Quotes about missing someone but moving on

Whistleblowing - information regarding GameStop Playr.
A close friend of mine runs a small start up game studio who was tapped by GameStop for a partnership related to GameStop Playr 8 months ago. They wanted their web3 title to be one of the launch partners for Playr. My friend’s company spent almost 6 months, many overhead hours, rebuilding their game to Playr’s spec, GameStop’s legal requirements, and refactoring their backend to accommodate the 50M user base GameStop said they’d be bringing into the launch partner games.
They signed the agreement with them and the day they were supposed to go to press to announce, they couldn’t get in touch with their point person for a PR quote.. they ended up emailing his manager and were told he was let go. Manager said he would do the quote so they waited, but didn’t hear back from him. They then followed up with someone above him - that manager was let go. Person above him was then let go. Entire web3 division was fired. Every email they sent bounced, they were completely ghosted… to date, my friend doesn’t talk publicly about what happened because they have no idea if their agreement is still active. Never told a word beyond “we will get back to you for the quote”.
At the time, they hyped up their web3 community for a big announcement and subsequently dropped the ball when GameStop left them holding the bag. Most of their community turned on them believing they lied about it all - they couldn’t even tell them what happened because of the mnda. It destroyed their project & momentum for their game..
It’s really sad because it was really supposed to be their big break - GameStop had promised them a dedicated page on their website, onboarding their 50M user base, a huge marketing campaign… they were one of a handful of titles that a GameStop exec handpicked. All they had to do was a massive refactor to make it work with GameStop Playr and they’d have it all.
So they burned six figures in overhead they didn’t have, lost months of development time, lost the trust of the community they built for years. Gamestop couldn’t even tell them they cancelled or apologize for that matter.
Hard to watch gme stock price make rich the executives while my friend’s small gaming start up goes under. Had GameStop never approached them at all, that probably wouldn’t be the case, but with any pre-rev indie game studio, a blunder that large is hard to recover from.
Pouring one out for the real little guys - all the start up titles who were part of the defunct Playr launch.

I am a 34 yr old gay male. Ive always had a cold relationship with my mom ever since I started working in high school and showing that I was a go getter compared to my older, loser brother who can do no wrong but of course he’s the favorite. Ok sorry lets not get distracted haha back to this altercation.
My Nmom is in her late 60s, in a wheelchair and on a fixed income and finally situated in an affordable senior housing complex which is cheap, safe and clean. I’m truly happy she’s there. I’ve gone no contact before for about a year and it was extremely peaceful however with family coming to town and other things I’ve opened up light communication with her from time to time. She’s been mentioning how she’s been dating a mid 30s Asian man who’s a billionaire prince in a foreign country. He’s in love with her and she’s toying with the idea of moving out of the country to live in his family castle. (MY OH MY HOW I WISH THIS WAS TRUE HAHA). Apparently all of the local women around him just want to use him for his money so he somehow found my Nmom on Facebook dating to seek a true love hmmmmm ok right, textbook romance scammer. There’s also been a few other incidences where my Nmom has reached out to me freaking out because someone called and told her I was arrested for drugs and another time I was kidnapped lol which also let me know that she must be speaking with some type of romance scammers who are using information against her and it actually concerned me because I don’t know how much information she is sharing with these people and it genuinely freaks me out but Anyway it came to my attention she sent $500 to these scammers and it pissed me off and I confronted her about it. I advised her that she is more than likely involved with a scammer who is just using her for whatever they can get from her, the young billionaire prince is not real and it is a scammer. It also upset me because for years and years I paid my Nmoms bills and literally kept her off the streets and in turn kept my brother off the street since he would live with her for free at times. That was during the time I was still deep in the narcissist fog. Anyway I was upset she sent strangers $500 but won’t even offer to take me to lunch, go figure.
When I was bringing my concerns up to her that she is involved with a romance scammer she told me she knows what she’s doing and I should worry about having sex with a woman and making a baby instead of worrying about her. Of course this completely shocked and threw me off. Especially since my mom knows my sexual orientation and has known since I was in high school haha it was a typical narcissist distraction tactic. I personally don’t desire to have children of my own but it did hurt me because my life choices allowed for me to be able to afford paying her bills while my older brother who has 4 kids he doesn’t care for has done nothing for her and they’ve both mooched off me. Anyway the comment was so left field, I just had to hang up. I realized there is literally nothing I can do and truly need to stop caring because my mom is not right in the head, so rational conversations don’t go anywhere.
It all just makes me genuinely want to move out of state and just be so far away from them. Definitely need to go no contact again and try best to avoid flying monkeys.

Salam everyone! I wasn't active on reddit for a while due to my diploma exams, but Alhamdulillah they went well and InshAllah I'll be getting the grade I want to get. I feel so happy about finishing; I even got a full scholarship to go to a top university in my country, Alhamdulillah (If you've seen my posts about taqiyyah, you'll know this is a big deal as I will be moving out inshAllah), but I still can't be truly happy as my mom hasn't spoken to me in a week.
My mom and I are really different, but that doesn't matter much to me. I think it does to her. Alhamdulillah she is a practicing Muslim, and I have grown to be more religious since 2023. I started wearing the hijab, I read quran on a regular basis, I pray and fast and Alhamdulillah I am working on my mentality in this world and not just my rituals. For some reason, my mom has not shown me support with that. She was against my hijab and cried for nights when I made the decision (She's a hijabi herself!!!!), and we fought multiple times because of it. She's given me really mean comments about it, and I've cried many times for that. Just a few days ago, she spoke to me for the first time to accuse me of lying to my teacher because I didn't want to attend a class (I had an exam, but I also wanted to go out after it. I just told my teacher I have an exam so I won't come. I didn't know that was considered lying, but I repented either way.) She accused me of hypocrisy, that I choose where to be religious and where not. This made me cry so much. I felt like I am just trying my best and i didn't know, and I just want my mother's support.
The reason she is not speaking to me is this. A week ago, I told her that the seniors of my school (im a senior) are planning a camp night in school. Basically, they'll spend a night in school in tents. I don't enjoy their company at all and I certainly know this is an activity I will NOT enjoy. I told her about it; she was against sleeping. I said Alhamdulillah. Then, I said: "They probably won't sleep anyway. I think they'll just stay up late with music and dance and freemixing. Maybe I can go the next morning to have breakfast with them only." She saw red. I felt scared seeing how fast she switched. She said that no I will go and stay up late with them. I said "why? I won't enjoy." My dad also said to her that it's okay leave her be she's happy like this. And she got so angry after this. She started saying that I think I'm better than everyone else and that she's forcing me to go. "You want me to leave you be? You'll see how I'll leave you be later on in life!" As a convert in taqiyyah, this really hurt me, because not a day passes where I don't think of the day they'll actually leave me when they find out about my conversion. She said that all I care about is my studies. Yes! That's the only thing I care about now! After religion of course. I don't understand. I have friends and I go out so it's not like I'm lonely Alhamdulillah. And my studies are such a priority to me. That's what got me a scholarship. And I did it all for her. She's a working mother, and I see how much she struggles for us. So I worked so hard in order to make her relax in regards to college tuition. "In college, everyone will live their life and you will be stuck in your dorm room studying like a lonely person!" Huh. I study so much, yes, but I also have a social life and friends and everyone at school knows my name.
After that yelling fit she had, where I didn't say one word by the way, she hasn't spoken to me. And it's not only silence, it's also anger. She's really angry at me. This anger is what makes me feel bad. I know we are not supposed to obey our parents when they command us to do something that God didn't, but it's the anger of a mother which makes me feel like "what if this is angering my God too?" I appreciate my mom so much. She works so hard for us. Despite her not speaking to me, I still kiss her goodnight and goodmorning. But she is just so angry. I thought about apologising, but for what! After reading all the ahadith on the rights of parents over us, I overthink if God is even accepting my prayers as my mom is angry at me.
I missed this subreddit. Thank you for reading this far. My situation reminds me of our mother al-Zahraa SAA. Whenever I cry for my mom, I start sending salawat on Fatima PBUH. I think that's the good thing about this situation. Alhamdulillah.
Salawat on Muhammad Wa Ali Muhammad.

Hey all. I was talking to a girl, and felt quite attached as I've never clicked with anyone like this before. She made time fly. As time went on things happened that caused us to part ways. We only knew each other for a short time, but it doesn't make the experience any less real.. they gave me excellent closure, almost the best I could ask for. Knowing they care was a big help, it made me feel better. I hope in future as time goes by they still feel the same in terms of what we had meant something even if it was messy. That's just 100% just my insecurities since I'm hyper emotional right now, I don't doubt her feelings, it's just time can change things obviously. But I'm glad they care.
And it's only super recent past four ish days the parting happened, but my gut is in absolute agony, alongside my mental, just the missing them, wanting them, every emotion in the book.
I can't really do much to function, will it get better? It's good I feel emotional, means I care, I know they want the best for me, it just still hurts super baddddd, does it get easier even if I genuinely believe it currently won't? I can't imagine waking up and just not caring one day. I don't about other people I've parted ways with that I never thought I could, but this one genuinely feels different. Any objective blunt advice on parting ways with someone you genuinely felt for.. thank you.

To start things, we had a thing for a year, kinda a relationship but not really, we were both happy though for roughly 6 months, but right around that time mark i started to notice really weird actions like taking pictures of our chats (it could have been the stupidest thing said) and she would still just need to take a picture of it, most the time shed try to do it without me knowing but i would since shed go on her computer. Anyways, the point is, she had 720 pictures and 4 screen recordings (I remember that number exactly) over. A years worth of conversations. Ontop of that, she also would check my live snap location many times a day, and would bash me if i was active for 1 minute before responding to her. I was naive, i thought she had just really liked me, and in turn, i unfortunately fell in love with her. Things went on, getting sour, i noticed she had been backing away but how could she? After saying everything she had said? (Like in a loving way) It was so confusing and so hurtful and she needed a break and then i found out she was with one of my friends and “getting touchy” (no sex) and then came back day after. Now i know its stupid as fuck to take someone back afrer they leave you for someone let alone talk to them but i thought she was genuine, she didnt have much experience and was confused, and it was a grade a opportunity, i mean my friends dad litterally coaches a professional sports team. After i had got back together with her, she had lied about how she felt, it is obvious now but, she wanted another break out of nowhere and now were friends. Sorry, “friends” because i havent responded to her in a while. Thats basically the story in short, but the things that lead onto the “manipulation” (i put that in quotes since i need help determining whether or not this is actually a case of this) every single time ive ever talked to any other women its been BATSHIT. absolute batshit. She would talk about fate and meant to be and how everything is crumbling, like lady… every time ive tried to leave her life, blocking her, unadding her, telling her goodbye i wish you the best, she always finds a way to slither back into my life and im not even sure if i can do anythint wbout it anymore. Im friends with her brother, her best friends, parents, and were going to the same college come fall. Im not sure what to do here, i feel as though i have been manipulated since she has litterally been leading me on and off for a year, feeding me with shit i wanted to hear. And the worst part is im pretty well off the in the female department, meaning i had opportunities to get with other people during our thing! But nope, i sacrificed everything for someone who will remove me from their life but when i try and remove them, its war. Hell i even tried ending our streak a couple days ago, and i got hit with a “ph youre trying to leave again huh” 🫣 wdym by that lady, and before any “block her” reccomendations, i kinda cant, but know that im like 70% moved on already, and ive also already accepted the fact that shes probably with another fude rn. Help. Lol.

My ex and I broke up a few months ago (it was mutual due to circumstances). He wanted to stay friends but I said no but we could after months have passed. Then my ex got with a new person a week after our breakup. It made me feel so unworthy but I had my life to live so I tried to put on a fake smile and move on. It’s been about 4 months and I’m still in a hole. I feel fine one week then crash the next. I’m in that crash right now. It’s so upsetting that my ex is out there forgetting about me and having the time of his life with this new girl while I’m still stuck here, trying to get past the pain and hurt I got from him. I started to doubt myself and gaslight myself into thinking if I had been a better girlfriend, would he have not gotten with someone new? Would he have reached out? Will I be okay… how do I fully let go? How do I stop feeling like I’m such an easy person to be replaced and stop being jealous of the girl that got what I wanted.

My husband and I just got married 6 months ago and I got pregnant right away just as we both wished. We have been together for 4 years, lived together for 2 of those so it was an easy adjustment after our wedding day. About a month later my husband wanted me to quit my job and be a housewife so that he could focus on his career while I took care of our home and baby to be. He told me that he would work a typical 40 hour week with 2 days off. I was never concerned about our income because we made more than enough to support us both including our baby otw so I agreed to this arrangement. I enjoy cooking, cleaning the house, doing the yard work and running all the errands. It has never been an issue for me (still isn’t) but I can’t help but want to give up on all the responsibility and say fu*k it because my husband has completely neglected all my emotional and physical needs during this pregnancy. Around the time I was 8 weeks pregnant my husband decided to get a second job behind my back. He now works 70 hour weeks with NO DAYS OFF! When he does have time off he spends it with friends or says he’s too tired to be with me. The first thing that came to mind when I found out was “Are we not financially stable?” See, my husband and I share a bank account and talk through all the bills together as a team and we both have our own set allowance of how much we can spend on ourselves per month. HE DOESN’T NEED THE SECOND JOB! We have had many conversations over the past few months of how alone I feel, that I need time with him and that I need someone to help support me during this pregnancy. He always replies with “I am here for you” or he just actively falls asleep and/or ignores me when I communicate to him how I’m feeling. During these conversations I tend to cry because of all the hormones and emotions running through my body at once and almost everytime he looks at me with the coldest face or falls asleep on me while tears run down my face. I never get even a little hug or any reassurance. This was not the person I fell in love with and it doesn’t seem like him at all. I miss him a lot and more than anything I want him to be involved in the pregnancy. When I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum in the first trimester it would cause me to vomit 12 times a day. If my husband happened to be in the room while I was sick he would say “you’ll be okay, do you want some eggs.” He had a tendency to always bring up food in the middle of me throwing up and when I would tell him to stop he’d either continue to bring up different foods or leave the room and not check on me again. Then later when I was struggling with vitamin deficiency in this pregnancy he would never check to see how I was feeling nor would he educate himself on what i struggling with at the time. He bought himself a $400 Lego a couple days ago and when I told him I needed to get some maternity clothes he said that I shouldn’t be purchasing stupid stuff like that and that I should only purchase needs not wants. I found it pretty amusing that a $400 Lego was considered a need and maternity clothes are just my wants, but that’s besides the point. I have asked him on several occasions if I have done anything to cause him to be this way and he always tells me nothing has changed and that I do everything the way he wants it. Soooo, someone please give me some advice on what to do about this. He has turned into an emotionless human being that I have never met before. I don’t know what to do! I am pregnant for the first time in my life and have no one to love or support me. I don’t want to resent him, but also don’t want to be miserable.

Im just going to preface this and say that this is not towards all NP’s or PA’s, and I’m just sharing my experiences. I’m not trying to discredit them, but once again this is my experience. I’m not a Karen, I swear. I’m a young adult who has a handful of health issues that I just want help with.
I am someone who has a bit of health issues, and I have for mostly my whole life, yet these past few years it has only gotten worse. And because of this, I frequently have to go to the doctors or get referrals. This being said I swear that whenever I go to an office for the doctors all I can get is a nurse practitioner or a PA. So, typically I give them the benefit of the doubt and just see how it goes. So far 7 times out of 10 they genuinely have no clue what I am talking about or have no explanation, or just a general lack of training.
I had this really good dermatologist who was very very intrigued with how my body works. My body is very sensitive to the environment, and frequently break out into hives over things I can control, I can even trigger it if I wanted to. He attentively listened to everything I said, look at the proof I have on my phone, would perform tests in office and educate me thoroughly on my conditions. I have cold urticaria, pressure urticaria, cholingeric urticaria, as well as dermatographism. So sadly my doctor had to move to a different state, and I had to get a new dermatologist. So, I walk into the new place and she introduces herself, and she is a PA, okay great. However, upon explaining to her what I had been diagnosed with and need help with, when asking questions, she could not help me. She couldn’t help me with educating because she had no clue what they were herself. The only thing she knew was the cold urticaria which she solely focused on and performed another test on me so she could see it herself. I had to inform and educate her on my conditions.
Okay, another example is I had to go to a psychiatrist, and the office referred me to a NP. Once again, okay great. I went in there explaining my issues and I would tell her basic things and I don’t know what she couldn’t comprehend. She couldn’t explain things, wouldn’t even explain my supposed diagnosis. Id ask her questions and she would beat around the bush. What really made me mad about this NP is how she acted with me when I tried to get her to give me a doctors note for accommodations for schooling. For one, she made me wait four months for it even though once a month I had to see her. I had to beg her up and down for it, and I gave her the requirements and everything. She gives me a paper finally, and it looks like I drafted it up myself so the school wouldn’t accept it. I told her that they wanted her license number at least because she wouldn’t even put it on a header. She flipped out on me, she refused to give me her license number and told me she wasn’t giving it, and if they wanted it that bad they can look it up themselves.
I go to a new gynecologist the other day, and what do they put me with, a NP. Well, I was going in there for valid concerns, and plus I needed a new once since my other one became a professor. However, I explained to her my past with medical stuff. TMI it was irregular periods. And I swear to god this woman, who should know all about this could not give me an explanation by saying that I’m just young, that’s all it is. Girl, it’s been about decade with a period, it should be regulated now when it was fine for years. Then when we were talking about me and autoimmune disorders (which is a whole other story), she once again had no clue. I ask her a couple more questions so I could educate myself, and her response is “yeah that is weird. I don’t know.”- girl, come on now.
Then, I was at the ED because I was having heart issues. My heart rate would go into the 170-180s and plummet, and they assigned me a NP who looked at me for one second, said I was fine, sent me home. My ekg results came out as abnormal, and on top of that I had to go to a cardiologist where I was diagnosed with a heart condition. On top of this, I was irritated at her because they had be in the waiting room for about 6 hours, brought me to a flex room that didn’t even have a bed, it was a chair, and I was sent out immediately. I had to wait a few more hours and eventually I said to my mother, I don’t feel good, I want to go home. So we go to the desk to discharge, and they are like “are you sure you want to leave, your doctor was just about to discharge you?” First of all no doctor came over to us, second of all the woman I seen for 1 second had come into the waiting room FULL of people announcing my test results and blood work.
All I’m asking is for someone who can explain things and know what they are doing. But once again, they don’t have the same training as doctors. Doctors had pre med, medical school, residency, attending, etc. and only a couple for the others.
This is my experience.
Also, I can also admit I’ve had some good NP that I’ve seen in urgent cares and such.

First of all, I know it might be selfish to get kind of mad or frustrated about listening to her problems and trying to help her, after all its her who deals and lives with those issues like the fightings between her family, serious anxiety and more, and she can only come to me for all of that because she has very few friends. And I've always done my best to make her feel better, I worry a lot about her and we really love each other but lately I've been feeling kind of indifferent and maybe tired about her problems, I just don't know what to do or what to tell her know and everyday is a different thing, that's why I also feel selfish.
I'm also frustrated because she always wants to be with me, If I go out with my friends she gets mad, if I don't visit her at her work or house she gets mad, if I go to the bathroom and I take too long she gets mad (although she's kind of right, I do take like 20 minutes sometimes) and I really enjoy my time alone but she thinks that I don't miss her or that I'm being distant when I'm just like watching a YouTube video taking a break from everything (because we used to work together). To be honest I'm exaggerating a bit, she doesn't get that angry about these things, we've talked about this and she doesn't complain about certain things anymore. Also she's really been through some rough and serious stuff in her childhood and life.
But I'm so tired of a lot of stuff and little things about her that frustrate me, there are a lot of instances that there's nothing too serious going on but she feels so bad, sad or angry, and I just want to tell her that it's not a big deal just get over it. Like today, there was a pre sale for tickets to the twenty one pilots concert, it was our first time buying tickets for a concert so we were a little late and couldn't buy them so its been a really bad day for her because she's a huge fan, but why get so stressed and sad the whole day when there's going to be another sale the next week. Really sometimes I feel like she's a little child throwing tantrums and sometimes I feel like her dad having to console her or guiding her trough terrible choices that she makes sometimes or things that she doesn't know how to do. And I should really understand how she feels because I have borderline personality disorder and I know how it feels to have terrible control in my emotions but still I feel that she makes a bigger deal out of smaller things.
I don't know what to do anymore, I really love her, we really love each other and want to get married and have kids but these things really overwhelm and frustrate me and I don't know how to tell her all of this because I don't want to hurt her or make her feel guilty. We started going to therapy (separately) at the start of the year because we wanted to better our relationship, and I've been feeling like I'm really improving but she just stopped going and said she just doesn't feel like there's a change. I know it's not my responsibility but I'm really afraid of what could happen or how she could move on if we break up, and even though I've thought about it I don't really want to break up with her
Just to clarify a few things before I finish, she has 20yo and I have 22 andit's our first serious long lasting relationship. Sorry about my awful writing, English it's not my native language and I'm afraid of posting in a Spanish subreddit because I don't want her to read this and finally thank you so much for your time reading this

To make a long story short I have always struggled to make friends. Even as a little kid the only time that I would really become friends with people is if I tried to fit in or if I did things that aren’t like me to do. For starters Im a bigger girl (I do plan on having wls) and I’ve always been picked on about my weight, not to make this a sob story or whatever.
I’ve tried going to my college campus clubs, I’ve tried bumble friends, I’ve tried making friends in my work establishment and it never works or if it does I’m the one who has to constantly reach out and I’m over it. I did cut my two closet friends because one of them partakes in things that I don’t want to be around and the other one has mental issues but was a straight up loon.
At this point I’m 21 years old and I don’t want to die alone, being a lone sucks. I’m not in a relationship and that also sucks, I’ve prayed to God about helping me but I feel like I’m stagnant and not really moving anywhere. It feels really uncomfortable and I don’t like it at all, I feel like I’m being punished for cutting people out of my life. Or maybe he wants me to wait until I loose enough weight but it’s really depressing and degrading if that’s the case. I don’t understand why I can’t have friends that are just genuine good people.
Relationships may be a little bit different, idk I just kinda gave up with trying to find one because when I have tried it never works( unless I have horrible taste). I know people say you have to get out the house to even try and find friendships or relationships but the majority of guys I do run into are already in relationships and I’m not praying against them because that’s wrong. Idk, I think I might just be desperate for a connection and I’m missing out on the bigger picture

He called me pathetic. Pathetic for no longer wanting to live any longer. After 5 years together, I found out he was cheating on me, he lied to me when I had evidence, allowed me to starve myself and bedrot due to finding everything out, acted like he was concerned and didnt know what was wrong when I passed out from not eating for days until I finally reached out to someone for help. I just want to die. I'm tired of feeling worthless, the person I loved the most proved I am. He mocks me about having my family as support and the ability to just move back in with my parents after leaving him when I found out, but even with support, I can't stand to live any longer. I'm just a burden to them now. I've always known I wanted to control my own ending and this has cemented things for me. He pressured me to be with him, to upend my life, left my friends and family, and move in with him, all for him to have been killing me slowly the entire time. I had to leave my job when I moved, so now I have no income. I don't even have to energy to apply for jobs. He lovebombed me for 5 entire years. He gaslit me into thinking I was the problem. I'm the idiot for still wanting to be with him, I guess I really am pathetic.. This is not just about being heartbroken, it's a culmination of all of my failures in my life, this was just the icing on the cake. I have no purpose and I never have to be for real. I just don't want to hurt my family. My mind is a constant war zone.
Thank you to the girl he was cheating on me with, if it weren't for you banging on our door and ultimately outing him, I still be living the delusional dream that I so stupidly and desperately want back. But I'll never get that back and it's time to finally end my life. I can't take anymore failures.

I've been meaning to make this post for a while but life kept getting in the way.
There is a bunch of new (well, new to me) stuff I've discovered over the last few weeks, and wanted to share my thoughts with you.
Let's start with the "prequel" (although never canonically confirmed) to the Marathon series was a game called Pathways to Darkness. The backstory for this game is:

Sixty-four million years ago, a large extra-terrestrial object struck the Earth in what would later be called the Yucatan Peninsula, in south eastern Mexico. The dust and rock thrown up by the resulting explosion caused enormous climactic changes in the ensuing years, and many of the Earth's species became extinct during the long winter that followed.
The object itself was buried thousands of feet below ground, its nearly two kilometer length remarkably intact. It remained there, motionless, for thousands of years before it finally began to stir-- and to dream.

Hmm. Buried below ground. Finally beginning to stir and dream. Who does that sound like?
Let's keep going.

The heat of impact liquefied the rock around it, which later cooled and encased the dead god's huge body far below ground. As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality. Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment.. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality.
Like Fingerrats? Or like Spider-wolves?

Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

Caverns and landscapes. I want to expand this point here for a bit because it's also mirrored across Alagaesia.
Let's start with Helgrind.
For any FV enjoyers, I've previously speculated that Helgrind is a reliquary, or a previously living being that was transformed (a la Ctein).
But the curious thing here is the timeline of Helgrind and it's tunnel system, taken with the above context.

Q: Assuming it wasn't built by the Ra'zac themselves, was the lair inside Helgrind purpose-built for the Ra'zac and Lethrblaka, or did they appropriate it some time after it was built? If it wasn't built for them, what was its original purpose?
A: Partially natural formations (linked to tunnels elsewhere in Alagaësia), partly expanded by the priests of Helgrind and Galbatorix himself.

But... The Ra'Zac didn't inhabit Helgrind until at least after the Humans came over. So these tunnels underneath Helgrind existed before the Ra'Zac, or Galbatorix ever set foot on Alagaesia. Which, I don't know about you, but a massive network of tunnels does not smell entirely natural to me.
So.. where else are there "natural" formations that link to other tunnels elsewhere in Alagaesia?
We've seen these "natural" formations in Vroengard:

Q: The deeps under Vroengard, were they created by the riders or was it a previous system of caverns that they repurposed?
A: Previous system. I mean, there's been work done on them, but... 'It looks similar, parts of it feel similar to the caverns that we encountered in this book. They both have that hole in the cave which goes deeper, with something in the hole that's not clearly defined.' Yeah.

And we've seen similar depictions in the Beors, and Nal Gorgoth. So from the Beors to Vroengard, "natural" tunnels exist underground. I don't buy that they are entirely natural.
Given the context of the Marathon game above:

Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

I think these tunnels came from Azlagur.
Let's switch gears here, I want to talk about another archaeological mystery in the world of Eragon - El-Harim.
I believe El-Harim was heavily influenced by the (not canon confirmed, but implied) prequel to the Marathon games, the Pathways into Darkness

Pathways casts the player as a member of a US Army Special Forces team sent on a mission to the Yucatán Peninsula. On May 5, 1994, a diplomat from the alien race known as the Jjaro appeared to the President of the United States and informed him that on May 13, an ancient godlike being sleeping beneath a pyramid would awaken and destroy the Earth. The only way to prevent this catastrophe is to prevent the god from awakening. The eight-man Special Forces team carries a nuclear weapon, with the goal of entering the ancient pyramid, descending to the bottom level where the god sleeps, and activating the bomb to stun the god and bury it under tons of rock.

Getting into a bit more of the backstory:

Only during the last few centuries has the god begun to effect changes on the surface of the Earth. Grotesque creatures have been sighted deep in the trackless forest of the Yucatan, and strange rumors of an ancient pyramid-- which is neither Aztec nor Mayan-- in the same area have been circulating in the archaeological community since the early 1930's.

Pyramid, eh? There are two different options here I can think of that equate.
The extended FWW Map
First, in the extended map from FWW, we can see a Pyramid-esque shape - Different color, different slope, etc.
Or, second (and probably more likely), it could be El-Harim:

It is a very bad place. It’s a place where some bad things happened at one point and it’s not a good place to go walking around. I don’t want to get into it too much more because again, it’s a good possibility for another story and I want to keep thinking about it a bit more. It is in Alagaesia and we’ve actually been close to the location.

Many speculate that the below vision from Eragon in Brisingr, which was never explained in the main cycle, is of El-Harim:

And he rested, and visions beset him of a circular stone city that stood in the center of an endless plain and of a small girl who wandered among the narrow, winding alleys within and who sang a haunting melody (A Feast with Friends, Brisingr).

If this vision IS El-Harim , it's super significant because of these two descriptors:

circular stone city
narrow, winding alleys

Fractals. The city itself is a fractal, like Nidus for any FV enjoyers.
The narrow winding alleys are significant because of the descriptors of the Vanished/Grey folk:

The spaces between the structures were narrower than the humans preferred; the proportions were taller, thinner, which matched the images she had seed of the Vanished...
The ancient outline of the city was - as she suspected - a fractal, and the shape of it contained meaning.... At the nexus of the apttern, where it coiled in on itslef like a nautilus shell" (Shards, TSIASOS).

Narrow. Circular (Nautilus shell). Winding. Fractal.
Whatever this city is, El-Harim or otherwise, it is/was a grey folk/vanished city.
And given the quotes from above - "Its a place where some bad things happened at one point", and "dangerous, creeping, ancient, evil thing" - My guess is that the event that caused the Grey Folk to bind the AL to magic happened here, in El-Harim.
Alright, moving along.
Let's talk about the Az and the God. There are a few parallels I've talked around, but the BIG link between the two are Dreams. This is especially important because of the release of the world map recently.

We are the devotees of Azlagur, the Devourer. Azlagur the Firstborn. Azlagur the Dreamer. He who sleeps and whose sleeping mind weaves the warp and weft of the waking world. But the sleep grows restless" (Obliteration, Murtagh).

Versus

As it began to dream, it wrought unintentional changes in its environment. Locked deep beneath the Earth, strange and unbelievable things faded in and out of reality. Vast caverns and landscapes bubbled to life within the rock, populated by horrible manifestations of the dead god's dream.

I could write a whole post about the parallels between the two and their linkage to dreams, but I'll cut it short here for now to save room to dig in to other areas. Specifically, the Dreams connection is especially important because of the relase of the world map recently - I have another post here that gets into more detail, but the translations from the World Map in the middle translate to:

where dreams and dragons dwell

Dreams (!) and Dragons.
Combine that with the Etymology of the words:

Alagaësia ala = land gaësia = rich/fertile
Alalëa ala = land lëa = a beautiful dream
Elëa = the dream itself

So the planet, named Elea, translates to "The Dream Itself". Very interesting.
This is even more significant when you take into account this tweet chain from Chris, a bit earlier in March

Darn it. Just invented a name in the ancient language. Googled it to make sure no one else had used it ... only to discover that I had used it in an earlier book. Lol.
Can we ask what name?
Edurna

I believe the name was a potential candidate for the name of the planet of Alagaesia, which is important because of the etymology of THAT name (All credit to Zora for digging this one up).

Edurna sounds awfully like Adurna and Edur
Adurna meaning water and Edur being a prominence

Prominence. And Water. You know what that sounds like to me? Plaintive Verge. Just food for thought.
Second-to-last Az connection I want to cover: Hunger.

Whirling darkness swallowed him, and at the center of it... lay a formless horror - ancient and evil and from which emanated a constant merciless hunger (Dreams and Portents).

Versus a quote about the cosmic entity in Marathon:

Now I fear what that weapon has unleashed will destroy us. I once boasted to be able to count the atoms in a cloud, to understand them all, predict them, and so did I predict you, but this new chaos is entirely terrible, mindless, obeying rules that I don't comprehend. And it is hungry.

Now, the last piece of Azlagur-related lore I want to cover here is the "Black Sun".
In all of the visions, a Black Sun precipitates Azlagur's rise.

"A black sun rimmed by black flame hung against a darkling sky... The beast rose rampant against the black sun - A wingless dragon, apocalyptic in size, terrifying in presence. Destroyer of hope, eater of light"

Before getting into the Black Sun a bit more, there's an additional connection here I want to touch on - usage of the word rampant in connection with Azlagur.

In Marathon, Rampancy is the enhanced self-awareness of a computer AI, causing a progression towards greater mental abilities and destructive impulses. The destructive impulses, however, are primarily caused by being threatened or harassed. There are three main stages, as well as a fourth and final stage that is rarely achieved, to rampancy, named by the primary attitude of the AI during those times: Melancholia, Anger, Jealousy, and Meta-Stability.

There are some overlaps with what we see from the Maw.
And Melancholia.. that's an interesting word. Especially when taken into context the meaning of the name:

A melancholy dream of great beauty.

Melancholy.. Dream... The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. And Rampant...
Chris also uses that exact same verbiage when discussing a deleted scene from TSIASOS:

Q: I just finished reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars and I have to know: it sounds like the Wranaui fought the corrupted during the Sundering but if that's true and it happened almost 300 years prior.... Who created the old corrupted? I've been questioning this for days!
A: That was actually in material cut by editors (some of the dream memories). Another Seed/Idealis was damaged and, when the Old Ones tried to separate it from its host, the xeno went rampant.

The xeno went rampant. Very interesting.
Alrighty, I keep getting distracted, back to the black sun.
The reason the Black Sun is important is because it always precipitates Azlagur's rise, throughout several of Murtahgh's visions. In each of them, there is a Black sun.
So, by this, we can extrapolate that the sun needs to be Black in order for Azlagur to rise (which is hinted at at the "Day of Black Sun" celebrations near the end of the book).
But... what does it actually mean?
There is a parallel in Marathon, their weapon:

The trih xeem (also "tri xeem") is an extremely powerful weapon that can be used to force a star into early nova... it was originally conceived and built by the Jjaro [The Old Ones/Vanished equivalent]. Much of the Marathon Infinity story revolves around preventing the Pfhor from using the tri xeem and inadvertently releasing a W'rkncacnter that is supposedly trapped within the Lh'owon sun.

So, the story of the last Marathon games revolves around preventing the usage of the weapon to release the cosmic-level baddie trapped in the sun. So, effectively, the antagonist is imprisoned by the sun.
But.. how does that translate to Azlagur and Murtagh?
The Black Sun requirement for Azlagur's rise could be construed as "imprisonment" by the sun; Azlagur cannot escape until the sun is turned Black. But it only really starts to come together when you piece together these pictures.
First, early concept art for the Fractalverse
You see the black orb, heading directly for the glowing star? Sounds pretty similar.
But that's not the smoking gun; look at the depiction of the black orb in the concept art, and compare it to the trih xeem, the weapon in Marathon.
A black orb with a trail heading directly for the sun. Almost an exact match.
OK.. so I get that it has some relevence in fractalverse, but how does it translate to Eragon?
Well, because of the Beors. Specifically, a picture CHRIS HIMSELF posted about the Beors.
Here
I propose that THIS black orb, at the top of the Beors (which, suspiciously, no one has traveled to) houses the black weapon. After all, the depiction is quite similar - A large, circular, black orb. Looks pretty similar to the other pictures.
And given the above context that Azlagur can only rise with a "Black Sun", the pieces all start to fit together. It's not perfect, but there are definitely a lot of overlaps.
Alright. I've been waiting for this one. The last piece. Let's talk about Angela.
Q: Will we get Angela lore? I feel like she could have killed Galbatorix and just didn't feel like it.
A: For those who don't know Angela is based on my sister Angela, because she breaks the fourth wall to a degree she has. Not only does she have plot armor, she knows she's in a story and can break the story itself. So, yes, she could have killed Galbatorix, but that would have made for a very bad story. That said, I do have an entire book planned around Angela, and it's very high on my list of books to write because it takes place before some of these other big stories I want to write. And that's also the difficult thing. I have my big storylines, and then I have a couple of one off side books I want to write, and it's just a question of time, energy and effort.
She knows she's in a story, and she can break the story.
Based on that, and several other descriptions I will get into in a bit, I think her story is directly related to the Marathon Infinity game.

Marathon Infinity begins as the Pfhor destroy Lh'owon using a Jjaro-derived doomsday weapon known as the Trih Xeem or "early nova". Unfortunately, the weapon also releases a powerful chaotic being: The W’rkncacnter, which threatens to destroy the entire galaxy. Because of the W’rkncacnter's chaos or by means of some Jjaro tech of his own, the player is transported back and forward in time, finding himself jumping between timelines and fighting for various sides in a desperate attempt to prevent the chaotic being's release.

and

In Marathon Infinity, a W'rkncacnter is imprisoned in the sun of planet Lh'owon. It is theorized by some that the W'rkncacnter's powerfully chaotic nature may be responsible for the jumps between realities seen in the game. When the Pfhor use a trih xeem device to send the star into early nova, the creature is released, to the horror and destruction of the Pfhor.

Angela is the Eragon-equivalent of the player.
She can transport back and forward in time, jumping between timelines, and fighting to prevent the chaotic being's (Azlagur's) release. Let's dive in.
First:

Q: Is it canon that Angela the Herbalist is a Time Lord and did she make a cameo in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars?
A: Is Angela the Herbalist is a Time Lord? That would be copyright infringement, so I'm going to say "no comment", but she is in To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. And there is a canon reason for this. And you should have no problem spotting who she is in that book.

So there's a canon reason she's in the book. Interesting. When you take that into context with the next bit

Q: On your last AMA on reddit, someone asked if any fan had guessed the identity and history of Angela correctly. You said nobody has guessed correctly and there's not enough information in the books to do so. That puts every fan theory out there on her wrong, correct? She's not the soothsayer, a time lord, grey folk, etc, correct?
A: Angela: Some of the fan theories have gotten parts of her history and identity correct. However, there's a HUGE aspect to her nature that no one has guessed (or least, not in a non-joking way). And no, I don't mean her being a Time Lord.

So there's a huge aspect to her nature that no one has guessed (at least at the time of writing). She's self-aware, knows she's in a story, and can jump around in time. And, similar to the Marathon games, it appears like only she knows that she's in a story.
So, based on the Marathon inspiration, we can guess that she is trying to accomplish the same thing - To prevent the release of the cosmic-level villain. We know that she has some kind of relationship with the Draumar:

In Murtagh, it’s revealed that Bachel and “Uluthrek” (Mooneater, Angela’s given Urgal name) met with Bachel explicitly going out to confront her (a courtesy not even offered to a Rider like Murtagh)

So, by extension, she has some kind of connection to Azlagur. This is supported by other circumstantial evidence in FWW as well:

Since we know that the Dream Well in Mani's Caves is similar to the Well in Nal Gorgoth I can assume that Angela is revealing the existence of the Draumar to Elva there? I feel certainly feel as if you're setting up her for something in the future series.
Heh. Good Catch.

So, she is clearly working with Elva to do something related to the Dream Wells, and she also previously confronted Bachel, many years ago. So throughout multiple years across the WoE, she is connected to Azlagur and the Draumar; her story clearly revolves around them/Azlagur, somehow.
Putting the above pieces together, my guess is that she is jumping around in different timelines, trying to manipulate actions of the past to prevent the rise of Azlagur. Just like the player character in Marathon. There's another piece of circumstantial evidence to support this assertion as well.
In Marathon Infinity:

After multiple "jumps," the player (seemingly the only one who realizes he is being transported between possible realities)

Versus Angela:

As hours passed, the stars turned above, night chill drew the heat from my body, and I fell into a curious trance, not asleep but not fully awake... The world altered" (On the Nature of Stars, FWW).

I believe this world "Altering" was the first time she experienced an alternate timeline, without knowing what it was at the time.
We've also seen her create "Doorways" as well - Although it's not clear if this is fast traveling (a la a Torque Gate), or truly opening a path to another timeline.
In Eldest:

"As they landed, he noticed a patch of white on a small hill nearby. The patch wavered strangely in the dark, like a floating candle, then resolved into Angela, who was wearing a pale wool tunic" (A Sorceress, a Snake, and a Scroll).

and then later, more concretely:

"I traced a line on the wall, reached out, and opened a door that wasn't there. ON the other side - nighttime, a beach by a black ocean lit only by stars, so many, many stars, more than there should be. Of course, I would not take Elva to my home, not yet. But this was a waypoint, a place to build and learn and grow... She stared into the gap, the impossible portal" (On the Nature of Stars, FWW).

Still, as always with Angela, so many questions.
Alright, we've reached an ungodly wordcount, so I'll call it here. There are still more connections I'm uncovering between the two series (such as the potential connection between the Gedway Ignasia and the "warning" sensation from Marathon), so I might make a follow-up post in the future with everything else I uncover.
As always, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think in the comments, or if you've found any other connections between the two.

I promise this is the last time I’m going to post here. A couple days ago, I posted about how someone gaining weight made me feel insecure, which was an incredibly irresponsible thing to post about. Admittedly, I was in a bad headspace when I posted that, but I never meant to hurt anyone. Please understand that I have no hatred or animosity towards anybody. To everyone I hurt, you have my deepest apologies. If any of you feel that I owe you personal amends, feel free to DM me. This is the last that I’ll post in this sub as I feel that it’s high time that I move on. You all deserve long happy lives and a good relationship with food. I wish you all the best, and farewell.

Welcome back to attempting to make Solo into a babyface. Here are some important notes from part 1.
-Smackdown has the men’s MiTB (Andrade holds it)
-Jacob Fatu debut was at Summerslam.
-in the smackdowns leading up to Fastlane, Jacob Fatu and the Tongas turned on Solo
-Jacob Fatu def Solo Sikoa at Fastlane with the help of Zilla Fatu (and sort of Jimmy Uso)
-Jacob Fatu challenged Solo for the position of Tribal Chief, causing Roman Reigns to return.
-Jimmy Uso joins Solo and Roman after hearing Roman is back.
-Jey Uso agreed to return for one fight at Survivor Series
-We sit at the survivor series with the Fatus and the Tongas vs Roman, Solo, and the Usos
On the Smackdown before Survivor Series, Roman and Jacob have a standoff. It was announced that tonight there will be a match between the Usos and Tongas for the advantage in the war games match. Ultimately, a guerrilla warfare hit on Jimmy would end the match, giving the advantage to the new bloodline.
Before we even get to the war games, it's the Rock vs Cody Rhodes for the Universal title, and the match is intense. The Rock goes for a peoples elbow, but is countered. Then he goes for a rock bottom, but is countered into a cross-Rhodes. He hits the first, and goes for a second, and hits that too, and goes for a third, but unlike when he beat Roman at WM40, the Rock is able to get out of it. It’s a brutal fight that goes on for a while. Cody is in a corner, and is thrown on the ground. The Rock goes for his people's elbow again, and is dodged again. Cody looks to dodge the upcoming rock bottom, but the rock expects it, instead hitting Cody in the head and sending him down to the floor. The Rock goes for his third peoples elbow, and lands it this time. 1, 2, 3. The Rock was the champion. Cody Rhodes had lost, giving even more momentum to the new bloodline.
With the team captains and orders set, it was time for the men’s war games match. Roman vs Jacob started it off, and it was clear off the bat Roman hadn’t lost a step. He hit move after move after move on Jacob, but Fatu was resilient. He knew his team had the advantage, and if he waited, his brother would be there soon enough. For the first 5 minutes it’s all Roman Reigns, until Zilla Fatu entered the ring. Even for Roman, 1vs2 monsters was hard. Jacob Fatu looked more insane than ever, and Zilla didn’t look much better. Roman was getting overpowered, and the Fatus were going in on him. But it was time now for the next person to enter. Solo Sikoa was in the match, and instantly went for a big hit on Zilla Fatu. The fight was now back in control for the old bloodline. Solo was beating on Zilla, and Roman was back on top until Jacob. But like before, it was about to get ugly, as now Tama Tonga was in the fight. Tama Tonga went straight for Roman. It was back to Roman getting overrun, and to make matters worse, Zilla had turned the tides against Solo. The old bloodline hoped things could change with the introduction of Jey Uso into the fight, as he went for the quick spear on Tama Tonga, but Tama Tonga was smart, and got out of the way. Now it was Tama beating down Jey, and now Roman was so exhausted it was hard to keep up with Jacob. Things got even worse when Tonga Loa got into the match. It was really bad, especially for Jey Uso, who was now the target of a double team. Eventually, everyone in the new bloodline hit a finisher on the old bloodline, but they couldn’t pin them yet. However, in came Jimmy Uso, and it was now up to him. He looked at Tama Tonga, the man who took his place, and he hit him with a spear, but Tonga Loa didn’t let that slide, hitting his own spear on Jimmy. But now Jey was up, and hit Tonga Loa with his own spear. It was a spearfest, and Roman looked to get involved, going for the spear and pin on Jacob Fatu, but Jacob kicks out at 2. It was the old bloodline in control, except for Solo, who was still getting wrecked by Zilla. However, it was Jimmy who came to save him, and they lock eyes, with Jimmy nodding his head to Solo. The match rages on, and the tides slowly turn back in the favor of the old bloodline. Multiple 2 counts happen with very close calls. Eventually, everyone’s on the ground except Solo and Tama Tonga. The original new bloodline members stared eachother down, and charged. Tama Tonga went for a finisher, but he missed, which opened the door for a Samoan Spike. He goes for it, and hits it, but before he can go down for the pin, Jacob Fatu, who got up after a vicious Roman spear, hits Solo with a spear of his own. 1, 2, 3. The new bloodline were the winners of the war games match. It’s was a nightmare. The new bloodline had both that match and the WWE Universal title. Things looked bad.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Jey Uso kept his word and went right back to Raw, not wanting any more involvement. However, before he did leave, he quickly let Roman know “if my brothers gonna rock wit yall, don’t let him get hurt real bad, aight?” Roman simply nodded.
It’s the smackdown after survivor series, and now it was time to look ahead to the Royal Rumble. But there was an issue about last match. Was Jacob Fatu the new tribal chief? Well, in his eyes, yes, but to almost everyone else, no. Jacob Fatu realized this, and would come out to confront Roman. They eventually decided to settle it all at the Royal Rumble, a main event of the show with Fatu and Reigns fighting for the official title of Tribal Chief. Not much of note besides the typical run ins from the bloodline happen, so we go straight to the Royal Rumble.
If you want a fun fact, the woman’s winner is Zoey Stark, but we aren’t focused on anything until the men’s Royal Rumble match. Not much of note happens until number 13, which has our first main story entrance, Zilla Fatu. He lasts to about 20, and unfortunately, no backup really arrived, and he was out. At 21, out came Jey Uso, and his brother Jimmy followed at 22. Then it felt like everyone involved with the bloodline came. 24 was Tama Tonga, Cody Rhodes was 25, Tonga Loa was 26, and Randy Orton, who’s back for the first time since his injury against Jacob Fatu at 27. Then we get the grace period in it with 28 being Sheamus. However, at 29, we get someone who’s familiar with the bloodline that hasn’t been mentioned up to this point. Sami Zayn. He’s had a very good run and only recently dropped the IC title to Ilja Dragunov at Survivor Series. Then, at 30, it’s none other than Solo Sikoa. Eventually, we’re down to 6. Tama Tonga, the Uso brothers, Solo, Sami, and Carmelo Hayes. Carmelo Hayes had been here since number 7, and was targeted quickly, but he was good. Eventually, Tama Tonga got his hands on Solo, looking for revenge from that Samoan Spike at Survivor series, and is about to take him over. However, this is when the bond between Jimmy and Solo is truly reformed, and Jimmy saves Solo. However, Tama Tonga takes the chance to eliminate Jimmy Uso, and it’s down to 5. Sami Zayn lands a Heluva Kick on Carmelo, and he seems finished, but Tama Tonga is on a rampage, and looks to eliminate him. However, in a move that’s questioned by a lot of fans, Solo Sikoa eliminates himself to also eliminate Tama Tonga. He looks on at Jey Uso, telling him to win. Jey and Sami, who had been together a lot on raw, team up and eventually eliminate Carmelo, meaning it’s Jey Uso vs Sami Zayn. In the end, after some brutal fighting, it’s Jey Uso who wins the Royal Rumble, getting his shot to win back the World Heavyweight Championship he lost at Summerslam.
With that behind, it was time for Jacob Fatu vs Roman Reigns in a normal match, meaning if anyone got involved, it was over. And indeed, someone, specifically the Rock, got involved. The Rock explains that he’s the tribal chief, and that Jacob Fatu has just been his stand-in for the time being with Roman. But now, it was the road to wrestlemania, and the Rock declared he end Roman for good in Las Vegas. The universal title match was on st wrestlemania.
In the weeks leading up to elimination chamber, we begin to find out who’s gonna be in the match, and the very first 2 to get in are Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu. They are followed by Randy Orton, LA Knight, Carmelo Hayes, and Tammaso Ciampa, who at this point has broken off from DIY. Then, it’s time for the match. The winner (seemingly) getting a shot the universal title at wrestlemania. It’s expected that the winner will either kick Roman out of the match or make it a 3-way.
The men’s elimination chamber begins with Melo and Ciampa. Sadly for Ciampa, he’s pinned before the next person, Randy Orton, can even come out. Then, it’s move after move as Solo, then Jacob, then LA Knight all exit their pods. Sadly for this story, and great news for Solo, Jacob Fatu is the second out, being target by everyone else in the ring. However, they then turn their eyes to Solo, but before LA Knight can charge, Randy Orton stops him, saying that “Solo changed, even if he’s still an asshole”. That was all LA Knight needed to hit Randy Orton with a BFT, but is unable to get the 3 count, as Solo stopped him. However, he didn’t need to, because off the top rope came Carmelo Hayes, who goes for the p- RKO OUTTA NOWHERE! 1, 2, 3, Carmelo was done. Now down to the final 3, completely out of it, Randy Orton was the next to go, beating by LA Knight. Now it was Solo vs LA Knight, winner goes to wrestlemania. It was close, with so many 2 counts. However, as LA Knight went on the top rope and going for the jump, Solo Sikoa revealed a new version of the Samoan Spike, as he was somehow able to catch LA Knight with an RKO style Samoan Spike, and that was it for LA Knight, with Solo winning.
Now came the big question. What was Solo going to do. Well, to a lot, it was obvious, and it’s was announced that the match for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship was a triple threat between The Rock, Roman Reigns, and Solo Sikoa.
Over the next few weeks, the new bloodline and old bloodline fueds grew. It was heated, and eventually, the Tongas challenging the Uso brothers to a tag team match for the tag team titles (remember they’re still held by the tongas). One half agrees, but unfortunately, Jey Uso declines. Jimmy Uso needed a tag partner, but was it going to be. Nobody new. Over the weeks, the pecking order became clear to almost everyone when the rock, out of anger, went in on Zilla Fatu for losing a match on Smackdown. Jacob Fatu at first went to bat for his brother, but would eventually also indulge in putting Zilla down. This was the opportunity anyone in the old bloodline was looking for. They wanted a crack in that new bloodline, and they got it. They planted the seeds for Zilla Fatu to turn on the new bloodline, but he wouldn’t do it.
Jacob Fatu was still very clearly angry about Elmination chamber, and every chance he got to attack Solo, he took it. It was back and forth, eventually resulting in a challenge by Jacob Fatu live on stage to Solo, the main event of night one for the chance to fight in the title match against the rock and Roman. However, before Solo could take the match, someone came out to his rescue and offered to take the match himself, none other than the former Universal champ, Cody Rhodes, claiming that this chance shouldn’t be taken from Solo. However, he did have one stipulation for Solo, and that’s if Solo won, Rhodes would get a shot at the title quick. Solo agreed, and Fatu, looking annoyed, also agreed. If Rhodes won, not much would happen, but if Fatu won, the fight would become a fatal four way.
It’s the smackdown before the smackdown before wrestlemania, and tensions are high. There’s a huge argument, and it results in a lot of shouting. It eventually spins to Zilla Fatu, and how he is so young and so raw that he hasn’t matured enough. But that’s when Jimmy makes his move. He tells Zilla “don’t make the same mistake I made a year ago. Do it.” But Zilla didn’t move. Tama Tonga made sure Jimmy Uso knew that he can’t talk like that, but that’s when the big moment happened. Zilla Fatu super kicked Tama Tonga. It was the same thing that happened with the original bloodline. Zilla Fatu had turned, and stood by Jimmy Uso. It was quickly set up that the match for the tag titles would be between Jimmy Uso and Zilla Fatu vs the Tongas. As the camera panned to the crowd at the very end, if you stopped it quickly, you could see Jey Uso, at the top of the stairs, smiling.
It was time for the smackdown before wrestlemania, and again, tensions were so high it was insane. With Zilla turning, everything was crazy. Fights broke out, blood was shed, and it was a huge fight. At the end, the rock declared it was his title, and he would end this entire thing by winning. Roman declared the same thing. Solo, well Solo just stood there. However, little did they know, at the end of the show, there stood LA Knight, Randy Orton, AJ Styles, and Kevin Owens, seemingly looking at someone, and declaring that “the master plan was ready for wrestlemania”.
And that’s where part 2 ends.
There will be a finale part 3 that will probably be shorter than parts 1 and 2.
Hope you all enjoyed

Hey everyone,
I'm looking for a new phone and I know people talk about how pixel 8 pro has better camera for photos and the s24 ultra has better video quality. I'm curious how much better is the pixel's photo quality? the videos on YouTube use auto mode for their comparisons so I'm not sure if the comparisons are the optimal quality from the phones. I'm curious if someone used s24 ultra in a raw format and edited photos , would it be able to match pixel 8 pro's quality? Keep in mind I don't have pets etc so I don't care about shutter speed or capture fast moving subjects. I like Samsung's customisation and flexibility as a phone but the camera is why I'm making this post. I tried iPhone 15 but it's way too limited in the user experience for my taste. Another question I have is regarding skin tones, iPhone makes people have a more saturated look and pixel is more accurate, but with s24 could I edit a raw photo and make the photo match my skin tone and what I see in real life? Or is it baked into the photo so I can't?
My camera use would be to take travel photos and videos to post on Instagram, and to take portraits of friends and have them taken of me to get high quality photos for social media.
I'm in the UK and price difference isn't a consideration since there are deals for both phones occasionally.
Thanks in advance :)

Hey everyone, I’m seeking some advice with how to move forward with my training at the airlines. I come from a CFI background and began training at the regionals recently. I made it through ground school course and I am in the IPT (Instrument Procedure Trainer “touch screen trainer”) stage.
My sim partner and I have made it to the final training session of IPT. Unfortunately we did not pass the last stage, we’re assigned an additional review session to fix those errors. However, that session found more issues and it didn’t go well, we were unsuccessful again. We struggled with a few SOP calls and setting the FMS up properly for approaches. So, now the training review board will take a look at us and make a decision on how to proceed.
In the meantime, I’m concerned with how to proceed next in training. This is my first time going through a part 121 training program and it felt overwhelming at times but I managed to push through. So, having issues now in IPT, I’m worried about how Sim will go for the both of us. What are the chances of us getting more IPT training to help improve our weak areas? Are we more likely going to be fired? I’m kind of at a loss for what to do with regards to this situation. Could someone please shed some light on this and what we can expect going forward.

This is a follow-up from my last post. I’m still deciding whether I am a 9 or a 6 (both of either wing, being introverted makes it confusing). I also don’t know what my instinctual stacking is, but I know I’m quite self-conscious.
I have a visual-based perspective of the world around me, in the sense that I relate everything back to either a past experience or an imaginary scenario. My thoughts change frequently and I can be preoccupied by certain things. Sometimes my mind is foggy. But I am also focused on both trying to create something for myself and trying to get fulfilment from others. Based on my grades and constant studying, I’ve been told that I’m hardworking, high-achieving and “independent”. Whilst I can be intelligent, I secretly struggle with social anxiety.
My fear of parting ways with friends/partners has always been painful to me and has kept me from having friends for years (even now, my friendships aren’t that close). I anticipate rejection for even just asking for someone to be friends with me, so it feels even shittier knowing that someone that I feel connected to is leaving me. 1000% worse if they never loved me at all and essentially betrayed me. Idk where it came from, but it’s likely why I back away when I sense that someone doesn’t want me. It also explains why I suppress my desire for affection and lack intimate friendships.
I’m really indirect and I overanalyse my interactions with people. Something like asking to hang out or hugging someone makes me self-conscious about whether I’m bothering the other person. I’ve resorted to being shy as a way to get people to talk to me, whether I’m conscious of it or not. I will also try to please certain people who interact with me to get attention from them.
I’m fine with pleasure, but I may put it off if I have to do something important. A lot of my pleasure comes from either moving around or being with someone I like. But since I don’t get invited to hang out, I’ve been by myself for ages. It was fine at first, but I am feeling empty and bored.
At my worst, I get really emotional but I will also withdraw at some point. I express my anger more often, but I don’t communicate my other negative feelings (mainly sadness and loneliness, but also part of my anxiety). If someone provokes me or someone I know, chances are, I will explode. Especially when I feel safe to do so. My anger issues were even worse when I was younger. I’ve been told that I’m the “angry one” in my family and I get into conflict with my parents often.
Publicly, I’m more chill with many people and I can try hard to be funny. I also don’t have outbursts as often but can be a bit anxious. I feel more like myself in public, tbh.
What type am I more like?
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do you all get nostalgic over when your anxiety started? I hate it with all my heart. today after 7 years of anxiety I heard a song and it put me back into that super dark place I was in at 13 years old when my anxiety started.
I was part of the more “popular” group at school, I was up there being somewhat the leader of the girl part of the group because I always stood up for everyone else. It’s crazy that those actions ruined my life now. I was a whole kid drinking and smoke and doing pills. I hate that to other people seeing it they thought I was “cool” for that. I had influenced so many kids younger than me not even on purpose but I did. The whole time I was doing all this because I was so depressed and then my anxiety started and just from there I gave less fucks. When I heard that song today, it took me back to when I first started getting anxiety, having to start therapy, I was so lost and so confused and soooo hurt because “I’m not crazy only crazy people need therapists.”
My anxiety is at its most severe form now and I had this moment today where ugh I wish I could go back in time and give myself a hug. And tell myself I’m sorry for letting myself down. I hate that I want to live so bad.
When I heard this song today, I felt nostalgic about how I was depressed and anxious yet I didn’t care about anything &’ if you ask me, that’s a really rough thing to miss.. those thoughts are what might lead someone to substance abuse and or something more severe if yk what I mean.

So this is a long one and I don’t except for everyone to read it all but I need advice.
I’m 25 I am in a “relationship” but she’s married 26f now for the sake of security we will call her 26f Emma and her husband 26m mark.
Now Emma and mark have been married for 4 years I dated Emma 5 years ago for about 6 months and she and I hit it off perfectly there was some issues that occurred and we broke up. 4 years later we found eachother on TikTok and we started talking again. She told me that she was getting a divorce from her husband mark and that she wanted me back she missed me and all the stuff. So me being single at the time took her up on in agreeing that we would be FWB till she got divorced. Now it’s been about a year now mark emma and I all live together and she still hasn’t left him no papers filed.
NOW HERES THE ISSUE
she’s been spending a lot of time with mark like a lot of time today in total she spent maybe an hour with me and spent all day with him which isn’t really a big issue but at the same time I’ve waited a year with her telling me that she’s doing the paper and this that and the other. I moved 4 states and left my own family (mom and dad) back home to live with her under the assumption she’d leave him. She uses my money to pay bills to buy food she uses me to watch her kids and to clean the house change pull-ups but she doesn’t do shit. Today she told me she didn’t want me to sleep in bed with her because she enjoyed the extra rooom but lark gets to sleep in there with her(suspicious) any ways I’ve done everything I can to help her get the papers and finish her divorce. But I am being called a narcissist because I am asking for attention to be treated more than an an option. She will only spend time with me when mark isn’t home. She won’t even acknowledge me if he’s home.
I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO if you need more info just ask and I will give it but I need some advice

Iso is by far the weakest agent in the game, so let's take a look on how he could get buffed. It's rather difficult to buff Iso to be honest, because there are rather limited ways to do so:

• Iso's vulnerable ability is already a good ability and doesn't need a buff. Even if you wanted to buff it, there are not a whole lot of good options available. Make it faster is an idea I've seen floating around but it's already pretty fast and it really wouldn't do anything to make Iso better
• Iso's ult doesn't really need any unique changes either, maybe you can reduce the cost by one but there are really limited options available to buff his ult without making it a completely free kill. It's also just a decent ult already
• Iso's shield is finnicky and could definitely use a buff. I think making it so you don't have to pre-activate the ability and could just shoot the orb on kill anytime is a huge quality-of-life change but honestly doesn't really move the needle in terms of Iso's viability. The shield kind of just is what it is. There's really not a whole lot else you can do with it, it already tanks one instance of damage. You can't make it two instances without it becoming broken. Making it last longer won't do much to help buff Iso out of F tier. I saw on TenZ's stream when he was talking about Iso buffs that he thought of an idea where the shield could tank a stun as if it was the instance of damage. It's a definitely cool idea, but overall this would not buff Iso by any significant amount. How many times a game will you actually have an Iso shield up and then get stunned? I'm betting less than once a game. Maybe once every two games

Which brings me to really the most obvious ability to buff: Iso's wall. The wall is just bad. There's no use sugarcoating it. It's one of the worst, if not the worst, abilities in the game. Why is it so bad? One of the reasons is because you can't stop it whenever you want like Harbor's wall. This makes it almost completely useless on defense, as you can't block off a chokepoint with it to delay/stop an execute. It also lasts a pretty short amount of time at just 4.6 seconds when fully formed and is narrower than Harbor's wall.
This leads to most people suggesting the wall be buffed to work like Harbor's wall where Iso could stop it anytime he wants. However, I don't like this idea and I don't think Riot likes it either because it takes away from the uniqueness of both Iso and Harbor's walls. Other basic ideas include making the wall wider or having it last longer. These basic ideas could definitely be good changes, but I propose that Riot should lean into the anti-bullet shield idea of the wall and also make it block projectiles. This would work like the buy phase barrier where projectiles such as Killjoy mollies, Raze nades, Sova darts, really any projectile would just bounce off the wall.
I believe this change could make Iso viable even in coordinated pro play. In fact, this buff may have the biggest impact in pro play but would be a great buff across the board at all elos.
For starters, this would make Iso much better on defense. As soon as a site exec starts, Iso can just drop the wall and suddenly the Sova dart bounces back in Sova's face, the Viper molly drops to the floor, etc., etc.
This buff would also have the funny additional benefit of denying lineups. When you see that Brim molly flying at the spike, just throw the wall and suddenly the lineup misses and you can stick the defuse.
But the greatest impact might just be that this change could maybe make Iso viable on Lotus. In my opinion, Lotus was already one of Iso's better maps in ranked as it is one of the few maps where his wall in its current state can be useful on attack. It's decent at denying the default C long peek while your team takes mound. B site is one of the only sites where the wall can actually be fully utilized to cover waterfall while you exec because it's such a short site. Iso also has some decent plays on defense as his vulnerable is very useful to combo with a Raze nade every round on defense to fight A, and it is not as valuable as an Omen flash so you could always do it every round (plus he has two of them).
The Lotus meta has always been to heavily fight for A rubble control. Some teams always do it, some teams do it less, but all teams do it pretty frequently and have multiple set plays for fighting A rubble. Even during ranked games across all ranks people know to fight for it on defense, throwing Raze nades and Omen blinds.
If Iso's wall was buffed to reflect projectiles, he would be extremely valuable on Lotus attack as he could throw the wall on A every round to completely shut down any defender aggression. The wall serves a dual purpose as you and your team can get across to rubble for free behind cover. You would essentially get easy rubble control every round for 200 credits.
If we're talking specifically pro scene, having that free rubble control may already be enough to make Iso a niche pick. However, this could also have the added benefit of allowing teams to switch from Omen to Brim as their primary controller. Some teams already have shown that they prefer Brim, such as NRG or Navi, although it is still considered a niche pick. One reason teams go for Omen is because of how good the Omen flash can be for fighting for A. However, if teams used Iso they could use the Iso vulnerable instead and also pick Brim without having to sacrifice all of the capabilities of the Omen flash.
As a final note, I know that some people will probably complain about how it is too OP if you can just drop a wall and completely shut down a Raze rocket or Deadlock ult, but do remember that a simple Kayo knife can already do that.

I'm a digital painter, I used to do commissions and earn a living through art but for the last few years that has stopped feeling right to me. I decided I can afford to take a break and do my own thing for a while and hopefully build a different type of income.
I used to paint random made-up fantasy creatures and then last year I picked dinosaurs then moved on to calling it Paleo Art and now I know I want to make 3d models(in Blender) of dinosaurs that are game ready because it combines things I've always drooled over (beautiful 3d sculpts), things I always wanted to know (paleonthology) and a bunch of random skills I have (like game animation). Hopefully I can end up selling models on platforms such as Sketchfab, that's a wonderful place to look at dinosaur models btw!!
I thought writing this might help someone who's also early on the path to become a paleoartist. I know from my experience working that having a diverse skillset pays off, especially 3D skills, as the position "Creature artist" in every studio I've ever looked at applying for means "3D Creature Artist", for some reason it's too obvious to bother putting it in the name.
If sculpting is intimidating to some, let me say this: If you can draw, you'll either be naturally good at sculpting or, if sculpting comes hard to you then it will teach you a ton about drawing, sculpting lives in the same cluster of brain cells as 2d art does.
When taking commissions for paintings, I sometimes told my clients I was doing animation/3d/video editing on the side and I often got extra work that way, and got to learn new skills while earning a bit of money and getting to see my work used in real projects.
I either just can't ever settle on anything or I never found my place before but I think I have now, I think my current ambition to make paleo-art and focus on 3d models is broad enough and just a good fit. I wouldn't mind doing this for my entire career. If I want to do something fancy like starting a YT channel, I can always do when I earn enough income, I don't want to make videos while worrying how much they'll pay.
If this is interesting at all, I could document my progress here. o-o

I am not the OOP. The OOP is u/Used-Register3714 posting in AITA_WIBTA_PUBLIC
Ongoing as per OOP
2 updates - Long
Original - 2nd March 2024
Update1 - 14th April 2024
Update2 - 11th May 2024
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WIBTA if I turned down a promotion due to my original transfer being blocked?
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WIBTA? Little back story, I started working for a company in early 2022 as what they labeled as Admin, but don't let that fool you we were no admins, we worked 3 different departments that they combined into one with 3 people to cover everything, plus we were constantly fixing Customer Service mistakes.
Nov 2022 I met with the director of the Benefits Dept at work because I was interested in transferring and we went over the department, what the job entails and what I could start working on to better my chances at transferring. I checked in with the director many times as I finished different tasks such as completing the training courses, shadowing members of the team, and taking part in live trainings.
Early 2023 the director got a promotion to be the director of another department. In March a spot opened up in Benefits and it was a little outside what I knew, it was more a specialized position, but I still applied. I met with a few managers and the new director for interviews. We discussed many things and it was a positive experience, they were even happy with the steps that I had taken with the previous director. However, because it was such a specialized position they didn't want to throw me into the deep end, so they told me to apply for a different position when it opened up.
In May the other position opened up and I applied and basically skipped the interviews. The director and I meet and we discussed getting me transferred and doing it in a hybrid type manner. That worked for me and it worked for my current manager at the time too. Sadly, it feel through and I could never seem to get an answer as to why. It started out as budget reasons, totally understandable, but then it switched to not having troubleshooting knowledge that I would have if I had worked in Customer Service.
I had meeting with my (admin) manager and director, she covers both admin and customer service, I asked more clarifying questions as to why the transfer fell through but no one could give me a straight answer. We developed a plan to get me transferred to Benefits that caused me to route through Customer Service. I was transferred into Customer Service in November 2023.
Our CS team is split into basically 2 levels, 1 being online requests which is where everyone starts. You work a variety of requests and can gain a lot of knowledge. This is currently where I am. The second level is working the phones and helping the people that call in. This is more limited subject matter and can also carry a lot of "downtime" as they cannot work the online requests like the first level can because they will be on and off the phone all day.
Here is where I am wondering if I WIBTA. I have figured out, though not confirmed, that my directors boss is the one that blocked my transfer back in May and she is just a bitch/micromanager in general. Now someone from out phone team is leaving and it has been hinted that I might be the next one to move up. While it would come with a pay increase, not a lot or enough for the crap that we go through, I don't want it because I see it as more detrimental to me possibly transferring to my preferred department.
WIBTA if I said no because it would do more harm than good. Then turning around and asking how much longer I needed to be in the Customer Service department before I could apply to another position in the Benefits Dept?
Maybe helpful to also know that my customer service manager is not the best, she seems to bow down the the micromanager and she can't seem to manage a team of 10ish people, nor was she able to do half her job for moths and my admin manager was the one doing her work.
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Comments
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Magdovus
They're screwing you around. If you're good at your current role they don't want to move you. You could tell them that they transfer you or you leave, but they probably don't care about you much. Alternatively, just coast along, do what you must to keep management off your back and find a new job.

OOP: I've been thinking about coasting and just working my job description. Our phone team is technically down one person, and we have to help cover the missing persons time on phones. It's split, between most of us that work the first level. I might come out of that meeting with no phone time because it's not part of my job and you are probably right they don't want to move me because of that.

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RndmIntrntStranger
NTA you do not have to stay at a job where you feel like you’re not growing/moving up. do not let any employer trick you into thinking that you owe it to them to stay there if it no longer works out for you. time to update your resume and start job hunting to see what’s out there.

OOP: Already started. I even interviewed for the same company that my coworker is joining. It will be interesting if we end up working together again.

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Update - 6 weeks later
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So I was an idiot and decided to take the promotion. Not my finest moment.
However, things have taken a turn for the interesting.
A week after I took the promotion another team that I have been interested in but never thought I could work in tapped me to transfer to their team. I ended up reaching out to our HR team to gather some guidance and spoke with our recruiter that works internally and externally.
He gave me some good pointers and helped me navigate how to best approach the conversation. The conversation then turned to my manager and I let him know all the issues I've been having with her, including not approving PTO till timecards are being turned in amongst other issues. Turns out I am not the first person to bring these concerns forward and HR is actively looking into the situation.
I ended up having a conversation with my manager the following week and from the start of the conversation I knew it wouldn't have the outcome I was hoping for based off of her body language. And I was right, even with laying everything out I was denied my managers blessing because I just moved tiers.
But the fun part of all of this is that she tried to pull the 6-month rule as to why I couldn't apply. The 6-month rule is part of our handbook. "You have to be in your position for 6-months before you can transfer internally for non-exempt employees." I asked my manager to get us clarification since we both had different understanding of the rule.
I know position could be tier, however I asked our HR team and the said position is department based. A better wording would be in my department for 6-months.
The following week she director was out so can't do anything that week so the following week I asked for a follow up. Guess who forgot to follow up with me. Not the first time she has done this. She is now saying it is tier based and I have to be in my position for a YEAR.
I reached back out to HR and we are now looping in the head of HR to talk about this.
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Comments
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rendar1853
Why did you take the promotion when you knew this person was playing games with your career?

OOP: Believe me I am pissed at myself for taking it. I have been a people pleaser for so long and it's something I've been improving on and I was caught in a weak moment. I did have some hope that the agreement that was in place before this person became my manager would be honored but I was naive to think so.
I can always back out of the new position if need be, which I have been think about.

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Magdovus
Ask HR if you can apply for jobs in the other department as an external candidate instead of an internal one. When they ask why tell them that quitting and reapplying seems to be the only way to avoid your current department managers trying to ruin your career.

OOP: This is a thought that I have. Going to wait and see what happens with my next meeting with HR. They seem supportive of my transfer so they may be able to pull some strings to make it happen, but this is on my radar.

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Update - 1 month later
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So it has been a month of back and forth, and we still don’t technically have a resolution but I thought I might give a quick update.
After our director was back I reached out to my manager to ask if they had received clarification and they said: “if you move tiers your clock restarts and I have to be in my department for a year”. That still didn’t sit right with me, I had previously contacted HR as a minor inquiry if the clock was tier or department and they had said department.
I reached back out to the head of our HR team and set up a meeting so that we could discuss this. In that meeting, HR agreed with me and said that they would speak with the director to get clarification on what was going on and she would get back to me by the end of the week. She did and told me straight up that I met the tenure requirements to be able to apply for a transfer. Now I was supposed to get an update but it was postponed due to people being out of the office and things like that. But I finally got the update last week. They are saying no for two reasons now, I don’t meet the requirements of the job, such as a degree, and performance. But my performance has never been addressed. When I have made mistakes, I informed and the mistakes never happened again.
As for the degree thing, that can be worked around, and that is something that the manager or that team is working on for me.
But now they are saying that it is a big concern of theirs. My question at this point is if it was such a big concern why was that not brought up from the beginning? Why were we only discussing my tenure as the reason that I couldn’t apply?
Honestly, I almost quit in that meeting right there. The only reason that I am even thinking of staying is that the team that I would be transferring to is amazing and I already know how they operate and I already work closely with them.
I should be having another meeting next week with the manager and director and I am going to likely loop in HR as well.
I have decided that if I am blocked from applying I will be leaving and I will be citing that as well as many other reasons as to why I am leaving. The least of which is the fact that I now know that the director has gone and bad-mouthed an employee to another manager that someone was hoping to transfer over to.
Edit to add: I just spoke with a coworker who left a few weeks ago. They pulled the same things with him. He wanted to go to another department but they had a meeting with him saying that they saw him on a different path, one that kept him in the department. He said they did that to our other coworker who left just before him too.
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Comments
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No-Dig7828
Update resume and GTFO now.
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I am not the OOP. Please do not harass the OOP. Please remember the No Brigading Rule and to be civil in the comments