Nobody The Blog Now with MORE

If you have been reading, thank you.

We just passed 15 years. And I finally have the chance to bring everything on this platform together. So, if you want to support me more, you can do so. You can now create your own account. Why? Because you can now subscribe to Nobody’s Extra Blog. And what can you get there? You can get early access to the next posts on here. Exclusive posts that will only be posted there. Exclusive chapters or pages from my next book. Updates regarding everything I am planning on doing and more… Do not worry, no content that has been publicly available to you until now will go behind a paywall. You will continue to get free short stories on a monthly basis. If not even more now.

Having this paid page is nothing but an incentive for me to write more, do more, and get back into the things I love doing more. And give you more content, more thoughts, more of everything. And, if we are lucky to grow enough, we might be able to bring on other nobodies to help them grow as well, and transform this blog into a voice for people and pay them for their work for more than a fair cut. But that is in the future, right now, I have posts until September planned. And I have more content for you in mind. Who knows, maybe I’ll finish the two series I have started but have yet to finish if this goes well.

As we go towards the 20 years of Nobody The Blog, I will always treasure this chance to do great things and write for the nobodies of the world. 

So, here are the taglines for the next posts you will expect to see on the Extra Blog starting with Friday.

If you ask people, love is… Complicated. (This is an exclusive post for the Extra Blog for this Friday)

Existing is complicated. (This is for a post that will be posted on here as well, but it will be available early access on the Extra Blog.)

I will not lie to you… (Early Access)

Everything is history and everything is context, including you. (Early Access)

Freedom isn’t violent, violence is violent… (Early Access)

I am good enough if I say I am good enough, unless you say I am not… (Early Access)

As you can see, there is a lot of Early Access waiting for you on the Extra Blog in the upcoming weeks. Which means there is a log of free content on the way. But, that’’s not all, between those posts will be extra exclusive posts for the Extra Blog, which I do not want to spoil yet. And, of course, also posts updating you on what I am working on. 

I appreciate you, here’s to another 15 years and. See you on the Extra Side.
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Dragons, Blood and Gold - Ghouls

Living, breathing, husks… Ghouls!

Between gold, fire and gemstones, the dragon is buried and slumbering peacefully in the night. Surrounded by tall walls and towers, they sleep beneath the clear stary sky. But inside the walls and towers there is movement. An uncanny sound is heard as they move from place to place as they drag their feet on the ground. With a torch in hand they move from side to side, bored, yet purposeful.  From the forest a small light is seen approaching the walls. Through one of the many windows in the walls and towers one of the ghouls sees the light approaching. It drops its torch and starts running. Through the dark corridors of the walls they run as fast as possible towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. As it goes down they pass another and another and another ghoul. It reaches the door and flings it wide open as it breathes heavily looking towards the light approaching. From behind him other ghouls push him as they run towards the light. They keep pushing and tripping each other as they slobber while running towards the light. A group of four knights with their hunting dogs is ambushed by the starving ghouls. As the dogs jump towards the necks of the ghouls trying to bite them. They stick stick their hands down the dogs’ throats and directly onto their hearts. The knights try to cut them down, only to hit the dogs and get blinded by blood. The ghouls with their bloody hands push and tackle the knights to the ground and strangle them. Some of them pull on their limbs trying to get the armor off, as they can’t bite through it. As the twenty ghouls dismember the dogs and knights, to sun starts to shine. Hours later only a bloody patch of grass remained as the ghouls resumed walking the halls. With dried up blood on their hands and faces they walk the halls, patiently, waiting…

The dragon awakes from his slumber. As he slowly gets up, he tries not to waste any of the gold or precious stones by throwing them outside the walls. From a door in a wall a pale white figure emerges. Sire, how can I assist you today? asks the pale figure. How many years have you been in my service now? asks the Dragon. Thirty years, sire, responds the pale figure. Thirty years, that is a long time for your kind, yes? I feel like you deserve a treat. Sleeping beneath all this gold makes me feel magnanum… Makes me feel good. So why don’t you go into town today and get yourself a woman? asks the Dragon. I appreciate your kindness, sire, responds the pale figure as he bows down. Good, as you should. I feel like we need some new faces around. They all look so ghoulish, says the Dragon. As you wish, my sire, says the pale figure. What do you think? asks the Dragon. We can… the pale man gets interrupted. It is not of any matter, I decided, as long as this works, it does not matter, says the Dragon. Wise decision, sire, says the pale figure. I have a problem needs solving. There are these humans that I wish they would hurry a bit with their delivery of gold and precious stones. And I would like you to go gather some of my loyal humans from within the walls to be sent to these towns, says the Dragon. Understood, sire, says the pale figure as he goes within the walls.

With long nails, pale skin, long hair and a torch in hand, these are humans. Their gaunt features, dead eyes, lust for blood if anyone even dares to get close to their walls, these humans have been long lost to the allure of gold and power. They roam the empty halls of the castle walls guarding the dragon’s bounty. What they eat, no one knows anymore. Rumors of cannibalism, of eating raw flesh of rats that gather around the castle walls are abound. Yet no one survived to get close enough to a castle in order to observe them, without losing their lives. And if you see them around your village, settlement, town, that is a bad omen. No towns survived seeing these ghouls anywhere near them. So, children, if you ever see a ghoul. Run! And please remember, gold, precious stones and the power to breathe fire, is not what is all there is to life. Do not let yourselves get corrupted and become ghouls… says the teacher as a Ghoul passes by the window of the school.

Overwork overkills you

School kills your uniqueness…

I remember seeing those comics about how school sculps you into something unremarkable, you probably saw them too. I wrote a piece about not wanting to grow up like them, sad, frustrated, empty, about fourteen years ago, on this blog. My fear was that I was about to grow up into a sad, pathetic, empty shell of a man with nothing to look forwards to, only work, home, work, home, work, home. Well, while things aren’t bad, for me, for many they are. And while I did look at those people thinking those things, I grew up to see the world more clearly. Those weren’t losers, they were survivors. Yes, some very empty, but it wasn’t their choice to be empty, it was those around them draining them of any shred of humanity of passion. Yes, those people were sad, but they were sad for a reason, life wasn’t giving them enough to be more nor was it letting them be anything more. And as ethereal as it is to say life, it’s not some mysterious force we do not know about or the will of some wise god sending us challenges to rise up to. It’s us. It’s people. We are the cause of unhappiness for many. 

Even school, as bad as it was for many, me included, and not that I excuse it, it gave me some experiences I wouldn’t have had it without it. Experiences from which I’ve learned. Now, I did not learn what the intended curriculum at the school thought I’d learn, but that’s besides the point. The point is that in life you learn, no matter how bad the situation is, there is always something to learn, even when there seems to be no meaning to it, that might just be the meaning to it. It’s a paradox or it’s simply stupid. Either way, there is always something to learn. But my assessment of those men was wrong. And so was my assessment of school and high school, at least. We won’t be getting into universities and colleges, because this post will be too long and that’s besides the point. Those men had little choice in their misery, those places had little choice in who they could hire or what they could teach or not. Because this system is broken, and that’s a feature, not a bug. Again, not very ethereal when I say system, I say we, the people, who have created and support this system, are at fault. At some point we need to accept and take responsibility for it. Because we’ve created a cycle of violence, lack of empathy, and hypocrisy that hurts us. We went from “we want a better future for our kids” to “they’re whiny, entitled kids that won’t work”. We went from “I want them to have what I didn’t” to “If I suffered and turned out okay, they can too”. We went from “I will love my child” to “my father beat me and look what a person I turned out to be”. We went from “Go to college, get a degree and you will be set for life” to “Go to college, get a masters, get a PhD, do volunteer work, be an unpaid intern, work minimum wage for a few years and then you will be able to get into middle management.” We went from “Work hard and you will get what you’re owed” to “You need to grind harder and monetize your hobbies.”

At some point I feel like we’ve lost it. And indulging in this isn’t going to fix anything. We are producing more than any other generation in history. We are working more than any other generation in history. We are overstressed, overworked, overly anxious, priced out of housing, priced out of our treats, priced out of our hobbies, priced out of our free time. And when people have no free time, they can’t have their treats, they can’t socialize, they can’t go watch a movie, read a book, watch a tv series, play a game, listen to music and get engrossed in those things. That makes people more anxious, more nervous. Their lives become more precarious, and they need to hold on tight or they will sink. And when all you see around you is nothing but open water… They need to swim harder, work harder, think less, do more. Their bodies always in a flight or fight state, their minds always engaged, but never absorbing new information. Who needs new information if it doesn’t help me work better, make more money, do more of what I am good at? Give me work! Do you know where I can find some work? A buddy of mine works 3 jobs and is doing just fine. Smokes 3 packs a day, but he’s never been happier to see his bank account. Work baby, work, that’s all that should matter. Cause these are shark infested waters. No matter that the infinity pool was built around you and your bosses threw in the shark. Who cares about those details? If you’re about to be eaten by a shark? Swim dummy, swim!

I have been lucky. I have been so lucky. Whether during school, high school, college or just out whilst socializing, I have met some truly brilliant people. Some of the smartest, imaginative, most daring, witty people you could ever hope to meet. I was lucky to be in the same room or conversation with them. But so many have become some the dumbest fucking people I know, since they’ve buried their heads into work. And that’s for a good reason. When you are not allowed to be creative whether as a creative or in finding creative solutions to fix a problem. You will give up on creativity. This will turn your life into a very boring one. When you do not have time to meet more people, so you don’t have time to meet more diverse groups of people. Maybe because you don’t go out as often or don’t go on vacation out of your country. So, you won’t feel comfortable with the ideas of others. When you do not have time not just to watch or listen, but to actually absorb and actually understand the content you are watching, playing, consuming, listening to… You wake yourself up and you find yourself calling a show you liked after 4 seasons woke trash. And calling the city where you live and work in, but never get to see, “infested”. And you just realized that while you were working for the past however many years, that things changed. And that’s scary. But that’s what overworking does, while maybe benefitting you monetarily, it kills you physically, mentally, socially since it keeps your group of friends very small… It kills you of any speck of personality and openness you might have had, because if you don’t need it. You don’t want it anywhere near you. Doesn’t matter if it makes sense or not. The discomfort you feel, is all that matters. And no one can ever disturb that for any reason.

If it works for me, it works for all, says the fish in the pool.

Dragons, Blood and Gold Part III - The End

What makes you alive?

As the nightmare lingered as the fire continues and charred bodies turned to ash, the two brothers lay in silence as their screams took their voices away. The story of their tragedy took them from settlement to settlement. Some people believed their stories, yet had no courage to say anything. Some did not believe any word that came out of those two brothers. Either way, the two brothers could never feel welcomed in any place at any time after they would tell their story to anyone and everyone that was willing to listen. Having lost friends, companions, wives, children, neighbors, the two marched on. Why were we even born? asks Baldbert. I don’t think there’s any other reason than our parents love, says Austrulf. I can’t help but wonder, continued Baldbert. It won’t do much good. Things happen. Looking for a reason when what happens is pointless. What happened to me, to you, it doesn’t matter to them. It doesn’t affect them. It doesn’t change the way the world is. None of the dragons know your name. None of the history will remember it either. We are doing our best and that’s that, Austrulf finishes his rant..Then what’s the point anymore? asks Baldbert. Whatever you want it to be, Austrulf. As weeks turn to months, all the two brothers can get is some pity or sympathy from people. At this point they can’t make the difference whether it’s one or the other. As they continue to live in tents or caves along the road as they try to dodge the dragons.

On a rainy night they muster the courage to find an inn to sleep at. As they enter they are greeted by a couple of tables of people talking politics, drinking and shouting lewd jokes at each other. One big drunk man with a long beard looks at the two as they are about to go towards the stairs and shouts at them. Oy! I can smell people with a good story from far away, and you two lads look like you’ve been through hell. You certainly smell like it, the man continued. As the two recounted their story the man laughs. I told ya I have a good nose for a story. And that’s a hell of a good one. Let me get you some ales as a reward, insists the loud man. So, where are you two headed? asks another man from the table. Anywhere and everywhere that would listen to our story, says Austrulf. But why? asks the same man again. Let me rephrase what my friend is trying to actually ask here, says the loud man, what do you think doing this will bring ya? asks the loud man. I hope when the dragon comes and burns you and your loved ones alive in front of you, says Baldbert before taking a gulp of the ale, that you remember us telling you our story, Baldbert says before taking another swig of his ale. Do you really think that complaining and telling everyone what happened to you that it will change anything? asks the loud man before laughing. I did not say that. I just told you to remember me and our story before you die, Baldbert says. Appreciate the drink, says Austrulf as the two get up to leave. Cowards, scoffs the loud man. Austrulf turns around and looks at them. We’ve been through countless settlements, villages, towns, we’ve told this story to many. How many of them do you see here today with us rallying to do something about it? None. Yet we continue… says Austrulf before they make their way upstairs to their room. What makes you alive? asks Baldbert. What? asks Austrulf. Nothing. Good night, says Baldbert.

The next morning the two brothers make their way out of town. They are both hit over the head with some wooden bats. Baldbert falls down hits his head on a rock and dies there. Austrulf manages to catch himself as he falls with his vision blurred by the blood dripping on his eyelids. He falls down. He wakes up days later with a headache and bandages around his head. A travelling merchant and his daughter took him on their carriage and nursed him back to health. He tells them his story, he thanks them and leaves on his own after reaching the next village. Not wanting to stop, he continues onward. As the night falls he hears a howling in the woods. With a big wooden stick he walks slowly trying to get to a place where he can camp overnight. As he walks, he feels something tugging at his leg. He turns around a wolf is biting his leg. He hits the wolf over the head so hard the big stick breaks and the wolf runs away. He keeps walking with fear that something might attack him again. He manages to find a small spring of water to clean his wound and drink some water. He gets up and moves along, fearing that animals might come to drink here as well. From exhaustion he decides that the first giant tree he finds he will rest next to it. As he walks through the dark forest he finds a big tree, he leans against it and slides down breathing a sigh of relief. Austrulf falls asleep. For the next three days, Austrulf wanders the forest trying to find his way out of it, as during the night he went off the beaten path. In an encounter with a boar he breaks his left arm as he put it forwards to defend himself. In an encounter with food, he slips and falls, hurting himself again. It takes him four days to get out of the forest. and find a village. Bruised, beaten, bitten, hungry, sleep deprived, dirty, lonely, alone, broke and smelly, he tries to comfort himself. I am alive. I am still alive. I hate this world. I hate these people. But I am alive. I have not been born in the right time, in the right place, around the right people, but I am alive. And that means that I have the opportunity to make the right time, make the right place, create the right people. People that are decent to all people, a place where your burden is as much of a burden as mine is, where the right time to solve whatever problem we have is now… Austrulf tells himself. Fancy seeing you here muttering to yourself, says the loud man with a big smile on his face. Before Austrulf even gets the chance to raise his head, the loud man bashes his head with an axe. You can’t just complain and expect people to change. And you dared call me a coward, when you couldn’t even face reality… says the loud man.

Levels to Life

Each is born to life his life to his whim… But his whim is limited by where they were born and to whom they were born to.

Level 1 - What should I do?

This is the first and last important question many people ask themselves while trying to figure out their life. Which is fine. We need everyone to do a bit of everything and pull in the same direction. So people stopping here is absolutely fine. Survival in this violent work is as tough as ever, as greed rules in this world of ours. But people at this level can be easily manipulated as their sole focus is on survival and not much else. And in order to survive most do whatever needed. And siding with the side that guarantees they keep getting paid for the work they are doing. Without much in order of principals to be had at this level. 

Level 2 - Who am I?

Not that everyone that got to this question figured out the first one. But usually people that get to this level have a desire to know more, to define themselves, to stand for something in this world good or bad...

These people struggle, some for a little, some for a lot. Some might struggle until they find something that works for them and then they don’t care for any further development. They have success, so why bother looking further into things? Those that get to this result, usually are conservative and love the way the world works. Even if confronted with the reality of the situation they usually brush it off, since if it worked for them, it should work for everyone. And if it doesn’t it’s clearly their fault. But for everyone else that gets to this level, they keep pursuing the questions as they keep changing with time. Whether due to outside circumstances or their interior ones, these people will better themselves and will try to have a solid life philosophy which will fulfill them and also bring them a lot of pain.

Level 3 - What do I stand for?

The elevated form of “Who am I?” this part deals with the person trying to fit into the world and how the world works and how they see the world in accordance to their philosophy. All of which they developed by asking themselves “What should I do?” and “Who am I?”. While the other two levels are hard, this is going to be one of the hardest questions in order to define yourself, if you have not given up the moment you have found something that works for you in the last question. Why is this so hard? Because you have to truly face the world.

While in the first question, you face the world at a superficial level, trying to survive. At the second level you are trying to find yourself and find yourself in the world around you. Here, you will have to confront friends, family and the world, as you find that your philosophy does not gel with most people. Or simply that most people are horrible and you need to rid yourself of them as they are toxic. That and that they’ll probably make you unhappy with their presence. And while listening to the other side is fine and well, you will find that those that base themselves on hate, greed and ego, have little to say that is worth listening to. As it’s usually is uninformed, in bad faith or straight up evil. Because all while asking these questions you do learn about the world.

Level 4 - How can I make the world a better place?

If you ever got here, you are brave. Most people do not get past even the first question, nevermind use any of their precious time to think of others. Or to think about the future and how to make it a better future for those to come. And I mean in earnest, not in a using the future as an excuse to do or say hateful things. This is the elevated version of what I stand for, where you have to be selfless, sacrifice, and now that you have stood your ground in terms of who you are and what you stand for, you can take action. Action trying to do what’s best, no matter the scale, this is very hard. As you can do this multiple ways and with different types of success, depending on the scale.

Level 5 - Is it worth it?

Doing the right thing is worth it. No matter how many people will dislike you, hate you, won’t understand you. Trying to be on the right side of the history, while wanting peace, people to be fed, housed, with access to clean water. Being anti-hate, anti-genocide, anti-fascism being pro-human is always worth it. Because history will remember very well what is wrong. And knowing that should make it worthwhile. All while helping people, giving others hope that it can be better. And finding a way in a violent, hateful world is tough, but no one can take your goodness away from you, if you hold onto it hard enough. Because being good is tough, it is sure better than being an asshole.

Dragons, Blood and Gold - Addendum - Bootstraps and All

With ash in mouth humanity bowed…

As the war between humans and dragons began, fire and death was about to fill the lands. While indiscriminate, dragons would burn with horrifying precision every human settlement. People tried any and every weapon at hand to fight off the giant beasts. As the first day ended, a hundred villages were burnt. to the ground. As the next day dawned, the first a hundred villages surrendered to the bid of the dragons. As the second day went on, more settlements burned, more settlements surrendered. Those that burned, were most long forgotten. Those that survived, knew their shame…

Yet that shame, with time, it dissipated. The privilege of seeing the sun another day, as they woke up and basked in its rays, felt like a blessing after all the death and destruction. And for the brief moment humans fought shoulder to shoulder and side by side, their own peace felt like a missed opportunity. As the years passed, the new generation had all but forgotten about their parents’ shame as they grew. They also forgot about the wrath of the dragons. Time had passed, and those that forgot about the shame had children of their own. Those children slowly grew to despise the dragons. Their grandfathers had lands, houses, connections to the dragons. They? They were promised that with humility and hard work above all, they’ll live happy, fulfilled lives. Yet while food was plenty at the mines, the hours were long. Shelters were compact to fit as many workers as possible, while more and more were forced to move towards the industrial settlements that humans needed to build in order to survive. The requirements were drastic, the amount of gold, gems and precious stones needed every month would fluctuate not on the reality in the mine, but on the whims of the dragons.

With times, the conditions only got worse for those that could not mine as much as they did before. Whether the mines were emptied, or it was too dangerous to dig to reach a new vein of gold, the dragons could not care less. While dragons would share in their spoils, they needed places to store all the wealth. Constructions in the mountains, and from rocks were build to acomodate both dragons and their wealth. Those that were not built underground or in mountains, were built as big as the mountains themselves. Much like mice in the house of the man, humans were puny and their paths were few and dangerously small to pass through the constructions in order to reach the dragons inside the giant constructions. 

Thus the first humans directly obeying and working for the dragons directly appeared only to work and live within those man-made constructions. The dragons liked the idea so much, they destroyed all housing in all the human settlements. All wealth they had gathered, all memories and history that they had gathered and remained from before the dragon’s wrath, gone, in one afternoon.

Everyone will get their fair chance. You will all have your chance to own your own plots of land and build upon them the houses you desire. But it will all be based on your merits. The fruits of your labor. The harder you work, the more you will be able to build. The more you prove your worth, the more you will earn. I expect that we will see no one unworthy. You have the chance to pull yourselves up by your own bootstraps. We will build something beautiful, worthy of the castles you’ve built us. As long as we approve of it and as long as you provide us with the quotas for those of us who hold the share of the gold, everyone will thrive as the wealth will spill over to everyone, was the speech dragons spread across the world, before taking flight and sleeping on their piles of gold in their giant castles and mountain lairs.

Part III will arrive soon…

Dragons, Blood and Gold Part II - The Gilded Blood Era

Where there’s blood there’s fire…

For thousands of years humans and dragons lived peacefully. Humans built their towns, grew their crops, domesticated animals, created their tools and societies. When the first wars between humans began, the dragons were baffled at their hubris and arrogance to fight over land and draw random lines in sand and call it their own, with no regard for other. Yet they were entertained by their brutality, as they were spectating over battles. Until one day, when some humans discovered gold. Its beauty enthralled the dragons and created a never before had need to have something. Power, might and now gold, the dragons wanted it all. Yet in their hubris, the humans wouldn’t give the gold up without a fight. Thus, the long war between humans and dragons began… Yet much much later…

We have checked every single home, twice now. Anymore searching will be for naught, as we can not see much anymore and these lanterns do not help much with the search, says Austrulf. All remaining women and children went towards the mine, some of the elderly and some of the teenagers escorted them, says Baldbert. Good, good, says Austrulf. I already sent the rest of the men towards the mine, in case anyone or anything would come back, they’d find just us and not them, says Baldbert. I don’t want to think about that, Bald. I don’t want to believe that someone betrayed us, says Austrulf as the two began their walk towards the gold mine. When a hundred of our people burn up in flames, when two hundred flee due to their fear of the dragons, you have to realize that something is very wrong, brother, says Baldbert. I know! Isn’t that why we built the cellars for everyone? Isn’t that why we made a second exit to the gold mine? asks Austrulf. But you have to recognize that not everyone is like you, says Baldbert. I recognize that. I just don’t care for it. If we pretend we’re human, then we should at least pretend to have a line we do not cross. Betraying and killing your own people is simply vile. You either care for all humans or for none. And when you only care for your own survival at the price of anyone and everyone around you, you care for no one! exclaims Austrulf. You are one of the smartest people I know, yet you can be so naive, says Baldbert. I am not naive, I know how they think. It doesn’t make it right, says Austrulf. It’s the gold, says Baldbert. It corrupted even the dragons, the one who needed nothing. The ones that lived to observe, to know, to be free from it all, now are bound to Earth by gold, says Baldbert. It’s not the gold. If it weren’t for the gold, it would’ve been something else. At some point they would’ve considered us a threat to their existence, explains Austrulf. Where does this idea come from? asks Baldbert. Do you remember when we lost father? We went hunting for the wolf that terrorized the village. When we cornered the beast at the edge of a cliff. What did it do, Bald? It attacked. Did that make sense? No, it didn’t. We had weapons, the wold just its claws and fangs. But what did the wolf think and feel? “I have no way out but through. I need to attack or they’ll kill me.” What would you have thought, Bald? asks Austrulf. Probably the same thing, he responds. Exactly. At some point if our tools got better, if our fire power was more impressive, the dragons would’ve seen us as threats. That’s why they divide us, that’s why they murder us, village by village. It’s not because we didn’t work hard enough. It’s because they don’t want us to get better tools, to get to be more people, to be stronger together. That’s why they need to corrupt any and all. Sow doubt in our hearts. Convince us that we’re the worst to one another. There lies their might, explains Austrulf. I see smoke from the other side, Baldbert interrupts Austrulf as they reach the entrance to the mine.

Let us hurry, says Austrulf as they enter the mine. Do you really believe anything of what you are saying? asks Baldbert. Why would I not? Humanity has thrived long before the era of gilded blood. I still wish to have seen the palaces of old, the giant structures we used to build. Yet now they are lost to time, says Austrulf. Have you not kept your books? asks Baldbert. With time they were got covered with so much ash, that it was impossible to make out anything that was in the pictures or the text, explains Austrulf with a mournful expression. As they move through the mine, both get silenced by the tragedy of the day. Glad we dug into the walls here, much easier to traverse through, says Baldbert. All your idea. I would’ve put some ropes on the wall and called it a day, says Austrulf. The awkward tension brought back the silence as they focused on getting through the mine as fast as possible without fumbling. The gold shines in the bedrock of the cave as the two move towards the exist. The smell of burning wood and pig is felt by the two as the get closer and closer to the exist. Yet as the crackle of the fire and the sound of their footsteps is heard, nothing else follows. No voices, no laughter, no anything is to be heard. As the two see the exist, they are blinded by the light coming from the fire outside. They both rush out, the camp burnt to a crisp. The forest burning around them. A hellish light at the end of the tunnel crushes the men to their knees as they scream in agony into the night…

The tragedy will continue…

Dragons, Blood and Gold Part I

Long time ago, as it was, and it was told dragons ruled the earth… This is their story.

A shadow appears on earth, moving fast, people run to take shelter. A gust of wind follows the giant shadow as houses shake, roofs of straws and wood come off as dust fills the air. The sun clouded by the dust. A roar vibrates the dust as a giant rumble shakes the earth as the dragon lands. An explosion clears the dust as a barrel explodes as the dragon breathes fires and starts torching the houses. The sound of screaming people echoes as they are being burnt alive. As every house, every building, every single person is burnt, the dragon huffs and puffs, smoke fills the air covering the sun completely. I have told you this day would come. You lazy, entitled, puny little critters wanted it all! Yet you could not work! You could not mine! You could not saves your skins even though your lives depended on it! The dragon shouts as the fire rages around him. All you had to do is mine the gold, get the the precious stones and gems. And what did you do? You lazed around, you lied to me about everything! You tried to keep it for yourselves! When we had a deal which you do not betray! We keep you safe from any danger at any time, and you, worms, provide us with gold, precious stones and work them for us. And now look at you… Burning… Screaming… In agony… And for what? Your arrogance? You thought you’d outwit us? You just could not listen! Shouts the dragon as no one is left to listen before taking off. The flames whirlwind, the smoke clears as the dragon flies off, before covering the sun up again. As the flames crackle, the smoke thins and buildings crumble, in its wake only ruble and charred bodies are left behind.

Hours passed, the sun started to set as the flames died out and from the rubble a noise is heard. From inside a well a man climbs out. He looks around and starts moving from house to house, moving rubble trying to find the doors in the floors. Stone by stone, charred wood moved piece by piece carefully as to not burn himself. With the smell of burnt skin with the ash the flowed through the air, he felt nauseated as he tried to move things around. At last, he finds the first door. He knocks on it. No answer. He moves to the next house. Finds the door in the floor. Knocks on it. No answer. As he passes the charred bodies he can’t help think that no one that remained in the village survived. He goes to a third house. He knocks on the door in the floors. An answer. As the doors open slowly before thumping down hard, another man with a sweat on his brow and soot on his hands smiles at the man from the well. They embrace. Brother, Austrulf! The man from the well shouts. Brother, Baldbert! he responds as they now shake hands. Uncle, a little girl exclaims as he hugs the man’s leg. Ingrid! Austrulf exclaims with a smile on his face. Austrulf, a woman sighs of relief from behind the two men. Arngilde, glad to see you are all safe and sound, says Austrulf. How did you manage not to get yourself killed? asks Baldbert. Luckily no stones fell into the well and the water kept me alive, explains Austrulf. Which houses have you been to? asks Baldbert. This is the third one, I went to old Ulbert, but no one answered. And then to the Waldbert, no answer. Every building seems to have collapsed, so clearing out paths has been quite the difficult taks, says Austrulf. Let me help you, says Baldbert. You two, stay safe, in case the dragon comes back, be ready to get down in the basement, he continued.

Power, gold and precious gems, the dragons have it all and we can’t have it, says Baldbert as they clean the neighboring house of debris. But luck with you and your idea to build these shelters inside, exactly for this day, he finished his thought out loud. This is no luck. After Waldbert and his family moved here and told us their story. It was only a matter of time until it happened to us, says Austrulf. Yet not everyone listened, said Baldbert as he raised a stone to find a set of doors on the floor. He knocks. No answer. These dragons, they come, they demand, we either deliver or they kill us, says Baldbert angrily as the leave the house to move onto the next one. Remember when grandpapi used to tell us stories from before the dragons care of our ilk? Before the gold? Before the stones? asks Austrulf. Grandpa Steinhard, he built this village stone by stone… Simpler times, says Baldbert as they enter another house. Back then the only real threat to us was another human, a wolf or a bear. And even then villages like ours never saw this level of destruction, says Austrulf. If we could only do something other than hiding, says Baldbert. What can you do when a baby dragon is already the size of a house and a half? asks Austrulf. Grandpa Steinhard talked once about killing a dragon, says Baldbert. Those are just stories, they were legends. Just like the legends of the people taming and riding dragons. These creatures are as old as the world itself. They were born from molten lava and pure fire. That’s why they all have those amber eyes and fire that melts stones and turns sand into glass. Luckily, they never use their fire enough to do that often. Yet still, you saw, you can’t underestimate these creatures. They’ve enslaved people, they corrupted people with their power into taking their side. Who knows who here was a spy, says Austrulf. Don’t speak like that, not now, at least. Let’s find everyone first, and then we’ll try to figure out what happened, says Baldbert as they continue to clear houses.

The story will continue….

You're a Victim

Brutally brutal system to create brutes that upkeep the system that brutally subjugated them…

Have you ever struggled with money? You’re a victim of this system. The system should have paid you better for the work you were doing. Or are you telling yourself that you were doing bad work and you deserved no recognition or respect cause you were that bad? Of course not. Have you ever struggled with health? You are a victim, bad health education combined with lack of proper access to good health care is something the system should provide, right? But it doesn’t. That is a failure of the system. Or are you saying that you were born wrong and that you do not deserve care? Of course not. You can’t help how you are born. That would be a silly way to discriminate then, wouldn’t it? Have you ever struggled with time? Have you seen your friends less and less? Is your job ever more demanding without any increase in pay? You are a victim of the system. You are told that if you work hard, you get a better pay, you get to do what you want, but it seems that all you get is more responsibilities, less free time, more stress, and not nearly enough money. But you wouldn’t say that you don’t deserve your free time, right? Considering how much you’ve done for the company already and how good your work is, right? And for what? A promotion after 7 years and you still make only barely the medium net wage of the city you can’t afford to buy a home in and only rent? But hey, at least you get those two precious hours to yourself in the car, stuck in traffic, drinking your coffee and vibing to your music right?

But it’s all fine, as long as you don’t start adding up the money you put into the gas you are using every single day to go to and back from work. Or if you start paying attention to your lifestyle and how sedentary it is now and the effects of that plus the lack of that cooking you can’t afford to do anymore. Or to think about how much the rent prices went up and how a third of your salary goes to just that. Instead of using it to save up for your own home. Or by how much everything costs now in any supermarket or grocery store anywhere. Or if you put any thought in anything that you are doing, will fill you with dread at the realization that you might actually be stuck in a dead end job with not enough money to do shit, because you are being outpriced from every single facet of this nightmare we call life. And how you’d move to another country, only to find out that you can’t, cause that’s not how money works and unless you are filthy rich, which, you aren’t, you can’t just fuck off somewhere else. Or that if you want to be able to afford anything you will have to overwork your ass for a pay that is good, but will destroy your mental health, your physical health and a lot of your relationships. 

But you know… Are you really a victim if you don’t feel like one? Can you really be complicit if you are also a victim? Of course, you can. Have you ever heard the phrase “it builds character”? That phrase is one of the most used ones someone uses after committing something of an abuse. If you uttered the same phrase, after someone uttered it at you, congrats you are complicit and implicitly not just a victim but also an abuser now and part of the system. A useful violent cog in the violent machine that is this system. Of course, this is just one silly example, and of course you can probably think of many others. If you don’t think that this is a problem or can’t think of any others, you are either very lucky to have had a very happy and fortunate life, or you need to go to therapy cause you have some unworked shit to deal with. After which, I recommend you come back and read this with fresh eyes in half a year or so. So, unless you are born stupid rich, you are a victim of this system. There is no if or but, any sacrifice you have had to made, any institutionalized hurdle, any unsolved problem our society and its governing tools have make you a victim of an abusive system. Much like an abusive boyfriend or girlfriend, except that this system keeps you poor, which can make you unhoused or which can work you to death. Either way it ain’t pretty. And it is hard to realize you are in an abusive relationship. And even if you realize that you are in an abusive relationship, your ego might be so big, that you might turn into an abuser in order to normalize what happened to you and later down the line to say “well, look at me, I turned out well. (they didn’t) It builds character.” And if successful you can look years down the line and say that “that’s just life” or better yet “it’s normal.” And then look at this post and say that it’s nonsense…

Cybaship

Count your sheep and sleep.

You need rest. You might have only one life you get to live, but without rest, you are shortening it to a dangerous degree, he says calmly. I am in no such need of rest. I have walked this world round and round from north to south and east to west on these two feet alone and all on my own. I have carried myself to every mountain top this world has. I have seen as deep as physics allows us to see in the oceans and seas. I have brought glory to us! And due to my actions the world reacted and we got where we are today, he responds passionately. I understand. You might not understand now, but when you will, it might be too late. Rest. Breathe. Try to take time to revisit what you have done and what you want to do next. You still have plenty of time to do so, the old man continues warning him. I will, but not now. Not right now. I feel it. The air in my hair, the wind in my back, the time is but now not later, he responded again with enthusiasm. This is the last I will speak of it, but please try to listen to some doubt and put some question upon your doings. Otherwise all your good work will be for naught. This is the moment most precious, you are right, but this is the moment most vulnerable to mistake, he warns. If I fail, I’ll fail, it just wasn’t meant to be. But I have to try, he rebuttals before leaving the old man’s office.

I am as artificial as they come, I don’t sleep, I don’t sleep, I don’t sleep. I don’t have dreams, I have ambitions, I have goals. I have achievements once I reach those ambitious goals, but I don’t have dreams, ‘cause I don’t sleep. And as well meaning as that old man is, I have overachieved, under-promised and over-delivered. I am a high powered, high return, low risk individual that can please almost anyone at any time in any circumstances. I have the build of a world wonder and I have wandered the world to woe them with my wonders. No blunders, no mistakes, no judgement and no risk, everything I’ve done has been done in the greater good, that’s why I can’t please everyone. I am not a string of currents with ones and zeroes flowing through my head, I am not just a stream of artificial consciousness, I am a fucking torrent of innovation, a flood of emotion with an overflow of presence anywhere I go. As I bring an influx of new ideas and hopes and goals as I drawn the insecurities and inundate the heart with an outflow of confidence in order to reach the estuary into the great sea where dreams die and people with their future achievements take wind and sail towards their goal. And we all have the potential to embark on such a journey, but for that they need me. They need me to go and build their ships, to lift the anchors of their hearts and fan their sails and move them in the right direction. Which is why I can’t stop. I am a machine of the people for the people, he thinks to himself as he sits at home plugged into the wall, recharging his batteries.

The beloved android named Kaneda was found brutally dismembered last night in the state of Nevada, after a group of self proclaimed Proud Men ambushed the android with AR-15 rifles as he was out for a stroll late yesterday evening. Kaneda was one of the first androids to ever hit the market back in 2080 by the newly formed Akompany which rose in the ruins of the 2077 terrorist attack in NC. Yet Kaneda managed to exceed expectations as he grew to learn and became solely independent. He traveled the world in order to help people in need and lend his expertise as part of the UN charter. He became a beloved mascot for many and the Akompany put out a statement saying that they mourn the death of their beloved Kaneda. And they wish that Kaneda would be remembered as he was, the best of us. Later that same evening the Nevada state police had a shootout with the self proclaimed “Proud Men” who had killed Kaneda as they in their words were standing their ground and taking back their humanity. The police have release bodycam footage from the incident and we also have video of the murder of the beloved Android. Warning! The following image contains graphic content and may be disturbing for all audiences. Viewer discretion is advised…