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[Opinion] NERDIST: Star Trek Into Darkness Is Better Than You Remember: "The film does a lot to “earn” that reliance on the past. That may seem like an excuse for lazy storytelling, but I don’t think it is. There are in-universe reasons for the parallels to TWOK organically baked into the story"
2023.06.01 23:54 mcm8279 [Opinion] NERDIST: Star Trek Into Darkness Is Better Than You Remember: "The film does a lot to “earn” that reliance on the past. That may seem like an excuse for lazy storytelling, but I don’t think it is. There are in-universe reasons for the parallels to TWOK organically baked into the story"
" ... I think the Kelvin timeline is rather elegant in using quantum theory as character development."
Link:
https://nerdist.com/article/star-trek-into-darkness-is-better-than-you-remembe
(Lindsey Romain, Nerdist.com)
Quotes:
"[...]
Every so often, you have an opinion that boldly goes where no one has before. I doubt my affection for Star Trek Into Darkness is exclusive to me. We defenders exist in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, in a deep pocket of space otherwise forgotten. For some Trekkies, Into Darkness is the worst of the worstOpens in new tab—a film that uses sweeping parallels to things done best in better projects. And while I’d never suggest Into Darkness tops Wrath of Khan, I’d urge those who’ve entirely written it off to take another look. Star Trek Into Darkness is better than you might remember for reasons you might not suspect.
[...]
I’ll never forget sitting in an IMAX theater on opening night and hearing the audience’s collective groan when it turned out John Harrison was, indeed, Khan. Despite Cumberbatch’s protestations, it was so expected that it was immediately annoying.
[...]
The annoying Khan reveal—and the press circus leading up to it—cast a shadow over its legacy, as did the film’s other callbacks to Wrath of Khan. It was the first time we really saw Abrams’ over-reliance on that which came before, a hat trick he’d carry into the Star Wars franchise a few years later.
And yet, I can’t help but have a soft spot for Into Darkness. The film does a lot to “earn” that reliance on the past. That may seem like an excuse for lazy storytelling, but I don’t think it is. There are in-universe reasons for the parallels to Wrath of Khan organically baked into the story. If you recall, in Star Trek (2009), a Romulan mining vessel commanded by Nero (Eric Bana) emerges from the future and attacks the USS Kelvin, a Starfleet ship. The incursion alters the course of history, creating an alternate reality separate from the established canon. The impacts of this event ripple through time. The event reshapes the lives of familiar characters, alters their relationships, and generates distinct storylines.
The idea of a parallel universe isn’t just the stuff of science fiction but has roots in real-world quantum theory. In the mid-20th century, the “Many Worlds” theoryOpens in new tab posited that multiple realities exist as distinct entities without interaction. However, more recently, some quantum physicists speculateOpens in new tab that parallel worlds might actually overlap and exist in the same region of time and space simultaneously. If that’s the case, an infinite number of realities might exist. Many of them would be incredibly similar to the one we’re living in right now. Events in one universe could “trickle into” another, initiating parallels and overlaps that keep our worlds in constant conversation.
That might sound like a pretty basic concept to port into a Star Trek film. Still, I think the Kelvin timeline is rather elegant in using quantum theory as character development. I give a lot of credit to Abrams’ casting of the 2009 film. Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov add so much to these films. Their chemistry is pitch-perfect, and the family bonds established in Star Trek carry beautifully into the sequel.
The basic set-up of Into Darkness—a terrorist attack on Starfleet that comes from within leads the Enterprise crew on a mission to capture “a one-man weapon of mass destruction”—is immediately knowable and felt. We recognize the stakes because we already care deeply about this new cast, charming and colorful as they are.
The parallel worlds thing would be lazy if we didn’t have these perfect ingredients. The love between the Kelvin-timeline Kirk and Spock doesn’t lean too hard on our history with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. When we learn John Harrison—the commander responsible for the attack on Starfleet—is Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awoken from centuries of sleep by Starfleet admiral Alexander Marcus to develop new superweapons, we know where things will go. The rest of the film plays out as a loose homage, ending with a mirrored version of Spock’s touching sacrifice in Wrath of Khan after saving the Enterprise’s warp drive. In Into Darkness, Kirk saves the drive, sharing an inverse of the iconic hand-touch moment before succumbing to radiation poisoning. (Unlike Spock in Khan, however, Kirk in Into Darkness is revived by the film’s end.)
Suppose we believe that alternate universes occupy the same space-time, thereby influencing timelines relative to their own. In that case, it makes sense that events as prominent as those in the Wrath of Khan would seep into nearby worlds. I know some fans take issue with the rushed nature of the plotting. When Spock dies in Khan, he’s spent decades with Kirk. Kelvin-timeline Kirk has only known Spock a few years. But this doesn’t bother me. The preceding events are catastrophic and distinct enough that new stakes emerge. And Pine and Quinto sell it like hell. Pine’s delivery of “I’m scared, Spock…help me not be,” and Quinto’s crestfallen face bring me to tears every time. It’s an inversion of something familiar but not a cheap one.
I can’t and won’t defend some things about Into Darkness. The immediate reversal of Kirk’s death irks me. And then there’s the whitewashing of Khan, which is not only offensively shortsighted (Khan is a non-white Sikh in canon) but also boring. There’s also the gratuitous scene revealing Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) in her underwear. The moment has zero bearing on the plot or character and feels like the cheap sexualization of a young actress. That one’s so bad the filmmakers—including co-writer Damon Lindelof—have since apologized for it.
So no, Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t some misbegotten masterpiece. The more aggressive flaws are inexcusable, if not downright retrograde, and I won’t argue with legacy Trekkies that the film bests anything that came before. It isn’t worthy of cultural reappraisal in the way something like a Kubrick movie—misunderstood at its time before growing into an all-time classic—might be. But I think it’s a fascinating watch in 2023, considering the “requels” that now proliferate culture. Abrams and crew found a way to weave science into myth and give us powerful character moments that transcend some unfortunate aspects.
Despite its imperfections, Star Trek Into Darkness is a fascinating and highly entertaining pop culture artifact.
[...]"
submitted by mcm8279 to trektalk [link] [comments]
Link:
https://nerdist.com/article/star-trek-into-darkness-is-better-than-you-remembe
(Lindsey Romain, Nerdist.com)
Quotes:
"[...]
Every so often, you have an opinion that boldly goes where no one has before. I doubt my affection for Star Trek Into Darkness is exclusive to me. We defenders exist in the farthest reaches of the galaxy, in a deep pocket of space otherwise forgotten. For some Trekkies, Into Darkness is the worst of the worstOpens in new tab—a film that uses sweeping parallels to things done best in better projects. And while I’d never suggest Into Darkness tops Wrath of Khan, I’d urge those who’ve entirely written it off to take another look. Star Trek Into Darkness is better than you might remember for reasons you might not suspect.
[...]
I’ll never forget sitting in an IMAX theater on opening night and hearing the audience’s collective groan when it turned out John Harrison was, indeed, Khan. Despite Cumberbatch’s protestations, it was so expected that it was immediately annoying.
[...]
The annoying Khan reveal—and the press circus leading up to it—cast a shadow over its legacy, as did the film’s other callbacks to Wrath of Khan. It was the first time we really saw Abrams’ over-reliance on that which came before, a hat trick he’d carry into the Star Wars franchise a few years later.
And yet, I can’t help but have a soft spot for Into Darkness. The film does a lot to “earn” that reliance on the past. That may seem like an excuse for lazy storytelling, but I don’t think it is. There are in-universe reasons for the parallels to Wrath of Khan organically baked into the story. If you recall, in Star Trek (2009), a Romulan mining vessel commanded by Nero (Eric Bana) emerges from the future and attacks the USS Kelvin, a Starfleet ship. The incursion alters the course of history, creating an alternate reality separate from the established canon. The impacts of this event ripple through time. The event reshapes the lives of familiar characters, alters their relationships, and generates distinct storylines.
The idea of a parallel universe isn’t just the stuff of science fiction but has roots in real-world quantum theory. In the mid-20th century, the “Many Worlds” theoryOpens in new tab posited that multiple realities exist as distinct entities without interaction. However, more recently, some quantum physicists speculateOpens in new tab that parallel worlds might actually overlap and exist in the same region of time and space simultaneously. If that’s the case, an infinite number of realities might exist. Many of them would be incredibly similar to the one we’re living in right now. Events in one universe could “trickle into” another, initiating parallels and overlaps that keep our worlds in constant conversation.
That might sound like a pretty basic concept to port into a Star Trek film. Still, I think the Kelvin timeline is rather elegant in using quantum theory as character development. I give a lot of credit to Abrams’ casting of the 2009 film. Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu, and the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov add so much to these films. Their chemistry is pitch-perfect, and the family bonds established in Star Trek carry beautifully into the sequel.
The basic set-up of Into Darkness—a terrorist attack on Starfleet that comes from within leads the Enterprise crew on a mission to capture “a one-man weapon of mass destruction”—is immediately knowable and felt. We recognize the stakes because we already care deeply about this new cast, charming and colorful as they are.
The parallel worlds thing would be lazy if we didn’t have these perfect ingredients. The love between the Kelvin-timeline Kirk and Spock doesn’t lean too hard on our history with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. When we learn John Harrison—the commander responsible for the attack on Starfleet—is Khan, a genetically engineered superhuman awoken from centuries of sleep by Starfleet admiral Alexander Marcus to develop new superweapons, we know where things will go. The rest of the film plays out as a loose homage, ending with a mirrored version of Spock’s touching sacrifice in Wrath of Khan after saving the Enterprise’s warp drive. In Into Darkness, Kirk saves the drive, sharing an inverse of the iconic hand-touch moment before succumbing to radiation poisoning. (Unlike Spock in Khan, however, Kirk in Into Darkness is revived by the film’s end.)
Suppose we believe that alternate universes occupy the same space-time, thereby influencing timelines relative to their own. In that case, it makes sense that events as prominent as those in the Wrath of Khan would seep into nearby worlds. I know some fans take issue with the rushed nature of the plotting. When Spock dies in Khan, he’s spent decades with Kirk. Kelvin-timeline Kirk has only known Spock a few years. But this doesn’t bother me. The preceding events are catastrophic and distinct enough that new stakes emerge. And Pine and Quinto sell it like hell. Pine’s delivery of “I’m scared, Spock…help me not be,” and Quinto’s crestfallen face bring me to tears every time. It’s an inversion of something familiar but not a cheap one.
I can’t and won’t defend some things about Into Darkness. The immediate reversal of Kirk’s death irks me. And then there’s the whitewashing of Khan, which is not only offensively shortsighted (Khan is a non-white Sikh in canon) but also boring. There’s also the gratuitous scene revealing Carol Marcus (Alice Eve) in her underwear. The moment has zero bearing on the plot or character and feels like the cheap sexualization of a young actress. That one’s so bad the filmmakers—including co-writer Damon Lindelof—have since apologized for it.
So no, Star Trek Into Darkness isn’t some misbegotten masterpiece. The more aggressive flaws are inexcusable, if not downright retrograde, and I won’t argue with legacy Trekkies that the film bests anything that came before. It isn’t worthy of cultural reappraisal in the way something like a Kubrick movie—misunderstood at its time before growing into an all-time classic—might be. But I think it’s a fascinating watch in 2023, considering the “requels” that now proliferate culture. Abrams and crew found a way to weave science into myth and give us powerful character moments that transcend some unfortunate aspects.
Despite its imperfections, Star Trek Into Darkness is a fascinating and highly entertaining pop culture artifact.
[...]"
2023.06.01 23:43 lili_78 I lost trust and friends after him
I had a friend who was five years older than me and treated me like a younger sister. I was there for him emotionally when he broke up with his fiancé of six years. However, a few weeks later, he started hitting on me when I was drunk and started cuddling me, which led to us being in a relationship. Unfortunately, he began comparing me to his ex-girlfriend, who had cheated on him with another man. His ex-girlfriend convinced some of our mutual friends to turn against me, but I still had three friends who supported me.
Then he started gaslighting me, manipulating me, and lying to me, which began to affect my mental health. Our differing views on having children were another point of contention, and we eventually broke up over it.
After the breakup, we remained in contact, but during New Year's Eve, he convinced me to come back to him again when I was drunk. However, this time he started demanding things from me that I didn't want to do, and I struggled to set boundaries since it was my first relationship.
My ex-boyfriend's friend, who had previously encouraged him to cheat, started having problems with me. She began ignoring me and inviting my ex-boyfriend to parties without me. Eventually, she even stayed at his house for a week after one of the parties. He hide that from me and he ignored me for week. After she left his hause she break up with her boyfriend. I felt ignored and excluded from our social circle, and my ex-boyfriend did not respond to my messages even when I had a car accident (i broke 2 ribs). All our friends seemed indifferent to my situation and said it is not that big of deal.
Gaslighting continued to be a recurring issue, which pushed me to my limits, so I decided to end the relationship three days before my birthday. However, my ex-boyfriend's friend dug up dirt on me among our mutual friends on my birthday. The only thing she found was that I didn't want to attend the same party as my ex-boyfriend because I was afraid he might convince me to come back to him. When my ex-boyfriend found out, he became angry and told me that he didn't want a serious partner, just someone to have a lot of friends but not a girlfriend, and that i was bad girlfriend
Now, I feel alone and have lost trust in people. I am not sure what to do next.
Ps sorry for my english it is not my first language
submitted by lili_78 to BreakUps [link] [comments]
Then he started gaslighting me, manipulating me, and lying to me, which began to affect my mental health. Our differing views on having children were another point of contention, and we eventually broke up over it.
After the breakup, we remained in contact, but during New Year's Eve, he convinced me to come back to him again when I was drunk. However, this time he started demanding things from me that I didn't want to do, and I struggled to set boundaries since it was my first relationship.
My ex-boyfriend's friend, who had previously encouraged him to cheat, started having problems with me. She began ignoring me and inviting my ex-boyfriend to parties without me. Eventually, she even stayed at his house for a week after one of the parties. He hide that from me and he ignored me for week. After she left his hause she break up with her boyfriend. I felt ignored and excluded from our social circle, and my ex-boyfriend did not respond to my messages even when I had a car accident (i broke 2 ribs). All our friends seemed indifferent to my situation and said it is not that big of deal.
Gaslighting continued to be a recurring issue, which pushed me to my limits, so I decided to end the relationship three days before my birthday. However, my ex-boyfriend's friend dug up dirt on me among our mutual friends on my birthday. The only thing she found was that I didn't want to attend the same party as my ex-boyfriend because I was afraid he might convince me to come back to him. When my ex-boyfriend found out, he became angry and told me that he didn't want a serious partner, just someone to have a lot of friends but not a girlfriend, and that i was bad girlfriend
Now, I feel alone and have lost trust in people. I am not sure what to do next.
Ps sorry for my english it is not my first language
2023.06.01 22:57 crypticcollaborator [H] Over 350 games, including Monster Hunter: World, Deep Rock Galactic, Doom Eternal, Fallout 76, Deathloop [W] Street Fighter 6, Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR, other interesting VR games, TF2 keys
https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/nws41crypticcollaborators_igs_rep_page_1/
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- BioShock Infinite - Comstock's China Broom Shotgun
- BioShock Infinite - Comstock's Bird's Eye Sniper Rifle
- BioShock Infinite - Industrial Revolution Rewards Pack
- Bioshock Infinite - Industrial Revolution
- BioShock Infinite - OSX CE Upgrade Pack
- BioShock Infinite - OSX Industrial Revolution
- BioShock Infinite - OSX China Broom
- BioShock Infinite - OSX Birds Eye
- BioShock Infinite - OSX Season Pass
- Just Cause 4
- Just Cause 4: Digital Deluxe Content
- Just Cause 4: Golden Gear Pack
- Just Cause 4: Expansion Pass
- Just Cause™ 4: Deathstalker Scorpion Pack
- Just Cause 4: Renegade Pack
- Just Cause 4: Neon Racer Pack
- Just Cause 4: The Dragon
- Just Cause 4: Dare Devils of Destruction
- Just Cause 4: Los Demonios
- Just Cause 4: Toy Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Soaring Speed Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Adversary Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Danger Rising
- Just Cause 4: Sea Dogs Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4 : Shark & Bark Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Brawler Mech
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Duskers
Red Solstice 2: Survivors
Minoria
Roboquest
Sunless Sea
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER
Resident Evil Revelations
Call of the Sea
Blade Assault
I Am Fish
Nobodies
If Found
ATOM RPG Trudograd
PLANET ALPHA
Crown Trick
Raw Data
Pathway
SUPERHOT
Hammerting
OlliOlli World Rad Edition
- OlliOlli World
- OlliOlli World "Close Encounter Skate Deck"
- OlliOlli World Expansion Pass
- OlliOlli World: VOID Riders
- OlliOlli World: Finding the Flowzone
Hokko Life
Save Room - Organization Puzzle
In Sound Mind
Paradise Killer
Police Stories
HITMAN: Game of the Year Edition
- HITMAN
- HITMAN: Episode 2 - Sapienza
- HITMAN: Episode 3 - Marrakesh
- HITMAN: Episode 4 - Bangkok
- HITMAN: Episode 5 - Colorado
- HITMAN: Episode 6 - Hokkaido
- HITMAN - Bonus Episode
- HITMAN: Episode 1 - Paris
- HITMAN - GOTY Suit Pack
- HITMAN - Bonus Campaign Patient Zero
- HITMAN - GOTY Clown Suit
- HITMAN - GOTY Raven Suit
- HITMAN - GOTY Cowboy Suit
Killsquad
Astronarch
The Serpent Rogue
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- XCOM: Enemy Within
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown Elite Soldier Pack
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown: Slingshot DLC
- XCOM 2
- XCOM 2: Reinforcement Pack
- XCOM 2: Resistance Warrior Pack
- XCOM 2: Anarchy's Children
- XCOM 2: Alien Hunters
- XCOM 2: Shen's Last Gift
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
- X-Com: Enemy Unknown Pre-Purchase
- Elite Soldier Pack
- XCOM 2 Development Tools
- XCOM 2 War of the Chosen Development Tools
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen - Tactical Legacy Pack
- XCOM: Chimera Squad
- XCOM: Chimera Squad Development Tools
Torchlight II
Due Process
Suzerain
Necronator: Dead Wrong
Before We Leave
Not Tonight
First Class Trouble
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Shu
Everhood
Rebel Cops
Railroad Corporation
Bee Simulator
Hob
Tools Up!
Mind Scanners
Lacuna
CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
Beyond The Wire
Sundered: Eldritch Edition
John Wick Hex
PGA TOUR 2K21
Lumini
Nebuchadnezzar
Mad Experiments: Escape Room
Backbone
RAD
Orcs Must Die! 2
Voidigo
As Far As The Eye
Pawnbarian
Truberbrook
Black Future '88
Supraland
Ittle Dew
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Pirates of the Sword Coast
Five Dates
Undead Horde
X Rebirth
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Conan Chop Chop
ELDERBORN
Farmer's Dynasty
Nowhere Prophet
Boundless
Orcs Must Die 2 - Complete Pack
- Orcs Must Die! 2
- Orcs Must Die! 2 - Are We There Yeti?
- Orcs Must Die! 2 - Family Ties Booster Pack
- Orcs Must Die! 2 - Fire and Water Booster Pack
TOHU
Nex Machina
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
AI War 2
8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure
Embr
Tooth and Tail
Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek
Jurassic World Evolution - Deluxe DLC
Electronauts
Ring of Pain
Post Void
Blue Fire
In Other Waters
At Eve's Wake
Cosmonautica
Hoplegs
Super Magbot
shapez
Tower of Time
Retrowave
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
Battlewake
The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Fan Edition
Pizza Connection 3
Sprint Vector
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Tyranny - Deluxe Edition
- Tyranny
- Tyranny - Overlord Edition Upgrade Pack
- Tyranny - Official Soundtrack Deluxe Edition
- Tyranny - Ringtones
- Tyranny - Wallpapers
- Tyranny - Digital Collector's Guide Book
- Tyranny - Original Soundtrack
- Tyranny - Digital Art Book
- Tyranny - Digital Short Story Collection
- Tyranny - Faction Banners
- Tyranny - Digital Game Map
- paradox dummy app sub/133812
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor
Railway Empire
Midnight Protocol
Tales of the Tiny Planet
Emily is Away <3
The Doctor Who Cloned Me
The Lovable Rogues Pack
Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD
Lust from Beyond: M Edition
Rustler
Unexplored
Hard Reset Redux
Shing!
Neon Chrome
FRAMED Collection
EarthX
Paradise Lost
Duke Nukem Forever
Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack
Epic Chef
Out of Space
Syberia 3
Surviving Mars
Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
CivCity: Rome
Baby Dino Adventures
XCOM 2: Reinforcement Pack
Hero Defense
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass
TaniNani
West of Dead
Möbius Front '83
Calico
Tacoma
The Way
112 Operator
This War of Mine
Lust for Darkness
shapez - Puzzle DLC
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
F1 2018
Evoland Legendary Edition
Aviary Attorney
Treasure Temples
Journey For Elysium
Levelhead
Golf Gang
The Walking Dead Onslaught Deluxe Edition
- The Walking Dead Onslaught
- The Walking Dead Onslaught - OST
- The Walking Dead Onslaught - Art Book
- The Walking Dead Onslaught - Deluxe Bonuses
BATTLETECH - Shadow Hawk Pack
State of Mind
Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King
Explosionade
Deadly Days
Fling to the Finish
GRIP: Combat Racing
Desolate
ibb & obb - Best Friends Forever Double Pack
- ibb & obb
XCOM 2: Resistance Warrior Pack
Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
Evan's Remains
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Effie
Paw Paw Paw
Iron Danger
The Amazing American Circus
GARAGE: Bad Trip
Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
AWAKE - Definitive Edition
Swag and Sorcery
Popup Dungeon
The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!
Between the Stars
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Amnesia Collection
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
- Tropico 4
- Tropico 4: Modern Times
- Tropico 4: Apocalypse
- Tropico 4: Propaganda
- Tropico 4: The Academy
- Tropico 4 DLC Junta
- Tropico 4: Megalopolis
- Tropico 4: Pirate Heaven
- Tropico 4 Plantador DLC
- Tropico 4 DLC Quick-Dry-Cement
- Tropico 4: Vigilante
- Tropico 4: Voodoo
Star Vikings Forever
Syberia 3 Deluxe Edition with An Automaton with a plan DLC
- Syberia 3
- Syberia 3 - Deluxe Upgrade
- Syberia 3 - An Automaton with a plan
Moon Hunters
Treasure Hunter Simulator
Torchlight
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Fallout
GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
Layers of Fear (2016)
Cygon Customisation Pack
Corridor Z
Family Man
Yoku's Island Express
Guppy
WARSAW
Crying Suns
System Shock: Enhanced Edition
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
Railroad Tycoon 3
Vintek Customisation Pack
Terra Customisation Pack
Retimed
Divekick
X-COM: Complete Pack
- X-COM: UFO Defense
- X-COM: Apocalypse
- X-COM: Enforcer
- X-COM: Interceptor
- X-COM: Terror from the Deep
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Digital Art Book
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Soundtrack
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Epic Mount
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - DDE Location
- paradox dummy app sub/99331
1993 Space Machine
911 Operator
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
- X-Morph: Defense
- X-Morph: Defense - Soundtrack
- X-Morph: Defense - European Assault
- X-Morph: Defense - Survival Of The Fittest
- X-Morph: Defense - Last Bastion
Chroma Squad
Click and Slay
Marooners
Guts and Glory
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Valhalla Hills
Jagged Alliance 2 - Wildfire
Blackguards
Broken Age
Roarr! Jurassic Edition
Hiveswap Friendsim
Beholder
Monaco
Soulblight
Telefrag VR
Ruins to Rumble
AI War: Fleet Command
Last Resort Island
Draw Slasher
Boreal Blade
Crash Drive 2
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
Drawful 2
Orbital Racer
Oh My Gore!
A New Beginning - Final Cut
Patrician IV: Steam Special Edition
GameGuru Classic
Slinger VR
TRAUMA
Earth 2160
GOG
Wanderlust Travel Stories
2023.06.01 22:56 crypticcollaborator [H] Over 350 games, including Monster Hunter: World, Deep Rock Galactic, Doom Eternal, Fallout 76, Deathloop [W] Street Fighter 6, Skyrim VR, Fallout 4 VR, other interesting VR games, TF2 keys
cryptid's Tradable https://barter.vg72d3/t/?filter=0,9,0
1685652476 (Unix timestamp)
Steam
DEATH STRANDING
Praey for the Gods
Monster Hunter: World
Syberia - The World Before
Devil May Cry 5
Deep Rock Galactic
Orcs Must Die! 3
DOOM Eternal
Devil May Cry HD Collection
DEATHLOOP
Superliminal
Sable
GreedFall
River City Girls
Mafia: Definitive Edition
Baba Is You
Planet Zoo
Ion Fury
Ghostrunner
Gang Beasts
Wasteland 3
Besiege
Desperados III
Destroy All Humans!
Creaks
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
DUSK
HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
Ghost of a Tale
Sunset Overdrive
AMID EVIL
House Flipper
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
The Last Campfire
Batora: Lost Haven
We Were Here Together
INMOST
Metro Exodus
Starbound
DARQ
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning
Necromunda: Hired Gun
Fallout 76
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos
Monster Sanctuary
Monument Valley
The Surge 2
Project Wingman
Dread Templar
Pumpkin Jack
Hedon Bloodrite
Monument Valley 2
Vagante
Second Extinction™
ECHO
The Long Dark
Surviving the Aftermath
Phoenix Point
The Falconeer
LIBERATED
Tribes of Midgard
Wingspan
Eldest Souls
Sonic Mania
Project Winter
DIRT 5
The Survivalists
Othercide
Carto
Intravenous
Heat Signature
The Henry Stickmin Collection
Descenders
ScourgeBringer
Miscreated
Monster Train
We Need To Go Deeper
Forgive Me Father
Shady Part of Me
UnMetal
DESYNC
Aragami
Timelie
Shortest Trip to Earth
People Playground
Black Book
Cube Escape Collection
Raji: An Ancient Epic
Sid Meier's Civilization VI
TOEM
Yes, Your Grace
Them's Fightin' Herds
Encased
Disciples: Liberation
Partisans 1941
Styx: Shards of Darkness
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Wizard of Legend
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice
Borderlands 3: Super Deluxe Edition
Grow: Song of the Evertree
Drake Hollow
Street Fighter V
FTL: Faster Than Light
Hellbound
Maid of Sker
Blacksad
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
Secret Neighbor
DmC Devil May Cry
Chicken Police
The Darkside Detective
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
Greak: Memories of Azur
BioShock: The Collection
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Duskers
Red Solstice 2: Survivors
Minoria
Roboquest
Sunless Sea
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER
Resident Evil Revelations
Call of the Sea
Blade Assault
I Am Fish
Nobodies
If Found
ATOM RPG Trudograd
PLANET ALPHA
Crown Trick
Raw Data
Pathway
SUPERHOT
Hammerting
OlliOlli World Rad Edition
Hokko Life
Save Room - Organization Puzzle
In Sound Mind
Paradise Killer
Police Stories
HITMAN: Game of the Year Edition
Killsquad
Astronarch
The Serpent Rogue
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
Torchlight II
Due Process
Suzerain
Necronator: Dead Wrong
Before We Leave
Not Tonight
First Class Trouble
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Shu
Everhood
Rebel Cops
Railroad Corporation
Bee Simulator
Hob
Tools Up!
Mind Scanners
Lacuna
CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
Beyond The Wire
Sundered: Eldritch Edition
John Wick Hex
PGA TOUR 2K21
Lumini
Nebuchadnezzar
Mad Experiments: Escape Room
Backbone
RAD
Orcs Must Die! 2
Voidigo
As Far As The Eye
Pawnbarian
Truberbrook
Black Future '88
Supraland
Ittle Dew
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Pirates of the Sword Coast
Five Dates
Undead Horde
X Rebirth
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Conan Chop Chop
ELDERBORN
Farmer's Dynasty
Nowhere Prophet
Boundless
Orcs Must Die 2 - Complete Pack
TOHU
Nex Machina
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
AI War 2
8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure
Embr
Tooth and Tail
Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek
Jurassic World Evolution - Deluxe DLC
Electronauts
Ring of Pain
Post Void
Blue Fire
In Other Waters
At Eve's Wake
Cosmonautica
Hoplegs
Super Magbot
shapez
Tower of Time
Retrowave
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
Battlewake
The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Fan Edition
Pizza Connection 3
Sprint Vector
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Tyranny - Deluxe Edition
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor
Railway Empire
Midnight Protocol
Tales of the Tiny Planet
Emily is Away <3
The Doctor Who Cloned Me
The Lovable Rogues Pack
Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD
Lust from Beyond: M Edition
Rustler
Unexplored
Hard Reset Redux
Shing!
Neon Chrome
FRAMED Collection
EarthX
Paradise Lost
Duke Nukem Forever
Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack
Epic Chef
Out of Space
Syberia 3
Surviving Mars
Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
CivCity: Rome
Baby Dino Adventures
XCOM 2: Reinforcement Pack
Hero Defense
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass
TaniNani
West of Dead
Möbius Front '83
Calico
Tacoma
The Way
112 Operator
This War of Mine
Lust for Darkness
shapez - Puzzle DLC
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
F1 2018
Evoland Legendary Edition
Aviary Attorney
Treasure Temples
Journey For Elysium
Levelhead
Golf Gang
The Walking Dead Onslaught Deluxe Edition
BATTLETECH - Shadow Hawk Pack
State of Mind
Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King
Explosionade
Deadly Days
Fling to the Finish
GRIP: Combat Racing
Desolate
ibb & obb - Best Friends Forever Double Pack
XCOM 2: Resistance Warrior Pack
Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
Evan's Remains
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Effie
Paw Paw Paw
Iron Danger
The Amazing American Circus
GARAGE: Bad Trip
Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
AWAKE - Definitive Edition
Swag and Sorcery
Popup Dungeon
The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!
Between the Stars
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Amnesia Collection
Star Vikings Forever
Syberia 3 Deluxe Edition with An Automaton with a plan DLC
Moon Hunters
Treasure Hunter Simulator
Torchlight
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Fallout
GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
Layers of Fear (2016)
Cygon Customisation Pack
Corridor Z
Family Man
Yoku's Island Express
Guppy
WARSAW
Crying Suns
System Shock: Enhanced Edition
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
Railroad Tycoon 3
Vintek Customisation Pack
Terra Customisation Pack
Retimed
Divekick
X-COM: Complete Pack
1993 Space Machine
911 Operator
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
Chroma Squad
Click and Slay
Marooners
Guts and Glory
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Valhalla Hills
Jagged Alliance 2 - Wildfire
Blackguards
Broken Age
Roarr! Jurassic Edition
Hiveswap Friendsim
Beholder
Monaco
Soulblight
Telefrag VR
Ruins to Rumble
AI War: Fleet Command
Last Resort Island
Draw Slasher
Boreal Blade
Crash Drive 2
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
Drawful 2
Orbital Racer
Oh My Gore!
A New Beginning - Final Cut
Patrician IV: Steam Special Edition
GameGuru Classic
Slinger VR
TRAUMA
Earth 2160
GOG
Wanderlust Travel Stories
submitted by crypticcollaborator to SteamGameSwap [link] [comments]
1685652476 (Unix timestamp)
Steam
DEATH STRANDING
Praey for the Gods
Monster Hunter: World
Syberia - The World Before
Devil May Cry 5
Deep Rock Galactic
Orcs Must Die! 3
DOOM Eternal
Devil May Cry HD Collection
DEATHLOOP
Superliminal
Sable
GreedFall
River City Girls
Mafia: Definitive Edition
Baba Is You
Planet Zoo
Ion Fury
Ghostrunner
Gang Beasts
Wasteland 3
Besiege
Desperados III
Destroy All Humans!
Creaks
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous - Enhanced Edition
DUSK
HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™
SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom - Rehydrated
Ghost of a Tale
Sunset Overdrive
AMID EVIL
House Flipper
Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
The Last Campfire
Batora: Lost Haven
We Were Here Together
INMOST
Metro Exodus
Starbound
DARQ
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning
Necromunda: Hired Gun
Fallout 76
The Dungeon Of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet Of Chaos
Monster Sanctuary
Monument Valley
The Surge 2
Project Wingman
Dread Templar
Pumpkin Jack
Hedon Bloodrite
Monument Valley 2
Vagante
Second Extinction™
ECHO
The Long Dark
Surviving the Aftermath
Phoenix Point
The Falconeer
LIBERATED
Tribes of Midgard
Wingspan
Eldest Souls
Sonic Mania
Project Winter
DIRT 5
The Survivalists
Othercide
Carto
Intravenous
Heat Signature
The Henry Stickmin Collection
Descenders
ScourgeBringer
Miscreated
Monster Train
We Need To Go Deeper
Forgive Me Father
Shady Part of Me
UnMetal
DESYNC
Aragami
Timelie
Shortest Trip to Earth
People Playground
Black Book
Cube Escape Collection
Raji: An Ancient Epic
Sid Meier's Civilization VI
TOEM
Yes, Your Grace
Them's Fightin' Herds
Encased
Disciples: Liberation
Partisans 1941
Styx: Shards of Darkness
Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
Wizard of Legend
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun - Aiko's Choice
Borderlands 3: Super Deluxe Edition
- Borderlands 3
- Borderlands 3: Season Pass
- Borderlands 3: Toy Box Weapons Pack
- Borderlands 3: Gearbox Cosmetic Pack
- Borderlands 3: Moxxi's Heist of the Handsome Jackpot
- Borderlands 3: Retro Cosmetic Pack
- Borderlands 3: Neon Cosmetic Pack
- Borderlands 3: Guns, Love, and Tentacles
- Borderlands 3: Digital Deluxe Extras
- Borderlands 3: Butt Stallion Pack
- Borderlands 3: Booster Pack
Grow: Song of the Evertree
Drake Hollow
Street Fighter V
FTL: Faster Than Light
Hellbound
Maid of Sker
Blacksad
WRATH: Aeon of Ruin
Fobia - St. Dinfna Hotel
Secret Neighbor
DmC Devil May Cry
Chicken Police
The Darkside Detective
Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
Greak: Memories of Azur
BioShock: The Collection
- BioShock 2
- BioShock
- BioShock Infinite
- BioShock Infinite: Clash in the Clouds
- BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 1
- BioShock Infinite - Season Pass
- BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2
- BioShock 2: Minerva’s Den
- Bioshock Infinite: Columbia's Finest
- BioShock 2 Remastered
- BioShock Remastered
- Minerva's Den Remastered
- Bioshock 2 Pre-order
- BioShock Infinite - Upgrade Pack
- BioShock Infinite - Comstock's China Broom Shotgun
- BioShock Infinite - Comstock's Bird's Eye Sniper Rifle
- BioShock Infinite - Industrial Revolution Rewards Pack
- Bioshock Infinite - Industrial Revolution
- BioShock Infinite - OSX CE Upgrade Pack
- BioShock Infinite - OSX Industrial Revolution
- BioShock Infinite - OSX China Broom
- BioShock Infinite - OSX Birds Eye
- BioShock Infinite - OSX Season Pass
- Just Cause 4
- Just Cause 4: Digital Deluxe Content
- Just Cause 4: Golden Gear Pack
- Just Cause 4: Expansion Pass
- Just Cause™ 4: Deathstalker Scorpion Pack
- Just Cause 4: Renegade Pack
- Just Cause 4: Neon Racer Pack
- Just Cause 4: The Dragon
- Just Cause 4: Dare Devils of Destruction
- Just Cause 4: Los Demonios
- Just Cause 4: Toy Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Soaring Speed Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Adversary Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Danger Rising
- Just Cause 4: Sea Dogs Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4 : Shark & Bark Vehicle Pack
- Just Cause 4: Brawler Mech
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Duskers
Red Solstice 2: Survivors
Minoria
Roboquest
Sunless Sea
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER
Resident Evil Revelations
Call of the Sea
Blade Assault
I Am Fish
Nobodies
If Found
ATOM RPG Trudograd
PLANET ALPHA
Crown Trick
Raw Data
Pathway
SUPERHOT
Hammerting
OlliOlli World Rad Edition
- OlliOlli World
- OlliOlli World "Close Encounter Skate Deck"
- OlliOlli World Expansion Pass
- OlliOlli World: VOID Riders
- OlliOlli World: Finding the Flowzone
Hokko Life
Save Room - Organization Puzzle
In Sound Mind
Paradise Killer
Police Stories
HITMAN: Game of the Year Edition
- HITMAN
- HITMAN: Episode 2 - Sapienza
- HITMAN: Episode 3 - Marrakesh
- HITMAN: Episode 4 - Bangkok
- HITMAN: Episode 5 - Colorado
- HITMAN: Episode 6 - Hokkaido
- HITMAN - Bonus Episode
- HITMAN: Episode 1 - Paris
- HITMAN - GOTY Suit Pack
- HITMAN - Bonus Campaign Patient Zero
- HITMAN - GOTY Clown Suit
- HITMAN - GOTY Raven Suit
- HITMAN - GOTY Cowboy Suit
Killsquad
Astronarch
The Serpent Rogue
XCOM: ULTIMATE COLLECTION
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- XCOM: Enemy Within
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown Elite Soldier Pack
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown: Slingshot DLC
- XCOM 2
- XCOM 2: Reinforcement Pack
- XCOM 2: Resistance Warrior Pack
- XCOM 2: Anarchy's Children
- XCOM 2: Alien Hunters
- XCOM 2: Shen's Last Gift
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
- X-Com: Enemy Unknown Pre-Purchase
- Elite Soldier Pack
- XCOM 2 Development Tools
- XCOM 2 War of the Chosen Development Tools
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen - Tactical Legacy Pack
- XCOM: Chimera Squad
- XCOM: Chimera Squad Development Tools
Torchlight II
Due Process
Suzerain
Necronator: Dead Wrong
Before We Leave
Not Tonight
First Class Trouble
Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun
Shu
Everhood
Rebel Cops
Railroad Corporation
Bee Simulator
Hob
Tools Up!
Mind Scanners
Lacuna
CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
Beyond The Wire
Sundered: Eldritch Edition
John Wick Hex
PGA TOUR 2K21
Lumini
Nebuchadnezzar
Mad Experiments: Escape Room
Backbone
RAD
Orcs Must Die! 2
Voidigo
As Far As The Eye
Pawnbarian
Truberbrook
Black Future '88
Supraland
Ittle Dew
Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition Pirates of the Sword Coast
Five Dates
Undead Horde
X Rebirth
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Conan Chop Chop
ELDERBORN
Farmer's Dynasty
Nowhere Prophet
Boundless
Orcs Must Die 2 - Complete Pack
- Orcs Must Die! 2
- Orcs Must Die! 2 - Are We There Yeti?
- Orcs Must Die! 2 - Family Ties Booster Pack
- Orcs Must Die! 2 - Fire and Water Booster Pack
TOHU
Nex Machina
Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
SUPERHOT: MIND CONTROL DELETE
AI War 2
8Doors: Arum's Afterlife Adventure
Embr
Tooth and Tail
Hello Neighbor: Hide and Seek
Jurassic World Evolution - Deluxe DLC
Electronauts
Ring of Pain
Post Void
Blue Fire
In Other Waters
At Eve's Wake
Cosmonautica
Hoplegs
Super Magbot
shapez
Tower of Time
Retrowave
ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
Battlewake
The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden - Fan Edition
Pizza Connection 3
Sprint Vector
Lawn Mowing Simulator
Tyranny - Deluxe Edition
- Tyranny
- Tyranny - Overlord Edition Upgrade Pack
- Tyranny - Official Soundtrack Deluxe Edition
- Tyranny - Ringtones
- Tyranny - Wallpapers
- Tyranny - Digital Collector's Guide Book
- Tyranny - Original Soundtrack
- Tyranny - Digital Art Book
- Tyranny - Digital Short Story Collection
- Tyranny - Faction Banners
- Tyranny - Digital Game Map
- paradox dummy app sub/133812
Nimbatus - The Space Drone Constructor
Railway Empire
Midnight Protocol
Tales of the Tiny Planet
Emily is Away <3
The Doctor Who Cloned Me
The Lovable Rogues Pack
Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! HD
Lust from Beyond: M Edition
Rustler
Unexplored
Hard Reset Redux
Shing!
Neon Chrome
FRAMED Collection
EarthX
Paradise Lost
Duke Nukem Forever
Duke Nukem Forever: Hail to the Icons Parody Pack
Epic Chef
Out of Space
Syberia 3
Surviving Mars
Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
CivCity: Rome
Baby Dino Adventures
XCOM 2: Reinforcement Pack
Hero Defense
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS - Ultimate Brawlers Pass
TaniNani
West of Dead
Möbius Front '83
Calico
Tacoma
The Way
112 Operator
This War of Mine
Lust for Darkness
shapez - Puzzle DLC
WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
F1 2018
Evoland Legendary Edition
Aviary Attorney
Treasure Temples
Journey For Elysium
Levelhead
Golf Gang
The Walking Dead Onslaught Deluxe Edition
- The Walking Dead Onslaught
- The Walking Dead Onslaught - OST
- The Walking Dead Onslaught - Art Book
- The Walking Dead Onslaught - Deluxe Bonuses
BATTLETECH - Shadow Hawk Pack
State of Mind
Rayon Riddles - Rise of the Goblin King
Explosionade
Deadly Days
Fling to the Finish
GRIP: Combat Racing
Desolate
ibb & obb - Best Friends Forever Double Pack
- ibb & obb
XCOM 2: Resistance Warrior Pack
Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
Evan's Remains
Swords and Soldiers 2 Shawarmageddon
Effie
Paw Paw Paw
Iron Danger
The Amazing American Circus
GARAGE: Bad Trip
Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
AWAKE - Definitive Edition
Swag and Sorcery
Popup Dungeon
The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!
Between the Stars
Battlestar Galactica Deadlock
Amnesia Collection
- Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
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Star Vikings Forever
Syberia 3 Deluxe Edition with An Automaton with a plan DLC
- Syberia 3
- Syberia 3 - Deluxe Upgrade
- Syberia 3 - An Automaton with a plan
Moon Hunters
Treasure Hunter Simulator
Torchlight
Go Home Dinosaurs!
Fallout
GemCraft - Chasing Shadows
Layers of Fear (2016)
Cygon Customisation Pack
Corridor Z
Family Man
Yoku's Island Express
Guppy
WARSAW
Crying Suns
System Shock: Enhanced Edition
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
Railroad Tycoon 3
Vintek Customisation Pack
Terra Customisation Pack
Retimed
Divekick
X-COM: Complete Pack
- X-COM: UFO Defense
- X-COM: Apocalypse
- X-COM: Enforcer
- X-COM: Interceptor
- X-COM: Terror from the Deep
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Here Be Dragons
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Digital Art Book
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Soundtrack
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - Epic Mount
- Knights of Pen and Paper 2 - DDE Location
- paradox dummy app sub/99331
1993 Space Machine
911 Operator
Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack
- X-Morph: Defense
- X-Morph: Defense - Soundtrack
- X-Morph: Defense - European Assault
- X-Morph: Defense - Survival Of The Fittest
- X-Morph: Defense - Last Bastion
Chroma Squad
Click and Slay
Marooners
Guts and Glory
Driftland: The Magic Revival
Valhalla Hills
Jagged Alliance 2 - Wildfire
Blackguards
Broken Age
Roarr! Jurassic Edition
Hiveswap Friendsim
Beholder
Monaco
Soulblight
Telefrag VR
Ruins to Rumble
AI War: Fleet Command
Last Resort Island
Draw Slasher
Boreal Blade
Crash Drive 2
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
Drawful 2
Orbital Racer
Oh My Gore!
A New Beginning - Final Cut
Patrician IV: Steam Special Edition
GameGuru Classic
Slinger VR
TRAUMA
Earth 2160
GOG
Wanderlust Travel Stories
2023.06.01 22:50 ZucchiniAcrobatic556 Back on track
I quit weed altogether after New Years Eve. In mid April I picked it up again. Said I’d keep it to weekends. That doesn’t happen. Quitting again today 🤞🏻
submitted by ZucchiniAcrobatic556 to leaves [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 22:41 IceQueenWeiss Selling epic games account + coupon 25% expire june 15
6/1/2023 Fall Guys - Blorbius the Despiser
6/1/2023 Midnight Ghost Hunt
5/26/2023 Coldest Circles Quest Pack
5/19/2023 DEATH STRANDING
5/13/2023 The Sims™ 4 The Daring Lifestyle Bundle
5/5/2023 Kao the Kangaroo
5/5/2023 Against All Odds
4/27/2023 Poker Club
4/27/2023 Breathedge
3/10/2023 Epic Cheerleader Pack
3/10/2023 Rumbleverse™
12/29/2022 Mortal Shell
12/22/2022 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
12/22/2022 Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
12/22/2022 Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
12/15/2022 Bloons TD 6
12/15/2022 Fall Guys - Snowberry
11/24/2022 Evil Dead: The Game
11/24/2022 Dark Deity
11/24/2022 Epic Cheerleader Pack
10/28/2022 Saturnalia
10/28/2022 Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus - Standard Edition
10/27/2022 Evoland Legendary Edition
10/27/2022 Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
9/24/2022 Gloomhaven
9/2/2022 Destiny 2
9/2/2022 Submerged: Hidden Depths
9/2/2022 Knockout City™
8/16/2022 Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
8/16/2022 MultiVersus
8/16/2022 Rumbleverse™
6/30/2022 Iratus: Lord of the DeadIratus: Lord of the Dead
6/30/2022 Hood: Outlaws & LegendsIratus: Lord of the Dead
6/30/2022 Geneforge 1 - Mutagen
6/23/2022 Roller Champions™
6/23/2022 Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
6/21/2022 Fall Guys
6/16/2022 Supraland
6/9/2022 Maneater
6/3/2022 Wolfenstein: The New Order
5/28/2022 BioShock: The Collection
5/21/2022 Borderlands 3
5/13/2022 Redout: Enhanced Edition
5/11/2022 Terraforming Mars
3/24/2022 EVE Online - Superluminal Pack
3/17/2022 In Sound Mind
3/3/2022 Centipede: Recharged
3/3/2022 Epic Slayer Kit
3/3/2022 Black Widow: Recharged
2/25/2022 Cris Tales
2/17/2022 Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
2/11/2022 Windbound
1/28/2022 DAEMON X MACHINA
1/23/2022 Relicta
1/8/2022 Gods Will Fall
12/30/2021 Tomb Raider GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION
12/30/2021 Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
12/30/2021 Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration
12/29/2021 Salt and Sanctuary
12/25/2021 Prey
12/25/2021 Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
12/23/2021 Vampyr
12/21/2021 Second Extinction™
12/21/2021 Loop Hero
12/19/2021 The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
12/17/2021 Neon Abyss
12/16/2021 Shenmue III - Standard Edition
12/9/2021 Godfall Challenger Edition
12/9/2021 Prison Architect
12/2/2021 Dead by Daylight
12/2/2021 while True: learn()
11/18/2021 Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
11/18/2021 Guild of Dungeoneering
11/18/2021 KID A MNESIA EXHIBITION
11/13/2021 Rogue Company
11/13/2021 Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-shot Adventure
11/4/2021 Aven Colony
10/22/2021 Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition
10/15/2021 Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse
10/15/2021 Paladins Epic Pack
10/7/2021 PC Building Simulator
9/30/2021 Europa Universalis IV
9/28/2021 2064: Read Only Memories
9/24/2021 Santa's Sweatshop
9/16/2021 Tharsis
9/16/2021 Speed Brawl
9/9/2021 Sheltered
9/9/2021 Nioh: The Complete Edition
9/3/2021 Yoku's Island Express
8/26/2021 Automachef
8/25/2021 Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered
8/19/2021 Yooka-Laylee
8/19/2021 Void Bastards
8/12/2021 Rebel Galaxy
8/6/2021 Core
8/6/2021 A Plague Tale: Innocence
7/30/2021 Mothergunship
7/30/2021 Train Sim World 2
7/15/2021 Offworld Trading Company
7/15/2021 Obduction
7/8/2021 Ironcast
7/8/2021 Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead
7/1/2021 The Spectrum Retreat
6/24/2021 Sonic Mania
6/24/2021 Horizon Chase Turbo
6/17/2021 Hell is other demons
6/17/2021 Overcooked! 2
6/10/2021 Control
6/3/2021 Frostpunk
5/27/2021 Among Us
5/20/2021 NBA 2K21
5/14/2021 The Lion's Song
5/7/2021 Pine
4/30/2021 Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
4/23/2021 Alien: Isolation
4/22/2021 Hand of Fate 2
4/15/2021 Deponia: The Complete Journey
4/15/2021 Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
4/15/2021 The First Tree
4/9/2021 3 out of 10: Season Two
4/1/2021 Tales of the Neon Sea
3/31/2021 HITMAN 3 Access Pass: HITMAN 1 GOTY Edition
3/30/2021 HITMAN 3 - Free Starter Pack
3/25/2021 Creature in the Well
3/23/2021 Magic: Legends
3/18/2021 The Fall
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - The Millionth Mile
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - Norse Dragons
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - Second Korean War
3/6/2021 Wargame: Red Dragon - Russian Roulette [10v10 ...
3/4/2021 Wargame: Red Dragon
2/28/2021 PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2
2/25/2021 Sunless Sea
2/18/2021 Absolute Drift
2/18/2021 Rage 2
2/11/2021 Halcyon 6
2/4/2021 Metro: Last Light Redux
1/28/2021 Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition
1/21/2021 Galactic Civilizations III
1/14/2021 STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II: Celebration Edition...
1/7/2021 Crying Suns
12/31/2020 Jurassic World Evolution
12/29/2020 Solitairica
12/28/2020 Stranded Deep
12/27/2020 Night in the Woods
12/26/2020 My Time at Portia
12/25/2020 Darkest Dungeon®: The Musketeer
12/25/2020 Darkest Dungeon®
12/23/2020 Tropico 5
12/21/2020 Alien: Isolation
12/20/2020 Defense Grid: The Awakening
12/19/2020 The Long Dark
12/18/2020 Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Carols, Candles and Candy
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Pearls From the East
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Match Day
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines
12/10/2020 Pillars of Eternity - Definitive Edition
12/10/2020 Tyranny - Gold Edition
12/3/2020 CRSED: F.O.A.D.
12/3/2020 Cave Story+
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Old Timers DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Valley DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Ridge DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner
11/19/2020 The World Next Door
11/19/2020 Elite Dangerous
11/13/2020 Neverwinter
11/13/2020 The Textorcist
11/5/2020 Dungeons 3
10/29/2020 Blair Witch
10/29/2020 Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
10/22/2020 Layers of Fear 2
10/22/2020 Costume Quest 2
10/15/2020 Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
10/15/2020 Kingdom New Lands
10/8/2020 ABZU
10/8/2020 Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
10/1/2020 Pikuniku
9/29/2020 Heroes & Generals WWII
9/24/2020 RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3: Complete Edition
9/23/2020 Rocket League®
9/17/2020 Football Manager 2020
9/17/2020 Watch Dogs 2
9/17/2020 Stick It To The Man!
9/10/2020 Railway Empire
9/10/2020 Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
9/7/2020 Spellbreak
9/3/2020 3 out of 10, EP 5: "The Rig Is Up!"
9/3/2020 Into The Breach
9/3/2020 Diabotical
9/1/2020 Commander Lilith DLC
8/27/2020 3 out of 10, EP 4: "Thank You For Being An Ass...
8/27/2020 Shadowrun Collection
8/27/2020 HITMAN
8/22/2020 3 out of 10 Episode 3: Pivot Like A Champion
8/20/2020 God's Trigger
8/20/2020 Enter The Gungeon
8/13/2020 The Alto Collection
8/13/2020 Remnant: From the Ashes
8/13/2020 Might & Magic: Chess Royale
8/13/2020 3 Out of 10 Episode 2 Foundation 101
8/13/2020 A Total War Saga: TROY
8/6/2020 3 Out of 10 Ep 1 Welcome to Shovelworks
8/6/2020 Wilmot's Warehouse
7/31/2020 Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
7/31/2020 Barony
7/31/2020 20XX
7/23/2020 Next Up Hero
7/23/2020 Tacoma
7/16/2020 Torchlight II
7/10/2020 Delores: A Thimbleweed Park mini-adventure
7/10/2020 The Escapists 2
7/10/2020 Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition
7/10/2020 Killing Floor 2
7/3/2020 Trackmania
7/3/2020 Hue
6/25/2020 AER Memories of Old
6/25/2020 Stranger Things 3: The Game
6/18/2020 Pathway
6/11/2020 ARK Valguero
6/11/2020 ARK Crystal Isles
6/11/2020 ARK The Center
6/11/2020 ARK Editor
6/11/2020 ARK Ragnarok
6/11/2020 ARK: Survival Evolved
6/11/2020 SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION
5/28/2020 Sludge Life
5/28/2020 Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
5/21/2020 Sid Meier's Civilization VI
5/14/2020 Grand Theft Auto V
5/2/2020 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
5/2/2020 Crashlands
4/23/2020 For The King
4/17/2020 Wheels of Aurelia
4/17/2020 Just Cause 4
4/15/2020 Paladins
4/15/2020 Sherlock Holmes Crimes and Punishments
4/15/2020 Close to the Sun
4/4/2020 Gone Home
4/4/2020 Drawful 2
4/4/2020 Hob
3/26/2020 Tormentor X Punisher
3/26/2020 Figment
3/26/2020 World War Z
3/20/2020 Watch Dogs Standard Edition
3/20/2020 The Stanley Parable
3/2/2020 InnerSpace
2/21/2020 Magic: The Gathering Arena
2/21/2020 Assassins Creed Syndicate Standard Edition
2/21/2020 Faeria
2/14/2020 Aztez
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - English
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - German
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - French
2/14/2020 HD Sound Pack
2/14/2020 HD Texture Pack
2/14/2020 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
2/6/2020 Ticket to Ride
2/6/2020 Carcassonne
1/30/2020 Farming Simulator 19
1/23/2020 The Bridge
1/16/2020 Horace
1/10/2020 Sundered Eldritch Edition
1/1/2020 Darksiders Warmastered Edition
1/1/2020 Steep
1/1/2020 Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
1/1/2020 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
12/30/2019 Hello Neighbor
12/29/2019 The Talos Principle
12/26/2019 Faster Than Light
12/23/2019 Ape Out
12/13/2019 The Wolf Among Us
12/13/2019 The Escapists
12/5/2019 Jotun Valhalla Edition
11/29/2019 Rayman Legends
11/21/2019 Bad North Jotunn Edition
11/15/2019 The Messenger
11/7/2019 Nuclear Throne
11/7/2019 RUINER
10/31/2019 SOMA
10/24/2019 Layers of Fear
10/24/2019 Q.U.B.E. 2
10/17/2019 >observer_
10/17/2019 Alan Wake's American Nightmare
10/10/2019 Surviving Mars - Mysteries Resupply Pack
10/10/2019 Surviving Mars - Space Race
10/10/2019 Surviving Mars
10/4/2019 Minit
9/26/2019 Metro: 2033 Redux
9/26/2019 Everything
9/19/2019 Lego Batman Trilogy
9/19/2019 Batman Arkham - Trilogy
9/18/2019 Conarium
8/29/2019 Inside
8/29/2019 Celeste
8/23/2019 Fez
8/21/2019 The Cycle Early Access
8/15/2019 Mutant Year Zero
8/15/2019 Hyper Light Drifter
8/8/2019 GNOG
8/3/2019 Alan Wake
8/3/2019 For Honor Standard Edition
7/25/2019 This War of Mine
7/25/2019 Moonlighter
7/18/2019 Limbo
7/11/2019 Torchlight
7/4/2019 Overcooked
7/3/2019 Dauntless
7/3/2019 Last Day of June
submitted by IceQueenWeiss to GamingMarket [link] [comments]
6/1/2023 Midnight Ghost Hunt
5/26/2023 Coldest Circles Quest Pack
5/19/2023 DEATH STRANDING
5/13/2023 The Sims™ 4 The Daring Lifestyle Bundle
5/5/2023 Kao the Kangaroo
5/5/2023 Against All Odds
4/27/2023 Poker Club
4/27/2023 Breathedge
3/10/2023 Epic Cheerleader Pack
3/10/2023 Rumbleverse™
12/29/2022 Mortal Shell
12/22/2022 Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel
12/22/2022 Fallout 2: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
12/22/2022 Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
12/15/2022 Bloons TD 6
12/15/2022 Fall Guys - Snowberry
11/24/2022 Evil Dead: The Game
11/24/2022 Dark Deity
11/24/2022 Epic Cheerleader Pack
10/28/2022 Saturnalia
10/28/2022 Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus - Standard Edition
10/27/2022 Evoland Legendary Edition
10/27/2022 Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
9/24/2022 Gloomhaven
9/2/2022 Destiny 2
9/2/2022 Submerged: Hidden Depths
9/2/2022 Knockout City™
8/16/2022 Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
8/16/2022 MultiVersus
8/16/2022 Rumbleverse™
6/30/2022 Iratus: Lord of the DeadIratus: Lord of the Dead
6/30/2022 Hood: Outlaws & LegendsIratus: Lord of the Dead
6/30/2022 Geneforge 1 - Mutagen
6/23/2022 Roller Champions™
6/23/2022 Car Mechanic Simulator 2018
6/21/2022 Fall Guys
6/16/2022 Supraland
6/9/2022 Maneater
6/3/2022 Wolfenstein: The New Order
5/28/2022 BioShock: The Collection
5/21/2022 Borderlands 3
5/13/2022 Redout: Enhanced Edition
5/11/2022 Terraforming Mars
3/24/2022 EVE Online - Superluminal Pack
3/17/2022 In Sound Mind
3/3/2022 Centipede: Recharged
3/3/2022 Epic Slayer Kit
3/3/2022 Black Widow: Recharged
2/25/2022 Cris Tales
2/17/2022 Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
2/11/2022 Windbound
1/28/2022 DAEMON X MACHINA
1/23/2022 Relicta
1/8/2022 Gods Will Fall
12/30/2021 Tomb Raider GAME OF THE YEAR EDITION
12/30/2021 Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
12/30/2021 Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration
12/29/2021 Salt and Sanctuary
12/25/2021 Prey
12/25/2021 Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Enhanced Plus Edition
12/23/2021 Vampyr
12/21/2021 Second Extinction™
12/21/2021 Loop Hero
12/19/2021 The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
12/17/2021 Neon Abyss
12/16/2021 Shenmue III - Standard Edition
12/9/2021 Godfall Challenger Edition
12/9/2021 Prison Architect
12/2/2021 Dead by Daylight
12/2/2021 while True: learn()
11/18/2021 Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
11/18/2021 Guild of Dungeoneering
11/18/2021 KID A MNESIA EXHIBITION
11/13/2021 Rogue Company
11/13/2021 Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep: A Wonderlands One-shot Adventure
11/4/2021 Aven Colony
10/22/2021 Among the Sleep - Enhanced Edition
10/15/2021 Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse
10/15/2021 Paladins Epic Pack
10/7/2021 PC Building Simulator
9/30/2021 Europa Universalis IV
9/28/2021 2064: Read Only Memories
9/24/2021 Santa's Sweatshop
9/16/2021 Tharsis
9/16/2021 Speed Brawl
9/9/2021 Sheltered
9/9/2021 Nioh: The Complete Edition
9/3/2021 Yoku's Island Express
8/26/2021 Automachef
8/25/2021 Saints Row®: The Third™ Remastered
8/19/2021 Yooka-Laylee
8/19/2021 Void Bastards
8/12/2021 Rebel Galaxy
8/6/2021 Core
8/6/2021 A Plague Tale: Innocence
7/30/2021 Mothergunship
7/30/2021 Train Sim World 2
7/15/2021 Offworld Trading Company
7/15/2021 Obduction
7/8/2021 Ironcast
7/8/2021 Bridge Constructor The Walking Dead
7/1/2021 The Spectrum Retreat
6/24/2021 Sonic Mania
6/24/2021 Horizon Chase Turbo
6/17/2021 Hell is other demons
6/17/2021 Overcooked! 2
6/10/2021 Control
6/3/2021 Frostpunk
5/27/2021 Among Us
5/20/2021 NBA 2K21
5/14/2021 The Lion's Song
5/7/2021 Pine
4/30/2021 Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
4/23/2021 Alien: Isolation
4/22/2021 Hand of Fate 2
4/15/2021 Deponia: The Complete Journey
4/15/2021 Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth
4/15/2021 The First Tree
4/9/2021 3 out of 10: Season Two
4/1/2021 Tales of the Neon Sea
3/31/2021 HITMAN 3 Access Pass: HITMAN 1 GOTY Edition
3/30/2021 HITMAN 3 - Free Starter Pack
3/25/2021 Creature in the Well
3/23/2021 Magic: Legends
3/18/2021 The Fall
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - The Millionth Mile
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - Norse Dragons
3/6/2021 Wargame Red Dragon - Second Korean War
3/6/2021 Wargame: Red Dragon - Russian Roulette [10v10 ...
3/4/2021 Wargame: Red Dragon
2/28/2021 PHANTASY STAR ONLINE 2
2/25/2021 Sunless Sea
2/18/2021 Absolute Drift
2/18/2021 Rage 2
2/11/2021 Halcyon 6
2/4/2021 Metro: Last Light Redux
1/28/2021 Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition
1/21/2021 Galactic Civilizations III
1/14/2021 STAR WARS™ Battlefront™ II: Celebration Edition...
1/7/2021 Crying Suns
12/31/2020 Jurassic World Evolution
12/29/2020 Solitairica
12/28/2020 Stranded Deep
12/27/2020 Night in the Woods
12/26/2020 My Time at Portia
12/25/2020 Darkest Dungeon®: The Musketeer
12/25/2020 Darkest Dungeon®
12/23/2020 Tropico 5
12/21/2020 Alien: Isolation
12/20/2020 Defense Grid: The Awakening
12/19/2020 The Long Dark
12/18/2020 Oddworld: New 'n' Tasty
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Carols, Candles and Candy
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Pearls From the East
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines - Match Day
12/17/2020 Cities: Skylines
12/10/2020 Pillars of Eternity - Definitive Edition
12/10/2020 Tyranny - Gold Edition
12/3/2020 CRSED: F.O.A.D.
12/3/2020 Cave Story+
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Old Timers DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Valley DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner - Ridge DLC
11/26/2020 MudRunner
11/19/2020 The World Next Door
11/19/2020 Elite Dangerous
11/13/2020 Neverwinter
11/13/2020 The Textorcist
11/5/2020 Dungeons 3
10/29/2020 Blair Witch
10/29/2020 Ghostbusters: The Video Game Remastered
10/22/2020 Layers of Fear 2
10/22/2020 Costume Quest 2
10/15/2020 Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs
10/15/2020 Kingdom New Lands
10/8/2020 ABZU
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10/1/2020 Pikuniku
9/29/2020 Heroes & Generals WWII
9/24/2020 RollerCoaster Tycoon® 3: Complete Edition
9/23/2020 Rocket League®
9/17/2020 Football Manager 2020
9/17/2020 Watch Dogs 2
9/17/2020 Stick It To The Man!
9/10/2020 Railway Empire
9/10/2020 Where The Water Tastes Like Wine
9/7/2020 Spellbreak
9/3/2020 3 out of 10, EP 5: "The Rig Is Up!"
9/3/2020 Into The Breach
9/3/2020 Diabotical
9/1/2020 Commander Lilith DLC
8/27/2020 3 out of 10, EP 4: "Thank You For Being An Ass...
8/27/2020 Shadowrun Collection
8/27/2020 HITMAN
8/22/2020 3 out of 10 Episode 3: Pivot Like A Champion
8/20/2020 God's Trigger
8/20/2020 Enter The Gungeon
8/13/2020 The Alto Collection
8/13/2020 Remnant: From the Ashes
8/13/2020 Might & Magic: Chess Royale
8/13/2020 3 Out of 10 Episode 2 Foundation 101
8/13/2020 A Total War Saga: TROY
8/6/2020 3 Out of 10 Ep 1 Welcome to Shovelworks
8/6/2020 Wilmot's Warehouse
7/31/2020 Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
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7/31/2020 20XX
7/23/2020 Next Up Hero
7/23/2020 Tacoma
7/16/2020 Torchlight II
7/10/2020 Delores: A Thimbleweed Park mini-adventure
7/10/2020 The Escapists 2
7/10/2020 Lifeless Planet: Premier Edition
7/10/2020 Killing Floor 2
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6/25/2020 AER Memories of Old
6/25/2020 Stranger Things 3: The Game
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6/11/2020 ARK Valguero
6/11/2020 ARK Crystal Isles
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6/11/2020 ARK Editor
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6/11/2020 ARK: Survival Evolved
6/11/2020 SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO COLLECTION
5/28/2020 Sludge Life
5/28/2020 Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
5/21/2020 Sid Meier's Civilization VI
5/14/2020 Grand Theft Auto V
5/2/2020 Amnesia: The Dark Descent
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4/23/2020 For The King
4/17/2020 Wheels of Aurelia
4/17/2020 Just Cause 4
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4/4/2020 Drawful 2
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3/26/2020 Tormentor X Punisher
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3/26/2020 World War Z
3/20/2020 Watch Dogs Standard Edition
3/20/2020 The Stanley Parable
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2/21/2020 Magic: The Gathering Arena
2/21/2020 Assassins Creed Syndicate Standard Edition
2/21/2020 Faeria
2/14/2020 Aztez
2/14/2020 HD Voice Pack - English
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1/1/2020 Darksiders II Deathinitive Edition
1/1/2020 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
12/30/2019 Hello Neighbor
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11/29/2019 Rayman Legends
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11/7/2019 RUINER
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10/10/2019 Surviving Mars - Mysteries Resupply Pack
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10/10/2019 Surviving Mars
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9/26/2019 Metro: 2033 Redux
9/26/2019 Everything
9/19/2019 Lego Batman Trilogy
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7/3/2019 Dauntless
7/3/2019 Last Day of June
2023.06.01 21:46 Relevant_Figure4308 What's the most memorable New Year's Eve celebration you've ever had?
If you could live in any fictional world, which one would you choose?
submitted by Relevant_Figure4308 to u/Relevant_Figure4308 [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 20:55 Travel-Her2523 One goal : recording quality.
Hi everyone,
I spent the last ten years with barely working phones, except in 2021 when I indulged in a Redmi Note 10 Pro, which was certainly great but did not survive 2023's New Year's Eve. I have since then been navigating this planet with a Redmi 10A, and I wouldn't recommend the experience.
From the first day, it's been crashing, the sound is horrible, I can't even call most of the time and photos, videos ? Lmao, no.
Considering that I've been doing projects in video editing and such for years, I will now invest in a better phone. I'm thinking and about to buy the Pixel 7 Pro, is it worth it in terms of photography, video ? I am NOT rich, so I want the best thing under 1000 dollars, and that is already a huge sacrifice.
It's also note-worthy that in my line of future studies then work, I'm going to be using this phone a lot, for calling, social networks, etc. I would like it to, well, also be a phone.
Thank you for reading, and eventually responding,
May technology be helpful and not painful !
submitted by Travel-Her2523 to PickAnAndroidForMe [link] [comments]
I spent the last ten years with barely working phones, except in 2021 when I indulged in a Redmi Note 10 Pro, which was certainly great but did not survive 2023's New Year's Eve. I have since then been navigating this planet with a Redmi 10A, and I wouldn't recommend the experience.
From the first day, it's been crashing, the sound is horrible, I can't even call most of the time and photos, videos ? Lmao, no.
Considering that I've been doing projects in video editing and such for years, I will now invest in a better phone. I'm thinking and about to buy the Pixel 7 Pro, is it worth it in terms of photography, video ? I am NOT rich, so I want the best thing under 1000 dollars, and that is already a huge sacrifice.
It's also note-worthy that in my line of future studies then work, I'm going to be using this phone a lot, for calling, social networks, etc. I would like it to, well, also be a phone.
Thank you for reading, and eventually responding,
May technology be helpful and not painful !
2023.06.01 20:37 draylon48 Allied Chemical Tower
 | Hi all. This was found in my mother's house after she died and I'm trying to find out if it has any value. I think it's from 1958 judging by the marks on the bottom and it shows the Allied Chemical Tower in Times Square New York which is now 1 Times Square where the ball drops on New Year's Eve. What do you all think? submitted by draylon48 to Zippo [link] [comments] |
2023.06.01 18:38 Accomplished_Roll667 Need advice> selecting resort for 6 night Turks and Caicos stay with elderly mother
I am planning to travel with my 78 year old mother to Turks and Caicos on 12/4 for 6 nights.
Mom is not wheelchair bound but has limited mobility (slow, uses push walker and gets tired). We are looking for a resort where we can enjoy the pool, ocean views with good restaurants. We are normally not big spenders but want a splurge trip where everything is perfect for mom. I am also considering upgrading to an ocean front room.
Booking via Costco and narrowed down the list of resorts to the following:
-Seven Stars Resort
-Windsong Resort
-Ritz Carlton
-The Shore Club
The Palms Turks and Caicos
Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
submitted by Accomplished_Roll667 to TurksAndCaicos [link] [comments]
Mom is not wheelchair bound but has limited mobility (slow, uses push walker and gets tired). We are looking for a resort where we can enjoy the pool, ocean views with good restaurants. We are normally not big spenders but want a splurge trip where everything is perfect for mom. I am also considering upgrading to an ocean front room.
Booking via Costco and narrowed down the list of resorts to the following:
-Seven Stars Resort
-Windsong Resort
-Ritz Carlton
-The Shore Club
The Palms Turks and Caicos
Any advice or recommendations would be appreciated.
2023.06.01 17:41 ashalacotaco I've never really talked to anyone about this and need to get it out
This might be all over the place cause ive never tried to put it into words. I was with this girl that I thought was just going to be a friend and thought she felt the same way, one day she texted me saying she wanted to have sex and I said I didn't want that, (virgin and 19 at the time) and told her I wasn't ready for it with anyone and she seemed to be understanding of it, until about 2 weeks later on new years eve (2022) we were hanging out at her place and she wanted me to try smoking weed, I said yes and shouldn't have, it made me feel like I wasn't able to move my body at all and started to fall asleep, I woke up still high tied to the bedframe with her on top of me having sex with me, I immediately told her no I didn't want that and to get off but she didn't, once she was done I put my clothes on and left. I don't know what to think of this, I know it was rape but it feels wrong to say and I've always been told that it's completely different when you're a man vs a woman. I cut contact with her after it all happened and tried to forget about it, it just feels really hard to and don't know what to do about it, I just really needed to get this out.
submitted by ashalacotaco to MenGetRapedToo [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 17:31 ForteSP33 [USA] [H] DS Games, 3DS Games, Switch, Pokemon, Ps1, Horror, jRPGs, Dragon Quest, Playstation Longboxes, XBOX 360 High End Sports, NES, SNES, CIB Mike Tyson Punch Out, CIB Ocarina of time, Graded Games, Factory sealed games, other titles, systems too! [W] Paypal, Zelle, Venmo, Cashapp
PLEASE NOTE ALL PRICING DOES NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING. I WILL CHARGE SHIPPING EXACTLY BASED ON ZIP / LOCATION. Typically shipping for a game will range between $3-5.
NES Games
submitted by ForteSP33 to GameSale [link] [comments]
NES Games
- CIB Mike Tyson Punch Out - $200
- Boxed Mike Tyson's Punch Out $170
- Fire N Ice - $200
- Castlevania with Manual - $55
- Mike Tyson's Punch Out - $41
- MC Kids with Manual - $40
- Boxed Tetris 2 - $22
- Bubble Bobble - $20
- 1943 - $20
- Lolo - $16
- Puzznic - $14
- Mario Bros - $20
- Super Pitfall - $13
- Arkanoid - $25
- Thomas the Tank Engine - $15
- Star Fox - $16
- Tin Star - $14
- NHL 94 - $10
- Toy Story (bad label) - $10
- Speedy Gonzales - $10
- NEW Smash Ultimate Gamecube controllers (x4) - $45
- CIB Mario Kart Double Dash - $75
- Boxed Animal Crossing - $55
- Boxed Sonic Adventure 2 Battle - $50
- CIB mario Sunshine - $45
- CIB Sonic Adventure DX - $40
- Boxed Sonic Adventure DX - $35
- Boxed Rayman 3 - $30
- CIB SSX Tricky - $30
- Loose Metroid Prime - $25
- Loose Four Swords Adventure - $65
- Loose Zelda Collector's Edition - $50
- CIB Need for Speed Carbon - $25
- CIB Spyro Enter the Dragonfly - $25
- CIB Spyro Enter the dragonfly (players choice) - $25
- Star Fox Adventure For Display Only - $40
- CIB Time Splitters 2 - $30
- Boxed Spongebob Revenge of the Flying Dutchman - $20
- CIB Barnyard - $20
- Loose Super Monkey Ball 2 - $18
- Mario 64 Player's Choice with original Mario 64 Box and manual - $125
- CIB Lego Racers - $70
- Mario 64 - $40
- Mario Party - $40
- Pokemon Snap - $20
- Mario Golf - $30
- Mario Tennis - $25
- Mario Kart 64 - $45
- Jeopardy - $15
- Wave Race - $10
- CIB Metroid Prime Trilogy - $130
- CIB Wii Party - $50
- Boxed Skyward Sword - $25
- CIB Kirby's Return to Dream Land - $35
- Sleeved New Super Mario Bros wii - $25
- CIB Wii Play Motion - $20
- CIB Super Paper Mario - $20
- NEW Zamazenta & Zacian Switch Lite - $325
- NEW Smash Ultimate Special Edition - $250
- CIB Dragon Quest XI S Echos of an Elusive Age - $45
- Sealed Pokemon Diamond/Pearl Double Pack - $85
- Sealed Jump Force - $50
- CIB Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Anniversary Edition - $25
- CIB Sonic Colors Ultimate Launch Edition - $30
- CIB Pokemon Shield - $40
- CIB Link's Awakening - $40
- CIB Kirby Star Allies - $35
- CIB Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - $55
- Sealed Octopath Traveler 2 - $45
- Sealed Neo World Ends with You - $40
- CIB Pokemon Let's Go Pikachu - $40
- CIB Skullgirls - $40
- CIB Disgaea 5 Complete - $40
- CIB Mario Tennis Aces - $40
- Sealed Diablo 3 - $40
- CIB Zoids - $20
- CIB Helmut - $20
- CIB Shining Resonance Refrain - $30
- CIB Stardew Valley - $35
- CIB Ghostbusters Remastered - $20
- CIB Bravely Default II - $35
- Sealed Fortnite Minty Legends - $15
- Sealed Fortnite Anime Legends - $15
- Sealed Trollhunters - $15
- Sealed Ben 10 Power Trip - $ 15
- CIB Nickelodeon All-star Brawl - $20
- CIB Big Brain Academy - $15
- CIB Team Sonic Racing - $15
- CIB Sega Genesis Classics - $23
- CIB Puyo Puyo Tetris - $15
- CIB The Sisters - Party of the Year - $15
- CIB Just Dance 2017 - $25
- CIB Splatoon 2 - $20
- Hotel Transylvania loose - $10
- Gargoyle's Quest - $40
- Pokemon Blue (bad label) - $45
- Pokemon Gold (bad label) - $45
- Wario Land 3 - $30
- WATA 9.2 A++ Factory Sealed Golden Sun - $1500
- WATA 9.4 A+ Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga - $1250
- CIB Pokemon Sapphire - $250
- CIB Doom Advance - $150
- Final Fantasy VI Advance - $100
- Mario Pinball Land - $20
- Castlevania Double Pack - $90
- Castlevania Circle of Moon - $30
- Kirby Amazing Mirror - $50
- Pink DSi - $45
- Shaymin Pokemon Distribution Cartridge (EUR) - $900
- Darkrai Pokemon Distribution Cartridge (EUR) - $900
- Diddy Kong Racing Not for Resale - $20
- CIB Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky - $210
- CIB Pokemon White 2 - $220
- Sealed Assassin's Creed 2 Discovery - $35
- Sealed Shaun the Sheep - $50
- CIB Puffy Ami Yumi - $30
- CIB New Super Mario Bros - $20
- CIB Dragon Quest VIII - $120
- Sealed Gogo Kokopolo Double Pack - $120
- CIB Pokemon Ultra Sun - $50
- Sealed Pokemon Moon - $40
- CIB Pokemon X - $45
- CIB Pokemon Omega Ruby - $45
- CIB Pokemon Alpha Sapphire - $45
- Loose Pokemon Art Academy - $45
- Boxed Super Mystery Dungeon - $45
- CIB Monster High New Ghoul in School - $25
- CIB Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate - $22
- Boxed Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D - $25
- CIB Final Fantasy Explorers - $40
- CIB Hey! Pikmin - $40
- CIB Story of Seasons Trio of Towns - 50
- CIB Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley - $25
- CIB Harvest Moon Skytree Village - $25
- CIB Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate - $20
- CIB Monster Hunter Generations - $20
- Boxed Wings of Wor - $90
- Loose Truxton - $50
- Boxed Forgotten Worlds - $35
- Boxed Strider - $40
- Boxed Star Control - $30
- Boxed Raiden Trad - $65
- Boxed Raiden Trad (cart wouldn't read) - $45
- CIB Cool Spot - $20
- CIB X-Men - $25
- CIB Sonic Spinball - $20
- CIB 6-Pak - $25
- CIB Ms. Pac Man - $10
- loose Street Fighter 2 Special Champ Edition (destroyed manual) - $20
- Marvel vs Capcom clash of Super Heroes - $55
- Sonic Adventure - $35
- House of the dead 2 - $20
- Jet Grind Radio - $40
- Trick style - FREE IF YOU BUY 3 OTHER SEGA GAMES
- CiB Silent Hill Black label (gutted manual) - $160
- CIB Primal Rage Long Box - $60
- CIB Tekken Long Box - $60
- CIB Battle Arena Toshinden 2 Long Box - $40
- CIB Parasite EVE 2 - $110
- CIB Parappa the Rapper - $120
- CIB Mega Man Legends with damaged manual - $70
- CIB Resident Evil 3 Nemesis 2 Disc (damaged case) - $55
- CIB Alien Resurrection - $45
- CIB Metal Gear Solid - $50
- Boxed Metal Gear Solid - $40
- CIB Final Doom - $40
- CIB Ace Combat 2 - $35
- CIB Road Rash - $25
- CIB Chronicles of the Sword - $20
- CIB Krazy Ivan LONGBOX (damaged manual) - $18
- CIB NHL Face Off LONG BOX - $10
- CIB Arcade's Greatest Hits LONG BOX - $15
- CIB Shadow Hearts + CIB Shadow Hearts Covenant - $200
- CIB Predator Concrete Jungle - $70
- CIB Neo Contra (x2) - $25
- Boxed Bouncer - $20
- CIB God of War 2 - $20
- CIB The Guy Game - $100
- CIB Final Fantasy X - $10
- CIB Auto Modellista - $30
- CIB Disaster Report - $60
- CIB Raw Danger! - $35
- CIB Siren - $50
- Factory Sealed WATA 9.6 A+ Liar Princess and the Blind Princes - $100
- Factory Sealed Star Wars Bounty Hunter Premium Edition - $120
- Factory Sealed Kingdom Hearts 3 Deluxe Edition - $55
- Last Guardian - $23
- Heavy Rain & Beyond Two Souls Collection - $22
- Middle Earth Shadow of War Gold Edition (with steelbook) - $20
- Root Letter Last Answer with art book - $20
- Knack 2 - $18
- Shenmue 1 & 2 - $17
- World of Final Fantasy - $15
- Sealed Minecraft Dungeons Hero Edition - $22
- Atari Flashback Cassics Vol 1 - $15
- Far Cry 5 - $10
- Skyrim VR - $12
- Payday 2 The Big Score - $12
- Nioh 2 - $8
- Assassin's Creed origins - $8
- Trails in the Sky - $110
- Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling together - $35
- Ghost Rider - $17
- Star Wars battlefront Elite Squadron - $16
- NCAA Basketball 10 - $110
- College Hoops 2k8 - $110
- College Hoops 2K7 - $25
- NCaa Basketball 09 - $35
2023.06.01 17:03 A_Vespertine Souls & Scarabs at Mathom-Meister's Flea Market
“I’m sorry; we’re going to astral travel to a flea market?” Charlotte asked incredulously as she watched Genevieve and I set up a meditation circle under the shade of a towering old willow tree in my cemetery. “What if we want to buy something? How will we bring it back?”
“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.
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“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.
2023.06.01 16:43 Beginning-Permit-935 The true history of “humans”
the human timeline started out with the gentile being the first humans starting with haplogroup A then b then CT. The annunaki (angel/malaikat) came and created the yap positive haplogroup carriers by modifying a group of gentiles 72 thousand yrs ago calling them the first man. we know there were men with male genitalia before that time but calling the yap positive people the first man probably has to do with the yap mutation in the Y chromosome. As time went on and these new people increased in number and branched out like a family tree, a man was born from them and was chosen as the best representative(ruler). That man(Adam) and his lineage are the true “chosen people” and they have produced all the prophets. This chosen lineage are the ones that speak Afroasiatic languages such as ancient Egyptian, Hebrew, Arabic etc and they carry the e1b1b haplogroup. The chosen lineage is divided into two maternal lineages, the children of eve and the children of Lilith. The ancient Egyptians called the children of Lilith seth and the children of eve horus. Eve had haplogroup m1 and Lilith had haplogroup u6. The men of this chosen lineage get spiritually initiated to receive knowledge by something outside the control of humans (that’s why pharaoh was killing the boys). The prophets birth and initiation follows a certain pattern that I like to call the prophetic calendar, it’s cyclical. The age of initiation for the prophets and messengers to spiritually receive knowledge happens at 24 years old for some and 42 years old for others. The garden of Eden was on earth but it was like entering into a different reality of time and space. We see the first evidence of these people on earth 33 thousand years ago when they got kicked out of the garden. The spot of creation was the lost continent of lemuria aka the Persian gulf “oasis”
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2023.06.01 16:34 somewhatmorespecial Pre-6th Anniversary Livestream announcements!
who's ready for year 6
First, the reveal of our next ranking event!
Second, news on the next gacha, SONG FOR YOU! Gacha Vol. 41!
Third, news on the 6th Anniversary event!
Fourth, there will be a special 6th Anniversary Livestream on 28th June, 1800 JST! The guest list will be as follows:
Fifth, news regarding the annual Akihabara collab!
Sixth, news about Act-2 of 10th Live Tour, "5 TO [email protected]!!
Seventh, some anime news!
Eighth, Million Live! will be collaborating with Itotsune! They will be selling special collab fan designs based on Hanasakuya! For more info, you can refer to their Twitter account.
Ninth, Million Live! will be collaborating with COTORIDO a crepe brand! During the collaboration period, special crepes with the featured 6 idols' designs will be sold, along with special novelty goods! For more info, you can refer to their Twitter and Instagram.
Tenth, as announced earlier, Million Live! will be collaborating with the Rakuten Eagles! Subaru, Julia and Megumi will be the featured idols for this collab, where they will appear in a baseball game against the Seibu Lions on August 30th! More news, including the key visual, to come soon.
Eleventh, Round 3 of the dinos collaboration is ongoing! This round features Haruka, Yukiho and Minako promoting kitchen tools!
Twelfth, MILLION [email protected] VARIETY 03 is now currently on sale! It features "Shunpuu Manpan Starting" and "LiberaSing/Along", along with their instrumental versions!
Thirteenth, a reminder that pre-orders for the SUNRICH COLORFUL BD are currently ongoing until 4th June!
Fourteenth, the Onkiyo collab's 2nd wave has begun! It features new voice lines from Mirai, Shizuka and Tsubasa for the ANIMA Studio app. There will also be special wireless earphones released to celebrate this soon; refer to their official social media for updates.
Fifteenth, a reminder that these figures of Makoto and Ayumu will be released on October and November 2023 respectively. You can also get special items by pre-ordering the items from either Tamashii-Web or AsobiStore.
Sixteenth, a reminder that the webcomic "Ama-iro no Asterism" will be getting its first physical volume printed on 27th July!
Seventeenth, to recap all of the above, here is the schedule for this summer:
Eighteenth, those in Japan can retweet the given hashtag for the chance to win these special illustrations.
Nineteenth and lastly, 390 FREE Jewels!
submitted by somewhatmorespecial to TheaterDays [link] [comments]
First, the reveal of our next ranking event!
- The next event will be a Platinum Star Tour Bingo! It will feature Hibiki, Nao, Umi, Mizuki and Miya!
- The event song is titled Yumemigachi Bride (夢みがちBride)! Watch the PV here! This will be the 4th song of the NEW SONGS campaign.
- Hibiki is rank and Nao is points.
- Here is the full event artwork!
- As a reminder to how Tour Bingo works, you will be given a set of bingo cards, for which you can collect numbers for from either Lives or Work. You'll get rewards for get bingos on the various cards.
Second, news on the next gacha, SONG FOR YOU! Gacha Vol. 41!
- While we have no confirmation on what the next Commu will be yet, the following unawakened SSRs were previewed:
Third, news on the 6th Anniversary event!
- First, we have the reveal of the outfit name: it will be called Future Signature (フューチャー・シグネチャー)!
- We also have the reveal of the Anniversary song: it is titled Good Sign (グッドサイン)! Watch the PV here!
- Just like last year, there will be a 6th Anniversary Event Eve Campaign held on the Anniversary day itself, 29th June! The actual event will start on 30th June, and will last until 12th July.
- There will also be a number of unique features for this iteration of the Anniversary event:
- By completing the special Event Missions, you will be able to earn special Acrylic Stands for each idol! These Stands can change to Gold, then Rainbow-colored depending on your Idol Ranking with that idol, with the top 10 getting their rank number on the Stands!
- These Acrylic Stands can be found here, on the Event page. By tapping on each stand, you will also get a special Comment from that idol!
- There is one last thing you can do with these stands: you can put them on Display! You can adjust the number and position of the Stands, and use the Share (シェア) function to showcase your unique Displays!
- Also, this iteration of the event will introduce a Checklist! You can use the Checklist to keep track of all the tasks that need to be performed on any given day!
- Lastly, to commemorate the 6th Anniversary, we have special messages from Art Director Kiyotaka Tamiya and Sound Director Takafumi Sato!
Fourth, there will be a special 6th Anniversary Livestream on 28th June, 1800 JST! The guest list will be as follows:
- Nao Tamura (Hinata)
- Shiina Natsukawa (Anna)
- Kanako Nomura (Chizuru)
- Emi Hirayama (Reika)
- Rikako Yamaguchi (Rio Momose)
- WakachikoP (Herself)
Fifth, news regarding the annual Akihabara collab!
- Here is the Key Visual for the collab! More information regarding the collaboration with the Summer Akihabara Electric Town Festival will come soon when their webpage goes up, so stay tuned!
- Million Live! will be collaborating with 6 different locations in Akihabara! You can refer to this image for the list of locations covered.
- There will also be various types of goods sold during the collab! More infomation can be found here.
- To cover some of the collaborations in more detail:
- Starting on 27th June, Million Live will be collaborating with atre Akihabara! For every 500 yen spent, you can get special gifts, and special original food items will also be sold!
- Starting on 20th June, Million Live will be collaborating with STELLAMAP Cafe, located on the 7th floor of Sofmap Akihabara! The collab theme will be "American Diner", featuring new artwork for Tsubasa, Subaru, Momoko and Julia!
- Starting on 27th June, Million Live will be collaborating with Karaoke no Tetsujin! During the collaboration, special goods featuring chibi versions of the idols in their MILLION LIVE CONFERENCE! Pajama outfits will be made available!
Sixth, news about Act-2 of 10th Live Tour, "5 TO [email protected]!!
- WEB2 lottery for the Live will begin tommorow at 1200 JST, 2nd June!
- Also, Yuu Kahara (Emily) will be added as an additional performer on Day 2!
Seventh, some anime news!
- A new PV has been released! This PV features the opening theme for the anime, titled Rat A Tat!!! The song is composed by Takafumi Sato, arranged by Tsubasa Handa and lyrics written by Eiji Momoki.
- The movie tickets for the early screenings are still on sale, for those who want to go watch the anime early!
- There will also be a special movie ticket set sold at Act-2 of 10th Live Tour, which will come with a special bromide and album set!
- To celebrate the advance movie screenings, Million Live! will be collaborating with [email protected]! They will be selling special movie ticket sets with either an acrylic smartphone stand or calendar set! Orders begin on 24th June.
Eighth, Million Live! will be collaborating with Itotsune! They will be selling special collab fan designs based on Hanasakuya! For more info, you can refer to their Twitter account.
Ninth, Million Live! will be collaborating with COTORIDO a crepe brand! During the collaboration period, special crepes with the featured 6 idols' designs will be sold, along with special novelty goods! For more info, you can refer to their Twitter and Instagram.
Tenth, as announced earlier, Million Live! will be collaborating with the Rakuten Eagles! Subaru, Julia and Megumi will be the featured idols for this collab, where they will appear in a baseball game against the Seibu Lions on August 30th! More news, including the key visual, to come soon.
Eleventh, Round 3 of the dinos collaboration is ongoing! This round features Haruka, Yukiho and Minako promoting kitchen tools!
Twelfth, MILLION [email protected] VARIETY 03 is now currently on sale! It features "Shunpuu Manpan Starting" and "LiberaSing/Along", along with their instrumental versions!
Thirteenth, a reminder that pre-orders for the SUNRICH COLORFUL BD are currently ongoing until 4th June!
Fourteenth, the Onkiyo collab's 2nd wave has begun! It features new voice lines from Mirai, Shizuka and Tsubasa for the ANIMA Studio app. There will also be special wireless earphones released to celebrate this soon; refer to their official social media for updates.
Fifteenth, a reminder that these figures of Makoto and Ayumu will be released on October and November 2023 respectively. You can also get special items by pre-ordering the items from either Tamashii-Web or AsobiStore.
Sixteenth, a reminder that the webcomic "Ama-iro no Asterism" will be getting its first physical volume printed on 27th July!
Seventeenth, to recap all of the above, here is the schedule for this summer:
Eighteenth, those in Japan can retweet the given hashtag for the chance to win these special illustrations.
Nineteenth and lastly, 390 FREE Jewels!
2023.06.01 16:03 A_Vespertine Souls & Scarabs at Mathom-Meister's Flea Market
“I’m sorry; we’re going to astral travel to a flea market?” Charlotte asked incredulously as she watched Genevieve and I set up a meditation circle under the shade of a towering old willow tree in my cemetery. “What if we want to buy something? How will we bring it back?”
“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.
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“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.
2023.06.01 13:19 cwcobblestone “Day by Day, Month by Month, Year by Year,” Part 1
“Day by Day, Month by Month, Year by Year,” Part 1
by c.w. cobblestone
A wimp chronicles the femdom/cuck relationship between him, his beloved Molly and her lover DeShawn. Here are the first six months.
(continued below)
submitted by cwcobblestone to cuck_femdom_tales [link] [comments]
by c.w. cobblestone
A wimp chronicles the femdom/cuck relationship between him, his beloved Molly and her lover DeShawn. Here are the first six months.
YEAR 1
January 1
Well, the calendar may have changed but nothing else has. Molly is still in love with DeShawn. They’re still openly flaunting their affair in front of friends and family. I’m still kissing up to both of them and praying they’ll continue to let me hang around. So far, so good; the wedding’s still on for June, and everyone seems to be finding their roles in this three-way relationship. Unfortunately, my role is being their bitch. But Molly’s still here — that’s the important thing. I thought for sure when DeShawn came into the picture and stole her heart that she’d run off with him. But to my great relief, she says she wants to go through with the wedding while also maintaining her relationship with DeShawn. She says we’re now a “poly triad.” I know she’s playing me for a fool and is only marrying me because I earn six figures. But I don’t care. I love her and would do anything to keep her. Anything. Full stop. The ceremony is scheduled for June 8th, and my New Year’s resolution is to not fuck it up.January 3
Molly didn’t say when she’d be home from the New Year’s Eve party at DeShawn’s friend’s house, but I didn’t expect her to be gone this long. I’m starting to get worried. Molly’s a big girl and can take care of herself, but DeShawn runs with a rough crowd.January 4
Crisis averted. Molly’s been holed up in DeShawn’s apartment partying, thank goodness. After she texted me and told me to bring cognac and Burger King, I’d hoped to spend at least a few seconds with my beloved fiancé for the first time this year. Alas, I never even laid eyes on her. DeShawn answered my knock, snatched the bags from my hand and slammed the door in my face after throwing out a flippant “thanks, bitch.”January 5
Molly finally came home but she was only here long enough to change clothes and bitch at me about her car being down to a quarter tank of gas. I thought about telling her she hasn’t been home for me to gas her car up but I wisely kept my mouth shut and volunteered to fill her tank right then. She said she was in a hurry, though, and rushed back out. I’m guessing she was either headed to the club or back to DeShawn’s place, although she didn’t tell me where she was going, and I sure as hell didn’t ask. As far as she’s concerned it’s none of my business what she does — my job is to sit at home and wait for her like a good little toady, ready to kiss her little ass and put up with her shit when she gets back.January 7
I kept dinner warm until finally putting it away at 9. Even if Molly does make it home tonight, she’ll most likely be with DeShawn, and they won’t be in the mood to eat. I can always heat up something later if they want a post-coital snack.January 9
When I got home from work nobody was there, although two bags of DeShawn’s dirty laundry were waiting for me in the living room. Molly had me do his clothes a few weeks ago and now the arrogant bastard apparently thinks it’s my permanent job. I thought about just letting it sit there — then common sense took over. The last thing I want to do is piss him off and give him an excuse to kick my ass again. So, swallowing what little pride I had left, I washed and carefully ironed the clothes of the man who’s fucking my fiancé. How pathetic is that?January 10
My buddy Tim called to tell me he saw Molly making out with DeShawn at the Alexis Club last night. I turned red but gave my speech about how our arrangement allows her to see other men. Tim must be the 10th person to call since Molly and DeShawn started openly dating. I wish my supposed girlfriend and her “black king” would keep their tryst on the down-low but they said they wanted to take their relationship to the next level and I don’t get a vote. With everything that goes on in the world these days, I’d hoped their affair wouldn’t be a big deal, but I’m finding that people aren’t as open-minded as they claim to be. I’m losing friends and alienating family over this “poly” situation. Tim sure sounded disgusted. I guess I can’t blame him — if I was my friend, I’d probably be just as outraged at how Molly and DeShawn treat me, and how I put up with it like a sap loser. I imagine it must be painful for my friends and family to watch, but I wish they’d try to see it from my point of view. I love Molly with all my heart. She hurts me, sure. But I’m happier than I’ve ever been since she came into my life. Why can’t people understand that? If I can accept her and the things she does to me, why can’t everyone else?January 13
DeShawn spent the night last night. He and Molly were already hammered when they got back from the club but they wanted another round. They also wanted privacy, so after I served drinks, DeShawn handed me his key and told me to go clean his apartment. I said “yes sir” and hauled ass out of there. When DeShawn tells me to do something, I don’t fuck around. The guy dislikes me to start with, so I try not to give him any reason to fuck me up. The first time Molly brought him home, I attempted to man up and confront him. I won’t ever make that mistake again. I like having teeth too much.January 14
For the second night in a row, DeShawn stayed over. Molly got mad because I hadn’t bought the bottle of wine she’d wanted so she slapped me across the face several times, cutting my nose with her engagement ring. I got blood all over my favorite shirt, and she yelled at me about that, too, much to her boyfriend’s amusement. Molly is getting meaner by the day and DeShawn keeps egging her on. He loves the situation he’s carved out for himself — he knows he could steal her from me any time he wants but he enjoys having me around. In addition to bankrolling the affair, I represent the spoils of his victory; I’m the defeated, shamed white boy whose nose is constantly rubbed in the dirt while he enjoys his prize, my beautiful fiancé. That’s why he’s so brazen about taking Molly to all the places frequented by my friends and family. He wants everyone to know that Molly is in love with him, and that I’m pathetically hanging around paying the bills and serving as the beta in this budding “poly triad” of ours. Around town, it’s making me either a laughingstock or an object of pity. I’m not sure which is worse.January 17
I got into a big argument with my brother Joel today after he called to tell me he saw Molly and DeShawn at the Towne Theatre “acting like a pair of animals in heat.” He and the rest of the family have been pressuring me to leave her ever since DeShawn mopped up the floor with Joel last month. The stupid fuck tried to tell the former Carver State linebacker to stop embarrassing the family by openly carrying on with Molly. DeShawn doesn’t like being told what to do. Joel found that out the hard way. His broken nose just healed.January 20
Nobody was at the condo when I got home from the firm, although I could tell DeShawn had been over, given the wet spots all over the crumpled bedding in the master bedroom. These days, the only reasons I go into Molly’s room are to clean, change cum-stained sheets, and wipe her boyfriend’s piss stains off the toilet rim in the master bathroom. Molly says her bedroom suite is reserved for “real men” and that I have no business being in there unless it’s to clean.January 24
Molly dropped some devastating news today. She says DeShawn will be going on the honeymoon in June and I’ll be staying home. Also, we had planned to take a Mediterranean cruise, but since DeShawn’s great-grandmother was from St. Thomas and he’s always wanted to go down there, she told me to switch the arrangements. I was bawling like a baby but I clicked onto the travel site and made the required changes. Since the wedding isn’t for six months, there was no problem adjusting the plans, although it killed me inside to do it.January 26
Molly told me to pack her bags because she was headed to Atlanta for a week to hang out with DeShawn’s cousins. So, now, just like that, I’m not going to see my beloved fiancé until next Sunday. I don’t think she has any idea how much she’s breaking my heart with this affair of hers, but if I told her she probably wouldn’t care — she’d probably think it was funny. That’s how cruel she’s become. DeShawn brings out the worst in her. After he told her that it turns him on when she’s mean to me, she’s been looking for reasons to dog me. He usually rewards her cruelty by fucking the taste out of her mouth — and that makes her want to treat me even worse. Molly is finding out how much naughty fun it can be to make my life miserable, knowing that I’m so hopelessly in love with her I’ll put up with anything she dishes out. Deep down, she probably knows what she’s doing to me is wrong — but I bet that just makes the whole thing even more delightfully wicked. My former angel is lost in a decadent, BBC-fueled alternative dimension where being bad is good and my pain is hilarious.February 6
Molly told me to go by her mom’s house after work tomorrow to clean. She says I should plan on that being one of my regular weekly duties from now on. I’m getting sick of being everybody’s fucking maid. I’m stuck cleaning DeShawn’s apartment once a week now. Last week, Molly had me wash her best friend’s car after her boyfriend got drunk and puked in it. My fiancé has pimped me out to her friends recently for myriad other chores — cleaning up dogshit, dropping off library books, picking up drycleaning. Since DeShawn came into the picture, Molly has gleefully let her friends and family know that I’m nothing but her little bitch — and her boyfriend’s little bitch, too. She loves recounting the night she brought DeShawn back to the condo for the first time, and I tried to make a stand by telling him to leave. He busted me in the eye, knocking me to the floor, and then kicked me in the ribs until I begged him to stop. The whole time, Molly watched with a glazed look in her eye and fingers in her crotch. After DeShawn bitch-slapped me one last time, he dragged my fiancé into the bedroom and they screamed up a storm while I lay on the living room floor sobbing. That was the first and only time I ever tried standing up to DeShawn, as Molly delights in telling her friends. “DeShawn runs shit around here,” she says to anyone who’ll listen.February 8
Darlene is such a cunt. It’s easy to see where Molly gets her snootiness from. After I left the firm yesterday, I headed straight for my future mother-in-law’s house and started cleaning. I busted my ass all night and didn’t finish until after 11pm. Did I get a thank-you? Hell no. The whole time I was there, all Darlene did was belittle me and taunt me about DeShawn. Before I left, she pulled down her sweats and showed me her pussy, asking if I remembered what one looked like. It was so embarrassing, I just wanted to run out of there. But I knew not answering her might pose a problem, so I just faked a smile and said, “it has been a while.”February 11
There’s nothing more embarrassing than standing outside the dressing room at Victoria’s Secret clutching your fiancé’s purse while she tries on sexy outfits to wear for her lover on Valentine’s Day — especially when she made it known to the salesladies that the lingerie is for someone other than the schmuck holding the bag. I wanted to die when I paid for the purchases, with the women all smirking and making snide remarks. There was no reason for Molly to tell the staff that the lingerie was for another man, other than pure cruelty. On the ride home, I hung my head and bit my lip, doing my best to keep from crying. Molly yelled at me and told me to stop moping, so I sat up straight in the passenger seat and pretended to watch the scenery as it zoomed by.February 15
Valentine’s Day sucks when you’re a beta. I cleaned the condo spotless and fixed a special dinner for two. Once the candles were lit and both plates were full, DeShawn gave me his mother’s address and told me to report to her house for maid duty. As usual, I said, “yes, sir” and obeyed without hesitation. Jeez, I thought my mother-in-law was bad — Cassandra is ten times worse. From the second I stepped into her house she made it clear that while she absolutely loves Molly and supports her relationship with her son, she despises white males. Therefore, she said, she despises me by default. It took seven hours to clean Cassandra’s house, which was enough time for her to slap me six times and spit in my face twice after finding fault with my cleaning. When I was finished, she made me stand in the hallway with my legs spread and my hands on my head before kicking me in the nuts as hard as she could. After I collapsed in pain, she told me to kiss her shoe and thank her. I complied, and she kicked me in the head and said “now, get the fuck out, white boy.” I’m praying Molly doesn’t add cleaning Cassandra’s house to my regular duties. That woman has a lot of anger bottled up inside her, and after only one night I can already tell she loves taking out those frustrations on a lily-white ass.February 16
Well, fuck me. Exactly what I didn’t want — DeShawn says from now on I have to go by his mom’s house once a week to clean. WTF, man. So, with my recurring appointment at Darlene’s house and DeShawn’s apartment, that’s three nights a week I’ll now be cleaning other people’s houses, in addition to my chores at home and all the other errands I’m sent on. For Molly and DeShawn, this polyandrous threesome is proving to be a sexy, relaxing lifestyle — but for me, it’s demoralizing and exhausting.February 23
Per Molly’s orders, I asked the head of the firm if I can pick up extra cases, or stay late to help the other attorneys with research. Molly wants me to make as much money as I can between now and the wedding because she says she and DeShawn want to “honeymoon in style.” She says things like that because she thinks it’s funny to hurt my feelings. Sometimes I wish I was strong enough to get out of this abusive relationship. I guess I’m like those battered wives who keep going back to their husbands. Molly treats me like shit but I take it. With a smile. A fake smile, but a smile nonetheless.March 19
Mr. Berkowitz accommodated my request and I’ve been working 14-hour days for the past few weeks. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since I get to stay away from home longer, thus avoiding abuse from my fiancé and her lover. Plus, my last few checks have been huge. The bad news is, every dime of that extra money will go toward ensuring that Molly and DeShawn “honeymoon in style.” And despite all the extra hours, my domestic load hasn’t lightened one iota. I’m still expected to clean Darlene’s house every Monday, Cassandra’s every Wednesday, and DeShawn’s apartment every Thursday. If I get behind on my chores at home, I know Molly will cut me no slack, and if DeShawn’s around there’s a good chance she’ll slap the shit out of me if something doesn’t get done. She loves showing off for her man by being bitchy to me, and it drives him crazy when she does it. So, I’ve been killing myself to keep up with everything. It’s been rough, but I’ve managed. Who needs sleep?March 26
I’m completely wrung out physically and emotionally. Last night was hands-down the worst night of my life. I served as the “bitch boy” at a party thrown by one of DeShawn’s friends and it was pure fucking hell. Molly made me wear a pair of her panties to the party, and when we got there I was told to strip, other than the pink, lacy underwear. There were about a dozen people there, and I spent the night serving drinks and having them pinch my ass and make fun of me. But the worst part was when DeShawn got drunk and forced me to kneel in the kitchen and suck his dick in front of everyone. I’ve been in complete anguish ever since. I can’t get the taste out of my mouth or the thought out of my head that I am now officially a cocksucker. Molly and several other people at the party filmed my debasement with their cellphones, so I’m sure the terrible moment will haunt me forever. I suspect there’ll be a lot more such horrible moments, too, because after DeShawn squirted all over my face and hair, he seemed pleased, bragging to his friends that I was a natural. He didn’t allow me to clean up, either, saying it would be “disrespectful,” so I spent the rest of the evening fetching drinks with dried cum on my face and tears in my eyes. It was a mortifying experience, something I wouldn’t have wished on my most hated enemy. I suppose it could have been worse — a couple of DeShawn’s friends also wanted blowjobs, but he told them I was “his bitch” and therefore off-limits. Molly told me I should feel proud to be DeShawn’s bitch. I lied to her and said I was grateful. In truth, I wanted to die when he said that. He’s starting to see me as his property.April 2
During lunch yesterday, Molly told me that she and DeShawn had decided to let me come along on the honeymoon. After I fell over myself thanking her, she smirked and said, “April Fool’s.” DeShawn got a kick out of my crestfallen expression. He told me he had just the thing to cheer me up, and then made me suck his dick. He’s been having me do that a lot since the party last week.April 7
DeShawn’s lease on his apartment is up April 19, and last night I was informed that he’d be moving in with us after that. This isn’t exactly a surprise, and I’d been bracing for it — although when Molly made it official, it was still quite the gut-punch. She said I’ll be responsible for moving everything, and that I should start packing stuff the next time I clean DeShawn’s apartment, so I don’t have to do it all at once.April 10
As if things couldn’t get worse, DeShawn told me yesterday that he’d be converting the guest room into his mancave. When I asked him where I was going to sleep, he said “in the bathtub for all I care.” I don’t know if he was joking or not, though, because he laughed when he said it. Whether he was serious or not, if he takes over the guest bedroom I won’t have anywhere to sleep, since that’s the only other bedroom in the condo besides the master suite, and I doubt I’ll be allowed to bunk down in there with them. Why should I be allowed a place to sleep? I’m just the guy who pays all the bills.April 12
Well, the mystery over where I’ll be sleeping is solved. Molly says I can put a dog bed in the hall closet. She told me to go buy one now and to break down the bed in the guest room, so everything will be ready for when DeShawn moves in. So, I guess my days of sleeping in a bed like a normal human being are over. A dog bed in the closet??? WTF.April 14
I keep hitting new lows. When I was at her house last night, Cassandra made me drink her piss. I was in the bathroom scrubbing the floor when she came in brandishing a plastic cup. She sat on the toilet and held the cup under her pussy, filling it with urine. Then, she handed it to me and told me to say “cheers!” before downing the cup in one gulp. I managed to obey although I almost threw up. She told me to thank her for the honor, which I did with all the respect I could muster. Later, when I’d resumed my cleaning, I overheard Cassandra on the phone bragging to her friend about what she’d done. I got a chill when she said, “sure, come on over when he cleans next Wednesday and I’ll make him drink yours, too.”April 16
I keep thinking about what Cassandra told her friend on the phone, and debating whether I should say anything to DeShawn about it. At the party last month, he’d told everyone that I wasn’t sexually available because I was his “bitch,” but I’m not sure if that rule extends to his mother making me drink her piss — or, worse, making me drink some stranger’s piss. I haven’t worked up the nerve to say anything, though, and I probably won’t. DeShawn might get pissed if he thinks I’m dissing his mom.April 17
Ugh, I can’t get this Cassandra situation out of my head. One thing that’s bothering me: Is her friend a man or a woman? It was impossible to tell from hearing just her half of the conversation. I suppose it doesn’t matter — DeShawn has me sucking his dick constantly now, anyway, and Cassandra’s probably going to regularly have me drinking her piss since the genie’s out of the bottle, so what difference does it make whether the person whose pee I have to drink is male or female? Piss is piss, right?April 19
Yet another demoralizing milestone. DeShawn had me lick his ass last night for the first time. He had bits of toilet paper stuck to his bunghole and I gagged when it touched my tongue — which earned me a severe bitch-slap for being “disrespectful.” But I managed to get through it in one piece. As I do when giving blowjobs, I just closed my eyes and drifted to my happy place, blocking out the terrible world and concentrating on the dialogue from a favorite movie. Last night it was “A League of Their Own.” There’s no crying in baseball or when you’re tossing your fiancé’s boyfriend’s salad.April 20
Well, DeShawn’s all moved in. Of course, I did all the work while he sat on his ass and directed. I had to throw out 90% of my stuff since there’s no longer room. All that’s left are my suits for work and my laptop; everything else got shitcanned, including my high school yearbooks, family mementos and almost all my casual clothes. Oh, well. I didn’t really need that stuff anyway.April 21
When I went to Cassandra’s after work to clean last night, she introduced me to her friend, a huge woman named Violet. The lady seemed eager to make me drink her piss, although she was shy and went into the bathroom alone to pee in the cup. Cassandra made me kneel down and drink every drop before thanking her friend for the honor. Then, Cassandra decided to show off, so she made me stand still with my hands on my head while she and her friend took turns kicking me in the balls. When they finally got tired of abusing me, I was released to clean the house while they chatted in the living room.May 2
We’ve got a new household routine. Almost every night now, DeShawn will holler “hey, bitch, come give me my propers,” which means I have to find a spot behind him and lick his ass. As you might imagine, it’s quite demoralizing to give DeShawn his “propers” when my fiancé is right there watching. Between the constant blowjobs and rim-jobs, I can’t say I don’t have a sex life anymore. It’s not exactly the kind of sex I would’ve chosen, but I do get a lot of action these days. My mouth does, anyway.May 5
I overheard Molly talking to her mom on the phone about having kids with DeShawn. He apparently wants a big family, and she told her mom she’s glad she’ll have me around to change diapers. As strange as it seems, I felt a twinge of satisfaction hearing that. At least it means Molly wants to keep me around long-term.May 9
Well, I feared this day was coming. DeShawn has decided to take over the wedding. He announced last night that he’s going to be my best man and he said he may get his buddies to replace my brothers in the wedding party. He says it’s going to be a “poly wedding.” I called Joel and told him he was out as best man and that DeShawn would be handling those duties. My brother cussed me out and hung up on me.May 11
I got into a huge argument with Mom and Dad on the phone today. They said they never want to speak to me again. This has been brewing for some time in my family. I wish things were different, but they made me choose. I chose Molly. They say they can’t stand seeing how she treats me. Well, I’ve learned to live with it — fuck them if they can’t.May 12
Now Joel and Ron aren’t coming to the wedding, so I’ve pretty much alienated my entire family. They say Molly’s making a fool out of me by having DeShawn replace Joel as my best man. I told Joel to talk to DeShawn if he has a problem with it, and he shut up right quick. The dumbass learned his lesson a few months ago when he tried to tell DeShawn to stop embarrassing the family by being so open about his affair with Molly. I learned the same lesson after Molly brought her boyfriend home for the first time and I was stupid enough to protest. The lesson? You don’t question DeShawn.May 24
DeShawn has changed the wedding vows. It’s already written that I will promise to obey Molly, but DeShawn added the phrase “and I will obey DeShawn as well.” Then, since this will be a “poly wedding,” DeShawn is going to say a few words, pledging to love and honor Molly until death do they part. The magistrate Molly chose is quite progressive and when she ran the new vows past him, he said they’re great. The ceremony is going to be embarrassing as hell, but the whole wedding’s going to be a fucking nightmare anyway. I’ve made up my mind: I’m going to just square my shoulders and get through it, because when it’s all over Molly will be my bride. I can’t wait. She’s in love with another man but I don’t care. She’ll be my wife, and that means everything to me.(continued below)
2023.06.01 12:01 resurrective Chapter 19 - Gramgrim
 | With the trials finally over, the party safely left the accursed valley. As Keyaruga and his girls did so, the white mist once again filled the mountain ridge, yet this time; it felt much less thick, potent, not so horrifying to look at. submitted by resurrective to RedoOfHealer [link] [comments] “All things considered, I think we’ve done a pretty good job.” Freia spoke, looking back at the foggy veil. Barely anyone else would notice this, but it was damaged, breached, severely weakened. No doubt, it would take months, if not years, to completely restore the pocket dimension. Right? “Ghh, yeah, right! I… OH FUCK!!!” Ellen snarled, once again tripping over herself. “Fucking pigeon! Fucking body! Fucking fog! Fucking birdies! Fucking! Fucking! Fucking! FUCK!!!” And just like that, she landed… in Setsuna’s arms. “Watch where you’re going.” The she-wolf looked as phlegmatic as ever, but it was clear, that her patience was slowly coming to an end. “I’m trying, okay! I’m trying… Haa…” The apostle of Caladrius growled in painful frustration. Right now, she was at least six times as strong as she was before passing those near-impassable trials, and that left her senses in a state of complete disarray. How can you walk, when instead of just slightly moving your leg it twitches forward so hard, it almost rips your tendons? How can one do something with their hands, when their arms are frantically shaking from the sheer amount of force in their thin, underdeveloped muscles? Leveling was supposed to be a gradual process, so that a person could get used to their new physical abilities. Only heroes could instinctively jump through dozens of levels without any discomfort involved. But that’s the thing – Ellen wasn’t made one of those. “Damn, I should’ve just waited somewhere in a salty house. Maybe, I wouldn’t be cursed then.” The princess complained, sitting right besides Patty. The raptor seemed more than disinterested in her cathartic shock, and for that, the fallen warlady was more than grateful, really. “I think we should be happy, that everyone is intact.” Eve said calmly, looking at everyone around. The shock from facing her past had already passed, but she now couldn’t help but stare at Keyaruga. Even now, he was at least one head taller, and yet… I’m but a healer… Don’t worry. We’ll start all over… She remembered her past, her two children, her… abusive husband, a crumbling state with nonexistent governmental structure, the sheer brutality with which Jioral razed her domain. Eve Reese saw all of that… and after her time with Keyaruga, that felt like a nightmare, which ended after waking up in this new world. Not something to fixate on, but to learn from and move on. “Come on.” Right now, the lady in red looked at Setsuna, who extended her arm to Ellen. The latter struggled with her power, her normal ways of doing practically anything now contradicted everything she was and would be – her new body was blessed like no other person could even dream of. And yet, it was a change – a rapid, unwanted metamorphosis, forced by an outer force. Eve could really sympathize with that. Still, there was one more notion to take into account. “You’ll get used to it.” Such were the words of Setsuna, who, despite the princess’ brattiness, her emotional instability, dictated by her lack of a true purpose, still decided to sit near her. “I will teach you, how to…” And so, a new chapter of their life started. A page of learning, overcoming… accepting. While Freia began to dig into her fancy pocket dimension, returning most of the stuff the party would much rather have ready at hand, and not in some cold void, the Hero of Healing just stood near the future queen, struggling with emotions he had forbade himself from feeling, but ended up wrapped up in them nonetheless. “Thank you, Keyaruga.” Eve spoke softly; she felt it was the best moment to speak with him. And, as if to prove it, the lad smiled slightly with his lips. “Without you, I’d never have reunited with Caladrius.” “Well, thank you for not killing us, Me-ua.” The man responded, checking on his saber. There was no trace of black blood on it, but the small dents, the parts he dulled when cutting bones and chopping meat were still there. He now just mindlessly walked back and forth. “You didn’t need me to succeed in the first place. We merely gave you a ride.” The hero added, grabbing a whetstone from Kelly’s saddlebag. He, like many others, needed a breather, something to occupy his hands in this time of relative calm. “You’re much too humble, when you don’t need to be.” Eve analyzed while sitting next to the healer. Almost everyone had something to do now: Keyaruga sharpened his weapon, Freia munched an apple, and Setsuna helped Ellen to learn walking again. The potential Lady of the South, in turn, had nothing to pass the time with. “I want to repay you for what you’ve done for me, Keyaruga. So how about you tell me what you really, really want?” The dame in red asked, trying not to interrupt the man’s little indulgence. He found some form of peace in scratching his saber against a green rock, enjoyed wiping out the metallic dust, and liked the feeling of thin sharpness when he tested it with his finger. Only when the reddish blade was properly reformed to a serviceable condition, did the landless knight actually turn toward his pretty suzerain. “Well, for starters, I’d like to pick out some pretty shoes for your little feet.” Keyaruga said somewhat dismissively. After all, those old worn down footwear that the girl owned before, had been forever destroyed by Caladrius. “Oh, and underwear. I suppose you don’t wear it now, do you?” “Actually, I really don’t.” Eve replied, trying to keep up with the casual talk the hero had dictated with his seemingly relaxed voice. “A shame, really. But actually, I like this dress. It’s light, easy to get in and out of, it doesn’t get dirty, and it doesn’t allow me to get dirty. See?” The white-haired woman demonstrated her feet to him – even though she was walking on the ground bare-footed, there wasn’t even a single trace of mud on her pretty toes. “How cute. Although, I’d much rather like to see you without this gloomy rag.” Keyaruga chuckled, wiping his weapon against his own trousers before returning the weapon to its dark-blue sheath. “Maybe, I’d even play with your new horns. I suppose holding you from behind would be much fancier this way.” “Is that your wish?” Eve playfully wondered, rising on her feet along with the man. “I was being serious, Keyaruga. You were the one who helped me to understand what I am, and what I’m supposed to do and feel. So, like it or not, you’re not leaving unrewarded.” The woman said in a gentle, yet somehow shrewd manner. She grew up, not only physically – but also her tone, intonations, walking, gestures – all of that radiated enticing maturity. Still, when the red-haired lad looked at his companion, he didn’t feel arousal. He… “Maybe… I simply want to be accepted. Just the way I am…” The man mumbled, almost whispering, in fact. Did Anna truly forgive him? Or did she just snap after witnessing, how little human life meant for her foster son? One would easily go mad after seeing something like their child surviving a decapitation. “Ah, forget it!” He ultimately shrugged it off, once again hiding inside an armor of feigned apathy. “F-forget? But I…” That glimpse of Keyaruga’s true, softer nature didn’t escape Eve’s perception, of course. But even so, this prying attempt would be quickly shut down by… “I just want to fuck you in this new body.” …this. The healer outright demanded another session of sex. He even grabbed his cute suzerain from around her back, pulling her closer to him. “Oh… You just can’t stop being a pervert, can you?” The woman sulked, once again revealing that touchy, puffy child. Now, that she grew up, it looked both hilarious and cute at the same time. “Each time I start to like you, you’re pulling something like that…” Eve complained, remembering how she was about to be pushed away from the saddle, just in case Ellen was to be impaled right on the road. “So you don’t like me now?” The man sneered, as his left arm moved lower and lower, up until it slipped underneath the dark dress she wore, and his hand grabbed the black-winged prodigy’s butt cheek “What? You think I didn’t notice why you wished to get older? That thick ass of yours!” The healed malevolently whispered, giving the kokuyoku scion an assertive kiss to her puffy lips. “So, will you have some fun with me?” “I… Ugh! Damn! You!.. How can you be such a jerk, Keyaruga?!” And just like that, the lady in red pushed the hero away. It seemed like he had overstepped his boundaries, thus scaring Eve away. Well, relatively. She just moved a few steps away from the healer, before the girl stopped, turned back, and revealed her pretty face overtaken by a bright scarlet blush. “Ehm… Could you give me some time? Till the evening, maybe?” “Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hah! Oh, birdie! Who do you think I am?” Keyaruga mocked, catching himself on his own hypocrisy in the process. After all… That’s a good question. Who am I, exactly? “He-heh… Oh, you’re a kind boy, to me, to us… But your character is bad! You’re a cheater, a womanizer, who doesn’t even think cheating is something bad, an immoral pervert, a butcher… But, I still love you, for who you really are.” The queen-to-be spoke with a soft smile, which illuminated her man. A truly beautiful visage… “You know, I want to draw your portrait now.” …deserving to be preserved for ages to come. “Just… don’t paint me naked, alright?” The Me-ua kahul spoke with a little bit of embarrassment. “However you wish, my queen.” Keyaruga said, dramatically taking Eve’s hand for a reverent kiss. That sure did embarrass the woman, but this time she took it with a graceful smile on her red face. “Well then, I think we should return to your grandpa, and…” “N-no!..” Of course! How could it be any different? Basically everyone in the group thought this day wouldn’t bring anymore tragedies, when the kokuyoku scion suddenly and severely slouched, as if someone punched her in the guts. “Eve?! What’s wrong, Eve?!” Keyaruga asked, as his mood instantly changed from arousal to the deepest concern. “Did Caladrius do something to-?” “Tamsha! (the souls)” The lady replied, quickly jumping back on her feet. “Haa!.. Haa!.. N-no! Not now! NOT AGAIN!!! One, two, f-fo… Many!.. So many dying now! W-why?!” And just like that, the woman started running back and forth, trying to make sense of the gruesome tragedy that she was only now capable of realizing was happening, trying to suppress tears of sadness, panic, and rage. She thought she was ready for something like this, that the second loss of her parents and remembering the first world tempered the woman just enough to be strong in the face of cruelty; apparently, not. “I see…” At the same time, Keyaruga remained stalwart as ever. He had to; the hero had the role of an unflappable leader, a function much more precious, than any other personality. Eve could store the souls of the kokuyoku kin right inside her wings, provided they refused to leave this world in favor of helping their princess. “Girls! We’ve got a problem here!” Keyaruga yelled, getting the attention of his three other companions as he ran over to them. I knew it! I knew that’d happen! Stuff like this always happens with everyone around me! Brin! Mayala! Mil! “What happened, Keyaruga?” Freia asked, running next to Ellen and Setsuna. “A-a… Evy?” And just as she looked at the groveling girl, the magician lurched forward to help her. “Oh, let me guess, Visou is under attack?” The Apostle of Caladrius asked, moving more like a ragdoll than a normal human being. The twitching muscles, the pain in her joints, desperately trying to adapt to this new form of power – all of that stole whatever grace the younger princess had. “Freia, your magic. Send us to Visou.” Setsuna demanded, remaining the only reasonably calm person among the group. The demi-human girl shook the heroine’s shoulder… But no. “I’m sorry… I can’t… Living can’t survive there…” The caster responded grievously, her pocket dimension was not meant as a means for traveling, much less an inhabitable place for a living, breathing being. “It’s two days, if we ride on raptors. Not an option.” Keyaruga deadpanned, holding the queen-to-be together with Freia. “I need to do something…” Still, the lady in red had some fight in her yet. She stood tall, and… “I’ll call Caladrius… That’s only one use, and Ellen got us two…” “That’s…” For a second, the apostle of the aforementioned god thought about how she should dissuade the girl from spending that chance, that it was much better to murder a few thousand of her enemies than to save a few of her subjects. But… “Do it! Hate to say it, but we really need that pigeon!” … she still had some empathy in her, at the end of the day. “Yes… No point in coming here otherwise…” And just like that, Eve Reese completely straightened her spine and walked a few steps away from the rest of her companions, when Keyaruga stopped the girls from following the kokuyoku scion. “Haa… Alright… Faruki koliabe shia tayi marunga! (By the power of the ancient pact!) Kalza ton salmukar wor habar ul-molla, mera tamsha pora harino, Caladrius! (O you, who carries wind and death, my soulmate, Caladrius) Oma, kuta de anwari! (Come before me, now!)” https://preview.redd.it/g5yp2h3uqd3b1.jpg?width=704&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8f9360575391a768c9a5fd6be0966131ff0eb7b8 The words were spoken, the seal was marked. As Eve chanted what Ellen really wanted to say was ‘This is just a means to appease that pigeon’s overly bloated ego’, a massive illustrious circle appeared underneath her, as the woman levitated above the ground. A massive flux of mana broke out of it, overwhelming everyone, who could sense its presence, even the apostle of what was to come… Especially her, as she was unused to magic coursing through her veins. Soon, the circle flew into the sky. It stopped at around twenty meters from the ground, and then, the breach between the words was opened. The massive white bird emerged from the rift, still carrying her accessories of gold and purple. “It seems like our meeting had happened earlier than either of us expected.” The harbinger of plague mused, once again looming above the party. “How do you like my grace, Apostle?” “It’s shit and I want nothing of it!” Ellen replied, accompanying her rant with a proudly upraised middle finger. “Now do your only job and help those magpies, anima-!” “Shut up!” Eve yawped, forcefully closing Keyaruga’s ‘sister’s’ mouth. “Please, we must reach Visou, before it’s too late!” “Your temper never fails to amuse me, little one.” Still looking at her unwilling champion, Caladrius nodded. For some reason, looking at Ellen’s emotional tantrums reminded the creature of her own young days, the first millennia of a carefree existence. Alas, that didn’t hold too much importance right now. What did, though, was that everyone felt being pulled up from the ground. Everyone, including the raptors. Soon, they found themselves closed in a shining white sphere, presumably enclosed and protected from the entire world. The reptiles were nervous, Freia pulled out her staff, Setsuna covered her forearms with ice gauntlets, and even Keyaruga couldn’t help but grope the handle of his saber, while looking back to see, if the egg was still with him. “Just so you know, I was on my way to save them myself, and as such, this call is on me.” “Haa… Thank you…” Eve spoke, stroke by fatigue from just the summoning. The Hero of Healing nervously glared at the woman, ready to step up, if the deity breaks her oath. “Hold tight. This will not be a pleasant flight.” And just like that, Caladrius lunged forward. And oh, boy, did she not exaggerate. Her speed was at least a few times greater than sound itself. Probably, without the protective sphere, no being lesser than a god could survive the trip. And the party? Well, they still had a long way to go before they could claim that particular label. … Thirty-two seconds. Keyaruga deliberately counted time, it’d take to reach Visou, and it took only half a minute! As if a few hundred kilometers were nothing at all! “Holy gods…” The man muttered, looking down to the hell that was once a peaceful village. The wall was breached, the houses, old and new, were engulfed in raging flames, but even that wouldn’t stop the invaders from marauding whatever they might find inside the burning houses. They stomped the crops, they stole the livestock, burned the buildings just for fun. The brigade killed everyone in sight. Corpses… at least thirty corpses were lying around, completely untended, sometimes even looted, or outright defiled in the most gruesome manners. Cannibalism, necrophilia, gruesome rituals amidst the smoldering village. “I’m excited to present to all of you: Gramgrim, the most fucked up brigade in the whole of Tenanulic.” The red-haired lad muttered with an eerie glee of suppressed emotions. Again! This fucking happened all over again! Because of me! Because I came here! Ah, to hell with it! Survivors! I must find someone, somebody! At least one! Please… “There are no survivors, little ones. Only abominations, undeserving to live. I do not wish you to battle them, as your chances are slim.” Caladrius spoke with little to no regard towards the fallen. This was the formation that once almost ended the four heroes’ journey in the first world. By any sane measure, Keyaruga should’ve been terrified of them. “I’m immortal, I don’t give a shit.” But he wasn’t. The Hero of Healing muttered, clattering his teeth with a desperate rage. He wanted to kill, to murder with every bit of cruelty he had inside of him, with no regard as to what others might see in him while doing so. “Well, we aren’t, brother!” Ellen came down to the rescue. Her cold-blooded rationality greatly contrasted with everyone inside the magic bubble. Setsuna growled wrathfully, Freia was on the verge of crying, and Eve just couldn’t believe her eyes. Even raptors seemed distressed by the view. Visou, the village they all lived, worked, loved, grieved and rejoiced with was now lost forever. What was meant to be a refuge for all the persecuted… now became their cemetery. “Right now we must…” “Caladrius…” Eve uttered calmly. She was furious, hateful, disturbed, and disgusted, and yet, all that fire heated so much, it turned into a freezing cold. “What is it, little one?” The divine bird asked, flapping her wings above the blazing ruins. “Kill them.” The lady in red spoke calmly. Her morbidly red eyes were shaking in pain, but she couldn’t look away, couldn’t even blink. “What is the point? Who do you aim to save this way, when everyone is dead?” The harbinger of plague wondered, more intrigued, than anything else. Yet, upon this being said, not only Ellen, but everyone else now shared the former’s disdain toward the deity. “Do you really wish to use one of…” “It was YOU, who was meant to protect them! YOU had to be there for MY people! But instead of that, you TORTURED US by making us meet those, who we could NEVER forgive! So now, YOU get your flappy ass above them and KILL WHO I TELL YOU TO KILL!!!” Eve Reese snarled frantically. She stopped caring about manners, decency, and practicality even. Now that the woman remembered her past life, she knew how useful this formation could be. But no, keeping them around was Cornar’s wish, and now that he was dead for sure, nothing prevented her from cleansing those cruel war-thirsty maniacs. “He-he-he-he-he-heh… Oh, magpie…” Ellen shook her head, watching as the legendary creature now circled around Visou. As she did so, the white ash started falling from her wings. Freia and Setsuna looked on silently, as the cruel battalion began falling one after another, and no magic shields could protect them against the divine blight for too long. The Hero of Magic could do it herself, but the Me-ua kahul wouldn’t allow it. It was her rightful vengeance, her responsibility. Caladrius wouldn’t tax her mistress this time, but even so, a precious part of Eve’s soul just died within her. |
2023.06.01 11:31 LoveMangaBuddy Read Define The Relationship (Yaoi) - Chapter 63 - MangaPuma
Carlyle, a non-dominant Alpha born in an aristocratic Alpha family, had difficulty having a mandatory relationship with an omega and even received counseling. The counselor encouraged him to have sex with an Alpha in order to overcome his difficulties. As Carlyle searches for a partner, he gets to meet Ash by chance. The two once shared a kiss on New Year's Eve but unfortunately, the aristocrat do ... Read Define The Relationship (Yaoi) - Chapter 63 - MangaPuma. Read more at https://mangapuma.com/define-the-relationship/chapter-63
submitted by LoveMangaBuddy to lovemanga [link] [comments]
2023.06.01 09:55 MECCEM101 WIBTAH if I don't go to my grandma's birthday party?
I always have a hard time making it to birthday parties my family plans. They plan and invite me the day before and generally choose to have them on a weekday.
My mother got a hold of me and asked if I was going to be able to make it to my grandmother and my nephews combined birthday next month. I took the date and put it in my calendar. It's on a Tuesday. And said I'd give it a try.
Now, I'm pretty sure I can make it this time around thanks to the notice and because I just don't have any other plans that day. But this year I invited my grandma over for my birthday and she said she was too busy. She had appointments. My mom told me they drove right by my house and she had asked if she could stop by to say happy birthday but my grandma told her they can't bother me because I'd be at work. I work from home. But it was odd because I told my grandma I had that day off. I told my aunt all I had planned was chores.
Now I did end up finding something to do with friends later and had a lovely birthday so I'm not complaining. It's just this past year I've spent so much time and effort on hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas, new years eve, and mother's day for these people that it's odd that they went out of their way to avoid me on my birthday.
My mom in our conversation said I never make I to anything and I shouldn't just try to make it to the birthday l thing I should be there. Which blows my mind to hear because I really do my best to make it to every event and host most of the family events. Even for extended family.
So wibta if I just don't go? Send a card. And avoid the whole thing. I think my mother is just trying to manipulate and gas light me. She does have a tendency to do that. But also I think it's unfair to expect me to put more effort into a relationship when that person goes to so much effort to avoid putting effort into me.
Info: I'm not concerned about my nephews birthday because I have plans with him and my brother and his wife the weekend before this party.
More info: My mom is manipulative. But it's nothing new. I can easily spot it since I've been dealing with this stuff for a decade. Her "you never make it to anything is a load of bull. I'm not oblivious to that. I make it to the events I can make it to... Which is mostly everything. With the exception of events they plan in retirement time (less than 24 hr notice) and the camping family reunion due to them trying to seperate my husband and I from sleeping in the same tent. My mother played a roll in this by disclosing my grandma had one appointment in the morning and they drove past my house on the way home.
submitted by MECCEM101 to AmItheAsshole [link] [comments]
My mother got a hold of me and asked if I was going to be able to make it to my grandmother and my nephews combined birthday next month. I took the date and put it in my calendar. It's on a Tuesday. And said I'd give it a try.
Now, I'm pretty sure I can make it this time around thanks to the notice and because I just don't have any other plans that day. But this year I invited my grandma over for my birthday and she said she was too busy. She had appointments. My mom told me they drove right by my house and she had asked if she could stop by to say happy birthday but my grandma told her they can't bother me because I'd be at work. I work from home. But it was odd because I told my grandma I had that day off. I told my aunt all I had planned was chores.
Now I did end up finding something to do with friends later and had a lovely birthday so I'm not complaining. It's just this past year I've spent so much time and effort on hosting Thanksgiving, Christmas, new years eve, and mother's day for these people that it's odd that they went out of their way to avoid me on my birthday.
My mom in our conversation said I never make I to anything and I shouldn't just try to make it to the birthday l thing I should be there. Which blows my mind to hear because I really do my best to make it to every event and host most of the family events. Even for extended family.
So wibta if I just don't go? Send a card. And avoid the whole thing. I think my mother is just trying to manipulate and gas light me. She does have a tendency to do that. But also I think it's unfair to expect me to put more effort into a relationship when that person goes to so much effort to avoid putting effort into me.
Info: I'm not concerned about my nephews birthday because I have plans with him and my brother and his wife the weekend before this party.
More info: My mom is manipulative. But it's nothing new. I can easily spot it since I've been dealing with this stuff for a decade. Her "you never make it to anything is a load of bull. I'm not oblivious to that. I make it to the events I can make it to... Which is mostly everything. With the exception of events they plan in retirement time (less than 24 hr notice) and the camping family reunion due to them trying to seperate my husband and I from sleeping in the same tent. My mother played a roll in this by disclosing my grandma had one appointment in the morning and they drove past my house on the way home.
2023.06.01 09:36 CosplayingMagpie After playing Super Metroid with my daughter, we started making up stories about cute Metroids - now we made a game!
 | It's a family tradition to play retro games on New Years Eve. This time we played Super Metroid, but my daughter and I were devastated, when we couldn't save the metroid from the Intro. submitted by CosplayingMagpie to Metroid [link] [comments] In the following days, we had fun inventing Princess Metroid – and decorating the whole house with pictures of her. One day, we want to make a Metroidvania starring Princess Metroid, but until then, we made a small game where you save and care for her. |
2023.06.01 08:49 McGlone_Games 'In Vision' Commentary Notes - Under the Knife
 | Continuing on from my previous post, this is a recap of what was said during the 'In Vision' commentary for 'Under the Knife' from 'The Strange and the Dangerous' DVD box-set. submitted by McGlone_Games to LouisTheroux [link] [comments] \"Yup, it stayed off. Good result! Well done.\" For this one he's joined by Cindy Jackson, who used to have the world record for the most cosmetic procedures. This is the second episode on the DVD, however it seems like it was the first 'In Vision' commentary track they recorded. Louis is noticeably more awkward and unsure of how to approach things, which means Cindy is the one who does most of the talking. Some of the quotes I've included make Cindy sound catty, but during the commentary she came across as a nice, and very self-aware, person. Cast of characters: Adriana (receptionist), Dr Chugay (surgeon), Steve and Adrian (Dr Chugay's patients), Lisa (patient), Laura (candidate for a surgical makeover), Eve (Laura's life coach)
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