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After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Captain Farva
Have I died? Am I dead? It was supposed to be a bright glowing flash then nothing right. The detonation had come but I was still standing here, My thoughts flowed slowly as if molasses, I felt Nyan's claw dug firmly into my fur. I took a breath, the air was clean, filtered, artificial. I felt lighter, stronger? No, it felt like I had just gotten onto a federation ship with galactic standard gravity. I shifted my weight, with each shift of my legs cool metal met my paw pads.
“Where are we?” Nyan Cried, burying himself in my arms. “How… How….?”
“I don’t know” I murmured.
I opened my eyes slowly, surprised they still worked, I thought myself blinded by the nuclear fire that filled my irises. We were in some sort of hangar, flanked by strange dark gray ships. They were monowing craft presumably designed for both spatial and atmospheric flight, topped with angular cockpits and weapons affixed to the bottom of their wings. A large doorway lay opened up to space. The atmosphere we were breathing was being held in by some kind of energy field. The size and shape of the doorway was familiar to me. It was the doorway to the hangars of the Daedalus, only the last time I had seen them was from the outside of the ship.
How were we here?
We were on the bridge, but now in this hangar bay?
Did someone move us?
The ship exploded, rescue would have been impossible.
Did our section survive?
“I don’t know” I fought for rational thought.
I felt like I had just stayed up for like 6 claws.
“No wait I had”
“What?” Nyan spoke softly, I had spoken that thought aloud.
Maybe the Daedalus was able to shield the bridge section somehow, Isolate the reactor from the rest of the ship.
I took a headcount of my dazed crew, many in shock, some took in their surroundings like I did, some sat there with blank expressions. Had we been more lucid, had we not already had just come out of a life or death scenario, I'm sure they would have stampeded.
I counted twice, losing track the first time.
When I finished the quick count I was dismayed, engineer Donu was gone, she must not have been saved, how could she have been, she was at the site of the detonation. I stared at the stars as I layed down flat in the middle of the hangar bay, cradling Nyans head in my arms, this was too strange.
The Adrenaline fueling me was gone. We were safe I think?
I was tired, my body craved only rest.
The blood on my head, the cuts and scrapes of my crew did not register anymore. Caldwell would take care of them I thought as my eyelids grew heavy. They had almost closed entirely, but I felt Nyan tense up. He kicked weakly. I opened my eyes to see the approaching figures of our saviors.
The Blurry figures approached, they spoke in frantic sounding growls.
“The med kits at the door!”
“Medics are on the way”
“Captain I can confirm, we have 16 confirmed rescues, I will report back shortly on their status over” a sharp electrical bleep followed his proclamation.
They were tall lanky upright beans. Bipedal I think I struggled to focus on their faces. They had a strange discoloration atop their heads, their eyes didn’t look quite right…..
I jolted upright, screaming. I crawled away, clutching Nyan tightly in my arm. The predators waved their arms above their heads to frighten me, whatever words their mad growls translated too did not penetrate my feared addled brain, I raised my sidearm and opened fire. The predators lept out of the way before I could fire the first shot. They took cover behind the fighters, their low hanging wings making excellent cover for their lithe forms. They were spread out, most of my crew had frozen, the rest who were lucid enough to stand were lost, surrounded, there was nowhere to flee, the predators had blocked the exit, and the only way out was into space.
The door to the hangar opened, further armored predators ran into the room, these were armed but one stood above the rest. I fired frantically into their formation, my shots going wide. While the rest had dove for cover, this one stood firm, he raised his arm, a strange device unfolded in his hand, a blue light shot forth and overtook my form. I felt a sharp pain overtake my body. Nyan screamed. Unconsciousness finally overtook my body.
Officer Report - Lieutenant Colonel John Shepard
CLEARANCE LEVEL 5
After awkwardly removing my hand from Teal'c’s shoulder, in the wake of a somewhat uneventful opening engagement, with a distinct lack of exciting ship rocking, I sat back and took in the sights. Our rail guns were firing off full blast, not seeming to do much to the enemies shields, nothing new there, but lucky for us their energy weapons, little piddly blue dots of space nonsense weren't really scratching our shields either.
I leaned over the Teal’c
“Why do we even bother with the railguns I mean their good enough against fighters but I feel like we've never onced used them effectively against anything that wasn't a dart”
“Goa'uld shields in the past have been quite resistant to our kinetic weaponry, Perhaps our missile armaments will be more effective, as in our home dimension” he responded quietly so as to not disrupt the action going on in the bridge ahead of us.
I looked on as Caldwell ordered some mark 8’s to be launched at the “Ark~sur?” craft. I think that's how it's pronounced. Anyways I still find it kind of weird how quickly and frequently we go to the nuclear option in this line of work. During my deployment in the regular air force, I have dropped plenty of ordinance in my time, but to utilize not just nuclear bombs but nuclear bombs powered up with weird space rocks. It never ceased to amaze, though I never really got a chance to sit back and properly admire the impressive explosion they delivered. Kind of like just now when all of our missiles were intercepted by enemy countershot.
This again! Really!
As the Arxur opened up on us with some additional armaments I leaned over to Hermiod and raised my voice for the captain to hear.
“Sir I know Hermiod won't be a fan of this strategy, but perhaps we can do what we did to wraith over Atlantis way back when, with the you know.. the teleporters”
I said the last part somewhat timidly, I could feel the death glares coming from Hermiod boring into the back of my skull.
What so wrong with using teleports as weapons, why give us the shields which are used for combat! if you're gonna get mad when we try to weaponize all the other stuff.
I was half expecting an argument from him but it seems like Hermiod and Caldwell have had discussed the matter beforehand. With a sigh Hermiod coldly replies.
“I can not transport the warhead onto the enemy craft but I can transport one directly to the precipice of their shields”
“That will do” captain Caldwell replied
“Contact the armory tell them to prep a mark eight, hammer down protocol, and standby in the designated beam out point” The order is relayed.
“Orders confirmed” a staticy voice buzzes up from the munitions locker.
“Smoke in the air!” the sensor office suddenly shouts “nine contacts projected target allied craft!”
“Take them out! all hardpoints!” Caldwell orders.
I watch as the guns swap to point defense mode, I don't think we have ever used them like this. I've seen footage of those badass seaRams we keep on our naval vessels back home but never once can I recall ever having missiles shot at us by anything alien. And honestly till now I didn't even stop and question if we could shoot down missiles.
Fortunately for Captain Farva and her crew we could, I craned my head slightly to see if we could pick off all of them, they were coming at us from all angles in a star pattern to fly around our ship, the angle split our fire making them harder to intercept, we nailed like six of them and the venlil got two of them with their own missiles, unfortunately one got through.
I cringed as the missiles hit its mark, remembering how shot up the ship looked when it dropped out of hyperspace originally. The sensor screen was littered with noise around the vessel as I assume debris was scattered into space by the hit.
Carter piped up.
“Sir we’re reading a drastic increase in the radiation levels from the friendly ship, It looks like whatever reactors issues they had, have been exasperated, radiation will reach lethal levels in minutes, we need to get them out of there”
Captain Caldwell looked in my direction ”Shepard, Teal’c get to the port hangar bay, you will meet up with the medical and security teams to process any survivors!”
“Got it!” I said and Teal’c gave his signature dignified nod, hands clasped behind his back.
“Radio ahead and signal the armory officer to expect us.”
I told the comms officer as we hurried out of the room.
“Damn I wanted to see that explosion!” I complained to Teal’c
“Have you not witnessed the utilization of nuclear weapons before Commander Shepard?”
“It's not the same, only some piddly Geni nukes, and most of our wraith kills I usually running away from so I don't get to get a good look at them to really take it in you know”
“I do not”
We made it to the armory without issue and without much follow up conversation and we were on our way to the hangar when we realized we had to book it because one of our rescuers started to shoot up the damn hangar bay!
When we got to the entrance there were two guards manning the door waiting for backup, alongside the medics who were likely thinking they were going to have to pull some overtime for this job.
Wasting no time we lined up by the two gunnery officers manning the door.
“Okay guys we get in there fan out, get to cover and show and give them a nice show of force, We are dealing with scared survivors so be quick and think on your feet, got it?” They nodded, and I began to count down with my fingers.
When we ran in we immediately began taking fire. As the little alien guy was shooting some blue lasers at us. On the bright side about half of my guys followed orders and got to cover. Teal’c on the other hand apparently had their number though. As he simply walked in raised his zat, did the cool cachink thing to his zat to power it up and iced the poor venlil who clearly wasn't thinking or aiming straight.
Looking at their abysmal shot grouping they clearly weren't doing much aiming, and it looks like they even had a child in their arms.
“Ouch poor kid” I said aloud, The rest of the Venlil aliens were a mess cut up and covered in what I guessed was orange blood. My blood pressure and any adrenaline response quickly faded. These guys were cleary scared shitless, I've seen a lot of scary sci fi bullshit in my career, and If it had just escaped my universes Arxur equivalent, been on a ship that was about to explode; a piece of debris bounces off the hangar bay oxygen shield; did explode, and then likely got teleported for the first time onto a vessel full of strange aliens twice my size I would be kind of scared too.
Some of them were frozen on the floor, kind of like our fainting goats back on the ranch. Hopefully they will come to like them as well. The rest recoiled not far though, their vision was like a horses, their focus hard to track but it looked like they were regarding the deck crew as well as me and the approaching guards and medics with equal concern.
I held up a hand to the approaching medics, I needed to calm them down first. They were scared but also cornered, fight or flight response dictated they could lash out if cornered.
I slowly approached them trying to make myself small. Keeping my hands where they could see them, I didn't have any means to speak with them, though someone said earlier that Rodney was coming down with Hermiod to get something set up.
I spoke as softly as I could manage ”I'm going to check to make sure these guys are okayed, the weapon my friend Teal’c here fired” I gestured to Teal’c who was being his usual intimidating self(not helping)”Is a really nice guy and the weapon he shot your friends with is designed to specifically not kill, they should only be stunned”
No visible reaction. I know they couldn't understand me but I hoped my calm voice and diplomatic demeanor would put them at ease.
Teal’c attempted a smile to appear friendly, but Teal'c's smile is scary enough to most humans so naturally the venlil collectively let out a terrified yelp.
Teal’c stopped.
With that setback I approached the now unconscious pair of venlil. I grabbed the alien sidearm and one of the security team members palmed it. I then proceeded to check them for signs of life, I tried to check their wrist for a pulse, my hand effortlessly encompassed their entire wrist, there was a vein there but I couldn't quite get a pulse out of it. I did notice how lovely soft their wool was. They would make lovely cuddle buddies if they weren't so distressingly injured.
I bent my head down toward the little one, my plan was to check for the breathing but the venlil didn't like this at all, I was met with what I assumed what venlil screaming. A few of them covered their eyes and folded their ears against their head.
Awhhhh…
“Hey Hey it's okay, I'm just checking for breath!” I mimed breathing to them taking exaggerated inhales and exhales while making gestures with my hands'' Breath, Breath ” I repeatedly tried to make them understand before gesturing to pair, and once again lowering my head, turning my head first so they understood I wasn't trying to bite them or anything.
I listened carefully, our crew knew to be quiet but I still heard some gentle sobbing coming from the alien crew. While the little one's breathing was faint, mercifully it was there, along with the larger ones as well.
“Okay It looks like they're still alive, but they're covered in open cuts and electrical burns, and alive doesn't alway mean is going to wake up” I scoop up the pair and turn around to hand them towards a medic.
As I did this a brown floof had sprung from their group and latched itself onto my leg, This one looked less injured and it was covered in brown fur with white speckles, It looked up at me with its singular right eye, Braying loudly, I couldn't make out what it was saying, but if I had to guess it was a pleading expression, as tears fell from it orange eyes.
Teal’c lined him up, looking like he was going to stun it, which would have the unfortunate consequence of stunning me as well.
Hand full I turned my body to shield the venlil from Teal’c. “Easy Teal'c, their unarmed, why don't we lower our weapons, we need them to trust us if we want them to let us treat them”
Teal’c thought for a moment but unable to come up with a better plan, powered down his zat, and the soldiers lowered their rifles as well.
I handed off the pair to the medic, and knelt down to eye level with the poor thing. I pried his little claws off my leg, and clasped them together in front of him. The poor thing was shaking up a storm. The only comparison my mind could draw was one of those BSPCA animal cruelty commercials. I gently rubbed his paw fur. I looked him in the eyes, he seemed to recoil at this so I closed them and whispered gently.
“Hey little guy I know you can’t understand me but it's going to be okay alright”
Having no real way to verbally assure him, and my nurturing instincts kicking in somewhat I swapped to the nuclear option. Pressing their frail frame against me I cradled them in my arms like I would an infant. Gently petting him softly between the ears. He tensed up something fierce when I initially grabbed him, and while he was still shaking I could feel some of the tension leave his form.
I glanced up at Teal’c, he gave me an accusing look.
It felt awkward and I was probably committing some kind of alien social faux paus but In my defense it seemed to do the trick. Releasing him, I gestured towards one of the medics asking for a first aid kit. I was no medic myself but hopefully basic first aid rules applied with the weird space goat sheep guys. The alien idled in front of me, his ears gesturing at odd angles, my guess to signify confusion. I would be confused too I suppose if an alien started getting handsy with me. I set the kit down in front of him, slowly opening it and pulling out everything I would need to treat him. Taking care to show him and every venlil there that it wasn't anything scary. I gestured to the cut on his right arm, I could tell they were trying to hide it from me. But I didn't want to force them to face me if I could avoid it. I gently put my hand behind their elbow, not so much grabbing them but guiding them into a position where I could see it. I took a wipe and began to clean the wound best I could, I was worried how they would react to the alcohol, they flinched a bit but seemed fine, It seemed like they were trying to act tough, but they had cried a little to much into my tactical vest to convincingly sell that illusion.
After I had patched him up, I urged him using hand signals to return to their little venlil huddle. They chattered among themselves in hushed voices, making repeated sideways glances to the most injured of their group. I began eyeing up the medics to see if I could grab maybe the physically smallest one, when a startled gasp erupted from the crowd. I looked past the medics and saw a disgruntled Rodney emerge from the door with an equally upset Hermiod.
Rodney is holding a box of a various cables and computer equipment, while Hermiod is struggling with a standard issue 2005 Dell XPS M170 Laptop which looks comically large in his hands (fucking google it it has like a single gigabyte of ram and a single 3 core 2.17ghz processor, and their fucking using it to hack alien space ships!!!!).
“Rodney, these audio sensors are damaged, they are not receiving input!”
“It’s called a microphone and its working just fine I used it earlier to take notes”
“The translation program is not receiving input”
“Well it might be struggling to run on windows”
“Rodney, I worked long and hard to make a usable software interface for the Asgard and S.G.C.s operating system. The program is running fine!”
“Here it is, someone plugged in a headset from earlier the input is set to the wrong device”
“Why does it not change to the correct device automatically”
“I Don't know, I don’t program these things!”
Engrossed in their work I was willing to bet their hourly shouting match would agitate our guests.
I approached the pair halfway between the venilil and the door speaking with a quiet but terse voice
“Rodney you need to keep it down, these guys are really spooked and were having to try very hard not to frighten them”
“WHAT” Rodney asks, completely too loudly.
He peaks around me and glances at the crowd, his eyes widen in panic. “Oh um are those the Venlil, I thought they would be you know.. more uhh. people looking“
“Their aliens, they look like what they look like, frankly it's weird that most of the aliens we meet look so much like humans. But forget that, is the translation program working or not cause we could really use that right now things are tense as hell over here.”
Hermiod responds “I believe that we are ready, the program is receiving audio input now we should be good to go”
“Yeh uh you guys should go ahead I think I'm going to go check on the drive systems.. Uuh good luck!” I grab Rodney
“Hold on what's gotten into you, we just met aliens from another dimension and you want to bail now?”
“I have a phobia of animals okay, I got kicked real bad by a goat when I was a kid”
“Well that explains a lot. Now stick around I might need your help to explain some technical aspects of this ship and figure out what happened to theirs, your the only one who’s qualified, and besides their not animals their aliens Rodney, do I need to have Woolsey put you through cultural sensitivity training”
Rodney looked on quite timidly at my rebuttal of his word choice.
I returned to the group of venlil, Rodney kept his distance but Hermiod walked up and set down the laptop. I helped arrange the microphone and speaker so we could get a clear copy on the venlil.
It was good that Hermiod was there now that I think about it. He was much smaller and had the physicality of a plate of wet spaghetti noodles. Nobody the size of the venlil with their size and claws could reasonably be afraid of the skinny 4 foot tall asgard right?
I was partially correct, I think the order of emotion was fear, confusion, and then slightly less fear as they got used to the idea of a strange new alien race.
Hermiod gave me the go ahead and I proceeded to make a proper first contact with this alien race.
“Hello there, My name is John Shepard of earth, we mean you no harm, do you understand me?”
The Brown speckled one from before that spoke up
“Uh… Yes we can understand you, we have translators, What have you done with the captain and Nyan?” His words took a moment to translate, the asgard translation program really putting the laptop through its paces. But the synthetic human voice was clear enough.
“Our medics are sending them off to the med bay to check on them, we have never used a zat on your kind before, you can relax tho a zat is the weapon my buddy Teal’c here used to knock out your captain, perfectly safe where we come from but we want to make sure we didn’t your friends any lasting brain damage.”
“You predators…. But..You have medicine?”
Predators?
“What makes you think that they were predators? Not that you're wrong it's just that well… were kind of just a bunch of funny looking space monkeys with drastically receding hairline, and the only thing they predate on is bananas, Is this predator thing why your scared of us, I for one promise we won't eat you or anything weird like that, Id take it since you're scared of us that must also mean your herbivores?”
The Venlil looked confused, his ears; his voice having translated as masculine; returning to that odd little one up one down thing he was doing earlier.
“You're trying to trick me predator, you want to lure us into your clutches!”
He said weakly.
“Ummmmm, well not to sound threatening but you're already in our ‘clutches’, and we are trying to help you, we can't hope to treat your wounds if you are panicked and trying to shoot up the place”.
“You just want to be healthy to make us into cattle! or slaves like the small predator!” The venlil screamed weekly, as new life seemed to pump through their veins at this line of accusation.
“Woah Woah Woah, I'm sorry but your response infers that those arxur guys use your kind as cattle!?”
I glanced towards Teal'c returning a rare look of horrified confusion.
“They actually like, lock you up and make you guys umm.. you know?”
“You can't fool us human with your feigned ignorance, we have encountered your race before, you keep cattle just like the arxur did, you know nothing but war and kill your own kind, you gas your own children, your bloodlust knows no bounds!”
We weren't from this galaxy but his accusations did not, not apply to our version of humanity. I didn’t exactly wake up today expecting to have my whole species essentially put on trial by a small alien space goat from another dimension, fortunately Hermiod came in to pull my ass out of the fire.
“My race the Asgard have been observing humanity for some time, we are familiar with the events in which you speak, this level of violence and sadism is not unheard of for developing sapient species, all species have their problematic outliers and the humans who perpetrated those action were an unfortunately powerful but small outlier. You should know that modern and even ancient humans have proven to conduct themselves with honor and selflessness in the best of times, and while I may have my personal gripes with some members of the species”
Hermiod gives Rodney the side eye.
“They have proven themselves to be a valuable ally to Asgard, in safeguarding both our home galaxy and many others as well. They have earned both our friendship and our trust”
Teal’c spoke up ”The members of the Tauri have proven themselves to be formidable allies to the free Jaffa people as well, helping to liberate my people from the dominion of a parasitic alien race known as the Goa’uld”
The Venlil looked stunned for a moment but quickly turned orange with rage. “Predatorshit! That's impossible. You claim to be from a different galaxy, that trip would take millennia! Not even the fastest federation vessels could even approach the necessary speeds to think a predator race could implement a vessel that…. ”
Hermiod cut him off while raising one of his little nub fingers ”I think we should also mention that we are not from this dimension and that events likely diverge from that of our home dimension, considering we have never encountered your kind or the arxur, any trends or preconceptions you may have from this galaxy may not pertain well to ours”
I could see this furthered venlil's confusion. This was going to take all day If I didn’t wrap this up. He was stressed and I could tell he was trying hard to rationalize what we just said, being a man from the late 90s, whose job it was to drop in on renaissance era villages on a weekly basis, I was no stranger to culture shock, so I know you have to skip on a lot of the little details sometimes and push to the heart of the issue.
“Alright listen here, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, which I will be happy to answer, but you clearly have bigger issues right now. Listen, your ship exploded, and like it or not you asked us to help, we helped and now you're stuck here with us. We are going to try and help you people but we are not entirely sure how to do that, we have never encountered venlil before, and our guys are going to need your help to treat your wounded. While you are here you are under our protection and we are not going to let any harm come to any of you. All we need from you is to let our guys take a look at you before you all bleed out in our hangar bay”
The venlil regarded both us and their crewmates, looking back taking in their state the energy drained from his form, He was obviously concerned about us humans, he ducked his head down to return to converse with the others, clearly conflicted and struggling to come to a decision, while earth was in this dimension everything else seemed very different, there was no arxur or venlil in our home dimension, but apparently the holocaust or some equivalent event was a universal constant, who knew.
Our point man venlil returned.
“We will agree to let you treat our wounded, but we also want to make sure that our captain and the child are okay”
One of the ships medics approached the microphone with a placating gesture
“Your bio chemistry is very alien to us, if you could have a medic accompany us to our medical bay; where your captain is located; we could work with our scientist there to work on chemical treatment options and surgical solutions if the need arises.”
“That's a great idea” I said, patting the medic on the back to congratulate his initiative ”Kill two birds with one stone!”
The Venlil did not like that allegory.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Chief Engineer Donu
16 cycles till retirement, 16 cycles and a trusted old former apprentice would cycle in from Venlil Prime to take up my position and complete Nyan's training. The Boys youthful exuberance was a refreshing change of pace from the board journeymen that made up the rest of my staff. While they struggled to stay awake, Nyan never ceased to stare in wide eyed awe as I regaled him with tale after tale of daring escapes, and jury rigged engines. He would sit mouth agape as I showed him tricks and workarounds that the pencil pushers back in venlil occupational health and safety would gawk at. He graced my ears with a happy amused whistle as I told him about all the trouble me and the captain would get up to playing pranks on our antagonistic Krakotl instructor back at the academy. And while I enjoyed his company, almost thinking of him as a son or grandchild, my back wasn’t what it used to be and my joints far from as flexible as they were in my 20s, I always strived to be at the forefront of engine design and innovation, to push the horizon, but it was starting to get away from me, it wasn't as exciting anymore, my colleagues wished to settle into comfortable positions, settle down have families and in time so did I. In my later years after my children had settled down and husband had passed away due to a degenerative neuron condition. I took this post at the request of my long time friend Farva. An excellent posting, someplace quiet, isolated, to spend my waning years.
I suppose it was not to be, When the ship's reactor was hit, I made sure to get the crew out, they still had their lives to live. Me, I was on the way out, and I had one last job to do. The Radiation gently warming me like Venlil Primes sun on a warm day. It would have been comforting had I not had even the most basic radiation safety info well drilled into my skull. I knew what would begin to happen soon.
I worked to reroute and seal the cooling fluid, the pipes burned even through the safety gloves as I scrambled to turn off valves and apply fast acting sealant to the piping that was salvageable. I breathed frantic breaths through the muzzle like a respirator that covered my snout. The air grew hotter, life support failing to keep up.
I needed to be quick to keep the engine from overheating no matter what. We were running and couldn’t stop. I knew the stakes. I didn't let the captain finish her sentence when she tried to explain. She needed every scrap of power I could coax front this machine. And I was going to deliver.
As the radiation irreparably damaged my body on the cellular level, I did everything I could to give a fighting chance to my crew. I shored up the coolant lines to keep the engine as cool as I could for as long as I could, the heat would compromise the housing more, further distortion would only allow more radiation to seep through. As the engine core grew hotter and hotter, the remaining heat sinks bucked and warped under the strain. I cycled the remaining heat sinks to give them time to cool, Nyan on the bridge diverted power away from non critical systems, but it would make little difference, the warp drive was the power hungriest system on this ship by a long shot.
The heat was starting to get to me, as the captain sent word of a last stand. so I transferred engine control and heat-sinc management to Nyans station on the bridge. Some combination of heat sickness and radiation poisoning was starting to hamper my awareness.
I slumped against the console, the heat overwhelming me, my body had nothing left to give.
“Be good Nyan, Take care of Farva for me”
The warning lights around me faded out, darkness overtook me, I was at death's door, I suppose it should have bothered me more, but all I could think about was how disappointed I was, that I couldn't see this one last voyage to its end.
Suddenly The alarms stopped.
I opened my eyes, perhaps to see what the afterlife looked like.
Through watery eyes there was an ocean of gray.
A strong pair of arms lifted me and deposited me onto a soft welcoming mattress.
Gentle appendages poked and prodded.
A concerned voice deep but caring rocked through my bones.
An orange light winked into being, gracing my blurred vision.
My body ached.
But the strange light relieved me of that burden.
A coughing fit racked my body.
Metallic blood coated my lips.
But a warm paw and a soft cloth delicately cleaned me of the jettisoned life essence.
My tired eyes strained to see.
Past the light to the caring angel who chose to ease me of my burdens.
The light was mounted to the center of a paw, delicate graspers splayed out like a star.
Focusing harder, a flat face revealed itself.
Its eyes set forward, a snarl graced their lips.
They screamed aggression, hunger, the mark of a killer.
But those eyes, those piercing blue eyes, they spoke to me.
They spoke of care, concern, compassion, a silent promise that everything was going to be okay.
A warm blanket hugged my body.
Fresh water soothed my tongue.
That voice.
“Hang in there little guy, you're doing great. You've been through a lot but you can rest now.”
Assured my mind.

Hey everyone! This is technically Part 2 of Part 3 of this series! I accidentally wrote WAY too much for this part so I had to split it up. If you'd like to read the previous entries in the series, they'll be linked below. I will also continue using the 🎩 and 💎 to rate albums as either top-tier amongst the wave or hidden gems, respectively.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 1
Perhaps controversially, I’ve decided to cover Emo-Pop in this section. After all, much of the Emo-Pop movement is uniquely Third Wave, and many artists stayed relatively obscure. Besides, there’s no other part in the series that could reasonably contain this information, and Emo-Pop deserves its fair share of attention. Many artists on this list have incorporated elements of other genres into their music, including Pop Punk, Alternative, Indie Rock and Post-Hardcore, which speaks to the genre-invading nature of Third Wave Emo.
The very essence of this particular section may betray everything else I’m trying to do here, but I wanted to be comprehensive in my coverage of the genre. Besides, more Emo has never really been a bad thing, has it?

The Explosion of Emo-Pop

Northstar - Is This Thing Loaded? (2002)

Northstar - Is This Thing Loaded? (10/22/2002) Is This Thing Loaded? invokes that special early Vans Warped era, the time of Taking Back Sunday and Brand New starting to take over the industry. The youthful energy is captured in the rough production values with the guitar being a particular highlight. The very first song on the album is an instant classic, so even though the rest of the album fails to live up to those expectations, it’s still a super solid Emo-Pop album.
As a side note - Rigged and Ready supposedly really influenced TBS’s Cute Without the E, so perhaps we can at least partially attribute the immediate growth of Emo in the Third Wave to this band.

Newfound Interest in Connecticut - Less Is More or Less (2002)

Before compelling the world with their frigid take on the Post-Rock / Emo formula, Newfound Interest in Connecticut released a four-song EP in 2002. Unlike the brilliant soundscapes found on their LP, Less Is More or Less utilizies the Midwest Emo formula to craft Emo-Pop music. The vocals are more restrained and attempt poppier melodies, though the guitarwork and masterful drumming that the band would be known for is previewed on this EP quite nicely. If you’re looking for a Second Wave-esque Emo-Pop record or are just curious as to what the band used to sound like, look no further.

Moneen - Are We Really Happy With Who We Are Right Now? (2003) 💎

An adopter of the early Emo-Pop sound, Moneen as a band has a fascinating history as it relates to Third Wave Emo. The band came together in 1999, released a demo EP in 2000 and released their first full-length album in 2001. Perhaps this would mean they should be in the Second Wave section, but their forward-thinking Emo formula sounds fresh and “2000s,” for lack of a better term.
Emo-Pop influences on this album are subtle and mostly for the catchy verses and choruses. The production is reminiscent of a 90s Second Wave Emo record, giving Moneen a raw vibe on this album. Still, dynamic and time signature shifts occur regularly, showcasing the band’s penchant for writing a good Emo song. If you want to hear one of Canada’s very best Emo bands, please give this a listen.

The Movielife - Forty Hour Train Back to Penn (2003)

A fairly standard Pop-Punk / Emo-Pop combo from the fabled Long Island / New Jersey scene, The Movielife released music sparingly throughout the years but had only one release in the Third Wave officially. In the same vein as early Second Wave Emo artists, The Movielife consists of Hardcore kids who are trying to make non-Hardcore music but simply can’t escape their roots. This, of course, is only a huge positive as the spirit of Hardcore ensures this doesn’t become generic dreck. It’s a good album, but the bigger, faster songs tend to be the best on this record.

Breaking Pangaea - Phoenix (2003)

Breaking Pangaea is a little-known Emo band from Philly that came together at the turn of the century. After releasing their first LP in 2001, a traditional Midwest Emo affair, Phoenix would be the band’s final release. On this EP, Breaking Pangaea infused their sound with equal parts Emo-Pop, particularly in the guitar tone's crispness and the vocal melodies' poppiness. The results are infectious and feel distinctly 2000s.

Fresno - Quarto dos Libros (2003)

Simply put, Fresno is the biggest artist to come out of Brazil’s Emo scene. They’ve amassed 10 studio albums, numerous EPs, several live albums and tons of other recorded material. They are undoubtedly in that Jimmy Eat World position of playing Alternative after getting famous with Emo-Pop. Perhaps a band THIS BIG shouldn’t get coverage on this list, but even I’d never heard of Fresno before researching for this list, so I’d wager a lot of others need to know, too.
Their debut LP features a much rawer production sound than anything that came afterward, pairing their infectious Emo-Pop with Midwest Emo and Post-Hardcore elements. Notably, there was a dearth of Emo in Brazil when they formed and released this record, so it was groundbreaking in some ways. This is a rather auspicious start to a prolific career.

Hey Mercedes - Lose Control (2003)

From the ashes of legendary Midwest Emo band Braid comes Hey Mercedes, an Emo-Pop band that flirts with Power Pop. If you’re expecting Braid with catchier choruses, I’m sorry to disappoint. However, the melodic vocals will worm their way into your ears. Hey Mercedes’ second and final full-length album is a testament to the tortuous path Emo bands partake in; even with everything going for them, the band just never reached the heights they deserved.

Park - It Won't Snow Where you're Going (2003) 💎

Listening to Park in the context of Third Wave Emo is bittersweet; with their radio-ready melodies, combination of popular genres and high average song quality, they could have and should have reached mainstream popularity in the US. Fortunately, that doesn’t stop their existing music from kicking ass, and very few songs in their discography kick as much ass as the opening track to this LP.
This album takes the raw instrumental tones of Post-Hardcore and wraps them around a Pop-Punk skeleton with Emo as the connective tissue. Is that too artsy of a description? Maybe, but once you hear this album, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

Halfway to Holland - Halfway to Holland (2003)

Peter Helmis and, to a slightly lesser extent, Joe Reinhart are absolute legends in Emo, not only for the sheer massive quantity of bands they’ve been a part of but for the consistently good quality each of their releases possesses. The two are primarily known for Algernon Cadwallader, The Cap’n Jazz of the Emo Revival, but have participated in numerous other excellent acts. The first of which, however, was Halfway to Holland, started all the way back in 2001!
After a demo LP, they came out with their self-titled album in 2003, mixing the youthful energy of Pop-Punk, the catchiness and structure of Emo-Pop and the rawness of Midwest Emo into a fairly straightforward package. Vocalist Peter Helmis sounds exactly as you’d think, though the guitarwork is more focused on quick chord progressions and easy leads rather than anything twinkly or mathy.

Northstar - Pollyanna (2004) 💎

After their heralded debut album, Northstar would release their second and final album in 2004 - Pollyanna. This album is likely legendary among Emo fans of this era, truly in a tier only below albums like Tell All Your Friends, Deja Entendu and …Is a Real Boy. Northstar took everything that worked on their first outing and made the entire album a consistently good journey. The Pop-Punk is balanced very well on this album, taking a backseat at times for softer songs.
Sadly, the band broke up after this album was released, depriving the world of more good jams.

Slingshot Dakota - Keener Sighs (2004)

Slingshot Dakota was founded by Carly Comando and two members of Emo-leaning Punkers Latterman in 2003 before releasing their debut album a year later. Keener Signs is heavily influenced by Rainer Maria’s take on the Indie and Emo combo, especially in the dual masculine/feminine vocals, though Emo-Pop is the dominant force on this record. Gorgeous piano riffing is accompanied by admirable drumming and a dynamic guitar that goes from chord progressions to Emo twinkles.
Following this album, the two former Latterman members left the band, leading to a fundamental change in the band’s sound. Their next album wouldn’t be released until 2008, though the Emo influence would diminish exponentially across each subsequent release.

The Kidcrash - New Ruins (2004)

New Ruins sees THE Kidcrash in an unrecognizable light compared to their other legendary LPs Jokes and Snacks. Prior to becoming a legend in the Screamo genre for their complex and technical music, The Kidcrash was another Emo-Pop hopeful reminiscent of bands like Underoath, but with a critical ear, you can suss out the subtle intricacy of the layered guitars and the mathy syncopation of the rhythm section. The vocals are admittedly underwhelming, especially when you know what the singer is capable of later in his career. Besides, these vocals were in vogue around the mid 00s, so it isn’t too unexpected.
If you want to hear the humble beginnings of a band that would go on to be legends in the scene, check out this artifact of Emo history.

Fresno - O rio, a cidade, a árvore (2004)

Brazil’s biggest Emo band continues their search for a core identity on this album, featuring significantly better production values and the slow shedding of their Midwest Emo and Post-Hardcore influences. While this is a fine album and the volume dynamics make this a great roadmap for Emo-Pop, it’s lacking that little something; their first album took advantage of the raw recordings and infused them with youthful energy. Their next album…well, let’s wait to talk about that one.

Fightstar - They Liked You Better When You Were Dead (2005)

Whilst Charlie Simpson was performing as one of the poster children for UK boy band Busted, he began to write some Post-Hardcore music to scratch his rock itch. However, he got REALLY involved and would leave Busted in 2005, a month before this debut EP was released. Prominently showcased is Simpson’s strong voice, showcasing an entirely different side than what fans of his were used to. Moody Post-Hardcore is the basis of the music, but most melodic elements are derived from Emo-Pop. If for nothing else than novelty, I’d suggest checking out this stellar debut EP and the LPs that would follow.

Gatsbys American Dream - Volcano (2005)

With more than their fair share of Pop Punk seeping from the album, Volcano is one of the slickest Emo-Pop albums around. Gatsbys American Dream has reached their final form on their third LP, eschewing the more frenzied Pop Punk concoction to forge the perfect Pop Punk / Emo-Pop mixture. The production values, particularly in the sleek guitar tones, are quite polished and allow for both distorted and clean moments to shine. With several other albums that all came out during this time period, I’d recommend you check these Seattle natives out, though be aware this is probably their truest Emo-Pop effort.

Fresno - Ciano (2006) 🎩

Fresno has never sounded so confident, so sure of themselves as songwriters and performers than on this third full-length album. Traces of Midwest Emo and Post-Hardcore remain, but only as over-the-shoulder guides that ensure Fresno doesn’t stray too far from the very ethos of the genre. The melodies on offer here will get stuck in anyone’s head, regardless of what language you speak. Each note of the singer’s voice seems meticulously crafted around the enormous anthemic music, yet confusion, loneliness and anger seep through the euphony.
Simply put, this is what Emo-Pop is all about: taking the emotional catharsis of Emo and blending it into a palatable product. Indeed, this album launched Fresno into Brazil’s stratosphere. Fresno would start incorporating more and more elements of Alternative Rock into their music, effectively making this their last pure Emo-Pop album. It sure is one Hell of a way to go out, though.

Park - Building A Better _____ (2006)

Park gives it one more go on their final studio album, flirting with experimentation along the way. This is perhaps their most varied album as a result, but also one that lacks the strength in identity as their other releases. Still, Park produces some of their very best songs on here.
Building a Better is a monument to the wonder of Emo, showcasing a band with all the talent, songwriting and opportunity to jump into superstardom, only for obscurity to be their fate ultimately. Bands like this are why I write about this amazing music scene.

Moneen - The Red Tree (2006)

Following up on two acclaimed LPs, an EP and a Split with Alexisonfire was never going to be an easy task for Moneen, but after signing with Vagrant Records, Moneen released a cohesive album that’s at least as good as their previous stuff. The beautiful combination of Emo, Emo-Pop and 90s-era Post-Hardcore remains a winner for Moneen, but the lack of a true standout track amongst a sea of really good ones does mean this album isn’t quite as memorable as it should be. Regardless, this is Canada’s best Emo band for a reason.

The Graduate - Anhedonia (2007)

When The Graduate was around, there were comparisons made to Jimmy Eat World - and rightfully so! The band oozes melody and catchiness like no other, especially in the earworm choruses. Their second and final LP, Only Every Time, was analogous to Bleed American, so does that make Anhedonia this band’s Clarity? Not quite, failing to capture the magic of Only Every Time, but as a debut album goes, The Graduate really swung for the fences. If you enjoy extraordinarily captivating vocal performances or Emo-Pop with Alternative and Pop Rock influences, check this one out! Be warned that there’s very little edge to be found on this record.

Counterfit - Super Amusement Machine for Your Exciting Heart (2007)

Early Emo-Pop from Connecticut, Counterfit only released one full-length album in 2002 after a few EPs before calling it quits in 2004. However, we should all be so grateful that they released anything at all! Simple and dirty Emo-Pop / Midwest Emo with just enough edge to capture the hearts of those fans of the early 00s era of Emo. There isn’t anything you haven’t heard before on here, but worthy of a listen nonetheless.

Johnny Foreigner - Waited Up ‘Til It Was Light (2008) 🎩

Exuberant, youthful, manic and catchy are just a few of the many descriptors that can be said about Johnny Foreigner’s exemplary debut LP. Three years after their first demo showcased the band’s Post-Rock writing chops, this release illustrates the band’s evolution into a premier Emo-Pop band. The dual male-female vocals greatly add to the diversity on display here with strong hints of Indie Rock, Pop Punk and even Math Rock. No two songs are alike, proving the songwriting in this band is exceptional.
Johnny Foreigner would go on to be one of the most prolific Emo / Indie artists in the UK, having released four more studio albums, numerous EPs and lots of other material. However, despite this legendary Emo-Pop output, the band would never quite reach the lofty heights of this debut LP. If you’re going to check out any Emo-Pop on this list, you should let it be this one.
Finally, I’ve reached the point where I’m all out of clever sections and cute titles. These last few releases are all Emo releases that defy categorization based on what I’ve already written about. Simply put, this final section of Part Three is entitled:

Other Uncategorized Emo

Desaparecidos - Read Music/Speak Spanish (2002) 💎

Many probably know the story of Bright Eyes’ frontman Conor Oberst’s OTHER band, but I’ll give you the quick and dirty if you don’t; Conor intended Desaparecidos to be his secondary band before Bright Eyes unexpectedly took off like crazy, dashing those plans. And it’s a shame since Read Music/Speak Spanish is cooler and more Emo than any of Conor’s other music. Emo with strong Punk leanings, Desaparacidos plays with anger pumping through their veins, to a level just below that of someone like Cursive.
Oberst’s vocal delivery carries strength and rage, highlighted by the frantic guitar riffs and active rhythm section. This doesn’t sound like a lot of other Emo music that came before it, even if it doesn’t do anything particularly innovative. If political-leaning Emo is your thing or you’re just pissed off about the United States, give this a listen.

Kickball - Huckleberry Eater (2003)

Kickball, a trio of Olympia natives, released their eclectic first album in 2003, combining docile Indie Rock with very subtle elements of Math Rock. The Emo influence on this one isn’t as pronounced as it is in future releases, but Huckleberry Eater radiates with awkwardness and depression from every corner. If you enjoy offbeat, slightly downer Emo with very little in the way of hard structure, check this out!

Bear vs Shark – Right Now, You’re in the Best of Hands. And If Something Isn’t Quite Right, Your Doctor Will Know in a Hurry (2003)

I know what you’re thinking: Bear vs. Shark isn’t an Emo band, they’re Post-Hardcore! Well, they are Post-HXC, but they infuse it with a generous heaping of Emo, reminiscent of 90s At the Drive-In. The messy, noisy Post-Hardcore moments are perfectly juxtaposed next to the cleaner, more melodic Emo-leaning sections.
Although Emo and Post-Hardcore was a popular combination during the Second Wave, this band eschewed tradition with this release and crafted something far more modern and 2000s-sounding, for lack of a better term. From the production to the songwriting choices, this album represents a tiny window in 2000s history.

Desert City Soundtrack - Funeral Car (2003) 💎

From the first few seconds of this album, you could be forgiven for thinking this was some generic piano-driven Indie Rock, but you’ll reward yourself for continuing to listen as Funeral Car is an unexpectedly unique slice of Emo history. The piano lulls the listener into a false state of peace, but the piano doesn’t define the music found here, it’s the other way around; the piano is merely a tool to emphasize the tone, tempo and volume dynamics at play in this eclectic combination of songs.
The softer, Indie-leaning sections often give way to frenetic Post-Hardcore sections comprised of screaming and total instrumental upheaval. Following this up may be a serene trumpet melody or subdued vocal passage. If you like this, they also have an EP from 2002 that is a tad heavier overall.

Purplene - Purplene (2004) 💎

Purplene’s self-titled LP is also their final one, but they prove themselves to be quintessential OzzEmo (I hope the Australians don’t kill me for that…). Somewhat reminiscent of The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up due to their combination of melancholy Midwest Emo and smooth Slowcore, Purplene also adds in elements of Math Rock with shifting time signatures and Post-Rock with extended instrumental passages. What’s left in the rubble is a uniquely-crafted work of Emo history.
If you like your Emo to be more on the bummer side of the spectrum and love really polished guitarwork, this is definitely one that you can’t miss.

Colossal - Welcome the Problems (2004) 🎩

To Chicago-area Midwest Emo fans, Colossal is the faint but familiar name of a legendary band that came and went during Midwest Emo’s lowest period. Comprised of Chicago Punk royalty, Colossal’s debut LP is an experience unlike any other. Some of the most virtuosic guitar playing in the entire genre of Emo can be found on this album, enough to make any Kinsella brother blush.
Speaking of Kinsella, Colossal sounds like American Football if they actually rocked out instead of sticking to the softer Indie Rock-influenced stuff. Pat’s singing voice is also quite distinct among Emo, showcasing a lower register than average. If you enjoy Midwest Emo, proficient instrumentals and incredible songwriting, this is a must-listen.

The Progress - Golden State (2004)

The original band for Chicago-based Emo legend Evan Weiss (of Into It. Over It., Their / They’re / There and Pet Symmetry fame), The Progress released one fairly rough s/t EP in 2001 before coming out with Golden State in 2004. Traditional Midwest Emo with noticeable Pop Punk influences, this EP is the evolution of Second Wave Emo, especially in the vein of bands like The Get Up Kids. Though it isn’t anything wholly original or an essential release, the volume dynamics and amazingly catchy vocal performances will ensure this stays with you for a while.

Shinobu - Herostratus vs Time (2004)

Shinobu is an interesting artifact of time; One of the founders, Matt Keegan, is a frequent friend and collaborator with Jeff Rosenstock, even having him on a Shinobu album at some point. They are also seen as a very influential band to artists like Joyce Manor and PUP, in no small part due to their debut album’s eclectic and somewhat depressing combination of Slacker Rock and Midwest Emo.
This LP never quite takes off to the races, but the constant bummer tempo, combined with the sunny facade that fails to convince the listener that anyone in this band is a happy person, ensures their place in Indie Punk history. Though Shinobu would release a fair few more albums, including another wonderful LP in 2006, the Emo influences would be hit or miss from that point onward.

Slingshot Around the Moon - This Is Who We Are (2004)

The importance of music preservation is often diminished, especially when it comes to niche, local or otherwise unknown stuff. However, I think that’s what’s so beautiful about it; take Slingshot Around the Moon as a prime example. For a long time, most of the very few listeners of this band assumed they’d only released five songs total. However, including demos, remixes and live performances, the band has over three hours of stuff!
This Is Who We Are is the cleanest, most complete release of everything discovered so far. Taking Midwest Emo and adding in bleak elements of Post-Hardcore, this album is as jumpy as it is brooding. If you prefer faster-paced chord-heavy Emo with a 2000s feel, check this EP out, as well as this band’s other material.

Eniac - All That's Left of Us (2005)

To most Emo fans, Eniac is an unknown, a band name in a nebulous sea of band names. To Emos of the early 2000s in Denton, Texas, Eniac are local legends. Though their first and only LP was released in 2005, they’d long been disbanded by then and the record had already been recorded years prior. The style and production owe quite a bit to Second Wave Emo, but there’s something a little more “modern” about them, for lack of a better term.
The lyrics might be a bit shallow, the instrumentation slightly simple. However, like any good Emo, you can always feel the passion emanating from their music. To those with special memories of Eniac playing under a starry Texas night, these songs will always hold a special place in their heart.

Meneguar - I Was Born AT Night (2005)

Formerly named Sheryl’s Magnetic Aura, a pretty standard Midwest Emo band, they changed their name in 2004 to Meneguar and never looked back. After a demo that same year, they released their first full-length LP - I Was Born At Night. Cohesively fusing mid-00s Indie Rock with twinkly Midwest Emo like the genres were long lost brothers, Meneguar perfect this combination. Dancey songs with beautiful Emo riffs and volume dynamics populate this 30-minute release.
Sadly for us, their Emo influence would fade significantly on subsequent releases, making this their best. However, I’d still highly recommend giving at least this album a listen and their future works if you’re into Indie Rock.

Million Dead - Harmony No Harmony (2005)

Before becoming a certified Folk legend, Frank Turner found himself in a UK-based Post-Hardcore band named Million Dead. After a noisy and chaotic first album that saw them dip their toes into Emo waters, Million Dead returned in 2005 with their second LP with significantly more Emo influence, I’d say 50/50 with Post-Hardcore. The boisterousness found on A Song to Ruin remains a fixture on this album, but the Emo influence allows for more contrast with moments of clean serenity.
Frank Turner does belt out some gnarly screams on this album, but his use of melody and bombast has significantly improved, previewing why he’s attained such a large cult following over the years. Check out both of these albums - they’re both worth it, even if their first is only questionably Emo.

The Progress - Merit (2005)

If you enjoyed Golden State by Chicago’s own The Progress, you’ll enjoy this one. The traditional Midwest Emo elements - mixed in excellently with Pop-Punk influence - are all written and performed beautifully. What Merit does as an album is showcase how you can have memorable melodies in a radio-friendly framework without dipping into the increasingly popular Emo-Pop well. If you’re looking for some really solid Emo to add to your collection, check this one out.

Desert City Soundtrack - Perfect Addiction (2005)

Perfect Addiction is a perfect example of what many in the Indie Rock scene would call “maturity.” The songwriting is generally softer and more focused, though at the loss of some truly unhinged musical moments. The piano is more prominent as ever, flaunting the Indie influences highly on this album. The batshit crazy stuff found on Desert City Soundtrack’s debut LP is mostly lost in translation, though some heaviness still remains. Overall, I’d say this isn’t as good as their first album, but more of something this unique is always a good thing.

Kickball - ABCDEFGHIJKickball (2005) 💎

After releasing their mellowed-out debut LP with questionable amounts of Emo influence, Kickball followed up with a Midwest Emo album that’s simultaneously more experimental and more straightforward than Huckleberry Eater. This album features more fun Emo riffs, intricate drum patterns and overall a more dynamic song structure. If you weren’t a fan of the more subdued first album, this one utilizes a more traditional approach to Emo songwriting.

The Vermicious Knid - Smalltown Devotion/Hometown Compulsion (2005)

Smalltown Devotion is the sole full-length album from The Vermicious Knid, offbeat Emos from Ontario, Canada. The band is named after an obscure species in the works of Roald Dahl, so you can expect that sort of wackiness in the music as well. With dual-male vocalists, relatively raw production and a dancey backbone, this album really has to be heard to be believed. The band also has an EP they released in 2002 that previews the weirdness to come.

8-Bit Revival - Under the Fairweather (2006)

Four years after their debut EP Up & Atom, which we covered in the first part of the series, 8-Bit Revival returns with their first full-length Under the Fairweather. While perhaps this could also have belonged in the same section, I found this to be a bit more unique and “2000s” so I’m putting it here. The dingy Post-Hardcore vibes remain but are accompanied by fresher songwriting and a generous use of synths.

Owen - At Home With Owen (2006) 🎩

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most important figures in Emo history in this section: Mike Kinsella. For those who don’t know, Mike Kinsella’s legacy is crucial to the development of the genre; he was the drummer for Cap’n Jazz, the lead singer and guitarist of American Football and is a featured member in bands like Joan of Arc and Their / They’re / There. However, his most prolific series of work is as a solo artist under the name Owen.
Now people can argue all they want about whether or not this music is truly Emo, Indie Rock, Indie Folk or anything else, but I’m an AcousticEmo believer and this release is its quintessential album. Mike’s jazzy approach to instrumentation creates interesting and dynamic interactions between multiple instruments. At Home With Owen is perhaps his best and most memorable work, but he’s also released countless other LPs, EPs, splits and compilations over the years, including in the Third Wave.

Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps Heavy Hooves (2007) 💎

Perhaps Equal Vision Records doesn’t count as “Underground,” but Dear and the Headlights might just be the biggest and best band that no one has heard of. Combining Midwest Emo with Indie Rock and Folkish elements proves to be a refreshing, original and poignant take on the Emo formula; the usual loud-quiet dynamics that characterize Emo are here with a vocalist that scales with them. Ian Metzger serenades the listener with soft vocals during the cleaner, lighter parts of the album while the crescendos showcase how powerful his voice can get.
The warm, bittersweet tones create a sense of longing, accompanied by lyrical content revolving around heartbreak. While not groundbreaking, it’s done with earnestness and passion, not to mention some quality melodies. If you wanna sing your post-breakup feelings with all of your heart, learning these songs is a must.

Dartz! - This Is My Ship (2007)

One thing before I start - has anyone seen Dartz! and Bloc Party in the same room? Or do all British Indie-Adjacent bands sound like “that?” Either way, Dartz! takes that British Indie Rock formula, mixes it with a healthy dose of Math Rock and produces unique Emo goodness. The Mathy riffs almost make this one feel like Proto-Revival stuff, but the Indie Rock structure and tone keep this from sounding too similar to other such UK acts. Much like Bloc Party, vocalist William Anderson injects his lyrics with tons of melody and catchiness. Overall, this is an interesting take on the Emo formula and is worth your time if you think it sounds good.

Kickball - Everything is a Miracle Nothing is a Miracle Everything Is (2007)

Is there a more idiosyncratic Third Wave Emo band than Kickball? Huckleberry Eater in 2003 was a soft-Indie Midwest Emo project and ABCD was a slightly off-kilter Emo release, so where does that leave this, their final album? Believe it or not, Everything is a Miracle balances the two dominant sounds quite well while radiating with more emotion than on either of their previous records. The eccentricity reaches new heights with experimental production techniques, oddball instrumental sections and an admirable carelessness that allows the songs to flow naturally together.
Kickball would cease releasing new music after this, right before the Emo Revival rolled around. The band existed entirely in Emo’s Third Wave, embracing the kind of sounds that would characterize some Fourth Wave bands. They missed their chance to be a hidden gem of the Emo Revival, but I hope that you listen to at least one of their albums.

Dear and the Headlights - Drunk Like Bible Times (2008)

Following up on Small Steps Heavy Hooves was never going to be easy - Emo bands LOVE coming out with an amazing first album before either dropping off the face of the Earth or create a poor, unmemorable follow-up album. Dear and the Headlights, however, does an admirable job staving away this stereotype with Drunk Like Bible Times, releasing only a year after their debut. Is it as Emo as their previous LP? Not quite for the album leans slightly more into its Indie Rock influences this time around. However, the passion and the emotion is present in spades on this record and that alone is worth a listen.
Unfortunately, the group would disband some time after this album, never releasing another record aside from their two legendary outings.

Kumarenino - Tren camino a casa, mis errores y el numero 7 (2008)

Hailing from Mexico, Kumarenino is an obscure Emo band that came about during Emo's rise to prominence in the 2000s. They play traditional Midwest Emo with generous infusions of Indietronica. Their experimentation with electronic elements could be tied to the Emo-Pop explosion in Emo's mainstream period, but they are played in a way that reminds me of Fifth Wave Emo or Brave Little Abacus. Give these experimental Emos a listen!
That's it for this one! It took me such a long time to finish this one because it was a double part. As always, please let me know if I missed anyone on this list. On the next and final installment, we'll see the transition from Third to Fourth Wave Emo.

So this was a few days ago. I went into a DG to get some snacks, and I needed a lighter. So when I get there I get pulled over by a state trooper (it was for my inspection). After all is said and done I go in to get what I need. I got 2 bags of candy, and a lighter. I try self checkout, and the cashier tells me it wont work because age restriction. I go to yer counter while she is talking with her friend or whatever, i give her my stuff and asks when I was born. I told her clear as day my birthday, which is in 2005. I am 19 years old. She looks me dead in the eyes and tells me that Ik too young to buy a lighter. I ask her why, Im 19? And she says that I told he I was born in 2012. I have facial hair, I drove here myself. I got a ticket in your parking lot. I have my drivers license. But according to her. I. Am. Twelve. Years. Old. I left with my candy and got a lighter at another store.

2005 Honda Civic LX 141,XXX Miles. I live in a warm state (hawaii) all year round so no salt or cold. I live on an island so there is no long types of drives that I take (unless you count sitting in traffic). Mostly stock except for aftermarket radio, headlights are HID's with aftermarket headlight housing, K&N Intake, aftermarket muffler, no resonator, viper alarm, dash cam hard wired-in, and a couple of LED driving lights installed where my fog lights would have been. I have not moved or changed anything recently, and everything mentioned above has been on my car for at least 3 years. Usual maintenance is always done.
The other night I went to start my car and nothing. Lights on the dash came on, I have one of those cigarette lighter things where it shows the voltage and it was at like 12.4V but no turn over and just click once. I tried it a couple of times, then it started up. After it starts up, it runs fine and doesn't die out or anything.
Later that day, Sunday, I did the following:

• I have a car battery tester ( https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MPXGSGN?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details ) and everything pulled a good on test reading. Battery, Charging and Crank.
• Checked to see if the ignition fuse (40 amp green in the box under the hood) was blown. Looked fine. Made sure the screws were tightened down and they were.
• I changed out the main relays that were under my glove box (they were 2 black ones) and I switched it from my two headlights since they were the same exact relays.

Now, switching those 2 relays appeared to have fixed my problem because my car started several times fine after.
Come today and now it started to do the same thing that it was doing on Saturday twice out of the 6 times I had to use my car. No matter if it was "cold" or after it was still warm.
I bought a starter since I thought maybe it was that, and I was going to return it since it appeared that I fixed it Sunday night but I'm glad I didn't return it yet.
But, I wanted to see if there could be another fuse/relay that could be the culprit? Or could it be the starter since I did change the relay and it seemed to work for a day or so, but now it's doing the intermittent not starting thing.
I attached a video of it doing it this morning. Well I tried but this place wont allow videos on my end. But I uploaded: https://streamable.com/4h0xf7

Hello, comrades! I think most of us here are united in our opposition to capitalism. How does that connect to history? Well, if you didn't know, our history has been propagandised. Immediately, as we begin our schooling, our textbooks deceive us. Not only with inaccuracies but with missing context, distortions and outright lies. This reddit post also does a great job of explaining what I linked just now alongside framing issues. Point is, we have a horrible history education.
Since I believe in materialist/class analysis, my perspective on this is that this distorted education is deliberate. Our ruling class indoctrinates us while we are young, when we lack critical thinking and hindsight, to unwaveringly subscribe to their ideology. Once we, the masses, are docile and subservient, the ruling class can easily exploit us (through wage-slavery) behind our backs while we are riled to fascist rhetoric (regardless if we do support it or not, our distraction and practically obsession to fascists still leaves us being exploited; think liberal hate of PAS). Besides this, the masses are also divided by race and religion by the ruling class. A strategy learnt from our dear colonisers. The logic being, if we all hate each other, we won't find time to realise our slavery. That's why politicians drum up these tensions; not merely just for votes but to divide the masses so that we can never challenge them and rise to a people-centric system i.e. socialism and communism. (It's a rather incomplete analysis but it's a basic one at least lah)
Whether it is being groomed to be a fascist or be a liberal (bit of an oxymoron but whatever), some of us do fall out the cracks. Thus, we are here, in this leftist subreddit of sorts, not sure if my kind of post fits here but I see nowhere else I can post this. As I've pointed it, the ruling class controls our history so as a communist, I feel obligated to help recapture Malaysian history from the control of the ruling class back to the people. Sadly, I'm still too young to join the PSM but in the meantime, I can do my fair share by constructing a People's History of Malaysia.
A People's History of Malaysia would basically be an alternative narrative that challenges the official historical narrative. I will also be including Singapore in this list because I truly believe that we share the same struggle with our fellow Singaporeans and that we are only merely divided. I am very much following the path of Kua Kia Soong, Syed Husin Ali and Syed Hussein Alatas who have in some way producing an alternative narrative. This alternative narrative would help severely with helping new leftists know the truth of their history and dispel myths that our ruling class propagates. Although, I can't do this alone and I need your help! Anything works really and I really appreciate any support I can get.
TL;DR Our history is propagandised by our elite to control us. Hence, we should seek to fight against this system. I'm seeking your help to get Malaysia's true history: the People's History of Malaysia. I believe this is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for the anti-capitalist movement in Malaysia to have an understanding of their history so that we can learn from their mistakes and eventually succeed. From George Santayana, "Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them."
I really need more on Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak but so far, this is what I have:
READ AND SUGGESTED: - The People's Constitutional Proposals for Malaya: 70th Anniversary Edition, featuring essays by Syed Hussein Ali, Ariffrin Omar, Jeyakumar Devaraj & Fahmi Reza (pdf) - Patriots & Pretenders: The Malayan Peoples' Independence Struggle, Kua Kia Soong (pdf) - Traditionalism and the Ascendancy of the Malay Ruling Class, Donna J. Amoroso (pdf) - May 13: Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969, Kua Kia Soong (pdf) - Malaya: the Making of a Neo-colony, Mohamed Amin & Malcolm Caldwell (pdf) [HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR MATERIALISTS] - Malaya: Revolution and its Abandonment, S. R. (article) - Contesting Equality: A History of the Malayan People's Socialist Front, 1957-1965, Kankan Xie (pdf, at "Files") - "The Fundamental Issue is Anti-colonialism, Not Merger": Singapore's "Progressive Left", Operation Coldstore and the creation of Malaysia, Thum Pingtjin (pdf / This link will download the pdf)
HAVEN'T READ BUT LOOKS PROMISING: - A People's History of Malaya: The New Emergency, Asoka Guiron [This book apparently has a radical/socialist take on the Malayan Emergency, must be very promising but I can't find a pdf of it :/] - Class, Race, and Colonialism in West Malaysia: The Indian Case, Michael R. Stenson (pdf) - The Genesis of Konfrontasi: Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, 1945–1965, Grey Poulgrain (pdf) - People's wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam, Marc Opper (epub) - The Communist Insurrection in Malaya, 1948-1960, Anthony Short, (link)
HAVEN'T READ AND UNSURE: - Radicals: Resistance and Protest in Colonial Malaya, Syed Muhd Khairudin Aljunied (pdf) - Sejarah Rakyat Malaysia (Khususnya Perkembangan Nasionalisme), Syed Husin Ali (no pdf) - Riot & Revolution in Singapore and Malaya, 1945-1963, Richard L. Clutterbuck (link) - Social Roots of the Malay Left, Rustam A. Sani (pdf) - Gerakan Kiri Melayu dalam Perjuangan Merdeka, Salleh Lamry (pdf / may download the pdf) - The End of Empire and the Making of Malaya, T. N. Harper (pdf)

Here is a list of the death row inmates executed by the state of California since 1976. I have plans for making a comprehensive list of almost every offender condemned by the state, and posting it to this sub. However, since nearly ~1,100 offenders (the third highest in the US and only slightly behind Texas and Florida) have been sentenced to death by California since the 70s, it would be a project that likely won't come to fruition for a long time.
The 13 executed inmates:
1.Robert Harris (1992, gas chamber): Harris committed his first murder in 1975 when he killed his brother's roommate, 19 year old James Wheeler, after beating him for 6 hours. He was given a voluntary manslaughter conviction, and was released on 1978. A few months after his release, Harris and his brother abducted two boys, 16 year old John Mayeski and 16 year old Michael Baker, shot them dead, and stole their car for a getaway vehicle in their planned bank robbery. In a cruel twist of irony, Baker's father Steven was one of the officers that apprehended Harris and his brother.
2.David Mason (1993, gas chamber): In his first wave of killings, Mason murdered 3 elderly women, 75 year old Antoinette Brown, 75 year old Dorothy Lang, and 73 year old Joan Picard, and a WW1 veteran, 83 year old Arthur Jennings (whom he previously had a sexual relationship with), through strangulations and beatings while robbing them. While he was preparing to go on trial, Mason beat and strangled another inmate, 24 year old Boyd Johnson (a convicted rapist), with a towel out of fear that he was an informant.
3.William Bonin (1996, lethal injection): Bonin was a serial killer who murdered a minimum of 21 boys between the ages of 12 to 19, though one unidentified victim might have been as old as 27. With the assistance of 3 accomplices, Bonin lured his victims into his van with promises of rides to their destinations or payment for sexual services. They were then raped, beaten with tire irons, stabbed with ice picks, and garroted with their own t-shirts. Some were burned with cigarette lighters and had drano poured into their throats. A publicity chaser, Bonin disposed of the bodies on freeways so that they would be found and broadcasted on the news. He had a long history of sexual predations dating back to his childhood, which included several prior convictions of non fatally abducting boys, and had raped another serviceman in the Vietnam War.
4.Keith Williams (1996, lethal injection): Williams and his accomplice went to the home of 31 year old Miguel Vargas to ostensibly buy his car and to sell him a gun. After some negotiations over the prices, Williams and his accomplice turned violent and shot Miguel and his 43 year old cousin Salvador dead. The pair also abducted Miguel's girlfriend, 25 year old Lourdes Meza, forced her into the car they stole from the couple, and drove to the outskirts of Tuolumne City. He then raped Meza, shot her 4 times in the chest, and left her body in a field. Prior to the killing spree, Williams, his accomplice, and his ex wife found themselves stranded on a remote highway, and robbed the campers that tried to help them at gunpoint. He also was arrested for burglary several times as a teenager and stabbed a friend a few years before the murders.
5.Thomas Thompson (1998, lethal injection): Thompson was executed for the murder of 20 year old Ginger Fleischli, who was found with stab wounds to her head and had signs of sexual assault on her body. His execution was contentious, as he has a vocal following insisting on his innocence. However, it is agreed upon that Thompson and Fleischli had consensual relations on the night of her murder, as corroborated by Thompson's own account and eyewitness testimony seeing them hooking up together at a bar.
6.Jaturun Siripongs (1999, lethal injection): Siripongs broke into a retail store that he formerly worked at. He strangled the manager Packovan Wattanaporn, a 36 year old Thai immigrant, with a cord, stabbed her employee Quach Nguyen, a 52 year old Vietnamese immigrant, in the neck and head, and stole jewelry and credit cards.
7.Manny Babbitt (1999, lethal injection): In the last of a string of robberies, Babbitt beat and raped 78 year old Leah Schendel in her apartment. She succumbed to a heart attack from the overwhelming fear and pain from the assault. Babbitt had also raped another woman in his robbery spree. Due to being a decorated Vietnam veteran that was diagnosed with PTSD, he had attracted a sympathetic following.
8.Darrell Rich (2000, lethal injection): Rich abducted, raped, and murdered 4 women and girls between the ages of 11 to 27. His killing methods were very diverse and circumstantial. Victims 19 year old Anette Edwards and 17 year old Patricia Moore were murdered by their skulls crushed in beatings with rocks, 27 year old Linda Slavik was shot to death, and Rich threw 11 year old Annette Selix off a bridge while she was still alive. In addition to his murders, Rich also non fatally abducted and assaulted several other women and girls.
9.Robert Massie (2001, lethal injection): Massie was originally sentenced to death in 1965 when he robbed and shot dead 48 year old Mildred Weiss in front of her husband. His first death sentence was overturned during the temporary nationwide banning of capital punishment following the 1972 Furman vs Georgia decision. In 1978, Massie was released from prison for good behavior, but held up a liquor store in the following year. He shot and killed the owner, 61 year old Boris Naumoff, which gave him his second and third death sentence in a trial and a retrial.
10.Stephen Anderson (2002, lethal injection): In 1977, while serving in the Utah State Prison for a burglary conviction, Anderson got into a fight with fellow inmate Robert Blundell (age unknown), and stabbed him to death. Two years later, Anderson escaped from prison, and fled to California. He intruded into the home of 81 year old Elizabeth Lyman, and shot her in the head. Anderson also professed to being a contract killer responsible for 7 murders in Nevada and Utah. Although he was never charged for it, Utahn officials have tentatively linked the 1980 murder of 26 year old Timothy Glashien to Anderson.
11.Donald Beardslee (2005, lethal injection): In 1969, while living in Missouri, Beardslee went out dancing with 52 year old Laura Griffin, and took her to his home. He then stabbed, strangled, and drowned Griffin in his bathtub. Beardslee plead guilty to a second degree murder charge, and served 7 years out a 19 year prison sentence. A few years after his 1977 release, he made his way to California. He assisted in the 1981 abductions of two women, 23 year old Stacie Benjamin and 19 year old Patty Geddling, over a drug related dispute. Beardslee shot Benjamin in the head with a sawed off shotgun, and stabbed Geddling to death after a failed attempt to strangle her with wire. To mislead investigators, Beardslee and his accomplices pulled down the pants of the bodies, and tried to stage their killings as a sex crime.
12.Stanley Williams (2005, lethal injection): One of the cofounders of the Crips street gang, Williams was heavily involved with organized crime at a young age. Although he orchestrated several murders, Williams was convicted of the killings of a store clerk, 26 year old Albert Owens, and the Yangs, a family of Taiwanese immigrants. Williams and his crew shot and killed Owens at a 711, and gunned down 76 year old Yen-Yi, his 63 year old wife Tsai-Shai, and their 43 year old daughter Yu-Chin at their family owned motel.
13.Clarence Allen (2006, lethal injection): Allen organized the robbery of a supermarket owned by one of his friends with the help of an employee, 17 year old Mary Kitts (who was also dating Allen's son at the time). When Kitts had second thoughts, Allen ordered one of his accomplices to strangle her to death. After he and his gang were caught and facing trial, Allen arranged for a cellmate to eliminate the key witness, 27 year old Bryon Schletewitz (who was also the owner's son), against him. Schletewitz and two of his employees, 17 year old Josephine Rocha and 18 year old Douglas White, were shot dead at the supermarket, and two others were wounded.
Californian death row inmates executed by other states:
1.Kevin Malone (1999, lethal injection): Malone kidnapped at least 4 men and women, 62 year old William Parr, 55 year old Myrtle Benham, 51 year old Minnie White, and 39 year old James Rankin, in several robberies across California and Missouri. Most of his victims were shot in the head, but Benham was raped and beaten to death with a pipe. Belongings such as cars and credit cards were taken in the attacks. He was given a death sentence in both states, but chose to be incarcerated in California's San Quentin. Marlone was deported to Missouri when governor Mel Carnahan signed his death warrent. Beyond his murders, he was involved in several non fatal robbery abductions and robbed a judge at gunpoint in the man's own home.
2.Alfredo Prieto (2015, lethal injection): Prieto was both a serial killer of young women and a member of the Pomona Northside street gang. His sexual crimes involved the abductions, rapes, and shooting deaths of at least 4 females, 24 year old Tina Jefferson, 22 year old Rachael Raver, 19 year old Stacey Siegrist, and 15 year old Yvette Woodruff. Raver and Siegrist’s partners, 22 year old Warren Fulton III and 21 year old Anthony Gianuzzi, were also murdered during their kidnappings. The other known victims, 27 year old Manuel Sermeno, and couple, 71 year old Lula and 65 year old Herbert Farley, were shot dead during robberies. In the home invasion that killed Woodruff, Prieto and his fellow gang members also abducted her 17 year old friend and the friend’s 33 year old mother. The mother and daughter pair were gang-raped, shot and stabbed together, but they managed to escape with their lives. Prieto was sentenced to death in both California and Virginia, but stayed in California’s San Quentin until his death warrant was signed in Virginia. He had also shot and injured 3 gang members over his suspicions of them sleeping with his wife, but was lightly sentenced due to the victims' gang affiliations.

Hello, I would like to give my honest review of my 2023 RWD. First I'll give some background about me. This is my first EV, my previous 4 cars are: 2005 Mercedes E320 CDI, 2017 Mercedes E300, 2014 Mercedes E350, and a 2020 Toyota Tacoma which I still own.
I know quite a bit about cars, as I was a master technician for Mercedes for about 8 years. The E Class has always been my go to, as I know them, and I don't think anyone makes a better 4 door medium size sedan.
I decided to get an EV, because I live in a part of the US that has the highest gas prices, and some of the cheapest electricity. I commute 40 miles round trip 5 days a week, so I was spending a lot on fuel, even getting 30+ mpg with my E320CDI, as diesel is usually around $6 a gallon here. My wife also thought the car was too old, and wanted something newer.
I saw how good a deal the Model 3 was when I got mine back in September. The base color combos were around 37k, and we ended up getting a red/white color combo for exactly 40k, which after the tax credit brought it to around 35k, after taxes. There is no other EV, besides maybe the Chevy Bolt, that is a better deal than was being offered. The price was the biggest reason I bought it, as I actually wanted a Model Y, but the sales tax break goes away in my state, at Model Y prices (above 45k), so it made it way more expensive.
I'll start with the cons:
Initially, I didn't see any build quality issues. Over the last couple months, I've noticed a really annoying noise that is either the B pillar rattling, or the window rubbing against the window seal. This is right next to my left ear, and is extremely annoying. There is also an intermittent rattle in the rear shelf area behind the rear seats, this one isn't as bad, but still annoying.
The auto wipers are pretty terrible. Mercedes has really good auto wipers, the Tesla rain sensor is terrible. My 2005 W class wipers work better. Tesla's will turn on when it's not raining, or come on only when the windshield is entirely covered in rain. I find myself just using the mist button, and changing from the different levels depending on how much it's raining.
My touch screen will intermittently not respond to touch. The screen still displays everything normally, but you can't interact with it. I opened a service request, but I was talked into delaying it, as they wanted exact times and dates to go through the control unit logs, which is understandable.
Rear visibility is pretty bad. It's one of the first things I noticed the first time I rented a model 3. It doesn't help that the mirrors aren't very big either. Couple that with the fact it doesn't have a blind spot warning light in the mirror, like most new cars, and changing lanes isn't confidence inspiring. I honestly hate the blind spot camera, and would rather just have a light in the mirror, or somewhere in the lower A pillar.
It's really hard to close the frunk.
Tesla's service centers don't inspire confidence. It's all through the app, and the issues I've had, I've been talked out of visiting by the tech or advisor on the chat. It also seems hard to get a loaner, so I might try to fix some of the issues myself (rattles), just so I won't be without the car for the day(s) it's in the shop.
Now the pros:
The amount of options you get standard. Front and rear heated seats, heated steering wheel, auto dimming mirrors, auto wipers (if they worked correctly). It's nice they don't nickel and dime you, like Toyota does with the Tacoma (had to buy leatheheated seats/auto climate control as an expensive "premium package")
The car handles really well. I watched a review saying the handling was bad, and the dude couldn't have been more wrong. Maybe it's because the RWD is the lightest, and it handles better than other versions? Or maybe the guy was smoking crack. Steering has a quick ratio, and it's a little heavy, which takes some getting used to. But that low center of gravity is so noticable on the curves, it handles like a much lighter car. I'm also impressed by the amount of grip in wet weather for a RWD car.
It's very efficient. When the weather was warmer, I was getting 4, sometimes 5 miles per kWh. It might not have the biggest battery, but the efficiency makes up for it. I was so worried I needed a level 2 charger, but have so far gotten by fine on 120v mobile charger. I can always get about 50 miles of range overnight, and rarely drive more than that. If I use a supercharger for a road trip, I can go from 20 to 90 percent in about 30 or 40 minutes, if the battery is warmed up.
I love one pedal driving. I'm pretty sure all EVs do this, but Tesla programmed the pedal very well to give pretty precise control based on pedal input. Driving in traffic is so much easier than alternating between the brake pedal, and accelerator. It makes me hate traffic less.
Autopilot is pretty trash, I can't believe people actually pay money for it. Especially when the auto steer is so good. It's not perfect, but it works pretty good, and is great to have on long trips.
It's as fast as I need it to be. I'm over the whole fast car thing. I've had a C63 with 451 hp, I had a 240sx with an sr20 swap that had 250whp, which almost felt faster than my C63 due to it being a lot lighter. I drive like an old man now, and have no interest in getting a faster car. 0-60 in 5.8 is plenty fast. It's very responsive in regular every day driving, only time it feels slow is getting on the freeway. Acceleration is effortless, and it so nice not having to wait for a transmission to shift.
Overall I'm happy with my purchase, but I honestly liked my 2017 E300 more. As someone who was under the hood/underside of cars all day, Mercedes build quality is magnitudes ahead of Tesla's. That being said, I believe that E class had an MSRP of $55k, so, understandable. Mercedes makes EVs now too that are probably better, but they also cost over twice as much as a Model 3.
Now that I've gone EV, I probably won't go back. The maintenance benefits, along with ease of driving, and charging at home, makes it too appealing. Especially with engines these days trying to meet MPG standards by making the engines super complex, and forced induction. Makes them harder to work on, and not as reliable in some cases.

So I haven't seen anyone talk about this in any forum or reddit post, and the other night a few friends and myself in discord started to figure out that every new cod (the reboot saga) is actually connected in some way or full on take place in the same universe, and that includes Zombies now.
Originally, we knew in the old Saga (WaW-B04, WW2 , AW, IW, and COD4-MW3) were their own separate continuities with Cod Zombies pre Cold War (without WW2 zombies) essentially being treated as an alternate universe. However, after the Old saga came to an end with BO4 and the Reboot Saga starting with both its campaigns and Zombies being all wrapped up into one universe, and I think we got a somewhat accurate timeline on everything. So, this is the FULL TIMELINE from WaW to MW2023, INCLUDING ZOMBIES:
[TL/DR; everything is connected now.]
The Second World War (1939-1945):

• 1939- Germany invades Poland and The Second World War Begins
• 1940- The Axis successfully take over France, Camille Denis joins the resistance under "Rousseau", Arthur Crowley joins the British Special Operations Secret Service.
• 1942- June: Pilots Wade Jackson and Mateo Hernandez successfully defend the American Fleet and sink two Japanese Aircraft Carriers.

1. -August: "Semper Fi" from Cod WaW takes place. Pvt Miller is rescued by Corporal Roebuck and Sergeant Sullivan with a squad of Marines. The Wermacht attacks Stalingrad. Polina Petrova and her brother escape the city.
2. September: Pvt. Dimitri Pentrenko and Sgt. Viktor Reznov assassinate Commander Heinreich Amsel before escaping the city with Pvt. Chernov.
3. October: Lucas Riggs and Des Wilmont destroy German Flak positions in El Alamein.

• 1943- January: Polina Petrova kills Leo Steiner. Dr. Friedrich Steiner begins work on Nova 6.

1. Projekt Endstation, funded by Hermann Freisinger and Colonel Von List and spear headed by Dr. Ulrich Vogel begins construction.
2. October: Cpt. Butcher heads Operation Devon, though it ends in disaster as thirty Marines are KIA.
3. November: Lucas Riggs and Mateo Hernandez are shot down over the islands of Numa-Numa, they are rescued by the an All-African squad from the 93rd division.
4. December: Robert Zussman enlists in the United States Army.
5. Unknown: Russian Spy, codenamed "Perseus" steals information on the Manhattan Project from Los Alamos and sends it to the Kremlin.

• 1944- March: Ronald "Red" Daniels joins the United States Army. Projekt Endstation rips a whole into the Dark Aether after Nikolai Belinski banishes it to the Dark Aether in a Separate timeline. Items such as Perk Machines, The Mystery Box, Pack-a-Punch, and the Ray Gun is spat out from the Dark Aether and into the real world. The Outbreak is contained but the Cyclotron still operates without external power. Three Days later, "Der Aangfang" commences. Scientist Gabriel Krafft contacts the Allied Forces and aids them into escaping the city and Die Warheit. Bellekar sends a message to the Dark Aether, and Vecanna replies and teleports the Special Forces and Krafft to Egypt, from 1944 to 1945, during which Krafft and the Special Forces are considered to be MIA. The Outbreak in Stalingrad stops soon after and knowledge and evidence of the incident is buried and destroyed.

1. June 5th: British Allies successfully cleared the town of Merville. Sgt. Martin lands in Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
2. June 6th: D-Day begins. Sgt. Martin assaults Sainte-Mere-Eglise with the 101th Airborne division, Sgt. Evans and the 6th Airborne Division defends Pegasus Bridge from the Germans, Cpl. Bill Taylor and 2nd Ranger Battalion ascends Pointe-Du-Hoc, Pvt. Martin and the 101th Airborne Division successfully destroy a group of Flak 88's that were hitting troops at Utah beach, and Cpl. Roland Roger, Pvt. Ronald Daniels and Robert Zussman, LT. Joseph Turner, and the 1st Infantry Division successfully land and take Omaha Beach.
3. July 25th: Operation Cobra Begins. Tank Commander Augustine Perez is wounded in battle and discharged from active duty.
4. July 31st: Operation Cobra is a success. Private Jones now KIA.
5. August 7th: Pvt. Martin and the 101th Airborne Division rescue Cpt. Arthur Price from behind enemy lines.
6. August 22nd: Desperate, Hitler and Freisinger push for the weaponization of artifacts from the Dark Aether.
7. August 20th: Pvt. Daniels and his platoon meet with Arthur Crowley and Camille Denis, and successfully derail a German train carrying V2 rockets.
8. August 25th: With the help of Pvt. Daniels and the platoon, Camille Denis and Arthur Crowley successfully liberate Paris.
9. September 15th: Missions "Little Resistance", "Hard Landing", and "Burn Em Out" begins. Pvt. Miller, Cpl. Roebuck, Sgt. Sullivan, and Pvt. Polonsky assault the Island of Peleliu with the aid of several battalions of Marines. Sgt. Sullivan is killed in the battle. Roebuck is promoted to Sergeant.
10. September 16th: "Relentless" begins. Pvt. Miller and his squad successfully destroy a Japanese AA command post.
11. October 18th: Pvt. Daniels and his squad attack the state theater in Aachen's and evacuate German civilians.
12. November 14th: Lt. Turner of the First Division is KIA. Pvt. Daniels is promoted to Corporal.
13. December 3rd: Cpt. Carver is sent to the Island of Caldera to investigate German activity with Isabella Reyes, Lewis Howard, and Francis Lanakila. However, they are shot down but survive. They discover the blueprints of Nebula V (which is a much earlier concept of Nova 6) and learn about its stockpiles in the Alps. They exfil back to Europe and task Task Force Yeti, led by Anna Drake and made up of Thomas Bolt and Gustavo De Santos to find and destroy the stockpile.
14. December 9th: Task Force Yeti successfully destroy the stockpile of Nebula V and successfully exfil with the help of Cpt. Carver. No One was injured or KIA.
15. December 23rd: Lucas Gibson and the 80th Infantry Division secure the town of Ettelbruck.
16. December 28th: Captured prisoner Robert Zussman is sent to a labor camp and is MIA for the remainder of the war.

• 1945

1. January 26th: Projekt Endstation grows unstable, and Task force Baldr is sent into the Dark Aether. A day later, Vogel trusts his daughter Angelika to his friend before the station collapses and he is presumed to be KIA after making sure Task Force Baldr is secure.
2. February 8th: 8th Division of the Red Army discovers the abandoned Endstation and its undead occupants.
3. Feburary 10th: The Red Army sends in a clean up crew to destroy the station. Officer Pavel Lazerev sends Sgt. Zykov into the Dark Aether to close it from the inside, trapping him inside forever. During his entrapment, Zykov becomes corrupted by the energy of the Dark Aether, transforming him into an Elder God known as the Forsaken.
4. February 21st: The Red Army captures Angelika and Kurtz, and offer them asylum in Moscow in exchange for production and locations of the other Endstations. They agree and change their names. Angelika is now Valentina and Kurtz is now Valentin.
5. March 3rd: Corporal Daniels is discharged from active duty, though won't leave unless he finds Robert Zussman. William Pierson allows him to stay in the platoon and agrees to help search for Zussman.
6. March 7th: The Battle of Remagen begins. Corporal Daniels, Cpl. Howard, Pvt. Brian Peterson, William Pierson, along with the 1st Infantry Division, 9th Armored Division, and the 99th Infantry Division successfully defuse the bombs and secure the bridge. After crossing into Germany, they start to search for Robert Zussman.
7. March 24th: Cpl. Bill Taylor and the 2nd Ranger Battalion cross into Germany and push the Axis powers back.
8. March 25th: The Battle of Remagen ends in Allied Victory.
9. April 3rd: "Black Cats" Begins.
10. April 4th: Corporal Daniels and William Pierson recover Robert Zussman. Soon After, Daniels, Pierson, and Zussman are honorably discharged from active duty.
11. April 18th: Dimitri Petrenko is rescued by Viktor Reznov and Pvt. Chernov and begin to make their way to Berlin with the Red Army.
12. April 23rd: The Red Army secures the city of Pankow, and begin to make their way to Berlin.
13. April 24th: The Red Army begin to destroy the city of Berlin. Pvt. Dimitri Petrenko and Sgt. Viktor Reznov fight the Germans into the subway. In desperation, the Germans flood the subway, and they are presumed dead.
14. April 26th: "Terra Maladetca" commences. The Special Forces and Krafft arrive in Egypt in the year 1945. They free the Decimator Shield and recover the lost pages of the Tome of Rituals in the Dark Aether before beginning their assault on Von List and Kortifex the Deathless.
15. April 27th: "Shi No Numa" commences. Vercanna teleports the Special Forces into the Dark Aether to help recover Saraxis' lost memories, which holds the key into defeating Kortifex and Von List. They are successful and recover the relic mirror. With this, they are fully capable of taking down Von List and Kortifex. Meanwhile, Hermann Freisinger initiates "Operation Phoenix" to ensure the Reich lives on due to the Russians getting closer to winning the war and not hearing anything from Von List for over a year. Attempts to contact Dr. Friedrich Steiner about Nova-6's progression have failed.
16. April 28th: The Archon commences. The Special Forces engage in battle with the remainder of Die Warheit and Von List and successfully separate him from Kortifex to bring him into the real world. Krafft executes Von List and The Special Forces kill Kortifex. Afterwards, the Special Forces are returned to their respective home countries, and all evidence regarding the Dark Aether is buried from the public. Projekt Endstation in Morasko Poland continues to lay abandoned. Meanwhile, Task Force Vanguard are deployed behind enemy lines to recover the documents of Project Phoenix. However, they are captured and Matthew Nowak is killed.
17. April 30th: Adolf Hitler is killed. Pvt Dimitri Petrenko and Sgt. Viktor Reznov survive the tunnel flooding and fight to the Reichstag. Task Force Vanguard fight their way through the confusion and hunt down Freisinger before he escapes. Pvt. Chernov is KIA, and Task Force Vanguard escape while Pvt. Dimitri Petrenko and Sgt. Reznov plant the soviet flag on top of the Reichstag, ending the war in Germany.
18. May 14th: Pvt. Miller, Pvt. Polonsky, and Sgt. Roebuck continue to fight their way through Okinawa.
19. May 28th: Pvt. Miller, Pvt. Polonsky, Sgt. Roebuck, and Marine Raiders land in Shuri Castle, the last stronghold before mainland Japan. Depending on player Choice, Polonsky or Roebuck are killed.
20. August 6th: The Little Boy is dropped onto Hiroshima.
21. August 9th: The Fat Man is dropped onto Nagasaki.
22. August 15th: Japan surrenders to the Allied Forces.
23. September 2nd: World War II is officially over. Pvt. Joe Miller, Pvt. C. Miller, Cpl. Tom Sharpe, Lt. Chuck Walker, Lucas Gibson, Sgt. Evans, Pvt. Martin, Cpl. Riley, Sgt. Rivers, Cpl. Tayor, and Cpl. Roger and discharged from active duty. 65 million were estimated to have been killed in the conflict.
24. October 28th: Viktor Reznov and Dimitri Petrenko, under the orders of General Dragovich and Sergeant Kravchenko, are sent with a squad of soldiers to the artic circle to recover Dr. Friedrich Steiner and Nova 6. However, Kravchenko, Steiner, and Dragovich betray Reznov and Dimitri, resulting in Dimitri's death. Reznov buries the supply of Nova 6 in the water, though is captured by Dragovich and sent to the Vorkuta prison camps.

• The Cold War (1947-1991)
• 1950: Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Jason Hudson are involved in the Korean War.
• 1951- Cpt. Butcher finds the last remnants of Germans on Caldera Island, and sends Task Force Harpy (Mateo Hernandez, Florence Carter, and Kim Tae Young) to finish them off and destroy the last remnants of Nebula-V.
• 1959- Nikita Dragovich pressures several members of the communist party of Russia to resort to other means of destruction instead of Nuclear Warfare.

1. Ryan Jackson issues a program of covert action against Fidel Castro to Colonel J.C King.

• 1960- John F. Kennedy becomes the next president of the United States. Angelika, going under Valentina, murders her foster father.
• 1961- Alex Mason, Frank Woods, and Bowman meet Carlos to discuss the assassination of Fidel Castro. The next day, the Bay of Pigs invasion begins, though it ends in failure. Alex Mason is captured by Lev Kravchenko and presumed MIA for years.
• 1962- Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner attempt to recreate MK Ultra and brainwash Alex Mason, though it proves unsuccessful and send him to Vorkuta. There, Mason meets Reznov who overwrites his program and reprograms Mason to kill Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Steiner.
• 1963- Mason escapes Vorkuta and arrives back on U.S Soil. Soon after, is tasked on finding and eliminating Dragovich by any means. JFK Assassinated. Operation Flashpoint commences and Dragovich is presumed to be killed by Mason, Woods, Brooks, Bowman, and Weaver.
• 1966- Russell Adler joins the CIA. Daniel Clarke plots his escape from Steiner.
• 1967- Russell Adler is deployed to MACV-SOG unit in Vietnam to investigate Soviet activity.
• 1968- Woods, Mason, and Hudson are sent to a marine base in Khe Sanh, though Woods and Mason are eventually sent to Hue City. Adler discovers the involvement of Perseus in Vietnam. Vietcong soldiers under the leadership of Perseus attempt to steal an American Nuclear Warhead, though Adler is able to fend them off. Mason believes that the defector was Viktor Reznov, although he has been dead for years. Kravchenko tests Nova 6 onto South Vietnam and reports his findings to Steiner. Hudson and Weaver attempt to recover Clarke, though he is killed before he can give them any details. Woods and Mason continue to fight in Vietnam with Bowman, though they are eventually captured by Dragovich, meanwhile Hudson and Weaver infiltrate Mount Yamatau to discover more about Project Nova and its weaknesses. Three days later, Woods and Mason escape and Woods sacrifices himself to kill Kravchenko, though he survives and gets sent to Hanoi. Mason tracks down and Kills Steiner. Hudson manages to break Mason's brainwashing and stop the Cuban Missile Crisis and kill Dragovich. Weaver, Hudson, and Mason flee to South Africa, where they remained until 1978.
• 1970- Valentina joined the KGB.
• 1972- Frank Woods escapes his prison and continues to work for the CIA.
• 1973- Samantha Maxis graduates University with a bachelors degree in applied mathematics. In Nicaragua, Siblings Raul and Josefina Menendez barely survive a fire set from an American, though Josefina is left badly burnt and it fuels Raul's hatred for the USA.
• 1975- Omega group is founded to identify and weaponize artifacts from the Dark Aether. The Vietnam war ends.
• 1976- Cpt. Butcher leads the tasks forces from the Second World War as a mercenary group, though they mainly specialize in recovering artifacts and gold from the Germans. They are sent to Caldera once more, which has been abandoned since the 1950's, and they run into Arthur Kingsley and surviving members of the other task forces from the Second World War, and engage in a blood conflict that lasts for years. Alex Mason is sent to East Berlin to interrogate Mikhail Belov.
• 1977- Frank Woods is sent to Mount Yamatau which has been rebuilt, and assassinates Dr. Schussel who was trying to revive Projekt Nova. He is soon sent to Russia to stop an ICBM launch, Kaori Tanaka and Imran Zakhaev joins Perseus.
• 1978- Valentina is transferred to Omega Group.
• 1979- Samantha Maxis meets Grigori Weaver after the Iranian Revolution begins and saves her, starting the connection between the two.
• 1981- Omega fails to assassinate Ronald Reagan. Woods, Hudson, Mason, and Adler capture Qasim Javadi, who tells them the location of Arash Kadivar. Agent Bell is wounded and rescued by Adler. The campaign of Black Ops Cold War commences.
• 1982- Jose Menendez is killed, leaving Raul Menendez to take over the Menendez Cartel. Leonid Brezhnev dies and all assets Omega Group collected in 1981 are liquidated and the group is dissolved.
• 1983- The leader of Perseus died, leaving Vikhor Stitch to take over the group and leads an attack on an American Military facility. Although the attack failed, it succeeded in worsening the relationship of Russia and America. KGB re-activates the Omega Group with funding from Imran Zakhaev and several members of Perseus, with Lev Kravchenko taking control of the group and Valentina spear-heading the research department. Scientists Peck and Jaeger, Captain Sergei Ravenov, and Sergeant Gorev are recruited into the newly built Omega group. Omega return to the abandoned Endstation facility in Morasko Poland, and reactivate the facility's cyclotron. However, The Dark Aether causes dimensional breaches throughout the world, and Omega Group once more abandon The facility. In response to Omega Group, the CIA greenlights the Requiem Group and headed by DS&T Edward Richtofen, with Grigori Weaver acting as the commanding officer to their agents. Samantha Maxis, Dr. Elizabeth Grey, Major Carver, and Oskar Strauss are inducted into Requiem. Die Maschine commences as Requiem operators are deployed to Morasko Poland to shut down and destroy the facility.
• 1984- Vikhor and Kaori rebuild Rebirth Island after it sat abandoned after Steiner's death in 1968 and successfully start to reproduce Nova-6 with his research. Vikhor and Freya Helvig launch an attack on a CIA safe house to plant evidence to lure Russell Adler to a shopping Mall for a trap. Adler is soon captured by Vikhor and Helvig and sent to Verdansk while continuing to keep his supply line of Nova 6 running through Laos with Kapano Vang overseeing its operation and deterring Karla Rivas, Frank Woods, Jason Hudson, and the rebels to destroy the supply line. Vikhor and his Perseus allies take over several buildings in South Africa before crashing two satellites into Verdansk and Algeria, while they continue to brainwash Adler and detonate a nuke a soviet base in Yamantau Mountains. Firebase Z commences, where Requiem deploys to an abandoned facility near Khe Sanh to recover the captured Samantha Maxis and Ravenov who was a double agent for Requiem. Outbreak commences and Requiem stop an elder god from destroying the world and launch Omega missiles that can cause outbreaks away from the west. Ravenov is discovered to be a double agent and he fully defects to the United States and works with the CIA. Meanwhile, Kaori successfully takes over broadcasting stations across Verdansk and parts of the Middle East, and attempts from Woods to stop her proved to be unsuccessful. Mason, Woods, and Hudson track down Adler and break his brainwashing, and stop Vikhor's plans. Adler kills Vikhor and Perseus is now dissolved, with Kaori and Helvig becoming mercenaries and Imran Zakhaev absorbing the remnants of Perseus into his growing empire. Two months after Vikhor's death and Perseus being dissolved, Woods, Mason, Adler, and Hudson meet Cpt. Carver from the Vanguard squad in the tunnels of Verdansk, who tells them his past before they leave the city all together and never return.
• 1985- Requiem is captured by Kravchenko and the Omega Group, and are deployed to Berlin to find and stop Valentina, who became insane after hearing the Forsaken in her ears for years and absorbed the Dark Aether's energy into her. They successfully escape with the help of Samantha Maxis who's is beginning to regain her powers from an alternate timeline. Soon after, the Forsaken commences, where Samantha sacrifices herself by banishing herself into the Dark Aether so Requiem has a fighting chance of defeating the Forsaken. After the Forsaken is killed, Edward Richtofen dissolves Requiem, and any remaining Operators are arrested. Ravenov, Weaver, Grey, Strauss, and Carver go into hiding and presumed dead.

(Modern Times 1999-Present)

• 1990- Dr. Peck attempts to find and recover the lost inversion warheads Ravenov fired six years ago into the sea of Japan.
• 1991-1998- Soviet Union collapses. Carver, Grey, Strauss, and Weaver die and their bodies are sealed away.
• 1999- Fatima and Walid Karim are killed in the bombings and invasion of Russian Forces led by General Barkov. Ten year old Farah and twelve year old Hadir Karim attempt to leave Urzikstan but are captured by General Barkov and kept as prisoners for years.
• 2001- John Price, great grandson of war Hero Arthur Price, joins the British Army.
• 2005- Charlotte "Charny" Johnstone joins the British Army.
• 2006- Jacob Throne joins the U.S Airforce. Damian Raines joins the United States Marine Corps.
• 2009- Farah Karim leads an escape from the Tobrak prison facility along with LT. John Price and an SAS unit. Alexia Valenzuela and Sydney "Syd" joins the United States Army.
• 2010- Farah Karim founded the Urzikstan Liberation Force. Jackson Wyatt joined the Australian Army.
• 2011- Benjamin "Otter" Lee joins the British Commandos. John Price is promoted to Captain. Imran Zakhaev is dead. Yegor Novak becomes a long term associate and fixer for the Chimera Private Military Group led by Nikolai.
• 2013- Alex Keller joins the SAD of CIA. Omar "The Wolf" Suleman announces his split with western backed forces.
• 2014- Kyle Garrick joins the British Army. The Wolf is injured in a bombing run, resulting in him being partially blind.
• 2017- Alex "Mara" Zedra joins Warcom.
• 2018- Ultranationalist Vladmir Makarov carries out a terrorist attack on Verdansk, though Cpt. Price and Sergeant Soap Mactavish apprehend him at Verdansk stadium before locking him up at Zordaya prison.
• 2019- The events of Modern Warfare take place.
• 2020- The events of Warzone take place. Khalid Al-Assad and Viktor Zakhaev assault the city of Verdansk. A joint operation of Russian and NATO forces deploy into the city in an effort to stop the invasion. However, due to the chaos of the situation, they quickly disband into smaller groups and fight for survival among the carnage Al-Qatala forces cause throughout the city. The remaining members of NATO and Russian forces who didn't kill each other off, join with Task Force 141 in stopping Zakhaev and Al-Assad from launching several nukes.
• 2021- Victor survives his encounter with Price, he learns about the existence of the Dark Aether and the Omega-Requiem conflict that occurred decades prior, and makes his way to Urzikstan to recover Aetherium crystals from the bodies of Carver, Weaver, Strauss, and Grey, and unleashes a vial of the Aetherium into the city, transforming the cities occupants into zombies. Wanting to weaponize the Aetherium and sell Perks and Dark Aether Artifacts on the black market, Zakhaev hires Dr. Ava Jansen. The CIA, along with the help of Sergei Ravenov and Sergeant Soap MacTavish, SSO Selena Greene, and Kate Laswell, found Operation Deadbolt, and deploy operators into the city. Slowly yet surely, they destroy Zahkaev's plans and kill the Aether Worm known as "Orcus", though holes to the Dark Aether begin to open, and a being known as the "Entity" is beginning to spill through. Soap MacTavish leaves Operation Deadbolt and returns to Task Force 141. Meanwhile, A ship that was lost at sea back in 1984 that was launched by Vikhor lands on Verdansk and overrun with Zombies. The remaining forces of NATO and Russian attempt to stop the outbreak but with no success, and eventually Verdansk is nuked after the city and surrounding areas were evacuated. Though, it was soon rebuilt.
• 2022- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2022 takes place. Afterward, Cartel boss Valeria escapes prison and her cartel, along with several other PMC and Mercenary groups are looking to take control over Al-Mazrah after the Al-Qatalah were eliminated from there. Six months later, the city of Vondel is attacked by KONNI operatives who were disguised as a mercenary group known as the Peacekeepers. In August, ULF leaders Alex Keller and Farrah Karim meet and join forces with Shadow Company and Phillip Graves to make sure Al-Mazarah isn't invaded by KONNI operatives. Shadow Company leads an attack on KONNI operated Zaya observatory and learn about an underground weapons facility though they are forced to retreat due to the tunnel collapse. However, KONNI operatives who were disguised as Shadow Company soldiers take the gas bombs and render the operation a failure, led by Vladmir Makarov.

2023- The events of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2023 and its Warzone take place.

Dear fellow Truck of Doom^TM lovers,
Whether you want it or not, it is already 2024! Before we say hello to 2024 kdramas, we first want to say some words of appreciation for 2023 dramas and have enlisted your on-air hosts for help. We hope that some of the following drama recommendations help you discover gems you may have missed and we strongly encourage you to share your own reviews and recommendations in the comments.
Mod team members and on-air hosts were able to volunteer to review whichever dramas they wished provided the following requirements were met:

• Dramas that ended broadcast between 2023.01.01 and 2023.12.31 were eligible.
  
• They completed the entire drama before writing the review.
  
• The review should be under 300 words!
  

Beyond the above, no other limitations or requirements were set so you'll see a variety of styles in the recommendations below. We also encouraged them to share their MDL profiles if they wished so that readers can compare and contrast drama tastes.
Please note that this post is not intended as a list of the best kdramas of 2023, rather the post is envisioned as a chance for members of the mod team and on-air hosts to highlight dramas they enjoyed this past year that they want to recommend to others. So please do not argue about whether a drama should or should not be included in this post, instead add your own write up for any dramas you also want to highlight for other viewers.
But before we dive into the 2023 drama recommendations, we insist on starting off with an encore of the recommendation for the one drama we consider a must rite of passage watch for our subreddit:
The Heirs (u/life-finds-a-way)
Gritty, thought-provoking, modern, social commentary with a twist. Heirs is none of these, but that's why you watch it. With characters you love, characters you hate, characters you love to hate, follow a group of teenagers portrayed by people in their twenties as they navigate the totally relatable struggles of being rich. You want drama for the sake of drama? Beautiful coats? Tears for almost no reason? An American storyline that doesn't make sense? Family secrets? Frenemies you expected and didn't expect? Absolutely silly premises and situations? Over the top? Heirs has it all. Love is the moment.
u/samptra_writer
Bloodhounds
Does bromance, blood, and six-packs sound like your jam? Then Bloodhounds is the series for you. An action-packed ride from start to finish, with some solid fight sequences, and arguably the best chemistry between two leads I’ve seen all year. Kim Geon Woo (Woo Do Hwan) and Hong Woo Jin (Lee Sang Yi) are two amateur boxers whose careers are put on hold due to COVID-19. When Geon Woo’s mother gets tricked into a shady loan, the boys end up entangled in the ambitious plans of Smile Capital. Despite the issues in the production that left audiences divided on the latter few episodes, Bloodhounds delivers a punchy little series.
Duty After School
The sci-fi alien invasion genre series Duty After School takes audiences on an emotional, often uncomfortable journey, as young high school students are pressed into military service against an alien enemy. The series touches on some heavy topics as it explores the traumatic toll conflict has on youth and those who are forced to make decisions when it comes to life-and-death situations. Duty After School follows the beats of traditional war-themed tropes from call to action, through training, and into active conflict. The series also explores some of the more standard invasion, and post-apocalyptic plotlines throughout the narrative. It has a lot going for it in terms of the young cast, if some of the characters and their actions were telegraphed early on and their functions standard in the genre, but as an ensemble they worked well. The ending of the series was controversial for viewers, and the topic of much debate, but don’t let the rumours deter you from watching this series it is worth the time; although I would maybe give that post-credit scene a miss.
Our Dating Sim
2023 was a record year for the boy's love genre with the most productions to date, and among the varied series, Our Dating Sim was a standout. A small indie production, the series follows Lee Wan (Lee Jong Hyuk) who has a longtime crush on his childhood friend Shin Gi Tae (Lee Seung Gyu). After confessing his feelings at graduation, Wan runs away ghosting Gi Tae until he unknowingly applies to work at the same company as his unrequited love. Despite having a runtime of just under two hours, this little web series manages to give you everything you want in a heart-fluttering romance. From the outstanding chemistry between the leads to sweet heartfelt moments that make you want to rewatch again and again. .
Night Has Come
The Backrooms meets Battle Royale, in this delightfully gory little romp. Night Has Come centers on a high school class, forced into a game of ‘mafia’ with real-life consequences. As the students try to survive the game, they realize there is a much bigger mystery to unravel. The series leans into traditional horror tropes while relying on some very creative cinematography. The practical effects, lo-fi visual aesthetic, and claustrophobic feel give the series an unsettling atmospheric feeling throughout. There are some standout performances amongst the young cast, as they tackled some of the classic horror archetypes. While the ending was, like so many horror series, hotly contested, it’s well worth the watch to see if you can figure out who, who’s who before the game ends.
The Eighth Sense
If you only watch one BL (boys love) series this year, make it The Eighth Sense. This short, joint production was a stand-out for the year. The story is a simple one; two young men coming to terms with not only themselves but also exploring each other in this college-age drama. The Eighth Sense plays on the viewer's perceptions of reality, oftentimes leaving the audience wondering if what they are watching is reality or the perceptions and desires of the viewer. While the series touches on some heavy topics like mental health, and depression, as well as acceptance and societal perceptions, they steer clear of the more problematic representations of LGBTQ+ individuals that appear in other dramas. Lim Ji Sub and Oh Jun Taek have a believable chemistry and comfortability with each other, along with the accompanying soundtrack headlined by the indie Korean band Wetter, The Eighth Sense should be on everyone's must-watch list of 2023.
u/Telos07
Behind Your Touch
Bong Ye Bun (Han Ji Min) is a veterinarian in the small town of Mujin, who acquires psychic powers after a cosmic accident one night. The catch is that these powers are activated when she... touches the butts of people or animals. Moon Jang Yeol (Lee Min Ki) is a detective from Seoul who is essentially paying his penance in Mujin. When he realizes that Ye Bun possesses these powers, the pair become an unlikely crime fighting duo. The first half of this drama is a quirky, small town comedy, complete with hilarious parodies of other dramas, but as it progresses, it cleverly transitions into a darker crime thriller. The mandatory cast of unique locals includes Ye Bun's best friend, Bae Ok Hee (Joo Min Kyung), and the two share a natural comedic chemistry that complements the perpetually bickering relationship between Ye Bun and Jang Yeol, to perfection.
The Good Bad Mother
The relationship between single mother and pig farmer, Young Soon (Ra Mi Ran) and her son, Kang Ho (Lee Do Hyun), who is a lawyer, has always been a difficult and problematic one. However, she is offered a chance at redemption when a tragic incident leaves Kang Ho as a seven-year-old in an adult body who is also in need of physical rehabilitation. Another important figure in Kang Ho's journey back to his former self is his childhood friend, Mi Joo (Ahn Eun Jin). The performances by these three leads are simply outstanding, and the drama takes the viewer on a roller coaster ride of painful, emotionally searing moments and memories, leavened with some lighter, humorous touches.
u/myweithisway - MDL
Queen of Masks
A women-centric thriller-makjang melodrama that unflinchingly examines some tough topics such as the trauma of sexual assault and hardships of overcoming a drug addiction, this is a drama that tautly wove together the story of four women as they live in the present while confronting ghosts from their past. Shifting alliances and friendships anchor this story that explores the many aspects of womanhood in a drama that is as thrilling as it is emotional. It has many familiar makjang elements (chaebols, politics, murder mystery, sexual assault, etc.) but each of these elements were used with purpose and meaning instead of shock factor.
In a kdramaland full of ‘good’ protagonists and ‘evil’ antagonists, this drama stands out for its flawed characters on journeys of recovery and redemption. A resonant cry against the idea that a person can be defined and categorized by a few keywords, the drama vividly captures how complicated humans can be. A true melodrama that resolutely told its story without frills and digressions, this drama provides an intense emotional ‘workout’.
Strong content warning for sexual assault, especially dialogue/plot points that portray victim blaming, and drug use.
Lies Hidden in My Garden
A masterclass in kdrama production that blended mesmerizing cinematography with impeccable sound mixing that showcased strong acting performances, this slow burn thriller may offer little in terms of groundbreaking twists but plenty in terms of sheer artistry. This is a drama that is truly a feast for the eyes and ears as scenes unfold with deliberateness that invites viewers to pause and admire the framing and sound of each scene.
Strongly recommended for those that love to pay attention to the cinematography and sound mixing of dramas, and those that are more hesitant about the thriller genre as its short length and makes it an excellent beginner watch. I personally champion the idea that everyone should watch at least the first episode just to see how gorgeously a kdrama can be made.
Tale of the Nine Tailed 1938
A rare case where the second season of a drama surpasses the first season by focusing on the elements that work (bromance, friendship) instead of the elements that didn't quite work (complicated fantasy world building, lackluster romance). It did such a great job incorporating the time travel and fantasy aspects into the historical era of Japanese occupation, fully capturing the best of emotions and zeitgeist without overstepping the bounds of historical accuracy. It fantasizes history while respecting the ideologies and important aspects of the realities of those historical times. I feel like I can't rave enough about this particular aspect of the drama and I wish someone had told me this earlier because I'd have been more likely to watch if I knew it did this part so well.
An enjoyable action-packed fantasy with great bromances and friendships, one of the stand out dramas of the year. The best part? There is no need to watch the first season as 1938 functions well as a standalone drama with the beginning of the first episode having enough of a recap to catch viewers up on the important bits from season 1. And let’s be honest, a little more Lee Dong Wook, Kim Bum, and Kim So Yeon dressed up to the nines on one’s screen never hurts.
Half Lies (2023 KBS Drama Special)
A lovely multigenerational family story led by two adorable little girls with the cutest friendship ever, this drama is absolutely heart-warming. Join these two little girls on their adventure while they learn a little bit more about the world of adults and lies while having your heart stolen by one of the most awesome grandfather characters in kdramaland.
If you are new to drama specials, this is a great one to get started with as it shows how beautiful and powerful storytelling can be while highlighting some very talented child actresses. If you are a seasoned drama special expert, don’t miss this one for how adorable it is.
u/J-Midori - MDL
Mask Girl
This is the story about Kim Mi Mo who is a normal office girl during the day and at night she has this new internet persona who wears a mask due to her inferiority complex. This is a dark drama that has very suspenseful twist and turns but that keeps you interested in knowing what will happen next. I thought it was a simple story about Korean beauty standards and it is, but in a darker way which makes it very interesting. Acting is also amazing! So if you like mystery and dark comedy that's the right choice.
Moving
It looks like a Marvel movie where regular people have extraordinary powers trying to live normal lives and protecting each other and the ones they love but it is better than that specially with that cast! It is also based on a webtoon and they kept faithful to the original story since the original writer was involved in this project. At first, I thought it was going to be something like one of those typical hero movies but I am glad I gave it a try. The cast is excellent, very emotional at times and also funny! Kim Bong Seok is the cutest of them all and the writer didn't write a linear timeline which made me wonder about their stories and struggles. It is a different approach to super hero stories and I am looking forward to watch season 2!
Revenant
Kim Tae Ri and Oh Jung Se are amazing actors plus critically acclaimed Kim Eun Hee are the reason I had to watch this drama about this girl, Ku Sang Young who is possessed by a demon and Yeom Hae Sang who can see the demon and maybe the only one who can help her. It is based on korean culture, folk religion and shamanism. The suspense and how the story unfolds and finding out people's secrets and motives is what kept me watching every week! This is a must see if you enjoy this type of drama and even if you don't.
Numbers
When I read the synopsis it looked similar to the American TV series Suits but in an accountant firm, I was wrong, they did a really good job writing this workplace drama. I love Choi Min Soo and his acting is amazing. Since he hasn't been in too many dramas, I was pretty sure it was going to be worth watching just to see his performance and I was very pleased. Choi Jin Hyuk and Kim Myung Soo did an amazing job trying to uncover all the secrets of the firm. There is some really good bromance in this drama and the twists were also very good.
u/Fatooz - MDL
King the Land
A sweet classic romcom with all the tropes that one would expect in a romcom. The main leads have great chemistry from the get go. The girl friendship has been portrayed very nicely. It’s the kind of no brainer drama you’d watch when you don’t want to use a lot of your brain, or something you’d watch just to relax. There’s no thrill or mystery as such, so its not for you if you’re looking for a mystery in this drama. Would totally recommend for all the cliches and tropes, the chemistry, the friendships & most importantly the eye candy.
Call it Love
A melodramatic romance focusing the lives of two lonely people. It starts of as a revenge drama, but as and how you start watching it you’ll feel like you’re falling in love with these two broken people who are yet to find someone who’ll cure this loneliness for each other. Both the leads have great chemistry, the relationship is portrayed so realistically and the plot is also well written. If you’re looking for a slow, romantic drama then this one is perfect for you.
u/GodJihyo7983 - MDL
My Lovely Boxer
Love sports dramas with a heavy dose of match fixing? Need some romance sprinkled on top of that as well? If so, then My Lovely Boxer is just the show for you. With a slow start, the show slowly started to pick up momentum towards its third and fourth week of airing and, from there, quickly became one of the best sports dramas I have ever watched. From the character development of our morally gray sports agent to our naïve boxer, we see a relationship that grows into something incredibly special. From enemies to acquaintances to friends to potentially lovers, our main leads become better and stronger together as they face their adversaries sometimes to even the point of death. Out of all of the shows that I have watched this year, My Lovely Boxer was definitely not one that I expected to become one of my favorites due to its quick paced writing and fulfilling character arcs. And with only 12 episodes to do it, you end up with a story that is tightly-knit and engaging from start to finish.
All in all, My Lovely Boxer is a show that deserves all of the love that it got and probably even more so go check it out if you’re in need of a drama to fulfill a 2024 KDC.
The Forbidden Marriage
Are you a lover of sageuks? Do you also happen to love rom-coms with all its beloved tropes? If so, then The Forbidden Marriage is just the one for you. A show that started off with an interesting premise and ended up becoming one of the most memorable shows of 2023 for me. Park Ju Hyun and Kim Young Dae absolutely sold their characters, and they worked well together as a couple. And because the show is only 12 episodes long, you end up getting a well-made story that not only builds itself around the characters and their actions but also one that is quick paced. Backdropped by wonderful OSTs and beautiful cinematography, the show is incredibly comforting to watch and one to put up whenever you need quick binge.
All in all, The Forbidden Marriage is a show that not only has everything you could ever want in a saguek rom-com but also gives you even more than you bargained for in a good way.
Unlock My Boss
In need of a quick paced action drama with a hint of thriller? Want a pinch of romance in there as well? Then, Unlock My Boss is the show for you. With an incredibly unique premise and a relatively well-known cast, it should’ve come as no surprise that the show was going to be good. And boy was it good. I mean this show had everything you could’ve wished for in a quirky action drama. From the early misunderstandings to the well-developed character arcs that resulted in a team that worked like a well-oiled machine, I was hooked on our character’s stories and how they would grow into characters that knew how to depend on one another. And at only 12 episodes, you get all of that without any unnecessary fluff or noble idiocies that tend to derail a 16 episode show. If that isn’t enough for you, then this OST should definitely get you hyped as it’s not only one of the best OSTs I have ever heard in a show but also used to perfection throughout the entirety of the show.
All in all, Unlock My Boss is an underrated show that deserves all the love it got even though it got lost amongst all of the other greats of 2023 due to it airing towards the tailend of 2022 and finishing in early 2023.
u/meepmochi_
Crash Course In Romance
It’s not often we encounter a drama about cram schools, something that has been part of my life growing up. Watching the Pride Academy community tackle the South Korean education system through different lenses using parental connections, socioeconomic status, or true grit, the stress that comes with academics was highlighted and made me feel heard. Contrary to most other dramas, here we feel the appreciation between teachers/tutors and students, especially when they need it the most. Of course, the universal language of food was always there to heal us at the end of the day. Crash Course in Romance examines what it really means to confront our past and not let our insecurities weigh us down.
Choi Chi-Yeol’s main relationship with food is something that many of us may relate to from time to time. Seeing him finally find strength and healing through something as mundane as side dishes captures the idea that love has profound meaning and runs deeper than what is shown on the surface. We also notice the never-ending support mothers have for their children in various ways. Their willingness to risk and sacrifice their lives for the success of who they hold close to their heart is an understatement. Similarly, witnessing those close around Jae-woo despite him having a disorder and those around Chi-Yeol in the main mystery protect them with all their hearts show all the different ways we express our affection for others. Ultimately, we are affected by those who we cherish around us - a life lesson we should be reminded of once in a while.
The Secret Romantic Guesthouse
What a delight! Secret Romantic Guesthouse is a light-hearted sageuk that strays from the intense political conflicts of the palace as portrayed in normal historical dramas. The chemistry (and bromance) between the four main cast members was so fun to watch, all filled with their own funny moments. As always, Shin Ye-eun was just as cute as ever on screen! Through Dan-O, she demonstrated what it meant to be an independent and strong woman who holds family close to her heart. This was also my first time watching a work by Ryeoun. He was super charismatic as Kang San and showed what it meant to protect himself and his friends.
Considering everything, I’ll have to say that Shi-Yeol’s story portrayed by Kang Hoon was the most engaging part of this drama. As his story unfolded, I saw myself sympathizing with his character and wanting more. Although I had my suspicions about the main mystery, I was still caught off guard at the reveals regardless, showing how much I enjoyed watching this drama. I would recommend Secret Romantic Guesthouse as the sageuk gateway drama for those who may not be too intrigued by historical dramas but want to give them a try without too much of the jargon.
Dr. Romantic Season 3
The third installment to the already beloved series continued to deliver and exceed expectations! We welcomed the return of our Doldam staff (especially Kim Sabu, the selfless man who ties everything together) after three years. Watching them all together on screen again for the first time in a while made me feel like I was catching up with old friends.
This season brought us more intense action both internally and externally. The introduction of new residents portrayed by rookie actors Lee Sin-Young and Lee Hong-Nae showed their outlasting potential. From the politicians and businessmen behind the scenes to the nurses, surgeons, and paramedics on the front lines, we have known that there are many different types of people who make up the medical field industry. Tying everyone together in one place and we can see there was amazing chemistry between the cast. Dr. Romantic 3 reinforces the idea conveyed by its title - the romanticism behind our idealist beliefs in saving lives at any cost.
Ahn Hyo-Seop hit it out of the park with Woo-jin’s character. We see how loyal he is to his philosophy and how he learns to improve himself as both a person and surgeon in the face of adversity with perseverance on a greater scale. However, I did wish that Eun-jae’s character was utilized more compared to her portrayal in the previous installment. Yoo Yeon-seok, our ML from the first installment, returned for longer than I anticipated which was such a delight. Not to mention, they all contributed their vocals to an already amazing OST with “Thank You for the Memories” which is sung with more cast members. My personal favorite is “Beautiful Day” by Doyoung, though.
u/lovelifelivelife
Love To Hate You
A fun and bingeable drama featuring the star of our very first AMA, Yoo Teo! As with any enemies to lovers, it starts out with a lot of hilarious misunderstandings that brings both of them close together until, inevitably, sparks fly. It's fast paced with only 10 episodes, and trust me that goes fast because you would want to keep pressing the 'Next episode' button. Watch this for a badass female lead that can hold her own and literally kick ass (including the male lead's) as well as for the great chemistry between both actors.
Twinkling Watermelon
A youthful drama surrounding music and the making of a band set in the most unsual circumstances. While I typically dislike mystery mixed with slice of life, the mystery in this drama blended well with the story and didn't feel like a random addition. You still get all the fun youth drama vibes and even see some KSL (Korean Sign Language) in action. While it was meant to be a heartwarming drama, there were all the elements of teenage angst and confusion which made it feel more real. At each turn, there was something new to anticipate which really kept me interested till the very end - and I watched this while airing! Overall, highly recommend for the cute couples, good OST and great acting.
u/Sunshine_raes
A Time Called You: MDL
Han Jun Hee (Jeon Yeo Been) is struggling in the aftermath of her boyfriend's mysterious disappearance (and presumed death) a year ago. She misses him greatly and she can't quite believe that he is dead. Somehow, she manages to travel back in time to 1998 and into the body of a high school Kwon Min Ju. I won't go into too many more of the details for the watchers that were like me and went into this without much background.
All of the fun twists kept me guessing and I kept wondering "how in the world are they going to make this all come together?" But it really worked, surely because the original Taiwanese drama, Someday or One Day set the stage. However, I never watched the original, so I thoroughly enjoyed the high production values, as well as Jeon Yeo Been's acting in the dual roles she portrayed. She did an excellent job, managing to develop two distinct and different characters. The twelve episodes that were 60 minutes or so a piece also helped the drama to feel well paced without much filler, though in the first third there were a couple of episodes that dragged.
One highlight of this drama was Han Jun Hee's grief over her deceased boyfriend and Koo Yeon Jun. Her loss felt palpable and her grief and confusion came across as very realistic.
If you enjoy time travel plotlines as well as dramas that take place in the recent past, this drama might be the one for you. Though I didn't find the romance to be a big highlight of the drama, by the end, I was rooting for the main couple, so romance addicts will find something to enjoy here as well. This might also be best for those who have not yet watched the original Taiwanese drama, as A Time Called You holds the viewer's attention primarily with its plot and if you already know the plot, I can imagine it would not be as intriguing.
u/jakgem
Oasis
Oasis is a classic Kdrama with the kdrama feel. It did really well in Korea due to the unique story telling and historical context. It explores the relationship between three friends set amid the backdrop of political tensions of the time including communism, the KIA and university student discontent in the 1980’s-90’s. You get to hear a lot about modern Seoul being built and expanded, so if you are interested in Korea as a country in general it’s a great watch. You start in a small town with the three friends in highschool and follow them through their adult lives as they each go their own ways, taking their own unique paths in the rapidly changing landscape in Korea at the time.
It has a fairly long introduction where it takes a few episodes to set the stage for the rest of the drama, and manages to meld the themes of espionage, political upheaval, betrayal, friendship and love in an epic way. The betrayal arcs are done particularly well and the emotional payoff is well done. The story of the main lead is a tragedy and a romance and is the main driving force of the show – he lives an unfair life and manages to take what he has and forge his own path filled with friends and achievements. He is the main character you become invested in and really pulls you through the story of the rest of the show. The romance is bittersweet and again told is a tragic way making their scenes really moving. It gets a bit makjang in some places but never so much it takes away from the story and between the different themes of the show there is always something interesting going on.
If you like Korea, history, tragedies and romance this drama is a must watch!
The Eighth Sense
While there were lots of hot contenders this year, The Eighth Sense was probably (in this authors opinion) the best Korean BL of 2023. Set at university in the present, it tells the story of a freshman and a senior who meet by chance and fall in love (and go surfing!) It is filmed very much like a movie – between the soundtrack, cinematography, story and direction this drama told via a regular university setting appears as an epic romance which had me and many co-watchers on the edge of our seats with butterflies in our stomachs. It has wonderful sets including small student area streets and restaurants, the Han river, the seaside and you feel immersed in their lives as the story plays out in front of you. The music is well done making use of melancholy instrumental pieces, popular ballads and even techno dance and I ended up downloading a fair bit of the soundtrack. It is acted incredibly well and the actors recognised the importance of all of the small moments, longing looks, touches and managed to get the feel just right. This is a high quality, well done BL with good skinship, that takes the telling of this story seriously and for all those who have had a crush or been in love, there are so many moments that will resonate and make you feel things.
u/sianiam - MDL
Divorce Attorney Shin
Divorce Attorney Shin was such an unexpected treat to me as a viewer. It was never anywhere near my watchlist but by chance I came across a comment about the friendships in it that piqued my interest. It was everything I wanted the friendships in A Gentleman’s Dignity to be and more. This quirky bunch of friends were squad goals and I could not get enough of their camping trips, hanging out and making fun of each other in the nicest possible way. 12 episodes of their hijinx wasn’t enough.
As someone with little interest in legal dramas I thought the cases were well chosen and plotted throughout the drama.I would recommend this drama to those who like their characters a little quirky, and appreciate a good on screen friendship.
One Day Off
Ever wanted to run away from the tedium of everyday life? One Day Off tells the story of Park Ha Kyung who finds balance in her life by running away from it all just once a week. This web drama lets us join her on a handful of her adventures in which she walks, eats and lets her mind wander throughout various locales of the Korean peninsula.
This drama was delightful on many levels to me. Ha Kyung was a very real character who was just so relatable to me. I liked that she was awkward and brave and curious about the world around her. I love that she travelled on her own and didn’t make a big deal about it. I loved the places she visited, the people she met and the food she ate. I don’t doubt that you will too.
If you are a fan of slice of life dramas, love travelling, eating, or want to fix your work/life balance this drama could be the perfect fit for you.
The Kidnapping Day
The Kidnapping day is such a surprisingly wholesome romp. It tells the story of Kim Myung Joo who decides to kidnap a child of a rich family in order to pay his sick daughter’s hospital bills. Things don’t go to plan from the very beginning when he finds that he is unable to demand a ransom as her family has likely been murdered. Meanwhile, the child he kidnapped has lost her memory and believes herself to be his daughter.
The magic of the drama comes from the chemistry between Myung Joo and Ro Hee as they team up to work out what happened to her family and along the way become each others ride or die. This drama is a short and tightly plotted drama which kept me glued to my screen wondering what crazy twist would happen next.
If you only watch one of 2023’s kidnapping dramas, make it this one!
Year in Review Post Schedule

Detailed Post Title	Date	Day	Description
Looking Back At 2023 in Kdramaland	12/22	Fri	Introduces YiR posts, outlines year-end plans, and reviews of major events in kdramaland/Korea.
Most Memorable OST	12/24	Sun	Most memorable OST discussion, share playlists.
Which Dramas Did You Watch In 2023?	12/26	Tues	Share which dramas you have watched in 2023.
Refund My 2023	12/28	Thu	Share which 2023 dramas you regretted watching.
Crushes, Confessions, Resolutions	12/30	Sat	Share newly gained/rediscovered kdrama crushes, any confessions, and any resolutions for the new year
2023 Drama Recommendations by Mod Team and On-Air Hosts	01/06	Sat	Recommendations of 2023 kdramas from your mod team and on-air hosts. (This Post)
2023 Year End Dramas Watched Survey	01/13 through 01/27	N/A	Community survey of which 2023 kdramas you have watched

Kia ora koutou. Well done for all high schoolers and NCEA-sitters for another year's good work. And also big thanks to teachers, examiners, parents, etc.. School is haaard.
I have comprised a list from various movie recommendations and blog pages that had NZ films, but I'm not too sure how "up to date" these are. I will add the list below, but if I have missed anything please let me know as well. I have stayed away from downright-horror films just because it's awkward to recommend them when I don't like them and won't watch them myself. The age is aimed at 13~18, but I'm thinking maybe I should separate these to two groups for the 11~14yo and 15~18/19. The list is just random and it is not at all in any order.
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Films
In My Father’s Den (2004)	The Piano (1993)	Vigil (1984)
Utu (1984)	Goodbye Pork Pie (1981)	Waru (2017)
Footrot Flats the dog’s tale (1986)	Once Were Warriors (1994)	Whale Rider (2002)
Boy (2010)	Eagle vs Shark (2007)	Black Sheep (2006)
Sione's Wedding (2006)	Heavenly Creatures (1994)	River Queen (2005)
Ruby and Rata (1990)	An Angel at my Table (1990)	The Whole of the Moon (1997)
The Quiet Earth (1985)	Muru (2022)	Poppy (2021)
Daffodils (2019)	Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016)	The Dark Horse (2014)
Love Birds (2011)	Mahana (2016)	Second Hand Wedding (2008)
What We Do in the Shadows (2014)	What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999)	Out Of The Blue (2006)
Human Traces (2017)	Crooked Earth (2001)	Bellbird (2019)
Home by Christmas (2010)	Perfect Strangers (2003)	Uproar (2023)
Whina (2022)	Shopping (2013)	Kawa (2010)
Matariki (2010)	Cousins (2021)

Documentaries
Chasing Great (2016)	The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls (2009)	They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
Gloriavale (2022)	Ms. Information (2023)

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Thank you all in advance for your input!
Also, is Footrot Flats the only animated movie worth considering here? Apart from some short films I've seen at festivals, is there actually a feature length animated movie that should be considered?

From 2004-2005 I befriended this student which just transferred into our class back in early 2004, everyone essentially hated him because he acted weird. I was literally the only one that wanted to make him feel welcomed, he became my best friend for a long time, but eventually everyone just started talking with him casually. But he wasn't sane in the head back then.

• Smokes- He stole ciggie boxes from his Careless dad and just smoked them secretly, keep in mind that we were both in 6th grade back then in 2004. He showed them off to me after school, it was the Camel Cigs. I thought he was just showing off. We snuck into this closed parking lot but crawling under the gate, come to think of that, that could have easily beheaded me or him if the gates started moving. It was a very tight squeeze. He lit the Ciggy with a lighter and started smoking it, even did that one trick where the smoke comes out your nose. I started laughing my ass off when he was doing that. He offered me one, but I did take it, and tried it, it burned the Hell out of my mouth which essentially stopped me. I saw him pick it up and just say "you'll get used to it"
• Alcohol- One day he stole a small bottle of Whiskey from his dad as well, and showed it off to me during school. I didn't even know what the fuck Whiskey was back then. I just kept asking him what the Hell whiskey is. He just didn't say anything after that and told me not to say anything. I said "okay" and the next thing I remember he was drinking the small bottle, it was like a sample bottle or something like that.
• Drugs- Fast forward to 2007 I saw him but he was smoking weed or other drugs at this one location, which I won't mention. It was my old apartment. long story about that. I saw him in a circle group just taking hits of whatever, I came in only to collect the check that was supposed to be given to us but never was. He saw me and started going berserk saying "Holy crap man, haven't seen you in a long time" by this time he had long uncut hair and looked like he was Homeless essentially.

I figured that this friend is either dead, Homeless, or just outright in prison. Just wanted to share this. I lost contact with him after that, and had no interest in talking with him when I saw what he was doing. It's been so many years, and this was just a crazy memory I had.
People like this have no interest in school or work or any life goals.
Never take a hit of anything, you might regret it.

*Editors note: I am on mobile, if there are any formatting issues I will fix when I am back to my laptop.
*Formatted for easier reading (some updates were edits at the top of the post)
Reminder: I am NOT OP. Originally posted to adultery by deleted user
Original: 21 October 2020. Update: 18 November 2020 (1 month later)
…
Original
A few years ago, I was on my lunch break and was out on a drive. I popped by my house and my garage door was open and my wife's car and another car were there. I parked across the street and went in through the garage, which is in our basement, essentially under the bedrooms of our split level house. Literally the second I was in the garage, I could hear the bed in our spare bedroom above me bouncing and muffled sounds that were clearly sex. I stood there, basically in disbelief of what I was hearing, but I wasn't overcome with anger or anything. I very very quietly opened the door into the house and crept up the steps. I could see down the hall from the top of the steps and I could see the shadows of fucking on the wall outside the first bedroom (not my bedroom) in the hallway. Tons of groaning, lots of dirty talk from her, and I snuck back down the steps, through the garage, out to my car, and backed it to a side street and I observed them leave about 15 minutes later. They just walked out in broad daylight.
The thing is....our marriage is fucking awesome. Like, totally spot on amazing. We have sex almost every night and we're completely in love. We have 3 kids together and life is damn good. Over the past couple of years, I sporadically pop past the house in the middle of the day and that car is there about 2-3x a month and I am 100% aware of what is happening.....and I'm kinda okay with it! Oh, and I know who the guy is, too. I had a police pal run the plate and it's one of her college boyfriends. He's also married.
My plan for now is if she ever finds out I know, I'm just going to tell her I'm fine with it because our marriage is pretty much bang on perfect. If this is what she needs to do to keep the marriage perfect, I'm fine with it and I won't cause any drama to her FWB.
What do you all think? Anyone else have this type of situation? Am I a total weirdo?
*Editors note: these updates were added as edits at the top of the original post. I've placed them here for continuity
UPDATE: What an incredible array of conversations I've had today. I'm so deeply grateful to all of you who chimed in on this situation. I plan to re-read the entire thing today and tomorrow, but I still would deeply value additional insights if you want to add something. The tally of "tell her" vs. "Don't tell her" was bewildering to me. I wasn't nearly expecting such an even split, but I don't really know what I was expecting. You have no idea how much gratitude I have to all of you who took the time to share your thoughts on this. I'm somewhat leaning towards telling her, but only gradually, and there will be an immense "leading with love" approach if I go that route. All day long, I've been moved deeply by surging waves of how much I love her and how much I love our life together. She's incredible and I wake up grateful every single day to be with her, even during the past two years when I have known she was up to this. My overwhelming gratitude to wake up next to her has never wavered, even knowing what I know. I welcome ongoing comments, of course, and will consider future posts if this progresses in a specific direction.
UPDATE 2: Please do not delete your comments, please! I need to re-read this!
Update 3: She's in a hilariously great mood tonight. Cooking dinner, sipping wine, chatting away. I've had this wild day in here and she's just like "la di da!" It's adorable and she's so wonderful and sexy.
Update 4: I have been doom scrolling this reddit for like 17 of the last 24 hours. I'm gonna put my phone away for a bit and have a think about stuff.
Update 5: thanks everyone. I will send an update in the coming weeks if this situation changes. I have a few ideas that are gentle and non-invasive in mind.
…
Update: 1 month later
Well, woke up at 4 am, so might as well type this out!
The last month or so has been a whirlwind for me. First, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the tremendous amounts of supportive messages I received from this sub. There were so many amazing pieces of advice.
When I wrote the post, I wasn't sure if I would ever tell her, but a series of events occurred in recent weeks that now have me convinced I made that post in part because i was ready to talk to her about it, but didn't know how until the perfect situation fell into my lap last week. And I have told her.
In the weeks after I made my post, I found myself obsessing over clues of their routine. They met up a couple of times on either a Tuesday or a Thursday, always at my house, and always for only about 30-40 minutes. Each time, she sent me a late morning "Hey, how's your day?" text to check that I was firmly ensconced at work. Each time, I ran to my car and drove up a side street to view my house from afar. After watching them go inside, I then would pop over to the house, hear the telltale sounds from the guest bedroom. Once, after they had gone, I snuck into the house to find the laundry machine running and the guest bed re-made with a fresh sheet. I took one of my kids to dance lesson later that day, came home, and that sheet had been put back away in the hall closet. I also found myself watching her phone habits. She's very anti-phone during family time, but I noticed her on her phone between sets when she weight lifts on Sunday nights in our basement.
I found this behavior of mine weighing on me. I didn't really care for my voyeuristic behavior.
But this past Thursday, a seemingly meant-to-be series of events occurred for a "now or never" opportunity for me to act. I got "the text" at 10:30 or so in the morning. I ran to the car, arrived at my house at 10:45. Most of the time, they get there at 11:00 (my wife goes to work at 6:30 am so she has an early-ish lunch); he arrived at 11:00, but she didn't arrive until 11:05. They went in through garage as normal (left it open as normal, too). I'll be brief here, but I went into the house and came close to getting caught. But they were later than normal and apparently in a huge hurry, and, upon re-entering the house after they'd gone, discovered she had NOT replaced the sheets on the spared bedroom bed and had NOT started the laundry. In the laundry were the sheet, a pair of panties, and a pair of scrubs lab pants and shirt. Almost as if I had no control over the situation, I started the laundry machine, sat down, had coffee, and moved the laundry over to the dryer half an hour later, and then went back to work.
I took one of my kids to their dance class that day, got home at like 6:30, and walked in to an absolutely frantic wife. She grabbed hold of my arms, looked at me, was shaking, and said "Did something happen today?" I looked her in the eye, said "Yes, I love you, everything is fine, we will talk about it all a lot, i love you, it's okay, i promise it's okay." I kissed her and we fooled around in the bathroom for a few minutes, then I made dinner, and we helped the kids with homework, bedtime, etc. as normal.
When the kids got to bed, we got down to business and talked for about 5 hours Thursday night. It basically started off by her asking me "How much do you know?" I told her a LOT, but not even remotely everything, and also that I wasn't mad at all. She said she had spent every waking moment from getting home and discovering the laundry to the time I walked in feeling almost certain I would walk in and announce I was divorcing her. I assured her that was NOT going to happen. Of course she was rattled. She admitted everything straight away, was very upset obviously, but I got her calmed down and we had some fantastic conversation. We agreed we'd likely need a weekend of privacy and my MIL agreed to take the kids all weekend, which is perfect because the kids just go there and eat Papa Johns and snickers ice cream bars for two days so they love it of course.
So the gist of what I found out is this:
-It's been going on since 2005, pre-dating me knowing her by five years.
-They dated in 1996 and didn't have a great relationship but the sex was great.
-They reconnected after he'd been married 3-4 years and began cheating. she was a single AP but he was married.
-She told me she would have been content to do that for years, and did. She dated casually with other people, hooked up with him, became a doctor, did her residency, traveled, had a good life. When she met me ten years ago, I complicated her equation because of how intensely she fell in love with me. She gave me her full self, but continued with him because of what described as "magic hex she couldn't break" regarding their sexual chemistry.
-My kids are 100% mine (I never had any doubt really) and they never had PIV intercourse while we were trying to conceive.
-He and his wife have a great marriage, have sex, and my wife is not saving him from a dead bedroom.
-His wife does not know.
-Their relationship essentially consists of "hey, how's it going? how's life? how are the kids, FUCK ME NOW!, okay see ya next time!" It's not an overly emotional thing. She explained several times that if they were going to have a real relationship, they would have done it long before she and I even met.
Obviously there is a lot more that I know than that list, but you get the idea. We also had sex like 10 times this weekend when the kids were gone. I clearly told her I am okay with it if she and he continue; I love her, she has had this thing going for much longer than I've been married to her, it makes her happy, and I love it when she's happy. She was, of course, gobsmacked. I also told her she is free to NOT tell him I know OR to tell him I know and that telling him or not was 100% in her court. She mulled it over, considered it for a day, and decided to tell him. I told her if she wanted to tell him, she could invite him over this past Sunday morning, I would go for a long run, they could talk, then I would go pick up the kids and when returning with the kids, he would be gone.
And that's what happened.
I got home with the kids in the late morning, she saw them, cried. The kids went to put away to play.
My wife is. weightlifter is insanely strong. We frequently do muay thai holds in bed, haha. She could kick the shit out of me in two seconds flat. But she grabbed my head on both sides of my face HARD. And the tears just flowed from both of us instantly. Just GUSHING. She looked me straight in the eye and said "You have to listen to me. I will NEVER leave you. EVER. I LOVE YOU...and you know it."
Well, I fucking sobbed like a baby.
So she recapped their conversation to me.
She started the conversation by telling him to stay calm, everything was fine, but that she felt it pertinent to tell him that I knew everything and had known for a long time. He said okay. She told him that the option was on the table to continue but that at the end of the conversation if he decided he could not trust ME that she was ending it with HIM. He said okay. So she relayed to him what I knew. It was a couple hour long conversation.
Sunday afternoon, she checked in with him and he said he was doing fine. He said that he did trust me because if I had an malicious intent towards him, his life as he knew it would have ended long ago. He also sent her a message to relay to me that he does trust me and he hopes that I will trust him as well and know in my heart that he is not coming for what I have. He will never steal my wife away. So he said he trusts me and he asked me to trust him. I said he had a deal.
She has been very communicative with me (as she always is) but to a new level. She has expressed relief to me the past couple of days that she feels lighter. She has showed me numerous times in recent days how much she loves me. She is having moments of struggle because this is all still so fresh for her, whereas i've been living with it for years. She's amazed at how I'm fine. I told her I'm fine because we're together and I know she's in this with me. She said yes she is.
And that brings us up to date.
Phew.
…
Reminder: I am not OOP.

Hello CFB! Welcome to the 2023 Big XII Uniform Tracker in Week 1! Ladies and gentlemen, FOOTBALL IS FINALLY HERE! I am just ECSTATIC. In case you are unfamiliar with how my tracker works, I catalog every Big 12 team’s uniform combination week-to-week, and also look at the opposition’s threads. I also compile our future institutions in Arizona, Colorado, Arizona State, and Utah. I provide a few of my thoughts on the game, the uniforms, and a brief history of the rivalry and/or fun facts. (Sorry if the tracker feels so long, I didn’t anticipate covering 18 teams come September!) This week our teams start a long season, dueling against some exciting teams. And WOW were there some terrific games. Let's see how they fared, what they wore, and discuss how they looked as well! Thank goodness it is college football once again!
I’m u/matte_purple, and lets 3,2,1 go!
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University of Central Florida Knights vs Kent State Golden Flashes (UCF Wins, 56-6)
UCF: Gold/Black/Black (Link: https://imgur.com/a/Dic1H9H )
Kent: Yellow/White/Blue (Link: https://imgur.com/a/64iS7zK )
The very first Big 12 game of the season came from a school in Central Florida, of all places. Strange times we live in. But I sure am glad to see John Rhys Plumlee and the Knights whip up on the Golden Flashes, racking up 723 yards of total offense. Nothing else to say, except for a hearty congratulations to the Orlando boys on their Big 12 debut! UCF wore these same suits twice last year, against Louisville in a loss and Georgia Tech in a win. These are in the upper tier of UCF’s regular uniforms, for sure. While I’m not a huge fan of the pegasus logo, I love the front-facing knight that's all grayed-out. The back lettering on the names is also a little hard to read for a night game. I’m also a big fan of the unique stars on the pants in lieu of a stripe. Great look for UCF!
I have covered Kent State’s uniforms before, in their loss to OU last year in Week 2. And similar to that game, these uniforms are simply too busy. The weird “harness stripes(?)” with the school name on it, the Kent State logo on the center collar with the supplementary logos scrunched close to it, theres a lot going on. On the bright side, I like the helmets. Very stylish, and far better than the helmet worn last year. Fun fact, did you know Nick Saban graduated from Kent State? Saban played DB under coach Don James from ‘70-’72. Another interesting aside, Kent State was known as the “Silver Foxes” from 1920-26, but began calling themselves “Golden Flashes” after the president of the university (and founder of the Silver Fox epithet) was fired after moving to no longer accept any transfer credits from other universities.
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University of Kansas Jayhawks vs Missouri State University Bears (KU Wins, 48-17)
KU: Blue/Blue/Blue (Link: https://imgur.com/a/nAZFREU )
Missouri: Gray/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/bTPU2ZE )
This time last year, KU was playing against Tennessee Tech in what would end up becoming a pretty great season for the Jayhawks. The ceiling is significantly higher for KU this year. Just like last season - smoking the Golden Eagles 56-10 - this game showed a high power offense, KU running over the Bears 48-17. Preseason Big 12 OPOY Jalon Daniels was not under center for the game due to back tightness, but his backup QB Jason Bean still did a great job. The Jayhawks and Bears were neck-and-neck in the first half, but KU ran away with the game in the second half, scoring 31 points to the Bear’s 7.
Onto the uniforms, the Bears wore a very classy look. What can I say, I like the gray. The only strange detail were the maroon shoulder lines flanking the collar. While those were a little odd, they are unique and don’t detract from the uniform too much. The rest of the uniform is fairly standard, but I sure do like the maroon abstract logo with the gray backing.
New Uniform Alert! KU refreshed their look in July, releasing their uniforms to wide acclaim. They look clean and modern, perfect for a team that has some high expectations this year. While the new Adidas template as a whole has lots of teams looking similar, you really can’t go wrong with the classic meets modern uniform they’ve been putting out. I’m not quite sure I’m a fan of the all blue everything, but I love the block text, the bold Kansas on the front, and a noticeable lack of Trajan Font! Please, KU Athletics, don’t use that on a football helmet ever again. I hear we may see a special uniform next week for the Jayhawks, so stay tuned!
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TCU Horned Frogs vs University of Colorado Buffaloes (CU Wins, 45-42)
TCU: White/Purple/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/tUZlrza )
CU: White/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/sdcaWRQ )
Wow. I don’t even need to tell you how this game went. It’s been posted everywhere. This one was circled on the calendar for a long time, even BEFORE the great realignment scourge. A classic Big 12 story, am I right? I know this game will get lots of discussion here, so I wont beat a dead horse and we’ll just move onto the uniforms.
Last year, Colorado wore a traditional helmet with a “semi-throwback” that honored 1970-1972 WR and NFL Hall of Fame inductee Cliff Branch. This year, they switched it up (obviously, as last year was a home game in Boulder). They wore their all white stunner, which is the first time a white helmet has been worn since 2019! I personally love this look. It’s such a role reversal. You think of CU and you think of the iconic black and gold. The gold numbers outlined in black made the look. These are excellent. Very excited to track them this year.
TCU wore more white than I had expected, but I’m pretty sure every TCU home opener for the past few season has opened with this combo. Must be a little tradition. The TCU v CU matchup last year landed on my Season Awards list - nabbing 3rd best OOC uniform matchup. There definitely wasn’t as much contrast in the matchup this year, but both teams looked very clean. I especially liked the shiny silver and purple chrome on TCU paired with that sweet, sweet CU gold. No noticeable changes from last year, except for the Horned Frog on TCU’s lids having a red eye. Nice touch!
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University of Oklahoma Sooners vs Arkansas State Red Wolves (OU Wins,73-0)
OU: Red/Red/White (Link:https://imgur.com/a/45AZx0Q )
ASU: White/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/O1U5b9t )
Arkansas State has played Big 12 teams off and on for quite some time, most recently inflicting blows to K-State (2020) and UCF (2016). This week, the Red Wolves had a chance to bid farewell to a team exiting the Big 12 before they play their Sun Belt schedule. Sadly, OU was ready to avenge last year’s season. The Sooners trounced the Red Wolves 73-0, QB Dillon Gabriel putting on a show. In fact, it was OU's largest margin of victory in a season opener since 1917. Maybe the rest of the Big 12 should watch out for the big bad Sooners.
The classic OU crimson can’t be criticized. Just an all-time look, and it sure does work. Arkansas State, on the other hand, looked… off. I think the three things that weirds me out are the black stripe across the center of the helmet and the small and skinny font of “Arkansas State” on the chest. The crying wolf logo always weirds me out. It looks like it was released in 2008 after rebranding from the Indians. I like the “Patriot Stripes” on the shoulders. Otherwise, a very, very simple and clean look. Not the worst I’ve ever seen.
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Iowa State Cyclones vs University of Northern Iowa Panthers (ISU Wins, 30-9)
ISU: Red/Red/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/I7kvMH9 )
UNI: Purple/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/Ybj3SN0 )
The Panthers of Northern Iowa made the trek 100 miles southwest to Jack Trice Stadium in this home state classic. UNI has never played a home game versus the Cyclones, but have won in Ames before, with a total record of 5-16 against the Loyal Sons of ISU. Make that record 5-17
If you can’t tell by my flair, I happen to love purple uniforms. These are no different. The Panthers had different uniforms the last time they beat ISU, in 2013, but I can’t tell you when they were refreshed. These are pretty basic by most standards, except the striping on the pants, which seems a tad out of place. They are reminiscent of the 2012-ish tapered strip worn by loads of teams, but the Arizona Cardinals come to mind first. While I’m not a fan of that, I do like the helmet. UNI has experimented with multiple helmets, but I most prefer the one released in 2022, which they are wearing here. It looks like other purple renditions but has a lighter outline around the whole logo. It’s a look that pops, and I’ve definitely seen uglier helmets. Good work to the Panthers!
I dog on Iowa State’s uniforms, but a lot of that is the rivalry talking. They wore a similar White/Red/White combo versus SEMO in their home opener last year, and I have the same thoughts. The font is different for sure, but it represents the wind current of a Cyclone, and adds the right amount of uniqueness. I think the front is a little busy, especially with the Captains patch. I think it would be a neat touch to move the Jack Trice logo where the Block I logo is. Otherwise, great execution for both teams.
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University of Texas Longhorns vs Rice University Owls (Texas Wins, 37-10)
UT: White/Orange/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/i9lPRx7 )
Rice: Blue/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/1yDN3kX )
Texas, like every year, has some big shoes to fill. The bar is high for the Longhorns this year with Quinn Ewers at the helm. Those expectations did not slow down the Burnt Orange Faithful. While the Horns were a little slow in the first half, they worked out the kinks and grabbed 21 points in the third quarter alone. WR Xavier Worthy led all receivers with 7 receptions for 90 yards. Ewers finished the game with 3 TDs and 260 yards on 30 attempts. Nothing feels better than 1-0.
Rice wore a mostly white look, tacking on a blue helmet with the gothic “R” logo and a gray facemask. But I’ll be honest, have some of the most bare-bones jerseys I’ve ever seen. Aside from the logo on the helmet, which is fine, there’s nothing else on these uniforms. No stripes, logos, or fun aside from “RICE” on the front. Stormtrooper uniforms only work if you add a little extra flair. Texas has burnt orange, just splash a tiny bit of blue in there somewhere, ya know? Speaking of Texas, they had some minor changes to the look last year, namely they got rid of the TV numbers on their shoulders and removed the ‘Horns logo in the center. Texas hasn’t changed anything since. Still the gorgeous burnt orange we see each season!
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Kansas State Wildcats vs Southeast Missouri Redhawks (K-State Wins 45-0)
K-State: SilvePurple/Silver (Link:https://imgur.com/a/jP8AbjS )
SEMO: Black/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/NkHQ5aH )
The reigning Big 12 Champions had a day against the Redhawks. QB Will Howard joined a list of only 5 other Big 12 QBs who have a rushing, passing, and receiving quarterback in a single game. Howard did it in one quarter. The last QB to do it was Jalen Hurts in 2019. There is still plenty for K-State to work on. Will Howard had one pretty egregious interception, and some starters were out due to injury in camp. But the Wildcats looked good. Of course, their suits looked good, too! K-State is not known for their alternates, and this game was no different. Silver sandwiching purple is a good look, if a little traditional. Maybe we’ll see some fun helmet alternates, but EQ manager Al Cerbe has gone on record saying he likes what Bill Snyder started. Oh well, the ol’ reliable does it again.
SEMO wore a new uniform than what I saw last season! I liked the upgrade! They improved their shoulder striping to something more classic, but also added a slightly vintage “faux-collar” stripe. Different, but not in a bad way, and one of the better Under Armour templates out there. I think the black helmets really sealed the combo. A nice logo accented in red, encased by that sharp black against the silver K-State wears. SEMO has a bright future ahead of them, as defending Ohio Valley champions, who are ranked as high as No. 9 in some FCS polls, the “Brick by Brick” on the back helmet bumpers (the unofficial mantra of SEMO HC Tom Matukewicz) really holds true. Let's see how they play against Lindenwood next week.
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Baylor University Bears vs Texas State University Bobcats (Texas State Wins, 42-31)
TSU: White/White/Maroon (Link: https://imgur.com/a/KLnFiKO )
BU: Yellow/Yellow/Green (Link: https://imgur.com/a/CAJbGWJ )
Baylor had a disappointing season last year. After winning the conference title in 2021, they faced a challenging road schedule, injuries, and a gauntlet at the end of the 2022 season. And then this game happened. Texas State was a 27.5 underdog to the Bears. Last year, Baylor beat Texas State 42-7 in Week 3, but this year the Bobcats struck back and clawed their way to a 42-31 victory in GJ Kinne’s FBS debut. Kinne brought in 71 new transfers and notched Texas State’s first ever win against a P5 opponent. But well wishes go out to Baylor QB Blake Shapen, who will have an MRI for a knee injury soon. A tough loss for Baylor, but good motivation for next week’s home game against the Utah Utes.
Last year the Bobcats wore an all-white look that was incredible. Maroon and gold are a great complement to one another. This year, they rocked some maroon pants which were okay. To make up for the whelming pants, Texas State put some gold chrome on both their helmet logo and helmet stripe, which they’ve added off and on since the logo was revamped on helmets in 2003. I really, really like this addition. Looks like we know who claims the real gold color! My favorite little detail is the traditional helmet warning sticker filling in an outline of Texas on the back of the helmet. It’s just neat! Baylor did not disappoint and went with a never before worn combo since the 2019 refresh. Damn, it looked nice. Baylor really messed up last year, wearing far too many all green uniforms. It’s nice to see some variety.
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Oklahoma State Cowboys vs University of Central Arkansas Bears (OSU Wins, 27-13)
OSU: White/Orange/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/icF0b59 )
UCA: WhiteWhite/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/vA9usFT )
Okay, I was hyped to see this matchup. Not just because of OK-State’s new and improved uniform look (which was already one of the best in the Big 12), but also because I love the UCA Bears. Conway is home to three institutions of higher learning, earning it the nickname City of Colleges. UCA, Hendrix College, and Central Baptist College are all fantastic universities in a fantastic town. But I digress, OK-State has a lot to prove this year, and they did okay against ASUN’s middle-of-the-pack Bears. The game was a little closer than I expected, likely owing to a three QB shuffle from OK-State, but they found steady success.
The Cowboys wore their brand new refreshed uniforms in the home opener classic, Orange and White. The Pokes have worn a white helmet to start since 2016. These things are beautiful. Essentially the modern version of the 1980s style, with OK-State on chest in “barbed wire” font, numbers on shoulders for the first time since 2005, and those clean retro stripes, wow. While I am sad the Phantom Pete logo is gone from the pants, you can't beat the classic brand. I am also glad they removed the gray cowboys stripe from last year and kept the pants clean. Absolutely incredible. All while paired with the classic OK-State brand logo helmet. These won’t be my favorite look, but they are very, very nice. My one complaint is the new Nike template pushes the chest text down a little further than it should be.
Onto the Bears, I really love the striping on the helmet paired with the purple logo, but I wish there was more of that striping incorporated throughout. These uniforms are really pretty plain otherwise. Fun Fact: UCA’s women sports teams are called the “Sugar Bears.” I love it.
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West Virginia Mountaineers at Penn State University Nittany Lions (PSU Wins, 38-15)
WVU: Blue/White/Gold (Link: https://imgur.com/a/mYipbxZ )
PSU: White/Blue/White (Link:https://imgur.com/a/HS95olX )
This was the first time these two regional rivals played since meeting every year from 1947 until 1992. Penn State’s deep, experienced roster is expected to contend for the Big Ten championship, which left the Mountaineers very little wiggle room. Penn State outpaced WVU 405-198 yards through three quarters and a stalwart Penn State defense forced four punts and three turnovers on downs. WVU QB Greene played relatively mistake free but didn’t get a lot of help from his skill players, who went 10 of 18 on attempts. The Mountaineers will have to do something quick, but hopefully they can wrap it all together before playing Duquesne and Pitt at home.
WVU wore their classic blue helmet and tossed in a little bit of color with their yellow (gold) pants. This combo was worn once successfully since their refresh, and the record for it is now 1-5. I like this look. WVU tends to have some pretty tame combinations, but they really know how to spread around the different combinations to good effect.
Penn State has some divisive helmets. It seems to be a 50/50 split on the plain white helmets. They have done a good job of basing their brand off of it, similar to an Alabama-type. Penn State has not had a logo on their helmets since the university’s football program was born. I like the history, and I like the commitment. It takes a special team to become iconic for simplicity.
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University of Houston Cougars vs UTSA Roadrunners (UH Wins, 17-14)
Houston: White/Blue/White (Link:https://imgur.com/a/72iNnZh )
UTSA: White/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/ULyU1is )
Drip alert! I knew Houston would be hot this weekend, but I didn’t know that applied to the uniforms! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. In this battle of new conference members, the Big 12 won out, with ex-TTU QB Donovan Smith completed 22 of 34 attempts for 233 yds without a turnover. Pretty dang good for such a low scoring game. Houston also had three picks, and while Houston’s kicker Jack Martin missed one FG, he redeemed himself with one that ended up putting the Coogs over the top.
Obviously, the Cougars uniforms are an homage to the hometown football team, the Houston Oilers. These are incredible. I love the special emphasis placed on the striping. For one thing, it’s consistent through the entire uniform. I also love the sharp “Houston” font used here, also used in Week 1 against UTSA last year. I really can’t say anything more about them. They are excellent. The look is a tribute to the rich history of a football-mad city, not a reminder of a franchise leaving a fan base behind. Perfect for a Big 12 opener!
The Roadrunners wore icy whites for their trip to Houston. While the numbers and “UTSA” on the front aren't my favorite style, I just get a kick out of the shoulders. The Roadrunner logo in blue differentiates the uniform from every other “stormtrooper” uniform out there, while making the school the focus. It's whimsical and menacing at the same time. *Chef’s kiss*
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University of Cincinnati Bearcats vs Eastern Kentucky Colonels (Cincy Wins, 66-13)
CINCY: White/Black/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/NFUEFDF )
EKU: Red/White/Red (Link: https://imgur.com/a/1rDf4F2 )
Admittedly, I didn’t get to watch this game, so I’m flying by the seat of my pants on this one. Cincy had this one pretty well in the bag right off the bat, scoring 21 in the first quarter to EKU’s zero. It was downhill from there. In less than three quarters, QB Emory Jones hit five different receivers going 19 of 23 for 345 yds. While he was at it, he ran for two TDs, accounting for seven total in Nippert Stadium. Fun fact, The Bearcats have won 22 consecutive home openers. Three of those opening victories have been against EKU's Colonels. Tough luck for the Colonels!
Cincinnati donned new uniforms in their Big 12 debut, and I really like them. They look very modern. My favorite touch is the bright red outline that really pops against the simple black jersey. ANd I know it's a controversial helmet choice, the supposed white lid curse and all, but this looked very, VERY good. Nice font, I think that the C-Paw being on both the “Cincinnati'' wordmark and the collar AND the pants is a little overkill, but it's a small gripe. This is one of my favorite “normal” looks in the new Big 12.
EKU had a pretty standard set, seems like a pretty plain Nike template. I like the color! I did some sleuthing on the mascot and found some fun tidbits. Eastern athletes went by the moniker “The Maroons.” until 1963. They tried to switch to “The Leopards,” in an attempted mascot change during the 1920s. However, a plan to buy a leopard from a zoo in Memphis fell through, and we remained The Maroons. In 1963, President Robert Martin altered the mascot to The Colonel, in an attempt to tie the university to the 1812 based Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, the philanthropic brotherhood closely tied to Kentucky’s governorship. Neat!
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Texas Tech University Red Raiders at University of Wyoming Cowboys (WYO Wins, 35-33 2OT)
Tech: Black/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/aZI8NYF )
WYO: White/Yellow/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/MzYjZkY )
Two rough-riding, stubborn horsemen draw their pistols on a windswept prairie. One donning a neckerchief of yellow, the other a bandana of red. I am a sucker for quintessential western schools duking it out on the gridiron. And my goodness, did this deliver. An absolute barnburner that went to 2 OT, Wyoming’s QB Andrew Peasley completed an 11-yard touchdown pass to TE Gyllenborg on a fourth-and-7, and RB Sam Scott found the 2-point conversion as Wyoming smoked Texas Tech 35-33. HC Craig Bohl said it best: “Peasley is tough as boot leather.”
Wyoming is always trashed as having horrible colors. But I actually like the color scheme. Especially this combo. Paired with gold and accented with beautiful white helmets, not fancy, but classy with an element of toughness that embodies their home. I’ve always liked the Bucking Bronco logo, it’s identifiable and proud. The font is also old-timey and fun. In fact, the entire population of the state identifies with it, making these uniforms are about as close to perfect as you can get for a football team in Wyoming.
TTU wore a fine combo. I think that Texas Tech’s throwbacks are so damn good that every other combo they put together is just okay. I think black pants might have made this look a little more finished, but the weird split color shoulder and leg stripe turns me off of these.
Lots of people said Texas Tech was going to be special this year, and boy I am starting to see it manifest. Even with the hard loss and some tough mistakes, this was a tough environment against a pretty rough and tumble team. Maybe I’m being easy on them, but it could well light a fire under them when they play Oregon next week.
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Brigham Young University Cougars vs Sam Houston Bearkats (BYU Wins, 14-0)
BYU: Blue/Blue/White (Link:https://imgur.com/a/85SZSwm )
SHSU: Orange/White/Orange (Link: https://imgur.com/a/yGDchGr )
Saturday’s game was the fewest points scored by BYU in a victory since a 6-3 win over Utah State in 2012. There were worse performances by Big 12 teams, but this game was a little bit of a slog. But let’s keep things positive: this was the Cougars’ first shutout since they beat Savannah State by 64 points in 2014 and first over an FCS opponent since they blanked Hawaii in 2012. 1-0 is not a bad spot to be. Next week vs Southern Utah (who we just saw) will be another litmus test for this squad.
The Sam Houston Bearkats are a new addition to the FCS, and I really am quite smitten with their style. It seems like they managed to find an orange that has not been used in college football yet, which I am very happy about. Other than that sweet color, this seems like a pretty bare-bones combo. SImple logo, but my favorite bit was the (936) on the front helmet bumper, which is of course the area code for Huntsville, Texas. Did you know the Bearkats play for the third oldest institute of higher education in Texas? Pretty neat. BYU wore arguably my favorite look of theirs that I’ve covered. I mean DAMN. Those white pants really accentuate the color so well. Maybe not the most traditional look BYU has in its arsenal, but still very nice.
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BONUS UNIFORMS! Let’s have a look at our future four-corners Big XII teams as well!
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University of Utah Utes vs University of Florida Gators (Utah Wins, 24-11)
UTAH: Red/Red/Red (Link: https://imgur.com/a/XMMgFwm )
GATORS: Orange/White/Blue (Link: https://imgur.com/a/Mkw4sh9 )
Thursday night football, baby! This game has already been talked about to death, o I’ll go ahead and move onto the uniforms.
Red is such a tricky color to pull off as a block. Meaning, all-red uniforms are either really good or really bad. I don’t like Iowa State’s look, but I think Utah tends to add enough black to their suits to break up the aggressive color scheme. The unique striping is also a welcome change. I will say, I think I prefer a white helmet for the Utes, but I’m also not privy to the traditions as much. Hopefully I can learn more about them before their official entry next year.
Florida released a uniform schedule before the season, so if they ever show up again, I’ll know exactly what they are wearing. This suit seems to be their most common away uniform, and its a classic! I love the cursive Gators logo, outlined in blue. While I’m not normally a fan of tri-tone outfits, I think I can make an exception on this one. Also, I like that the color scheme speaks for itself. No “Florida” or “Gators” on the chest speaks to how recognizable the brand is. Also, Jordan school. Cool.
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Arizona State Sun Devils vs Southern Utah University Thunderbirds (ASU wins, 24-21)
SUU: White/White/Red (Link: https://imgur.com/a/HeBsWzK )
ASU: Yellow/Maroon/Yellow (Link: https://imgur.com/a/nVQ8xZl )
While this isn’t the first time we’ve seen ASU on the tracker, I couldn’t be happier to cover them as Big 12 members. I have some family in the Southwest that roots for the Sun Devils, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the maroon and gold clad. ASU won against the Thunderbirds, but it was not a pounding like the fans might have hoped for. The sandstorm and rain delay did not do the Sun Devils any favors either. But a 1-0 start means Dillingham has some good material to start with in Tempe. Dillingham was a terrific recruiter and offensive coordinator at a high level for several years at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State, and Oregon, but now he really gets to grow into his own program. He’s also a Valley native and an ASU graduate, so here’s hoping for a good tenure.
ASU released new uniforms under the new regime! They wore what I consider to be their standard look, but with a twist! Since the 2011 rebrand, the Sun Devils have always worn their traditional gold/maroon/gold combo for the first home game of the season. The old uniforms had a sublimated Arizona flag on their front that was removed in favor of a simpler design. But don’t worry, the flag still makes an appearance on the sides of the uniforms. I also love the Pat Tillman shield on the collar. A departure from the chrome maroon and gold scheme from last season, the helmet features standard matte maroon decals with gold trim and a thin maroon border. The main issues I have with the new look are as follows: the flag, the pants logo and the shades of gold. The sublimated flag on the front of the jersey was excellent, and moving it feels a little odd. The large pitchfork on the pants is another strange addition. I think a smaller, more traditional logo on the pants would have fit better and helped tie in the different combos ASU uses. The Adidas/Pac-12 logos are a pale gold, the helmet being brighter, and numbers on the chest and back have a flame pattern that intentionally has varying shades in it, ending with the pants, which are pretty close to matching the helmet’s shade. This is really only noticeable in the close shots, though, so I’m not horribly peeved. Other than those few small gripes, what’s not to love? Arizona State has always been a strong uniform contender, and we will have lots to talk about throughout the season.
SUU had some pretty simple but clean uniforms. I won’t talk about them too much since I gushed over ASU, but the no frills red pants, professional looking white helmet with a good clean logo, and plenty of red sprinkled throughout. The “Southern Utah” on the chest is a little low because of the template, but we’ve seen that with a few teams already. A great fight from the Thunderbirds!
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University of Arizona Wildcats vs Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks (Arizona Wins, 38-3)
U of A: White/Blue/Blue (Link: https://imgur.com/a/om5nxAD )
NAU: White/White/White (Link: https://imgur.com/a/EeDHTpj )
Well, well… another Wildcat fan base joins the Big 12 fray. The Tuscon boys met up with the Flagstaff crew for a late game by Big 12 standards, and the result was a drubbing. Arizona limited NAU to 264 yards while forcing a turnover, recording eight tackles for loss, making three 4th-down stops—one on the goal line—and blocking a field goal attempt that was returned for a touchdown. QB Jayden de Laura accounted for 4 scores, three passes and a long TD run, finishing with 332 yards of total yards that included 255 on 18 of 24 pass attempts.They wore their revamped “Desert Swarm” look brought back in 2021, and they look great. There’s a reason that they returned, it’s because they are iconic.
The Lumberjacks have a LOT going on in their suits. Let me get to the good first: That throwback logo is BEAUTIFUL. Based on the 1968 primary logo, these look so good. Their helmet was one of my favorites from the whole week’s tracker. Now the bad (and maybe the ugly). The weird mountains (maybe?) on the side of the pants, the collar has a black and yellow braided cord design, and there’s a random blue spot on the shoulders. Now I get it, maybe it sounds like I’m picking on the little guy. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I think NAU and Flagstaff are awesome places to visit. Fun Fact: The elevation at street level is 6,880 ft. above sea level, the highest among NCAA Division I FCS football stadiums. The Lumberjacks is also a fantastic team name, with tons of options for iconography. But they aren't exempt from uniform scrutiny! Simple is sometimes better.
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Aaaaand that’s all folks! Week 1 is all wrapped up. The first week in what is going to be, I’m sure, the best season of football yet. I apologize for the length of the tracker, but hopefully it was a fun read! Please let me know if you find any mistakes, and they will be remedied quickly. What did you think about the uniforms from this go-around? Let me know in the comments! What is your team going to wear next week? As always, thank you for your support, can’t wait to see you next week in the Big 12!

Hello, I would like a little advise. This is the very short version of a long story.
I'm a disabled diesel and heavy equipment mechanic. I was just released from the hospital this last time a couple weeks ago and can't do any work. (Walking in the store is almost too strenuous) I spent about 6 months at a tire and lube place before starting work for a trucking company in 2015 and that is the only experience I have working on cars other than on my own. (and I hated that, Why so cramped? Why so complex? WHY SO MUCH PLASTIC??) The car my wife drives to work just had the timing belt snap (2008 Aveo, bought used for $125 needed a battery and alternator which I put on for ~ $100) and thanks to medical bills our funds are pretty low and the car really isn't worth fixing unless I could do the labor myself which is out of the question unless I want another stay in the ICU.
We need a car for her to drive 60+ miles a day including up and down 10 mile section of ~8% grade. It needs to get good milage and be reliable and it needs to be something that would not require many repairs and would be cheap to pay someone else to fix since I can't do the work myself right now. My first thought as a diesel mechanic is a VW TDI with a 5 speed but 1: I don't know how reliable they are since I didn't do cars, and 2: no one decent around where I live will work on them and the couple that would do the work I wouldn't trust with it. Having looked at the designs I would really rather avoid the 4 wheeler transmission.... I mean a CVT on any new car. Me and my wife are both luddites and would rather have crank windows than power and no touchscreens.
She is a little worried about the manual transmission. She worries about take off since in the trucks I taught her in all you have to do is let out the clutch to take off. Diesel Torque FTW! I have driven gas job 5 speeds and I think she can pick it up pretty fast since I did but worth mentioning.
I pre-qualify for a $10k Personal loan at the Credit Union at 10.75% and I also qualify for an auto loan of $25k new or $20k used at 6.25%-8.25% depending on if it is used or new and it has to be 2013 or newer and less than 150K.
We always bought dirt cheap cars from private sellers after I checked them over and fixed them up so buying anything from a dealer is new. The first one we looked at was a lemon and the dealer tried to cheat us. 2005 Forester $4,500 160K. I took it to a good local mechanic and they put in on the rack and the heads were leaking, coolant tank smelled like exhaust and there was a hole in the timing cover which was rubbing the belt. The belt they told us they checked and they said the head gaskets were new and dry. Some of these are too far to take to the shop to check so it would be me looking under the hood and my wife looking under them for rust and leaks etc.
These cars are ones on my list right now, there are also various 20xx ford, chevy, kia, etc.
2014 Nissan Versa S - 5 speed $5,500 - 129K - 8.25% Dealer is on Vacation until 8/29, and we can't see it until then. The payment and insurance would be very cheap and this is probably our best financial choice but I worry about reliability. Was it only the CVT's that had trouble in these cars? Electronic Assist power steering? Is it reliable?
2009 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $7,865 - 173K - 10.75% Is one state over( 115miles) the dealer was easy to talk to and upfront about price. Electronic Assist power steering? Is it reliable?
2009 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $9,000 - 175K - 10.75% Is at the Toyota dealer and has been for over two months. They were bad to deal with. I made an offer of $8K and they said they would rather send it to auction for $2-4K than go down on the price. I do not like them.
1998 Toyota Corolla CE - Auto $5,995 - 54K - 10.75% I like that it's low milage, simple, and reliable but worry about rotted rubber and have heard theses engines burned a lot of oil. It is also a lot to pay for the car.
2004 Buick Century Custom - Auto $9,900 - 16K - 10.75% Haven't seen yet, Same Used car dealer as the Nissan. The very low miles and older simpler car caught my attention but I worry about rotted rubber hoses and it is a lot to pay for to drive to and from work.
2006 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $5,900 - 161K - 10.75% Haven't seen yet, Same Used car dealer as the Nissan.
2002 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $3,995 - 189K - 10.75% Dealer seems very uninterested in selling and has it on a storage lot, when their dad died they moved all the older cars to storage since I asked about it they took it off the website.
2013-20xx Cars on CarMax, Carvana, and local dealerships. - $13,000-$18,000 - <150K 7.25%-8.25% Expensive and if they go over 120% of JD power value the credit union won't do it. Never bought a car I couldn't see first.
2022-2024 Nissan Versa S - 5-speed ~ $18,000 + whatever fees they add. 0-10K 6.25% I really don't want a brand new car and the $600/month it would cost to pay for, insure and fuel. Also the nearest is like 300+ miles away since they aren't made much. Would have a 60K warranty.
We are leaning toward the 2014 Nissan but what is your advice? Would it be reliable?

Hello, I would like a little advise. This is the very short version of a long story.
I'm a disabled diesel and heavy equipment mechanic. I was just released from the hospital this last time a couple weeks ago and can't do any work. (Walking in the store is almost too strenuous) I spent about 6 months at a tire and lube place before starting work for a trucking company in 2015 and that is the only experience I have working on cars other than on my own. (and I hated that, Why so cramped? Why so complex? WHY SO MUCH PLASTIC??) The car my wife drives to work just had the timing belt snap (2008 Aveo, bought used for $125 needed a battery and alternator which I put on for ~ $100) and thanks to medical bills our funds are pretty low and the car really isn't worth fixing unless I could do the labor myself which is out of the question unless I want another stay in the ICU.
We need a car for her to drive 60+ miles a day including up and down 10 mile section of ~8% grade. It needs to get good milage and be reliable and it needs to be something that would not require many repairs and would be cheap to pay someone else to fix since I can't do the work myself right now. My first thought as a diesel mechanic is a VW TDI with a 5 speed but 1: I don't know how reliable they are since I didn't do cars, and 2: no one decent around where I live will work on them and the couple that would do the work I wouldn't trust with it. Having looked at the designs I would really rather avoid the 4 wheeler transmission.... I mean a CVT on any new car. Me and my wife are both luddites and would rather have crank windows than power and no touchscreens.
She is a little worried about the manual transmission. She worries about take off since in the trucks I taught her in all you have to do is let out the clutch to take off. Diesel Torque FTW! I have driven gas job 5 speeds and I think she can pick it up pretty fast since I did but worth mentioning.
I pre-qualify for a $10k Personal loan at the Credit Union at 10.75% and I also qualify for an auto loan of $25k new or $20k used at 6.25%-8.25% depending on if it is used or new and it has to be 2013 or newer and less than 150K.
We always bought dirt cheap cars from private sellers after I checked them over and fixed them up so buying anything from a dealer is new. The first one we looked at was a lemon and the dealer tried to cheat us. 2005 Forester $4,500 160K. I took it to a good local mechanic and they put in on the rack and the heads were leaking, coolant tank smelled like exhaust and there was a hole in the timing cover which was rubbing the belt. The belt they told us they checked and they said the head gaskets were new and dry. Some of these are too far to take to the shop to check so it would be me looking under the hood and my wife looking under them for rust and leaks etc.
These cars are ones on my list right now, there are also various 20xx ford, chevy, kia, etc.
2014 Nissan Versa S - 5 speed $5,500 - 129K - 8.25% Dealer is on Vacation until 8/29, and we can't see it until then. The payment and insurance would be very cheap and this is probably our best financial choice but I worry about reliability. Was it only the CVT's that had trouble in these cars? Electronic Assist power steering? Is it reliable?
2009 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $7,865 - 173K - 10.75% Is one state over( 115miles) the dealer was easy to talk to and upfront about price. Electronic Assist power steering? Is it reliable?
2009 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $9,000 - 175K - 10.75% Is at the Toyota dealer and has been for over two months. They were bad to deal with. I made an offer of $8K and they said they would rather send it to auction for $2-4K than go down on the price. I do not like them.
1998 Toyota Corolla CE - Auto $5,995 - 54K - 10.75% I like that it's low milage, simple, and reliable but worry about rotted rubber and have heard theses engines burned a lot of oil. It is also a lot to pay for the car.
2004 Buick Century Custom - Auto $9,900 - 16K - 10.75% Haven't seen yet, Same Used car dealer as the Nissan. The very low miles and older simpler car caught my attention but I worry about rotted rubber hoses and it is a lot to pay for to drive to and from work.
2006 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $5,900 - 161K - 10.75% Haven't seen yet, Same Used car dealer as the Nissan.
2002 Toyota Corolla LE - Auto $3,995 - 189K - 10.75% Dealer seems very uninterested in selling and has it on a storage lot, when their dad died they moved all the older cars to storage since I asked about it they took it off the website.
2013-20xx Cars on CarMax, Carvana, and local dealerships. - $13,000-$18,000 - <150K 7.25%-8.25% Expensive and if they go over 120% of JD power value the credit union won't do it. Never bought a car I couldn't see first.
2022-2024 Nissan Versa S - 5-speed ~ $18,000 + whatever fees they add. 0-10K 6.25% I really don't want a brand new car and the $600/month it would cost to pay for, insure and fuel. Also the nearest is like 300+ miles away since they aren't made much. Would have a 60K warranty.
We are leaning toward the 2014 Nissan but what is your advice? Would it be reliable?

I have a 2005 Kia Spectra 180k miles. New plugs, coils, wires & aifuel ratio sensor. Before the aifuel ratio sensor was fixed yesterday, I was misfiring at startup. Now I'm misfiring in one cylinder only on acceleration. Misfire on cylinder one is the only code it's throwing. What the hell else can it be?
I also have a new(ish) radiator, thermostat, fuel pump, starter, alternator & belts but I don't think those are relevant. Yes I know I need a new car. But I need this one to get me back and forth to work for the next month until I can get one.

EDIT 2: /progmetal has opened up again and the original post is available again: https://old.reddit.com/progmetal/comments/bdlv9q/a_small_guide_to_get_into_prog_metal/
EDIT: This list was originally created by u/sam1oq
This is not my OC, but this used to be the top post of all time on /progmetal (which as we all know was shut down) and I saved it some time ago just in case for my own personal use. If anyone knows the name of the OP, please let me know so I can give credit (EDIT: It's u/sam1oq).
Anyways, here's the "small" guide to get into prog metal:

Part 1: The Classics

While there are loads of different styles of prog metal, there are a few classic albums you should listen to before you do anything else. But, even before we get to this list, listen to Dream Theater - Images and Words. Like, now. With the single Pull Me Under, Dream Theater was the first ever prog metal band to get famous (Fates Warning was earlier, but not as successful). This album would influence almost every prog metal artist that came after. Seriously, almost all modern prog metal bands are influenced by Dream Theater. Images and Words is easily the most influential prog metal album out there. So listen to it, now. You may not like it a lot, and a lot here sounds very different from it (so don't be disheartened), but it does showcase the foundations of the genre.
So now let's get to the actual list of classics. I grouped them roughly by year and style. I think these albums provide a good representation of the genre, through all stages of its development. For some artist I listed two albums. The first one will be the essential classic, and the latter will be the more accessible album. Not all essentials are accessible ya know.

• Rush - 2112 (1976, proto-prog metal)
• Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988, traditional)
• Voivod - Dimension Hatross (1988, thrash)
• Watchtower - Control and Resistance (1989, thrash)
• Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry, Theories of Flight (1989/2016, traditional)
• Dream Theater - Images and Words, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory (1992/1999, traditional)
• Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy (1997, powetraditional)
• Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine: Biomech (1997, ambient)
• Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element, Pt. 1 (2000, traditional)
• Atheist - Unquestionable Presence (1991, death)
• Death - Symbolic (1995, death)
• Edge of Sanity - Crimson (1996, death/extreme)
• Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001, death/extreme)
• Enslaved - Below the Lights, Axioma Ethica Odini (2003/2010, black/extreme)
• Agalloch - The Mantle (2002, post/folk/atmo-black)
• Tool - Lateralus (2001, alternative)
• Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (2002, rock/metal)
• Orphaned Land - Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven (2004, oriental)
• Gojira - From Mars to Sirius (2005, groove metal)
• Between the Buried and Me - Colors, Coma Ecliptic (2007/2015, metalcore/modern)
• Protest the Hero - Fortress (2008, metalcore)
• Karnivool - Sound Awake (2009, alternative)
• Mastodon - Leviathan, Crack the Skye (2004/2009, sludge)
• Meshuggah - Catch Thirty-Three, ObZen (2005/2008, Djent)
• Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders (2009, instruDjental)
• Leprous - Bilateral (2011, experimental)
• Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I (2012, black/extreme with a violin)
• Haken - The Mountain (2013, traditional)
• Native Construct - Quiet World (2015, modern)
• Caligula's Horse - In Contact (2017, traditional/alternative)
• Ethmebb - La Quête du Saint Grind (2017, shitposting turned into art)

Part 2: the subgenres

Now something you need to know about progressive metal, is that it isn't really a subgenre, as much as it's a descriptor. There is definitely a traditional progressive metal sound, which was defined by Fates Warning, Queensryche and Dream Theater, but on the whole prog doesn't really lend itself to a solidified sound. "Progressive" stands for bands that are willing to experiment, challenge conventions, etc. Hallmarks of prog are odd-time signatures, frequent key and tempo changes, genre and mood shifts, use of unconventional instruments, etc.
And that's also exactly where the ambiguity of prog as a genre starts as all that could easily be applied to... basically everything (except maybe grindcore or war metal lol). Hence you have loads of different "subgenres" of prog, though it'd probably be more accurate to say that one applies prog to different metal/rock subgenres. So if you didn't dig Dream Theater for example, there's a large chance you just haven't found your niche yet. And that's where this upcoming section comes in. What I suggest is Ctrl+f the essential bands/albums you liked, and try to dig into their style further. I'm not super familiar with all subgenres, but I'll do my best to give you the most important bands.

Pt. 2.1: 70s prog rock, early prog metal and other major influences

The 70s is where prog started. It wasn't metal yet, but these bands would influence basically every prog metal band in one way or another over the course of time. Dream Theater for example was said to have been founded based on a common love of Rush and Metallica. This section will likewise be dedicated to those 70s prog rock bands, the few (non-progressive) metal bands that'd majorly influence the genre and the earliest forms of progressive metal.
Before Dream Theater came and took over the scene, prog metal was largely left to a few more experimental power and thrash metal bands. Especially the US power metal scene in the late 80s (more about that here) had a few trend setters. I'll do the thrash in 2.2, so I'll focus on the power here. There are a couple of bands on this list that aren't really power, but I don't want to put them on the same list as Dream Theater or thrash either. Take traditional heavy metal, add a bit more steel and grit to it and some experimentation, and you have what you'll find in the early forms of the genre.
2.1.1: classic progressive rock

• Rush - 2112, A Farewell To Kings, Hemispheres, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures
• King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King, Red, Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Discipline
• Genesis - Selling England by the Pound, Foxtrot, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, Nursery Cryme
• Yes - Close to the Edge, Fragile, Relayer, The Yes Album
• Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall
• Gentle Giant - In a Glass House, Octopus, The Power and the Glory, Acquiring the Taste
• Camel - Mirage, Moonmadness, The Snow Goose, Camel
• Van der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts, Godbluff, Still Life; H to He, Who Am the Only One
• Kansas - Leftoverture, Point of Know Return, Song for America, Kansas
• Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink Shout-outs: Lucifer's Friend - Banquet; Nektar - Remember the Future; Focus - Focus II (Moving Waves)

2.1.2: the early forms of progressive metal

• Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime, Rage for Order
• Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian, The Spectre Within, No Exit
• Voivod - Nothingface, Dimension Hatröss
• Watchtower - Control and Resistance
• Crimson Glory - Crimson Glory, Transcendence
• Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King, Gutter Ballet Shout-outs: Slauter Xstroyes - Winter Kill, Vinnie Moore - Mind's Eye, Oracle - As Darkness Reigns

Pt. 2.2: progressive/technical thrash metal

Thrash metal is a genre which emphasizes aggressive riffs and vocals. There's a relatively high tempo and little melody. This is the most extreme metal subgenre that doesn't necessarily use harsh vocals. In the beginning it was all about pure adrenaline, but over time bands got more technical and wanted to experiment. There were bands before it like Watchtower, but with the release of Metallica's And Justice for All the scene exploded. It was very short-lived (most was around 1990), but there's some amazing stuff in there.

• Watchtower - Energetic Disassembly, Control and Resistance
• Metallica - ...And Justice for All
• Voivod - Killing Technology, Dimension Hatröss
• Coroner - No More Color, Mental Vortex, Punishment for Decadence, Grin
• Mekong Delta - Mekong Delta, The Music of Erich Zann, The Principle of Doubt, Dances of Death (and Other Walking Shadows). Special shout-out to DoD as the title track is a 19 minute whirling prog thrash masterpiece.
• Anihillator - Alice in Hell; Never, Neverland
• Artillery - By Inheritance
• Heathen - Victims of Deception
• Toxik - World Circus, Think This
• Deathrow - Deception Ignored
• Meshuggah - Contradictions Collapse, Destroy Erase Improve. 'Shuggah weren't always djent, they actually started out as tech thrash.
• Nevermore - Dead Heart in a Dead World, This Godless Endeavor
• Vektor - Black Future, Outer Isolation, Terminal Redux
• Gargoyle - Misogi, Tsuki no Toge, Natural, Geshiki, Taburakashi Shout-outs: Blind Illusion - The Sane Asylum, Aspid - Extravasation, Cautiva - Human, Sacral Rage - Beyond Celestial Echoes

Pt. 2.3: traditional/power progressive metal

This is basically the style that was defined by Dream Theater. Long solo sections, the inclusion of a keyboard and great melodies are what you'll find here. The riffs are mostly based in traditional metal, but there's also a lot of thrash influence in them. I also included progressive power metal in this section, because most of them sound a lot like Dream Theater anyway. Power metal is a very bombastic style of metal with fantasy themes (sorcerers and dragons etc), high tempos, emphasis on melody, very operatic vocals and frequent use of orchestra. Not advised for those with musical lactose intolerance XD.
2.3.1: traditional progressive metal

• Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime, Rage for Order, Empire, Promised Land
• Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry, Parallels, A Pleasant Shade of Grey, Theories of Flight. Check out this band feature on them.
• Psychotic Waltz - A Social Grace, Into the Everflow, Bleeding. These guys incorporate all sorts of psychedelic influences in their writing.
• Sieges Even - A Sense of Change, Sophisticated. Also take a look at this band feature on them.
• Dream Theater - Images and Words through Octavarium (save for Falling into Infinity) is mandatory listening for your prog vocabulary. But tbh, one could easily make a case that their entire discography is mandatory listening. If you like any of these albums, you'll likely enjoy the rest as well.
• Liquid Tension Experiment - LTE1, LTE2 (instrumental Dream Theater basically).
• Vanden Plas - Christ 0, Beyond Daylight, The God Thing. This is personally my favorite band, but feel free to form your own opinion.
• Threshold - Hypothetical, Critical Mass, Subsurface, Dead Reckoning. If Dream Theater is like Metallica meets Rush, then Threshold is Metallica meets Yes.
• Sieges Even - Sophisticated, The Art of Navigating by the Stars. Then also check out their continuation Subsignal. For that do Beautiful and Monstrous and Paraíso.
• Circus Maximus - The 1st Chapter, Nine
• Shadow Gallery - Tyranny, Room V, Digital Ghosts
• Andromeda - Extension of the Wish, II=I
• Ark - Burn the Sun
• Royal Hunt - Paradox
• Pain of Salvation - The Perfect Element, Pt. 1; Remedy Lane, Entropia, One Hour by the Concrete Lake. This band is a bit darker and more emotional. Opposed to most of the other bands here, they barely focus on the flashy soloing. Their newest album In the Passing Light of Day is killer too, and if you're up for a challenge, listen to BE.
• Devin Townsend - Ocean Machine: Biomech, Terria, Deconstruction. Devin is incredibly hard to place. His "wall of sound" approach is very influential. Also read this piece on him by u/RandomShaman89.
• Ayreon - The Universal Migrator Pt. 2, 01011001, The Source
• Haken - The Mountain, Visions, Aquarius. Frequently seen as Dream Theater's modern successor. Very quirky take on the genre. Shout-outs: Venus in Fear - The Dot Above the Eye, Flaming Row - Mirage: A Portrayal of Figures, Thought Chamber - Angular Perceptions, Avandra - Descender, Need - Hegaiamas: A Song for Freedom

2.3.2: progressive power metal

• Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy, V: The New Mythology Suite, The Odyssey, Paradise Lost
• Pagan's Mind - Enigmatic: Calling, Celestial Entrance
• Evergrey - In Search of Truth, Solitude Dominance Tragedy, The Inner Circle
• Angra - Temple of Shadows, Rebirth
• Savatage - Streets: A Rock Opera, Edge of Thorns, The Wake of Magellan, Poets and Madmen
• Seventh Wonder - Mercy Falls, The Great Escape, Waiting in the Wings. Their singer is a God.
• Anubis Gate - Andromeda Unchained, The Detached
• Adagio - Underworld
• Labÿrinth - Return to Heaven Denied
• X-Japan - Art of Life
• Kamelot - The Black Halo, Epica
• Control Denied - The Fragile Art of Existence. Chuck Schuldiner's prog power project (Death's vocalist and songwriter).
• Beyond Twilight - Section X, For the Love of Art and the Making. This band is like parody prog. Don't take them too seriously. FTLOAATM is 37 minutes and, 43 songs. It's brilliant.
• Myrath - Tales of the Sands, Hope, Desert Call. Prog power with oriental added in the mix.
• Voyager - The Meaning of I, V Shout-outs: Zierler - ESC, Daydream XI - The Circus of the Tattered and Torn, Maestrick - Espresso Della Vita: Solare, Conception - Flow, Tanagra - Meridiem, Witherfall - Nocturnes and Requiems, Mortanius - Till Death Do Us Part, Dimhav - The Boreal Flame

Pt. 2.4: progressive death/extreme metal

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of metal. It's like thrash, but then with everything cranked up to eleven. The tempo is higher, the riffs are nastier, even less emphasis on melody and instead of shouting we get deep, guttural harsh vocals.
Now for progressive death metal, there are two types in my opinion. One is like prog/tech thrash, but then death metal instead of thrash. It's basically still death metal, but then with more odd-time signatures and technicality thrown in. I'll refer to this is prog/tech death. I won't feature pure tech death though like Archspire or Nile.
The other style is what Opeth defined: long, wandering song structures switching between soft clean and brutal harsh vocal passages at the drop of a hat. Some don't even call Opeth's style death metal as their riffs aren't really death metal (compare Opeth riffs and Death riffs for example, huge difference). Hence I came up with the term "extreme progressive metal". Extreme is more like progressive metal started incorporating extreme metal than the other way around (like prog/tech death). This section will also not be limited to bands who take their extreme metal solely from death metal, but some black metal, melodeath and metal/deathcore-based bands as well. Though I must say often the extreme influences come from multiple of these. Due to this contrast, extreme prog is an excellent starting point if you want to get into harsh vocals. Opeth's Blackwater Park has turned many, many fans onto harsh vocals.
2.4.1: progressive/technical death metal

• Atheist - Piece of Time, Unquestionable Presence, Elements
• Death - Symbolic, The Sound of Perseverance, Human, Individual Thought Patterns
• Cynic - Focus
• Nocturnus - The Key
• Dark Millennium - Ashore the Celestial Burden, Diana Read Peace
• Phlebotomized - Immense Intense Suspense
• Demilich - Nespithe
• Gorguts - Obscura, From Wisdom to Hate, Colored Sands, Pleiades' Dust (EP)
• Necrophagist - Onset of Putrefaction
• Extol - Burial, Undeceived. Also read this band feature.
• Gorod - Leading Vision, A Maze of Recycled Creeds
• Obscura - Omnivium, Akróasis, Diluvium
• The Faceless - Planetary Duality
• Fallujah - The Flesh Prevails
• Job for a Cowboy - Sun Eater
• Black Crown Initiate - The Wreckage of Stars, Selves We Cannot Forgive, Song of the Crippled Bull (EP)
• Alkaloid - The Malkuth Grimoire, Liquid Anatomy
• Beyond Creation - The Aura, Earthborn Evolution
• Horrendous - Anareta, Idol
• Slugdge - Esoteric Malacology
• Rivers of Nihil - Where Owls Know My Name Shout-outs: Warforged - I: Voice, Skyglow - Thousand Years of Terror, Hath - Of Rot and Ruin, Ulthar - Cosmovore, Timeghoul's demos, Phantasmagory - Odd Sounds

2.4.2: Extreme progressive metal

• Edge of Sanity - Crimson, Crimson II, Purgatory Afterglow
• Opeth - Still Life, Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries
• Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini, RIITIIR, Below the Lights
• Borknagar - Empiricism, The Archaic Course
• Dan Swanö - Moontower
• Disillusion - Back to Times of Splendor, The Liberation. BTTOS is my favorite album of all time.
• Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I, Citadel
• Persephone - Spiritual Migration, Aathma, Core
• Between the Buried and Me - Colors, The Great Misdirect, Parallax II
• Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West
• Xanthochroid - Blessed He with Boils, Of Erthe and Axen: Act I&II
• Wilderun - Sleep at the Edge of the Earth, Veil of Imagination
• Be'lakor - Of Breathe and Bone, Stone's Reach
• In Mourning - Shrouded Divine, The Weight of Oceans
• Shout-outs: Hands of Despair - Well of the Disquieted, Sunless Dawn - Timeweaver, Kalisia - Cybion, Naeramarth - The Immesurable Stars, Shylmagoghnar - Emergence, In Vain - Ænigma, * Iapetus - The Body Cosmic

Pt. 2.5: progressive black metal and avantgarde

Extreme progressive metal already had some black metal artists in it, but not all black metal bands fit this criteria imo. Most progressive black metal was more on the avantgarde side than the prog metal side. Black metal is an extreme subgenre of metal with very fast tempos, lots of tremolo picking and shrieking harsh vocals. Lyrical themes are usually Satan (or anything else EVIL), black magic, Viking mythology, paganism or nature (mostly winter landscapes lol). It's more spaced out and repetitive than death metal and despite its high tempo it can feel very hypnotic.
I'm not an expert on this, so forgive me if I forgot some artists or albums. If you want it more in-depth, take a look at u/ellanjellan's beginner and intermediate guides to the genre. I'll also include a general avantgarde section here.
2.5.1: progressive/avantgarde black metal

• Enslaved - Below the Lights, Isa, Axioma Ethica Odini, RIITIIR
• Borknagar - Winter Thrice, Epic, Empricism.
• Agalloch - The Mantle, Ashes Against the Grain. This band has a unique combination of prog, atmo-black, post rock and folk that is absolutely stunning. There was also a band feature on them I suggest you read.
• Emperor - IX Equilibrium, Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire & Demise
• In the Woods... - Heart of the Ages
• Diabolical Masquerade - Nightwork, Death's Design
• A Forest of Stars - Beware the Sword You Cannot See, Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes
• Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum; Paracletus
• Shining - V - Halmstad
• Negură Bunget - Om
• Dark Fortress - Ylem, Venereal Dawn
• Hail Spirit Noir - Pneuma, Oi Magoi Shout-outs: Maladie - Still, Phendrana - Sanctum: Sic Transit Gloria Mundi, Ludicra - Fex Urbis Lex Orbis

2.5.2: avantgarde/experimental

• Ihsahn - Arktis., angL, After and the rest. Ihsahn is the solo project of the dude behind Emperor, so this is a literal continuation from that (though there was also Peccatum in between, but that wasn't really black metal, just very, VERY experimental).
• Thy Catafalque - Róka hasa rádió, Rengeteg, Sgùrr. This band goes into loooonngg avantgarde tangents, but they're done very well. If you enjoy bands that incorporate many different styles, TC is where you should go.
• Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape, Hangman's Hymn: Musikalische Exequien, In Somniphobia. Sigh has a strong "only in Japan" factor to their music. Essentially they combine Iron Maiden/Venom NWOBHM with black metal and go completely nuts on the avantgarde elements. Just listen for yourself, Sigh's music says more than I can.
• Solefald - The Lineair Scaffold, In Harmonia Universali, World Metal. Kosmopolis Sud. The Icelandic Odyssey series is also great.
• Arcturus - La Masquerade Infernale, The Sham Mirrors, Arcturian
• Ved Buens Ende - Written in Waters
• Oranssi Pazuzu - Muukalainen puhuu, Valonielu, Värähtelijä
• Dodheimsgard - 666 International, Supervillain Outcast
• Krallica - Krallice, Years Past Matter
• Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God, Memoria Vetusta II: Dialogue With the Stars
• Leprous - Bilateral, Coal
• Maudlin of the Well - Bath and the rest
• Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye, Hubardo
• Mr. Bungle - California and the rest
• Unexpect - In a Flesh Aquarium
• Diablo Swing Orchestra - The Butcher's Ballroom
• Pan.Thy.Monium - everything
• Dissona - Paleopneumatic, Dissona Shout-outs: Pensees Nocturnes - Grand Guignol Orchestra, ISA - Chimera, Garden Wall - Chimera

Pt 2.6: progressive hard/alternative rock

There were a couple of heavy prog rock/alternative bands in the early 2000s that made huge waves in the prog metal scene. Technically none of these are metal (safe for one Riverside album and Sieges Even), but they're all very close and very relevant (and very good!) nonetheless.

• Porcupine Tree - In Absentia, Deadwing, Fear of a Blank Planet.
• Steven Wilson - The Raven That Refused to Sing, Hand Cannot Erase. The solo project of the guy from Porcupine Tree.
• Riverside - Second Life Syndome, Anno Domini High Definition
• Anathema - Alternative 4, Judgement, A Natural Disaster, We're Here Because We're Here
• Tool - Lateralus, Aenima
• A Perfect Circle - Thirteenth Step, Mer de Noms. A side project from Tool's singer Maynard.
• Soen - Tellurian, Lykaia. Started out as an ex-Tool/Opeth super group, but later formed their own style more.
• Karnivool - Sound Awake, Themata
• Rishloo - Eidolon, Feathergun, the rest
• Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly, Arrows and Anchors
• Oceansize - Frames, Effloresce, Everyone Into Position, Self Preserved While The Bodies Float Up
• The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium, Frances the Mute
• Coheed and Cambria - first three
• The Dear Hunter - all the Act albums. They have an overlapping story.
• Thank You Scientist - all full lengths. Jazz fusion-y prog rock. Not very metal, but they've exploded onto the prog scene in recent years. Shout-outs: Kingcrow's latest four, Hällas - Excerpts from a Future Past, Sermon - Birth of the Marvellous, Karma Rassa - Vesna... Snova Vesna, Keor - Petrichor

Pt 2.7: progressive/post sludge/stoner metal

Sludge/stoner metal are subgenres of doom metal. They're defined by a very thick guitar sound, spaced out songs and listening to it generally feels like being high. Sludge is a bit more extreme than stoner as it also incorporates hardcore punk influences. I don't know much about this style, so I'm going mostly based off internet opinions and wikipedia/reviews knowledge. If you want it more in-depth, read (again) u/ellanjellan's guide on the genre. I'll also include some prog doom albums at the end, which is simply too niche to get its own section. Now here's the list:

• Mastodon - first four
• Baroness - Red Album, Blue Record
• Intronaut - Valley of Smoke, The Direction of Last Things. For if you want some cool rhythmical shenanigans
• Elder - Lore, Reflections of a Floating World
• Neurosis - Through Silver in Blood is their definitive work, but anything post-Souls at Zero is essential
• ISIS - Oceanic, Panopticon
• Cult of Luna - Salvation, Somewhere Along the Highway
• Pelican - Australasia, The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
• Kylesa - Kylesa, Static Tensions
• The Ocean - Pelagial, Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic
• Anciients - Heart of Oak, Voice of the Void. It's as if Opeth and Mastodon had a baby.
• Moon Tooth - Chromaparagon
• Katatonia - Night is the New Day, Dead End Kings, The Fall of Hearts
• Dreadnought - A Wake in Sacred Waves, Emergence Shout-outs: Dvne - Asheran, Spaceboy - Getting Warm of the Trail of Heat, Kylver - The Island, Ayahuasca - Plato's Dark Horse, Weedpecker - III, King Goat - Debt of Aeons, Nautilus - The Oceanwalker

Pt 2.8: djent/progressive metalcore (and other -core genres)

I know very little of this genre, but I'll do my best with what I can gather from the internet. Meshuggah defined the Djent sound, and lots of bands followed on this. They tuned their guitar very low to get this "djun djun" or "djent" sound (hence the genre name). It has a strong emphasis on rhythmicality. Polyrhyhtms, groove and heaviness are the name of the game. Also read this guide by u/TheGalapagosGallop on Djent, it's very comprehensive.
Djent had a lot of overlap with (progressive) metalcore, as they figured their breakdowns would become even heavier with the djun djuns. Metalcore is a style that came out of hardcore punk bands adding an increasing amount of metal influences (mostly groove and melodeath). It is trademarked by a mash of hardcore-styled harsh vocals and generally poppy sounding clean vocals, and lots of breakdowns (the music stops for a second and then they go into a super heavy riff). There is more to the sound, and if you want to know more about metalcore and its history, read the Metalcore wiki.
If this sounds like edgy emo shit to you, you're not wrong, but luckily progressive metalcore bands are usually of way higher quality than "regular" metalcore. The difference in quality between Bullet for My Valentine and Protest the Hero for example is staggering. There's a very good chance you won't like any regular metalcore band, but will adore some of the bands in the coming list.
This section will also be dedicated to other -core derivatives like deathcore, mathcore and post-hardcore. I'll make three lists, one that goes into djent, one with progressive metal/death/math-core bands, and one with progressive post-hardcore bands. I split up the last two sections because post-hardcore is a lot lighter than the others.
2.8.1: Djent

• Meshuggah - obZen, Nothing, Catch Thirtythree, I. Also read this band feature on them.
• Periphery - I, II, IV. But tbh these choices were completely arbitrary as their quality is super consistent.
• TesseracT - Altered State, Polaris
• The Contortionist - Exoplanet, Language
• Skyharbor - Guiding Lights, Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos
• Textures - Drawing Circles, Silhouettes
• Veil of Maya - The Common Man's Collapse, [id], Eclipse
• VOLA - Inmazes, Applause of a Distant Crowd Shout-outs: Ihlo - Union, Hyvmine - Retaliation

2.8.2: progressive metal/deathcore and mathcore

• Between the Buried and Me - Alaska, The Silent Circus, Colors and everything else if you dig their sound. Also read this guide on them.
• Protest the Hero - Fortress, Kezia
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity, Option Paralysis, Dissociation. Not really metalcore, but rather a combination of math rock and post-hardcore.
• SikTh - The Trees Are Dead and Dried Out, Death of a Dead Day
• Car Bomb - Meta, w^www
• The Human Abstract - Digital Veil, Nocturne
• After the Burial - Dig Deep, Rareform, In Dreams
• Born of Osiris - The Discovery
• Erra - Augment, Impulse
• Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West
• Shout-outs: The World Is Quiet Here - Prologue, The Alpha Incident - Convergence, Pangaea - Vespr

2.8.3: progressive post-hardcore

• Dance Gavin Dance - Downtown Battle Mountain, Happiness
• The Fall of Troy - The Fall of Troy, Doppelganger
• Circa Survive - Blue Sky Noise, On Letting Go, Juturna
• Coheed and Cambria - first two
• Sianvar - Stay Lost
• Eidola - Degeneraterra, To Speak, To Listen
• Hail the Sun - Wake, Culture Scars
• Closure in Moscow - First Temple, Pink Lemonade
• Thank You Scientist - The Perils of Time Travel
• Future Corpse - Another World to Consume, Culture Ruins Everything Around Me. definitely essential, definitely not biased

pt. 2.9: instrumental prog

With all the input from the comments, I will finally include this section. It's such a huge branch of prog it's criminal to leave it out. What type of music you can expect here is fairly obvious from the name of the style. It might not all be metal in the strictest definition of the word, but at this point, who cares about that? Here's a list:

• Liquid Tension Experiment - everything. Instrumental Dream Theater if you will.
• Animals as Leaders - Animals as Leaders, The Joy of Motion, The Madness of Many. Great instrudjental stuff.
• Allan Holdsworth - Metal Fatigue, Secrets, Wardenclyffe Tower
• Intervals - The Shape of Colour
• Plini - Handmade Cities
• Arch Echo - Arch Echo
• Sithu Aye - Set Course for Andromeda, Cassini, Senpai EP II: The Noticing (I only included this because I thought the title was funny please don't hate me)
• Scale the Summit - Carving Desert Canyons, The Collective, The Migration
• David Maxim Micic - Bilo 3.0, Who Bit the Moon
• Cloudkicker - Beacons, Let Yourself Be Huge, Subsume
• Owane - yeah whatever, Dunno
• Nova Collective - The Further Side
• An Endless Sporadic - An Endless Sporadic, Magic Machine
• Night Verses - From the Galleries of Sleep

Pt. 2.10: modern heroes

This will be the final section. There's not really a unifying sound here, but maybe that's exactly what defines them. These bands largely defy classification. I have probably featured most of these here earlier, but I felt making a separate list for them was fair. Despite the title of this part, I'll include some older bands as well which I feel would warrant a place in this section. Here's the list:

• Haken - The Mountain and everything else
• Leprous - Bilateral and everything else
• Karnivool - Sound Awake and everything else
• Native Construct - Quiet World. This is like BTBAM, but less -core influences and generally lighter. It's a wonderful theatrical experience and it's a real shame they've stopped the project. Also check Others by No One if you liked this.
• Caligula's Horse - In Contact, Bloom, The Tide. These guys mix traditional prog metal with alternative rock and the result is absolutely phenomenal.
• Arcane - Known/Learned and everything else. CH's singer Jim Grey's previous band which basically died under the latter's popularity. Arcane is like CH, but with more post-rock and prog power influences.
• Earthside - A Dream in Static
• Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I, Citadel. Mentioned earlier. They took the spirit of Opeth and carried the torch into the new generation. They combine melodic death and black metal with gorgeous clean sections and violin play.
• Amorphis - Skyforger, Under the Red Cloud. A very unique combination of melodeath, folk and prog metal.
• Pain of Salvation - same as in 2.3.1.
• Cynic - Focus, Traced in Air. This is basically jazz metal.
• Orphaned Land - Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven, Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs. Also an older band. They started as death/doom, but they got more progressive over time. But their defining feature has always been their stellar use of Arabic and Jewish folk music in their sound.
• Headspace - I Am Anonymous. They're like a grittier, heavier Haken. Also features Threshold's previous vocalist. Shout-outs: Embrace of Disharmony - De Rervm Natvra, Artificial Silence - In Static, Ethmebb - La quête du Saint Grind

My husband and I visited Burgundy in June and had a wonderful experience. This was our second trip there, and it was worth the revisit! I wanted to provide some guidance and tips for not only what we did, but what I would recommend for someone relatively new to wine who is visiting the area for the first time.
Quick note about us: we are part owners of a winery in California (central coast Syrah), advanced wine geeks, and we love to travel the world and taste wine right where it's made. We go to France every year and have visited most wine regions around the world.
Burgundy is one of the most complex (and famous!) regions, and hence, it would definitely not be my recommendation for where to start your journey into wine tourism or learning about wine. It's a true joy/treat for intermediate to advanced wine enthusiasts. However, if you are new to wine and find yourself lucky enough to visit this incredibly special part of the world, I have some advice to avoid getting intimidated!
I'll give you the TL;DR now: stay in or near Beaune, hire a guide for 1-2 days (even if you speak French), have patience!, and use an export service to ship wine home (to America) if you intend to buy more than a few bottles.
On our first trip to Burgundy, we flew into Geneva then drove. We stayed at Hotel de Cep in Beaune. I still highly recommend this hotel. You do not necessarily need a car in Burgundy if you intend to have a driver take you to the wineries. You can arrive by train into Beaune and get around the town on foot (or by taxi). There are also several wineries with tasting rooms in town, although getting out in the countryside is worth it.
For this trip we opted for an Airbnb that was a ~10 minute drive from downtown Beaune and really loved the serenity. We had e-bikes delivered to the house by Bourgogne Evasion, and it was ~20 minutes to bike in and out of town. We took the TGV from Paris to Dijon then rented a car. We returned to Paris via the TGV out of Dijon as well. There is also a Eurostar train that goes directly from London to Dijon if you want to bypass Paris.
If you are new to wine, I would recommend visiting these places to get your experience started (you can skip these if you have advanced wine knowledge):
Bouchard Aine and Fils - they have a tasting room in town that includes a very cute "Senses" tour with some great wine education. They are primarily a Cote de Beaune producer.
In downtown Beaune, there's a little wine "museum" called Marche Aux Vins. It's similar to La Cite du Vin in Bordeaux, only on a much smaller scale. It's one of the only places open on Sunday. They have a self guided tour via a cave where you can read about and learn about Burgundy wine. You'll learn that there are two main varietals: pinot noir and chardonnay. You'll learn about the two main subregions of Burgundy: Cote de Nuits (CN) and Cote de Beaune (CB). Within Cote de Beaune there's also the golden triangle for whites: Puligny-Montrachet, Chassange-Montrachet, and Meurseault. You'll also learn about the classifications: regional, village, premier cru (1er cru), and grand cru. The tour includes tasting 5 wines.
There are some wine bars/shops in town that will have wines from all over the region, but not all of the wine shops (caves) offer tastings. They all have different hours and availability, so it's best to call ahead. Many of them do not take bookings online yet. Make sure to explain that you want to come in and taste and then buy what you like. Some will do that for you, others will not.
When we do these trips, I always love to visit at least 1 or 2 wineries where we can easily get the wines back home. To do this, we visit the web sites of our favorite local wine merchants (in our case it's K&L wines), and look for the names of the producers we can buy at home, then look at their web sites to see if they accept visitors. Nearly all wineries require bookings. This is not like Napa. If you call a winery to ask to make a booking, ask "parlez-vous anglais?" (par-lay vu ahn-glay) when you call. That means "do you speak English?" They will almost always say "yes, a little." Then speak slowly and enunciate.
Note: in Burgundy in particular, a winery can be technically located in one village but their label will have the name of another village. This is because the way the wines are made is not like the estate style in America (see my notes below), so you'll want to confirm where the physical winery is before you make plans. We were lucky to do a private tour at Faiveley in its recently remodeled winery. It was lovely! Wine is more fun to buy at the store if you've been to the winery :)
We worked for a second time with our favorite guide, Tracy Thurling of Burgundy by Request. I had found Tracy by googling wine guides back in 2015 and lucky me, she's still doing tours in the area! She is British so speaks perfect English. She will pick you up from your hotel or airbnb in her air conditioned van and drive you around to 3-4 wineries in addition to a lunch. We had Tracy for 2 days this time, one day focused on Cote de Nuits and one day focused on Cote de Beaune.
On the first day, we visited Marchand Tawse, who is actually a Canadian producer. They had a really wide variety of wines, all small production. Next we went to Michel Magnien, which is a bigger producer you can find in the United States. We enjoyed grand cru's with our lunch and ended the day at the Vosne Tasting Club, which was the highlight as the focus was Vosne-Romanee, which is easily the most famous village of Burgundy.
The next day (Saturday) we went to a small, hidden producer in town called Pierre Mayeul. It felt almost like a speakeasy it was so hidden. We then visited the market and got supplies for a lunch picnic later that day. This is a MUST when visiting Beaune on a Saturday. The market is a real treat. Everyone from the area comes there to buy their groceries for the week. OMG the cheese, the truffles, the baguettes, the chocolate. Everything was incredible. We then went to Jean Chartron in Puligny-Montrachet, also a producer we can easily get at home. We ended the day at Domane de Bellene who offered quintessential Cote de Beaune wines.
Restaurants we ate at:

• 21 Boulevard - spectacular!
• Clos du Cedre - this is a 3 michelin star experience and was out of this world (note we also booked massages here and those were bad, so just do the food, not the spa)
• Au Coq Bleu - just ok
• La Toute Petite Auberge - awesome!

We also visited Le Bout du Monde, a wine bar with rave reviews. We were told you could do flights of grand crus from wines around Burgundy, but when we got there we were handed a wine list by an impatient waiter and told to order a bottle. Maybe we just got unlucky, but I wouldn't recommend returning there.
If you're not new to wine, but new to Burgundy, the main thing to learn is what village you love, and the best way to do this is via a hired wine guide (like Tracy) or Tasting Clubs. Understand and educate yourself on the villages and the different terroir influences. This is because so much about Burgundy is about the wine growing, not the wine making.
There are over 1,500 plots of land and 3,000 vintners in Burgundy. The wine making is completely different from the estate-driven mentality of Bordeaux or Napa. Grapes come from all over the villages to be blended within the various classifications at the winery's wine making location. So a single bottle of wine can have grapes from several different plots all over a village. Premier cru's and grand cru's can only have wine from plots designated as premier or grand cru, but those plots may be 1km away from each other.
My husband prefers Cote de Nuits: Chambertin, Nuits St. George, or Vosne Romanee red. He likes complex tannic profiles, earthy undertone, and heavy terroir influence. I prefer Cote de Beaune reds, like Pommard or Volnay, as they tend to be a little more fruit forward (not sweet, that's not the same thing) and better for pairing with vegetarian and lighter meals. I never met a Montrachet I didn't like ;) But we both discovered we love Corton, either the Corton reds or the Corton-Charlemagne whites. It took visiting Burgundy twice and doing several Burgundy tastings back in America to figure this out.
The wine making process varies from winery to winery, and I recommend you visit some actual wineries to understand what makes their process special. Some vintners use 100% old oak, others a combination of old and new oak, and others prefer clay pots for aging. If you get the chance to speak to the winemaker him or herself, you will hear so much passion for what they do. You get the sense that, even though some of the world's most expensive wines are produced in this area, no one seems to be in it for the money. We noticed a striking lack of fancy cars or mansions in the area. It's a labor of love and respect for the vine, not necessarily a capitalistic pursuit. It's art. Poetry.
After that, learn what vintages were good in what villages. Irrigation is forbidden outside of some extreme circumstances, so heavy wet years = bad and hot, dry years = great for Burgundy wines. For the most part, if a vintage is bad for Cote de Nuits, it's bad for Cote de Beaune, but with climate change, that's not necessarily the case. If there's a freeze, one village may be spared and the other devastated.
The vintages for red Cote de Nuits (CN), red Cote de Beaune (CB), and whites:
2015 was "grand millesime," which literally translates to "great vintage." It's a designation for a year when the area produces spectacular wines. This was the case for CN, CB, and whites. The previous grand millesime was 2005 (although 2010 is also widely considered a good year). Every single wine we had from 2015 was spectacular. It's a vintage that's getting hard to find in America, so if you have access to it, especially in grand cru, snatch that up and drink it now!!
2020 and 2019 were considered amazing vintages across CN, CB, and whites. I would say both are great years for CB and CN to buy now and hold, and all the whites from those years are drinking great now.
The euphemism used in France for a bad year is either "complicated" or "challenging." And 2021 definitely falls into that bucket. It's all anyone talked about because it's technically the year they should be pouring at tastings but due to extremely low yields, we didn't try much of it. Some of the luckier producers were able to make a very small amount of great wine from 2021, so my guess is that it will technically be higher priced, but not necessarily better quality.
Meanwhile, the yield for 2022 was the highest in 5 years, so it will likely produce some amazing wines just by the nature of a larger supply. If you get a chance to snatch some up early, I recommend you do!
Other recent years..

• 2018 CN were all really complex and fascinating. Definitely pairable wines, likely many as investments given their potential. Tannic profiles were all unique. I would definitely hold 2018's for at least another 3-5 years
• 2016 CB were all delightfully fruit forward and drinking really well right now. The best "pizza" wines we had!
• 2013 and 2014 were not great vintages, in general, for both CN and CB. However, some have aged surprisingly well. If you find a great price on one, it could be worth a side by side against a 2015.

Here are some travel/convenience caveats to know:
Burgundy is not easy to get to. There's no major airport in the area, so unless you live in eastern France, you will have a long journey to get there. The nearest airports are Lyon (followed by a 90 minute drive or train), Geneva (followed by a 2 hour drive), or Paris (followed by a 2 hour train). There's a small airport near Dijon called Dole but flights in and out are very limited. Some may argue this has kept the visitors limited to only the truest of wine enthusiasts!
Ubers are not common. Drunk driving is extremely discouraged. The blood alcohol content limit is 0.05%, which is lower than in America. There are checkpoints set up, often on Sunday evenings, for random checking of drivers. Hence, I strongly recommend having a driver for day tasting, staying where you can walk, or using bikes. Do not drink and drive in this part of the world.
High speed internet hasn't reached the French countryside. Don't expect 5G cell service or fast wifi anywhere you go/stay.
Nearly everyone speaks some English, but a small amount of French goes a long way. If you can learn the basics of greetings, ordering food and wine, and politely asking for what you need, you will likely be answered in English but with a good attitude. The French love to greet one another as a sign of friendliness and respect. If you walk into a shop, you should say Bonjour! (with enthusiasm) and always "merci" and "au revoir" when you leave.
Like most of the French countryside, people don't seem to be in a particular hurry. We traveled from New York to London to Burgundy and it's a big of a shock to the system to go from the fast-paced hussle of the cities to the laid back feel of Burgundy. Have patience! Dinners are meant to take all night. Leave adequate time for visiting the market. Don't try to rush, it'll just stress you out.
Nearly everything is closed on Sunday's, so plan accordingly! Even the supermarkets close early.
When we were there, the sunset was around 10pm, so we felt totally comfortable biking home from dinner. The days can get surprisingly hot, but Burgundy is known for its warm days and cool nights (like so many other wine regions), so it's best to have a light jacket even in summer.
The wineries and wine bars all use Coravins. I think this invention has made the tastings so much more enjoyable because you're much more likely to get to try a grand cru or otherwise quite expensive bottle, whereas when we went in 2015, it was less common to get to try grand cru's.
Many of the smaller producers do not export, and that's because it's fairly challenging to import wine into France, so the people of France drink domestic wine. Lucky them! Hence, you will have access to wines locally that would be very challenging to get overseas, especially at reasonable price points. However, you should not expect to drink great wine, even whites, for under 30 euro.
If you do want to ship wine, you will get to purchase it free from VAT (17%) but you'll need to use a brokerage service like Cote d'Or Imports who will also charge you for shipping. Depending on if you use sea or air freight, the cost of shipping to America ends up being somewhere around $15-$20/bottle depending on how much you buy. Since the VAT is 17%, this basically means that your breakeven point for whether it makes sense to ship or buy locally is a ~$100 bottle of wine.
Keep in mind you can technically only bring back with you 2 bottles in your suit case without dealing with customs in America (up to you if you follow that rule). If you're looking to buy 2+ cases of wine, I would recommend using Cote d'Or Imports (everyone in the area uses them and knows them). The wineries or a guide can help coordinate. You purchase your wine tax free at the winery, then Cote d'Or goes around and picks up your wine and ships it all together. The minimum order is 6 bottles or 3 magnums/winery for them to do this for you. If you buy in the thick of summer, they'll hold it and ship it in the fall so it doesn't get heat damaged. Shipments are insured.
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On our last night we drove out to the Grand Cru plots of Batard Montrachet and had a little picnic and watched the sunset. I was in awe and humbled to stand among the grapes used to make the world's most expensive Chardonnay. If you have the opportunity to visit Burgundy, I must insist you go. It is such a special place, historic and influential in the entire wine industry. It was our second time, but it definitely won't be our last!

Hi, I passed my test first time yesterday in Portsmouth at 11:11am with 5 minors. I'm going to write my story below hopefully to help people not give up when they are presented with crazy situations due to how messed up the test situation is. This is long so thank you if you read through it.
I'm now 41, I had my provisional when I was 17, got given money for lessons but I bought a Dreamcast and concert tickets because I was 17 and an idiot. :) I haven't really ever needed to drive as either friends of mine did, transport links were good or I lived in the city.
2018 I move into my current house that is out of the city and doesn't have the greatest transport links. I re-apply for my provisional. Various things happen and also being a bit lazy I don't start looking for lessons until early 2020. I was discussing lessons with local school when the world imploded.
2022 I find out my wife and I are going to have a baby so I need to pull my finger out and get an instructor. I contact the local school to find they have no spaces. I then decide to try BSM who do have space.
My first lesson was at the end of February 2023.
Lessons going well I take my theory at the beginning of April and pass first time. I revised a lot and used the Theory test 4 in 1 app which was great at preparing me for the BS that is the hazard perception section (I scored 0 points on one of the hazards which is rubbish as I clicked on all of them)
I was then "suggested" to book a test anywhere and get one of the cancellation apps and check the site for cancellations. I booked Portsmouth as they had a test around the time I wanted it (early July) at a decent time (11:11am). I am learning in the Luton area so Portsmouth is MILES away from me but I used to live in the area so thought I would at least know it partially if the worst came to worst and I had to do my test there.
I got Testi and Driving Test Cancellations now apps. Paid for premium auto-booking on both of them (Testi £12, DTCN £18) I was also checking the DVSA site daily, multiple times a day and especially on Monday mornings.
I carry on my lessons. Luton is a horrible place to learn to drive. The other roads users are abusive (had a car over take me and push in front of me, in a traffic jam!, numerous times they would overtake and put other people in danger to gain 10 seconds), pedestrians just walk in to the road without looking and the road markings are either non-existent or make absolutely no sense. I just looked at it as learning on hard mode. :)
After 2 months of trying to get a cancellation I started to accept the fact that I'm going to have to do my test in Portsmouth. I contact every single driving school in Portsmouth on google as well as contacting a friend who is an instructor in Southampton, who also gave me some people to try. I got numerous "we full" emails back and only 2 actual instructors called me back to discuss. Neither of the two that contacted me could do it but one of them offered me some very helpful advice. I then contact BSM thinking that I'm already with them so maybe I can just move my instructor to a different city. There is no way to physically contact them other than webchat. I was very rudely informed I can't change instructor and the webchat was ended. Next I tried RED. They could help me but they wanted £480 (ish I can't remember exactly) for 11 hours including the test date. They wouldn't tell me when the lessons would be until I agreed I could pay for it then and there. I said I could, the lady then went on to tell me they would only do 2 hours lessons everyday up to the test. Which would be fine if I lived near Portsmouth (which I explained I didn't at the start of the call), it would have cost £50-£60 to get there and back every day including a 5-6 hour round trip every day. I can't do that as it would have cost nearly a grand and I'd have to pretty much take a week off work. I said as much and she got very huffy saying that I had agreed to this and we got in to a semi argument about the fact I continuously asked when the lessons would be before agreeing. So that was out of the picture.
Back to the drawing board, I checked what I needed for the exam. I thought about buying a car just for the exam. My exam was for manual but I am planning to buy a Hybrid which will be automatic so I didn't really want to get a car I didn't want just for this. Plus I wouldn't really have any way of getting it to the test or really practicing in it. The only other option was to hire a dual control car. I spoke to my sister about her coming with my if I hired a car. She said she would. The closest place to Portsmouth that hired dual control cars was Arnold Clark in Southampton, my sister lives in Brighton. I booked the Car for the Saturday before my test and the day of my test. It cost £78 for each booking with the insurance excess waiver. They will only hire Dual Control cars for a maximum of 4 hours due to learner driver fatigue. Which I thought was a bit rubbish but found out later it's a very good reason.
I continue with lessons with my normal driving instructor and he starts taking me to areas I don't know to get used to driving in unfamiliar areas/situations. We do mock tests go over anything I'm a little rusty on, focus on moves etc. On the last couple of tests he tells me how bored he's getting which is a really good thing. During my last two lessons I ask him if he thinks I'm ready, would he take me if my test was in this area? They can refuse to take you if they don't think you're ready and he has told me he has done so in the past. He said I was ready and would expect me to pass if we were in our area.
During the time from booking the hire car I go on youtube and watch as many videos as possible of the Portsmouth area driving test routes and places to watch out for, tricky situations etc. I also watch a bunch of mock test videos to see common mistakes people fail on.
Saturday before the test: I get the train from Luton to Brighton (2hrs). My sister Drives from Brighton to Southampton (~2hrs). We get to Arnold Clark a bit early, about 45 minutes before the booking. James was an absolute star at Arnold Clark took all our details got us booked in and let us take the car a little early, about half an hour after booking in. The car is basically brand new, literally 300 odd miles on the clock. It's a Kia Picanto. I've been learning in a Vauxhal Astra. Both are small cars but the Kia is TINY. It has Arnold Clark advertising and L plates on the car. It also does not have a digital speedometer so I have to use the dial. Not a massive problem for me but my instructor had told me about one of his students who knocked the digital speedo off and couldn't use the dial so failed his test for speed errors. The clutch is a lot shallower and lighter than what I am used to. I drive from Southampton to Portsmouth avoiding motorways. This took about 2 hours. The drive was OK, I stalled a few times by not being used to the cluth and hill starts were a nightmare, I had to really over rev the car which sounded horrible. To my absolute surprise most of the other road users were lovely. Giving me plenty of room, waiting patiently when I stalled or moved off a bit slowly. There were a couple of idiots being impatient or cutting my up but nothing like what I am used to. I a normal space of two hours I'll get an idiot on average every 15 - 30 minutes, I know because I started making a mental tally during lessons to see if it was me or other roads users and asking my instructor was I actually at fault or not. We went to the big Asda in/near Havant to practice manoeuvres and get some lunch. There wasn't much time left befreo the car had to be back, about 2.5 hours so we decided I'd drive her for a bit and my sister would get us back quicker on the motorways. I then did a test route from the Driving Test Routes app. Now I have been driving for about 3 hours just over and my normal lessons are only 2. I am starting to get a bit tired and start making silly mistakes. I totally missed the stop line at a set of lights at a junction and then had to just gauge when it was safe to go. This would have been a 100% fail. I also went too early on a roundabout, not super dangerously but just a bit too squeaky for comfort. So this is the exact reason for the 4 hour limit. If I had done to whole 4 hours I would have been wiped out. We swap over and go back to Southampton. We get back a bit early so decide to find a quiet side road to do parallel parking. The reference points are totally different, the handles don't go anywhere near the curb as I've been taught so I had to just gauge the back of the car. On one attempt a car pulled up in front so I had to try and do the manoeurve quickly to get out of his way. As I stopped he pulled up next to me, wound down his window and said "well done mate, that was awesome. You park better than me and I've been driving for 6 years. Good luck on your test, you'll smash it!" which fully made my day! We return the car and drive back to Brighton (2hrs), I then get on the train home (2hrs) So after 8 hours of travelling about 3.5 hours of Driving my last big practice is done. I feel fairly confident as my driving is good, my sister was very impressed at how I drive, she even forgot at one point that she was meant to be paying attention in case she needed to use the dual controls. But I am worried about the clutch, hill starts and my reference point when parallel parking.
Day before my Test: I travel from Luton to Brighton in the evening and "sleep" on my sisters couch. I am worrying about the test/clutch, there are some rowdy foxes outside and her cat decides 2am is the best time to play with her ball. I get about 4 hours of broken sleep.
Day of the Test: We get up at 5:30am, shower and leave. Grab a coffee and a Sausage bap on the way to pick up the car. We get there very early. As our details are there from last time there is about an hour to wait to take the car, so I have to pay another £18 if I want to take it early, we explain I won't be driving for the first hour so pay the £18 and leave Arnold Clark about 8am ish. My sister drives us to Portsmouth so I don't get too fatigued. we get to the Asda again to practise, wee and grab food at about 9am. Practise some moves and head towards the test centre. The clutch was giving me slight issues and my sister wasn't helping by sucking in her breath when I stalled, I may have sternly told her to shut up as she wasn't helping. :) Went to the test center and put in the route from the app again as we had just enough time to do it. Route went fine and I did not make any major mistakes. Back to the test centre, arrived at 10:55am. Parked Car and went to the waiting Room.
Sat in the waiting room I was bricking it, felt sick and was visibly shaking, the clutch was really playing on my mind and the handbrake has a really long travel so would beep a lot when I moved off if I used it. I checked my heart rate on my watch and I was ~130bpm, sat in a chair. I tried to calm myself down. 11:11am my examiner, Lindsey, comes in and calls my name. Asks if I'm ok and we go throught he sign in process. She's not unfriendly but is quite stern. We go outside and do the sight check. All good. We walk towards the car and she asks the tell me question: How do you check all your indicators are working before you set off? Put hazards on and walk around the vehicle to make sure all 6 are blinking correctly. "Ok thank you I will ask you another question when we are moving and I'll want you to show me. Now get in the car with the engine off and I'll be in in a second" She walks around the car and then tries to get in. After I parked, and I readjusted to be as cental as possible another car parked next to me SUPER close and both instructors has issues getting in the cars. "not sure who parked first but that was quite tight" I said I parked first and jokingly said not to be a tell tale. I got a smile. She then explained how the test would go. She would instruct me on where to go cleary with plenty of time before I needed to act and to ask again if I needed the directions again. There would be one reverse manoeurve, various stops on the side of the road and the possibility of an emergency stop. There would also be a section of independent driving where I would need to follow signs. At that point I mentioned I'm fine with all that but I don't actually come from this area and have traveled for the test. She said that is fine. The car came with a mirror for the examiner, she took one look at it and said that's not fit for purpose and pulled it off. She got her own one out and attached it. Again she is not being unfriendly but she is also not being friendly. She is being very much all business. She is also not being too overbearing so it's not helping or making my nerves worse tbh. We started. I reversed out of the parking spot. I went in forwards hoping that a good reverse out might give me brownie points. On leaving the test centre there is a mini roundabout with a small hill start straight away, luckily I managed it but the handbrake did the beeps. She directed me along various roads with a few stops on the left side of the road. The show me question was to open and close the windows, I actually had to have a little glance down. She starts slightly chatting to me, nothing with too in depth answers, where have I come from etc. On one of the left side stops she asked me to then parallel park using the car in front and with the dropped curb acting as a full curb, which is a little fiendish as if you bump the curb you can correct it, if I mess this up there is not really any way for me correct it. I do the move. She asks if I am happy, which I have been told this means you need to sort it out. I looked in both my wing mirrors to check. I wasn't super close the the curb but I also wasn't too far, I checked the vehicle I parked behind and I was in line with them due to the car I was in being tiny. I said yes. She opened the door to check. Now she says she is going to direct me on to the main roads and then I need to follow signs to Portsmouth. I start following the signs. She gets a bit more chatty and my nerves start to get a bit better. She changes the signs I need to follow a couple of times, "now follow signs for Y" etc. I come off of a roundabout in the right lane. I do not know if I need to be in this lane for the next sign. This is a dual carriage way. A car starts encroaching on my left to undertake me, I check all mirrors and floor it, keeping within the limit and signal left to get in to the left lane. I am 90% if I didn't notice this and let them undertake I would have failed. Last sign change. We are heading back in the direction of the test centre coming up to a roundabout, I need to get in to the middle lane when it splits, I start moving over. A car pulls out in front of me and I have to slam on the brakes, I'm kind of straddling 2 lanes but I wouldn't have been if he hadn't done that. My examiner also sucked in her breath. I thought that was game over. We carry on, we get to a junction which I know left goes to the test centre. I ask should I turn left or carry on. She says "not unless you see signs telling you otherwise". She does one last stop on the left. This looks like a weird place and I'm still a bit shaken from the roundabout so I'm not 100% sure I was going the right speed, I was pretty sure I was but thought she may be stopping me to tell me to get out or something. Nope it's for a hill start.... Nailed it even though I was visibly shaking. During this time I had stalled a few times but instantly just started the car and carried on as if nothing had happened. The handbrake kept doing lots of beeps too to which she commented on the travel distance. I also bumped her leg a few times changing gear as the car was teeny tiny. Other than the things I mentioned above it was fairly uneventful.
We get back to the test centre and asks me to pull in to one of the bays straight ahead.
She tells me I passed with 5 minors.
My minors where:

• Move off – Control, 2 - This is because I stalled a few times, I think it's only a minor because of the way I handled it. I didn't get flustered and she knew I was new to the car but it wasn't every time just a few and I didn't hold up traffic or anything like that
• Use of mirrors – Change speed, 2 - Once when I sped up on a road I didn't check my right mirror and when I had to slam my breaks on at the roundabout I didn't check my middle mirror before doing it but I think she took in to account how quickly it happened, the guy literally pulled in front of me about a second before i'd be safely behind the other car. There was a car behind me that had to brake.
• Position/normal stop, 1 - Pulling up on the left, I went to pull up but there was a double yellow line, I moved around the car that was there and parked the other side BUT I blocked someones driveway. I explained I didn't want to park on the double yellow and she informed my there was a layby before that I could have used. I'm so used to pulling up next to the curb the layby didn't even occur to me.

While I was on the test my sister was speaking to one of the instructors who had brought their student for a test. She asked what the examiners are like. He said they all have their things that they are hot on. She asked what my examiners were and he said she basically just wants a smooth safe ride. Luckily that is my specialty, I am very observant and value safety over speed etc. She was a great examiner and in my opinion had the perfect demeanor. I have seen reviews of her saying she is too standoffish. Which I get but she is there to do her job, she has the balance right and if you understand that and balance yourself too you can feed off of her calmness and she can start to trust yours. Don't forget she has to get in to cars with unlicensed people all day and some of them could be dangerous drivers. It's gotta be pretty stressful.
My sister drove us back as I am now not allowed to drive the car which I find pretty funny as it's only insured to me on a provisional license. Now time to get a bank loan and find a car.
TL;DR: Don't give up. The system is crazy but you can do it. If you put in the effort you can succeed. The best bit of advice I had heard before my test is: You don't need to be the best Driver just the Safest Driver. You can and will make mistakes, it's how you deal with those mistakes is what is most important. Learn as much as you can both from your instructor and off your own back. Youtube, read the highway code and read the articles on the government website too. Don't get in your own head, you can do it. The examiner is there to do a job, a dangerous job. Stay calm and safe.
Good luck to all learners out there.
Thanks for reading if you did, it's really good to get that written down as it sounds even more bonkers when I think about it.

On June 13th, 2023, I opened up a poll that featured every color that could be painted onto a Techo. Over the span of the next week, 170 people casted their ballots, with a total of 760 votes to give their opinions on what Techos they considered to be their favorites overall. The main goal of this post was to figure out: what is the most popular Techo color? The answer may surprise you.

Disclaimers and Foreword

In the survey, I did not opt to ask for identifying info such as names or collect any sort of email data, but I did make it so only one response could be collected by one person, which requires being signed into a Google account. Therefore, I am mostly unaware of who is who. The data on the survey will reflect that.
Secondly, there is going to be some bias among the data collection. I did share this survey among friends of mine who are overall unfamiliar with Neopets and/or Techos. Those who chose to participate in the survey are also likely to have positive feelings towards Techos, which may serve as being rather dissonant with the general fan concensus of Techos being among the least popular species of Neopet, among the likes of Buzzes, Moehogs, and Kikos. There was a way to indicate a concensus in general, but that will come into play later.
Lastly, this does not represent a correct concensus of what Techo colors are popular or unpopular. This survey only included the option to vote for Techos that the participant considered to be their favorites personally. There was no rating them on a scale or casting dislike votes. There are likely some colors, such as Pirate, that may have more detractors than fans due to circumstance (in this case, being a freebie for a daily activity and being a common sight in the Pound), and therefore we can't weigh what colors are passionately hated versus colors that are simply less liked. If we were to have a better poll with more data, this would have to be hosted or promoted on the actual Neopets website or a fansite like Jellyneo or Sunnyneo, which is simply unfeasible for me.
Now onto the foreword: I am surprised with the turnout and overall responses. As mentioned earlier, I got 170 responses containing 760 votes total. I expected a little bit under 100 responses and about 300 votes total, but I'd be damned. While I know that I could have absolutely gained a better response pool, I'm quite happy with what I got. In 2022, I tried starting a similar poll and it recieved considerably less responses. If you were among 170 people to have participated, thank you!

Formatting

I am going to present the Techos featured in the tierlist and their rankings in a tier list format. How does this work, exactly? Depending on the amount of responses they recieved considering the Techo a personal favorite, the higher they will rank. The criteria for the amount of votes to be present in each tier is as follows:
*F Tier: 0 - 2 Votes
*D Tier: 3 - 5 Votes
*C Tier: 6 - 9 Votes
*B Tier: 10 - 17 Votes
*A Tier: 16 - 25 Votes
*S Tier: 25+ Votes
There will also be numbers listed. While many Techos are tied, they will be ordered in a ranking system. For the Techos that are tied, I will be taking outside factors into account for popularity. To determine this, I looked up every mention of "(colorname) Techo" on the neopets Discord Server, and put them in a list ordered by how many times they were mentioned. The list can be found here. This method is absoultely not perfect, but it is something over nothing at the very least.
With this context in mind, let us begin the list.

F Tier

These Techos are very much ignored with little in the way of a wide appeal. The fans of these Techos do exist, but they are among a minority, and a very small one at that. If you are a fan of these colors, that's honestly great! I'd love to see you defend them and show that they are in fact, an underrated and valuable members of the ecosystem of Techo. I'm serious, leave a comment if one of these just so happens to be your absolute favorite or up there. I'll upvote it.

0 Votes

There are in fact two Techos that absolutely nobody considered to be a favorite. Among the 69 existing Techo colors, the other 67 just stood out more to people. Just what are these colors? Well, let's find out.

69. Gold Techo

And the award for the "worst" Techo goes to... Gold Techo! How ironic is it that gold, the material associated with winning and prosperity is the loser in the Techonpopularity contest?
I am not surprised with the lack of enthusiasm regarding Gold Techo. Gold is already not a very popular color on Neopets. It's just yellow and shiny with no real interesting or distinguishing features. It blends in among the less interesting colors. You don't exactly see people begging for Neopets to add other metal-based colors, such as Bronze, Copper, or Pewter; for instance.
As Gold Techo was introduced during Neopets overall slump of popularity in 2013 where the only people playing it were the people who grew up with it, there are less people to have any sort of sentimental or nostalgic appeal to having once owned a Gold Techo. Maybe there are such people who exist, but I'm not holding my breath for it to be true. Regardless, let's give the Wooden Spoon award to Gold Techo, our unfortunate loser of this poll.
I try to think of one interesting fact about each Techo color to include in each entry, but I genuinely could not think of one for Gold Techo. That's how dull they are, pun intended. Regardless, keep an eye out for said facts in the upcoming rankings!

68. Yellow Techo

Poor, poor Yellow Techo. Despite being there from the start of the Techo's life (that's June 7th, 2000!), being many people's first ever Neopet when they made an account, and being the color that the ever known Dr_Death of the Neopian Pound is; not a single person indicated that Yellow Techo was among their favorites. Even the artists of Neopets seem to find this their least favored of the 4 basic colors for Techos, appearing in less on-site artwork and images than the three other basic Techos (for context, Blue is 3rd, Red is 2nd, and Green is 1st).
I am honestly surprised with the lack of enthusiasm with Yellow Techo. I did expect the basic colors to get less votes, but at least some votes nonetheless as there are people out there who again, had a Techo as their first Neopet and have a fondness that never died out. As I mentioned earlier, they had to at least be someone's first Neopet and therefore have some sort of nostalgic or sentimental attachment towards Yellow Techo. Perhaps Yellow Techo is that repulsive and unappealing that said person does not exist, or they never voted in my poll, which is probably more likely than the former. Oh well... At least Yellow Techo can still be content with the fact that they were in fact, one of the first.

1 Vote

One. Only one vote. One person out of 169 others thought that they were good enough to be among their favorites. Unlike Gold and Yellow Techos, we can at the very least give some credit to these Techos for mustering a vote, but not too much.

67. Silver Techo

Like Gold Techo, I am unfazed and unsurprised by Silver Techo's low rank. Silver Techo is a somewhat late addition to the Techo crew, being introduced in 2011. Like Gold Techo, I think that a lack of both nostalgic and sentimental appeal will in the long run hurt the performance of Silver Techo. However, I lied about something I said 2 sentences ago. Silver Techo actually did not make their first appearance in 2011, they just became a paintable color that year. Silver Techo first appeared as a Plushie item released in January 2001, and even had the artwork updated before the real Silver Techo released. How mysterious! This phenomenon of Techos appearing before they were properly introduced is not an uncommon occurence, and we'll see more of this nonsense as we go along.

66. Orange Techo

Orange Techo is rather plain and was also introduced in the converted era, which already limits some of their appeal. There are several pets out there who have very basic and otherwise easy to do colors that are missing, and Orange would be among the last of those colors for the Techo species, releasing in 2007; and the problem would ultimately be resolved by 2008 with the introduction of Pink Techo. As mentioned earlier, Silver Techo made an interesting early appearance, and Orange Techo did as well. In the Lost Desert Plot which happened during 2005, Orange Techo made an appearance as a color on the many background characters in the comics. Twice. And somehow managed to be immortalized in merchandise on the Bazzar of Wonders card in the TCG.

65. Glowing Techo

Glowing Techo only had a single vote of adoration. Do you think that there is a soul brave enough to wear a Glowing Techo t-shirt in public? I don't think there is, honestly. Glowing Techo has always been a rather unloved color in general, but did you know that in 2004, a Sponge Techo was drawn an uploaded to Neopets' image servers presumably intended to release for Techo Day 2004? Notably, Glowing Techo was the only Techo to be added in Techo Day 2004, skipping Sponge Techo entirely.
Glowing Techo is also the final Techo to have been drawn in the original Techo design from 2000, and because the Techo art was updated to appear much more in-line with newer and higher quality site artwork one month later, the time for fans to archive it was very brief, and sadly the original images of Glowing Techo are lost media... Kind of. The original Glowing Techo design does make an appearance on the Glowing Techo Puzzle item, released in 2006. But the actual original artwork images are still missing today.

64. Brown Techo

Like Orange Techo, there is really not all that much to say about Brown Techo's placement that wouldn't already be inherently obvious. Uninteresting color, but Brown Techo did release in 2005 which I would argue was the peak of Neopets in terms of relevance and popularity. Brown Techo was also the first Techo to be added after the late 2004 Techo redesign, and the beaten up image is... Interesting, if inspected closely. One may notice that Brown Techo has red spots where the bruises are supposed to be.
Is Brown Techo bleeding in this image? Did a disgruntled artist sneak in this rather kid unfriendly detail? As funny as that would be if it were true, it's not. It's an oversight, as it is evident that Red Techo's artwork was used as a base for Brown Techo's art, simoly being recolored... Except some spots were missed. Notably, the bruises on the original beaten Red Techo art are colored dark red, and are the same color on the Brown Techo artwork, meaning that they simply forgot to update it. Regardless, it's kind of funny nonetheless.

63. Checkered Techo

Rounding out the Techos with one vote is Checkered Techo. Checkered as a color has some fans, but not a lot of them. Checkered Techo doesn't seem to have been fondly considered or cared about by the artists of Neopets, as Checkered Techo is the only Techo introduced in the unconverted era to not be featured in any additional site artwork, like Caption Competitions, appearances in Flash games, et cetera. (not counting Invisible Techo as they do not have an appearance) How disappointing, what did Checkered Techo do wrong?

2 Votes

These Techos managed to muster up not one, but two votes of people considering them to be among their favorite Techos. Sadly, it is still not a lot of votes, period.

62. White Techo

White Techo is yet another rather simplistic color with little fanfare. I would assume that the two people who voted for White Techo may have done so because "Wizard" Windelle is a notable Techo NPC is a White Techo, and is also the team captain of Meridell's Yooyuball team in the Altador Cup and has been for the past 15 years. Like some others mentioned earlier, White Techo appeared earlier than their proper debut, as a White Techo Plushie would be released in January 2001, while the real White Techo first released in January 2003. That in itself is nothing unique, but what is interesting is the belly color. In the original Plushie item, the belly is colored yellowish. When the real White Techo debuted, the belly was colored grey.
That's a bit of a weird difference, but it gets weirder. In 2004, Neopets did a well known tie in with McDonald's to release plushies of the Neopets, and Techos were among the species chosen to have plushes. The plushies of the Neopets chosen all came in basic colors, with some bonus colors such as Pink, Purple, Speckled, Spotted, and Starry. Techos had Cloud, Shadow, and White as the bonus colors. However, the White Techo plush is in fact, inaccurate to how it appeared on the website, as the plush had a yellow belly and no forehead spots, which makes the White Techo plush more accurate to the item plushie than the pet it represents. That's kinda wild.

61. Spotted Techo

Spotted Techo didn't perform well either, which doesn't surprise me. There are a few Spotted pets that notably have alternate designs that resemble real world animals and that has made Spotted as a color somewhat more popular, but not by much. I've witnessed some people out there that find the Spotted Techo design to be "lazy" because it doesn't resemble a Leopard Gecko, a popular pet lizard. The truth is that the circumstances at the time Spotted Techo was introduced, which was in Fall 2000, they just followed a template. In fact, Spotted Techo is one of the first ever colors that Techos were introduced in their year of introduction (along with Sketch, Striped, Starry, Halloween, and Invisible) during when the Techo artwork prominently featured the infamous gradients. However, there is something pecular about Spotted Techo's first ever artwork. If you haven't caught onto it, the very first Spotted Techo artwork was literally just a modified version of Red Techo's artwork, with black spots added. This didn't last long, because in 2001 they updated it to the much more well known tan version.

60. Red Techo

Red Techo is another one that surprised me with the low rank, as it's a starting color that persumably many people may have had as their first Neopet, but I already spoke in length about that when I revealed Yellow Techo's ranking, so I'll keep it brief in that regard.
Red Techo is a weird case because at one point in time, they were considered the "mascot" of the Techo species very early on. What do I mean by a "mascot" color? I'm referring to a color for a specific species of Neopet that is overall more prominently featured in promotional material and merchandise, such as Yellow for Chias, Red for Grarrls, and Blue for Lupes. I'm sure there's people that have probably noticed trends like that, but I don't think anyone was willing to discuss it or coin a term for it. Red Techo was featured in New Features introducing the species, in the pet species biography flash animation that every other Neopet species usually has, among other instances. However, as time went on, more and more artwork began to prominently feature Green Techo in general. Around 2001 or 2002, artwork prominelty featuring Red Techo as a representative of the Techo species would decline and Green Techo would officially take over the role of the "mascot color" by 2004.

D Tier

While there may be some fans of these Techo colors, they are not topping the charts of popularity and tend to not be discussed or romanticized among fans. They exist.

3 Votes

3 Votes is more than 2, but that's still only a few votes. Regardless, if you were to vote among these Techos, that's still a rather small minority, and you should be a little proud of yourself for sticking with them. This is also the most populous vote category with 9 Techos occupying this range.

59. Relic Techo

Relic Techo ranking low is you guessed it, not a shock to me. I don't really expect much from Relic, especially since Relic Techo was among the earlier Relic Pets, where things like moss and crystals weren't in the picture yet. It's just a new version of Stone. Did you also know that Relic Techo is the most recent Techo introduced to be featured in any additional artwork? Specifically, in this Caption Competition. Also, they don't have a base to stand on, but neither do most of the other Relic pets that are portrayed as characters. Figures.
Regardless, Relic Techo is the first Techo listed to have been considered someone's all time favorite! Here's what that person had to say about Relic Techo:
"Relic — i like rocks"

58. Zombie Techo

Zombie is a color with some fans, but the overlap between fans of Techos and the fans of Zombie doesn't appear to be a strong one. Zombie Techo also breaks the rules of Neopets. As a painted pet with wearables, the Zombie Techo wears something that occupies the Trousers, but the item itself is called "Techo Zombie Pants". This name is the offender, and breaks two rules: The species and color name are swapped, and trousers are referred to as "pants". This should be a relatively simple fix, but it has not been modified in any way for the past 6 years it's been around.

57. Eventide Techo

For the first time, this is a ranking that shocked me, with me having Eventide Techo to have placed higher. Eventide is a generally well liked color among the fandom, but I was surprised to see Eventide rank so low. Have opinions on it soured over time? It seems as if there were people that wanted Eventide Techo be a thing, because I found fanart of Eventide Techo from 2015, 4 years before Eventide Techo would officially join the Techo crew. That's a bit of fun trivia, though not exclusive to Eventide Techo, as I have seen speculative designs for Faerie and Robot Techos from the early 2000's before either were officially introduced in Beauty Contests and Art Galleries.
It also seems as if Neopets own artists were tired of Eventide pets, because there was a drought of new Eventide pets that started with the release of the Eventide Tuskaninny on July 12th, 2017, and ended with the release of Eventide Techo on September 13th, 2019. That's two whole years of no Eventide pets! But right now, we're in an even longer drought of Eventide pets, as the last one released was the Eventide Gnorbu on January 6th, 2020. It has now been 3 years since the last Eventide pet, with the Nimmo, Ruki, Chia, and Vandagyre yet to have options to be painted Eventide. Could we perhaps have a complete collection in the near future...?
On a more positive note, 2 out of the 3 people who voted for Eventide Techo considered them their favorite! Here's what they had to say:
"Eventide, I like the gradient"
"Eventide, but I'm a certified Eventide lover."

56. Biscuit Techo

Biscuit is you guessed it, another unpopular color. There are not a lot of people out there that would actively seek out a Biscuit pet, and the overlap between people who want a Techo and a Biscuit pet is not very much, evidently. I bet that if Neopets switched to American English, they would have been renamed to "Cookie Techo". There, that's the fact. No wait, Bisucit Techo and Maractite Techo were the first Techos to have been released during the Jumpstart Era. That's something, at least. I couldn't find anything else interesting about Biscuit Techo, which will probably be a trend for some of conversion era Techos, sadly; there simply isn't much to discuss.

55. Pink Techo

As mentioned when discussing the placement of Orange Techo, Pink Techo can be considered the final "plain" color added for Techos, having done so on September 13th, 2008. Pink Techo also made an appearance in the video game Neopets: Puzzle Advemture for the Nintendo DS, Wii, and PC; which was released 2 months after Pink Techo debuted on November 25th, 2008; which is a fast turnaround if I've ever seen one myself. Considering that game development took months back then, it's very possible that Pink Techo existed much earlier into development. Also, for some reason, the DS version of Puzzle Adventure depicts the female Techos with lipstick.
Additionally, two out of three people who voted for Pink Techo stated that their favorite Techo is Pink Techo, and they said:
"Pink, because I like the contrast between the pink body and yellow eyes I am neutral towards them."
"Pink Techo, because pink is my favorite color."

54. Strawberry Techo

Strawberry as a color has some fans. However, there is very little buzz surrounding Strawberry Techo, and I can only assume that it is because they do not have any leaves on them or any other extravagant features present, unlike some of the other Strawberry pets. But for some reason, Strawberry Techo did in fact make an appearance in Neopets: Island Builders with a redesign. In this game, Strawberry Techo has a green belly and bright yellow seeds, alongside the other Strawberry Pets. I am personally not fond of the look, but I digress.

53. Snow Techo

Snow is another color with a rather appropriate placement; a color that is overall not discussed and has little fanfare as a result. Snow Techo was also the final Techo color to be released in 2003, in December of that year. Snow Techo also has pupils made of coal, and according to this Caption Competition image, this coal pupil can in fact, shrink and grow in size in tune to emotion and circumstance. That's kind of creepy.

52. Purple Techo

Purple Techo is among some of the earlier Techos to be introduced, but not the earliest. Purple Techo was also introduced alongside Cloud Techo on the first celebrated Techo Day in 2001. ...Just 2 days after the 9/11 attacks. Regardless of the bad timing of their debut, Purple Techo, alongside every other Purple pet, was featured with orange spots, though Purple Techo would debut with only an orange belly. In 2004, Purple Techo was redesigned alongside most other Techos, and gained orange spots on the cheeks, resembling freckles. This design was carried over when the conversion update happened in 2007. As a part of the onging Return of Dr. Sloth plot, the orange spots on the Purple pets were removed, and Purple Techo would lose their "freckles" and forehead spots, gain a lilac belly, and was subtly desatyrated in color.

51. Jelly Techo

Jelly Techo is real. You cannot ignore them any longer. In fact, it's somewhat hard to ignore that this specific pet and color combo is a piece of lost media. How? In 2006 and 2007, the Practice Team in the Altador Cup was different, being comprised of unique team members instead of 5 identical Chias. Among this team were all Jelly colored pets and consisted of a Kougra, a Kau, a Blumaroo, an Usul, and a Techo. The Kougra, Kau, and Blumaroo's images have been saved and archived, but the Usul and Techo images are far from lucky and are currently lost media. Did you, the viewer, perhaps play Yooyuball and lose against the Practice Team in 2006 or 2007? If so, the data could potentially be cached on that old Windows XP desktop rotting in your attic, meaning it could be saved. It's worth a shot!
Additionally, one person stated that Jelly Techo was their favorite Techo, and this is what they had to say on the manner:
"Jelly: I love anything Jelly colored"

4 Votes

4 votes for a favorite Techos is by no means, many. However, the people who like them shluld also not be ignored in the slightest.

50. Electric Techo

Electric was once seen as a cool and more liked color early on in Neopets' lifespan, but as tine marched on, colors such as Baby, Mutant, and Faerie would steal the spotlight. Nowadays, Electric is relatively forgotten about in terms of color discussion. Electric Techo has a cool design and a cool concept, but as an Electric Pet released in 2009, it was too little too late. Since we were in the converted era by this time owners of Electric Techos won't even get to see the angry pets have electricity coming from them. It's a shame, but Electric Techo did touch the bearts of at least four different people; which is heartwatming nonetheless.

49. Ice Techo

Ice as a color tends to be more popular than their flaky and soft relative, Snow. However, the appeal of Ice is still limited. Ice Techo being released in 2018 when there were already a large variety of more bombastic and extravagant colors were already here, and therefore Ice Techo never really stood out in the long run. Ice Techo however, has a very nice looking, crystalline in appearance tail. That's a fun feature that otherwise doesn't have much attention drawn to it. Also, this is what Ice Techo looks like without any shading layers. Cursed.

48. Fire Techo

Fire Techo was never too popular to begin with, but fans and defenders of Fire Techo exist. However, there's a small detail added to Fire Techo that only exists in the converted artwork. In it, Fire Techo's tail's tip is lit on fire. This bears somewhat of a resemblance to Charmander from Pokemon, who also had a tail flame in the design. Additionally, there is shopkeeper artwork of Fire Techo that depicts the fire markings on the Techo as real fire, and it does look gorgeous. If only the canon Fire Techo could be as cool as that.

47. Grey Techo

The lowest ranked Techo color that also has a Uunconverted (or UC) version is Grey Techo. Unfrtuantely, it doesn't look like that there's enough people out there who want to cheer up Grey Techo, per se. Grey Techo at one point had to force a smile to make the days go by, but eventually gave up. Also, Grey Techo was one of a few Techos to have MSN Icons made of them, and you can see it here. I wonder why Grey Techo is nervously touching their index fingers together, though...

46. Blue Techo

Blue Techo is also one of the first four Techos introduced at the beginning, and has always been a more omnipresent compared to the other Techo colors, from beginning to end. Compared to Yellow Techo as a color only sometimes appearing with only a handful of NPCs that are Yellow Techos, such as Dr_Death; Blue Techos have more or less always been around. One of the first two NPCs that were Techos added to Neopets were the Techo Master and the Tropical Food Shopkeeper. One is Green, and the other Blue. Soon after, we would meet Harry the Explorer, Kelland the Thief, the Techo Fanatic, who are all Blue Techos. It got around!

5 Votes

5 votes, as demonstrated with these past few votes, is nothing to sneeze at. However, it's also not a large number in general.

45. Speckled Techo

Speckled surprisingly had more enthusiasm and support than Spotted Techo did, despite being older and therefore potentially more recognized overall. Speckled Techo was also among the last Techos to be drawn in the old 2000 - 2004 art style. This design only lasted a year, but when Neopets decided to update most of the Techo artwork in October 2004, they missed a single image. A small, happy Speckled Techo. I don't know where else to bring up them, but there is also a Speckled Techo paramedic that is only in one image and appears nowhere else. I just think they're neat.
Additionally, one person considered Speckled Techo to be their favorite Techo and had this to say:
"Speckled techo looks so cool. Fan of polka dot characters."

44. Starry Techo

Starry Techo is one of the oldest Techo colors on Neopets. In fact, they're also one of the first Starry pets! But this artwork is weird. The colors used are solid, but the eyes are gradients. Not to mention, there appears to be an error with how the right arm (left from viewer's perspective) appears to mesh with the body. For reference, this is what it should look like. But this issue is not exclusive to Starry Techo! Pirate Techo has this issue too, but only for the happy pose, as it's otherwise fixed for the other poses.
Additionally, there were two people out of five that considered Starry to be their favorite Techo color! Here's what they had to say:
"Starry Techo's pattern and color scheme is one that I always love to see. Honorable mentions to Dimensional and Sketch."
"Starry is the most nostalgic to me for reasons I can't quite figure out. I never had one or anything, maybe it's just the starry color as a whole"

43. Swamp Gas Techo

Swamp Gas Techo is a very weird Techo. Because despite being introduced rather late into the Techo crew, they were actually rather pushed by Viacom era Neopets! Possibly because they were one of the first ever Swamp Gas pets introduced. A Swamp Gas Techo wearing underwear was featured in the Y13 Advent Calendar, in a Caption Competition, a Swamp Gas Techo was dressed in Michael Jackson's white suit from the music video of Smooth Criminal. A Swamp Gas Techo also appears in a random event where one just walks by and the notice itself comments "Ewwww!". How rude. Also, this is what Swamp Gas Techo looks like clean.
Two people also considered Swamp Gas Techo to be their favorite Techo overall, and commented the following:
"Swamp gas because he looks like a stinky baby"
"SWAMP GAS!"

C Tier

The Techos that appear in these tiers can be considered to be just okay by the masses. They do not particularly excel as a whole, but there are notably more fans of them as opposed to the lower tiers. They are not bad, but they also aren't great, or even good. They're decent. They will continue to appear and become anew in an account's arrange of Neopets owned, and people probably won't have any perplexion or questions as to why they are there. Very much complacent in the eyes of the masses.

6 Votes

6 votes is a decent number, as that's a fair amount of people. Compared to the others, still relatively small though.

42. Magma Techo

Magma Techo is one of the few Techo colors to have been released outside of Techo Day during the conversion era, with the other two being Stealthy Techo and Wraith Techo, being brought into Neopia in December 2009, not too long after the introduction of Moltara. Magma Techo's teeth also look like this. It's definetly fitting, but I can't help but feel just a tad unnerved by it.
Magma Techo also had a few people mention that they were their favorite Techo color, and the statements were as follows:
"Magma. Because."
"I like the magma one more because of the vibrant orange and the designs on his belly"

41. Tyrannian Techo

Tyrannian Techo is the second lowest ranking Techo in this list to also have a UC variant, where it has a slightly more dinosaur-like build and appears to be hunched over. The converted pose in my opinion, isn't bad at all and is probably the most faithful to the original design outside of Grey. Tyrannian Techo also has a forked tongue and is one of two Techo colors to have this feature, which may surprise some.

40. Ghost Techo

Ghost Techo is a spectral apparition with some appreciation, clearly. Ghost Techo originally appeared frowning with a darker belly color, and was redesigned one year later to have forehead spots and a lighter belly and seems to have cheered up. When the conversion update happened, Ghost Techo's pupils shrunk, and gained bags under their eyes. Additionally, Ghost Techo just recently was featured in merchandise for the first time ever, as a .png of Ghost Techo was slapped in the corner of a page in the Neopets Cookbook released in June 2023. That's a nice way to be immortalized.

39. Green Techo

The final of the original four Techo colors, Green Techo unsurprisingly has the most votes out of the four. There are some factors that play into this, but it is primarily the stereotypical depictions of lizards in media usually portraying them as green in color. Consequently, Green Techo began to appear frequently and as mentioned earlier, overtook Red Techo's status as the "mascot color" of the Techo species. No doubt that many people also made their first Techo a Green Techo because of this. In Neopets: Island Builders, the Techo you earn after logging in for 15 days is Green by default! A Green Techo also ran what appears to be an "Insult Booth", which appears to be some sort of cancelled or removed feature, as confirmed by Adam Powell in a Reddit thread.

38. Pirate Techo

Realistically, Pirate Techo probably should not rank this high. However, based on my method of ranking Techos outside of how many votes they got being how many times they were mentioned, Pirate was first on that list. I'm not even sure if the Pirate Techo Morphing Potion increased or decreased the popularity of Pirate Techo, because the value of the Morphing Potion is among one of the lowest, as nobody wants it. However, Pirate Techo does have more to them than meets the eye.
When Pirate Techo first appeared in June 2002, they had a peg leg. When Pirate Techo was redrawn in 2004, it became a peg foot. When the conbersion update happened in 2007, Pirate Techo had regrown their foot. I know why they changed this, but I do wish we would have been able to keep Pirate Techo an amputee, perhaps a new unconverted option could be made? Also, the 2004 Pirate Techo hat emotes alongside Pirate Techo.

7 Votes

7 Votes is a decent amount! Of course there are more that outrank this, but there are still many other Techos that weren't as lucky to be quite as beloved.

37. Sketch Techo

Sketch Techo is currently the earliest known extra color for a Techo to have been released, having been released on September 1st, 2000. There is a possibility that Striped Techo could have released earlier, but there is no real reckoned release date known currently, other than that they were released sometime around Fall of 2000. Sketch Techo has also been immortalized on pieces of easily destroyed plastic bags, as they were featured on McDonald's toy bags in 2004, and had small cameos on the bags for Grundo, Uni and Blumaroo plush bags as well. Random merchandise cameos are cool, right?

36. Cloud Techo

Cloud Techo has surprisingly stayed consistent in terms of design in all three major designs of Techos. From 2001, 2004, to 2007, but the body and belly color is only slightly different for some reason. Weirdly enough, promotional artwork featured for McDonald's features Cloud Techo with an even darker belly color, and it's not just the lighting of that photo. If it isn't obvious, the forehead spot color was also used for the belly in that artwork. And here's some on-site artwork where the inverse is true. There's only so many ways I can say something is weird, strange, or unusual.

35. Shadow Techo

If you don't count Pastel as a "plain color", then Shadow is the highest ranking plain color for Techos. Shadow Techo was featured as the representative color for Enterplay's Neopets Trading Card Fun Paks from 2008, but while the rest of the Neopets featured used their converted artwork, Shadow Techo didn't. Not even the 2004 redraw. Instead, they used the original 2002 artwork with all of the shading removed. Here is the unmodified 2002 art for comparison This is bizarre and I'm wondering how this happened, because they had to have had access to the original SWFs/FLAs of the old disused Shadow Techo design and then remove or disable the shading layers; especially when the newer artwork was already present. Also, the back of the card looks like this for the curious.
I don't know where else this fits, but the aformentioned McDonald's Cloud Techo artwork was also recolored into Shadow Techo. Yeah.

8 Votes

Here we go! There are several Techos that got 8 votes to be among people's favorites, with six Techos having recieved that number of votes, which makes this a decently sized group.

34. Skunk Techo

Skunk Techo is another more recent color, and one that I'm surprised did as well as it did. Being a rather simple color and a late addition, being added in 2013, there was a lot goimg against Skunk Techo, but they prevailed! I'm very pleasantly surprised. Skunk Techo also appears in Neopets: Island Builders and looked like this. Notably, it appears that Skunk Techo has... Fur? That's odd, Techos are supposed to have scales. Also at some point, they updated all of the Skunk pets to look like this, getting a new shader to make them appear darker and less toy-like.

33. Dimensional Techo

My same bewilderment to Skunk Techo's performance can also be said about Dimensional Techo, but to a lesser extent. I don't exactly see many people wanting a Dimensional Techo nor drawing fanart of them. However, I do think that Dimensional as a color is more popular than Skunk, so I can at least understand the better performance here. There are also random offscreen blotches of purple in the Dimensional Techo body .swf. Hey, not every fact is gonna be "fun", they're just boring.
One person also indicated that Dimensional Techo was their favorite Techo color, and this is what they had to say about that:
"Dimensional! I love that purple color on Techos."

32. Striped Techo

Striped Techo also did pretty decently despite an initial slow start in the poll. I actually like Striped a lot, it's just a very eye pleasing color to look at with the blue and pink contrast. However, Striped Techo didn't always look so eye pleasing. When Striped Techo debuted, they were white with black horizontal striped and forehead spots. Sometime later in 2000, Striped Techo was updated to appear white with a powder blue stripy belly and purple stripes. Lastly in late 2001, Striped Techo became light blue with pink stripes. I honestly really like the second design. Bizarrely, the original design for the Striped Techo Plushie isn't accurate to any of these designs. Instead, the Striped Techo Plushie is for some reason, green with orange stripes.

31. Invisible Techo

This one I'm going to put my foot down on. I do not think that Invisible Techo should rank this high, because there were very clearly some people who voted for Invisible Techo either as a joke, or they simply hate Techos. In the data, one person only voted for Invisible Techo and never stated a favorite or their opinions on Techos as a whole. This is very likely a troll response, but I still have to count it. There was another response that also only voted for Invisible Techo, but they did write their favorite Techo and state their opinions on Techos as a whole. What did they have to say?
"Invisible so that i don't have to see it. Easily in the top five of my least favourite neopets (sorry)"
This person also unsurpsingly, indicated that they strongly disliked Techos. There's nothing wrong with that, but I do have to wonder why they went through the effort of checking the poll, specifically check off Invisible Techo, then write that they don't like Techos. Surely they could have at least picked a few designs that if they strongly dislike them, at least tolerate? I'm not going to invalidate this response, but I'm personally baffled.
There is nothing to Invisible Techo, therefore there are no interesting facts about Invisible Techo. Let's move on.

30. Chocolate Techo

Chocolate Techo is yet another more recent addition to the Techo crew, but Chocolate is also fairly popular, making this placement more appropriate. I always liked Chocolate Techo myself, it feels relatively restrained for a relatively modern conversion era pet and therefore I can imagine seeing Chocolate Techo being pulled from the unconverted era. Also, this is what Chocolate Techo's cream topping looks like in full.

29. Darigan Techo

Of the five Techos to have UC forms, Darigan Techo placed smack dab in the middle. Darigan Techo's UC is quite different to the normal Techo design and appears to be quite scary in comparsion to the new design. In context of the actual Neopian lore, the coverted design is terrible, pretty much altering the entire build of the Techo. While I do think the new Darigan Techo design is a downgrade, I don't think I'd say I hate it, or even dislike it, and I'll emphasise on it soon. I'm actually shocked that Darigan Techo placed rather low, because if you look in places like Beauty Contests and Art Galleries, it won't be too uncommon to see fanart of Darigan Techo around. Darigan Techo also made an early appearance before becoming an actual color in the Champions of Meridell in 2002, where they looked like this. At a glance, it looks nearly identical to the unconverted Darigan Techo, but is instead orange. But there are some more subtle details with the extra poses that were drawn at the time.
One of the attacking poses resembles the close attack artwork for Techos at the time, consequently and inadvertedly giving this prototype Darigan Techo mostly normal Techo proportions, which would ironically be the fate of Darigan Techo anyways, as that is how the converted Darigan Techo appears, which is why I'm actually not that bothered by the converted design if the original intent was to just be a Techo with bells and whistles. A defeated pose is also shown, once again based off of it's time Techo poses. Interestingly, this was sort of redrawn for the actual Darigan Techo release in May of 2003, gaining a forked tongue, straight teeth, shorter claws, among smaller details. There's also this pose, but I don't have anything to say about other than it exists. You're welcome.
Also, Darigan Techo was almost someone's favorite, but the converted design ruined that staus of favorite for them. Here's what they had to say:
"If we counted unconverted, Darigan was always my favorite for that sinister grin. However, as they currently are I really like the Robot's cool armor."

9 Votes

9 is the highest value single digit number. That's all I really have to say to encapsulate my feelings towards the performance of these Techo colors on the poll.

28. Split Techo

I originally did the neopets Discord Techo color combo mentions before I started this poll, and Split Techo was second to last on that list. (the actual last placer is Mosaic Techo but they're also the newest member of the bunch) I was honestly surprised to see Split Techo do as well as they did! Split Techo isn't even featured in on-site artwork all that often either, with the only examples I could find being this and this. Actually, those two Caption Contest appearamces are only 5 contests apart, maybe the artist who did them just wanted to give some love to Split Techo. That's valid. Also I've broight up the very old and drastically different designs for most of the very early Techos up, so here is an obligatory mention of the first Split Techo design. Ew.

27. Maractite Techo

Maractite Techo is another one that I'm only a little surprised did as well as it did. Maybe I'm a subconscious hater or something, but I generally don't see much buzz around Maractite pets in general, so that would be a surprise for sure knowing that Maractite Techo is rounding off the Techo colors around the 30s ranking wise. Sadly, I struggle to find anything interesting about Maractite Techo. Even the .swf files for Maractite Techo are relatively tame and nothing to write home about.

26. Transparent Techo

Transparent pets are usually fairly popular, so I expected Transparent Techo to place a little higher. Me? I personally don't understand the appeal. Do people want to see the anatomy of thekr favorite Neopets, or do people simply want skeletal versions of Neopets to customize? I just find the execution of the color to be odd and I really don't know who it's supposed to appeal to, but it does in fact resonate with people. That's cool, I guess. I just don't want to be constantly reminded of the fact that Techo organs look like this. Maybe it'd help if some people could try to explain why they like Transparent so much.
As a matter of fact, the very first response to this poll indicated that Transparent Techo was their favorite Techo color, and they had this to say:
"I like Transparent, it looks cool"

25. Desert Techo

Desert Techo is a pretty neat design for a Desert pet if I do say so myself. Desert Techo as a... Character? Species? Well, something; appeared as a Hero in Neopets: Legends and Letters, where they were given some lore that read:
"These wily Techos are suberb dancers in the Qasalan marketplace and can perform incredible acrobatics without losing their hat."
I guess that confirms that they are from Qasala? Neat, I suppose. Also, the item that Desert Techo wears occupying the trousers is called the "Lost Desert Techo Wrap", but the file name calls it "clo_techo_desertskirt.gif". I'm sure there was some memo from a Desert Techo insisting that his skirr was in fact, not a skirt.
^I apologize for this awful joke.

B Tier

These Techo colors are firmly good, and have a great number of fans. They will stand above some of the others, but still have a shadow cast over them by the more popular Techo colors, but that doesn't stop them from being appreciated by others.
From this point onward, there will no longer be subcategories of the Techos that got the same number of votes, as most of the Techos after 12 recieved a unique number of votes. There are some exceptions, but they will be noted as such.

24. Royalboy Techo (10 votes)

In the realm of the Royal Techos, it appears that the Royalboy Techo is the less prefered of the two. I wonder why myself. It's a nice design, I particularly like the pendant and the trousers that are a mix between a more conventional skirt, a grass skirt, and a loincloth. I also don't think anyone has brought any attention or speculation towards the symbol that is seen patterned on the Royalboy and Royalgirl Techos' clothing, which looks like this. I'd love to write some lore surrounding it.
Additionally, there were two people that stated that Royalboy was their favorite Techo color, and had commented:
"Royalboy- I like how unique it is compared to a lot of other pets" "Royalboy has a really nice base color"

23. 8-Bit Techo (10 votes)

Another placement I am pleasantly surprised with. I found a lot of posts back when 8-Bit Techo was released, and the initial reactions to 8-Bit Techo were typically not positive. Perhaps time has been kind to 8-Bit Techo and now people see them as an underrated classic? For me, I've always liked 8-Bit Techo. However, one very annoying thing about 8-Bit Techo that keeps me from wanting to own one is that you cannot remove the clothes from the 8-Bit Techo, meaning you can't have it just be a normal Blue Techo but pixel art. However, the artist of 8-Bit Techo did in fact detail 8-Bit without clothes, and it looks like this. If you wanted your 8-Bit Techo to only wear a shirt, it'd look like [https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/569235314086772748/1121714360071487529/Untitled4207_20230621205736.png this], and if you wanted your 8-Bit Techo to only wear pants, it'd look like that. C'mon TNT, most of the work was already done; you can fix it!
Like Royalboy Techo from before, two people also mentioned that they had considered 8-Bit Techo to be their favorite Techo color overall, stating:
"It’s a tie between 8 bit and robot! 8 bit looks cursed in the best way, Robot just looks super cool & I love the almost all white casing. Makes me think of some futuristic lizard man."
"8-bit, because he's just a funky guy"

22. Camouflage Techo (10 votes)

Camouflage Techo is another sleeper hit, apparently! As Camouflage tends to be hit or miss wothin the Neopets community, with some patterns being prefered over others, I'm pleasantly surprised to see a decent amount of support for Camouflage Techo out there. There's also some cute on-site artwork of Camouflage Techo on Neopets that I think deserves some appreciation, so I'm going to draw attention towards it; like this Caption Competition image where we can see a Camouflage Techo climbing a tree like an actual gecko. It's been stated beforehand that Techos can in fact climb walls like a real Gecko, but it is rarely ever shown. Here's a Camouflage Techo playing the piano. Look at 'em go! And the creative talent doesn't end there, because here's one who likes to paint. I'd commission them if I could.
...What? That's an opinion and not a fact? La la la I'm not listening! And if I listened I don-t care~!
A couple of people indicated that Camouflage Techo was their favorite Techo color over the others, and this is what they had to say when explaining why:
"Camouflage cause it has some really nice greens" "Camouflage well because i have one already lol but baby is right up there for my next"

21. Christmas Techo (11 votes)

Christmas Techo was among the last Techos to have been introduced in the unconverted era, and to be honest I sometimes feel taken aback when I see the unconverted artwork of Christmas Techo when it pops up. Sure, Camouflage and Faerie Techos are the last, but there were always ethereal vibes about Christmas Techo in particular, for the lack of a better term. There is a Christmas Techo that appears in Geekify's physical Neopets Advent Calendar, and the slot for the 24th day is on the Christmas Techo's face. This Christmas Techo appears to be wearing a lime green hoodie, and honestly it looks pretty cute. Now with this knowledge in mind, Christmas Techo has been immortalized in merchandise! How neat.

20. Island Techo (11 votes)

Island Techo, kind of like Blue Techo, was always more of an omnipresent color on Neopets. There's a number of NPCs who are Island Techos, like the Hikalaka Drummer (who out of all Techo NPCs, was somehow chosen to be immortalized in the Tarot Deck over more notable Techos such as Tekkitu the Witch Doctor and Tekeli-Li), Maital Koric, and Masa; better known as the Buzzer Game Techo to many. For a non-basic color, this is not bad at all! Island Techo originally appeared with a quite long grass skirt in 2003, and it was subtly shortened in length, notable around the waist when Island Techo was redrawn in 2004. When the conversion update rolled out in 2007, Island Techo's skirt became noticably shorter. Island Techo was also immortalized in merchandise, being a bracelet charm. I can't imagine that many of these are out there, as it was manufactured on demand and Island Techo was very likely not a popular choice to order. If you have this, you are:

1. Based as hell,
   
2. Incredibly lucky,
   
3. Awesome, and I envy your financial decsions from 2003 to 2004.
   

There were a few people that considered Island Techo to be their favorite Techo, and said the following:
"Island"
"Island. Also I have never seen the Royal technos before but they look super good"
"There's something bout the island techo that just looks so "correct"."

19. Water Techo (12 votes)

While most Pet Day updates are generally released the day of or after a weekend, Water Techo and Pastel Techo, who were intended to release for Techo Day 2015, were pushed all the way back to October 2nd of that year, a 19 day delay. There appears to be a reason for this, though I'll go into detail into what appears to be the specifics when I cover the other Techo released on October 2nd, 2015, Pastel Techo. What you need to know right here, right now about Water Techo is that this is what Water Techo looks without any shading or highlights It feels so naked and bizarre that I kinda hate it.
One person also considered Water Techo to be their favorite Techo color overall, and said the following:
"water, the other styles are childish"

18. Marble Techo (13 votes)

Marble Techo is yet another more recent addition, being released alongside Chocolate Techo in 2017. Both of them are the first Techos to have been released during the Netdragon era of Neopets. Marble Techo is also an absolute nightmare to draw, there is a lot detail to get right and I completely understand why I haven't been able to find any fanart of Marble Techo that isn't my own. Did you know that if you get rid of all detail of Marble Techo such as shading and highlights, it'd look like this? It's honestly not a bad base color. I unofficially dub it as "Jade Techo" myself, and I don't know if anyone else will do that. I hate to repeat myself, but I just think they're neat.

17. Rainbow Techo

Rainbow Techo was released alongside Shadow Techo and Baby Techo for Techo Day 2002, which is the most packed Techo Day in history, with 3 colors released! However, Rainbow Techo is also a member of the club of Techos who appeared earlier before their actual release, also as a plushie item released in January 2001. When Rainbow Techo was updated in 2004 alongside most other Techos, the plushie was as well to be more on model. However, the new plushie artwork [incorrectly depicts Rainbow Techo having a cyan segment on their belly, which isn't a feature of the actual Rainbow Techo. In fact, one of Rainbow Techo's own poses has two errors, that being the angry pose having the bottom belly segment colored red instead of mint green, and the right leg (left for viewers) lacking shading. There's also this image that has purple on Rainbow Techo's head, which was also never a feature of Rainbow Techo.

16. Disco Techo (16 votes)

Disco Techo? Techno Disco? Perhaps every Autocrorrect software would get a kick out of Disco Techo's name. Canonically, it seems as if Techos don't really care for techno according to this image. How ironic. Also, if you have been reading this in order, you would have noted that Orange Techo made an early appearance in the Lost Desert plot before becoming an actual color, then that would make Disco Techo the very first Techo color to have been introduced in the conversion era, as while Orange Techo was released alongside Disco Techo, Orange Techo wasn't exactly "new". (Also, for those wondering who the first Techo in general was introduced in the converted era, it's Bowe from Shenkuu River Rush)
Also, there were two people that considered Disco Techo to be their favorite Techo, and said the following:
"Disco is a vibe"
"Disco because I like his vibe"

15. Pastel Techo (17 votes)

Pastel Techo originally did not have any votes for some time, but eventually seemed to have won favor with newer voters and finished with 17 people considering Pastel Techo to be among their favorite Techo colors! That's a nice turnaround if I've seen one.
As mentioned earlier, Pastel Techo was supposed to release for Techo Day 2015, but was delayed by almost 3 weeks along with Water Techo. Why were they delayed, exactly? While we don't have a confirmed answer, I do have a theory. Some may notice that the .swfs for both Pastel Techo and Water Techo's assets are unusually large in size, and that's because they appear to use a sort of internal base and forgot to remove the reference assets. All of the conversion era Techo accessories, such as the Christmas Techo Scarf, Pirate Techo Hat, and Halloween Techo Wraps are present as well. My guess is that after the layoffs of TNT happened with the buyout of Neopets by Jumpstart, they hired a newer, more inexperienced artist to make the new Techo colors for Techo Day 2015. It also appears that Pastel Techo was made first as a sort of test, as there is a graphic of a work in progress prototype of Pastel Techo present that appears to be Blue Techo, but with green eyes and pink forehead spots.
If you want to peruse the decompiled contents of the Pastel Techo .swfs, I decompiled them and put them in a .zip folder on Google Drive, so you can download them here and don't have to go through the effort of converting them to .fla files and opening them in Adobe Animate.

A Tier

These Techos are elite among the Neopets community. They stand tall and have their presence known when they appear. There may technically be more Techos that are well known and adored, but it would be a stretch to say that these Techos aren't loved. Most of the Techos in this tier have people indicate that they considered them their favorite overall.

14. Wraith Techo (18 votes)

Wraith Techo performed well! Since Wraith Techo is essentially an angry wispy demon lizard that is black with a purple glow, that's very appealing to many. There is also a Wraith Techo Plushie item that makes it look very neutral and polite, which is funny to me because it is otherwise very angry looking. Wraith Techo is the last ever Techo color to not be released on a Techo Day, having been released on December 8th, 2012. After this,
There were three people that considered Wraith Techo to be among their favorites, and they had said the following on the matter:
"Wraith"
"Wraith, completely different facial expression than others (most of them have a : facial expression)"
"wraith techo, idk why but it looks neat :)"

13. Steampunk Techo (18 votes)

I can't keep my bias hidden, I love Steampunk Techo. Steampunk Techo may even be my favorite Techo color overall, but for nostalgic reasons; Island Techo is my favorite Techo color. However, there are a few annoying things that keep me from saying Steampunk Techo is my favorite Techo. For one, this is what Steampunk Techo looks like without clothing. It's unfinished. I would love to have a customizable Techo with a nice looking ivory color and a cool metal plated belly, but it's evident that Steampunk Techo was only meant to be seen with the Paintbrush clothes, making customization more limited unless you like the unfinished look (and I know some do, good for you).
Speaking of the clothes, they're all mostly one piece despite the fact that they could easily be separated. If you fiddle with the .swf files for just a bit, you can get individual assets of the hat, goggles, tail, and the main body clothes. I love the actual Steampunk Techo design, but I wish that more could be done with it in terms of customization, because it may as well not exist.
Steampunk Techo was fairly popular upon reveal, and I've seen some people praise Steampunk Techo for looking "actually steampunk". There were several people that said Steampunk Techo was their favorite Techo color, and this is what they had to say:
"Steampunk, because of the clothes."
"Steampunk, the outfit is rocking and the base color is perfect. I love that the gradient is a smoother and subtle variety that some of the other species. I also am glad the clothing doesnt have the weird eye gap that so much clothing for techos have unfortunately."
"Steampunk. I like the colour under all the clothes."
"Steampunk, the colors are softer and i like the clothes"
"Hard to say; perhaps steampunk? I like Techo colors that bring out the Techos' sense of personality and variety"

12. Mutant Techo (19 votes)

Mutant Techo was the first Techo color released to "push the limits", so to speak. Being among the earlier Techo colors to release (debuting in February 2001), Mutant Techo looked as if they were equipped to kill, with flesh rending claws, sharp teeth, and a long tongue. Or stab evil Korbats with a sword. But really, Mutant Techo is also cute enough to also have artwork being a good pet owner, or wear a dress and stand with butterflies, or just be excited for Halloween. Considering how several of the early Mutant designs were changed for being too grotesque, they really hit it of the park with Mutant Techo's design. It's creepy and cool, but also cute at the same time. Also, Mutant Techo may or may not have spikes on their back.
Mutant Techo had two overall favorite mentions, and they are as follows:
"Mutant because I have one"
"MUTANT! I love their blue and orange combo, and fun eyes, and little teethies!"

11. Plushie Techo (19 votes)

Plushie Techo is the second to last Techo here to also have an unconverted version. And while I can understand or at least not be too bothered by most of the unconverted changes for Techos, I do think that the converted version is infinitely worse than the unconverted variant. Plushie Techo also has a piece of yarn as a tongue in the unconverted artwork. That's pretty cute.
A number of people had also indicated that they considered Plushie Techo to be their favorite Techo altogether, and commented the following:
"Plushie, cute"
"Woodland or plushie. Plushie because the eyes are cuter (the rotated pupil) and woodland because it’s so clever!"

10. Origami Techo (20 votes)

Origami Techo is a very unique design compared to the other Techos, and stands out as a result. In 2020, Origami Techo was featured in the annual Neopies, being nominated for the best color. The description for Origami Techo for the Neopies read as follows:
"Crafted from the finest red paper that Faerieland has to offer. No one's seen this much folding since Brucey B returned to the "Cheat!" Championships."
Unfortunately, Origami Techo placed last in the voting, losing to Mosaic Grarrl, Steampunk Blumaroo, and Oil Paint Peophin. Additionally, did you know that like Pastel Techo, Origami Techo also has a prototype variation? If you take the .swfs of Origami Techo and open them in a program like Adobe Animate, it is revealed that they were originally going to be teal instead of red. I personally prefer the teal color over the red color, we don't really have a teal Techo. per se.
One person stated that Origami Techo was their favorite Techo color overall, and stated the following:
"Origami Techo because the design looks like the origami characters in Paper Mario The Origami King"

9. Royalgirl Techo (22 votes)

Royalgirl Techo is a matriarch that is seemingly supposed to tie into Mystery Island, and is twice as popular than her patriarchal... Friend? Husband? Brother? Their relationship is unclear. Obviously there really can't be any sort of lore for the Royal pets because as pet colors, they are supposed to be blank canvases; but I do really like the Royal Techos. It seems as if they could have been the monarchy that led Geraptiku if Neopets wanted to do more with Geraptiku for whatever reason and wanted to use Royal pets in a plot. They're just begging to be used! Royalgirl Techo is probably more popular for her nice sea foam color and having a more detailed wardrobe compared to Royalboy Techo. I unfortunately couldn't find anything super interesting about Royalgirl Techo's design aside from the previously mentioned "royal symbols" that Royalboy Techo has as well, so here's an HD render of the lei that she wears.
Royalgirl Techo was also considered a favorite among 2 voters, and they said the following:
"I love the royal girl techo. Kind of a soft spot since my oldest neopet is one, but it’s also because I love the clothes and the subtle markings on the tail."
"Royalgirl - upgrade on the Island techo with cool tail pattern"

8. Halloween Techo (22 votes)

I think if I were to choose a Techo that I am the most astonished by their performance in the poll, this would be the one bar none. Halloween Techo is among some of the oldest Techo colors, even having visible gradients in the earliest art that wasn't updated until 2004. I don't really see people draw Halloween Techo all that often. I always thought that in the eyes of the general Neopets fandom, Halloween Techo was seen as lame because it was just a Techo covered in toilet paper to look like a mummy. When Halloween Techo was redrawn in 2004, we finally got to see the true color of Halloween Techo's skin. It's grey. What riveting information. I'd also like to give a shoutout to the most famous Halloween Techo, Wan Dirx of Team Haunted Woods, who is probably one of the coolest Neopians there ever was.
Someone said that they used to consider Halloween Techo to be their favorite overall Techo as a kid, and one person who still has Halloween as their favorite Techo color and they go like this:
"I always liked halloween best (i was obsessed with mummies as a kid), but now I think woodland is the best! They look like real lizards"
"halloween, looks good."

7. Stealthy Techo (25 votes)

This ranking is not surprising in the slightest. Stealthy pets are popular to a tee and Stealthy Techo's morphing potion is one of, if not the most valuable Techo Morphing Potion available. Stealthy Techo, like Wraith Techo, was one of the last Techo colors to be introduced outside of a Techo Day, with Stealthy Techo releasing in November 2012. Dang, 2012 was a good year to be a Techo fan; especially when Techos gradually recieved less attention over the years as Neopets lost popularity and TNT began to only divide their attention to the more popular Neopet species, which would a trend that became more noticeable as the Jumpstart era progressed. Also, Stealthy Techo's main body color and the tail color are 2 different shades of dark blue Now you can't unnotice it. You're welcome.
Stealthy Techo also had a few people that considered them to be the best Techo color, and said the following:
"Stealthy"
"Stealthy bc ninja and gecko go well together"

S Tier

These Techos are placed on a pedestal and are considered the best that Neopia has to offer in terms of Techos. If you see fanart of a Techo, it's very likely that you will see at least one of these colors make an appearance. They are stereotypical favorites, especially to those who generally do not care for the Techo species, however. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is worth noting.

6. Maraquan Techo (26 votes)

Maraquan Techo is a fishy lizard under the sea! How cute! I'll take twenty of 'em! I honestly don't have too much to say about Maraquan Techo, everyone loves them and I do too. There were some Maraqua Guards that were Techos in the Curse of Maraqua plot, that's cool. Also, Maraquan Techo used to have three fingered webbed hands that were ditched when Maraquan Techo was converted. That's a bit of character that I wish wasn't lost, it was cute.
Despite Maraquan Techo placing in the top 10 Techos and reaching S Tier, nobody wrote in and said that they considered Maraquan Techo to be their favorite Techo color. How strange.

5. Mosaic Techo

Mosaic Techo placing high perplexes me in a few ways. First of all, it's a good design and I can see it being very appealing to a general audience, and I like it too. However, in the neopets Discord server mention list I've used to reference where to rank tied Techos, Mosaic Techo placed at the very bottom, with only 13 mentions at the time. There simply is not a whole lot of buzz around Mosaic Techo, yet somehow there are 28 more people that like Mosaic Techo than there are people who said Mosaic Techo's name. How odd. Secondly, I do think that recency bias plays a large role in Mosaic Techo's placement. Once Mosaic Techo is no longer the newest Techo (which will be true 3 months from now), I'm wondering how Mosaic Techo will do if I were to do a second round, for instance. I just think it's weird that nobody really goes around and says "I think Mosaic Techo looks cool", compared to say, Faerie, Steampunk, or Woodland Techos; yet is also somehow popular enough to place fifth. I also haven't seen anyone besides myself draw Mosaic Techo, though I can at least understand why: it's one of the worst and most frustrating Techo colors to draw because it's just that detailed.
Mosaic Techo is also likely based upon a real life lizard, though there has been some debate on which one it exactly is. The most commonly proposed candidates are the Rainbow Agama, the Collared Lizard, and the Neon Day Gecko. While the actual artist who drew Mosaic Techo will likely never be known as the near majority of Neopets artwork is uncredited or has no confirmed connection between artsits and therefore we will lilely not get a concrete answer, I think that Mosaic Techo resembles the Rainbow Agama the closest, though the Neon Day Gecko would make more sense as a basis, being a gecko and all.
One person considered Mosaic Techo to be their favorite Techo color above all others, and said the following:
"Mosaic, because it’s pretty"

4. Robot Techo (35 votes)

Robot Techo is a very intricate design, and is one that took advantage of the conversion update. With the unconverted designs, they had to be more simple to keep the artists sane. I won't lie and say that I don't prefer the simpler designs though, but that's not to throw any shade onto Robot Techo. Robot Techo's complexities have also caused some rendering issues, where at one point the eyes would be mixed up and normal, organic Techo eyes would appear if Robot Techo felt any other emotion than happiness, instead of a unique design. At one point, they fixed this by replacing all of the Robot Techo eyes with normal ones, making Robot Techo an emotionless robot. How sad. I think there's some good story potential for a Robot pet that inexplixably has organic Neopet eyes.
Robot was a common pick for an all time favorite Techo with 7 mentions in the "favorite Techo color" field, but here are three highlights of comments:
"Robot; I love the design, one of my favorite robot neopets"
"Robot. The design is so cool and it activates my impulse to like anything that's a robot."
"Robot looks cool"

3. Baby Techo (38 votes)

Baby Techo has always been popular. I'm honestly baffled as to why, is Baby Techo popular because it's a Baby Neopet, or are there people who actually think it's cute? I know that it's common for Baby Neopets to have large heads, some to an obscene degree. However while some of the uncanilly large headed Baby pets like the Draik and Korbat were fixed when they were converted, Baby Techo was not. Real life baby geckos most of the time just look like small adults, so here's my proposition: Baby Techo can still have an oversized head suspended by a mere stick of a neck, but it's less oversized and therefore is more comfortable and realistic to the animal it is based upon. If my bias hasn't already been clear, I don't like Baby Techo.
The Baby Techo fact is that none of the unconverted artwork for Baby Techo gives it a belly color, but the converted artwork does.
Baby Techo has been written in as an overall favorite Techo color by 6 people. Here are three highlighted favorite responses:
"Baby!!!! The giant head little body. Plus I have one!"
"Baby techo. He's just adorable"
"Baby! I love the pose and eyes. I will say that if the old art was included, my answers would change a little 👀"

2. Faerie Techo (56 votes)

If the Techo who took the #1 spot didn't exist, then I think Faerie Techo would have won the poll. Faerie Techo is the final Techo here to also have an unconverted variant, and it may as well define what Faerie Techo is because this design is extremely popular. I should stress that I never actually grew up with unconverted era Neopets and therefore I don't have any nostalgia for it. By the time it was gone, I had just turned 3 years old. I started playing Neopets when I was 4 and it was still rather early into the conversion era. However, I do think that Faerie Techo's unconverted design is great. I like the more expressive posing obviously, but I also like how the wings stretch all the way to the base of the tail, it makes it appear elegant. However, I wouldn't say the converted design is bad. It's pretty faithful to the original design and the only real changes are the wings and the antennae stem color turning from blue to orange. Even the converted Faerie Techo design got some extra artwork as a user shopkeeper and it doesn't look bad at all.
Faerie Techo is also infamous for having it's converted wing design being altered and repurposed for the Faerie Skeith, having some extra colors added and having colored outlines all around it. How bizarre.
Faerie Techo, being once the most popular Techo color ever, had six people say that they considered Faerie to be their favorite Techo color, and these are three highlighted comments by them:
"faerie. the color scheme is nice and i just generally enjoy faerie pets"
"Faerie. Its UC is superior, but i still love the color pallete and its wings."
"Faerie: I really love its shape and color scheme, mostly on its unconverted form!"

1. Woodland Techo (79 votes)

Woodland Techo dethroning Faerie Techo as the most beloved Techo color was something that I had considered to be possible, but I thought the hype for Woodland Techo would have died off after a year. I was wrong, and here we are now. I'm not sure where I can start with Woodland Techo, other than the obvious: it's based off a uroplatus phantasticus, more commonly known as the satanic leaf-tailed gecko. It was also based upon a user suggestion, though I can't remember who it was. If you're out there reading this, say hi!
Woodland Techo managed to rise above the otgers in a short amount of time. I saw love for Steampunk Techo and some relatively quick fanart as well, but I also saw the same for Woodland Techo to a greater degree. I'm very pleased to see that Woodland Techo is still alive and well in terms of relavancy, and I'm glad that we got what we did.
Unsurprisingly, most people have written in that they considered Woodland Techo to be their favorite Techo color overall, with a total of 35 people mentioning that they considered Woodland Techo to be their favorite Techo color. That's nearly half of the amount of people that voted Woodland Techo to be simply among their favorites. That must mean that the strong impression they give is a stong one indeed. Here are three highlighted comments about Woodland Techo:
"Woodland- I love the reference to satanic leaf tailed geckos!"
"my favorite is the woodland techo!! i think it looks really interesting and i love the sort of forestcore vibe it has. also think it's based off of a real type of lizard (though i'm not sure) and i really love when colours do that!!"
"Woodland techo, its cute, creative, and well-executed."

The complete Tier List

I also took the time to compile all of the data into an actual tier list image. Didn't take long anyways, and if helps to visualize my point, then it overall doesn't hurt. Regardless, here is the tier list of the tier list.

Do you like Techos?

Lastly, I had one more question on the poll: "What is your opinion on the Techo species as a whole?", which had five options as follows:
*I strongly like them *I like them. * I am neutral towards them. *I dislike them. *I strongly dislike them.
Out of the 170 responses, 164 indicated their opinion on the Techo species as a whole. I wonder what those 3.53% of people who didn't vote on this question actually thought of Techos. As a binary checkbox option, I have no idea into the further cognition and rationale behind those who voted and those who did not vote's in depth opinion on Techos, but I'm not sure what I'd do with that data even if I had opted to collect it.
The most popular opinion on Techos is ambivelence and indifference, as 67 people, or 40.9% of voters indicated that they were neutral towards Techos. This is about the response I expected. Techos are not popular. The fact that we got new merch of Techos in 2023 as a glittery enamel pin is incredible, but I can also imagine that they didn't make very many of them, didn't sell well, or both (I bought two myself). While there are other species with more feverent and known haters such as Chias, Kikos, or Vandagyres, Techos generally slip under the radar and nobody would care about them either way.
The second most popular opinion was that they liked them, but didn't love them either. With 50 people, or 30.5% of voters saying that they simply like Techos. I was surprised that this number is as high as it is, because you usually don't see may Techo fans. However, my best guess is that these are just people who passively see them and think "oh, that's cool/cute/neat". Perhaps there is a silent majority of people who do in fact like Techos, and that the people who hate them are a vocal minority. Though based on all of the current data we have for Neopet popularity, such as various polls done by other users; I sadly don't think that this scenario is likely. Or maybe the voters were sparing my feelings.
In the middle is people that dislike Techos, front and square with no frills. Not hate per se, but simple disgust. 23 people, or 14% of voters said that they felt this way about them. If I was surprised that there were more people that said that they actually like Techos instead of disliking them, then the same apllies here, as I thought there would be more dilike votes. Early on into the poll, the like and dislike votes were nearly evenly matched, with dislike votes pulling ahead of like votes a few times.However, the like votes ultimately prevailed and there are now more than double people who said that they like Techos rather than dislike them. Happy ending, I suppose.
Second to last is people who love Techos, with 18 people, or 11% of responses saying that they loved Techos. Again, this is a number that I wish was higher, but I also know that it would have been impossible to even get it the third most voted option. I in fact expected it to be the least voted option. Again, I wonder if there were simply people who were voting that wished to spare my feelings or something, because even if this isn't a huge number, it feels... Off.
Naturally, the least amount of people who had an opinion on Techos was one of hatred, with only 6 people saying so, or 3.6%. There were a lot fewer of these than I expected, and I had anticipated seeing at least 15 hate votes in the poll. Perhaps people who hate Techos so much were just disgusted by the poll to the point that they didn't want to interact with it? I know very well that there are some avid Techo haters out there that are reading this, and you know who you are. I'll respect your opinion and at least you are honest with yourself.

Conclusion

This took way longer to write out than I had anticipated to do so. I wanted to get this out the day the poll closed (Tuesday), If you'd like to see a copy of the auto generated table of data that Google gives, then you can view it here. I don't plan on doing a similar poll like this for any othe other Neopet species, but you are free to take my idea and execute it if you want to find out the same result for Yurbles, Bruces, Ogrins, etc.
I do plan on doing something similar in the future: a bracket tournament between various colors that were removed, scrapped, only for Petpets, and only in Petpet Park, and I'm hoping to have the first round opened up early next week. I hope all of you partcipate in it when it comes!
Thanks for reading, and see you later!