Anyone update their speakers to the latest FW and use 3rd party apps, specifically Sonophone and Sonospad? Any issues? Or Orto or Lyd for Apple Watch... though those last two already use the cloud API so I imagine they are OK. Sonophone/pad uses the older uPNP API.
Ive only updated one of my phones to 80.0.0.4, but until Queue Management is back I am using Sonophone... my IPad and wifes phone is still the older 16.1 version and until the new app is at feature parity with the old one, Im not updating them and told my wife to hold off as well.
That said I am getting a new FW update prompt on Mac desktop app and am wondering if its safe to update that. Im hesitant from reading in the 16.2 FW thread some people mentioned the new FW breaks compatibility with the old 16.1 app and I use that, and 3rd party apps that use a similar control scheme.
Just wondering whats actually broken on the new FW with the old app before I update. I would like to try Apple Music lossless support, but if its buggier I will hold off.

Asgard 1827
The Trial of Asgard made national news in Valhalla . Brunhilde stood there in front of many gods, each vote determining her faith . Does she live or die ? Only odin can make that judgment. Heimdall opened a pamphlet speaking though his horn “ Brunhilde, eldest sister of the gods ! You stand accused of crimes against Humanity and Goding alike ! How do you plead ? “. Brunhilde rolled her eyes before speaking her mind . “How do I plead ? What crimes are you talking about ? I was making coffee before me and Randgriz were arrested on the spot “ she spoke out . “ Don't play dumb Brunhilde I saw you cast forbidden spells and illegal magic “ Odin told everyone. Despite the bold straight up lie hilde remained as calm as ever . Using magic and spells is more for Gondul and she is too smart to get caught. What did Odin really want and why is he dragging Randgriz of all demigods.“Nonsense ! My sister would never so such a ““SILENCE “ Odin shouted but Randgriz stood her ground ready to face death itself to protect Brunhilde. Meanwhile in another area. Loki used his blades to slice the doors open splitting them in half. Beelzebub was in the middle of an experiment his red eyes shooting at loki. “This better be good “ he whispered. “It is Brunhilde and Randgriz lives are a stake during the trial “ Loki spat out in a panicked state . “ Why should I care about some demigod's life when I don't even care about my own? “ Beel questioned. “It's because I know you hate Odin and would do anything to spite him how dare he label you as a freak when he is just as bad “ Loki answered “ Hurry we are running out of time ! “ . “What do you get out of this ? “ Beel stood up . “ I owe Brunhilde a favor “ A flashback of small Loki almost getting eaten by a giant snake until Brunhilde saved him by slicing it in half with a scythe
. “Be more careful child “ she turned around seeing the scared loki shiver .
The flash back ended with Brunhilde standing off to Odin . “Confess your crime or serve death “ A purple hue spear floated over him. “ I choose death, “ Brunhilde replied. “ Brun no ! “ Randgriz screamed buy it was too late . The spear launched at her body with such force blood she was pushed back to the wall. Brunhilde refused to give up despite all the pain seeping into her. “ This is the end of the road valkyrie…” Odin whispering. The last thing she saw was the gods demonic smile before everything faced to black.
“Is she alive ? “
“Wait “
“What if he killed her ? “
“Wait “
“ Is she dead ?”
“I will slap you “
“Yikes chill emo “
Brunhilde woke up in the lab with purple ,red and green eyes staring at her. “ What just happened…” Brunhilde felt a tight hug from Randgriz “ You are alive! “ Grizz cried out. “Yes …I am …” Brunhilde realized. “However at a price ….” Beel commented . “What did you do demon? “ Brunhilde hissed . “ Weird way of thanking someone for saving your life “ Beel brushed that comment off. The valkyrie gave him a weird look , “ Don't mention it I only did it to piss off Odin “ Beel shrugged. “Wait Mr Beel what “price “ are you talking about ? “ Grizz asked. “Oh well being a demigod you are more human then god now “ Loki jumped in stuttering at every word. “Meaning you can't fly , super strength and speed is gone, no more soul connection or anything that would make you a valkyrie “ Loki explained some more “ I had to do something to get Beel to save your life “. “ I'm not mad Loki “ Brunhilde took a deep breath “ This is just a sign that I need to leave asgard now …” Brunhilde stated . “I'm coming with you “ Randgriz sat next to her “ If I stay I'm dead Valkyrie walking “. “Plus it's no longer possible to survive here, however despite losing most of your powers there is still a place for you “ Beel mentioned “ Loki will take you “ . “Wait, what about our sisters ! “ Randgriz started to cry . Loki and Beelzebub looked at each other. “ We will figure that part out but remember if Odin catches wind they die too “ Loki pointed out . “Yes but faking our deaths still sounds horrible, “ Randgriz shook her head. “ Alright I'll do something you will see them again soon “ Beel told her “ Overall you both need to leave as soon as possible “ . “Follow me there is not much time “ Loki used his magic to make a portal . The scenery revealed a large Eiffel tower and people walking by . “ Once we step in there is no going back “ Randgriz shivered. “We don't have a choice “ Brunhilde stepped in holding Randgriz hand to help her . “Even if we never meet again Lord Loki, thank you for saving my life “ Brunhilde bowed down. “ No Brunhilde…thank you for saving mine “ Loki smiled, closing the portal. “So this is our new home “ Randgriz looked around seeing things that just aren't familiar anymore .
5 years later 1832
Late in the afternoon at the Salle Pleyel concert there was the sound of the piano . The fast paced music made everyone in the area cheer . The musician had blonde brown hair that passed his ears . He waved it back and forth like a rockstar smashing his keyboards so hard you would think he broke them. The crowd cheered his name “LISZT LISZT LISZT LISZT “ , fangirls jumped up and down going crazy over him . Brunhilde and Randgriz sat down in chairs watching the man go , “ His music is very rough and insane ..reminds me of home listening to vikings “ Brunhilde mentioned. “ I don't know who is making me more deaf the music or the annoying girls “ Randgriz covered her ears, “If it's too much for you then why did you bother coming? “ Brunhilde gave her a look. “ I don't wanna be alone “ Grizz admitted, “By the way ,..why are you wearing a suit “ Brunhilde wondered . “ The human women show too much window and well sister you don't show just the window the entire frame is gone leaving only thin fabric “ Randgriz gave her honest opinion. “ I don't need a lesson on modesty “ Brunhilde focused her attention on Liszt who kept playing . His piercing green eyes gave her a wink . “Was he winking at me ? “ Brunhilde turned to Randgriz. “Probably or at the other women fawning over him “ Grizz stated . “Yeah you're right “ Brunhilde relaxed some more “Not like I care he is a massive playboy breaking one heart after another I'm not going to fall for that plus I'm not a noble “. “You are right Hilde you aren't..you are a demigod , from our divine perspective human nobility is just fancy talk for commoner” Grizz whispered.
“ Randy shhhh we aren't in Valhalla anymore “ Brun reminded her , “ If looks could kill you would be a serial killer by now “ Randgriz laughed “ I mean I'm not wrong if an Archduke came to Valhalla and started bossing everyone he would be laughed at “. That comment made by a few folks behind her gave the sisters an irritated glare . “Shhh “ a man right next to Randgriz silenced her with his white glove .The concert ended leaving Liszt to step off the stage . He was quickly surrounded by fans causing Brunhilde to leave until she felt something hit her. Behind her was a red rose , she picked it up seeing the musician wave at her before being surrounded by more fans . “Come on Brunhilde let's go, I don't like parties “ Randgriz dragged her out towards the concert halls . “Oof I'm sorry “ she accidentally bumped into the same guy that sat next to him. He was a short guy with a big nose that spoke with a thick polish accident. “Sorry I'm looking for a man named Liszt “ he mentioned. “Down the hallway but you are going to have to wait in line “ Brunhilde pointed to the left before leaving . The man thanked her before walking in that direction, “He is very cute “ Randgriz thought. “Eh …okay let's go home “ she walked with Randgriz.
A few days later Brunhilde went back to the same concert alone this time to attend a mass . There she sat down reading the holy Bible while waiting for the preacher . “ Excuse me, is this seat taken? “ a familiar voice spoke to her . Brunhilde turned around, seeing the face once again. “Are you Franz Liszt ? “she asked while watching him sit down. “Yes “ Liszt confirmed sitting next to her “ Nice to meet you “ . “ Yeah I see ..” Brunhilde stuck her head back in the Bible. “Sorry if I was bothering you “ Liszt apologized getting ready to leave . “No you weren't, I just have a lot on my mind “ Brunhilde sighed. “Oh ..I hope the church can relax you ..lift those spirits up “ Liszt gave a warm smile. “Yeah” Brunhilde half smiled back , “So where are you from? I've never seen you around? “ he questioned. “Oh I'm from - “ Brunhilde tried to think of an answer. “Don't tell me your from heaven? “ Liszt answered "Wait how did you -”Brunhilde's face turned red from the blushing. “ “ Relax I was just kidding c Liszt chuckled . “Oh right …hahaha” Brunhilde joined the laughter

It started with me not really being me, and my family and friends being people I don't actually know. I was up at late hours, as usual. My friend was in my bedroom sleeping. I felt off, like there was something lurking around. Then I see it. This giant mass of dark colours, a scary face with teeth, and long arms that could stretch and also work as deadly claws. He was there for my friend. He comes for you while you sleep. He somehow made me believe that it is a painless way to go, and made me okay with him taking my friend. There was a darker motive though. When he tried to go into the bedroom, my parents woke up. My father asked why I was awake still, and I just shrugged my shoulders without really knowing what to say about the creature I just saw. Even then, he would have thought I was hallucinating from lack of sleep. The sound of my parents waking up, woke up my friend. She started playing loud music, and somehow knew about what was happening. Then I got a phone call. "Don't let them take you or anyone out the window. They will cut you until it feels like fire, and make you wish you were dead. Trust me." "They?", I thought. Thats when he went back to sneaking into the bedroom, and just as I was about to intervene, something grabs me, and pulls me back. Slicing into my sides, I started screaming. Was this what the girl over the phone was talking about? The giant creature pulls my friend out the window, and thats when I get released and whoever was holding me darts out the window to go with them. My parents came out of their bedroom once again because of all the screaming. I'm hysterical, crying, bleeding, and in a lot of pain. They ask me whats going on, almost in a yelling tone, and thats when I spill about everything I saw, what he said to me, and the phone call. My mother looks skeptical. My father looks like he believes me, but wishes he couldn't. This is when he decides we're all going to get my friend back. Me, my mother, my father and my younger brother. We leave the house and head in the direction they launched out the window. After a lot of walking, we come across a town that seems like it shouldn't exist. Its small, but filled with life, and kids, and a fun feeling. My father makes us pick up the pace. "We're being followed." He says in a hushed tone. Thats when I see it. Its a girl, in a pale hoodie and jeans, with bandages over half of her face, and the hood over her head. She could pass for my friend, but very clearly isn't. Her body language was too different, and why would she follow us instead of running to us. We lose her in the alleys, but then decide to make the mistake of cutting her off in the street. We ask her what she wants, she doesn't reply, but makes a few steps closer. Suddenly the town that was so filled with life, and the sun, and colour, spins under us. Everything is red, there's screaming, dead bodies laying and hanging everywhere in the streets. The girl that looked like my friend, starts running. She disappeared around a corner. Once we turned the same corner, there was a gate. It looked like it could fall any second, or like there was a lot of patch work done to it. We go through, and that's when the testing began. At first it was just running away from different beasts, or people who had gone insane from being here for so long. Then there were two actual trials. We had to crawl up into these vents, while they were on. It wasn't too hot or too cold, but there was enough air flowing to make us slip, a lot. All four of us held hands. The openings in the bottom would pop open randomly, in attempt to lose one of us. My mother was first in line, and I almost lost her during one of the vents popping open. In the very bottom of each opening it was different. A different way to die each time, and none of them quick. Her hand slipped from mine, but I had caught her just in time. If it weren't for my father holding my hand, I would've fallen through with her. We continued on, and we eventually make it to the end. At the end there was this pipe that went downhill. There was running water all through it, so we could easily slide down. There was nowhere else to go, it was our next test. Still holding hands, we jumped in. It seemed easy enough. Other than the random spikes, or deformed monsters coming out of the water and trying to kill us, we were pulling through just fine. Then, that's when we all heard him. Mid-slide, his voice echoes. "The young one must eat to keep his energy up." That put all of us on edge. My little brother had to eat little fruits out of the water. That was the actual test. So many thoughts ran through my head, but the one that was the loudest was a worry of him getting poisoned. But, he is naive. He just grabbed one and ate it. He is too young to have such worries. After that, we had to walk through a hallway, almost office like. The rooms you could see into, since the walls were just windows. Once we looked ahead again, at the end of the hall, was him. He was standing there, so still that we didn't notice him the first time. In the room next to him, we could see her. My friend was on her knees, blindfolded. I ran to her, and the creature just let me pass. I removed the blindfold from her face, and when she saw me, she gripped me so tightly into a hug.

Note: All personally identifiable information has been substituted with alphabet. The only known geolocation is MSP airport where the incident happened and the protagonist, Delta, which was the airline in the incident.
I always chose Delta over other airlines but now I realized how foolish that is. I was at MSP with my partner A on a business trip. We purchased Main Cabin and self-selected seats when we made the purchase. When we arrived at the gate and just as we scanned our boarding pass, somehow the seats were reassigned. It was not totally unheard of, but I still asked the gate agent B and C why these seats were not together. This was where things got interesting. B said she didn’t know and wanted us to take these seats as is, and she proceeded to ask agent C for an explanation. C was rude. He angrily said the same thing “I don’t know” in the worst possible tone. That was when I got a little bit frustrated and said “what do you mean you don’t know?” I’m not a confrontational person at all, but somehow his attitude was so disrespectful and rude that this was not about seats anymore. He then said a bunch of things on the lines of “I never see people get so upset about not sitting together”, “just get over it” (probably not exact words since it was out of a very unpleasant memory at this moment). I sensed that things might not go well, and thus I pulled out my phone and started recording the interaction. Agent C immediately started to block my camera like a knee jerk reaction and yelled things equivalent to ‘don’t film me’, ‘’you can’t film because I’m a federal employee’… As far as I know, MN is a single-party consent state and we were in public space. People take pictures/selfies of airports/boarding screens/kiosks all the time. All of a sudden, we were forbidden to record, to describe it in an unbiased term, a controversial moment. (And we were right since we talked to two supervisors D and E. Both acknowledged that we could film. The employees were only told to disengage when filmed. We absolutely have the legal right to film. Period.) Back to when we pulled out the phone, he started to power trip and claimed that we were kicked off the plane and told Agent B to close the gate. And, he proceeded to call the police, although they never came. So, I still did not know if he called the police or not but at least the way he said it was very threatening. We were frustrated and raised our voices to a degree that is audible 10ft away but was not loud enough to turn heads. We were never yelling or verbally/physically violent. Agent C never had any grounds to treat us the way he did. Calling police on your frustrated customers? Wow. We then asked for his name and his supervisor D. D was very helpful and polite. She apologized for the incident but I still felt that why it’s always people who are NOT responsible for their action apologizing? During our conversation with Supervisor D, Agent C repeatedly asked us if we wanted to board and magically found two seats that were next to each other. I thought they said they had a full flight. And, of course we refused to board. When a customer is stripped off their dignity in public and threatened over and over again, you would still expect us to take those seats like dog treats? How condescending. According to C, we were, again, kicked off the plane after kicking us off the first time. I guess we were just that hard to get rid of. Agent C then pompously walked off the scene. Then we reached a temporary solution of rebooking the next flight with supervisor D, although we decided not to take the flight due to my partner A’s deteriorating health condition. We also talked to Supervisor E, who sympathized with our situation after she talked to the other supervisoemployees first.
I have been flying with Delta and MSP for almost 2 decades and this is the first time. I understand that sometimes people are just having a bad day, but this whole incident was something else. It was not just unkind. It was malicious and scary (we have never had someone calling / threatening to call police on us this whole life). He said “there were cameras you don’t need to film”… Would you hand over the footage to me as evidence in a court of law? Probably not.
It’s not a secret that airlines do shady businesses all the time like overselling their seats and doing stuff that is incomprehensible at times. Discussing these problems is far more complicated due to its economical and even political nature. But, when have we become so tolerant and docile over malpractices? When has bullying customers become the norm? Why are they so unreasonable when pointed out? I want my dignity back. Perhaps it is only compatible with first class. I guess I should have pressed that pink upgrade button.
Sorry for such negativity online where cat pictures coexist. But I learned today that I love Partner A even more.

Chapter Two - Part One
Second Half
__________________
Beginning of Entry…
StarDate: Redacted
Perspective: Major Commander Michael Irons
Species: Human, Humanoid Mammalian Species, no tail.
Description: 5 feet 2 inches [1.6 meters] to 6 feet 9 inches [2.1 meters] average height. 185 lbs [84 kilograms] average weight.
Longevity: 70 to 500-year life expectancy with life extension medical tech.
Unique Trait: Resilience and Indomitable Will.
Place: New Paris (Capital City)
Location: New Eden Prime
In the early hours, as the dawn cast a pallid light over New Eden Prime, the situation unfolded with urgent clarity. Major Commander Michael Irons, alongside Captain Adam Richter, adjusted his Raider armor, his eyes scanning the horizon where the silhouettes of enemy ships began to materialize. Both men were seasoned veterans, their faces etched with the lines of many battles, their demeanor calm yet alert. They awaited instructions as they stood amid the bustling rally point filled with soldiers and militia.
Their focus shifted as Colonel Nick Estrada approached, his imposing figure cutting through the morning mist, the tension palpable in the air. The urgency of the situation had drawn commanders and soldiers alike, all responding to the blare of alarms that had roused the colony from sleep and into action. Colonel Nick Estrada approached, his presence commanding immediate attention. His frame was not just physically imposing but carried the authority of a man who had seen countless skirmishes and emerged victorious. The commanders snapped to attention, though the informality of the crisis allowed for a quicker exchange.
Colonel Estrada, known for his strategic acumen, surveyed the gathered officers before speaking. "Gentlemen," he began, his voice carrying over the crowd. "Major Commander Irons, Captain Richter, the enemy fleet is now visible. We're seeing a full spectrum—we're up against a formidable enemy. Reconnaissance has identified a significant fleet composition—strike craft, corvettes, frigates, and troop transports. They're not just probing our defenses; they're here for a full-scale invasion."
Major Commander Irons nodded solemnly, absorbing the gravity of the situation. The enemy's intentions were clear: to overwhelm and conquer. "Do we have any intel on their motivations, sir?" he asked, his mind racing through potential strategies.
Estrada's eyes narrowed as he reviewed the latest data on his tactical pad. "Current assessments suggest their primary objective could be resource acquisition or territory expansion. Given the organized nature of their fleet, we can't rule out the possibility of them establishing a forward operating base," he explained, his finger tracing possible invasion routes on the holographic display before them.
Irons' jaw tightened at the assessment. "Have we identified their point of origin or any specific markings that could tell us who we're dealing with?" he asked, his mind racing through the catalog of known hostile factions and their usual tactics.
Captain Richter, ever the tactician, chimed in, "If we can disrupt their landing operations and take out their troop transports, we might slow their advance and buy us some time to fortify positions."
"Not yet," Estrada replied, turning to gaze at the display screen that showed the advancing ships. "Their configurations are unfamiliar, which suggests they're not from any known hostile group within our usual conflict zones. This could be a new player or a proxy force from a rival colony. But it's clear they want New Eden, as the orbital forces were obliterated in minutes."
Estrada, after careful consideration, turned to face the digital map highlighting strategic points around the colony. 'That's a start, but we need a comprehensive plan,' he declared. 'Irons, your units will be crucial in the eastern sector, where their fleet appears most concentrated. Richter, your teams will be our shield in the orbital defenses; we cannot allow them to establish a foothold there."
Richter chimed in, his voice steady despite the escalating tension. "We need to assess their capabilities and intentions quickly. Are they aiming for strategic locations, or is this an outright attempt to overwhelm and occupy?"
Estrada nodded, his eyes narrowing as he processed the information. "Our immediate objective is to hold them at bay and protect civilian areas. I've already ordered evacuations where necessary. Irons, I need your units to fortify the eastern sector. It's closest to their projected landing sites."
"And I'll take the western approach," Richter added quickly. "It has fewer natural barriers, so I'll set up mobile defenses there."
Estrada approved with a brisk nod. "Good. I'll coordinate the orbital defenses to cover your flanks. We can't let them gain a foothold. Whatever their motive, it ends here."
The officers acknowledged their orders, understanding the critical nature of their tasks. Estrada continued. "We'll use the tram system for rapid redeployment. Keep your communications lines open, and expect dynamic orders. We need to be as adaptable as they are aggressive."
As the meeting drew to a close, Major Commander Irons felt the weight of responsibility settling on his shoulders. The survival of New Eden Prime hinged not only on their military prowess but also on their ability to outmaneuver an enemy whose capabilities remained largely shrouded in mystery.
With a final nod from Estrada, Irons and Richter dispersed to relay orders to execute their assignments; Irons felt the weight of the imminent conflict pressing down. Each step they took was heavy with the resolve to protect their home, knowing the enemy loomed just beyond the horizon, ready to test the mettle of New Eden's defenders. This wasn't just another border skirmish or a pirate raid. The scale of the invasion suggested a well-planned offensive by a formidable enemy.
Returning to his command post, Irons pulled up the tactical displays, which showed live feeds from drones and satellites tracking the enemy's advance. Each ship was marked in red and moved steadily towards New Eden's defensive perimeter.
"Let's show them what New Eden is made of," he muttered to himself, a mix of resolve and anticipation coursing through his veins.
This was his colony, his home, where his family and millions of others lived and dreamed of a peaceful future among the stars. Today, the peace and survival of the colony depended on his actions and those of his comrades.
As the first enemy ships entered range, Irons gave the order. "All units, engage at will. Prioritize frigates and anything making landfall. We hold the line, no matter what."
Back at the rally point, as shells began to crisscross the morning sky and the first explosions blossomed in the distance, Estrada and Richter coordinated their sectors' defenses, adjusting to the flow of battle. Each report, each burst of static on the comms, added to the day's growing chorus—a chorus filled with the sounds of a colony defending its very existence.
Above them, the sky turned from morning gray to the dark of smoke and fire, the battle for New Eden truly underway. As the alien forces made their ground assault on New Paris, Major Commander Michael Irons quickly marshaled his defensive strategies. The invaders had exploited a slight weakness at the equator of the planet's shield, where the northern and southern fields met, allowing a fraction of their invasion force to penetrate. This strategic breach had permitted several enemy corvettes and frigates to support the ground troops as they marched toward the city.
The morning sky, once clear and promising, was now darkened by the presence of enemy ships. Their shadows cast an ominous pall over the city as their engines roared menacingly overhead. Irons, stationed at the command post just on the outskirts of New Paris, observed the advancing enemy through his binoculars, his heart racing with adrenaline and cold determination.
Despite the thinning of their numbers due to the shield's resistance, the invaders pushed forward with relentless determination. Their landing crafts, equipped to penetrate the weakened shield points by slowing their descent, deployed troops directly into the fray. This strategic insertion allowed them to bypass the stronger defenses and land a significant force just outside the protective barrier of New Paris.
Irons, stationed at the command post, monitored the unfolding chaos through live drone feeds. The images displayed a grim tableau: columns of alien soldiers advancing toward the city, their movements methodical and unhurried, supported by the ominous silhouettes of their air support. The enemy's tactical acumen was evident in every maneuver, challenging the defenders of New Eden to adapt swiftly.
"Prepare all air defense units and activate the aerial defense batteries," Irons commanded into the comm, his voice steady despite the escalating threat. The air around him buzzed with the hurried movements of soldiers and the crackling of radio communications. The colony's air defense force, though robust, was significantly outnumbered without the support of their orbital fleet, which had been decimated in earlier skirmishes. "Target their air support first. We cut off the head, and the body will falter."
Acknowledgments crackled through his earpiece as his orders were relayed down the chain of command. New Eden's air defense force, though robust, was not designed for such a multifaceted assault. The absence of fleet support from orbit, a disadvantage painfully felt by every soldier on the ground, meant that each shot from the aerial defense batteries had to count.
On the battlefield, the sounds of warfare escalated. Explosions rippled across the early morning sky, painting it with streaks of fire as the colony's defenses engaged the invading air units. Irons watched as each successful strike brought down an enemy craft, each plummeting vessel a small victory in the shadow of an overwhelming threat.
Yet, even as they held the line against the aerial assault, the ground forces braced for the inevitable confrontation. The alien troops, undeterred by the resistance from above, continued their steady march towards New Paris. Their ranks, though reduced, remained formidable—a sea of figures clad in armor that glinted under the rising sun, their weapons poised for battle.
"The shields are holding, but we can't let them gain any more ground," Irons muttered, analyzing the tactical map that glowed with indicators of enemy movement. The slight gap in the shield at the equator was a glaring risk, one that could not be ignored. "Reroute additional units to the southern sector," he instructed, pointing to the area where the shield's weakness was most pronounced. "Fortify our positions there. I don't want a single invader breaking through."
His focus then shifted to the city's defenses. New Paris, a symbol of human resilience and ingenuity on the frontier, was fortified with multiple layers of defenses designed to repel invaders and protect its citizens. But today, those defenses would face their greatest test.
"We're on our own," Irons acknowledged, his gaze sweeping across the room filled with operators and strategists. "Every soldier, every pilot—we're what stands between them and the city. We hold them here, at the edge, before they can reach the heart of our home."
As the enemy's ground forces drew closer, the clash became imminent. Irons could see the front lines through the drones—human soldiers taking positions, their bodies tense with anticipation, their weapons trained on the approaching threat. The air crackled with the energy of impending combat, a mixture of fear, determination, and the indomitable will to protect their planet.
"Engage at maximum range," Irons commanded. "Use the terrain to our advantage. Make them come to us through the kill zones."
The enemy's corvettes and frigates hovered menacingly, coordinating the ground troops as they continued their relentless march toward the city's defenses. Irons could see the troops adjusting their formations and a tactical maneuver meant to optimize their approach under cover of their aerial support.
"Focus fire on those corvettes flanking to the east," Irons directed, pointing to the screens displaying satellite imagery. The operators quickly relayed his commands, adjusting the colony's firepower towards the threatening vessels.
Despite the heavy onslaught, the morale among Irons' men was resolute. They were well-trained and prepared to defend their home against all odds. The sound of anti-aircraft fire filled the air, a relentless symphony of defiance against the invading forces. Explosions lit up the morning sky as some of the enemy crafts took hits, their debris raining down and igniting small fires upon the rugged terrain of New Eden Prime.
Irons turned his attention back to the ground troops, noting the enemy's attempt to regroup after each barrage. "They're testing our defenses, looking for weak points. Make sure all sectors are covered and reinforce any undermanned positions," he instructed his lieutenants.
The battle was fierce, with every moment critical. The enemy's numerical advantage was evident, but the defenders of New Paris were determined to make every shot count. The city's aerial defense batteries worked in overdrive, targeting the enemy's air support in an attempt to level the playing field. The city's shield generators protected the city from any aerial bombardment from the frigates. Only the ground forces were a threat as long as the city's shield generators held, but with every strike from those frigates, the shield became weaker.
As the enemy advanced, a sudden and intense firefight erupted at the southern barricade. Irons watched through surveillance feeds as his troops engaged the enemy, their laser rifles cutting through the morning mist. The ground shook with the impact of heavy artillery, a relentless exchange that tested the resolve of every soldier under his command.
"Keep the pressure on! Push them back!" Irons shouted over the radio, his voice a beacon of command amidst the chaos. The troops responded with renewed vigor, their shouts and gunfire merging into the cacophony of battle.
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The person involved (fake name): 1- Me (F/19) 2- Tom (M/21) 3- Sam (M/21) 4- Emy (F/26)
I had a long distance relationship with Tom that started almost 3 years ago. It went really well until the last year. He became really toxic with me by gaslighting me, pushing me away from people and things that I liked. It was always about him and many times he insulted me and my family.
I was still with him when I went to travel with my mom this last march. I told him that i wouldn’t text a lot since I’m traveling (but he still managed to make me feel guilty and made me text him more than I wanted). But, I met a guy on the resort that I was. We start to talk and I learn that his name is Sam. We share our phone numbers and we are texting. Nothing ambiguous but just learning about each other…
I come back to my home after this travel and I realize how well I felt away from my boyfriend and after many fights I decide to break up with tom.
I keep texting Sam showing interest that seems shared until one day he tells me that he’s in couple (with Emy). BUT, he talked to her about me and she would like to learn more about me (aka, having a threesome)
(I have to say that since a moment I was doubting about being fully straight but maybe bisexual. Despite that threesomes scared me because of my insecurities, this proposition was interesting for me for learning more about myself)
We get in couple, the three of us and I keep learning about these two adorable person. But, I quickly discover that things are not as amazing as I thought. They are fighting a lot. It didn’t made a while that they were together when I met Sam. They had many breaks up and come back together. Since im with them (6weeks or maybe more) they had two big break up. It breaks my heart every time but I try to help them both in this. I care and love both of them.
The thing is, last week they got the biggest fight they ever had and broke up. They both said it was over. I tried to help them but it was hard. Emy was avoiding me a bit despite that the fight wasn’t about me. Sam got closer with me. We talked together. I didn’t know if I was single or in couple anymore but I knew it was too soon to ask. We concluded that maybe it would be better to take it slow. To “restart everything from the beginning” and see if it could work between us. He was flirting sometimes but I tried to keep going slowly and making this relationship healthy. I wanted something real.
Today Emy and Sam talked again after a week of hate for each other. They decided to be back together. I am happy for them but I am scared. What if they don’t want me anymore? I asked to Sam and he told me that he wants me. I told him that I would ask to Emy if she wants me to be back with them. I still asked him what would he do if Emy doesn’t want me. I was scared to be rejected by her. He said that he’s in love with Emy so he would stay with her.
I texted Emy, she told me that she will think about if she wants me back with them.
I’m nervous. I don’t know if I’m dumb or just blind. I have feelings for both of them. But I’m scared of being constantly rejected. I don’t know if I should wait them to love me or move on. Despite that I had a nice connection in the last week with Sam, I feel that it would be unhealthy and weird to wait him to break up.
What’s your opinion on my situation? What should I do?I need an other perspective than mine..
Thanks you in advance 😊

I've got a project where a certain section of the midi map is playing things at a totally wrong tempo. I made some changes to the tempo map and now everything lines up nicely. However, I don't want these new and technically wrong tempo changes to screw with other things down the line like time-based FX (delay).
Struggling to fix this w/o making the other party do it on their own (which frankly I'm not sure they have the ability to figure out why this happened on their end)
Any help is appreciated :)

Hey everyone,
I'm gonna just spill everything that's going on, and rant and I'd appreciate it if I could hear it from insight or advice from some people!! Thank you! I'm a guy (18) btw and my ex is a girl (18)
So me and my ex broke up about a month and a half ago. She brought it up with me about mid march out of the blue and said that her mental health was real bad and she didn't want it affecting our relationship, which is fair, I told her let's give it a month, let's try and work everything out, told her to maybe try therapy and let's try communicating and work it out because I loved her so much. After that it was thin ice for the rest of march, I tried so hard and she was just being distant. I stayed over the Easter weekend and she told me that she just doesn't see it working and wants the break up, I was like ok that's fine if that's what you need to do. While she was out of her house at work that weekend I was chilling at hers waiting for my own shift to start, I got curious and remembered she'd had a diary. The diary was a set boundary and I knew never to open it or read it, but in my mind at the time I thought what if there was something in there that could maybe help or understand her state of mind better yah know? When I did read the most recent entry I wish I didn't, she wrote some things that I won't disclose but she wrote that she had developed a crush on a guy in her uni class and that she was questioning "what if" Because they had similar interests and she believed that was something that we lacked (which honestly we didn't really, our childhoods are very similar, our humour is similar, the only things we didn't really have in common was a slight difference in music taste and TV shows etc but that never really bothered me) anyway at the end of the entry and she said "I won't act on it though". That whole weekend she was secretive about her phone, which she never was and "went to the toilet alot" we also went to have a shower after work and she left her phone open on the bathroom counter I picked it up and she freaked out, grabbing it and turning it off, when I questioned the reaction she said she had embarrassing photos she'd taken recently of herself and didn't want me to see them. Righttttt..... she left the room for a minute and left her phone and I ended up opening the conversation between her and this guy on her intsa and only saw the most recent message where he asked how everything was going, she replied with "it seems OK, everything seems mutual but I think everything's gonna be ok" something along the lines of that. I ended up telling her that I read her diary because I couldn't keep that to myself, she left the room hurt for about 10 minutes and when she came back I told her I also read her messages with the guy her face dropped like she had to explain something, but when I told her that I only saw the most recent one she seemed relieved. She ended up ignoring me for the rest of the night and going to sleep, I tried going on her phone after she feel asleep but she took my fingerprint and face id off, I didn't know her password unfortunately. The next day I stayed until I had work later in the afternoon but never mention anything because I didn't really think of it. For the first few days of the breakup we were still talking but then she randomly switched on me because I wasn't giving her space, giving me the cold shoulder etc. I ended up adding the dude on insta and messaging him, I found out through him that she was confiding in him and she was telling him our relationship problems, things she's never told me. I asked him to relay a message to her for me at uni and he did, she wasn't happy, she ended up massaging me and sending me a long paragraph where she doesn't really wanna interact with me anymore etc. I begged her to give me a 2nd chance just the usual shit you do and she was unresponsive and didn't seem to care at all, after our conversation she posted a new post on insta and the first picture was her and this dude next to eachother at a party, not sitting next to eachother but close enough. I've talked with some female friends and they've told me she's was emotionally cheating on me and yeah she was, whether she sees it like that or not. I never knew anything about this guy and their relationship tbh, I knew of his existence and that he recently went through a bad break up but other then that, nothing. I thought maybe she didn't tell me because of my insecurities etc and I also thought that she talked him for advice because he knew what she was going through but now that I look back I'm not to sure.
I was at a mates place 2 weeks ago and he told me that he thinks he saw her on tinder, he wasn't sure tho, we ended up making a new account on his phone and sure enough she was. Why was she on tinder if she's getting this attention from another guy? She also posted songs on her insta note which were clearly aimed at me, she also posted a song which was clearly aimed at me to make me jealous, the song is basically about a man and a women and how good they'd be together. Since then she's acted like I don't exist, but something that really got to me is that I saw one of her highschool friends where I work and she was telling me that they were at a catch up that my ex was present at and didn't speak bad about me, she told her friends that she broke up but when they all started a conversation about how hard uni was she mentioned and seemed quite chirpy at the fact that I recently got into uni. (I applied for uni after the break up and posted it on my socials when I got in) why act happy for me that I got into uni after being a cold bitch after the break up?
We ended up talking again recently because I needed a favour from her and she told me that when we broke up it was because her mental health wasn't good for us, but then she said that she didn't like the way she was treated during and after the relationship, she said that I destroyed her self worth because I made comments and my temper was bad. All of these things were at the start of the relationship and when I noticed it was hurting her I took a step back and stopped these actions, I apologised, worked on it and changed. It's like she was nit picking things and people have told me it's because she feels guilty but also because she's avoiding accountability.
She recently had a family member pass away and I messaged her my condolences after about 2 - 3 weeks of no contact and she said thank you, but after that I'm done. I hate the way I was treated and she's made me feel like shit and made me feel like some kind of monster with the things she said. With all of this do you think she'll come around and realise that she was not nice to me at all? I've also had a friend tell me that she'll realise that the grass wasn't greener and try to come back to me but to not let myself be an option. She said when she's ready she might reach out and we can catch up for coffee and be friends but if she doesn't start the conversation with an apology I know she hasn't done anything to reflect or change. But essentially will she come around and realise she wasn't nice at all and apologise or is this whole ordeal a sinking ship? I've been taking therapy and I'm in a better position then I was a month ago and I still get thoughts about her and miss her but I'm getting over it with the way she treated me.
Thanks for listening to my Ted talk and thanks for reading this big ass rant. Oh we were together for a year and 3 months if that helps with anything either. Thanks. Also Jan and February were fine and then in march she became distant. Thanks again.

If you have ever been out to a Club, Bar, or some sort of gathering you may have plucked up the courage to speak to a potential love interest and you now have there contact number
The next day or two you send a text message or call maybe both but no luck the phone rings out and no reply to the text message
I would advise to delete the phone number within 1 week and move on what you choose to do if they contact you weeks/months later is up too you

this is probably the first time i’ve talked about this online in full detail. i’m gonna try to condense this as much as i possibly can but i need to get everything off my chest (very long post incoming so bare with me please).
i’ve been no contact with my mother since december of 2021. from the time i was 18/19 to 25 i have given her numerous chances to make things right with me and she didn’t take initiative. she’s never fully taken responsibility over the fact that she chose my stepdad over me and for the last twenty years treats me and my sister as an afterthought while making him her number one priority. it was so bad that i contemplated ending my life in 2010 when i was 14 (when i told her about it 3 years later she was anything but sympathetic) and even called CPS the same year. she and my stepdad provided the bare necessities but he was verbally/mentally/emotionally abusive towards me and my sis while my mother neglected my emotional needs. they both have alcohol addictions which didn’t make things better. she’s made statements before about finding another place for me to live while she can go be with him. she almost pulled me out of school one time when i needed to take a school exam so we could go camping with my stepdad (something we did 2-3 times a year, sometimes more). he tried to kick us out numerous times but nothing came of it. one time we did move out of his place but came back after a month because she “loved him too much” and wanted to be with him. basically she’s done a lot of things and more over the years that convinced me she doesn’t see me as important as him and it’s affected my self worth tremendously.
in 2021 i stopped talking to her for about 6-8 months after a phone call where i berated her for being an absent parent, to which she tried to apologize but it came off as performative. i saw her at walmart one time that year and our interaction was awkward. i decided to give her my peace one last time that november by sending a long text message detailing why i didn’t want her to talk to me anymore, and of course she dismissed me entirely. the only part of my message that stuck out to her was how i thought her alcohol addiction was going to kill her someday, and she brought up some things she had heard about me to deflect. she said “you’re never gonna lose me, i have two of the most beautiful daughters i could ever ask for” and i told her “well, you just lost me. please stop contacting me.”
about a month later she texted me saying that my stepdad has cancer, but her follow up message said: “you can stop now”. i got heated, partly because i thought she didn’t take me putting my foot down seriously. i responded, “i’m sorry but that is not my problem, please don’t contact me anymore.” she said, “i didn’t say it was your problem! where is your empathy for god’s sake” after that i went OFF on her. i cussed her out, told her she’s a terrible mother and a myriad of other things. the last thing i said to her was “fuck your empathy, and fuck you too (mom’s name).” her only response to my entire message was the word “wow”.
ever since then i only received one text from her and it was the day after my birthday a couple months later where she wished me well. i’ve since changed phone numbers and blocked her on all social media. it’s 2024 and for some reason i think about her a lot. i worry about what’s gonna happen to her once my stepdad passes (i’m her only blood relative in this state) and whether or not his family will keep her around. my sister is VLC with her because my mom dismisses her often and only seems to care about issues pertaining to my stepdad. my sister stopped reaching out as much when she found out my mom put down her perfectly healthy dog last year (that’s a whole story for another time). my mother has expressed suicidal tendencies in the past so i know mentally she’s not all there. i’m tired of worrying about her like she’s my child. i think about her more than she thinks about me. i don’t know why i do this to myself. she’s made her choice and i keep hoping she’ll change but i know she won’t. it’s heartbreaking. i want to stop thinking about her. she clearly doesn’t care about me the way i want her to. i keep bugging my sister to see how my mom is doing but she’s got a lot going on right now and i feel stupid for doing so. why do i care about her so much? even after all this time?

Subreddit is for active users as well as update in real time as I’ve seen some actual good Reddit Detective work with people even giving out the link and phone number to publicly listen into the court hearing where a lawyer for some fintech company (idk Yotta or evolve) gets fucking eviscerated by a fucking Judge

Hi, this is quite a specific one but wondered if any GDPR experts around here. I hired a car in the UK (England) from a large multinational rental company. Whilst I was using it I parked in a pub car park (and had a meal in the pub). Whilst there I forgot to enter the car reg number into the tablet on the bar and so was sent a parking ticket by a scummy private company that obviously had the contract for the car park. I luckily had the food receipt so was able to get it cancelled straight away with the proof.
Anyway, the thing that bothered me is the rental company passed on my personal details to this scummy private company (name, email address, physical address). My question is whether they are allowed to do this under GDPR? I did not give them permission. The rental agreement says they will only share your personal data with 3rd parties "to comply with relevant laws/regulations" i.e. if this was a council parking fine or a speeding fine then I get they can pass on my details because it's a statutory thing. But for a private car park and a scummy private car parking company I don't think this meets the definition. The rental company should have asked my consent before sharing. For example, I could note down a load of random hire car reg numbers and send entirely spurious parking tickets to the rental company asking for the personal data of the people who hired the cars on whichever days. Probably a viable fraud scheme.
Thoughts?

I have the Xreal Air 2 glasses, along with the Xreal Hub, the beam, Xreal hdmi to c cable, the Xreal c to c cable, and a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra phone with Dex and the Nebula app installed. Am I able to update the firmware on any of these devices without a computer? I don't have a computer and can access one fairly easily, but would rather do it without a computer if possible.
I'm also trying to figure out the best set-up for playing PS5 using the devices/cables listed above. I'm open to getting additional devices/cables if I have to, but hoping not to spend too much more. I've seen various posts about all the different 3rd party adapters, but I'm struggling to determine if I need one. If it makes a difference I don't get motion sickness, so if there is way to play without the beam where the performance would be better, I'm open to it.
Any tips/suggestions are greatly appreciated. I'm thankful for all the great people on Reddit who share so much good information. Cheers!

I accidentally posted this to my username instead of my subreddit so here is is:
The Mortgage, Part 3
“Fuck,” I said as I drove to work in the old beater that only started on the fourth try because it could tell that I was pissed off. Ray’s case started at two o’clock, and I was heading to the office to get ready. “Fuck fuck fuckity fucking fuck. Fuck.” I’d wanted to tell Angela about Ray’s case, and how I was sorry that I hadn’t wanted to help him, but now I would, I would help him, and I would win, but then I’d gotten her all riled up on something else, something totally different, something way more serious.
My wife had given me a triple ultimatum: fix things up with her father, save idiot Ray from Sy-Co Corp., and somehow find a downpayment for the place she wanted to buy, in the little townhouse infill project in Bixity. It was like demanding I do a double bank shot, and then run over to the baseball diamond and hit a home run after first pointing to where it would land, Babe Ruth style.
Angela was mad at me, seriously mad. She’d slipped out that morning before I was even awake, sliding quietly past me on the couch. I didn’t realize she was gone until I heard the faint click of the front door closing. I jumped up, tripped over a blanket, and by the time I got up and my robe on, the elevator down the hall dinged, and Angela was gone before I opened the apartment door.
I swore at myself some more and pounded the steering wheel, “I fucked up,” I said, several times as I hit the wheel over and over again, until I accidentally honked it, and then looked all sheepish when the guy in front of me gave me the finger. I reached my office without further incident, but instead of walking in the front door, I went further down the hall, and into the office of Mark Cecil-Rowe, Barrister, LL.D, the man with the finest speaking voice I ever heard. When I entered his office I forgot for a minute about Angela and her father and sleeping on the couch the night before. I forget about everything, except the reason that I had come to Cecil-Rowe’s office: to stump him with a legal problem that I had solved, but which I was pretty sure he could not. In other words, I had come to preen and to brag and to boast. No one likes a showoff, and I had come to show off. I put my hand on the door and turned the knob. After a brief pause, I flung open the door.
“I’m a goddamn genius,” I said as I strolled into the older man’s office.
I noticed the echo of a hastily closed desk drawer hanging in the air. In Aaron’s office, where I rented space, a sudden act of concealment implied cocaine, but with Cecil-Rowe, the item in question was probably a mickey of vodka. I had the sense that he’d been drinking a bit before I arrived, but his powers of observation were unimpaired, and when he looked into my face, his expression showed sympathy, and actual pain.
“What have you done now?” he said, as set the papers before him to one side, and readied himself to hear my latest tale of legal brilliance.
“I’m a genius,” I said.
“Oh dear. Have a seat.”
“No really, I am. I’m a genius. I got this case that everyone says you can’t win, but I’m gonna win it, and when I do, I’m gonna look like a genius.” Cecil-Rowe gave me a sad indulgent smile.
“Whenever you tell me you’re a genius, I am always concerned about what is to follow. When you get wrapped up in what you call your genius, you tend to ignore the more mundane things we lawyers have to do to win a case. You think you’re going to win by genius alone.”
“Let me tell you why I’m a goddamn genius.” With effort I wiped the smug, self-satisfied expression that was on my face.
“Tell me why you’re a genius,” Cecil-Rowe said, “while I pour us a coffee.” He heaved his bulky body up from his chair and shuffled over to a counter. He picked up a carafe of hot coffee sitting on a hot plate, and poured two cups. “Speak,” he said, handing me one. I took a sip of the coffee, and told Cecil-Rowe the tale of Cousin Ray: his purchase of a franchise from Sy-Co Corp, its swift demise, the crash and burn in Commercial Court, the Minutes of Settlement, the seventy-one kilometer limit, and lastly, Sy-Co’s motion scheduled for two p.m. that very day, seeking an interim injunction shutting down Ray’s place.
Cecil-Rowe absorbed all this without the need to take notes. Instead, he sat back while he eyed me, taking the occasional sip of coffee, and smiling at the extravagant flourishes and details that brought out Ray’s story to full effect.
“Obviously Ray is dead on arrival,” he said, “but I guess this is the part where you tell me how you’re going to win.”
So I told him how I was going to win, but it didn’t have the desired effect. “I told ya I’m a genius, Mr. C,” cueing him to applaud, to admit what a brilliant lawyer I was. But there was no applause from Mark Cecil-Rowe. He looked at me without so much as a smile.
“You can cling to that genius notion as a consolation prize, after you get whipped this afternoon in court.”
“No way,” I said, “not a chance. I got this thing won hands down. I’m gonna kick ass in court today and--”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that, if you don’t have evidence?”
“What?”
“Evidence, Calledinthe9os. It’s what lawyers like me use to beat geniuses like you.”
“But I’m gonna win without proof. I don’t need proof. The argument I’m gonna make, relies on simple facts that are totally obvious, so the judge is gonna--” Cecil-Rowe stuck up his hand.
“Stop right there. I know what’s coming. You’re going to ask the judge to take *judicial notice.”
And he was right. That was exactly what I was going to do.
There are some things so obvious that you didn’t have to prove them, things that everyone knew. You didn’t have to prove that water froze at zero degrees and boiled at a hundred, or that Bixity was between West Bay and East Bay.
“You got it,” I said, “judicial notice all the way.”
“You’re going to tell the judge that the centerpiece of your argument, the lynchpin of your case is a fact known to pretty well everyone, and so you don’t need proof.”
“Exactly,” I said. Cecil-Rowe took another sip of his coffee, and left me hanging in the silence for a while before he spoke.
“If that’s true, then why does coming up with that argument make you a genius?”
“Oh, I said,”I didn’t think of that.”
“It is acceptable to rely on judicial notice for minor, ancillary points. But you never should walk into court thinking that the court will take judicial notice of your entire defence. It’s just too risky.”
“But how am I going to rustle up a witness in time for this afternoon?”
“Worry about that after you leave my office. I can’t help you with that. What I want to know, is why you’re doing this at the last minute.”
“What makes you think I’m doing this at the last minute?”
“Because you never would have resorted to judicial notice if you were properly prepared. If you’d opened this case a bit earlier, you’ve have everything lined up. But you got to work on it late, and so you want to rely on judicial notice. You’ve messed up, Calledinthe90s, and you know what my rule is when you mess up.” Cecil-Rowe didn’t extend aid to me, until I admitted the error of my ways. It was infuriating, but he was inflexible. So I fessed up.
“My idiot cousin Ray’s been trying to retain me for almost two weeks, but I was putting him off because I was mad at him. So now my wife’s mad at me, and if I don’t win this case, I’m dead. Plus her dad’s mad at me too and --” My brain roared into overdrive, a mess of family and law and fear, and at the centre of it, thoughts of Angela’s anger and her father. My mind took off, and then came to an instant halt at a helpful destination.
“Yes?” Cecil-Rowe said.
“Sorry. I just realized how to solve the evidence problem. Look, can I ask you about the thing I actually came here to ask you about?”
“You have a problem that’s worse than having no evidence? What could be worse than -- oh. You don’t have a retainer. Your client doesn't have any money.”
“Exactly. How do I get paid? That’s the problem.” I explained that Ray had no money, as in none, and that if he did have money, he wouldn’t spend it on me. Instead, he’d go back downtown and throw his cash at some big firm, who would take on his case, and proceed to lose it in a calm, careful, sober manner, ending in a reporting letter to Ray telling him that he’d lost.
“Now that’s a problem I can solve,” Cecil-Rowe said.
“Really? ‘Cause I can’t see a way around it. I think I’m gonna have to do this for free, and that really pisses me off.” Cecil-Rowe shook his head.
“You may or may not get paid, but you can set things up so that if you win, you’ll win pretty good.”
“How? Ray’s a deadbeat. Tapped out.”
“But is he desperate?”
“Totally. The first time he failed, he lost his own money, but if he goes under this time, he’s taking family money with him, and he’ll be the black sheep forever.”
“And he’s using family to emotionally blackmail you into helping him?’
“Like no shit. That’s the part that pisses me off the most. I’m like a goddamn slave, being forced to work for free.”
“Never fear, young apprentice. I have just the thing in mind.” He reached into a drawer, and pulled out a form. “Fill in the blanks, and have him sign.”
I looked it over, and saw that the document was a retainer agreement. I whistled. “Holy shit. If he signs this, he’s almost my slave.”
“Close, but not quite” Cecil-Rowe said, “the Latin term for this is "contractus pro venditione animae"”. It’s the ultimate retainer agreement. Once Ray signs that, you own any cause of action he has against the person suing him. You can settle the case on any terms you like, and you get to keep whatever proceeds there are.” Cecil-Rowe placed the folder back in a drawer, and from his manner you could tell that the interview was over.
“Awesome, Mr. C. I’ll call you from Commercial Court when we’re done.”
“Commercial Court?” he said.
“Yeah, Commercial Court.”
“This just keeps getting worse. Take notes, Calledinthe90s, while I school you on Commercial Court. Commercial Court is a jungle, and without preparation, you’ll get savaged.”
“That’s what happened to Ray when--”
“Take notes, young apprentice,” he said, tossing me a pad and a pen. He started to lecture, and I took notes that I have with me to this day, in a safe deposit box downstairs in the vault at Mega Bank Main Branch.
* * *
By the time Cecil-Rowe finished schooling me, it was close to ten, and the case started at two. I didn’t have much time. I ran down the hall to my office, and called Ray’s restaurant. No answer. Then I called Ray’s house. I expected to get Ray’s wife, but the man himself answered.
“You’re not at work. Why aren’t you at work?”
“Sy-Co Corp served all my employees with a cease and desist letter. They all got scared and took off. The place is shut down.”
“You gotta fax machine at home?” He did, and asked why.
“I’m taking your case, but only if you sign the paper I’m about to send and fax it back.” I sent the fax, and five minutes later it came back signed, and it was official: Ray had sold me his legal soul.
I went out to the parking lot, got into my beater and drove fast. In less than thirty minutes I reached my destination. I knocked on the door, and when it opened, my diminutive mother-in-law poked out her head. “What a pleasant surprise,” she said.
“Sorry, Mrs. M, but I’m in a super hurry. I gotta rush to get to court to help Ray. But first, I gotta speak to Dr. M.”
“He’s not here,” she said.
“Not here?”
“He’s on his way to his bridge game. He left just a few minutes ago.”
“Where’s the club?”
“He’s walking there,” she said, and pointed down the street.
“Thanks.” I got into my car and headed where Mrs. M had pointed, passing big houses and new project with an “Opening Soon” sign. And walking past it was the figure of Dr. M.
“Hey, Dr. M,” I called out the window. He stopped and looked around, startled. But he didn’t see me, not at first.
“It’s me, Dr. M. Me, Calledin90s.” He leaned forward as if to see me better. I got out of the car.
“Is something wrong with Angela? Or the baby?”
“No, no not at all, sorry to scare you, it’s nothing like that. I need your help.”
“Oh.” He started walking again, and now it was my turn to be a bit stunned, watching my father-in-law walk away from me. I caught up with him in a few quick strides.
“Listen, I really need your help.”
“And I really need to get to a bridge game.”
“This isn’t about me. It’s about Ray.” That brought him to a halt. He turned to me, angrier even than he’d been the night before.
“Did you drive all the way out here just to make fun of me? To remind me of how you won, distracting me with nonsense about Ray’s case?”
“I mean it,” I said, “I can win Ray’s case. I can prove it in a few words.”
“Prove it, then.” So I did. I spoke words, only a few words, but they were the right words to speak to Dr. M, for the words I spoke were in his language, words that he understood perfectly.
“I understand,” he said, “you’ve come to boast some more, to prove that you were right after all.”
“I want to win Ray’s case, but I don’t have any proof of what I’m saying.”
“You don’t need to prove that two plus two is four.”
“This, I gotta prove, and I need you to help me prove it. I need you to come to court with me, as my witness.”
“I can’t do that. I didn’t witness anything.”
“As my witness. My expert witness.” Unlike a normal witness, an expert witness can give an opinion. An expert is there not to advocate, I explained to Dr. M but to instruct, to teach.
“My bridge partner won’t be very happy,” he said.
“But Ray will, and so will Mrs. M and Angela and--”
“Very well. Do you have a cell phone? We can call the bridge club from my car.”
* * *
We were on the highway getting close to the downtown exit, when my wife called my cell phone. Back then cell phone service was super expensive and my wife only used it for emergencies. Or when she was really angry. I picked up the phone, wondering which it would be.
“I’m so happy that you made things up with my father,” she said.
“How did you know?”
“My mother called. She says you took him with you, that you went out together.”
“He’s with me right now,” I said.
“Where are you going?”
“To court. Going to court to win Ray’s case for him.”
“And you brought my father with you to watch?” She was so happy, I could hear in her voice that she was smiling. “That’s a great way to bond with him, Calledinthe90s. Look, I’m sorry I got so mad at you earlier, I really am. My dad’s a bit too sensitive and--”
“Sorry, Angela, your dad’s not coming to watch me.”
“Why is he with you, then?”
“He’s my witness,” I said.
“What?”
“His expert witness,” Dr. M said, loudly enough for Angela to hear.
My wife’s anger exploded into the phone. She wanted to know how I could expose her elderly, vulnerable father to the stress of a court case. I tried to tell her how I needed him, how there was literally no one else I could turn to, that her father was an expert, a true expert, and the judge was legally bound to believe him, but Angela heard none of this.
“Look,’ I said, “I promise you that--” And then I lowered the phone and pushed the red button, terminating the call. I’d learned that the best way to hang up on someone, was to do it when I was doing the talking. That way it looked like the call had dropped.
“I’m going to steal that move,” Dr. M said.
We rolled into the parking lot. I grabbed the cloth bag out of the back of my car, the bag that held my law robes and shirt and tabs, plus the other stuff I needed for court. It was one-thirty, still thirty minutes to go, not a lot of time to get robed and ready for court. It was just past one-forty five when I, with Dr. M in tow, opened the door to a courtroom on the eighth floor of an old insurance building that had been converted into a courthouse, the home of Commercial Court.
“Commercial Court is an exclusive club,” Cecil-Rowe had explained to me earlier that day, “the legal playground of the rich and powerful. They’ll know instantly that you’re not one of them.” And he was right. It was clear from the moment I walked in that I did not belong, for I was the only lawyer in robes. Everyone else was wearing a suit, and not some cheap thing off the rack like I wore.
There were a half-dozen lawyers present, and after they saw me, they exchanged knowing looks about the stranger amongst them. I ignored them, and walked up to the Registrar. I told him the case I was on, and he signed me in.
“First time in Commercial Court?” he said, eyeing my robes. “You know you don’t have to be robed in Commercial Court.” In other Superior Courts, you always had to bring your robes and get all dressed up. But Commercial Court had its own set of rules, and in the court for rich people, their lawyers did not have to wear robes.
“You’re here on the Sy-Co case?” a young woman asked. She was a junior like me, give a year or two either way. She was dressed in the finest downtown counsel fashion, some designer thing that Angela would know if she saw it.
“Just got retained,” I said.
“You know there’s no adjournments, right? We don’t do adjournments in Commercial Court. I’m just trying to be helpful, because I don’t think you've been here before. You know you don’t have to be robed, right?
“So I heard.”
“So where’s your material? You haven’t served anything, so how do you plan to argue your case?”
“I gotta witness,” I said.
She smiled. “There’s no viva voce evidence, either. Affidavit only.”
“We’ll see what the judge says.” There was a knock from the other side of the door to the judge’s chambers, and then the man himself entered.
I was amazed to see that even the judge wasn’t wearing a robe; instead, he was wearing a light coloured suit and a bright blue bow tie. He was dressed as good as the lawyers, all part of the downtown Commercial Court club, the playground of the richest and most powerful corporations in the City.
“Commercial Court’s not like other courts,” Cecil-Rowe told me earlier that day, explaining that most cases were over in fifteen minutes or less. A plaintiff showed up with some papers, and had a short consultation with the judge. The judge signed an order granting an injunction, or taking away a man’s business, or freezing his money. Commercial Court is where you went to get quick and simple court orders that eviscerated your opponent before the case even got going.
Defendants would appear sometimes in Commercial Court, Cecil-Rowe explained, but it was usually their last time up. Defendants always died a quick death in Commercial Court.
The judge took his seat, and then looked over the lawyers before him. His eyes moved along, and then stopped when they reached me, the one lawyer who was not like the others.
“You don’t need robes in Commercial Court,” the judge said to me.
“I’ll remember that for next time,” I said.
“What case are you on?”
I told him.
“He’s filed no responding materials,” my opponent said, “nothing at all.”
“I’m just vetting the list,” the judge said, “I’ll circle back to you two in a few minutes.” I listend while the judge vetted the rest of the afternoon list: a Mareva, plus a Norwich order, with counsel on those cases sent away in a matter of minutes.
Now the courtroom was almost empty, just the judge, two lawyers, the registrar and my star witness and father-in-law, Dr. M, who sat in the back of the courtroom dressed in an old business suit, put on hastily at his place two hours earlier, when I urged him to hurry it up, to not waste so much time on picking a suit.
“Back to you,” the judge said, addressing my opponent, “I thought this was an uncontested matter. That’s what your confirmation sheet said.”
“I’m sorry, Your Honour, but I didn’t know until I got here that the case was defended.”
“I got retained at the last minute,” I said, “barely three hours ago, the day after I read the papers. But I’m ready to go, ready to argue the case on the merits, so long as you grant me an indulgence, and let me call my witness, to let him testify in person instead of by affidavit, there being no time for me to draft anything.”
Opposing counsel was on her feet. “That’s not how things are done in Commercial Court,” she said, “or any court that I know of, for that matter. My friend (that’s what they make lawyers call each other in court, ‘my friend,’ even though you might hate the other guy’s guts),” the lawyer said, “my friend should have served his responding materials and filed them with the court. Instead, he’s taken us totally by surprise.”
“I’m sorry my friend is surprised by opposition,” I said, “but then consider, it’s my client’s livelihood that’s at stake. If my friend gets her injunction, Ray Telewu’s business is dead, and he loses everything. So yes, my client opposes the injunction, and yes, I’d like to call evidence.”
The judge didn’t consult the papers before him nor the books, but instead, he looked up at the big white clock on the courtroom wall. Its hands said two-fifteen.
“How long will your witness take, counsel?”
“In chief, ten minutes.” I’d practiced with Dr. M on the way in, and I was pretty sure he could do it in five, but I gave him a bit of extra time, just in case.
“We’ve got about two hours,” the judge said, “but I want to be fair to you and your client. Let’s take a fifteen minute recess so you can get instructions. Either we go ahead today with viva voce evidence, or we adjourn, and that will give Calledinthe90s time to file responding materials.”
When everyone came back, the junior’s boss was there, Senior Counsel, a heavy weight, one of those big guys downtown. Plus they brought this guy from Sy-Co Corp, the head of some bullshit division, with some bullshit title, Head of whatever, so that’s the title I’ll give him here. He was The Head. He was the man, the big cheese, the signer of the affidavit on which Sy-Co relied that day.
“What’s he doing here?” I asked Senior Counsel.
He stared at me, all lean and steel grey, looking every inch the hard hitting lawyer that commanded the biggest fees. “If you’re calling a live witness, then so can we. The Head will give evidence today, in advance of your client, so that the judge hears it from him first.” His junior smirked at me, and the two of them sat down, delighted that they’d thought of a way to one up me.
Except that they’d done it by exposing their client to cross-examination. The judge came in, allowed the Head to testify, and when he was done, I stood up.
“Just a few questions,” I said. Senior Counsel was stunned for an instant, and then he stood.
“This serves no purpose, Your Honour. The witness has confirmed the simple facts of his affidavit, and there’s no disputing it. Ray Telewu opened a restaurant less than seventy-one kilometres from Bixity City Hall, and that’s in breach of the Minutes of Settlement he signed.”
I did not bother to respond. Instead, I just stood, and I started to ask questions.
“Have a look at that map in your affidavit,” I said, and he did. I picked up my copy, and tore the map out of it. I passed it up to him.
“What do you notice about this map?”
“That it’s accurate,” the Head said, repeating his evidence in chief, amplifying it, talking about how the map contained perfect measurement.
“You will notice that the map is flat,” I said, laying it on the witness box before him.
“Of course it’s flat. That’s what maps are. Maps are flat.”
“But the earth is round,” I said, “or more properly, a sphere.” Senior Counsel was on his feet in an instant.
“What difference does that make?” he said.
“What you’ll hear from my expert witness, is that a flat map cannot accurately show Earth’s curves. A flat map distorts distances, and in this case, reduces them.”
“But that can’t be by very much.”
“In this case, by just over twenty meters,” Dr. M said from the back of the court.
“That’s my expert witness, the esteemed Dr. M.” I didn’t actually say Dr. M. Instead, I said his real name. But I’m not going to use the real names of my family here, so I’ll just keep calling him Dr. M. “Dr. M was a professor of Physics at the University of Bixity for almost thirty years. He has published numerous papers on particle physics, and is the first Canadian winner of the Wolf Prize for physics.”

• * * *

It went downhill after that for Sy-Co Corp. My father-in-law testified, explaining in simple language, language that even a child could understand, that the Earth was a sphere, that the shortest distance between two points on Earth was a curve, not a straight line. He summarized his calculations in plain English, dumbing down the math, so that everyone present imagined, if only for the moment, that they shared his understanding of a difficult mathematical equation.
Senior Counsel tried to cross-examine Dr. M, but it did not go well, my father-in-law indulging him, gently chiding him, continuing his explanations until the lawyer sat down, defeated by Dr. M’s mastery of the subject,his own lack of preparation and his inability to improvise. When counsel said that he had no further questions, the judge addressed us all.
“I’m not going to reserve, and I don’t think I need to tell everyone why. I think it will take about a minute for me to write a decision saying that the Earth is not flat. I’ll give you some more time after that, but after fifteen minutes, I”ll be back to render my decision.” He rose, everyone bowed, and he disappeared behind the door to judge’s chambers.
I pulled a piece of paper out of my file, and slammed it on the desk before Senior Counsel and his junior. “Fill in the blanks, and sign,” I said.
Dr. M’s head shot up at the commotion, and he shuffled over to see what was going on.
“What’s this?” Senior Counsel said, picking up the paper I gave him..
“Minutes of Settlement. You fill in a number, a big number, for the costs you gotta pay me. Your client signs, and then we’re done.” Senior Counsel opened his mouth to bargain, but I overrode him.
“You know your client’s going to lose; the judge made that obvious. Hurry up if you want to settle; we don’t have much time.”
At the end of most Canadian court cases, the loser has to pay at least part of the winner’s legal fees. That’s the way it’s been since forever, and I think it’s a good rule. Sy-Co Corp had lost, so it had to pay a good chunk of Ray’s costs, and Ray’s costs were somewhere between whatever bullshit figure I claimed they were, and where they actually ought to be. Senior Counsel took the paper over to his client. There was a brief discussion, and then they came back, with the form signed, and a number written in the blank space.
I’ll give it to Sy-Co Corp and their lawyer. It wasn’t a bullshit number, a low ball number. They gave me a real number, a number more like something I’d actually accept, a number that made sense to pay me in costs, in light of the success I’d had, and how I got it. It was a respectful number, a common sense number, and I appreciated it an awful lot.
I tossed the paper back at them.
“Add a zero,” I said, continuing on when Senior Counsel blanched, and his junior retreated a step. “I know what’s going on here. Your client sold mine a bullshit franchise, one with a history of failing.” The franchise had opened up again under a new owner not long after Ray had lost it and then it promptly failed again. Like I said at the start of this story, it’s an old story. It’s how some franchise companies make money. “Your client makes more money selling bullshit franchises doomed to fail, then it does from the honest ones that make money. So add a zero to that number, or Ray’s gonna sue you, class action and all that, for all the people you’ve fucked.”
The Head stepped forward from the benches and spoke to me.
“We get threats like that all the time, but no one follows through. They don’t have the money to fight us, and neither does your client. So go ahead and sue.”
“It’s true that Ray doesn’t have jack shit,” I said, “not a pot to piss in, but he’s my cousin, Ray is, and even if he doesn’t have money, he’s got me. Ray’s family, and for Ray, I’ll sue you guys for free. Hell, I’ll even pay the expenses. Plus I’m gonna put a jury notice in, too, come to think of it, ‘cause juries--”
Senior Counsel cut me off, and moved his client to the back of the courtroom. There was a brief discussion, and then they came back. I watched as Senior Counsel wrote a single digit on the Minutes, a zero, written right where I wanted it.
“You’ll have to initial the change,” I said to the Head of Sy-C0, and it gave me great satisfaction to watch him sign.
“Don’t forget,” I said the moment his pen stopped moving, “for the settlement to be valid, I need to get the money today. Right now.”
“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” the Head said.
“Not if you want the settlement to stay in place. I’ll follow you back to your office, and you can put a cheque in my hands.”

• * * *

“What’s this?” my wife said when I entered the apartment later that day, after I’d driven Dr. M home, stopping first at a local pub for beers.
“It’s an absurdly expensive bunch of flowers,” I said, “although no flowers, however beautiful, however expensive, could expiate my--”
She took the flowers, and gave a kiss.
“My mom called. She told me what happened. You fixed things with my dad.”
“Yup,” I said. I had certainly done that. I’d made Dr. M a professor again, if only for a few minutes. Not only a professor, but an expert witness. The judge had declared him an expert in plain terms and Dr.M had beamed when he’d heard those words.
“And you won Ray’s case, too. But my mom didn’t know how, and I don’t know how you did it either.”
“I’ll tell you over dinner tonight,” I said.
“But we agreed no more dinners out; we have to save money, now that a baby’s coming.”
I passed her the envelope that I’d received a few hours before. She opened it, and took out a cheque, a cheque drawn up for an amount I specified, made payable to Mr. and Mrs. Calledinthe90s.
The moment I got that cheque, all I could think about was how my wife would react when I put it into her hands. I could not wait to see her eyes bulge, to hear her voice say “oh my god,” to hear her laugh.
She did none of these things. Instead, she cried.
“Does this mean we can buy a house?” The money wouldn’t be enough to buy a house, not nowadays, with prices being so crazy. But things were different back then in the 90s. Sure, the internet was barely a thing and cell phones were super expensive and a lot of things sucked, but I’ll give the nineties one thing: houses were cheap.
“I think so,” I said.

Yesterday, my car completely stopped recognizing my iPhone 13 as PAAK. I was able to enter the car using both the door number pad and the app to unlock the car, but when I tried to start the car, it said there was no key identified. I was even able to start the car via the app, but could not change gears to drive.
I walked away and kept trying over the course of three hours, but no dice. I called Ford customer service and they couldn’t reset the PAAK because I didn’t have any of the key fobs on me, and roadside couldn’t tow because I was more than 100 miles away from home. My partner ended up having to bring the key to me.
In the past, I’ve had 2 instances where the car has missed my phone in the car and said there was no key identified, but it was resolved within a couple minutes of waiting.
Has this happened to anyone else? I’ve definitely learned my lesson, I’m never not going to carry a fob again, which is frustrating because I love PAAK as a feature and it’s worked just fine for me for about a year and a half.

I haven't had a job in a year and a half from severe general/social anxiety but recently got medicated which has helped a lot so I wanna try working again. It still makes me slightly anxious thinking of working, but I noticed the main things that made me anxious at my first and only job was performance pressure, feeling like the manager was watching me 24/7 and expected so much out of me (I worked as a retail associate) I don't think it was as big of a deal as the manager made the job seem because most of the employees played on their phone during work and stuff, point is i don't feel nervous working at WH since the people who work at the ones near my house are normally rude or clearly have mental issues (no hate to them so do i). I also HATED the headsets at my last job, the idea of everyone being able to hear me when I talk in it was horrible. so the reason I've considered WH is because it's extremely low standards, I knew a few people who worked at WH and they said their manager told them she smokes meth before work.. they said all they did all day was apply butter on toast which actually sounds not bad to me because I like having something easy to do like that all day. only thing I'm worried about is the system of how you talk to eachother at WH seems super confusing and at my last job I had trouble even memorizing the number of clothes and the name of a person when getting them a fitting room. also would be scared of working nightshift because of the weirdos that might come in or try to follow me home I live in a not great area. anyways how hard is it really to learn the waffle house language? and what would they probably have me start on when I'm first working there? also I have unnatural dyed hair and wear acrylics (not super long ones) would they maybe allow it if I'm nice? since the waffle house by my house can't even keep workers since no one wants to work there.

Like don’t get me wrong, it can get a bit grating especially with putting in meds or when doing it on a shitty patient portal. But I just find it so satisfying!!! Like I just filled in new patient forms for my partner’s upcoming psychiatrist appointment and it was so fun!!! I especially like MyChart, and how you can link records between organizations so it’s all in one place. Lately I’ve been trying to get all my records from childhood linked up with anything with some success (I wish more was digitized than it is). Like even though my childhood was fairly uneventful health-wise I am so interested to see what the docs I saw wrote about me.
I also really like doing tests and accumulating various data and information about my body. It’s comforting how many aspects of this fleshy coil can be understood by numbers and commonly understood shorthand. I love watching the blood fill the laboratory vials. When I got stitches for the only time I could not look away. Even the MRI I had done, it was totally sensory overload but knowing that it was sensory overload in pursuit of sweet, sweet, juicy, data made it all worth it (even though the results were rather unexciting, which is of course a good thing though I was kinda hoping for an answer to come out of it).
I have a deeply silly body, which is of course only right for someone with an equally silly brain. For those reasons, I’ve been having some health issues lately that doctors haven’t really been able to make sense of, which means that I’m going from specialist to specialist and racking up every test under the sun. This is of course quite draining, but the silver lining is that I don’t happen to have any bad medical trauma, and that I’m weirdo who takes great satisfaction in forms, tests, and examinations. I’ve always been this way, I don’t know why—even as a kid I loved going to the doctor, save for getting shots and throat/nose swabs at least.
I’ve also become very well read on my chronic and acute conditions/symptoms, which can make for easy dialogue with medical professionals (though I have found there are some who really don’t prefer a well educated patient, so I have to dumb it down a bit and let them come to “their own” conclusions). It all kinda started with autism research last year, which led to hypermobility research, which led to POTS, and so on. And now I’ve been having stroke-like symptoms—SCARY! But also super interesting as it turns out, especially since I’m 22 and that really shouldn’t be happening (hence the medical confusion).
This is all to say that my personal health has become my special interest. Does it make me come off as a hypochondriac? Maybe. Hopefully my autism diagnosis offsets that though when I’m communicating with health professionals, something about an obsessive personality/style of thinking that isn’t necessarily rooted in irrationality? I dunno, depends on how much the recipients of my postulating actually know about autism I guess. It is a bit annoying to only be able to think about matters of health, but such is the howl of this dawg in me.
Anyway thank you for reading this rambling of mine.

Ne Lei, Champion of Gods

Ne Lei is the Champion of Gods, chosen and favored by multiple Gods or an equivalent to Aspects. Ne Lei came from a secluded tribe East of Valoran where they revere Gods as their guidance for every day lives.

Date:

03.02.2024

Image:

I do not own these image. It is served as a reference only.

Gameplay:

Ne Lei is a Fighter who grows stronger if she perform a certain conditions in order to please her Gods. After that Condition, she is granted a Blessings augmenting her.
Her God theme is inspired by some Greek Gods (such as Zeus, Artemis, Ares and etc.). God’s Blessing Theme is inspired by Hades (a Rogue-like Game).

Previous Concept:

• Nicetas, the Warrior of Gods

Note:

All of spell damage/effect, scalings, amount, cost and cooldowns are roughly estimated. Numbers can be adjusted and it is only a representation.

Basic Attack:

MODIFIED ATTACK: Ne Lei’s Basic Attack are modified and has 3 forms: * Sword = Sweep in 100° Cone at 🎯150 Range at Melee targeting. * Spear = Thrust of Spear from 🎯151 - 375 Range, dealing 100% of ⚔️AD in a line. * Bow = Release an Arrow at 🎯376 - 500 Range but deals 85% of ⚔️AD.

Passive: Favored by Gods

INNATE: Ne Lei is granted multiple Blessings from 7 Gods. She gain these blessings by Impressing the Gods for a certain conditions.

Q: Call for Gods

ACTIVE: Ne Lei shouts for Aid of Gods, ⚜️marking all enemy unit around her for ⌛️5 seconds. She would then gain bonus 🏹Attack Speed and 🔼Increase Damage Output for a given duration.
⚜️Marked unit would also share a portion of Damage to other ⚜️Marked unit when they take damage from Ne Lei. Share Damage deal 🗡️True Damage.

🏹Bonus Attack Speed	(30/45/60/75/90%)
🔼Increase Damage Output	(8/12/16/20/24%)
🗡️Share Damage	(30/35/40/45/50%)
⌛️Buff Duration	(2/2.3/2.6/2.9/3.2) seconds
🎯Spell Range	850
🕒Cooldown	(12/11/10/9/8) seconds
💧Cost	60 mana

W: God’s Aegis

ACTIVE: Gods grant Ne Lei an Aura based Aegis. Which all Enemy units inside the Aura have their 🔽Damage Output reduced against Ne Lei only.
Aura also ❄️Slows them.

🔽Damage Reduction	(30/35/40/45/50%) (+5% per 100 AP) (+5% per 100 bonus AD)
❄️Slow	(20/24/28/32/36%)
⌛️Aura Duration	(2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3) seconds
🎯Aura Radius	500
🕒Cooldown	(20/18.5/17/15.5/14) seconds
💧Cost	50 mana

E: Strife

ACTIVE: Ne Lei dashes to target direction then grant her bonus ⚔️Physical Damage on each of her Unique Attacks: Bonus on each weapon (Sword, Spear, Bow).
Every time she perform and damages an enemy unit using the bonus ⚔️Damage she gain bonus 🥾Movement Speed for ⌛️1.5 second.

⚔️Bonus Physical Damage	(25/50/75/100/125) (+15/20/25/30/35% bonus AD)
🥾Bonus Movement Speed	(30/40/50/60/70) flat Movement Speed
🎯Dash Range	550
🕒Cooldown	12 seconds
💧Cost	35 mana

Ultimate: Art of Conviction

ACTIVE: Ne Lei calls down the Aid from her Gods, then a Smite from Heaven Strikes the Enemy dealing 🔥Magic Damage PLUS the TOTAL 🔥⚔️Damage Output does the Enemy dealt in the past ⌛️3 seconds.

🔥Base Magic Damage	(100/200/300) (+70% AP) (+100% bonus AD)
🔥Bonus Damage	(+30/45/60% of Damage dealt by target Enemy)
🎯Cast Range	400
🕒Cooldown	(150/125/100) seconds
💧Cost	100 mana

GOD’S BLESSINGS:

1.) God of Heaven

BLESSINGS: Ultimate’s 🔥Bonus Damage increased into (+100% Total Damage Output dealt by Enemy) then 😵Stun the target for ⌛️1 second.
DEED: Killing 5 Unique Enemy Champion.

2.) God of Travel

BLESSINGS: Casting Strife Dash him grant 200% bonus 🥾Movement Speed for 0.5 second. It also TRIPLE the bonus Flat bonus 🥾Movement Speed.
DEED: Travel 🎯25,000 unit distance while Out-of-Combat.

3.) God of Protection

BLESSINGS: Casting W Spell now grant (50 - 210) (+40% AP) 🛡️Shield that lasts for ⌛️3.5 seconds. Additionally, every time Ne Lei gain 🛡️Shield from any source, God’s Aegis will activate & ends effect until Shield breaks.
DEED: Takes ⚔️🔥15,000 Damage from Enemy Champion.

4.) God of Death

BLESSINGS: When ⚜️Marked unit is Killed, it deal (10 - 85) (+4% - 8% Max Health of Killed Unit) as 🗡️True Damage.
DEED: After killing 200 Enemy Minions.

5.) God of Hunt

BLESSINGS: Bow now deal (110% AD)and has 575 Attack Range.
DEED: Hitting an Enemy Champion using Bow for 100 times while NOT Damaged by Enemy Champion. Resets effect after not taking damage from Champion for ⌛️7 seconds.

6.) God of War

BLESSINGS: Spear has DOUBLE the 🏹Attack Speed.
DEED: After dealing ⚔️10,000 of Damage to Enemy champion using Spear.

7.) God of Wealth

BLESSINGS: Gain +15% 💰Gold from any source. He also gain (+2.5% of Current Gold) as bonus ⚔️AD and (+3.25% of Current Gold) as bonus 🔥AP.
DEED: After he gain 3,500 💰Gold using his Sword in killing an enemy unit.

Sorry, it looks like this kind of problem gets posted here every now and then, but I've tried the things that worked for the other OPs and it's not working for me. (I blurred out my phone number for privacy reasons)
I just got a 2020 M1 MacBook Air as a gift (never dreamed of going into Apple stuff) and realized I basically can't do anything unless I have an Apple ID.
Except that it keeps saying " Your account cannot be created at this time" which is SUPER AGGRAVATING and definitely a great first impression on how Apple compares to the tech I use as a daily driver.
As long as I can get this configured properly I'll be happy. Thanks in advance!

I live in a residential area in Jamaica, Queens. I was walking home from work when I met a woman who claimed to be a Spectrum agent. She was in her car, parked on the street. When she noticed me walking by she asked if I had Spectrum internet and wanted my bill lowered. I told her yeah, I'll think about it and she handed me a card with her phone number on it.
The experience was bizarre since it took place on the street. But I gave her the benefit of the doubt and called her the following day. She asked for my address and said we would need to meet up in front of my house if I wanted my bill lowered. I backed out ultimately as the need for a meet up was too sketchy.
Has anyone had this experience? Is this woman a legit Spectrum agent??
Btw I pay $112/month for my Spectrum bill.

Nearly seven weeks ago, me (31) and my boyfriend (28) had broken up, and he blocked me on everything. We were in a long distance relationship. He went full on no contact, and I’ve been tearing myself up over it this entire time.
Well, I thought he had me blocked on everything…
I checked my TikTok account earlier, because I haven’t been on there in so long, only to discovered that he no longer had me blocked. In fact, he check my profile a few times since we split up; the most recent one was towards the end of April.
I won’t lie, I was confused, happy, nervous… I thought it was some sort of mistake. I’d thought about messaging him for a while now, but thought better of it.
Until almost four hours ago.
I stirred in my anxious juices for an hour, or two, then finally got the courage to message him on TikTok.
HE FUCKING RESPONDED.
I couldn’t believe it. We actually talked for an hour, or so, and everything went smoothly. I found out that he actually never blocked my phone number. He wanted to keep one lifeline open for me, in case I absolutely needed to reach out. While chatting, he told me that he wasn’t doing as good as I had hoped (he was doing much worse than me, actually, and I feel really horrible for that), and I sent him some posts that I wrote about him.
He went to bed a few hours ago, and I can’t help thinking that this is too good to be true, like this is a dream come to life. I begged and prayed for him to come back, and I looked for signs from him on here. I guess I was looking in the wrong place.
I have no idea where we will go from here. I have no clue if he’s still in love with me, like I am with him. I don’t know if he wants to keep talking. For now, this is the best I’ve felt in literal weeks, and I’ve been smiling for hours.
This is my first time posting here, so I hope it’s okay that I share some good news with y’all. 💜