I used to be phone-obsessed. I’m talking scrolling late into the night, scrolling in the bathroom, scrolling first thing in the morning. I’d instinctively check my pocket multiple times when out and about just in case it had gone missing. Like, not only did I rely on it for practical reasons, I’d probably feel some kind of anxiety separation if I didn’t have access to it.
Which is exactly how I realized it was time to get rid of it. I deleted Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat accounts, cleaned out my inbox and camera roll, backed up everything worth saving to my desktop Mac (which stays in my room at all times), powered the iPhone down, and stuck it in a drawer, where it’s remained untouched for a few months now.
It was difficult at first. I’m Gen Z so most of my life has been phone-ful. There was so much extra silence—without checking notifs every few minutes, it felt like my friends didn’t exist. My birthday came and went, and the only “happy birthday”s came from those with whom I directly interacted; of those people, only a handful remembered. I constantly lost track of time, so I bought a watch. I googled directions before traveling to a new place and wrote them down on scrap paper, which I’d keep safely tucked between the pages of a growing journal collection, but I’d still get lost constantly. Multitasking was no longer an option as I could only do work when at home, in my room, connected to WiFi from my one virtual source.
However, these tedious differences improved the quality of my life DRASTICALLY. It felt as though hours of my day had been cleared up. I finally had time to lose myself in literature, crossword puzzles, cooking, and other hobbies without the pressure of the screen and virtual world waiting for my return. At night, I fell asleep much faster, and slept for much longer. I even found conversations with friends and acquaintances more interesting as I could fully invest myself. I started noticing things, like fragrances in the air, unlikely sounds; my sense of direction and handwriting both improved. I started writing letters (I now have two pen pals). Everything felt lighter, and the anxiety of not documenting everything—as I’ve grown to do over the years of the smartphone era—gradually abated.
I acknowledge that I am privileged to have access to a phone and the internet in the first place, and even more privileged to be able to give it up. Many need constant access to these things for their career or simply for survival. (I should mention that I am a college student, and my work this semester was completed from the computer, which obviously can’t travel with me). But I would strongly urge anyone on the fence about their phone addiction to give this a shot, even for a week or a month. Since working on myself, I’ve become aware of how energies shift in the presence of a phone; my friends walk and talk more slowly as their minds are split between real life and the social internet; my parents grow less present when they receive an alert. Yes, it’s cool that I found more contentment by becoming a Luddite, but in this day and age it’s ultimately impossible to remain this way forever. I feel sad knowing that this invention can’t be undone and that I never got to experience a world where nobody had access to their phones and instead made the most of real, tangible materials.
Btw, I’m not arguing that phones are bad or should be abandoned. They’ve done so much for us in terms of efficiency, employment, and communication. This has just been my (lucky) experience and I’m disappointed that this is the farthest I’ll get from the virtual world.

My sister (37/f) recently broke up with a long term partner (6 years) and got on some dating apps. She is a smart, funny and bubbly person and landed dates easily, and decided to pursue things with a seemingly charming, great man (35/m).
Long story short, they became exclusive after 5 dates. On the 6th date they were drinking a bit and he began confessing things like: the country he said he's from, he's not from and he grew up in an entirely different place. He also lied about his race/ethnicity claiming that he has experienced racism in the past (he's Iranian and pretended to be Turkish). She told me this a couple weeks ago and I said... too many red flags.
Later on, my mom and I, the internet sleuths we are googled him based on some other suspicions. We found his linkedin information that shows a different but similar name, shows that he is 10 years older than he actually is, and no sign of the very prestigious college he claims to have a PhD from. I sent a bunch of screen shots to my sister with this info, and she confronted him and blocked him. Thought that was the end of that.
A week ago I found out she's back with him. They had met up, talked about it and he admitted to everything - he lied about his age because he didn't want to seem too old to start a family, he did "research" at the school he said he got a PhD from so he said that wasn't a "full" lie, and he lied about his background due to fearing potentially stalking. She wants to take it slow with him and thinks he's genuine and just needs understanding. All of this sounds like a bunch of BS and I'm really really worried for my sister.
She has ALWAYS wanted a family and kids. I got engaged at the end of last year and since that point, it seems like she's made it a mission to find a husband and have kids ASAP. Not saying its because of my engagement, but, she started going on dates every single night after I got engaged after having not been on any apps prior. I fear she is settling on a narcissist or sociopath who love bombed her for weeks and she doesn't see a way forward with having a family if she dumps him. What advice would you have for an older sister in this position? I know there is nothing I can do, but is there anything helpful to say?

SPOILERS FOR THE IMPOSSIBLE QUIZ BOOK!!!!
In his latest video on JSAS, Jack was very confused by the impossible quiz book, so I'm going to explain what he didn't understand:
2) Clint Eastwood is a shooting star because he's a star known for shooting things in films (cowboy) like Jack said
6) There's no question mark, it's a statement. What is the best thing since sliced bread.
11) It's asking how many different letters in assassins (a, s, i, n)
12) Corn flakes because they fall on the floor a lot?? (I'm kind of confused here too icl)
18) The dictionary has the meanings of all words, including 'life'
31) There's 100 pennies in a pound, (pond is pound missing a u, so there's no u)
34) Biased. Bi assed. 2
39) Pigs flying means the pigs flew, like swine flu, which kills people.
46) TIQTIQTTIQ = the impossible quiz, the impossible quiz two, the impossible quiz book, so B
MTWTFS = monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday saturday sunday so S
some tips too:
on the dot to dot if you do 1-7 then the dot with no number, you get a skip, but you do have to then click 1-10 in the same time limit as you have, so you have to do 1-7 and 1-10
on the bubble wrap one there's a slightly blueish purple bubble and if you pop it you get this purple monster guy who freezes the bomb on the time limit ones
I really enjoy this style of video so I hope Jack makes more, and I hope he sees this and understands the game a bit more ahaha.

This is a straight to the point buyers guide for people that are wondering if any of the AL ships are worth buying or not. I am here to give you an idea of what's worth, and what's not. I will rank them in descending order for convenience. Keep in mind that these are from my own opinions on the game: my word is not law. These are just my recommendations from my personal experience and a spur of the moment deal personally.

Best Pick: AL Montpelier

This is a premium version of Cleveland, the USN tier VIII CL. However, unlike the later AL premiums, AL Montpelier was unique in at least, a very minor way: She has tighter shot grouping due to a 2.15 sigma versus the standard 2.0 at the cost of slower reload at 0.5 sec slower (7 sec vs 6.5 sec). The result is overall consistent salvos, at the cost of just a little DPM that can be fixed with Adrenaline Rush and Top Grade Gunner, depending on how you build her.
Besides that, she also has un-nerfed version of radar, at a 30 sec vs 27 sec on Cleveland. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you run Consumable Enchantments and or Surveillance Radar Mod 1, you have a larger number that the percent based changes will take affect on. Essentially, with both the commander skill and 2nd slot upgrade, you get 39.6 sec vs 35.6 seconds on duration. So a radar build is not bad compared to Cleveland. Besides that, she doesn't have access to the catapult fighter consumable, but that is super seceded by radar and anyways so who cares.
And above all else, it is a Cleveland, which is IMO, a very competitively viable cruiser at tier VIII, with it's very small citadel, thin profile / narrow beam that leads to a lot of over-penetrations, good DPM, good concealment, and good AA. It really only lacks in the speed, gun range, and shell flight time problems, which can be remedied with skill and positioning.
As far as the commander voice acting, Rie Takahashi voices Montpelier. If you do not know who that is or do not care, and just want to know if the commander's voice is annoying or not, then be happy that she isn't overtly grating compared to some of the other commanders you can get. I find her rather composed, cool, and relaxed, fitting the trope of kuudere, if you even know what that means.
TLDR: Premium Cleveland with higher sigma, slightly lower RoF, Longer lasting radar.

Runner Up: AL Sovetsky Rossiya

This is a premium version of Sovetsky Soyuz, the VMF (Soviet Navy) Tier IX BB. Like Montpelier, she is slightly unique to her tech tree counterpart, bar being premium, by having standard battleship dispersion (USN, Royal Navy, German, etc.) instead of Russian BB dispersion formula that gets way better inside 15km. She does also have 1.8 sigma versus 1.7 sigma, for slightly tighter shot grouping. So, while Soyuz excels at mid range, Rossiya excels at long range, which does reasonably well considering the average high tier meta these days.
Other than that, you retain all the upsides of Fast action Damage Control Parties, the tough hull design of the Sovetsky Soyuz. The only other thing you DO NOT get is the AA, as she has the Hull A of Sovetsky Soyuz, and in turn has worse AA overall. In fact, she has such bad AA that only Musashi beats her out in having worse AA for Tier IX battleships. So yeah, CVs that know their targets will have free reign on you, so stick close to allies in CV matches.
Now a I'll be honest with you, Rossiya is not a super competitive BB at tier IX, so this choice is really just down to being different in few ways instead of blatant copy paste. Really, only AL Montpelier is the only super competitive option here. So above all else, Rossiya is a side grade if anything and you should not fear of having FOMO for not getting her. Besides, she's not an historical ship that is going to get removed because it was OP, so fret not (COUGH COUGH MUSASHI, COUGH COUGH ALASKA, COUGH COUGH MISSOURI).
Lastly, the commander is voiced by Manami Numakura. I can really only characterize her as cool, tough, deep voiced anime woman archetype. I dunno really how to explain it that well, so I apologize for anyone that likes her due to my poor description.
TLDR: Premium Sovetsky Soyuz Hull A with 1.8 sigma and standard battleship dispersion.
OK, with those two out of the way, I want to put a disclaimer here that the next ships are purely optional and not super worth it IMO and really only selected for being different than the rest, I.E. not something that is currently offered in other ships / premium ships already in-game.

Optional 1st Pick: AL Prinz Heinrich

This is a premium version of Prinz Heinrich, the tier VII german battlecruiser of the Ersatz Yorck class. She is a 1 for 1 copy of Prinz Heinrich: no special differences here besides premium benefits.
Now, while she is not unique in any way, she is not a bad battlecruiser for tier VII standards. This mainly comes down to the 50mm deck plating she has in a tier wrought with battleships with just 26mm of plating on their decks. Really, any tier VII battleship that has more than 27mm of plating is really competitive in this tier, simply because they don't get overmatched or full-penned by HE. It's sort of why Scharnhorst '43 is so popular and good, since she doesn't get chunked for 10k when hit by 15 in + guns (380mm guns for ya'll metric nerds).
Besides that, she's not slow as hell, going at a decent 28 knots, has 15in guns herself, has fast acting DCP, and is the first ship in the german battlecruisefast battleship line that gets that sweet improved secondary dispersion formula, which despite the 9km max range, means that she has free DPM to let the game play itself essentially. Combined with torpedoes, she can bum rush many slower and weaker battleships that the german battlecruiser line is famous for. And on top of all that, she also has hydro for better pushing to see torpedoes earlier, or push smoked up ships.
Now for some cons, the guns, while using battlecruiser dispersion have an awful 1.5 sigma, so your shot grouping is... bad. Do not be surprised if a lot of your shells in your salvo get a mind of their own. Besides that, she's on the below average end of HP for tier VII, at 56k. Also, she does have 25mm bow and stern. She does have a 30mm extended belt (colloquially known as an ice breaker), which is followed by 120mm extended belt, that protects the lower portion of the ship from overmatch bar 18in guns that she MIGHT face in the likes of Georgia, Sun Yat Sen, Musashi, and Tsurugi, and Adatara. Still, that doesn't mean she is immune from overmatch, as the odd shell can still get through her bow and stern and chunk you, so do not bet on it 100%.
Now that is for the most part, the review. However, for any true fans out there, they know that Prinz Heinrich from AL is actually a P-Class cruiser, AKA Schill in this game. Since Schill was a limited time ship that required whaling for her, and that wargaming dropped the ball and just did "Oh this ship has the same name! Here ya go!" then you know how much this kind of sucks. If you just like Prinz Heinrich, and want her as a premium, you can ignore this tidbit, but for any true fans that DO NOT have Schill, you're shit outta luck.
As far as commander goes, the voice actor, Hiyori Nitta, does a wonderful job characterizing a carefree and bubbly character. As previously mentioned, I recommend putting her on Schill if you really care about game accuracy, that is, if you even had Schill to begin with.
TLDR: Premium Prinz Heinrich copy-paste. Get it only if you really like Prinz Heinrich (the ship) which is actually pretty good for its tier, and want a premium version of it, or Prinz Heinrich as the character.

Optional 2nd Pick: AL Shimakaze

Hoo boy, this one might be controversial. This is a special ship (NOT a premium ship) of IJN DD, Shimakaze.
Shimakaze really needs no introduction. It is the old school torpedo boat that coined the phrase "Torpedo soup" or at least contributed to that phrase. It can put 3x5 23k damage, 12km Type 93 long lance torpedoes into the water. It has some of the best concealment for her tier, getting down to 5.6km surface detect, and good speed at 39 kts (42 kts when speed boost is active). It has been here since the games launch, and well, admittedly, or at least in my opinion, has seen better days.
Still, while some other DDs might have powercrept her a little, you can't mistake the fact that a well played Shimakaze can terrorize a team that lacks the tools to pin her down. Even if that is seldom the case most of the time (48% win rate on NA out of 8 million battles), the ship still has strong tools when played to it's strengths. 23k damage torpedoes are no joke... if you get hit by them at least, as they have a pretty awful average reaction time of ~9.35 sec (according to wows ship builder). Now, this can be sort of remedied with building for torpedo speed, getting torpedo tubes mod 1 and swift fish to decrease that time to ~8.5 sec, but that's still far above the average of 7.8 sec most torpedoes have in other nations. Still, if you get the right angle, devstriking a full HP battleship is not uncommon if you get a perfectly lined up shot. Thing is, it takes WAY more skill and positioning than you think it does, especially considering that most top tier players sort of know what they're doing, and that a lot of top tier ships can run hydroacoustic search these days.
Combined with the fact that she has some of the worse gun DPM of any tier X DD, and has fairly low HP for the tier, it can be fairly hard to play this ship unless you get just the best matchmaking ever. It's a real feast or famine type ship, which I would say summarizes most of the IJN Shimakaze line in general, bar maybe the mid tiers. All this really means is that Shimakaze is NOT the most competitive DD at tier X, as arguably many other nations have better torpedo boats, or better yet, opt for hybrid boats that can defend themselves fairly well, such as the Pan Euro DDs. Still, as mentioned earlier, if played to her strengths, she can be a good ship, but all I am arguing for is that she is not a meta ship, at least in my opinion.
Now, onto the whole Special Ship thing. Yes, this IS a tier X ship that can be bought for money. And YES, this is like the ARP Yamato deal, allowing noob whales to skip to tier X and forgo all the blood sweat and tears that goes into grinding to top tier. And YES, IT'S A SHIMAKAZE, THE TIER X NOOB MACHINE. I DO NOT HAVE HIGH HOPES FOR MANY AL SHIMAKAZE PLAYERS EITHER. With that out of the way, what benefit do you get for getting a special ship version of Shimakaze?
Well, to start, Special ships essentially have the premium bonus package already baked in, I.E: +50% Credits, +100% Ship XP, +100% Commander XP, +100% Free XP. On top of that, you also have a reduced repair cost compared to a standard tier X. Besides that, you can freely swap commanders onto this ship like a premium ship with no retraining required, making it a good trainer. These are the ONLY 2 reasons that make this ship more economically viable compared to Shimakaze. While the bonus package on Shimakaze can achieve 1 of these 3 effects, the other two, reduced repair cost and free commander swapping, puts this above standard Shimakaze as a result.
So, unfortunately, This is a slightly better Shimakaze. So if you REALLY like Shimakaze, and want a premium version of it, well, here it is, for a lot of goddamn money. Like $100+ expensive. Go figure ya know?
Also, the commander is voiced by Saori Hayami.
TLDR: Special Ship verison of Shimakaze. Take if you are a whale have a lot of expendable income to burn, AND really like Shimakaze (The ship), and or really like Shimakaze (the AL character).

Optional 3rd Pick: AL Yukikaze

AL Yukikaze is a similar version of the IJN DD Kagero, but with F8 torpedoes and no option for torpedo reload booster.
Now, this is the last of the semi-unique AL ships, as every other one has been copy-paste. Yukikaze at the very least is different in that she has F8 torpedoes. These differ than Kagero's choice by having less range, (8km vs 10km), higher damage (21k vs 20k), faster reload (104 sec vs 112 sec), and higher speed (76kts to 67kts) which also leads to a better reaction time of ~8.8 sec vs ~9.45 sec.
Now, does this make Yukikaze better? No, not really, as 8km is rather short range for high tier standards. It does make them almost break past ~8 sec reaction time with a full torpedo speed build, the best of any type 93 torpedo, but combined with the fact that it has no other differences in gun handling, DPM, HP, and consumables, I find this shorter ranged torpedo to be a high risk high reward setup, which already exacerbates high tier IJN DD gameplay further than it already is, being so heavily feast or famine.
I can really only recommend this ship if you really like Kagero for whatever reason and really like the 8km F8 playstyle. That and if you like the history of the ship and or like the character of the ship, voiced by Kana Yuuki, despite how annoying and self aggrandizing her character is made out to be.
TLDR: Kagero but 8km F8 torpedoes.
OK, now for the ships I really do not recommend at all for varying reasons. The reviews are going to be more brief from here on out.

Skip 1: AL Cheshire

Only get this if you really, REALLY want to get Cheshire right now. Currently, regular Cheshire is off sale, and cannot be obtained. For whatever reason you think you might need Cheshire, this is the only way to obtain her at the moment in AL form. Which more than likely means that if you want her, you are more than likely a fan of the AL character, as the ship itself is pretty bad. Kind of polarizing given that Cheshire in AL is pretty meta, and her in WoWs she's pretty solidly in D tier for competitiveness.
She is essentially a worse Albemarle, having no Spotter Plane, and garbage DPM for the tier. Really, the 9.2 in guns really only offer 59mm of pen vs 34mm, and better AP pen with overall flatter flight times, but not by much. The armor is Okayish, but trust me when you will get smacked through your bow and stern often, as you have a stepped citadel that if you get overmatched through either direction, you WILL get citadelled. While you get that 50% cit and hull repair party, it really doesn't matter that much when it happens so often, or you just get straight up dev striked. Combined with the lack of spotter plane, that 16km gun range will feel really short, especially when you are bottom tier.
You can at least be happy that the AA she has is up to par in how she is in AL, as it's best in class for her tier. Well, mostly, but her Flak Count is above average at 6+1, and combined with always having defensive fire, I recommend getting the commander skill Focus Fire Training, so you get that +1 flak cloud for 8 in total, which combined with Defensive fires flak buff, those flak bursts will do 7k a pop, Which is the equivalent to instantly destroying about 7 to 3 planes depending on the type if they run into it while DF is active.
Besides that, the commander is voiced by Shizuka Ishigami, and well, pretends to be a catgirl.
TLDR: Get this if you really really, REALLY want Cheshire and you don't have one, or because you really like the AL character.

Skip 2: AL Hornet

This is just Hornet. You can get her cheaper with a 25% discount coupon. It's also a CV, which I imagine is not everyones cup of tea.
The commander is voiced by Nozomi Yamamoto, and personally, I enjoy the happy go lucky characterization she has. This might be the ONLY reason you want to get Hornet, that or because you like the cool skin the ship has, and or the free 10 point commander.
TLDR: Get regular Hornet with 25% discount. ONLY buy this if you love AL Hornet (the character) to pieces.

Skip 3 & 4: AL Azuma and AL Agir

These two are just Agir and Azuma, coal ships, that you can get absolutely for free. They are also not really the best Tier IX cruisers anyways, as Azuma is super vulnerable to battleships, and Agir doesn't match up to the likes of other large cruisers at this tier.
That said, I can only imagine you getting these ships for the same reasons for Hornet, and that is because you are a fan of the AL characterization of these ships, as Azuma is voiced by Kiyono Yasuno, and Agir, Ayane Sakura. Or you just like the ship skins.
TLDR: Get Azuma and or Agir for free with Coal. ONLY buy this if you love AL Agir / AL Azuma (the characters).

BONUS: Commander Pack

Hahaha no. Unless you really love AL and don't mind by dropping... looks at price... 100$+ USD and getting a ton of fully voiced commanders, then go for it. The only other reason would be because you are a fresh player and need 10 point commanders for most of the nations in this game, which is really only useful if you need say concealment expert on destroyers for example, then sure, go for it if you find that to be an OK option.

Heya, Swappers!
In my ongoing quest to trim the collection down to things I actually carry I bring to you the following.
Timestamp
Standard Stuff: YOLO, Open to trades, will ship same or next day depending on timing. Payment accepted via PP FF, Venmo, Zelle, or Apple Cash, no notes in any payments, please!

Peña X Series Large Swayback (Wood Grain CF, M390)

$225
Cranes Cutlery exclusive with titanium bolsters and wood grain carbon fiber. I am the third owner, but it is pristine with not a mark on it. It’s a lovely piece and such a cool blend of classic and modern, but it just never gets any pocket time. I have carried two or three times and don’t recall cutting anything with it – maybe some tape on a package (maybe). Action, lockup, and centering are all great – exactly what you would expect from Reate. Comes with box and cloth.

WE Elementum (Ti, 20CV)

$150
I picked this up some time ago and it’s been sitting in a case for far too long. This started life as a plain Jane WE Elementum and was beautifully customed by Valley Blade Works (back when it was still Blue Pig Laser Works if memory serves). Titanium framelock flipper and a 20CV blade. Everything that can be has been anodized with a two tone green/purple scheme and slick geometric pattern. The blade was bead blasted and the whole package just looks and runs like a dream. Fast, snappy action, great lockup and centering. No box on this guy, ships in a Civivi taco.

Victorinox Huntsman with Ti Scales

$75
This was an impulse buy during my Victorinox phase, got it here on the swap. It came to me like new and there it remains. Never cut, never carried, all tools still look factory fresh. Custom titanium scales with integrated pocket clip, maker unknown. No box, just the knife. Will ship wrapped in ample amounts of bubble wrap or maybe a generic taco if I have an extra kicking around. Add to any other purchase for $50.
ISO/Current Trade Interests (cash of course can be added for higher value stuff)
This list is non-exhaustive, and as you can see I have a particular fondness for carbon fiber (bonus points for color), so if you have something to offer give me a shout! I reserve the right to be picky, but I'll always take a look.

• Koenig Mini Arius Flipper (carbon fiber)
• Oz Rosie (Silver SurfePutter Milling or Brightwash Speed Holes)
• SBD Micro Evo
• Spartan Harsey 3.25”
• Kunwu Chad Carbon Fiber
• G&G Hawk Shortcut
• JG Scout (full carbon fiber)

Thanks for looking!

I used to be phone-obsessed. I’m talking scrolling late into the night, scrolling in the bathroom, scrolling first thing in the morning. I’d instinctively check my pocket multiple times when out and about just in case it had gone missing. Like, not only did I rely on it for practical reasons, I’d probably feel some kind of anxiety separation if I didn’t have access to it.
Which is exactly how I realized it was time to get rid of it. I deleted Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat accounts, cleaned out my inbox and camera roll, backed up everything worth saving to my desktop Mac (which stays in my room at all times), powered the iPhone down, and stuck it in a drawer, where it’s remained untouched for a few months now.
It was difficult at first. I’m Gen Z so most of my life has been phone-ful. There was so much extra silence—without checking notifs every few minutes, it felt like my friends didn’t exist. My birthday came and went, and the only “happy birthday”s came from those with whom I directly interacted; of those people, only a handful remembered. I constantly lost track of time, so I bought a watch. I googled directions before traveling to a new place and wrote them down on scrap paper, which I’d keep safely tucked between the pages of a growing journal collection, but I’d still get lost constantly. Multitasking was no longer an option as I could only do work when at home, in my room, connected to WiFi from my one virtual source.
However, these tedious differences improved the quality of my life DRASTICALLY. It felt as though hours of my day had been cleared up. I finally had time to lose myself in literature, crossword puzzles, cooking, and other hobbies without the pressure of the screen and virtual world waiting for my return. At night, I fell asleep much faster, and slept for much longer. I even found conversations with friends and acquaintances more interesting as I could fully invest myself. I started noticing things, like fragrances in the air, unlikely sounds; my sense of direction and handwriting both improved. I started writing letters (I now have two pen pals). Everything felt lighter, and the anxiety of not documenting everything—as I’ve grown to do over the years of the smartphone era—gradually abated.
I acknowledge that I am privileged to have access to a phone and the internet in the first place, and even more privileged to be able to give it up. Many need constant access to these things for their career or simply for survival. (I should mention that I am a college student, and my work this semester was completed from the computer, which obviously can’t travel with me). But I would strongly urge anyone on the fence about their phone addiction to give this a shot, even for a week or a month. Since working on myself, I’ve become aware of how energies shift in the presence of a phone; my friends walk and talk more slowly as their minds are split between real life and the social internet; my parents grow less present when they receive an alert. Yes, it’s cool that I found more contentment by becoming a Luddite, but in this day and age it’s ultimately impossible to remain this way forever. I feel sad knowing that this invention can’t be undone and that I never got to experience a world where nobody had access to their phones and instead made the most of real, tangible materials.
Btw, I’m not arguing that phones are bad or should be abandoned. They’ve done so much for us in terms of efficiency, employment, and communication. This has just been my (lucky) experience and I’m disappointed that this is the farthest I’ll get from the virtual world.

\spoilers for the first season of Dr.Stone**
As touching as the reveal that Senku’s father was one of the six renaming humans who wound up being the ancestors of the villagers who helped Senku so much on his journey is the fact remains that they wouldn't have survived 300 years, let alone 3000. And why is that? Because of the problems caused by a little think know as incest. Yes, gross I know, but it is a real problem that would have ended Senku’s chances before they could begin.
Before we say why this would be a problem, let’s break down just how doomed we are. To simplify things, Let’s label the men as A, B and C and the women as 1, 2, and 3. That would make our gen one population A, B, C, 1, 2, 3. For the following populations we’ll just label them with the number(s) and letter(s) of their parents. That would make the new generation, based on what we see of them getting married and assuming that they all just had kids with one partner, and assuming that they all had enough kids for this to be possible, A1, B2, C3. Nothing wrong so far right? Let’s move on to gen three. The only way to combine them would be AB12, AC13, BC23. See the problem? There’s no way to combine them in any way that wouldn't result in a doubling of a something. Heck, with this set up you’d be doubling two of them, meaning that from a genetic point of view, these kids are basically siblings sharing half of their genetic code. Just for fun let’s go one more gen. Gen four would look like this: AABC1123, ABBC1223, ABCC1233. Let’s just say that all those repeats aren’t a good thing.
Okay, but let’s try and be a bit more fair. I mean the fate of humanity is on the line, perhaps they decided to spread out the gene pool, so to speak. Based on that assumption we can get a bit wider of variety with our generations. Gen two would be A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3. That’s a bit better, right? (You can probably tell that the answer is most likely no). Our gen three would result in AB12, AB13, AB23, AC12, AC13, AC23, BC12, BC13, BC23. Once again we run into the same issue, albeit a bit less severe. There’s no way to combine them in a way that won’t result in two repeats. In this best case scenario, your gen 4 would look something like ABBC1223. At least with this you can get some more variety with how the repeats happen? Yeah, it’s still not great.
In biology there’s something known as minimum viable population, which is the smallest number of a species needed to get back up to a healthy level. It varies depending on the species, and even for humans, there’s some debate. I’ve seen everything from 50 to 300 at a minimum. Needless to say, out six helpless astronauts wouldn't be nearly enough.
With this level of inbreeding, we would start to see illnesses, both mental and physical, and even issues with having more kids/ future generations. I mean, the medical issues with ancient royal lines like the pharaohs of Egypt have already shown us how bad things can be. With 20-30 years per generation, they would have to survive 185 to 123 generations like that. If it got to that point, it’s no wonder Ruri got pneumonia, her immune system was probably nonexistent after generation, after generation, after generation of poor genetic diversity. Guess Senku never really stood a chance.

Hi this is a moment of transparency. I am taking the bar in July in NY and have a job in NYC. Last fall I submitted an incomplete paper on accident for my seminar and I had to go through a honor council process where they found that my paper contained plagiarism (mostly because my citations weren’t accurate and I had left copied text from one of my resources in the document without the proper citation). The sanctions I received weren’t anything crazy besides getting a D in the class and having to write a letter to the professor. It was an extremely stressful and demeaning experience to go through my 3L bc of a silly mistake I made and not double checking I was turning in the right document.
I’m just curious if anyone on this thread has experienced anything similar and can share what the C + F process was like in NY because of it. I feel like I don’t know anyone that this has happened to (or at least that feels comfortable talking about it) and any insight would help!

Proof
Foreign Silver:
178x Spanish Colonial ½ real - $2
1929 Netherlands ½ gulden - $4
1952 Cuba 20 centavos - $7
1974 Poland 200 zlotych - $8.70 (melt)
Foreign Base Metal:
25 cents each:
1984 Poland 50 groszy with small clipped planchet
1996 Czech Republic 10 korun (exchange value 43 cents)
50 cents each:
1826 Sardinia 1 centesimo
1892-D German Empire 1 pfennig
1939 British India 1/12 anna
1959 Portuguese India 10 centavos
1989 Cuba 1 peso
2023 Canada 25 cents with Charles III (2 available)
$1 each:
1979 Poland 50 zlotych (Mieszko I commemorative)
1981 Poland 50 zlotych (Sikorski commemorative)
1981 Poland 50 zlotych (Boleslaw II commemorative)
1984 Poland 100 zlotych (40 Years of Polish People’s Republic commemorative)
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$1.50 each:
1985 Poland 100 zlotych (Memorial Hospital Commemorative)
1989 Poland 500 zlotych (50 years of WW2 commemorative) [2 available]
$2 each:
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Foreign coin and token lot (price is for full lot, also includes one extra NSFW token I did not include in the picture)
$3 each:
1960 Cameroon 50 francs
$3.50 each:
696-750 Umayyad Caliphate 1 fals
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1192-1211 Seljuk Turkey 1 fals
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Shipping: $1.50 for a risky envelope, begins around $4.80 for a bubble mailer but depends on zip code and weight, so can be more.
Payment: Paypal F&F (NO COMMENTS PLEASE), Paypal G&S (add $0.49+3.49%), Venmo, USPS Money Order

DO NOT PUT ANY NOTES OR REFERENCES REGARDING CUBA IN ANY PAYMENT

In the Mother’s Day video, when she was showing the letters and cards the kids had given to her, I happened to catch a glimpse of the letter that big D gave her. It began with “Dear Mom.” Looks like he calls her Mom.

Hi Breasties,
I posted in here before about my teenage son having a tough time handling my diagnosis and how he went into a depression, stopped doing schoolwork, etc.
Fast forward to now: he’s doing much better with lots of counseling.
My issue is one of his teachers. I asked to meet with her a handful of times this year, which I’m happy she did because often his other teachers just ignored my emails. In one of those meetings, she told me how her sister had breast cancer and lived and how it’s essentially not a big deal (not those exact words) as treatment has come a long way and how my son should be able to do his work and not worry about me/be depressed. Internally I was livid, but I didn’t say anything. I knew I’d go off and start crying because my emotions were all over the place at that time (the day before my mastectomy) and I didn’t want my son to witness that.
At this point, she’s the only teacher that hasn’t cut my son any slack. He will fail her class, which I don’t blame her entirely, but some understanding would’ve been nice. I want to write her an email explaining how her words were hurtful and her lack of compassion made it so that my son didn’t even feel comfortable going to her with questions or problems he was having. I’m horrible at writing emotional letters, but I was hoping to get some guidance from you lovely ladies and gents.
These are also pertinent pieces that don’t need to be added necessarily, but just to show the added struggle here: my son’s father passed when he was 5. So I’ve been a single parent for 10 years. We moved away from my home state a few years ago and so we had zero in-person family support while going through this. My mom was diagnosed and passed away from pancreatic cancer within 3 weeks of my diagnosis. My son has a dx of ADHD and the school refused to provide any assistance for that the entire year, until I went to a lawyer and requested a mandatory (by law) review and they found he needed an IEP a few weeks ago. We are now moving back to our home state and I’ll have to sign him up for summer school there and continue my treatment.
I know this group will feel the impact of this. Thanks to anyone that can give me some ideas.

Are wa tenshi no koe!

Extra Info and Links

ANN MAL TV Tropes Wikipedia
Synopsis:
"To know your sin is to have no sin."
Born from a cocoon in the village of Old Home, a young Haibane, an angel like being with a halo and small gray wings and very yummy looking ears, awakens to a world she does not understand without memories of her past. Named Rakka da rapper for the dream of falling she had while inside the cocoon, she soon becomes accustomed to life in the strange town. However, there are strict rules for the Haibane, such as being forbidden to leave the village or go near the walls surrounding it. These, along with mysterious disappearances of their kind on their "Day of Flight," begin to unsettle Rakka and the others since they know almost nothing about their own kind.
Haibane Renmei tells not only Rakka's story but also of those around her, as they live their lives with no memories of the past while trying to break free from their former pain and ultimately find salvation.
From MAL~
Haibane Renmei (Charcoal Feather Federation) is a 13-episode anime which began life as Charcoal Feathers in Old Town, a doujinshi series by Yoshitoshi ABe. Yoshitori's fingers are all over this work, best known for working alongside Chiaki Konaka for the holy trinity of Lain and Texhnolyze with Haibane being ABe's personal baby. With Tomokazu Tokoro lending his adorable name to the directors credits with his MariaHolix and Hellsing Ultimate experience!
Also may be worth noting, some of you may actually be slightly familiar with this project since of course we hosted Lain earlier this year before we jumped onto basketball loli randomly. No news on Texhnolyze tho. That shit is waaay too much of a downer for a The Loli Otaku rewatch

Why should you watch it?

!"Reincarnated as a Lv1 Angel in Another World: My Slow Life as an Odd-jobber."!
Ahahaha! This is where I, as your super responsible and reliable host should try to sell you on the Haibane Renmei experience. Well let me tell you!! I don't know...
Haibane is certainly a series that will show up on your anime adventure a few times but truthly I couldn't quite tell you what it's about. Until hosting Lain I genuinely thought it was an iyashikei slice of life, close to Chiaki's other work, NieA_7, which also has supernatural themes but instead of being on angels it's instead a starving and poverty stricken alien and human duo. Tone wise unfortunately it's gonna be a gloomy time, but I'm sure we can find some lights to focus on~ The show has similar vibes to what you could sometimes find in your Mushishi, Girls Last Tour for another TLO anime, or your Chiyo's Schoolwait, Kino's School Road. No!! Kino no Tabi! There, that's the one.
If you're interested in checking out a series that's more about a journey into the philosophical and life's karma then this is an experience that you shouldn't miss out on. Don't be afraid, this is exactly the type of series you should enter completely blind. Just trust your guide~

Fun Stuff

Daily QotD's, as I do, but whilst I will be doing my Comments of the Day, the corner where I nominate my favourite one liners, favourite observations, and just plain neat comments from rewatchers that definitely replied to at least three other users. I will also be bringing back our much beloved...
Abyssbringer's "What is the thematic purpose of this scene corner!!"
Each day I will post a Prompt as a sort of preview for the upcoming episode. Take this Prompt and write something charming~ Be it a quippy one liner, a prediction on what the scene could possibly be, or just take it totally out of context and try to confuse any tourists that are lurking! If you're confused or need more elaboration I will be happy to discuss further. You may also check out my many previous rewatches for references.
For tomorrow, here's our episode one.

Abyssbringer Prompt!!

Index Thread

Dates, times and plans

So then! The rewatch will begin on Friday, May 17th at 22:00 UTC, 17:00 EST 16:00 CST, 15:00 MST, 14:00 PST So 10pm UK time. We will be doing one episode per day with a series discussion to wrap up. I'm sorry about the short notice, I'd just been holding off on the thread too long!
If you strain your ears, you can probably hear it.

So I know the names of aurek and besh (A and B) but I’d like to know what the other letters of the Aurebesh are called. Anyone have any helpful tips or tricks for memorizing the letter names?

I 24F have been living with a housemate 27F with a drug addiction for the past year and last night I spoke to her about things I don’t agree with as a result to her addiction. Part of this is I no longer want to resume living with her when our tenancy runs out in 3 months time. This was a sudden decision but I need to get away from the situation before I feel trapped or out friendship gets strained further and I don’t want to leave her with false hope that if she gets clean I’ll change my mind because if she doesn’t I have to have this conversation again with even less notice. I understand her anger at me for discussing what I did with her but she argued over not talking about it sooner. Which yes in hindsight would if been better to handle the situation but i don’t know how to handle addiction. I have luckily never had to be in this situation before. I wasn’t fully aware to get extent it had gotten and I also spent a long period of time not in the house due to issues with the property around 2-3 months at the start of the year but this conversation had to happen now before it was too late.
However after the conversation I am wracked with guilt that maybe I should have said something sooner but whenever I tried I either got told not to worry about her or she’d say she’s fine so I would leave her as I believed her and wanted to believe she was ok. I feel horrible for having to tell her but throughout the conversation she just said why didn’t I talk to her sooner but I tried in the past. she just got angry and doesn’t seem to understand it wasn’t said to hurt her. I tried my best to talk calmly and while reading the letter to her I cried but was met with anger understandably so. I don’t hate her despite what she must think and at this time I am respecting her space and whenever she wants to talk I’ll listen I don’t think I have done everything right in this situation but i also dont know if the result would of been any different if I had done earlier. I don’t want to fallout over this as I consider her my close friend but maybe I left it too late to have this conversation. This morning I woke up to her partner who also was present as a support for her if she needed it has called me disgusting childish and said that this was a facade and basically dragged the conversation into a group chat with those who were not involved and having ahi I haven’t responded besides saying please do not do this over text and that I’m happy to discuss their feelings in person but to not drag anyone who was not there into it and for everyone to just stop then I left the group. AITA

Tldr: A critical SYNDE coalition home hole is burned to the ground by HAWKS and hundreds of billions are lost or safelogged.

On Starting Points

One of the more contentious elements of any major conflict is identifying when, precisely, it actually began. In EVE, as IRL, that is particularly challenging given the breadth of metagaming which takes place. Did the Wormhole War begin when SYNDE decided last summer that they wanted to replace HAWKS as the dominant high-class wormhole group and committed to making that a reality? Did it begin when they solidified their alliance with the Initiative? When they build their wormhole coalition? When they seeded HAWKS home with capitals? Any of those, had they been out in the open, would likely have triggered open hostilities. But those plans and the steps towards their ultimate objective were carefully and smartly hidden from view.
The widespread SYNDE coalition assault on HAWKS C5 and C6 holes began on March 24^th. With the information we now have available to us, the real start of the war was likely the eviction of Voidlings during the first week of March 2024. HAWKS and their future allies were almost certainly unaware of the significance of that eviction, but leaked internal SYNDE comms put truth to the notion that SYNDE viewed that as a critical first step in isolating and crippling HAWKS. It was, then, the first overt act of war by SYNDE – though its place in that broader campaign remained shrouded for several weeks.
Voidlings is a small to midsize wormhole group. A few years ago, they were a growing low class wormhole group living in a C2 with HS and C3 statics. In 2022, they moved into a new home, a C5 wormhole with a C5 static. For non-wormholers, nearly every high class PVP group lives in a C5 with a C5 static. C5 space is both where the majority of high class farms are. The abundance of C5 statics means that living on the “C5 Highway” is often the best route to all forms of high class pvp and pve content. Honor brawls also almost exclusively take place in C5 holes.
So Voidlings grew from a low-class group into a high-class group, and they continued recruiting in an effort to become one of the relevant high class PVP groups. Their zkillboard suggests they participated in most traditional high class activities – farming, feeding, fighting, evicting, ganking, skirmishing. It appears they were supported during this period of growth by one or more HAWKS members. As a result of this affiliation they were not approached by SYNDE during their coalition-building period. Instead, they were marked for pre-war eviction both to be a preliminary test of coalition coordination and also to eliminate a potential HAWKS ally. Isolating HAWKS was key to the entire war plan.
SYNDE began seeding the Voidlings home with dreads in Feb 2024, ultimately bringing in 6 to support their eviction. At the appropriate time, a robust joint fleet led by SYNDE but also including key coalition allies TURBO and Stay Feral infiltrated the Voidlings home hole, installed a staging POS and began their eviction. They diligently held hole control, adding another half-dozen capital ships to their arsenal over the next several hours. A Voidlings eviction seemed inevitable, as they simply lacked the manpower and experience needed to prevent a collection of wormhole groups that large from evicting them. As is often the case when a home hole is under threat of eviction, batphones rang out across wormhole space. HAWKS, NOVAC and SL0W answered the call for Voidlings. The future SYNDE coalition was on already on standby to support this eviction if necessary, as well as future neutral LUPUS. SYNDE had also secured a commitment from the Initiative to support should the need arise.
At first, it did not appears that the batphoning was likely to change anything. SYNDE maintained diligent hole control, not permitting either Voidlings or any allies from bringing in ships or pilots via the Voidlings static. HAWKS rage rolled from their home to get into the Voidlings home, but was unsuccessful.
For the non-wormholers, when you rage roll a C5 static in order to connect with a specific C5 wormhole, you have a 1 in 531 chance of getting connected to that specific hole with each rage roll. Rolling into a specific hole requires days of 24/7 rage rolling and even then the odds are against you. Wormhole groups really only engage in this level of commitment for really high-level situations, such as the historical eviction of HK’s home hole Rage back in 2018.
Midway through the eviction, however, a frig hole popped connecting the Voidlings home with Horde space. HAWKS, NOVAC and SL0W immediately burned in shuttles to that frig hole, and SYNDE was unable to stop the vast majority of them from jumping into the hole and docking in the besieged Voidlings fort.
Voidlings leadership distributed their home defense handout Ravens to their comrades and the stage was set for a glorious home eviction defense fight. SYNDE and friends had a large 100-ship Barghest fleet supported by nearly a dozen capitals (dreads/fax) while Voidlings and friends could field 100 cruise Ravens with FAX logi and nearly two dozen long-range dreads. Range control and capital placement was understood by both sides’ FCs to be critical to the outcome of the fight. SYNDE had a fleet advantage, but one that could be overcome. Unbeknownst to the Voidlings side, once the frig hole popped SYNDE leadership had invoked their war alliance with Initiative, The Initative pinged and mobilized a 200-man Tengu fleet, travelling quickly to the wormhole chain’s entrance. Jumping in, the Initiative fleet docked in a nearby SYNDE farm and waited.
As a critical citadel timer approached, SYNDE FC Cyrus Kurush fleet warped dreads to range the full Barghest comp along with them. Bubbles exploded all over the grid, aiming to stop the Voidlings defense fleet from warping to a good position. This was an effective stratagem, as SYNDE knew that the Voidlings defense fleet would rely on FAX logi – so pinging around grid was not a viable option. The Voidlings fleet needed a clean warp-in, to a position favorable for their cruise Ravens. The dreads began bashing the fortizar, forcing the Voidlings fleet to commit the fleet or watch their citadel burn. The Ravens and their FAX logi aligned and warped, accepting a mediocre initial position that would permit the SYNDE dreads to apply well. Once the FAX landed, the HAWKS FC leading the Voidlings fleet called for all dreads to undock, and they were warped in to support this all-in defense effort. Those dreads landed, activated siege modules, and began primarying the SYNDE dreads.
After one SYNDE dread exploded and another started taking damage, the trap was sprung. Reports on both comms noted that a 200-man tengu fleet was on dscan. Confusion turned into delight on SYNDE comms and resigned frustration on Voidlings comms as the Initiative fleet landed on grid and immediately began fragging Ravens. What might have been a closely-fought battle quickly turned into a complete rout. Voidlings was able to extract a small number of dreads – but the butcher’s toll was a heavy one. Voidlings – having supplied all the ships used by the defenders – lost the entire Raven fleet and nearly all the capitals, for a total of 327b lost against 1117b killed. https://br.evetools.org/related/31001880/202403020300
The remainder of the eviction proceeded to plan, and all Voidlings citadels were destroyed. SYNDE celebrated a successful test run of their broader vision and campaign. In recent leaks that cover the aftermath, SYNDE lead Cyrus Kurush noted that although SYNDE had shown they could take on HAWKS alone, they would take advantage of their massive alliance to simply speed the broader war goal of taking all the HAWKS high class farms and taking their rightful place atop a New Wormhole Oder.

On Rallying Cries and Motivations

This leads to another critical element for how the war would unfold. Wars in EVE are won by motivated pilots first, and a war chest second. For some time, SYNDE and their primary allies had planted the seeds of resentment towards HAWKS among their members. This is not a challenging task, as most wormhole groups generally dislike each other to begin with. In casus belli discussions with HAWKS immediately prior to the war, and in coalition and leadership meetings with their side, SYNDE was fairly consistent about their war aims: take all HAWKS C6 farms, take HAWKS C5 farms, and take HAWKS home. Those farms were to be distributed to SYNDE and their allies, although the specifics were studiously avoided in discussions.
The leak of the SYNDE pre-war CTA gives real insight into members motivations going into the war. Typically, pre-war CTA meetings in EVE are full of hype, energy and enthusiasm. The Synde CTA, by contrast, seemed a much more pragmatic event. Members were concerned about their current farms, about the plan to deploy out of home and into a C6 staging, about working with blues, and about their ability to participate in NPSI fleets during the war. SYNDE lead Cyrus Kurush needed to make clear several times that the expectation was that even though many SYNDE members were also members of other LS and NS groups, they were expected to devote their full effort and focus to the upcoming war against HAWKS. It is almost impossible to take away from that CTA meeting anything other than a rather shocking lack of enthusiasm for the war from SYNDE line members.

The War in Heaven

On the other hand, HAWKS motivations were much easier to discern. This War presented an existential threat. In the eyes of the SYNDE coalition, HAWKS farms and home were both forfeit. Everything they had built over the preceding decade was destined for destruction. Isolated and outnumbered, this would be the ultimate test of HAWKS members’ commitment. The sudden and shocking rebirth of Hard Knocks was mirrored by a large number of longterm HAWKS members also resubbing.
Another critical and perhaps overlooked element of motivations on HAWKS side was the war vs peace element. Although “peace” in wormhole space is a decidedly violent affair in general, with pretty much every group killing every other group on a daily basis, it had been many years since there was a major, sustained conflict in wormhole space. Nullsec often differentiates between “Skirmish FCs” and “Strat FCs”, with the former leading normal day-to-day fleets of battlecruiser sized ships or smaller, and the latter leading the heavy fleets, cap fleets, super fleets or the sizeable, complicated fleets deployed in major conflicts. In the cartel world that is wormhole space, it might be more appropriate to differentiate between “Territory FCs” and “War FCs”. The former freely leads the wide range of fleets that fight, gank, camp and brawl throughout wormhole space on a daily basis. The latter wants to lead larger, more complicated fleets in direct support of a broader strategic initiative. In gaming as IRL, it is normal for highly skilled players to want to be challenged – and at some point, the normal day-to-day fights no longer satisfies those urges. In some cases, that leads to corps fading away (HK), in others, it leads to limited participation (many HAWKS members/FCs).
When this Wormhole War kicked off, it was promptly dubbed “The War in Heaven” by the HAWKS/HK side. This name refers directly to the biblical conflict between two rival groups of Angels – that led by Michael, and that led by Satan. Revelation 12:7-10:

7 Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. 9 The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

It is not particularly challenging to figure out which side HAWKS was associating themselves with, given that the name of their CEO is Michael1995.
Perhaps more pragmatically, among members in both HAWKS and the reborn HK, this war was indeed a gift from Heaven above – a chance to dive into a massive, complicated campaign against a foe who was willing to violate wormhole norms in order to achieve their goals. During the first two weeks when HAWKS farms were burning, there is a sense that many of the HAWKS and HK leads were genuinely giddy about the opportunity to take the field and leverage all their accumulated skills, knowledge and experience against an increasingly-reviled opponent. Yes, things looked dire from the outside but internally, there was a mixture of enthusiasm and cautious optimism.

Headshots and Flipping

During normal wormhole fights, both brawls and skirmishes, it is generally considered poor form to headshot the other side’s FC. It happens sometimes, but is definitely looked down upon in the wormhole community. This is the sort of norm that disappears in the context of a large war, or any sort of existential threat situation.
At the strategic level, “headshotting” generally refers to destroying or debilitating the other side’s capacity to fight by taking home holes or staging holes. This would be a key element in the HAWKS strategy, and one surprisingly absent from the SYNDE side. From the very first week, HAWKS looked to take advantage of any opportunity, however fleeting, to headshot SYNDE and their allies. The early ATRAX eviction was the first example of this. It would not be the last, not by a long shot.
Another key tactic is flipping. Not flipping as in changing sides, but rather flipping as in unanchoring and then re-anchoring an Upwell citadel. Recall that when a citadel dies in a wormhole, every pilot’s possessions that remain in that citadel drop as loot cans on the grid. 100% loot drop, 100% of the time. Over time, as pilots join and then leave a group, hangar containers accumulate. Over the years, in successful wormhole groups, this frozen hangar trash can reach into the tens or hundreds of billions. This can make evicting a wormhole resident or group an increasingly attractive over time. A hole that has been owned for a year will not have much loot drop. One owned for many years will likely have a great deal more.
Years ago, intrepid wormhole residents realized that a good way to counter this mechanic was to “flip” their citadels: unanchor, get all the AFG/left corp loot for yourself, then re-anchor. There is risk to this, but for a pvp corp that maintains hole control, the risk is quite minimal.
HAWKS had lived in their current home for nearly a decade. A large, successful group like HAWKS accumulates a large amount of hangar wealth over a period like that, much of it frozen as members AFG or leave corp. During the first week of the War, HAWKS recognized this large oversight and unanchored all the structures in their home hole. A neutral observer might have thought that HAWKS were self-evicting. Through their spy, SYNDE knew that they were planning to flip them and stay in the fight. Unwilling to entertain a HAWKS home eviction at this early stage in the war, SYNDE watched as HAWKS unanchored all their citadels and replaced them with a dozen newly anchored fortizars – and clearing their citadel grid of thousands of loot cans. A steady stream of DSTs transiting in and out of HAWKS home confirmed that wealth was quickly transferred out to kspace.
In that first week, by “flipping” their citadels, HAWKS eliminated the majority of the financial incentives that generally come with evicting a pvp corp’s home hole.

Seeding an Apple

During the period where HAWKS farms were burning and SYNDE was soaring, on Tuesday April 2^nd, HAWKS rolled into the SUGAR home hole. Some of SUGAR’s pvp toons were supporting SYNDE, some were farming, others were out participating in NPSI roams in kspace. Few of them were in their home hole. HAWKS sent in a bait RF fleet of a trio of Leshaks while at the same time pinging for a Nighthawk fleet. SUGAR panic pinged as the Leshaks began RFing one of the many citadels in their home. With confusion reigning, SUGAR undocked a kitchen sink fleet including armor and shield, capital and subcapital. Once SUGAR began engaging, HAWKS brought in their heavy shield fleet. HAWKS then began dismantling the haphazard SUGAR home defense fleet, as captured in the first 3 minutes of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZKgFPbSaLk
After fragging much of the SUGAR defenders, HAWKS proceeded to reinforce every citadel in the SUGAR home. SUGAR lost 35bn in ships in a one-sided fight. SYNDE was dismayed by the poor SUGAR showing. https://br.evetools.org/b66452e6803aec30012694316
Those structures all repaired over the coming week.
On April 12^th , HAWKS returned and again reinforced all SUGAR structures, this time with no opposition. Following that second round of reinforces, SUGAR pinged and directed its members to return to home and adopt a defensive posture with rigorous hole control to prevent a HAWKS return.
Many SUGAR members by this point were now opposing their corp’s direction. They certainly disliked HAWKS, but they had historically disliked SYNDE and their allies just as much. Joining them struck many members as a short-sighted, unwise adventure. They had actively participated in reinforcing and blowing up HAWKS structures, only to discover that SYNDE was most often dropping replacement citadels as they got cleared. SUGAR line members felt they were doing a lot of work for little or no benefit.
On April 13^th, HAWKS rolled into the SUGAR home hole for a third time – this time with amor timers only hours away. SUGAR immediately sought to roll that incoming wormhole, throwing yacht after yacht at it, as well as a lone praxis. They were able to crit the hole despite losing yachts every few passes.
Sigils are a common ship used most often by Nullsec farmers looking to roll wormholes that threaten their peaceful farming, These Sigils are referred to by wormholers almost universally as “suicide sigils”. The SUGAR FC directed his members to get into Sigils, undock, nullify, and warp to the hole. That hole needed to die. It needed to die now. “Even mains?” one member – Scott Appleblade - inquired. “Even mains,” replied the FC.
Scott hopped into the sigil, and warped to the hole, forgetting to nullify. He landed in the bubble, and was immediately fragged by the HAWKS on grid. https://zkillboard.com/kill/116986540/
Scott, now sitting in Jita, asked for a route back into his home. The FC replied they had no kspace entries at the minute. Scott asked if one could be found. The FC replied not now, quiet, we’re still dealing with this hole. Scott logged off, seething.
Scott had not wanted this war from the very start. Scott had recently upgrade from a Class 3 farm to a Class 5 farm of his own. Scott enjoyed farming combat sites in Leshaks and dreaming of a brighter future. Scott had always dreamed he might one day save up enough to afford a faction FAX: the Loggerhead. He knew they didn’t make much sense and were rarely used, but Scott loved the “Poggerhead” meme. Scott prided himself on his memes. He would often meet people and knew right away that they would become a meme. That was just life, but an elite meme could memorialize that. Scott just wanted to undock from his home fort in a Loggerhead and enjoy the moment. That seemed less and less likely now that the SUGAR home was being reinforced weekly. SUGAR leadership was either absent or, frankly, being dicks. Scott was over it. He had worked too hard. He deserved better. His fellow SUGAR members did, too.
Scott waited until later in the day when he was able to get a kspace entry for his main back into SUGAR’s home chain. He flew his inty in, still seething but with a plan for exacting revenge coalescing in Scott’s mind.
For the non-wormholers, it is important to explain that when you are a member of a wormhole corp, you have a lot more access to corp assets than you likely ever would in a Nullsec or Lowsec corp. Due to wormhole mechanics, wormhole corps almost always have a “Shared” corp hangar in each citadel where commonly used ships and modules are available to all members. This usually includes rolling ships, and handout pvp ships, among other things.
Scott docked in their home fort. He hesitated for a minute as he surveyed those familiar surroundings, but then the rage came back. He just wanted to farm, and now he might lose that. All because of SUGAR leadership. He knew his corp mates understood and would appreciate his actions. Scott proceeded to move everything in the SUGAR shared corp hangar to his personal hangar. He did a double take – he had just acquired over 30b of assets. That would go a long way towards a down payment on the Loggerhead if he could get that to a trade hub.
One good idea begets another, and Scott repackaged every assembled ship he had just taken. He then put the most valuable elements into his two DSTs. He shuttled those out to Jita and back, and then repeated the round trip several times. During the monotony of the transits, Scott realized that nobody – not leadership, not his corp mates – had noticed anything. Even though he was now much wealthier, SUGAR was still in need of a wakeup call.
As he warped to the next wormhole, it hit him – the bookmarks! This is another major difference between Nullsec / Lowsec and wormhole groups. In kspace, one can navigate very easily, or at least with confidence about where you’re going. In wormholes, one needs corp mates scanning wormholes and making bookmarks, basically a temporary map that wormhole pilots use to navigate the ever-changing wormhole landscape. All members need access to those bookmarks, and the ability to create, edit and delete them.
Scott deleted them. All of them. No more going to help SYNDE. No more warping your dread to a safe because HAWKS had bubbled the fort. No more finding your way back after getting rolled out. With no bookmarks, SUGAR would need to stop and consider where they were and why. Scott was pleased with the neat metaphor. At least he thought it was a metaphor. Might also be an analogy. He wasn’t sure, but he was sure it was brilliant.
His DSTs landed on the next hole and Scott jumped. It was then that Scott noticed he had no bookmarks in the next wormhole. That knowledge, combined with his decision not to fit probe launchers on either of his DSTs, was not a positive development. Scott, priding himself on his judgment, weighed his current situation against all he had achieved this evening – over 20b of ships and mods in Jita, and a powerful statement to SUGAR leadership. That was worth the loss of two DSTs that only had about 1.5B combined between them. Scott self-destructed the DSTs, returned to Jita, and went to bed contemplating a brighter future.

When Espionage Meets Opportunity

Prior to shutting the doors a few years ago, Hard Knocks had been regarded in the wormhole community as the top wormhole group for espionage. In a world where information is power, they have always had a remarkable abundance of critical information. Unlike HAWKS, HK was aware of the SYNDE plans and coalition building not long after they were conceived. As allies joined the SYNDE effort, HK sought to penetrate those groups. SUGAR accepted a key HK spy in January of this year. Over the next two months, this spy would quickly work his way up the SUGAR hierarchy, demonstrating strong FC and leadership abilities. When the war broke out, he was one of the main FCs. His background in HK and HAWKS affiliated groups was no concern for SUGAR leadership as they committed to the SYNDE coalition.
When Scott pilfered everything from SUGAR shared and deleted all bookmarks, the spy noticed both. He consulted with his HK mates and decided it might be a fantastic opportunity. The spy reached out to SUGAR directors and offered to do his part in resolving the matter – they needed to cut off access to Scott and his alts, they needed to do it 5 minutes ago and they needed to tighten things up. He knew how to do it, and he was happy to help. There was only one SUGAR director online. He was unsure of how to best resolve the Scott situation, so he called up the CEO on his cell. The CEO and director huddled up and agreed that their best FC was the man to fix it. They gave director roles to a spy who’d been in corp less than 3 months. During a war. A war against HAWKS and HK.
SUGAR members woke up the morning of Sunday April 14^th, logged on, and discovered that every one of the structures in their home hole had been transferred to an HK holding corp. Their implant sets were all gone. Every single one. They were unable to dock. Most of their combat pilots were not even in their home hole. What was in the SUGAR home was a massive HAWKS coalition fleet.
And NOVAC was in it.

Stay on the Sidelines and You Will Burn

SYNDE’s diplomatic efforts had been widespread for the months leading up to the Wormhole War. They had enlisted the support of both large wormhole groups and small in building their expansive anti-HAWKS coalition. Two of the biggest pvp groups in wormhole space had consistently declined their overtures: LUPUS and NOVAC. Strong, independent, brawling groups, they did not like HAWKS, but they also didn’t like SYNDE. In proper cartel fashion, they were not interested in helping either of those groups achieve more power or territory. Truth be told they wanted both sides to lose. Better to remain neutral and pick the best course at a later time.
SYNDE did not push much until the first two weeks of the war. During that first week of burning HAWKS farms, according to SYNDE lead Cyrus Kurush, 16 or 17 C6 farms were transferred from HAWKS to NOVAC. LUPUS was the beneficiary of a smaller number of HAWKS farms. It was clear that under the weight of the broad offensive, many HAWKS members had opted to sell their farms to neutral wormhole groups. In most cases, it was HAWKS members selling farms to long-term EVE friends in other wormhole groups.
Cyrus Kurush was livid. He had already earmarked every HAWKS C6, and now many of them seemed to be passing out of the war and into the hands of neutrals who continued to refuse to join his coalition. He directed his lead diplo Zelvig to reengage with NOVAC and clearly relay his message. Zelvig did so, informing NOVAC of two key things: one, further receipt of any HAWKS farm would be viewed as an act of war, and two, while NOVAC was welcome to remain a friendly neutral during this early part of the campaign, the C6s they had already received from HAWKS should be seen as being held in trust for the wormhole community. Following the now-inevitable HAWKS eviction and removal from high class space, NOVAC would have to settle their farm accounts with SYNDE. With his customary enthusiasm, Zelvig gave NOVAC a timeline for their decision to join the coalition: as soon as the last HAWKS C6 farm fell, SYNDE would turn to the NOVAC C6s unless they had already joined. Zelvig estimated that gave NOVAC 2 or 3 more weeks to make a decision.
NOVAC made their decision that night, informing HAWKS leadership that they would be joining the HAWKS side. They asked only that they have a week to get their group organized and prepared. At the end of that week, NOVAC joined HAWKS, HK, Voidlings, and 418 in infiltrating a Vulture fleet into SUGAR’s home hole.

Sugar Free: J104037 Bleeds and Falls

Two things happened from the jump: HAWKS took and held hole control in SUGAR’s home hole while infiltrating additional pilots, and SYNDE pinged hard to get their coalition members to consolidate in Waffle House, the C6 hole that they had made their staging at the start of the war. It was chosen due to its C6 static, which permitted SYNDE to roll into HAWKS C6 farms and reinforce then destroy them at will.
With the HAWKS fleet swelling in numbers with NOVAC’s addition to their alliance, they openly docked in SUGAR’s citadels – now owned by HK. SUGAR members could only watch in horror as the citadel showed more and more reds docking in their fortizar.
SYNDE began rage-rolling in earnest, hoping to connect to SUGAR’s home. Cyrus Kurush was eager to test the new coalition Cyclone Fleet Issue doctrine they had theorycrafted to counter the HAWKS Vuilture doctrine. He preferred their blaster Megathron Navy Issue doctrine, but that had proven ill-suited to deal with the Vultures in the earlier brawl in the HK staging C6.
As would happen often throughout this campaign, luck favored the bold. SYNDE rolled into SUGAR’s home at a high point for SYNDE fleet participation. SYNDE immediately jumped sabres into system and fully bubbled their “in” hole, giving them the time they needed to warp their entire fleet to the hole. They avoided a repeat of the prior fight where they were unable to get their entire fleet in due to poor hole control. The full SYNDE fleet jumped through the hole, rolling it as they sent in the full 3b+ in ship mass. All told, over 150 Cyclone Fleet Issues flooded into the SUGAR home, along with support. The HAWKS fleet undocked to reports of 20 dreads on dscan as the SYNDE fleet warped to the (former) SUGAR main fortizar. SUGAR members had logged on the caps they were still able to pilot – some undocked from that forts, others from deep safes in system. As the CFI fleet connected with the increasing dread bomb, siege modules were engaged and the battle was joined.
The fight was a back and forth affair for a short period before some aggressive FCing by the HAWKS/HK/NOVAC FC team forced the SYNDE fleet to extract. At that point, a dynamic unique to wormhole combat emerged. SYNDE, realizing they could not win on grid, focused on extracting as many SUGAR capitals as possible. They would scan the new static C5 connection – as would HAWKS – and then each would race subcap fleets to that new hole and contest it. If SYNDE was able to get there first and keep the hole clear of sabre bubbles, SUGAR would warp their capitals to that hole and jump 3 of them out. That would kill the hole, causing a new static wormhole to appear one minute later where the two sides could repeat the process. With each new static wormhole, SYNDE continued to feed ships and lose combat capability.
A highly comedic situation occurred on one such hole. HAWKS warped their lone rolling carrier to it blind. In so doing, they hoped to be able to jump the carrier and briefly assert hole control – preventing more than one SUGAR cap from getting out, and also giving the HAWKS fleet time to tackle the others. The carrier landed right after the SUGAR caps did – but in a critical communication gap, the SUGAR caps did not know which 3 were supposed to leave on this hole. SYNDE sabres bubbled up, but the carrier was already on the wormhole. It jumped the hole with its prop on. A clamor erupted on SYNDE comms as they awaited guidance about which cap, if any, should leave. The HAWKS rolling carrier burned untouched back to the hole on the other side. A SUGAR Moros Navy Issue, frustrated at the indecision, jumped anyway. Most of the time, that would have rolled the wormhole, trapping the Moros Navy and rolling carrier on the other side. Luckily for the HAWKS carrier, it was a high-mass hole. The wormhole went critical but did not close. The HAWKS rolling carrier jumped back.
The Moros Navy had extracted, but the remaining SUGAR caps were now sitting around the now-dead hole’s bookmark. Many began burning away and out of the bubbles from the SYNDE sabres who had tried to protect that hole. SYNDE FC Cyrus Kurush ordered his sabres to get off the hole and stop bubbling their dreads, and they did. Forgotten in the chaos and indecision, the HAWKS rolling carrier decloaked, aligned out, cycled prop and initiated wrap. It was immediately primaried by both dreads and the SYNDE CFI fleet. Chaotic calls to bubble the carrier were met with hesitation as those same sabres had only recently been told not to bubble. The carrier entered warp as the bubbles were deployed. The carrier pilot shared this video of the bold carrier roll and escape. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDgzA8J6j44&t
The carrier escape from a heavily bubbled grid marked the final turning point in the SYNDE extraction efforts. HAWKS sabres flooded the grid, tackling most of the SUGAR caps. After more fighting, the SYNDE coalition CFIs extracted from the grid, leaving the caps to their fate. As the caps began exploding and with the HAWKS fleet committed to their destruction, the SYNDE subcap fleet left via the new static.
The final totals for that fight were 48b lost by the HAWKS side, 144b lost by the SYNDE coalition side. https://br.evetools.org/b6633f295132a2a0012c77eb6
SUGAR had extracted 4 dreads, but at a heavy price.

Blue Balls and Explosions

With the clock ticking on the armor and hull timers of the SUGAR structures, SYNDE tried to reset in their C6 staging. Again, they pinged for their coalition to reassemble in that system. Again, they began rolling. That process continued for many hours.
The following day, on April 15^th, SYNDE would roll into the SUGAR home not once but twice. Both times, SYNDE only had a partial CFI fleet docked in their fortizar while the HAWKS side maintained a full Vulture fleet ready to undock on a moment’s notice. The HAWKS, HK and NOVAC leadership team knew that this was a critical moment in the campaign, and every effort was made to complete the SUGAR eviction.
SYNDE rolled into SUGAR’s home twice on April 15^th. And they immediately rolled the connection both times.
SYNDE lead Cyrus Kurush was personally scanning and rolling. He knew exactly what HAWKS had on hand, knew he could not contest for hole control, and just rolled the connection off quietly. Twice.
Cyrus Kurush knew that the integrity of his coalition required him to make every effort to save a key member’s home hole – but he was also very frustrated by SUGAR’s lack of readiness to defend their home. He had expected a lot more caps, more ships, more support. He felt he had beaten the HAWKS fleet in that large initial brawl, and had been let down by SUGAR. He did not want to risk sacrificing another major loss for a group that could not stand on their own two feet.

The Initiative to Regain the Initiative

The SUGAR Fortizar hull timers were on Tuesday, April 16^th.
A key early-war HAWKS ally, a small EUTZ pvp group called Czarna-Kompania, had infiltrated two dreads overnight. Two other groups had brought in one each. That dread force would give HAWKS the flexibility of hitting concurrent hull timers. There were multiple structures that needed to get hit over a two hour period. The dreads would let the HAWKS side bash those citadels while also keeping their subcap fleet free to fight for and maintain hole control if at all possible.
Hours before those timers, disaster struck the HAWKS effort. An A009 wormhole connection popped into the SUGAR home.
For an eviction, the worst possible wormhole connection is an A009 wormhole. It is a 16-hour frigate-sized wormhole that connects to a shattered wormhole that will also have a number of frig holes connecting outward to kspace systems. Frig holes cannot be rolled.
This meant that for the time leading up to the critical hull timers, there would be an unrollable hole into the eviction target, into SUGAR’s home.
By this time, it was clear to all involved parties that SYNDE had a close partnership with the Initiative. Although this was fraying some of the wormhole groups in the coalition, it still afforded SYNDE a chance to salvage the situation. SYNDE lead Cyrus Kurush formed an attack plan with Initiative leadership. During the hours immediately prior to the hull timers, SYNDE would assemble a heavy fleet in their staging, and rage roll for the SUGAR home. The Initiative would form a full bomber fleet, and travel to the C13 shattered wormhole. The second that SYNDE rolled in, they would execute a lethal 3-pronged attack: the SYNDE fleet would explode into the SUGAR home, all remaining SUGAR capitals and subcapitals would undock, and the Initiative bomber fleet would jump the A009. They would time those 3 critical elements based on the location, strength and composition of the HAWKS fleet. It was a good plan. If they could connect those three prongs, they would have 3 times the number that HAWKS could muster. Pings went out and the fleets assembled. Init travelled with a 300 bomber fleet to the shattered hole. SYNDE began rage rolling. About 50 SUGAR pilots sat on logon screen and waited on SYNDE comms.
HAWKS was aware of all of the above. HAWKS, working closely with HK and NOVAC strategists, devised a counter for the two concerning prongs. The SYNDE rolling threat had two counters. Within the SYNDE staging, there was a small fleet of yachts and a seeded, cloaked rolling carrier. In the SUGAR home, another rolling carrier sat ready to suicide roll if needed. Should SYNDE warp their fleet from the fort to a new wormhole, HAWKS was prepared to simultaneously warp both carrier and yachts to that same hole. They were confident they could stop the majority of the SYNDE fleet from making it through the wormhole.
The real threat was the Initiative, and that damned frig hole. HAWKS placed three sniping fleets around the wormhole and dropped a massive number of anchorable bubbles around it. On the hole itself were a mixture of smartbombing battleships and suicide dictors, each orbiting patiently. When the report came of the 300 Initiative bombers entering the shattered hole on the other side, the HAWKS team was ready and waiting.
The Initiative FC team, with a scout already in SUGAR staging, saw all of this. War-seasoned FCs, there was no scenario where they were jumping their bombers into that future charnal house. Unless SYNDE could pull those fleets away from the hole, it was an impossible standoff. The HAWKS battlecruiser fleet could not jump the hole. The Initiative bombers would not jump the hole. The Initiative bombers sat there and waited for SYNDE to roll in.
Meanwhile, in SUGAR staging, citadels came out of reinforce for hull timers and the allied dreads went to work. And everyone else waited. The SYNDE fleet waited on their fort while their FC rage rolled. The Initiative fleet waited in the shattered. The HAWKS alliance fleet waited on the other side of the shattered. One by one, the citadels began blowing up.
The SYNDE fleet stood down. The Initiative left the shattered wormhole and headed back to Fountain. SYNDE had gotten the full Nullsec batphone allied response, but been unable to take advantage of it.
Unconfirmable reports are that the HAWKS alliance looted nearly 200b from the various structures, including a large number of capital ships, on top of the 150b+ exploded. https://br.evetools.org/b661f2a2eddb48200112d82c5 (The three “friendly” caps that were destroyed were looted SUGAR caps that the allies decided to blow up rather than keep and exfiltrate from the hole.)
Some SUGAR members would still try to participate, but SUGAR was done as a fighting unit in the Wormhole War.
The next part will focus on what would become the most important battlefield in the Wormhole War – Waffle House, the SYNDE coalition staging C6.

On Sunday I got back from my first AP experience. I posted on here about it prior to leaving the country but thought I’d do recap on the whole experience.
I applied for employment reasons. My company is based in London UK, and I work out of a small NYC satellite office. The application was submitted in early January and approved in early April. I was gone from April 28 to May 12th.
I prepared my application myself and asked my work for supporting materials and to pay the fee which they agreed to. The supporting documents I used was a letter from my manager with the company letterhead explaining the purposes of the trip, email correspondences between him and our department head requesting the trip and having it approved, and an outline of the trip’s mission that he had to submit to finance to get it approved internally.
I asked for two weeks even though the trip would only be one work week so that I could do sight seeing and I also included France in the list of countries so I could go to Paris.
I talk about this in my original post, but as the trip was approaching and I hadn’t heard back my company was getting worried. I reached out to my senators and congresswoman for help. One of my senators got back to me and her office helped a lot. They basically got it approved within two weeks of me reaching out.
The letter gave me over a month of travel time, but I decided to stick to the two weeks I had planned. If I had known way in advance they’d give me more time I prob would have stayed an extra week.
Entering the UK was really easy I got asked if I was a permanent resident in the US, and said no not yet but I have a work permit, and that was about it. Lasted two minutes. After my work week I took the EuroStar to Paris and had no issues with customs. I decided to go back to London after a few days and fly out from there, thinking it would be safer since that was the main country in my AP application but probably would not have made a difference. Leaving Paris was weird, I had to go through two customs, one for leaving France/EU and one for entering the UK. Again no issues with the UK one, but the EU Customs person was very suspect of me. Demanded to see my work permit, and called out the fact that it said not valid for re-entry. I explained I had AP and that it was in my luggage. He made me take my baseball cap off to verify I was the person in the photo, and I after he stamped my passport he just stared at it for 20 seconds before giving it back. Really weird considering I was LEAVING not entering the EU.
I was really nervous coming back to the US. I kept thinking I was gonna get in trouble for going to Paris even though I listed France in the countries section of my application. I got to the airport three plus hours before boarding to check in. The check in was a little long because they rarely deal with AP but everyone at the airline was super nice and I didn’t get push back, just a lot of people double checking with their superiors that the document was legit. When I landed at JFK the process was super smooth. I waited in the non us passport line and when it was my turn I gave the customs person my passport, AP letter, and EAD, she did some things on her end and after a few minutes said I had to go to the back room for someone to processes it. Luckily the room was empty, so it took the guy there like less than five minutes. Neither of them asked me any questions. They seemed to just know what to do.
Overall, I’m so shocked and grateful by how smoothly everything went. I can’t believe I got to go to two foreign countries. Like little old me, just a humble DACA kid, saw Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower. Feels surreal. If anyone needs any assistance with AP, feel encouraged to reach out. This subreddit helped me so much and alleviated so much of my stress and anxiety, and I want to contribute to that and help others if I can.
Biggest feedback I can give: You do not need a lawyer, use your congresspeople as a resource if you need to, and most importantly, enjoy your trip! You deserve it!

im currently pulling an all nighter and dayer making bracelets for the tour and i need some cool ideas for the bracelets!! so far i’ve only done albums songs and lyric abbreviations!! give me anything and i might do it:D even if it’s just your favourite olivia song, all i need is letters and a colour or two

So, I got this long term job for seventh graders at my old elementary school (the whole staff knows me and they’ll call me for jobs) for the last three weeks of school so you can imagine how that’s going. It hasn’t been going well, their teacher was basically their friend. There wasn’t a line of professionalism between student and teacher. When I first arrived the class was in disarray, and I had to change the seats around. The students were not happy at all, that I was changing things around. I’d give them book work, and they’d state that they wouldn’t do it because they already did it or that they never used that specific book.
I’ve been subbing there for five days now, and I’ve had teachers, the principal, Vice principal walk in to my class to address bullying or their defiance in completing assignments. I tried to address my fourth period the other day and was met w giggling and all of them talking over me, so I gave up and just sat back down. Today, they were complaining that they wanted to go with the teacher across the courtyard and how it wasn’t fair that they stayed with me. So I addressed this, and mentioned how it wasn’t fair on him to go out of his way and have half of the class with him during his prep period and sixth period till the end of the school year. I understand their frustrated with me and are annoyed I give them work but it’s my job. I had this girl say, “why do you have to call on other people to fix your problems”. I wrote a letter and addressed the constant walk ins as being a good thing but also a bad thing because the students see me as inadequate. I told this student how they refuse to listen to me so how can I solve these problems if they don’t care and she just rolled her eyes and kept asking the same question. Atp I was at my limit, and felt my face get red and my eyes start to water, so I stepped outside. I’m probably going to either get let go because they need someone who won’t waste other staffs time or I’ll just tell the office ladies I’ve known since I was a kid that I’m going to take another job.
I know I’m going to get some direct comments (that I will take to heart) saying that I should grow a backbone and I need to be firm or that this job isn’t for me. I’m 23 and got into this career because after graduating college, I wasn’t too sure what I wanted to do w myself. I know I should have a backbone, but I’m tired of the mockery and disrespect.