I genuinely think I am going insane. In August 2023, I upgraded my PC from the AM4 platform to the AM5 platform. To provide a comprehensive overview, I will share the PcPartPicker lists for both PCs, along with the detailed specs here.
New: Ryzen 9 7900X3D (PBO enabled) EVGA 3080 Ti FTW3 Asus X670E Crosshair Extreme G.Skill 32GB (2 x 16) 7600mhz CAS36 Trident Z5 2TB Crucial T700 1TB Corsair MP600 Corsair AIO H170i 420mm Corsair 7000D case Corsair HX1500i PSU (ATX 3.0/PCie 5.0) (1500 W)
Old: Ryzen 7 5800X (Overclocked to 4.8 GHz, stable) EVGA 3080 Ti FTW3 MSI X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WI-FI G.Skill 32GB (2 x 16) 4000mhz CAS18 Trident Z 1TB Corsair MP600 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD MSI AIO MPG CORELIQUID V2 360mm Corsair 7000D case Corsair RM 850x PSU (850 W)
Ever since I upgraded to the AM5 platform, in many games, within the first 1 - 10 minutes of launching (regardless of whether I stay in the lobby or queue into a match), my frames drop below 5 FPS and stay like that from anywhere between 20 seconds to 3 minutes. GPU utilization drops from 20% to 99% (depending on the game) to 1% to 5%. DPC latency for Nvidia and other drivers spikes like crazy. I've attached the LatencyMon reports.
Once it returns to normal, it STAYS normal until I restart my PC. The thing is, there are only some games like this. For example, it always happens in Valorant (not resource intensive) and Apex Legends (resource intensive). I play these two at low settings. However, it never happens in Forza Horizon 5 and Forza Motorsport (2023), and I play both at max settings in 1440p!
I've RMA'd the motherboard and CPU and even tried swapping the graphics card with a 4060, yet the issue still persisted. This never happens when I run Cinebench or casually use my PC. My BIOS, OS (Windows 11 23H2), and every single damn driver on my PC is up-to-date. I check every day for updates on everything. I may be the most up-to-date man in my city. I have also ruled out thermal throttling, as my CPU is stays below 75c when these drops happen, and before.
I've clean-installed Windows 11 countless times with no luck. I've played with no additional software on my PC, just drivers, and it still happens. I contacted NVIDIA support, but customer service couldn't fix it. I got forwarded to "level 2 tech support", and they said, "We will look into it on our side." I followed up consistently for weeks and never got a response back. I even made a new ticket, which got closed with no response. I even emailed their HQ (I think), and never got a response from them either.
I'm considering giving up and getting ready to splurge on a Ryzen 9 9900X when it's released. I believe it has something to do with the 3D-Vcache, and I prefer having a fixed overclock and finding its stable limits. At this point, I am insanely desperate for any fix. Please feel free to ask any questions that would help troubleshoot. Keep in mind that the screenshots were taken a few months ago when I submitted the support ticket to NVIDIA.
CONCLUSION _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates. LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:05:49 (h:mm:ss) on all processors. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SYSTEM INFORMATION _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Computer name: MAKEENSPC OS version: Windows 11, 10.0, version 2009, build: 22631 (x64) Hardware: System Product Name, ASUS BIOS: 1904 CPU: AuthenticAMD AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D 12-Core Processor Logical processors: 24 Processor groups: 1 Processor group size: 24 RAM: 32470 MB total _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU SPEED _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Reported CPU speed (WMI): 4401 MHz Reported CPU speed (registry): 440 MHz Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event. Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 31512.40 Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 11.033801 Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 31504.10 Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 5.010260 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED ISRs _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal. Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 414.60 Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.001667 Driver with highest ISR total time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.001667 ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 64723 ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0 ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs): 9 ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0 ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0 ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED DPCs _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution. Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 70738.720 Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 551.52 , NVIDIA Corporation Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.055289 Driver with highest DPC total execution time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.156135 DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 537621 DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0 DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs): 196 DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 1698 DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 109 DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 271 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution. NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit. Process with highest pagefault count: msmpeng.exe Total number of hard pagefaults 393 Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 167 Number of processes hit: 8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PER CPU DATA _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 27.763093 CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 414.60 CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.108111 CPU 0 ISR count: 33785 CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15653.070 CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 4.248667 CPU 0 DPC count: 114314 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 61.040177 CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 247.010 CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.025783 CPU 1 ISR count: 19964 CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 70738.720 CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 8.533829 CPU 1 DPC count: 406668 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.999166 CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 2 ISR count: 0 CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 36.660 CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003996 CPU 2 DPC count: 1902 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.653989 CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 11.340 CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000538 CPU 3 ISR count: 385 CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 47292.350 CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.110961 CPU 3 DPC count: 1718 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.738759 CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 4 ISR count: 0 CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15736.80 CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.022466 CPU 4 DPC count: 2477 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.353692 CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 5 ISR count: 0 CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 39.90 CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.004773 CPU 5 DPC count: 1614 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.838329 CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 6 ISR count: 0 CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15766.450 CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.018172 CPU 6 DPC count: 940 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.835885 CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 7 ISR count: 0 CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15752.740 CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.017217 CPU 7 DPC count: 646 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 8 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.119580 CPU 8 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 8 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 8 ISR count: 0 CPU 8 DPC highest execution time (µs): 47.940 CPU 8 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003918 CPU 8 DPC count: 1225 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 9 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.123383 CPU 9 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 9 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 9 ISR count: 0 CPU 9 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15750.870 CPU 9 DPC total execution time (s): 0.018676 CPU 9 DPC count: 854 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 10 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.654364 CPU 10 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 10 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 10 ISR count: 0 CPU 10 DPC highest execution time (µs): 36.290 CPU 10 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001585 CPU 10 DPC count: 563 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 11 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.933098 CPU 11 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 11 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 11 ISR count: 0 CPU 11 DPC highest execution time (µs): 34.350 CPU 11 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001481 CPU 11 DPC count: 484 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 12 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.489502 CPU 12 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 12 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 12 ISR count: 0 CPU 12 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15802.070 CPU 12 DPC total execution time (s): 0.017034 CPU 12 DPC count: 390 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 13 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.922946 CPU 13 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 13 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 13 ISR count: 0 CPU 13 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15734.630 CPU 13 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016402 CPU 13 DPC count: 208 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 14 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.980946 CPU 14 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 14 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 14 ISR count: 0 CPU 14 DPC highest execution time (µs): 54.90 CPU 14 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003271 CPU 14 DPC count: 851 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 15 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.329617 CPU 15 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 15 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 15 ISR count: 0 CPU 15 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15787.0 CPU 15 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016904 CPU 15 DPC count: 390 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 16 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.531875 CPU 16 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 16 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 16 ISR count: 0 CPU 16 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15785.580 CPU 16 DPC total execution time (s): 0.017499 CPU 16 DPC count: 453 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 17 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.592284 CPU 17 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 17 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 17 ISR count: 0 CPU 17 DPC highest execution time (µs): 46.170 CPU 17 DPC total execution time (s): 0.000798 CPU 17 DPC count: 285 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 18 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.837475 CPU 18 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 18 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 18 ISR count: 0 CPU 18 DPC highest execution time (µs): 41.550 CPU 18 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001068 CPU 18 DPC count: 260 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 19 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.721595 CPU 19 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 19 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 19 ISR count: 0 CPU 19 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15791.680 CPU 19 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016658 CPU 19 DPC count: 228 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 20 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.620598 CPU 20 ISR highest execution time (µs): 2.740 CPU 20 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000571 CPU 20 ISR count: 1069 CPU 20 DPC highest execution time (µs): 83.530 CPU 20 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001440 CPU 20 DPC count: 343 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 21 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.626609 CPU 21 ISR highest execution time (µs): 3.250 CPU 21 ISR total execution time (s): 0.001416 CPU 21 ISR count: 2806 CPU 21 DPC highest execution time (µs): 83.180 CPU 21 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003384 CPU 21 DPC count: 940 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 22 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.571501 CPU 22 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1.960 CPU 22 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000576 CPU 22 ISR count: 1059 CPU 22 DPC highest execution time (µs): 47.140 CPU 22 DPC total execution time (s): 0.009259 CPU 22 DPC count: 1287 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 23 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.554794 CPU 23 ISR highest execution time (µs): 8.0 CPU 23 ISR total execution time (s): 0.002821 CPU 23 ISR count: 5664 CPU 23 DPC highest execution time (µs): 64.620 CPU 23 DPC total execution time (s): 0.007121 CPU 23 DPC count: 855 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I genuinely think I am going insane. In August 2023, I upgraded my PC from the AM4 platform to the AM5 platform. To provide a comprehensive overview, I will share the PcPartPicker lists for both PCs, along with the detailed specs here. New: Ryzen 9 7900X3D (PBO enabled) EVGA 3080 Ti FTW3 Asus X670E Crosshair Extreme G.Skill 32GB (2 x 16) 7600mhz CAS36 Trident Z5 2TB Crucial T700 1TB Corsair MP600 Corsair AIO H170i 420mm Corsair 7000D case Corsair HX1500i PSU (ATX 3.0/PCie 5.0) (1500 W)
Old: Ryzen 7 5800X (Overclocked to 4.8 GHz, stable) EVGA 3080 Ti FTW3 MSI X570 Gaming Pro Carbon WI-FI G.Skill 32GB (2 x 16) 4000mhz CAS18 Trident Z 1TB Corsair MP600 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD MSI AIO MPG CORELIQUID V2 360mm Corsair 7000D case Corsair RM 850x PSU (850 W)
Ever since I upgraded to the AM5 platform, in many games, within the first 1 - 10 minutes of launching (regardless of whether I stay in the lobby or queue into a match), my frames drop below 5 FPS and stay like that from anywhere between 20 seconds to 3 minutes. GPU utilization drops from 20% to 99% (depending on the game) to 1% to 5%. DPC latency for Nvidia and other drivers spikes like crazy. I've attached the LatencyMon reports. Once it returns to normal, it STAYS normal until I restart my PC. The thing is, there are only some games like this. For example, it always happens in Valorant (not resource intensive) and Apex Legends (resource intensive). I play these two at low settings. However, it never happens in Forza Horizon 5 and Forza Motorsport (2023), and I play both at max settings in 1440p! I've RMA'd the motherboard and CPU and even tried swapping the graphics card with a 4060, yet the issue still persisted. This never happens when I run Cinebench or casually use my PC. My BIOS, OS (Windows 11 23H2), and every single damn driver on my PC is up-to-date. I check every day for updates on everything. I may be the most up-to-date man in my city. I have also ruled out thermal throttling, as my CPU is stays below 75c when these drops happen, and before. I've clean-installed Windows 11 countless times with no luck. I've played with no additional software on my PC, just drivers, and it still happens. I contacted NVIDIA support, but customer service couldn't fix it. I got forwarded to "level 2 tech support", and they said, "We will look into it on our side." I followed up consistently for weeks and never got a response back. I even made a new ticket, which got closed with no response. I even emailed their HQ (I think), and never got a response from them either. I'm considering giving up and getting ready to splurge on a Ryzen 9 9900X when it's released. I believe it has something to do with the 3D-Vcache, and I prefer having a fixed overclock and finding its stable limits. At this point, I am insanely desperate for any fix. Please feel free to ask any questions that would help troubleshoot. Keep in mind that the screenshots were taken a few months ago when I submitted the support ticket to NVIDIA.
​
CONCLUSION _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Your system appears to be having trouble handling real-time audio and other tasks. You are likely to experience buffer underruns appearing as drop outs, clicks or pops. One or more DPC routines that belong to a driver running in your system appear to be executing for too long. One problem may be related to power management, disable CPU throttling settings in Control Panel and BIOS setup. Check for BIOS updates. LatencyMon has been analyzing your system for 0:05:49 (h:mm:ss) on all processors. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SYSTEM INFORMATION _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Computer name: MAKEENSPC OS version: Windows 11, 10.0, version 2009, build: 22631 (x64) Hardware: System Product Name, ASUS BIOS: 1904 CPU: AuthenticAMD AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D 12-Core Processor Logical processors: 24 Processor groups: 1 Processor group size: 24 RAM: 32470 MB total _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU SPEED _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Reported CPU speed (WMI): 4401 MHz Reported CPU speed (registry): 440 MHz Note: reported execution times may be calculated based on a fixed reported CPU speed. Disable variable speed settings like Intel Speed Step and AMD Cool N Quiet in the BIOS setup for more accurate results. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MEASURED INTERRUPT TO USER PROCESS LATENCIES _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The interrupt to process latency reflects the measured interval that a usermode process needed to respond to a hardware request from the moment the interrupt service routine started execution. This includes the scheduling and execution of a DPC routine, the signaling of an event and the waking up of a usermode thread from an idle wait state in response to that event. Highest measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 31512.40 Average measured interrupt to process latency (µs): 11.033801 Highest measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 31504.10 Average measured interrupt to DPC latency (µs): 5.010260 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED ISRs _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Interrupt service routines are routines installed by the OS and device drivers that execute in response to a hardware interrupt signal. Highest ISR routine execution time (µs): 414.60 Driver with highest ISR routine execution time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation Highest reported total ISR routine time (%): 0.001667 Driver with highest ISR total time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation Total time spent in ISRs (%) 0.001667 ISR count (execution time <250 µs): 64723 ISR count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0 ISR count (execution time 500-1000 µs): 9 ISR count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 0 ISR count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 0 ISR count (execution time >=4000 µs): 0 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED DPCs _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ DPC routines are part of the interrupt servicing dispatch mechanism and disable the possibility for a process to utilize the CPU while it is interrupted until the DPC has finished execution. Highest DPC routine execution time (µs): 70738.720 Driver with highest DPC routine execution time: nvlddmkm.sys - NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 551.52 , NVIDIA Corporation Highest reported total DPC routine time (%): 0.055289 Driver with highest DPC total execution time: Wdf01000.sys - Kernel Mode Driver Framework Runtime, Microsoft Corporation Total time spent in DPCs (%) 0.156135 DPC count (execution time <250 µs): 537621 DPC count (execution time 250-500 µs): 0 DPC count (execution time 500-10000 µs): 196 DPC count (execution time 1000-2000 µs): 1698 DPC count (execution time 2000-4000 µs): 109 DPC count (execution time >=4000 µs): 271 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ REPORTED HARD PAGEFAULTS _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Hard pagefaults are events that get triggered by making use of virtual memory that is not resident in RAM but backed by a memory mapped file on disk. The process of resolving the hard pagefault requires reading in the memory from disk while the process is interrupted and blocked from execution. NOTE: some processes were hit by hard pagefaults. If these were programs producing audio, they are likely to interrupt the audio stream resulting in dropouts, clicks and pops. Check the Processes tab to see which programs were hit. Process with highest pagefault count: msmpeng.exe Total number of hard pagefaults 393 Hard pagefault count of hardest hit process: 167 Number of processes hit: 8 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ PER CPU DATA _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 0 Interrupt cycle time (s): 27.763093 CPU 0 ISR highest execution time (µs): 414.60 CPU 0 ISR total execution time (s): 0.108111 CPU 0 ISR count: 33785 CPU 0 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15653.070 CPU 0 DPC total execution time (s): 4.248667 CPU 0 DPC count: 114314 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 1 Interrupt cycle time (s): 61.040177 CPU 1 ISR highest execution time (µs): 247.010 CPU 1 ISR total execution time (s): 0.025783 CPU 1 ISR count: 19964 CPU 1 DPC highest execution time (µs): 70738.720 CPU 1 DPC total execution time (s): 8.533829 CPU 1 DPC count: 406668 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 2 Interrupt cycle time (s): 7.999166 CPU 2 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 2 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 2 ISR count: 0 CPU 2 DPC highest execution time (µs): 36.660 CPU 2 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003996 CPU 2 DPC count: 1902 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 3 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.653989 CPU 3 ISR highest execution time (µs): 11.340 CPU 3 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000538 CPU 3 ISR count: 385 CPU 3 DPC highest execution time (µs): 47292.350 CPU 3 DPC total execution time (s): 0.110961 CPU 3 DPC count: 1718 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 4 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.738759 CPU 4 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 4 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 4 ISR count: 0 CPU 4 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15736.80 CPU 4 DPC total execution time (s): 0.022466 CPU 4 DPC count: 2477 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 5 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.353692 CPU 5 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 5 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 5 ISR count: 0 CPU 5 DPC highest execution time (µs): 39.90 CPU 5 DPC total execution time (s): 0.004773 CPU 5 DPC count: 1614 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 6 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.838329 CPU 6 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 6 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 6 ISR count: 0 CPU 6 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15766.450 CPU 6 DPC total execution time (s): 0.018172 CPU 6 DPC count: 940 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 7 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.835885 CPU 7 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 7 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 7 ISR count: 0 CPU 7 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15752.740 CPU 7 DPC total execution time (s): 0.017217 CPU 7 DPC count: 646 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 8 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.119580 CPU 8 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 8 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 8 ISR count: 0 CPU 8 DPC highest execution time (µs): 47.940 CPU 8 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003918 CPU 8 DPC count: 1225 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 9 Interrupt cycle time (s): 6.123383 CPU 9 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 9 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 9 ISR count: 0 CPU 9 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15750.870 CPU 9 DPC total execution time (s): 0.018676 CPU 9 DPC count: 854 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 10 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.654364 CPU 10 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 10 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 10 ISR count: 0 CPU 10 DPC highest execution time (µs): 36.290 CPU 10 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001585 CPU 10 DPC count: 563 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 11 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.933098 CPU 11 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 11 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 11 ISR count: 0 CPU 11 DPC highest execution time (µs): 34.350 CPU 11 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001481 CPU 11 DPC count: 484 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 12 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.489502 CPU 12 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 12 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 12 ISR count: 0 CPU 12 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15802.070 CPU 12 DPC total execution time (s): 0.017034 CPU 12 DPC count: 390 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 13 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.922946 CPU 13 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 13 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 13 ISR count: 0 CPU 13 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15734.630 CPU 13 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016402 CPU 13 DPC count: 208 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 14 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.980946 CPU 14 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 14 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 14 ISR count: 0 CPU 14 DPC highest execution time (µs): 54.90 CPU 14 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003271 CPU 14 DPC count: 851 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 15 Interrupt cycle time (s): 5.329617 CPU 15 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 15 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 15 ISR count: 0 CPU 15 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15787.0 CPU 15 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016904 CPU 15 DPC count: 390 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 16 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.531875 CPU 16 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 16 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 16 ISR count: 0 CPU 16 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15785.580 CPU 16 DPC total execution time (s): 0.017499 CPU 16 DPC count: 453 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 17 Interrupt cycle time (s): 4.592284 CPU 17 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 17 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 17 ISR count: 0 CPU 17 DPC highest execution time (µs): 46.170 CPU 17 DPC total execution time (s): 0.000798 CPU 17 DPC count: 285 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 18 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.837475 CPU 18 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 18 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 18 ISR count: 0 CPU 18 DPC highest execution time (µs): 41.550 CPU 18 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001068 CPU 18 DPC count: 260 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 19 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.721595 CPU 19 ISR highest execution time (µs): 0.0 CPU 19 ISR total execution time (s): 0.0 CPU 19 ISR count: 0 CPU 19 DPC highest execution time (µs): 15791.680 CPU 19 DPC total execution time (s): 0.016658 CPU 19 DPC count: 228 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 20 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.620598 CPU 20 ISR highest execution time (µs): 2.740 CPU 20 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000571 CPU 20 ISR count: 1069 CPU 20 DPC highest execution time (µs): 83.530 CPU 20 DPC total execution time (s): 0.001440 CPU 20 DPC count: 343 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 21 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.626609 CPU 21 ISR highest execution time (µs): 3.250 CPU 21 ISR total execution time (s): 0.001416 CPU 21 ISR count: 2806 CPU 21 DPC highest execution time (µs): 83.180 CPU 21 DPC total execution time (s): 0.003384 CPU 21 DPC count: 940 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 22 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.571501 CPU 22 ISR highest execution time (µs): 1.960 CPU 22 ISR total execution time (s): 0.000576 CPU 22 ISR count: 1059 CPU 22 DPC highest execution time (µs): 47.140 CPU 22 DPC total execution time (s): 0.009259 CPU 22 DPC count: 1287 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CPU 23 Interrupt cycle time (s): 3.554794 CPU 23 ISR highest execution time (µs): 8.0 CPU 23 ISR total execution time (s): 0.002821 CPU 23 ISR count: 5664 CPU 23 DPC highest execution time (µs): 64.620 CPU 23 DPC total execution time (s): 0.007121 CPU 23 DPC count: 855 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Me and my husband recently got married (Both 30) During the planning process we decided that we wanted to do our wedding on a budget and keep it personal to us. We chose a local venue, made our own decor and planned the whole day ourselves with the help of our amazing MOH. For the wedding breakfast, only 90 seats were available so had to choose our guests carefully, and in the evening we could increase our guest numbers. After so much back and forth, we decided it would not be possible to have everyone's children at the wedding except from those that are related to us, especially since between our guests there would have been over 20 children, most under 10 years old. In addition, while we love all of our friends kids, they would not have appreciated the day as much as the adult would have. We let our friends know and they were very understanding, some also admitted that they would have preferred a child free night with their SO to relax.
My friend (Let's call her Stacey) had met when we were 10, but hadn't talked as much prior to wedding planning, so I had decided to invite her to the evening of the wedding. Stacey was a single mum to a six year old who had been in a relationship that had ended badly, which had led to a toxic custody battle on her side. She would often rant in front of her kid and stretch the truth, to which I would try to talk her down and support her in any way I could. My husband wasn't a fan of her since whenever we did meet up with her, she would only talk about herself and the latest dramas in her life, especially more people she had fallen out with, this seemed to be quite constant for Stacey, regardless, he accepted my wishes.
Fast forward to my hen do. The girls and my mum had planned a surprise hen do for me and it was a lot of fun. During the night (and after a few drink) I became curious as to who was not able to make it. My MOH mentioned a few people and their reasons (Not as if it mattered) and said "Unfortunately, we haven't heard anything from Stacey". I let it go and didn't think much more of it after that. After the hen do, of course we shared some photos of the hen do to socials. After a week I got a message from Stacey basically saying sorry that she could not attend, she didn't have child care, which is fully understandable.
A few weeks pass and she messages me again saying "I'm not sure if I can come yet, but if I do can I bring my new man?" My response was that I didn't know she had a new man but I would check the numbers and see what we could do. Her response was "Oh we're not together, we're just talking for now" I was in two minds since I didn't really want a complete stranger to be at my wedding day. I ended the conversation with, "I wasn't sure I was comfortable with that and for her to please let me know when she knew".
It is now nine days before the wedding, I am cooking dinner and doing the very final counts and remember that Stacey hasn't let me know if she could attend the wedding reception, so I reached out to her.
In short the conversation started with me asking if she would be there next week. She told me she could because of court cases along with other stuff and that she couldn't find child care and that she would come if her kid could come along too. Now this is understandable, except she lived with her mum who I know is more than happy to look after her granddaughter, in addition, this day had been planned so far in advance. I replied, I fully understand however so many other people have had to fork out for childcare and it would be unfair to those if I allowed her child, I added that I love everyone's kids but I could not afford them. She then proceeded to state that she no longer gets on with my friends, and that no one would find it unfair if her child attends and that it's "Only a buffet rights?" then proceeded to try and call me.
I put my foot down however said that I didn't want to lose her as a friend. She replied saying she "respects my choices and that her mum could have her child but then she would be sacrificing her time with her child since baby daddy now has every other weekend with their child". I thanked her for her understanding to which she said "Yeah it's just part of being a parent, and you haven't lost me as a friend. I'm not that petty lol. Me and child are a team so we will always do stuff together otherwise I just accept that I can't do anything, it is what it is. I don't think it would make you and husband hypocrites. Weddings are much better with children anyway. I responded with "Again, that being said, if everyone's kids were there, that would be over 20 kids, which could be chaos also" and she finished it with "You’ll understand one day when you have children yourself that children will always come first"
The wedding was great and after we heard nothing from her despite her being present on social media. No congrats, no comments about the dress or the photos when they came back. She just shared shady memes about friendship. 7 months later she messages me out of the blue saying "Hey babe, you okay?" I didn't really know what to say back and eventually, she cornered me at work in which was really awkward and she has since blocked me on social media.
I don't know if I should feel bad or if I should have tried harder. I was very present in her kids life before and she used to call me auntie like all of my friends kids. AITA

2024.2 2024.05.19

SDK: nand: Adjust/fix Winbond manufacturer ID SDK: small update for Broadcom 53xx RoboSwitch device driver SDK: bcmrobo.c: simplify Switch Register Access Bridge Registers SRAB_ENAB() SDK6: update PCI-Express driver kernel: mtd: nand: add Macronix manufacturer kernel: mtd: nand: Add Winbond manufacturer toolchain: refresh toolchain on Debian 12 with newer version of gmp, m4 and mpfr zlib: update to 1.3.1 libcurl: update to 8.7.1 libpng: update to 1.6.43 libxml2: update to 2.12.6 tinc: update to d9e42fa (2024-04-07) snapshot dnsmasq: update to b8ff4bb (2024-02-22) snapshot expat: update to 2.6.2 busybox: updates from the upstream spawn-fcgi: update to 1.6.5 php: update to 8.3.6 nginx: update to 1.26.0 meson: update to 1.4.0 libffi: update to 3.4.6 openvpn: update to 2.6.10 tor: update to 0.4.7.16 - the last one that actually compiles on our ancient toolset sqlite: update to 3.45.3 irqbalance: update to 1.9.4 gettext-tiny: update to 86d9b99 (2024-01-21) snapshot miniupnpd: update to 2.3.6 dropbear: update to 2024.85 libcap-ng: update to 0.8.5 libsodium: update to latest 1.0.19-stable util-linux: update to 2.39.4 build: add Netgear EX7000 support [WIP] build: Makefile: use libzip for php compilation build: Makefile: tune libcurl recipe (remove not used stuff - smaller size) build: Makefile: tune apcupsd recipe (smaller size) build: Makefile: mysql: at last build it with system zlib; do not waste time for mysql-test, support-files, sql-bench and man subdirs build: Makefile: minidlna: disable NLS support build: Makefile: clean more targets before every compilation build: Makefile: util-linux: disable nls build: switch to php-8.3.1 build: add pcre2-10.37 to the tree build: update glib to 2.74.7 with openwrt patches; add/change recipes; integrate updated/added glib and pcre2 build: add haveged-1.9.18 to the tree build: implement haveged build: add TOR again to the o (Custom) target build: Update Dockerfile to Debian 12 GUI: Administration: Admin Access: exclude ports 80 and 443 for remote GUI access for security reasons GUI: Administration: Admin Access: fix preparing url of redirect page in case of remote connection GUI: admin-access.asp - Add option to enable/disable httpd listening on IPv6 and VLAN interfaces GUI: basic-network.asp - fix saving in case wl radio order is not ascending (ex. normal order wl0, wl1, wl2, ... ) GUI: tools-survey.asp - fix Wireless Site Survey if SSID contains a single quote (fix #323) GUI: VPN: OpenVPN Client: add note about strict Kill Switch GUI: Status: Overview: fix Watchdog status display GUI: USB and NAS: Media Server: fix behaviour of the LAN boxes busybox: always add flock applet DHCPC: optionally prevent classless routes. Since this is used for iptv it cannot be disabled by default; recommended to turn it off when not using iptv, see CVE-2024-3661 getdns: fix for broken trust anchor files are silently ignored openssl-1.1: add patches for CVE-2023-5678 and CVE-2024-0727 php8: use php-fpm instead of spawn-fcgi udpxy: Fixed uninitialized source address DDNS: multiWAN aware (fix #65) ddns: increase the number of errors allowed before entering standby from 3 to 10 discobery.sh: supports for any CIDR (no dependency to /24 any more) - network and broadcast IPs are now always excluded from the polling - works when brX IP address is not the first in the subnet httpd: config.c: do not close temp file created by mkstemp before using it httpd: upgrade.c: use mkstemp instead of dangerous mktemp; check for available memory first; correct argument in waitpid(); fix a few other issues httpd: etherstates - detect port info in one sscanf httpd: httpd.c - fix/add IPv6 listeners for MultiLAN setups (do not try to add IPv4 listeners twice) httpd: devlist.c: Loop through dhcp enabled interfaces using BRIDGE_COUNT httpd: wl.c - Add central channel for future updates to the GUI Wireless Survey httpd: wl.c - Add 802.11N+AC BSS capabilities for future updates to the GUI Wireless Survey mdu: in case of curl, also use a while loop to use more than one IP checker during a failed host check mdu: use getaddrinfo instead of the deprecated gethostbyname when building without libcurl mdu: also test for IP change if "Force next update" is checked mdu: support special case, when ifname is set to 'none' or proto is 'disabled' - use default WAN mdu: remove ieserver.net from the list of available services (down) mdu: remove DyNS from the list of available services (down) nvram: fix behavior of 'convert' option ntpd: try to monitor and restart it when it dies or doesn't start at all others: sysinfo: fix WL adapter name for 3rd wireless others: improve cru locking to prevent concurrent updates others: switch4: fix PIN status recognition on some modems others: switch4g: correct checking of CPIN status others: switch3g: fix PIN checker patches: nginx: fix little endian recognition, solve other issues rc: always enable 3G modem support and remove that option from the GUI rc: arpbind.c: stop_arpbind(): Skip header of /proc/net/arp rc: buttons.c: Limit WLAN button maximum duration to 120 seconds rc: bwlimit.c: refactor code to loop using BRIDGE_COUNT rc: firewall.c: fix remote administration (www/ssh) when DMZ is enabled rc: firewall.c: Use BRIDGE_COUNT to iterate throuh interfaces rc: ftpd.c: close fp before bailing when f fails to open rc: init.c: do not run remove_usb_module() [remove_usb_all_modules() now] on halt/reboot; some changes in order of removed services rc: nfs.c: Also free(buf) when returning on failed fopen rc: nginx.c: always try to kill php-cgi at nginx stop rc: openvpn.c: start_ovpn_client(): Initialize route_mode variable rc: services.c: start_ipv6_tunnel(): Fix undefined behavior in snprintf rc: services.s: use get_wanface() to properly check WAN ifaces in generate_mdns_config() rc: services.c: block Apple private relay rc: tor.c: refactor code to loop using BRIDGE_COUNT rc: usb.c: do not run remove_usb_modem_modules() by default - it may cause kernel panic (at least on MIPS RT-AC), enable it by setting 'remove_modem_modules' nvram variable rc: wan.c: restart DDNS not only on primary WAN rom: update CA bundle to 2024-03-11 www: advanced-vlan.asp: wipe out relevant fields for inactive or just disabled WAN - needed in various places for the proper operation of FW www: advanced-vlan.asp: after editing, just reset mwan_num to 1 to avoid problems www: adminer.php: fix error message "Trying to access array offset on null" on php 8 www: basic-time.asp: Show ntp info www: qos-{ctrate,qos-detailed}: Additional filter options www: tools-survey.asp - v1.01 - 11/05/24 - rs232 Asus RT-AC5300: allow to disable/shut down broken wireless radios 

Full changelog: https://bitbucket.org/pedro311/freshtomato-arm/src/arm-masteCHANGELOG

An attractive alternative to traditional rewards for outstanding performance

Synthetic equity refers to a collection of strategies and instruments frequently used to provide employees with financial advantages of share ownership without actual shares changing hands. It is a potent instrument that practically all advanced investment organizations may utilize to attract, retain, and reward competent employees.
The favorable economic qualities of equity are embedded into synthetic equity plans, also known as equity alternatives, without the financial obligations coming from purchasing shares from the initial owner. Instead, synthetic equity programs often develop into cash payments to the employee and a corresponding deduction for the employer. Since it represents compensation, synthetic equity may be easily adjusted to handle almost any scenario.
The following scenarios exemplify the situations in which synthetic equity is an optimal solution:

• An employee desires ownership-like benefits but is unable or unwilling to assume the financial risk of purchasing and paying for company equity.
• An employee aspires to ownership but lacks the credentials or licenses required for a role of a full equity partner in the company.
• Employees feel uncomfortable providing personal guarantees or accepting responsibility for credit lines, office leases, payroll-related expenditures, or the commitments made under buy-sell or continuity agreements.
• A company owner wants to share the economic worth of equity rather than the actual equity. This includes owners not interested in supporting this transaction with seller financing.
• A company owner wishes to motivate an employee to work on increasing the company’s value but also wants to discourage them from leaving and creating competition for the business, engaging in client solicitation, or performing other actions that might harm the company.
• An owner planning to leave the company in the following 5-year period wishes to reward one or more critical workers at the time of the sale without requiring them to purchase and pay for equity.

Tokenization of business and individual performance

The above method has been known for decades. The critical challenge in the modern business world is ensuring that innovation and productivity are rewarded equitably across an organization. At the same time, executives must be compensated for creating these conditions.
However, rewarding innovation and equitably delivering executive-level incentives and rewards across the organization from the top to the shop floor is the alternative made possible only by deploying smart contracts and blockchain technology — tokenizing business and individual performance.
The tokenization of business elements such as performance and innovation is one of the newest ways to drive planned outcomes. The process is about moving your business to blockchain. Although it may seem complicated and challenging to implement, almost any entrepreneur can tokenize the building blocks of their business. Tokenization is simply transforming a company’s value into a digitized resource in the form of tokens.
Tokens represent a value within the organization in a transparent and auditable way. They can be cashed in upon completion of the vesting period if both company and individual targets have been met. What makes Synthetic Equity on the chain unique is its transparency, auditability of incentives, and most notably, equitable distribution of tokens corresponding to each employee’s job size.

The Mechanism Behind Synthetic Equity

For synthetic equity to produce favorable results, a profitable, successful firm with a proper entity structure is necessary. Corporations and LLCs can use the tools relating to synthetic equity. In some situations, they may also be used by sole proprietorships, albeit in a slightly different form.
To fully grasp the idea of synthetic equity, it might be helpful to understand the mechanism behind equity in general. Understanding how equity functions allows those interested in synthetic equity to utilize some of the tools used in working with actual equity.
For example, investing in an independent advisory company generally offers the following considerable advantages:

• The right to vote
• Participation in the corporate governance system
• Access to the company’s financial documents
• Limited liability
• A proportionate cut of the revenue
• Sale-related long-term capital gains tax rates
• Capital growth potential

SyntheticEquity.io app is changing how we think about incentives and rewards.
These advantages have a monetary value. Therefore, purchasing equity carries a price, and awarding employee equity has tax repercussions. A tiny ownership share in a fee-based firm might cost several hundred thousand dollars. In these types of businesses, the stock is often acquired and paid for after tax, and the equity partner or shareholder usually expects to obtain the entire set of rights in return for taking on the investment risk.
The rights can be unbundled, meaning that the current owner does not have to sell or provide the full bundle of rights to an employee or investment advisor. To fulfill specific goals, each of the rights mentioned above can also be further divided or redefined in as much detail as necessary. For example, one or two rights from the total package might be provided, such as the opportunity to grow the company’s worth or a percentage of the profits.
By allowing someone to own a portion of the rights in the bundle rather than all of them, synthetic equity generates an advantage. These unique rights or benefits are often described in a plan document and frequently provided via individual award agreements between the employer and employee. A wide range of flexible options for creating a solid and profitable company are produced when equity-like benefits and a long-term remuneration strategy are combined.
Synthetic equity plans often come in one of the following three forms:

• Full-value plans can result in a substantially big payment to an employee since they pay both the value of the underlying stock and any appreciation that is gained over a certain period.
• Performance unit plans swap out equity as the value metric for another metric like sales growth or profitability.
• The value of any growth in the underlying stock value over a specific period following the date of the award is typically paid out under appreciation-only plans.

These kinds of plans are like conventional non-qualified plans insofar as they offer a possibility of discrimination and a significant risk of forfeiture that often lasts until shortly before the benefit is awarded to the employee.
Essentially, synthetic equity is a type of delayed compensation that links a worker’s financial incentive to the company’s performance. By striking the correct balance between the danger of losing a valuable employee and the potential future cost to the employer, each plan is specifically created to meet the advisor’s needs. The plans are intended to reward employees for contributing to the company’s success, but they also ensure that no payment is due if either the company doesn’t develop as expected or the employee doesn’t uphold their end of the deal by quitting their job to work for a rival company or starting their own.

Synthetic Equity Benefits

Synthetic equity is meant to be an equity-related instrument that helps a company find, reward, and keep hold of valuable people.
Synthetic equity benefits are:

• Synthetic equity inspires employees to adopt an owner’s perspective and put development and shareholder value first.
• There is no debt since important participants do not buy phantom shares like full equity stockholders do.
• If a participant’s job terminates before the designated vesting date, they typically forfeit any benefits under the plan.
• Participants normally do not have voting rights or a vote in corporate governance and may or may not be entitled to collect profits from the company.
• Synthetic equity programs provide flexible vesting timelines; vesting can take place over time, depending on the accomplishment of certain quantifiable company or individual goals.
• If the company’s growth is slower than expected and the stock price does not rise, nothing is exchanged.
• When a synthetic equity grant is issued, owners of genuine equity are not adversely affected by a dilution of their ownership percentages.
• Compared to S-Corporations, which are often more restricted, more freedom is provided in terms of stock class and shareholder count.
• The advising business’s shareholders’ or members’ agreement and associated buy-sell provisions do not immediately apply to synthetic equity.

Synthetic equity options’ versatility comes with many benefits but may also have many drawbacks. The companies need to make decisions regarding what valuation technique will be utilized, what vesting rules will be implemented, how liquidity problems will be addressed, what eligibility conditions will be imposed, and what rights to participate in corporate governance will be granted due to the wide range of possible directions for designing synthetic equity plans.

Conclusion

In the hands of a forward-thinking business leader, synthetic equity is a potent instrument. It may be utilized to solve the difficulty of attracting, rewarding, and maintaining top talent to create a great practice or viable business without the challenges of selling and paying for an actual ownership stake.
Like full stock, synthetic equity may refocus the employee’s attention and motivate them to contribute to a flourishing and profitable company.
Authors

Paul Lalovich

Organizational Effectiveness and Strategy Execution Practice

I have this command that detects if a block is in a hopper or not. after that it will run a say command, which it doesn't do. I remove the run command, it turns out the test fails even though the specific item is inside the hopper. the command worked before, not sure why it broke all of a sudden.
/execute if block 359 40 -73 minecraft:hopper{Items:[{Slot:0b,id:"minecraft:red_concrete",Count:1b}]} run say 1
Minecraft Java, 1.20.6 (running on a papermc server)

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is such a good game despite being so… well… basic.
It’s simple — almost overly so — yet it is beloved by so many seasoned and experienced gamers.
What I got curious about after playing the game myself and reading a number of pseudo-reviews online was how exactly it achieved this.
How did a package so entry-level-looking garner such respect by 201 and 301 students?
--
The ‘Fields’ region is a great example of Kena’s dichotomy.
It’s gorgeous and inviting, with sea-foamed vistas, lush landscape and rushing waterways. There’s a even a big, lovable pet bull towering over the myriad of cute little Rot dudes scampering through the foliage. The whole place is just friendly.
Why then, does it end up being one of the game’s longest, deepest and most complex sections? Consider its many scattered puzzles, which ask you to combine platforming, archery, environmental awareness and combat proficiency. There’s even a handful of red herring platforms that you can’t properly interact with until later in your puzzle solving endeavor.
The ‘Fields’ are a microcosm of the game as a whole. A childish, Pixar-esque shell which, when uncovered, reveals a complex, involved gameplay experience underneath.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits invites you to be a kid, but treats you like an adult. This is something very few games manage — or even attempt — and it’s what makes Kena so unique, memorable and special.
--
Kena crushes its tone and aesthetic on all fronts to create something that’s desirable and attainable to a group outside of hardcore gamers.
Kena’s visuals are youthful and welcoming by using cartoonish and fairytale-esque art design. The game’s companions do the same — the Rot are your constant brigade of adorable little plush-like, Pikimin-esque comrades who hop as you walk, munch on berries, clumsily trip over each other, and squeak in pitches that can only described as ‘cute.’ You can even give them little hats to wear. They’re pets and it’s all so mired in youthful innocence that I cringe even typing it.
From a distance, Kena appears childish and immature based on its outward appearance. That is, until you peel back its outer layer.
--
The game looks like something your five-year-old might enjoying toying with on your iPad, “you-got-games-on-yo-phone?” style. But there are four elements in its building blocks that make it a game not optimized for your five-year-old on their own;

1. Narrative
2. Puzzles
3. Platforming
4. Combat

Narrative
As far as the game’s story is concerned, it may begin bright and innocent enough, but it deals not-abstractly with death and loss.
Consider that all three boys you meet in the early game — Taro, Benni and Saiya are actually dead, I-see-dead-people style. Consider also that Kena’s entire journey revolves around the loss of her own father and her desire to reconnect with him.
Additionally, it is Toshi’s selfishness and his desire to be the hero that actually ends up bringing death and destruction to his village when he jumps the gun and kills and the mountain spirit in cold blood.
Merciless affronts on nature and an up-front dealing with death and grief are not exactly for the young of age, despite their youthful packaging.
Puzzles
It would be a waste of word count to explain in detail the steps necessary to complete certain puzzles in Kena just as a set of examples to prove the point.
If you’ve played or watched gameplay, you know the puzzles are surprisingly involved, consisting often of multiple steps to complete that build on each other and require the use of all of your abilities in tandem.
One of the bigger “ah-hah” moments I recall was when I realized I could order my Rot minions to move objects while Kena stood on top of said object in order to give me a leg up to jump to a previously unreachable ledge.
Platforming
Speaking of ledges, jumping to and from them is tight and precise in Kena.
Platforming challenges are often timed (your aura-bomb weapon only activates platforms for specifically-timed bursts). Combining their scheduled nature with the need to rotate them via precise archery, mid-air grappling segments and more makes for a movement experience that is involved enough to demand the player’s full attention for every tick of the clock.
Kena and her world’s gravity also have a decided, predictable weight to them that’s not exactly forgiving, meaning the act of jumping to and fro is exact while also requiring exactness.
Combat
Fighting the enemies of Kena is similarly involved.
The cadence with which the game throws opponents your way combined with the complexities of dealing meaningful damage to said opponents creates a combat scenario which demands the player fluidly wield and swap between both melee and ranged options while carefully managing space on the battlefield.
Kamikaze-style enemies often rush Kena in carefully-spaced and well-timed waves, while enemies with shields and shells hide their weak points from visibility. Enemies like this require certain sequences to beat — be it a well-placed bomb and arrow combo, a parry, or a maneuvering to an enemy’s backside.
Boss encounters lean into these mechanics but also present new wrinkles — The Hunter fight asks the player to rethink their tactics and find a way to deal with an airborne opponent who is apt at dodging bombs and arrows, for example.
The final few bosses ask you to take everything you’ve learned throughout your journey and apply it all at once, and if you don’t… it’s defeat for Kena.
--
The above sounds like I’m describing a souls-like with platforming elements as the ‘fresh take’ in addition to the enrapturing combat.
Games that provide this much of a challenging, involved experience are typically darker in tone — be it music, environment, or what-have-you. I don’t think too many people would call Kena ‘hard,’ but these are the same people who died 10+ times to The Hunter or Corrupted Toshi.
If this game had a darker, moodier skin, would more people describe it as hard or not for the faint of heart?
In this way, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
It is accessible to new players and younger gamers due to its pleasing and friendly atmosphere. But by its conclusion, it is likely to season them into better gamers. If a newbie gamer picks up Kena, they’re in for a surprise and (hopefully) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
On the other hand, Kena is a worthwhile experience for veteran gamers if they drop their toxic masculinity and play a goofy kids game with a female protagonist. This is a game that will undoubtedly earn their respect by requiring their attention, precision and commitment throughout its experience. Like the newbie gamers, gaming veterans are in for a surprise and (certainly) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
--
Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a good experience for everyone. By balancing being adorable with being difficult, it earns the respect and appreciation of everyone who plays it. Its accessibility makes it easy to recommend to anyone and the game thus earns itself a bigger audience as a result.
Its narrative and gameplay might not separate themselves in terms of newness from a saturated market, but the surprise and delight the game provides delivers an experience to its players that isn’t typical of the space.
By striking the balance between wolf and sheep, Kena elevates its quality to something beyond just the content within.
--
…and yet…
I can’t help but think, as I summarize this article, that if a game is for everyone, doesn’t that, on some level, mean it is also for no one?
I mean, when you look at the game’s narrative or gameplay, it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel here. In fact, Kena does just about nothing new. It spits out the same exact version of a game we’ve been playing for decades in the form of Tomb Raider or Uncharted or The Legend of Zelda or God of War.
Critically speaking, both the gameplay and narrative are pretty damn milquetoast.
You’re in a world infected by some arbitrary Darkness and since you’re Special and The Chosen One™ it’s your job to go around cleansing the world of evil using a combination of environmental platforming, lever and pressure plate puzzle-solving and lock-on-based, sword-swinging driven combat.
It wouldn’t be difficult to make the argument that Kena is bland.
But the discourse around the game just isn’t about that.
The game’s scored an 81 on Metacritic and has a 92% positive review rating on Steam at time of writing. It recouped its development costs in just one month, meaning every sale since then is hitting the bottom line.
People like this game.

Quick aside from me here on something that made me smile — when double-checking the score on Steam for the above info, I found these as the first two reviews at the very top of the queue: “yo wtf. bought this game to chill, why does it feels like im playing souls-like difficulty ass game HAHAHAH.” “Don’t be fooled by the graphics. This game can be a challenge at times, but it is worth the experience.”

So maybe being an experience for everyone really was the kicker?
Or, maybe, it was something else.
In fact, yeah, I can confidently say it was. It’s a game reviewer’s buzzword, but it’s oh-so apt here: polish.
--
The entire experience of playing Kena is smooth. There are no framerate drops, no bugs, no broken quests or puzzles, no desynced dialogue and facial animations. Not a single hiccup to speak of.
The game features exacting archery, precise platforming, telegraphed and accurate hitboxes, as well as an unimpeding camera, responsive and weighty combat and legible visual design that accurately communicates with the player.
You can move through Kena virtually unobstructed (until you come across a puzzle you can’t solve, but that’s your problem, not the game’s). Everything is built carefully and gels together in a cohesion that works so fluidly that playing Kena is simply frictionless.
The game’s developers — Ember Lab — nailed the fundamentals, paid attention to detail and play-tested perfectly. Their effort to go above and beyond saved this game from sinking into the obscurity of being completely and utterly Mid.
--
It’s frictionlessness that elevates Kena beyond itself. It makes the game greater than the sum of its parts. It makes Kena a complete, finished and polished experience.
Kena presents itself like it’s Disney Pixar’s latest goofy-ass, lame-ass, sub-par video game, but lying underneath the childish aesthetic is a challenging and engaging experience that’s not only a boon for all audiences of gamers, but a worthwhile one thanks to its extreme polish and dedication.
You should play it.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits is such a good game despite being so… well… basic.
It’s simple — almost overly so — yet it is beloved by so many seasoned and experienced gamers.
What I got curious about after playing the game myself and reading a number of pseudo-reviews online was how exactly it achieved this.
How did a package so entry-level-looking garner such respect by 201 and 301 students?
--
The ‘Fields’ region is a great example of Kena’s dichotomy.
It’s gorgeous and inviting, with sea-foamed vistas, lush landscape and rushing waterways. There’s a even a big, lovable pet bull towering over the myriad of cute little Rot dudes scampering through the foliage. The whole place is just friendly.
Why then, does it end up being one of the game’s longest, deepest and most complex sections? Consider its many scattered puzzles, which ask you to combine platforming, archery, environmental awareness and combat proficiency. There’s even a handful of red herring platforms that you can’t properly interact with until later in your puzzle solving endeavor.
The ‘Fields’ are a microcosm of the game as a whole. A childish, Pixar-esque shell which, when uncovered, reveals a complex, involved gameplay experience underneath.
Kena: Bridge of Spirits invites you to be a kid, but treats you like an adult. This is something very few games manage — or even attempt — and it’s what makes Kena so unique, memorable and special.
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Kena crushes its tone and aesthetic on all fronts to create something that’s desirable and attainable to a group outside of hardcore gamers.
Kena’s visuals are youthful and welcoming by using cartoonish and fairytale-esque art design. The game’s companions do the same — the Rot are your constant brigade of adorable little plush-like, Pikimin-esque comrades who hop as you walk, munch on berries, clumsily trip over each other, and squeak in pitches that can only described as ‘cute.’ You can even give them little hats to wear. They’re pets and it’s all so mired in youthful innocence that I cringe even typing it.
From a distance, Kena appears childish and immature based on its outward appearance. That is, until you peel back its outer layer.
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The game looks like something your five-year-old might enjoying toying with on your iPad, “you-got-games-on-yo-phone?” style. But there are four elements in its building blocks that make it a game not optimized for your five-year-old on their own;

1. Narrative
2. Puzzles
3. Platforming
4. Combat

Narrative
As far as the game’s story is concerned, it may begin bright and innocent enough, but it deals not-abstractly with death and loss.
Consider that all three boys you meet in the early game — Taro, Benni and Saiya are actually dead, I-see-dead-people style. Consider also that Kena’s entire journey revolves around the loss of her own father and her desire to reconnect with him.
Additionally, it is Toshi’s selfishness and his desire to be the hero that actually ends up bringing death and destruction to his village when he jumps the gun and kills and the mountain spirit in cold blood.
Merciless affronts on nature and an up-front dealing with death and grief are not exactly for the young of age, despite their youthful packaging.
Puzzles
It would be a waste of word count to explain in detail the steps necessary to complete certain puzzles in Kena just as a set of examples to prove the point.
If you’ve played or watched gameplay, you know the puzzles are surprisingly involved, consisting often of multiple steps to complete that build on each other and require the use of all of your abilities in tandem.
One of the bigger “ah-hah” moments I recall was when I realized I could order my Rot minions to move objects while Kena stood on top of said object in order to give me a leg up to jump to a previously unreachable ledge.
Platforming
Speaking of ledges, jumping to and from them is tight and precise in Kena.
Platforming challenges are often timed (your aura-bomb weapon only activates platforms for specifically-timed bursts). Combining their scheduled nature with the need to rotate them via precise archery, mid-air grappling segments and more makes for a movement experience that is involved enough to demand the player’s full attention for every tick of the clock.
Kena and her world’s gravity also have a decided, predictable weight to them that’s not exactly forgiving, meaning the act of jumping to and fro is exact while also requiring exactness.
Combat
Fighting the enemies of Kena is similarly involved.
The cadence with which the game throws opponents your way combined with the complexities of dealing meaningful damage to said opponents creates a combat scenario which demands the player fluidly wield and swap between both melee and ranged options while carefully managing space on the battlefield.
Kamikaze-style enemies often rush Kena in carefully-spaced and well-timed waves, while enemies with shields and shells hide their weak points from visibility. Enemies like this require certain sequences to beat — be it a well-placed bomb and arrow combo, a parry, or a maneuvering to an enemy’s backside.
Boss encounters lean into these mechanics but also present new wrinkles — The Hunter fight asks the player to rethink their tactics and find a way to deal with an airborne opponent who is apt at dodging bombs and arrows, for example.
The final few bosses ask you to take everything you’ve learned throughout your journey and apply it all at once, and if you don’t… it’s defeat for Kena.
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The above sounds like I’m describing a souls-like with platforming elements as the ‘fresh take’ in addition to the enrapturing combat.
Games that provide this much of a challenging, involved experience are typically darker in tone — be it music, environment, or what-have-you. I don’t think too many people would call Kena ‘hard,’ but these are the same people who died 10+ times to The Hunter or Corrupted Toshi.
If this game had a darker, moodier skin, would more people describe it as hard or not for the faint of heart?
In this way, Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
It is accessible to new players and younger gamers due to its pleasing and friendly atmosphere. But by its conclusion, it is likely to season them into better gamers. If a newbie gamer picks up Kena, they’re in for a surprise and (hopefully) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
On the other hand, Kena is a worthwhile experience for veteran gamers if they drop their toxic masculinity and play a goofy kids game with a female protagonist. This is a game that will undoubtedly earn their respect by requiring their attention, precision and commitment throughout its experience. Like the newbie gamers, gaming veterans are in for a surprise and (certainly) delight when they find something deeper than that which they first expected.
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Kena: Bridge of Spirits is a good experience for everyone. By balancing being adorable with being difficult, it earns the respect and appreciation of everyone who plays it. Its accessibility makes it easy to recommend to anyone and the game thus earns itself a bigger audience as a result.
Its narrative and gameplay might not separate themselves in terms of newness from a saturated market, but the surprise and delight the game provides delivers an experience to its players that isn’t typical of the space.
By striking the balance between wolf and sheep, Kena elevates its quality to something beyond just the content within.
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…and yet…
I can’t help but think, as I summarize this article, that if a game is for everyone, doesn’t that, on some level, mean it is also for no one?
I mean, when you look at the game’s narrative or gameplay, it’s not exactly reinventing the wheel here. In fact, Kena does just about nothing new. It spits out the same exact version of a game we’ve been playing for decades in the form of Tomb Raider or Uncharted or The Legend of Zelda or God of War.
Critically speaking, both the gameplay and narrative are pretty damn milquetoast.
You’re in a world infected by some arbitrary Darkness and since you’re Special and The Chosen One™ it’s your job to go around cleansing the world of evil using a combination of environmental platforming, lever and pressure plate puzzle-solving and lock-on-based, sword-swinging driven combat.
It wouldn’t be difficult to make the argument that Kena is bland.
But the discourse around the game just isn’t about that.
The game’s scored an 81 on Metacritic and has a 92% positive review rating on Steam at time of writing. It recouped its development costs in just one month, meaning every sale since then is hitting the bottom line.
People like this game.

Quick aside from me here on something that made me smile — when double-checking the score on Steam for the above info, I found these as the first two reviews at the very top of the queue: “yo wtf. bought this game to chill, why does it feels like im playing souls-like difficulty ass game HAHAHAH.” “Don’t be fooled by the graphics. This game can be a challenge at times, but it is worth the experience.”

So maybe being an experience for everyone really was the kicker?
Or, maybe, it was something else.
In fact, yeah, I can confidently say it was. It’s a game reviewer’s buzzword, but it’s oh-so apt here: polish.
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The entire experience of playing Kena is smooth. There are no framerate drops, no bugs, no broken quests or puzzles, no desynced dialogue and facial animations. Not a single hiccup to speak of.
The game features exacting archery, precise platforming, telegraphed and accurate hitboxes, as well as an unimpeding camera, responsive and weighty combat and legible visual design that accurately communicates with the player.
You can move through Kena virtually unobstructed (until you come across a puzzle you can’t solve, but that’s your problem, not the game’s). Everything is built carefully and gels together in a cohesion that works so fluidly that playing Kena is simply frictionless.
The game’s developers — Ember Lab — nailed the fundamentals, paid attention to detail and play-tested perfectly. Their effort to go above and beyond saved this game from sinking into the obscurity of being completely and utterly Mid.
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It’s frictionlessness that elevates Kena beyond itself. It makes the game greater than the sum of its parts. It makes Kena a complete, finished and polished experience.
Kena presents itself like it’s Disney Pixar’s latest goofy-ass, lame-ass, sub-par video game, but lying underneath the childish aesthetic is a challenging and engaging experience that’s not only a boon for all audiences of gamers, but a worthwhile one thanks to its extreme polish and dedication.
You should play it.

I just need to talk to someone, anyone who understands the frustration of working at a place whose tagline is "we'll care for you" when they legit only care about sales, guest numbers, conversion rates, etc. When I actually try to get the therapists their long term, regularly schedule patients on the schedule but can't due to schedule blocks, guest counts and constant overhauls at the workplace; it just seems like they're asking for the place to burn. I try to help the therapists with new clients by getting them scheduled and then the management f*cks them over by filling their schedule with crap restrictions.
I'm not here to be a sales person. I'm here for people and getting them on the path to healing -- whether as a caring front desk associate or a future massage therapist. BUT GOD THIS PLACE IS TORTURE!

Freshly back and awake after a twelve day stint for my first time there. I knew that I wanted to go in general, and while I didn't have a firm itinerary planned out, there was one main goal that I had in terms of sites within the country. The main video game that I play is Beatmania IIDX, and it has internal trophies which are represented as badges. Your profile allows you to assign up to five of them as visible when you start a new round, and there are badges to earn for playing at least one round in every prefecture in Japan, as well as every subregion. Getting the Kanto badge meant that I needed to play at least one round in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, and Chiba. After five days, I had that complete, and now I have a permanent record of this trip within the game itself. There was also a time-limited event to earn points in IIDX in order to exchange them for goods, such as a hat, or a towel, or a new account card and a poster, and I managed to get that taken care of in somewhat dramatic fashion. I did some other things too.
Primary general points
· Getting Suica set on the phone and using it was generally painless. There were only two times where I needed to summon the help of a resident JR employee to clear up an issue with the gate not reading the card for some reason.
· Most vocal interaction which I had was the opposite of painless, because I continuously kept trying to speak Japanese and failing, and most people would realize that I was completely failing at it and responded with English (some with full on sentences, others with just a few words). There were a few rare times that I was able to express my intent in Japanese, receive a response, understand the response, and reply as necessary, but that was rare. Once English was invoked, I would stay with it, because that's what they were expecting. I've been self-studying the language for more than twenty years in varying degrees of intensity, and while my reading comprehesion seemed sufficient enough for this trip, and while I didn't expect my speaking to be as good because I don't have any opportunity to practice speaking, I came away bitterly disappointed in my vocal and speaking comprehension in terms of my interaction with people there. Even within the trip I could at least overhear common chitchat better, but any time I needed to converse with someone for some reason, I usually needed to have things repeated several times and broken down before I finally realized what was being said.
· You are going to be asked about separately buying a bag with every non-food purchase. Accept or immediately present one that you are carrying to indicate how your purchase shall be bagged.
· I never once had my passport requested for presentation.
· Only once did a person volutnarily reach out to address me, and it was just to ask me where I was from in English. Otherwise, everyone left me alone the entire time.
· Weather through the period was ideal. Mid to upper 70F/25C range and only a few days where it was rainy, and even then it wasn't a downpour. A while ago I personally resolved to only wear suits in public and I purchased a new pair of Mephisto shoes after hearing reports of the extensive walking causing problems for traveller's feet and shoes. My attire help up well; there were only a few times that I needed to avoid sunlight to not get too hot, and I have no issues to report from the shoes.
· I only got X'd out of a restaurant one time, and I think it's only because I wandered into it before it was ready for service. Otherwise, I never once waited in line for food, I never once went to restaurant more than once, and all food was acceptably priced for the portion and excellent for the quality.
For these per-day recounts, I wrote them contemporaneously at the end of each day, so you'll need to forgive me for some writing being in present tense and other writing being in past tense.
Day 1 - Travel, Sugamo, Ikebukuro
Non stop flight from Chicago OHare to Haneda. 12 hours. Good thing I usually don't watch movies, because that just means that all I needed to do was binge a few to make the trip go by.
Pre-trip research led me to choose APA Sugamo as my home base for the visit, and I think that it was a very fortuitious choice. I'll have more to say about it later.
Some awkward encounters happened right away upon checking in here. I was at the nearby Family Mart to buy some things and I didn’t catch that he was making sure I wanted a bag until he repeated it five times. Yes, I’ll take it. Before getting there I was coming down to ground level after checking into my room, and when that person saw that I would have been the only other person going down to the ground, they ducked right back out. I was warned on both of these kinds of things happening, so I guess it’s good to have that immediately out of the way. It would turn out that people deliberately avoiding me was rare throughout the trip.
Despite not sleeping on the trip, I had freshly arrived and had no sense of being tired, so once I had my stuff down, I went off to Ikebukuro right away. No picture or video truly conveys how crowded these areas can get. It can only be experienced in person to be understood.
I soon found Round One Ikebukruo and went right in. So dense and loud. It’s entirely alien to me to see no less than ten IIDX machines in operation and all of them in use. I dumped the money into random tickets, as I foresaw doing, but now I have to wonder if that was the right thing to do, or if it’s tied to that location. I guess I’ll find out.
The forecast is for rain so I need to be in a hurry to figure out where I’m going to go. There might be only one day left for me to get my time limited toys.
Day 2 - Kawasaki, Kanagawa - Utsunomiya, Tochigi - Oomiya, Saitama
My body decided that it only needed four hours of sleep this morning. Without doing more research, I somehow decided to assume that more of the Round One locations were close to 24 hours of operation much like Ikebukuro. Answer: no. I hopped on the train early and went to Shibuya first, but it was very quiet, so I decided to get some of the travels out of the way today and headed south to Kawasaki. I still needed to dawdle for a while until Silk Hat opened at 900AM, and when I finally was able to get inside, I was only able to verify that their store had several allotments of the campaign goods and all allotments were out. Played one round on a monitor that was surprisingly blurry, and I don’t know why that would be the case with a lightning model, but it was, so that was enough.
After doing all of that, I resolved to try to go to Chiba and Ibaraki afterwards. I figured that with Kanagawa and Tokyo likely all out, going to the outskirts would make more sense. However, there was an injury on one of the rails that threw everything off normal, and the train I found myself riding was bound for Utsunomiya instead. Seeing as how I was going to go there eventually, I rolled with it.
It doesn’t take too long to move away from Tokyo metropolitan area before you encounter more forest like areas and rice paddy fields. Halfway through the trip I noticed that two older women suddenly hopped off while the train was waiting to go to the next stop, and I followed them when I realized they found the express line. Utsunomiya has a substantial size to its area and buildings but it was very quiet on the streets there in midday. Walked a mile to Sega GIGO, found that they didn’t even have the goods tracker up. All out. Interesting buliding for it having several neon signs, all vintage and authentic at that. Getting to there from the south meant cutting through Saitama, so I knew I had enough time to make one last attempt there. Research shown two stores being near Oomiya station, so that’s where I ended up. Taito Station was immediately visible upon exit, and they have two IIDX machines specifically with 20 gram springs, which is closer to my home setup and that much lighter than standard 50 gram springs. The final hour drew near and I made one last visit to that city’s Round One. Unlike nearly every other place I went to so far, it only had one IIDX machine. However, and maybe because of that, their goods listing didn’t show everything as out. One painful language exchange later, I was able to discern that what I wanted was available. When you spend more than 3000 yen in a single credit, the game wants to verify if you really want to proceed. It does it again at 6000 and 9000. Yes, I really do. But, having made that money dump I was able to get my hands on the e-amuse card and poster with fifteen minutes left before the deadline. Mission complete. By this point in the day it was exceedingly difficult to even look at the screen so I was ready to come home, but not before getting some goods at the Oomiya Book Off and redeeming what I could for points at Round One Ikebukuro. By the end of the day the only thing that I could tolerate doing was to buy some chicken and nigiri from the nearby train station. Good enough. At that point in the day my body felt like it wants to rock back and forth after all the train riding done today. But, it ended up being worthwhile after all.
One nostalgic feeling I had the most strongly in the day was at the Utsunomiya location where the smell of it triggered past buried memories of yesteryear. I think I want to attribute it to the stronger second hand cigarette smell but I’m not sure - all the same I felt its presence strongly there. Also, I don’t see Oomiya (or really Saitama itself) mentioned as a fun place to go, but it might serve as an acceptable alternative to Ikebukuro, only not as massive in scale of human quantity. Depending on how the trip goes in total I may end up back there for IIDX playing, at least if I don’t find any other place that has 20G springs.
Day 3 - Akihabara
With the travels out of the way, it was time to keep things more regionalized and stick to one area, and there is shopping that needs to be done, so it was off to Akihabara and to see how much of other posted tales hold true. The answer is that it is a lot of it. Kotobukiya can stand to open sooner than noon. Super Potato is indeed priced for a market which wants to snap up anything cheap - I at least found Xi for under 500 and felt that it would have been a bit silly to buy only that, but it didn’t make spending 2000 on one single issue of Arcadia any better. I had no idea that Hey Arcade was right next to both of them; while it was assuredly nice to be there and see the row of Cave shooters among everything else, something got messed up with my registration of my new eamuse card with everything else, so that quickly added to my stress. Having to carry around a few hundred dollars worth of crap with every step didn’t help matters. At least I was able to help a person recover their lost phone by applying a bit of logic to the situation and deducing it to belong to the only person there who looked French, as it was on the Lock Screen. They were relieved, yes. Then, rain came, and it was more than I was anticipating, and I left the umbrella at the room, particularly since I knew I’d be shopping this day. It also turns out to have not mattered much, because I went to visit Bic Camera so that I could get myself a hair trimmer while here, and that turned into me finding a bunch of Kit Kats available, so that meant a second bag. The wind kicked out the rain and my umbrella. In trying to get as many gifts secured as possible, I found some gachapon, but it needed 100Y coins, and I didn’t need paper money in the trip yet. After fighting with maps, I found an ATM to get cash, and got the gachapon. I came home late with feeling rather crushed about the day in that I couldn’t take pictures very well with having to juggle weather and bagging considerations. There were some nice parts of the experience to be sure but between that and more gawking at Super Potato pricing ($135 for PS3 Caladrius? $6000 for Pulstar?) and seeing similar markups on other goods, I don’t think it’s unfair to say that there is a reputation that this area carries and the pricing is there to go with it.
Day 4 - Laundry Day. Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku
I was so drained at the end of Day 3 that I fell asleep on the bed immediately after ending the night call, which meant that I woke up at 0200AM to a room that was fully lit. This meant that I needed to look up how to resolve my eamuse problem or else I wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep. I did both. Awake at 0800AM meant that I had time to do laundry while I figured out what to do with the rest of the day. This meant that I was able to get more of Sugamo in pictures, and it was nice to be able to walk among the actual residences, and do other things like come across a school as it was actually in session. With them being close by and all in succession, I figured to get Shibuya, Harajuku, and Shinjuku visited. It turns out to have been a good day for it, as the temperature was perfectly cool and no rain came, and the sun came out only for a little bit. Shibuya somehow doesn’t seem quite as large in scope in person but the crowds were definitely there, and it is much more hilly than I anticipated as well. After wandering around and not seeing any arcade for a bit, I came across a series of coffee and cookie shops and remained strong to not indulge. It was there while looking at a Disney store (which gets tourists to take pictures of it for some reason) that the song Alone Again came on through the nearby public speakers. What timing. It drove me to finally get a treat for myself, and the frozen latte (black sesame and houji) and croissant (dark chocolate filing) were certainly good, it ended up costing more than the dinner I’d have later this day. I found a seclusion with a garbage can to eat the food and not carry the trash around, then an arcade soon after, and it was time to determine if I could fix the problem. Just like an easy click, it was. New to trash. Old to new. Done. Why did it have to be this way. Harajuku came next, and the environment there was distinct. This one in particular felt like it was an extended carnival atmosphere with the single tight knit market street and emphasis on fashion. A conversation with a freelance artist in the subway actually went well enough that I didn’t feel dumb. The same sensation carried to Shinjuku as well, only it was more spread out. Kabuki street was interesting to see in person, and I didn’t get any unseemly vibes from the place. Maybe it’s different later at night. A return home at a reasonable time allowed me to go down Sugamo’s market street a bit; most of it was closed, but it was interesting to come across the few remaining stores that were open by 0800PM, and more so the one that wasn’t. Coming back to the hotel I found a 24 hour ramen shop with nobody inside. The chef didn’t want to speak and only pointed to the ordering kiosk when I addressed her. The food came through a slot in the obscured window. At least her thank you as I left was a bit more warm, and the food was certainly delicious. To match with the matcha dessert that I bought from Sugamo station, I swung by a 7Eleven to get a drink, and found a milk tea for cheaper than a vending machine. The overhead music in the store was an instrumental version of Alone Again.
Day 5. Ibaraki - Mount Tsukuba, Miraidaira. Kashiwa, Chiba. Akihabara 2.
Awake at 0500AM on my own and knowing the current forecast meant that my envisioned plan for the day was quickly realized. Reaching the Tsukuba Express starting point from Akihabara needs you to get very far down into the ground before getting out into sunlight. I was on the ride early enough to see schoolchildren going about their commute, some of them being no older than ten and going about it unaccompanied. The people of Tsukuba seemed to be particularly helpful and cheerful that day, even despite my Suica issues at the gate. I didn’t ask his name at the counter but the man at the service desk was eager to speak with me about my career and what I was doing there. One asked where I was from on the way up to the summit and another caught my cable car ticket on the way down. There had to have been a few of them who saw my doing this climb in my business attire and thinking me to be a complete idiot if not outright mocking them for doing it that way while they employed the use of dual walking sticks and the like. I know I read some reports of the home stretch being difficult, but it did get pretty close to being an actual rock climb instead of a trail hike for that part of it. A quick stop to Miraidaira on the way back to get the Ibaraki play. The way the town center greets you upon leaving the rail gate struck me as incredible, as well as for how quiet it was. It was like walking onto a movie set. I did find the sweet shop after the play, and that was another painful interaction yet again. Oh well. Two quick stops down Tsukuba Express and one across from Tobu Urban Park line was enough to have a toe in Chiba, and I didn’t even need to leave the physical building of the train station to get to the basement level to find a machine for a play. Thank you, Kashiwa, you were great. Gunma is all that’s left. The descent from Tsukuba did take some earnest exertion, and after doing that the two stops, that put me back in Akihabara about when I anticipated; what I failed to anticipate is how much that place seems to drain on me. I think I just need to eat at an actual dinner time. Once I got back to Sugamo and had food it was a bit better, but while in Akihabara and being around that environment, and not finding things on a shopping list, I found myself just standing still and watching life pass me by. I hemmed and hawed a while for a maid girl’s hour of service for chitchat, but eventually I talked myself out of it because I just didn’t want potential trouble, just like her name. Komaru. I thought about doing this once just to say that I did, but I ultimately decided against it. You cannot go to this place with the expectation that you will find anything unless it is advertised and new. If you are looking for anything used, don’t count on it being there. You also cannot go there without having a strong resolve to not engage with the touts, because it becomes disheartening to see them do their job and blankly stare at the world when they're forced to stand out there and do nothing. Back to Sugamo to find a place that advertised Wagyu but the price they wanted was more than I wanted to spend. The ramen and seaweed & rice servings were fine, but they advertised endless drink and I didn’t receive that. All for $20? No, son. I did better than that elsewhere, I’ll know better now. Long day.
Day 6 - Tokyo Flea Market, Nakano Broadway, Ueno.
The weather couldn’t have been better for this weekend. I’ve read reports that the flea market held near the horse race track will be arbitrarily cancelled regardless of what is reported on the website, but my gut instinct told me that it would occur today, and it did. Turns out that a flea market is a flea market which is a flea market, no matter where it happens. Same allotment of clothes and stuff that few people really want to buy, although I was able to find myself some neckties at least. I probably overpaid based on what I saw later in the route, but that’s fine. They look nice. I settled on some shot glasses for a gift as well, but I’m surprised that I can’t ind something ornate that isn’t part of a sake set. Seated in the shade with a chocolate churro while rap music played in the background - it’s like I never left home. A woman came to sit across from me for the sake of sitting down; she was from Holland and today’s her last day in the country. Her husband came with food eventually. She had three weeks here and went to several places (allegedly, she didn’t list them out) and I asked her about Nakano Broadway. She didn’t make it there. It’s a good thing that I did - this is probably the kind of environment and market that people expect of Akihabara now, and maybe that’s how Aki was years ago, but it’s different from this. What’s more interesting is that Mandarake has a larger presence here than in Akihabara (so it seems to me), and their stores had floor after floor of any and every kind of pop culture product that’s been made in the past sixty years at least. Buttress that with extensive watch and jewelry stores and a slender arcade in the basement, and it’s a very well centralized microcosm of the country’s economy on the whole. I actually made a point to have dinner earlier than usual this time and found a place to serve some deep fried pork cuts served with rice and soup on the side. It was enough, and very well made. The day had not ended and my bag was heavy with several books purchased there, so I reported back to base briefly and decided to try visiting somewhere else, and settled on Ueno. Just as I arrived, a festival was underway where local teams of people made an elaborate show of carrying a home made shrine to a temple. Streets were officially blocked by police to allow the procession. In following the line I came up against makeshift food and amusement stands with the traditional toy gun shooting and goldfish catching. It appears that this is an official “start of summer” festival and I was able to watch it all happen in front of me. That was the good part of the day.
Day 7 - Tachikawa / Kunitachi. Shinjuku 2.
One of the games that I've never played is Beatmania III The Final. I've played some BM3 7th Mix years ago, but not The Final. I found a location that has one - World Game Circus in Tachikawa. In looking around that area before the trip, I saw that there was a nearby shinkansen museum, and not much else, so I figured that going to both places would make that walk worthwhile. Turns out that it wasn’t a museum in the proper sense of a dedicated building. Rather, it was a bullet train engine car on the side of a building that was unrelated, and that was it. A cute interaction happened here - when I approached the car, I heard some children running around inside, so I approached cautiously without knowing if I was encroaching upon someone else's alloted time or something. Once the children saw me, they gave a hearty irrashaimase as I entered, and the boy stamped a paper and presented it to me. Perfect. Despite it not being a typical musem, the card did have some interesting content, and it's good to see some kind of commemoration for their achievements and progression in that industry regardless. They have a lot to be proud about there. Off to WGC. Maps wasn’t lying about the walk taking twenty minutes. It's a good thing that I looked it up on streetview beforehand, because I otherwise would have walked right past it without knowing it was there. Then there it was, and there I confronted a past that I couldn’t visit again. Sure, I got to play BM3 The Final at last, but my timing was off, my hands were off, there wasn’t much I could do. Along with that I can say that I’ve played on a Beatmania II cabinet, and that was better than 5th Style at least. But that was it, that was all I could stand to do. It was right there and I couldn’t bear to put up with it more than a few rounds at best. Dream big, because only disappointment follows if your smaller dreams ever are fulfilled. I don’t know why finding IKEA back in Shinjuku was so difficult, but it took a while. I bought a bag, and then I bought a bag because the other bag was at the end of the register, which makes sense. I did feed myself before getting back to the Taito station to play some songs, but it still wasn’t good enough. All thumbs. Ended the day with laundry since the timing worked. Speaking of making dreams big, it’s time to cross another one off the list tomorrow. I can’t wait.
Day 8 - Takasaki, Gunma. Oomiya, Saitama 2.
It’s a good thing that I only needed to get to Ikebukuro to transfer over to the next stop, because that’s where that particular run ended for some reason. I wonder what was up. Speaking of things getting messed up on trains, I managed to find my way on a train that needed a separate ticket, which I didn't have. The conductor found me right away and had me disembark at Uraja for me to wait for the proper transfer. The weather forecast said there’d be rain, and the travel forecast said it would take two hours to get there, and neither lied. I feel like I had more people staring at me in Gunma than other places. I will say that I found the Takasaki station area to be rather charming, with the stores that it had inside and the emphasis on the music culture there. It’s one thing to offer a piano to the public to play, but it’s another to have a public willing to use it. This location had both. Having what was essentially a Bic Camera built into the facility was a nice touch too. The Leisure Land arcade was sandwiched between other floors that had its own offering of gaming stuff, so that was an unexpected bit of a fun thing to look through. The area was clean and sparsely populated, and it wasn’t picked clean of all matter of things that would normally get snapped up, so that was interesting. Finally, I made it over to the machine. They had separate fans for each location. I got the songs and then the medals came, and that’s that. Kantou Seiou. I would have stayed a bit longer but I wanted to have the medals show up right away, and my internet wasn’t cooperating, so that’s all I could do. I think there was an Internet cafe that I could have used in the facility, but I didn’t want to deal with an awkward conversation. I did get some Lawson on the way out, as well as some trinkets from the local Gunma-chan store as well as some mini croissants and some macademia cookie things. More vocal awkwardness. Omiya was one of the stops on the way back, and I found a place to serve omrice, so that’s another one off the list. No shoes allowed inside. The value wasn’t there but the service was good enough, as was the flavor. The machines with the 20G springs are indeed legit. Back home in time for some McDonalds, and that’s another food-checklist item marked off. Takoyaki mayo dipping sauce - somehow it’s both salty and sweet. While returning to the hotel, I did happen to encounter an argument amongst two teenaged locals where the guy ended up half-heartedly kicking the girl and getting her to cry. I wonder what their argument was about. I didn’t play hero, but someone else did so enough to prevent an escalation and called the police over.
Day 9 - Sugamo, Tokyo Sky Tree, Akihabara 3, Kanda
Up early enough to decide that I should at least visit the Sky Tree while I'm there just to say that I did, and that I should visit the Sugamo street market upon its open since it was right there in front of me. I'm glad to have done so. With everything open, this felt more like what one would think to expect from a flea market environment that's operated and supported by the local populace. Small stores were open both sides of the street that go on for many blocks, and some tents and tables were set up to sell second hand goods as well. I was able to find someone selling a US Morgan dollar and he wanted only 2000Y for it, so that was an easy buy. If I would have known better to anticipate this area, I wouldn't have felt compelled to buy kitchy tourist crap that is expected as gifts elsewhere. If you are looking for a place to idly shop around that doesn't get extremely crowded and has an authentic local feel to it, consider making a point to come here. Off to Sky Tree. Getting the combo ticket for the second deck was worth it just for the lack of crowds on the upper area. If you're going to come here, consider getting a phone selfie stick or something of the kind so that you can take pictures against the windows without the structure scaffolding obstructing your view. On the subject of shopping again, this might be another area to consider visiting just for the sake of the specialty stores to be found here, such as those for chopsticks or hairpins. To close out the day, my wife reminded me to look for something from the Square Enix cafe, so that meant swinging by Akihabara yet again. Since it is within a walkway, it was a bit of a pain to find this place even with using maps, but I eventually found it and got what she wanted to find. Played some IIDX at Game Panic, which was surprisingly small and the one machine that was avaialble to play had some 2P turntable issues, so that didn't last all that long. Dinner was at a nearby place that specalized in tofu, so that was a good ramen serving with that infused. For the evening, I wandered south to Kanda to get night pictures, and found it to feel pretty similar to Ueno.
Day 10 - Ginza, Tokyo, Kanda & Akihabara 4
Launrdry in the morning. I also wanted to say that I went to Ginza in my time here, and I didn't research anywhere to go to keep it a surprise. It was a bit warmer and sunnier than usual that day, and I stuck to the main road for most of the walk, so I can't say that I found too many points of the interest along the path that I walked starting from Yurakucho station and heading out that way. High class store for high class people, and that's too rich for my peasant blood. Similarly for Tokyo proper itself, I suppose I'd have to needed to wander far away from the Yamanote vicinity to find points of interest there, as I didn't encounter anything that was remarkably distinctive here in comparison to other areas that I have previously seen. Continuing north across Nihonbashi brought me to Kanda and eventually to Akihabara yet again, as if it was a magnet that pulled me inside every time. For the sake of trying a different place I chose to play some IIDX at the Leisure Land arcade there, and I'm glad to have done that, as those machines were probably in the best coniditon that I encountered within that area. Dinner was at Tenkaippin, which I didn't realize until after I placed the order was cash only. The clerk didn't request it beforehand but I voluntarily left my passport there to show that I would return, and promptly went to the same ATM that I had found days prior in order to get the cash to pay for the bill.
Day 11 - Haneda T3, Nishi Nippori, Nippori, Uguisuidani, Otsuka, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ikebukruo, home.
The end. I resolved to take the subway over to Haneda today to get the one luggage over there and stored, and it’s a good thing that I did - there’s no easy solution for getting over there without encountering a crowd. If anything I wonder if Yamanote is actually better. Regardless, I got that much done. With the day left to go, I ventured to Nishi Nippori and I needed to summon the map several times to make sure I found the location, as it was as obscure as it could get. Just a sign on the ground for the third floor, a stairway that led to the back, an elevator that had no decoration, a single room that housed everything. Arcade PCB kits on shelves, joystick panels in exposed boxes, nicotine odor from years past - it was like I was transported to 1995 upon entry, beyond the fact that the games weren’t as old. Most of them, they did have a lot going for SF3 3rd yet. I was able to take care of some game business in a hurry since I was the only one there. It was a very pleasant respite for play in comparison to most of the other sessions. The region itself felt much the same as this arcade - old and well worn, as in well lived. Venturing south to Nippori led me to stumble upon a shrine and cemetery just by following some stairs. Usuigudani was cleaner but mostly had hotels as points of interest. Back home to buy some mochi while mochi was for sale in midday. Then to Otsuka, thinking that I would wander to Ikebukuro, but I ended up wandering back to Sugamo instead. Whoops. Meal at Sugamo, then back out to return to Shibuya and Shinjuku at night to catch evening shots, when I hadn’t done so before at these places. Good thing I did that to get Golden Gai area shots at night. With the night winding down, I decided to have one last IIDX play at Round 1 in Ikebukuro to symbolically end where I started.
Ending arcade comments
· Although the upkeep is generally better and more consistent than the US, some machines will have hardware issues here too. I was surprised by the blurriness with some of the LM IIDX machines.
· Densha De Go on the propert large cabinet is nice but quickly becomes very expensive.
· Bombergirl is OK enough and having the dedicated detonator button that pops up for hitting the base is a cute touch.
· Chase Chase Jokers feels rather clunky and I'm not sure what the game is trying to do. Interesting side screen concept at least.
· Nostalgia is delightful and would probably find a small fanbase worldwide if it had more exposure.
· Favorite IIDX locations are Taito Station in Oomiya for the light keys and Leisure Land Akihabara for the high quality of the LMs there. Honorable mention goes to the Game Versus loctation in Nishi Nihonbashi, but that might not be worth it for a dedicated trip unless you go there first thing in the morning.
Ending overall comments
This was a life altering trip for me, as would be expected. While I'm glad to have made the journey, as to be expected, I will only want to return after making an extensive redoubled effort into speaking and hearing comprehension, because I know that I came across like a blubbering idiot so many times, and it's truly aggravating because I generally know what I want to say and most of the words that are used to say it, but it just doesn't come out of my mouth properly when it needs to be done.
I welcome any questions you may have, as that will help for me to recall the memories and have me write them down.

So I've been doing flex for exactly a week now. I've scheduled 5 amazon blocks and 2 of the blocks simply vanished. They weren't on my schedule or calendar and I therefore missed them. They were my first 2 and I had no clue where to go or what to do. I place 14 calls to support over 3 days and I could not authenticate via the app and had to call via phone. They could always see my count, but said nothing about my account showed up and to call back immediately and try again. It was always the same result. Both blocks have been counted against me. I send appeals to the support email and they said they'd removed them and started a new email chain to address the numerous app issues I'm having. Unfortunately, that new chain has gone dead as I now get a default email back saying my email address isn't registered to a flex account which is most certainly is and I know support can see it as they saw the 2 missed blocks. Unfortunately again, both blocks still show in my app as being missed and counting against me.
I live close to a Whole Foods as well and have been taking those instant offers when possible. I get about 5-7 per day, but I'm usually only able to accept one or two because the rest will either load to a white screeen in the app or it takes me straight to the instant offer map with the availability toggle. There's no way to get back to the offers whatsoever that I can find. If the app doesn't load the right screen from clicking the notification, they're permanently gone. I have checked every single one within 5 seconds of getting the notification, quite literally, so I know they aren't expiring. I tried emailing support about this as well, but after 2 or 3 emails of discussing the issue and my account, I started getting the same default email address isn't linked to an account replies.
When I'm on my amazon warehouse routes, I'll finish up all the deliveries I've been given, but there's always left over packages. I can guarantee that I did not miss a single package or a single delivery location. I tried to ask support, but as you probably guessed, my account is blank. Does anyone know why there's always leftover packages? Is that normal?
Finally, I didn't get the Seattle legal doc emails and all the "welcome" app notifications on the Updates page until Tuesday, 2 days after starting. Since then, I've received the same set of 3-4 notifications int he Updates page and in my email every few hours. It's irritating as hell. It's an endless stream of notifications on my phone and clogging up my email. Support can do nothing, of course. The only time support was able to see my account, they insisted everything was perfect in my account and did a refresh ticket just to be sure. No benefit whatsoever.
I have no clue what to do about any of this. I can't call support. I can't email support. I can't even contact customers when on routes and their notes request me to call cause the app won't do it. I can't use the chat. I CAN'T DO JACK SHIT. I can't work if I can't contact driver support. I would be extremely grateful for any help y'all can provide.
I'm using the Flex app downloaded straight from Amazon's Flex site. I use my Asus ROG Phone 7 running Android 14. I also put the app on my Pixel 7 Pro running Android 13. Same issues on both (no, only one is signed in at a time and I even delete it from whichever phone I'm not using). I've only got the one email address and only got the one phone number. I've uninstalled/reinstalled and cleared cache/storage numerous times.
Edit: Just a side note, 1 instant offer worked this morning and the 8 that have come in since then have all failed to load the right page when I clicked the notification, resulting in losing them all. One was well over $100 too...

Around Thanksgiving last year, my 22 year old daughter Izzy started complaining about her back hurting. We just assumed she pulled a muscle or had a pinched nerve. After a couple weeks, the pain seemed to be getting worse. She went to urgent care on a Friday and they confirmed she probably had a pinched nerve. They gave her some meds. That following Monday (Dec. 18) she was in a lot of pain, so I rushed her to the hospital. It was her back and her left arm now bothering her. They blew her off and said that she was fine. I insisted that she get an MRI or cat scan done. Finally at my request they did a cat scan on her back and said they didn't see anything wrong. They said it's probably a pinched nerve, gave her more meds and sent us home.
The week of Christmas everything changed. She woke up each night covered in sweat. On the 28th, her heart was beating fast, she was extremely pale, and had two knots appear on the left side of her neck and one under her left underarm. I brought her to a different hospital.
When we got to the ER, they immediately took her to a room. Her vitals were extremely high (170 heart rate) from the pain she was in. They were considering that she could have meningitis or mono. They wanted to get tests ran right away. They admitted her, and did a spinal tap and MRI. 2 days later (Saturday) the doc said they found a large tumor on her spine. Can't say if it's cancer yet, she would need a biopsy first. They informed us that she would be moved that day to their sister hospital that specializes in cancer.
When we arrived, she was put on the neurology ward in a regular room. They immediately put her on a lot of meds. She was on so many pain drugs, (Oxy, Dilaudid, muscle relaxers, Morphine, Xanax, etc.) that I kept asking, "Is this end of life? Can she overdose from all these drugs?" They would respond with, "no, it's just to keep her comfortable and we're trying to get her heart rate down." On New years day they gave her Ativan. She responded horribly to it. It was a rough day. She was hallucinating and freaking out all day and night. The next day she told them to NEVER give her that again. They told her when we first arrived that anything she didn't want to take, they would respect and not put it in her charts to receive. They would put it under allergies. We assumed they would do so as they said they would.
They finally did the biopsy on Wednesday the 3rd. When she came back from surgery, she wouldn't wake up. She slept all day Wednesday and most of Thursday. I was really concerned.They kept adding more pain meds to her chart. I again was scared she would forget to breathe. That night she wasn't breathing properly and her vitals were going down. She had to be rushed to NeuroICU. They got her stable and explained it was from all the different drugs. They explained that it's trial and error. They're trying to figure out what works for her and they decided to put her on a drip line of Dilaudid. They still gave her other drugs but Dilaudid seemed to help her pain somewhat. They also said she had a spot on her lungs what looked like pneumonia starting.
All week she was constantly telling us that she was losing feeling in her legs and her left arm. By Saturday of that week she was paralyzed. They finally took her for an MRI and saw that the tumor had spread up and down her spine and to her ovaries, and it was stealing her blood supply. She would need emergency surgery asap. They of course came to explain what was happening and the surgeon informed me that Ativan would be used during surgery. I immediately told him no, and that she is allergic to it and it was supposed to be on her allergy list. I explained to him what happened when she received it before. On Sunday they rushed her into surgery and cut the blood supply to the tumor. It was too dangerous to try and remove any of the tumor. They didn't know if the paralysis was permanent, but they were hopeful that the surgery would work. It didn't we would later find out.
When she returned from surgery, she was out of control. She was violent and cursing at me. In 22 years I had never heard her curse, but she was fluent! She was hallucinating bad and kept freaking out. It was scary to watch. They decided to give her some meds to make her to sleep, to help her heal. For 2 straight days my baby screamed blood curdling screams, she would cry out "mommy, mommy" while she slept. She screamed so much and so loud that anyone in ear shot were questioning what was going on. It was heartbreaking to witness. I thought she was having a bad reaction to the anesthesia. I later found out that they were giving her Ativan anyway. They NEVER put it in her chart as an allergy the week before, and the doctor disregarded what I said about not giving her that. They had other options they could have used but he still chose to do what he wanted. I only found out because the nurse mentioned that she would be right back with her Ativan. The nurse had no knowledge that my daughter refused that medication previously. I informed her not to give that drug to her. She went and spoke with the attending physician who changed it to haldol and ketemine. That was Monday night. By Wednesday she finally calmed down from screaming, so they decided to try and wake her up.
When she woke up she could no longer speak properly, use her left arm, or move her legs. Her fingers and toes were turning black. They said it was from a certain med she was on. That it's normal. A lay person could see something was horribly wrong.
Everyday we would see up to 30 doctors. I say we, because I never left her side. One would say one thing while another would say something else. It was confusing and scary. We still didn't have a diagnosis. We just knew she had cancer. They suspected stage 4 but couldn't say until pathology came back. It was traumatic and a nightmare. It went from a diagnosis of a pinched nerve to stage 4 cancer in a matter of a week. WTF?
We finally got the diagnosis on Tuesday the 9th.. Stage 4 anaplastic large cell lymphoma. Very rare and aggressive. They said they were starting chemo immediately. They gave her the first dose that Wednesday night. We had hope. It was a rollercoaster of terror, but the doctors kept saying that she could beat this. I googled everything I could and prayed for a miracle. It's always been my girl and I, so I was desperate for her to live through this. She wasn't just my daughter, she was literally my everything.
By week 2, she needed blood on a daily basis. She couldn't eat or drink. She couldn't relieve herself. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak clearly to explain her needs or wants. Her breathing was shallow. Her vitals were not normal. They would go down and then jump extremely high. She was so out of it, that they had to come to me concerning everything. Her oxygen was dropping significantly and they had to keep changing out the masks and oxygen levels to help her breathe. They kept changing her meds and she had multiple complications from that. They couldn't find any good spots on her arms to put her IVs anymore, and her legs were so swollen that they couldn't locate a useable spot anywhere. They put it on her right side of the neck. During all this she had multiple medical emergencies. One example is they said that spot on her lungs wasn't pneumonia but they now suspected a small blood clot. That medicine she was given would hopefully help, the only problem was that medication was causing problems for her back surgery. A few days later we found out it was blood and it was completely filled up in her chest. She was drowning in her own blood. They couldn't do surgery right away because she would bleed out since her platelets were so low even while receiving blood transfusions. That blood was somehow going into her lungs. I was floored. Everyday I would ask about it and I was told it was getting better, nothing to worry about. In fact the doctor said that very morning it had cleared up significantly. Imagine my shock when the critical team comes rushing in that evening to do ultrasounds on her and tells me they suspect it's why her breathing was going downhill.
On Monday she was transferred to a MICU room on a different floor. This floor felt uneasy to me. There was death all around and you could see it. They said that this floor was where her main doctors were, so that she would get the best care. Now they introduce fentanyl to her med regimen. They explained it that it would help with her pain. She would be allowed so much every hour if needed.
The next day they decided to do the surgery to put a tube in her chest to drain the blood. She now had an extremely dangerous back surgery, staples running up her entire back with tubes, a huge scar under her arm from the biopsy with tubes, and now a huge tube coming out her chest. Her fingers and toes at this point were in a stage of necropsy. But they couldn't do anything about it. They would just have to fall off in time. It was devastating. My daughter was a trooper through out this whole time. She never complained or was negative. She was just scared when she understood what was going on. Honestly I've never seen so much courage in my life.
When it came to her pain meds she was only on fentanyl and Dilaudid drip. She would only receive it when she asked. That was her rule. She was scared she would overdose or become hooked on it and didn't want that monster on her back. She would be in so much pain but would just sit through it. Her vitals were better, but when the pain would become to much to bare, her heart rate would go into the 150 to 170 range. As soon as she got some meds it would go down to the teens to low twenty's.
On Thursday night she had a new nurse. He would administer pain meds even when she didn't request it. I saw him give her shot when she was sleeping. I walked in on him. I asked him if she requested it as I saw she was asleep and he said no. He stated he was trying to keep her comfortable. I asked him not to unless she asks. He didn't listen.Throughout the night as we slept, he would give her meds that she didn't even need. He gave her haldol. She only received that for two days after her back surgery. No one had given her that since. He would give her a shot of fentanyl behind it. I later found this out while talking with her doctors and from her records.
That Friday morning she started having these weird episodes, what later looked like seizures to me. Her vitals would drop and she would go into a deep stare. They blamed the meds. It was constant apologies for her being over medicated again. Even the doctor didn't understand why he gave her so much.She had 4 separate episodes before they (at my constant request) sent her to get a MRI done.
She had a blood clot in her brain. Again they said nothing to worry about. But after experiencing what we went through already, I was highly concerned. As I should have been. They kept apologizing and said they would change her medication up again. I told them it wasn't the medicine it was the nurse. I couldn't understand why he would give her two doses of haldol when she didn't need it. The nurse said my daughter was anxious and thought it would help. My daughter was sleeping so how could she have been anxious. I went off. Something in my spirit was telling me to get her out of there. But how could I when she was hooked up to all these tubes. She was suffering and I couldn't help her. The only thing I could do was use my voice to try and protect her and be her advocate. The next day Jan. 20th, I woke up after a couple hours of sleep, and I knew something was wrong. She was awake and trying to talk. Her vitals were back at a steady 170 with high blood pressure and a low oxygen number so I knew she was in pain. I could feel it in every bone of my body something was different that day. I felt my baby didn't have long as I thought cancer was winning. I called all of our family to come see her. I can't explain it. At one point I pulled one of her doctors out of her room and begged him to tell me what was happening. Shoot it to me straight. He kept saying she's always been critical but she would pull through. He had so much hope.
They gave her some meds to help bring her vitals down and it started to work again. Her vitals started going from 160 to 150. At this point she was having a brain scan done in her room to see what the episodes were exactly. She was awake but could no longer move from her neck down. Which had just started the 2 days before. She had a blood infection and they had to move the pic line from the right side of her neck to the left side but we're unsuccessful because she had obstructions there (2 huge tumors) They had to put the new line back on the right side in the back of the neck. I don't know what happened since I wasn't allowed in the room. I do know my daughter said after they finished, she wasn't able to feel anything but her face. She never turned her head again.
During that day she kept having flem and spit from the congestion she had due to the chest infection and surgery. I would sit there and suck it out for her. No problem, I had been doing it for days with no complaints on my end. The doctors were coming in and out constantly all day to check her brain test and at one point the doctor seeing me and my nephew take shifts suctioning her out said he wanted to try a new medicine she had never received. My daughters nurse interrupted him and said that she didn't think that it was a good idea. They went back and forth for a few minutes and I stepped in and said, it was fine, I would sit there and suction out forever if I had to. Something felt different in this exchange as well. In all of 24 days of being in the hospital, I never saw a nurse challenge a doctor. I immediately went to the computer, where the nurse had typed in the order for this drug, and googled it. The first thing that popped up, was not to give this drug to someone with high blood pressure or high heart rate. It causes a person's heart rate to shoot up high quickly. It was too late. They already administered it to her. Since her heart rate was already high it caused her to go into cardiac arrest. I just stood there in shock screaming is she in cardiac arrest? To which the doctor finally responded "I'm sorry, yes"
They ushered me and my nephew out of the room so they could work on her. After about 30 minutes they called my phone and told me she flatlined but they got her heart beating again. I went flying back in that room screaming at them. I refused to leave the room. She was now on life support, but there was no hope for her to ever wake up again. After consulting with my family and her doctors, and looking at where her vitals were, I decided to pull the plug. She passed within seconds. I feel like the doctor should have listened to the nurse, but his ego would not allow him to. I feel like he's somehow responsible, but at the same time I saw what was happening to her on a daily basis and what cancer was doing to her body. I also witnessed a lot of negligence too on their part. I've been going back and forth since January 20th, about contacting an attorney and seeing if I have a case. I requested an autopsy to be performed, because I wanted to know what all was wrong with her. They informed me they normally don't do that because of the cancer. I argued with them and said I wanted one anyway. I wanted to know what happened. I was trying to understand this whole situation. 25 days prior it was just supposed to be a pinched nerve, but it wasn't. They explained I would have to pay for the autopsy, and I was okay with that. The next day after she passed away, I received the phone call to give my permission for an autopsy. They said it would take a couple days and would let me know when it was finished so the funeral home could pick up her body.
I've been calling for months about the autopsy report with no luck. Here we are in May, I go to the hospital to get the autopsy results and it's all of five pages. It's not even an autopsy report. It doesn't even state her cause of death. It's just bullshit paperwork. All it mentions is the necropsy to her fingers and toes and her basic info like height and weight. I'm so angry right now. I have her medical records, and I noticed on the 19th of January they finally put she was allergic to Ativan. There's a lot wrong with this situation. I even asked for a CD of all her images, from pathology. What I received only two images come up. Everything else is blocked from opening. I know my daughter took multiple MRIs, ultrasounds,and CAT scans in those three and a half weeks. There's no way it's only two images.
I counted all the times the nurse gave my daughter pain meds that Thursday night and it was double what any other nurse had given her at any other time plus with other drugs she didn't need at that time. I found out that haldol and fentanyl is something they give to patients that's in end of life care. Which I was constantly told my daughter was not. Her death certificate states she passed from lymphoma related cardiac arrest. I'm just so confused on what to do. I feel like I'm letting my daughter down if I don't look into this further.
I'm sorry this a novel. I couldn't just ask a simple question with out the back story for you to understand. It was so much more believe me, this was the short version!
Do I have a case or should I just move on and accept my daughter died from cancer related complications? Thank you....

Timestamp:https://imgur.com/a/vytxLlj
Inspect pics closely for condition. Serials in detail pics.
16” Criterion Core wrapped in a 13.5” ODG Geissele Mk16. Geissele Blemula ODG upper receiver. Dead Air keymo muzzle device. Round count maybe 300 tops, all brass cased ammo. Inspect pics for exact condition. Asking $650 shipped. https://imgur.com/a/XRECIii
11.5” Centurion CHF FBI barrel. Round count <150, not even broken in yet. Includes centurion noticed/pinned gas block/tube. Asking $320 shipped.
Trijicon TA-31F ACOG, Red chevron reticle. Type 1 RM01 3.25 MOA LED RMR and ACOG/RMR adapter mount. Tritium visible but dim. Mfg 2012ish IIRC. Includes GDI QD mount. Asking $1150 $1100 shipped. https://imgur.com/a/bCeCOok
Larue Stealth 16” .223 Wylde. Fired <400 rounds. Shoots FGMM and BH exceptional. I just am swapping some builds over to 6arc. Includes LT202 gas block and tube. Asking $350 $300 shipped.
Leupold Mark 5 IMS mount 35mm. Asking $125 shipped.
Trades: Higher end 6 arc barrel (Proof stainless 14.5” ideally, but open to others like Craddock, including 16” and 11.5”), ODG/DDC anodized handguards and uppers, G$ or Aero equivalent preferred.

-can my guard break interrupt heavy and light attacks ?
-pirate is a counterplay - mixup character.. what part of her moveset is counter play oriented?
-To stop an opponent from dodging to a certain direction do I attack in that direction?

• what is the counter play to unblockable shield bashes ?

So far 60% of forhonor gameplay is landing an unblockable bash then attempting a combo after that. Which is pretty boring and certainly is a noob killer technique

• are you surprised 1 v 1 typically has a low player count? I would have thought people would prefer 1 on 1 action

-anyone want to coach a noob 😀? I’d like to be a 1 on 1 chad one day

• for the most part are both light and heavy attacks negative on block?

About a year ago the game go noticeably harder. People were getting frustrated and leaving the game in droves. That was about the last time I rebooted and started over where the game was fun to play again. Then they brought in the Magic Disco Ball and although it made it feel like you were playing in God-mode, was a brilliant scheme to lull players into spending all their previously hoarded coins, boosters and power-ups in an effort to keep the MDB going. Last season I made it back into Champions League and it seems like we have gone full circle because again, the game got noticeably harder like the devs had tweaked the algorithm in an effort to get people to spend money on the game to keep progressing. Time to rinse and repeat - now I am back at the start fresh and fun again but it makes me wonder how things could be better so players don’t need to lose all their progress just to enjoy the game once again.
Although this sub only consist of just over 2k members, I would like to think that there are enough dedicated player that have some pretty good ideas that the devs could consider to implement into the game. Surely management wants to be able to squeeze every last cent out of the game but if it’s at the expense of losing the player base then what is the point? The bulk of their player base are strictly free to play (myself included) so other than ad generated content they don’t make any money by frustrating these players and only risk driving them away, yet it’s these players that drive the social engine of the team play that keeps the whales engaged in the game. Maybe some enterprising dev might stumble onto this thread and get some ideas of what the player base would like to see in this game.
What new daily challenge, weekly event, power-up or booster would make an interesting addition to the game?
Here’s a start:
Weekly event: Wally’s World - a 1 hour period where all your unused moves are tabulated and rewarded on a tier basis. For example, 0-15 moves 50 coins, 15-30 moves 50 coins + 3 hammers, 31-45 moves 50 coins + 3 hammers + 3 anvils , 46-60 moves 50 coins + 3 hammers + 3 anvils + 3 boxing gloves. Sure, the rewards are far greater than what they normally give out, but there needs to be a way for the F2P players to refill their powerup banks to make up for what the MDB takes up.
Powerup: Magic Moves Bank - pass 10 levels to activate this power-up. Let’s you carry over up to 5 unused moves onto the next level
Booster: Spiky Mine - deploy on any block and it will make a beeline to the closest block of the largest concentration of same colored blocks, bounce to the next largest concentration of same colored blocks and bounce for the 3rd time to the next largest concentration of same colored blocks, while clearing out any obstacles in the way (each pass counting as 1 hit). This would be randomized once it reached a point of same number of blocks of concentration.
Booster: Mulligan - allows you to restart a level mid try without losing your streak

Credit to u/spacepaladin15 for creating this lovely world. Thanks to u/Emotion-Senior for help with editing.
​
Mended Heart
Chapter 1
Memory transcription subject: Jon, Human civilian
Date [standardized Human time]: August 1st, 2136
Ping!*
My holopad made its normal notification sound conveniently right as I made orbit. The wide orange orb beneath me never ceased to blow me away; Valles Marineris stretched away below me. The vast canyon had lights visible in its shadows from the various domes and colonies.
My cargo of "Authentic Martian Whiskey" sat in a row of thoroughly secured crates behind me. Mars's economy had been based primarily on luxury exports like that back in the early days as it wasn't at all profitable to ship raw resources back to Earth. The advances in drive technology made interplanetary shipping much more feasible but special items like this still sold well enough to be worth it. Mars would never have a population close to Earth's, but it was a place where millions made their homes.
Once I had set a course for the orbital station that served as a midway point for the cargo, I unstrapped from my pilot chair and took a look at my holopad. I almost didn't even look at the message as it was just a string of numbers rather than someone in my contacts but when I noticed the UN emblem in the preview I practically shot out of my seat before opening the message.
"You've been accepted into the Venlil-Human exchange program. Your partner is named Selni. Included with this message is a packet of information including contact info and instructions on topics to avoid."
I bounced back and forth on my feet, stimming excitedly for a moment before taking a breath to calm down. "What's got you so excited?" My copilot Alex chuckled, peering over at me from her station.
"They picked me! I honestly didn't think I'd get selected for the program given I'm out at Mars." I blurted out, showing her the UN emblem on my device. "I'm going to another star! To meet aliens!"
"I'm happy for you; I hope you told the boss about this though. He won't be happy with you just vanishing." Alex warned, doing her best to manage my enthusiasm.
"Oh don't worry, it's a distance thing at first. We'll just be texting for a few weeks before I actually ship out. Plenty of time to put my two weeks in." I took a deep breath to calm myself and tapped the screen to download the info pack.
"Well good to know my partner in crime wasn't just going to leave without a word." Alex chuckled and turned back to her console. "Hurry and check the cargo, we have another burn coming up and you need to get strapped in."
I hurried back to the cargo and checked all the straps, making sure nothing had shifted during ascent. The advent of inertial dampeners a few years back had made this job a lot safer, but we still made sure to secure everything just in case.
Our shuttle was an older and experienced model, retrofitted with new technology over the years. The UN's ftl program had the side effect of revolutionizing pretty much all of spaceflight. The new technology developed for that was changing the game. Now with first contact only a month old I didn't think the changes were going to stop anytime soon.
As I settled in for the rest of the flight I took a glance at the info the UN had provided and started mentally preparing myself for my own first contact. I typed out several possible first messages to my paired Venlil but nervousness got the better of me every time.
I focused on my work for the next 20 minutes while we approached. The temptation to look at my holopad was overwhelming, but so was my fear of making a bad first impression. The cargo transfer station grew larger in our view port until it blocked our view of anything else. We approached at a crawling pace, holding at the edge of the keep out sphere. Its wide, rotating habitation ring was supported by steel cables reaching out from a central structure where the docking facilities were located. I suppose structures like this won't be needed now that we have ftl and artificial gravity. I thought to myself.
"Cargo shuttle Whiskey-tango-foxtrot-3-2-9 you are cleared to dock at bay 3. Keep approach velocity below 1 meter per second." The flight controller confirmed over the radio.
With a small puff of our maneuvering thrusters we began our final approach. My holopad pinged again but I didn't dare take my eyes off the approach monitor. "5 meters... 4... 3... 2... 1... contact." Alex counted down as I lowered us carefully towards the floor of the landing bay. Docking clamps grabbed our shuttles legs and locked us down in place while the bay doors closed behind us. Ordinarily cargo would be transferred outside but for these kinds of luxury items we practiced a little more care.
I sat back in my seat and exhaled the breath I'd been holding as the ships systems spooled down. I lifted my holopad and updated our itinerary; The new message in the corner of the screen was another unknown number but now I was expecting that.
"Hi, this is Selni. Did I make it to Jon? Is this the right number?" I stared at the text on my phone for a couple seconds before my fingers moved to reply. This is it Jon, representing humanity, no pressure. "Yes, sorry I didn't message. I was honestly kind of nervous. How are you?" I typed and erased, reconsidered and typed again elements of the message several times before sending.
"Wow, that's pretty disarming. I wouldn't have expected the Human to be the nervous one here. Don't feel bad, it's a big day for all of us." Selni’s response was almost instant.
"I'm glad they paired me with someone so confident. I've never been very good with conversation, but I'll give this my all. If you have any questions feel free to ask." I messaged back. I sat back in my seat and smiled to myself, excited for the future.
"Earth to space nerd. I know you're having a lovely time with your chat, but we need to unload these boxes." Alex bumped my arm, shaking me out of my reverie. "Y-yeah sure." I hopped up out of my chair and promptly started unstrapping the cargo. Just a little more work then I'll be free to chat with my new pal.

A lady hired me and 4 friends for a yard work job. For this job it was agreed that we would all get paid $20 an hour to take trash out of her yard, and to rototill and seed her back yard.
We had worked that entire Sunday very hard and made a significant difference to the yard. We rototilled the yard in it's entirety, cleaned up 1400 lbs of garbage (the weight receipts I have from the dump), and we overall did what we were asked.
The lady was extremely happy that we did the work. She refuses to check the job we did even though I really wanted her to. I am a college student that did more work doing demo and trash removal in my life and I'm new to landscaping. In my opinion we did end up doing a good job. The area was fully filled and seeded with hay to cover the seed. The only job the lady had was to properly water the grass seed for two weeks (ish) for the grass to properly take seed and grow. The soil was quite dry though so I would imagine that this would take lots of water l. And I warned her about this saying that it would be best to water early in the morning or late at night to reduce waste due to evaporation.
The original pay was going to be $640 for the labor for 4 people at $20/hr for 8 hours not counting an hour lunch break we did to get more string for our weed eater and $100 extra for the dump fees and gas that ended up fully going into the job. However, during this job she kept wanting to give us more money. To this I wasn't sure what to say so I agreed because I have never had a person want to give me extra money.
The lady wanted to pay me $30 and hour for being some kind of foreman type person, and gave us all tips of $40. This added up to her being out $980.
This is all fine and well at first, but then the next day she checks all of the work we did, and is very dissatisfied with our work. She sends pictures of things and issues that we did not agree on. That being weeding her garden and parts that weren't her exact area that I said I would work. That being her back yard and the pool around her yard. The other thing that we did not do was clean out her goat area she had on a concrete slab because it was all rotten hay and shit. This area I could have done, but I did not have the time that day or a mask that I would have liked to have worn for it.
The lady goes on to start saying that I scammed her and did not take any of the calls I sent or texts and only was saying that I scammed her and that I did absolutely no work there. She then says she is going to move on with her life and block me forever and be the bigger person. I had tried to get control of the situation over text, but she kept saying that I did not do my full job.
A week has gone by since then, and now a random guy is texting me and threatening to sue me now. I want to send the entire text chain, but this sub reddit does not allow videos. The main claims that I must return the money because I did not do my work. He claims that I tampered with her cameras around her house and stolen items as well. He said that he will go to my college and tell whoever is important that I had done this and will try and get me kicked out. He also said I took illegal photos of the house. I did not steal or tamper with any cameras. I honestly didn't take any pictures even though I really wish I did. The man is threatening to call my school and try and get me in trouble which is very worrying to me.
I am willing to return the extra money that she gave me, but I am not willing to make my friends cough up money for her and this mystery man. To make this pay as much as my friends (25 and hour technically with the tip), I would give $80. My fear is that they will say that I did not do this or that this is not enough money.
What should I do? This money is a life saver for all of us and especially me because I am coming to the end of my college year and am not going to be able to afford rent if I give her all of the money I had made. If it truly is the right thing to do, and I am breaking a real law that would require me to stay at this town for some law suite, I will be happy to fork over the money to avoid that. Yet this feels like I'm being bullied for the money.
What do I do?
(I can post the texts if that is wanted)

Context: I thought that AEW did a great job with the Continental Classic 6 months ago and I want to try to book the next one (as I imagine they will be doing this again). For this booking, I will be doing the men's continental classic in 2024. Now for this, we are changing one major thing for this tournament compared to what they did last year. The winner of this tournament will get a shot at the AEW World Championship at the Revolution PPV. The finals of the Continental Classic will take place at World's End. The world champion in this fantasy booking for around this time is Will Ospreay. All of these matches take place on episodes of Dynamite and Collision respectively (I won't book what match takes place on which network) , I'll just be booking the tournament week-to-week. Below are the competitors listed for each block.
EDIT: My first draft exceeded the character limit for a post so I will be trimming down match details
Gold Block:

• MJF
  • Just made his return recently, defeating Adam Cole at the latest PPV to settle their rivalry. Now has his sights set on winning the tournament and challenging for the World Championship.
• Konosuke Takeshita
  • The Don Callis family has representation in this tournament as Takeshita has been taking the AEW world by storm the last few months, being the stand out in the Callis family. Konosuke Takeshita is Don Callis's chosen one and declares that Takeshita will be bringing the World Championship to the family.
• Jack Perry
  • Has been put in thanks to the Elite, looking to bring the World Championship to the Elite.
• Dax Harwood
  • Playing the Mark Briscoe role of this tournament. Storyline-wise, he's been placed in this tournament by the Elite to keep the FTR from being able to compete for the Tag Team Championships. Cash encourages him to make this the biggest mistake of the Elite's life.
• Darby Allin
  • Since returning from injury in May, has been on fire with key wins over The Elite in Anarchy in the Arena, Jay White, and Big Bill. Looking to get back in the title hunt.
• Eddie Kingston
  • Last year's winner looking to go back-to-back, this time for a new prize. (I know he is injured in real life, i'm hoping he is recovered by then).

Blue Block:

• Kenny Omega
  • Has returned from injury and looking to get right back on track after being put in this tournament. (The Bucks tried to keep him from the tourney but was overruled by TK)
• Kazuchika Okada
  • The Elite have two members in to try to ensure that the World Championship goes to the Elite. Commentary puts over his familiarity with this kind of tournament).
• Chris Jericho
  • Seen as the veteran in this whole tournament, looking to make a statement and show his followers of the Chris Jericho "Learning Tree" how to succeed at the highest level and compete for a World title at this stage of his career.
• Ricky Starks
  • Has also returned from injury recently and considers himself a master of tournaments (puts over his win in the Owen Hart tournament) and looks to win this one, and win the gold.
• Malakai Black
  • The House of Black has been kicking all sorts of ass for the last several months and has a lot of momentum on their side. Malakai Black (the leader of the House of Black), will be part of this tournament to win the tournament, beat Will Ospreay, and continue to strengthen the momentum of the House of Black. The House always wins.
• Penta El Zero Miedo
  • Was originally going to be PAC, but a week before the tournament, PAC was mysteriously attacked and deemed unable to compete (storyline). While AEW investigates to find out of PAC's attacker, Penta El Zero Miedo steps in on PAC's behalf to compete.

Scoring: Win=3 points, Draw=1 point, Loss=0 points
20-minute time limits for each match
Outside interference is prohibited! No one is allowed at ringside (breaking these rules result in a point deduction)
Gold Block: Week 1

• Eddie Kingston def. Dax Harwood
  • We kick off the tournament with our first matchup in the Gold League between last year's winner of the Continental Classic, Eddie Kingston, going up against Dax Harwood. These two have a competitive match, with Dax pushing Eddie to his limit, but Kingston wins with the Spinning Back Fist. The two shake hands after the match and Eddie continues to celebrate his win.
• Konosuke Takeshita def. Darby Allin
  • For this match, Darby takes control early in the match, going at a very fast-pace, hitting dangerous and high flying moves to keep Takeshita at bay. However, Darby goes for one too many high risk moves and it costs him, as Takeshita hits his Power Drive Knee to pick up the victory. Post-match, Takeshita brawls with Darby and throws him off the stage, sending him crashing into some tables, as medical personnel tend to Darby.
• MJF def. Jack Perry
  • Before the match, there is a backstage segment between the two, as Jack Perry talks about how he remembers what MJF told him a long time ago and how he did in fact cut the goody-two-shoes act, but, instead of ruling AEW together, Jack has surpassed MJF and will prove that tonight. MJF tells Jack that Jack hasn't done anything yet to think that he has surpassed him and that being a top guy is more than just a cute arm band saying "scapegoat" and being friends with the EVPs. Max says that if he thinks that he is on MJF's level, that he can prove it in the ring against him. Jack is not amused. These two will main event whichever show they're on as they go back and forth. Both of them are using dirty tricks against each other and it appears that Jack has learned from their last encounter. Jack works over the shouldearm of MJF that comes into affect when MJF goes for Salt of the Earth but can't keep it locked in. The match ends after Jack attempts Salt of the Earth on Max but is able to turn it into a roll up and hold onto Perry's tights to secure the pinfall victory (because he's still a scumbag, but our scumbag). MJF gains 3 points and smiles and winks at a very frustrated Perry as he walks up the ramp, telling Perry that he still has much to learn.
• Gold Standings after Week 1:
  1. Konosuke Takeshita: (3 pts)
  2. Eddie Kingston: (3 pts)
  3. MJF: (3 pts)
  4. Darby Allin: (0 pts)
  5. Dax Harwood: (0 pts)
  6. Jack Perry: (0 pts)

Blue Block: Week 1

• Ricky Starks def. Chris Jericho
  • Starks and Jericho go about 13 minutes. Jericho uses veteran trickery to get an advantage at times but Ricky is able to take control at times, showing how good he truly is. In the end, Jericho goes for Judas Effect but Starks ducks it and running against the ropes and hitting Jericho with a second spear. Starks immediately picks Jericho back up and hits his finish, Rochambeau and gets the pinfall victory. Starks gets his first 3 points of the tournament.
• Malakai Black def. Penta El Zero Miedo
  • Malakai and Penta square off against each other and go a little over 10 minutes. The whole match is a sprint, as Penta tries to be more aggressive after being familiar with Malakai from their past encounters. The match ends after Penta goes for his package piledriver but is countered as Malakai then hits Black Mass to Penta, getting the pinfall victory. Malakai Black gets his first 3 points of the tournament.
• Kenny Omega vs Kazuchika Okada (TIME LIMIT DRAW)
  • This is the main event of a very special episode of Dynamite. These two go back and forth with plenty of callbacks to their previous matches, but Okada specifically targets the midsection of Omega (who has had his surgery). Both men go for their finishing moves multiple times in the match but is countered by the other man. In the end, Omega goes for the One Winged Angel after hitting several V-Triggers. Okada is able to counter once again, hitting a knee strike to Omega's midsection (that sends Omega to his knees, that one really hurt him). Okada hits his finish, Rainmaker but is down as he is completely exhausted. He crawls over to the pin but before he can get to him, the bell rings as the time expires, ending the match in a draw (a callback to their first match). Commentary puts over how this may affect both men for the rest of the tournament. Both men are awarded 1 point.
• Blue Standings after week 1:
  1. Ricky Starks: (3 pts)
  2. Malakai Black: (3 pts)
  3. Kazuchika Okada: (1 pts)
  4. Kenny Omega: (1 pts)
  5. Chris Jericho: (0 pts)
  6. Penta El Zero Miedo: (0 pts)

Gold Block: Week 2

• MJF def. Dax Harwood
  • These two have an old-school, classic wrestling match as Dax, again, pushes his opponent to their limit and give them their best as MJF has to dig deep to pull out a victory. Both men have their opponent in submissions, testing the will of their opponent as both fight to stay alive. In the end, after missing with a Diving headbutt from the top rope, MJF rolls Dax towards the apron and hits Heat Seeker to get the pinfall victory. After a tense stare post match, Dax finally offers his hand to MJF, MJF with a little hesitation, accepts it and the two shake hands after the match. MJF now has 6 points total and Dax is still scoreless.
• Eddie Kingston def. Darby Allin
  • Darby is BARELY cleared to compete for this match, and it's even encouraged by doctors backstage that Darby pull out of this match to which Darby will of course refuse. During the match, it is clear that Darby is less than 100% and Eddie takes most of the match. Eddie, knowing that Darby is in bad shape, is concerned and tells Darby to stay down (not in a heelish way, but more in a concerned way. He doesn't want to beat Darby this way and hurt him even further). Darby just keeps on fighting, taking advantage of Eddie not putting him down and hitting come back offense, resulting in close near falls. In the end, Kingston finally puts Darby down after slapping Eddie to stop patronizing him and gets another 3 points. Eddie shows his respect to Darby after the match.
• Jack Perry def. Konosuke Takeshita
  • Its a heel vs heel matchup but Jack will be wrestling heel while Takeshita wrestles a babyface style. Perry again is using dirty tricks but it doesn't faze Takeshita, who has been prepared by this in his training with Don Callis. It seems that when it is a fair fight, Takeshita is the one that is getting the upper hand, hitting the more significant moves during the exchanges. In the end, Takeshita goes for his Power Drive Knee but misses Jack, colliding with the turnbuckle instead (he sells the knee) and then, Jack Perry rolls Takeshita up, grabbing the tights of Takeshita, and picking up the pinfall victory. Takeshita and Callis (who now has entered the ring once the match was over) are fuming and argue with the referee who did not see what had happened. Jack Perry celebrates as he goes up the ramp and the Young Bucks congratulate him. Perry is on the board.
• Gold Standings after Week 2:
  1. MJF: (6 pts)
  2. Eddie Kingston: (6 pts)
  3. Konosuke Takeshita: (3 pts)
  4. Jack Perry: (3 pts)
  5. Darby Allin: (0 pts)
  6. Dax Harwood: (0 pts)

Blue Block: Week 2

• Malakai Black def. Chris Jericho
  • Jericho cuts a promo before his match saying that last week didn't go the way that he wanted but to not worry, because he is at his best when he is the underdog and he will still find a way to come back and win this entire tournament (he says this in a babyface way but is still clearly a heel, continuing that story they are doing in real life). Malakai Black beats Jericho in about 13-15 minutes with the Black Mass after countering the Judas Effect with Black Mass. Malakai Black gets another 3 points.
• Kazuchika Okada def. Penta El Zero Miedo
  • These two go a little over 15 minutes and Penta has his moments, but ultimately falls to the Rainmaker as Okada gets the pinfall victory. Okada get 3 points. Penta looks frustrated, as he has now lost twice already in the tournament.
• Kenny Omega def. Ricky Starks
  • These two go back and forth as Ricky is very close to victory at multiple points (this match is designed to showcase Ricky and elevate him), especially at one point, hitting a spear which Kenny sells like death as that spear looks to very much damage his midsection. Starks goes for the pin but Kenny kicks out at 2.9. The ref starts to check on Kenny, who looks to be in serious pain but Starks knows that he is almost out of time and sets up for the Rochambeau to which Kenny counters into a roll up but is kicked out at 2. After being unable to connect with the One-Winged Angel because of his midsection, Ricky goes for his finish again but Omega pins Starks after hitting a small package rollup, countering Ricky's finish. Ricky Starks is shocked and frustrated that he lost but then tends to Kenny who is still on the ground, and helps him to his feet. Starks helps him to the back.
• Blue Standings after week 2:
  1. Malakai Black: (6 pts)
  2. Kazuchika Okada: (4 pts)
  3. Kenny Omega: (4 pts)
  4. Ricky Starks: (3 pts)
  5. Chris Jericho: (0 pts)
  6. Penta El Zero Miedo: (0 pts)

Gold Block: Week 3

• Konosuke Takeshita def. Dax Harwood
  • There's a moment backstage between Takeshita and Don Callis as Don tells Takeshita its time to get serious, and that he needs to go out there and prove why he is the Alpha. Callis tells Takeshita to not disappoint him again. Dax and Cash interrupt the two men as Dax tells Takeshita that while he has no love or respect for Jack Perry, he says that him losing via cheating was karma coming to bite him. Dax says that after doing what he did to Darby, compromising him for possibly the rest of the tournament and aligning himself with Don Callis, any misfortune that happens to him will be of his own doing. Callis says that while Dax is a very accomplished tag team wrestler and respects his accomplishments, he tells Dax that he doesn't have the singles resume to address them in any manor. Callis says that Takeshita is looking for a bounce back, and says that Dax will be the perfect man to make an example of tonight. Dax tells him to tell Takeshita to bring his best, because if he doesn't, Dax will expose him. The two have their match, and despite Dax's best efforts, Takeshita picks up the win.
• Jack Perry def. Darby Allin
  • Jack Perry attacks Darby before the bell rings, the official asks Darby if he can continue and Darby says yes. Jack Perry takes advantage of Darby being less than 100% but is also being cocky, talking trash and taking his time, rather than going for the win right away. Darby takes advantage of this by being able to hit comeback offense and take control of the match at a certain point. After an accidental ref bump where either Perry or Darby hit the ref with an accidental elbow. Darby gets the Last Supper in (and would have gotten the 3-count) but the ref take a little bit to get back up from the strike, and when counting the pin, Perry kicks out at 2. Perry picks up the win after hitting a sneaky low blow to Darby and hitting his finish, Blindside Elbow to get the pinfall victory.
• MJF def. Eddie Kingston
  • Before this match there is a vignette promo from Eddie Kingston where he talks about the importance of winning this tournament and how happy he is that he is off to a hot start but doesn't have his eyes off the prize. He continues by acknowledging his opponent MJF and how different the two are. Kingston says that MJF has always had everything he has ever wanted and grew up different than how he did, he calls MJF privileged, saying that he hasn't had to work to the degree that he has to get what they have achieved in their careers. Kingston finishes by saying that against him there is no easy way out, and that if he is going to win, he's going to have to earn it and tells MJF that he doesn't respect him. He has to earn that too. MJF responds in a backstage interview telling Eddie that even though its true that he grew up different than Eddie to not disrespect and try to minimize his accomplishments and the work that he has put in to achieve his success. He tells Eddie that he doesn't care whether or not Eddie respects him, but that Eddie will have no choice but to respect the fact that he is better than Kingston. MJF nearly loses after teasing using the diamond ring but choosing not to which results in Eddie hitting a spinning back first for a 2-count. MJF ends up hitting the Heat seeker and pinning Eddie. MJF offers his hand to Eddie to shake his hand. Eddie refuses and just walks to the back. (Backstage, Renee tries to get a word with Eddie, but before Eddie can say anything, he is attacked by the Young Bucks and Jack Perry, trying to get an advantage in next week's match).
• Gold Standings after Week 3
  1. MJF: (9 pts)
  2. Eddie Kingston: (6 pts)
  3. Konosuke Takeshita: (6 pts)
  4. Jack Perry: (6 pts)
  5. Darby Allin: (0 pts)
  6. Dax Harwood: (0 pts)

Blue Block: Week 3

• Penta El Zero Miedo def. Chris Jericho
  • These two men are desperate to get their first points in the tournament and stay in contention as they beat the hell out of each other. Jericho starts to use dirty tricks to try to gain an advantage and Penta is wrestling a lot more aggressively and brutally than we're used to (for those who are Lucha Underground fans, he's wrestling like the first few seasons in this match). In the end, Penta picks up the win after Jericho fails with his dirty tricks, getting caught with his feet on the ropes at one point. Penta low blows him after a ref bump, hitting his finish right after. Penta celebrates as commentary says Jericho now is eliminated from winning. Post-match, Jericho attacks Penta, frustrated of this result. However, Penta is able to get the upper hand of the brawl and Penta looks to tease going for the arm snap spot he does where he wrenches back on his opponent's arm, but then decides to spare Jericho, letting go of the arm and walking to the back.
• Kazuchika Okada def. Ricky Starks
  • This is another 15+ minute match designed to showcase Ricky Starks as he comes as close as anyone has so far of beating Okada up to this point. Ricky has many counters to the Rainmaker, even countering one Rainmaker and hitting a spear after for a close 2 count. Ricky seems to have an answer to all of Okada's best moves. However, Okada is able to counter Rochambeau and finally hit the Rainmaker and get the pinfall victory. Okada gets 3 points and Starks has dropped his last two matches, still at 3 points total.
• Malakai Black def. Kenny Omega
  • Kenny looks to be in rough shape for this match. Malakai relentlessly goes after Kenny's midsection, throwing kicks and knees targeting Kenny's injury. Kenny is able to hit big moves and have moments where he looks to be taking control, but before he can fully take control of the match, Malakai hits a heavy strike to the midsection of Omega, flooring him and sending him down to the mat. Kenny is able to fight back and hit significant offense but at another point, Black hits Black Mass to the midsection, sending Omega to the floor and nearly getting counted out. In the end, after Kenny attempts a One-Winged Angel, Kenny hesitates as his midsection is compromised thanks to Black's strategy, Black spits the mist into his hands and rakes Omega's eyes (The ref doesn't see as they are dealing with an exposed turnbuckle that Malakai exposed earlier). As Kenny is blinded, Malakai hits Black Mass, and gets the pinfall victory. Commentary puts over that this may be Black's biggest win in his career and the biggest win in the tournament so far. The final shot is Malakai sitting cross legged in the ring with the biggest smile on his face as referees and doctors check on Kenny.
• Blue Standings after Week 3:
  1. Malakai Black: (9 pts)
  2. Kazuchika Okada: (7 pts)
  3. Kenny Omega: (4 pts)
  4. Ricky Starks (3 pts)
  5. Penta El Zero Miedo (3 pts)
  6. Chris Jericho (0 pts)

Gold Block: Week 4

• Jack Perry def. Eddie Kingston
  • Eddie comes out with a fury, immediately brawling with Perry to start the match after the attack from last week. Perry is able to use Kingston's anger to capitalize on his mistakes and take control of the match at times. Perry targets Kingston's previously injured leg from back in May, slowing Kingston down from being able to hit any major offense. At one point, Eddie is able to hit his Spinning Back Fist out of nowhere to Jack but isn't able to cover him right away because of his leg, but still crawls over to go for the pin. Perry kicks out at 2.9. Perry goes to the top to attempt a cross body but Eddie moves and Perry connects with the ref instead. Eddie gets back up and hits a second Spinning Back Fist and covers Jack (visual 3-count) but there is no ref to count the pin. Eddie is frustrated, knowing that was his best chance up to this point to get a crucial win. Eddie picks Jack up and goes for the Northern Lights Bomb, but his leg gives out, Jack Perry hits a low blow and then follows it up with his Blindside Elbow finish and gets the pinfall victory as a new referee enters the ring to count the pin. Jack Perry has earned another 3 points in a crucial match as now he is in a good spot in the tournament and Eddie looks crushed (though not eliminated yet, he needs a lot of things to happen to have a chance).
• Darby Allin def. Dax Harwood
  • These two go back and forth in a hard hitting match and Dax comes as close as he has gotten to winning any of these matches. Dax nearly wins multiple times but Darby is able to get his Last Supper pin and beat Dax. Darby gets 3 points. Backstage, Cash is trying to motivate and support his tag partner until Jack comes into frame, laughing and talking trash to Dax, telling him that he is showcasing that he was the weak link in FTR and that he will be sure to credit Dax in his victory speech when he beats him next week. As Jack leaves, Dax is fired up, finding the motivation that he needed as Cash tells Dax that this is the opportunity to make the Elite pay for putting him in the Continental Classic.
• Konosuke Takeshita def. MJF
  • MJF in a backstage interview before the match calls Takeshita, "Take-a-shit-a", and tells him that though he has been very impressive since they last had their encounter, he will show that when they step in the ring together, no matter what day, he (MJF) is the alpha. MJF says that there is nothing Takeshita can do to stop him from winning this tournament and in the ring, MJF will show Takeshita that he is better than him, and deep down, he and Don Callis knows it. These two have a main-event level match as they go back and forth, with both men looking to come close to winning at different times. Takeshita looks very intense and motivated for this match, wanting to not only secure a very important win, but get revenge on MJF who has insulted him and beaten him in the past. In the final stretch, MJF puts on the Diamond Ring and waits for Takeshita to get to his feet, but, before he can connect with a punch, the ref catches MJF in the act and takes his ring. The ref makes his way over to the corner to hand the ring off to the ring announcer at ringside, but Takeshita picks up MJF and drives him towards the turnbuckle, they collide into the ref, who drops the ring in the process. As the ref tries to get back to their feet, Takeshita puts on the Dynamite Diamond Ring and waits for MJF to get to his feet. Takeshita nails MJF with the ring, knocking him out right before the ref could see. Takeshita covers MJF and gets the pinfall victory in a shocking upset. Takeshita celebrates wildly as Don Callis comes running in the ring, hugging Takeshita and celebrating as if they have won the tournament already. Commentary puts over that this is the biggest win of Takeshita's career and has put him in a great position in the Gold League. Takeshita nails MJF one more time with the Power Drive Knee and leaves with MJF's diamond ring.
• Gold Standings after Week 4
  1. Konosuke Takeshita: (9 pts)
  2. MJF: (9 pts)
  3. Jack Perry: (9 pts)
  4. Eddie Kingston: (6 pts)
  5. Darby Allin: (3 pts) (eliminated from winning)
  6. Dax Harwood: (0 pts) (eliminated from winning)

Blue Block: Week 4

• Kenny Omega def. Penta El Zero Miedo
  • Kenny is looking to bounce back and secure a victory in order to stay alive in this tournament while Penta is trying to build off his win from last week and secure a victory over Omega to stay alive in this tournament and keep his momentum going. Penta shows a more hard hitting style, using precise strikes to target certain parts of Omega. In the final stretch of the match, after hearing that there is a minute left in the match, Penta abandons the arm break spot that he was teasing and picks Kenny up to attempt a Package Piledriver. However, Kenny counters out of the Package Piledriver, hits a V-trigger and follows it up with the One Winged Angel and gets the pinfall victory. Kenny celebrates his win as he is still alive and Penta is sitting in the ring, furious that he is now eliminated from winning the tournament. The ref tries to tend to Penta but Penta shoves the referee, shouting at him in spanish and looks like he may attack but Fenix comes out to calm him down. There's a tense stare between the two and then Penta superkicks the ref as he gets back to his feet. Penta storms to the back.
• Kazuchika Okada def. Chris Jericho
  • Chris Jericho cuts a pre-match promo, doing the whole style that he has been doing lately where he pretends to be a Babyface but is a Heel where he talks about how the tournament hasn't gone the way that he had hoped but he will be looking to have the biggest wins in the tournament when he beats Okada and Omega back to back. Jericho says that he will show his followers, fans, and the wrestlers in the back what it's like to be the greatest of all time and the Learning Tree. Jericho tries to use some dirty tricks to slow down Okada but in the end, after a little over 10-12 minutes, Okada wins with the Rainmaker, getting the pin. Okada is in a good spot while Jericho is still winless in this tournament as now, even he is looking frustrated.
• Ricky Starks def. Malakai Black
  • A big match with big stakes for both of these men as Black can secure his place in the finals with a win over Starks and Starks needing to win to still have a chance to win this tournament. Malakai takes most of the match but Ricky gives him a fight, nearly pinning him with a spear. In the end, Malakai Black signals to hit Black Mass but Starks counters it into a jackknife pin, 1...2...3! Starks has pulled the upset win over Black! Starks gets 3 points and keeps himself alive in this tournament and Black (who would have guaranteed himself being in the Blue League finals with a win) now has to win next week against Okada. Black is furious, spitting the black mist into the eyes of Ricky Starks, blinding him as Starks screams in pain. Malakai then hits Black Mass to Ricky, and walks to the back as referees and doctors tend to Starks.
• Blue Standings after Week 4:
  1. Kazuchika Okada: (10 pts)
  2. Malakai Black: (9 pts)
  3. Kenny Omega (7 pts)
  4. Ricky Starks (6 pts)
  5. Penta El Zero Miedo (3 pts) (eliminated from winning)
  6. Chris Jericho (0 pts) (eliminated from winning)

Gold Bock: Week 5

• Konosuke Takeshita def. Eddie Kingston
  • This is a must-win for both Takeshita and Eddie, but even more so for Eddie, who must win to have a chance (though it's a slim one anyway). Eddie comes out with a fury, trying to catch Takeshita off-guard. Takeshita goes for a lariat but misses as Kingston connects with a Spinning Back Fist (after only a minute has gone in the match) and goes for the quick, shocking pin but Takeshita kicks out at 2. The rest of the match is a hard hitting affair with Kingston refusing to stay down, even enduring some of Takeshitas best moves (Blue Thunder Bomb for a close 2-count, Spinning Falcon Arrow where Kingston gets his foot on the ropes, etc.). Kingston at another point hits a second Spinning Back fist but Takeshita rolls to the outside, avoiding the pin attempt. In the end, after attempting the Northern Lights Bomb, Takeshita counters and chop blocks Kingston's leg. Takeshita hits Eddie Kingston with the Dynamite Diamond Ring (the ref doesn't see it) and puts Kingston away, getting the pinfall victory. Takeshita and Callis celebrate the win and await their opponent for the finals and Eddie just looks crushed.
• MJF vs Darby Allin (TIME LIMIT DRAW)
  • MJF can guarantee his spot in the finals with a win over Darby but after Darby won last week, he will be looking to win again especially against a familiar foe from his past. The two go back and forth, MJF working over the arm of Darby to set up for his Salt of the Earth submission but Darby is going for high-risk moves, even hitting a few of them to get himself back in the match. MJF looks to hit a tombstone piledriver on the apron but Darby counters it into a Scorpion Death Drop (Sting's old finish) and then hits the Coffin Drop to MJF on the apron, taking both men out for a little bit. With a minute left in the match, after Darby kicked out of the Heat Seeker, Darby attempts a springboard Coffin Drop but MJF moves out of the way going and goes for a rollup pin, which Darby kicks out at 2. Darby attempts Last Supper, but MJF kicks out at 2. MJF finally is able to get Darby into the Salt of the Earth after attempting it all night, and Darby is in serious pain and trouble. Darby can't get to the ropes but refuses to tap. MJF starts to bend and twist the fingers of Darby but Darby again, refuses the tap. Commentary puts over that MJF might break the arm of Darby if Darby doesn't tap and then the bell rings. The ring announcer makes an announcement, declaring this match, a draw. MJF looks devastated, knowing that a win tonight would have guaranteed him a spot in the Gold League finals. Now, his fate is in Jack Perry's hands when he takes on Dax Harwood later in the night. MJF is pissed off backstage, trashing an area of the backstage area in frustration. Jack Perry shows up (with the Young Bucks by his side) as he laughs, telling Max that he blew it, he choked when it was all on the line. Perry said that he's going to go out there and win, and when he wins and goes to the finals, he's going to win the whole tournament and eventually become the AEW World Champion (and says that he'll be an even greater champion than MJF). Perry leaves to prepare for his match.
• Dax Harwood def. Jack Perry
  • Jack Perry is a cocky prick during this match as he thinks this is a shoe-in to win. Jack seems like he is more focused on showing off and trying to embarrass Dax rather than trying to win the match. Dax starts to fight back and give Jack some serious problems. With a minute left and feeling the pressure, Perry attempts a brainbuster but Dax turns it into a small package rollup and gets the 3-count, pinning Jack Perry! Jack Perry is shocked, now officially being eliminated from the tournament as he argues with the referee (and so do the Young Bucks as they come down to the ring). Dax leaves up the ramp and celebrates with Cash. They have succeeded in making the Elite pay.

Blue Block: Week 5

• Ricky Starks def. Penta El Zero Miedo
  • Ricky Starks needs to win to stay alive and hope for the best with the matchups later tonight as Penta is now playing the role of spoiler. Penta seems to be wrestling different than we are used to, wrestling more like a Heel focusing more on his brutality than his high flying move-set. Ricky refuses to stay down. Eventually, after being frustrated he can't put Ricky away, starts to set up his arm break spot, having the worst intentions in mind as commentary says that this could seriously injure Ricky. Before Penta can snap the arm back, Ricky counters and hits a spear. Ricky then picks Penta up without hesitation and hits Rochambeau to get the pinfall victory. Ricky celebrates his win in the ring as he has done all he can and now awaits the results (he needs Jericho to beat Omega and Okada to beat Black). Penta is as FUMING and attacks Ricky Starks after the match, hitting him with a superkick and then the Package Piledriver to Ricky. Penta has lost it, as he starts to set up the arm break spot but as a ref tries to intervene, Penta hits the ref with a Package Piledriver as well! Rey Fenix comes down to the ring and tries to once again, calm Penta down but it doesn't work as Penta has now turned on Fenix, hitting him with a Package Piledriver too (he has truly turned Heel). Ricky starts to move a little bit and Penta notices Starks. Finally, he hits his Arm Breaker (snapping the arm back, whatever the move is called), injurying Starks as he screams in pain. Commentary puts over that Penta may have just broken Ricky's arm and Penta leaves. (so, with this, if Ricky is leaving for WWE, you have an angle that writes him off for good. If Ricky decides to return to AEW, you have a story waiting for him).
• Kenny Omega def. Chris Jericho
  • This is a must-win for Kenny Omega, as he could potentially be in the finals as long as he wins tonight. Jericho says that this match is personal for him. Jericho says that not only does winning this match mean he doesn't go the whole tournament without scoring any points, but also gets revenge on the man that betrayed him and left him stranded in the tag division when he abandoned the Golden Jets (Kenny needed surgery but Jericho, being self-centered, sees it as Kenny abandoning him and being selfish while Jericho has done nothing "but be completely selfless, wanting to be a teacher and mentor, not a deserter). Jericho uses all of his dirty tricks in the book to try to beat Kenny. Jericho even successfully hits the Judas Effect on Kenny but Omega kicks out at 2.9! Jericho has the Walls of Jericho on Omega but Kenny gets out of it eventually being able to hit multiple V-triggers on Jericho. In the end, Kenny Omega is able to counter the Codebreaker, putting him in a powerbomb position but then is able to shift Jericho around on his shoulders and has him in position to hit the One Winged Angel and gets the pinfall victory. Kenny is officially in the Blue League Finals, awaiting to see who his opponent (or opponents) will be. Jericho just sits there in disbelief, he has not won any matches and has scored 0 points for the whole tournament. He looks over by ringside to see Big Bill, who is looking over at Jericho. Big Bill looks disappointed, shaking his head, and walking straight to the back, without his mentor by his side.
• Kazuchika Okada def. Malakai Black
  • This match has very high stakes as Kenny Omega is now guaranteed to be in the Blue Block finals after beating Chris Jericho. If Okada wins, then it is he and Omega facing off one-on-one in the finals of the Blue block. If Malakai Black wins this, then the Blue Block finals turns into a triple threat match of Omega, Okada, and Black. These two have a very competitive back-and-forth match as Okada looks to avoid Black Mass and the Black Mist at all times and Malakai goes after Okada's arm, targeting and weakening it to affect his finish, Rainmaker. At one point, after missing Black Mass, Okada is able to hit Rainmaker on Malakai but grabs his arm in pain after using it to hit Rainmaker (but it's also the same arm that Malakai has been targeting the whole match). Okada goes for the pin but Black has his foot on the bottom rope to break the pin right before the ref counts 3. At another point, Malakai is able to hit Black Mass out of nowhere on Okada but can't get the pin as Okada rolls out of the ring after being hit with Black Mass just before Black can go for the pin. Malakai rolls him back in the ring and goes for Black Mass again but it's countered into a Rainmaker, but that's countered into a knee strike. Black goes for a lariat but Okada counters and finally hits a second Rainmaker (again, Okada sells the pain of doing his finish) and gets the pinfall victory over Malakai Black as both men are spent. The match is official between Omega and Okada.

Final Standings (Gold and Blue):

• Gold Block:
  1. Konosuke Takeshita: (12 pts)
  2. MJF: (10 pts)
  3. Jack Perry: (9 pts)
  4. Eddie Kingston: (6 pts)
  5. Darby Allin: (4 pts)
  6. Dax Harwood: (3 pts)
• Blue Block:
  1. Kazuchika Okada: (13 pts)
  2. Kenny Omega: (10 pts)
  3. Ricky Starks: (9 pts) (breaks tiebreaker with Black)
  4. Malakai Black: (9 pts)
  5. Penta El Zero Miedo (3 pts)
  6. Chris Jericho: (0 pts)

Gold Block Finals:

• MJF def. Konosuke Takeshita
  • In an interview before the show, MJF addresses Takeshita by his real name (no longer calls him "Take-a-shit-a") and says that he has gotten so much better since their last encounter, but with everything on the line, he won't be able to put down the Devil. These two open the very special episode of Dynamite, "Winter is Coming". They have another great match, throwing everything they have at each other to try to put their opponent away. Takeshita comes very close, but in the end, after failing to hit MJF with the Diamond Ring, MJF makes Takeshita tap to the Salt of the Earth. Post-match, MJF takes his ring back.

Blue Block Finals:

• Kenny Omega def. Kazuchika Okada
  • These two have a face-to-face backstage with the theme of the encounter being, who is the true "best bout machine". These two have a classic that they are absolutely capable multiple times over of having as they also main event a special episode of Dynamite, "Winter is Coming". Omega and Okada again go a long-time and nearly go to another time limit draw. This match comes down who will make the first mistake. After a long battle, Kenny wins with the One-Winged Angel, putting away his biggest rival and going to the finals.

Continental Classic Finals: AEW World's End

• Kenny Omega def. MJF
  • The match is very similar to their first match on Collision. These two hit each other with everything they have, even showing some new moves that we haven't seen them hit. In the end, after going for the One Winged Angel for the entire match, Kenny finally hits it on MJF and gets the pinfall victory. Kenny has won the Continental Classic. They shake hands and then MJF nails Kenny with a low blow and leaves.

(MJF goes on to be a heel from this and Kenny Omega will face Will Ospreay in the main event of Revolution for the AEW World Championship)
What did you think? Did you like it? Did you not like it? What did you specifically like or dislike about it? Let me know!