It was five days before class started and murderously hot. The kind of heat that left the air shimmering above every surface. The kind of hot that meant you had to peel your clothes off of yourself to get them away from your skin. Nevertheless, people had to move into the dorm, and there was nothing to it but to do it. The AC in the dorm was shoddy at best, and with all the traffic in and out the ground floor wasn't much cooler than outside. I'd prepared for this, and several days in advance had stocked all the fridges with bottled water and gatorade, and swapped out the butter pecan for otter pops and other water based frozen treats.
Usually when school was starting I was accustomed to parents of freshmen bringing in bags and boxes and both the new students and their parents hiding churning emotions behind a veneer of enthusiasm, intermingled with their upperclassmen with a wide variety of emotions. Of course there were the girls that didn't bring their parents, or brought only one, or couldn't wait for their parents to be gone to finally, for the first time, taste freedom.
This was not the case today, thanks to the heat. Instead of emotions or enthusiasm there was only dogged determination, dragging bags and boxes in sweat drenched arms. I helped everyone I could, when I wasn't fetching boxes I was handing out water and otter pops to everyone. I was determined to not have anyone pass out or get heat stroke. Of course everyone but the freshmen knew me, and every water or frozen treat I handed out was met with "thanks mom", "you're the best, mom", or even one instance of "you cool me right down, mommy." That last one felt really weird.
As by now five-ish years had passed since the prophecy, people weren't as aware of who I was and that was fine with me. Although it did mean that in a week or so someone would mention it and it would be the hot gossip of the dorm for an hour, a tradition I'd come to dread. In the meantime, my reputation as an RA was what I wanted known. Word was shared fairly quickly as the older girls made my staus known. To my chagrin, all of the freshmen started calling me mom. Sometimes in front of their actual mothers which also felt weird.
Finally the day was drawing to a close, there was still work to be done but there wasn't a Shannon to help, only a hot, sticky, smelly, exhausted, dehydrated Shannon who could barely muster the energy to take an occasional bite of sandwich. My clothes were drenched from my sweat, my hair was plastered to my scalp and neck, and my deodorant had been overwhelmed several hours before. Every bite and chug of gatorade (gotta get those electrolytes) I told myself to get up and take a shower. Every bite and chug I said I'd do it later. There was still a trickle of traffic, and every now and then I'd muster up the juice to say "cold waters in the fridge."
"Thanks for your help today, mom." I heard the slap of her hand falling on my shoulder, such was the state of my sweatiness. I looked up to see Sara, one of the new freshmen. "You really worked hard today. It means a lot. Can I get you anything? You look exhausted."
I looked at the sandwich. It was a Greek gyro, nearly finished but I was still hungry. "I could really go for a bahn mi." I said, struggling to form words.
"Oh, mom, that does sound good. Is there a good place nearby?" I gave her directions and began to pull out some cash but she stopped me. "This one's on me. Thanks mom!" Then, trying to be cute, she bent down and kissed me on the forehead then stood and sputter "ah gaw what no, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking and gah it's so salty." I chuckled and kinda zoned out for a moment before I heard her by the front door. "Oh thank you! Room 308. I'm going to grab a bahn mi for me and dorm mom. Want one?"
Someone put a box on the table in front of me and sat down beside me. "So you're 'dorm mom' now?" I looked up to see Ethan the heart throb from my sophomore year. He extended a hand. "I don't know if you remember but we met a few years ago, it's Shannon, right?"
I looked at him, with his brow dappled with handsome little beads of sweat, his shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms. I went to shake his hand, thought better of it, wiped my own palm on my pants which did little to dry them, then completed the handshake. I said "yeah you're Ethan Winters, age 27, sisters named Lyla and Sara, graduated with honors a with a degree in cellular biology with a minor in physics, you like brown beer and don't have any qualms about drinking bad tequila to save a drunk girl from giving herself alcohol poisoning, who dated a harpy for a number of years and who admitted to being scared to graduate as you didn't know what you'd do afterwards, however from what I see of you now with the $75 hair cut and designer watch I'd estimate you're doing pretty well for yourself and I shouldn't admit this but sometimes when I'm lonely I'll have day dreams where I think about being married to you and living in a house with a white picket fence and three dogs and I still think about you carrying me to the dorm that night and it's one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me and by the way the maple bar and Bavarian cream filled donuts you got me for the morning after were actually my favorites so that was a pretty good shot in the dark." Just kidding. I'm neither that articulate nor creepy. Instead I said "oh it's uh… Ethan right?"
"Oh you do remember!" He said, smiling.
"I was pretty drunk, but I believe a few days later I offered to take you to dinner for being such a gentleman, but I never got the chance. The offer still stands." I looked down at myself. "Maybe not tonight, though."
"Yeah, Sara is brining you food anyway. Another time though, I'd love to." He said.
At the words "I love" my heart went THUMP THUMP and I had to stop myself from drooling. "So, uh… what have you been up to since graduating?"
We talked for a while as the day cooled off and my sweat evaporated into a thin crust of salt crystals. Eventually Sara returned with not only a bahn mi, but a huge basket of really cripsy fries, slathered in salt. I could have kissed her. I ate myself into a near catatonic state and afterwards felt quite refreshed. While I was inhaling my food I occasionally stopped long enough to watch Ethan and Sara together. They were so comfortable with eachother. The little quips and inside jokes, the way he teased her with things that sounded at first derogatory but after an instant of consideration turned out to be compliments. I'd had a crush on him before, but watching him interact with his sister, I think that was when I first started to fall in love with Ethan.
WHAT? No, spoiler alert, forget that last sentence. Cover your ears and shout "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU."
The kindness, the consideration, the wit. I saw it in him. In that conversation I saw how it had helped to shape Sara into the young woman she was. I saw how she, in turn, had helped to shape him into the man he was today. In that conversation I saw the faintest outline of their relationship, and it was a relationship so beautiful it made me want to weep. Here were siblings who knew and loved each other as only siblings could.
Eventually evening turned into night and Ethan gathered himself to leave. I watched him go, and sat feeling sad for a moment before I realized that I didn't have to. In a snap decision I stood and ran after him, and caught him by the wrist. He turned and seemed surprised to see me. "I meant what I said about dinner. Please, let me take you out. My treat."
"Sure. Let me give you my number." He said with a smile.
I punched it into my phone and sent him a text so he'd have my number. "Hey it's Shannon. ❤️😉. Looking forward to dinner! 🍽" he smiled when he read it and immediately typed a reply "🍽? I was hoping for 🥩".
I chuckled and went to give him a hug but stopped myself. "Oh, sorry, I'm kind of gross right now." I said, stepping away, but was immediately caught off guard when he grabbed me in for a hug.
"That's because I know you'll take good care of Sara." He then held me at arms length, and looked into my eyes with a serious expression on his face, before cracking a wide smile. "Get some rest, Shannon. I hope I hear from you soon."

Greetings fellow posters, commenters and watchers! It is I, another lonely spec of dust in the infinitely massive cosmic body! I come to you today in search of something new…something wholesome— and long term! (My horrible attempt at a hook)
It’s no secret that this subreddit is for that sort of thing, so might as well get to the point shall we?
I’m a 21 year old guy from the southern USA with ginger hair, large glasses, and 4 dogs! Disclaimer, I have Autism and mild depression. Just letting you know in advance! :)
Currently, your boi is a college student studying and suffering for a bachelors degree in fine arts. 😂 It’s my ultimate goal to be an author and scriptwriter of not only the latest films, but comics as well! Since—ya know I’m a geek. It’s a huge stretch of a goal, but you only live once, so it’s worth a shot right? I find great interest in writing, and studying films and their deeper meanings. So if you have an interest in that too, we already have a LOT to talk about! ^{-^}
Other interests of mine include:
-superheroes -Anime (Like MHA, Demon slayer, Attack on Titan, Tokyo Ghoul, Spy x Family, and One punch man) -gaming (PS5, PC, Switch. Will get Xbox soon) -Adobe photoshop/illustrator -psychology -philosophy -crime documentaries -music from the 1940’s-1990’s -Horror -building and modifying my technology -hiking
Now then, what do I want out of a partner? To put it simply, I just want the one you know? The one that’ll be my best friend through and through. Someone I can joke around with, tell anything, stay up late talking about video games, fandoms, or wild theories. I don’t really care much about appearance so much as personality. I need someone to respect my own beliefs even if you don’t agree with it, and I will in turn do the same. I want to be able to do more than just text my partner on a daily basis, I want to game with them, or video call! Or we write a horrible Fanfiction together or Roleplay! Whatever the case! I dare to eventually marry now, so if that’s not your cup of tea, then I’m probably not the best option for you. Next, my age range typically falls around 18-24 currently. Maybe 25? It just depends honestly. I want that slow burn, and someone who puts equal effort into the conversation. Bonus points if you yourself are into writing!
I think that’s it for now? I’m sure there’s more to be said in conversation, so I’ll leave it at that. If any of this interests you, don’t hesitate to Dm! But please don’t just be like “hey.” There’s no substance with that! I need more! Anyways, can’t wait to hear from you!

By the time I was sixteen Linda got my dad to send me off to what they thought was boarding school. In reality it was a compound where the Order of the Wren would begin training me so I could be a full-fledged member.
During this time D and I would talk on the phone a few times a week. Since the Order had me move around so often I had to be the one doing the calling. These conversations didn't last as long as I would have liked because there was no privacy in the hotel rooms we would frequently stay at.
By we, I mean the two experienced hunters I would have to learn from. Their names were Williams and King. Neither did much talking and I could tell they didn't like having me around. Not that I could blame them. I was inexperienced and they had better things to do than to hold my hand and explain things to me. That meant that when we had to go somewhere to slay some monstrosity, I would have to wait in the hotel we were staying at.
I was bored out of my mind most of the time when we were traveling the country but I would learn to love those dull moments soon enough.
Williams was alright even though he smelt like a chimney, but at least he was patient with me and kind. However, King was crazy, cynical and had an unhealthy obsession with explosives. I asked him about it once and he told me “In this line of work, some things are vulnerable to fire, monk root, silver and stuff, right? But in my experience nothing can survive when twenty pounds of homemade explosives go boom.”
The days passed slowly so I would kill time by sharpening rune covered blades that would hurt all sorts of monsters, making specialized ammo, documenting everything I thought was noteworthy so future generations of members could learn from us, reading, playing cards and waiting for Farsight to call.
I asked Williams about Farsight on a few occasions and he told me that they were high ranking members of the Order who essentially ran everything. Since they were a secretive bunch, who they were and how they knew where to send all the teams was a mystery.
Most people I spoke to said they thought the biggest clue on how Farsight operated was the history of the Order itself.
Learning about the Order was a top priority during my studies at the compound. The long and the short is: back in the day there were some nerds that saved a bunch of books and scrolls from a fire that was about to consume a library named after some guy named Alexander. Lots of these people died as a result of saving what they could and because of their sacrifice the Order knows how to dispose and kill monsters.
My studies were not limited to history either. Most of the time was spent doing military drills, however on a few occasions I got to try my hand at magic. That being said, magic welders are rare and I was not one of them.
The first time I ever saw any action we were waiting somewhere in Ohio when the phone rang.
King answered the phone, waited and responded with ‘yes’, ‘no’ and finally ‘understood’ before hanging up.
“What did they say?” asked Williams.
King sighed and shook his head. “We got a plane to catch,” King answered as he slapped his knees and stood up.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Alaska.”
“What's in Alaska?” Williams asked before I could.
“Farsight got wind of some town that went missing.”
“A town went missing?” I asked, pinching my eyebrows together in confusion.
“It happens,” King shrugged. “Roanoke, Waterway… Etcetera.”
“Waterway?” I asked. “Never heard of it.”
“That's because it disappeared,” Williams answered before turning to King. “Did Farsight tell you what was there?”
King gave him a look before returning to pack up his things. “Do they ever?”
Getting to our destination meant getting in three different single engine planes that all took off and landed on someone's field instead of an airport. Each of the planes were held together by duct tape and prayers. After that, we rode in a boat for an hour.
The island we were assigned to go to was small and covered with equal parts trees, brush and rocks. There weren't many houses and the nicest one of them was a doublewide trailer in poor condition.
“Where is everyone?” I asked as we made our way off the dock and onto land.
“I don't like this,” Williams added as he took out the HSD (Handheld Supernatural Detector. It sort of looked like half of a bike handle covered in copper wire, black electricians tape and at the end there are two antennas). “Nothing” Williams said after waving it around a little while.
“Keep it activated” King said, his shotgun at the ready as he led us through what passed as a town on this island.
“Maybe the signal is too weak” I suggested.
“Might be,” King responded. “Might not even be supernatural?”
“What else could it be?” I asked.
“Disease? Jobs disappearing” King answered.
“Doesn't look like there were lots of jobs here anyways” Williams pointed out, waving the HSD in different directions but not picking up anything. “Besides, Farsight isn't wrong about these things” he added as King led us to the first house and walked in.
“How many people lived here?” I asked.
“No more than thirty,” King answered.
We kept checking the houses, but time after time there were no clues to tell us what happened to the island's occupants. There were no signs of struggle, the clothes were still on the hangers and there was even food that sat around for so long that whatever it once was became mostly mold.
“So what's the plan?” I asked after reaching the last house before the forest started. I was hoping that they would say something that involved a hot shower. After the trip out here I felt that I could have used one.
Or two.
“It's going to get dark soon,” King answered, looking at the sunset. “And since we don't know what we are dealing with, we should find a place to stay for the night.”
“Where?” I asked.
“Churches are safer than most places” Williams suggested, pointing to a squat, square building.
The door was unlocked so we let ourselves in. The first thing King and Williams did was to see if we were alone. They checked the confessionals, the back office, the bathroom, under every pew and kept their eyes on the rafters.
King figured the safest part of the building was the back office, so we all went there. With the three of us it was cramped. I would have suggested staying in one of the houses, but it wouldn't have felt right sleeping in a strangers house when they were missing, besides, places of worship would provide safety. At least from some things.
On the desk that belonged to the priest was a newspaper and Williams picked it up to check the date. Something I would never have thought of doing, and saw that it was two months old.
“In a place like this, I wouldn't think they would get their news fresh off the press” King responded when Williams pointed this out.
“Still” Williams said. “That's a long time, even for way out here.”
When it came to claiming sleeping areas it was nearly impossible for all of us to be satisfied with the results. Not only was it crammed with all of us in the back office, but both men also suffered from night terrors.
By the time we all had our designated sleeping spots, Williams grumbled about being low on cigarettes and ordered me to run to the island's convenience store and “grab an armful.”
At first I protested, but they told me that since the island was abandoned it wasn't stealing.
It was my turn to grumble, but I did as I was told.
As I walked to the convenience store, I wondered how Farsight would react if they knew King and Williams sent me off by myself like this.
Pulling the door open to go inside, I was surprised to find that the store looked nearly the same as the one in Gray Hill. They had stuffed animals on the walls, pickled pig parts in glass jars, they even had the same off brand food items that I could never find anywhere other than home.
Excited, I raced to the cooler and found the same brand of ginger ale I loved so much. I sucked down one, feeling the carbonation reach up into my nose and burn like hell.
Once I loaded the rest of the bottles in my bag I went over to the counter and hopped over it to grab Williams his cigarettes.
After leaving the store I saw a truck parked out front of the church that wasn't there when I left. Feeling something was wrong I ducked behind a fence. Just in time too because a second later the door swung open and a group of people were dragging King and Williams to the truck.
The people seemed to be wearing the furs of all sorts of animals. From skunk to deer to bear and whatever else that lived on the island. At first I thought their faces were covered in dirt, however thanks to D’s alterations I could see that it was actually black rocks glistening in the dying light. Not only that but they were growing out of these people. One had a large piece coming straight up from behind his left collarbone, another had her face peppered with small rocks but the man who appeared to be their leader had one coming out of his eye socket.
King and Williams were shouting at the group, what they were saying I can’t repeat and if I cleaned it up it wouldn't be much of a sentence.
I stayed still and out of sight until the truck pulled away. Since I was only armed with the buck knife I kept on my belt at all times I wouldn’t be much help. Even less so if I was caught by whoever took the more experienced monster hunters.
As soon as the truck was out of sight I ran into the church to grab the weapons we brought with us. Both shotguns that were filled with special shells we made ourselves and our rune covered machetes.
Just as I was about to leave I remembered the backpack filled with explosives. When I scooped that up I took off in the direction I last saw the truck going.
I ran for about two miles before finally finding the truck which was parked in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road. Most of the journey was uphill, however thanks to what D did to me I had plenty of energy to spare.
It didn't take long for me to see that there were tracks that led into the woods and without thinking about it, I followed them. King and Williams needed my help.
The tracks were easy to follow considering there were six people plus King and Williams who were struggling with their abductors.
I had been tracking these people for fifteen or twenty minutes by the time I came across a rocky hill, and since rocks don't leave tracks, I thought I lost them. However, just then I saw a small cave entrance. Figuring that was where King and Williams were taken, I hustled up the hill to investigate, making sure I kept low and quiet.
When I got in the cave I thought my eyes would adjust, however it didn't. Inside was completely dark and there was no sound other than my own breathing and footfalls. I would come to learn later than caves are like that. Completely dark so even my eyes couldn't adjust and they muffle sounds.
After a short time of navigating down a narrow passageway by dragging my hand on the wall I saw a faint orange glow and slowly walked towards it, careful not to make any sound. As I drew closer, I heard a group of people chanting in a strange language that almost sounded like angry small dogs.
A few stalagmites and stalactites separated the passageway I was on from a large open area with small bonfires scattered around. The people who took King and Williams were circling a large black monolith that sat in the middle of the room and they seemed to be praying to it. To me the monolith resembled the rocks that grew out of the people.
“I’mma kill you” shouted a familiar voice about ten feet below where I stood. It was King. Both he and Williams had their hands tied behind them, around a rock. “Stem to stern, you hear that? You hear that?!”
As King was shouting, I figured I would have less of a chance at getting caught if I climbed down the steep cave wall instead of following the path. Thankfully I managed to get to them without making a sound that Kings yelling didn't muffle.
D made me a borderline superhero, and superheroes save people. So even though my heart was jumping out of my chest, that didn't stop me from doing what I had to do.
“Shh” I whispered to Williams as I put the handle of my knife in his still bound hand. “I’m leaving the bag of explosives behind you. The shotguns and your machete too.”
Williams didn't make a sound, but he nodded and started to cut the ropes.
King was still shouting to his abductors, masking my voice as I told Williams that I was going to buy them time by serving as a distraction.
Without waiting for a nod, I went back the way I came and started climbing. I was sure I was going to get caught when I caused a few rocks to fall, but then Williams started to yell, joining King to mask the sound.
After reaching the passageway I came from, I turned around to see Williams give me a slight nod. Then I shouted for everyone to hear.
“Your mom shaves her chest and you—”
I didn't get any further than that because the people hissed and ran towards me. Some climbed the wall I just did while others ran down the path I chose not to take in order to reach the two more experienced hunters.
Seeing how fast they were moving made me regret not thinking past this part of the plan.
I ran as fast as I could down the dark and narrow path I entered from. The entire time I could hear them behind me and I imagined that they were getting closer.
As soon as I got outside, it was dark and I made a split second decision to run to the coast. This would make it look like I was trying to get to a boat instead of buying the more experienced monster hunters some time. However every time I tried to head towards the beach a few of my pursuers would be in my way, forcing me to change course.
After what D did to me I was fast, not Olympic speed but it was safe to say I was faster than everyone I knew. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that these people were keeping pace with me. If it was just one of them, I wouldn't have given it much thought, but all of them were. Even the fat and the old ones.
I tried coming up with answers that might help my chances if I had to fight these people, or should I say what these people became? The rocks gave them enhanced strength and speed, but other than that the clues I had were minimal. The rocks could have been anything from viral, extraterrestrial, interdimensional or even parasitic.
However it was safe to say that even if it was parasitic it was not demonic. If it was, the HSD would’ve picked it up.
If I knew what language these people were speaking, that would narrow the possibilities that much further.
I must have been running for about ten minutes before I realized three things at once. The first thing was these people were much faster than they were letting on and were just toying with me. The second was that I was being herded back to the cave and the third was that I was going to have to stop running and fight.
As soon as I stopped running, I pulled the machete out from its sheath and turned to face those who meant me harm.
They surrounded me like a pack of wolves, and like a pack of wolves they snapped their jaws and made sounds that reminded me of a group of angry tiny dogs barking. These people also attacked like wolves too because the ones behind me would be doing the attacking.
The first one tried to jump onto my shoulders but before she could wrap her arms and legs around me I quickly turned around and used her momentum to throw her into the others. Immediately another lept towards me and was met with a front kick, connecting right below the belly button.
That was when the third one, the one with the rock growing out of his eye, bit my hand.
I don't know who was more surprised, me because I was bit, or him because it cracked his teeth.
I recovered from the shock before he did and raised the machete up to cut off his head.
As I swung he lifted up his hand to block it. Even though I didn't take his head, I still managed to take his hand and half of his forearm.
If he felt pain he sure hid it well.
He swiped at me with his other hand and I leaned back to dodge it. He was fast though and managed to rake my cheek with his nails.
Before I could swing my weapon again, another jumped on my back and put me in a choke hold. The grip was tight and as I tried to free myself the others tackled me. Thankfully this loosened the grip around my neck. However I was on my back and the others were closing in.
I kicked one of my attackers in the knee so it broke and went backwards. This person didn't make a sound and I doubt they felt it.
One of them kicked me in the face and even though it didn't knock me out, it hurt like hell and made me see stars.
I swung my machete in a wide half circle, managing to open the belly of another.
That bought me some room but as I tried to stand up two more jumped on my back and took me to the ground. The rest all piled on top of me, snapping at me while growling and nipping at each other to get out of the way so they could get to me.
I really thought this was going to be how I was going to die, however just then all of them went limp and fell.
A fraction of a second later I heard an explosion coming from the cave.
As I layed there, in the bottom of the pile of bodies, it felt like my heart was going to explode. I was so close to dying, but I prevailed.
I won.
I let out a warcry that Otis would have been proud of and pushed the bodies off of me.
Standing up, I gave one of my attackers a kick for good measure. However it was like kicking a dried up hornets nest and the toe of my boot went right through. The only part that wasn’t brittle was the rocks that grew out of them.
Wiping my boots off in the grass, I heard shouting on the other side of the hill. As soon as I heard this I knew it was Williams and King and ran towards them, a large grin on my face.
“Hey” I yelled out happily when I saw them, but they didn’t seem to hear me and were yelling at each other. Not because they were angry, but because the explosion made them momentarily deaf.
“What?” King asked as he rubbed his ears.
“You’re an idiot,” Williams shouted.
“I can’t hear you,” King complained, pointing at his ears.
“Are you two okay?” I asked as I jogged closer to them.
Williams saw me in the corner of his eye and jumped. When he saw it was me a grin spread on his face. “Hey, you’re alive.”
“Of course I am.”
“What?” King shouted before turning around and seeing me.
“You saved us” Williams answered as he used his pinkie finger to rub deep in his ear.
“Damn,” King said as he took my chin in hand and turned my head to get a look at my face.
“It was nothing,” I answered.
With a closer inspection of my nose, King sucked air through his teeth. “Could've been worse, I guess.”
“It’s true what they said about you,” Williams yelled. “The Order is going to hear of this.”
“Hear of—-“ I started, nervously. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Wrong?” Williams asked loudly, his ears were still ringing.
“What are you saying?” King shouted.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, louder than before.
Williams and King looked at each other for a moment and there was a fleeting mischievous expression that came over their faces.
“Where's my cigarettes?” Williams asked sternly.
I didn't know what to say to this and stammered.
A smile grew on William's face and he walked past me. “Just playing with you, kid. Just playing with you.”
“You did good,” King said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “I think Farsight was right about you.”
“Right about me?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
King smiled. “You remember the first day of training?”
I nodded because dozens of kids jogged in formation for miles at five in the morning, sparring with blunt weapons, performing military drills, eating in the mess hall during mealtimes and sleeping in one of the bunkhouses that were hidden in the woods wasn't something I was likely to forget. “Why?”
“You remember that little test they gave you?”
I nodded. All of the questions involved how to dispose of one monster or another. Most of the monsters I never heard of, but as I filled the questionnaire out I remembered Otis’ wise words during my time mowing the lawn at Miss Luther's house: Gotta hit them with your bullets.
This was what I used to answer all the questions.
“Yeah, what about it?”
King squeezed my shoulder and his smile grew. “The Order was impressed and I don't know if I should tell you this or not, but… they think you're going to save the world.”
WAE

Hi ya'll.
I currently have shapton kuromaku 1000 and 5000 grit stones. Some background is that I use mostly $20 victorinox boning/scimitar knives. I am not a cook but use my knives for butchering animals. I do get extensive use out of them every day cutting around meat and bone. All that is to say that my knives need a lot of upkeep and ive just started to do so (been complacent with relatively dull knives for a while now)

For relatively dull knives, do you recommend I go for a low grit stone? Which grit of kuromaku should I add? 320, 400? After 5 to 6 hours of practice total on 1000 grit I was finally able to get a slight burr. Obviously technique is involved but if there is any way I could get a burr a bit faster on these duller knives that would be good. As I understand it, a 1000 grit stone can do anything a low grit stone could do but it just make take more time?
For "stropping" and/or removing burr, should I just be using my 1000 grit, or should I essentially be using the 5000 grit for stropping? What other utility does this 5000 grit have? Can I just use it for daily upkeep/stropping kind of like one would use a honing rod for maintenance?
I've seen people recommend atoma 140 for a flattening stone on here. However I see stones marketed as dedicated "flattening stones" for much cheaper. Is there a reason for the atoma 140 recommendation? Namely, what use could I get out of a 140 grit diamond stone on top of its use as just a flattening stone. Can it be used for sharpening/ is that recommended? Also, how does a "nagura" stone differ from a flattening stone and should I get one as well?

There's a lot to this story so I apologize in advance for the length.
This happened almost a year ago. I (25F) had a very close friend whom I have known for more than 10 years. We'll call her Becca. We were part of the same friend group during high school, and decided to be roommates once we realized we were attending the same college.
Things were a bit rocky after the first year and we had a falling out. Mainly because Becca starting acting secretive, and posting negative things online about our college friend group at the time. (That's a story for another time.) Anyway, by the end of junior year we reconciled and decided to be roommates again for our senior year. We moved into a house together, and even remained roommates after we ended up having to stay an extra semester to finish our degrees. This was during the pandemic.
After the pandemic, I moved to Chicago to live with my bf. Shortly after that my bf and I decided to return to my hometown to be closer to family. This is where the "homeless girl" comes in.
During my time in college I had been working at a fairly nice restaurant, where my mom is also an employee. While I was in Chicago, my mom mentioned a new employee began working at the restaurant who was about my age. We'll call her Trish. She was from another nearby town and barely new anyone. Trish became very close to my mom as she claimed she reminded her of her mother back home. When I moved back from Chicago, I returned to work at the restaurant where I had the opportunity to formally meet Trish. At first, I thought she was great, we had similar interests, and enjoyed doing some of the same activities. Or so I thought. I even introduced her to some of family and friends, including Becca, so that she wouldn't feel as lonely here. She and Becca really hit it off.
As I spent more time with Trish, I realized she was a very heavy drinker. To the point where I had to babysit her literally every time we went out. Preventing fights, driving her home, keeping track of her personal belongings, it became annoying so I started limiting the time I went out to bars or clubs with her. (She went out every weekend.)
A few months after moving back, I accepted a new job. During my last shift at the restaurant, Trish wanted to talk me into going out and celebrating my new job. I didn't want to at first. I had a gut feeling this was a bad idea, but I was an idiot and decided not to listen to my own intuition.
While at the club, Trish's bf showed up, and Trish of course, got completely drunk to the point where she had to be carried out of the club at the end of the night. Trish's bf, we'll call him Vic, was also very drunk as he was attempting to help Trish into his truck. Me, also not being completely sober and trying to be responsible, offered to get us all an Uber home. Vic was adamant about not leaving his truck, so Trish told him to drive me home since I only lived 4 minutes away. I stupidly got in the car with them. Vic's driving was awful, I thought he was going to kill us. But luckily I got to my place in one piece.
Literally only 2 minutes after walking into my house, Trish starts blowing up my phone saying Vic got pulled over by police. Since she was drunk her texts were not making any sense. And even when she called me she wasn't making any sense. To be completely honest, I had no interest in what she had to say because I knew how drunk she was. During the drive to my house she was acting erratic, trying to open the car door, flailing her limbs around and yelling nonsense. So I just figured she was being dramatic as usual and turned off my phone so I could sleep.
By the next morning I turned on my phone and was horrified at what I read. To make a long story short, Trish claimed she had a bad encounter outside my place by two individuals, while she was attempting to get in touch with me after her bf kicked her out of the truck around the corner from my building, and decided to FLEE FROM THE POLICE. I felt awful about the whole situation because I shouldn't have let him drive and I turned off my phone. Trish said her phone and wallet were stolen and that she was able to track her phone to a gas station on the other side of town. Trish claimed that when her bf took off, he had the keys to their house, so after the incident she couldn't go home. So Trish said police brought her to her bf's mother's house that was "vacant" because she was in the process of selling it and that's where she spent the night. My mom and I picked up Trish to help find her phone the next morning. She was in tears, and I could see bruises on her. I felt so bad...However, I did notice she had changed her clothes, which was weird since she hadn't been home. But I didn't question it further.
With no place to go, I let her stay with me for the day as we tried to figure out where Vic was. To my surprise, Trish simply left at the end of the day and said she would figure it out. Turns out she went to stay with my parents. Because my mom, being the kindest, most empathetic human being that she is, offered their home to her. A few days later I learned Vic blamed me for his DWI, because he "had" to drive me home. He kicked Trish out of the house because of her involvement as well, and changed the locks so she couldn't get in and get her stuff. So she was essentially "homeless." I should probably mention that Vic is one of the head managers at another nice restaurant in my hometown. So he makes good money, and tries to maintain a clean reputation.
Now let me make something clear, Trish comes from a very wealthy family. She only wears expensive name brand clothing and shoes, (think Gucci, LV, etc.) and drives a really nice car. Her parents did not like the idea of Trish living in a different city with her bf. And after this whole ordeal happened she chose not to tell them due to fear of their reaction.
They eventually found out and demanded she returned home, which she flat out said no. So they cut her off. Now she had none of daddy's money, none of her bf's money, and no place to stay. So my mom being who she is, told Trish she could continue to stay with them until she figured something out, as long as she contributed to either rent or groceries. Meanwhile, she is still working at the restaurant and wants no one to know what happened. I did not like the entire situation at all. It was weird to show up at my parent's place to visit and see my friend sleeping on their couch. The reason I didn't offer my place, is because my bf doesn't like her and wouldn't allow it. (I don't blame him) And I also wasn't very financially stable myself so I couldn't offer her money to help her situation.
She stayed with them for 6 months. Never paid rent. Only bought a pack of toilet paper ONCE as contribution to the household. Trish used being cuff out as an excuse to not pay rent, because now she had to pay her own phone bill, car payments, and insurance. But yet she still went out every night to bars and clubs. And she started using my younger sister's clothes, shoes, and other personal items without permission.
By this point I'm PO. I didn't think what she was doing to my family was right and I wanted to say something to her, but my mom wouldn't allow it. She said she would handle it. So I let it be. Eventually, my dad grew tired of the situation and started telling me some tea.
He said he attempted to help Trish get her stuff back from her bf's house and they were confronted by his family. They were able to get some of it but not all. Her stuff was piled up all over my parent's home because they had nowhere else to put it. And to make matters worse, Trish had stopped spending the night there and was staying with another friend. She would only show up to get clean clothes from time to time. So basically she was using my parent's home as storage.
I later learned that Trish was seeing Vic again, and was even spending several nights at a time with him, meanwhile all of her stuff was still at my parents house. Not only that but my mom was slowly starting to realize that a lot of Trish's stories were not adding up. One example is Trish had told my mom that she informed her parents she was staying with them, but later my sister told my mom this wasn't true and that she was lying to her parents saying she was staying with a friend. Trish had also told us she and Vic lived out in a nice area of the suburbs. Turns out she was living in the "vacant" house my mom and I picked her up from, the day after the incident. (We found this out through my dad) So now nothing was adding up. How did she get into the house if Vic had the keys? This at least explains why she was able to change her clothes. But by now I've completely lost trust in her. When my mom and sister told me all of this I was so angry I wanted to call her right then and there to tell her off, but I decided I wanted to do it person.
However, I made the stupid decision to call and inform Becca about Trish's lies, and tell her about where she was really staying. (No one else knew.) I did it because Becca and Trish actually became close. (None of my other friends liked Trish)
A week later, I received a very long text from Trish while at work. She said she was extremely upset that I was "spreading rumors" about her and if I had something to say I should say it to her face. So I exploded. I told her off about everything that had been bothering me. And after calling her out, she decided to get defensive and started using racists remarks. (We are both Hispanic, but she is very pale compared to me). This is unfortunately very common among Hispanics. Those who are "higher class" tend to look down on those who "lower class" especially when they have fairer skin.
After thinking about it for a moment, I realized that only one person could have told Trish I was "starting rumors" and that was the only person I told, Becca. So I texted her asking if she had told Trish what I had told her and Becca claimed she hadn't spoken to Trish all week. During our heated argument through text, Trish and Becca were texting, and Trish told Becca that I was upset about her dating one of my exes. This couldn't be farther from the truth. I did feel awkward about it but I never said that I was upset about it. Becca can date whoever she wants IDC. So now Becca was upset with me. After being friends since high school she chose to take Trish's side. I knew this because Trish was sending me screenshots of their conversation trash-talking me in real time. So I simply stopped texting both of them. I had to block Trish's number because she kept trying to have the last word of the argument even after I told her it was done and to stop texting me.
Two days later, my bf, (who also works at the same restaurant as my mom and Trish) saw Trish at work and cussed her out. He was always fully aware of the entire situation, and had just found out about the texting argument. He already didn't like Trish and had held his tongue because she was my friend. But now that our friendship was done he finally had his opportunity to tell her off. While they were arguing, she let it slip that it wasn't okay for me to be telling her friends "false rumors." The only friend we have in common is Becca. So Trish and Becca are both liars. I immediately deleted both of them from my social media pages, and their numbers. I haven't spoken to either of them again.
Around Christmas time Becca decided to show up at my mom's job and talk to her about how much she missed our friendship and that she hopes we can reconcile. She said it's immature to end our friendship over some petty "high school drama." We were extremely close, to the point where we wanted to be each other bridesmaids in our weddings, and I was even considering having her be the godmother of one of my kids in the future. She and I helped each other through some of the worst moments in our lives. And I was very upset when I made the decision to cut her out of my life. As of right now, I feel much more at peace not having either of them in my life, and I don't plan on ever reaching out to either of them in the future.
However, I do feel a bit bad about ending such a long friendship with someone I considered one of my best friends, especially over another individual that I introduced into our lives. Not only that but I feel guilty for not being more responsible and convincing them to take an Uber instead of driving, which eventually led to this entire situation playing out.
AITA?

Hi there,
tl;dr:
I got myself an M1 MacBook Pro, which has spoiled me (performance- and quality-wise) - it has some quirks and I also have a few specific needs which make me want to go back to Windows, but compared to the Mac, every device seems to be subpar and have more downsides than I want to accept. Are there any viable alternatives or workarounds for me to get along with the Mac?
So I redesigned my HomeOffice over the past couple of months. In that process, I reorganized my devices: I had a simple but good tower PC for (rather rare) gaming, photo/video-editing and CNC projects; a generic Notebook from my employer for HomeOffice and an iPad Air 2 for private surfing. I went for the clean and kinda-minimalistic approach and got rid of all these devices. I am now doing everything with my new MacBook Pro M1 which works well so far overall. But I'm getting a little frustrated the more I use it. I mean, performance-wise this machine is a beast. Which is part of the frustration as I can't seem to find a viable alternative running Windows.
Some of the quirks I mentioned include the keyboard layout. In general, it's fine, I had a MacBook like 10 years ago and still know it well enough to get along with it. But for HomeOffice, I have to connect to a Windows machine via RDP. So there are these two layouts I have to keep in my head while working and switching to the MacOS when I'm researching something. Plus the Mac keyboard kinda behaves weird/differently when used on a Windows machine, as there are no Windows-/Alt GR keys, at least not where I'd expect them to be. This regularly results in some very confusing and frustrating sessions in search of a backspace or other special characters, which I usually end up googling and copy/pasting.
What also bothers me is that there are some things seemingly missing in MacOS, like an easy and intuitive way to snap windows to a side of the screen, or even a sound mixer for application specific volume. I know that there are third-party apps to provide this, but that's the point: I don't get why I have to depend on third-party developers to add some (in my eyes) basic and essential functions to such a highly modern OS. Especially if I have to pay for these basic little apps. And if there are free alternatives, I am still not fond in being dependent on a third-party developer, hoping they are updating their tools in time, in case there is a bigger MacOS update/upgrade coming.
And finally, I do have some quite specific needs which require me to run Windows in some way. First, I like to design 2D and 3D models for CNC and laser work. This is just a hobby but I like it and I cannot do it anymore at the moment. Secondly, gaming. I know, MacOS isn't known for a big gaming capabilities and honestly, when I thought about buying a MacBook, I actually pondered if I would ever feel the need to game again. I said "no", but I was wrong. I miss simply having the possibility to start an old game, even be it just for nostalgic reasons. I used to be a passionate gamer for about 20 years, so I should have known better...
For these two needs I already tried Parallels Desktop. The CNC/laser-program seems to run smoothly so far. I haven't loaded a project yet but I can start it. For my gaming needs though, it doesn't seem to cut it. I don't have very high requirements. I'd like to run some older games - like I said, for nostalgic reasons mostly, which are Gothic 1/2 and Guilds Wars Prophecies (so the original game, not GW2). I tried installing Guild Wars via the official setup and via Steam and in both cases it aborts after a few minutes with a critical error and just stops installing. Gothic 2 started but crashed after a few minutes with a DirectX-error of some sort.
I spent the last few days researching, comparing, watching and reading reviews and "laptop x vs. macbook" videos. And the conclusion just always seems to be, that no matter what I do, It's a bunch of compromises and downgrades, if I move away from the MacBook. I don't want to spend a(nother) fortune on the device, but I'm willing to spend about €1000. I looked at the Razer Book 13, which is my current favourite. But then I read about sudden hardware problems, bricking of the whole device, heat issues, yada yada...
So as said in the tl;dr, I am kinda spoiled by the MacBook. I guess I am looking for a device which has the power, the build quality and the styling of a MacBook, just running Windows with a Windows keyboard layout. This seems like an impossible task to me, as I either have to spend like €3-4k, or I'm getting a device which is a) far away from the power, performance and snappiness of the MacBook, or b) drains so much powebattery life that I will not enjoy taking it out of the office for watching an episode of The Office or browsing reddit, or c) lacks in build quality, features e.g. trackpad and keyboard quality, or looks like a plastic toy which makes me think I'll break it when I press the buttons too hard.
Do you have any advice to offer?

Vagrancy and Vanity
Our protagonist, an emotional vagrant named Charles, suffered from a condition familiar to his generation.
“That's valid.” A phrase that might be accompanied by “King” or “Queen” sounds deceivingly positive. The vainest of the youth have weighted validity with a considerable portion of their being. Most of these people became exceptionally sensitive and courteous, yet the sensitivity and courtesy weren’t intentional. Anxious uncertainty compelled such considerations as nobody knew what else to do. That is the condition: anxious uncertainty. Every human being has experienced such a condition, but only our youth have endured these normal trifles under new social stressors.
Our vagrant, from intuition or rebelliousness, rejected it all. “I don’t care if you think I’m valid, and I’m no king!” He’d say. “Why should you know what is and isn’t valid!” He’d think, but even in rejecting the language, he remained just as, if not more of a vagrant than his peers. In this tale, Charles wrote, and he wrote until he rid himself of any residing resentment.
If everyone must be validated, then where is true validity? Such concepts manifest themselves in a new language and in a new culture, of seeking approval. How can a person of our generation find anything of substance when their conception of value relies solely on what others might approve? All we do is walk someone else’s dog, and we think we like it. I don’t want to walk your damn dog!
Heaven forbid such criticism. The only acceptable criticism is the silence of uncertainty. In this silence, they, or rather we, look at our peers in desperation. Everyone is terrified to break it. For fear of what? Being imperfect? Being human? It has become taboo for a person of our generation to criticize unless their criticism is “valid”. Someone, reading this very passage, might even think to themselves, “This is so valid!”. How do you know? What exactly makes it valid? Maybe it's not valid. Might you consider that?
Without criticism, we grow disillusioned and egotistical. It's as if we’re all famous celebrities who cannot take no for an answer. We tread on the thin ice of validity which has melted down from the dense truths that once were. Every complaint and excuse for laziness, under the guise of mental health, was approved for them.
I’ve met students who are proud of their diagnosis! “I have trauma, and I suffer.” They say in their validated victimhood. “You are a person, and a person is not their diagnosis!” I want to yell at them as they are the worst of us. I know mental illness is real, but something that is true needs no validation. Who has the worst trauma? Who suffers more? We exist in a shared state of unparalleled vanity, and due to our condition, anyone who attempts to help us will appear malicious. We don’t know to love anymore.
Charles saw how spoiled the youth had become. He saw it in himself and knew his only escape was through hard work. “I’ll become what I’ve pretended to be.” He grew excited in his scheme. It impassioned him, and he wrote without satisfaction. Perhaps he grew too excited because he forgot something. “Aaah, all this school is getting in the way. None of it will matter when I’m rich. I’ll spend my nights drinking and writing alone. Nobody can tell me what to do then!” That final phrase echoed in his head.
Charles’s warmly colored and cozy bedroom had no air conditioning. It was small and nearly cramped. Sweat traced down the side of his cheek, and he hunched over his black folding table. Worries subsided. His fingers became one with the laptop, and so he wrote on.
I have deep lakes of jealousy, fear, anger, and sadness in my mind. I’m ok with the sadness. I dislike the fear. I fear the anger, and the jealousy controls me. I’m not sure if jealousy is the right word because there is nothing in particular and no one in particular of whom I am jealous. My identity spills into places of my life where it does not belong. I need to contain myself.
Mania is becoming more probable as my vast collection of ideas continues to flop like dominoes. I simply cannot stop. I feel as though my chest might physically burst from an inundation of swirling and euphoric agitation. A martial artist, a drawer and painter, a writer, a philosopher, a fool, a lover, a friend, an enemy, a genius, a degenerate, a comic, a nerd. I’m the whole of many parts, but not one of them defines me. Is there even a self?
These ponderings are ok to be left unanswered. Even if the self is an illusion, it's there to stay. It’s there to be developed, but it can be abused and twisted. I’m abused. Maybe I’m twisted too, but I simply cannot be stopped!
Charles grimaced. His muscles strained while his fingers danced across the keyboard. The boy lost himself in ecstatic agitation as he wrote on.
I have an itch somewhere deep inside. Scratching this itch is impossible because I’m not sure where it is or how to scratch it. Nagging and nagging and still nagging. It never stops. The more I try and scratch the itch, the harder it is to find. I want so desperately to scratch it bloody, scratch it with shameful pleasure, but I cannot find it. Oh my god! What even am I talking about?
I numb my mind with goodies and treats. In those moments, my itch is harder to notice. Perhaps that is how I am scratching. But as you know, when you scratch an itch, it gets a little bit itchier. I scratch a bit more. I scratch harder and harder until I’m left bloody and mangled. So caught up in all my scratching, I couldn’t see the damage I’d already done. Bloody and mangled I need to heal, but now my itch is not just an itch. It's grown into an insatiable angst! If I scratch it now, I’ll never be healed again. If don’t scratch it now, I will suffer until I’m healed. I absolutely must not fiend into my cravings. But just this once, it’ll be ok. After all, it never stops.
“What never stops?” you may ask. This is difficult to articulate. “It” simply never stops. Catching a break might be possible, but still, it never stops.
“Well ok, but seriously, what never stops?” you continue to prod. My answer is: “you’ll see.” It never stops for anyone.
Charles groaned with dissatisfaction. He went to use the bathroom and intentionally didn’t lock the door. The bathroom connected his and his roommate’s room, and a particular pettiness habituated in the boy’s mind. He felt some edge by leaving himself vulnerable to nakedness, and every time he heard the door lock on his side, a noticeable satisfaction swirled in his chest. He finished his business and returned to his layer.
“I’d sell my own soul to get published!” In his chair, spinning in circles, with a furrowed brow and eyes all awry, he simply couldn’t be stopped. Life can be heavy and slow for years, but those who lift their burdens will float over what once felt impossible. Charles arose with a near-violent urge. It was an urge so violent, it didn’t seem like an urge, but rather a genuine burst of energy. He danced with nimble ferocity to his closet, and the knob felt warm. Then it felt hot. He yanked it in pain, and the door crashed into the wall.
Charles froze. Behind the dingy closet door stood a steaming devil. The beast peered down at him with a daunting intensity, and it stunk of death and embers. Its eyes glowed viciously. With skin black and scaly, its horns twisted then swirled from its brow! There was a pause before it spoke.
“Hello, Charles.” The demon spat with candid charisma.
“Uhh,” Charles choked on his atheism and coughed up his drug use. The beast radiated an unmistakable heft.
“Call me Satan. Don’t worry, I’m here to help.” Satan’s voice ran smoothly through the room, and Charles’s curiosity tried to shine through.
“The - Satan?” Charles shook his head, “What brings you to my closet?” He asked with a cheerful tremble in his voice.
“Charles, I’m here to help. Come inside, I know what you seek.” Satan gestured.
“There’s no way in hell I step inside that closet. I don’t swing that way!”
“No way in hell?”
“Yeah, and give me that! ‘What I seek’ is a drink!” The boy spat. Satan’s eyes flashed red at the brash response, and he handed the boy his rum. Charles gulped greedily.
“Thank you sir!” He glanced over his shoulder and shivered.
The monster hadn’t left. “The mania, it's certain now! I’ve got to strike while the iron's hot!” He thought as the warm liquor tickled his guts. He stumbled to his desk.
“Satan… you… you…” He slumped in his chair, and Satan stole him away. Wheeled into the closet, he sank through the dark floorboards with the weight of evil. Charles had been floating over things he had no business floating over. He needed to look underneath the floorboards before trusting their sturdiness.
The boy awoke, all folded up, with a crick in his neck; he cracked the closet. “Am I in hell?”. He peered out holding a novel fear of God. Charles was not in hell, but he was close enough to it. The crack revealed a somewhat large, vile, low, and most putrid crawl space. It was as if nobody had bothered to look at it for ten years. If they did, they’d see something so terrible, it could not be worth fixing. Charles's eyes tracked across the chilly room toward the sound of a grimy little Russian scratching his pen. He sat with the abyss of clutter, blending with it all and thriving in the chaos. Clearly, writing took precedence over all else, even the rats.
Each sentence, one after another, appearing terribly touched by his own eloquence, the man whispered. The spite spewed plentifully,
“Yes, but here I come to a stop! Gentlemen, you must excuse me for being over-philosophical; it's the result of forty years underground!” (Dostoyevsky 21). He spoke, with beautiful and sophisticated insolence, as if the gentlemen sat in his presence.
Charles wondered how he understood the Russian. Feeling an unusually warm breath down the back of his neck, he flinched,
“Hush Charlie boy, you shan't disturb him yet!” Satan cackled.
“Your breath smells!” The boy sneered.
The demon’s claws dropped a smoldering copy of Notes From Underground. It burned the mortal’s calloused palms, and he dropped it.
The boy leaned on the door. He wanted to ask where his favorite author was. Too late. Satan vanished with the book, and the closet burst open, banging against the wall with violence. Charles fell on a pile of wet books while the man whipped his head around. The door no longer belonged to a closet. Flat on his butt, he peered up at an ascending staircase which led outside to the gloomy St. Petersburg streets. Flurries danced in the wind, and the cold blew dusty snow underground.
Charles dodged the man as he hastened to slam the door. Shadowed in candlelight, the man under the floorboards showed no face. They stared at each other through rays of light creeping in from above. Silence. The underground man turned back to his pen.
“What’s your name?” Charles asked.
No reply. Charles walked behind him and tapped his left shoulder only to remain unnoticed. The man kept muttering,
“Men, men, men are not piano keys! They’ll see how intelligent I really am.” He tried to formulate some thought. Towering above the underground man, Satan appeared again.
“Glad to see you two are getting along!” His yellow teeth twisted up some demented smile.
“What is this?”
“Just watch Charlie boy!”
The demon whispered a phrase from the scolding pages, “The very word sticks in one's throat,” (Dostoyevsky 20). The beast’s voice read crisp and deep.
The underground man wrote with unchecked greed as Satan kept reading, “And, indeed, this is the odd thing that is continually happening: there are continually turning up in life moral and rational persons, sages and lovers of humanity who make it their object to live all their lives as morally and rationally as possible, to be, so to speak, a light to their neighbours simply in order to show them that it is possible to live morally and rationally in this world,” (Dostoyevsky 20). The man scribbled away, and Charles saw terrible sin.
Reminiscing on his first encounter with this passage, he could no longer admire Satan’s wicked words,
“And yet we all know that those very people sooner or later have been false to themselves, playing some queer trick, often a most unseemly one. Now I ask you: what can be expected of man since he is a being endowed with strange qualities? Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, so that nothing but bubbles of bliss can be seen on the surface; give him economic prosperity, such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes and busy himself with the continuation of his species, and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick,” (Dostoyevsky 21). Charles took a deep breath, and he watched the faceless man contort.
“Stop!” Charles yelled, and he sounded upset.
“I thought you liked this book. Do you not like it anymore?” The beast taunted.
“This doesn’t feel right coming from you.” The boy faced him.
“Where else should it come from?” Satan snarled.
“This isn’t our book! Fyodor Dostoyevsky wrote this!” He cried.
“Charlie boy! Where do you think we are!” Satan boomed, still smiling.
“I know where this book should come from! I won’t let you have it.” Charles snatched the scolding book. It absolutely had to be finished.
The boy read furiously as his skin melted on the smoldering leather, “He would even risk his cakes and would deliberately desire the most fatal rubbish, the most uneconomical absurdity, simply to introduce into all this positive good sense his fatal fantastic element,” (Dostoyevsky 21). In a fit, overriding any hesitation, something took over the boy’s mental faculties.
“Yes, Charles! Yes! Keep going my boy! Keep going!” Satan cried mockingly.
Charles began to raise his voice, maniacally spewing the text, “It is just his fantastic dreams, his vulgar folly that he will desire to retain, simply in order to prove to himself--as though that were so necessary-- that men still are men and not the keys of a piano, which the laws of nature threaten to control so completely that soon one will be able to desire nothing but by the calendar. And that is not all: even if man really were nothing but a piano-key, even if this were proved to him by natural science and mathematics, even then he would not become reasonable, but would purposely do something perverse out of simple ingratitude, simply to gain his point,” (Dostoyevsky 21). Charles heaved for air, and the underground man shook his sore fingers.
“Here it is Charles. The best part! The genius of it all! Why is the ego concerned with proving? Proving worth, proving freedom. You humans, you’re all so pathetic. Is this your precious self-interest?” Satan’s yellow teeth shined, and his nostrils smoked.
“This is the best part!” Charles yelled in agony, “But you don’t know why! You’re too arrogant!” He grew ravenous, even bloodthirsty with his voice.
“What did you say?” Satan boomed and flames spread about under the floorboards.
Charles couldn’t be stopped, “And if he does not find means he will contrive destruction and chaos, will contrive sufferings of all sorts, only to gain his point! He will launch a curse upon the world, and as only man can curse (it is his privilege, the primary distinction between him and other animals), may be by his curse alone he will attain his object--that is, convince himself that he is a man and not a piano-key! If you say that all this, too, can be calculated and tabulated--chaos and darkness and curses, so that the mere possibility of calculating it all beforehand would stop it all, and reason would reassert itself, then man would purposely go mad in order to be rid of reason and gain his point! I believe in it, I answer for it, for the whole work of man really seems to consist in nothing but proving to himself every minute that he is a man and not a piano-key! It may be at the cost of his skin, it may be by cannibalism! And this being so, can one help being tempted to rejoice that it has not yet come off, and that desire still depends on something we don't know?” (Dostoyevsky 21). Charles shut up as if surprised by something. He blankly stared about the flaming crawl space. The book stuck to his melted skin, and his burnt eyebrows wisped away. Flames danced in a circle around the underground man. He kept writing.
“Stop writing, we’ve got to leave!” Charles yelled as he ran to the door with the flames growing about the cluttered space.
“It’s too late Charles. You’ve killed the man.” Satan’s cackle boomed with insolence.
“Maybe this place is better off burning,” Charles said, and with a swift stomp, he kicked the book from his palms. His skin became the cover, and his blood became the ink.
“Where do you think you’re going, boy? Give me back my book!” The beast approached with an army of fire as the boy’s raw hands slipped all over the doorknob.
“This book is mine now! You don’t even understand it anyway!” Charles kicked the door down. He grabbed his book and ran up the stairs. The snowy streets blinded him. The ground shook, and the building collapsed behind him in flames. He stared at the rubble and began to weep.
“Dostoyevsky, I know now. Men are not piano keys, but that isn’t the point.” The boy smiled through his tears. Blood pooled from his hands in the snow, and he seized in the streets.
Charles dreamed of a Russian library. It was haunted, and he navigated it with friends. For some reason, he knew if they touched the books, something terrible would happen. Despite his warning, one at a time, they touched the books, and their hearts grew corrupted until he was the only one left.
When he awoke, it was morning though he knew the underground was no dream. His experience seemed too clear to be insanity. Besides, a person is not their diagnosis. He gazed at trees and clouds on the way to class feeling light, as if he were floating, from perplexity. He didn’t even care that his eyebrows were missing.
“Though men are not piano keys, maybe I should be. Then I could play a beautiful song.” He smiled. “I shouldn’t take myself so seriously. Then might it stop?” Charles finally remembered himself. He studied diligently and moved with intention. When he returned to his apartment, he opened his closet. The knob felt cool this time, but his mangled hands remembered the pain. Inside, he stared at the faint burn marks in the shape of the devil. Satan was gone, but Charles knew, without love and without truth, he’d have to face the demon again. He returned to his writing with a sensitive air of redemption.
It can feel like I’m floating between worlds. One moment, my thoughts are clear and decisive. The next, it seems like there is a new me, and this person wants nothing that I do. I feel almost concerned about writing this, but instead, I laugh. I laugh because I’m blind. I’ve known this other me for my whole life, but he’s ugly so I don’t look at him. He’s mean too, so I definitely don’t wanna talk to him. Instead, I shove him under the floorboards where he accumulates filth and makes friends with the devil.
Though I won’t listen, he speaks. His words find a way into my life. Without my attention, they control me. He drinks too much, and is lazy, and doesn’t care for his body. He tries to show off, and he hurts people. In ignoring these parts of myself they’ve grown irritable and they seek attention. Attention is what I lack because I’d rather not pay the world more than I have to. This is a stupid attitude because I owe everything I have to the world, yet it owes me nothing. That is why I’m irritable. I’m just a little bit dumb, and I’m dumb on purpose. I’ve known this for so long, so what lies under the floorboards pulls me down.
I waited too long to face these demons, so they burned my hands… and my eyebrows! It's ok though. They’re ash and dust now.
I asked, “Is there even a self?” Surely there isn’t. The ideas in my head are not my own. They’ve been heard a thousand times, so how could they be original? That is my itch. I want, and I want to be someone. How could I do that when I am full of different versions of myself? Nothing is aligned, and I suppose I’m lost in a sea of lies born out of egotism. “I deserve a break. My life sucks. That is so valid. You are worthless! I want to be somebody!” All this selfishness distracts from the only thing that really is. “I” is why it never stops. It's not from validation or whatever flaw our generation might be facing.
I hope I don’t spend my whole life itching because I was wrong. I somehow missed something so obvious. How could it not stop? It's as if I expected to live forever! Maybe if I wasn’t so itchy, I could enjoy a moment or two before it's all gone.
There is no room for me in Utopia
Work Cited
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. 1864 Notes from the Underground. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky. Published September 1994.

Only Europe Please- short note - If you're not into reading or receiving long messages,don't read any further + Please If you don't want to read everything because of my post being too long for you & instead of reading It all - ..skip some parts - find another person to talk to.Let's respect each other and our free time. All people criticizing/making fun of me & other people - will permanently be blocked.Pretty much as people questioning my post and giving me unwanted advice.I'm not here for any conflicts and I know I can't please everyone - I know I never will.. However It's me who should feel comfortable in my new potential friendship & obviously someone interested in being my friend - not the whole world which is why I don't need any advice from people who don't even want to be a part of my life.
Hello guys! 🙂 (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent
(remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make any time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give you one word answer and ask you another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different🙂
What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
Do you ever feel like an option? Like a stranger to others despite knowing them for months or years & talking to them quite often? Like there's always something and someone more important than you and you just..don't fit in and no matter what you do - your effort is never appreciated?

I'm always the one texting people immediately (or at the very least trying to) no matter where I am and who I am with (family) others? Never - except for one exception.A really lovely person.

What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation – why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and without partners..Don't get me wrong…Most people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them ( which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (Acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .. I also want to talk to others on a daily basis mainly because..I want to see someone’s effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..Why I'd rather talk to people from my continent? Well..Mainly because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - Especially given most people are always available on social media sites & keep their phones in a pocket.Once you receive & open my message - get back to me (If you're as serious as I am & really need a true friend) waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
I'm by no means criticising people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have non important conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason.All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.

Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life

I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people really are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message Don't let anyone lie to you.Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..
You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk daily? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally

I'm not trying to sound rude - I just don't want to meet new people and get emotionally attached - only to end up being left alone after weeks or months of daily conversations.I'm sick of that never ending story and always meeting people who ghost me without a single word (even if everything seems to be ok) or people who "change priorities" over time & become like strangers…I don't want to go through this ever again.

Let me tell you one thing – A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :)

It’s always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with – someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..It’s almost impossible to find people willing to make time for you.I’m not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! I’m here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of one’s own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.

Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you. 🙂 I'm not really interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life.

• I do NOT respond to any „Hey,hmu” or „u want to talk” type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations – I literally can’t stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in my post or messages and just focus on some question in a certain message or... when they don't ask me any questions themselves.I love conversations with people refering to every part of my messages - not just some question.

• No dirty messages PLEASE.I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. No NSWF profiles..I always check people's profiles (Even comment history) - To avoid guys,trying to get inappropriate photos from adult women or? flirt with them.I also absolutely don't respond to messages from people whose comments are very rude & obviously - Messages from people who judge other people and use vulgar words to describe them or? Make fun of them.Respect is very important

• Please only adult people 18-36 age range (I'm 27)

• I don’t respond to messages I don’t find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what I’m suggesting is that I don’t always respond to someone’s first or second message because..sometimes you just know If you’d get along with someone or not- I’d never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I don’t want to do anything forcefully & because I don’t want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused for not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even though It is a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - I think it's ok to not respond to someone's first or second message If people think they wouldn't get along! I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversation and seeing people changing priorities but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real If I'm really interested in someone's message - I respond within a matter of minutes - max 6 hours (If I'm in bed - just sleeping) you won't even hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I really was too busy to make time for others - I wouldn't be here.I either want to talk to someone..or not.I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike some people)

• Don’t ask me “Can you tell me something about yourself?” If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.

• It would be better If you guys were into emojis - just like me - just to describe your emotions through text. Two emojis - 🙂 and 🙁 are completely enough I just don't like emotionless messages.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively.

• I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you ) before moving to Discord or some other app

• Time response matters to me a lot! It matters to me whether I get a message back after one hour,three hours,6 hours or..12 hours and even..after a couple of days..And If you're another person just looking for one day conversation and then? "Disappear" for some amount of time longer than one day to come back and apologize me for being busy - don't even leave me a message.I just want to be honest with you from the start.I'm interested only in daily conversations
Why can’t you see any of my interests listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If you’re honest,talkative,understanding,caring and trustworthy – for example) just simply – It matters to me what you’re like! not what you like.Don’t get me wrong – you can tell me what your hobbies are but in my personal opinion,common interests are important mainly when you want to find a gaming buddy (for example) or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's interests – I don’t. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely don’t get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life– way different sense of humor or personality traits – It’s just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you!I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke

Friendships should be natural – not forced.Both people wanting to be friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.

I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I higly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :)

We ALL can choose what kind of people we’d like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I don’t want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk everyday to be friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations with someone also interested in talking daily

If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night)I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone. I’m ready to commit but only If there’s some chemistry between me and someone else.I don’t do anything forcefully.

If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies.I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new.

You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that's something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance. But others see it as false hope. Imagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future. You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're only responsible for ourselves - not for others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on,forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because a therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you.Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out & feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else"

Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others.Empathy is everything
Our world needs more peace 🤗 I've seen a lot of rude comments on reddit.If you don't agree with me - OK but please don't criticize me + Not everyone is here for some advice.

Listen people - I know how different my post is & I know It won't be easy for me to find what or rather who - I'm looking for BUT I always want to be myself instead of pretending someone I'm not and lying to others.I know It would be easier if (like others) I had less expectations but I I know what I want and honestly? If my post was different..I wouldn't be me.Even If I won't meet a person I'd get along with - that's ok! but don't give me any unwanted advice because I wouldn't change for someone who doesn't even know me pretty much as I wouldn't want to change anyone else.I'm not trying to "fit in" and be like everyone else - just to get more attention.Accept me for who I am or let go - is my motto.I'm not here to argue with anyone and to make fun of others.

Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abrreviations,If you don't need an emotional connection,If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship,to be natural which is why I want you to contact me If your needs are the same - I don't want you to try to change yourself only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.
I know It's possible to find what I'm looking for as I had conversations with people looking for exactly the same thing and being nice to me - I want to believe in my luck again as I had it a few times on reddit - I've recently lost someone I thought could be a friend of mine (such a perfect match) and I'm sad but I want to finally be happy again & find someone always wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals and what is the most important to me? To find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side

No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests.I don't really like public conversations and I also do not respond to comments so If you want to send me a message just do it without saying "You can DM me" + I'm online almost all the time

Only Europe Please- short note - If you're not into reading or receiving long messages,don't read any further + Please If you don't want to read everything because of my post being too long for you & instead of reading It all - ..skip some parts - find another person to talk to.Let's respect each other and our free time. All people criticizing/making fun of me & other people - will permanently be blocked.Pretty much as people questioning my post and giving me unwanted advice.I'm not here for any conflicts and I know I can't please everyone - I know I never will.. However It's me who should feel comfortable in my new potential friendship & obviously someone interested in being my friend - not the whole world which is why I don't need any advice from people who don't even want to be a part of my life.
Hello guys! 🙂 (read everything before you decide to send me a message) Please send me a message ONLY If you're in the same situation and If your expectations are the same as mine.I want to find like minded people from Europe (Why Europe? Read my post to find out) I'm looking for something permanent
(remember - you can feel lonely even If you're surrounded by others - If there's no emotional bond) I'm fed up of meeting people who never make any time for me & only text me once or twice a week to ask me "what are you up to?" Out of boredom.I don't want to meet people asking others a million of questions like "what's your favorite movie?" Just to give you one word answer and ask you another question "and music? Your favorite song?" I'm looking for something "deeper" & different🙂
What kind of friend would I like to find? Someone to talk to on a daily basis - Someone who needs It & wants It just as much as me
Do you ever feel like an option? Like a stranger to others despite knowing them for months or years & talking to them quite often? Like there's always something and someone more important than you and you just..don't fit in and no matter what you do - your effort is never appreciated?

I'm always the one texting people immediately (or at the very least trying to) no matter where I am and who I am with (family) others? Never - except for one exception.A really lovely person.

What are my expectations? I would like to meet someone in a similar situation – why? Because I honestly feel like only a person with the same expectations and a similar outlook on life would get along with me & because I feel more comfortable talking to people like me..Friendless people who need a strong bond - people without friends and without partners..Don't get me wrong…Most people deserve to be happy and It's good to have friends but people who have friends or families in real life are usually more focused on them ( which is completely understandable) & have less time for others + I simply don't want to be replaced by anyone..I kind of envy people who can call others , true friends given I don't have an emotional bond with any of my acquaintances. Whenever I hear that others have friends I simply get sad because (believe it or not) If I had to choose between 20 people to talk to (Acquaintances) and one special person - I'd choose that one special person without any hesitation .. I also want to talk to others on a daily basis mainly because..I want to see someone’s effort & be someone's first choice - not another person to have random conversations with..Why I'd rather talk to people from my continent? Well..Mainly because I would like to see someone I'd get along with - In the far future - face to face :) + I don't want to wait any longer than 6 hours to receive a message - Especially given most people are always available on social media sites & keep their phones in a pocket.Once you receive & open my message - get back to me (If you're as serious as I am & really need a true friend) waiting 6 hours to receive a message is more than enough
I'm by no means criticising people who don't want to talk to others often / People who really are super busy & People who want to find someone to have non important conversations with - I'm aware that not everyone has the same expectations which is why everything you're reading now - is here for a reason.All I'm suggesting is - I don't want anything temporary and I don't want to be the one always giving more than receiving.

Listen people - I used to ignore being..ignored by others..always being just an option to talk to during tough times or moments of boredom.I was too young to realize that I was never important enough for most people that were a part of my life

I don't know who needs to hear this but..No one is too busy to make time for you! People make excuses to avoid others because they prioritize everything and (maybe) everyone..over them. It's true that most people really are busy - but It takes only a few seconds to start a conversation (If you're into short messages) and a few minutes (1-10/15) to type a long message Don't let anyone lie to you.Truth is that most people either don't like you enough to make time for you or just simply - feel no need to talk to others often but are they too busy? No..
You don't need to send me a message just to ask me and tell me "Do you really want to talk daily? I like long messages but I can't promise to contact you often" If you really are unsure please don't send me a message.I don't need more acquaintances aka people to talk to - occasionally

I'm not trying to sound rude - I just don't want to meet new people and get emotionally attached - only to end up being left alone after weeks or months of daily conversations.I'm sick of that never ending story and always meeting people who ghost me without a single word (even if everything seems to be ok) or people who "change priorities" over time & become like strangers…I don't want to go through this ever again.

Let me tell you one thing – A true friend would never just give up on you for no reason :)

It’s always possible to find someone to have a random conversation with – someone willing to send you one message once or twice a week..but..It’s almost impossible to find people willing to make time for you.I’m not asking a busy person to make time for me by changing some plans! Absolutely not! I’m here to find someone who wants to talk daily (throughout the day or maybe even night) of one’s own will.Someone looking for the same kind of connection.

Strong friendships are based on mutual support. One of the best things you can do for a friend in need, is just to be there for them when they want to talk.I often see posts from people who always say how friendless they are because they don't feel loved or appreciated by their "friends" remember! A true friend - someone who truly likes you or someone who wants to get to know you - will always find time for you. 🙂 I'm not really interested in small talk/short messages - I love long and meaningful conversations. It's so easy to find someone who loves abbreviations and questions like "How are you?" How was your day? Or what are you interested in? But so hard/almost impossible to find a person who knows how to keep a conversation going & show others some effort.Building and maintaining friendships takes time and effort.Never allow pursuits or possessions to become bigger priorities than your relations with other people.Close friendships are so important to us because they are so difficult to form + Having friends can help you feel as if you belong to something that brings purpose and connection to your life.

• I do NOT respond to any „Hey,hmu” or „u want to talk” type of messages (super short messages or messages full of abbreviations – I literally can’t stand abbreviations and acronyms in text messages) ALL messages full of abbreviations will immediately be ignored.I also don't like it when people ignore everything I say in my post or messages and just focus on some question in a certain message or... when they don't ask me any questions themselves.I love conversations with people refering to every part of my message - not just some question.

• No dirty messages PLEASE.I'm not looking for anyone to flirt with and I'm not looking for a partner either. No NSWF profiles..I always check people's profiles (Even comment history) - To avoid guys,trying to get inappropriate photos from adult women or? flirt with them.I also absolutely don't respond to messages from people whose comments are very rude & obviously - Messages from people who judge other people and use vulgar words to describe them or? Make fun of them.Respect is very important

• Please only adult people 18-36 age range (I'm 27)

• I don’t respond to messages I don’t find interesting even If they're long - If after receiving and reading your message I don't feel comfortable or think "I wouldn't get along with him/her" I simply do not respond (what I’m suggesting is that I don’t always respond to someone’s first or second message because..sometimes you just know If you’d get along with someone or not- I’d never ignore anyone after days or weeks of daily conversations though) just because I don’t want to do anything forcefully & because I don’t want to lead anyone on. I read all messages but I definitely don't respond to all of them! I want to make it clear because I don't want to be accused for not responding and not reading people's messages! - Some people don't message me back as well and even though It is a bit disappointing I'm ok with that! - as long as there's no emotional bond - I think it's ok to not respond to someone's first or second message If people think they wouldn't get along! I can't stand being ignored after days or weeks of daily conversation and seeing people changing priorities but that's something different - something I don't want to go through ever again for real If I'm really interested in someone's message - I respond within a matter of minutes - max 6 hours (If I'm in bed - just sleeping) you won't even hear from me "I'm too busy" because I know myself and If I really was too busy to make time for others - I wouldn't be here.I either want to talk to someone..or not.I don't want to pretend someone I'm not and always try to find some cheap excuses to avoid others. (unlike some people)

• Don’t ask me “Can you tell me something about yourself?” If you really want to get to know me - you can ask me questions :) I'm an open book.

• It would be better If you guys were into emojis - just like me - just to describe your emotions through text. Two emojis - 🙂 and 🙁 are completely enough I just don't like emotionless messages.I also don't like it when people say "yeah" or yea"as it sounds dismissively.

• I want to talk on reddit first (just to make sure If I'd get along with you ) before moving to Discord or some other app

• Time response matters to me a lot! It matters to me whether I get a message back after one hour,three hours,6 hours or..12 hours and even..after a couple of days..And If you're another person just looking for one day conversation and then? "Disappear" for some amount of time longer than one day to come back and apologize me for being busy - don't even leave me a message.I just want to be honest with you from the start.I'm interested only in daily conversations
Why can’t you see any of my interests listed down below? Because what really matters to me is..who you are (If you’re honest,talkative,understanding,caring and trustworthy – for example) just simply – It matters to me what you’re like! not what you like.Don’t get me wrong – you can tell me what your hobbies are but in my personal opinion,common interests are important mainly when you want to find a gaming buddy (for example) or If you want to meet someone to hang out with in real life and..go bowling for example.What most people seem to care about are other people's interests – I don’t. I get along with other people despite having completely different hobbies but I absolutely don’t get along with people way different than me (different expectations and outlook on life– way different sense of humor or personality traits – It’s just an example) It doesn't make ANY DIFFERENCE to me If you're a gamer or? Someone interested in photography! It doesn't make any difference - > as long as you're talkative and kind and If you also want to find someone willing to stay in your life..for good - But If you're into small talk and all you want is to...type and receive super short messages or If you're here only because you're bored and don't know what to do + If you're a very sarcastic person - I'm definitely not for you!I don't get along with overly sarcastic people turning everything into a joke

Friendships should be natural – not forced.Both people wanting to be friends should feel comfortable and have something in common. No - not necessarily a similar taste in music or movies but something else..Most friendships don't fizzle out because of people not having the same hobbies but..because they just simply have different expectations when It comes to something important.

I'm not here out of boredom and trust me - I'm not here to meet as many people as possible.I choose quality over quantity.I higly value myself and my time & Sometimes one person but a person who makes you feel comfortable and understood - is more than enough :)

We ALL can choose what kind of people we’d like to talk to and maybe even become really good friends with and I? I don’t want anyone to be disappointed.We all have some expectations after all.I know that people don't have to talk everyday to be friends but I'm interested only in daily conversations with someone also interested in talking daily

If you really need someone to talk to due to loneliness and If you have time to talk to me daily (throughout the day and maybe even night)I always make time for others.I'm literally always available.I could even stay up all night long only to talk to someone. I’m ready to commit but only If there’s some chemistry between me and someone else.I don’t do anything forcefully.

If you want to talk to me tell me your story - tell me why you're here, what kind of friend would you like to meet :) Et cetera.Such messages are way more interesting to me than...someone's long list of hobbies.I know! It's unusual on reddit but I don't make friends based on hobbies..I want to meet someone with the same mindset as mine to finally feel understood and get close to someone new.

You can share your problems with me - I absolutely don't mind "complaining" as I've been through a lot in my life.What do people usually tell you when you tell them that's something's wrong? "Don't complain" or "Life's not over yet - one day you'll be happy" or "There are worse situations than yours" and..obviously "Find a therapist" Life's not a fairytale and sometimes things don't go as planned.Emotions shouldn't be bottled up.I'm sick of people always telling others "everything's gonna be ok" move on " & more..Trust me people - not everyone wants to hear "Just believe in yourself and everything's gonna be ok" Some people take it as reassurance. But others see it as false hope. Imagine being told that things will be okay, only for them to get worse..Do you guys know why telling someone "everything's gonna be ok" Is wrong? Because you can't see the future. You can't guarantee others that one day they'll finally be happy + when It comes to social interactions - We're only responsible for ourselves - not for others & as you guys know people let us down quite often (sometimes even when there's no reason) so instead of telling people how they should move on,forget everything and be happy or asking them to find a therapist - be there for them! Always be willing to listen to them If you really like them or want to get to know them & don't suggest everyone in a tough situation to find a therapist because a therapist won't ever replace a true friend + It's quite normal to be disappointed If people always do something to hurt you.Sharing your hardships with other people in a very similar situation or exactly the same one - is VERY helpful If the other person understands you & wants to start all over by just letting it all out & feeling emotional support instead of always hearing some "positive quotes" or someone saying "Stop complaining let's talk about something else"

Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. I appreciate sensitive people who always try to understand others.Empathy is everything
Our world needs more peace 🤗 I've seen a lot of rude comments on reddit.If you don't agree with me - OK but please don't criticize me + Not everyone is here for some advice.

Listen people - I know how different my post is & I know It won't be easy for me to find what or rather who - I'm looking for BUT I always want to be myself instead of pretending someone I'm not and lying to others.I know It would be easier if (like others) I had less expectations but I I know what I want and honestly? If my post was different..I wouldn't be me.Even If I won't meet a person I'd get along with - that's ok! but don't give me any unwanted advice because I wouldn't change for someone who doesn't even know me pretty much as I wouldn't want to change anyone else.I'm not trying to "fit in" and be like everyone else - just to get more attention.Accept me for who I am or let go - is my motto.I'm not here to argue with anyone and to make fun of others.

Please - If you're a completely different person than the described type of person I'm looking for (If you love abrreviations,If you don't need an emotional connection,If you're sarcastic and quiet) or If you simply disagree with my post - don't force yourself to send me a message.I want my new potential friendship,to be natural which is why I want you to contact me If your needs are the same - I don't want you to try to change yourself only to please me - Pretending to be someone you're not - is the worst.
I know It's possible to find what I'm looking for as I had conversations with people looking for exactly the same thing and being nice to me - I want to believe in my luck again as I had it a few times on reddit - I've recently lost someone I thought could be a friend of mine (such a perfect match) and I'm sad but I want to finally be happy again & find someone always wanting to talk - sending me random pictures throughout the day - food pictures or pictures of some animals and what is the most important to me? To find people who value online friendships as much as they would value real life ones as there's another human being on the other side

No comments please.Only Private messages and chat requests.I don't really like public conversations and I also do not respond to comments so If you want to send me a message just do it without saying "You can DM me" + I'm online almost all the time so you can contact me even after days or weeks of finding this post

Yes, this is the 5th year in a row I'm doing a Wrestlemania Haters' Guide. Why? Because the subject of pro wrestling hasn't been banned from the subrebbit, so loopholes ahoy, baby!
Anywho, this year's event is at SoFi Stadium in California. The last Wrestlemania in the state of California? Wrestlemania 31. A mostly well regarded PPV with one of the most shocking main event outcomes in Wrestlemania history. Remember when Wrestlemania shows had SEVEN matches on the main card? Apparently, since everyone needs their Wrestlemania payday, and two nights pay better than one, that is a reality that can no longer exist. Nowadays, Wrestlemania weekend means that for four consecutive days from Friday Night SmackDown to the Monday Night RAW the night after, your eyes are to be glued to the squared circle with zero deviation. With that in mind, and considering how batshit crazy WWE's behind the scenes drama and shift in power balance has been over the past year, we actually made it to Wrestlemania 39. Let's see the 13 matches vying for ultimate immortality.

Brock Lesnar vs. Omos (with MVP)
Try to act surprised when I tell you that this matchup is rumored to be a Vince concept. It seems HHH has given Vince the one match to book, and thankfully nothing more.
That being said...guys...we need to take this time to particularly talk about Omos. This dude isn't getting over. He's fallen off ever since he lost the tag titles, and ended his feud with his former tag partner, AJ Styles. What's he been doing since? Mostly matches with Bobby Lashley again. Yes, Lashley vs Omos was a match at last year's Wrestlemania, and that loss has proven to only hurt Omos' relevance, and especially his TV time. Over the past year, his matchups have pretty much been exclusive to house shows. Either squashing much smaller men, or jobbing to Lashley in order to make The Almighty look better. The one time WWE actually chose to use him in any meaningful situation was a matchup against Braun Strowman at Crown Jewel. Which of course he lost that match.
Bottom line, He's just not that much of a presence anymore. I know that WWE under the HHH regime has seen the end of mass talent layoffs, but this guy is a waste of a matchup. He's got to go. His career is going absolutely nowhere, even with MVP at his side. Who in their right mind believes he can hang with Brock Lesnar?
Granted, Brock's the perfect opponent for him. A typical Omos match does not exceed 10 minutes, which is perfect for Brock's aggressive, fast-forward style. Furthermore, in terms of overall size, Omos is outside Brock's normal range of opponent. It's gonna be a Wrestlemania moment on its own when Brock lifts Omos up for the F-5, but after that... you're left with Omos getting tossed back into the toy chest until the next house show rolls around. Take the hint, WWE. Give Omos another loss, and send him back to his home in Nigeria. He misses his family dearly, and I think his fellow Omo-sapiens will understand how homesick this man is. (It's really bad when The Great Khali has done your act better).

Seth "Freakin" Rollins vs. Logan Paul
Ok, you also get ONE celebrity based match, too, but that's it.
In all honesty, Logan Paul has lived above expectations as far as his in-ring performances are concerned. He's not the most compelling and relatable character, but he's able to put on matches that are at least good (vs Roman) to above average (vs Miz). I like to think of him as the male equivalent to Ronda Rousey, where WWE is just using his name for brand recognition. Although unlike Ronda, his name is not exactly lighting up the mainstream media, just social media. And it's not translating well to ratings and awareness that he's living in WWE City. I know that WWE saw how well Logan adapted to the sports entertainment scene. That's just what the Paul brothers tend to do. But here's the kicker. People don't want to see a Paul brother succeed. They want a Paul brother to get knocked on their ass via a huge crushing piston called "reality". Here's an example. When Jake Paul won a boxing match, it was whatever. When he lost to Tommy Fury just recently, now THAT is where the entertainment value was. And Jake did say to judge him by his losses, not his wins. We are prepared to do the same to Logan. Because all he has done so far in WWE is lose. Match quality aside, he has put the "L" in Logan. Let's see if this showdown with Seth gives him his Wrestlemania triumph.
Speaking of which, there's so little to say about Seth Rollins in this equation. At least he knows who his opponent is this year. At least he had the spectacular Cody Rhodes feud before the wrestling gods gave Cody time off (and a hell of a match to go out on). He did kinda get stuck trying to put Matt Riddle over before Riddle succumbed to his own vices, but this is the most over Seth Rollins has been. Most of it is the fancy new "sing me to the ring, and never stop singing" entrance, but it's the little things that make you a big star around these parts. And really, I can't picture anyone else in this scenario. The Visionary vs The Influencer. This should be a fun contest, and bragging rights for weeks to come if Rollins walks out the loser. However, if it means more of Logan Paul appearing in WWE... honestly, every wrestling fan loses. I know Logan says his contract is up after Wrestlemania, but somehow, I'm not a believer WWE will let him slip away that easily.

Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky)
Let's take you back to Summerslam 2022. Bianca Belair standing tall over an obsessed Becky Lynch, and then out comes Bayley. Away from the WWE for over a year to rehab a freak accident during training for the return to live events. But the twist no one was expecting is that Bayley didn't return alone. She brought back two women to form a stable that would be ever present across RAW ever since. Dakota Kai, previously handed her pink slip a few months prior, was given a second chance at her WWE life by Bayley. As well as Iyo Sky, who already had one foot out the door while living in NXT limbo. Thus, they formed the group Damage CTRL, and while neither member was successful in capturing singles gold (Especially Bayley.), the Women's Tag Team Championships... that was a different story. Aside from one week being without the titles, Kai/Sky have held them for 5 months. It's only recently that Becky Lynch and a returning Lita have come into possession of said titles, with a little help from Trish Stratus, who much like Lita, is never REALLY retired.
And now we have an interesting 6-woman tag contest that's been put together as a result. Becky Lynch and two Hall of Fame legends combat a group that needs a decisive Wrestlemania victory as a trio. Becky's been fighting Damage CTRL longer than anyone else, so it is safe to assume this will be the beginning of the end of this neverending war. Especially if Damage CTRL can finally walk away from their battles against Becky with heads held high... hopefully.

Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
Yeah, this match was pretty much a foregone conclusion. I feel like they could have done this match at any Wrestlemania possible, but first we need someone to be heel in this contest, and it's sure as hell not gonna be Rey Mysterio.
So... Dominik... I'm a bit mixed on his career trajectory. Because right now, across the board, he's just good, but not great. He's trying to be on the same level as his father, sometimes even emulating him either for heat or grasping the Mysterio name for some miniscule level of credibility... but at this point, it's been more than a minute since his career started, and the excuses are running out. Hell, that promo where he declared he's the next Eddie Guerrero... yeah, that definitely ruffled a few feathers online. btw, still using Eddie's name as a vehicle in your Wrestlemania matchup build in 2023... come on, guys. And yes, Eddie came a long way as shown by his WCW work, and the level of promo that Guerrero was cutting at the time. So maybe it's better we get this shit version of Dominik out of the way now, so he can eventually become WWE Superstar Dominik Mysterio, with a celebrated World Championship reign of... 2 months.
What is actually happening here is that Rey Mysterio is being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year, so his career clock is running out. So this match is immediately happening before Rey's knees collapse into themselves, and thankfully, the way this match was booked ensures that Wrestlemania will be the point where this feud has absolutely peaked. God, the pop on Rey finally striking his son. I haven't seen him get that much pleasure out of beating his kids since he got his copy of WWE '13.

Hell in a Cell Match
Edge vs "The Demon" Finn Balor
Ladies and gentlemen, your neverending feud. It wasn't too long ago that Edge formed The Judgment Day, a heel stable dedicated to taking the younger generation under Edge's wing. First, it was Damian Priest, a lost soul looking for guidance, looking to escape his never ending punishment. Then, it was Rhea Ripley, a individual whose presence in the group took on a life of its own (more on that later). And somewhere along the way, they even added Rey Mysterio's son, Dominik, into the fray, which he sorely needed. But none of those additions compared to their last member... Finn Balor, who immediately led a coup overthrowing Edge as their leader. It could be because Edge opposed the direction that The Judgment Day was going, but don't let rumors and heresay dissaude you from the fact that the preceding battle of Finn Balor leading The Judgment Day in a crusade to make Edge's life a living hell has been happening for a couple months too long. Even Edge's own wife had to pay the price for her troubles, and because Edge taught them too well. It feels like we've gone just about everywhere these two can go together... except Hell in a Cell. Oh, and Finn Balor's "Demon" persona is listed as the opponent, but hey, 3-4 hours in the makeup chair will absolutely be worth it to bring back a character he said he discarded in his second NXT run. Of course, wrestlers say a lot of things, but Finn's such a professional, we figured that declaration would stick.
At least this way, these two can guarantee a great Wrestlemania match... for about 15 minutes until Damian gets involved in some way. Plus it's probably Edge's match to lose. Unless he makes another agreement, this is his last year on his WWE contract. And of course The Judgment Day has nowhere to go but up. Even though it could possibly be a splintered group if Rhea gets the job done at Wrestlemania (again, more on that later.)

Men's Wrestlemania Showcase
Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar)
Since the Tag Team title match later on is a 2 team affair, we need to show the world that, yes, we do indeed have other teams in reserve, and no, our tag team division is NOT dead why would you even say that!
These are, admittedly, the usual suspects. The Viking Raiders have been a "pushed one week, not pushed the next" team over the past couple years. More importantly, they haven't been consistently healthy. Finally getting their chance to make their mark, and a new face among them in Valhalla who's career is probably gonna last longer than theirs, perhaps they get a credible win this time around?
The Street Profits... still exist. WWE, in their endless quest to not pull the trigger on a Montez Ford push, has him continued to be weighed down by Angelo Dawkins, a guy who is good, but not AS good. Even if they win, let's be real. It's not going to improve their standing as a tag team.
Alpha Academy... is also still here. Despite WWE not knowing exactly what they are going to do with Otis, and Chad Gable continuing to be another jobber to the stars, we still have a team, miraculously. It feels like nowadays these two would be better off apart, which is weird to say considering they were mostly on top around this time last year.
The underdog in this scenario is the makeshift team with no name... Braun and Ricochet. Braun has seen success in the past, but Ricochet... the mountain he climbed wasn't nearly as tall. You look at this team, and you look at a duo that just doesn't belong. Individual success in singles, cannon fodder in a tag match. If anything, they might be the team to surprise everyone, and secure a victory here. It all depends on what their future holds, as well as the future of the tag division, considering what lies ahead.

Women's Wrestlemania Showcase
Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. Chelsea Green and Sonya Deville
Supposedly, Becky Lynch & Lita were supposed to defend their Women's Tag Team Championship at Wrestlemania on top of the 6-woman clash with Damage CTRL. Now that is crazy. And clearly, WWE wasn't crazy enough to have Lita wrestle 2 nights in a row. So we have a Women's Tag Team showcase. And what a tag team showcase it is. Including tag teams that... aren't really tag teams. I could give you writeups on where each of these women are in their career prior to this tag team extravaganza, but let's cut to the chase. Ronda Rousey is in this match. Considering all the other women in this mix, Ronda Rousey is not walking away with an L at Wrestlemania (forget Wrestlemania 35, one of the most celebrated wins in women's wrestling). Her and Shayna Baszler would have more than likely become Women's Tag Team Champions had things been a little different, and I believe they will be by the end of the year, so if anyone needs this win for bragging rights and for the rocket to propel them towards the gold, it's Ronda and Shayna. Any other win is a waste of time. I will say I am surprised to see Chelsea Green at Wrestlemania. I feel like I just saw her in Impact Wrestling 6 months ago. She was absolutely gonna team with Carmella, but it appears the wrestling gods aren't done bringing maximum misfortune upon Carmella, so Sonya Deville, you're here. You're not doing anything. The rest of you... one of you is more than likely eating the pin. Natalya, thank you for your 15 year long service to WWE, and your service will continue with a Ronda exclamation point. You understand, of course...

Still, what would Wrestlemania be without title defences? A legit question I hope that WWE never answers.
WWE United States Championship
Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena
John Cena has not wrestled at Wrestlemania in 3 years. And hasn't wrestled at a live Wrestlemania in 5 years. And it was an Undertaker match that wasn't even properly advertised (Is a 2 minute match at Wrestlemania even a REAL match?)! It's so weird to see the hero of the Ruthless Aggression era absent from Wrestlemania. Not even talking about a match, just... not even a cameo? But it's fine. John Cena has his noteworthy career in Hollywood, and has to stop being Peacemaker to become WWE Superstar for one night only. His opponent?

Austin Theory. Austin Theory is absolutely living up to his potential, at last. Over the past year, he has become a superstar that you can slot into pretty much any situation. Get your cheek bashed in by Tyson Fury? Done. Keep the US Championship relevant? Oh yeah. Main event for RAW? Done and dusted. While Roman is mostly King of SmackDown, it's RAW that is lacking in a World Title to call its own, and it feels like Austin Theory has done his damndest to take up the mantle. It's a shame that he has yet to receive that one victory to cement his place on the upper card. That match could very well be pinning John Cena at Wrestlemania, which is more than likely going to happen because Cena has so few Wrestlemania matches left in him, and the torch needs to be passed. Not that such a torch passing achievement is a sure thing, because Kurt Angle passed the torch to Baron Corbin in 2019, and... yeah. Should be a better match than people are thinking considering I don't think Cena has lost a single step post-Hollywood, and Austin Theory will no doubt be not only pulling out all the stops, but ripping them out, to boot. I assume there's a lot of certainty behind this stop ripping, because it's going to be the opening match of Wrestlemania on Saturday. Best of luck, Theory. Admittedly, this isn't the Austin vs Cena match I wanted, but we haven't fully invented time travel yet.

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Gunther (c) vs. Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre
Damn. Just... damn. If there was a singles match with any combination of these 3 men at Wrestlemania, you are guaranteed ****1/2 star minimum. The evidence speaks loudly. Drew and Sheamus wallop each other, and it's 4 stars. Gunther and Sheamus take lumps of flesh out of one another at Cardiff, it's considered a match of the year candidate. I feel for the human bodies in this war. Through Gunther's own impatience, what would have been a competitive 1v1 brawl turns into a Triple Threat clusterfuck, said in the nicest terms. There's only so much unique text I can type being envious of everyone in this match. It's not THE main event, but it's my main event.
Sheamus has spent the past year or two putting the heavy in heavyweight, being the hard hitting bruiser he always knew he could be. Teaming with The Brawling Brutes and being an overall menace in the 6-man division (Ha! You thought there was a Trios division in WWE, didn't you?).
Drew has been all over the card. World Title shot one month, feuding with Karrion Kross the previous months, and now he's got his chance at gold he can realistically carry for at least a couple months. If only said gold wasn't held by Gunther.
Gunther... the walking weapon of WWE (get well soon, Josh Alexander). I petition this man should absolutely get his name changed to Midas, because everything he touches is gold. All I have to do is point directly at his NXT matches with Ilya Dragunov, and say that such excessive violence is the peak of WWE content. And his match quality has stood strong even when he leapt up to the main roster. It's been that way for the past 9 months ever since he won the IC title. Body after body falling before his presence. The best IC Champion in a long time. If he loses this match, it's because WWE looked back at his... well, it's less of a true one-on-one match, and more of a "last two guys in the Royal Rumble" match against Cody, and realized that Gunther is that guy. And hopefully, he does not fall between the cracks in the process. This match has potential to be match of the year. Watch out, grab a bucket of popcorn, and hold it tight.

RAW Women's Championship
Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka
Bianca, congratulations on your year long success. I'm all for you breaking down barriers, and making history (herstory's too cheesy, and I don't want to devalue her accomplishments), but what awaits you at this Wrestlemania is a challenger to your title unlike any other before her.
Asuka.
Asuka has transformed into a figure better representing her previous life as KANA. This is an Asuka not hindered by wacky dancing and horrendously awkward promos, this is an Asuka that plays with your head. Make you fear NOT what is coming, but why it hasn't already appeared. We've seen so little of this Asuka in WWE, and we've seen very little of these two in a one-on-one setting. Maybe a match here and there on RAW, but this pairing have yet to see a long term rivalry. At last, WWE have realized to, as the Fighting Game Community used to say, save that shit for nationals. Well, Wrestlemania is your nationals.
Asuka is a dangerous customer all her own. If she hasn't knocked your head off with precise kicks, or ripped you limb from limb in one of her many submissions, then beware what awaits you if she opens her mouth. And heaven knows how this new persona has affected her typical approach.
Bianca, you also know the score with her. Stamina to spare, and power for miles. She's been holding that RAW Women's Championship ever since last year's Wrestlemania, and has worn that title to the fullest, decimating any and all competitors who think they can hang with her. Including against Asuka at Hell in a Cell, with a little help from Becky. Now Bianca and Asuka need only focus on each other. This is a fresh new Asuka against a Bianca who is prepared to weather this tsunami threatening to take her title. Another classic Wrestlemania encounter awaits.
As for who will walk away with the cherry championship, I feel like Asuka wins, just because Bianca isn't ready for Asuka. Not to seem cliche, or desperate to squeeze in a catchphrase or two, but I feel like one of Asuka's newest unknown tricks is going to be the deciding factor. And it's also definitely not going to be the last time these two square off with a championship at stake. Here's hoping.

SmackDown Women's Championship
Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley
You know, when this match took place 3 years ago, I hoped Rhea would win. A rising star straight out of NXT with the boost she needed to be at the top of the mountain. But that's not what happened. Charlotte outperformed her. Back then, I figured Rhea winning was a must. The momentum of WCW Lex Luger after his world title win over Hollywood Hogan, and with a loss, it would be turned into WWF Lex Luger with no title to his own. That's also not what happend. Rhea climbed her way back up, scratched and clawed for every achievement. For a while, she was at the top of RAW's Women's Division. It's clear now she didn't need the boost, she just needed to plant her feet above ground level, and the business would work for her from there. And then something happened. She became a part of The Judgement Day. She got the kudos, she got the tutelage, and she got herself a Royal Rumble win. And a ticket to a championship opportunity. The roles are reversed. Now it's not Rhea insisting Charlotte use her Rumble win to challenge her for the NXT Championship, now it's Rhea using her prize as a chance to correct history, and become SmackDown Women's Champion.
There is debate on whether or not this match is worthy of a Wrestlemania main event slot. Considering how white hot the storylines are in the last two matches being covered, and the potential of just having women main event a Wrestlemania night for PR backpatting, it's definitely a match with a case to state. A Royal Rumble winner being in the last match of the show isn't a sure thing, and the build might not make the match seem as hype as others, but if these two think they are worthy of closing the show... then I hope they tear the roof off SoFi.
These two are top of the line. Charlotte can turn her offensive focus on a dime, Rhea is prepared to play dirty to realize her dream, and Rhea is facing the daughter of the dirtiest player in the game. This isn't gonna be a pretty contest. A heated, brutal slugfest is a much better descriptor. I believe Rhea will leave behind any shred of doubt that she is on Charlotte's level. But Charlotte's not just gonna lie down, and let her title slip away. Look forward to this match being talked about for the next few months afterward.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn
The year is 2023. The Usos continue their eternal stranglehold on the WWE Tag Team division. It's been due to The Bloodline's dissention being one of the most compelling storylines in recent WWE memory, and at the center of that discourse is Sami Zayn. We've been watching him over the past year align with Roman, damn near become the second-in-command of The Bloodline, fight against his best friend Kevin Owens (which to be fair, is neither the first nor the last time that's happened), and then have Sami reach his boiling point with a payoff betrayal of Roman Reigns being a deafening roar of heroism, to Sami getting squashed underneath Roman's boot. But now Sami knows his true target; The Usos. But he can't do it alone. He needs help from his former best friend, Kevin Owens. Owens wants no part of Sami's personal war, considering that Sami joined in on any and all Bloodline beatdowns of Kevin Owens. However, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, so friends turned rivals turned friends again believe they have the best chance of finally overcoming The Usos and their umpteenth day reign as Tag Team champions.
And the bond of The Usos is stronger than it's been. Jey Uso, with a small drop of uncertainty, spent a whole month absent from WWE itself, uncertain if the direction of The Bloodline was one he was willing to follow. In the end, blood was thicker than water. And rather than Sami and Jey be the duo to get it done, Jey kicked those dreams away, picking family over personal glory. Just be glad the titles haven't been given the proper Freebird rule, because there was a house show or two where the part of Jey Uso was played by Solo Sikoa. Ah yes, Solo is finally a part of WWE's main roster proper. Spent the first 6 months of his career undefeated (just had his first loss to Cody on Monday. Still looked strong). If the Usos start to, in any capacity, show signs of losing, expect this enforcer to interject.
In reality, you know how strong The Usos are as a unit. Slick teamwork, lethal attacks and combinations to double up their mighty blows... they've been holding on to those titles legit, even without interference. Will this reunited twosome of Kevin and Sami be any different? I don't think so. Sami's been on the inside until recently, and Kevin's been fighting them longer than anyone. In my mind, they might just be the force to catch The Usos slipping, and become the new Tag Team Champions. Of course, that depends on if the wrestling gods have grown tired of seeing The Usos hog the tag titles for over a year plus. I think most of us are.

---
With the dirty dozen of Wrestlemania clashes chronicled, we now come to the final contest; The Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. You know the first name, but the second one is a name seeking glory that his generation could never grasp. Let's get the obvious one out of the way first.

Roman Reigns

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZwTHoHI8cQ
Roman Reigns wanted his Head of the Table gimmick realized, or he would walk out on WWE. The fans believed in their Tribal Chief becoming the face of WWE. Over the past 900+ days, that's what happened. The fans got their reward..... their eternal reward. Roman has stood on top for far longer than any human being in the Wrestlemania generation. Male or Female. Singles or Tag Team. In fact, walking into this match, this is the 3rd straight year that Roman is defending his world championship. No one else can make such a claim. Not even Hulk Hogan, who felt like his time at the top of the mountain lasted far longer.
It's not hard to see why Roman is breaking as many records as he is. It's because of how far he has come. You look back at his time even 5-10 years ago, a time where the crowd wanted absolutely none of Vince's personal project. His promo material was awful, his matches were against people who were either leagues above him in wrestling ability, or they were far too immobile to be of any help. Roman Reigns was everything except over with the crowd. You can throw him in as many main events as you want, he will never be acknowledged. The fans despised him because of the simple fact that he was "The Guy". The guy in the big Wrestlemania matches, the second man ever to have defeated The Undertaker at Wrestlemania, the guy who got chance after chance at the spotlight when many other favored sons received diddly-squat in comparison.
With that, Roman worked smarter. Seeking his family entourage to grant them guaranteed success, his wise council in Paul Heyman being the Don King to his Mike Tyson, his general improvement and diversity in his offense beyond just spears and superman punches, as well as limiting when and where his title matches take place to make them the big deal that they deserve to be. Roman has been used in a significantly smaller capacity over the past year, to the point of some considering him a part-timer, which is a dangerous role around these parts. The continuous rumors over Roman taking time off were constant, and everpresent. They felt more like a tease that the oppressive era of The Bloodline was coming to an end. In actuality, it meant that the other members of The Bloodline got their chance to shine on equal terms.
Roman has been at the center of damn near every major storyline going on in WWE. Whenever Roman appears, whether making his way to RAW, or defending his title at a Premium Live Event, it is a big deal. A must see for any and all eyes on the product. He is what he, and the people who believed in him all those years ago, wanted him to become. The face of WWE. His actions as of recent have made him anything BUT face. Him destroying Sami Zayn at Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber have secured his place as the top heel of the company for the near future, and it has been reflected in how he achieves his Ws. One way or another, he has pulled win after win out of his ass, either through capitalizing on chaos, or outpeforming the opposition. But there is one man he has never been able to defeat in a meaningful encounter. That is Roman's Wrestlemania opponent. A man, who as of 4 years ago, was All Elite.

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i36tXq7yK6c

This really is the embodiment of never say never. Cody Rhodes left the WWE in a huff, shamed and embarrassed at his personal exit. But he didn't linger for long. He went back on the grind.
So.. what do you wanna talk about? Well, let's talk about Cody's post-WWE life.
You name a wrestling promotion in the United States, the likes of the NWA, the likes of Ring of Honor, he has swam to the top of it. Creating and forging his own legacy and identity. Not afraid to speak his own mind, not afraid to step above his station, and especially not afraid to fight his ass off, and put on matches well above his own average. As a result, a special thing happened in 2017. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer felt that Ring of Honor would not sell out a 10,000 seat arena any time soon. Cody took him up on that declaration. In an event known as "The Bet", such a PPV exceeding that crowd capacity was called All In, and it planted the seeds for what is now the #2 wrestling promotion in the United States. It's crazy to think way back when that THAT Cody Rhodes would be partially responsible for helping to create the first promotion to take a sizable chunk out of WWE's audience since the WCW days; All Elite Wrestling.
But what no one else was expecting in the early days of AEW was Cody's career trajectory. The first to challenge for the AEW World Title held by Chris Jericho under the condition that if Cody can't beat Jericho, he will never challenge for that title again. It would be Cody's one, and only, shot at that title. He failed. From then on, Cody would obtain a title worth fighting for; the TNT Championship. Challenger after challenger vanquished every single week for as long as Cody held that title. With the exception of getting mauled into submission by the late Brodie Lee, Cody would stay the course. The only thing that would stop him... was discourse. Among the AEW fans. They felt that Cody only had his success because it was his company. And it was that stigma that eventually caused the fans to turn on him. Through a combination of that bitterness, as well as clashing with his fellow EVPs, Cody felt the time was right to leave AEW to its own devices. Unthinkable at the time, but by January 2022, it became reality. Cody was a free man once again.
From there, it was a matter of days. The day... was Wrestlemania last year. Speculation on Seth Rollins' mystery opponent had the rumor mill swirling. Perhaps Gable Steveson, maybe Shane McMahon? But Cody Rhodes? Come on, there's no way. And then the lights went black come match time.. to the tune of "Kingdom". And a crowd reaction that broke the sound barrier. My god... it actually happened. Cody Rhodes returned to WWE.
It must have come with a hex on Cody's body, because a couple months later, Cody tore a pectoral muscle meaning his WWE return would be short lived... if this were a man of logic and discretion, perhaps. Cody wrestled a classic Hell in a Cell encounter despite his pec looking incredibly sore against Seth Rollins to cap off that rivalry. And then the recuperation began.
Not a peep on Cody's return until the Royal Rumble. After putting on another clinic with Gunther to fight over the Wrestlemania main event, Cody stood tall. And thus, the match was set in stone. It's Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes. WWE's golden boy, vs AEW's exiled founding father. Cody Rhodes attempting to realize a dream that his father, The American Dream, was never able to make reality. A matchup that didn't even seem possible 2 years ago is now suddenly the main event of Wrestlemania. Wrestling is a special thing, sometimes.
In short, this matchup is indeed main event worthy. It's an even bout from top to bottom. Roman's power and authority vs Cody's acumen and knowhow. A godlike force vs a man seeking wrestling immortality. It's either going to be jaded WWE fans swearing to never watch again as long as Roman's still the champ, or AEW fans seething and coping that Cody is standing tall in enemy territory. A main event for the ages that one man has to lose. A duel of the fates that will be spoken of in documentaries and future montages to come. The quest to decide the undisputed WWE Champion.
Who will it be?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aST-5fzb1Iw
\A DYNAMITE PREDICTON**
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_HFnIGszr4
All things considered, I think this match is a lot closer than people think it is. Cody has been fighting to no end, and he's confident that he has Roman's number. He has a reason to be champion other than just being the top guy in the company, but to Roman, that is his only reason. And that is his driving motivator. And such an obsession will be his undoing. All it will take is one mistake, one spear off the mark, and Cody will strike with an unforeseen fury and desire. This is Cody Rhodes' night. He will raise both titles, and discard both physical championships to bring back the golden World Heavyweight Championship that his father once wore proudly. Don't deny me this moment, WWE. Don't deny your fans someone new at the top for fucking once. And please keep away from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The morality of your fanbase depends on it. Not like morality has stopped any of your poor decision making in the past. Speaking of poor decisions, enjoy your weekend of bodyslams and crossbody splashes to the outside. Ring the bell, fuckers!

---
https://youtu.be/4CUXV3BfeD4?t=184
Thanks for reading. Have fun with Nick Khan saying the quiet part out loud.
Nick Khan: Just one note on that, I don’t run the WWE. There’s only one person who actually runs the WWE, Vince McMahon. A lot of folks help me to help run the WWE.

Hello y'all!
Recently, one Twitter user made me aware that Steam Deck could be used for reading mangas (Not the brightest discovery, but I was shocked since I never thought about that xD)! If you do own any big touchscreen device, you could 100% skip it, because as we know it, SD don't have biggest and greatest screens on this planet. But in my case, it is the only big enough unit that I own. So here is my method and workarounds to create the simplest environment to just sit and read.
We will be working only on Desktop mode, if you opened it at least once you're qualified enough for every of those steps. If you didn't, you will be once you try it! Steam Button > Power > Switch to Desktop
In the Discover "app store" on the task bar, you need to search for Komikku. It's beautiful and smooth GTK app, it supports multiple sources from the web and local ones. From my limited research, it comes as the current best Linux comic/manga client available. But it comes with one big handicap. It cannot rotate the image. On the default screen rotation, you can only read in vertical mode, so it's far from comfortable experience. The developer doesn't feel like having this option is necessary, so here we are, forced to go into system options and rotate the screen manually, so we can use the whole screen real estate and resolution.
UNLESS!
Now we will set up custom shortcuts (KDE Plasma doesn't come with keyboard shortcuts to rotate the screen like Windows has) and assign them to SD back buttons.
!!! Remember that SD screen is rotated by default! Its “normal” mode is being a horizontal display appearing to be rotated to the right. When we type in Terminal >normal< we mean rotated irl, then >right< would mean “normal” to us, the users. Try to not get confused! !!!
Open System Settings. Click Shortcuts (they are almost at the top, but you can search for them), and then Custom Shortcuts.
In the second box from the left (under the list of some build in actions [not sure, don't care]) click Edit and then New > Global Shortcut > Command/URL
Then we're in the third box. We can skip Comment section, it's just for us if we want to type something to remember, better just name shortcut appropriately. In the Trigger section, we need to type our shortcut. In my configuration, I decided to stick with the Windows convention, but it could be hard to hold 3 keys simultaneously without a physical keyboard connected, so you do you. So, for example, you could use Ctrl+Alt+Down(arrow)
As an Action type xrandr --output eDP --rotate right
This ^ will rotate the display to the normal vertical position
Then add a second shortcut the same way but use a different keys combination, for example, Ctrl+Alt+Right(arrow), and as an Action set xrandr --output eDP --rotate normal
This ^ will rotate the display to the right (horizontal)
And for the final piece, we will use totally not broken Steam Controller Desktop Configuration!
Open Steam still in Desktop mode, then open Settings, Controller tab and click into DESKTOP CONFIGURATION button. As at the time of writing this post, this will open the old school Big Picture tab. Using this Reddit post as a reference, all you need to do is assign those new made shortcuts to the back buttons, clicking the appropriate boxes. BUT remember to click TOGGLE MULTI-BUTTON ON under virtual keyboard representation. FUN FACT, this will only show up while using a real mouse, or taping the screen with your fingers. Touchpads won't work in this window xD
In my case Ctrl+Alt+Down(arrow) went into L4 button - this is resetting screen to the vertical position.
Ctrl+Alt+Right(arrow) went into L5 button - this is rotating the screen to the horizontal, comic/manga reading position.
That is all, happy reading!
I will update this post when one of those happen:

Komikku dev will add view rotation to the reading options, we wouldn't be here because of that, for better and for worse. Nonetheless, I want to say thank you, for creating and maintain this awesome app!
KDE will add their own shortcuts to rotate the screen.
Valve will fix/replace this broken mess of a Desktop mode configuration.

Sorry for a weird grammar here and there, I'm not a native English speaker and wanted to feed this text to GPT-3, so it would retouch some bugs, but got lazy so... ya know!

The "we're not dead" chapter from u/eruwenn and I. No promises on how fast the next chapter arrives, but it is underway.
First / Prev / Next ------------------------------
Sam Jakobs strode through the lobby of Umgrol Tower with all but one of his most trusted friends. Black suits slipped through the crowd; much like a shark’s fin through waves, they simply parted without a ripple of effort. Faces were grim, eyes focused, and a tension sat on their combined shoulders like a weight they all knew too well.
“I could make an excuse,” Duong offered, deciding to try and break the mood. “No need for you to attend this meeting in person.”
“It’s fine,” former Colonel Jakobs answered with a resigned sigh.
“But, shouldn’t you be with Britney?” Lopez attempted to change his mind with an appeal to his emotions. “She was looking forward to taking you on a roller coaster.”
“I’m doing this for Britney,” the loving father replied without hesitation.
“Avoiding conflict is a good lesson,” Jabari offered his advice.
“True.” Sam conceded the point.
“Knowin’ how to punch a Wachoto so their heart fails is also a good lesson,” Snake said drily.
“Also true,” the group’s leader said, allowing himself a brief chuckle.
“Sam!” Lopez struck his shoulder with the back of her open hand. “Don’t even joke-”
“We’re not killing Hopper’s replacement,” Sam confirmed, allowing himself an almost imperceptible shrug. “Not today, anyway.”
The small ripple of laughter that had passed between them had helped alleviate some of the tension that had been building. Duong paused as one of the tower assistants came jogging up to them, and he held up a hand to stop the others. As the young man approached, the terror was visible in his face. "Your order, Sir." He held up a white box from Pierre's, large enough to require both hands to hold, and instead of saluting he simply bowed his head and extended the package towards them.
“Thank you,” Sam replied, accepting the box and tucking it under his arm. He saw the others staring in confusion. “A gift,” he explained.
“From you…” Jabari said slowly. “To?”
“Did Choco make an exploding cake?” Duong jokingly asked.
“Another exploding cake,” Jabari clarified. “There was that thing in the Whethan Sector.”
Elevator doors opened, and their conversation fell silent as they entered, only to start up again once it began to move.
Jabari had found that humorous antics, or the mere memory of them, often eased tension before combat. He tried the interrupted tactic again. "Remember that time he stole a light cruiser from the Odesza Fundamentalists?" After a brief pause to allow the memories to flow, he added, "What happened to that thing, anyhow?"
“Who knows,” Duong hastily replied, nudging his large friend in the side and nodding to the camera watching them. “Lot of stuff goes missing in war, you know-”
“Cameras are off, dumbass,” Choco’s voice came in over their earpieces.
“Better safe than sorry,” the handsome man replied, flashing a smile to their Erinal in the machine, and began fixing up his hair in the reflection of the camera lens. The elevator stopped, and the conversation paused with practiced precision as the doors parted. The black suits marched silently through the underground military base of Umgrol Tower basement level three, eventually reaching a set of secure doors. Two black armoured soldiers stood either side.
“Death’s Head?” Snake muttered the question to the others, nodding to the unmoving men and the smooth black mirror that made up the face of their helmets. “I thought we were playing nice with the locals?”
“Purely for the new general’s personal security.” Choco supplied the answer over their secure comms channel, as they passed into the room beyond. “Seems he’s the nervous type.” He slurped loudly on something, causing the others to wince at the noise. “Can’t figure why, ha.”
A dozen more of the faceless sets of black armour waited in the room, weapons ready. Near them stood full body scanners, as well as deep, metal trays.
“Weapons,” one of the Death’s Head Dragoons said, gesturing to the waiting receptacles.
The War Rats glanced at each other, smiled, and began unbuttoning their suit jackets. Things began to be deposited at an alarming frequency by everyone present, aside from one. Sam shook his head at the others as he held his box of confections. “I thought I said unarmed?” he asked.
“This is unarmed,” Snake replied, tossing a sixth knife into the tray.
“Oh, you meant unarmed unarmed.” Jabari’s deep voice was full of humour, and he failed to stifle his rumbling laughter as he tossed a large, brightly-coloured grenade into his tray.
The closest guard flinched at the sight of the explosive, and immediately asked, “Is that an Oracle?” He took several steps back, despite knowing that the explosive could vaporise several floors of even this reinforced building. Something whose very name spoke of being a message from god, a literal invite to hell. “Isn’t owning one of those a war crime?”
“In Triumvirate space, sure,” the big man answered, shrugging off the obvious obfuscation. “No local laws are being broken. Besides, I’ve been working on making a better version.“ He smiled at his reflection in the man’s visor. “This one lacks the wow factor.”
Two of the other guards were muttering back and forth, clearly nervous, and Sam stepped in to ask, “Do we have a problem?”
“Err...” One of the indistinguishable soldiers glanced nervously at Lopez, who had stepped through the scanner. "Her arm, Sir. It's been augmented with-"
"You want me to take my arm off?" Lopez laughed, well-acquainted with the multiple warnings her Choco-manufactured appendage had set off. "I guess you really did mean unarmed unarmed.
Sam took control of the situation, his voice calm and even. “We’re all on the same team here. General Midysus requested this meeting himself.” He gestured back towards the door. “I can head up to my office, and he can-”
“It’s fine,” Maria gently interrupted, reaching up to start unfastening her shirt so she could remove the artificial limb. “No me importa, we just need to-”
“No.” Sam’s voice was iron, an infinitesimal amount of the rage that was brewing inside him seeping into that singular syllable. “I care.” His eyes had not left the dragoon who had made the request, and they took a faltering step backwards. “My men brought weapons, which I will punish them for later” -his subordinates grimaced at those words- “but, bad jokes aside, we are allies.” He turned to look at the elevator doors, then asked, “Unless you would like to alter the terms of our agreement?”
In response to his words the elevator doors slid open.
Duong was swept up in the moment, and he leaned in close to one of the dragoon’s. “That’s right. Los-”
“Let’s go,” Sam commanded, and his group straightened, following him through the now open doors.
“Sorry,” the others began as the doors closed.
“I’m not so-” Snake began before being elbowed roughly by Lopez’s metal arm. “Damn it, that hurt.”
“Can we all focus?” Sam's reminder was audibly weary. "Remember why you're here," he said.
"To stop you from killing him," Duong swiftly answered. It was most certainly not a recreational outing they were on.
“Exactly,” the colonel answered, his fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white.
Jabari looked at the group gathered, and muttered, “We should have brought more people.”
“Numbers never stopped him before,” Maria said, leaning in close and using her non-metal shoulder to lean into Sam. “We just need to keep reminding him of the reason he chose peace.”
“Speaking of which,” Choco’s voice cut in over the comm’s channel, “guess how many kids threw up on the bumper cars?”
-------------------------------------
Haruki Sasaki stood in front of a large cartoonish castle, talking with several members of the park staff. They were gathered on a wide drawbridge over a moat, in which many waterfowl of different colours and sizes swam. The crenellated wall was tall, boasting minarets at all four corners, and an impressive keep at the centre. Flags and banners of an eye-searing myriad of hues flapped colourfully in the breeze. As the wind slowed down, the colours suddenly shifted, becoming an even mix of red and blue. It was historically inaccurate, strategically flawed, and the children had all loved it.
“All of the suits are working correctly?” the tailored lawyer asked, maintaining fixed eye contact with a pale and perspiring park worker in an orange jumpsuit. “I want them to enjoy this more than they did the bumper cars.”
“The enjoyment comes from the acceleration, and sudden deceleration,” the sweaty lead park engineer began. “It is very fine tuned, and the intra-species variation in tolerances is something we need to work on.”
“Kids get sick.” A junior worker shrugged off the issue. “That’s why we have the cleaner bots, and disinfectant hoses.”
“Brian… we’ve talked about this,” the lead engineer warned her underling. “If a Gr’darian was to vomit on a Peil, during their mating season, what would happen?”
“Errr..” Brian paused, having no idea what the answer might be. “Failed mating season?” he guessed.
“No!?” Her angry response contained both shock at his flippancy, and incense at his poor knowledge base. “How many times have I told you to study the secretions of the gelatinous races? Combining those two xeno bodily fluids would create chlorine gas, do I have to remind you why that is a bad thing?” Barry hung his head in shame, his long blonde hair covering his increasingly red face. “My apologies, Sir,” the lead engineer said as she returned her attention to the man in the immaculate black suit. She held up her thumb and forefinger with the slenderest of gaps between them. "I am this close -- this close! -- to shipping him back to Disneymoon seven. A few cycles of repairing the Star Wars Lightsaber Academy animatronics would serve him right.”
“We don’t have either of those species present, Ms. Bizhan,” the lawyer was relieved to point out, feeling a small hint of sympathy for the now cowering Brian. “And we are getting a lot of useful information, which is the purpose of this park.”
“Most definitely.” The head engineer nodded emphatically, adding, “And please, call me Fariba.” She pulled a small tablet from a large pocket on her leg, quickly skimming her notes. “In addition to the expected biology-based observations, we've definitely found several potentially lucrative markets to expand into.”
Haruki nodded. “The Triumvirate will find a way to make you their prey,” he murmured. “Physically or economically.”
“Preferably the latter,” Fariba said with a well-practised smile. “But we must know our enemies better than we know our friends, even if we don’t know which of them will choose which path.” She tapped her tablet once more. “They were all shocked that we could manufacture inertial dampeners small enough to fit in the bumper cars, so we can open up a lot of trade with that minor technology.” She used her thumb to point over her shoulder without looking back. “With those we deem our friends, of course. Helping them get a step ahead of those who choose to be more resistant.”
“Resistance is futile,” Brian added with a grin, having spent an entire summer assembling Borg animatronics for a Trekkie battle arena experience.
“Ignore him,” Fariba quickly said, flapping a hand behind her back to shoo the junior engineer away. “I can assure you, the full dive VR suits are calibrated to the lowest tolerance levels known for each species.” Her sweet smile was pasted onto her face once more. “You will have nothing but positive things to report to Mr Jakobs, I assure you.”
“Of course,” Haruki nodded, realising all eyes were on him, and they were afraid. “I take responsibility for the earlier incident, I should not have allowed them to follow a Britney diet.” He saw them visibly relax, and continued, “I will make sure to monitor their food intake more carefully.” He stepped to one side, and began walking into the castle, giving a polite bow of his head. “I’ll go to the observation room, and see how they’re getting on.”
“They’re still being scanned,” the head engineer answered swiftly, wanting to prove her usefulness. “The match will begin once they’re all ready.”
“Fine, fine,” the lawyer replied, waving over his shoulder as he left them standing on the drawbridge. His swift stride carried him through the portcullis, and away from the engineers.
Fariba let out a huge sigh of relief, and she sagged like a deflated balloon animal found a week after a birthday party. This physical response was soundlessly mirrored throughout the group, except for their newest member. The head engineer rounded on Brian, glaring furiously. “What the hell were you thinking?” she demanded. “You don’t make jokes around people like that!”
“Lawyers?” the slightly slower member of the group innocently asked.
“No. Not lawyers,” Fariba replied sarcastically, waving her hand yet again and dismissing the rest of her team. “Well actually, you shouldn’t make jokes around the Triumvirate lawyers either, but especially not around that lawyer.” She leaned in close, and lowered her voice to barely a whisper. “You served?” she asked, although his presence here meant the answer was a foregone conclusion.
“Thirty-Seventh Avionic Engineer Battalion,” he rattled off his unit immediately, standing a little straighter. “Assigned the Illustrious, maintaining the X-7 Raptors, and the old Higgins Orbital Landers.”
“Well even a wrench bender from Ol’Lusty should have heard of the War Rats.” She eyed his youthful face, waiting for the moment things fell into place.
“Pfft,” he derisively scoffed, rolling his eyes. “It may be that I was sent to requisition clear black paint, and I went without question. I might also have spent two hours at the quartermaster's station when I was ordered by the rest of my team to requisition a Long Stand." He shook his shaggy blonde head in disbelief at his earlier naivety. "But, I never fell for those stories." His claim was punctuated with a guffaw of contempt. "Pure propaganda, to keep the systems in line. There's no way that even half the shit they're supposed to have done could be true.”
Fariba’s eyes were wide. Her mouth opened and closed several times as she stared into the stupidity of his youth. “Why don’t you go home for the day,” she gently instructed him, deciding that someone who could stand next to a shark, and not see its teeth, was not a person who should be around apex predators.
—-----------------------------
“It tickles,” Fah’Zi squeaked as he walked through the full body scanner.
“It’s reading your skeletal and muscular structure, and mapping your neural paths,” Penny explained. “Completely harmless, and necessary for the synapse translators to perform correctly.”
“And we just lie in the pods,” Pu’Sha hesitantly asked, looking over to the devices plugged into the wall. “And then we’ll be in the game?”
“Exactly.” The tower assistant was pleased they were paying attention.
There was a vibration felt in everyone’s bones, and Britney replied to Ung, “You’re not allowed to have them at home.”
“That’s right.” Though Penny hadn’t understood the question, the response made the enquiry clear. “Full-dive VR is heavily restricted, due to its highly addictive nature.” Always keen to add context to a rule, so that it was seen as protective rather than punishing, she elaborated; “A long time ago there was a group called the Neo-Utopian Transitioners, who believed humanity’s future was inside the machine. They fully embraced the virtual world, leaving behind automated systems to take care of the world around them." She took a deep breath, rapidly deciding on the best way to end the tale for these school children. "It... didn't end well. To prevent any future mishaps, the Triumvirate set up a strict regulatory body.”
“This thing’s dangerous?” Inaue asked. The small red Yaou was prodding the machine with his prehensile tail. “And you want us to get in there?”
“The machines are perfectly safe,” Britney replied. Choco had told her all about the N.U.T.’s, when he showed her his highly illegal home VR setup. “They just took it too far. Hooked themselves up to life-support systems, and fully lived in their own world.” She smirked as only a child about to reveal a disgusting factoid could. “Even had tubes to remove-”
“Nobody needs all the details,” Penny interrupted.
“I do,” Fah’Zi insisted.
“Fine,” the mischievous young girl relented, skipping the poop-shoot joke for Penny's sake even though the gag was one of Choco's favourites. "Everything worked fine for a long time, and eventually people stopped going round to check on them.”
“Unfortunately,” Penny interjected, once again taking over the narration of this tragic tale, “with everyone in their own world, nobody was performing basic maintenance. The bioreactor tasked with producing many of their key proteins had been running for decades without issue, but a forced update added advertisements, as well as something called a Captcha to stop them and run the program as intended. There was nobody to select which squares contained traffic lights, and so the bioreactor was effectively disabled.”
“I don’t understand many of the things you just said,” Mike249 said, putting into words what was on the mind of all of the students present.
“They starved while pigging out on imaginary food,” Britney bluntly blurted out, as if this was the worst thing imaginable. “Inside their utopia people started going crazy, then vanishing.”
“Prolonged life in VR requires a medical team to bring you out,” the older human explained. “So they were stuck. Unable to escape. Not knowing why their friends, and family, were acting increasingly bizarrely.”
“What the j’rak?” the green-skinned Zilithian, Todd, exclaimed, looking at the pod and then to the humans who were now suggesting they enter this device for fun.
“Humans have to eat very regularly,” Pu’Sha explained to the newer members of their group who had not spent a great deal of time around Britney. “Without food they become less rational, and aggressive. They even have a special word, hangry, and you don’t want to deal with a hangry human.” She spoke with a very serious tone, as if this single piece of advice was a vital life lesson. Finally, with even greater emphasis, she added, “Always keep your human adequately fed.”
“I’m not a pet,” Britney argued. Realising the advice actually worked in her favour she also added, “But, it’s not a bad rule.”
“So, what happened to the V.R. people,” Mike249 asked, a trembling in his voice accompanied the sagging of his worried antennae. “Were they rescued?”
“Unfortunately not,” Penny gently informed him. “It was actually many years before anyone even noticed.”
“Years?” Aekara whimpered.
“How did nobody notice,” Fah’Zi asked incredulously, thinking practically about dead bodies. “Wouldn’t they notice the smell?”
“People died,” the tufty-tailed Emsalio, Li Gorblek, began. “And nobody noticed?” She seemed angry on behalf of these forgotten strangers of another race. “How many?”
“Seventeen billion,” Haruki answered her, as he entered the room. “They had dedicated their entire world to their Neo-Utopia.” He lowered his voice, to make sure they were listening. “Starvation does strange things to our people. Even our brain chemistry alters, and this eventually disconnected them from their VR… forcibly. The shock of reality was enough to kill the lucky ones. The unlucky ones were trapped in their withered, dying bodies. Locked in their pods until they died. Rejecting the real world, and those who lived in it, meant that there was nobody to save them. There’s an important lesson for all of you.”
“Don’t get in that thing,” Inaue guessed, retracting their red tail from the pod it had been prodding.
“Everything in moderation,” Aekara murmured.
“Have a back-up protein thingy,” Fah’Zi said, his hand raised excitedly, hoping to get praise from his senior Sirius comrade.
Britney repeated the mantra Choco had drummed into her as he recounted the story in gruesome detail. “Don’t allow updates on essential equipment without a qualified engineer present. Oh, and VR lovin’ ain’t real lovin’.” She quoted her Erinal teacher directly.
“Not sure that last part is relevant,” Penny said, her cheeks flushing red. “Anyway…” She raised the lid on the first VR pod. “Who’s going first?”
All of the students took a step back, except for two. Britney immediately leapt into the pod. Ung also moved towards the next pod, having a burning passion for human video games.
“Come on,” the energetic blonde human encouraged. “You’re not scared are you?” Her taunts were enough to get Fah’Zi and Li to start moving.
Pu’Sha looked over to where the human in the suit was observing them, and she sighed. Scary stories and indulgent food aside, the humans would never put them in danger. “Fine,” she said, stepping forward. “Come on, Mike249,” she called, waving him to the pod beside hers. “And you, Aekara.” The Verg was already clambering inside her pod when she looked at the nervous newcomers. “You scared to do something the Bubbles are doing?” she asked, taking a cue from Britney in provoking them.
“Never,” the large grey Runuck – Fraskar – grunted, taking a cautious step forward. He turned and glared at the others from the non-bubble classes. “Get in, let’s put them in their place.”
“Oh?” Britney’s eyes glinted happily. “You want to play teams?” She smiled happily. “Fine by me. Six vs six. O.G.’s against Newbies.”
“If you include Ung, there are seven of us,” Mike249 politely corrected his fearless, if forgetful, leader. “Pu’Sha, Aekara, Fah’Zi, Kenra, you and I.” He held up a claw for each name, demonstrating to the human how that added up. “I could join the others? I am always happy to make new friends.”
“Fine,” the human agreed, though she was annoyed to have lost one of her teammates.
There came a high level vibration, accompanied by thunderous drumming; Ung was clapping her hands excitedly. She was on Britney's team! The vibrations continued as the Da descended a reinforced set of stairs and clambered into an enlarged pod that had been sunk into the ground.
The small human listened carefully to her guildmate, then shook her head. "No, this is definitely not a friendly match," the O.G. leader said. Her eyes locked on to Li's fierce gaze and held steady.
—------------------------------

Next

Hey TDP fandom! Welcome to this monthly update toward season 5 with brand new TDP content, news and updates within the month of March!
I hope everyone had a wonderful St.Patrick’s Day and a safe Spring Break!
As springs starts to welcome us with its breezy winds, sunny days and warm temperatures, it’s also a season where new beginnings occur occasionally! That’s right I’m talking about season 5!
While there’s still no major updates about season 5 ocean yet, that doesn’t mean there’s something big going on with the TDP team!
Let’s review on what TDP content, news and updates that occurred within the month of March!

I’ll cut right to the chase on this one. For a long time, the fandom has been asking Wonderstorm on what’s the latest information regarding the development of TDP’s video game.

There hasn’t been much discussion about TDP’s video game not until now.
TDP’s video game is called Project Arcanum and it’s now available for everyone to sign up to beta test the game on pre-alpha mode! It’ll feature everyone’s favorite characters from the TDP series and also including a few new ones as well! You have to be at least 13 years old or above to test out Project Arcanum.
Here’s the link for everyone to get started to sign up for Project Arcanum to get all the latest updates about TDP’s newest video game as it continues to undergo early development! https://www.wonderstorm.net/projectarcanum
Here’s a side note: Project Arcanum will only be played in North America first before extending to other countries and will be accessible to be played on PC only.

The TDP team made changes to the official TDP discord server as they changed some of the hashtag names to be more saga related to connect to the TDP series while also retiring some old hashtags to make room for upcoming TDP content projects.
The TDP team attended the 2023 Wondercon event performing a wonderful exhibition educating the audience about animation how scenarios make it from storyboards to the live screen by doing it on a fan favorite scene from season 4 and performing a Q&A with the audience!

Here’s a quick recap from the panel:
They featured a scene between the fight of Claudia and Ibis fighting over the staff of Ziard at the Storm Spire showing how they set out a episode step by step.

Episodes are arranged in three acts using index cards to indicate the plot.
They begin to write the script in two documents that sets the outline and give voice actors time to read the lines their going to record.
The writers read the script out loud to see if the tone matches the specific scene.
They go on to the storyboard and animation phase then continue further down to animation using LRC.
Finally they go to sound and mixing on soundtracks which is performed by an entire orchestra!
Season 5 is confirmed to arrive this summer!
A few Out of context spoilers were revealed from some season 5 episodes.
The TDP Team announced more brand new merchandise are now available for purchase through HotTopic that includes a variety of new clothes and face masks!

Here’s the link to get started to check out on all the merchandise HotTopic and Wonderstorm has to offer! https://www.hottopic.com/pop-culture/?cgid=pop-culture&prefn1=license&prefv1=Dragon+Prince

The first play test of TDP’s video game of Project Arcanum has begun to enroll!

Here’s the link to sign up on the pre alpha version if you haven’t already yet signed to check out the contents of Project Arcanum! https://www.wonderstorm.net/projectarcanum
That is all the TDP news, content and updates that occurred within the month of March! We were blessed with a miracle to get an official season 5 announcement from the TDP team and now knowing it’ll be coming this summer!
Now that season 5 has finally been announced, we best prepare ourselves for more possible season 5 major updates in April!

LONG POST I use to be with a man we will call John for 5/6 years, maybe a few years longer. Its hard to remember due to all the mental abuse. He was selfish, a cheater, narcissistic and mentally abusive but I thought so much of him. I loved him. I ended up pregnant at 18 years old and didn't know it due to the stress of my job and me thinking the stress stopped my period. I ended up having a miscarriage at 6 weeks along. He dumped me right after. Why? Because he got some sick satisfaction in watching me cry and beg for him not to leave. A few years I ended up pregnant again in late 2013 and was due in 2014 and was happy. When I was around 20 weeks along, he wanted to take me 4+ hours away on a greyhound bus to get a back alley "procedure" done. He said that they said the cut off date for doing it would be 23 weeks so I lied about how far I was to him. While I was pregnant, John cheated on me so many times. I couldn't even count at this point. A few months after I had our child, I ended up in the hospital awaiting for surgery and he was there with me, texting his ex. I knew. I knew everything that was going on but I stayed because he had me tied around his fingers. He kicked me out not long after to have another girl move into MY apartment that I paid for. I ended up moving back to my apartment after she left and nothing had changed. John knew that he could do whatever he wanted and I wouldn't fight back. Fast-forward to 2016, my mom ended up with 2 kinds of cancer. A month later she was pronounced brain dead due to a clot. I missed work to be in the hospital with her. John was furious with me. My mom wasn't coming back and since I had enough in savings and was the bread winner in the house, I didn't care about missing a few days. After I had to make the call to pull the plug (which is an entirely different story), I was numb. Losing my mom made me look at my situation. I stopped loving him. I was done. I became distant. John asked my best friend what was going on with me (they worked together but never hit on her... she would have told me since she hated him) and she told him, "her mom just died and you tried to force her to go into work instead of being with the people she needed support from. Think about it dude..." He tried to win me back but I was interested in someone else. He tried to bribe with with something that was worth $30. Old me would have fallen for it. But new me realized what was going on. I called him out on it and he admitted it. He moved out and our child was with me. His game of manipulation had come to end. I was free. Im still mentally damaged but have been working on it with my husband of 4 years. And my husband has taken up the father role to my 9 year old. John hasnt seen my child in 6 years, no calls or texts. We finally know what real love is. Its not a game.
TLDR; Ex played with my mind and emotions. He always cheated me me. Got pregnant, he wanted me to abort. I lied about timeline. Lost mom a few years later, he was mad I wouldnt work. He tried to bribe me to stay when I was done with him. Found a new man. He isnt in kids life but husband is childs dad now.

My 8 year old macbook air was better than this. Trying to download RotMG, unidentified developer, so I go to the override where it's the lock to make changes, click it a thousand times and it does nothing. Click on "open anyways" a thousand times and same result. Just looking at my cursor shows me how low my framerate is compared to my old macbook air when it was in it's prime lol. Honestly really disappointed as I've been using Apple products and Final Cut Pro most my life, and my brand new computer is being extremely difficult within the first few weeks of getting it.

English is my second language I hope you will forgive my mistakes. Let's have a quick background, shall we? I, 18 female, at the peak of lockdown made an Anime based gc on Fb. It was a Group chat that was quite successful. It was a safe space I created for online strangers to come together and talk about their traumas and get comfort. The Gc became a community, a safe place for me. And I was quite close with the members of the gc.
My best friend that I met through the same Gc was one of the first members of it. And since we were from the same country we hit it off well. My best friend, Let's call her Sam, was someone I trusted deeply. Enough to share the traumas that I never shared with anyone. Fast forward to two months after the Gc creation, a new member was added, We will call him Mel. At very first Mel was nothing but a stranger with whom I interacted once or twice in the gc. One night when I was sharing my concern about having trouble with coding, Mel offered to help. We went to DM's and started talking from then. Mel became a friend, from a stranger. As we talked and chatted, I found out he was the sweetest boy. He was dating someone at the time. But due to some reason, it wasn't working out. After a few weeks, I found myself chatting to him every day. Talking to him was my comfort. I found myself crushing over him.
And As I mentioned above. I shared my situation with Sam. (NOTE: Now Sam and Mel never interacted privately.) I was a hopeless person who fell in love quickly. As my feelings became deeper I shared my concern with Sam. She and I both agreed that it would be better if I confessed and then got rejected. That way My feeling might stop. And so I did. But to my surprise, Mel didn't reject it. He said he also liked me. But since he was still dating his then-current Gf he needed some time to sort things out and told me to wait. I did wait. I reassured him to not think about my feelings and choose what was best for him. After some days he told me he and his gf split up, but he still needed some time to reciprocate my feelings. And yet again told me to wait. And wait I did. It was uncertain that he was gonna return my feeling. For weeks after that, we kept talking and I kept falling harder for him. But with the increase of my fondness for him, I started getting insecure. At that point, Sam and Mel had started talking. They started chatting when Mel wanted to learn my language. And yes sam knew everything.
Just waiting when I wasn't even certain that my feelings would be returned, I decided to ask Mel to reject me or return my feelings as it was taking quite a toll on me. I already had massive trust issues. It was quite hard for me. But he insisted I waited and that he liked me. He said he couldn't reject the girl he loved. Again For two weeks, it went on like that. Me begging him to reject me and crush my hopes and him denying to reject me. And I finally caved in and told him that I will wait for him to get his shit straight. And everything was good again. Sam was informed about everything. After some days I found Mel and my conversations getting little and little and dryer day by day. Again I felt insecure but convinced myself that it was okay and that I was overthinking. I shared my concerns with Sam. I cried my eyes out as I chatted with her. And she also said that I was overthinking. I started noticing how close Mel and Sam had gotten. But didn't think twice about it. I mean sam was my BFF right? What could happen? They had every right to chat with each other.
But how wrong I was. After a week Mel suddenly said he couldn't return my feelings. I felt as if someone crushed my heart. My heart broke. But, I didn't want him to feel guilty. So, I said that I respected his choices. Then I proceeded to bawl my eyes to Sam. She comforted me saying That maybe we weren't meant to be.
The next day with a heavy heart I chatted with the gc. To find non-other the My very best friend and Mel flirting with each other. I was flabbergasted. It wasn't a news about what was happening between me and Mel. Everyone knew, so, when I asked the gc what was going on. The other dropped the bombshell on me. Saying that Mel and Sam were dating!!?? At first, I didn't believe it so I Dm'ed Sam and... She confirmed it. I felt a range of emotions swirling inside of me. Rage, betrayal. I felt
cheated and disappointed. Out of rage, I blocked both of them. But after some consideration I thought maybe I was acting childish so I again unblocked them. Then Mel apologised saying he was sorry for leading me on. I told him it might take time for me to forgive them. But it was after all their choice. I still broken-hearted gave them my blessings.
I couldn't contain my emotions and I told everything to a very dear friend whom I regarded as my younger brother. We will call him Rex. I cried to Rex. Then when I chatted in the gc seeing Mel and Sam all over each other, knowing I was in the gc. It broke my heart but I just kept quiet and chatted normally. My chats weren't as cheerful as usual, and Rex caught up on it. He directly confronted Mel and Sam in the Gc. Saying that they should be considerate of my feelings. I told him to stop in Dms but he didn't. He kept taunting them every time they flirted. I didn't want to create drama. So I was forced to stop him in the gc. And right after that, I got a message from Mel saying that my actions were upsetting HIS girl. And that I should be more considerate towards her feelings and he didn't want Sam to feel guilt. That was it. The emotions I was suppressing blew up. I saw red with rage.
I made another Fb ACC and said I was a friend of mine. I screamed and cussed at Mel. I told him he was an A-hole for leading me on. Now that was my fault I shouldn't have made a new ID but gave him a piece of my mind with my Id. I was childish and still didn't want to break off the friendship. But there was too much damage done. Feeling guilty I decided to leave the gc. I said my goodbyes to my friends in the gc without mentioning any of the above incidents. But after left a gc member sent my ss of how Sam, Mel and a few of my close friends were saying I was playing the victim card. The whole gc sided with Sam and Mel while only Rex sided with me. I was accused of manipulating Sam. Being a bitch. This time I was done. I didn't want to be misunderstood as a manipulative bitch. So I ask an admin to add me back and give me the admin. I was one-sidedly accused of being manipulative. (Will give details if you all want) When I confronted them they just threw baseless claims about me being homophobic. And their proof was a convo I and Sam had. (I will add the ss) And so I lashed out at them and cut off my connection with them. The whole Gc, The community that I had worked so hard to build was torn apart.
This is what mel had to say about me after all this incident.
[ "kindly please leave" there i kindly left, now use one bit of braincell to ask yourself as to why you're petty as fuck. Had never seen you care one bit about your partner when it mattered, always just bossing her around as if she's a robot. Your default of manipulating literally everyone by using "trust", "friends", "love" cause it appeals to their emotion and you get what you want shows how much of a
con
you are. Knowing how weak my girl is to guilt tripping, leaving the GC deactivating, and using another account to stir up some shit in another GC where my girlfriend is. Even involving Lee in to this mess cause she knows the message will get to me. We're not a dumbass, stop pretending like we're idiots who can't see the obvious. Let's get this over with, we'll be a happy couple and you stay a miserable controlling fuck by not coming anywhere near our vicinity. ]
I am to this day still conflicted about whether I was wrong. So I want Reddit to pass on the judgement. If I was wrong please do point it out so that I can improve myself.
So Reddit, AITA for lashing out at my ex-crush and best friend after they got together?

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Final Cut Pro X

Roman Reigns

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes