This is the 5th story in my series reviewing every Episode original!
TL;DR If you want the quick review:

• 4/5
• Cons: NO gem rewards, can't pick any genders, and can have some pretty convenient plot points that make the story less interesting.
• Pros: Non-intrusive gem choices, great pacing and foreshadowing, an interesting concept pulled off amazingly with great twists and an adorable, non-romance ending to send it off.

Before I start, I wanted to say sorry for disappearing for a while, I haven't been super motivated to do anything recently, let alone read Episode. That's starting to go away now though, so reviews will be back to normal :3
I got quite a few requests from people to read Glitch Girl, and decided to see what all the huff was about. At first, I was kind of confused because this story doesn't give gems, so I was wondering if there was some confusion and people were just recommending community stories, but nope! Turns out it was released as an original, but probably got the gem rewards taken away at some point. That still fits in my criteria, so I went ahead. And now let me be the first to say: I WAS SO WRONG ABOUT THIS STORY AND I WANT TO GIVE A FORMAL APOLOGY. I was pretty entertained through it all but *one* specific thing was annoying me for most of the story, and it made me so upset that I was gonna only give this story a 3/5. THAT ENDED UP CHANGING BIG TIME.
ALSO DISLAIMER: I usually try to keep spoilers to a minimum in my reviews unless I'm pointing out something specific, but this will spoil quite a few things. If you want a relatively spoiler-free review, stick to the TL;DR. Honestly, I almost recommend doing that because this story REALLY is best when going in blind.
I'll actually start with the bad things this time, because there's VERY few of them and I want to gush about this story.
The bad things:
-The obvious thing here is no gem rewards. You don't get any gems for finishing a chapter, which will put LOTS of people off. I mean, that's why most people read originals anyway! This is probably the biggest issue with this story, because even though the rest of the story is GREAT, not getting a gem reward in an episode original is like having a love in a story without a golden retriever or an edgy emo boy. It just feels wrong, yknow?
-Can't choose gender of mc or love interest. -The plot of this story can sometimes get pretty plot armour-y and ridiculous, as in a problem will happen and there will be the most CONVENIENT solution in the world to fix it. I actually think choosing the non-gem choices in this make for a better reading experience, because the mc has to actually work and fail before finding a solution to her problems.
The good things:
-Non intrusive gem choices! Most of the time, they're either a bonus or just an outfit choice every couple episodes. Sometimes, they're plot-based to help you get out of situations easier, but like i said earlier, I prefer the non-gem choices here anyway. -A very sweet ending! I'll spoil as little as I can, but I really appreciate that the focus wasn't on the romance and was mainly about the close relationship between the mc and her grandma. It was super wholesome and I honestly recommend reading till the end just for their closeness :3
-Really good pacing in this one, I think every part of the story has a purpose and doesn't overstay its welcome. Some scenes I initially thought were kind of mid and didn't know why they were included, but I realised just how important they were as character establishment later on.
-The character building and foreshadowing in this in general is really good, all the little things that stick out as weird or kind of meh in this story are ALL for a reason. The end will have you going 'OHHHHHHHH' at pretty much every past scene, it's wild and I love it.
Okay from here on out we get into MAJOR spoiler territory so if you haven't already, I suggest just leaving this review and going to read the story right now. It's best when it's read blind IMO and I don't want to take away from you guys' experience. This section talks about plot twists, so you won't miss much!
-If you're someone who enjoys no romance stories, this is the original for you! Admittedly, 'romance' (if you can call it that) is a plot point in the first half of the story, but you can choose to keep rejecting seth and keep his relationship friendly. Or at least, as friendly as you can in a linear story. You HAVE to get engaged unfortunately. The good thing is though, In the end you end up single and happy about it, talking about how you'll be staying away from dating for a while. It's really refreshing, ESPECIALLY for an episode original.
-very cool concept and executed REALLY well. The entire concept of gaining powers and stopping some mystery person, only to realise that the people who you've been trusting this whole time are the entire reason for your problems in the first place was done AMAZINGLY. and that is very much thanks to..
The plot twists! The entire reason this story was going to get a pretty mid review from me initially was because I HATED the love interest. I thought it was going to be one of those "You have one main love interest as the driving force of the story but you spent lots of time with this other love interest on your journey and end up falling in love" stories when they let you customize both Seth and Corey, but I liked how I customized Corey more and ended up wanting to go with him for the main LI. So naturally, I kept rejecting Seth. Except he wouldn't LEAVE ME ALONE. LIKE, EVER. He was so creepy and the longer I read the more I was starting to think that Seth was actually the only real love interest. He:
-wouldn't let me have the superhero name I picked,
-didn't get the hint when I asked him to just be friends
-even LIED to people after I said no to his proposal, telling everyone I said yes??? and MC just rolled with it?!??
I thought it was just bad writing, but I was so wrong.
I sort of expected that Corey was actually Zero, and wasn't completely surprised by that twist. It was still really cool to watch it play out though! but SETH'S TWIST????? girlies i was gagged. Gobsmacked. Flabbergasted if you will. Everything made sense, why he was so pushy, why Corey was BARELY mentioned in the story despite us having FOUND him online apparently after all these years, and why the initial bomb planting itself was barely explored too. I had to pick up my jaw off the floor after this, I was kind of half-hoping that he'd turn out to be the evil mastermind behind all this just so I could not have him as a love interest after all this, but I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO BE TRUE???
Overall, this story kind of blew me away. I was pretty entertained in the first half, but the second half snatched my hair and punched me in the face. If you're not into the fact that there aren't gem rewards, that's totally fine, but as a STORY I recommend this. This is a really cool story if you want to be left thinking after you're done, and if it had gem rewards, would probably be a 4.5/5 for me. Snaps for Glitch Girl!
Next review: The Soulmate Game

Hello! Four Corners Office for Resource Efficiency (4CORE), a non-profit out of Durango, will be hosting an EV Ride and Drive event in Mountain Village on June 21st, from 11:00am-4:00pm. This event will have multiple EVs on-site for the local community to view and test-drive. EV experts will also be there to answer questions about EV ownership and the financial incentives available for EV purchases. This event will be alongside the opening day of the Market on the Plaza summer farmers market. This event is free to attend. We hope to see you there! The event address is: 117 Lost Creek Lane, Mountain Village, CO 81435. If you are an EV owner and are able to showcase your vehicle at the event- please reach out to 4CORE! You can find our contact information on our website (find link in our reddit profile). https://telluride.com/event/electric-vehicle-ride-and-drive-event-mountain-village/

So this might be too generalized but I'm curious to see if I could get thoughts on this since I'm struggling with some self worth cause of it.
So to preface I'm Trans, but I don't stick out. So I know that already is a deal breaker for most. I'm also into girls, so a lesbian. Lately I have been trying to meet people through a variety of apps, and even reddit. Which I don't know I'd it's a good way to meet people. I am starting to do mor hobbies and get out more but that's a process and most of my hobbies are more male dominated. But that's not why I'm here.
So I usually go on a date I feel like they go okay, we don't get overly personal but also not too shallow. I don't belive in any one person paying for the date.( I used to pay and ended up losing a lot of money. So now I only pay my part. Cause I got sick of what felt like free rides.) I try to stick to casual but not too casual, dinner and walk usually. We talk about jobs, hobbies and a little bit about some goals. So what I feel like is great first conversation, when we are done we go our separate ways. They tell me how much fun we had and should do it again in a couple days. We keep messaging and I try to set something up but they never seem to want too. And then they don't put in the effort. It's kinda hard because it's like at what point do you think it's me and that I'm the one who is not worth the effort?
I know it's vague but any tips on how to know, or even how to meet people IRL instead of apps would be greatly appreciated.

Check the option chains prices for any stock ticker here
Option Chains (stonkvest.com)
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Following info is available for options for any ticker

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2. Last Price: The price at which the option was last traded.
3. Change: The difference between the current last price and the previous day's closing price.
4. Bid: The highest price a buyer is willing to pay for the option.
5. Ask: The lowest price a seller is willing to accept for the option.
6. Volume: The total number of option contracts that have been traded that day.
7. Open Interest: The total number of outstanding option contracts for that particular strike price and expiration date.
8. Strike: The price at which the option holder can buy or sell the underlying asset.
9. Expiration: The date on which the option expires.
10. Type: Indicates whether the option is a call option or a put option.
11. Implied Volatility: A measure of the market's expectation of the underlying asset's volatility over the option's life.
12. Delta: A measure of the sensitivity of the option's price to changes in the underlying asset's price.
13. Gamma: A measure of the rate of change in the delta with respect to changes in the underlying asset's price.
14. Theta: A measure of the time decay of the option's value.
15. Vega: A measure of the sensitivity of the option's price to changes in the implied volatility of the underlying asset.

Type is a full-stack web application for testing your typing speed and accuracy. With an intuitive and minimalistic interface, Type. offers a natural typing experience, providing real-time feedback on your typing speed and accuracy. The application includes an account system for saving your typing speed history and user-configurable features such as themes.
I finally finished building my typing test site using the PERN stack, it took me about 4 months to complete as I could only work on it in my free time. Currently the site's UI is a bit janky on mobile since I am not much of a CSS guy. Feedback is appreciated
Github: https://github.com/Rohith-JN/type-frontend Site: https://type-frontend-green.vercel.app/

Hello everyone, I’m mostly venting because I don’t have many people to talk to but also to seek some advice—maybe the guys have some insight they could share?
I met this guy on a dating site towards the beginning of the year, and I thought we hit it off relatively well. We talked for a bit before meeting in person, and while it was a little awkward (I’m not the best at being social) I think the first ‘date’ went well enough. Well—well enough that we continue to talk daily and at least once or twice a week meet up (we live a good bit of distance away from each other) to do something fun or just hang out. We kiss, snuggle on occasion and of course ( NSFW) have had sex several times over the few months we’ve been talking.
I think we’re both relatively reserved and kind of shy / guarded so we never talked much about ex’s / our ‘relationship’—so after some thought and not knowing what we’re doing, I finally got the courage to ask the dreaded “what are we?” question.
Suffice to say it didn’t go nearly as I expected—and even worse than I imagined.
The gist of it is, he had just been broken up with a couple weeks before we met and essentially he’s still hung up on her. he doesn’t dislike me, just doesnt feel very strongly about me either. And he feels he can’t love me in a way he loved her right now. And he wasn’t sure how to bring up that conversation.
Which. Wow. I didn’t really know how to respond. But it boiled down to me asking if he liked me at all, or he was just rolling with things—or if he could like me at some point, after he works through his feelings about his ex. He says he could see potential, but he doesn’t think it’s fair for me to “waste my time on him”.
I have a very hard time connecting romantically to people (I’ve been interested in maybe one or two people in my 2 decades of life lol) so finding someone (him) I have some form of romantic feelings is a rarity, I believe I could come to love him in time, and whatever else follows.
We’re still talking casually now, and I’ve opted to remove sexual relations for the time being but I’m having an internal conflict.
Of course I’ve also considered the rebound angle.
Should I just throw in the towel and leave him be? Or should I stick it out and see if we can mend something down the line?
Any advice helps, thank you in advance!

Back in the 90's, I was reading the DSM to figure out "what was wrong with me". And, I came across GID. I talked to people about it, especially women who were older then me, and they all told me they experienced the same things I did: hating their body, and wishing they weren't treated like objects, wanting to be seen as competent and intelligent and capable.
Part of the criteria was something like: "Is not solely the desire for the social role of the opposite sex".
When I was fully honest with myself, I recognized that's what I really wanted; which meant GID diagnosis didn't fit. I knew transsexuals and saw them as being different from me - people with a medical condition helped by transitioning.
However, I came across "GenderQueer". It defined "Gender as performance" - something you act throughout the day. We could choose to reject the social norms associated with our sex, and over time this would loosen up society so that it's more accepted of people as they are, and not as a stereotype.
Well, it was a good idea! But post 9/11 I saw a massive shift with people pushing their children to be extremely feminine or masculine, where my generation encouraged boys to play with dolls and girls to value education (in the middle class at least).
Somewhere along the way, this completely separate idea became popular, and I had no idea where it came from.
Well - I found it and wanted to share it!
In 1995 there was a book published called "Apartheid of Sex: A Manifesto on the Freedom of Gender". It was republished in 2005 as "From Transgender to Transhuman: A Manifesto On the Freedom Of Form".
And - it might not be the original source of the ideas, but it compiles all the "being transgender is not a mental illness" arguments people make today in one book.
But it's much more direct.
So - I propose there are at least 3 different competing ideas:

• The medical definition of transgendetranssexual
• The Gender Rebel model of breaking gender roles
• The Transhuman model that people should be encouraged to ponder their gender, find a place on the spectrum they feel comfortable, and have the freedom to modify their bodies to match their gender.

The main reason I'm posting it here is how the mixing of these ideas has harmed the community:

• People are being told the transhuman idea that they should find a place they are comfortable, and match their body to their mind. They are also being told that it's medical care that will make them well.

When someone says "You Chose This" - it's because they believe the Transhuman model, not the medical model, of transition.
If you search "From Transgender to Transhuman" you should find a site called TransReads that has a copy.
I am thinking it may be healing for some people here to read this - to understand the pressures they were under, and how this idea ended up directing medical care:

The apartheid of sex is too ancient to be dismantled overnight. But there are concrete steps that can start the process of liberating humanity’s future, among them:
• Adopting resolutions in the psychological and medical community to the effect that sex in humans is a continuous variable, a complex of phenotypic and genotypic factors as unique as one’s fingerprints. While male and female categories are useful to group biological characteristics for medical purposes, these same categories have socially detrimental effects when used outside the field of medicine.
• Adopting laws that prohibit the classification of people according to sex type except for bona fide medical purposes.
• Adopting educational curricula and entertainment programming that encourage the concept of self-defined sex and flexible gender behaviors. Sex should really be the sum of behaviors we call gender—an adjective, not a noun. People should explore genders. When they settle on a set of gender behaviors, the name for that set describes their sex. There are billions of sex types: from Rambo to Oprah, from Madonna to Prince, from deep blue to blood red, and a vast rainbow of androgynous possibilities in between. The important point is that gender exploration should come first, through free choice, and that sex is just the label for one’s chosen gender.
Today we go about the matter of sex ass backward. A male or female label is first imposed upon us without choice. We are then trained to adopt a set of appropriate gender behaviors, whether we like them or not. We have some flexibility in our particular choice of gender behavior but not much choice, lest we fall afoul of the apartheid of sex. However, feminism, technology, and transgenderism have debunked the myth of a “male and female” world. Life has much more gender potential than we can imagine.

Hello! My company is looking for 15-20 extras for a promotional advertisement shoot this weekend (Saturday, June 3rd) from 12:00pm - 4:00pm. We will be showcasing Village Workspaces in Santa Monica. Please email [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) if you are interested! More details to come via email response. Compensation included.
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Cant remember what its called. Has anyone run into this problem when building a pool. If so how much did it add to the cost of building your pool?

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(and scam youreport himso he can scam) his antiscam crap.*fake known scammer.*(ignore and reportantiscam.*fakecan'?t antiscam) reported for encouraging rule breaking stop the scams \[[\w\d]+\] \[.*\].*add you.*on other worlds? too? \[.*\] will try to add you.*lure in.*future (?#Bots interacting with bots) Ahh you know what they say keep the reports coming for.*scammer bot owners Isn't it suspicious that only.*wins large bets is a scammer bot that isn'?t automated n[o0]t\s+r[e3][a4][l1]\s+h[o0]st\s+f[a4]k[e3] (?# Above regex for some combination of "not real host fake") ([\(\[\{].*[\(\[\{]){1,} bets fakers! it is coded so that it always loses faking large bets Sigh, can someone tell this dude to stop Your fake bot stole my (big )?bets It seems like you are controlling it.*scamming Dang bra, don't steal my win venezuelans? (with autotyperbot ownercontrolling it) scambot.venezuelans? tired of.*venezuelans never betting on venezuelan venezuelan team works together fake bot is human.*automated since (yourur) big bets are fake a fake non-automated ^can'?t believe I'?m up this much ^ *warning: .+ is a fake host! bruh this dude.*is hilarious ^ *impostor: .+, don't play fakes! prove they're not just a human behind a screen tells u ur charge to prove can't verify their rolls The odds skew the more cash u put in verify and wear a charged amulet !verify this proves it'?s automated coin is.*better.*bots veg.*coin is the best type !verify to confirm verify the charges how is it you go from.*losses to.*wins I'?m in the money at least ^Do( notn't) bet here I want bet\s*$ Ima try that if i (faillose) again Level 3 Wins Plz rnjesus Gonna continue this mad run Gz+.*in the money+ This bot hates me This bot serious ^Enjoy these dude$ \d{2}m given enjoy it \d{2}m taken trade back (?#DISABLED someone (cringe) might actually say this :: Wi{2,}n\s*$) (?#DISABLED same, could be real :: this is so addicting) (?#Unrelated GE spam, begging) ^ *selling jokes?! ^ *dance?ing (for4) (moneycoinsitems\d{1,4} *[kmb](il+)?)[!\.] someone spare \d{1,4}[kmb] ^ *danc(eing) for (free )?(moneyitemsgpjunkstuff)! ^ *selling \d+ t(routuna)s?! ^ *(take?ac+ept)ing( al+)? (giftdonationtrade)s?( pl(ease[sz]))? ^ *rewarding (generositykindness) ^ *(does )?any[ -]?(onebody)( (in )?here)? (havegot) *(asome)?( full)? rune *(armou?r *)?(se?t)?( for me( to (havekeep))?)?\? ^ *take?ing a(llny) (junkitem) ^ *bot still works while muted ^ *clean out your banks! selling bulk (collectiondart tiprunes) avoid random b[o0]ts \d+% staking (Buying?Buy(Someone )?Sell me( your)?Selling my bankHaveDoes someone ha(sve) an?anyone (here )?ha(sve)NeedPaying forLooking someone who sells meLooking forI('ll)? pay \d{2,4}[kmb] for).*((allmanybest) (value?able high level )?itemsall( your)? bankall \d{1,4}[kmb]\+? banks?(all )? torva piecesall (your )?(goodbest) itemsArcaneArcane Spirit Shield[Ee]lyElysian Spirit ShieldD(ragon)? ClawsSanguinesti StaffBandos SetArmadyl SetArmadyl C(ross)?bowKodai( Wand)?Anc(estral)? SetInq(uisitor)? SetdhlDragon Hunter Lancesc?ythe( Of Vitur)*(g[hr]+azi )?rap[ie]+rDragon Hunter ((Cross)?bowc-?bow)dhcbdragon Warhammerdwht(wisted)? ?bow3rd age itemstorva (piecesarmou?r)zaryte (cross(bow)?c-?bow)harm orb(osmumtens? )?fang(tum[ea]ken'?s? )shadowMasoriburnt food and crushed gemsnon ge itemsfossilised dungbucket of rubblevoidwaker).*(\d{1,4}[mkb](il+)?over ge pricemax (cashstackgp)paying goodwill pay extra.*good offerpaying more th[ae]n gesell me for \d{1,4}[kmb]I pay \d{2,4}[kmb]\d{2}\% over ?price})? Someone shows? me \d{1,4}[kmb].*pay \d{1,4}[kmb] extra ^Do not pay ge taxes! Sell items to me ^(What )?do you prefer cash or tokens\? first.*to (givetrust) me.*(won'?t regret itwill be.*rewarded) give me .* knowing they won't be rewarded plis{2,} taking (urfree) stuff ^Why is every(one1) (givingdonating) me bless me with (millsmoneygp) (millsmoneygp) for (further progressionvideo) Can same o[ne]+ help me out pls somebody.*give me \d{1,5}[kmb] is anyone kind enough to trust me with Can someone? help with gp (anysome) ?(one1) help a broth(era) out (anysome) ?(one1) willing to (doubletripledonate) (anysome) ?(one1) (loangivedonate) (me )?\d+ ?[mk] (?#DISABLED might be a real player asking :: Does any(1one) have (a )?spare) (?#Promotional) C.0M C0.M disc\[\]rd Y0u?tube C\s*(O0\(\))\s*M C\s*\(\)\s*\/V\\ (?i)d[1i]sc[o0]rd[\. ]gg .+chance.+win.+t([ -]?bowwisted).+you[ -]*tube (nextfirst) \d{1,2} players gets? (\d+ *[kmb](il+)?tbow).+you[ -]*tube \d{1,4}[mb] giveaway.+(first come first serve!youtube) weekly \d+m 07 \d+[mk]-\d+[mk] (dailyweekly) giveaway \d+[mk] raffle giving .* to first \d{1,3} players huge \d{1,3}[mb] giveaway started search ".+" on facebook ^ *Quit+ing,((the)? *next.*youtube.*giveaway.*staking) [Nn]ext \d{1,3} [Pp]layers.*([Ff]acebook[Yy]outube) First \d players gets?.*youtube maxed.celebrating.*youtube swap.+rs3.+\(\)7.+d.?m.?m.+join.+cc on youtube for weekly show Need Torso/Diary.*[dp]m Me For Prices! Live results, raffles and giveaways Blue Bible r *s *m *[ai] *l *l *s *\. *c live now ttv\s?\/ No id verification osrsgold rsm.lls osrsgolds? chicksgold osrs.?farm osrsgd runechat runebet 99 swap Coin Stop Coinluck Coin Place Frost Bets Runewager Rsmarket GrandSwap nex swap rex swap swap clan mmo swap Ru Swap [>\[]+ *(99 swaptrade rsgamer swapac swapeco swapcoswap) *[<\]] S-Gamble gpcasino Coinw355 Coingame Coin Town cc join Grinders meow talk rsearn Hawkeye dp Jedi Cc Gpstall Pogrs \[Raid dm\] Coinall hotroll [i1]nfernocape.*[Cc] ?[oO0]+[Mm] Caw Win P 3 P 3 (O\(\)\[\]) s r s g d Runestake Runeshop uidhosts\.net pb\#1000 Tob Boosting tob07 Rs Zenith P 3 P 3 Gem4Life (NeedWant) an? Infernal Cape Caw W\d{2,3} Caw Duels Sell.*07 gold. Heroes Pk join.+cc.+legit.+dicing infernoscape infernal cape servwhite s *e *l *l *r *s *0 *7 rngbets\.net gembets ^ *join.*>+.*<+ osrs services discord TopMoments (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: p[\W_]*o[\W_]*g[\W_]*r[\W_]*s[\W_]*c[\W_]*[0o][\W_]*m) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: r[\W_]*u[\W_]*n[\W_]*e[\W_]*c[\W_]*h[\W_]*a[\W_]*t[\W_]*) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: [s5$][\W_]*e[\W_]*l[\W_]*l[\W_]*r[\W_]*[s5$][\W_]*[o0][\W_]*7[\W_]*) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: r[\W_]*[s5$][\W_]*m[\W_]*[a4][\W_]*[li1][\W_]*[li1][\W_]*[s5$]) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: ([o0]\(\))[\W_]*[s5$][\W_]*r[\W_]*[s5$][\W_]*g[\W_]*([o0]\(\))[\W_]*[il1][\W_]*d[\W_]*[s5$]) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: r[\W_]*[s5$][\W_]*4[\W_]*[uk]) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: o[\W_]*s[\W_]*r[\W_]*s[\W_]*g[\W_]*d[\W_]*c[\W_]*(\(\)[0o])[\W_]*m) (?#DISABLED extreme overkill :: r[\W_]*u[\W_]*n[\W_]*e[\W_]*s[\W_]*t[\W_]*a[\W_]*k[\W_]*e[\W_]*c[\W_]*[0o][\W_]*(mnn)) (?#W330 Rimmington house portal spam) eliterunners discord.gg.stamina discord.gg.Runners Bone Job.*cc Bone Runner find runners.*cc Runbones.*cc Join us to boost your pray(ering) e?xp 07 [Aa]ltar Gilded Altar.*Efficient Layout Feel free to follow us on youtube at ^Join.*cc for chill vibez+ workless.? (ccclan chat(osrs )?podcast) (\[.*\]){1,2} (Lit AlterMax House).*(\[.*\]){1,2} Onlyf Julie \[\s*workless\s*\] \[.*Xysti.*\] \[.*[Bb]one.*\] \[.*Kush Altar.*\] \[\s*johnor\s*\] Julie Woah \[.*barragegurl.*\] \[.*Damn Homie.*\] \[.*S[l1]u1.*\] \[.*6c1.*\] Lego Batman Maxed lit Alter.*The Batmans (?#Miscellania) Thadior Agrula Elevo (?#CUT and paste the following from Filtered Regex into Filtered Names) ^(vegasraisegamblerngrolltrusted) \d{3,}$ ^[Vv][Ee3][Gg] [a-zA-Z0-9]{4}$ CASINO.\d{1,4} ABC [A-Z]{3}\d \d{3}Runestake Coin (\w\d){3,4} HOST[- ][a-zA-Z0-9]{2,4}$ BET HOST [a-zA-Z0-9]{1,4}$ Frost [a-zA-z0-9]{4}$ GAME[- ]\w{2,4}[- ]\d{1,3} Royal [a-zA-Z0-9]{4}$ V\d{4} 

Full dislcaimer below. TL;DR: We're not Bethesda staff, this is an automated post.

Filthy Casual Links

• Discord
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From Bethesda.net

Read on to catch a preview of the latest and greatest items and offers that are currently available in the Atomic Shop, including this week's free items.

Free Items

Image
Tired of people raiding your CAMP? Give yourself a brake and grab this Gutted Car Gate, available for all Fallout 1st Members until June 6.
Channel your inner metal with the Chain License Plate Photomode Frame. Get it free until June 6.

Item	Available Until
Gutted Car Gate (Fallout 1st)	June 6
Chain License Plate Photomode Frame	June 6

Visit the Atomic Shop on these days to claim a different reward, like consumables, in-game currencies, and more. Each of the items below is available until 12:00 p.m. ET the following day.

Item	Available on
Free Scout's Banner	May 30
Caps x250	May 31
Repair Kit	June 1
Scout's Banner	June 2
Legendary Scrip x50	June 3
Lunchbox	June 4
Repair Kit	June 5

Limited Time Offers

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With the Drive-in Dolly Bundle, you can create the ultimate diner experience! Available for a limited time.

Item	Atom price
Drive-in Dolly Bundle	1400
Mistress of Mystery Bundle	1800
Drive-In Dolly Outfit	700
Neon Sign - Nuka Quantum	300
Hot Rod Power Armor Bench Model	700
Sugar Bombs Pip-Boy Paint	600
Tire Toilet Outhouse	300
Unstoppables! Bed	300
The Unstoppables Stash	500

The Drive-in Dolly Bundle includes: * Drive-In Dolly Outfit * Neon Sign - Nuka Quantum * Hot Rod Power Armor Station * Wave Pose * So Hungry Emote * Sugar Bombs Pip-Boy Paint * Tire Toilet Outhouse * Corvega Diner Seat * Hot rod on blocks
The Mistress of Mystery Bundle includes: * Mistress of Mystery PA Paint Set * Mistress of Mystery Sidekick Costume and Underarmor * Mistress of Mystery Sidekick Mask * Mistress of Mystery Player Icon * Unstoppables! Bed * The Unstoppables Stash

Last Week

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Some of last week's items are still available for a limited time.

Item	Atom Price
Bowling Team Bundle	1200
Bad Idea Bundle	1200
Doll Set Bundle	600
Bowling Ball Loot Bag	500
Big Fill & Bigger Fill Ceiling Light	350
Antique Gas Pump Brewing Workbench	500
Flame-ingo Paint (Flamer)	500
Daredevil Bodysuit w/ Helmet	800
Annebelle Porcelain Doll	250

The Bowling Team Bundle includes: * Bowling Ball Rack Display Case with 5 Balls * Black Alley Cats Bowling Ball * Vault 76 Blue Bowling Ball * Gold Hornwright Bowling Ball * Red Atom Bomb Bowling Ball * Resin Vault Boy Bowling Ball * Alley Cats Bowling team outfit * Big Fill Lights * Bowling Ball Loot Bag
The Bad Idea Bundle includes: * Antique Gas Pump Brewing Workbench * Flame-ingo Weapon Skin * Nuclear Glare Pose * Daredevil Bodysuit w/ Helmet
The Doll Set Bundle includes: * Annabelle Porcelain Doll * Porcelain Doll * Heirloom Blue Porcelain Doll

Greatest Hits

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Some of our favorite items have returned to the shop for a limited time. Each item listed below is available until 12:00 p.m. ET on June 6.

Item	Atom Price
Clean Bathroom Bundle	1800 1440 (20% off!)
Red Rocket Garage Bundle	1200 960 (20% off!)
West Virginia Outfit Bundle	1000 800 (20% off!)
Plague Rider Power Armor Skin	1400 1120 (20% off!)
Poodle Skirt and Blouse	700 560 (20% off!)
Brotherhood of Steel Armory	700 560 (20% off!)
Sports Nostalgia Wallpaper	500 400 (20% off!)
Sitting Pose	150 120 (20% off!)
Free States Salute	200 160 (20% off!)

Headed for the Vault

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Some existing items are heading out of the Atomic Shop and into the Vault this week. Be sure to pick up anything that catches your eye, because these items will only be available until 12:00 p.m. ET on June 6.

Item	Atom Price
New Home Mega-Bundle	2500 1750 (30% off!)
Destroyed Camp Bundle	1800 1260 (30% off!)
Shadow Prime PA Bundle	2000 1400 (30% off!)
Get Off My Lawn Bundle	1500 1050 (30% off!)
Blueridge Caravan Persona Bundle	1800 1260 (30% off!)
Camden Park Mega-Bundle	1800 1260 (30% off!)
Fire Chief Responder Outfit Bundle	1200 840 (30% off!)
Cultist Dungeon Bundle	1200 840 (30% off!)
Skiing Bundle	750 525 (30% off!)

Weekly Offers

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Check out the daily deals this week in the Atomic Shop! Each of the items below is available until 12:00 p.m. ET the following day.

Item	Atom Price	Available From	Available Until
Amateur Inventor's Laser Gun (Fallout 1st)	500 250 (50% off!)	May 30	June 6
Farm Life Bundle (Fallout 1st)	1500 1125 (25% off!)	May 30	June 6
Home Sweet Home Frame	200 100 (50% off!)	May 30	May 31
Inspector Sleeping Bag	500 250 (50% off!)	May 31	June 1
Frostbite Paint (Flamer)	400 200 (50% off!)	June 1	June 2
Responders Backpack	500 250 (50% off!) (50% off!)	June 2	June 3
Double Headed Chally Costume	800 400 (50% off!)	June 3	June 4
Vault-Tec Prototype Water Purifier	300 150 (50% off!)	June 4	June 5
Playtime Power Armor Paint Set	1000 500 (50% off!)	June 5	June 6

Previous Posts

Title	Post Date
Atomic Shop Weekly Update: May 23 – May 30	2023-05-23 16:10:05
Atomic Shop Weekly Update: May 16 – May 23	2023-05-16 16:50:05
Atomic Shop Weekly Update: May 9 – May 16	2023-05-09 19:00:04
Atomic Shop Weekly Update: May 2 – May 9	2023-05-03 15:10:04
Meet Ellys Tan, Quest Designer at Bethesda Game Studios	2023-04-28 16:00:04

From FC Mods

Need help with something? Pop by our Discord (link below)! Note: We have a bouncer bot. You may be asked to verify your account to prevent spam.
Disclaimer: This is an automated post pulling Bethesda's news page. FC Mods are NOT Bethesda staff, responses to this post likely won't reach Bethesda staff. For official feedback, go to the official Bethesda Discord, or Bethesda support page.

Hello,
My name is David and I'm a graphic designer. My main focus is on branding/visual identity design, as well as packaging, but I am potentially open to other areas as well (I started dabbling in UI/UX, but please go easy on me).
No matter if you're working on a new business, product, service or if you're in the game for a while, taking care of your branding is half the battle and it's never too late to get that done!
When it comes to pricing I try to take everything into account and be flexible whenever possible. With that being said my standard hourly rate is $35/hr, though I prefer to work at a fixed price which typically starts in the $350-500 range for most projects such as logo or packaging design. This of course varies depending on the complexity and amount of work.
Check out my website/portfolio here.
Feel free to get in touch either over reddit messages, chat or by email found on my site should you have any inquiries.
Looking forward to hearing from you!

Hello,
My name is David and I'm a graphic designer. My main focus is on branding/visual identity design, as well as packaging, but I am potentially open to other areas as well (I started dabbling in UI/UX, but please go easy on me).
No matter if you're working on a new business, product, service or if you're in the game for a while, taking care of your branding is half the battle and it's never too late to get that done!
When it comes to pricing I try to take everything into account and be flexible whenever possible. With that being said my standard hourly rate is $35/hr, though I prefer to work at a fixed price which typically starts in the $350-500 range for most projects such as logo or packaging design. This of course varies depending on the complexity and amount of work.
Check out my website/portfolio here.
Feel free to get in touch either over reddit messages, chat or by email found on my site should you have any inquiries.
Looking forward to hearing from you!

Hello,
My name is David and I'm a graphic designer. My main focus is on branding/visual identity design, as well as packaging, but I am potentially open to other areas as well (I started dabbling in UI/UX, but please go easy on me).
No matter if you're working on a new business, product, service or if you're in the game for a while, taking care of your branding is half the battle and it's never too late to get that done!
When it comes to pricing I try to take everything into account and be flexible whenever possible. With that being said my standard hourly rate is $35/hr, though I prefer to work at a fixed price which typically starts in the $350-500 range for most projects such as logo or packaging design. This of course varies depending on the complexity and amount of work.
Check out my website/portfolio here.
Feel free to get in touch either over reddit messages, chat or by email found on my site should you have any inquiries.
Looking forward to hearing from you!

Summary: It’s that time of the year again. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, everything is blooming… and you’re out there, dying from hay fever. Today has been particularly awful because your job required you to be outdoors for several hours. After returning home, you’re a sneezing, itchy mess. Thankfully, your doting and caring partner is there to take care of you. They’ll do anything to make you feel better, even if it means going out to buy the entire stock of tissues at the grocery store.
*****
Key:
(Words in parenthesis): Sound effects
[Words in brackets]: The Speaker’s actions
“Words in quotation marks”: The Speaker’s lines
Words in italics: Scene change
*****
General Notes: This was a silly idea I had while working on my lengthier, more challenging projects. The inspiration for this one, unfortunately, comes from my current battle with seasonal allergies, haha. As a side note, in the script, I use the term, “Gesundheit” in place of “Bless you” after the Listener sneezes. For anyone who doesn’t know, the word means, “health”, or in this context, “good health.” I actually say, “Gesundheit” in real life, so I decided to write that in.
Notes on Usage: You may record this script for an audio, but I do need to be credited. I would very much like to listen to it, so please send me a link so I can follow up. Certain types of monetization are fine (like YouTube), but please do not paywall this or any of my scripts. As for the script itself, you may edit the genders and you may change the title to “Your Boyfriend or Girlfriend” if you would like to. Please keep the rest of the writing the same, however. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message. Thank you!
*****
Setting: The Speaker and the Listener’s home
(The front door opens and closes. Footsteps approach.)
“Welcome home, sweetheart! How was your…”
[Interrupted pause to take in the Listener’s appearance]
“…Your eyes are red, and so is your nose. You look like you’ve been crying. Did something happen at work that’s made you upset?”
[Pause]
“…Nothing bad happened?”
[Pause]
“I’m glad to hear there wasn’t a work catastrophe. That still doesn’t explain why it looks like you’ve had a rough day. You do know that if anything is bothering you, you can always come to me, right? Whatever it is, I’ll listen and help you through it. I promise.”
(A sneeze, coming from the Listener.)
“Gesundheit! Here, let me grab you a tissue…”
(A tissue is pulled from a box.)
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Wait a minute…”
[Pause as the realization sinks in]
“It’s your allergies, isn’t it? They’re acting up today.”
[Pause]
“Why didn’t you just say that from the beginning?”
[Pause]
"It is a big deal. Allergies are nothing to downplay. I can tell you’re struggling, even though you’re putting on a brave face. This time of year is always difficult for you, but you seem more affected than usual. Did you spend a lot of time outside today?”
[Pause]
“You were out there for most of the morning and afternoon?”
[Pause]
“I’m so sorry. That must have been really exhausting and uncomfortable. Come here.”
[Pause for a hug and a gentle kiss]
“You’re home now, so you’re safe from all those nasty, harmful things outside. I’m here, sweetheart. I’m right here, and I’ll take care of you.”
[Pause]
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m always happy to take care of you. Now, for the first order of business, let’s get you out of these work clothes…”
[Pause]
“Oh, stop smirking at me. I didn’t mean it like that!”
[Pause to chuckle]
“You have such a dirty mind.”
[Pause]
“You’re right – I do love it. But, that’s beside the point.”
[Pause]
“Aww, don’t pout. We’ll have plenty of time for that later. Right now, I have to make sure you’re not going to die from your allergies.”
[Pause]
“You can give me your bedroom eyes all you want, but I’m still not going to change my mind. Let’s get you feeling better, and then you can have your wicked way with me, okay?”
[Pause]
“Good. As I was saying…you should remove your clothes because they probably have a lot of allergens on them.”
[Pause]
“Yes, you could put your pajamas on, but how about I draw you a bath first? That way, you can stretch out and relax for a while. After the day you’ve had, it sounds like you could use something to loosen and soothe your muscles.”
[Pause]
“Mhhm, I’d love to join you, but I have to run out to get a few items.”
[Pause]
“You want to know what we could possibly need?”
[Pause]
“Well, we’re going to need more tissues since we’re down to our last box. I also noticed that you finished your bottle of eyedrops last night, so I’ll replace that with a new one. Speaking of things that you've been doing at night, you’ve been drinking more of your ginger tea. At first, I wasn’t sure why, but now that I think about it, the tea probably helps to alleviate some of the symptoms, at least enough for you to sleep. I’ll stock up on that as well. And to be completely honest, I’m not sure how effective your current allergy med is. It hardly seems like it’s touching your allergies. I know how annoying it can be to change meds, but it might be time to try something new. I’ll pick up a couple of options, so you can see which one works for you.”
[Pause]
“…What’s with the look?”
[Pause]
“No, you’re definitely giving me a look. And I can’t decipher it. You have this adorable, little smile on your lips, but your eyebrows are furrowed, like you’re trying to figure something out. Was it what I said? Did it any of it weird you out?”
[Pause]
“No? Then, what is it? What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
[Pause]
“You’re…surprised that anyone would care enough to pay attention to the little things about you.”
[Pause]
“I do care. Very much so. As your partner, I’m supposed to know you, and that means learning and understanding your likes, dislikes, the subtleties in your behavior, and your quirks.”
[Pause]
“Thank you for saying that, but I’m the lucky one here.”
[Pause to kiss]
“Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll have that bath ready for you.”
(The sound of retreating footsteps. The water begins running in the bathroom. A flicker of a lighter to light some candles.)
“Sweetheart! You can come in now.”
[Pause to groan]
“You just had to wear your silk robe, didn’t you? You know what that does to me.”
[Pause to sigh]
“Exactly. You’re making it very difficult for me to concentrate.”
[Pause]
“Yes, really. And stop biting your lip like that. Your seduction tactics aren’t going to work on me. Not this time.”
[Pause]
“On the contrary, I find you extremely attractive right now, even with your sniffly nose and bloodshot eyes.”
[Pause]
“I’m not joking. You’re always gorgeous.”
[Pause]
“Of course I mean it.”
[Pause]
“We’re getting off-topic again. You’re here for a reason, and that is to take a nice, long soak. I just tested the temperature of the water, so it should still be hot. If you're not too congested, you should notice the scent in the water. It's from your favorite bubble bath - the lavender and mint one. And in case you’d like to do something while you’re relaxing, I left the novel you’re currently reading on the bathroom counter, along with a mug of your ginger tea and a plate of those shortbread cookies you like so much. Last, but certainly not least, I lit candles to add to the overall ambiance.”
[Pause]
“I’m glad you think it looks like paradise in here. Hopefully, it feels that way, too.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“I’m perfectly aware that I could join you and find out if this really feels like paradise, but I should get going. Don’t worry, I won’t be gone for too long.”
[Pause]
“Yes, I can handle dinner tonight. You didn’t even have to ask – I was planning on it anyway. Would you like me to cook something, or would you like to order takeout?”
[Pause]
“You’d like soup from the bistro around the corner?”
[Pause]
“Yeah, I can stop by after I visit the store. It’s no problem at all.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Yes, I know which soup to order. You’ll also want the French baguette, rather than the oyster crackers.”
[Pause]
“Like I said, I know you. Your food preferences were one of the first things I learned about you, actually. Now, enjoy your bath, sweetheart. I’ll see you soon.”
[Pause to kiss]
(The sound of footsteps retreating. A car engine begins.)
A little while later, the Speaker arrives home, juggling what appears to be a massive number of bags.
(The front door opens and closes gently. The rustling of bags as they are set down.)
“Hey, sweetheart. What are you doing out here in the living room? I thought you’d be in the bathtub for a while longer.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Okay, that is a valid excuse to leave. I don’t like it when my skin starts to prune, either.”
(The sound of the Listener going through the bags.)
“Oh, these? Um…I might have gotten a little carried away when I was at the store. In my defense, I wanted to make sure you had everything you could possibly want or need!”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Yes, it was absolutely necessary to buy out the entire stock of tissues. It wasn’t like they had that many anyway. It was just a few dozen.”
[Pause]
“C’mon, 48 boxes isn’t that bad.”
[Pause]
“All right, fine. It is a bit…much. The cashier was having a field day, though. He kept laughing at me, saying this was like The Great Toilet Paper Hoarding of 2020.”
[Pause]
“Stop laughing! I only did what I thought was best.”
[Pause]
“Yes, I know I’m ridiculous. Hey, you asked me out first, and you’re still dating me, three years later. So, really, who’s the ridiculous one here?”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Still me? That’s what I thought you’d say.”
[Slightly longer pause]
“How are you feeling? Did the bath help?”
[Pause]
“Good, I’m glad. You do look much more at ease than when you first arrived home. Your eyes are still red, though. Are they itchy at all?”
[Pause]
“A bit? Hmm, now is probably a good time to put some eye drops in. I purchased the same brand that you normally use.”
(Rustling of a bag as the Speaker reaches into it.)
“Here it is.”
[Pause]
“You look like you’re about to ask me something, but you’re hesitating. What is it, sweetheart?”
[Pause]
“You’d like me to help you with the eye drops?”
[Pause]
“Sure, I can do that. Just let me put these items away first, and then I’ll give you my undivided attention. Which spot is more comfortable for you to do this? The couch or the bedroom?”
[Pause]
“The couch? That works. Oh, I have your soup, too. Would you like that after the eye drops or later tonight?”
[Pause]
“Later it is then. I’ll keep it in the fridge for now.”
(Cabinets open and close.)
(Soft footsteps as the Speaker comes back into the living and sits on the couch.)
“Everything is all set. I’m ready to…”
(The Listener sneezes again.)
“Gesundheit!”
(Another tissue is pulled from the box.)
“Here’s another tissue.”
[Pause]
“Sweetheart, you are not a gross mess. I told you, you’re always beautiful.”
[Pause]
“Yes, you’re beautiful, even when you’re sneezing up a storm and blowing your nose. Only you could make any of that even remotely cute.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Do you feel okay enough to lie down, so I can put the drops in?”
[Pause]
“Good. Here, place your head in my lap.”
[Pause]
“There you go. Are you comfortable?”
[Pause]
“Good. On the count of three, I’ll place two drops in the right eye, okay?”
[Pause]
“One…two…three.”
[Pause]
“I’m sorry. I know it stings, sweetheart. It’ll be over soon, I promise. Take a deep breath for me.”
(Sounds of breathing.)
“Are you all right?”
[Pause]
“Good. Are you ready for the other eye?”
[Pause]
“Okay, I’ll count to three again.”
[Pause]
“One…two…three.”
[Pause]
“You did a great job with that one. You hardly reacted at all.”
[Pause]
“Can you open your eyes so I can see if the redness has improved?”
[Pause]
“They’re looking much better now. Do they still itch?”
[Pause]
“No? That’s good. I’m relieved to hear that.”
[Pause]
“Sure, you can close your eyes. Relax, sweetheart. We can stay here for as long as you’d like to. There’s nowhere else I need to be, nor is there anything else I have to do. This time is all yours.”
[Pause]
“You like the sound of that? Mhhm, me too.”
[Pause]
“Would it be all right if I ran my fingers through your hair? It’s comforting for me, and I think it is for you, too.”
[Pause]
“Thank you.”
(Sounds of the Speaker’s fingers running through the Listener’s hair – light scratching.)
“How does that feel?”
[Pause]
“Like you’re on cloud nine? Hmm, that is a big compliment.”
[Pause to sigh, dreamily]
“Your hair is so soft and silky. I can’t get over how amazing it feels between my fingers.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Yes, that’s why I make up every excuse to touch it. I especially love it when you first wake up and roll over. You always have a strand of hair that falls across your forehead, and I tuck it behind your ear each morning.”
[Pause]
“Mhmm, that is a part of our morning routine, you’re right. Well, that and the ton of kisses that follow it.”
[Pause]
“I love every part of our routine, sweetheart. Even the part where you throw me out of bed because I’ve made us late for work…again.”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Speaking of things we usually do every day, tell me about your day. How was work?”
[Pause]
“Wait, that’s why you were outdoors for so long?”
[Pause]
“Your boss thought it was a great day for team building, so you had to travel by foot to complete a scavenger hunt around town?”
[Pause to chuckle in disbelief]
“Wow, and I thought my workplace was strange. The last time we tried team building, someone got punched, and that was a whole HR nightmare. Do you remember the Escape Room Incident last fall?”
[Pause]
“Yeah, that’s the one. We’re still dealing with the repercussions from that. Anyway, did you have fun doing the scavenger hunt, at least?”
[Pause]
“That’s good. It sounds like your sneezing and itchy eyes weren’t completely in vain then. Still, I’m sorry your allergies made things more difficult today. Hopefully, switching to a new med will help. There are two kinds that you haven’t tried yet, so I bought both. They’re in the medicine cabinet now.”
[Pause]
“What do you mean you’ll really get a chance to put a new med to the test? Will you be outside for another extended period of time?”
[Pause]
“You have a team building exercise on Friday? What is it this time?”
[Pause to chuckle in disbelief]
“Kickball, really?”
[Pause]
“Okay, your company takes the cake for being the weirdest. Although… if I’m being honest, it’s probably the most enjoyable as well.”
[Pause]
“Oh, the game is open to the employees’ spouses and partners? Do you mean as spectators or players?”
[Pause]
“I see. They're allowed to be players. That is pretty cool. You know, you’re doing that thing where you’re trying to be coy, but I can see right through it. This your way of asking if I’ll play, isn’t it?”
[Pause]
“I’d love to. But, wait… if this is a team-building exercise, then wouldn’t you be with your coworkers? That would mean… all the spouses and partners would be on the same team. So…we’d be competing against each other.”
[Pause]
“No, I’m not scared! Far from it. You’re the one who should be afraid. I’m going to destroy you at kickball. Just you wait.”
[Pause]
“Mhhm, wanna bet on it?”
[Pause]
“Yeah? If that’s what you want, then I’d be stupid to refuse. And what do I get if I win?”
[Pause to chuckle]
“Oh, I’ll definitely agree to those terms.”
[Slightly longer pause]
“You’re starting to look sleepy, sweetheart. Today has taken a toll on you, so you’re probably ready for a well-deserved nap. We’ll come back to this conversation, all right? For now, just rest. I’ve got you.”
[Pause]
“I’m sure. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Sleep well, sweetheart. I love you.”
[Pause to kiss gently]

First Previous
Chapter 14: A Pleasant Game of Skirmish
Due to the distance between Earth and Cradle, multiple jumps were required. As such, major worlds in between the two points were designated and added to the jump list. While it extended the time it would take to get there, it would be worth it to gather more information on humanity. When jumping into a system, the Into the Black would do a detailed scan on every major planet, circling them if need be. Each system would take hours to record, but the new potential discoveries more than made up for it.
Meanwhile, life on the ship continued. Vigil in particular found himself wandering the upper decks, as Glevar had forbidden him from “escorting” Irudo while he was at work. Hesitant at first, Vigil left, believing he was in capable hands. Now, with no purpose, he was left to his own devices.
Thoughts of the garden kept popping up in his mind. Wishing to sate his curiosity, he gradually made his way over to it. Passing through the checkpoint, he was greeted with a wall of greenery. Small paths meandered through the small forest, while larger paths ringed the exterior.
Picking one of the smaller paths at random, Vigil walked down it, surrounded by life and serenity. The vegetation was both alien and yet familiar at the same time. Large trees with rough brown bark stretched upwards, topped by green leaves. Some were not completely the same as Earth vegetation, however.
Some of the tree trunks had a much darker, reddish hue, and wicked looking spikes lining them. While others had red or even purple leaves. Those with spikes had signs with foreign words set in the ground beside them, adorned by artwork depicting a mouth eating the tree with a large X. Going by this, Vigil assumed they were not edible. Why anyone wanted to eat the trees, he could not fathom. Apparently, though, the signs did not pertain to the wildlife transplanted onto the ship. A small creature with eyes nearly as large as its head, a jet black body covered in fur, and a long bushy tail, sat munching on the leaves of the tree. All the while staring at Vigil, curious as to who was intruding on its lunch.
Another oddity was the “grass”, if one could call it that. The plant in question blanketed the forest floor. It was bluish green with razor thin blades, more filament than proper leaf. Though it was extremely thin, it grew so dense that fallen debris, such as leaves and twigs, seemed to float above it.
Possibly deadly tree’s and strange grass aside… it was… enjoyable. It was nice to be so far away from war, yet confusing at the same time. He had no purpose here, no reason. Was it truly fine for him to stop? To lie down his sword, so to speak?
A beautiful flower off the path caught his eye. It had yet to unfurl its white petals for the day. Wanting to observe the flower in greater detail, Vigil stepped off the path and walked over. He kneeled down before it, taking in every aspect of its design. He reached out and stroked a petal. He did so agonizingly slow and gentle, yet even that was not enough to prevent harm to the frail life before him.
His finger ripped away one of the pure white petals, revealing a crimson red interior. Liquid, whether nectar or something else, leaked from the injury. It too was red, blood red. Surprised, he stood quickly. He did not want to harm the small flower further. Turning away, he paused. He saw his tracks, deep and obtrusive to the natural scenery. Wherever he walked, he had brought death to the surrounding life. Crushing the small filament like vegetation that covered the ground, killing it with each step.
He was reminded then, what his purpose was. He was a weapon, nothing more, nothing less. His purpose was to stand ready, so when the Nemesis came, these new people could wield him. Until he met his end, his purpose was to fight and kill. Forgetting this only brought harm to the world around him, and those existing peacefully within it. He walked back to the path, retracing his steps so to no bring further harm to those undeserving of it. He went back down the path to where he had come and left the garden and all the life within. Lest he bring death to them as well.
-
Elsewhere on the ship, Hran was forbidden from strenuous activity, being injured as he was. Which meant that he was practically useless in the engineering department. Thus, he was given a few of the data banks to work on.
He normally wasn’t able to pick up anything heavy as is, but now he wasn’t even allowed to so much as think of lifting anything that weighed more than him. Since he usually tinkered on things, he had created a sort of nest in the back of the large engineering bay. So, secluded in his little hideaway, he rummaged around in the data banks. Hoping for something useful.
While technically every scrap of information was crucial, he was finding fairly basic things. Knowledge that even the average denizen of the GU knew. Skipping this data bank, he moved on to another, and struck gold. Well, gold to him anyway. The importance of his finding would be graded by his superiors at a later date.
When he had opened the data bank, he had found hundreds of thousands of hours of footage. Not like communicator footage someone would record when something exciting happened, but of combat footage! Combat footage with the Nemesis! If they wanted to learn about the Nemesis and their tactics, this was the best way, aside from Vigil.
Opening the first file, Hran was immediately met with the sounds of gunfire and explosions. He quickly turned down the volume, afraid someone had heard. When no one came snooping, he relaxed and resumed the video.
The gunfire resumed, and a human male barked out some strange words and the wearer of the camera looked to the side. Hran’s eyes widened. He saw only men, dozens of battle-hardened and experienced soldiers. They were in some kind of natural depression in the dirt. Lines of men were running hunched over, keeping their heads low. All around them was dust and smoke, obscuring their view of the battlefield, but they fought regardless. Peeking from above the clouds of dust, were burned and blasted out buildings.
Then, suddenly, a man in armor ravaged by battle pointed behind the soldier with the camera and raised his weapon. The camera whipped around to see several terrifying four armed creatures dashing out of the smoke. Though the human men were already taller than him by several centias, the Nemesis towered over them. They did not hesitate though. They did not run or shirk their duty; they met the charging aliens head on.
Soldiers before the cameraman fired and were cut down by both blade and gun. The Nemesis seemed to favor holding a firearm in their upper two arms and blades in their lower two. Given the close proximity, Hran could see the advantage.
But the humans did not back away, they held their ground. Every bullet or bolt of energy caused the Nemesis to shine at the impact site. Hran ogled the works of engineering. They had personal energy shields! A man directly in front of the cameraman ducked under the blades of one attacker, and shoved the barrel of his weapon into the Nemesis’ side, and pulled the trigger. Circumventing the shield.
The Nemesis roared in pain and outrage, and cut the man in half. Hran choked back vomit. The viscera and gore were not censored of course, giving him a front-row seat to the brutality of war.
The unknown soldier’s death would not be in vain. The cameraman and another soldier rushed the wounded alien and tackled it. The man with the helmet cam straddled the creature and pressed his weapon directly into the underside of the Nemesis’ four eyed helmet.
Hran looked away as brain matter and yellowish alien blood explode from the now dead Nemesis. He felt sick to his stomach watching the battle. This wasn’t some make believe fantasy, some fictional war movie. This was real footage from real people struggling to survive just one more day. Yet… he couldn’t stop watching.
The soldier was back up, and continued to fight, but his time did not last. Another Nemesis took the place of the first, and now it was the cameraman’s turn to be cut down. Hran watched as the world turned sideways, and crimson blood painted the soil. The soldier did not stir. And all the while, the Nemesis and human warriors continued to battle eachother, staining the sandy colored soil with their blood. The video ended soon after the soldier’s death.
Hran was stunned. He had never seen anyone die. And now he had just witnessed the death of dozens. He was lightheaded, and his stomach ached. He gulped down the bile which threatened to pour from his mouth. Humanity had given their lives in defense of an undeserving galaxy. It was because of them he and his people were alive today.
He would bear witness to their final moments and learn all he could. So that if the Nemesis came, they would be ready. Steeling himself, Hran clicked on the next file. Great cannons the size of skyscrapers fired, parting the clouds in waves. As the clouds split, an endless sea of ships were revealed descending from the skies. Hran prepared himself to witness even more death and carnage than before.
-
Kitern was fuming. She understood Tentzonta’s worries, because she herself was wary of Vigil when they first let him wander as he pleased. But after he had literally carried her to safety, that opinion had changed drastically. Vigil was a soldier, just like her. She had killed people in the line of duty, yet no one feared her. Well, maybe a little, but it wasn’t because she had spilled blood. More because of her charming personality.
To top it all off, her damn arm was aching from not being moved in so long. Some might say she was overreacting, but having her arm in a sling felt more like she was being caged, like she was being tied down. It was unnatural to have her body hindered like this.
Of course, it was for her own health. Klofaa had scanned her arm and made certain nothing was broken. The blow had simply dislocated her shoulder and pressed it against the main nerve in her arm, preventing her from being able to move it. Once her shoulder had been re-set, she was able to move it like normal. But that wasn’t enough for Klofaa. She wanted to make absolutely certain Kitern was in no danger, so forced this stupid sling on her.
The feeling in her chest, of being confined and restricted, kept increasing. It was irritating, to say the least. She wanted to blow off some steam, but there wasn’t much she could do with one hand. Kitern paused. She did like watching sports. She could try to start a game of bailok between the crew?
She shook her head and continued walking. No, that required too much work for her to only sit on the sidelines. Besides, most of the crew wouldn’t bother participating. She wondered if Vigil knew any sports? She was sure plenty of people would be interested in playing a human sport.
“Hmmm,” she hummed and scratched her jaw. She couldn’t imagine Vigil playing anything. Even if he did, he would have to play against other mega bipeds, otherwise, he would absolutely destroy the average biped like her. She laughed suddenly. ‘Imagine their faces when they realize the person who whooped their asses is a guy! They would never be able to live that down!’ she thought. The image of a bunch of whiney bailok players came to mind. They already fell over at the slightest touch. If Vigil ran into one of them, armor or not, he would pulverize them.
She stopped again, an idea coming to her. Forget sports like bailok, what about skirmish? It was a simple game, but a blast to play and watch. Easy to set up, too. All you needed was an energy rifle with a dampener on the end to lower its power and a sensor to ping whenever the laser hit. They had all the ingredients they just needed to put them together.
She knew Asteli would jump at the opportunity to play. The spunky Venanian absolutely loved the game. Gre’Namra would follow along with her, and she could always order Onsa and Dentala if they didn’t want to join. She could even play with one arm if she wanted, skirmish laser dampeners worked on nearly all energy weapons after all. The only hard part would be finding everyone.
Grinning, she got to work scouring the ship.
-
Vigil was peacefully watching the blackness of space, his mind set at ease by the void. Something that many found unsettling. The Into the Black was scanning another system, on its way to Cradle. He didn’t recognize it, which was a small blessing. He kept recalling the past and his purpose as of late. Looking at the dead husk of a world he and his brethren had spilled their blood over would do no good.
“FOUND HIM!” a familiar voice screamed, loud enough to scare some of the nearby crew. The observation deck had, well, observation windows to look out into space. In this case, Vigil was at the very end of the large main corridor which ran the length of the ship. As Deck One held numerous amenities for the crew, it was frequented by many. Thus, there were more than a few startled faces.
Vigil turned as Asteli came bounding up to him with Gre’Namra following close behind. “Hey big guy! Captain wants you!”
Vigil looked down at her, “I will report to the bridge immediately,” he replied.
“Not that captain. Commander Kitern,” Gre’Namra clarified, stepping in front of him.
Vigil tilted his head. “Understood. Where am I needed?”
“In the hangar bay! Come on, you’re going to love this!” Asteli practically sang, as she went behind him and attempted to push him along. Her efforts were futile. She simply walked in place, feet slipping on the deck plates. She grunted in excretion. “Come on!”
“Affirmative. I will report to commander Kitern at once.” He stepped forward, causing Asteli to lose her balance and almost fall. Gre’Namra reached out to help stabilize her, before they began following Vigil to the lift.
As soon as the lift doors opened, Asteli rushed out screaming, “I found him!” Before she and Gre’Namra ran into the locker room. Vigil marched orderly to the hanger bay, to find the rest of the marines idly standing around in their armor on the edge of a symmetrical field of crates and containors. Strange black devices decorated their armor. One side was flat to adhere to their armor, while the other had a slight bulge. They were stuck at intervals, correlating with vital areas.
Vigil walked up to Kitern. “Has there been an emergency?”
She shook her head. “If me being pissed as hell counts, then yes. Otherwise, no, there hasn’t been. We’re setting up for a game of skirmish. That’s what the sensors are for,” she said, pointing a claw at a device on Dentala’s helmet, nestled between her horns.
“What is skirmish?” Vigil asked.
“It’s a game you play to simulate a firefight. You put the sensors on your chest, back, head, arms, and legs.” She lifted a laser pistol with a bright blue block on the end of the barrel. “Then you put a dampener on an energy weapon of your choice and shoot eachother. The dampener lowers the power of the beam so that it can’t kill you, just trigger the sensors. It takes five shots to ‘kill’ someone, two if you shoot them in the head. Forgot how many you need if the species has more than one head, though.” She returned her sidearm to its holster and waved a hand dismissively. “Doesn’t matter. Point is, you want to play?”
He thought for a second. While labeled as a game, it would be an efficient tool to maintain combat readiness and test his new allies’ capabilities. They would need to be an efficient fighting force to have a chance against the Nemesis. “Affirmative,” he finally replied.
Kitern chuffed. “Good. Onsa, get this man a gun! Never thought I’d say those words.” She shrugged. “Oh well. If you need me, I’ll be with Shavan putting bets on the winners.”
“Hello down there!” the ship’s quartermaster said upon hearing her name. She waved down at them from a platform being held aloft by a crane which ran along the tracks embedded in the ceiling. She began lowering the platform via a linked data pad.
“Don’t tell the captain about that. It breaks several safety regulations,” Onsa said from the side, handing him a pack of sensors and an energy rifle with a dampener already attached. Vigil looked at them curiously and began putting them on various parts of his body. Meanwhile, Asteli and Gre’Namra returned, now fully armored, and grabbed two more rifles and packets of sensors.
Now high above the “battlefield”, Kitern announced. “If the contestants are ready, you may take your positions!” she said in a haughty voice. She leaned over and elbowed Shavan in the side. “Make sure you record this.”
Shavan chuffed and drawled, “Already ahead of ya.” Then linked her data pad to the hangar’s cameras, pointing them so they covered every inch of the field.
Asteli ran off to one side of the makeshift arena while Onsa and Dentala went to the other. Gre’Namra walked up to Vigil and said, “You’re on our team to help balance things out.” He nodded and followed the two privates to their designated starting point.
Kitern leaned over the hastily assembled railing of her platform, observing the playing field. It was a simple rectangle marked by lines of crates. Each side’s base was ringed by a wall of boxes and containers with gaps to get in and out. Cover was scattered periodically, with head height walls spread around the arena to break line of sight.
Seeing that everyone was at their bases, she called down, “If everyone is ready!” She paused, looking between the two opposing sides. “Begin the slaughter!” There was no bell, shot, or buzzer. Just a simple shout and the two sides were off.
All except for Vigil, who was still standing there while Asteli and Gre’Namra split and ran in opposite directions around a wall that defended the front of their base. Vigil looked back and forth between the two before randomly choosing to go to the right.
Turning the corner, he saw Gre’Namra hunkered behind cover. She was pressing a hand to the deck, concentrating on something. She looked back and saw him and made a hand motion, telling him to get down. Distracted by Gre’Namra, he did not see the two quick flashes from between a stack of crates, which spelled his doom.
The sensor on Vigil’s helmet flashed blue twice in quick succession, and all the sensors lit up. Indicating he was out.
“You’re dead Vigil, go sit on the side,” Kitern called down from her perch. Confused, Vigil did as ordered and observed the brief firefight. Gre’Namra, now revealed, had a small shootout with Onsa who had taken out Vigil. Gre’Namra returned fire, attempting to suppress Onsa.
When Onsa stopped shooting, Gre’Namra attempted to pull back get behind taller cover. The moment she left her stack of boxes, Onsa resumed firing and tagged her back three times. Though she was hit, she was not out. Cursing and slapping her tail on the deck in agitation, she elected to pull back and meet up with Asteli on the opposite side of the battlefield from her, rather than continue fighting Onsa. Gre’Namra fired blindly over cover, causing Onsa to duck down and give her a chance to escape.
Meanwhile, Asteli had pushed far forward, quickly being pinned down by Dentala. Already hit twice, she was reluctant to return fire. Until Gre’Namra appeared, she kneeled and leaned around cover, hitting Dentala and forcing her back. Now relieved, Asteli advanced with Gre’Namra’s over watch.
However, in their haste, they failed to ensure their flank was secure. As out of nowhere, Asteli was gunned down by Onsa firing diagonally from across the field.
Asteli stomped her foot and cursed, before trudging over to the side. Gre’Namra, now alone, pulled back to her base. She wanted to use the tight confines to her advantage, forcing her enemies to come to her. However, Dentala had other plans for her. Using Asteli’s tactics, she pushed hard, going down the center of the field where Gre’Namra had no sightlines.
As Dentala was advancing, she lept over low cover, set in between two walls. Waiting on the other side of the walls, was Gre’Namra. Gre’Namra had stopped retreating, when she realized she would only be trapping herself. Guessing that her seniors would assume she was running with her tail between her legs, she decided to lay a trap of her own. Using her species’ advanced sensory organs to track Dentala, even without line of sight, and set up where she would least expect.
Dentala was mid jump, when Gre’Namra opened fire. She was ‘dead’, before she even landed. “Tsk. That was smart, too bad you’re dead,” Dentala said with a bitter undertone.
Gre’Namra scoffed. “What? Look who talking!” As soon as the words left her mouth, her sensors flashed and stayed lit, indication she was dead.
Someone tapped the barrel of an energy rifle on the back of her helmet. “Remember your opponents. Lioranians have excellent speed and agility. If you aren’t paying attention, we can run up on you before you have time to react,” Onsa bragged from behind her.
Gre’Namra thumped her tail on the ground. “I could have sensed you anyway if I wasn’t wearing this armor! It reduces my sight time too much!”
“True,” Onsa nodded. “But without that armor, you would have been dead already.”
Kitern suddenly began clapping a hand on a section of railing, drawing everyone’s attention. “You did good privates. Better than I had thought. Vigil, you did about what I expected for your first time,” she said, looking down at everyone. Asteli was busy punching Vigil in the arm, blaming him for their loss. Vigil barely even registered the blows, let alone was harmed by them.
“Everyone, go back to your bases and get ready for round two. I’m hoping to see some improvement,” she said merrily, enjoying the show.
Taking up the same position as last time, Kitern began counting down. Asteli punched Vigil’s arm again. “Use some of that ass kicking energy you showed us on that Nemesis ship this tim-”
Kitern had finished counting down. The moment she did, Vigil practically disappeared. Startling Asteli and Gre’Namra, even Kitern and Shavan were wide eyed when Vigil darted around the container walls, making up their base.
They grew even wider, and their jaws appeared to hit the floor as they watched Vigil dash across the battlefield. He was a blur, rushing over and around cover. Already nearing the enemy base. He jumped on top of a waist high stack of crates and used both of his powerful legs to jump straight up and over Dentala’s and Onsa’s front wall.
The two marines hadn’t even left the confines of their base, when the light was blocked out by Vigil sailing above them. In an instant, the sensors on their heads flashed twice, then remained on, signaling their demise.
Vigil landed on both feet and went into a squat to help transfer some of the energy from his impact. He cleared the entire base and ended up on the outside of the arena. The deck reverberated from the force of his body slamming into it and created a mini avalanche of poorly stacked boxes. As the various boxes and crates fell away, Onsa and Dentala were graced with a view of Vigil’s back, as he slowly rose to an upright position.
They stared at him, flabbergasted. “How?” Dentala whispered in disbelief.
Kitern watched, just as stunned. “Uhhh… the match is… over,” she said slowly.
“What?!” Asteli shouted from her side of the field. She stuck her head out from behind cover, making sure it wasn’t a trap, before approaching the other base. Seeing that Dentala and Onsa were really out, she walked up to them and chuckled. “Remember your opponents. Humans have excellent speed and agility,” she mimicked Onsa’s earlier statement mockingly.
Onsa scowled at her. She then rotated her rifle with one arm and shot Asteli. Asteli returned the gesture by blowing her species’ equivalent of a raspberry. “Alright, alright. Settle down children,” Kitern announced as her platform lowered. “Normally you would be tied one for one, but now that Vigil seems to be trying. I doubt you’ll be getting any more points.” She directed the tail end of her sentence to Onsa and Dentala.
Dentala protested and gestured to the large imposing man who was now gathered with the others. “We can take him. Now that we know what he can do, we can beat him.”
Kitern waved her off. “I love the enthusiasm, but we couldn’t take him when we had actual guns. And he was literally dying. You can’t take him on now. Not the two of you atleast.” She then did something not characteristic of her species. Kitern grinned, barring her teeth. To a Lioranian, showing one’s teeth was a declaration of war, that you wanted to fight, that blood would soon be spilled. They also did it subconsciously when faced with a foe or extreme challenge. And right now, Vigil was both.
Kitern reached over and took off her sling. She rolled her left arm, causing it to pop. “You aren’t supposed to move your arm!” Onsa nagged.
“Yeah, yeah. What the doc don’t know won’t hurt her.” She picked up a pack of sensors and began putting them on. The sensor for her head looked stupid sitting on top of her head, like a little hat. “I’m joining in now, kiddos.”
“Um, captain. You aren’t wearing armor,” Gre’Namra pointed out.
“And?” Kitern scoffed. “Unless you take that dampener off, I can be as naked as the day I was born and not get hurt. At most it’ll singe my fur.”
Asteli spoke up, a nervous undertone in her voice. “Even with Vigil, ma’am, we can’t beat you.”
“You two won’t, but Vigil could. So it’s a good thing you won’t be fighting me,” she replied cryptically. The other four marines looked at her confused. Seeing their reactions, she chuffed and laughed. “Watching you all go at it made me excited. And since we’re still O for one against big boy over there. I think it’s time we evened the score.”
“You mean…” Dentala said, catching on.
Kitern nodded. “Yep. It’s going to be a five versus one. We’re going to have a grudge match.”
All eyes turned to Vigil. He simply tilted his head, not sure why everyone was looking at him.
First Previous
Hello, I am back! For how long? I have no idea, but until I have to leave again, I'll be uploading as normal. Also, after this point, you may occasionally see stories called Orphan: Tales of the Past, where I give a bit more backstory or just write "bolter porn", (I hope I'm using that correctly) essentially just action packed wabattle scenes from the Human Nemesis war. To be honest, 99% of it is bolter porn. I have backstory chapters for several characters set up, but haven't actually written any yet.

I've tried to rework some civs that I wasn't really satisfied with, and came up with some ideas, but I'm interested in your opinion too.
ATHENS:
Civ Ability: All Policy card slots are converted to Wildcard policy slots. -50% Culture per turn, but Inspurations instantly unlock their respective civics.
Leader: Pericles Leader Ability: Can assign Governors to City- States, not just Amani. When becoming a Suzerain of a City-State for a first time, receive a free naval melee or ranged unit.
SPARTA:
Civ Ability: Cannot build Entertainment Complexes, or improve Luxury resources. +50% Production towards land military units, increasing by +10% by each vity-state you are Suzerain of. -2 Gold each for maintenance of military units.
Leader: Gorgo Leader Ability: +2 Military policy card slots. Receive Culture after defeating an enemy military unit, by half of the defeated military unit's combat strength.
SUMER Civ Ability: Begins with Pottery unlocked, and gain 2 Settlers for free when settling your first city. Each improved feature adjacent to rivers gain +1 Food and +1 Production each. +30% Production towards Temples, and they grant 50 Production to a city.
Leader: Lugal-Zage-Si Leader Ability: +10 Loyalty in conquered city-states. +3 Loyalty in all cities.
PERSIA: Civ Ability: Begin with Inspiration for Civil Service. Roads inside Persian territory are one level more advanced than usual. Domestic Trade Routes gain + 4 Gold and +2 Culture each. Each city yields Gold per half of its population per turn.
Leader: Cyrus or Darius Cyrus: +70% Production towards Government Plaza in Pasargadae. Declaring a Surprise War costs only 75 Grievances. Cities with Governors get +5 Loyalty, and garrisoned units also grant +5 Loyalty.
Darius: Cities governed by Governors gain +6 Gold and +20% Production. +700 Gold when conquering a City. +40% Production towards Canals.
MACEDON: Civ Ability: Gets free Eurekas and Inspirations when conquering a city. +10 Science and +10 Culture per turn for each city in your empire.
Leader: Alexander Leader Ability: When fighting against nations in a Golden Age or 2 technological eras ahead of you, your units gain +5 Combat Strength and +2 Movement for 15 Turns. Units get Science from Combat Victories, by half of the defeated unit's combat strength.
New civs:
Kingdom of Juda: Civ Ability: Apostles can choose for 2 Promotions, have +1 Charge, and yield a Relic when they die in Religious Combat. All your Cities exert Religious pressure like they are all Holy Cities. Leader: Solomon Leader Ability: +50% Production towards Light Cavalry units. +1 Gold per turn for each completed specialty District in your Empire. Juda can receive Luxury resources from International Trade Routes.
ITALY: Civ Ability: +2 Appeal to all your tiles in your empire, and start the game with Inspiration for Humanism. Annexed city-states still provide their unique Suzerain bonus to you.
Leader: Victor Emmanuel Leader Ability: -70% Influence points per turn, but when you become a Suzerain of a City-State, you automatically annex it. +1 Diplomatic Policy slot.
SOVIET UNION: Civ Ability: Cannot build Holy Site districts, or receive Follower Beliefs of religions. -2 Diplomatic Visibility for all civilizations regarding the Soviet Union's territory. Can only choose Communism as Tier 3 Govt. Governors grant +2 Science, +2 Production and +2 Gold for cities, doubled if these cities are occupied. +40% Production to Industrial Zones, which get an extra adjacency bonus from Mines or Campuses.
Leader: Nikita Khrushchev Leader Ability: +25% Production towards Nuclear armament projects, and start an inspiration for Space Race. Can build the Khrushchevka instead of Neighborhood.
ASHANTI: Civ Ability: Cities in Golden Ages yield +15 Culture and Faith. City-states you are Suzerain of also yield Culture. Improved Luxury resources yield +2 Faith each.
Leader: Osei Tutu I Leader Ability: Gain Anokye as an Unique Governor. When you reach a new Technological Era, all your units get a Free Promotion. City-state Envoys can be purchased with Faith.
ARGENTINA:
Civ Ability: For each type of land tile present in your empire gain +70 Tourism and +10 Science per turn. National Parks receive +100 Tourism and and +50 Science.
Leader: José de San Martín Leader Ability: Units have +2 Movement on land. Great Generals have +2 Charge.
MUGHAL: Civ Ability: Builders can build Roads, which grant +1 Gold each for Trade Routes passing through. Land improvements grant +1 Gold each. Conquering a city automatically repairs it. After researching Irrigation, land improvements yield +1 Food too.
Leader: Shah Jahan Leader Ability: +50% Construction towards Wonders in Heroic or Golden Ages. Wonders have a +5 Culture and +5 Faith adjacency bonus from each other. Wonders yield +4 Faith each.

Hello! I had made a post here earlier about this, so this is the survey. It's a bit late, but it would be great if you could help out and participate!
I am a uni student, and I am doing a research paper as part of my coursework on Jane Austen Fan Fiction and its influence on dating and relationships of its readers and writers. I am trying to gauge if JAFF has influenced what you expect and/or do in your personal romantic lives today, and the influence you have incorporated into the JAFF you write or choose to read.
Here is the form:
https://forms.gle/kCwGaPqVTSkm8zBS7
It would be great if you could provide any personal anecdotes, insights or any general comments. It is all personal, and related to your individual experiences, so feel free to say anything you like.
This will be completely anonymous, and the answers will NOT be used for anything other than my coursework paper. This is purely for non-commercial purposes as well. Only coursework.
Please let me know if there are any questions or clarifications you require. You can send an anonymous email to the email ID ([email protected]) for anything regarding this. Feel free to post suggestions on anything I can improve here, or any general suggestions on the paper topic as well. If you would rather answer through an audio, do email it to me on the above address. The form's privacy guarantees apply to those as well. There are more details on the form itself. So please do check it out.
P.S.: I am on a time crunch, so it'd be really great if you can fill it up soon. None of the questions, except the first three (for demographic identity purposes), are marked required, so please answer whichever you like, and in any way you you prefer. I will sort them out in structure and sentence if that is a concern.
Thanks in advance!

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