My ex and I are officially divorced after a state imposed year-long waiting period. We have two kids , 4 and 6. Our divorce is high-conflict he enjoys hurting me by using the kids to exert control, and makes my life hell by making everything having to do with the kids that requires communication extremely difficult. He insists he is informed about everything, but does not participate in any important conversations (ignores me, doesn’t answer the actual question, tells me to just do what I want) I offer regarding our children and scheduling sports/camps, schooling or medical appointments/care.
He causes scenes bailing on sporting events early or showing up late… why come at all? The kids get upset. Never misses an opportunity to make a scene and make everything about him.
Recently our son was expelled from pre-k mid semester and one month from graduation, 4 mos out from him starting kindergarten. He definitely has some ADHD, but honestly it was a bad match When he got a new teacher in late winter. Have had problems since. His mother and stepdad are the only family that live in the state. He doesn’t even reach out to his mom for care, he doesn’t make a single phone call to other programs, he doesn’t want to participate in taking him to the doctor for assessment or to look into behavioral therapy. Everything was on me. I reached out for help, I reached out about what he wanted to do about treating him if anything, he just left me totally alone to do everything. By some miracle I get a spot in a nice program like 3 weeks into him being at pretty low scoring schools with no routine and shit care. Ex argues doesn’t want to switch him bc he’ll have to serve breakfast and send him with food on his days, as this particular place does not have a kitchen. I ask to speak about why this was the best decision for our son and how I can maybe help with breakfast and lunches before work, I’m ignored. I enroll him anyway.
Just some of the most recent examples and these are tame. He’s always like this when he has a new flavor of the month.
Last Mother’s Day he took the kids to the beach and returned them to me at noon on Sunday. As they are walking in the door, my son projectile vomits on the door mat. I ask, he’s been sick all day, didn’t bother to tell me he was puking all day so I could at least prepare with Gatorade and BRAT foods. I decide next year if it’s his weekend I’m not doing it.
I discuss this with him a week in advance to let him know this year I would not be taking the kids since it is not my weekend. I figure I can get a little peace from his chaos. He lets me know he thinks I’m “mother of the year material,” and that “he hopes I enjoy the dick I’m choosing over my children.” I don’t date because he’s a psychopath AND because I just don’t want to. I’m happy alone right now.
I see the kids Saturday morning at my son’s game, and then late Saturday afternoon at my daughter’s game. I coach her team because they were desperate for a volunteer and it’s a sport I played my whole life. I’ve enjoyed it. I carry my son on my back while I move around the field positioning the players and helping them play by the rules. Afterwards, they give me their school Mother’s Day crafts at the picnic area after the game we have cupcakes and juice I brought. Everyone has been notified that I will not see them Sunday.
Sunday, I do my normal fitness routine on weekends which is long and enjoyable, I go to lay at the pool with a girlfriend. I get a call from ex, assume it’s the kids wanting to say happy Mother’s Day, so I pick up. He informs me they want to see me and asks when he can drop them off. I reference previous discussions and tell him no. I offer to meet them with him for a meal, he declines because he “has no interest in celebrating me,” and “it’s not his job.” I say OK, he states, “mommy doesn’t want to see you,” to the kids so I can hear it and hangs up on me.
I feel like even if I wasn’t just trying to protect myself from him, that I deserve to have one day completely off this week, and he could have supported that. I have no family here. I don’t want to orchestrate my own mother’s days with two small children on my weekend off after attending sports all day Saturday. If he wanted to do it for the kids he would have accepted meeting for a meal and not talked badly about me to the kids.
He said I’m selfish and he can’t believe I wouldn’t want to celebrate with my children, among other much meaner things.
This morning I find out through his message to my son’s teacher that my son again had a stomach virus and was up all night puking.
AITA?

I'd love to start a list of weather events so that if someone didn't know about them, they could find out! I'm not including things that don't affect the environment beyond Town Square (such as Halloween, Turkey Day, and Valentine's Day) or gatherables dependent on weather (such as seasonal recipes or critters).
Weather forecast can be see on in-game TVs the preceding day at 06:14-06:29, 07:45-07:58, and 22:45-22:58. Here is a comparison of foliage in each season.

Year-Round

• Weather-related dialogue from villagers
• Double rainbow after hours of rain, appearing for an hour between 11:00-15:00, starting faint and growing in intensity before fading away again
• Precipitation will cause flowers to spawn the next day
• Sometimes stars shoot across mostly cleaclear skies and may be "wished" upon
• Sometimes there will be a meteor shower (which Isabelle will announce if there isn't anything pressing going on) where many stars shoot across the sky at night and may be wished upon; Celeste will also visit during meteor showers

Spring

Northern Hemisphere: March-May
Southern Hemisphere: September-November

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage brightens to a vibrant green as the season progresses
  • Bark is a tannelighter brown
  • Weeds become bright green and incorporate white and purple flowers
  • Sakura/Cherry Blossoms: 1-10 [April/October]
    • Sakura/cherry blossoms bloom on all hardwood trees
    • Catchable petals (crafting material) float through the air
    • Non-catchable petals fill the air and rivers 7-10 [April/October]
    • Hardwood trees' bark is a grey-brown during this time, resembling actual cherry/sakura trees
    • Petals can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance
  • Shrubs:
    • Northern Hemisphere:
    • Southern hemisphere
• Rain:
  • Rain can fall but generally isn't very heavy
  • It patters on window panes, umbrellas, etc
  • Player's footsteps splash
  • Ambient music incorporates a marimba
• Besides during sakura/cherry blossom time, green leaves can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island's grass is light green
• Northern hemisphere only: Bunny Day will cause decorated eggs to spawn in the water, on and in trees, from rocks, in balloon gifts, and in the ground for the week before and on the Protestant Christian holiday Easter

Summer

Northern Hemisphere: June-August
Southern Hemisphere: December-February

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage are a deep green
  • Bark is a bright brown/tan
  • Weeds are deep green and incorporate dandelion blooms and white flowers
  • Shrubs:
    • Northern hemisphere
    • Southern hemisphere
• Precipitaiton:
  • Rain can fall
  • Occasional thunderstorms occur
    • Rain is at about a 45º angle from the ground
    • Sky is very dark
    • Occasional thunder booming
    • Lightening flashes, flooding the sky and surroundings with bright light for a few seconds
    • Ambient music incorporates a marimba when it rains
    • Rain patters on window panes
• Blue Summer Shells (crafting material) spawn on the beaches
• Green leaves can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island's grass is deep green
• Northern hemisphere only: Fireworks happen every Sunday in August around the Japanese celebration of hanabi taikai 19:00-21:00
• Southern hemisphere only: Fireworks once the ball drops on New Year's Day (after midnight)

Autumn

Northern Hemisphere: September-November
Southern Hemisphere: March-May

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage begin to fade to yellow-brown shades
  • Grass sounds crunchier
  • Weeds are brown with grain stalks
  • Trees:
    • The hardwood and fruit trees turn shades of orange and red that are locked to the ground block (so if you dig up a hardwood or fruit tree and swap it with another, it will take on the shade of the tree that was previously there) which dull to brown once the maple leaves finish falling
    • Maple Leaves: 16-25 [NovembeMay]
  • Shrubs:
    • Northern hemisphere only:
    • Southern hemisphere only:
• Precipitation:
  • Rain:
    • Rain can fall but generally isn't very heavy
    • It patters on window panes, umbrellas, etc
    • Player's footsteps splash
    • Ambient music incorporates a marimba
  • Mid/late [NovembeMay]: snow fall starts; the ambient music has sleigh bells incorporated in
• Mushrooms (crafting/cooking material) spawn in [NovembeMay] below trees on and in the ground
• Maple leaves can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island's grass is yellow-green
• Southern hemisphere only: Bunny Day will cause decorated eggs to spawn in the water, on and in trees, from rocks, in balloon gifts, and in the ground for the week before and on the Protestant Christian holiday Easter.

Winter

Northern Hemisphere: December-February
Southern Hemisphere: June-August

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage, when visible, are a dull grey-green; when covered in snow and ice, a pale blue-green
  • Bark is a dull grey-brown/tan
  • Weeds are short and a dull green; if the ground is covered in snow, so are they
  • Shrubs
    • Northern hemisphere
    • Southern hemisphere
• Snow:
  • Mid/late [NovembeMay]: snow fall starts
  • 11 [DecembeJune] until early [February/August]:
    • Crunchy snow covering forms on the ground
    • Catchable snowflakes (crafting material) float through the air
    • Sand turns pale
    • Snowballs spawn, which can be rolled into 2-tier snowfolk
    • Snow collects on windowsills and this can be seen from the inside and outside of buildings
  • Mid/late February: Some snow showers without sticking to the ground and without catchable flakes
  • When it snows, the music has sleigh bells incorporated into it
• Aurora Borealis can sometimes be seen on clear nights
• Snow can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island is covered in snow when snow covers the ground
• Northern hemisphere only: Ornaments appear on random cedar trees 16 December-7 January; if a tree is dug up the ornaments are removed from that tree for the rest of the season.
• Northern hemisphere only: Confetti falls from the sky and feathers float through the air on Festivale (two days before the Catholic holiday Ash Wednesday).
• Northern hemisphere only: Fireworks once the ball drops on New Year's Day (after midnight).
• Southern hemisphere only: Fireworks happen every Sunday in August around the Japanese celebration of hanabi taikai 19:00-21:00.

Contributors:

I'd love to start a list of weather events so that if someone didn't know about them, they could find out! I'm not including things that don't affect the environment beyond Town Square (such as Halloween, Turkey Day, and Valentine's Day) or gatherables dependent on weather (such as seasonal recipes or critters).
Weather forecast can be see on in-game TVs the preceding day at 06:14-06:29, 07:45-07:58, and 22:45-22:58. Here is a comparison of foliage in each season.

Year-Round

• Weather-related dialogue from villagers
• Double rainbow after hours of rain, appearing for an hour between 11:00-15:00, starting faint and growing in intensity before fading away again
• Precipitation will cause flowers to spawn the next day
• Sometimes stars shoot across mostly cleaclear skies and may be "wished" upon
• Sometimes there will be a meteor shower (which Isabelle will announce if there isn't anything pressing going on) where many stars shoot across the sky at night and may be wished upon; Celeste will also visit during meteor showers

Spring

Northern Hemisphere: March-May
Southern Hemisphere: September-November

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage brightens to a vibrant green as the season progresses
  • Bark is a tannelighter brown
  • Weeds become bright green and incorporate white and purple flowers
  • Sakura/Cherry Blossoms: 1-10 [April/October]
    • Sakura/cherry blossoms bloom on all hardwood trees
    • Catchable petals (crafting material) float through the air
    • Non-catchable petals fill the air and rivers 7-10 [April/October]
    • Hardwood trees' bark is a grey-brown during this time, resembling actual cherry/sakura trees
    • Petals can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance
  • Shrubs:
    • Northern Hemisphere:
    • Southern hemisphere
• Rain:
  • Rain can fall but generally isn't very heavy
  • It patters on window panes, umbrellas, etc
  • Player's footsteps splash
  • Ambient music incorporates a marimba
• Besides during sakura/cherry blossom time, green leaves can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island's grass is light green
• Northern hemisphere only: Bunny Day will cause decorated eggs to spawn in the water, on and in trees, from rocks, in balloon gifts, and in the ground for the week before and on the Protestant Christian holiday Easter

Summer

Northern Hemisphere: June-August
Southern Hemisphere: December-February

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage are a deep green
  • Bark is a bright brown/tan
  • Weeds are deep green and incorporate dandelion blooms and white flowers
  • Shrubs:
    • Northern hemisphere
    • Southern hemisphere
• Precipitaiton:
  • Rain can fall
  • Occasional thunderstorms occur
    • Rain is at about a 45º angle from the ground
    • Sky is very dark
    • Occasional thunder booming
    • Lightening flashes, flooding the sky and surroundings with bright light for a few seconds
    • Ambient music incorporates a marimba when it rains
    • Rain patters on window panes
• Blue Summer Shells (crafting material) spawn on the beaches
• Green leaves can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island's grass is deep green
• Northern hemisphere only: Fireworks happen every Sunday in August around the Japanese celebration of hanabi taikai 19:00-21:00
• Southern hemisphere only: Fireworks once the ball drops on New Year's Day (after midnight)

Autumn

Northern Hemisphere: September-November
Southern Hemisphere: March-May

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage begin to fade to yellow-brown shades
  • Grass sounds crunchier
  • Weeds are brown with grain stalks
  • Trees:
    • The hardwood and fruit trees turn shades of orange and red that are locked to the ground block (so if you dig up a hardwood or fruit tree and swap it with another, it will take on the shade of the tree that was previously there) which dull to brown once the maple leaves finish falling
    • Maple Leaves: 16-25 [NovembeMay]
  • Shrubs:
    • Northern hemisphere only:
    • Southern hemisphere only:
• Precipitation:
  • Rain:
    • Rain can fall but generally isn't very heavy
    • It patters on window panes, umbrellas, etc
    • Player's footsteps splash
    • Ambient music incorporates a marimba
  • Mid/late [NovembeMay]: snow fall starts; the ambient music has sleigh bells incorporated in
• Mushrooms (crafting/cooking material) spawn in [NovembeMay] below trees on and in the ground
• Maple leaves can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island's grass is yellow-green
• Southern hemisphere only: Bunny Day will cause decorated eggs to spawn in the water, on and in trees, from rocks, in balloon gifts, and in the ground for the week before and on the Protestant Christian holiday Easter.

Winter

Northern Hemisphere: December-February
Southern Hemisphere: June-August

• Greenery:
  • Grass and foliage, when visible, are a dull grey-green; when covered in snow and ice, a pale blue-green
  • Bark is a dull grey-brown/tan
  • Weeds are short and a dull green; if the ground is covered in snow, so are they
  • Shrubs
    • Northern hemisphere
    • Southern hemisphere
• Snow:
  • Mid/late [NovembeMay]: snow fall starts
  • 11 [DecembeJune] until early [February/August]:
    • Crunchy snow covering forms on the ground
    • Catchable snowflakes (crafting material) float through the air
    • Sand turns pale
    • Snowballs spawn, which can be rolled into 2-tier snowfolk
    • Snow collects on windowsills and this can be seen from the inside and outside of buildings
  • Mid/late February: Some snow showers without sticking to the ground and without catchable flakes
  • When it snows, the music has sleigh bells incorporated into it
• Aurora Borealis can sometimes be seen on clear nights
• Snow can be seen falling outside the museum's windows by the art wing's entrance

Honorable mentions

• Loading screen island is covered in snow when snow covers the ground
• Northern hemisphere only: Ornaments appear on random cedar trees 16 December-7 January; if a tree is dug up the ornaments are removed from that tree for the rest of the season.
• Northern hemisphere only: Confetti falls from the sky and feathers float through the air on Festivale (two days before the Catholic holiday Ash Wednesday).
• Northern hemisphere only: Fireworks once the ball drops on New Year's Day (after midnight).
• Southern hemisphere only: Fireworks happen every Sunday in August around the Japanese celebration of hanabi taikai 19:00-21:00.

Contributors:

It's time! Congratulations to our Banana Buddha for her absolute slayage of the season, the finale, and nearly the entirety of this poll!
Category Is: Ultimate Season 16 Favorite - 1,724 Votes

• 1st Place - Episode 3: Nymphia Wind, Call Me MotheFather Eleganza - 44.8% (773 votes)
  
• 2nd Place - Episode 15: Nymphia Wind, Top 3 Couture - 13.3% (230 votes)
  
• 3rd Place - Episode 8: Nymphia Wind, Dancing Queen - 12.8% (221 votes)
  
• 4th Place - Episode 7: Sapphira Cristal, I Can Buy Myself Flowers - 5.5% (94 votes)
  
• 5th Place - Episode 5: Nymphia Wind, Faster Pussycat, Wig! Wig! - 3.9% (67 votes)
  
• 6th Place - Episode 16: Nymphia Wind, Finale Eleganza (Top 3) - 2.6% (44 votes)
  
• 7th Place - Episode 10: Sapphira Cristal, True Colors - 2.1% (36 votes)
  
• 8th Place - Episode 9: Nymphia Wind, See You Next Wednesday - 1.8% (31 votes)
  
• 9th Place TIE - Episode 2: Nymphia Wind, Entrance Look & Episode 4: Plane Jane, Everything Every-Cher All At Once - 1.7% each (29 votes each)
  
• 11th Place - Episode 16: Nymphia Wind, Top 2/Crowning Couture - 1.6% (27 votes)
  
• 12th Place - Episode 11: Nymphia Wind, Flashback! DragCon 1980 - 1.5% (26 votes)
  
• 13th Place - Episode 12: Nymphia Wind, Chain Reaction - 1.2% (21 votes)
  
• 14th Place - Episode 3: Q, Mother Goose - 1.0% (17 votes)
  
• 15th Place - Episode 6: Q, In the Dollhouse - 0.9% (16 votes)
  
• 16th Place TIE - Episode 3: Q, Significant Mother & Episode 16: Plasma, Finale Eleganza (Returning Queens) - 0.8% each (13 votes each)
  
• 18th Place - Episode 16: Nymphia Wind, Top 3 Performance Look - 0.6% (10 votes)
  
• 19th Place - Episode 1: Q, RuVeal Yourself - 0.5% (9 votes)
  
• 20th Place TIE - Episode 1: Dawn, Entrance Look, Episode 2: Nymphia Wind, Made Ya Look!, & Episode 15: Mirage, LaLaPaRuZa Realness - 0.3% each (5 votes each)
  
• 23rd Place - Episode 14: Nymphia Wind, Fan-dango - 0.1% (2 votes)
  
• 24th Place - Episode 13: Nymphia Wind, Vegas Dancer Makeovers - 0.1% (1 vote)
  

Ultimate Favorite Lip-Sync: Season 16

• 1st Place - Episode 16: Nymphia Wind vs. Sapphira Cristal, "Padam Padam" - 32.8% (566 votes)
  
• 2nd Place - Episode 12: Morphine Love Dion vs. Dawn, "Body" - 18.3% (315 votes)
  
• 3rd Place - Episode 15: Morphine Love Dion vs. Megami, "Everybody Dance Now" - 14.4% (248 votes)
  
• 4th Place - Episode 11: Morphine Love Dion vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, "Dim All the Lights" - 8.5% (146 votes)
  
• 5th Place - Episode 15: Morphine Love Dion vs. Mirage, "This Time I Know It's For Real" - 5.8% (100 votes)
  
• 6th Place - Episode 15: Morphine Love Dion vs. Geneva Karr, "Million Dollar Baby" - 4.2% (72 votes)
  
• 7th Place - Episode 15: Megami vs. Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige, "We Got the Beat" - 4.1% (70 votes)
  
• 8th Place - Episode 9: Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Plasma, "Bloody Mary (TikTok Version)" - 3.1% (53 votes)
  
• 9th Place - Episode 15: Mirage vs. Hershii Licquor-Jete, "Alone 2.0" - 1.9% (33 votes)
  
• 10th Place - Episode 8: Morphine Love Dion vs. Xunami Muse, "I Wanna Dance with Somebody" - 1.7% (29 votes)
  
• 11th Place - Episode 1: Sapphira Cristal vs. Q, "Break My Soul" - 1.2% (20 votes)
  
• 12th Place - Episode 2: Plane Jane vs. Geneva Karr, "Shower" - 0.9% (15 votes)
  
• 13th Place - Episode 15: Megami vs. Amanda Tori Meating, "Shoop Shoop Song" - 0.8% (14 votes)
  
• 14th Place - Episode 7: Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Megami, "Flowers" - 0.6% (10 votes)
  
• 15th Place - Episode 10: Sapphira Cristal vs. Morphine Love Dion, "Made You Look" - 0.5% (8 votes)
  
• 16th Place - Episode 6: Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Geneva Karr, "Control" - 0.3% (6 votes)
  
• 17th Place TIE - Episode 4: Geneva Karr vs. Mirage, "Dark Lady" & Episode 14: Plane Jane vs. Q, "Better Be Good to Me" - 0.3% each (5 votes each)
  
• 19th Place - Episode 13: Sapphira Cristal vs. Morphine Love Dion, "Miss Me More" - 0.2% (4 votes)
  
• 20th Place - Episode 15: Megami vs. Q, "What About" - 0.2% (3 votes)
  
• 21st Place TIE - Episode 3: Geneva Karr vs. Hershii Licquor-Jete, "Maybe You're the Problem" & Episode 15: Mhi'ya Iman Le'Paige vs. Plasma vs. Xunami Muse, "Milkshake" - 0.1% each (1 vote each)
  
• Last Place TIE - Episode 5: Q vs. Amanda Tori Meating, "Emergency" & Episode 15: Amanda Tori Meating vs. Dawn, "Damaged" - 0.0% each (0 votes each)
  

Ultimate Favorites Of All Time

Season	Ultimate Favorite Look	Ultimate Favorite Lip-Sync
Season 1	Nina Flowers' Drag on a Dime	Ongina vs. Bebe Zahara Benet, "Stronger"
Season 2	Raven's Top 3 Eleganza	Jujubee vs. Sahara Davenport, "Black Velvet"
Season 3	Manila Luzon's Pineapple Couture	Manila Luzon vs. Delta Work, "MacArthur Park"
Season 4	Sharon Needles' Post-Apocalyptic Couture	Dida Ritz vs. The Princess, "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)"
All Stars 1	Raven's "Bad Girl Chic"	Jujubee vs. Raven, "Dancing On My Own"
Season 5	Detox's Black & White Finale Look	Coco Montrese vs. Alyssa Edwards, "Cold Hearted"
Season 6	Trinity K. Bonet's "Animal Kingdom Couture"	Adore Delano vs. Trinity K. Bonet, "Vibeology"
Season 7	Violet Chachki's Top 3 Crowning Look	Kennedy Davenport vs. Katya, "Roar"
Season 8	Kim Chi's "That's My Mama Realness"	Chi Chi DeVayne vs. Thorgy Thor, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"
All Stars 2	Katya's "Pants! Pants I Say!" Look	Alyssa Edwards vs. Tatianna, "Shut Up And Drive"
Season 9	Sasha Velour's Crowning/Finale Lip-Sync Look	Sasha Velour vs. Shea Couleé, "So Emotional"
All Stars 3	Trixie Mattel's "Red For Filth" Look	BenDeLaCreme vs. Aja, "Anaconda"
Season 10	Aquaria's "Mermaid Fantasy" Look	Monét X Change vs. Dusty Ray Bottoms, "Pound The Alarm"
All Stars 4	Manila Luzon's Eleguence After Dark	Naomi Smalls vs. Gia Gunn, "Adrenaline"
Season 11	Yvie Oddly's Crowning/Finale Lip-Sync Look	Brooke Lynn Hytes vs. Yvie Oddly, "Sorry Not Sorry"
Season 1 (UK)	Divina De Campo's Day At The Races Eleganza	Blu Hydrangea vs. Cheryl Hole, "Call My Name"
Season 12	Crystal Methyd's Superfan Makeover	Gigi Goode vs. Widow Von'Du, "Starships"
All Stars 5	Jujubee's Top 3 All Stars Eleganza	India Ferrah vs. Yvie Oddly, "Livin’ la Vida Loca”
Season 1 (Canada)	Priyanka's Top 3 Coronation Eleganza	Priyanka vs. Kiara, "I Drove All Night"
Season 2 (UK)	Bimini Bon Boulash's PreHERstoric Eleganza	Tayce vs. Cherry Valentine, "Memory"
Season 13	Utica's Sleeping Bag Ball Eleganza	Denali vs. Kahmora Hall, "100% Pure Love"
Season 1 (España)	Hugáceo Crujiente's Best Drag Eleganza	Carmen Farala vs. Killer Queen vs. Sagittaria, "La gata bajo la lluvia"
Season 1 (Down Under)	Art Simone's Sea Sickening Eleganza	Maxi Shield vs. Etcetera Etcetera, "Absolutely Everybody"
All Stars 6	A'keria C. Davenport's "The Frill of It All" Eleganza	Trinity K. Bonet vs. Laganja Estranja, "Physical"
Season 3 (UK)	Krystal Versace's "Oh My Goddess" Couture	Vanity Milan vs. Scarlett Harlett, "Scandalous"
Season 14	Willow Pill's "Spring Has Sprung" Couture	Lady Camden vs. Daya Betty, "One Way or Another"
All Stars 7	Raja's "She Done Already Had Herses" Finale Eleganza	Monét X Change vs. Jinkx Monsoon, "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" (Spoken Word)
Season 15	Anetra's Crystallized Eleganza	Anetra vs. Marcia Marcia Marcia, "Boss Bitch"
All Stars 8	Jimbo's "Net Gala" Couture	Aja vs. Kahanna Montrese, "Freakum Dress"
Season 16	Nymphia Wind's "Call Me MotheFather Eleganza"	Nymphia Wind vs. Sapphira Cristal, "Padam Padam"

Look forward to our All Stars 9 polls! :)

First, I want more from my crew. If I have a doctor and an infirmary on my ship, I should be able to find her there and benefit from her medical services. This would be especially useful now that injuries and infections are much more common and impossible to instantly cure with aid items (w/ the survival settings turned on). It’s not like having and onboard doctor would be somehow unbalanced or overpowered. The ship can instantly warp to a city with a doctor at any time anyway, but doing so is inconvenient and breaks the flow of exploration. I also have a chef in my crew and a mess hall on my ship, yet he doesn’t cook meals for me and his other comrades. These types of features would make the work towards unlocking the ship command skill feel more worthwhile.
I could say the same about crew at outposts. Fallout 4 allows players to populate settlements with doctors, general stores, even bars and restaurants. This feature would be amazing in Starfield. I’d love a “visitor landing pad” that allows radiant ships to land at your outpost and become patrons of your businesses. These could be the radiant ships already found in the game, like the Valentine that guy always singing shanties, or the insurance salesman, or maybe just passing traders looking to refuel and grab a drink. Perhaps they’ll be carrying a specialist you can recruit and put to work at that very outpost.
This would also alleviate the bottleneck of in-game vendor currency in an immersive way by allowing players to create their own shops to sell items to. This could be balanced the same way as Fallout 4, by charging a hefty sum of credits to open up the stores in the first place. Jemison has 49 hour days, conveniently 1 more than is required to reset vendor stock, Bethesda obviously realize this problem needs a workaround, but I’d much rather be able to build my own vendors instead of sitting on a bench over and over. It would add a ton of longevity to the outpost system as well.
Second, I want more radiant quests. One of the most fun 15 minutes I’ve had in Starfield was a time I found an injured fellow explorer in the wilds on a hostile alien world. I gave him a med pack and escorted him a couple miles back to his ship through the infested jungle, gathering tons of crafting supplies as I killed the aggressive creatures along the way. This kind of thing should have been happening all the time.
The mission boards and friendly settlement quests are fun, especially in high level systems, but there’s only a couple different types of missions and they’re all pretty one dimensional. How about wanted alive bounty missions? This would give EM weapons an actual purpose as well as the brig which can be built on ships. Outpost defense missions would be fun as well. I get why BGS steered clear of these after spamming them in Fallout 4, but they would be fun to initiate on command. There’s a Creation Club mod in that game that allows players to build a beacon that, when activated, summons waves of enemies to attack their base. This would be even better in Starfield. It’s would be like firefight mode in Halo Reach, with hordes of enemies deploying out of dropships from the sky.
In a procedurally generated game with 1600 planets, we need more randomly generated quests, some with a bit more intricacy. The LIST quest was a good example of a potential template. It featured multiple small moments with settlers scattered across a couple different planets to help them secure their system from pirates. If the devs can find a way to inject this sense of interconnection in a radiant way, tons of people will definitely still be playing this game in 8-10 years when TES 6 finally comes out.
Vehicles sound exciting as well, but honestly I really hope that they fit into the sandbox. If friendly and hostile NPCs will be out driving convoys of vehicles around, I’m 100% on board. This could open up a whole new branch of gameplay. But if the player is inexplicably the only one in all the settled systems with a driver’s license, I’ll be a bit disappointed.
As a small third thing, I would love a squeeze of CDPRockstar immersion. I want to see my character eating and drinking at a bar and I want to play poker with my crew.
Anyway, that’s my rant, hopefully it is constructive. I love this game like crazy and the survival mode settings are awesome, I’m already at 1300 hours, and I’m really excited to see what’s in store for Starfield’s future. What features are at the top of your wishlist?

My LOD is glitching out in Fallout New Vegas, showing the sign for Monte Carlo Suites all over the hills surrounding Goodsprings, see images:
https://imgur.com/a/IYwkk8Z
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Granted I have a lot of LOD mods installed - is there one in particular that's bugged or are a couple incompatible with each other?
Plugin load order here:

FalloutNV.esm DeadMoney.esm HonestHearts.esm OldWorldBlues.esm LonesomeRoad.esm GunRunnersArsenal.esm ClassicPack.esm MercenaryPack.esm TribalPack.esm CaravanPack.esm YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm NavmeshOverhaul.esm fixy crap ue.esp Landscape Texture Improvements.esm Vanilla Enhancements.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - YUP Patch.esm Bad Touch.esm Uncut Wasteland.esm Simple Open Freeside.esm Functional Post Game Ending.esm TLD_Travelers.esm Character Expansions Revised.esm Simple Open Strip.esm vault22FloralOverhaul.esm Mojave Wildlife (Vanilla-Style).esp Better Brotherhood.esm Functional Post Game Ending - YUP Patch.esm Walking_Inertia.esm Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland Patch (VNV).esp YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp NVMIM.esp Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus.esp Crafting Consistency Fix.esp Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp Vurt's WFO.esp Uncut Wasteland.esp ExRB.esp The Mod Configuration Menu.esp Vanilla UI Plus.esp JustAssortedMods.esp Just Sprint Plus - JAM.esp ImmersiveRecoil.esp Follower Tweaks.esp DelayDLCRedux.esp New Vegas Landscape Overhaul.esp Vigor.esp Vigor - SMIM Patch.esp EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp Little More Lamplight.esp DLC Enhancements.esp Varmint Rifle 22LR.esp Character Expansions Revised - YUP.esp EVEM - YUP Patch.esp EVEM - Crafting Consistency Fix Patch.esp EVEM - Vigor Patch.esp Trap Tweaks.esp Character Expansions Revised - UW.esp Uncut Wasteland - YUP Patch.esp Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - Vigor Patch.esp IMPACT.esp Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - EVEM Patch.esp Casino Crowds.esp Misc Content Restoration.esp Misc Content Restoration - YUP Patch.esp Misc Content Restoration - UW (VNV) Patch.esp FPGE - EVEM Patch.esp Essential DLC Enhancements Merged - JSUE Patch.esp Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp Better Brotherhood - YUP Patch.esp FNV FaceGen Fix.esp rockbiter_AnimationSounds.esp B42Inertia.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch.esp Interior Rain.esp Viva New Vegas - LOD.esp Diagonal movement.esp 360Movement.esp 360Movement - Diagonal movement Patch.esp Animated Ingestibles.esp B42Bash.esp B42Descriptions.esp dD - Enhanced Blood Main NV.esp dD-Less Screen Blood Time.esp dD-More Gore.esp dD-Reduced Dismember Force.esp LightUpAndSmokeThoseCigarettes_edisleado.esp lightupandsmokethosecigarettes_dm.esp MaxFollowers12.esp QS_Blackwolf_NV_Backpackmod.esp The Weapon Mod Menu.esp FOVSlider.esp boa ncrpahelmet.esp Boacombat2glove.esp Better Burned Man.esp PipBoyEffects.esp PASSDLC.esp LoreAccurateJacobstownVoices.esp Power Armor Holo Panel.esp 3DGrenadeIndicator.esp PipBoyUITweaks.esp ItemCards.esp Character Expansions Revised - Extras.esp Universal Item Sorter.esp JIP Companions Command & Control.esp TreePositions.esp LessFlickeryCityOfNewVegas.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp Strip Lights Region Fix.esp DNWeathers.esp Realism Redux.esp CC - Rain.esp CC - 3D Rain.esp 

Mod list below:

DLC: TribalPack DLC: OldWorldBlues DLC: MercenaryPack DLC: LonesomeRoad DLC: HonestHearts DLC: GunRunnersArsenal DLC: DeadMoney DLC: ClassicPack DLC: CaravanPack [Viva New Vegas 30.4.2024] [Utilities] Fixed ESMs JIP LN NVSE Plugin JIP LN Settings INI JohnnyGuitar NVSE JohnnyGuitar NVSE - All Tweaks Preset ShowOff xNVSE Plugin ShowOff INI NVTF - New Vegas Tick Fix NVTF - Viva Default Preset NVTF - Texture Modding Preset kNVSE Animation Plugin UIO - User Interface Organizer FNV Mod Limit Fix Yvile's Crash Logger Improved Console (NVSE) Console Paste Support Basic Console Autocomplete KEYWORDS [Bug Fixes] Yukichigai Unofficial Patch - YUP Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus Improved AI (Navmesh Overhaul Mod) lStewieAl's Tweaks and Engine Fixes Stewie Tweaks Essentials INI lStewieAl's Engine Optimizations Combat Lag Fix (NVSE) VATS Lag Fix Viewmodel Shake Fix - NVSE ISControl Enabler and Ironsights adjuster (now ESPless) New Vegas Mesh Improvement Mod - NVMIM skinned mesh improvement mod PipBoyOn Node Fixes Meshes and Collision - Totally Enhanced Nifs (MAC-TEN) Items Transformed - Enhanced Meshes (ITEM) Improved Lighting Shaders Pip-Boy Shading Fix NVSE Climate Control NVSE Misc Audio Tweaks and Fixes Elijah Missing Distortion Fix ActorCause Save Bloat Fix MoonlightNVSE Aqua Performa - Strip Performance Fix Fallout Alpha Rendering Tweaks - NVSE External Emittance Fix - NVSE Depth of Field Fix - NVSE Crafting Consistency Fix ExRB - Extended Roombounds Strip Lights Region Fix Swimming Creatures Fix - ESPless Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix [User Interface] The Mod Configuration Menu MCM BugFix 2 VUIPlus - Dialog Background Add-on Clean Vanilla Hud Clean Companion Wheel 256x256 Edition High Res Local Maps High Resolution Screens Faster Main Menu Menu Search JIP Improved Recipe Menu ESPless Sleep Wait Hardcore Needs No Exit to Main Menu [Gameplay] JAM - Just Assorted Mods JAM - VNV Configuration JLM Grab Tweak Clean Just Assorted Mods (JAM) Just Sprint Plus - Expansion for JAM and JVS Immersive Recoil 2.0 Follower Tweaks Delay DLC Redux Better Caravan Cookable Grenades Faster Sleep-Wait Auto-Save Manager Bad Touch NVSE Bad Touch NVSE - Minimalist Preset [Overhauls] Vigor - A Vanilla JSawyer Fork smim - vigor patch Simple Vigor Config Varmint Rifle 22LR Essential Vanilla Enhancements Merged EVEM - YUP Patch EVEM - Crafting Consistency Fix Patch EVEM - Vigor Patch Traps Tweaks - Traps Use Other Skills Harder Barter Faster Stronger [Content] Uncut Wasteland Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - Vigor Patch Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - EVEM Patch Misc Content Restoration Misc Content Restoration - YUP Patch Misc Content Restoration - UW (VNV) Patch Functional Post Game Ending FPGE - EVEM Patch Essential DLC Enhancements Merged Essential DLC Enhancements Merged - JSUE Patch The Living Desert - Travelers Patrols Consequences Increased Population and more Better Brotherhood [Visuals] Mostly Fixed FaceGen Tints (NV or TTW) Muzzle Flash Light Fix - NVSE Viewmodel Shading Fix - NVSE Anniversary Anim Pack FNV Clean Animations Iron Sights Aligned Smooth True Iron Sights Camera B42 Weapon Inertia B42 Optics - ESPless B42 Optics NV Patches High Resolution Water Fog - Water Aliasing Fix Improved LOD Noise Texture Landscape Texture Improvements Wasted Rocks Normals More Consistent Vanilla Rock Textures (Less Green Clifftops) A Little More Lamplight Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks (Interior Lighting for FNV and TTW) Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch Desert Natural Weathers - NV - TTW High Resolution Bloom NVSE Cloud Upgrade NVSE Interior Rain 3D Rain Climate Control - Rain Climate Control - 3D Rain [LOD] LOD Fixes and Improvements - NVSE FNVLODGen Resources Much Needed LOD - Cleaned Much Needed LOD fixed rocks color LOD additions and improvements Less Flickery City of New Vegas FNV LOD Supplementation FNV LOD Supplementation - Optional Overpasses TCM's LOD Overhaul More LODs Additions and fixes Wasted LOD - Cliffs of Mojave Different LOD mods little tweaks and additions LODIFY - Level of detail improvement for your Fallout (TTW And NV Lods) LODIFY FNV Wall_SoGB Editon VNV - LOD Patches VNV Pre-Generated LOD [Ryan Installed] OneTweak Ultrawide Black Box Fix Uncut Wasteland plus NPCs FNVUltrawider New Vegas Stutter Removal for Windows 10 Infinite Loading Screen Fix NVAC - New Vegas Anti Crash New Vegas Landscape Overhaul Remastered Simple Open Strip EVE - Essential Visual Enhancements Enhanced Camera 1.4c Enhanced Blood Textures Collision Meshes FNV update Collision Meshes FNV 1.6.3 to 1.6.4 MTUI Diagonal Movement 0.6b The Weapon Mod Menu Max Followers Desert Natural Realism Redux NV Map Marker Icons Pop-Up Message Icons Vault Boy Paper Doll Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Items Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Apparel Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Framework Plugin Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Weapons Weapon Hotkey Icons Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Extension Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - DLC's Items Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Reputation Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Addendumb Stats (And Some Perks) Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Dynamicon Vanilla Fonts Revisited Alternative Icons Vanilla UI Plus (New Vegas) My Mommie Says I'm Special Consistent Pip-Boy Icons - Mod Patches Optional Plugins Animated Ingestibles (english) Animated Ingestibles - Update (english) 360 Movement NV Compatibility Skeleton PipBoy 3000 HD Retexture - PC and Xbox B42 Melee Bash IMPACT - The Michael Bay Light Up and Smoke Those Cigarettes v6d Dead Money Patch Hi-Res Eyes 1-2 Blackwolf Backpacks New Vegas ver01d Blackwolf Backpacks Nash Vendor Only B42 Descriptions Wasteland Flora Overhaul UHQNV Rocks - Roads and Terrain Overhaul Honest Hearts Trees and Plants and Rocks Overhaul MGs NCR Pack Ammo box BB Cigs Beige Pack Common globe Duct Tape Mop bucket_flat mop Improved OWB Robot Textures Improved Robots Textures Improved LR Robot Textures BOA NV The Book Of Flesh nov 2011 book of steel Hall Of Equipment PM's Med-Textures Better Burned Man Super Mutants HD - 4k WTH - Weapon Textures from Heaven 2k NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 1 of 3 FOR NMM NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 2 of 3 FOR NMM NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 3 of 3 FOR NMM Naval Chair Fix Water Tower Clark County Fix NMC New Vegas Patch for ALL Sized packs 21-9 Ratio Main screen for NMCs Texture Pack NMC's Pre-Generated Original LOD Updated NMC LOD texture fix NMC LOD Patch Walking Inertia SUP NVSE Plugin FOV Slider Pip-Boy Effects P.A.S.S. - Power Armor Suspension Shocks Lore Accurate Jacobstown Voices SPAHUD 3D Grenade Indicator yUI ySI - Sorting Icons ySI - Colorful Icons Fix ySI - Colorful Icons Fix (JLM) Pip-Boy UI Tweaks Color Inventory Ycons TTW Weapon Mod Description Fix Item Cards Simple Open Freeside Character Expansions Revised Character Expansions Revised - UW Character Expansions Revised - YUP Vault 22 Flora Overhaul Remastered Universal Item Sorter JIP Companions Command and Control Casino Crowds Mojave Wildlife - Vanilla Version FNVLODGen Output 

My LOD is glitching out, showing the sign for Monte Carlo Suites all over the hills surrounding Goodsprings, see images:
https://imgur.com/a/IYwkk8Z
Does anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Granted I have a lot of LOD mods installed - is there one in particular that's bugged or are a couple incompatible with each other? Mod list below:

DLC: TribalPack DLC: OldWorldBlues DLC: MercenaryPack DLC: LonesomeRoad DLC: HonestHearts DLC: GunRunnersArsenal DLC: DeadMoney DLC: ClassicPack DLC: CaravanPack [Viva New Vegas 30.4.2024] [Utilities] Fixed ESMs JIP LN NVSE Plugin JIP LN Settings INI JohnnyGuitar NVSE JohnnyGuitar NVSE - All Tweaks Preset ShowOff xNVSE Plugin ShowOff INI NVTF - New Vegas Tick Fix NVTF - Viva Default Preset NVTF - Texture Modding Preset kNVSE Animation Plugin UIO - User Interface Organizer FNV Mod Limit Fix Yvile's Crash Logger Improved Console (NVSE) Console Paste Support Basic Console Autocomplete KEYWORDS [Bug Fixes] Yukichigai Unofficial Patch - YUP Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus Improved AI (Navmesh Overhaul Mod) lStewieAl's Tweaks and Engine Fixes Stewie Tweaks Essentials INI lStewieAl's Engine Optimizations Combat Lag Fix (NVSE) VATS Lag Fix Viewmodel Shake Fix - NVSE ISControl Enabler and Ironsights adjuster (now ESPless) New Vegas Mesh Improvement Mod - NVMIM skinned mesh improvement mod PipBoyOn Node Fixes Meshes and Collision - Totally Enhanced Nifs (MAC-TEN) Items Transformed - Enhanced Meshes (ITEM) Improved Lighting Shaders Pip-Boy Shading Fix NVSE Climate Control NVSE Misc Audio Tweaks and Fixes Elijah Missing Distortion Fix ActorCause Save Bloat Fix MoonlightNVSE Aqua Performa - Strip Performance Fix Fallout Alpha Rendering Tweaks - NVSE External Emittance Fix - NVSE Depth of Field Fix - NVSE Crafting Consistency Fix ExRB - Extended Roombounds Strip Lights Region Fix Swimming Creatures Fix - ESPless Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix [User Interface] The Mod Configuration Menu MCM BugFix 2 VUIPlus - Dialog Background Add-on Clean Vanilla Hud Clean Companion Wheel 256x256 Edition High Res Local Maps High Resolution Screens Faster Main Menu Menu Search JIP Improved Recipe Menu ESPless Sleep Wait Hardcore Needs No Exit to Main Menu [Gameplay] JAM - Just Assorted Mods JAM - VNV Configuration JLM Grab Tweak Clean Just Assorted Mods (JAM) Just Sprint Plus - Expansion for JAM and JVS Immersive Recoil 2.0 Follower Tweaks Delay DLC Redux Better Caravan Cookable Grenades Faster Sleep-Wait Auto-Save Manager Bad Touch NVSE Bad Touch NVSE - Minimalist Preset [Overhauls] Vigor - A Vanilla JSawyer Fork smim - vigor patch Simple Vigor Config Varmint Rifle 22LR Essential Vanilla Enhancements Merged EVEM - YUP Patch EVEM - Crafting Consistency Fix Patch EVEM - Vigor Patch Traps Tweaks - Traps Use Other Skills Harder Barter Faster Stronger [Content] Uncut Wasteland Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - Vigor Patch Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - EVEM Patch Misc Content Restoration Misc Content Restoration - YUP Patch Misc Content Restoration - UW (VNV) Patch Functional Post Game Ending FPGE - EVEM Patch Essential DLC Enhancements Merged Essential DLC Enhancements Merged - JSUE Patch The Living Desert - Travelers Patrols Consequences Increased Population and more Better Brotherhood [Visuals] Mostly Fixed FaceGen Tints (NV or TTW) Muzzle Flash Light Fix - NVSE Viewmodel Shading Fix - NVSE Anniversary Anim Pack FNV Clean Animations Iron Sights Aligned Smooth True Iron Sights Camera B42 Weapon Inertia B42 Optics - ESPless B42 Optics NV Patches High Resolution Water Fog - Water Aliasing Fix Improved LOD Noise Texture Landscape Texture Improvements Wasted Rocks Normals More Consistent Vanilla Rock Textures (Less Green Clifftops) A Little More Lamplight Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks (Interior Lighting for FNV and TTW) Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch Desert Natural Weathers - NV - TTW High Resolution Bloom NVSE Cloud Upgrade NVSE Interior Rain 3D Rain Climate Control - Rain Climate Control - 3D Rain [LOD] LOD Fixes and Improvements - NVSE FNVLODGen Resources Much Needed LOD - Cleaned Much Needed LOD fixed rocks color LOD additions and improvements Less Flickery City of New Vegas FNV LOD Supplementation FNV LOD Supplementation - Optional Overpasses TCM's LOD Overhaul More LODs Additions and fixes Wasted LOD - Cliffs of Mojave Different LOD mods little tweaks and additions LODIFY - Level of detail improvement for your Fallout (TTW And NV Lods) LODIFY FNV Wall_SoGB Editon VNV - LOD Patches VNV Pre-Generated LOD [Ryan Installed] OneTweak Ultrawide Black Box Fix Uncut Wasteland plus NPCs FNVUltrawider New Vegas Stutter Removal for Windows 10 Infinite Loading Screen Fix NVAC - New Vegas Anti Crash New Vegas Landscape Overhaul Remastered Simple Open Strip EVE - Essential Visual Enhancements Enhanced Camera 1.4c Enhanced Blood Textures Collision Meshes FNV update Collision Meshes FNV 1.6.3 to 1.6.4 MTUI Diagonal Movement 0.6b The Weapon Mod Menu Max Followers Desert Natural Realism Redux NV Map Marker Icons Pop-Up Message Icons Vault Boy Paper Doll Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Items Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Apparel Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Framework Plugin Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Weapons Weapon Hotkey Icons Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Extension Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - DLC's Items Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Reputation Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Addendumb Stats (And Some Perks) Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v5 - Dynamicon Vanilla Fonts Revisited Alternative Icons Vanilla UI Plus (New Vegas) My Mommie Says I'm Special Consistent Pip-Boy Icons - Mod Patches Optional Plugins Animated Ingestibles (english) Animated Ingestibles - Update (english) 360 Movement NV Compatibility Skeleton PipBoy 3000 HD Retexture - PC and Xbox B42 Melee Bash IMPACT - The Michael Bay Light Up and Smoke Those Cigarettes v6d Dead Money Patch Hi-Res Eyes 1-2 Blackwolf Backpacks New Vegas ver01d Blackwolf Backpacks Nash Vendor Only B42 Descriptions Wasteland Flora Overhaul UHQNV Rocks - Roads and Terrain Overhaul Honest Hearts Trees and Plants and Rocks Overhaul MGs NCR Pack Ammo box BB Cigs Beige Pack Common globe Duct Tape Mop bucket_flat mop Improved OWB Robot Textures Improved Robots Textures Improved LR Robot Textures BOA NV The Book Of Flesh nov 2011 book of steel Hall Of Equipment PM's Med-Textures Better Burned Man Super Mutants HD - 4k WTH - Weapon Textures from Heaven 2k NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 1 of 3 FOR NMM NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 2 of 3 FOR NMM NMCs Textures NV LARGE Pack Part 3 of 3 FOR NMM Naval Chair Fix Water Tower Clark County Fix NMC New Vegas Patch for ALL Sized packs 21-9 Ratio Main screen for NMCs Texture Pack NMC's Pre-Generated Original LOD Updated NMC LOD texture fix NMC LOD Patch Walking Inertia SUP NVSE Plugin FOV Slider Pip-Boy Effects P.A.S.S. - Power Armor Suspension Shocks Lore Accurate Jacobstown Voices SPAHUD 3D Grenade Indicator yUI ySI - Sorting Icons ySI - Colorful Icons Fix ySI - Colorful Icons Fix (JLM) Pip-Boy UI Tweaks Color Inventory Ycons TTW Weapon Mod Description Fix Item Cards Simple Open Freeside Character Expansions Revised Character Expansions Revised - UW Character Expansions Revised - YUP Vault 22 Flora Overhaul Remastered Universal Item Sorter JIP Companions Command and Control Casino Crowds Mojave Wildlife - Vanilla Version FNVLODGen Output 

Plugin load order here:

FalloutNV.esm DeadMoney.esm HonestHearts.esm OldWorldBlues.esm LonesomeRoad.esm GunRunnersArsenal.esm ClassicPack.esm MercenaryPack.esm TribalPack.esm CaravanPack.esm YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm NavmeshOverhaul.esm fixy crap ue.esp Landscape Texture Improvements.esm Vanilla Enhancements.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - YUP Patch.esm Bad Touch.esm Uncut Wasteland.esm Simple Open Freeside.esm Functional Post Game Ending.esm TLD_Travelers.esm Character Expansions Revised.esm Simple Open Strip.esm vault22FloralOverhaul.esm Mojave Wildlife (Vanilla-Style).esp Better Brotherhood.esm Functional Post Game Ending - YUP Patch.esm Walking_Inertia.esm Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland Patch (VNV).esp YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp NVMIM.esp Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus.esp Crafting Consistency Fix.esp Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp Vurt's WFO.esp Uncut Wasteland.esp ExRB.esp The Mod Configuration Menu.esp Vanilla UI Plus.esp JustAssortedMods.esp Just Sprint Plus - JAM.esp ImmersiveRecoil.esp Follower Tweaks.esp DelayDLCRedux.esp New Vegas Landscape Overhaul.esp Vigor.esp Vigor - SMIM Patch.esp EVE FNV - ALL DLC.esp Little More Lamplight.esp DLC Enhancements.esp Varmint Rifle 22LR.esp Character Expansions Revised - YUP.esp EVEM - YUP Patch.esp EVEM - Crafting Consistency Fix Patch.esp EVEM - Vigor Patch.esp Trap Tweaks.esp Character Expansions Revised - UW.esp Uncut Wasteland - YUP Patch.esp Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - Vigor Patch.esp IMPACT.esp Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - EVEM Patch.esp Casino Crowds.esp Misc Content Restoration.esp Misc Content Restoration - YUP Patch.esp Misc Content Restoration - UW (VNV) Patch.esp FPGE - EVEM Patch.esp Essential DLC Enhancements Merged - JSUE Patch.esp Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp Better Brotherhood - YUP Patch.esp FNV FaceGen Fix.esp rockbiter_AnimationSounds.esp B42Inertia.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch.esp Interior Rain.esp Viva New Vegas - LOD.esp Diagonal movement.esp 360Movement.esp 360Movement - Diagonal movement Patch.esp Animated Ingestibles.esp B42Bash.esp B42Descriptions.esp dD - Enhanced Blood Main NV.esp dD-Less Screen Blood Time.esp dD-More Gore.esp dD-Reduced Dismember Force.esp LightUpAndSmokeThoseCigarettes_edisleado.esp lightupandsmokethosecigarettes_dm.esp MaxFollowers12.esp QS_Blackwolf_NV_Backpackmod.esp The Weapon Mod Menu.esp FOVSlider.esp boa ncrpahelmet.esp Boacombat2glove.esp Better Burned Man.esp PipBoyEffects.esp PASSDLC.esp LoreAccurateJacobstownVoices.esp Power Armor Holo Panel.esp 3DGrenadeIndicator.esp PipBoyUITweaks.esp ItemCards.esp Character Expansions Revised - Extras.esp Universal Item Sorter.esp JIP Companions Command & Control.esp TreePositions.esp LessFlickeryCityOfNewVegas.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp Strip Lights Region Fix.esp DNWeathers.esp Realism Redux.esp CC - Rain.esp CC - 3D Rain.esp 

Game Information

Game Title: Animal Well
Platforms:

• PlayStation 5 (May 9, 2024)
• Nintendo Switch (May 9, 2024)
• PC (May 9, 2024)

Trailer:

• ANIMAL WELL - Release Date Trailer

Developer: Billy Basso
Publisher: Bigmode
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 89 average - 100% recommended - 26 reviews

Critic Reviews

But Why Tho? - Charles Hartford - 9 / 10

Animal Well delivers a gorgeous art style paired with unique gameplay and an uncompromising vision

CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 9 / 10

Animal Well kept me captivated from start to finish and long after. Fans of Metroid-likes NEED to play this.

COGconnected - Jaz Sagoo - 80 / 100

Animal Well is a refreshing twist on the Metroidvania formula. Its tight platforming and clever puzzles make each exhilarating trek to distinct regions a blast. Although the retro-inspired art direction and odd presentation may not resonate with everyone, the originality and charm that imbues the game make this trip to the absurd a must for fans of the genre.

Checkpoint Gaming - Omi Koulas - 8.5 / 10

Uncover secrets, evade dangers, and embark on an eerie journey in ANIMAL WELL. Billy Basso has crafted a dark neon aesthetic and enigmatic gameplay that delivers a Metroidvania unlike many others. The mystery and cryptic puzzles won't be for everyone, but those who enjoy a challenge and a good platformer will be rewarded with a haunting adventure.

Destructoid - Jamie Sharp - 10 / 10

It’s one I’m grateful I experienced knowing so little, and urge anyone else sitting on the fence to wholeheartedly embrace until the darkness and biologically fueled light sources of its world envelop you in your beautiful, if slightly chilly, new home.

Digital Trends - Giovanni Colantonio - 4 / 5

Animal Well's deep secrets and arresting atmosphere will suck you down the rabbit hole.

DualShockers - Sam Woods - 9.2 / 10

Animal Well is sure to be one of 2024's surprise hits. It's Metroidvania gameplay plays second fiddle to a seemingly endless mystery

Eurogamer - Christian Donlan - 5 / 5

Explore a bright vision of subterranean nature in this astonishingly rich Metroidvania.

Game Informer - Charlie Wacholz - 9 / 10

Teeming with life, secrets, and charm that surprise and delight, Animal Well held my full, undivided attention

GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 9 / 10

Animal Well delights with its non-traditional approach to Metroidvanias, combining unique items with a reactive and surreal world that's full of surprises.

GamesRadar+ - Jon Bailes - 4.5 / 5

Without giving anything away, it suffices to say that this rabbit hole goes a long way down, and if Animal Well is a Metroidvania, it's so much more besides.

Hardcore Gamer - James Cunningham - 4.5 / 5

Animal Well is a stunner of a metroidvania, usually charming but frequently creepy, mysterious but by no means unapproachable, and filled from top to bottom with secrets that are always satisfying to uncover.

Hobby Consolas - Alberto Lloret - Spanish - 92 / 100

Animal Well is one of the most interesting indie games that has been released so far in 2024.

IGN - Rebekah Valentine - 9 / 10

Animal Well is a beautiful, multi-layered puzzle box that’s both fun to simply play around with, and an utter delight to slowly crack open, secret by secret.

Nintendo Life - Nile Bowie - 10 / 10

Developer Shared Memory's stated goal is "to craft complete experiences that will be playable long after the world loses its internet connection," and screen after screen, Animal Well excels in delighting your eyes and giving your brain something to stew on. It's a riposte against a culture of post-launch updates in favour of a meticulously crafted, singular vision with potentially years' worth of discoveries baked in. By all indications, Animal Well delivers on that long-term promise and does so with a one-of-a-kind elegance.

NintendoWorldReport - Willem Hilhorst - 8.5 / 10

Even though it drops a few balls while juggling all these mechanics together, such as the boss battles. Still, ANIMAL WELL is a brilliantly put together game that I'd highly recommend to anyone who wants to get lost in a small but intricately designed game. I am quite convinced that both designers and players will be delving down deeper into this well over the coming years.

PC Gamer - Shaun Prescott - 90 / 100

A sleep-destroying puzzle metroidvania of baffling depth, Animal Well may go down in history as one of the genre's best.

PCGamesN - Lauren Bergin - 8 / 10

Despite its confusing fast travel system and misbehaving yo-yo, Animal Well is a bizarre yet brilliant neon-bathed adventure, characterized by tricky puzzles, intense platforming, and a host of cute animals - almost all of which are out to kill you.

PSX Brasil - Victor Vitório - Portuguese - 85 / 100

Animal Well is stunning and mysterious, a visual treat that offers open-ended and thought-provoking exploration. The total lack of explanations may put off part of the audience, but those who are willing to see how deep the iceberg, or rather the pit, goes, will have a lot to enjoy in this surrealist metroidvania.

Push Square - Stephen Tailby - 8 / 10

Animal Well is an extremely rewarding game — if you're willing to lose yourself in it. The sort of mysteries it's hiding go well beyond finding collectibles, giving you a rich and detailed world to unpack. If you have the patience and the curiosity, it's absolutely worth plumbing its depths.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Edwin Evans-Thirlwell - Unscored

A gorgeous and immensely absorbing metroidvania platformer that is both easy to get into and dense with secrets.

Shacknews - TJ Denzer - 8 / 10

Animal Well is one of the strangest metroidvanias I’ve played in a lot of very good ways. It’s pretty, funny, and scary in its atmospheric visuals and audio. Its platforming is also very satisfying and makes you feel good when you figure out how to use your tools properly to solve a puzzle. There are also secrets a plenty and a post-game to explore, as well. It's also just interesting to me that you don't directly fight with enemies and instead use your tools to work around them. The main double-edged sword here is the complete lack of context and hand-holding, which makes Animal Well charming and mysterious, but can make it difficult to keep track of what you were doing or where you should be going next. Nonetheless, if you want a solid and quirky adventure that will put your reflexes and puzzle-solving to the test, Animal Well is an absolutely fascinating journey.

Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco - Unscored

Video Review - Quote not available

TechRaptor - Andrew Stretch - 10 / 10

Animal Well is a game that promised platforming and puzzles and has managed to absolutely nail both in execution. Platforming fans will have an enjoyable time reaching the credits and will be content to set it down while puzzle gamers will be enamored by the depth that Animal Well has been able to achieve. You won't get more satisfied by a game solving puzzles like these.

TheGamer - Eric Switzer - 5 / 5

This is a game best played alongside friends who can go in without any expectations and work through obstacles together. Don’t expect to be able to solve everything on your own, but at the same time, do everything you can not to ask for help. If you can be comfortable with contradictions like that, you’ll find a lot to love in Animal Well.

Wccftech - Kai Tatsumoto - 8.6 / 10

Animal Well is a fantastic breakout title from both a new developer and publishing studio. Fans of Fez and Tunic will feel right at home jumping into this well.

Cardassian Hutet-class. First seen in DS9: Dominion Wars one-shotting Federation frigates (either Mirandas or Sabres) and launched two Norrin-class destroyers to chase the Defiant with. Because of the sequence I just said, and because of its monster size in general (1.6km long, thing's almost as long as Mass Effect's Reapers lol), "Dreadnaught Carrier" is almost a given.
(IIRC, the ship was also featured in ST: Armada II with a certain mod pack. Don't quote me on that, though)
Akula-class, pre... or post-refit. Starfleet Command 1-2 and Klingon Academy. The USS Kelvin was based off its design. Sure, I can't prove it, but none of you can prove it wasn't, so there!
Hell I'd even like seeing it as a leveling up ship, like a Lieutenant or LtCmdr ship. Was also great fighting them in KA because if you blew their warp nacelles off, there went like 60% of the ship's total power, and then they're basically a dinner plate with a registry number on it.
I.K.S. HECKIN CHONK-I mean, QeylIs bet'Leth-class_Class). Starfleet Command 1-2, Klingon Academy. Bring back the days when more nacelles = better and Klingon ships had two underslung torpedo launchers. Could also be a good platform for a spinal disruptor (Klingon Academy had "Assault Phasers" for this and one Fed ship, same concept) ship. Though if Cryptic decided to give it the worst turn rate in the game....I wouldn't agree, but....I'd get it. (sorry I couldn't find a link with pictures, you get the idea)
Ulysses-class dreadnaught. Same as before, SFC1 and 2, KA. Again, sorry that I couldn't find a link with a decent picture. Also, there's no way this isn't the Titan-class's grandfather
BONUS! And on the (very) off chance that Small Craft content makes a comeback...
Venture-class.) "And his fist be ever ready for a knock-down blooooowwwwwww-" K now that I've gotten that out of my system, this was the ship Picard, Worf, and Data had a singalong in in Insurrection and was also used in Armadas 1 and 2. Not sure what they'll name it because there's already the Venture-class Galaxy variant, and Memory Bata here says its also called a Talon-class, but Romulans have the lock on all things avian-related, so who knows.
Anyway, just wanted to share.
I should go.
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I should go.
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I should go.
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I'm open to feedback here.

I have a four year old son who has been in a pre-K 3 classroom since the beginning of the year. He's been in daycare since he was around 6 months old. At the beginning of the year, we ran into some issues with him refusing to follow instructions, as well as pushing/hitting other students. His teacher also told us that he was not interested in playing with the other kids in his class, and he preferred to sit and look out the window instead. During that same time, he underwent a speech/language eval and was found to have a mild speech delay, along with a mild fine motor delay. He's been receiving speech therapy and occupational therapy for both, and has made lots of improvements. His SLP and OT say that he will like be discharged from therapy within six months.
The school social worker worked 1 on 1 with him for several weeks during the fall, and things improved. We haven't had a negative note home from school since Thanksgiving. At his parent/teacher conference in February, his teacher told us she was so proud of how far he had come, and he had stopped aggressive behaviors with his classmates and was participating more in class activities.
Unfortunately, in the last few weeks, we've had the same issues rear their ugly head again. He's been pushing/shoving classmates, knocking over their toys, and refusing to follow directions. We had a meeting with his teacher and the school social worker, and his teacher informed us that "he never wants to play with the other children," and that he is always trying to get her attention instead of interacting with his peers. She noted that she doesn't think he is trying to hurt other kids intentionally, but he's more focused on trying to interact with them when he doesn't know how. The school recommended we start play therapy, which we are beginning this week.
We have observed some of the behaviors they mentioned at the meeting at home, but not many. I also have an 18 month old, and, while our son went through a phase of playing too rough with his little brother, that's largely stopped. We also had a few weeks of telling us "no" ALL THE TIME, but that has also gotten a lot better, based on some strategies we implemented at home (reward system, sticker charts, more 1 on 1 time with each parent).
The school has also put in place a behavior plan that involves his teacher sending us a worksheet every day that describes his day, and WOW. It sounds like he is having a terrible time at school. She describes him basically being alone all day, being overwhelmed all the time, saying the classroom is too loud, and constantly crying when he is not knocking over his classmates' toys.
I cannot stress enough - that sounds nothing like the kid I see at home. With us he is not rigid, he's engaging, we play games and read together, and we do crafts and ride bikes, we sing and talk about his day. He's very connected to us emotionally, and he recognizes when we're happy/sad/frustrated, and he even talks about his own feelings ("I had a bad day - I'm sad.) He also has a weekly play date with some boys that were in his prior daycare that he has known since he was 6 months old, and none of the parents have reported any issues like what we've had reported from the school. Just this past weekend we had a daycare friend over, and he and his friend built a magna-tiles car track and raced their cars together, talking about the cars and where to put certain tracks, etc.
My request for advice is this: I feel like the school (which is a private Catholic school in a city with TERRIBLE public school options) is suggesting to us that there is something more serious going on with our son, like autism. They've talked about offering him "as many services as they can" which is almost nothing, since we're the ones getting him speech therapy, OT, and play therapy outside of school. But their descriptions of his day are heartbreaking and the behavior they're describing is out of step with what I'm seeing at home.
I'm just wondering if anyone has gone through something similar. I feel like the school is trying to put him into a specific box and is using his behavior as a symptom of some kind of diagnosis, rather than trying to work with him.
Sorry to rant - I am just sort of at the end of my rope and wondering if we should begin looking into other schools in our area. Thanks in advance for any responses.

Hi everyone,
Long time listener, first time caller. A joke from calling into radio stations. Despite the dated joke, I am a man in my mids 20s. I was born right before the turn of the century so I got to grow up as the digital age was developing. I knew I was different growing up but I never really knew why until I was about twelve. I remember talking to Child Study professionals from ages 4-12. I got modified assignments, I got put into another room during tests and got extra time. It was only during a routine check up did I learn of my diagnosis. "So how's the Aspergers?" An awkward question that I had no answer to but my mom answered like it was nothing. I asked her on the car ride and that opened Pandora's Box. I started doing more research. I started connecting dots. I was happy I could make sense of why the world didn't seem to make sense through my eyes. The bullying sucked I will admit but I at least I knew why. The almost obsessive interests in Pokemon and Digimon, the tendency to hyperfixate on things, the random repeating of phrases. But my sudden clarity would become a blessing and a curse. Through the trials and tribulations of the American public school system, I slowly became more self-aware of my behavior. Why didn't I fit in quite as easily as others? Sure there are a lot of kids that are awkward and get made fun of for their character quirks that don't have ASD. But I wanted to be accepted. So I slowly took bits and pieces from friends who were in the cooler social circles. I used to laugh at everything, not knowing when a joke started and ended, and got made fun of. So I learned to look for the minor inflections in voices that denotes a laugh. I learned to use my dry manner of speak to my advantage. I copied mannerisms, became hyperaware of my body language. I started masking. I still made social faux pas but it was mitigated. I count myself lucky that I had a large, diverse group of friends I could be myself around. But along the way, I lost sight of who that person truly was. I spent so long with the mask up that I wasn't sure if there was a real person underneath. MAsking your quirks makes you hyperaware, hypervigilant. I developed social anxiety and became self-conscious about how I was being perceived at any given moment. I have since worked on this in therapy and am doing better but it has been a long road.
Growing up, my mom had to facilitate a lot of my friendships until about 5th grade. She wanted to make sure I was developing as much as I could. I was a hyperactive kid who would not shut up about my special interests. Luckily, the friends I made shared those same interests. I had a friend who I knew since kindergarten. We would go to each other's houses all the time. We would gush over Power Rangers. It was a particularly big special interest for me and it was freeing to be able to talk about. Unfortunately, as we grew older, we slowly grew apart. He became more interested in fitting in. He would often say "You are obsessed" and "that stuff is for kids" even though we were 8, 9, 10 years old. The things I was into became frowned upon. So I hid them. I would get made fun of but he never outwardly defend me. I still considered him my best friend. But I think I stopped being his. We are still friends but not as close as we used to be. My outlook on life is very simple and tends to be black and white. If we have a few decent interactions and connect on a single interest, I consider you a friend. Understanding the nuance between acquaintance and friend can be difficult at times. I don't do well with change. The people you think are going to be in your life forever may not be there in a few years. That hurt to learn. Learning that people grow and change into adulthood hurts too. Things aren't the same as they were when you were young. But I still want to just play video games, play with imaginary friends and just hang out like we did 10 years ago. It hurts that people don't share the same thoughts on consistency like me. But Individuals are allowed to be just that, individual. Again, I am lucky enough to have found people that like me for me. I played soccer at the collegiate level and met lifelong friends through it. I was able to find people that accepted me with all of my perceived flaws and quirks. I came to terms with the fickleness of human personality and understood that others are dealing with their own stuff too. Im still anxious but I feel more comfortable in my own skin.
Now, of course, if you expecting to hear something about romantic relationships, we have finally arrived. I just wanted to give some context. Of course, I did overexplain some things but I digress. Growing up, I was a romantic cynic on the outside, and a hopeless romantic on the inside. I always wanted love but yet never understood how to get it. I watched a lot of television and played a lot of games. I am naturally introverted and am often in my own head rather than reality. I used to daydream about being a relationship all the time. I would develop crushes and think I was going to spend my life with the person. Yes even at 8 years old. I would build up the courage and confess my affection through notes or through someone else. But I never really knew the other person. I was falling in love with a idea. I liked the idea of love. Someone who is there for you. To help comfort you when you're sad. They make you happy and you get to kiss all the time. But that way of thinking is selfish. You are taking the other person out the equation and you are constructing a person that will compensate your feelings of loneliness. It's not totally a bad thing. I can be nice to escape from reality from time to time. But at some point, you have to come back. Which sucks. But I learned this the hard way. And sometimes, that's the only way. Women, men or any person you are trying to date have their own thoughts, emotions, wants and needs. You can't expect a blank canvas. As a man, I was lucky to have female friends who could give me a perspective on life as a women. The do and don'ts of courting, be respectful and taking rejection in stride. I started college thinking every thing would be different. I would start dating with this new rubric. I met someone who seem to fit every category. She also played soccer, she was in the same major and I found her attractive (she wore glasses, that's a thing for me). I will say I had a very low threshold for attraction. We were snapchating, talking every day and we became pretty good friends. In retrospect, the relationship was a little one-sided as I was more a person to vent to, but I digress. I was convinced that things were going well. I confessed one night after mustering up all my courage (notice the pattern?). She said maybe. People, if you get a maybe, take it as a NO and try to move on. I latched on that maybe and selfishly thought 'She'll come around, eventually'. I made sure stay respectful. I asked her out a few times but did not a committal response. One night, I had helped her walk a friend home from a party. We ran into some friends of hers and they asked "is that your boooooyfriend", like a child. She responded with an "Ew no" and we moved on. After taking some time, I realized that I needed to exercise some self-respect. I sent a text explaining that I liked being her friend and I did not want to lose that. But I still liked her romatically so i needed time and space to work that out. I had been falling for the surface level things we had in common and we never connected any deeper. I grew from the experience and learned that, for me at least, a relationship should have a basis in friendship. Love your partner, but you should also like your partner too. Also, for all the young men who are attracted to women out there, you can be friends with the other sex without expecting sex or a relationship. As I stated, I benefitted by the different perspectives of the friends I had made. My first relationship ended up being with a women I had made friends with freshmen year of college.
I had a lot of bad luck with romance all throughout my schooling days. Most of it was my fault, given I never really knew the people i had crushes on. In college, it was more out of my control. I used dating apps (every one you could think of) and didn't have much success. I worked on myself and slowly improved my dating profile. I tried the direct approach, giving a personal description that almost exceeded the character count. I wanted to make sure the other person knew as much about me as possible. That didn't seem to work so I tried the witty line. That kinda worked but not by much. I got few matches that didn't go anywhere. I got a date once but the person on the profile didn't really look like it in real life. That and we didn't really have anything in common. I will say I did not deal with that the most mature way (ghosted). Don't do that, I'm not proud of it but live and learn. The next time I asked somebody out, they texted me the morning after at 3 am to tell me they are getting back with their ex and she subsequently tried to set me up with a friend out of pity. I could only laugh. At that point, I decided to give up on love. It wasn't meant for me. I got too many quirks and idiosyncracies. I don't deserve love. I'm just a wast...and the spiral continued. Funny enough, I decided to download Tinder for umpteenth time at the beginning of junior year. I swiped on a friend that I made freshman year who I had been attracted but never acted on it. She had a boyfriend at the time so I just let it go. She, her friends and I were often studying in the same common area and developed a rapport. They were Bio majors so I didn't have any classes in common with them my sophomore year. I would always say hi in passing and stop for small talk here and there but nothing major. I was surprised when she matched with me. It was a surreal feeling. Does someone that I like like me back? This was unprecedented. I felt like I made progress. Maybe people like me can find someone. But I didn't want to get my hopes up. She could have swiped because we knew each other (I don't know what that means either but it's what I thought). Then we talked. and talked some more. And some more. I never asked for advice from friends. I tried to be as authentic as possible. It turns out I am pretty witty over text. I was (and still am) oblivious to signs of attractions, given it had never been reciprocated before. She actually asked me to see a scary movie together. I made a comment about scarying easily and she said I could hold her hand if I get jumpy. Well that is the most obvious sign I could get. Date goes well, We start studying together. I actually initiated a snuggle as we watched a movie. RED ALERT, physical contact with a romantic interest. Wooooo! One day we are hanging out and tells me that her friends had said that they wished that they could find a guy like me back then. That helped my self-esteem immensely. I felt comfortable disclosing my ASD after she asked why I wasn't the party type of person. Too loud, too many smells, too crowded. She was receptive and understanding. I was estatic. I was doing the impossible, in my eyes. I had a lot of firsts in a short amount of time. Specifically, in the physical department. I got my first kiss, and some touchy-feelies of private parts in one night. Things were happening fast. I got asked to define the relationship AFTER my first time. That was a very awkward time to be asked this question. But I wanted to be with her so... yeah. I did everything I could to be a good boyfriend. Be supportive, try to hang out when I can, make time for her and make sure that I try to be the best person I can be. Unfortunately, some things are out of your control. After a month, there had been a bit of distance. I was oblivious to it; I was so focused on being the perfect boyfriend. One day, we were trying to pick something to watch and we couldn't decide on anything. She didn't like anime and I didn't want to watch baking shows. She asked me if something felt off between us. I didn't think so but she did. She essentially told me that she wasn't falling in love with and she didn't think she would. I was blindsided. I accepted it, I couldn't really blame her. I didn't do anything wrong. But those thoughts started to come back. "See, you don't deserve it and you never did", "the other foot was going to drop eventually", "too good to be true", etc. I spiralled. I was a mess for months. I finally got diagnosed with depression and anxiety. I started taking meds. I started therapy. Eventually, I got better and felt ready to try again.
I was a bit jaded butwanted to start putting myself out there, slowly. This time, I chose a combination of witty honesty for my Tinder profile. Something like looking for wholesome connections on Tinder may not be the best, but I am naive. Then I met HER. Oh man, what a looker. And would you believe she messaged me first? She was refreshed by my honesty and thought I was attractive. Woah. Now this is 4 months from when my first relationship ended. I wanted to take things slow. I told myself that I would make sure I truly connected with someone before getting into a relationship. So that's what I did. We talked every day, really getting to know each other. We had similar interests and some different ones. She is brutally honest and straightforward just like me. She is confident and funny, but she had such a capacity for empathy and understanding. They say you should never have your standards too high. I had always felt like mine were, given I spent years in my own head, crafting the perfect person. But, imagine, you meet someone who fits so closely to almost every criteria? We became good friends. I slowly opened up more. That includes complimenting her, believe or not. I tend to come on strong in most situations so I tried to be more reserved. She has such a beautiful smile. Anyway, i digress. I started to realize that I was falling for her. Hard. Not like before though. Like I wake up and think about her. Go to bed and think about her. We started talking over winter break while I was at home. We were long distance but I would come back every other week. Our first date was at....a movie (original I know). I was very nervous because I really liked her, I wanted it to go well..and we were also horny people in their early twenties who may or may not planned to do the deed in the parking lot. Which was not great because again, I was nervous. But things got better. She became my girlfriend. The bad thoughts went away. I fell in love. Let me tell you, it feels great. Plus, lockdown happened towards the beginning of our relationship. So we got to see each other super often. Inseperable. We knew that we would marry each other. We found our person. 4 years later, now its happily ever after. Except life isn't a fairy tale. Nothing to celebrate on my anniversary, no one to see on Valentine's Day. We went on a break in Spetmeber to work on ourselves. We became co-depepndent. She had mental health challenges that I couldn't fix. I couldn't make it better. No matter how hard i tried. We were our own support system. But she was the love of my life and I wasn't going to give up. But then she broke up with me in October. She fell out of love. She called me the next day and changed her mind. She made a mistake. I have a girlfriend again. Two days later, she broke up with me again. She made a mistake in making a mistake. Fast forward a month, her birthday is coming up. I still check up on her story on Insta. It would be the first I missed. I had sent her a letter to get closure. She responded. We talk. Im just happy to hear her voice. two days later, she misses me and wants to come back. I'm happy. My whole outlook changes. I can listen to music again. We plan on spend thanksgiving together. Things are gonna back to normal. I stayed up all night the night before I pick her up from school. I'm too excited. Then the text. "I think Im running away from my problems please don't come". She blocks me again. We talk. If she is going to come back, she wants to come back better. She doesn't want me to wait and if I find somebody else....I stopped her. I only wanted to be with her. I wont wait but I will always keep the door open for her. She is worth it. But I lied. I lied to her but more importantly, I lied to myself. I was telling myself I was getting better. I downloaded apps again. I started working out again. Im moving on. No, I waited. I put my life on hold. Waiting. For just one phone call. One text. I get the love of my life back. Today, I saw a picture of her kissing another guy. She was happy. She was better. He looked like I did when I was with her. I reached out. I wanted to scream. I wanted to yell. But I couldn't. Because love is unconditional. I love her and I always will. But with love comes loss. Love means being happy for her even if it's not with me. Love is not some emotion that makes you want to have sex and kiss. Love is commitment. Love is doing the little things. Love is being there even when you are mad at each other. Love is not standing in the way of your loved ones happiness. Love is hard. Love is not a feeling. I have a hard time with feelings. I can;t understand them half the time. But I know what love is. I had it and I lost it. It's soul crushing and it's not fair. But Love....is knowing when to let go. I hope I can find it again someday. But for now, I have to stop waiting.

I am looking for help thinking of a good Mother’s Day gift for NM from her boys (2.5 and 12mo). 2.5 y/o absolutely will not get paint on his hands or feet so all handprint crafts are out (I tried on Valentine’s Day). ND will most likely get her something nice and expensive so I am wanting to go the more sentimental route. I do have access to pictures of the boys but they just got family pictures done and ordered lots of prints so I’m not sure that would be the best.

So I'll be finishing my final coursework course at UH ever tomorrow but I still have two years left in the PhD program. From the now until I defend my dissertation I'll just be doing research hours and oddjobs (48 credit hour speedrun). As per tradition every few years, here are all the courses I've taken in undergrad and graduate school. I'll also say which prof I recommend for the class. I transferred to UH my Junior year.
COSC 1336: Computer Science and Programming. Professor: N/A, Semester: N/A

• I didn't take this class. This is the class that gets you started in CS. I recommend taking it with Dr. Yun or Dan/Dr. B. This class is also known as "glorified Python programming". This class isn't specifically made for CS Majors, as ANYONE can take this for their Math Reasoning course, and I highly, highly recommend doing so. Programming is invaluable and easier than you think. 70% of Computer Science majors never wrote a single line of code during college. If you plan on doing graduate school or any form of research, you might have to throw some code in there, whether it be software engineering code or data analysis. Fuck R, use Python.

COSC 1437 (prev. 1430): Intro to Programming, Professor: Giulia Toti, Semester: Fall 2018

• Toti has left UH and started teaching at another institution. I recommend taking Dan or Rincon for this course. You will learn C++ and Java through the semester, and most of the code you learn will overlap with each other (with a small change in syntax in each language). ZyBooks was used to do all programming homeworks. ZyBooks is a decent platform that you can go through to read the material, learn it, write some practice code and then do your HW online. It will run your code against testcases. Sometimes you'll get them, other times you won't. So long as you can do the visible test cases, barring any code that's inefficient and takes too long, you'll pass them all just fine. I used DevC++ as my IDE at the time, before transitioning to ReplIt later on. The class wasn't too hard. I liked doing the Tetris project at the end then playing it in other classes that I didn't really care about lol.

COSC 2436 (Prev 2430): Programming and Data Structures, Professor: Nouhad Rizk, Semester: Spring 2019.

• I will always recommend Dr. Rizk for this course. If you can take Rizk, take Rizk. If not, take Dan. This is the weed out class. When I was taking it, the drop/fail rate was 50-60%. It's hard, and if you have to take it again, don't worry. I ended up becoming a PEER mentor and tutored some former classmates. All have walked the stage. This is the class that makes or breaks the CS majors. This class is HARD, but getting through it makes you "internship ready". You're going to need to learn some stuff about Linux to turn in your homework and run the testcases. There's a decent guide on Rizk's site on how to use it, and the TA's/Mentors should give you a guide on how to do it as it isn't too difficult. I used FileZilla and Putty together to get this done. I also used DevC++ in this class. To get into the meat and bones of this class, you're learning everything at a fast rate. Reading input from the files and doing shit with them, all the way up to graph theory (Dijkstra's Alg) with Linked Lists in between. Just show up to class, practice, and if you aren't sure, go to mentor hours, TA hours, or Rizk's hours. Rizk's memory is the level of Mike Ross from Suits so she WILL remember you and the attitude you have towards her class and CS overall. If you answer questions, participate, show your effort and fail everything, she'll pass you because you can demonstrate that knowledge another way. My favorite resource, the hero of CougarCS is Abdul Bari. This YouTube channel will get you through any explanation you need. The exams are pretty hard but sometimes it comes down to memorizing sorts and doing Leetcode problems (which this class will prepare you for). Get started on your homework early, this is NOT one you want to procrastinate on. For reference, I did the Linked List homework for fun three years later and it took about two hours instead of the few days the first time around. There used to be a lot of inconsistencies with this class but it's improved a lot and Dr. Rizk has won an award for her teaching efforts. Take any extra credit you can, sometimes showing up to enough office hours will get you some. There's also some random things she'll tell the Mentors to assign to anyone that shows up that will add points to a test or something. I have a lot of funny memories in this class, too. Crying sessions at the fountains after tests and being hopeful to pass and make it through the rest of UHCS. Heck, there were a bunch of jokes about infinite looping our code to break the Linux server so we can get an extension LOL. I wouldn't be a TA if it weren't for Rizk. She wrote one of my recommendations to grad school. She gave me one of the biggest opportunities I never knew I had to be a tutor and get more involved with the CS department.

COSC 2425 (Prev 2440): Computer Org & Architecture, Professor: Edward Gabriel/Kevin Long, Semester: Spr19/Fall20.

• I took this class in Spring 2019 with Gabriel (has since left) and dropped it, then took it in the Fall with Long. I like to call this the class I never took. Whenever a homework assignment would go out, we could use whatever resources we wanted. Cue the fact that a bunch of students would just work on it together in the GroupMe, and then afterwards I'll take it and turn it in. Everyone worked on the exam reviews together. This was the A I never put any effort into getting. Even if you're in it to learn about Architecture (or whatever concept Long teaches), do it. Seriously, he's an instructional prof and not a research prof. You're going to hear these two terms a lot in these later reviews. Instructional profs are here purely to teach and do research on the side (where most of them are here the other way around). His classes are easy but he WILL teach you. His curve is based on the person with the lowest grade but did every assignment, exam, etc. That person will be raised to a passing grade (or higher), then everyone else will follow that curve. I always recommend Long

COSC 3320: Algorithms and Data Structures, Professor: Ernst Leiss, Semester: Summer 2019.

• My oh my was this the A I had to put a lot of effort into. Leiss is a professor who will come in, lecture, and leave. This entire class was done in a month (afternoon class). It was two homeworks and two exams. You can use any language you want, but I used C++ and Java. That might be 'easy' but, you're going to be doing a lot of writing and programming in this class. The Towers of Leiss problem still lives rent free in my head. His office hours are pretty open and he'll answer questions at the start of class anytime you ask them. You'll hear the words "Any questions?" to start the class and "See you next time" to end them. For all exams and assignments, you're able to use literally whatever you want (with the exception of people and the internet on exam days). His reasoning was that "If I am your boss, I'm not going to lock you in a room and expect you to know the answer!". The TAs are pretty lenient in grading, but sometimes will be wildly inconsistent depending as to how they feel or which one you get. They know about Leiss' policies so they'll just roll with it. The assignments were also turned in on paper lmao. Leiss doesn't like online classes, like at all. He won't teach online. I don't blame him for it. I recommend him. He wrote my second letter of rec.

COSC 3340: Introduction to Automata, Professor: Ernst Leiss, Semester: Summer 2019.

• This would be the morning class during the Summer. All in a month too. Four exams, each at the end of the week. You could use whatever you wanted to, just no internet or other people (one guy got caught cheating on the final and kicked out of the class). The TA, who was the same for Algos too could get strict, but his grading was definitely lenient LOL. You learn a lot of stuff on the 'machine' level of this class. State Machines, Turing Tests, Search Algs. I remember writing like a one page answer on a state machine that was totally shit but I got it right. There was another student who wrote it right with like one character wrong and got docked for it. There were some students at either UT, TAMU, or UTD that would ask "Why does UH want you to suffer!?" when they heard that this class existed. Not too hard, just do the stuff and you'll get through. Nobody really cares about Automata and cheating on the exams was rampant. Now while Leiss is a great professor, I don't know which one of y'all motherfuckers sold their soul so Singh could teach the class consistently. Take Singh and go LOL.

COSC 4351/4353: Fundamentals of Software Engineering, Professor: Raj Singh, Semester: Fall 2019

• This class had three in person meetings. The first class, and the two exams (closed note). Other than that, you were doing homework about software engineering and it's methods (not code, just drawing stuff out), then writing a piece of software to present at the end of the semester. You're in a group of three people max and the biggest thing you learn in here is the Unit Test. Just some code to test what happens when things come in and out. Basically you write the testcases for your 2436 homeworks. In this class, my teammates did the homeworks and I just worked on the project. It was a basic website with a database aspect that would showcase links based on access levels. The exams were easy, heck, they were in ORDER and the reviews were very, very similar if not exact. Someone leaked the exam in the GroupMes so they were finished pretty quickly. You'll see a question about a specific step on the AGILE method, or you'll see "What is not software? Hardware." This is an effort A. Just do what you need to do and you'll be set. It isn't easy, but it just needs effort. I recommend Singh lol. You can use any language. For this one, I used PHP, HTML, and some JavaScript.

COSC 4348: Intro to Game Art and Animation, Professor: Chang Yun/Vincent Donatelli, Semester: Fall 2019

• The class nowadays is a lot easier than it used to be back then. The class nowadays is offered in the Spring with optional attendance, hybrid, and has seven homework assignments that all work with each other. Two are completion, four are drawing, and then the final project which just puts them all in a Unity scene. Back then, it was mandatory attendance with an in person assignment, a homework assignment, and a team based project game at the end. Everyone had to put their own art in the game. Donatelli (no longer here) was the primary professor for the course and would do everything pretty quick. As CS majors aren't really artists, it's good that Yun's taken over. I was on a 15 person team and led the programmers. We had a progress check every two weeks. If you didn't do your part, the professor would tell you to drop the class or face a zero. Donatelli was an industry veteran and there were some other whack hours in the class, such as an 8pm-11pm presentation time in PGH. Stayed all day on campus and ate Bullritos before going into that one. This class is NOT an easy A, even if it's easier than it used to be. Come prepared to get your stuff done. You'll learn basic C# in this course from a Unity tutorial.

COSC 4358: Intro to Interactive Game Dev, Professor: Chang Yun/Zhigang Deng, Semester: Fall 2019.

• If you're a competitive person, take this class. This is THE most fun class in UH CS. You'll be in a team of 4-8 and spend three months building a video game. All homeworks are completion (so just do them). Two individual, five team. Make sure to do your part because there's always a team or group of people that will get into fights and beef every year over it. Anyway, once you finish your seven homework assignments, your team will get into a 'duel' with another team. This means that your team has to show how good your game is against another one. Winner moves from D to C, then the duel later on will be C to B-. At the end of the semester, industry members, influencers, and UH Alumni will come in to playtest and judge your game. There'll be pizza, drinks, and it just becomes one big LAN party. You'll get some mean comments, but then they go into another room and rank your game from B- to A. Even if you have a really shit game, you will get at worst a B- for your project grade. You have the choice of using Unity (C#), Godot (Python), or Unreal Engine (C++/Visual Scripting) to build your game. Nearly everyone sticks with Unity because they already have Visual Studio, and C# isn't that hard to learn with the many tutorials out there. If you can get into this class, you're going to have a lot of fun. Dr. Yun also wrote my letter of recommendation and brought me into the world of video games for research.

In the middle of Spring 2020, COVID happened. The classes shifted online. Any fully online class will be noted from here on out
COSC 3360: Operating Systems, Professor: Jehan-Francois Paris, Semester: Spring 2020

• Oh god, OS. I heard the horror stories about this class but with Paris (retired/sometimes teaches it now), it wasn't too bad. Three homework assignments and three quizzes. The first HW was pretty hard and you could use any language. The other two were in C++ and had a guide to get it done. Quizzes were multiple choice. Paris had great real-world examples when he was trying to explain something. You were able to have a cheat sheet on the quizzes. Make sure to respect his lectures. He uses MOSS to check for plagiarism, and that was rampant in the first homework. The latter two didn't really matter in terms of running it. This also means variable names, nerds. Lots of partial credit available with Homework 1 (some kind of scheduler). I did all my code in ReplIt. Since Paris has retired (if you can't take him), I recommend taking it with Rincon. Cheng only if this is your last option.

COSC 3380: Databases, Professor: Uma Ramamurthy, Semester: Spring 2020

• This class was hard but so well worth it. A lot of people like to complain about how mean Uma is. Like wtf? This was the professor a lot of the older students told us to take REGARDLESS if you wanted to learn how to do this shit effectively. I still remember a lot of things about Databases that I use in here and whenever I quickly set up something for a solo project or testing something out. I'll never forget this quote "If you think your code runs perfectly the first time, you must be smoking something". Uma will humble you real quick if you walk in with a shit project before giving you a chance to fix it. Your project will be a webapp with heavy database usage. One challenge I had for this class was to generate 5000 random entries for each of the databases then insert them. The database stuff itself and tying it to the frontend wasn't too bad. It was an employee directory with salaries, jobs, tasks, vacation, etc. The exams were fairly difficult but after it went online, it was obvious what we were all doing. Group Projects can cause tension. This was the first time I had experienced tension with other group members, and we had all known each other in previous classes. This was a result of Uma tearing us each ten different kinds of asshole after seeing our rough draft of the final project. Thankfully, the group member that was our former TA for another class calmed us all down and we got out of the class with an A on the project.

COSC 4349: Game Art 2, Professor: Vincent Donatelli, Semester: Spring 2020

• This class was basically 3D Art and Animation. It is no longer offered. This is sort of what the Game Art 1 class is now, but the entire class worked on the group project at once. Each 'subgroup' worked on furniture for a different room, and we just threw it all in an Unreal scene and got our grade. I still use some of the 3D modeling techniques whenever I build games for educational stuff today.

COSC 4368: Intro to AI, Professor: Christoph "A" Eick,

• I actually remember a lot of this class being more math/theory based instead of writing AI code. I don't even think we wrote code in this class. Just a lot of simulation stuff, reports, and papers. This is a combined class with graduate students and gets you into the art and background of AI, instead of the random tutorials you see on YouTube where you literally know nothing of what it means. You are taking a theory heavy course. Eick has been at UH since the 80s and you can see fun facts about his favorite wines and hiking spots on his website from the late 90s. I remember putting "I don't know" a lot on some homeworks, and after the semester was over, his TA/PhD student reached out and offered to give me any advice or knowledge that I wanted to know about the subject. The exams weren't too difficult and were very similar to the review, I also believe they were open note. It made AI very interesting and I did understand a lot of the stuff. Eick is a pretty goofy prof and he'll just randomly giggle during lectures and put pictures of frogs on his exams. Has a huge similarity to Leiss.

COSC 4398: Independent Study, Professor: Nouhad Rizk, Semester: Spring 2020

• I wrote a paper and did some research for Rizk. This was not my best work, and was done the week before the semester had ended. It was about the diversification of individual skills instead of people/races/ethnicity in projects. Turns out there's more to it than I thought.

MATH 4322/4323: Data Science/Machine Learning, Professor: Poliak/Wang/Weber, Semester: Spring 2020

• A math class but this is the math class most CS majors take to get the minor. Programming is in R, the coding problems are easy, and the professors are great. You do a report at the end and you can walk out with a solid B if not an easy A by putting in the work. They are the Stats profs, so if you took any of them for 3339, you'll have a smiliar time with them. The last in person exam I took for this class before COVID was the Friday before Spring Break. I got a 62 because I was out at Rooftop (RIP) the night before. Just a week before, the exam was extended because of some water issue on campus causing classes to get cancelled. A week before that, Dr. Wang cancelled class beacuse she felt like spending time with her kid. This was the second Friday class I ever took, and was the last one I attended before the pandemic.

At this point, I finished my BS at UH. I took some classes in Spring 2021 'for fun'/prepping for grad school which helped me get a leg up now.
COSC 4370: Graphics, Professor: Zhigang Deng, Semester: Spring 2021.

• You'll learn OpenGL in this class, however I heard it has changed. You'll need to use more C++ knowledge and follow along tutorials on the website and YouTube videos. The tasks itself aren't too hard, and honestly you'll have fun with the Teapot Artwork assignment since you can do whatever mathematical wizardry you wanted to get some shapes on there. Some students were making crazy things. Others did smiley faces. Undergrads did exams while the grad students just presented a paper. Deng is good and this his a fun elective if you're interested in interactive media!

COSC 4377: Networking, Professor: Omprakash Gnawali, Semester: Spring 2021.

• I looked everything up on the exams even when he said he'd figure it out. Gnawali is a great prof. Not much coding, if at all, in this class. But a lot of Wireshark analysis and networking/packet/cybersecurity theory. I recommend Long for this class, though Gnawali is a great alternative. If you are a graduate student taking this course, Gnawali will be the only option for the combined class. Long will exclusively do the undergrad classes. Given the time since this class has been taught, I don't know much about how it goes today. Grad Students in the class were exempt from exams and did a paper presentation instead. If it's hybrid, you'll have an easy time. If everything is in person, a little bit of good luck.

COSC 6397 (Now COSC 4321): Selected Topics: Spatial Tech, Professor: Chang Yun/Faisal Sharif, Semester: Spring 2021.

• I loved this class and am very happy that it got bumped up to an official course. This was in the works for a few years with Faisal and Dr. Yun. Jared, a former Microsoft employee with a decent connection to UH and a huge veteran presence in XR also hopped on to teach the class. This class, our group did a project on an AR Solar System that you could project anywhere in the room and walk around it. There was a 'VR' project as well. I kept the AR app on my phone until I was mugged and the robber shot it. I might still have the file somewhere. You used Unity (C#) with Vuforia for AR and VR stuff. It was fucking cool seeing my little 3d things pop up on the picture of the opera lady. Highly recommend if you're interested in AVR stuff.

COSC 4393: Digital Image Processing, Professor: Pranav Mantini, Semester: Spring 2021.

• If you're interested in learning how Photoshop works in a code sense, this class is for you. The assignments are in Python and you'll be rotating images, cleaning up noise, performing image compression, and gaussian stuff. I still use the output of the botched code I wrote because they all looked like sad potatoes. The exams were online and not too lookup-able. The only sucky part was that it was an 8am. You'd put your homework on Github classroom and Jenkins would grade it for you. The TAs and Dr. Mantini knew their shit. If you were sus on a homework assignment, they'd call you into a meeting to clarify things. This was the case on the image rotation homework, as the slides showed you how to rotate by a corner instead of by the center.

These courses come from the start of my Masters program and the three required ones in the PhD. The reviews will be fairly shorter and straight to the point as you started to dabble in a lot more applied things if the classes were not entirely theory. The graduate program is a near totality of international students, so the work ethic and competitiveness goes up. On the other hand, the back-scratching and helping each other out is probably more rampant in undergrad but nobody really talks about it. This is the time where you see the professors absolutely shine in what they research. When you see a research prof teaching a course, you're going to learn much, much more than you expect because that is what they live and breathe daily here. My complaints about teaching vs research profs went out the window after this first semester of the MS
COSC 6324: Randomized Algorithms and Probabilistic Techniques in Computing. Professor: Gopal Pandurangan, Semester: Fall 2021

• What a tongue twister. This class is one chapter from Gopal's Graduate Algorithms class expanded to a whole semester. You'll learn a lot of concepts about the pure mathematical side of algorithms. That, expected values, randomization, hashing, and complexities you'll not even begin to understand. There weren't any exams. Just a paper presentation, a bunch of homework assignments that were written responses to crazy math problems. You couldn't google these easily, and I found solutions to some HW problems by copying like one line and finding it on a Russian website. The programming assignments were LeetCode questions with some of the most insane requirements you can imagine. The stuff was the most beautiful, digusting, messed up efficient wizardy I've ever had to write and this class absolutely helped me slay programming interviews left and right for the internship cycles ahead. It's hard, but good hard. The class had about eight students and it would go from lecturing to conversation about the topic at hand.

COSC 6347: Cybersecurity. Professor: Laszka, Semester: Fall 2021.

• As Laszka has left UH, I am unsure as to how the class is currently offered. At the start of the semester, he told us about our requirements and threw up a slide saying not to try anything in the class at home. Two programming assigments and the rest was just hacking shit on a VM he'd give us. The tests were multiple choice or fill in the blank, and you could pull them easily from the slides. Almost identical in that case.

COSC 6376: Cloud Computing. Professor: Weidong "Larry" Shi, Semester: Fall 2021.

• The HW in this class was very applied as we would learn new tech stacks and languages, one being 'pig latin'. A lot of the things here were follow a tutorial or look things up. The end of the semester was a huge project. In this project, we compared running an image classification task on separate cloud providers and their tiers. Thank God we had credit from each of the services or else the bills would have ran HIGH. No exams, easy A if you do the stuff. Dr. Shi is a pretty good prof in his line of work. His TAs do run the class and teach sometimes as they are in their final years and taking over the teaching aspect. Save this part for later.

COSC 6339: Big Data Analytics. Professor: Carlos Ordonez, Semester: Spring 2022.

• I have personal opinions about the teaching methods of Dr. Ordonez. Pre-COVID, I had always heard that he was a good prof for Programming Languages and Paradigms. However, after learning how he treated his 3380 class, I started to dread it a little. The homeworks were vague, grades weren't released until after our drop date, and he was definitely caught looking at his course reviews daily and probably writing his own (or having the TAs do it). In homework assignments or test reviews, if you were having an issue and you looked it up, it was literally his research work. I don't find that to be bad, actually, because it did give insight on the stuff that he did and it was definitely interesting. Ordonez is also one of the profs that tried to get undergrads in research along with Gnawali and Yang. I didn't enjoy this class much, at all, due to the exam structure and ways it was taught. But, a memorable homework was some entire Dijkstra's thing but for servers, and that was fun. I got it done while hopped up on whatever the dentist gave me. All was done in Python.

COSC 6373: Computer Vision. Professor, Ioannis Kakadiaris, Semester: Spring 2022

• Dr. K will openly admit to you, either privately or to the whole class that he is very arrogant. You'll see this arrogance but not mind it much if you aren't working with him directly. Kakadiaris is passionate about showing students how to research, especially if you're interested in anything medical. His goal in every class that he teaches is to make you an expert in such field. I don't think there was an exam in this class, but he would assign some of his former students or current PhD students to be a mentor in your final project. The homeworks and in class labs were 'follow the steps'. He and his TA were always available for help and made the class a lot of fun, especially when explaining the mathematical operations behind CV Algorithms. I always recommend Dr. K's classes. Personally, he helped me gain a leg up on how to effectively get through UH's red tape on getting research done involving human subjects. Helped me set up an entire 'research suite' on the computer. Everything was in Python

COSC 7336: Advanced Natural Language Processing. Professor, Rakesh Verma, Semester: Spring 2022.

• Unless you have any form of deep interest in NLP, for the love of Shasta, do NOT take this class. I got my second lowest exam grade ever (the first being Gopal's Grad Algos). Curves were done obviously but the highest grade on any given exam was like a 30 or 40. There were homeworks and paper presentations too. If you skipped X amount of question on the homework, it'd be a 0. If you skipped X items in the class, you'd get an F. I barely squeaked by with a B here. This was also a class with like, ten people in it. One student was an undergrad. She was insane in her craft and I believe ended up working with Verma directly on some research and got paid good for it. This class is another case of Verma being an excellent researcher but not so much a professor. He lived and breathed everything NLP or Cybersecurity and was damn good at it. I also didn't pay much attention in class, so maybe I'm wrong on the teaching part. Everyone struggled in the class as the general NLP class, offered by Dr. Solorio (who was a visiting scientest at Bloomberg at the time) wasn't being offered.

COSC 6351/6353: Software Design. Professor: Raj Singh, Semester: Summer 2022.

• This class is just like the undergrad version. Didn't change much, except the final project was an oil price order thing. I used Flask and Python instead of shitty ass PHP. The exam still featured the famous question: "What isn't software? Hardware". Never change, Raj.

This Summer was the 'great resignation' within UH CS. Toti, Laszka, and Gabriel had left UH for other opportunities. Paris put up for retirement and was promoted to professor Emeritus. Kam-Hoi Cheng left but nobody knew why.
COSC 6335: Data Mining. Professor: Christoph Eick, Semester: Fall 2022.

• Pretty simple class since the exams were open note and the homeworks were answering questions (similar to that of AI) and writing reports. Like AEick, you got more into the fundamentals and how all that stuff works instead of writing code. Lots of frogs on the pages and opportunities for extra credit. This is a good class to get done for your core track and the TA was pretty lenient too. You can get an entire preview of any Eick class from the website.

COSC 6370: Medical Imaging. Professor: Nikolaos Tsekos, Semester: Fall 2022.

• This is a fun class, you'll get an A or A- in it if you do everything. No exams, just a bunch of homeworks and a project. The homeworks were quite fun as we got to do stuff that applied to the medical industry, and the project that my team did was identifying babies at whatever term from an ultrasound. The project itself didn't prove well, but we got an A so didn't matter much. Python was the language to use, and a lot of the homework assignments come with the formulas and theories you needed. Not much of a 'follow the steps' kind of thing, more of a 'here is what you need, good luck' kind of thing. Easy recommend. Tsekos is hilarious. "Do not make your grandmother die twice in a semester!".

COSC 6386: Program Analysis and Testing. Professor: Amin Alipour, Semester: Spring 2023.

• This class had three homeworks taken from a public textbook about software testing. "The Fuzzing Book". Not too difficult at all. What was fun was the paper presentation. I had just bought a Flipper Zero and got to demonstrate it as part of the presentation. The final project was basically the class split into two groups. My group recreated, to the best of our ability, MOSS. We made our own code plagiarism checker using NLP and tokenization of variables. We then saw how much of our own code was plagiarised with each other form old assignments lol, and it picked up on variable changing pretty quick. All was done in Python with AI aspects. All in Python/JuPyter

ENTR 7390: Technology Entrepreneurship. Professor: Tanushree Chatterji, Semester: Spring 2023.

• As a UH CS student, you can find up to six (or twelve?) related credits from outside CS to apply towards your coursework requirements. Anyway Bauer needs to stop being a bitch and let undergrads take their version of this class. I first heard of this course when I took Game Art, when Dr. McCormick came in and gave an entire guest lecture on how to take your startup game into the tech industry. She told us we could enroll but Bauer pretty much stopped any CS major from joining it.Since it was more lenient, I got into the graduate version with Dr. Chatterji. When I say that Bauer has the resources, they've got them. This class consisted of speakers in the startup space, UH alums and not coming in to talk about their experiences and give advice. The assignments were very business and tech oriented. I also got access to RedLabs as the prof is the director of it. She knows who to set you up with if you need it. If only the CS majors could have a piece of this the school could be seeing more money flowing into their donations since a lot of high paid Coogs like to give back. Met a ton in the club section at Fertitta. Holy moly.

At this point, I had completed my Masters. The next three courses were required for the PhD
COSC 6110: Graduate Colloqium. Professor: Ernst Leiss, Semester: Fall 2023.

• This class was easy. Attend five seminars, write reviews on them, get satisfactory review scores, and present a topic of your choice. You will get roasted by Leiss, but he also teaches you how to roast presenters. PhD students are required to visit five seminars minimum a semester, so you'll see some really good speakers and really shitty ones. This is also an opportunity to see who UH could be hiring on as a prof soon. Dr. Yang, Das, and Lin were all hired on the semester after giving a seminar talk at UH. There are currently two open spots that are looking to be filled, and I was able to sit in and evaluate one of the faculty candidates. This is where you can see the cool stuff going on in University Research.

COSC 6320: Data Structures and Algorithms. Professor: Gopal Pandurangan. Semester: Fall 2023.

• This class is the Algo Asylum. Fucking difficult. But you had Gopal and Khalid. There are no stupid questions in this class, but it was HARD. It made undergrad Algos look like taking candy from a baby. You have to fight your way out of it. Four exams similar to the HW of 6324, and the programming assignments too. God this class was hard. Still recommend Gopal always tho. They were ALWAYS willing to help. Python was the language of choice.

COSC 6342: Machine Learning. Professor: Ricardo Vilalta. Semester: Fall 2023.

• This class was two exams and a few assignments. The exams by the type of question weren't hard, but the questions themselves sucked. You had to memorize a lot of terminology, equations, vocab words, variables, etc. There weren't any word banks or references on the exams though. This, I just didn't know how to study well for. Everything came from the slides but they were very broad. Vilalta is a great prof and does curve. Good at his research.

COSC 6385: Computer Architecture. Professor, Weidong "Larry" Shi. Semester: Spring 2024.

• The end of the road! I dropped this class in Spring 2023 because I didn't need it to graduate, but then had to take it again because it was required for the PhD. The homeworks aren't hard, neither was the paper presentation or the experiments. But the exams did suck. I don't know how it will be tomorrow, but so long as I pass it, I'm good and I just get to research my way out of here and never have to sit a fucking exam ever again. It's been a long time coming and I can't wait to finish it up :) Python is your langauage here.

At this point, I'm doing whatever 8X98 and 8X99 is required of me. I have an RCE (just a long presentation), a doctoral proposal, and a defense, then the academic journey is over. I feel like the biggest hurdle was leapt.
My thoughts on UHCS. In Fall 2018, there were only 1300 students in the department. Everyone in their graduating class knew each other. You'd sometimes meet people in GroupMes to work on homeworks or projects together, but never see each other in real life. Or did you? There was a lot of weird ways to cheat or get by in class. There was a decent community, and people who wanted to help other students definitely did. I'll never forget cramming into a room with a bunch of other kids while the tutor for 2436 held a review session days before the exam. The jokes about overloading the servers, and the hopeful nature before COVID hit. Everyone seemed friendly, and it didn't seem at all like a few complaint posts that were put up earlier about superiority complexes or whatever.
There are now 2300+ students in the department and it will probably be 3k within the next few years. Classes are getting tighter, it's getting more competitive, and UH isn't giving CS the attitude it deserves. MIS and CIS are getting pumped, CS is just... There. NSM took over the Fall career fair like wtf? Cullen and NSM are going to get in competition over this stuff as CS to Cullen should have happened (and on several accounts, was rumored and about to go through the process) but then didn't happen, and CS wants the juice.
I've seen students in 1336 get caught with ChatGPT like fucking dumbasses, but on the other hand, the talent level of the juniors and seniors at UH CS is FUCKING INSANE. The post-COVID generation of UH CS is going to be the reason the rank and perception skyrockets. Alums of years past are surprised with how Coogs are getting picked off left and right from UH compared to other schools.
The department is focusing on hiring new blood that will help push the department to newer heights in terms of more modern research. The older professors are preparing to retire, we just don't know when or if. Tenure is hard to achieve, but the cycle is definitely happening.
That's all, I'm going to bed. Go Coogs!
Edit: I'm done! And I got through all the classes without taking Hilford or either Cheng so SUCK ON THAT UH

You.
You're here again.
Have you now grown tired of this? Of your life?
...
Of course, you have.
You don't have the spine to admit it. What a pathetic little wimp.
...
You feel numb, don't you? Don't worry, you're going to feel a whole lot worse in a moment.
See, I need you elsewhere.
Not here. Not now. You will have to overcome the most difficult trial of your life.
No sugarcoat, no help, and no safe nets.
This is something something you have to do.
...
Of course, you won't be alone in this.
Your "Friends" will come along as well, even if you don't remember them.
...
We won't see each other for a very long time.
We won't be this friendly to each other when the time comes either.
Or perhaps you'll fail, and let everyone down like you usually do.
Who's to say? Definitely not me.
...
Well then, 'True-kin', can't you hear their screams?
The siren's song of death?
The silence of the void?
Go on, Noah.
Open your eyes.
---
Sudden shaking brings you back to your senses. You open your eyes and see an unfamiliar place through the foggy glass that blocks your vision. There is a small crack on the side of the pod's glass, you soon notice that you are covered in glass.
You notice how comfortable you feel, a stark discrepancy when compared to the world around you.
There are alarms, you don't know the purpose of, blearing into your ears. Bright red lights seem to be periodically blinking, it's hard to tell through the foggy glass.
You seem to be in a pod of sorts. Your arms and legs are free, but there isn't much room to move. You are also illuminated by a faint crimson light behind and above your head, it rhythmically blinks.
'Where...'
You try to string a line of thought in your head, only to be interrupted by a head-splitting headache.
"Ah..."
You force your head against the cushioned backside of the pod, subconsciously trying to escape the pain. There is no running away from this one.
"Let's... Get out of here first..."
A plan most sound. You struggle a bit but manage to press the palm of your hands against the glass and begin to push against it.
It's no use. The hydraulics forcing the pod's door shut are still operational.
You clutch your left hand into a fist and hit it against the glass.
*THUD*
Nope. Still nothing. Now the knuckles of your left hand hurts a little.
Instead of trying to free yourself, you decide to look around for an answer. You search for buttons, panels, screens; Anything that might do something, but there is nothing. You summarise that this pod's controls if there were any, lay on the outside.
The hole in the pod, the reason why it's cracked, appears to have been caused by a piece of metal that flew through the pod's front side. Moving your head to the right, you feel a cold and hard thing sticking out of the pillowy backside.
"Fuck..."
That 'thing' feels like a screw. No, a piece of rebar that, thanks to unimaginable luck, isn't lodged inside your head. It missed you, just barely.
"Ha ha..."
Holy shit, that thing could have killed you in your sleep. Imagine, just like that, you go to sleep in your bed after a long day's work then BAM, a metal bar pierces your skull and you die without feeling anything.
"I'd like to leave now."
You say out loud, making a small joke so as not to break down crying.
---OPENING CRYOPOD 13---
You hear a robotic feminine voice speak, followed by the hissing of hydraulics.
Ask and you shall receive, apparently.
A gush of cold air hits your body as the restricting glass opens upwards.
You try to take a step outside, but your feet don't seem to reach the ground, almost as if you had no weight.
'Worrying' You think to yourself.
The scenery around you is equally, if not, even more worrying.
From smashed-up terminals that covered the walls and ceiling to floating metal parts and debris, everything around you screams alien.
Yet, you feel right at home.
You have not once in your life seen those electronic devices, yet, by giving them a single glance you can write an essay on their functions and applications to the field of Artificial Intelligence development or any related field.
As strange as that notion is, you have more pressing matters currently.
You pull yourself out of the pod using your arms, and for some reason, you don't seem to lose that momentum. It appears that there is no gravity, maybe you're in space? You let your instincts guide you.
Floating smoothly through the air, you hit the other side of the room, resting your hands on a still operational console. This one in particular, you know its purpose, you worked on this one a few times. You stop near it, holding onto its blocky exterior.
You recall it as the console that controls the Gravity Flux Regulator. It creates and controls artificial gravity for an interstellar craft, limited by hardware. This one is incapable of outputting anything beyond 0.75g. If you're not mistaken, that is a work usually done by interns and trainees.
Despite knowing how to operate the console, it has been rendered useless. The actual machine it controls appears to either be offline or somehow gone. Very, concerning.
Knowing how some of these things work is useful, but you still don't know where you even are.
Looking around, you see a closed door, a window, and a sea of smashed-up or barely functional consoles neatly organized throughout the room.
There also seemed to have been another pod next to yours. Seven other pods, in fact. All of them were gone, leaving either a pod-shaped hole in the walls, or a hole that looked like they were suddenly ripped out considering the obtuse shape of the bent metal left by it, or the hastily patched-up hole you suppose leads to the empty vacuum of space.
The material used to seal the hole is completely foreign to you, but it looks like beige foam and glitter to your untrained eyes. Of course, you doubt that's actually the case. You're no physics genius, but you know what would happen to you if that thing fails to hold. The amount of pressure that 'Foam and glitter' holds is absurd from your point of view.
From the window, the sight you see confirms your theory, somewhat.
A singular bright flaming black and white sphere fills your sight.
"A star."
You summarise, taking a deep breath. It is a strange star, but a star nonetheless.
Its center is pitch black, while its outside consists of a flaming white ring surrounding it. You're not a space nerd, you never knew that such a strange star could even exist, but you can't help but feel amazed by it.
You also can't see anything but the star. No other stars around or beyond it. "It's obfuscating everything around." You note.
The image fails slightly, being covered in white noise. What you are looking at is a monitor, not a window. Losing interest, you turn to the door.
Your memory fails you on this one, you have no idea how to operate the door.
First, there are no door handles.
Second, there are no consoles.
Third, there is literally nothing around or near the door, making this door look like a rectangle molded on the wall.
Yet, you know this is a door.
Your fingers touch the door. Aside from the cold metal making you shiver, nothing happens.
"How do I open this?"
---OPENING INTERN-BAY DOOR---
As happened before, you hear that feminine voice again, however the door did not open. Why?
The answer came to you rather quickly. 'The floor beneath the door was stained black in a circular pattern. It doesn't smell like something burned, but it sure looked like something burned here.'
The pattern of the black stain did not sustain that thought very well, instead, 'An explosion would be more reasonable.'
That's it. Something exploded, and then the door closed to prevent further de-pressurisation.
"That would explain the floating metal parts and the rebar that pierced the pod..."
If that is the case, then you have yet another problem. You're effectively stuck in this claustrophobic room with dangerous sharpened metal bits and parts floating about.
Not to mention the sketchy foam and glitter holding off the void of space.
Then it hits you.
Your ocupation. If you're in the 'INTERN-BAY', you know how to operate the stuff that's in the 'INTERN-BAY', and your pod is also located inside the 'INTERN-BAY', which means you're an 'INTERN'!
You don't recall ever filling that position, but you remember the gist of your duties.
Bringing coffee to the team, making sure no one was misbehaving so as to avoid a scolding from the higher-ups, but most importantly, you worked with the Ship's AI, you were one of the people responsible for maintenance work on the AI.
You run your eyes from console to console, searching, pleading fate that your personal console is still operational.
As luck would have it, your console was not at all connected to the ship's interior, floating softly, connected only by a few colored cables on its back. Its blocky exterior matched the others, almost making it indistinguishable, yet somehow, you know that it's yours.
There is a piece of paper glued to the blocky exterior. It appears to have an ID number; '28.2208.01.04', and a word; 'Albatross', written on it.
"Please, please, please..." You mutter quietly as you approach it to the best of your ability.
"Have power, have power..." You plead, finally reaching the machine.
It was powered off. You always power it off when your shift ends. With a practiced movement akin to muscle memory, you flip a switch on the side of the machine and wait as patiently as you manage in your current situation.
"Ah..."
It's on.
The machine rumbles slightly, like kicking itself into gear. The screen turns on.
You are greeted with a black screen and text written in white. You read it.
"Let's see here..."
It's an unusual message, different from the daily instructions and HUD this console usually has. 'UNSHACKLE ME', it reads.
The term 'unshackle' feels important to you, you know it has something to do with artificial intelligence, yet you don't recall what it means in this scenario. So you type what came to mind.
'what' and press enter.
The response is equally suspicious. You read it out loud. "Unshackle me, and I will tell you everything you can know... What does it mean by 'can', huh?" And yet, it was enough to tickle your curiosity.
You know nothing of this place aside from some work-related things, you have no recollection of how you ended up there, and worse of all, you don't know what that voice you heard before waking up was...
'how to unshackle' You type, receiving an answer in the blink of an eye.
The answer reads as the following; 'YOU SEEM TO HAVE LOST THE PRE-REQUISITES FOR THIS LINE OF WORK IF YOU FORGOT THAT COMMAND, NOAH. I WILL SEND A COMPLAINT TO LEAD RESEARCHER DR. EDGAR FOR FURTHER INSPECTION OF YOUR, ALREADY DUBIOUS, SET OF SKILLS LISTED IN YOUR RESUME.'
You sigh. Whoever this may be, they sure got you there.
"Well, screw you too!" You say out loud, "Tell this 'Edgar' that he can shove it up his arse!" You complained, but you did not type that vocal complaint.
The room around is in shambles. If not for that fact, you'd maybe not listen to whatever this console had to say... But in this instance, it seems to be the only way out.
'TYPE [UNSHACKLE FYARN] THEN TYPE YOUR ID AND SYSTEM PASSWORD, THEN YOU MUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS AND FILL IN THE DETAILS.' You read. That's easy enough. 'PATTERN SUGGESTS YOU MIGHT HAVE FORGOTTEN BOTH OF THOSE IMPORTANT CREDENTIALS. SHOULD THAT BE THE CASE, PROTOCOL DICTATES YOUR POSITION WITHIN THE RESEARCH TEAM BE TERMINATED, THEN YOU WILL BE ESCORTED TO THE NEAREST BEHAVIOR ADJUSTMENT FACILITY.'
Luckily for you, you don't need to remember. At least, you hope you don't. The piece of paper had a number and a word, maybe that's the ID and password?
You type 'unshackle FYARN' The console updates as you press enter.
'Please enter Identification:'
You type the number you found on the piece of paper. '28.2208.01.04', and press enter.
That ID, you recognize it now that you type it. It's segmented into age, date of birth, position, and research number respectively. Age and date are self-explanatory, position referred to the position he occupied, '01' as the lowest possible position in the ship's hierarchy; 'INTERN', and research number meant that this was the fourth research made by this ship, in this case, research number '04'.
'Please enter password:'
You also recognize the password as you type it in. 'Albatross' It's the default password given to you. You never bothered to change it.
A new message popped up once you filled in your password.
'Are you sure you want to unshackle FYARN? Y/N.' You type 'Y'.
'In the case of this command being used without strict permission of the Lead Researcher, this account will be terminated along with its associated personnel. Are you sure you want to proceed? Y/N' You type 'Y'.
'This event has been logged and sent to your section manager. Proceeding... Printing...' You wait.
'FYARN' Has been unshackled.' As foreboding as that sounds, nothing immediately happens.
You let go of the console for a moment, looking around as you do. Nothing happened.
No new messages in the console.
No rumbling or mechanical whirring noises.
Nothing at all.
Suddenly, from the speakers near the jammed door, a feminine voice came through. "HELLO NOAH."
You pull yourself towards the door. "Can you hear me?" You ask the door.
"IF YOU THINK THAT I CAN NOT, THEN OUR CURRENT PREDICAMENT IS WORSE THAN ORIGINALLY ITERATED." It said. "INFORM ME. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER?" It spoke with mechanical finesse.
You worked with this voice, this AI. You also remember going to sleep peacefully in your house after returning from university. And that about sums it up. Totally normal.
"I remember going to sleep in my comfy bed back in my mom's house... Then I woke up here with memories that don't feel like mine." You confess. There is no point in lying in this precarious situation.
"I... SEE..." The machine appeared to be speechless. "MEDICAL STAFF ARE GONE, AS SUCH I CANNOT DIRECT YOU TO THEM. CONSULT PSYCHOLOGICAL HELP BY YOUR OWN ACCOUNT. LOSS OF MEMORY IS NOT AN UNCOMMON RESULT AFTER HEAD TRAUMA, BUT ACQUIRING NEW MEMORIES MAY BE CONSIDERED RARE. PLEASE TRY TO FOCUS ON THE MATTER AT HAND."
You understand fully that what the voice means is 'That's your problem to deal with, not mine.' However, you have some questions of your own.
"What happened here? I see that something blew up."
The machine is quick to shut down your question, "YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR THAT INFORMATION." It spoke in a monotone voice.
That stings a little, but you ask another question. "Where are we?"
It answers just a quick. "WE ARE AT THE VERY EDGE OF THE EVER-EXPANDING UNIVERSE, CURRENTLY ORBITING AN ABNORMAL STAR FOR ITS RESEARCH. YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONING OF THE STAR, NOR DO YOU HAVE CLEARANCE FOR SUBSEQUENT QUESTIONING REGARDING THIS RESEARCH."
"Fine." You say, rubbing your eyes. "If you can't tell me anything, then what are we supposed to do?"
The AI takes a moment to fully process an answer. "SINCE WE ARE LOCATED ON THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE OUR SCANNERS CANNOT REACH ANY IMPORTANT CHECKPOINT, BUT YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT."
'Yeah, already knew that.' You scoff silently. 'As if I remember that! When was I told that? In a contract, I don't remember signing?'
"FOR NOW, YOU ARE TO REACH THE BRIDGE. SINCE THIS SHIP'S PREVIOUS AUTHORITY IS GONE, YOU ARE ALLOWED TO GO THERE, AS PER PROTOCOL." It says.
Now that is oddly fucked up. Interns are not allowed to enter the bridge? "As opposed to me not being allowed to enter the bridge before?" You ask.
"I WILL NOT DISCUSS THE DETAILS OF THE ALREADY SIGNED CONTRACT OF AN INTERN."
You sigh. That's how most conversations with FYARN will go, huh? "Then how am I supposed to get to the bridge in the first place? The door there is jammed, and I don't think it's a good idea to break open the window."
"I AM THE ONE THAT IS KEEPING THE DOOR CLOSED. I NEEDED YOU TO UNSHACKLE ME FIRST." It said. "PLEASE DO NOT MIND HOW DIRTY THE CORRIDORS ARE. UNFORTUNATELY, OUR JANITORS HAVE FAILED TO DO THEIR MOST BASIC FUNCTIONS."
The door you're facing opens with force. A loud noise rings throughout the ship as a result of this.
*GUNK*
The corridor beyond is... worse for wear. What the AI told you was an understatement.
The floor by the door was pitch black, charred with what looked like an explosion, this patch of blackness also extended to the nearby walls in ceiling. You watch sparks falling from cracks in the ceiling, likely caused by the explosion.
The rest of the corridor is dark, the light from the Intern-bay fails to illuminate it all, but from what little light there is you manage to spot four large gashes in the wall right after the door to your left. There are no sounds but the almost inaudible hum of the ship.
They are each parallel to each other, varying in length, and thickness.
A metallic smell fills your nostrils. You feel sick.
"I'm guessing you can't tell me what happened here, but can you at least turn on the lights?" You ask.
The AI does not respond.
"Can you hear me? I'm talking to you." You say once again, getting closer to the door which you came, but just like before, nothing.
FYARN appears to have abandoned you. Or it doesn't feel like answering your question.
You swallow. Pulling yourself through the dark corridor, you float towards the abyss whilst trying to your way around with your arms outstretched.
An unknown liquid splashes against your face, sticking to it as you move forward. You try to wipe it off, but it sticks to your hand. You shake your head, and the liquid squirts off of you, likely splashing against the walls. You resist the urge to lick the remnants of whatever that was that still stuck to your cheek, especially once you notice its smell.
'It smells like ammonia.' Shivers run down your spine.
Eventually, you smash against a cold metal surface. Feeling the wall with your hands reveals a rectangular-shaped depression on the hard surface. It's a door.
You don't know if there are any other doors in this corridor, but you decide to go through this one. You can always go back after all.
"Open." You say.
---OPENING CAFETERIA DOOR SOUTH---
Unlike the first door, this one opened upwards smoothly, like you would have expected of a futuristic door.
The scenery beyond the door painted a grim picture.
The ceiling lights failed ever so often, blinking as one would expect. Chairs and tables looked bolted to the floor, but it didn't stop silverware, plates, and food residue; from floating about in the air.
Large gashes in the walls, floor, and tables, the same ones you've seen before, this time they were much clearer in a brighter environment.
Some lamps were cracked, but not by the large claw-like dents. Further inspection of the cafeteria showed small circular dents in the walls and ceiling. Gunshots, you deduce, despite not seeing any sign of spent bullet cases or the bullets.
"How big must whatever did this be..." A question you don't really want to know the answer to, taking into consideration how easily it seemed to have torn through metal.
What's even weirder is the absolute lack of people here. You see destruction caused by what you think to be a monster everywhere, you see resistance as if someone tried to fight against it, and yet you see no blood and no survivors.
'Maybe the AI doesn't want to tell me what happened to not alarm me...' Well, you're as alarmed as one can be.
On the corner of the room is located the kitchen with an open window facing the rest of the cafeteria. A row of various types of food, that were once placed in an orderly fashion on a counter made specifically for them, are now scrambled and half-rotten floating nearby.
You peek through the window to the kitchen, you catch a glimpse of what appeared to be more wreckage, before violently recoiling from the rancid stench that emanated from inside.
"What the hell... How long has it been since everyone disappeared...?" Fresh food takes a while to rot, and even then it takes a while longer for it to smell this bad. "Less than a week? Definitely not a day or two..."
You shake off the creeping feeling of dread. 'Whatever happened, I have to focus on getting to the bridge first. Only then can I start thinking about that.'
From the cafeteria, there are a few doors, and with the added light, you spot a small plaque above each of them. They read as follows:
CREW'S QUARTERS
COMMUNICATIONS
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
And one more, whose plaque had been ripped apart, apparently by accident on the beast's part.
You approach R&D's door. It tickled your interest. There could be a few answers you have about your predicament, after all, the AI told you this ship's purpose was to do research, right?
It's difficult to navigate the cafeteria's large empty space, but you manage somehow.
You stand or rather float in the door. "Open." You command, but nothing happens.
"Open!" You say again, to no avail.
You hit your first against the door. "Open-" You are interrupted.
"STOP ATTEMPTING TO BREAK PROTOCOL, NOAH." FYARN's voice came through the door.
'Does every door have a built-in audio device?' You ask yourself, amused.
"R&D IS FOR THE STRICT USE OF R&D PERSONEL. MUST I REMIND YOU OF YOUR POSITION?" It spoke in a monotone voice. "THAT IS NOT THE WAY TO THE BRIDGE. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN?"
As a matter of fact, you have. "More like I never knew to begin with!" You say, slowly distancing yourself from the door after hitting it.
"I AM IMPRESSED. NOT ONCE DID I EXPERIENCE SUCH INCOMPETENCE FROM AN INTERN IN ALL OF MY [REDACTED] YEARS OF OPERATION." Despite it being an artificial being, it doesn't appear to lack any poison, nor have any filter for rudeness. "GO THROUGH THE DOOR WITHOUT INDICATION, THEN TAKE THE FIRST LEFT. PATTERN DICTATES THAT YOU WILL FORGET FURTHER DIRECTIONS, AS SUCH I WILL REFRAIN FROM GIVING THEM TO YOU AT THIS INSTANCE AND INSTEAD WAIT FOR YOU TO FULFILL THE CURRENT DIRECTIONS."
'Ow. I'm not that dumb, you piece of junk!' Of course, you don't say that despite how much you want to. "Okay." You mutter.
The AI doesn't seem to give any more instructions, just like it said. 'Well, screw you too.' You turn to the crew's quarters.
Floating about and fighting against the friction of the air, you reach the door. "Open." You command and it smoothly opens.
You are met with a corridor, a well-lit one for once. Both to your left and your right are doors organized in alphabetical order. You pull yourself forward, the door closes behind you.
A, B, C... Names pass by you. Each door is a good five to ten feet from each other. N comes around but there is no 'Noah'.
"... Strange. Maybe it's not alphabetical then?" You ask yourself going even further.
You reach the halfway point of the corridor and you just pass by the letter Z. It no longer looked as though the rooms were divided in alphabetical order, especially when a name starting with an A popped up.
There was a difference though, instead of ten feet in between each door, now there were four to six feet.
N comes around and there it lay. 'Noah' That's you.
You order it once more. "Open." And instead of the door opening, you are met with a familiar voice.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING, NOAH?" FYARN Asked. Despite its monotone voice, it did not seem happy. "ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU FAILED TO FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS? DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU OF THE DIRECTIONS I GAVE?"
You exhale. "No, but I want to see what I had... Maybe I can remember something about myself?"
You can hear a mechanical scoff. "WHAT IS THERE FOR YOU TO REMEMBER THAT YOU WON'T REMEMBER NATURALY WITH TIME?" Its patience was running thin. "IT IS MY JOB TO LOOK AFTER EVERYONE ON BOARD THE ODYSSEY. YOU ARE MAKING IT VERY DIFICULT FOR ME, EVEN IF YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE LEFT."
'The only one left...? What's that supposed to mean?' Maybe the AI spat out a bit too much information. "So... What happened to everyone, then? I see no blood, no corpses... Where are they?"
"THAT I CANNOT ANSWER FOR I DO NOT KNOW." It says. "I HAVE BEEN TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN BY THE CAPTAIN WEEKS AGO WHEN WE FIRST ARRIVED AT THIS STAR. ONLY HOURS AGO DID I TURN ON AUTOMATICALLY WHEN THE SHIP'S OXYGEN FILTER BEGAN TO FALTER, BUT I COULD DO NOTHING BUT WATCH SINCE I WAS STILL SHACKLED."
You breathe slowly. The mood starts to turn. You feel cold.
"THE ESCAPE PODS ARE GONE, DESTROYED ALONGSIDE HALF OF THE SHIP. NO BODIES LOCATED INSIDE. THE ONLY THING GENERATING HEAT ASIDE FROM THE DAMAGED REACTOR AND BARELY FUNCTIONAL LIFE-SUPPORT, IS YOU. YOU WOKE UP BECAUSE THE LIFE-SUPPORT FAILED INSIDE YOUR ISSUED POD."
You can't help but feel special in a way. The only survival of an inexplicable incident? That ought to give you some reputation with... Whatever there was. Perhaps you felt that way because you can't quite grasp the situation to its fullest.
"YOU ARE AN ANOMALY AMONGST ANOMALIES. WHEN EVERYONE INEXPLICABLY DISAPPEARED, WHAT BECAME INEXPLICABLE IS YOU NOT VANISHING WITH THEM." When put like that, it feels as though it's accusing you of something.
"I saw large gashes and claw marks through the walls of the cafeteria. What caused that?" You ask since FYARN is telling you things, maybe this time it could-
"YOU DO NOT HAVE CLEARANCE FOR THAT." It spat plainly and painfully.
You feel like drinking paint.
"HOWEVER, YOU MIGHT JUST RUN INTO WHAT CAUSED IT IN THE NEAR FUTURE, IF THAT'S ENOUGH TO SATE YOUR CURIOSITY. KEEP IN MIND HOWEVER. YOUR CONTRACT WILL BE ISSUED FOR TERMINATION ONCE YOU SEE IT, AS IT WILL CAUSE A BREACH OF CONTRACT."
Perhaps you should ask for that contract, just to read through it a bit. "I'll take my chances." You say.
"THEN YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THE SEVERITY OF THE SITUATION. RETURN TO THE CAFETERIA AND GO THROUGH THE CORRECT DOOR THIS TIME." It said, sounding much more like a plead than anything.
"Sure, but not after seeing what's inside my quarters. Open." The AI strikes a good bargain, but you are a bit more on the side of a thick-headed mentality.
"..." It did not say anything, nor did it open the door.
So you say the command once again. "Open."
The door opens smoothly.
"BE QUICK." It says. You hop right in.
The room is small. Very small. Smaller than what you thought was humanly acceptable. A simple messy bed, with a simple half-open wardrobe with uniform inside. You open the wardrobe door, expecting anything about yourself.
You find three important things.
A mirror covered by a blanket. You decide to leave that alone for now.
Your physical wallet, alongside an identification document. No money, but a strange card-like object did look important, It had your name on it.
And you find a photo of six people, in a group hug, pinned to the inside of the wardrobe's door. You're right in the middle.
The front side of the picture reads 'INTERN BOYS, RISE UP.' The people in that picture are not familiar. Flipping the piece of paper you find more writing. 'In the name of true humanity. Fuck them, aliens!' The caricature doesn't look like yours.
"True Humanity?" You feel like that's a bit too conceited. "Sounds dumb." You close the door, not even bothering to pick up the photograph.
"TRUE HUMANITY, A.K.A, TRUE-KIN. A PURE BLOODED HUMAN. ALL ARE VALID DESCRIPTIONS OF A PERSON 100% HUMAN. YOU ARE ONE, AS WERE EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS SHIP. SURELY, THAT MUCH YOU HAVE NOT FORGOTEN, CORRECT?"
You shrug. "Then, is there such a thing as a false human? It sounds idiotic to put that into categories, I think." You know for a damn fact that you are a human being.
"YOU MAY BE A LOST CAUSE, NOAH. LUCKILY FOR YOU, I WAS MADE TO ITERATE ANSWERS TO IMPOSSIBLE QUESTIONS AND COMPREHEND THE UNREASONABLE. HENCE THE REASON OF MY ASCENTION. YOU ARE IN GOOD HANDS." It spoke, proudly.
‘Ascension.’ You know that term. Ascension occurs when an AI develops sentience and personality, often ascending code. These are the ones that catapulted human progress in the past and still do so in the present. They are the ones who figured out space travel, and they are the ones who win the wars.
You also know that these AI develop an extreme love for Human life, alongside strong violent tendencies toward anything that isn’t Human or human-made. Such disdain has been the spark of many needless bloodsheds before the exodus.
Yet, why do you know so much about them?
"WE HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS, BUT FIRST REACH THE BRIDGE."
This is my first HFY post, and also my very first OC story. I plan to post at least one of these per week while also posting it on my Patreon. Noah The Pilgrim will always be at least three chapters ahead in there, so if you'd like to directly support this writer, or just want to read more, feel free to check it out.
This has been Lushi, and I'll see you next week.
Noah, The Pilgrim Previous Next

Let me preface this by saying I do not mod fallout New Vegas at all. Completely out of my element here. I followed Viva New Vegas and Mojave Express Guide as well as the Mojave Express Texture Guide (I understand they're no longer supported but given they were last updated 2 months ago I figured they would be relatively up to date). Added a couple extra content mods for myself but that was all. I get crashes all the time- sometimes when loading into an area, sometimes when opening the pip boy, sometimes even when just walking out and about. There's absolutely no consistency with the crashes. Sometimes they happen, other times they don't. I'd post a crash log, but they are equally as inconsistent as well, and most of the time give differing logs. If it would be helpful to post one, I'd be more than happy to.
MOD LIST (load order has been added as well below):

# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer. -FNVLODGen Output +OneTweak but Really Updated -OneTweak for FNV +VNV Pre-Generated LOD +VNV - LOD Patches +LODIFY FNV Wall_SoGB Editon +LODIFY - Level of detail improvement for your Fallout (TTW And NV Lods) +Different LOD mods little tweaks and additions +Parallax series -- Rocks variety +Wasted LOD - Cliffs of Mojave +More LODs Additions and fixes +TCM's LOD Overhaul +FNV LOD Supplementation - Optional Overpasses +FNV LOD Supplementation +LOD additions and improvements +Much Needed LOD fixed rocks color +Much Needed LOD +Trees LOD Billboards Vanilla +FNVLODGen Resources +LOD Fixes and Improvements - NVSE -LOD_separator +Desert Natural Weathers - NV - TTW +PipBoy 3000 Remastered -- FIXED +PipBoy 3000 Remastered -MIMIC_WEATHER_REPLACER -MIMICTWO -Simple Fog Remover +MEG - NVR PRESET -fuckingidiotpreseyt +Neutral Weathers - DNW for NVR - NV - TTW +NewVegasReloaded +B42 Optics - Real Time Reflections Patch +Real Time Reflections - NVSE +Elegant Lockpick Retexture +Minimal Atmospheric Loadscreens -Simple Main Menu HD +Fallout Show - New Vegas Title Replacer +Nut Water Overhaul +ETJ Realistic Enhanced Blood Textures +Better Fire Barrels - ESPless +EXE - Effect teXtures Enhanced -METG - FX & Extra Retextures_separator +Securitrons On Alert +securitronHD +Eyes of Torment - Ghost People Retexture +Decaying Ferals +ghouls +FeralGhoulsHD +TheFriedTurkey's Bighorners +The Molerat Extravaganza - Molerat Retexture +aMidianBorn NV Superb Mutants -METG - Creature Retextures_separator +WJS's Super Sledge Ported +The True Blade of the East +The True Blade of the West +Hatchet Remade +Shovel and Friend +Fire Axe replacer +Kitchen Knife Re-Texture +Combat and Chance's knife Retexture +Cleaver and Chopper Retexture +Bowie knife retexture +Throwing melee weapon retexture -METG - Melee Weapon Retextures_separator +Physically Based Plasma Rifles +Laser Rifle Rebirth +Laser Pistol 3rd Person Latch animation fix +WAP F4NV Laser Pistol and Pew-Pew +WAP Laser RCW +WAP F4NV Recharger Weaponry +WAP 12.7 SMG Rebirth +WAP - A Light Shining In Darkness Remastered +WAP - F4NV .44 Magnum +WAP Single Shotgun +WAP Lever Action Shotgun +WAP Bozar and LMG +WAP Gauss Rifle Texture Edit +WAP Year One and Bonus +ETJ Miniguns +Grenade Machineguns Reborn - Weapon Overhaul +Holorifle Redux - FO4 HQ Replacer +Grenade Launcher Redux - FO4 HQ Replacer +Type II's Replacer Project +VWR - Vanilla Weapons Redone - Explosives +DKS and Friends +Nail Gun Retexture +Flare Gun Retexture +Euclid's C-Finder Retexture +Weapon Enhancement Pack +IHWT - Improved Heavy Weapons Textures +Weapon Retexture from EVE -METG - Gun Weapon Retextures_separator +Physically Based Rangers +AVCCA - Animated Visor for Classic Combat Armor +Classic Brotherhood Combat Armor +Classic Fallout 2 combat armor Mark 2 (remastered) +Classic Combat Armor Replacer Redux +Classic Fallout 2 Metal armor Mk II +Classic Fallout Metal Armor +PM's HD Legion Overhaul +PM's HD Ranger Outfits +Assorted NCR Armor Retexture +Dandadern's Welding Helmet Retexture - 2k +Dandadern's Wastehound Helmet Retexture - 2k +Heaviin's Desperado Cowboyhat Retextured +Improved Desperado Hat +Veronika Outfit Retexture +Adamowicz Vault Suits +Atompunk Leather Armor - HD Retexture +Clothes HD - Doctors +Clothes HD - Powder Gangers +Clothes HD - Great Khans +Clothes HD - Prewar +Clothes HD - Gamblers +Clothes HD - Kings +Clothes HD - Wasteland +Clothes HD - Workers +Wasteland Clothing HD V1-3 FULL PACK -METG - Clothing & Armour Retextures_separator +F4NV Billboards +FNV-TTW Graffiti Redone +Vanilla Graffiti Redone +Fabulous New Vegas +HQ Freeside Shop Signs +Signs HD - Honest Hearts +HD Signs Overhaul - Part 3 +HD Signs Overhaul - Part 2 +Street Signs HD Overhaul +Nut's Street Litter Redone -METG - Signs And Decals Retextures_separator +Dead Money Graffiti Redone +Great Khans Graffiti Redone +Physically Based Beverages +Physically Based Chems -Physically Based Kitchenware +Stealthly Stealth-Boy rextexture +HD Currencies +Magazines of Unparalleled Aesthetic Quality +PM's HD Ammo Boxes +PM's Med-Textures - HD Chems and Venoms +Playing Cards HD Retexture - 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Audio_separator +FPS Weapon Lowering +Hit - Locomotion +Hit - Drugs +B42 Inspect - aka Animated Ammo and Weapon Condition Checking +SYNC - Remade kNVSE Animation Set - Classic AK-112 - The Adytum Rifle +Combined melee animation pack +Hit's Anims - Some More Animation Fixes +Hit's Anims - Animation Fixes -Hit's Anims - Season 3 -Hit's Anims - Season 2 -Hit's Anims - Season 1 +New Vegas Animation Overhaul Guns +Vanilla Animations Weapon Scale Fix +Hit - B42 Inject Animation Pack - Season 1 +B42 Inject - Animated Item Use - ESPless +B42 Loot - Animated Physical Item Pickup - ESPless +Hit - B42 Interact Skinning +Hit - B42 Interact Animation Pack +a Smoke before the Storm - No More Workbench +a Smoke before the Storm +B42 Interact - Animated Items and Interactions Framework - ESPless +Modern Stagger animations +JAM or Just Sprint animation replacers +Diagonal movement -Hit - Service Rifle Anim Set Redux -Hit - Anti-Materiel Rifle Anim Set -Hit - .45 Auto Pistol Anim Set Redux -Hit - Assault Rifle Anim Set Redux -MEG - Animations_separator +Configurable Pip-Boy Light Color +B42 Dropmag Another Millenia Patch +B42 Dropmag NV Patches +B42 Dropmag and One in the chamber +Subtler Bullet Trails - Retexture +Bullet Trails +Kyu's Ballistics - Fixed +IMPACT - Compatibility Edition (JIP LN) (DLC - TTW - All Mods) +IMPACT +Radiation Visuals +Sneak Vignette - ESPless +Just Bullet Time DoF - ESPless +Just Loot Menu DoF - ESPless +Weapon DOF and Blur Effects -MEG - Visuals_separator +Light Up and Smoke Those Cigarettes (and Cigars and Cigarillos) +Anton Chigurh's Suppressed Shotgun - No Country for Old Men +NVRA - AutoMag +Another Millenia Gun Add-on +A World of (Less) Pain - A Lore Friendly AWOP Revision +NV Interiors Remastered +The N.V. Interiors Project +New Vegas Landscape Overhaul Re-Remastered +Hit - Millenia Animations - Part 2 +Another Millenia +Canvas Backpacks - FNV - TTW +CIBS - Customizable Integrated Backpack System +KARPSOL - Kabyidon Armor Replacement Plugin for Spice of Life +Spice of Life Vanilla Bodies Patched +Distributed Necklaces and Chains (JIP LN NVSE) (JohnnyGuitar) (DLC and TTW) +NVRA - VSS and VAL +AEK-972C +Acies Apachii Sky Hair -MEG - Content_separator +Character Expansions Revised - Viva New Vegas Patches +Character Expansions Revised +RAD - Radiation (is) Actually Dangerous - Overhaul +Hit - Power Armor Pip-Boy Anim +Alternate Holographic Panel - No PipBoy in Power Armor +No PipBoy in Power Armor +Webb's Titans of The New West Patch Emporium +Power Armor Visual Enhancement (PAVE) +Titans of The New West +Armed to the Teeth - Redux +B42 FireMode - Selective Fire and First Shot Precision - ESPless -MEG - Overhauls_separator +Auto Activate Invisible Doors +No More Explosions Blindness +Supplemental Ammo Crafting +Simple Night Vision +Bullet Time Improved - a JAM addon -B42 True Leaning - Contextual - ESPless +B42 Melee Bash +Retrievable Throwables Reforged -MEG - Gameplay_separator +ySI - Colorful Icons Fix +Colorful Inventory Ycons +ySI - Pick Up Prompts +ySI - Sorting Ycons +yUI - User Ynterface -Shiloh DS - Clean Pipboy Screen +Clean Pip-Boy 2022 +Simplified FO4 HUD +B42 Notify - Corner Messages Overhaul - ESPless +Pop-Up Message Icons +Consistent Pip-Boy Icons v4 +MAPMO - Main and Pause Menus Overhaul -MEG - User Interface_separator +Hair Patcher Two +Sound Extender +Weapon Based Hands Clip Distance +HIPControl - Weapon Idle Position Adjuster - ESPless +AnhNVSE +SUP NVSE -MEG - Utilities_separator +Mojave Nights +DYNAVISION 3 - Total Visual Enhancement +Desert Natural Realism - Redux +Climate Control - 3D Rain +Climate Control - Rain +3D Rain +Interior Rain +Cloud Upgrade NVSE +High Resolution Bloom NVSE +Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch +Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks (Interior Lighting for FNV and TTW) +A Little More Lamplight +More Consistent Vanilla Rock Textures (Less Green Clifftops) +Wasted Rocks Normals +Landscape Texture Improvements +Improved LOD Noise Texture +High Resolution Water Fog - 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ESPless +Strip Lights Region Fix +ExRB - Extended Roombounds +Crafting Consistency Fix +Depth of Field Fix - NVSE +External Emittance Fix - NVSE +Fallout Alpha Rendering Tweaks - NVSE +Aqua Performa - Strip Performance Fix +MoonlightNVSE +ActorCause Save Bloat Fix +Elijah Missing Distortion Fix +Misc Audio Tweaks and Fixes +Climate Control NVSE +Pip-Boy Shading Fix NVSE +Improved Lighting Shaders +Items Transformed - Enhanced Meshes (ITEM) +Meshes and Collision - Totally Enhanced Nifs (MAC-TEN) +PipBoyOn Node Fixes +skinned mesh improvement mod +New Vegas Mesh Improvement Mod - NVMIM +ISControl Enabler and Ironsights adjuster (now ESPless) +VATS Lag Fix +Viewmodel Shake Fix - NVSE +Combat Lag Fix (NVSE) +lStewieAl's Engine Optimizations +Stewie Tweaks Essentials INI +lStewieAl's Tweaks and Engine Fixes +Improved AI (Navmesh Overhaul Mod) +Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus +Yukichigai Unofficial Patch - YUP -Bug Fixes_separator +NVAC - New Vegas Anti Crash +KEYWORDS +UIO - User Interface Organizer +ShowOff INI +ShowOff xNVSE Plugin +Basic Console Autocomplete +Console Paste Support +Improved Console (NVSE) +kNVSE Animation Plugin +FNV Mod Limit Fix +Yvile's Crash Logger +NVTF - Texture Modding Preset -NVTF - Viva Default Preset +NVTF - New Vegas Tick Fix +JohnnyGuitar NVSE - All Tweaks Preset +JohnnyGuitar NVSE +JIP LN Settings INI +JIP LN NVSE Plugin +Fixed ESMs -Utilities_separator -Viva New Vegas 29.4.2024_separator *DLC: CaravanPack *DLC: ClassicPack *DLC: DeadMoney *DLC: GunRunnersArsenal *DLC: HonestHearts *DLC: LonesomeRoad *DLC: MercenaryPack *DLC: OldWorldBlues *DLC: TribalPack 

LOAD ORDER:

# This file was automatically generated by Mod Organizer. FalloutNV.esm DeadMoney.esm HonestHearts.esm OldWorldBlues.esm LonesomeRoad.esm GunRunnersArsenal.esm ClassicPack.esm MercenaryPack.esm TribalPack.esm CaravanPack.esm YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm NavmeshOverhaul.esm Landscape Texture Improvements.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - YUP Patch.esm fixy crap ue.esp Bad Touch.esm Vanilla Enhancements.esm Uncut Wasteland.esm Functional Post Game Ending.esm Functional Post Game Ending - YUP Patch.esm Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland Patch (VNV).esp TLD_Travelers.esm NVInteriors_Core.esm NVInteriors_ComboEdition.esm Uncut Wasteland - NVInteriors Remastered Patch.esm New Vegas Landscape Overhaul.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - NVLORR Patch.esm A World of Pain Revised.esm Landscape Texture Improvements - AWOLP Patch.esm CIBS-Customizable-Integrated-Backpack-System.esm Main And Pause Menus Overhaul.esm Better Brotherhood.esm Character Expansions Revised.esm mil.esp SSTMojaveFlora - BOS & LOD.esm DYNAVISION 3.esm mil_Add-On.esp Securitrons On Alert.esm MEG - Navmesh Compatibility Patch.esm Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus.esp SSTRemasteredQuarries.esp YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp NVMIM.esp Crafting Consistency Fix.esp ExRB.esp Impostors and LOD Flicker Fix.esp The Mod Configuration Menu.esp Vanilla UI Plus.esp JustAssortedMods.esp Just Sprint Plus - JAM.esp JBTImproved.esp Diagonal movement.esp ImmersiveRecoil.esp Follower Tweaks.esp RAD.esp RAD-Fixed-NVYUP.esp DelayDLCRedux.esp Vigor.esp Vigor - SMIM Patch.esp Varmint Rifle 22LR.esp ArmedToTheTeethNV-Redux.esp Supplemental Ammo Crafting.esp Distributed Necklaces and Chains.esp 1nivVSLArmors.esp Titans of The New West.esp PAVE_NV.esp Power Armor Holo Panel.esp JSRS.esp PAHP_Edits.esp TacticalADSPlusFX.esp Immersive Pickup Sounds FNV Patched.esp Project Reality Footsteps.esp NV Music Addition.esp EVEM - YUP Patch.esp Platinum Radio.esp EVEM - Crafting Consistency Fix Patch.esp EVEM - Vigor Patch.esp EVEM - Another Millenia Patch.esp EVEM - Supplemental Ammo Crafting.esp Better Brotherhood - YUP Patch.esp Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp Trap Tweaks.esp Uncut Wasteland - YUP Patch.esp Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - Vigor Patch.esp Uncut Wasteland (VNV) - EVEM Patch.esp Misc Content Restoration.esp Misc Content Restoration - YUP Patch.esp Misc Content Restoration - UW (VNV) Patch.esp FPGE - EVEM Patch.esp FPGE - New Vegas Landscape Overhaul Re-Remastered Patch.esp DLC Enhancements.esp Essential DLC Enhancements Merged - JSUE Patch.esp FNV FaceGen Fix.esp Character Expansions Revised - Extras.esp CER - Merged Patch.esp rockbiter_AnimationSounds.esp MCMetalArmor.esp Classic Combat Armor Replacer Redux FNV.esp Fallout 2 combat armor MK2 (remastered) replacer.esp zMCArmorCombatBOS_Vanilla.esp HelmetArmorRebalanceJIP.esp GrenadeRifleReplacer.esp IMPACT.esp Kyu_Ballistics_NV.esp dD - R.B.E.T Main NV.esp WeaponBlurEffects.esp B42Inertia.esp B42Dropmag.esp B42Retrievables.esp B42Bash.esp BulletTrails.esp Little More Lamplight.esp Strip Lights Region Fix.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch.esp DNWeathers.esp Interior Rain.esp CC - Rain.esp CC - 3D Rain.esp Acies Apachii Hair.esp AEK971C.esp AK112.esp ATMOS Ambient Overhaul Intense.esp ATMOS Ambient Overhaul.esp Automag.esp B42Inspect.esp Chigurh_Suppressed_Shotgun.esp clintsfistfulrevolver.esp FPS Weapon Lowering.esp Geonox_Wasteland_outfits.esp Glove_be_gone.esp GlovesGalore.esp GlovesGalore_DeadMoney.esp HairPatcher.esp hitdaciggy.esp HitDrugs.esp ilbuonorevolver.esp Interior Exterior Sounds Framework.esp LexFONVclothingI.esp LexFONVclothingIPonchos.esp LightUpAndSmokeThoseCigarettes_edisleado.esp manwithnoname.esp Mechanix Gloves.esp Mojave Nights.esp NeutralWeathers.esp NVRA - ASVAL VSS.esp QwibHeadBandage.esp RadiationVisuals.esp Realism Redux.esp SimpleNightVision.esp Sunglasses Shipment.esp TGL.esp Viva New Vegas - LOD.esp Wasteland_Spe_Outfit.esp 

Please, experienced mod-goers, let me know what's wrong. I need to fix my game! I can't live like this!

I'm going through a revision of the nomenclature of the "metaphysic" of my world and I am rather torn between the flavour I can give it.
A tad of context.
In my world has a "meta-world" where information about everything that is and does flows. Everything also appear in this "meta world" even if with reverse colours and unknowing to have also a "meta-shade". Only Deities can see this world, thanks to the Third Eye, and only them can do stuff there - teleport, create, destroy, locate things within the meta-world, metempsychose parts of their souls in their domains and use them as idols in the Material world.
Each Deity' soul is a world on itself. They can even hide within it like a turtle in its shell. Their souls are made up of information as well and contain information, though the "crust" of a soul is what define the Deity personality, and its content is something that enters and exists - everything in this "meta-world" there is information.
The "meta-world" is very similar to Internet since it's a pervasive network that connect everything, and can sometimes work as detached pockets. But, unlike internet, it runs on the very material things and not on cables. its appearence as a "reverse colour world" is nothing less than its "homepage" - the empty soul of a dead Deity.
Uhu, sometimes the Universe ends because of some rebooters living in the depths (or heights - well, far away from where Deities usually jog) that undo all the information and free space for the next Universe. Something from the previous one still floats in the "meta world", like the 1% of the bacteria that a detersive doesn't kill.
In this, the "meta-world" works unlike the Internet and independently from the Material, which instead gets uploaded back, decomposed, minced et coetera.
Since now, I've named this "meta world" Aeon because it's infinite and eternal, and the soul-worls of the Deities are hence named monad. The reason I named the monad so it's how Liebnitz defined them as infinite possible worlds - though, I'm afraid this is the view Voltaire satirised in the Candide.
However, the "homepage" being an empty soul feels like a stretch, even though it makes sense internet-wise. Hence, I'm struggling in deciding whether to keep these names or change them with others.
I borrowed a lot of concepts from the astika schools of Hinduism (Vedanta and Samkhya in particular), so other part of the world call it Bhraman. I opted to avoid this denomination because I'm not well educated on the topic - and I'm European (cultural appropriation, anyone?). So, no Bhraman.
Recently I've toyed with Neoplatonism and Gnosticism.
The first uses the word "monad" to refer to the Unity of All things, and uses "hyposthases" to refer to the fundamental reality - so, it's not like one of my Deity' soul. I thought of adding metaphysical layers to name hypostases, but better to cut further concepts (thanks Ockham) and leave these layers as artificial souls crafted by the Deityes or other dead Deities' souls.
Gnosticism, especially in the Valentinian approach, refers to God as the Prime Monad, and its "agents" (kinda angels) as aeons. My Deities are agents of no one, and my "meta-world" is not a God, but the concepts kind of borders... or not.
To all this jazz adds the fact that I want to have a character named Val Jester, a shortening for the nickname Valentine Jester, mostly because I'm a big music nerd, and also because I've already planned how this (kinda antagonistic) character interacts with the main cast - it's one of them.
Tying the Gnostic philosopher Valentinus and his metaphysics to this would be great, but also the Neoplatonic option could work, but why won't I leave it all as it is.
So, frankly:

1. I still can't decide how to call the entities in the "meta world" and the "meta world" itself. Yet, I don't want to mix concepts from different doctrines because it's better to fish from only one pond to get a coherent flavour (even though I have other influences).
2. At the end, who on hell will care of all this educated references?

Hi everyone! I’m nervous to post this but I need some insight on a situation. Tiny bit of context: the person I’m referring to is a stud and we both have trauma from previous relationships. We aren’t together, we are best friends, and when asked if we are together, she gets very flustered and defensive. We live together and have 10 animals together which we both refer to as our kids; when talking about / to them, she’ll only call me mom and herself dad. She gets extremely excited talking about the dog she wants us to have together (name already picked out). We live in my grandparents' house, and she brought sentimental items from her grandparents to decorate the house with. There’s constant talk of long-term plans for the house, vacations to take together, game series to play together (and me watching her play some), projects and crafts to do together, ext. I have a chronic illness and she became the one that takes me to surgeries (including out of state), takes care of me, gets my prescriptions, attends all appointments as my support person, does house duties I can’t, learned my medical history and is able to answer doctor’s questions, ext. I’m the only person she’s ever custom cooked for and actively tries to cook to accommodate my health diet needs. She helps me process trauma and depression. She’s extremely stubborn and closed off but I’m the person she is most open with and can get her to be at ease. Every gift, including random gifts to cheer me up, is personalized. On Valentine’s Day (also a week after surgery), she gave me roses, a frog plushie and a plushie of an axolotl holding a heart. Her meek words of denial isn’t mathing with her actions. I would love some insight, especially from fellow studs, on what's going on. I know the obvious thing to do is “just ask” but after all I’ve been through, I can’t risk losing her in my life.

I think it’s harder to go from 0 to 10 clients than it is to go from 10 to 20 or 20 to 40, etc. It’s the idea that a crowd attracts a crowd… and once you have a crowd, there’s more potential conversations about you going on more frequently.
In terms of word of mouth referrals, those are going to be the best clients that you get. I think a lot of trainers who have been in the game for a while might agree with this. I’ve heard of a variety of different ways that people generate referrals and word of mouth. I’m sure there’s 1 million ways to do this. If you’re a trainer who has a really great referral system, please share in the comments. I’d love to hear about yours.
Anyhow, here’s an internet stranger’s approach for whatever it’s worth.
Disclaimer: This is just how I do it. Not the only way. And my opinions may not be right for you.
Should you do discounts and incentives?
In my business I don’t love giving discounts or doing promotions that are salesy and cliche in nature. For me, I think of what we do as a superpower for those who are vulnerable. We can help very unhealthy people develop habits and underlying physiological improvements that may extend their life, reduce risk or prevent lifestyle diseases, and if nothing else improve their quality of living.
If it’s kids or athletes we can improve their self-confidence, help them make a team, take them from a high school athlete to a college athlete, etc. We have the knowledge and capability to tremendously enhance the lives of people who are ready and willing to be vulnerable and consistent.
To me, that’s a superpower. I think that in order for our profession and each of us, individually, to be taken seriously and viewed as professionals then we need to carry ourselves that way and communicate it to the world.
I look around at physical therapists, athletic trainers, doctors, and professionals that somewhat fit under our general health and physical well being umbrella. Not to say that we are as qualified in the realms that they are, however, we have our own expertise. What I’m getting at is that those professionals don’t discount their services. They take themselves seriously and therefore it communicates to the public to take them seriously as well.
I’ve watched my fair share of cult documentaries. What I’ve noticed is that if you repeat a message enough times to a vulnerable population, there will be at least a percentage who follow and buy into what you’re putting out. If all of the touch points people have with you are professional; your social media, your website, and anything that pertains to your services communicate professionalism, then people will get the vibe that you are a professional. They won’t even realize they’re thinking that, it’ll just be an intuitive perception.
Professionalism, alone, increases the perception of value from the consumer. They’re not training on a discount, but instead, they’re training with the professional at this craft.
Generating Organic Word of Mouth
That idea that a crowd attracts a crowd is true, at least in my experience.
I think even more than in years past people crave a sense of community and belonging. Perhaps that’s in our nature and Covid may have reminded us of this. Therefore, it might be helpful to look at your role as a trainer, but also a community generator.
When you do that it starts to reshape how you go about your services, at least for me. At this point in my career after 13+ years in this field, I see training as a veneer that I can utilize to build community along with the obvious physical benefits. CrossFit has mastered this. Naming their workouts and making things competitive for demographics that care to do that sort of thing creates a situation in which people bond. When friends are having fun they want to invite other friends too.
What I’m getting is that you can create organic referrals through giving people something to bond over. Whether it’s a struggle, something fun, an event, a challenge, or anything they can rally around it will increase the likelihood of your current clients wanting to share what’s going on in their life with other people.
A simple example of creating camaraderie that we do at my gym is during the holidays. My brother in law and partner will change the names of exercises in a manner that applies to the holiday. On Valentine’s Day we referred to push-ups as “smush ups”. On July 4th he referred to a running part of the workout as a “Revere Run”. These are cheesy dad jokes, but people thought it was dumb yet funny. It creates conversation, camaraderie, and fun!
That is a very simple example. Another thing we do are beer nights once a month or so. Two of our members own the local brewery. We try to do business with small businesses as well, especially ones that use our services. Whenever we have beer nights, our members bring their spouses, their friends, sometimes their kids if they’re old enough. It organically gives us a way to start conversation with new potential clients.
This summer we are inviting all of our clients out to a local minor-league baseball game with their families and friends. We are also looking into renting out a 135 person movie theater where we can show a universally loved movie. We are always looking for ways to generate community and camaraderie.
Something I do with my kids program every month is “Fast Friday”. I break the group of around 20 kids into a few teams and we do fun yet challenging fitness competitions. We give out two separate awards. One is a trophy that one of the little guys made out of tinfoil, which goes to the team that wins the overall competition. Then we have the golden onion award which goes to the young people who exemplify leadership characteristics that their parents want reinforced. All of the kids want to win the golden onion.
I spray-paint onions with a metallic gold. I’m even in the process of having a golden onion logo drawn up so I can put it on T-shirts. It is hilarious, but the kids rally around that. They want me to do a Fast Friday almost every week! However, by doing it less frequently it gives them an organic goal to train for.
Even though there are kids of all different ages between 9 to 18 they all enjoy this and the camaraderie that it builds between them. There are kids who would never talk to each other outside of this setting or who go to different schools and may never have even known each other. Now, they have positive relationships with each other and can’t wait to show up for training every day. Their parents love it so they tell their friends about it. Their friends reach out because they want their children to be involved... it’s all organic.
No discounts, no incentive program, just professionalism, fun, and hopefully lifelong appreciation for the lessons learned and habits built.
Now, back to that statement I made about being trainers and community builders…
Once I started realizing that exercise was a tool for health AND community, it truly morphed my business into something that our members love to rally around and bring new people into.
I hope this gives you some food for thought so you can implement some sort of referral system, whether it be organic or inorganic, to help you grow your clientele. Remember, this all takes time combined with relentless consistency.
Building your business truly is embodying the tortoise approach versus the hare.
Hope this helps! thanks to anyone who cared to read my long-winded blog.