This News Nation interview with Bob Macedonio from Friday is fascinating. He pretty much acts throughout the entire interview as though it's a given that RH is guilty, talking about technology catching up to him, him changing his MO, saying RH "never even thought of that" about being able to get DNA from hair. He does throw in an "if this is true" a few times but it seems pretty clear it's just to cover himself.
But the most interesting thing to me is when he is talking about the rooms focused on during the search. He lets slip that luminol was used (right around 3:58-4:02).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjM5TKvEIvg

Hi :) I am considering buying my first wig. After being blonde and bleaching the hell out of my hair, I have ended up with a very short Bob and damaged hair. I don’t feel pretty at all with short hair and I also suffer from very bad psoriasis on my scalp with very big sores and flakyness ( dont know if that is a word)
Is it possible to wear a wig with psoriasis ? I am looking at Moramode modesty range, since I am not completly invested in paying several thousands on a wig, before I know if I Can learn how to wear, glue and all..
The people I have told that I am considering wearing a wig has started laughing, apparently here in Denmark, wigs are considered only for cancer and people with alopecia..
But my idea is to wear a wig and give my hair and scalp a complete break from styling and products.. Dont know if this is silly.
Do you have any recommendations on a beginner friendly wig? I am based in Denmark and here we dont have as many options and wigshops..
Hope my english makes sense 😂

I’m not officially out as gender-fluid, but people who I’m close to already know. I’ve never been one to actually say anything about sexuality, gender, etc. unless asked. I live in a small redneck town where people are judged about everything and I’m a very sensitive person. I like having my long hair but I want to cut it short like a men’s haircut so bad. I dislike wigs a lot and refuse to wear them, i’ve been thinking about dying my hair light blue and cutting it short but I think I would regret it afterwards. I’ve gotten a short bob like haircut before and I don’t think I like it on me. Any recommendations?

I may be late to celebrate his royal badness' birthday, but I did this to honor him. . Wedding Feast - 0:00/0:54 My Little Pill - 0:00/1:09 An Honest Man - 0:00/1:13 Sister - 0:00/1:31 Breathe - 0:00/2:01 All the Midnights in the World - 0:00/2:21 The Flow - 0:00/2:26 Extraordinary - 0:00/2:28 There is Lonely - 0:00/2:29 Don't Play Me - 0:00/2:48 The Marrying Kind - 0:00/2:49 Everywhere - 0:00/2:54 Noon Rendezvous - 0:00/3:00 Aintturninround - 0:00/3:02 Dream Factory - 0:00/3:07 I Like It There - 0:00/3:15 Da Bang - 0:00/3:19 The Same December - 0:00/3:24 Pretzelbodylogic - 0:00/3:26 When Eye Lay My Hands on U - 0:00/3:41 S.S.T - 0:00/3:42 Funky Design - 0:00/3:45 4ever - 0:00/3:47 Solo - 0:00/3:48 The Morning Papers - 0:00/3:57 $ - 0:00/3:57 Valentina - 0:00/3:59 Make Your Mama Happy - 0:00/4:01 The Latest Fashion - 0:00/4:02 Screwdriver - 0:00/4:14 Work That Fat - 0:00/4:35 U're Gonna C Me (MPLSound) - 0:00/4:36 Circle of Amour - 0:00/4:43 Illusion, Coma, Pimp and Circumstance - 0:00/4:45 Mr. Happy - 0:00/4:46 Dance 4 Me - 0:00/4:58 Dolphin - 0:00/4:59 7 - 0:00/5:10 Thunder - 0:00/5:45 Big Tall Wall v1 - 0:00/5:58 Van Gogh - 0:00/5:59 3 Chains O' Gold - 0:00/6:03 Chocolate Box - 0:00/6:13 . The Rest of My Life - 0:01/1:40 Feel Better, Feel Good, Feel Wonderful - 0:01/3:52 Strange But True - 0:01/4:12 Slow Love - 0:01/4:22 The Love We Make - 0:01/4:39 Housequake - 0:01/4:42 Wally - 0:01/4:44 Man 'O' War - 0:01/5:15 Sex in the Summer - 0:01/5:57 The Holy River - 0:01/6:55 . For You - 0:03/1:08 Teacher, Teacher (1985) - 0:03/3:08 If Eye Was the Man in Ur Life - 0:03/3:09 Teacher, Teacher (1982) - 0:03/3:36 What It Feels Like - 0:03/3:53 Violet the Organ Grinder - 0:03/5:00 Call My Name - 0:03/5:15 Cloreen Bacon Skin - 0:03/15:37 . Cybersingle - 0:04/2:43 Escape - 0:04/3:30 Damn U - 0:04/4:25 Another Lonely Christmas - 0:04/4:53 It - 0:04/5:09 Mad - 0:04/5:35 . Satisfied - 0:05/2:50 I Wanna Melt With U - 0:05/3:50 Like A Mack - 0:05/4:04 Anotherlove - 0:05/4:16 No Call U - 0:05/4:29 Let's Go Crazy - 0:05/4:40 White Mansion - 0:05/4:47 Glam Slam - 0:05/5:07 Sexy M.F. - 0:05/5:26 . Comeback - 0:06/1:59 Let's Have A Baby - 0:06/4:07 . Do U Lie? - 0:07/2:44 Witness 4 The Prosecution v1 - 0:07/4:00 We Gets Up - 0:07/4:18 Call the Law - 0:07/4:21 . Walk in Sand - 0:08/3:29 Strollin' - 0:08/3:47 Alphabet St. - 0:08/5:38 Big Tall Wall v2 - 0:08/5:46 The Cocoa Boys - 0:08/6:05 I Rock, Therefore I Am - 0:08/6:15 Holly Rock - 0:08/6:38 . Splash - 0:09/2:59 Way Back Home - 0:09/3:05 Kiss - 0:09/3:37 Dreamin' About U - 0:09/3:52 Good Love - 0:09/4:55 5 Women - 0:09/5:13 . Starfish and Coffee - 0:10/2:50 Pearls B4 The Swine - 0:10/3:01 What's My Name - 0:10/3:03 Walk Don't Walk - 0:10/3:07 4 the Tears in Your Eyes - 0:10/3:25 In A Large Room With No Light - 0:10/3:27 On the Couch - 0:10/3:33 Musicology - 0:10/4:24 Rockhard in a Funky Place - 0:10/4:34 Dead On It - 0:10/4:40 Slave - 0:10/4:51 200 Balloons - 0:10/5:06 . Objects in the Mirror - 0:11/3:27 Lemon Crush - 0:11/4:15 One Kiss at a Time - 0:11/4:41 Same Page, Different Book - 0:11/4:41 Hot Wit U - 0:11/5:09 La, La, La, He, He, Hee - 0:11/10:53 . Sarah - 0:12/2:52 Boom - 0:12/3:18 A Case of U - 0:12/3:39 Judas Smile - 0:12/6:33 Something Funky (This House Comes) - 0:12/7:04 . Marz - 0:13/1:48 Velvet Kitty Cat - 0:13/2:42 Da Bourgeoise - 0:13/3:23 One of Your Tears - 0:13/3:27 Silly Game - 0:13/3:30 Resolution - 0:13/3:37 Incense and Candles - 0:13/4:04 Lolita - 0:13/4:06 Moonbeam Levels - 0:13/4:22 I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man - 0:13/6:29 . Have a Heart - 0:14/2:04 Into the Light - 0:14/2:46 Gotta Stop (Messin' About) - 0:14/2:57 You're All I Want - 0:14/3:00 Thieves in the Temple - 0:14/3:20 I Will - 0:14/3:37 Hardrocklover - 0:14/3:42 Stare - 0:14/3:45 When You Were Mine - 0:14/3:46 All A Share Together - 0:14/3:47 There's Something I Like About Being Your Fool - 0:14/3:49 Everybody Loves Me - 0:14/4:08 Lion of Judah - 0:14/4:10 If It'll Make U Feel Happy - 0:14/4:12 The Most Beautiful Girl in the World - 0:14/4:25 Soul Sanctuary - 0:14/4:41 The Arms of Orion - 0:14/5:03 S&M Groove - 0:14/5:07 Planet Earth - 0:14/5:51 . Had U - 0:15/1:26 Tangerine - 0:15/1:33 Make-Up - 0:15/2:26 I Would Die 4 U - 0:15/2:59 The Other Side of the Pillow - 0:15/3:21 Old Friends 4 Sale - 0:15/3:28 Girl - 0:15/3:48 Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? - 0:15/3:49 When Will We B Paid - 0:15/4:07 Partyup - 0:15/4:22 Mellow - 0:15/4:24 Private Joy - 0:15/4:28 I Pledge Allegiance to Your Love - 0:15/4:41 Joy in Repetition - 0:15/4:53 The Dance (3121) - 0:15/5:20 I Wanna Be Your Lover - 0:15/5:50 Just as Long as We're Together - 0:15/6:25 Do Me, Baby - 0:15/7:44 . Dinner With Delores - 0:16/2:46 Soft and Wet - 0:16/3:05 Act of God - 0:16/3:13 Tell Me How U Wanna Be Done - 0:16/3:15 New World - 0:16/3:43 Free Urself - 0:16/3:47 Graffiti Bridge - 0:16/3:51 When 2 R in Love - 0:16/3:59 Rocknroll Loveaffair - 0:16/4:01 Breakdown - 0:16/4:04 The Dance - 0:16/4:45 Loveleft, Loveright - 0:16/5:00 Uptown - 0:16/5:29 Peace - 0:16/5:32 The Daisy Chain - 0:16/6:12 Sleep Around - 0:16/7:42 . Arrogance - 0:17/1:35 I Wish U in Heaven - 0:17/2:48 Life Can Be So Nice - 0:17/3:13 Dionne - 0:17/3:13 Wonderful Day - 0:17/3:47 Cinnamon Girl - 0:17/3:56 2 Whom It May Concern - 0:17/4:00 Sweet Baby - 0:17/4:01 Supercute - 0:17/4:13 Money Don't Grow on Trees - 0:17/4:19 Vavoom - 0:17/4:35 Nothing Compares 2 U - 0:17/4:39 High - 0:17/5:05 Girls & Boys - 0:17/5:29 Baby You're A Trip - 0:17/5:51 Wouldn't You Love to Love Me? - 0:17/5:56 Get Yo Groove On - 0:17/6:31 Positivity - 0:17/7:11 . The Morning After - 0:18/2:11 Tamborine - 0:18/2:44 Manic Monday - 0:18/2:51 Last Heart - 0:18/3:01 Jack U Off - 0:18/3:09 Fallinlove2nite - 0:18/3:12 Fury - 0:18/4:02 Don't Say U Love Me - 0:18/4:20 Now - 0:18/4:30 Don't Let Him Fool Ya - 0:18/4:34 Ripopgodazippa - 0:18/4:38 Jealous Girl v2 - 0:18/4:52 Jughead - 0:18/4:57 Little Red Corvette - 0:18/4:58 Witness 4 The Prosecution v2 - 0:18/5:02 Daddy Pop - 0:18/5:17 I Need A Man - 0:18/5:33 Trouble - 0:18/5:36 Eye Hate U - 0:18/5:53 Ain't Gonna Miss U When U're Gone - 0:18/6:01 Purple Rain - 0:18/8:40 Come - 0:18/11:13 . Lavaux - 0:19/3:03 Man in a Uniform - 0:19/3:07 I Feel for You - 0:19/3:24 Forever in My Life - 0:19/3:30 Katrina's Paper Dolls - 0:19/3:30 My Love is Forever - 0:19/4:11 Horny Pony v2 - 0:19/4:21 You're My Love - 0:19/4:23 Prettyman - 0:19/4:24 Goodbye - 0:19/4:34 Money Don't Matter 2 Night - 0:19/4:47 U're Gonna C Me - 0:19/5:16 Damned If Eye Do - 0:19/5:21 Adonis and Bathsheba - 0:19/5:27 We Can Funk - 0:19/5:28 Schoolyard - 0:19/7:11 She Spoke 2 Me - 0:19/8:20 . Gotta Broken Heart Again - 0:20/2:16 X's Face - 0:20/2:38 The Lubricated Lady - 0:20/2:39 Jungle Love - 0:20/3:03 Boyfriend - 0:20/3:08 It Be's Like That Sometimes - 0:20/3:19 Ain't About 2 Stop - 0:20/3:38 New Power Generation - 0:20/3:39 Crimson and Clover - 0:20/3:51 Boytrouble - 0:20/3:53 Compassion - 0:20/3:55 The Question of U - 0:20/3:59 Tip O' My Tongue - 0:20/4:08 Love and Sex - 0:20/4:11 Silicon - 0:20/4:15 What Do U Want Me 2 Do? - 0:20/4:15 Chaos and Disorder - 0:20/4:19 Life 'O' the Party - 0:20/4:29 Blue Light - 0:20/4:38 The Voice - 0:20/4:42 Anna Stesia - 0:20/4:57 Willing and Able - 0:20/5:00 Hide the Bone - 0:20/5:03 Beginning Endlessly - 0:20/5:27 When the Dawn of the Morning Comes - 0:20/6:16 Northside - 0:20/6:31 . Crazy You - 0:21/2:17 Shut This Down - 0:21/3:03 Reflection - 0:21/3:04 Baby - 0:21/3:10 Face Down - 0:21/3:17 Sexual Suicide - 0:21/3:39 Strange Relationship - 0:21/4:01 Silver Tongue - 0:21/4:22 Trust - 0:21/4:24 The Work, Pt. 1 - 0:21/4:28 3121 - 0:21/4:31 My Computer - 0:21/4:37 Sticky Like Glue - 0:21/4:46 Crucial - 0:21/5:06 My Tender Heart - 0:21/5:06 When We're Dancing Close and Slow - 0:21/5:19 Dear Michaelangelo - 0:21/5:22 Acknowledge Me - 0:21/5:27 Beautiful, Loved and Blessed - 0:21/5:43 Love 2 the 9's - 0:21/5:44 Bold Generation - 0:21/5:53 Get On the Boat - 0:21/6:11 Last December - 0:21/7:57 . New Position - 0:22/2:20 Interactive - 0:22/3:03 The Truth - 0:22/3:33 Do It All Night - 0:22/3:41 Elephants and Flowers - 0:22/3:54 Love... Thy Will Be Done - 0:22/4:07 2morrow - 0:22/4:13 Gett Off - 0:22/4:32 Props'N'Pounds - 0:22/4:35 1010 (Rin Tin Tin) - 0:22/4:42 Standing at the Altar - 0:22/4:49 The Sun, The Moon and Stars - 0:22/5:16 (There'll Never B) Another Like Me - 0:22/6:02 . She Loves Me 4 Me - 0:23/2:49 Sex Shooter - 0:23/3:06 Look At Me, Look At U - 0:23/3:27 Pope - 0:23/3:29 Raspberry Berret - 0:23/3:33 Love Like Jazz - 0:23/3:49 Breakfast Can Wait - 0:23/3:55 La, La, La Means I Love You - 0:23/3:59 The Future - 0:23/4:07 Horny Pony - 0:23/4:19 Annie Christian - 0:23/4:21 Train - 0:23/4:22 It's About That Walk - 0:23/4:25 Mr. Goodnight - 0:23/4:26 The One U Wanna C - 0:23/4:29 Hold Me - 0:23/4:36 Eggplant - 0:23/5:18 In This Bed Eye Scream - 0:23/5:40 All the Critics Love U in New York - 0:23/5:56 Rearrange - 0:23/6:11 Pink Cashmere - 0:23/6:15 . I Wonder U - 0:24/1:39 Everybody Want What They Don't Got - 0:24/2:08 Christopher Tracy's Parade - 0:24/2:11 Courtin' Time - 0:24/2:46 Papa - 0:24/2:48 Curious Child - 0:24/2:57 With You - 0:24/4:00 Something in the Water (Does Not Compute) - 0:24/4:01 Glasscutter - 0:24/4:40 Head - 0:24/4:42 Dance On - 0:24/3:44 How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore - 0:24/3:53 Running Game (Son of a Slave Master) - 0:24/4:05 Wall of Berlin - 0:24/4:16 Undisputed - 0:24/4:20 Muse 2 the Pharaoh - 0:24/4:21 Shy - 0:24/5:03 It's Gonna Be Lonely - 0:24/5:30 Billy Jack Bitch - 0:24/5:31 Cosmic Day - 0:24/5:39 Sexmesexmenot - 0:24/5:40 18 & Over - 0:24/5:40 Superfunkycalifragisexy - 0:24/5:58 Cindy C - 0:24/6:18 Gold - 0:24/7:22 . Horny Toad - 0:25/2:13 319 - 0:25/3:05 And God Created Woman - 0:25/3:18 She's Always in My Hair - 0:25/3:27 Check the Record - 0:25/3:28 Tick, Tick, Bang - 0:25/3:31 Promise To Be True - 0:25/3:38 I Love U in Me - 0:25/4:13 Darling Nikki - 0:25/4:14 Wow - 0:25/4:28 The Song of the Heart - 0:25/4:36 Strays of the World - 0:25/5:06 U Make My Sun Shine - 0:25/7:05 Automatic - 0:25/9:24 . Loose! - 0:26/3:26 2 Y. 2 D. - 0:26/3:49 U Know - 0:26/3:56 Skip to My You My Darling - 0:26/3:57 A Million Days - 0:26/3:50 Movie Star - 0:26/4:25 Power Fantastic - 0:26/4:45 Electric Intercourse - 0:26/4:57 The Ladder - 0:26/5:28 Blanche - 0:26/5:36 Hot Thing - 0:26/5:40 Push - 0:26/5:53 Everyday is a Winding Road - 0:26/6:11 United States of Division - 0:26/6:18 Ol' Skool Company - 0:26/7:30 Shockadelica - 0:26/3:31 . New Power Generation pt. II - 0:27/2:57 Madrid 2 Chicago - 0:27/3:14 Stopthistrain - 0:27/3:41 Whitecaps - 0:27/3:43 Peach - 0:27/3:48 Vicki Waiting - 0:27/4:52 Cause and Effect - 0:27/5:00 The Beautiful Ones - 0:27/5:13 Our Destiny/Roadhouse Garden - 0:27/6:25 2045: Radical Man - 0:27/6:34 Internarional Lover - 0:27/6:36 Time - 0:27/6:49 Joint 2 Joint - 0:27/7:52 Days of Wild - 0:27/9:18 . Betcha By Golly Wow! - 0:28/3:31 Te Amo Corazón - 0:28/3:35 Eye Love U, But Eye Don't Trust U Anymore - 0:28/3:36 Mountains - 0:28/3:57 Still Waiting - 0:28/4:28 Calhoun Square - 0:28/4:46 Da, Da, Da - 0:28/5:15 Stand Up and B Strong - 0:28/5:18 F.U.N.K. - 0:28/7:36 The Everlasting Now - 0:28/8:18 . Yes - 0:29/2:56 Martika's Kitchen - 0:29/4:21 Magnificent - 0:29/4:36 One Day We Will All B Free - 0:29/4:41 Guitar - 0:29/3:45 U Got the Look - 0:29/3:47 Erotic City - 0:29/3:55 Can't Stop This Feeling I Got - 0:29/4:24 Paisley Park - 0:29/4:41 Future Baby Mama - 0:29/4:47 This Could Be Us - 0:29/5:12 Walkin' In Glory - 0:29/5:14 Turn It Up - 0:29/5:23 The Greatest Romance Ever Sold - 0:29/5:33 The Sacrifice of Victor - 0:29/5:40 . Partyman - 0:30/3:11 Here On Earth - 0:30/3:23 Tictactoe - 0:30/3:38 Melody Cool - 0:30/3:39 The Ballad of Dorothy Parker - 0:30/3:55 Lauriann - 0:30/4:15 Sign 'O' The Times - 0:30/5:02 Dreamer - 0:30/5:30 Can I Play With U? - 0:30/6:39 Style - 0:30/6:40 . Ronnie, Talk to Russia - 0:31/1:57 Fixurlifeup - 0:31/3:12 Welcome 2 the Dawn - 0:31/3:17 Take Me With U - 0:31/3:54 Electric Chair - 0:31/4:08 No More Candy 4 U - 0:31/4:12 Emancipation - 0:31/4:13 Rock 'N' Roll is Alive! (And It Lives in Minneapolis) - 0:31/4:34 Right the Wrong - 0:31/4:39 Saviour - 0:31/5:48 Hey U - 0:31/6:10 I Can't Make U Love Me - 0:31/6:37 Controversy - 0:31/7:13 . Baby Knows - 0:32/3:18 So Far, So Pleased - 0:32/3:24 Hot Summer - 0:32/3:32 Pop Life - 0:32/3:43 Delirious - 0:32/3:59 The Word - 0:32/4:11 Cream - 0:32/4:13 1000 X's and O's - 0:32/4:27 Poom Poom - 0:32/4:32 Gigolos Get Lonely Too - 0:32/4:41 The Cross - 0:32/4:45 Free - 0:32/5:08 Shhh - 0:32/7:17 . Laydown - 0:33/3:06 In Love - 0:33/3:37 Emale - 0:33/3:38 This Could B Us - 0:33/4:10 Love and Sex - 0:33/5:00 Play in the Sunshine - 0:33/5:05 Still Would Stand All Time - 0:33/5:23 The Continental - 0:33/5:31 Bob George - 0:33/5:39 When Doves Cry - 0:33/5:53 Gangster Glam - 0:33/6:05 Le Grind - 0:33/6:47 Lady Cab Driver - 0:33/8:16 . Wherever U Go, Whatever U Do - 0:34/3:17 Dig U Better Dead - 0:34/3:59 Sexy Dancer - 0:34/4:18 Alice Through the Looking Glass - 0:34/4:18 Get Blue - 0:34/4:43 Dark - 0:34/6:10 Adore - 0:34/6:31 Feel U Up - 0:34/6:42 Purple Music - 0:34/10:58 . Black Sweat - 0:35/3:11 Underneath the Cream - 0:35/3:59 Y Should Eye Do That When Eye Can Do This - 0:35/4:31 Clouds - 0:35/4:34 Streetwalker - 0:35/4:48 Letitgo - 0:35/5:32 Chelsea Rodgers - 0:35/5:41 Love - 0:35/5:45 . Around the World in a Day - 0:36/3:28 Vagina - 0:36/3:28 Sea of Everything - 0:36/3:49 Diamonds and Pearls - 0:36/4:45 Here - 0:36/5:15 Hypnoparadise - 0:36/6:03 We Can Fuck - 0:36/10:17 . Yah, You Know - 0:37/3:10 Anotherloverholenyohead - 0:37/4:00 Scarlet Pussy - 0:37/4:19 Colonized Mind - 0:37/4:48 Future Soul Song - 0:37/5:08 Welcome 2 America - 0:37/5:23 Jam of the Year - 0:37/6:10 . Baltimore - 0:38/4:33 Somebody's Somebody - 0:38/4:43 3rd Eye - 0:38/4:53 I'm Yours - 0:38/5:02 Groovy Potential - 0:38/6:16 Black Muse - 0:38/7:21 . When She Comes - 0:39/3:45 Animal Kingdom - 0:39/4:01 Sexuality - 0:39/4:19 So Blue - 0:39/4:30 The Human Body - 0:39/5:42 The Last Dance (Bang Pow Zoom And The Whole Nine) - 0:39/5:36 Do Yourself A Favor - 0:39/9:00 . Under the Cherry Moon - 0:40/2:56 Dirty Mind - 0:40/4:13 Irresistible Bitch - 0:40/4:13 Dear Mr. Man - 0:40/4:14 Bambi - 0:40/4:23 Emotional Pump - 0:40/4:59 Lovesexy - 0:40/5:49 Scandalous - 0:40/6:15 . Zannalee - 0:41/2:43 A Place in Heaven - 0:41/2:57 Endorphinmachine - 0:41/4:06 Funknroll (Art Official Age) - 0:41/4:08 Funknroll - 0:41/4:10 Rebirth of the Flesh - 0:41/5:28 The Dance Electric - 0:41/11:29 . Avalanche - 0:42/4:24 Race - 0:42/4:28 Xtralovable - 0:42/5:00 If I Was Your Girlfriend - 0:42/5:01 Somewhere Here on Earth - 0:42/5:45 Wonderful Ass - 0:42/6:24 . Computer Blue - 0:43/3:59 17 Days - 0:43/4:00 The Max - 0:43/4:30 Right Back Here In My Arms - 0:43/4:43 Better with Time - 0:43/4:53 1000 Light Years From Here - 0:43/5:46 . One Nite Alone... - 0:44/3:37 Open Book - 0:44/4:59 Live 4 Love - 0:44/6:59 . Million $ Show - 0:45/3:10 June - 0:45/3:21 The Glamorous Life - 0:45/4:11 When She Comes - 0:45/4:46 Beautiful Strange - 0:45/4:56 Born 2 Die - 0:45/5:03 P. Control - 0:45/5:59 Possessed (1984) - 0:45/7:56 . Golden Parachute - 0:46/5:35 Possessed (1982) - 0:46/8:47 . She Gave Her Angels - 0:47/3:52 Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic - 0:47/4:19 Baby I'm A Star - 0:47/4:24 . Let's Work - 0:48/3:55 The Ball - 0:48/4:34 Friend, Lover, Sister, MotheWife - 0:48/7:37 . Spirit - 0:49/4:32 My Medallion - 0:49/5:07 . America - 0:50/3:45 Space - 0:50/4:28 The Gold Standard - 0:50/5:53 1999 - 0:50/6:15 . Young and Beautiful - 0:51/2:44 God - 0:51/4:02 Let's Pretend We're Married - 0:51/7:18 Temptation - 0:51/8:20 . 100 MPH - 0:52/3:30 The Ride - 0:52/5:13 . One of Us - 0:53/5:19 . Love or $ - 0:54/6:55 . All My Dreams - 0:55/7:24 . Digital Garden - 0:56/4:07 It's Gonna Be a Beautiful Night - 0:56/9:01 . D.M.S.R. - 0:57/8:17 . Pain - 0:58/5:57 . Art Official Cage - 1:00/3:41 We March - 1:00/4:49 . Insatiable - 1:01/6:39 . Revelation - 1:03/5:21 . Fascination - 1:04/4:55 Big City - 1:04/6:25 . Pheromone - 1:11/5:08 My Name is Prince - 1:11/6:38 . 1+1+1 is 3 - 1:16/5:17 . Eye No - 1:22/5:46 . Rainbow Children - 1:27/10:03 . Sometimes It Snows in April - 1:33/6:48 . Crystal Ball - 1:34/10:27 . Hello - 1:59/6:19 . When the Lights Go Down - 2:33/7:11 . Condition of the Heart - 2:45/6:47 . Family Name - 3:01/8:16

I'm 27 now, recently dumped by someone I still would give my life for, even though she ghosted me.
As a child, I had massive paranoia, especially when both my parents had to work, leaving me alone at home with nothing but the internet to distract me. Around 2006-2007, I was in a new town without neighborhood friends or any outlet for my frustrations. I spent hours on ArmorGames, Newgrounds, or chronically on YouTube, consuming the lowest forms of humor to pass the time (just as I still do today). I felt guilty calling my mother every time I heard a creak or the air conditioner kicking on. I lived in a constant state of fear and panic, which was not normal for a child. The television was always blaring some loud, obnoxious show like Drake and Josh or SpongeBob to distract me from the loneliness in a house that felt like it had too many windows.
The Newgrounds Mature section was the dopamine rush I needed when I had nothing else. It felt comforting. The adrenaline rush was exciting, and I’ve been chasing that initial high for 17 years now. Seventeen years of failed relationships, missed connections, overbearing communication, lack of self-confidence, unachieved potential, depression, ignoring my parents' divorce, and avoiding accountability for my actions and shame. I completely and utterly shut away anything I couldn't handle with things that induced an adrenaline rush.
I recently used the Wayback Machine to retrace my steps. I remember the girl with the purple hair blowing kisses at the "Are you over 18?" option menu, the list of games, the exact game I would rush home to play to escape a bad day. I was my own worst enemy, constantly blaming everyone around me for my bad behavior. I kept going back to strip quiz games so often that I became an expert in geography, surpassing my classmates because I knew where obscure African countries were due to my addiction to pornography at 11.
Reflecting now, seeing my cousin play a dating sim with my sister probably imprinted on me more than I realized, even though it was just MS Paint-level art. I recognize this behavior in my nephews. I see how they can't look at themselves in the mirror, their frustrations, their traumas, and how they use Roblox to escape reality just as I did at their age. I was so proud to show them my hats from logging in back in 2008, not realizing how alone I felt at that moment. Now, as an adult, I can recognize how alone that child was.
The internet has poisoned a generation of men, telling them it's okay to escape using social media or pornography. Brothers, it's not okay. You should be able to sit in silence with your thoughts without feeling guilt. I blamed my inability to do this on everything but my own guilt and shame.
At 27, I realize I haven't progressed since that day. I've constantly fallen back on pornography and the internet to self-soothe, to find excuses, to escape, to avoid confronting reality, to pretend I'm okay when I'm not. This behavior hurt the one person I loved unconditionally because it became conditional. I only loved her when i could watch porn or find a way to use porn when she wasn't around, if i keep at this it was going to keep escalating until i don't have a way to control it anymore.
I had such deep love for this person. I would have protected her from anything, faced any adversity for her, and protected her at all costs. What hurt her was the 10-year-old me who was scared of reality, who never aged and was too scared to explore the neighborhood or take a sports seriously. The same 10-year-old who felt the world was constantly judging him for having a homosexual father and a confusing family dynamic. The one who questioned his sexuality at a young age because he thought it was hereditary.
please heal your inner child guys, you're abusing shit because you don't want to face reality and take on discipline.

PLEASEEE be over your ex before messaging me.
PLEASE be 28 or older. Do not send pointless messages saying "Good luck" or "I wish I were single". Do not message me if you're taken.
Facts about moi:
* I work with smol humans for a living.
* You don't have to WANT kids of your own. But, if you don't like kids...you're not for me.
* One of my favorite past-time activities is trying to put together legos high.
* Listening to music high is also an experience (I do Delta since that’s what’s legal. If you’re anti-weed, then we aren’t a match. I don’t do it allll the time. I’m too broke for that life).
* Seriously, doesn't music sound different when you're high?
* Green Day used to be one of my favorite bands. I started listening to them when I wad ten.
* The obsession was real. My ten-year-old self had a binder about the members with all the facts and pictures of Billie (Yes, I was a weird child). I don´t listen to them much anymore. That was practice for my obsession with Panic! at the Disco. I only like one album, though.
* Now my obsession is more towards bands like AVOID, Dayseeker, The Used, etc. I'll listen to the same songs over and over until I can't stand it. I even have a Playlist for that. I recently found a band called Dark Devine, and I dig them.
* I love going to concerts. So, it'd be cool if you liked them too.
* I love love love traveling.
* Please don’t be a giant grouch on vacations. Coworkers complain about their spouse being a shitbird on trips. No thanks.
* I also like staying in, of course! But I’m not a homebody. I struggled during the COVID shutdown. Being cooped up SUCKED. I do not want to beg you to get out of the house. Again, I am NOT a homebody. If you are, we are not a match.
* I have a spicy brain.
* I’m super duper ADHD. Fun times! I’m also like an anxious puppy. Woop woop.
* The most organized thing in my life is this list
* The Office and Parks and Rec are two of my favorite shows. I also like Bob’s Burgers and Avatar The Last Airbender.
* I don't watch a whole lot of TV, honestly...my ADHD brain enjoys the short videos on Tiktok.
* I talk to myself out loud in public.
* I promise I'm only a little crazy...depends on who you ask.
* I like things like tarot (NO I cannot do a card reading for you. I don't know how, I just think it's cool!My friend does readings for me) and other spiritual stuff. If you're into that too, cool!
* I like men with facial hair. I also like men who are more alt-y (think piercings and tattoos...singer of Dark Divine)....but that isn't a requirement! It's just bonus points.

• I prefer men who can lead in the relationship

Why you should date me:
* We can listen to emo bands together whenever you want
* Emo music can mean many things and I’m OK with that.
* You won’t get food poisoning from my cooking
* I can make more than Hamburger Helper and frozen pizzas. Though, the ranch burger hamburger helper is my fave.
* The velveeta skillets are better, though.
* I’m suuuper short. So, if you’re insecure about your height, I gotchu. I’ll make you feel tall..or taller!
* I don’t care about height and it makes me sad that people feel insecure about something they can’t change.
* I’m a great small spoon…but I guess if you REALLY insist, I can be a jetpack. Buuuuutttt it isn't my first choice...but please don't cuddle all night. I want my space and I need to sprawl out and become a blanket burrito...with one leg out because otherwise, I'll get too hot! We just can't have that.

I (19M) am way too much into those cursed hello kitty e-girls. You know, eyeliner, dyed hair, tats and piercings, skirt, socks, cute sassy vibe, kinky, sad music taste, deep convos... You get the idea. In the beginning I thought it'd be just a phase or sth. But it's intensified to a point where I don't even go on dates with "normal" girls anymore. Idk, I just don't really feel attracted to those boring ass sunny girls I constantly see on the mainstream dating apps like Lovoo or Bumble. I want a girl I can smoke weed and get intimate with while being high. Someone that likes walking under the night sky on acid while listenin to peep. Someone that can relate and share the struggles I have with mental health and stuff. Someone that watches SpongeBob, Adventure Time or Rick and Morty with me. And someone that just expresses their personality despite societal norms and people's judgement. But yeah, apparently the girls I'm looking for are a real rarity. At least here in rural areas I live in. So, you guys maybe have any recommendations for dating apps or other ways I can get to know such girls? Would appreciate some advice :')

I used to make videos. Not to a large following, just little interesting clips about life in a small town and the various people who live there. It wasn’t just content for the sake of content, it was a record to show what life was like in the 2020’s for the folks of Tomskog, Minnesota.
I’d done a couple of videos already. One was about the old couple running the corner pub, one was about a landlord, and another was about the principal of the local high school (and their apparent pool troubles). Long story.
I was doing a shorter video about a woman named Marla. She was a beekeeper who worked with moving intrusive hives. This kind of content gets a lot of views, so I figured I’d do a more compact but better edited video this time around. I’d done my research, prepped my gear, and was rearing to go.

I met Marla on a Thursday morning in late May. We took her pickup, had a gas station sandwich for breakfast, and stopped for a quick coffee. I talked to her a bit about her job, her life, and her aspirations. Small town stuff. She was the kind of woman who was happy as long as she could keep up with her payments and have a bit left over for a Netflix subscription. Wholesome.
She drove me out to the site of the day, talking to the camera as we went. We were turning further and further off the paved roads as the suspension struggled against weeds, rock, and gravel.
“There’s a hive near a walking trail,” Marla explained. “A couple of folks called in about their dogs getting scared. It should be fine, but we’re gonna gear up just in case they’re mistaken.”
“You expect us to get stung a lot?” I asked.
“Not really,” she smiled. “Not if you know what you’re doing. But there’ve been times when folks have called in about a hive and it turned out to be paper wasps.”
“Not as pleasant as honeybees.”
“No,” she laughed. “No, they really aren’t”.

We passed through a section of trees that covered both sides of the road; the branches hanging low enough to scrape the hood of the car. Emerging on the other side, a field opened up to our right. A large, wide-open field, covered from end to end in blue sunflowers; a local variety that is, apparently, sort of rare. I asked Marla about them.
“The blues? Yeah, they were introduced as a sort of gimmick back in the… 1930’s, I think? 1940’s maybe? They’re actually quite invasive. I’m surprised there aren’t more of them around.”
“But bees can make honey on them?”
“I guess,” she nodded. “They’re just sunflowers.”
“Have you tried it? Is it blue?”
“Can’t say that I have,” she laughed. “But I’m sure it’s fine. Ordinary sunflower honey is fantastic. Kinda earthy.”

We got out and suited up. It felt like putting on a tent. Marla shared some interesting bee factoids that I didn’t manage to catch on camera, but I made a mental note to ask her to repeat it later. Of course, I wouldn’t. I’m kinda forgetful.
I hadn’t seen a single bee yet, but Marla was already heading out into the field. The sunflowers reached about waist-high, and there was this strange, almost chemical smell in the air. Sort of a mix of chlorine and ammonia. As we got further out, Marla pointed out a couple of flowers to me.
“Right there,” she said. “Get a clip.”
I zoomed in, spotting two bees chilling on a blue sunflower petal. They were just sort of sitting there. They had a slightly more reddish tint to them than I expected. Marla didn’t seem to mind, or notice.

It didn’t take long before we got to the hive. I immediately started filming as we approached. The buzzing got louder as bees started to poke and prod at my defenses, curiously checking for gaps in my gloves and neck. Thankfully, Marla had helped me secure it. Still, the buzzing kinda gave me the creeps. Never been a fan of bugs.
“Yeah, alright,” Marla laughed. “No wonder there are bees. Someone set this up.”
It was a man-made hive, framed with sheets of mahogany. A series of wooden squares with hollow cork pipes lining the inside. The bees had really taken to it, transforming it into a sturdy hive.
“We usually call these bee hotels,” Marla said. “Some kind-hearted local set it up, but as this isn’t private property we have to take complaints into account. I’m gonna make sure we move it to a better location with more nutrition for our free-bee friends here, where they won’t spook any dog-walkers. And of course, we’re keeping the hive. Someone put a lot of thought into this.”

I got a nice video out of it. How she unsecured the hive, moved the sections one by one, and pointed to interesting pieces for the camera. She found the queen and scooped her up in a separate container. Marla stopped for a moment though; apparently, the queen was larger than she’d anticipated. I didn’t really have a frame of reference, so I had to take her word for it.
We wrapped the hive up under a tarp on the pickup and made our way back to Marla’s property. I was afraid all the bumps in the road would shake the bees loose, but they seemed perfectly content. I guess it helped that Marla was a very calm driver, despite some curious bees making their way inside the cabin. We still had the suits on, luckily.
There was a cute hand-painted sign of a bee as we entered Marla’s land. When you live in the middle of nowhere, most folks can get away with owning more land than they need; especially if they don’t mind having spotty internet or a fair drive to the nearest supermarket. One look at Marla showed that she didn’t mind either of these things.

We took some time offloading the hive, finding a good spot on the eastern side of her property. There were plenty of wildflowers for the critters to feast on, and Marla seemed confident in her choice. There wasn’t much more to it; we set it up, captured a couple of finishing thoughts, and called it a day.
As I packed up my gear and took off my suit, I got a moment to speak with Marla without the camera. She was excited to have a new hive, but there was something about her expression that seemed a bit… off.
“I’d love to try some of their honey,” I said. “I think it’d make a great end to the video.”
“Yeah, I’ll keep in touch,” she nodded.
There was an oppressive silence as she stared into the distance. I tilted my head, trying to catch her attention.
“You alright there?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “I, uh… I’m just anxious. New responsibilities, you know?”
“Is there a problem?”
She bit down on her lip, squinting.
“Maybe.”

A couple of days later, I started getting updates. Marla was having some trouble with the hive. It was more aggressive than she’d previously thought, and a lot of the bees had been dying off at alarming rates.
“It happens when you move them sometimes,” she sighed. “It’s rare, but it happens. They can have trouble adapting.”
She managed to get a little honey, but she wasn’t too happy about it. Apparently, it wasn’t as sweet and sugary as she thought it’d be. There was just something off about it, texture-wise. She was gonna make me a little bottle of it either way, for the video, but she advised against eating it.

Returning to my day job, I was looking forward to hearing more from Marla. Out of all the people I’d worked with, she’d been the most eager to contribute to my channel. We kept in touch over the week, discussing future collaborations and other ways we could make content. She suggested making a couple of DIY videos to showcase some neat tricks for would-be hobby apiarists.
The following weekend, we met up again. Another early morning, this time with a light drizzle spattering against the hood of her pickup. The moment she came around, I could tell something had happened. She had these bright red spots on her arms, and she was a lot less talkative than usual. Before I got the chance to talk to her about it, she explained.
“Got swarmed yesterday,” she said. “Never happened before.”
“Those are all stings?”
“That’s just the thing,” she scoffed. “It isn’t. They’re bites.”
“I didn’t think honeybees bit people.”
“They don’t.”
We just looked at one another for a moment. Her marks were pretty nasty, some of them swollen enough to burst. The conclusion was obvious; these weren’t ordinary honeybees.

We made our way back out to the field where we’d found them. I did a little filming, but Marla was self-conscious about her arms. She was scared that it might dissuade people from working with bees, and she kept repeating how it was “her fault” for not handling them correctly. She said it so many times I couldn’t help but to feel she was trying to convince herself rather than me, or an audience.
We made our way out into the field. Marla flipped open a pocketknife and bent down to check on the flowers. Cutting one off at the stem, she examined it for a moment. She held it up for me to see for myself. I looked it over but couldn’t see anything strange – apart from the obvious blue color.
“You gotta touch it,” she said. “Check it.”
So I did. As soon as I touched it, a few petals came loose. The flower was clearly dead and dry.

Checking out a couple more, we came to a startling realization. The entire field was, in fact, completely dead. Bone dry of pollen and sustenance. And, according to Marla, it must’ve been dead for months. I didn’t really understand why that was such a big deal.
“Because,” Marla explained. “The hive flourished out here, in the middle of the field. If they couldn’t survive here, they would’ve migrated, but they didn’t. So what the hell have they been eating?”
“Whatever it was, it’s what must’ve made the honey taste weird.”
“Not just taste,” Marla said, shaking her head. “The smell is the worst. Like stale bacteria and methane.”

Things started to fall into place. Whatever they had been eating out here in the field wasn’t available at Marla’s place; hence why they had been dying and getting more aggressive. Getting back to the pickup, Marla was deep in her own thoughts, drumming her fingers on the dashboard. She couldn’t figure it out. I tried to cheer her up with a pat on her shoulder, which caused her to flinch a little. I probably poked a bitemark.
“Sorry,” I said. “But you know, maybe that’s why they swarmed you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, maybe they tried to eat you up,” I chuckled, pointing to her arms.
“Bees don’t do that,” said Marla, her face stern.
“I know,” I nodded. “Sorry, bad joke.”
But I could tell I’d planted something in Marla’s thoughts. Something that worried her.

As we went back to her property, she explained that there was indeed a kind of bee that was carnivorous. There was a type of bee called the ‘vulture bee’ that fed exclusively on meat. Mostly carrion though; they weren’t active hunters. They couldn’t be, as they were stingless.
“You think these might be vulture bees then?” I asked.
“They live south of the border,” she explained. “Can’t imagine them just, uh… popping up. And even so, they wouldn’t be this aggressive.”
“Would explain the honey though.”
Marla’s face went pale. Had she been eating meat honey?

I decided to hold off on posting my video. This was turning into something more interesting, and I wanted to see it through. I filmed a couple of shots where Marla got to explain the intricacies of vulture bees. She did it in the frame of an interesting fact rather than a suspicion, but I could tell something had changed. She wasn’t as certain anymore, and a bit of eagerness had run out of her. There was a tangible worry there.
As we went out back to check out the hive, Marla stopped. Her eyes widened.
“Turn off the camera,” she hissed.
Three dead pigeons; covered in bees.

From that point on, I was fully invested. This was something neither of us had seen before; unfamiliar ground. It didn’t take long for Marla to confirm that the honey she’d harvested did, indeed, contain a meat protein. After that, it was just a matter of observation.
Yes, the bees ate flesh. They bit instead of stung. But they weren’t vulture bees.
These were larger, more aggressive, and had a wider abdomen. Their mandibles were longer, and they had a slightly reddish tint to them. It was difficult to tell whether the color was a result of mutation or blood. The dead pigeons were stripped to the sinew in surprisingly little time.
Marla didn’t know what to do. She’d been working with preserving bees since she was a teenager, and this whole situation was testing her. She didn’t want to just kill the hive, but she couldn’t let them spread either. These could be highly invasive.

But she took too long to decide. Just a couple of days later, two of the other hives on her property had been completely decimated. The red bees had killed and devoured all of them; leaving only empty chambers and hollow carapaces behind. When Marla facetimed me about it, she couldn’t hold back the tears.
By now, I considered myself a friend of hers. We’d talked a lot and got along really well, and it wasn’t just about content anymore. I didn’t want to see her like that; she deserved better. I offered to drop by and brainstorm a bit. I figured she needed the company. She’d done at least two dozen of these bee rescues, and the one time someone came to cheer her on it all went to hell. That had to suck.

So I dropped by one day after work. The sun was setting. Dark clouds on the horizon.
I noticed them the moment I stepped out of my car. A handful of red bees climbed the white picket fence outside Marla’s house. A few others were clustered in a particular spot near the edge of the house; no doubt feasting on a small bird or a rodent. I went up to the door and rung the bell, ducking from a couple of curious bees trying to make themselves comfortable in my rough post-work hairdo.
Marla invited me into her kitchen, offering me homemade lemonade. She had these custom-made coasters with cartoon bees on them, along with the logo for her rescue. I could tell she’d taken a couple of sudden precautions. There were tape lining the edges of the windows, as well as a plastic sheet covering the ventilation duct. No wonder the air felt stale.
“No one knows what to do,” she sighed. “I called the Wyatt brothers, South Bound Api… they can’t even believe it. They actually don’t believe that I have what I say I have.”
“And what is that? What is it you have?”
She sighed, scratching her eyebrows. A kind of nervous tic.
“There’s no name, but… I mean, I know what they do. I know now. They’re like the vulture bees, but…”
She threw her arms up in surrender. I could tell she was tired. One of her eyes drooped a little lower than the other. Might’ve been from a bite too.

Marla spent the better part of an hour showing me websites, witnesses to similar bees, drawings, and descriptions. She talked about the application of pesticides, mutations, climate change, GMOs, and microplastics. Hell, at one point, she was bringing up 5G towers as a possible culprit. She was all over the place, and I could tell her heart wasn’t in it. It was all just desperation; grasping at straws.
After a couple of hours, well into the dark of the evening, we’d gone from homemade lemonade to lukewarm, well-nursed beers. We’d run out of ideas and topics. Instead, we just stood by the kitchen window, watching the red bees crawl across the glass. Marla put down her bottle; this time without using one of her cartoon bee coasters.
“Check this out,” she said.
She placed her hand on the window, and the bees outside immediately swarmed to it. Within seconds, there was a cluster of at least 40 crowding around her hand, on the other side of the glass.
“Give them a minute,” she continued. “It’s kinda crazy.”

They started to move in a pattern. A sort of pulse, moving counter-clockwise from a perfect circle into a four-armed spiral. Their wings pattered in unison; a buzzing noise that scratched against the windowpane.
“I can’t explain that,” she said. “I can explain following my hand, or killing other hives, but that?”
She shook her head, not looking away.
“I can’t explain that.”

It got a little bit too late, and I’d had a couple of beers too many, so I decided to crash on her couch. I wrapped myself in a blanket and pulled a pillow up to my ear, so I wouldn’t have to hear the buzzing outside. It wasn’t loud, but it was such a distinct sound that I couldn’t un-hear it. Marla didn’t seem to share the same issue though, she just walked into her room and that was that. Out like a light.
I had an uneasy sleep, falling in and out of surface-level dreams. I remember forcing my eyes open - just to see if I could. I was uncomfortable, and I couldn’t stop hearing that buzzing noise. Even when things were quiet, I kept imagining myself hearing it. I’d see little black spots on the windows as they landed and disappeared, looking for a way in.
Somewhere in the early morning hours, I was finally out cold.

I didn’t notice those first few sounds. How the tapping against the window got louder. How the patterns got bigger and clearer. I was finally asleep, and it was already too late when I woke up.
I was lying on my side as I popped open a single eye, only to see a red bee on my hand calmly brushing itself clean. I didn’t notice the droning noise at first, until I realized the background noise of the room was different. Looking beyond that first red bee, towards the window, I realized something.
The pattern of bees was on the inside of the window.
There were hundreds of bees already inside the room.
But the sound was closer than that. It was all around me, and somewhere in the background, I could hear a breeze. Was the front door open?

I tried to stay completely still, but I could feel something in my chest tightening. I wanted to brush the bee off, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. Something was holding me back, keeping me from just waving my arms around and getting out. There was something more to this.
Seconds later, there was a noise. A rising murmur, like a moving mass. Best way I can describe it is a vibrating burlap bag followed by meaty footsteps. Not loud, but not quiet either. Someone didn’t care too much about waking me.
If there was ever a time to get up, to run, or to fight – that was it. But all I did was lie there, staring at that one red bee on my hand, listening to something slowly approach from behind. It’s as if I knew how badly outmatched I really was.

I could feel something shift as the side of the couch was grabbed. Creaking noises as fingers dug into old leather.
Snapping sounds. Sinew and muscle stretching and realigning under a thin layer of skin. Forced breathing and hissing descending on me from above. Little sniffs – then silence. I held my breath.
“…y o u t o o k m y h i v e.”
Less of a voice, and more of a collision of wings and carapaces. A shaped buzzing. The red bee on my hand looked straight into my eyes. Not a single twitch. Nothing.
“I didn’t,” I whispered under my breath, trying not to move my mouth. “I-I… I didn’t.”

There was a pause. A sudden shift as someone stepped back. A little moving mass came loose, dropping on top of my blanket. A handful of red bees, carefully spreading out to investigate me. Behind me, footsteps – leading into Marla’s bedroom. I could hear her deep breaths from here.
I stayed completely still. I was unharmed. I’d be fine - I just had to wait. Every nerve in my body felt like it was put through a white fire – still, controlled, and desperate to explode into action. As little creatures made their way across me, carefully looking me over, the pores on my skin were screaming at me to move, itch, and shudder. I could feel the hairs on my neck rise; only to be tugged on by eager mandibles.
Then, a scream.

Marla screamed. A bloody, mind-piercing, screech. The kind of scream that you just know means pain. Hearing it was like feeling a physical push, and I couldn’t hold myself from acting any longer.
I rolled off the couch, trying to shake the bees off. The cluster on the window exploded into a disorganized attack, swarming every piece of me, and the room, and the adjoining kitchen. They were inside my clothes, in my hair, in my eyebrows, and they were going to eat their fair share. Every bite was white-hot fire, followed by a sudden stinging cold.
I ran outside. I remember taking off my clothes, waving my shirt around. Shoeless and burned by bites, I ran from her house; making as much space between me and the hive as possible.

There was this blur of buzzing, biting, flailing, and screaming. Some of it mine, some if it Marla’s, in the distance. Little red spots crawling across my waving shirt. I threw myself on the ground, rolling in the grass. I smacked my body with the palm of my hand over and over, ensuring me that the little tickle I felt wasn’t another one of them.
Then I just lay there, panting in the grass. They were gone. A single red bee on the palm of my hand remained, carefully brushing itself, before casually flying off.
I could feel the soothing morning dew on my cheek. I slowly sat back up, leaning against a tree. I could see Marla’s house in the distance as I gasped for air. There was a heaviness to my lungs, like I couldn’t completely fill them.

A man stepped out. Or at least the shape of a man, it was hard to tell at that distance. It was as if he wasn’t completely solid; his silhouette kept shifting even as he stood still. He stopped in the doorway, looked me way, and just sort of… dissolved.

I burst into action.
My phone was still inside, but I had a backup in my car. I wrestled it out of the glove compartment, staining the driver’s seat with spots of blood. My fingertips were bleeding, making it hard to call emergency services. My cheek and tongue were swollen, making it even harder to speak.
I made my way back inside as I frantically explained what’d happened. What would you even call it? An assault? Marla wasn’t in her bedroom, but there was plenty of blood. There was a sound further in. Her shower was running.
She’d made it to her bathroom and dropped into her tub. She’d turned on the water, hoping to keep them off. The end result was her ending up swollen and unconscious in the bathtub; dead bees bobbing in the water around her. Some still twitching.
It was horrifying. She was bitten, and it wasn’t just from bees. There were miscolored marks from all kinds of stings, coloring her skin both a burning red, a pale white, and a faint green. Her neck was almost as thick as her head.
But she was alive.

Emergency services arrived. They managed to keep her alive, but she had to be put on a ventilator. They claimed she’d had a massive allergic reaction. They said something similar about me; completely ignoring the eyewitness account of a strange intruder. It didn’t help that neither me or Marla could say the slightest comprehensive thing about their appearance or identity.

It took some time, but I recovered. Marla too. By the time she got back home, not a single hive was left. Every single one had been butchered and devoured. And the red bees, well, they were just gone – along with their handmade hive.
Not too long ago, I talked to a friend-of-a-friend who worked at the Sheriff’s office. I told them where we’d found that first hive. He asked me at least three times if I was sure that that was the specific spot. Of course I was. I even had a clip of it.
Turns out, that place had been the discovery site of at least half a dozen unidentified bodies a couple of years ago.
Which, in turn, made me wonder. A couple of wanderers in the area had spoken about finding dead animals on the trail, only for them to be gone the next morning. It wouldn’t surprise me if that field was littered with bones. But with the way these things work, there is no telling what else might’ve gone missing along that trail.

That conversation is what spurred me to write this all down. Marla and I will never publish that video, and for all intents and purposes, neither of us will bring it up. This never happened. This couldn’t be real. We can’t move on with our lives if we keep talking about it, because there is nothing we can say that will make it alright.
Instead, she has new hives. She has a new smile.
And for a while, I think we can lie to ourselves just enough to make it.

Episode Synopsis: Life in Newbury couldn't be better for the DeMello family, but life is about to change for young Carmen and Duncan. After a bizarre incident at school, Carmen, Duncan and their friend approached by a group of people who want to teach them protect their town, and save it from a supernatural menace.
Act 1: The Rising Sun
The camera zooms in on the DeMello residence and into Carmen's room as she sleeps through the morning. She becomes as grouchy as an angry racoon after her alarm clocks goes off, and she proceeds to slam her fist onto it. She proceeds to get out of bed, brush her teeth and hair, and find her school clothes. She finds a picture of her and the whole family, but suddenly feels an unfortunately familiar heartache.
She stares at the picture containing the family brought back an unpleasant sense of loss, as she looks into the face of her father, Roger DeMello, who disappeared completely prior to them moving to Newbury. Her mother calls for her and her brother, Duncan, to come down for breakfast, and she rushes to get her clothes and runs down stairs. Carmen finds her mother, Chelsea, making them eggs and bacon for both of them, and not long after she slides the plates onto the counter, Duncan comes down stairs to eat. Chelsea asks them how they slept last night and Duncan tells them both about his recurring dog bike dream, but Carmen ends up talking about their dad.
Duncan gets the sense that Carmen is getting "the feeling" again and excuses himself so Chelsea could talk to her, due to Carmen not wanting to bring up Roger while he's around. Carmen begins to pour out her emotions and rant about why Roger left them. Chelsea reassures her that Roger didn't leave them, and they are trying everything they can to find him, she even told Carmen that she hired a private eye to find him. She asks her mom if they found anything about him yet, but suddenly Duncan yells that school bus had arrived.
Chelsea waves goodbye to her kids as they hop onto the bus. Carmen takes her seat next to Duncan as the bus drives off to Newbury High School. Chelsea goes back to the kitchen and rummages under the sink for a hidden box, containing a news paper involving her private eye going missing as well. Meanwhile on the bus, Duncan is resting on Carmen's shoulder while all the other passengers talk amongst themselves. Carmen continues to think about her dad, but pulls Duncan closer to make her feel a little better.
The driver stops the bus after the traffic light turns red, and starts telling the passengers to settle down. While they are stopped, Carmen notices a figure with a a red letterman jacket and a white hooded sweatshirt staring at her from the crosswalk. Before the bus starts up again, the figure places a sticky note on the window saying "We know who you are, and you have the makings a guardian". She is naturally confused but brushes it off as some weird joke.

LAPD detectives Bob Grogan and Dudley Varney had a record of arresting innocent people. Varney was even successfully sued in court for that very thing. Both were on the defunct Hillside Strangler task force. Investigator Ron Crisp, in his book "Crossing Paths" wrote that Grogan was an end-justifies-the-means type detective, who saw his job as doing whatever it took to get a conviction against the person he arrested. "To Grogan, the end didn't always have to be about putting bad guys in jail. He loved the power and [deputy District Attorney] Roger Kelly reminded Grogan that he was not the ultimate authority on the Hillside Strangler case and that Grogan despised him for it." In the case of victim Lauren Wagner, Grogan and Varney claimed they had an eyewitness, a Beaulah Stofer. They told DDA Kelly and his partner DDA James Hines that Stofer could make a positive identification of Angelo Buono or me. It was a lie. Stofer claimed one of the abductors had "shoulder-length hair." But, later, in 1980 or 1981, LAPD Lt. Ed Henderson and DDA Kelly discovered from Mrs. Stofer's vantage point it would be impossible to see and identify the abductors or abductor of Wagner, nor was her claim supported on seeing someone with "shoulder length hair." A complete ruse and fabrication by Grogan and Varney. Want to read more? See link...
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zFf3a3A8_RCCTJai61S5iOmPlbrxcPgn?usp=sharing

I became obsessed with the idea of charity groups arriving on Irvrana and helping the Bissem with various things that don't necessarily show up in the big picture- so you know what? I decided to do it myself. Enjoy!

When the news came of aliens being real, it had been a shock- how could anyone in Irvana have seen such an audacious announcement being made by the government? Yet as the news was streamed as these strange beings from the stars appeared before a gathered crowd of reporters, all three of them as different from each other as they were from the Bissem, it was impossible to refute the claims as being some sort of hoax.
For those like Director Guinelle, however, the news was... perhaps less impactful than it was for others- an exciting oddity, to be sure, but the main relevance it had for her life was that it was an effective way of keeping her patients occupied. The children in particular were enamored with the news, fascinated by the sight of such alien beings, chattering amongst both themselves and their caretakers about countless questions, observations, and hopes they held regarding these enigmatic visitors who claimed good intentions.
It made guiding them through physical therapy all the easier- talk of the tall alien with no feathers or fur a ready distraction from movements needed to compensate for a missing flipper or foot. Pain that would have been an obstacle they needed to be pushed through faded with the distraction of the way the quietest alien was covered in quills and barbs- how did one function normally with so many weapons hanging from their back?
Even the adult patients welcomed the distraction- the melancholy of lost mobility and crushed dreams buried under theorizing about what the aliens might actually want, or griping about them being an affront to the gods- though thankfully the crowd of protestors who believed the same about their prosthetics seemed to have found a new target for their demonstrations, appearing outside of public courthouses and official government buildings instead of harassing her doctors and patients with insults and screaming declarations of them stripping their patients of their bissemity and replacing it with metal and machinery.
Their prosthetics didn't even use metal- too prone to rust, and weighed down too much! What limited mobility they could manage to provide for their patients required much lighter plastics and alloys be used!
Anyways, news of aliens quickly faded from her attention as she focused on her work as usual- signing documents, trying her best to continue sweet-talking the groups her hospital relied on for funding, doing her best to remain civil in the face of complaints of money being "wasted" when replacing missing limbs was a fantasy, reviewing potential new patients whenever they came up or got through the paperwork of appealing for a place in her halls, coordinating between the research teams who tried to find new solutions to improve their prosthetics and the doctors who would need to actually implement such changes and make sure they worked for the patient... The work was never-ending, and not well suited to indulging in distractions, even ones as big as Aliens actually existing!
So her current circumstances, sitting nervously inside of an official Lassmin limo speeding through the city streets, escorted by armed guards sat to either side her, with no explanation beyond the statement they'd given when they burst into her office and 'invited' her down to a meeting with a representative from those aliens? Well, it wasn't exactly something she'd been scheduling in advance!
Nervously combing her feathers back into place and ensuring they were evenly coated in just enough oil to give herself a healthy sheen, Guinelle straightened her posture and practiced her best business-deal resting expression as the column of vehicles pulled into the central government building's parking lot. She might not know what the aliens wanted with a specialty hospital director- one of her more 'inventive' patients would probably suggest that she was simply deemed an acceptable sacrifice by her own government. She did her best to quiet that annoyingly intrusive though as she was waddled through the halls, past onlooking groups of bissem turning from whatever they were doing to see what the commotion was about.
"Ah, the woman of the hour!" The mayor's perfect politician tone was a welcome distraction- even if it couldn't completely hide the slight nervous tremor to his words. The vritalian male's more modest stature was ever so slightly raised- he preferred to wear claw-boosters, saying the added height granted him a natural air of authority. Right now though, his demeanor was that of someone who thought they were in trouble but didn't know why- a flipper idly tugging at the ceremonial garnet of office around his neck. "Quite the unexpected series of events, isn't this? Why, aliens within our city- and apparently with a deal to offer! The tabloids ought to have a field day with this once it's announced!"
"That is... an unexpected surprise, indeed!" she slipped into her practiced 'meeting with investors' speaking patterns with ease, giving a socially-acceptable head-bob of polite agreement. "Though, I haven't exactly had it explained why such a... momentous moment requires my own presence? My facility isn't the most prominent industry within the city..."
"Nonsense! Your hospital and it's research are a prize of the city- a statement of our commitment to bettering the lives of our people, even the ones struck with the most unfortunate of circumstances!" The mayor gushed words filled with positivity but little substance- especially when she remembered the last time they had met regarding certain financial grants for their continued operation. "In fact, the aliens seem to have caught notice of your valiant mission, and are interested in cooperation in the pursuit of shared goals, in order to reach a better tomorrow with joined flippers- er, whatever they have! I for one, have no doubt that their contributions will be valued and most beneficial for us all!"
...Those were a lot of words for him to essentially say that he was missing a lot of details too and didn't actually know why the aliens had taken an interest in her facility, but then that was the way of most politicians- fill the conversation with enough noise, and people would focus on the feelings of the statements made rather than the actual substance. Fortunately, she'd long since learned to navigate such methods of obfuscation, though knowing that he was also unaware of their purpose here made that twisting in her gut just a bit more intense.
Thankfully, her worries were temporarily pushed to the side as they were waved into a conference room, where a Selmer was already seated and waiting for them. The trappings draped across her shoulders were adorned with several metals, denoting her as a military officer- though Guinelle wasn't familiar enough with their system of rankings to know exactly how high she must be in the chain of command. The officer looked between the two of them as they moved to take their seats, and nodded in satisfaction as the doors were closed behind them.
"Thank you both for attending so promptly- this situation is rather unprecedented, so there was no time to explain in... unsecured environments. I apologize for any stress that caused you, but we need to move quickly in order to take advantage of this opportunity."
"That's perfectly understandable, ma'am!" the mayor gushed before Guinelle could finish opening her beak- leaving her to carefully close it again as he began to prattle once more. "Time is a resource we never have enough of, especially when it comes to matters of supreme import! Why-"
"As I said," The officer interrupted coolly, "time is of the essence here, so forgive me if I insist on skipping the pleasantries in favor of briefing you both on the situation. That is," she looked directly down at the mayor, his boosters not even close to making up for their natural height difference, "assuming that is agreeable to you, sir mayor?" It did not sound like a question.
Guinelle watched him start to look offended, before settling his expression and leaning back in his seat. "I suppose explanations would be prudent, given the... urgency with which we were summoned."
"Great." Picking up a folder and tapping it on the table, the officer glanced between the two of them and clacked her beak. "The short of it is, we've been approached by an internal group within the aliens- not their government, but some sort of charity organization- which has expressed interest in beginning operations within our nation. Having reviewed the nature of the offer, the government believes this would be a boon worth accepting, should we find someplace willing to accept them. Your facility, Director Guinelle, is a fit for the parameters they requested, and thus we would ask for you to consider their offer, should you choose to hear them out- and for you, sir mayor, to approve of their operations being set up within your city."
"My facility?" Guinelle questioned. "They were interested in our facility above all others? Forgive me, but... we are quite specialized in our purview, and not nearly as advanced as some of the other hospitals even within this city. Is there a reason we were of particular interest to them, miss...?"
"General Kippar," the Selmer clarified, "and it's your specialization that is of interest to them, director. They are offering to provide their own knowledge of the design and production of prosthetic limb technology, and believe your facility would be the best starting point for integrating their advancements with our own efforts- and for what it is worth, we hold that same belief. Your advancements in the field are beyond what anyone else has accomplished, so it is our hope that you will have an easier time adapting whatever they provide for our own use. Though, I hope it is understood that the government is going to wish to receive access to any of the technology they are able to provide."
"That..." pausing for a moment, she thought over what she had just been told- the heady giddiness of potential access to that kind of resources and knowledge temporarily pushed aside as best she could manage in the face of a request for a commitment. "...the information I would be perfectly fine with sharing- we may even produce some official medical journals to release it to the general healthcare community. For hardware though, we cannot offer anything already assigned to a patient, as it would be their property at that point. Perhaps providing working examples unspoken for by a patient yet?"
"Seems reasonable enough," the general nodded crisply. "Though perhaps we should let this alien make their sales-pitch first, before we start counting the fish in our net. If the two of you are ready?" Guinelle nodded eagerly, and the mayor nodded as well- though he seemed to be pouting about being excluded from their previous conversation. Ignoring his ill mood, the general turned to one of the guards and waved a flipper at him, getting a salute in return as he left the room.
Guinelle fluffed her feathers in her seat, the mayor striking up a conversation about permits and such barely registering to her as she grappled with the thought of what was being offered. Alien medical technology, likely beyond anything her people had managed so far- how much would that push their own progress ahead? Had they figured out waterproofing of the joints? Were their prosthetics capable of powered articulation? The best prototypes her own people had managed so far was a replacement leg that provided a steady base and enough flexibility for the patient to walk without needing a cane, even if the battery life of it wasn't great. Just having more advanced batteries would do wonders for giving their patients something so they could move under their own power! She might need to hear this alien out before hashing out the details, but at face value, there was no way should was going to refuse this offer!
Her internal thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, and one of the tall, lanky aliens striding through. Their long limbs bending and swaying as they moved around was fascinating to observe- so different from the normal sway of a bissem's walk, this alien barely shifted to either side at all as they moved! Their unfortunately-bare face brightened as she (was it a she? Their body was different from the male that had been on the videos from first contact) laid eyes on them all, lips pulled apart in a baring of teeth as she pulled alongside the table, pulling out a seat and setting a rectangular carrying box of some sort down beside her.
Her lips began moving, releasing a series of guttural noises from her throat, before a device affixed to her chest crackled to life. "Greetings and good day," the device spoke in perfectly-understandable speech- even bearing a similar tone to the alien's voice! "My name is Lucillia, and on behalf of the Daedalus Initiative, I would like to thank you all for hearing me out and giving us a chance to bring our work to you. While our races have only been in contact for a short time, it is a great pleasure to be working with you towards our mutual mission of ensuring everyone has a chance to live Life Without Limits."
Not speaking their language herself? That made sense- not everyone could learn a new language quickly- especially if it crossed the species barrier. Thank goodness they seemed to have figured out machines that could translate in real-time for them- otherwise this conversation would be much more awkward to parse through.
"That is my hope as well," Guinelle chimed in quickly, noting how the last bit sounded like a practiced slogan. "I'm Director Guinelle, and I run the Prow-Wave Prosthetic Institute, and I'm very interested in getting my flippers on whatever innovations you can offer us to help our patients return to a normal life. I am glad your government chose our facility for the first site to introduce this technology- we'll be sure to get to work right away finding how to adapt any advancements to our own work on limb-replacement."
Whatever response she was expecting, the tall alien tilting her head back and barking out a laugh was certainly not it. "Oh, I am not here on behalf of the UN, my dear- Daedalus Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to relief efforts and providing medical care to those who either don't have access or can't afford the care and resources that they need. If it was up to the UN, this meeting wouldn't be happening, and you wouldn't be seeing hide or hair of this technology for months, much less getting started on it." She gestured energetically with one of her long limbs, the spindly fingers of her hand twitching in a deliberate eye-catching way. "However, I hope you'll agree that spending several months refusing children and patients medical care while politicians play their little games doesn't exactly sit well with me."
"Such games are not without reason, miss Lucillia," the mayor spoke up, sitting up in a professional posture. "While I am willing to accommodate your efforts here, I now find myself worrying if we are causing a diplomatic incident allowing you to set up a facility in my city."
"If we were setting up a facility, then we WOULD be in trouble," she answered quickly, pointing an index finger at the mayor while her thumb was held skyward- some sort of human gesture? "After all, they don't want anybody contaminating culture, especially with a new uplift, and telling them we just want to help people who've already lost limbs doesn't really seem to work. However," her finger swung around to point at Guinelle, "if an EXISTING facility were to request the Daedalus Initiative provide aid, then the SC's charters on charities and relief workers would leave us free to provide as much aid as possible, so long as it is confined to within that existing facility!"
Blinking at the energetic display, Guinelle crossed her flippers in front of her beak, considering the boisterous human as a few missing pieces clicked into place. "Well, that certainly sounds like it would be beneficial for your organization- if such a request was to be made, could you give us some examples of what might be offered to us? I can't imagine you already have prosthetics ready-made for bissem just yet."
"Well, not specifically, but we do have something that should be easy to adjust to the required specifications!" Reaching down into her case, the human pulled out a technological pad, then started fiddling with it as images popped up and scrolled along the screen- what a marvelous piece of technology that would be! Just imagine how much paperwork such a device might be able to replace! "See, we have a species back on Earth called penguins- technically several species, but I digress- and conservation efforts did end up designing some prosthetic flippers for a few members who had lost them due to either predators or human shipping. Obviously adjustments will need to be made, seeing as it's not a perfect comparison- for one thing, your flippers are far more dexterous than a penguin's would be- but I think you can see that the base design is a promising starting point!"
The human slid her dataslate over, and Guinelle picked it up, examining the blueprints she was being shown... and slowly felt her beak falling open at what she was seeing. This... this was something at a level that her engineers thought would be decades away at minimum- full articulation, no cables in need of being plugged in, no external batteries- was that a direct connection to the patient's nervous system?! Did these aliens have that kind of medical technology in such abundance that even charity workers could provide it?! While she was right that this wasn't the full dexterity of a natural bissem flipper, this was still leagues beyond the best tech she could provide to those with deep enough pockets for it- and she was considering this a base model?!
"H-how much are these going to cost us again?" she questioned weakly, the tablet clattering back down onto the table. "Our budget... while we have a decent fund for research and development, this kind of tech..."
"That's the beauty of it! We're a non-profit- and most of our funds come from donations anyways! For this project, we've already arranged the necessary funding in advance- none of this will cost you a dime! Or, whatever currency you use."
"That is... quite generous," The mayor interrupted, tapping the table with a flipper, "though you'll forgive me for asking... are theoreticals all you have to offer? While this all sounds very nice, it's good to have confirmation you can deliver the product offered- or at least something similar, to show you have the capability. That's only fair, yes?"
Something devious sparked to life in the human's eyes. "Oh, that's no trouble at all- I even brought along an example of the product we offer! This model is one I can personally vouch for!"
And with that, she reached up her sleeve, shifting something around... and then pulled her own arm off, setting it down on the table with a thunk- one drowned out by the mayor's terrified shriek as he pushed away from the table, flippers flapping at the air as his chair slowly tipped backwards and crashed into the ground, spilling his flailing form onto the floor.
Guinelle barely managed to keep her own chair balanced, flippers held to her beak as she stared at the detached limb- before jerking her gaze towards the grinning human, who seemed disturbingly nonchalant about being reduced to a single arm. Thankfully, it didn't take too long for her brain to kick back into gear, slowly clicking information into place as she noted the lack of blood, or disturbance, and the fact that she had been asked to present a working model...
"I-I didn't even notice," she stammered, eyes flicking back to the prosthetic on the table. She could see the metallic sheen at the end, with some obvious connectors sticking out... but the rest of the limb looked almost indistinguishable from the human's other limb, which she had blatantly laid on the table for comparison. Gingerly, Guinelle reached out and poked at the smaller digits of the limb, feeling not heavy iron, but some kind of soft, firm material- and the fingers flexing closed with barely any pressure from her touch.
So many tiny joints, so close together, and they'd all been working perfectly- no external power source that she could see, either on the limb or on the human. The way she'd been able to detach it so easily, without any obvious pain. Picking it up, it was surprisingly heavy- a soft material that felt so much like normal skin, so unlike the harsh firmness of their own plastic limbs that she couldn't help but run her flipper along it, marveling at how it gave and flexed so similarly to the real thing. There were differences, now that she looked at it up close- bits that were a bit too angular to be natural, strange spots of firmness where there shouldn't be- but the fact she had to focus to find them, even this close up...
"Pretty good work, right?" the human spoke up, a tinge of pride in her voice- even as the device on her chest clearly began to struggle with the speed at which she began talking, giving a strange echo between her natural speech and the translation. "Not as good as the original obviously, but that model's served me well for about fifteen years now- and it's a decent upgrade from the first one I got fitted with after, well... unfortunate events at my old position." Sitting back up, Lucillia patted at her empty shoulder proudly. "So as you can see, I've got a personal stake in making sure all the prosthetics we provide are the best they can possibly be!"
With shaking flippers, Guinelle pushed the limb back across the table to her. "W-would you mind putting this back on?"
With a knowing smile, the human rolled up her sleeve, exposing an obvious technological port right where her shoulder should be- and with a bit of shuffling, lined up the connectors and pushed it into place, the limb locking in with a solid-sounding click. Dexterous fingers flicked up a panel and pushed a few buttons, then flicked it close as a tiny light came on. Rolling her sleeve back down, the human rolled her reattached arm, making a show of flexing her fingers in sequence before grasping and spreading her entire hand.
"No stutter, no lag, just got to make sure the connection is seated properly, lock it in, and turn it on! Battery lasts for about six hours, and the charging plug is discreet and can fit into any typical electrical port. No pain when it's disconnected either- you basically turn off your connections to the nerves, and it feels more like the arm has gone numb- a bit trippy for the first few months, but certainly better than some alternatives!"
Guinelle felt her chair wobbling beneath her, and chose to simply abandon it, ignoring the clatter as she climbed onto the table and waddled over as fast as she could, eagerly extending a flipper towards the human. "As Director of the Prow-Wave Prosthetics Institute, I am requesting the Daedalus Initiative's aid as quickly as possible. Just tell me what you need from me- anything it takes to get this tech available to my patients as soon as we can!"
"Well, of course there are papers to be signed and filed," Lucillia grinned, the grip of her prosthetic warm and soft as she gripped Guinelle's flipper and shook it, "but once we take care of that, we'll have a ship flying in by the end of the week. I look forward to working with you, Director Guinelle."
"Likewise, Director Lucillia," she beamed, fluffing her feathers in joy. This kind of miracle-tech was going to help so many Bissems!

It’s no secret that Disney isn’t doing well lately - they just laid off nearly 15% of the workforce at Pixar, their movie studio that used to produce guaranteed hits, but Pixar’s recent films “Elemental” and “Lightyear” were bombs, and the division hasn’t turned a profit in more than two years. People just didn’t go for the strained interracial/immigrant metaphor in “Elemental” or the same-sex kiss in “Lightyear,” or the rehashed, stale vibe of both projects.
Additionally, Disney’s much-touted “fully immersive” “Star Was”hotel called the “Galactic Starcruiser,” shut down late last year, after operating for less than two years - Disney had spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the project, apparently on the theory that people cared so much about the “Star Wars” brand that they’d be willing to spend thousands of dollars for the privilege of staying two nights in a windowless concrete building posing as a spaceship. That didn’t pan out; apparently people weren’t excited to stay in a hotel where the experience is seemingly designed to be as aggressively unpleasant as possible.
Now, that same quarter, Disney’s streaming service, Disney+, reported a loss of more than a million subscribers, and that’s not even getting into Disney’s decision to get involved in Florida politics, on the side of activist teachers who want to talk to kindergartners about “gender identity” and “sexual orientation.”
Faced with this brand collapse, Disney had two options: One option was to retool their content to focus on entertainment and family values instead of activism, which is what Disney used to do when it was a universally beloved and much more financially successful company - they can get back to their roots, in other words, and not in the sense of churning out more remakes, but in the sense of being a company that makes wholesome family films that capture a real sense of wonder and imagination.
But the other option was to keep doing exactly what they’ve been doing, and continue to shove the same agenda—the equity/representation/LGBTQ approach—that they’ve been pushing for years now.
Well, eight months ago, Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, publicly pledged to pursue the first option: He declared that Disney would refocus its efforts on entertainment, not political messaging - that was the plan, or at least the plan that was shared with the public, but that’s not what has happened.
Disney, over the past eight months, has apparently decided to double down on agenda-driven content, to the point that they’re now openly attacking their own fans. It’s a remarkable turn of events, and it’s one that’s worth discussing because this development is not unique to Disney. And it suggests that “wokeness,” as we call it, may not be the best way to describe what we’re seeing at Disney and other major corporations like it. That’s PART of what we’re seeing, but there’s something else going on here as well. It looks a lot like corporate mediocrity run amok - the private-sector version of what we see across the public-sector bureaucracy. Unimpressive people with impressive-sounding credentials, who check the right demographic boxes, are taking the helm of businesses and products that they don’t understand. They’ve insinuated themselves into these companies like a cancer that’s evidently impossible to remove, and even when the company CEO publicly tells them one thing, they’re free to do another.
Now, to get a better idea of what I mean, take a look at this interview from the other day, featuring Leslye Headland, the creator of the new Disney “Star Wars” show, “The Acolyte.” Now, I don’t want to prejudice you in any way, so I’ll just play the clip with no further introduction: This is the showrunner talking about her show.
So don’t worry about the story, or the plot, or the characters—who has time for that?—instead, just listen to these two women call old “Star Wars” characters gay, and then giggle like schoolgirls. They are excited that this new “Star Wars” show will be the gayest “Star Wars” show yet - which is, in every way, the exact opposite of what the audience actually wants. NOBODY has watched the recent “Star Wars” films and shows, and said to themselves, “You know, this would be better if only it was even gayer.” No one has thought that, except for the people behind this show.
Now, the only thing you learn from that interview is that Leslye Headland is gay and has no respect whatsoever for her audience or her own show - this is how Disney is promoting the latest entry in a franchise they spent $4 billion to buy a decade ago, and that has a lot of fans wondering how exactly she was CHOSEN for the role of showrunner. If her role is to push some subversive woke ideology, she’s not being very subversive about it. She’s just angering as many fans as she possibly can, and that’s all this is.
And she’s not the only one doing this: the CEO of Lucasfilm—a woman named Kathleen Kennedy—just came out in defense of her showrunner - Kennedy declared that if you’re not a fan of how Leslye Headland is handling herself, then you probably hate women.

I think Leslye has struggled a little bit with it. I think a lot of the women who step into Star Wars struggle with this a bit more. Because of the fan base being so male-dominated, they sometimes get attacked in ways that can be quite personal. … My belief is that storytelling does need to be representative of all people. That’s an easy decision for me.

Yes, she really said that. “Storytelling does need to be representative of all people,” says the CEO of Lucasfilm, as she mocks her own fanbase. These people are so dumb that they don’t even understand the words coming out of their own mouths - “Representative of all people,” really? Are they gonna have eight billion characters in this show, one for each person on Earth? How exactly is this going to work? Is storytelling supposed to be “representative of all people”—whatever that means—or is it supposed to be representative of the distinct creative vision of the storyteller?
I was gonna show some more clips of these women, but it’s honestly too painful to subject you to - these are people who can’t even communicate without descending into valley girl nonsense, and they’re putting together shows that they expect millions of people to watch. Kathleen Kennedy was lucky enough to work with Steven Spielberg, and Leslye Headland worked on rom-coms with titles like “Sleeping With Other People,” so those are their credentials, and they’re considered impressive in the industry, I guess, so they get to continue butchering “Star Wars.”
By the way, “The Acolyte” was released this week and—as has become a new tradition for “Star Wars” films and shows—it has a very high critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, like, 88%, but a failing grade of 45% from the audience. That is the dynamic we always see now with these things.
Joel Berry, who apparently subjected himself to at least some of the show, offered this review:

The Acolyte is a queer, Marxist vandalization of the myth of Star Wars. In The Acolyte, the Force is a metaphor for cultural hegemonic power. The Jedi are a metaphor for cisgender white oppressors who hoard the power for themselves. Yes, it really is that obnoxious and stupid.

The account Wall Street Silver offered this viewer warning:

The Acolyte, Star Wars new series streaming, very woke. 1) main character has two mothers 2) main Jedi characters are all Black and Asian, no white men 3) only speaking role for white men in first episode is prisoners on prison ship.

So Disney has decided to right the ship by ramming it directly into another iceberg. And that’s not to pick on “The Acolyte” too much, although it obviously deserves it. Because of the fact that Disney is now pumping out “Star Wars” shows on an assembly line, there’s another one that I can mock as well, it’s called “Tales of the Empire,” and this one is apparently geared towards kids, and I guess it features a nonbinary Jedi, based on how all of the characters use “they/them” pronouns to refer to his corpse - If you can get through it, here it is:

SITH 1: “They’re still alive. We need to get them to the ship. We can save them!”
SITH 2: “Forget it. Let them die. It’s not worth the trouble.”
SITH 1: “They were about to surrender!”
SITH 2: “Irrelevant! The Jedi are a threat to be eradicated wherever they are found.”

That’s the one where that bad guy KILLS someone, but then still respects that person’s pronouns after having murdered them. So that’s nice, at least.
This is the result of Disney’s big plan to focus on “entertainment” and not “messaging:” We have nonbinary Jedis and girl bosses making sure we get the gayest “Star Wars” ever,” and that’s not all.
As Bloomberg recently reported, Disney is now banking on the upcoming film “Inside Out 2” as the, “key to restoring the magic” - they think this film—a sequel to a movie from 2015–is going to be a smash hit, to the point that they’re going to give it a 100-day run in theaters. As Bloomberg reports:

If families show up for Inside Out 2 in the kinds of numbers Pixar used to see, it will reaffirm the studio’s standing. But if the movie fails, it will fuel concerns about the company’s relevance.

And by the way, the whole article is kind of funny because it’s all about how Disney has come up with their brilliant strategy to get back on track, and their brilliant strategy is to do more sequels and remakes. And of course, anyone who reads that is like, “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing the whole time? Isn’t that the ONLY thing you’ve done for 20 years, now?”
Now, what is “Inside Out 2” gonna be about? It’s hard to say because it’s not out yet, but after some Googling, I came across this headline from an outlet called Pride.com, and here’s their assessment based on the trailer:

The long-awaited sequel to Disney and Pixar’s Inside Out isn’t hitting theaters until this summer, but the official trailer dropped this week…and it’s looking a little gay. … Fans think Inside Out 2 is going to be gay AF.

And how brave is that? They’re also gonna, I guess, gay-ify “Inside Out,” or maybe they will - which was kind of a middling Pixar entry in the first place. Is that the direction they’re going with it? Who knows, but based on the fact that they can’t make ANYTHING that isn’t gay, we can assume the answer to that question is probably yes.
And ALL of this is very woke. That’s true. It’s also incredibly lame and stale and unimaginative, and that would also be an apt descriptor for what Disney is doing with its theme parks. As the writer Peachy Keenan documented on X/Twitter, Disney is currently re-theming their famous “Splash Mountain” ride because the ride was racist for some reason, and they’re creating a politically correct version of the new ride—so they’re doing this even with the rides now—Keenan watched all of Disney’s promotional materials, and she put together a comparison of the old ride with the new one. Basically, the new ride won’t have Princess Tiana in a nice dress with a handsome prince, or even a storyline of any kind, I guess, because that’s too archaic and patriarchal:

Instead, you get a lot of dead space, repeated boring animatronic who look like zombies compared to the Pirates animatronics, and Tiana—incredibly—in ugly baggy pants, no makeup, no nonsense hair, zero glamour. … It’s Girl Boss Tiana and she’s dressed like a Jungle Cruise.

That’s the direction they’re going with their theme parks. Sounds thrilling. Now, I was trying to figure out why all of this is happening at Disney—why they’re sabotaging their own brand, despite what the CEO said they’d do—and it’s clear that, whatever’s going on here, it’s not unique to Disney.
Consider what just happened at Cracker Barrel. Their CEO is a woman named Julie Felss Masino, she took the job last year. Previously, she worked at Taco Bell, Mattel, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Starbucks, and Macy’s. And of course, the clientele of every single one of these companies is very different from the typical Cracker Barrel clientele, which skews older, but in general, her old jobs were mostly in the food industry, just like ”The Acolyte” showrunner’s jobs were mostly in the entertainment industry, and that’s good enough, so Julie Masino got the job.
Unfortunately, it’s not working out too well. Masino just announced on a call with investors that the company is, “just not as relevant as we once were.” Because, you know, when think of Cracker Barrel, you think of “relevant” - that’s why Cracker Barrel’s customers got there, because it’s so relevant. But now it’s NOT as relevant so they need to make it relevant again, she said. And, to “ignite growth,” she said, it’s necessary to “revitalize” the brand. She then outlined a bunch of generic initiatives like rewards programs that every other restaurant offers, and her announcement—because people know what that really means when you have one of these mediocre corporate people saying that “we’re gonna revitalize the brand and make it relevant again,” everyone knows what that means, everyone knows where that goes—and because of that, the stock went down 11% immediately, putting it down nearly 50% in the past year - and why WOULDN’T the stock drop? The new CEO clearly views Cracker Barrel as completely indistinguishable from every other place that she’s ever worked - if anything, she probably HATES the brand, and we can assume she hates the brand’s primarily blue collar, Christian clientele.
We saw something similar with that Bud Light VP, Alissa Heinerscheid, when she dismissed her own customers as “fratty” and said Bud Light needed a rebrand, and that’s when they brought on Dylan Mulvaney, and we all know how that turned out. So Alissa Heinerscheid, like Julie Masino, had great credentials—she went to Harvard and Wharton, and had worked at big companies like Listerine and General Mills—but she didn’t understand Bud Light or care about the customers—in fact, she HATED the customers and was very open about that—and so she destroyed the brand.
Now the same thing is probably unfolding at Cracker Barrel. And it’s a very slow-motion, preventable collapse. On social media, someone using the handle “Pine Barron” summed up the problem better than I’ve seen elsewhere - here’s what he wrote, describing an alternative to Cracker Barrel’s current CEO:

Imagine a CEO who actually loved Midwestern and Southern culture. What about pop up concerts and endorsements by Zach Bryan and Morgan Wallen? Why not lean into its heritage as an ‘after church’ spot and create programs for church groups including discounts and shuttle bus services. Grassroots evangelical support has made huge hits of movies like the Sound of Freedom and restaurant chains like Chik-Fil-A. … Imagine a public company with leadership that didn’t hate the blue collar evangelical population. There are so many obvious partnership opportunities with brands like NASCAR or country music stars. I don’t think this is wokeness or girlbossery per se, but rather typical corporate mediocrity. … They hired a generic MBA type who built a career on the massive brand equity of Yum Brands and Starbucks. … Just a cog in the corporate machine. I hope we will see titans of industry again but this is not how we’ll get them.

That does a fairly good job of putting into perspective everything we’ve been seeing over the past few years at Disney, Bud Light, and so many other major corporations. And I think it’s a more apt explanation than simply chalking all of this decline up to “wokeness.”
This trend of hiring interchangeable CEOs with resumes and trendy demographics has been an unmitigated disaster because it overlooks what the leader of every company should have, at a bare minimum, which is an understanding of their product and a genuine respect for their customers. Without that, you get shows like “The Acolyte.” You get Dylan Mulvaney and angry customers, and your stock collapses along with your brand.
All the combined efforts of feminism and diversity and equity and wokeness have brought us to this point, all of those things together. But it’s bureaucracy and inertia that keeps it alive, long after everyone’s tired of it. And that inertia is the reason why—whether you’re going to a restaurant or a movie theater—you’re now guaranteed a product that’s as mediocre as the people who created it.

What are some of the best single lines in lyrics of all time, in your opinion? Lyrics that are a comprehensive thought in and of themselves, that make the hair on your arms stand up, that carry the emotion of 1000 scorned lovers? I will start with 3 of my own choices:
"She's a tear that hangs inside my soul forever" - from Lover, You Should've Come Over by Jeff Buckley
"God, it's so painful - something that's so close is still so far out of reach" - from American Girl by Tom Petty
"You are someone else, I am still right here" - from Hurt written by Trent Reznor, performed by Johnny Cash
(Bonus) "If I could only turn back the clock to when God and Her were born . . . " from Shelter From the Storm by Bob Dylan

I have very fine hair with a tiny bit of a wave, I believe 2A. It currently comes to about 3 inches above my butt, but the ends are definitely a lot thinner. I have tons of fly aways. If I braid my hair without mousse, it's a frizzball in like an hour or less. I really want my hair to have that nice smooth cut across the bottom, but also be long. I have lots of problems with split ends, but like the whole length of my hair, if I cut all split ends off I'd probably have a bob. I am planning on getting some hair Scissors and just starting cutting individual hairs that are split. My hair has been about the same length my entire adult life and wasn't growing any longer, which I assume just means it was breaking off at that length. I started wearing a bonnet at night about a year ago and it is a little longer than it was, but probably only 2 inches or so. My hair gets greasey if I go a day without washing it, but since I partially work from home, I try to only wash it every other day.
Does anyone have ideas on how to make it healthier (less dry, fewer split ends)? I would like to be somewhat budget friendly, so probably max of $20 for a bottle of shampoo. But does anyone have recommendations for Shampoo and conditioner brands? Leave in conditioner ideas? I just need help and hate that I have to rebrush my hair every 1 to 2 hours because it's already tangled again.

I have been with my partner for approximately 7 months. He is affectionate toward me, loves physical contact/cuddling, likes to groom and take care of me, spend quality time together watching films, etc. He has introduced me to his family, I have stayed with them on multiple occasions, and we have a trip planned in a couple weeks. Approximately a month ago, we had a major relationship hurdle in which we basically broke up. He said some extremely cruel things to me (which he claims to have not meant and regret) and furthermore, due to this incident and how abusive he was during it, I contacted his former partner and certain things about him were revealed to me, which I have since confronted him on. I am also aware that I am going to possibly sound like an asshole in this and apologize in advance.
She also randomly outed that he has a gargantuan porn addiction, and is fetishistically interested in trans women as well as having a trichophilia (hair) fetish (he shaved her head). He is sexually interested in haircutting, headshaves, short bobs, etc. The hair fetish he has pertains to hair types and women that are the exact opposite of me, and frankly look exactly like his ex partner, who he was with for 3 years beforehand, and only started dating me about a month after going no contact with her. He claims he is no longer addicted to porn and now only watches it once every couple of weeks, of which I have no reason to believe is a lie, however its hard to confirm for sure as we only see each other once a week since he lives in another city. This will become relevant later.
Anyways, since he claimed to be repentant and apologetic for his behavior toward me (of which I will not get into because that's for another reddit post...) we started talking again, and eventually I agreed to try again. I would do my best to forgive him, in exchange for him taking better care of his mental health and never again treating me as he did the day we split up. However, we were apart for a month after this incident and our subsequent re-kindling of our relationship, and during this time, after he admitted to everything his ex said in relation to both his past behaviors and also the fetishes I was never told about--- I felt insecure in how the people he's sexually aroused by look nothing like me, I tried to indulge his fetishes to the best of my ability. Particularly for the hair thing, since there's not much I can do about the fact that I am not a trans woman. We were gonna meet again after the month was up, and talked extensively about the erotic fun things we would try together, which we would have a week together to get up to since he would have a free house for a week, and I'd come down to visit him. During the time before my visit, he seemed very sexually interested in me and we'd exchange pictures and text and call extensively about how we missed each other physically, emotionally, and sexually. There was mutual excitement about all of the things we'd try, since instead of judging his fetishes I wanted to do my best to satiate sides of his sexuality I didn't even know existed.
I noticed a little bit of a sexual disparity between us in the past and felt he'd often rather get pizza or watch a movie than have sex, whereas I'm the sort of person who would rather have sex, then order a pizza in once an appetite is worked up... or I'm happy to watch a film at home, pause it if things get frisky, and continue it later... However, he's also very compartmentalized with the things he's doing when he's doing it, and possibly autistic, so that could be part of it as well. Anyways, to sum it up, I always had a higher drive and as a result he would frequently reject my sexual advances, and we essentially only had sex when he initiated or on the rare occasions when I'd try and get him in the mood and he'd actually respond. But It exhausts me, constantly feeling like I have to seduce my partner, I hate feeling predatory for wanting to have sex, I honestly resent it and it makes me feel like shit about myself and feel unattractive. I'm not upset about him for it, it just always feels shit for me about myself, that perhaps if I looked different or suited one of his stupid fetishes he'd pay attention to me. I want to be with someone who deeply sexually desires me along with all the other stuff, who pursues me equally if not more than how I pursue them. Learning about the fetishes and how extensive they are really recontexualized a lot in our sex life to me, and I'm constantly going back and re-analyzing things with this new information to the point where it makes me feel like shit about myself. I know it sounds ridiculous, but earlier this month, I used to cry whenever I saw someone with a bob haircut. But he SWEARS up and down he doesn't just have one type like a robot, that he loves me, that he finds me beautiful and wants to be with me romantically, emotionally, sexually, etc...
Then I arrive at his house for a short visit on his birthday... he shaves the back of my neck in an undercut... he enjoys himself, I'm out some hair, sure maybe I feel a little bit weird about it, but whatever, I was just happy he was happy, and had a bit of fun with it in my own way. He told me once, when he was apologizing for his behavior, that due to past events in his life he had stopped watching porn alltogether and touch himself and participate in his fetish only in regards to my hair. it worked at first, he'd touch himself with my shaved off pony tail on his face... lol. A week later, I return to stay for the week and enjoy the empty house with him---for our 'week of wonders'... And he just doesn't seem that interested. He wants to record joke songs with me, and watch films, and go out to dinner, and cuddle, but he doesn't want to have sex, doesn't want to do all of the erotic things he said he would when I was on the phone. It made me feel like he just isn't physically interested in me in person. After all the big talk he did about wanting this emotionally and sexually, and after our extensive period of separation, in which we had no sex for a month, and he couldn't care less about touching me. I suspect that he would, at the end of the day, prefer jerking himself to videos of petite, bobbed, straight haired women, and transgender women, shaving their heads or giving themselves haircuts, then do anything with me, a real-live woman he loves but may not be his 'type'. I confronted him on it multiple times, and he said his sex drive just isn't as high as mine, and stress from our arguing over me still being hurt by the things he said last month might be killing the mood for him, but its really making me feel pathetic and undesired.. I mean, I shaved the back of my long, thick curly hair to make him happy, I try and do anything to meet his every need to the best of my ability to prove to him that I'm enough, and frankly to prove to myself that I'm enough for him, and then... barely anything. I was there for a week, we had sex maybe twice, and then went four days without any sexual contact whatsoever in an empty house. I would wonder every day, where is the passion? Why isn't he so excited to see me, both sexually and otherwise, after such a long and traumatic separation we had? It really made me feel like a freak, like there was something wrong with me for so desperately wanting to fulfill his fetishes even more than he does (or so it seemed) and like a nymphomaniac for counting days between sexual contact, but now I'm wondering if since staying with him for a week, he was just missing his porn and that was why he didn't want to do anything. Or that he simply was only attracted to me and liked the thought of experimenting with me until I am actually, physically there. Regardless, I feel so disappointed, so rejected. I'm good enough to cuddle with and parade around his parents and book vacations with, but not good enough to fuck. I'd wait at night until he went to sleep to get myself off despite being right next to the person that was supposed to wait my lover during this week, and go to sleep feeling like depressed afterwards that I have to touch myself because the person I'm with doesn't want to.
I suggested we open the relationship because frankly, I miss being desired. He was furious, even called me a whore, and this interaction also could've added to the low sex drive but I digress... I did so much to be desired by him, I shaved the back of my fucking head, I let him shave my vulva/pubic area with hair clippers, I was going to let him shave or bleach my eyebrows, and it feels like it still wasn't exciting enough for him. During the times we have sex he'd say things like he wanted to shave my head while I slept or whatever but I feel even if I was stupid enough to allow him to do that, he'd only find it erotic in that instance before going back to being uninterested in me again. The last time we had sex, he asked if we should invite a transgender girl into the bedroom, and that it would turn him on if I desired that... But I feel that is only a pretense for his own desire to sleep with a transwoman.
I am not a supermodel, but I am not an unatttractive, I can get a date with relative ease. There are people to whom I am their 'type'. I may not be as conventionally attractive as his ex girlfriend, who also fits his bob hair fetishes and whatever, and I may not be transgender, but I feel that the sexual paraphilia/me not being HIS type, along with him currently having a somewhat lower sex drive than me is also impacting his desire despite his protestations otherwise. He says I've too much time on my hands (clearly, this is quite a long reddit post...), and that I'm reading too deeply into things, and I'm just insecure, that he loves me and wants to be with me. I believe he does want to be with me, but I believe he is lying about his sexual desire. And if he is lying about his attraction for me, I feel it is unfair to keep me in a monogamous relationship where he won't satiate any of my sexual needs because deep down, I don't satiate his... Am I being a crazy, sex crazed maniac? Do you think my insecurities about his sexual fetishes is correct and that is the basis of our sexual incompatibility, and will be the case no matter what I do to participate with/indulge them? Why is he doing this? I told him if he's not sexually interested in me deep down, he doesn't need to pretend on the pretext of keeping me in his life because he's attached, that we can still be friends, but this makes him even angrier. We're only in our early 20s and with our entire life ahead of us. If sex is already like this now, what about after we've been together for a long time, or after we've had a child? I know it sounds ridiculous and if the gender roles were reversed people would find this deeply offensive, but I don't know if I can cope with this sexless thing, or this fetish shit, especially if it is the underlying issue of his lack of interest in me.
Surely there's overlap with his lack of sexual desire toward me and the fact that I don't fulfill his fetishes? And if that's the case, then I don't know if this is fair for either of us. We have a lot of other problems, and he said some nasty stuff to me last month that I am still trying to forgive him for, that situation along with this resultant of that is really exacerbating pre-existing insecurities and old wounds in me that he doesn't really know how to deal with. Funnily the lack of sex thing (especially for this week, when we were re-united) is equally as emotionally hurtful to me as cruel words he has spoken to me and things he's done. (of which he is allegedly repentant of, in his defense...)
What should I do? Am I overthinking things? Is he lying when he says I am enough?

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I'm a 34 yr old AMAB mess.
Realized I was fluid a couple years back but kinda feel like there may be more there.
My marriage partner (30, intersex AFAB) does their best to assuage my feelings but it seems more often than not, I feel like I'm just a dude who is faking everything.
Like, I love to wear my dresses and skirts and put on cute makeup and nail polish and whatnot. But my facial/body hair becomes an issue (especially when my skin is incredibly sensitive and likes to break out when I actually attempt to shave). Especially now.
I started to grow out my hair shortly after our wedding in summer 2021, and didn't get it cut at all until recently, when I decided to get bangs. I told the stylist at the LGBTQIA owned/operated salon I went to, that I wanted a shag with bangs and I wanted to keep as much length as possible.
Instead of what I wanted, I ended up with essentially a long bob. Went from bra strap length hair to barely shoulder length. And it is so hard to do anything with that I find looks good, either more masc or femme leaning.
But aside from being annoyed at my hair, cuz I know it'll grow back, even if it takes a bit, I'm growing increasingly self conscious about my appearance. I feel upset when I don't look girly enough, but also don't feel like I'm coming off very masculine either.
I just want my brain to give me the right chemicals so I know what I want.