Successful black men in chicago

Tracking down the Xanathar Guild Outposts and the traitors of Halleth through Floor 2, this week the party had Goba, the Dwarven fighter barbarian, Archimedes, the Gnome artificer, Freyja, the half Elf paladin, and Nazar, the Goliath paladin.
Alongside them came Nanaz, Goba’s grouchy duergar uncle and manservant, and Halleth Garke, revenant adventurer currently dead in their portable hole.
DEAD EYES WATCH POST
Faced with an undead Beholder, the party at first found the Xanathar Guild Outpost to be quite tame. Archimedes shot it well with his magical gauntlets, but Nazar, Goba and Freyja have only basic ranged weapons. In turn, the two paladins protective auras prevented the vile magic from taking effect.
Up until doors slammed open, and a cohort of mobsters and orcs poured in, having heard the ruckus. The humans, led by a barbaric greataxe wielding woman, Nadia the Unbent, seemed to be in competition with garotter orcs led by a well armoured Boss Grox, with the orcs wearing symbols of an upside down tree.
Too little melee turned into too much melee very quickly. Goba heroically engaged in a barbarian duel with Nadia, Freyja battled an orc strangler, and Nazar unleashed a divine spiritual weapon upon the undead beholder. Who looked over them and unleashed a black bolt of energy directly at Archimedes. The gnome shook with deadly energy, quaking him to the very core, and was unsettled to realise he had almost been disintegrated.
It was a very close battle, swung by Goba slaying Nadia and the paladins slaying the orcs. They intimidated the human mobsters into standing down, while the Beholder was finally smited by Freyja, and Boss Grox retreated, ranting of traitorous Guildmen.
FLOOR TWO DAY TWO
Said treacherous Xanathar Guild men immediately legged it into the tunnels- the orc had another squad of orc mercs exploring nearby, and they didn’t fancy sticking around to face them all. The party was beaten and battered already so they hotfooted it back to the Goblin Bazaar, taking note of where the mobsters ran as another likely outpost.
After returning to the Rustbones Goblin Bazaar, they had the safe territory to rest up and heal up, reflecting on a wild day- on their first excursion through floor two, they’d allied with Queen Yenk, encountered Torbrand, slain the Stormskull, killed two targets of Halleth’s vengeance, defeated the Nothics, Demons, and Nadia the Unbent. Now quite bent.
Which is code for, boom, several of the party levelled up to level 7 quite early on in the floor, being Nazar and Goba who make sessions most regularly.
Over the night, Freyja dreamt of her father, an elven paladin named Jan. With him she had sworn before the shrine of Mielekee, Goddess of the Forest, to always be brave, strong, just. And she had seen him die, choked out on poison from a Green Dragon, Bullfang.
The dragon who lurks deeper down in the dungeon.
Come morning, with some encouragement from Queen Yenk, they ventured out once more.
DIPLOMACY???
They discovered Boss Grox along with another six orc mercenaries, eating breakfast with full packs back at the outpost. The orc debated if they wanted to attack him and die- or if they wanted to hire him. He and his crew were mercenaries, not truly loyal to Xanathar, up from the orcish tribe of the Hanging Tree that dwells on Floor Three.
The party elected to not fight or hire them, and poked around the rooms to find the orcs had thoroughly looted them, including of a magical dwarven hammer. But since the orcs are leaving and noone is loyal to Xanathar here, the outpost is wiped! Success! They also discovered another of Halastur’s Gateway portals here, marked with dwarven statues, grindstones, and a symbol for Floor Six.
Heading off to scout elsewhere, Halleth was revived and arose, delighted and furious that he had missed the chance to kill Rex the Hammer himself, so much so that he was bleeding from the eyes. He again croaked angrily that none had even attempted to give him funeral rites, and was hungry to search for his final target, Midna, somewhere nearby.
In the farthest north of the dungeon, they discovered a corridor trapped with dart shooters, and two Xanathar Guild Bugbear Guards. On Goba remembering a pass phrase from earlier, but saying it at the wrong time, they got a brief, stand off meeting with the outposts leader- a spider faced Drow named Shun.
Shun was impressed they’d taken down Nadia, a rival of his, and offered a simple challenge- they bring back a stone key from ratfolk stole from him, and he’ll put in a good word for them to join the guild. Otherwise, he’ll call on his men and start shooting them down a trapped corridor if they want to fight.
Another quest acquired? Maybe?
The party decided not to fight him for now, avoided some tunnels that stank of slime, and followed Halleth’s vengeance sense eastwards. There, beyond some grand old double doors, they found an oddly plush comfortable shrine with a fully laden feast table, bright magical fires illuminating the place, and a statue of Shar, Goddess of Night, Loss and Darkness.
Tending to the black-and-gold stonework was a woman clad in dark robes, smiling features and scarred flesh. Midna invited them to turn on Halleth, simply claiming that he was too troublesome to be kept alive. When they refused, Midna quietly elected to offer them to Shar, and the chamber plunged into darkness as long shadows sp

What a shocker it is that's no white male operators exist in the game. Of course you have every other box that can be checked.
Asian male? Check. Black female? Check. Overbearing and annoying Hispanic announcer? Check. Etc....
It's funny too because there's no doubt whatsoever that the people who will be playing this game more than other demographics will certainly be white men. Why do video game companies do this? Media in general has really been getting Caucasian men the middle finger. Every other group gets more than their fair share of representation but God forbid white men are also included despite making up a bigger portion of the population then any other group of men. It just doesn't make sense if for no other reason than we all know white men are going to be playing this the most so why go out of the way to exclude them?
It's intentional, don't act like it's not. If it doesn't bother you that's fine it doesn't actually really bother me too much but I'm just annoyed that they go out of their way to exclude any group of people... let alone their biggest player base demographic. That's what bothers me it's why go after the people who support your product more than any other?

I’m a black woman that has almost exclusively dated vaguely ethnic looking white men and one Asian guy. To get a few things straight, I live in the south and a lot of white guys my age down here have the southern republican aesthetic which I’m not really into. I’ve hooked up with that type and I’m just really not into it. However, there are a lot of cool, artsy, nerdy black men that I find physically attractive but I just don’t date them. My reasoning that I’ve told others is that nerdy black men just remind me of my family members and I have a phobia of accidentally hooking up with a cousin or something but I also don’t think that’s the real reason.
Like the other day, a very attractive black man came up to me and asked me to get coffee and I politely declined. I asked myself in my head why I did that. Like, sometimes I’m scared that other black people would judge me for my niche interests, but I won’t even date fellow neurodivergent black people.
I really don’t know what it is, but white men that have some Jewish or Hispanic heritage has been primarily who I’ve been out with. I think that I don’t hate myself enough to go out with the all American, conservative, white men that drop the N-word religiously. But I don’t love myself enough to be interested in my own race.
I had a friend that told me that it simply wasn’t that deep. She basically said that I just like features that are common in certain racial backgrounds.
She knows that I’m a sucker for colored eyes, but she also knows that I like long, pronounced noses, curly hair, lips that aren’t thin, dark brown or black hair, and olive toned skin.
Also, I’m really passionate about making the black community better and I feel like a traitor when I talk all this talk and I’m probably not going to end up with a black man.

Hello! Thursday afternoon, May 9, I completed a final round interview stage with a company. For additional context, I had an interview with the hiring manager May 7, and was called back to complete final rounds the day after. While it wasn't necessary to meet so quickly, the recruiter expressed urgency to fill the role while also expressing need to have conversation with CFO as they were about to be traveling for a couple of weeks. Due to excitement about role, I decided to accept the request rather than wait potentially two weeks (and even be MORE prepared). I ended up having two conversations, that was onsite totaling over an hour. After meeting with the CFO, I had a final touch base with the recruiter and the final question that was asked was regarding compensation and they confirmed I was in range. The recruiter then informed me I will be contacted on Monday and that was that. While I can acknowledge that my interviews weren't perfect, I do think they were overall good and my resume perfectly aligns with the role, while also offering room for me to grow. I think the energy and excitement I expressed was even equally reciporacated from each individual I met with so I was highly confident that I was going to receive an offer. It is now Tuesday, May 14, and I have not received any updates or responses from the recruiter that has me a little on edge. The company uses SuccessFactors and after checking my application status I noticed it was updated Friday, May 10. It's interesting that it was updated because my application status is still listed as "in process", however, the text is being displayed in red font, rather than the normal black. Does anybody know what this means? Should I follow up by this point?
TL;DR Final round interview was completed for role. In success factors, what does an application status mean when it is "in process" but with RED font vs black. When is it appropriate to follow up with recruiter?

I'm a 32 year old gay man, and I've never been in a relationship.
I've posted about this before in gay subs, but feeling very down about it lately. So would appreciate words of advice, sharing experiences with navigating the lows of dating, or just words of encouragement and empathy.
I'm in academia (PhD student in the humanities), and recently I was at a conference in which almost everyone there was married, having children, or in some long-term relationship (including the gay men there). I was sad because I feel like these are the contexts in which I'm most likely to organically meet someone, but I didn't in this case. I felt out of place, like I didn't belong, because of my being perpetually single. A friend there asked me about someone I was recently seeing, and I had to tone down his enthusiasm by letting him know it didn't work out.
While I feel happy for people who have been in LTRs, I also envy them on some level, as I've never gotten to experience that and don't know if I ever will. It might sound overly dramatic, but I've been dating for the past decade with no success. This caused me great anxiety and depression years ago, which I worked on through years of therapy and medication. Still, even with that, I still haven't found anyone, despite living in NYC, being relatively attractive (yo-yoing weight, which I'm working on), and trying both dating apps and real life situations. It's usually a combination of a lack of an emotional/sexual/intellectual connection that dooms things from taking off.
The thing is: things might just get worse from here. Having lived in a city like this one throughout my PhD, I might have to move to a place with significantly less dating options after I'm done with school in a year - given the state of the academic job market. I literally might end up in some small town with barely any single gay men.
I feel quite insecure over the fact that I'm so inexperienced relationship-wise, despite wanting one. I'm still in therapy, but at this point it feels a bit hopeless to me...

I must have missed a step or something because I've not successfully had anything play smoothly since I set this up. I've got stremio and RD. I have a Samsung tv with a Google chromecast. I'm using surfshark but I've tried turning that off too. The videos don't play, or they play in black with just audio, or they play in slow motion with stuttering audio and picture, or no audio at all (eac3 not supported). I've tried the included players, and mx player. I've tried tunnelled playback. Someone please help!

LONG POST WARNING
Hello everyone,
My partner (24F) and I (25M) returned home from our 3-week Japan trip last week and due to us using this sub a lot during our planning I thought it would be helpful for other current planners to upload a trip report.
Our main interests are Japanese traditions and history, street style/culture, and food so keep reading if these interests are mutual. Read to the bottom to see how much we spent plus some tips and disappointments.
Prelude
We were caught up in the madness at Dubai airport during our layover. Long story short; Airport (and the rest of Dubai) flooded and caused all the flights to be cancelled. What was meant to be a 5-hour layover turned into a torturous 36 hour wait. No staff to be seen, crowds of people arguing, fighting, and crying. We queued for 12 hours to get a new boarding pass for the next flight to Japan. We were meant to fly to Haneda but settled for Narita as we needed to get out of that place as soon as possible but still ended up missing our first day in Tokyo (should have had 5 days). We can’t complain too much as some of the people I spoke to on emirates were in the airport for up to 5 days before getting a flight back to their departure destination. Oh, and our baggage was missing with us only receiving our checked in bags on day 19. Cheers Emirates.
Day 1
Arrived in Shinjuku around midnight. We went straight to Don Quiojte to buy some replacement cosmetics and clothes. The combination of no good-quality sleep for 48 hours and the stimulating nature of the store was very intense! We then started to walk back towards the hostel and passed a Ichiran, so dropped in for some 2am ramen. Not the best ramen I’ve ever had but was still very good for the price.
Steps: 21,643 (includes some airport steps)
Day 2
Woke up and ate the free breakfast at the hostel (this turned out to be a really good money saver for the whole trip as we are not huge eaters in the morning anyway, but it was good to get something light in us before a long day walking). We then walked through the Shinjuku Gyoen Garden – saw some late blooming cheery blossoms and overall, it was a really beautiful botanical garden.
The next stop was Meji Shrine and a walk through Yoyogi park. The shrine was cool to see, especially as it was our first one in Japan. Saw a middle-aged man wearing denim hotpants so short that his balls were hanging out?!?!
Walked to Shibuya to see the scramble. This was cool but also felt it was a bit underwhelming at ground level but the view from Shibuya station walkway was wicked. Lunch was at a conveyor belt sushi place on the top floor of this department store right next to the scramble. This would be higher than average quality sushi in Europe, so it blew our minds that it was available on the top floor of a department store and for so cheap.
Shimokitazawa – We picked up some bargains at 2^nd street and I treated myself some Japanese jeans from a small Demin shop called Bears. The guy in the shop was super helpful and friendly and even tailored the trousers to exactly my size.
In the evening, we first had a poke around Golden Gai and then headed towards Shibuya and stopped in a cool bar where the owner was mixing vinyl while he mixed your drinks (think it was called Q Bar).
We had previously bought tickets to a gig at Circus for one of my fav rappers who I’d been wanting to see for a while. Also really enjoyed seeing the local Japanese warm up acts. Stayed until 5am and then go the train straight to the Tsukiji outer fish market. Was there way too early and had to wait roughly an hour for thing to open. Went to chill by a bench for a bit and by the time we went back to the market it was rammed! Went to bed around 8:30am.
Steps: 32,159
Day 3
We woke up at 2:30pm, got ready, and headed to the Bunkyo civic centre for the free observation deck. We heard it wasn’t meant to be the best Tokyo skyline view but for a free attraction we thought it was very good! Jimbocho book town was also very cool to see. We had a peak into a couple adult movie/magazine stores where I don’t think the owner appreciated our presence as western tourists.
In the evening, we first went for Ramen at Motenashi Kuraki in Asakusa Bashi. Honestly probably the best Ramen I’ve had to date. I ordered the Black Pepper Shio special, and it blew my mind. Even though the staff didn’t speak English they were very accommodating for my partner who doesn’t eat meat (pescetarian but will brave a meaty broth).
We then had a stroll around Akihabara and played some dance mat games in the arcades before heading back for an earlyish night.
Steps: 28,680
Day 4
I couldn’t sleep so got up around 3am and did some admin stuff to try and get our bags back to us ASAP. Chatted to people in the hostel for a few hours.
We arrived at Senso-ji for around 8am. Wasn’t too busy at this time and the temple was impressive. Went for a coffee down the road and had a chill for about an hour before heading into Asakusa. Got admission to the Drum museum which was wicked. Only 400 yen each and had the whole place to ourselves to smack some big fucking drums and make as much noise as we wanted.
We then started to head towards Ueno but made a slight detour to Kappabashi Dougu street to peruse the Japanese chef knives and other cookware. Grabbed lunch from a 7/11 and went and sat in Ueno park which was super busy. There was some food market event on which loads of food stalls had set up. There was also a stage with some J-pop performers and people dressed as ninjas dancing in the crowd. Weird to say the least. By mid-afternoon we were pretty tired so headed back to the hostel for a nap.
In the evening, we headed down to Harajuku and stopped by Big Love records. My partner is really into vinyl, so this was definitely a highlight for her. She picked up Wu Tang 36 chambers in case you were wondering. We then went for food at Afuri as my partner wanted to try the Vegan ramen to which she said it was ok but nothing special. My cold dipping noodle dish was very tasty, however. We then stumbled across this vinyl listening bar called Bar Music on the 5^th floor of this pokey building on the outskirts of Shibuya for a few drinks before bed. There was such a good vibe in there and the cocktails were super good for the price. If you’re looking for a romantic spot, then this is the place to go.
Steps: 31,818
Day 5
Today we headed to Kyoto on the shinkansen around midday after a slow morning chilling in and around the hostel and catching up on some sleep. Checked in to the hostel and had a walk around downtown Kyoto, stopping at 2^nd Street to buy some more clothes.
In the evening, we headed to Kodai-Ji to see the shrine lit up at night. We couldn’t believe how few people were there as it was stunning and truly magical place to be at night. It also has a bamboo grove (much better than Arashiyama, see below). The bar for Kyoto shrines/temples had been set very high.
Walked down Pontocho alley and stopped at a yakitori restaurant which was just ok. We knew it was going to be average when we looked around the restaurant and it was just western tourists dining.
Steps: 25,255
Day 6
First thing in the morning we rented bikes and cycled across the city to Arashiyama. Parked the bikes at the train station and walked up through Arashiyama. We were expecting it to be busy but there were so many people it was almost impossible to move. Had a look around the bamboo grove and was slightly underwhelmed after our visit to Kodai-Ji so we took the tram and then bus up to Kosan-Ji. This was very much worth the 45-minute journey as there was only one other group there and the temple nestled between the trees overlooking the river was breath-taking. On the whole, Arashiyama was way too packed during peak times to enjoy and with everything else Kyoto has to offer we wouldn’t say it was a must see.
We then picked up the bikes from the train station and cycled back across Kyoto taking the long route to explore and get lost. Once we dropped off the bikes, we went for another explore and this time went into WeGo for more clothes shopping. At this point we’d pretty much matched the amount of clothing that we had packed in our checked-in luggage that was still stuck in Dubai.
After a nap we walked towards the metro and stopped at a Katsu restaurant as we wanted to try something different, and it was pretty good. For the price of 1300 yen each we got so much food/sake and left stuffed.
Fushimi Inari in the evening. Like Kodai-Ji, we would recommend visiting Fushimi Inari at night. Firstly, to help avoid the crowds (we got there around 9pm and there was hardly anybody there) and secondly as seeing it lit up at night is a nice change. It was however slightly creepy at night, especially as it was lightly raining. My partner started to get a bit scared once we saw the signs to be careful of the wild boar and monkeys haha. We didn’t make it to the top of Mt Inari as the rain started to get heavy but still very much enjoyed walking through the hundreds of tori gates, stopping off at the shrines and soaking up the history.
Steps: 23,686
Day 7
Today was a late start as even after 8 hours sleep the 25k plus steps a day was starting to catch up with us.
We took the metro to Shimogamo Shrine in north Kyoto. It was very peaceful and quiet however temple fatigue had definitely set in at this point. We then walked through Kyoto to the beginning of Philosophers path. We had seen on this sub that people recommend skipping it unless its Sakura season however we disagree. The path along the river is so pretty and atmospheric, along with the fish gently swimming along in the river.
Kyoto Hand Crafts Centre – if you have the money then this is a great place to pick up souvenirs.
Pre-booked Sushi Iwa for a 15 course Omakase. The food was amazing, but it came to an eye watering 28k yen each. The difference for our western palettes between mid-range sushi and exceptional sushi is negligible. Nonetheless it was a good experience and I’m glad that we did it.
Steps: 23,751
Day 8
Today was an empty day in terms of things we wanted to do, so used it to walk the city and explore.
We checked out the Nishiki market and ate various fried foods on sticks which were all pretty tasty. We then walked northwards, stopping for coffee before reaching the imperial palace. By this point we were very much bored of temples and structures of similar architecture, but we actually ended up enjoying walking the palace grounds and seeing the buildings more than we thought and would recommend it to those who find themselves in north Kyoto.
A leisurely walk back down towards downtown Kyoto, stopping off at a wicked standing soba joint. Forgotten the name but their curry soba was delicious.
Chao Chao gyozas (only veggie gyoza place we could find) for our evening meal before a night cap at the bar across the road before bed.
Steps: 23,304
Day 9
Shinkansen to Hiroshima arriving around 11am.
Checked into hostel and then went straight to the A-dome, peace memorial and museum. We thought the museum was very moving and captured the horror of the events that unfolded very well. A must see for sure.
Okonomiyaki at Okonomimura and then some vintage clothes shopping in Hondori.
Went back out for food in the evening and ended up getting Okonomiyaki again. This time it we enjoyed it a lot more than we did at lunch (probably because we got it covered in cheese). There are a few streets by Hiroshima station with lots of bars and restaurants on top of each other, much like Golden Gai in Shinjuku, however they are not super touristy and has a more laid-back feel to them.
We then went to some bars in the city centre. The best one we stumbled across was called Tropical Bar Revolucion. It was on the 8^th floor and the smoking balcony overlooked the city. Plus, the beers in there tasted so good and I’m not sure why.
Steps: 23,299
Day 10
A hungover morning. Headed to the Hiroshima National Gardens. Going to some gardens is my go-to hangover activity as its low effort, relaxing, and feels productive. These gardens in particular were great and we really appreciated the signs explaining the history behind the space. Overall, we enjoyed this more than the national gardens in Shinjuku.
Public baths near Dobashi in the afternoon. If you’re feeling brave enough to get your kit off in front of 10s of strangers, then this is a good experience. Male and female baths are separate. Can’t go wrong for 400 yen.
Went for a drink at Bar Pretty and then realised the effect of golden week on trying to get a table walking into a restaurant. Walked around for about an hour with no success so settled for food from a department store food court. Sounds miserable but the food was pretty good for the price, and it was busy in there, so it still had an atmosphere.
Steps: 29,487
Day 11
Miyajima Day. Took the ferry to the island arriving at 10:30am. The Ryokan staff met us at the port and collected our bags to take back to the hotel.
Had a mooch around the port area before doing the hike up Mt Misen. The climb to the top on a hot day is not to be underestimated. Sweating buckets, but the route and the view from the top was amazing and one of the standout highlights of the whole trip.
After descending Mt Misen, we bought some beers, oysters and, ice cream and sat along the beach wall and chilled in the sun for a couple hours. The hotel staff then picked us up from the ferry terminal, we checked in and went straight to the Onsen for a couple hours before dinner. Dinner was a traditional kaiseki meal (with more courses than I can remember) served in the banquet hall with the other guests.
While the staff converted our retro ryokan room and set up the futons we had a few more beers before bed.
Steps: 20,803
Day 12
Today we had a chilled morning on the island, having a stroll and stopping for some coffees. We then took the ferry back to Hiroshima, stopping for Okonomiyaki one more time, before taking the shinkansen to Osaka.
Checked into our hostel near Namba and went out for a walk around 8pm. When looking for somewhere to eat we walked past a sign for a vegetarian Indian restaurant called Shama. After nearly two weeks of pure Japanese food we were craving some variety so decided to head in. Located on the basement floor of a particularly run down looking building the restaurant was not the most glamorous. Barely enough space for 10 people, it was hot in there. A constant stream of people was coming in and out of the restaurant and we were lucky enough to walk in when there were two spaces available. From sitting down at the table to receiving our food we waited just under an hour. This would be enough to put most people off but fuck me the food was good when it did finally arrive. We got a selection of 4 different curries, naan breads and samosa. We left stuffed. If you’re in the area this is definitely a place worth checking out.
Steps: 25,502
Day 13
Our first stop of the day was the Umeda Sky Building. Not suitable if you are scared of heights as the glass elevator made our stomachs drop slightly. The views were impressive but we thought the price was a bit steep at 1500 yen each.
We then spent the afternoon wondering about near Namba and Shinsujibashi dropping into shops and picking up some food.
For dinner we made a reservation for a Mexican restaurant near Dotonbori. Massive margheritas, nachos and enchiladas. The food was great, and it shows by how busy the place was still at 10pm. It had been open since the late 70’s with the décor to match and it had a great atmosphere.
Steps: 27,290
Day 14
Checked out Tsuruhashi and Korea Town. Loved the market – dimly lit maze of numerous food and clothing vendors. Stopped to have some Korean stew and pancakes and it was delicious. One of the best meals of the trip.
Shinsekai in the evening. What I can describe as the armpit of Osaka. We loved it. Dirty? Yes. Rowdy? Yes. Rough around the edges with a red light district to top it all off. We had Kushikatsu to finish the evening off. Fried stuff on a stick – of course it going to be tasty but it wasn’t exactly flavour town.
Steps: 23,777
Day 15
Took the train to Minoh and hiked up the trail to see the waterfall. Hike was easy in comparison to Mt Misen and the waterfall was very cool to see. Had a wonder around Minoh stopping for some lunch at a Ramen bar.
We went to the Team lab botanical gardens in the evening. It was very awe inspiring seeing all the installations lit up.
After sampling Japanese McDonalds (I had a burger where the buns were made out of rice) we went for some drinks at Zerro. We liked this bar a lot, the guys working there were very friendly and it had a good vibe.
We then sat and watched the skaters at triangle park with some beers from the konbini before going to see Dj Masda at Circus until around 4am. This area of Osaka was such a vibe and came back here a few times over our 6 days here. Overall, a very fun evening.
Steps: 26,130
Day 16
Woke up chronically hungover but powered on and went to see a baseball game. You’re allowed to bring food and drink into the stadium (as long as alcohol is in plastic/paper cups) so we grabbed some beers and snacks from family mart. We had no idea what was happening but the atmosphere was electric and we enjoyed getting pissed and cheering.
Had a nap and then went to Hafez for middle eastern food. The food was good but not amazing, nothing in comparison to my local middle eastern restaurant back home. Chilled around the Namba park/Big step area. Loved this area so much, we are big into street fashion and culture so this place really ticked some boxes. Lots of skaters and street wear stores concentrated around here. Got an early night watching Battle Royale back at the hostel.
Steps: 22,065
Day 17
Today we went to the Umeda area. Popped into some shopping centres and had Omurice for lunch. It was tasty but not something I will crave when back home. Good experience trying it though. We then walked through Yodoyobashi along the rivers and got gelato and sat in the rose garden. The sun was beating down and we enjoyed just chilling in the sun eating our ice cream.
Compufunk Records were holding a party in their store. Decent gaff with some very welcoming and kind people to party with until the early hours.
Steps: 21,267
Day 18
We reluctantly left Osaka for Hakone today. Very sad to go but onwards to the next adventure. Took the shinkansen to Odawara and then the Hakone Tozan Train to Gora. Checked into our Ryokan and relaxed in the Onsen for a few hours.
Went for a walk around Gora and had dinner at the Ryokan before watching Predator in bed.
Steps: 16,926
Day 19
Today we did the Hakone Loop, starting early in Gora.
Started with the Open-air museum and it was great. We loved the installation and ended up spending 3 hours slowly making our way round. Got some cool photos as well for the gram.
Ropeway to Lake Ashi. This was absolutely terrifying. You have to swap cable cars 3 times on the way over and the warnings of the service being suspended due to the wind was announced at each stop. I’m not going to ruin the surprise, but one section made me literally freeze in terror due to the winds outside so try to do it on a calm weather day.
We then took the pirate boat (bit underwhelming) across the Lake and stopped for some soba noodles and a wander around. Unfortunately it was way too cloudy to even get a chance at seeing Mt Fuji.
Train to Kamakura and checked into our super cute traditional hostel near the beach.
Dinner at an Izakaya from the hostel owners recommendation. Food great and beers slipped down a treat. First time I tried Yuzu Kosho as well – I’m now addicted to the stuff and literally cover all my food with it.
Steps: 19,512
Day 20
A slow start to the morning. Weather was pretty bad but we still managed to hit all the main sights in Kamakura. Big Buddha was a refreshing sight from the temples. Did some shopping up Komachi Dori. Highlight of the day was Hukokaji temple. It was so peaceful and zen in the rain with its very own matcha tea ceremony backdropped by bamboo forest. This turned out to be our second favourite temple/shrine we visited, just being beaten by Kodaji.
In the evening we went for Sushi at a conveyor belt place. Figured this would probably be my last Japanese sushi of the trip so devoured 7000 yen worth of sushi and beer. Went back to the hostel and invited some of the other guests to drink with us. The owner of the hostel had some bayberry homebrew, so we got stuck into that.
Steps: 20,494
Day 21
Enoshima Island is just a 25 min train from Kamakura. Started off the day by walking to the top of the island to get French toast and a beer with a lovely view across the bay. We then headed up the Sea candle to check out the observation deck, still the illusive Mt Fuji hides behind the clouds.
We then bought admission to the caves beneath the island which was pretty cool. I won’t ruin the surprise but there’s something waiting for you at the end of one of the caves.
Had an explore around the rockpools near the caves and took some cool photos. We then had a pizza with fish on which was pretty crazy. Walked around the island a little bit more and I picked up some more Japanese denim which wasn’t the cheapest but the quality of the trousers are great and will last me a lifetime.
Back to Tokyo in the evening.
Went for Izakaya around Asakusa and popped into a couple bars. One was called Not Suspicious and the whole bar was covered in handwritten notes by patrons. Very touristy but quite cool at the same time. Our favourite was a drawing of Mario saying It’s a Me Muthafucka.
Steps: 25,903
Day 22
First stop was Don Quiojte to pick up some Yuzu Kosho (if you know you know) and weird flavoured KitKats.
Kappabashi Dougu street to purchase a fine Japanese carbon stell Santoku. Honestly in love with this knife so much. The people at the store were very happy to hear exactly what I was looking for and even let me try before you buy on some daikon radish.
While in Asakusa I had to return to the place where I put the best thing in my mouth in Japan. Motenashi Kuroki. Switched it up this time and had their classic Shio ramen plus the duck rice as a side. Honestly this place is amazing, and you have to go there if you have time. They aren’t veggie/pescy friendly so my partner went for one last round of sushi round the corner. We met up at a massage chair parlour and spent 30 mins relaxing in the chairs.
We had a bright idea to watch the sunset one last time so headed over to the rooftop park on a department store in Shibuya. Sipping on an ice cold Kirin, the sun slowly dropped behind the distant mountains and we knew our trip had come to an end. How symbolic.
Flight at 11pm from Haneda.
Steps: 23,187
On reflection:
I honestly think this trip was almost perfect in terms of hitting our interests and travel style. There was a good balance of doing the typical first time visit to Japan sights and activities while still exploring and seeing what we came across in the moment.
It hard to pinpoint exact highlights of the trip as everywhere we visited had so much going for it in different ways. We loved the rugged and trendy vibe to Osaka, and I think this would be the city I would most want to live in for a considerable amount of time (If I had to choose). Miyajima was also stunning and a great overnight trip with the Ryokan experience. We also underestimated how much we would enjoy Kamakura with its laid-back surfer vibe and access to Enoshima Island.
One random memorable moment that has stuck with me was when we landed at Narita airport, we took the limo bus to Shinjuku. As the driver pulled away, all the staff at the station turned and bowed in unison. It felt so special to first observe a culture totally opposite to the one I grew up with and was at this point I knew I had embarked on the trip of a lifetime.
If I could go back and change something I would probably miss out Hakone and do an extra day in one of the major cities. This isn’t because we didn’t enjoy Hakone, but we feel like it’s a place that needs more time to soak in what’s going on around you (plus the weather was bad when we were there). This being said the Open-Air Museum was amazing and we enjoyed it more than the Teamlab botanical gardens so the trip up the mountains was worth it just for that.
So, how much did we spend per person (not inc flights)?
Accommodation - £765pp
Given that we spent a couple nights in Ryokans raising the average price slightly, we were pretty happy with the accommodation costs. We stayed in a mix of private room and shared dorm hostels and pretty much all of them were spot on. Travelling as a couple meant that anywhere with a private room split the price between 2. The only hostel we didn’t like was the one in Hiroshima, there wasn’t anything in particularly wrong with it, there was just a really bad vibe from the owner and other guests.
Transport - £344pp
This includes shinkansen to and from all the major cities as well as our suica top ups for metros and buses. Unless your itinerary is something like 3 days Tokyo, 2 days Osaka 2 days Kyoto then there really isn’t any point getting the JR pass now that the price has increased.
Activities – £280pp
It is hard to give an exact amount for activities and food as 1) I didn’t track what we spent our cash on and 2) my partner and I would take in turns paying for things like temple admission. That being said I’ve allocated 25% of the cash we spent to activities such as temple admission. Activities includes our baseball tickets plus club entries as well as temple and museum admissions etc.
Food – £962pp
As above, its hard to give an exact amount for food. On the whole we tried to eat cheap with possible, especially at the start of our trip. There were a few expensive meals peppered in plus we ate out twice a day towards the end of our trip as we realised we were under budget.
The total is a bit skewed as this includes all the alcohol we bought in bars as well as the konbini trips for beers and cigarettes. I estimate that booze accounts for around a third of the total per person. If you would like to do Japan on a budget, reducing the booze will make a big difference.
Shopping/Souvenirs/Gifts – £607 (just me)
We went hard with the shopping. We didn’t actually receive our checked in luggage until day 19 so we had to buy all new clothes and cosmetics. If this wasn’t the case, then I don’t think I would have spent so much (airline is comping us for the additional clothing bought anyway). I also bought a fairly expensive chef knife and Japanese denim pieces, plus lots of gifts for friends and family. Obviously, this number could theoretically 0 if you are on a serious budget and did no shopping but I really underestimated Japanese shopping, especially thrifting. Also, given our cheap choices when it came to accommodation we could afford to splurge. However just to note my partner spent less than half than I did on shopping.
Total: £2958 (582,628 yen at time of writing)
I kept within my budget of £3000. I definitely got a bit frivolous with the cash in the last few days or so, if being as careful as I was towards the start of the trip, I think the total would be closer to £2500.
Disappointments
Takoyaki. We thought it was going to be all about the octopus but were disappointed with our balls of sloppy goo surrounding tiny chewy pieces of octopus. We tried it twice and couldn’t get behind it. Sorry Takoyaki fans.
Arashiyama. Way too busy, especially around the main station and bamboo grove. If it’s the bamboo you are going to see, then Kodaji is a much better spot.
Dotonburi. Albeit we were there in golden week, and it was pretty busy. However, I get the feeling this area has fallen to the past its golden days title and has become a bit of a cash cow for places selling spiralised potatoes on a stick. The area around Namba park was a better option for us.
Tips
Konbini. Absolute life saver for snacks and drinks on the go. The food quality for a convenience store is higher than most other countries so we had no problem with grabbing a meal from one to help keep within our budget.
Don’t over pack – even though we didn’t get our checked in bags, I still packed light so had plenty of space to bring stuff back. Emirates give you your allowance by weight rather than number of baggage so we could check in additional bags on the way back.
Don’t be scared of hostels. If you don’t want to brave the shared dorms, then most hostels offer private rooms with just the shower and toilet shared. Obviously, it’s cheaper if there are two people sharing a room.
Don’t stress about cash. Most places take debit/credit card and if they don’t, you’re never more than 5 minutes from a konbini ATM.
For us, golden week didn’t seem that big of an issue. No problems booking shinkansen around GW. We spent most of GW in Osaka, as such it was going to be busy anyway so maybe we didn’t see much of a difference from normal numbers in the spring.

I'm not going to vent here about my freshman relationship. I'll just. Explain below She was taller, half Japanese, and sexually and emotionally controlling and abusive. Her goal was to financially cripple me to prove to our small town highschool she 'wasn't racist'
So this show is on netflix. THIS. FUCKING. SHOW. Mother issues, absent father, difficulty with peers, and bullying. Having her arranged lover sell her out and enable her first abuser (because neglect is abuse when you are a minor and depend on someone for your very survival). This is a horrible and terrifying way to live.
None of it excuses the frustration that ringo feels at either being told he is disruptive or a full-on burden to her cause. To find out over and over that she deliberately put people in harms way because she wanted to kill her father and his co-workers (brothers?)
It is not an excuse to burn down the palace because she wanted to get his revenge. It was a public disaster for everyone, men, women, children, Japanese folk of all kinds have no homes.
The castle, the ginger man; Abaja Fowler, was destroyed. That sigh was it used to lure just hold him, or was it an artifact of her culture?
And yet she learns to be softer;
'Okay, I'll teach you', 'This isn't your fight it's mine', 'Keep sword father from time and harm.', 'You shouldn't do that ever again. I earn money now'. 'How much for one night? How much for three?' 'I wish you a success day of business' 'The broken blade fits well in your hand' 'Can you walk?' 'If it was his right hand, consider your self avenged' '
I've only seen this series once, and I'm trying to rewatch. I, as a black man who turned to anime to comfort myself in a horrible southern highschool And now I know other people would have fought harder. Mizu, given the choice, would have done more; He should be dead by drowning. It was nothing I did to deserve her (my ex) wrath.
THIS is how gendernon-conforming half Asian people should act. Focused and flawed, unwilling to listen to reason, have you seen her in a fight? Faithful to everything he believes without a second thought.
For once, netflix did something right.

I decided to start the AIP diet after reading about connections between chronic inflammation and repeated pregnancy loss. I've had two miscarriages in the last seven months, and am wondering if an underlying inflammation issue may be contributing. I've not had a previous autoimmune diagnosis, but wanted to see if following the diet would produce positive effects that might lead to a successful pregnancy in the near future.
I'm on my second week. Following the diet hasn't been terribly difficult (I've done Paleo/Whole30 in the past), but I've been surprised at how constipated I've felt since the first day. I've also noticed my sleep quality has become really poor. I used to have no problems falling asleep and staying asleep through the night - now it takes me much longer to feel sleepy, and the sleep I do get feels "thin". I don't feel rested when I wake up. I've also somehow gained weight, even though I'm eating fewer calories (but a still healthy amount, I'm not hungry when I'm going to bed).
My meals have mostly been meat + 2 AIP-approved veg, reaching 30 g of protein per meal, snacks are usually fruit and jerky, and I'm still drinking caffeine (black tea/oolong/green tea in the morning until ~ noon, but not after). I'm drinking ~120 oz of water a day, a lift weights 3-4 times a week, and play tennis 3x a week.
Any advice (especially for the constipation)?

Here is the list of Movies/Shows Roaring Kitty has referenced in his tweets. Take from it what you may:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Wolverine, Breaking Bad, Avengers, Game of Thrones, V is for Vendetta, X-Men Days of future, Gangs of New York, Drive (robbery and getaway scene), Sherlock, Fast and the Furious (from “See you again” video), Kavinsky Nightcall, clip titled “Thuglife - drifting car”, Remember the Titans, Endgame, The good the bad and the ugly, Avengers Infinity War, Tombstone, Pirates of the Caribbean, Men in Black, Peaky Blinders - “We are going to be busy for a few weeks brother“, Snatch, Troy, Mad Max Fury Road, Kingsman the Secret Service, Old boy, Ocean’s Eleven, The girl with the Dragon tattoo - “Just up“, Old school, Mr. Robot, Scream, Candyman, No Country for Old Men

Warning long post.
Men of Reddit that have had successful long term relationships please help.
My current relationship me 33M her 31F unofficially started around two years ago. Met on Facebook dating and had a great date but we both had recently exited our past relationships and weren’t really looking to settle down. We hung out regularly, went to concerts and hooked up. This lasted for basically a year.
The last half of that year she was telling me she wanted something real with me and she had never felt this way. I had similar feelings and after a year of courting we became officially a couple.
Within a few weeks of becoming a couple it comes out that she had hooked up with multiple other people and even dated a guy for a few weeks because she genuinely thought I would never move forward with her. She had told me he was a friend during that time and there was at least one more that she hooked up with.
I took some time and really considered leaving her. My heart was completely broken, yes we weren’t official but we had had a conversation where we both agreed we were just sleeping with each other. In the end I decided to forgive her since I wasn’t perfect and was definitely wishy washy about it. Typically we’re both highly sexual people and I realize if I was an attractive woman I may have done what she did.
Now we’re a year in, no cheating… I’ve watched closely. We’ve blocked countless Random’s on Instagram etc. she’s been pretty good about changing those habits and making me feel secure. Our sex like up until recently was amazing. Like twice a day was a slow day. I loved that about her because I’ve always been high libido.
In February she gets pregnant and basically since then we don’t have any physical intimacy. Idk what to do, this has poisoned past relationships for me. I’m trying to be understanding that she’s pregnant and feels weird but it still gets to me.
So two questions

1. Does anyone have tips on how to get a woman interested in sex more often? I’m doing everything I can to not be a pest to her about it and spend my time cleaning, cooking and taking care of the house. Any other things I can try?
   
2. How do I stop ruminating on this? I constantly crave her and feel bitter that she was so sexual for so many others and even risked losing me for those sexual experiences but here I am wanting to build a life with her and I can’t even get the slightest attention once a month? That thought narrative just makes me bitter about the whole thing.
   
3. Will her sex drive come back? I’m basically swallowing the pill that I won’t have a sex life for a year and then there will be a screaming baby in the house.
   

"In the heart of this darkness, the human spirit alit and led the world to peace. The contest between the Surgix and the Arfim had escalated and the Surgix had shown that they were capable of harmful actions equal to those that humans are capable of. The Surgix continued to cause harm to the Arfim until the humans intervened. It is not the fault of the humans that the Surgix refused to cease, and that the humans resorted to eliminating all of the Surgix and dismantling their infrastructure with the use of projected explosive tools they categorize as 'weapons'. The humans obviously hesitated when the Surgix were in orbit to continue the contest. See the evidence that the humans attempted to warn the Surgix that they were being perceived as a threat before they reduced the star fleet to zero." Grand Defender Osowl Fitten described the actions of the humans of Tarnak. To the humans in the courtroom, she looked like some kind of armored sea otter and her setting on the servo preferred to translate her words in the voice of Park Eun-Bin, a human she admired. Her defense relied on showing that the humans had fought humanely and to protect the Arfim from the aggressions of the Surgix.
"In conclusion, I'd like to mention that projections of what the Surgix would have done to the Arfim would result in the extinction of the Arfim, had not the humans intervened. Because the humans do not have the means or the methods that would have resolved this any other way, their only other option would be to step aside and allow the Surgix to continue their campaign against the Arfim. It is not in human nature to stand idle and watch innocents suffer, without feeling compelled to intervene.
We have already accepted human nature, but we have not accepted the human species into Cave Gods And Friends Association. Since humans are not part of our allegiance, should their actions be held to our governing, or to our policies? Should they be required to follow our rules, and also receive no privileges or protections? The humans acted independently, and yet, with the exception of the nature of their actions, the spirit of their efforts does seem to align with our way of doing things."
Osowl Fitten sat down and closed her flax-colored eyes. Behind her the commanders of the human military were seated, wearing their uniforms with chevrons representing their degree of knowledge of warfare, a distinctly human endeavor. Unfortunately, the degree of human warfare so greatly exceeded the nasty business of the Surgix horde, that the result was the swift and efficient eradication of all Surgix equipment, fortifications and the Surgix themselves, who were actually killed by the humans - but only as a last resort when the Arfim refugees were pursued into human territory. Images of the humans firing warning shots and using sound amplifiers with recordings of Surgix in distress to attempt to warn the Surgix before they committed to using harmful actions on them.
When nothing would stop the Surgix advance, the humans were triggered into a state of war, and then they used harmful actions to remove all things Surgix, resulting in a morbid peace, during which the Arfim began to recover and rebuild, with human assistance.
"Ladies and gentlemen, bringers of peace and harmony, esteemed artists, conflict-resolvers, lend to me your attention." The Blue Light Watcher, a species the humans saw as anthropomorphic tarantulas, had a device that instantly spoke in perfect mechanical English, whatever her urticators vibrated. Her name was Exalted Inquisitor Ghox Byle, and like Osowl Fitten, she had an exceptionally successful career.
"Two years ago, the Surgix sued for peace. This is because the humans attacked them on Tarnak IV, the last remaining colony of the Surgix in the Tarnak System. The severity and brutality of this attack must be noted. It does not show any sort of restraint until after the Surgix surrendered. Even after the Surgix had surrendered, individual human soldiers killed Surgix that were trying to surrender. Therefore, despite the description of the Battle of Tarnak and the repelled Surgix Invasion of Tarnak, there was a third, much darker chapter in which the human generals decided to attack the remaining Surgix forces before they could possibly launch a second invasion attempt.
This sort of excessive use of violence is a uniquely human capability. Not even the Surgix were ready to engage humans in this sort of contest. The Surgix have renounced war, disarmed themselves and have applied for membership in Cave Gods And Friends Association. The humans, they don't even want to join, they have said to us that they don't need our guidance, that they are capable of making moral choices on their own. This arrogance, coupled with their extreme capabilities in conflict resolution, should mean that those among us who have made preparations to deal with the humans, should be allowed to utilize those preparations." Exalted Inquisitor Ghox Byle concluded.
Osowl Fitten stood alone in the interrogation suite. The memory of that courtroom moment was considered by the Sunder tribunal. No Cave Gods were summoned, and Osowl had already stated that she found this to be a court-martial, and her compulsory cooperation was only because her friends were held captive.
An artificial human-sounding voice, not too different from a famous K-Pop singer from the twenty-second century of the humans before their ascension spoke disembodied, translated from the Sunder administration's shadow government, on some distant moon in the Basilik system.
"You think the humans are just trying to get help from the Sunder to make new weapons in preparation for a possible invasion by the Unknown. Why wouldn't you consider that we have no recognition of this mythology? We are not as sentimental about superstitions as the Cave Gods, and we will be the judges this time, for once. No Cave Gods will sit there groveling in prayer and meditation trying to make some higher moral decision. It has become tedious."
"You disregard what unites us. Your cowardice is beneath me. Take me to a proper courtroom and we will formally debate this. Where is Eshka Layenna?" Osowl's eyes were bright red and tinted with jagged black veins. She was outraged by the indignity.
"We have decided to dispose of the prisoners on a timeline aligned with the conclusion of these proceedings." The Sunder said, oddly accenting the English, as though the voice preferred another language, and it was just one more layer to the indignations.
"You show them these defenses of mine, then?" Osowl flittered a yellow shimmer across her eyes and fell silent, considering a different approach.
"Well, are you without any argument? This concludes these proceedings." The hidden Sunder spoke.
"You would not consider the thespian nature of our arrest to be sufficient trade, to warrant our expedition a circus, and therefore overturn the verdict?" Osowl asked. "When I leave I will mention these proceeding concluded with such a question. Perhaps you will consider your reputation as ruthful judges to prioritize over the satisfaction of a precedent of victory over human crime won only with this silly court-martial."
"Uh. No. Well. Actually, we have reconsidered. We admit such a question is entered into these proceedings and that we have heard that question."
"And?" Osowl prompted their response, making a prompting coughing noise.
"We have noted the popularity and uniqueness of the Phoenix Hawk's arrival classifies it as a circus, technically. If that is really what you are claiming, and not to buy weapons?"
"I never intended to buy weapons, nor can I confirm that my companions expected to be able to either. Mostly we just wanted to visit and articulate in-character the mythologies you have said are never more than sentiment. Sounds to me like a circus." Osowl had already thought of her words before they asked, and answered with a quickness that assured her veracity was intact.
"In that case, the verdict is overturned. Unbelievable." said the voice of the Sunder.
"One more thing. Since Eshka Layenna is now free, I veto her reparations be in the form of restoring all forms of her authority as an Exalted Inquisitor, that way you aren't embarrassed by these proceedings." Osowl big brained.
"Of course. That makes perfect sense." the voice decided.
Eshka Layenna was released and her authority was restored promptly. She took her seal and issued a command for the research and development of mass-scale plasma shielding that might protect a fleet of ships from bombardment in space and the manufacture of all forms of ammunition on Admiral Jinar's shopping list. This infuriated Administrator Ihanna Kelele, who was obligated to obey the orders.
As they left, the humans asked about Tarnak IV and Tarnac, the home world of the Riftin. It turned out they were coincidentally named very similarly, but the two planets were in different systems and quite distinct. The humans thought this was funny for some reason.
"Historically your species has the most adaptive sense of humor, but I fear the Riftin might give you humans a run for your money?" Osowl attempted, botching it horribly.
"No! - that's just hilarious, a what for our what?" Jinar and her soldier died laughing.

Shrek orge mann is going to start off his week by getting a divorce with fiona because she ate all of his amazing freshly picked onions straight out the store. After breaking up with Fiona, he is going to buy a mini plane and fly all the way to Switzerland, where he can stay in an AirBNB. This house replicates his house in the swamp, and therefore he likes it a lot and stays there awhile. There he will start a yummy glass company with his companion Donkey (Ryder) and they will start off slow. Eventually they will grow and have a successful business, changing their names to Walter and Jessie. the CIA (Lord farquad and his men) then catch on to their act, and proceed to raid his AIrBNB in Switzerland and steal all of their furniture. Little does Lord Farquad know they are one step ahead, as they flee to New Mexico where they lay low for 5 weeks 3 days to avoid Lord Farquad and his men. Lord Farquaad eventually calls it a lost case, but that's where Shrek and Donkey start their business back up, and within a week they have a name for themselves and within a month they make $552,000. EACH. They then retire from their evil business and life of crime and look into buying a local gym. The duo then goes and proceeds to buy a gym membership to test gyms around the local spots and eventually will travel the world to find the best gym that they can settle for. They get absolutely shredded over the course of about 5 days, which leads them to be the strongest du to ever live and exist. After this feat, Shrek goes to find a nice shawty (Curvy lady to accompany him in his amazing journeys and love him forever unconditionally just like his mom), who is she? Thou is no other than Fiona 2.0. She's badder, she's better, and all around more sigma and dopamine inducing. They then go to Hawaii for their honeymoon, BUT THEY GET RAIDED. Farquad and his men are there waiting at the hotel and arrest Donkey Shrek and Fiona 2.0 They get trialed for 60 years no parole and get sent away. But shrek has a master plan, he pulls an old fashioned el chapo and hires the gingerbread man and pinocchio to dig a tunnel under his and donkeys cell to escape. After 5 months they finally reach their cells, with 2 dirt bikes to ride away to freedom. They both escape and once they do they flee to Russia where they drink mad amounts of vodka. Then after 10 years they finally settle in Canada where they drink syrup and say Oki Doki all day long.

Some added information: This hypothetical arc 4 takes place around 7 years after flames of hope, contact between pantala and pyhria has been cut off somehow, and the seawings sent out to contact pantala have instead found polreca, filled with new dragons, and a war
New continent: Polreca
Polreca is a third continent in the wings of fire world, the largest out of the three, with five tribes to inhabit it
Geography:
At the center of Polreca, we have the active volcano Flaming Peak, and the palace of the Cavewings, nearby in the surrounding area charred by the volcano's eruptions, we have the Flamewing palace, and on a mountain rivaling the size of jade mountain, (or agate mountain before the landslide in legends darkstalker) we see the Thunderwing palace, placed by the northern shore of Polreca is the coastal redwoods forest you see the Sizzlewing palace, and dotted around we have some of the few cave openings with direct paths to the areas where Protowings make their homes.
New tribes:
Thunderwings
Thunderwings are dragons with instead of four legs and two wings they have two legs and two wings, They also breathe lightning, they live in the tallest mountains in Polrecah, they are very intelligent dragons, smarter than the nightwings ever will be, this would lead to some beef between the two tribes, they often fly into storms for fun, with them having scales that have direct nerve connections with a lightning pouch in their throat, they can gain electricity from being struck by lightning, but they also have another organ that allows them to breathe electricity without being struck by lightning first, it is common for the queen and her challenger before a battle for the throne to go into a large lightning storm to charge up, this is also where the challenge takes place. However, thunderwings must be careful, because if they aren’t, they may be inflicted with “storm sickness” an affliction that is caused by overcharging in a lightning storm, leading to less energy, weak lightning breath, and fatigue, storm sickness can last anywhere from 2-3 days, to 3-10 years, and can even be permanent
They are named after different storms, cloud formations, etc.
Queen: Queen Thunderclap
Princess: Cumulonimbus
Prince: Typhoon
Characters of note: Stratus (a pale thunderwing with a keen mind for innovation, and if he gets angry enough, you don’t want to be in his way)
Flamewings
Flamewings, are the most Phyrria and Pantala esc dragons on Polreca, they are similar to skywings with flamescales, except that’s their entire population, though instead of breathing fire, they breath ice oddly enough, this works by gathering all of their cold into a sac in their throat, and allowing it to be expelled along with their liquid nitrogen like saliva, creating ice cold enough to induce frostbite in even icewings, however this equates to normal frost breath effects on other Flamewings due to their scales being super heated, they live near Flaming Peak, the active volcano at the center of Polreca, they are capable of living here due to their scales being able to withstand the heat of the lava.
Their names often follow along the lines of wildfire, ash, charcoal, etc.
Queen: Queen Ash
Princess: Wildfire
Characters of note: Princess wildfire (A somewhat shy dragon, with a burning desire to be a strong and reliable leader for her people, and during the first few books she butts heads with Echo often)
Protowings
Protowings are ancient dragons, from long before the scorching, living fossils so to speak, they have no fire breath, no venom, no gills, no camouflage, no silk, no frost breath, and their wings don't allow for self powered flight, but do allow for short glides, their scales/skin is thin and almost salamander like, they are an assorted amount of colors from black to white to red to blue and everything in between, they require water to lay their shelless eggs in, oh yeah they have eggs similar to amphibians, their lifespan is up to 500 years old and they are considered adults at 200, they live in small communities, of about 15 adult individuals maybe more that aren't adults, living in deep caves underground, where even seawings have trouble seeing, this darkness has never bothered the protowings, they are not that big, the oldest being about the size of clay in book 1, and they feed off of moss that grows in the caves and small bugs that also make the caves their home, their claws are dull, and their fangs small and useless, leading to then making rudimentary tools out of assorted rocks, with obsidian being commonly used, they have perfected hoard mentality, when one is threatened they release a call that can echo through the caves easily, this alerts the rest of their community, allowing them to swarm the threat and bring it down, they also commonly have severe photo phobia, fear of the light, meaning that if you want to see them you need to catch one while its hunting or foraging nearby, they are masters of their caves, easily being able to navigate thanks in no small part to their echolocation and gecko-like feet.
How they are named differs from community to community, in one, they might be named after cave formations like the Cavewings, in others they may be named similar to the cats from the warriors series(which Sutherland also worked on) with a prefix and a suffix.
Queen: they have no queen as they have no main kingdom
Characters of note: beetle’s leg, bug’s jaw
Cavewings
Cavewings are underground living dragons with no wings and stone like scales with different colored scales dotting their hide like gems, they live in the caves all across Polreca, not as deep as the protowings, but pretty deep, they have night vision, echolocation (like the protowings), and they are the greediest of all dragons, they also have scales that are near impenetrable, to the point that even things like flamesilk and rainwing venom have a hard time getting through, they are also effective burrowers and capable of launching themselves high into the air with no ceiling obstructing them high enough to snatch flying Flameings out of the air when the try to cross the border, making them near impossible to attack which is bad because the Flamewings and Cavewings are at war, they also do not eat like other dragons, they use lava they find by their main palace in Flaming Peak to cook their prey alive, dunking it in the lava and holding it there until it is thoroughly charred, and eat it like that, but certain groups use Flamewings to cook their meals, this has been announced to the flamewings that it was made illegal by the queen but this practice is unfortunately getting used more and more, with “rumors” stating that the queen has only said that she made it illegal but has in fact encouraged it, even going as far to say that she has three Flamewings at all times to cook her meals, hence why they are at war with the Flamewings.
They are often named after cave formations and minerals
Queen: Queen Stalagmite
Princess(s): Echo, Stalactite, and Cavern
Prince(s): Ravine, Drip, and Bat
Characters of note: Prince Ravine (a large cavewing who has no real friends outside of the other protagonists, his attacks have been described as “feeling like being hit by a mountain”)
Princess Echo (A smart cavewing with what her mother and sisters call “a weird obsession with the flamewings” Saying “They are nothing but tools for us to use” Echo is of course disgusted by the fact her family thinks like that)
Sizzlewings
Sizzlewings are effectively snakes with wings, and masters of venom, poison, etc, they have the unique ability to synthesize venom of things they eat, able to eat say, a dragonbite viper and create a venom that mixes their Rainwing esc venom with it, you see, by “default” their venom is similar to a rainwing, but their venom is slow acting, meaning if it gets on any other dragon, (aside from Flamewings and Cavewings) they will be slowly burnt and horribly scarred, but when they hatch they have venom that is no worse than a bee sting, but when they turn 14 their venom glands are fully developed and their venom would make a rainwing blush, they have full immunity their own venom and how they fight is that they wrap their enemy in their body, and bite them, shooting venom directly into their body and watching them squirm and perish, slowly, and painfully, this actually leads into their most common profession: Assassins and mercenaries, the sizzlewings are widely known to be a tribe who will side with whoever pays the most, at one time often splitting to become defense squadrons for different tribes and fighting each other, but ever since their “great tusked one” arrived they have lived by three rules: #1, always listen to the tusked ones descendents, the royal family, #2 never splinter off into their own factions, #3 most importantly of all, no killing other Sizzlewings outside of succession battles,
This “Great tusked one” came at a time when the tribe was splintered into three factions, called Toxin, Poison, and fang, The “tusked one” as he is known by in the royal family was an old male Sizzlewing, he was huge and had massive tusks, instead of fangs, his descendents, also have these tusks, but they still have fangs, the tusked one has long since died, nobody knows for certain where he came from, or even how old he was, but that he was strong, yet kind, he was the one who forced the three factions to sit together and decide on the three rules, and he helped them merge together. However, Queen toxin has had a queen coral situation, where there were no princess’ until slither, where the only times eggs would survive, would be when the assassin was caught with a band over their face, until toxin herself slept by her egg, nearly starving herself, and now she allows her daughter to play, but under supervision.
They are often named along the lines of toxin, venom, stinger, etc. baby Sizzlewings are called “acidlings” until they turn 15
Queen: Queen toxin
Princess: Slither
Prince(s): Stinger, Viper, Venom, and about 12 or so more
Characters of note: Princess Slither (a small sizzlewing with a cold demeanor and will not hesitate to leave you behind if you can’t keep up, she uses her nonthreatening appearance to her advantage, luring her targets into a false sense of confidence, only to suddenly be writhing on the ground, begging for death,)
protagonists* for this hypothetical arc 4:
Bone (one of my OC’s, a sandwing Pronouns: He/Him)
Bloodcrest (an OC of a friend of mine, a nightwing, pronouns:She/Her, was hatched under two full moons, with the crescent third moon being a blood moon)
Princess Wildfire
Princess Echo
Stratus
Beetle’s leg, his friends call him Beetle, or they would if he had any, as he says so himself. (a large protowing with piercing eyes that can unsettle even the bravest warriors, he has gray scales with black speckles dotting his face, he also has golden wings that he has been told by the other protagonists [friends?] make him look very beautiful, and a total goofball, has a scar on his eye from fighting the protowing that killed his mother)
Other protagonists:
Prince Ravine (has a crush on wildfire)
Princess Slither
Antagonists for this hypothetical arc 4:
Queen Stalagmite
Princess Stalactite
Bug’s jaw (beetle’s leg’s father and leader of his community, a gray protowing with red spots around his eyes and green stripes down his back)
Hybrids: The dragons native to Polreca cannot hybridize with each other, however the Cavewings and Flamewings can. The Polreca tribes can hybridize with other dragons from the other continents, although most of them are flamewing hybrids.
Flamewing-cavewing: I call them magmawings, they look like cavewings with a sort of heatblast from ben 10 look (god that reboot looks awful.)
Sizzlewing-rainwing: long protruding fangs and serrated teeth, sizzlewing like body with color changing abilities.
Flamewing-skywing: very similar to a skywing with firescales, but they breathe steam due to their heritage.
Flamewing-mudwing: leads to a big wings big enough to swallow a human whole, also breathes boiling steam.
*characters that have a book told from their POV.

Hi my love, my name is Dahani (points for you if you know how to pronounce that) and I am a very feminine individual who dresses and lives everyday as a woman. In other words, I’m trans but I don’t really like using the label and wish not to take that away from actual trans men and women.
I’m here looking for my long distance boyfriend! I don’t mind online dating and I actually believe that dating online can be done successfully if both parties are opened and honest with each other.
More than anything I’m looking for a friend, someone I can call and talk to about my day, work, movies, games, life, etc. and vice versa. I want to be someone’s “person” you know when you’re talking to your friends and I call and you say that “it’s your person” I think that’s so cute.
You’re body shape, race, sexuality don’t matter to me, I do prefer if you’re either older than me or around the same age as me (27) everything else is just extra!!
My phone is sssuuupperrr dry! So long distanced boyfriend ppppllleeeaaasseee hurry!!
I want to do all the cute long distance things couples do like ABC date and video chat date where we dress up as if we were going out in person. Just all the cute things we can do so I can make a cute collage video and post it online for the world to see…..ok ok that’s a bit much but yeah ABC dating and having virtual dates is for sure ideal!
Ok this post is long enough and I’m sure you’re a busy man but if you happen to stumble upon this and by some miracle you enjoyed reading this well then when’s the wedding?

It’s a little scattered doing it on my phone. I’ll get home and clean it up. But I want peoples input. I really think this would work and it’s totally realistic. I think CIG needs some guidance and the medical changes offer the perfect moment to add these features in the game.
I have been a developer for years and I can see CIG trying balance what’s realistic and what they promised. Every startup I was with came to a point where they realized their proposals were far too aggressive, and the higher ups would not even listen to ideas unless they were easy to implement.
So, I’ve been trying to come up with ideas that take minimal effort for maximum gains. These are fairly simple, but will add depth or will lay the groundwork for easy future development.
I think this is the perfect topic for my first idea. The medical system is tricky, but so important. Right now, the medical system is boring and doesn’t add much to the game and with a few tweaks it could add 25% more and be a major part imo while feeling more immersive and satisfying both parties. We need to look to other amazing games like Eve online and cyberpunk imo.
The hard-core fans want investment and death to cost. Now that I am older and have a family, I understand how hard it is to balance that in time to play Now that I am older and have a family, I understand how hard it is to balance that and time to play. It’s really hard to get your average gamer to want to invest 30 minutes to simply respawn.
So in my opinion, we need a system that…

1. Makes death inconvenient and costly but with several ways to pay the “bill”, not only costly at that moment so the player decides quitting is easier.
   
2. Makes the game far more immersive and makes the game deeper, not shallower. In real life in the future, in the future, medical would be a vast portion of warfare and finance and exploration and exploitation. Not just a glorified HP counter.
   
3. Makes all medical ships useful and relevant. Cannot have a shallow system where one ship is clearly the best.
   
4. Makes healthcare and biology affect all the other parts of the game…. It is our bodies and minds after all. In the future, the wealthy will modify their bodies, just like their ships.
   
5. Uses a lot of these modules that are currently window dressing, but have amazing application. Things like blood pressure and reflex times and damage reduction and bio scanners and the HUD and incorporates it to a tiered clone system.
   

TLDR is We need a Cyberpunk / Eve style futuristic bio medical system with weapons and implants that completely change a persons capabilities and a jump clone system that reflects this. T5-T1 clones 5 being a throwaway and 1 being a Spartan from Halo. T1 would have the exact HUD we have now with additional systems. T4 and less is like the game in photo mode with nothing. People take for granted how much information you get from the HUD and who would really have access to it?
The beauty of this is while it sounds like a lot and would add 25-50% more careers, economys, gameplay and strategy’s from a gameplay perspective. Its actually not much at all from a development point of view. It would reuse all of the current systems now, and add a few skills like scanning / hacking and weapons like EMP, Darts to humans. Generally, this is how it would work.
T5 clone is a meat bag with a 4 hour life used as a spare tire. It’s the base level. Operated similar to when you’re drunk because The damage from the cryo. You can do stuff, but you are very limited. They can be carried around in 1 SCU containers or special lockers in big ships for dangerous work like reactor repairs etc.
T4 clone is a meatbag the same we are inhabiting right now IRL. Basically this is exactly like you turning off the game hud in photo mode. These cannot be cold stored and reused. No HUD or endgame information input at all outside of your Moby glass watch.
T3 clone is the first of the implants. It can take one implant. Combat might allow thermal vision or the local map and radar and crosshair. Exploration might have the ability to bookmark or see things on your HUD that you scanned from your ship. Conversation might add elements to charisma and talking people into doing things, getting better prices on goods, or hearing rumors about opportunities, etc. Covert allow you to scan people and check their inventory and run checks on who they are, what crimes they have committed, etc.
Basically it’s a stripped down version of the hud that’s active all the time even without helmets. It has to work in tandem with your mobi. You have to select one element.
T2 clone has upgraded reflexes, can run longer, survive more dmg and has the complete HUD suite. It has the bandwidth and upgrades to support 1 implant and 1 physical modification. Everything CIG has been adding can be added to the HUD but you have to switch between exploration, combat, conversation, covert etc. 1 physiological mod or weapon. Like a brain hacking chip that can open ship doors, and emp that shut down all electronics in a 20 m radius for 15 seconds or a drone or fiber optics camera. Then there are all the illegal modifications like hidden blades, Multi launchers with everything from neurotoxin to EMP darts.
T1 clone is very costly and made for combat and for solo explorers who need complete autonomy. 20% more hp, and basically 20% better everything. It has the complete HUD with the ability to Connect to the data stream of two ships in your party. If your buddys ship detect an enemy ship coming in it would pop up in your actual vision as a big red square with information. You would have the ability to zoom without a helmet on and have limited scanning just like your ships function on everything.
It could 2 implants. 1 legal and 1 illegal implant. Emp, Hacker etc
It also has two physical modifications. Blades, darts etc
Also the tier 2 and 1 are the only clones that are not harmed using heavy or power armor. The others are slowly harmed by s by the rapid and jarring servos, etc. so they are all time limited.
Imagine how amazing this would make the universe in general. You would have ripper docs implanting stolen, or military implants. Corpses would now be valuable if they had upgraded organs for implants. People would become targets just for their implants.
If you killed an assassin coming after you, you could take his cool tools.
Sometimes corpses could be worth as much as a ship. You could actually ransom back bodies.
You could have a repo men coming to collect the implants. Organ traders and human traffickers.
But it would also make T1 and 2 ships completely necessary in combat because they were the only ones who could rec clone military units.
Best of all. All of this code is already there. All of the heads up display and all these cool features they’ve been adding Would be the implants themselves.
The game the Way it is it doesn’t make sense that a Moby glass can produce all of this data. It makes the game more immersive as well.
It doesn’t have to be over the top like cyberpunk. But we almost have brain implants now and everything is going wireless, you really think in the future they’re gonna be wearing a wristwatch? Everything will be brain implant and wetware.
With these easy changes, we solve our medical problems and add a ton of depth along with the ability to add as much depth as we want.
All you would need is to create the UI for this, but the game already has a lot of that with its biological scanners. All the balancing could happen by biologically if you’re using implants, etc.
Jump clones would cost a lot of money to make, and healthcare in real life is one of the most expensive things. But just like the hospital doesn’t make you pay your bill the moment you’re out of surgery, we need to spread the cost to a later time.
The time the player needs to respawn is usually after they have already planned and loaded up and executed, but didn’t succeed. This is time where casual players set aside their block of playable hours. (when the kids are asleep and wife is watching something etc) So by making it too costly at that moment, ( 30 minutes to an hour, getting geared up and in ship flying back) your odds are they will just quit, which is not engaging for other players and your odds of a major war or event go down drastically. What’s good for the game and what was so successful in Eve was the fights after the opening.
Instead the front loading all the time investment, Charge 5-25k for the biomaterial. spread the cost of the death to a later time and let them pay off their debt when they log back in.
We also want to make the smaller tier 3 ships necessary while not killing the t1 and 2 beds.

Hello! My name is Andrea Ramirez, and I am conducting a research study to fulfill the requirements for a Psy.D in Clinical Psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
The purpose of this study (IRB-FY23-260) is to measure anxiety, depression, and trauma symptomatology among a sample of adult gay men and compare results between two age-based cohorts.
You may participate in this study if:

• Must be between 18-99 years old.
• Must identify as a gay man.
• Must currently live in the United States.
• Must have lived in the United States during the AIDS epidemic and/or the 2022 mpox outbreak.

During this study, you will be asked to complete a 20-30 minute survey about your experiences with anxiety, depression, trauma, and experiences with mpox and discrimination. You will be asked to complete this study on Qualtrics.com.
If you are interested and/or have any questions, please contact me or my dissertation chair as noted below.

Please feel free to share this post with anyone who may be interested in participating. I am currently looking to reach a wider age range. Thank you for reading.
Survey Link: https://qualtricsxmxqkf55frn.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9HuZAYJxSq6eSIm