To get it out of the way first, obviously Avatar 2 was a massive success and is the 3rd highest grossing film of all time with 3 sequels on the way. Now to look over Disney's other major franchises:
Walt Disney Animation Studios: Strange World was a massive bomb of almost 200 million dollars.
Pixar: Lightyear was also a massive bomb of 106 million dollars. Plus with Elementals having mediocre reviews coming out of Cannes it doesn't seem that Pixar would be rebounding this year.
Disney Live action remakes: The Little Mermaids international box office reception has been horrendous. Even domestically there is a decent chance it opens under 100 million which would be pretty alarming considering how reliant it is on the domestic market to break even on its massive 250 million budget. It is going to be very difficult for it to reach the 650 million point to break even, a far cry from The Lion King, Alladin, Beauty and the Beast, Jungle Book which were all billion dollar or close to billion dollars movies.
Lucasfilm: Indiana Jones 5 has a disastrous reception at the Cannes which is pretty egregious considering how beloved the franchise is even by the hardcore cinephile crowd (Raiders of the Lost Ark made it on the recent Sight and Sound poll). It has a rumoured budget of 300 million which would be difficult to break even on for a franchise that has its last entry 15 years ago and with an 80 year old action star.
Meanwhile new Star Wars films have been announced but haven't been dated yet which has been the case multiple times since lackluster reception to Rise of the Skywalker. Star Wars seems to still have goodwill as a franchise considering the reception to Andor and Jedi Survivor but it seems that at the box office Disney is still not 100% sure about the franchise's viability.
Marvel Studios: Dr. Strange Multiverse of Madness made almost close to a billion dollars coming off the hype of a New Way Home and without the markets of China and Russia. But the mixer reception to that movie combined with lackluster critical reception to Thor Love and Thunder, a decline of almost 500 million dollars for Black Panther Wakanda Forever from the original movie in 2018 and Ant Man Quantamania failing to break even is enough to prove that Marvel is on rocky waters as a franchise. Even the success of Guardians of the Galaxy 3 has only been possible with an exceptional Word of Mouth that allowed it to overcome weak pre-sales something that proves that the Marvel brand has been damaged and the person responsible for that movie is now heading Marvel's biggest competitor.
It is also worth noting that Avatar as successful as it is is also a franchise that is heavily reliant on James Cameron's further involvement. Cameron has been pretty clear that he would be done with the franchise after the 5th movie which indicates that it is not a franchise that Disney can rely on long term for providing success.

Previous Next First
​
---Defector---
​
---Lhamo’s perspective---
---2680 Terran Calenda33 years BF---
I streak through the skies of Gangsri Gsar at a multiple of the speed of sound, looking down on the snow capped mountains that give the planet it’s name.
The setting sun is to my right and the creeping darkness of night to my left.
It’s so utterly freeing to have the yoke of my craft in my hands and an endless sky to fly through!
I can’t imagine having to go everywhere by safe, AI driven capsules!
This tiny craft and the lessons to pilot it are the best investment I ever made!
Of course, had I not had more valuable skills, that training almost certainly would have had me conscripted to the Fighter Force.
Apologies to whatever poor sod took my place!
The nav is trying to send me on a detour around the Sisters, A Lcag and ’Og Ma, 15km and 12km tall, respectively.
I look at the gap between them and at the 90 second detour my screen is instructing.
“Cute…” I smirk, as I plough straight forward at full speed.
The sheer rock face of A Lcag passes less than 200m on my right and ’Og Ma the same on my left.
10% of a yak racing track might sound like a lot but it really isn’t when you’re traveling this fast!
Passing out the other side of the Sisters, the ocean comes into view and, with it, so does one of the very few sea level cities on this planet.
Most places where the mountains meet the sea, they plunge straight into it with nowhere to build.
Here, the alluvial plain, deposited by the same river as runs through the heart of Lhasa Gsar, allows for the existence of the city of Chuchen Zhingkha.
I reduce my speed significantly.
I hail my destination “This is private craft Dzha10759Ka82, requesting permission to land, transmitting clearance code now.”
“Stand by… You are clear to land, private craft Dzha10759Ka82.”
I begin my descent, hovering down as I line myself up with the landingpad that my HUD is highlighting for me.
I set down and immediately see the irritated bodylanguage and expressions of the nearest pair of MPs.
I ready my holo as I swing open the door of my tiny personal craft.
“Miss…!” says the closer one, angrily, as he approaches, his open faced helmet showing me his scowling face “…I don’t care who you are, you’ve got to clear that pad, right now! We’re expecting…!”
“Dr Lhamo ‘Crane’ Yeshe, special consultant to the UTC Intelligence Service Office of Lhasa Gsar…” I say, casually turning my screen around to show him my ID app.
He’s stunned into silence for a moment before he checks my screen.
“…Am I not who you were expecting?” I smile with an (I feel) not unjustified quantity of smugness.
“I… was expecting someone… older… looking…” he says, adding that last word after apparently checking my age and finding that I am, in fact, 35 and just so babyfaced I regularly still need to prove my age when purchasing alcohol!
“Yes, well, regardless of what you were expecting, would you care to show me inside?… It’s chilly out here, in spite of the low elevation!”
The pair turn, without apologising, and begin walking toward the nearest building.
I follow.
As we approach, a man who looks very out of place on a military barracks emerges from the door and, spotting me, makes a beeline.
“Dr Yeshe, I presume?… Formerly professor of theoretical xenopsychology at Lhasa Gsar University?” asks the weedy European man in accented English.
“I am. Though, I think we can dispense with the word ‘theoretical’, these days(!)” I smile, extending my hand and speaking in English.
He takes my hand and shakes it as he says “Dr Otto ‘Alpenstock’ Kleinfeld, a pleasure to meet you! Thank you so much for making the journey!”
“Thank you for the flattering assessment of me as the best person on world for the task…” I smile “…Please… lead on, Dr Kleinfeld.”
The little man leads me inside. The MPs (thankfully) do not follow.
“So… you have read the brief?” he asks.
“Enemy pilot, seems to have stolen a fighter craft and flown it hear to surrender to us. Has a device, inferred to be a personal holo, that can translate his language into English but can’t manage Tibetan. Says he has information on the current position of a GU fleet that he’s willing to trade to us on the condition that we neutralise it with minimal casualties. When asked his reasoning, he answered that the Admiral was knowingly on his way to engage with a dreadnought blockade… which he regards to be a suicide mission. He believes he can give us the information necessary to take the fleet by surprise and surrender it with minimal loss of life. You want me to assess whether he thinks he’s telling the truth, whether he might have been fooled into thinking he’s telling the truth and what it might be worth promising him for the information he claims to have. That about the size of it?”
“Yes… very good.” chuckles the man, nervously, as he pulls out his holo “I just have a checklist to run down with you before you can undergo decontamination… Have you had symptoms of illness any time in the last six weeks?”
I smile “I think I can save some time there, Doc… tell me the author of that checklist, would you? Should be down at the bottom… fine print…”
The man frowns but scrolls down and squints.
The penny drops as he says “Dr L ‘C’ Yeshe… et al…” and looks up at me, a little defeatedly.
“Shall we assume I wouldn’t have bothered making the journey if I were to answer negatively any of the things I should answer positively, or vice versa… on the list that I was the lead author of?” I ask, trying and failing not to sound patronising.
He slumps before answering “I suppose I’ll just fill this out for you myself then… We’re here…”
He directs me through a door, into a darkened room.
To my left is the backside of a one way mirror.
Tentatively, I walk toward it, bringing into view the xeno defector.
The first thing that strikes me… is just how enormous he is!
I’m 175cm but that guy’s as tall as me, sitting down!
Some quick mental maths tells me that he’s got to be more than 2.5 metres, standing!
The next thing I realise is the fact that he has no nose… where it should be is instead just a smooth, flat patch of pale, purple-blue skin.
The longer I look at him the more uncanninesses I find in his appearance; one too many fingers on each hand and thumbs on the wrong side, eyes too large and a vivid orange colour with no pupils that I can see, ears the wrong shape, limb proportions slightly off, body too slim…
And… yet… despite all that…
Kinda hooot…(!)
Certainly no pinnacle of masculinity (in any way besides his imposing stature) but handsome none the less!
The kind of handsome you could see being cast as the love interest in a 24th Century scifi romance film(!)
He’d be the prince of a space kingdom, son of an eeeeevil space king, who unwillingly goes along with his father’s dastardly plans until meeting the beautiful Human heroine, in the second act, who causes him to have a change of heart, in the third(!)
Maybe I should take up screenwriting, after the War(!)
Of course, I know better than almost anyone not to share even a fraction of my little daydream with the room at large, having helped write the book on xeno interrogation procedure!
“Alright then… shall we start…?”
---Ngngomg’s perspective---
One of the Terrans enters what I infer to be the decontamination chamber, adjoining this room.
She raises her arms above her head and is sprayed with a liquid substance, following which the chamber is illuminated by harsh, bright light.
She stands in the sterilising rays for what seems like a dangerous amount of time before the internal door finally opens.
“Heh lother. Itsnaiss tu miitchu, Wii Ngkoman Der Ngngomg, mai neimz Lhamo.” she says.
If I didn’t already know what she was, I could walk past the woman in the hallway of a space station and think nothing of her except, maybe, to notice that she’s rather pretty… in spite of that strange, prominent sense organ in the middle of her face(!)
The language she speaks is what I recognise as her kind’s lingua franca and not the other one that I’ve heard, since landing, with a completely different cadence and tonality.
Apparently, the Terran's have thousands of languages… though, I don’t believe that personally.
Probably, they have thousands of dialects of a few dozen unique languages! That seems more realistic to me.
My assessment of what she spoke to me is proven correct when my holo is able to translate it into ngGollogng for me.
“Greetings. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, [untranslatable rank: ‘Wing Commander’. Meaning: one who orders and is obeyed while flying] Ngngomg, my name is Lhamo.”
Irritatedly, I correct her “Ngngomg is my personal name, you will address me by my tribe name, Ong!”
She looks at my holo as it turns my words into her language.
When she seems to have understood, she closes her eyes and dips her head.
“Apologies, [Wing Commander] Ong… that is my mistake.”
I narrow my eyes at the woman as she sits on the far side of the wide table, the weighty *thud* of her body meeting the surface hinting at the powerful density of her body.
She’s… much more polite than I expected a deathworlder to be!
I truly expected to have to endure days of torture before they’d finally listen to me but… unless they consider being locked in an interrogation room for hours on end to be a form of torture (which isn’t out of the question, given how much they purportedly revile boredom), I’ve endured none!
The woman places her hands, palm down, on the table in front of her.
Her thumbs point inward, toward eachother!
She curls her mouth without baring her teeth and says “I would shake your hand, [Wing Commander], but it’s probably best if you and I don’t touch… Don’t worry about airborne microbes… this whole room acts like a fume hood… It’s extremely unlikely that anything I breathe out over here is going to make it over to where you are.”
I don’t answer.
“So… I understand you have some information you want to give us, [Wing Commander]?”
“I don’t…” I scowl.
Seeming confused she looks to my face and says “You do not?”
Angrily, I stand, towering in comparison to the little deathworlder, and slam my palms down on the table “I don’t want to! I don’t want to be a defector!”
She raises her hands, defensively, but… not toward me…
Her eyebrows are both raised, her eyes wide, her jaw set and her skin pale as she faces the mirror.
It takes me a few moments to realise that she must be worried that they’ll storm in here and subdue me, given my outburst.
I feel my attitude toward her soften… she wasn’t even slightly worried for herself!
True… she probably doesn’t actually need to worry for herself but… still!
Satisfied that she has conveyed her wordless message to the spectators, she returns her attention to me and says “Why not tell me, in your own words, what lead you to were you are right now?”
---
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---
Previous Next First
Dramatis Personae

I know this is a long shot. This was literally years ago like possibly 2005-2010 (there’s a chance it was on another site from back then but I don’t have a clue what else there was)
It was a fairly short video framed as a documentary(not really a documentary because the person wasn’t being filmed in character but more like an internal monologue narration) of an ordinary person trying to be a hero (but I won’t discount the possibility they wanted to be a villain). I’m going by the assumption it wasn’t an actual trailer and just a one off amateur sketch.
I am 100% sure it is not dr horrible’s sing along blog, but it might have been uploaded in that time period. Also not the unbrakeable series.
The person on the video would talk/think about how he rode the bus every day and attempt to identify any telepaths by screaming as loud as he could inside his head and watch for someone to jump. There’s the scene where he explains it and scene at the very end where he’s doing it and a ?woman? Has a shocked expression and looks at him.
That’s all I’m sure of. He may have been on a mission to prove super powers existed. There may have been shots of him in front of his house or walking down the street. I don’t remember any costume (civilian clothes) and I don’t think he was acting overtly heroic. This last thing is 90% probably some dr horrible bleed through in my memory, but this person also might have been challenged by the classic villain with an ice gun)
*thanks in advance maybe someone else remembers seeing this, but I’m afraid it’s been buried in decades of other videos

My ortho said I had bad bone bruising from a fall on my knee that could take 12 months to heal. I’ve had pain between 1 and 4 out of 10 on a 24 hour basis for about 10 months now. Turning right or left was the worst as it felt like my upper body would go one way and my foot would stay in the old direction. Pain was from my thigh to my shin. I had grinding, pulsating, and sharp twinges of pain in my knee. It started snapping. Also a pressure feeling. Standing, sitting, laying hurt my knee. Zero improvement from day one. My Dr. said the pain was related to the bone bruise so I was waiting for it to heal. I was starting to lose hope and felt doomed…
I stepped down strange on my foot yesterday, felt a big pop and sliding sensation in my knee, and had 98% immediate relief. Immediately I could walk without any pain.
So, not a bone bruise.
It is still feeling right today, with a little bit of new tenderness I wonder is related to the pop.
Now I’m debating going to ortho to figure out if I’ve been damaging my knee from walking with it misaligned for 10 months. A little scared of it popping back out. But so happy to be pain free and so suddenly.

I do not own it (but I would like to buy it). One thing that prevents me from doing this is the appearance of werewolves: I can't stand them, I find them really ugly and I find it strange that they are practically humans with a costume, without a minimum of physical depth.
That being said, I have the impression that many people like it, even those who don't often play with Occults. Why? What do you like about this expansion?

I watched all MCU movies prior to spiderman far from home in order during the pandemic. I've also watched the last Thor movie, Ant-man quantumania and Dr. Strange in the multiverse. Due to Wanda showing up in Dr. Strange I've decided to watch Wandavision and I'm loving it, but I have no idea what this has to do with anything. Yeah, the main characters show up in previous movies and apparently Wanda has some family issues in Dr Strange 2, but overall I don't understand what this has to do with anything.
Is this some kind of fanfic/alternate universe? Will it eventually make sense? Should I watch anything else before continuing with Wandavision?
If the series itself explains it, please, refrain from spoilers, but I'm kinda confused where this comes from. I'm like Vision's boss in the first episode with all those questions unanswered. Am I supposed to know the answers?

If Ebony maw can pilot the ship by himself, why did Tony say the controls were meant for a bigger guy? I mean... He's a genius right? He can look at the controls and calculate the distance between them as being easy to reach for one person. Before any of you say "well he's just trying to make Peter feel useful" peter literally just saved Dr strange and was made an avenger. He puffed his chest out and all. He doesn't need that. Hell, Peter is a math whizz, probably better than tony, he coulda figured out the distance and said "Mr. Stark, I'm pretty sure if you stand in the middle you'd be able to control both of them". In spider-man 3 he proves that. And in the first avengers tony shows his quick understanding of ship controls. So this... Makes 0 sense. Please explain

I need your expertise and advice on a unique problem we've encountered while playing Age of Empires IV. Our playstyle involves facing the hardest AI difficulty, with a small treaty period and high initial resources. We aim to create massive armies and engage in epic clashes with the AI. However, we're facing an issue where the AI seems overly passive, making the game less enjoyable.
No matter how devastatingly we decimate their forces or how much damage we inflict on their towns, the AI never launches a counter-attack or attempts a finishing blow. They retreat within seconds of engaging, leaving us craving a more challenging experience. Even if they manage to destroy our armies and half of our town, they strangely refrain from launching a counter-attack and instead choose to roll over and die.
We're looking for suggestions and advice on how to make the AI more aggressive and engaging. Is there a way to tweak the game settings or modify the AI behavior to encourage them to put up a better fight? We want to maintain our playstyle of large-scale battles but with a more intelligent and formidable AI opponent.
Any insights, tips, or mod recommendations that could enhance our gaming experience and provide the challenge we seek would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your help!
TL;DR: Playing against the hardest AI in Age of Empires IV with a small treaty and high resources, but the AI is too passive and never launches a strong counter-attack. Even if they manage to destroy our armies, they choose not to counter-attack and simply give up. Looking for advice or mods to make the AI more challenging and engaging. Any suggestions are welcome!

Right off the bat, I'd like to leave a disclaimer that I am in the asexual spectrum and am not homophobic or anti-LGBTQ+ in any way. I have been in an LGBTQ+ relationship before with a trans partner and have no issues with other people in the community for this sole reason. I'm also not quite sure if this is the right reddit for this question... so please do redirect me to a more appropriate one if available.
My boyfriend and I have been together for over 6 months and as time as progressed, I've been told more about his gender identity. I myself identify as straight romantically, and my current partner identifies as he/they and non-binary(prefers they/them) which was never really an issue…
… but I've noticed some strange and concerning feelings cropping up within me. It's hard for me to put into words... but I'll try my best. I've found a place with my partner where I finally feel safe enough to embrace being a vulnerable, open, and doting girlfriend. I love it. I feel loved with them and I want to make them feel as accepted as I do. However, whenever they express certain thoughts about wanting to change themselves.. to become more feminine, change their height, voice, etc.. it makes me feel a way I really don't like. I almost feel as though they want to take on less aspects of the ‘boyfriend’ in a conventional relationship. …this sounds ridiculous, I know. I hate feeling this way. I don't want to prevent them from expressing themselves in any way, nor have I ever tried to/wanted to try making them into someone they're not. If they don't want to be masculine or a man, I tell them they simply aren't one- and if they don't feel like they are, can identify however makes them comfortable and be who they want to be.
But I don't want them to change at the same time. I don't know where a healthy line is drawn between ‘wanting someone to change in order to be more comfortable with themselves’, and ‘wanting them to learn to love themselves as they are’ without being selfish... and I do feel selfish. I've kept all this to myself and encouraged his growth as a person, but these thoughts make me feel selfish regardless. I don’t know if it’s because I’m straight and attracted to the masculine traits they want gone, or if I’m insecure about my own femininity.
I don't know what prompted these feelings and I don't want to feel this way. I love him for who he is; I loved that he’s not manly or very masculine and I've found all his qualities attractive since day 1. And thus I can't figure out why I'm bothered by any of this? This is not the kind of person/partner I want to be.
How do I become a more open and accepting partner?? Has anyone felt something like this before and overcome it? Please help me put things in perspective. I don’t want to end up sabotaging a good and serious relationship over something like this. Feel free to ask questions, I’ll answer best I can.
TL;DR- boyfriend came out as non-binary a while back & keeps expressing wanting more feminine traits; can’t tell if my insecurities stem from being straight & him not wanting to be masculine, or my own worries about my femininity. I don’t want my dumb feelings to ruin a good relationship.

Here's a list of my favourite alternate costumes for every character in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Feel free to ask questions or something.
Wedding Mario (bring back Fire Mario) Green Donkey Kong Armour of the Wild Link (Is it weird that I prefer Smash 4 Link?) Light Suit Samus Default Dark Samus (don't really have a skin for her) Cyan Yoshi (drop Crafted World, bring back Black Yoshi) Blue Kirby Green Kirby Red Pikachu Fire Luigi White Ness Default Captain Falcon (don't really like any of his other skins) Sleep Hat Jigglypuff Fire Peach Blue Daisy Red Bowser Dark Blue and Light Blue Ice Climbers (skin 4) Purple Sheik Blue Zelda Red Dr Mario Flower Pichu White Falco Red Marth Red Lucina (skin 3) Red Young Link Green Ganondorf (skin 4) Blue Mewtwo Violet Roy (skin 7) Black and Cyan Chrom (skin 8) Dark Green Mr Game and Watch Red Meta Knight Blue Pit and Dark Pit Red Zero Suit Samus Default Plumber Wario (I don't like Biker Wario) Fire Camouflage Snake Blue PoR Ike or Green RD Ike (I switch between the two) Default Pokémon Trainer Blue Diddy Kong Default Lucas Green-ringed Sonic (skin 8, didn't use this skin in Smash 4 because some of the colours were swapped) Green King Dedede (although all his skins are great) Red Olimar Default Lucario Red ROB Purple Toon Link Blue Wolf Default Villager Rush Mega Man Red Male Wii Fit Trainer Red Rosalina World Circuit Little Mac Red Greninja Dark Red Palutena Red Pac-Man Blue Male Robin Default Shulk Bowser Jr. Beagle and mallard Duck Hunt (skin 6) Street Fighter II Turbo Ryu Super Street Fighter II Turbo "Light Punch" Ken Red Cloud Red Male Corrin Red Bayonetta (skin 6) Blue Inkling Purple and Lime Ridley Black Simon (he doesn't have a very good selection) Red Richter Blue King K. Rool Red Fall Isabelle Blue Incineroar Default Pirahna Plant Red Joker Erdrick (Hero, skin 2) Purple Banjo and Kazooie Green Terry Default Byleth Red Min Min (I use this skin in ARMS, too) Default Steve White Sephiroth (his skins barely change anything wth) Blue Pyra and Mythra (skin 6) Purple Coat Kazuya Red Sora (skin 6)
I don't know why, but I feel like I'm gonna get called out for some of these.

STORY OF THE TWO YOUNG FRIENDS
​
There were once in a very large Indian camp two little boys who were fast friends.
One of the boys, "Chaske" (meaning first born), was the son of a very rich family, and was always dressed in the finest of clothes of Indian costume.
The other boy, "Hake" (meaning last born), was an orphan and lived with his old grandmother, who was very destitute, and consequently could not dress the boy in fine raiment.
So poorly was the boy dressed that the boys who had good clothes always tormented him and would not play in his company.
Chaske did not look at the clothes of any boy whom he chose as a friend, but mingled with all boys regardless of how they were clad, and would study their dispositions.
The well dressed he found were vain and conceited.
The fairly well dressed he found selfish and spiteful.
The poorly clad he found to be generous and truthful, and from all of them he chose "Hake" for his "Koda" (friend).
As Chaske was the son of the leading war chief he was very much sought after by the rest of the boys, each one trying to gain the honor of being chosen for the friend and companion of the great chief's son; but, as I have before said, Chaske carefully studied them all and finally chose the orphan Hake.
It was a lucky day for Hake when he was chosen for the friend and companion of Chaske. The orphan boy was taken to the lodge of his friend's parents and dressed up in fine clothes and moccasins.
(When the Indians' sons claim any one as their friend, the friend thus chosen is adopted into the family as their own son).
Chaske and Hake were inseparable.
Where one was seen the other was not far distant.
They played, hunted, trapped, ate and slept together.
They would spend most of the long summer days hunting in the forests.
Time went on and these two fast friends grew up to be fine specimens of their tribe.
When they became the age to select a sweetheart they would go together and make love to a girl.
Each helping the other to win the affection of the one of his choice.
Chaske loved a girl who was the daughter of an old medicine man.
She was very much courted by the other young men of the tribe, and many a horse loaded with robes and fine porcupine work was tied at the medicine man's tepee in offering for the hand of his daughter, but the horses, laden as when tied there, were turned loose, signifying that the offer was not accepted.
The girl's choice was Chaske's friend Hake.
Although he had never made love to her for himself, he had always used honeyed words to her and was always loud in his praises for his friend Chaske.
One night the two friends had been to see the girl, and on their return Chaske was very quiet, having nothing to say and seemingly in deep study.
Always of a bright, jolly and amiable disposition, his silence and moody spell grieved his friend very much, and he finally spoke to Chaske, saying:
"Koda, what has come over you?
You who were always so jolly and full of fun?
Your silence makes me grieve for you and I do not know what you are feeling so downhearted about.
Has the girl said anything to you to make you feel thus?"
"Wait, friend," said Chaske, "until morning, and then I will know how to answer your inquiry. Don't ask me anything more tonight, as my heart is having a great battle with my brain."
Hake bothered his friend no more that night, but he could not sleep.
He kept wondering what "Pretty Feather" (the girl whom his friend loved) could have said to Chaske to bring such a change over him.
Hake never suspected that he himself was the cause of his friend's sorrow, for never did he have a thought that it was himself that Pretty Feather loved.
The next morning after they had eaten breakfast, Chaske proposed that they should go out on the prairies, and see if they would have the good luck to kill an antelope.
Hake went out and got the band of horses, of which there were over a hundred.
They selected the fleetest two in the herd, and taking their bows and arrows, mounted and rode away towards the south.
Hake was overjoyed to note the change in his friend. His oldtime jollity had returned.
They rode out about five miles, and scaring up a drove of antelope they started in hot pursuit, and as their horses were very fleet of foot soon caught up to the drove, and each singling out his choice quickly dispatched him with an arrow.
They could easily have killed more of the antelope, but did not want to kill them just for sport, but for food, and knowing that they had now all that their horses could pack home, they dismounted and proceeded to dress their kill.
After each had finished packing the kill on his horse, Chaske said:
"Let us sit down and have a smoke before we start back.
Besides, I have something to tell you which I can tell better sitting still than I can riding along."
Hake came and sat down opposite his friend, and while they smoked Chaske said:
"My friend, we have been together for the last twenty years and I have yet the first time to deceive you in any way, and I know I can truthfully say the same of you.
Never have I known you to deceive me nor tell me an untruth.
I have no brothers or sisters.
The only brother's love I know is yours.
The only sister's love I will know will be Pretty Feather's, for brother, last night she told me she loved none but you and would marry you and you only.
So, brother, I am going to take my antelope to my sister-in-law's tent and deposit it at her door.
Then she will know that her wish will be fulfilled.
I thought at first that you had been playing traitor to me and had been making love to her for yourself, but when she explained it all to me and begged me to intercede for her to you, I then knew that I had judged you wrongfully, and that, together with my lost love, made me so quiet and sorrowful last night.
So now, brother, take the flower of the nation for your wife, and I will be content to continue through life a lonely bachelor, as never again can I give any woman the place which Pretty Feather had in my heart."
Their pipes being smoked out they mounted their ponies and Chaske started up in a clear, deep voice the beautiful love song of Pretty Feather and his friend Hake.
Such is the love between two friends, who claim to be as brothers among the Indians. Chaske gave up his love of a beautiful woman for a man who was in fact no relation to him.
Hake said, "I will do as you say, my friend, but before I can marry the medicine man's daughter, I will have to go on the warpath and do some brave deed, and will start in ten days."
They rode towards home, planning which direction they would travel, and as it was to be their first experience on the warpath, they would seek advice from the old warriors of the tribe.
On their arrival at the village Hake took his kill to their own tent, while Chaske took his to the tent of the Medicine Man, and deposited it at the door and rode off towards home.
The mother of Pretty Feather did not know whether to take the offering or not, but Pretty Feather, seeing by this offering that her most cherished wish was to be granted, told her mother to take the meat and cook it and invite the old women of the camp to a feast in honor of the son-in-law who was soon to keep them furnished with plenty of meat.
Hake and his friend sought out all of the old warriors and gained all the information they desired.
Every evening Hake visited his intended wife and many happy evenings they spent together.
The morning of the tenth day the two friends left the village and turned their faces toward the west where the camps of the enemy are more numerous than in any other direction. They were not mounted and therefore traveled slowly, so it took about ten days of walking before they saw any signs of the enemy.
The old warriors had told them of a thickly wooded creek within the enemies' bounds.
The old men said, "That creek looks the ideal place to camp, but don't camp there by any means, because there is a ghost who haunts that creek, and any one who camps there is disturbed all through the night, and besides they never return, because the ghost is Wakan (holy), and the enemies conquer the travelers every time."
The friends had extra moccasins with them and one extra blanket, as it was late in the fall and the nights were very cold.
They broke camp early one morning and walked all day.
Along towards evening, the clouds which had been threatening all day, hurriedly opened their doors and down came the snowflakes thick and fast.
Just before it started snowing the friends had noticed a dark line about two miles in advance of them.
Chaske spoke to his friend and said: "If this storm continues we will be obliged to stay overnight at Ghost Creek, as I noticed it not far ahead of us, just before the storm set in."
"I noticed it also," said Hake. "We might as well entertain a ghost all night as to lie out on these open prairies and freeze to death."
So they decided to run the risk and stay in the sheltering woods of Ghost Creek.
When they got to the creek it seemed as if they had stepped inside a big tepee, so thick was the brush and timber that the wind could not be felt at all.
They hunted and found a place where the brush was very thick and the grass very tall.
They quickly pulled the tops of the nearest willows together and by intertwining the ends made them fast, and throwing their tent robe over this, soon had a cosy tepee in which to sleep.
They started their fire and cooked some dried buffalo meat and buffalo tallow, and were just about to eat their supper when a figure of a man came slowly in through the door and sat down near where he had entered.
Hake, being the one who was doing the cooking, poured out some tea into his own cup, and putting a piece of pounded meat and marrow into a small plate, placed it before the stranger, saying: "Eat, my friend, we are on the warpath and do not carry much of a variety of food with us, but I give you the best we have."
The stranger drew the plate towards him, and commenced eating ravenously.
He soon finished his meal and handed the dish and cup back.
He had not uttered a word so far.
Chaske filled the pipe and handed it to him.
He smoked for a few minutes, took one last draw from the pipe and handed it back to Chaske, and then he said: "Now, my friends, I am not a living man, but the wandering spirit of a once great warrior, who was killed in these woods by the enemy whom you two brave young men are now seeking to make war upon.
For years I have been roaming these woods in hopes that I might find some one brave enough to stop and listen to me, but all who have camped here in the past have run away at my approach or fired guns or shot arrows at me.
For such cowards as these I have always found a grave.
They never returned to their homes.
Now I have found two brave men whom I can tell what I want done, and if you accomplish what I tell you to do, you will return home with many horses and some scalps dangling from your belts.
Just over this range of hills north of us, a large village is encamped for the winter.
In that camp is the man who laid in ambush and shot me, killing me before I could get a chance to defend myself.
I want that man's scalp, because he has been the cause of my wanderings for a great many years.
Had he killed me on the battlefield my spirit would have at once joined my brothers in the happy hunting grounds, but being killed by a coward, my spirit is doomed to roam until I can find some brave man who will kill this coward and bring me his scalp.
This is why I have tried every party who have camped here to listen to me, but as I have said before, they were all cowards.
Now, I ask you two brave young men, will you do this for me?"
"We will," said the friends in one voice.
"Thank you, my boys. Now, I know why you came here, and that one of you came to earn his feathers by killing an enemy, before he would marry; the girl he is to marry is my granddaughter, as I am the father of the great Medicine Man.
In the morning there will pass by in plain sight of here a large party.
They will chase the buffalo over on that flat.
After they have passed an old man leading a black horse and riding a white one will come by on the trail left by the hunting party.
He will be driving about a hundred horses, which he will leave over in the next ravine.
He will then proceed to the hunting grounds and get meat from the different hunters.
After the hunters have all gone home he will come last, singing the praises of the ones who gave him the meat.
This man you must kill and scalp, as he is the one I want killed.
Then take the white and black horse and each mount and go to the hunting grounds.
There you will see two of the enemy riding about picking up empty shells.
Kill and scalp these two and each take a scalp and come over to the high knoll and I will show you where the horses are, and as soon as you hand me the old man's scalp I will disappear and you will see me no more.
As soon as I disappear, it will start in snowing.
Don't be afraid as the snow will cover your trail, but nevertheless, don't stop traveling for three days and nights, as these people will suspect that some of your tribe have done this, and they will follow you until you cross your own boundary lines."
When morning came, the two friends sat in the thick brush and watched a large party pass by their hiding place.
So near were they that the friends could hear them laughing and talking.
After the hunting party had passed, as the spirit had told them, along came the old man, driving a large band of horses and leading a fine looking coal black horse.
The horse the old man was riding was as white as snow.
The friends crawled to a little brush covered hill and watched the chase after the shooting had ceased.
The friends knew it would not be long before the return of the party, so they crawled back to their camp and hurriedly ate some pounded meat and drank some cherry tea.
Then they took down their robe and rolled it up and got everything in readiness for a hurried flight with the horses.
Scarcely had they got everything in readiness when the party came by, singing their song of the chase.
When they had all gone the friends crawled down to the trail and lay waiting for the old man.
Soon they heard him singing.
Nearer and nearer came the sounds of the song until at last at a bend in the road, the old man came into view.
The two friends arose and advanced to meet him.
On he came still singing.
No doubt he mistook them for some of his own people.
When he was very close to them they each stepped to either side of him and before he could make an outcry they pierced his cowardly old heart with two arrows.
He had hardly touched the ground when they both struck him with their bows, winning first and second honors by striking an enemy after he has fallen.
Chaske having won first honors, asked his friend to perform the scalping deed, which he did. And wanting to be sure that the spirit would get full revenge, took the whole scalp, ears and all, and tied it to his belt.
The buffalo beef which the old man had packed upon the black horse, they threw on the top of the old man.
Quickly mounting the two horses, they hastened out across the long flat towards the hunting grounds.
When they came in sight of the grounds there they saw two men riding about from place to place.
Chaske took after the one on the right, Hake the one on the left.
When the two men saw these two strange men riding like the wind towards them, they turned their horses to retreat towards the hills, but the white and the black were the swiftest of the tribe's horses, and quickly overtook the two fleeing men.
When they came close to the enemy they strung their arrows onto the bowstring and drove them through the two fleeing hunters.
As they were falling they tried to shoot, but being greatly exhausted, their bullets whistled harmlessly over the heads of the two friends.
They scalped the two enemies and took their guns and ammunition, also secured the two horses and started for the high knoll.
When they arrived at the place, there stood the spirit.
Hake presented him with the old man's scalp and then the spirit showed them the large band of horses, and saying, "Ride hard and long," disappeared and was seen no more by any war parties, as he was thus enabled to join his forefathers in the happy hunting grounds.
The friends did as the spirit had told them.
For three days and three nights they rode steadily.
On the fourth morning they came into their own boundary.
From there on they rode more slowly, and let the band of horses rest and crop the tops of long grass.
They would stop occasionally, and while one slept the other kept watch.
Thus they got fairly well rested before they came in sight of where their camp had stood when they had left.
All that they could see of the once large village was the lone tent of the great Medicine Man.
They rode up on to a high hill and farther on towards the east they saw smoke from a great many tepees.
They then knew that something had happened and that the village had moved away.
"My friend," said Chaske, "I am afraid something has happened to the Medicine Man's lodge, and rather than have you go there, I will go alone and you follow the trail of our party and go on ahead with the horses.
I will take the black and the white horses with me and I will follow on later, after I have seen what the trouble is."
"Very well, my friend, I will do as you say, but I am afraid something has happened to Pretty Feather."
Hake started on with the horses, driving them along the broad trail left by the hundreds of travois.
Chaske made slowly towards the tepee, and stopping outside, stood and listened.
Not a sound could he hear.
The only living thing he saw was Pretty Feather's spotted horse tied to the side of the tent. Then he knew that she must be dead.
He rode off into the thick brush and tied his two horses securely.
Then he came back and entered the tepee.
There on a bed of robes lay some one apparently dead.
The body was wrapped in blankets and robes and bound around and around with parfleche ropes.
These he carefully untied and unwound.
Then he unwrapped the robes and blankets and when he uncovered the face, he saw, as he had expected to, the face of his lost love, Pretty Feather.
As he sat gazing on her beautiful young face, his heart ached for his poor friend.
He himself had loved and lost this beautiful maiden, and now his friend who had won her would have to suffer the untold grief which he had suffered.
What was that? Could it have been a slight quivering of the nostrils that he had seen, or was it mad fancy playing a trick on him?
Closer he drew to her face, watching intently for another sign.
There it was again, only this time it was a long, deep drawn breath.
He arose, got some water and taking a small stick slowly forced open her mouth and poured some into it.
Then he took some sage, dipped it into the water and sprinkled a little on her head and face. There were many parfleche bags piled around the tepee, and thinking he might find some kind of medicine roots which he could use to revive her he started opening them one after the other.
He had opened three and was just opening the fourth, when a voice behind him asked: "What are you looking for?"
Turning quickly, he saw Pretty Feather looking at him.
Overjoyed, he cried, "What can I do so that you can get up and ride to the village with me? My friend and I just returned with a large band of horses and two scalps.
We saw this tent and recognized it.
My friend wanted to come, but I would not let him, as I feared if he found anything had happened to you he would do harm to himself, but now he will be anxious for my return, so if you will tell me what you need in order to revive you, I will get it, and we can then go to my friend in the village."
"At the foot of my bed you will find a piece of eagle fat.
Build a fire and melt it for me.
I will drink it and then we can go."
Chaske quickly started a fire, got out the piece of fat and melted it.
She drank it at one draught, and was about to arise when she suddenly said: "Roll me up quick and take the buffalo hair rope and tie it about my spotted horse's neck; tie his tail in a knot and tie him to the door.
Then run and hide behind the trees.
There are two of the enemy coming this way."
Chaske hurriedly obeyed her orders, and had barely concealed himself behind the trees, when there came into view two of the enemy.
They saw the horse tied to the door of the deserted tent, and knew that some dead person occupied the tepee, so through respect for the dead, they turned out and started to go through the brush and trees, so as not to pass the door.
(The Indians consider it a bad omen to pass by the door of a tepee occupied by a dead body, that is, while in the enemy's country).
So by making this detour they traveled directly towards where Chaske was concealed behind the tree.
Knowing that he would be discovered, and there being two of them, he knew the only chance he had was for him to kill one of them before they discovered him, then he stood a better chance at an even combat.
On they came, little thinking that one of them would in a few minutes be with his forefathers.
Chaske noiselessly slipped a cartridge into the chamber of his gun, threw it into action and took deliberate aim at the smaller one's breast.
A loud report rang out and the one he had aimed at threw up his arms and fell heavily forward, shot through the heart.
Reloading quickly Chaske stepped out from behind the tree.
He could easily have killed the other from his concealed position, but, being a brave young man, he wanted to give his opponent a fair chance.
The other had unslung his gun and a duel was then fought between the two lone combatants.
They would spring from side to side like two great cats.
Then advance one or two steps and fire.
Retreat a few steps, spring to one side and fire again.
The bullets whistled past their heads, tore up the earth beneath their feet, and occasionally one would hit its mark, only to cause a flesh wound.
Suddenly the enemy aimed his gun and threw it upon the ground.
His ammunition was exhausted, and slowly folding his arms he stood facing his opponent, with a fearless smile upon his face, expecting the next moment to fall dead from a bullet from the rifle of Chaske.
Not so.
Chaske was too honorable and noble to kill an unarmed man, and especially one who had put up such a brave fight as had this man.
Chaske advanced and picked up the empty gun.
The Toka (enemy) drew from a scabbard at his belt a long bowie knife, and taking it by the point handed it, handle first, to Chaske.
This signified surrender.
Chaske scalped the dead Toka and motioned for his prisoner to follow him.
In the meantime Pretty Feather had gotten up and stood looking at the duel.
When she heard the first shot she jumped up and cut a small slit in the tent from which she saw the whole proceedings.
Knowing that one or both of them must be wounded, she hurriedly got water and medicine roots, and when they came to the tent she was prepared to dress their wounds.
Chaske had a bullet through his shoulder and one through his hand.
They were very painful but not dangerous.
The prisoner had a bullet through his leg, also one through the muscle of his left arm.
Pretty Feather washed and dressed their wounds, and Chaske went and brought the black and white horses and mounting Pretty Feather upon the white horse, and the prisoner on her spotted one, the three soon rode into the village, and there was a great cry of joy when it was known that Pretty Feather had come back to them again.
Hake, who was in his tent grieving, was told that his friend had returned and with him Pretty Feather.
Hearing this good news he at once went to the Medicine Man's tent and found the Medicine Man busily dressing the wounds of his friend and a stranger.
The old Medicine Man turned to Hake and said:
"Son-in-law, take your wife home with you.
It was from grief at your absence that she went into a trance, and we, thinking she was dead, left her for such.
Hadn't it been for your friend here, she would surely have been a corpse now.
So take her and keep her with you always, and take as a present from me fifty of my best horses."
Hake and his beautiful bride went home, where his adopted mother had a fine large tent put up for them.
Presents of cooking utensils, horses, robes and finely worked shawls and moccasins came from every direction, and last of all Chaske gave as a present to his friend the Toka man whom he had taken as prisoner.
On presenting him with this gift, Chaske spoke thus:
"My friend, I present to you, that you may have him as a servant to look after your large band of horses, this man with whom I fought a two hours' duel, and had his ammunition lasted he would probably have conquered me, and who gave me the second hardest fight of my life.
The hardest fight of my life was when I gave up Pretty Feather.
You have them both.
To the Toka (enemy) be kind, and he will do all your biddings.
To Pretty Feather be a good husband."
So saying, Chaske left them, and true to his word,
lived the remainder of his days a confirmed bachelor.

In the last episode, we saw Dr. Logan Wright meet quite the colorful cast of individuals. From WWE superstar Logan Paul to the beautiful bird known as Logan Flight, the Symposium of the Logang was certainly a fascinating place to be. And now, with IWF superstar “Lumberjack” Logan Lawrence motivating him to stop being so passive, FBE’s Resident Doctor looks to be on the Wright path towards becoming the most focused man he can… without the distractions of his demons…
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Blitz XX: Paddy Murphy vs. Dr. Logan Wright
We’ve reached the ten minute mark of this match, and after Paddy drills the Doctor with a To Cork and Back, he starts rising to his feet. However, from the outside, we hear Sensei trying to drill something into his student:
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“Paddy-san… Rememberuhhh… Target the headuhhhh…”
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With that last piece of advice resonating in his own head, Paddy starts getting ready for perhaps the final sequence of the match, a Give It Some Welly ready to be hit. However, Logan also happened to hear the wisdom from Sensei, dodging the big boot to the face. He gets behind Murphy, quickly dropping him with a Relax and Eat Some (German) Soup-lex. Instead of going for another move however, Wright’s gaze shifts to the outside. He exits the ring, staring a dagger through Sensei:
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“Why exactly did you tell him to target my head?”
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Sensei backs up a bit, but as he does so, a crumpled up piece of paper he was holding falls to the floor. He tries to pick it back up, but Wright beats him to it, revealing it to be…the stolen medical form from his office… the information regarding his head pains. Wright looks at the paper, a calm expression on his face initially, but slowly, he loses his cool. His hands ball up into fists, his face turns a bit red…and he mouths to Sensei:
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“You shouldn’t have taken that.”
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Wright gets back into the ring, and though Paddy has risen to his feet by this point, Logan drops him with the Whiplash sling blade. FBE’s Resident Doctor stares at his currently downed opponent, and realizes it’s time for a medical procedure…how about a Facial Reconstruction! Wright begins stomping on Paddy’s face, knocking him unconscious, before finally putting an end to the assault with the PDF Kamigoye.
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Dr. Logan Wright def. Paddy Murphy via pinfall
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As the ref raises Dr. Logan Wright’s hand, the crowd begins…booing? Wright looks around, confused at the negative reaction. I didn’t cheat, I just found a way to win the match. I didn’t do anything wrong… did I? As he heads into the backstage area, he’s quickly approached by a young-looking intern, a microphone in his hand:
Reporter: “Hello, my name is Ryan St. Brown, and I’m with the-”
Logan Wright: “Hang on, your last name is St. Brown? Are you related to Amon-Ra by chance?
Reporter: “No relation.”
Logan Wright: “That’s disappointing. But go ahead, ask your question.”
Reporter: “We just saw you pick up a strong victory over one of FBE’s fan favorites in Paddy Murphy. However, at the end of the match, you clearly looked more agitated than usual, and some would say you used more force than was needed to win-”
Logan Wright: “Are you one of the people saying that?”
Reporter: “Well, I…uh…”
Logan Wright: “Look, I like Paddy and Sensei. But at the same time, they took privileged medical information from me. Sure, maybe I shouldn’t have used that PDF at the end…but should I regret using one of my standard maneuvers to win a match? No, and I don’t. Next question.”
Reporter: “Ok, fair enough. You’re doing well in the Shining Light League right now, and I have to ask: if you were to win the whole thing, who would you challenge?
Logan Wright: “I don’t like dealing with hypotheticals. I much prefer diagnosing current problems with all the information at my disposal. So I’m not answering that.”
Reporter (muttering): “Man, you’re a lot more boring in person than I thought you would be. Your answers suck.”
This comment draws the ire of Wright, who moves closer towards the reporter.
Reporter: “What? Prove me wrong. Give me a message that’s actually worthwhile, and I’ll be more than happy to rescind that comment.”
Logan Wright: “I know you’re just looking for a soundbite to try and further your career, but you’ve got my attention. Ask away.”
Reporter: “Are you the best pure rules competitor in FBE?”
Logan Wright: “You’re damn right I am. They call Inferno Baba Blitz? They ought to call me Da-Da Blitz, because all these wrestlers gunning for my title… THEY’RE CHILDREN COMPARED TO ME!”
The reporter gives a sly smirk as he walks away, having gotten what he needed. Meanwhile, Wright finds a nearby chair to sit on, putting his head down. However, his moment of silence is soon interrupted by a familiar voice:
Jared Gallagher: “Weird night for you, eh?”
Wright looks up to see his once-cameraman and friend moving towards him. However, with the doctor’s tumultuous year, their relationship became more strained, not having spoken for a while…until now.
Logan Wright: “That’s one way of putting it.”
There’s a bit of an awkward silence for a few moments, as neither man initially wants to speak. Eventually though, Gallagher gains his composure:
Jared Gallagher: “Look, I know you probably don’t wanna speak to me-”
Logan Wright: “Then maybe you should stop talking.”
Jared Gallagher: “Ok fine, but let me ask you something first: what were you doing with that last remark to the reporter? It wasn’t as cool as it likely sounded in your head.”
Logan Wright: “I was doing a play on words, what’s confusing about it?”
Jared Gallagher: “Yeah, but you do realize “Baba” translates to “father” too? So instead of being clever, you were essentially just rehashing Inferno’s nickname.”
Logan Wright: “Fuck.”
Jared Gallagher: “Forget about that though, I wanted to talk to you about something else. I heard from a little birdie that you were taking advice from Logan Lawrence.”
Logan Wright: “Logan Flight ratted on me? I knew he couldn’t be trusted.”
Jared Gallagher: “That’s not the birdie I meant…you know what, forget it. I just want you to understand that being overly aggressive isn’t the key to success. You’ve already been good up to this point, don’t lose your true self by being more of a jackass.”
Logan Wright: “Yeah, being good is fine…but I don’t wanna just be “good” anymore. I wanna be great. I want to prove myself as the pillar of something, and pure rules is the best chance I have at that. But relax, I don’t wanna just be an asshole for the sake of being one either.”
Jared Gallagher: “Ok, that’s fine. But if you want to improve… What's your next move? Gonna do some training with the rest of the Ark? Maybe ask your medical colleagues for some more dieting tips?
Logan briefly thinks about the suggestions, before he remembers something that Sensei told him…
Logan Wright: “No, I have a better idea… I’m going to Nepal.”
And with that, Dr. Wright starts heading towards the exit, a smile on his face, while Jared Gallagher is just left confused. He never even said why he was going there, what in the world is he doing…
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One Week Before Unbreakable V: Kathmandu, Nepal
After a long trip, Logan Wright has finally made it into the heart of the Himalayan Mountains. He gets out of the car, paying and thanking the driver who escorted him from the airport to get to this point. He reaches into his pocket, grabbing the “business” card that led him to this location. He stares at it for a few moments, glancing up and down to make sure he’s in the right place. Yep, this is the one…
In front of Dr. Wright stands a worn-down house. It's small, with what looks to be only one story, and the white color is wearing away like the wooden beams supporting it. There’s a window near the front door, but a set of blinds are covering it up. As Logan approaches the entry-way, he smells a distinct odor of soup. Taking a breath, he knocks on the door. As he does so, a crash of glass can be heard on the other side, and there’s some momentary yelling before a tired-looking individual opens the door.
???: “May I help you?”
Logan Wright: “Hello, my name is Logan Wright. I’ve been informed that an incredibly wise teacher of medicine and healing resides here…”
???: “You’re correct, but he’s not seeing anyone today. Come back another time…”
Logan Wright: “Wait, I really need this. And I think I know one of his friends, they pointed this place out to me.”
???: “What’s the name of this friend?”
Logan Wright: “He’s known as Sensei-”
“LETT HYMN INN!”
This yelling from inside the house startles Wright, and the man at the doorway sighs, motioning for Logan to come in. As the doctor does so, he glances around the house, immediately noticing the kitchen area. Sitting at a table there is an older gentleman, with a pair of glasses on and a cane at his side, Logan quickly realizing he’s blind. The man from the doorway points for Logan to sit down with him, and Wright obliges, positioning himself in the chair next to the old individual.
Logan Wright: “Hello sir, it’s a pleasure to meet-”
???: “HALLO! IHT IST VAIRY GNEISS TWO MEAT YU! MI NEIGHME IST BLOGAN BITE!”
Wright briefly cringes at the yelling of the individual, looking back with a confused look on his face to the figure near the door. He notices a nametag on the figure he hadn’t seen before, reading “Bibek”.
Bibek: “Yeah, don’t worry about that. He’s blind and almost deaf, he needs to speak loudly to make himself sure he’s actually talking. Oh, and he said, “Hello, it is very nice to meet you. My name is Blogan Bite.”
Logan Wright: “Wait, why are you translating for him? He’s speaking directly to me, I know what he’s saying.”
Bibek: “Oh, just so the readers of this episode actually have a clue as to what’s going on.”
Logan Wright: “Wait what readers… oh, we’re doing another fourth wall break, gotcha.”
Blogan Bite: “Y HOV U CUHMM HEAR?”
Bibek: (“Why have you come here?”)
Logan Wright: “I’m looking for some advice. For a while now, I’ve felt an inner conflict in my emotional state and my moral compass. I want to be more aggressive, to try and be the best…but I don’t want to abandon the roots of my existence that helped shape me into who I am. Do you have any advice?”
Blogan Bite: “HYMMMMMM…. A TUFF PRAHBLIM INN DEED!”
Bibek: (“Hmmm… A tough problem indeed.”)
Suddenly, Blogan reaches towards his side, reaching into a bag. He shakes it around for a bit, before pulling out something from inside. He triumphantly slams it onto the table, before pushing it towards Dr. Wright. Logan looks at it for a few moments, an incredulous look on his face.
Logan Wright: “Why exactly are you… what is… what do you expect me to do with a copy of Fire and Ice by Robert Frost?
Blogan Bite: “HEE IST UHHH GRATE POE EHT! TAKEUHHH INN SPUR AYE SHUN FROMM HYMM!”
Bibek: (“He is a great poet. Take inspiration from him.”)
Logan Wright: “So… let me get this straight: your solution to my problem is…writing fucking poetry?”
Blogan Bite: “WASH YUR LANGWAGEE JUNG MANN! POEHHH TREE IST UHHH BEUTUHFULL THYNG!”
Bibek: (“Watch your language young man. Poetry is a beautiful thing.”)
Logan Wright: “Yeah but…surely there’s something that’s more suitable for my situation?”
Blogan Bite: “EYE ARM UHHH FRAYED KNOT! TEH BAHG HAHS SPOKANE!”
Bibek: (“I am afraid not. The bag has spoken.”)
Logan Wright: “Wait, do you just reach in the bag and randomly pull out an object for everyone that comes in?”
Blogan Bite: “OFF COORS! WATT ELSUHHH WOOD EYE DOO?”
Bibek: (“Of course. What else would I do?”)
Logan Wright: “Ok, I think we’re done here. Thank you for this… attempt at a recommendation. You’re truly one of the people I’ve ever met.”
As Logan gets up, Blogan extends a hand. Reluctantly, Wright shakes it, before heading to the doorway, acknowledging Bibek, and leaving the worn-down house. As he heads towards the street, he’s just left to ponder what transpired. That was dumb… traveling thousands of miles instead of just doing training was rather pointless. But as he gets in the car, ready to go back to the airport, another set of thoughts come over him. You know what…maybe I can make the best out of this situation…maybe writing poetry actually can do me some good…
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Day Before Unbreakable V: Dr. Wright’s Office
With just 24 hours until Unbreakable, Jared Gallagher and Charles Crandall figure Wright is busy with training, or if nothing else, his medical work. However, they’re surprised to receive an invite to his office, and though Gallagher tries to ask him what it’s about, he gets no answer. It frustrates him, but he figures it must be important, so after grabbing a quick bite with Charles, they head over to the office. By this point in time, Crandall is fairly quiet, his eyes becoming increasingly purple for longer periods of time and Wrogan slowly and quietly influencing his personality, but the time to reveal that isn’t here…yet.
When they reach the hall outside the office, they’re surprised to see Logan standing in the doorway, a smile on his face. He invites them in, even having an assortment of pastries and desserts on the table for his friends to snack on. While Jared is quick to grab a danish, he’s also quick to raise eyebrows at this behavior.
Jared Gallagher: “Logan, what is all this for? This feels…too nice…
Logan Wright: “What, a man can’t just happen to invite his friends over for some delicious treats?”
Jared Gallagher: “You’re not fooling anyone man, just tell us why we’re here.”
Logan Wright: “Ok fine, you got me. The reason you’re here today… I wanted you to be the first screenings of my first-ever poem!”
Though Crandall is wearing sunglasses, he and Gallagher are quick to shoot each other a glance of confusion.
Jared Gallagher: “What?”
Logan Wright: “That’s right, when I went to Nepal, the man I met recommended I write poetry to ease my tensions and help me become a better person. I thought he was insane, but as I started to write, I realized…he may be right!”
Jared Gallagher: “That’s…but…I’m so confused. You didn’t even get any real training or medicinal techniques? You just got…told to write? What even is your topic?”
Logan Wright: “I’m glad you asked, old chum! I’ve entitled this poem…
​
An Ode To Jay…
​
In the garden lived a bird
Who truly loved to sing
It was a beautiful mockingjay
And through the air, its voice did ring
​
The bird was beloved
And believed to be a Hero
But little did the world know
Of its painful little ego
​
This bird fought and fought
It did everything to grow
But when abandoned by friends
It was a true low blow
​
Once upon a time, the group was
United, and forever in-sync
But when the Jay hit the bottle
Oh, did their PROSPECTS ever so sink
​
And the bird has recovered
It has regained its feathers
But little does the jay know
Of the impending, harsh weathers
​
For the jay may spread its wings
And fly in the dark
But it doesn’t know
Of its impending, dangerous arc
​
This bird will fly, and
It truly wants to win
But the true challenge is here
For the Doctor is in!
​
As Wright finishes his last line, his theatrical reading of the lines now finished, he finally turns towards his faithful audience. He’s met with a blank look from Charles Crandall, the sunglasses still firmly covering his eyes. And Jared… his mouth is agape, trying to process what he just heard.
Logan Wright: “So… what did you think?”
Jared Gallagher: “I… what… how… why… I don’t know what to say.”
Logan Wright: “You can show your appreciation by clapping, I worked really hard on that.”
Jared Gallagher: “I could… but let me get this straight… This is how you’re handling your upcoming rematch with Jay? Making a poem that only we’ve listened to, and not trying to find a way to, I don’t know, not finish the match in a time-limit draw?”
Logan Wright: “Forget about that, tell me if I should improve the language I used and how the poem flowed together. I could probably stand to write a poem for the tag team title match as well.”
Jared Gallagher: “Logan, Logan, Logan… Ok, if you want to live in this strange world of yours, go ahead. The poem was fine, but you weren’t exactly subtle with it, especially at the end. Like I get you want to beat Jay, and I know you were mad with what he said about you in the past…but really, finishing the entire thing about the Doctor being in? That doesn’t even make sense with the vibe you established.”
Logan Wright: “Fair critique, I’ll keep that in mind when I continue writing these.”
Jared Gallagher: “Come on man, it’s cool that you have a hobby, but I know just how much you cared about wrestling. Please, just step away from the paper and train while you still have a little bit of time left before tomorrow. I know we’re not as close as we once were…but if nothing else, do it for the rest of the Ark. Do it out of spite against Wrogan. Do it to prove that you’re not completely crazy, and that you deserve to be where you are in life.”
It’s with this line that something seems to click in Logan’s head. He looks towards Jared, nodding his head, and he moves towards his desk. He stares at all the notes and rough drafts he had been working on for his writings, a frown coming over his face.
Logan Wright: “I wish I was normal… I wish I didn’t go through these personality changes every other day. You’re right Jared…You’ve always been right. Wrestling needs to come first, and I have everything I need to stay energized. I don’t want to be passive, I don’t want to be aggressive…I just want to live. And tomorrow…things are going to get fun.”
Gallagher smiles at Wright being reinvigorated, and the pair share a quick hug. Upon Jared and Charles leaving, Dr. Wright takes a quick look in his mirror, and smiles at the expression of confidence now piercing through his eyes. He grabs his coat, turns off the light, and so begins a long and tedious night at the gym…
​
​
​
Night of Death Before Impurity:
​
Pre-Match Process
​
The Finals are here… and Logan Wright is in them. After weeks leading-into months of this Shining Light League Tournament running center-stage on Blitz, the Doctor has gotten to where he wanted to be…where he needed to be. As he sits in the locker room, getting himself mentally prepared for the tall task that comes with facing DTJ’s Hunter Maguire, he sees in his peripheral vision someone entering the room. He glances up, smiling to see Jared coming to visit.
Jared Gallagher: “Hey champ, how we feeling about tonight?”
Logan Wright: “Whatever happens tonight…well, what I know will happen tonight… is PURE-ly destiny.”
Jared Gallagher: “Not your best joke, but glad to see you’ve been in positive spirits recently.”
Logan Wright: “Yep, tonight has to be the moment where everything pays off…it just has to…”
Jared Gallagher: “It will… I believe in you. And if you don’t mind me asking…who would you want to face at P.U.R.E. if things go your way?”
Logan Wright: “You know I can’t answer that right now, I have to get the job done first.”
Jared Gallagher: “Fair enough, fair enough. I should be heading off…go get em’, champ.”
With that, Gallagher leaves the room, and Wright rises to his feet. He looks at his arms, then his legs, then finds the mirror. He stares into his soul…Come on out Doctor…It’s operation time…
​
Post-Match Press Conference
​
Dr. Logan Wright did it.
As he’s now backstage, being greeted with a bottle of champagne that was ordered for him, Logan is still trying to ponder what just took place out there. From the match itself… to the seconds after the match realizing he won… to the return of the legend Petite Jupiter, handing him the trophy…
It’s all absolutely surreal, and Logan is at a loss for words. However, as he gets word that reporters are waiting to get a word from him, he quickly gathers his composure. He takes a big swig from the champagne bottle, before heading into the room, waving to the assortment of familiar and different faces. He moves towards the stage, taking a seat and getting the mic setup, ready to hear questions.
Reporter #1: “That was a hell of a match you had, Dr. Wright. What’s going through your head right now?”
Logan Wright: “Honestly, half of it is just my brain screaming and the other half is random gibberish. I can’t fully process either, but when I feel this way… I’m fucking pumped. But I do wanna quickly say… I respect you Hunter, I really do. You’ve been a tough opponent twice now… but that’s all the positives I can really say right now. Fuck DTJ.”
Reporter #2: “We just witnessed the return of Petite Jupiter, and the fans certainly loved it. But what did you think about it? Did you feel as though he was stealing your thunder by returning immediately after your big moment?”
Logan Wright: “Look, I know you’re looking for a soundbite, and I caved in several weeks ago to that one reporter. I’m not gonna do that here though. I faced Petite Jupiter in 2021, and I know just how good he is. He deserved to get that electric crowd reaction, and I couldn’t have asked for a better person to hand me the beautiful Shining Light League trophy.”
Reporter #3: “But now Dr. Wright, I think we all have a question on our minds. In addition to that trophy, you have the chance to pick your challenger for P.U.R.E, and that’s a lot of power. So if you can tell us…who are you gonna be facing?
Logan smiles at the question, fully expecting it to have been asked. He glances around the room, noticing Kaze Tanaka, Code Blue, Cactus Mike, and Jared Gallagher all standing at the back. He nods at them, before getting the mic, ready to make the announcement:
​
Logan Wright:
“In my time in FBE, there have been times where I’ve felt…insecure. Insecure about my talent, insecure about if people actually liked me or not, and insecure about my failures especially. But 2023… let’s just say it’s been a great Spring of Stethoscopes so far. You all know I’ve held the Pure Championship for about four months now, and I’ve faced my fair share of great individuals. But this second title run… it’s missing something. My past, in particular my 2021, was riddled with failures against veterans of this company. Losses to Inferno, to Nate Matthews, to Petite Jupiter… wins were hard to come by. I turned things around in 2022, but even then, my 1st Pure Title reign came to an end at the hands of FBE’s Resident Bastard. It feels like it’s just inevitable, and a running gag…
…But nowadays, I look at myself differently. Other people look at me differently. I’ve grown into what I wanted to be, what I hoped I would be… hell, I’ve even been dubbed as being somewhat of a “Final Boss.” I don’t want to get too egotistical, but not having lost since January… man, the ship I’m on, that being the Ark of course, is on a perfect path. But sometimes, it’s better to go for a different path, a path that stands out…to maybe make history…
So with that, this decision has drifted in my mind, and I’ve weighed all my options carefully. I’ve considered juniors and heavyweights. I’ve considered people from my past or completely fresh opponents. I’ve considered people who would die to win the Pure Championship, or even those who have disrespected it, to show them what it’s all about. But after a while, something finally clicked in my head. I’ve tried to forget that previously mentioned “can never beat a veteran legend” stigma, but until I get a decisive win, it’ll always float right alongside the ocean that contains my thoughts and dreams. So I will be challenging a long-time competitor of FBE, a man who has wrestled here for many years…
But the question of who was certainly a fascinating one…for about a minute. For once this name came to me, it never escaped. This man has held his share of championship gold, This man knows a thing or two about being dubbed a “Final Boss.” And this man has quite the past experience against the Ark… except with me. And to this man, I officially extend the challenge…if he's willing to accept it...
​
The stage is set…the main event of P.U.R.E…for the FBE Pure Championship…The match you reporters and all the worldwide fans of FBE will get to witness is…
​
​
Doctor Logan Wright vs. Apeirogone

A special thanks to u/bluefishcake for the wonderful original story and sandbox to play in.
A special thanks to my editors LordHenry7898, RandomTinkerer, Swimming_Good_8507, CatsInTrenchcoats, and KLiCKonthat.
And a big thanks to the authors and their stories that inspired me to tell my own in this universe. RandomTinkerer (City Slickers and Hayseeds), Punnynfunny (Denied Operations), CompassWithHat (Top Lasgun), CarCU131 (The Cook), and Rhion-618 (Just One Drop)
Hy’shq’e Ay Si’am (Thank you noble friends)
Chapter 30: A Promise Kept
Kalai stepped off the shuttle to the Vaida’s headquarters and into a running tackle-hug from Sitry. “Oh Kalai, I could kill you right now! You got to see the Great Barrier Reef in person, you bitch!” Sitry’s cheerful voice was muffled from where she was still buried in her chest. Kalai staggered backwards a pace or two, happy to be back from her whirlwind adventure around Earth with her father.
Naranjo and Papa Rhaxiid were there on the platform to welcome her back too, but their welcomes were more sedate.
“Not to mention you got out of work for half our damn trip. Ugh, it’s so not fair!” Naranjo huffed as Kalai gave him a sisterly hug.
Papa Rhaxiid reached up and chucked her chin before turning to lead the way back inside from the forested platform. “Welcome back, sweet-sprout, we’ve missed you. Come on, we’ll get you settled again and off to work. There’s quite a bit you need to catch up on if you want your credits.”
The chuckles from the twins behind her were full of sibling malice, but she knew how to shut the pair of them up. “Papa Rhaxiid? I’ve got the paper on Biodiversity in the Reef you asked for, along with the dissection report and stomach content analysis of the tuna we caught. I want to put the finishing touches on it and do a final proofread first before I send them to you.” The man turned and gave her a warm smile as they entered the building.
“Good, why don’t you go take your things back up and say hello to Andy? I’ll give you an hour and a half to get freshened up, then I want you to report to Aquarium 12 with Dr. Sor’ansa. You can put your snorkeling practice to work there.” Papa Rhaxiid walked the three of them to the residential elevator. “I’m heading back to my office. Andy’s been requested by Maetro Pae’ella to work the kitchens for something called ‘Bison burgers'. Apparently it’s a type of indigenous bovine that the eastern Bands raise. That and something from Europe called ‘French Fries’.”
Kalai couldn’t help but get excited as she and her siblings piled into the elevator back to their little shared apartment. Sure the food she’d had all over the place was good, but so far nothing had been able to compare to Andy and his Salishian cooking.
“Nerd, I can’t believe you cheated and did work on your vacation." Naranjo broke the silence of the elevator after a little bit and stuck his tongue out at her.
“Spit to windward, you vain little weed. Don’t hate me because I’m awesome.” Kalai’s riposte caused Naranjo to fold his arms and huff. Sitry simply ambushed her with an ear flick.
The elevator door opened to their floor before Kalai couldn’t bear the silence from Sitry any longer. “So, did you bag him yet, you lucky bitch?”
“No she hasn’t!” Naranjo’s singsong mockery of his sister interrupted Sitry’s response. “Papa hasn’t let Sitry even NEAR Andy without one of them around!”
“Rub it in, you snitch, besides, he did kiss me first,” Sitry preened happily as she playfully shoved Kalai’s shoulder.
Kalai pretended to stumble and almost caught Sitry’s foot, but she was just a hair too slow. “Yeah, and then you gave him a black eye, you clod.”
“Will you let it go? It was an accident!”
“It’s not even the only one he got either." Naranjo’s interjection stopped her right in front of their door.
“Wait, what? Who hurt him this time?” Kalai let her bag thunk to the floor as she turned to look accusingly between Sitry and Narny.
Sitry folded her arms and her ears twitched back as she shot a dark look at their door. “He ‘fell down’ yesterday while out at one of the Hatcheries we gave to the Hwatcoms. Mrs. Toloui nearly had a fit! She said she could smell another human on him and that he was covered in blood!”
Narny nodded primly as Kalai tried to process what they were telling her. “WHAT? Did she call out the militia? Track down whoever hurt him?”
“No, and he refused treatment and insisted that no one did it to him! When papa tried to talk to him, Andy said some stupid human macho shit about pain healing and birds liking scars. I don’t know, sometimes humans… they’re frickin’ insane!”
The door shot open and there stood Andy. His left eye was an angry puffy yellow and blue mess, and there were three points on his lips where a dark cinnabar line marked a crack. Kalai and her siblings stood in wide eyed shock at his sudden appearance and the only sound was the music emanating from the common room behind him.
Andy looked up and down at the three without saying a word. He cocked an eyebrow and snagged Kalai’s bag before any of them could react and cleared the doorway for them.
Kalai sputtered at the impropriety but Naranjo and Sitry just shrugged and walked in after Andy. “Femboys, am I right?” Narny whispered to Kalai as he passed. Kalai followed behind and was greeted by the white fluff-ball, Puck, who hopped up and down, whining for attention. She bent down and started scratching his ears and back. While Puck rubbed up against her hands, Andy settled back down at the table where his omnipad was hooked up to a keypad. Her heart started to sink a bit and Kalai shot Sitry a jealous look before the music came to a sudden halt and Andy interrupted the beginnings of her pity party.
“Ok, Kem’ira, I got the pics now and I’m telling you to declare yourself to the farmers first! I guarantee if you tell them you’re with the new DNR and you’re there to kill all the Scotch Broom in their pasture lands, they’ll stop trying to shoot you for trespassing!”
Kalai’s mood jumped up a bit. It’s not that he doesn’t care to see me, he’s in a meeting!
“No, no I’m not coming out to talk this over with them, I’ve got my own work to do! Either you start talking to folks like I showed you how, or ask the militia to give you one of their armored catsuits to wear under your uniform… Uh-huh, good luck." Andy hung up on the call and leaned back as Puck scampered over and hopped up in his lap.
Andy rubbed his temples before shaking his head. He seemed to relax a bit and Puck slid off to follow Sitry to the kitchen. Andy looked over and gave Kalai a happy smile that made her flush. “Welcome back! So how was the land down under? That tuna was fan-frickin’-tastic, if you aren’t sick of seafood I’ll do something fancy with it tomorrow to celebrate your coming back. Can’t tonight though, I got volun-told to be head chef tonight and I… Oh damnit! I’m late! Come to dinner, burgers and fries Indian style tonight. Gotta run!” With that, Andy went dashing out the door with Puck barking and scrambling along after him.
Kalai felt her heart sink back down again, as he left. “Andy I-” She started but he was gone.
“Yeah, it’s been like that for the whole week. The only time we get to hang out is dinner.” Sitry commiserated as she took Kalai’s bag into their room. “On the other hand, we might get to catch up during the family meal tonight.”
The dinner was delicious, though a bit weird. It tasted alright, but there was a certain aftertaste on the sandwich that just didn’t sit right with Kalai. She just couldn’t put her finger on it. The french fries more than made up for it though, and Mama Sakalbi had to hold a science trivia contest to see who got the last little handful.
Kalai and Narny were already silently plotting with each other for their revenge against their sister who had won and refused to share the last few matchsticks when Andy finally joined their table. He was sweaty and he smelled of woodsmoke and french fries. Kalai jumped up and offered him a seat next to her with a nervous smile. He took it gratefully and seemed to sag a bit as he gulped down a glass of water.
“Andy, I think you may be finding your calling as a culinary ambassador,” Mama Aftasia beamed. “A toast to the chef!”
Andy gave a shy smile and looked down as Kalai and the rest of the family gave a hearty ‘Here, here!”
“It’s a simple enough recipe; it’s just using bison instead of cow, that’s all, and I don’t know anyone who’d turn down hand cut fresh fries. It’s kind of hard to screw up.”
“Young man, you are speaking to a woman who found a way to take cold water and dried wumpa flakes and wind up with a Class-4 fire. Cooking has always seemed like ‘blight mysticism’ to me, and these foods? These flavors? Nothing short of a Greenwood miracle in my opinion." Mama Aftasia continued her praise of Andy, which only caused him to shrink even lower in his seat.
“To be honest, I like your salmon better,” Kalai said, and the whole table went silent. Kalai held her ground though, and was rewarded with a tired but genuine laugh from Andy that brought him back out of his shell.
“You know, I do too. My Clan were fisherpeople, not buffalo chasers.” Andy gave Kalai a cheeky grin, which she returned happily, her heart glowing. Mama Aftasia and Mama Sakalbi both blinked in bemusement at Andy’s statement while Sitry just giggled.
“Speaking of which, Andy, I received a call from Elder Alex Hwatcom.” Papa Rhaxiid’s change of subject instantly perked Andy up, and he stared silently, waiting. “He extended an invitation to our family to attend his family gathering this Friday-”
“Alex said that? He used those words?” Andy shook his head in shock as he interrupted Papa Rhaxiid. The table went quiet and everyone held their breath as they looked between the two men.
Papa Rhaxiid adopted as good an impression of the human Elder as he could. “I’d like to extend an invitation for you and your family to be guests at our family gathering this saturday up at the White… something… lodge-”
“The White Ram Lodge?” Andy sat forward, interjecting again as the color drained from his face.
“Yes, that’s the one! I asked if we could bring anything since the last time they hosted us they put on that wonderful spread. He said if we could bring a few salmon for the family, that would be wonderful.”
Andy leaned back and took another sip of ice water before holding the glass to his blackened eye. “Alex Hwatcom… just invited you… to a gathering… and he told you to ‘bring a few salmon’? Do you realize what a huge honor this is?”
Rhaxiid looked from his wives to his children with mild concern. “Um, I thought it was only dinner, but your reaction tells me there’s more significance to this than I originally thought. I was thinking about our stocks of adult Sockeye, but then I remembered in his story how important King Salmon are. Of course, I’d like to defer to you for the choice since you know these animals and the cultural expectations with this invitation better than we do.”
Andy was silent for a moment before he put the glass down. “I’d recommend a ‘hard no’ to all your clone stock!” Now it was the Vaidas’ turn to be shocked, as each of Kalai’s Erbian family’s jaws dropped in synch. Before anyone could say anything, Andy continued, “You need to bring wild-caught. Farm-raised salmon wouldn’t… well we can tell, and you can taste the difference between them. We need to go fishing!” Kalai leaned towards Andy slightly as he lowered his head and started mumbling to himself. She was just able to make out what he was saying to himself as Mama Sakalbi and Mama Aftasia began whispering to each other. “...need to get the Gillnetter out of storage, check what’s running and select the mesh. I’m gonna need a deckhand too.”
Kalai reached a hand out but stopped short of touching him. “Andy?”
He popped up and spoke for the whole table to hear. “I need a shuttle to the mainland and a waiver against the fishing ban. I’ve got to get my boat and the drum ready for sea ” Rhaxiid and Aftasia sputtered in confusion, but Mama Sakalbi had a shadow fall over her, and her ears pulled back.
“Do you mean to say you want to go out on the water? Risk the ecological balance for… dinner?”
Andy looked Sakalbi dead in the eye and gave her a firm nod. “Why don’t you come out and see how we did this before you got here. Think of it as a chance to see the way we’ve fished for the last hundred or so years, and then I can explain the way we used to fish before that.”
The offer snapped Rhaxiid out of his confusion and he brightened. “A learning experience? Wonderful, we’ll make a day of it!” His hands shot out to grab both his wives’ and Kalai could feel the vibrations in the floor from where he was excitedly tapping his feet.
“If you don’t mind hard, smelly work. Uncle Willy always called it ‘the worst desk in the prettiest office.' It’ll be a bit cramped, but I’ve got room on the boat for a few guests and observers; four I think would be ok. She’s a working boat, not a pleasure cruiser,” Andy explained. That sent the whole lot of them excitedly talking among themselves.
Kalai was about to lean in to talk to Mama Aftasia, but Andy caught her attention first. “I don’t suppose you’d want to go back out on the water, given you just got back from pleasure-boating-”
Kalai’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. “I wouldn’t miss it for my own colony planet!”
--------------------
Kalai stood on the pier, bundled in her thermal sailor’s coat. It was still dark and the wind blew from the north in a cold little morning breeze. Kalai took a deep breath and reveled in the smell of the fresh sea air. The soft chattering of Mama Sakalbi’s teeth broke the silence. “It’s a bit chillier than it said it was going to be.”
“The water always does that. It’s never as warm as the lubbers say it’ll be,” Papa spoke as he handed her back her thermos of hot chocolate.
Papa stood next to Kalai and nudged her with his elbow. Even in the dark, Kalai could see him smile up at her and jerk his head at the shivering Erbian. He was also wearing a thermal sailor’s coat, and his hands were stuffed in his pockets to keep them warm, just like Kalai’s. “Landswoman,” he whispered to her and the two of them shared a knowing smile. It was strange, but welcome when she'd told Papa about her upcoming day fishing with Andy, and he’d politely requested to join them. Papa Rhaxiid had graciously given his spot up to accommodate her birth father. Narny was all for it until Andy had explained what they were going to do, but then surrendered his challenge to the fourth guest space, not wanting to go anywhere NEAR anything that could see him come face to face with a Lion’s Mane Jelly. Sitry had done a happy little dance when she found out, but only yesterday had come down with Thistle Fever, and was bundled off to bed by her parents. It left Kalai, Mama Sakalbi, and Papa to accompany Andy on his fishing trip.
The water brushed against the shore behind them quietly. In the gloom, Kalai could just barely make out the outline of the nearest island mountain, but only because the stars had disappeared behind it. It was almost four in the morning, but Kalai had managed a catnap on the shuttle to the empty little lot that had been the boat launch. Aside from the water, the world was silent. Even the breeze made almost no noise and a sense of peace surrounded them. Everything was so calm, Kalai felt like she didn’t have a care in the world.
In the distance, a low rumbling sound of a motor rose from being almost imperceptible to a rolling drum of thunder. From around the point, two green floating lights sped through the darkness, and a spotlight turned on. The beam of light moved jerkily until it came to rest on the pier where they were standing and Kalai started waving her arms. Sakalbi’s omnipad rang, and Andy’s voice shouted over the speaker and the background noise for them to shine a light on the edge of the pier to help him park the boat.
Kalai and Papa moved closer and turned their omnipad flashlights on and waved them as the boat swung gracefully around and glided in alongside them. Kalai caught the rope that flew over the railing of the boat and she heard more than saw Andy moving around on the deck as she tied off on one of the mooring cleats. Several lights clicked on and the deck was bathed in light enough for Kalai to get a clear view of the boat they’d be spending the day on.
Andy hadn’t lied. Kalai saw that this little vessel was a working boat with no frills at all. When he’d told her they’d be going fishing, she’d envisioned something like the charter boat papa had taken her on out of Nantucket. Sporty, fast with a nod to comfort and function. This was not that at all. A giant wheel as wide as Kalai’s outstretched arms that looked like a sideways spool of thread was secured to the deck amidships and dominated the deckspace. Wrapped around it was a fluorescent green tangle with a line of oblong white and yellow corks and rope. There was a covered hatchway sitting behind the drum in front of the raised step to the enclosed cabin. Two large windows let the light out to two children’s bunks, a little table with a booth seat and a raised captain’s chair in front of the helm and engine controls. Andy shut down the engine and that peaceful stillness returned.
“Oway there!” Kalai called, “ship oway! Request permission to come aboard.” Kalai gave the traditional greeting of a Shil’vati sailor.
“Permission granted! Anyone need a stepstool?” Andy finally stepped into the light and Kalai got a look at him. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and the same bright orange coveralls she’d seen the fishmongers wearing on their date.
“I wouldn’t mind a hand, Mr. Shelokset.” Papa He’osforos braced a foot on the railing of the boat and Andy pulled him up.
“Just call me Andy, Doc, and welcome aboard. Jackie should be along any minute now with the day’s groceries, and the cabin’s out of the cold. You can get yourself set wherever you find comfortable.” Papa nodded and disappeared around the other side of the wheel moving towards the bow.
Kalai helped Mama Sakalbi into the boat next, and she quickly ducked into the cabin that took up the entire stern section save for a little ledge that ran along the outside. Andy gripped Kalai’s hand and she smiled as he pulled her deftly aboard. The boat rocked a little on its mooring, and Kalai almost fell into Andy, who wordlessly put his arms around her waist to catch her as she lost her balance. She flailed for a moment before she steadied herself against him.
“Gotcha,” Andy smiled, and Kalai could see him flush almost as much as she could feel herself doing as their noses almost touched. Those big dark brown eyes surrounded by white orbs drew her in and she felt she could lose herself in them. Kalai started as Andy danced her around him and moved her towards the cabin door.
“It might be a little cramped for you in there, but the Mary Jean wasn’t built for pleasure boating, she’s a working girl. Sit tight, I gotta check a few things in the back.” Andy patted the railing affectionately before he hopped up and scooted along the outside of the cabin towards the stern. Kalai couldn’t help the little longing groan that came out as he left her there on the little tiny quarterdeck. Her heart was hammering in her chest as half formed fantasies danced at the edges of her mind.
“I saw that, little minnow.” Papa’s voice was soft, but his tone and the sudden broken silence nearly gave her a heart attack.
Kalai could only stammer as her father stared at her with a cocked eyebrow. A thump from the cabin window behind saw an amused Mama Sakalbi daintily sipping at her thermos with her ears twitched forward in interest, staring out at her. “Papa I… he-”
Papa moved carefully around the covered hatchway to stand next to her, leaning back against the cabin window and heaved a sigh. “I must say I’m surprised. This lovely man’s got good clean lines and is very well cared for. It speaks well of his Skipper.”
It took a full minute for Kalai’s brain to process that he was talking about the boat and not Andy. “And the way Andy brought him in smooth in near complete darkness? It gives me confidence in his abilities.”
Kalai breathed a silent sigh of relief and exasperation. Although she was happy to be spending more time with her father, bringing him on what she’d hoped would be a sailing date wasn’t exactly what she’d had in mind for ‘family time’. He wants me to find a nice young man and spend time with him on a boat, but the first chance I get Papa decides to clam-jam me.
From up on shore, the sound and lights of a large human vehicle screeching to a halt heralded the last of their party to arrive. Kalai heard the clomping footsteps coming down the pier and moved to the railing to lend a hand.
“Ahoy Mary Jean! Raggedy Andy, you there?” Kalai stared with wide eyed surprise to see a human female, loaded down with plastic bags and sporting two human weapons on her shoulder. The two of them locked eyes, and while Kalai didn’t understand everything the girl shouted in surprise, she had caught and understood the phrase, “What the fuck?”
“Easy now, they’re my guests, and the one inside is the boss!” Andy appeared on the pier instantly before either Kalai or the woman could react further.
“Ya didn’t tell me we were having pur-” The woman glared at Kalai and her father. She had switched to Vatikre thankfully, but her tone was hostile as she dropped everything but her weapons. “I mean, hwun’eetums, aboard. A gal could get the wrong idea pretty quick in the dark when there’s no warning.”
“Knock it off Jackie. Let’s get the grub aboard and shove off.” Andy picked up some of the bags and took the guns as Kalai offered a helping hand over the railing. “Oh, Kalai, this is Jackie. Jackie? Kalai. That’s her dad over there, Doc He’osforos. He saw and treated Kay Tee a few years back.” Andy jerked his head towards the direction of Kalai’s father as she held out a hand to the human girl. On a quick inspection, she appeared to be about the same age as her and Andy. She had a round face and was about as dark complected as Andy was. She was shorter, only a few inches taller than Papa, but when Jackie grabbed Kalai’s hand to hop up onto the rail, she could feel the strength and the compact muscle hidden by the baggy sweatshirt and pants.
“Wait a minute, did you say Mini-Me over there saw Kay Tee? You’re fuckin’ with me!” Jackie stumbled a bit as she hopped down onto the deck with a loud thunk and advanced on Papa who shrank away at her advance. “You saw li’l Kay Tee? Where the fuck is he? Is he alright? Is he still fighting the good fight?”
“Last I saw, yes, he was ‘fighting the good fight.’” Papa looked over at Andy with a slightly worried expression. Andy smacked the girl in the back of the head, causing her to flinch and she opened the door to the cabin for Andy to go inside.
Jackie rubbed the back of her head and laughed. “Well that’s a little bit of alright, innit? Maybe today’s gonna be a good day after all!”
“Jackie, get suited up and get on the bow. I need a good pair of eyes on the roller horns,” Kalai heard Andy shout from the cabin, followed by a whole lot of thumping and banging from cabinets being opened and closed.
“You got it, ol’ man. We going to your place or mine?” Jackie sidestepped in and opened a tiny little closet and pulled out a set of rain gear that was identical to what Andy was wearing. Kalai collected herself and stood in the doorway next to her father as they both leaned in.
“Mine; Chuck said the Yaw’much are running from the South. We’ll do a set nor’west of Lummi in the Rosario and see if we can get some Fraser Kings,” Andy replied as he turned the engine back on and the vessel roared to life.
“Chuck? Isn’t that one of your cousins? I didn’t know he could keep track of the movements of Salmon, may I ask how he does it?” Mama Sakalbi perked up as she pulled a set of earplugs out of a pocket and inserted them.
Andy prevaricated a bit, looking from Jackie back to Sakalbi then to Kalai and Papa. “I’d rather not answer that-”
“Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law! Breakin’ the law, breakin’ the law!”
Jackie began singing a human song, and Andy threw her the dirtiest of looks as she finished getting into the orange coveralls. Mama Sakalbi sputtered as Andy shrugged apologetically.
“Make a hole!” Jackie called, and she and Andy came back out as Kalai and Papa made room for them. Andy hopped back onto the dock to cast off while Papa ducked into the cabin.
“Can I help?” Kalai offered as Andy shoved the vessel off and leapt the gap over the black water below.
“You want to be useful? Come forward! I could use an extra set of eyes!” Jackie called back, and Kalai felt a slap on her shoulder from the boisterous human woman.
------------------
Andy stood at the helm, watching Jackie and Kalai as he leaned to get a better view of them past the Net drum. The bow was lifting up again, and the gentle little swells became like speed bumps, jostling them up and down in a predictable bouncing rhythm.
“Are you sure you couldn’t slow down, Andy? It’s a bit rough, don’t you think?” Sakalbi was hanging on to the table and her thermos with a worried expression on her face.
“I could, but we’ll miss the morning set. We want to bomb out the buoy right when the tide changes. If we’re lucky, then we’ll get around seventy or eighty by slack tide this afternoon and call it a day.”
“How do you know where to fish?” Dr. He’osforos was making a good show of standing and maintaining his balance with his hand on the booth.
“Well, there’s two ways you know. The first is you fish the spots your family’s fished since time began. Every family has about two or three different secret spots that we know there’s fish in, and we’re pretty defensive about their locations. The second is by smell. Right now it’s the tail end of the King season, and you can smell them in the water.” Andy turned and saw the incredulity etched on the faces of the two aliens.
“No, I’m serious! King Salmon slime is really pungent, and you can smell them when they’re close to the surface. We get to the fishing spot and take a deep whiff. If we smell them, we’ll set the nets.” Andy laughed at the disbelief on their faces as the GPS on his omnipad beeped and he turned to sail around the last buoy and head for the fishing ground.
“I’ve never noticed that in any of the Kings we’ve raised-”
Andy suppressed a laugh as they caught a larger swell as they left the lee of Lummi Island. Andy reveled in the feeling of weightlessness as the deck rose up and fell out from underneath their feet, leaving everyone suspended for a moment in midair before falling back down. A massive spray of water rose and washed over the deck, drenching Kalai and Jackie, who were still forward. “Cloned and farmed Kings don’t have that same smell. Wild ones smell and taste different, I’m telling you!” Andy pulled back slightly on the throttle as they climbed the next swell. “Brace!” he called as they climbed and fell once again.
There was a look of fear on Sakalbi’s face as she gripped the table for dear life, but to Andy’s surprise, the Doctor looked completely unfazed, and was handling the rise and fall of the deck like an old salt. “You look like you’ve done this before, Doc.”
“I’ve done a stint or two at sea before,” he spoke, in the same tone Andy would have used when trying not to sound too confident, and Andy smiled.
“Kalai keeps talking about loving the sea and sailing. Did you teach her to sail?”
“Yes, me and her mothers. When they were home, we would take the family yacht out in the Vaascon Straits and sail around the Occidiens. Kalai practically spent all her early childhood on a sailboat.”
“And almost every waking moment on one in Junior Academy. I swear you couldn’t dig her out with a trowel when she wanted to go sailing,” Sakalbi managed to add in a word as the boat slowed, and the dramatic rise and fall of the deck slowed with it.
“What about you, Mr. Shelokset, did your father teach you to sail too?”
“I was too young before he passed. My Great Uncle Willy taught me after I came home, and Grandma took me out to the family fishing sites when she wasn’t busy with the Council. For the first two or three years after they let us come home, fishing was the only way to feed our families, but the Militia and the Cambrians would try and sink our boats or arrest us whenever we tried to go out.”
“And that’s why you’re so good at maneuvering your vessel in the dark with no instruments?” Mrs. Vaida had folded her arms, and her voice twinged with that imperious tone she’d had when they’d first met.
Andy huffed a dry laugh. “I did what I had to for me and my people and to survive, Ma’am. I don’t like breaking the law or dodging lasers and gunfire, but there’s a lot of poor families that need to eat.”
The GPS beeped, and Andy gave Mrs. Vaida a slightly defiant look to counter her furrowed brow. “We’re here,” he said as he threw the engine in neutral and opened the cabin door.
Andy walked out and took a deep breath, but all he could smell was the net and the exhaust from the engine. “HEY JACKIE! WE SMELL MONEY?” Andy yelled out as he took stock of the sky. The first signs of sunrise were chasing all but the morning stars away and a light fog was rolling in from the north.
“FUCK YEAH I CAN SMELL ‘EM, ANDY! LET’S BOMB OUT AND GET BREAKFAST GOING!” Jackie looked slightly manic as she smiled brightly. Kalai, on the other hand, looked wet and miserable as she shivered, arms wrapped around herself. Andy gave his cousin a disgusted look as he pieced together what had happened. Every deckhand learned when to duck behind the raised bow and the roller horns that guided the nets so as not to get a faceful of spray when cutting through a swell. It was also a classic hazing trick for Senior Deckhands to let Junior Deckhands learn this the hard way.
Andy moved forward to stand in front of the two of them. Kalai was trying to squeeze her coat dry, but Andy knew it wouldn’t do much good until the sun came out. Jackie at least had the sense to look a little remorseful. “Kalai, why don’t you go sit in the cabin and get out of that wet coat. It’s cold enough out here even for us-”
“No way, Andy. Junior deckhand Kally here wants to impress you and get her dainty soft hands dirty! She’s been bragging about being a sailorwoman and wants to learn to fish ‘your way!” Jackie gave Kalai’s shoulder a wet slap as the poor alien woman went blue. Out of cold or embarrassment, Andy couldn’t tell.
All Andy could do was shake his head and huff. “Ok then! Secure the buoy and sling on my mark. I’ll get us in position!” Andy couldn’t help but chuckle as he heard Jackie start ordering Kalai about. Andy went back into the cabin and looked in the closet/bathroom to see if there was anything hanging up that he could give Kalai. There was only the one rain slicker and a few of Andy’s old sweaters from when he was a lot smaller. Well, looks like I’ll just be cold today. He quickly stripped out of his sweatshirt and grabbed the slicker before throwing a switch on the main control. Dr. He’osforos and Mrs. Vaida threw him quizzical looks as he went back outside wearing less than when he came in. He was down to a sleeveless shirt and his coveralls, and the morning breeze cut right through him and he braced his jaw to keep it from chattering.
“We’re ready to go- Andy, why are you practically naked from the waist up?” Kalai was staring wide eyed at him as he approached her and Jackie was on the bow. Jackie had everything ready; the buoy line was strung through the horns and ready to toss out. A giant orange and blue beach ball sized float hung at the end of the line to mark the end and make it easier to pick up later.
“Trade me your coat for these. If Jackie’s putting you to work, you’ll need these to keep warm.”
“I’m alright, I can-”
“I’m the Skipper of this boat, and I’m ordering you to take off that wet coat and put these on; and Jackie?” Andy gave his cousin a long and piercing look. “Give her the elbow gloves, not the halfsies.”
The scoff and the muttered Salishian profanities meant he’d read the next prank she’d had in mind right. She was planning on giving her the cloth gloves with only the palms and fingers coated in rubber. While perfectly fine for fishing, Andy knew they tended to get soaked through very quickly and did nothing to keep jellyfish stingers and fish slime off your hands. Kalai sputtered for a moment before she complied gratefully and she accepted the dry clothes and rain slicker.
Andy saw Jackie give him a strange look before looking back at Kalai, but he paid it no mind. He walked back to the controls on the drum and switched off the hydraulics, placing the mechanism in neutral. “SLING IT!” Andy called as he took the small jerry rigged steering wheel and threw the boat in reverse. Kalai jumped as the line started unspooling the net into the water at a rapid pace.
Andy set an ‘S’ bend in the quarter mile long net, zigzagging backwards until they came to the end of the line. Andy stopped the boat as Jackie tied off the other large buoy and tossed it over the side, unstringing the cork-line from the roller horns in the process. He pulled hard over and put a bit of distance from the net before shutting the engine down. The line of white and yellow corks marking the net bobbed lazily with the swells as silence settled over the water again. The waves rocked the boat gently as Andy found his sea legs again.
“Alright, I’ll get breakfast going. Jackie, Kalai? Post the watch for seals,” Andy called as he walked back into the cabin to fire up the tiny little gas stove.
Sakalbi, having found the confidence to stand at last, poked her head out of the cabin and stood on by the hatch to the fish hold. “Seals? Why would you need to watch for seals?”
Andy grit his teeth and looked over from where he was cracking open and scrambling eggs. “They’re the spawn of Satan and we hate their guts!” Andy bit out. Jackie came back and pulled the two shotguns and a pair of binoculars from the closet. Andy reached over to a side cabinet and pulled out a box of shells for them. Both his boss and the Doctor’s eyes got wide.
“Seals are the enemy of our blood. Were it not for the invasion, our unending war against these vermin would continue to this day!” Jackie growled as she loaded one for herself and rested the other on Andy’s seat at the helm.
The look of growing horror on Sakalbi’s face towards their facetious declarations caused Andy to chuckle a bit, before launching into an explanation. “We’re not fans of the species because they’ll wait until a fish gets caught in the net and then they’ll steal it, costing us a fish AND ripping a big hole in our nets that we then have to take time to repair. We use the shotguns and buckshot to give them a nice welt and convince them not to hang around, because they’ll wait up on the surface and watch the buoys, just like us. A single seal can and will take between five and ten fish. The worst is when they start getting full, they’ll just bite out the bellies of a salmon in the net. We can’t really do anything with that fish once it’s ‘seal-bit’. So yes, as fishermen, we hate them.”
“Learned opportunism in apex predators as a response to human activity… I think I’ll go see this behavior for myself!” Sakalbi practically rushed out the door towards the bow where Jackie was sitting on the roller horns explaining to Kalai how to spot the bastards, leaving Andy alone in the cabin with the Doctor while he cooked breakfast for them all.
Dr. He’osforos sat down heavily in the booth and pulled out his omnipad. “I’ve had a word with my friend in the Interior. She’s pulled the warrant for your brother, and I’ve withdrawn the charges I filed.”
Andy froze and turned around slowly. The only sound was the sizzle and pop of the eggs and chorizo that he’d added to them in the skillet. “You mean… it’s done? He can come home?” A wave of light headed euphoria swept over Andy and he swayed with the gentle rocking of the boat. “I will pay you back, Doc-”
The doctor held up his hand and stopped Andy. “We’ll call it even, but there’s something… I was able to get my hands on this,” Andy watched as the doctor swiped something towards his omnipad and it dinged. “What is it if I may-”
“Are you really asking an Indian to tell you a story? Because it’s going to be a long one if you are.” “I’m Sevastutavan, young man; we invented long stories.”
Andy froze and stared at the screen of his omnipad. The Vatikre was heavily accented, and Andy had a bit of trouble with the unfamiliar accent, but centered in the frame in a hospital room, sitting in a wheelchair, was a Salishian boy. Andy blinked in surprise as he stared at the screen. “Is that-”
“I am Ikw’is’hi’ehlah, and this bearer is… of the Orca Clan Sheloksets. I drove our Haida enemies onto the rocks and took many heads when they attacked our winter village on Orcas Island. I signed the Treaty with the Great White Father and I fought against the slavers of the south-”
Andy wanted to grab the omnipad but the smell of overcooking eggs brought his attention back to breakfast and Andy stirred and scrapped the food quickly, trying to save it.
“I asked her for any materials she could give me on your brother. Pictures, recordings, anything. This is what she gave me. It's the last known recording of your brother during an interrogation conducted by a Navy Commissar prior to his escape. It seems he made friends with a Pod of Deaths Head Commandos. Quite a bit of the recording has been redacted, but… there are portions of it where he talks about his family and his history. I thought you might like to have it.”
Andy hurriedly pulled out paper plates and a slice of bread for everyone and scooped a heaping portion of the chorizo eggs onto them. He handed the doctor his before leaning out the cabin door. “Slop’s on, come and get it!”
Andy sat down after moving the shotgun out of the way and started the video over again as the three women came back to grab their plates and lost himself watching his brother start telling his story.
“What’s that?” Andy heard Kalai ask over his shoulder, and he paused the video.
“That’s my brother! That’s Kay Tee!”
“Holy shit, what?” Jackie nearly shoved Kalai into Andy as she jammed her bread slice down her gullet and crowded in to see the screen.
Andy started the video over a second time and they watched in silence. “God, that brings back memories. Back when mom was still alive and before we broke up the warband. I can’t believe that slippery little punk ghosted a pod of Commandos for two fucking years! Holy shit, that’s badass!”
Before Andy could say anything, Sakalbi started coughing and brought the binoculars up. “Uh, Andy? Jackie? What do we do about sharks?”
Jackie looked at Andy in confusion. “Sharks? There’s nothing but Dogs around here.”
“Well those are shark fins and they’re charging the net!” Sakalbi pointed and Andy looked up to see dorsal fins charging the center of the net.
Andy looked at Jackie and spoke the same words in tandem, “Oh shit!”
​
First:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/yz0u3h/the_cryptid_chronicle_chapter_1/
Previous:
https://www.reddit.com/Sexyspacebabes/comments/13nh0oe/cryptid_chronicle_chapter_29/
Next:
To be posted 6/4/23

I feel I'll live on forever! With Satan himself by my side! And I'll show the world that tonight and forever, the name to remember's the name Edward Hyde!

Dr. Jekyll is a kind, well-respected and intelligent scientist who meddles with the darker side of science, as he wants to bring out his 'second' nature. He does this through a scientific potion that transforms himself into the grotesque Mr. Hyde. He uses this disguise to act on his most profound and darkest urges until his despicable acts soon catch up with him and Dr Jekyll faces the consequences for his sins against man and science.
Full Text

Physicals

• Calmy tramples a child running at him as fast as she could ^H

Intelligence

Potion
Other

Other

• Everyone seems to instantly hate him as soon as they look at him even a famously emotionless doctor who looked like he could kill ^H
  
• Although Mr. Enfield is sure Hyde had some type of deformity he cannot pin down what was actually wrong with him or even describe his appearance in any detail ^H
  

Howdy. DVD, Blu-ray and 4k for sale. Shipping is $4. Willing to do trades or work with you on pricing. If you feel an item is overpriced I have wiggle room for negotiation and bulk discounts. All in perfect condition with unused digital codes as well. I will also update on occasion with more films as I'm whittling down my 4000 film collection. If an item isn't in the pictures it means it was recently added. I can take pics upon request. The list posted is all the items that are currently available. If you are looking for an item and it isn't listed and can see if I can scour my collection for it.
https://imgur.com/a/RlckBQr https://imgur.com/a/5gbD734 https://imgur.com/a/MoMIdxK
DVD
Adventure Time Series DVD $30.00
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog DVD $2.00
Hong Kong 1941 DVD $1.00
Ju-On DVD $2.00
Shaolin Soccer DVD $2.00
Shutter DVD $2.00
Blu-ray
ANIME
Attack On Titan Final Season Part 2 Blu-ray $20.00 Unopened With Slip
Belle Blu-ray Steelbook $12.00 Unopened
From Up On Poppy Hill Blu-ray Steelbook $12.00 Unopened
Jujutsu Kaisen Blu-ray Season One Part 1 $50.00 Unopened
Millennium Actress Blu-ray Steelbook $12.00 Unopened
Only Yesterday Blu-ray Steelbook $12.00 Unopened
Secret World Of Arrietty Blu-ray Steelbook $12.00 Unopened
Weathering You 4k $12.00 Unopened With Slip
Whisper Of The Heart Blu-ray $5.00 With Slip
CRITERION
Before Trilogy Blu-ray $40.00 Unopened
Blow Out 4k $22.00 Unopened
Dazed And Confused 4k $25.00 Unopened
Double Indemnity 4k $20.00 Unopened
Fisher King 4k $25.00 Unopened
Grand Budapest Hotel Blu-ray $18.00 Unopened
In The Mood For Love 4k $20.00
Infernal Affairs Blu-ray $40.00 Unopened
Last Waltz 4k $22.00 Unopened
Life Aquatic Blu-ray $18.00 Unopened
Lost Highway 4k $20.00 Unopened
Mildred Pierce 4k $25.00 Unopened
Night Of The Living Dead 4k $20.00 Unopened
Okja 4k $18.00 Unopened
The Piano 4k $18.00 Unopened
Power Of The Dog 4k $22.00 Unopened
Raging Bull 4k $20.00 Unopened
Red Shoes 4k $22.00 Unopened
Shallow Grave Blu-ray $15.00 Unopened
Triangle Of Sadness 4k $25.00 Unopened
Uncut Gems 4k $22.00 Unopened
Wall-E 4k $22.00 Unopened
Wings Of Desire 4k $25.00 Unopened
Blu-ray MISC
Batman Complete Animated Series $20.00 Unopened
The Batman Series (2003) $20.00 Unopened
Black Adam Blu-ray $5.00 With Slip
Boxtrolls Blu-ray $4.00 With Slip
Bubba Ho-Tep Blu-ray $4.00
Christmas Vacation Blu-ray $2.00
Clerks 3 Blu-ray $6.00 Unopened With Slip
Cocaine Bear Blu-ray $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Cruella Blu-ray $3.00
Forever Purge $3.00
Harry Potter Blu-ray Collection $20.00 Unopened
James Bond Collection Blu-ray $40.00 Unopened
Meaning Of Life Blu-ray $2.00
The Northman Blu-ray $3.00
Rick And Morty 5 Season Collection Blu-ray $20.00 Unopened
Samurai Jack Series Blu-ray $30.00 Unopened
Star Trek Stardate 10 Movie Collection Blu-ray $8.00
The Thing Blu-ray (2011) $2.00
Violent Night Blu-ray $10.00 Unopened With Slip
4k
Roku Streaming Stick 4k Unused $25.00
007 Daniel Craig 5 Movie Collection 4k $35.00 Unopened
1917 4k Steelbook $13.00 Unopened
All Quiet On The Western Front 4k Mediabook $20.00 Unopened
Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania 4k $20.00 Unopened With Slip
The Batman 4k $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Belly 4k $4.00 With Slip
Black Adam 4k $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Boxtrolls 4k Steelbook $13.00 Unopened
Bullet Train 4k $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Carrie 4k Steelbook $15.00 Unopened
Clockwork Orange 4k $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Coraline 4k Steelbook $13.00 Unopened
Doctor Strange Multiverse Of Madness 4k $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Dragonheart 4k $12.00 Unopened
F9 4k $10.00 Unopened
Flashdance 4k $12.00 Unopened With Slip
Halloween 2018 4k $11.00 Unopened
Halloween Ends 4k 8.00 With Slip
House Of The Dragon 4k Season One $20.00 Unopened
In The Height 4k $14.00 Unopened With Slip
Jurassic Park 4k $11.00 Unopened
Jurassic World Dominion Extended 4k $8.00 With Slip
Justice League Snyder Cut 4k $10.00 With Slip
Kubo 4k Steelbook $13.00 Unopened
Light-year 4k $9.00 With Slip
Minions The Rise Of Gru 4k $6.00 With Slip
Rocky 4k Collection $30.00 Unopened
Spiderman No Way Home 4k $9.00 Unopened
The Suicide Squad 4k $8.00 Unopened With Slip
Top Gun Maverick 4k $10.00 Unopened With Slip
Transformers 4K Steelbook $12.00 Unopened
Wakanda Forever 4k $12.00 Unopened With Slip
Switch
Legend Of Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom $40.00 Unopened

So around 2 &1/2 years ago I (M25) went through possibly the worst break up of my life, I decided to start a clean slate in so many different aspects of my life, a new job being one of them, I loved my new job & I made really good friends with a colleague (F22), she’s hands down one of the funniest people I’ve ever met, she’s a pretty girl but not the type of girl I’d ever consider dating as we didn’t have much in common on a moral level, but either way I loved having such a nice platonic relationship with a woman (considering in my last relationship my ex hated me having friends of the opposite sex) she’s had a boyfriend for as long as we’ve know each other & she described him as a great guy & I was happy my friend was in a healthy relationship with someone who treated her so well.
We worked together for around a year before she got another job opportunity, we still spoke occasionally over text but didn’t see each other for a few months after she left, we decided to meet up for a coffee & catch up one time and it was still completely platonic and we had a nice conversation & a good laugh, about a week after that I was out shopping when I bumped into her & her partner, it was the first time I met him & I introduced myself in a friendly way and asked how we was doing, to which he completely shrugged me off, I didn’t take offence I just saw it as quite immature, but I understood to some extent how this is how a lot of guys would react in that situation.
After that happened my friend stopped making any effort with me, she wasn’t really responding to texts and never made any plans with me, I was disappointed by this but I understand that some friends come & go and that’s how life works, we didn’t speak for around a year after that, until one day she messaged me out the blue asking how I was and telling me that she missed me & that we should meet up for a catch up, to which I said to her I’ve missed having a laugh with her and I was up for meeting up, she came around to my place and we had a coffee & we spoke about what we’ve been up too and it was like nothing had changed, we still had a great chemistry and it was like how we was when we worked together.
Then she started talking to me about her boyfriend, this is when things got a bit strange, she started saying how much she disliked the sex with him and that she wished she had a partner who listened to her more and could have a great laugh with, she then said that he wasn’t even her type and that she was more into guys who are similar height to her with facial hair and a bit of a dad bod, which is all my features, I brushed this off and had a joke with her about it, but didn’t act on the comments she made, she was also being extremely flirty and it was quite an unexpected experience for me, as she left she hugged me and said we need to see each other more often, about a week later she messaged me again asking if we could meet up, I said we could go for some food but she said her boyfriend wouldn’t want her doing that, I was a bit confused by this as you can imagine, was I just said ‘oh okay no worries’ and we didn’t speak for a few more weeks after that, until she messaged me again asking when I was free, I was obviously a bit confused by what was going on, but I told her my days off to which she said okay lets meet on this day and go for some food, I said ‘of course I’m up for that, it won’t cause you any problems us meeting up for food will it? As you said last time it could cause problems?’ She saw the message and left me on read and it’s been a few weeks now and we haven’t spoken, I don’t believe in trying to force people to be in my life, but this is a friend who I care about as she really helped me get through my last break up and we used to have a great connection, but I’m worried she’s maybe using me to make her boyfriend jealous? Or is she just not that interested in being my friend anymore?
TL;DR I’m unsure whether or not to just messaged her asking if everything’s okay, I just don’t want to get involved in someone elses relationship because I’m assuming that this is whats causing this, I just don’t have the time for drama, but I do have time for my friends.

So even though I watched Guardians 3 last night, I'm going to try and be as objective about the parameters i'm setting up for how to rank and rate these movies. Here they are: Rank and rate all. phase 4 movies as if you split into many alternate timelines and all 8ish of you watch each movie at the same time, write it on a piece of paper, and merge all realities into one and read what was written. Here it is:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy 3: Attack of the Clones - 93% (First 4/5ths were 97%)
2. Spider-man: No Way Home - 90% (Some lulls and predictable or overly choreographed aspects)
3. Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness - 84% (Despite serious clunky story aspects, the cinematography and unique visuals and Wanda as a villain was awesome)
4. Ant-man Quantumania - 83% (This is controversial. Too much of it was disney/kid-ified. Would've like some more consistenty serious elements. Still very fun concepts and visuals (i'm a sucker for tastefully thought out and complex, detailed set-design and vfx, except for the city Khan designed was a little too busy and overwrought)
5. Shang-Chi/Wakanda- 80% (Story was interesting, certain chracters were lifeless and un-interesting, was ok)
6. The Eternals - 73% (Too many charcters with not enough fleshing out of characters, some aspects were grandiose and epic but couldn't quite pay off in a satisfying way, had a ton of potential and q unique approach)
7. Black Widow - 66% (Holy boring.. this would've fit a lot better in phase 2 of Marvel somewhere, it's just way too subdued and absent of action and stakes, too bland for being in phase 4)
8. Thor: Love & Thunder - 55% (They really dropped the ball on this one. I don't even know where to begin. They made so many situations so silly that it becomes a shell of itself. There's no badassery in this. At least not well-earned badassery. It's got mixed themes. The Zeuss was overly douchey and not that funny. Just ridiculous. Still some elements like the god killer that could've been awesome.)

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IN CONCLUSION: Whatever formula and style that went into Guardians 3, the entire time I was like, this doesn't even feel like some addendum to the MCU stack.. this feels like it's own entire separate entity that stands on it's own legs and knows how to really humanize or anthropromorphize so many touching themes and interesting dynamics. It was a GUARDIANS franchize film that happened to contain MCU characters. Not the other way around. And that's how it should be in most cases.
Guardians are the most real for having flaws on full display. Guardians wasn't trying to be overtly political, while also offering a message that is paletable by the masses. It hit the pocket of what movies the fans truly seem to want to see. It hopefully can be a testament to how MCU can still be a powerhouse if they make a movie that is truly good for the fans rather than for the executives or to appease the activists or to have the broadest appeal.
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!!!SPOILER MOMENT: My only issue was the blatant deus ex machina trope where Adam saves Quill in such a preditably boring way. Golden Adam could've had a more interesting arc other than being a dimwit who hates being under the thumb of his mother and is a bumbling fuck up. Also the rainbow suits they wore were a bit tacky (not for any anti-flag reasons.. I just happen to thing loud primary colors used for the sake of making things colorfgul look corny in contrast to a serious movie or when attached to a serious plot device or a functional situation) its just a kid-ified contrivance, but not too bad. Also the Spy Kids thumb skin suits that were worn in the organic headquarters was a bit over-the-top, but again, i can forgive those elements as everything else was on point. The aesthetic choices were so wild and otherworldly, the concept of an alter-earth was super refreshing. The reason that the villain decided to make an earth seem slightly contrived as he explained in a single sentence that he loved earth music and the spirit of humans and for that reason alone he wants to make an entire planet look and feel like Earth but with Earth-animal hybrids? I think there could've been a more convincing or deeeply personal reason why this guy spent quadrillions of dollars to create this alter-earth, but perhaps thats what the comics stated.
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Edit: Also, this movie had some of the coolest and most engaging shots, angles, lighting, and attention to detail. In alter-earth down to the sodas, the picture frames, the kids toys, the clothing, etc. It's an approximation of Earth-like stuff which makes it feel uncanny and strange. They killed the alter-Earth stuff. So intriguing.