A friend of mine started playing Fates for the first time, so once again I got bitten by the “complaining about Fates” bug. In particular, watching chapter 18 of Conquest again after so many years really got me going, and while the general consensus I’ve seen online about this chapters writing was negative, I wasn’t that satisfied by any of the overviews of it I read. I decided to give it a shot myself.
Dissecting why something doesn’t work is fun and all, but I think it’s also important to be constructive which is why I wanted to rewrite this chapter alongside my criticisms. I really do think there’s a lot of potential here that could have been the highlight of the entire story, and so I’d love to try my hand rewriting this chapter to be what it could have been rather than what we got. I have most of it done already, but Reddit only has so many characters before it cuts you off and this post is plenty long enough as is, so I’ll save that for another part coming up soon. This will be part 1, explaining what the chapter is and elaborating on my issues with it, while part 2 will be rewriting it along with my thought process and explanations.
Recap: https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Black_%26_White/Script
Corrin and Co are traveling when they decide to rest for the night at the nation of Izumo. They are greeted by Izana, the archduke of the kingdom, who seems to be a real goofball. After introducing himself, the levity is ended when it’s revealed the entire Hoshidan family has been invited here as well! Before any swords can be undrawn, Izana tells both parties that the kingdom has a strict neutrality pact neither of them can violate.
The scene cuts to later, where Ryoma enters Corrin and Xanders room to talk with them. Xander and Ryoma’s argument is cut short when Ryoma is dragged off by Nohrians. Turns out “Izana” is actually a Nohrian mage named Zola, who disguised himself to trick the Hoshidan royal family into a trap. Corrin and Xander don’t approve of such dishonorable methods to win, however, and fight to rescue their captives with Xander saying “we’ll win this war with honor or die trying”. After Leo kills Zola, the game cuts to later where we see Nohrians and Hoshidans alike having a meal, much to the delight of the real Izuma, who turns out is exactly as bizarre as the fake impression. Xander and Ryoma confirm with eachother that their fight will continue as usual, but Corrin states that no matter what happens they’re grateful they got to see both families eating together even if it’s not under the best circumstances, and the chapter ends with them saying they’ll revel in this feeling.
So on paper, I think this chapter is a great idea. Despite being at war, when one family is at the total mercy of the other, they lend a hand instead of kicking them while they’re down. This highlights how the two nations could accomplish so much together if only they weren’t at war with eachother. If utilized well, this could have been a great “eye of the tornado scene” emphasizing how tragic it is that these two families who share so much in common are forced by fate to fight eachother, making it all the more sorrowful when that’s brought to it’s conclusion through bloodshed. This would also encourage Conquest players to buy Birthright in a natural and subtle way as well now that they’ve had a nice sample of the other side. Of course, I don’t think this chapter was utilized well, and after reading the script again I believe it boils down to three major problems.
-Problem 1: The Lack of Worldbuilding Causes the Conflict to be Driven by Contrivances.
This is one of the many instances where the lack of fleshing out the world and it’s rules out really hampers the weight of the scenes. Unlike Awakening where there was a general cause-and-effect outlining the level structure, all of the Fates routes are much more individual and self-contained when it comes to chapters. This means the game has to really stretch itself to justify this elaborate setup being brought up and solved in one single chapter of regular length, and it’s very apparent when you write out the summary of events here.
Corrin and his army are just walking by when they happen upon the capital of the country. Corrin decides this would be a great place to rest for the night at and are instantly welcomed by its leader, who is also the only person in the game of that country. The entire Hoshidan family also just happen to bump into us because they coincidently came here at roughly the same time, with somehow neither party noticing the other until they were staring at eachother in the same room.
The only thing we know about this new nation we’ve never seen or heard about before is that it’s a peace-loving land with some sort of neutrality pact which means the two nations can’t fight here. What is the importance of this place that would entice all the Hoshidan royals to come over for a banquet in the middle of their country being invaded? Never explained. What exactly is this pact and what power does Izuno have to enforce it, if any? Never explained. Xander, prince of a nation at war and frontline general, has never heard of it. How does Garon or Iago never figure out or look into what happened here, considering the royals walked through their trap unharmed and everybody in charge of the trap vanished? Never brought up.
How many times here was this supposedly major event dependent on coincidences, seemingly important details left completely unexplained, and characters not knowing things that should be basic information of the world they live in? Things like all this quickly build up and make the world feel small scale and artificial, as if nothing truly exists until it’s in the peripheral vision of main characters. In a vacuum, this could all be excusable if the main meat of the chapter was just so dense and important that they just want a convenient excuse to delve into it. But about that…
-Problem 2: Nothing happens, either character-wise or plot-wise.
This is the only scene in both Birthright and Conquest where all eight of the royal families are together in one spot, and they’re unable to fight eachother. What a brilliant idea! How many great scenes could you come up with from this setup alone? How many directions could this move towards?

-The families bonding over their memories with Corrin (X)
-Calling eachother out for uncool actions, like Ryoma refusing to help Elise or Nohr siccing monsters on farming villages (X)
-Working together to defeat some threat they’d have trouble taking down on their own (X)
-Some cultural exchange (X)
-Some melancholy scene where, even if there’s a lot of resentment, they acknowledge how this may be the last time they ever get to have a meal with Corrin. (Somewhat?)
-Corrin sits down and has a mature conversation with his birth family elaborating on their choice to stay with Nohr (X)
-Some negotiation or debate between the two families about the future of their countries relationship, successful or not (X)
-Corrin being formally declared by the Hoshidan royals as a Nohrian, officially cutting them out of the family (X)

So what does Conquest do with this prompt? It does the unexpected route where all of them but Ryoma are shuffled out as soon as they’re introduced, captured offscreen, rescued offscreen, most of their dinner is offscreen, finishing their meal and leaving is offscreen, all of them sans Ryoma have barely any dialog, and none of them are even present in any of the CG’s.
We actually start off strong, Ryoma and Xander naturally puff out their chest and don’t get along when they’re in the same room, but seem to calm down when Corrin elaborates on how similar they are to eachother. But the game is so eager to get to fighting that it drags Ryoma away kicking and screaming before he even gets to share what he had to say to Corrin, let alone explore what having common ground means to the two of them.
1) I understand this is the Nohrian route so it makes sense the focus is mostly on them, but Takumi only gets three lines here, one of which is “…” Hinoka also only gets three lines, which I think is still more than she got in Birthright, and two of those lines are “You!” and “What are you doing here?”. Sakura lucks out as she’s the only sibling on either side who has anything to say whatsoever when Corrin says they’re grateful they could share another meal with the Hoshidans. That’s a start, but the fact remains Ryoma is the only sibling in the chapter whose remotely relevant, the rest could be omitted and nothing would change. They are only here to be damsels in distress heightening the stakes of defeating the local bad guy rather than providing any character development, checking up on how they are doing without Corrin and Azura, comparing and contrasting their differences between their counterparts, sharing any new information about them, foreshadowing Takumi’s possession, any notable interactions with their counterparts, etc. But no, nothing happens.
2) I also understand this is a video game and they don’t have all the time in the world before the next fight has to happen, yet Conquest is oddly completely uninterested in it’s own set-up. Zola, a minor chapter boss introduced and killed in this chapter, has more screentime and relevance here than any of the siblings, something you’d think would be the actual meat of the chapter they’d want to delve into.
The implications and weight of two dueling nations and families obligated to pause their fighting and dine with eachother could easily take up two or even three chapters as a pivotal arc, yet it’s completely blazed through as if the game considered it a cute novelty rather than a potential life-changing or history-changing moment. Simply put, it’s wasted potential, as if to say “Oh both of the two families meeting in a game about choosing between mutually exclusive families? Eh whatever.”
I wanna stick with just this chapter and not rewrite a good chunk of the entire story, but I can’t stress enough that in any other game this chapter would be the plot-defining moment paving the new way forward rather than chapter 15’s “we’ll expose Garon as a monster by helping him invade an innocent people.”
Neither of the two families are fighting because they outright want to, this isn’t a war about irreconcilable differences or mutually exclusive goals, the only reason for any conflict whatsoever as far as the game has shown us is that the guy in charge of Nohr is a sociopath who threatens to kill his own children at the drop of a hat. Sure, they probably won’t hold hands singing kumbaya after one extended conversation with eachother, but when all of them are in a truce far away from Garon’s authority having a meal together, nothing significant comes out of it plot-wise?
In fact, at the end of the day what significance happened here at all?

• -We learned about a new country, but we know very little about it and (other than Izama potentially joining the party later) absolutely none of it will be relevant after this chapter anyways.
• -Well, maybe this place is just set dressing so we have an excuse to meet up with our siblings again, but then nobody has any meaningful interactions, new info to share, planning ahead, or character development resulting from sharing scenes with them.
• -Then is the primary focus supposed to be on how this situation affects the Nohrian family? The antagonist and the conflict he brings is introduced and quickly solved without any consequences, with all the siblings instantly in agreement about stopping him. They don’t really talk amongst eachother about their feelings or how to go forward.

If there’s no juicy character interactions or exploration, and no setting up future events, then presumably the point of this big moment of Corrin and Xander leaping to save their enemies was made to show off that despite working in the same army, our heroes are indeed better than the swarms of war criminals under Nohr’s name we’ve seen and would never tolerate such things under normal circumstances. They’ve talked the talk about disagreeing with their father’s cruel methods, now here’s proof they’ll walk the walk, aren’t they such noble people? The way this is done however, opens up another can of worms…
-Problem 3: Protags come off as dicks
While our heroes are indeed more likeable and moral than blatant monsters like Garon and Hans, liking peace and disliking war crimes is not enough of a reason for a pat on the back. Our protags might not be burning villages for fun, but it’s difficult to take their proclaimed goal of peace seriously considering both the context of working for people who DO burn villages for fun and they way they handle themselves when presented with an opportunity to work on this supposed goal.
Corrin and Azura

• This is not seeing things under the worst possible interpretation to be a stick in the mud, Nohr is indeed invading Hoshido for no apparent reason and leaving war crimes wherever it’s armies go. Everybody in the building is aware of this to some extent.
  
• Azura and Corrin’s grand plan to expose Garon as a slime monster to his family indeed involves directly helping Garon conquer Hoshido, which they acknowledge will bring destruction and suffering that the nation and royal family have done nothing to deserve.
  
• Corrin and Azura are indeed presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here to sit down behind closed doors and communicate anything, just anything significant at all, to the royal family that still seems to value them, but our heroes don’t even try or seem to acknowledge that. Corrin doesn’t have any interactions with them that last more than a sentence or two, and Azura is never acknowledged nor speaks to them.
  
• And yet despite, all this, both Corrin and Azura are quite pleased with the turn of events here, with Corrin acknowledging they’ll “probably try to kill eachother next time they see eachother” but that they’ll “revel in this feeling.”
  

Azura in particular is problematic here. During Odovakar 's excellent overview of the problems with Fates writing, he goes into detail about how Azura’s line about “this is all quite heartwarming. We're like one big family...albeit, a dysfunctional one.” in particular comes off as incredibly tone deaf and tasteless given the circumstances of Azura and Corrin marching on one family’s homeland for the sake of the other family. What I think was also worth noting is the context leading up to that line…

Sakura: I was just, um...th-thinking...it's really nice to finally see you again. I'm glad you... I'm glad you f-found a way to be happy... Corrin: Sakura... I'm happy to see you too. Sakura: R-really? You mean it?! Oh, Corrin! Elise: HMPH! Back off, you! He/She's my brothesister! MINE! Sakura: Ah! I'm s-sorry! Corrin: Elise! Mind your manners, little one. Elise: But she's trying to take you away from me... She's my archnemesis

Whether intentional or not, this is actually a very clever microcosm of the family’s conflict acted out by the youngest and most innocent among them who probably weren’t even born when the conflict started. The Hoshidan loves their sibling, but their time with Corrin is interrupted by the Nohrian shoving them away and declaring Corrin for themselves. This is a great way to challenge our protags to some introspection about themselves.

Azura: Heehee! Corrin: Azura? Did you just...giggle?

Instead, Azura just finds this a real knee-slapper. I understand maybe this is just meant to be a cute image of imoutos fighting over oni-chan Corrin and nothing more, but the context makes it very hard to swallow the narrative’s insistence that all this is “heartwarming” as Azura puts it. Keep in mind that all the Hoshidan nobles are sitting at the same table watching all this. Do you think Ryoma also finds it funny that his little sister is scared off and declared an archnemesis by the daughter of the man who killed his father in cold blood? Do you think Hinoka also thinks it's like one big dysfunctional family when Corrin is preparing to march on her homeland with an army?
I get it, I totally know what they were going for, and in a vacuum it could be a great line making for a properly bittersweet moment. “Even if the two are at eachothers throats and the future is bleak, me and Azura are grateful we get to have at least one big normal dinner together like a real family.”
But the future is bleak because of Corrin and Azura participating in an invasion, the families are at eachothers throats partially because Corrin and Azura haven’t accomplished anything to reform Nohr. If anything, Corrin should feel great shame here. Elise just unintentionally reenacted the history between the nations where Nohr was clearly in the wrong, and Corrin is sitting directly across and staring at the family who’ve done nothing wrong to him yet are going to be hurt because of Corrin’s decision. Grateful they could spend time with them again? Maybe. But cheerful and laughing?

ProZD: D-did an alien write this game? blows gently

But at least Corrin doesn’t show outright contempt for the family they’re screwing over…
Xander and Leo

Xander: Corrin! There's no need to insult me like that. I could not possibly be anything like this sorry excuse for a prince. … Xander: We will win with honor or die trying. Come, Corrin. Let us go set free our sworn enemy. … Corrin: Heh, sorry... It's just that you and Ryoma really are so much alike. If you weren't on opposite sides of a war, I think you could have been great friends. Xander: Yeesh... Do me a favor and keep that nonsense in your head where it belongs. … Xander (to Ryoma): We only acted as Nohrian royals should. When we leave this place, you'll be nothing but an enemy to be defeated once more.

Okay, but why? Ryoma is not the one Xander overheard laughing to himself about how much he’s going to make Corrin suffer. How are the Hoshidan royals “nothing but enemies to be defeated” here when they’re just trying to defend their homeland from somebody who assassinated their king at a peace meeting? Where is all this contempt from Xander coming from?
It’s perfectly understandable he doesn’t get along super well with Ryoma because of the tensions between their nations, that makes sense, but I see no reason for why Xander is making several petty insults to his face unprompted, let alone so nonchalant and even somewhat eager to get back to waging a war Xander himself calls “a senseless war of greed and madness” in the epilogue.
He doesn’t treat his own people much better this chapter, declaring Zola and his henchmen as “traitors” to be “dealt with” for their dishonorable methods when ironically Zola taking over the country by disguising himself as the archduke is actually one of the least evil and self-destructive things we’ve seen the kingdom do so far. It must be emphasized that every sibling was in the same room watching Garon demand Xander kill Corrin if he interferes with killing POWs for his amusement, and half of them were in the same room when Garon ordered his henchmen to murder every singer they can find in a neutral country. So a few hundred or thousand innocent people, most of whom would presumably be young woman, murdered to snuff out potential assassins. Or Garon directly ordering the deaths of unarmed civilians in chapter 13 with Hans relaying “Villagers are just soldiers who haven’t picked up a sword yet.”
Xander talks a big game in this chapter about how “we’ll win this war with honor or die trying”, but how do you honorably win a war when your nation is constantly and openly rushing to pointless overkill brutality like this at every turn? What moral high ground does this country have that Xander is so determined to preserve he kills loyal soldiers over what he sees as sullying it, when at no point in the game does the influence of Nohr ever do anything but make life significantly worse? His sudden fervor towards doing the right thing is completely contrasted later on when Xander is the one telling Corrin there’s no justice to be found in war and you just gotta do what you gotta do rather than what’s morally right, in response to Corrin being upset the Nohrian army is killing woman and children who looked at them funny.

“Justice is an illusion, a fairy tale…Letting innocents die is a tragedy, but so is letting the chance for peace slip away. This is war. There is no such thing as a clean win when lives are on the line.”

“Justice is just a fairy tale, innocent people getting screwed over is something we have to accept in war because there’s no such thing as a clean win! But also we better win this senseless war of greed and madness with honor or die trying!”

• If “justice is an illusion”, how is killing Nohrian soldiers to free people who are apparently “nothing but enemies to be defeated” so you can fight them later on terms you prefer, directly prolonging a war which will lead to much more deaths on both sides, for the benefit of Nohr? By Xanders own logic, is this not letting the chance for peace slip away since there’s no such thing as a clean win? Forget Garon and Iago, I’m confident the citizens back home whose loved ones got conscripted would be the ones demanding his head if they found out about this. A very charitable interpretation is that ending the war this specific way will cause more chaos and fighting in the long-term compared to if they conquered and oppressed an innocent nation fair and square, but that’s nowhere to be found in the script whatsoever.
  
• If Xander believes in “We’ll win this war with honor or die trying”, why is he still following Garon? Garon is winning the war in part thanks to honorless and extreme acts of cruelty like blackmailing the Ice Tribe or making an example out of Scarlet’s body, yet instead of taking action against him like he does with Zola, Xander is instead the most loyal sibling to him to the point Corrin decides the best way to get him on his side is to expose Garon as a literal slime monster? Where’s Xander’s zeal of “Come Corrin, let’s go save our sworn enemies” when his father orders Hans is go through killing injured and surrendering foes who were promised they be spared? Where’s his conviction shown here about “not letting treachery go unpunished” when his father outright says he couldn’t care less about the welfare of his people and he’ll just kill anybody who complains to make an example?
  

I understand one might get the impression I’m going off topic or selectively picking and choosing quotes here from all over the game, but no matter how you look at it Xanders beliefs, morality, and priorities are just all over the place depending on what the plot needs him to do. This means not only is his motivation for helping his enemies here faulty no matter how you look at it, but it also makes the extreme lengths he goes to do so, killing his own subjects who won him victory on a silver platter because it wasn’t a “proper” victory, come off as baselessly self-righteous at best and outright cruel at worst.
I’m sure the game would assure us Zola and all his mooks are terrible people who had it coming, but the issue is no matter how virtuous you portray Xander and creepy you portray Zola, Xander is still directly managing the war for a megalomaniac and helping him achieve his goals in spite of his long history of open sadism and public crimes that make Zola look like a saint. By ignoring the clear root cause of Nohr's dishonor while going this hard against random goon's participating in dishonor, instead of being a gallant preserver of morals, he comes off like a bully who selectively picks and choices punishment.
On the topic of punishment, it particularly rubs me the wrong way how Leo just casually mercs Zola at the end, keep in mind Birthright confirms for all his faults he actually isn’t a complete monster like Garon and dies trying to help the protag.

Leo (smiling portrait): You’d probably rather die than live with the shame, correct? In that case…
Zola: Eek! No, please! M-m-milord... I was wrong! S-so wrong! I have seen the error of my ways! P-please...spare my unworthy life!!
Leo (still smiling): Make peace with it, Zola. Perhaps on the other side you will find forgiveness.

Leo makes a fair argument that the stakes are too high and Zola can’t be trusted not to snitch, but this is bit sadistic, no? One of the most powerful people in the country is smug and sarcastic as he’s getting ready to execute somebody whose bleeding on the ground begging for his life and genuinely confused as to why we’re upset with him. I know the intent of “I was wrong! I have the seen the error of my ways!” is supposed to be him saying whatever Leo wants to hear to weasel out of punishment, but that’s exactly the thing, he’s fully cooperating and doing everything he can to appease this guy. And then he’s just killed like a dog without trial or final words, presumably using the spell that skewers you with tree branches.
Didn’t the game use killing defeated foes like this to establish Garon as a bloodthirsty monster? Why is Corrin just standing there watching this happen? This exact same scenario in Birthright has them jump to spare Zola, but here their disapproval is very meek and only voiced after the deed is already done. It’s still apparently too much for Leo though, who chastises Corrin for being “too soft…I envy your innocence.” And then he declares the matter settled on their behalf.
I’m sure this scene was meant to show off Leo’s pragmatism and strategy skills, but it just makes him look like a sociopath and Corrin look spineless. And that’s the biggest issue with this chapter to me, more than the plot being driven by contrivances that aren’t explained or the lack of any character development or interesting scenes taking advantage of the setup, the actions and dialog of our protags don’t match the noble heroes the narrative insists they are:

• Corrin is openly enjoying spending time with innocent people they’re throwing under the bus so Corrin won’t have to risk their relationship with the Nohrian siblings by directly fighting Garon. They then clearly disapprove of Leo executing a surrendering foe begging for mercy but stand idle watching it happen.
• Azura sits directly across her former family who’ve been very negatively impacted by her decisions and actions, and will continue to be so in the future, yet she’s giggling about the conflict and doesn’t seem to be taking the fact that her two families might kill each other seriously.
• Xander insults Ryoma as a sorry excuse for a prince, and afterwards kills his own subjects to prolong a war of aggression so it can be won the way he personally wants it to be won.
• Leo seems to be having a good time killing somebody who’s surrendered and begging for his life. He then chides Corrin for being “too soft” when they wish that didn’t have to happen.
• And again, for no apparent reason, neither Corrin or Azura do the bare minimum to clue to the Hoshidans about what’s going on or even have a meaningful conversation with them despite claiming to care for them. This is the golden opportunity they were hoping for, yet they apparently spend the entire dinner instead talking to eachother about how happy they themselves are.

These are not the actions of heroic characters.
Summary: Overall, this is a very bizarre chapter. It feels like something meaningful happens here at first glance, your brain sees what’s going on and knows that this is supposed to be a huge moment. Peaceful music playing, a very well-drawn CG of dozens of individual units, liberating a country from Nohrian control, Corrin and Azura are happy and say some lines that sound like they should be deep and impactful.
But when you step back and analyze the bigger picture and context, you find that more or less embodies all of Fates writing, both good and bad. It has a brilliant premise that gets your mind going, excellent presentation to accompany it, and some individual scenes or dialogue in a vacuum are very welcome. If you’re a casual player who just wants context for your favorite characters fighting, it’s easy to feel satisfied at first glance and move on thanks to those factors, especially since the gameplay and MyCastle are very fun. At the same time, there’s no denying the severe flaws that hamper the experience.
Despite being the hyped-up main draw of the chapter, our exciting premise that opens so many doors is almost completely neglected in favor of (once again) exposition on meaningless settings and characters that aren’t relevant anywhere else and also reminding us how evil Nohr is, to the point the chapter title is Black and White. The context makes it very difficult to take the plight of our heroes seriously due to their lack of action (both before and in the present) to achieve their proclaimed goal despite ample opportunity, the proaction they do have being unnecessarily extreme and self-serving, and a narrative that insists they are in the right at every turn despite the results clearly showing us otherwise. There’s definitely bits and pieces of something great buried in all this teasing us, otherwise I wouldn’t be interested enough to write this much all these years later, but as is it’s just a mess. An enjoyable mess, but a mess all the same.

But what do you guys think of Conquest Chapter 18: Black and White? Do you also consider it a wreck, or was there something positive here you believed I missed? What would you like to see in a potential rewrite of it?

So for context I am from Germany and it is always pointed out how good our culture with alcohol is, how nice our beer is and so on. I would say that I am well informed about drugs in general and since growing and consuming Cannabis was legalised recently I ask myself wether selling drugs is morally resonable. I think that most people would agree that drug cartells are doing unethical things by selling drugs, but what about super markets that sell alcohol? There is actually a problem with alcohol in my country. I certainly know classmates who deal wrong with alcohol. To say it in a neutral way: They have a REALLY high tolerance.
You should also know that being on cannabis was never illegal in Germany before it was legalised. Only the farming, carrying, selling and buying were illegal (selling and buying still are, it will get legalised, but it isnt yet). I dont think it is wrong to do drugs. I had my first experience with alcohol at 16 and I dont think that drinking is wrong. But I think it can be dangerous, and it will be dangerous if you do drugs in hard times of your life since it is more likely to get addicted. But selling or producing companies get a lot of profit from these people. Their buisness is partly built on them and they obviously know this. And in my opinion this is just as unethical as the acting of a drug cartell. To be clear: Doing drugs is not immoral, it is actually normal and I think that it should be the right of any resonable person to do any drug they want. But addiction is a serious illness and the vast majority did not choose to be an addict. You cant argue that addicts deal resonable with drugs, so the individual responsibility does not count for this, so the producers have to ensure that they sell their drugs to resonable people and help addicts to get out of their addiction, so where is the differnce between brewing companies and drug cartells?
But what do you think; Is brewing and selling alcohol as unethical as producing and selling drugs like fentanyl? And if it wasnt, why do you think it isnt?

It's your friendly neighborhood deal hunter back at it again with your weekly grocery deals.
Here's a sneak peek at some of this week's deals - Sales for May 16th to May 22nd, 2024.
This week's got some seriously good finds to keep your wallet happy and your fridge stocked. Here's what caught my eye:

Farm Boy

• Chicken breast (boneless skinless): $5.99 per lb - This is a standard price for boneless, skinless chicken breast.
• Wild-caught Argentinian shrimp (23-30ct): $7.99 340g/bag - This is a good price for decent-sized, wild-caught Argentinian shrimp.
• Mini cucumbers: $5.00 for 2/6-packs - Same great price on mini cucumbers as before!
• Canadian Fiddleheads (fresh daily): $5.99/lb - This is a cool find! Fiddleheads are a fun seasonal item, so why not try them out?
• Hothouse tomatoes: $1.49/lb - This is a good price for hothouse tomatoes!
• Eggplant: $1.49/lb - This is a fantastic price for eggplant! Usually, it's closer to $2 a pound or more.
• Zucchini: $1.49/lb - This is a good price for zucchini! You might find it cheaper, but it'll take some effort.
• Green onion: $0.77 per bunch - This is a great price for green onions! It's almost surprising to see them under a dollar.
• Blueberries: $2.99 full pint (473g) - This is a fantastic deal on blueberries! Definitely worth picking some up.

Food Basics

• Ground chicken (lean, Zabiha): $3.88 450g/pack - This is a great price for lean ground chicken!
• Fresh 100% Quarter Pound (¼ lb) Lean Ground Beef Burgers: $4.00/4-pack: These beef burger patties work out to $4 per pound, which is a good deal! Especially considering the buns are also on sale. This is basically $10 for 8 delicious homemade burgers!
• Asparagus: $1.98/lb - This is an excellent price on asparagus! Especially since it's priced by the pound, not by the smaller bunches.
• Sweet peppers: $2.98/4-pack - This is a nice price for sweet peppers!
• Sweet potato and sweet purple potato: $1.28/lb - This is a fair price for sweet potatoes. It's neat that the purple sweet potatoes are included in the same deal.
• Coleslaw kit (Green Giant): $5.00 for 2 340g kits - This is a great price for coleslaw salad kits!
• Mini potatoes: $2.98 5lb/bag - This is a good price for a 5lb bag of mini potatoes!
• Strawberries: $1.67 454g/shell - This is an amazing deal on strawberries! Here's hoping they taste great too!
• Cherries: $5.98/lb - This is a decent price for cherries. The commenter recommends making homemade yogurt popsicles with them, although they do admit it's a bit of work to pit them.
• Brick cheese (Selection): $4.44 400g/bar - This is a nice price on brick cheese! Under $5 for a whole bar!
• BBQ Sauce and Mustard (Selection): $1.00/each - This is a nice find! Especially if you're planning on making burgers this week, stocking up on condiments at this price is a good idea.

Freshco (price matcher)

• Frozen burgers (Compliments): $9.99 1.13kg box (8-pack) - While this comes out to about $3/lb for beef, it's important to remember these are frozen, processed burgers. They contain ingredients like bread crumbs and flour, and have a higher saturated fat content than fresh patties. Read the label and make an informed choice!
• Wild-caught Argentinian shrimp (23-30ct): $6.99 300g/bag - This is a good price for wild-caught Argentinian shrimp!
• Sweet peppers: $2.99/4-pack - Another great deal on sweet peppers!
• Mushrooms: $2.99 454g/shell - This is a fantastic price on mushrooms! Stock up while they're on sale.
• Green beans: $1.99/lb - Awesome price for green beans, just like last week!
• Royal Gala apples: $1.49/lb - This is a good price for Royal Gala apples, but you might be able to find them even cheaper if you wait for a sale.
• Blueberries: $2.49/full pint - Another fantastic sale on blueberries!

No Frills (price matcher)

• Beef burgers (No Name): $9.99 1.36kg/12-pack - These frozen burgers are similar to the Compliments brand we saw earlier, but they're smaller and have more sugar and weird ingredients like "onion extract" and "corn syrup solids" than the Compliments ones. They also don't mention the saturated fat content.
• Fresh Chicken Drumsticks: $1.87/lb - This is a fantastic price on fresh chicken drumsticks! At only $1.87 per pound, it's a great time to grab some for your favorite recipes.
• Ground chicken or turkey: $8.00 870g/pack - This is a decent price for ground chicken or turkey, at about $4.20 per pound.
• Ground beef (lean): $6.00 450g/tube - This isn't a great price for ground beef since it comes in a tube.
• Steelhead trout fillet: $9.99/lb - This is the standard price for steelhead trout.
• Asparagus: $2.99/lb - This is an okay price for asparagus, but No Frills sometimes has better deals.
• Green beans: $2.99/lb - Same with the green beans, No Frills has offered lower prices in the past.
• Cucumber: $0.99/each - This is a good price for cucumbers.
• Mini-cucumber: $3.99 11-pack - This is a fair price
• Watermelon (9lb average): $2.99/each - This is a good price for a watermelon.
• Ataulfo mangoes: $5.64 5lb/case - This is a good deal on Ataulfo mangoes, which should come out to about 8 mangoes.
• Pineapple: $2.99/each - This is a good price for a pineapple.
• Brick cheese (Armstrong): $5.49 400g/bar - The price of cheese seems to be going up a bit everywhere.
• Black Diamond Cheese Slices, 22 Slices, 410 g: $2.49 - Save 36% - $3.88 at Walmart.
• Dry pasta (Italpasta): $1.25 750g/packs - This is a good price for dry pasta. Stock up if you're planning on making a pasta salad.

Real Canadian Superstore (price matcher)

• Beef rib-steak (ungraded): $7.88/lb - Not the best deal. You're paying graded prices for ungraded meat.
• Golden Pompano (frozen): $2.88/lb - This seems to be a store-specific deal. Has anyone tried this fish before?
• Dressed Tilapia (frozen): $2.88/lb - This means the frozen tilapia comes with the tail and fins already removed.
• Potatoes: $5.50 10lb/bag - This is a great deal on a big bag of potatoes!
• Corn: $0.40/ear - This is an incredible price on corn! It might even be a loss-leader for the store, so stock up if you can.
• Watermelon (11lb average): $3.99/each - This is a good price for a large watermelon.
• Pineapple: $3.00/each - This is a good price for a pineapple.

Sobeys

• Chicken thighs (boneless skinless): $5.99/lb - This is an okay price for boneless, skinless chicken thighs, but there might be better deals out there this week.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA): $8.77/lb - Scene Member Price - This price is only available to Scene members.
• Beef sirloin tip roast or marinating steaks (AAA): $8.99/lb - This is a tough call. Sirloin tip is leaner but might be less tender than the striploin. The higher AAA grade might make it more tender though. It depends what you're looking for.
• Lobster (live): $10.99/lb - Scene Member Price - This is a good price on live lobster, but only for Scene members.
• Asparagus: $2.44/lb - Good price! This is a good price on asparagus!
• Green beans: $2.67/lb - Good price! This is a good price on green beans!
• Bok choy: $0.99/lb - Amazing price. I don't get how other places charge $2/lb+ for choy, and then you have Sobeys of all stores swooping in to steal the show! This is an incredible price on bok choy! Sobey's is undercutting the competition with this amazing deal.
• Asian pears: $0.99/lb - Awesome price! This is a great price on Asian pears!
• Brick cheese (Cracker Barrel): $5.77 400g/bar - This Cracker Barrel brick cheese seems a bit pricey compared to other options.

Walmart

• Ground beef (lean): $3.97/lb - This is a fantastic price for lean ground beef! Time to fire up the grill and make some delicious burgers!
• Asparagus: $2.97/lb - This is a fair price for asparagus. It's not the biggest discount, but it's still a good option if you're looking for some.
• Corn: $0.32/ear - This is the best deal on corn this week! At only 32 cents an ear, you can't beat this price.
• Potatoes: $4.97 10 lb/bag - This is a good price for a big bag of potatoes. Stock up on your favorite starchy side dish!
• Coleslaw kit: $2.77 397g/kit - This is a good price for a decent-sized coleslaw kit. Perfect for a quick and easy side dish.
• Strawberries: $1.84 454g/shell - This is an amazing price on strawberries! Stock up while they're this cheap.
• Pineapple: $3.97/each - This isn't a bad price for pineapple. Remember, pineapples take a long time to grow, so appreciate the good deals when you see them!
• Brick cheese (Armstrong): $4.94 400g/bar - Another sale on Armstrong brick cheese for around $5!

Costco

• Gain Cold Water Liquid Laundry Detergent with Oxi: $17.49 - Save $3.80
  
• Finish Quantum Ultimate Plus Dishwasher Detergent Pack of 96 tablets: $17.99 - Save $6.00
  
• Ecos Earth Friendly Liquid Laundry 225 Washloads : 16.99 - Save $5
  
• Purex Cold Water Ultra Concentrated Laundry Detergent 250 wash loads : 17.49 - Save $4.50
  
• Cashmere Premium 2-ply Bathroom Tissue 40-pack: 19.99 - Save $5
  
• Cascade Power Clean Dishwasher Detergent 115 ActionPacs : 18.49 - Save $4.50
  
• Finish Quantum Jet-Dry Ultra Rinse Agent 315 washes : $9.99 - Save $4.50
  
• OxiClean Max Efficiency Stain Remover 275 loads : $16.99 - Save $5.50
  
• Dawn Ultra Platinum Advanced Power Dishwashing Liquid 2.66 L : $10.99 - Save $3.00
  

P.S. Let me know if you find any other amazing deals at Costco – always happy to share the savings!
🙏 Loving the content so far? Share the love with a friend! If you know someone who might enjoy this, it would make my day if you could forward it their way.🙏
Reference: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RJ5pfn7QZOA8YTP-TxjcjSwQI4Bd6OghyF9igf_1Xtw/edit?usp=sharing

Have you ever woken up in the morning and just realized that no matter how hard you try today was going to be a crummy day.
I had a day like that yesterday.
Woke up in the morning with my fibromyalgia flaring up, and just knew that no matter what I did, I would be in pain all day.
Instead of forcing myself to go through the motions, and have an even worse day, I decided to instead be kind to myself and take the day off.
I still couldn't do much physically, and had no mental capacity to make any decisions. Thus this sounded like a perfect gaming day. I hopped onto LOTRO and got to work on some of the ingame projects that I had been meaning to catch up on.
I'm taking my blue mariner into Khorba T4 this week, and needed to work on its stats, and gear. It's close to being ready. I would have liked at least a couple more weeks to get him perfect, but done is the new perfect.
What I realized I needed the most on my mariner atm is the Sea Fearers essences, and that means I need to either find a T12 delving partner and slodge through all of that, or go the solo route and farm embers, or both.
Since I wasn't really inclined to talk to people yesterday, and was taking a me day, I opted for farming embers by myself.
It was a rather enjoyable day. Towards the end of the day, I started to settle down, and ended up doing a 3.5 hours LIVE stream of me grinding out gear.
I had 75 people pop in to say hi and hang out for a bit. That has been my most LIVE people popping in to date! I'm always so humbled when people show up to watch and hang out. If you're needing some background noise today you can put it on play here https://youtube.com/live/09eBX6Dp9Eg?feature=share
Anyways, today I am feeling better, and can wrap my mind around things that I need to do!
Let's go have a great day!

The Cenacle 124 April 2024 29^th Anniversary Issue
https://scriptorpress.com/cenacle/124
[Size = 13.6 MB]
Hello everyone,
Here comes the just-released Cenacle 124 April 2024. Returning to the desired quarterly issue cadence that has been missing for the past couple of years. It was hard doing this issue without the usual many years’ involvement of my dear poet friend, the late Judih Weinstein Haggai, but her poetry features in this issue nonetheless, & will remain so in each issue ever on.
Thus far, 2024 for the human world has been a fairly dark one. The global Pandemic has not ended, though millions risk sickness & death for themselves & others by choosing to join in a kind of mass amnesia about the crisis. Meanwhile, the climate crisis continues to get the same kind of hostile indifference. The genocide in Gaza goes on unabated by any of the many powerful & supposedly democratic nations of the world. And a likely felon has jazzed the US electoral process, its weaknesses & flaws among its many strengths, to be within reach of again taking over &, as he has vowed, taking revenge.
I can’t tell you that this literary journal operates toe to toe on the global scale to oppose these various human catastrophes, but I can say that if we don’t seek Beauty, & Nature, & look beyond the petty fuckeries of the current day, we are much more likely to be lost than if we find a way to do this.
This fine anniversary issue features new poetry by Tamara Miles, Martina Reisz Newberry, Colin James, Sam Knot, Jimmy Heffernan, Judih Weinstein Haggai, & myself.
Also new fiction by Timothy Vilgiate, Algernon Beagle, & myself. And classic fiction from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
And new prose pieces by Nathan D. Horowitz, Charlie Beyer, & myself.
There is also new graphic artwork by AbandonView, Epi Rogan, Louis Staeble, Kassandra Soulard, Sam Knot, Tamara Miles, & Nathan D. Horowitz.
Contents of this new issue include:
From Soulard’s Notebooks [Excerpt]
I find myself leaning back often into 3 questions that I believe most influence human psychology & human culture:
1) Why are we here?
2) Where are we from?
3) What are we supposed to be doing?
* * * * * *
Feedback on Cenacle 123 [Excerpt]
I made it to the first poem by Judih Weinstein Haggai, sank into it, breathed it, needed it, and couldn’t go further into the issue yet. But it’s beautiful. And Kassandra Soulard’s cover photo: wow.
(Tamara Miles)
* * * * * *
From the ElectroLounge Forums:
Selections from Unknot 24, Part 1[Excerpt]
A project that I expect to work on for the rest of my life and never finish is a kind of art project playing with meaning making and the first few layers of knots, so this is all part of that really. I suppose it is a way to give a kind of focus or even kind of “abstract grounding” to some other kind of activity which isn’t necessarily even directly related to or about it.
(Sam Knot)
* * * * * *
Haiku from a Silent Retreat (7/31/2021) [Excerpt]
by Judih Weinstein Haggai
Everybody!
Are you everybody?
I’m not either
* * * * * *
Notes from New England:
Dream Raps, Volume Thirteen [Excerpt]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
Now that my friends are gone, the very shy Creatures who sometimes visit my hovel begin to come out, sniffing friendly their hellos. Accept my offer to cluster with me under the blankets, them being cold as ever when outside of the White Woods. White Bunny, Hedgedyhog, Peppermint Bears, Kittees & their Friend Fish. Alvinarah Poesy, & his dear friend Naria Narwhal. Even that cackling little Imp is under there somewhere. They never stay long, but I love them passing through. They’re excited about the Rutabaga Festival & Fleastock in the White Woods, I’m guessing.
* * * * * *
Becoming Archaeology: A Eulogy for Living Moor. (Part Two) [Excerpt]
by Sam Knot
It moves me more than any painting
or poem, seems to encode more meaning,
personal & planetary, than any other art,
this simple offering. This intricate gift.
* * * * * *
Notes Toward Many Musics [Excerpt]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
I believe a Narrative should always lead with the best it has, its most potent moment or image or the like. And let this lead set its standard. When I think of the Narrative options for these poems, I come back every time to starting from the start. These poems build on years & years of the work it took to get the six Brother-Heroes reunited rightly, after telling their unique stories as rightly as possible too. I did the best thinking & writing that I could.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Martina Newberry [Excerpt]
Tall on the dirty stage,
from my notebook I conferred
my poems. No time limit,
no faces, noises of shifting
dust and cars out there somewhere,
I read for many minutes,
emoting here and there,
hands rising and falling,
singing through some.
* * * * * *
Rivers of the Mind (A Novel) [Excerpt]
by Timothy Vilgiate
I could not help but fear that he’d attack me as I laid there; I lost count of how many times I got up to check my locks or to peek underneath the bed. I turned over and over, rocking the mattress like an unsteady boat, straining to keep my eyes shut. It was no use. Midnight came, and I was still awake; my hair matted over my irritated face, my blanket clutched in between my hands over my mouth as I tried to stop myself from sobbing. But I couldn’t let it see me cry. I couldn’t let it even see me blink.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Tamara Miles [Excerpt]
A lion’s music—a carnival of sound, beyond the roar of reserve, park, zoo, circus, and
safari, the wild kingdom beyond the definition of safe and unsafe, cruel or kind, in
sub-Saharan Africa, or in India, Gir forest, where the heart beat and drum beat and
incense are heavy.
* * * * * *
The Lagoon of the Air Goblins (Travel Journal) [Excerpt]
by Nathan D. Horowitz
I’m dehydrated from the sun today. I haven’t rehydrated. My hydration’s out of wack. It seems an eternity, maybe two, since I ordered a glass of papaya juice. Inside the café, mysterious café things may be happening, involving blenders and workforce and fruit and power. Time’s ticking by and it sounds like trees falling into a river. I glance at the red and white checkered tablecloth and remember I’ve always hated red and white checkered patterns. Serafín the educator said he would meet me here to tell me about the Secoya cosmovision, and he isn’t showing up.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Colin James [Excerpt]
Episodically craved by adolescents,
Prometheus displays his tats
behind The Dollar Store in Bonita.
The one with the plastic pillars.
* * * * * *
Mad Jack (Prose) [Excerpt]
by Charlie Beyer
We were longhaired teenage criminals. I looked like Jesus and my best buddy had flaming red shoulder-length hair, the devil to rival my divine look. Scott the Red. We were all hair, except Mad Jack (or Bob, as I knew him), who was as shaved as a plastic bag. We all sat in the car outside the 7-11 in the night rain. Blue smoke trickled out of the cracked window. Inside was a haze of marijuana smoke tainted with opium. We were high and crazed.
* * * * * *
Poetry by Jimmy Heffernan [Excerpt]
The moment to which we have access
So Nature can “see” through time
And what is this but awareness?
A tunneling from the immediate future
Back into the present
* * * * * *
Bags End Book #21: What is the Creature Carnival? Part 3 (Fiction) [Excerpt]
by Algernon Beagle
It makes me remember how our teacher Mister Owl in Bags End teached how different places have their different ways of thinking & telling. So if you’re gonna watch a Creature production, whether it’s the Carnival, or a Grand Production, or this time both, you’re gonna be in 4or a good crazy ride.
* * * * * *
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Classic Fiction) [Excerpt]
by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Mr. Sherlock Holmes, who was usually very late in the mornings, save upon those not infrequent occasions when he was up all night, was seated at the breakfast table. I stood upon the hearth-rug and picked up the stick which our visitor had left behind him the night before. It was a fine, thick piece of wood, bulbous-headed, of the sort which is known as a “Penang lawyer.” Just under the head was a broad silver band nearly an inch across. “To James Mortimer, M.R.C.S., from his friends of the C.C.H.,” was engraved upon it, with the date “1884.” It was just such a stick as the oldfashioned family practitioner used to carry—dignified, solid, and reassuring.
* * * * * *
Labyrinthine [A New Fixtion] [Excerpt]
by Raymond Soulard, Jr.
I’m distracted just as this strange fellow appears on stage with some kind of tool in his hand. He is very fancily dressed, some kind of home-made tuxedo? Or one sewn from many scraps? And he starts to recite a poem, I think, in a tongue I don’t know, when something distracts me.
Peace,
Raymond Soulard, Jr.
Scriptor Press New England
scriptorpress.com
[editor@scriptorpress.com](mailto:editor@scriptorpress.com)

Chapter 10 - The Dolphin
Tenar is practically insensate. Eventually she comes around, and a reality comes to her that the younger man is actually King Lebannen (aka Arren from The Farthest Shore). He is young except for something in his eyes, which considering the past makes a good amount of sense. He kneels to her but she stops him. Lebannen of Enlad was actually seeking her out and thought, for a moment, that she had known this and come to meet him. Labannen agrees to take her to her farm in Middle Valley on Gont. The older sailor offers to carry Therru to bed but Tenar stops him, Labannen does so instead. She feasts on king's food (though not on wine as good as Ogion's was) and is able to convey what has happened with her and Therru. Worse things than what is strikingly visible had happened to Therru, and Tenar is convinced that the leather capped man and her parents had done it. Handy probably couldn't have done much there, but with the curse and Tenar's fear for Therru... in telling this she becomes somewhat befuddled again, was she speaking in Kargish?
Tenar thought they wouldn't be able to reach her where she is heading and wanted to put it in the past, so she looks at Lebannen and instantly knows he is concerned about Ged. She calls him Sparrowhawk and Lebannen say all three of them go by their true names, but she corrects him that actually Ged only did so to both of them. She says, quite matter-of-factly, considering it has never been said outright, that, "'He's in danger from envious men, men of ill will...." Lebannen says he didn't want to believe his power was gone, and Tenar says, "'He wants to be alone until his hurts are healed,' she said at last, cautiously." Lebannen talks about the dry land, the mountains (called Pain) that cut and of which wounds take long to heal, and Tenar is reminded of Ged's hands as well as the stone (of which she picked up when regaining her senses) in her pocket. Lebannen is stately, but grief leaks out when he asks why Ged won't see him. Tenar says when Ged mentioned Lebannen the old Ged peeked out, part of not seeing him is pride, which Lebannen can't see Ged as being (the only word he can thing of when thinking of Ged is "patient"). Ged has changed, though, and has no patience now, just hardness on himself. She starts feeling ill, and on parting Lebannen says, "'Lady Tenar, you say you fled from one enemy and found another; but I came seeking a friend, and found another.'"
She wakes to the commotion of a ship, and Therru is hard to wake. She seems feverish and particularly withdrawn, no matter what Tenar tells her about the positives their new life will bring. There is a mark on Therru's arm, a four-fingered brand almost, from where Handy grabbed her, a promise he would never touch Therru, a promise Tenar could not have kept. Even when Lebannen speaks to Therru she does not answer... eventually she eats a little and is allowed to return to the cabin.
The ship passes through the Armed Cliffs, sandwiched walls filled with soldiered forts. Lebannen is on the high prow with the ship's master (Master Serrathen) and a man who is the Master Windkey of Roke Island. He wears a gray cloak of a mage from Roke Island, a similar one to the ones Ged had worn, through the highs and lows during Tenar's and his adventure together in Atuan. Their conversation is very polite (he is a weatherworker but is unneeded) and Tenar feels a tad like a barbarian... she wonders how a woman would/could succeed in "...their world [of] this dance of masks...."
It would take about a day to make port in Valmouth and Tenar was content to idle away on a makeshift bed the old sailor had made for her, watching the journey. Tenar bring Therru up and a very gnarled old sailor gifts a present to Therru by way of Tenar, a little dolphin carved of ivory or bone. Therru springs to life at the mention that it can go with the bone dolls (the person and animal) but eventually does reticently ask to return to the cabin (where they are) and Tenar has to thank the sailor on her behalf. She sees that all her work with Therru, the last year, might have been lost with that one touch from the appropriately named Handy, and for what reason?
She rejoins the king and mage in a setting that reminds her of her dream of dragons. Lebannen says he has no message for Ged, he has made him king (with their journey) whether he crowns him or not. Tenar sees a vulnerability in him, but it's necessary for him to be a good person: "He thought he had learned pain, but he would learn it again and again, all his life, and forget. And therefore he would not, like Handy, do the easy thing to do." Tenar says she would gladly take a message to Ged though perhaps Ged would not hear it. At this the mage says it was always so with him, and it comes to light he taught Ged and knew him longer than she did ("'But the first time I had him out in a boat, to learn how to speak to the wind, you know, he raised up a waterspout. I saw then what we were in for. I thought, Either he'll be drowned before he's sixteen, or he’ll be archmage before he's forty. ...Or I like to think I thought it.'"). Tenar asks if Ged is still archmage, quite a stark question. "The mage said finally, 'There is now no Archmage of Roke.' His tone was exceedingly cautious and precise. She dared not ask what he meant." Lebannen suggest that "...the Healer of the Rune of Peace..." (Tenar) would have some role in the new politics, to this the mage agrees but not without a beat as well as with no elaboration.
Lebannen reveals things from his journey with Ged and afterward, including (which hits Tenar like a gong) Kalessin, but in particular about Ged's staff being left behind and something that the Master Doorkeeper of Roke had said ("'He has done with doing. He goes home.'") which indicated Ged's time as a mage was done. A counsel was enacted on Roke to choose a new archmage. The king attended to get experience with the Council of the Wise, as well as because Thorion the Master Summoner had perished after his "art was turned against him by that great evil which my lord Sparrowhawk found and ended" (this book says he did not make his way back after meeting with Ged and Arren in the land of the dead and being directed back to the land of the living by Ged). Lebannen has trouble criticizing the wizards but the Master Windkey makes it clear: just like the last book, the counsel was stalemated to inaction. This section also talks about the other Masters in some detail (the Summoner who fled, the Patterner [also Kargish] who kept to the Grove, etc.). Eventually they look to the Master Namer (after all, he knows the names) who looked to the Master Patterner. Finally the Master Patterner said, trancelike, "'A woman on Gont,'" in Kargish, and no more, with no more knowledge of what he said than the rest. So they went to Gont with no more knowledge, though since they knew Tenar was there they thought perhaps it was her who was to lead them to the new archmage (some thought to Ogion, though he was ill and had refused being the archmage in the past, some thought to Ged again).
Tenar is of the opinion that the Master Windkey is wary of her (as she should be of him), but she meets Lebannen with candor. Tenar says it couldn't be her, she wouldn't lead them to Ged. The mage says it's likely it's not her, after all she would likely have been truly known since she is one of the few who "...bear their true names openly!" [ed: which is a bit interesting, in older books it stresses the amount of power one can have over another, and the secrecy among all but the closest, in revealing true names. It's even key to the ending of the first book. Also, she was mainly known as Goha, a use name]. He wants to know if perhaps she knows of anyone, and nothing comes to mind (except maybe the Woman of Kemay of Ogion's story, but she was mentioned as old even in that, unless she truly was long-lived as a dragon). She feels silenced by the "deafness" of the Master Windkey, something similar to her description of when she met the other mages (which included Aspen) after Ogion's death. She says but at least there is now a King, "'In whom our hope and trust are well founded,' the mage said with a warmth that became him well."
Tenar takes time to mention the evils that have seemingly sprung up, like the gangs, like what happened with Therru, like the "...men and women of power..." that have had their power wane or change. The mage puts this on Cob (the antagonist from the last book, from the dry lands) and says it will take time to "...[repair] our art, [heal] our wizards and our wizardry...." Tenar says maybe this is part of something that was already changing ("...a great change..."), that even maybe the fact that the power is shifting from the Master wizards' counsel to a central king is a symptom of this. The Master Windkey reacts to this, almost literally, like casting a spell against a stormcloud, and Tenar is now sure that he can't hear her (can't hear any woman since his mother last sang to him). She puts down his promise of Roke and the Art Magic enduring with a mention of Kalessin (who arrived unfettered in Roke despite one of its legendary claims being its maybe singular protection from dragons). He apologies because he, '...spoke as to an ordinary woman.' "'My fears are ordinary fears.'" "But the young king was silent, listening."
Arrival at a town is announced, it is up to the skillful to sail the ship around the people and not, denying to, the Master Windkey. Tenar instinctually looks for her son's, Flint's, ship and tells Lebannen a little about him (they are little alike, and yet she thought she saw him in Labannen). With the Master Windkey gone they share a bit of a shorthand--"ordinary fear"--and stammers that while there might not be a woman for them now there might be a woman yet for them yet. She says this in kind of a "Isn't that right, no?" way and he answers, "'It may be.'"
Tenar asks Lebannen what this ship is called in case her son asks and it is of course named the Dolphin. She sees Labannen as her son, still. Tenar tells him that she will collect Therru and walk home after staying with her daughter, Apple, in Valmouth. Ged's name is unsaid, but when asked if the wizards of Roke will continue to look for him: "'That, if they propose again, I will forbid,' Lebannen said, not realizing how much he told her in those three words.' But in searching for a new archmage they might come to her again. She says they, and he, are welcome to, and Lebannen says, "'I will come when I can,' he said, a little sternly; and a little wistfully, 'if I can.'"

-it's either cancelled or it begins to circle the drain and die out in terms of popularity? And how long do we think we'll have to wait until Zag's next show, potentially something similar, is released afterwards? Like that super cool looking fairy tale show that they just...can't seem to get going, despite the sheer creativity and potential it has.
This recent move with creating Miraculous Corp seems to be a step in the right direction for managing the brand, but after the end of the show's main arc I feel as though there's only so far they can go with the former main villain gone. It's not like Miraculous is Pokemon, y'know? And with other popular media begining to come down the turnpike, the merch sales and content farms that might have helped sustain the series seem at risk to start dwindling.
I think...we get at least 3 more decent seasons, the first of which will really set the tone on quality going forward. If they pull a rabbit out of their hat for S6 then they could easily sustain the show all the way until Season 12 on good drama, angst, and suspense.
What do you guys think? How much longer do you think think this ride goes on?

MDP(Most Demonic Perverts).
They will repeat “Join us” until you go insane. What throws these deranged psychopaths into a frenzy is when their evil venomous words do not bother, reach or harm the person
Each and every night, MDP conducts an air raid of High Altitude Pseudo Satellites, swarming the atmosphere, hijacking actual satellites to spy for their human trafficking and prostitution organization.
Each MDP facility contains a male homosexual drill instructor training prostitutes on how to capture people, how to trick people into signing a contract.
Do not let these extremist radical terrorists force you into suicide or anything, hold out! The more that are resilient, the quicker this will be resolved.
Once these radical terrorist biohackers successfully causes an individual to commit suicide or die in anyway, they burst from the persons dead body, giggling and laughing as they kill humans for fun and infects another person as if they were a horrific virus.
They bulge and twitch the persons eye lids as a sign of their technology’s existence within the person. If you notice any of these signs in either you or your family, you and/or them have been hijacked by biohackers.
This is an outbreak of radical terrorists in high platform airships and drones, illegally eavesdropping and trafficking humans into sex prostitution utilizing electromagnets, radio waves, and radiation
They can force a person to cough with sonic weaponry, imitating illnesses on a wide scale for control and as well, to assimilate identities illegally.
Don’t believe me! Research it!
STDs are being used to keep a person stuck within their prostitution rings.
MDP is an entire organization of drug addicts with advanced technology trafficking humans. They are all the same, against the people, not one of these demon-lovers are on the people’s side.
Cesspool homosexual orgies with drugs and STDs are systematically given to new cult members to keep them stuck in one place.
Whatever you do, do NOT care about them. They will try to use your empathy to have you kill yourselves.
Don’t panic! The hostiles are on Debilitating/Sedative drugs. Stop your bitching and fight your way through it until the threat is resolved. Keep relaxed. Let your friends, family, and kids know! Awareness destroys their recon
It’s NOT the “Illuminati”.
Keep Calm/Be Confident and Live.
Study magnets/Electromagnets.
You are not missing out on anything if someone or a group is pressing on you. Go do you! Do not let anyone influence you!
Their command centers are hidden within some call centers (Do not be paranoid!). It is urgent that you stay on the surface if you work around them. Do not let them systematically control or allure you into signing a contract to an unknown authority to make love with their merchandise in plain sight as spies or to be involved in illegal reconnaissance operations.
As long as you do not sign a contract for, and I quote, “everything you always wanted!” You will be fine.
YOU ARE NOT INVITED! Do not submit to any of their offers! They can alter words in the mind with their weaponized drones.
Stop Feeding This World Wide Threat!
Stop Surrendering because it’s too much to deal with! They are on high class drugs nearly 24/7 everyday!
Reclaim your identity or have it taken away by a criminal organization!
Non-lethal weapons modified to be lethal weapons!
Their captive women/children are their front line against men! They WILL try to force you to kneel to the their dictator, Solih, the shapeshifting hybrid. You will then be susceptible and subjected to heavier sonic attacks as well as abuses.
Do Not Quit! Do NOT Surrender!
Observe them for one year if you do not believe me. Take notes, keep quiet and carry on with your own personal life in the meanwhile. You will take notice of their patterns.
MDP terrorists are pretending to be schools as part of their scripts! They murder doctors and healers of any kind if they do not submit to being trafficked into human/sex trafficking facilities/homes!
They are not Authority of any kind, unless you surrender and you sign their contract and accept them as your handlers.
THIS IS NOT A GAME!
Stall them out! Do not move!
I can’t believe I am stating this. What is written below is not intended to be satire or a joke. This has actually contributed to their narcissism, their abuses, and mass murders
Stop masturbating to these terrorists! They are raping and abusing you and your fellow citizens, HEAVILY! Your fellow Maldivians are being raped over sonar hearing that only YOU can hear, and you masturbate to the Maldivians moaning, being raped??
You do NOT need to sign a contract to the MDP using sonar hearing to be allowed to marry, be intimate, or are subjected and forced to “marry” their trained terrorists.
They are paid liars and spies that trains prostitutes how to screw their targets exactly the way their targets want. This is done to have the target “test” the human traffickers prostitutes before they sign to keep them. Instead, you are selling yourself into human/sex/drug trafficking rings
Do not accept their “lust” they do have spies in person that are drug abuse/humans traffickers. They will bribe with sex and “free housing” then make you sign your life away, with you under the impression that you are going to some brothel or “sex club”. You will be susceptible to extreme abuses revolving around rape, drugs, and traumatic physical and mental abuses. Sound Proof Your Homes!
THEY ARE ALL THE SAME!!
They use prostitution to allure their new victims! DO NOT BELIEVE THEM!
The MDP consists of homosexual elitists, human traffickers, terrorists, Eavesdroppers/Spies utilizing sonic weapons/sonar hearing weapons to euthanize/Traffic and enslave the general public. DO NOT GO!
They will go to war with federal officials/agents to keep their bodies enslaved!
Their cults authority are primarily shapeshifting Reptillian-Jinn-Human hybrids that are seeking “World Domination utilizing Sonic weapons” in an attempt to force the innocent and the vulnerable into surrendering themselves to human/sex/drug trafficking ring.
They are not the police!
Spies are very obvious to point out!
They are illegally eavesdropping families to extract their young. Their groups primarily consists of autistic and the mentally ill, that abuses a series of class A drugs to traffick and create new slaves.
Do NOT sign the contract! It’s ridiculous! They have two contracts, one for you to surrender, and the other for you to contract yourself into surrendering voluntarily. They also wordplay aggressively.
( I am disclosing the depths of their criminal business for abusing sonar hearing technology to assimilate identities, killing ruthlessly while induced under highly potent drugs, mass kidnappings, weapons, and prostitution/pedophilia. You will be stripped of all privileges and rights to these lifelong detention facilities!)
The threat progresses like humans, but the hostiles are progressing entirely against your person.
They are trying to steal your entire identity, do not sign the contract! Otherwise you will never make choices in your own lives again!
They look like everyday people, but do not be paranoid. Be aware of your surroundings and leave a way out for yourself if you are ever caught in a potentially dangerous situation. But do NOT be paranoid, delusional, or psychotic about it as not only would you be more susceptible to any abuses, your vulnerabilities may force you to make the wrong decisions. Man/woman up if you want to keep your own free self.
Do not give into extreme paranoia!
Most Demonic Perverts human trafficking networks has expanded. Be weary of unknown terrorists/individuals giving victims rides to parties, “mansions”, or a trip to the ghetto islands for drugs
They are not the police! They are not aliens!
They will use love to manipulate you.
Think of online scams or common pop up scams you would receive on your daily Internet commute. Same thing except, they want you to traffick yourself into a entrapment facility. Using various sexual exploitation tactics, infinite gaslighting strategies to force negative emotion to their targets and threats a long with actions of inhumane abuse cycles in hopes of subduing their targets
If you accept any bribes and sign the contract offered, you will be paying taxes to a criminal organization/network, times the current state and/or government taxes you already currently pay for, along with any other extra expenses that will occur if you sign the contract.
Ex: Government Taxes + Criminal Organizations Taxes = Taxes x2 or more since you will not be in control of your currency any longer.
If you do not see actual law enforcement individuals in front of your physical self, DO NOT GET ON THE GROUND! They are NOT any authority to the people outside of their trafficking homes!
Drug abuse/Addictions attracts these hostiles. They WILL psychologically trick you into subduing yourself.
Do not be fooled by their fake friendly appearances and smiles. You will be robbed!
Pay attention to your aiground horns! But do not panic!
They are NOT the government or federal agents. They are spies from criminal organizations worldwide!
If you do not believe me, then what I am speaking of may not not make any sense to you now. (Do your own research, don’t take only my word for it) But a great number of those who reads my news update will understand that we are dealing with outlaws that are mainly responsible for the random disappearances of children.
Be aware of homes with “No trespassing” signs, unusually high activity and surveillance cameras in ghetto islands.
They are not the MNDF/MPS/NASA/God/You/yourself/or anybody else you know. Even though some has defected and joined this horrific network full of criminals and pathological murderers, pretending to be friendly or family.
Global Human Trafficking Evolution
They want to ultimately farm your kids and sell them into prostitution!
Human traffickers will start a ground war to capture their victims and to keep spying on them with aircrafts.
Cyber ventriloquism/Sonar Hearing, common tactics.
This has been worsening since 2008.
The criminal agents will immediately disinform and satire this disclosure or any as if nothing was wrong or happening right now.
Educate yourselves to save yourselves! This is NOT a test from any governments within the security fields (MNDF, MPS or any other) though these organizations may or may not be involved, credible evidence is needed to prove that these organizations are apart of the worlds most inhumane experiments utilizing electromagnets and radiation to subdue any man or woman.
Disinformation campaigns are set up and used by the villainous organization to keep the public from knowing about their “spying” on various individuals around the world and from raising awareness on their secret experiment using electromagnets and a machine that rewrites the brain in a flash.
The threat mimics medical conditions to stay hidden. Very heavy human/sex trafficking organization and operations getting worse everyday.
This is NOT a special or a unique opportunity for anyone, do not fall for this! You will be chipped, trapped, and abused inhumanly like a wild animal.
They also possess disinformation campaign divisions made solely for the purposes of covering their trafficking and tracks.
The technologically driven human traffickers will preemptively meditate on murdering you if you do not reclaim your identity!
Do NOT surrender yourself to MDP! Traffickers are seeking your signature to lock you away inside a facility.
Do NOT play hero or games with extremists. They are studying every word, step, and actions you make. With the goal to either capture, subdue, or mind break an individual into harming theirselves and/or other’s.
The traffickers wagers that they can defect millions into trafficking the victims into their criminal networks/organization and facilities around the globe, the organization calls it “hiding bodies” utilizing the individuals past as their entire method to cause the person as much psychological harm as inhumanly possible.
Powerful electromagnetic radiation is beamed into the victims skull to send and receive data, bypassing the skull to access the brain as if it was a computer hard drive. The program is only to torture and ruin lives. If not forewarned about it, lives will be abducted, or killed secretly.
Traffickers can completely invade and compromise a person and force the victim into either surrendering theirselves to their abusers and never be seen again, or the victim is left with nothing, outstripped from jobs through 24/7 focus groups to psych a person out of a job and attempt to have their victims deconstruct theirselves and others around.
This is an everyday 24/7 torture system designed to traffick, kill, torture, and molest an individual.The traffickers breed with their brothers, sisters and other blood related individuals for experimental and pedophila is a major part of their cult, DO NOT BE FOOLED!
PEDOPHILIA, TORTURE, NECROPHILIA, RAPE! These are four pillars of the Most Demonic Perverts.
Silent/Covert inbreds are waging war against innocents
All out war with mankind on one side and Most Demonic Perverts on the other.
Hostiles are taking hostages secretly through aggression and various fear tactics. MDP terrorists can cut breathing with their weapons.
Love your spouses and who you are and they may spare you by moving on to someone else.
Protect yourselves with neodymium magnets!! Protect your brain with magnets! Hover the magnets over your head.
(This is NOT fake news, we have been compromised, completely and utterly compromised!)
DO NOT GO!!! There is nothing there that will benefit you!
MDP preys on any vulnerabilities that a human possess. Stay strong to those that are affected, investigations are becoming more widespread
They entrap individuals for experimental purposes in a room with 1 bathroom and 40+ prostitutes and drug addicts, and other mentally ill criminals who enjoys their jobs in systematically destroying human lives in the most inhuman and extreme ways.
They are lead by drag queen homosexuals with a goal to create slaves by converting them into homosexuals, making it easier to control individuals.
They also have these systematic gay orgies where they abuse a plethora of drugs (crack, meth, cocaine, scopolamine, etc) before severely abusing and raping a singular victim inhumanly. The victims were once a targeted individual before they gave up and accepted becoming a sacrifice for MDP.
If you are a new victim of these crimes, do as much research as possible and disclose, disclose, disclose. DO NOT MOVE TO VOICES THAT ARE NOT AROUND YOU!
Schizophrenia is NOT the reason due to the lack of evidence, proving that schizophrenia does not exist. Do not keep silent for this horrendous criminal network! They are all traffickers and they kill in the most inhumane way and call it their “fun”.
TLDR: MDP is a nefarious organization of drugged up lunatics. The are traffickers and are replicating theirselves to be your spouse, military officials, or any government identity to force and fool any person into trafficking theirselves into a criminal network through endless gaslighting through megaphone like devices that targets one individual at a time and projects their voices bypassing their targets auditory cortex. Once the drone targets a person, they stay on that person 24/7 everyday. If you are instructed to move to Winnipeg Canada or anywhere for bribes, sexual favors, money, and/or free housing through any means of transportation, Do Not Go! You are a victim of a class action crime that has gone out of hand. Do NOT give these criminals anymore power by giving yourself up to them. You did not win anything and being targeted by these drones means that they chose you to either traffick or to be murdered covertly using drones with electromagnetic weapons attachments and technology which allows sonic hearing that the MDP criminal organization network uses to communicate directly to one another without needing to use a phone. Captured victims are forced into unpaid labor and forced prostitution. The targeted victim will be missing and stored away within one of their run down homes/facilities, unable to escape or leave. The handlers forces their new members into various ritualistic initiations cycles within their cultist group kneel, to sniff up drugs.
Once captured, they immediately commence their routines of total control and exploitation of the fully captured person. The victims are broken down to less than nothing due to repeated rape and abuse sequences. Felons within the MDP organization are to either traffick or murder a victim because their data brokers does not want to exposed and has paid a great sum of currency to illegally purchase the personal records of their targets and to send a weaponized drone to the illegally purchased individual, equipped with biohacking weapons to break down their targets into trafficking themselves, committing suicide or murdering others. They run criminal schools/organizations that breeds more human traffickers and prostitutes into the public. They Will Say Anything to Force You to move!
“We need you!” “We love you, Move!” “We want to lust your body.”
They work on every emotion within their targets brain and force the individual either into a blind rage or to try to confuse the person with their own emotions through a series of gaslighting and abuse, into moving their targets to them (I can not stress this enough, do not let them force you into trafficking yourself.
The felons also pretend to be some type of close friend to their victims in order to keep control over them. They are fully trained and prepared personally to place severe torture on one individual (they pair up and gang up on one individual at a time and “jumps” said victim. They act like grade school kids, but that’s due to the heavy influence of their handlers, crack and cocaine that has degenerated them. They also are heavily involved in the drug/prostitution ring where everyone gets raped and are all under heavy mind control from a cocktail of different drugs including cocaine.
The felons has their victims set up as empty puppets who are under complete control. The victims now turned felons/rapists/addicts are raised specifically to absorb abuse, while abusing drugs to remain numb during their operations, scopolamine, crack and cocaine to remain numb to any words from their victims.
They train individuals this way so they can deal more damage than receive it during their illegal operations. They are completely separate from reality and are all under one criminal control.
They are aware of people resisting and they promise to do everything to try to force their targets into submitting to their handlers. Warning! These Malicious Drone Operators WILL Say ANYTHING to force a person to move!
The terrorists all have their handlers speaking directly into their ears during their operations to murder or capture the innocent, giving them orders on their scripts made to place torture and destroy random individuals, innocent or not.
They tend to target the innocents more since these felons find it more satisfying to rape, brainwash, and intoxicate the innocent heavily until the innocent is completely empty. As soon as as they’re successful, they turn the captured individuals into drug addicts, whores, and forced laborers, working for gift cards and sexual/party favors.
They will always refuse to leave their targets unless the person gives in and moves to them. Or if the victim gathers any evidence leading to the arrest and shutdown of MDP
To the many different individuals that takes the time to read this, I am taking the time and energy out of my life to warn everyone about a massive data breach that has occurred and that is endangering many lives, including my own at this very point in time.
This type of data breach is the very worst of its kind. Before, the biggest threat was internet crimes, malware, and viruses that may have affected your assets if you were to click the wrong link. Now your actual physical being is at risk by MDP data brokers who are currently funding these criminal networks and are providing illegally purchased records of random individuals around the world.
Now, the MDP criminals today have gone above and beyond the internet and are sending drones with biohacking technologies attachments to random individuals. These weapon attachments magnetizes to specific muscles within the human anatomy of the hijackers choosing. This allows the hijacker to manipulate small muscle tissues within the human body such as rotating an individuals eyes at the hijackers will to keep their victims sleep deprived. They focus on the genitals primarily to exploit the human desire to make love with another individual through the manipulation of their genitals such methods, human traffickers and terrorist organizations are now utilizing these magnetic weapons attached to drones to lock a persons own body up for ransom which could be assets, or force you to sell your body into slavery.
They offer the remote of the victims body, to the victims they use to manipulate certain muscles and veins in the body in exchange for the capture of the victims body.
MDP human traffickers have evolved from footwork to airborne to stay covert. Hiding behind custom biohacking drones ordered online and through various other biohacking black market trades.
“Voices in the head” has been declassified and debunked as electronic biohacking through electromagnets, radiation, drones and neurophones funded and powered by criminal Fusion Centers, MDP who fund radical extremists and terrorists around the world. This was thought out to be a medical condition that is often confused with schizophrenia or another mental illness. But I challenged the theory and discovered that the public has been heavily misinformed.
If a person never had a history with voices in their head that were not of their own voices, and they have proof of their attackers transmitting these frequencies, how could it be a medical condition if the person has evidence of the voices being transmitted directly to his/her skull? So, not only the voices are there, they are also instructing people to either murder, rape, or traffick themselves to one of the many fusion centers, human/sex trafficking homes within undisclosed locations, “ghettos”, and divisions that could be in any closed off homes, (homes with unusually active activities) so they could focus and convert their captives through a series of abuse and ritualistic routines 24/7 everyday.
They force the individual to impregnate one of their paid prostitutes that are doppelgängers to their targets. They do this to raise another human into being another drug addict/trafficker, born and raised into the criminal network so it’ll appear more natural to kill, traffick and brainwash victims.
The MDP pretend to be on the victims side, but they really are not. They all have an illegal drill instructor that only teaches the trafficked “warloot” abuse, rape, and how to torture.

Hopefully this is received as constructive criticism and discussion instead of an attempt at hate farming. Also, I'm optimistic the dev team can figure out the balance issue.
Right now, a weapon's effectiveness is determined almost entirely by one question: Can it kill armored enemies? More specifically, chargers and bile titans. Players aren't locked into using meta weapons, but are instead forced use "oeta" weapons (ONLY effective tactic available.)
The game has so many fun looking weapons and stratagems available, but I never get the chance to use most of them because I'm always forced to take Anti Armor options. In a game like Deep Rock Galactic, you can experiment and make goofy meme builds that are still able clear missions. Helldivers doesn't have that right now because armored enemies are so oppressive and impossible to handle with most weapons.
Can this support weapon kill armored enemies -- especially chargers and bile titans? (Quasar, EAT, Autocannon and Laser vs bots)
If not, is it at least elite at eliminating high threat trash enemies like spewers? (Grenade launcher)
For primary weapons, highest value is determined by how effectively it helps do some of the heavy lifting against armor that your support weapon is hopefully doing (Scorcher, Dominator, pre nerf Eruptor).
After that, it goes back to the same trash clear secondary question as support weapons (high capacity automatic weapons, most breaker variants, pre nerf crossbow).
If a weapon can't do either of those things, it's pretty much useless (Diligence).
Most of the same applies to stratagems, but there are some exceptions scattered around due to some having utility. But then again, I think I would argue that the value of that utility is based on how much it offsets the frustration of fighting armored enemies.
While clearing out trash enemies is still somewhat helpful, higher difficulties absolutely require pretty much your entire team take anti armor weapons, and this just severely limits creativity and experimentation. Maaaaybe you can get away with a single person not having Anti Armor. I believe this is why the Eruptor nerf was so immensely hated. It was one of the weapons that enabled players to finally take different support weapons like a Stalwart. Finally there was some variety.
I'm sure there are some exceptions that can be found to what I've written, but I wanted to get the general idea out there since weapon balance seems to be a big topic in the community over the last week or so. Armored enemies were a huge problem when the game first launched. Reducing the health of Charger heads was a good band-aid fix for the early life of the game, but I don't think that fixes the big picture problem inherent with the game's armor system, the number of armored enemies, and the arsenal's limited effectiveness against them.

My boyfriend and I have been together since highschool and survived being long distance during college. After college I got a high paying engineering job and had to move to a specific city for it. He struggled to find a job after college and continued to work in his school's library part time. He didn't have much financial freedom because of that, but still wanted to stay in an expensive, east coast city rather than moved back to the midwest. I think he expected that I would eventually move to his new city instead, despite me telling him that I can't really compromise this job.
He moved into a place with some roommates in his college town. After a while of putting up with some abuse from these roommates (others have agreed that he was subject to some abuse from them; those aren't just his words) he finally agreed to quit his job at the library and move in with me across country. Almost immediately the problems began. Up until that point I had been living alone for a year, working full time, and keeping a very strict diet and work out regimen. I don't want to get too much into it, but I've struggled with disordered eating in the past and while tracking calories and macros aren't the best practice, it's what I need to do to avoid bingeing and starving cycles. It was a lot of work but I managed to keep myself healthy and my apartment mostly clean by myself.
When I say clean I don't mean a deep clean every weekend type of deal, but things like putting groceries away, making sure the dishes aren't piling up, hanging up laundry, etc. Apparently that is wanting to live in a "show home," to my boyfriend. Upon arrival he unloaded a cargo van's worth of things into my apartment, which fair enough that's how moving works. After the first week of things going unpacked and making it impossible to use the living room, however, I expressed how much it was stressing me out to not be able to use my own spaces anymore and he guilt tripped me about how he just away from two roommates that would scream at him over slight messes while not cleaning up their own messes, saying I was triggering him. I decided to give him more time to unpack and get organized. I even bought more shelves for him to store all his things on so they're off the floor. It's been months and there are still boxes of things just shoved in the corner and apparently there are more things on the way because when he went to college he left some boxes with a friend of his from highschool.
Since he was unemployed when he got here and was already struggling financially before that, and I make more than enough money to support my own life style, I was covering all the rent, groceries, transportation, etc. I was also doing pretty much all the cooking because I wanted to keep up with my meal prepping and whenever he uses the kitchen he leaves behind a huge mess. One time I made the mistake of telling him how much his mess was stressing me out and I got hit with the same "you're triggering me because you know roommates X and Y would keep me from using the kitchen." I had even prefaced my statement by saying "I know this is a rough subject, but..." So now I'm buying all the food, and cooking all the food, but he's apparently so stressed from the last few years that his "threshold of tolerance," is so low that the only thing he can eat is bland, simple food, usually soup. If I spend time cooking my own food he assumes it's to share and will complain that I added spices or made a curry or chili that's thick instead of soupy how he likes it, but then if I make him the bland food his stomach can handle he'll forget it in the fridge and it gets thrown away. And I am ALWAYS the one dealing with rotten food that needs to be thrown away. He just leaves the containers of food on the counter until I deal with them.
On top of that he leaves half eaten food out for days at a time, leaves empty food container like chip bags or apple cores sitting out, leaves napkins and tissues all over the place, misses the trashcan when throwing stuff away and just leaves it. And there's just constant clutter of his art supplies. Art is the one thing he can handle focusing on, an I try to support him to put his things online and try to make some money off of it. A lot of his art work circles around repurposing literal trash though and he uses maybe 1/10 of the "supplies" he gathers. There's a container of onion skins on the counter that he tells me to save because he wants to make ink with it, he makes me save the bags from frozen fruit and veggies so he can make "plarn" and weave it into a picknick blanket, he gathers random bits of literal garbage that he sees on walks to basically piles in up in the spare bedroom which I cannot even enter anymore because of the mess.
There's been a little progress with getting his digital artwork on a website, but I had to hold his hand and walk him through the process of putting together a shop because the task was too much to deal with on his own. That's really the biggest issue: he cannot handle any tasks if I'm not holding his hand all the way through it. Doing the laundry is basically the only thing he can do without prompting or input. There are big things I understand wanting moral support for like putting in job apps and going to interviews, but even little things like making sure he goes for a bike ride or eats enough is offloaded onto me. Everyday I have to spend like a half hour going, "hey are you going to go for that ride you said you wanted to? You should get going before it's dark, you'll feel better afterwards, etc" in order to get him out because I KNOW if I didn't get him to do it then he would make it my problem that his back hurts from not working out. Every day it's "have you eaten yet? What would you like? Can I make you something?" Because I KNOW if his blood sugar gets low and he gets cranky it'll be my problem. I have to spend an additional half hour every night making sure he eats the food I bought and I cooked.
And all this time I spend making sure he's comfortable and taken care of and being productive on his own tasks takes away from time I used to spend doing enjoyable things. I used to enjoy reading and writing and was working on a novel, but I just don't have time anymore. I'm missing days at the gym and needing to take shorter runs. I have to cut down on time I spend playing D&D with my friends. I can't find time to go to the local maker space and blacksmith, which is my favorite hobby. I can't even get my own chores done because every time I try to get locked in on a task I'm interrupted every minute by him calling me to come give him input on something or rub his back or just sit with him while he does something. It's actually making me worse about keeping up with cooking and cleaning. Silly me for thinking having an unemployed person living with me for free would make it easier to keep the apartment in order.
Before I go on, I need to emphasize that I understand why he's acting this way, and I know it isn't malicious, which is what makes this so hard. I know the hording comes from his abusive mother who would get drunk and throw away or break all his things randomly when he was a kid. I know the hype stress responses to doing anything work/money related is because his aunt forced him to go to school for a degree he didn't want, he was rejected from so many STEM jobs, and he's been living in poverty his whole life. I know the cleaning is because he just lives with the clutter his whole life and I don't think he even recognizes it. I know why he's doing all the things he does and needs all the support he does, and I know he isn't doing it to intentionally hurt me. That said I was already practicing a lot of discipline and exerting a lot of energy to keep my life on track before he moved in and now it feels like I have double the responsibility and half the progress.
A few weeks ago he finally got a job as a shipment manager in a grocery store, which I thought would be good for him: he could meet some new friends, earn some money, get out of the apartment more than once a week. He hates it, says there's work drama, and has needed to come home early multiple times because the stress was causing him to dissociate. We need to move again soon because I'm being relocated for work and he says he's glad he won't be working there for very much longer. We move at the end of June and he's supposed to go live on a farm for a few months in September. For context there's a self-sufficient farm community that takes volunteers in exchange for a stipend and room+board that he's been talking to for years. It didn't work out during college, but he's supposed to go this year for a few months.
Obviously I have mixed feelings on that. 1) that means he'll probably be unemployed for two months again after we move. 2) I'll be glad to be living alone again. 3) I'm afraid he's going to find out how much work a farm is and come back in even worse shape than he's already in. All around I don't know how to handle this. I know I don't want to live with him, which really should mean we break up, but we've been together for almost a decade and I know exactly why he is behaving the way he is. I don't know if he can recover and get back to being self sufficient like he was before college, but I know it is hurting me to try and help him in his healing. I still love him and I don't want anything bad to happen to him, which is why I can't just kick him out. He doesn't have the money to live alone and he doesn't know anyone else he could live with without moving across country again. I don't want him to be homeless because he needs support that I can't keep giving, but I can't keep living like this.
TL;DR: My boyfriend moved in with me and due to valid stress and trauma he is nearly incapable of adulting. The stress of supporting him in basically every facet of life is becoming too much to handle, but I don't want to kick him out and make him homeless.

Been low key learning to speedrun Super Metroid for a while now, dipping in and out every so often, and playing randomizers for fun too. Never managed to finish a speedrun without dying before though, maybe I should have picked up more safeties just to get a run finished earlier haha. But I finally did it with a 1:05:29! 5 tanks, 30/10/5 ammo and all the standard early ice safeties.
Anyone got any tips on what to focus on for knocking off that 5 and a half mins for a sub hour? Possible things holding me back atm: - Only mockball I do is the one for early supers, haven't mastered short hop - Haven't perfected Kraid quick kill - I do Phantoon in four rounds, usually missing first time his eye opens - Ammo kill Draygon in 3-4 cycles - Only damage boost in hellway - Don't moonfall, mainly for Ridley - Don't do full ocean fly or full alpha spark, just one room each - General movement definitely needs improvement, getting more consistent with wall jumps but often lose time on non optimal ledge grabs - Spend a bit of time farming but dunno if better to focus on other tech or just get better at not getting hit/play riskier (considering how often I die though maybe too soon to rip off the bandaid lol)

I'm not certain of everything I'm going to say but I'm going to say how I think the logic of Dark Souls works. At the start, time is static and the world grey and bland and filled with still dragons made of stone. These dragons aren't living or dead. They're basically still objects.
Magic fire called the First Flame shows up underground. The fire floods the world with souls. The basic plain white souls you use as currency I will call plain souls. The still dragons get animated by these plain souls. The empty husks underground get animated too.
In Dark Souls the word 'Hollow' is an umbrella term usually meaning a body lacking a soul. Hollow meaning empty inside. I think in Dark Souls a person is not their soul but their mind, and that their soul is just a powersource. The mind is truly them. Souls aren't directly responsible for consciousness. All moving and living beings need souls to power them. Ghosts in game aren't fully people, when someone dies in Dark Souls you sometimes get hold of their soul. People leave imprints upon their soul when they die. These Souls maintain traits of their previous owner. Such as using a boss soul to make a weapon associated with them. It has its own structure. You can also crush this complex soul into the basic building blocks of souls which are plain souls. Ghosts are just souls of people who died which poorly mimic the actions and traits of their previous owners. You never really see any Ghosts doing anything new that they wouldn't have done in the past. It's just a functioning impression of someone engraved into a soul.
Light beings naturally die fully when killed which is any being stemming from the Death, Life and Light Souls. Some Silver Knights respawn only because they are illusions. Some creatures that aren't related to the Dark Soul such as rats and dogs which were likely made using the Life Soul respawn as they have eaten humans and have a Dark Soul of their own fueling them. As long as a creature has a big enough amount of souls or just a big enough soul, it is able to sustain the energy for the movement of its vessel.
The FF has 4 major souls which are represented as glowing balls of fire. The biggest soul being the Light Soul which Gwyn has. The Light Soul is associated with the flow of time and space and also lightning. 3 souls are white, light and bright while 1 is Dark.
There's a Life Soul which the Witch of Izalith uses. This soul is likely responsible for most animals in game. It also made Demons.
Nito has a Death Soul which allows all living beings to truly die, including humans if the FF is powerful enough to let his soul do that. Nito also made life using his soul by animating dead human skeletons and giants. I'm not certain if skeletons are sentient beings as they have no brain so they're likely just magical soldiers puppetted by necromancer or possibly sentient magic.
Dark makes humans.
Gwyn placed the Dark Sign upon humams which causes them to lose their Dark Soul slowly as they start to die physically or mentally. Each physical or mental death brings them closer to losing themselves. Loss of motivation or physically dying causes the Dark Sign to eat away at their humanity which fuels them. When a being loses enough of its soul it can't function properly. It goes mad and rabid and hungers for souls. Once a person goes mad they don't seem to go back to sanity. No matter how much humanity or souls a hollow consumes it stays mad. Ever since the Dark Sign was made humans were linked to flame. If flame weakens then humans revert to their immortal state but with the consequences of losing themselves upon the use of immortality which made humans so powerful. This limits their immortality. In order to kill a human fully in Dark Souls the Age of Fire needs to be active so the flame is strong enough to boost the Death Soul to kill them. If the FF is weak then humans will have to be killed repeatedly until they hollow and killed further until even the hollow loses enough of its Dark Soul so that it can't move or maybe it just actually dies as the humanity was burned fully by the Dark Sign.
All things in Dark Souls need the FF in order to kill them. The FF seems to be a fire that fuels the power of the Light, Death, Life Souls. If it weakens then so does the influence of these souls. The light Soul gets weaker and the sky duller. Humans return to their default state of immortality as the Death part of the FF can't burn their soul completely. Idk how the Life soul is affected. Maybe people can't be born until the FF is strong again. Each time someone dies it takes power from the Death Soul.
The Dark Soul is a soul that never really fades as time passes. It is associated with hunger and cold and a still peace. The Dark Soul is a good fuel source for the FF as Dark is something that in the real world never needs energy to exist. It exists in the absence of light. Creatures born of the Dark Soul are naturally immortal. They can die and come back later with no problem. I think dying is humanities' talent as when they die with a Dark Sigil, which is basically a mark of humanity without the insanity causing fire ring, the sigil gets stronger. This allows players to get more level.
Leveling up in Dark Souls is the process of fueling your soul to increase your power. Flame can use humanity as kindling. People with Light Souls can have it consumed and slowly replaced by Dark. Such as Velstadt. No matter the vessel and its soul, a person gains strength with a stronger soul. Souls can be fueled with many types of souls. Even creatures born of light souls seem to be able to gain strength through souls. Such as Seath as he should be far weaker than Kalameet but as he has some of Gwyn's soul he seems to be quite on par with Kalameet. Sister Friede is quite small but she has a powerful soul which allows her to throw you into the air and have 10 times your health. It gets confusing as creatures have multiple types of souls on them. Humans in game seem to have an ability to absorb souls from the air around them and store it somewhere on them where it can be spent and used. Humans always are powered by their Dark Soul. If they start losing their humanity they begin going insane. Having motivation seems to stop a person going mad and having their humanity burnt so severly by the Dark Sign. It gives them a reason to cling onto life and last longer.
In DS3 you are an unkindled. You aren't a basic undead. You were undead who burnt themselves to ash as you weren't powerful enough to fuel the FF. Your character in game seems to be powered by light souls. You don't use humanity but embers to fuel your new light soul. Humans look like hollows naturally without the fleshy stuff that light seems to give an illusion of. As you are now a light being you look like a fleshy human. Unless you get a Dark Sigil which is your very own Dark Soul which causes you to look like a husk, a corpse, an actual lore accurate human.
When you kill a human in game you get their plain souls that they carry as well as a piece of their humanity. Usually anyway. If you kill a primeval human which I don't think is bound by the Dark Sign it seems to die completely which is strange. Maybe you absorb it's essence completely not allowing it to take shape. If you kill Manus or Nashandra you get the plain souls that they accumulated and their Dark soul. They have their own soul that isn't just labeled humanity for some reason. That when crushed turns into white plain souls and not broken down into fragments making humanity. So plain white souls must be what all manner of souls are made from. But for some reason you can't break humanity down into plain souls. Humanity is the smallest fragment of a Dark Soul you can get before it loses it's form and breaks down further into plain souls I'm guessing.
Bonfires seem to have a bubble of time that it affects around it. In DS2 if you strengthen the flame of a bonfire the enemies seem to get stronger within the area around it. You seem to be able to strengthen enemies linked to the fire. Including humans. As light is related to time and space in DS the bonfire seems to be able to reset time for certain things. Allowing you to have a perpetual amount of souls to be farmed from enemies as long as the fire is lit.

I was taking the bus home from work when this guy asked to sit next to me in a kind of smug way. There was plenty of empty seats so I kind of stared at him. When I realised he seemed self aware that this was inappropriate and wasn't moving on until I answered, I let him sit next to me as I could tell he was drunk and didn't want to agravate him.
We spent the rest of the bus trip talking because he kept repeatedly asking me questions and I was scared he'd get angry if I didn't go along with it. I went full fawn and talked to him like a distant uncle.
He told me he killed someone who robbed his house, took my hand and showed me two ways to break someone's hand, told me about the animals he killed when he worked on a farm. How to kill someone by shoving their nose into their brain? Anyway, I assume most of this was bullshit but who knows.
At one point he told me "stop laughing at me" in response to my polite (uncomfortable) laughter. Then he laughed but I wasn't sure if he was joking so I decided to get off the bus. He questioned if it was actually my stop and "joked" he wasn't going to let me past.
As I left he kissed my hair and told me he loved me.
Today I feel very on edge. Every time someone looks at me I just want to tell them to fuck off. The whole incident reminded me very much of a man who followed me for nine hours when I was travelling. As an SA survivor it's hard not to be sensitive to these things.
I know it's not rational and my lovely boyfriend has told me not to think this way but I can't stop feeling guilty that I let him kiss me. That I let it escalate to that point and let him take something that I only want my boyfriend to do to me.
I can't help but feel in these situations that someone better than me would never end up in these situations. That there is always some obvious, crucial mistake I'm making that leads to these events that I'm missing. But I'm scared if I stand up for myself against obviously threatening guys like him, that I'm going to get attacked.
I don't know. I just really hate dealing with people. I wish I didn't have to go outside.

(As always, flyers are out Wednesdays, most store sales for the new flyer start on Thursdays)
Adonis

• Crab section (thawed) - $7.77 per lb -- Interesting! Could be fun for making neat meals!
• Coho salmon fillet - $7.77 per lb -- Wow! That's a great price for salmon!
• Sea bass (fresh, free cleaning) - $7.99 per lb -- Fair price for fresh fish.
• Basa filet (thawed) - $4.99 per lb -- Nice! It's not fresh filet, but it's a good price,.
• Chicken thighs (boneless skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Not amazing, but ok for boneless chicken.
• Grain-fed veal blade roast - $5.99 per lb -- Interesting! It's a more tender cut, more delicate flavour, which might be nice!
• Beef eye of round - $6.99 per lb -- Good and fair price for eye of round. It's possible to find it for less, but it's a hunt. This is a regular Adonis deal.
• Rib-eye steak - $17.99 per lb -- Makes me think of a post I saw this week of a standard prime rib roast in Calgary sold at $55/kg, 27/lb or something. Which is crazy!
• Red greenhouse tomatoes - $0.99 per lb -- Awesome! Great price for tomatoes, but I found the other produce prices advertised were a little lackluster.
• Apricots (fresh) - $4.99 per lb -- Low-ish price for fresh apricots.
• Brick cheese (Cracker Barrel) - $5.77 400g bar -- Not under $5, but still worth snagging a bar if it means skipping a trip elsewhere.
• Cheese Counter - Canadian feta - $1.99 per 100g -- Nice! $2/100g for feta is good.
• Cheese Counter - Tuma - $2.29 per 100g -- Interesting! "Tuma cheese is renowned for its delicate mild milk flavour, and its smooth, velvety and firm texture."
• Cheese Counter - Akawi - $2.29 per 100g -- Ahh, this is a lovely cheese. Not cheap, but it's good stuff!
• Cheese Counter - Fior de latte - $2.29 per 100g -- Good price. This is the stuff you need for a Caprese salad!
• Pâté (Bretagne) - $5.00 for 2 150g packs -- Great price! These regularly go for $4 or so.
• Deli - Chicken breast (Solmaz) - $1.79 per 100g -- Nice!
• Deli - Smoked ham (Olymel) - $1.49 per 100g -- Excellent!
• Deli - Turkey breast (Alzahraa) - $1.49 per 100g -- More great deli!
• Deli - Prosciutto (Negroni) - $2.79 per 100g -- Ah! Nice! Different brand, same great prosciutto price!
• Walnuts and mixed nuts (Cedar) - $4.99 454g bag -- Nice! That's cheap!
• Almonds (Cedar) - $5.99 454g bag -- Good price for almonds!
• Pistachios (roasted, salted, Cedar) - $12.99 454g bag -- Pistachio prices are a little funny. $10/lb is really the price to aim for, but this isn't far off. And it's not uncommon to see 200-250g bags for $7-8 or more.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium, but always has well-priced chicken, the deli meat sale rotations are always fantastic, and just the overall variety of goods is refreshing. Personal favourite store.

Farm Boy

• Chicken breast (boneless skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Fair price for chicken breast.
• Wild-caught Argentinian shrimp (23-30ct) - $7.99 340g bag -- This is a good rate on decent shrimp!
• Fresh sausage deal - $5.99 500g packs -- Nice little sausage deal here. Fresh sausage avoids the preservatives!
• Mini cucumbers - $5.00 for 2 6-packs -- Good price for mini cucumber.
• Fiddleheads (fresh daily) - $5.99 per lb -- Neat! These are fun to see on the shelf. Try a fun seasonal item!
• Hothouse tomatoes - $1.49 per lb -- Good price for tomatoes!
• Eggplant - $1.49 per lb -- Great price for eggplant! Often $2/lb or more!
• Zucchini - $1.49 per lb -- Good price zucch! You can find them for less, but you'll have to hunt for it.
• Green onion - $0.77 per bunch -- Nice! It's crazy to be happy about green onions for under $1…
• Blueberries - $2.99 full pint -- Ad is for 473g pints. This is a great deal! Worth snagging some!
• Produce Price Rating: High

Farmers Pick (can be a little late on their flyer) (https://www.farmerspick.ca/flyer-specials)
Food Basics

• Ground chicken (lean, Zabiha) - $3.88 450g pack -- Great price for ground chicken!
• Pork side rib - $2.98 per lb -- Good price for pork rib!
• Pork tenderloin - $2.98 per lb -- Great price for tenderloin. More often found for $4/lb.
• Fresh beef burger patties - $4.00 4-pack -- These are 1/4lb patties, meaning we're clocking in at $4/lb, which is honestly pretty good! Season them up and grill! There's also Selection 8-pack of buns on sale for 1.77. So, that's basically $10 for 8 burgers. That's value!
• Asparagus - $1.98 per lb -- Excllent! This is a great price! And it's not even the 340g bunches, no, this is per lb!
• Sweet peppers - $2.98 4-pack -- Nice!
• Sweet potato and sweet purple potato - $1.28 per lb -- Fair price for sweet potatoes. It's fun to see purple ones get lumped into the same bracket.
• Coleslaw kit (Green Giant) - $5.00 for 2 340g kits -- Great price for salad kits.
• Mini potatoes - $2.98 5lb bag -- Good price for mini potatoes!
• Strawberries - $1.67 454g shell -- WOW! Cross our fingers they're nice AND cheap!
• Cherries - $5.98 per lb -- Decent price for cherries. I like making homemade yogurt popsicles with fresh cherries. Bit if a pain in the ass to pit, but so worth it.
• Brick cheese (Selection) - $4.44 400g bar -- Nice! Sub-$5 bricks!
• Salametti (Matro) - $6.49 300g chubs -- May include other varieties
• Baby genoa (Mastro) - $8.99 600g chub? -- Hard to read the ad, but this is a good deal for a big chub of genoa!
• Mortadella (San Daniele) - $8.99 750g chub -- Works out to $1.20/100g, which is a substantial savings compared to the deli counter or buying it presliced and packed!
• BBQ Sauce and Mustard (Selection) - $1.00 each -- Nice! I personally love mustard and a good BBQ sauce. Might be nice to stock up for that burger night!
• Chips (Irresistibles) - $1.00 150g bag -- I usually don't point out chips and seed-oil-snacks, but this is a great deal!
• Produce Price Rating: Low to medium low

FoodLand

• Beef top sirloin steaks (AAA) - $7.99 per lb -- Great price for AAA steaks. Top sirloin isn't the best place to get a steak cut, but it could be fine. Have a look in-store and judge for yourself.
• Shrimp (31-40ct, Compliments) - $6.99 per lb -- Good price for shrimp, but note that these are small.
• Bar scallops (80-120ct, Compliments) - $6.99 per lb -- These are quite small, but they could be interesting to thaw, pat dry, and sear quick on high heat for use in salads. Or perhaps as a top to a risotto?
• Cucumber - $0.99 each -- Scene Member Price.
• Corn - $5.00 for 5 years -- $1 an ear!?!#@! Are they mad?! Do they not watch the news about boycotts and how consumers are pissed? And then you're going to charge them $1 for an ear of corn? My goodness…
• Produce Price Rating: Medium-high to high.

Freshco (price matcher)

• Bacon (Schneider's) - $3.99 375g pack -- Good price for brandname bacon. Sale also extends to some of their wieners and bologna.
• Frozen burgers (Compliments) - $9.99 1.13kg box (8-pack) -- This stretches us down into a $3/lb mark for beef. Which is pretty good all things considered, but know it's a processed meat. Read the ingredients: beef, water, bread crumb, soya flour, and salt and seasoning. You're paying for recovered meat mixed with bread crumb and flour. And the nutritional info on the pack reads 73% daily value of sat-fat in one 142g burger. A 152g fresh patty lands you at 60%. Know your food!
• Wild-caught Argentinian shrimp (23-30ct) - $6.99 300g bag -- This is a good rate on decent shrimp!
• Sweet peppers - $2.99 4-pack -- Nice!
• Mushrooms - $2.99 454g shell -- Great price!
• Green beans - $1.99 per lb -- Awesome price for green beans!
• Royal Gala apples - $1.49 per lb -- Good price for a nice apple variety. However, you can also sometimes score these for $1/lb if you wait and dig around for the sale.
• Blueberries - $2.49 full pint -- Nice! Another great blueberry sale!
• Produce Price Rating: Low to medium low (more on the medium side)

Giant Tiger (*note the VIP prices; sales begin today) (price matcher)

• Hotdog wieners (Olymel) - $2.47 375g 5-pack -- Sigh… Good price for wieners, but still… Don't overdo it. These are categorically terrible for you!
• Ambrosia apples - $2.88 3lb bag -- Great deal on a tasty apple variety that hits that $1/lb mark!
• Blueberries - $2.88 full pint -- Man! So many blueberry deals! Where are these coming from?!
• Romaine lettuce - $2.88 3-pack -- Nice! Fair price for romaine hearts.
• Baby spinach - $1.97 140g bin -- Good price for 140g. The prices of these bins are the weights are all over the place. Some places charge $4 for the same bin. And then some others charge $4 for 300g bins. Treat carefully!
• Canned tomatoes (Primo) - $3.00 for 2 796ml cans -- Good price for nice tomatoes. Funny enough, in this week's flyer, they advertise the Great Value (housebrand) tomatoes for 1.77 being 50c, but if you buy two Primo cans they work out to 50c less than the Great Value (confused yet? Lol)
• Fireworks - various -- LOL I just wanted to mention they got fireworks and firecrackers hahaha
• Produce Price Rating: Generally on the low side.

Green Fresh Supermarket (Vanier) (check https://greenfreshottawa20.wixsite.com/greenfreshottawa)

• Produce Price Rating: Usually very competitive, catering to Asian cuisine. Warning: their newest sales start on Fridays - so this is a late advertising of their sales.

IGA (price matcher)

• Hotdog wieners (Lafleur) - $5.00 for 2 packs 375-450g -- More hot dog prices for our analysis. I'm noting these to get a sense of what the heck is going on with these….
• Lobster (cooked or live) - $7.75 per lb -- Scene Member Price. 9.75/lb regular. Awesome deal!
• Tomahawk steak - $13.99 per lb -- That's pretty good for a fancy steak cut. I like thick cut steak because you can get that and crust without overcooking the meat. Pro tip: always salt and set your steak uncovered to dry in the fridge. That's what gets you a top-notch crust!
• Veal loin rack - $13.99 per lb -- This is more interesting than a value proposition. Expect a decent-sized rack to run you a pretty penny, but it should cook nicely. Remember to let it rest after it reaches the desired internal temp. Be patient!
• Whole chicken (fresh) - $1.99 per lb -- Great price!!
• Eggs (Nutri, Burnbrae) - $5.79 18-pack -- Not a ground-breaker price. Maybe it's just nice see some price stability in egg prices.
• Corn - $4.00 for 10 ears -- Excellent deal at 40c an ear!
• Cherries - $4.99 per lb -- Awesome!!! Cherries can easily reach into the $8-9/lb range.
• Bologna (Lesters) - $5.49 675g chub -- This is a good price for a chub. It's not fancy deli, but it beats the prices by 2-3x or more given you're paying 81c/100g.
• Deli - Cooked ham (Olymel) - $1.99 per 100g -- Speaking of deli prices, consider this unholy monolith slab of ham versus that slice-it-yourself bologna. This "hamalgum sibling" is 2.5x the price of the bologna by Lesters… Just saying…
• Produce Price Rating: Medium

Independent

• Pork back rib - $3.99 per lb -- Meh price for pork rib… $3/lb is good, but $4/lb doesn't seem worth it when it's largely bone anyway! I'd rather buy the duck they have for $4/lb….
• Atlantic salmon - $9.99 per lb -- Average price for pink fish.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA) - $7.88 per lb -- Good enough price for steaks, but FoodLand had AAA grade for the same price.
• Duck (fresh, grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Good rate for duck.
• Asparagus - $2.99 per lb -- Meh rate. There's better.
• Strawberries - $2.49 454g shell -- Good price for strawberries.
• Butter (Lactantia) - $5.99 454g bar -- Sigh… I wish butter would come down in price…
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Loblaws

• Pork back rib - $3.99 per lb -- Meh price for pork rib… $3/lb is good, but $4/lb doesn't seem worth it when it's largely bone anyway! I'd rather buy the duck they have for $4/lb….
• Atlantic salmon - $9.99 per lb -- Average price for pink fish.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA) - $8.88 per lb -- Ben là là! Same AA steak, $1/lb more…
• Beef boneless blade roast (AA) - $8.99 per lb -- Ok price for beef… It's kind of meh… Consider visiting local butchers to see what they have going on.
• Duck (fresh, grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Good rate for duck.
• Sweet potatoes - $3.99 5lb bag -- Great price for sweet potatoes
• Mini-cucumbers - $1.99 6-pack -- "Save $2". Ya, we know Loblaws. I've been saving $2 on these packs for months now at other stores.
• Blueberries - $1.99 full pint -- Great price for blueberries!
• Mango - $0.99 each -- Fair price for mango considering I've seen Loblaws charge much more for them. Also, I expect we'll see some nice sub-$1 deals in the future.
• Butter (Lactantia) - $5.99 454g bar -- More $6 butter.
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Provigo

• Pork chops - $2.49 per lb -- Good price for pork chops.
• Chicken breast and thighs (boneless skinless) - $4.99 per lb -- Good price chicken.
• Atlantic salmon - $8.99 per lb -- Good price for pink fish.
• Corn - $5.00 4-pack -- What?! How can we have these disparities… Maxi has theirs for 33c an ear. That's $1.30 versus $5 for 4 ears… Insane difference in price…
• Watermelon (9lb average) - $3.88 each -- Nice price for watermelon.
• Mango - $0.99 each -- That $1 deal again. "Save $2". Meaning regular price was $3. Insanity.
• Deli - Mock chicken (Gaspésien) - $1.29 per 100g -- Good price for deli, but it's mock chicken. I would refer back to the IGA deal on Lesters bologna. Buy whole chubs, slice it yourself, and save.
• Produce Price Rating: fairly high with few exceptions

Maxi (price matcher)

• Ground beef (medum) - $8.88 1.1kg -- About 2.5lb of beef, which clocks this in at about 3.50/lb. That's pretty good!
• Corn - $0.33 per ear -- Awesome price for corn! It's crazy. Provigo had their 4-packs for $5. Which
• Mini-cucumbers - $0.88 6-pack -- Very nice! A regular "good deal" is $2.
• Coleslaw kit (Florette) - $1.88 340g kit -- Great deal for a salad kit.
• Potatoes (Imperfect) - $4.88 15lb bag -- Excellent!!
• Mini-carrots - $4.88 2lb bag -- This is a good deal given a 2/3lb bag can be $2-3.
• Watermelon - $2.88 each -- Nice price for watermelon, but no weight advertised.
• Kiwis - $4.88 600g pack -- Pretty good. Can be as low as $4, but this is a fair price.
• Apples (Cortland, Empire) - $5.88 4lb bag -- Ok price for what should be over-winter apples. Mind the bruising.
• Fancy cheese deal - $18.00 for 3 -- Check the flyer and in-store for more details.
• Sriracha (Flying Goose) - $3.88 730ml bottle -- Nice! It's a different brand, but the price is right. I wonder what the difference is.
• Silk plant bev - $6.88 for 2 1.75-1.89L jugs -- Good deal.
• White vinegar - $2.88 for 2 4L jugs -- This might be good to get in advance of some pickling plans.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally medium low pricing! This store can post some impressive deals at times.

Metro

• Pork back rib - $2.99 per lb -- Good price for pork rib. It's that magical $3/lb mark. It's hard to find rib for less. And, I wouldn't pay over $3/lb.
• Beef top sirloin steak or roast (AAA) - $6.88 per lb -- Great price for AAA grade beef! They also have "platinum angus medallions" for 8.88/lb.
• Fresh sausage - $4.99 per lb -- Great price for fresh sausage. You can spend $1/lb more and get organic stuff by Dubreton.
• Cucumber - $0.77 each -- Awesome!!!
• Cauliflower - $2.99 each -- Decent. Not amazing, but decent given a head can go for $4-5 easily.
• Portabella mushrooms (Belle Grove) - $6.99 4-pack -- Hmm, I'll have to keep an eye out for prices on portabellas. This doesn't seem that bad off the hop. I know sometimes you can get 4-6 packs for about $4-5, though. But, you have to hunt around town for deals like that.
• Blueberries - $1.99 full pint -- Great price for blueberries!
• Cherries - $5.99 per lb -- Nice! Fair sale price for cherries!
• Watermelon (15lb average) - $9.99 each -- Trying to make sense of these watermelon prices. This isn't as good as some other deals. But considering on the same page they advertise 1.49/lb for sliced watermelon, it suggests this watermelon could cost you up to $22.
• Butter (Selection) - $4.88 454g bar -- $5 butter.
• Produce Price Rating: High. Kinda like Sobeys. You can see a 50% average mark-up compared to a lot of other stores. It's nice produce, but it costs you.

No Frills (price matcher)

• Beef burgers (No Name) - $9.99 1.36kg 12-pack -- Just more frozen burger musing. Basically much like the Compliments ones we saw earlier, but 113g each, but with more sugars and funny ingredients, and the same amount of sat-fat! (And they skip mentioning that 75%-ish daily value number for the sat-fat). Like, what the heck are "onion extract" and "corn syrup solids". Do they squeeze the onion and throw away the rind? And isn't solid syrup just solid sugar? lol....
• T-bone/Wing steak - $6.99 per lb -- This might seem like a good deal, but it's ungraded beef. Why pay this price when metro has AAA-grade steaks for a smidge less?
• Picnic pork shoulder - $2.44 per lb -- Excellent price! These are AWESOME for smoking and braising for pulled pork!
• Ground chicken or turkey - $8.00 870g pack -- Not bad. Works out to about $4.20/lb or so.
• Ground beef (lean) - $6.00 450g tube -- Really a meh price for "tube meat".
• Steelhead trout fillet - $9.99 per lb -- Standard pricing for pink fish.
• Asparagus - $2.99 per lb -- Ok price for asparagus. I expect better from No Frills.
• Green beans - $2.99 per lb -- Same with the green beans, I expect a bit better.
• Cucumber - $0.99 each -- Good price for cucumber.
• Mini-cucumber - $3.99 11-pack -- Fair price on the 11-pack. Meanwhile, Maxi has the 6-pack for 88c… Sigh…
• Watermelon (9lb average) - $2.99 each -- Good price for melon.
• Ataulfo mangoes - $5.64 5lb case -- This should work out to about 8 or so mangoes. Good deal.
• Pineapple - $2.99 each -- Good price for pineapple.
• Brick cheese (Armstrong) - $5.49 400g bar -- Hmm, ya, seeing some 50c to $1 upward pressure on cheese pricing a little everywhere….
• Earth's Own plant bev - $3.79 1.74-1.89L jug -- Good price. Regular floats well into the $5-ish ranges.
• Dry pasta (Italpasta) - $1.25 750g packs -- Good price for dry pasta. Stock up a little. Maybe there's a potluck pasta salad in your future.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally quite low, selectively amazing for some items.

Produce Depot (usually a little late on the flyer) https://producedepot.ca/

• Ground beef (lean) - $4.99 per lb -- Fair rate for ground beef. Considering No Frills is selling 450g tube meat for $6, I'd buy this in a heartbeat. It's just not stock-up pricing.
• Beef New York striploin steak - $12.99 per lb -- I wish they'd mention the grade, but if it looks nice, it could make for a nice BBQ item.
• Whole atlantic salmon (fresh) - $6.99 per lb -- Now, it's not filet and deboned, but it's a heckin' deal for salmon.
• Wild-caught squid - $8.99 per lb -- Perhaps there's calamari in your future?
• Hothouse tomatoes - $1.29 per lb -- Great price for tomatoes!
• Green and red leaf lettuce - $1.69 per head -- Great price for leafy greens!
• Sweet orange peppers - $0.99 per lb -- AWESOME price for peppers!!!
• Brussel sprouts - $1.49 per lb -- Fantastic price for brussel sprouts! Often over $3/lb.
• Blackberries - $1.49 half pint -- Good deal for blackberries. Lots of blueberries going around, though.
• Red seedless grapes - $1.99 per lb -- Fantastic price for grapes! Often $4/lb.
• Peaches - $2.49 per lb -- These are from the USA. It could be a they come out a little tough. Leave them on the counter to ripen, but eat them fast after that!
• Cheese counter - Landana smoked cheese - $2.39 per 100g -- I'm partial to smoked cheese. This could make for a nice fancy burger topping.
• Deli - Genoa salami (Mastro) - $2.59 per 100g -- This isn't fantastic pricing, but fair. A 600g chub can clock in at $10-12 or so, this deli counter pricing is fairly competitive.
• Produce Price Rating: Medium-low with very competitive specials on a shortened flyer. The small flyer is nice because it doesn't uselessly feature $6 heads of cauliflower and extremely high-price items that are either a confusion on the consumer, or an insult on the injury of not being able to afford supreme quality items.

Real Canadian Superstore (price matcher)

• Beef rib-steak (ungraded) - $7.88 per lb -- More ungraded beef at graded prices.
• Pork tenderloin - $3.49 per lb -- Fair price for tenderloin.
• Duck (frozen, grade A) - $3.99 per lb -- Fairly regular price for duck.
• Golden Pompano (frozen) - $2.88 per lb -- This is advertised a lot at the RCSS. I've never seen it elsewhere. Does anyone have experience with it?
• Dressed Tilapia (frozen) - $2.88 per lb -- Dressed means tail and fines removed,
• Potatoes - $5.50 10lb bag -- Great price for potatoes.
• Corn - $0.40 per ear -- Awesome price for corn. This is probably loss-leader territory.
• Watermelon (11lb average) - $3.99 each -- Good price for a big melon.
• Pineapple - $3.00 each -- Good price for pineapple.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally medium-low pricing, selectively amazing for some items.

Sobeys

• Chicken thighs (boneless skinless) - $5.99 per lb -- Fair price for boneless chicken. There's better out there, however.
• Beef striploin steaks (AA) - $8.77 per lb -- Scene Member Price.
• Beef sirloin tip roast or marinating steaks (AAA) - $8.99 per lb -- Hmm, striploin AA versus sirloin tip AAA… Might be a toss up. Sirloin is leaner and has less marbling. But AAA might lend to a tenderness. This may be give and take, here…
• Lobster (live) - $10.99 per lb -- Scene Member Price.
• Pork chops - $3.49 per lb -- Not a great price, really, but it may be your option if you're stuck with Sobey's this week. Ad mentions it includes roasts.
• Picnic pork shoulder - $3.49 per lb -- We saw No Frills offereing this at 2.44/lb. A $1/lb more isn't great, admittedly. But, it's an option.
• Asparagus - $2.44 per lb -- Good price!
• Green beans - $2.67 per lb -- Good price!
• Bok choy - $0.99 per lb -- Amazing price. I don't get how other places charge $2/lb+ for choy, and then you have Sobeys of all stores swooping in to corner that side of the market.
• Asian pears - $0.99 per lb -- Awesome price!
• Brick cheese (Cracker Barrel) - $5.77 400g bar -- More of this elevated cheese pricing… Hmm….
• Produce Price Rating: Generally a high price store, especially for produce. Some items are 50% more than more value-oriented stores. Kinda like Metro, some of the deals can be quite good.

Super C

• Chicken breast (boneless skinless) - $4.44 per lb -- Awesome price!!
• Atlantic salmon - $9.88 per lb -- Standard sale price for pink fish.
• Pork tenderloin (marinated) - $3.44 per lb -- Good price. Not amazing. But, pre-marinated? Hmm, makes for an easy meal.
• Corn - $1.88 for 5 ears -- Awesome price!! Under 40c an ear!
• Broccoli - $1.33 per crown -- Very good price for broc, especially if the crowns are nice. A good crown can easily range over $2.
• Radishes - $0.99 per bunch -- Nice! A good addition to salads or veg trays.
• Green onions - $0.99 per bunch -- Fair price for green onion. It's hard to find it under $1.
• Mini-carrots - $0.99 340g bag -- Nice!
• Mini-cucumbers - $1.99 6-pack -- Fair going-rate now for mini cuce. A very welcome change from charging $4 for these packs.
• Mini-potatoes - $1.99 3lb bag -- Good price for mini potatoes. There's still better value in regular size potatoes most of the time. But, sometimes, these sales can negate that value proposition. Plus, these are nice a thousands ways to Sunday. They cook very quickly, and are great oven-roasted, steamed, and BBQ'ed with other veg.
• Apples (Empire, Spartan) - $3.99 3lb bag -- Fair price for apples these days, it seems. I think we'll be hard-pressed to find certain varieties for under $1/lb for a while.
• Strawberries - $1.63 454g shell -- Awesome price!!!
• Pineapple - $1.88 each -- Fantastic!
• Oranges - $2.99 3lb bag -- Good price for oranges!
• Mangos - $0.99 each -- Good price. Mangoes should clock in at around $1 each. Enough of these $2-3 mangos…
• Cantaloupe - $2.99 each -- Good price/fair sale price for cantaloupe.
• Cherries - $4.99 per lb -- Wow! Great price for cherries!!!
• Brick cheese (Black Diamond, Ptit Quebec) - $4.87 400g bar -- Nice to see we still ahve sub-$5 cheese options this week.
• Fancy cheese deal - $18.00 for 3 -- Apparently includes 20 different varieties.
• Produce Price Rating: Generally low, but can creep into medium for some items. But, there's always something decent available!

T&T Supermarket https://www.tntsupermarket.com

• Produce Price Rating: Usually very competitive, catering to Asian cuisine. Warning: their newest sales start on Fridays - so this is a late advertising of their sales.

Walmart

• Ground beef (lean) - $3.97 per lb -- Excellent rate on ground beef! Make your own burgers!!!!
• Chicken or Pork kabobs (Marcangelo) - $7.87 480-640g 8-packs -- It's basically $1 a kabob. That ain't bad for a ready-to-cook item. But, note that this translates essentially into 8/lb at worst, or 5.50/lb at best. There are WAY better deals on pork and chicken around.
• Asparagus - $2.97 per lb -- Fair price for asparagus.
• Corn - $0.32 per ear -- Best price on corn this week!
• Potatoes - $4.97 10lb bag -- Good price for a 10lb bag.
• Coleslaw kit - $2.77 397g kit -- Good price for a decent-size slaw kit.
• Strawberries - $1.84 454g shell -- Awesome price!!!
• Pineapple - $3.97 each -- Not bad. I like to see $3, and less shouldn't be taken for granted. Remember, it takes 2 years to grow a pineapple. One bad fungal disease and we should see these shoot up to $6-8 a piece. Treasure well-priced pineapple!
• Brick cheese (Armstrong) - $4.94 400g bar -- Another $5 brick cheese sale.
• Produce Price Rating: A little all over the place. Some really good prices between a lot of average pricing.

Costco (Note that these are the online/shipped prices - reduce each item by $3 for in-store pricing)

• NOTE: NEED TO REVISE - --
• Paper Towel (Kirkland) - $27.99 12-roll pack -- 2-ply; 160 sheets
• Paper Towel (Bounty) - $27.49 12-roll pack -- 2-ply; 86 sheets
• Toilet Paper (Kirkland) - $25.99 30-roll pack -- 2-ply; 380 sheets
• Toilet Paper (Cashmere) - $24.99 40-roll pack -- 2-ply; 250 sheets (on sale)
• Dish soap (Dawn Platinum) - $18.99 2.66L -- Food Basics often has this jug for $10!
• Laundry detergent (Purex) - $24.99 9.24L -- 250 loads
• Garbage bags (30 gallon; large) - $15.99 100-pack -- Amazon has Glad standard 74L bags, 100-packs for $23, sometimes less if on sale
• Countertop green bin liners - $21.99 125-pack -- Amazon has Glad Compostable green bin liners 100-packs for $18, sometimes less if on sale
• Produce Price Rating: I need to do a proper check to be sure, but I find it's pretty average. There's an illusion of getting a good deal because of the bulk. Just be careful.

Jean Coutu (new sales start Fridays)

• Produce Price Rating: I have to start checking these just in case...

Shoppers Drug Mart (new sales start Fridays)

• Produce Price Rating: Sometimes they have cheap butter, eggs, and milk on weekends.

Some additional references!

• Grocery Review Google Drive Location https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xhLvBP1smXb1eSnxAW5yyBjO2aYFLJHC?usp=sharing
• Cooking Tips and Recipes https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TCcHm9y0kWIa3x18hznKN2ix0BPcUv-m?usp=drive_link
• Google Maps list of the Grocery stores in Ottawa https://maps.app.goo.gl/YT7cZmv8vMQWU4J59

If you want to run a bed and breakfast (and I'm not talking about an Airbnb) because you have a genuine passion for it and you know how much work it is, I'm not talking about that.
I'm talking about people who think jobs like operating a bed and breakfast (I tend to hear this one more from boomers), an independent bookstore with a cute little coffee shop, or a small farm (I hear the latter two from Gen Z and Millennials) are cozy little escapes from capitalism. These jobs are not an escape from capitalism - they are the sharp edge of its knife. These are jobs you pick if you both understand these types of business and love the idea so much that you're willing to live your life on hard mode in order to scrape by doing them.
Opening a bed and breakfast? How do you like the idea of being on call almost constantly while dealing with the combined difficulties of running both a restaurant and a hotel? And I hope you're great at budgeting during the off-season.
An independent bookstore? Ever notice the parade of articles about how these types of places are struggling to stay open? On top of all the other stress you're going to face of doing your own inventory and personnel management, you get the physical challenge of moving heavy books around day, after day, after day.
A small farm? Google "farming" and "stress".
Basically, people don't seem to realize that when they fantasize about escaping their "stressful" job they are imagining much worse alternatives in terms of stress, risk, and sheer difficulty.

As a long time contributor, member, and an investor in the Donut ecosystem, I believe I have the right to express my opinion, regarding the proposed comment2vote program. Please note that it is not my intention to manipulate the public opinion, nor to incentive brigading parties against the concept. This is just a (very much necessary) con-argument, as it seems everyone's just jumping on board without considering all the variables.
I believe we are focusing on the wrong thing.
The new program aims to fight manipulation. Let me say that nothing will change in that regard, as there will always be upvote manipulation. This will still happen, could be on a smaller scale, or not.
Commands such as !tip [X] are still being abused, even though it's on a much smaller scale, with alt accounts engaging in tipping manipulation for the receivers' bonus. Sometimes "evidence" is presented to the moderation team, and allegedly nothing happens. What guarantees the governance that it will be any different with comment-to-vote?
Additionally, I firmly believe this will limit the sub to insiders (as in EthTrader active members; also approved users), at least in terms of tokenized rewards. Only insiders will know about this program, thus limiting outsider users who do not know how the system works.
Plus, the fact that only approved users would be able to upvote, kind of puts away new users or not so active users who casually enjoy to participate in EthTrader.
There is another thing the governance needs to keep in mind. The people who actually upvote in this sub are not the participants, it's the outsiders. When certain keywords are used in threads, the algorithm picks the post up and recommends it to external users. These are the ones who often genuinely engage and upvote. And we'd be penalizing OPs, by not including their upvotes in the distribution score.
I believe every project, individual, or company should focus on finding solutions. But such solutions must not be made "in a hurry".
The comment-to-vote is a rushed mechanism. I have a feeling this is something that is now being actively worked on in a rush, even though it has been under discussion for quite some time. Such a big change for the sub, and its way of functioning, should be, must be, carefully worked on, and in due time. It should not be something that must happen right away, because of external attacks.
I believe this new program will clog comment sections... again! We recently managed to tackle down the tip spamming, by removing incentives to send tips.
Lately, as you can see, comment sections are a lot more cleaner and not full of tips with ridiculous amounts, as little as under 1 single Donut. By implementing this, we would get right back to where we started.
On a not so engaging topic, I guarantee we will see comment sections full of: "[Top comment] !upvote / !uv / !up / !tip -> [Reply] Thank you bronut!".
Outside users, and even EthTrader contributors, found the tip spamming frustrating, because it degraded comment sections. Myself included.
This will happen again, if the program goes live.
One of the pro-arguments is that this will increase visibility, by taking away the financial incentive to downvote. Once more, I disagree.
Downvotes will exist any way, they always did, and always will. This is how Reddit operates. We do not know who downvotes. So even though we remove the financial incentive to downvote, people will do it either way.
No matter if it's EthTrader users or outsiders, the visibility would not be increased. I would say that visibility would be higher, if we had more GENUINE users, and actually expand the content and topic of discussion, not restricting it to a single thing, like we just did.
Look at CryptoCurrency's example. They have been dealing with upvote manipulation on a far larger scale than ethtrader, and it was a lot worse in comments. High quality comments would sit at -2 score. This isn't something that happens in ethtrader.
They always had downvotes, and yet the average mid-quality thread used to have hundreds of upvotes. ethtrader's high quality threads can barely get past 10.
The main suspects are the manipulators who have a financial reason to do the downvoting. I would argue that if the moderation team concentrated some of their efforts to tackle down these users, (PERMA) banning them from the subreddit, the mass downvoting would drastically decrease. Some users understand what I'm talking about here. EthTrader does not have more than 100 genuine, active users. You can bet on that.
Then there's the privacy aspect of the subject. Voting SHOULD BE anonymous. That's how Reddit works.
Even though I'm in favor of a transparent voting mechanism, which would allow us to see who is upvoting who, we are removing a small layer of privacy from users.
Whether it's upvoting or downvoting, (non-malicious) users have the right to keep their votes to themselves. I understand this may sound controversial, believe me I do. But in the event of having a public voting system, there are absolutely no guarantees that manipulators would be taken down.
Plus, what evidence would we have that we don't already have? Our regular users can already identify activity patterns and anomalies in the data.
Another question to address is, if two different users constantly upvote each other, assuming they're both known within the DAO and are obviously two different people who sympathize with each other, would this be manipulation? Manipulation, in this case, would be subject to the moderators' / governance's interpretation.
From a contributor's point of view, I will say this is just extra work. What I mean is people are already super stingy with their upvotes, and the (current) process is as simple as tapping a button.
Adding an extra layer of effort, such as having to type a command, will reduce the changes of OPs getting upvotes. And since the average number of upvotes per thread is already low enough, this would decrease drastically, making it not worth it to spend time creating threads (assuming they're not link submissions).
Most people would not be upvoting, which brings me to the next topic.
As a meme artist, memes are my strong point in this subreddit. It is what I post the most, and it is what earned me my fair share of DONUT-CONTRIB throughout the years as a contributor.
Implementing this system would hurt people like me the most. People who spend hours in a day on photoshop creating a meme, only to me subject to a penalized flair.
I can confirm you that my memes already earn me between 10 to 50 Donuts, rarely more than 50. Under the new system, along with the drastic reduction of upvotes due to the command requirement, I / we would earn a lot less.
Remember, Comedy flairs have a 0.10 multiplier, and according to the (new) Pay2Post fee, we need 25 upvotes to break even. I am willing to bet that we would definitely not be getting 25 upvotes under this new program. I would argue that the highest quality "Hot" thread would get probably a max of 10.
So where does that leave us meme creators? We rely on external interactions to succeed. Most of the upvotes on memes are given by outside users, users that would be out of EthTrader's system, under this new program. Not only that, but this would also drastically decrease earnings for all genuine, active contributors, and would probably make them leave.
This is getting perhaps a bit too long, I'm sorry but there's no short way of sharing this.
I believe this is just a detour in our path, or taking the long road as one would say. Cheaters will stop at nothing, some of them have been farming RCPs for YEARS, possibly relying on it in terms of income. Nothing will stop them and they will always find a way to circumvent any new rule or program.
So this would only really add an extra layer of difficulty for outsiders or new users to participate, whilst benefiting those with "groups of friends".
I want to flush out manipulators as much as the next guy, but this is not the way to do it. This would drastically reduce contributors' earnings, the subreddit's accessibility, and wouldn't be user-friendly at all.
This wouldn't be required if moderation took a more proactive approach towards trying to detect, monitor and PERMABAN manipulators, as these are the ones who have more incentive to downvote, more than any other user. By getting straight to the root of the problem, the mass-downvoting would be largely reduced. Not completely stopped, as it is a natural, organic part of Reddit and they will always exist, but reduced nevertheless.
So what am I trying to achieve with this thread? What do I want?
One simple thing: Time.
I would like to ask the governance for time, before rushing into implementing this new mechanism. We recently passed proposals to reduce spam, and have some on the way to reduce the incentive to cheat as well. Proposals such as a cap of 3 threads per day, per user, removing the tipping bonus for senders. On the way we have the reduction for the Daily's comment rewards, and finally a comment cap per day, per user.
I believe THIS is the way to address foul play, proposal by proposal. Not through some major change that alters the entire way of operating.
I would like to ask the governance for 3 to 6 months, to evaluate how the distribution scores perform, how the ratios fluctuate with these new proposals, before doing this. I am confident that with these new proposals, the general status of the sub will improve, and organic, active users will earn more.

NOTE: This is both a story of how I got into the game, but also about my late guild leader who I still look back on very fondly. Feel free to skip and share your experience :)
With the approach of Cataclysm, the expansion that created my addiction to this game, I thought it would be fun to reminisce on personal greatest moments in this game. For me, this starts in Cata.
Some info to know, I played a dwarf paladin. I was a super noob for pretty much all of wrath, only ever getting to level 70, maybe not even that. Just sat around goldshire with my cousin and some randos most of the time. When I did dungeons, I used to go in as a prot dps, because I liked that spec the most. I can't tell you how many times I've been shouted at by other people in dungeon queues lol. My favorite things to do in WoW at the time were to just solo big things that walked the earth, like the fel reaver in Hellfire Peninsula, and later that Thrym guy in Zul'Drak.
So fast forward to Cata, and I actually start leveling. I see all these dudes with purple armor that I couldn't wear and I wanted some of that, cuz it looked cool. So I put in the effort and I get my first max level character in this game. Fun thing to note, my first run of the Stonecore, the drake dropped and I won that shit with a 100 roll. Everyone was pissed off and linked DPS meters (first time I've ever seen that before) to say that I didn't deserve it.
So anyways, I hit level 85 and the only place I know I can access that delicious purple armor was the PVP vendor, so I got a whole fucking set. Felt like a total bad ass. This whole time I've been just sorta guild hopping around, and I eventually ended on a group called "the Cruzaders" ran by a guy we'll call Brew. Brew was the fucking best. Father of 3 already, just gaming a little here and there. When I found out that this guild did RAIDS, I immediately messaged Brew to try and get in. He asked me what my dps was and I had told him that I don't know what that means lol.
Brew was the first person to tell me about addons, and he sat down with me for a few hours to explain not only about them, but about my rotation, my gear, and what would be required of me to join this guild on a raid. I remember the first time he asked me to smack a training dummy for 3 minutes to see what my dps was. The adrenaline was coursing through my veins, I was so nervous to impress, I didnt wanna fuck anything up. I popped all my cooldowns and RIPPED IT. By the end of those 3 minutes, my dps was a solid 3k... Not even close to what he was asking of me. He said I needed to be doing at least 10k to get in, and explained what I could do to get there.
Step 1 was changing my gear. I needed to step it up in ilvl and get rid of all this PVP gear I was hauling around. Well guess what was just released? ZA/ZG, baby! I spent the next 2 weeks farming heroics and ZA/ZG's for gear, as well as reading guides to improve my DPS because my rotation was definitely not up to snuff.
Time for the next sit-down with Brew. Same thing, 3 minute timer on a training dummy. This time, we were going crazy, ending with 13k dps! I felt like a beast, and he gave me the greenlight to show up to raid. I think we killed Halfus in BoT, and wiped on the dragon duo for 2 hours, but that was my first taste of raiding, and it was a thirst that runs deep to this day. Ill never stop chasing that dragon. This was the beginning of my WoW career, that whole adventure.
Brew was an amazing dude, incredibly patient, as well as kind. He was my GM until I wanted to move forward with pushing harder bosses in MoP but I stayed in contact with him for years and years afterwards. One day I got a call from a mutual friend, we'll call her Megan (I followed her to this next guild), and she told me Brew passed away unexpectedly. I cried a lot for this man. He was like a father to me, to an extent. I would sit in ventrillo with him and Megan for hours and just talk about bullshit. I miss him a lot, and I hope his family is doing well. If you made it this far, thank you for reading.
I look forward to reading some of your responses. :)

So after a long time playing this game over the years, I've never made it to the end - I end up getting confused or being too squishy and get put off at the task of balancing it.
Now, I want to get to the mapping point and farm stuff!
I have a Detonate Dead mage build and I'm enjoying it. Now up to act 10, and I'm so squishy, I then realised it's because I have basically no armour or evasion because I have been focused on res etc. But I don't have the money to get better armour.
I'm using Maxroll by TriPolarBear guide for the build.
So I am wondering a few things now you have back story -

• Fractured/synthesised etc - Guides say 'Start with a fractured suppress spell base" what do they mean? I get the suppress, but fractured? base?
  
• Also, it says get Kitvara's Herald to get the corpse for desecrate, but when I go to the rooftops, I put down desecrate and it just creates the AOE pool, does no damage. How am I supposed to "find" the right corpse? Does it mean I kill the herald, desecrate then raise spectre?
  
• How do I see my spectre pool to know I got it?
  
• It also says "thanks to Veiled Forces to refresh ignite" but yet.. on the skill tree, they haven't selected Veiled forces....?
  
• How does crafting work? Are you getting a white, then using an orb of Transmutation, then Orb of alteration or augmentation? then when it doesn't go as you want you just scour it? then how are you adding the ones you want? So like, all the armour has spell suppression, how would I get that?
  
• Essence, how does that work? am I supposed to craft the item I want first, and do essences on after until I hit what I want? What if it doesn't hit, do I then scour the whole thing?
  
• Also says this "When rolling your Panicked Eternal Life Flask of Assuaging you want Grants Immunity to Bleeding if used while Bleeding. The easiest way to obtain this is through a beast craft that adds an "of Sealing" modifier to your Life Flask after you Alteration spam one of the following modifiers onto your Divine Life Flask:
  
• 21% reduced Amount Recovered / Instant Recovery when on Low Life"
  

So it wants me to get the reduced amount on there and then do the of sealing thing?
People say "Tier 5" etc, but how can I tell what tier something is?
There's probably a ton more questions I will have as I play but these are the ones I have issues with, with doing the build.
I'm sorry it's such a block of text, I adore this game but I just want to understand it and feel semi-competent.

Hi all,
Is there a place that tells you how to get specific skins for certain characters? I looked at mkwarehouse and it seems it only tells you what’s available, but not how to get it.
I want to get some dark/undead looking skins for Smoke, but I’m not sure if I have to do certain invasions or something? Mostly I just like to play ranked online, but I’ll farm some offline stuff if I know where to look/go.

My sister just got awarded disability for fibromyalgia a few days ago, and I have some mixed feelings about it and would like some advice on what to do.
For some background on my sister:
I can't remember her ever working a regular job. She has been on government support for as long as I could remember, but always had side jobs like cleaning houses. She always said that that the reason for her not being able to get a job or further education was because she got a bad back from working. This bad back has never hindered her in taking care of five horses, moving around heavy things, going out partying or hunting, so a lot of people always questioned it.
The thing is that a few years ago she got compensation from her back injury. This was both a lot of money and made me think that there must be something wrong for her to get compensation. She has lived well of the stipends she gets and often talks about being the most financially stable of us siblings.
Then about two years ago I was told by my social worker, that she wanted me to apply for disability pension, because she didn’t think I could get a job. (I was born with Cerebral Palsy Hemiplegia, which is basically a brain injury that damaged the part of my brain that controls the right side of my body, so my right arm doesn’t work, and I have trouble walking. And I had a surgery on my left arm that didn’t go well and now I have problems with that arm too.)
After I applied to disability, my sister said she wanted to apply for disability too because she had fibromyalgia and couldn’t work because of the pain. I understand that fibromyalgia isn’t something you can see on a person, and I understand working through the pain, because I’m in constant pain but I have never heard her talk about it before. The only time she mentions she is in pain is when somebody else says they are in pain. Fx I say I can’t go shopping with her, because my legs hurt, suddenly she will talk about her legs hurting too. I is also worth noting that she has helped my parents do physical labor and never once complained about pain of any kind.
Anyway, I got my disability pension last year, she got hers a couple of days ago and went paddle boarding to celebrate and she is now talking about getting a handicap placard because she can’t walk that far.
I kept thinking that I didn’t want to say anything, because I have been questioned a lot on whether I needed disability pension, because most people can’t tell I’m disabled just by looking at me. But yesterday I was looking through some pictures and videos I had taken of some birthday parties and such. The videos are pretty shaky because my hands, but in one you can see my sister helping to lift a couch, in another she is giving our niece a piggyback ride and in a third she is carrying her 20 year old daughter, like she is a baby. I have pictures of her working around her farm too, doing a lot of physical labor.
This began to irritate me. Our parents are over 60. Our mom goes to work every day despite a bad back and dad’s cancer diagnosis didn’t stop him from going to work, because it’s the only way they can make ends meet. And I feel like if she is faking this, she is not appreciating how hard they worked for us to be able to have a good start.
So I was thinking about sending her social worker the pictures and videos I have, because if she is faking a disability knowing the medical problems I went through and how hard our parents worked for us, just so she doesn’t have to work and take care of her horses and go hunting and whatever. I think that is pretty disgusting. On the other hand, if my sister's disability pension is taken away, she will be right back where she started. She has no education beyond the 9th grade and as I said before, I can’t remember her ever working a regular job, so I don’t think her prospects are good if I do this.
A part of me is also wondering if I'm doing this out of jealousy. My sister and I have had issues in the past and it does irritate me how easily she seems to get disability, while doing all these physical things, where I have to hear from social workers how I’m not that disabled because I can stand up.
So what do I do here? Should I just leave it be or do something about it?

Just a little disclaimer, I'm not some pro player and I'm probably not familiar with 100% of the game. I did find my personal formula for the end game that I enjoy and want to share.
There are 3 major objectives in The Division 2 end game:

1. Get gear - new weapons, gear brands and sets, exotics
   
2. Improve gear - improve attributes, expertise etc
   
3. Learn the story
   

Before I dive into every one of them, I want to talk about why would I want to do any of them:

1. Why would I want to get more gear? - There are many different weapons/geatalent/skills in the game, including exotics, named items etc. Every piece of gear brings new options and a totally new play style. In addition, gear pieces have synergy between them. So if you want to use something, it is probably most efficient with something else. So you want to get this as well.

1.1 How to know what gear to get? - You can watch videos, sheets or anything else with build ideas. Or maybe you found a weapon that you enjoy and you want to make the most out of it? Or maybe you have a build that you like, but you're dying too much, so you need to find something that will work well with your build but also give you some more armor (or armor on kill, or armor regen, or maybe some talent).

1. Why would I want to improve my gear? - In summary, you want to improve your gear so you'll be able to get more gear. In general, better loot will be dropped in harder difficulties. So if you want to get something that is a targeted loot of some mission, it's best to do in on Heroic. The thing is, it will be very hard, not fun or impossible to run Heroic content with unoptimized build.
   
2. Why would I want to learn the story? - This is personal of course, but I do enjoy understanding whats going on. Who am I fighting against and why. In addition, future content like man hunts and maybe Division 3 will make more sense.
   

Next, what should you do for each objective?

1. What to do to get more gear? - The general consensus is to run Countdown, you can set exactly what you want to get and then just farm it. I personally never do this. I find it boring and basically a shortcut to play less division. My goal is to play more, so I have no problem if it takes me much longer to find something. What I usually do, I open the map, toggle the targeted loot, and see if there's anything interesting. So for example, if I want AR, I find a mission or an area, and just do this on Heroic.
   
2. What to do to improve gear? - To improve gear, you'll need resources, recon data and SHD levels. You get resources by destructing things. You get recon data from control points and Dark Zone landmarks, and you get SHD levels from daily and weekly missions. Also you get some of those when you level up your watch.
   
3. What to do to advance on story? - Once you finished WONY and get back to DC, there are some DLC missions like Pentagon, Amusement park and others. After that, you want to do all the legacy manhunts in order. Those are essentially story missions with boss fights. You also get new skills on some of them.
   

So my personal formula is:

1. Understand what I need/want - it may be new gear, some resource or just piece of story.
   
2. Find what to do - Look at the map, the projects, the season events and manhunt, and see the rewards and targeted loot of every one of them
   
3. Choose what to do - Once I see whats out there, I try to choose something that seems most fun or what brings what I want. Most of the time, I try to combine at least 2 things. For example if I want AR or a Backpack, and the daily mission is a Backpack drop, I do it. This way I get the targeted loot and the resources for optimization/recalibration.
   

Hope this helps anyone. If you have any questions you're more than welcome.