1. Gangs : the best feature so far in any GTA game. control territories, sell drugs, smuggle weapons, all within your territory and look to expand to others. to add to it, partner up with other gangs as a "truce" to either ensure peaceful operation or to take down other gangs together. In the online feature, partner up with players worldwide and form your own gang.
2. Functional Airports : derived from the train systems in RDR2. Unlike GTA 5 where the only time you fly using an airport is during the "Bury The Hatchet " mission. GTA 6 is rumored to have 3 cities : 1 main, large city and two smaller sub-cities. It'd be great if Rockstar added one large airport to the main city and two smaller airports and allowed players to fly in between them, just like RDR2 does with stations. These functionable airports would also allow for smuggling missions. A player could either fly as a passenger or complete flight school missions to become a pilot and fly jets. These airports also have hangars, which can be purchased and allows players to store Jets, and carry out smuggling operations or rent their jet out for charters.
3. Karma System : This should be a must feature and we've seen it work pretty well in RDR2. In GTA 6, a player who commits too many crimes gets randomly followed by the police, or FBI, is denied access to certain weapons, and has police spawn faster the next time he commits a crime. Also, certain properties are outrightly made unavailable for purchase to the player, or are made more expensive. The only way a player can "increase" their karma is by either doing community service, which will serve as a side mission similar to "Strangers and Freaks" in GTA 5, serve prison time, or risk trying to bribe their way out.
4. Dating and Relationships : prominent in San Andreas and GTA 4. Player must be able to ask women out for dates, and their success of scoring one depends on the player health, fitness, crime record and money. These dates would again be similar to all three protagonists hanging out post epilogue (Option C) and would involve playing tennis, going for a drink, etc etc.
5. Player Health and Stamina : It was annoying how in GTA 5 players could not eat or exercise and have stamina and health remain pretty much the same. In GTA 6, a player must sleep from time to time, eat regularly, and has a stat bar in the menu show if the player is underweight, healthy or overweight, depending on food intake and sleep and exercise. A player must have an option to join a gym and workout, which would subsequently affect the players appearance (becomes shredded, buffed, or slim depending on the type of exercise). These exercises and the body type the player choses must in some way affect some missions which involve scuba diving, running, parkour, hand to hand combat, etc. Mind you, RDR2 portrays these features very well (Health Stamina, sleep and weight) so Rockstar should not have an issue replicating it.
6. Haircuts : Yea GTA 5 took a massive L with regards to this feature. Heavily inspired from RDR2, a players must be able to grow hair organically and get haircuts accordingly. The lazy GTA 5 logic where a bald haircut could transform into an afro shouldn't exist in GTA 6. same applies to beards.
7. Cars running out of fuel : makes the game actually realistic. Must include at least one mission in which you're in the midst of a police chase and you run out of fuel. Also, assuming we have robbery missions in GTA 6, the more cut your getaway driver takes, the more fuel is made available to you for your escape.
8. Stock Market : The stock market system in GTA 5 was good enough but one thing that was bothersome was that you couldn't affect the stock market in ways, except for the missions Lester had for you. For example if you blew up the planes of an airline, the stock market would remain unaffected. I feel GTA 6 should introduce more ways to affect the stock market. Rob stores to see a slight fall in the selling price of the franchises value. Crash your car into a cab to see their value drop as well. You get the idea.
9. Festivals : not sure if any Rockstar game has had this feature. But It'd be nice if GTA 6 had a calendar system that let's you tracks days and months and along the way, the people of Vice City celebrate major festivals like Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. Bonus Easter egg where you see Santa Claus flying across the sky at 3 am on Christmas eve.
10. Multiple Choice Dialogue System : it's pretty boring where in GTA cutscenes all we've done so far is sit and watch. It'd add to the immersive experience of the game if you were to be provided with multiple dialogue choices, and they affected the story or the mission in a very minor way.

That was all I've got for now. What are your thoughts?

Every investigation of infidelity ("the search for truth") begins with suspicion. On Reddit's subs, so-called "red flags" are described in many posts and comments. For many people, suspicion manifests itself originally in the form of "gut feeling", which in principle is a reaction to certain features of the behavior and appearance of the suspect, i.e., a reaction to the same "flags", but not realized by the victim as signs of cheating.
Below I will try to summarize the experience of betrayed partners (BPs) based on the materials of Reddit subs devoted to infidelity and my own experience.
Unlike all other authors, I have identified "yellow flags" in a special group, that is, signs that indicate the potential danger of cheating or the pre-affair stage.

1. Yellow flags

1.1 The partner's tendency to excessively intensive communications on the Internet and on the phone with different people, including strangers.
1.2 The absence of "closure" of relations with the exes, the presence of contacts with them, their inclusion in the lists of friends in social networks.
1.3 The presence of a large number of "friends" (especially "close friends") of the opposite gender. Or vice versa, the presence of some specific "close friend" of the opposite gender, often a "childhood friend", "family friend".
1.4 Partner's infidelities in past relationships.
1.5 The partner has a child (or children) from a previous marriage (marriages) when the biological father / mother (fathers/mothers) is (are) alive and especially when he/she (they) takes part in the life of the child (children).
1.6 The partner's propensity to partying, to visiting pubs and restaurants with colleagues after work. The partner's desire to lead an independent entertainment life without the participation of someone with whom they are bound in an exclusive relationship.

1. Red flags

2.1 Behavior
2.1.1 You find yourself talking and getting one- or two-word answers.
2.1.2 They barely respond to your text or jokes.
2.1.3. Sex can increase or decrease.
2.1.4. They stop calling you pet names, sweet talk disappears.
2.1.5 They cannot seem to touch you; they can't even hold your hand or even sit beside you.
2.1.6 You feel the distance between you and suspect.
2.1.7 When you ask them about it, they say you're paranoid, jealous. This person is just a friend, like a sistebrother. They get angry when you don't believe them.
2.1.8 Their friends are sketchy around you.
2.1.9 Constant conversations about a "colleague", "neighbor", "gym colleague", etc., and then a sharp cessation of mentioning them.
2.1.10 Joint lunches with "friend" at work, walks, visits to sports and entertainment events, joint occupation of some hobby.
2.1.11 Constant hanging in companies where there is a suspected "friend".
2.1.12 Sometimes they started drinking more - for example, from one sip of wine once a week to almost every evening.
2.1.13 They lose their cool because of the little things that usually happen in life.
2.1.14 In some cases, they explicitly or implicitly offer BP to open relationship (marriage), to sleep with someone under a fictitious pretext (in fact, they want to ease their guilt and "equalize" their partners in the number and severity of their own sins).
2.1.15 Sometimes they begin to scold the "friend", sometimes accuse them of some misdeeds, talk about their shortcomings, how disgusting they are. This is, of course, for disguise. (In one post, BP said that his wife complained about sexual harassment by her boss and even discussed hiring a lawyer. She even quit her job! Later it turned out that he was her lover).
2.2 Electronic contacts of the suspect
2.2.1 Constant increase in the time of communication with someone of the opposite gender visa electronic communications, most often by phone. (In my opinion, if outside of work contacts last more than 30 minutes a day, in aggregate, then it is necessary to be alert and conduct some more investigation).
2.2.2 They start locking their phone or change their passwords.
2.2.3 Besides phone, don't forget about any other electronic devices, too. If they have a tablet or laptop or desktop, you need info from them as well.
2.2.4 They begin to hide the screens of the phone and devices, immediately destroy messages, photos and videos when you ask to show the phone or other devices.
2.2.5 Be sure that opening any kind of new account on anything - whether it be a new email account, credit card, or a new bank account - without informing you first will also be a red flag that they are cheating. Any app where they can communicate 1-on-1 is a possible avenue for cheating. Also remember this includes work apps. If they have a work phone or computer, you'll need to monitor that as well (if you can).
2.2.6 Do not exclude the possibility that the suspect has a hidden phone, a disposable phone (very often such phones are hidden in the suspect's car).
Always remember that the absence of electronic evidence does not mean the absence of an affair.
2.3 Changing the body language.
It is necessary to observe the dynamics in comparison with the time before the alleged affair
2.3.1 Lack of gestures of affection for BP. Cessation of intimate and friendly touching.
2.3.2 Wayward partner’s (WP’s) expression of joy during telephone conversations and texting with an alleged AP.
2.3.4 A special intimate language of closeness when interacting an alleged AP at parties and events. Especially revealing are the dances - their hugs and intimate conversations.
2.4 Changing the appearance language.
It is necessary to observe the dynamics in comparison with the time before the alleged affair
2.4.1 They are more interested in their looks and hygiene.
2.4.2. Women sometimes begin to do epilation on the skin of their legs, hands and even shave intimate places.
2.4.3 WPs start buying revealing underwear (women - thongs, etc.).
2.4.4 They start buying new expensive outerwear and shoes, the frequency of purchases increases.
2.4.5 Hair care is being intensified. New hairstyles.
2.4.6 New intensive manicure and pedicure for women.
2.4.7 In the morning, a lot of time is spent on putting them in order in the bathroom.
​
Dear redditors, please correct and supplement me. This is important for all of us.
Thank you for reading my post.

Apologies for the length and lateness of this post, past few months have been quite chaotic and haven't had much access to the internet, I dunno when I'll be back on this sub again after this so until then, more posts from me will be a Dream for Spring Summer (probably)
Over the years I've read a great many theories about the character of Varys, his motivations, his scheming throughout the series and his endgame, but none of them have ever truly sat well with me for how much his character feels simplified. He is one of ASOIAF's most complex characters who I still believe we haven't entirely cracked yet, and I for one still believe even after writing this post up and reflecting on it, there's still some of his character that I haven't figured out.
However, I want to propose an alternative character analysis to the character of Varys, one that drifts away from the more common take on his character - Varys is not a eunuch or a friend of Tyrion Lannister, and has spent his entire life lying about his manhood to deter anyone from thinking that he could father any children, so that fAegon, his true son, would always be protected while hiding.
Let us begin by breaking down each of the lies that define his character.
First, the lie that he was castrated as a young slave and had his manhood thrown into a fire by 'a certain man', which resulted in the fire turning magically blue and 'a voice' speaking out to Varys.

"One day at Myr, a certain man came to our folly. After the performance, he made an offer for me that my master found too tempting to refuse. I was in terror. I feared the man meant to use me as I had heard men used small boys, but in truth the only part of me he had need of was my manhood. He gave me a potion that made me powerless to move or speak, yet did nothing to dull my senses. With a long hooked blade, he sliced me root and stem, chanting all the while. I watched him burn my manly parts on a brazier. The flames turned blue, and I heard a voice answer his call, though I did not understand the words they spoke. "The mummers had sailed by the time he was done with me. Once I had served his purpose, the man had no further interest in me, so he put me out. When I asked him what I should do now, he answered that he supposed I should die. To spite him, I resolved to live. I begged, I stole, and I sold what parts of my body still remained to me. Soon I was as good a thief as any in Myr, and when I was older I learned that often the contents of a man's letters are more valuable than the contents of his purse. "Yet I still dream of that night, my lord. Not of the sorcerer, nor his blade, nor even the way my manhood shriveled as it burned. I dream of the voice. The voice from the flames. Was it a god, a demon, some conjurer's trick? I could not tell you, and I know all the tricks. All I can say for a certainty is that he called it, and it answered, and since that day I have hated magic and all those who practice it. If Lord Stannis is one such, I mean to see him dead." - ACOK - TYRION X

Now there is much from this excerpt to raise complaints and questions about Varys' story;

• There are no known instances of individuals being mutilated and having their mutilated parts being sacrificed in the flames for the sake of blood magic or appeasing R'hllor. Individuals have often been sacrificed to the flames, but sacrificed in their whole bodies.
  
• The details of how Varys was mutilated and that he was able to survive is unbelievable, and even more unbelievable that he went on to live as an orphan on the streets after this horrific ordeal with little to no medical treatment. Varys' simple claim that he "resolved to live" is very vague.
  
• Varys can remember this mystic and mysterious voice, but not what it send or what the words sounded like. Melisandre claims to hear the voices of R'hllor in the flames and voices could be heard from Drogo's tent when Mirri Maz Duhr was performing her blood magic, but these voices are only heard by the sorcerers, and not the victims. By all accounts, Varys should not have been able to hear these voices, if part of himself was fed to the flames.
  

But the weakest part of all is that Varys says that he "hates magic and all those who practise it", yet he goes to great lengths to protect and look out for Daenerys, and try to join fAegon's forces with hers, despite knowing that she has three magical dragons by her side.

"How many days until we reach the river?" he asked Illyrio that evening. "At this pace, your queen's dragons will be larger than Aegon's three before I can lay eyes upon them." "Would it were so. A large dragon is more fearsome than a small one." The magister shrugged. "Much as it would please me to welcome Queen Daenerys to Volantis, I must rely on you and Griff for that. I can serve her best in Pentos, smoothing the way for her return. So long as I am with you, though … well, an old fat man must have his comforts, yes? Come, drink a cup of wine." - ADWD - TYRION II

Illyrio is Varys' best friend and closest confidant, who he works with to protect Daenerys for much of her life and is willing to crown her as Queen alongside fAegon even though she has magical fire-breathing dragons that Varys, a victim of magical flames, would despise.
Illyrio, the same man who praised R'hllor, a God that Varys despises;

Her brother was waiting in the cool of the entry hall, seated on the edge of the pool, his hand trailing in the water. He rose when she appeared and looked her over critically. "Stand there," he told her. "Turn around. Yes. Good. You look …" "Regal," Magister Illyrio said, stepping through an archway. He moved with surprising delicacy for such a massive man. Beneath loose garments of flame-colored silk, rolls of fat jiggled as he walked. Gemstones glittered on every finger, and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold. "May the Lord of Light shower you with blessings on this most fortunate day, Princess Daenerys," the magister said as he took her hand. He bowed his head, showing a thin glimpse of crooked yellow teeth through the gold of his beard. "She is a vision, Your Grace, a vision," he told her brother. "Drogo will be enraptured." - AGOT - DAENERYS I

Neither Viserys or Daenerys were followers of R'hllor at this point, or surrounded by any followers, meaning Illyrio didn't need to bring up this form of prayer to R'hllor unless it was genuine or near genuine on his own part.
It makes little sense that Varys would entertain the company of those who worship R'hllor or magical forms of fire, if Varys truly is traumatised by what seemingly happened to him as a slave child by fire.
As well as Illyrio, this is apparent in Aerys II, who would regularly burn people in the throne room with wildfire, in the presence of Varys;

Frustrated, Aerys turned to the Wisdoms of the ancient Guild of Alchemists, who knew the secret of producing the volatile jade green substance known as wildfire, said to be a close cousin to dragonflame. The pyromancers became a regular fixture at his court as the king's fascination with fire grew. By 280 AC, Aerys II had taken to burning traitors, murderers, and plotters, rather than hanging or beheading them. The king seemed to take great pleasure in these fiery executions, which were presided over by Wisdom Rossart, the grand master of the Guild of Alchemists...so much so that he granted Rossart the title of Lord and gave him a seat upon the small council. - TWOIAF - THE TARGARYEN KINGS - AERYS II

Not only would Varys be present to witness these burnings, but Varys even encouraged Aerys to burn other individuals suspected of treachery, and fuelled both Aerys' paranoia and bloodlust;

He floated in heat, in memory. "After dancing griffins lost the Battle of the Bells, Aerys exiled him." Why am I telling this absurd ugly child? "He had finally realized that Robert was no mere outlaw lord to be crushed at whim, but the greatest threat House Targaryen had faced since Daemon Blackfyre. The king reminded Lewyn Martell gracelessly that he held Elia and sent him to take command of the ten thousand Dornishmen coming up the kingsroad. Jon Darry and Barristan Selmy rode to Stoney Sept to rally what they could of griffins' men, and Prince Rhaegar returned from the south and persuaded his father to swallow his pride and summon my father. But no raven returned from Casterly Rock, and that made the king even more afraid. He saw traitors everywhere, and Varys was always there to point out any he might have missed. So His Grace commanded his alchemists to place caches of wildfire all over King's Landing. Beneath Baelor's Sept and the hovels of Flea Bottom, under stables and storehouses, at all seven gates, even in the cellars of the Red Keep itself. - ASOS - JAIME V

Varys developed a reputation for egging on Aerys' paranoia and encouraging him to execute apparent traitors by fire, so much so that people like Barristan lay chief blame for Aerys' downfall into madness on Varys for exploiting it;

"It is not a question of wanting. The throne is mine, as Robert's heir. That is law. After me, it must pass to my daughter, unless Selyse should finally give me a son." He ran three fingers lightly down the table, over the layers of smooth hard varnish, dark with age. "I am king. Wants do not enter into it. I have a duty to my daughter. To the realm. Even to Robert. He loved me but little, I know, yet he was my brother. The Lannister woman gave him horns and made a motley fool of him. She may have murdered him as well, as she murdered Jon Arryn and Ned Stark. For such crimes there must be justice. Starting with Cersei and her abominations. But only starting. I mean to scour that court clean. As Robert should have done, after the Trident. Ser Barristan once told me that the rot in King Aerys's reign began with Varys. The eunuch should never have been pardoned. No more than the Kingslayer. At the least, Robert should have stripped the white cloak from Jaime and sent him to the Wall, as Lord Stark urged. He listened to Jon Arryn instead. I was still at Storm's End, under siege and unconsulted." He turned abruptly, to give Davos a hard shrewd look. "The truth, now. Why did you wish to murder Lady Melisandre?" - ASOS - DAVOS IV

It makes very little sense that Varys, a eunuch who seemingly hates worshippers of R'hllor and pyromancers for burning people and sacrificing his manhood to the flames as a child, would be best friends with a man who praises R'hllor or encourage his previous King to burn several people, many of whom were likely innocent of the claims of treachery put against them.
But it makes a lot more sense that Varys actually never had a problem with R'hllor or wildfire, and instead chose to encourage Aerys' paranoia so that he would always both seem useful to Aerys and be on good relations with him, to solidify his position of power on the Small Council, given that he was just a young foreign man in Westeros and wholly dependent on Aerys' support to maintain his standing in King's Landing.
The second lie of Varys' character that I wish to tackle is his apparent concern for the wellbeing of children;

"No," Ned pleaded, his voice cracking. "Varys, gods have mercy, do as you like with me, but leave my daughter out of your schemes. Sansa's no more than a child." "Rhaenys was a child too. Prince Rhaegar's daughter. A precious little thing, younger than your girls. She had a small black kitten she called Balerion, did you know? I always wondered what happened to him. Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I imagine the Lannisters taught her the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door." Varys gave a long weary sigh, the sigh of a man who carried all the sadness of the world in a sack upon his shoulders. "The High Septon once told me that as we sin, so do we suffer. If that's true, Lord Eddard, tell me … why is it always the innocents who suffer most, when you high lords play your game of thrones? Ponder it, if you would, while you wait upon the queen. And spare a thought for this as well: The next visitor who calls on you could bring you bread and cheese and the milk of the poppy for your pain … or he could bring you Sansa's head. - AGOT - EDDARD XV

Varys shows apparent disgust at the murders of Rhaegar's children, Rhaenys and Aegon, at the end of Robert's Rebellion, and the way in which they were brutally murdered.
However, we later learn in the series that Aegon seemingly survived and was swapped with a tanner's child, bought by Varys and swapped with Aegon, so that this bought child could be sacrificed to the Lannisters, who Varys presumed would want to kill Rhaegar's children;

"A true friend, our Lord Connington. He must be, to remain so fiercely loyal to the grandson of the king who took his lands and titles and sent him into exile. A pity about that. Elsewise Prince Rhaegar's friend might have been on hand when my father sacked King's Landing, to save Prince Rhaegar's precious little son from getting his royal brains dashed out against a wall." The lad flushed. "That was not me. I told you. That was some tanner's son from Pisswater Bend whose mother died birthing him. His father sold him to Lord Varys for a jug of Arbor gold. He had other sons but had never tasted Arbor gold. Varys gave the Pisswater boy to my lady mother and carried me away." "Aye." Tyrion moved his elephants. "And when the pisswater prince was safely dead, the eunuch smuggled you across the narrow sea to his fat friend the cheesemonger, who hid you on a poleboat and found an exile lord willing to call himself your father. It does make for a splendid story, and the singers will make much of your escape once you take the Iron Throne … assuming that our fair Daenerys takes you for her consort." - ADWD - TYRION VI

This entire "splendid story" as Tyrion calls it, is full of inconsistencies and unbelievable acts.
The first red flag of this story is the idea that Varys, a former slave child who abhors slavery, would willingly buy another man's young child. Also pay attention to the mention of 'Arbor gold', which has been well documented on this sub for years for how its always a signal of lies, as individuals like Littlefinger mention it in passing whenever they are telling a lie.
The second red flag is the idea that Varys, someone who seemingly abhors the murder and suffering of innocent children, would willingly sacrifice an innocent young child and allow them to be murdered just to spare another, more valuable child. The idea that Varys would also take Elia's child away from her, either willingly or unwillingly on her part, is also questionable.
The third red flag is why Varys chose only to switch Aegon with another child, and not do the same for Rhaenys. Having two imposter Targaryen children raised to believe they are Targaryens could've helped to support their claims, build them up as a rival power in Westeros and also provide a backup option for Varys incase fAegon didn't survive his childhood.
The final red flag is the idea that Varys was able to foresee how the Rebellion was going to end, accurately guessed that Rhaegar's children would be murdered by the Lannisters, knew where and when to find Elia and her children, be able to remove one of her children away from her without anyone knowing, and knew that one of Tywin's men would kill the children so brutally that next to no one would be able to recognise them - the idea story is built on a series of flimsy conveniences and incredible predictive abilities on Varys' part.
If Varys truly cared so much about the protection and well-being of children, he would not have willingly bought and sacrificed an innocent child to be sacrificed in exchange for Aegon's survival, nor would he have abandoned Rhaenys to her fate if he could have prevented it. This means either Varys truly doesn't give a damn about the wellbeing of children and just lies to the likes of Ned and Tyrion about it, or that the entire story about Aegon being swapped with a tanner's child is a lie like some fans believe, or that both stories are lies muddled together to make it more difficult to discern the truth.
Perhaps the truth of Varys' lies is best exposed in this often cited excerpt from ACOK, a conversation between him and Tyrion about the infamous "Shadow on the Wall" riddle;

Varys smiled. "Here, then. Power resides where men believe it resides. No more and no less.""So power is a mummer's trick?" "A shadow on the wall," Varys murmured, "yet shadows can kill. And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow." Tyrion smiled. "Lord Varys, I am growing strangely fond of you. I may kill you yet, but I think I'd feel sad about it." - ACOK - TYRION II

The question of who Varys refers to in this conversation has been debated for years on this sub. Some believe that Varys was alluding to fAegon, that if people believe he is the real Aegon then he will have power, even if he doesn't truly have power as a common non-Targaryen child. Others have suggested Varys was alluding to Littlefinger, who was once a young small man who rose very high in King's Landing and cast a large shadow over the realm by starting the WotFk through his schemes.
I however believe that Varys is talking about himself.
Varys was once a very small man when he came to King's Landing at Aerys' calling for him to join the Small Council. He was seen as a young ex-slave, without a lordship or house of his own, weak and powerless. But overtime, through his manipulation of Aerys, encouraging his paranoia and own self-inflicted downfall, Varys cast a very large shadow over the empire of House Targaryen in Westeros, and destroyed it forever. What Varys says here to Tyrion is a very veiled threat that he can be dangerous to Tyrion if he underestimates Varys.
Tyrion however, in his arrogance, believes that Varys is referring to him, being a "very small man" and begins considering him a friend.
This is the third and final lie of Varys' character that I wish to dissect here - the lie that he is a friend or useful ally of sorts to Tyrion.
The idea of Varys betraying Tyrion's trust and working against him is first presented to us by Cersei, when she lets slip that Varys informed her of Tyrion's plan to send the Hound into battle at the Battle of the Blackwater;

"Varys says so." The swan was too rich for his taste. A line appeared on Cersei's pale white brow, between those lovely eyes. "You put too much trust in that eunuch." "He serves me well." "Or so he'd have you believe. You think you're the only one he whispers secrets to? He gives each of us just enough to convince us that we'd be helpless without him. He played the same game with me, when I first wed Robert. For years, I was convinced I had no truer friend at court, but now . . ." She studied his face for a moment. "He says you mean to take the Hound from Joffrey." - ACOK - TYRION XII

On a first read, we are quick to dismiss Cersei's claims for how much she is built up as an antagonistic and untrustworthy character, but in later understanding her motives in her own POV chapters, we realise there may be an inkling of truth in her claims. In the case of the Hound, Varys has no reason to inform her of Tyrion's plan, however innocent and insignificant in the grand game of thrones they may be, other than to maintain some level of trust with her and to invoke conflict between the Lannister siblings, which benefits Varys.
There are frequent moments throughout the series in which Varys alludes to knowing key information and deliberately withholding it from Tyrion even if it may benefit Tyrion, including who ordered Mandon Moore to kill Tyrion;

Bronn had turned up all he could on Ser Mandon, but no doubt Varys knew a deal more . . . should he choose to share it. "The man seems to have been quite friendless," Tyrion said carefully. "Sadly," said Varys, "oh, sadly. You might find some kin if you turned over enough stones back in the Vale, but here . . . Lord Arryn brought him to King's Landing and Robert gave him his white cloak, but neither loved him much, I fear. Nor was he the sort the smallfolk cheer in tourneys, despite his undoubted prowess. Why, even his brothers of the Kingsguard never warmed to him. Ser Barristan was once heard to say that the man had no friend but his sword and no life but duty . . . but you know, I do not think Selmy meant it altogether as praise. Which is queer when you consider it, is it not? Those are the very qualities we seek in our Kingsguard, it could be said—men who live not for themselves, but for their king. By those lights, our brave Ser Mandon was the perfect white knight. And he died as a knight of the Kingsguard ought, with sword in hand, defending one of the king's own blood." The eunuch gave him a slimy smile and watched him sharply. Trying to murder one of the king's own blood, you mean. Tyrion wondered if Varys knew rather more than he was saying. - ASOS - TYRION II

When Tyrion presses Varys for information about Mandon, Varys deliberately skims over Mandon's life and offers vague beliefs about the perfect Kingsguard to try and derail Tyrion's line of questioning, and when Varys pretends not to have known about Mandon trying to kill Tyrion, he watches Tyrion "sharply" to try and gather how much Tyrion himself knows, whether or not Tyrion will seek retribution for it from the anger on his face, and almost openly mocks him for the smile he gives. Tyrion briefly considers the idea that Varys is deliberately holding information back from him, but chooses instead to talk about other matters, which is what Varys wanted.
On the matter of Varys' choosing to support the Lannisters or Stannis, Varys once again tries to confuse Tyrion with riddles and not directly answer the question;

"He accuses my brother and sister of incest. I wonder how he came by that suspicion." "Perhaps he read a book and looked at the color of a bastard's hair, as Ned Stark did, and Jon Arryn before him. Or perhaps someone whispered it in his ear." The eunuch's laugh was not his usual giggle, but deeper and more throaty. "Someone like you, perchance?" "Am I suspected? It was not me." "If it had been, would you admit it?" "No. But why should I betray a secret I have kept so long? It is one thing to deceive a king, and quite another to hide from the cricket in the rushes and the little bird in the chimney. Besides, the bastards were there for all to see." - ACOK - TYRION III

We know for certain that Varys didn't want the WotFK to start so soon or for the truth of Cersei's children to come out in AGOT because he wanted more time for Viserys' forces to grow in strength and come closer to Westeros in order to invade, either to take the throne for themselves or be the ones to kill the beloved Robert Baratheon and paint themselves as villainous usurpers to make fAegon more heroic and not taint him with Robert's blood on his hands.
However, like with Cersei and Tyrion, Varys needs to tell those on the Small Council a certain amount of secretive information in order to gain their trust and support, including Stannis. That Varys even chooses to give a deeper and more unsettling laugh about the matter is another example of him openly laughing about his treachery in Tyrion's face and Tyrion not realising it.
When Tyrion almost stumbles upon this ruse and Varys realises that his laugh was too deep and questionable, Varys tries to brush it off by saying its harder to keep a secret secret if so many people are investigating it, and insists that there were so many of Robert's bastards to find for Stannis to figure out the truth on his own. But again, this last statement from Varys is littered with half-truths.
Varys insists it is hard to keep deceiving King Robert about the truth of his children's true parentage, and even harder to keep deceiving the truth from those who are deliberately looking for the truth and wanting to find it. This in itself is a reference to his believe that Stannis was always power-hungry for the Iron Throne, and was just looking for an excuse to try to claim it for himself as Robert's true heir, regardless of whether or not Cersei's children were Robert's or not.
But his own comment about "betraying a secret I have held for so long" is a direct allusion to fAegon's existence, and his determination not to reveal the truth of his existence to anyone, including Tyrion.
Even when Tyrion rides with Illyrio and Jon Connington's entourage in ADWD, Tyrion is only led to believe that they are going to support Daenerys' claim for the Iron Throne, and has to work out for himself that fAegon is actually Aegon and the one Varys and Illyrio wish to crown;

Young Griff hesitated. "Lannister? Your father—" "—is dead. At my hand. If it please Your Grace to call me Yollo or Hugor, so be it, but know that I was born Tyrion of House Lannister, trueborn son of Tywin and Joanna, both of whom I slew. Men will tell you that I am a kingslayer, a kinslayer, and a liar, and all of that is true … but then, we are a company of liars, are we not? Take your feigned father. Griff, is it?" The dwarf sniggered. "You should thank the gods that Varys the Spider is a part of this plot of yours. Griff would not have fooled the cockless wonder for an instant, no more than it did me. No lord, my lordship says, no knight. And I'm no dwarf. Just saying a thing does not make it true. Who better to raise Prince Rhaegar's infant son than Prince Rhaegar's dear friend Jon Connington, once Lord of Griffin's Roost and Hand of the King?" "Be quiet." Griff's voice was uneasy. - ADWD - TYRION V

After Tyrion works out the truth and manipulates both fAegon and Jon Connington into riding for Westeros instead of joining forces with Daenerys, he disappears and goes off to seek her out.
This likely angers Varys, and is the reason why Varys no longer affectionately calls Tyrion by his name or by '"lord" and instead refers to him as "the imp" in ADWD's epilogue, a term that Varys knows Tyrion hates;

Ser Kevan tried to rise, but the strength had left him. He could not feel his legs. "I thought the crossbow fitting. You shared so much with Lord Tywin, why not that? Your niece will think the Tyrells had you murdered, mayhaps with the connivance of the Imp. The Tyrells will suspect her. Someone somewhere will find a way to blame the Dornishmen. Doubt, division, and mistrust will eat the very ground beneath your boy king, whilst Aegon raises his banner above Storm's End and the lords of the realm gather round him." "Aegon?" For a moment he did not understand. Then he remembered. A babe swaddled in a crimson cloak, the cloth stained with his blood and brains. "Dead. He's dead." - ADWD - EPILOGUE

Varys chooses to frame Tyrion for Kevan's murder, **deliberately and intentionally further putting his life in danger by Cersei's wrath, already knowing that Tyrion has a large bounty on his head because of her, and talks lowly of Tyrion by calling him an "Imp" and referring to his "connivance" in a very scorned tone.
Varys never considered Tyrion a friend or ally in ASOIAF and was just using him, another lie that he tells throughout the series, and by the end of ADWD, he hates Tyrion for his scheming and knowing too much information than Varys wished him to know.
But there is a bigger telling point about how much Varys uses Tyrion, and a more ground-breaking twist in the narrative that reflects both how much Varys underestimates Tyrion and how much Varys never cared for him;
In ASOS, Varys didn't tell Tyrion how to reach the Tower of the Hand to go and kill Tywin. Varys told him this key information so that Tyrion could go and kill Shae instead, who Varys considered a greater threat to him.
Shae is one of the few, perhaps the only, people in ASOIAF to see through Varys' disguises;

A whiff of something rank made him turn his head. Shae stood in the door behind him, dressed in the silvery robe he'd given her. I loved a maid as white as winter, with moonglow in her hair. Behind her stood one of the begging brothers, a portly man in filthy patched robes, his bare feet crusty with dirt, a bowl hung about his neck on a leather thong where a septon would have worn a crystal. The smell of him would have gagged a rat. "Lord Varys has come to see you," Shae announced. The begging brother blinked at her, astonished. Tyrion laughed. "To be sure. How is it you knew him when I did not?" She shrugged. "It's still him. Only dressed different." - ACOK - TYRION X

This catches Varys off guard, and any chance of seeing him being angry or looking threatened is waved away from the reader when Tyrion laughs it off and turns his attention again to his paramour Shae.
Wearing disguises is a very important part of Varys' many schemes, including visiting Ned Stark in the Black Cells as the gaoler Rugen;

"Wine," a voice answered. It was not the rat-faced man; this gaoler was stouter, shorter, though he wore the same leather half cape and spiked steel cap. "Drink, Lord Eddard." He thrust a wineskin into Ned's hands. The voice was strangely familiar, yet it took Ned Stark a moment to place it. "Varys?" he said groggily when it came. He touched the man's face. "I'm not … not dreaming this. You're here." The eunuch's plump cheeks were covered with a dark stubble of beard. Ned felt the coarse hair with his fingers. Varys had transformed himself into a grizzled turnkey, reeking of sweat and sour wine. "How did you … what sort of magician are you?" - AGOT - EDDARD XV

His disguise as Rugen is very important to Varys' plans after Tyrion's disappearance from King's Landing, as Varys seeks to frame Rugen as a Tyrell puppet who broke Tyrion from imprisonment on the Tyrells' behalf, to sow division and further paranoia between Cersei and the Tyrells;

Gold, yes, but the moment Cersei took it she could tell that it was wrong. Too small, she thought, too thin. The coin was old and worn. On one side was a king's face in profile, on the other side the imprint of a hand. "This is no dragon," she said. "No," Qyburn agreed. "It dates from before the Conquest, Your Grace. The king is Garth the Twelfth, and the hand is the sigil of House Gardener." Of Highgarden. Cersei closed her hand around the coin. What treachery is this? Mace Tyrell had been one of Tyrion's judges, and had called loudly for his death. Was that some ploy? Could he have been plotting with the Imp all the while, conspiring at Father's death? With Tywin Lannister in his grave, Lord Tyrell was an obvious choice to be King's Hand, but even so . . . "You will not speak of this with anyone," she commanded. - AFFC - CERSEI II

But this ploy to incite conflict between the Lannisters and Tyrells would have failed if Shae had lived, as she had seen through Varys' disguises and could've warned Cersei of it, something which Varys could not allow, especially given that he considered her one of Cersei's pawns after Tyrion's trial.
It is also fundamentally not in Varys' interest for Tyrion to kill Tywin, as keeping Tywin alive for now would ensure the Dornish would have someone to rise up and seek vengeance against for Elia's murder. As readers are shown in AFFC and ADWD Dornish chapters, the Martells are divided and frankly confused about how to seek vengeance for Elia's murder now that Tywin, Gregor and Armory Lorch - the three men involved in her murder - are now dead. **If Tywin had lived, Varys could've played on the Dornish thirst for vengeance against him and had fAegon promise them it in exchange for their support, something which they likely would've agreed to.
So by this point in the post, we've explored some of the key lies of Varys' character to know for sure what he is not;

• He is not the victim of slavery or a sacrificial victim to magical fires, nor does he abhor those who worship R'hllor or magical flames
  
• He does not hate the killing and suffering of innocent children, and has actually sought to profit from it in the past
  
• He has never been a friend or ally to Tyrion Lannister but has instead used him, and even manipulated him into killing Shae to protect one of Varys' own future schemes
  

So who is the real Varys? Behind all of these lies and deceptions, who is he really deep down?
Well, Varys is not a eunuch, and in fact fAegon's true father by blood. Varys has deliberately spent his life lying about being a eunuch in order to discourage people from the truth that he is the father of fAegon by Illyrio’s sister, and wants to control the Iron Throne through fAegon.
Recall Varys' conversation with Tyrion in ACOK that I previously cited earlier;

"He accuses my brother and sister of incest. I wonder how he came by that suspicion." "Perhaps he read a book and looked at the color of a bastard's hair, as Ned Stark did, and Jon Arryn before him. Or perhaps someone whispered it in his ear." The eunuch's laugh was not his usual giggle, but deeper and more throaty. "Someone like you, perchance?" "Am I suspected? It was not me." "If it had been, would you admit it?" "No. But why should I betray a secret I have kept so long? It is one thing to deceive a king, and quite another to hide from the cricket in the rushes and the little bird in the chimney. Besides, the bastards were there for all to see." - ACOK - TYRION III

"Why should I betray a secret I have kept so long?" is the biggest hint towards fAegon's existence and Varys' own true motivations in the entire series. Varys makes this spur of the moment claim after being caught off guard by Tyrion and doesn't think it through before saying it and letting Tyrion realise there is more to him.
Varys was never castrated and he is not bald. He deliberately shaves his head to hide his true parentage and lies about being a eunuch to discourage people from believing that he is capable of fathering a child, a child with Blackfyre blood that he wishes to sit on the Iron Throne, a secret that Varys has cared for and kept so long.
The last time we see Varys in ADWD, he finally begins to tell the truth about fAegon's existence, and when he does, and speaks about the son he loves, he begins to speak in his real, deeper and non-emasculated voice;**

"Aegon?" For a moment he did not understand. Then he remembered. A babe swaddled in a crimson cloak, the cloth stained with his blood and brains. "Dead. He's dead." "No." The eunuch's voice seemed deeper. "He is here. Aegon has been shaped for rule since before he could walk. He has been trained in arms, as befits a knight to be, but that was not the end of his education. He reads and writes, he speaks several tongues, he has studied history and law and poetry. A septa has instructed him in the mysteries of the Faith since he was old enough to understand them. He has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers and mended nets and learned to wash his own clothes at need. He can fish and cook and bind up a wound, he knows what it is like to be hungry, to be hunted, to be afraid. Tommen has been taught that kingship is his right. Aegon knows that kingship is his duty, that a king must put his people first, and live and rule for them." - ADWD - EPILOGUE

This is who Varys truly is - not a eunuch, not a victim of slavery or castration, not a man who weeps for the suffering of children, not a friend of Tyrion Lannister, but a loving father who wishes to cast a very large shadow over the greatest empire the world of ASOIAF has ever known.
TLDR:
Varys is not a eunuch but instead the father of fAegon, a secret he has spent his life protecting, and a lie he has spent his life telling to better protect his son.
Varys does not hate R'hllor or those who worship magical flames, his entire story about his manhood being sacrificed to flames is a lie he tells to gain Tyrion's trust in their efforts to defeat Stannis in ACOK. Varys is close friends with Illyrio, a man who praises R'hllor, and spent the early parts of his life encouraging Aerys to feed innocent people to the flames of wildfire.
Varys does not hate the suffering of innocent children, he was prepared to buy an innocent child from a man and sacrifice him in order to protect the "real" Aegon, he was prepared to abandon Rhaenys to her brutal death even if he could have saved her too and prepared to send Viserys and Daenerys into a doomed invasion of Westeros that would've led to their deaths just to make fAegon appear a more heroic saviour compared to them.
Varys was never a friend or ally to Tyrion but instead was using him ever since they first met. He has repeatedly withheld important information from him such as who hired Mandon Moore to kill Tyrion and how Stannis figured out the truth about Cersei's children, and on frequent occasions has nearly openly laughed in Tyrion's face at both his misfortune and the information Varys withheld from him. Varys also manipulated Tyrion into killing Shae so that she would not expose Varys' identity as Rugen and didn't trust Tyrion with the information about fAegon's existence, something that Tyrion had to figure out himself. Varys also talks lowly of Tyrion at the end of ADWD as a "conniving Imp" which reflects Varys' true feelings about Tyrion.
Varys has spent his life shaving his hair and lying about being a eunuch to discourage anyone from believing he could father fAegon and better protect him, so that fAegon could one day take the Iron Throne, and cast a very large shadow over the Targaryen Empire forever.
Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this theory be sure to read some of my other theories below;
All the signs that Tywin directly gave the Mountain the order to badly mistreat Elia Martell
The Father Rhaegaer, the Son Jon and the Holy Ghost Ghost, religious symbolism
Mance Rayder is a servant of the Others
Leyton Hightower is the Lord of Light and Malora Maid is Quaithe
2022 archive of ASOIAF theories available at the bottom of this post

A special thank you to the amazing u/SpacePaladin15 for this fun world.
A thank you u/ImaginationSea3679 y u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for helping me with plot stuff.
Sunday Time!
I had to rewrite this chapter because the other version was stupid.
[Prologue][Previous][Next]
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Memory Transcription Subject: Exchange Program Member, Arwen Conway
Date [standardized human time]: August 30th, 2136.
Earth, Earth hadn’t changed much in the last eight days I’ve been gone. I was glad for that simple fact. A part of me missed the lighter gravity, and I was hoping to happily see my family in a similar state. We had exchanged a few messages, but it was mostly to make sure I was safe. I felt safe-ish for the most part. Trivi ensured exterminators stayed off my back for the most part. There was one minor altercation in which I was accused of having hypnotic powers by getting three venlil to want to go to Earth, but Trivi and Tova shot that down quickly.
Now, how do I explain the fact that I am bringing home three guests other than ‘venlil curious about Earth,’ or is that enough? Maybe I should tell the truth regarding Quilix and Tova…
With how well I knew my father, I’d assume him to be pissed off, and my mother wouldn’t be happy as well; Quilix viewed me as a sexual object before a friend, Tova shouted at, clawed, and kicked me, yet Trivi was pretty decent. Well, he did point a flamethrower at me when we first met on the 22nd, but my father and mother didn’t need to hear that final part.
Quilix, Tova, and Trivi sat nearby on the train looking around with a mixture of nervousness, awkwardness, fear, and plenty of other emotions. Each one possesses the respective emotions; Quilix seemed really anxious or nervous about going to the ranch, Tova appeared awkward from all the stares, and Trivi was trying to hide in my jacket. I mean, he couldn’t fit in my jacket, but he was giving a damn good go at it.
“Your eyes are nice Arwen, but this.” He quietly gestured to the rest of the train cart, waving a paw toward the other humans. “Just… too many eyes. I feel scared.”
My lips curled up into a smile. A smile that no longer made the exterminator flinch. I reached down and stroked the speep’s head, pressing his chin deeper into my cleavage. A small move that wasn’t on purpose and made both of us blush, but neither of us pulled away. “Aww, is my big, strong exterminator afraid of a few humans?~” It was impossible not to tease him. Especially when his tail gave an annoyed flick!
“Gah, I can see why Tova referred to you lot as troublemakers. A bit much, but hmph!” He huffed, wrapping his paws around me, and try to pull himself closer to me. My hand resumed its petting, stroking down the venlil’s ears. A rumble eventually revved from his throat and he quietly buried himself into my bosom.
Aww.
My uncovered face took a glance upwards, eyeing up the venlil couple that sat in the seat in front of us. I was honestly impressed with how they took my hair. Tova accepted it with ease, but Quilix fainted much to my surprise. Though, it may have been my fault for accidentally splashing my hair into his face when he got closer to take a closer look. The long, wavy strands covering much of his face for the briefest moment before he hit the ground. It was amusing a little bit later though. It gave us something to talk about on the shuttle to Earth.
The venlil couple sat close together physically but emotionally looked far apart. They may have been thigh to thigh, with Quilix hopefully looking up at his mate with the occasional glance between sketching, but Tova was doing her best to look anywhere but her mate. Every small attempt Quilix had made that I knew to be a venlil courting attempt was shot down; leaning into, snuggling, intertwining tails, and so forth were met with apathetic responses.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame Tova, for if my partner had pulled what Quilix had done, I would have acted very similarly: Disdain for the aforementioned imaginary individual would probably be the biggest emotion!
They went to speak with their parents, and well… As racist as Quilix’s parents were to Tova. They’d rather Quilix and Tova both die than break up or well, that’s how the pair made it sound. Tova’s mother was the same way, but not racist.
I do not understand that logic in the fucking slightest, but honestly, I’m just glad I didn’t see that talk. Imagine being a fly on that wall. “You weren’t supposed to mate him, but now you’re mates, so you better be mates and make us some pups,” or something along those lines. ‘Tis what Quilix’s parents said and Tova’s mother was more along the lines of just no breaking up.
Again, thank God I wasn’t there.
“So, how are you two holding up?”
Unlike the first time when they saw my red hair, they did not freak out when their eyes turned to me.
“A little nervous,” Quilix admitted, rubbing his two paws up and down his thighs. Again, he cast a glance up at Tova, who ignored the look. This went on for a couple of seconds before his gaze lethargicly returned to his sketchbook. Again, I couldn’t really blame her.
“Agreed, but if I must admit. I expected humans to be… bigger.” A little funny thing I haven’t told Tova yet was that she was around the average height for a male in England. A little bit shy of it, but still very close to it. Meanwhile, females were around 5’3”, so, of course, she’d be taller than a lot of the women! “Oh, and the gravity is lower! Did you see my jumper earlier?”
Tova was referring to her jump the second they touched down, and to put it bluntly, she launched herself two-point-five meters into the air.
TWO-POINT-FIVE METERS!
My eyes were unable to control themselves and I spared a quick glance down at Tova’s legs. To be more specific, those meaty thighs that she possessed. If they were hollowed out and given just a smidge of stretch, I could probably fit one of them around my waist. I was lucky I was rolling away from Tova when she went for that kick, she probably could have cracked a rib if it was perfectly landed.
Jesus, she could break a person in half with those thighs.
To think Quilix’s scene required me to ‘beat’ the exterminator that had eight inches of height on me, actual ‘military’ training, knew how to wield a fucking sword, and probably had more weight in her legs than I had altogether. Yeah, that would have looked really goofy.
Heh, not that I am complaining.~
My eyes would quickly lower themselves down farther, giving a small glance down to the top of Trivi’s head. The blonde venlil firmly snuggled up into me, revving with content.
I wonder if Trivi would like to join that…
My eyes didn’t linger too long, rising back up and turning somewhat to the left, staring out the window as the train ventured across the border to Wales. The landscape having turned to light green hills a long time ago. “I saw it. Quite impressive, though, you did scare quite a few people when you did that?”
“I did?”
Tova may have not really been self-aware, so mentally absorbed in the fact that Earth had less gravity than Venlil Prime. This was something she was talking about for ten minutes straight after we landed in London’s spaceport.
“Yeah, and you almost clunked your head on the roof too.” The venlil’s face managed to turn a shade of orange despite her void-colored flesh. Her ears folding down in embarrassment when giggles escaped from the rest of us. It was honestly kind of impressive to see the muscular venlil go from giddy with excitement to tepidly shaking with chagrin.
“So…” I glanced down at Trivi, who whispered up to me quietly. “Are we going to tell Tova and Quilix the change of plans now, a little bit later, are you going to put them through a day, or are we going through the full thing?” His tone was quiet, barely even a whisper when those last few words got out. I had to tilt my head down into his ear so I could hear what he was saying.
“Option three,” I say, pulling Trivi up onto my lap, wrapping my forearms around his waist to pull him closer. My chin resting atop his wooly head. “Gaaah, I can’t get over how cute you are.” Trivi wasn’t complaining, resuming the quiet, but now louder rumble that came from his chest and throat.
“You two seem to have gotten close,” Quilix observed, taking his eyes off his little drawing book. A half-finished sketch of a pigeon in flight was on the current page. The line art was a little bit rough, but since it was the first pigeon he ever saw, it was to be expected.
“Humans like touching and holding things. Trivi is adorable, nice to me, and tries to be understanding of me. I like that. Meanwhile, he likes me, so all is well.” One of my hands manages to snake its way between me and the male, finding the underside of his chin before administering some scritches!
It was a personal weak spot of his that I managed to find that other day. He went completely slack within my arms the second my nails scraped the underside of his jaw. The rumbling growing in intensity to the point that it was more than audible.
“Well, I mean… mate-like close.”
Oh… Oh!
It was hard not to feel Trivi and my body tense up at the accusation. “We’re not mates,” Trivi clarified. “Just really good friends,” he continued, resuming his slackening posture as the scritches started up again.
I couldn’t help but notice the other two venlil stopped doing what they were doing to watch me scratch Trivi’s chin.
You can pet them when they make it up to you. Just. Resist. For. Now.
But I must pet them!
Resist Arwen! Resist the urge!
“Anywaaays,” I drag on with a growing smile, trying to switch to a new conversation. “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch isn’t-” I wasn’t able to complete my statement because Trivi immediately sat firmly up on my lap, shooting me with a very befuddled look. Tova was equally baffled and Quilix looked like I just made up the name on the spot. It was hard to suppress my smile.
“The speh?” Trivi tilted his head to the side. “I thought you said it was Llanfair… Llanfair… Speh, however, you say that place’s name, but that??? What the speh is Saint Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave. They should have their town name fixed! That’s absurd and long! How the speh did you say that!?”
Ooo? That translated? I don’t recall the shortened variant translated
I roll my eyes playfully and pull Trivi back down to my chest. “Relax you three. If you will just give me a chance to explain. Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, as I will refer to it for the most part since it is much easier to say. It had its name elongated to attract tourists about a hundred-fifty years ago or something along those lines. It was dedicated to a church of St. Mary, but that’s the extent of my knowledge. It’s really just a silly name for attracting tourists.”
The three were still giving me a mixture of befuddlement and bafflement, but I couldn’t blame them. Llanfairgwllgwyngyll was just an extremely long and absurd name. I frankly had to agree.
My hand traveled behind the back of Trivi’s ears, digging my nails in once again before moving them up and down, making the male melt once again. “We should be there soon enough. Once there, I will take you to meet my parents and meet the Wellingtons a few kilometers out of town. Obviously, drop off my stuff back home before we meet the Wellingtons.” I made a quick gesture to the large, heavy box between the four of us. “Sound good?”
Quilix and Tova both nodded, and Trivi just snuggled deeper into me.
“That sounds fair,” Tova was the one to speak up.
I lean back into my chair and close my eyes. My arms pull Trivi in for another hug. Hopefully, they remember to wake me up when we reach Llanfairgwllgwyngyll. It should be a few more hours.
I honestly can’t wait to be home.
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[Prologue][Previous][Next]
Heavily inspired by the likes of…
Pack Bonding
Foundations of Humanity
Mixed Signals (NSFW)
And I snuck in some lingo from Nature of Humanity
Don't Look A Human In The Eye
I highly suggest you check them out!!
A bit of a shorter chapter, but that's because I didn't start writing this until Friday.

• 112 Operator
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• Hack 'n' Slash + Soundtrack (& Spacebase GIFT)
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash_
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash Soundtrack_
• _ + Spacebase GIFT_
• Halcyon 6: Lightspeed Edition
• Harmony's Odyssey
• Heart Fragment - Book Two: Belief Fragments (Shannon & Lana)
• Helheim Hassle
• Hellbound
• HERO'S HOUR (may keep)
• Hexologic
• Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
• Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
• Hokko Life
• Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!
• How to Sing to Open Your Heart
• Hydrophobia: Prophecy
• Hyper Gunsport
• I’m not a Monster
• In Sound Mind
• INDUSTRIA
• Internet Cafe Simulator
• Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition
• Into the Pit
• Iris and the giant
• Iron Danger
• Izmir: An Independence Simulator
• Joggernauts
• JYDGE
• Killsquad
• Labirinto 2
• Last Word
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
• Legend of Keepers
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
• Let Them Come
• Lighthouse Keeper
• Little Orpheus
• Lust for Darkness
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Maid of Sker
• Mainlining
• Mekabolt
• Meow Express
• MirrorMoon EP
• Monaco
• Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
• Moon Hunters
• Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
• Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
• Must Dash Amigos
• My Time At Portia
• N++
• NecroWorm
• NeuroVoider
• Neverinth
• Neverout
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• Non-Stop Raiders
• Of Orcs And Men
• Operation Tango
• Orbital Racer
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Override
• Overture
• Paradise Lost
• Partial Control
• Pathfinders: Memories
• Pathway
• PAYDAY 2
• Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
• PGA TOUR 2K21 (may keep)
• Pilgrims
• Pill Baby
• Pixplode
• Pixross
• Planet TD
• PlataGO!
• Plebby Quest: The Crusades
• Popup Dungeon
• Post Void
• PowerBeatsVR
• Project Chemistry
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Propagation VR - Co-op
• Proteus
• Pumped BMX +
• Quadrata
• Radio Commander
• Railroad Corporation
• Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
• Railroad Tycoon 3
• Raji: An Ancient Epic
• Rebel Galaxy
• Rebound Dodgeball Evolved
• Re-Legion
• Remnants of Naezith
• Resident Evil Revelations (may keep)
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 first chapter
• Revita
• RIOT - Civil Unrest
• Roarr! Jurassic Edition
• Roboquest
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• ROGUE LORDS (may keep)
• RPG Maker VX
• Rustler
• Rym 9000

Sakura Alien
Sakura Dungeon
Sakura - Forest Girls set
- Sakura Forest Girls
- Sakura Forest Girls 2
- Sakura Forest Girls 3
Sakura knight set
- Sakura Knight
- Sakura Knight 2
- Sakura Knight 3
Sakura MMO set
- Sakura MMO
- Sakura MMO 2
- Sakura MMO 3
- Sakura MMO Extra
Sakura succubus set
- Sakura Succubus
- Sakura Succubus 2
- Sakura Succubus 3
- Sakura Succubus 4
- Sakura Succubus 5
- Sakura Succubus 6
Sakura Swim Club

• Save Room - Organization Puzzle
• Say No! More
• ScourgeBringer
• SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
• Shady Part of Me
• shapez - Puzzle DLC
• Shing!
• Sid Meier's Railroads!
• Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
• Skullgirls 2nd Encore
• Slinger VR
• Smile For Me
• Sorcerer King: Rivals
• Soul Searching
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spellcaster University (may keep)
• Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
• Stacking
• STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic
• Starpoint Gemini Warlords
• Stick Fight: The Game
• stikir
• Stirring Abyss
• Strange Brigade
• Strider
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Sunlight
• Super Chicken Catchers
• Super Magbot
• Surviving the Aftermath (may keep)
• Sword Legacy Omen
• SYMMETRY
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• TaniNani
• Telefrag VR
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Beast Inside
• The Deed II
• The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
• The Inner World
• The Invisible Hand
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante (may keep)
• The Next Penelope
• The Serpent Rogue
• The USB Stick Found in the Grass
• This War of Mine: Complete Edition (may keep)
• Ticket to Ride
• ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove
• Tools Up!
• Tooth and Tail
• Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt
• Traffic Jams
• Train Station Renovation
• Treasure Hunter Simulator
• Turmoil
• Underland: The Climb
• UnMetal
• Vanishing Realms
• War for the Overworld
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• WARSAW
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
• White Noise 2
• Windjammers 2
• Worms Rumble
• WRC 7
• WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
• XCOM 2
• X-COM: Complete Pack (including X-COM: UFO Defense + X-COM: Apocalypse + X-COM: Enforcer + X-COM: Interceptor + X-COM: Terror from the Deep)
• XEL
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (including X-Morph: Defense + X-Morph: Defense - European Assault + X-Morph: Defense - Survival Of The Fittest + X-Morph: Defense - Last Bastion)
• Yoku's Island Express
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (including + Zombie Driver HD + Zombie Driver HD Apocalypse Pack + Zombie Driver HD Burning Garden of Slaughter + Zombie Driver HD Tropical Race Rage + Zombie Driver HD Brutal Car Skins + Zombie Driver HD Soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn

​
DOOM 64 (Bethesda.net)
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (ORIGIN key)
Liberated (GOG key)
STAR WARS: Squadrons (Origin)
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Dishonored 2 (GOG)
​
Software

• Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7
• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Music Maker EDM Edition
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Polygon Farm, Polygon City, and Polygon Prototype

GameDev.tv

• Complete Unity 3D Developer

Zenva Academy

• Intro to Game Development with Unity

#########################################################

Region is NA

​
My REPs: 202 successful trades, 0 dispute.

• 112 Operator
• 911 Operator
• Aarklash: Legacy
• Agent in Depth
• Alchemist's Castle
• Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs + Amnesia: The Dark Descent
• Among Us
• Arcade Spirits
• Armello
• Army Men RTS
• Assault Suit Leynos
• Backbone
• Battlecruisers
• Beat Hazard 2
• Behold the Kickmen
• Between the Stars
• Bezier
• Bionic Commando
• Bionic Commando Rearmed
• Blade Assault
• Blood And Zombies
• Brawlout
• Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons
• [email protected]
• Builder Simulator
• Calico
• Call of Juarez Gunslinger
• Cats in Time
• Chicka Wars Chicken Meat
• CivCity: Rome
• Click and Slay
• Concept Destruction
• Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!
• Corridor Z
• Cosmic Express
• Cosmonautica
• Crayon Physics Deluxe (may keep)
• CROSSBOW: Bloodnight
• Dagon - The Eldritch Box DLC
• Darksburg
• Dead Age
• Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
• Death Squared
• Demon Turf
• Detached: Non-VR Edition
• Disciples: Liberation (may keep)
• Double Cross
• Doughlings: Arcade
• Doughlings: Invasion
• Draw Slasher
• Drawful 2
• Driftland: The Magic Revival
• Due Process
• EarthX
• El Hijo
• Eldest Souls
• Emily is Away <3
• Encased
• Epic Chef
• Expand
• Fallout
• Farmer's Dynasty
• Farming Simulator 17
• Firegirl: Hack 'n Splash Rescue
• First Class Trouble
• Five Dates
• Fling to the Finish
• Forged Battalion
• Fortissimo FA INTL Ver
• Founders' Fortune
• Frick, Inc.
• Full Throttle Remastered
• Fun with Ragdolls: The Game
• GameGuru Classic
• Garfield Kart - Furious Racing
• Gloria Victis
• Go Home Dinosaurs!
• Going Under
• GOLDEN LIGHT
• Golf Gang
• Guilty Gear X2 #Reload
• Guns & Fishes
• Guts and Glory
• Hack 'n' Slash + Soundtrack (& Spacebase GIFT)
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash_
• _ + Hack 'n' Slash Soundtrack_
• _ + Spacebase GIFT_
• Halcyon 6: Lightspeed Edition
• Harmony's Odyssey
• Heart Fragment - Book Two: Belief Fragments (Shannon & Lana)
• Helheim Hassle
• Hellbound
• HERO'S HOUR (may keep)
• Hexologic
• Hidden & Dangerous 2: Courage Under Fire
• Hidden & Dangerous: Action Pack
• Hokko Life
• Holy Potatoes! A Spy Story?!
• How to Sing to Open Your Heart
• Hydrophobia: Prophecy
• Hyper Gunsport
• I’m not a Monster
• In Sound Mind
• INDUSTRIA
• Internet Cafe Simulator
• Interplanetary: Enhanced Edition
• Into the Pit
• Iris and the giant
• Iron Danger
• Izmir: An Independence Simulator
• Joggernauts
• JYDGE
• Killsquad
• Labirinto 2
• Last Word
• Lawn Mowing Simulator
• Legend of Keepers
• LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
• Leisure Suit Larry - Wet Dreams Don't Dry
• Let Them Come
• Lighthouse Keeper
• Little Orpheus
• Lust for Darkness
• Lust from Beyond: M Edition
• Maid of Sker
• Mainlining
• Mekabolt
• Meow Express
• MirrorMoon EP
• Monaco
• Monster Prom 2: Monster Camp
• Moon Hunters
• Morbid: The Seven Acolytes
• Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator 2021
• Must Dash Amigos
• My Time At Portia
• N++
• NecroWorm
• NeuroVoider
• Neverinth
• Neverout
• Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition
• Non-Stop Raiders
• Of Orcs And Men
• Operation Tango
• Orbital Racer
• Out of Reach: Treasure Royale
• Override
• Overture
• Paradise Lost
• Partial Control
• Pathfinders: Memories
• Pathway
• PAYDAY 2
• Peaky Blinders: Mastermind
• PGA TOUR 2K21 (may keep)
• Pilgrims
• Pill Baby
• Pixplode
• Pixross
• Planet TD
• PlataGO!
• Plebby Quest: The Crusades
• Popup Dungeon
• Post Void
• PowerBeatsVR
• Project Chemistry
• Project Nimbus: Complete Edition
• Propagation VR - Co-op
• Proteus
• Pumped BMX +
• Quadrata
• Radio Commander
• Railroad Corporation
• Railroad Tycoon 2: Platinum
• Railroad Tycoon 3
• Raji: An Ancient Epic
• Rebel Galaxy
• Rebound Dodgeball Evolved
• Re-Legion
• Remnants of Naezith
• Resident Evil Revelations (may keep)
• Resident Evil Revelations 2 first chapter
• Revita
• RIOT - Civil Unrest
• Roarr! Jurassic Edition
• Roboquest
• Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos
• ROGUE LORDS (may keep)
• RPG Maker VX
• Rustler
• Rym 9000

Sakura Alien
Sakura Dungeon
Sakura - Forest Girls set
- Sakura Forest Girls
- Sakura Forest Girls 2
- Sakura Forest Girls 3
Sakura knight set
- Sakura Knight
- Sakura Knight 2
- Sakura Knight 3
Sakura MMO set
- Sakura MMO
- Sakura MMO 2
- Sakura MMO 3
- Sakura MMO Extra
Sakura succubus set
- Sakura Succubus
- Sakura Succubus 2
- Sakura Succubus 3
- Sakura Succubus 4
- Sakura Succubus 5
- Sakura Succubus 6
Sakura Swim Club

• Save Room - Organization Puzzle
• Say No! More
• ScourgeBringer
• SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
• Shady Part of Me
• shapez - Puzzle DLC
• Shing!
• Sid Meier's Railroads!
• Siege Survival: Gloria Victis
• Skullgirls 2nd Encore
• Slinger VR
• Smile For Me
• Sorcerer King: Rivals
• Soul Searching
• Soulblight
• Space Crew: Legendary Edition
• Spellcaster University (may keep)
• Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
• Stacking
• STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• STAR WARS: Knights of the Old Republic
• Starpoint Gemini Warlords
• Stick Fight: The Game
• stikir
• Stirring Abyss
• Strange Brigade
• Strider
• Stygian: Reign of the Old Ones
• Sunlight
• Super Chicken Catchers
• Super Magbot
• Surviving the Aftermath (may keep)
• Sword Legacy Omen
• SYMMETRY
• System Shock 2
• System Shock: Enhanced Edition
• TaniNani
• Telefrag VR
• The Amazing American Circus
• The Beast Inside
• The Deed II
• The Golf Club 2019 Featuring PGA TOUR
• The Inner World
• The Invisible Hand
• The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante (may keep)
• The Next Penelope
• The Serpent Rogue
• The USB Stick Found in the Grass
• This War of Mine: Complete Edition (may keep)
• Ticket to Ride
• ToeJam & Earl: Back in the Groove
• Tools Up!
• Tooth and Tail
• Townsmen - A Kingdom Rebuilt
• Traffic Jams
• Train Station Renovation
• Treasure Hunter Simulator
• Turmoil
• Underland: The Climb
• UnMetal
• Vanishing Realms
• War for the Overworld
• Warhammer 40,000: Gladius - Relics of War
• WARSAW
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
• White Noise 2
• Windjammers 2
• Worms Rumble
• WRC 7
• WWE 2K BATTLEGROUNDS
• XCOM 2
• X-COM: Complete Pack (including X-COM: UFO Defense + X-COM: Apocalypse + X-COM: Enforcer + X-COM: Interceptor + X-COM: Terror from the Deep)
• XEL
• X-Morph: Defense Complete Pack (including X-Morph: Defense + X-Morph: Defense - European Assault + X-Morph: Defense - Survival Of The Fittest + X-Morph: Defense - Last Bastion)
• Yoku's Island Express
• Zombie Driver HD Complete Edition (including + Zombie Driver HD + Zombie Driver HD Apocalypse Pack + Zombie Driver HD Burning Garden of Slaughter + Zombie Driver HD Tropical Race Rage + Zombie Driver HD Brutal Car Skins + Zombie Driver HD Soundtrack)
• ΔV: Rings of Saturn

​
DOOM 64 (Bethesda.net)
Command & Conquer Remastered Collection (ORIGIN key)
Liberated (GOG key)
STAR WARS: Squadrons (Origin)
Wanderlust Travel Stories (GOG key)
Dishonored 2 (GOG)
​
Software

• Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 7
• GameMaker Studio 2 Creator 12 Months
• Music Maker EDM Edition
• Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook and Starfinder Core Rulebook
• Polygon Farm, Polygon City, and Polygon Prototype

GameDev.tv

• Complete Unity 3D Developer

Zenva Academy

• Intro to Game Development with Unity

#########################################################

Region is NA

​
My REPs: 202 successful trades, 0 dispute.

Mom's 2017 forester. 89k miles. Went to put new front cv axles in because one of them was clicking. From what i saw online it should have been a pretty simple job. So, a day before i started, i hosed every bolt that i would need to take off in PB blaster, and the next day, started on it. First thing i did was try and get the ball joint pinch bolt out. Tried by hand. Then battery impact. Then last resorted to my dad's industrial ingersoll-rand impact. Still wouldnt budge. Tried heating it as much as i felt was safe to keep the ball joint from exploding. Nope. Cranked the air compressor to 180 psi. Snapped the bolt right off with the impact. Went and got a new bolt from subaru dealer. Tried getting snapped bolt out with easy outs. Nope. So i figured, ok, i'll deal woth that later, lets just get the axle changed. Went to pull the ball joint out of the knuckle. Finally went after 3 hours of prying and 5lb sledge to the control arm. Then, finally, i tried to pull yhe axle out of the hub. Stuck as hell. Tried deadblow smacks, 5lb sledge, 10lb sledge, duckfoot puller which i broke trying to get this axle to budge. No luck. Pb blaster'd it for the whole day and most of the night, got up the next morning, went and bought yet another hub puller. Broke that one too. I still dont understand what these engineers are doing, why did they make the pinch bolt so easily salt-accessible and not cad-plated. Why are the tolerances in the axle splines so damn tight that they can rust and microweld together so that nothing, not even a puller at its breaking point being absolutely smashed with a 10lb sledge can move it?? I like these cars, but god damn do i hate working on them. Ended up just buying a whole new knuckle and hub/bearing.
TL/DR subaru engineers big stupid

As darkened clouds loomed overhead, lightning tore through the sky, illuminating the dark forest with a brilliant burst of light. The crackling energy split the heavens, casting jagged veins of illumination across the landscape. The resounding BOOM that followed reverberated through the air, shaking the very foundation of Cornelia's cozy cabin. Inside, she reclined in her plush chair, enveloped in its welcoming embrace. A soft, crackling warmth emanated from the fireplace, casting a gentle glow that bathed the room in a comforting radiance. She sighed contentedly, the flickering flames casting dancing shadows on the walls, as if they were performers in a mesmerizing show.
"A good sign, isn't that right, Wendy?" Cornelia whispered, her voice a delicate murmur filled with reassurance and affection.
“Wendy wike wain,” said Wendy, with her lustrous ebony-colored fluff, nestled against Cornelia's stomach, her presence a velvety touch against her skin. The room filled with a soft, contented humming as Wendy expressed her happiness.
Cornelia smiled as her pale fingers traced gentle paths along Wendy's back, their movements a tender caress. Her gaze drifted to the window, where nature orchestrated a symphony of raindrops cascading against the glass. Each droplet carried its own rhythm, harmonizing with the crackling fire to create a symphony of soothing melodies.
As Cornelia admired Wendy, a sense of curiosity began to blossom within her. Were there other fluffies out there with the same unique hue? Elves and wealthy humans often boasted vibrant and diverse-colored fluffies in their care, while the "street-rat" fluffies that roamed alleyways possessed more muted variations. Yet, Wendy's fur was a rarity—pure black that held an air of mystique.
Whispers had spread among the villages, snaking through ears and fuelling imaginations. Tales, distorted and embellished, spoke of a sinister pact between Cornelia and the Demon Vlae. In their twisted narratives, the villagers claimed that the evil spirit-lord resided within Wendy, bestowing upon her the cloak of inky blackness.
Cornelia knew these rumours to be falsehoods, mere figments of overactive imaginations, but that did little to quell the villagers' misguided intentions. Not wanting the villagers to burn her at the stake, Cornelia made a deliberate choice to slip away into the embrace of the ancient woods. There, among the towering sentinels of bark and the rustling tapestry of fallen leaves, she sought solace and a life of peace with Wendy.
Just as Cornelia and Wendy began to settle into a tranquil nap, an insistent knocking on the cabin door shattered the serene atmosphere. The abrupt interruption stirred them from their drowsy state, pulling them back into the realm of uncertainty and peril.
Ygor knocked on the door with the force of a strong but controlled thunder. The heavy wooden door swung open by itself, revealing a flaming shadow with crimson eyes that glare into his very soul.
“You do not disturb a witch’s nap you...” scowled Cornelia but she paused upon seeing a sad yet familiar ogre standing before her.
In the ogre's hands, cradled gently like a fragile treasure, was an injured blue fluffy curled up into a ball. The fluffy's delicate hooves pressed against her belly as she whimpered in pain, her soft cries filling the air with a heart-wrenching melody. The scent of fear and desperation clung to her, mingling with the damp earthiness that permeated the cabin.
Cornelia's piercing gaze softened, her eyes lingering on the wounded blue fluffy nestled in Ygor's hands. The dancing flames of the crackling fireplace painted shifting shadows on her face, accentuating the genuine concern etched across her soft features.
“Ygor?” asked Cornelia, her voice a gentle murmur that wrapped around the room.
“Ygor need help, widdle fluffy hurt” replied Ygor, his voice filled with a mix of deep worry and desperation.
"Bring her inside," Cornelia replied, stepping aside and waited for the giant ogre to enter her home. "Don't worry, the cabin is bigger on the inside," she reassured him, her words imbued with a touch of enchantment.
Ygor carefully stepped into the cabin, his massive form casting long shadows against the sturdy wooden walls. Inside, he found himself awestruck by the magic in the cabin. The air is alive with ethereal energy, a tangible testament to Cornelia's formidable abilities.
With deliberate grace, Ygor approached Cornelia, his every movement infused with cautious tenderness. The crackling flames of the fireplace cast a soft, golden glow that danced and flickered, creating a mesmerizing play of light and shadows across the room.
Cornelia placed a soft, crimson blanket on the smooth surface of the wooden table, its vibrant hue contrasting against the rustic backdrop of the cabin. Cornelia's voice resonated with warmth and reassurance as she spoke; her words carrying the echoes of countless months spent mastering witchcraft.
"It's one of the first spells I had to learn as a witch, so don't worry about trying to fit in," Cornelia assured Ygor, her tone comforting like a soft caress.
"Now, tell me what happened," Cornelia gently prompted, her voice a melodic invitation to share their burdens.
Her empathetic eyes fixed upon Ygor and the poor fluffy, eagerly awaiting their tale of woe. The fire crackled and the raindrops tapped against the window, forming a soothing symphony that seemed to draw the elements closer, eager to listen and offer solace.
“Ygor fed fwuffy raw meat, now fwuffy tummy hurts,” Ygor explained.
“wed’ meat? Fwuffies nu’ eat wed’ meat” Wendy exclaimed, her eyes widened with fear and confusion.
“Put her on the table!” Cornelia's command sliced through the air, her voice resonating with authority as she directed Ygor to carefully place the injured fluffy on the plush red blanket that adorned the sturdy wooden table.
With eager determination, Wendy scurried towards Cornelia. The little fluffy snatched a flask from a nearby shelf. The green liquid concocted from the nearby river and the roots of an ancient tree glowed inside the flask. The aromatic scent of the potion wafted through the air, mingling with the comforting aroma of burning wood. Ygor's sensitive nose caught a hint of bones in the fragrance, causing him to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Ygor smell bones” said Ygor upon picking up a strange scent coming from the flask.
"It's just the potion, Ygor. You can sit near the bookshelf; I'll handle this," reassured Cornelia as she guided Ygor to a seat beside the collection of well-worn tomes. His heavy footsteps resonated against the wooden floor, creating a gentle vibration that shook the nearby furniture.
Meanwhile, Wendy, her ebony-colored fluff rustling with each hurried step, made her way to the kitchen. The soft tapping of her little legs echoed through the cabin, the sound blending with the crackling fire and the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain against the window. Guided by Cornelia's request, Wendy retrieved a bowl of ash and garlic, their distinct scents mingling in the air, creating a heady mixture of earthiness and protection.
Cornelia's hands moved with practiced precision, like a knife gliding through the cloves of garlic as if guided by an invisible force. With each expert stroke, the pungent aroma of freshly cut garlic permeated the air, mingling with the earthy scent of the wooden table.
Once the garlic lay in neat, small pieces, Cornelia turned her attention to the bowl. She poured the green liquid into its depths, a shimmering cascade that glimmered like emerald flames. As the liquid settled, Cornelia's voice hummed with an incantation, her words carrying the weight of ancient knowledge and power.
In an instant, a flicker of green fire sprang to life, dancing atop the surface of the liquid. Its ethereal glow cast a surreal illumination, transforming the ordinary bowl into a vessel of enchantment. Shadows flickered and played upon the cabin walls, as if the very room had become a stage for magic itself.
Ygor's gaze locked onto Blue, his eyes filled with concern as he witnessed her unconscious. Despite her silent state, his sensitive ears detected faint, almost imperceptible whimpering that tugged at his heartstrings.
In a mesmerizing display of magic, a radiant golden light took the form of Cornelia's hand, delicately reaching towards the green flame. As her hand made contact, a breathtaking transformation ensued. The liquid within the bowl seemed to defy gravity, soaring out of its confines with graceful fluidity. It floated in the air, suspended like a glistening bubble, casting an iridescent glow that bathed the cabin in a surreal radiance.
The floating liquid became a canvas for the dancing and shimmering golden light, which traced intricate patterns written in the runes of magic. With every subtle movement and shift, the elixir responded, guided by Cornelia's hand, as if it were alive. The soft, ethereal hum resonated through the cabin, its gentle vibrations filling the air and contributing to the enchanting atmosphere that enveloped the space.
Ygor's eyes widened in awe as he witnessed this captivating spectacle, his senses fully immersed in the enchantment unfolding before him. The delicate scent of the potion wafted through the air, an intoxicating blend of natural ingredients and mystical energies. It mingled with the comforting aroma of burning firewood, creating an olfactory tapestry that enveloped the room.
“Wemembeh’ jus’ one dwop o’ fwuffy fwend goes fowebah sweepies” Wendy reminded, her voice filled with caution and trepidation. The anticipation was palpable, causing her little legs to tremble with a mixture of anxiety and hope.
“I know, Wendy” Cornelia replied with concern. Slowly, with delicate precision, she reached out and began removing the intricately carved magic runes that encircled the floating bubble. Each rune dislodged weakened the magic, and the room seemed to hold its breath in anticipation.
As the runes dissipated one by one, a single drop from the shimmering green bubble fell into Blue's mouth, like a droplet of life itself. In that fleeting moment, the magic took hold, invigorating her senses and drawing her back from the abyss of unconsciousness. Blue's eyes fluttered open, her vision initially blurry as she adjusted to the renewed world around her. Gradually, the fog lifted, revealing the figure of another fluffy sitting in front of her, a woman with a mysterious allure, half of her face veiled by a cascade of hair, and Ygor, the gentle ogre.
Blue wakes up, her vision blurry at first. When they cleared, she saw another fluffy sitting in front of her, a strange woman with half her face covered by her hair, and Ygor.
"Mommeh?" Blue's voice trembled with a mixture of longing and confusion, seeking comfort in the familiarity of a mother's embrace.
"No, sorry," Cornelia replied gently, her voice carrying a touch of sympathy. With great care, she cradled Blue in her hands, providing a sense of security and protection.
The cabin enveloped them in a cocoon of warmth and safety, shielding them from the world's uncertainties.
"Let's give you a bath before I return you to Ygor, is that okay?" Cornelia offered, her words laced with kindness and concern. Blue nodded, a silent agreement to the caring gesture that awaited her.
As Cornelia cradled Blue in her arms, Ygor's curious gaze wandered to the bookshelf, where a plush velvet tome caught his attention. With a gentle touch, he retrieved the book, feeling the smoothness of the fabric beneath his fingertips. Opening it, Ygor's eyes widened at the sight of a meticulously drawn map, its intricate details beckoning him into a world he's never seen before.
His gaze shifted to the strange numbers inscribed alongside the map, written in elegant script that danced across the aged parchment. Ygor traced the lines and deciphered the enigmatic message contained within.
"Two... tw-twenty-six degrees, twelve minutes, and forty-four seconds, N—No- no- north," Ygor read aloud, his voice filled with curiosity.
Cornelia emerged from the bath, her bare feet padding softly against the wooden floor, carrying Blue wrapped in a clean towel. Drops of water glistened upon her skin like scattered diamonds, reflecting the warm glow of the cabin's hearth. She approached Ygor, her presence radiating a sense of wisdom and familiarity.
"It seems you've improved since the last time I met you," Cornelia remarked, her voice carrying a tone of admiration.
The scent of lavender lingered in the air, intermingling with the comforting aroma of freshly brewed tea.
“Ygor been reading lots lately, collected many books” Ygor proudly proclaimed. The room resonated with the gentle rustling of pages, as each one whispered a tale of knowledge and discovery.
Gently placing Blue on the floor, Cornelia watched with fondness as the little fluffy’s hooves create a delicate patter against the wooden surface as she scurried towards Ygor. She then nuzzled against his massive leg, seeking solace and comfort. A warm smile graced Cornelia's lips.
"That's truly admirable," Cornelia remarked, her voice carrying a gentle cadence. The crackling fire painted flickering shadows upon the walls, enveloping the space in a comforting embrace. The scent of smoldering logs mingled with the sweet fragrance of wildflowers, creating an enchanting symphony for the senses.
“Until the ‘metal people’ burnt them along with Ygor house” Ygor replied, his voice echoed with a touch of sorrow. The weight of his words hung in the air, mingling with the flickering shadows cast by the crackling flames.
"The metal people," Cornelia mused, her thoughts drifting to the relentless knights of The King. The weight of their armored presence pressed upon her mind, like a looming storm cloud on the horizon. The memory of their arrival, their steel-clad boots treading upon the sacred grounds of the Old World, sent shivers down her spine. Their presence had brought upheaval, disrupting the delicate balance of harmony and magic that once thrived.
"I'm sorry to hear that," Cornelia said, her voice laced with sincerity. "You can stay here as long as you need," she assured, her words offering solace and a sense of belonging amidst the uncertainty of the outside world.
“Thank you, Ygor will find new home soon,” Ygor replied. “By the way, Ygor find black fluffy interesting, never seen one before,” he remarked, pointing towards Wendy.
Cornelia followed his gaze, her eyes tracing the ebony contours of Wendy's fur. The contrast of darkness against light evoked a sense of curiosity and wonder.
“I saw her in an alley a couple of months ago while I was gathering ingredients,” Cornelia recalled as she adjusted her favorite chair, drawing it closer to Ygor's seat. Blue and Wendy sat side by side, their eyes filled with anticipation as they listen to the story Cornelia is about to tell.
--NOTE-- A drawing of Wendy

You have been a good woman your whole life, but you also have carried a secret with you that fills you with silent shame and embarrassment, because your fantasy doesn't match your personality at all. There is something secretly submissive in you that yearns to be satisfied. You long for a dominant, sexy, man to take control of you and discipline you. You want to feel helpless...dominated...NOT in control. You want to have your panties forcibly taken down and be spanked like a naughty school girl. You want to be pushed down over the sofa, feel your skirt lifted, your moistened underwear pulled aside. You want a big, hard cock to invade your slippery wetness, stretching you wider than you thought possible and making you feel oh so delicious!. You are a normal person, constrained by society's conventions and frustrated by your inability to realize your innermost fantasies. You want to be spanked with your panties down and you want to be fucked hard! -- you are already getting wet right now just thinking about it.
I am a well educated, intelligent & professional man who is physically fit and accustomed to dealing with naughty women like you. I will lecture you and instruct you to pull your skirt up around your waist as I kneel before you and pull your panties down to your thighs. The delicious smell of your aroused pussy will rise to meet me. You will feel the cool air on your bush and revel in the delicious anticipation. Then I will instruct you to stand against the wall with your legs spread and your hands above your head while I slowly pace about behind you and your clit tingles with excitement. You will feel my eyes on your pussy and this thought will excite you even more. Then I will call you sternly and bend you over a chair so that your pussy is in full view - wet, exposed, vulnerable. Oh, the shame of it. I will stroke your clit gently and when you try to stop me I will slap your cheeks hard.
Then I will commence the spanking proper. Perhaps I will use my hand. If you resist too much I will use a slipper or my leather belt. It will sting, but not be intolerable, and every now and again you would feel my fingers probe your fragrant slippery slit, making you gasp with pleasure and ache for penetration. Maybe I will tell you to reach between your legs and spread your lips apart with your fingers as I kneel behind you and slide my tongue between your sopping aromatic folds. I will continue spanking your now very red ass and you will be torn between tears and screams of delight. When your punishment is over, I will instruct you to kneel in front of me and take my big cock deep into your mouth, making you almost gag as I hold your hair and fuck your face while you moan approvingly and look up at me, your eyes wild with desire. When I am convinced that you want my cock badly enough I will turn you around on your hands & knees and I will wait as you kneel in that position until you BEG me to fuck you, and then I will grab you firmly by your hips and RAM my hard cock into your wet & swollen pussy hard and fast; banging you the way you were meant to be banged, until we both collapse in a sweaty heap of sexual bliss.
I know you are wet after reading this so lets do something about it..

Ugh. I need to vent here. Just woke up from ANOTHER dream about her(and her family). I'm almost 8 months post breakup and NC and still I'm having to deal with this shit. At least the dreams are way less frequent now and when I'm not sleeping I've noticed lately that I haven't been thinking about her as much.
It still sucks though. Even in the dream her family was telling me about her schemes and telling me how many different guys she had done this with before. Of course in the dream I had to witness her with the new guy too, awesome. That was the most painful thing for me. Her family even told me I was right for leaving her after all she had done. I never actually had interaction with her in the dream, just her family which I thought was odd. I think it's because in real life, i admired them so much and got along with them so well. I was excited to have inlaws like that in the future. They loved me as one of their own and I felt that in my bones. My family on the other hand, wasn't so fond of my ex. They knew what was going on behind the scenes.
I was still just trying to do the right thing in the dream too, like how in real life I was trying to salvage any chance of saving the relationship, foolishly putting aside in my mind that I my efforts were completely in vain, and she wasn't gonna change. For some reason in the dream her car was STILL at my house and I was trying to return it to her LOL. I even put a new battery in it and cleaned it out and washed it before driving to return it to her. So strange lol.
I know other people have dreams about their ex's and whatnot. I can't wait until someday I won't have to dream about her, or maybe it won't hurt as bad when I do. Someday I'll find someone who loves me genuinely, and it's not just a word, they show it through their actions. Someday I'll find someone with a healthy idea of conflict resolution, and the ability to take accountability. Someday.
I've never loved another being so much in my life. I didn't know it was humanly possible to feel this strongly about someone. However, I don't regret getting away from her at all. It is the single hardest thing I have EVER done in my life, but I had to do it. I know the thoughts will continue to fade and the dreams will fade into obscurity as well, until then I'm trying to surround myself with friends and people I care about, and share experiences and have dialogue with those in this subreddit. It has helped a lot interacting with some of you! Thank you!
On a side note-Today is a bright day, despite a dark start waking up so emotional from that incredibly vivid dream. This afternoon I'm meeting with someone I haven't seen in years who I used to care deeply for. We had tried dating several years ago but it just wasn't the right time in our lives. We split amicably and I never lost respect for her, she's a complete class act. I'm going into it completely neutral as I don't know what it's gonna be like, but nevertheless I'm excited. The only catch is that it's taking place in the same small town my nex lives in and my anxiety is SUPER high about seeing my nex. I can't let that stop me though. My nex controlled my life enough already, and she's not going to control it anymore. I'm gonna go meet with a legitimately good person who always displayed healthy behaviors and communication in a relationship.... something my nex wouldn't know anything about doing. I'm excited. Brighter days ahead.

Couple years ago, I met an American girl. Very cute, smart, and more affectionate than I've ever experienced. We married, got a kid, and everything seemed fine.
She was always a bit controlling and entitled, but that was fine with me. I brought it up once in a while, when she demanded something extreme, and it never became an issue. And then it started to get worse. Within a year, she dominated every aspect of my life, she told me how to dress, what to eat, which friends I had, and even made me cut out family members, including my dying father.
I couldn't bring it up; she'd just block me, become either non-emotional or over-the-top emotional. She even hit me, several times. I asked for relationship therapy, and she agreed. The next six months were an exercise in futility; everything was my fault, I had to do better, and so forth. I asked what I should do better, and she'd just repeat things that happened before with frightening inaccuracy. I thought it was me who was misremembering.
Then, suddenly, she took my car, and left. She's now suing for custody of our child, since I am "dangerously unhinged" and "violent". I, on the other hand, am in therapy, and got the diagnosis PTSD and narcissistic victim syndrome.
I thought "Wow, I must have exquisite bad luck".
And then my therapist got me in a group of 22 male victims of narcissists. Turns out that 19 had an American wife or girlfriend. I reached out to the other men I know with an American wife (I met quite a few through my wife). I made contact with six, and three are now in custody battles of their own. Number seven killed himself a few months back, when he lost his house, child, and job.
Just to be clear; the single best romantic relationship I know is between an American woman and a non-American man, as is the runner up. But they now appear like the exception, or it's like American women only exist on the extremes of the spectrum.
Can anyone offer any insight in this?

A month ago my car was stolen and totalled. Since then I’ve been agonising over my next car purchase. I’ve never had a car with modern safety features like adaptive cruise control and adaptive lane assist.
I was able to find a hybrid Corolla at msrp and put a deposit in, but now I’m wondering if it makes more sense to spend 8k less and get a 21 Corolla with sense 2.0 while I wait for an affordable car that allows hands free driving on the highway? my commute is about an hour each way with 40 minutes on the highway. I’m prioritising getting a car that reduces the strain of that soul sucking time and keeps me safe. It seems like most major brands have affordable highway hands free cars within the next two years, but I’m wondering if insiders would have any thoughts about that timeframe.
I’m all bent out of shape wondering if I should spend 30k now on the hybrid or just spend 21 with a plan to upgrade to the first Corolla or civic with that tech. What would you do?

Juliet Menton whistled along to the chipper tunes emitted by the radio. She stomped on the gas, selected a higher gear and let the Suburban growl as it accelerated. Large pine trees and rocks zoomed past her, mist hanging in the damp, moist air. She halted at a t-junction, checking her map again though it was pointless as one of the signs at the junction clearly read Forks, 15 miles. Juliet huffed, turning the car in the direction the sign pointed. She rolled though down a window though turning up the heat, drawing the crisp cool Washington air deep into her lungs. The Suburban ventured in between another patch of trees, the radio tuning out crackling static as no signals managed penetrating the thick forests. Typical. Normally she would have easily found some local station to tune into. Juliet growled, shutting off the radio and switched her attention to the cassette player on the dash. She sunk a hand down into the glove box, retrieving a tape. Fingers drumming impatiently on the steer wheel, Juliet inserted the tape into the player and cranked up the volume. Seconds after, the unmistakable opening tunes of Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA croaked out and filled the car. Juliet snorted with a laugh. Perfect song for the occasion, after all she wasn’t in Canada any longer. She turned her gaze beyond the road, attempting to find something interesting to look while she drove. Only trees, rocks and hills meet her eyes, interrupted by a small creek occasionally. Honestly, it wasn’t any worse than the Saskatchewan prairie, only offering fields of oats, wheat and canola interlaced by stretch of unbroken grasslands. Her tongue ran across her eye teeth. She was undeniably thirsty. Stowed away in the trunk were a few bags of animal blood, some of it being deer and elk, other bags cow blood. Juliet closed her eyes, imagine the sweet irony liquid washing down her throat. Her eye teeth finally elongated, shaping into their proper curved, pointed form. she shook her head with annoyance and vanquished her thoughts, her fangs slowly retracting and becoming flat again. It was her father’s fault that she could not just go out and feed right now. He had insisted that she move somewhere and learn to control her desire to drink. Away from the lonesome farm that lay embraced by the fields and great plains. A gleeful smile crept onto her lips. At least she would not have run the deplorable swather in the summer nights with its broken-down air-conditioner that sucked canola pods, chaff and what else into the too often scorching cap. Juliet was much content with leaving that job to her brothers. Her father had built his farm away from humans. It kept them busy enough from journeying to the nearest town to feed. Buildings started to appear out of the low laying mist, mostly bungalows from the early 20th century. Juliet sighed, slowing down from fifty-five to thirty-five miles an hour as she entered the sleepy town. Forks, Washing was not much to look at, though that was compared to the only town, Juliet had ever been to, the town of Ravensfield. It was a small prarie town dotted with grain elevators and cattle merchants. Forks seemed to possess a gloomy gray tint. Perfect for Juliet though as her cool pale skin would likely go less noticed here. She turned down a street, attempting to find the local high school where she was to enroll. She adjusted the brown worn-out pilot jacket, her feet sweaty in her thick hiking boots

Things were exactly how they were described when Anina and her team landed on Zeroria. They had taken two days to prepare for this journey. They spent the first-day watching videos of the first settlers, the Reformers, and how they thought it was survivable for months. After that, they had all the details of how things went back then: Each day, the people of Eligius 2.0 documented their experience on the planet and sent the video to an Alpha station until one day — three months after they first landed — the people began to die. According to the last videos, the possible cause was the air.
Anina took a deep breath before she unstrapped herself from the seat. The other shuttle had landed four hours ago, and the team was waiting for them. Now that the second shuttle, Elegius 098, had landed, the Team A members were coming down off their shuttle and waving at them.
Their shuttle was called Eligius 098, and the other one was called Eligius 099. There were ten of them on each of the ships.
It was designed to survive an alien attack and move fast when chased. It was designed for exploration, too. It had a medical bay, a kitchen, a conference room, the flying patch where everyone would get strapped for flying, and bedrooms that could fit about a hundred people if they used bunk beds but fewer if a person had a room to themselves.
Anina smiled as she watched Candace get out of their shuttle. She was the medical practitioner on Team A, and Dr. Muhammad represented Team B. They had their simple instructions. They need to explore the planet, locate the ship used by the first humans, extract the resources they had with them, and return to Adventurer within seventy-two hours.
“Listen, up,” Parker said. He was standing already and holding a map on a piece of leather in his hand. “Our team is going to find the location of the Eligius 2.0, and we will return with everything we can find. I need the doctor and everyone else to come with me.”
Anina nodded to his instructions. Anina was the only one left to step out of her seat. Piloting the ship wasn’t a joke, after all. Her legs were still jerking. This was her first time landing a ship. Though she had Jerry as her partner, the experience was still wild.
“Anina,” Parker called. “You remain here, and we will go get the items.”
Anina frowned. She had come here to babysit the ship. “No, I’m coming,” she said.
Parker turned to face her fully. “We have two engineers on this ship. We can’t afford to let the two of you out there. It’s too risky.”
Anina glanced at Jerry and felt sad. First, it was because she was a woman. It was because she was still an amateur at piloting the shuttle.
“I will stay,” Jerry intervened. He sat back down and nodded. “You go,” he said to Anina.
“Thank you,” she managed to say with a smile.
Parker glanced at both Anina’s and Jerry’s faces. He wanted to protest but changed his mind and shrugged. “Now listen up,” he said, “Confirm your suits are intact. Your oxygen tank. Before we head out there, you should be sure you are not open to breathing….” As he spoke, he checked himself, looking at all the signals on his wristwatch.
Anina checked her watch, too. Each of the things she needed to check was displayed. The device’s main screen showed the state of her oxygen and mask. When she clicked the button on the side, the watch showed another interface, displaying her location and temperature and what direction would lead to a drop or an increase in temperature.
The temperature inside the shuttle was average at 27°C.
Anina glanced at the inner corner of the Space Shuttle, which showed the outside temperature as — 184 °C.
After the checking, they all joined three cars. Parker and Christian first walked out to see the exterior, then returned to the ship’s garage and stepped into the cybertrucks.
The cyber trucks were cars with super-powered engines. They mainly relied on solar energy from batteries. As said in the years before, they were designed to survive alien attacks. So they were bulletproof. Throwing heavy objects wouldn’t produce any worse damage besides the sound of a heavy object hitting the stainless steel used in creating their bodies.
Anina sat in the back seat of the first car that led the way out of the shuttle with four people in it — Parker, Hernandez, Anina, and another man called Christian, who drove the vehicle. They went in the north direction. First, they would check the ship that had been abandoned for a hundred years. The last humans had a home, too. They would check it and make videos of the situation. Then, they would fetch everything they could get into their cyber trucks. They were meant to bring back parts of the Eligius 2.0 machine, deposits of extracted minerals, recorded research on the extractions, and possibly plant samples. Anina extremely doubted there would be foodstuff, but it could be possible if they were well-preserved and the solar power had kept the machine working for that long.
On the other hand, Team A headed south of the spot they had landed while Anina’s team headed north. Christian was driving while Hernandez and Anina were in the rear seat.
The landscape was a vast plain land of snow and smoke. In the distance, you could see large or tall walls of snow. Some were long and giant and hid the landscape behind them. Parker held onto the map and read it, holding onto the iPad, which had the same video of the first humans on this planet, the same video everyone watched before starting this journey.
After some minutes of driving, Parker got up, opened the top of the cyber truck, and launched a drone. Anina brought out her Ipad from my bag and watched the drone’s direction on the screen.
Everything looked the same. There were hills and mountains all covered in snow. No sign of plants or trees. This place could have been a desert in previous years. But according to the stories, it was the snow that changed everything. The plants and trees would die in the winter and return in the spring. It would only take a week or less for a land area to be filled with trees and bushes.
They continued for an hour or two, driving up and down hills, navigating around rocks and frozen waterscape. They went between gorges and under dark tunnels.
“We are close,” Parker announced two hours later.
Anina stared at the screen again to see what he was talking about, but she couldn’t see anything that showed they were close. There was nothing to show signs that humans ever existed here. The only movement was small blocks of snow falling off from the top of giant or snow-molded rocks. She looked up at Parker and saw him holding onto a telescope.
“Turn left and maintain the lane,” he commanded.
Anina glanced at the front of the car. There were metal pegs with white and yellow and white colored bottoms. These were the ideas they used years back to guide people on which parts to follow and which ones were dangerous. Yellow and white bottom pegs were signs to show it was safe to follow this part.
The cyber truck kept going and drove past the first peg. Then, they came across the next one on the other side of the car. Great. It meant they were on track. The longer they moved, the more pegs they came across. Then gradually, they came to the location of the first humans.
An abandoned ship was there; some feet away was a cave with the USA flag under the entrance.
The cyber truck stopped, and Anina and the other occupant exited the vehicle. It was the first time she stepped out of the car and set foot on the ground. She wasn’t expecting it to be this smooth when she looked down. It wasn’t snowing anymore. Instead, it was like walking on a smooth, slippery, hard glass floor. She was tempted to kneel and tap on it. But this was expected. Everything could freeze this hard if the temperature were slightly above -200 degrees.
Parker came down, too, and the other cyber trucks parked around them in a circle. The occupants of the other vehicles descended, too, and came around in front of the spaceship.
“Listen. Two of us will go into the spaceship to see what’s inside. You wait for our command,” Parker said.
Anina nodded. They all lined in two lines and waited for some feet away from the ship. Its name was Elegius 2.0. It had been abandoned for too long and looked out of shape. It probably used old systems, designs, and machines. Even if it worked, no one could fly it in this group. Not Jerry, not herself. They would need another tutorial to understand it.
Most of the body was covered in heavy snow. Unless they could melt those things, there was no way they could move this ship with the load of ice on it.
“Team A, come in,” Parker commanded through the radio.
Anina started walking into the spaceship that second. She got to the entrance and climbed in through the stairs. She walked through the corridor and some doors and headed to the cockpit. As she went further, it became a lot darker. She turned the lights on on her suit. The light on her glass helmet turned on so she could see better. The suit had other sources of light behind and all over the body. It was a brown colored suit, but with the lights on, it was glowing with yellowish lights.
She got to the door of the pilot control area, pushed the door open, and there, she saw dead devices with cracked screens. She saw abandoned clothes hung on the side of the chamber with name tags. She walked carefully and towards the front. She had read about Eligius 1.0 and 2.0, but it was brief. When she was learning about spaceships, her tutor taught her about Eligius 2.0. She could sit in one of these machines and try her hands at it.
She strolled around the front. She noticed a red light indicator, which showed the red blinking light. The battery was in good condition. She smiled, moved her hand around, and read each button’s description. It differed greatly from their modern version, the new Eligius 098. But it was a lot bigger and required more skills. The modern version was programmed and could maneuver itself when the weather was calm, stable, and predictable, but the Elegius 2.0 wouldn’t.
But who knows? She hadn’t tried one.
She knew the start button, the one in red. It was a lot bigger than the others, and the power sign was on it. She knew it. She wanted to press it.
She did.
The light came on everywhere on the ship.
She smiled, feeling proud of herself. Then, she looked around as the area became bright and lit; everything with an electronic screen came alive.
“Welcome to the Eligius 2.0,” a female voice said, “Please ensure all safety precautions are followed.”
Anina scoffed and stared at the ceiling as if expecting to see the face behind the voice-over. “You are not dead after all,” she said.
The sound of her radio cracked, and she glanced to wait for what Parker had to say. “Thank you for showing you know this ship more than we do. We really need the light. But get your ass down to the store. We have a lot of items to move.”
Anina kept quiet. She was still smiling at herself for keeping the light on.
Parker’s voice broke out of the radio again. “Anina, are you there? Anina, come in.”
She answered her radio. “I’m on my way, Sir.” She turned around and walked off the cockpit.
Then, she heard a loud noise, like something massive falling in the distance. The noise continued for a few seconds, ten or more seconds, before a heavy crash came. It shook the whole place; even the Elegius bounced for a second or two.
​
***
Part Two
If you like Mafia romance, check out Saved on Amazon Kindle.

I would like to receive recommendations or grammatical errors as English is not my first language and I will probably have several mistakes.
First!/Previous!/Next!
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The imposing imperial palace stood imposingly in the heart of the capital city of Burgundy. Inside, Emperor Marcos Alioes VII ruled with an iron hand over the vast Sidereal Empire. Seated on his golden throne, wearing a regal robe and an ornate crown, he embodied power and authority.
Emperor Alioes was a man of steady gaze and serious gestures. He had ascended to the throne after the death of his father and had since further consolidated control of the empire. His vision was clear: to expand the domain of Burgundy through the conquest of new worlds and secure the future of mankind.
In a lavishly decorated meeting room, the Emperor was surrounded by his closest advisors. They were discussing the upcoming mission to the unknown star system, where the presence of an alien species had been discovered.
The advisors presented different views on how to approach this situation. Some advocated cautious diplomacy, while others insisted that the only way to secure resources and territory was through direct military conquest.
The Emperor listened carefully to each opinion, weighing the options and evaluating the possible implications. After a moment of reflection, he raised his hand in silence and pronounced his verdict.
"I hear your words and consider your views," the Emperor began in a firm voice. "However, the time has come for the Sidereal Empire to demonstrate its might and expand its borders. We will not send a diplomatic mission, but we will send our star fleet to take control of that star system and subdue any species that stands in our way."
The announcement left some of the advisors surprised, confused. Others were unmoved, such as the Principal Advisor, and others saw it as an opportunity to enlarge the empire.. But the Emperor allowed no objections and made it clear that his will was irrefutable.
The chapter concluded with Emperor Alioes affirming his determination to expand Burgundy's dominion through force. The shadow of war loomed over the galaxy, and humanity, under the Emperor's leadership, prepared to confront the alien species in a conflict for supremacy.
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Thanks to u/BlueFishcakes for the SSB universe.
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Chapter 18 - When It Rains It Pours
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- 18th of April 2024,13:10, Salem district, Sweden -
Adam finally, in the midst of what had now become a proper rainstorm, reached the outside of Vitsand. Only ten or fifteen minutes ago when Adam had driven past what he believed to be his little brother hand in hand with a shil’ it had just begun raining.
But now it had become a lot more aggressive, fairly quickly at that too, which was lucky for François that it only happened now when Adam was almost at his destination. Thinking of which, he took a right instead of going forward which would have taken him into Vitsand itself. François said he was at the beach nearby, well it was barely a beach considering how tiny it was. The beach could at most hold three families at once especially since there were really only space for three cars on the dirt parking lot there, but. Thanks to how secluded it was, whenever the family had gone there during the summer it was almost always empty and no one besides Adam's family and a couple of the locals even knew it existed.
And Adam now took the last turn he’d need to take before reaching his destination. that being onto a dirt road which went through a small patch of forest until it reached lake Mälaren and the unnamed beach François was currently waiting for Adam at.
Going slowly on the tight dirt road it didn’t take long for Adam to reach the beach and while he stopped just before the beach, on the tiny dirt parking spac, Adam could see something a little peculiar. Something that confirmed a theory he had rolling around in his brain whilst he was driving here.
And that something was a boat, a small fishing boat if Adam had to guess. That had simply been lodged into the beach, now stuck. Which had pretty much confirmed his idea that he had in fact gotten to the beach by boat. And seeing as François didn’t own a boat last time Adam heard anything, much less actually even lived in the area. It was likely stolen, now why François would steal a boat was a mystery, one Adam hoped the man himself could clear up.
Adam turned off the car, and dug out his phone out of his pocket. And just as he was about to call his older brother, there was a knock on the window. While it startled Adam a little he quickly glanced to his right where the knocking sound was emanating from and lo and behold, it was in fact his older brother, François.
After spotting him François quickly opened the red car door and sat himself in the Saab, reasonably so because the weather was fucking ridiculous. “Took you long enough” François said with a sigh, just from his voice anyone could deduce that he was pretty tired.
And another thing he realized as he looked over to his brother who was putting on his seatbelt was that he had a massive red splotch on his right thigh.
As if he had been bleeding there, he had clearly covered it with something , likely a bandage and it didn’t look like it was bleeding but Adam still found it rather concerning, reasonably so. “And what the fuck happened to you then?” He asked, the concern noticeable in his voice.
“Ah… I’ll explain but we need to get fucking going” “And we need to get going right about now because you took longer than I thought you would” François finished as he slumped down into the passenger seat. “Not really my fault but… whatever.” Was Adam’s response before he turned the car back on.
Turning the car back on the headlights lit up the darkness caused by the incredibly dark rain clouds. Adam slowly creaked his way around the tiny dirt parking lot before the car was finally facing the correct direction. Now going back the way he came from not many minutes ago at all, Adam realized he didn’t even know where François was supposed to be taken to.
“Where are you even supposed to be dropped off?” Adam asked, and to his question François, who while Adam was getting away from the parking lot had nearly fallen asleep in only a couple seconds. Jolted up at the question, hitting his knee on the glove compartment in the process. “AAH FUCK!” François all but yelled out. Holding his shaking, bloodied leg he responded after a couple seconds “Aah I mean, I don't really know honestly, I didn’t really think id have to go all the way over here”
“Would dropping you off at mom & dads place work? Also, my first concern would be you seeing a doctor, I don’t know what the fuck you’ve been up to but you clearly hurt.” Adam retorted, a little more serious than prior.
“Sure that's fine…. Also I don’t think that's necessary” His older brother responded as they finally made it out of the little forest and onto the road that would take them down to Salem, away from Vitsand. “I'm only injured in that leg and I think it's only really shrapnel and a big burn, scar, thing? I'm not really sure, I haven't had much time to diagnose what it is.”
“I… I'm not going to ask yet how that happened but are you sure you can handle that yourself without getting an infection?”
“Look, i'm trying to escape here and that would be completely thrown out the window if I went to a hospital now”
“Worst case scenario I go to one in a week, the chance of them knowing who I am then is considerably lower, still not something I want to or plan on doing but it's a last ditch choice I could take.”
“You know mom will probably force you to go to the hospital the moment she sees you like that?” Adam responded with a slight chuckle. Because it was true, to be fair any other sane person would have also done so but their mother was a little special, aggressively caring would probably be the best descriptor Adam could think of regarding his mother, she definitely had character either way.
“Yeah yeah whatever, I’ll deal with it then I've got bigger concerns” François said as Adam saw something he really hoped he wouldn’t on his way down. That being what he believed to be his little brother Andreas and a shil girl roughly the same age as him. Luckily though, They seemed to have sat themselves under a fairly large tree to wait out the storm. And, the boy, who Adam was almost entirely certain was Andreas had his head turned away from the car staring intently at the woman he was with.
However as quickly as he saw them, Adam drove past them. And François either didn’t have the energy to care or simply didn’t register that they were there. Either way, Adam was relieved as that meant he didn’t have to deal with François freaking out. Which he’d had the luck of never doing prior, sure he’d heard his parents deal with him having an episode but he never had to get involved himself. Mainly because all of his mental issues came post-invasion and they hadn’t seen each other much post-invasion. Besides the very early days of the invasion when Adam moved back into his parents house and François also lived there because he had moved there a month or so prior for work in inner-city Stockholm.
This pretty random request has been one of the few this post invasion he’d even texted or called Adam, muchless met in person. Since only a little bit after the invasion François took almost all the money he had and bought a small house with a decent amount of acreage in effectively the middle of nowhere. Meaning, since he’s moved no one’s really seen or heard much from him.
However as they were nearing Salem and there with François drop off point, Adam wanted to know what in the fuck was going on. “So, you said you’d explain…”
“Yeah about that… It's a long story but it's the least I can do I suppose….”
------------------
- 18th of April 2024,13:20, Salem district, Sweden -
Tamarz and her pod landed on the very small, sand beach. The one the suspect who managed to flee, crashed the boat he somehow stole into. How he even managed to go under their, and hundreds of marines' noses was beyond Tamarz and how he then had time to jack a boat, drive it. Slowly mind you, out into the greater part of lake “Malaren” before the data teams even saw any irregularities via satellite was a fucking mystery to everyone including the aforementioned data teams.
Or alternatively, they know how he did it but don’t want to say how because it would prove them incompetent. Either way he had gotten extremely lucky that in the first place, no one found him in the woods, but then that no one spotted his slow limping towards the first town with access to the lake where he then spent, according to data teams, twenty whole fucking minutes getting the engine of the boat he stole to start.
Twenty whole fucking minutes, and during that entire time no one had any fucking idea where he was. And Tamarzs and her pod were still rolling around in that fucking forest trying to find the goddess damned stiff. Tamarz almost wished she didn’t have contact with the data teams, but alas deathsheads are given a lot more freedom to act as they wish and so they, more specifically the pod leader, needs to have quick ways to contact those who collect such information, aka the data teams. Sure she did have a superior but beyond that and the empress herself no one could really get their tits involved in what the fuck she decided to do.
But back to the reality of the situation, at least she could have a little piece of mind knowing the numbskull marines, being several hundred in number covering a fairly large area. Couldn’t find the literal bleeding, limping man who was probably walking for an hour straight before he got the goddess damned boat.
How no one even saw the blood trail was mind boggling. And the only ones who’d thus far even been remotely close to the whore was Tamarz and her little pod of deathsheads. Which to be fair shouldn’t be surprising given that they are you know, deathsheads. But still it irked Tamarz to no end that they still hadn’t caught him. Since it's not like he was an expert, he clearly miscalculated several things which she SHOULD have been able to take advantage of but she missed those in the moment and thus lost the advantage.
At least now they know roughly where he is, because for a little bit no one had any idea where he was. Luckily the data teams managed to get their tusks out of their asses and found him driving away on the boat. But alas, there wasn’t much point dwelling about the past and the small mistakes Tamarz made as a pod leader that made them miss their suspect entirely.
Turning the vic off, Tamarz stepped out, her three pod members following suit. As she stepped out she noticed two things immediately.
One, that it was raining, like a lot. This weather reminded her a lot of Shil itself actually, although this wouldn’t be considered a particularly rainy day back on Shil. Unlike here where this amount of rain was fairly rare from her personal experience. Also that she hadn’t even noticed the rain before stepping out was a bit concerning to herself. She’d been pretty deep in thought and concentrated on the task at hand but surely she would notice if the rain went from zero to a hundred, right?
And second was the boat in question, stranded on the tiny beach they landed on. The suspect, clearly in too much of a hurry to flee, didn't even bother trying to park it or anything; he just crashed it into the beach.
At least it was nice to know that the data teams weren’t just talking out of their ass when they said he crashed it.
One other thing she did realize as she was looking around was the lack of a strong blood trail. Which to be fair, could be because of the rain, especially since Tamarz didn’t really even know for how long the rain had been going on. But still there should be some red residue left on the ground. But there was only a faint streak of red going from the crashed boat to a tree.
And from that tree Tamarz thought she could make out a small red line going to the tiny dirt parking lot, however, if it was blood it was so diluted that she wasn’t sure. How he even made it this far without fainting was also a mystery, since at least according to the experts from prior. He shouldn’t have long at all until he either dies of blood loss or simply goes unconscious.
But deciding not to waste more time than necessary, Tamarz got her move on.
“Mejoxia, Juia, you two do a quick grid search of the small wooded area here to make sure he isn’t hiding here” “Me and Réka will quickly look through the boat to see if there’s anything of interest there”
At that, all three in unison shouted “Ma’am yes Ma’am!” the two who were going to search the woods, turning around to do so. With that Tamarz and rakiri pod mate Réka made the small walk from the parked vic to the boat the terrorist had left stranded at the beach.
The short walk up to the boat was in silence. But as they got onto the rather small boat, they saw quite a lot of things that caught their attention. First of all the blood, his blood, was everywhere. But especially around the driver's seat, where there was also a first aid kit with all of its contents strewn around the drivers seat. Secondly he had opened what Tamarz could only assume was the engine of the boat located under the helm. And there were crossed wires, literally, whilst other wires had seemingly been cut off at random. And two wires had clearly been cut, and then forced to reconnect with something humans call “silver tape”
While Tamarz really had no idea what she was looking at, this was likely how he forced the boat to start in the first place, in order to facilitate his escape. While she was looking around she noticed something, under a table that was between two small couches. There was a rifle, which Tamarz pointed to, quickly alerting Réka to the contraband.
However as she was about to go under the table to retrieve the weapon, she received a call. And the visor in her helmet immediately let her know whom was calling.
It was in fact, her contact within the data-teams, Mrs Ele'ya, Do'ro Ele'ya.
“I will make this call quick since you need to go immediately after it” Do'ro immediately began speaking as soon as Tamarz answered the call. With but a quick paus she continued.
“We have determined the suspects current position to be near the town of Salem, not more than twenty minutes by road from your current position and maybe two or three by flight”
“I’ll send you the exact coordinates but you need to move now, last he was seen by the other data team on “CCTV” footage was in a red car, they’re unsure if he’s driving the vehicle or not so you might have two armed suspects” “Move now, don’t waste time.” And before Tamarz even got a singular word in, not even a “Yes Ma’am” Do'ro turned off the call.
Well as Mrs Ele’ya said, Tamarz better get moving. While it was a little disturbing that this was all getting so close to home, this was Tamarz’s chance to redeem her own pride, and the pride of the empire from some mentally ill primitive….
[Next]

Following is an excellent video, it is a joint trial venture (meaning it is a loss leader) between Nokia and Telefonica Germany, the following video shows:

• Network as a Service (NaaS), development of a key architectural block required to be developed to implement NaaS by the CSP's to be able to offer it to their customer base. Note that the CSP's are attempting to enlarge their product offerings to enterprise level businesses where the system they want to control is spread out geographically or even globally. Most consumers will be unaware that their world is changing around them, people who are developing this world will understand that the "world" is changing. This new network model should enhance the CSP's revenue and definitely increase their profit margins. This new network model will require the CSP's to market, sell, design, organize and hand hold the various enterprises who could benefit from such service. Before approaching the enterprise customer base (many of which do not know this is developing, i.e., the new network model), all key development nodes need to be in place, hardware and software as well as the cost model. When the CSP's approach the customer who are ignorant of all the technical jargon, it will have to be explained to them in an understandable way and the cost and benefits would have to be explained to them in an understandable manner. The change over to intelligent networks and NaaS, will make customers confused and nervous, so data will have to be presented to them to show them it has been tested out for 5 years or more and tested out successfully. This means presently NaaS is a loss leader to Nokia and still in development. Many years from now, and only by hindsight comparison, will most people be aware that the world has changed around them.
• 5G is needed to have interactive customer applications, translated the CSP can charge by quality of service (QOS) variation and needs.
• Reduction in network power consumption of around 7%, so power consumption savings are acheived.
• The Telefonica Germany CSP is gaining experience of the network becoming part of the customer control for large systems. What is often overlooked is the importance of changing the cost model when the market changes drastically or a new market is created. Besides establishing software controls, software defined ports, system parametric performance data, Telefoncia Germany is answering the question, "How do you charge and what is a fair charge for the new network model?"
• 5G is allowing the expectation of today's network to have real time monitoring to be realized. For real time monitoring to be reliable, 4G doesn't allow the user to do this efficiently. Real time monitoring isn't just a RAN issue, it is also a core network issue, bit slicing is an answer by the core network to allow real time monitoring and control. So the whole network is "evolving" or maybe better stated changing. Unlike cell phone implementation, the change though equally radical, doesn't appear as radical as phone conversation with no wire. This network change, which is equally or even more so radical as measured by application impact, will be slow and methodical, every step will be measured, verified and quantified before the next phase is taken. One reason this doesn't appear as radical is you can think of the bodies system, the circulatory system, nervous system, immune system, respiratory system, digestive system, muscular system and etc., each system in it's own is highly technical but doesn't appear "radical" until you put it all together and get a human being or a animal, the end product is radical or fascinating and more than the sum of the parts. Likewise the revolution of the "new network", requires many systems to be developed, hardware system, software system, API, cost model, custom development model and a lot more than I know, each system needs to be developed the radical-ness of the new network will not be understood, demonstrated, witnessed till it all comes together. Meaning, it will take awhile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIRuyqHh1OY
Below is a short link to Nokia AVA (Analytics, Virtualization and Automation).
https://www.nokia.com/networks/bss-oss/ava-open-analytics-framework/
Note that Nokia is leading in the future AVA markets, AVA is a control, monitoring, reporting software base for large, emphasis on large, networks. What Nokia is trying to do with these testing joint ventures is to develop the architecture of the hardware and software (mostly software) architecture to make massive geographical control of a specialized system common place, inexpensive, easy to implement, easy to use (The goal should be that the software is easy enough to use that a dedicated smart individual can self teach themselves to become an expert in the software usage, i.e., they don't necessarily have to have a college education, they can self teach themselves, like some IT experts do not have a college degree and some AutoCad users do not have a college degree) and to create an understandable cost marketing as well as implementation model to all customer levels. Presently ALL the AVA development is a loss leader.
This is also a demonstration of what Pekka means by partnering to develop the future 5G/6G network requirements.
Bottom lines:

• To dominate the future markets isn't cheap when developing the future market in the present market place.
• Network is changing from delivering something (for example delivering voice to smart phones) to Controlling something/s (for example drones, smart cars and smart power grid).
• Most man hours spent in developing the "new network" (both core as well as RAN) will be in software side of technical development (Cloud networking) vs hardware. Hardware development is still important, but most of the cost and effort will slowly switch over to the software side.
• Given the size of the market as well as how quickly the smart market is likely develop AFTER key technical hardware, software nodes, cost and market models are developed, following will be important.
  • Open model is a must, since their will be too many players to be competent to and talk to all players in the market place in the given amount of time as the market place becomes more aware and understands the significance of Cloud networking, Smart Networking, NaaS, 5G, or 6G or what ever you want to call it. Since this is a pervasive technology, it must be recognized that various markets see, think and emphasize the world in a different parameter set. For example, Hollywood thinks different than let us say Wallstreet bankers, what this means is customization is important as well as "working with the customer".
  • Rapid customization of the NaaS model by the customer and CSP for their network must be a must.
  • Rapid and thorough Testing/Trial of the NaaS model which was customized for a given customer base is a must capability.
  • Cost model must be understandable, fair, accountable and easily understood.
  • Flexibility to the end customer must be a must, some customers will want to be in control of everything including API interface and some will want it as a service, both the CSP's as well as Nokia must be flexible and create various cost models to account and allow for various degrees of developing, running and monitoring the NaaS.

Bottom Bottom line:

• The world is changing, including the network model/market.

Arsenal 22/23 A Season Review Part 1 Of 3: August-World Cup: A Stunning Start.
The 2022/23 season is Mikel Arteta’s 3rd full campaign in charge of Arsenal and as well the 3rd of his managerial career. His 1st game in the hot seat came on Boxing Day of 2019, a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth which saw Arsenal drop down a place to 12th in the table. Just a few months into his reign and Arteta was the first high-profile figure in English Football to be diagnosed with Covid-19, the virus which drew the Premier League to a standstill for 3 months and the wider world for a much longer time. It was to empty stadiums which Arsenal played out the remainder of their season which eventually concluded on the 1st of August. An 8th-placed finish was the club’s lowest since 1995. However, there was joy to be found as there so often has been for Arsenal, in the FA Cup. In the one and only Covid FA Cup Final played in front of no spectators Arsenal came from behind to defeat London rivals Chelsea for their record-extending 14th FA Cup, after reaching the final with an unlikely triumph over Manchester City in the semis. Arteta’s first half-season had ended brilliantly and his first full-season started in the same vein with more silverware following as Arsenal defeated Premier League Champions Liverpool to win the Community Shield. Tough times quickly followed and Arteta may have been somewhat grateful for the empty stadiums, as it’s questionable whether the board would have held their nerve and kept faith with such a young manager through this dreadful period had the fans been inside the ground and able to voice their frustrations. On Boxing Day of 2020, not only did Mikel celebrate the 1 year anniversary of his first match in charge, he celebrated a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, his side's first league win for nearly 2 months. It was the first time Saka, Martinelli & Smith Rowe all started a league game together for Arsenal. It was to prove a seminal moment, but it wasn’t enough to move his team up from 15th in the table. It was never so bad again for Arteta and his Arsenal team, with the side eventually settling for a repeat of the previous season’s finish, again coming in 8th. Failure to win the Europa League (exiting the competition to Villarreal in the Semi-Finals, who were incidentally managed by Unai Emery, the manager sacked prior to Arteta taking the job) meant that Arsenal would be without European football for the first time since the 95-96 campaign. And the 21-22 season would begin horribly with Arsenal bottom after 3 matches in which they failed to score and conceded 9 goals. However as the season progressed Arsenal began to find some resilience, quality and self-belief. The sides upheaval came not coincidentally around the time club captain Aubameyang was stripped of that duty before being allowed to depart for Barcelona in the January window. Aubameyang had been the team’s standout performer when winning the FA Cup, but since those performances had seen him rewarded with a new bumper contract which made him by far the club’s best-paid player, his attitude and performance level had become a problem that needed to be dealt with.
More so than any win, it was actually a home defeat to Champions City which perhaps best demonstrated this new Arsenal which was beginning to emerge. They took City on and pushed them all the way only to eventually lose in the 93rd minute, whilst being a man down for the final half-hour with centre-back Gabriel being harshly dismissed. The fight was on with local rivals Tottenham for the final Champions League spot and it was firmly in Arsenal’s hands until a run of 4 defeats in 5 allowed Spurs back into contention. The Gunners appeared to retake control with a run of 4 straight wins before losing tamely away at Spurs and then Newcastle, in the end missing out by 2 points. Throughout the season Arsenal had spells of real high-quality football, and the fans had taken to the project with more passion and belief than they had in the final years of Wenger’s reign or during Unai Emery’s short-lived stint. In the end, though they missed out on the prize of Champions League football due to a combination of injuries to important players and the inexperience of a young group.
Despite the significant setback of missing out on a Champions League spot having held it in their hands for many of the season’s final months, Arsenal still entered the summer of 2022 with plenty of reasons for optimism. Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe had emerged as the real breakout stars of the prior season and Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t too far behind. There had been some clearly smart signings made by the club, in particular, those of Martin Ødegaard and Ben White, signed from Real Madrid and Brighton & Hove Albion respectively. The July purchases of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko for a combined 75M from Manchester City seemed yet more smart business, in them, they had picked up two quality players with four Premier League winners medals each, and both arriving aged 25 they seemed in the perfect age bracket to become big players for Arsenal not just for the immediate but as well the foreseeable future.
Jesus’ Arsenal debut came in a 5-3 friendly win over FC Nurnberg in which he scored twice. He followed this up with another in a 2-0 win over Everton as Arsenal continued their pre-season with a tour of the USA. Arsenal played 3 matches in America and won all 3, by far the most impressive being a 4-0 trouncing of Chelsea. The Gunners made it 5 pre-season wins from 5 when they returned home the following weekend to beat Sevilla 6-0 at the Emirates, a hattrick from Jesus meaning he had netted 7 goals in his first 5 appearances in Arsenal colours. Arsenal would get the Premier League season underway away at Crystal Palace, under the Friday night lights of Selhurst Park. No Premier League side would have envied them this difficult fixture, Arsenal had experienced just how tough it was 4 months prior when a 3-0 loss away at the ground began a torrid run of results for the Gunners. Arsenal had also begun the previous season away on a Friday night and come unstuck against newly promoted Brentford. Again Arsenal was straight back under the Premier League spotlight to see whether they had grown and matured from such damaging defeats last season. The Arsenal quickly proved they were up to the test, starting right on the front foot and keeping Palace penned back in their own third. Jesus immediately highlighted the new dimension he was going to bring to Arsenal’s attack, when his strength and then neat dribbling fashioned a great chance out of nothing, a chance Martinelli should have done much better with, his side-foot finish going the wrong side of the post with the goal gaping. The Brazilian would make up for it in the 20th minute when a corner was headed into the six-yard box by Zinchenko, who was picked out by Saka to deliver a free header. His head found Martinelli’s and from close range, he was able to notch Arsenal’s first of the league campaign. That was to be the only goal in the game for the next hour, but despite Arsenal’s slender lead they rarely looked in danger of being pegged back. On the instances that keeper Aaron Ramsdale was called into action, he was ready and dealt with Palace’s occasional threats soundly. The game was put beyond Crystal Palace in the 85th minute when Bukayo Saka’s dangerous ball across the six-yard box was headed into his own net by Guehi. This made certain of 3 richly deserved points for the Gunners.
Jamie Carragher for one was particularly impressed with the start Arsenal made to the game saying afterwards: “Arsenal played like a big team. When I say a big team, I’m talking about a Man City or Liverpool, a team who wherever they go, dominate the opposition. I felt like we were watching City or Liverpool in that first 20 minutes, half an hour.” Fellow Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville was more impressed with Arsenal in the second half saying: “The question mark about Arsenal will be whether they’ve got that robustness and resilience, physicality to get through that difficult 15 or 20 minute periods in away matches, and they got through that (tonight) and that impressed me.” Saliba was also singled out for praise with Carragher adding: “He looked the real deal. He adds something, we’ve always felt they were weak, at Brentford last season they got bullied and here last season, his physical stature will certainly help them in tough away games.”
Arsenal’s first home league game of the season was against Leicester City. The opening goal began with Jesus tormenting Johnny Evans tight to the touchline, after beating him he fed Martinelli who was able to get into the penalty area and find Xhaka, the Swiss international touched it first time back into Jesus who took a touch to steady himself then teased it over the head of Ward in the Leicester goal and into the net. It was an angle he had no right to try from, let alone score from but such was the Brazilian forwards confidence in front of the goal he fancied his chances from anywhere. The goal was nominated for Premier League goal of the month. Jesus got his second to double Arsenal’s advantage in the 35th minute, this time in a much simpler fashion. A corner across the six-yard box was not dealt with, a Leicester head on it only sped up its path to Jesus who was waiting to nod home from practically on the goal line.
Later in the first half, Leicester thought they had a way back into the game when referee Darren England pointed to the spot having judged Ramsdale to have brought down Jamie Vardy. However VAR advised him to check the monitor, and after re-watching the incident it was clear there was no contact made and the penalty decision was reversed. Leicester did still manage to half their deficit early in the second half though, a long ball was flicked on leaving Saliba in a difficult situation to deal with. Ramsdale was advancing but wouldn’t get there first and Vardy was waiting on the French defender’s shoulder, leaving him no alternative but to try and head the ball clear whilst facing his own goal. He only succeeded in diverting it into the net. This could have been a moment when the Arsenal crowd got nervous and frustrated. They had allowed a soft goal and their youngest defender was at fault. However the crowd immediately rallied behind Saliba and his teammates, he and the team needed help putting that mistake behind them and the crowd’s noise in the aftermath of conceding will have been reassuring to the players.
Demonstrating this, Arsenal went straight up the other end and scored, Ward made a meal of a cross, dropping it at the feet of Jesus who squared for Xhaka. The Swiss midfielder was being deployed in a new, more adventurous role where he was spending more time in the opposition box, he got his reward for this new tactic with a simple tap-in from right in front of the goal. Leicester would again reduce the home team’s lead to one however when Iheanacho found Maddison, who was able to shoot straight through Ramsdale. The young English keeper will have been disappointed at being so easily beaten from such an angle, his wide-open legs presenting the opportunity to the Leicester midfielder. Again Arsenal immediately responded to the setback by going up the other end and scoring again. This move began with Martinelli winning the ball back and feeding Ødegaard who moved the ball on to Jesus, who carried it forward before finding Martinelli who shot low from outside the box, he beat the outstretched Ward and hit the bottom corner, with the ball hitting the inside of the post on its way in. It had been a good day at the office for Arsenal and a great day for Gabriel Jesus, though despite scoring 2 and assisting the other 2 of Arsenal’s 4 goals, according to his manager Jesus left the field disappointed because: “he thinks he should have scored 4, that’s the sort of mentality you need. I wouldn’t like to play against him. He’s so mobile, intuitive, sharp and proactive in any moment or phase of the game.”
Arsenal next travelled to newly promoted Bournemouth. It took The Gunners just 5 minutes to take the lead and again it came from the phenomenal centre-forward play of Gabriel Jesus. A loose touch from White saw the ball launch high into the air, the Brazilian reacted first, beautifully controlling the ball whilst at the same time using his considerable body strength to hold off the Bournemouth midfielder, with exceptional balance he then dribbled around two other Bournemouth shirts until he was on the edge of the box facing their defence, with a lovely disguised pass he then fed Martinelli who was free to his left, his shot was saved but it fell straight at the feet of new captain Martin Ødegaard who was on hand to notch his first of the season. Rightfully though the praise went to Jesus with commentator Alan Smith saying: “You won’t see a better example of centre forward play than this.”
Ødegaard had to wait just 6 more minutes for his second of the season, a cross along the floor from White found Jesus who was free, his first touch wasn’t the best but it allowed it to set up nicely for the Norwegian to strike first time, which he duly did and the ball flashed into the net. Early in the second half and Arsenal had a third goal, with Xhaka setting it back to Saliba just inside the penalty area. Saliba struck it beautifully the first time, keeping his shot down under the bar and too perfectly placed for the keeper to do anything about. It was just Saliba’s second goal in senior football but he had finished it with the class and composure of a player who had scored 200. The strike drew Zinchenko to his knees, clutching his head in disbelief at the quality of the finish and unsurprisingly it was voted as Arsenal’s goal of the month. Jesus thought he’d netted Arsenal’s 4th but a VAR check ruled the goal out for offside, so the North Londoners had to settle for a 3-0 win in what had been an excellent away performance.
The Arsenal faced more newly promoted opposition the following week, this time back at home against Fulham for Arteta’s 100th Premier League game in charge. They would be without Zinchenko and Partey who had picked up injuries and were replaced by Tierney and Elneny respectively. The best chance of the first half went to Saka who got beyond his marker to face Leno one-against one, but he was unable to beat the keeper. It would be Fulham who took the lead however with Arsenal falling behind for the first time in the season. From the full-back position, Saka flighted a ball into Gabriel, who unnecessarily played himself into trouble. He never seemed to have the ball truly under his spell, and his second touch invited Mitrovic to try and take it off him, the defender then got his body positioning wrong, and failed to protect the ball allowing the forward to nick it from behind him and then the Serb was able to keep his composure and finish past Ramsdale.
Fulham’s lead lasted just 8 minutes, Martin Ødegaard lodging Arsenal’s response. There was a degree of good fortune about the goal, with a big deflection on the strike. But there was no doubt the Norwegian had deserved it, he was having an outstanding game with all of Arsenal’s danger coming through him. He was constantly creating, with inventive passes and dribbling runs. In this instance, a clever stepover had bought him the space for the shot. Ødegaard continued to lead Arsenal’s push for a winner with he, in particular, deserving to be on the winning side, and the winner did come though not until the 86th minute. Leno failed to deal with a corner, missing his attempted punch clearance and the ball fell at the feet of Gabriel who was able to gain the perfect redemption for his earlier error by securing all 3 points for his side. The goal kept Arsenal at the top of the Premier League as they remained the only team with a 100% record.
Arsenal finished August with another home game, facing Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. This presented Arsenal with a chance to win their opening 5 league games for the first time since 2004. Saka passed up a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the ideal start when Martinelli’s cross found him completely free at the back post, it was set up perfectly for Saka to hit on the volley, which he did but he got too under the ball and lifted it horribly high and wide from inside the six-yard box. An Arsenal opening goal felt inevitable however and it came on the half-hour mark when Emi Martinez could only push out an Xhaka shot as far as Gabriel Jesus, who was on hand to punish him. Martinez did go someway to redeeming himself later in the half with an excellent stop to deny a brilliant half-volley from Martinelli from 25 yards out.
Arsenal dominated the first half and continued their domination in the second but could not increase their advantage, it was instead Aston Villa who got the second goal of the game, in a somewhat controversial fashion. A corner from Douglas Luiz went straight into the net with Ramsdale unable to reach the ball due to his path being completely blocked by Kamara, who also limited the keepers’ movement by having both arms wrapped around his back. The goal stood but Arsenal cancelled it out in their own way, by going straight up the Villa end and retaking the lead. Saka coolly picked out Martinelli who struck it the first time on the half volley, Martinez clawed desperately at the ball but could not prevent it from going over his goal line and The Gunners were able to see the victory out. Arsenal’s player of the month was unsurprisingly Gabriel Jesus with 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games. Arsenal’s maximum points after 5 games saw Mikel Arteta pick up Premier League manager of the month.
Arsenal started September with a chance to go 4 points clear of City in 2nd, after just six games. Standing in their way was Manchester United who would be hosting the Gunners at Old Trafford, a ground Arsenal had only won at once in the league since 2006, that one as well being without fans during the Covid season. Arsenal was boosted by the return of Zinchenko but had to start with their 3rd choice midfielder Sambi Lokonga for the Partey role after Elneny had followed the Ghanaian onto the treatment table. Regardless of the blow, Arsenal appeared to have made the ideal start when Saka threaded the needle and put Martinelli clean through on goal. The Brazilian finished brilliantly to give Arsenal the lead, but VAR advised the referee to have a look at a potential foul in the build-up. On review, the referee judged Ødegaard to have won the ball from Eriksen unfairly and chalked the goal off. The intervention made by Lee Mason on VAR was later judged by a Premier League review to be an incorrect one, the minimal contact not penalised in real-time by the ref was judged not to be a clear or obvious error. The review came too little and too late as far as Arsenal were concerned as they’d lost their lead and instead found themselves trailing at half-time after a good move from United culminated in a debut goal for Antony who finished past Ramsdale.
VAR’s intervention in the Arsenal goal was always likely to prove a vital one as remarkably United had not lost at Old Trafford when leading at half-time since 1984. This showed the size of Arsenal’s task going into the second half, but they continued to probe and ask questions of United and they got their equaliser on the hour mark when the ball broke to Saka in the penalty area after Ødegaard had looked to thread one through to Jesus. United dealt with that immediate threat but could only clear as far as Saka who slotted through the legs of Martinez for his first of the season. Arsenal looked to be in the ascendancy, but they were only level for 6 minutes. Overcommitting bodies forward left them without a midfield and after winning it back United was able to counter-attack with Bruno Fernandes who looked and found Rashford in behind the defence and he put United back in front. Arteta reacted immediately by looking to chase the game, giving a debut to summer recruit Fabio Vieira. The changes appeared to backfire however as Arsenal were left with even fewer defensive bodies on the field and in the 75th minute they were cut through once more, with Eriksen and Rashford both left in acres of space as United hit Arsenal once more on the counter-attack. It was a horrible goal for Arsenal to concede, it reminded of the worst years of Wenger with everyone so committed to attacking they had no thought for defending. Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season going down 3-1.
There were some positives to take in how confidently and capably they had passed the ball around, however, United had defended their penalty area very well and counter-attacked effectively. The frustration for Arsenal was how they had helped them in that regard, by leaving key areas of the midfield devoid of players. Partey had been very badly missed, and to a lesser extent so had Elneny whose defensive intelligence would not have seen him vacate his position as often as Lokonga did. The third goal conceded was perhaps the responsibility of Arteta who had gone all out attack mode too early, given the counter-attacking success United were already enjoying.
Arsenal got the chance to put the defeat behind them 4 days later when they began their Europa League campaign. They were placed in Group A alongside PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt and FC Zurich, and would kick off against the latter away in Switzerland. Summer signings Matt Turner and Marquinhos made their competitive debuts, and Vieira would make his full debut. Arsenal did some counterattacking of their own in the 16th minute when Vieira found Nketiah who travelled down the wing before playing a great ball across the box which found Marquinhos who expertly finished the first time into the top corner. The hosts equalised on the verge of half-time however when Nketiah was judged to have committed an offence in his own penalty box. The death of the Queen being announced during the first half led to the unusual circumstance of a minute’s silence taking place before the second half. When it did kick off, Arsenal regained the lead in the 62nd minute through Nketiah who was found with a delightful ball by Marquinhos who had made a fine debut. That’s how the score remained. Arsenal would not be in Premier League action that weekend, with their home game against Everton being postponed due to the Queen’s passing. Also delayed was their home game against PSV the following week, so the team were not back in action until 10 days after the Zurich game when they travelled to Brentford.
Arsenal dominated the games opening and took a deserved lead in the 17th minute when Saliba’s header from a corner struck the inside of the post on its way over the line. Just shy of the half-hour mark and Arsenal had their second, again with a header, this time it was Gabriel Jesus who rose to meet Xhaka’s perfectly placed ball. The Gunners then got the ideal start to the second half, when Vieira, making his first start in the Premier League in place of the unavailable Ødegaard, struck a beauty out of nowhere from well outside the box for Arsenal’s September goal of the month. Arsenal was in cruise control, always looking like the more likely team to score whilst barely giving Brentford sight of their goal. In the final minutes, Ethan Nwaneri came on for his Arsenal debut, aged 15 years and 181 days he became the youngest player to ever appear in the Premier League. After the match, Brentford Manager Thomas Frank was one of the first to tip Arsenal for a title challenge saying: “I think they will do brilliantly. I think they compete for the title now.” Xhaka was the resounding winner of Arsenal player of the month picking up 83% of the votes. A once deeply unpopular player, his turnaround best exemplified the strides in the right direction Arsenal were taking.
After the international break, Arsenal returned to action in the North London Derby against hated rivals Tottenham. Arsenal went into the fixture just one point above their opponents. Spurs were content to let Arsenal have possession whilst aiming to contain them and spring counterattacks. They kept Arsenal at bay until the 20th minute when Thomas Partey shot from over 20 yards out and hit it so perfectly that Lloris couldn’t get so much as a fingertip to it, the ball flew past him into the net for Arsenal’s goal of the month. Spurs responded in the 31st minute however after a good counterattack between the front three of Kane, Son and Richarlison saw the latter presented with a chance to cross from inside the penalty area and Arsenal did not effectively deal with the situation, a loose touch from Xhaka put his side back in trouble and Gabriel was panicked into conceding a penalty. Kane stepped up and of course, scored for the 7th time from the spot against Arsenal. This sent the sides in at the break-level pegging.
Arsenal regained the upper hand early in the second half after a shot by Saka was spilt by Lloris to his centre-half Romero who, under pressure from Jesus, looked to return it to the French keeper. Lloris missed the ball, it travelled under his body and then Jesus reacted first to poach it home. Spurs hopes of drawing level for a second time were damaged when Emerson Royal was shown a straight red card in the 62nd minute for a stupid and unnecessarily bad tackle on Martinelli. Arsenal quickly punished this ill discipline getting their third 5 minutes afterwards, with Granit Xhaka rifling past Lloris. At this stage Conte retreated to avoid a hammering, he accepted defeat and took off his offensive players, bringing on defenders to ensure the score line didn’t get embarrassing and Arsenal saw out a comfortable 3-1 derby win. Arsenal next returned to Europa League action putting Bodo/Glimt to the sword with a 3-0 win, goals coming from Nketiah, Holding and Vieira, the latter after brilliant footwork in the box from substitute Jesus.
Next up for Arsenal was another tough test at home against Liverpool. With a win, Arsenal would return to the top of the Premier League. Arsenal had faced Liverpool 4 times the previous season, failing to win any, losing 3 times including twice at home. They had also failed to even score against Liverpool in their last 6 meetings with them, but they needed just 58 seconds on this day, with Saka finding Ødegaard, whose ball between Van Dijk and Alexander Arnold put in Martinelli who finished beyond Alisson. Liverpool recovered well from the nightmare start however and was the better team from that point until they got their deserved equaliser in the 34th minute through Darwin Nunez. It was Arsenal however who went into half-time with the lead when Martinelli led a brilliant counter-attack from a Liverpool set piece, finally taking out both Arnold and Henderson by cutting inside and finding an unmarked Saka who slid in to put his team back in the ascendancy.
Again Liverpool responded well, equalising for a second time early in the second half through Roberto Firmino. From that point on though Arsenal found another level, they searched feverishly for a winning goal, looking to pass Liverpool to death and calving many openings. The noise inside the Emirates had reached deafening decibels as the fans urged their team on. The golden chance came with just under 15 minutes to go when Thiago was judged to have caught the back of Jesus’s foot inside the penalty area, having been beaten to the ball by the striker. Saka stepped up and held his nerve, confidently dispatching an excellent spot kick. Arsenal held out for what was in the end a deserved win after an excellent second-half display. In a decision that had raised a few eyebrows, Tomiyasu had been drafted in for a first league start of the season to go into an unfamiliar left-back position, the move paid dividends as the Japanese international had a fine game up against Mo Salah. The result put Arsenal 14 clear of Liverpool who had endured a dreadful start to the season.
“These are broad shoulders, this is courage. A sporting moment in time. Bukayo Saka.. Such poise! such noise!” – Peter Drury as Saka beats Alisson Becker from the penalty spot.
Four days later Arsenal made it 3 wins from 3 in the Europa, with an away win in Norway on the artificial pitch of Bodo/Glimt. A sole goal from Bukayo Saka was enough after he got on the end of a one-two with Lokonga. His initial shot was blocked by a defender but the ball then deflected in after coming back off the Arsenal winger. Bodo calved out many good chances for themselves but was let down by woeful finishing, squandering chance after chance by blazing high and wide of the target. Arsenal then returned to Premier League action at Elland Road against Leeds, though 40 minutes behind schedule after a power outage just after the game had initially kicked off caused the game to need restarting once power had returned.
Again Saka was the only man to get himself on the scoresheet, his goal coming after Jesus had passed up a golden chance to open the scoring failing to hit the net from close range after Ødegaard had found him with a backheeled flick. Jesus attempted to lift the ball over the keeper, but he lifted it too high and it ended up over the crossbar. Arsenal did not let Leeds off a second time however and punished them after a sloppy cross-field pass from Leeds midfielder Rodrigo only found Saka who headed it into Ødegaard’s path. Ødegaard’s return pass then asked a lot of the winger, but his speed allowed him to reach the ball first. Saka was faced with a tight angle, but it didn’t phase him one bit and he picked out the top corner hitting it high into the roof of the Leeds net.
The second half was full of drama, first when Bamford thought he’d equalised but was instead penalised for a foul on Gabriel. The Leeds striker received a second chance though when Saliba was found guilty of a handball in the box after the referee had checked the monitor. Ramsdale guessed correctly in his dive, but in the end, he wasn’t required as Bamford’s penalty went wide of the post. Arsenal continued to suffer in the second half, struggling to cope with the Leeds onslaught and maintain their slender advantage. Through fatigue and pressure from the home side, Arsenal had lost all ability to pass the ball and could do little else but stay in their own half and try to defend. Ramsdale proved his worth to this Arsenal side with his best performance of the season to date, right when his team needed him most. It appeared as though Arsenal had got the job done when crazily they conceded a second penalty of the half in additional time. Patrick Bamford was nowhere near the ball which was safely back with Ramsdale when Gabriel was penalised for a kick out in the box on the Leeds forward. As well as a penalty, the Brazilian centre-back was also dismissed. However on a VAR review, it was clear that Bamford had fouled Gabriel first, barging him to the floor, so rightfully the decision was reversed and Gabriel’s red card was rescinded. Arsenal held on to a win they’d scarcely deserved and it proved an even bigger win later that day when City lost at Anfield meaning The Gunners stayed 4 points clear after 10 games.
The following Thursday Arsenal were back in action in the Europa League. They were originally scheduled to host Manchester City in the league that mid-week, but the Queens’ death led to the postponement of Arsenal’s fixture with PSV, and it was re-arranged to this game week. Arsenal battered their Dutch visitors, in the end mustering 25 shots to Eindhoven’s 4. As was often the case Saka and Jesus were the standout performers. The young English winger was unstoppable in his direct dribbling runs, unstoppable that is without resorting to fouling, which PSV defenders did time and time again after being skinned by Saka’s great ball control when running at speed. Jesus was similarly dangerous, doing his usual thing of fashioning chances out of nowhere with his quick thinking and somehow even quicker feet. In the end, though the deadlock was broken by Xhaka in the 70th minute when Tomiyasu found him in space 15 yards from the goal. He hit the shot down into the ground and it bobbled just at the right time to go under the keeper and past him.
Next Arsenal travelled to struggling Southampton looking to make it 9 straight wins across the Premier League and Europa. They started fast, and when Xhaka finished off White’s cross with a brilliant volley into the back of the net in the 11th minute, it looked like it would be a case of how many, as it wasn’t the first good chance Arsenal had created. For the first 20 minutes, Southampton couldn’t get out of their own half, Ødegaard cleverly found Jesus with a lifted return pass but his volley was straight at Bazunu in the Saints goal. Jesus was in again after a long ball flighted over the head of Caleta-Car putting the Brazilian clean through until the defender dragged him back using both arms. There seemed to be enough contact for 3 separate penalties in there, but unbelievably the referee Robert Jones didn’t point to the spot and nor did VAR intervene. One of the most inexplicable decisions of the season, and that’s saying something, meant that Arsenal went in at the break only a single goal to the good.
The Southampton defence must have felt encouraged from not being penalised inside the box, as the fouling continued on Jesus outside the box for much of the second half, Lyanco getting away with man-handling Arsenal’s striker time and time again, wrapping both arms around his body whenever the ball was anywhere near the Brazilian. Jones did not however ignore perceived ‘diving’ from Saka showing him a yellow card for simulation, even though there did appear to be some contact. A one-sided refereeing performance and poor finishing from Arsenal allowed the home team back into the game and they got the equalising goal with 25 minutes to go through Armstrong after a swift move cut through Arsenal’s defence. In the 78th minute, Ødegaard thought he’d put Arsenal back in front but Tierney had just carried the ball beyond the line before he was able to cut it back into his captain’s path.
The Gunners had to settle for a point and an end to their winning run, paying the price for not scoring more in the first half. As they began to tire in the second half Southampton calved out some good chances of their own, but there’s no doubt the visitors were also harmed by a dire refereeing performance. The dropped points cut Arsenal’s lead at the top down to two. Another away game followed for The North London side as next they travelled to Eindhoven. With 2 group games remaining, they needed just 1 more win to secure the top spot which would mean they progressed straight through to the final 16, without the need for a playoff game. However Arsenal’s performance was poor, PSV were the better team for 90 minutes and good value for their 2-0 win.

Hey guys, so I am new to the tuning and after market car parts. I currently own a 2019 c220d, and although it has a nice AMG trim and a beautiful matte grey. I would like an engine upgrade. After extensive research online I decided to go for an m440i, as the cla 45’s engine does not sound interesting at all, and a c63 or an m4 are still out of reach. Especially since the c63 has been appreciating in price. So my questions are, what is the way to go for an engine tune up? And how can I make it sound better? I will be buying it second hand from Germany so I might not have the luxury of picking an M exhaust. From my research online I found that fi exhaust sounded really nice, but do I need to change the entire exhaust system? Or just the muffler and cat pipe, I don’t really understand. I would also like to have the valves control. As for the tune up I believe an bm3 flash is the way to go? With an exhaust change and a tune up could I be looking at 500hp?
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