Hello all. I’m looking for a 18+ long term semi detailed rp M4F based on a few animes. Naruto, MHA, DBZ, One Piece, Fairy Tail, Black Clover, or even a Slice of Life rp like Quintessential Quintuplets, Rent a Girlfriend Horimiya More Than a Married Couple Less Than Lovers and so on or Harry Potter Rp. I prefer for Harry Potter or the animes to be cannon characters but OCs can be negotiated. For these RPs I prefer if they were a mix of romance and adventure in order to keep things interesting and I would prefer if you could write a minimum a paragraph if possible.
Some characters I’m looking for
Naruto-Sakura, Ino, Tsunade, Kushina
MHA-Momo, Uraraka, Miriko, Midnight, Mt Lady, Mina
DBZ-Chi-Chi, Bulma, 18
One Piece-Nami, Yamato, Uta
Fairy Tail-Lucy, Mirajane, Juvia, Erza
Black Clover-Noelle
Quintessential Quintuplets-Nino, Miku, Ichika, Itsuki, Yotsuba
Rent a Girlfriend-Chizaru
Horimiya-Hori
More Than a Married Couple-Akari
Digimon-Mimi, Sora, Kari
HP-Hermione, Ginny

I’ve known my “best friend” for six, seven years now and the entire time I’ve been friends with her she’s been lazy, rude and negative.
I understand not wanting to do things sometimes or being negative some days, but this is every single fucking day. I’ve always tried to ask her to do activities with me; go to the gym, go out on runs, go on walks down trails, go shopping and just generally hang out but there’s always always always three things that happen; she can’t be bothered and just refuses to do anything because it’s “boring”, she agrees to come but then cancels last minute because “she didn’t set her alarm” or she actually comes and just complains the entire time.
I’ve tried really hard to be her friend and encourage her to do more but she’s just lazy and negative. We went to a concert to see Harry Styles who we both love and she did nothing but complain the entire time and it make my experience worse.
Just to show you how bad of a friend she is, it’s my friend birthday soon and I bought her tickets for us to go see Harry Styles again on the day of her birthday, it’s my birthday today and I just turned 20 (she’s also 20 soon) and she didn’t even take the day off of work to do something with me. I don’t care if she gets me nothing, it’s the fact that she can’t be arsed to even plan just to see me for my birthday. Especially, since I only see her literally every two years even though she lives 5 minutes away, but she can never be bothered to do anything together.
There’s a bunch more incidents like this, such as me asking her to see a movie and her saying “she can’t sit for that long” when she sits in her ass at work for multiple hours a day.

I was in the last race for the last main menu book last night, it was the night race at nurburgring and my visuals were atrocious! Mostly everything was blurry, even the white line for the track map was bleeding HEAVILY into the usual darker background, making it very difficult to even know where I was in the track. Even cars in front of me were blurry. The "sweet spot" on the goggles was non-existent, complete opposite of day time driving. I must have some settings wrong - has anyone else experienced this? Full disclosure - I only bought GT7 2 weeks ago, when the game first boots and asks you to adjust brightness and whatnot, I had the VR headset on and the adjustments did not matter - i.e. no matter how bright or dark I made it, the black and gray checkerboard remained the same visually. Perhaps I moved the bar all the way left or right and it's throwing off the color balance, hopefully I can just change that setting later today and that will be the fix. Has anyone else experienced this?

Time to Vote in the April 2023 Book of the Month Poll. We had a lot of great nominations so we have 6 choices this time instead of the usual 5. The poll is open until March 27, 2022 11:59PM PDT. The winner will be announced on March 28th. If you are not a member of our Fantasy Goodreads Group, you will need to join. Added advantage of joining? You can connect with more Fantasy members and check out what they are reading! (Stop by the Introduce yourself post to see who is who).
This month's theme is Prologues and Epilogues. Here are our nominees:

Weyward by Emilia Hart

I am a Weyward, and wild inside.
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family's grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart's Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.

The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley

Two mothers—a suburban housewife and a battle-hardened veteran—struggle to protect those they love in this modern retelling of Beowulf.
From the perspective of those who live in Herot Hall, the suburb is a paradise. Picket fences divide buildings—high and gabled—and the community is entirely self-sustaining. Each house has its own fireplace, each fireplace is fitted with a container of lighter fluid, and outside—in lawns and on playgrounds—wildflowers seed themselves in neat rows. But for those who live surreptitiously along Herot Hall’s periphery, the subdivision is a fortress guarded by an intense network of gates, surveillance cameras, and motion-activated lights.
For Willa, the wife of Roger Herot (heir of Herot Hall), life moves at a charmingly slow pace. She flits between mommy groups, playdates, cocktail hour, and dinner parties, always with her son, Dylan, in tow. Meanwhile, in a cave in the mountains just beyond the limits of Herot Hall lives Gren, short for Grendel, as well as his mother, Dana, a former soldier who gave birth as if by chance. Dana didn’t want Gren, didn’t plan Gren, and doesn’t know how she got Gren, but when she returned from war, there he was. When Gren, unaware of the borders erected to keep him at bay, ventures into Herot Hall and runs off with Dylan, Dana’s and Willa’s worlds collide.

Smiler's Fair by Rebecca Levene

Yron the moon god died, but now he's reborn in the false king's son. His human father wanted to kill him, but his mother sacrificed her life to save him. He'll return one day to claim his birthright. He'll change your life.
He'll change everything.
Smiler's Fair: the great moving carnival where any pleasure can be had, if you're willing to pay the price. They say all paths cross at Smiler's Fair. They say it'll change your life. For five people, Smiler's Fair will change everything.
In a land where unimaginable horror lurks in the shadows, where the very sun and moon are at war, five people - Nethmi, the orphaned daughter of a murdered nobleman, who in desperation commits an act that will haunt her forever. Dae Hyo, the skilled warrior, who discovers that a lifetime of bravery cannot make up for a single mistake. Eric, who follows his heart only to find that love exacts a terrible price. Marvan, the master swordsman, who takes more pleasure from killing than he should. And Krish, the humble goatherd, with a destiny he hardly understands and can never accept - will discover just how much Smiler's Fair changes everything.

Thistlefoot by GennaRose Nethercott

The Yaga siblings--Bellatine, a young woodworker, and Isaac, a wayfaring street performer and con artist--have been estranged since childhood, separated both by resentment and by wide miles of American highway. But when they learn that they are to receive a mysterious inheritance, the siblings are reunited--only to discover that their bequest isn't land or money, but something far stranger: a sentient house on chicken legs.
Thistlefoot, as the house is called, has arrived from the Yagas' ancestral home in Russia--but not alone. A sinister figure known only as the Longshadow Man has tracked it to American shores, bearing with him violent secrets from the past: fiery memories that have hidden in Isaac and Bellatine's blood for generations. As the Yaga siblings embark with Thistlefoot on a final cross-country tour of their family's traveling theater show, the Longshadow Man follows in relentless pursuit, seeding destruction in his wake. Ultimately, time, magic, and legacy must collide--erupting in a powerful conflagration to determine who gets to remember the past and craft a new future.

Orconomics by J Zachary Pike

Professional heroes kill and loot deadly monsters every day, but Gorm Ingerson's latest quest will be anything but business as usual.
Making a Killing in Professional Heroics
The adventuring industry drives the economy of Arth, a world much like our own but with more magic and fewer vowels. Monsters’ hoards are claimed, bought by corporate interests, and sold off to plunder funds long before the beasts are slain. Once the contracts and paperwork are settled, the Heroes’ Guild issues a quest to kill the monster and bring back its treasure for disbursement to shareholders.
Life in The Shadows
Of course, while professional heroics has been a great boon for Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and all the other peoples of light, it's a terrible arrangement for the Shadowkin. Orcs, Goblins, Kobolds, and their ilk must apply for to become Noncombatant Paper Carriers (or NPCs) to avoid being killed and looted by guild heroes. Even after getting their papers, NPCs are treated as second class citizens, driven into the margins of society.
An Insane Quest
Gorm Ingerson, a Dwarven ex-hero with a checkered past, has no idea what he's getting himself into when he stands up for an undocumented Goblin. His act of kindness starts a series of events that ends with Gorm recruited by a prophet of the mad goddess Al'Matra to fulfill a prophecy so crazy that even the Al'Matran temple doesn't believe it.
Money, Magic, and Mayhem
But there’s more to Gorm’s new job than an insane prophecy: powerful corporations and governments, usually indifferent to the affairs of the derelict Al’Matran temple, have shown an unusual interest in the quest. If his party of eccentric misfits can stop fighting each other long enough to recover the Elven Marbles, Gorm might be able to turn a bad deal into a golden opportunity and win back the fame and fortune he lost so long ago.

A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon

In A Day of Fallen Night, Samantha Shannon sweeps readers back to the universe of Priory of the Orange Tree and into the lives of four women, showing us a course of events that shaped their world for generations to come.
Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger generation is starting to question the Priory's purpose.
To the north, in the Queendom of Inys, Sabran the Ambitious has married the new King of Hróth, narrowly saving both realms from ruin. Their daughter, Glorian, trails in their shadow – exactly where she wants to be.
The dragons of the East have slept for centuries. Dumai has spent her life in a Seiikinese mountain temple, trying to wake the gods from their long slumber. Now someone from her mother's past is coming to upend her fate.
When the Dreadmount erupts, bringing with it an age of terror and violence, these women must find the strength to protect humankind from a devastating threat.

After the poll is complete, we will ask for a volunteer to lead discussions for the winning book. Head on over to Goodreads to vote in the poll.

It's Tuesday and a lot of things happened since yesterday. Let's dive in:

What's new

Longines Adds To The Spirit Collection With The New Flyback Chronograph
/ Longines’ Spirit line has been a reliable source of handsome and heritage-inspired pilot's watches. New to the line is today's Flyback Chronograph, an evolution of the chrono released in 2020. The watch is still 42mm with large Arabic numerals and 100m of water resistance but from there everything changes. The most obvious update is the flyback functionality which allows the user to instantly reset the chronograph seconds hand to zero, streamlining the stop, start, reset function of a regular chronograph.
The new Flyback Chronograph loses a subdial and date from the non-flyback model. There's a bidirectional rotating bezel with a ceramic insert and the watch comes in either a blue or black sunray dial. The Super-LumiNova gives a nice lume on the numerals on both the dial and bezel. Strap options include brown leather, blue fabric, and beige NATO or a stainless steel bracelet. Inside there's the new COSC-certified L791.4 movement (with silicon balance spring) which is on full display thanks to the transparent sapphire caseback.
Pricing is actually really great for all the functionalities is gives - $4,450. If they could just remove the five star review they gave themselves on the dial, this would be a top 10 watch to have.
Breitling's Top Time Classic Cars Collection Goes In-House And Adds A Thunderbird
/ Collaborations between watch brands and car makers often end up on the wrong side of tacky. Aston Martin and Bentley make gorgeous cars but most of the watches they lent their name to were horrible. Do we even have to mention what Ferrari did with Hublot? However, every now and again we get a collaboration that’s not only perfect, but could be one of the best watches in the brand’s lineup.
And that’s exactly the case with the Breitling Top Time Classic Cars Editions. In 2021 the brand unveiled three new Top Time models connected to American sports cars from the ’60s - the Corvette, Cobra and Mustang. The watches had stood a huge chance of becoming horrible homages, but ended up being colorful chronos with bold design and a hit for the company.
Now, 18 months later, Breitling announces they are adding a new model inspired by the Ford Thunderbird and all four models of the Top Time Classic Cars Editions are getting their in-house chronograph movement.
Each of the available colorways represents a specific link to one of four well-known classic cars – the Chevrolet Corvette (red), the Ford Thunderbird (white), the Shelby Cobra (blue), and the Ford Mustang (green). These new models are 41mm wide (down from 42mm) and all four are fitted with a Breitling B01 automatic chronograph movement. All four don’t have a date and the Mustang, Corvette, and Thunderbird models all have three subdials providing a 12-hour maximum measure and 1/4th of a second resolution. The Shelby Cobra model uses two subdials for the chronograph and has a maximum measure of 30 minutes.
Pricing starts at $8,000 on a leather strap or $8,440 on a steel mesh bracelet. Love it!
Also, A Blog To Watch had the opportunity to go hands on with the new Thunderbird model, so head on over there for more details of the new model and a deeper dive.
Breitling Introduces Six New Premier B01 Chronograph 42 Models
/ The Breitling Premier Chronograph line gets a refresh in a 42mm, B01-powered form. This is a historically important collection to Breitling as it represents the shift the brand made in the 1940s from core utilitarian tool-watches to something with a bit more panache. In 2021, the brand released the 40mm Breitling Premier Heritage Chrono, a 40mm model which directly played on the, well, heritage of the model range. That watch was powered by the brand's B09 movement.
Now, for 2023 there are updates to the model. At a quick glance, the six new Breitling Premier B01 Chronograph 42 watches almost seem like models that should already exist somewhere in the brand’s catalog. The new stainless steel watches now feature applied Arabic numerals instead of baton markers, syringe-style hands, a new sub-register layout, and new dial text that reads "Chronograph Premier," instead of "Chronometer Premier." This model also gets the in-house B01 chronograph movement, which has COSC certification.
The Premier premieres today with a bracelet and a new set of dial colors. In all, there are five new dial options of black, blue, salmon, green, or cream. There is even an 18k red gold model, also on a strap or bracelet. The stainless steel models will cost $9,100 on the strap and $9,500 on a bracelet. The 18k gold model will cost $20,200 on the strap and $39,700 on a bracelet.
The Ressence TYPE 1° Round Is A Streamlined Take On Its Classic Watch
/ I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - Ressence is my favorite watchmaker and the oil-filled Type 3 is my grail. So know they can do nothing wrong in my book. Of course I love their update of the Type 1 model with the new essential Round version.
The Type 1 is basically the backbone of the collection, an evolution of the Zero Series which introduced their unique way of displaying time using gears and discs. We’ve seen gradual evolutions, first by removing the crown, then by changing the case design. First came the Type 1 Square, and then the Type 1 Slim.
The Ressence TYPE 1° Round, this is nothing more than a modernized take on the brand’s signature watch, slightly redesigned to remain coherent with other creations currently available. The grade 5 titanium case measures 42.7mm in diameter, with a compact 11mm height. Some work has been done to the dial too, but not so much about the emblematic display. Available in a classic black edition too, it’s mostly the circular brushed blue model that is there to catch the attention. The discs have now a sunray-brushed surface, adding depth to the whole assembly, while the dial has been graphically simplified with indexes every 10 minutes and a weekday dial that subtly unites the 2 non-working days of the week with a touch of colour. Also, the seconds and weekdays hands are larger for improved reading.
The Ressence TYPE 1° Round will be available worldwide in two finishes – Black and Night Blue – from June 2023 as part of the permanent collection, and priced at CHF 16,800 (excl. taxes).
For The First Time, The MB&F Legacy Machine Perpetual Is Now In Steel With A Salmon Dial
/ Say what you will, but MB&F makes some very interesting watches. While their Horological Machines line might be a bit out there, the Legacy Machine line, while still not a practical daily beater, is an acceptable exploration of what’s possible in horology.
And since its launch in 2015, MB&F's Legacy Machine (LM) Perpetual has come in a lot of metals. red gold, platinum, white gold, titanium, yellow gold, and palladium... But there’s one metal they never made - steel. That’s why they announced today that they are launching the LM Perpetual in stainless steel, with a tasty salmon dial to boot.
Everything else remains pretty much the same - the fully integrated 581-component caliber, the 44mm wide and 17.5mm thick case… The price also remains eye-watering at $180,000. Good news for everyone who can afford it, it won’t be a limited edition.
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On hand - a selection of review

Hands on with the RZE Ascentus GMT, a very affordable titanium sports watches
IFL Watches Turns Up The Grail Volume With The Limited-Edition Tissot PRX Galaxy
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Watch Worthy - A look at an offbeat, less known watch you might actually like

Ferdinand Berthoud Gives The Movement That Started It All A Last Run
After eight years, the inaugural Ferdinand Berthoud calibre FB-T.FC that debuted in the FB1 has reached the end of the road. When the FB1 was launched in 2015, it represented one of the most earnest exercises in recreating a marine chronometer for the wrist. The calibre FB-T.FC is an appealingly anachronistic, tourbillon movement with a pillar construction, Maltese cross stopwork and a chain-and-fusée mechanism. But more than a portable museum of 18th century technical solutions, it was also finished to a remarkable degree. Today, the brand is giving a curtain call to the calibre FB-T.FC with the Chronomètre FB 2T.
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A bonus link

I usually reserve watch-adjacent content for the newsletter, but this story from Harper's about what makes a perfect scientific second and how complicated of a problem this ends up being is just too good not to share here as well
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If you would like to receive some additional watch-adjacent content, as well as this news overview, every morning Monday-Friday in the form of a newsletter feel free to subscribe. However, there is absolutely no need for you to subscribe, as all the news from the newsletter is posted here. It is only if you want to receive a couple of daily links that are not strictly watch-related and want to get this news overview in your inbox.

Please use this post to discuss your training for the day or any simple questions you have! Talk about how lifts went, your workouts PRs achieved, goals set, whatever!

USEFUL LINKS

• 5/3/1 FAQs <<<<< start here!
• 5/3/1: Common Errors and Ideas on how to Customize it to your Needs
• Routine Picker - template decision tree
• 5/3/1 Primer - 531 principles & concepts
• 5 Common Misconceptions... About 5/3/1
• Training After an Illness
• Jim Wendler's Blog
• 5/3/1 Forever book
• 5/3/1 Forever Table of Contents

COMMON TEMPLATES

• 5/3/1 for Beginners
• Boring But Big: Beefcake Training
• 5/3/1 Beach Body Challenge
• Boring But Big 3-Month Challenge
• 5/3/1: How to Build Pure Strength
• Building the Monolith - 5/3/1 for Size
• Comprehensive list of public templates

TOOLS

• 5/3/1 Black Iron Beast Calculator
• How do you track your 531 workout?

As the title says, I am looking for some good Merlin (BBC) Harry Potter crossovers. It would be good if Merlin's absence in the first wizarding war was well explained, but it's not a requirement. Thank you in advance.

I don't remember the name of this immersive Harry potter site. I want to recommend it to a friend. -it is controlled by real people -you need to wait 1 day after sign up to login. -it feels very realistic
IF YOU KNOW THE SITE PLEASE TELL ME THE NAME

I was introduced to Wim Hoff within the past few years, but have mostly focused on the breath-work side of things in my process. I've always thought the cold would bring additional value, but didn't have it in me to incorporate it into my daily life.
This week I've now completed 1 month of daily cold, either via showers or jumping in my winter river. I just wanted to put it out there for those of you who have considered it, but haven't really implemented, or for those of you who have tried a few times, but not found the consistency, it is possible and the benefits are noticeable!
I think a few things helped; I give really big credit to finding someone else to partner with in the challenge. I know I could have started the process on my own, but the motivation to keep going when you have an accountability partner, or someone that you're actually excited to connect with about it has made all the difference for me (virtual, not even in person). I've experimented with how long I can stay in, but I didn't set any initial expectations other than just to do it daily, whether it's 5 seconds or 5 minutes. I do think just being subscribed to this sub and seeing peoples' updates or successes also helped subconsciously prime me to eventually take action. A few general resources that are also related to breath-work that I've found valuable are a book called The Presence Process and also I recently completed a holotropic breath-work workshop. Have a good day and a good life :)!

I just firmed my choice for KCL an hour ago, and I'm trying to access the king's residences website so I can book. Since this is my first time logging into the website, I need to enter my student ID, then click on 'reset password'. I've tried this multiple times but I've not gotten any email or anything to help me set my password. What's going on?

This story needs to be told. Those who have suffered must understand why. It’s not as simple as some have made it to be, which is why it needs to come from the person most responsible… me.
It began when I was least expecting it. But then don’t things always seem to happen that way?
***
“I’m tellin' ya, doc, people just don’t understand,” Frederick said while rocking back and forth in the chair.
“What exactly don’t they understand?” I said, trying to look more relaxed than I felt.
“There’s just something that takes over. You can’t stop it.”
“Impulse control?”
“What’s that mean?” Frederick said, struggling against his straight jacket, trying to get comfortable.
“It means that when you want to do something, you try your hardest not to. It means you try to control or suppress the urge to do things you know are bad.”
Frederick’s mouth lolled open. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.
“Why would I want to do that?”
I suppressed the urge to sigh.
“Because that’s what people do,” I said. “They think about doing bad things, but then they control themselves and don’t do them because those things are wrong and could hurt other people.”
“Hurting people is wrong?” he said.
“Yes, Frederick, hurting people is wrong.”
He shook his head as if he were trying to shake away a fly that was annoying him.
“Why?”
“Why is hurting people wrong?”
“No, why are you telling me this?”
“I don’t understand.”
“You’re saying I’m bad,” he said trying to rise from his chair. “You’re saying I didn’t need to hurt those people. That I’m a bad person.”
I got up from my chair and started backing toward the heavy metal door.
“I’m not bad!” he yelled at me. “You’re bad!”
I knocked on the door and the orderly opened it as Frederick got to his feet.
I slipped through the door as it slammed shut from the impact of his body slamming into it.
“Bad, bad, bad,” he screamed.
“Badbadbadbadbadbadbadbad!”
Spit flew from his mouth landing on the small observation window with metal grates embedded in it.
“You ok, doc,” the orderly said, startling me.
“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.”
I turned and walked down the white hallway, hoping the orderly wouldn’t notice the quickness in my step. I ignored the sound of Frederick beating on the door. I ignored all the sounds I heard. I just wanted to get away.
It was a long walk to my office, through many security gates. At each one, the nurse buzzed me through and gave me an acknowledging look that used to be a smile.
I suppose this place gets to everyone eventually.
I finally reached my office, closed and locked the door behind me, and collapsed into my chair. I breathed out a sigh of relief at reaching relative safety. I turned and looked out my window to the beautiful flowers blooming on the trees in the courtyard. I looked up at the tree stretching toward the sky.
I remember when they planted those.
I turned back to my center, my means of solace, the only thing that mattered in this cruel, unfair world. I picked up the picture of my lovely wife and smiled. She was the one who kept me sane all these years. She kept me seeing the best in people. Or at least trying. Sometimes there was no good to see—especially in my patients.
It takes a special kind of doctor to care for the mental needs of those who have done heinous things that are so bad they don’t even bother sending them to prison. They send them to me.
I’m like the dumpster for the dregs of society. Just drop them in the asylum and forget about them.
I kissed my wife and set her back on the bare desk, then turned on my computer and added notes from today’s session. There was never a recommendation for release. Once patients came here the only way they left was in a body bag. There was no curing them, only trying to make them docile until they left.
Oh, there were experiments. That was a large part of how we were funded. Companies would pay for certain tests to be done. Some might call it torture, but we called it research.
I finished typing my notes and leaned back in my seat. The diplomas and degrees stared down from their perches on the bare walls, mocking me. Demanding why I hadn’t gotten a better job.
As usual, I didn’t have an answer.
My office suddenly felt stuffy. I closed down my computer and left. Driving down the packed freeway, all I could think about was collapsing on the couch beside my lovely Elizabeth. Not telling her about my day until she dragged it out of me, then listening to her encourage me to help those who have been left in my care, because I’m the only hope they have.
Traffic was bumper to bumper and not helping my overall opinion of humanity much. Especially when a car that was swerving from lane to lane, nearly sideswiped me. It kept going on in front of me, nearly hitting several other cars.
The driver and passenger seemed to be having a disagreement about how to drive the car and it looked like it was about to come to blows.
Fortunately, they were soon out of sight, and someone else’s problem.
For the next few miles, I kept watching the side of the road waiting to see the offending car sitting in a ditch. However, they surprised me. They must’ve turned off to go terrorize some neighborhood streets with their reckless driving.
I hummed to myself, not wanting to have whatever dreck was on the radio forced on me.
When I was nearly to my exit, my phone rang. I immediately recognized the number as work. I contemplated answering it for a moment, then thought better of it. There had never been a time when work called with good news. And I was in no mood for bad news.
I hummed a little louder, trying to drown out the sound of the ring before it finally stopped.
The closer I got to home the less I thought about work and the more I thought about Elizabeth. Until I turned off at my exit, I had nearly forgotten work altogether. Maybe I would take tomorrow off and go do something with my wife. We hadn’t been out for a while. The weather had been lovely and I know she would adore a walk down by the lake.
My thoughts were interrupted when I turned down our driveway and saw a car in front of the house. It wasn’t quite in the driveway, it was sitting at an angle halfway in the front yard.
I parked my car and slowly got out. Something struck me about this car, but I hadn’t figured out what. I approached the driver’s side to have words with the person still sitting at the wheel.
“Excuse me,” I said staying a few steps back from the driver’s door.
He didn’t answer me.
“Excuse me,” I said a little louder.
Still no answer.
I tapped on the window and he ignored me.
I opened the door.
“Okay, look… “ I said.
But it was I who would do the looking. The man fell out of the car, thudding on the grass. The inside of the car was covered in blood. I looked down and the man’s throat had been cut.
“Oh my God!” I said jumping back.
I watched to see if the man was breathing, but the way his neck was bent at an unnatural angle against my yard told me everything I needed to know.
I glanced through the car but didn’t see the passenger.
It was then my eyes drifted to my front door.
It was open.
I stepped through the shrubs and up onto the porch, walking in a daze. The surrealness of the moment had yet to sink in. I was going inside to check on my wife and make sure everything was ok.
It didn’t strike me as anything more than that.
‘Oh, she just left the door open, that’s all.’
My mind kept trying to tell me that. I wanted desperately to believe it. Even though she had never been that careless during the entire time we’d been married. I had pushed aside all reason and common sense in favor of pure denial.
Everything was going to be ok. With Elizabeth, everything was always ok. She could literally light up a room with her positivity. She was the best person I ever knew. I have no idea how I got so lucky as to know her, let alone be her husband.
I floated in through my front door on my cloud of denial and looked for my wife.
It didn’t take me long to find her.
There was one wall of the living room she was constantly redecorating. She always said it looked bare and empty no matter what she did with it.
She was hanging from that wall, naked, her beautiful body desecrated by slices and rips. Her throat had been slit and blood still poured from it.
I ran to her.
Tried to take her down.
Screamed her name.
And then it was my turn to scream.
I looked down and saw a knife blade sticking out from my abdomen. It was part of the cutlery set I had gotten for Elizabeth three Christmases ago.
I screamed as I slowly turned to face my attacker.
“What’s up, doc?” Frederick said wearing a maniacal grin.
The shock had punched a hole in my reasoning. I saw him standing there, but I couldn’t accept it any more than I could accept my beautiful wife strung up like a macabre painting hanging on our living room wall.
My eyes tried to focus on his face. To make me recognize him as a threat.
“How’s that impulse control workin’ for ya, doc?”
He ripped the knife out of my back.
The pain, along with his arrogance woke me from my shock-induced stupor.
“Now do you understand?” he said, as he shoved the knife into my belly.
I did understand. I understood at that moment that I was already as dead as my wife. I knew that this piece of human garbage had taken something beautiful from this world. I knew I had to do something about it before there was nothing I could do. Before my body succumbed to injuries and I was unable.
I grabbed him by the throat. He tried to laugh, but my grip was fueled by desperation.
He tried to free himself but couldn’t. He began stabbing me over and over. I refused to release him. I carried him by his neck over to the kitchen counter and began bashing his head off the marble.
I was rewarded with spots of his blood. I knew at least I had made him bleed and that made me smile. His eyes grew wide as my grin grew maniacal. I smashed him repeatedly, crushing him against the sink, breaking the faucet, and causing water to spray into the air.
His eyelids fluttered as he lost his grip on the knife.
He was nearly gone. I would take him with me and that would be my parting gift to the world, removing something so evil.
Suddenly, my body wouldn’t obey commands. My grip loosened. I tried to tighten it, but I had lost all control. I looked down and I was standing in a pool of my own blood.
His eyes fluttered open and he coughed.
‘Nonononononono!’ I thought. ‘He can’t live. He can’t win. I had him.’
He stood as I sank to the floor.
“Looks like maybe you do understand, doc,” he said from what seemed like miles away. “Too bad you won’t be around to discuss it. We could have a session and evaluate how it makes you feel.”
His foot came down on my spine. I felt a crack. He started kicking me in the side repeatedly. Splashing water and blood on me as I felt my ribs crack.
I fought with everything I had.
My body didn’t even twitch.
‘Nooooo!,’ I screamed. ‘It can’t end like this.’
I heard a sizzling sound and then there was darkness.
***
I could feel movement.
Wasn’t I dead?
Was this what happened after?
It was still dark.
‘Hello?’ I tried to say.
Nothing. Just the sensation of movement.
Am I in a body bag? Am I on my way to the morgue or the grave? Please don’t let me be buried alive.
But I’m not alive, am I?
I don’t feel any pain. That’s a good thing, but not a good sign. The last thing I remember was lots of pain.
Suddenly there’s light and my movement stops.
I look up from the floor of a house I don’t recognize.
‘Where the hell am I?’
I’m on the floor next to a wall, looking up at an electrical outlet. Nothing around me seems familiar. I try to stand but it feels weird. It isn’t difficult, and there’s still no pain, it just carries an odd sensation with it. Like my body is just relearning things. Just like when I was a toddler. I teeter back and forth as I rise, but eventually, I’m upright.
My first few steps are tentative, but after that, I gain confidence with each stride.
Aside from the strange surroundings, there’s a sensation, like ants crawling all over me.
I pass a bathroom and glance inside. The reflection in the mirror draws me back. I slowly approach it, seeing something unique and terrifying.
It looks like someone drew an outline of a human form using a lightning bolt. The electricity shimmers and crackles as it races around the empty form of the being.
I wonder if it will hurt me.
Not sure if I want to test the limits of my newfound lack of pain, I hesitantly reach for this creature. It reaches for me at the same time. I’m mesmerized by this mutual curiosity.
My hand is about to touch the electric pulse shaped like its hand. I tremble with anticipation and fear as we touch.
Surprisingly, I don’t feel any pain. I don’t feel anything except a hard surface.
I move my hand back and forth. The creature does the same. I make quicker movements, and so does it.
Finally, out of frustration, I reach back and strike at the creature.
My hand strikes the hard surface and it splinters. There are now multiple creatures staring back at me.
I step back and come to the horrible realization.
I am the creature.
***
One month later…
“And police have been unable to find any credible leads in the string of brutal killings that began shortly after the patient escaped from the mental hospital last month,” the handsome anchorman stated from behind his desk. “They are asking people to call in if they know the whereabouts of Frederick Winston, now known as, ‘The Mangler’.”
“In other news, the Larsan Electric Company has issued a statement that the recent power surges are no cause for alarm. These surges seem to be random in people's homes and certain businesses. An LEC spokesman stated that there appears to be no pattern to the surges and that so far no one has reported them causing any harm. LEC is tracking down the problem and should have it under control soon.”
The anchorman shifted in his seat and turned to another camera.
“And on a lighter note, with Halloween months away, it seems that reports of ghosts are on the rise,” he said, wearing a half grin. “Several area residents have reported what they call a ghostlike figure, outlined in light, visiting them. Reports vary as to the duration and location of the visits, but they do seem to have a few things in common. The visits are usually short. In fact, most people say that if they blink the figure is gone. No one has reported the ghost doing any harm. And it seems like anyone within close proximity feels a tingling sensation and their hair standing on end.”
“Maybe I should be visited instead of my next hairdresser’s appointment,” the attractive woman anchor said with a laugh.
“Schedule me a visit too,” the male anchor said smiling. “And that’s our news for the evening, good night.”
Jimmy switched the channel.
“Gimme a break,” he said to the TV. “Ghosts? Who’s playing what? This’s some marketing scheme to sell Halloween crap. Like that stunt they pulled a few years back with the clowns hanging around the schools to promote that stupid movie.”
He switched off the TV and rolled over in his bed.
It wasn’t long before his breathing slowed. But before sleep could take him, he noticed a glow in the hallway. He didn’t remember leaving any lights on when he came to bed. Living alone had its advantages. If he heard someone in his apartment, he knew they weren’t supposed to be there. He slowly reached over to the bedstand and pulled out his Glock 9mm handgun, then held it close and listened.
He watched as the glow moved. It seemed like someone was looking around. But for what? He didn’t really have anything aside from his TV, phone, and video games. If anyone wanted those, they would be in a world of hurt. He had been lucky to get this apartment. If he was honest with himself, it cost more than he could afford, but when he had the chance he took it. It was too bad the opening came because the person who lived there before him was one of The Mangler’s victims. That’s probably why he was able to rent the place so quickly and get the price down to where he could almost afford it.
Maybe the glow was one of the street people who were stupid enough to see if there was an empty apartment to claim. That wasn’t gonna fly either. Jimmy had jumped on this apartment to get away from the dingy rat hole he used live in on the other side of town. And there was no way he’d let some bum come in here and take what was his.
The glow crept closer. He could feel the hairs on his arms raise. There was a sound too. It wasn’t loud, almost felt more than heard. A soft crackle, like electricity when it sparked.
The sensory input was almost too much for Jimmy to take. He pointed the gun in the direction of the glow and saw the barrel was shaking. His resolve, that he could deal with anyone as long as he had his gun, was beginning to fade.
The glow became so bright that it finally took form.
Jimmy’s eyes widened. It was the form of a person, just like the news had said.
It seemed to look around the room, then settle its gaze on the bed. Jimmy began to sweat as it approached and stared into his eyes.
It was the oddest thing, staring into what should be eyes, but nothing was there. The flashes of mini lightning bolts formed shapes that looked almost human, but it was just an outline, there was nothing inside what should be the body.
He shoved the shaking gun out from under the blanket and pointed it at the glowing figure.
The figure noted the presence of the gun, then continued to advance.
“S… stop,” Jimmy said. “I’m w… warning you.”
The figure ignored the warning.
Jimmy squeezed the trigger, setting off a deafening shot that went right through the face of the figure.
It acted as though nothing had happened, continuing to advance. The ringing in Jimmy’s ears made all sound seem muffled.
The figure stopped two inches from Jimmy’s face.
“Mangler… “ it said, sounding less like a voice and more like a transmission over an old staticky radio.
“I… I’m not the Mangler,” he said. “The person who used to live here was killed by him.”
It seemed to ponder this for a moment.
“Find Mangler… “ it said.
“I d… don’t know where to find him.”
It moved an inch closer. As the flashes of electricity arced, licked hungrily at Jimmy’s face.
“Find… him… “
“Ok, ok, I’ll find him,” Jimmy said, feeling the heat from the electricity.
The figure seemed to consider that for a moment then backed away. It moved toward the bedroom wall. Then, like someone had turned on a vacuum, it was sucked into an electrical outlet and disappeared.
Jimmy laid back in bed, breathing hard. His eyes darted left and right all around the room. But the only evidence of the figure that remained was the bullet hole in his bedroom wall.
***
The trips through the electrical conduits had become easier. There were still times when I came out someplace I didn’t intend to, but I was usually able to recover quickly and get to where I wanted to go.
But where did I want to go? At first, I wandered around, lost in this new form I found myself trapped inside. It was only after I had overheard a news report about the serial killer they called The Mangler that I gained my purpose.
Of course, Frederick was going to keep killing. Of course, they weren’t going to be able to catch him. He’d been inside away from his victims before and he didn’t like it. Not being able to torture and kill innocents was like a normal person not being able to breathe. Not that I know much about normal or breathing anymore.
I suppose on some level I should thank him. I thought about it for a long time and the only thing that makes any kind of sense is when we were fighting, somehow the water and blood I was laying in got splashed into the electrical socket. Instead of killing me, it bonded with me, making me able to become the electrical current. To ride it like a wave to wherever I wanted.
I became faster than any person ever was. And yet, I wasn’t a person anymore. I have no idea how I retained my consciousness, let alone my memory. But somehow…
I justify it by the old adage, ‘I think therefore I am.’
My life has become an endless hunt for the person who destroyed me, the person I must destroy. I don’t even know what I’ll do when I find him. But I will find him. I will stop him. This time, I won’t fail. I’ll end him like I should’ve before.
I owe it to the people he’s tortured and killed since my failure. Most of all, I owe it to my wife. I know she wouldn’t approve of my bloodlust. She would say there must be some other option. But if she would be able to see her dead body hanging naked from our living room wall, I think she just might change her mind.
My thoughts are interrupted as I arrive at my next destination, another victim’s house. I’m not sure what I’ll find that the police haven’t, but I have to try. Maybe I can pick up his scent somehow. A plan almost assuredly doomed to failure since I lost all sense of smell in the transformation.
I’m surprised though that I can still see and hear. I suppose waves of light and sound somehow intersect with my electrical body and it senses them. I don’t question it. I’ve learned to just go with it.
On the plus side, I don’t have to worry about eating, drinking, or using the bathroom. I guess there’s an upside to everything. Elizabeth would be so proud of me.
I arrive at the room where the victim was murdered. Looking around there’s still blood everywhere, along with evidence markers where they took pictures.
The sheer amount of blood tells me he took his time. He desecrated this girl in her own room. Her parents must’ve been out because there’s no way they didn’t hear the struggle. There were books on the floor, a chair overturned, and blood everywhere. The room was a disaster. It looked like she fought him. I wish she would’ve succeeded where I had failed.
But then, I wish I hadn’t failed, and this girl was still alive.
There’s nothing I can do now except find him and end him.
Finding him was proving more difficult than I thought. I had unlimited access to anywhere with electricity, but I couldn’t use a computer or a GPS. I was limited to transportation only through electricity. Granted that still made me the fastest being alive. I say being because I don’t think I qualify as human anymore. But I was limited to traveling to a place and then trying to find out where I was and if he was there.
If he knew I was searching for him all he would have to do is live the rest of his days in a cabin in the woods with no electricity. I’d never be able to reach him.
I believe two things worked in my favor with that theory.
First, I don’t think he’s that smart, and second, I don’t think he knows I’m looking for him. I believe that surviving our fight only further empowered him to kill. When someone feels invincible, they’re bound to make a mistake.
An officer walked into the room and I ducked back into an outlet. I was able to hang on where I was and watch from inside the outlet without being transported somewhere else.
The officer looked startled and stared at the empty air that I had just vacated. She looked like she was unsure if she trusted what her eyes had seen in the instant before I vanished.
She slowly stepped over to the corner and bent down to peer into the outlet. For a moment I wondered if she could see me, and what exactly she would see. But then her radio squawked calling her to another scene. When I heard the voice on the radio say the address and that they might have the killer cornered, I didn’t waste any time.
It was maybe fifteen seconds until I was across town at the address I’d heard. There was a lot of screaming and crying going on. I came out of the outlet and saw blood on the floor beside a body that wasn’t moving.
There was a girl being beaten by a man with his back to me. He turned to take another swing and I knew my search was over.
“My psychiatrist used to tell me I needed to work on my impulse control,” he said calmly as he slapped her. “I think I’m doing pretty good. I’ve been here ten whole minutes and you’re still alive.”
I shot across the room and knocked him to the floor. He jumped back up and looked around for what had hit him.
“What the hell?”
I saw the fear in his eyes when he saw me. I know Elizabeth would’ve been ashamed, of me, but I was enjoying his anxiety. After all he had done to me and so many others, I drank it in like an elixir.
He started edging toward the door. I was there in a heartbeat. His eyes darted back and forth between where I used to be and where I now stood. The panic in his eyes doubled.
I wanted to make him suffer, but I didn’t want to make the same mistake I’d made before and let him escape with his life.
I lashed out with a bolt that used to be my arm. The energy slashed through his shirt and fried a hole in his shoulder.
He screamed in pain and horror as he looked at the smoking hole in his skin. He tried to run but in an instant, I was there in front of him firing another bolt and searing the skin across his waist to his jeans.
His screams of pain and rage were only matched by the feral desperation in his eyes.
Not knowing what do to, he went with the familiar. Attack the innocent. He grabbed the girl who had been crawling away from the scene.
He grabbed her again and held her in front of him like a human shield.
What a waste of skin.
I fired a bolt into a ceiling light beside me which ricocheted and hit him full force in the leg, nearly severing it.
He went down like a ton of bricks, trying to hold on to his hostage, but she was fighting to get away from him. She broke free and he crumpled to the floor.
“What do you want?” he screamed at me.
With everything that is within me, I wanted to tell him who I was, what he had taken from me, and what I was about to take from him.
But I didn’t want to give the satisfaction. I wanted to give him only uncertainty and fear to cling to.
I could feel the seconds ticking away. I knew I had to make the most of this opportunity or he would get away again. And after this, I might never find him.
I unleashed every ounce of energy at him. I couldn’t even see him, he was only a smoking pillar of frying skin.
Just then, the police burst through the door.
“FREE… “ the first officer started then the shock of what he was seeing stole the rest of the word from his mouth.
He stood there, mouth agape when the female officer stepped in behind him. She looked at me and her wide eyes narrowed as she put two and two together and recognized me from the last crime scene.
I had no reason to fear. I didn’t know if I could even be harmed in my current state. But when you see that blue uniform burst through a door with a gun aimed at you, all rational thought takes a vacation.
I dove for the outlet and was gone. I didn’t even care where I was going. I knew I had done what I wanted to. The monster was destroyed.
Something felt different. Was it pride at finishing my crusade? Was it shame knowing Elizabeth wouldn’t have wanted me to do it?
I don’t know but there was something else. It was like there was added weight to my existence. I guess you can have a conscious in whatever you’d call this existence.
I appeared in the place that made the most sense, ironically. It was my old home. The one where everything I loved died, including me. It was where I took on this unintended new existence.
Is that why I felt this extra weight? Was it some cathartic aftereffect of my search for revenge that was finally over?
I looked around the charred debris of what used to be my home. In my mind's eye, I didn’t see the burned-out shell of what was left. I saw it as it was when we first moved in. When Elizabeth and I started decorating. When the interior was finally finished and I turned to her and said, “For now.” Knowing she would decide to change everything at some time in the future when she was bored, just like all women seem to do.
I remember getting a paintbrush across the mouth for that comment. I smiled remembering kissing her with my freshly painted mouth and ending up in the bedroom.
As I turned toward where I’d entered the house, my smile quickly faded. For some reason, I was still connected to the outlet. That had never happened before.
Another curiosity arose when I noticed the color of my electrical body was now tinged purple. It had always been blue before.
The tail of what had yet to come out of the outlet was red. As I pulled and it came the rest of the way out, it merged with me and turned purple.
“What the hell?” I heard someone say.
I whipped around but no one was there.
“Where am I?” the voice said.
“Who are you?” I said to the air.
There was a long silence.
“Doc?” the voice said.
As far as I knew it wasn’t possible for my spine to turn to ice, since I no longer had a spine, but the feeling seemed the same.
“Frederick?” I said.
“What happened?” he said. “This crazy electric thing attacked me and now… wait a minute. How am I talking to you? You died months ago.”
My shock gave way to utter despair. My enemy was now part of me.

I (35F) and my husband (30M) have been together almost 5 years and married a little over 4 years. My husband is in the navy and set to deploy soon. I have 2 kids from a previous marriage. Within our marriage we have had to overcome my sudden medical condition, two custody battles and constant fighting. My ex husband was mentally and physically abusive to me for 12 years and he just started doing the same to the kids about 2 years ago. We have called CPS multiple times and always get told that in our state, corporal punishment is legal so they close the case and move on. We taught the kids (10m, 14F) how to defend themselves. Recently we won our custody battle and moved on or so I thought. My husband became even more distant from me recently. He kept telling me that he would be better after the custody case was over. That didn’t happen. He suffers from mild depression but I think it’s more severe. He is in a negative mindset and no matter what I do to try and help him, he pushes me further away. He calls my kids annoy guilt machines and doesn’t interact with them like he used to. He told me he would be a better person when the lawyer debt was paid for. My husband told me during my medical treatments that he would treat me like his wife again when I was better. We just moved into our new place and he is currently out for work reasons. He emails me things like he dreads coming home to a pretend positive environment and that he has found joy and motivation at work. He makes an attempt to shove it in my face that he is happy at work and miserable at home. I don’t nag him at home and I try to leave him be to do his own thing. I will occasionally ask for affection or to spend time together. He used to be into those things. My kids absolutely love him and want to hang out with him but he gets annoyed with them. The kids are really chill and don’t talk a lot. My husband gets mad when my ex husband picks up the kids or I have to interact with my ex. I have to co-parent with my ex even when I don’t want to. We have been in marriage counseling for over a year and things were okay until he went on a long underway and his mindset shifted for the worst. He acts like things at home are so bad and from my point of view they aren’t that bad. When I ask for an explanation from him, he can’t give me one he just says it’s a negative environment but the only thing making it negative is him. I’ve tried to be understanding but I don’t know enough about depression to help him. He doesn’t take medication and he quit therapy. I’m not sure what to do or think. He comes home in a week or so and I’m the person picking him up. I’m nervous about it. I’m an open book so if you have questions feel free to ask them. I would appreciate any advice I can get. I don’t want to give up on my marriage.