Tit punching bag

Long story short. My bad coworker was sharing a picture of him and girlfriend at my other coworkers and me. Then I told him can you zoom in closer so I can see his girlfriend a bit clear. My coworkers laugh and they thought I was into her and I was laughing with them. Then my bad coworker pulled me in another room, pull punches on my side like a punching bag. Then he say don't mention about my girlfriend. Then he change subject and ask for ingredients. Then I told him we're not doing any project right now? Then he just walk away and pretend it never happen. Should I report to supervisor and press charges on him?

I'm really just wondering whether these names really encapsulate the role all that well. Something that better describes them might help future players understand what is generally expected of them, something like "turbo inters" or "punching bag full of money"

Hi. I moved to a random state when I got out and know no one. Met the wrong guy, who turned out to be very emotionally and verbally abusive. Coerced me into giving him thousands of dollars. I know it's my fault. He knew I had a rough shake while in - stepson being murdered and then husband disappearing and overdosing. Yet he still used me as an emotional punching bag. We aren't together anymore but I feel so alone out here.
I miss having friends. Anyone else have trouble adjusting? I shouldn't have moved away from my support system.
And yes this is my real account so I know I'm embarrassing myself now.

Not finished yet but nearly done just need to know if it's decent.
Spider-Man VS The Punisher
A man walking his footsteps sounds like mini explosions as a row of computers with people typing on them. The man stops upon a window looking down to a glass cage with yellow electricity emerging from it.
“He's here, he's taking us all out. We need back up. Noooo.” The man looks at one of the scientists saying “wait for him to get here.” The man cleans up his suit and tightens his tie.
“Ohhh you're getting dressed up just for me. I shoulda brought flowers.” The man looks up where he sees a man in a red and blue webbed suit. “I should have killed you years ago. Well after today you will be.” “We both know that's not going to happen Willy. I'll arrest you and you'll escape, Rinse and repeat, it's always been like that.” The man grinds his teeth and grips his hands. “Unleash him.” the scientist looks at him and then at the computer pressing a button.
“Unleash him Fisk are you cheating on me with another hero.” as he says this a bolt of lightning strikes through the glass levitating in front of him. “You must be Spiderman. I'm electro, the man that's been tasked to kill you.” Spider-Man whispers to himself. “This guy's making my spider sense go crazy. I don't think this will go well.” he coughs then says. “Shouldn't you be at the circus.” Electro looks at Fisk and says “Leave Mister Fisk now.” Fisk and the scientists walk out into an elevator. “Don't disappoint me Max.” The elevator goes up with Spider-Man and Electro looking at each other “So electricity man are we gonna start.” He looks down to his hands where they start to glow brighter with electricity shooting out. BANG electricity shoots out his hand Spider-Man just dodging it. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG Spider-Man narrowly dodges the bolts. He creates a continuous line of lightning towards Spider-Man. Cracking Peter tries to dodge it but fails on the ground Peter feels his muscles shut down. Electro walks over to him, shocking him again. “Ahhhhhhh.” He stops Spider-Man trying to crawl away BANG “AHHHHHH.” An alarm goes off as sprinklers also go off hitting Electro causing him to grunt.
Spider-Man using this crawls up a wall into a vent leaving the building Spider-Man takes off his mask feeling the rain hit his face. He hears Fisk talking to Electro below. “Is the job done.” “No, he escaped. The sprinklers set off burning my skin.” “You let him escape. I gave you one job and failed me." Electro looks at him sternly saying “Mister Fisk you gave me these powers and you want me to kill Peter I will. You know where he lives, I can go over there and kill him and his family.” “You will do no such thing. He will not try to kill us if we just go after him he won't understand.” Electro nods and walks away with an umbrella.
Spider-Man looks at his web shooters. “Great, they're gonna have to get the train. May's gonna kill me when I get back.”
Brooklyn, New York, 21:32
“PLEASE, PLEASE DON'T DO IT. I HAVE A FAMILY LOOK. PLEASE I'LL DO ANYTHING. WHAT DO YOU WANT MONEY, POWER.” A man shouts breaking down in fear of whoever is trying to kill him. “I want to know why you do it. Why commit crime when there's hundreds of heroes. I think I know why though. They won't kill, they won't just take the godam leap and end you scumbags. So I chose to do it myself.” The man says in a deep voice wrapping a cord around his neck. He picks him up, showing him a fifteen floor drop. “No, no, please don't do this.” He starts to cry as looks at him blankly, throwing off the building with him screaming for about three seconds till the man hears a snap. “Good Riddens.”
Queen's, New York, 9:29 pm
Walking into a house a teenager walks in “Peter where have y- My god what happened to you?” Peter looks at his aunt and says “Some people tried to rob me, it's alright May.” “Did they take anything? Did you call the police.?” “No and no May I'm fine May.” He looks at May. “I'll call the police.” “DON'T. I never saw what they really looked like, you'll just waste their time.” She looks at him saying “From now on you'll be back before it gets dark.” Peter nods “Now Peter time for your cake Happy Eighteenth Peter.” Peter looks at a cake with candles on it. He blows them out “Thanks May I'm just gonna go to my room I've had a ruff day.” May looks at him. “Are you sure you don't want some cake I've made? It's your favourite.” “I'll have some tomorrow really.” Peter walks up to his room turning on the TV playing the daily bugle. “Today Spider-Man failed to capture this so-called Lizard. I think he's just too lazy to put in any work. When the police lose a suspect their back on the streets trying to find him but Spider-Man swip swap swoops his way down and destroys peoples properties.” Peter looks at it in a rage “People would have died if i wasn't there yet I don't get thanked but hated. Why do I do this?” He looks at the picture next to his bed of him and uncle Ben. The time when he didn't worry if Aunt May would see him tomorrow. If she'll be targeted by villains. “Ben would call me stupid for doing something like this. Even more stupid I was responsible for his death. I couldn't just tell him where I was, I just had to storm out. He goes looking for me and ends up getting shot. I'm sorry Ben.”
Manhattan, New York, 06:34
“What will it be?” “Coffee, milk and two sugars.” She turns around and the man looks at his watch as he checks the time. “06:36 still have seven.” “It's ready. Have an amazing day.” he hands her a ten and leaves. He walks to an old burned building. Walking in he goes up five floors and goes towards a sniper pointing out a window. He takes a sip of his coffee checking his watch. “06:42 one minute.” A minute later a limousine drives up to a small building. A man dressed in a white and gold suit walks. “Gotcha.” BANG, a single bullet from the sniper shoots the man in the head obliterating the back of his head. He walks away with screams of people running and people shouting. “It's him, Punisher, he's here.” Pointing their pistols in the air looking where the shot came from.
Queen's, New York, 7:45 am
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BE-. Bang Peter hits his alarm destroying it. “Uhh, great way to start the day.” Peter goes to the bathroom brushing his teeth. He leaves the bathroom getting changed into his new clothes then goes to check on his web shooters. “Thank god for the science lab.” Checking his costume he sees it burnt and destroyed. He messages MJ to ask her to bring his spare costume she's working on. He gets his bag and web shooters going downstairs. “Hey Aunt May I'm off to school.” “Not so fast, I've got some cake for you to take.” Petter goes up to May and takes it. “Thanks May love ya bye.” Peter walks out to the school bus.
On the bus he sits next to his girlfriend Mary Jane. “My god Pete what happened to you. Also you suits in my bag.” Peter looks at her saying “New villain in town calls himself Electro.” “You've got to stop doing this Peter really you're going to kill yourself. How many villains do you have?” Peter looks down and says “Well Theirs the lizard, Shocker, Electro, Fisk, Otto Octavius and sin eater. Don't forget about the small time.” She looks at him saying “God why do I put up with you.” “Because I'm irresistible.” She smirks.
A couple hours later Peter only had two lessons left. Peter in the back of his English class looked at his web shooters making sure they still aren't broken and that he fixed them during science. Peter looks at his phone where he sees a notification from the daily bugle saying that sandman is robbing a bank. “Can I go to the bathroom?” Peter shouts. “Sure Mister Parker uh just take the pass.” Peter takes it and leaves. He goes to the janitor's closet putting on his Spidey suit and web shooters jumping out of the window. He looks at his phone while swinging. “Sometimes I wish I had a GPS in my suit instead of needing to use Oscorpe maps.” He swings wondering why sandman is robbing a bank. “He's stupid but not this stupid to rob a bank, especially during the day.” He swings across Queensboro into Manhattan.
When he arrives the swat team surrounds the area with Captain Stacey on standby. Spider-Man drops down in front of him. “Hey.” Looking up Captain Stacey talks to Spider-Man. “Spider-Man good thing you're here we need your help. Sandman has taken over the bank and he has three hostages.” Spider-Man looks at him saying. “Guess you can say things are getting out of sand.” “Sure just when you go in don't destroy much will you.” “I won't captain you know me, just get your officer's to sand back.” Spider-Man does finger guns at Captain Stacey swinging in. “Everyone shut up. I'm gonna pay it off with this score.” Spider-Man slowly swings down “It's ironic that you're named Flint. You know because flint and steel create fire and fire turns you into glass.” “WHAT.” Spider-Man sighs as he launches a kick towards him. He kicks him with Spider-Man going straight through him as this happens he webs his feet and pulls causing him to fall. He goes to punch sandman but punches him through the glass into a police car. CRASH, the police start firing at him but they do nothing. “SPIDER-MAN GET UP.” Captain Stacey shouts at spider-man. Spider-man jumps in slingshotting himself into sandman. He goes straight through him knocking sandman back as well. “Stop this Flint, think of all the good you've done.” He jumps onto the wall looking at a fire hydrant. “Like you've no that won't cut it. Ok you haven't done anything good but that doesn't mean I have to kick your ass again.” Sandman gets up. “You think you can kick my ass again. Not happening.” Spider-Man sighs. “Ok.” Spider-Man jumps down and grabs the fire hydrant and pulls. CRACK, the fire hydrant breaks splashing water all over sandman. “I told you Flint, I always win.” Flint starts to turn into a pile of wet sand. Spider-Man webs the hydrant to stop the water then walks over to Flint. Barely able to keep your normal form. “Screw you.” Spider-Man looks over at the captain. “He's all your captain enjoy.” Spider-Man jumps onto the side of a swat van. “Where do you go when you finish?” “School, besides I'm only missing one class.” Peter says this jumping and swinging away. “About ten minutes getting there. HEY I'M SWINGING HERE. Five minutes there and ten back is enough to miss english.”
Last lesson goes pretty boring for Peter. He's thinking about the lizard and how he escaped yesterday.
Bronx, New York, 15:45
“Nah he'll be here soon. The boss says after today's shipment the police are going to leave the Bronx alone.” An unknown man, clearly a gangster in a suit, is talking to another man in a suit. “Yeah, isn't he worried, though I mean what happened yesterday? You know Freddy.” One of them says “Nah, his new guy almost killed Spider-Man yesterday. He was talking about how he was crawling to escape only got away because of the sprinklers.”
BANG, BANG, The Punisher walks into a restaurant with seven men in suits in it. “HEY WHO LET THIS GUY IN.” The Punisher grabs his M4 and start to spray into a crowd killing three of them. Two of them pull out micro uzi's shooting at him. The Punisher grabs a grenade and throws it at the bar. BANG, The grenade goes and kills the two of them. The other two put their hands up and surrendered. Frank drops his AR. BANG, BANG, He shoots them with his pistol. He walks upstairs where five line a wall of AK's. The Punisher pulls out a stun grenade throwing it at them. BANG, they all drop their guns blind and staggering The Punisher walks in picking up one of their guns firing on them all. He walks to a door with the dead piled up next to it. He kicks it open to see a man in a suit. “I wondered how long it would take for you to find me, Frank. Now I have some you want and in return you'll let me go, unde-.” BANG, “No deal.” Frank starts to pack a duffel bag with money. Once he's done he lights the office on fire and leaves.
He walks to a van getting into the driver's seat. He drives for about thirty minutes to a small house. Walking in he puts the money in the pantree where about fifteen of the same bags are. He puts on the TV playing the news and works on making bullets. “Spider-Man today was responsible for the destruction of one bank. One I go to, when i wanted to go there today I realised I COULDN'T BECAUSE SPIDER-MAN HELPED SANDMAN DESTROY IT AND WHEN THE COPS SHOWED UP HE THREW HIM UNDER AND PRETENDED TO BE THE HERO. Now why do I have to pay for it? Why doesn't he? We know who Captain America is and he destroys a bank because he's civilised and not a maniac.” Frank looks at the TV turning it off and continues working.
Manhattan, New York, 4:21
“PARKER, PARKER, these photos are blurry I'll give you fifty.” Peter looks at him “Mister Jamerson I need a hundred and twenty.” “I need better pictures.” A man walks in “We need pictures Jonah.” He looks at Peter. “Ok one twenty.” He sighs a check giving it to Peter.
Peter leaves and goes to the woman working at the desk in front. “Hey Betty.” Peter gives Betty the check to Betty who gives him the money. “Thanks.” Peter leaves the daily bugle checking phone. He sees that he's missed a call from Captain Stacey. He calls him. “ you at the station up town.” “Ok but which one?” He runs into the alley next to the bugle changing into his costume swinging away. “So which one.” “You won't miss it kid really.” The call ends. “Ok, quite weird but he didn't even say why he needed me.” It takes him about thirty seconds to realise what he's about. In the distance he sees a giant ball of electricity. “Oh no.”
“Where is it?” CRACK, BANG, Electro kills three police officers. Captain Stacey tells all the police officer's to get into the building. “YOU CAN'T HIDE.” Spider-Man swings down checking the pulse of one of the dead police officers. “no. SURRENDER NOW.” Electro flies in front of him. “Or what. At least I'll get to kill you now. Peter.” Peter feels nervous looking around and Captain Stacey shouts for him to get in. “STAY INSIDE CAPTAIN.” The captain goes to one of his men. “Is it ready?” “yeah” Electro shoots electricity at spider-man. BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG. Spider-Man webs a man hole throwing it at him. Electro catches it, Spider-Man using this moment slingshots himself punching Electro multiple times. “I'M DONE PLAYING. YOU KILLED COPS I'M NOT GOING EASY.” Electro smirks at Peter creating an emp knocking Peter down. Electro drops to the ground, shocking him. “AHHHHHHH. BANG, AHHHHHHHH. BANG, AHHHHHHHH.” Electro walks up to Spider-Man who is crawling away. “Poor little Peter Parker. Once I'm done with you I'll deal with the ones you love. Rest in piece Peter Parker.” Electro charges his hands then. BANG.
Manhattan, New York, 16:23
Punisher loads his sniper talking to himself. “Really, they would kill me immediately. At least I'll kill this freak.” He toggles with the scope. “SURRENDER NOW.” “He won't do that kid” he waits for a clear shot. “YOU KILLED COPS I'M NOT GOING EASY.” he waits for his moment. Bang “AHHHHHHH.” Electros hands start to charge he lifts them. “bang.” BANG. A single bullet goes through the chest of Electro. Frank picks up his sniper and walks downstairs.
Walking down he sees Electro holding his chest on the ground and Spider-Man next to him barely alive. The Punisher walks up to Electro with a knife. “No please d-dont do this.” He gets close to Electro as tries to crawl away. The Punisher grabs him and turns him around. Fear in Electros eye's “Once I'm done with you I'll deal with your loved one's.” “No please.” The Punisher stabs him in the throat, killing him. “You know kid stay away from fisk for the next couple of days you understand. Deal with that giant lizard terrorising the city. Got me Parker.” Peter just looks as he starts to lose consciousness. “Good.” Gorge Stacey and his men leave the building telling The Punisher to surrender. He walks away as no one dares goes to arrest him. Gorge gets his men to help Peter.
Manhattan, New York, 7:32 pm
“You've got to take it easy kid. The doctors said you could have died.” Peter listens to Captain Stacey saying. “I know but with this guy out there, bloods gonna spill in the streets.” The Captain sighs. “So what are you going to do.” Peter coughs “I'm going to try and find the lizard first.” “Stay safe kid.” Peter jumps of the empire state building swinging through the city calling MJ to tell May he's staying at hers tonight.
Thirty minutes Later Peter hears on the police radio that a giant lizard is destroying Oscorpe. Swinging over he feels the stitches in him starting to rip.
When he arrives he sees a fire and a chunk of the side of the building gone. He swings in where fire and dead security guards are. “W-who is he?.” He hears a continuous clicking sound. “There aren't any alien space hunters down there, ha ha.” He laughs nervously. Suddenly a human sized lizard runs towards him trying to eat him. He dodges jumping on a wall “Hey I'm from the zoo, they said a lizard needed to be put down. That doesn't make sense. I don't kill. Hey no bitey.” He sees on the lab coat he's wearing it says Dr Connors. Still dodging “Connor's wait Curt Connors how did you. AHHH.” The Lizard scratches Spider-Man across the chest leaving a claw mark. Spider-Man looks up and sees him jumping to bite him. Spider-Man cartwheels backwards into a jump webbing his head and face planting him. “If you chill out I'll give you a box of insects to eat.” The Lizard gets up. “AHHHHHHHH.” Spider-Man looks at him. “Uh I don't know what to say to that. Raw maybe." As Spider-Man gets ready to attack, the Lizard's left arm starts to turn grey. It looks at it and runs away. Spider-Man swings after him through the streets of Manhattan “YOU MIGHT UGLY BUT I'M FINE WITH IT YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUN.” As he swings the lizard throws a hotdog stand at him. He webs it to a wall and keeps swinging. “SERIOUSLY A HOTDOG STAND IF YOU DON'T STOP I'LL TURN YOU INTO A LIZARD DOG. WELL I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY.” The lizard goes into an alley into a sewer. Spider-Man follows him slingshotting himself in shouting. “YEAAAAH.”
Inside of the sewers Peter looks around and sees only one way forwards. He crawls ol the walls seeIng the destruction Connor's did. “UH MISTER CONNOR'S, CURT, LIZARD, ANYONE. AM I JUST TALKING TO MYSELF, YES, why did I shout that.” He keeps crawling till he hears shouting. “PLEASE I DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.”
Manhattan, Sewers, New York, 19:28
“Where is this freak? This vermin to society.” The Punisher walks through the sewers trying to find the rat killing innocent people. “HISSSS.” He hears a hiss and feels something watching him. “SHOW YOURSELF YOU FREAK OF NATURE.” A black figure crawls out from the shadow. “Tries to hurt me, hurt Edward. AHHHH.” He hisses and screams at him. He goes to attack him but The Punisher unloads bullets from his M4. Vermin shouts in pain “AHHHHHHHH.” Frank slowly followed him. “YOU CAN'T RUN VERMIN. I'LL KILL YOU MATTER WHAT. I'LL DO WHATEVER, YOU'RE COWARD THAT PREY ON THE WEAK.” “Vermin doesn't prey on the weak. I DON'T HAVE CONTROL, AHHHH. Vermin needs to eat, Edward needs to live.” he scurries away. After a minute of walking he arrived in a circular area where Vermin threw him in. “AHHHHH. Vermin will kill you now.” Frank picks his M4 up again, shooting him. He screams crawling up the wall. The Punisher pulls the trigger when vermin is above it and doesn't do anything. He checks the mag to see it's empty. Vermin drops down Scratching Frank across the face. He pulls out his pistol shooting him in the eye. “AHHHHHH, AHHHHH.” Frank goes up and shoots him on the head, killing him.
He hears a scream further down. Going down the tunnel he sees lab equipment and a lizard transforming into a person. “The Lizard, perfect timing.” Limping, he goes over to The Lizard waiting for him to transform. “AHHHHH, AHHHHHHHHH, HELP PLEASE, AHHHHHHH.” Frank just stands there till he transforms. He pulls his pistol out and points it at Connor's. “You're the lizard. What's your name? WHAT YOUR NAME?” “Connor's. Dr Curtis Connors.” Frank starts to pull the triggers. “PLEASE I DIDN'T HAVE CONTROL PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.”
Peter drops down in front of him webbing his pistol. “We don't kill people, understand.” The Punisher grits his teeth “Back off kid really.” “So you can kill him. Like you did Electro. You told me you were going against Fisk, why are you going for The Lizard.” The Punisher smirks at Peter, making nervous. “I wasn't here for him. It's just a coincidence.” Peter stands there wondering what's next. The Punisher runs towards him Peter jumps over him kicking him in the back. The Punisher hits his head knocking him to the ground Peter uses this to web him up.
“Ok we need to get outta here understand.” Connor's nods and starts to pack his stuff. “I won't kill you kid.” Peter looks at him. “Good because neither will I.” “I'm ready Spider-Man.” Curt says to Peter “Alright let's get outta here.” Peter swings Curt Connors out of the sewers
Manhattan, New York, 8:53 pm
“Ok you need a cure. Uhh, I've got it. I'll take you to the Baxter building. Reed can help you.” Connors thinks. “What if he finds me?” Peter sighs. “It's probably got more security than the raft and it's got four of the best heroes in the world in there.” Connors agrees and Peter swings him there.
When he gets there they walk in. Peter shouts. “REED YOU HERE. REED RICHARDS.” “Peter.” They turn around to see Sue. “Hey Miss Richard's I need your help.” She looks at Peter then at Connor's “What's wrong Peter are you in trouble.” Peter looks at her then Connors. “Not me. Have you ever heard of The Punisher?” She looks confused. “Uhh no why.” “He's trying to kill him. He needs a secure place to stay. And he needs a cure to stop him from turning into a lizard.” She looks. “What about you? Will he kill you?” He sighs “No he won't. He just wants to kill villains.” She looks at Connors saying “Reed is out but he'll be back soon he can make you a cure. Be safe Peter this stuff doesn't end well.” Connor's looks at Peter “Thanks Parker I would never expect you to be a superhero. Miss Richards, can you get my family?”
Peter leaves, going to the top of the Baxter building for some peace. “I'm too tired. I just want to go home but I need to find Fisk.” He checks the wound Connor's left. “I'm losing too much blood. My costume is destroyed and I helped the guy escape death. How am I going to explain this to May my wounds? I can't believe it. First day as an adult and I might not live to see the second. Uncle Ben must think I'm stupid.” He shakes his head. “I've got to go to Fisk tower and warn him.” Peter swings to Fisk tower.
Manhattan, New York, 9:01pm
Spider-Man arrives feeling light headed. He swings up to the office where Fisk and his men are sitting. He opens the door, his men immediately pointing their guns at him. “DROP YOU WEAPONS.” Fisk tells his men. Reluctantly they do Peter Limping towards him. “I need to warn you. A guy, a guy is uh is uh going to kill you.” His voice started to slur and he was barely able to keep his eyes open.” Fisk walks towards him. “You two get the medics now.” Peter falls unconscious.
Waking up Peter wonder's where he is looking around and he sees medical equipment. He gets up and walks through a pair of doors into a room full of men and Fisk working at a desk. “You're awake. You've been out for nine hours.” Peter realises that his face is exposed and Fisk notices this. “We all know who you are, Parker.” Peter walks up to him. “Why did you save me? You're goon tried to kill me yesterday.” Fisk calmly got up saying. “Yesterday you came to warn me. I knew why because of the Punisher. When you came here you were close to death. I saved you because. I need you to defeat the Punisher. I've asked every mercenary in this city and it's the same answer. No before Punisher was a myth but now after the men he's killed. The only one who can defeat him is you.” Peter looks at him. “Who's to say I'll stop him.” “Because yesterday you came here to warn me. The only one who wants me dead that can do anything is him.” Peter looks at him. “Where's my stuff.” Fisk clicks his Fingers and one of his men comes over to Peter giving him his phone, suit and web shooters. Putting them on Peter goes to the window telling Fisk. “Thanks Fisk. You really should leave the city.” Peter swings away.
Queen's New York, 6:09 pm
Peter swings through Queens arriving at his girlfriend's house. He goes to her window knocking on it. She wakes up opening it. When Peter enters he takes off his mask. “I can't do it anymore Peter last night you never showed up. I thought you were dead. This Electro almost killed you and the lizard. Peter I ju- AHH.” She screams seeing Peter's face covered in stitches. “I'm not that ugly.” Peter jokes but MJ says. “What happened yesterday.” Peter sits down “It's a long story.”
Manhattan, New York, Sewers, Time Unknown
“DOWN HERE, THERE'S A LAB.” Two police officers walk down the sewers seeing a lab. They both walk into Connor's lab looking around. “What the hey Chris, what is this place? Chris.” Click the police officer feels a gun to the back of his head. “I'm going to take your gun and handcuffs. And Chris is alright just incapacitated.” Frank takes the cop's gun and handcuffs him to a metal pole.
Leaving the sewers Frank feels the cold air on his face. Checking his watch he realises it is broken. He goes to his van and drives off to his house.
When he gets inside he goes to the kitchen checking the clock. “Wasn't down there for long.” He puts on the TV while he makes shotgun shells. “Breaking news this morning we have word that Spider-Man and the Lizard destroyed Oscorpe hours ago, fleeing in the sewers. They also found the cannibal serial killer known as Vermin dead. They say it's a man dressed in black wearing a white skull on his chest. Now I don't condone murder but I want to personally thank this heroe for dealing with someone Spider-Man probably thinks isn't worth his time.” Punisher looks at the TV and at his shotgun loading. “That's all for now J, Jonah, Jamerson signing off.”
Frank goes into his pantree grabbing a bag of cash. He looks in it seeing about hundred and fifty grand. He takes it to his van with him driving off.
Manhattan, New York, 04:41
Frank walks into a small café and enters. “Mister Castle, quite a busy night was it.” Frank walks up giving him the bag of money. “Do you have the thing?” the man clears his throat. “Yes, your coffee is ready. Hot, two sugars and no milk. That'll be one dollar fifty cents.” Frank looks at the bag and at the device he's buying. He picks it up and leaves. “Keep the change.”

I M29 have been dating my gf F28 for three years now. Everything is well except on the last days of the month. Between 28-31st we have a huge huge fight that involves a lot of verbal abuse, sometimes physical, sometimes breaking things. I know I am not the perfect boyfriend and I have many flaws I could fix. However, she's OK one minute and the next she is talking about some issue out of nowhere, that even though is relevant and valid, is then yelled at my face for hours at a time if I do not leave the house.
For example, we were watching the bachelor last night, and she starts yelling at me on how I haven't painted the shed we built last year. It is on my to do list, and I have been slacking, but it came out of nowhere and it devolved into name calling and telling me how useless and unreliable I am.
How normal is this? Is it ever jusfiable to be treated like a punching bag every month? Is there anyone that can relate and can help
Tl;dr Partner becomes a warewolf for three days a month. What do?

Joe Perez is exactly the type of voter President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump are fighting over: A 22-year-old Hispanic man in Las Vegas who grew up leaning Republican, he also supports abortion rights and was turned off by the Capitol rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.
But Mr. Perez — unenthusiastic about a Biden-Trump rematch, overwhelmed by the news and disillusioned by politics — is tuning out.
“If you ask me right now what’s going on with, like, the presidential race, or the situation in Gaza or Ukraine or whatever, I don’t think I can answer,” said Mr. Perez, who supported Mr. Trump in 2020 and is intrigued by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now. “I’m not trying to follow that anymore.”
Instead, said Mr. Perez, a valet who hopes to become a firefighter, “I’m just going to have to roll with the punches, because I don’t think I’m going to make a difference.”
In fact, people like him could be quite important.
Politically disengaged Americans are emerging as one of the most unpredictable, complex and potentially influential groups of voters in the 2024 race. They are fueling Mr. Trump’s current polling leads but in many cases hail from traditionally Democratic communities, giving Mr. Biden a chance to win some of them back — if he can get their attention.
No shortage of events could jolt alienated voters over the next five months, starting with a verdict in the first criminal trial of a former president in American history, which could arrive this week. Even though many of these people are historically infrequent voters, those who do cast ballots could make the difference in an inevitably close race.
But reaching them is a problem. Campaigns up and down the ballot are operating in an ever-more-fragmented media landscape where misinformation thrives — spread especially by Mr. Trump and his allies — and basic facts are often ignored, disputed or filtered through a partisan lens.
“People have really separated into their own information cul-de-sacs,” said former Representative Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat. “It’s harder now to reach people than it was in previous elections because of that disaggregated or decentralized information network.”
In a presidential election in which more than 80 percent of voters, according to a Pew Research Center survey, say they wish one or both major candidates were not running, some are opting out of straight-ahead political news entirely.
When your team’s losing, you don’t read the sports page’
In a presidential election in which more than 80 percent of voters, according to a Pew Research Center survey, say they wish one or both major candidates were not running, some are opting out of straight-ahead political news entirely.
That is evident in polling about current events.
Recent New York Times/Siena College/Philadelphia Inquirer surveys found that nearly 20 percent of voters in battleground states said Mr. Biden was responsible for ending the constitutional right to abortion, even though it was Mr. Trump’s choices for the Supreme Court who helped overturn Roe v. Wade.
Almost half of the country believes the unemployment rate is at a 50-year high, a Harris poll conducted for The Guardian found, even though it is near a 50-year low.
And in a recent Politico-Morning Consult poll, voters were divided over who had done more to “promote infrastructure improvements and job creation.” Mr. Biden signed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law, while Mr. Trump repeatedly failed to advance the issue.
“When your team’s losing, you don’t read the sports page after the game,” said Ken Goldstein, a professor of politics at the University of San Francisco. “You have a big swath of the country that just thinks they’re losing when it comes to politics, and so the way to deal with that is to just not pay attention.”
Low-information voters are hardly a new phenomenon: Landmark studies dating back nearly 80 years have found that the public is often uninformed on key issues.
And many Americans are indeed following this contest.
A Gallup survey released this month showed that 71 percent said they had given “quite a lot” of thought to the upcoming presidential election, in keeping with findings around this time in 2020 and 2008.
Voters who are paying less attention, pollsters say, tend to be younger or more working-class, and are more likely to engage late in the race, if they do at all.
“It’s not that politics is unimportant to them, but they have other priorities,” said Whit Ayres, a veteran Republican pollster. “Turning out the low-information voters who favor your candidate is one of the major tasks of political consultants.”
An NBC News poll conducted last month found that 15 percent of voters surveyed said they did not follow political news closely. Among those voters, Mr. Trump had an edge of 26 percentage points over Mr. Biden.
By contrast, among voters who primarily consume news through newspapers, national network and cable news — 54 percent of those surveyed — Mr. Biden was up by 11 points.
Mr. Trump’s commanding lead among the politically disengaged underscores how hard it may be for Mr. Biden to translate his record and vision into a galvanizing and attention-grabbing message for these voters, some of whom are firmly committed to Mr. Trump.
But some Democrats also see an opportunity.
“A single piece of information might have a radical impact on them, because they are by definition low-information,” former Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York said.
Pointing to subjects like Mr. Trump’s record on abortion rights or Mr. Biden’s work to lower the cost of insulin for older people, he added: “That doesn’t take a lot of explaining. It takes focusing people, it takes jolting them, but these are not complex points to get across.”
Mr. Trump also remains unpopular, and Democrats are betting that he will grow weaker as more voters see reminders of what they disliked about him.
Republicans, however, note that most Americans drew conclusions about Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden years ago — and that many voters are not following the former president’s provocations closely.
“Trump, I think he gets up there and talks a lot of stuff,” said Carla Williams, 50, of Detroit.
But Ms. Williams, who said she was often too busy with her work at an auto factory and a hotel to follow the news closely, said she was considering him anyway. She faulted Mr. Biden, whom she said she supported in 2020, for the high cost of living.
“People out here are struggling,” she said. “Everything is expensive.”
For voters who pay less attention to the news, “short-term forces” tend to play a dominant role in their thinking about politics, said Christopher H. Achen, an emeritus professor of politics at Princeton University.
“If the price of eggs goes up, they’re more likely to vote against the incumbent, even if the incumbent has nothing to do with the price of eggs,” he said.
Those are among the concerns driving Paul Ferando, 61, of Henderson, Nev., to consider voting for the first time, he said.
“You go to the grocery store, 150 bucks for one bag,” said Mr. Ferando, who works in construction and said he was too busy to closely follow the news. “It’s a joke.”
He added of Mr. Trump, “This year I might vote just to make sure he gets in.”
Many Americans now consume political news through social media, and TikTok’s emergence has greatly accelerated that trend.
By 2023, almost a third of people aged 18 to 29 were regularly getting news from TikTok, a hub for liberal causes that has also had an uptick of pro-Trump influencers since the last election.
The nature of social media — fast-moving and sometimes driven by unreliable narrators or bad actors — means that large audiences are more vulnerable to misinformation.
“I don’t really dig into it very much,” said Dean Citroni, 30, of Newnan, Ga., who works in TV and film production and said he predominantly got political news from Facebook or TikTok. Mr. Citroni, who said he would “probably” lean toward Mr. Trump over Mr. Biden but was interested in Mr. Kennedy, added, “Somebody posts a reel of it, I’m probably looking at it, going: ‘Huh! Can’t believe that!’”
And even as young voters get much of their information from individualized social media feeds, while cable news often reinforces partisan instincts, Americans have fewer cultural connections to unite them.
The era of major-network, prime-time TV hits has given way to pay-walled streaming services. Music has moved into personalized, app-driven experiences. Instagram and TikTok algorithms pelt people with unending, individualized streams of content.
And Americans’ shared vocabulary — and shared set of facts — is shrinking.
“It used to be that you could reach practically every voter through conventional electronic media, radio and television,” said Representative Dan Kildee, a Michigan Democrat. Now, he said: “You can’t really even just reach them through the more popular social media platforms. The splintering of information, the way people consume information, it’s much more difficult.”
Darrell Hammond, the comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member, said those realities were even changing the nature of political comedy.
“You’d like to think that in order to laugh at a joke, the crowd has to basically understand the premise and agree with it to some extent,” he said. “But now, you have blanket generalizations only.”
Kal Penn, an actor who worked in the Obama administration, said he challenged himself to bridge the divide through humor.
“I love making something that your crazy uncle can watch with you on Thanksgiving,” he said. “And it’s like the only night where you’re not yelling at each other about the election.”
NYT link here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/us/politics/trump-biden-voters.html

When I say recent, I’m thinking the last 4 to 5 years. I know not everyone likes bodice rippers (& that’s okay - I personally enjoy them) but when I read HR published in the 80’s & 90’s they felt like long epic tales of love. The stories really took their time and it felt like a genuine whirlwind of a novel. Lots of drama, angst, plenty of characters. Things changed in the 2000’s to be a bit more light hearted and not as sweeping with time jumps but the quality was still there. I just feel like every thing I’ve been reading recently just doesn’t pack the punch anymore. Newish authors are emerging with shallow tropes, churning out books to satiate some kind of dopamine for those who want instant gratification. The love feels hollow, too lustful instead of genuine and the pacing moves like a blink of an eye. I just feel generally dissatisfied with a lot of it. If you don’t feel the same, that’s okay. I’m just explaining how I feel and how boring it’s all become. I’m re-reading Maiden Lane (starting with Asa’s book bc if you know you know) and I’m just delighted by all the characters and Hoyt’s prose. But I can’t spend the rest of my life rereading. I want good HR again, and yes that’s subjective bc my good isn’t yours, but something is missing. Like an ingredient in cooking or when you open a bag of chips and see maybe 13 chips while the rest of the bag is air.
Edit: a word

Kurt Angle, often regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers in history and with good reason. The man who won an Olympic gold medal with a broken neck came onto the scene in WWE between late 1999 and early 2000.
He went on to carve out an incredible career for himself, winning world titles the world over. Whether it was WWE, TNA or even NJPW - Angle made sure to leave an impact everywhere he went.
What if things were different though? What if Kurt Angle never debuted in the attitude era and instead, at the prime age of 32, Kurt Angle debuted in the wrestling world we know today?
Who would he cross paths with? Would he reach the same heights he did in his day? I intend to explore this topic and find out for myself.
Can The Wrestling Machine thrive in the Renaissance Era? Only time will tell...
The year is 2023 and Kurt Angle arrives on the scene, he's well known as is from his historic feat in 2021, when he won a gold medal with a broken neck at the Summer Olympics.
Many would expect Kurt to chase this success into something significant, but many are surprised and intrigued when it's made clear what his future goals are.
To transition into the world of sports entertainment and become a professional wrestler.
He spends his first year working the independent scene, making appearances in GCW specifically. There, he ends up having standout matches with the likes of Brian Cage and Powerhouse Hobbs who make special guest appearances to lock up with the hot commodity. He even has a half-decent match with Jake Hager, in a bout that seems like it could've been something special if Hager was about a decade younger and still The All American American.
By the time June 2024 rolls around, dirt sheets are speculating that most of the major professional wrestling companies are showing great interest in Kurt, but it's likely he will turn up in WWE due to their extensive track record transitioning athletes from various walks of life and countless different sports.
Imagine everyones surprise then, when Hiroshi Tanahashi announces NJPW has signed Kurt Angle, not to a full time contract but for a very exciting purpose indeed.
The G1 Climax.
Along with him in B Block are seven other supremely talented athletes, some of NJPW's finest along with a couple of freelancers from other promotions.
NJPW, G1 Climax 34 - Night 1, July 15, 2024:
Eddie Kingston vs Kurt Angle
[Kurt's first match of the G1 comes in the form of the Mad King, Eddie Kingston. Eddie's striking and submission based aggression pairs well with Kurt's grappling and limb targeting. Angle is able to rattle Eddie throughout the match with throws and suplexes, as well as his ability to outmaneuver Eddie's submission attempts.
The match comes to a close as Eddie comes out of the corner with a Uraken to a wobbly Angle. Kurt ducks and latches on for a German Suplex, maintaining waist control, a second German Suplex, yet again. Kurt pulls Kingston up to complete the trio, but Eddie hooks onto the top turnbuckle. Kurt shows his strength, suplexing Kingston as the padding goes flying.
Kurt tries for an Angle Slam, but Kingston finds his footing behind Kurt, and grips hold of the neck, cinching a bulldog choke. Kurt struggles up before marching towards the corner and diving downwards, thus driving Eddie skull first into the exposed turnbuckle.
An Angle Slam follows, and Kurt secures a win in his NJPW debut.]
Kurt Angle (2) def Eddie Kingston (0)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 3, July 18, 2024:
Jeff Cobb vs Kurt Angle
[Kurt's second match of the G1 proves to be a very interesting one indeed. Jeff Cobb, a former olympian himself, is perhaps one of the only wrestlers on the planet who can match Angle regarding his knowledge of suplexes, throws, power maneuvers and grapples.
The match begins to near the end as Cobb has Angle up top in a deadlift stalling superplex, Angle is able to land on his feet behind Cobb and German Suplex Cobb off the middle turnbuckle.
Angle looks for an Angle Slam, but Cobb lands on his feet and tries for Tour Of The Islands, but Kurt scrambles free and lands a German Suplex, maintains waist control, Cobb breaks free and steps behind Angle, German Suplex, Angle does the same thing, Cobb gets fed up and hits a German Suplex that lands Angle flat on his face as Cobb releases the waist.
Cobb signals for the end and looks for a standing moonsault, Kurt avoids and hits a throwing German Suplex of his own. Angle scales the turnbuckles, moonsault! At the ref's count of two, Cobb sits up with Angle in his arms. Tour Of The Islands connects! Near-fall!
Cobb gets Angle up on his shoulder, Angle escapes and locks on to the ankle, Jeff rolls forward and sends Angle into the corner. Angle steps backwards into the arms of Cobb, Tour Of The Isl- Angle on his feet! Angle Slam!
Kurt begins to scale the ropes and lands another moonsault. With that, Cobb finally stays down and Angle is able to outlast his counterpart.]
Kurt Angle (4) def Jeff Cobb (0)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 5, July 21, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Kushida
[Taking into consideration Kushida's rather successful MMA background, this matchup seems like a no brainer. Both men are grappling gods well regarded as being submission experts. It's on full display when they finally face off in the G1.
Kushida has been vocal about his displeasure competing only in the Junior division and when put in the premier tournament of NJPW's year, he's eager to prove he belongs in the main event scene.
The story told here is Angle's non stop assault on the legs and ankles of Kushida, and in return Kushida relentlessly damaging the arms and wrists of Angle.
Kushida, despite the quickly deteriorating bones in his legs, is leech like with how determined he is to stay attached to the arm of Kurt. Angle Slam? Denied and turned into a Kimura Lock. Ankle Lock? Kushida rolls forward driving Angle shoulder first into the steel post, and then Kimura Lock. German Suplex? That's what you think, it's actually a Kimura Lock.
As Kushida continuously dissects the arm, Angle begins getting increasingly desperate. He dunks Kushida into the turnbuckles harshly. Onto the apron. Into the barricade. Taking more and more drastic measures to free himself and becoming less and less successful.
Eventually Kurt is in agony and nothing seems to shake Kushida, he climbs to the top rope, hoping a drop from that height will force release. Kushida lets go without Kurt even having to drop only to reapply and look for an arm drag variation off the top.
As Kushida goes to drop, Kurt grips to the ropes and Kushida lands in a tree of woe position. Kurt grabs hold of the ears of Kushida, pulling him up slightly, before shoving him down and forcing him to collide with the turnbuckles.
He drags Kushida up to the top rope, clearly looking for something big, but Kushida goes back in with the Kimura, Kurt begins driving Kushida into the top of the steel post before actually picking Kushida up with his bad arm only and slamming Kushida into the metal.
Kurt positions himself for one last gasp effort to thwart the colorfast Kushida. Angle Slam from the top turnbuckle! An exhausted Angle crawls to cover, and is at last able to defeat Kushida.
The question quickly becomes though, as the referee is refused the chance to even raise the arm of Angle, how much damage was done?]
Kurt Angle (6) def Kushida (2)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 7, July 25, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Matt Riddle
[Four nights after having his arm near surgically dissected by Kushida, Angle locks up against another skilled fighter endowed with MMA experience.
Riddle gives the challenge Cobb gave being able to match Angle on power, while also giving the challenge Kushida did with limb targeting and joint manipulation.
Riddle, entering his first G1 has arguably his biggest opportunity since joining NJPW earlier in the year. He spends the duration of the match peppering Angle with strikes to the arm, salting with submissions.
As the match nears it's own climax, Angle goes for a high risk moonsault only for Riddle to avoid. A final flash knee follows from the ever opportunistic Riddle. Kurt is able to kick-out, inspiring Riddle to try for a RainTrigger. Kurt blocks with his arm to avoid getting struck in the face. He winces and Riddle capitalizes with rapid palm strikes to the chest before kicking Kurt into the ropes.
As Angle rebounds, Riddle goes under the arm and tries for a falling pele kick, Kurt catches the leg and gets an Ankle Lock. Riddle is able to get back to his free foot, so Angle hits a leg trapped German Suplex to discourage a comeback.
Kurt tries for an Angle Slam, but Riddle maneuvers into a pinning predicament, Kurt reverses the pressure pinning Riddle's shoulders. They go back and forth until Kurt traps Matt in a sleeper hold. Riddle fires up to his feet and begins snapping Kurt's elbow over his shoulder to escape.
Riddle gets Kurt up for Bro To Sleep, Angle catches the leg and clings with an Ankle Lock. Riddle gets back to his feet and lands a surprise roundhouse with his free foot. A V-Trigger to the shoulder follows, before Riddle gets Angle in Tombstone position. Angle slithers down, and like a snake, latches onto the ankle.
Riddle crumples under the unexpected pressure as Kurt gets a knee baankle lock hybrid applied. He wrenches away on the Achilles tendon, as Riddle writhes in pain.
Matt nearly gets to the ropes, but Angle is able to roll with him back into the center of the ring. Eventually, Riddle has to think of the big picture and consider the matches he still has left in the tournament, and he submits to Kurt Angle.
Kurt is able to conquer another worthy adversary and remains undefeated in the tournament, but his arm is clearly bothering him and that is shown as Kurt takes time to nurse the injury after the bout.]
Kurt Angle (8) def Matt Riddle (4)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 9, July 27, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Minoru Suzuki:
[It's more bad news for Angle, as his next foe is regarded as arguably one of the most sadistic pro wrestlers of all time. Suzuki, known for his methodical approach and willingness to lay in with strikes, has him salivating at the prospect of getting his hands on the already wounded Kurt.
Angle is donning circulation tape as he locks up with the Murder Grandpa. Suzuki wastes little time in tearing at the tape, exposing the flesh beneath. Digging his elbow into the shoulder blade, he continues his attack on Kurt.
Knee drops and stiff chops leave a stinging sensation rippling through the arm of Angle. Kurt wants to execute his power maneuvers, but a lack of grip prevents him as he begins losing strength and ability with every blow to the shoulder.
Suzuki tucks Kurt's fragmented arm behind him, connecting with Russian Leg Sweeps and suplexes, landing Angle's weight harshly onto his own arm.
Kurt begins mounting something of a comeback against the relentless Suzuki. He keeps his arm close to his body, but is able to surprise Minoru with his explosiveness. He knows he can't lift Suzuki, and so turns to the aerial side of his arsenal.
A swan dive off the apron has Suzuki reeling and Angle is able to follow up with a moonsault into the ring. Angle tries to strike with his feet, connecting with dropkicks and enziguris.
Suzuki weathers the storm, however, and positions Angle for a Gotch-Style Piledriver. Angle is able to grasp onto the leg and sink down, refusing to let Suzuki power him up.
Angle goes under, maintaining his leg control, and gets an Ankle Lock applied. He struggles to keep it in for as long as possible, but the strength in his arm isn't present. Suzuki is able to kick Angle off of him, and Kurt goes into desperation mode. A wounded animal faced with an angry Minoru Suzuki.
Angle goes for a risky strategy, considering his lack of practice in this department, but he decides to use a leg oriented submission, given that his arms are unable to grip for long. He is able to reverse a Gotch-Style into a triangle choke, tightening his legs vice grip around the neck and applying pressure to the carotid.
Angle tries his damnedest, withstanding even a deadlift powerbomb and continuing his choke, to maintain his attack on Suzuki. It pays off as slowly, but surely, Suzuki loses the ability to breathe and is forced to tap out to Kurt Angle.]
Kurt Angle (10) def Minoru Suzuki (2)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 11, Aug 1, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Shingo Takagi
[It's out of the frying pan and into the fire as Angle survives Suzuki, but is now faced with arguably more aggressive competition, in the form of Shingo Takagi.
Angle is on the defensive for most of the bout, wanting to keep his perfect record intact, and knowing the danger of letting Shingo get ahold of his arm.
This also means Angle is less assertive, however, and Shingo is more willing to take risks to do damage to Kurt. Takagi gives Angle a taste of his own medicine as he begins repeatedly suplexing Angle, multiple Germans, landing Kurt on his bad shoulder. He mixes in other variations as well, optimizing the damage he can do to the arm.
Takagi also drives Angle, shoulder first into the steel post. When Angle slumps down, Takagi closes in with a running knee strike, popping Angle's shoulder into the turnbuckle.
Shingo dominates the course of the match, letting Angle get in little offense. Angle stirs, sitting up as he tries to catch his bearings on the canvas. Shingo spots Angle in position for a PUMPING BOMBER, Angle ducks, Angle Slam, Shingo on his feet to avoid, Made In Japan! Angle locks to the waist and reverses with a roll-up, Shingo rolls backwards to kick out, Shingo behind Angle, gets him up, Last Of The Dragons!
Angle planted right on his bad shoulder with authority by Takagi. Shingo gets rewarded for his effort with a very close near fall. Shingo pulls Angle up by his hair, forearm, after forearm, after forearm. Angle spits in the face of Takagi, refusing to go quietly for The Dragon. Shingo wipes his face calmly, before running the ropes, PUMPING BOMBER.
With that, Takagi has handed Angle his first singles career loss, and overtaken him in the G1 rankings.]
Shingo Takagi (11) def Kurt Angle (10)
NJPW G1 Climax 34 - Night 13, Aug 5, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Zack Sabre Jr.
[Finally, we arrive at Kurt's final test of this grueling tournament. The tournament that has left him clutching his arm in peril every night, the tournament that has left him blistered and bruised in the biggest tests of his young career, but most importantly, the tournament that put him on the map.
Angle, well regarded as a fantastic submission worker and grappler, takes aim at arguably the greatest submission based wrestler of all time, Zack Sabre Jr.
Angle's Olympian background makes for an intriguing contrast against Zack's more strike heavy, frenzied submission approach. Sabre Jr., one of the most shark like opponents you could have, rips at the arm of Angle in various ways.
Bending the arm back as he stands on the fingers before stamping the elbow sideways, penalty kicks to the forearm, palm strikes to the shoulder blade, using every opportunity to hang the arm over the ropes before being forced to release.
Zack has Angle in a pool of pain as he ascends for a diving knee drop to the arm, Angle avoids, catching Zack in mid air with an Ankle Lock. Zack scrambles, and rolls forward, sending Angle out of the ring.
Sabre goes to the apron, and attempts a diving uppercut, Angle catches him and flips him forward before getting him up for a powerbomb. Zack quickly shifts into an arm triangle, tearing at the arm. Angle drops Zack onto the barricade to no avail, but a firm drop onto the apron forces Zack to let Angle go.
Sabre Jr. is positioned against the stairs and Kurt charges in, Zack slips into the ring and Angle collides with the steel stairs. Baseball slide by Zack follows before he guides Angle to the steel barricade. He pops Angle's arm through the bars and uses his feet on the other side to pull Angle further in, trying to pull Angle through the fence.
Zack gets cocky, standing atop the barricade as he keeps his paws on Angle. Angle sweeps the legs and Sabre takes a nasty spill on top of the steel. An impromptu Angle Slam into the barricade follows before Angle sends Sabre Jr. back in.
Angle climbs, looking to put the finishing touches on Sabre Jr. A Moonsault by Angle caught with a triangle! Sabre Jr. wraps his legs around the neck of Angle, strangling The Wrestling Machine. Kurt powers up Sabre with his last bit of strength. He collapses Zack into the turnbuckles, shifting the ring with the force.
Angle recovers and rips Zack out of the corner into an Ankle Lock. He knows he can't maintain good grip with his arm, so he cinches down into a knee bar. Zack struggles for a while before finally finding the bottom rope. Zack gets an arm triangle over the ropes for a few seconds, before connecting with a kick from the apron.
Sabre dives back in, but Angle blocks the slingshot with an Ankle Lock. Zack swiftly rolls forward, and as Angle tries to roll backwards, Zack pins him down. Angle rolls backwards anyway with Zack and gets a German Suplex. Angle sits up and lets out a roar, before Zack stands up and kicks him in the back of the head. Both men collapse as the playing field is evened.
Angle and Sabre Jr. find themselves crawling back up in opposite corners. The crowd breaks into a clap building up to both men meeting in the center of the ring, unloading with strikes. Zack goes cheap with a falling kick to the bad arm. Zack steps on the knee of Angle before maneuvering over him and onto his arm where he then rolls into a cross armbreaker.
Angle fires up, and twists away at the ankle to turn into an Ankle Lock. Sabre rolls forward and turns it back into a cross armbreaker. Angle rolls backwards and pops out, into an Ankle Lock. Sabre rolls Angle into the turnbuckles to break the cycle. Step-up knee strike by Zack, avoided by Angle, Angle hops to the bottom turnbuckle to greet Zack. Angle Slam from the middle turnbuckle!
Kurt desperately covers, but Zack kicks out, locking a Kimura as he does. Angle yelps out in agony, and tries to roll out of it. Zack stops Angle with a cross armbreaker, Angle powers Zack up, Zack clings to Kurt, connecting with a rana before mounting into a triangle choke.
No matter what Kurt does, Zack won't let go of the arm. Angle, the pain unbearable, the breath leaving his body at an alarming rate. As Zack tightens like a snake across the arm and neck of Angle, Kurt begins to fade and eventually, perhaps inevitably, passes out in the jaws of Zack Sabre Jr.
Kurt's G1 proves to be incredibly impressive as he is ranked third in his block, and his undeniable grit was on full display, as The Olympic Hero refused to tap out, opting to lose consciousness instead.]
Zack Sabre Jr. (13) def Kurt Angle (10)
It's not long after this that Kurt surprises by opting not to sign a full time contract with NJPW, drowning out the offers from AEW and WWE, and instead decides to visit a promotion that he feels oddly at home in. Total Nonstop Action.
TNA Victory Road 2024, Sep 21, 2024:
Jonathan Gresham (c) vs Kurt Angle, TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[Kurt, being the genetic freak that he is, catapults to the main event scene, especially given his matches in the G1 Climax boosting his resume. Gresham, having dethroned Moose a few months back, has been confidently seated as face of the company. Angle looks to challenge that throne.
Gresham and Angle have a heated contract signing prior to the event, with Angle, in response to being called a rookie stating "Well, this rookie is going to kick your fucking ass." before busting Gresham's nose into the table, dragging Jonathan across the table and powerbombing him through it.
The bout is a technical masterclass with Gresham challenging Angle on the technical front. Gresham manages to get Angle in an octopus lock, Angle shifts Gresham out of it and cinches an Ankle Lock. Gresham hooks onto Angle's ankle and throws Kurt off balance, collapsing him into a knee bar. Angle manages to kick Gresham away before locking a figure four.
Gresham rolls over to reverse the pressure, before both men make their way onto their heads, slapping and swatting at each other. Angle throws the first closed fist and it dazes Gresham who breaks free of the predicament. Angle begins his repeated germans, Gresham lands on his feet with the third attempt. Octopus Lock by Gresham, Angle reverses into a third and final German Suplex.
Gresham stumbles up, Angle Slam, Gresham on his feet, big knee to the nose of Angle, Octopus Hold, a look of annoyed disbelief crosses the face of Angle due to Jonathan's insistence on this move, powerbomb reversal by Angle. Gresham pulls himself up using the ropes and is caught from behind with a definitive Angle Slam.
The referee counts the pin and Kurt Angle has secured his first pro wrestling title, the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, after a barn burner to dethrone Jon Gresham.]
Kurt Angle def Jonathan Gresham (c) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA Bound For Glory 2024, Oct 13, 2024:
Kurt Angle (c) vs Kushida, TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[A few short months following their classic in the G1, Angle is hungry for revenge on the man he claims cost him the biggest opportunity of his career. After all, Angle suffered his arm injury during his match with Kushida, and there's an argument to be made his losses to Shingo and Sabre Jr. wouldn't have occured if not for the target Kushida put on him.
Kushida wins a fatal four way over Laredo Kid, Mike Bailey and Rich Swann to punch his ticket to Bound For Glory and the rematch is set. Angle/Kushida II
Angle shows more of his aggressive side in this bout, given that this match is probably the most personal of Angle's young career. Kushida attempts to wear away at the arm, but Kurt has him scouted, sharply reversing any arm oriented attacks.
Angle dizzies Kushida with a series of throws and suplex, making Kushida feel like he's trapped in the spin cycle. Following Angle's several minutes of control time, he attempts to finalize his revenge on Kushida with an Angle Slam. Kushida shifts off the shoulders and into a Kimura Lock.
Angle is forced to tough it out for a minute as Kushida relentlessly latches on. Angle finally takes Kushida to the ground, gets a hand around the ankle and rolls out of the Kimura, taking the ankle with him.
Ankle Lock is in, Kushida though, rolls forward to escape. A nasty jab by Kushida connects, before he attempts his handspring back elbow. Angle catches him and lands a German Suplex. Angle rolls over into an Ankle Lock. A, so far, unseen intensity donning his expression.
Kushida is gutsy and resilient, but is eventually forced to submit to Angle. Kurt relishes his victory, getting what he perceives as his vengeance over Kushida.
Angle, ever the good sport, offers Kushida a hand and pulls him up into a handshake, squashing the beef between them.]
Kurt Angle (c) def Kushida to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA Turning Point 2024, Nov 3, 2024:
Josh Alexander vs Kurt Angle (c), TNA World Heavyweight Championship
[Having effectively vanquished Kushida, Angle turns his attention towards his next challenger. Josh Alexander, having been forced to vacate the World Championship after becoming the longest reigning TNA World Champion in company history, is still seeking to gain back the title that he never lost.
He just so happens to have to go through the man who made his debut to rescue Alexander a couple short months ago to do so. Alexander and Angle, both of similar backgrounds, are excited and respectful in their pursuit to do battle.
The match runs fairly similarly to Jeff Cobb's clash with Angle, a game of one upmanship based around suplex variants. Angle gets the better of Josh with one of these exchanges, getting his trio of German Suplexes to connect and throwing Josh across the ring with the third.
Alexander pops up and comes barreling out of the corner with a spear, he then rolls with Angle, maintaining grip on the waist and lifts him into a deadlift gutwrench suplex creating a beautiful fusion move. Angle barely gets the shoulder up and both men lay exhausted.
They find their footing in the center of the ring, and Alexander begins to lay in with uppercuts. Angle gets a read on him, and catches an uppercut attempt into a backslide, Josh kicks out and Kurt gets him up in powerbomb position. Josh escapes onto his feet and gets Kurt up for a fireman's carry landing a cutter from that position.
Kurt kicks out and Alexander adapts, getting a torture rack applied, bending Angle over his traps. Kurt escapes and gets an emphatic German Suplex. Angle scales the turnbuckles, moonsault! Alexander avoids. Josh gets Angle up and lands a spinning tombstone for a near fall.
For the first time since Angle transitioned to professional wrestling, his neck begins to bother him after the nasty spike on the head. The commentators make point of mentioning Angle's background of neck issues. Alexander decides to make a statement at the expense of Angle, trapping him in an Ankle Lock.
Kurt is able to roll free and as Josh rebounds off the ropes, he is caught with an Angle Slam. Kurt, clutching his neck, goes up top. Moonsault connects. The referee begins the count, but Kurt stops him. Ankle Lock by Kurt.
Kurt wants to make Josh submit, but Alexander breaks out. He gets a double underhook, but Kurt lifts Josh with his bad neck and falls backwards to escape. Kurt immediately goes back on attacking the ankle. Josh scrambles to kick Kurt away and succeeds. Kurt charges back, right into the grips of Alexander. Double Underhook, Tiger Driver! Angle bounces off his skull, and Josh quickly covers. Kurt somehow kicks out!
Josh drags Angle up by his singlet straps, a second spinning tombstone! One, Two Three. Alexander, after several months on the shelf, having to give up his record breaking reign, has reclaimed his spot at the top of the TNA food chain and he's done it by defeating Kurt Angle.
After the bout, Alexander is forced to cut his celebrating short as Kurt struggles to move. He's eventually carted off with a stretcher, putting a damper on Alexander's cathartic title victory.]
Josh Alexander def Kurt Angle (c) to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
Following his harrowing loss of the TNA World Title, it's reported by PWI that Angle has a bad concussion and will be out of action for the remainder of November and likely all of Winter. This is due to precautionary measures being taken since Angle has a history of neck problems.
Death, Taxes and Dirt Sheets Being Wrong.
AEW Collision, Nov 9, 2024:
Motor City Machine Guns vs Konosuke Takeshita & Powerhouse Hobbs
[Meanwhile, in AEW, MCMG arrived a little under six months ago and in doing so have become one of the premier tag teams in the company. They've recently been embroiled in a mini-feud with The Don Callis Family, and it comes to a head here.
After various points of control for each competitor, MCMG are able to take the hard earned victory, pinning Hobbs with Takeshita failing to break it up.
After the bout, Hobbs takes a microphone and makes it clear that The Don Callis Family has been on a downhill slide lately. He states that he can make The Don Callis Family better, and bring them back to their former relevance. That he can inspire Takeshita and earn tag team gold with him.
"I just don't want to."
He turns to Takeshita and Callis, taking a predatory stance now.
"Why should I stay and save this family." He scoffs. "A family of failures...is no family of mine."
He headbutts Takeshita and stands over the fallen warrior. Blood begins to trickle down the nose, as Hobbs capitalizes with the World's Strongest Slam. He kneels over the broken body of Takeshita when the star spangled banner coats the titantron and just six days after it was reported he would be out of action for months, Kurt Angle debuts in AEW.
He brawls with his GCW rival, taking Hobbs out of the ring. He stands his ground, staring down Hobbszilla. The Olympic Hero is All Elite!]
AEW Dynamite, Nov 13, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Powerhouse Hobbs
[It's announced that on Dynamite, ten short days after Kurt Angle's TNA World Title loss, that he will lock horns with Powerhouse Hobbs on Dynamite in his official debut.
Hobbs is able to do what few have truly been able to, and that is overpower Kurt Angle. Angle is a stout, strong guy but when greeted with the powerlifter Hobbs, he finds himself manhandled.
Hobbs blocks suplex attempts and tosses Angle around with slams and throws. Hobbs begins to work on the back, getting Kurt in a torture rack submission. Kurt slips out the back door and gets a surprise German on Hobbs, he maintains waist control and attempts another, but Hobbs escapes and sends Kurt spiraling off the ropes.
A spinebuster from Hobbs follows for a two count. Hobbs gets frustrated throwing Angle out of the ring and using his environment to his advantage. He throws Kurt across the announce desk, into the steel stairs, smashes him against the barricade. Once he feels enough damage has been done, he sends Kurt back in and gets him up for Town Business, Angle escapes off the shoulders and lands an Angle Slam.
Clutching his back, Kurt is able to get the pinfall victory over the ever-menacing Hobbs. A successful debut for The Olympic Hero in the land of The Elite.]
Kurt Angle def Powerhouse Hobbs
AEW Dynamite, Nov 20, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Powerhouse Hobbs
[One week after their titanic clash, it is announced that Hobbs and Angle will clash once more ahead of Takeshita/Hobbs at Full Gear.
Angle makes his entrance, a new shade of intensity painting his face. Everyone believes Angle is going to express that intensity by giving Hobbs a proper beating.
Instead, as the two men stand across each other and the bell rings, the two come face to face, center of the ring.
Hobbs snatches the ref. World's Strongest Slam.
Angle simply snickers to himself as he backs into the corner.
As the crowd sits in stunned silence, Angle climbs to the top turnbuckle, landing a bone-rattling moonsault on the defenseless Rick Knox, making clear he is in on this sick plan.
Security begins to rush the ring, and Hobbs & Angle begin to get to work. They demolish every guard that enters the ring in quick succession.
After clearing the twenty-some security guards, Angle and Hobbs stand together, proud of the carnage they've inflicted. That is, until, Konosuke Takeshita's theme sounds.
Takeshita storms the ring, fighting both men at once. To everyone's amazement, Takeshita is able to clear the ring, chasing off the two newly united heels. Takeshita stands tall ahead of Full Gear, sending a brief but loud message to Hobbs.]
AEW Full Gear, Nov 23, 2024:
Konosuke Takeshita vs Kurt Angle
[Tony Khan makes the announcement that the behavior shown on Dynamite was unacceptable, and reprimands are in order. Kurt Angle is a newcomer to the company, so Tony will let him off with a one and only warning, but Hobbs has been here for years and he knows better. Powerhouse Hobbs has been suspended for thirty days and will miss Full Gear, in his place, his new running mate Kurt Angle will be forced to sub in against Takeshita.
In one of the biggest tests of both men's young careers, two of the hottest rising stars in AEW collide, with deep personal roots fueling the bout. Takeshita wanted Powerhouse Hobbs, the man who backstabbed him, tonight but settles for directing all of that anger towards Kurt Angle instead.
Angle enters with his signature mouth-piece finally making it's first appearance, he probably could have used that before, but hindsight. It adds a distinct edge to his grizzled 'real' fighter look.
In Kurt's second proper match in the company, he is put through the wringer in one of the most physically intense matches of his career. Takeshita's blistering strikes leave Angle cornered and forced to rely on pockets of offense to try to limit the damage done to him.
Angle finally gets an opening late and attempts an Angle Slam, Takeshita on his feet lands behind Angle and sinks him with a Blue Thunder Bomb for a near fall. Takeshita sizing up Kurt from the corner, closes the distance with a Pegasus Knee Strike, Angle catches the leg, and rolls into a knee bar. He focuses his assault on the ankle, hoping to soften Takeshita up.
Takeshita writhes in pain before finally reaching the bottom rope, forcing separation. Angle uses every bit of the five count to continue torturing the ankle. Takeshita kicks Kurt away as Angle looks to pounce, and Konosuke begins running the ropes, picking up steam. He avoids multiple clothesline attempts, dizzying Angle.
He finally closes the gap with a massive lariat. Takeshita scouts Angle from the corner now, and the Pegasus Knee gets ducked by Angle. Kurt begins his trio of German Suplexes. On the third attempt, Takeshita escapes, Blue Thunder Bo- Angle escapes, a third German Suplex! It lands Konosuke flat on his face and Takeshita seeks refuge on the outside.
Angle scales the turnbuckles, catching Konosuke at ringside with a moonsault! He sends Konosuke back in and climbs once more. A final moonsault, but Takeshita rolls out of the way. Angle eats the canvas. Pegasus Knee Strike connects knocking the mouthpiece out! Takeshita pulling Angle up, Blue Thunder Bomb!
It is sweet victory for Takeshita, as he is able to get a measure of revenge on Kurt Angle, translated via the glare in his eyes and the expression on his face though, it is evident that Takeshita still wants Hobbs.]
Konosuke Takeshita def Kurt Angle
AEW Worlds End, Dec 29, 2024:
Kurt Angle vs Kyle O'Reilly, Submission Match
[We arrive at Worlds End and these two grappling gods are chomping at the bit to finally cross paths. Hobbs is busy with Takeshita which gives Angle ample opportunity to put O'Reilly to the test.
Kurt's been getting more braggadocios following his victories, including in two five minute challenges in which he was able to tap both Lee Moriarty and Daniel Garcia in under five minutes.
O'Reilly is able to meet Angle tit for tat, much like Kushida and Sabre Jr. before him. Kurt finally starts to feel some of that pressure he's been applying to his recent opponents.
Late in the contest, O'Reilly begins to pummel Angle with various strikes taking toll on every part of the body. He caps off the sequence with a stomp to the back of the head and a spinning forearm. Angle is left dazed when Kyle leaps on to the back for a sleeper.
Kurt fumbles momentarily with the hands of O'Reilly, but as loss of consciousness rears it's head, Angle dives forward slamming O'Reilly against the turnbuckles, nearly driving both men through them. O'Reilly stumbles up into a trio of Germans, O'Reilly locks onto the waist with his legs on the third attempt, rolling Angle forward and applying a cross armbreaker.
Angle finds his way out with a grasp on the ankle. Ankle Lock is in, O'Reilly kicks and kicks, but Angle refuses to release the grip. O'Reilly shifts himself onto his back and is able to get Angle within reach to apply a Guillotine. Angle gives up the Ankle Lock to focus on the newfound predicament.
He solves it with a northern lights suplex to escape. Angle sets his sights on O'Reilly and closes in for an Angle Slam, Kyle on his feet, Russian Leg Sweep by O'Reilly who then finds the arm and reattaches. Angle shows his strength getting a deadlift powerbomb and forcing O'Reilly to forgo his grip.
Angle climbs to the top for a moonsault, O'Reilly avoids, Kyle comes in hot, stepping up on Angle's leg to then knee him in the face. O'Reilly follows up with a roundhouse, Angle ducks, leg sweep, Angle jumps and then Angle rolls forward and snatches the ankle.
The Ankle Lock is firmly applied, O'Reilly struggles, trying to grab the ropes, kick free, roll out, but Angle has seen it all before and has an answer for everything O'Reilly attempts. After agonizing minutes in the Ankle Lock, O'Reilly finally submits to Kurt Angle.
Yet another feather in the cap of the seemingly unstoppable wrestling machine.]
Kurt Angle def Kyle O'Reilly
AEW Dynamite, Jan 22, 2025:
[On the Dynamite after Angle and Hobbs score a tag team victory over Hook and RVD, Hook is in the ring and calls out Angle. He claims that he is the match Angle has been waiting for and that he knows he can submit Kurt.
Angle comes out and tells Hook that he's a very talented man, and that one day Hook could be a World Champion. Angle's a fan of Hook, he's a hooker.
The only thing Angle can't stand about Hook is his stupid hair. A Champion shouldn't look like they rolled out of a sleeping bag on Skid Row twenty minutes ago, and Angle damn sure ain't tapping to no hobo.
Angle agrees to a match with Hook under the stipulation that when Hook loses he shave his head, Angle is so confident even that he'll put his own hair on the line too.
Once the match is made, Hobbs lambasts Hook from behind, beating on the defenseless up and comer. This leads Taz to rise from the announce table and try to come to the ring, Angle stops him and blocks his way.
As the two face off, Angle gets that feeling again. It's impossible, but...he's been here before, seen this man before. Angle gets a ringing in his ears and abruptly headbutts Taz. Excalibur rises from the table before Taz is ripped up by his suit and Angle carrys him over to the announce desk.
A brutal Angle Slam through the desk connects. Hobbs even backs Angle up and is able to somewhat corral the unhinged Angle. Taz is carted off and suddenly the fight between Hook and Angle just got personal.]
CONT. In Comments

I've been reading a lot of comments saying this or that feature in Kenshi is "broken". You've all seen it too i'm sure, either its stealth, or stealing, or crossbows, or drug dealing, or beak thing punching bags, or something.
But is Kenshi really broken i ask you? The way i see it, people who say this or that feature is "broken" have already had hours of fun with that same feature. Probably they tried that feature, realized it gave them power, started feeling powerful and pwning the game and having lots of fun doing it, and then they allways want to feel that powerful and have that same amount of fun they had the first time but can't because it gets repetitive and too easy. I think the problem is that they overuse those features and 'forget' to have a more varied gameplay.
Imagine i have a midgame character and only then do i recruit Beep. I want to take him on some adventures, but he's weak and squishy. I may then decide to plvl him and it is good that option is there. But if i start plvling every character i make ill miss out on some great gameplay for sure. This is just an example.
So yeah 'cheese' is like dessert. A little bit will enhance your 'meal', but if thats all you eat... well
The purpose of Kenshi is to provide entertaiment, and it excells at that. So to me, Kenshi is not broken and i'm glad for all the options it gives us to enjoy it in many different ways.
Now, wtf are you doing still reading this? Go play Kenshi! Its a masterpiece!
Beep

Hello,
This is my first time on reddit and I feel called to discuss my reversion story with reddit to give hope to someone out there reading this, and how powerful… but more-so loving God, the intercession of Mary, and the genuine love the saints have for us.
I love my parents dearly, but growing up, my relationship was rocky at times… things were complicated growing up. All I will say is they struggled with alcohol (which both of them have completely recovered from, praised be God and his love.) I am also incredibly proud for them overcoming such a challenging thing, it does show the power of God.
We were Catholic, but we never really practiced Catholicism in the home. We went to Church on Sunday, Christmas, and Easter, but that was about it. I attended CCD, was confirmed and all that, but I never had a personal relationship with God, I knew of Him, but I never knew Him personally. This lack of faith would lead to me falling away very quickly.
That being said, growing, I was rather… angsty… I definitely had my edge phase which only grew from instability and anger. I blamed God for everything, and this progressed as I got older. I never stopped believing in God. If anything, I did something MUCH MUCH worse. I believed that the only reason He created was to laugh at me, punish me, use me as a tool. I was his personal toy and punching bag (and to be honest, the way I saw Him… it grieves me to reflect on how evil these thoughts were.
Starting in high school I also fell in sins of Lust (which I still struggle with but has gotten much better by the grace of God and the Saints). I was looking for love, I wanted someone to love me, my friends and my romantic interests, I craved it so much (yet I was spitting on the one person who was there to begin with)
In college, I was studying to become a teacher, I loved the idea of helping people, but the job market in my state was not good, and I was honestly afraid of going out in the true world… so I decided to pursue a Master’s degree. At the same time, I was losing a lot of my friends due to the strict lifestyle I had to keep (and still do keep… no alcohol and no drugs) and my friends disagreement with that (in combination as the mental stress from college…) I was looking for a went express my pain and sorrow…
That’s when I got into writing, in particular fanfiction for RWBY (back when Rooster Teeth was not woke and RWBY was kinda normal until like season 4) and it was through this I made some great friends through this community offered my companionship, attention, and love that I desperately craved.
However, due to my instability, I would leave and come back for several years. At this point, I hit my lowest point. I found myself in desperate trouble which I won’t get into. I was truly terrified on what could have happened. Feeling no peace of heart, truly alone and isolated, I remember something in my heart that said “Pray”
I made the first real desperate prayer for the first time in my life. The next thing I heard in my heart. “Go to Confession.” I wasn’t going to argue and if God was the only one who could save me, so be it.
The next day, I go to Mass during the middle of the week, and it was the first time I saw my priest 7(ish?) years. I close my door, and lock it and I hear a voice say, “You have so little faith.” I look up and the first person I see was my priest with a raised eyebrow. I was so surprised and so confused.
“How do you mean?” I asked.
“You're locking your car in a Church’s parking lot out in the middle of the country with no one hear. Do you really have so little faith?” I knew he was joking in his round-about way, but it was as if God was speaking to me. See my priest was a very holy, pious man, I mean a real priest. I’m not going to go into traditionalist vs. novus ordo, but deep down, this man was a saint, and I knew it. Well after this encounter, I asked for a confession and he consoled me. It wasn’t the best confession because I came to God out of pure earthly fear, but even God can work with that as a starting point. God doesn’t expect us to be masters of astrophysics if we cant even do 2+2
But more importantly, I knew deep down I was forgiven and things would be alright. Yet I couldn't help but to cry because this was the first time I experienced God’s love for me, despite my hatred and venom towards Him. It was the beginning of my conversion story, which was going to have many more ups and downs and the introduction to my heavenly family.
Through the next two years, I was really struggling with overcoming Lust, I was desperate. I wanted freedom. I was looking for anything and everything. That was when I came to Mother Mary. I knew who she was, but I never understood how she was our Mother.
I started to pray the Rosary hearing the promise that our Lady would grant whatever we ask of her. So I made it a habit. Everyday. Rosary. At first, I absolutely hated it… I struggled with it (I still struggle with distractions) but I’ve come to love the prayer soooo much. But I wanted to grow closer, but I didn’t know a. How, and more importantly, b. Why.
That’s when I came across the Marian Consecration, I didn’t understand the deep meaning of it, but I heard it was something was like you make Mary your mother, and I immediately said yes! I know I was naive, but now…. Oh my, what true grace.
Following a small booklet on St. Louis de Montfort, I did the prayers for 33 days (poorly, but Mother Mary accepted my pitiful efforts.) The day of my consecration, I felt such peace and joy, and I came to understand that I was a child of Mary, a very poor, rude, dirty child, but a child none the less, and she loves *all* of her children.
This is when I entered my first major spiritual trial (which I sometimes struggle with, but it has greatly improved.) See on top of Lust, I was starting to come down with a horrible…. I mean HORRIBLE case of scrupulosity (which I praise God for now).
I didn’t understand this spiritual monster and disease, but I knew something was off. I experienced no relief from Confession, Communion was sour, and I was being tempted with the thoughts of God not forgiving me. That he was ready to whack me. Granted this was different from before because I accepted that and believed that I absolutely deserve it (and dreaded it) This turned into a horrible fear of God, and me wanting to serve God out of fear.
This went on for several agonizing months where I constantly thought there was no way I forgiven. I forgot this in confession, I know that I’m going to mess up, God is going to pull the plug on me etc. I was asking God, “Please… I’m sorry… I need help…”
Then came my first sister. See I had step siblings. 3 siblings from my mom’s previous marriage, but they were about 10ish years older than me, and when I was born from my mom’s current marriage, I was/am the only child of this marriage. Growing up, my siblings moved out, and I never connected, I always kinda saw myself as an outsider, so while I did have siblings, there was no real solid bonds (except for my sister.) Growing up, I was very angry and resentful, for the most part I’ve forgiven them, though, I recognize it is still a wound because it creates a bitter feeling when I think about it/dwell about it too much.
I wanted/need a family and that’s when St. Therese entered my life. I want say she appeared in a vision or anything of the sort. However, I’ve noticed at least when it comes to my family… she’s very sneaky in a cheeky, mischievous way. She’s made herself known a few times for my parents and myself, scent of roses that can’t be explained, a rose here and there, anyway….
I was looking up Catholic feels like God won’t forgive me, then I came across the term of scrupulosity. Then I look up saints. The first one who pops up was St. Therese, and something compelled me look her up and read about her. I picked up her book, and I was glued… I felt something that just kinda clicked, you know? I don’t know why or how, but I felt like someone who just kinda got it.
And so I started to pray to her, I asked her to help, but then developed into just talking to her. What started off as an intercession developed into friendship, friendship to love, love to family. To this very day, I call her my heavenly sister. I would talk to her when I was sad or afraid, and I would some consolation.
Slowly, and I mean slowly, the scruples lessened the more I spoke to St. Therese, and I thank and love the Beloved flower for that. I still very much rely on her and talk to her because I feel like she’s just there.

20 yo man here. My family and I moved to Germany a few years ago, it seemed to be kind of a quiet place but the last 4 or 5 months we've had really bad experiences with a random man. He seems to live nearby but we don't know exactly where, basically every once in a while we encounter him walking the same path we use to go home (nothing weird per se) and he comes closer, starts asking personal stuff and follows us. The guy is really creepy and he definitely doesn't look like a mentally stable person.
First time I encountered him he started asking me where I live, where I'm from and that kind of stuff, I tried to give quick dry answers hoping he would go away but he got closer instead. I walked a bit more until we reached a traffic light and I stopped there, holding a pencil in my hand, he looked at me for a few seconds and then kept walking. I think he saw what I was doing so he just ran off. I waited until he completely disappeared and then I walked to my house, which was like 50 meters away.
Well, it seems like I'm not the only one who has seen him, that creepy dude has tried to follow my mom and my little sister too. My mom told us that she completely ignored him from the start and kept walking but my sister said she felt super uncomfortable (basically her way of saying she was terrified). We've seen him a couple more times but mostly from afar.
Almost a month without seeing him until today. I brought my sister to one of her doctor appointments and then we bought groceries. We were talking, walking down the street that leads to our house, when she saw the guy going towards us. The guy was walking on the right side so my sister moved to my left, at first he didn't saw us but when he did he started smiling and moved to the left side. My sister being scared moved to my right and the guy moved to the right too. I'm a little guy who's never been in a fight, I was scared as fuck too but one think I'll never do is let anyone intimidate my little sister. So I walked up to him, grocerie bags in my hands, and asked him what the fuck was his problem. He started laughing and saying "All good", I told him to fuck off and he just kept walking, same as we. When we got home my sister locked herself on her room, she "went to sleep" while I took care of all the bags. Then I went to my mom and told her what happened.
The dude is bigger than me and definitely bigger than my mom and sister, we don't know where he lives, we don't know his name and we don't know when he is going to appear (We've encountered him at 8 AM, at 12, at 3PM, at 6PM...). We can't even call the police or anything because we don't really have a real description, he is a short haired black guy but there are many people who look like that so it wouldn't even accomplish anything.
Apparently pepper spray is ilegal over here and I don't know about any other kind of (legal) self defence weapons. It's infuriating because I can't do shit, my sister or recently operated mom could be harassed by this creep and they have no means of defending themselves. (I mean, I don't either, but I think he would just laugh at me and keep walking cause he saw I can get angry).
We 3 have been SA before (specially my sister) and it really broke my heart seeing her so scared today, I know I would get my ass beaten if I did but I really wanted to punch the creep. Don't even know if it would count as self defence in that case...
It really sucks

Hello I wants to start Judo (25M 170cm) not skinny but not fat either. I have a left wrist pain due to my previous training in muay thai. I did punching wear MMA glove in to the heavybag it's end badly. I still train on my own but I can't hit hard to a bag or target using a left hand punching (still can use my elbow though) Not only that I also have right shoulder pain still can punch hard but it's exhaused easily. I do heavybag shadow box, cardio and weighted legs exercise and planks on my own
Can I train in judo with this kind of pain? In white crane silat they wrist twist kind of sparring they just push body and did sticky hands (not like Wing Chun) they said it can be good to curing injury such nerve problem such I mentioned. I don't know about judo? Will my hands and body be fine if I starting judo in current state of my body

I am struggling something deep. My boyfriend (36m) has been struggling with his depression for about 7 months now and I have been his verbal punching bag. I am not sure how much more of it I can take. I love him dearly, but his words cut so deeply. Tells me sex is boring and that it feels like a job. Haven't had sex in about 10 months. He says my feelings are my problem even if he is the reason they are hurt. This weekend was just hard. Blamed me for thinking he was sleeping with a lady he introduced me to. Didn't even cross my mind. I don't know what to do. Iv decided on distance and just not engaging with him, but I don't know. My heart hurts. Any advice would be great.

I tend to avoid and run away when things get tough. If there's a new opportunity and I take it, after years in that position, I get tired and want something new again, even though I’m lagging behind. I excel in the first few months, but eventually, it becomes meh. I'm getting tired and I want something new again. My job is fine, I'm even lucky because it's work-from-home. But I don't want it anymore, I just want to be a farmer. Sana lumaki nalang ako sa farm your honor.
Is this normal? Or do I just really not like anything related to customer service? It's exhausting to deal with customers even if it's not a call center. I previously worked in a call center and quit after 3 years because it was tiring to deal with different customer attitudes that affect my mood.
Now, I have a new job and got promoted, but it turns out it's still customer service, though not call-based. I didn’t even ask what the job was before joining, which was a stupid move on my part. I don't want to leave because I fear it's just my habit of giving up at the slightest difficulty. I don't want to be like that. How do I change this? What should I do? I want to grow, you know? This kind of work is tiring, with the same goal every day. It’s embarrassing because those who came after me are excelling while I lag behind. Why can they do it and I can’t? They have added roles, but I don't.
I'm nearly 30 and I've realized I’m slow to pick up. I used to be an achiever in elem but now I'm just lazy. My attention span is very short now, maybe that's why I’m so slow.
In high school, one of my parents was abusive(alcoholic) while the other was a punching bag. I was also verbally abused (sa'd). As an escape, I read fiction, watched things to escape into freedom. I immersed myself in non-reality; sometimes I would zone out, imagining my what-ifs. I’m very imaginative, laughing and smiling at my fantasies because that's where I'm happy and free. How can I be good at something? My mind feels empty, like it's just air with no thoughts. I used to have a very talkative toughts an endless speech on my mind 24/7 they keep on bugging me it wont stop. One night i woke up because of that overthinking, because of my talkative mind. Now it just feels empty. Blank. Have I become too self-aware, or maybe I'm just not capable. I just dont have goals. Or maybe i dont know what i really like what i really want.
🌬️🌀

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Set in the universe created by u/SpacePaladin15
MASSIVE THANK YOU, LIKE SERIOUSLY HUGE THANKS to u/weithbec (this chapter would not be nearly as good if not for your help) and additional thanks to u/Liberty-Prime76 for further proofing on top of Weith's monumental efforts
As always, some appreciation to u/brotanics, u/LeWombat545, and u/JimDandy117 for the art they have done for this little story of mine. It means the world to me to see my characters brought to life. Links to their work at the bottom of the chapter.
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Memory transcription subject: Jack Carver, Human Trail Guide
Date [standardized human time]: August 17, 2137
Following the tracks left by Tevri’s captor was easy enough. Whatever it was that the captor carried left behind a trail of long lines drawn in the moist dirt, carving a wavy trail of depressed grass in its wake. The impression of the claw marks weren’t all that different from that of other birds, with the obvious difference of the impact they left.
I was probably walking straight into a trap; in fact, I knew I was walking straight into a trap. I also knew that I had no choice but to spring it.
My promised support from authorities didn’t arrive as I pushed forward. They doubtlessly would, given enough time, but at the moment, time was a rare commodity and it was slipping through my fingers.
Mud covered my boots and ran up the length of my pants. Sweat soaked the inside of my shirt, and my hair hung like a wet mop from my head. My legs strained beneath me, their muscles burning as I pushed them further than even I knew they could. Nothing could stop me now. Not if I could help it.
The trail led me even deeper into the woods, which for the most part were flat and unchanging. It wasn’t until I practically stumbled into what it was I sought that I stopped — and rather suddenly at that. I had expected some kind of wrecked ship or the remains of a crashed shuttle. Much to my surprise, a small hovel with a roof of grass and walls of dirt mixed with wood took their place.
The shelter wasn’t anything particularly special from what little I could see beneath the light of the moon, but it certainly seemed to do wonders at hiding itself from a distance. If not for the tracks, I likely would have never seen it. Only the door and some faint lights shining through ramshod windows of cracked glass gave it away.
It couldn’t have been up very long. This exterminator had only been out a few months short of a year. That whole time they must have been planning for this exact circumstance. How ‘lucky’ we were to be the ones to fall victim to their trap.
This is it. I looked up to the sky, hoping to see something, anything, but there was nothing other than the pale light of the moon and distant twinkling stars. I didn’t want to do this alone, but I had no other choice. Time was running out. There was no telling what already could have been done to her.
I stood among the shadows of tall, looming trees that fractured what little light the moon offered into thin bands that covered the forest floor. I took a deep breath and leaned back, supporting myself with the trunk of a pine. For once in your life, don’t fuck up. You’ve got one shot—she has one shot. Make it count.
The inside of my mouth was sticky with saliva that had coalesced during my uninterrupted sprint. I dared to take a sip from my canteen, swirling the water around to moisten my mouth and spit out the saliva. With my mouth now cleansed, I took a greedy gulp and let out a gasp before continuing to my rapid, shallow breathing.
As I took a moment to recover, I whipped my bag around from my back and pulled out my handgun, struggling to silently slide in a magazine as my hands trembled. It fell in, and I pulled the slide back and let it go with a heavy metallic click.
Silence. For a few long seconds, I looked up to see if I was heard, but nothing indicated that I had been given away. Gently, I set the bag I had pulled the weapon from beside a tree and raised the sidearm forward, both hands on the handle as I aimed it dead ahead.
The last time I used this thing was a time I would have much rather forgotten, but today wasn’t a day for forgetting. My rifle was an instrument of precision that had picked off the Krakotl from a distance. For those I hadn’t been able to down in a single shot, the far less precise instrument that I now held was terribly effective.
The path forward was a well-trodden one. No grass grew where this exterminator’s footsteps had surely passed by hundreds or even thousands of times. The mud clung to my boots with a soft squelch that I felt more than heard with every step. I had only been standing maybe a hundred feet away from the entrance, and I cleared that distance in a matter of moments despite my slow pace. Nothing seen through the windows indicated motion as I approached. Good. Maybe I’ll catch them off-guard.
Memories of dispatching so many of these exterminators, the memories I saw so often in my dreams, flashed before me like a footage reel. I knew how to handle these bastards. If it came to it, I could do it again.
As I reached the door, I placed an ear against it, listening for anything, but no sound came. Right. Take a deep breath. Focus. Breathe. Just breathe.
With my left hand, I pushed it forward. To my surprise, there was no resistance. With the right hand, I held the gun aloft, pointing it ahead into the darkness.
My heart stopped.
The faint lighting I had caught glimpses of kept most of the single room in darkness, but it was more than enough to illuminate what I was looking at.
Of all the faces in my nightmares, one had haunted me more than any other. I wasn’t exactly well-versed in reading the expression of aliens, but from what little I had learned, fear was an expression that could be read on a universal level. Fear was the last thing I remembered of the child. I spent far too many nights lying awake, wondering to myself what had happened to them after I had let them run free in the forest. Had they frozen to death? Starved maybe? Did another hunter find them, or did something else find them first?
Now I could put such thoughts to rest. The two beady eyes that stared back weren’t filled with fear as they had been the last time I saw them. The plume on their head had also grown, but the feather patterns and beak that had been burned into my mind were still the same.
No… It—it can’t be them. That’s impossible. How did they last this long out here, and alone for that matter?
They held one hand across Tevri’s chest and used the other to press a knife up to her throat. My hands shook as I pointed the weapon directly ahead towards them. I didn’t have a clear shot. They were using Tevri’s body as cover, standing behind her and a makeshift chair.
Tevri’s eyes widened as she saw me and her tail began to wildly flap. A gag was shoved into her mouth, and I could see that she was breathing heavily, trying as best as she could to make up for her lack of nostrils. Despite the excess movement, the exterminator — the child — stood still. To me, their face was indecipherable, other than that uncanny stillness that spoke louder than words. If not for their appearance, I don’t know that I could have said this was the same child.
They nodded my way. “Human. Before you do anything, you should lower your weapon. It’d be a shame if Tevri here was hurt, wouldn’t it?”
Tevri’s shouts were muffled through the gag. Flecks of dried orange coated her forehead and her eyes were far less focused than they normally were. I scowled something fierce, but ultimately complied, aiming the sidearm’s barrel into the dirt.
“Good. See? There’s no reason this needs to get violent.”
My eyes lingered on the blood atop Tevri’s crown. “What did you do to her?”
“Oh, nothing much, but I think I speak for us both when I say Venlil have a tendency to flee. She was never going to come along willingly, and we couldn’t have had that, now could we?” I froze. He knows. He’s been watching us, hasn’t he? He must have seen her go running.
“What do you want, you bastard?”
A huff of air left their beak — is that amusement? “Revenge. Your blood. This wretched world of yours burnt to ash like it should have been ages ago. That would all be nice, but how about something a little more palatable for both of us? I want off this world. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“And you really think I can provide that?”
“I know you can. A warrior as bloodthirsty as yourself has to command the respect of your people, no? You wouldn’t have your own slave if not for that.”
“Slave?! What the fuck!” I growled. “I’m the one in her service, not the other way around.”
“Ah. Right. Of course you are. Now, your hunting party may not be with you now, but I’m going to need you to call in your fellow predators. Oh, and be sure they bring a space-worthy vessel with them.”
“Wha— even if I could get that for you, why the fuck would I do anything you ask?”
As I asked this, the Krakotl tugged on Tevri’s left ear and yanked her head back, driving the dagger even closer to her neck. “This seems like reason enough, wouldn’t you say?”
“Alright, alright!” I raised both hands, pointing the gun to the ceiling rather than the Krakotl. “There’s no reason anyone has to get hurt.”
“You’re right. There isn’t. Now, I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. You are going to call in an FTL capable vessel that I am going to use to escape this planet. To make sure you humans don’t shoot down the craft before I jump, I’ll keep Tevri with me, then allow her to leave using any onboard escape craft before exiting the system. Oh, and for good measure, go ahead and slide that weapon between us, would you?”
The Krakotl didn’t stutter once as he spoke, instead staring me directly in the eyes the entire time. It was unsettling to say the least. Relinquishing my weapon was a terrible idea, no less terrible than letting him take Tevri. I knew that it was, so I stood there delaying my fulfillment of his command. It only took a few seconds of silence however before he pressed the blade closer to her neck, going so far as to dig into the fur that covered her skin.
“Alright! Fine! J-just take that thing away from her throat.”
“Gladly, if you’ll drop the weapon and do as I say.”
I lowered my aim and bowed down, setting the gun on the dirt floor and doing my best to slide it towards the Krakotl. It didn’t go all the way, but it was far enough that I could no longer reach it. As I stood back up, I raised both palms above my head to show I was no longer a threat. “There, now… please, just don’t hurt her.”
The Krakotl scoffed and made an expression that imitated a sneer. “It’s funny, I remember begging just like that not too long ago. Do you remember it?” They pulled away with the dagger, still allowing it to hover close to Tevri’s throat but not close enough to dig into her skin.
I didn’t offer an answer, not that I needed to.
“You probably relished their screams didn’t you? You and the rest of your deranged species can’t help but find joy in the suffering of others. Well, you and your people may have been able to fool some members of the Federation into believing you’re capable of empathy, but when I make it back to Nishtal and tell them what’s been going on down here, I’ll make sure the whole galaxy sees you monsters for who you truly are.”
Nishtal. He doesn’t know.
He couldn’t know, not since he’s been down here without contact for months now. “You’re picking the wrong fight kid. The war’s over. Has been for months now.”
“And you think I’m just going to believe you? Tevri here spewed the same propaganda, no doubt heard from you or other humans. It’s not possible. We far outnumber your pathetic forces. You barely survived the battle above your planet and that was only because your Arxur allies swooped in at the last moment to save you.”
“They weren’t the only ones to support us,” I spat back. “After the truth of the shadow council’s crimes against sapient life came to light, former members of the Federation flocked to our aid. The Zurulians, the Yotul, the Venlil, they all helped us in taking down the same bastards that destroyed their culture and broke their people with that damned cure.”
The Krakotl growled. “You’re lying.”
“And you’re delusional! I’ll gladly try and get you that ship for all the good that it’ll do you once you get to Nishtal, but the world you left behind doesn’t exist anymore.”
The kid screeched, pointing the knife my way rather than towards Tevri. Good. That’s it. Focus on me instead of her.
“SHUT UP! JUST—SHUT UP!” The composure he had seemed so full of moments ago melted away to reveal his manic state. He was far too calm before. This attitude better matched his actions.
“No more of that shit. No more of your lies. I’m not having any of it! If you value your pet’s life, I’d suggest you give the propaganda a rest before I trigger that blood instinct of yours.” He returned the makeshift knife to her throat, erasing any sense of satisfaction I had taken from seeing his true nature reveal itself.
I nodded. Okay, just stay still. As much as it might sting, you’ve just gotta listen to what he wants. For Tevri. This is all for Tevri.
“Good, Now, go ahead and call in that transport.”
“I’ve not called one in, not that I could if I wanted to, but I’ve called some folks who might have access to one.”
“Good. I suppose we wait for them then.”
“Right, well I’ve done what you asked. Could I… Can I speak with her?”
The Krakotl scoffed. “I’ve waited almost a full year for this. You can wait a little longer to speak with your pet.”
With every use of that word I could feel the rage within me begin to boil over and spill out. Control yourself. For her sake. “So help me if you call her that one more time I will—”
“You’ll what? Kill me? As skilled of a hunter as you may be human, I guarantee you, my talon is quicker than anything you could attempt.” As if to display this fact, they spun the knife around in their hand once only to press it back up against Tevri’s neck once more, eliciting muffled squeaks. Her eyes darted back and forth, to him with fear and to me with pleading.
My brow furrowed as I stared daggers at the Krakotl. “She’s not a pet.”
“Sure. Whatever you say. Not that I will, or even can, take your word for it.”
It was as he said this that it finally hit me. How I hadn’t realized it before, I chalked up to whatever sense of urgency and the panic that drove me to confront the child. But it was clear now. There was no point in negotiating. To this child, I was nothing but a monster. He would only accept absolute cooperation from my end. Nothing less, nothing more.
I can’t let him just take her. Who’s to say he won’t go back on his word and take her with him to Nishtal? It’s not exactly federation space anymore, but it certainly isn’t within UN jurisdiction either. I’ve got to get her away from him.
A terrible silence fell between us both as we waited. With my gun now out of reach, I had next to no options for helping Tevri escape his clutches. This was only confirmed as my gaze darted throughout the room searching for anything I might be able to take advantage of. There wasn’t much to take note of. This hovel consisted of a single room, of which every wall was packed dirt. A small nest made of twig and torn up fabric rested in the back right corner of the room while a makeshift table made of wood that looked to have been reclaimed from park benches was shoved against the wall to my left. The two windows I had seen earlier allowed a small amount of moonlight to filter inside while allowing the dull light of a nearby lamp to escape in turn. The seat that Tevri now sat in was no less primitive than the workbench, with each leg being nailed together using small branches and more pieces of reclaimed wood. Out of everything there though, nothing could help me in any way, not that I could reach for anything before the Krakotl reacted by sealing Tevri’s fate.
I felt stupid, standing there as the Krakotl’s gaze bored into me, but there was nothing I could do. I had no choice but to wait for backup and hope against hope that they could somehow negotiate for her release.
I moved on from looking for solutions and instead settled on Tevri. Her chest heaved with exertion from the heavy breaths that the gag demanded of her, and her eyes were stuck in a state of perpetual wideness. Her tail sat still, and both ears stuck up straight. The wool on her head was matted with mud and blood, while thin scrapes of orange marked her forearms and ankles.
We locked eyes, me and her. The Venlil’s orange irises quivered as she did, and shone as a light among our dim surroundings. Then, for a split second, they looked down to something. I stood still, confused for a moment until she repeated the gesture. It wasn’t until the third time that she repeated the motion that what she meant dawned upon me.
The Krakotl’s gaze was still focused upon me. This didn’t change as my own view shifted down at a pace slow enough to not draw his immediate attention. I saw a flash of movement from behind Tevri’s back.
Were those… no, it can’t be. I could have sworn I just saw her hand peeking out. This wasn’t all. A length of rope dangled beneath her legs. The end was frayed, no, not frayed. It was cut.
Smart girl. Those claws of hers were sharper than I thought. They were also sharper than the Krakotl thought as was all too apparent. Okay, I can work with this.
As I looked up, I saw that the Krakotl’s focus hadn’t shifted. He didn’t notice Tevri’s handiwork. Right. If I can just find a distraction to get that knife away from her throat, she can get out of harm’s way.
“So, uh, what’s your name kid?”
“What’s it to you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Only curious. If we want to solve all of this without violence like you’re saying, maybe it’d help to know each other’s name.”
His glare softened, if only somewhat. “Omopaulim. Though I’d prefer Omo.”
“Right,” I said, pressing a flat palm against my chest. “And I’m Jack.”
The Krakotl only gave a grunt of acknowledgement as a response.
“So, anything that you would like to know about me while we wait?”
“No,” he said flatly.
Right. He probably thinks he already knows everything he needs to. “Oh come on, there’s got to be something.”
He paused this time before responding. “Fine, I’ll peck. Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You murdered my only companion in this world. What would compel you to do something like that?”
I hadn’t expected him to ask the question so bluntly, even if it was one I had anticipated. “Despite what you might say, we humans do have empathy. I was like you are now when the bombs that your fleet dropped took my brother: lost, scared, broken, hurting. Hell, I still am.”
If my words had any impression upon the kid, it wasn’t an apparent one. I kept going anyway.
“But you and your people were right about one thing with us. We can be dangerous. We don’t need to be though. We don’t want to either. But, when you hurt a human just wrong enough, you’re only asking for trouble.”
“You would have been trouble anyways if we hadn’t had the foresight to deal with you as early as we did.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. We humans, we only ever wanted to meet others like us out there. If you and your people hadn’t showed up on our planet’s doorstep with bombs in tow, you’d still be home with your family, living the life that should have been yours.”
“And if you and your people had gone extinct centuries ago like you should have—“ As Omo said this, he took the knife from Tevri’s throat and pointed it at me.
He was interrupted mid sentence as the back of Tevri’s head slammed against his beak and he was sent reeling. With that, Tevri leapt forward, toppling the chair and throwing herself into the dirt. With her surprisingly strong legs, she managed to clear most of the distance between us.
I rushed forward to pick her up, earning an ear flick of acknowledgement as I yanked the gag from her mouth. “Thanks,” she said with hoarseness to her voice. “I—” A loud screech in the form of Omo interrupted her. The young exterminator rushed towards both of us with his knife pointed at me.
Without a moment’s hesitation, I stood back to my full height and ran to meet the Krakotl rather than let him approach us first.
Omo lunged, attempting to plunge the knife into my abdomen. For the bragging of how dextrous he was with the blade, it was clear he had little to no experience when it came to actual combat. This didn’t mean he couldn’t still be deadly. The knife flicked past me, cutting through the air and striking nothing. He tried again, with slightly more success, managing to slice open my clothes and nick my waist as I danced to the side just in time.
As he extended his arm to make the attack, my hand shot out and seized the wrist that held his makeshift weapon. With a sharp twist, the Omo cried out in pain and dropped it. A single punch decked the kid, and I pounced, making sure to pin him.
He fought back as best he could, but the comparative size between us left no room for competition. I continued to whale on him, throwing punch after punch, each landing home. The last of them spawned a spiraling web of cracks that branched out from the point where my fist met his beak. Despite the blows, he was still up and kicking, screeching and scratching at my arms with his claws.
“P-please,” he sputtered, spitting up violet blood as he spoke. “Don’t—Hrrk“
My hands wrapped around his long neck and squeezed. His eyes bulged from their sockets and his beak opened wide as he struggled to breathe. My grip tightened as he scrambled and clawed at my hands, trying and failing to free himself.
Any sentiment of sympathy for him was washed away by the adrenaline surging through my veins. With every attempt of his flailing talons to swipe at my hands and arms, my grip grew tighter around his throat. I dug my knee into his abdomen, forcing the air from his lungs as I put the full weight of my body against his chest.
He deserves this! Look what he did to her! He could have killed her!
He deserved to die for what he did to her. She was innocent and he could have killed her for nothing more than associating with me. Tevri never could have known about what I did, yet here she was, drugged to high hell and dragged through the woods by this bastard that couldn’t learn to change.
Every time I had killed an exterminator all those months ago, I had made certain my job was done. No loose ends were left, and the town and those I cared about were safe because of it — well, all loose ends but one.
A snarl escaped my lips as I watched the Krakotl’s eyes begin to fade and his struggle grew weaker and weaker. His hands no longer scratched at mine, reaching away from me instead as if he was trying to find some escape. He would find none.
“Stop!” Tevri’s cry cut through the haze of rage. “He’s harmless now! J-just let him go!” I swung around to look at her, and she flinched as I locked eyes with her. The same terror that I had inspired mere hours ago was plastered across her. It was this that yanked me back to reality — to the reality of what I was doing. What was I doing?
My grip loosened, but didn’t relent entirely. Oh fuck. I—I’m doing it again.
Yes. You’re doing it for her, just as you did it for Nick.
For her? Look at her! She’s petrified just standing near you! She’s asked—no, begged you to stop. Can you really excuse this as being for her?
He was with the ones who bombed Earth. He deserves the same fate.
Does he? He’s a kid. Do you really think he was the one to pull the lever? To issue their commands? To muster their fleet?
He’s complicit.
He’s a child*.*
If you take his life, you’ll prove that he and the federation were right. You’d be the monster he thinks you are. He’s helpless. His death by your hands would be murder and nothing less.
So, what will it be then? What are you?
What am I?
I’ve killed before. I’d kill again if I had to, but this… this is different. Even if it was a loose justification, I had something to drive my rampage against the Krakotl. This kid though… they’re helpless against me.
“Please!” croaked Tevri. Her voice was strained and on the verge of breaking as she pleaded with me.
You might not be able to undo your actions, but you can choose to not perpetuate them. This child had suffered enough. You have suffered enough. End the cycle. Be better.
My clenched hands gave way as the tension holding the Krakotl’s neck was released. Omo gasped, coughing haggardly immediately after taking in a breath.
I looked at my hands. Crimson rivers trickled down them from where my forearms had been scratched and scraped by Krakotl claws. Droplets of violet speckled them, but for the most part, the blood was my own.
After poring over my hands, I turned to Tevri, whose tear-filled eyes and terrible condition tugged at my heart. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to. She had already done enough.
It was her guidance that helped me make this choice. If she even cared to talk to me after this was all over, it was my hope that she could only continue to better me.
She was panting, her mouth left agape as she tried to catch up on the breath lost by the gag covering her mouth. She looked better though. Then again, it isn’t difficult to look better after you’ve been tied up and held hostage.
Despite it all, despite everything, I gave a weak chuckle and smiled. She wasn’t nearly as capable of smiling as a human, but her lips turned up and her ears stuck upright as her tail flicked behind her.
I-I think that’s a good sign. Maybe things will turn out alright after—
My thought was interrupted as a thunderous bang reverberated through the room.
My ears rang. I saw Tevri’s mouth open, but didn’t hear anything come from it. The brief return to something resembling a comfortable state was shattered, and fear once again constituted her countenance.
It took a moment for reality to catch back up to me. I thought I was safe. I thought we were safe. It was idiotic of me not to remain vigilant considering that this kid had been attempting to stab me mere moments ago, but reveling in my moment of self-triumph had been a bit too much.
I went from sitting on my knees to screaming and scrambling backward across the ground. My hand shot to my abdomen where a stab of pain sprouted from nothing. Heat began to form where the pain originated, and as I looked down, I watched a red spot grow beneath my shirt.
The shot came from Omo, who lay on his back with both claws holding up the same weapon that I had once threatened him with. His eyes were wide, and his face was a terrible mess of blood and bruises. More than a few feathers had fallen free during our scuffle, and those spots were just as apparent.
Tevri stood still, shock and fear taking over her body. The relief at being pried from the Krakotl’s clutches was just as quickly warped into terror.
Omo stood himself up on wobbly legs as I scooted backwards, pressing myself against the wall in an attempt to put as much distance between us as I could manage. Another indecipherable expression coated his face, though it was different from the last. He ignored Tevri and walked past her towards me.
The gun I had tossed aside was held up in both hands. It was far too big for him, but he managed to wield it, pointing its barrel into the dirt.
“I would have thought you’d be a better hunter than to let your prey get the upper hand like this.” His voice was weak and hoarse, but the conviction he spoke with was audible even through my translator.
“You could have killed me, but you didn’t. Why? Why kill Maiatim but stop to give me mercy? Twice!”
The Krakotl still sucked in ragged breaths of air, but as he stopped, he raised the weapon and aimed it directly at my head.
“I—I won’t make the same mistake. You’re too dangerous to be left alive. I can’t say I’m sorry for this, b-but I do regret that it had to be this way. Goodbye, Jack.”
I would’ve been lying if I said I was ready to go. My parents certainly wouldn’t take the news well, not after they had already lost their other son. I doubted my friends would take it much better either. I had no control over how others would react to my passing, but if the general attitude of those in Healy towards aliens was anything to go by, they wouldn’t react well. Atop the pile of all these worries, the prospect of leaving Tevri behind almost hurt more than the growing pain in my abdomen.
She’s strong. She didn’t need you before you met her, and she sure as hell won’t when you’re gone.
You did your best. You changed. Even if you couldn’t stop the violence, you chose to quit participating in it. The sidearm shook as Omo's trembling claw wrapped around the trigger. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.
The seconds stretched; every beat of my heart lasted minutes, every breath took hours. I had heard of your life flashing before your eyes, but I wasn’t a believer of such experiences until now.
As time slowed, I saw my childhood, the years spent with Nick, our summers spent together goofing off and spending long nights talking beneath the stars as we ignored any semblance of a curfew set by Ma and Pa. I saw us attending school together, me standing up for him against those who dared push him around and the flak I always caught for it. Pa was proud though, and that was all that mattered to me. I sat through every failed relationship I’d ever had, each of which I was probably better off for not having followed through with. I watched through my own eyes as we celebrated Nick’s graduation and acceptance into university, then struggled to stand by as I told him to leave home behind in the pursuit of something greater. The rampage that ensued following his death was just as vivid as ever, every death, every kill, played back as though it were recorded and transmitted back to me. And last, but certainly not least, there were the events of the last week or so.
A hard, crack and thunk were followed by yet another deafening boom.
If this was death, then it wasn’t as bad as I had thought. I was still pretty sore, and that pain in my side hadn’t gone away yet. My heart was still beating and my breaths were still ragged. The stale, earthy air continued to flow in and out of my nose.
For all my lack of belief in religion, I could have sworn I saw an angel wreathed in light as I cracked open my eyes. The figure only grew in brilliance the further my eyes opened — that is until recognition dawned upon me.
Tevri?
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Cover Image
Tevri in a sweater - By u/Brotanics
Tevri - By u/Brotanics
A Depiction of Jack's Dream - By u/LeWombat545
Tevri (Discord Nitro Exchange Commision >:D ) - By u/JimDandy117
Lil' Goob Tevri - By u/JimDandy117
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First Previous Next

I visited USJ recently for the first time. I went on a Saturday (crazy I know!), but it was the only time that worked with my schedule.
I purchased the Express Pass 7 Variety for 19,800 Yen or about $126 USD. This was in addition to the 8,800 Yen or about $56 USD just to get into the park. Expensive, but absolutely worth it. I’m actually amazed at how much I was able to get in throughout the day, which wouldn’t have been remotely possible without it. I also hate waiting in lines and am fairly impatient when it comes to them. If it’s an option for you, definitely splurge. If not, definitely do not go on a weekend (I’ve heard Tuesday and Wednesday are best) and try to take advantage of single rider queues.
Below is the timeline of my day with some lessons learned, tips, ratings, commentary, etc. Hopefully somebody finds it helpful/interesting!
6:50 am - Arrived at park entrance for an “8:30 opening”. The line was to the kiosks at this point.
7:00 am - They started letting in people with early entry
7:30 am - They started letting everybody else into the park (1 hour before the posted opening, which is typical). I made it through the bag check and into the park in about 10 minutes.
7:40 am - I headed for the Demon Slayer ride since this wasn’t included in my express pass. I tried to get timed entry to Super Nintendo World while walking, but they weren’t available yet. I got to the lockers for Demon Slayer and found out you needed a 100 yen coin. I had read this, but totally forgot and of course didn’t have one! I went to the Demon Slayer merchandise store and they were able to give me change, but this delayed me by ~ 5 minutes.
7:55 am - Demon Slayer (Single Rider). 8.5/10. I thought I had read they didn’t have single rider for Demon Slayer so this was a nice surprise. The sign had a 70 minute single rider wait time posted, but I was through the queue and finished with the ride in 50 minutes. I have never seen Demon Slayer (my nephew loves it and I so wish he had been with me!), but it was really neat and well done. I did feel a little sick after due the VR nature, but I am really sensitive with motion sickness.
8:45 am - Grabbed my stuff from the lockers and tried again for a SNW timed entry (I had left my phone in the locker since I didn’t have pockets). By this time the earliest entry available was 1pm. Since I already had entry with my express pass at 12:40 pm, I passed. Ideally I was hoping for a 9:30 am or so entry so I could experience it with less crowds, but oh well!
9:00 am - Walked over to Jaws, but the single rider queue was closed so I decided to use my express pass for Hollywood Dream instead. On the way to Hollywood Dream I walked past the Mario Cafe and decided to stop for one of the pancake sandwiches first. I waited about 5-10 minutes in line and ordered the Luigi No Bake Cheescake sandwich. It was SO cute and honestly really delicious. This was 900 Yen or about $6 USD.
9:30 am - Hollywood Dream (Express Pass). 9/10. I got right through and waited no more than 5 minutes. Really fun roller coaster and definitely had my adrenaline going after this!
9:45 am - Wandered past Jaws again, but still no single rider queue so I decided to walk through NYC and SF and then into the Minion area.
10:15 am - Minion Crazy Ride (Express pass). 8/10. This one was probably about a 10 minute wait. Cute and fun ride, but definitely had some motion sickness again. I’ve also never seen Minions, but they are adorable! Kinda want to watch it now Lol
10:35 am - Checked the app for a SNW time entry again and was able to secure one for 8pm just in case I didn’t get to everything during my express pass timed entry and wanted to go back at the end of the night.
10:45 am - Flying Dinosaur (Express Pass). 10/10. Essentially walked on other than the ticket checks throughout the line, lockers, and metal detectors. Amazing roller coaster, but for me, honestly REALLY scary and out of my comfort zone (especially the part going backwards and underground). But I like getting out of my comfort zone and so worth it for the adrenaline :)
11:10 am - Jaws Ride (Single Rider). 7/10. Decided to head to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for lunch, but I checked Jaws on my way and the single rider queue was finally open! I think it had just opened because I was the first in line and literally walked on the first boat, zero wait!
11:35 am - Lunch at Three Broomsticks. I waited in line for probably about 15 minutes. Really cool theming in this restaurant! I ordered the Vegetable Irish Stew, a coffee, and of course a Butter Beer! This came out to around $20 USD. The food was fairly average, but not bad by any means and I was grateful for a plant based option. Loved the Butter Beer and the coffee was much needed pick me up!
12:30 pm - Arrived at Super Nintendo World for my 12:40 timed entry with my express pass. I got in 10 minutes early without a problem and went straight to Kinopio’s Cafe to get a timed entry slot. There is a QR code you scan and then make the reservation using Email or Line. However, it requires use of your location and for some reason it was not working on my phone! I tried for probably 5 minutes before asking a staff member. They tried to change a setting on my phone, but it still didn’t work. Fortunately, they were able to make the reservation for me on their IPad. I just had to give them my email and name. I got timed entry for 3:30 pm (!) so nearly 3 hours later. This was fine for me as I planned to spending significant time in Super Nintendo World and had already eaten, but something to be aware of!
1:00 pm - Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge (Express Pass). 9/10. This one was the longest wait of the day using the express pass. At the point when you get the Mario cap you join the regular queue. It was probably about a 20 minute wait from that point. Walking through Bowser’s castle was incredibly cool. The theming and attention to detail is literally amazing!! In hindsight I wish I would have let the people behind me pass and walked slower through the castle. The ride was also a ton of fun and really well done! Childhood dreams come true (I’m a huge Mario fan)!
1:30 pm - Decided to buy the power up band before riding Yoshi’s Adventure. I should have done this before riding Mario Kart, but I didn’t want to miss my timed entry (I doubt they are that strict, but in the moment I didn’t want to take the chance). I got Kinopio/Toad :) The band was 4900 Yen or about $32 USD. This is well circulated knowledge, but don’t buy the band from the first couple of stands. You can buy them once you get further inside with short to no queues.
1:40 pm - Yoshi’s Adventure (Express Pass). 7/10. I think I waited about 10 minutes for this. I know this ride gets a lot of flack, but for what it is, I really enjoyed it. I loved just sitting back and taking all that is SNW in. I had a smile on my face the whole time. However, I probably wouldn’t wait for it if I didn’t have an Express Pass.
2:00 pm - Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge again (Single Rider). The wait time was only 30 minutes. This time, with a bit of experience, I ended up winning! Woot, woot :) Just as fun the 2nd time around and if I had more time I would have went again. Something to note, with the single rider queue you miss almost the entirety of Bowser’s Castle before the ride.
2:40 pm - Wandered around the land a bit collecting coins, taking it all in, and played the Thwomp Panel Panic (10 minute wait) and Koopa Troopa POWer Punch (20 minute wait) mini games.
3:30 pm - Finally time for my timed entry at Kinopio’s Cafe. Even with the timed entry I still had to wait in line for 20+ minutes to order and be seated. I ordered the “? Block Tiramisu” and a coffee which came out to around $9 USD I think. The tiramisu was absolutely adorable, but was pretty average taste wise. The cafe itself is also super cute and the staff were incredibly friendly. The waitress insisted on taking my picture and was such a joy. This was a much needed rest for my feet!
4:30 pm - Piranha Plant Nap Mishap (10 minute wait) and Goomba Crazy Prank (30 minute wait) mini games.
5:15 pm - Now with my keys in hand, I head over to the Bowser Jr. Shadow Showdown to get back Peach’s rightful Golden Mushroom (< 5 minute wait). This was so fun!! I already think the power up band was worth it, but this sealed the deal on that question.
5:30 pm - Slot Machine Game (10 minute wait). I was always really good at this one on the video games so I loved getting the chance to try in real life and I nailed it! 4x Mushrooms, woot woot! What fun!
6:00 pm - Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Express Pass). 9.5/10. Wait time was 10-15 minutes, but the theming before the ride here was incredible, on par with Mario Kart and (surprise!) I’ve never seen Harry Potter either Lol Although, subtle brag, I have met Dan Radcliffe and have his autograph.. nicest human ever :) If you are a Harry Potter fan, I’m sure you would lose your mind with this pre-show and ride. The ride itself was mind blowing, my favorite VR ride of the day, although once again this one made me a bit sick.
6:30 pm - Fight of the Hippogriff (Express Pass). 3/10. ~10 minute wait. At this point in the day I was exhausted, and to be honest, I could have skipped this ride. I had read it was underwhelming, but I just couldn’t convince myself to skip it because I “paid” for the Express Pass. I studied Economics, I should be the last person to fall for the sunk cost fallacy ;) I got to sit in the first row so that was cool, but yeah, it’s quite short and very mild. The views of Hogwarts (?) was cool though!
6:50 pm - Back to Three Broomsticks for a sunset Butter Beer over the lake (and a cheeky Kind Bar I snuck in.. shhh). 800 yen or about $5 USD. Beautiful :)
7:20 pm - Flying Dinosaur again (Single Rider). Wait was ~30 minutes. Mustered up the courage to go on this one again and end my day with a BANG! Just as fun.. and just as scary the second time Haha
8:00 pm - Decision time… back to SNW or no? I was knackered and had already defeated Bowser Jr. so I decide to call it a day and go get some food outside the park. Made may way through the park to the exit, ejoying the night time vibes and reminiscing on what a crazy awesome day I just had!
In the end, I was able to ride 11 rides and complete all of the mini games in Super Nintendo World. It was a long, exhausting 13+ hour day, but so, so worth it!
I spent about $255 USD total which included Park Entrance, the 7 ride Express Pass, Food/Drink, and the Power Up Band. Worth every penny in my opinion.
Side note: something else that makes USJ really special is the attitude of all the Japanese staff. They were so friendly and happy and the vibes were just amazing. In SNW especially, they really bought into the theme (Here we go!). I’ve never been to Hollywood or Orlando so I don’t know if it’s the same there, but they were wonderful. Shout out to you all for making my day even better :)
If anybody has questions, please let me know and I will try to help as best as I can!
Lastly, some additional information on SNW that might help others: if you don’t have the express pass, you need to get to the park early (like I did). When you get into the park go straight to SNW and you will likely be able to walk in. If you can’t walk in, get on the app and get a timed entry. The timed entry tickets become available as soon as it’s full from walk-ins.

Welp, I finally did it.
Definitely the best tactics game ever made. A big shoutout to the folks on the discord, as well as Casey's substack for a bunch of useful advice.
Just wanted to post some notes on what worked and what didn't in case someone out there finds it useful one day. In no particular order:

• I played with Commander's Choice, Dynamic War and Perfect Information. In hindsight, DW seems to make the game much easier in terms of airgame and fatigue, but I'm not sure if I can handle the tedium of mid-lategame missions without it. There are only so many crashed scouts I can do before going insane.
• This was the third attempt at impossible difficulty after beating brutal ironman. I gave up on the first two after some horrific bomb disposal missions in may/june.
• Went for the standard lasecarapace buildpath, mostly for solving the airgame with laser cannons. Transitioned into MECs followed by gauss, captures and then psi, skipped pulse and into plasma. Nothing new here, didn't feel confident enough experimenting for my first win.

Some notes on the classes and builds I used:
Assaults
(Run and Gun CCS WtS CE Resilience Sprinter EC)

• Tried out biotanks for the first time, mostly assaults and one infantry. It... kinda works? Early game, the issue is mostly acid from thinmen, which removes all the DR you're stacking. Later in the game, enemies start to shoot so hard that you can't really tank more than one or two shots.
• If you have MECs, it seems about a 50/50 whether they shoot a mec or your tank, even when you try to manipulate defense. I lost 3 MECs this campaign(a valk, a shogun and a pathfinder) because I was relying on the enemies shooting the tank in a rough situation. This is no doubt a skill issue on my part, but still.
• They're pretty fun in the endgame when you can get them the psi equipment and genemods to really shine. Running into a pod of 6 outsiders and not giving a crap feels pretty good.

Snipers
(Squadsight Deadeye PrecShot Sharpshooter PlatStab BeO DoubleTap)

• I also tried building long rifle crit snipers for the first time this campaign, using only marksman rifle disabling shot snipers previously. Three made it to MSGT only to barely see another mission in the whole campaign.
• I just don't get it. Having infinite range is meaningless, like, 95% of the time, and it's especially meaningless in the most difficult situations in the game. When there are 20 aliens right on top of your LZ, being able to move and shoot, along with disabling shot, seems so much better.
• In previous campaigns, marksman rifle/disabling shot snipers would output consistent, reliable damage, turn after turn. This campaign, my precshot snipers would make like, 2 amazing shots per mission and felt pretty useless otherwise because they had to move, or reload the GLR, or fail to get a crit because I needed them to shoot into cover.
• I really missed disabling shot on some of the harder turns. It's one of the only ways to deal with overwatching mechanical units activating outside vision. The others are LMG suppression(can't move, so not always reliable) and Lightning Reflexes(risky). You can also move 1 tile into vision range and shoot, which I had to do a lot in this campaign, but that tends to leave your soldiers in vulnerable spots. This is fine if the only things left are a few drones or sectoids, but problematic when you're in a full blown firefight. So yeah, I REALLY missed disabling shot.

Rocketeers
(Rocket HEAT Warheads FitH Shredder Mayhem S&A Javelin)

• I hate rocketeers. They have a strong turn about once a mission, but on that turn they are by far the most valuable soldier in the game, so they end up in every single squad.
• Dynamic war makes them feel awful to use, especially with HEAT warheads early game, since every corpse is worth about 2x as much. Having every rocket cost about 30$ is painful.
• I went for the standard rocket build this campaign with javelin, and I didn't like it as much as tandem in my previous campaigns. Same as snipers, the limiting factor for rockets is usually not range(for me, at least) but rather LOS. Having your rockets at full effect even when you only barely graze with the AOE behind a corner is very useful.
• In previous campaigns, I've tried overwatch rocketeers. They were fine, honestly. The build was (Rocket Ranger RR Shredder Opportunist EC Tandem). A bit weaker early game, but lategame there isn't that much difference. Your rockets are about as accurate, do slightly less damage, and you get one less rocket per mission. I found the times I needed 3 regular rockets on a mission to be uncommon, and the damage I find secondary to shredding or removing cover. Might go back to that build in my next campaign.

Infantry
(LeU Executioner)

• Yes, there are only two perks listed above. I can explain.
• Infantry are often considered the weakest class overall, and I sort of agree. Once your assaults, gunners, scouts, MECs and snipers come online(usually in that order), infantry start to feel like a drag.
• I saw someone describe them as 'useful for about 5% of a campaign'. That's sort of true, but for me, that's usually the hardest part of the campaign. Those early months where you're fightning a bunch of thin men and floaters and before you get your shiny midgame doubleshot perks and upgraded equipment are often where I struggle most.
• Thus, executioner. The other perks at that rank are quite frankly terrible in the early/midgame, where infantry are actually decent. Being able to reliably clean up after grenading a thinman's cover or rocketing a bunch of floaters is valuable.
• LeU is not as good as most other doubleshot perks, but there is something to be said about it being good in some of the hardest situations in the game(starting the turn with lots of active enemies who are flying/can't be flanked/can't be ITZed).
• The rest of the build, to me, matters less. This campaign I built one tank infantry (LeU Executioner WtS Suppression LnL Resilience EC), and she was ok, useful on some roadway maps mostly, situations where an assault tank has a hard time doing much. They have a problem of being very slow(no sprinter) and slower to develop(they get resilience a rank later than assaults). I might make one in my next campaign too, especially if I play without commander's choice and get a soldier with weird stats.
• I had two overwatch infantry (LeU Executioner Opportunist Deadeye LnL Sentinel VPT) and I wasn't impressed. Their damage is low and it often goes places you don't particularly want, like random drones. I will never take covering fire, simply because it's one of the only perks in the game that can make some situations worse. There are perks which are irrelevant or useless in some spots, but very few can be actively bad. The only other perks with a tangible downside I can think of are absorbtion fields(-1 mobility, but the upside is quite big) and danger zone(makes it harder to control rockets).
• In my next campaign, I'm planning to use a sort of a weird build (LeU Executioner WtS Deadeye Sharpshooter Resilience VPT), the idea is to try to capitalize on their strengths(shooting unflankable and flying enemies) while trying to mitigate their weaknesses(having to be on the frontline). It'll probably go poorly, but we'll see.

Medics
(Field Medic Steadfast S&M Smoke Grenade Dense Smoke Sprinter Packmaster)

• In my two failed campaigns, I tried officer medics and I didn't like them at all. I like getting my officers early and bring them on every mission, while medics don't usually make it into my squads before squadsize upgrades.
• This time, I went for the standard psi medic build. I used to take suppression and bombard, but I think I like this build more. A shotgun makes the medic relevant more than supression, I find.
• Another reason not to take supression/bombard is that medics are both valuable and fragile, so I don't want them in the frontline throwing chem and supressing cyberdisks. Medics take a long time to train and are a bit of a drag on your team in the early ranks, not to mention psilab time, so I'd rather not have them end their turn in vision of enemies. Engineers are much better suited for that purpose, since a CPL engineer does like 80% of what you need from that class.
• To me, the class has two purposes: dense smoke and mimic beacons. Dense smoke is obviously strong so I won't belabor that point. Mimic beacons, for me, are the main reason to get psi(apart from, you know, being mandatory to win). The occasional mindfray or psipanic is nice, but mimic beacons from a high-will, mind-merged and psi-inspired medic can nullify 10+ enemies, solving some of the hardest situations in the game.

Engineers
(Grenadier Sapper S&M Repair Battlescanner Packmaster Bombard)

• The most boring class, and the one I feel the least interested in experimenting with.
• They go on every mission, they're always useful in some way, they don't need any particular stats. Very solid but, again, boring.
• They tend to take a lot of wounds in my campaigns, but luckily engineers are good even at low ranks and shoguns are a very good MEC class.

Gunners
(Suppression Holo Shred WtS DoubleTap Dangerzone Mayhem)
(Suppression Flush HEAT WtS RapidFire Resilience EC)

• Another quite boring class, I don't think I can say anything about gunner builds that hadn't been said before.
• Honestly, I barely notice the difference between the two gunner builds and they feel about equal in 90% of missions. The only time it really plays a factor is when I bring two gunners on a mission, which happens often in the mid game and less as the game goes on. I might miss holo-shred more when I don't have it, so I might try building more BW gunners next campaign.
• I've seen several comments saying that Dangerzone is a very rarely-used ability. I don't quite agree. It's very good against clumps of chryssalids, berserkers(dangerzone mayhem supression against 3 berserkers feels amazing, you holo shred everything and get to take a shot when they move from the damage. Or the game freezes/crashes, which happens a lot in that scenario for some reason).
• Even if you can only hit 2 enemies with it, it's pretty valuable. This actually happens a lot in the lategame, where muton elites like to clump up behind heavy cover in a way that only gives vision of one of them. Being able to suppress+holo+shred two or three of them is quite valuable in that spot.

Scouts
(LR Holo Ranger Battlescanner HnR Sprinter VPT)

• Everyone's favourite class, with a pretty standard build. Marksman rifle almost exclusively. I value the mobility from sprinter over the unreliable damage from BeO, but I can see the value of every choice at that rank(even tacsense).
• I used them as officers. Personally, the will bonuses don't really matter to me, what I need from my officers is to use command when the situation calls for it and to not get shot. I also want officers in every squad as early as possible for their passive abilities. No other class fullfils these requirements for me apart from maybe a rocketeer, but on the hardest turns I usually want to both command and shoot a rocket, so that's pretty awkward.
• Lategame, I started bring double scout on missions, taking the spot of a marksman sniper(which I didn't have this campaign). The second scout usually went lonewolf/aggression/BeO, with some damn good ground in the very lategame.

Jaegers
(ITZ PlatStab Executioner Ranger Squadsight Repair Servos VPT)

• I decided to heavily focus on jaegers this campaign, due to the absence of ITZ snipers, and they performed very well. My main jaeger had over 200 kills in about 20 missions.
• To compare the two, snipers are more accurate, have deadeye and can use disabling shot. Jaegers are more self-sufficent(can create their own flanks with their mobility), less fragile, and can use the flamethrowerestorative mist. I'd say jaegers are a little better, but only a little.
• As a note about flamethrowers, I found them way worse on impossible than on lower difficulties. Enemies having higher will makes the flamethrower a lot less reliable and harder to use. This also applies to most psi powers.
• I had a massive meld shortage for most of the campaign, thus I could only reliably field one MEC on most missions. Because of that, I chose to go for squadsight and repair servos in an attempt to make a safer, consistent build that will perform well on most missions. I don't regret those choices.

Other MECs - Shogun/PathfindeValkyrie/MaraudeGuardian

• Because of the aforementioned meld shortage, I didn't really get to build many other MECs. I'm usually a huge fan of shoguns but I only had two this campaign, and only one survived until the end. The only other MEC to survive until the end except my jaegers was a pathfinder, which was obviously good as pathfinders tend to be.
• I don't feel like there's a massive difference between the shogun, the marauder and the valkyrie. They all end up with semi-tanky builds with decent damage and utility and are pretty much interchangable.
• Pathfinders are excellent but all they do is damage. Granted, they are very, very good at doing that damage, but I felt like I had enough damage this campaign without them, replacing them with much-cheaper HnR scouts that were almost as good at damage and could also do other things(carry a shadow device/motion trackebattlescanner). In the very lategame I feel like scouts are even better because they can fly, making the marksman rifle absurd.
• Guardians have a unique role in being good on long, campy missions where you tend to take wounds and sit on overwatch for 20 turns in a row. I couldn't really afford to get one going this campaign and I didn't miss is too much. Biotanking also nullifies the biggest strength of restorative mist compared to a regular medkit(AOE), since only one soldier tends to take most of the damage. Taking a single charge of mist on my jaeger felt enough for the rare situation where a grenade or something would damage multiple soldiers.
• Goliaths also have a unique role in being terrible. A MSGT goliath has 76 aim at base. I'm sorry, but no, I don't have enough meld to afford building a punching bag for the aliens.
• I have no idea how I will ever be able to afford an archer. They seem like a sidegrade to rocketeers at best and a downgrade at worst(can't hit flying units).

SHIV

• I only used 2 SHIVs this campaign, one regular and one alloy.
• The alloy shiv was MVP on the only mission I took it this campaign - my second alien base assault. Having a mobile piece of cover that can just move up and suppress a sectopod without caring about it taking a wound or dying makes the mission a lot more tolerable.
• The regular shiv was decent on difficult bomb disposals in the early/mid game. Always nice to have one in reserve.

And that's pretty much it. I know there are players here who are on their 50th I/I win but I still feel quite proud of finally getting the win nonetheless. I hope someone will find my wall of text interesting and I apologize in advance if I communicated some of it poorly, I'm not a native speaker.

Holy moly what a tool bag!! Not just one tool, all of the tools (since you seem to try to reach the "top status" in your sad life). Goodness monkey wrench can do more than you, and you're the biggest gorilla out there!! Oh yeah also if you think your tits aren't bigger than most men 😂😂😂 you're a bigger joke than your life, but you'll always be as small as your dick 😏👉👉