Genocide looked to the sky. He thought of his mentor. The one who had saved him. He remembered his childhood. How powerless he was. He remembered the anger. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He thought of all the times he showed compassion. How much they hurt him for it. He saw the world before him, a graveyard. Humans. People that were supposed to be made in the image of some divine creator. They were but maggots feasting upon his remains. They ate away at his very being until nothing human remained. His thoughts were no longer his own. He had no joys in life that mattered. He hated humanity more than he could love anything about himself. He remember his first killing spree. Being gunned down by police. Left for dead. He remembered a hooded figure moving towards him. Getting closer the more he neared his death. He saw its pale face. Its impossibly black eyes. It was a man. This figure in question appeared to be of Japanese nationality with long, straight, loose hair. It emanated extreme malice. It offered him a choice. A purpose. Power. He thought the figure a reaper but it identified itself as Amakusa Masataka. Masataka guided him on how to kill and gave him specific locations to kill people in. In a sense, he became a hitman for quotas of people. He inquired what Masataka was. The presence of evil, his ability to appear and disappear at will, how he could control what people could see him and what people couldn't. While vague, years of killing for this being offered some insight. Amakusa Masataka belonged to a group of people not of this world. His people had been corrupted by a dark force long ago and had aligned themselves with the warlord who had subjugated their version of Japan. Their dark high priest assisted the warlord along with two others. These four rulers in turn served a larger order. The four were tasked with bringing about the end of the current world as an act of retribution for some fallen deity. Masataka's people acted as covert operatives for this empire. They were feared across the land and were collectively referred to as "Shinigami". An agent of the coming apocalypse, a servant of evil possessed by the will of those gods of death, Genocide would walk the earth.
Genocide stepped toward the station. A police cruiser rammed into him. He pulled out a knife and stabbed the hood of the car. The inhuman force of the knife created sparks which burst the engine into flames. The car crashed into a streetlight and exploded. A second cruiser neared the scene. No way a man could have done this. Yet still, out of the fires Genocide strode forth. It set upon the second vehicle, shooting out it's tires while jumping 9 feet into the air. The car tries to reverse but crashes into a wall. Genocide lands on the hood and kicks through the front window. Glass shatters under its boot, blinding the two officers inside. Genocide shoots one of the officers with a shotgun, killing him. The second officer in the passenger seat readies his pistol and takes aim. Only two shots fired, both directed at Genocide's head. It casually cocks its neck to avoid them. Then it grabs the officer's arm, breaking it. Genocide uses its free hand to grab the officer's head and bangs it into the dashboard no less than 5 times. The skull is shattered on the final impact. Genocide jumps off the car and continues on his mission.
Detective Evans speaks through a megaphone," This is your first and final warning. Stand down or we will use any and all means at our disposal to put you down." Genocide dropped its shotgun and raised its hands. A group of five SWAT team members rushed out the station, surrounding Genocide with riot shields. An officer accompanies them, edging behind the figure to apply handcuffs. Suddenly, Genocide springs to life , grabbing the officer behind him. He flips the officer over his head, slamming him into the pavement at his feet. Then Genocide stomps his head causing it to burst. Genocide drops a flash bomb from his coat sleeve, blinding the SWAT team as he draws his knife. He drives it into one SWAT member, the knife puncturing the shield and piercing his chest. Genocide kicks the corpse away withdrawing his knife. He goes to another, this time using the end of his boot toe in a rising kick to disarm their shield. He grabs them by the throat and drives the knife slowly into their eye socket. Another is tackled to the ground and beaten to death despite still being under the shield. Another is picked up and thrown into the fires still burning from the first auto incident. In no time, Genocide stood before an indistinguishable mass of gore, blood streaking across his black leather outfit. He laughed" So this is all you can give me. I'm not entertained." Officers took aim from the station windows, and snipers did so from other rooftops. Genocide laughed maniacally as he was rained down upon from all sides by a hailstorm of bullets. His body convulsed, but he did not fall. Moments more and he was on his knees. Still though, their efforts were futile. Gracia looked out and saw a black mist coalescing around the man in black. His blood. Blood erupted from his body only to transform into this dark mist that reentered his wounds. Genocide screamed. No. It was just an elevated pitch in his laughter. Optimism failed everyone yet again. Gracia saw Genocide holding something in his right hand. She could only make out a beeping red light. Genocide pushed the button triggering the carefully concealed explosives he laid in preparation for this event. C4 explosives went off in all the places he saw fit. The sniping posts he couldn't reach. The assault of lead lightened. Then Genocide drew an RPG from...somewhere. He collected himself and fired at the station's entrance. The explosion shook the station. From inside, the lights began to flicker. Communications were down on all fronts. Had he modified the rocket with some type of EMP? Not good. Amisdst the confusion Genocide entered using smoke bombs to mask his presence. Moving like a shadow, he killed everyone in the lobby silently with his knife. He made his way to the holding cells. Still they chanted. Still they praised. Still they raved for the arrival of genocide. Genocide shot the lock opening the cell. Jim Jimenez walked out and bowed before his master. Genocide smiled. He couldn't have imagined how proficient he had gotten with possession. Well, not quite possession. He had known of the Shinigami's ability to share their thoughts and emotions with humans. Shinigami like his mentor were ancient. They had so many years of memories, such strong a hatred for life that they overwhelmed the personality of the victim. The victim sees themselves as one of them. Shinigami can't force the will of the victim, so they find those who are already similar to them in some way. Genocide found the collective universal distrust of police to be a prime sentiment to capitalize on. He armed the inmates, infecting them with samples of his own dark essence.One particular inmate caught Genocide's eye. He knew the man's work. An arsonist. The one whom he recalls was responsible for blowing up his first car way back in high school. Rather than a standard firearm, Genocide gave the man a random assortment of grenades containing a special surprise. Genocide showed them visions of anarchy, of sending a message to a society that used and disregarded them. While this was also true of how he felt, years of living in darkness had changed him. He needed no purpose. No end goal. No justification. He just wanted to watch the world burn.
Genocide's small army broke off to engage several different wings of the station. Genocide went to the security room. He found Wayne, his informant, playing some FPS on one of the monitors. Wayne took of his headphones and asked," You kill everyone yet?" Genocide responded," No. You should get going before that happens. Your life becomes fair game if I run out of pigs to cook." Wayne clapped his hands, "Aight, GC my man, say less." He packed his things and left. Genocide drew a twin pair of handguns and laid waste to the station. He followed a group that took cover in the men's restroom. Kicking open multiple stalls he was surprised to find...nothing. Where had they gone? He turned around and saw his mentor, Masataka, smiling at him. It looked like him. Long, dark hair, black clothing, and soulless, empty eyes. But it wasn't. It was Genocide's own reflection in the mirror. Genocide smiled. He didn't notice the changes at first. They must have happened gradually. Subconsciously. From the final stall, an officer sprung into action, rushing Genocide, hitting him point blank with a shockgun round. Genocide felt the tingling sensation electrifying his body and grew numb. In spite of the pain, he took a single step. Then, another. He came within striking range of the officer and snatched the shockgun. Two more officers erupted from another stall, battering him with baton strikes. Genocide felt nothing. He clutched the shockgun in his hand like a bat and went to work pulverizing his attackers. An officer kicked in the bathroom door, a woman holding a pistol. She fired multiple times to no effect. Genocide stood covered in blood. He even let her reload. Twice. He wanted to see her despair. Her hopelessness. He walked towards her, shrugging off bullets as they pierced his body. His wounds healed nigh instantly due to the dark essence he had been imbued with. He held her face with both hands, lifting her body off the ground. As she screamed, he used her head to shatter the restroom mirror, running down the full length of it while smashing her into it at several points. He dropped the remains of what he held, washed his hands with soap, dried them, then exited the restroom.
The inmates that rallied for the cause of genocide attacked the station. Fortunately, they were nowhere near Genocide in terms of power and only carried one type of firearm each. They shared his healing ability but could be killed quite easily. Gracia encountered a sniper on the end or a west wing hallway. Other officers waited behind corners unable to get close. Gracia noticed the faulty lighting. In this hallway, the lights flickered in intervals of 3 seconds. Finding a pattern and timing her movements, she rushed the sniper at the exact moment the lights went out. Running the length of the hall, Gracia zigzagged, dodging the sniper inmate's bullets. She jumped on a wall, ran 3 feet on it, then kicked off it, pouncing on the assailant. She fired five shots into him, making sure to hit the brain and the heart. Two severe injuries that were impossible for Shinigami essence to heal simultaneously. Elsewhere, Evans took on another escaped inmate. A vehicular arsonist named Carson. Carson had a bag filled with an assortment of different grenades and was happily giving them out like candy on Halloween. "A flash bang here, a bit of tear gas there. Oh. Wait! Was that an ice grenade? Did the explosion freeze your leg to the floor? Whoops. Maybe a fire grenade will melt that for you. Hold on let me get one fore you," Carson rambled gleefully. Evans looked at the carnage before him. Officers burning. Officers partially frozen in blocks of ice. He took a breath and aimed his wristgun. He steadied his right forearm. Carson readied to throw a random grenade. Evans shot it the moment it left Carson's hand. The grenade exploded directly in front of Carson. Both Evans and Carson looked at each other in shock. Confetti. A party grenade? Carson quickly fumbled for another but was tackled and restrained by several officers. Meanwhile in the South wing, Lary had some colleagues set a trap for another shotgun toting inmate. He had them bait the inmate and flee. Giving chase he turned a corner and ran straight into Lary's fist. The inmate recovered and motioned to shoot Lary. "Let's tango. " Lary gave the code word. Nearby officers activated a device. A signal jammer of sorts. The inmate shoved the barrel of his gun into Lary's gut and pulled the trigger. Nothing. The special signal jammer in question was designed for firearms. It was a last resort as it left officers just as defenseless. Lary was having fun. He boxed the inmate in hand to hand combat. Despite the inmate's enhanced strength, Lary's technique pulled through. Lary ducked under one of the inmate's wide punches and did some type of rising uppercut where he jumped off the ground while spinning. One of the other officers whispered" The rising dragon." Lary smiled giving a thumbs up" Yeah, it was a rising dragon uppercut. Saw it in one O my kid's vidya games. Thought I'd try it out while I'm jacked on adrenaline".
Jim Jimenez looked long and hard at himself in the mirror. He was in the women's restroom. Some brainless woman had broken the men's restroom mirror with her face. For the first time in a long while Jim could think clearly. He was becoming sane. At the least he was no longer a raving lunatic. The life essence of the dark gods had healed the wounds to both his body and his mind. He saw his face, his scraggly dirty beard. He found a razor and shaved. He trimmed his beard somewhat. He liked it. He washed his hair. It fell down his face like silk, no longer greasy. His bloodshot eyes once burning with crazed intensity had cooled. He blinked. Just for a second, he saw the man known as Genocide. The man that attacked him. The one that killed him and gave him new life. The drug dealers. The police. They were all the same in his eyes now. They were all to blame for the world being what it is. Jim wanted to hate them. He wanted to take revenge, but he felt nothing. It didn't matter. He knew he was wronged, could logically justify acting against them, but he just didn't care anymore. About anything. He was finally free. Sensing his presence was no longer needed here, Jim vanished into the night. He needed to find someone who had had the answers he needed. Himself. Who had he been? Who was he now? Who could he become? Where was he going? So many questions to ponder indefinitely. So much time left in the rest of his life.
Genocide ran down the station's halls raining hailstorms of bullets upon its occupants. He had a handgun in each hand as well as a wristgun on each wrist. This effectively gave him 4 separate firearms that he could use simultaneously. Lary regrouped with Gracia, Evans, and a handful of others. They radioed all surviving officers near Genocide to flee to the roof. This plan had been set in motion days before the assault and had been kept hidden from most of the force. The plan involved scheduling flights for several helicopters to arrive at some point after Genocide arrived. There would be no way for him to prepare for them and pre-scheduling their arrival ensured they arrived regardless of if they were called or not. Lary and the others set about preparing the second jamming device. Genocide stood among a hallway of bodies. He saw one man clinging to life trying to crawl away. He decided on trying that other thing he saw his master do. He grabbed the dying man and pinned him to the wall. Slowly he drove a knife into his chest. As the man's life slipped away, something else entered his body. Genocide channeled a small amount of his essence into the vessel. He had steadily done this with other casualties around the station whose bodies were somewhat salvageable. He dropped the body he was holding and looked upon the others. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his eyed were black, both sclera and iris. The scene before him changed. Genocide had a vision. He saw a dead gray wasteland littered with bodies. These people however weren't cops and wore traditional Japanese attire. In his hand wasn't a gun or knife but a short sickle akin to a farming tool. He heard a dark voice call out to him. Slowly, the corpses around him began to rise, now mere puppets bound eternally to their master's whim. The bodies sold to the reaper who had claimed their lives. Genocide's vision ended. His eyes had returned normal. Around him, dead cops began to rise. His dark essence had entered their bodies and reanimated them. He sent his dead army to attack the officers fleeing to the roof of the station. These zombies swarmed the stairwell giving chase to the few survivors. There were five of them. They had two flights of stairs to climb and a horde of their former colleagues close behind them. One officer tripped and was set upon by the horde. The zombies didn't bite them but held them firmly in place. The other four officers stared down wondering what to do. They could hear Genocide chuckling. They could hear humming. They could feel the temperature rising. Their colleague and the two zombies holding him were hit by an enormous green fireball. Genocide had fired a Magnum Opus and had charged the bullet to level 3. The Magnum Opus was simply a magnum that shot fireballs, with bullets that could be charged by holding down the trigger. It had three levels of charges. Level 1 was a small reddish ball of plasma. Level 2 was slightly larger and yellow. Level 3 was the maximum charge and resulted in a large slow moving green blast of energy. The officer was ignited and Genocide watched gleefully as the force of the blast sent him flying through a wall. The four officers continued up firing occasionally to slow down the zombies. Soon they made it to a door leading to the roof. Before one officer could reach it, he was sniped by Genocide, a bullet to the head killing him instantly. The remaining three made it out. They regrouped with the others already there, 12 in total, including Lary, Evans, and Gracia. This would be their final stand. They just had to hold out until Genocide made it up there. They just had to keep Genocide occupied until the helicopters arrived. Genocide slowly ascended the stairs behind his horde. On the roof, the remaining survivors faced off against waves of the undead. Evans recognized the attackers. These zombies were being controlled by nanomachines. He heard the stories of several weapons encountered by soldiers on the battlefield. These creatures were called Metaldeads as they were reanimated via machines. They had been officially banned by most of the worlds' governments for being unethical. However, this did not stop the technology from being spread still between shady organizations, terrorists, etc. Evans wondered how Genocide got this form of nanotechnology. Evans long speculated that the dark essence used by most of the killers they encountered was a a form of nanotech however it was different from anything else he had seen or heard about. The dark essence seemed to be an amalgamation of other types of nanotech. Evans had to save his inquiries for later. He reloaded his wristgun and took aim at the approaching group of Metaldeads. Gracia steadied her handgun and shot two Metaldeads in the head. From the single door countless arms seemed to spill forth from the darkness. The other officers took turns firing in intervals. this allowed them to create a steady stream of fire where no more that three guns needed to be reloaded at once. The horde seemed to thin out over time as if they were making progress. In actuality, the Metaldeads were just making room for Genocide to enter. Genocide exploded in a sprint from the door. Everyone fired upon the killer. Genocide had now chosen a wrist mounted mini flamethrower to use as his weapon. He stormed past the oncoming bullets taking some damage, but refused to slow down. He unleashed a stream of fire that caught five of the officers in one fell swoop. Gracia fired five rounds into Genocide's face. He stumbled back. Lary took the chance to fire several mine gun bullets at Genocide's feet. The mines quickly detected his movement and exploded. In seconds, Genocide was on his back.
Staring at the night sky Genocide saw the moon. He reached for it. He called for the darkness to give him more power. His wounds began healing. In the sky he could hear the whirl of propellers. There were six helicopters in total. The first two had evacuated the survivors while the others stayed to engage Genocide. Genocide got up and unstrapped the sniper rifle from his back. He stood before the searchlights as a black silhouette, cornered but unwilling to back down. Lary stared down at him smiling. "Okay!" He shouted, "Let's Tango!" Upon this declaration the second jamming device was activated. Now, isolated on the roof, Genocide's guns couldn't be fired and the helicopters were out of range of the device. Now Genocide stood like a sitting duck. A helicopter fired a rocket. Genocide side stepped and grabbed it. He turned his body redirecting the rocket to hit another helicopter. As it exploded Genocide drew his knife and threw it at another helicopter. Behind the knife was such force that it shattered the helicopter window's glass, embedding itself in the pilot. This helicopter too went down where it exploded. "Holy clucknuggets!Did you see that!?" Lary said dumbfounded. Evans looked out the helicopter door he was in jaw open in shock. "There's no way." He collected himself quickly and radioed the remaining two helicopters to keep moving and to use their machineguns as much as possible. The helicopters reigned down upon Genocide tearing apart his body. Shreds of leather and darkened blood sprayed across the pavement of the roof. Gracia watched as Genocide's body was destroyed repeatedly as it tried to heal. Surely he had to stop at some point. After 10 minutes the helicopters had exhausted their cache of ammunition and soldiers opted to fire their own rifles and occasionally throw grenades. After about six minutes, they too had run out of bullets. Genocide stood unfazed. He had long since healed himself and now appeared intangible with gunfire seeming to pass through his body. His coat once ripped , now appeared whole though on closer inspection seemed to writhe. Gracia looked in horror as she remembered the tales her adopted father had told her. Tales he had in turn heard from his predecessors. Every so often officers had reported encounters with ghost like beings cloaked in a cloud of living dark mist. The beings were rumored to be responsible for the deaths of multiple people ranging from scientists, veterans, mafia, politicians, etc. They were seen near such crime scenes and even more shockingly appeared around several sites where suicides were committed. These beings were reportedly impervious to bullets and filled anyone who got near with an impending sense of dread. If Genocide was connected to them or somehow turning into one , there was little chance they would be able to defeat him. Gracia's fears were confirmed when she saw that Genocide's leather coat had been destroyed and he had replaced it with the dark mist coalescing from his own spilled blood. The dark mist, swirling, grew larger and several tendrils sprouted out from it. Gracia could briefly make out a figure standing next to Genocide. A hooded figure cloaked in the same black substance. The figure stared up at her with soulless, blackened eyes which seemed to beckon her to jump from the aircraft she was standing in. Compelling her to give in to the death that plagued the earth. Genocide kneeled to his master. The Shinigami, Masataka stared down at his disciple. "You have done a great service to us. Even now the sealed god stirs in its slumber. Its...Awakening will soon be upon us. It calls out for war. It begs for famine. It longs to continue its conquest. We are the death it so desires. The death that is necessary for this civilization to grow. Use the power that I have bestowed upon you. Finish the mission as you see fit." The Shinigami vanished and Genocide stood.Genocide stared at his hands. He remembered the first killing spree. He was on a bus. It stopped. A woman got on the bus and walked to the back smiling as she passed him. Something about her eyes unnerved him. They were so bright but something dark reflected inside them. He ignored the thought and put in his headphones. In minutes he had dozed off. He jumped awake. He looked around and froze in panic. All around him, everyone had been hacked to pieces. He saw the driver, actively being stabbed by a masked assailant. The mask, painted white with black eyeholes, stared back at him. It raised a finger over where its lips would be. Even under the expressionless visage, he could feel that same smile. He ran home that morning. He went to his room to find it destroyed. His posters, his computer, his tv, everything, had been ruined. He turned around and saw a man at the end of the hallway holding a sledge hammer. "The hell you been, boy?", his stepdad sneered. The man dropped his hammer and walked closer, veins pulsing with rage. He tried to explain how his car had caught fire forcing him to walk 4 miles to the nearest bus stop, but the man's fist was faster than his words. "Boy!Answer me when I talk to you!!" the man says as he backhands the taste out of the would be Genocide's mouth. He took that beating for several minutes before being left to stare at his ransacked room. He hated how his stepdad went out of his way to destroy the things he loved. Soon, another set of footsteps could be heard. It was his mother standing behind his locked door. She didn't knock, or say anything. She just stood there, doing nothing as always. He never knew if she came to talk to him or apologize. All he knew was that she could never bring herself to speak to or even acknowledge him. Maybe out of guilt or perhaps shame. A year or two later after he had had enough he ran away from home. Living out on the streets alone, without friends, or family, he would embark on countless killing sprees. These killings weren't of his own volition however. He was coerced by some corrupt officers from The Unit. They made him kill on their behalf. Sometimes they were protesters, sometimes they were drug dealers, other times, petty criminals they couldn't be bothered to process. It was routine for him to be used to kill entire houses of drug riddled addicts. During one such venture he entered a drug den, killing the dealer as instructed. He took out several junkies before turning to leave. A woman who survived her injuries clung to his heel begging him to stop. Looking down he aimed the handgun he was carrying at her head of long disheveled brown hair and fired. Feeling nothing, he kicked her body aside like trash when it hit him. Her face. This woman had been his mother. What was she doing in a place like this? He felt a shock of emotion. He wondered if she had always been like this, or had she changed after he left. He never made amends, but decided to stop killing from then on. The unit did not like that. Once it became apparent that he was no longer of use to them they started a manhunt to apprehend him with lethal force. They found him. They killed him. But he survived.
He remembered the girl on the bus. He remembered her eyes. Those of a sadistic killer. Still there was something else inside them. Something faint but deeper. So. Much. Sadness. Just like him. He felt the hatred begin to spread. His purpose, he decided, was to make all humans rot in the hell they created for him.
These people, he thought to himself, these living diseases, all needed to die. Their struggles, their problems, they spread like cancer to others. The only cure for humanity's sin, its collective wrongdoings, was genocide.
Around him, dark tendrils continued to form and expand, spinning in a vortex. Genocide pulled out two pistols. He squeezed the triggers to no effect. "As I see fit, huh? Hehe." He squeezed both guns in his hands, breaking them into pieces. He concentrated. In his hands, two more guns materialized now completely black due to being forged from the dark essence. Forged by his will. Immune to the jamming device that shut down conventional firearms. He raised his arms at each remaining helicopter and opened fire. Countless tendrils whipped out and slashed at his targets joining the dark essence bullets. It was chaos. Dark tendrils and bullets tore through every direction as Genocide spun and swirled around in 360 degrees firing randomly with purpose. A tendril pierced Gracia's right arm, another, her abdomen. She was however, fortunate, as the other passengers of her helicopter were dismembered. She barely had time to jump from the vehicle before it crashed. She fell 2 yards onto solid concrete. She felt immense pain as her right shoulder shattered on impact. She looked up to see Genocide's blade like appendages ripping through the other escape helicopters. She rolled onto her back and tried to steady herself. Within seconds her body began to repair itself. The nanocells inside her had saved her life but were now depleted. She would need another supplement lest she receive another fatal injury. The standard nanocells she and the others had were much less potent than those of the killers they faced. In truth, they had only minimal strength boosts being able to lift 5-8 more pounds than before and healing being limited to one or two fatal injuries so long as death didn't occur instantly. Gracia blacked out. She awoke the next morning in a hospital. There the doctors refilled her nanocells. She learned that the station had been left in ruins. Genocide had detonated some type of minature nuke following his rampage. He always blew up the stations as if to send a message. Gracia looked out the window thinking about why she became a cop. Twice her family had been murdered by them. Her biological family had been killed in an on record drug raid committed by a group of corrupt officers called The Unit. She had been adopted by another officer that arrived at the scene who found her as a child hiding in a closed. Sadly, he too was killed for trying to expose the activities of The Unit. Gracia joined the force to avenge both losses and bring justice to the killers that disguised themselves as normal people. Law enforcement was neither good, nor bad. It depended upon the people that made it up. In the dying corrupt world Gracia lived in, she vowed to be a beacon of light. Evans laid in a bed adjacent to Lary. "That damn Genocide's somethin else in' he?Like the stories you told us were understatements. That man could legit not die at this point in the story. Like he has friggin plot armor or somthin.'' Evans cut him off" I get it. We all got our asses handed to us. But did you see that ..thing that appeared next to him. Right before he created that black vortex that wiped us out. That must have something to do with his power. Maybe there's a still a way to stop him."Lary chimed in," That fella looked like he was on the way to a black metal concert wit all the black facepaint he was wearin' Creeped me out to be honest." As the survivors mulled over their predicament, the cycle of evil continued to spread elsewhere.
Budley flips through the pages of a magazine. He checks his watch. He looks around the gas station and doesn't see any customers. Seizing the opportunity, he puts in his headphones and begins playing an imaginary guitar as he jams to a progressive deathcore album. Oblivious to the screams coming from outside, the store clerk moves on to thumping two candy bars on the counter to simulate drums. Budley sees that his shift has ended and begins locking up the store. He sweeps the aisles and jumps as a shadow appears behind him. He turns and sees a well groomed bearded man dressed in a black hoodie, black shirt, and black and gray camo pants. The man holds out his hand and smiles. Budley rings up the pack of nicotine substitute gum. "Tryin to kick the habit huh?" Budley asks. The man replies, "Somethin like that. Gotta get my priorities back in check. Focus on the things that really matter. That damn KonCreep's a hell of a band aren't they?" He nods to the playlist on Budley's phone. "Yeah, they're killer. just got into them a month back." Budley answers. "You know, I'm something of a musician myself. Maybe you'll hear of me on the news someday." Jim Jimenez says as he sees himself out. He walks to the back of the building and passes an ominous form of graffiti. A woman lays unmoving and above her, written on concrete in red is a message that simply says "Genocide Reigns".

Here’s the thing: in ZD, the metal flowers were a bit of unexplained tech found in random places. They were always surrounded by a triangle pattern of organic flowers, and when scanned contained snippets of code that read as poetry. I found this incredibly charming (especially at first, when I thought the flowers themselves were writing the verse – that turns out not to be the case, but having a flower quote Keats at me wasn’t exactly a letdown either).
It brought up so many questions! Were these part of the terraforming system somehow? If so, were they planned in advance, or were they a spontaneous creation of the system, and if so, what niche were they supposed to fill? Most especially, why were they filled with the writings of long-dead poets? And then at the end of the game when you find Elisabet surrounded by the same triangular floral arrangement as the metal flowers, I think I actually cried; it was like the Earth (or at least Gaia) had created a kind of sacred space, thanking the woman who had given up everything to give Life another chance.
But in FW, the metal flowers get retconned into being a weapon (of sorts) developed to try and stop or slow the Faro plague. In fact they’ve become an in-game nuisance, just there to block off swag (and one stuck Land God). The surrounding organic flowers are all gone and there isn’t a line of poetry to be scanned. Maybe it's just another symptom of the system breaking down, but this isn't stated explicitly or even implied anywhere.
It was a huge disappointment. Anyone else feel the same?

Out there - Patreon (for all those curious or wanting to support :))
At the Beginning
Adventure Arc - Arc 2
Wilderness Arc - Arc 3
Academy Arc - Arc 4
Nobility Arc - Arc 5
Previously on Leveling up the World...
Reality shifted, transforming into an endless forest of purple glowing vines among green and yellow trees. Minuscule creatures of all shapes and sizes flew about. To the untrained eye they seemed charming, even beautiful, yet they were all parasites taking advantage of the richness of magic threads for sustenance. They weren’t the problem, though. Other entities were also present in force—aether golems.
Summoning a clay cylinder, Dallion unleashed a ray of destruction, shattering hundreds of the crimson-purple constructs like glass. The spell was followed by a spark infused spiral attack directly below.
​
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 78%
​
Large chunks of land erupted at the impact, transforming into clouds of dirt high up in the air. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any more golems hidden in the soil.
“Seventy-eight,” Dallion said as he gently floated to the ground. “Mages really don’t maintain anything, do they?”
The life of academia is filled with its own challenges, dear boy, Adzorg protested, practically admitting the statement. That’s a domain ruler’s job.
“I suppose it is.”
Dallion looked at his feet. They were there, along with his shoes and the lower part of his trousers. Nothing seemed to be wrong with them, yet this was only a fake projection. In the real world, they no longer existed.
There’s no reason to be alarmed. With your magic and body levels, you should be able to have them restored in a matter of months. Until then, you’ll just have to use aether stand-ins, or even a good illusion, if you prefer.
Dallion considered it. If there was someone who’d know, that would be Adzorg. The mage had his hands severed not too long ago. Looking at him now, no one would be able to guess that they had been gradually restored over the course of months.
​
REALM INVASION
​
Red rectangles filled the sky.
“Seems like they’ve taken me seriously.” Dallion stood up. His real-life troubles would have to wait.
Knowing Alien, he probably only modified the golems to treat you as an intruder. The area guardian must have stepped in.
“Doesn’t the emperor control this? Or an overseer?”
The Academy has always been sort of different, dear boy, Adzorg explained. While we serve the emperor, we’re technically autonomous.
“Like the Order.”
To a certain degree. Think of this realm as isolated. That’s why moving it around isn’t as easy as moving everything else. Due to the magic concentration and frequent experiments, the area has become… more susceptible to other worlds. That’s why I did my experiments here—it’s far easier to break through the protective barrier here than elsewhere. Well, except the fallen south, possibly. The old mage added with a brief laugh. To prevent anything spilling out into the rest of Tamin’s domain, the Academy is isolated from everything else.
“That shouldn’t stop him from coming here in case he wants to,” Dallion said.
Not in the least. That doesn’t make it desirable, though.
That was a strange statement. There were too many benefits for the emperor not to get involved. Even if he were afraid that someone might do what he had done to the archbishop. Either way, the faster Dallion could take control of the domain, the better. He knew he couldn’t keep it, but that wouldn’t prevent him from transporting a few pieces to his own territory. As for what was left, he’d make sure that no one could take advantage of it in the future.
Aqui, he said within his personal realm.
The orange-scaled dragon emerged within seconds. Ten times larger than in the real world, she was doing her best to present herself larger than she actually was. Even so, her present level was clearly visible should anyone look at her white rectangle.
“Grasped the concept of eating?” Dallion looked at her.
The large dragon snarled.
“Can you do it from within the realm?”
The anger changed into bewilderment.
“No one can consume magic from within a realm,” she said defensively. Dallion knew for a fact that wasn’t the case. He himself had done so many times and he wasn’t the only one.
“What about outside? How fast can you drain the area of magic?”
“Why?” She lowered her head, bringing it to Dallion’s level.
“I’m going to do something and when I do, we’ll have to get out of here quickly.”
The dragon snorted right at Dallion.
“It would be nice if you can reach level ten at least.”
Pride filled the dragon’s body, as blue blobs the size of houses emerged within her. There was no way that she would only level up to such a low level. Of course, Dallion’s subtle use of music skills had also helped in the making of the decision.
Before anyone could say anything more, a cluster of aether cones flew straight at him. Free of the confines of reality, the armadil shield teleported between him and the projectiles, growing three times its size.
Unable to counter the force, Gem was pushed back dozens of feet to the point it reached Dallion himself. Extending one hand, the otherworlder easily countered the attack.
Aquilequia, on her part, had used her natural speed to move away before the cones even got close.
“Best leave.” He said, glancing at her new location. “After I’m done, I’ll need you to be at least as strong as this.”
The dragon didn’t respond, yet didn’t leave the realm, either. Curious as every low-level companion, she moved a safe distance away, eager to see exactly what was referred to. Meanwhile, Dallion sprang into action. With speed surpassing that of Aquilequia, he dashed around the shield, heading straight for the source of the aether cones. To little surprise, they were being released from five spell circles, at huge intensity. More curious was the entity that had cast them.
​
LEARNING HALL GUARDIAN
Species: COPYETTE
Class: SHADOW
Health: 78%
Traits:
- BODY 45
- MIND 60
- REACTION 55
- PERCEPTION 50
- MAGIC 100
Skills:
- ATTACK
- GUARD
- ACROBATICS
- SCHOLAR
- CARVING
- MUSIC
- SPELLCRAFT
Weakness: NONE
​
“Never thought you’d be a copyette,” Dallion said as he performed a series of slashes targeting vital points on the guardian.
Each of them hit, yet instead of red rectangles, the form transformed into cyan sludge that splashed onto the ground.
“Lucky coincidence?” Dallion split into instances, using his music skills to add doubt and weight into his words. “Or were you working for the Order all this time?”
“Nice to see you too, apprentice.” A new figure formed. It was very different from the first, taking on the form of Alien. Spells circles formed in different spots hundreds of feet from Dallion, each releasing anything from lightning to aether shards.
Despite the overwhelming amount, not a single one of Dallion’s instances got harmed. Performing a three-sixty line attack with his harpsisword, he sliced through the new appearance of the guardian, breaking the spell circles in the process.
Don’t be overconfident, Giaccia said. Experience trumps level every time.
There was no way Dallion could disagree. There was a time when he, too, had defeated opponents many levels above him. While it was said that a ten-level difference was insurmountable, the guardian was a copyette with a very high magic trait.
“You can always surrender,” Dallion said, looking in all directions with his instances.
“It’s just like you to offer.” Two forms of the guardian appeared in different locations, now taking on the forms of children in Dallion’s class. “And no, I’m not working for Simon, even if he put me here.”
Dallion dashed, appearing next to one of his former classmates, slicing it to bits using a multi attack.
“Wrong one.” The other form laughed.
Dallion was fully aware that both of them were wrong. His real goal was to try and figure out where the rest of the guardian was hiding. As a copyette, he could create dozens of copies, all an insignificant part of his overall body. Destroying each individual one wouldn’t do anything; harming the one considered the main one might.
He’s stalling for time, Giaccia said.
“Your music attacks are rather good.” Two more copyette forms emerged. “Sadly, it doesn’t depend on me. You’ll have to deal with the main guardian for that. I’m just here to obtain information. Being a hunter, you should know that.”
“It’s been a while since I was a hunter,” Dallion replied. “I’m not an apprentice, either.”
“That’s true. You made full mage, didn’t you? Also, I heard that you were an archduke shortly before rebelling. Quite the achievement.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m just like my grandfather.” Dallion let it slip.
“Your grandfather?” Confusion emanated from the copyette. “I was about to say that you’re like Jeremy. A lot more straightforward, to be sure, but the drive is there along with the skill.”
Going by large areas, there had to be roughly ten guardians responsible for the realm. Defeating them would effectively make Dallion the new owner. A faster and more challenging way, though, was taking on the main guardian.
No time to hesitate, the harpsisword Guardian reminded Dallion.
It would be a lie to say that Dallion wasn’t. Even with all the copyette’s tricks, he had enough raw power to defeat the guardian, destroying a large part of the realm in the process. It was no accident that of all the key guardians, this one had been sent to reveal his skills. Dallion had spent a significant part of his life in the Learning Hall. While not particularly long in terms of time, it had marked a significant change in Dallion’s life. Before that he was little more than a skill game piece—barely defeating the Star, he was on the run from Countess Priscord, and in debt to the void. His life at the learning hall of the Academy had elevated him to the point that the emperor, the Order, and even the Moons themselves had taken notice.
“Yes.” Dallion sighed. “There’s no time for hesitation.”
Summoning his aura sword, he slashed the air, casting a flight spell that propelled him up like a rocket. Half a mile above the ground, he stopped.
“Sorry, Learning Hall,” he said, slashing the air in what appeared to be a multi attack. Magic symbols and connections were drawn, yet instead of casting multiple five-circle spells, Dallion cast one complex spell chain.
A vortex of spell circles emerged beneath him, shooting bolts of magic draining lightning.
​
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 77%
​
Realm section damaged!
Overall completion 76%
​
Red rectangles popped up as the ground became covered in craters. Aether projectiles shot up to him in response, most of them blocked by the aether shield before reaching Dallion himself.
“Thanks, but no need,” Dallion unsummoned the shield, unwilling to have it be accidentally affected by his magic draining spell.
​
CRITICAL STRIKE
Dealt damage is increased by 200%
​
A few purple rectangles appeared among the mass of red. At the current rate, the Learning Hall guardian would be defeated in a matter of seconds. Hopefully, there would be enough left for Dallion to restore afterwards. Were this to be the Hall’s realm, there would be no concern on the matter—defeating a guardian merely improved it. In this case, the realm was the Academy, though, not the Learning Hall itself.
Suddenly, a sun gold colossus emerged less than a few hundred feet away. A massive hand reached out and grabbed the vortex from beneath Dallion. Sparks of lightning enveloped the fingers, yet had no effect whatsoever.
A second hand reached for Dallion himself, but he had already darted further back, safely avoiding the attack.
So, that’s the Academy? Dallion looked at the glittering mountain of gold. When it came to the colossus, he shared many of the same characteristics. The one major difference was the colossus’ “attire.” Not the usual Roman-Greek design that Dallion had seen before, the design followed twenty century Earth norms.
“It’s been ages since a domain ruling mage has ventured in this realm,” the colossus said in a booming voice. “You’re the second so far.”
“What happened to the first?” Dallion concentrated. Not a single domain marker appeared anywhere along the guardian’s body.
“He created this area and made sure that no other mage will be able to take it.”

I have made a list of things that I think need to be improved, changed or fixed based on my in-game experience. Please note that these are just my *opinions* and feel free to explain why (if) you disagree in the comments or share your own suggestions. Some of them may be already present in the game. Sorry if I missed. Try not to downvote to hell just because you don't like a single article :D

Suggestions:

1. Click-and-drag scrolling for easier navigation through the game menus.
2. Photo mode that allows players to hide the HUD, perfect for capturing those heroic moments.
3. Simpler notifications: Relocate objective and mission completion notifications to the top of the screen and minimize them to reduce screen clutter. It is hard to aim for weak spots when you are playing at high difficulty and have a big wall of text in the middle of your screen.
4. Help: Add a “Help” voice command to the Q radial menu wheel. + more&new commands?
5. Crosshair: Option to hide the aiming reticle/crosshair because it simply doesn’t help at all when you have another round crosshair in the middle that shows where your shots actually go. It also blocks the view for long range aiming.
6. Hiding nameplates / Streamer mode: Option to toggle player names.
7. Equipment preview: Armor and helmets should be shown as sets when you hover your mouse over them or choose them instead of the default diver armohelmet. OR previewing a helmet shouldn’t change the player's armor to the default and show the current set that the player has equipped and vice versa for previewing armor.
8. SOS Beacon don't show up on the stratagem menu when your team doesn't have 4 players or after a player leaves the mission.
9. Versatile Jump Packs: Allow the use of primary or secondary weapons with jump packs. Also, a superhero landing pose if you hold down B while landing airborne with the jump pack.
10. Increased jump distance or jump height for jump packs slightly.
11. Super Punisher: Add a flashlight to the Punisher shotgun and some other primary/support weapons that do not have them, so divers can shed light on the darkest enemies of our way of life.
12. Standardize weapon ergonomics: Some primary weapons handle like autocannon while some handle like a pocket gun.
13. Delay on EAT: Sometimes EAT do not fire after you equip and aim it. I try to fire a few times and nothing happens.
14. Arc Thrower & Blitzer: Lightning arcs should damage Terminid eggs. Don't make their arcs jump between the eggs if you think it would be OP, but being able to kill a charger with an arc thrower and yet failing to destroy a smoll egg is kinda lame.
15. Booster Icons: Add booster icons next to team stratagem list that show up when you press CTRL, so we can see what our fellow divers chose to bring.
16. Shield Generator Relay: Sometimes explosions happening outside will kill, stagger or damage the player standing inside the shield. Outside explosions should have much less or no effect on player.
17. Bile Titans tanking Hellpods: Sometimes -almost always lol- Titans don't take any damage, get staggered or die even if you land directly on their head or body with a hellpod.
18. Improved Incendiaries: Prolong the burn time of incendiary grenades for a few more seconds. They seem to go out before they even kill anything or deny an entry.
19. Convenient Flamethrower: Remove the movement speed penalty of firing the flamethrower OR increase the flamethrower’s range by 3-5 meters. Enemies mostly start to attack you, as soon as they enter the range of your flamethrower already. If you believe first option would be unbalanced, then you can make it only avaliable for armors with speed stats above +520
20. Improve Patriot Exosuit: Fix the aiming and accuracy of the Patriot Exosuit missiles. Also, we need much better gun&pod elevation and depression for a 10 minute cooldown stratagem imo.
21. Fall damage variation: Fall damage needs to differ between armor sets that you have equipped. Players with light armor should take less damage. However, if you want to give another advantage to heavy armor sets, then you can make heavy armors decrease/negate fall damage to some extent because they would be more protective etc.
22. Fire effects rework: I don’t know if it is just how it seemed to me instead of how it works but fire effects from napalms, grenades etc. only create flames that are scattered around instead of a big strong wall/pool of fire. These flames make it easier to walk around or through them for enemies and take less damage inside the affected area. I think everything inside a circular radius needs to take constant fire damage. Idk how to explain this better. Sorry if it is already how it works.

Obviously every 20 minutes a public event spawns, the last thing i want to see pop up at that 20 minute mark is tea time, lode baring, swarm of suiters. These events are old, have been done hundreds of times by older players and just aren’t as rewarding or fun as the newer public events, so why are they still taking up the public event space? I know you can just server hop to find a server with a better event, but that is a hassle and it can still take a while to find an event the players even bother doing.
I’m not saying that they should be fully removed from the game, but turned into regular events instead, like collision course, leader of the pack or something like that because some of them are fun events with good rewards and they’re good for newer players, like feed the people. But why do these older events need to block the newer ones, especially with the skyline valley adding new public events soon.

What people don't tell you about fear, is that it comes over you like snow: in waves.
The sky could be quiet and sickly white, devoid of its light lost to the melting ice over the surface of the earth. The snow puts on pressure: the highest drains on the block roofs are groaning with the wind. The sludge of decaying snow is brought up, high up by human feet as the water accumulates on the steps. The Eastern winter is not a calm place from the eyes of one who stares at it through a window. While the adults force their boots through the sea of white and children coming from school mutilate the white through their own games, one cannot feel the cold or the rain under a roof; above that another roof, and soon another, climbing the floors of the towering block among the white earth.
Within the cells of the building, families huddle in rooms, mindlessly enjoying the human company all people crave like dogs for meat. And lonely people huddle with the light in their rooms, the isolated and ill who could not bring themselves to play their part among the web of people that treads over the snow every winter. And we seem to notice: notice how the people change themselves when the skies go white and the nights long and black, how they weave in and out of buildings, heat up food and homes, how they match the weary winter.
Now notice how the fear doesn't leave with the sun, the light cut short by winter's nights. The people watching life through the windows have stepped away from the taunting eyes that litter the building's walls. Some lie in their bed, wondering how many days they can force through, how much longer can they experience the human life. The block is full of these isolated, during day they sleep and in night they stand on balconies. They leave the cold rooms, they smoke and watch the dead white city through empty air. To many, the long nights bring comfort.
The fear inevitably arrives not long later, along with the sun.
Along with the true human people as they wake, having slept through the tedious hours of night. And this phenomenon iterates itself, it plays out each night as if in a time loop, until the first man walks onto his balcony, looks out into the stars and doesn't walk back into his room again.
And in the white day do the happy people see the stains on the snow? And do they notice, do they react?
Waves will soon run out of energy, and the snow will stop falling. One hour it will fall in its final finale in the winter, and the man who looks on through his window will feel fear for the very list time.

Welcome the The Redditor's Mcc Sim, where every player is a member from the subreddit! I've wanted to do this ever since I started making mcc sims, but at the time I didn't know how I was going to get people to sign up and stuff. But lately, some other people on the subreddit have been doing this, and now I've figured out how to make my own version!
In order to participate, you will need to fill out this form. You will have 40 points to assign across 6 skillsets, which are:
Melee Pvp (Fighting with swords and axes)
Ranged Pvp (Fighting with bows, crossbows, and tridents)
Standard Movement (Parkour and block placing)
Dynamic Movement (Movement with Elytra and Tridents)
Comms (Communicating with your team)
PVE (Crafting, killing mobs, etc.)
Each skillset can have a max of 10 points and a minimum of 1 point. You also do not have to use all of your 40 points. This mechanic was inspired by u/bloonsisgr8.
The games in the rotation are:
Ace Race
Battle Box
Grid Runners
Hole In The Wall
Meltdown
Parkour Tag
Sands Of Time
Survival Games
TGTTOSAWAF
On the form, you will need to choose what your best, second best, and worst games will be out of these.
I will allow 2 days for people to sign up. If you sign up once the 2 days are past, I will not accept you in. I'm still a noob at google forms so I don't know how to set time limits and stuff.
Anyway, here is the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd4Y4DP0id5d5aj42b0mGdsv7WnqMNe_7UgnQqKpnbcMcwgcQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
Once I've gathered enough participants, the actual sim will probably be posted next week. I'm really looking forward to doing this.

When you reach door 60 you can go through a crack wall and find yourself in a secret room that leads to The Rooms, a reference to a game of the same name that inspired Doors. When dying to an entity in this place, we are not greeted by Guiding Light (GL) but instead by the yellow Curious Light (CL). The behavior of CL is odd, it’s quite vague and generally less helpful than GL, but it does encourage the player to come back implying that it needs the players help for something. It is suspected that CL requires the player to be able to escape The Rooms because in the recent Backdoor update, upon leaving The Rooms or The Backdoor, the player exits through a doorframe covered in yellow cracks and stars.
Speaking of which, backtracking to Door 60 there is a painting that has no title of a large yellow star. It is suspected this star is a symbol that represents CL.
Processing img ofihp1mdaa0d1...
This painting hides more secrets however. Also in this room are 3 chairs placed together. As far as I remember, these chairs have always been in this room, and I thought of them as significant but with nothing to connect it to. This is no longer the case as of the modifiers update because now, if you enter this room with at least 1 modifier turned on, the painting changes to this:
Processing img 27omnf2taa0d1...
Two more symbols appear on the painting, one of a blue crescent moon, and one of the red modifier icon. If CL is connected to the star icon, then who is connected to the other two? The crescent moon is obviously Guiding Light, sharing the same blue color and the crescent moon icon appearing when using the crucifix. The modifier icon however doesn’t belong to a light we’ve met yet, they have however made appearances. But first I need to talk about what the lights are, and what they want. When a player uses the crucifix, one of the symbols that appears is a closed string of wingdings, which when translated and put through a Caeser cipher translates to, “One Of The Three Architects Marked By Celestials Assists You”. Three architects, three icons, three chairs, three lights. So the lights are referred to as architects, but what does this mean? Game Theory believes the reason they are called Architects is the lights have the ability to change the layout of The Hotel, and GL uses this ability to turn The Hotel into a labyrinth keeping the hostile entities trapped inside.
In The Hotel the players goal is to make it to Door 100. The reason for this isn’t clear, but I speculate that in the upcoming Mines update there is some kind of escape from The Hotel for the player. Guiding Light seems to support the player in this endeavor, remembering the past deaths of players, which suggests that death itself is not an escape from The Hotel. El Goblino mentions other humans he has seen attempting to reach Door 100, so I believe that humans who become trapped in The Hotel need to reach The Mines in order to escape, and every time they die they reappear at the beginning of The Hotel and GL assists them each time. GL assists the player by glowing in certain areas to highlight them, items like the candle and the crucifix to defend against the enemies, and of course providing tips for dealing with the entities upon death. Finally I believe the rift in the Electrical Room that stores items to be used in another run is another power of GL (which is important later). Curious Light as already mentioned is less helpful than GL but nonetheless needs the player’s help in The Rooms. In the Backdoor update CL seems more acquainted with the player and more inclined to help, giving better tips, providing Starlight Vials with his star icon, and placing the levers in The Backdoor to keep Haste at bay further supporting the lights ability to change The Hotel as the Architects.
But what about the third architect, represented by the red modifier icon? With the evidence I have gathered, I believe this architect is a malevolent entity allied with the hostile entities. In a post by they suggest looking at the painting like a coordinate plane, with GL’s icon falling in the Positive, Positive section suggesting to symbolize GL as a force of good, CL falling dead center to symbolize neutrality, both of which makes a lot of sense given their personalities, and finally the modifier icon falling into the Negative, Negative section symbolizing our final architect as a force of evil. How do we prove this? First let’s look at the modifiers themselves, since this light is clearly connected to them. The modifiers are able to control the entities behavior, affect The Hotel, and even disable Guiding Light! This isn’t the only instance of modifiers affecting GL either, when modifiers are turned on GL is not present to give tips on the entities and the biggest piece of evidence suggesting rivalry between this architect and GL is that the more modifiers are turned on, the SMALLER GL’s icon gets in the painting.
Processing img lusrzpwdba0d1...
Next we have the red barrier that blocks access to The Rooms when modifiers are turned on. We know this is an ability of the Architects because CL does the same thing for The Backdoor until players reach The Rooms for the first time. Why would the Red Light do this? I speculate it is because it (and GL) don’t have much control over areas like The Rooms or The Backdoor since you can’t use modifiers in those areas.
Finally I want to look at the Tower Heroes collab event. While the event itself is not canon to the lore, I want to point out an interesting detail from this event. When playing a Doors-themed level you typically are assisted by GL giving tips in between each wave of enemies. CL also makes an appearance in this event in Adventure mode giving hints to the secret Void boss fight. However, one particular Weekly Challenge during that event called, “Hotel Visitors” had the player assume the role of Figure defending the Library. This time, instead of GL giving tips we are assisted by something speaking in RED text, which the community referred to as Mischievous Light. They could have just as easily made GL talk during this challenge but they specifically chose to replace GL with something else. Not only that, they gave this Mischievous Light some personality, referring to the enemies as “trespassers”. It just fits so perfectly that I can’t help but believe it to be intentional.
Processing img tsy0yrfpka0d1...
Now that I’ve thoroughly explained the Red Light/Mischievous Light (ML), let’s circle back to Curious Light. Going back to the Door 60 painting, there is one more detail I’d like to discuss, and that is the fact that CL’s icon is much larger than GL’s or ML’s. I believe this is a representation of how powerful each Architect actually is. This is supported by GL’s icon shrinking when the player adds more modifiers, suggesting that they weaken GL. Furthermore GL and ML seem to possess a different set of powers, while CL seems to possess it’s own unique powers as well being able to replicate the other Architect’s. Like GL, Curious Light does glow on the entrance to and exits from The Rooms, and if we use the Bottle of Starlight bought at the end of The Backdoor on GL’s rift, it creates a second yellow rift. We don’t currently have any more similar powers between CL and ML besides the barriers they both create but I believe ML doesn’t consider CL an enemy like it does with GL (more on that in a second). Finally, only CL seems to be able to affect The Rooms and The Backdoor.
When dying to Blitz for the first time in The Backdoor we are greeted by Curious Light who drops a very strange detail:
Processing img oea3ahgdja0d1...
We haven’t met anyone in The Hotel that’s been confirmed to be female so who could Curious Light be referring to here? The identity of this character is not yet clear, but the first candidate that people have suspected is Guiding Light, and sure on the surface that makes sense; they’re both Architects and we’ve seen them both talk but not necessarily to each other. But upon further inspection it doesn’t make sense for GL to be this character for one specific reason: the fact that this character decided to give Blitz a name. According to dialogue from GL and a tweet from the devs, the names of the entities in The Hotel were given by the player, NOT GL. If other humans have been to The Hotel then GL has been there for some time and has never bothered to give the entities names, so why would it start now? You know who’s more likely to give these entities names? Mischievous Light, the architect supposedly allied with these entities. This belief is shared by Game Theory, which I was super excited to see in their most recent theory.
So what is ML up to talking with CL? I believe that ML wants CL and possibly the player to join them. If CL is the most powerful architect and has dominion over The Rooms and The Backdoor, they would be a great ally to have. But what about the player? As we’ve discussed, despite CL’s power, they need the player’s help to access other areas, and in The Mines possibly will exist an escape from The Hotel that ONLY the player has the ability to open. If we take the Tower Heroes collab into consideration, ML initially sees players as “trespassers” and wants the entities to kill them. However, what if the modifiers are a test by ML to evaluate the player’s usefulness? Furthermore, not all modifiers are bad and actually make the game easier, so while ML definitely sees GL as an enemy, it may not be the same case for CL and the player. I speculate that Mischievous Light’s ultimate goal is to use the player to help the entities escape The Hotel, bringing death and destruction to whatever unfortunate world awaits behind the exit door.
But that’s just a theory, a DOORS THEORY! Thanks for reading!

When you reach door 60 you can go through a crack wall and find yourself in a secret room that leads to The Rooms, a reference to a game of the same name that inspired Doors. When dying to an entity in this place, we are not greeted by Guiding Light (GL) but instead by the yellow Curious Light (CL). The behavior of CL is odd, it’s quite vague and generally less helpful than GL, but it does encourage the player to come back implying that it needs the players help for something. It is suspected that CL requires the player to be able to escape The Rooms because in the recent Backdoor update, upon leaving The Rooms or The Backdoor, the player exits through a doorframe covered in yellow cracks and stars.
Speaking of which, backtracking to Door 60 there is a painting that has no title of a large yellow star. It is suspected this star is a symbol that represents CL.
Processing img ofihp1mdaa0d1...
This painting hides more secrets however. Also in this room are 3 chairs placed together. As far as I remember, these chairs have always been in this room, and I thought of them as significant but with nothing to connect it to. This is no longer the case as of the modifiers update because now, if you enter this room with at least 1 modifier turned on, the painting changes to this:
Processing img 27omnf2taa0d1...
Two more symbols appear on the painting, one of a blue crescent moon, and one of the red modifier icon. If CL is connected to the star icon, then who is connected to the other two? The crescent moon is obviously Guiding Light, sharing the same blue color and the crescent moon icon appearing when using the crucifix. The modifier icon however doesn’t belong to a light we’ve met yet, they have however made appearances. But first I need to talk about what the lights are, and what they want. When a player uses the crucifix, one of the symbols that appears is a closed string of wingdings, which when translated and put through a Caeser cipher translates to, “One Of The Three Architects Marked By Celestials Assists You”. Three architects, three icons, three chairs, three lights. So the lights are referred to as architects, but what does this mean? Game Theory believes the reason they are called Architects is the lights have the ability to change the layout of The Hotel, and GL uses this ability to turn The Hotel into a labyrinth keeping the hostile entities trapped inside.
In The Hotel the players goal is to make it to Door 100. The reason for this isn’t clear, but I speculate that in the upcoming Mines update there is some kind of escape from The Hotel for the player. Guiding Light seems to support the player in this endeavor, remembering the past deaths of players, which suggests that death itself is not an escape from The Hotel. El Goblino mentions other humans he has seen attempting to reach Door 100, so I believe that humans who become trapped in The Hotel need to reach The Mines in order to escape, and every time they die they reappear at the beginning of The Hotel and GL assists them each time. GL assists the player by glowing in certain areas to highlight them, items like the candle and the crucifix to defend against the enemies, and of course providing tips for dealing with the entities upon death. Finally I believe the rift in the Electrical Room that stores items to be used in another run is another power of GL (which is important later). Curious Light as already mentioned is less helpful than GL but nonetheless needs the player’s help in The Rooms. In the Backdoor update CL seems more acquainted with the player and more inclined to help, giving better tips, providing Starlight Vials with his star icon, and placing the levers in The Backdoor to keep Haste at bay further supporting the lights ability to change The Hotel as the Architects.
But what about the third architect, represented by the red modifier icon? With the evidence I have gathered, I believe this architect is a malevolent entity allied with the hostile entities. In a post by they suggest looking at the painting like a coordinate plane, with GL’s icon falling in the Positive, Positive section suggesting to symbolize GL as a force of good, CL falling dead center to symbolize neutrality, both of which makes a lot of sense given their personalities, and finally the modifier icon falling into the Negative, Negative section symbolizing our final architect as a force of evil. How do we prove this? First let’s look at the modifiers themselves, since this light is clearly connected to them. The modifiers are able to control the entities behavior, affect The Hotel, and even disable Guiding Light! This isn’t the only instance of modifiers affecting GL either, when modifiers are turned on GL is not present to give tips on the entities and the biggest piece of evidence suggesting rivalry between this architect and GL is that the more modifiers are turned on, the SMALLER GL’s icon gets in the painting.
Processing img lusrzpwdba0d1...
Next we have the red barrier that blocks access to The Rooms when modifiers are turned on. We know this is an ability of the Architects because CL does the same thing for The Backdoor until players reach The Rooms for the first time. Why would the Red Light do this? I speculate it is because it (and GL) don’t have much control over areas like The Rooms or The Backdoor since you can’t use modifiers in those areas.
Finally I want to look at the Tower Heroes collab event. While the event itself is not canon to the lore, I want to point out an interesting detail from this event. When playing a Doors-themed level you typically are assisted by GL giving tips in between each wave of enemies. CL also makes an appearance in this event in Adventure mode giving hints to the secret Void boss fight. However, one particular Weekly Challenge during that event called, “Hotel Visitors” had the player assume the role of Figure defending the Library. This time, instead of GL giving tips we are assisted by something speaking in RED text, which the community referred to as Mischievous Light. They could have just as easily made GL talk during this challenge but they specifically chose to replace GL with something else. Not only that, they gave this Mischievous Light some personality, referring to the enemies as “trespassers”. It just fits so perfectly that I can’t help but believe it to be intentional.
Processing img tsy0yrfpka0d1...
Now that I’ve thoroughly explained the Red Light/Mischievous Light (ML), let’s circle back to Curious Light. Going back to the Door 60 painting, there is one more detail I’d like to discuss, and that is the fact that CL’s icon is much larger than GL’s or ML’s. I believe this is a representation of how powerful each Architect actually is. This is supported by GL’s icon shrinking when the player adds more modifiers, suggesting that they weaken GL. Furthermore GL and ML seem to possess a different set of powers, while CL seems to possess it’s own unique powers as well being able to replicate the other Architect’s. Like GL, Curious Light does glow on the entrance to and exits from The Rooms, and if we use the Bottle of Starlight bought at the end of The Backdoor on GL’s rift, it creates a second yellow rift. We don’t currently have any more similar powers between CL and ML besides the barriers they both create but I believe ML doesn’t consider CL an enemy like it does with GL (more on that in a second). Finally, only CL seems to be able to affect The Rooms and The Backdoor.
When dying to Blitz for the first time in The Backdoor we are greeted by Curious Light who drops a very strange detail:
Processing img oea3ahgdja0d1...
We haven’t met anyone in The Hotel that’s been confirmed to be female so who could Curious Light be referring to here? The identity of this character is not yet clear, but the first candidate that people have suspected is Guiding Light, and sure on the surface that makes sense; they’re both Architects and we’ve seen them both talk but not necessarily to each other. But upon further inspection it doesn’t make sense for GL to be this character for one specific reason: the fact that this character decided to give Blitz a name. According to dialogue from GL and a tweet from the devs, the names of the entities in The Hotel were given by the player, NOT GL. If other humans have been to The Hotel then GL has been there for some time and has never bothered to give the entities names, so why would it start now? You know who’s more likely to give these entities names? Mischievous Light, the architect supposedly allied with these entities. This belief is shared by Game Theory, which I was super excited to see in their most recent theory.
So what is ML up to talking with CL? I believe that ML wants CL and possibly the player to join them. If CL is the most powerful architect and has dominion over The Rooms and The Backdoor, they would be a great ally to have. But what about the player? As we’ve discussed, despite CL’s power, they need the player’s help to access other areas, and in The Mines possibly will exist an escape from The Hotel that ONLY the player has the ability to open. If we take the Tower Heroes collab into consideration, ML initially sees players as “trespassers” and wants the entities to kill them. However, what if the modifiers are a test by ML to evaluate the player’s usefulness? Furthermore, not all modifiers are bad and actually make the game easier, so while ML definitely sees GL as an enemy, it may not be the same case for CL and the player. I speculate that Mischievous Light’s ultimate goal is to use the player to help the entities escape The Hotel, bringing death and destruction to whatever unfortunate world awaits behind the exit door.
But that’s just a theory, a DOORS THEORY! Thanks for reading!

Monday, May 6, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH] Drake - The Heart Part 6	link	+10019	TheJakInDaBox
[FRESH] Masego - BBL Drizzy Sax Diss.wav	link	+5616	nemesisdelta24
[FRESH] Megan Thee Stallion - I Think I love Her Freestyle	link	+1840	ioweej
[FRESH] Mach-Hommy & KAYTRANADA feat. 03 Greedo - #RICHAXXHAITIAN	link	+421	mqwer
[FRESH] KevinKempt - #bbldrizzybeatgiveaway	link	+421	Kungfooler
[Fresh] luvkurby - BBL Drizzy - MetroBoomin	link	+277	slappywhyte
[FRESH] Nem - BBL Drizzy	link	+251	dabornstein
[FRESH] Aubrey's Conscience - Confessions of a BBL Drizzy	link	+136	yeezy-yeezy
[FRESH] Little Billiam - BBL DRIZZY #bbldrizzybeatgiveaway	link	+66	MyNewWhiteVan
[FRESH VIDEO] AUDREY NUNA - Jokes On Me (Official Video)	link	+60	DanielBryanCMPunk
[FRESH] K.I.A.Z - Graham Cracker	link	+50	itztherapperKIAZ
[FRESH] JACKSONRPORTER - Amber Alert	link	+31	FalseFiction

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH] RXKNephew - What Does BBL Even Mean	link	+1528	PolPotPottery
[FRESH] PACKGOD x Yumi - BBL DRIZZY (Drake Diss Track) #bbldrizzybeatgiveaway	link	+1227	mauvebliss
[FRESH] Cilvanis - The BBL Rapper Who Stole my Joke (BBL Drizzy) (Drake Diss)	link	+1060	Murb1e
[FRESH] Kamui - OVO Tokyo (BBL Drizzy)	link	+840	Classic_Clock_7210
[FRESH] Scru Face Jean - BBL Drizzy Freestyle (Prod. Metro Boomin)	link	+538	IcanMakeThePiecesFit
[FRESH VIDEO] Big Hit, Hit-Boy & The Alchemist - Foreclosure	link	+166	Ethiopianutella
[FRESH VIDEO] Larry June - Meet Me In Napa	link	+145	Sjangtepeltang
[FRESH] DJ Mekalek - Skylines (feat. Westside Gunn & Mickey Diamond)	link	+35	thesuntalking

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH] Tim Henson (Polyphia) - BBL Drizzy	link	+4572	alphageek8
[FRESH] Chief Keef - Almighty So 2 Trailer	link	+384	ImRBJ
[FRESH] BLACCMASS - not like us x isley brothers	link	+42	maloboosie

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH] Chief Keef - Drifting Away	link	+440	thisisnotaburner24
[FRESH] Central Cee - CC Freestyle	link	+173	abucalves
[FRESH VIDEO] Brother Ali - Ottomans	link	+104	abucalves

Friday, May 10, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH ALBUM] Chief Keef - Almighty So 2	link	+2447	AltforHHH
[FRESH ALBUM] Gunna - One of Wun	link	+1117	joshisashark
[FRESH VIDEO] Megan Thee Stallion - BOA (Official Video)	link	+1110	Impossible_Vast9846
[FRESH ALBUM] Conway the Machine - Slant Face Killah	link	+846	God_Will_Rise_
[Fresh] The Game - Freeway’s Revenge	link	+739	QQQput
[FRESH] Shaq - Shannon Sharpe diss track	link	+698	jeric13xd
[FRESH ALBUM] Ghostface Killah - Set The Tone (Guns & Roses)	link	+569	God_Will_Rise_
[FRESH] Ghostface Killah Ft Kanye West - No Face	link	+451	Lonz123
[FRESH VIDEO] Your Old Droog - DBZ ft. Denzel Curry, Method Man (prod. Madlib)	link	+251	chomps_43
[FRESH] Chief Keef - Jesus (feat. Lil Gnar	link	+129	LaMelgoatBall
[FRESH] Tee Grizzley - Swear to God (feat. Future)	link	+125	Dracolord1221
[FRESH] Ski Mask The Slump God - Headrush	link	+113	AltforHHH
[FRESH ALBUM] Ghostface Killah - Set The Tone (Guns & Roses) -DINI	link	+102	GhostfaceKillah36SI
[FRESH] Key Glock - The Greatest	link	+101	Sosasosasosa00
[FRESH] Conway The Machine - Raw! (feat. Tech N9ne)	link	+74	rightnotredamus
[FRESH ALBUM] The Act/UnoTheActivist - Omega Music Vol. 1	link	+60	AltforHHH
[Fresh] Shorline Mafia - Heat Stick	link	+57	Heinie_Nuechtern
[FRESH] EL BBL - Sammy Andaluz	link	+51	Night_Fev3r
[FRESH] That Mexican OT - Texas Technician (ChopNotSlop Remix)	link	+51	No-Measurement-2989
[Fresh] Tee Grizzley - Swear to God (Feat. Future) [Official Video]	link	+46	No-Breakfast310
[FRESH ALBUM] Rio Da Yung OG - Rio Circa 2020	link	+32	maloboosie
[FRESH VIDEO] Chief Keef (feat. Tierra Whack) - Banded Up (Official Audio)	link	+27	GoodKidMaadCityyy6
[FRESH VIDEO] Gangrene - The Gates of Hell feat. ANKHLEJOHN	link	+26	abucalves
[FRESH VIDEO] Shoreline Mafia - HEAT STICK	link	+25	maloboosie
[FRESH] Chief Keef - I’m Tryna Sleep	link	+25	ApartStatistician603

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH ALBUM] Abstract Museum & Guilty Simpson - Block Runners	link	+51	chomps_43
[FRESH VIDEO] Shoreline Mafia - Heat Stick	link	+26	flyestshit
[FRESH] BLK ODYSSY FEAT. WIZ KHALIFA - XXX	link	+25	mothergidra

Sunday, May 12, 2024

Post	Link	Score	User
[FRESH ALBUM] K.A.A.N. & DJ Hoppa - Delusions Of Grandeur	link	+80	Diwky09
[Fresh] Shoreline Mafia - HEAT STICK (OHGEESY & FENIX FLEXIN) [Official Music Video]	link	+39	Spare-Discipline1448
[FRESH] BigXthaPlug - Hell Yea (ft. Ro$ama, 600 Ent.)	link	+30	Ireallywannamove

^{This post was generated by a bot
Subscribe to roundups: [Daily] [Weekly] [Unsubscribe]
[Site] [Info/Source] [Feedback]}

I've been grappling with a persistent issue for the past six days, spending many hours each day trying to resolve it, but to no avail. The problem involves the Logitech Gaming Software (LGS) settings getting disabled in response to various system events. I have G602 and G13.
I plan to install an older Windows version (1909) suspecting that this could be related to some lock-out features introduced by Microsoft, although I am not certain which version introduced these features.
Has anyone experienced something similar, or do you have insights into how display rendering and communication between drivers and services in Windows operate?
Thanks for any advice or insights you might share.
Here's a detailed breakdown of the issue:
Before installing an nvidia 2070, I was using an AMD APU where the problem rarely occurred, Triger - mostly just causing issues with the OCR integrated into PowerToys. Symptoms - included severe mouse lag, cursor stuttering, and sometimes a complete cursor freeze or a black screen. Fix- Restarting the graphic drivers using keyboard shortcuts would fix. Additionally, another issue with PotPlayer during fullscreen video playback; videos stuttered, but exiting fullscreen resolved the problem. Videos streamed from HBO/Netflix or YT did not encounter this issue.
After installing the 2070, the problem worsened and now additional triggers cause the bug.
Triger: - taking a screenshot causes a system hiccup after about 5 seconds; - launching Discord results in a bug about 10 seconds after the app runs smoothly.
Symptoms: If I move the cursor during this time, it temporarily freezes and makes several jumps before returning to normal function but now without LGS settings, appearing as if LGS is deactivated and the mouse reverts to the 'on-board memory' profile settings. LGS stops working altogether, including my G13 keyboard, which becomes inactive.
Fix To restore proper function, I no longer need to reset the graphic drivers. Now, in most cases, simply giving focus to LGS, like switching to it using Alt+Tab to the 'customize pointer settings' tab where you adjust the mouse speed and DPI, reactivates the correct profile. However, LGS must be open on this specific tab.
The error seems to be triggered by:

1. Severe stuttering, already present with the AMD APU, continues in applications taking control in fullscreen, such as the previously mentioned OCR tool and now also with partial screen captures using ShareX.
2. The error is also triggered by launching or shifting focus to various programs, such as starting Discord, activating a screensaver, or occasionally while watching YouTube in fullscreen or switching to Firefox. Some applications always trigger this bug, like Discord, while others like Firefox only sometimes do.

It seems like an error occurs that temporarily halts and restarts, possibly the drivers or a service, leading to a loss of communication with LGS. Although LGS is still running without internal issues, the pathway connecting the mouse with the cursor bypasses LGS until it is refocused, seemingly restoring the control path. The Windows event log does not show any errors or warnings related to this.
What has been tested:
these things have been enabled and disabled or changed to check if they affect the error:

1. Running as administrator
2. HDR
3. Display scaling in Nvidia panel
4. Refresh rate in Nvidia panel
5. In the video section: Telecine
6. Video content changed to use Nvidia settings
7. Refresh rate
8. Precise color mode
9. HDCP off, by modifying the registry and it is indeed disabled, as informed by the Nvidia panel
10. Scaling disabled, scaling mode set by games and programs turned off
11. G-sync
12. Nvidia overlay
13. Drivers for creators
14. In the system, disabling the display of protected content etc. DRM, despite the introduction of these three changes below, Windows still blocks protected content e.g., blocking screenshots in KeePass. Done: bcdedit /set nx AlwaysOff
15. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Kernel\ -DisableStackProtection
16. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System -EnableSecureContent
17. Uninstalling all drivers using DDU from Guru3D
18. Installing a new system and only installing drivers and LGS
19. Installing the oldest drivers for this card, version 456.71

Despite these adjustments, the issue, though less frequent, still persists.

I'm a long-time player who joined before the NG+ update. I had every perk by then and I played till my fifth NG+, cleared out the Orc Horde on Impossible then stopped for about a year before coming back with the new wave of updates - I've obtained every encounter-related achievement now and my achievement completion is at 97%, while my NG+ bonus is +1311% caps and +131,1% all resources.
These are my thoughts on what prestiges (or "legacy perks") are the best.
S Tier:

• Architecture of Titans - This building singlehandedly takes care of your wood and stone needs - including caps! - and also provides a dramatic output of tools, copper and iron. It's completely worth the 60 fame and a satisfying reward for beating one of the lategame bosses.
  
• Ministry of Interior - Like the Titan Work Area, but for gold and research. And it comes with extra population and supplies, as well as crystals indirectly through the extra professors. Only caveat is that it costs materials and supplies to build.
  
• Guild of Craftsmen - A must for the earlygame when the production of tier 2 resources is directly competing with your tier 1. It will fall off for the individual tier 2 buildings later on but it's still the first building you want to go for whenever you unlock the feudal age.
  
• Craftsmen - Tier 2 resources will be one of your main bottlenecks throughout the game, and these perks provide bigger and bigger boosts to them. After Craftsmen III it stops boosting tier 2 to instead boost natronite and saltpeter, which is less crucial to have.
  
• Shopkeepers and Breeders - This boosts tools, cows and horses. While the latter two are nice to have for extra money at the market in a pinch, it's tool production that puts this perk above other resource multipliers like Enhanced Axes and Irrigation Techniques. Tools will be a recurring bottleneck from the early game all the way to the lategame, and it's always a good idea to get more.
  
• Deep Pockets - We're here to remind you about possibly life's greatest joy of all: MONEY!
  

A Tier:

• Machines of Gods - Like a lite version of Titan Workshop focusing exclusively on tools, copper and iron. It's unlocked later and is less cost efficient, but certainly helps.
  
• Powered Weapons - This buffs your units starting from primitive spearmen all the way to artillery and line infantry. The early perks are the most important to get as they make your cheap, easy to spam units all the more effective.
  
• Enhanced Axes, Irrigation Techniques, Renowned Stonemasons - These are the best way to boost your base resources until you can afford deep runs and beat the Sleeping Titan. Worth noting that Enhanced Axes and Renowned Stonemasons lead to Woodworking and Stonemasons, whereas Grain Storage is already unlocked at the start.
  
• Regional Market - MONEY! You can think of these as a second bank. Probably the best use for your first coin.
  
• Resource Caps - These are vital for early afk play. This line starts weak but gets stronger and stronger. It synergizes greatly with the NG+ plus bonus, though said bonus also means you can just take the boosted caps from base buildings and make do without this perk. Though it should remain very relevant in your first few NG+ runs.
  
• Ministry of War, Ministry of Worship - Both of these greatly simplify core aspects of the game, army and magic respectively, with extra army cap, food cap, faith and mana. Ministry of War turns arquebusiers into one of the best units in the game, and Ministry of Worship grants extra lucky stones, and both of them come with extra jobs and population. The reason they aren't S tier is that in the lategame you can get enough army cap to clear every encounter (at least on normal) and enough mana to have all spells turned on even without these ministries, whereas the extra research and gold always stays paramount.
  
• Clever Villagers - The thing with research output is that it's not your main limiter until it is. When you have the other resources' production down, make sure to not neglect this perk.
  
• Library of Theresmore - This provides a nice boost to most ancient era resources. With 5 of these libraries you have a +10% bonus, which would've cost way more in fame if you were getting all the various Enhanced Axes, Deep Pockets, Strengthening Faith, etc. and you can comfortably afford up to 10 libraries.
  
• Monastic Orders - I agree with u/AGDude's description that "all of the boosts it provides make life just a little bit easier". It also has a lenient price scaling.
  
• Strengthening Faith - This lets you produce more mana and faith which lets you unlock spells faster. Affording an extra spell can be as good as affording an extra perk, or better. It's also a must if you like using Battle Angels or rely on Zenix Familiars.
  

B tier:

• Zenix Familiar - These are cheap, immortal scouts who cannot discover new nations and run on mana rather than gold or supplies. And they give you research. The fact they cannot discover civilizations may seem like a drawback at first, but it also means no splash screen will pop up and block your autoclicker if you've left that on the explore button (there's some exceptions, like the Forest of Markanat and the Demoness Castle).
  
• Hall of Wisdom - More or less like an extra school. Handy although Machines of Gods is a better use for your first Tome of Wisdom.
  
• Stock Resources - These are the equivalent of a few houses, farms and lumberjacks for free at start, which is an appreciated boost.
  
• Gift of Nature, Gift of the Creators - Also a small initial boost, this time in direct production. Lets you get a few buildings up faster.
  
• Rampart - Another good use for a coin. It's like a second wall that costs more but gives you extra fame every run.
  
• Enhanced Pickaxes - I find copper to never be a bottleneck and for iron to very rarely be, but it's handy to invest some points into these, especially if your army strategy is to spam warriors and heavy warriors.
  
• Fortune Teller, Soothsayer, etc. (Lucky Stone perks) - Nice to have, particularly if your strategy relies on getting that extra upgrade from luck buildings.
  
• Ancient Vault - A multi-purpose storage which unlike the rest of the category also raises your gold, research, faith and mana cap. Building 14 of them is fairly affordable and equals getting Ancient Treasury I and II + Service to Gods I and II.
  
• Ancient Treasury - Extra gold cap can be hard to come by in the early game. That said you will mainly rely on vaults and natronite buildings to get the cap high enough for the coin.
  
• Grain Storage, Stonemason, Woodworking - Grain Storage is good in the very early game where every bit of extra food counts - whether it's to send out more attacks, or to free up one worker from food production to something else. I find Stonemason and Woodworking to not be worth bothering with, as at my current NG+ level I can reach Architecture of Titans in fewer runs than it takes to unlock them, but they aren't bad per se.
  
• Elysian Field - This helps militarily even if you don't rely on Battle Angels. It's one of the few ways to significantly raise the food cap, and more stockpiled food means you can send the army out to attack more times per sitting. Besides that they have a niche use in getting the achievement for 15 Altars of Sacrifices, but that's very late game.
  
• Titanic Walls - These walls give you extra fame and - surprisingly - tier 2 resources. But due to how costly they are it's less of a "I must get this immediately" and more of a "When I'm already swimming in tier 2 resouces and fame, I can build these to get even more"
  
• Militia Recruitment - Like a second, more cost-efficient barracks with some added settlement defense.
  
• Free Hands - An average pick, not as good as others. You're better off boosting population through the various buildings you unlock progressing the game.
  
• Army of Men - Also average. The late perks are very powerful and they can help squeeze in just enough soldiers for a tough lategame boss on higher difficulties, but most encounters do not come down to ten extra soldiers and even when they do it's usually a problem of recruitment cost and upkeep rather than army caps.
  
• Battle Angel, Seraphim - Some people swear by them but I don't use these much as early game I have other uses for faith and mana and lategame they fall behind other units. It's pretty fun to summon a battle angel just to clear a cellar full of rats, though.
  

C tier:

• Monument, Heirlooms - A basically-free building at start with some minor assorted bonuses. The bonuses aren't very impactful, despite being costlier than Stock Resources and Gift of Nature, but I like to get one every reset because they need to be unlocked one at a time, so I can have the full collection when it's time for the next NG+.
  
• Service to Gods - Extra faith and mana cap doesn't do much besides affording you an extra level of the Fortune Grove (but you can just get the Fortune Teller line). It's pretty satisfying to clear the Mausoleum of Gods in one, two clicks on faith and mana though.
  
• Charism - I haven't done the actual math and whether at some point a boost to fame might be more efficient than getting the other perks to achieve faster runs, but I only grab this perk when I have fame to spare or have already bought the higher tiers.
  
• Hall of the Dead - Extra population would be handy but this building scales terribly, especially in the tool cost. It's worth to build a few, but you get far more value out of ministries, where population isn't even the main selling point.
  
• Undead Herds - Unless you like cavalry or are trying to get the 15 Altars of Sacrifices achievement, this is not that useful besides for freeing up some workers from the breeder job.
  
• Strong Workers - I hardly ever bother with resource clicking beyond my very first run. There may be some strats that involve building up a stockpile of stone, wood and food during the ancient era before researching feudalism (which removes the buttons), but in my experience in Theresmore the best use for an autoclicker is clicking 15 times on the wall button until it's built.
  
• Spikes and Pits - Uuuuh... neat to have? The best way to deal with enemy nations is by taking them out before they can even attack, and building an army strong enough to pass the age bosses is best done through the other perks. The later upgrades cost relics and buff the Juggernaut.
  
• Shieldbearer, Priest, Juggernaut, Ancient Balor - I never use tanks as the unit's purpose seems sorta defeated. They are meant to be low-attack, high defense frontliners but they are weak to shock which is the most damaging unit type and is very common amongst encounters. Shoutout to Ancient Balor for producing steel and helping me clear out the Orc Horde Assault on Deity, and Religious Colony-boosted Priests are hilarious.
  
• Coin Mercenary, White Company- Mercenaries cost only gold and die before the rest of the shock units. Canava Guard are slightly tankier (but still shock) mercenaries, White Company are offense-focused ranged units. They can accrue a respectable amount of boosts if you get all the Mercenary Agreements perks, but there are better uses for your gold, coins and fame. With that said, if you have Coin Mercenary and White Company you unlock the perk to recruit Cpt Gallard (who gives you gold) and after that you get another perk which unlocks a questline with a new building and new encounters.
  

D Tier:

• Mercenary Agreements - I just don't bother with these unless I'm trying to 100% the perk list. Mercenaries are simply too costly for me to consider.

F tier:

• Weapons of the Titan - Compared to the other titans upgrades it's a complete waste of 60 fame points. The units it boosts aren't my cup of tea for the endgame, either, as crossbowmen and heavy infantry outclass arquebusiers and men at arms once you defeat Nikharul and rebuild the fortress.

So a couple of weeks ago my ex reappeared in my life. It has completely thrown my life into hell. I am married and have been for going on 10 years. I am a stay-at-home parent of 5 children, one of whom is nonverbal autistic. I have been in burnout mode for probably the past 5 years. As soon as this guy pops back into my life it's like I have woken up! I realize that I am not getting the attention from my husband that I need. This is something I have brought up multiple times in the past year. I have been telling my husband I need more physical touch, more help around the house, more attention.
My husband is great and I love him more than anything. He works 40 hours and has a lot going on at work. Once he gets off work he comes home and gets straight on the game or goes takes a 30-minutes shit. He rarely helps clean up around the house and when he does it is like he wants a standing ovation. He will do things with the kids on the weekends like fishing or yard work. He only wants to do things that he likes when he is off and that's kind of another issue. He only wants to do things that he likes with me. I even have a recent little example. I convinced him to download and play words with friends with me. We played two games and last night he told me he doesn't want to play anymore because I won them both. It isn't fun to him. He asks me to play video games with him which I do sometimes. I get tired of them after a while because it isn't me he just wants to play with it is his friends as well.
The physical touch thing has been an issue for a while. He hasn't ever been too affectionate. It was okay when I was younger and the kids were constantly overstimulating me. I did not want to be cuddled which I am sure other parents can relate with this. Well, now our youngest two are 5 and aren't constantly hanging all over me and I want to feel loved by my husband. He doesn't make out which whatever no biggie. I usually have weed breath so it's whatever. But daaang when he hugs me he does it with a side arm and it is not like a squeeze. It is like something you would give to your sister. I even told him the other day that I want to be hugged or cuddled like if you don't hold on tight enough I might float away. I shit you not this man tried to crush my ribs the next time we hugged. I am just so confused.
I do not know what to do or how to tell him I need more. I love my husband and would never want to go without him but I am so sad that I am not getting the affection I need to feel loved. What should I do to get it across that I need this because I am feeling lonely and not loved?
I am also worried that I am making nothing out of this and am overreacting because all these past memories with my Ex have come up. I only talked to the ex on FB twice. The last time I talked to him he told me we couldn't talk anymore because it was too hard because he was still in love with me. I instantly blocked him and told my husband about it the next day. I would have told him that day but we got into a little fight about how lonely I was feeling.

Name	Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot
Rarity	R
Cost	WR
Type	Legendary Creature — Human Mercenary
Text	Whenever a source you control deals noncombat damage to a creature equal to that creature’s toughness, draw a card.
	{X}, {T}: If a source you control would deal noncombat damage to a permanent or player this turn, it deals that much damage plus X instead.
P/T	2/3

 

• How have you found Taii Wakeen to mesh with the WR archetype in OTJ or do you view her as a card to splash into another color pair?
• Have you seen her end up a late-game threat thanks to turning Deserts into a player-only Blaze?
• Have you found that you can usually draw cards from Taii Wakeen without the need of her activated ability?
• Finally, more two things to be aware of rather than questions. First, Taii Wakeen’s static ability does not care about dealing exactly lethal damage with a noncombat source, it care about dealing noncombat damage equal to the creature's toughness - if you block Spinewoods Armadillo with a 3/3 and then kill it with Explosive Derailment you will not draw a card. Second, note that her activated ability applies to all noncombat damage dealt this turn by a source you control, so you can have X=1 and then cast two Thunder Salvo to deal 3 and 4 respectively if that helps you proc her card draw twice.

This was a legend concept I had made a while back and I feel like now after working on it a bit, it is ready for some feedback. It was based around the Idea of titans being in Apex. Of course a titan would never come into the game as they are too big, but what if you had a Mini-Titan? This lead to me creating Titan, originally a vanguard class titan created by the Fronter Militia, who in the Morden day of Titanfall universe, has had his AI transferred into a heavily modified simulacrum body. Practically becoming a human sized Titan, and now he finds himself in the Apex Games.
NEW LEGEND: TITAN
THE MICRO-TITAN
Real Name: Delta-Kilo-Eight-Five-Seven-Three
Alias: Titan (Also uncommonly referred to as: DK-8573 or just DK)
Age: his AI is in total 21 years and 5 mouths (His current body is only 9 months old however)
Home World: Harmony
Class: Assault
Passive Ability: Micro-Directional Shield Generator
Tactical Ability: Moded Laser Shot
Ultimate Ability: Upgrade Core
Level 2 Upgrades: Dash Shield Generator or Tactical +
Level 3 Upgrades: Energy Detector or Assault Core

~Passive – Directional Shield Generator~
After you land from a Skydive or from a long fall, automatically create a small temporary curved shield in the direction you were facing when you landed.
~Passive Notes:~
- The Shield only has 50 HP and only lasts 8 seconds, after which is deactivated.
- Only enemy players can damage it; however, you can press (H or Down on the D-pad) to immediately deactivate it.
- The Shield is just big enough to cover your full hit box and is very slightly curved, think of it being a VERY small and weaker Newcastle Tactile that can’t move.
- Once it’s destroyed or deactivated by any means, it goes on a 5 second cool down before you can spawn a new one. Also, you can only have 1 up at a time.
- CHARACTER ABILITY INTERACTIONS: Maggie’s tactical can attach to it. It is instantly destroyed by EMP.
~Tactical – Moded Laser Cannon~
Shot a precise laser projectile, from your shoulder mounted laser cannon, that can pierce through any surface. Enemies hit by the laser cannot use Shield Regen items for 10 seconds and will have any current one they are using cancelled.
~Tactical Notes:~
- Has a cooldown of 30 seconds and the cooldown starts when the laser is fired. It can be used while performing other actions like Ziplining and using Regen items.
- Holding Tactical button (Q or L1) down will prime your shoulder mounted cannon (Now being referred to as S.M.C.) and letting go of it will fire the S.M.C. (Just like ballistics tactical).
- It deals 20 damage and can head shot to deal 30. It can travel a set distance of 50 meters, and will travel through any surface (Including shields, and barriers of any kind), only stopping once it has travelled 50 meters or hit a player. A player hit by the laser can’t use shield regen items (Meaning Shield Cells, Batteries, and/or Phoenix kits) for 10 second and if they were using one when hit, it will be immediately cancelled.
- CHARACTER ABILITY INTERACTIONS: Things like Newcastle’s, Gibraltar’s, Ramparts, Caustic, Wattson, and legends like them that have tactically and/or Ultimates that can block projectiles, will not block the Laser Shot. Legend abilities that regen shields in any way, Like Wattson and catalyst, will still work as normal even if they are hit by the laser.
~Ultimate – Upgrade Core~
Temporarily gain enough EVO points to upgrade your Shield Core by 1 stage. Gain access to all your legend upgrades for your current and any previous shield core level. Also refresh your tactical ability and restore half of your Shield HP.
~Passive Notes:~
- Has a charge time of 3 minutes and a duration of 30 seconds, downing players will extent the duration of the Ultimate by 5 seconds (Maximum 15).
- Once you used your ultimate you will temporarily gain a free amount EVO point equal to the amount you currently need to Level up your Evo Shield. But once the Ultimate duration ends, you will lose EVO points equal to the amount you gain (Meaning your EVO Armor can devolve). However, you will keep any EVO points you gained additionally during the Ultimate from dealing damage, opening Assault loot bin, and the like. So, for example, if you used your ultimate and need 450 EVO points to level up your shield from 1 to 2, you would gain 450, Levelling up from level 1 to level 2. Then during your ultimate let’s say you gain 250 EVO points. At the end of your ultimate, you shields would revert to level 1, then immediately gain the EVO points gained during your Ult, meaning you would now only need 200 EVO to level up to level 2.
- During your ultimate, if you have Level 2 Evo Shields, you will gain BOTH of your first legend upgrades. If you have Level 3 or higher, you will gain all your Legend upgrades for the duration of the ultimate.

~Level 2 Upgrades – Dash Shield Generator OR Tactical + Kit:~
~Dash Shield Generator~
While you are sliding, create a small shield that is attached to you facing the direction you are sliding.
~Notes:~
Is the same size as Newcastle Revive Arm Shield, however it only has 25 HP. Only enemies can damage it, however you can click (H or down on the D-Pad, while you are sliding) to activate and/or deactivate it, this is on a 2 second cooldown. If it’s damage and is deactivated and/or you’re not sliding for more than 3 seconds, it will slowly start to regen HP until it’s fully restored, or you slide again. If it is destroyed it will not start regening for 10 seconds.
~Tactical +~
Reduce your tactiles cooldown by 5 seconds and increase the size of its projectile. Also, during your ultimate, reduce the cooldown by an additional 5 seconds.
~Notes:~
Is exactly what it says.

~Level 3 Upgrades – Energy Detector OR Assault Core:~
~Energy Detector~
Highlight enemies that are using Shield Regen items within 20 meters of your through walls. During your ultimate increase this range to 40 meters.
~Notes:~
The highlight is like mad Maggie’s passive in how it looks, except it is blue. You will see anyone using Shield Cell/Batteries and Phoenix Kits.
~Assault Core~
Gain a faster reload of your weapons. Also, during you ultimate, also gain better weapon handling and movement speed while holding a weapon.
~Notes:~
This would be on par with Ballistics ultimate in how much it increases each stat.
Thanks to anyone who spent there time reading this and gave feedback <3

Responsible gaming programs are a critical part of everyday business practices in the U.S. casino gaming industry. The central goal of these programs is to ensure that patrons responsibly enjoy casino games as a form of entertainment.
The American Gaming Association’s (AGA) Responsible Gaming Statutes and Regulations Guide is a centralized collection of the statutes and regulations addressing responsible gaming in the 34 states and the District of Columbia with commercial casinos, sports betting or internet gaming as of August 31, 2022. It is intended as a reference guide for industry stakeholders, researchers, lawmakers and regulators.
Importantly, the gaming industry’s full efforts to promote responsible gaming and address problem gambling go well beyond the legal requirements identified in this resource. Industry responsible gaming programs operate in compliance and parallel with state laws and regulations on responsible gaming. The majority of gaming operators and suppliers voluntarily implement responsible gaming programs with measures that expand upon what is formally mandated by law or regulation.
Since the Responsible Gaming Statutes and Regulations Guide was last updated in September 2019, 16 states have adopted legislation and regulations for sports betting that include various responsible gaming provisions. Similarly, land-based commercial casino gaming has been approved in Nebraska and Virginia, while internet gaming has been legalized in Connecticut and Michigan. Beyond the expansion of new states, this guide provides insight into the changes and evolution of responsible gaming since 2019.
Although responsible gaming laws and regulations vary greatly between the 35 commercial gaming jurisdictions, many fit into the following broad categories:

• Responsible gaming plan required – 21 jurisdictions mandate that land-based and online gaming operators prepare and submit for approval a wide-ranging plan for addressing responsible gaming issues. Required elements of the plan often include employee training and public awareness efforts. For jurisdictions that require an overall plan, readers should examine the specific elements that must be included in each plan.
• Self-exclusion program – 34 jurisdictions require gaming or sports betting operators to adopt self-exclusion programs that enable patrons to exclude themselves from a casino or online/mobile gaming site and operators to expel self-excluded patrons if they are found gambling or wagering. The length of the self-exclusion periods available and the procedures for reversing self-exclusions vary by jurisdiction. A majority of jurisdictions establish a central self-exclusion register that includes enlisted patrons from all gaming venues and platforms. Some state laws specify that casinos and online operators must also eliminate direct promotional outreach to self-excluded individuals and deny them complimentaries – commonly known as “comps” – or access to credit.
• Property signage and responsible gaming disclosure – 31 jurisdictions have requirements around on property signage and/or disclosures related to responsible gaming. In some cases, that includes mandating the availability of brochures identifying the risks of problem gambling, requiring disclosure of toll-free helpline numbers and other resources for counseling and assistance, or that gaming advertising (print, billboards or electronic media) include responsible gaming messaging or a toll-free helpline number.
• Advertising restrictions – 30 jurisdictions establish specific restrictions on the types of, or content of, advertising that is permitted. Many jurisdictions require that gaming advertising not be deceptive or target minors.
• Wagetime limits – 25 jurisdictions with account-based online gaming, sports betting or digital wallet wagering in casinos require operators to provide a mechanism through which patrons may self-limit deposits, losses, wagering amounts and/or time spent gambling.
• Restrictions on extension of house credit – 28 jurisdictions block or limit the use of house credit in land-based and/or online casino gaming and sports betting. This may include outright bans on credit advances from gaming operators to patrons.
• Financial instruments restrictions – 17 jurisdictions restrict the ability of casinos or online gaming operators to accept credit card deposits, government issued checks or stored-value cards that represent public benefits, among other things.
• Treatment and research funding – 28 jurisdictions
• have codified commitments to support treatment for individuals with a gambling problem, education services concerning disordered or problem gambling, or research related to problem gambling. Most of those states earmark certain state revenues from gaming for these programs.
• Employee training – 20 jurisdictions specify that casino employees who work on the gaming floor or those who otherwise interact with customers must receive responsible gaming training. Some states require the training to include instruction on how to identify players demonstrating problematic or risky behavior on the gaming floor.
• Alcoholic beverage restrictions – 18 jurisdictions require casinos to limit alcoholic beverage service on the gaming floor or to limit access to gambling services for patrons who are visibly intoxicated.
• Beyond the overarching categories outlined above, states regularly implement other laws or regulations related to responsible gaming. These may include the creation of statewide responsible gaming programs, mandating research on the effectiveness of responsible gaming provisions, or requirements that operators verify gambling winners do not owe child support.

About the Guide AGA’s Responsible Gaming Regulations and Statutes Guide, developed in partnership with VIXIO GamblingCompliance, details the commercial gaming industry’s financial performance, including analyses of each of the 35 jurisdictions with commercial gaming operations in 2021.
Source: https://www.americangaming.org/resources/responsible-gaming-regulations-and-statutes-guide/

This is probably the most ambitious project I've done, but I'm on day 62 as of writing this, and it's been a blast! Here are my notes for every day in this: Day 1 (inf-20100607) Did nothing more than make myself a house and get food. Wood seemed scarce, so I mined coal during the night.
Day 2 (inf-20100608) Lit up the area, and made myself a cloth cap and shirt. The first sapling grew today, so I chopped it down and replanted.
Day 1 (again) (inf-20100611) Minecraft decided that my world didn't exist so I had to restart. Not too hard, though. I had to quickly build myself a wooden house (good thing there were so many trees!) and hide in there for the night. I didn't have coal, so no torches, and no torches means no light, and no light means PITCH BLACK nights. I was genuinely scared by this. Also, the skeletons and zombies made player noises. Weird.
Day 2 (again) (inf-20100615) Finished the wood shack and installed windows (not the OS, mind you). Then I added a tube to the back of the mineshaft to get to my house easier, and I also went mining. Found coal, but didn't have enough time to mine it due to it being update time.
Day 3 (inf-20100616-1) Decided to make a giant cobblestone nerd-pole so that I wouldn't get lost when exploring. Speaking of exploring, I did just that... for a little bit. That was very short-lived. I ended up mining for a while, and found the void-lava.
Day 4 (inf-20100617-1) Today was so far the most successful mining trip. I nerded out about the old trees having logs on the inside and the new trees not having that and those two kinds of trees being right next to each other. That's a run on sentence isn't it? Then I went into the mines and found more iron than I can count. Like I said, successful.
Day 5 (inf-20100617-2) Mining trip was good. Got more iron and found some void gold (a gold vein that exposed the void). It was cool.
Day 6 (inf-20100618, Seecret Friday 1) I screwed around with minecarts.
Day 7 (inf-20100624) Decided to light up the area around spawn, but not in spawn. Decided to fight baddies for the heck of it that night. Also made the house look more appealing.
Day 8 (inf-20100625-1) Everything that I placed and did in the last day got reversed to how they were on Day 6, except for my inventory. I spent the day fixing everything. In the night, I went mining and found more iron. No diamonds D:
Day 9 (inf-20100625-2, Seecret Friday 2) Today they added dungeons and some other stuff but it's not very important to me right now. Went mining for the day.
Day 10 (inf-20100627) Nothing interesting was added today so I went exploring to find water. I also made a glass room in my mine to tell the time.
Day 11 (inf-20100630-1) Infdev 20100629 didn't wanna work. So here we are, at 20100630-1. Stairs were added in the last version, so I added stairs to my mine. The stairs sure are finnicky, though! I also filled a creeper blast with water (that is surprisingly calming...)
Day 12 (inf-20100630-2) The last Infdev day. Tomorrow it will be Alpha! To prepare for the long journey of Alpha releases I built a new addition to the house. Finally, I made a sign and a shrine for Infdev. Farewell!
Day 13 (a1.0.1_01) Last version was Seecret Friday, but the file is lost and I have to play this version. But there are so many changes!! Excited! Didn't find redstone in the mines, though. I also finished the new room and organized the chests.
Day 14 (a1.0.2_01) Went exploring for some coal and cooked all my pork chops.
Day 15 (a1.0.2_02) Can't remember much other than that I went mining. That's it I guess?
Day 16 (a1.0.3) Went exploring for some coal but found a cool cave and also found lots of coal and iron
Day 17 (a1.0.4, Seecret Friday 4) Same as Day 16.
Day 18 (a1.0.5) Went back home and decided to go strip-mining because caving didn't go very well. Not much happened.
Day 19 (a1.0.5_01) There is a new project now; I am carving my face on a mountain. Gonna need a lot of stone though. And gravel. Lots and lots of gravel.
Day 20 (a1.0.6, Seecret Friday 5) Cactuses were added. Neat I guess. Also Boats. But that doesn't apply to what I did today because what I did today was work on my face. I went to get gravel. There was a lot of gravel.
Day 21 (a1.0.6_01) Marked the gravel spot, got distracted, and now I'm lost. at least I found a cactus!
Day 22 (a1.0.6_03) Using the power of looking back at the footage, I was able to return home! With the cactus! Yippee!
Day 23 (a1.0.7) Continued work on the face: I did it! Now I am making the body. Might need more gravel...
Day 24 (a1.0.8_01) i died.
Day 25 (a1.0.9) I continued working on my statue of me and got some more gravel. Had 1 block left after finishing!
Day 26 (a1.0.10) Went strip mining, found no diamonds.
Day 27 (a1.0.11, Seecret Friday 6) This update, lots of cool stuff was added but nothing that I can use. Went strip mining and found zero diamonds.
Day 28 (a1.0.12) The splash was "missingno" for some reason. Anyways, continued working on a giant tower. Ladders suck
Day 29 (a1.0.13) Finished the tower. Ladders STILL suck...
Day 30 (a1.0.13_01) Got bored of building so I went in one direction to find some sugarcane. Found some and am going back
Day 31 (a1.0.13_01 1Kin24h edition) The title screen was changed to say 1K in 24h because Minecraft sold 1,000 units in 24 hours! That might not seem like a lot but at the time that was big news. ANYWAYS, got back home and planted sugarcane, and also made a bookshelf. Also, bricks!
Day 32 (a1.0.14-1, Seecret Friday 7) Chickens and chest minecarts and furnace minecarts are added and I WANT A RAIL SYSTEM so I decided that my face could be a cart station. also iron doors suck
Day 33 (a1.0.14-2) What did I do... Oh yeah i put a tower compass thing.
Day 34 (a1.0.15) Played Minecraft, Watched Hermitcraft, Got Gravel.
Day 35 (a1.0.16) Mined some dirt
Day 36 (a1.0.16_01) placed the dirt replacing the sand, also paths.
Day 37 (a1.0.16_02) paths. PATHS!!!!!!1!
Day 38 (a1.0.17_02) Fences were added in alpha 1.0.17 but that version and a1.0.7_01 are lost so this is the one I have to play. Anyways, I got some wood for a farm project. How is that related? You'll see...
Day 39 (a1.0.17_03) See, fences placed underneath farmland makes the farmland UNTRAMPLEABLE. That's nice.
Day 40 (a1.0.17_04) Last a1.0.1x version! Grinding for wood sux.
Day 41 (a1.1.0-1, Seecret Friday 9) Compasses! I WANT A COMPASS. So I don't get lost ;) but i don't have redstone so i went mining for some. NO LUCK as always...
Day 42 (a1.1.0-2) Mining. No. Redstone. Or. Diamonds.
Day 43 (a1.1.1, Seecret Saturday) SNEAKIN' ROUND THE BLOCK, WOOHOO! Spent this legendary version just mining and found BEDROCK. I'll tell you that that wasn't there before. Still no redstone OR diamonds. FOUND A CAVE, THOUGH.
Day 44 (a1.1.2) idk what I did, I cooked pork I guess
Day 45 (a1.1.2_01) I mined out a bit of my face and gave a tour of the world to Pap. Last version with neon foliage.
Day 46 (a1.2.0, Halloween Update) Because this version added the Nether, I desperately tried to get diamonds so I could make a nether portal. Alas, no luck on that front.
Day 47 (a1.2.0_01) Continued mining until my pickaxes broke. After that, I hollowed out some more of my face. That's it?
Day 48 (a1.2.0_02) I tried making a rail way to the resource gathering area, but turns out that furnace minecarts are extremely finnicky. That project will have to wait until Beta 1.5...
Day 49 (a1.2.1_01) Turns out that Alpha 1.2.1 is the only lost Alpha 1.2 version. Go figure. Anyways, I started working on Mama's Mother's Day gift thing, and got ambushed by like a million mobs during the night. This is what I signed up for when switching to Hard mode, what did I expect?
Day 50 (a1.2.2-1) The ability to easily switch between texture packs was added in this version, replacing the ever-defunct "Play tutorial level" button. Also, nether portals with F4. I'm definitely going to use that once I figure out how it works. Update: figured out how the portals work, they seem to be random. I tried it in a test world then in my actual world and it worked! It was really cool in the Nether, but I just so happen to be underground. Ugh.
Day 51 (a1.2.2-2) Spent the day continuing working on the Mother's Day gift. I didn't die this time!
Day 52 (a1.2.3) Coordinates were added to the F3 menu, which is pretty nice. Now I CAN'T get lost! Anyways, I finished the Mother's Day gift and then died due to skelley boi. Man I need to mine... That will be a project for tomorrow.
Day 53 (a1.2.3_01-1) I didn't mine. Instead, I focused on ranged attacks and getting food and leather for armor.
Day 54 (a1.2.3_01-2) I continued to get resources from animals and ended up with a lot of pork chops and a leather shirt.
Day 55 (a1.2.3_02) Started a new mine so that I can get iron and diamonds faster. I found iron actually now!
Day 56 (a1.2.3_04) Turns out a1.2.3_03 doesn't exist. Weird, huh? Anyway, I finished digging down to y11 and am installing stairs.
Day 57 (a1.2.4, a1.2.3_05 in-game) Continued mining out my brand-new definitely not abandoned mineshaft. Got some of the unused rails and put them to good use!
Day 58 (a1.2.4_01) Went a little overtime huh? Well today was kinda uneventful, i mined, mined some more, and mined EVEN MORE. STILL no diamonds. I'm kinda losing hope...
Day 59 (a1.2.5) Only 1 alpha version left! Wow, time really did fly fast, huh? Anyway, I went and made a new room below the furnace room for storage, so that when I am in the beta versions I won't run out of storage. I also need wood.
Day 60 (a1.2.6) It's the LAST version of Alpha, and you know what I'm gonna do? Make an alpha shrine of course! I did the same for Infdev on day 12 if you remember. So yeah, that's what I'll do today. Update: I got killed by a zombie at the last second it COULD have. That sux
Day 61 (b1.0) Immediately, the Alpha shrine got blown up by a creeper instantly. And I died twice. It gets better, though. I continued working on the storage area and got things sorted out. However, there appears to be an inventory bug and that made my life waay harder. Still though, pretty productive day!
Day 62 (b1.0_01) The stupid chest bug was fixed! Yaay!

Before I start this, I just want to answer some question I know I’ll probably have to answer later, or share some information that might be important.

1. I have gone no contact with him. (He tries to bait me into talking to him.) Only my friend group knows about the alcohol.
   
2. I know for a fact he drinks, I was with him once when he did it.
   
3. It’s not his parent’s fault, he sneaks it from open vodka bottles in their refrigerator.
   
4. I know he is drinking while underage, I plan to report him to the school counselor if he doesn’t seek help.
   
5. We’re both gay, though I do not like him like that in any way shape or form. He swears up and down he doesn’t like me like that either, but take that how you will.
   
6. He has allegedly been drinking since he was 7. I can neither confirm nor deny this.
   
7. He blames all of his problems on the alcohol.
   

I, 16m, was friends with another boy, 15m, for roughly 4 years. We used to call each other every day to play games. Every single day for 4 years. Everything was fine until I started hanging out with our other (mutual) friends.
After I started hanging out with other people, he began to get very jealous and bitter towards me and the friend I was talking to. He would act annoyed and upset whenever I would do things with my other friends, even though it’s the same things I would do with him. This is when the arguing began. He would make snarky comments toward me indirectly through his bio on either a game we play together or the app we use to text and call. He would always deny that it is about me, even if it was blatantly obvious. (For example, I used to give myself nicknames on the game we play together. He combined the starting letter of the 3 I've used and said something along the lines of “ABC gave me everything but real love.”)
We would argue like this and he would come to school like nothing happened and act friendly towards me, even if it was obvious that I didn’t want to act friendly with him. He would also frequently block me for absolutely no reason, and unblock me after a few hours. If I asked for a reason, he would get mad and change the subject. Of course, I got tired of this and blocked him back one day. To nobody’s surprise, the next day at school he was talking to me and making jokes like absolutely nothing happened.
One day, he even decided it would be a great idea to ignore me while I was sitting right next to him. I would talk to him, wave my hand in front of him to get his attention, and even tap his shoulder. No response. I obviously got fed up with him and let my friends know in a group chat that he isn’t in what was going on incase they were curious why either of us were annoyed. (This wasn't the best idea, I know, however he gets mad when I hang out or talk to them differently than I do with him so the most logical thing to do was to not let him know when I hang out or text with them.)
Before this next part, I have to go back a little bit. Because we would play games together, we would log into each other’s account to farm or grind for something the other wants. This lead to him knowing my password and email. Since he saw me typing on my phone, he saw the group chat that doesn’t have him in it. He took that as a sign that I was talking shit about him to our friends (I truly was not.) and decided to try and hack my account. Luckily, I’ve always used a secondary email on the games we play, so he only got my old account.
Not knowing that this happened, I forgave him for everything that he did prior. A few days later, at the end of school before I left, we were talking when he said the name of my secondary account. Of course, I asked how he knew about it, and he said he logged in. I obviously got very angry at him for this, as I had not given him permission whatsoever. I told him I would have showed him my messages had he just simply asked. This caused him to get angry at me for being angry at him. (He also got angry at me when he got the notifications that he had been removed from my email. I also changed my passwords, have no fear.)
After discussing this with our mutual friends, they confirmed that what he did was not okay. Because I was getting more distant from him, he thought that he should buddy up to someone else in our friend group. (He barely speaks to anyone else if he doesn’t have to.) Of course, he chose the one person that he supposedly hates based on past events. (Not my story to share, I apologize.)
(I don’t remember this part all too well so take it with a grain of salt.) After a while, I decided to give him another chance. We had a conversation where I brought up all of the issues I had with him in a few paragraphs. (Mainly stuff about boundaries and respecting me. Also for pulling my hair whenever he got the chance even though I told him multiple times on multiple occasions to stop.) His response was changing the subject to something different, and about me. I promptly him shut down, however, as he was bringing up stuff that I didn’t do, insisting that he at least acknowledges his problems instead of pretending everything is fine. This ultimately lead to him getting angry and ending the conversation with his signature “Okay. Bye.”
He then went back to pretending everything was normal with me, though he was talking shit about me in a group chat with our mutual online friends and one of our real life friends (The one he hated that I mentioned previously.) She would tell me everything he said about me, but she didn’t want to get involved so I couldn’t call him out for any of it. At this point, I was just tired of fighting, so I went with it. Many more minor arguments happened after this. I won’t include details for the sake of this post not being too unbearably long, since what happened was basically the previous fight over and over.
A while later, one of our friends called him out for his shit, as I had been letting them know what was going on for every argument we had. He got really heated over this, and told her to kill herself and that he never valued her as a friend. She gave no shits at all. He was promptly removed, or left on his own, from all of the group chats with her in them except our main server. They had each other blocked, though to nobody’s surprise that didn’t stop him from talking about her or to her in the server.
Though 2 out of 5 people in our friend group wanted nothing to do with him, that didn’t stop him from sitting with us and trying to joke around with us like nothing happened. For a while, everything was fine. I wasn’t talking to him, he wasn’t talking to me. Another fight happened between him and the friend he hated before, but that isn’t my story to tell either, sorry. The only thing I can say about the fight is that he mentioned his alcohol addiction.
One thing lead to another and I decided to give him one last chance. Again. So, I had another conversation with him, letting him know that im serious about unfriending him if he doesn’t talk to his therapist about the alcohol, jealousy, and obsession with me.
I gave him until the end of the week to talk to his therapist, or I’m gone. Everything was fine until the weekend. I went on a trip to Dollywood on the weekend, 4 of my friends being there. He of course did not come on the trip, as he isn’t in the school club that took us. I asked him on Sunday if he had talked to his therapist about anything yet, and he had said no. I rightfully blocked him, just as I said I would. He proceeded to play the victim and started asking our friends what he did wrong, pretending that I hadn’t told him anything about blocking him.
I unblocked him momentarily to send a message on why I did it. I told him blatantly that if he didn’t talk to his therapist I would block him, and he did not. I may have been a little harsh with my words, but keep in mind that I have given him many chances to grow and learn from his mistakes that he has not taken. He needs help, and I can’t help him. I wished him the best, but told him that the best is not something I am capable of giving him.
After I blocked him again, he edited one of his messages to “call me out” for not doing what he wanted. He claims that I should’ve just listened to his issues and tell him everything was fine instead of letting him know that what he’s doing is wrong. He doesn’t want help, he wants someone to ignore his problems. I told him that im not that person and im tired of pretending I am. He proceeded to make his bio things along the lines of “You never actually loved me” once more.
After his numerous attempts at getting me to talk to him by making his bio about me, I got fed up. I confronted him, letting him know that I don’t want to be friends with him, I don’t want anything to do with him, and that he needs to stop talking about me in his bio. He of course pretended his issues didn’t exist, instead telling me that he would get help for real this time. I let him know that he just admitted to not trying to get help the first time, and that in lying to me, he broke my trust in him.
Because I knew he wouldn’t try to get help, I blocked him after saying goodbye once more. This is when he started openly shit talking me and the friend that called him out one single time. He changed his bio to things about my body he knew I was insecure about, such as my forehead. While I admit that this wasn’t the best thing to do, I gave him a taste of his own medicine. He’s a bigger individual, and he’s told me that he’s insecure about his weight.
Again, I apologize for what I said to him, I was angry when I said it. He said I have a sixhead, so I retaliated with seventeen stomach and that he can’t be talking about me when he looks 5 years pregnant. I mean no hate to pregnant people, I was angry at him when I said it. I do not condone rudeness towards plus sized or pregnant individuals. Back to the story.
He made a post on a platform we all use about how he hates Taylor Swift fans, especially the blonde ones. (Ironic when he was talking about how he liked her a while ago. Also, the friend that called him out is blonde and a big Taylor Swift fan.) So, in retaliation, our other, OTHER friend commented the username to his twitter account where he actively reposts nsfw images of gay furries, often depicted as children. I was the only person that knew about it, since he reposted such images and showed them to me in class, to my discomfort. I am usually not one to air out dirty laundry like that, however he had done something similar to me a while back, and I honestly didn’t care how it would make him feel.
I took another page out of his book and edited my message since we had each other blocked, telling him to stop shit talking me in his bio, and that I wanted nothing to do with him. Since that happened, he hasn’t made his bio anything about me, instead changing it to some joke about being 5 years pregnant.
Nobody has told me that what I’ve done was wrong, I just would like to make sure that I’m not in the wrong here. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

After the recent YouTube anti-ad block measure, three videos until you disable ad blockers, I switched off the extension (I use Microsoft edge and chrome) for the site. After a while I reenabled adblocker because I got frustrated when i got the same ads over and over again, sometimes being longer than the video itself. As y'all know, it basically speeds up the ad and the auto clicks the 'skip ad' button. I recently changed wifi companies, so i thought that slowing down was a consequence of that, but i noticed it was ONLY YOUTUBE slowing down immensely. When i clicked on something it'd take (not even exaggerating) 30 seconds for the site to respond. If i typed something, while working perfectly on the web browser, it'd take up to a minute to update what i wrote on youtube. After testing and testing, i remembered that lots of people were complaining about youtube being evil and doing bad things on purpose bc of adblockers, so i tried turning the adblocker off.
INSTANTLY, youtube became significantly faster. None of the issues mentioned above kept happening. As soon as i turn the adblocker on again, the page reloads by itself and we're back to having the equivalent of having 900ms ping in a videogame.
Im not a revolutionary or anything, but listen y'all: youtube has billions of users worldwide. A few weeks ago, people got sony to drop an update for a game just by boycotting the platform. We could do that so easily. The revenue they make bc of us watching is immense, if we stopped using youtube for a week, they'd definitely do what we want.
This is not right, a few years ago we'd get one skippable ad and that'd be it, now you get over 3 skippable ads in a row, not to mention the minute long unskippable ads. This has to change. Since youtube has no competitors, the only thing we can do is boycott them.