Dare pics

There is an essay by "raver anthropologist" Simon Reynolds that has become a kind of cult thing amongst Hardcore Techno aficionados. It got published in The Wire in 1998; it turned into a cult object not only because it was one of the rare cases where Hardcore music was mentioned in a bigger zine during the late 90s (as opposed to the many badly xeroxed Hardcore-fanzines, with a run of ~50 copies, of which most were destined to end up on soaked squat party toilet room floors), but because it also focused on a very specific person: Marc Acardipane, his releases, and his label family. [1]
In it, he called Marc "the forgotten man of Techno", and followed up with the reasons for that: even though he was right there at the proper beginning of "Techno", was hugely influential, and good friends with many people that are now considered to be true pioneers and legends by vox populi, he fell out of favor when Hardcore itself fell out of favor amongst the Techno folk; because he stayed true to his "core roots" and didn't disown them, like so many other producers did on their way up to the place amongst the stars (and on their way down to the sewers again).
But let's move on from Simon, The Wire, and the year 1998. What happened after that date? First, Marc itself was pulled out from the "shadow zones"; because at least the Hardcore and Gabber scene finally remembered its Techno roots, and kept worshiping those roots again; although under different monikers, such as "oldschool", "oldstyle", "early rave", and so on - I guess "the names have been changed to protect the innocent". This meant that "Technoid Hardcore" could be enjoyed at Hardcore parties and festivals once more (often on separate floors), which led to a lot of gigs and exposure for Marc and his Planet Core Productions sound. [Note: PCP aka Planet Core Productions was a label family run by Marc Acardipane and Thorsten Lambart in the 90s.] It also influenced the Hardcore scene as a whole. A succession of genres such as "newstyle", "millennium" and "mainstyle" came into existence; genres that to 98% were built upon PCP and PCP-adjacent tracks: "Stereo Murder" (produced by Acardipane), "Atmos-Fear" (produced by Acardipane), "Poltergeist" (released on his label), "Flesh is the Fever" (released on Things To Come Records, a label with personal ties to PCP and that was inspired by PCP), plus various others.
This was already a good thing. But then, slowly but steadily, the Techno folk re-gained their interest in Hardcore and harder sounds, too; and now that the "millennial dominance" of the Techno scene, together with their favoring of minimalist and dandy-esque sounds, is slowly fading away, a younger generation is taking over the scene, and that new generation is very, very hardcore.
This led to a renewed interest in the works of Marc Acardipane, his crew, and his output again, coming straight from the heart of the Techno world. Marc himself acknowledged this development in some of his interviews, and added that the Techno people are sometimes even more zealous and knowledgeable about this music than the die-hard old-school gabbers!
A very fine evolution indeed; and we hope Marc gets into the spotlight again because of this, and that he finally reaps the respect that he deserves!
But why is the Techno folk favoring him and his sound specifically - in fact, more than a lot of other "Hardcore" players? I think this is because - and now we cycle back to 1998's "The Wire" essay - his sound is *indeed* heavily connected to Techno. It's not just some ultra-aggressive, ultra-noisy Gabber outing. It's real, true, bona fide Techno music. More than that, it represents a "road not taken" in the history of Techno music. Because, when you go back to the advent of Techno, to Detroit, Chicago, Berlin, London, Frankfurt, there was always a Hardcore contingent. Hardcore was always part of the Techno spirit, it helped to shape and mold the Techno sound. Alas, as mentioned above, it got disowned, and it became almost "forbidden" to speak of this type of music within Techno circles.
A liminal space that always lingered next to the scene as time moved on; a place that people did not dare to enter.
All this is changing now again. And while "every boy and his dog" (i.e. zines, webcasts, music academies) had their own Marc Acardipane feature by now, focusing on his more Hardcore and Gabber output, we decided to do the very opposite here, and showcase the Techno tracks from the past days of the PCP oeuvre, released using a cornucopia of aliases.
Bon appetit!
Oh, and by the way: we very dearly love "I like it loud", too!
(This list is in no particular order)
1. The Mover - Over Land and Sea how can one not love this track? great techno beats, rhythms, groove... and then this cosmic, celestial arrangement in the middle... the beats come back in, and the dancefloor erupts into madness. the flip side ("underwater operations") is also very well worth a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuYMsR1Cae8
2. Cyborg Unknown - The Year 2001 (Deep in Detroit mix) this is going deep into the history of detroit techno indeed. it's not enough to be friends of the jaguar here, this track channels cybotron just as much as it does metroplex. funky!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2q4v8_YxbE
3. Trip Commando - Cross The White Line a techno behemoth of the most epic proportions. has probably one of the most elongated build ups in dance history, until the epic cinematic breakdown unfolds. highly recommended!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGWv1e2hBZk
4. Turbulence - Whurlstorm this was on the second release by Industrial Strength Records - a label that shaped Hardcore history, too. it starts as a nice little nasty techno track, until everything breaks apart in the mid-riff, and turns into a hurricane of bass frequncies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sngue8baqPs
5. The Mover - Nightflight (Nonstop 2 Kaos) and this was on Industrial Strengh Records number one! As Lenny Dee licensed "We Have Arrived" (a fantastic hardcore track, to say the least) for his label, and put that number on the back side. a cold groove, percussion that almost feels like a breakbeat... lots of bass, cyber-synth.... this is just dancefloor heaven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snnHspK1QYI
6. Countdown Part V - Untitled (A1) Countdown FFM is another sub-label to go for if one is looking for some technoid gems. stellar electronic intro, then we get into dance grooves, and things become more deviant as acid sounds sneak in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfIL6OCtN3o
7. Alien Christ - Of Suns and Moons (Phase II) inspired by "Suburban Knights - The Art of Stalking" (a true classic, originally released on Transmat). Marc made this influence his own, and delivered a very detroit-ish underground rave anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGmmDrQTyyY
8. The Mover & Lunatic Asylum – Frequency Surfers Lunatic Asylum aka "Dr. Macabre" is another person that was entwined with electronic music history while turning into a global player in the hardcore sector at a later date. this is a joint-venture of these two titans of techno, and the result is a very trippy, very twisted and surreal track.
(Cannot be found on youtube, but here are audio previews: https://www.toolboxrecords.com/en/product/17643/techno-hardtechno/dance-ecstasy-2025/ )
9. The Mover - Astral Demons (Original Mix) you should have realized by now: the mover is a synonym for high quality productions. this is one of my favorite pics from the legendary "frontal sickness" releases; and indeed adds a very demonic vibe to the whole dance thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMT2KdQt5Q
10. Rave Creator - A New Mind (Thai Acid Mix) "Thai" was a pcp sub that focused specifically on techno, acid, even a bit of trance-ish tracks. despite the alias, this was put out on DE 2001 instead. It's a remix of the famous "A New Mind" track.
starting with pure bass drones. it builds up very slowly, until thunderous, reverberated bass drums come in, and then it goes into full-on acid feeding. similar to "cross the white line", this track could be given the title "cinematic techno soundtrack".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGpuMbLicZU
Honorable Mentions:
T-Bone Castro - Return 2 Planet E Reincarnated Regulator - Italian Stallion Craig Tayaffo - Reduction (Back For Acid-The Expanded 0,25 Hrs Mix) Barracuda - Braineaters Two Tonys - Organ Bitch Nasty Django - Ey Loco Cold Rush Records Frontal Sickness 1+2 Reincarnated Regulator - Mindeater Climax - Relax Nasty Django - 3 P Rules! SexDrive Entertainment - No.2 T-Bone Castro / Ace The Space - Ace In The Hole Project Æ - Whales Alive Ultra Spaceman - Ultra-Style
Footnotes: 1: The original Wire essay - http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2015/03/marc-acardipane-mover-pcp-dance-ecstasy.html

The rift between them has caused a lot of tension in my family and now my mom wants to be in the life of her newborn grandson but refuses to address or try to mend things with my wife.
Little history: I probably introduced them too quickly. My grandmother was in town in south Florida about to move here from Illinois for a retirement community. My wife, girlfriend at the time, came with cookies or some form of baked goods like she usually does when visiting someone as a sign of affection and respect. Where it went wrong from here I have no idea. I suppose the initial crack was when wife scheduled a skitrip for her and I to have as a 1 year of dating anniversary present. We are not rich, this is a huge gift that made sense to her since I refused to let her pay rent. Our combines salaries are barely over 120k. So wife calls mom 6 months in advance because she is a planner for the sole purpose of asking my mom to watch one of our four dogs. Wife has already paid in full for the trip. Yet Mom decides it is a great idea to instead use the opportunity to hop on and take a family trip because it is the last time the family will have for a family vacation - I am the oldest of two boys and two stepsisters, my mom married the guy she left my father for who has twin girls of his own that were in the womb during the infidelity. Anyway mom completely takes over and decides to make our one year gift a family vacation, so she books tickets for a hotel nearby. Wife is bold but at the time not bold enough to stop my mom in her tracks for overstepping a boundary. At this time she still respected my mother and kind of let herself get steamrolled.
Probably skippable Family history: Now I have always had issues with my mother, resentment for leaving my father for my stepdad behind my own fathers back and constantly trying to keep brother and I from seeing “Disneyland dad who doesn’t do any of the work but gets all the fun.” my mother was very strict growing up, always bringing us to church and making my father feel guilty for not bringing brother and I on his weekend. So mom marries stepdad age 11, divorces him around 13 after asking me advice for her relationship and i encourage her to move out. Then remarries him and moves us back into his house age 15. Here I begin rebellion and normal teeenager stuff but stepdad won’t butt in because he isn’t my “biological father” so would have my mom intervene brother and i from behind the scenes. For example, I am young and messing around on the piano because music is important and I never had any formal training and mom comes in to tell me stepdad “wants to know when the concert is going to end because it is a little annoying.” Anyway, they have me prescribed adderall at 16 and in the parking lot holding my first prescription I am told that they would like me to move out and in with my father, who had chased us every time mom and stepdad moved several miles away (5 moves from age 5-15 all in one county). Anyway, brother and I are recovering alcoholics with (my) slipups triggered from interactions or visiting my mom, which mom claims is genetics from my father alone and has nothing to do with her. Maternal grandfather, mother, and I have some nasty temper problems which certainly are exacerbated by drinking (at least mine and moms).
Skitrip revelations: Wife and I are on the way to brothers graduation in Chicago, and wife has yet to reveal to me that my mother has taken over her massive investment of a couples ski vacation and it will now be a family vacation for mom, stepdad, brother, two stepsisters who are all getting out of gradschool. On the way to the airport I am told the news by future wife of my one year surprise. So I get upset and call my mom to call it off. She obliges my request and now holds resentment against me and now wife for “ruining her last family vacation.” Fine, whatever. Mother never says a word about it for months until we are out for a distant family members birthday dinner and at a table of about 8-10 people that are having a group conversation and gets real close to my wife’s ear and tells her privately along the lines of “you deprived our family of our last family vacation.” During this time my wife is frantically tapping my leg under the table because my mom can get a little aggressive. My mom saw this and later (privately to me) mocked her for doing it to my leg under the table.
Christmas blessings: Closer to Christmas maybe 2/3 weeks later we went to go see my mom and my mom had a couple drinks in her (not an alcoholic like brother and I just very sensitive to a couple glasses of wine and occasionally some hidden sips of wine or something) and invites my wife to Christmas church and out to dinner after because the family needs photos for a Christmas card and future wife “will be the photographer for it.” Now this can easily be a nothing comment but given the way my mom had been making future wife feel, it was taken as an insult. So wife declined church and showed up to family dinner just in time for photography session to be over.
The distance: Then mom moves to a fancy house up the coast and invites us up to visit. At first it is ok to bring the 4 dogs then the day before she says they will not have dogs at the house and we can easily find a sitter. 2 Dogs don’t get along, they need to be separated always as there has been two attacks on one from the other, so we can’t trust someone to come to the house and keep them separate and we won’t board 4 dogs it’s too expensive for us. Anyway we go back and forth being invited with the dogs then they retract the offer and say pick one dog to bring and leave the others and it’s just annoying, so we say forget it and don’t go. But my brother becomes engaged and decides to throw his engagement party at my mom’s new place near the beach. Great. First all the dogs are welcome, then day before they say it is too chaotic and she will pay for a small hotel room for one night for future wife and her dogs and my one (the attack dog) can stay in a crate at the house with me but I may not leave the dog to stay with her. And no reasonable cheap hotel in the area is going to accommodate 4 dogs. Anyway wife is stressed but feels obligated to come because I am the best man and I stay at the house while she checks her dogs into the hotel. Wife had made a cheesecake and brought it up in a separate car from me, 4 hour drive by the way, and night of.. my mom says no desserts for engagement party dinner, the dessert is themed or some crazy stuff. Wife shows up to dinner a little later and very flustered because of the situation plus I had relapsed on a bottle of whiskey a couple days prior to seeing my mom. Related, I don’t know. Anyway. Mom has had a couple drinks and future wife and I are talking about having children and religion comes up. Mom asks what we were thinking of doing about baptism or not and I jokingly said (guiltily to get on my moms nerves a bit) that he would have a bris and would love it if she would come to the bar mitzvah. now my wife’s mom was forced to convert from Catholicism to Judaism for her own mother in laws acceptance for a failed marriage so wife is not religious, but it hurt my wife and reasonably so when my mom replied “oh, son, I raised you better than that.” Still no acknowlegement of fault from that comment and mom thinks wife is “overly sensitive, dramatic, and childish” for wanting an apology for it.
Weddings: Future wife becomes current wife. We had gotten engaged on our next anniversary trip she planned for us. I proposed on our bike and barge through tulip season in holland with our feet in the water of the North Sea after a picnic in the dunes. her family business manufactures photo albums for professional photographers, so aside from our families all being divorced, estranged, difficult, and us trying to save money, we did not have a wedding, we just did the paperwork within a month of the proposal. I had already decided to have a baby with her before the trip so we were trying. 2 weeks before brothers wedding in Tennessee we become pregnant, so we break news immediately as to not steal limelight from brothers expensive wedding. Mom says she will cover cost of rental car so we can save money. Ok great. She books the tiny car and we pack it and head up the Smokey mountains to the cabins we are staying at. Two cabins for grooms family, one for his mother and one for his father, ten paces from each other: they havnt spoken but twice im since divorce in 1995 but through lawyers. Grandmother, mother, stepdad, 2 stepsisters and one boyfriend stayed in mom’s side. Wife and I stay at father’s side cabin with just his wife. His Wife’s 3 daughters and family’s stayed a town away down the mountain among extended family. Anyway, beautiful wedding takes place. My wife is sent into town to collect flowers and run errands for my mom which she happily obliged to since she is a solitary person and did not want wedding day drama. Day after, we are loading our rental sedan with our bags. Mom and grandma need a ride to the airport and our flight is before theirs so they will drop off the car for us 4 hours or so after we go to the airport 5 hours from current time. We’re loading the car. Stepcousin passed out in mother’s cabin night before and needed a ride. Disorganized brunch for 20 people is trying to be made. Father’s wife’s daughter books a reservation for 10 people which include her family, her sisters, me, my wife, dad, and their mom. My stepdad had left for home at this point as he had taken his own suv instead of flying with my mom and 90 year old grandma. So mom is trying to pack grandma in the car with bags and my wife and stepcousin. At this point mother asks stepmother if she and grandma are on reservation for the brunch. Stepmom says no they are not, she wasn’t sure of their plans. Mom says under her breath “fucking assholes, so typical,” and she goes into a bit of a rage to which my stepmom says here “it’s ok I will call and add you two it’s no big deal.” So we continue packing the car and realize we won’t all fit. So my wife tells my stepcousin to go ride with my father to the restaurant 10 minutes away we will meet you there. Mom says to wife, “no you go with the father.” Wife says “no I am going to ride with my husband” mom gets close to her face with her finger and says “this is my car, you can fucking Uber!” Wife is 6 weeks pregnant at this point and it all escalated from here. wife and mother start yelling at each other swearing at each other and we get into the car, mom behind wife who was in shotgun. 2 occasions on the trip I had to stop the car because mom had taken off her seatbelt to stand over the seat and scream in my wife’s face with so much vigor that spit came on to her face multiple times. I’m trying to tell them both to behave and mom sit down shut the f up. Mom is telling wife to get the f out of the car and find a ride, she has no right to speak because she’s “new here” (dating and living together for 3 years at this point). The following brunch she apologized in a crowd with a hushed voice at a table of 20 people trying to have a group conversation again privately to my wife “I’m sorry you get so upset” and my wife told her “that is not an apology.” The following several hours in the car with grandma and stepcousin and wife were some of the most uncomfortable moments of my life. At a gas station I pulled my mom aside and said I need ther to give a huge apology, that it was so nasty and inappropriate, my brother and I are used to abusive language and aggressive behavior but to my pregnant wife and any other human being it is disgusting and unacceptable. Sitting in the car was quiet for many hours until we got to the airport. No speaking about what happened just mom happy go lucky about Tennessee and Dollywood and wife and I in shock, cousin still half in the bag from a fun wedding, grandma 90 years old probably confused about what happened.
The family groupchat: Im waiting on an apology from my mother to my wife who is extremely hurt and expressed to my mom loads of time she needs to reach out and apologize. We’re not talking until she will do so. It is bugging me and keeping me up at night. My appendix flares up and I am admitted to the hospital with emergency appendectomy. Still pregnant Wife suggests I reach out to mom to let her know what’s going on. So I text mom I’m at the hospital and will have surgery. I send a pic or something that on my end says hasn’t gone through. Mom group texts our family group with stepdad, his daughters, brother and his wife, and grandma that I am in the hospital and attaches the pic I sent of me in there. Then she continues to rave about the success of her startup company and how they got FDA approved clinical trials finally completed or some pivotal moment that made the text about her. Wife and I are in a hospital so the picture comes up on moms end as unable to have been sent. Mom assumes that my wife has blocked her phone, so mom removes my wife from the chat. Wife is rushing home to take care of the dogs at this point and is not alerted on her phone, but on everyone else’s phone it clearly reads “(mom) has removed (wife) from the chat.” Immediately I text my mom and basically say how dare you do that to her she is the one who insisted I let you know out of respect and mom responds with blah blah she did this she did that I will not have it. So I go back to the family chat and remove mother. At this point I let everyone in the chat know what my mother has done and how she refuses to take responsibility for how she made my wife feel, address her feelings, apologize or do anything at all to reach out about the wedding incident or even inquire about the wellbeing of the pregnancy for her first grandchild. Stepdad finally steps in and tells me “enough.” Grandma says “shame on you.” I am dumbfounded. This is a hush hush family that hates to have anything out in the open and likes to maintain a picture perfect image. For examples; 1) I and wife were on the family Christmas card of a photo taken at the wedding that the whole world received except for wife and I. 2)brothers alcoholism was to remain hidden from the family as was his rehab treatment and how it affected his career. Now understand that they like to keep things quiet but that is not how I want to handle my problems, these things trigger alcohol use and violent outbursts on my part that I no longer wish to live through. Now appendectomy’s are pretty simple so I recovered quickly (it don’t rupture we just took it out). But during the time I was scheduled to be under anesthesia, stepdad reaches out to wife to have a chat and clear the air. Wife waits until I come to so i can be there and I hear the conversation. He claims to be here as a middleman like a business meeting to fix things once and for all. Wife and I are like wow great. He then proceeds to double down on my moms behalf that they will not be apologizing or meet any of her demands as she had already apologized as confirmed by 90yo grandma who was in the car and my mother herself. The term he used was stalemate to describe the situation. Wife and I are shocked but she has me keep quiet to show me what he will say. He proceeds to yell at her and they were screaming at each other, again steamrolling the conversation assuring us that he was down the middle yet maintains that mom has made a sufficient apology that needs to be accepted and wife needs to grow up and move on, then wishing her luck with the baby and a nice life. Next day I call stepdad to see how it went. He reassures me that he has done all he can and everything is back to normal. At this point I call him out and tell him I was conscious and explain to him what an apology is. But there is no dialogue with this guy like there is no dialogue with my mother. He proceeds to talk loudly over me like she does and basically call me a piece of shit for the amount he and mother have done for me. I speak to him first time like I never have before by calling him a hands off father and a pussy of a man who finally reaches out while he thinks I am under anesthesia to yell at my wife then pretend it’s cool, and I basically tell him he has never done a single thing for me to try and develop me into a man or nurture me as a child into an adult, but he thinks taking me on fishing trips and ski vacations are equivalent to love and nurturing growth and development just like my mom does. I reassure him that he has no right to talk about family being that he ruined his own as well as mine and couldn’t even tell my dad to his face that it was him who was sleeping with my mom behind his back when my dad came to him very upset as a friend when he got an anonymous phone tip at work one day. Then him and my mom laughed about it in court when my dad brought it up during the divorce. We ended with swearing and I felt very happy for finally giving my true feelings to him.
The birth: Months go by and nobody has said a thing. I can’t sleep at night seeing how much love I am getting from my father and his side for the baby, and my wife’s family, then thinking about how my own mother hasn’t reached out a single time. I’m dreaming about beating up my stepdad and it’s driving me mad. So weeks before the due date I reach out to my mom begging her to clear things up and apologize to my wife. Nothing. A week later i tell her how disappointed and abandoned I feel and want her in the family. Nothing. Baby comes a couple days early. Everyone is excited. Mom texts me begging for photos and to let everyone know. I tell her my brother and two stepsisters have received photos. I ask her to please reach out to wife she still needs to make amends for what’s happened between them and all she needs to do is reach out. Mom’s responses have been defensive, derisive, projecting, playing victim and referring to herself as a kicked puppy. Telling me my wife needs to apologize to her and making the conversation about mother son instead. She is beating around the bush. And she is sending me photos of my own baby that I did not send her. Her friends are congratulating me that I did not tell. Again she is pretending that everything is ok and it is not. She asked me to apologize to her husband for what I said on the phone that day. I said ok, watch this. So I sent the guy a message that was very apologetic and not passive aggressive or backhanded comments in any way. Still my mom won’t say anything.
Now: Baby is 6 days old. He is the best thing in my life and I wish my family were involved but it seems like I am living in a fantasy world where everyone can be happy together. I can be a jerk and have a terrible relationship with my mom, but I want more than anything to just feel loved enough where she can swallow her pride and make amends with my wife. Thats it. And she asked the other day to put a family group chat so everyone can be involved… for real? I know she is stressed with a high pressure job, but it seems heartless to me. She asks what big items she can get for the baby. Mom, baby is here we have everything for a couple months already. I said the biggest thing you can do is reach out and have a heart to heart with my wife so this rift can end and we can at least be cordial if you two can’t get along. I don’t think it will happen.

Ho concluso ieri il cammino da Bologna a Pistoia e vorrei dare qualche feedback se ci fosse qualcuno interessato.

• Ci ho messo 2 giorni e mezzo (sulle 4 tappe previste), dividendo in 38-40-18km, totale dislivello circa +2500m.
• L'intera prima metà della Via è inutile, noiosa, bruttina, soprattutto se avete già fatto una delle Vie "da Bologna" (degli Dei, della Lana e della Seta). Tutto in piano, ciclabili e provinciali.
• Da Riola in poi migliora e si entra nei sentieri, con posti anche molto belli e selvaggi.
• Non ho incontrato un anima viva.
• Ho dormito col tarp e ho trovato facilmente posto (giardino di un tipo e area pic nic nel bosco).
• Alcuni pezzi molto poco battuti in cui c'era da fare bushwhacking (ho beccato 25 zecche).
• A Pistoia mi hanno dato la "compostela" anche se non avevo la credenziale.
• Ci sono molte fontane e ho sempre trovato acqua.

Per il resto AMA!

you’re all so disrespectful!!! think of the zayne girlies who are trying to save for his myth? how dare you post xav being cute?? keep that on your phones! ZAYNE GIRLIES DONT NEED THE TEMPTATION
signed, a zayne girlie who has xavier as a bias wrecker
(this is satire pls don’t take it seriously 🥺👉🏾👈🏾 i need to see more pics of my xav pls)

Posting this off the back of the last J post where i noticed we all have about 5 different theories about why J is hidden from Ashley’s SM. I wanted to address the main 5 theories and why I think only 1 of them tracks with all we know of Ashley and her behavioupersonality. J being hidden is a big and curious enough arc of Ashley’s as to warrant speculation and discussion- I say that as a caveat as I know some folks here find speculative posts distasteful, but I personally think theyre valid within reason.

1. Ashley doesnt want J to discovery her SM/snark sub- I think Ashley is VERY cocky and confident about her SM platform. I bet she is boastful about it and it is very much part of how she identifies as “special”. I do not believe she’s ever tried to hide her SM from anyone. Just look at the geotags for her hospital. That she posts under her legal name on a public platform, never once going private. She has updated LinkedIn after graduation using her name- knowing full well that people will google her. I do not believe she finds her snark sub or google search of her name problematic either because I truly believe she sees criticism as both evidence that she is “famous” and that people are super “jealous” of her. Her narcissistic defence mechanisms cannot and will not process criticism as anything but an affirmation that she is important. She is in 100% denial in this way, which is why she doesnt change her username/go private/damage control. Anything but asspats = a different kind of asspat in the mindscape of Ashley Carnduff.
   
2. Ashley is protecting J from “trolls”- I find this very unlikely because I do not believe Ashley gives many fucks about anyone but herself. I do not see her having any insight whatsoever enough to think to herself: “I dont want to put J into the line of fire as Im aware I’m a little controversial”- “protecting” J from potential online fallouts would infer that she is VERY aware of how rubbish her online reputation is, but there is no evidence that she at all computes this enough to have a foresight to keep him away from it. It would be her admitting that she is problematic, and I dont think this revelation is possible for Ashley and how her disordered thinking behaves.
   
3. J himself has asked Ashley not to reveal him - This would imply J is well aware of her reputation and has smartly asked her not to involve him because he doesnt want to be associated with her online- again, I find this an unlikely situation because I do not believe Ashley would put up with a person who has basically said “I’m ashamed to be associated with you online”. We have seen how she only talks about J via what HE does for HER, and I get the impression nothing less that total subservience to her is all she would tolerate in a relationship. Look at her post to Pacifica Beauty- the smugness, the self-surety, the RAGE in her face at anyone DARING to oppose her. J rejecting her SM would be a total affront to her idea of herself as all-mighty and amazing. I think it would be an affront to her ENTIRE personality as well, since SM is her one and only constant hobby/obsession and lifestyle. I would think a man asking her to keep him off her socials would be akin to a massive insult to her that she would NOT tolerate. Furthermore, if this dude WAS serious about her keeping him seperate, why does he happily let her take pics of his hands/feet, and constantly post about him? If he is direct enough to demand a separation between him and her socials, why would he be okay with posing like a monkey with pickleball paddles? Why would he be okay with her posting throwing rose petals on her bed at her mom’s house for Valentine’s Day? If he wants nothing to do with her socials, then why does he let her use him for her socials all the time?
   
4. J is married - this is extremely unlikely. I do believe J has been accepted into her family as her “partner” and I do not believe they would condone their daughter having an affair with a married man. I also do not think Hailey Idaho is big enough for her to hide such a thing from the community. I also think J is mid 20’s- he does not at all appear older from the shots of his legs and hands. J almost certainly lives with his parents, or in a shitty house-share/hostel set-up- which is why J visits HER at Patti’s house and not the other way around.
   
5. J is “ugly” according to Ashley - this is the most viable explanation imo and tracks with all we know about Ashley Carnduff and her self-serving personality and platform. He is simply not aesthetic enough for her SM. My bet is she of course hasn’t TOLD him this, but pretends that she’s protecting him from her “fame” as a way to explain why she doesnt want his mug in any of her pics. This explains why he is happy posing like a performative monkey with his hands, but not normal selfies, like any normal, happy couple would do.
   

Ashley is cunning and conniving, and SM is her entire world. Her hiding J, as far as I can tell, is 100% a decision SHE’S made for self-serving purposes and nothing more. It’s NOT to keep him private, or protect him from any potential online scandal. It’s NOT because she fears J will discover her atrocious reputation- that would require her to actually compute that she has humiliated herself AND done wrong. Not an option. Not with her. He’s definitely not married.
I also dont believe he’s just a random dude playing along cause he gets some sexy times on the side. He is real and they are in a relationship. He knows everything about her, but he is not in any position to take his pick from Hailey Idaho single ladies. He’s likely very awkward as well, and likely feels lucky to have any woman be with him- as she likely absolutely enjoys this fact. As harsh as that sounds, it really is the way these things often work in these matters. Being with an awkward and not intimidatingly attractive man, would be an ideal partner for someone like Ashley- he’s there to serve HER and he best always treat her like a princess because she’s SOOOO much out of his league and should count his blessings someone like HER would even consider him. A man who knows what he is, what he wants, and who can confidently go out and achieve that, is NOT a person that would appeal to a fragile narcissist like Ashley. She would not cope with the threat to her self-esteem being with a man who has his shit together and has options.
Honourable mention: I get a suspicion that Ashley dove quickly into a relationship because she was triggered by her ex - who she likely stalked online daily for a LONG time after the breakup and lost her fucking mind when she saw he had happily moved on with a woman he is proud to take selfies with. I think this whole relationship arc was triggered by her mental instability surrounding her ex- but has now developed into an actual relationship. Because this J arc was triggered by some emotional revenge toward her ex, revealing his face as “not aesthetic” would be counteractive to her goal of making her ex jealous. I personally think it’s as simple as that.

Post a pic of your circuit board, if you dare.

Why does Nijisanji always have to do this... I've been so busy lately that even the time to write this has been cut down...
You only budgeted less than an hour to write this, you big dumbass
I-
Not only that, you also have to wake up early.
Yes, I kn-
IT IS 3:41 AM LOCAL TIME YOU SHITTY MOD
^{I-I know... please...}
THESE THINGS TAKE HOURS TO DO PROPERLY! YOU ARE SHIT AT SCHEDULING!
^\MikaCry.png*)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It is 3:44AM local time when I decided to start writing this. I try to keep a week window to do these so it is really a "weekly" wrap up. Consistency is very important after all. Then I look at how far down I have to go to reach the previous weekly wrap up and I'm just like... "There has to be a better way...."
If I try to write every day on what happen tho and save a draft, it won't flow well and the writing tone will change and stuff. So... I'll just have to do this I guess?... Wait.. I'm already over time... WHAT THE FU-
.... *cough* Anyways.
Do you remember when Fuwa Minato (from Niji JP) suggested to a teen during a radio-callin to "buy followers"? Quite a sh-tty thing to suggest that you artificially inflate your social media followers so you get a fake number to show off. Especially on how much teens take stock on such metrics socially? There is also the question raised on how accurate their own sub counts are now (considering their talent just outright said to buy such things). What bad optics yo.
Nijisanji opens their mouth and "interesting" stuff comes out... Wait.. THAT is the first topic after the last write up? WHAT?!
There was also that picture of the Niji Retirees without Sayu. Link is a direct XTwitter one lol. Tracked down the artist lol.
Also a meme
There is also this post... "If Hell is Forever, then Heaven must be a Lie". Does Vtubing attract those with a different slant mentally or does it cause it? \looks at the mirror* ...* Hmn... At least in this context, a certain company certainly doesn't help at all.
Oh right! Sayu also had her first Honkai Star Rail sponsored stream lol (oh here is also the stream link). Considering things, it is nice that she got a sponsored stream from MiHoYo again. Personally I don't currently play any of their games (I did tho :P) so I have no strong feelings about it one way or another. I just know the lore and... its nice.
Then there is KamiiGOO tweeting on how happy she is. I mean I know that it is being magnified by the context but holy heck is the unsaid parts being echoed out so hard in the background lol
Then there was that post about Black Vtubing companies. I mean, there is certainly to be said about the one that doxxed their own talents. At the same time tho, they are not as big as Nijisanji/AnyColor and how many more people are affected by what they do. Either way, I do wonder how many Vtubing companies have been outed as "Black"... I don't have enough energy to seriously pursue it lol
Then there is that post about Sayu surpassing Zaion. The new surpases the old. Nice
NijiSisters are hypocrites.... HA
The Sky is Blue
The Sun Rises from the East
NijiSisters are hypocrites.
Fact of life folks. This ain't gonna change. They're a bunch of crazies if one is being honest.
\Sees Suisei-sama, have to talk about it**
I... I actually can't talk too much about the thing with Suisei-sama \feels the time pressure right now*. Basically, she turned off SuperChats because she already has a lot of merch that any Hoshiyomis worth their salt would be devouring (\wallet-kun dies a violent death*) so she'd rather save her fans SOME money and go with a merch instead. At least that way, they'll get something for supporting her too!
Iroha-dono must also be suffering quite a bit. As the Hoshiyomi representative, any support for her will no doubt also flow towards partly supporting Suisei-sama too... UGH... The amount of Merch... *hyperventilates* ^h-help...
Oh to be clear, I'm actually not that big of a Hoshiyomi...
That's a f-cking lie you shitty mod.
^{N-No Comment... but I swear! I'm more of a Tako!}
What time is it again...?
^\screams*)
Then there is the Meme that makes Niji Sith.... Heheh... Seeth, Sith... you know?... no? not funny? I-I'm sorry...
Remember the time when (presumably) Niji Management blocked Niji talents from participating from that certain Tekken event because Doki was in it? I believe Vox also expressed interest but it never materialized? I mean... its petty but it still tracks with what Niji Management does y'know? Late addition: One more post?
^{Oh god, I am still at a VERY small portion... I am already past my allocated schedule for this.. I'm cutting into sleep X\}X)
Dokibird hit 700K subscribers! Yay!
There is also that time when Marine-sencho talked about how "Suffocating" it is to be under Holo Management. Here is even a clip of it. To clarify it, she said on how there ARE restrictions and her manager and staff-san are on her case at times. She internally rages about it at the moment (as is normal). However, she also knows that it is because they are also protecting her too. It is not a case of "being restrictive to bully" but "being restrictive because if we don't, there is a real chance of your channel being deleted/sponsors pulling out". To be clear, there is also the fact that viewers have a nice cache of trust on Holo vs Niji that they believe it when a talent says it like this.
Considering who Senchou is and the stuff that DOES get through (for example...), one could only wonder what kind of yabai it is that DOES GET RESTRICTED. Makes one wonder y'know?
Then out of nowhere, a couple of demon guard dogs said "Hold our Bone" then showcased a small spread of their hand-signed postcards for their birthday merch. Looking closely, you can see that they ARE hand-signed. In the context of Niji, this absolutely MAULS and MOGS on a certain someone who got outed that their signature isn't even signed by themselves LOL. Did they even offer hand-signed postcards? Or are they all just stamped? No idea, I never even looked at their merch lol.
Now, to be clear, I did wish Hex Haywire a happy birthday and a very long tenure with Nijisanji (hehe), but damn did Niji Management did him dirty on his stream. Not that I really care nor watch him, but still sucks when they do this.
Oh, and remember, he's the one who f-cked around with the ashes of a friend's dead Grandfather and someone's pet fish. He's not a nice person.
Then there is that Meme about how you avoid Nijisanji without actively avoiding them. Heh.
Oh, this is what I'd like to call "Foreshadowing"?
Apparently Dokibird/Selen is unmarketable? One tweet of many that says otherwise :P Late addition: Marvel Alpha. Really unmarketable huh?
This is also Round 2 of the Transparency post btw. Just a little thing...
There is also this post about Parrot. Damn, it's only May... wait... it's only May... Oh fu-
Oh right, shihomii created the sticky post in regards to making a master timeline of things. Nice.
Remember that Foreshadowing? Well, there has been some posts that popped up on it. To be clear, for a majority of healthy sane adults who knows their stuff,responsible consumption of these mixed drinks wouldn't cause a major problem for them. The Math has been done by various people on it. It SHOULDN'T be that big of a problem. However, it was done while marketing to an obvious younger demographic that might not exactly know when to stop. There is also the fact that NO SANE COMPANY would outright say or even want the messaging NEAR THEM to mix energy drinks + alcohol. Especially on a 1:1 ratio. This is just absolute MADNESS that they said "Oh, yeah, this is fine." and gave the approval. it got even the Japanese government involved. Also, links to posts about this being randomly placed cuz reasons :P late addition: Lamy talking about Mixing Alcohol and Energy drinks. There is even a clip of it! Wild Yagoo appears
There is also a question posted. Why even be in Nijisanji?
Then there is the Comparison meme.
Gotta say that I can't understand Claude Logic. I think I'm better off that way.
Apparently, there has been some Nijisisters who are trying to weaponize the NijiJP fanbase to attack Khyo. Huh...
There is also a post about Polka-sama... Ever Blue huh...
There is also another dokibird W going to AVCon as a guest.
Coco-kaichou mentioned.
So apparently Anime Impulse's M&G tickets are still not sold out. So they increased the limit to 5. Y'know, target the whales :P. It allowed them to sell out on some more talents. Really milking those whales eh?
Artist tries to hide from Vtuber. Wasn't that successful.
So Armchair Expert did a follow-up video. This time analyzing the Zaion situation and how it reflects on what AnyColoNijisanji did to Selen. Obviously people have thoughts on it. To me, it just said the quiet, unsaid parts out loud while also throwing terms that the average person doesn't know about. Things like "Folk Devil". I remember talking on how I personally know about it already and what Armchair Expert's video did is to deliver it in a way that the regular people would understand and digest it. I wonder where I said that... I forgor lol
There has been an update for Kotoka Torahime. For those concerned, here you go!
Grim
^{Halp, I'm losing steam X\}X... my sleep time....)
Crazy Nijisister implies that they and Nijisanji will try to get 4chan shutdown. I remember cackling like mad when i saw this. I was laughing so much that I had to get water. Onee-sama was concerned for me when she saw me barely standing up trying to get water because I was laughing too much. Hmmm~
Remember folks that false flagging is always a thing. Keep an eye out.
Idol Sponsored Dokibird to watch their new gen
So Sayu did a watchalong of Armchair Expert. That was even watched by the mod staff. Thoughts and points were talked about. From both the user base and the mod team. Wild really.
So, Hololive Meet Taipei 2024. Why is this relevant? Well, they also had a Karaoke event (not concert) that can be compared to VR-SG. Pointed out in a reply by OP, it sure looks like Hololive keeps on winning even on a "Karaoke" vs VR-SG. Here is Bae posting some pics (tweet here). FuwaMoco also did one. Here is Gura's own tweet. Here is also some thoughts about it (with pics) and more replies too. This absolutely is just.... I mean.... the Down Under Concert is... a Concert. This is Hololive on a Karaoke!!! VR-SG is a Karaoke (it ain't a concert) so this is the most comparable comparisons. SO THIS JUST PROVES THAT NIJI IS MOGGED HARD BY MOST OBJECTIVE METRICS. Heck, I was recently watching an old hwikky video about AGF and I was struck on how a free DJ event in that convention must have comparable attendance while having A LOT MORE ENERGY to VR-SG. It is just wild really. Late addition: More Screenshots (along with official tweet). Btw, did VR-SG release any "official photos" of their event?
There was also a M&G comparison between Holo and Niji's VR-SG.
Dokibird is also hosting a WrestleTuber event that has HoloStars, Idol EN, and Phase Connect members in it.
Oh, here is a good reminder.
More NijisisteNDF madness. Daymn they crazy.
Dokibird W with AnimeThon bringing her in as a Guest of Honor (that's the tweet). This girl is BUSY. wtf.
Wait, NijiEN is having a *Full 3D concert* at AnimeExpo? Considering how the last one went.. \Are they Sure**?
Bonnivier Pranaja was announced to be graduating Nijisanji. I don't know who this is personally so I can't really say much. However, I don't think his name came up on any predictions at all.
*looks at the time* oh god...
My sleep...
.... *sigh*
Well... I'm all caught up... you are all too... I spent... *checks* ... too long on this... most likely because I wanted to make sure I linked things properly + watched things so its accurate.
I want to sleep.
Ugh.
Thank you very much for reading! I'll see you guys at the next post!
Yours,
CPC_Alice

I have not heard from “my bestie” for over a month since her bachelorette party. We have known each other for 7 years, and since 2022, I have expressed to her how alone I feel and how depressed I am. I've shared with her that I feel I have no support system. Recently, before the bachelorette, I even told her that I started therapy and began my regimen of antidepressants, which has helped me immensely from my previous super depressive thoughts. She is the only who knows how bad my depression was besides her.I want to talk about how the Bachelorette went, how I did not enjoy myself, and a bit of background before the Bachelorette weekend. For the sake of confidentiality, I will name the bride-to-be “B”. We went to university in London in 2016 and even ended up living together in 2018. We were super close, and honestly, she was my best friend. At first, I thought we were having fun, but I felt out of place. To reiterate how much effort I put into making sure I made it to the bachelorette, I am in law school, and I had to study two weeks' worth of law school material—torts and public policy disputes. I crammed it all into one week. Not to mention, I also had a group project, so I had sleepless nights, staying up until 3/4 in the morning to ensure I did not have to study during the trip. During the trip, I even had to log into class one day and talk to my group partners to work on part of the group project
A bit of personal backstory: My parents are Cuban, my grandparents are Spanish, and I have Spanish cousins living in Spain. I've been to Spain plenty of times to know the country well, and when I go there, it feels like home to me. Coming from a Cuban/Spanish culture, in Latino cultures, we naturally speak to each other in Spanish, and when we have parties, everyone dances and has fun—that's what I'm used to when I visit Spain.
Bachelorette Comment:
Going back to the bachelorette in March, I arrived thinking we would have a good time. However, during one of the nights, one of B's friends, who is from London (Let's call her Z), made a pretty racist comment. When I relayed this to my sister and another friend who is also Latina, they confirmed it was racist and not okay for someone to say. Because we were in Spain, I spoke Spanish during the trip, which is natural for me. We were playing one of those bachelorette games, and at least in my experience with bachelorette parties, you tell people, "Yeah, we're doing the bachelorette party, this is the person who's getting married," and then get them a drink or whatever. It's supposed to be festive and loud. We did like a bingo dare game, and to prove that we did it, we would have to take a picture with the person or a video. After one of the nights, the task was to dance with a stranger, and in Spanish, I was saying to a married couple, "Is it okay if I dance with you because we're doing a bachelorette game, and I need to take a picture to prove that I did?" I communicated with Spanish people in Spanish because that's natural in my culture.
On the Uber ride back, this girl "Z" said that I needed to stop speaking in Spanish and stop speaking to strangers in Spanish for our safety because she didn't understand what I was saying. She insisted I stop telling people in Spanish that we were celebrating the bachelorette because she didn't feel safe. Additionally, she and others in the group told me I needed to sound like a tourist and not like a local because they wanted to get into clubs without paying cover charges. I explained that we were playing a game, and that's how people knew why we were taking pictures of them. It is rude to take pics of strangers without them knowing why. She said not to explain to them, especially because we were in Madrid and I should speak only in English. I defended myself, pointing out that we made friends with some Italians on the first night because I spoke fluent Italian. She responded that the Italians were different from the Spanish people, which I didn't understand because it's essentially the same thing.
I looked around, and no one defended me. Because of this, I felt so uncomfortable from the conversation that I closed up internally, wondering what I was doing wrong. Was I ruining the trip? I didn't know, but I've felt more isolated from the group since this incident. During the whole trip, I had to be careful about speaking Spanish in Spain, where I always speak Spanish unless someone speaks English. These girls all spoke English, and most spoke more than one language, but I was the only one fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian, so I could communicate with almost anyone in Madrid.
The next day, we went into a club that we had tried to get into the day before and only succeeded this time because I finally gave in and spoke to the bouncer in Spanish; I got looks for speaking Spanish. In this instance, I sincerely spoke with the bouncer, explaining that Madrid is special to my friend B, who is getting married, and we are simply celebrating her upcoming wedding. He let us in for free when he previously charged the group an expensive cover fee.
Food incidents:
When we started the trip, I was looking forward to enjoying Spanish (Galician) cuisine, which is a big part of my cultural background and a source of personal joy. Initially, the group wanted to try Spanish food and indulge in local gastronomy, so I felt confident knowing exactly what they would love and where to eat. I even asked if it was okay if I ordered pulpo (octopus) since it was B’s bachelorette trip, wanting to make sure it was in line with her preferences. However, as the trip progressed, the group mainly wanted to eat burgers and fries, and the only Spanish items they seemed interested in were Manchego cheese. We were in a town that was the perfect opportunity to try local Spanish food. I suggested ordering a paella for the group, to which they agreed, alongside their orders of steak and fries. However, when the paella arrived, they indicated it was for me to eat, and they all continued eating their dishes. I had only a few fries then because the paella took longer to prepare and was delicious, but it was not meant to be eaten by one person alone.
There was another incident on the first day out. I'm familiar with Spanish tortillas, which are like a version of an egg frittata cooked with potatoes, then flipped from the pan onto a plate. They're meant to be shared. We sat in a restaurant where the waiter spoke no English, so I ordered in Spanish for everyone. I suggested that every two people share one tortilla because they would be large and too much for one person to handle. This suggestion was met with some frustration from the girls (Z & B), who insisted they knew what a Spanish tortilla was like, claiming it was small. I explained that might be the case in London, but here in Spain, they are substantial and take a while to cook because it’s meant to be fresh and huge. True to my words, we waited an hour for our food, which is expected for fresh, well-prepared tortillas. They expressed frustration with the wait, questioning why it took so long. Lo and behold, when the tortillas finally arrived, they were too large for one person, just as I had described.
A bit of pre-bachelorette drama backstory:
B is the bachelorette, and when she got engaged, it was expected and not a surprise at all. We had a group chat about it happening, and she called when it happened. Even though she expected it, it still felt surreal to her, and she knew the location where it was happening. Mind you, she was flown halfway across the world to be proposed to, so it was obvious for about a month that it was happening.
Months before the engagement, I had planned my birthday in Portugal, and she said she would be there. She was to fly there and everything. After being engaged, I still stuck to that same story. However, when it came down to it, she said she could not make it. I had told her I felt like she just led me to believe she would be there. The engagement was not an excuse because we knew it was happening well over a month ago—about two months, to be precise—and it was confirmed because she saw the ring order invoice. Then, the guy booked the vacation a few weeks ago, and before that, she said that she expected the festivities would start after they got engaged. Even with all that, I asked if she thought she would make it, and she said yes. Mind you, I kept asking her every month and then every other week as it got closer if she was coming, and we picked out hotel rooms. Yet, at the very last minute, she said she would not be there because she just got engaged and was busy... and mind you, the week before, she said she was looking into flights, which is why I said I felt like she led me on. She should have told me from the moment she knew she would not be there, or even suspected that she would not be there, instead of saying the complete opposite. I think she just knew she would never go, which is why I was so hurt; she lied to me. This is where she started not reaching out to me as frequently as before. Before, I would hear from her almost every day, and after this, it went down to once a week. But now, after the bachelorette, I have not heard from her for over a month.
I made an effort to head to London and made an effort to see her for a bit. I only had a good chance to talk to her last summer when she came to see me. So, I stood my ground and spoke my truth, whether she liked it or not (and she did not like it). This conversation lasted about two days. I was crying so much because, supposedly, this was my best friend, and she said she would be there for me, and lately, it felt as if she had not. I told her everything and how much she hurt me by leading me on. I don’t think she should keep doing that because friends don’t. I do not want her to invite me to her wedding out of pity or to be polite, and that she should have the people she wants at her wedding. It's okay if we are growing apart because we live in different countries, and I do not expect us to be as close as before. It is completely fine if she has found new people she is close with. She assured me we were still friends and wanted me at the wedding. I even helped with the rehearsal dinner planning and whatnot.
Since the incident on my birthday, she stopped liking my Instagram posts and sometimes blocked me from her Instagram stories. Honestly, I have no idea why. Additionally, she is having two weddings. When she visited me last summer, she assured me she wanted me at her wedding and kept insisting the first one was the most important and the one where everyone was going, while the second was just for family and cousins. I asked to know if I should get a lengha and the dress code for both weddings (if she wanted me to go). She insisted that none of her friends were going to the second one. However, the day after the racist comment in Spain, the other girls were talking about the second wedding and where they were getting their lenghas, talking as if I knew everyone was going. I felt so out of the loop and even more isolated.
Post Bachelorette:
Also, B mentioned that we were staying with her at the bridal suite. I said, just in case, I booked a hotel, and if the other girls needed a place, they could just split the room with me. Then, B said she would be in her room alone, which I thought was fine since it was her day and she should be comfortable. When I reached out to who I am assuming is the maid of honor, she said that she needed to be with the bride to help with the wedding, so I am guessing she is the only one staying with the bride, but honestly, I don’t care at this point because the hotel was paid for. I offered to help because she was stressing about not having money to book a hotel, which is why I offered in the first place.
I've always made it a point to check in on how she is doing. In my last message to her, she mentioned she was in prayers, so I asked how that was going, but since then, she has not reached out to me and left me on read. I'd also like to note that I was supposedly a bridesmaid. Recently, she posted a "bridesmaids brunch," which included all the girls from the Spain trip. She tagged them all under "bridesmaids" and tagged "here in spirit" with the other two girls who did not make it to the Spain trip but completely left me out.
Given that I have not heard from her, she does not know that I have secured a legal fellowship in Spain. I do not think I make it to the rehearsal dinner, if I go it would be cutting it close and I would be very late. I finish work too close to when the last train leaves, but I can make it to the wedding. I'm beginning to feel that I shouldn’t even try to attend the rehearsal dinner.
AITA for missing the rehearsal dinner?

Jumped on a deal for my favorite OTF of all time so hoping to flip a couple sweet deals for my boys and get a little closer to 100 swaps.
First is the Reate Epoch. Such an absolute SLEEPER. If I was a flipper guy this would be a keeper for sure. Buttery smooth action, fantastic ergos, and just an all around banger piece. 2nd owner, carried a week or so but no cut and 1st owner said the same. Super sharp factory edge. 1st owner did report losing a screw on the clip side when he disassembled to lube the pivot with kpl. According to Reates site they will send replacement hardware for the cost of shipping. Cost new was $425 so I dare to say you will not find a doper piece for SV210
Next is the newest Livewire in Magnacut and a sick D/E. Lnib I just got it 2 days ago from 1st owner who got 2 and kept the non coated one. This one is all blacked out and sick looking! One of the sharpest factory edges I've ever seen and the action is so freaking smooth. Best value for an OTF out there imo. Fit/finish is second to none. $239 new so steal this brand new one for SV175 shipped! [[SOLD]]165
Pics/Timestamp:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/200398568@N05/shares/mM676kVn8B

Long post, semi-rant.
This is one of those things I frequently encounter and can’t seem to wrap my head around so I’m trying to figure out if it’s just a ‘social deficit’ of my Autism.
Context: I’m 28(F), with PDA Autism, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Agoraphobia, and for at least the past 10 years, I’ve also suffered from increasingly severe Iron Deficiency Anemia which I recently discovered is partly due to 2 genetic blood disorders I inherited; 1 from each parent 🙃🎉 Basically since 2021 till now, I’ve been in a pretty difficult state with my mental and physical health which caused me to become more socially withdrawn.
And then particularly since the start of 2023 I’ve been in the most major and devastating burnout of my life— it’s a super long story that I won’t get into but I pretty much just hit the limit of my capacity to cope with everyday life, I was in a very toxic work environment, had the barest minimum of social battery to the point where a single phone call with my sister could have me completely out of commission and climbing into bed for the rest of the day (I worked from home). This resulted in my isolating to a pretty extreme degree for most people although I’ll say I’ve lived a fairly socially isolated life for other trauma-related reasons so although there was an increase in severity, it wasn’t that drastic compared to how I’ve been since the pandemic.
I had chronic daily fatigue, mental fog, complete lack of motivation, was stuck in a freeze response and unable to emotionally regulate. I broke down several times last year, and I’d think I had hit rock bottom, only to find out it had a basement. It all culminated in a total nervous system shutdown in September, I had to quit my job and I’ve just been gradually working on holding on to my will to live and taking gradual steps to recover.
I’m sorry this part was so long but I think the context is necessary.
Current situation: There’s a guy who I would consider to be an acquaintance. I don’t remember where we first met but it was definitely a social event probably in 2016 or so. This person is friend’s with people in my circle and we’d see each other once in a while at parties back when I had the capacity for socialization but I can count all the conversations we’ve ever had on one hand with fingers left over. I don’t even know his last name, we know nothing about each other.
This is why I’d say we are acquaintances. I know some people would say “if you met in 2016, you’re friends by now” - I disagree because my logical default is quality over quantity for this sort of thing. This is also someone who a couple of years after already being acquainted, I said hello to at a social event and he acted like he had never seen me before 😂
Anyway I think it was in 2021 or so, he sent me a DM on Instagram saying “I’ve been meaning to reach you but I lost my phone and all my contacts. Can you help me out?” I didn’t recall ever giving him my number as I certainly didn’t have his but okay, I said sure. He said he was gonna call me later that day, I told him I wasn’t big on phone calls but he could send a text or just communicate through IG. He argued, I don’t remember if he still tried to call anyway but eventually he sent a really long text message, the gist of which was that he was interested in me. I wasn’t interested in relationships in general, nor was I interested in him and like I said earlier, 2021 was really when my physical & mental health started to decline significantly. I remember making an effort to be very thoughtful and kind in my reply; told him I wasn’t interested and also mentioned needing to focus on my mental wellbeing, in very broad, non-specific terms. He said ok.
We neither spoke nor saw each other since then. Fast forward through all the context I gave to recently, at the end of March 2024. I haven’t been going to anything social and in fact due to my agoraphobia, I hardly go anywhere at all. But a friend invited me to a game night at her apartment. It was a small thing with about 10 people in total and I was trying to make gradual efforts to unfreeze my life so I went.
This person was there, we said hello, made small talk, he asked about work, I mentioned just being on a break at the moment due to burnout but didn’t divulge any details. I made small talk with other people, the evening went fine, I was totally drained for days afterwards as I expected. Haven’t been out to socialize at all since then.
In the month of April, I had a sudden and pretty rapid deterioration with my Anemia to the point of not even being able to stand and do something on my feet for up to 10mins without getting really dizzy and nearly fainting. I’d been dealing with elevated heart rate, fatigue, chills, brain fog etc for years now but it suddenly dialled up to an extreme so I did bloodwork and found out my levels were critically low, the 2 genetic blood disorders were diagnosed as well as the fact that all my years of supplementing had been pointless because I wasn’t absorbing iron from oral sources including food.
So I ended up needing to get an emergency iron infusion. On the day of my infusion, while hooked up to the IV, I get a text from this guy saying he’s organizing a bowling thing with a bunch of people in 2 weeks and he wanted to invite me.
Like I said at this point I had spent weeks in a state where I could barely be on my feet for any amount of time so I knew I probably wouldn’t be able to go to this thing, nor was I interested in going quite frankly. So I thanked him for the invitation but said I had been ill and figured I would still be recovering at that time.
I had also just been texting my brother’s gf and sending her pics of my IV (clear saline at the start of the treatment), so I sent it to him as well. This was impulsive and I probably shouldn’t have but I didn’t want to come across as lying about being sick, however I didn’t disclose any details about my illness because I didn’t think it was any of his business. He did ask, and I just said it was a chronic thing that I’d been dealing with for a long time.
So I basically said yeah I’m ill so I haven’t been in the best shape for socializing and I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, but I’ll let you know if things change and I’m feeling better. He said “Hey, your health is more important to me. Don’t worry about giving me an answer. Just get better, that’s all.” — okay cool, case closed I thought.
About 3 days after, I started having the flu-like side effects I was told I might get with the infusion and they were surprisingly intense; fever, splitting headache, muscle pain, all of which lasted for about 8 days or so. During that time, he sent a “how are you feeling?, just checking in” text which I didn’t open for a day or 2 as I was sick. I replied that I was knocked down with a fever but it was expected so I was powering through. He then tried to make small talk and in the midst of my feverish episode, I just couldn’t deal so I didn’t really carry on the convo and left the message unopened.
Anyway that update was maybe 3-4 days before his bowling thing. The actual day rolled around (this past Friday) and I had already spent like 10hrs that day hunched over my computer while on the phone with my brother helping him work on an application with a looming deadline this weekend, so I even forgot that it was the day of the event until late in the afternoon when it suddenly crossed my mind. I was pretty sure I had already declined, but in light of how shitty I had been feeling lately, it was a bit fuzzy so just to be sure I sent a text saying “Hey! You’re having your bowling thing today, right? Thanks again for inviting me, won’t be able to make it but hope you guys have fun, blah blah”, and I carried on with what my brother and I were working on even till as late as 1am.
Today Saturday, I get a series of texts from this man - the first notification read “Well it was kind of annoying because…” then I guess he edited the message or something but I just knew this guy was about to piss me off.
He called my response “annoying” because even though he himself isn’t that big on texting/ socializing, he tries “to make an effort for people he cares about but he’ll let this slide” Then reacted to my last message with a thumbs up and sent one saying yes it was fun, I should ask my friend (who hosted that game night) as she was there. Then finally he said “People have a lot to offer and you don’t want to miss out or have regrets because life is too short for you to be wasting time like this”
Now I’ve been working on my emotional regulation and even thought it took me an entire hour and a half to stop seething with rage, I’m actually proud of that bc it’s quicker than usual for me.
But this isn’t really the first time I’ve had NT people confrontationally demand access to me and villainizing me for daring to struggle privately. It baffles me completely. Guess I can wrap my head around a friend or family member who is trying to hold me accountable to a commitment I have made, but WHO THE HELL DOES THIS STRANGE MAN THINK HE IS??
‘Don’t isolate yourself too much’ or whatever I’m generously choosing to assume he was getting at is perfectly valid advice and I’m well aware of that, but what gives HIM the license to say that to me? Or to make assumptions that I view other people as having nothing to offer and to tell me I’ll regret it??
Especially while privy to the fact that I’ve been pretty seriously ill. I’ve struggled with feeling compelled to over share to justify my lack of capacity and then having to sit alone with the discomfort afterwards. I shouldn’t have to divulge all my diagnoses and history to everyone alongside each invitation I decline and I deeply regret even the little I told this individual.
At this point I’m almost willing to burn bridges and get people to just stop inviting me because I will be the villain either way.
I’m sorry this whole thing is so long, I’m exhausted just from typing it but I guess I had to let it all out.
To me, the logic is simple: if you’re trying to get closer to someone but finding them inaccessible, you abandon course and move on with your life. I could never presume to tell someone I barely know how to live their life and demand access to them - it reeks of entitlement.
It’s becoming something of a PDA trigger to me especially while in burnout and it elicits such a negative emotional response in me.
So I’d like to know; is this one of those normal social behaviors or perhaps there’s logic for the entitlement here that I just don’t get?…

Hey Y'all! My name is Connor I'm 25 year old American who absolutely loves baking/making treats for people ask me for pics really I love sharing. Gaming, mainly rpgs, or mobas lately. Books and anime, I'm a total fantasy nerd! Last major interest would be D&D I adore the Tabletop rpg communities and love talking about the games!
Aside from that, I own 2 adorable kitties again ask me for pics I dare you. I work as a bartende, and hope to learn more about any of you! Hit me up!

The Context:
A user posts a meme to /starterpacks mocking that OOP describes as the “oppressed gamer” — specifically their obsession with the attractiveness of female characters and feelings of persecution, among others.
Many in the comments take exception to the meme, with side-by-side comparisons of the looks of actors and their female character models proliferating.
The Drama:
Someone tries to argue that game developers are indeed making women uglier:

But There are numerous examples of gaming companies using motion capture of real woman for female characters and changing the game model of the woman to the point where the facial structure and features of the game model barely resembles the female model, which seems to happen less often with the male motion capture actors. Look at Mass Effect Andromeda. The main male actor looks exactly like the male mc. The main female actress barely looks like the female mc. They were both motion captured, yet only the female looks completely different. Look at Spider Man 2 where Mary Jane barely resembles her real life actress. This seems to be a genuine trend going around that is happening too often and consistently to be just a coincidence. It’s stupid that the game devs are seemingly going out of their way to change the facial structure of game models for female characters in order to make them more “realistic”, even though they are literally using real woman.

This comment stinks like dirty incel.

How is my comment wrong though?

You're complaining about video game characters not looking like some anime big titty porn stars and looking like real women. Perhaps going outside and looking at real people would help.

[Continued:]

they are in fact complaining that video game characters do not look like real people. Specifically studios intentionally editing the 3d scans of actual women they hired for the role and half the time making them uglier for no reason by messing with their faces, meanwhile the scans they do of men are always 1:1. A good example of this is the new star wars outlaws game. In this game the female protagonist has a completely different face compared to the actress they scanned, however the actor's models look exactly the same.

Well achtually....
Have you seen real people? Get out of here.

Yes I have seen real people, and I have a problem with video game characters being intentionally distorted to not look like real people. Stop being disingenuous by pretending that editing people's bodies to make them look completely different, then acting like this is normal is somehow ok. This is the entire reason why the body positivity movement exists.

It is ok. You incel kids that seem to care about video game women's bodies is fucking weird. It makes no difference to anything except your addled little mind.

So you think all those ads where women's bodies are distorted to look unnaturally slim with big boobs or have their faces altered to be more symmetrical and have smaller chins, noses, and lips are perfectly fine? You're a massive hypocrite. Stop calling literally anything you didn't take even two seconds to think about incel behavior. Intentionally editing the look of people's bodies to make them look uglier or more attractive is not ok.

Things degrade from here, with the slapfight devolving into one user posting multiple photos of actresses side by side with the models of their characters, ostensibly in an attempt to prove that developers are making women in games uglier.
[…]

You’re embarrassing yourself How many anti woke videos have you seen today Please talk to a real person today

You haven’t actually proved any of my points wrong.

MJ from spiderman 2 looks different because she was in an accident that messed up her face. Also that worker all the anti wokes said that looks like MJ was a hoax as well
I don’t care about the rest of them. Mass effect andromeda had bigger problems than you needing to get a hard on You need to fix your priorities of what’s actually wrong in the gaming industry

I’ve just looked at her instagram account and some of her recent photos from April and March and February. Her facial structure and her facial features, even now, still look barely anything like the game model’s features.
Also, for Mass Effect Andromeda, the male model looks the same as the game model while the female model doesn’t. :

Wow the west truly has fallen
Gaming is le woke sjw cringe
I don’t give a shit

The same user as above begins to post more photos, trying to prove his point.

You seem unhinged the way you think this pic of this character proves any point you are trying to make.

This character model looks literally nothing like any of the pictures from the actress. Her chin, cheekbones, nose, jawline, etc, are all noticeably different.

You can take a pic of any single person alive today and make it not look like them just thru lighting.
nothing you are doing is akin to scientific analysis
you are literally bemused and shook by basic principles of photography

I have looked at multiple different pictures of Mary Jane in the Spider-Man and the actress on her Instagram account, including ones with different angles and lighting. In every single one, all of the facial features in the game version don't match the real life actress. Many people have noticed that, it's why this controversy happened in the first place.

we know a lot of people are into this, that's why OP made the pic in OP, to make fun of the great many of you who are obsessed about this. it's not a controversy that exists outside terminally online Gamer TM communities.
EDIT: and people from those gamer conspiracy communities stalked the actor you are making these accusations about until she quit her job. So maybe fucking stop with the dumb online gamer conspiracies. The fact that there are many people into this is not a comfort or a sign that it is true and good.

[…]

Mfer has never talked to a woman. Dudes mom won't even give em the time of day

Is your best reply seriously insulting me? You literally haven't proven anything I've said wrong.

Lmao absolutely no self awareness. It comes with age

You can't even make a proper argument against my points, yet you are saying I am the one with no self awareness.

Yeah it comes with age. You're obviously 12. You said shit so stupid it doesn't deserve an earnest reply.

[…]

Do not pull out bullshit statements like "your statement is so dumb and wrong, I don't need to explain why". That means literally nothing and proves literally nothing. You might as well say "I'm right because I say I am", and it would be just about as meaningful of a statement.
Anyone can say "your statement is dumb" or "I am obviously right", whether or not what you are saying is actually true. It's literally one of the worst ways someone can argue against people's points, because it means that someone is just trying to shut down people's arguments without actually saying anything meaningful to refute it, most of the time because they can't form a proper argument against it themselves.

Lmao you got alot of experience in being wrong huh? Fucking incel loser stfu and go away

Again, no actual arguments, just insults. You are just proving my point again. You can’t even write a response without saying “fuck” or “loser”.

Lmao fucking loser. When you finally grow tf up you're gonna cringe so hard about this phase in your life.

Free markets are discussed:

Conservatives claim to love the free market. They didn't get help from anyone and neither should you. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! So if conservatives want a game with nothing but hot women with their titties and asses hanging out, even full nudity, they should make that. What's stopping them? Man up, stop blaming liberals, and do the job yourself.

It's not free market if the state / establishment actively interferes to push in a certain direction.

I didn't know the government was keeping titties out of video games.

If you examine that comment, you'll notice that the statement it's making is entirely about you.

If you had any kind of self awareness you'd know that no one fucking likes you, you smell bad, and you should probably just give up on your sad pathetic excuse for a life

Things get personal:

Games are meant to be for the male gaze. If you say otherwise it's cope.

They are but it makes them worse for anyone who isn't a straight man.

Yes but I want sexy women in my escapism

Well, most people don't.

Watch porn. It has beatiful women fucking ugly freaks like you. Lmao

And what of the woke mob?

It's a weird culture war thing. They think the "woke mob" wants to subvert "traditional" gender values by making characters less "conventionally" attractive and ruin video games because feminism is about hating men or something.

Oh "they" don't "think" that, there are already examples of it happening, the subversion part at least I don't think the intention is to ruin the games or media its being done to its just usually the result in many cases but ofc not every case.
Nobody cares if you want to make the wokest tv show, movie or game ever made its when you have to change already established characters or lore because your story/game doesn't stand on its own without an already established IP it gets annoying. And I don't really understand who it is for either because the most liberal people I know who are woke AF don't like this either and find it to be pandering and patronizing.
So lets not pretend its not happening because that is the stupidest way of trying to avoid debating it, we all know it is happening and it might be intended to make us argue each other as a diversion from more pressing issues as much of this culture war seems to be trying to accomplish.

We are out to get you gamer

Member when everyone was like "fuck the rich" and occupied together all over the place? And then suddenly for no reason at all people where fighting eachother over stupid shit?
Yeah don't worry about that, just attack everyone who doesn't think like you like a good little pawn, there are NAZIS out there after all and YOU need to be a HERO!

Run for the hills gamer

One user is dragged for saying “wokism”:

I'm sorry if you're ugly and you wanted to be represented in video games but I ain't paying 70 bucks to watch/play ugly characters who have no other reasons to be ugly than wokism.

nawww bro said "wokism" unironically
I bet you threw down your controller in disgust the first time you loaded up Super Mario Bros.
How dare the woke agenda made you play as such a disgusting pile of pixels! If they wanted representation for stubby Italian-American plumbers they shouldn't have gone after YOU'RE monies!
Stay strong Gamer TM.
"Wokism" you didn't have to tell everyone you don't have friends
"wokism" ate my son!!!

The Flairs:

Is gollum as attractive as Andy serkis?
I didn't know the government was keeping titties out of video games.
Watch porn. It has beatiful women fucking ugly freaks like you.

There is an essay by "raver anthropologist" Simon Reynolds that has become a kind of cult thing amongst Hardcore Techno aficionados. It got published in The Wire in 1998; it turned into a cult object not only because it was one of the rare cases where Hardcore music was mentioned in a bigger zine during the late 90s (as opposed to the many badly xeroxed Hardcore-fanzines, with a run of ~50 copies, of which most were destined to end up on soaked squat party toilet room floors), but because it also focused on a very specific person: Marc Acardipane, his releases, and his label family. [1]
In it, he called Marc "the forgotten man of Techno", and followed up with the reasons for that: even though he was right there at the proper beginning of "Techno", was hugely influential, and good friends with many people that are now considered to be true pioneers and legends by vox populi, he fell out of favor when Hardcore itself fell out of favor amongst the Techno folk; because he stayed true to his "core roots" and didn't disown them, like so many other producers did on their way up to the place amongst the stars (and on their way down to the sewers again).
But let's move on from Simon, The Wire, and the year 1998. What happened after that date? First, Marc itself was pulled out from the "shadow zones"; because at least the Hardcore and Gabber scene finally remembered its Techno roots, and kept worshiping those roots again; although under different monikers, such as "oldschool", "oldstyle", "early rave", and so on - I guess "the names have been changed to protect the innocent". This meant that "Technoid Hardcore" could be enjoyed at Hardcore parties and festivals once more (often on separate floors), which led to a lot of gigs and exposure for Marc and his Planet Core Productions sound. [Note: PCP aka Planet Core Productions was a label family run by Marc Acardipane and Thorsten Lambart in the 90s.] It also influenced the Hardcore scene as a whole. A succession of genres such as "newstyle", "millennium" and "mainstyle" came into existence; genres that to 98% were built upon PCP and PCP-adjacent tracks: "Stereo Murder" (produced by Acardipane), "Atmos-Fear" (produced by Acardipane), "Poltergeist" (released on his label), "Flesh is the Fever" (released on Things To Come Records, a label with personal ties to PCP and that was inspired by PCP), plus various others.
This was already a good thing. But then, slowly but steadily, the Techno folk re-gained their interest in Hardcore and harder sounds, too; and now that the "millennial dominance" of the Techno scene, together with their favoring of minimalist and dandy-esque sounds, is slowly fading away, a younger generation is taking over the scene, and that new generation is very, very hardcore.
This led to a renewed interest in the works of Marc Acardipane, his crew, and his output again, coming straight from the heart of the Techno world. Marc himself acknowledged this development in some of his interviews, and added that the Techno people are sometimes even more zealous and knowledgeable about this music than the die-hard old-school gabbers!
A very fine evolution indeed; and we hope Marc gets into the spotlight again because of this, and that he finally reaps the respect that he deserves!
But why is the Techno folk favoring him and his sound specifically - in fact, more than a lot of other "Hardcore" players? I think this is because - and now we cycle back to 1998's "The Wire" essay - his sound is *indeed* heavily connected to Techno. It's not just some ultra-aggressive, ultra-noisy Gabber outing. It's real, true, bona fide Techno music. More than that, it represents a "road not taken" in the history of Techno music. Because, when you go back to the advent of Techno, to Detroit, Chicago, Berlin, London, Frankfurt, there was always a Hardcore contingent. Hardcore was always part of the Techno spirit, it helped to shape and mold the Techno sound. Alas, as mentioned above, it got disowned, and it became almost "forbidden" to speak of this type of music within Techno circles.
A liminal space that always lingered next to the scene as time moved on; a place that people did not dare to enter.
All this is changing now again. And while "every boy and his dog" (i.e. zines, webcasts, music academies) had their own Marc Acardipane feature by now, focusing on his more Hardcore and Gabber output, we decided to do the very opposite here, and showcase the Techno tracks from the past days of the PCP oeuvre, released using a cornucopia of aliases.
Bon appetit!
Oh, and by the way: we very dearly love "I like it loud", too!
(This list is in no particular order)
1. The Mover - Over Land and Sea how can one not love this track? great techno beats, rhythms, groove... and then this cosmic, celestial arrangement in the middle... the beats come back in, and the dancefloor erupts into madness. the flip side ("underwater operations") is also very well worth a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuYMsR1Cae8
2. Cyborg Unknown - The Year 2001 (Deep in Detroit mix) this is going deep into the history of detroit techno indeed. it's not enough to be friends of the jaguar here, this track channels cybotron just as much as it does metroplex. funky!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2q4v8_YxbE
3. Trip Commando - Cross The White Line a techno behemoth of the most epic proportions. has probably one of the most elongated build ups in dance history, until the epic cinematic breakdown unfolds. highly recommended!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGWv1e2hBZk
4. Turbulence - Whurlstorm this was on the second release by Industrial Strength Records - a label that shaped Hardcore history, too. it starts as a nice little nasty techno track, until everything breaks apart in the mid-riff, and turns into a hurricane of bass frequncies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sngue8baqPs
5. The Mover - Nightflight (Nonstop 2 Kaos) and this was on Industrial Strengh Records number one! As Lenny Dee licensed "We Have Arrived" (a fantastic hardcore track, to say the least) for his label, and put that number on the back side. a cold groove, percussion that almost feels like a breakbeat... lots of bass, cyber-synth.... this is just dancefloor heaven.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snnHspK1QYI
6. Countdown Part V - Untitled (A1) Countdown FFM is another sub-label to go for if one is looking for some technoid gems. stellar electronic intro, then we get into dance grooves, and things become more deviant as acid sounds sneak in.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfIL6OCtN3o
7. Alien Christ - Of Suns and Moons (Phase II) inspired by "Suburban Knights - The Art of Stalking" (a true classic, originally released on Transmat). Marc made this influence his own, and delivered a very detroit-ish underground rave anthem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGmmDrQTyyY
8. The Mover & Lunatic Asylum – Frequency Surfers Lunatic Asylum aka "Dr. Macabre" is another person that was entwined with electronic music history while turning into a global player in the hardcore sector at a later date. this is a joint-venture of these two titans of techno, and the result is a very trippy, very twisted and surreal track.
(Cannot be found on youtube, but here are audio previews: https://www.toolboxrecords.com/en/product/17643/techno-hardtechno/dance-ecstasy-2025/ )
9. The Mover - Astral Demons (Original Mix) you should have realized by now: the mover is a synonym for high quality productions. this is one of my favorite pics from the legendary "frontal sickness" releases; and indeed adds a very demonic vibe to the whole dance thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMT2KdQt5Q
10. Rave Creator - A New Mind (Thai Acid Mix) "Thai" was a pcp sub that focused specifically on techno, acid, even a bit of trance-ish tracks. despite the alias, this was put out on DE 2001 instead. It's a remix of the famous "A New Mind" track.
starting with pure bass drones. it builds up very slowly, until thunderous, reverberated bass drums come in, and then it goes into full-on acid feeding. similar to "cross the white line", this track could be given the title "cinematic techno soundtrack".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGpuMbLicZU
Honorable Mentions:
T-Bone Castro - Return 2 Planet E Reincarnated Regulator - Italian Stallion Craig Tayaffo - Reduction (Back For Acid-The Expanded 0,25 Hrs Mix) Barracuda - Braineaters Two Tonys - Organ Bitch Nasty Django - Ey Loco Cold Rush Records Frontal Sickness 1+2 Reincarnated Regulator - Mindeater Climax - Relax Nasty Django - 3 P Rules! SexDrive Entertainment - No.2 T-Bone Castro / Ace The Space - Ace In The Hole Project Æ - Whales Alive Ultra Spaceman - Ultra-Style
Footnotes: 1: The original Wire essay - http://reynoldsretro.blogspot.com/2015/03/marc-acardipane-mover-pcp-dance-ecstasy.html