This story is based on ALLEGEDLY true events. It is inspired by a line in G-Eazy’s “Maximum”, where he claims her heard supermodel Adriana Lima fart and it was apparently so stinky he had to cover his nose and walk away. The events I describe in the story will be my own interpretation of what could’ve happened during this strange encounter between two celebs
It had been a long recording night in the studio for award winning rapper G-Eazy. The “You Don’t Own Me” musician spent much of his day working on the follow up album to his debut release which catapulted him to stardom. After sleeping overnight at Westlake Recording Studios in WeHo, G-Eazy gets a call from his agent to remind him that he’s scheduled to make a talk show appearance for NBC’s pop culture news staple “Extra”. Totally forgetting about this engagement, a restless G-Eazy pulls himself up from the couch and stumbles out the door as he heads out to the black Escalade awaiting to take him home. Once G-Eazy arrives back to his Los Angeles residence, he showers, changes clothes and takes a few calls from his team so they can go over what will be talked about during his Extra Interview
Later, G-Eazy hops back in the black Escalade which takes him to NBC studios where Extra is currently taping its latest episode. G-Eazy is met at the studio by his agent along with the rest of his team. They are all greeted by the show’s producer who takes them to the main dressing room. It is there where G-Eazy receives his hair and makeup and also gets to watch his crush Adriana Lima sit down with Extra for her own exclusive interview. G-Eazy has always been fond of the Brazilian supermodel and had no idea she was going to be a guest on the show. Not only does G-Eazy find Adriana incredibly attractive, he is aware that she is knewly single thus he immediately comes up with a plan to “shoot his shot”. The greaser-looking rapper figured rather than wait until call time to go out on set and perhaps run into Adriana after his interview, it was perhaps a better idea to leave his dressing room ahead of time and try to catch the Victoria Secret beauty on her way out. For the time being, he sat in his chair, studying Adriana’s body language, keeping his eyes glued to the movement of her mouth as she uttered soft spoken words under her thick, gorgeous accent. He stared her up and down and up and down, analyzing her every move, taking in her presence through the screen. The longer he watched, the more apparent it became, he HAD to have this woman
As the day longs, G-Eazy becomes a bit unsure of his master plan. Hair and makeup has been taking much longer than he had anticipated and Adriana’s interview was beginning to wrap up. He begins eyeing around the room, attempting to come up with a quick getaway as he fidgets in his seat. Finally, the words spill out and he tells the styling people that he has to go to the bathroom. Without even waiting for a response, G-Eazy jumps out of his chair and fast walks out of the door. Completely unsure of where Adriana would even be coming from once her interview had concluded, he runs around the lot in hopes of running into a 5’11, brown skinned model in long, white silk dress good enough to be worn at an overseas film festival. After aimlessly wandering around the lot, G-Eazy finds himself approaching the entrance to the soundstage where the interviews are conducted. He spots two of the hosts sitting as they get their makeup retouched. He then looks to his left…and there she is. Adriana is standing with a few other important looking folks, smiling and giggling in what seems to be a conversation being had between everyone. G-Eazy walks back toward the hall, only to stop halfway, he decides to stay there and “look busy” as he waits for Adriana to approach the walkway.
Sure enough, the Brazilian stunner begins making her way toward the entrance and she starts walking up the hall. She is joined by two other people, perhaps her agent and assistant. G-East looks up from his phone and commences his long awaited plan. He walks up and blocks Adriana from brushing past him. It’s then that he politely asks for a pic with the model and he is genuinely surprised when she recognizes the “No Limit” rapper and tells him how big of a fan she is. The pair go off to the side and take a few pics. Now for the good part. G-Eazy turns on the and sends a few flirtatious comments Adriana’s way to which she is obviously flattered and even blushes quite noticeably. As G-Eazy begins to put another move on the supermodel, he hears an odd sound. FFFFFRRRRR He initially suspects he just received a text as he whips out his phone yet there’s no new notifications that pop up on his screen. He looks around as he continues talking but his sentence is cut off when he gets a whiff of the foulest odor. G-Easy stops and looks up at Adriana who’s standing a mere two-three feet away from him. She looks off to the side as she plays with her hair. She says something but between her accent and the nasty stench floating in the air, G-Eazy has no comprehension of what she even uttered. The space between the two stars grows pungent, it’s as if a giant piece of dog turd fell from the sky and landed right between their feet. At that moment, all G-Eazy can say is that it was nice meeting the stunning Amazon and he awkwardly walks away, hearing Adriana’s faint “it was nice to meet you as well” only as he turns his back and covers his nose with his shirt. Somehow the stench is potent enough to start following him so he begins speed walking back to his dressing room

in the dream, layer 8 released. i cant remember any specific details, but all i can remember is that: a. there were like 4 new enemies that all looked like a jumbled mess of polygons (im blaming my brain) b. there was no final boss, just an insanely hard gauntlet c. there was a secret, where just before the gauntlet if you went into a secret chamber blocked by wooden boards, you could find a half life 1 style hecu soldier voiced by Matt Stone of south park. he would help you during the gauntlet by giving you cover fire. d. the secret level was dishonored gameplay
fraudulence was also released but i woke up just before i was able to play it. my brain doesnt want to spoil me i presume. anyways what are your thoughts

"If the Obturator Internus(OI) is tight then a PN block will not work. Botox and physiotherapy is need first...."Stephanie Pendergast, President of the International Pelvic Pain Society. Im due for a PN block by the NHS. Consultant told me that becasue the Ganglion of Impar block didnt work the PN block absolutely wont. I managed to persuade her to let me try the PN block. After listening to Stephanie Pendergast it seems very unlikely the PN block will work becasue i checked the letter my private physio wrote and it says i have greater tone in the OI on the left than the right. Im in Scotland. There's a man in Bristol England that uses Botox in the pelvis. I think i need to see him first then get the block on the NHS. It's the only chance of the PN block working becasue if it doesnt my consultant will send me back to the pain managment programe. I have already done this programme. I fear for my future if I am left without treatment. Should I have botox first?

Which cabaret club do I go to???
YES I KNOW there are travel subreddits and forums and Japan subreddits IDC. If I wanted to ask the general public, I'd ask them. I want to ask Yakuza players specifically.
From what I can see in Google maps, there are a LOT of clubs just in the few blocks of kabukicho. In my experience Google reviews are fantastic for most things, but nightlife is one BIG exception for that.
I don't want to touch the ladies or try to date them (not like I have the Charm and Style points for that anyway) or for them to be extra flirty or anything. Just a chaste conversation in a nice venue with a nice lady...who also happens to be wearing a dress that's unfairly pretty (seriously, some of those dresses they wear are so beautiful I want to cry).
Price is no object, I only have two nights there, so I'm going all out. I probably care the most about being at what feels like an upscale venue.
And o ethnically I'm 中国 but the moment I open my mouth they'll know I'm an amerika-jin. So IDC if they're extra foreigner friendly so long as they don't kick me out immediately when they realize I'm not a native Japanese speaker
O also, what's the best way of giving them extra money?? I know buying expensive drinks makes the ladies a lot of money, but I'm not really a drinker and don't want their expensive drinks. I just want the lady and the club to get my money without the club having to give me something that costs them money and doesn't have value to me. I know tipping is...weird. And I don't want the lady to get the wrong idea if I just hand her cash.
When they take my drink order can I just give them like 10,000¥ and be like "no just take my money I don't want any drinks"? Or should I order something that's like 1,000¥ and tell them to keep the change?
O and also ALSO what other places besides food places do I need to cross off for my Completion List while I am there

I have never had to deal with something like this before, I thought I knew EVERY tell for a scam. But I got sucked into one and I’ve spent the better half of my day having a full blown panic attack at work.
I applied to a bunch of jobs last year and eventually gave up on my job hunt. Got an email from someone named Courtney at Awestruck. Awestruck is a very real, very legit company in destination marketing. They were not behind this scam, but someone was using their images, people, and assets to pose as them.
I was emailed by Courtney, who IS a real person (but not the one contacting me) on gmail saying I was shortlisted for an interview. My first red flag should’ve been that they gave ME a time to hop on and didn’t ask for a scheduling time. I did it anyways. The pay was super good and it was for a remote video editor position, in my field.
The interview itself was the other red flag. I never spoke to or saw a live person. It was Courtney, the original person who emailed me, who I was messaging over…Microsoft teams. They gave me very basic questions and I had to answer with a video response
Then they called me the next day to say I got it, and that I had to start pre-training IMMEDIATELY after signing an offer letter and tax/banking form. They kept using very urgent phrases like “do it now” “have it done right away” and had a bit of broken English. They asked me to do a mobile deposit check of $7,600 to pay vendors to buy equipment, by printing it out and scanning it with the app. I’ve never heard of this before but I assumed it was kosher bc my bank app accepted it.
The next day, today, they asked me if the check showed up and asked me to Venmo their vendors. That’s when I finally got some sense in me and blocked him. Called my bank and they confirmed it was a bad check. The hard part is I wanted this job to be real so bad. It would’ve made my entire dream come true. So it hurt but whatever. Thankfully I didn’t send them a penny but they do have my most important info like bank numbers and even my SSN. I know how to protect my bank account but if anyone has any comprehensive advice on what to do about the SSN , I would be grateful. I keep getting sent to the same places to “learn more” about protecting my identity rather than reporting something. Nothing fishy has happened with my credit or bank account yet, but I don’t know what to do if they just keep my SSN?
Anyways, I hope this alerts some people and I don’t wanna hear it about how dumb I am, I know, trust me.

Hi, it's Stads again covering OU usage trends in April 2024. This is some form of a follow-up to my post last month here (https://www.reddit.com/stunfisk/comments/1bw1732/ou_usage_trends_march_2024/), where I discussed the 5 pokemon with the greatest usage differential between the general population elo bracket and the 1825+ elo bracket in the March 2024 stats. For this month, the stats are sourced from https://www.smogon.com/stats/2024-04/ . This time, I'll cover both the top 5 increases in usage and the top 5 decreases in usage between the two brackets. Let's start off with the increases!

1. Zamazenta (9.79% vs 23.87%, +14.09%)

Zama just keeps taking off in usage, climbing to 2nd overall in usage in the 1825+ bracket and dethroning the elephant last month. Like last month, I suspect Zama is simply an extremely solid pokemon that both checks and fits well into offensive structures. Month-over-month, I see that a novel spread of Impish 16/0/216/0/40/236 has taken over the 1825+ elo bracket this month, albeit only a small plurality at 12.142%. This spread makes it quite a bit more physically bulky while speed creeping Roaring Moon, a key opposing mon for Zama to check. However, this is at the cost of no longer outspeeding key threats like Weavile, Darkrai, and +1 Dragonite. There's been some shifting in which moves Zama is running as well, with Crunch becoming slightly less mandatory, Roar and Heavy Slam becoming more popular, and Substitute falling off quite a bit. I suspect the very standard Sub IronPress Zama simply has been adequately adapted to, and these shifts reflect Zama adjusting to deal with opposing setup sweepers and fairies a bit better.

2. Kingambit (24.50% vs 36.72%, +12.22%)

Another repeat performer, Kingambit continues to be a popular pokemon in all elo brackets but especially the 1825+ region. While most of SV OU continues to adapt and proliferate new strategies, Kingambit seems to be a more locked-in constant, with no new sets, spreads, or moves especially rising in popularity. Leftovers, Black Glasses, and Air Balloon continue to be the main trifecta of used items, and while most sets seem to be Adamant and investing in bulk, running Jolly and max speed retains a solid niche. It remains to be seen if anything can really knock Kingambit from its perch in the coming months, or if we've reached a stable equilibrium.

3. Glimmora (12.23% vs 20.26%, +8.03%)

Finally, a new face! The favoured lead for many Hyper Offensive teams in SV OU since the beginning, Glimmora had a great month in April, coming in at 6th in usage in the 1825+ bracket. Month-over-month, Glimmora has remained markedly stable in how it's used, but the 1825+ bracket loves Red Card quite a bit more, at 41.295% compared to to 15.172% in the general population. I suspect this is because Red Card can be tricky to use, requiring some prediction to be best used in displacing an opposing setup sweeper while switching into an attack that won't OHKO Glimmora. I wonder if much of this usage was pre-Volcarona ban, with how reliably Glimmora could take a fire-type attack from the moth and get rid of all its terrifying boosts. I'm a little surprised that Glimmora has thrived with the emergence of Fast Taunt Landorus-Therian with Earth Power, but perhaps Hyper Offensive teams have simply adapted and are now finding other leads that can adequately threaten Lando.

4. Roaring Moon (13.17% vs 21.04%, +7.87%)

Salamence's prehistoric cousin has been terrifying since it was unbanned with the advent of DLC2, but it continues to really come into its own. A ludicrously strong Knock Off can not only be leveraged to sweep teams but also break open cores for teammates to later abuse, and its typing and natural bulk gives Roaring Moon the ability to often find openings against mons like Gholdengo and Gliscor. Everyone agrees that Roaring Moon runs Booster Energy, Dragon Dance, Knock Off, and Acrobatics (with tera flying), but while the general population seems to enjoy Earthquake and then Taunt for that last moveslot, the 1825+ bracket has a mild preference for Taunt, with Brick Break narrowly edging Earthquake as the runner-up. I'm not positive whether this is more of a niche tool against screens or just the best option available against the ubiquitous Kingambit, but it's an interesting development that's only really taken off this month. As an aside, I'm quite surprised that Tera Flying + Acrobatics has persisted as not only the premier tera option for Roaring Moon, but realistically, the only option. Flying is an extremely good offensive type with few fat electrics around, but I'm a bit surprised that no specialized counter-teras have developed for Moon to beat some of its established checks such as Weavile and Dondozo.

5. Clefable (5.63% vs 13.32%, +7.69%)

This one did surprise me. While the happy pink blob (no, the other one) continues to fly largely under the radar amongst the general population, it's experiencing a breakout in the 1825+ bracket. I suspect this is because post-Volcarona ban, the metagame has gotten slightly fatter despite the presence of Waterpon and Kyurem, and Clefable fits excellently into many fat structures. Magic Guard is an amazing ability always, but especially in a hazard meta, and also makes Clefable one of SV OU's two premier knock absorbers alongside Gliscor. The support movepool is just as good as ever with Thunder Wave, Stealth Rock, Knock Off, Wish healer, and Calm Mind wincons all quite viable. Magic Guard and the prevalence of booster energy also makes Clefable an excellent user of Sticky Barb, which can attach itself to mons post-booster like Great Tusk and Roaring Moon, easily dooming their sweeps. The general population acknowledges this set with 13.93% Sticky Barb usage, but the 1825+ bracket expects it, with Sticky Barb as the #1 used item at 43.833%. The general population also seems to enjoy specially defensive Clefable sets quite a bit more - perhaps to better deal with Kyurem, albeit in a very risky way - while the 1825+ bracket leans into the Sticky Barb with physically defensive sets being ubiqutious. While Clefable has exploded in popularity, it does seem to be only on balance and fatter team comps, with its most common teammates being Gliscor (completing the knock absorption perimeter), Corviknight, Dragapult, Great Tusk, and Dondozo. If Clefable gets more usage on offensive teams, it'll truly be a sign that the SV OU meta has at long last started to slow down.
I'll also go over the 5 pokemon with the greatest usage drop between the general population and 1825+ bracket. If you see your favourites here, don't necessarily worry - they may still have realistic niches to fill on OU teams! But it is still good to analyze why certain pokemon will be favoured or disfavoured in certain environments.

1. Serperior (6.58% vs 1.44%, -5.14)

This is hardly a surprise anymore. While Serperior will have a certain floor of usage due to it's status as a starter pokemon and the allure of the Contrary + Leaf Storm combo, it's simply too pidgeonholed to exist much in the 1825+ bracket. Tera Blast is used around 60% in both environments, though I'm very curious if they tend to use the same tera type or if there's some difference. The slight boon of having a great matchup into Webs has also faded a bit as that playstyle has fallen off slightly, and with Rillaboom, Waterpon, and Grasspon providing plenty of grass-type attacking prowess, it seems unlikely Serperior will find a niche even with the exit of Volcarona. The real discussion is how Serperior will fare in UU come the June tier shifts, with many great answers such as Hydrapple and Tornadus-Therian seemingly poised to handle it.

2. Corviknight (10.69% vs 6.00%, -4.69%)

I'm not 100% sure why Corviknight remains popular amongst the general population while sliding in the 1825+ tier. It might be due to Lando-T taking its spot as a pivot, it might be because it simply doesn't wall things as hard as it wants to. Mirror Armor has a sizeable fanbase among the general population at 32.949%, but the 1825+ bracket practically ignores it at just 3.263% usage. In both environments, Corv is very predominantly physically defensive to better deal with threats such as Kingambit, SD Gliscor, and Roaring Moon. One absurd data point - Roost only has 90.999% usage in the general population. Is this a typo? Are there really 9% of people who don't use Roost on Corvinkight? I imagine even cheesy sets like Bulk Up + Power Trip would be running Roost. I have absolutely no idea what's going on here, and I suspect that looking too far into it will only induce madness.

3. Torkoal (6.91% vs 2.50%, -4.41%)

Torkoal is generally used to provide sunlight for Sun teams, but is rarely also run on trick room teams with Choice Specs to nuke everything with Eruption. Sun, among other 'gimmicky' Hyper Offense styles such as Webs, Trick Room, and other weathers, tend to be a bit less reliable up in the 1825+ bracket where teams are more sturdily built and nuking everything with force generally won't go quite as far. So it checks out that everyone's favourite sun turtle would get a bit more usage amongst the general population.

4. Cinderace (9.82% vs 6.13%, -3.70%)

Cinderace getting less usage in the 1825+ bracket represents the continuation of a philosophical shift to the hazard subgame. Hazards have been very difficult to remove conventionally this entire generation due to Gholdengo blocking most forms of removal. This means that previously, Cinderace having unblockable psuedo-removal in Court Change was an excellent workaround. Now however, offensive teams generally prefer to have their own hazards up and simply try to limit how many hazards get set up on their side of the field with tools like Fast Taunt Lando as well as the popularity of Glimmora and its Mortal Spin. I expect the general population will gradually catch up to this trend over time, though with Cinderace being a starter - and one banned in previous generations at that - it likely has a bit higher floor of usage than it would in a vacuum. I also note that the 1825+ bracket seems to try Blaze Cinderace a bit more, 26.526% vs 16.816%, with Blaze taking Pyro Ball from a very good attack to one that can really dent even bulkier mons.

5. Garchomp (4.18% vs 0.81%, -3.38%)

Another Pokemon whose general popularity is probably carrying it to decent usage among the general population, while the 1825+ bracket has moved on. It's slightly strange to me that SD + Scale Shot Garchomp sets have been completely absent from the meta, but perhaps that niche is simply not compelling enough with Roaring Moon, Gouging Fire, Kyurem, and even Haxorus as physically-attacking Dragon-type alternatives. What usage Chomp does get in 1825+ seems to be confined entirely to defensive hazard sets, with Rocky Helmet, Dragon Tail, and at least 1 hazard. But even in this use case, it's hard to find a real niche when Ting-Lu, Deoxys-Speed, Glimmora, and other great offensive hazard setters exist. I won't go so far as to say it's completely Garchover, but it may take a large meta shift on the back of a ban or two for Garchomp to find true OU usage again.
I hope this was an enjoyable follow-up to the previous post. Feedback is appreciated, let me know if I've missed anything this time!

This is taken from and is copyright protected by globalsoup.net, a website that promotes flash Fiction with annual writing contests.
I am reprinting these Flash Fiction Prompts because they are outstanding ways to freewrite and offer plenty to work with for those who want to learn how to write Flash Fiction.
So check out these prompts and the article and work some of them into your journal! Post the best responses!
100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts - Plus Bonus Prompts!
We’ve put together 100 flash fiction prompts, each one designed for a very short story. These prompts will probably be best suited to a story of between 300-1,000 words. If you want to write a longer story using these prompts, you can easily expand these ideas to fit a story of any length.
What is flash fiction?
Flash Fiction is defined as a very short story that can be anywhere from just a couple of words to about a thousand in length. The beauty (and difficulty) of writing flash fiction lies in trying to tell a complete story in so few words. Great flash fiction is succinct, emotive, thought-provoking, and impactful.
What’s the difference between flash fiction and a short story?
The only difference between flash fiction and a typical short story is the word count. However, this scarcity of words means that writing flash fiction can feel like a completely new skill. Just like the short story is a different animal to the novel or novella; flash fiction is kind of unique.
When writing flash, you’ll need to use fewer characters, a simpler plot, and you’ll have to make each word count. This is why editing is so important. You have to be brutal. Cut out everything superfluous and really make sure each and every word is performing an important function in the story. If you’re interested in writing very short fiction, why not check out drabbles? Drabbles are stories of exactly 100 words in length, and they can be a great way to practice keeping your stories very, very short.
How to plot a flash fiction story
When you sit down to write flash fiction, you must begin by choosing an appropriate plot. You cannot simply use a short story plot and tell it using fewer words. A typical flash fiction plot is like looking at one part of a story under a microscope.
For example, let’s look at prompt #21 in our list of 100 Flash Fiction Prompts:

1. Two people on a sinking ship must decide who should take the last seat in the last lifeboat. If you were writing a novel about a sinking ship, you’d probably want the actual sinking to be the climax of the story. Of course, there are infinite ways to write a novel about a sinking ship, but this would structurally be the most obvious. You’d use the first part of the novel to introduce your characters and describe the voyage leading up to the sinking and the sinking of the ship would be the dramatic climax, leaving the last part of the book as the resolution.

The golden rule of writing short stories is to begin as close to end as you can. So, to turn the same story from novel to short story, you’d probably want to begin with the ship sinking. You haven’t got time to introduce the characters before the action begins, so you’d need to feed in exposition and backstory here and there during the events.
All stories need a good climax. So, you would find the most dramatic moment in the story and build up to it. Perhaps your climax would be the two main characters having to decide who will take the remaining seat on the last lifeboat.
Finally, you need a resolution. In a longer short story you do have time to bring in some kind of satisfying resolution at the end.
But, if you’re writing flash fiction and your story is only a few hundred words, you really need to zoom in on one tiny moment in that story.
You don’t have time to tell the entire story of a sinking ship, but you can turn one moment into a story.
We’ve chosen the lifeboat situation as the key moment in this hypothetical story. Two characters must decide which one of them will take the last seat on the last lifeboat. This is an appropriate plot for flash fiction because it’s simple, high-stakes, dramatic, and thought provoking.
Not all flash fiction will have a plot quite this dramatic, but all great flash fiction will have a plot that can be expressed in just one or two sentences.
If you have a plot in mind, but it seems more suitable for a longer story, you can sometimes find several flash fiction plots hidden within it. Just look for little stories within the story, like the lifeboat moment in our hypothetical tale of the sinking ship.
This brings us to our top tip for coming up with ideas for flash fiction stories:
if you’re ever stuck for ideas, you can find little stories within the story in books, movies, and TV shows. A full length feature film might have as many as 20 little incidents in it that could easily be flash fiction.
Don’t directly write a story based on the film, though. Just carefully pick out those little moments, write down what’s happening as a one or two sentence plot, and then use it to inspire your own, completely original flash fiction story.
One of our 100 Flash Fiction Prompts was actually taken from the movie Pulp Fiction!
How to write very short flash fiction
There are several reasons writers might start writing flash fiction. Of course, it could be that they just love and enjoy the form, but sometimes they’ll be a more strategic and practical reason at play.
Perhaps they want to practise the process of writing stories within the confines of a certain word limit. Maybe they are trying to develop a daily writing routine and they don’t have a lot of free time. It could be that they’re trying to break a habit of not finishing writing projects, or perhaps they are entering a flash fiction competition.
Whatever the reason, very often when we sit down to write flash, we must work under an imposed or self-imposed word restraint. We’ve set ourselves (or been set) the task of keeping the story under a particular number of words.
So, how do you plot a flash fiction story when you have to keep your story very, very short.
We’re not going to discuss stories of 100 words or fewer here. Technically, those stories are still flash, however, we prefer to categorise 100 word stories as drabbles and anything under 100 words as micro fiction.
But what if you have to keep your flash fiction story under, let’s say, 300 words? How do you write a flash fiction story that short?
The answer is: get your microscope out again. Remember earlier when we said writing flash fiction is like looking at part of a story under a microscope? If you have to write very short flash fiction, you’ll need to zoom in even further.
Let’s look at a couple of examples from our 100 Flash Fiction Prompts:

1. During a match, a young boxer must decide whether to throw the fight.

If you had 1,000 words to devote to the story, you could have time to tell the story of the entire fight. With only 300 words, it might be better to zoom in on the very moment when the boxer must choose whether or not to go down.
In a longer flash fiction story you might have time to go into detail about why he’s in this situation and why he’s so conflicted. In a 300 word story, you might only devote one or two sentences to his gambling debt and the large sum of money waiting for him if he goes down in the third round, as instructed.

1. A family must decide what to take and what to leave behind as a wildfire approaches their home.

If you had 1,000 words to devote to this story, you might be able to write about the whole process of choosing what to take and what to leave behind. You might be able to mention many different choices and have the whole family participate in the story. You’d be able to go into some details about certain choices and the stories behind individual objects or mementos, as well as the implications of choosing certain things over others.
With only 300 words, it would be advisable to zoom in on one member of the family and to focus on one profound and important choice.
How to write a flash fiction story
Now you have your mini plot, you still need to make sure your flash fiction feels like a complete story. It should still have a beginning, middle, and an end.
Just like a short story, you may need to bring in a little exposition here and there to give texture, context, backstory, and to bring some depth to the characters. But, unlike a short story, you won’t necessarily need to end with a full, detailed resolution. It’s quite common for a flash fiction story to end with a quick twist or plenty of ambiguity.
Flash Fiction is much more about eliciting emotions and provoking thought, than setting up and resolving a complex story.
100 Awesome Flash Fiction Prompts
A young ballet dancer chooses not to tell the other dancers in her troop about a loose paving stone outside their dance studio.
Two sisters realise they’ve both been on a perfect first date … with the same man.
On the car journey home, two parents realise they’ve left their child’s favourite teddy on a park bench several hours away.
A writer suffering from writers’ block looks for inspiration in a strange place.
Set 200 years in the future, a young man realises he’s too emotionally dependent on his robot assistant.
A young woman discovers she’s taken the wrong suitcase home from the airport. The contents of the case make her question her own life choices.
A murderer realises he has only 10 minutes to dispose of a body.
A child decides to walk home by themselves after their parent forgets to pick them up from school … again.
Your protagonist manages to talk the grim reaper out of collecting their soul.
Your protagonist suddenly realises they’ve been living in a simulation.
A young couple has chosen to spend the night in a haunted house to fix their marriage. Your story starts just as things get very weird.
Your protagonist finds a letter they wrote to themselves when they were a teenager.
Your protagonist must decide whether or not to drink from a fountain that erases all painful memories from the mind.
Your protagonist comes across a street called ‘Memory Lane’. They quickly realise the name is eerily apt.
A bride finds out something startling about her future husband an hour before the wedding.
Your protagonist finds an advertisement for a company that promises everlasting youth.
A youngest sibling shows up at a family reunion they weren’t actually invited to.
Your protagonist finds a piece of paper with a spell on it. If they say the words out loud they aren't sure if something terrible or wonderful will happen.
Your protagonist is watching a jazz band play when they realise they know the drummer from somewhere — but where? It takes a whole song for them to figure it out.
Your protagonist must meet their ex for lunch to tell them they’re now engaged. It’s been just a few weeks since they split up.
Two people on a sinking ship must decide who should take the last seat in the last lifeboat.
During a match, a young boxer must decide whether to throw the fight.
Your protagonist must pack their belongings before moving to a new colony on mars.
A pilot realises they have lost control of their aircraft.
Your protagonist doesn’t want to attend their 100th birthday party — and for good reason!
Your protagonist gets stuck in a lift with their ex … 5 minutes after breaking up with them.
A child says goodbye to the fairies in his garden before moving to a new home.
Your protagonist saves someone’s life … and then wishes they hadn’t.
Your protagonist arrives at a blind date. They’ve been set up with someone they actually know a little too well.
Set in a dystopian future in which public displays of affection are banned, your protagonist faces an agonising choice.
An agoraphobic must face their fear in order to save something important.
Your protagonist must make her partner fall out of love with them. Both their lives depend on it.
Your protagonist is hiking with her small children, they come face to face with a grizzly bear and her cubs.
Cinderella and Prince Charming realise they got married too quickly.
A message written in graffiti on a bathroom wall has serious implications for your protagonist.
Your protagonist finds a bag, looks inside, and realises the owner might just be their soulmate.
Your protagonist has been seeing the same stranger everywhere they go for months. They finally decide to confront them.
A couple realise their relationship is over during the trip of a lifetime. They’ve been saving up for the trip for years.
A public debate sees two previously married people letting their private grievances come into their arguments.
Your protagonist plans their escape from a retirement home.
A couple realise their fundamental beliefs are at odds with each other.
An artist develops an obsession with drawing a next-door neighbour.
Your protagonist finds themselves trapped in a cabin with a group of hikers during a heavy snowfall.
An ice skater must face going back on the ice after a dangerous fall.
A couple must decide their plan for New Year’ Eve. They both have secret reasons for their choice.
A family must decide what to take and what to leave behind as a wildfire approaches their home.
Your protagonist is waiting for someone important at the airport. They begin to think that person isn’t going to show up … and then they realise why.
Your protagonist must find their way through a maze. What they find in the middle of the maze is the last thing they were expecting.
An actor waiting in the wings has forgotten his first line.
Your protagonist is wrongly identified as a hero. Do they come clean?
Your protagonist realises their past is catching up with them.
Your protagonist overhears something that has serious implications for them while trying on clothes in a changing room.
Your protagonist is in a costume shop trying to decide what to dress up as for Halloween.
Your protagonist realises they’ve slipped into an alternate dimension.
A surgeon must make an impossible choice on the operating table.
A pregnant journalist interviews the mother of a missing child.
Your protagonist must ask his girlfriend’s father for his blessing, only to discover the father knows his deepest secret.
Your protagonist sees something on social media that will change their life forever.
Two work colleagues realise they’ve been dreaming the same dreams for weeks.
A reluctant daughter comes to terms with having to carry on the family business.
Your protagonist realises she must go on the run.
Two bank robbers disagree on their plan to rob a bank. This leads to a disastrous consequence.
A strange case of deja vous leaves your protagonist convinced of supernatural interference.
A sceptic begins to question their beliefs during a psychic reading.
Your protagonist uncovers a scandal at their workplace.
A hapless cook tries to recreate her late father’s favourite recipes in an effort to feel connected to him.
Your protagonist has a premonition that makes them certain they can’t visit their mother-in-law for Christmas. Now he must convince his husband.
A young backpacker discovers something unexpected in a cave.
An impulsive character and an indecisive character are brought together by chance. They must make an important choice.
Two characters cleaning up after a party discover an object that sheds light on something strange that happened earlier.
Two strangers are trapped together during a blackout.
Your protagonist must take a leap of faith in order to save something important to them.
Your protagonist discovers a huge part of their life has been a lie.
Your protagonist has set up an elaborate way to propose. Inexplicably, everything goes wrong.
Your protagonist must buy a dress for her mother’s funeral.
Your protagonist goes back to her favourite city in the world, only to find it has completely changed.
While stargazing, your protagonist realises the stars are forming secret messages in the sky.
Your protagonist hears a news story on the radio that will mean the world changes forever. However, she seems to be the only person who heard it.
Your protagonist is crossing a frozen lake. They see something under the ice that definitely shouldn’t be there.
A workaholic must come to terms with retirement.
An Olympic athlete must decide whether or not to report their teammate for doping.
A young mother feels isolated from her childless friends.
Your protagonist is about to realise their greatest ambition. Will it be everything they were hoping for?
Onboard a spaceship, a couple prepare to go into stasis for hundreds of years.
Your protagonist has an obsession with thinking about the past.
Set in a post-apocalyptic future, your protagonist meets an unlikely love interest.
Your protagonist visits a place from their childhood and realises their memories of that time might not be accurate at all.
A small child has decided to run away from home. Her parents watch on with amusement as she decides what to put in her backpack.
On a whim, a bus driver decides to radically change his route, much to the chagrin of his passengers.
Dystopian. A couple in love are only allowed to spend time with each other one day a year.
A shapeshifter begins to realise their powers are fading. They must decide what form will be the last one they take before they cannot change again.
The devil visits your protagonist with an offer on her soul.
Your protagonist suddenly has the ability to read minds. There’s only one place they want to go now!
Your very wealthy protagonist has designed a simple test to see who will inherit her estate.
An archaeologist discovers something that will change how we see the history of the world. It could be dangerous. Does he keep it to himself?
Your protagonist must clear out their late mother’s house. She discovers an incredible family secret.
Your protagonist is meeting his brother. They haven’t seen each other for 20 years.
Your protagonist develops the ability to see the world literally through someone else’s eyes.
Your protagonist starts to believe their partner might be a spy.
Your protagonist discovers a hidden camera in their living room.
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A woman loses her young niece in a busy shopping mall.
Three strangers must solve a riddle in order to gain entry to a secret club.
A poor woman must borrow ingredients from her neighbours to bake her husband a birthday cake.
A waiter finally finds out why an old man has been coming to the restaurant where he works every day at exactly the same time.
Two work colleagues must decide which of them is to take the blame for a terrible mistake at work.
Your disgruntled protagonist goes to confront the couple next door about the strange noises they’ve been hearing at night.
A family dinner party sees three characters make three very surprising announcements.
Two women argue over who should get to buy the last dress available in a store. How do they decide who should get it?
A young couple find out they knew (and disliked) each other vehemently as children.
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Location: Colorado, USA
In August 2023 I agreed to be primary on a car loan for my boyfriend of 3 years because his car broke down and he needed a vehicle for work, and his credit wasn't good enough to qualify on his own.
On the vehicle purchasing paperwork it says we both own the car. I am the primary borrower, he is the co-borrower.
We have since broken up, and it was messy. I will provide context as I don't know if we would be considered common law in Colorado and whether that affects things. We were together for 4 years. He cheated on me, and she was his gf a week later. I had stopped working full time 6 months prior to help care for his son and 2 godchildren, who we had temp custody of. I wasn't able to move out right away and he seemed okay with me saving money for a few months to move out... until he wasn't. He became more verbally aggressive, blocked access to the internet so I couldn't work, cancelled my car insurance even though I was halfway into a 2 week driving test to qualify for new car insurance, cancelled my phone line. He threatened to evict me (he couldn't do this because it was his parents house) multiple times because he felt like I wasn't trying hard enough to find another job. I eventually was able to save up enough to move out.
Last month, he was arrested for domestic violence against his new gf, he tried to kill himself that same night. It turns out he was heavily abusing his ADHD medication and alcohol, as well as other drugs like cocaine and hiding it from everyone for over a year, at least. He admitted to me that he stole ADHD medication from me. I had medication go missing in 2022 and 2023 but I could not confirm it was him. I even messaged his therapist and she was unable to give him a UA because he was also on ADHD medication and so the drug test wouldn't prove he was taking my medication. I plan on filing a police report, but I want to get the car loan situation sorted out because I'm worried about retaliation on his end. The police told me I don't need to file the report right away and that I can wait.
I continue to get notifications when he is late with his payments. He also has an EZ Pass and if he doesn't make the payments on those, the letters get sent to me in my name because I am primary. I called EZ Pass and they said if it doesn't get paid then it could prevent car registration.
When I email him and ask him where he is at on requesting the loan be taken out of my name and put into his, he says he's working on it but won't give me any other information or any sort of timeline. My credit score went down 50 points with the vehicle loan. I was luckily able to move into a private residence that did not require me to do a credit check, but I might need to move again and I will likely struggle to find an apartment with my current credit score.
The last email I sent, I told him if we can't figure it out we can get a mediator but it would be at his expense. He hasn't responded.
The current loan is approximately $30k. Payments are around $600/mo.
Questions
Are there ways I can get off of the loan that do not require him to have good enough credit to qualify?
Can I repo the car? What does that look like?
Does he have to be in agreement with my decisions?
I don't even know if I'm asking the right questions. I am lost in this situation but really need to buck up and get educated on what I can and can't do. He is someone who makes threats and I think what he did to me after we broke up would be considered emotional and financial abuse. I am definitely concerned about retaliation, and so I need to understand what am able to do so I can make the best decision.
Thank you so much in advance

Author’s Note:
If you enjoy the story so far, please consider upvoting and commenting! These go a long way in helping the story reach a larger audience. (Also, reddit removes all my formatting for some reason so if you want a fully formatted read, check out my story on RoyalRoad)
READ 2 WEEKS AHEAD: Season Finale Chapter 17 is now available for Tier 2 Manifest Fantasy Patrons and higher!
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First
Three, two, one... execute.
Ron peeked around the corner, his M4E1 Carl Gustaf already loaded with standard HEAT rounds. The rest of Alpha Team stacked up behind him or behind Ryan, who was on the other side of the doorway. Through the opening, they could see a nightmarish tangle of webs and egg sacs, with the skittering shapes of Spiranids lurking in the shadows in the far corners of the room.
The Queen was positioned in the center of the room, completely exposed by a cluster of eggs. Henry watched as Ron leveled his Gustaf, taking aim at the Queen while they stayed along the wall to ensure Ron’s backblast was clear. It should have been an easy kill, but a flicker of movement caught Henry’s eye.
A blob of white flew across his vision, smacking into Ron just as he fired his weapon. The thick strands of webbing bypassed Kelmithus’ shielding and wrapped around him, sending him flying back a couple of meters. He landed on his back, his body and launcher completely stuck to the floor by the condensed silk.
Around the same time, the Gustaf’s projectile struck the Queen’s abdomen section. The resulting blast tore through its exoskeleton but was far from a fatal blow. The Queen shrieked, a sound far deeper than Henry expected.
“Fuck!” Ron shouted, struggling to break free from the webbing.
Henry exhaled. They were a man down, but helping him had to wait; the not-dead Queen and its minions took precedence. It would be great if he had another launcher in his own Holding Bag, but that was something he’d have to bring up to Chief Cole later. Henry tossed his grenades into the room, the pops mingling with the screeches of injured Spiranids. Ryan struck simultaneously, throwing his own collection into the mix. Like firecrackers, the explosives were violent but short-lived.
As the chaos subsided, Henry pushed in. Raising his shotgun, he tore through a Spiranid that pounced at him, its carcass smoldering from the white phosphorous. Beside him, Isaac, Ryan, and Dr. Anderson’s shots rang out, tearing through their own sectors of fire.
Almost immediately upon their entry, the Queen surged forward with terrifying speed. It reared its head back like it was about to vomit, mandibles covered in a sick, yellowish color. Henry recognized immediately what it was trying to do. “Acid, move!”
Henry dove away from his previous position, taking a shot at another Spiranid that had taken the opportunity to jump at him while its master was preparing to attack. He narrowly escaped the lethal spray as it jetted toward him. The acid splattered on the ground where they had stood not even a second before, sizzling fiercely as it corroded the thick webbing sprawled across the floor. He noticed as he ran that, rather curiously, the acid was simply puddling on the floor. There was no damage to the floor itself, but if it could tear apart high-quality monster silk just like that, he didn’t want to find out what it could do to an envirosuit.
Henry glanced back after blasting apart his third Spiranid. His teammates were fine – Ryan helping him keep the Queen’s attention, Sera already on her way to Ron, and the others taking care of the smaller Spiranids. He tried to get a quick headcount of how many Spiranids they’d already eliminated. Between their guns, Kelmithus’ magic, and the grenades, he estimated they had killed at least a dozen so far. Solid progress, but the fact that they weren’t able to take out the Queen with their first strike was an issue.
Henry rolled to his left as the Queen pounced on his previous position. It was fucking fast, like a Goliath birdeater but scaled up – and with nasty abilities that really shouldn’t belong on a creature like this. He recovered quickly and took aim, firing point-blank into its thorax. The white phosphorous pellets hissed as they burned into its exoskeleton, forcing it back.
Beside him, Ryan’s shotgun boomed. He struck the Queen’s legs, which seemed to be more fragile than the thick exoskeleton surrounding the head and thorax. The pellets bit into the chitin, likely striking a nerve as evidenced by the leg’s subsequent buckling and collapse. It was a lucky shot – one that he doubted they could repeat four or five more times.
“Sera, use my knife! Here, right here!” Ron called out.
Sera’s sword must’ve been too large to effectively cut through the webbing. They had to hurry up. He and Ryan had been dodging the Queen’s attacks, but mostly by a hair’s breadth. All it took was one lucky hit from the Queen to put them out of commission, possibly for good. “Sera, status on Ron?”
“One minute!” she responded.
Damn. That was one minute later than he’d hoped. Reacting instinctively, Henry noted the Queen raising one of its legs – a sure sign of it preparing for another attack. The Queen struck again, this time cleaving the air with the leg, aiming to corral him into a predictable escape route. As its leg swept through the air, Henry caught sight of the Queen rearing its head back in a grotesque mimicry of a snake about to strike – another acid attack.
Anticipating the monster’s strategy, Henry feinted to the right, a move he hoped would mislead it about his true intentions. As the Queen’s head followed his feint, Henry twisted sharply, scraping against the rough ground. With a powerful push from his legs, he launched backward just as the Queen unleashed its attack.
Acid spewed forth in a wide arc, splattering where he had just been. The corrosive globs almost instantly melted the webbing on the floor, collecting into pools. And there was the second issue. The longer this fight dragged on, the less room they’d have to maneuver.
Henry unloaded into the creature’s compound eyes before tossing a flashbang near its legs. The creature staggered backward, blinded in both its eyes and its sensory hairs. Henry used the precious few seconds he bought to reload his weapon and check up on his team. “Yen, sitrep?”
“Stragglers neutralized; we’re moving to you now.”
Automatic gunfire erupted as Isaac and Dr. Anderson joined the fight against the Queen, dumping their mags on the creature’s head. The 6.8mm seemed to penetrate well, but he could say the same if they fought an elephant; the Spiranid Queen was simply too large for the relatively small caliber rounds to have any effect besides pissing it off.
The Queen lunged again, its legs surrounding him from all sides. There was only one way out, and it was through the belly of the beast. Henry rushed forward, ducking under the Queen’s mandibles as he slid underneath its abdomen. He fired his shotgun as quickly as he could, unloading pellets into the beast’s underbelly. The white phosphorous scorched the softer flesh, drawing a shriek of pain from the massive creature.
As the Queen writhed under the relentless assault, Ryan and the others seized the moment to reload their weapons and reposition. They poured everything they had into the creature’s cephalothorax, bluish ichor oozing from the hundreds of new wounds that they opened up. Yet, it was like chipping away at a mountain – it simply wasn’t enough. The creature thrashed around violently in response; Henry knew it was only a matter of time before it landed a hit on someone.
And land a hit it did. With a terrifying swiftness, one of its massive legs slammed into Henry’s chest, launching him backward. The shield Kelmithus cast on him flickered as it absorbed the brunt of the impact. He crashed into an egg sac by the entrance – its membrane ruptured on impact, drenching him in a sticky, corrosive slime. The sac provided little cushion, and he hit the ground hard, the breath knocked out of him.
Pain flared across Henry’s chest where the Queen’s leg had struck him. Gasping for breath and battling the encroaching blackness in his vision, he instinctively checked his envirosuit. He started with the areas he could see, glancing down at his chest. It was visibly deformed, dented but not quite a gash.
Still intact, thank goodness. No breach, but another hit like that would be disastrous. He breathed a sigh of relief, his chest hurting like hell as he did so. He checked his sides and back. Parts of his suit were covered in slime from the egg sac. It didn’t seem as corrosive as the Queen’s acid, but it was still a hazard. Quickly, he swiped at it, removing as much as possible with his gloved hands to prevent further damage.
He forced himself up, grabbing his shotgun from the floor. The Queen was already barreling toward him, the damn monster not letting up. He didn’t have time to make a run for it; he needed to jump to one side or the other, and the timing needed to be perfect. Just as the Queen’s shadow engulfed him, the air turned icy cold, frost creeping up on his visor.
Ice formed from thin air, spearing up from the ground and piercing through the Queen’s legs. The spikes rooted the beast in place. Not one to waste an opportunity, Henry dashed away from the entrance, firing at the immobilized giant spider as he linked up with the others.
“Sera?” Henry asked again.
Sera’s voice came in strained. “Almost…” Then, with a triumphant shout, she announced the word Henry had been desperate to hear. “Done!”
“Owens!” Henry said, risking a glance back.
Ron had already grabbed his Gustaf and was in the process of loading another HEAT round. “On it!”
Henry grinned. It was a relief, to be sure. With Ron free and back in the fight, the odds had just tipped heavily in their favor. The Queen was tough, but it wasn’t invincible; they just needed an opening.
Given the damage the Queen sustained to its body, Henry couldn’t imagine it being in peak fighting condition. Even in its weakened state, though, it still had the capability to dodge Ron’s attack, and it seemed to be saving its web ability for that very inevitability.
“Take out the legs!” Henry ordered.
They combined their fire on the left legs, since Ryan managed to break one of them earlier. He heard a crack that might’ve been the chitin giving way or the leg snapping, but it was hard to tell. He was just about to chalk it up to the prevailing gunfire around them, but then he saw it: a brief stumble. The Queen recovered quickly, but it was clear to Henry that it wouldn’t be able to manage any more damage to its legs.
Then, he noticed a blur in his peripheral vision to his right, moving so fast his eyes could barely keep up. Shit, he was certain he kept track of the Queen’s movements. With the existing damage to his envirosuit, he’d be completely fucked. He braced himself for another impact, but it never came.
As he focused harder on the blur, he caught a glimpse of a flash of light that could only be one thing – Sera’s sword, And, just like a flash of lightning, she had already cleared the vicinity of the Queen. The Queen’s foreleg seemed to simply vanish, severed so cleanly that it took a moment for the beast to realize what had happened. When it did, it let out a screech of pain, its balance faltering as it tried to adapt to the sudden change.
While Henry focused on taking out another leg from the left side, Sera had already shifted to her next target. Their assault was brutal: white phosphorus pellets and hard-hitting 6.8mm on one side, ice magic and skilled swordsmanship on the other. And to think, they managed to inflict all this damage by the time Ron completed his reload.
“Clear the way!” Ron called out, his Gustaf aimed right at the Queen’s head.
Henry jumped back, watching as Kelmithus conjured another set of ice spikes to root the beast again, in case the five obliterated legs weren’t enough to keep it down. The Queen thrashed against the icy bonds, its remaining legs slashing through the air in a frenzied bid for freedom. It spat acid – a tactic that would’ve worked effectively on most other materials, but instead simply got diluted with the melting ice. Even as the acid reacted with the ice, the spikes held firm, anchoring the beast in place like steel cables.
Henry’s heart pounded in his ears. Come on, Owens, he urged silently. Take the shot.
As if on cue, Ron pulled the trigger. The Gustaf bucked in his hands as the HEAT round streaked towards its target. Henry barely had time to brace himself before the explosion hit, the shockwave slamming into him and nearly toppling him over. He staggered back, gazing into the settling dust.
When the smoke cleared, the Queen’s head was obliterated – replaced by a gory mess of shattered chitin and pulverized flesh. Blood sprayed from the gaping hole, covering the ground in a pale blue hue. The creature’s body convulsed, its remaining legs scrabbling weakly at their surroundings.
A surge of triumph washed over Henry, but it was fleeting. From the corner of his eye, he locked on to a glimpse of movement. One of the Queen’s legs continued to spasmodically jerk around and spray the ground with blue ichor. He raised his shotgun in a nonchalant motion and blasted the errant limb, watching as it shuddered and went still.
Sera stepped up, her sword barely catching the light as she jammed it into what was left of the Queen’s thorax. A sharp twist, and it was over. She then yanked the blade from the carcass, her grip shifting subtly along the hilt. As she flicked the sword, frost swiftly coated the ichor clinging to the metal. The frozen debris was flung off, hitting the ground and shattering like glass.
He glanced down at his Holding Bag. Damn, the fight took out most of his shells. Swapping out his shotgun for his M7, he turned to his team and took stock of their condition. It seemed everyone had mostly gone unscathed, only debris and dirt scarring their envirosuits. Well, except for himself and Ron. “Think we’re gonna have to start calling you pinata now,” Henry said, clapping his friend on the shoulder.
Ron scoffed. “Yeah? Says the runner-up,” he said, tapping the dent on Henry’s envirosuit. “Better ‘pinata’ than ‘roadkill’, though. But seriously, what’s next? Don’t even know where to start.”
The room was empty, save for the debris strewn about and the singular obelisk standing in the center of the room. He didn’t notice it earlier, but as he got closer, he realized that the obelisk emitted a faint light that barely escaped the canopy of webs. He looked it up and down before turning to the others. “Only one place to start. Let’s clear out the webs, see what’s hiding below.”
“Doc, Kel, clear out the eggs. Hayes, Sera, see if the Queen’s got anything useful. Everyone else focus on the webs,” Henry ordered.
Ron drew his knife and started slicing through the dense cobwebs. “Hey, what y’all think the Queen’s Tier is?”
Isaac paused to consider. “Eh, Tier 8, probably. Minotaur boss and Rillifane boss were both Tier 8, so I’d say the spider’s around the same level.”
“Well, the resilience of the specimen isn’t a definitive measure of the Tier,” Dr. Anderson pointed out. “It’s quite possible that we merely had the most suitable tools at hand in this particular encounter.”
“The scholar speaks truly,” Sera agreed. “There is nary a defining criterion; defense is but one of many that are considered by the Guild. Were it so simple, Kelmithus and I would have attained Tier 9 ere now.”
“So, what do you think the Queen is, then? Tier 7 maybe?” Ron asked.
Henry shook his head. Tier 7 didn’t seem accurate. Using his knife to scrape some of the webbing off his glove, he voiced, “Spiranids are weak in general, but are classified as Tier 5 or higher because of their traps, ambush tactics, numbers, and abilities. Archers can use Wind Snipe and mages can use wide-area spellcasting, but they can’t reliably penetrate the exoskeleton’s armor. If anything, this is probably on the lower end of Tier 9.”
“Tier 9, huh?” Isaac muttered.
Sera smiled as she stood back. She stuffed a frost-covered gland into her holding bag and paused from her work as she chimed in, “Hmm… how keen. I expected nothing less from the first Tier 6 entrants in Eldralore’s history! It shows plain why the Guild did so swiftly raise you.”
“Hah,” Henry chuckled. It was an amusing thought, but… “Say, ya think we can get to Tier 7 after this?”
Sera’s eyebrows shot up. “Tier 7? A mark of no slight merit. What have you achieved since attaining Tier 6?”
Henry reached to scratch his chin, then cursed softly as his glove thudded against his visor. “Well, we took down a Rillifane pack, a Sentinel Lindwyrm, and now this primal Spiranid Queen. That’s not too shabby, eh?”
“Firm victories,” Sera admitted, “but advancement weighs more than battle alone. The Guild also considers quest difficulty, knowledge gained therefrom, and impact – in other words, glory.”
“The Baranthurian Ruins,” Dr. Anderson blurted, taking the words out of Henry’s mouth. He turned to Kelmithus, who approached them after confirming that the eggs had been cleared out. “Surely, working with the Sanctum Arcanum must be quite the honour. The Guild holds their quests with high esteem, wouldn’t you say?”
Kelmithus nodded, burning a clump of disposed webs on the ground. “True as that may be, advancement oft hinges upon the cumulative experience of dozens of quests.”
“Well, ain’t no small feats for us lately,” Ryan remarked. “The quest to the Baranthurian ruins, what was it, Tier 8? Yeah, that was Tier 8. Sentinel Lindwyrm? Hell, Tier Nine. That there beast?” Ryan pointed his gun at the carcass of the Spiranid Queen. “Tier 9 as well.”
Ron interjected, “Plus we’ve been helping out along the way, like those villagers, and taking on quests others won’t touch. Honestly, the Hardale quest should be pretty weighty too, considering the Nobian shenanigans.”
Sera hummed, mulling over Alpha Team’s experiences. The fact that most of their quests at Tier 6 had essentially been Tier 7 quests or higher in difficulty was probably unheard of in the Guild. Not only that, but they’d been able to complete these difficult quests successfully. Hell, with flying colors, even. That had to count for something.
Henry looked over at Sera, stepping back as he allowed Kelmithus to dispose of the webs that he had cleared out. “So, whaddya think? Based on what we’ve done, you think we got a shot at Tier 7?”
Sera looked up at the ceiling as she weighed her response. “Ehh, you’ve a strong case. Alas, it’s Taldren’s call to make. His favor seems yours, though; I wager he’ll agree.”
Henry grinned. Moving up meant they could have access to more quests. Naturally, that also meant better rewards and in turn, access to some truly magical equipment. “Good to hear. Guess we’ll see to it once we get back to Eldralore. Now, we should probably –”
A soft glow of light gradually lit up the room, interrupting Henry mid-sentence. He squinted, readying his weapon. The light came from the walls and ceiling, illuminating the once-dark chamber. The obelisk, now free of webs, now hummed… healthily? It wasn’t like he had a manual to tell him if this was a good or bad development, but judging from the facility’s reaction, it must’ve worked.
Henry glanced at his HUD. The temperature readings were rising, too. The icy chill from Kelmithus’ magic rapidly dissipated as the environmental controls kicked in. “Well, looks like we’ve done all we can here. Let’s head back to the containment cell room and see if we can find anything else of interest.”
– – –
Outskirts of GB-2, Grenden Forest
Carvus Alnect Virelius narrowed his gaze toward the brightening sky, his eyes cutting through the retreating mist that had long veiled the forest’s canopy. This unprecedented clarity above the ruins was strange. After centuries cloaked in an impenetrable fog, why did the skies clear now?
The Umber Vicearch’s mind worked like a whetstone, sharpening the fragments of reports from his scouts, cryptic as they were. The recent skirmish, occurring concurrently with the lifting fog, could not be mere happenstance. Regardless of the answer, the unexpected fold presented a welcome complexity to test his mettle.
He set his thoughts aside as the sound of footsteps approached.
“Leuarch Eldreyn reporting, milord,” one of his men said. “We’ve word from Serarch Trelian.”
Carvus gave him a nod to continue.
Eldreyn relayed the news. “The scouts espy traces of battle: a fallen Sentinel Lindwyrm and two carriages left abandoned near the cave’s entrance. The land bears scars from some form of magic, strewn with strange metal tubes and other objects unknown to us. Save for the Lindwyrm, no other bodies are to be found. What are your commands, milord?”
Carvus took a deep breath. No other bodies? Two carriages? That such a formidable creature was felled with no apparent casualties among their ranks suggested a small but extraordinarily capable force. Each member was no doubt Tier 7 at the least. The limited number of carriages implied a party not larger than ten. But… what could the metal objects mean?
Powerful though they might be, could such a small group withstand his numbers? Carvus entertained the thought briefly. No, direct confrontation would be unwise. The site bore secrets too vital to squander on rash gambles. Better to maneuver them into a position where the only viable option would be to comply with his demands.
“Hold our position, Lornus,” Carvus commanded. While he preferred the safety of their hidden vantage in the forest, the intrigue of Trelian’s findings – the slain Lindwyrm – was too compelling to ignore. “The contents of Trelian’s report compel our own investigation. Lead us, that we might see for ourselves.”
“As you command, milord.”
It was a short walk to the clearing. As they reached the treeline, Carvus held up a hand, signaling his men to halt – they should go no further than the cover of the forest. The aftermath of the battle lay evident before them. The massive form of the Sentinel Lindwyrm sprawled near the far side of the clearing, its outline murky at a distance.
Carvus squinted, adjusting his position slightly for a better view. He felt his jaw drop, a lapse in composure that surprised even him. Yet, who could fault him? The beast lay nearly torn asunder, its massive body riddled with gaping, jagged wounds that no sword or arrow could inflict. Indeed, not even traditional siege weapons or combat spells could inflict such damage.
The destructive capability of fyric powder was well-known to him – he had seen its use in adamantite mines. The wounds on the Lindwyrm, however, spoke of a force of another Tier entirely. Where fyric powder might clear a path through a stubborn boulder, the agent used against the Sentinel Lindwyrm seemed capable of obliterating several boulders at once, perhaps even an entire cliffside.
Turning his attention from the ravaged beast, he scanned the battlefield. Among the chaos, his eyes caught the glint of metal – strange tubes scattered about, all some lighter shade of bronze. The craters were blackened and littered with debris: shards of metal mixed with wires. This was clearly no ordinary skirmish.
He moved closer to the tree line, cautiously examining the unfamiliar objects. The metal tubes bore no resemblance to any weapons known to Nobian forces. However, their presence here implied that somehow, these objects were related to the catastrophic wounds on the Lindwyrm.
Near the cave’s entrance, two metal carriages lay abandoned. Their exteriors were marred by dirt and marked with an array of dents that appeared to be from the Lindwyrm’s armored tail. The carriages, in style and make, aligned with reports of American machines observed by their Umbercari in distant Eldralore. Mounted atop each was a long cylinder. As foreign as they were, he could tell they were weapons – ones capable of unleashing formidable destruction.
Adventurers throughout the ages had ventured here, all repelled by the formidable Lindwyrm that long guarded these grounds. Had it been folly to devote their resources to the conquest of their neighbors, rather than to mastering and exploiting this site? Such questions surpassed his station, yet irrespective of the answers, the Emperor would surely take no pleasure in learning that he had allowed Americans to plunder the Gatebuilder’s secrets.
Carvus turned to Lornus. “Bid our scouts to investigate the cave.” As Leuarch Eldreyn departed to carry out the orders, he beckoned to one of his serarchs. “Bring me one of those metal tubes. I wish to examine it.”
He sat on a rock, watching the light bend around the man’s form until he vanished from sight. The serarch then adjusted the temperature around his body, matching it to that of the forest. Were it not for the subtle shifts in the man’s mana as he held the spells, Carvus would have surely lost track of him.
The serarch made his way forth, passing through the trees and into the clearing beyond. With haste, he seized upon one of the tubes that lay scattered about, and then, as quick as he had come, he turned and made his way back to the forest’s edge. When at last he returned, Carvus stood up and held out his hand.
The tube, lighter than its solidity might have portended, was chill to the touch and was marked by a patina that showed clear signs of bending. He tried to bend it with his fingers, but the metal resisted. Even when he used magic to strengthen himself, it yielded naught but scant impression. What could have possibly moved the metal?
Looking closely, he noticed that the metal wasn’t bronze, as he had first thought. Though bearing a hue akin to bronze, it was of a kind unfamiliar to him. The surface was engraved with American script – characters and sequences that held little meaning to him. Yet, to deem the letters ‘engraved’ would be to err; it was as if they were imprinted with a craftsmanship nary a smith could rival.
He turned it over in his hands, his eyes drawn to a circular groove near the base. Examining both ends, Carvus noted the open end was distorted as if a great force had expelled something from within – an insight into his previous question. The other end was sealed, marked by a small, precise indentation. He held it up, aligning it with a similarly sized hole in a nearby tree.
This was no common weapon. As a trebuchet releases its load, so too must this tube have hurled its own projectile. It gave him an idea. What if one were to use an adamantite tube with fyric powder, place a keen arrowhead atop, and ignite the mixture below? Would it rival a standard Wind Snipe combined with physical enhancement magic?
Carvus’ thoughts were interrupted by someone calling out to him. “Milord.”
“Hm?” He looked up, finding the face of Leuarch Franus. “What is it, Martano?”
He hesitated, as if second-guessing his words. “The… The Lindwyrm… The men grow restless, milord. They wish to claim the spoils of this battle – the Sentinel Lindwyrm’s materials are prized in many a lore. And these carriages, would it not profit us to salvage what we can? They may hold more secrets – or riches.”
He turned the leuarch’s words over in his mind as he would a well-worn coin. In truth, the idea held merit. Even the smallest measure of a Lindwyrm’s blood was a treasure beyond compare – to say nothing of the other materials, sought after by alchemists and smiths alike. That the Americans had forgone harvest was a curious thing indeed. Could it be that they were ignorant of the creature’s true worth? Or perhaps, had they found something more valuable?
And then there were the carriages, gleaming in the sun like ripe fruit waiting to be plucked. If they could but glean some understanding of how the Americans had so deftly slain a beast of the Lindwyrm’s standing, it would surely prove a boon to the Empire’s own martial pursuits. Perhaps, armed with such knowledge, they might at last gain the upper hand against the accursed Sonarans.
Carvus cast his gaze once more upon the clearing, then turned to face Martano. “Aye,” he said. “Let it be so.”
Yet, as he made to step forth, a low, droning sound beckoned his attention – a buzzing hum that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The unfamiliar noise compelled him to halt. He raised his hand, stopping his men as he searched for the noise. He tilted his head skyward, squinting as he beheld a strange sight: a winged thing hanging in the air above the clearing, like an animal circling its prey. As the sunlight reflected off its surface, it became evident to him that this was no creature of flesh, but a machine – much like the metal carriages.
“Hold,” Carvus ordered. “We dare not venture forth.”
Martano stepped forward, doubt and confusion etched across his face. “But, milord, if we shroud ourselves in invisibility, surely they cannot see us.”
Carvus shook his head. “Nay; recall the umbercari we sent to infiltrate the Duke’s mansion. They, too, thought themselves hidden, yet were somehow discovered. We know not what sorcery that flying machine might possess, and we cannot risk exposing ourselves.”
Before Martano could respond or venture any further protest, the scouts returned, led by Serarch Trelian. The search bowed his head before providing his report, “Milord, the cave lies empty, and the Lindwyrm’s nest remains untouched. We discovered footprints leading to a great sealed door, which we believe to be the entrance to the ruins.”
Carvus nodded. The Americans had ventured forth and left the loot behind for a reason. He thought back to a fortress that the Empire once sacrificed to encircle the forces of the now-conquered Kingdom of Durenelle. “So be it. Let us abandon these lesser spoils. As our adversaries have forgone these spoils in pursuit of greater gains, so must we sacrifice Straltus.”
Next

M/32/5'10/76Kg/Recreational Athlete from India
Long time advocate of Tactical Barbell(TB) for its simplicity and long term approach. It perfectly suits with my philosophy of fitness and life style.
Long term Goals (How I want to see myself in the next couple of years)

• Running a Half Marathon in less than 2hrs ( So far not ran a Half Marathon)
• Finishing a Marathon under 5hrs ( So far not ran a Marathon).
• To be able to do more than 20 Pull-ups.
• V taper look.
• Better posture with good core strength.
• Realising the Strength gains that are practically possible in the TB system.
• Reach body fat percentage of 13-15%.

Bought the books in 2019 but never stuck to it for a consistent period of time(Nothing against the quality of the books though)and majority of the time I stopped working out altogether because of changing priorities, Covid happened, my studies took the priority over every other thing....but whenever I did the workouts I used to follow some protocol from these books. Before 2023 I think I have completed 2 Blocks of Basebuilding, 1 Block of Mass Protocol, 1 Block of Operator...over last 3-4 years.
May 2023 again started taking fitness as a priority and started with Burpees (I just love them) after 2 months of it I shifted to DFW Remix with Two 12Kg Kettlebells. My review of that is here https://www.reddit.com/kettlebell/comments/16lzrxf/dfw_remix_progress/
On December 25th, 2023 I made a promise to myself to complete 3 Blocks of OperatoBlack but I could only Complete 1 Block of OperatoBlack and 1 Block of Only Operator(Just 3 days a week). I couldn't stick to my promise- not because of procrastiantion or laziness but it was more about a sudden announcement of my exams (which I have been preparing for the last 2 years) and it has been tough for me to workout along with daily 4 hours of studying and 9-10 hours of office.
Diet: Mostly maintenance level calories with 50-60gms of protein and 1 day of fasting per week. I know I am eating less protein and I set my goals accordingly.
I am a strict TB guy i.e No extra exercise, No extra set, No extra rep on Operator. First Block I have followed everything as written in the Book for OP/Black and for Second Block I did only Operator and discarded Black protocol to save time. Did the workouts as written in the book. Only thing I have changed is instead of retesting after 2nd Block I retested and did the 2nd block with new 1 RM.
For first Block, I was doing upper limit of sets allowed per exercise like 5 in week 1 and 4 and during Second cyle as I retested after first Block itself so I stuck to lower limit of sets allowed per exercise . Deadlift is weekly once and for 3 sets.
Progress I have made after the 2 Blocks of Operator :-
https://preview.redd.it/87hpuf3g6m0d1.png?width=1732&format=png&auto=webp&s=d074f14203d9a681a1a1032978294efb0df2c8c3

Conditioning	25-12-23	18-2-24
ME II - 20Kg KB + Burpees	7 rounds with 80 secs of rest between rounds	9 rounds with 80 secs of rest between rounds
LISS	6 Kms in 1Hr	7.5km in 1Hr

Progress in 125 Days
I won't be able to workout for the next 6 months and I want this post to act as a motivation for me when I come back to fitness after it.
Thank you TB community and thank you all for reading this post.

Hello everyone,
I'm excited to share my Toronto Notes deck (only the medicine booklet for now). There isn't really a great Canadian resource out there and so I made one. Links in the comments because they keep getting flagged.
This deck covers the entire Toronto Notes Medicine booklet (IM+Neurology) in the style of Anking with screenshots. There is a demo at the end of the video. It is 15,000+ cards currently and so you will definitely need to be selective about your approach to using it (hence the video) because it took me 6 months to finish making it and mature the whole thing. I am working on SOME primary book areas (EM, FM, Anesthesia, Pali, Psych) and may or may not finish 1-2 surgical decks promised in the video if it rains a lot in the next 1 month, I can't cycle outdoors, or I get bored.
I found this deck invaluable for my MS4 experience, letter hunt, and enjoying Medicine Team Jeopardy, and wanted to share it more broadly than just locally. Feedback on it was very positive and it's quite useful for the subspecialties included and there's a lot of stuff in here that came up in junior (even senior sometimes) resident teaching. As discussed in the video, overkill for the MCCQE as it doesn't test the Medicine book to this level of detail.
Also if anyone wants to finish some areas that are missing (someone please do Peds and OBGYN) feel free to reach out. This reddit account is solely for Anki and so I won't be monitoring it that closely. There is a youtube video I made that also keeps getting flagged, just search "Toronto Notes Anki" that provides more detail on the deck and design philosophy.
In the posted video I go over the deck itself in terms of rationale, pros/cons, approach to card making, how to use it, etc... It's not an intro to Anki talk but a video to really understand the deck and hopefully make it easier for someone to finish similar decks for the missing content areas. You do not need to watch the video if you don't want to, you can also skip to the relevant sections. Also looking around pretty sure there are some decent clinical MS4 level decks but nothing for IM I see so that's probably not accurate when I said that, oh well.
I would recommend watching:"What areas are covered""What is the design philosophy""Advantages and disadvantages""Who should use this deck"
Hopefully this is useful and if/when I get around to adding the other areas that would make it relevant to a broader audience I'll post an update.

Today the White House announced tariffs on certain products imported from China, including steel and aluminum products, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries and battery components, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes, syringes and needles, and certain personal protective equipment (or PPE). According to the White House, these higher tariffs are designed “to protect American workers and businesses from China’s unfair trade practices.” Tariffs are essentially taxes on imported goods, and altogether the tariff hikes cover about $18 billion in imported goods.
In 2018, Trump abruptly ended the economic era based on the idea that free trade benefited the global economy by putting tariffs of 25% on a wide range of foreign made goods. This was a cap to a set of ideas that had been sputtering for a while as industries moved to countries with cheaper labor, feeding the popular discontent Trump tapped into. Trump claimed that other countries would pay his tariffs, but tariffs are actually paid by Americans, not foreign countries, and his have cost Americans more than $230 billion. Half of that has come in under the Biden administration.
Trump’s tariffs also actually cost jobs, but they were very popular politically. A January 2024 National Bureau of Economic Research working paper by David Autor, Anne Beck, David Dorn, and Gordon H. Hanson established that the trade war of 2018–2019 hurt the U.S. heartland but actually helped Trump’s reelection campaign. “Residents of regions more exposed to import tariffs became less likely to identify as Democrats, more likely to vote to reelect Donald Trump in 2020, and more likely to elect Republicans to Congress,” they discovered.
Now Trump is saying, that if elected, he will impose a 10% tariff on everything imported into the United States, with a 60% tariff on anything from China and a 100% tariff on any cars made outside the U.S.
In contrast, the administration’s new tariffs are aimed only at China, and only at industries already growing in the U.S., especially semiconductors. Tariffs will rise to 50% on semiconductors and solar cells, 100% on electric vehicles, and 25% on batteries, a hike that will help the Big Three automakers who agreed to union demands in newly opened battery factories, as well as their United Auto Workers workforce. “I’m determined that the future of electric vehicles be made in America by union workers. Period,” Biden said.
The administration says the tariffs are a response to China’s unfair trade practices, and such tariffs are popular in the manufacturing belt of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Democratic senators from that region have asked Biden to maintain or increase tariffs on Chinese imports after “[g]enerations of free trade agreements that prioritize multinational corporations have devasted our communities, harmed our economy, and crippled our job market.”
In other economic news, a new rule capping credit card late fees at $8, about a quarter of what they are now, was supposed to go into effect today, but on Friday a federal judge in Texas blocked the rule. The new cap was set by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the brainchild of Massachusetts Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, and was part of the Biden administration’s crackdown on “junk fees.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association sued to stop the rule from taking effect, and U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman, appointed by Trump, issued a preliminary injunction against it. His reasoning draws from an argument advanced by the far-right Fifth Circuit, which oversees Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, arguing that the CFPB itself is unconstitutional because of its funding structure. "Consequently, any regulations promulgated under that regime are likely unconstitutional as well," Pittman wrote.
On Friday, major airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, and Alaska Airlines—but not Southwest Airlines—sued the U.S. Department of Transportation over its new rule that requires the airlines disclose their fees, such as for checking bags, upfront to consumers. The department says consumers are overpaying by $543 million a year in unexpected fees.
The airlines say that the rule will confuse consumers and that its “attempt to regulate private business operations in a thriving marketplace is beyond its authority.”
The other big story of the day is the continuing attempt of the MAGA Republicans to overturn our democratic system.
This morning, House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), second in line for the presidency and sworn to uphold the Constitution, left his post in Washington, D.C., to appear with former president Trump at his trial for falsifying business records to deceive voters before the 2016 election. The House was due to consider the final passage of the crucially important Federal Aviation Authority Reauthorization Act, but Johnson chose instead to show up to do the work the judge’s gag order means Trump cannot do himself, attacking key witness Michael Cohen, Trump’s former fixer. Johnson described Cohen as “clearly on a mission for personal revenge” and, citing his “history of perjury,” said that “[n]o one should believe a word he says in there.”
“I do have a lot of surrogates,” Trump boasted this morning, “and they are speaking very beautifully.” Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), who was also at the trial this morning, later said on Newsmax that they had indeed gone to “overcome this gag order.”
Johnson went on to call the trial “corrupt” and say “this ridiculous prosecution…is not about justice. It’s all about politics.” He left without taking questions. Meg Kinnard of the Associated Press called out the moment as “a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker turning his Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy.”
Peter Eisler, Ned Parker, and Joseph Tanfani of Reuters explained today how those attacks on our judiciary are sparking widespread calls for violence against judges, with social media posters in echo chambers goading each other into ever more extreme statements. According to her lawyer, Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels, wore a bullet-proof vest as she came and went from court, an uncanny echo of the precautions necessary in mob trials.
In a different attack on our constitutional system, House Republicans are trying to replace the administration’s foreign policy with their own. Over the weekend, they introduced a bill to force President Biden to send offensive weapons to Israel for its invasion of Rafah, overruling the administration’s decision to withhold a shipment of 2,000-pound and 500-pound bombs after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his government would invade Rafah despite strong opposition from the Biden administration.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters: “We strongly, strongly oppose attempts to constrain the president’s ability to deploy a U.S. security assistance consistent with U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives.”
The Constitution establishes that the executive branch manages foreign affairs, and until 2015 it was an established practice that politics stopped at the water’s edge, meaning that Congress quarreled with the administration at home but the two presented a united front in foreign affairs. That practice ended in March 2015, when 47 Republican senators, led by freshman Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, wrote a letter to Iran’s leaders warning that they would not honor any agreement Iran reached with the Obama administration over its development of nuclear weapons.
The Obama administration did end up negotiating the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran and several world powers, under which Iran agreed to restrict its nuclear development and allow inspections in exchange for relief from economic sanctions. In 2018 the extremist Republicans got their way when Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal, largely collapsing it, after which Iran resumed its expansion of the nuclear enrichment program it had stopped under the agreement.
Now extremists in the House are trying to run foreign policy on their own. The costs of that usurpation of power are clear in Niger, formerly a key U.S. ally in the counterterrorism effort in West Africa. The new prime minister of Niger, Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, whose party took power after a coup d’état threw out Niger’s democratically elected president, defended his country’s turn away from the U.S. and toward Russia in an interview with Rachel Chason of the Washington Post. Recalling the House’s six month delay in passing the national security supplemental bill, he said: “We have seen what the United States will do to defend its allies, because we have seen Ukraine and Israel.”
—
Notes:
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/13/white-house-opposes-house-bill-force-israeli-arm-shipments-00157691
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/14/nyregion/mike-johnson-trump-trial.html
https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-speaker-mike-johnson-court-09aef3de395fa77843f2600f40da6ac3
https://www.vox.com/2015/3/10/8182063/tom-cottons-controversial-letter-to-iran-explained
https://www.cfr.org/backgroundewhat-iran-nuclear-deal
https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12106
https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zgpokqdxlpd/05102024creditcard.pdf
https://www.texastribune.org/2018/08/30/under-trump-5th-circuit-becoming-even-more-conservative/
https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-judge-blocks-rule-capping-credit-card-late-fees-8-2024-05-10/
https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/major-airlines-sue-biden-administration-over-fee-disclosure-rule-2024-05-13/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/may/14/speaker-mike-johnson-house-trump-trial
https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/18/politics/donald-trump-tariffs-trade-waindex.html
https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/biden-sharply-hikes-us-tariffs-billions-chinese-chips-cars-2024-05-14/
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w32082/w32082.pdf
https://www.brown.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/05012024section301tariffsletter.pdf
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/14/politics/new-china-tariffs-biden-trump/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/14/1251096758/biden-china-tariffs-ev-electric-vehicles-5-things
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2024/05/14/memorandum-on-actions-by-the-united-states-related-to-the-statutory-4-year-review-of-the-section-301-investigation-of-chinas-acts-policies-and-practices-related-to-technology-transfer-intellectua/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/05/14/us-threats-led-rupture-vital-military-ties-nigerien-official-says/
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/cutting-the-spigot
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-election-threats-courts/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/13/politics/video/stormy-daniels-bulletproof-vest-clark-brewster-trump-hush-money-trial-ac360-digvid
https://www.automotivedive.com/news/united-auto-workers-electric-vehicle-plant-joint-venture/704275/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/samabuelsamid/2024/05/14/volvo-polestar-tesla-detroit-take-biggest-hit-from-china-ev-tariffs/
Twitter (X):
atrupastatus/1790485101966487881
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-14-2024

F 25 ex boyfriend kicked me out after abusing one of our three dogs because the dog peed on him. We were together 6 years he always said our male dog was mine and the two girl dogs were ours. When he kicked me out he said not to take the girls he left the house I took them he was calling saying I stole them, I filled a TPO(protection order) and got custody of the dogs that way my dumb self started feeling guilty and wanted to try and repair our relationship, he was suing me for $5000 I never got served he just mentioned it in text I thought he wanted to girls and money so I dropped the order and reached out to see if we could share the dogs and he drop the suit he agreed, I am supposed to get the girls next week like agreed and he texted last night saying it’s not good for them going from home to home and he gave me a chance to keep the dogs but now he’s done and blocked me. Yes they are just dogs and I still have my one but it hurts so much and I’m so mad at myself for even reaching out and giving to him I wasn’t thinking about this I thought he would be fair. I want to just show up when I know he gets home and let’s the dogs out and have them see me get excited and he sees they want to be with me. I know I have no standing to go to the court again after they gave me what I wanted and I went and took the order away. I should also be clear he has never hurt the girl dogs he lovels them so much he just never clicked with our boy dog and was just always harder on him. I don’t know why I’m posting I guess to feel some type of closure? I love my girls and I just abandoned them at least that’s how I see it. I also forgot to mention he never got served with the TPO I got a letter stating they could not locate so it wasn’t valid but would be kept on file, I then reached out to get him to drop his small claims suit but then said we could share them. Could I call the cop and inform him what I did and see if I could get the dogs back?

What do I do? I’m a late bloomer and I’m struggling with this
After spending a few days working on this, there has been some progress. To summarize: I've been dating this girl for 9 months. About a month ago, I confessed my love for her, but she didn't say it back, instead expressing affection in other ways. A couple of weeks later, she ghosted me for a weekend, apologized, and we had a conversation. During that conversation, I went to her place seeking comfort because one of my friends had passed away. That's when she mentioned she wasn't sure about continuing the relationship because our feelings weren't on the same level. We agreed to give it another month, and that week was amazing. However, now she's ghosting me again, but for a longer period. We talked on Monday, but this time, I've been feeling limited in what I can say. I haven't reached out since, and it's been radio silence. She mentioned that her grandmother in the UK is getting worse and she's been reconsidering our relationship. She's been dismissive lately.
I've been working every day for the past two months and doing therapy for a few weeks. I've lost 40 pounds due to a lack of appetite, but I'm coping. Physically, I'm getting stronger, but mentally, it's tough. I'm tempted to send a voice note just to check in and let her know I'm here. I've done a lot for her, like making her birthdays, Valentine's Day, and Christmas special, and she was good to me at some point.
On the bright side, I've been doing well for myself. I recently styled an MLB player, got sponsored, and was interviewed for Style Canada, but I still can't find happiness.
During therapy on Monday, I was crying and asked my therapist for advice. She couldn't tell me what to do, but she suggested I block her on TikTok and Instagram, where she often posted about her social life, which made it harder for me to move on. She'd be partying while I was here crying, and it felt like she was trying to compete with me since she wants to start taking content creation seriously. I have a big following already and offered help, but she declined.
The reason it's been hard for me to let go is because she showed me how to have fun and be myself. We went to many concerts and had late-night adventures together. She was also my first sexual partner at 26 years old and the first girl to make my birthday special.
Blocking her felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders, and it feels like life is just beginning now.
The last time we talked was on Wednesday when I saw her. She barely kissed me and wasn't "feeling it." I even got her food and flowers. She said she was meeting a guy friend and looked excited, which made me jealous because she's been avoiding dates with me. She said she'd try on a dress I made for her that night but later messaged me saying she was going to bed because she finished her tasks late. I said okay and left it to her to message me, but I haven't heard from her yet.
I was the first guy to meet her mom and she met my family. Then, one day she went cold turkey. She said she had love for me but wasn't in love with me and that since she never been in a relationship she had nothing to base it on (which I didn’t buy). She also said that she came from a broken home and can't give me what I want, but at the beginning, she said she could (I want what my parents have; they've been together for 35+ years with strong faith).
How do you guys handle this? I'm a late bloomer at 26 years old and have OCD.

Hi all,
I am asking for your invaluable advice as I am quite confused about writing a query letter. I have finished my first novel and am focusing on getting my query letter right. I hope I have managed somehow.
Dear [Agent’s Name],
I’m attaching the [number of chaptesynopsis] of my debut fantasy novel, THE LOST CAUSE, which is complete at 110.000 words. The story follows the journey of Eon, a time traveler who has sacrificed his memories in order to travel into the past and save his ruined world. I would position the novel alongside those such as THE EYE OF THE WORLD by Robert Jordan or THE BLADE ITSELF by Joe Abercrombie.
Eon stares at the unfamiliar and scarred face of a middle-aged man and must accept that this is his reflection. Lost in a forest where the light barely seeps through its guardian trees, Eon wanders with the fleeting memories of his past life. He knows he has lost all but one purpose: to survive long enough to reclaim his past. In the depths of the dark forest, Eon strikes a bargain with three siblings who travel the world to study magic, accepting their protection as he travels through the forest. With the siblings’ help, Eon discovers that his memories won’t be restored with time, but have been lost due to his own experiments with magic, and may never return unless he acts decisively.
Rius, the older of the siblings and a wizard, recognizes Eon’ potential for magic and decides to further his own research in exchange for his support. Together they further Eon’s understanding of magic and his condition, but nothing is as innocent as it seems. Eon discovers that Rius is part of a cult that studies the connection between magic and the afterlife and decides to use him to gain their assistance. Rius presents Eon as an irreplaceable aid to their cause, but Eon gradually realizes that he is merely another pawn in the Cult’s plans to explore the afterlife.
Torn between the Cult’s designs and his own pursuit of the past, Eon must decide where his friends and enemies lie in a world that is hostile to those who would defile its order: and both Eon and the Cult are at the top of the list.
I hold two Bachelor’s degrees in History and Social Anthropology, as well as a Master’s degree in European History. My work focuses on academic papers, but this is my first novel proposal that I would like to share with you. I am passionate about creating a unique fantasy setting that draws inspiration from medieval Europe and incorporates it with high morals. I would be delighted to have the opportunity to work with you on my novel if you are interested. I envisage this as part of a trilogy, and I have completed a draft of the second book, about Eon’s struggles in the Chimaera civil war. Eon learns that Rae may be the key to great power, but it leads to an even greater downfall.
I hope you enjoy the extract and I am looking forward to hearing from you in due course.
Sincerely,
[About 250 words of the prologue if anyone wants to give it a read. Nonetheless, thank you for your time]
‘Is this the end?’ I shouted, my words lost in the icy wind. My fingers trembled at the thought of what would come next. There was nothing to look forward to. The darkness of the night concealed my tracks and the snow blocked my path. My strength was drained, but curiosity fuelled every step driving me to follow this strange road. I had no memory of my destination. I had travelled a long way, from the warm seas of the south towards the icy peaks of the north. Here, I had found my purpose… only to lose it completely. My fingertips twitched, gripping flesh and cloth alike. My pupils wandered from my path, watching my fingertips and their impatient dance. I was exhausted, yearning to sleep, yet I had to stay awake; I was lost, yet on my way. That had to mean something.
I caught my breath and allowed myself a fleeting moment of peace, seeking refuge from the storm’s wrath. The snowfall wouldn’t let me see through. I struggled to move forward, to emerge from the snow-covered ground. A tiny step in a long journey indeed. The pouch I was carrying felt weightless, like another snowflake on my black cloak. I tied it tightly to my right side. A lingering thought demanded that I keep it intact. There was my hope.
Slowly but surely. My journey will come together. I have to hold on to myself. I gritted my teeth and forced my way through.

BOUNTYCRAFT CLASSIC-STYLE SKYBLOCK
Brand New (Started 05/14)
Versions: 1.20.4 to 1.20.6
IP Address: 135.148.124.185
Many years ago, skyblock was the number one gamemode in minecraft. Now, it’s a wasteland. The few servers left are overly complex, have pointless features, have a /shop where everything can be bought for pennies, and only donors or the admin's friends can get ahead.
Bountycraft fixes this. This is a classic-style skyblock server. Based largely on my experience playing Skyblock as a little kid a decade ago.
This server is authentic, simple and fair. Offering the skyblock plugin, the iconic original island, and chestshop for a player-run economy. That's it.
There's no pay-to-win, no endless spam, GUIs or tutorials, no flashy ranks, no admin shops that kill the economy, no kits, no crates, no spawned-in items, and so on. You have to use your island, and other vanilla mechanics, to create everything you need.
Built by players who experienced skyblock at it's best, for a new generation of islanders.
Bountycraft is a tribute and a successor to the golden-era of Skyblock servers. Skyblock as it's meant to be.
It's rustic and rough around the edges, that's on purpose and how it should be. I’m hoping to create a chilled out, friendly environment, where you can be as competitive or casual as you want.
RULES -> No hacking, cheating, exploits, hateful language, bullying, toxicity... basically don't be a prick. That pretty much covers it but more detailed rules can be found ingame. Fairness is going to be paramount on here, so you can be assured that players caught cheating will just be banned immediately.
NOTES ->

You cannot buy ANYTHING at spawn or an adminshop. If you want something, you have to get it yourself or find a player who will sell it to you. The economy is setup to be built and handled by the players themselves, you can make your own chestshops and there's a place at the spawn for players to advertize their own private shops or businesses.
Mending enchants and Netherite upgrades are blocked. To restore classic-style gameplay, and to keep things interesting.
PvP is off by default, but each player can toggle it on/off if they want to PvP on an island.

The server currently supports Java 1.20.4-1.20.6 clients
It started fresh today, but there hasn't been a launch or anything, I’m hoping to get a few people on to get it started. If you want to play proper skyblock in a fair, friendly environment, come check it out =)

I was in a car accident when I was a minor. I just turned 18 and I am receiving letters attempting to collect payment for damages due to not having liability insurance. I also have a “block” on my license, the OMV stated I still have my driving privileges and I have to negotiate with the insurance so they can relieve me. The insurance wants to negotiate payment (over $15K) which is impossible for me, I am finishing my last week of classes about to graduate high school. My father is not helping me at all, he says I’m 18 now and it’s my responsibility. He also is receiving letters and has a block on his license but he isn’t doing anything about it because he says he’s not responsible. The car was in my father’s name and he provided the insurance at the time of the accident. He told me I was properly insured and was allowed to drive.
What are my options? I am trying to start my adult life right. I am due to start college this summer but now I’m worried I won’t have a means to get there and have this debt and legal mess looming over me due to my parent’s irresponsible actions.

Hey folks, my wife received a letter from the folks in California Franchise Tax Board about requiring additional information to validate her qualification for Earned Income Tax Credit.
But we live on the direct opposite side of the country and have never been to California. I tried looking up FTB to see if they were some type of scammers but it looks like a real state organization. So I called the number on the website but the Rep who took my call only told me that we need to submit documents. I kept asking, why is this being requested by the state of California when I live on the east coast and she just said "because you filed your taxes in 2023". She then sent me to another department but that phone rang and rang until the call ended.
This all feels very weird and I'm not sure why we aren't being contacted by the IRS if there is actually an issue. I filed for the both of us jointly using FreeTaxUSA and thought it went by smoothly. I don't get why my wife was sent a letter specifically either. I'm considering just heading out to H&R Block tomorrow to figure this out but I figured I'd ask the fine folks of this sub to see if there is anything I can do today.

First, allow me to preface this by saying that I've been a fairly long-time lurker but first-time poster. I've actually learned quite a bit here, so I'm grateful to everyone here in our sub.
Without getting too much into particulars, I'm canonically Latin at the moment but looking to transfer ascription. I do have a history with the Eastern Churches (so time and advisement aren't issues per my spiritual father, and he has advised that I start getting the ball rolling, so to speak).
For those that did a transfer -- what did you put in your letter, or would someone have a sample letter I could use as a model?
Essentially, I'm looking for pointers, and have a bit of...writer's block.
Edit: grammar.

Well, im at beginning at my guitar journey, and the only scale I have a good understanding is the pentatonic scale and the 5 boxes, and im working on the 5 boxes of the major scale. And them I will work on melodic minor,etc.
What is pretty confusing to me, is that I find a lot of people especially on this reddit say that scales are not important. My understanding of that, is that scales arent the thing itself when it comes to improvising ,is more a grammar thing etc. And I have a feeling that many of the people that say that, practiced scales for years probably (?)
So, as a beginner I should know the fingerings of the basic scales right? The arpeggios as well.
A another quite paradoxical thing, is that in my short journey studying and learning improvisation. My most musical solos have happened in situations, where i was playing by ear, audiating the notes that I was hearing in my head. The only, theory thing I was using was scales on the single string.
So my questions are:

1. Should I even bother practice vertical scale fingerings, when Im improvising way more musically by ear and using single string scales? I guess so because they are like a building block or something like that (?)
2. How often do you practice scales? The things is, I like practicing arpeggios, but practicing scales everyday, specifically vertical box fingerings, kinda makes me hate the instrument, and Idk if this is healthy in the long run. I dig practicing Mick Goodrick style, single string scales tought.
3. Anyway I have trouble making scales sound musical when improvising. Any advice to make it musical while soloing?