A very kind person told me to unblock everyone I had blocked to fix my voice chat. Well it worked! You have to go to the embark site to view/remove them. If your chat is broken try it! Also embark please fix this bug. I thought my game was done for. (Edit: I've concluded this is an Xbox exclusive bug.)

Turning here for advice. My most recent ex and I kept each other on all social media because we didn’t split on hideous terms.. largely because I’m a push over and didn’t stand up for myself. Anyway, I really am thinking I should block her on everything. Not for attention. I have no desire to block & unblock. I just am thinking maybe it would be best to block her, then hopefully this will help me forget her. As long as we’re friends on social media, I have to see her posts and I am reminded constantly of her that way. This isn’t helping me move on.
So, my main question is, what do I say if she texts me and asks why she’s been blocked? Because it seems like something she would ask. I really don’t want to cause hard feelings, I just merely want to block her from my site so I can TRULY let go and move on. I still wish her the best in her journey, but it’s now not part of my journey and I don’t wish to see it any more.

warning: this post is long
I (29M) went no contact with my dad about 6 months ago…
A little backstory about dad. He’s had a somewhat difficult life. He immigrated here from vietnam as a teenager in the 70’s around the time the US pulled out of the war. He was adopted by a family in a very small town in Tennessee. i’m sure dealt with bullies, racism and being socially ostracized at school (this was a backwoods bible belt HS in the 70’s/80’s) but he made it through. He had a terribly traumatic experience as a teen where he accidentally killed his younger cousin while playing with a gun, which I know for a fact still haunts him to this day. After he graduated, he served in the navy for a couple years, went to college, met/married my mom, became a citizen, had my older sister, started a career in engineering, and had me six years later.
We had a good relationship when I was a kid. He’d take me fishing, ride bikes, soccer games. My mom divorced him when I was in second grade. He moved across town into a furnished basement where my grandma (his mom) lived upstairs. it was honestly not a bad spot at all.. but our relationship started to deteriorate around this time. The custody arrangement was he got me and my sister every thursday and every other weekend
bc of the divorce, i had to change schools in 3rd grade, leave my childhood friends behind, and start a new life. Mind you, i was a very shy child. I went to a small town school where everyone’s parents grew up with each other, went to church together, went to everyone’s birthdays, holidays, ect. My mom is from new york and my dads an immigrant, so I had a hard time fitting in and making friends right off the bat. I didn’t understand this at the time, and thought I was just destined to be a weird kid, bottom of the social totem pole.
I did not do well in school, and this is about where the rift in our relationship started. Dad is very old school, he was a big fan of corporal punishment and used it liberally. if he thought I was being a smartass, back talked, disobeyed, or came home with bad grades (which was often) he would scream, smack me in the face, spank (with bare hands or a belt depending on his mood) and made sure HE was the consequences for my actions. Mind you, I was not a bad kid. I was shy, quiet, and just wanted to fit in. I was not a class clown, i didn’t get in much trouble, i was honestly afraid of drawing attention to myself. I internalized much of my anxiety. But the grades and the “back talking” (which looking back was just me sticking up for myself against him) were enough to bring out his most abusive characteristics. I remember one time in 4th grade, I was having trouble with my math homework. I stayed up for hours trying to finish. when I told him i was tired and didn’t want to do it anymore , he stood up and smacked me so hard i fell out of my chair. i still remember how my head was throbbing in paid going to bed that night
middle school was not much better. grades were C average at best. I started growing my hair out, got into skateboarding, wore black clothes, listened to heavy music and rap, started smoking weed in 7th grade. i made friends with the other social reject skater kids at my school, and honestly made a lot of great memories from back then. relationship with dad got exponentially worse. then one day in 8th grade, a week before summer vacation, someone told on me for having weed in my locker, and i was expelled. this obviously caused an uproar with dad. i once again had to give up all the friends i made and any social life i managed to cultivate during those years.
so my freshman year, i had the choice of either home school or alternative school, which my parents chose home schooling for me. i’d go to work with mom and do my schoolwork on a laptop in a spare office. the only social life i had was a girlfriend a met on myspace (really showing my age here lol). she lived in the next county over so i was allowed to see her some weekends, but i broke up with her at the end of the year.
fast forward to sophomore year, i’m back at public school. gave up skateboarding and took up guitar. still had a hard time making friends, still got yelled at for poor grades, but i was able to have a car and a job, and i started smoking weed again. dad found makeshift bowls a couple times and i got yelled at for that too. wound up graduating as a C average student, so apparently all those beatings i took as a kid for my grades didn’t help at all (i know, shocker)
as a young adult, much to my dads ire, i decided i wanted to pursue music as a performer. it was my passion all through middle and high school, and i thought i had a gift for it. so i worked at restaurants and construction jobs while pursuing music on the side for years until i was able to quit my job and start performing full time, making more money than most of my peers who went to college and worked normal jobs. dad discouraged me the whole time
in 2019 dad helped me out by co-signing for a car. i wanted a cheap beater i could run into the ground, but he convinced me i needed more reliable transportation. i’m pretty sure he thought this was his way to make me quit music and get a real job so i could make the payments/insurance, but it was around this time i was starting to book way better, higher paying gigs. it wound up working out just fine
2020 comes around, pandemic hits, and i go from playing 5-7 nights a week to zero. had to call an old construction boss and to go back to work. he put me on a job out of town where i stayed 5 nights a week at the job site, came back home to the spot i was renting on the weekends. i really struggled that year financially and mentally, i missed a few car payments that year, but paid what i could. dad would call me every now and then demanding i make my payments, tell me i’m ruining his credit (he has a great job and makes plenty of money btw), and basically making me feel like an absolute dead beat as if there was no pandemic and the only reason i’m falling behind is bc of my life choices.
well, things opened back up, i went back to playing music full time in 2021, and got caught back up on my payments. dad still thinks i’m wasting my life away, that i should go to college or trade school and get a real job.
fast forward to 2023, my girlfriend and i decide we want to move to south florida. there’s a ton of bars and restaurants i can perform at, make way more money, and my girlfriend is very attractive so we figured she would do good serving tables on the beach. we spent all year renting a shitty trailer on some guys property in our hometown so we could save money to move. we managed to save about $15k and started looking for apartments in ft. lauderdale. once this started becoming a reality, i told my dad when i was visiting one day about our plans, and his reaction (predictably) was to mention everything that could go wrong. it’s expensive, there’s hurricanes, there’s lots of ppl down there trying to do music so what makes you think YOU can, it gets hot in the summer.
it was at that moment i decided i don’t need him in my life anymore. his negativity is infectious, he has never been supportive or encouraging of anything i’ve wanted to do in my life, he is the voice in my head that makes me doubt myself, he’s the reason that even with all i’ve been able to accomplish as a musician, i find it difficult to feel proud of myself. he spent my entire childhood/teen years crushing my spirit and destroying my self esteem
before i moved, i had a back-and-forth with him on messenger, explaining all the ways his behavior, actions, and abuse have affected me over the years. his response was to essentially deny all of it, accuse me of cherry picking, called me ungrateful, and hit me with the classic “sorry i’m not perfect”
that was our last conversation. now i’m living in ft. lauderdale with my beautiful girlfriend. we’ve been sober for almost a full year, my calendar is full of gigs, we’re making more money than we’ve ever made between her serving tables and me playing music. i feel great about where i am in life
i feel guilty and sometimes i get really depressed thinking about my dad. i still have a hard time making friends as an adult, i feel like the self hatred i inherited from him caused me to miss out on a lot of experiences in my most formative years. i have difficulty opening up to people. i know in some twisted way, my dad cares about me. he did his best, but his best was not great, and at this point i think he’s too old and stuck in his ways to make any meaningful changes that could recover our relationship
i’m gonna stop here because i feel like i’ve actually written my whole life story in this post. thanks for reading
TL;DR: dad has been a huge dick my whole life so i went no contact. now my life is great but i’m riddled with guilt and depression about my childhood

🪞 “It's much easier to get in that it is to get out,” Emilie Autumn used to say. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4.1 - Part 4.2
She was not wrong. Welcome back to the Asylum write-up!
In this installment, we're finally getting down to the nitty-gritty of the enmity between EA and her fans.
It's time for war. It's time for blood. It's time... for tea. 🎵

THE PRESENT DAY: “ASK ME ANYTHING (WELL, NOT QUITE)”

​

"Ask me anything" titles are catchy, and that’s why I’m using one. But, obviously, don’t ask me anything, by which I mean that, if you think I wouldn’t answer it, you’re probably right. Ask me something really good. I’d love to answer you. I’d love to have comments on these posts, in fact, so that I could answer questions there regularly and ask you things as well, but insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, or so Einstein is supposed to have said, and attempting to create yet another interactive online venue after every previous attempt has ended in heartbreak—forums, facebook groups, social media accounts—it would indeed be insanity to think that this time would be any different. So there are no comments. This too is heartbreaking in the sense that, and you may not realize this, but I desperately want to connect more completely with you—to be able to intelligently converse and share and exchange. We can do that in person, of course, because the wrong people never show up in person. Isn’t that funny… So, perhaps we’ll have to arrange that;). I’ll start you off with an example question I’d want to know if I were you (I can almost guarantee that you do not want to know this). Q. Hey EA, how do you keep your wireless bodypack transmitter secure when you are leaping about in skimpy costumes and doing frequent costume changes? Also, dye your roots. A. Fantastic question, EA, and I just dyed my roots thank you very much. ... (Deleted blog post followed by a year of radio silence, 2022 📝)

Sooo. For the past five-ish years, the vibe in the Asylum has been that of a protracted Christmas dinner where everyone is tensely moving their food around in their plate, bracing themselves for whatever will trigger the screaming match. Wondering what it's going to be this time. Weary old-timers make small talk about the food because no other topic feels safe. Every glance, every forced smile, is fraught with eons-old grudges and unspoken regrets; every nervous pleasantry sounds like a thinly-veiled accusation. Aunt Emilie always insists on hosting, but not-so-secretly hates having people over. Sooner or later, she finds a way to get all of these assholes out of her house. Most of the adult children are daydreaming about going no-contact.
Everyone ready for some dysfunctional family history?
CW for discussion of bullying, online harassment, mental illness stigma.

YE OLDEN DAYS: CUCKOOS OF A FEATHER NEST TOGETHER

In the beginning, it was beautiful.
EA had the excellent instinct to start banking on her online presence📝 long before MySpace was even a thing. She had a website, several online stores, an active LiveJournal and a ProBoards forum right from the turn of the millennium.
In 2004, she attached an official forum to her website; the earliest archive shows 74 registered users. By the time Opheliac came out in 2006, that number had grown tenfold. And it was, by most accounts, a pretty dope place to be! (I should specify that this write-up focuses on the anglophone side of the fandom: there were also thriving fan-run communities in at least German, French, and Spanish. Because EA doesn't speak any of those languages, the lucky bastards were mostly left alone.)
Forum users enjoyed interacting with some of EA's closest IRL friends and associates – and with the mistress of the house herself (user flair: PsychoFiddler), when she occasionally responded to comments under her own posts. But that wasn't even the main appeal for many. For a long time, on top of all EA-related topics, the official forum had very active “Off-Topic” subforums, with lively and friendly conversation on a variety of subjects. (There was even a “Filthy Libertines (18+)” sub for a while, which was closed due to preemptive concerns about minors.) Swear words (not slurs) were allowed and encouraged, and moderation was overall pretty loose beyond basic enforcement of civility. There was a lot of mutual support, creativity, and solid banter going around.

It wasn't just about Emilie on the forums. People could chat about almost anything with near free reign, making connections and lifelong friends. ... This community mattered SO MUCH to people. They felt included, accepted, and understood within the walls of the Asylum. People invested their time and creative energy into keeping the forums a vibrant, active community, and made sure that carried over into the real world. ... I've never seen anything like it in a fan space. I doubt I ever will again. (@Asylum_Oracle - “Fandom History” Instagram highlight 🔍📝, which contains most of the sources for this segment.)

And it did, indeed, carry over into the real world. There were numerous meet-ups – a few organized by EA, many more spontaneous. People who didn't know any other EA fans in real life, or were just excited to add new Plague Rats to their friend group, would regularly connect with other forum users from their area to meet up and hang out before EA shows. “Who else is dressing up??”
In 2008, for instance, EA held an afternoon meet-up at Lincoln Park in Chicago. 📺 The event was free to attend; it featured live acoustic music and a reading from EA's upcoming book, the intriguingly-titled Asylum for Wayward Victorian Girls.
On the appointed day, EA rolled up in a fabulously tousled red wig, bedazzled white corset and steampunk-altered wedding dress. She had brought friends alongs. Sporting blue hair and a pink bustle and corset was her Chicago bestie, the main forum admin. Rocking a guitar and a top hat was EA's sound engineer, the soft-spoken wizard behind the Victoriandustrial sound, who was also a forum mod. The photographer from the original Opheliac cover art was there as well; he was formally introduced by EA and got his own round of applause.

People who would never normally be involved in an artist's fanbase were in EA's world. And not only were they known – they were respected and incredibly active with the fanbase. These people who managed an online message board were willing to engage in real-world meet-ups (with no security??) because of how tight-knit the community they had built was. People turned out to this event. People traveled to go to this event. It was a short reading of a book that hadn't been released yet, and wouldn't be for some time. Why? Because not only was it a chance to meet Emilie and listen to parts of the new book, but it was also a chance to hang out with their friends from the Asylum. ... The fandom really was a family for a lot of people. (@Asylum_Oracle)

“SERIOUSLY, GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE.”

It all started with The End.
The End Records, that is! Quick refresher: in 2009, after three years or so with Trisol, EA split from the label over allegations that the owner was embezzling money from ticket sales. A few months later, she signed with The End Records. Understandably, EA still wanted to sell the album that had made her famous, and to which she had smartly retained the rights – which meant a brand new, “Deluxe” release of Opheliac. (Remember, from part 3? The one you could pre-order as a bundle with the book? Some projects are just cursed, I guess.)
At that point, Opheliac had been released three times already, as recently as the year before, with only slight variations in format and tracklist. (Yes, that is a theme in this story.) The End Records version would feature new cover art and a handful of new tracks, but overall, it was... you know... the same album.
(The following paragraphs are largely sourced from this excellent recap 🔍📝, which also provides potato screenshots for all quotes.)
One fateful day of August 2009, a user started a thread entitled “Opheliac US edition deluxe re-release??” in the “EA News” subforum. In the thread, some people were kind of balking at the re-do, pondering whether to buy the “new” Opheliac or sit this one out. Some expressed that after three years, they were jonesing for a new album. Others shared what B-sides or dream covers they would have liked to see included on the bonus disc. Just... fans being fans, in a fan discussion space.
And then EA jumped out from behind the curtains.

Fan: Okay. Before I start, I just want you to know that I think it's very good that EA is getting more popularity, and that she can release lots of albums, but - are 5 editions of the same album really needed? You may say now “ah, it's not the same, it has 2 bonus tracks” or whatever, but I mean: it's not new material. Now don't get me wrong. I'm happy for it, maybe I'll even buy it, but I'm just wondering if she shouldn't keep herself busy with other (maybe more important) stuff? * hides * EA: Nobody's forcing you to buy it. Thanks.

Record scratch.

Fan 1: is this Opheliac release version number 4? lol If she's recording NEW tracks, then surely they deserve to be sold by themselves, otherwise people are going to have to buy an album that they may have already bought twice (like me!). But... alas, I am a fool and adore everything this woman does... im buying it lol Fan 2: exactly – if it was just reissuing the last version of Opheliac to tap into new markets that would be fine (...) but if they start adding extra bits of material to albums people already have then the true muffins are going to feel obliged to buy new copies (...) EA: How exactly are you obliged to buy anything? Nobody is forcing you to spend a fucking penny, my dears. I suppose it would make more sense to you to simply not have my records available any more as the old label I just escaped from will no longer be distributing them? Forgive me for adding extra tracks. No obligation necessary.

...Okay, so I'm pretty sure that we can see both sides of the argument here. Fans are annoyed at the idea of spending money on barely-anything-new, because they love EA and buy every single CD she releases. EA is exasperated by fans acting like she's twisting their arm and somehow resenting the inclusion of new material, when she was just ensuring that her album would remain available for purchase and trying to keep things interesting.
But maybe we can also agree that those replies should have been screamed into a pillow rather than typed out on a keyboard.
EA was getting increasingly (and, I'll just say it: disproportionately) sarcastic and defensive in her replies. Enter poor FantineDormouse.
FantineDormouse meant well, I think. Maybe she thought, she's spiraling. Maybe she thought, friends don't let friends go down that road. Granted, FantineDormouse probably should have known better than to phrase it the way she did. Or to assume that EA perceived her as a friend.
Either way, at some point, FantineDormouse jumped in and posted the comment that finally made EA lose it. THE comment which, overnight, ended the honeymoon period of the Asylum, triggering a doomsday domino effect from which the fandom would never truly recover. Are you comfortably seated?

FantineDormouse: Uhm, Emilie, love, I don't mean to sound rude or anything... but maybe you should have a cup of tea and relax a little.

...
* sound of archduke getting shot *

EA: Excuse me? You can throw this onslaught of absolute cruel bullshit at me and those I work with in my own space that I own, and I can't say anything back? How fucking patronizing. Relax? Are you fucking kidding me? Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? FD: I'm not trying to piss you off even more, Emilie. And trust me, I have to deal with it myself, and as much as I would really love to punch the cunts I have to deal with in the face, I don't. You're pissed off, I get it. You're bipolar, which makes it 10x worse, I get that. I'm just not the person to stand around and do nothing when a fight where I'm pretty sure there will be a lot of regret is going on.

Famous last words. Literally! Immediately after EA delivered her irate closing statement – which includes one of my all-time favorite EA zingers, bolded...

EA: I cannot believe this... You just don't stop, do you? So just because I've shared the personal information with you all that I happen to be bipolar, I can't get pissed off at all of you being perfectly awful in the very space that I pay fuckloads a month to have up (has it ever occurred to you all that I pay dearly for this space you play around in?) Why not just tell me that I must be upset because it's my time of the month? Seriously, get the fuck out of my house. You are unbelievable, and your level of patronization is almost criminal. Don't make me write another book. With muffins like you, who needs enemies? Nothing I say or feel is legitimate, not ever ever ever because I'm bipolar... discredited before I begin... unbelievable...

...FantineDormouse got permabanned.
Jaws dropped. After days of infighting between white knights, detractors, and crossfire negotiators, several mod resignations, and general mayhem surrounding the ban, EA made a post entitled “In Which: I Invite You to Make a Fucking Choice.” 📝 For brevity's sake (cue laugh track), I can't reproduce it in all of its righteous splendor, but it's quite a read. It runs the gamut from fair and articulate points about how mental illness shouldn't be used to discredit someone's legitimate anger... to histrionic commands that “deserters to the cause” should “turn in their weapons” if they can't handle her way of doing things.

To those of you who appear not to understand why said posts, most especially those of the banned party, were offensive to me, I give you the option to either educate yourselves on your own time and in your own space (because please never forget that this is my space that I share with all of you at my own expense, and in which I generally give you all the freedom I would wish for myself), or to resign your posts in the Asylum Army – this is not the place for you, and I humbly suggest that you turn your attention and support towards other artists of a more placid, non-controversial, and less opinionated nature; there are more than enough of them out there, and I’m sure they all have forums of their own.

Some fans did leave. Most stuck around, whiplashed. Soon, the storm quieted down, and business as usual resumed on the forum. But something had been damaged beyond repair. The FantineDormouse fiasco had erected walls and drawn lines in the sand, both around EA and among her fans; its sad specter would haunt every Asylum crisis that spiked up forever after. “Fucking Patronizing Fucking” or “FPF” 🔍 became memetic shorthand in the fandom for overreaction and self-righteousness. 🐀
...And now you understand why, in the following years, some fans were so delicate and diplomatic in voicing their very legitimate complaints about messed-up orders, unsigned books, and puzzling lies... while unofficial platforms like Tumblr flourished with pent-up resentment and snark. 🦠

A NOTE ON HARASSMENT: “MAD GIRL, CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO YOU?”

Wouldn't they stop When you asked them to leave you alone? (“Mad Girl”, 2008 🎵)

Now, let's be clear, because it should not be minimized: EA has also been the target of genuine online harassment. Based on the simple fact that she is a woman with a public presence on the internet, I have zero doubt that EA has received (and perhaps continues to receive) more than her share of truly vile, bigoted, creepy and threatening messages – and, knowing what I know about the darker recesses of the Asylum, a terrifying amount of emotional blackmail and obsessive projection from people who hold her to punitively high standards. I'm also inclined to believe that it started way before she ever did anything that warranted any backlash. And that fucking sucks. It's repulsive and inexcusable, and the people who harass her should crawl into a hole and live among the worms.
Notwithstanding. In my decade-plus of following EA drama, the public comments on EA's own platforms (where people knew she was likely to be reading) have been, for the most part... civil and nuanced, and relatively mindful of the human? Even very confrontational comments (some clearly written from a place of anger and desire to shame) rarely resorted to outright name-calling or cruelty. When abusive or bigoted language did crop up, it was often promptly shut down by other fans as gross and uncalled for. In short: I have, with mine own two eyes, in real time, read some of the comment sections that EA described as cesspools of blind rage and odious attacks, and... I just couldn't see it.
If anything, for a long time, a lot of the angry comments directed at EA during any given controversy read more like break-up letters to an ex-best friend: harsh, curt and targeted in a way that cuts deep.... but also kind of screams how much love you still have for this person, against your better judgement.
Not that it wouldn't mess a person up to get hundred of those in a matter of hours, even if they don't individually qualify as “abusive”.
It's worth noting that prior to becoming semi-famous and regretting it, EA was also (by her own account and among other forms of abuse) a victim of intense childhood bullying. It feels like the two situations are closely connected in her mind when her focus seamlessly transitions from one to the other. 📺 I don't think that tremor in her voice is put on.
Based on her writings, I get the feeling that over the years, EA has developed a very black-and-white view of two monolithic groups of people. There's (an idealized vision of) her “real audience”, well-dressed, well-read, kind-hearted, and Asylum-savvy, who she fully trusts to “get it” – and buy it, and love it, unquestioningly, whatever “it” may be at any given time – because that is the true measure of love and loyalty. These are the people she makes art and merch for, the people she writes heart-emoji-filled newsletters to, and desperately longs to see in person again.
And then there's the lynch mob, those who really don't “get it”: the trolls, the faceless creeps, the basement-dwelling mouthbreathers, the ones who stalk her every move obsessively, waiting for any chance to spam her with vicious abuse and slander and obscenities. The latter only exist online (they are manifested into arbitrary existence by the internet itself, not by anything EA said or did), and there is zero overlap between the two sets of people. That seems to be the official narrative.

The "public eye" isn't an [enviable] place to be, and the closer I've come to it, the more horrified I've been. Because, for starters, who is "the public?" Is "the public" my audience? Hell no. My audience is special. They are not the general public. If they were the general public I would be a lot wealthier. The "public eye" means getting stalked, harassed, viscously judged, and put in danger. If I do things in the future that gain notoriety, I will do them in spite of fame, not because of it. I am out for world domination, but not fame. (Interview for The Moaning Times, 2014 📝)

In real life (well, mostly online, but I mean: on this shared plane of existence), things play out slightly differently. The Venn diagram of “true blue fans” and “people who criticize EA" and "people who know way too much about EA” is a circle. The call is 100% coming from inside the Asylum, and I think EA rationally knows that. But here's the thing: no matter how many shows and meet-and-greets you've dressed up for, how many loving and supportive comments you've left, or how many family heirlooms you once pawned to purchase a copy of the not-for-sale 2003 DJ pressing of Enchant... the instant EA feels attacked, everyone is a saboteur and a bully until proven otherwise, and suspected treason is dealt with on the spot. One strike, you're out. Unfortunately for everyone involved, her threshold for bullying seems to be “any remotely thoughtless opinion from any stranger on the internet”.
It makes for outstanding human-interest entertainment... but it also sounds an awful lot like the unhealthy patterns of a person suffering from all sorts of PTSD. 🔍 So, please bear that in mind as you read through this write-up. It's easy to make EA out to be the sole villain, a paranoid and delusional drama queen, based on her extreme reactions to things that often “weren't that bad”. Anything can, in fact, be “that bad” when you're thrown back into the very worst moments of your existence every time your brain decides that the situation is even remotely similar.
PTSD takes over your rational mind and actively distorts your perception of reality. That can be how a person ends up impulse-reacting to “a few people expressing an unfavorable opinion” as if the entire internet had just ganged up on them with knives. Which makes their audience feel unjustly accused, which makes them hostile, which gives the person actual good reason to feel attacked... and so the cycle of hurt continues.

You know the games I play And the words I say When I want my own way You know the lies I tell When you've gone through hell And I say I can't stay You know how hard it can be To keep believing in me When everything and everyone Becomes my enemy, and when There's nothing more you can do I'm gonna blame it on you – It's not the way I wanna be I only hope that in the end You will see: It's the Opheliac in me... (“Opheliac”, 2006 🎵)

And YES, it is extremely regrettable to have this as a trigger, when you're a public figure and you're bound to receive more negative feedback than the average citizen. “It's what she signed up for”, “it comes with the territory” and all that jazz. I really don't think EA was unaware of that fact when she decided to become a musician, share her personal life, and form an intense parasocial bond with her audience. But maybe she underestimated how hard it would be to process and recover from.
Just because you expect something unpleasant to happen, doesn't mean your psyche will be ready to handle it when it does – or that you'll pick the best and most effective strategy to deal with it.

A MADHOUSE UNDER MARTIAL LAW: MARCHING INTO THE FORUM WARS

There are two sides to every story... except for this one! (“If I Burn”, 2012 🎵)

You may have noted the military imagery in EA's “Make a Fucking Choice” response post – “resign your post in the Asylum Army”! What do psychiatry and the military have in common? They're both institutions of top-down social control. 🔍 EA's mixed metaphor may be a bit clunky, but it did foreshadow the evolution of the Asylum – in terms of aesthetics and power dynamics – in the years that followed the FantineDormouse incident and the release of The Book.
EA's next big release after the Asylum book came in 2012. It was a new album, an outline of the soon-to-be Asylum musical, called Fight Like a Girl (FLAG for short). As the name suggests, the main mood was bellicose. Incidentally, in the interim years, EA's communication style generally became noticeably more combative, incendiary, and (within her own spaces) controlling.📝 You remember those quirky word filters on the forum, that would change “fan” to “muffin” and “bra” to “teacup holder”? They kind of took on a Nineteen-Eighty-Four-burlesque flavor when you realized that one filter automatically changed “Fischkopf” to “Liddell” - and that circumventing the rule to address her totally real last name would get you banned, as would any discussion of her family. (“Wikipedia, random internet sites and heresay are not credible sources.” - Mod reminder of forum rules, 2010.)
Also, you try sustaining a serious, grown-up conversation among concerned fans about how Emilie Autumn should “take ratsponsibility for her mistakes out of ratspect for her muffins”. Thus, the official Asylum forum kept a tight grip on overt criticism of EA's claims and actions.

The Emilie Autumn forum is a dystopian hell. Truth be told, when I decided to leave you could not do anything but gush about Emilie. Otherwise all of her extremist arse kissing fans will be down your throat, ripping you apart in seconds, if you so much as questioned her behaviour. So much for freedom of opinion, let alone the idea of creating a harmonious community for ‘outcasts’. Hahaha. (2014 🐀)

The word filter thing really wasn't a big deal – I'm just pointing it out as one goofy expression of EA's need to control the narrative and rhetoric, which became especially noticeable in those post-book, pre-FLAG years. By that point, EA's fuse had been shortened by near on half a decade of non-stop touring / recording / writing / promoting / adjusting to the pressure and demands of an ever-growing fanbase, while also dealing with a horrorshow of personal turmoil and health issues behind the scenes. In other words: she was done taking any shit, in any form, or humoring anyone's ridiculous feedback regarding anything.
To be fair, it was never her forte to begin with. Will it come as a shock if I tell you that EA doesn't have the greatest track record for successful collaborative work? Let's do a quick-cut montage!
EA's very first corporate sponsor was her mother's “Enchant Clothing & Costume” online store 🔍; she went on to claim that her mother was dead. She sessioned for Billy Corgan, that went super well. 🎵 She liked Courtney Love for a minute, but that didn't work out because she felt that Courtney only valued her for her pee. 📝 (It probably didn't help that in early 2006, while EA was recording her post-break-up-tell-all album about Corgan, C-Love was recording her post-rehab-redemption album with Corgan. 🔍 Either way, EA didn't seem to like Courtney anymore after that. Courtney likes her, though! 📝) The one artist EA has ever approached for a duet (and by approached, I mean she recorded a demo and threw the CD on stage when he played Chicago in 2004) was, of all people, Morrissey. That never came to pass, thank mercy 🔍 – this fandom has suffered enough. In 2005, EA recorded some haunting vocals and violins for a potential collab with the frontman of Attrition. When, three years later, they were used on one track 🎵 of Attrition's All Mine Enemies Whisper, she alleged 📝 that the recordings had been obtained from her under the false pretense of a different project, then hideously altered to sound “out of tune”, and used without her permission. She enlisted her fans to boycott the album and the band, and threatened legal action. Meanwhile, on LiveJournal and Attrition's message boards, band associates were appalled: according to them, EA had been aware of the project's nature from the start... and had been completely unreachable, even through her label, during the months of its development. (Besides, Attrition is a semi-obscure English darkwave band from the 80s, whose micro-distributed albums don't even have their own Wikipedia pages... so I wonder what EA was hoping to get out of that theoretical lawsuit. These people own nothing but vintage gain pedals!) The song “Cold Hard Cash” 🎤 by Angelspit (who contributed a remix to one of her EPs in 2008) may or may not be an EA diss track. 🐀 Back when indie jewelry brand RockLove (which now has licensing deals with Disney, Marvel, and DC) was still someone's bedroom project, their first drop was an EA-inspired collection 🔍, which appears in many early Opheliac photoshoots. The partnership was terminated on bad terms, for unclear reasons; the RockLove owner shared in a statement that EA had “drunk the cool-aid” of Trisol Guy's shady business practices, and that the two of them had been spamming her with “crazed angry message[s]” for days.
Why am I talking about this? Because it was precisely one such ill-fated business partnership that triggered the Great Asylum Secession.
One fine day of spring 2010, the owner of vegan make-up brand Aromaleigh popped onto the Asylum forum to announce that they were cutting ties with EA, with damning receipts of copy-pasted emails (lost to time). Basically, the brand had been sponsoring her for half a decade, and while Aromaleigh had been actively promoting her music and tours, EA hadn't exactly been returning the favor. (Indeed, the extent of EA's sponcon seemed to have been a banner link to their website on her front page, and a single “random drunken endorsement” LiveJournal post that kind of reads like satire📝, from 2005.)
EA responded by banning the owner's account, deleting the thread, and posting this flippant statement a few days later:

Dearest Plague Rats, To be honest, I have no idea of what the hell happened with Aromaleigh, and I don't care to find out – the whole drama is a complete mystery to me, as I've been away for months touring and have not been in contact with anyone. All I know is that I've been promoting the company for ages and have not asked them for anything in years. (...) Please focus on more interesting things. I am. (“Save the Drama...” forum post, March 2010)

Posts questioning her good faith in the conflict were deleted from the forum. Shortly thereafter, citing how prolific and labor-intensive the Asylum forum had grown, EA shut down all non-EA related subforums – which, among many other topics, included a pretty active thread about Aromaleigh products.
So one Plague Rat decided to create a separate, members-only forum 📝, where users could recreate some of the now-defunct off-topic threads... and also freely voice their critical opinions of EA's behavior without fear of backlash from mods or rabid stans. Thus, “The Reform” was born. (Reform [n]: amendment of what is defective, vicious, corrupt, or depraved.)
For a few weeks, the two-state solution seemed to work fine. And then word spread among forum mods and other diehard fans that there was this horrid other forum, where obsessive haters gathered to spew disgusting lies and vitriol about EA... and soon enough, it was bedlam in the Asylum.
Any explicit mention of the Reform was forbidden on the Asylum forum. Suspicion of participation in the Reform would get you banned. The party line was that The Reform was the enemy 🐀 – even though a number of people were active on both forums, because they liked freedom of expression almost as much as they liked EA. Double agents would lurk on the forum and report back with snark material; sycophants would infiltrate the Reform to identify traitors – much to the amusement of the “haters”, who mocked them and their ilk for “licking EA's pink sparkly boots”. There was no containing the seething, or the sass, among Asylum ranks.
Pretty soon, the insubordination spread to Tumblr. There was the “Ask the Reform” Q&A blog, where questioning fans could interact with “Rebel Rats”, get more details on past drama, and make up their own minds about the people EA called bullies.
And then, there were the “confession blogs”, which published anonymous submissions about EA, positive, negative or neutral, with little censorship. Finally, you didn't even have to pick a throw-away username on a private forum to voice your hottest / strangest / most controversial EA takes. Fans could vent, rant, lament, wonder, shitpost to their heart's content, anonymously. Obviously, given the context of frustration and censorship in the fandom, a lot of the first waves of confessions were EXTREMELY negative.
EA's acolyte Veronica managed to get the first one shut down. If memory serves, she misunderstood the confession blog format, and may have believed that all the posts on “Emilie Autumn Confessions” came from one or a small group of individuals. She was genuinely devastated, and wrote the blog admin to let them know that they were a terrible person who said terrible things. The admin was mortified, apologized profusely and deleted the blog of their own initiative. (Which goes to show that the concept did not come from cruel and malicious anti-fans, as detractors often claimed.)
But a new blog sprung up almost immediately, with a different mod team, and did not surrender. And much like in EA's own book, once the Plague Rats found out that they possessed the gift of speech... well, they really took to it.
Established in 2011 and passed on through generation after generation of mod teams to the present day, Wayward Victorian Confessions would turn out to be the longest-lived institution in the EA fandom. For over a decade now, through all the bleakest nights and dankest debacles of the Asylum, and despite its initial reputation as a troll den, WVC has acted as a kind of neutral ground and vox populi for the active fanbase and anti-fanbase. (The last nominally-active EA fansite to date, She Fights Like a Girl, is actually an offshoot of WVC: one of the old admins created it as a database to answer “frequently asked questions” about EA.)
Wayward Victorian Confessions has now outlived every other EA platform, official and unofficial. Were it not for the continued existence of the “troll den”, what little fan community survives in 2024 would be non-existent, plain and simple. To quote from late 20th century Canadian philosophy: isn't it ironic?

I feel like [WVC] is the only place I feel any of that old Asylum community kind of feeling I felt before EA got so focused on the book. It sucks that it’s so full of unhappiness, and I wish she hadn’t poisoned the sanctuary she claimed to have built. It’s just kind of fallen apart, like a crumbling building. (🐀 2016)

CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

I was scraping a website for a personal project without using a VPN (stupid, I know) and I'm pretty sure they blocked my router's IP, because now no device connected to my router can access the site, they all get an Access Denied error.
I can still access the site through my phone's 5G or by turning on a VPN while connected to my router, but it's annoying, and I'd like to get myself unblocked.
I read that if I kept my router unplugged for a few hours that the ISP would assign it a new public IP address which I thought would fix the problem. However after leaving my router unplugged for >24hr, the website is still blocked, so I guess that didn't work.
My next step is contacting my ISP to change my IP on their end, which I'd rather not have to do. Any idea why unplugging my router for an extended period isn't fixing the issue?
In case it's relevant, I live in an apartment building in Canada.

So, here is a little context before we get into this whole deal. My girlfriend and I established months ago that I didn't like her texting her exes or having anyone present from her past with whom she has had flirtatious or romantic relations. It's just how I am; if she didn't like it, she should've left then. It's also worth mentioning that I know she is texting her ex because I have her Instagram, but she forgot I have access to it. I also know the guy's account because when she was at my house once, he tried to text her, and I asked her to block him, and she did. Fast forward five months, and here we are. We've been dating for eight months, and it's been a sketchy eight months, to say the least. But I'm in it for the long run, and I've had her back throughout this entire time. I have refused to give up on her because, based on her past, she had it rough, but I love her for her and not her past. I've done it all for her; I've stayed up late so I could make sure she is okay mentally or physically; if she was sick, I'd ordered her soup; if she needed cream for her eczema, I ordered it online for her if she was upset I'd listen and put everything aside for her, I even taught her how to drive for god sakes, and even when I wasn't in the wrong, I'd apologize to her so she felt better. And not to mention the hundreds of little thoughtful things I've done for her, like sending her a pin of her favorite princess with a handmade note and a drawing of her favorite show characters and even making animations for us and edits. She has done some things for me occasionally, so it's not like she doesn't do them either. It is also worth mentioning that when it was my turn to express something of concern to me, she would get mad at me for overthinking or claimed I was just being "insecure." I wanted to marry this girl, but now I wonder if I can even trust her, and of course, trust means everything in a relationship. Like I said, I only had two boundaries, and to think she already broke one, which was so easy to prevent, crushed my soul. I will be 100% honest here because I want honest advice and not biased advice. She and I are long-distance, so it's much tougher than being face-to-face. So that already makes it hard for those going to say, go up to her and confront her or talk to her in a calm space. I want to be more mature, so I'm trying to keep my cool even though I know deep down this stings, and she is the first love of my life. Back to the point, I found out she unblocked the guy today and texted him first. She asked him how was the country/city he visited, which, by the way, that same country/ city he visited is the same country/city she lives in, and on top of that, remember when I mentioned he texted her at my house? He also visited that same country/city before I told her to block him. He responded, "What happened?" and she said, "You texted me on Epal that you visited my country." Yeah, guys, she did Epal before we dated too. (Epal is a site for paying a person to spend time with them). It's also ironic because 2 days ago, she told me one of her old clients had texted her on there to catch up, but her ex did too, and she never told me about him, only the old client, and she still hasn't told me, yet she showed me a screenshot of the old client catching up with her which could've been a client like she said. But even then she never mentioned her ex reaching out on there too. She had claimed that she was delusional when she loved him, so she didn't really love him, but if that's the case, why would she ever text him again, especially if she knows it's my boundary? They haven't spoken since (which was 2 hours ago) because the guy hasn't replied yet, but what should I do? I'm anxious and scared, and I took a screenshot of their chat for backup if I need it as proof, but I don't want to use it yet because I'm unsure if I'm overreacting. I haven't said a word to her because I want to walk away from this as the bigger person while also getting some revenge for wasting my time and emotions. The amount of time, effort, tears, and money I put into this relationship and the fact that she still hasn't told me is bothering me. What should I do?

I'm making a Youtube documentary about Corey Pattakos, a nearly-forgotten controversial scenester who was popular on MySpace and Stickam during the 2006-2009 era.
From what I can tell, he was one of the earliest people in the Arizona scene community, and was actually pretty huge on MySpace/Stickam. But at this point, a vast majority of his content is lost, most discussions about him from the era are lost, and it seems rare that people talk about him. So for the past couple months I've basically been gathering everything I can about his story (and downfall) in an attempt to preserve a piece of internet history that was almost lost forever.
Now that I'm just about to start writing the script for that video, I was hoping there might be people here who could offer me some insight into what the culture was like among the Stickam community at that time, since the site's content is just about completely lost at this point and I can only gleam so much from profile archives. I wanna make sure I don't misrepresent or misinterpret what the site and its community were like, and what it was used for!
Bonus points if you can offer any insight into Corey himself at that time!
EDIT: WARNING, don't go to Stickam in modern day, it shut down a decade ago and now it's a pr0n site

i have a dell chromebook. everything is blocked (not through go guardian the district blocked everything) proxy sites are blocked, and websites for vpns are blocked. can’t even go into dev mode. ik it’s possible on our chromebooks cuz some smart nerdy kids found out how to unblock it

I haven’t played this game since 2019 and I’ve been looking for this game again for a long time now. In the begging of the campaign you had to save a doctor. The games enemy was called unknown. I don’t remember much of the game but there were multiple maps that you could play in and I think it was somewhere around a 5v5 or something like that. (I don’t remember the gaming company but every time you would load in it would say new games every week.) you could have played the game on unblocked sites but I don’t remember the name so I can’t find it. I don’t have any picture of the game to so it’s really hard to find. This is my first post so I’m really sorry if this is bad.

They will do everything to keep your account locked, and hope that you surrender and don't write to support anymore to unblock your account so they can keep em for themselves. Even if you send them all the required information, your account will not be unblocked.
Imagine the reason of account deactivation "as your account has been inactive for some time, we have temporarily deactivated your account for security reasons..." and they ask for transaction hashes that I did years ago, why should an account be deactivated when 2fa is active, if it will be hacked, let it be, I will lose my cryptos and thats it, better leaving the crypto to the hacker that to this scam site

Many already know about the story of Raghaven a.k.a. "The Man who killed Google"
Quality matters, the Product matters! Can anyone realistically say that Google search is delivering the best PRODUCT anymore? Having the top results polluted by Reddit, Tiktok, Youtube, Twitter, or "Forbes top 10 (insert niche topic)" /= the best "product." Break this monopoly up already. No site should have to be this fkn dependent on Google. This is prime time for other competitors to pounce on the opportunity. Google Search market share is going down and solutions like ChatGPT etc are going to do nothing but grow.
Google Search is "too big to fail" --
So were:

• AOL
  
• Yahoo
  
• MySpace
  

etc. at one time

It's amazing how much society has changed in my lifetime due to advances in technology. When I was born social media probably didn't even exist in the dictionary. Okay, I had to research to make sure I wasn't saying stuff that wasn't accurate and I'd say I'm right. Of course I wasn't that old when the term first came out, but I am older than the term "Social Media."
I remember first hearing about MySpace when I was in high school and I never was one to keep up with the times, when it came to fashion trends or whatever I was kind of clueless. I also wasn't a super popular kid or had many friends, so maybe that's why I didn't know what MySpace was even though many of my peers did. While I was somewhat curious about it, I wasn't really that interested in it or finding out about it until end of senior year when a friend mentioned it and I knew that we'd all be going separate ways and I saw it as an opportunity to stay connected.
I don't remember exactly what MySpace said back then, but I remember reading about some sort of age requirement, like if you click on a link to a site with mature content it'll say you must be 18 to enter. I don't remember what the minimum age requirement for MySpace was, but I do remember there being one. Apparently most social media platforms now require youth to be at least 13 years of age, but I know for a fact that there are a lot of youth younger than that who have TikTok and Instagram. I looked it up and that's what it said and it even said that it's not enforced, of course it's hard to enforce when it's so easy for anyone with basic technological knowledge to create an account. Most kids these days are so tech savvy that, creating a social media account is one of the easiest tasks they could complete.
Personally I think the minimum age requirement for using social media should be 18, but that's just me. I can't control everyone else and what other people think or believe, but I really think 13 is still too young to be on social media.
I recently came across the public Instagram account of a minor and I'm not sure, but the individual may or may not be 13. Anyway, this young person had selfies, or photos of themself in a room. It wasn't the photos themselves that made me raise my eyebrows, but it was the lighting of the room, the outfit the individual was wearing, it wasn't super risqué, but everything about the photos working together created suggestive images. It looked like the individual was in a club or bar and wearing clothes that were somewhat suggestive, and the poses were a little suggestive too.
Not that it's any of my business or anything, but either the parents are clueless or I don't know, but if I were a parent and I found out my kid had an Instagram and posted photos like that I would not be thrilled.
I don't have kids of my own, at least not yet, but I keep telling myself how I would raise them and I probably wouldn't get them a smart phone.

Hi, I am starting a YouTube channel and possibly a Podcast. I am purchasing a domain with the same name as much channel/podcast. I am 100% new to web hosting and have no idea what is a good company or not. I have a few questions that hopefully someone will be able to answer, or at least point me in the right direction. Background: (LumpyLarryLives.com) Not the actual name, but using for an example I have already checked and the name I want is available on Youtube, apple podcast and .com/net/org are all available as well. I have no experience with HTML other than what I could do back in the Myspace days. 😅 I would also like an email that includes the site name (IE Larry@Lumpylarrylives.com).
My questions: •What would be the most user friendly web host company for a newb like me to use? •Do any of the companies offer diy website design? (I have the time to invest in learning how to do this) •Do any of these companies allow sub-domains? (I don't need any now, but in case I want to add sub pages like a blog, or gallery page, or store I would hate to have to move my stuff to a new web host) •I’ve read that it’s a good idea to purchase all 3 of the big extensions (com/net/org) to better protect your brand. Is this worth it?
I really appreciate any feedback.

17-minute read.

summarized segments from PM Pashinyan's 4-hour-long press conference

PASHINYAN: Over the last several years we came to realize that certain issues were incompatible with the idea of having an independent and sovereign Armenia. Certain agendas were shown to have a predetermined outcome with the goal of preventing Armenia's development as a state. I have shared details on numerous occasions. It became necessary to review Armenia's development strategy and the need to develop the "Real Armenia".
Today Armenia has and must have an independent foreign policy. Armenia's internal policy is driven by the will of the people.
The purpose of the existence of the Republic of Armenia is not to serve "historical justice". Its purpose is to establish personal freedoms, happiness, and prosperity for its citizens and diasporans who wish to repatriate.
We must have social justice in Armenia based on the idea of assisting those in need so they can have the skills and jobs necessary to make a living independently.
We must deepen our relations with neighboring Georgia and Iran, control and reduce the hostility with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and integrate with regional communication routes. The Crossroads of Peace logistics project would promote Armenia's integration into economic routes and reduce the likelihood of conflicts in the future.
In the area of defense, we are diversifying our foreign relations, reforming the army, and we need to implement and comprehensive defense system.
To be able to diversify foreign relations [closer ties with the West & the delivery of Indian weapons through the territory of Iran or Georgia], Armenia's stance must be based on legitimacy [no territorial claims against Azerbaijan]. We will never be able to diversify our relations or use the diversified relations effectively without having a position based on legitimacy.
The army reforms must also be based on legitimacy, and its purpose must be the protection of Armenia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. There will be no army reforms [Western advisory & assistance] if our stance is not based on legitimacy.
The economic development, which is a prerequisite for the achievement of other goals, must be based including on the development of human capital in Armenia.
The implementation of all of the above requires peace. The peace agenda has been a priority for us, partly because the mechanism of guarantees [by Russia] didn't work. Only peace can guarantee Armenia's security. The peace agenda is a tool to ensure Armenia's security.
We must create the conditions for peace, and we have launched that process in Tavush. The border posts installed in Tavush are "security guarantees" and we must do everything possible to strengthen those guarantees and multiply them. //
Border Commissions of Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on April 19 to reproduce the borders based on the 1991 Almaty Declaration. During the upcoming meeting in Kazakhstan, foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will discuss the inclusion of this principle in the larger peace agreement, said Pashinyan.
The demarcation is conducted based on the latest USSR maps that hold de jure power. That's the principle. They avoid pointing to a map from a specific year because each section of the border could have de jure maps prepared in different years. Pashinyan offered journalists to meet off the record to share more details about the de jure maps. He said it can't be publicized in order not to jeopardize the ongoing delimitation process.
Why are the parties delimiting the borders from the ground up instead of simply using the delimitation work carried out in 1988, during the final years of USSR? Pashinyan says the 1988 efforts were not legally finalized and "didn't have time" to undergo the necessary procedures to go into effect, hence the need for a new process.
PASHINYAN: Today we are using maps that reflect the borders between Soviet Armenia and Soviet Azerbaijan at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. With the Tavush process, we have chosen a path to exclude the possibility of a war. This isn't just about Kirants and Tavush, this is about the Republic of Armenia.
The border delimitation aims to make the possible war illogical, unlikely, and not worthwhile. Some 90% of the work is complete. The further it goes, the more illogical a war becomes. We are delivering on our 2021 promise of taking steps to establish peace.
This is the first time in history that we create security guarantees ourselves, no matter how challenging it is. This is part of being a sovereign state, when you face your own issues and make sovereign decisions to resolve your own issues. This is a major political and socio-psychological shift for Armenia. //
Pashinyan said it's necessary to ensure that Armenia is not viewed as an "occupier" of Azerbaijani villages, and explained why it was important to launch the delimitation from Tavush:
PASHINYAN: We are talking about actual [4 Soviet-era Azeri] communities where people lived. The escalations in 2021-2022 caught the interest of the international community, and sadly, on international platforms, the aggression against Armenia was "justified" including with the use of those Azerbaijani villages. It was both surprising and unfortunate that in a situation [20121-2022] when we thought we were the "plaintiff", we became the "defendant". We were asked whether we recognize each other's territorial integrity or not. "Then what is the problem that's preventing you from resolving the issue of these villages?" So we are launching the delimitation from Tavush to avoid a new war.
Critics and I look at this through different lenses. They talk about "surrendering trenches great for defense", and I'm talking about preventing a war so you won't even need to use those trenches. Today there is a process, including by the clergy, to stop the process of developing guarantees for peace, to stop the process of strengthening Armenia's sovereignty. There will be a war if we don't delimit these 4 villages. I'm confident that this was/is the goal of certain forces that wish to create conditions to allow them to hijack power so they can make some other decisions for Armenia [Tatarstan].
Are you paying attention to what the opposition members are saying? One of their leaders went on air and questioned the expediency of holding free and legitimate elections because they - and certain external forces [in Russia] - understand that they can't win power through legitimate elections so they need to destabilize the situation by inciting a new war so they can hijack power without elections. This is their plan:
(1) Derail the border delimitation and incite a war that will lead to the occupation of Armenian territories.
(2) Use that to overthrow the government.
(3) Install an illegitimate marionette government.
(4) De facto dissolution of Armenia's sovereignty and statehood, ahead of its de jure dissolution.
Who are the supporters of this process [rally against delimitation]? Narco-barons hiding in Russia [Panama Papers' Mihran Poghosyan]; criminal elements recruited by foreign intel agencies or at a minimum people acting under their influence; the former NSS chief Arthur Vanetsyan who was recorded on tape, which wasn't published in full, with the rest of the tape being kept to ensure he served their interests. What could be in the unpublished portion of the conversation? Could we find out one day that Vanetsyan was illegally negotiating with Kocharyan's son-in-law Mikael Minasyan to register part of the Zangezur copper combine's shares under his brother's name [Context: Pashinyan has accused the ex-regime of illegally appropriating the shares of Armenia's largest miner. There was an investigation by an independent media outlet about Vanetsyan's involvement in Zangezur. This was before the recent partial nationalization.]
These are the people who claim they are worried about the homeland today. Why don't they return those illegally obtained shares if they are worried about Armenia? It is inevitable. I want to inform you that these shares will belong to the Republic of Armenia. These illegal assets will be seized and returned under the ownership of the Republic of Armenia. //
Pashinyan vented about the quality of journalism in Armenia, accusing outlets of spreading unverified information as facts and not attempting to ask him directly for clarification when they were given the opportunity during one-on-one meetings.
PASHINYAN: You read these articles about my family members visiting somewhere and returning home with a "submarine", but when the opportunity is presented, these outlets never ask me to clarify whether it was true. Why don't you grill me right now for using a submarine to travel from Gyumri to Yerevan? It's as if these articles are being written for the sake of saying something rather than presenting facts. //
Back to borders.
PASHINYAN: Today the Border Commissions are tasked with reproducing the border on the ground. They are not engaged in politics, geopolitics, or proving the other side wrong. They are reproducing the de jure borders. In the Kirants section, 8 border markings have been clarified and installed. The other 3 are more sensitive [might pass through a house] and more detailed work will be done because, in those 3 points, every centimeter will matter. It has to have a centimeter precision. It's a laborious task but the problems of Kirants residents are our problems, my personal problems. For them, we have to come up with realistic and satisfactory solutions, even if not "ideal" solutions. We are reviewing the property ownership records as well. //
Pashinyan said he had to organize this press conference on May 7 instead of May 8 - the day when he became the PM - because tomorrow he has to visit Russia for the EAEU economic meeting during which he will also meet Putin. He said a number of issues have accumulated on the AM-RU agenda that need to be discussed.
The permanent housing assistance package for Nagorno-Karabakh refugees is being drafted and will be ready soon. Pashinyan said the refugees will receive help to build or buy housing, or a mortgage subsidy if they have already purchased a house. For refugees who are unable or do not wish to take part in the aforementioned programs, they will receive assistance in the form of social housing, meaning they will live for free but won't own it.
The amount of housing subsidy will be in the ֏3M-֏5M range, per family member. So a family of 6 would receive $41,000-$77,000 depending on the geographic location of their choice.
While speaking about the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh negotiation process, Pashinyan repeated that after 2016, the resolution package on the table required: the abolition of the governing system in Nagorno-Karabakh, the return of Azeris to Nagorno-Karabakh, the joint control of Nagorno-Karabakh by Armenians and Azeris, no independence, and the lingering possibility of war.
PASHINYAN: We had to surrender all of that, and even then there was no guarantee there wouldn't be a war because there would be no final resolution. This outcome was predetermined. Nevertheless, the Armenian people are overcoming the mentality of being a [Russian] fortpost today. This creates the groundwork for a lasting statehood for Armenia. Today we see the horizon after overcoming all these tragedies. Since taking office in 2018 I had the feeling that Armenia was in a deadlock. Today, for the first time, I feel that we have overcome that, thanks to the delimitation in Tavush. We are the ones creating the "guarantees" for us. //
When asked why he won't take part in Russia's May 9 celebrations, Pashinyan said he visited last year and that Armenian leaders don't have a record of attending every year.
Regarding the recent ban on Russian propagandist Solovyov from Armenian airwaves and possibly a wider ban on Russian channels, Pashinyan said foreign programs must respect Armenian laws:
PASHINYAN: Can you imagine the broadcasting of a channel in Russia that uses a similar language towards Russian law, the state, and its government? Do you think the channel would exist even if they used 5% of the same language? The AM-RU media agreement requires respect for Armenia and its interests. Since we have friendly relations with Russia, we can ask nicely once and twice, then demand once and twice, and if it's still ignored, they will all be shut down in Armenia. We are serious about defending Armenia as a sovereign state. I can GUARANTEE you, guar-an-tee, that these foreign channels won't be aired in Armenia if they continue to ignore these demands. It appears we have asked twice, demanded once, so there is one more "demand" left. //
QUESTION: Russia and Azerbaijan demand a Russian-controlled corridor from Armenia, citing the 9th paragraph of the Nov 9 statement.
PASHINYAN: (1) The other paragraphs of Nov. 9 were ignored. (2) The 9th paragraph is not about connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan. That's the impression they are trying to create, but the 9th paragraph is in reality about the unblocking of ALL communication routes in the region. Azerbaijan has yet to unblock any of the routes for Armenia. Name one route that Azerbaijan has unblocked. We, on the other hand, proposed the installation of border checkpoints to establish connections, including between Azerbaijan and Nakhijevan. Azerbaijan is refusing to take advantage of this opportunity. Azerbaijan says if we don't give them a corridor they will build a route through Iran. Our response is that we are ready to provide a road similar to the one provided by Iran. There is not even a "hint" in the 9th paragraph that limits Armenia's sovereignty.
(3) There is an attempt to create the impression that under the 9th paragraph, a 3rd party [Russia] must guarantee the security through the territory of Armenia. Quite the contrary; it directly states that Armenia shall guarantee the security of connections.
(4) The 9th paragraph makes no mention of any part of Armenia becoming outside of the reach of the Armenian government and being "controlled" by Russia. It's written that Russia oversees the transport connection. What does that mean, you may ask? Pay attention to the Russian government decree adopted after the Nov. 9 statement, because it clarifies what the 9th paragraph says. The Russian decree instructs Russian agencies to "oversee the implementation of transportation guarantees provided by Armenia". In other words, the subject that provides the guarantees is Armenia, not Russia. This doesn't even mean that Russia must be present on the ground to oversee this, because it's possible to oversee the process by receiving regular reports from Armenia that Armenia is delivering the guarantees [Relevant: In 2022-2023 Armenia's NatSec Armen Grigoryan suggested that Russia could use "cameras" to oversee the process remotely. It appears Pashinyan today supports even less direct involvement by Russia, in the form of "regular reports", whatever that means.]
PASHINYAN (continues): There can be no comparison between this and the Lachin corridor. They are completely different. The Lachin corridor, under Nov. 9, was a territory with a specific width that had to remain under the direct control of Russian peacekeepers. Those who accuse us of violating paragraph 9 are making baseless claims. They must admit that this is an attempt by them to coerce an unacceptable concession from Armenia that is not described in paragraph 9. That is the truth.
There is a Lachin corridor in the Nov 9 statement. Is there a Lachin corridor on the ground today? It doesn't exist. Why?
There is a "line of contact" between Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the Nov 9 state. Is there a LoC on the ground today? Where is it?
The Nov 9 says there is Nagorno-Karabakh. Where is Nagorno-Karabakh today?
The Nov 9 says there are peacekeepers that will ensure the security of the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. Did they? They did not. Where is the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh today? //
Regarding the delimitation of 3 problematic areas in Kirants where the border could pass through a couple of houses.
PASHINYAN: Kirants is my homeland. I grew up in these areas and my children spent their vacations there. We regularly visit Kirants and other villages with family without disclosing it. Do you know why I do not oppose delimiting the border even if it causes controversy and property issues for some residents? Because we were finally able to reach an agreement around the principle for the delimitation of the entire AM-AZ border, welcomed by the international community. We cannot throw away the hard work and the principles of delimitation.
There can be no external "security guarantees" for Armenia. Armenia itself must forge those "guarantees" with its own efforts. That is what we are doing today. These are the "security guarantees" that you asked for Kirants and Tavush. This is part of the peace agenda. //
When asked about police brutality, Pashinyan acknowledged some problems but said a legal force should be used when appropriate, citing the recent clearing of university campuses in the US. Pashinyan said the government has launched a process to clarify the rights and responsibilities of officers so they will avoid investigations and prosecutors while the public will be treated fairly.
Pashinyan accused "failed religious leaders" of attempting to pursue a political agenda.
PASHINYAN: They failed to connect people and God. There are sadly many ranking churchmen, not all, who failed. You can talk to them dozens of times and they will never make any mention of the Bible or verses from the Bible. They are focused on business dealings, cement and concrete transportation, customs clearance, moving money from one account to another, public transport ownership, comparing the latest model of Mercedes with the old model, etc. Who are these people?
I'm not really surprised that they are involved in politics because they have no place in the religious world; it's just not for them. I doubt they have read the Bible in full. Based on the language used by them, you can tell they haven't opened the New Testament for quite some time, and they don't possess the nuances of the gospel. I say this not as a Prime Minister but as a man who believes in God. I speak as a follower of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Our church leaders have failed in their mission. I'm probably the last person in Armenia who says this; everyone knows that's the case.
They are bored of religion, they want to be in politics. Under the old regime, the church members had their "quotas" [monopolistic privileges] to conduct business. Import and export of cars, Bentleys, Lexus, Mercedes... yev ayln. Today everyone is free to do business, which means economic competition for these church leaders. This sums up the whole story.
They say the "temple" [opposition] will defeat the "street" [Pashinyan's 2018 revolution]. How will the temple defeat the street? Who is on the streets? It's the citizens of Armenia. How do they plan to defeat the street? The people's will is unstoppable, and people want peace. Those who preach war are destined to fail. // [Should Pashinyan resign and lead the church? Leave your insightful opinion in the comment section below.]
When asked why he visited daddy Erdogan's inauguration ceremony but not papa Putin's, Pashinyan revealed that he didn't receive an invitation from Putin, but even if there was one, he said would likely miss it because of today's press conference.
When asked whether the church leader Garegin Beta should step down, Pashinyan said the Government should not interfere in those matters.
PASHINYAN: Nevertheless, we must acknowledge that Catholicos Garegin B is leading a political movement today. That is very obvious. Today we know the purpose of this movement from the spokesman of the church who said the goal of this movement is to bring back the former regime. This strategy was mentioned by the leader of Armenia Alliance [Robert Kocharyan] on how to use the church to replace the government. A churchman said he has the blessing of the Catholicos to proceed with the process. That means Catholicos is the real leader, with the primary beneficiary being Robert Kocharyan. This isn't even an assumption, this is based on their public statements.
We are aware that some members of the clergy oppose this process. You remember how there was a movement "New Armenia, new Catholicos" after the 2018 revolution. They attempted to accuse us of being behind it, but in reality, not only we did not sponsor it but we were against that process because we didn't believe the Government should meddle in those affairs. //
HOST: This just in. The administrative head of village Kirants was allowed to visit the border marking sites. During a follow-up interview with the press, he said their expectations have been met and exceeded, and that it's more positive than what they expected.
PASHINYAN: During my recent trip to Kirants, the scenario I presented to the residents was the worst-case scenario. I also informed the residents of Kirants about the positive aspects of the delimitation and the possible economic benefits. I won't rush to make more statements and politicize the work of the Border Commission. The head of the administrative district of Kirants is actually a member of a [recently formed] working group adjacent to the Border Commission [Context: Village mayors were invited to oversee the Commission's work to ensure transparency for residents].
source,

former ambassador-at-large Edmon Marutyan released a video praising the Armenian church for its "liberal values", criticizing the Pashinyan administration for a "Bolshevik" campaign against the church

Marukyan is upset that the ruling faction accuses the church leaders of being "Russian agents" and for dismissing them without engaging with them.
Marukyan says it's normal for the church to be in politics and for deeply religious figures to be members of the government. He brings the example of Donald Trump, who is selling Bibles for a buck; Erdogan, whose party is deeply religious; Israel, whose coalition has right-wing religious figures; the United Kingdom, which has Bishops, etc.
In related news. Former Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan has joined the anti-delimitation march organized by the ARF/church.
source, source, source, source, source, [կանսեռվա]

mayor of Tavush village Kirants about the ongoing delimitation process

REPORTER: Eight border markers have been installed. Where are they, what's the latest news?
MAYOR (Kamo Shahinyan): I've seen the markers. There is a height called Khachi located right on the cross. They moved the border about 25 meters down from there, for which we are grateful to whoever was able to accomplish this. Some of the territory went under our control, and some under Azerbaijani control.
The "nose" part is what's left, the area immediately neighboring the village, the most difficult part. The 9.5 hectares that we were supposed to lose were moved down the river; not a centimeter of land belonging to us passes through there. On the back side, there are 3 personal properties and if you draw the line straight they will be inside Azerbaijan but they said they plan to curve the line. With this technique, we can maintain control of our lands.
REPORTER: Where is the most problematic area?
MAYOR: The bridge and the [area immediately next to the village where the border protrudes into the village]. Most of the work has been done near other markers. Moreover, some of the areas that were part of Azerbaijan under the 1985 map went to our side.
Near the Gholi Chal area, we were expecting them to draw the line to pass through our side of the river, but it passes on the Azeri side.
Most of the concern is with the "nose" and the personal properties of villagers in this area. As of right now, there is no Armenian-owned registered property that has fallen under the Azeri side as long as they curve that aforementioned area instead of drawing a straight line.
Do you see this large 9-hectare orchard? Not one centimeter of it goes under Azeri control.
REPORTER: Is that Ms. Karine's property?
MAYOR: Yes, people. Ms. Karine's lands remain under her control. I'm satisfied with how it's been handled so far.
REPORTER: [The groups were home today]. Is it possible they have frozen the activities on the nose section to distract you and buy some time? Because you are assuming a responsibility, you are presenting this in a positive light...
MAYOR: I'm telling you what has been done so far. I'm not the one to provide guarantees. They are going to deploy people [border guards] near the border markers to protect the area. For now, I think they will deploy NSS agents.
REPORTER (Azatutyun): So we haven't made concessions at this time?
MAYOR: We have not made concessions. There are only 3 land plots with uncertainty and it depends on how curved the line will be. That is the latest. It's going normal so far. //
In other news. Opposition outlets reported that Azerbaijani special forces were seen in village Kirants. It turned out they were Armenian agents. The ruling party accused the opposition of recklessly amplifying the anxieties of the residents.
source,source,

mayor of village Voskepar about the ongoing delimitation

REPORTER: What was lost during the delimitation near Voskepar? Did any territories of Voskepar go under Azerbaijani control?
MAYOR: No part of Voskepar has gone under Azeri control.
REPORTER: How did the border change after the installation of border posts?
MAYOR: Do you really think people knew where the border was BEFORE this process? The process is so far in line with our expectations and understanding. There are areas where we keep more than we thought we would. Azeris moved further back in some locations so instead of a 120-meter distance it turned out to be 170.
REPORTER: What about the army positions?
MAYOR: We have not left any of the positions.
REPORTER: In other words, there has been no damage as of now and you are not displeased with the demarcation works?
MAYOR: I'm not displeased with the work so far.
REPORTER: In that case, why was there a noise generated by the opposition and the church, why did people take to the streets?
MAYOR: Ask them, but I support the fight against unilateral concessions to protect our lands.
source,

Donald Trump defends Azerbaijan's good boy U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, accused of taking $600,000 in bribes to promote pro-Azerbaijan and anti-Armenian legislation

Trump claims without evidence that Cuellar is under attack for wanting to defend the southern U.S. border.
source,

Armenia will receive $100 million from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development to fund the Government's economic reform plan

efficiency of the labor market and sustainable development

source,

Yerevan State University has a cleanroom certified under ISO 7: VIDEO

It's being used for nanotech and semiconductor research, practice for students, and projects funded by grants.
video,

Armenia will host the World Weightlifting Championship in 2027: VIDEO

It will be the first major Olympic sports to be held in Armenia.
video,

foreign trade stats: Q1 2024

Exports 2.7x ($4.4B)
Imports +76% ($4.7B)
source, source,

Ad Block Plus has started blocking ads even when I've set a site as "unblock"... is anyone else seeing this with the latest update (Chrome)? This can be devastating for some publishers, and in some cases I truly want to support these sites, so it's quite a disappointing bug to have been introduced.

Free movies, torrents , mods, phone hacks anything....lets make it the most useful Post.
I'll go with mine.
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➡️ Ad Free YouTube?
Firefox+ unblock extension both PC and mobile
Revanced, for Android users.
And add yours.....

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Marduk is obviously ahorrible person and a wanted criminal. One day, he and Bryan ran into each other. Both being subscribed to each others social media accounts, they decided to do a collab. The theme was, Who’s the better Psychotic Murderer. Fahk’s family gets caught in the crossfire. He was away training like Goku with Josie training under him. Lidia, who happened to secretly follow both Marduk and Bryan, decided to intervene. She leaped 300ft… wait she’s Polish… she leaped… let me do the math… convert feet 🦶into centimeters… carry the one… okay, she leaped a 100000000 cm from the air from her helicopter. Marduk sees her coming and tries to sidestep, but since he didn’t pay for her dlc, he doesn’t know that move tracks and is unblockable. She lands straight on top Marduk ‘s face, superhero style. The impact causes a floor explosion into combo into wall spat into heat burst into blah, blah, blah… he’s knocked out. She arrests him and sends him to prison. Bryan got bored midway through her combo and pulled his Ethernet cord. Lidia looks around for Bryan and realizes that he ducked their match. She sends him a dm through psn saying “tchórz, walcz ze mną, suko.”
“Oh u mad🙃. I left because you’re boring. I’ve tasted water with more personality than u. And say 😘 to your account.” Bryan immediately report her and got her temporarily banned off psn. She growls then sees Marduk’s unconscious body and thinks about committing brutality and claiming diplomatic immunity. People arrive with cameras and since election is coming soon, she hops into her helicopter and flys off, leaving Marduk in the hands of the oh so capable normal human authorities. Fahk sees what happened on the news and plots his revenge. He beats up some corrupt degenerate politicians, gets himself locked up and sent to the same prison as Marduk, but by that time, Marduk already escaped. Now fahk having attacked very powerful and influential politicians, they treat him worse than Marduk. He’s basically locked under the prison and chained up like an Egyptian mummy. Anna infiltrates into prison, puts on a pair of shiny black heels and a sexy lawyer costume and pretends to represent Fahk. Since she’s so thicc and fine and confident, nobody dares to question her. They end up giving her an unscheduled tour. When the guards leads her into Fahk’s room, she hits them with the sidestep cancel into plus frames. Being normal people, they passed out from the pain three moves ago. So, she melts all of his 207 locks instantly with a well placed heat engager. Since fahk is too damn tall and Buff to convincingly pull off a disguise, she leads a daring escape in the style of The Raid Redemption movie. Anybody that stands in their way gets vaporized by their buffed dlc bullshit and Anna’s crouching low launcher into full combos. Obviously, they escaped and the “totally” legal black site prison burns down to the ground.
Don’t worry nobody got hurt in the fire. The first rule of storytelling, Schrödinger Red Shirt. Characters ‘killed’ offscreen are simultaneously alive and dead until you show them again. Meaning, if you don’t see people die, it’s safe to assume they’re still alive. That’s at least what Harada told the Ratings Board as he slipped them a fat envelope of cash.
Lidia scrolls Reddit and after she finishes defending her return and trolling everyone that talked shit about her not coming back and that Reina took her spot, she notices people incessantly bitching about Anna and Fahk’s broken dlc bullshit during their prison break. She calls the prison and gets a message saying that the number is no longer in service. She learns that they had escaped and since this is election year, she has to act fast. Also, since people have been complaining about her being boring and bland as untasted bread, she tears a couple inches off her skirt, unbuttons her blouse a bit, puts on a shiny pair of heels and goes to the hair salon before hopping onto her helicopter. Her popularity goes up 300% and she’s trending #1 on XXX formerly known as Tweddy, that was recently bought by Elron Musty.
Fahk follows a trail of body hair, empty protein bar wrappers and size four shoeprints in order to find Marduk. They have a very manly bare chested showdown in the pouring rain. Anna having a crippling addiction to social media and a raging revenge boner, she records the fight live and tags her sister Nina. Anna says, “after we’re done with Marduk, you’re next bitch… and I want my red shoes back mf.” Nina knows that her sister is high off of the dlc buffs and sends the video to Lidia’s dms along with Anna’s location. If Anna survives, she’ll deal with her after Harada nerfs her into irrelevance.
Fahk is having a hard time with Marduk since throws have been buffed combined with Marduk already being Top 5 in T7 and the dlc buffs. Fahk is about to lose when Anna installs the team battle mode.exe. Together, they use their overpowered lows and shatters Marduks shins. Anna also being a thirst trap social icon, records herself choking Marduk into unconsciousness with her thighs. Cash app and Venmo explodes into confetti due to the volume and sudden donations. This publicity stunt soared Anna’s net worth into Fortune 500 territory.
Lidia drops from the sky and she’s cracking with overpowered energy. She not only has the dlc buffs, she has two dlc buffs plus the launch pre-nerfs bullshit. Even with their combined strength, Lidia proves too strong. Nina is standing on top of a building, watching from a distance. She sighs, then pulls out a missile launcher and fires it at Lidia. The only person allowed to beat up her sister and humiliate her in front of millions of her adoring fans is her. Lidia power crushes through the oncoming missile, but that gives Anna the chance to ch low launch her into a death combo. Anna turns to see her sister waving and laughing as she catches an Uber driver helicopter. Perks of working with Kazuya.
Julia watched Anna’s entire live stream and noticed that Ganryu had subscribed to all her accounts. He has only ever subscribed and liked her posts. Her toxic traits convinces her that she can outdo Anna’s live stream and even though she hates ganryu and has a restraining order against him, she can’t stand him obsessing over another girl. Stalkers aren’t allowed to multitask.
Harada vomits on my shoes and passes out. The End
If you need me to verify all of this. I have ironclad Reddit proof. My proof is, “Trust me, bro.” You can’t get more verified than that. Take care y’all.

I'm trying to open a port on my router for a Minecraft server port"25565". I've opened a port-forward with that port but I can't connect to it. I tried running the server and checking if the port is open with this site: "https://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/" but it says it's closed. I've also tried unblocking all Java and Minecraft apps through Windows Fire wall it still didn't work. I've run Minecraft servers through my PC but that was with my old router. I switched to a new router and I can't port forward anymore please help me.
"I don't know that much about routers".
>My router: Netgear Nighthawk RAX75 AX8 AX5700
>I'm running my PC on Windows 10.
>I've tried running another server on my laptop and it still didn't work.