Recently back from hospital
Hello, I am looking for some advice. I have always had minor asthma since I was a kid. Slight wheezing when exercising, or a strong smell.
But now I am 24 and early April of this year I got pneumonia. Long story short I contracted uveitis in both eyes after the pneumonia (which I'm still suffering with). My cough never went away and I was back at the doctor all the time. Several chest x rays over the course of these last few months. No pneumonia. I checked my blood, no auto immune disease.
Anyway coughing up mucus all the time, I started feeling more and more short of breath and like something was in my lungs always drowning me. I work in a really old dusty building with no air conditioning. Last week I went to work and it was like my lungs just gave out.
I work with my mom thankfully and she drove me to the ER. I don't remember much, but she said I was gasping like a fish out of water. When I got to the ER my heart rate was 163 and my blood pressure was also high but I don't remember the number. Oddly enough my oxygen was about 90 so not too bad.
Anyway. I was admitted. Two rounds of IV steroids. Nebulizer treatments every 4 hours.
Now that I am released from the hospital. This is where things get weird. So I've had this cough since April before the hospital and I've seen several doctors. No one has given me an inhaler but they did give me oral steroids. So I've been on these steroids for about 2 weeks before the hospital. Now post hospital, the ER doctor gave me 80 mg of prednisolone steroids to take for 5 days. No taper. I also have a steroid powder inhaler I take 2 times a day. Nasal spray, allergy meds, and my at home nebulizer every 4 hours.
The day after I was released I had another bad attack, but I was given a rescue inhaler with a spacer so I was able to calm it down. But I still feel like I'm drowning even with all of these new meds. I'm short of breath all the time, and tired. So tired. Even when I talk you can hear my chest whistling and how labored my breathing is.
So I called my primary doctor and she said that I'm not on enough steroids, she wants me on more. So she told me to go back to the hospital for more IV steroids. I told her I don't want to go back, so we settled on going to urgent care.
Went to urgent care, and that doctor was disgusted by how many steroids I am currently on. She said that my endocrine system could shut down. So she basically told me to disregard what the ER doctor said. And now with the remaining pills I have. She wants to me take 40mg for 3 days, then 20mg for 3 days, then 10mg for 3 days, then 5 mg for 3 days. Until gone.
It's the weekend now so I can't call back my primary doctor. But I am so confused. Now I have 3 different doctors telling me 3 different things. One says 80mg of steroids a day. One says I need more steroids. And one says I should've never been out on that many steroids.
If anyone has any advice about the steroids that would be great. But I also would like advice with asthma in general. Like I said I've always had mild asthma since I was little. But now that my lungs are freaking out and failing, it would be nice to listen to experienced people give me their advice and words of encouragement.
At the moment I am home bound, anytime I step outside I have a bad attack, I'm doing my best to rest. Obviously I can't work so I'm trying to receive disability. It's been hard.
Even if no one comments on this, thank you for taking the time to read.

It's incredible. When I say it's incredible you better believe it because I am not easily impressed therefore when I am impressed it must be incredible. I have a fascination with human beings which is an extension of my desire, lol that's the ego responsible for that because it's a desire, to answer questions. I have a fixation on not just answering questions but understanding the question in all angles of the question. Such as what is the nature of the question asked. Where does the question come from exactly. Why ask the question. How does the question work. What is the point of the answer exactly. What effect does the answer to a question have on the external world and Earth. These kinds of things.
I was not brought up and raised with looking down on, or looking up to for that matter, other people. However most other people were and i've found this to be so or else I would not say that because their behavior and words have indicated so. I have found that my misunderstandings with dealing with other people in this life have stemmed from the simple fact I never took into consideration why someone acted a certain way being they simply looked down on certain aspects and things.
I wondered alot "how is it that people could see another human being and think that person because of their job was anything but another human being worthy of the essentials of existence food, shelter, and water?" I realized that the missing puzzle piece had been there the entire time. People have simply been taught something I was not therefore they understood this where I did not until I had encountered it enough to understand the behavior.
They simply were taught how and to look down upon and also to look up at others. I'm going to make an example of how this lesson is taught to children and where it all begins. It starts from an adult and it doesnt have to be from the parents it can be from really any adult the child hears something like this from "If you don't try hard enough you'll end up scrubbing toilets" "If you fail at school you'll end up flipping hamburgers" and I can say this in many worse ways but the example stands.
This lesson has had all kinds of awful horrendous repercussions on society and human beings. Now I am going to make this clear and it is always up to whoever hears or reads my words to make up their own mind. I want it to always be known I am not here to tell you what to think but what I think.
I do not know the complete blueprint or schematic for the pathway to a not perfect but more pleasant and thus a better by definition world to live in however I do know the first brick in that pathway is this. Understand no one is lesser than you and no one is better than you but also have common sense about it in this you can still think for a split second that the person that cuts you off in traffic is an asshole because you are a human not a machine and to think you will never think a negative thought is absolutely foolish but you can think no one is lesser or greater than you because I have done it for 33 years now and literally up until a few seconds ago I understood this lesson that is 100% a curse being placed upon people by frustrated, well intentioned, etc. people.
I have drawn and illustrated the lesson of consciousness as flowing through everyone and everything. Many people have interpreted this lesson incorrectly because I wasnt the first to come up with this concept and truth. Just one of the newest to understand it and realize it. I will now reiterate the lesson and teach it once again in an effort to clarify what universal consciousness is exactly.
These words Energy/Spirit/Soul/Consciousness/Life/Aura(Auric Field) all have the same context and meaning in a very direct and important way. I will use the term Energy for simplicity. Energy flows through us and all around us and it is universal. That means the same energy that is in me is in you and that same energy in us is in the trees, the animals, the plants, the flowers and everything else including your car and electrical system in your home. Heat waves are a very visible way to see this phenomenon because what is heat but thermal energy the word thermal being irrelevant because at it's essence it is energy therefore the heatwaves are energy waves. Let us see it as "Spiritual Wifi" also. As I said I was not the first to realize this perhaps it was someone in the East perhaps ancient tribes of north America but I do know this that 'My SPIRIT shall not abide in HUMANS for ever, for they are flesh; their days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). What I have just typed/written here is 100% what it means. Genesis 6:3 is a confirmation of the conceptual truth that is universal consciousness. It is also written that God breathed into us the breathe of LIFE. Electrons are at the essence of this. Nothing lives, moves, or animates without Electrons/Electricity/Energy/Life/Spirit/Soul/Consciousness.
Now I have to clarify something many people have misunderstood about this conceptual truth they believe that because the spirit of God is within us that makes them God and that is not correct or true. That is a misunderstanding at it's best and a deceptive act of malice intent at worst. A popular phrase concerning this that has been born from the misunderstanding is this "We are all God" but we are not God we merely have God in us. We did not originate this energy nor did we create it therefore we cannot be God what lies at the source as far as I know at this moment in time must surely be God. Once more and very importantly is this because the spirit of God i.e. Spiritual Wifi connects all of by simply running through all of us and everything we are all the same and we are all one in the spirit. These physical bodies will die. Within them is our ego. The ego is all which separates us the children of God from realizing the simple truth no one is lesser or greater than another.
That is the lesson for today. Do not walk through life thinking the cashier at McDonald's or the janitor or the millionaire or the billionaire alike are different. Walk through life with the simple understanding that we are all the same. Walk through life in realization that no one should go without the 3 basics food, shelter, and water. If the game must be played upon this Earth called wealth acquisition then at least have the love of yourself and decency for yourself not to make another child of God go without the 3 basics because at the end of the day we are all one and one in the same.
I'm Kurt The Gardener and you are always welcome in Nowhere

It's incredible. When I say it's incredible you better believe it because I am not easily impressed therefore when I am impressed it must be incredible. I have a fascination with human beings which is an extension of my desire, lol that's the ego responsible for that because it's a desire, to answer questions. I have a fixation on not just answering questions but understanding the question in all angles of the question. Such as what is the nature of the question asked. Where does the question come from exactly. Why ask the question. How does the question work. What is the point of the answer exactly. What effect does the answer to a question have on the external world and Earth. These kinds of things.
I was not brought up and raised with looking down on, or looking up to for that matter, other people. However most other people were and i've found this to be so or else I would not say that because their behavior and words have indicated so. I have found that my misunderstandings with dealing with other people in this life have stemmed from the simple fact I never took into consideration why someone acted a certain way being they simply looked down on certain aspects and things.
I wondered alot "how is it that people could see another human being and think that person because of their job was anything but another human being worthy of the essentials of existence food, shelter, and water?" I realized that the missing puzzle piece had been there the entire time. People have simply been taught something I was not therefore they understood this where I did not until I had encountered it enough to understand the behavior.
They simply were taught how and to look down upon and also to look up at others. I'm going to make an example of how this lesson is taught to children and where it all begins. It starts from an adult and it doesnt have to be from the parents it can be from really any adult the child hears something like this from "If you don't try hard enough you'll end up scrubbing toilets" "If you fail at school you'll end up flipping hamburgers" and I can say this in many worse ways but the example stands.
This lesson has had all kinds of awful horrendous repercussions on society and human beings. Now I am going to make this clear and it is always up to whoever hears or reads my words to make up their own mind. I want it to always be known I am not here to tell you what to think but what I think.
I do not know the complete blueprint or schematic for the pathway to a not perfect but more pleasant and thus a better by definition world to live in however I do know the first brick in that pathway is this. Understand no one is lesser than you and no one is better than you but also have common sense about it in this you can still think for a split second that the person that cuts you off in traffic is an asshole because you are a human not a machine and to think you will never think a negative thought is absolutely foolish but you can think no one is lesser or greater than you because I have done it for 33 years now and literally up until a few seconds ago I understood this lesson that is 100% a curse being placed upon people by frustrated, well intentioned, etc. people.
I have drawn and illustrated the lesson of consciousness as flowing through everyone and everything. Many people have interpreted this lesson incorrectly because I wasnt the first to come up with this concept and truth. Just one of the newest to understand it and realize it. I will now reiterate the lesson and teach it once again in an effort to clarify what universal consciousness is exactly.
These words Energy/Spirit/Soul/Consciousness/Life/Aura(Auric Field) all have the same context and meaning in a very direct and important way. I will use the term Energy for simplicity. Energy flows through us and all around us and it is universal. That means the same energy that is in me is in you and that same energy in us is in the trees, the animals, the plants, the flowers and everything else including your car and electrical system in your home. Heat waves are a very visible way to see this phenomenon because what is heat but thermal energy the word thermal being irrelevant because at it's essence it is energy therefore the heatwaves are energy waves. Let us see it as "Spiritual Wifi" also. As I said I was not the first to realize this perhaps it was someone in the East perhaps ancient tribes of north America but I do know this that 'My SPIRIT shall not abide in HUMANS for ever, for they are flesh; their days shall be a hundred and twenty years' (Gen. 6:3). What I have just typed/written here is 100% what it means. Genesis 6:3 is a confirmation of the conceptual truth that is universal consciousness. It is also written that God breathed into us the breathe of LIFE. Electrons are at the essence of this. Nothing lives, moves, or animates without Electrons/Electricity/Energy/Life/Spirit/Soul/Consciousness.
Now I have to clarify something many people have misunderstood about this conceptual truth they believe that because the spirit of God is within us that makes them God and that is not correct or true. That is a misunderstanding at it's best and a deceptive act of malice intent at worst. A popular phrase concerning this that has been born from the misunderstanding is this "We are all God" but we are not God we merely have God in us. We did not originate this energy nor did we create it therefore we cannot be God what lies at the source as far as I know at this moment in time must surely be God. Once more and very importantly is this because the spirit of God i.e. Spiritual Wifi connects all of by simply running through all of us and everything we are all the same and we are all one in the spirit. These physical bodies will die. Within them is our ego. The ego is all which separates us the children of God from realizing the simple truth no one is lesser or greater than another.
That is the lesson for today. Do not walk through life thinking the cashier at McDonald's or the janitor or the millionaire or the billionaire alike are different. Walk through life with the simple understanding that we are all the same. Walk through life in realization that no one should go without the 3 basics food, shelter, and water. If the game must be played upon this Earth called wealth acquisition then at least have the love of yourself and decency for yourself not to make another child of God go without the 3 basics because at the end of the day we are all one and one in the same.
I'm Kurt The Gardener and you are always welcome in Nowhere

TL:DR - My daughter and I were driving together on a well-known route, somehow traveled 2.5 miles in the blink of an eye, and lost 11 minutes.
I'm still wrapping my head around this, and I'm not even sure how to describe what happened to us, but I need to write this down in detail so that I can remind myself later that I didn't imagine it. Or maybe to remind myself that I'm not crazy and that it actually happened? I need to write this out because if I just keep going over and over it in my head, I'm going to wear myself out. This happened today, just about seven hours ago, and I'm still not sure how to process it. I hope that by writing this out I can stop torturing myself with questions.
I'm a woman in my mid-40s, I am mentally healthy, and while I believe that there are things humans can't explain, I don't experience things like this ever. (Like, if you tell me you saw a ghost, I'd believe that you are telling me your truth, but I don't experience a lot of weird shit myself, you know?) If I had been driving alone this morning and this happened, I honestly would have just been all, "Nope, that didn't happen," and I probably would just convince myself that nothing weird happened at all. All this to say that I don't normally have this kind of thing happen, and I have also been sober for over a decade. My daughter is 16 and is young and healthy. We weren't drunk, high, impaired, or otherwise experiencing non-reality.
This was around 6:30 a.m., and neither one of us was mentally altered, we were both a little bit tired from waking up early. My daughter has a job at a children's summer camp about an hour from our house, and she was home this weekend to do laundry and relax. She was supposed to be back at camp on Sunday (today) at 7 a.m. to get ready for campers arriving in the afternoon.
She told me she wanted to be there a little earlier than 7, so I set my alarm for 4:45 a.m., and in total I got about 4.5 hours of sleep. I woke her up at 5:00 a.m. and she took a shower and finished packing her bags. We left our house around 5:40, and when we were about 10 minutes away, we had to turn around because she had forgotten something important. No biggie, I turned around, she got her stuff, we headed to go get coffee. My coffee receipt says 5:58 a.m. The GPS estimated that we would get from the coffee shop to camp at 6:44, totally normal for this early in the morning. If it was afternoon and there was traffic it could possibly take an hour or an hour-ten.
The route to camp is very straightforward, and I have driven this route six times already just this summer (to drop her off or pick her up, and also because I work for the organization that runs the camp, so I have also had to go out there twice to do paperwork). Not to mention the dozens of times I've made this trip in previous years, either for work or to take my daughter to camp when she was little.
From our neighborhood, you can take two different routes for about the first 6 miles of the trip, but the next 26 miles are always the same. There is only one route to this camp, and I know my way there and back like the back of my hand. (I use the GPS because I like knowing how much time is left on my drive. Like if I need to stop and use the restroom or can I make it the final 15 minutes or whatever, you know?)
So basically, take route A or route B the first 6 miles, take a right turn onto State Highway and head west, drive another 19 miles, turn right onto Rural Road and head north (there's a huge convenience store and a stoplight at that intersection, you can't miss it), and then about 7 miles later you're at camp.
We started an album on Spotify by a band that we both enjoy, and while I was tired, I wasn't "fall asleep at the wheel and drive off the road tired" - I was sipping my coffee, we were both kind of just listening to the music and not talking much. It was dark when we left, but by the time we got to the 2/3 point of the drive, the sky was lightening up a bit.
The last song of the band's album came on, then when it ended another song by the same band started. I hadn't heard it before, I didn't like it very much, and I assumed that Spotify had just finished the album and then started up a different album by the same band. But when I looked at my car's dashboard screen, it showed that the song was part of the album I had chosen. I hadn't heard this song at the end of the album the other twenty times I've listened to it, so that's weird, but maybe it's an extended edition album or something on Spotify. No biggie. I asked my daughter to take my phone and go ahead and put on what she wanted to listen to next.
She chose a lady singer who had opened for the first band at their concert we saw earlier this year in January, and she queued up four songs she liked. She put my phone back on the dashboard phone mount, and the first song started to play. We were both still just kind of bobbing our heads and waking up, and we turned around a bend of the highway. The first song by the lady ends and the second song starts.
At this point we're just about 1.5 miles to the final turn, where we turn right from the State Highway onto Rural Road. We had just passed a restaurant/landmark that I always know means we're about to make that final turn, so I'm glad that my drive is almost over. I'm eager to stop at camp and pee, drop my daughter and her luggage off, chat with some folks I know from work, and then go home. I sipped my coffee, and there was about an inch of coffee left in the paper cup. The upcoming last leg of the drive, from turning onto Rural Road to the camp gates should take about 12 minutes.
We come around the final little curve of the highway before the intersection, and I'm keeping an eye out for the convenience store that marks the turn onto Rural Road. We're pretty much the only car on the four-lane State Highway going our direction. I'm in the left lane, and there's a dark-color little station wagon/mini-SUV in the right lane just about 4-5 car lengths ahead of me. That car puts on its breaks, not hard like there's an emergency, but a little bit sudden, and then pulls over onto the shoulder of the highway.
It doesn't look like they're in trouble, the little navy blue Subaru isn't smoking or busted a tire or anything, so I don't think much of it. As we pass it my daughter turns her head to look out her window at the car, and I proceed west toward the final little bend in the highway before we get to the stoplight to turn onto Rural Road.
Suddenly there are big orange construction barrels lining the highway. They've got the 4-lane highway down to just two lanes, one in each direction. I knew they had been doing construction, but the last time I drove to camp on Friday evening to pick up my daughter, the construction had been farther down the highway, on the west side of the intersection at Rural Road where the State Highway continues going West. Guess the construction is now extending up this far, okay, no problem.
The sky is even lighter, and then I see a big stone/brick sign on the right hand side of the road marking the entrance to a subdivision I've never seen before. That's weird.
I glance at the GPS to see it telling me to turn right onto a little road I've never seen before, and I remark to my daughter, "Is it taking me to a shortcut? I've literally never seen this road before." At this point, the convenience store should be in sight just ahead. I have no idea what this road is.
She shrugs, we turn right and drive north onto the little paved road where the GPS told us to turn, but we're both really confused. There isn't any "shortcut" to camp, it's only Rural Road. There's only one way in or out of camp. We frown and start saying, "This is weird."
There's not much on this little paved road, we've been driving for about a minute, maybe minute-and-a-half. On our right we pass a small brick sign marking an events hall, like the kind of place you could rent out for a wedding or something. Then I see a power substation ahead on the left, so I gesture to the grassy fields on both sides of the road, and I joke, "Oh look, the GPS is taking us on a shortcut with a very scenic view of the power station, check out these beautiful views." LOL, I'm a riot.
I slow down on the little 2-lane paved road, there's no cars behind us that would care, and I tap my phone screen and zoom the GPS map out, to get a bigger view of where I'm supposed to be going. About a mile ahead is a Y-intersection/fork in the road, and the GPS is telling me to make a U-turn at the fork, head back south, and then turn left to drive eastward on State Highway, then turn left/north onto Rural Road. WTF? This isn't right. It's very much... wrong. This is wrong.
So instead of going another half-mile to the fork in the road, I decide to just U-turn in the gravel driveway of the power substation. So I pull into the power substation, U-turn, and go back up the little road, frowning at the GPS and looking at my daughter all, "What the fuck? Where are we? What is going on?" I can't concentrate with the music playing (the third song she had queued up), so I turn the volume all the way down.
We drive another minute or so to get back to the top of the little paved road where it T-intersects with State Highway and wait for a green light so we can turn left, and the whole time we're freaking out. Where are we, why are we here? And my daughter is so nervous/upset that she's laughing, like uncontrollable nervous laughter. Suddenly she goes, "What the fuck?" and points to the GPS, and now our estimated time of arrival at camp is no longer 6:44, it's 6:55 a.m.... WTF WTF WTF. We "lost" 11 minutes? How?
She's still laughing, putting her hand on my shoulder, like, "Mom, what just happened? What the fuck? We lost time?"
I'm trying to figure out what the fuck just happened, we're now going east on State Highway back toward the intersection to Rural Road, and I'm just... I don't know what's happening.
We come back to the big sign for the subdivision (passing it on our left), and then we go over a bridge that we don't remember going over at all the first time. We never drove over this bridge while we were heading west. We were less than a mile from the turn onto Rural Road, and we blinked, and suddenly we were passing the construction barrels and the subdivision sign.
We approach the intersection to turn left onto Rural Road, and we realize that the construction barrels do NOT go past that intersection. There are zero orange barrels on the east side of the convenience store. There are zero construction barrels where we saw the other car pull over.
We turn onto Rural Road and start trying to piece this together. What the fuck just happened? We were both on the lookout for the convenience store that we know so well, that we've stopped at dozens of times on our way to camp, that we KNOW marks the north/east corner of the intersection to turn right onto Rural Road, but it's like we both blinked and suddenly we were on the west side of the intersection.
She's still laughing, unsettled as all hell, we still have another ten minutes to drive down Rural Road to the camp gates, we're both talking over each other, and piecing it together. And it's like, no. This is not possible, it's not right. Something happened. Because from where we last remember (being on the east side of that intersection and seeing that car put its brakes on and pull over) to where we saw the subdivision sign and where the GPS told us to turn onto the little paved road, is just 2.5 miles, it would only take 2 minutes to drive. Where did a full 9 more minutes go? How did this happen? What the fuck happened?
I'm all, "That was fucked up."
"No, Mom, that was more than fucked up."
"Well, I don't have a word for 'more than fucked up,' so give me a little credit here. I don't know what the fuck just happened."
She's like, "How do we explain this to anyone?"
"You don't. You can't talk to anyone about this, they'll think you're crazy. I'm tempted to say it didn't happen and we both imagined it and we should never talk about it again."
She goes, "You know, when the GPS told us to turn onto that little road it felt wrong."
"I know, like something was wrong? That's not the way to camp?"
"No, Mom. Like wrong wrong. I just felt wrong. Everything in my body was screaming that it was wrong."
"I know, I know... I felt weird, too. But I don't know what happened."
"Okay, but..." She starts talking, and I pick up my coffee cup to find it's empty. There had been a good sip or two left just before the convenience store, and now it's gone. That freaks me out. My daughter is still going back over what happened, talking about the last "normal" part of the drive while we were heading west and looking for the convenience store turnoff.
"We were driving toward the turnoff to camp, and the second song came on, and I remember seeing that gray Tesla brake hard and pull over, and I was like-"
"Wait, a gray Tesla? No, it was a blue Suburban. I remember thinking it was a Mom car."
She's like, "Noooo, it was a gray Tesla. I swear it was a gray Tesla."
"But it was kind of light outside by that time. How did we both see a different car?"
She's still laughing really nervously, "Okaaay, so... Did this just happen? We were driving to the intersection, the second song came on, we lost 11 minutes, we both saw a different car, we have never missed the turn to camp, we've never driven past that subdivision before... what the fuck?"
"Yeah, the second song ended, the third song came on, and what song is it on now?" (Because I'm thinking we can estimate how long the four songs should have taken.)
She picks up my phone, and it's playing the second song she queued up. I shivered, and she's like, "Nope nope nope. Not happening, this is not happening."
We just... we can't wrap our heads around this. We pulled up at camp, and I checked my Google Maps history but I don't have it turned on. I can't think of any other way to try to see what happened during those 11 minutes/2.5 miles. I'm stumped.
If you read this far, congratulations, you have earned my respect. I can barely understand it myself. If you know why or how or what the fuck is going on, I'd appreciate it.
Neither of us felt... damaged, you know? We didn't feel physically harmed, we didn't feel like we had crashed or been probed or anything. In fact, halfway through my drive home I realized my sore throat from seasonal allergies was completely gone, and my sinuses were clear instead of clogged. Did we get abducted by aliens and they healed my sore throat? Did we crash and quantum leap into a different universe? Did we drive through a wormhole that transported us 2.5 miles to the west for some reason? Was the gray Tesla/blue Suburban an alien vehicle and my daughter wasn't supposed to look directly at it?
I want to know what happened, but just reading through everything I've written makes my eyes water with fear. I kind of want to ignore it, chalk it up to us both being tired, and then never talk about it again.

Hey there! Before anything,i know my account is new but i had another account that i lost not long ago so yeah,i swear i am not a robot or a creepy person.
Ahem,so about me!
-I'm a 20,almost 21 year old male from Europe. Mixed,and bilingual. I'm here looking for a very special girl that knows what she wants. Someone to appreciate life with,and enjoy moments together irl and online. I guess you could say i'm a big romantic in this world of looks and such. And talking about looks!
Physically speaking: -I'm neither obese or slim,i do have some extra love but hey,i'm good for warming u during winter! haha. Height wise i'm between 5'11-6'0. CM speaking it's 181/182cms. I have dark hair and brown eyes. You could say i'm like a teddy,since i do have hair but if you like that i'm glad.
So,what do i like,have interest in? -My main interests are:
Gaming: I love anything rpg related. Started playing DS1 a few days ago and finished it today. I want to play BG3 so bad but my pc isn't good,so i gotta save for a better pc. I also play Fortnite so if you wanna duo tell me! My main game franchises are: Fallout,Warcraft,Final Fantasy. And starting to like the Souls one too :))
Manga/Anime: I'm not a big weeb,yet i do love some of them. My main ones are : D-Gray Man,Berserk,Gantz,JJBA,Hellsing and Dorohedoro. One Piece is my childhood tho.
I also love Fantasy in general and i want to be a fantasy author. I do worldbuilding and all of that cool stuff so if you're a fantasy girl it'd be so good!
Music: My main artists/bands are Muse,System of a Down and Queen. I love classical music but mostly rock/nu metal and old pop.
But,what am i looking for in a girl?
-Well i'm not very picky. Just...you know,share stuff from above with me or have similar taste,be yourself and have true intentions. My main aim towards the future relationship-wise would be getting you know,a ring on your hand. And also some little devils,you know? So i hope you want the same. My age range is from 19 to 23 years old,i guess. Ethnicity,beliefs or location don't matter to me,yet it'd be more comfortable if you were from Europe if you don't your timezone messed up,but if you don't care about that thing,go ahead as well! So what else...i don't know,don't want to write the whole bible here. If you feel interested about me and want to see how things go,introduce yourself as detailed as you want in dms,and also add the word "Icarus" so i know you saw all of this.
Anyways,see you in dms maybe? Hope so!

Ignore the Owl tag in the title. It's a code word so my players know not to read this post if they come across it.
I started a campaign last week. I had most of the story planned already.
Chaos vs Order, it's about Hags vs Primus. Beings of pure chaos versus a god of pure order. The players must put an end to the Hags' plans.
The hags' plans consists of using dead Modrons as "bait" to harvest the blood of Verdans, which is brimming with chaos magic, to inject into Grungs and turn them into Slaadi; planning another Slaadi invasion of Mechanus. Verdans are pretty much made of chaos, but they are good and peaceful people who will take the robotic enhancements without knowing the price they're paying for it (they're refugees, they need all the help they can get setting up their commune). Pretty cut and dry: Hags are evil, Modrons are cute, you must side with Primus and defeat the hags.
But just yesterday a friend asked me something that kinda threw a wrench in the plans... what if the players want to side with chaos? At first I thought to myself that this would not be very likely since the hags are the bad guys in the story, but. Do they need to be? Do I need such black-and-white good guys and bad guys? Why is order good and chaos bad?
I think I need some help adding some grey areas to the story so my players can ultimately make the decision of whether they'll join the hags, join Primus, or pick neither and work towards balance in the world. Maybe the hags aren't that evil? Maybe Primus isn't that good? Maybe there's collateral damage on both sides, and if so, what would it be? Do the Grungs want to become slaads? Verdans are made of chaos magic, but they chose order as their way of life. What side are they on?
Since this is a homebrew setting, everything is very malleable. Feel free to throw in ideas, if they're good enough I can make it fit in the world. Right now my players are in a pretty self contained arc, so I can do major shifts in the story in the background.

~First~
For Newest England
The Command Centre is dark, full of foreboding shapes that remind her of days...
She’s snapped out of that bit of introspection as Philip finds the light switch and the room goes from almost haunting to merely empty and quiet.
“Do you think any of your old codes will work on this? Or am I going to brush up on my hacking skills?” Philip asks as he opens the side of a roundabout desk and slips inside. He taps on the desk top and a screen activates awaiting his input.
Sally walks up and presses a few holographic buttons. The screen opens up and Philip begins reading through. She presses a few more and he gives her a sideways look. “What?”
“I’m still learning your local language.”
“Ah. Really? How interesting.” She says and she starts reading faster and quickly comes upon something interesting.
“Madam please.”
“It’s rather funny that someone who thinks they can conquer an entire world doesn’t even fully know the language.”
“Considering how often such a thing occurs across the galaxy, to the point that I am aware of at least nine such scenarios within a week’s travel happening right now. I do not think my difficulty is so unusual.” He chides her.
“Nine? Really?”
“Well, technically seventeen, but many of them are tied up in each other. Multiple stations and planets being invaded by a single large force sort of thing.” He answers.
“Oh. Well I just found something interesting. Follow me. I need to see this for myself and you will want to as well.”
“Oh good, is the rumoured armoured division still supplied?”
“It looks to be that way. We might have more firepower than I thought.”
“Very good.” He says standing up and sliding over the desk to follow her out. “I had actually thought that heavier things like the armour would have been taken and at least repurposed.”
“They’re in The Gavali Empire colours... could it be something that petty?” She asks herself in awe.
“Really? I would expect people of their character to at least find some joy in having them repainted rather than simply abandoned. It’s an enormous waste.” Sir Philip chides before pausing and chuckling. “Of course... The Stations. That’s where their pride is. Well, bully for them, my plan is going to work even better now.”
“Oh really?”
“Think about it, if that readout was accurate there are two squads worth of mobile armour in here. That’s the kind of hardware that is never abandoned without good reason. But if that reason is severe pride in another piece of equipment, then it...”
“Will get all the attention.” Shelly says following his train of logic. “Wait, how do you know there are two squads worth on the registry I checked.”
“I’m learning your language, not totally ignorant. I can read it just fine, I just need some more time than I’d like.” He remarks as they head down and he swipes a keycard into lock of the door. Shelly turns on the lights and both of them pause.
“Magnificent.” Philip says with a smirk.
“Wonderful, absolutely wonderful.” Shelly says in awe as she beholds the rows upon rows of towering Battle Walkers. Far more than any five squadrons would use. “There was a rumour about one of the bases being used as storage, but that it was this one is just good luck.”
“Bad luck as well, there’s barely any room in this hanger. To say nothing of how much is needed for these beasts to maneuver, it’s why I prefer a Tank myself, but a heavily armed combat walker with the ability to entrench itself to become artillery is an acceptable second place.” Philip says as he walks up to the nearest massive weapon’s platform. It’s easily a hundred tons in weight and while it has several cannons pointed forward, the real prize is on the back.
“This is old school firepower. The Empire has moved away from this kind of combat doctrine and the Vatras have followed. These things are old, but they’ll still hit like a meteor.” Shelly says as she remembers the fast things running around in all sorts of configurations as a massive contest was held for which one would be the main combat walker of The Empire. In the end they had settled on flight capable bipedal platform. Very light compared to these stompers, but comparably fragile.
“Yes, they’re not very fast, but they’re mobile, all terrain artillery units. If we can get our hands on something more modern from the Vatras to support and screen these beasts we might be able to take a station down. Especially if it’s been damaged to begin with.”
“Maybe one, if there are two left then the second will be able to shoot us into a crater before our shots can reach it. As powerful as these weapons are we need the element of surprise for them to work.” She says going over the hunched over posture of the massive battlemech. “And more modern armour will dance circles around these girls and reduce them to slag before they can get a shot off. These beasts are slow and mean, but slow gets you shot down.”
“Which means we need to think of them more like semi-mobile emplacements.” Philip remarks as he climbs up the ladder to the entry port in the side and pops it open. “My word... it has the new car smell.”
“The new car smell?”
“The smell of chemicals and such used in manufacture. This particular piece of equipment was never even used before being placed here in storage. Wicked waste.” He says derisively before closing the door. “So, what do you think of our odds now?”
“Getting better. But I’ll need to do some digging. I was in charge of ground forces, not armoured. I’ll need to see if any of my old friends in command are still around to find someone that can lead a force like this.”
“Good lass.” Philip says as he hops down and lands with barely a bend to his knees. “We have a hundred and twenty of these walkers. Which considering the yield of their artillery lasers they just barely equal the output of a single station.”
“Wouldn’t they go over... no wait, each individual beam would be distorted at least somewhat and the single large one from the station would have less interference. So it would come to roughly the same amount, just a little bit of power one way or the other...” She mutters as she does the math. “Still, we have the equivalent of a station on the ground. That’s... big. Really big.”
“It is, and it’s something to keep very close to the chest. If any of the Vatras realize there’s a direct, pound per pound, threat to their power they can and will do something about it. Stealth is wealth in this scenario and we need to be wealthy indeed to pull this off.”
“You just quoted something.” She remarks and he smirks.
“Yes, I spent some time undercover as a burgler and petty thief. The things you learn in criminal circles my dear, why, it’d make your hair go white!” He says and she considers, thinks and then comes to a realization.
“So how much of your thieving skills have you used here today?”
“In this building? Precious few. In actually casing the area I got the keycards and authentication from? Quite a few. Proper criminality needs both patience and audacity at the appropriate times.” Philip says as he glances down the way. “There seems to be some modifications near the back. Those are likely the Battle Walkers that I assumed would be here.”
“So you were expecting some.”
“I was expecting at worst some mouldering parts and tools left over from Valiance and Determine Squadrons.” He admits. “At best I was hoping for the entire squadron’s walkers. Maintaining all these Battle Walkers is going to be an enormous issue.”
“Can’t win but for winning?”
“Almost.” He admits. “Hmm... There are so many opportunities that are opening up.”
“Opportunities for whom?”
“For you and yours. While each one of these behemoths might need a hundred siblings to match a station. Those stations are designed to leave wounds on worlds. These armours will work as defensive emplacements that can get up and walk away. A station they’ll struggle with one to one, but they can and likely will leave gruesome holes in capital ships.” Philip says.
“So you don’t intend these to be brought out until AFTER you do your insane stunt and steal a station?” She asks.
“That’s correct.” Philip notes as he leads her through the rows upon rows of Combat Walkers and inspects them all in a quick scan to see if any of them jump out at him. He pauses at seeming random and runs his finger over one of the legs and finding the paint cracking off and peeling. “Hmm... must have been produced while the Vatras were taking the planet. Not enough time to get a second coat of paint.”
“How did you see that?” She asks him.
“Because I was looking for it.” He replies.
“You were looking for brittle and cracking paint?”
“I was looking for defects. We’ll get a trusted engineer in here to give everything a look over. For all we know each of these walkers are just waiting to fall apart and a proper push from the side will cause it to crumble.” Philip says and Shelly gathers some Axiom and shoulder checks the nearest Walker. It sways ever so slightly. “You can fight a Battle Walker?”
“They’re powerful, but they have weaknesses. Especially when they’re powered down.” She answers and he smiles.
“Excellent. Now then, shall we see what kind of modifications Valiance and Determine made to their walkers?” He asks as he leads her further back and Sally sighs. “Oh dear...”
“... Yes...” Sally says as she beholds the decal on the side of a walker that just shows a Jorgua man made of muscles and holding a plasma cannon as the only thing keeping him decent. To her surprise Philip actually laughs at the sight of it before mimicking the pose of flexing all the muscles while having a firm and suggestive grip on the cannon.
“What do you think?” He asks and she shakes her head in amusement.
“I think you’re a little overdressed for it.” She chides him. “You don’t take offence?”
“My dear woman, I count on it.” He replies.
“Of course, if someone’s brain’s in their crotch then they’re not doing too well in a fight.”
“Exactly so.” Philip answers. “So... do you have enough to be ready?”
“I need to see one more place. The most important place in any military base.”
“Ah yes, how could I possibly forget?” Philip asks.
•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•×•
“Hmm... of all the places to have most of the tools go missing I must admit I didn’t expect it from the kitchens.” Philip notes somewhat ruefully.
“People can explain having a spatula, frying pan or big serving spoon. Even butcher knives and the like. Not so much a massive Battle Walker.”
“Very true dear girl. Very true indeed.” He notes as he finds bare cupboards, empty shelves and nothing at all left in the kitchen, stasis storage or pantry. “Did they just walk out with everything that wasn’t bolted down?”
“No, the chairs in the mess hall are mostly here?” Shelly says turning the light on in the mess hall and chuckling at what she sees.
“Mostly?” Philip demands and then he pokes his head in and scans the room. “Unbelievable.”
“Looks like a quarter maybe?” She asks indicating the missing chairs.
“Roughly.” He replies. “This is going to be less complicated to replace than potentially missing Walkers, but still aggravating.”
“Good luck with that. I’ll get to talking to some friends of mine. If nothing else they’ll love the chance for a front row seat into whatever you’re about to do.”
“Ah... good.”
“How ARE you going to take control of a space station?”
“Manuel override during the viral attack. I’ll need to be in engineering to do it, and once we’re in the lake I can deal with the rest of the crew at my leisure as things will be cut off from the outside world as the chaos ensues.”
“And what about Protn based communications? No amount of interference can get around that.”
“Yes, that’s why I need to select my target and time carefully. Scouting is very important after all.” He says. “Protn can be scanned for and detected with ease. I hit those while my forces take the engine room and take us down.”
“And who are you getting?”
“That depends entirely on how easily swayed the engineering staff are. Several of the stations have some very likely prospects and I have the meeting with the first of them in...” He checks his watch. “Three hours.”
“... You’re already on it?!”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“It turns out that the crew you can’t parade around or can’t threaten you with violence tend to be underestimated by despots. It’s almost like those obsessed with power are unfamiliar with the extremely important details of things such as upkeep.”
“Really?”
“Well, that’s the obvious explanation. The more serious one is that people that grasp at power often over or under delegate. Those that over-delegate are often preening fools that are best ignored. Give them some cookies and shove them in a corner with a model and they’re out of your hair. Those that are obsessively in control and under-delegate simply stretch themselves too thin, tire themselves out and miss important details. From my understanding the Engineering staff of several stations are moderately paid, but routinely ignored and will take a pay cut if things go wrong. Even if it was the ignoring that caused the situation to begin with.”
“Right... okay. Holy goddess, even when thigns were working well there were weaknesses you could have danced through weren’t there?”
“No system is perfect. And the trick to infiltration is to find the weaknesses. Although the best advice is to generally go for being as low ranked as you can pretend to be in you’re infiltrating. That way less people will be concerned with who you are and why you’re there.”
“But then anyone can order you around.”
“And following those orders lets you get all over the place and a ready made scapegoat for all kinds of things. Every issue is an opportunity if you play it that way.”
“... Are you trying to make me into a spy?”
“Ah, pardon me. I’ve spent so long teaching the habit has stuck.”
“Teaching? Teaching who?”
“A pair of most adept students that I had the pleasure of seeing blossom into masters.”
“You really enjoy answering questions without answering them, don’t you?”
“Occupational hazard my dear, along with sudden mortality if I let myself slip.”
~First~ Last

This is a "The Story Boy" Totally True Tale. Everything below really happened, the only things that has been altered are the names of the people.
Around 2013/2014 I was pretty good friends with a coworker (Gary). Our wives were friends and coworkers as well. Our wives got sent on a work conference to Nashville, TN. The conference was from Friday to Sunday. We all decided to make a vacation out of it. It was me, my wife, our 1 kid. Gary, his wife, their 3 kids, and his mom (Sally). We went down early and why the wives did have to work some Friday and Saturday it was a fun time. The plan though, because the wives would get back very very late Sunday, was after we had some morning fun Saturday. Myself, Gary, Sally, and our combined 4 kids would head back.
I was riding shotgun and Gary at the wheel. It was about a 7 hour drive. We made the usual talk for awhile when Gary said, "Okay hypothetical, you win one of those crazy lotteries, like 900 million or something, what you doing with it". Sally goes, "Oh, I'd give it to family"
For some reason Gary is extremely triggered by this, "You'd give it to family really? Why would you do that?" They start going back forth, I'm getting small explanations as they go. Gary looks at me and says "Our family is like, you're successful with a college degree or you're poor white trash, and there is no inbetween". He yells back, "You'd give money to Uncle Danny, really?!?!" Sally's like, "Okay maybe not him". Gary looks back over at me, "Danny is a worthless piece of shit" He starts naming off these random relatives (I have no idea who any of these people are). He rattles off a few more and gets various answers from Sally, yells back at her, "Dave and Linda?" Sally, "Yeah for the baby. " Gary immediately, "They'd spend it all on lottery tickets and cigarettes. (Looks at me) Those two are the example of why reproducing should require a license."
For the record, I never got a chance to say my answer to the 900 million dollar hypothetical.
Anyway, Sally goes, "Id give a lot to Tommy." And Gary's whole demeanor changes, "Oh, Tommy, yeah, he deserves it." This is where the conversation shifts and they begin to tag team tell me "The Tragedy of Cousin Tommy."
So Tommy was a good guy, he was Gary's 2nd cousin. He got married in his early 20s to Robin, also in early 20s. They had 2 kids. Tony works evenings for most of their marriage, he's blue collar but doing good for himself and his family. To give me an idea they said his hours were like 5pm to 1am shift. His wife Robin worked days, and they each had the kids while the other worked.
About 5 years into the marriage, some of Tommy's friends, who he mostly works with, begin telling him they think Robin is cheating on him. At first, they would just say they think something is going on, I don't know for sure, just a feeling or something weird they saw or heard. He ignores their warning, says he trusts her. This goes on sporadically for about a year. Towards the end, Tony's friends are telling him straight out "she is cheating" if you just go home on dinner break you'll probably see for yourself. One day it finally got too much for him and he did just that. Sure enough he arrived to find her boss is there, and he catches them in the act.
This totally blows up. Throws Robin out, and she moves in with her parents. They have to basically co exist though with kids schedules and their own work schedules. Kids are 6F and 4M when this goes down. He is really close with 6F, she's a total daddy's girl. He figures out this has gone on for years. Eventually, he can't take the wonder and gets paternity tests done. Neither kid is his.
He goes straight to her parents house with the evidence. Her Dad is absolutely livid, screams and yells at her, "Says no man deserves this." He apologized profusely to Tommy. Though the parents did not throw her out, Robin's Dad actually moved out of his own house for like 3 weeks because he couldn't stand to look at her. She knows they are the Boss's kids, I think it was later verified, anyway, the affair had been going on the whole time she worked under him which was right around the same time her and Tommy got married. The excuse she gave Tommy was, she wanted to be a mom, and didn't think he could do that, because he hadn't gotten her pregnant yet. But the older daughter was conceived like 3 months into the marriage. Tommy was like, "For fuck sake Robin, can you give a guy a chance"
When the affair comes to light, the Boss is in total damage control. This guy has a wife, 2 kids, house, all that. He is totally ready to sign off parental rights, cover this up, even pay Tommy to go away.
This whole time I'm listening to this story I'm picturing some Hollywood Lifetime movies shit. In my mind this is a story a some young hardworking blue collar guy, unfaithful secretary wife living double life with sleezy corporate boss. Then Sally drops this gem and all my illusions dissolve back into reality, "This actually turned into a huge deal, corporate ended up getting involved because he was her manager at that Burger King, and they were afraid of a lawsuit."
At that moment, I just said, "Yep that's sounds right." This is the Midwest, BK drama way more likely lol.
I did get the wrap up on the tale. They did divorce, Robin and Boss lost their jobs and the Boss ended up divorced too. Tony did still get half custody of kids, but they told me he isn't the same guy anymore. When they are telling me the story it had already been like 6-7 years since this all took place. He was still single and definitely had a drinking problem. I felt really bad for the guy. It's been another 10 years since that car ride, and I fell out of touch with Gary 6-7 years ago. So I'll likely never get another update. But I do think about this story everytime I go in a Burger King.

Suddenly, Johnathan saw a picture of his father training him and Kane. ‘I wonder where he is’ was what he thought. His presence disappeared the same day Carl’s got fierce. He thought the legendary marine might be dead, but ruled it out due to it seemingly being impossible. However, after seeing his father’s sword with its god in front of him today, this scenario became much more likely. But simply stealing the power of a god would be impossible. After all, if a host died, their god would leave the Earth. This must’ve meant his father was alive for the time being.
After this, he remembered what Shin said about Carl. He realized it was too early to die, but could do nothing about it. His spirit was drawing close to its end by the moment. When he noticed how little life was left in him, his heart stopped, and he began his took his final breath. What stopped him from going over to the other side was a female voice behind him.

• Are you done? – it was woman, with pure white skin and clothes
  
• I am not, but there is nothing left in me – he answered – I am very sorry for wasting your power, Luna.
  
• Don’t be sorry, after all, this is our final time seeing each other, – she sounded resigning
  
• So, you don’t have anything left for me? Like some crazy power up, that could restart my body? – he was asking doubtfully, but with still some hope
  
• There is a way for you to return back to life. But that means our parting as well. If you trade your powers with me, I can save you, but that would mean you have to find a way to defeat a goddess all alone.
  
• If that is what must be done, it must be done. How can we do this trade?
  
• You have nothing else to do, but to wish for what your heart wants most at the moment and nothing more. If that happens, I can complete our exchange.
  
• Is there a way for me to make a contract with you after I’ve lost your powers? – he wanted to ask whether there was any chance of them meeting up again
  
• You may prove your worth once more, but even then, a contract broken might be never prepared again.
  

Johnathan didn’t say anything more and closed his eyes. The only thing on his mind was him standing in front of Themis once more. There was nothing he wanted more. Not his own ambitions, but only revenge for what she has done. When this thought took over his mind, he found himself as a spirit above his body. He knew if he wanted to win, he had to re-enter his body. He saw that the flame was gone and his bones were repaired, but the Moonlight Eclipse wasn’t there either, only a plain sword. He saw these as a parting gift from Luna. He also saw, that the other two were hardly living. If he wanted to finish it, he had to do it fast.
When he opened his eyes and grabbed the new sword, Themis’ laughter stopped. She watched in disbelief, as a man, who once died woke up again. She also noticed that his goddess disappeared, making his presence much weaker, but somehow still stronger the other two with their peak strength. She realized, he must’ve made an exchange, saving his life, but losing his deity. She was a little happy, that she got to toy with him a little more.

• It’s good to see that you can still stand up – she was smiling – but what can you without her?
  
• I will prove that us humans don’t need gods. Not against a pitiful creature like you. You are the goddess of nothing. A powerless creature. Why can’t I create my own justice, and see which prevails.
  
• Insolent human! – her joy switched to anger. It was the first time a mortal has ever made fun of her – you shall pay for your foul mouth as well!
  

Themis swung her sword at Johnathan, who stopped it with his bare hand. Themis jumped backwards while she grabbed her opponent and slammed him to the ground. She tried using fire again, but it was as ineffective, as the sword. However, her punches still managed to inflict heavy injuries. With just a few, she already broke six ribs.
With his body bleeding from the inside, Johnathan knew, he didn’t stand any chance, but still pushed forward, shouting things like ‘unjust’ and ‘false justice shall be prover guilty’. With each of his shout, it seemed like Themis’ sword was becoming smaller, like it knew the human was right. When the sword disappeared, Themis let out a fiendish screech, making Johnathan’s ears ring.
Using this distraction, she broke free of the crushing words and went to Carl’s dying body. She stepped on his head, laughing like she already won.

• Make another move, and I will crush his head. Although, if you stay there, you will die of internal bleeding. What is worse? To be responsible for you ally’s death, or to watch, while you diem knowing you might have stood a chance – her laugh became like a maniac’s.
  
• You see, this is what I was talking about.
  
• What? I’ve never heard you admitting your defeat – she shoved her feet even deeper into Carl’s face
  
• You know, if you kill that man, you will die as well, so I have nothing to lose.
  
• Is it that other being inside of him? Don’t worry, if it didn’t come out yet, it will remain lying dormant forever – she didn’t seem fazed by the threat
  
• And I wasn’t talking about admitting defeat. It was you, abusing your power, betraying it – he walked closer
  
• What are you doing? Don’t move! – She tried to crush Carl’s skull but didn’t have the strength for it
  
• And how would you stop me – He saw an opening
  
• Stop right there! You can’t do this! I am a goddess! No mortal shall attempt to harm me! – her voice was filled with fear
  
• Then you shouldn’t consider me a mere human – this time, it was him, who was smiling
  

Naturally, gods don’t fear death. None of them has died for millennias. Most of them weren’t even alive then, including Themis. They grew up, being taught that they must only enter the world of the humans if one of them is their host and tries to use the powers of Death against the rest. The ones who knew, that the humans were ruthless creatures tried to avoid forming pacts with them, but some of them especially liked to. Luna of the Moon and Themis of Justice were the perfect examples of the latter, while gods like Mars of War was counterpart to his Greek brother, Ares, never talking to humans. He never wanted to get involved with Death, because he knew that some special humans might be the end of him.
This is what Themis was experiencing. She felt the metal pass through her heart, while it started taking on a different shape. Johnathan tore her blindfold off, to see the eyes filled with the fear of death and despair. Her poison and mutilation became reverted on the two lying on the ground. She could see the one holding it regain the silver eyes and armor. She felt the blade taking on a shape, that it might’ve had had before. With her dying breath, she uttered her final words:

• Oh, how the mighty have fallen!

She fell onto the ground, leaving the corpse of a once glorious goddess behind. With this, Johnathan Teach became the first human in history to ever bring a divine to its knees and end their life.
Check out the full story: https://www.wattpad.com/story/365789475-seas-of-change

Inspired by a post by u/SkyD_02. They made me want to share my own theory of clones.
I realized that I wasn’t the only person who questioned whether or not they were a clone, so hopefully this can help others.
(Disclaimer: I have not shifted, but this is a topic that I have dedicated way to much thought to. I also am not a physicist! I just thought there seemed some overlap here. Take this with a grain of salt.)

So, You think you might be a clone.
The mere fact that you are questioning if you are a clone may suggest you aren’t, right? A clone isn’t supposed to question itself. It is supposed to live reality as you normally would. But as a shifter in this CR, this question clearly IS a part of your reality. So, who’s to say clones do not question whether or not they are clones? So you ask yourself once more, can I be a clone?
And the cycle continues…
Let’s talk about Descartes. He was a philosopher who doubted everything. That was his…thing, tearing apart the pre-established views of reality. His one objective truth was the famous “I think, therefore I am.” This refers to the fact that one could not establish whether anything truly exists. It’s the idea that everything we experience could just be one really lucid dream. (This strangely coincides very well with the the idea that our reality is not set and we can therefore “shift,” “manifest,” and experience other such events) The only thing that CAN be established is that we, the one thinking and questioning, exist. You may not know for certain what you are or where you come from, but you do exist. The actively thinking, conscious YOU. In real time. The you that is reading this.
Ok, so we have that. Now lets go with the idea that both you AND your clone have doubts about whether or not you are a clone. (This is where shit gets weird.) That would suggest that both of you think. So, following Descartes’ objective truth, you BOTH exist. But if YOU’re you… and your clone is also YOU…
Then you are your clone! It’s simple Hypothetical Syllogism!
Well… yes and no.
From what I have seen, most shifters who talk about cloning seem to end the reasoning here. This is why so many shifters say that your clone is literally just you!
But this doesn’t seem to be enough explanation for some people (It certainly wasn’t for me.) So lets dive deeper. Shall we?
We have now established that you are both yourself and your clone. But how can this be if you are only one consciousness? Well, I can’t think of a solid piece of science that explains everything. The only explanations I could give are from scientific theories relating to quantum physics. I think the easiest is Schroedinger and the Many Worlds theory.
You know Schroedinger’s Cat? Suppose there is a cat locked in a box with poison (this is a very basic version of it). You don’t know whether the cat is dead or alive until you open the box. It is only until the box is opened and the cat is observed that one of two states becomes the single reality. Now expand this though experiment to the state of quantum particles. A single particle can have infinitely possible states until it is observed, shrinking(collapsing) all possibilities into the one being witnessed by the viewer. But what happened to the rest of the possibilities? Are they just…deleted?
Many Worlds theory says they still exist, but in a separate reality where the particle collapsed on that possibility instead.
So lets apply this to everyday experiences. Say you are about to order food at a restaurant. Schroedinger says that until you have actually ordered something, you have ordered everything, nothing at all, and every possibility in between. Many worlds theory states that once you ordered a burger and fries, the universe fractured. You are currently living the reality where you ordered the burger and fries, but there exists a myriad of realities where you chose differently. Sounding familiar yet?
SO BACK TO SHIFTING!
Suppose you decided you want to shift right now in this very moment, and you did. The universe branches/fractures/splits once more into a reality where you shifted and left your clone behind, a reality where you didn’t shift at all, and every possibility in between. The conscious YOU shifted to another reality, and your clone continues to read this. Alternatively, however, there is a reality where you DIDN’T shift and continue to read this.
But isn’t that one and the same? If your clone continues exactly where you shifted, isn’t your “clone’s” reality and the nonshift version of reality exactly the same?
This is MY proposal of what the “clone” is.
You ARE the clone. Are are also NOT the clone. Using the word “clone” to describe the “other version” of you is really horrible word choice imo. It creates the idea that you’re leaving behind some copy that isn’t actually you, but it IS you. It’s just an alternate version that didn’t shift in that moment. When you shift, you leave behind the reality in which you didn’t shift. The universe splits. There is now the shifted YOU and the nonshifted YOU. Shifted you is now in your DR.
The nonshifted you is what people call their “clone.” When you “shift back” you’re just rejoining your shifted consciousness back with your (no longer) nonshifted self. I have a lot of theories as to what happens when you “shift back” and how shifting could just be the consciousness learning to jump around the infinite “Many Worlds,” but this post is long enough.
To wrap things up, this is just my belief of what the “clone” truly is. I hope you can understand it, and I hope it can ease any worries on the topic. I am in no way an expert on physics, just a bit of a nerd. So if I sorely misunderstood a theory then…. Whoops. Feel free to reply, correct me, and disassemble my world view. This stuff fascinates me.

Hello, I am looking for some advice. I have always had minor asthma since I was a kid. Slight wheezing when exercising, or a strong smell.
But now I am 24 and early April of this year I got pneumonia. Long story short I contracted uveitis in both eyes after the pneumonia (which I'm still suffering with). My cough never went away and I was back at the doctor all the time. Several chest x rays over the course of these last few months. No pneumonia. I checked my blood, no auto immune disease.
Anyway coughing up mucus all the time, I started feeling more and more short of breath and like something was in my lungs always drowning me. I work in a really old dusty building with no air conditioning. Last week I went to work and it was like my lungs just gave out.
I work with my mom thankfully and she drove me to the ER. I don't remember much, but she said I was gasping like a fish out of water. When I got to the ER my heart rate was 163 and my blood pressure was also high but I don't remember the number. Oddly enough my oxygen was about 90 so not too bad.
Anyway. I was admitted. Two rounds of IV steroids. Nebulizer treatments every 4 hours.
Now that I am released from the hospital. This is where things get weird. So I've had this cough since April before the hospital and I've seen several doctors. No one has given me an inhaler but they did give me oral steroids. So I've been on these steroids for about 2 weeks before the hospital. Now post hospital, the ER doctor gave me 80 mg of prednisolone steroids to take for 5 days. No taper. I also have a steroid powder inhaler I take 2 times a day. Nasal spray, allergy meds, and my at home nebulizer every 4 hours.
The day after I was released I had another bad attack, but I was given a rescue inhaler with a spacer so I was able to calm it down. But I still feel like I'm drowning even with all of these new meds. I'm short of breath all the time, and tired. So tired. Even when I talk you can hear my chest whistling and how labored my breathing is.
So I called my primary doctor and she said that I'm not on enough steroids, she wants me on more. So she told me to go back to the hospital for more IV steroids. I told her I don't want to go back, so we settled on going to urgent care.
Went to urgent care, and that doctor was disgusted by how many steroids I am currently on. She said that my endocrine system could shut down. So she basically told me to disregard what the ER doctor said. And now with the remaining pills I have. She wants to me take 40mg for 3 days, then 20mg for 3 days, then 10mg for 3 days, then 5 mg for 3 days. Until gone.
It's the weekend now so I can't call back my primary doctor. But I am so confused. Now I have 3 different doctors telling me 3 different things. One says 80mg of steroids a day. One says I need more steroids. And one says I should've never been out on that many steroids.
If anyone has any advice about the steroids that would be great. But I also would like advice with asthma in general. Like I said I've always had mild asthma since I was little. But now that my lungs are freaking out and failing, it would be nice to listen to experienced people give me their advice and words of encouragement.
At the moment I am home bound, anytime I step outside I have a bad attack, I'm doing my best to rest. Obviously I can't work so I'm trying to receive disability. It's been hard.
Even if no one comments on this, thank you for taking the time to read.

Cody Rhodes & Mustafa Ali vs DIY
Results: DIY clearly showing they have been a team longer as they work together well, unfortunately though it is not enough as Cody uses a thumb to the eye to turn the tide, then hitting Cross Rhodes, tagging in Ali who hits a 450 for the win
Winners: Cody & Ali
__________
Ricochet walks towards his waiting vehicle.. head down, mentally bemoaning a string of bad losses… ‘Not that long ago I was a Prince… I was at the top of Underground…’
A blindside attack sees a former rival suddenly appear, why is Killshot here? A few wicked shots leave Ricochet reeling ..
As he tries to figure out what the hell's going on, another unexpected blast from the past saves him!! Fenix is here?? Why is Fenix here?
Fenix brawls with Killshot until Killshot decides to break off the attack and head towards a waiting limo. The plates on the limousine are briefly seen as the car speeds away. The word ‘Mundo’ is clearly seen as it leaves the parking lot.
__________
Chad Gable vs Wes Lee
Results: Wes using his speed, moving all over the ring and really catching Gable off guard. Eventually Gable gains control and slows things down, Gable controlling the match with a mix of submissions and grabbling leading to an ankle lock and the tapout win
__________
Karrion Kross and Scarlett are shown backstage
Kross: Tonight, Trick Williams steps inside that ring and he is going to learn a very valuable lesson, because I am stepping in that ring tonight with one goal, and that is to put everybody on notice that I am on my path to winning the Battleground tournament, and claiming the Intercontinental Championship at Money in the Bank, it does not matter who my partner is OR who I step in the ring against!
__________
Karrion Kross vs Trick Williams
Results: Kross wastes no time, coming out as soon as the bell rings going right at Trick, eventually Trick turns the tide getting some time in control but in the end it is a Kross Jacket submission that leads to the win
Winner: Karrion Kross
__________
Guerrilas of Destiny are shown backstage
Tama: Seth, Dean, tonight you two are in for a shock, when you go face to face with me and Tonga in that ring... you will realize just what you signed up for when you came back here, and you will realize Roman has lead you down a path of pain you have never felt before
Tonga: Tonight, you realize there is no going back, your fate is sealed and you two will never be the same!
__________
Ricky Starks is in the ring with a microphone before his match with Jey Uso
Ricky Starks: Let’s face it, Jey. You’re good, but you’re not Ricky Starks good. You can superkick and dive all you want, but when you’re standing across from me, you’re in a whole different league. You’re stepping into the Absolute Era, and let me tell you, it’s a place where second-best doesn’t cut it.
Ricky Starks: You’ve been a tag team specialist, Jey. And that’s cute. Really, it is. But this isn’t a tag match, this isn’t family therapy. This is where boys get separated from men, where second-best gets left in the dust. So, bring your best, Jey. Bring that fire, that intensity. Because when it’s all said and done, the world will know that Ricky Starks is not just absolute... he’s undeniable.
__________
Ricky Starks vs Jey Uso
Results: A fairly even contest, both men seem to have something to prove tonight, as it looks like Starks may be closing in on a win, Jey pulls a turnbuckle pad off, as the referee is distracted trying to fix it, Jey hits a low blow on Ricky, leading to a superkick, then Jey climbs up top and hits a splash for the win
Winner: Jey Uso
__________
Backstage we see Seth & Dean preparing for their tag team match later, when Roman Reigns walks into the room
Roman: I made the call... he is in
Both Dean & Seth turn and look at Roman, neither saying anything in response at first before finally Seth speaks up
Seth: We gotta get ready for our match
Seth & Dean walk out of the room leaving Roman looking a bit unsure of things
__________
Carmelo Hayes vs Jay White
Results: These two trade control of the match back and forth, neither man able to really hold control very long, after they trade for abit, In the end Carmelo hits Nothing but Net to pick up the win
Winner Carmelo Hayes
After the match Jay looks frustrated and disappointed as he walks to the back
__________
We then get a video of a ring in what looks like an old gym barely lit with a few old hanging lights, in the ring we see Chad Gable, Timothy Thatcher and Daniel Bryan all training, doing various holds, grapples, and cardio, this goes awhile until we cut to all 3 men on their knees clearly exhausted, and we see what you could describe as a peaceful smile appear on Daniel Bryans face, as the video is fading to black the camera pans up the wall of the gym to show the words "Ground Game"
__________
Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs Guerrillas of Destiny
Results: GoD are clearly not interested in putting on a classic as they come out aggressive, and take any cheap shots they can, eventually the match breaks down, all 4 men fighting, in the ring Ambrose is down and Loa is crawling around stalking him waiting for Dean to get up when out of nowhere Seth hits a curbstomp on Loa and picks up the win
Winners: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose

HOLY BABY! What the fudge did you just forking say about me, you little cutie pie? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Galaxy Rangers, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on IPC facilities, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in break effect and I'm the top gunslinger in the entire Galaxy Rangers. You are nothing to me but just another Pocket Trickshot stack. I will wipe you the fork out with precision the likes of which has never been flipping seen before on this solar system, mark my fricking words. You think you can get away with saying that shoot to me over the sweet dream? Think again, fudger. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of Rangers across the Galaxy and your Jade Abacus is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, sweetie. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're flipping dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over seven hundred ways, and that's just with my 9mm classic revolver. Not only am I extensively trained in gunslinging, but I have access to the entire arsenal of cyborg modifications and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable butt off the face of the planet, you little cutie. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little "clever" comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your fricking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you cutie pie. I will hug fury all over you and you will drown in it. You're fudging dead, kiddo.

As most of you know, in a surprising turn of events, Fidias has won a seat in the European Parliament despite being widely regarded as a joke by many.
I’m not here to either endorse or criticize this. All I’m here to do is clear the air a bit, because a lot of people are genuinely confused by the political background and dynamics that resulted to his election.
Fidias's victory can be attributed to a few key factors that, like it or not, resonated with a significant portion of the electorate. And this is, generally, regardless of age group or political ideology, as his voters seem to be a very diverse group.
Firstly, many people saw Fidias as a refreshing alternative to the ‘traditional’, and often corrupt political figures. His lack of political ‘polish’ and his authenticity appealed to people that are disillusioned with the status quo. The popular consensus is that Fidias is not corrupt, which stood out in an environment where many politicians are involved or considered to be involved with dishonest practices. One can argue the point that he’s not a crook, but not the point that he’s not a proven political crook.
Secondly, Fidias' youth and communication style played a crucial, crucial role in his appeal. Under 45s, in particular, were drawn to his age, viewing him as someone who could bring new energy and attitude to the political landscape. It’s a classic case of out with the old and in with the new. ‘Change’ is the magic word of this election, and no one differentiated their candidacy better than Fidias did. His unconventionality in the way he carries himself, which includes not dressing or talking like a ‘typical’ politician or acting like a know-it-all and an idealogue, further highlighted his difference from the average candidate. I don’t know what this says about society as whole, but the image Fidias crafted for himself in this campaign has proven to be more relatable to the average Cypriot than that of any other individual candidate.
Another critical aspect of Fidias' appeal was his stance as an outsider going against the system, which he himself highlighted a lot in his campaign. It’s self-evident that many people were not looking for detailed policy positions but rather wanted to send a message of dissatisfaction with the current political landscape. Fidias' candidacy was much more a protest vote than a joke vote. A significant amount of people genuinely prefer a political novice over an established, but ‘part-of-the-system’ and ‘play-by-the-rules’, politician.
Regarding specifics in rhetoric, I’ve spoken to people who’ve noted to me Fidias's strengths, like his ability to actively listen and ask insightful questions during interviews with people much smarter and experienced than him. This did in fact allow him to connect with many Cypriots who face challenging issues but are overlooked in ‘serious’ discourse due to their lack of political ties, political prowess, or debating/people skills. His authenticity and willingness to learn apparently convinced many that he deserved a chance.
So in essence, Fidias’ election to the EP is, at its core, a symptom a growing discontent with traditional politics and a desire for more genuine-looking and relatable representation.
The gap that was just filled by Fidias opened up due the corruption scandals of the past decade, and the growing disconnect between the political establishment’s best interests and the electorate’s best interests. The opposition has failed to fill this gap time and time again, and has ended up being viewed by many as part of the establishment just as much as the government is.
Basically, if it’s not A or B, it’s C. Give people no options and they come up with new, obscure ones. And that’s pretty much the gist of it.
As a final reminder, the purpose of this post is neither to celebrate Fidias’ election, nor to lament it. This is an electoral analysis.
Hope you found this somewhat insightful. Apologies for the lengthy post:)

[INDEX]
Blackheart Bill stared at us from the porch of the tiny cabin, his eyes filled with murder. A cruel smile crept across his face, causing me to break into a sweat — this was a man who enjoyed the suffering of others.
“Well, well. If it isn’t the two bounty hunters that killed half my gang,” Bill drawled, his voice dripping malice. “What do ya think we should do with them, boys?”
“Face me like a man,” I shouted at him. “I refuse to be hung like a criminal!”
Bill’s lips twisted into a grin. “Is that so?” He said. “You think I had you brought here so you can challenge me to a duel? You’re mistaken kid.”
“I don’t want to be hung,” I said, mentally instructing Horse edge closer to Silas’ mount.
“What you want and what I want are different things, boy,” Bill said, his face relaxing into an unreadable mask. “And what I want is for you to suffer for killing my men. Jim, get a rope.”
Gap-tooth laughed like a drunken donkey and swung down from his horse.
I brushed against Silas, pulling his gun from my Inventory. Silas was fast, insanely fast. The gun appeared in my hand for a split-second before Silas had it pointed at the outlaw and was firing sizzling black bolts of energy.
Blackheart Bill was faster.
The outlaw dodged to the side in a blur, firing off three wild Kinetic bolts, one passing on each side of Silas before the final one tagged the man in the chest with the sound of shattering glass.
I pulled my gun from inventory a moment later, regretting my decision to load it with Lightning rounds as I pulled the trigger. Thunder roared as I shot the bandit behind me, then I squeezed the trigger again, clipping the other with a finger-thick bolt of electricity. Stone bullets whizzed around me as Horse hightailed it around the corner of the shack. Triggering [Aimed Shot] I fired a third round and a clap of thunder fried the man guarding the wood door set into the canyon wall.
Silas rounded the building a second later, his gun firing wildly at the remaining bandits. Quick as a flash, he ejected the spent brass and reloaded from his gun belt, picking off two more as they rounded the corner.
A Metal bullet burst from the wood next to my face, grazing my temple. I shoved my Mongoose into a gap between the weathered boards and fired off the remainder of my Lightning rounds, setting the front of the shack on fire. My fingers flickered as I reloaded unprimed rounds into the gun, slamming the cylinder closed.
Silas took one edge of the cabin and I took the other, shooting at anyone who moved, trapped in a standoff with the remaining five bandits and Bill, who continued shooting through the walls at us while screaming obscenities.
“Told you I didn’t want to hang, you scar-faced freak,” I taunted the man, firing a shot at one of the bandits scurrying to find better cover behind a broken wagon missing its rear axle. The Kinetic Bolt spread as it covered the distance, growing from a finger-sized bolt of blue energy into a basketball sized cloud that dispersed with a crackle and pop. Somewhere in the back of my head I knew the range was only about twenty yards and chastised myself for wasting the bullet.
I had less than 550BP remaining, which was a lot for unprimed shots, but only 54 [Aimed Shots] or about 100 primed shots. If I needed to use any of my other Utilities, it would drop fast. The bandit I had missed popped off a shot from his new vantage point, punching a hole in the wall above my head. I sent a Stone bullet in reply, causing him to duck from sight.
\Ding**
A popup blocked the lower half of my vision.
-=-=-
📱 [New Power-Up Available!] 📱
🔫 Pinned down behind an old shack? Bullets not packing enough punch? Try [Overcharge]! 🔫
💥 Just 500 credits, Limited time only! 💥
🌟 Features Include: - [Overcharge] Utility**: Infuse your bullets with extra battery points and surprise everyone! - Costs 500 credits - Requires 82 Memory
⚠️ Important Notes: - Cannot be stacked with active Utilities - Overcharge can severely damage firearms
[Get Overcharge Now ✅] [Maybe Later ❌]
-=-=-
The 60 second timer counted down 2 seconds before I punched accept.
[Downloading…20%…32%…68%…87%…Done!] [Installing…8%…12%…49%…52%…91%…Done!]
“You get shot?” Silas asked, sparing me a glance while I was stuck waiting for my upgrade to finish.
I shook my head. “Psychic thing,” I said once the System was done shoving data in my head. The knowledge of how to use [Overcharge], was simple enough — just push extra BP through the runestone and increase the destructive power of the bullet.
I triggered [Overcharge] and pushed an extra 5 Battery Points into the runestone, bringing the total cost of the Stone bullet to 6BP, then squeezed the trigger. The projectile impacted the broken wagon like a grenade, sending fragments of wood flying everywhere.
The screaming started a second later, followed by the bandit whose face was covered in blood and splinters. Selecting [Aimed Shot] I put a Stone bullet into his head, shocked by the spray of gore that filled the air. Hot bile burned the back of my throat, forcing me to swallow hard and refocus on the immediate situation.
The sound of hooves reached my ears, followed by Silas swearing. “They’re escaping,” He said, turning to mount his horse and swearing again. The animal was trembling in shock, bloody froth covering its mouth as it struggled to breathe. I noticed the blood covering its side then, where it had been shot when we had retreated behind the shack.
The shack was now burning quite impressively. The flames had grown to the point that it was uncomfortable to remain close, so I moved to a cooler spot and took a seat on the sandy ground. Pulling the Marlin from inventory, I popped off the leather caps that protected the scope lenses and took aim at the fleeing bandits. The scope pulled them in close enough that I felt I could reach out and snatch them with my hand even though they were over a hundred yards away now.
Bracing the rifle on my knee, I sighted through the scope and pulled the trigger, worked the lever to eject the shell and fired again. On the fourth shot I watched as Blackheart Bill’s horse stumbled and dropped to the dirt. I was aiming at Bill, but taking out his horse was good enough.
I watched as Bill took cover behind his downed horse and yelled at his men to come back and get him. They didn’t even look back, hunkering down as he started shooting at them, hitting one and dropping him from the saddle. Taking aim through the scope, I shot a few more rounds at Bill, causing him to turn his attention back to me and return fire.
A gunshot from behind me caused me to jump. Turning to see the source of the gunfire I saw Silas standing over the body of his horse. I guess he decided to end its misery.
Holstering his weapon, Silas yelled at the outlaw. “It’s over, Bill! Throw down your guns!”
Bill fired off another few rounds, none of them even coming close. A gunslinger like Bill might be deadly at close range, but he was just as accurate with a pistol as everyone else at a hundred yards.
I fired off a Metal slug from the Marlin and Bill returned fire. Our standoff continued, none of us wanting to commit to a move.
“How far you think that is?” I asked Silas.
“About a hundred ten, hundred twenty yards. Why?”
“Long as I’m here I might as well try to zero in this scope,” I replied, sighting down the barrel while adjusting the stupidly expensive piece of equipment.
“It’s a nice scope,” Silas admitted, rolling a cigarette. “You’re only as good as your gun.”
I nodded, fired off another shot, adjusted the scope, then fired off another. Until I got this thing in a vise and did it properly, this was as good as I was going to get.
The top of Bill’s hat was just visible over the ribs of the dead animal, so I used [Aimed Shot] and fired, eliciting a string of curses from the outlaw as it was knocked from his head.
I grinned at Silas, who returned it with a smile of his own. “You think this is gonna take long?” I asked.
“Put a few of those explosive rounds into that horse. That should get ‘em moving,” Silas answered.
“That was an [Overcharged] stone bullet,” I said. “Not sure it’ll have the same effect with a Metal slug.”
Silas nodded his head. “Be careful you don’t Overcharge too much, you can damage the core of your gun or even cause it to explode,” he said.
I sighted down the scope and triggered [Overcharge] with 5BP, sending another five Metal slugs downrange just as quick as I could work the lever-action. The slugs tore through the carcass, kicking up little puffs of dust as they tore into the ground beyond it.
Bills hat began to wave over the remains of the horse, then it dropped from sight.
“Let’s give him a few minutes,” Silas suggested. “If he’s playing games, he’ll lose patience. No sense endangering ourselves if he decides to pop up and start firing.”
I shot a few more [Overcharged] Metal slugs into the carcass, the last one causing the hat to fall out of Bills hand. Through the scope I could see his limp arm draped over the side of the horse.
Pushing the Marlin back into Inventory, I rose from the ground and looked at Silas. “You take the left and I’ll take the right?” I offered.
Silas loosened his pistol in its holster and began walking.
“Is it always like this?” I asked the bounty hunter.
“Like what?”
“So…messy.”
Silas tossed the remains of his cigarette onto the ground. “This was pretty bad,” He admitted. “Most times it’s just some guy in a small town saloon or holed up in a shack somewhere in the woods. Someone who thinks moving a few towns away will cover their tracks. Some even try to start their lives over. Bill was a two gold bounty, someone a posse would chase down, not two men.”
“So why did we go after him?”
“Because I thought he was in the Hardash forest, not running roughshod over the patriarch of Silvertown,” Silas laughed suddenly, shaking his head. “The plan was to locate his hideout, collect a few more men to handle his gang, and ambush them.”
We eased around the bullet-ridden horse to discover Blackheart Bill bleeding out. One of my bullets had gone through the horse, through his back and exited his chest. He gave us a bloody grin as we approached with guns drawn.
“There’s a healing potion in the saddle bag under the horse,” the bandit said, spitting out a mouthful of blood. “I’m worth more alive than dead and you don’t want to throw away good money, do ya?”
Silas pulled the hammer back on his gun, pointing it at the outlaw’s head.
“Wait,” Bill said, coughing weakly. “I got a dragon core, a real dragon core. I’ll tell you where to get it.”
“Now where would you get a dragon core?” Silas asked.
“From the Silvertown mines,” Bill rasped. “One of my boys, his brother works the mines and told him that they found dragon bones. That’s when I took the girl and made her daddy my bitch. He’d do anything to get her back.”
Silas pulled the trigger, splattering the outlaws head all over the remains of the horse.
“I’ve heard enough,” He said, holstering his pistol. “He kidnapped the girl and the others, holding them hostage so the Patriarch and other townsfolk wouldn’t interfere with his scheme. Let’s find the girl and get back to town.”
“Damn, Silas. In cold blood,” I said, turning my head from the sight of the gore. This is twice today I’ve seen the inside of a man’s skull. I should be bothered by this, like really bothered, but I’m not. Not really. It’s like there’s a disconnect and the only thing my brain can process is how smooth and efficient Silas was when he pulled the trigger. I can still taste bile in the back of my throat though.
“You want to do that thing of yours? Or you want me to dig his core out?”
“I’ll handle it,” I said, kneeling to touch the man so I could trigger [Disassembly]. “You should go see about the girl, she’s trying to use my Horse to get away and is having a nervous breakdown because he won’t move.”
I asked Horse to mosey around the burning remains of the shack with his new rider and to meet Silas. He sent back an image of him riding in a wagon with me pulling it. I’m guessing that he’s not enthused about being a taxi service.
The girl, Loretta Jurgens, was not in good shape.
The door set into the wall of the canyon covered the dead-end shaft of an abandoned moon silver mine left behind by some prospector. Loretta had been kept in there for the better part of a month and was in hysterics trying to get Horse to move. I'll let Silas deal with her while I process everything.
I collected 2100 credits for the all bandits, another 130 silver that I split with Silas, and of course, all their cores which would need to be turned in for bounties. A dozen pistols and several score of bullets were added to my inventory as well, including several knives and other personal effects that Silas assured me would fetch a few coin at a local pawnshop or general store. And gold teeth.
All that remained now was to locate the loot and leave this hell hole.
[INDEX]

Interestingly I was just in the middle of a 'should I reach out' post since it is feeling like I should/time is right.
Abbreviated story is 18 month relationship which was at its height, giddy happy both of us (and of course like anyone had issues), a month away from birthday I was being asked to by her basically get her an engagement ring. Whirlwind of events around the city, strangers commenting on our connection, one guy tapped us in the shoulder at a bar and said "I've been watching you two, your connection is amazing, you can feel your happiness all the way across the bar, you two look like you've loved one another since you were little children". Which was in fact exactly what it felt like. She made sure I didn't miss the significance "see babe. EVERYONE knows we belong together".
There is a significant age difference which was neither impediment or impetus. We just ... connected. The only times it was brought up was 1) after I met her mom she told me she told her mother the only thing that worried her was the age difference her mom said with the kind of love you found it won't matter and 2) once when we were laying in bed just laughing and vibing she started sobbing uncontrollably "I just realized you are going to die before me and I will miss you sooo much!" (meaning in 30-40 years of being with me).
She was torn between wanting a future with me and being terrified of commitment. She has reached early/mid 30s w/o having more than 8 mos relationship, most shorter. This from a tall pretty very social girl that lived alone for almsot two decades in 4 continents i.e no lack of opportunities. At 8 most told me I was the longest relationship officialy and first man she ever wanted to build a future with., She introduced me to each of her 3 besties whom she said she'd never introduced anyone to in the 5 years she lived her. Met each individually each turned to her independently and said the same 4 words while with us "You are so lucky". Told me one of them waited for the door to close after i walked them home to whirl around and say 'that is the nicest man I ever met and your connection with him is unbelievable'.
At around year mark she started texting me 'Babe do you stlll like me?" and I'd reply "Still? I like you more every moment I spend with you" and she'd break my heart replying "Reeealllllyyy???? 😍😍😍" as in not just happy but SHOCKED I still did.
Pushing for living together, pushing for what amounted to an engatement rind very hard for upcoming birthday after the final 3 months of our 18 mos relationship, 3 magical magical months where I was not only happy for the first time in years but happier than I'd ever imagined. Her as well. She'd text me at 3am about mising me, telling me how comfortable I made her, heck she'd fall asleep in my arms in 30 seconds, she'd facetime me so she could hear my voice while she fell asleep and know i was watching over her. Even up to the last hour I knew her she was pushing for her birthday 'ring'.
Broke up with me via text 2 days later, wanted 'distance' said 'do you think we'll stay in contact'. This girl I was joined to the hip with, 100,00 texts in 18 months, couldn't sleep wo my voice. The more I think about it the more I think SHE was convinced I did not love her and would not get her the ring since she'd repeat it over and over what she wanted.
In any event gave her the space BUT not NC style; texted every couple weeks, knew she was a mess, so just did a hey hope all if going well. After 3 MONTHS of this she broke and started texting me again like she used to; facetimes from bed in PJs, every day everything she did, subways when going to see friends, pics of her food, etc. She was very happy with changed I made. BUT was somehow terrrified to see me even though she'd reach out clearly wanting to then find some reason to back out.
Finally after 3 months of this and close to 3 THOUSAND textss from her and dozens of midnight facetimes she chased me down to my local coffee shop, fisr time I'd seen her in months. She want AWOL the next day basically. When I texted two weeks later she sent me a' sorry been busy at work plus started seeing someone and work is busy'. Last time we spoke. I didn't really buy the 'seeing somoene' since didnt gibe with gathering the courage to see me in person for first time in 6 months right then. Also I'd posted on FB something she could have easily misconstrued as very romantic first date which was not a date at all and might have been bushwacked after finaly gathering courage to see me.
So this brings us to this weekend, exactly 4mos No Contact, two people that shared 100k texts and woman who would hardly keep herself from texting me even after we parted company after 18 hours together. I was thinking of her all day yesterday, posted on FB a day trip I took.
I saw her this am on 'my' avenue where she has not shown her face for 10 mos. Ostensbily lost in texting and didnt see me though I'm sure she had to know. I went back to same cafe later on KNOWING she'd show up. And.. .voila. She did. Sat down, super affectionate funny vibe we always had.
Not sure of next move. Let her reach out. A huge component of our relationship was her always being sure she liked me more, I didn't want to be with her, I wasn't gooing to get her 'ring', she missed me more etc.
Not sure what i want except her back in my life, we made each other quite happy. I could text or wait for her. Sorta sure she showed up to see if I still had feelings or at least didn't hate her. Funny thing is turned out she had read my FB post from yesterday, she inadverntently made a comment making it clear not only she had but had knowledge of my other posts too.

It is one full chapter, but because it is so long, I broke into four parts.
This is a theory for the actual Prologue of The Winds of Winter. Please enjoy. This is Part 4 of 4.
The Winds of Winter
Prologue
[Part 3]
Suddenly a voice roared from above. “This is Ser Forley Prester! Drop your weapons! Drop them!”
Ser Barnabus started to curse as he stood on the ladder halfway. He took a deep breath in disappointment. “Come on Leo, we have work to do.” He ascended.
Leo gave the golden egg to a shocked Lady Mormont and took a step towards the ladder, but he then turned around to Eleyna. He kissed her on the lips. The princess fought back and held Leo’s blond head with both her hands, forcing more of herself onto him. Their tongues danced a secret hidden inside their mouths, taking each other’s breath away over and over again. Olyvar did not think they would ever let go, until Eleyna did, shedding a tear. Leo turned back to the ladder. Ice in his veins and without another word, he began to climb.
Ser Brynden shared a look with Ser Olyvar. “I’m not kissing you!” He began walking towards the ladder as well, with Lord Edmure Tully trailing. He shoved his nephew aside. “Your lady wife is waiting for you on that ship with your child! Protect them! Keep the Tully name alive! Fly away now! That is an order! Take Queen Jeyne Stark to the ship and protect her family too!” The Blackfish conjured a duty that Edmure could not decline. He gave his uncle a sad agreeing nod. While climbing up, the Blackfish then looked at Olyvar. “Ser Frey, guard this ladder!”
Though not giving any direct orders to the Seashell Knight, Ser Raynald Westerling kissed his sisters and mother. They begged him not to go, but Ray flew to the top as well.
Ser Olyvar got up and began to follow, but the crying Queen tugged his cloak. “Olyvar, you promised me.”
“Goodbye Jeyne. I have to do my duty.”
“Just hang on a minute. Listen and promise me Ser Frey. Don’t be a fool. If you are in trouble, don’t try to be brave, just fly, fly away. Find me.”
Olyvar Frey got to his knees again and kissed her forehead. “Okay. Jeyne, my Queen … I’ll be back. I promise.”
“We need to move her to the rowboats,” Alesander Frey suggested. Olyvar hugged his brother, and ordered him to carry Jeyne’s weight to the exit with Lord Edmure’s help. Sybell and Eleyna Westerling held up Jeyne’s thighs as Lady Mormont spearheaded the path with her torchlight in one hand and the golden egg curled on the other.
“You better be right behind us,” Maege commanded.
“I will,” Olyvar hoped.
The new knight approached the base of the wet ladder and began to climb. He reached halfway and stopped to listen above. The thunderstorm roared its fury, and the Blackfish was already speaking.
“What kind of knight threatens a pregnant woman?” Ser Tully voiced his rhetorical question.
“We did not know she was pregnant. She fooled us with her sister. But I am one that follows the orders of his liege lord.”
“You mean the Lannister one that killed his king once? Or the other Frey one that killed his other king too? Or the dead lord who killed Dornish babes? How do the princes of Dorne feel about you cheap-honor Lannisters?”
“You were the ones that rebel against the crown.”
“And it was the Kingslayer that threw Bran Stark out the window in a time of peace! At his own home! Do the Lannisters enjoy killing children and murdering unarmed people at dinner?”
“He is my liege lord.”
“Aye, and you seem like someone who knows his role and shuts his mouth. Do you want to be remembered for the rest of time as the knight that cleans up after his shit? ‘Here lies Ser Forley Prester, the legend that wipes the Goldenhand’s ass,’ will be written on your tomb in gold. Too bad your grave-mark will forget the part where everyday you take his golden-hand, shine it up real nice, turn that piece of metal sideways and shove it up your own candy arse for pleasure!”
The men above laughed as a shriek of thunder rumbled not too far from the Rock.
“You seem like a charming man Ser Brynden, but we are not here to discuss the rights or wrongs of men, knights, lords, kings and princes who are far far away from here.”
“Well here in my garrison I have Ser Olyvar Frey, son to Walder Frey, and a loyalist to his King, Robb Stark. Please ask Ser Olyvar Frey which is right and which is shit?”
Olyvar realized the Blackfish is chatting to buy time for Jeyne to escape.
“Is he a knight now?” A familiar voice that sounded like Edwyn Frey asked. “How did that come to pass?”
“Kill the right people I suppose. And whom do I have the pleasure of speaking to now? What is your name my lord?”
“My name is Ed–“
“IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!”
Giggles tickled the rainy circular drain above Olyvar.
“And aye, I knighted him myself. And his Queen in the North even made him a new coat of arms to differentiate himself from his disgraceful family,” the Blackfish announced to Edwyn Frey.
“And how would I know what cloak he wears now?” Ser Forley’s voice continued.
“Fastened by Queen Stark herself, it’s the bridge of the twin towers with a river flowing underneath, colored Stark grey and Tully red & blue. But every one of my friends here are all championed by our Queen. Are any of you beloved by a queen?”
Ser Forley tried to counter, “A new sigil of water flowing underneath a bridge? Did he make the water flow himself? Is he a plumber?”
“Aye, he may be a plumber knight, but you got shit for honors.”
“My honor is in tact.”
“Was it in tact when you abandoned your army at the Battle of the Camps? Claiming that you have honor is like claiming turtles can grow wings and fly. My plumber knight has more honor than your shit!”
Ser Forley paused … and then exulted, “Will this plumber be cleaning up my shit later?” Quiet chuckles whispered from the higher balconies.
The Blackfish retaliates, “As long as you acknowledge your honor as shit, he will.”
Loud laughter filled the air, but with Olyvar hiding in the hole of the floor, he could not tell if it was from his brothers, from his foes or both. Alive or facing death, one should know better not to trade japes with the Blackfish.
“Enough!” yelled Ser Forley. “You are clearly out manned down there at this courtyard! At least three of my men to one of yours! AND I have the high ground! So I won’t say it again, drop your weapons and I will let your men live!”
“Do you take me for a motley fool? You just don’t want us to loose back when you shoot your crossbows at us. You Lannisters cannot win in a fair fight against us if we are armed, but you men sure do a good job of killing defenseless people and children. And I will not give you that pleasure!”
“I do not know what you heard, but that is not entirely true.”
“Not entirely true? Do you Lannisters fondle the children first before you kill them? Do you give the children a good sniff before you cook them like Mad Danelle Lothson? Mother have mercy!” Ser Brynden teased.
“Enough! I will let your men live if you drop your weapons! I swear it on my hon-“
“We shit on your honor! Are there no true knights among you lot? You men following this shit knight’s shitty order, do you not have any honor yourselves? To chase after and kill a woman who is in labor? To kill a babe? Our king—”
“OUR CHOSEN KING!” Lord Galbart Glover’s voice thundered in before the Blackfish continued.
“—chose to execute his own kin and bannerman for butchering children … Lannister children! Frey children! But your knight here serves men without honor. Ser Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer! Lord Walder Frey the Guestslayer! Lord Roose Bolton the Turncloak! COWARDS! Men who serves hospitality with bloodshed beneath their roofs and massacre innocents! Will you continue to serve these false knights and false men? Are you not fathers, nor aspire to be fathers some day? Well serve your CHOSEN lord’s bidding and be cursed! A predator of children is no lord of mine!” Ser Brynden Blackfish Tully spat and thunder boomed. “The gods will never forgive that, the slaughter at the Twins, the murder, the treason, the mutiny!”
Ser Forley began to scream louder, “You call it what you want! You’re down there, we’re up here! You came into the wrong damn castle Ser!”
“Stand fast brothers!” Ser Tully alerted.
“Gods damn this, I am telling you this one last time. Order your men to drop their weapons to the deck.”
“So you could parade us as prisoners before executing us? I cannot give that order,” defied the Blackfish.
“I am not going to repeat that order!”
“I WILL NOT GIVE THAT ORDER!” Thunder boomed again.
“WHAT IN SEVEN HELLS IS WRONG WITH YOU? THIS IS USELESS!”
“STAND FAST!”
“ONE LAST TIME! ORDER YOUR MEN TO –“
“Ser Forley!” an unfamiliar voice called. “Queen Stark and her group are spotted. They are escaping on a rowboat at sea below. They appear to be heading west,” the watchman said.
Edwyn Frey’s voice commanded, “Archers, to the western edge! Kill them! Kill them all!!”
“BROTHERS! Kill the watcher first and anyone on that western edge!” the Blackfish thundered in the order.
A quick shoosh was heard above and a cry of pain immediately sounded from the west, as a body thumped and squished onto the lower muddy ground.
And suddenly the air was filled with it, as the thunderstorm raged on.
Shoosh shoosh shooosh shooosh shoosh ahhhhhh ahhhhh shoooosh ahhhh shooooshhh shoosh boom doom boom doom boom doom shooosh shooosh ahhhhhhh boom doom boom!
The heavens exploded from above, illuminating Olyvar’s drain instant after instant. Men were heard screaming and dying in agony. Whether or not it was his brothers or his foes, Olyvar couldn’t tell. He caught a glimpse of three bolts speeding above his small hole in different directions, and knew there were a hundred more he could not see. The enemy has the high-ground, Olyvar remembered, all my brothers are probably dying. He was unsure whether to descend down or ascend up the ladder into the chaos. He started to tear up, the cold rain still soaking his face as lightning continued to flashed and thundered through the pit above him.
“GOOSE!!!” Leo’s voice screamed. No!
“LEO TAKE COVER!”
“KEEP LOOSING BRO—AHHHHH!”
“FATHER!!”
“BROTHER, NO!!”
“TO THE WEST! LOOSE! LOOSE! LOOSE! PROTECT YOUR QUEEN!!!”
“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU ALL YOU MOTHERF*CKERS!!!”
Men were still crying up there, along with the bass of the approaching storm, blending with the streak of arrows and bolts hitting stone, mud and flesh. Still clung to his ladder, Olyvar looked down cowardly as a teardrop fell off his face. It landed on Alesander.
“You fool, what are you doing here? You left the rowboat?”
“I came back to fight.”
“You are no fighter, you are a singer. Leave here. Escape into the tunnels and save yourself my brother.”
He hesitated to answer, his own tears trickling down. “Aye, I will. And when I leave here, I’ll sing about what has happened today, what is still happening above us.” The screams were not stopping. Bolts, arrows and curses could still be heard flying above. Alesander moved towards a fissure in the cavern wall, spying to the west. “The Queen should be far out of harm’s way. The winds are kind, and the bolts are missing its mark away from the LionsJape.” He walked back to him. “Come with me Olyvar if you want to live.”
“Soon. But not yet. I need to hold this ladder. Leave my brother. Sing about this and immortalize our sacrifice.”
“Don’t go.” He grabbed Olyvar’s leg.
“Just let go of me!” Olyvar winched free.
“If you can escape, escape. I’ll fly away now. Farewell my honorable brother.”
“Wait!” Olyvar almost forgot. “Do you know what it is?”
His brother smiled a smile that Olyvar will never forget. “We have a Stark princess.” His footsteps faded into echoes as Alesander descended into the darkness of the tunnels.
But Olyvar began the climb in his. The hole above was gaping wider with each slow step up, ready to swallow him whole. Olyvar trembled. Besides the flashes of lightning, he could not see what was going on, but he could feel it in the air. He can taste the rain from above. He can hear the music of defiance to House Lannister, the sounds of arrows and loud screams drowning into silence. He can even smell it too. The smell of the Rock cooked with the salt of the sea, the iron of his brothers’ blood, the piss & stool of honorable dead men, staining & stinking the courtyard of Tywin Lannister’s home, leaving Casterly Rock an empire of shit.
He stood on the one rung that exposed his head just above the ground. Bodies. Brothers’ bodies and bolts everywhere. Rain and blood soak the mud, and fading cries of pain filled his ears. He saw the Queen’s uncle and master schemer of this plan, Ser Rolph Spicer, had a bolt in his eye as he died by the kitchen doors. The Seashell Knight was lifeless with his face first in the middle of the mud near Olyvar’s pit. Donal with bolts to his shoulder, stomach, and legs was on one knee shouting & cursing as he continued to loose arrows from three quivers as his brothers Raff & Mikkal laid dead beside him. Lord Glover had two bolts in him and took another in the chest. He paced backwards and fell over the parapet into the sea. A bolt was stuck on Goose’s neck, as he and Leo rested motionless together at the foot of a column, sharing a single bolt that shot through their hearts. The shield that Leo had held up was decorated with a dozen bolts, but it was too late for the other ones that got through.
Olyvar’s soul ached in agony, the clutch of his hand shaking as he clung onto the ladder. A small pile of feathered Lannister men had fallen from the western balcony and onto the courtyard. But he could not feel the victory in it … not now, nor not yet, perhaps never. The rest of his brothers Olyvar could not see from his ladder, but he spotted a few arrows still loosing up to the second floor behind cover, still fighting back. It is so few. Many more bolts were still shooting down from the top. Crossbowmen hid as they reloaded, popping up to release before ducking again.
He spotted Ser Brynden Tully the Blackfish crawling towards him, needled like a red porcupine blowfish. “Olyvar!” He hooted bluntly. “Why are you still here?” Olyvar’s heart quenched at the sight of the blood of Riverrun; his pink life flowing in a thin river and draining out towards his ladder. The water-downed blood reached Olyvar’s fingers. He wanted to help but did not know how, nor know the words. He offered his hand and Ser Tully held it. “Did she make it out to sea?”
“Yes Ser, she should be safe,” Olyvar prayed.
“So, do we have a prince or a princess? Or one of each? Heh!”
“Do not get greedy Ser,” Olyvar jested. “We have a she-wolf.”
The Blackfish smiled a hard smile with blood filling his mouth. “Good, they should be safer this way. And I hope she takes after her fierce grandmother.”
“Which one? Lady Catelyn Tully?”
“Of course heh. That would be a great granddaughter name for our storm-born she-pup … Catelyn,” the Blackfish joked.
Olyvar smiled while Ser Tully reciprocated a red one. “I like the name Adara.”
“Adara? That sounds like a wonderful name. Where did that come from?” Ser Tully asked, tearing and bleeding.
“It was Captain Samullu’s mother’s name.”
“Aye, that is a terrific name. Princess Adara Stark. Tell that to our Queen Jeyne that I concur to the name choice, pass that final message of mine. Now fly along Ser Olyvar, escape here, reunite with your Queen and protect your family. There is nothing left to do here but die, so fly! Let the divine swift winds of winter push Adara to safety. You have King Robb’s spirit within you. The babe does not have a father nor Grey Wind, so you must keep her safe.”
“We are all her fathers,” Olyvar declared.
The Blackfish grinned, knowing Olyvar probably out teased him in his final moments. “No … a band of fathers brothers? That would make us a band of uncles.” He chuckled bloodily.
Olyvar laughed and teared a drop. “That was a very clever. Just don’t tell Lady Mormont.”
“Don’t worry fellow Uncle, I won’t.”
“It has been an honor fighting by your side, Ser Uncle Brynden Tully, the great Blackfish.”
“It has been an honor living by yours, Ser Uncle Plumber Knight,” the legend replied.
He watched the knight’s life wash away, his last breath tasting the rains of Casterly Rock. The legendary Ser Brynden’s last words were for me. Wells flooded in Olyvar’s eyes, beginning to blind. He lets go of his hands.
He takes a few steps down the ladder, and then suddenly stops. What honor is this? Leaving my brothers and my commander like this? Am I a little cowardly rat of a ratty family, hiding in a tunnel? Or am I a brave knight?
The thunder and rain continued, but the arrows have stopped. Nothing but silence, only stares if Olyvar had to guess. His brothers were all dead. I need to get up. One step up and he suddenly stopped again. No, I need to escape and protect my Queen, does that make me a coward?
He checked his pocket and made sure his letter to his father sat below his heart. It was still there. Olyvar’s grip on the rung was firm and quivering.
To flee or not to flee? That is the riddle.
“Soldiers! To the lower floor! Grab their bows and quivers. Get down that ladder, find a boat, chase Queen Stark and kill them! Kill them all!” Edwyn Frey’s voice ordered.
Well, that made answering the riddle a lot easier.
Ser Olyvar Frey ascended from the pit of his ladder, his arms pulling, legs pushing, up and up into the chaos. The thunderstorm loomed above as his soul was escaping into the hole that was gaping wider with every step. He was ready.
At the ground level, he stood up. Cold rain and warm tears danced down his face, his cloak whipping in the air to the winds, his heart and fists began to fill with fiery rage. From up here, he can see the full horror of the slaughter. Brothers with bolts. Was this the same scene of my King’s death? Before he could ponder any further, he unsheathed Honor from his back, the sword was singing off its scabbard just as a bolt of lightning ripped across the sky … its twin mirrored off the steel’s reflection, the blade alive with blinding light for an instant.
Ser Olyvar counted the ill-fitted armored and shield-less men as they came pouring out from the kitchen doors at his level. Two, three, four, five, six … seven. Thin white stripes splits the sky. His heart was thumping and rumbling to the same beat of the thunderstorm that was mumbling in every distance.
I’m going to fight them all, no soldier in any Seven Kingdom army can hold me back!
The distance between the first unarmed man closed. His shocked face eyed Ser Olyvar’s new twin tower sigil on his cloak. Confused, he began to slow down, but Olyvar sped up. He greeted him with a deep slash, ripping him off as the skies flashed again. He darted forward to the next man, allowing the first one to take his time dying behind his back.
The second reached for his sword but was too slow to the draw. Honor found the front of the pink man’s chest and the rear of his back. For a heartbeat, the bloody front half of the exposed steel glowed damped red, while the clean side sparkled in purple. Olyvar pulled back his sword after a twist, and the soldier dropped to his knees to the boom of thunder.
The third drew his sword halfway before Olyvar swung at his head as his steel electrified, emitting blinding light to his eyes. He smelled Honor up close with his nose, as a gash ran from ear to ear while teeth and tongue exploded in the air. Olyvar paid him no more mind.
The fourth with panicked eyes was just a boy. He successfully drew his weapon from his belt and lifted above his head a short wooden stick. A flute? He stared up at his own wind pipe as his sword rested in his scabbard untouched. Between his legs, his breeches began to darken more with moisture, as the rest of his body was frozen like ice. A fLuke? It doesn’t matter. The Plumber Knight began to raise Honor high. The boy cried out, “Mother have mer—“.
“No,” Olyvar cuts him off, his voice was cold as stones. “I am not your mother.” Honor fell in a bright silvery-blue arc as the force of the blade severs the soldier’s right stick-bearing wrist, and splits the skull & brains underneath. Ser Olyvar Frey kicked off the mayhaps-fourth-corpse as its limp body slid from his red wet steel.
The fifth one was ready with his sword, as the sixth and seventh began pincering around Ser Olyvar with theirs. The rain began pouring heavily, cleansing the blood and brains off Honor, ready to shine again.
Olyvar’s wits returned from his blind rage, and began backing up calmly before they could surround him. The rear of his heel tapped a fallen shield that once belong to one of his brothers. Olyvar grabbed it instinctively and raised it up. “Come on you apes! Do you want to live forever? Come at me then!” No one came forward to answer the riddle, so Ser Olyvar went to them.
He charged at the one on his right as Honor slashed and flashed, but the soldier jolted backwards avoiding the swing. The shifty swordsman slipped on the surface with his hop and fell face-first into the mud. The other two took their chances when Olyvar swung and missed. He caught the cut of the left soldier on his shield, as the middle fighter aimed high. To the ground, the knight ducked under, saving his head. The middle slugger lost his balance at his empty decapitating slice, and a crouching Olyvar stroke savagely at his knees in a splash of red and bright purple. He fell face-first too, as the other soldier on his left began hacking at the wooden shield that Olly held up. Doonk! Doonk! Doonk! Before his challenger could swing a fifth time, Olyvar Frey on one knee whirled the apex of his shield viciously at the man’s wrist and sent the sword flying from his hand. Without hesitation, the Plumber Knight stabbed upwards from crotch to brains as the steel surprised the man with shock. Olyvar stares into the white of his eyes as they reflected a flash of lightning. The eyeballs then slowly rolled up into the back of his head. He unsheathed Honor downward from the dead man, as blood and shit fell like loose stool to the ground.
The other fighter with no knees rolled around to face up before he could drown in the mud. He was crying and screaming on the ground. “Nooooo!” But the Plumber Knight jumped on him without mercy. He tried to dart and evade, but forgot he had no knees to push from. Olyvar’s feet stomped the man’s stomach as he thunder-slammed the edge of his shield to kiss his opponent’s mouth, silencing him forever.
The first armed man that dodged his death finally got up from his struggles with the slippery ground, only to meet at it again. Soaking in mud, he began to bull-rush Olyvar, trying to stab or slash an opening with his sword. Olyvar dashed towards him in squishing strides, and took his charging strike at his Brother’s shield as he stepped aside. The former squire of Robb Stark, Olly, instantly planted his foot and twirled. His Queen’s wet cloak spun and smacked his opponent’s head. Suddenly the Plumber Knight had the enemy’s rear and naked. He lifted his King’s sword up, pointing down with both his hands on the grip. Ser Olyvar and thunder roared together as Honor brightly stabbed from above into the mudman’s back with the flash and fury of the gods. “AHHHHHHHHH!!!”
He lifted his sword back up as the seventh corpse fell to the ground, face-first again. Suddenly a mosquito buzzed from behind his ear and a short wooden stick skidded off the flat stone-path in front of him. He then felt a bite in his back, lost a breath and saw another wooden rod. But this one was lodged in his right breast. Red blood slowly began to seep from his black scaled boiled-leather armor as he grunted in pain. He reached for the stick trying to push it backwards from where it came from. Quickly he felt the pain again as he saw another bolt stab the front of his stomach while his Brother’s shield slid off from this left forearm. The third one struck the side of his left thigh, sending Ser Olyvar to the ground on one knee. He braced on his King’s sword to keep him from falling flat.
“Cease fire! Cease fire!” Ser Forley Prester ordered.
Cold rain danced on his face with the warm tears he tried to hide, his cape was flapping in the wind, and his heart was thumping quicker in unison to the beat & the flash of the storm. Ser Olyvar Frey, you honorable fool, why did you rush in? You can’t help yourself falling in love with bloody vengeance for your fallen brothers and King? For an instant, lightning popped again above the Rock and thunder rolled. You should have taken your time killing them as they descended down your pit, instead of you going up the ladder to their chaos. Frey blood, -no … blood of Roses By another name welled from the bolts that had punched him. He had known nothing half gallant and half stupid at the same time for what he just did. Or at least you could have flown away, such a fool! You should of just beat it. No one wanted to be defeated like this. Why did you have to show off how funky strong your fighting skills were? At this point, it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or who’s right … you should of just beat it!
Ser Forley Prester spoke from his balcony above. “You must be the Plumber Knight that the Blackfish talked about, judging by the sigil on your cape. A traitor to your own family. But for the honor of your lord grandfather, let us pass and I will let the maester do his job to save you. Or would it please you Ser, if you wanted some more bolts?”
More? Olyvar twisted his mouth in defying silence, his gruesome wounds spitting out blood. He had a job that he promised to do. He must rescue his pregnant Queen. Little did he know, he had to rescue a princess from this castle too. We all died for Robb’s little girl, there was no more to ask of them. Did these uncles succeed for her safety? He turned around to the west to see as far as his eyes could see into the sun setting sea. Her boat was far enough from any archers, and soon it would be too dark for a chase. The thought brought him joy. Thank the gods for this swift divine wind. We did our duty.
Impatient for a reply, the shit knight said, “I will not ask again. Knight to knight. Let us pass. We need to take back the Queen and her unborn son. I will bring them no harm, you have my word. Drop your sword, bend the knee like you mean it, let us pass … and I will tell Lord Walder Frey what an honorable warrior and a great grandson you are.”
That offer was a lie, a conjurer’s cheap trick. They would just humiliate and shame him before executing him for treason. That was not the song he wanted, not for his despicable old father. Olyvar would rather die sword in hand to the tune of another. He wanted Alesander’s song about the Motherfunker, Ser Brynden “Blackfish” Tully, his real brothers and the band of uncles. And he had one last shot, one last opportunity, to seize everything he ever wanted here. In this one moment, can I still capture it? Or will I let it slip? His palms were bloody, knees weak, arms were heavy … but the Queen and Princess are safe. Mother’s mercy. He was nervous, but on the surface, he looks calm and ready to drop bombs. But he had forgotten what he wrote down in his father’s letter, as the crowds above goes so loud. He opens his mouth but the words won’t come out. He is choking. How? Everyone was joking now.
“Your luck has run out. The time’s up, it is over SER Olyvar. Bow.”
No. I refuse to BOW Ser. And I cannot die yet. There is something I still need to do. Both hands on hilt and pommel, he pushes himself up with Honor, surrounded by the doom above. He can feel his life leaving him. The skies blurred between light and dark, white and grey, with the black slowly creeping in.
“It’s a girl,” Uncle Olyvar said gently as he thought about his princess niece. The Plumber Knight then roared a roar that would put any craven into tears. “AND NO! YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” Honor rose and fell, the pointy end of his King’s sword squishing the blood soaked mud and crunching the rocks underneath.
KABOOOOOOOMMMM!!!
Instantly, lightning and thunder erupted above them at the loudest exploding caliber of the evenfall, blinding the sights of men and gods alike.
Uhoooooooooo! boom doom boom doom boom doom
Suddenly drums were beating, and trumpets were blasting from the east. Lord Gawen Westerling’s diversion! But they’ve come too late to rescue Olyvar and his brothers. The enemy did not divert to their last jape yet … their silent scared eyes still on the dying Plumber Knight. They began to reload their crossbows. This is my moment. The things I do for love, but I’m sorry Jeyne, I can’t do that. I can no longer keep my promise. Robb was waiting and I can finally rest again. We three will meet again together some day, but not today, he thought*.*
The band of drums, trumpets and thunderstorm blended into a sweet sad song that Olyvar wanted. This music is for me, and I will lose myself in it.
Charging up his final energy into his wounded lungs, he began to scream again.
“OUR QUEEN— ” A howl of blood cuts him off from finishing what he meant to say … our Family is safe.
“OUR KING—” A pool of iron filled and choked him before he could declare … we have done our Duty.
Still standing, he dips his chin low to empty his mouth, coughing out his mother’s Rosby blood. He needs to say his final words loud and clear. After the last spoon of blood poured down, he snapped his chin up towards the heavens and reality … ready for the gravity. With all the weight of his life, he pressed his King’s sword deeper into the Rock as the Plumber Knight thundered a roar, “OUR HONORRRRR!!!”
From below, Ser Olyvar of the disgraced House Frey faced off to the sad conflicted look of Ser Forley Prester with his garrison of archers beside him. The darkest gloom of the grey stormclouds had arrived and hovered above them, wet and heavy. The gods want their vengeance for the Red Wedding, he thought. The skies of Casterly Rock began to blacken with the rain of bolts and arrows. The only thing that could be seen is the single golden teardrop of the shit knight, reflected by the last light of the setting western sun.
BOOM!
THANK YOU FOR READING.

It is one full chapter, but because it is so long, I broke into four parts.
This is a theory for the actual Prologue of The Winds of Winter. Please enjoy. This is Part 3 of 4.
The Winds of Winter
Prologue
[Part 2]
Olyvar had lost count of how far they ascended as they reached one of Ser Rolph Spicer’s checkpoints. They rested there for a few moments where the paths forked into several other directions. He then instructed Ser Olyvar Frey, Lady Mormont and Leo to wait here until the rest returned. In the meanwhile, they were to familiarize themselves with the area in case they needed a detour.
Not long after the group left them, Olyvar heard another man speaking through the rocky walls. Maege followed the voice through one of the forks, and found a hole that appeared to spy into a cell of the castle’s dungeons. She peeked through and spoke in disgust “Gods! What the hell! No!” She left the area and began looking for an entrance into the dungeons from the hidden hallways. Olyvar peeped through the hole and saw what seems to be an old maester in robes, with many rings around his neck. Inside, he harbored a boy and a girl who appeared to be twins, no older than ten. The boy had his shirt off, while the maester sniffed the girl’s hair and had a hand cupped at her clothed chest.
What in Seven Hells? Olyvar thought.
The elderly maester spoke to them, as they trembled like leaves. “Thank you children for helping me. I am Maester Valarik, this is very very important research for, um, the Citadel. Now let’s begin.”
Suddenly out of nowhere, Lady Maege Mormont burst open the dungeon door. “Let’s not!”
The shocked maester jolted to his feet, confused. “Are you their mother?”
“A MOTHER!” the She-Bear claimed in her crony crackling voice as she walked up to Valarik. Here she stood as Lady Mormont kicked the maester in between the legs, his screams alive with pain. His eyes began to tear as he fell backwards to the ground. Lady Mormont dropped down to him and drew her dagger. “Shut your mouth or I’ll make an eunuch out of you!” The maester still in agony replied with a silent nod. She lied to the twins, saying she was a washerwoman employed to the castle. “What the maester did was wrong and I will have the castellan punish him.” She urged the siblings to go home, but not tell anyone what had happened until they were outside of Casterly Rock. After they left, Maege in her barbaric tone told the maester, “You dusty f*ck! Get in there!” as she led him into the hidden hallways behind the dungeon.
Ser Olyvar greeted the hostage, “Not another word Maester Valarik. She may geld you but I will shove my dagger up your arse.”
They continued to wait at the checkpoint, anxious for the Blackfish’s return with Queen Jeyne and Lord Edmure. Leo brushed back a lock of his ash-blond hair that fell down across one eye. Lady Mormont continued to stare at Valarik’s crotch while holding her naked dagger, twirling it at the pointy end for boredom. The silent maester was well aware, and would not return his eyes to meet hers.
Suddenly they heard a woman’s moan echoing in the distance. Torchlight illuminated the foot of the pathway and brightening the walls with each passing moment. Escorted by Goose, a thin girl with a mop of chestnut hair emerged. She was pretty like the daisy sewn on her gown that was covering a flat chest. “Eleyna!” Olyvar was animated. They hugged as he asked, “So what happened to your breasts?”
“I ate them.” She said in her high cheery voice. She stuck her small chest out, chin in the air, fists at the end of her narrow hips and twerked it for two beats. “How you like them apples?”
Olyvar smiled at the inside joke.
The Useless Goose then grabbed Leo and tapped Eleyna’s shoulders from behind. “Hi, have you met Leo?” Barnabus vanished in an instant.
She turned around and introduced herself. “Hello Leo, I’m Eleyna, the Queen’s sister.”
Leo was star-struck. “Are you a princess?”
“I guess I am a princess,” she said sarcastically. “Are you here to rescue me?”
Leo nodded up and down, trying to contain his excitement.
“Leo O’ Leo … my hero!” She kissed him on the cheeks, and Leo’s face began to blush, red as apples.
His brothers Raff, Donal, and Mikkal had emerged from the rocky opening just in time to watch. They wrapped their arms around one another, and nodded proudly at their youngest brother.
The others soon followed, pouring out of the tunnel entrance. Olyvar greeted his brother-in-law Lord Edmure Tully. “My sister is waiting for you back at the ship, with my future nephew or niece. Be a good father to your child.”
“And you be a good uncle. It is a honor to have you at our side, Ser Olyvar,” Lord Edmure replied respectfully.
Lady Sybell Spicer came down with her brother Ser Rolph, clutching a moaning Queen Jeyne Stark on both sides. She was garbed in simple loose fitted robes, pretending to serve as Eleyna’s plumped handmaiden. Olyvar was ecstatic. Jeyne’s mother then announced, “She is in labor!”
“What?!” As Olyvar and Maege said in unison. “Now!?”
Olyvar ran to Jeyne, straight to his sister’s arms and she kissed him on the forehead. “I kept my promise,” Olyvar told her.
Jeyne was feverish, sweating and mumbling words. “You did, I knew you were somewhere beyond the sea. I was here waiting for all of you, to sneak onto golden sand and rock. I was watching all the ships sailing by, not knowing which one will be my daring escape.” She looked towards her other brother Raynald. “I just knew my Ray lied somewhere over the ocean, and my Olly lied somewhere over the sea … both my brothers fighting to come back to me. Up in this castle mountain where it meets the heavens above, out where lightning splits the sea, I could still feel you two watching me. Through the wind, the chilly sea, and the rain … and now the storm and the flood. I felt your approach like the fires in your blood! I need … I need …”
“We need to go!” Ser Olyvar finished for her.
As the others began going into the next tunnel, the Queen in the North shook all the right-hands of the strangers that came to rescue her, while each man placed a left-palm on her round belly for a soft instant. With Jory, Jess, Ser Spicer, Ser Brynden and her brother Ser Raynard, she gave a hug each. She then trailed all of them with Olyvar and Raynard holding her weight. They descended down the path they came from, back to the LionsJape, WinterStorm and BattleWolf. Queen Jeyne Stark continued to scream. Oh, bloody shit. This will be the death of us. The descent will be much faster, but it was still a long way to go. With the Queen moaning in labor, they decided to light two more torch lights. Being heard here is just as unfortunate as being seen. But the darkness in front of him still faded in and out, confusing Olyvar’s eyes in blur. For a moment, the knight fantasized about golden dragons down here in the empty gold mines and sewers of Casterly Rock, to illuminate the rest of the route with flames … expediting the rescue.
Where in the hell is Lord Gawen Westerling? His trumpets and drums? It would at least muffle out Jeyne’s cry. At any moment, they could be heard … and then they could be trapped.
Then the Blackfish noticed Maester Valarik was in their party. “Who in the Seven Hells are you?”
Lady Maege told Ser Brynden and allowed the quivering maester to speak. “I am the maester of Casterly Rock. I don’t know what is going on here. Pl- … please let me go, I won’t say a word. I … I am innocent, I was just treating the children for an illness.”
“You said it was for research,” Maege interrupted.
“Um … bb … both,” the maester lied.
“In a dungeon? No tools nor vials?” Maege questioned rhetorically.
The maester had no answer for that. He looked back to the Blackfish. “Ser, you must understand-“
The Blackfish cuts him off. “Must I? I heard enough of your sorcery, Maester. Shut your mouth or I’ll throw you out of a window.”
The group was nearing the sea’s level, until they encountered the original path that dipped up and down. It was filled with flooded water from the storm surges. Ser Brynden Tully cursed at the sea trap. Olyvar knows the Blackfish could swim under it like he did at the moat of Riverrun, but not the others. They began to retreat and regroup.
Ser Rolph approached Ser Brynden, not shaken nor stirred, and offered a detour. “Follow me, this way leads to the kitchen of that courtyard at the base of the cliffs. At that courtyard, there is a large sewer drain that would lead us back to the paths of the rowboats. It is risky, we may be spotted.”
“We may be sitting ducks,” Goose added to the complaint.
“We have no choice,” said the Blackfish.
They followed Ser Rolph, with his niece still moaning.
They reached the hidden entrance to the kitchen and began to secure the area with weapons & shields drawn. It was empty. No gatherings or weddings were to be held outdoor this evenfall, especially with the thunderstorm. Olyvar peeked outside. Overcast clouds threw down rain-water onto dirt and stone, as the setting sun was half bathe into the ocean’s clear golden horizon. The courtyard by the sea was no bigger than the feast hall at the Twins. Stone pathways met at the middle, leading into a circular floor-drain that was exposed at the center of the yard. Twenty feet high granite pillars the size of tree trunks supported the open rectangular balcony above the ground level, overlooking the ocean. The kitchen doors were connected to the bottom level, but Olyvar was unsure what would lurk above them on the second floor balconies, with its four feet high parapet and six feet of platform width. Lightning flashed the columns bright white as the wet grass turned into mud.
Ser Brynden paced around the kitchen for a moment, trying to hide his shaking hands. He assessed the situation and regrouped the band of brothers. “Bows and arrows,” he commanded … and they obeyed. “Each men take cover behind a pillar. Sprint to it and establish a defensive stance with an arrow nocked to the string of your bow. Keep your eyes open. Rico will run to the middle alone, pull out the drain cover and retreat back. Alesander! Ray! Run to the opened drain and descend down the ladder. Once it is clear, let us know. We’ll bring Jeyne down first, followed by her sister and mother, and then Edmure.”
“Brothers!” as they assemble behind the closed double doors in single line. “Nock!”
From a window, Maester Valarik spied over to the drain, and then tried to block the traffic at the kitchen exit. “This is absurd! I have friends in court and I can vouch for you! Give yourselves up! This is madness, this is ludicrous!”
The She-Bear grabbed him. “Move maester, get out of the way!” She threw him to the corner by the pantry. Lady Mormont drew her dagger, gleaming silvery-blue for an instant as a crack of thunder boomed through the window. She pressed the flat of her blade onto his crotch and the terrified maester began to piss himself. Lady Maege disgusted, leaned back and threatened, “We have not killed anyone yet. You stay here like a good quiet dog and oblige, or this bear lady will rock your head away with a club when she comes back!”
Ser Brynden opened the double doors as Ben and Benjen held it. The Blackfish ran out first, around the perimeter to the furthest side of the terrace, forty yards away with bow & arrow in hand. The other men followed and fell into their positions, squishing their footsteps on the mud and stone.
Rico, Phyl, and Sam the Shredder followed the Blackfish to the southern side and took cover behind a column each. Scrooge, Donal, Raff, Mikkal and Leo sprinted for the eastern pillars as June, Jory, Jess, Fess and Lord Galbart Glover took the west. Ben and Benjen left their kitchen doors to joined Ser Goose and Ser Rolph Spicer at the closest posts of the north.
Queen Jeyne, Lady Maege, Lady Eleyna, Lady Sybell, and Lord Edmure stayed inside the kitchen with Ser Olyvar … as Ser Raynard and Alesander were ready to their task.
Rico unarmed, darted from his column towards the center of the courtyard and tore open the drain cover with ease. He flung it over the mountainous wall and into the sea as he headed back to his pillar, re-arming himself with the bow.
Alesander Frey and Ser Raynald Westerling, dashed towards the open drain and attempted to descend. Their shields, quivers and bows were caught at the circular entrance, so they discarded them at the base before going below. After Ser Raynald gave the clearance, Olyvar and Maege discarded their weapons and escorted Jeyne slowly and gently towards their escape, their clothes soaking in the rain. Olyvar kept Honor slung center at his back. Raynald offered himself as Jeyne sat on her older brother’s shoulders as they descended down the twenty foot ladder. Olyvar was doing everything he could to keep Jeyne stable from above as rain-water trickled down the drain.
When they reached the bottom, Olyvar noticed a weirwood tree staring right at him. A godswood? Here? The cavern was surrounded by roots and several rocky openings as well. He paid it no more mind and walked Jeyne towards a sewer entrance where Alesander was waiting for them. “The rowboats are not far! I see them, just a few more paces from here. I’ll keep a lookout on that exit.” He scouted ahead again.
Jeyne could not advance any further and fell lightly to the ground. “I can’t move anymore.”
Lady Maege came down the ladder and positioned herself between Jeyne’s legs. “Push your Grace! Push! Push!”
The rumbling of the thunderstorm was getting much louder.
Leo surprisingly came down with Eleyna and told Olyvar, “I think I hear a few soldiers moving on the second floor balcony. The parapets won’t allow us to see what’s hidden behind it.”
No not now. “It could be just the thunderstorm,” Olyvar hoped.
Lady Sybell and Lord Edmure Tully soon followed down the ladder. “I believe there are Lannister soldiers getting into positions above us. They must be waiting for more of their reinforcement to arrive,” Edmure sounded sure.
Olyvar cursed.
The Blackfish came down next. “We need to leave now. The storm surges will steal our rowboats as well.”
Jeyne was still moaning. Maege was still instructing, “Push! Push! Push!”
Olyvar began panicking in this awful shit-storm of a mess. “We need to go now! The soldiers are coming! The thunderstorm is coming!”
“WINTER IS COMING BETWEEN HER GRACES LEGS!” Maege screamed back.
Olyvar could not help but to chuckled for a beat before being serious again. “Bloody shit. Winter needs to be going!”
“Look son, I’m not your mother. You go figure it out yourself,” Lady Maege protested.
Olyvar felt like a fool below the Rock, looking back at all the wrong paths that got him lost here. If I just lied to my father of my intentions, and informed his Grace not to come to the Twins, we would not be here now at some shit sewer in the Westerlands. Jeyne would be crying in childbirth at Winterfell after Robb had retaken it from the Ironborn. King, Queen and babe Stark would be safe and sound. And me … I would be their Kingsguard knight … Ser Olyvar Frey … the Kingsavior.
“Ray, go find Alesander and summon him to return here to help. He is not far.”
Olyvar looked toward his Queen as Maege Mormont continued working in between Jeyne’s thighs, awaiting for the wolf-pup that their world was here for. Let us pray it is only one babe. A pair of twins would surely mean the doom of them. There was nothing Olyvar realistically wanted more now than Lord Gawen’s trumpets, and his young son Rollam’s drum rolls. Where is our diversion to get the Lannister soldiers to march away from us?
Goose tried to come down the ladder next, but the big man was stuck on top even with his weapons and shield forfeited. His golden egg had bulged out from his pocket, stopping him from entering the small circular drain. He was trying to work it out of his clothes.
Olyvar kneeled down next to his Queen, trying to facilitate this shit storm anyway he could. He went to feel for the letter he wrote to his father, but instead found the colorful bright feather that Captain Samullu gave to him earlier. He offered it to Queen Stark for some comfort.
“A gift? It is so beautiful Olyvar,” she said in discomfort. “I have a gift for you as well.” She summoned her mother and removed a thin cloak from her purse. Queen Jeyne Stark took it and unveiled it to Olyvar. It was the castle of the Twins, colored in grey, seated on a field red hot as a chilled blue stream flowed under the bridge. Olyvar motioned to give her his back, and she attached the cloak onto him. “I knitted it myself.”
“It is gorgeous my Queen. What does it mean? The water under the bridge?”
“It means forgiveness here, so you can move on. Now promise me Olyvar, don’t leave us again. Protect us. Protect your King’s child. We must never separate again.”
Ser Olyvar Frey gave the Queen his word.
Goose had finally removed the golden rock from his hidden pocket, and held it with his hand. At the moment useless, the knight threw down the golden egg to Leo, as it flashed bright from the lightning above. The knight started down and down the ladder.
Suddenly a voice roared from above. “This is Ser Forley Prester! Drop your weapons! Drop them!”
[Part 4]

In a world where weight management remains a critical issue for many, Oprah Winfrey's recent speech on weight loss has sparked significant discussion. Her words have resonated with millions, drawing varied reactions from different corners, including from health-focused organizations like Healthy Horizon. This blog post aims to dissect the feedback from Healthy Horizon, explore the effectiveness of Oprah's weight loss strategies, and offer balanced advice for those on their journey to better health.

Understanding the Feedback

Healthy Horizon, a prominent voice in the health community, responded to Oprah's speech with a mix of praise and critique. They acknowledged her influential platform and the positive aspects of her message, particularly her emphasis on self-acceptance and empowerment. However, they also raised concerns about the feasibility and safety of some of the weight loss methods she endorsed.
Healthy Horizon's feedback highlighted the need for sustainable and scientifically backed weight loss strategies. They emphasized that while Oprah's motivational approach is commendable, it is crucial to ensure that the suggested methods do not promote unrealistic expectations or lead to potential health risks.
This response underscores the importance of scrutinizing public figures' health advice, ensuring it aligns with current scientific understanding and best practices in weight management.

Deconstructing Oprah's Approach

Emphasis on Balance and Moderation

Oprah's approach to weight loss centers around balance and moderation. She advocates for a lifestyle change rather than quick fixes, which aligns with widely accepted health principles. Research consistently shows that sustainable weight loss is more achievable through gradual changes in diet and exercise.

Importance of Mindfulness

Mindfulness was another key component of Oprah's speech. She stressed the importance of being present and mindful about eating habits. Studies have demonstrated that mindfulness can help reduce overeating and improve dietary choices, making it a beneficial strategy for long-term weight management.

Practicality and Accessibility

However, Healthy Horizon raised valid points about the practicality of some of Oprah's suggestions. While her methods are scientifically sound, they may not be accessible to everyone due to time, financial, or personal constraints. This highlights the need for personalized approaches to health that consider an individual's unique circumstances.

Perspectives from Health Professionals

To provide a more comprehensive view, we consulted health professionals about Oprah's weight loss strategies. Here are their insights:

Dr. Jane Thompson, Nutritionist

Dr. Thompson agrees that Oprah's focus on a balanced diet and mindfulness is foundational for effective weight management. She notes, "Balanced nutrition and mindfulness are cornerstones of healthy living. Oprah's emphasis on these aspects is commendable."

Dr. Mark Richards, Personal Trainer

Dr. Richards highlights the importance of realistic goals: "It's crucial for individuals to set achievable goals. While Oprah’s approach is sound, it's essential to tailor it to one’s lifestyle and capabilities."

Dr. Emily Foster, Psychologist

Dr. Foster appreciates Oprah's message of self-acceptance: "Psychological well-being plays a significant role in weight management. Oprah's encouragement for self-love and acceptance is vital for mental health."

The Role of Empowerment

One of the most empowering aspects of Oprah's speech is her message of self-acceptance and love. This approach is crucial because it shifts the focus from solely losing weight to improving overall well-being.

Building Self-Confidence

Empowerment helps build self-confidence, which can be a significant motivator in the weight loss journey. Feeling good about oneself can lead to better choices and a more positive outlook on the process.

Encouraging Positive Relationships with Food

When people feel empowered, they are more likely to develop a healthy relationship with food. Instead of viewing food as the enemy, they can see it as a source of nourishment and pleasure.

Promoting Long-Term Success

Empowerment fosters a mindset that prioritizes long-term health over short-term results. This perspective is essential for maintaining weight loss and overall health in the long run.

Addressing Criticisms

While Oprah's speech was well-received by many, it also faced criticisms. Some argued that her methods were too simplistic or out of touch with the realities many people face.

Unrealistic Expectations

One common criticism is that public figures can sometimes set unrealistic expectations. It's important to remember that weight loss journeys vary greatly, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Accessibility Issues

Another critique is the accessibility of the recommended methods. Healthy eating and mindfulness practices can be time-consuming and costly, making them challenging for some individuals to adopt.

The Need for Medical Guidance

Critics also pointed out the need for medical guidance when embarking on a weight loss journey. While Oprah's advice is valuable, consulting healthcare professionals ensures that weight loss methods are safe and appropriate for one's health conditions.

Offering Balanced Advice

Given the mixed reactions to Oprah's speech, it is essential to offer balanced advice that aligns with both her empowering message and Healthy Horizon's call for scientific validity.

Focus on Gradual Changes

Gradual lifestyle changes are more sustainable than drastic shifts. Start with small adjustments, such as incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your diet and gradually increasing physical activity.

Prioritize Mindfulness

Mindfulness can significantly impact eating habits. Practicing mindfulness during meals helps you tune in to hunger cues and make more conscious food choices.

Seek Professional Guidance

Consulting healthcare professionals ensures that your weight loss methods are safe and effective. Nutritionists, personal trainers, and psychologists can provide personalized advice tailored to your needs.

Embrace Self-Acceptance

Self-acceptance is crucial for mental and emotional well-being. Embrace your journey, celebrate small victories, and understand that setbacks are a natural part of the process.

Develop a Support System

A strong support system can make a significant difference in your weight loss journey. Surround yourself with friends, family, or support groups who encourage and motivate you.

Stay Informed

Stay informed about the latest research and trends in weight management. Continuous learning helps you make informed decisions and adapt your approach as needed.

Conclusion

Oprah Winfrey's speech on weight loss has undoubtedly inspired many, but it also highlights the need for balanced and scientifically backed approaches. By understanding the feedback from Healthy Horizon and incorporating insights from health professionals, we can create a holistic and practical approach to weight management.
Remember, the journey to better health is personal and unique for everyone. Embrace the process, prioritize self-acceptance, and seek professional guidance to ensure your methods are safe and effective. With a balanced approach, you can achieve your health goals and enjoy a happier, healthier life.

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Leading Through Love: Why Setting an Example Isn’t the Main Means of Influence

Imagine yourself in the midst of a challenging season, trying to navigate life’s myriad responsibilities and complexities. You might look to others for guidance, hoping to see examples of how to handle such difficulties with grace. But here’s a revolutionary thought — what if setting an example, while impactful, isn’t the principal way to influence others?

The Power of Personal Connection

Setting an example is crucial, but the most potent transformations often occur through personal, heartfelt connections. Consider Jesus’ approach. While He lived a life that was the perfect example for all to emulate, His deepest impact came through His relationships. Think about the intimate conversations He had with His disciples, the one-on-one interactions with the sick, and the personal invitations to follow Him.
Bible Verse: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35, NIV)

Words and Actions Go Hand in Hand

Just living a good life often isn’t enough. Your verbal encouragement, empathic listening, and genuine interest in people’s lives hold tremendous power. People tend to remember how you made them feel far more vividly than the specific examples you set. Share your stories of faith, your struggles, and triumphs. Your authenticity can often inspire and influence others far more deeply than any unobtainable standard.
Bible Verse: “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” (Proverbs 18:21, NIV)

Inviting Participation

Think about how Paul influenced the early church. He did not just set an example; he actively invited others into his ministry, nurturing them like a father. In his letters, he encouraged the early Christians to follow his example as he followed Christ, but more importantly, he built relationships and formed communities.
Bible Verse: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1, NIV)

Questions for Reflection

1. When was the last time you deeply connected with someone and shared your faith journey?
2. Who in your circle could use your encouragement and personal stories to face their struggles today?

As you ponder these questions, remember that your influence grows exponentially when you combine your example with relational depth and genuine care.

Your Influence Goes Beyond Actions

True influence encompasses more than setting an example; it’s about forging sincere connections and speaking life into others through your words and actions. Your positive, Christ-centered relationships may pave the way for others to experience God’s love in unprecedented ways.

Call to Action

Reflect on how you can combine your exemplary actions with heartfelt connections this week. Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. How has someone’s words or personal touch influenced your walk with Christ recently? By sharing, you might be the encouragement someone else needs today.
In your interactions, remember, you’re more than just an example; you’re a conduit for God’s unfathomable love. Embrace this holistic approach to influence and witness the transformative power of authentic connections in your life and in your community.
By recognizing the full scope of influence beyond mere example-setting, we can begin to craft relationships that inspire, uplift, and ignite a deeper faith in others and ourselves.
If you like this content, please connect with us at: https://BGodInspired.com
Or dig for more answers yourself with our BGodInspired Bible Tools! Be careful – each interaction is like a new treasure hunt… you can get lost for hours 🙂
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https://www.moxfield.com/decks/j1jPk3k4yUKIs8d3LJK5VA
MH3 has its prerelease underway and we have all gotten to play with its contents. Eldrazi players are jumping with the new toys they've gotten, artifact players have some new cool stuff as well. I've seen little stir however about the new landfall/lands oriented things we have gotten, with the most interesting being [[The Necrobloom]] which is a combination of beloved and well known cards like [[Field of the dead]], [[Dakmor salvage]] and [[Khalni garden]].
There are many different builds on it, but I present a land focused build that makes use of some of the newest additions from MH3 I'll go into. This build doesn't use the most common combos people are putting in the necrobloom decks, but that doesn't mean it can't be a little degenerate in other ways, namely this deck is probably the best abuser of [[Glacial Chasm]].
Apart from being a fairly classic landfall deck, we have some really neat ways of filling the graveyard and then using [[Splendid Reclamation]] effects to bring them all back. What enables this the most is [[The gitrog monster]] and [[Cultivator Colossus]] as we can replace the draw triggers from each of them with dredging, getting us more cards that we can dredge back. This interaction wasn't obvious to me at first, but please, try goldfishing this once and you will understand how important it can be to keep necrobloom off the board.
But wait, we got more stuff from MH3, [[Wight of the Reliquary]] is another land fetcher, which works beautifully in this deck but also is every deck that wants to sacrifice things for value (which is basically every golgari deck ever).
[[Six]] is just an insane card in every sense of the word. This has the same mana cost as eternal witness? But it gives EVERY permanent card retrace? Just to top it off, it also has a built in way to both get lands into our hand, but also permanents in our graveyard. All in all, just a 10/10 card, put this in every green deck that has permanents and lands.
[[Springheart Nantuko]] is insane. It can bestow unto [[Dryad Arbor]] which means the token created triggers the landfall trigger of Springheart Nantuko. At its worst it becomes a repeatable [[Rampant Growth]] but with enough other cards this is a wincon in itself, e.g. [[Lotus Cobra]], [[Nissa, Resurgent Animist]] and [[Ancient Greenwarden]] gives infinite mana of any colour, infinite 1/1s and infinite landfall triggers. Not only this but it also copies our best landfall triggers, with every landfall trigger. It goes out of hand so easily when copying a lotus cobra, [[aftermath analyst]], [[Avenger of Zendikar]].
We also got lands in this set? Hell yeah we did, [[Horizon of Progress]] wasn't on my bingo card of "complete the horizon cycle" but I'll take it as some really nice mana fixing with the option of spending some extra mana for putting a land into play.
[[Talon gates of Madara]] is just crazy. Phase out the most important piece you have in response to a boardwipe, you can put it into play through itself, but also with crop rotation effects. You can even interact with opponents with this, phase out a combo or protection piece when an opponents is trying to win.
[[Spymasters Vault]] can really punish aristrocrat decks, and we really like both the draw and discard in this deck so I think it fits like a glove.
[[Shifting Woodland]] is potentially backbreaking, but it is most important as a wincon when we have milled our entire deck. Or to be more precise, getting back an important piece we just probably milled.
All this new fun stuff, and some incredible reprints (seriously, I was just about to purchuase [[Sylvan safekeeper]] when it was spoiled), I am really liking this set.
What are your thoughts on MH3 for landfall? Any pieces I've missed?