Bored corona kids scans

We’ve been married for 12 years. Me (37F), him (42M). Our sex life has always been lackluster from the start. We deeply enjoy each other’s company and love going on dates when possible. We have two kids, so we’re exhausted, but even before them we were having sex maybe once a month. Now when it’s been 2-3 months we look at each other and say “I’m so tired, but it’s been a really long time. We should do it.” And usually we do. It’s boring and monotonous for us both. I do love him and he loves me. Is it possible to be in it for the long run, but have zero life in the bedroom?

I teach high school English. I was gone the whole final week of school, which was last week. I had my students finish their final project early. I took time to prepare a short reflection assignment for the students to do each day as well as some fun worksheets for bored students. I gave the sub info for 3 different teachers they could reach out to for help. I left good plans, if I do say so myself.
I was finally able to get back into my classroom today. The sub left me absolutely nothing. No note, no student work, nothing. 2 students did my digital reflection survey. The worksheets don't look like they were touched. I expect that attendance was low and that not many copies may have been used, but I got literally no communication back from the sub.
Substitute teachers, how do you feel about this? I didn't specifically ask for a note back, but I assumed that they would leave something. I'm wondering if they just didn't want to deal with anything on the last week. But I left them assignments so that they wouldn't feel like they were just nannying kids on phones. I'm pretty disappointed.

was just asking in another sub abt why alcohol damages livers, and I was saying that probably won’t happen to me because I barely drink alcohol, I have it once a month when I go out, and only have one or two bottles, bc I don’t like the taste of a lot of alcoholic drinks and bc I can’t drink a lot of something in a short time period even if it’s not alcoholic. the maybe autistic part was I can’t drink a lot bc it feels overwhelming to drink loads at once. is anyone else like this?
having said that when I was a kid my dad thought I might be diabetic bc I was drinking all the time, but I just didn’t know that you’re only really supposed to drink when you’re thirsty, I’d have 3 or 4 glasses of juice in a row, literally finishing the glass and straight away going to fill it up again, just bc I liked the taste or I was bored ig

Hi! I’m looking for a few new friends to message with during my often boring work days. I’m located in the Midwest USA (my time zone is CST). I really enjoy getting to know new people from all over and age or location do not matter to me.
A little about me: * Solo/single parent to one awesome kid * Pet parent to two little old rescue mutts * Goal Oriented * Creative * Self improvement junkie * Love seeing comedy shows, seeing live music and theater, especially musicals. * Enjoy living a healthy lifestyle, including eating healthfully, keeping fit, and abstaining from drugs and alcohol. * Politically liberal and accepting of all lifestyles * Non-religious, but consider myself spiritual

Sometimes when you look into the mirror, the mirror looks back.
William Bailey's forehead shattered the mirror like a sledgehammer. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was the feeling that he was falling through the mirror. Sub-cranial hematoma, a concussion, maybe even a cracked skull--that had to be the reason for the strange feeling. The mirror was mounted on the wall just to the right of the bar, four feet tall by about three feet wide. As consciousness slipped away, common sense and his strong belief in the rational world told him that he couldn't fall through the mirror. He must have bounced his head off the wall and be falling toward the floor.
It seemed like just a second or two before William's eyes popped open. He lay on his back, on the hard wood floor of Fausto's, with Johnny Davis towering over him. Big Johnny probably wanted to finish him off, maybe kill him, and finally end their twenty-year-old feud. Either Big Johnny Davis and the ceiling lights above him were spinning, or William's head was spinning, but either way something wasn't right.
He raised his head and looked to his left, toward the bar. Except the bar wasn't there. Instead, he was staring at the bathrooms. That didn't make sense. It must be his brain that had gotten spun around. William turned his head and peered over his size-ten wingtips at the busted mirror. The wooden frame and most of the glass still clung to the wall, the rest sat broken on the ground. The bar had to be on his left. He looked again, and still saw the bathrooms. A brain bruise, maybe some fluid pressure building up might be the cause of it.
"Get up!" Big Johnny Davis said.
William looked up at him. Johnny stood behind him, just beyond his shoulders. Perfect place for him to stomp my head into the plank floor. Except Johnny Davis was holding out his hand.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here."
Davis looked scared. It was the first time William Bailey could ever remember Johnny Davis looking scared. William had always been scared of Big Johnny, but Big Johnny wasn't scared of anything or anyone.
Police sirens wailed in the distance.
Johnny glanced over his shoulder. William craned his neck to look where Johnny was looking, saw he was staring at the front door like a man terrified something bad was going to come through it. Big Johnny looked down at him again and pumped his hand. "Come on, get up. They'll be here any second."
"Who?" William asked. "Who'll be--" But before he finished, Big Johnny Davis reached down, grabbed him by both arms, and jerked him to his feet.
As he was dragged toward the door by the only man in town who truly hated him, William glanced up and saw the rusted metal sign nailed above the door. He had to have a concussion, probably severe; that had to be it, because the letters on the sign were backward. It said TUO.
As Johnny Davis pulled him out the door, William heard tires skid on the pavement.
"Where's your car?" Johnny asked.
William twisted away from the big man's grip, then turned to his left. "In the alley." He started to run, still not sure exactly what he was running from.
Behind him, Big John shouted, "The alley's over here."
William kept running but turned his head back toward Johnny. "I know where the alley--"
Something hit him across the midsection and toppled him to the ground. He got his hands up just in time to break his fall and managed to keep his head from slamming into the sidewalk. When he looked up he saw a shopping cart tumbled onto its side.
Once again, William found himself lying flat on his back, this time amid the spilled contents of the cart. It had been filled with junk: paper bags full of dirty clothes, canned food, bags of potato chips, a diamond shaped, orange road sign, and other trash that looked like it had been collected from back alley garbage bins.
The homeless man who'd been pushing the cart was scrawny, and wafer thin. His skin was the color of old shoe leather, and he wore a long gray beard, tangled and matted with food and bits of filth. He was sprawled on the ground next to his cart, half sitting up, staring at William with his bright blue eyes.
Car doors slammed, men shouted.
"You better get going," the homeless man said, as he cocked his head. "The police after you?"
Police!
Before William could assure the old man that the police weren't after him--he was a respected businessman and family man--someone behind him grabbed him under both arms and pulled him to his feet. William turned and found himself staring into the face of Johnny Davis. "The alley's that way," Johnny said, pointing to the other side of Fausto's. With one hand gripping William's jacket, Johnny dashed across the front of the bar toward the alley. The alley--right there, plain as day--on the other side of Fausto's, right where it shouldn't be, where it couldn't be. William had been here a thousand times. As you stepped out of the bar, the alley was on the left, Brockton's Ace Hardware on the right. Now everything was mixed up and in the wrong place.
Johnny Davis turned down the alley, dragging William behind him. After just a few steps, a spotlight flashed in front of them.
"Stop!" a voice commanded. "Get on the ground."
William couldn't see because Johnny was in his way. "Who's that yelling?" he asked.
Big Johnny stopped and William plowed into his back.
"Get on the ground," the voice boomed again.
William poked his head out from behind Johnny Davis's back. The blinding white light was in his face. He couldn't see a thing.
POP! POP! POP!
Gunshots.
Big Johnny sagged, then crashed to his knees. Instinctively, William bent forward and grabbed hold of Johnny. "What's the matter?"
More pops.
Johnny's big hand reached out and shoved William back toward the street. "Back door," he wheezed, then plunged forward onto his face.
William stood alone. Behind the white spotlight he saw blue police lights flashing. He was totally exposed.
POP! POP!
He saw flashes--little yellow spurts of flame--as something tugged at his jacket.
William had said "back door." What back door? Fausto's had a back door, but it didn't lead anywhere except to the open space behind the building used for trash and deliveries. Twenty feet of asphalt between the bar and the back of the building on the next block. William had parked his car at the end of the alley, but the police cars--or whatever they were--had the alley blocked off. The building behind Fausto's also had an alley that ran alongside it, but the owner had closed it off to keep the bums out. He'd put up a gate, padlocked it, and topped it with razor wire. It was a dead end.
Two more pops. Dead end or not it was better than standing here and getting shot. William turned and ran. He burst through the front door of Fausto's, dashed through the bar, past the shattered mirror, hit the back door at a dead run, and was outside behind the bar within seconds.
He could see the tail end of his car sticking out from the corner of the building, but with the cops blocking the alley, his car was useless to him. William glanced across the open space to the alley that ran next to the other building. The gate, the padlock, the razor wire--all still in place. To his right an overflowing garbage dumpster sat beside the back of Fausto's, jammed against the fire ladder.
The fire ladder.
An iron ladder bolted to the cinderblock wall.
William looked up. The top of the ladder was lost in shadow, but he knew it went up two stories to the roof. Last summer, when the toilet had stopped up, he'd come out back to take a leak and had stood behind the dumpster, peeing against the wall like a kid, one hand draped over the bottom rung of the ladder.
He slipped behind the dumpster. The smell made him gag. The bottom of the ladder was four feet from the ground. William reached up as high as he could, grabbed hold of the third rung, then hauled himself up.
Through the partially open back door came the sounds of heavy feet pounding on the hard wood floor of the bar.
Halfway up the ladder, he was exhausted--and scared. Shaking, he white-knuckled the ladder. Being more than ten feet off the ground terrified him. He needed a break, just a second or two to catch his breath. There was enough moonlight so he could see into one of the second story windows. Inside, junk was piled everywhere. Old barstools, a busted jukebox, furniture stacked almost to the ceiling. Years ago, old man Fausto lived on the second floor, but Jake, who'd bought the place from the old man and had decided to keep the name, used it for storage.
Below him, William heard the back door thrown open so hard it banged against the wall. He scrambled up until he reached the top of the ladder, then hoisted himself over the edge of the roof. Down on the ground a voice shouted, "There he is, up there."
Another gunshot. What the hell was going on?
The unmistakable sound of feet--fast feet, in shape feet, boot shod feet--scurrying up the ladder. Standing on the tar and pebble roof, William glanced around for something he could use as a weapon, shocked he was even thinking of such a thing. A five gallon plastic bucket was all there was. It stood upright, filled with rainwater. He picked it up and peered over the edge. A uniformed policeman was three quarters of the way up the ladder. Two more cops were right behind him.
William looked at the heavy bucket in his hands, thought about just dumping the water onto them but knew it wouldn't stop them. There was only one way to stop them, and that was to knock them off the ladder. He thought about warning them, maybe trying to scare them away. But they were cops. You couldn't scare them away.
So why had they shot Johnny Davis, and why were they shooting at him?
The first officer looked up and saw William staring down at him with the bucket in his hands. Their eyes locked for just a second and the cop stopped. In those eyes that stared back at him, William saw an almost maniacal determination that sent a shiver down his spine. The officer held his grip on the ladder with his right hand while his left dropped to the pistol resting in his gleaming leather holster. In one smooth motion he drew his gun and raised it toward William.
William Bailey tossed the bucket down the ladder. A shot rang out an instant before the heavy bucket thudded into the cop's head. Like a gruesome traffic accident happening before his eyes, William couldn't help but watch as the policeman fell, taking his two partners down with him. The last thing William saw before he turned away was a jumbled heap of black uniforms resting on the concrete below the ladder.
* * *
Hiding in the shadow of a telephone booth, thinking. Home. He had to get home. Had to get back to Marge and the kids. Maybe somehow he could explain what had happened. Vincent, his attorney, he would know what to do--maybe--but he was a civil lawyer not a criminal attorney. He wrote contracts and did personal injury on the side; he didn't get people out of jail who'd killed a cop by dropping a bucket of water on his head and knocking him and his buddies off the side of a building.
As the cab he'd been waiting for pulled up, William stepped out from the dark and climbed into the back seat.
The driver turned around. "Where to?"
William pulled the door shut. "Uptown. 1721 Audubon Court."
"Fare's gonna be about fifteen dollars. After dark, I gotta have the money up front."
"What?"
"Company policy." The cabbie shrugged. "A lot of drivers been getting stiffed."
William opened his wallet, pulled out a twenty and handed it across the seat. The driver took it and almost slipped it into his cash box, then took a second look at the bill. His face tightened. "What the hell is this?"
"Huh?"
With the bill stretched between his hands, the cabbie stared at it for a second then looked up at William. "You're either the dumbest counterfeiter who ever lived or you've been had."
"What you are talking about?"
The driver faced the bill toward William but didn't hand it back to him. "It's printed backwards."
William looked at the twenty-dollar bill in the man's hand. It looked like--it was--an almost brand new bill, nothing wrong with it as far as he could tell.
"Get out of my cab," the driver said.
William didn't know what the man was talking about but knew he didn't want to get out. This cab was his only way home. He reached for the twenty. "If you don't like that one I've got another--"
The driver pulled his hands away. "I ain't giving this back. I got to turn it in to the police." He dropped one hand behind his seat back, then came up clutching a pistol, an old German Luger by the looks of it, the muzzle aimed straight at William's face. "In fact, I bet they give me a reward if I bring you in with it."
William jerked the door handle and rolled out into the street. He sprang to his feet and ran, the driver's yells just background noise. Has everyone gone crazy or is it just me?
Home. He had to get home.
* * *
Rain. Driving, relentless rain. William was just two blocks from Fausto's. In two hours, that's as far as he'd gotten--one block an hour. Police cars prowled the neighborhood, shinning spotlights into every nook and cranny, lighting up every shadow. Everyone in Fausto's knew his name. He'd been going there three or four nights a week after work for years. The cabbie had his address. William had given it to him when he told the hack driver where to drop him.
Ten o'clock at night, with nowhere to go and no way to get there, William sat behind the closed Goodwill store, under an overhang that barely kept the rain off of him.
Huddled in the dark, head sunk between his knees, he hadn't heard anyone approach.
"You don't look so good."
Startled, William looked up, prepared to run again. It was the homeless man he'd knocked over outside the bar. The one with the shopping cart and the leathery skin. William relaxed a little. "Excuse me?"
The man pushed his cart closer. "You're not supposed to be here."
William looked around. "Why not?"
The old man grinned, half his teeth gone.
William found it nearly impossible to tell his age. The guy could be forty and maybe had lived a hard life, or perhaps he was a well-preserved seventy, pickled by a lifetime of booze. William waved him off, expecting a plea for money. "I can't help you."
The old man stopped just a few feet away. "Everything's out of place isn't it?" He had a strange lilting voice. Almost like an accent.
And he was right. Everything was out of place--from Johnny Davis to the cab driver--everything was wrong.
Strapped to the back of the old man's shopping cart was a plastic sign about the size of a loaf of bread. William recognized the sign, the words, the colors, the logo of a local supermarket chain, all were familiar to him, but the letters were backward, unreadable.
Rainwater ran down William's face. He pointed to the sign. "Why's it written like that?"
The old man looked at the sign then back at William. "Like what?" he said, then shuffled away behind his basket.
* * *
The rain came down even harder. William slouched in a darkened doorway across the street from Fausto's. Nothing made sense. Everything was messed up, backward, out of whack. Almost like this wasn't his home, like he was a stranger seeing it for the first time.
But that was crazy. He'd grown up here, gone to Brother Martin High School, dated Jenny Underhill who went to Cabrini, lost her to Johnny Davis, then got her back only to lose her again the first year of college to some kid who drove a Mustang. Two years later William married Marge at Saint Luke's. They had two kids.
This town was his home. He recognized it. He knew the people here, Big Johnny and Zeke, the bartender at Fausto's. But things were different, little things. John Davis for one. In trying to help him, the big man had gotten himself killed. That wasn't John Davis--at least not the one William Bailey had known since seventh grade. Everything looked the same but wasn't. Nothing was quite right.
But they knew him--or someone like him.
A strange sensation crept over him that made the hair on the back of his neck rise. Maybe he didn't belong here. Maybe everything wasn't as it appeared. Maybe this wasn't his home. But if that were true, then whose home was it? Another thought, even scarier seeped through his brain. If he was here, who was there--at his home?
Crazy.
William dropped his head into his hands. Just considering such nonsense was a waste of time. Yet, here he was scanning the street, thinking of going back inside Fausto's, back to that mirror.
Not much time to think about it. The bar closed at three AM and it was already two-thirty. When he'd left--run for his life with Big Johnny--most of the mirror was still in the frame hanging on the wall.
Something about that damned mirror.
But Fausto's was dangerous, so a couple of hours ago William had found another mirror. In the men's room of a twenty-four hour gas station. The Chevron on North Rampart.
He had approached it cautiously, afraid he was going mad. As he peered over the sink into the mirror, he saw what he always saw, his own reflection. Holding up his left hand, he looked at the image in the mirror, at the watch strapped to his wrist. He noticed that the man in the mirror wore his watch on his right hand. Just the opposite.
William stood in the gas station bathroom for twenty minutes before he worked up his nerve. Finally, he took a deep breath, leaned back, then slammed his forehead into the dirt-streaked mirror. The glass shattered and cut his head. Blood dribbled off the tip of his nose into the sink. His reflection stared out at him from the other side of the mirror, blood running down his face, too.
I have gone crazy!
So the gas station hadn't worked out. Ducking police cruisers, William had wandered the streets, his head reeling. What was he doing?
On the sidewalk, he found a sopping wet magazine that the wind had blown up against the side of a newspaper machine. The cover caught his eye. He picked it up. It was printed backwards, the letters reversed, words running right to left. The spine was on the right. As he flipped through the pages, he couldn't read a thing. Then William had an idea.
In the bathroom of an all night restaurant he held the wet magazine up to the mirror. Perfect. The reflected image was normal, spine on the left, words running left to right, all the letters printed correctly. He could read it clearly. But what did it mean?
Then he drove his head into that mirror. The glass cracked. Someone walked in, a skinny waiter wearing an apron. He stood gawking as William leaned over the sink with tears of pain filling his eyes.
The waiter looked at the broken mirror, then jabbed a finger at William's bloody forehead. "What the hell are you doing?"
"An accident," he mumbled, pressing his fingers against the fresh cut.
The waiter turned. "I'm calling the cops."
William Bailey ran.
Now he was huddled in the rain staring at Fausto's across the street. Because he had nowhere else to go.
He stood and walked toward Fausto's. When he was halfway across the street, a police car glided around the corner, headlights reflecting off the wet pavement. The cops in no hurry, just cruising. William forced himself to keep walking, not to run. One foot in front of the other. In the downpour, odds were that the cops wouldn't even recognize him.
But they did recognize him.
The police car slid to a stop as its high beams clicked on and its blue strobe lights started popping. Both front doors flew open.
Like a sinner seeking the sanctuary of a church, William ran straight for Fausto's door. As he burst inside, Zeke looked up from behind the bar. "William! What the hell are you doing here?"
He ignored the bartender, running right past him, eyes focused on the broken mirror and its busted frame hanging on the wall.
Zeke again, "The cops been looking all over for you. Say you killed two officers and--"
Behind him the front door banged against the wall. "Police!" a voice behind him commanded. "Stop."
But William didn't stop. He kept running--running straight for the mirror. Reflected in its fragmented pieces he saw two uniformed police officers behind him, heard their boots pounding on the wooden floor. Just ten feet separated him from the mirror. At full speed he took two strides then dove. He stretched his arms out overhead and tucked his chin into his chest as his feet left the floor.
He felt one hand hit wall and the other strike broken glass. Then his head hit. More glass cracked, more skin split.
Darkness.
* * *
William's eyes popped open. He was staring at the ceiling. Rough voices, even rougher hands. They rolled him over onto his stomach and jerked his arms behind his back. He felt cold steel on his wrists and heard the metallic ratcheting as the handcuffs tightened and bit into his skin.
He tilted his head up and rested his chin against the floor. Blood poured down the side of his face; he watched it pool on the floor then seep between the wooden planks. By rolling his eyes up he could just see the empty spot on the wall where the mirror had hung. Lying on the floor, three feet from his head, was the broken frame and the rest of the glass.
The two cops grabbed his arms and yanked him to his feet, sending waves of pain through his shoulders and wrists. As they spun him toward the door, one of the officers said, "You're under arrest."
"Why?" William asked.
The officer pressed his face into William's. "Murdering your family for starters."
"My...my family." William felt his stomach cinch and his bowels turn to ice. A thought he'd had earlier in the night echoed inside his head. If he was here, who was there--at his home.
As the cops dragged him across the floor, William glanced up and saw the rusted metal sign nailed above the door.
OUT.
He was home.

Originally posted on another sub but figured this was a better place for it. If you want you can look at my post history for a more in depth picture of my life at the moment.
In short I’m a single homeless mom. A couple days ago I escaped an extremely abusive relationship where I was basically held hostage for 10 years. I have two daughters. My oldest is 3.5 years old and my second will be 4 months old on Thursday. I am currently staying at a good friends house in her basement. She says she will support me in whatever decision I make but I still feel it would be terrible to bring another child into her home when I’m already burdening her with my 2 ( she has 5 kids: two teenagers, twin 2 year olds, and a 6 month old). I have no job as of yet and this abortion will honestly be the rest of my money.
My ex went through a particularly rough patch at work a few months ago and took it out on me. From when I was 3.5 to 6 weeks postpartum he sexually assaulted me nearly every day. I was able to get an appointment this morning at a local clinic. According to dating scan the baby is measuring 13-14 weeks right now. The pills will not be effective at this point so I will need the suction curettage procedure.
I also had a particularly traumatic birth with my baby. I had a uterine rupture that my physician didn’t catch on time which almost led to the death of me and baby.
I’m sure reading all of this makes an abortion seem like the obvious choice but I need some reassurance. I grew up in an extremely conservative and evangelical echo chamber. I do not hold those beliefs anymore willfully but the religious trauma runs deep. I can’t stop thinking I’m a murderer and I feel so guilty it’s making me nauseous. I am overcome with shame currently. My family and community would tell me this baby Is a blessing from god and I will be punished if I don’t accept it. Those people aren’t in my life anymore but walking into the clinic today all I could think about were those “I could feel pain at 12 weeks” billboards scattered throughout my hometown.
To be clear I am not against a woman’s right to choose in any way. Also I am not asking anyone if I should get an abortion or not as I know no one can make that decision for me. I’m just having a hard time with the reality of the situation. Please reassure me that an abortion would not be a moral failure, so I can make the right decision for me and my girls. If you would like to share your own abortion experiences, that may be helpful too.

I’ve been playing on and off since early access release, and over the past few months finally managed to stick with one save file for long enough that my main character finally died of old age/natural causes.
Naturally, I immediately chose and heir. I gave the clan to my sister, since I didn’t have any kids and my nephew and niece were too young. However, my sister is already in her 40’s (which is old for this game) and doesn’t have the same stats I spent all those hours building up. Trade for one is particularly frustrating since, as you likely know, it’s a slow and boring grind to level it up.
I’ve thought about just starting fresh, but I’ve never made it this far and would really like to stick it out. I think if I had the chance to give the clan to a younger heir, such as my niece, it would have been different since she would essentially be starting from scratch and have many years ahead of her. However, with my sister being the new clan leader, it feels kinda pointless to even level up her skills since she will likely die before long.
I’ve tried various settings in the game but found myself enjoying it most on the easiest settings, and without permadeath. I like the long, slow paced campaigns since I tend to play bannerlord is small sessions at the end of the night.
So: what do you guys like to do at this point in the game? I’m really just looking for varying opinions and suggestions, happy to hear any of your thoughts. Thanks in advance!

My wife 31F and me a 27M have been married for 4 years and have 2 children. Our most recent son was born on May 5th and everything was going according to plan. I have been very happy with life, even when dealing with our two kids and every bill and household cleaning needed. Recently she’s been recovering from her c-section and resting while I hold the fort. Well she came downstairs of our home and saw a box and some toys on the floor and lost her shit, starting screaming, throwing stuff, including out 2YO sons bottle of milk. She yelled at me saying I’m not doing enough with the upkeep and keeping the house at her ocd level of cleanliness. I was hurt and confused.
Recently because I have the kids I get bored and go to the store with our 2YO son to burn time. I pretty much go once or twice a day and just walk around target with him.
Yesterday I went out by myself while our son napped and didn’t reply to a text that she sent, my phone was on vibrate and I rarely check my phone when I’m doing something outside the house, it’s just getting some alone time for myself.
Today I told her that I needed to get cat food because we were out, she said “you really want to go to the store?” I explain to her I just like getting out of the house even if it’s with our 2yo.
To cut it short she accused me of going out for “extra curricular activities” and the way she said it sounded like being accused of cheating. I told her sister and her mother about this and they both know she a little off her rocker at times.
I’ve recently been thinking about how easy life was before marriage, I love my kids, and my wife when she acts normal. Some people say they think my wife is bipolar or has some sort of mental issues. I wouldn’t disagree sometimes. But man my life would be cake by myself, even with child support. But this isn’t the first time this issue came up.
And for the record, I’ve been faithful out entire relationships. I purposely don’t talk to other women if I don’t have to just to avoid this issue.
What are some thoughts on this. Anyone ever deal with similar issues? How did you handle it. I would try talking to her, but it’s normally like putting water on an oil fire.

Hi! I am having a really hard time deciding how to handle the summer vacation. I have a 6F who is probably undiagnosed ADHD (both dad and I have it) and she is super high energy and gets bored really easily. Now husband and I work 12hr graveyard shifts on opposite schedules which means one of us is completely unavailable to help in any way for most of the week and we have one full day to spend together as a family…
Here’s the catch. My daughter gets bored super easily and, as an only child, there is little in the way of entertainment other than us or electronics. That is to say, we either have to spend time with her or she spends a lot of the day on her tablet.
My issue is that I am HORRIBLE at playing with kids (Hubs is amazing at spending time with her). Not only that, but I work full time and am in graduate school. It sucks because I am also having to do all household chores/cooking while my husband is asleep, and I’m dealing with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and going to therapy as well. I am medicated but it’s hard to deal with too much at once, and I feel super bad that I just have so much to do that my days off are mostly spent studying or taking care of the house. Having her go to school has been a godsend.
However, now that it’s summer, I’m struggling because it’s our first extended time off while I’m still in school, and I really feel preemptively guilty that I will not be able to dedicate my attention to her.
So my question is: How do I deal with this? I try to take her out to have fun and visit cousins/friends but just time-wise I barely have time to breathe! What do you guys do to keep your littles entertained or engaged in something other than an endless stream of videos/movies/shows…? Having husband help on days he works is out of the question. My only idea is to have tons of sleepovers with cousins, that way they can entertain each other and I have some time… but I also don’t want my daughter to feel like I don’t have time for her at all, she really likes and craves just one-on-one time with me.

I'm seeing some confusion about the responses fans are having about the reviews right now, so I thought I'd remind everyone outside the circle about the stages of being a Blizzard fan.
Stage 1: Find something, literally anything, to complain about. It's easiest to just pick the FOTM, but feel free to get creative here.
Stage 2: Login to your preferred social media platforms and game forums.
Stage 3: Bitch and moan about Stage 1 until you get bored. Likely a few times a day for a week.
Stage 4: Login to the game you were complaining about and enjoy the fuck out of it until you get bored again. Maybe 100-200 hours.
Stage 5: Repeat Steps 1 through 4 until you've played at least 1,000 hours of the "hated" game.
Stage 6: For the next ten years, remember to both simultaneously talk shit about the game while also frequently reminiscing about how much fun you had.
Reminder: At no point are you actually allowed to admit to having had fun except about D2 as a kid or WoW pre-Cata (preferably pre-WotLK, but no one will fault you there). This bit is essential to being a proper Blizz fan.
Hope that clears things up!
If I see you in Hell, I promise not to tell anyone you were enjoying yourself.

I love traveling and exploring the world more than anything in life.
I enjoy looking at scenic views, pictures, and videos.
I have many artistic talents (drawing, singing, acting, decorating, video editing, photography). However, I don’t use them much.
I’m an outgoing person and enjoy being with people, but I spend a lot of my free time by myself, so that I have the freedom to do whatever I want without having to make compromises with other people.
I hate routines, and I hate being bound by a rigid schedule (I struggled a lot in school because of this).
While I consider myself to be smart, I struggled greatly in school because it was very boring to me. I also struggled to pay attention in class and focus on my work. I also frequently didn’t do my homework.
Home is the last place I would want do my homework, my favorite places to study were hotel lobbies.
I hate it when people try to control me. I hold the “steering wheel of my life” very tightly and never let go.
I do not like commitment, I always leave my options open.
I am extremely sensitive to criticism (especially when it’s harsh/strict). The best way to upset me is to criticize me harshly.
I have almost no self-discipline.
I don’t resist temptations easily (if at all).
I refuse to work any office job, and would hate my life if I had to.
I hate the catchphrase “suck it up, buttercup!”
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a full-time world traveler when I grew up.
I get very envious of travel bloggers/vloggers, because they’re living my dream life.
I hate it when people yell at me angrily.
I hate being at home.
I hate reading books.
I hate being in bed (unless I’m sick or tired).
I’m only talkative when the conversation is about topics I enjoy. If the topic is boring to me, I am quiet.
I have a strong sense of humor and love to pull pranks and tell jokes. I am by no means a serious person.
Boredom is my absolute worst enemy. I do everything I can to avoid boredom.
I would die if I had no free time (as I require a huge amount of it).
I have a very vivid imagination.
People tell me I am way too spontaneous and unpredictable.
People also tell me that I am a “kid-at-heart,” because I have a childlike personality.
I struggle with long-term planning.
I live in the moment and do not enjoy thinking about the future.
I really love animals.
I have a love/hate relationship with adulthood. I love having the freedom to make my own choices in life, but I really hate all the responsibilities that are required for survival (work, bills, chores, etc.).
Traveling is pretty much my only hobby. When I’m stuck at home, I spend my time watching travel videos on YouTube (usually walking or driving tours of a city), playing around with Google Maps, or playing games that involve traveling and exploring an area.
I do not like (and am not good at) doing yoga, meditation, or any relaxation activities.
Some of the things on my bucket list: Going skydiving, going on a cruise, dressing in drag, visiting Switzerland, seeing the Northern Lights, going to Africa, going to Miami, and seeing Niagara Falls.

Hey i need some advice
​
So growing up my parents worked in a takeaway and basically were like workaholics. never did anything fun.
literally wake up, work, eat, sleep and repeat. Even after retiring they just sit at home and watch TV. Any money they made they sent abroad to extended family. so growing up at home we just had the basics. I am an only child so never had any playmates. Never went on holidays growing up. Was never encouraged to play sport or go outdoors. Wasnt allowed to do drama or listen/play music. just used to watch TV. and no computevideo games (not allowed). Wasnt allowed to have a bf/gf. Wasnt even allowed outside home cos they saw my school friends as potential bad influence. Just study study study all the time. i went to a shitty local comp where most ppl never made it to uni and i know my parents wanted my life to be different. At school i did well in my studies but was really rubbish at sport. Used to get bullied a lot for being nerdy and spent my lunchtimes in the library. I still smashed my gcses and alevels and my bmat and got into a decent med school.
​
When i started med school i thought this would be a good time to change my life and reinvent myself. I got involved in freshers but it was difficult to fit in bcos a lot of the activities were around booze. im muslim so a lot of the stuff going on did not feel comfortable for me. I tried joining the isoc but they were a bit too religious for me. So after freshers i basically sank back into my studies and worked my ass off. Got top decile, won exam prizes. I got interested in neuro a lot at med school so i got involved with neuro projects and built my CV towards neurology/neurosurgery.
​
I was the year that started F1 early bcos of the covid pandemic and that was physically and emotionally tiring. With lockdowns I rarely left home except for work and didn't get much chance to explore anything even with my own earnings. I decided neurology was what i wanted to do and so i applied for imt. now working as an imt1. Imt has been generally shit but im sucking it up to get into neuro. At work people are friendly. but i still feel lonely and cut off. They talk about their amazing lives and hobbies and i just cant relate. I feel like ive got nothing to say or do. Also a lot of docs come from rich families and went to posh schools where they learnt how to be look and act proper. They do hobbies that i cant afford or i just feel i wouldnt fit in. I tried joining a gym but gave up because it was too boring and i was losing a lot of money. I used to enjoy reading as a kid but i now find fiction so boring to read. The only thing i enjoy reading is about neuro. I presented at my first international conference in Italy and thought i should make it a holiday. I hated my holiday. Dont get me wrong Italy is a nice country but i just felt so bored. Growing up i never went on holiday so ive never wanted it.
​
I feel a lot of pressure when ppl esp like regs, consultants ask what do u do for fun. It genuinely stresses me out. Bcos all i do is do work, watch the news on TV and surf the web. I keep myself busy with my work and neuro applications. When ive got spare time i sometimes just browse reddit or wikipedia. Thats basically it. Ive reached the point where i feel not happy but ok with this life. But i feel other ppl think its not ok to live life like and long term it wont be good for me. So i want to change but i dont know how. Ive not become a workaholic from medicine ive been a workaholic my whole entire life :/

Build Help/Ready:

**What is your intended use for this build?
Gaming mostly, some "AAA" games (aka buggy money grabs ;) ) and some older stuff. Amd build please. I am not made out of money, but I'd like a mid-high end pc.
If gaming, what kind of performance are you looking for? (Screen resolution, framerate, game settings)
I play at 1440p 144hz on my current build on a gtx 1080, may or may not upgrade monitors later. My goal is to play on pretty high settings for a while since I don't really do the progressive pc upgrade thing. I'm not gonna overclock I think, it is a rabbit hole that does not interest me (unlocked cpu's seem to be attractive for their stock performance tho).
What is your budget (ballpark is okay)?
Around 3k, in Canadian rubles.
(I'm sorry for the Americans trying to help me, I don't know how to convert this amount in football fields or Boeing 747 wingspans. (I am kidding. (Or am I?)))
In what country are you purchasing your parts?
Canada.
PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor	$400.98 @ Amazon Canada
CPU Cooler	Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 White 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler	$79.90 @ Amazon Canada
Motherboard	MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard	$285.98 @ Amazon Canada
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory	$169.99 @ Newegg Canada
Storage	Kingston KC3000 2.048 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$197.49 @ Amazon Canada
Video Card	XFX Speedster MERC 310 Black Edition Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card	$1519.99 @ Memory Express
Case	be quiet! Pure Base 500 FX ATX Mid Tower Case	$174.99 @ Canada Computers
Power Supply	Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$179.50 @ Vuugo
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$3008.82
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-05-30 13:53 EDT-0400

Not gonna lie, the biggest issues I have are:
-Getting a proper PSU is hard since those elusive "tier lists" are complicated to me and frankly too boring to learn, so I need opinions on that. I believe I picked a proper one but there are so many... and the names are all so similar...
-Picking the motherboard. As I said, I'm not an overclock-addicted fiend, so I just want something reliable that can get one or 2 more nvmes in case I hoard too much stuff. (wifi not a big deal, ill go with cable for now, but you never know if I might fall from grace in the future if I live somewhere else.) I am not fully aware of what brand is trustworthy at the moment or if a specific product is considered a lemon.
-I know, some of my parts are black, some are white, no big deal, I think I can make it work, and I don't wanna go full-one-color-theme or full-RGB on it. If prices are much better in another color, it will change my mind.
-I'm not sure if my cat likes me or if she's just there for the food and shelter I provide.
-If something is unclear or I sound super sarcastic, just tell me, english is not my main language and smartass humor does not translate too well.
Thank you for reading and for leaving a comment if you can help me on this slightly stressful and marginally fun adventure. I would appreciate if opinions were explained a bit more than "dis good" and "dis bad", but you do you and beggars (me) cant be choosers!

Hello daters!! I have another one for you. Leave a comment below with your thoughts about this worst date. Don't forget to add your own stories.
***********************************************************************
I remember the worst date I ever had like it was yesterday. It all started when I agreed to go out with this guy I met online. We decided to meet at a popular coffee shop in the city. Little did I know this would be a date I would never forget, but for all the wrong reasons.
As I walked into the coffee shop, I scanned the room for my date. I spotted a guy waving at me, and I assumed it was him. He had misrepresented himself in his profile picture, to say the least. He was much older and looked nothing like his photo. Nevertheless, I decided to give him a chance and joined him at the table.
The conversation started off awkwardly. He lacked any social skills, constantly interrupting me and dominating the conversation with his boring monologues. He rambled on about his ex-girlfriends and how they had all wronged him. I tried to steer the conversation towards lighter topics, but he would always bring it back to his failed relationships.
To make matters worse, his table manners were atrocious. He chewed with his mouth open and talked with food spewing out. It was utterly repulsive. I could barely keep my food down, let alone enjoy the meal.
But the worst part was yet to come. As we finished eating, he suggested we go for a walk in the nearby park. I reluctantly agreed, hoping things would improve. However, within minutes of entering the park, he started making inappropriate comments and advances towards me. I was taken aback by his audacity and felt extremely uncomfortable.
I quickly decided to end the date and told him I needed to leave. He didn't take it well and became angry, accusing me of leading him on. I tried to explain that I simply wasn't interested, but he wouldn't listen. He caused a scene, yelling at me in the middle of the park, attracting unwanted attention from passersby.
Finally, I managed to escape his clutches and fled the park. I was relieved to leave that disastrous date behind me, vowing never to repeat such a mistake again.
Looking back, that date was a nightmare from start to finish. It taught me the importance of being cautious when meeting people online and trusting my instincts. I never spoke to that guy again, and I can safely say it was the worst date of my life.
Anonymous

Hello! Im (18 NB any pronouns) very new to the world of Aromanticism - I'm allosexual myself, I'm mostly unlabelled but I do experience romantic and sexual attraction. I met a person (20NB any pronouns) online through a dating app and we matched. We hit it off really went - they let me rant about my interests and even saved it all to read back later, they're super nice/sweet constantly asking how my day is and what i've done today, how i'm feeling etc. However, I only found out recently they're aromantic after having asked them due to a joke they made. I felt sort of heartbroken I suppose, they did admit to me they're bisexual (or pansexual I believe they switch between labels) and do experience sexual attraction to all genders, just not romantic attraction.
This wasn't mentioned in their profile or in our convos until now and I do wish it had been but I'm not totally upset as we haven't been talking for very long. They suggested a QPR which to be honest I still dont really know what that is, I've heard its like more than a friendship but not a romantic relationship? They're not repulsed or against romance or anything like that. The thing is my libido/sexual attraction fluctuates a lot (can be dead for months and then suddenly spikes - I think this is due to my birth control/medication I'm on) but I do experience strong romantic attraction and I experience this for them. They stated they agreed with me that they had physical/emotional attraction to me - I guess just not romantic. His last relationship ended up being open - I admitted I'm monogamous and I'm not into open relationships and he said this wouldn't be a problem.
My typical dealbreaker is that I don't want kids - this is fine as he also doesn't want them. He never wants to get married and this is fine by me as I never really saw the point anyway.
My main concern if we did end up in a QPR (they're fine with kissing/cuddling and I imagine sex due to experiencing sexual attraction) would be that they would find someone else once they get bored of my appearance. I'm also not sure if I could call them anything other than partner (I've always preferred girlfriend/boyfriend as to me partner sounds like a legal contract lol). Anyway, thank you for reading this - it ended up being an essay lol. Any advice/tips would be helpful.

Clementine walks outside of the dormitory with AJ. The sun is bright and warm making the air all fresh and new from the thunderstorm last night. Some minor damage was done to the east side of the wall, but nothing threatening that will endanger everyone. The grass was still wet from the rain, and so were the picnic tables. Clementine hobbles away with AJ by her side as they make their way to the watchtower. Willy and Aasim are scheduled to go out and hunt early in the afternoon, and Ruby and Violet should be in the greenhouse today gathering herbs and tending to the garden. Louis will be out later in the afternoon checking the traps for game along with Tenn.
AJ walks with Clementine as they pass Omar's black caldron to cook their meals. AJ cast a look up at his mother figure as she is wearing an unusual smile on her face this morning. AJ looks down at the ground to ponder on it for a moment. Clem's hat blocks out most of the sun from his eyes. He finally spoke to her as they made their way to the watchtower, "Why are you smiling so big?"
Clementine shook her head to clear it from her thoughts with Louis from last night, "Huh, what?"
"You are smiling a different kind of smile today," AJ commented being observant of her.
"I am?" Clementine asks with one of her eyebrows arching a little.
"Yeah, like you are glowing or something. What made you so happy last night? Did Louis and you have some sissy gross love talk?" AJ asks.
Clementine looks down at him as they approach the ladder to the watchtower to climb up on. "Yes, we did." Clementine casts her look away not wanting to admit to her surrogate son her first sexual experience.
"That can't be, because you never have that look when you guys talk of kissing love. And kiss and stuff, so what exactly happened between you and Louis that made you...this happy?" AJ looks up at her one more time.
Clementine sighs as she shakes her head, "AJ...."
"I am curious, is all? I have never seen you this happy, even when you guys do gross love things together." AJ said.
"Some things you don't need to know kiddo. At least not right now. When you get a bit older, I will tell you. But you are still my little goofball, and I want to keep it that way for as long as I can, even if you are growing up too fast for me." Clementine said as she reaches out to rub AJ's head and her old hat. Making it go lop-sided on AJ's head.
AJ straightens out her hat on his head as he pouts up at her, "It is AJ or Alvin Jr, not goofball. How many times do I have to tell you that."
"Sorry bud, old habits, and I still like that nickname." Clementine teases him.
AJ gave her a swat back as Clementine balanced on her prosthetic foot, "Well I don't. It makes me feel like I am three again and a baby, which I am not." AJ crosses his arms over his chest and looks away from Clementine.
"Okay, I will try not to use it, alright, kiddo." Clementine sighs, and AJ turns to smile back at her. She then puts on her motherly leadership tone now, "Okay, time to do look-out duties. You go up first." Clementine said as she let AJ climb up first. Once Clementine makes the climb up she let AJ use the binoculars to see as she scans the horizon with her eyes on danger. She tries not to think of about her time with Louis and focuses on looking out for danger, but the thought keeps coming back in her head. Is Louis right? Do I have a glow on my face from what happened last night? Do women glow after they have sex? Do men do as well? And if AJ sees it do the other kids know about it as well? Am I really that obvious to everyone? She tries to hide it, but her heart and happiness will not hide away. Clementine shakes her head to clear it as she focuses in on the threats outside the walls of her home.
.....................................
Louis finished picking up the rest of their fort and gathered his cards up. Smiling as he thought about his and Clementine's passionate night last night. She made him the happiest guy on earth. Once Clem's room is all packed away, he slowly puts on his green shirt and never notices the hickeys Clem left on his neck.
When Louis closes the door to his and Clem's room, he feels a little dizzy, and light-headed all of a sudden and a sharp pain at his gut. Louis leans on the door for support. The pain was a sharp burn, like a bad cramp or something. He never noticed Aasim was just coming out of his room and looked at Louis kind of funny.
"You okay, dude?" Aasim asks.
Louis took a moment then shook his head as the pain was dull but not as severe. "Yeah...must be something I did last night." Louis slowly spoke.
"Uh huh, and that moaning in your and Clem's room had nothing to do with it?" Aasim arches his eyebrows and crosses his arms.
Louis flush in the face now, as Aasim heard his first sexual encounter with a girl, "We...uh...practicing her combat skills." Louis cast to the floor as Aasim is not buying his act.
Aasim chuckles to his friend and looks to Louis, "Look. Lou, I am no idiot. I know you and Clem did it last night. It was obvious by the soft moans from the two of you as I passed your room to go to bed. I won't tell anyone." Aasim looks at him. "You have my word, bro."
Louis looks down, then back up at Aasim, and has a new appreciation for his old friend and for keeping to the guy code. He still held his hand on the side of his body, and Aasim took notice. "Are you sure you are okay Lou, I can go get Ruby?" Aasim asks.
"Yeah, I am fine, and no need to get your girlfriend involved. It is probably hunger pains." Louis half joked as he never experiences this deep pain. Or maybe this is after sex pain.
"Okay, suit yourself. I have to find Willy. He and I have hunting duty, and you Lou, need to rest the traps. It is your turn today, besides fixing up the wall from the storm last night." Aasim said.
"Will do, after I eat something," Louis said as he leaned his back on Clem's dorm room door.
Aasim started to move and kept his eye on Louis as something was not right or not good with him, and he was a bit concerned. Louis took deep breaths as the pain slowly subsided, and he slowly began to move to go outside.
Louis sees Aasim getting his food and taking it over to where Ruby is as they are being all cutesy with each other. He smiles at his friend's romance, and then Louis's eyes fall on Clementine and AJ up in the watch tower. He sighs a happy smile at seeing his girlfriend as she still has that glow upon her face that she and he did last night. And strangely, Louis, too has a glow on his face. He shakes his head as he grabs food and starts to eat it, hoping whatever pain he felt was just hunger pains.
Then he spots Violet coming in from the graveyard, of all places. He has seen her near there a lot, and it is not like her to see her ex-girlfriend's grave marker and act so damn happy when he knows for a fact Minnie ruined Violet back on the beach after the Delta boat blew up. He watches as Violet heads directly to her room, and he lets out a sigh. Once Violet is seen to go to the dorms, Louis looks out over at the wall of the school and the traps as they can wait to be fixed, as Louis wants to find out where Violet has been sneaking off to in the dead of night and coming back in at dawn, or mid-morning. Louis finishes his stew and puts it where the rest of the dishes are and heads to Violet's room, room 202.
...................................
Maya made it back to her tent without anyone noticing her absence. She sees Aniya is still asleep in her bed on her side of the tent, while Maya crawls into bed and smiles with her heart feeling like it has wings. There is no doubt now on Maya's face that she is in love with Violet. Maya only got a half hour of rest when she felt Aniya waking her up, "Maya, Maya...wake up. Bonnie wants us to go hunting again."
Maya groans a little and squints her eyes, "Okay.." Maya slowly gets up, and Aniya looks at her older sister with concern.
"You sure you are up for it? You look exhausted." Aniya said.
"I will be fine." Maya yawns.
Aniya looked at the door and then back at her sister, "You were with Violet all night, weren't you?"
Maya looked down at her feet then her brown eyes met her sisters. "Yes."
"Maya.." Aniya shakes her head.
"Before you say anything, I told her how I felt about her." Maya sighs, "I love her,"
Aniya looks at her, "Maya, I am glad, even happy for you. You found love in this world. But you know this is going to get very complicated. People will start to get subspinous about your disappearing to go meet her. Bonnie will soon pick up your weird behavior and start to question your loyalty. I don't want to see you getting kicked from the group. I need my sister."
Maya understands her little sister's worry as Maya bows her head and puts her hands over them, and lets out a heavy sigh. For the first time, she admits it out loud to her little sister, "I am so torn, Aniya. Sometimes I wished I never met her or those group of kids that fateful day."
Aniya reaches out to her sister and lightly touches her shoulder, "Why?"
Maya pulls her head up and moves her hands to the side of her body. "Because this way, I wouldn't put my heart through this hell I am feeling. It is getting very damn difficult to leave her to come back to this group. You are the only thing that keeps me here, you and Robert." Maya sighs and softly mourns, "Please don't hate me for saying that. I love you, and you are the only kin I have left in this world, and I vowed to Mom and Dad I will take care of you, and know I will never leave you."
Aniya nods and holds her sister tight, "I know. And I don't hate you, Maya, for having those thoughts. But to tell you the truth. As much as I sometimes come off as being jealous, your love for this girl is not a mistake, and don't ever think that was. Seeing you deeply in love with Violet actually gives me hope for a future in this bleak dark world. In some ways brings back memories of when Mom and Dad were alive. And if you feel your home is with Violet and her group, I will go where you go, sis. Family sticks together." Aniya reminded her.
Aniya coughs and nods to the doorway, "Alright, come on, we got hunting to do before Bonnie gets suspicious. Do what you can, sis, and I will try and think of something of an excuse for why you are exhausted."
Maya shakes her head, "I appreciate the loyalty Aniya, but I don't want you to lie for me. I will devise my tale and not let you get involved. Bonnie will know something is up if you do that. Come on."
Maya, Aniya, and Bonnie head out on the beach scouting for food. Maya braces the cold wind as it blows on her fingers, making it difficult to hunt with the bow. They walked what felt like miles, and Maya spotted what looked like a deer. She blinked several times, and it was a deer. Maya gets in a low crouch and begins to stalk it. Maya drew her bow and an arrow from her quiver. She knows when hunting deer out west, she needs to be quick with her motions. Maya drew the arrow back of the string of the bow until it was taunt. Before Maya could strike at the deer, the deer turned and looked at her.
Maya gazes at the deer as it doesn't run or flee, and soon Maya's heart stops and knows this is not just a deer. It is a spirit. Maya lowered the bow and withdrew her arrow from the string.
Aniya looks at her sister as Bonnie catches a wild turkey and a few rabbits. She sees her sister staring at something invisible that only she can see. Bonnie looks to Aniya, "What is Maya doing?"
"I'm not sure," Aniya said as she tried to read her sister's actions.
Maya stares long and hard at this deer and soon feels a sharp pain in her forehead. The pain was so much it caused Maya to fall to her knees and hold her head. Then Maya blacks out and is about to get a vision of what happened to Clementine, Louis, and Violet that day on the beach when the Delta boat blew up
"Maya!" Aniya screams out and runs to her sister, and the same with Bonnie.
"What is wrong with her, Aniya?" Bonnie drops the kills she made and kneels to Aniya, holding her sister, who is unconscious.
Aniya answers, "She is having one of her vision things. She gets like this sometimes when a spirit or something contacts her."
Bonnie looks at her oddly, "This is ridiculous. We need to get back." Bonnie goes and reaches for Maya, and Aniya batted her hand away.
"No, don't...don't touch her when she is like this. You might not believe this kind of thing, Bonnie, but my sister is next chosen to be my tribe, Sherman. Shermans have special gifts of having visions of the past and foreseeing things. My grandmother had this gift, and it is passed to my sister." Aniya explains.
"So what do we do, wait until she regains conscious?" Bonnie asks, looking at Aniya holding her older sister.
"Yes," Aniya said.
"Who knows how long that could take? I don't want to—" Bonnie's words were cut short when both she and Aniya heard groans of walkers, about eight or nine of them. "Shit.."
Aniya stood up and looked at Bonnie, and Bonnie looked at her, "Well, we don't have time for your sister to come to now unless she wants to be walker food. You get our kill, and I will carry your sister to a better location where we are not easy targets. Keep those fuckers off of us." Bonnie picks up Maya and carries her in her arms as Aniya keeps the walkers off their tails Bonnie leads them to a cave to keep them hidden from the walkers.
.........................................
Maya wakes up on the sandy beach. The pain in her forehead eased up some as she heard gunfire. Maya looks and sees Clementine, the little boy named AJ, and Louis Aasim, a boy Maya has never met or seen before.
She hears a horse crying as the boy Aasim waves to some other kids Maya again has never seen before. Maya counted the seven kids and counted Violet, these must be Violet's other members of the group. Then out of nowhere, Maya sees the love of her life as she pleads to a girl Maya has never seen or heard of before.
"Minerva, why are you choosing to be with them? I still love you despite killing Sophie! Your home is with Ericson, not the fucking Delta! I know you remember!" Violet screams.
Minerva looks to Violet. She lets out a scream of confusion. When she sees Clementine shooting a member of her family, Minerva's eyes goes cold and turns from Violet. Violet kept screaming out her name, but she didn't know she was there. "Minerva!"
Violet knew from that moment her precious Minnie was lost to her. Violet watches in horror as Louis, Aasim, and Omar flee to safety. Minerva was going to kill or do harm to someone she cared about.
Minerva points her gun, and Violet sees what Minerva will do. Violet runs to stop Minerva, and the two of them battle and fight with each other until Violet gets slashed by Minerva's knife. Violet's felt the sting of her shoulder where Minerva sliced her. And the look in her eyes just then it is like she didn't care if she hurt Violet.
Violet, in tears now feeling betrayed by the love of her life, watches as Minerva, blindly in rage, advances onward toward Clementine. Violet slowly reaches for Minerva's crossbow and, with shaking hands, aims at her former lover and lets out her tears, knowing Minerva is no longer in love with her and the Minnie she once found love and joy in died the day she entered the Delta. Violet pulls the trigger and shoots Minerva in the shoulder when she tries to aim at her head. Minerva lets out a shriek of pain as she eyes Violet as the ultimate butyral of her former lover. Violet made her choice that day and was going to kill Minerva for the love of her friends.
Minerva yells at Violet, "Fuck you and everything we had." Minerva was unaware of a walker coming and biting her in the face. Louis puts his arms around Violet to protect her. Clementine looks to AJ and is about to follow after their friends when she hears Minerva screaming, "Clementine! FUCK YOU!" and lobs a grenade at Clementine and AJ, causing the separation of Clem and AJ from the rest of the Ericson group.
Maya's heart broke for Violet seeing how much Violet loved Minerva. And Maya stands on the sandy ash beach, watching the event unfold. Maya crashes to the sandy ground and holds her arms, "Oh, Vi...I...I am so sorry..." Maya sobs, and her heart aches for her lover. Maya soon looks up and wipes her eyes, and Maya looks and sees the deer she saw in the woods when hunting with her sister, and Bonnie now appears in the woods of her vision. Maya wipes her tears and realizes this is not just any deer.
Maya slowly stands up and eyes the spirit animal, "Why are you showing this to me? Why am I reliving Violet's past? Who are you, and what do you want? Tell me who you are?"
The deer looks at her and then toward where the horse carries Violet away. Then looks back at her. Maya gazes at the deer and soon hears rumbles. Maya turns and sees a storm making landfall on the river as a stiff wind blows sand in Maya's eyes. Maya sees flashes of bright lights, and soon, the sandy beach around her is filled with blood, and the sky is red. Maya looks back at the deer who stands in the shadows of the woods. Maya realizes this is a warning. The blood, the red sky, and the rumbles of a storm. The red sky means death is coming. No..oh dear God, no! Maya looks at the deer with sad eyes, "Don't fucking tell me I am going to lose the love of my life! Or my sister, Aniya."
The spirit never answers her and Maya soon felt the pain in her forehead as she holds her forehead until the blinding pain stops. And Maya is back to her reality.

Eientei was under attack, with hordes of youkai both feral and corrupt; most of them being rabbit youkai. They were charging in with their broken, bloody mallets while they bore forms more akin to their small and fluffy counterparts; albeit in a much more horrific manner. Some of them shrieked, screaming wildly while they charged forward, only for a long sharp blade to come around and slice a colony down.
Youki sheathed his sword slowly, followed by all the rabbits which had been sliced, having their blood spraying out of their arms, legs and chests until they plummeted to the ground; back where most of them belonged. He looked back for a moment before hearing someone approaching as he pulled out his sword once again.
He sliced another one that came at him with a mallet, then another that tried to attack him from behind. Both rabbits had their heads cut off, leaving them with decapitated bodies that twitched before falling.
“Hmph! Coward, trying to strike an old man while their back was turned.” Youki said to the dying rabbit.
Behind Youki was Kosuzu, Ko, Wakasagihime, Gummy and Shanghai, all of whom were either being carried or hiding behind Kosuzu, leaving the child spirit struggling to hold everyone’s weight; even if she happens to be dead. Ko specifically was shivering and trembling; stuffing herself with chocolate as a form of comfort.
“Uh, s-sir?” Kosuzu said. “I would like it if you didn’t show that kind of scenery in front of the kid. The last thing I want is for her to get nightmares after this.”
“Nonsense. Back when I trained Youmu I showed her many types of corpses and dead carcasses in order to improve her resistance to mental shock. Needless to say I think it didn’t have much success, probably the opposite even.” Youki said.
“Grandfather of the year right here.” Kosuzu thought to herself sarcastically. “I just hope everyone else is okay.”
Back outside of Eientei, Meiling and Mary were punching and slicing their opponents up. Meiling herself had PB equipped in order to boost her abilities; with PB taking the appearance of a blue Chinese fighting dress to match her preferences in design. She was palm striking, roundhouse kicking both feral and corrupted beings out of sight; blowing them away like striking a baseball as hard as one can with a bat in order to get a home run.
“Wow! I never felt so powerful before!” Meiling said while fighting. “I feel like I could face Taisui Xingjun and win without breaking a sweat!”
“That is good to hear, Miss Meiling.” PB said. “However you are aware that the more you use me, the more I drain you of your energy, correct?”
“Oh, yeah. I’ll try to be careful.” Meiling said. “How are you doing Mary?”
Mary was too focused right now. She was plowing down rabbits and lost causes one by one while sucking them up of their blood using her daggers. She had a delightful smile on her face, the reflection of the moon on the glasses everyone was wearing.
“I’m doing great! The number of enemies coming to me like blood donors; ohhh… It is glorious!!!” She said while gutting one unlucky rabbit of all their blood.
“Uhhh…Are you okay Mary? You didn’t stare at the blood moon too long, did you?” Meiling asked.
“Oh, don’t mind her. Mary is usually like that on certain occasions.” PB said.
Cirno and Rumia meanwhile were still in the midst of their fight. Their swords clang and swung as they were both focused; though one was keeping a cool head, the other hot-headed. Rumia yelled and screamed with blind rage as her eyes glowed bright as the red-stained moon. Cirno was keeping up with her; not wanting to make the same mistakes she did as last time.
“Rumia! I know you’re in there!” Cirno shouted. “You can’t allow the moon to affect your sanity! Please, for Ko’s sake!”
“GRAAAAAAGH!” Rumia responded, swinging her sword down at the Ice Fairy.
Everyone was able to hold off the fending invasion. Youki sliced down his opponents, Meiling and Mary were out on the offense, and Cirno kept Rumia’s attention.
But further in the bamboo, a large squad of moon rabbits kept an eye on the group; analyzing the situation and the best course of action they should take.
“This is Rabbit group 2, I have an eye on the enemy. The red-haired girl and the crimson dressed lady currently have the armor on hand.”
“This is Rabbit group 1, I have infiltrated inside the base. The only threat so far is the swordsman; the rest do not look as though they pose a threat.”
“Rabbit group 3 here, two of the enemies are fighting one another. It seems one of them has been entranced by the moon.”
“Copy that everyone. Ready for my signal.” The Captain said.
Another feral youkai flailed their arms as they reached forward, only for that hand, their arm, and the rest of their body to be sliced into pieces by Youki, while their phantom half remained flying around them.
“Hmph! That makes another! Honestly, they come one by one just to get struck down by my blade.” Youki said.
Kosuzu and the others continued to stay behind him, but they’d gradually moved a little further back thanks to the pile of chopped corpses that now make up the inside of Eientei. But this was a mistake on their part, as they didn’t notice that someone else had sneaked in and grabbed Ko who was right behind everyone else.
“Wa-” Ko screamed when her voice was suddenly muffled.
“Ko?” Kosuzu looked behind, but only saw the bar of chocolate that Ko was previously eating.
“Ko!? Where are you!?” She asked in a panicked tone.” Youki, Ko is-”
Then Kosuzu’s voice was muffled, as was Wakasagihime, Gummy, and Shanghai thanks to the coordinated effort by the group of moon rabbits who infiltrated inside Eientei to take them away. Kosuzu tried to phase through, but the rabbits were wearing some kind of special equipment that made it impossible for her to accomplish.
Shanghai struggled the most, thanks to her small size. She slipped through the hands of the rabbits to alert Youki.
“Shanghai! Shanghai!” Shanghai let out their voice right before the rabbits grabbed her and stuffed her inside a bag.
“Hm?” Youki turned around and saw what was happening. He quickly readied his sword to attack; intending on striking all his enemies down in a blink of an eye. But the rabbits had prepared for such a scenario.
Falling from the ceiling a small moon rabbit jumped out, using the opportune and shot Youki with a dart, hitting him in the back of his neck. Immediately his body turned limp and he fell to the ground, unable to move his arms or legs.
“Unbelievable…” Youki thought.
“This is Rabbit group 1, we took down the swordsman and secured the others.” One of the Moon Rabbits said.
“Excellent. How’s 2 and 3?” The captain asked.
“This is Rabbit group 3, we’ve managed to capture the fairy. However the blonde one is giving us a hard time due to her frantic strength.”
The moon rabbits had tied up Cirno, with her arms behind her back and her legs together. One of the moon rabbits attempted to lift her fused sword, but found it to be quite heavier than expected. The rest of the group was busy handling Rumia as they tried to pin her down, but she kept throwing them around like rag dolls.
“Keep going, she’ll fall soon enough. How’s group 2 handling the situation?”
“Rabbit group 2 here. Most of us are fighting the crimson dressed lady and the red-head right now. We had one casualty so far but we are doing fine, most-"
*CRACK*
A large fissure appeared below the rabbits, making them trip over as the ground rumbled violently. They quickly got in alert, raising their weapons.
"Sir, an earthquake has just happened! A fissure has been created in the ground!" One of the commanders said.
"Group 2 here! We have felt the shake! We are alert-
*blarghsh*
*fzzzz*
“YOU SPEAK TOO MUCH, MORON! HAHAHAHA!!! GIVE ME MORE BLOOD TO SHED!!!"
"Group 1 here! The prisoners have managed to slip from our grasp due to the earthquake!"
Another voice was heard through the radio.
"Recapture the prisoners and wait for orders! Group 3, split, secure the fairy and return to Eientei! Leave a group behind to deal with the other one!" The captain said.
*RUMBLE*
"Sup."
"What the-"
Then, a gigantic punch came out of the fissure, sending the rabbit commander to the stars in a cartoonish fashion, leaving only the boots and the helmet behind. Shortly after, a couple of horns emerged from the ground, and an oversized Suika made her appearance, along with Satsujin and Sumireko, who flew away by the force. Satsujin ended up crashing into Eientei, where Kosuzu and the others were, while Sumireko was sent where Mary and Meiling were fighting.
Suika landed back on the ground after shrinking to her normal size. She had a look of shaky relief as though she had escaped the presence of death. Satsujin ended up landing on top of Youki, and Sumireko fell flat on the ground.
“Owie…” They all thought in unison.
In the midst of all the chaos, another figure flew right out of the hole that Suika had created, out into the blood-stained night, where more hoards of youkai; massive enough to be considered an army, approached. They had heard of all the chaos from far away, which meant that there was something there they could feast on.
It was time for the night parade of 100 demons.
But down in front of them came the same figure who came out of the hole Suika had created; crashing into the ground and marking a small chasm. The youkai were confused somewhat; tilting their heads over who or what had landed in front.
The figure slowly rose up, standing on their feet, wearing the classic red-white shrine maiden outfit, holding their sharpened gohei to the side, and staring back at all the demons with a fear-piercing gaze.
Chihana looked around her. She saw feral youkai on her left, corrupted on the right, and lost causes here and there. She tightened her grip on her weapon, pulling out her talismans and needles.
“...” Chihana said nothing, she thought of nothing. All that was in her mind was the instinctual urge to cut loose.
"My head…Where did I end up?" Satsujin said, rising from the ground.
"Satsu?" A very scared Ko said, as she hugged Shanghai, who had returned to her side after being stuffed in a plastic bag.
"Ko? Are you okay? Where are the rest?" Satsujin asked while he was helped up from the numb Youki.
“Off…My back.” Youki said. “Proof of my age.” Satsujin helped the old man up, right as Kosuzu and the others were freed from their restraints with the help of Ko.
“Oh thank goodness you arrived, Satsujin!” Kosuzu said. “We were ambushed by the moon rabbits! Youki protected us but we underestimated them. Where were you? What happened?”
“I-It’s a bit of a long story.” Satsujin said. “We were trapped underground in this weird lab, and when we reached the bottom we ran into someone completely unexpected.”
“Unexpected?” Kosuzu asked.
Right then, the sound of destruction was heard outside of Eientei. They all rushed to check outside, where they also saw Sumireko and Suika along with Meiling, PB and Cirno. Suika and Sumireko were already caught up on everything, with Suika now wearing one of the sunglasses that Cirno provided her.
“Oh, there you guys are!” Cirno said. “I was worried when you three fell into that trap door! I know it sounds like a lot, but right now we have ourselves a blood moon happening.”
“A blood moon?” Satsujin asked. He sensed his surroundings, noticing a surmountable amount of malice. “Great, exactly what we need right now.”
“But there’s more!” Cirno said. “This lady came out of nowhere, and now she’s been going on a killing spree!”
And right on cue, Chihana zoomed past the group, ignoring them and instead focusing on throwing another one of the youkai into the ground. She went to another and stabbed them with her gohei, then stabbed another one with the same gohei, and then another one before flinging them all away. She threw her needles around, piercing the skulls of several more, while her paper charms set the forest ablaze; burning any youkai who were unfortunate to have been in the crossfire.
“Who…Even is that?” Meiling asked. “Are they friend or foe?”
“It’s better to say neither.” Suika said. “That’s Chihana Hakurei, one of the predecessors of the Hakurei Shrine.”
“They're Hakurei!?” Meiling asked. “I-I thought Reimu was the only one!”
“Oh you have no idea…” Sumireko said.
"Guess we'll leave her alone with those things. For now, we gotta focus on defending the ones that can't fight. Where is Mary?" Satsujin asked.
Meiling pointed to a nearby building, where Mary had cornered a squad of rabbits who attempted to make a strategic escape.
"Group 2! We have been corn-"
*chop*
"NO ONE'S GONNA SAVE YOU FROM ME!!!" A manic Mary shouted, as she splitted the rabbit in half in one hit.
"Holy sh-*
*slash* *stab* *chop*
"MORE, MORE!!! GIVE ME MORE!!!" She shouted, as her eyes glowed like torches.
*whistle*
Mary turned her head, seeing Satsujin wave at her…without a shirt. She instantly sprinted over to him and hugged him.
“Satsu!!! There you are! I’m so glad you’re okay and safe! Oh what I would’ve been if I found out you were hurt or worse! But you’re not and that is a good thing! Where did you go, who were you with and why is your shirt torn up?” Mary asked in a hasty tone.
“Calm down Mary, I’m fine, but we have other problems to face right now.” Satsujin said.
Once again, Chihana nearly hit Mary and Satsujin as she came right behind with a youkai who she dragged across the ground, resulting in their face being torn off with muscles and bone showing. She threw them over at some bamboo as their blood splattered; marking some of the green stalks red.
Chihana was breathing hard, having gotten a fair share of injuries herself during her blood spree. She looked frantically, as though looking for more youkai to rip and tear. Fortunately, her actions drew the attention of several youkai, hundreds even. She was running low on needles and talismans, and her gohei had broken off due to it having been quite frail from years of inactive use.
But she wasn’t going to give up just yet. She charged at the hoard head on, gripping a fist full of needles as she began to bludgeon and stab the youkai.
She killed one by cracking their head with her fist.
One she killed with a single kick.
Another after their tongue was ripped off and left on the ground slowly bleeding.
Another when she tore off their arm and gutted their heart out with that same arm.
Another when…
Another when…
Another…
…
Chihana was surrounded. She ran out of everything in her arsenal. Her clothes were tattered, her hair a literal bloody mess, and she held one broken arm with the other, all the while missing a foot.
In her surroundings were the piles of piles of youkai she slaughtered, their skulls open, their organs spilled, and their lives long gone. But more still came; never-ending during the night of a blood moon. They all had their eye on Chihana, and didn’t care what it would take to get what they wanted.
All the others were amazed, having been spared of the onslaught of youkai due to Chihana luring them all. They could not believe how long one person could handle such an army on their own. But now Chihana was at her wits end; the horde of youkai clearly too much for her alone to handle.
“...Youkai…” Chihana said. “Creatures of the night… Savages… Monsters… Demons… They’re all… Demons. They don’t care if you’re some little kid, an old-fashioned granny, or a wounded villager; to them they all taste the same… That’s why I exist. I exist to protect the humans from those foul youkai…AND I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS TO BE MY FINAL STAND!!! YOU HEAR ME YOU EVIL INCARNATE!!! YOU ALL WILL PERISH UNDER THE NAME OF HAKUREI!” She yelled, showing her bloody hands as she spoke with complete determination. An immense battle cry was let out as she got ready to unleash a powerful spell.
“FANTASY-”
The maw of a giant wolf appeared from the stalks of bamboo, unbeknownst to everyone. The wolf bit down on the head of the elder Shrine Maiden, gnawing at her and ripping it off like it was a piece of meat, leaving the rest of her body to spray blood everywhere like a fountain, before it collapsed on the ground, twitching slightly.
Sumireko, Satsujin, Suika, and everyone else were equally shocked by this. They watched the wolf eat the head before it swallowed, leaving nothing behind.
"What in the actual fuck was that? That thing killed a Shrine Maiden like it was everyday business!" Everyone thought in unison, save for Ko, who was being consoled by Kosuzu, due to the immense stress she was going through.
The wolf sniffed the air, before turning its head over to the ground, where it saw a moon rabbit that seemed desperate to escape.
“Dammit… I’m a freaking captain, yet I did not prepare to die here on Earth.” The moon rabbit said. “I need to get back and report to-”
“Grrrrrrrrrr…”
The moon rabbit looked behind her, and saw the giant wolf staring down at her with its gaze and teeth.
“Fuck.” Was all she said before the wolf opened its mouth and began to eat her alive. She let out a terrifying scream as she was thrown into the air and straight down toward the belly of the beast as the wolf snapped its mouth shut.
The wolf looked up at the blood moon, and it howled, a loud howl that could be heard from miles.
The rest of the corrupted rabbits and youkai quickly fled out en masse, frightened by the creature, until it was just the wolf, facing the group of survivors, with a terrifying expression that depicted strong bloodlust.
“Oh, crap.” Sumireko said. “Of all the things, it had to be a giant wolf. What do we do?”
“Only thing we can do obviously… We beat the hell out of it!” Meiling said, rushing right at the wolf with PB still equipped. She ran at the wolf’s head, delivering a heavy kick from below, sending the wolf up into the sky, landing on the ground.
Meiling took a fighting stance, facing the beast as it slowly got up. The wolf growled at Meiling, charging at her again as she kicked it across the face once again to the left. Her punches were much more powerful than they already were; dealing massive blows to the beast again and again.
However, despite the warnings from before, she didn’t realize how much of her energy had already been drained as a result of wearing the armor. The visor on her head started beeping red.
“Miss Meiling! You have been exceeding the amount of energy used while wearing the armor! I suggest we retreat now while you still have enough to flee!” PB warned.
“What! I still feel energized! What are you…”
And then Meiling felt it. Her movement got sluggish, her mind hazy. She felt immense fatigue and the urge to rest. She checked her head while the constant beeping kept reminding her of the consequences of wearing the armor.
“Crap… You weren’t ki-”
The midst of the moment, the giant wolf slashed at Meiling with its claws, then slammed her with its tail, sending her way back rolling on the ground with massive injuries across her body. Had it not been for PB, it probably would’ve been fatal.
“Meiling!!!” Cirno ran over to Meiling as quickly as she could. “A-are you okay!? Talk to me!”
“I-I’m fine…” Meiling said. “It…it’s not the worst thing I survived. Don’t worry, I’ll heal as soon as I can.”
PB was removed from Meiling due to her injuries, stepping away from her right as some of the others went over to see if she’s okay.
"Meiling! I'll heal you shortly, please hold me for a moment." Mary said, handing over her blade, as Meiling took it, feeling the energy flowing through her, as the wounds slowly closed with some steam coming from them.
*ROAR*
The wolf had begun to move towards the group quickly. Everyone got in a fighting stance, and Cirno got in front of them, leading the offensive. However, she felt someone pushing her away, that being Mary, who
"Get off my way! I'll keep that thing away from the old man and the others!" Mary said, as she rushed over to the giant wolf with her blade, and climbed up to the beast's back as fast as she could.
The wolf didn't take notice of her attack until Mary started to carve its skin open with her blade. The beast roared in anger and pain and began to move around, frantically trying to get the intruder off itself, though Mary was extremely resilient, and managed to do a lot of damage.
"Your skin is too- ugh! Can you stop moving for once? I'm not done with- wow!" She said, as she struggled to have a grip in the wolf's soft and silky fur. "Let's see if you can stand this!" Mary began to stab deeper into the beast's back, managing to spray quite a good amount of blood in the process.
However, this made the already tough to grasp grip even more slippery, causing her to be launched upwards, and kicked away by the beast. In the end, despite her efforts, the wolf managed to get her off its back, but not without causing sizable damage in the process. Mary was sent flying towards the armory room, crashing into it. A moment later, she emerged from the dust cloud the impact had formed, with her clothes messed up, and several weapons stuck in her body. Regardless of it, she pulled all of them out, and returned to the arena.
The rest of the group was separated due to the rampaging wolf. They were all knocked back, some getting injured. The only one who wasn’t knocked out of the way was Ko, leaving her with just the wolf. The wolf growled at Ko, moving closer as its dark eyes looked down at the timid girl, opening its mouth so it could devour.
"MOOOOOOOOOM! HEEEEELP!" Ko screamed to the top of her lungs, trying to call Rumia.
Somewhere further away from the fight. Rumia was lying on the ground; tied up as a lone moon rabbit was attempting to pull her away while she remained knocked out. But upon hearing Ko’s voice, she awoke from her slumber.
“Ko…Ko…” Rumia thought. “Ko!!!!” She realized.
“Everyone is dead… I can’t go back home… And we don’t even have the armor… Great, so much for my first ever mission.” The Moon Rabbit said. “At least I have one hostage. If I play my cards right, I could use her as the opportunity I need to acquire the armor. Then I can finally be praised by-”
A dark glowing sword went through the moon rabbit, cutting them in half. Rumia freed herself from her restraints.
“I need to help Ko! I need to save her!!!” Was all that the Youkai of Darkness could think of. She spread out her wings and charged forward with her blade.
The wolf had its mouth wide open in front of Ko. Her eyes were tearing up upon looking inside the mouth of the beast. All hope felt lost. But then the beast was knocked out of the way thanks to Rumia who came out of nowhere and rammed right at the beast with her blade.
“M…Mama!!!” Ko said with newfound hope.
Rumia pushed the wolf further and further away, far enough so that the wolf was nowhere near Ko. She pulled her sword out, and then threw out a barrage of bullets at the beast. The wolf howled in pain, but then quickly turned around to try and attack Rumia with its teeth and claws. It swiped, bit, thrusted forward, but Rumia grazed them all and countered back with more swings of her blade and even more bullets.
"Yes, yes!!! Split it wide open!" Mary shouted, encouraging Rumia as she kept a defensive stance just in case.
Rumia swung her sword in an uppercut at the wolf’s mouth, sending more blood out of the beast as it continued to fight back. Yet it could not do anything against Rumia, who was faster and stronger than it. She held her hands open, releasing two beams from side to side and closed in on the wolf, forming one single beam which burned the wolf’s fur and skin, causing it to howl in even more pain. She screamed in rage as the beam got bigger, causing more pain for the animal.
“THIS IS FOR KO!!!” Rumia shouted.
The wolf was blasted back, knocking down around half an acre of bamboo as a result of the fight. It tried to get up, but it had been weakened; whimpering in pain while Rumia remained floating there, her eyes glowing red.
“Yes! You did it!!!” Mary cheered. Everyone else came over to celebrate. Wakasagihime was carried by Suika over to where the wolf was lying.
“Wait a second. Something’s off.” The mermaid thought, taking a closer look at the wolf.
The wolf looked around, eyeing the group once again. Its eyes, which were dark pupils, softened into a shade of red. And it spoke with raspy words of genuinity.
“Hurts… Save…Please…”
Wakasagihime gasped, recognizing the voice and who it belonged to. “N-No way…”
Rumia had other plans. She approached the beast, still filled with rage and animosity. She knew what needed to be done, regardless of objections.
“W-Wait!!! Rumia!!!” Wakasagihime yelled at her. “Don’t kill her please! That’s my friend!”
“Wait, your friend?” Suika asked.
“Please! I know her! She’s one of my closest friends! You can’t kill her! Stop her from killing her please!!!”
Taking her words at heart, Cirno and Sumireko rushed right at Rumia once again in order to stop her. Cirno and Rumia’s blades clashed before Rumia could slice off the wolf’s head.
“What…are you doing Cirno?” Rumia spoke with bitter hatred. “Get out of the way.”
“They’re already down! They’re no longer a threat! There’s no need to go any further!” Cirno shouted.
“I said, GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!” Rumia shouted, banging her head on Cirno’s nose, causing it to bleed. She was then knocked away to the ground.
“Cirno!” Sumireko said. “Rumia! Stop this! We won, Ko’s safe! Please, just put down your weapon.”
“Move Sumireko… Or I’ll make you.” Rumia warned.
Sumireko could tell that Rumia was still under the effect of the blood moon. Right on cue, she noticed something in her cloak glowing, and pulled it out.
The White Rose shone under the blood moon’s light. Realizing what this meant, Sumireko held the rose as high as she could, right as Rumia was raising her sword against Sumireko.
“I said move!!!” Rumia yelled at her.
“Mama!!! Wait!!!” Ko yelled at Rumia, getting her attention for just a moment.
Finally, the rose shone with a bright light, enveloping everything in its energy once again, as it had during the last blood moon. Sumireko, Rumia, Cirno, the group, even the wolf… Everything was shrouded in its energy.
And the rest of the night went on in peace.

Violet slowly opens her pale green eyes as she slept next to Maya in the fishing shack to keep warm, as well as snuggling and cuddling her girlfriend. Feeling the love she has for her. Violet looks at Maya as the sun was slowly turning the navy blue sky a dull orange and pink. The air was frigid during the night, and Violet couldn't believe Maya slept on her bare skin being exposed to the cold elements. This is the first time they slept close and in an intimate way. Violet never slept or came this close to sleeping and being near someone half-naked.
In fact, if it wasn't for Maya's gift of seeing visions, she would have gotten her first sexual experience and given away her heart and soul to the person she least expect to find true love in. Violet thought that Minerva was the only person she ever found love in, and someone to love her as she always dreamed of finding. But now as Violet eyes Maya sleeping soundly beside her, she is believing that Maya is the one who she is meant to love and share a lifetime of happiness in this hell on earth.
Violet reaches out and tenderly strokes her beautiful rugged native warrior, and runs her fingertips on Maya's side and slowly trails up the back side of her back. Violet pauses as she sees strange markings on Maya's back shoulder she never noticed last night. She pulls the old sheet to gaze at Maya's back and sees she has strange tattoos of something.
One tattoo was on the top of her right shoulder blade as it was a circle of what looked to be teepees, and in the center of the circle was a buffalo. When they officially met, Maya told Violet that she originally came from the Lakota Tribe out west. Violet is curious if the buffalo tattoo is a symbol of her tribe. She notices Maya's tribal jacket has a buffalo skull on the back and wonders if there is a connection there. Or maybe buffalos are a national symbol in indigenous circles and means something important. Violet shakes her head and then looks at the other tattoo on Maya's shoulder just below the circle of teepees and the buffalo.
This one was strange. It sort of looked like a Dreamcatcher but not. Had colors of red, white, yellow and black, and above the circle was a hawk. Maya did mention her spirit animal is a hawk, as it matches the necklace she always wears around her neck. Violet moves her hand and her fingers trace over the hawks wings on Maya's back. Violet looks down and sees four hawk feathers attach to the circle. Inside the feather are the shapes of different animals. Violet sees silhouettes of a deer, a badger, a porcupine, and a lynx. Maya's family's spirit animals. And Maya's spirit animal acts as a guardian of the circle. It is like glancing at Maya's family tree.
She never knew how family runs deep in Maya's culture. She looks at her girlfriend as she was well-loved by her family. It made Violet feel a bit envious of her girlfriend's life before the apocalypse, as she longed to have a loving family who loved her. In another lifetime, Violet only wished she came to know Maya sooner, and her tribe and family would have embraced and loved her the same as Maya did and Violet could have known what a real loving family was like. But those were only thoughts of what could have been. And probably never would have happened as Violet will be here at Ericson being forgotten by her family, and Maya be living her life out in Jackson, Wyoming wherever that was at.
Violet soon felt Maya starting slowly waking up. Violet closes her eyes so when Maya turns to look at her it will be like Violet is still sleeping when she is not. Although Maya probably can sniff out that Violet is not really sleeping.
Maya slowly opens up her brown eyes and glances around the shack. She gets a sense that Violet took her close to Ericson so that is why she got that vision of Violet's past last night. Maya turns her head to gaze down at Violet's sweet sleeping face, as she stays close by her all night. Maya eases her body down and faces Violet as she wants to hold onto this moment a bit longer before making the trip back to her camp.
Maya knows Violet is already awake, as she felt her soft touch on her back. Maya soon leans forward and plants a sweet kiss on Violet's lips and feeling the love and joy Violet's kisses bring to Maya's heart. Maya pulls back but is still near Violet's sweet face as she whispers, "I know you are awake my beautiful sweet Violet."
Violet opens her green eyes and smiles at Maya, "How do you know?"
Maya looks to Violet in a teasing flirting way to her, "I have my ways." Maya giggles as she sees Violet's face go in a bit of a sour look to her. Maya then explains the real reason to Violet, "Actually it was you touching my back and feeling my skin. You are not subtle with your touches." Maya teases her, and felt Violet giving her a playful shove. Maya loves it she can make Violet be playful. Maya soon grew into a serious face, "Sorry about last night and scaring you. I sometimes can't con—"
"You don't have to apologize. This is something new for me to experience and was skeptical at first when you told me of your gift, when we first started to get to know one another, and never knew how powerful it is to you." Violet softly spoke to her lover as she sits up and gently wraps her arms around Maya's stomach, and left kisses on her bare shoulders giving her all the love and support Violet could give.
Maya felt that lover's touch and smiles a warm smile at her. Maya reaches up and clasp her fingers around Violet's forearms and held her. "You do know if my gift didn't disrupt or killed the mood, you would have been the first I have ever been intimate with you," Maya admitted to Violet.
Violet looks into Maya's eyes, and blush is seen on Maya's face. Violet kisses her shoulder and replies back admitting the same feelings, "You would've been mine as well, and I was kind of going that direction when you said all those romantic words to me. I never knew how deep love is, or felt it, until I looked into your eyes last night and my heart just...knew." Violet looks into Maya's brown eyes. And without hesitation now Violet spoke the words, "I love you, Maya."
Maya moves in and kisses Violet and held her neck as Maya's thumbs graze over Violet's jawline, as she felt Violet's jaw move to Maya's strides of kissing her. Maya pulls back and held Violet's sweet face as she places her forehead to Violet's, "I love you back." Maya catches Violet's eyes and notices something special in Violet's green eyes. When Violet is extremely happy, Maya sees a golden ring in her green irises around her pupils that shines the brightest when she is happy. Turning her spring green meadow eyes, into a harvest color. "You know, when you are truly happy, you have a soft golden hue in your eyes."
Violet looks up into Mayas and softly and tenderly spoke, "You make me very happy. Happiness I haven't felt, since...since I don't know how long ago."
Maya smiles to that kisses Violet's forehead and smelling her beautiful golden hair. Violet nuzzles her nose in Maya's neck letting her know Maya captured Violet's heart, and she truly loves her. Violet stayed like that for a moment and then slightly pulls out of Maya's embrace. "I never knew you would be the type of person to have tattoos."
Maya looks away and does her cute scratching of the back of her head when she is nervous about something or she has to explain. "Oh...um..well, I keep them covered up with my clothes, which is why you never saw them."
Violet moves a little to look at Maya's tattoos, "I kind of dig them. Makes you look even more badass and attractive." Violet admitted to Maya she is a bit turned on. Violet reaches out and strokes Maya's bareback where her tattoos are. Violet softly asks her new girlfriend what they mean, "What do they mean exactly?"
Maya peeks over her shoulder at Violet who was interested in the tattoos that Maya had gotten put on when she was 12. "Well the first one which I am assuming you are tracing on my back right now, is my tribe's national symbol." Maya looks at Violet as Violet's finger was tracing the buffalo's body. Maya then casts her brown eyes to look a little bit at Violet but not into her eyes, "Lakota's are known to be bison and buffalo hunters. It was my ancestors' way of life and main food source. So for us to stand out from other native tribes, is the buffalo symbol. And the connection with the buffalo has to my people's culture. That is why it is in the center around the circle of teepees." Maya looks at Violet, who has her eyes fixed on that tattoo. Then her eyes met Maya's and a loving look fell over Violet's face.
Violet then tenderly spoke, "And the second one?"
Maya bit her lower lip a little, "My calling in life or what I was called to be in my tribe. In indigenous circles, the circle of the four colors is known to be the medicine wheel. My grandmother was my tribe's healer, being a Sherman. Apparently, when you are gifted by the spirits of having visions, it is clear who will be the next Sherman in my tribe. They choose me, so I was given the medicine wheel."
Maya pauses as she explains what the four colors are and represent, "The medicine wheel has many different forms of life and what it means. It correlates with the stages of life, changing of seasons, directional, aspects of life, elements of nature and ceremonial plants used for healing." Maya takes a breath before going in-depth with the explanation. "Yellow represents the birth of someone's life. It is the start of something new, like new life that awakes during springtime. The directional associated with this is east. And has the aspect of bringing spirituality to life and being connected to the spirits and the element of earth. Red represents the youth. It is the element of fire, with burning passion and desire to do something, like physical strength in someone, or physical nature in one's self. It usually associates with the season of summer, and it is the direction of south."
"Black represents the season of fall, and it usually goes with someone who enters adulthood. Black is the element of water, which has the ability to change form at any given moment, like someone's emotions, which ties into black being the emotion in our lives. And it is the direction of the west. White represents the last stage of human life which is elder. It is the season of winter, where everything is white with the purity of living a full life. It is someone's mental state and brings the element of air that we breathe. The direction associated with white is north." Maya pauses as she explains to Violet was the four colors are, "And the center is the balance of all four coming together as one harmony. What we all try to strive for in life. Having balance."
Violet was speechless by Maya's tattoos. And she has a new appreciation for this rugged native girl. Violet clears her throat, "Wow, you really are a deep person. And I am falling more in love with you, the more you share with me your culture." Violet smiles at her. She glances down at Maya's medicine wheel tattoo and traces the circle, "I am guessing the feathers on the wheel is your family." Violet moves her green eyes to look into Maya's gaze.
Maya nodded confirming what Violet spoke, "It was optional to have that feature. At the time before I got rebellious, I wanted to have a piece of my family with me always, never to forget who I am or my family. I am now forever grateful for that decision, as I...I lost my kid brother several years ago to a sickness waiting to get inside of a settlement to start a new life when the world went to hell. And a few months after my brother Koda's death..." Maya closes her eyes momentarily and reopens them up as she tells Violet about her parents, "I lost my parents in a blood bath by rogue Delta members. Aniya is the only family I have left."
Violet looked at her lover with empathic eyes and then brought Maya with a surprised expression on her face. Violet leaned over and left tender, caring kisses on Maya's tattoos and held her close. She never knew how tragic Maya's pain was, and in some ways, Violet felt connected to Maya at this moment because they both had deep pain in their hearts and had similar experiences of losing someone they both loved. Violet places her forehead against Maya's shoulder and nuzzles her nose to Maya's body, and holds her.
Maya felt Violet's loving touch and moved to lace her hand to Violet's and brought Violet's hand up to lightly kiss it. Violet pulls back and rests her chin on Maya's right shoulder. Violet glances up into Maya's eyes as she speaks, "One hell of a thing to have in common with the girl I love. I guess destiny has a funny way of bringing two people together." Violet looks down at her hand as she interlocks her fingers to Maya's copper brown ones, "No matter how much horrible shit we both been through and lived through, I am grateful to have you in my life Maya. You make me feel complete and bring meaning in purpose to my life again. You filled the dark hole in my heart and healed me." Violet moves and plants a tender kiss on Maya's lips for a moment and pulls back to gaze upon her beautiful eyes. Violet sighs and can't believe she is going to say this, "I think you are my soul mate."
Maya smiles warmly at Violet and believes the same thing. And maybe her vision of seeing Violet's past had a purpose of showing Maya that Violet is her soul mate as well. Maya glances at the back wall of the shack or small hut of some kind and realized she needed to get back before Bonnie gets suspicious. Shit. Maya with her free hand strokes Violet's face, "I hate to break up this moment with us, and God, I don't want to leave your pretty face, but....I got to get back to my camp before my leader gets suspicious." Maya sights as Violet moves her lace hand to Maya's and places it on Maya's forearm the hand touching her face. "I wish I wasn't in her group and didn't have to be so secretive when seeing you. I wish I was part of your group Violet."
Violet nods and leans to put her forehead to Maya's. "I wish you were part of my group as well. I too wish we don't have to sneak around just to be together."
Maya presses her forehead harder against Violet's, and held it there for a bit longer, as Violet didn't want Maya to leave her just as much. Violet softly whispers, "What are we going to do?"
Maya wishes she knew the answer to that question, but she doesn't. "I wish the hell I knew." Maya rubs Violet's cheek with her thumb and kisses her forehead tenderly. Maya breathes a heavy sigh as she gets up from the old mattress and goes over to put on her clothes that Violet took off of her last night in a moment of passion. As Maya reapplies her clothes, she sees Violet walking up and eyeing her. Maya puts on her father's tribal jacket and smiles bittersweetly at her lover.
Violet, still not wanting to see Maya go, comes to her and places her hand in hers, "At least let me walk you as far to the border of my school goes." Maya looks at Violet in a bit of surprise. Violet glances down a little, then back up at her, "Yeah, I brought you close to Ericson last night. This, here, is where we fish, while another part is where we hunt rabbits and catch game with our traps. I feel you belong here and I trust you, despite what Clementine thinks of you. You prove your loyalty to me last night, and you won't betray or hurt me, or put anyone else I care for in danger." Violet then closes the fishing shack door and laces her fingers to Maya's.
Maya felt honored and softly said, "Thank you." The air was cold as winter was on its way. However, the warmness of Violet's touch made the walk barrable. They walked until they reached the end of the road, where they had to part ways. Maya felt the necklace she made Violet in her jacket that she planned to give to her yesterday but got caught up in her romance with her. Maya takes out the carved necklace and pauses in her step with Violet, "I meant to give this to you yesterday." Maya places the necklace around Violet's neck. "Your very own animal spirit totem. Normally there will be a big ceremony thing that is significant to this moment in my culture, but...due to unfortunate life events of the world turning upside down, I will give you the short version."
Violet looks at the animal that was hand carved to fine detail, and her heart stops as she looks into Maya's eyes. "Maya-"
Maya came forward and put a finger to Violet's lips to keep her from talking, "I made you a panther because the panther speaks to who you are, Vi. Protection, hidden emotions, introspection, caution, careful decision-making, and a representation of dark and light. You, my love, are a panther in this world. Keep it close to you when you find yourself missing me or need strength and guidance. I love you." Maya plants a kiss on Violet's cheek and glances into Violet's green eyes.
Violet looks into her lover's brown eyes and smiles at Maya's gift. Violet moves forward to kiss Maya one last time before they part to return to their groups. Violet kisses Maya as she has never kissed anyone before and tugs on Maya's tribal jacket to make the kiss more meaningful, and as a statement, her heart is bonded to Maya's. After a moment of soft making out, Violet pulled back her lips as she repeated the exact words back, "I love you too, Maya. Stay safe, and come back to me." Violet looks down at her new necklace and then at Maya, "I will keep this and you forever in my heart." Violet clutches the necklace and smiles at Maya.
Maya returns Violet's smile and lightly strokes her face with her thumb. With a heavy heart, Maya leaves the beautiful sight of Violet's pretty face and her damn beautiful green eyes that get Maya's heart pounding every time she looks into those sexy light green pools.
Violet watches Maya leave to go back to her camp and stood there until she no longer sees Maya's figure. Violet sighs as she turns to head back to Ericson with emptiness in her heart of Maya not coming back to her room with her. She reaches for the necklace and held it close to her heart and hearing those words Maya spoke to her, Keep it close to you when you find yourself missing me or need strength and guidance. I love you. Violet said out loud as she walks a slow pace back, "I love you too my sweet rugged warrior. You are the love of my life."
...........................
Clementine slept soundly in Louis's arms holding her throughout the night, and it was a peaceful night between the two of them. Neither one of them woken up to terrible nightmares the other has to try and comfort the other person to help them through the terror they are feeling. Clementine's nightmares of the ranch still get to her but it is not as often as before, now that she is safe in her new home. She still struggles with her new trauma of AJ cutting off her leg, and she needs Louis's help to get her through tough nights, but as far as the nightmares, she rarely gets them. Louis on the other hand still suffers from his trauma of what happened on the boat when rescuing their friends. His first kill of a living person still haunts him even long after the event happened. Clementine wishes she could take his pain away so he doesn't suffer. She wishes he didn't have to be the one to kill for her in order to protect her from harm, but at the same time, she is grateful.
The sun rays shine through Clementine and Louis's bedroom window as a sign that morning has broken. Louis's eyes slowly open to find Clementine on her side facing him and his jacket draped over her waist as she softly breathes in and out of her dream world. Louis smiles big watching her sleep. He couldn't help but put a lock of her hair behind her ears as she twitches a bit from his touch. He knows she is in a deep sleep when she doesn't stir from his touch.
Louis then runs his fingers down her shoulder as he lightly rubs it. Her brand of whatever symbol it is clearly is visible with the sunlight dappling her skin. Louis wonders what her scar means and why. It pains him to see her endure that much. Clementine slowly begins to stir awake and Louis quickly closes his eyes pretending he was not awake.
Clementine slowly opens up her amber eyes as the bright sun was peering through the windows. Clementine then gazes upon Louis and what they did last night and notice some marks were left on his neck. Her smile widens a bit as she gave love bites to him during their most intense moment. Clementine smiles at the memory of him and her being truly intimate with each other and making love. She wants more of that feeling but knows AJ will be coming in soon, and she doesn't want him to see her like this or know what she and Louis did.
Louis then opens his eyes slightly as Clementine doesn't say a word but her eyes spoke for her. Louis caught on to her gaze and moves closer to her lips as she did the same. His hand found hers, as she laces her fingers to his. They were eyeing each other and just when Louis made the move to lock his lips to hers the door handle jiggles a bit. Clementine flung out of her love gaze with Louis and move apart from him so fast he didn't have time to process it. She had just enough time to put on her white undershirt and Louis's jacket and made it onto her bed and under the covers before the door opened up.
Louis had never seen Clementine move that quickly and before he knew it AJ comes through the door. Thank God he is still wrapped up in the sheets, but he saw the look in Clementine's eyes that she didn't want her somewhat surrogate son to see her like that or get any ideas.
"Good morning Cle−" AJ said as he looks at the scene before him. "What did you and Louis do last night?"
"Uh.." Clementine tries to come up with a story without giving away her first sexual experience. She glances at Louis for help.
Louis caught on and then made up a scenario that will not embarrass her. "We had a pillow fort and played Truth and Dare. Clem dared me to sleep on the floor the whole night through and made a bet with me that I wouldn't last 2 hours. I guess I made it all throughout the night so she owns me my night watch." Louis looks at Clementine and winks at her. She is grateful for the made-up kind of lie. "And before you ask what happened to the fort, clumsy me knocked it over doing another one of Clementine's dares. Had to do a headstand. Obviously, it didn't end too well, which cause the demolition of our fort."
AJ looks at Clementine, "You dared Louis to sleep on the floor. That is mean."
Clementine giggles at that and plays along with Louis's little white lie tale, "Yes, well I had to be creative somehow with my dares."
AJ then notices Clementine wearing Louis's jacket, "Is part of the dare you wearing Louis's jacket?"
Clementine smiles and replies, "Yes. I also dared him to not sleep with his jacket on as well."
AJ looks at Louis who is not wearing his green shirt and scans the room until he spots it next to Clementine's denim jean jacket and her white zip-up hoodie. "Louis, why is your shirt off and with Clementine's jacket?"
Panic sets in on both of the teenagers blushing faces. Clementine cannot answer that but Louis is a smooth talker to get out of it, "I got a bit warm last night little man, so I took off my shirt. Clem already took her jacket off early on before we played truth or dare." Thank God he didn't spot both of their pants that is covered up by the sheets.
Before AJ asks any more questions, Clementine then intervenes and speaks to her adoptive son, "AJ can you give Louis and I a moment to get up? "
"But we are supposed to be on watch lookout this morning. Your scheduling remember?" AJ looks at her.
"Right forgot about that." Clementine half curses herself for making plans ahead of time. She then looks into AJ's soft brown eyes; "Can you give me five minutes kiddo, please," Clementine said bargaining with him. "Just five. I promise."
"Okay," AJ said as he turns and walks out closing the door behind him.
Once AJ left the room Clementine heaves a sigh of relief. "Well, that was close."
"Yeah, super close. Hope we didn't scar him too badly," Louis looks at her.
"I don't think we did. He didn't really suspect anything." Clementine answers him. She pauses to look at her boyfriend and smiles, "You are a smooth talker to think quickly on your feet." Clementine said complimenting Louis on his storytelling.
"Had years of practicing, darling with that." Louis smirks, which made Clementine, giggle a little.
Clementine then looks down at the floor as she spoke out loud. "Although I hate lying to him even though it was a little untrue with the details of your story," Clementine said.
"Yeah, but it is only a little lie. AJ doesn't need to know of sex just quite yet, and especially what we.... uh did last night." Louis reassures her a little. She can tell his cheeks are blushing.
"True. But he will learn about it eventually from Willy." Clementine pointed out.
"Well, we will cross that bridge when we get to it." Louis glances up into her golden eyes.
Clementine smiles at Louis then breaks the conversation a bit, "Well, I told AJ five minutes and he will hold me to that, so can you find the rest of my clothes since you are closer." Clementine said as she looks away blushing.
Louis nods to that and reaches for Clementine's sexy jean jacket and her stained white hoodie. He hands her those as he goes fishing under the sea of sheets for her pants and underwear. He found it next to his and the scattered deck of cards. Louis comes back up from underneath the sheets and hands them off to her. Clementine took them face blushing a bit. Louis loves it when she is like this, unsure of herself. He wanted to grab that arm and pull her back down to where he is and kiss her passionately again like last night. Clementine shyly re-dresses herself to be modest again. Louis does the same as he puts on his pants.
When Clementine reaches for her boot to put it on, Louis looks up at her and smiles a lovely smile, "Just so you know, in case we don't have time to discuss this, you were amazing last night."
Clementine pauses in her lacing up her boot looks at him, and blushes a bit more to Louis's compliment, "Thanks." She glances down at the floor for a second then looks up into Louis's eyes, "You were amazing as well. And....would love to do that again sometime with you in the future. Felt amazing and thrilling. And you with your shirt off is making me, a bit crazy."
Louis then looks at her and was about to get up and have a lip lock with her, but she finishes by lacing up her one and only boot. Clem grabs her prosthetic foot and puts it on like a champ with no issues anymore, and soon gets up and goes to the door. She pauses at the handle and turns to look at him, "You know if AJ hadn't come in the way he did. I would have possibly wanted to go for another round....with you." Louis looks at her and his smile grows. She returns the same smile to him, and then she said out loud this time without hesitation in her voice, "I love you."
Louis then returns the phrase back to her, "I love you back, and I too would have as well, especially you wearing my jacket. Makes my heart melt for you." Clementine and Louis share the loving gaze again. Louis then adds in as the last comment, "You know that your face is glowing right."
Clementine giggles and lightly, in a joking matter, replies, "Shut up." Clementine turns to head out of the room where AJ is waiting in the hallway as she approaches him with a big dorky grin on her face.

Our parents used to leave us 4 kids alone for days at a time. But now they can’t leave the dogs at home because “she will get lonely and she’s just a baby” it is ridiculous. They were okay leaving us 4 kids by ourselves since I was 8 because we know better. What irritates me the most is they can pet the dog for 2 hours straight or play frisbee with them for hours but couldn’t even bother play with us for 5 minutes without getting frustrated or bored.

I'm home schooled, I don't play sports or do any clubs or activities and I feel like I just don't get alone with other kids. Like i just don't know how to even talk to them.
Theirs tones of stuff, like shows, movies, music, and influencers that I just don't know. It's like I'm from another planet. I've never had a conversation with someone my age the wasn't painful and awkward.
On top of that I'm just not attractive or fashionable. It's not like I'm looking to become a super model. I just want to not be ugly AND boring.
When I think about it I realize I'm just doomed because they're scared of the outside world