I have a bit of an ulterior motive for making this thread, I'm a guy who's loved Mario since the NES, but aside from the RPGs and Mario Kart, I never really touched most of the spinoffs. I came to Mario for platformers and I don't care for sports games or multiplayer focused party games. So I feel like i'm only getting half of the Mario universe here by mainly sticking to the platformers. Mario Kart does almost nothing to showcase the characters, and a quarter of the roster of these spinoffs only ever get to appear in a very small percentage of these games, or they don't get to appear at all. So like... I really don't undersetand what people see in Waluigi or Daisy... Toadette on the other hand, while she started as a spinoff only, made her way into the platformers and really began to shine in Mario Maker 2 and Captain Toad. I feel like I can understand her appeal now.
Anyway on to the question at hand...
Where do you think your favorite character shines brightest in this series? I'd prefer it if we stuck to their video game appearances and not resort to TV and comics, even if they have some stellar adaptations ( like Supershow pretty much solidifynig Luigi's peresonality before the games did and the Super Mario Adventures comic making Peach a kickass character before the movie )
Bonus question, here do you think they're at their worst? For me it would be Toad during the 2000's, where he enraged a lot of people by taking cheap shots at Luigi in Mario 64 DS and the Mario and Luigi series. I don't think this was his fault, I think Nintendo was just going through something where they thought people's reason for liking Luigi for being an underdog meant that they enjoyed people talking crap about him, Toad wasn't even the only one to do it, there were tons of NPCs that did it and Bowser couldn't even remember his name. Again, not his fault, and not even down to the individual character, but he also enraged people for being a little too common and plain as an NPC in the Paper Mario games, and the default player 2 and 4 in NSMB. People were starting to dislike Toads for what they weren't, not what they were, and this was all Nintendo's doing rather than the Toads. I'm glad Toad got a bit of a resurgence with Captain Toad's Treasure Tracker.
I never quite answered the question of where he was at his best, and I think it all started in the later half of the 2000's with the Toad Brigade in Super Mario Galaxy, Galaxy 2, and 3D Land. The Toads were ever present in Mario's journey rather than just being item house keepers, prisoners, and advisors in the hub world. They went into the worlds with Mario, actively trying to help him find stars and items. And then there's Captain Toad himself who's become an actual adventurer. Toad has a bit of a personality similar to Luigi in that he's somewhat timid but is more than willing to step into action. I really like that little guy.

Tldr: tried everything to combat the mice but my old house may need a lot more than what I know how to do. What to look foexpect in a good exterminator?
I know this is long, but I am exhausted and desperately need some advice on where to go from here. Some background of my situation: I (26) recently moved back home to my 120 year old childhood home. It’s just been my dad and our two dogs here for roughly the last 7 years. Since moving back home, I’ve been doing a lot of work on the house as my dad has let it fall into terrible disrepair. Biggest among those being the mouse infestation. Before I moved in, when I would visit I would notice mouse poop absolutely littering every inch of the house, dead mice in traps that haven’t been checked in days, weeks, months, mice that would just run past your feet and on the countertops, and spots around the house that they clearly use to get in/out and nest around.
I’ve made a lot of progress on cleaning up and doing what I can think of for prevention. I’ve cleaned all of the existing mouse poop that I could find, laid dozens of traps that are constantly checked and replaced, placed those frequency plug ins around, used peppermint and other types of deterrents, laid out poison pellets, emptied and cleaned out some neglected spaces they may hide in, stuffed gaps with steel wool and foam insulation, replaced baseboard moulding, etc. everything I could think of doing myself.
Now, I know I need to call an exterminator. I’ve been busy and hoped my efforts would at least bring the issue down from infestation to manageable (especially given that we live next to a golf course and have always had some level of issue with them). Luckily it has, I almost never encounter them anymore and only ever catch one every few weeks. Unfortunately though, I’m still finding evidence of them around the house pretty regularly. I have absolutely no idea how to properly handle this though. I don’t know what to expect from an exterminator and how to know if they’re the right one for the job or not.
It’s an old house that hasn’t been very well updated or taken care of for years. It’s built on a stone foundation that has been crumbly my entire life, an unfinished concrete basement that gives me the heebie jeebies still, and an attic with two storage eves that are rarely ever touched. Not to mention the kitchen cabinets that the mice will not stop literally chewing through every time I fill a hole in them.
I’m overwhelmed that the problem is way more massive that I can handle. My dad agreed to pay for whatever needs to be done as long as I can be there to set things up and manage it (he’s constantly busy with work), but I’m really afraid this is going to be insanely expensive and require extensive foundational and in depth work on the house outside of just an exterminator. Neither of us have a lot of money, nor do I really want to be responsible for massive home reconstruction for a house I’m only staying in until I can afford my own place.
I just want the mice to stop. Nowhere feels safe, nowhere feels clean, and no one can seem to give me real guidance on this.

There are three broad approaches to distribution depending on distribution intensity. These options include Intensive Distribution, Selective Distribution and Exclusive Distribution. Firms must decide on the type of distribution that is most suitable.
Let’s give a closer look to those three different approaches to distributing products.

1. Intensive Distribution. Intensive Distribution aims to provide saturation coverage of the market by using all available outlets. For many products such as soft drinks, cigarettes or beer, total sales are directly linked to the number of outlets used. Intensive Distribution is usually required where customers have a range of acceptable brands to choose from. In other words, if one brand is not available, a customer will simply choose another brand. Intensive Distribution is used mainly for mass produced products.

FULL TEXT AVAILABLE AT: https://www.superbusinessmanager.com/3-approaches-to-distribution/

What it do! ✌🏾
...well, actually, this story is more about what it don't do. By "it", I mean our key card readers. Teal Deer: they didn't work.
So in the last story, I mentioned that I had to reprogram a key card for a guest. Well, that same guest came back about 3 more times that day with the same issue. Even after telling the guest to make sure to keep the card away from magnetic stuff, his issue persisted. I thought, surely this guest can't be this hard-headed (but I've had guests I've had to reprogram cards for daily). At his 4th request, I made my way up to his room to actually SEE what the problem was.
Turns out, the card reader just wasn't reading his key. No lights came on or anything. A master key didn't even work. Lovely.
We have a little black box for this situation. We load it up with all the doors we have on property, then hook it up to the faulty door and reset it. The process of loading up the box takes about 2 minutes, then maybe 45 seconds for the door itself. Easy enough...
...until multiple doors start going out at the same time! And the doors couldn't be considerate enough to go out on the same floor. Nope! They had me up and down every... floor... (my hotel has 4 floors... and a slow ass elevator. Stairs are stairs everywhere you go, and my thighs have only barely recovered from this day!).
The worst of this mishap occurred on the 3rd floor. This particular guest was at a conference. They were in the middle of giving away a Visa gift card, but the guest forgot this prize in his room. His key card reader did have a light. A red light... that wouldn't go away no matter what key was used.
I could fix this, but it would take more time as I had to run back downstairs to grab the necessary tools. Unfortunately, the guest didn't have time to wait, so he had to slink back to his conference in shame. I felt so bad! 😭 I wanted to offer him something to take the place of the gift card, but all I had were gift cards to a very specific place, so it probably wouldn't be any good for the winner.
I did eventually get his door fixed. He came back later that night, and I still felt bad. He wasn't mad at all. Just happy to finally be able to get into his room. I let him grab a box dinner and a drink and told him it was on the house. He was reluctant, but accepted it anyway.

My partner (Ph) and I (Aus) have been in a LDR for roughly 18 months. Up until recently, she was earning only roughly 20k Aud, however with my support has trippled her salary without increasing her work hours. (Retention bonus + changing one of her employers) so there is no risk of her being after only visa.
We have holidayed together in the Maldives, and the relationship is great, we get along well. No arguments, etc.
She hates it when I take sneak photos of her (stolen pics she calls them). Body conscious but I think she is gorgeous.
My country is one of, if not the hardest to migrate too.
She has been applying for sponsorship, and despite getting last round interviews, falls short when they learn she needs sponsorship.
Due to the nature of my work (mil), holidays are not always possible, and with her paying off her house in ph, she does not always have money to travel.
I have approached an immigration lawyer as we plan to have her fly out for a month at the end of the year for tourist visa, however the lawyer advised it may get knocked back out of fear she will apply for partner visa whilst here.
The lawyer advised the best course would be prospective marriage visa, but whilst in mil, im not getting married due to my field having the highest divorce rate of any profession.
She did express a desire to move to norway as she likes the colder climate, but is happy with moving to australia.
I have not spoken to her yet. I need to collect my thoughts on this first. On one hand, i care about her alot and dont want to lose her. On the other, i dont want to string her along on the hope of something maybe later.
I think if she was from any 1st world country it wouldnt be an issue, but because she is 3rd world, they are seen as pariahs by western governments.
I dunno what to do.

In about a month or so I’m going to graduate with a biology degree. I feel like I’ve barely had the chance to really get experience during my undergrad, in terms of friends, volunteering, research, etc. It really sucks that about half of my time spent here was completely derailed because of the pandemic. In all honesty it feels like my fourth year was the only real year I spent (at least 90%) at school in person. I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do with my life afterwards, but I’m pulling a blank. I’ve been reaching out to people to get more information, and attending open houses at other schools, but for some reasons I still can’t figure it out. The fact that I am graduating soon is overshadowed by the fact that I feel like I have nothing great to look forward to. I’ve thought about applying to a master’s program but my CV is practically blank lmao. The only thing I could put on there is couple part-time jobs I’ve had, and my current one. I’ve also thought about getting into a career-specific program (like the ones at nait), but every program I am slightly interested in requires physics, which my dumbass never took. I guess I’m just frustrated with myself for the most part. I don’t know what to do. Anyways, not sure if anyone can relate or is in a similar situation, but I felt like I had to get it off my chest lol.

She’s not happy in her marriage so she leaves my dad. Moves to New Jersey for like 2 years, struggles the entire time. Realizes she can’t make it on her own even with assistance from her mothe her oldest son for rent EVERY month. So she moves back here to this apartment me my brother and dad stay in. Unemployed, isn’t trying to find a job nothing. Dad pays rent, I help out when he needs it, provide food, and transportation since him and I are the only ones with cars. Constant passive aggression from her, bitching how there’s no food, bitching how the place is dirty, just bitching and nagging over everything possible. She needs money for laundry, she needs money for this, she’s hungry she’s bored she needs wine whatever… I really try my best to keep my mouth shut when I can, but I’m so aggravated with her nagging my dad calling him a shitty person, a shitty father, useless, when he’s literally sitting there just trying to paint a god damn painting, like while simultaneously trying his best to house his wife who’s making things miserable here. All they do is fight and bicker over their personal bullshit issues.
I don’t know how I should approach my mom because she’s also in denial about everything and just cries and plays victims over everything. Every time I witness her belittling him and tell her to stop it’s “I didn’t do that /say that!” I’m on my way out the door in the next year or so but how the hell do I navigate this living with my parents right now under these circumstances, I feel super triggered cuz they fought like this when I was a small child.

First time going overseas with a family. I have few questions about how this EFMP process works. No one in my house is enrolled in EFMP and no one goes to a specialist. However, coming out of covid and moving/having 2 kids under 4 my wife went to the doctor for what she described as anxiety. Long story short, essentially came down to stress and she never followed back up. However, her physical states that she went to the doctor for anxiety and she’s worried that will stop us from clearing EFMP. Also, my oldest went to the doctor for potential ADHD when she was in pre k because the pre school teacher had concerns. However, we came to the conclusion that it was too early and if she struggled in kindergarten then we would address it, but she has done great in school and her teachers do not see any issues with her ability to learn.
What was your experience with EFMP and are these issues that will cause you to get rejected?

Hello everyone,
Well I've been with my partner for 6 years. They have depression and we communicate everything together. He has a great partner, they do not abuse me or make me feel bad at all, ever. My partner is fantastic. For the past 6 years they most likely have been drinking at night when I go to bed. They usually go through a bottle of wine a night. I've found hidden bottles over the last 2 years. Finding the bottles and having emotionless discussions where we talk about them slowing down on drinking have occurred over the years. I've been lurking here and reading and seeing a therapist and I've detached and stopped commenting on the drinking or the wine purchases after work for the last year.
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Wednesday last week I did what my therapist suggested which was to draw a line for me. I confronted my partner after finding hidden wine bottles in the basement again. I told them that they need to get help because they are telling me that they don't have a problem but at this point, this is my line, this is a problem for me. If they don't get help, they have to leave and we'd split. The bottles of liquor in the car floors me and I know they've been there. Anyways, I don't want to dwell on that.
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My partner left the house and called someone, most likely their therapist. They were gone for the day and came home late at night. They sent me a text that they wanted to be alone. They spent one day just sleeping which is something they do when their depression really gets to them, if they run out of depression meds. I know they'd do something drastic if we split and that is the tough part.
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I've been at a friends house as planned and now that I'm back home today I'm wondering whether to bring up the conversation in terms of what their plan is. I guess I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I didn't make a clear boundary, just that they need to get help and that this is my limit, after this they have to leave my house.
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I need to bring up a way to make my limit clear and I don't really know what it is. In this whole "wow my partner is hiding a ton of bottles from me, he's addicted" discovery phase, I've lost all trust. I am disconnected from them. I feel lonely. I don't really know what's best at this point but I have been waiting on them to make some life choices and perhaps this all leads to us splitting.
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Anyways, if anyone has a word to offer regarding where they were in their final straw and how they kind of thought it out, that would be great.
Thank you

Howdy! A little bit about myself before I get started, as well as what I'd like you to include in your application. Do try to read the entire post! Ps: I'll know if you didn't, heh.
Call me Chen(this is a nickname.)! I'm a 25m from korea, and have been writing for almost edging on 16~ years, and roleplaying for 12. I'm in the EDT timezone at the moment, and enjoy all genres and plot cliches(almost always excluding Slice of Life, because it's boring most times.) My replies can easily reach to 7+ paragraphs, if I'm enjoying something, and breaking the discord item limit is common. This also means I expect my partners to do the same, unless it's agreed by both parties, that longer replies aren't needed for a temporary duration (such as with dialogue, or a scene that only requires mainly one person's input.) I exclusively roleplay in third-person past tense, and discord is a priority, as that is where I can be found most often in almost all cases, and romance is a must in almost all of my rps! Keep this in mind before messaging me, please.
When you come to me, please include these tidbits of information!
Age Gender Prefered genre And a writing sample!
Also please don't message me with only "hi" or rp, as you will simply be ignored. Thank you for reading.
And a small excerpt of worldbuilding from the idea I had! Do try to enjoy the read.
Grimspire. A tower inhabited by the most grueling tasks, and dangerous beasts known to man! At least it was previously, before becoming occupied by elves, who wished to reclaim it in the name of their green-thumbed goddess, known as Itrix, oftentimes simply called "she of beginnings". The spire is composed of a currently explored seven-hundred floors, but it is easily surmised that it may extend down into the earth further than human comprehension. Many an adventurer have been hired by the elves, as explorers, diplomats, and beast eradicators, for the sole purpose of securing this one marvel of precursory engineering. Even bringing in the ires of thieves and misfits, who seek to claim their fortunes by barricading entire swaths of the dungeon, to monopolize those who wish to go deeper.
The world is split into six continental shelves, each housing a single supercontinent, as well as it's own host of wildlife and sentients that inhabit it.
The first, and most prominent one of these, on account of the spire being dead center of it, is Regnalsis, the land of Rebirth (or just the land of Life. The elves love their honorific), is a place filled to bursting with greenery. Monumental trees, huge hulking beasts, and fields of predatory flowers, that sap energy from animals, are just some of the hallmarks of this dangerous and unforgiving environment. And those who could dare to conquer it, learned to stay their path. The most prominent species here are Elves, Dark Elves, Half Elves, Tieflings, Goblins, Satyr, Druidic beings, such as spriggans, and gnomes. Each residing in an eight of the continent,with their borders overlapping at the spire.
To the north of Regnalsis, is Cragnox, the Land of Wastes, or aptly named "the deadlands" by it's inhabitants, is a place plagued by a long forgotten war. It's landscapes glasses by innumerable magics, and turned into a rocky mountainous home, with sandblasted corridors being the only protection against prominent 'sunstorms' or, instances of wild magic, that make rejuvenation of this place nigh impossible. The most prominent species of these ruinous peaks, are Orcs, Goblins, Dwarves, Tieflings, Lesser Elementals, And Dragonborn, each living in interracial tribes, that defend their territory as if it was their life. Most living here despise the elves of Regnalsis, yet despite this, most tribes are willing to cooperate, if there is an ample supply of food on hand, as well as weaponry to spare.
To the south of Regnalsis, is Qumon, the land of magic and Sorcery. While not initially as imposing as the mainland it neighbors, Qumon is nonetheless feared by reputation, and contract. Legends say, that before anyone could remember, and even before that great spire erected itself in the center of the world, a great sorcerer split the world into it's primordial elements, being Fire, Earth, Life, Death, water, and Lightning, and Qumon was the home of this sorcerer. The landscape is dotted by magical crystals, that channel mana at an incredible efficiency, allowing hundreds of academies to spring up, and teach any lowly student, or peasant how to use the arcane arts. Here, race, or status is not valued, but instead knowledge. Knowledge is the keystone into how Qumon, a smaller supercontinent on the edge of giants, managed to survive, and even thrive, churning out very few, but potent and powerful mages every millennium, to maintain their grip over their freedom.(if you've read this far, please tell me your favorite sweet food)
To the east of the mainland, is Arix, or simply known as the Death-touched cascade, is, as the name implies, devoid of all life, be it Grass, trees, animals, or even insects. This place is occupied by almost exclusively undead, and has it's own politics, hierarchy, currency, laws, and morals. Despite their land being inhabitable for the living, they welcome all who come to live on their lands, as brethren in death, and offer to rekindle their soul, should they perish on their lands. Orcs and Goblins call this place their homeland for this very reason, since no matter how many times they die warring amongst themselves, they can always be risen again as a white, and continue fighting with no intelligence lost. It is said that a tower, similar to the spire, houses the body of an incredible powerful necromancer, who rivals the strength of Qumons primordial wizard of legend. This corpse is rumored to still be pulsing off an immense amount of necromantic energy, killing all that lives slowly, and raising all that is dead twice as fast.
The most hostile of these places, but also the richest, and most valuable, is Golm, the homeland of the Dwarves. A land of fire and brimstone, this land blisters with volcanoes, and massive vents of superheated steam. Intelligently, dwarves live underground, away from the radiated heat, and use the lava underground to heat their great forges, and produce the best weapons of the known world. Their great monoliths made of gold and crystal displaying their wealth for all to see, despite living unseen below the crust.
Alexia- homeland of the Human races, is perhaps the most normal, despite the constant storming, and winds. They are extremely racist to the outside world, and rarely travel, despite having the ability. To. Very few humans are allowed to leave Alexia, and even fewer are granted return, or entrance. This place is the original homeland of Orcs and Goblins, before their migration to Arix.

Ok, this is gonna be long, im sorry. The last girl i dated before meeting my wife, we will call her B, i thought was "the one." I literally loved her with every fiber of my being... we had close friends and always had a blast with each other. One of our friends, we will call him C, had a car (i had a suspended license) and was the "boss" at the business we all worked at but he and i were very close, he even dated B's neighbor. Everything was great or so i thought. One day B just kinda dropped it on me that she wanted to break up.... i was shocked to say the least... everyone was. She left me and went no contact for a month before inviting me over to her house w a bunch of our mutual friends. I went to the party and at one point she pulled me into her and kissed me more passionately than she ever had.... i literally had no idea wtf she was doing... but in my heart i kind of got excited that maybe we would be back together soon and the nightmare of losing her was over. It wasnt.... 2 days later i find out shes been secretly dating C since literally the day we broke up. I was distraught.... i was broken. I yelled at them both, screamed at her for doing this to us.... i quit my job and never looked back... I got into a skilled trade (unionized), i dated minorly but eventually met my current wife, we will call A. A was nothing like any girl id met before, she knew of how hard i had taken the break up w B and she was more help than she will ever realize in me getting past it all.... within 2 years we were engaged to be married on our 3 year anniversary. Six weeks before my wedding a old friend, we will call T, messages me through Facebook and ask to meet with me. It was odd but i agreed and we met at a olive garden near our homes.
When i walk in T is at the first table and is facing towards the bar area and stands to greet me... we exchanged hellos and i sat, back to the bar, as we continued.
I instantly knew something was off about the situation. He makes minor small talk always kind of looking past me. Then he did it....
"Look man, i really am hapoy to hear youre getting married, i really am. But someone wanted to see you and she knew you wouldn't come if she asked... you are both my friends... i hope you understand." He motioned to someone and stood up and excused himself.
B approaches from the bar and goes in for a hug, i deny it. She looks hurt but moves to the chair T had been sitting in and smiled across the table from me.
"What do you want?" I asked and she made small talk and acted like nothing was odd about her request to see me.
She proceeds to tell me how shes made a lot of bad choices in her life and she regrets having left me for C and she knows im engaged but she wants to know if we can work it out and go back to how it was.
I was speechless.... I was angry.... i told her No in no uncertain terms but she continued to tell me how i was a great guy and she was mistaken for chosing C and how hes an asshole and she cant have a life with him bc he has left her... then she says shes 3 months pregnant and he isnt returning calls and doesn't want to be a dad... that id be a great husband and father and how we would have a beautiful family and she'd spend every day making up for what she had done to us
I was enraged at the nerve of this woman... a woman whom i had loved w all my heart and who discarded me with no explanation or thought at all.
I saw red.... i stood up from the chair and she reached and took my hand to stop me. I yanked my hand away as hard as i could.
"You did make mistakes, one was tossing me away for someone who only wanted to use you for sex and another for thinking id be dumb enough to destroy the life ive built w my fiance to take you back." I glared at her and she pleaded for me to sit down, by now pople were staring at us, i started to walk away then stopped and turned back to her. "Hope you have fun being a single mother you fucking heartless bitch." As i walked out i heard her let out a horrid cry and lound ugly sobbing. I caught a glance at her as i walked by the windows outside on the way to my car, she was shaking and sobbing uncontrollably. That was 20 years ago... no contact. Nothing.
Saturday evening my wife and I go to a local restaurant for dinner in the next town over. The restaurant has large tables and you will sit w all kinds of people if your party isnt over 6 people.
We set down and a elderly couple is placed to my right, no big deal. Then to my wifes left B and C are sat. I froze and had no clue what to do. B perked up and was suuuuper happy and excited to see me and meet my wife. (My wife knew who she was but had never met her or C before) C acts like a complete douche all through dinner... B is very social with my wife and i try to remain civil for the sake of the elderly couple to my side. She ask my wife tons of questions about us and our kids etc... but things i would never have openly told her. Apparently her and C have thier son (22yo) and a daugter (3yo) and she was excited to show pics and everything. She also conveniently mentioned that they are not married and just dating. My wife was social with her more so than i wanted her to be but again i figured it was for the sake of the situation. B actually asked us to a cookout at their house, said we should hang out and even do double dates. My head was spinning. Why would she think id want that.? Hell what would make her think id even humor that...? The elderly couple got up and left so now it was just the 4 of us. C literally said 5 words maybe the entire time. Most conversation was w B and my wife. But B tried hard to pull me into the conversation as often as she could. Eventually C got up and said he was going to go warm up the car and just left. B looked annoyed and made the comment that hes a real piece of shit. She paid their tab and stood up and hugged my wife all the while smiling from ear to ear. I had stood up bc my wife had and B came over and just snatched me into a hug. Her face was on the side of my head opposite my wife and she whispered "ill leave him today if youre interested." She squeezed me tightly and smiled told A she was happy to meet finally and again said we should "do this again."
WTF.... my wife told me she thought she was nice and when i said she was wrong she gave me a wierd look. On the way home i told her about the olive garden incident (id never told her bc i didnt want to stress her before our wedding) and I told her what was whispered to me before she left. My wife was pissed at how two faced B was.
I just had to vent.... wtf is wrong w people? I am so beyond angry even still (todays monday). That entitled bitch..... i am so pissed.

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https://reddit.com/link/11x1gqv/video/wqcpkfvzkzoa1/player
(I was trying to get some Player Upgrade Ticket) unfortunately that never happen.
I have same NYY players as always G.torres, Montgomery, Chapman also C.Sale ones more lol
unlucky was no NYY players in all players diamond pack
I got lucky? with sign D.Gregorius, Grade Increase Ticket x1 and Diamond Vintage Player Pack garbage for me anyway
your opinions??

Death had set its claws into the woman like an old rook sets it's claws on the gibbet post. She teetered over the edge now. A young girl of seven.gripped the flaxen hand. Her mother's knuckles seemed to her like sand dunes that might at any moment dissolve into the wind.
"Mother," she said, "don't go. Don't leave me here with father. He is cruel when you are away."
"My dearest child, you know we cannot disavow the passing of seasons."
She pressed the milky white hand to her daughter's cheek.
"And what's all this talk of leaving, now?"
She held out a fabric effigy- a motanka doll, made of scraps of her mother's blue summer dress. It had been the only nice dress her mother had. Her mother had sewn it in the last week though her body had grown frail and even the weight of a needle brought her immense strain. She toiled day and night at this faceless doll, fretting over the thread color and embroidering ceaselessly. The head was crested in a dozen small fabric morning glories.
"You must keep her with you always and never let a single soul see her. Each night you must feed her and she will look after you in turn. So long as you do that, no harm will not come to you."
Vasalisa had fallen asleep next to her mother's bed but was awoken by the rustling of reeds against the window. It was then she realized her mother was cold as a shaft of wind through catacombs. And so it was that the girl was left alone with only her father for company. When she was born, her father had been furious at not having a son and so he burdened her with both the tasks one would assign a son as well as those of a daughter.
"What good does a doll do me?" she whispered into the acrid night. Her body ached from chopping wood and her fingers were pricked by needles so many times, her fingertips were a constellation of bloody stars. She sometimes named these constellations after the characters in her books. At last, she grew desperate and spoke to the faceless doll.
"Here my, pleas mother. Father works me to the bone until I am sure my skin itself will begin to shed like a snake's. I must have help or I shall perish of exhaustion."
She fed it scraps of meat and gristle and what bread she could spare. Much to her surprise, it devoured this miniature banquet with the voraciousness of a wild dog, until its belly grew rotund and its cheeks flushed and cherubic.The doll's head sank to its breast in quiet contentment.
The next day when she woke, she found woven cloths and chopped firewood and pales of fresh milk awaiting her. There the doll sat in the corner of the room where she had left it, but she knew it was the doing of the doll. Her father seemed just as taken aback, but since the work was all done well, he couldn't take umbrage at the work being done in haste.
So weeks went on and the rising and setting sun became like a metremome, without a serenade to accompany it. With her newfound free time, her days were spent reading the memoirs of Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and the Green Knight in the crook of a willow tree. She did not see the use for heroes in her own life, for she was clever and strong from the years of doing the work of both a man and a woman. Often times she wrote about men and women and distant lands she'd never met or seen but was determined she one day would.
One winter night when she had forgot to feed her doll, her father sent her to fetch wood for the dying embers. She wandered many hours that night. The snow perched on her parted lips and eyelids like snowy owls and she laid a while in a soft bank of snow and her eyes were nearly frosted over when an old woman appeared before her like an apparrition. Her wrinkles were like fault lines and her glaucomatous eyes shown like crystal balls clouded by too many premonitions. Her legs she hobbled on, like two tall stilts, but as she looked closer, she recognized they were in fact bones.
"My child, you cannot sleep here or you will catch your death. Or should I say, death will catch you up in her arms."
The girl couldn't even move her lips to offer a rejoinder to this strange woman's words, she was so first bitten and numb.The old crone took the girl under her sable, almost midnight blue, cloak and carried her back to her wagon car where she poured mead down her throat and covered her in luminous pelts of grey wolves. When she awoke, she startled, for the old woman was crouched over her.
"Child, you tire yourself so unnecessarily living in fear."
"It's already morning!" the girl exclaimed, "I must fetch firewood for father or he shall surely punish me!"
"My girl, you must regain your strength before you go back there."
And so the girl slept once more and awoke only after she had After eating her fill of tender lamb, sausages, plums, and sweet roulettes, the old and bent woman sat beside her and held aloft a staff on which was perched a shattered and blackened skull.
"Here my child, this may give you all the fire you need. If you wash the linens in the stream, clean the soot off my wagon, and sort out the black millet seeds in this bag, I shall let you have this fire. But if you fail, I shall certainly gobble you up." She croaked with something that might have been raillery or might have been something else altogether.
So the girl bade her doll to do these tasks and helped alongside it, so they might be done sooner. At sunset, when they had finished, she set out once more across the white landscape that now looked as though the whole earth iself had been cast with a burial shroud. It was a journey of many hours and when she returned that evening, her father met her at the gate, furious for having neglected to start a fire. As he drew near to her, she could see the baleful glint in his eyes and as about to strike her face, the skull's eyes turned to meet his gaze, then blazed with an infernal light. His eyes were scorched out of their sockets first and he screeched and howled like a donkey brought to the slaughter house. She sinched her eyes tight, unable to watch, and when her courage returned, she looked to the ground saw her father's charred remains sprawled out before her. She began to weep and in her guilt, she burried the ashen remains and the skull staff, fearful someone might find out what she had done. The girl, now a woman, had no where left to go and so she retread the way she came into the dimness of the winter woods, and back to the Baba Yaga's traveling show.
Now, the young women picks the bones apart like a vulture. Some are those of young men who, in their folly, promised her undying love and devotion and ran away with the theater to be with her, though she had warned them of Baba Yaga's demands. She supposed death was the final test of devotion, but she didn't care much for that for she did not believe in heroes. She polishes the skulls, cuts them into masks and files them down. The Baba Yaga does not let anything, not even mandibles, go to waste.
The girl does not know where the bones come from, but her imagination can trickle down into the porous gaps of bone and fill in the details. She knows of the poor souls that have come into the grips of the wild woman of the woods. Perhaps she is herself the woods, she thinks to herself as she sets out the scenery of birches on the stage. When she finds the time, she sometimes writes fragments of plays, hoping the Baba Yaga will one day let her have her own show. As she scribbles in a notebook, canvas banners advertising the "The Merry Midnighters" beat against the sides of the cart like a Sphinx's great eagle wings, as she bids her time waiting for a wrong answer to a riddle so she might set her teeth into some poor traveler's neck.

Hello,
I am from Canada and will be in London on April 1st and wanted to see Luton vs Watford. Will it be possible to get tickets as a foreigner? I am not seeing tickets on sale on the website as it seems like it is reserved for club members. Is there somewhere else I can buy tickets? Maybe outside the stadium on matchday? It would be just 1 ticket for me. Thanks.

pls help,
also, if it's a tiny piece, how can such tiny devices effectively work in the long-term?
pati what are some signs i need to look for around the house and determine suspicious / out of place occurrences related to the cams and/or how it's streaming the footage it's capturing?
thanks to anyone who can help.

We’re in the market for A/C installation soon. We currently have a furnace, HVAC system, but our furnace is 20 years old. We are house broke and would love to not install a new furnace AND A/C at the same time. Our contractor recommended installing a heat pump to extend the life of our furnace and also get A/C. I had never heard of this as an option until today. Does anyone have experience with heat pumps for both cooling and heating? Did they help extend the life of your furnace?

Hello everyone I'm new in the market of scooters. I've been looking at Kymco Agility 50 , Kymco Super 8 50 , Genuine Rough house 50 and Honda Ruckus for my first scooter. Which one would you recommend? Mainly looking at those cause those are the only ones being sold at dealerships around me besides unknown brands I've never heard of and I don't wanna risk getting a cheapo scooter.

I’m going through a total loss. My adjuster seems either incredibly busy with barely enough time to spend a few mins on a call or he’s just ignoring me. After reading these threads, it sounds like GEICO works yall to death and then revives ya for more. What a group this is lol.
2013 Chrysler town and country, 140k miles the adjuster rated everything dealer retail except the headliner, carpet, paint. Those were AVG Private.
The value came back at 8500, but I see these for sale for $12-$15k.
He did call me to review the options and features before completing the estimate so nothing there was missed. He said I could try to raise it by giving him other vehicle listings to give to some company to compare. He said they could come back less than what he got originally? If they do I get the lesser amount?
I’m just wondering if he’s just trying to scare me in to accepting or if I can find other vehicles could it possibly lower the value? Any particular way to find these cars? Just give him google links?
Yes, I realize I’m asking adjusters questions in their off time. Help me, help another adjuster close this file lol, Thank you 🙏🏻

My astigmatism says no to aimpoint apparently, so listing this package for sale. It's been mounted and stared at around the house, but has never been further than that. Comes with a fresh battery + original turret caps.
Package: Aimpoint T2 (~$800) + Reptilia 1.93" mount ($100)
Asking price: $775 (you get the T2 for cheaper than retail and a free mount, plus no shipping or tax fees) paypal F&F, zelle or venmo
Photos: https://imgur.com/a/MAEf3c4

This is the second draft of a story originally written for and posted here. I wouldn't mind having some feedback in regards to the pacing and characterization.

I

Aulus tugged at the string leading from his hand to the neck of a stubborn goat. The animal bleated at him in protest and tried to continue chewing whatever weed had drawn it's attention. The young man tugged again and his charge relented to follow him up the narrow stone steps leading to the temple.
Man and beast were both clad in white wool. Aulus in a tunic and robe trimmed in gold. His cloven companion in the well trimmed fur of an albino.
It was that pale trait that made the animal sacred. It had never suffered an empty belly. It had never known a chilling night. It had been put out to stud to produce more of its kind. And now, as the horizon blazed with the coming sun, the holy creature was led to a holy place to fulfill its ultimate purpose.
The young man led his bovid prize past the looming temple of pillars and incense and towards a mostly forgotten altar. The table of carved stone sat near the edge of a cliff. Below it was a city of whitewashed stone and colorful roofs. In the dim of morning light the fields beyond the cities walls were a black sea leading up to the mountain.
That looming giant of stone and slumbering fire sat directly to the east. The city would not know the light of day until the sun had climbed the giants rocky slopes to sit upon its peak.
"I'm sorry little one, but today's the day."
Aulus knelt by the animal and set to binding its feet together. Front to front. Back to back. He needed access to the goats' underside.
"Each of us has a duty. A holy purpose given to us by the gods. It's time for you to fulfill yours."
He heaved the animal up and laid it upon the stone surface of the altar. It hardly fought him. The two had mimicked the act repeatedly since the animals birth. They had trained for that moment. Still, it needed to be bound. Their practices had always ended before the ritual began.
The horizon glowed in daylight. Only the mountain blocked the sun's life giving rays.
"Look down upon me as I look across the veil. Guide me to the knowledge I seek. For this favor I offer this beast unto you."
Red poured over him. Smoke from the mountains peak tainted mornings light. It stained man and goat as though they were already covered in blood. The young man threw off his robe to bare himself to the morning chill. His was a thin body. Lithe. Clad in pale skin and capped in a mop of black curls.
Aulus took up a virgin dagger. The ornate blade had never before seen use. Its sole purpose, its only duty, was to be used for two cuts. One edge was for the goats neck. The other, its underside.
With a prayer the young man did the deed.
He plunged his hands into the hot belly of the still squirming animal. There he took hold of and withdrew its intestines. Long organs were held up to the sky for inspection. Aulus carefully ran the still living tissue through his blood soaked hands. It was as perfect as the beast to which it was attached. Only when the animal before him lay still did he close his eyes and open his mind.
The sacrifice was a key. A push. A careful way into hidden spaces. The intestines served as both map and path. They were a leash for two.
In a world adjacent to his own Aulus found himself walking again by the albino goat. It crumbled at the throat and belly and its guts turned to mush in his fingers. Only by drawing more intestine from the beast could he stay close enough to follow it.
The pair came down the cliffside in a single step to find themselves in the city.
"Not here." Aulus had said without moving his lips. "We must go beyond the wall."
Another step and his guide had brought him to the fields. There he saw men in armor hanging in the air like tapestries. They shimmered as he passed them. Each transformed from a young man to a fierce warrior to a corpse upon the ground. He walked among the future dead and inspected each of their unreal tapestries.
Aulus dared not look up lest he be blinded. And he dared not look down lest he lock eyes with something else. Something below.
"One survivor. One man left standing above the rest. A son of our city. Favored in the house Carina."
The figure in the tapestry remained impossibly dark, as was expected. Prophetic sight was blurry at its center and sharp near the edges. Secondary details could be predicted with precision. But the focus of one's gaze could rarely be seen clearly.
A silent bleat echoed in the young mans mind.
"Times about up, then. Thank you for your service, little one. I've seen all I needed."
Aulus let the intestine slip from his fingers and opened his eyes. He again stood before the altar.

II

Aulus and Gaius shared wine and bread in the private chambers of a little villa.
"So you're saying I'm invincible?"
"That's not how prophecy works, Gaius. I'm saying a favored son of house Carina will stand above the dead."
"Which means that, as the only member of house Carina taking part in today's battle, I'll be the last man standing."
"Which also implies literally everyone else is going to die. You might still die! You'd just be last!"
The larger and more muscular of the two men paused to consider the words of his friend. He then smiled and continued donning his armor.
"Gaius, I've done more than read the entrails of a goat. I've watched the movement of birds. I've thrown bones. I've read the stars themselves. If battle is met today it will lead to disaster. Calamity. A chain of events ending in legendary devastation."
"To which I will be the last man standing."
Aulus snatched up his friends horse haired helm.
"Thousands dead, Gaius! Thousands! There are only a few hundred soldiers in the coming battle. Who else might die for your petty conflict?"
Gaius remained quiet as he finished his preparations. When he had finally dressed in blue cloth and painted steel he approached his oldest companion.
"Give me my helmet, Aulus."
"Take a bowl of wine and some figs instead. Leave your helmet. Leave your spear and sword and shield. Make peace. Talk to them."
"You might be wrong."
"When have I been wrong before?"
Gaius gave a wide, handsome smile.
"Remember the mountain? You had the whole city up in a panic at the waking of the giant and what happened? Nothing more than a little burp of fire."
"That was more complicated than you know, Gaius. I did something to the mountain to stop it from erupting. I changed the future."
"If you're strong enough to wrestle a mountain to submission then why don't you join us in the field today? Change prophesy again? We certainly couldn't lose with you at our side."
Aulus threw the helmet into his friend's chest. The experienced soldier caught it with ease.
"That did more damage than you know, Gaius."
"You couldn't do something like that again, then?"
The slight young man lowered his eyes.
"I can't claim to know much about your strange powers. I have no idea what you see and do. But I have a sworn duty to uphold."
"Not the duty talk again…"
"What's your duty, Aulus? What is your purpose?"
It was a concept difficult to describe. His experiences were beyond those of his fellow man. Few among the mortal races – oracles and mystics and shaman – had seen the things he had seen. There were no words to properly describe it.
"My duty is to keep the other things away. Everything else is secondary to that."
"Then do your duty."
Aulus turned to leave. He only toom a single step before a strong hand caught his arm.
"Aulus. You are closer to me than my brothers and will forever be welcome in my home. I will always value your council. That you are so concerned with my safety marks you as my truest friend."
Gaius spin his friend around and took him by the shoulders.
"And the people of this city are lucky to have you watching over it, even if they don't always seem to deserve it. But there's no helping this. Neither of us rules this place and, even if we did convince those above us to try for peace, there's no guarantee those men beyond the wall will listen. They are just as set on fighting today as we are."
He took up his helmet and covered his handsome face in metal.
"The best each of us can do is their duty."

III

A frustrated mystic watched from a shaded corner atop the city wall as a force of his peoples best soldiers marched out to meet the enemy.
Enemy. The word hardly fit the men waiting in the field.
Those gathered beyond the walls were soldiers from another city within the empire. Fellow citizens. The coming bloodshed wasn't part of a war but a ritualistic battle to settle some minor political dispute. It was an attempt to avoid interference by a distant bureaucracy and satisfy the bloodlust that grew in times of peace. It was a chance for soldiers to grasp at what little glory they could find.
It was a foolish waste of life.
Aulus considered what his friend had said about joining them on the battlefield. He knew words of power and the true names of things above. He could twist his mind in unusual directions. Speak in impossible tones. Were he to take to the field the rest of the cities soldiers could stay at home. But such awesome, terrifying power came at a price. Few men in history knew as much as he did about the things beyond. Each of them would rather die than risk using such knowledge.
Portents of the future. Careful observations made while making as few disruptions as possible. That was the best he could give dearest Gaius.
The soldiers formed ranks and waited before the enemy while representatives from each side met. Aulus noticed his friend leading the left flank, an honored position. Gaius wasn't hard to spot. He stood a head taller than his cohorts and his horse haired helm was more ornate than the caps and buckets around him.
The representatives parted and took up their arms. Horns echoed over the field as the two small armies marched toward one another.
Aulus closed his eyes and pushed his mind from his body. He could hear feet pressing into earth. The heavy breathing. The shouting. The blows against shields and the screeching of blades against armor. The screaming. The dying. He pushed himself further. He could smell the sweat and blood. Further. He could see the flash of steel in the sun.
With eyes closed Aulus could watch the battle from among its combatants. Ranks had broken. He could see Gaius strike down soldier after soldier in a brutal melee. His friend hurled his spear, drew his sword and hacked at the so-called enemy. Aulus could see the opening on his friends right side. His shouted warnings came not from the mind in the field, but from the body on the wall.
The mystic could clearly hear the blade slicing through the flesh of his friends calf. The startled yelp of a great warrior as he fell to his knees rang in the ears of a far away man. And the gurgle, that blood choked squawk his dearest friend gave as another citizen of the empire drove a blade into his neck, that sound drowned out the entire battle.
The secret observer launched forward to catch his friend. The stone of the city wall met his hands. He grit his teeth. He wailed. He forced his hands through the wall and open sky to meet his eyes, ears and nose.
He knelt and pulled his friend up from the blood soaked dirt.
Aulus pushed himself further. More than just his mind. More than just his senses. More and more of the young man was forced to exist on the battlefield. He cared not for what ripples his actions might make on the surface of reality. Consequences be damned. When more of him existed in the field than on the wall he relaxed his mind and let the lesser part of him snap to meet the greater.
Gaius looked up at him. There was still life in his eyes though only the faintest glimmer. It was there for but a moment, one fleeting instant. Life passed from the soldier. Reason passed from the mystic.
"Fools…"
The whisper passed over the mystics lips and crept into the ears of those still fighting in the melee. That word carried with it a potent venom. Skin split. Tissues most sensitive liquified. No amount of clawing could dig it out. No amount of screaming could drown it out. Those closest to mystic fell convulsing to the ground.
"FOOLS!"
The booming shout peeled back metal and evaporated flesh. Freshly exposed bone was then blasted to dust. The battle came to a stop as all eyes turned to the young man, his bloodied friend in his arms, a dozen men dead around him.
In only a minute Gaius, handsome and mighty, had been reduced to a bloodied corpse. In only a minute Aulus had thrice violated the natural order.
The world shuddered around him. Ripples cast by his actions ebbed out to draw the attention of the things beyond. The things outside.
"You're willing to throw your lives away for nothing? Fine. If you're all so willing to die, then die!"
Ripples weren't enough to draw in a predator. He needed a splash.
Eyes flashed and a group of men screamed as their bones lengthened and twisted into grasping, choking vines. Those who remained in the left flank turned to run, only to be stopped by those behind. The men from the center and right who could not clearly see the horrors being unleashed upon the battlefield. With a gesture of his hand Aulus exchanged the runners skin with glass. Their attempts to escape only shattered the thin layer protecting their flesh from the world.
That display was enough to send the rest of the foolish soldiers running. It was also just enough to break the surface. To tear the fabric of reality. It was enough to cause a splash.
The world turned to a blur as Aulus wept into the body of his dearest friend.

IV

The duty of a mystic is to protect their fellow man from the things beyond reality. They calm disturbances in the surface of reality. They mend holes in the fabric of the universe. They do everything in their power to keep the things outside from looking in.
Aulus twisted his mind to force it into the other place. Once there he looked down and searched the murky depths. Lesser beings had already answered his call. They pressed upon the thin barrier between the real and the not. They squirmed their way through whatever pin prick holes they could find.
On the battlefield those beings of flesh and shadow crawled out of tight spaces. They emerged from beneath rocks and fallen bodies. From the spaces between a man's chest and his armor. From under the tongues of those few who held in their screams.
They scraped. They gnashed. They chewed. Everything they touched turned to paste, layer by layer. Aulus knew them to be bottom feeders. Barely thinking creatures that were almost omnipresent in the other place. He needed something more.
"Come on then!" The young mans throat produced tones both real and not. "Come and see this place! This world of dutiful fools. Come and show them what it means to die for nothing!"
Aulus locked eyes with something below. His words were as alien and unknowable to it as its own were to him. It pressed itself against the wound the mystics thrashings had left in the world and, with some perceivable effort, it forced its way through.
It came from behind motes of dust hanging in the air. The thing was the night sky animate. A dark, starlit mass that both crawled and flew over the battlefield. In its presence light dimmed, sound dulled, and everything, man metal and stone, withered. Whatever it fed on, whatever nutrient was vital to the unreal creatures survival, was also needed by real things to keep their shape. Everything it touched unevenly shrank away to be left as a smear of thin tissue upon the ground. Most unfortunate for those who suffered the creatures passing; the process was somehow not immediately lethal.
Aulus wept as the screams around him rose and fell. He pulled the horse haired helmet from the still body in his arms to again gaze upon his handsome face. The mystic held his lifelong friend tightly.
"Gaius, I'm sorry…" Words came between heaving sobs. "I should have tried harder to stop you. I should have tried harder to stop this foolishness. I– I should have joined you in battle. I'd have rather abandoned my duty to save you than to avenge you."
The world broke further as other things found their way through from beyond. Screams more distant rose to replace those of the now suffering soldiers. The things had reached the city.
"Aulus..." The familiar voice came from around and within the grieving young man. "Aulus, my friend. You mustn't do this."
"I–" Words twisted into a knot in his throat. "L-let them die."
"Aulus, please. You might think it a pointless death, and it might have been, but I died doing my duty. I stayed true to who and what I am..."
The implications of the dead Gaius' words crept up in the back of the young mans mind.
"It's too late. I've crossed too many lines. Done too much damage. I just… I just want to stay here with you."
"It's never too late, Aulus. Walk the path I have walked and you will find me beyond."
Duty. Aulus had a duty. He had taken oaths that now lay as twisted and broken as the men around him. Merciful tears obfuscated what he had done to the world. He could not clearly see what had become of the battlefield or what was happening in the city, but he could imagine what each blurry shape may have been. His gut twisted as imagination suggested what each shape might be.
Aulus closed his eyes, never to open them again.
"Gaius, my friend. I will walk your path. The path of duty. I will fix this..."
The young mystic laid his friend to the earth, stood tall among the twisted dead and forced his mind, eyes and arms into the other place. There he could see the damage he'd caused. He could run the idea of his fingers over the ragged edges of the tear. Physical laws had frayed like thread. Universal constants lay ripped and scattered. The wound he'd left in the world was grisly.
It was something he could mend, but the cost would be steep.
Aulus knew he would spend so much mental energy fixing the damage of his tantrum there'd be little left of him when he was done. Even then there were still horrors in the world, false things that had come through to explore the true.
He considered his options.
Imagined fingers took hold of realities tattered edges and pulled them further apart. The world ripped. It was a long tear that arced through the sky like an arrow. The sky quaked. The earth shuddered. The air itself howled and screamed as more and more of the real world was separated in what Aulus perceived as a clean rip.
His target was the mountain.
Aulus had long known the slumbering giant to be a waiting calamity. He regularly climbed to its peak to better see just how dormant it was. There was fire there. And ash. And pressure. So much pressure. But it was stable, he'd seen to that before with a prior violation of the natural order. One that had taken years to carefully mend. So long as nothing disturbed the mountain it would remain quiet.
The tip of the growing tear buried itself into dirt and stone. Somewhere deep below the surface of the Earth there came a rumble. A delicate balance had been disrupted. That was it. That was all it took. With one metaphysical poke the mystic had started something no man, monster or even god could stop. The mountain would wake with rage.
"Let those wretched things that stay here face the fury of the Earth."
Aulus slammed his hands in unusual directions to bring the clean edges of the tear together. Under his guidance the line separating the possible from the impossible mended as cleanly as it had torn. That repair wouldn't cost him much. Not when compared to what he would spend closing the ragged hole he'd created in his grief.
He pushed himself without regard for his own well being. Bits of the unreal were stuffed back outside. The edges of the tear were fused together. The things from outside gathered as their path home began to shrink.
"Back, back you fiends!"
A voice cut through the screams and howls and otherworldly sounds swirling around him. There was a grunt and the clanging of steel. A warcry most familiar.
"Aulus, I will hold them back! Do your duty, wipe these things from the Earth!"
The young man pushed temptation aside. He wanted nothing more than to open his eyes and look around for his friend. To see him moving, fighting, shouting, living. His minds eye could see him again embracing his dearest friend. His hands, both real and not, reached out in the hopes of again holding his friend.
"Aulus!"
Gaius was dead at his feet.
He'd died a pointless death. A foolish death. But it was a death he'd chosen for himself in the pursuit of his duty. Aulus would walk that same path.
More and more of himself was spent repairing the damage with each passing second. The wound closed. His mind fractured. The things around him wailed at the sound of spear and sword.
There came a vibration through the ground and an earthly sound mighty enough to challenge all the terrors from the beyond. The mountain had spoken. Though Aulus held his eyes shut he knew what he had done. He knew what was coming. It was not the peak of the great stone giant that had burst. Rather, the entire mountainside facing the battlefield and city had exploded.
Ash and rock and fire raced over lush fields and quaint farm houses. Those few horrors that had explored towards the mountain found themselves crushed and burned by the unavoidable reality that was the mountain. Unreal biologies and imagined matter meant little before such a demonstration of natural law.
Aulus meant little, too.
The wall of destruction obliterated his body in an instant. But still he worked. Flesh and bone were gone, but his mind and senses remained where he had stood to continue the task. Death would not stop him. No horrors or furious mountains would keep him from his duty.
A wave of scorching earth washed over the city. Merciful death for those who still somehow clung to life. Just destruction for those things that had no place in the universe. All the nightmares that had been made there were buried in stone and ash.
The damage had been undone.
First he had used his fears and insecurities. Then his unpleasant memories. Then his childhood. His family. Himself. Even Gaius. Aulus burned more and more of his own mind to fuel his work. When the task was complete he knew not what he had done or why. Only his duty as a mystic remained. Even that had started to unravel.
"Aulus..."
What was left of the young man was gathered in the embrace of a friend.