bicker about what to do next.
Yatliza's death has come at an inconvenient and some would say inauspicious time. The Celestial Tower has closed for the Shuttering, a 20 day period of fasting and penitence in preparation for the winter solstice and a ceremony welcoming the return of the sun afterwards. At the same time, Yatliza's death will leave one of the Sky Made clans without a matron until a new one is invested, which unbalances the Speaker Council that handles civil affairs in Tova and leaves Carrion Crow without a leader. It will look bad to have a funeral and anointing during the Shuttering, but waiting until after the Shuttering for the anointing will appear disrespectful and leaves the opportunity for other factions to take advantage of the power vacuum and imbalance. On top of all of this, although Yatliza has a daughter who would generally be expected to step in as the next matron it's possible the other council members might have objections.
Naranpa quickly makes up her mind, deciding that they will have a state funeral in four days as usual and that Yatliza's daughter will be anointed as the new matron of Carrion Crow shortly afterwards. They will request that the Sky Made clans come to them to plan everything, since they are shuttered, and if the Speakers Council feels someone else should be matron they can take it up with the Tower after the solstice. Naranpa gives everyone their tasks, mostly to get them out of her hair, and dismisses them before heading up to her rooms. She'll speak to the other clan matrons alone later that day.
Iktan catches up with Naranpa as she reaches her rooms. Naranpa worries about how Abah could know about Ochi (Denaochi), given how she had destroyed references to her past. Iktan explains that if someone went looking to dig up her secrets, it wouldn't be hard to find him. Xe also reassures Naranpa that while Abah did embarrass her during Conclave, she managed to recover well enough, although Abah still cannot be trusted. At this point, Naranpa spots a scratch on Iktan's neck, offering to heal it before she realizes and xe confirms that it came from a "moment of passion" - Iktan has a lover that is not her. Hurt and jealous, Naranpa insults Iktan and xe leaves.
We briefly step back in time one day, back to 20 days before the Day of Convergence. After a hard day of rowing, Xiala directs Callo to have the men land on a nearby cay where they'll rest for the night. She then goes off to see Patu, a sailor known for his cooking skills and habitual seasickness. Xiala is a bit concerned to find Patu sick, but he waves it off, saying it's just a cold and Callo vouched for him. He begins to plan a feast for the men using the very nice provisions Lord Balam stocked the ship with. Xiala leaves Patu to it and heads back to middle of the ship, wondering about the man from Obregi that has yet to emerge from the room. Lord Balam had described him as a kind of religious recluse, which doesn't endear him to Xiala at all. Still, she's willing to do the bare minimum and make sure he's at least seen to during the trip, but before she can talk to the man they land.
By the time Xiala gets off the ship, the men are well into the feast Patu has prepared. The food is good, the liquor is flowing, and everyone is having a good time. The men greet Xiala happily, chanting "Teek" a few times, which is a little unsettling, but Xiala brushes it off and joins the meal. After eating and a couple of drinks, Xiala addresses the crew to break the news about Lord Balam's requirement of reaching Tova in 20 days. A number of them worry, since making the timetable would require them to sail in open waters during a particular dangerous season. Oddly enough, Callo is the one who speaks in Xiala's favor, asserting that Xiala's Song will help smooth their passage. This isn't really how Xiala's powers actually work, more of a superstition around how they supposedly work, but she decides to lean into and play up her Teek heritage. The crew latches onto the idea, even chanting "Teek" over and over again in their enthusiasm, and making bold claims about reaching Tova in even less time. While Xiala is grateful that the crew is eager to sail the open waters to achieve their goal, she is a bit nervous that they all rallied behind Callo's support. She can't help but wonder what will happen in the future if she and Callo disagree on a decision.
Xiala speaks to Callo privately, directing him to cut off the alcohol soon and make preparations to leave tomorrow. Xiala usually sleeps on the ship while the crew is on land; although she's worried about the crew bonding in her absence, she decides to trust Callo in this instance. Before she can finish her instructions and head to the ship, Callo pales at something behind her, and the crew grows quiet.
We know that earlier that day, Serapio enjoyed just generally being around the crew as they left Cuecola. When they initially landed, he stayed on the ship but, after hearing the sounds of the crew and captain as they ate, Serapio decides to try to join them. So he covers his eyes, pulls his cowl up, and slowly makes his way to where everyone else. As the others see him appear, everyone stops. The (anachronistic) record scratches. You can hear a pin drop. Serapio says hello in stilted Cuecolan and smiles at everyone, until he remembers his teeth are red and stops smiling because that's probably not helping right now.
Xiala tries to be polite and respectful, hoping to lead by example, but the crew is definitely scared of him. Even when Callo gets a plate of food for Serapio, he stands back and holds it out as if he's afraid to get any closer. Frustrated, Xiala takes the food and Serapio back to the ship, reminding Callo to have the others ready to sail at dawn. Once on the ship, Xiala and Serapio get to know each other as Serapio tries a bunch of new foods, including a painful-to-read experience with eating fish. Serapio confirms that he can see somewhat, mostly shapes, shadows, light, and movement, relying on other senses for everything else (and the crows, though he doesn't mention that). Xiala confirms that she is Teek, and the both of them acknowledge the precariousness of the whole voyage, particularly in terms of Callo's popularity with the crew. As she gets ready to leave, Xiala tells Serapio to go outside tomorrow morning to let the crew see he was just a man like them, albeit with his eyes covered. She explains that she'll sleep on the ship and be there to protect him if a superstitious crew member decides to kill him that night. When Serapio asks who will protect her, Xiala replies that she's with her mother, the sea, and no one messes with her children.
We close with Serapio, 6 years before the Convergence. He's sitting at his workbench when a strange woman enters his room, admiring his carvings. She says that Paadeh sent for her, although she doesn't seem to know that Paadeh is dead, a fact Serapio isn't eager to share for some reason. The woman introduces herself as Eedi, the second tutor arranged to prepare Serapio for his destiny. Eedi is purposefully evasive, but she generally reveals that she's a former spearmaiden from Hokaia. This confuses Serapio a bit, since Carrior Crow is from Tova, but she reassures him that their influence is great and that some in Hokaia would like to see the Celestial Tower brought to heel as well.
Suddenly, Eedi asks Serapio if he would like to begin before striking him with her spear. She manages to hit him again before he blocks her strike, at which point she walks over to his shelf of carvings and knocks them all onto the ground. Panicking, Serapio tries to grab at Eedi and stop her but bumps into other things or gets knocked out of the way. Eedit keeps knocking carvings onto the floor, threatening to destroy his trunk and even break her bones. Serapio stops to think; it's clear he'll have to outsmart her rather than overpower her. When he puts his hand on the desk, he touches the divination mirror his mother used to use. Serapio uses the mirror to throw a shadow at Eedi, and then some of his carvings when she's distracted by that. He bumrushes Eedi, knocking her to the ground, then tries to attack her with the chisel but misses. Serapio then tries to rip out Eedi's eye, but she manages to knock him off of her before leaving in search of a healer.
Eedi eventually returns, asking Serapio how he knew how to use shadows like that. He replies that he doesn't know; it was just instinctual. Eedi tells him that her job is to train his body, in the way that Paadeh trained his mind. His third tutor, Powageh, will deal with his powers; until then, Eedi will teach him how to fight.
Discussion questions are listed below in the comments. As always, I ask that you don't discuss any content in the book beyond the endpoint for this week's discussion. If you want to talk about something later on in the book, please do so in the Marginalia post. The full schedule for Black Sun can be found here. See y'all next week for Chapters 14-19!

Sometime last year I went to the ER with severe stomach pains. I thought my appendix had ruptured. Thankfully, or maybe not so thankfully, the doctors concluded that I had CHS, and that I was currently having a CVS episode. Honestly I didn’t really believe them, but I decided to take their advice and stop smoking completely.
Well… here I am a year later and this is my third episode. I did stop smoking for maybe 6 months or so, and when I started smoking again it was in smaller doses. For the past few months I’ve been smoking a lot more, and I was really happy that I hadn’t had any symptoms. That was until my second episode a few months ago. I was traveling and thought it had something to do with anxiety, even though I did go to the ER and told them it was CHS they didn’t really believe me either because it was an out of state hospital who doesn’t have much experience with this rare condition.
So here I am, a little over a year later and enduring my third chs episode. I guess I just came on here to vent and share my experience. It’s depressing that I can’t smoke anymore, and although it sounds childish it really does seem unfair.
I haven’t smoked in 4 days and the vomiting has slowly subsided. It is currently 2am and I’m writing this on my bathroom floor. Although I’m not vomiting as much, I really can’t get comfortable enough to fall asleep.
Like I said I really just came on here to vent and maybe ask a few questions but I don’t know what to ask. I’m so dehydrated, and really feel so unwell right now. I will say finding this Sub did made my night a bit better. It’s nice to know you’re not alone in this, even if it’s a small group it’s better than nothing.
Oh I also wanted to say, I have met one other person in my life who has CHS, and I’d like to think they’re the reason I was still smoking over a year after my first episode. They preached about moderation and tolerance breaks, and it did seem to work for them. Clearly not for me tho lol.
Thanks for reading! Sorry it’s kinda of a mess like I said I am a little unwell right now. I’ll try to write an update in a few weeks from now, and hopefully I’ll sound a bit more uplifting then! Thanks again

Violence continues in Sudan, the cryosphere breaks down, recessions, harvest failures, heat waves, droughts, and floods. Mother Earth has got a terminal case of humans.
Last Week in Collapse: May 28-June 3, 2023
This is Last Week in Collapse, a weekly newsletter bringing together some of the most important, timely, useful, sad, ironic, amazing, or otherwise must-see moments in Collapse. Try not to overdose on this week’s Doom dose.
This is the 75th newsletter. You can find the May 21-27 edition (which I accidentally labeled the 73rd edition) here if you missed it last week. These newsletters are also on Substack if you want them sent to your email inbox every Sunday.
——————————
The World Meteorological Congress concluded on Friday, and it released a bunch of reports. The focus this year was on developing early warning systems for wateclimate/weather disasters. Most countries report declining ability to monitor hydrological developments, and almost half of the world’s people lack reliable access to water for at least one month per year, a figure that is expected to grow considerably by 2050.
The WMO also reported on the state of emergency for the cryosphere, those places where ice is formed (and melts). Greenland’s ice has shrunk for 26 consecutive years. Permafrost threatens to release huge quantities of greenhouse gasses over the coming years. Sea levels continue to rise…but you know this already.
Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, has come up with a plan to extend their almost-exhausted water supply: they’re adding salt to the tap water, against WHO recommendations. This causes people to drink less water—but what are the implications for health, and for small-scale agriculture?
Over 20 million tonnes of what was damaged in China by recent rain, not long before it was scheduled to be harvested. Analysts say this will raise grain prices worldwide. The scale of this blight is larger than recent blights. In the U.S. state of Georgia, 90% of the peach harvest was destroyed by abnormally warm weather; in Vermont, a freak cold snap damaged crops, potentially 30% of apples.
6 years. 800 million trees felled in the Amazon rainforest, all to create space for cattle farms. The loss of rainforest is equivalent roughly to two Corsica islands.
Environmental scientists have discovered a hopeful tool to lower CO2: Greenland’s “rock flour,” which is basically rock dust. A recent study claims that it can be scattered on fields to absorb CO2—and also boost wheat and potato yields. International lawyers are also working on the first global plastics pollution treaty that could be passed later next year.
Yet another study claims that Mother Earth is sick, and that most of our safety thresholds have been crossed. The feedback loops have been activated, the diagnosis is terminal. The Nature study lists the 8 Earth System Boundaries: 1) Climate, 2) Functional Integrity, 3) Natural Ecosystem Area, 4) Surface Water, 5) Groundwater, 6) Nitrogen, 7) Phosphorus, and 8) Subglobal Aerosols. (Not to be confused with the 9 Planetary Boundaries.)
Some insurers in California are cutting homeowner insurance because they can’t make a buck betting against wildfires and desertification. Similar risk is expanding in Texas. Summer is coming. A mysterious wildfire in Scotland is growing out of control, and threatens to become the UK’s largest ever.
Record May rainfall in Bermuda. Part of South Africa also saw record rains in May. Strong rains in southern Spain—but the parched soil can’t absorb much of it. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia area had its driest May in recorded history.
Vicious drought and Afghan dams have raised tensions between iran and Afghanistan, where fighting killed a handful of people two weeks ago. In times of scarcity, no group can have enough water; even less if they’re forced to share. Most of the world’s lakes are drying up.
An official in India ordered the draining of two million liters of water from a reservoir……so he could retrieve his phone, which he dropped in the water while taking a selfie. He was suspended. The phone was recovered—but too damaged to function. The water could have irrigated 6 km² of land.
Wildfires grow in Nova Scotia. Millions going hungry in Madagascar. Record temperatures in Japan. Normalized heat waves across Asia with new records in Central Asia & the Caucasus.
Scientists warn of potential tsunamis caused by underwater landslides in Antarctica. New cold records in Australia. Heat waves in North Africa. Increasing reliance on expensive desalination plants in Barcelona as drought and water supplies worsen.
——————————
Türkiye’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, won reelection, and economists believe it portends the further Collapse of the economy. Investment is pulling out, and the lira is expected to continue sinking. “We will be together until the grave,” said Erdoğan at his victory speech.
The UN operation to drain the *FSO Safer* has begun now that technicians have boarded the vessel. 1.1 million barrels of oil aboard the derelict tanker, stranded off the coast of Yemen, will begin being drained next month.
Petrol prices rise in Benin as Nigeria cuts its fuel subsidies; Iran is limiting fuel purchases too. China’s declining birth rate, growing debt, and ongoing international decoupling is threatening its economy. Eurozone inflation continues. Trade-GDP ratios approaching 2008 levels worryingly.
Budapest is facing bankruptcy. Refugees in Tanzania are seeing their rations cut in half as financing falls off. Vicious conditions inside refugee camps in Chad take advantage of Sudanese refugees. Debts grow in Brazil. Complicated problems continue destabilizing the world’s economic equilibrium.
Another Russian missile attack struck Kyiv last week, after allegedly pro-Ukraine Russian volunteer soldiers made an incursion into Russian territory. Wagner Group’s chief continues provoking Russian leadership as infighting appears to grow, following a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow. Zelensky says Ukraine’s counteroffensive is now ready.
Myanmar’s Civil War has entered its third year, depending on when you claim it began. In the desperation and chaos of prolonged warfare, it is the environment that pays the price. Wood, gold, jade, and other resources are being exploited by government and private actors after the old economic system broke apart.
——————————
62% of Americans agree that the COVID pandemic is over (it’s not), an increase of 14% since February 2023. 56% of Americans admit that they never mask up in public anymore. An updated booster is coming in September to address the XBB.1.16 variant. Masks may go away, but (Long) COVID will stay with us.
The WHO’s treaty to manage future pandemics is being watered down, leaving humanity less prepared for the next pandemic. Although China denies the lab leak origin story, a prominent Chinese scientist claims it is possible. COVID is never going away, and neither is Long COVID.
Cholera is spreading in several refugee camps in Kenya; medical attention comes too small and too late to prevent the spread. In Sudan, where over a million people have been displaced by recent violence, old inequities linger. Over 13M children are in desperate need of humanitarian aid (about half of Sudan’s 46M population are below 18). Their situation has never been more critical.
Experts continue warning about the dangers of AI, and push for regulation, while other actors push to use AI for economic benefits. I am uncertain which field AI will disrupt the most: military, low-skill workers, societal psyche, institutional integrity, creative jobs, politics, financial markets…? What will be the second-order effects, tertiary, etc.?
Tanzania has called an end to its Marburg virus outbreak, about 10 weeks after it declared an emergency. The UK is advising at-risk people to get vaccinated for mpox/monkeypox before their vaccine program ends in August; 10 new cases in the UK were recently reported.
PFAS, the so-called “forever chemicals” used across many household objects, are dangerous to your health. You also probably could have guessed that manufacturers knew—and lied about—their safety for decades. A study tracked the use of PFAS (since 1940’s) and the knowledge that they were harmful (since 1990’s). Companies including DuPont settled a case for a little over $1 billion USD for their role in the scheme. The billionaire Sackler family also settled a gigantic case regarding opioids, in which they must pay about $6 billion USD, and forfeit control of the pharmaceutical company they’ve held since 1952. The company (formerly Purdue Pharma) is rebranding (as Knoa). Nobody is going to jail.
——————————
A catastrophic train crash in India killed 280+ people. The crash involved 3 trains, and is India’s deadliest in this century.
Riots in Kosovo. Torture in suspected gangster prisons in El Salvador, with 153 prisoners killed since March. Ongoing protests in Israel over the proposed judicial reform.
Lebanon has been without a President for more than 7 months now—and now target dats have been missed to hold important municipal council elections. Town budgets are falling further into chaos, police are going unpaid, garbage is piling up, and would-be foreign investors and money-lenders are losing the scraps of hope they had for Lebanon’s crippled economy. No one is coming to save them.
Cartel violence is rising on the border of Mexico-Guatemala. Organized non-state armed groups conscript local guys, intimidate people into leaving, blockade towns, and shoot each other in the streets. Several thousand people have been displaced—and others disappeared. Far away, Syria is being welcomed back into the Arab fold—on the condition that it cracks down on the intractable drug epidemic of captagon.
One of Libya’s rival PMs was ousted a couple weeks ago, and now the other PM in the east is striking towns in western Libya with drones, allegedly targeting fuel/human smugglers.
Boko Haram jihadists are infighting in northern Nigeria, but the civilians are paying the price. Guerrilla territorial competition may also bring in more people into regional hostilities. In eastern DRC, violence has displaced over 80,000 people so far this year, and their regional hospitals are overcrowded.
Rumors are emerging that M23 will attack Goma, the sprawling epicenter of East Africa’s refugee situation, where human rights abuses are increasingly common and the local ceasefire is breaking down. Islamic radicals also operate in the region, targeting civilians. About 6 million people across the DRC are believed to be internally displaced, and about half a million around Goma (population: unknown, perhaps 750,000 or twice that). There are also reports of planes sighted which belong to the European mercenary company Agemira.
The Sudanese Civil War is spiraling out of control again, as skirmishes broke the incomplete ceasefire. The Central Statistics Bureau was attacked, hampering official data for various purposes. Over 1,000 people have died so far, crossing an unofficial threshold for an armed conflict to officially become a War. About 2M have fled the fighting. Rockets killed 18 and injured many more at a market in Khartoum, sanctions are being imposed by a few nations, and other countries are wading deeper into the War, complicating the situation and preventing clean avenues to another ceasefire.
——————————
Select comments/threads from the subreddit last week suggest:
-There is rain in Romania, based on this observation. But there’s also corruption, growing labor strikes, inflation, and political difficulties.
-Greenland’s climate is out of whack—and apparently the people don’t seem to care that much, judging from this rare observation from West Greenland.
-Portland, Oregon is still a cross-section of modern America’s Collapse, if this observation can be trusted. Heat, insecurity, overcrowding, loneliness, and crows… Reddit has also been affected by psychological decay, according to the poster.
-People are abandoning climate hope, if you believe this gilded thread and its many gilded comments. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em.
Have any feedback, questions, comments, resources, recommendations, free PDFs, manifestos, etc.? Consider joining the Last Week in Collapse SubStack if you don’t want to check collapse every Sunday, you can get this newsletter sent to your email inbox every weekend. I always forget something... What did I miss this week?

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Hey, so i know that called shots are a bad idea in general, but i am running a grim dark setting and i rlly need a dismemberment system for some especific enconters, ive come up with a few ideas, and i would like some help to see if this is not broken, or if you guys have better ideas, my requiriments in general are: it must be a damage base system, it must be a somewhat realible system to PCS to use, it must not be too easy to the point pcs are loosing their limbs left and rigth ( ive already thought of just narrate the limb lost, but is just wont cut, i really need a system for this)
so those are my ideas: 1: the charactenpc must take a -5 to the attack for hitting a specific body part (this count as disavantage for sneak attack purposses)
2a: once hit, the character must roll 10+ the target STR mod +target proficency (lets call this limb ac) damage in a single blow to rip a member (or damage it beyond repare) bellow that the target will sufer a efect (drop a weapon, falling prone, etc)
2b: the character must roll 10+ the target STR mod +target proficency to make a limb unusable until treated, if the damage exceed this number by 3 or more the limb is destroyed beyond repare
2a/b variant: same thing but without target proficiency
3: once the target has a member servered it will start to bleed profoundly (10 hp per turn) until treated
bare in mind that i have ways planned to increase limb ac, as well as prosthesis, implants and regeneration magic that the characters will have access to, so losing a arm/leg/eye wont be THAT big of a problem
what are your thoughts? should i allow magic as booming blade/smite to affect the damage? shoud i go for another system? what can i do to balance this thing out

Hey, so i know that called shots are a bad idea in general, but i am running a grim dark setting and i rlly need a dismemberment system for some especific enconters, ive come up with a few ideas, and i would like some help to see if this is not broken, or if you guys have better ideas, my requiriments in general are: it must be a damage base system, it must be a somewhat realible system to PCS to use, it must not be too easy to the point pcs are loosing their limbs left and rigth ( ive already thought of just narrate the limb lost, but is just wont cut, i really need a system for this)
so those are my ideas: 1: the charactenpc must take a -5 to the attack for hitting a specific body part (this count as disavantage for sneak attack purposses)
2a: once hit, the character must roll 10+ the target STR mod +target proficency (lets call this limb ac) damage in a single blow to rip a member (or damage it beyond repare) bellow that the target will sufer a efect (drop a weapon, falling prone, etc)
2b: the character must roll 10+ the target STR mod +target proficency to make a limb unusable until treated, if the damage exceed this number by 3 or more the limb is destroyed beyond repare
2a/b variant: same thing but without target proficiency
3: once the target has a member servered it will start to bleed profoundly (10 hp per turn) until treated
bare in mind that i have ways planned to increase limb ac, as well as prosthesis, implants and regeneration magic that the characters will have access to, so losing a arm/leg/eye wont be THAT big of a problem
what are your thoughts? should i allow magic as booming blade/smite to affect the damage? shoud i go for another system? what can i do to balance this thing out

First
Prev
Corva fiddled with an empty medicine bottle, he looked at the labels and peeled them, only to stick it on the bottle again, he would screw off the cap and screw it back on repeatedly. It was an old habit of his, just looking at random things and playing with them like a fidget toy, he only does it when he has nothing to do, ever since he got a job that habit disappeared, but now, all he can do is lay down on the bed of a hospital tent, and he's also technically currently unemployed. Since no company is going to recruit anyone in the middle of an invasion from killer robots. He thought back to what happened yesterday, when Lavoss came into the tent and confronted Kawl.
"You're still awake?"
"Hmm?"
He was still curious about it, what did Lavoss mean by traitor? Did Kawl kill someone? He doesn't look like someone who would do such a thing, whatever it was that he did though, it was significant enough for Lavoss to hit him in the head with the stock of his gun knocking him out cold. It was shocking to see, he was awfully calm up until the point he said something about the traitor part and not a moment later Kawl was on the ground unconscious with a gun stock shaped dent on the chitin protecting his head. Everyone gasped, except Mari, the nurse, she looked like she expected it for a long time and stayed calm.
"Do you have trouble sleeping?"
She asked as she came back with another box of medical supplies.
"No, just… didn't feel like it"
"What do you mean you don't feel like sleeping?"
She put the box down and walked up to him.
"Well… i got plenty of sleep yesterday, spent the rest of it sleeping, didn't i? And most of today as well"
"With all due respect that doesn't justify staying up until the middle of the night, besides, you need rest"
"Same thing can be said about you… I haven't seen you take any kind of break, even the doctor's not here, why are you?"
"The downside of being the only qualified nurse left around, not the only one in the camp of course, just the only one left for this tent, besides… it's my duty to watch over the patients, and make sure they have enough sleep…"
She raised her voice a little on that last word, as well as throwing a glance at other patients that were already asleep.
"Subtle…"
"Right i am, now sleep"
"I've tried, i don't think i can"
"So you do have trouble sleeping, hold on, i think i have something for that in stock"
"No thanks, can we just… talk? It's been some time since I've had a friendly talk with anyone, just… Not about anything in particular, you know? Just talk"
"Hmm… fine, when was the last time then?"
"Right before the invasion… right before he lost his life…"
"Let's… not talk about that…"
"Wise…"
"Uhm… What's your job?"
"QC, for quality control, in an arms factory"
"A factory worker? You looked way cleaner than i thought you would"
"If i were working in the assembly i think you would change your mind about that, but no, QC's don't get their hand dirty often, maybe once in a while when a weapon explodes on them"
"Huh… ever had one?"
"Personally? No, have I seen it? Yes, funny story, when i first got accepted i had this instructor, telling us how to check the quality of products, the first rifle he picked up to show us how to check the pulse had a faulty wiring on it, too much energy, it blew up on his face while a group of new QC's was watching, safe to say he doesn't like it when some of us laughed"
"Poor guy, Reminded of someone"
"Who?"
"My sister"
"Oh i…"
"Oh don't worry, it's nothing sensitive, it's like your story, she's a teacher, been one for a while even before she got here, so when she got here to Rosan she was considered a senior teacher, and when new ones needs a tour of their workplace and know how to handle the kids they relied on her, now one day she was guiding a new teacher…"
"Mhm?"
"And she was like… maybe she wants to show off a little bit, I don't know, but from what she told me, she said to this new teacher something along the lines of: 'look at these children! So behaved! If you want to do that you have to learn from me' or something like that… and… not a second after that, one of the kids who were playing threw a wet ball of paper and it hit her right in the back of the head"
Corva had to spend some willpower trying not to laugh, remembering that he was the one who laughed when his instructor blew himself up along with Kasso didn't make it any easier.
"Oh the look of embarrassment on her face, didn't see it myself, but i wish i did, i can feel her esteem crumble every time i mention it, it was cute to see her just shrink and try to hide her face"
"Oh… you'll like it when you see how my friend acts around girls, Kasso, he…"
Mari was a bit confused why Corva suddenly fell silent, why he looked at the ground with a frown, until she remembered what he said, and it clicked on her.
Right before he lost his life
"I'm sorry for your loss"
"It's fine, i'm sure he's in a better place… much better than this… hellhole"
She wanted to comment on his sudden pessimism, but decided that won't be so wise considering he's not wrong, no matter how many times she tries to ignore it, she has to admit, their current situation is a hellhole.
"I suppose that's enough talk for now…"
"...."
"I advise you sleep now, you'll get tired"
He didn't respond, and just went to sleep without another word, and an unchanged expression of sorrow. She sighed and returned to her work, sorting the type of medications into different containers.
"When will it all end?"
—-~----
It was calm… and black… that is about all Schen can think about regarding his current state, he can't tell if he's dreaming, or if he's asleep or awake, it's just that he is aware. It was a strange feeling, like being asleep physically but not mentally, he feels like he's floating, without a body, like there's nothing that can limit him. And yet at the same time he can't do anything, he was just aware, and drifting away in this weird state of half dream. For some reason, he thought of those tales of people who 'died' , people who experienced long comas, and the tale of their supposed journey to this place between the mind and the world.
Ridiculous stories, barely believable, and uninteresting if you ask him. And yet, here he is now, aware of what's happening, he remembers everything, he passed out from blood loss, after fighting one of those things. He wants to wake up, check on his men, maybe meet up with Captain Vaiya and make up a plan on what to do next regarding their situation. But you can't wake up when you don't even have control over your eyes, so it was more of a waiting game, an annoying one, knowing what's happening and yet can't act on it. He'd rather be actually dead over this, at least if he's dead he doesn't have to worry about anything. The problem is, he knows he's alive, it's just that his body is not responding to him, nor can he feel it.
It took what felt like hours, since he wasn't actually asleep, he was paralyzed but still conscious. After an agonizing few hours, he felt the first bodily sensation, his finger, it graduated to the feeling of his hand resting on a soft surface, probably some sort of bed, he can feel his breath as well. He started feeling his body, little by little, unfortunately, now that he feels his body again, he can feel what his body feels, and that is pure unadulterated pain. On his head, on his leg, his back, his arm, everywhere, he doesn't remember getting hit that much, but apparently he did. His back arched from trying to suppress it, and he let out a grunt that was too loud for his standard.
"Calm down! Don't move just yet…"
A voice, good, that means he should be in a friendly area now. He opened one of his eyes with a considerable amount of struggle, and saw the face of an Enovian with a waterproof paramedic hat on through his blurry vision.
"I've had worse…"
What a word for him to say before his back gave up on him and suddenly went limp, triggering pain in many areas of his body.
"Aergh…"
He grunted with some exasperation and regret. Maybe he shouldn't be showing off at this kind of age, it's not good for his bones.
"Where's our painkillers?"
—-~----
"Captain?"
"Yes?"
"He's awake"
"Just? or?..."
"For awhile, he needed some time to actually get up, thought we'll just wait for him before telling you"
"Alright, thank you, i'll be there, a wonder he survived though, and to wake up this early"
"It is, his wounds were near fatal, he was essentially one light tap away from a fractured skull"
"Tough little guy… you can go now, there are others no?"
"Oh…yes, sorry ma'am"
Vaiya turned off her personal datapad, and stood up from her command seat. She dusted some metal dust off her uniform and made her way to the recruitment office turned into a temporary medical bay. She walked through a collection of the remaining crew of the ship, some simply threw a glance at her, some greeted her, and some gave her a salute. She noted the look of despair in their eyes and sighed, but kept on walking as that isn't her goal right now. She arrived at a door with a plate next to it that says: 'recruitment', the plate had an electrical tape with a writing on it that says: 'medical bay now' stuck haphazardly on top of it.
It isn't a neon sign, but it works. She opened the door manually with her hand as most of the doors in administration are now unpowered, inside was simple, four 'beds' laid on the floor, with most of the desks removed, the remaining medical crews stay here now, treating anyone they can. Including the new security captain, Schon, who she spotted sitting on his bed half awake wrapped in blood caked bandages, while clearly struggling to drink from a glass cup. He looked oddly… calm, like he's not surprised he's here at all. Granted, she did rescue him from becoming minced meat, and it's only logical to assume there are survivors holding out somewhere, but he looks absolutely unfazed, as if he had this happen before.
"SC Schon?"
She walked up to him, he gave an unsurprised look and went back to doing his best to drink.
"Captain…"
"Nice to see you awake already, i figured it would take a long time but you prove me wrong…"
"Uh-huh…."
"About that status report you ask for-"
"I already know, stranded, no engine, almost all crew dead, ship's practically scrapped, light's dying, and surrounded by killer machines chewing on the hull, and Rosan IV isn't so lucky either"
"Yes… unfortunate is it?"
"Yes, but right now I don't care, how's my men?"
"Your what?"
"My subordinates"
"Ah… they're… few, 50… down to you and two others, i'm sorry"
"I see… who?"
"Koern, and Ayuna"
Schen wasn't paying much attention to the captain, he simply stared off into the distance, but hearing the young Caevit's name roll off her tongue took his attention.
"Really?... Thank you, but you're not here just for that right?"
Now that he actually pays some attention to her, he noticed her face change, a bit more tense.
"You read my mind, come"
"I can barely move my lips and you want me to walk?"
She looks around for a minute before looking back at him.
"I don't mind carrying someone"
"Huh?"
—-~----
"If i have credit for every time a Tekit lady carries me in her arms while i can barely move, i'll have two"
Schen commented on his current position, it earned him a confused and curious look from the captain. She took him to an uninhabited room to talk, as it turns out most of the administration has been turned to some sort of holdout for whoever's left alive in the ship. She set him down on a chair and followed suit, sitting right in front of him.
"So what is this? Is there something you want to know? If it's about this whole thing then you're talking to a wall"
Her behavior was odd, Schen noted, she seems… agitated, not angry, just stirred, like something's bugging her. He can understand being scared, but the way she moves suggests whatever's currently happening isn't the case.
"Nothing much… i just want… confirmation"
"Go ahead…"
"So… I heard that Koern asked you for help, is that so?"
"Yeah? Got to me after he said you can't help"
"Do you know what his issue was?"
"Yes, random images and voice recordings from his cousin"
"Okay… where does his cousin lives?"
"In Rosan IV and from what i heard, it's about as messed up as this ship"
"That is correct, do you-"
"Wait, can we just get to the point here? What's the issue? Why are you suddenly interested in Koern's problem?"
"I… because…"
"Hmm?"
"...Because i've been having the same problem, what you said, random images, and voice recordings, now i know it's exactly the same, that is what i want to know"
"Huh… okay… so?..."
"There's one difference… his problem started today, during the jump, my problem has been going on for the last five cycles"
"....."
"And I want to know one more thing, please, answer this honestly… do you see it?"
He can feel her agitation increase tenfold as she asks the question. She was normal, now she's visibly shaking.
"See what?..."
"The shape…"
"Shape?"
"Please tell me you saw it too, i… I've been thinking about it… for a long time… ever since I've peered into those images, there's a shape stuck in my eyes, it's burned itself into my mind, and I feel it…. Everyday i think i see something in the corner of my eyes, i hear noises that aren't there, closer and closer every time!…. It… it was getting closer… the shape…"
Her stare became intense, like the stare of a crazed person.
"i… don't know…"
"Oh but you know! You saw it!... Just as I did… it sees you, but you can barely see it, it's there… watching… First it stays in the image, then it creeps into you, haunts you, then you see it hide everytime you turn your head… it follows you, everywhere you go… in your sleep… when you work… all the time…"
Her breathing was rapid, almost uncontrolled.
"Perhaps… that's just you, i do not experience these"
"It may not now, but it will…. Because it has to me, it's like a tumor, and it won't go away, no matter how hard i try… it's still there…"
She calmed down slightly, her breathing was normal again, sort of, and she's no longer shaking, but the stare is still there, the stare of true fear, striking deep into his soul. As she calmed down more and thankfully finally averted her gaze elsewhere, Schen took the downtime to process what he just listened to, and his conclusion was: what the ////?
"Sorry… i… i just… i needed to know… i need to know if i'm not the only one… now i know it's in you too, not now, but soon, t-thank you"
"Your… welcome…"
"Should we return?"
"We…"
He pondered about asking her to take him to the bridge, so he can look out and see what's happening outside the ship, but now he's reconsidering it, because of that… experience.
"...Yes, we should"
She let go of his arms, he didn't even realize it, but she was holding on to him tight the whole time.
"Of course… of course, let's make this quick…"
—-~----
Schen observed Captain Vaiya as she left the medical room, he noted her sudden return to her previous well mannered behavior, he can still see a tinge of anxiety in her eyes and movements however, and realized how similar it was to Koern's behavior. Anxiety, unease, massive discomfort, moving around constantly, and eyes snapping to random positions as if they're trying to catch something on the move. It was unmistakable, Schen recalled back to his conversation with Koern, about something he said.
'it's… distressing'
Koern did look at the images before coming to him, and it was clear the images caused it, if Vaiya had something similar or identical happen, he can assume the cause for her distress is the same. But one question remains that still baffles him: how? How do random images do that? Implanting irrational fear into someone, making them see things that aren't there, what is happening? And now that he considers it, he did see the images, is he going to fall victim to the same thing? Why hasn't he felt anything if those images can do that to someone through just a mere look at it?
One question leads to another, and it all gets more complicated the longer he tries to solve it. He wanted to ignore it, maybe they were just unstable and he misjudged the whole thing, but he can't help but feel there's something to it, it's clear those images and recordings somehow were sent by the creatures currently roaming the ship, he sees the connection, but why? And how? Psychological warfare? Maybe, that was the most rational answer he could come up with. With their clear situation of being in the middle of an invasion, he can only assume such an answer, but applying it to only a few specific targets seems beyond strange.
He pinched his snout in frustration, before taking a deep breath and exhaling it as slowly as he could. Perhaps he shouldn't think of it too much for now, maybe that's how it gets into you, the shape… whatever it is. He looked around his surroundings, a 'medical' room, previously an office, he watched the doctors treat the wounded as he thought of his next step. Looking outside the ship should be a good idea, he had asked a nurse about the whole situation before Vaiya showed up, they told him the entire star system has fallen, Rosan IV was silent, any attempts at communication and call for help were futile, the other planets around the system, some are yet to be named, are the same.
That means those things have been here for a while, and somehow stayed out of the union's radar. He remembered the emerging stories of Rosan IV, how it became a ghost, how communications were far and few between, how many ships that traveled to its system went missing and ones that returned had signs of heavy damage on them, and how their crews looked 'lifeless'. If Rosan's system has been like this for some time, wouldn't that mean any ship that comes here would suffer the same fate as his ship?.
Why would some return and look 'fine' was beyond him, but a thought nestled itself in his mind, a terrifying thought, it made his blood run cold, the thought that these things have spread beyond this solar system, spread silently, in cargo ships that travel to every corner of union space. Suddenly people seeing shapes and hearing sounds after they look at an image doesn't sound horrifying anymore.
"////…"
—-~----
Faen sat in his office, for the millionth time, he stared at his computer, for the millionth time, he opened the files containing the Qrid military spending, for the millionth time, he looked at the reports file, for the millionth time. It has always been like this, being a general wasn't all about giving orders and making war plans, most of his time was spent in front of his computer, looking at the passive activity of his army, and its spendings, receiving calls or calling someone to see if he can learn something new about someone else's army. Look at pirate reports, raiders, terrorists, radicalist, sometimes cultists, it has always been like this, looking away at the computer, looking at files, always has been.
He wouldn't say he couldn't make wartime decisions, if one were to ever occur, he's always confident he can, after all he has learned from both his father and many mentors. He trained for it, for war, he trained how to control an army in such a situation for pretty much his whole life, he doesn't have to, but it's better to know how to fight than not at all. You never know when it'll come, maybe now, maybe in years during your old days, maybe never, but if it ever does come, he knows what to do, whether he likes it or not. It's a part of his pride, his identity, though he couldn't say much about his son, and everyday he worries about not having a successor, not having someone to pass the torch to, and as time marches on indiscriminately, his worry can only grow.
Sometimes he wondered if should've been harsh, and not fulfill his wish to go to university so he can learn computer science, and put him in the very school he himself went through to become what he is now. But that's not a good father, isn't it? It would be against his wish, and he would've needed to force him, it's what his son's grandfather did… to him, he still thinks about it, about his original dream. A singer, a far cry from a supreme general, he remembered the angry face of his father upon learning what he wanted to be, it felt like it happened just yesterday. He never liked it, not once, despite managing to prove himself worthy as a leader of an army in the end of everything.
And to think, he was almost like that, to his own son, he couldn't handle the thought. Faen took his eyes off the screen, just for a moment, and looked at another one, a camera display, showing his son's room. Rana was sleeping, as usual and as he should be at a time like this, he looked at him through the screen, at his arm, and thought about his latest conversation with the woman he loved.
"Disappointment, huh?"
He felt a subtle pain in his chest out of nowhere, he opened the drawer on his desk through a motion that tells of excessive habit, and absentmindedly took his medication without looking. With a sigh, he looked at a small button to his right. There was a screen above it that had a list of people considered significant enough to be contacted by him directly, which ranged from the supreme generals of other species, to the head maiden that cleaned his and his son's bedroom. He looked for a specific one that he recently added, the surgeon that is the head of operation for the trials he had put Rana through for the last few cycles, the trials that he and his mother show complete disapproval to.
He found it and clicked the button, it was answered after some time and he entered a call with the surgeon.
"A pleasure to speak with you general"
"Hrm…"
"Is there something you wish to ask of me?"
"Yes… we should stop, no more trials"
"If that is what you want, then I will gladly comply, but may I ask why for the sudden stop? You seem invested in this when you first called me to arrange it"
"Family issues"
"that is-"
He cut the call short, and continued his work. Looking at the files, looking for differences every so often, making sure everything is stable and taken care of, and glancing at his son's monitor once in a while, and for the first time since his son graduated university, he smiled. Perhaps that's the right thing, to be a father, not a general. At least… for a moment, his smile disappeared as he received a call, it was marked as urgent, and was displayed on his screen instead of just a sound notification. He dusted his uniform and fixed any creases as he noticed the call wasn't just any call, it was a notice for him to join a discussion between supreme generals of each species and their respective leaders, that includes the matriarch.
It is odd he wasn't notified of this earlier, oftentimes these kinds of things have their own schedule that was discussed beforehand, a sudden meeting like this can only mean one thing. He accepted the call, and his screen changed to the display he's all too familiar with, a digital conference room, two lines of camera display, the bottom for the generals, the top for the leaders, they were all present, which is to be expected. The matriarch of Qrids, the Tekit queen, the Caevitan allfather, high empress of Enovia, and the Civean president, the current roster of union council, below them was him, and other generals, including general Cynte of the Civeans.
He still remembers his little offer to make an accident to highlight Rana's name, after the reveal of the Goels and the incident it was kept as a private thing between them that didn't really go anywhere. He doesn't want to talk about it, neither does Cynte, so it was technically a win-win situation, despite the unexpected and frankly out of their favor results. The call was oddly silent, no one was saying anything even the loud ones like his mother, they seemed to be waiting for something, or someone. Faen didn't question it, it would be considered stupid, so he too followed the silence. It was a strange and awkward few minutes of staring at each other not saying anything, up until what they waited for arrived in the call.
Another screen appeared above all ten screens, and on it was something he dreaded to see, the collection of red revolving rings, Cain. Practically every general present felt tense, including him, the leaders couldn't care less, except maybe for the Civean president who expressed the most worry as they all waited for Cain to speak. Sudden meeting, all members, and Cain, and considering their latest development with the Goels, this couldn't be good. The red rings assemble into the shape of a solar system like it did when it appeared on the monitors of his warship, and Cain spoke with his usual low pitched synthesized voice that everyone in the room knew quite well.
'it is no doubt all of you will question why I requested this urgent meeting, i apologize if any of you found it to be too sudden, but what I have to tell you will change your mind, and I will not waste your time, as we are in a race against time itself… the union has been breached by an invader, you are under attack, and in a process of galaxy wide invasion'
No, definitely not good.
"What do you mean by this?"
Faen immediately asked, as much as he distrust Cain, he must agree with his mindset that no time should be wasted. And it seems his question stopped a particular set of leaders trying to speak, stopping them from blurting out what are probably4 going to be pointless sarcastic remarks, so that was another benefit of speaking first.
'your union is currently under the invasion of a race that is arguably similar to me, we call them Shakran'
The display of red rings changed to a scrolling collection of images, images of… Faen doesn't know how to describe it, bipedal creatures, made of metal, and grossly disfigured bodies, with sharp claws and many eyes. Every single thing varies, some of the things in the images looked small and only had claws, some were massive and had what are clearly cannons as a weapon. He noted a certain detail about the images, they were blurry, and not straight, and some strange things were staring at the camera, while looking elsewhere. Something tells Faen these images were taken in the middle of active combat.
'They are a hivemind of machines, their sentience and sapience is debatable, but that does matter currently as their only goal is to destroy and conquer'
"Lies! If we were under an invasion from them, we would've known already! Besides… we already have an invader… we're talking to them right now"
The Tekit queen spoke with clear passive aggresive energy in her voice. Faen sighed in annoyance but kept it to himself.
'i understand the distrust, but it is no reason to make a sarcastic remark, however, you need to trust me on this matter, because their return can only mean danger to the union, and the universe as a whole, they are-'
"Wait, what do you mean… their return?"
'you all must've wondered how and why i and my brother ended up the way we did on that desert planet, what you are seeing on my screen is the answer to your question'
It didn't click for any of the leaders, their annoyed expression stays the same as Cain finished his sentence, but it clicked for every single military leader in the room, and it horrified them.
'my kind have encountered them before, my creators, it led to a war, a million year war, between me and them, they are what wiped my creators out of existence, and soon will be the cause of extinction for every single species in this union if we don't take any actions, since you refused, i have personally tracked every ship that left Rosan IV for the last six cycles, here is the data'
The scrolling images turned into a detailed map of the galaxy, with every single star system currently under union control included in it, there were red lines all over the map, they were all traced back all the way to one specific system, Rosan IV. A heavy weight rested itself on Schen's mind as he realized how far the lines have gone, to a point it crosses itself, wrapping around the galaxy in a circle, like some sort of a chaotic web.
'Rosan is lost, it is highly likely they have turned it into a staging ground, i know that we all have strived to avoid this, but war is inevitable, i have send a complete data regarding the Shakrans to all of you, please review it as fast as you can, and take your moves, as i will mine right now, alert your fleets, if they see my fleet entering a system, tell them they are here as an ally, i have been defeated once, i will not repeat the same mistake again, i hope you can catch up and help me, because there is no telling of what they will do once their setup is complete, and there is no telling whether or not i can do this alone'
"Wait! What should we do?"
'search and destroy, hunt down every ship that left the system, check every station, scan every inch of space, detonate stations, evacuate every planet they have visited then purge the cities and hammer the surface with orbital strikes if you might, but by all means… do not let. them. develop. That is all i have to say, my reinforcements are coming, but i do not know if there is enough time, act now'
And with that, Cain left the conference room, and at that very moment, it shattered, every world leader was either furious or dead silent with a look of horrific realization, his fellow generals went into a panic and contacted their fleets. Except for him, he simply sat there, unmoving and very still, staring at the galaxy map Cain had brought up, looking at one particular star system, crossed several times by the red lines, and surrounded by it, Sheneae XI, isn't that?... The solar system his wife is visiting to look at a newly opened hospital?.
(a TON of RIC's)

::::sad dynasty noises::::: OK so I've gone 0-3 aginst my buddies Tau Imp guard twice.
My list is Skop Lord Overlord 2 technomancers 4 cryptothralls 6 Skop destroyers 2 doom stalker DoomScythe 3 heavy destroyers Annialation badge Monolith 36 warriors Royal warden
So it's come down to who goes first if I do, my doom scythe and doomwalkers usually are good for 2 to 3 dead armored vehicles easy. But after that it just falls apart. First game got smoked by tau due to range when I got close enough killed a bunch of them.
2nd game aginst guard killed his heavy plasma tank first round targeted art heavy weapon squad instead of his wyvern my mistake with was bad for my warriors. Heavy destroyers really tore up his infantry till indirect forward came in with was bad then got bodied by his gatekeeper lemon russ. Skop destroyers and skop lord brushed all the inf they encountered lost on objectives.
3rd game heavy armor fight bamlneblade Rogel Dorn plasma lemon russ with a punisher Castilian commander some sentinels amd infantry
I had my current army went second lost doomstalkers rnd 1 one fired back did 6 damage on the baneblade with one hit then died lost most my warriors to tank shooting. Lost heavy destroyers to baneblade. Dropped Monolith next to baneblade did 8 more damage from Monolith 5 shots saved by smoke screen. Deployed skop destroyers charged baneblade lost 2 to it attack their attacks did 6 more damage to baneblade. On his turn then my skops get bodied by punisher tank and 1 guard squad. Monolith then went down taking all the baneblade/rodgal dorn/plasma tank. So that was pretty much it.
I seem to be suffering from terrain more than anything. Although me being terrible at this is also a quiet possibility.
Any Necron Dudes/Dudettes got any tips?
----a frustrated Dynast

We purchased this house that was built in the 1920's its pretty charming on the outside and its technically 3 stories. Most of the experiences have happened in the basement where my girlfriend and I stay at but aren't limited to that area. The basement is essentially its own apartment, it has a bedroom with two walk-in closets, a laundry room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a wine cellar, a maintenance room, and a living room area. When me and my girlfriend first moved in with her mother we had the basement to ourselves. (Keep the living in your moms basement jokes to yourselves, we own the house too 😂)
Anyway first night of moving in we both had night terrors of an old frail lady in white walking around in front of the bed. We were creeped out but just figured it was nothing. Few nights later we were getting more stuff unpacked and organized in one of the walk in closets and we both heard whispers right next to our ears. My girlfriend ignored it but right after I said "did you just hear that" and repeated the whisper sound. She got freaked out because she heard that noise exactly.
Fast forward to maybe a month or two in, we heard shuffling upstairs almost like someone walking around with slippers. Her mom wasn't home so figured someone maybe broke in, (honestly this house is old and likely an easy target for a break in) but hadn't triggered the alarms or glass break detectors. I grabbed my Glock 19 and checked upstairs and when I got to the stairs that lead to the third floor I could hear the shuffling right next to me. The shuffling was going up the stairs and eventually stopped when it got to the top. After this the same thing happened again the following day.
At this point I'm pretty confident this house is haunted, my girlfriend and I can feel it. We tried researching the previous owners but really couldnt find much but maybe I just haven't searched well enough.
Fast forward to the next encounter, me and my girlfriend were doing dry fire training in my living room late at night on a weekend my girlfriend's mom was out of town. (My girlfriends mom leaves every other weekend to go hang out with her boyfriend and he comes over on the weekends that she doesn't visit him.) I'm a stickler for firearms saftey, I triple check every firearm to ensure its unloaded as well as the magazines before I train and I make sure to leave ammunition in another room while I'm doing my dry fire. So we are practicing draw stroke, proper presentation, getting to the wall, target transitions, and tactical/emergency reloads and my girlfriend hears someone whisper "be careful" next to her ear while she's timing me. I didn't hear anything so when she told me what she heard, I grabbed her and went to the room to load my firearm. I got freaked out when she told me because my first thought when she told me that was somones breaking into my house and is whispering to their buddy to be careful. (Keep in mind its 1am or 2am me and my girlfriend were on a nocturnal schedule for the weekend so we can get more time under nods.) Anyway she explains it was next to her ear and not coming from outside or anything and I calmed down.
Next encounter I had was by myself when I was getting ready to do the dishes. I had my ear buds in and they have the ambient noise feature where you can still hear with them in. I heard a deep breath in my ear. It made me jump and I turned around thinking it was my girlfriend trying to mess with me or something but there was nothing there. I wasn't listening to music when it happened either so have no idea what it was.
The last encounter we had was when my girlfriend and I were hanging out upstairs with her mom and boyfriend. We were just listening to music and having a couple drinks and I grabbed a glass of water and sat it down on a small table to my left. The glass knocked over on its own and we all watched it happen. Firstly it tipped over towards the table not off the table, I got up and tried jumping and stomping near the table to get it to wobble and nothing, I tried to tip the glass over by bumping it and it wobbled but didn't fall. I tried hitting the table with my knee or elbow but nothing. When the glass fell on its own it just knocked over it, didn't wobble first or anything. Everyone saw it happen and nobody saw me bump it or anything and I didn't feel myself bump into it either.
To my knowledge thats all thats happened so far, we kept trying to tell my girlfriends mom about the weird stuff thats happened but she wrote it all off until the night the glass tipped over on its own. Its possible she's had experiences but if thats the case she hasn't told us about any. Maybe these experiences are nothing maybe they are I have no idea. I do plan to try and capture evidence by setting up cameras inside so if I capture anything I will post it here.

Disclaimer: Registered trademarks and copyrights are properties of their rightful owners. As this series jumps realities very often it is hard to track that info.
DM, the Digitalman, the Scion of Variable is a creation of my good friend who does not use Reddit and is used with permission.
The Pokémon Lucario is © The Pokemon Company.
“My Dad is my hero.”
Harry Connick, Jr.
The Daughter that Follows
Chapter 27
Reunited
Part 3
Anna’s barriers flared to life and she felt Hong Long try to push through.
“No, we don't want to scare them any worse than they are.” Anna said telepathically as she felt the creature’s jaws begin to squeeze down on her barriers.
She felt Hong Long strain against her will then finally push through and form in front of her. The dragon roared and slammed into the beast, coiling and restraining the struggling creature. Then it looked in the direction of Alan. Anna followed her tulpa’s gaze.
Alan Quain was casually holding the moth of the Indominous Rex shut, the creature was now forcefully crouched and clearly in a submissive stance. He was patting its side and soothing it with comforting words and a telepathic reassurance. He looked over at Anna briefly and nodded to the other one which was currently trying to bite into Hong Long, which was proving fruitless as the tulpa’s skin was near impenetrable to a mundane creature. Anna, however, was getting the feeling of bites all over her body.
She sighed and walked over to the dinosaur, near enough to its snapping jaws, but more than just out of range. She focused and soon she was in it’s mind. He was a furious and aggressive creature, made even more aggressive by a lifetime of shocks from batons and drugs from guns. She saw his only solace was his sister who was now being casually restrained by something it saw as food. Anna reached out mentally and hugged the creature in its mind. To the dinosaur’s perspective though it was now very tiny compared to Anna’s mental form. She tried her best to comfort it, but it was continually lashing out. Soon though, her father joined her and pulled her away. The dinosaur soon fell into a deep sleep.
“They’ll have to be quarantined in the old Bio-Syn sanctuary, but we don’t have to end them.” Alan said. “This one is going to be a problem unless he’s asleep though.”
“People suck.” Anna sniffled.
Alan nodded. “We can, but we can also...”
“Be better.” Anna nodded. “Kratos wasn’t a subtle teacher.”
Alan laughed, “You’d be surprised.”
“So what now?” Anna asked.
“I contacted Billy, they’ll be here for pickup in the morning. Then they go to the sanctuary and we go back to the camp for a bit. Until then I’ll keep him in a deep sleep, his sister won’t be too much of an issue, she’s calmer, but she’s gonna need to eat.” Alan said as he looked to Hong Long, “Think you can help out there?”
Hong Long snorted and nodded, then looked at Anna.
Anna smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”
Hong Long made a series of mumbles and nudged Anna’s head.
“Go get her something good to eat. Like a big crocodile or something.” Anna smiled and patted him on the head.
The tulpa dragon flew off.
Alan made camp and Anna helped. By the time they had finished Hong Long had returned and put an overly large snake by the Rex’s mouth.
“Well that’s a fucking huge anaconda.” Alan sighed as purple flashed around the area of their camp.
“Something we should worry about?” Anna asked.
Alan shrugged. “Potentially, there are realities where anacondas just get absurdly large and eat people.”
Anna’s eyes went wide.
“I doubt this is one of those worlds, but for all I know someone de-extincted the Titanboa.” Alan huffed and added, “Again.”
“Again?!” Anna almost shrieked.
“I thought you loved all animals.” Alan laughed.
“I do, but who keeps making these clones and why?” Anna stomped her foot on the ground as Hong Long shrunk down and coiled over her shoulder.
“Rich assholes wanting to make more money by selling a ‘perfect weapon’.” Alan sighed. “Story doesn’t change much honestly. Psionic soldier. Cloned dinosaur. Engineered Dinosaur. Ancient Snake. They always want to exploit something, there’s always a Looten Plunder.”
“Okay, was that a name?” Anna asked.
“Ah, you didn’t get to meet The Planeteers, that’s right.” Alan sighed and shook his head. “We’ll go find a world of theirs, you’d get along with all of them. But yeah it's the name of an asshole whose only goal is to exploit nature for money. Also hires a very lethal mercenary I tend to have to kill.”
“Yikes.” Anna said as she sat down and began to stroke Hong Long like a very long and reptilian cat.
“The Planteers were 5 kids recruited by a very literal spirit of the Earth, Gaia. They’re not soldiers and were never meant to be, their entire purpose is education and enlightenment. But they weren’t left defenseless. They each got a magic ring, four with the classic elements and the fifth is heart, which is kinda like telepathy but more here...” He tapped his chest. “If they really get pressed, which happens to them a lot because they're teens and they’re fighting psychotic, sometimes super villain adults, they can combine the powers to make...” He gestured in the air and the illusion of a blue skinned man with teal hair and red suit-like parts on his body appeared, “Captain Planet.”
“Nice mullet.” Anna snickered.
“He likes it.” Alan laughed. “He loves those kids, I try to remember that when I’m in their worlds.”
Anna nodded as she watched the image. “He has the heart of a hero.”
Alan laughed, “Filling those shoes already?”
“I think it’s because the other part of my base is already there.” Anna said. “I’m just waiting on you.”
“Well now we’re just waiting on each other.” Alan smirked. “Get some sleep. I got the watch. Need to keep the big boy asleep anyway.”
Anna nodded and walked into her tent, “Hong Long keep him some company for a bit please?”
Hong Long nodded coiled around Alan’s waist, waiting to be patted.
“Oh no, you don’t fool me.” Alan smiled as he pulled out some cards. “Come on, a game or two.”
Hong Long wrinkled his nose and snorted but coiled his lower body in such a way that it made a flat enough surface to play a game of cards.
Anna woke up to the sound of metal clanging against metal. Slowly she walked out of her tent and saw that her father was loading the male Indominous Rex into a holding sling. The female was actually sitting calmly in a holding crate, two large goat carcasses at her maw for her to eat whenever.
“Your dragon cheats.” Alan laughed as he locked the final column into place. “But he cheats poorly.”
“Why are you teaching my dragon card games?” Anna asked as she patted the dragon that once again coiled around her like a sash.
“He knows them, I just wanted a game or two.” Alan snorted.
Hong Long made some murmuring noises and grumbles that Anna understood as him being upset at being caught.
“Of course he caught you, he’s endlessly old.” Anna said with a minor jab to her father.
Alan smiled then realized what she had said as several work men laughed at the joke.
“My daughter, guys.” Alan sighed. “All right, let’s pack and get back to the camp and a warm shower!”
“Oh, warm showers.” Anna nodded. “And you can tell me about some other places we should visit.”
Alan smiled as he hugged his daughter. “I got a great one!” He laughed.
(T)(D)(T)(F)---(T)(F)(T)(W)
Another helicopter ride and a few time zones later the father and daughter were once again at the Montana based Camp Cretaceous. Alan had gotten the honor of the first shower in no small part due to a pachy skidding and covering him in mud and excrement through the fencing it had. Anna was glad that she had it last though, she got to enjoy the fresh hot water that she knew her dad had helped kick up.
It was well into the evening when they were sitting on his porch, looking out at the heads of the brachiosauruses swaying in the setting sun. Rio was even taking her time to watch them as well.
Alan was actually enjoying himself to a degree he hadn’t let himself in a very long time.
Anna was ecstatic, and enraptured by the gentle giants.
Rio’s recent turmoil and confusion seemed to have faded.
Then Alan sighed loudly and put his beer down on a table.
Anna focused and Rio did as well.
Hong Long coiled around Anna.
Rio stood and took a defensive stance.
From the high above the green aura of Psy-Ko descended, her enhanced powers made her glow like a beacon in the night. Besides her a suit of black metallic armor was descending as well.
“Hello Alan.” Psy-Ko smiled. “Anna.”
“Go die in a fire.” Anna growled.
“Is that anyway to greet--” Psy-Ko was cut off.
“Yes!” Alan shouted, “Yes it is how you great lunatics who hound and harass your family!”
An invisible force sent the armor that contained Sindri sailing into the sky.
“Well, I guess we’re fighting then!” Sindri roared as he rebounded back faster than anyone could react. His armor’s fist impacted a barrier that seemed to pop out of thin air. It was gleaming white and had odd symbols filling it.
“I’m sorry, I’m keeping them safe for a bit.” Ragnis grinned as he appeared. “Allow me to assert your place in the hierarchy of power.”
“Above him.” Psy-Ko grinned as green strands of hair stretched out and began to weave themselves into the various dinosaurs.
“Oh no you don’t!” Anna snarled as she formed a blade of her aura around her wrist and levitated herself up to the stands, cutting through all of them.
Alan just stared as his temper started to flare. “FLEISCH!” He roared.
The psionic woman smiled at the man she hated. “You remembered my name.”
“You’re boring.” Ragnis said as he looked down at the straining form of Sindri in his mech suit. “Now her..” Ragnis made a kicking motion and Sindri’s mech was swallowed by a beam of light and vanished.
Ragnis was then immediately at Psy-Ko’s side swinging a huge claymore down on her. Psy-Ko smiled as she dodged effortlessly. Soon she felt all the strands of her hair were cut free from their targets. Shr grinned again as she turned to Anna.
“My dear, why such worry? They’d be under better care with me.” Psy-Ko tried her best to give a sweet smile.
Anna stopped and turned to her.
“Anna!” Alan shouted. “She’s up to something.” He brought himself into the air and watched as Rio awas now engaging the returning form of Sindri. “This is some sort of trap!”
“Oh do be quiet Alan!” Psy-Ko sneered as tendrils of her hair raced and encased Alan Quain.
Anna roared as she surged forward. Ragnis joined her in the shout of rage. Psy-Ko moved effortlessly as she used her hair to snake into Anna’s aura and steal control of her arm from her. She directed it to the sword arm of the Scion of Life.
Ragnis shrieked in pain as his right arm was lopped off half way up his forearm. The limb fell as Anna watched in shock at what Psy-Ko had done. Psy-Ko laughed in joy as Sindri caught the limb and vanished. Then the hair that had encased Alan Quain detonated as if a bomb of pure power had gone off. It left Psy-Ko with only half of her hair left as she too shrieked in pain.
Psy-Ko floundered as she tried to focus once more. She was able to get just enough focus to see the rising form of Alan Quain, the purple mark of his psionic power that marked his eyes was now expanded out like with the edges splashed in black and white, like volcanoes of rage highlighting just how dangerous a force of nature he was becoming.
“Retreat Ragnis.” Alan said with an angry hiss.
Anna was still in shock. “Ragnis...”
“It’s alright kid.” Ragnis winced, “We both fell for it.” He vanished and left her to her confusion.
“I’m done pulling my punches with you.” Alan focused on Psy-Ko and the woman felt an intense pressure on her throat.
“No!” The high pitched and gleeful voice of Atropos said as she appeared and encased Psy-Ko in a wave of dark pulsing energy. “I think that will have to wait...” Then they vanished.
It took both Anna and Alan a few moments to establish that no major damage had been done, but there were now reports of UFOs fighting over dinosaurs. Which was going to definitely boost their tourism funding at the camp.
When they came down and went back inside Anna was crying into her pillow.
“Stupid question, but can I do anything?” Alan asked.
“I’m sorry, I should have listened.” Anna sniffled.
“She actually surprised me with that.” Alan said. “Hair powers. That’s quite a change.”
“Psychic hair powers.” Anna corrected him with a small laugh.
“That’s...” Alan blinked. “That’s just dumb and I know a woman who uses her normal hair in a similar way.”
“Will he be okay?” Anna asked.
Alan shrugged. “I mean according to them you took off half of the Wicked Bitch’s hand and she couldn’t fix that.”
Anna nodded. “I’m a danger to them.”
A flash outside their door and a knock later and Ragnis was opening the door and walking in. He was wearing a heavily metallic prosthetic.
“You could have waited for me to answer.” Alan said.
“You were going to let me in anyway.” Ragnis shrugged and showed off his hand. “No hard feelings, I got a new one.”
“Why does that look...” Anna stared at it. “Is that Vik’s work?”
“No, but it is from V’s reality.” Ragnis smiled. “Going to need some variants, but now that I have one that’s a part of me I can work with it.”
“But she has your hand.” Anna pointed out.
“Yeah, that’s concerning.” Ragnis nodded. “But don’t blame yourself, they clearly planned this. And we both had to fall for it.”
“I mean, I did say it was a trap.” Alan shrugged.
“Yeah but how did you know?” Anna asked.
“He is endlessly old.” Ragnis nodded.
Alan stared at the Scion.
“I already used that earlier.” Anna said.
“Daughters get a ‘being cute’ pass.” Alan growled.
“Look, I already told the others, I got this so don’t blame yourself.” Ragnis sighed. “She’s been a step ahead for so long.” Ragnis shook his head. “But I’m still keeping an eye on you. Let her meet the kids, get some rest, leave when you’re ready.”
Alan nodded. “Thanks.”
Rio stared at the Scion. “Will she target others?”
“Oh my god she’s trying to become Sarumon of Many Colors!” Anna gasped.
“Wonderful reference, but no it doesn’t work like that. At most that hand has a very small amount of what my concept of life is.” Ragnis shook his head. “Although now I have to have Perfection paint the image of her in a rainbow outfit just to annoy her.”
“Why would it annoy her?” Anna asked.
Ragnis sighed, “She’s Evil, not terribly original and quite frankly she should be easy to predict, but we keep missing something.”
“Her actual goal.” Alan sighed. “It’s been something so insane you can’t grasp.”
“Do you have any insight oh, old one?” Ragnis asked
Alan glared once again. “No, because again I’m not that desperately insane. Once this thing with Darkseid is over you got me for the seconds it takes to flatten her.”
“Or flatline her.” Anna added.
Alan and Ragnis both cast a concerned glance at Anna.
“She’s getting to me.” Anna sighed.
Rio stood up and sat next to Anna. “Would you like to pet my head again?”
Anna smiled and slowly patted Rio’s head.
“When in doubt, pet a friend.” Ragnis said, “You two relax, you’re safe. Even if the res of us aren’t.”
\\\\
First
Previous /// Next
SPOTIFY LIST!
////
S: (looks around) Well...
Perfection: What?
S: I know one of you wants to say it.
Perfection: Say what?
S: Spaceballs, Lord Helmet.
Perfection: But there wasn’t a jamming scene.
S: I keep forgetting your sense of humor.
Wraith: (Walks in wearing an oversized helmet) “So, Lone Starr, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.”
DM: (Walks in wearing the same helmet)
Perfection: Also I’m a fan of Yogurt.
S: I worry about my mind sometimes.

The Blackwood Forest has always been a source of legend in our town. Not for anything good, though. Everyone here fears it. They always remind newcomers to “Never go into Blackwood Forest.” Nobody who enters it ever comes back. At least, that was how things used to be.
​
One of the most famous incidents surrounding the forest occurred around 1989. A family of 6, the Franks, moved into a house not far from the forest. It had an expansive backyard, stretching up until the edge of the dense clusters of trees that make up the boundary of Blackwood Forest. One evening, they decided to eat dinner in their new backyard. They weren’t going into the forest, just the fire pit about halfway between their house and the trees. Another family of 3, the Andersons, joined them. At around 8:30, screaming was heard by nearby neighbors. The police were called. When they arrived, they found that the benches, tables, and chairs were soaked in blood. The grass was smeared with it in a path leading into the forest. There was no sign of either of the families. The police confirmed the blood of 9 individuals was present at the scene. Enough blood was lost to assume the deaths of all 9 individuals.
​
After that day, a massive fence was built around the forest, to keep us out, or keep other things in. The fence is 11 feet tall and designed to be impossible to climb over, with almost no footholds. A gate is kept locked tight, located at the end of a worn path leading out of the side of town. Nobody goes in, and nothing gets out. Not that anyone knows what took the Franks or Robinsons. Except, of course, for me. I’ve seen what lies beyond the gates of Blackwood Forest. I’ve seen the beasts that took those families, all those years ago.
​
The fence wasn’t really necessary to be perfectly honest. There aren’t really any trails to hike through the forest, and we don’t have many issues with kids doing stupid things like trying to sneak in for “fame.” Even if we did, the fence keeps them out. Therefore nobody has any reason to go into the forest. Everyone is too afraid.
​
But, although I listened to what everyone always said; “Never go into Blackwood Forest,” I was curious. My morning run took me past the fence and gate, and I would sometimes glance in to see what was in there. I thought it looked like a normal, albeit dark, forest. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was very off. There weren’t many animals, like birds or squirrels, and you couldn’t hear the ones that were there very well. It was oddly quiet. At night, no crickets would be heard. No fireflies during the summer. It was oddly devoid of animal life for a dense forest with so many places for a small critter to live or a bird to make a nest. However besides that, it really didn’t seem that dangerous.
​
A few weeks ago, my curiosity got the best of me. I decided to see if there were any openings that I could slip into. Sure enough, on the very far side of the fence, opposite the side with the town, I found a small gap I could squeeze into. I decided that the next morning, I would grab my phone and camera and explore some of the forest close to the fence. I was excited to see what lay within, and wondered about what sort of stuff I might find. After all, nobody ever went in there.
​
The next day came, and after eating breakfast, I jogged to the small opening I’d found the previous day. I had a backpack with some water and food, as well as the camera and phone. I pushed my backpack through first, and then squeezed through the opening.
​
The first thing I noticed upon entering was how dark it was. The trees blocked out much of the sunlight. It was hard to see very much. Thankfully, I could use both my phone’s flashlight and the one attached to my camera. As I walked, the quiet of the forest around me felt eerie. There should have been the sounds of animals beginning to wake up and start their day, but instead there was silence. Every sound I made, like stepping on a tree, quickly was dampened out, as if swallowed whole by the trees.
​
After a few minutes of walking and taking pictures, I came upon a worn path. I was confused, since there was no reason for any path to have been here because nobody had ever lived in the forest. I took another photo, and decided to follow the path. After another few minutes of walking, I noticed a clearing with sunlight pouring into it ahead. In the very center of it sat an old, decrepit stone building. Off to the side, there was an old well. The building had a very weathered but readable sign, identifying it as “Blackwood Church.” I took a photo of the church and well and decided to enter. I was very curious, as nobody should have ever lived out here, this deep into the woods. There was a church that had been built as part of the original town, so it didn’t make sense for this one to be there.
​
I walked through the place where the doors would have been, had they not rotted off of the hinges. I could see the space around me because of several holes in the roof allowing sunlight in. It seemed like it was once fairly normal, though weeds had sprouted up through the floorboards which were falling apart. I stepped outside after snapping some photographs. I was going to leave back along the path and get out of the forest. As I walked, I noticed that there seemed to be several old buildings, almost destroyed, spread out on the edges of the clearing. I began to see the old worn paths made of cobblestone and dirt, almost invisible, having been reclaimed by nature. This wasn’t just some church, this was an entire town.
​
I was both shocked and excited. I spent the next hour taking photographs of all of the somewhat intact buildings and their rubble counterparts. I spent around an hour exploring the town, exploring a butchers shop, clothes store, and general store. I finally made my way to the path I had come in on. I noticed, underneath all of the foliage, there seemed to be a sign. I brushed some of the growth away and read the faded words; “Welcome to Blackwood, Population: 349, c. 1903.”
​
At this point, on top of the confusion, there was a growing feeling of nervousness in my gut. I’d never heard of any town in Blackwood Forest. Our town, Greyrock Springs, was founded in 1909. I searched the other houses on the outskirts of this ghost town. In one of them, I found the journal of a 19 year old girl named Ellie. She had moved into the town with her family, the Wilsons, and another one they were close friends with, the Millers. They had moved in 1905. The first dozen pages were normal entries about life around the town, her friend, 19 year old Janie Miller, and her older brother, 21 year old Shaun Miller. She and Shaun were apparently set to get married in a year, something Ellie wrote almost endlessly about. The 20th entry, dated September 17, 1905, however, was different.
​
The 20th entry said that 7 townsfolk and gone missing suddenly overnight. It read, “Last night 7 of our neighbors vanished. The Smith family and Mr. H. The Sheriff doesn’t know what happened to them. Their beds appear to have been slept in, and their homes appear normal. But nobody has seen or heard of any of them since 8:00 last night. I’m getting worried, some of the other neighbors are talking about dark shadows in the trees snatching them away. I hope they’re alright.”
​
After reading this, my anxiety started growing. What could have happened to the people who lived here? I looked at the next entry, 6 days later. It read “Almost everyone has vanished. The night after the first disappearances, 14 people vanished. The numbers got worse from there. The Sheriff, the butcher, the schoolteacher, all gone. Last night, 34 people, including the Millers, vanished. There are only 115 of us now. Janie and Shaun are gone, their beds unkempt, everything else in place as if they just got up and walked out. It’s 7:52 at night according to my clock. There are things making weird screeches out there. I can see the shadows outside. They’re drawing closer. I think I’m going to join Janie and Shaun tonight. At least I won’t have to live on without my friend and love.”
​
Terror was beginning to take hold now. I looked around the room. I realized that it was now noon. I had been reading for so long I had lost track of time. I got up, grabbed the journal, and ran out of the house, the feeling of being watched nearly overwhelming me. I got to the path I had walked in on. It was then that the screeching and wailing began.
​
It started as an inhuman, deep, gravelly sound, and then cracked and sounded like a dying person giving a final cry for help. Soon, a chorus of these other-worldly howls filled the forest. Terror shot through my body. I felt chills. I turned and scanned my surroundings, searching for the source of the sounds.
​
That was when I saw one of Them for the first time.
​
I don’t know how to describe Them here, but I will do my best to give you an idea of what lurks in those woods.
​
They are tall, around 7 feet, with pure black skin. No light reflects off of any part of Them, except for their milky white eyes. Brown veins reach for the center of the eye, where the iris and pupil would have been. Instead, there was just more white. In some places, Their flesh clings to Their bones as though they have been vacuum-sealed. In others, the flesh is gone, and only bone remains. Their entire body has pulsating, grey veins spiderwebbing from place to place. And Their mouths stretch from one side of the head to the other, nearly to the hinges connecting the jaw to the skull. Their teeth are thin as a needle, and they have hundreds of them.
​
One of Them was standing close to me, looking at me. It let out a screech-wail and started to run towards me. I turned and bolted, running towards the church, hoping to escape through an window-opening. As I reached the church, I turned and glanced back, only to see It standing near the well, not moving. Instead, it was growling at me. As we stared each other down, more of Them began to appear. They formed a ring around the church. I was now trapped. Panic began to set in more deeply, as I looked through the window-openings, trying to look for a weakness in the circle I could use to escape, and there was one. Directly behind the church, there was a large opening in the ring of monsters surrounding me. Taking several deep breaths and becoming as calm as I could given the circumstances, I took my opportunity and ran. I jumped out the window and sprinting with more force than I have ever used in my life.
​
I made it to the trees, hearing their horrible screech-wails following uncomfortably close behind. I didn’t stop, running through the foliage like my life depended on it, which I could tell it did. Most of Them remained behind, but a few followed me deeper and deeper into the forest, not letting up. The trees and brush whipped at me, stinging and cutting my skin, but a continued, even going faster. I finally stopped when I couldn’t hear Them behind me anymore. By this point, it was closer to 2:00 P.M. I had run in the opposite direction I had entered Blackwood from. The adrenaline I had felt began to wear off, and I wanted to collapse from exhaustion, but I knew those things would keep looking for me until they found me.
​
I spent the rest of the day cautiously searching for the fence, but no matter how hard I looked, I couldn’t find it. By the time it got dark, I was exhausted. The adrenaline from the whole day had turned into a mix of emotions, namely fear and anxiety. I decided to hide in a tree, in the event They found me. As I sat there, looking, I began to hear that screeching wail and those deep growls and grunts. They were close. I held my breath as the first one approached. It looked around, peering through the forest, searching for me. I got the feeling it knew I was close.
​
It started to scan some bushes near the tree I was in, when It looked up suddenly. I fell from my spot in surprise, hitting the ground hard and with a grunt. It let out a wail, and started to approach me. I searched for something to use as a weapon, and found a sharp rock. I looked at the large veins covering It’s chest area. It seemed like the perfect target. It began to run, screeched and then lunged. I pulled the rock from behind my back and sliced with ferocity, cutting through the veins like paper. It screamed and shrieked, black ooze shooting out of the wound like a hose until it stopped. The creature let out a final wail before collapsing to the ground. I looked at it. I could hear a sickly breathing coming from the thing. Before it died, I heard a distorted but human voice mutter a weak “Thank.. you..” and then the breathing stopped. I was stunned. I didn’t have much time to think about it, because more wails could be heard approaching fast in the distance. I continued to run through the forest, more adrenaline pumping through my veins, fear at the back of my mind. I ran for a long time until I ended up back in that town. I hid in the church, underneath the floorboards. At some point, I fell asleep from exhaustion.
​
The next 6 days were awful. I spent most of them hiding, slowly running through my food and water I had packed. One morning, as I reached the last of my water, I realized I had to escape. Although They searched the forests for me, I thought I could slip past Them and make it to the fence. But after a few minutes of preparing, I heard those wails approaching from the distance yet again. I grabbed my backpack and stepped outside again. I looked, seeing the creatures from before step out from the trees. I prepared myself, and ran. All of them began to follow me, their screeches cutting through the quiet of the forest and reminding me of how close I was to death. I went down that same worn path, sprinting through the woods. One jumped out in front of me, forcing me to veer off the path and into the forest. I ran, nearly tripping and getting cut on the branches. That was when I saw it. Ahead of me, finally, lay the fence. I took off the backpack as I approached. There was the gap. I was about to escape. They were close now, just a few yards away. I forced the backpack through the opening, forcing myself through it just as they reached the fence.
​
I turned to look back at them, snapping one final photograph. I’m not entirely sure why I did that, but maybe I just wanted proof of the truth. That I wasn’t crazy. What I saw was real. I grabbed the backpack and ran back towards town, towards safety, towards home, their growls and wails fading behind me.
​
I want to say that I’m safe now, that everything is ok, but it isn’t. A week ago, I started to hear whispers from my neighbors of wails, screeches, and growls coming from the fence. If anyone looked in the direction the sound was coming from, it stopped. I had to walk past the fence a few days ago, and I heard it. I was all alone. The fence started to rattle as well. I turned to look, but only saw a tall shadow slipping into the darkness of the trees.
​
Last night, two people who were walking past the fence vanished.
​
That brings us to today.
​
I know what They want. They are angry. I wasn’t supposed to escape. I don’t want to do this, but I won’t endanger anyone else who lives here.
​
I’ll leave the photos, camera, and journal in my desk for safe keeping. That way people will understand what I saw, at least partially. People will hear the story of the townspeople of Blackwood. That is the reason I’m posting this. So more of you know.
​
I have accepted my fate. After I post this, I will walk to the gate, and I will be taken. I don’t know for sure, but I think I will become one of Them, cursed to walk Blackwood Forest forever. My consciousness will be left a fragment, my humanity gone, as I walk the forest and wail, screech, and growl. This is the end for me. If anyone cares, my name is Daniel. I am 29 years old. I live in Greyrock Springs. If you come here, to find me or Blackwood or those things, or maybe even the pictures and journal, remember one thing.
​
Never go into Blackwood Forest.

Target User: u/That_Reference_2105
URL: /Twittecomments/13zm98v/is_it_possible_that_my_chosen_settings_and/jmtfm35/
Body:
twatter is falling to pieces. every day, another piece of it breaks. there is no.one left to fix it. move on..

battery - really anywhere between 6 - 10 hrs of sot. factors such as display resolution, refresh rate and performance profile actually have a minimal impact on this in my experience but using cellular instead of wifi is likely to reduce your sot by 1-2 hours. mobile hotspots barely drain from my experience.
performance - zzzzzzzzzzzzzz what can i say. I don't game much but most games sip power. I do still find it a little weird how the phone is pretty laggy when booting up though. itll show a 4 or 5 second startup dialogue then be really slow for the next 10-15 seconds. would be nice if it was smooth right off the bat like iphone.
camera - the main 12/50/200 lens is very refined. would be cool is the app could let you tune the brightness/exposure better since i feel like just tapping the frame makes it too bright. remember to get camera assistant.
- disabling auto hdr (its really aggressive and createsa weird outlining around subjects) and scene optimiser
- setting picture softening to off or medium
- enabling quick tap shutter and prioritise focus over speed
- disable auto lens switching if it is enabled.
Features - S pen is cool i use it sometimes, the phone itself is a feature because of the freedom you get.
UI - notifs are good. quick panel is bloated. otherwise the user experience is pretty similar to ios.
Apps - This is probably my biggest pet peeve but it mostly isnt samsungs fault either. Some apps that work so well on ios are just terrible on android. It really annoys me when im scrolling and there is a stutter because the app is poorly optimised. Reddit app is just trash. instagram is half functional -> there is currently a bug on android that hasnt been fixed in ages where certain ig users cannot scroll reels normally.
Browser - The phone falls a little short. on my friends 14 pro max and on my ipad pro, browsing speeds on any browser in general (safari specifically) are STUPIDLY FAST. as fast as my gaming pc. You cannot get this on the samsung. Chrome is the fastest on this phone in my experience.
galaxy store - why am i greeted with an ad every time I open it and why is a native samsung app so stuttery in terms of loading and scrolling.
Display - resolution/sharpness is literally 500ppi. vivid mode is alright but I recommend using any debug settings tool to restore the old display settings. I prefer amoled cinema which targets dcip3. I do not like how hdr content locks brightness.
"ecosystem" - i dont really know anyone who rocks a full samsung setup but messaging to other androids is almost like imessage. quickshare is also really really impressive. windows sync apps like intel unison and phone link DO NOT replace the iphone + macbook feel like people make it seem.
Customisation - good lock lets you customise many things. Would be cool if there was an inbuilt way of editing app icons/creating shortcuts. There is also a pretty small ecosystem of good widget apps. a lot of the widget apps available on the play store have really backdated designs as if they were made for the android 5.
Build: Drop resistance is probably quite good but i cant say for scratches. you must get a case and screen protector for this phone. the curved edges are a weakpoint.
Design: i mean it looks cool af but the coloring can do better. I bought the phantom black version but it looks like a grey in certain lighting conditions. and the aluminium edge does not look black at all. could really take notes from the space black iphone 14 pro, which in my opinion sets the mark for a black colored phone.
Summary: This phone really does seem to be getting the wrap from the tech community as the phone to dethrone iphone, but at the end of the day there are always these small things from iphone that'll have my respect.
overall: 8.5/10

I am looking to tutor anyone writing the MCAT. Yes, for free. I am willing to delicate my time and energy to my fellow MCAT brothers and sisters to help them achieve their dream MCAT score.
My story
I wrote the MCAT in September and scored a 517 (129/125/131/132) - 94th Percentile.
It was a long and stressful journey. At times, I doubted myself. At times, I almost decided on giving up on my dream on becoming a doctor. I remember blaming the matrix we lived in. I remember thinking that the doctor route was only for the rich and privileged.
But one day, I realized I was only stressed because I was scared I would fail. I put all my focus on the outcome but not the process. When I pushed that fear to the side, I realized I actually enjoyed studying the MCAT. I enjoy learning. I enjoy studying. I felt smarter every day... This mindset shift was important but hard. And browsing through this reddit, many people complain. Saying we don't need the MCAT... doctors never use this. But I truly believe by reframing your mind. Seeing how the MCAT shows you how to study, how to focus, how to read, how it builds your mental stamina. These are all valuable skills transferrable to being a doctor. The MCAT is not hard. YOU think its hard. The MCAT is not a waste of time. Focus on the positives. Don't focus on the negatives. You will be miserable until you do.
Why am I doing this?
I am doing this because this subreddit was a hugeeee help for me. This is my way to give back :) I am also doing this, because I have a desire to master the MCAT and I think there is no better way to master something than it is to teach it. Also coming from a disadvantaged background, I know what its like to be fighting the world, to fall into the victim mindset, to feel like the odds are stacked against you. If anyone out there, is going through that. I understand... but don't give up. If this is truly what you want. You can do it. ANYONE can. I BELIEVE ANYONE can master the MCAT. No matter your background and where you come from. YOU CAN DO IT.
I also think the Prep Companies out here are bullshit. They are money grabbers. The free practice exams they offer are completely unrepresentative. I am surprised no MCAT prep company has yet to figure this out. Lot of these companies, focus on low yield material that you need to memorize. When I believe AAMC focuses on the big picture. My point is... the free resources are perhaps better and just as likely for you to score a 90%+.
My third reason for doing this is because I believe that we Pre-Meds are a toxic community. Many don't help each other. Many don't want to see the other succeed. But viewing everyone as competition is a sad, lonely life. I lived that life. I no longer want to. I want to create a strong community of MCAT Brothers and Sisters. Who support each other. Who build each other up. We need to change our toxic culture and band together.
My requirements
​

• There are no requirements

HOWEVER, I will only invest my time and energy more to those who are serious and committed. Who will listen to my advice. Who are open to breaking old study habits and creating new ones.
How to get in touch with me
​

• [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
• IG: MCATSimple

Just shoot me a direct message or send me an email. Give me a brief description about yourself and your goals. How much time you are willing to dedicate to studying for the MCAT. Where you are located. What your target score is. What resources you have used or will be using. How you would like me to help. Including any content you are struggling with. And we will go on from there. :)