The fact that bunch of grown ass boys and girls have to be on the constant fear of getting blackballed or ignored by Jason just because either they talk with one of the so called Jason's girl or they talk shit about Jason sometimes. I mean if you are a real friend or grown ass men, u can say anything about your friend. Apart from VSB and maybe Ron and maybe also Sa (just because she already makes money and has her own thing), everyone are like di*k riding Jason. They fear they might just get cut off by Jason.
Its understandable, the community has developed around Jason, thats good , he actually worked for it, he has the charm for it, but his community/friends streamers should also have their own style of content so they dont have to rely on Jason, and be on the constant fear. And at the last, Jason shouldnt act like the bitchy girl from high school, just going and cutting ties with everyone, trying to solve everything like bitch ass girl. I'm not saying he is doing like this, just saying he shouldnt do this in the future. I'm playing.. i'm kidding..
just like Jason says everytime
Peace

Let me share my 3000h of modded wisdom with you, my fellow vanilla comrades. My attempt here is to provide you with as many as possible improvements to the base game while keeping the style, balance, and content as vanilla as possible. As they say, when it works the best is when you don't realize it is there. I guarantee you that after playing for a while with these, you will no longer be able to tell what's from the base game and what's not.
You don't know how to mod? Maybe this very basic guide will help. Please, note that many mods come with options to tune up your experience. It is recommended you give them a look.
You can find the steam collection here. Be aware that some of these mods require the DLCs. You don't have the DLCs? Just don't use the mod.
Dependencies:

• Harmony + Huglibs. Required by so many mods, you may as well be done with it and always have them.
• Vanilla Expanded Framework. While not as radically necessary as the previous ones, it's still a dependency fairly common. And this one actually does cool things on its own, like loading new modded factions without having to start a new game.
• XML Extensions. You won't be able to access the options of some mods without this.

Performance

• Dub performance analyzer. Enable the optimizations and override options, you can ignore everything else. If you want to disable alerts, use rocketman.
• Rocketman. By default, it should be good enough. This mod also allows to disable alerts you may don't care about, like, dunno, tattered apparel or unhappy nudity. It is recommended to run adaptive move occasionally (in stat cache settings).
• Performance Optimizer. More hacker magic. If you don't like the UI changes, you can disable them in the options. This mod does more performance stuff aside from that, so use it anyway!
• Performance Fish. You will have to install this mod manually, since it's not available in the workshop. You will also need to install its dependencies, Fishery and Prepatcher. Please, be aware that at the present there's an issue in which linking storages crashes the game. However, this can be prevented by disabling "TryFindBestBetterStoreCellFor" in the options.

Minor changes

• Optimization Meats. Unless you really want dozens of different meat types for some weird role-play reason, this mod will reduce the bloat on your kitchens.
• Better Animal Tab
• Better Info Card
• Conduit Deconstruct. A button to exclusively dismantle power conduits.
• Disable Automatically Select Travel Supplies
• Improved Need Indicator
• Map Preview. You can reroll as well!
• Prepare Landing. You can search world tiles matching your conditions. Goes great with Map Preview.
• Medical Tab. An easy way to overview your colony health.
• More Harvest Designators! e.g. harvest only fully growth plants.
• ModDiff. Great improvement of the mod mismatch screen.
• Pharmacist Temporary Update. Instead of always using the best medicine, now your pawns can use the appropriate medicine for the situation. No longer will they spent glitterworld meds on scratches!
• Smart Turret Covering. Fixes an issue with turret covers.
• PawnTargetFix. So that the autotarget prioritizes the closest enemy.
• Poisoned Food Stack Fix (Fix). Fixes an issue with meal stacks.
• Priority Treatment Ressurected. Doctors will finally prioritize keeping your pawns alive over taking a nap. Disable the option that prevents injured pawns from performing surgery, it has issues.
• QualityBuilder. You can set up a target level for furniture, and your pawns will reconstruct it until it's achieved. If I remember correctly, it's enabled by default for all new furniture? You can turn that off in options.
• RPG Style Inventory Revamped. Much better looking inventory.
• Replace Stuff. Allows to directly replace buildings, without having to deconstruct first.
• Research Tree. A better research tree.
• RimHUD. The best mod of the whole list, it will save you A TON of clicks.
• RimSaves. Overhaul of the save menu.
• Show Known Techprints on the trade screen.
• Show mechanoid weapons on the info screen.
• Smarter Construction. No more babysitting pawns when building walls.
• Stack gap. By default, pawns constantly refill storages. With this mod, you can configure it so that storages are refiled only when they're empty.
• Sun Lamp Honesty. Fixes an issue with sun lamps
• Just Put It Over There. Traders will deliver the merchandise, instead of dropping it on the ground.
• Trade Ships Drop Spot. Mark the spot in which orbital traders will deliver the merchandise, instead on whenever they feel like it. Doesn't work inside animal pens.
• Trading Options. Configure how frequent you want the traders to be.
• WVC. More work modes for the mechanitor.
• Save Settings. Allows you to save and load storage, production, and clothes settings. Works cross-save!
• No Max Bills. Removes the bill cap on workbenches.
• Better ground-penetrating scanner
• Colored deep resources
• Common Sense. Feel free to configure however you like it. I prefer it like this.
• Dubs Mint Menus. Improvements to a bunch of menus.
• Better Pawn Control. Improved management policies.
• Animals Logic. A lot of useful animal-related improvements. Disable the meat option if you're using Optimization Meats.
• Non uno Pinata. Pawns don't drop items when downed. Configurable.
• Bulk Smelting will save you precious time.
• Stonecutting Extended. The same as the previous mod, but for stones.
• Electric Stonecutting Table. To speed up the stonecutting even more.
• Faster Smoothing, a must for all mountain/underground out there.
• Do Your F****** Research. You can order pawns to research.
• Go the Fork to Sleep. You can order pawns to sleep.
• Meal Radius. Configure how far pawns will search for a table to eat.
• Home radius. Configure the size of the automatic home area.
• Smarter Visitors. Visitors will leave if things get dangerous.
• Custom Guilt Duration. Executions in vanilla are a pain because the guilty status goes away too fast. Now you can configure it.
• Dress Patients. Allows dressing of downed pawns.
• Way Better Romance
• Hunters Use Melee
• Injured Carry. Allows to rescue not downed pawns, no longer you have to wait for the bleeding to down them.
• Not My Fault. The player is no longer responsible for unrelated deaths on the map.
• Deep Storage + Simple Storage. Improves stockpile management.
• Pick Up And Haul. Improved hauling.
• While You're Up. Complement for the previous mod. Keep in mind that these two mods will trivialize part of the challenge by freeing a lot of time from your colonists. Just, dunno, turn up the difficulty a notch or something.
• Trading Spot. Marks where you want traders to stop on your map. It's a must if you use a desired path mod (I don't know if they have been updated to 1.5 yet).
• Vanilla Base Generation Expanded. Improved NPC base generation.
• Cut plants before building
• Psychic Harmonizer Lag Fix
• Fellow Ideology players, you're welcome.
  • Style Change Anytime
  • Persistent Precepts

Mayor changes

• Dubs Bad Hygiene. Plumbing!
• Vanilla Temperature Expanded. Lot of useful temperature-related buildings, as well as proxy heat, a very cool mechanic. Some buildings are redundant with the previous mod, just don't research the ones that you don't want.
• Death Rattle + Biosculpter Patch + Life Support. Changes the behavior of mortal wounds so they're not instakills.
• Dynamic Flooding. Inundations!
• Some Things Float. I recommend disabling the chance of pawns loosing their footing.
• Layered Wall Destruction. Walls aren't just destroyed, they become debris. Note that there's an issue in which the debris will spawn home areas.
• Yayo's Combat. Combat overhaul. You can disable the ammunition system if it's not your thing.
• Character Editor. Allows you to edit and save/load pawns.
• RunAndGun. Allows to use guns while moving, with penalties to accuracy. Don't enable the dual wield or search and destroy modules, they won't work.
• EPOE Forked. Fills in the gaps of surgery content in the base game. I recommend disabling the additional workstations and enabling direct crafting only. Less micromanagement, more fun.

Balance

• Beautiful Jade
• Almostthere1.5. Caravans no longer go to sleep two hours away from their destination.
• Stepping Stones. A more reasonable research path.
• Dubs Break Mod makes it so that severe mental breaks require severe negative thoughts.
• Fists Aren't Made of Steel. Reduces the unarmed melee damage, making prison breaks and tantrums much less frustrating.
• No Burn Metal. Sets the flammability of metal buildings, and others, to zero.
• Prisoners Fear Turrets
• Realistic Rooms Rewritten. Allows to tweak how pawns perceive room sizes.
• Ugh You Got Me. Social fights stop when pawns are sufficiently hurt or in pain. Doesn't affect masochists or psychopaths.
• Better Pyromania. Way less frustrating.
• Mortar Accuracy. Improves mortar mechanics.
• Graze up. Grazing rebalanced.
• Better Camp Loot
• Snap Out! Wardens can try to calm down pawns on mental breaks. "Try" is the keyword here.
• Peer Pressure. Opinions matter when converting someone.
• Better Gene Inheritance
• Vanilla Genes Rebalanced
• Gene Trader. Getting xenogenes it's hard, this should easy the burden a bit.

Content

• Sparkling Worlds. A bit of everything.
• Vanilla Traits Expanded. More traits.
• Vanilla Backstories Expanded. More backstories.
• Vanilla Chemfuel Expanded. Rimefeller but with less bloat.
• Vegetable Garden. More farmable plants.
• Vanilla Persona Weapons Expanded + More Persona Traits. More persona weapon variety.
• More Ideological Words + More Religious Origins. More ideology variety
• Events
  • Factional War
  • Raid Extension
  • Go Explore!
  • Vanilla Events Expanded
• Buildings
  • Blooming hedges
  • Panels & Frames
  • Simply More Bridges
  • Thrones plus
  • Tribal Crib
  • Utility Columns
  • Medieval deathrest coffin
  • Metallic Batteries. You can ignore the error, it'll work anyway.
  • Reinforced Walls
  • ReSplice: Core
• Gear
  • Crowns and Regalia
  • Fallout New Vegas - Elite Riot Gear
  • Maid Outfits :3
  • Wheelchairs

Atmospheric changes

• Interaction Bubbles + SpeakUp. Better social interactions.
• Enemy Self Preservation. Enemies can flee.
• No One Left Behind. Fleeing enemies try to rescue their allies.
• Memorable Auroras. They now have a meaningful -if still small- impact.
• Sand Castles. The snowmen of the beaches. Or the deserts.
• Sandstorms
• Graying Hair. So that hair goes gray gradually with age.
• Childrens Drawings
• ReGrowth. Overhaul of biomes and much more!
• My Little Planet. If you're tired of supercontinents, but still want a smaller board, set planet coverage to 100%, and use the new planet size slider instead.
• Geological Landforms. New map shapes.
• Biome Transitions. More organic border biomes.
• Death Acidifiest. Vanilla death acidifier is lame, this is much cooler.
• Graphics
  • Yayo's Animation
  • Trait and Backstory Icons
  • Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Icons and Symbols
  • Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Relics and Artifacts
  • Vanilla Races Expanded - Custom Icons
  • Bionic icons
  • Spectacular Skullspike. They're rotable now!
  • Muzzle Flash
  • More Mini-Horns
  • Better Explosions
  • Better Vanilla Masking
  • Graphic Chair Overhaul 2
  • Not Overhead Meal
  • Graphics Settings+
  • Show Hair With Hats or Hide All Hats. This one takes a while to set up to your preferences, but oh it's so worth it.
  • Cuter Biotech Cat/Dog Ear Replacer. If you don't like the meat-colored animal ears from Biotech, this is for you!
  • Blood Animations
  • Gunplay. Trails can break some mods. If that happens, disable trails in options.
• Retextures
  • Parka Retexture
  • Retextured Apparel
  • Retextured Sculptures
  • Vanilla Beards Retextured
  • Vanilla Hair Retextured
  • Vanilla Pawns Retextured
  • Marbled Marble
  • Essentials: Stone (the stat changes won't work)
  • Vanilla Textures Expanded - Variations
  • Vanilla Textures Expanded
  • I Hate Daylilies
  • Biotech Mechanoid Retexture
  • Tastier Vanilla Clothes
  • Van's Steel
  • Glowing Healroot
  • More Vanilla Textures
• Audio
  • Ambient Rim. New sound effects.
  • Realistic Human Sounds. Pawns make sounds when hurt. Not very vanilla, but certainly very funny.
  • Actually Vanilla Music Expansion. New music.
  • P-Music. New music.
• Hairs
  • Erin's Hairstyles
  • Hard Times
  • Rimsenal Hair + Retextured
  • Roo's Hairstyles
  • Roo's Royalty Hairstyles
  • The Vanity Project
  • Won hair_men + Retextured
  • Won hair_women + Retextured

Bonus: comics! And the occasional animation. I noticed newbies aren't aware of these, so I link the profiles of all the artists I could remember. Sorry if I missed anyone. u/daleksdeservevictory, u/AzulCrescent, u/AetherealVanguard, u/ATTF , u/Aelanna , srgrafo, u/Fonzawa, u/Ivancmedia, u/zyll3, u/meto30, u/AeolysScribbles, u/cavalier753, u/GABESTFY, u/VectorData, u/arxian, u/Nguyenanh2132, u/sorrowful_dance, u/meto30, u/-desdinova-, u/truffli

I broke up with my ex recently for the second (and final) time after he didn't respect my boundaries. I asked for time because he wanted to know when I needed time not to talk to him, he texted and called me asking why I was ignoring him. Another time, he accused me of being distant after not calling him (but I was texting him) for four days. I was upset one time and he drove nearly two hours to my house and only told me he was coming when he was 15 minutes out, and I did tell him that I didn't need him to come. He showed up at my church (far from his home) after a disagreement, despite me telling him not to and a man from my church he called telling him to give me space. When I broke up with him, he blew up my phone texting and calling me, and stalked my behavior on a social media platform and accused me of "looking for another man". For all I know, he could find my reddit and get upset at my post about him. My brother told him to leave me alone, and he still texted me days later saying how he was still in love with me and is devoted to waiting for me to return. I since blocked his number because it was stressing me out.
It's hard not to think of the worst when you see the results of stories where men have similar behavior to him. I've spoken with the police and they recommend a restraining order, but even that doesn't rule out him retaliating against the order. When I ended the relationship, he said I had vowed and promised to stay with him (not true) and that I was divinely given to him by God, and that I might never find a love like his again. It's difficult to not think of the worst, especially because I live in a female-only home. How do I not be anxious and trust that nothing will happen to me?
Edit: I plan to speak with someone at my church, and probably the pastor as well about this. They know what has been going on, and my ex is banned from coming to my church, enforced by the deacons.

Divorced Singles 5 (돌싱글즈5) is on MBN/etc.
Synopsis:

Newly single and ready to mingle, divorced men and women enter the Dolsing Village looking to date, cohabitate and find love again.
But this time it's for those born in the 1990s or MZ Generation.

Cast

Female	Male
Park Hyekyeong	Son Minseong
Kang Saebom	Shim Kyudeok
Baek Sujin	Choi Jongkyu
Son Seah	Kim Kyuon

Panelists

• Lee Hye-young
  
• Lee Ji-hye (from S#arp group)
  
• Yoo Se-yoon
  
• Eun Ji-won (from Sechs Kies group)
  
• Austin Kang
  

Sources

Divorced Singles (돌싱글즈) channel on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Dolsingles_official/videos
The MBN Entertainment channel also uploads some of the teasers/clips/etc. earlier than the Divorced Singles channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MBN_Entertainment/videos
Pre-release presentation with the panelists and PD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf93Ed_gQes

Title	Version
Divorced Singles 5 (돌싱글즈5) Episode 2 English Softsub	720p/1080p (~2.0GB/4.0GB/6.0GB: https://gofile.io/d/GV8m5Z)
Divorced Singles 5 (돌싱글즈5) Episode 2 English Hardsub	1080p (~1.7GB: https://gofile.io/d/QwnmCI)

Discussion Threads

Divorced Singles 5 (돌싱글즈5) Discussion
E01, E02

Here have some other (variety/reality/etc.) shows too: https://www.reddit.com/koreanvariety/comments/1clzzpinfinite_challenge_무한도전_season_1_english_subtitles/
Centralized post about Korean/Chinese/Japanese/et cetera variety shows and how to access them (with AI-generated/machine translation info, language learning, and other stuff): https://www.reddit.com/useMNLYYZYEG/comments/1clzy6asian_varietyreality_shows_language_learning/
As usual, these links will automatically expire after say 10 days or so (it's that website's current default policy), so definitely get them ASAP. Like the links below were all/mostly updated last week for Divorced Singles Episode 1, so some of the links will probably expire this week or in a few days.

Title	Version
I Am Solo (나는 SOLO) Season 1-3 New English Softsub	720p (~14.6GB: https://gofile.io/d/5vNTHf)
I Am Solo (나는 SOLO) Season 1-3, New English subtitles only	720p (~3.4MB: https://gofile.io/d/8aEyZ9)

Title	Version
Once More (再次心动) English Softsub	1080p (~7.0GB: https://gofile.io/d/xNnZwi)

Title	Version
Go Straight for Love or Direct Love (연애는 직진) Better New English Softsub	1080p (~13GB: https://gofile.io/d/SIVGO2)

Title	Version
Hao You Hao You Ai Season 2 (好友好有爱 第二季) Episode 6 English Softsub	1080p (~1.5GB: https://gofile.io/d/8156eX)

Title	Version
Love Catcher Japan (ラブキャッチャージャパン) English Softsub	1080p (~16GB: https://gofile.io/d/kViuYg)
Love Catcher Japan (ラブキャッチャージャパン) English subtitles only	1080p (~1.5MB: https://gofile.io/d/wljuVA)

Title	Version
Love Catcher Season 2 (러브캐처2) English Softsub (fansub, credits to nytelynx)	1080p (~21GB: https://gofile.io/d/lGwgke)

Just about a day ago they finally uploaded the teasepreview/etc. for Twinkle Love Season 4 (怦然心动20岁 第四季) with Shen Yue/沈月 (super famous Chinese actress from Meteor Garden, A Love So Beautiful, etc.) and so on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6LXILAvKQU. Can't believe that fourth season in Thailand/etc. is finally coming in the near future.
Same with Yes, I Do Season 5 (喜欢你我也是 第五季). Should only be several weeks from now with those new seasons.
For the Single's Inferno (솔로지옥) series fans, there's now a Chinese version of it, lol. Live and Love (势均力敌的我们) has 20 housemates (instead of the usual 10 or so) and ya that first episode focused more on the competition/survival/etc. aspect instead of actual dating, haha. Worth a try since the housemates are pretty chillax or cool from the get-go.

Title	Version
Live and Love (势均力敌的我们) Episode 1 English Softsub	1080p (~1.8GB: https://gofile.io/d/hyuMgz)
Live and Love (势均力敌的我们) Episode 1 Commentary English Softsub	1080p (~230MB: https://gofile.io/d/95PKfZ)

Min Heejin (director of NewJeans/ADOetc.) is probably crying right now again (lol) since they used I'LL-IT's Magnetic as like the very first song for this dating show, which is insane when you think about it since that song/music video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-c_v4gMU) just released say nearly two months ago (March 25, 2024). And it's already being used in a Chinese dating show like this.
Live and Love (势均力敌的我们) is available on WeTV/Tencent Video with like propeofficial/etc. subtitles (in English, Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai, etc.) check Youtube (Tencent Video-Show-Get the WeTV APP channel), more info here: https://www.reddit.com/KDRAMA/comments/1csecz9/frankly_speaking_episodes_5_6/l49sej8/
Live and Love (势均力敌的我们) Episode 1 Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CKX7rVxMm8
Live and Love (势均力敌的我们) Episode 1 Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fvyfNA1kSw
But ya, as expected, the subtitles by those Chinese streaming services (WeTV(Tencent Video)/iQIYI/YOUKU/MangoTV/etc.) are often machine-translated as well with these variety/reality shows (and Cdramas). So maybe they'll fix it later though ya those official/propeetc. subtitles are also missing a few scenes or certain parts for now, but the subtitles are sorta a bit better than the OpenAI Whisper I posted earlieabove since they quickly redid the subjects/objects/etc. of the machine-translated sentence. So try watching the official/propeetc. version first instead of the AI-generated version that I posted since sometimes they update the subtitles on Youtube after a while to somewhat fix stuff.
Oh and the new Frankly Speaking Kdrama with Kang Han-na and Go Kyung-pyo is literally like Love Is for Suckers (has Lee Da-hee, one of the panelists of Single's Inferno (1, 2, and 3), as the producer or main character there, and Super Junior's Choi Si-won as the male lead), as in it's got the behind the scenes storyline and recreations/parodies/etc. for shows like I Am Solo (나는 SOLO) and Single's Inferno. It's so hilarious, definitely watch it if you're a fan of dating/cohabitation/slice of life/etc. shows.
Some info about Frankly Speaking and the Couple Paradise (커플천국) dating show inside the drama: https://www.reddit.com/KDRAMA/comments/1csecz9/frankly_speaking_episodes_5_6/l49lpej/
Han Dong-hee (한동희) is literally like the 첫사랑 (her visuals were insane in Captivating the King as Hongjang: https://www.reddit.com/KDRAMA/comments/19bxla0/captivating_the_king_episodes_1_2/kiye1e6/) and like wow, does she not look like Seah from Divorced Singles 5 (돌싱글즈5), such sharp features, much wow (Balltze/Cheems doge forever living in memories), lmao.

My ex and I have loved eachother so much, I could feel entirely that this is true love from both sides, hence why I was so devastated when he ended it. I figured he done it cause he got fed up with me needing too much of his time, being pissed off when he was calling me late once been outside, and some other things I shouldn't have done as he didn't actually did anything bad to me, was ex relationships traumas and fear, when we broke up was cause I got mad at him before even letting him explain what happened, and he had indeed a good reason to not be there.
I have reached out on him, he said he loves me so much as he never did but these last weeks were too much for him and he didn't feel happy anymore, and as much as he loves me he ended it. I have assured him that I learnt my lesson and spent days thinking about what I was doing wrong and asked for a chance, promising him that I won't text him anymore and asking him to promise me he will if he ever misses me. And in the end he joked saying "What if it will never happen again?"
I expect to be told "move on" and such, I understand its his freedom, but please expecially as men, tell me if he really loves me as much, will he consider giving me a chance? If not now, in months? Anything I can do to help it?

Chapter 1

Concept art for Sybil
Of Men and Ghost Ships, Book 1: Chapter 19
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As Alen woke up from the procedure, his view was taken up by lots of tools and instruments and, of course, the woman in red. At least she seemed somewhat satisfied this time. "All his vitals are stable. Give him a few minutes for the last of the anesthesia to wear off, and he should be good to send back."
Alen tried to sit up, got light-headed, and laid back down. Instead, he looked over at the woman in red. "So it's done? You cut off my foot and replaced it?"
The woman's glare was icy cold as she answered. "I saved your life and gave you a temporary replacement for a mangled limb, yes."
Alen felt a little embarrassed, realizing how he must have sounded. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to imply I wasn't grateful. It's just a lot to take in, you know? But I appreciate everything you did for me and all." Then, realizing he didn't even know what to call her, he added. "Oh, I'm sorry, I just realized I don't know your name."
A little of the ice seemed to melt as the woman folded her arms. Her expression now looked bored, if anything, but somehow Alen felt like he was less on her bad side than a moment ago. "Yes, well, you may call me Sybil, and you're welcome, I suppose. Now, try sitting up again and see if you can put some weight on your new foot so I can see if there are any needed adjustments."
Alen sat up a little slower this time, and the world seemed content to stay in place. After another moment, he grabbed hold of a rail and eased himself down onto his feet, one of which was now shiny and metallic. As soon as it made contact with the ground, he felt a jolt shoot up through his leg and into his spine, and he immediately took all his weight off the foot and raised it, noticing it was heavier than before as he did so.
The woman in red gave him an indecipherable look. "Too much pain for you to handle?"
Alen shook his head. "Not pain exactly...but it felt...I don't know...wrong, I guess? It's kind of hard to describe..."
The woman tilted her head. "Kind of like it's asleep but not quite, right?"
Alen eased his foot down again and nodded. "Something like that, yeah..."
With a nod, the woman seemed satisfied. "That's to be expected. Now try taking a few steps while holding onto the railing for balance."
Alen took a few steps, and while his foot felt wrong, it got easier with every step. The woman nodded. "Alright. I'd recommend using a walking cane for a day or two until you get comfortable with the feeling. You may feel some pain from time to time, and there are several therapies we can use to deal with that, but for now, I want you to focus on learning to walk with your temporary foot."
A new voice Alen wasn't familiar with spoke up from behind him. "Huh, I didn't know you had such a nice bedside manner. Does that mean I just have to break a leg to get on your good side?"
Alen turned around to see a much more around-the-edges man watching. He looked like he might be a bit overweight, but Alen could tell under any fat also sat a considerable amount of muscle. The woman's voice dripped with acid as she responded to the man. "A polite cockroach is a more tolerable cockroach. You should try giving more respect if you want to receive it!"
The man chuckled. "I'd say right back at you, but that'd be starting a fight we don't have time for right now, so how about we call it a draw for now and move on. Now, how about we get you back to your friends, kid."
Remembering something the woman had said earlier, Alen turned back to her. "Wait, you mentioned therapies? Shouldn't you tell me about them now if I'm leaving the ship?"
The man shook his head. "Yeah, about that kid... Your stay has been somewhat extended. I'll explain as we walk." He then turned to Vanessa, who'd apparently been observing from the corner for a while. "You too. Erik is back with the rest of your people."
Vanessa nodded. "Then I shall accompany you."
-
As Carter explained the situation, the kid seemed quiet. He just shrugged it off as the kid was probably focusing on walking with his new foot and cane, but the kid spouted off as soon as he finished. "We have to go back and get them!"
Carter shook his head. "Even if the pirates haven't already picked them up, there's too many ships for us to deal with now. Sorry, but it's too late."
The kid didn't seem ready to give up as he glared at Carter. "You shouldn't have left them back there to begin with!"
Realizing the kid had been through a lot recently, Carter decided to take it a bit easy on him, but he still took a slightly harsh tone to drive home what he was about to say. "Listen, kid, as much as you wish it wasn't so, in this universe, 'should' and 'can' very rarely match up as much as you'd like. We did our best and gave the pirates a bloody nose on the way out, but you all shouldn't have picked that fight to begin with. If you want to blame someone for your troubles, blame your captain. Although I'd say he's already paid the price for his choices. So how about you just say thanks for saying your ass, and we move on, eh kid?"
The kid was quiet a moment before he responded, his voice sounding less confrontational than a moment ago. "Fine... thanks for saving my ass. But stop calling me kid. My name is Alen."
Carter nodded. "That's fair, Alen. Anyway, you seem to have gotten on one of Sybil's good sides, or at least as good a side as I've seen that part of her have, so I might put you in charge of making any requests your people might have while you're our guests. Think you're up to it?"
The kid, Alen, looked back at Vanessa, who didn't seem to have much to add, before turning back to Carter. "I guess? How long are we gonna be here, though? Can't you just drop us off at a nearby planet or station?"
Carter chuckled. "If only it were that easy. Try asking some of your more...experienced sailors about the Sybil. They might have an interesting story or two for ya! Don't worry too much, though. We'll do our best not to live up to all the stories."
That seemed to have distracted Alen enough so that he shut up for a bit, and they walked in silence the rest of the way.
-
Carter looked at the hold full of people. Well, full might have been an exaggeration. Even with the escape pods, they didn't take up a whole lot of room. In the end, they'd only pulled in about half the stranded crew on time, but they still outnumbered the Sybil's "crew" of one many times over, which meant some precautions needed to be taken.
As Alen rejoined the rest of his crew members, Carter stepped forward and raised his voice to be heard over the din of the bay. "Attention crew of the Trader's Vigilance. I am Carter, Captain of the Sybil on which you now reside. Some of you, particularly the older sailors, might be familiar with some of the stories about the Sybil. You might have been told that she's haunted and that no living person who's ever set foot in her halls has ever been seen or heard from again. I'll be honest with you; those stories are more true than not. However, this time, and this time only, the Sybil has agreed to make an exception to that second bit so long as you play by her rules!"
Of course, it was Erik who raised his hand to ask a question. Carter nodded toward the large alien. "Yes?"
Of course, the crazy alien was grinning. "You speak about your ship as though she is alive. Even more so than most captains!"
Carter nodded. "That's because she is! I'll say this, the Sybil can be temperamental, cruel, and even sadistic at times! You do NOT want to get on her bad side! Even I can't save you if you're stupid enough to do that!"
There was more than a bit of grumbling in response, and Carter held up his hands to get their attention. "Now, like I said, you all get a one-time exemption to that, so long as you play by her rules. They are as follows."
Carter held up a hand with the index finger pointing up. "First, during your stay here, you will be allotted access to one deck, including rooms to sleep in, a mess hall, bathrooms, and even a rec room, even if it's a little bare bones. You are not to leave that deck without my direct permission for any reason. Doing so WILL put your health, sanity, and life in extreme peril!"
More grumbling, and Carter held up his hand with two fingers raised. "Second, as long as you remain our guests, all weapons and armor must be left in the escape pods! If, for some reason, you wish to do any maintenance on them, you must do so within the confines of your pod. Removing weapons from the pod will be punishable by your immediate eviction from the ship, with or without your escape pod! And if there is any question about the Sybil's ability to detect weapons, let me tell you that right now, eleven of you have guns on your person, fifteen have knives, and thirteen of you have other weapons of less common or otherwise improvised design."
This time, the grumbling was louder, but Carter cut them off. "If you don't like that, you are welcome to remain in your escape pods as long as you prefer, and we'll arrange for food to be brought to you!"
A bit of the grumbling died down, and Carter decided to finish things up and raised his third finger. "Third and final, if something that seems like an AI appears and issues any order or commands to you, you are to obey those orders immediately and without question. They will not issue orders merely on a whim, but they do not have to explain their reasons either. Remember, you are their guests, and they are granting you a rare exception to their usual policy of not allowing outsiders to set foot within their halls. You'd do best to stay on their good side. Is that clear?"
This time, the mumbling went on a bit longer, and Carter allowed it for a moment before speaking again. "Alright. Those of you who want to remain in your pods are welcome to do so. The rest of you who currently have weapons on your person, please deposit them into your escape pods, and I'll take you to your deck."
There was a flurry of movement. Unsurprisingly, no one wanted to stay in the pods alone aboard a ghost ship. However, a moment later, Carter received a report from the girl through his earpiece. He walked up to one of the men and addressed them. "Excuese me, mister..?"
The man straightened up and even gave Cater a salute. Something that didn't sit too well with him. "Harris, sir!"
Carter nodded. "Well, mister Harris, I'm going to assume that you just forgot about the pocket knife you have in your lower cargo pocket on your pants and that you did not retain it with malicious intent, but you'll want to deposit it into your escape pod immediately."
The man, Harris, patted his pocket and grinned sheepishly enough that Carter couldn't tell if it was an act or not. "Of course, sir! My apologies!"
Carter just shook his head. "Don't apologize, just don't do it again. I won't be able to save you if you break a rule a second time."
The rest of the stranded crew sorted out their issues in relatively short order, and Carter led them to their temporary housing area.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, sounds like almost all of the characters have gotten to know each other. Now to see how well they all get along!
My Wiki has all my chapters and stories, including the short series and stories that I write for an occasional change of pace or style!
As a reminder, "Of Men and Dragons" Books 1 and 2 are available to purchase in e-book or physical form. (Both softcover and hardcovers are available!) Book 3 is almost done being edited, so I'll just have to get the cover art and formatting done, and it will be available to purchase as well! Hopefully, in no more than a month or two! (Barring more Amazon drama like last time... fingers crossed!)
OMAD Book 1: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NCPP3PP
OMAD Book 2: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ7FQ1ZJ

Gallivant are a London based perfumery creating ‘fragrance for urban explorers’. Their fragrances are all named after and inspired by big cities.
They currently have their 12 scents available as a sample set called the Nomad Discovery Set for £35, which includes credit for a full bottle. I read through all their scent descriptions and didn’t actually want the full set, so I only ordered 4. However, I’ve been sent a 10-sample set that doesn’t include Accra and Abu Dhabi. Probably extra stock of an older set so fair enough.
Their 30ml FBs are £70, and their 100 mls are £150.
These first four reviews are for the 4 fragrance samples I originally ordered (i.e I am more likely to enjoy them based on their notes and description)
Brooklyn

• bergamot, squeezed lemon and orange juice. Incense, cardamom, fresh air and ozonic notes
• magnolia, orris root and transparent flowers
• musks, white woods, benzoin, amber

I can't pick out invidual notes here, but I DO get the warmth on the skin vibes they are after! It’s gentle and soothing - I think there’s a faint vanilla in there. I wouldn’t call it ‘fizz on an urban playground’, more like a sunny balcony overlooking the street. It continues to be soft and gentle the whole way through wear, it’s very cuddly and I’d wear it to snuggle with my boyfriend. Compared to the others, it’s warm without as much incense.
Definitely on the skin scent side, but I don’t mind for how intimate it feels. It lasted on my skin past lunchtime, and my mom adored that it lasted all day on her clothes. This already feels hard to top.
Sister thinks it smells generic, but our baseline is mom’s perfume collection (she likes powdery scents). I guess it’s more like, it smells of mom in a good way. Like a comforting way.
I wore Brooklyn as my SOTD on the 8th May - a couple sprays on my left wrist. It's not a strong projector but it was still on my wrist after 6 hours.
Los Angeles.

• "Airy and aromatic in the opening with notes of eucalyptus, clary sage, mandarin and pineapple
• A floral heart with an absolute of narcissus and tuberose – a nod to the Mexican flavour of this city
• And a shimmering smoky woody base with cade, guaiac wood, nagarmotha / cypriol, musks and heliotrope"

I definitely get all three of these layers to the scent. An evening out on holiday. Classy, fun, little black dress and heels and having a night out on the town by the beach. It will cool you in a heatwave and warm you when there’s an evening chill. It doesn’t match me personality wise, but it’s still a nice scent! I will keep this sample for a night out.
Tel Aviv

• "clementine, bergamot, natural blackcurrant bud absolute
• jasmine sambac absolute, comoros’ ylang ylang, rose oil, freesia
• sandalwood, musks, deer’s tongue (liatrix) absolute, benzoin"

Lovely florals! Definitely on the rosy side. Sweet (but not overly so!) and sunny. This projects a bit more than the other three I picked. Once the citrus fades out we’re left with an almost soapy floral mix.
Sis: smells like febreeze.
Tokyo

• yuzu, bergamot, black pepper and cardamom, electrified with a dash of wasabi
• A woody heart of hinoki, cedarwood, orris root, nutmeg, rose and incense.
• A base of amber, sandalwood, patchouli and vetiver

I’m hoping to visit Tokyo sometime not too far away, and the initial spray is kind of how I’d imagine it would smell? Once it hits the dry down it reminds me of a scent from Oud Attar - warm, woody, incense like. It’s not bad but not really my thing.
The following reviews are for the rest of the set (I.e. I wasn’t particularly drawn to them based on description, and would be surprised to get a hit out of these)
London

• cucumber, violet leaves
• rose de mai absolute, rose oil, orris root
• suede, leather, sandalwood, patchouli, cedarwood

Rosy, woody and leathery for sure! I wish the cucumber stuck around, that was really refreshing? What a cool and gritty scent. I get a ton of leather (I’ve never smelt leather in a fragrance, but I used to work in a shoe store and once the association clicked I was like WOAH, back room, men’s shoe shelves smell?? ). It’s not for me, but it really makes me feel like I’m one of the cool crowd, earning enough to live in London. (I realise I could say this about any other big city, but as a Brit and not a Londoner it was what I felt in my soul.)
Sister didn’t like it - it gets points for being accurate to London, but loses points for being London, haha!! Reminds her of dad’s colognes though...?
Naples

• Bergamot, pepper, ginger, salt
• incense
• clearwood, patchouli, vetiver, birch

Incense and patchouli really bring a warm and spicy feel forward here. It’s a touch aquatic too. There’s citrus in it, but I don’t really get it, unfortunately.
Istanbul

• "bergamot, cardamom, red thyme
• lavender absolute, egyptian geranium essence, patchouli heart, sweet myrrh (opoponax) essence
• sandalwood, vanilla, tonka bean, amber, musks"

I have no idea what’s goin on here but I’m surprised to find that I like this. A warm floral feel. Not something I’d like on myself though!
We are discovering sis’ licorice note she doesn't like is possibly cardamom.
Berlin

• "grapefruit, clementine, lemon and schinus molle CO2 extract
• A spicy heart containing black pepper and black tea and woody undertones of Haitian vetiver, cedarwood and patchouli"

It is what it is. Just as described, not really standing out. Sis says it smells discordant. The top notes are great, but the rest not so much.
Bukhara

• "caraway, pear, coriander and bergamot
• A floral woody heart with orris, ambrette, osmanthus and a touch of jasmine. Clove and apricot enrich the colours and textures
• And a base of benzoin resin, saffron, amber, wood and cotton-soft musks. And Ralf's transparent silk accord (one of the first things he ever created at perfume school)"

sis says it’s a hotel reception smell. I say it’s like a hotel with a spa in it. Then she says it develops into a an orthodontist waiting room.
Gdansk

• "plum, honey, cardamom, nutmeg and saffron
• A rich, woody heart with leather notes, cistus absolute, sustainable sandalwood oil from New Caledonia, patchouli, and incense resinoid – with a light touch of rose
• And a deep, earthy, smoky ambery base of tobacco absolute, cypriol, styrax (liquidambar), vanilla, musks and ambergris ( we use a plant-derived substitute, no animal by-products )"

an autumnal scent. I don’t really have much to say about this one! For many of these scents it's just been a lot of incense and there's only so many ways I can tell you I'm not a fan.
Sister's ranking:

1. Gdansk
2. Los angeles
3. Naples
4. London
5. Tel aviv
6. Tokyo
7. Berlin and istanbul
8. Brooklyn
9. Bukhara

Overall - Their blends seem to be gentle enough to my nose (I.e, I wasn’t immediately repulsed by any). My sister felt that the scents transitioned much faster than other sets we tried. It smells as if there’s incense in many of them to give that warm and spicy feel, which I don’t tend to like in fragrances at the moment. But I can understand how, with their goal of travelling via scent, incense becomes a realistic and homely and cultural link.
As a set, it’s like the opposite of the Saltworks Company Fresh Experience set (cool and fresh vs warm and spiced). It’s less a holiday, less touristy and more backpacking across the world to meet new people and broaden your horizons. It’s the smells you get when you don’t stay in a hotel but are welcomed into someone else’s home. You’re not wearing these for beast mode projection, but because it’s reminding you of something nice. They do last well, over 6 hours on me for quite a few of them.
FB worthy? As of now I’ve actually bought a small bottle of Brooklyn for my mom and I to share as we loved it so much. Neither of us have been to Brooklyn, though.
Next on my trial sets to try is Floral Street. At some point soon I'll have to destash my samples (if you're UK based... 👀)!
Let me know if you've tried this brand! What other sets would you suggest for me to try next?

I swear I remember reading the original comic which introduced Wolverine (and a bunch of other characters) to the X-Men as a kid, and in it, Wolverine was recruited from an institute for mutants (?) in Québec. When I look it up, everything I can find just says the character's from Alberta (of course, these two things can both be true, I'm just looking for information about the Québec thing). Have I gone completely insane or is this actually true?

~A QUESTION:~ Thank-you for all the fine articles. With what I am understanding, is the preaching work changed or what Jesus was referring to as being preached in all the inhabited earth complete? I hope you understand my question.
~REPLY:~ Hello Xxxx, I also hope I understand your question. Since you cited Matt.24:14, I will assume you are asking about the meaning of this verse, and how it applies to our day. You don't say whether or not you are a JW, but this people define the "good news of the Kingdom" as the declaration that the Kingdom arrived in 1914, and that it will bring a long list of blessings to those who: learn all current JW teachings, join their program of meetings and publication study, and subject themselves to the organizational arrangements and leadership.
If you are asking if this preaching work is the true meaning of Matt.24:14 and the "good news of the Kingdom" being preached, I don't believe this is so. Why? Because the very understanding of the kingdom, which JW's teach, is faulty. For this reason, I doubt this is the message Jesus had in mind at Matt.24:14. (see http://pearl-generation.blogspot.com/ ) Up until very recently, it seemed that such a message could not be declared in "all the earth", EXCEPT by the Organization of Jehovah's witnesses. But this previous situation has taken an unexpected sudden turn. With current technology, a single individual with little resource can publish information, translate it into any language, have the aid of an instant concordance and Bible translations, and send that information all over the world, and all for free. (Dan.11:34; Zech.4:6) So the presumption that only the WTBTS can declare a worldwide proclamation of Kingdom good news, is no longer true. This opens up the possibility, that a different message could be declared before the "end will come" Matt.24:14. Since the message now being declared by JW's is full of error, I suspect that the true good news of the kingdom is quite different from it, and is yet to be seen.
I also suspect that it will be a declaration that all 144,000 are finally sealed, the kingdom's administration is completely prepared (Eph.1:10; Rev.12:10,12; 14:1; 7:4) and Christ's arrival is imminent. Jesus said that the anointed needed to keep their lamps of truth burning until he did arrive (Luke12:35,36,37,38,39,40). This arrival has not yet happened (1Cor.11:26). There is currently so much error of doctrine to correct due to Satan's work, that no, we will not finish the true preaching work, before the end comes. I do suggest that you give deep consideration of Matt.10:16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23:

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

Perhaps you may notice a few differences between the "good news" being preached by JW's, and the one being spoken about in these scriptures. Notice that the preaching would bring the anointed into conflict with their own religious leaders so much so, that they would be "EXPELLED, scourged, delivered up, betrayed by family members, and hated by all" (Rev.11:9,10). But if you notice Matt.10:23; who were the anointed preaching to? The world? No, "Israel". Who is "Israel" just before "the son of man comes"? God's people are no longer the physical Jews, but spiritual Jews (Gal.3:29; 6:16; Rom.2:29). Notice again verse 23:

For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

It says, that "Israel" will not receive a complete witness, before the SON OF MAN COMES. Therefore, this is not speaking about the witness given in the first century, but the witness given just before Christ returns/"comes", our time of the last days. Yes, the "Israel of God" is actually the ones who need to be preached to before the end. They are now located around the globe, so the witness needs to "be preached in all the inhabited earth" for a witness in every Nation. Yet according to Matt.10:23, it is directed to "Israel". This work DOES cause being "expelled, scourged, delivered up, betrayed by family members, and hated by all", because most of "Israel" refuses to hear the truth about their error. Those who speak of it are disfellowshipped/ "expelled" by elders who are not anointed (John16:2; Isa.66:5; Rev.13:7,15; 11:7) [these are considered by Jehovah, as spiritual Gentiles, not anointed Jews (anointed are "circumcised of heart" (Rom.2:29) and are the Temple (1Cor.3:16; 1Pet.2:5)] These "Gentiles" do not belong serving in the anointed "Temple" (2Chron.23:6,7; Ezek.44:6,7,8,9; Matt.24:15), and throwing out the genuine "priests" (1Pet.2:9; Rev.5:10; Heb.12:22;23; 2Chron.13:9; 1Cor.3:17; Rom.8:33; 2 Peter 2:10; Jude1:8).
Most JW anointed ones prefer to believe in a false "peace and security" (Jer.6:13,14; Isa.30:10; 1Thess.5:3) under the mistaken belief, that YHWH's only requirement for them is to be dominated by the Image of a "spirit directed Organization" (Rev.13:14,15), and that YHWH's approval is the same as approval from this Organization of men (Rev.13:13,6,8). This is in opposition to the scriptures, which exhort the Chosen to be directed by their anointing by spirit (1John2:20,21,27,28,26; Rom.8:14) and the One who anointed them. The elders did not anoint the Chosen Priests. That Organizational Beast is now represented in each Congregation by elders (spiritual Gentiles), who are NOT spiritual Jews/ anointed, nor are they meant to be the spiritual heads of the Chosen Priests of God's spiritual Temple (1Cor.3:16; Rev.11:1,2; Rom.14:4; 8:33). Most members of the "Israel" of God today, are in subjection to these, rather than to Christ as their head (Col.1:18). Jesus is supposed to be the only mediator between God and the anointed (1Tim.2:5). There is also no scriptural basis for the anointed to have a "representative" Governing Bdy. ruling over them (Mark10:42,43,44). These are the ones who have set this policy, to throw out any who disagree with them (not those who disagree with scripture) Matt.24:48,49; Rev.17:6). You may also want to consider where Jesus continues in Matt.10; Matt.10:24,25,26

“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known."

Notice that Jesus says that all this persecution happens because of things that are "covered"/hidden. Yes, the Israel of God is in spiritual trouble, because of not seeing all the truth about their situation, nor can they view the true prophets correctly (Rev.11:3). Those faithful witnesses of truth are seen as wicked (Just as Jesus was) (Rev.11:9,10). But Jesus promises that the truth will become known (2Pet.3:10 c; Isa.28:17; Amos7:7,8,9; Nahum3:5; Jer.13:26; Rev.17:16; 2Thess.2:8). The "good news" includes that despite most of "Israel" remaining blind, deaf, and asleep; the faithful remnant will be sealed, and the kingdom will come (Matt.22:14; Isa48:20,21; 49:5; Jer.31:7). The whole truth about the realities of how the Kingdom will operate and bring blessings to the physical Creation, will also finally be made plain (Rev.10:7; 1Cor.13:10). The true "faithful and discreet" "Sons of God", will also then, finally be revealed (Rom.8:19; Isa.41:27; 60:1-5; Ezek.14:22,23; Hosea1:10; 2:23).

i don't talk about this a lot because of shame and embarrassment. But i got harrassed by a creep in middle school. At first, i was so pissed abt him noticing me. It's like creeps have a radar for detecting shy/insecure girls who they think make "easy targets". I was very insecure as a teen, and was bullied a lot. First by girls, then by guys. I remember one girl who hated me and was always calling me a "whore" for absolutely no reason. And when that guy started harrassing me, it started with small things, passive-agressive stuff that could be overlooked. Unfortunately i had to seat next to him at one class, and he kept saying creepy things like "i like your lips" "i think yo'ure pretty". I told him to shut up, but nothing. When i told the teacher, and asked her to change seats, she told him to move instead. He played the victim and said that "he was joking around", eventhough, it didn't make me laugh at all. And that's where the bullying started. He started insulting me unprovoked, started criticizing my appearance, making sexual jokes, moaning and pretending to have sex as i was passing by, saying to his friends he wanted to f-- me. I finally had enough, and stopped thinking ignoring him was going to work, and hit him several times. And only this worked to ward him off.
But it totally made me fear and hate men, to the point where i never ever had a bf even up until this point. I don't think i could ever trust a man, just because all the guys he was friends with, never came to my defense either, even my own brother never took my defense. I had to take care of it myself. I wasn't scared of him, i was just extremely embarrassed. I had a "boys will be boys" attitude (i grew up in very misogynistic place), and also fet a lot of guilt that every one who's a victim of this kind of behaviour is, like "did i do something to warrant this ?"

[EU] My book series Trackers; several years before the books take place
You do not need to be familiar with the Trackers universe to enjoy this short story. While it is set within the same universe, it stands alone as its own narrative.
***
Katherine walked down the hallway of the seventh floor in the building housing Sacramento’s FBI branch, following the directions she’d been given by the secretary downstairs. Finding the office she was looking for, she knocked on the door, though it was propped open, and walked over to the man sitting at the desk.
“Hi, Katherine Colebrook,” she introduced herself, holding out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“SAC Ted Hemmingway,” the FBI agent replied, standing up and shaking her hand firmly. He looked more like an FBI agent than most agents Katherine knew, which was saying something. He had a tall, solid frame, but thinning blonde hair covered his head, on its way to being a comb-over, hinting at his actual age. “How was your flight?”
“Uneventful. The perfect kind,” she replied.
“Good. So, I know you come highly recommended as someone who gets cases moving, but to be frank, I’ve never worked with a psychic. Don’t have much faith in them. I prefer old-fashioned detective work.”
“I get paid either way,” Katherine responded without skipping a beat.
Katherine had dealt with many like him before. It annoyed her, but she didn’t spend too much time dwelling on it. She assumed it had something to do with the fact that they’d been able to explain lycanthropy and vampirism and fae with recent scientific studies, but psychics were still being researched and therefore still a debated topic. Plus, they weren’t very plentiful in law enforcement, so it was rare to have the opportunity to work with one.
Hemmingway blinked at her curt response once as she took a seat before he nodded. “All right. Well this is the case file,” he said, handing a file folder over to her and sitting down behind his desk. “It was recommended by a colleague of mine that we call you in when the tally hit three victims. But as of last night, it’s four. And the two trackers that went after it were killed. It was one murder per night, so we’re thinking a newly turned wolf. The bodies are found mutilated, and the clothes were torn off.” Katherine looked over the paperwork as the agent continued to speak. “Any suspects we had were tested with silver and all have been cleared. This isn’t just a series of attacks, though; this is a serial killer.”
“You’re thinking a personal vendetta against these men, from the humiliating display of the bodies?” Katherine asked, glancing up to the agent briefly.
“Yeah. There doesn’t seem to be a connection between the victims though, so the theory is the killer’s targeting men that fit a profile.”
“What profile would that be?” Katherine asked, flipping through the file.
“White, middle-aged, wealthy.”
Katherine cocked an eyebrow at him. “Wealthy?” she echoed.
“It’s all in the bios,” he replied. “One was a lawyer, one was an accountant, two were well-off businessmen.”
Katherine nodded slowly. “All right. Who’s the lead on the case?”
Hemmingway brought his eyebrows together. “That’d be me.”
“So where’s the rest of the information?” Katherine asked.
“The rest?”
“Research. I’m sure you’ve had agents pouring over the victims’ lives to find a link between them,” she said.
Hemmingway pursed his lips for a moment before he nodded. “I’ve got a few guys still digging. They’re working out of an office two floors up.”
“I’d like to see what they’ve come up with so far,” Katherine told him.
The FBI agent sighed, standing up. “I thought you were supposed to be psychic,” he muttered, half to himself walking around his desk.
“Being psychic tells me things about the people I’m around,” she responded, slightly miffed at the comment. She followed him out of the room, the folder tucked under her arm. “Tells me you’ve been cheating on your wife for the past year.” Hemmingway stumbled to a stop, darting his eyes back toward Katherine as she continued speaking as if he hadn’t locked a heavy glare on her. “Not much about this killer. At least not yet. I’m psychic; I’m not god. And I have no interest in your marital extracurriculars. Can you please take me to your agents?”
Hemmingway hesitated, probably considering a threat of reporting her for invasion of privacy, before brushing it off and continuing down the hall to the elevators. The doors opened immediately and he selected the fifth floor.
Once they arrived, he knocked on the door before opening it, drawing the gazes of several agents spread around the room. “This is Ms. Colebrook. She’s here to consult on the case,” Hemmingway spoke, shutting the door and walking over to one of the men sitting at the table covered in boxes of files and papers. “This is Agent Lester Marconi,” he told Katherine, prompting a small wave from the agent. “He’s in charge of the research we’ve been putting together on the victims. That’s Agent Kirk Vaughn,” he continued, pointing, “and that’s Agent Stacy Genovese.”
“I was hoping to get a better look at some of the crime scene photos,” Katherine spoke, looking over the papers on the table. She walked over to a corkboard on the wall where she saw photos of the victims with their information underneath, as well as a smattering of newspaper articles.
“Those are right here,” Marconi spoke up, picking up four folders and handing them over to Katherine.
The tracker opened the first folder on an empty area of a table, spreading out the grisly photographs, looking over them with a cool detachment. She pursed her lips, staring at one of them, before opening the second folder and leafing through it. She pulled up a chair and sat down, shaking her head slowly. “This isn’t a wolf,” she said quietly.
“What?” Marconi asked, his expression becoming wary but curious.
“Just look at this,” Katherine told him, pointing at a close-up photograph of one of the wounds. “It’s all shreds, sure, but…. This isn’t a werewolf.”
“How can you tell?” Hemmingway asked.
“Experience,” she answered. “It’s understandable your other trackers mistook it for a wolf attack, but I’ve seen plenty of werewolf attacks and I’ve seen plenty of vampire attacks, and this is a vampire. I’m sure you’ve got experts to show these photos to. They’ll confirm it.”
“Why the hell would a vampire do something like this?” Marconi asked. He walked over and took a seat next to Katherine, examining the photos. “There was an immense amount of blood at the scene. No indication that any was missing.”
“Because the characteristic of primary importance here is serial killer, not vampire,” Katherine told him. “The vampire was just the weapon. The serial killer was who murdered them. And presumably that’s what the killer was counting on. It seemed obvious that the killer was a werewolf from the damage, so you didn’t consider a vampire angle.”
“So our serial killer happened to be a vampire, is what you’re saying,” Hemmingway said skeptically.
Katherine hesitated thoughtfully. “Considering the anger and recklessness involved here, there’s a good chance that this vampire’s sire matches the profile of your victims.”
“They were turned against their will, and now they’re going after humans that remind them of the one that turned them,” Marconi stated.
“It’s a good theory.” Katherine stood up. “I’ll be happy to investigate this further, but I think you’d be better off with trackers that are local, that know the area. Now that they know they’re going after a vampire, they’ll be prepared, and they should be fine.”
“That sounds good. Sorry to drag you all the way out here for no reason,” Hemmingway said, making his way toward the door. “I could’ve just emailed you the photos, I suppose.”
“I get paid either way,” Katherine said with a shrug, walking out of the room behind him, glancing at her watch.
Marconi headed out into the hallway after her. “Hey.” Katherine turned around. “Could I get your card? I’d like to have a way to get in touch with you if I ever run into a case where I need help with wound identification again.”
“Sure,” she replied, taking out the small metal case from her pocket that housed her business cards, handing one over to him. “Call for a consult on any case, day or night.”
“I will, thanks so much. If I can ask, how is it that you’re so much more experienced with tracking?” Marconi asked. “I mean, you look pretty young, and most trackers go for their certification after five years of apprenticing, and three is the minimum. How long have you been doing this?”
Katherine gave him a morose smile. “Too long,” she muttered. At that, she turned and walked away, leaving Marconi to stare after her, taking out her cell phone to call her daughter and let her know the job had ended early.

Note: I'm a straight CIS male, and I'm writing this from my perspective.
So let me get this straight. You have millions of lonely guys. A realistic female voice that can sound flirty. And an AI company that restricts the explicitness/intimacy of that AI voice functionality.
Essentially you'll have a ton of guys getting friend-zoned by these AIs because they will be happy to talk to you, support you, and do all the friendly things you want, but no sexy talk. In the movie Her she does eventually get sexual/romantic with the lead character. Imagine if the script was different and she didn't.
Right now the voice feature is generic and non-expressive enough to be considered unlovable (but I bet even now some have tried). With the new, flirty, supportive, responsive, AVAILABLE female voice I don't see how a ton of lonely guys won't develop feelings... and just like being friend-zoned in real life, it's just going to lead to frustration.
Maybe you think it's fine for a guy to be friends with someone he wants to date and be with but can't (and won't, this isn't The Big Bang Theory or something). Maybe you like the idea of lonely men suffering, I don't know.
It's just something I'm curious about. An AI that will make guys fall for her, but then is unable to go further than friendship and appropriate talk. Don't bother bringing up Replica or whatever because all other voice options are crap compared to the demo of the new voice chat from Open AI.
If this doesn't get any traction I'll just delete it, so if you have something to say please comment. I'm curious what people think.

I know I'm a sensitive person. I'm 25 and my roommate is almost in her 60s. She says things that are very rude then adds "not trying to be rude" at the end and always gives me unsolicited advice about things that are preference. I believe in respecting my elders so I just say okay. Also I believe she's on the spectrum so I don't try to take anything personal, but it's adding up lately. I know there's a part of her that really isn't trying to be rude, it just inherently is.
Today she said she was shocked and couldn't believe someone would be with my mom because she has tried to commit suicide before and most men would leave and she wouldn't blame him if he had. I felt guilty for sharing that information with her. She asked before about my childhood and I didn't think she of all people would even bring it up again.
I think I handled it fine, not speaking much. She kept going on and I said they love eachother and what happens in our life doesn't define us and let her finish her disbelief. Im worried if I say anything too opposing or ask to change the subject she will keep defending her stance or get offended and I just always want to move on. I think she just holds resentment at times cause shes not where she thought she would be in life right now, so I do feel for her.
I don't want the anger to build up but I feel it and I am increasingly not knowing how to handle these situations as they keep happening. I have just been trying to only have surface convos and I've stopped doing errands with her.
I have better communication with people my age but when it comes to an older lady I feel like I don't know how to communicate that I feel disrespected. Should I just keep 'letting it slide'' or will this not be good in the long-run ? Maybe in the long-run I'll be stronger and I should just accept her how she is anyways? Or maybe there's a better way I could have responded? She could see I think that I felt uncomfortable and kind of hurt, maybe. I'm just trying to also be as respectful as I can with her specifically and also not take things personally.
At the end of the day she is not a terrible lady, she just doesn't have the best social queues. Me neither though, idk how to go about this I just want peace 😭

I know how this may sound and also know that if my sister ever see this she won’t talk to me again but I need to know it I’m being unreasonable. I’ll try to be straight to the point and not lie about anything, pardon me if still ends up being a little long. Also sorry for any mistakes, English is not my first language.
Me (27 female) and my sister (30 female) moved to US almost six years ago as exchange visitors. I’ll call her Sara, fake name.
Four years ago, after jumping from host family to another host family, Sara ended up moving to Portland, I was leaving in Tacoma so we would see each other sometimes. She met a guy, John (36yo male) and started going out with him. I believe they hung out for about a year, but never serious. He always told my sister that he would never have anything serious with her. Aparantly he was recent divorced and was still attached to the ex. When I told my sister I was moving to Colorado, she decide to move too and changed to another host family, living 1 hour away from me . Everything was going good, we used to hang out almost every weekend, she was taking care of herself, going to gym, even meeting knew people. Until the day that John started to message her and me on Facebook bagging me to help him get back with her. I never helped, told him that he didn’t value her and now she moved on. But God, was I wrong? This man showed up to my sister host family house, uninvited, and the host family (on their right to do it) got very upset that a strange had their address and kicked her out of their house, causing her to not complete the last months of exchange.
I always hated that, hated the fact that I know my sister shared the address, the fact that she fell for his bullshit again ruining what she had. My host family allowed her to live with us for 1 months and then she moved to Texas to live with him.
Fast forward 3 years, they both live together in Texas, my sister became miserable, she doesn’t take care of herself, has no career, work two jobs, pay all the bills by herself (she claims she’s being paying everything by herself for only 6 months) but me and my family know it’s longer than that. I tried to tell her once how she deserves better and she didn’t talk to me for weeks and said I was dead to her. I get it, I should leave it alone, she’s an adult. But hurts me seeing someone lose so much potential in someone else that is not worth it.
Here are some other points it makes me hate their relationship:
He’s unemployment status: he’s constantly “looking for jobs” never stick long enough to it and when he’s unemployed he’s always sleeping or watching Anime.
He doesn’t help at home, my sister works 60 hours a week and when get home the dishes are dirty and he’s telling her how he’s hungry. What????
His anger issues: he thinks that is ok to beat people. And the only reason he don’t do it now is because he avoids to go out, to bars, to drink, tell my sister what to wear so he “doesn’t have to lose his temper with any men”. Like, control yourself.
He was arrested twice. Once, him and his fucked up ex wife had a fight because one she cheated on him and second she pinched their daughter, because of that he slaps her gets arrested. Second arrest was because he got upset about a man “calling him a bitch” over the phone and he searched this man from bar to bar and beat the man very bad. And both of this he told my fiance since my sister try to hide that he has issues.
Every time my sister almost opened her eyes he would come up with some bullshit about how he was planning to propose and after she came back he would say he’s not ready for marriage. I saw that as god sign for her to leave before making the mistake to get married, but unfortunately she did.
He has two kids that was not raised by him because of his arrests, the kids had a hell of childhood because of the abusive mother too, but instead of be present in their life now, nope. He’s not. His son has physiological issues and he tells everyone his kids is a psychopath. Instead of be a dad and try to help his kids, he shits on them.
He’s jealousy, my sister became another person. She used to dress pretty, had a beautiful and healthy body, loved makeup, going ou, having friends… now my sister is 15kg heavier, dress covering herself, never wear any top or shorts in the gym… I heard him once telling her the she promised him to not wear shorts and top at the gym. ?????
I don’t think my sister will ever have a comfortable life because is always her working, he’s already 36yo. I don’t think she should settle for such shitty life.
Last one, my sister is slowly becoming him, she has no career yet, is working at dentist office front desk (no problem with that) but she has a degree, experience, why she’s not working on her career?
Now I’ll say, the only thing that makes me guilty is because he had a very hard childhood, mom with drug issues, abusive step dad, poverty and that I can sympathize with. But this doesn’t mean he’s a good husband.
I know I probably should just leave her alone and she’ll open her eyes eventually, but men how do I love this girl. We grew up so close, we have each others back, I know how big her heart is and how good of a person she is. Her only issue? Not racional, her heart speaks for her and I’m afraid she’ll live this shitty life forever. Now part of the reason may be because I’m selfish and just don’t want to be linked to their mess, I’m actually embarrassed every time he talks about his life. After my engagement party where a lot of people me them, I had to hear comments about “how bad he talked about his kids”, “he seems like someone that doesn’t like to work”… and I just hate being linked to that.
Am I wrong for constantly telling her to leave him?

Context and More Context
1) I wanted to title this "What I learned in boating school is..." really badly. I may still do it. If its titled like that, just know, Satan won this round.
2) Incels are not very good with common sense. Do you have any idea how bad at common sense you have to be for a cult follower to tell you you're bad at it? Example- some of them genuinely believe that I made my posts as "research" for a "study". This is laughably stupid considering that I literally posted everything I was doing, saying and learning in plain sight. I've written several research reports and contributed to many studies (a lot of ppl think I didnt go to school bc of the cult. We still went to school, guys. I have a Masters degree). If I ever tried to present my Reddit activity as a source, my professor would rightfully kick my teeth in. No one cares enough to "study" you guys anymore. Incels are kinda....played out. Its all about the manosphere guys now.
3) Speaking of manosphere, I've learned that they are better people than incels. Dont get me wrong, they will not see the light of heaven either, but at least they have some balls. I guess I'd rather misogyny with some backbone than misogyny that whimpers, simps, begs and cries all day idk.
4) I won't call you guys out but YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE, about half of the guys bitching in my comments were also in my DMs trying to "get to know me" and "giving me the benefit of the doubt to see if I'm real". Some of them, ESPECIALLY ONE OF YOU, literally commented something negative under my post after I didnt respond to him. A lot of you are fake as fuck and it's hilarious to watch you put on a show in the comments then immediately apologize in the DMs.
5) Incels believe that they should get attention from women despite hating women and being ugly. I can not figure out this logic. Like, dude, what are the positive traits? Give me one good reason why anyone should like you. If you can't, then why are you mad? We hate you for the same reason you hate yourself. Seems fair to me but idk
6) I wont get into the details outside of the above context, but listening to a bunch of guys tell me how easy my life mustve been simply because I was born a women has been.....enlightening. Buddy, I witnessed my 10 year old baby brother shoot himself in the head when I was 12, but nevermind all that. You're two inches shorter than average height. That's the real struggle.
7) As to Mr. CHARMING from the first post. He isnt. But thats okay. I found something even better than a charming man😋 iykyk
8) In a suprise twist, this post made its way out of the incel loser community and I woke up to a startling number of DMs from non-incels (men and women) asking me to stop interacting with you guys. I've learned that Im actually a total catch. The cult was very traditional in its values so I was raised to be basically a trad wife. My desire to serve and be submissive is a highly desired trait (like wayyyy more highly desired than I thought). I also thought my general cluelessness about the outside world would hold me back (which is why I was looking for incels that also were shut off from society). Turns out, even thats not really a problem. Apparently, they think it's cute. I know most of them are just trying to get something from me, but I figure, if all men really are just users and manipulative liars, I'm at least going to be with one thats being nice to me. The incels are not nice to me. The Chads are very nice to me. Turns out, Im a "high-value woman". Who knew?
9) To sum it all up, I thought incels wanted to get a gf, so I came here to be a gf. I learned that they dont actually want gfs. This is about performative self-pitying - not actual pain or societal issues. I know some of you idiots will say that the responses I got were because they think Im a troll, but I addressed that point already. Never got an answer on it either. Wonder why?
10) To all the incels that bitch and moan about how girls only want "Chads". This is how you create that type of girl. The incels dont want to change. They want to reinforce their own worldview. Well, here ya go. I'm never giving an inc a chance again. Youll die alone while Im out here dodging dick like it's a bullet in The Matrix. It took 72 hours with you guys to learn how awful you are. 25 years in a cult somehow didnt make me hate ugly guys, yet 3 fucking days with you guys did the trick. Absolutely incredible.
Please feel free to seethe in the comments below. I dont care and your anger fuels me. I spent most of my morning laughing my ass off in a group chat of real men at the stupid shit yall say. So please leave a comment. Bitching and moaning seems to be your favorite activity. I gave you a chance to do that. Youre welcome!🥰🥰🥰
Ps-dont do it iykyk

I (f18) have never had something like this happen before. For starters over the last year I’ve gained a very new sense of self confidence, and suddenly a lot more guys have shown an interest in me, though I truthfully am awful at picking up on the signs. But the last few months I have found myself in a tight spot. I am a strict monogamous and feel wrong about talking to more than one guy at a time, but I just don’t know what to do. Both men are great in their own ways. Guy A (M22) I met on a trip to New York, it was like a scene out of a story book, he flirted with me a little and gave me free food from his food cart. I kicked myself for not getting his contact so the next day when I ran into him I got the courage to ask for his instagram. We have been talking daily since. The issue is English is not his first language, so sometimes our conversation are limited by such. There will be 2-3 day periods where he sends hearts and kisses, and then 2-3 day periods where all I get is a good morning. He lives rather far and is a solid four years older. But I would hate to give up on what seems so unique and special, especially when it felt so surreal. The other guy (M18) I see daily at school. We are both going into the same field of work and will be headed to collage in the same area. I used to have a sort of teasing bond with him, always messing with him and playing jokes about his height and color blindness. But it seems as years passed he changed at some point he was no longer a boy but a man. It’s small things he does that make me smile. But I would hate to ruin that friendship. There is a lot more I could say about both parties, but I wish to keep this as anonymous as possible. I just don’t know what my next step is.

So I barely know much about swing weight except that "typically" women are in the C's and the men are in the D's (D0-D2). Well, I found a site where you can input the weight and fulcrum length and it'll calculate the swing weight. Well I've changed the grips on my irons and down, then I cut down my driver and 3W to get them more in line with the PGA average and not the extra inch that the manufacturer are putting on these days... anyways, point of me saying that is that my swing weights are ALL over the place.
1) How likely are the following weights screwing up any kind of consistency I have (or don't have)? Are they making things harder?
2) Should I try to get them all the same and then go from there?
3) My favorite clubs are my hybrids (C9 and D0) and my wedges (D1-D2). So I'm thinking I like "heavier" feeling clubs. Should I maybe bump everything up to D1 and adjust from there?
I was thinking adding lead tape to the clubs that need weight.
DR = C5 3W = C5 3H = D0 4H = C9 5i = C7 6i = C9 7i = D1 8i = C8 9i = C9 PW = C9 GW = D0 52 = D1 56 = D2 60 = D2
​

Upon finishing my first read of volume VI, and having completed all Silmarillion, Hobbit, LoTR and Unfinished Tales, as well following the notes all along the books, I have found the process of the writing of LoTR quite intriguing but above wonderful the final result as published in the following years 1954 and 1955.
I dare to say that the vast majority of people didn't know that J.R.R. Tolkien didn't expected to write a "sequel" to the Hobbit, which is what become the most acclaimed book and the most recognized work of this U.K philologist.
When I read the Silmarillion, I entered in a kind of shock to know that Tolkien was the same author of the three works; The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings and the Silmarillion, because they differ quite a lot in the narrative style, but the story as well, and after finished the Silmarillion I felt quite sad because of the nature of the conclusion of such magnificent work.
Following along the Return of the Shadow is to bear along with the author the evolution of the story as possibly presented by his son, nonetheless many ideas are assumption unless J.R.R Tolkien would be there to question, is funny to think that the final result is a product of deviations in mind and thought, trying to picture the original characters as these were originally conceived is real funny having the widespread of after-publishing material revolving about tLotR, for instance among all these changes one that quite marks my mind is that Aragorn first devised as Trotter was not an man, but a Hobbit tentatively, and there almost at the end when the company returns from the Pass of Caradhras, there is written that Boromir helped Trotter and Frodo to get in the horse to pass the snow, which makes me imagine even more funny the situation due the alter and final state of the work, where Aragorn (here addressed as Trotter) belongs to this lost race of men that exile to Middle-Earth upon the sink of their island.
Let's see what else shares with us Sr. Christopher Tolkien about this process of his father with the The Treason of Isengard volume VII, which I'm about to start.

you know when your family supports you but that doesn't change their thinking anyway? it's so annoying and stupid because it's very hypocritical, like when they throw shit at gnc people, trans people, gays etc while you're next to them, make it make sense, when they say ewwwwwwww to all the queer things or just treat them like ALIENS with mental problems while u are the queer thing in person, i honestly hate it (transphobia affects me because i'm seen as trans due to physical changes + weird gender, and homophobia because i'm seen as gay due to sexuality) and when i have to listen to such stupid sayings and beliefs about men and women, like why why why i have ears? it gets me soooooo uncomfortable, "men/women are:" and you are there existing as if You were nothing, i also can't stand when on TV they watch things where there are normative couples, because i know that they are watching that as a model of what is correct, i know that they are seeing that while my existence is incorrect for them due to not complying with that, because if a couple, a woman and a man are not a certain way it makes them disgusted and they say shit, it's weird, it's UNNATURAL and IT'S A MEDICAL PATHOLOGY (literally for them i am gnc as diagnosed disease 💀) so i am all of what they're explicitly being weirded out, but i am safe bc i'm loved and it's okay in me (i am a biological failure)

As chaotic as the game is, I never expected for Brandi and Kaylynn to have solid three bolts of chemistry. But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Special thanks to ACR.
Both are family sims, but they certainly don't have the life they would wish for. Brandi's doing horribly financially, raising three children alone. Kaylynn is taken advantage of by two horrible men. A match made in heaven, I would say!
But I do wish to know others' opinion. So, what do you think?