Cool signatures phrases

I’ve been looking for a Tobey Maguire autograph, but I think it would also be cool to have all three Spider-Man signed on one item. I’m definitely more of a Tobey fan. What do you guys think? Also the Toby signature does look better on the first picture than the second one.

I promise. This is on-topic.
However, just in case someone didn't read the subject line: This does contain MILD SPOILERS (Click on each spoiler paragraph to read) for the episode that became available yesterday for Disney Plus (Similar to Netflix, but a different company) subscribers in the United States, and I would assume also aired on the BBC in the United Kingdom on the same day (The show airs in a lot of countries around the world, but I don't know when, where, or whether they premiere on the same dates as in the US and UK).
The Doctor and his companion visit a battle zone on a human colony (in the future) on some sort of non-earth celestial body (Like a planet or a moon) with a breathable atmosphere.
Soon they meet....
"Ordained Anglican Marines"!!!
They wear army fatigues, but with clerical collars. At first I thought, this person must be a chaplain, but then I saw that they all had the clerical collars.
>! At one point, we get one of them pointing a rifle of some sort at the doctor and this ensues-!<
The Doctor: I am a higher dimension lifeform. I am a complex space-time event.
Soldier (Confidentially in an even but authoritative tone): I'm Anglican.
The phrase "Ordained Anglican Marine" was used several times on the show.
Additionally, at one point it was mentioned that generally only a bishop could do something or other that in today's world we would think of as being the provence of a high-ranking civilian or military governmental official.
>! They also mention the term "verger". !<
While I could see a small number of people being offended at the notion that somehow on at least that one colony, the Church of England seemed to morph over time into an actual literal army of some kind (as opposed to thngs like the Church Army or Salvation Army, which are religious and charitable and not literally an army that fights wars), which the doctor basically says happens more often than you'd think, I thought it was kind of cool in the context of fiction
I think more people probably said "Hey, that's us!" and are happy to see it than are nitpicking whether it's appropriate to use terms and concepts in quite that way in some future that is entirely fictional. :) ​
Anyone else see the show or have any thoughts?

Feel free to ask me any questions. Shipping is free on orders over $20. Not every bottle is listed on the picture, but I can provide pictures if requested.
Shipping - US Only , Canada (Shipping Cost)
https://imgur.com/gallery/ej9U93H
Decant Bottles :
https://postimg.cc/MXg5NXBv
Armani Code EDT :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $13 10ml: $16
Armani Code Parfum :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $13 10ml: $22
Armani Code EDP :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $13 10ml: $16
Armani Code Absolu :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $16
Armani Code Absolu Gold :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $16
Armani Stronger With You Tobacco:
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 ​ ​ 10ml: 25
Armani Stronger With You Intensely:
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 ​ 10ml: 24
Armani Stronger With You Leather:
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 ​ ​ 10ml: 24
Armani Stronger With You OUD :
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 ​ ​ 10ml: 24
Atelier Cologne Musc Imperial :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Atelier Cologne Orange Sanguine :
1ml: $7 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Angel Mugler A Men :
1ml: 6 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $15
Alien Mugler EDP Intense :
1.2ml : $7 ( Official Sample )
Argos Triumph Of Bacchus:
1ml: 8 2ml: $12 3ml: $17 5ml: $23
Aaron Terence Hughes Daddy:
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Addicted :
1ml: $11 2ml: $15 3ml: $19
Aaron Terence Hughes Hard Candy Elixir :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 ~~ 3ml: $19 5ml: $26 10ml: $36
Aaron Terence Hughes Hard Candy :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Onyx :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Onyx Extreme:
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Homme :
1ml: $9 2ml: $15 3ml: $19
Aaron Terence Hughes Slut :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $22
Aaron Terence Hughes Slut Elixir :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes LUNA :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $29
Aaron Terence Hughes Notorious :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Supernova :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Jasmine Narcotique :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aaron Terence Hughes Boss Bastard :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $28
Aaron Terence Hughes Ozone :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Gardenia Blanc:
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aaron Terence Hughes Tabac :
1ml: $13 2ml: $18 3ml: $24
Aaron Terence Hughes Patchouli Noir :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aaron Terence Hughes Carbon : (Pending)
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aaron Terence Hughes Fake Noir:
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aaron Terence Hughes Aura :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aaron Terence Hughes Guapo :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Aqua Di Parma Mandorlo Di Sicilia:
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $14 10ml: $16
​ ​Aventus Cologne By Creed :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $17 5ml: $24 10ml: $34 ​ ​
Amouage Jubilation XXV :
1ml: $10 2ml: $14 3ml: $18.99 5ml: $24
Amouage Opus XIV Royal Tobacco :
1ml: $10 2ml: $16 3ml: $22 5ml: $25
Amouage Opus XIV Reckless Leather :
1ml: $10 2ml: $16 3ml: $22 5ml: $25
Amouage Reflection Man :
1ml: $10 2ml: $14 3ml: $19 5ml: $24
Amouage Interlude Black Iris :
1ml: $10 2ml: $14 3ml: $19 5ml: $24
Amouage Meander :
1ml: $10 2ml: $14 3ml: $19 5ml: $24
Azzaro The Most Wanted EDP Intense :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $16 10ml: $22
Azzaro Wanted By Night Parfum ( New Silver Bottle ) :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $16 10ml: $22
​Bond No 9 I love NY :
2ml: $8 ​ ​
BDK Gris Garnel EDP :
4ml: $15
Bvlgari Aqva Amara :
1ml: $8 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $19 10ml: $25
Bvlgari Man In Black :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $16 10ml: $22 ​ ​
Bvlgari Rain Essence:
1.5ml: $8 (official) 2ml : $9 3ml : $12 5ml : $16 ​ ​ 10ml: $25 ​ ​
Bvlgari Wood Neroli :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $16 10ml: $22 ​
​Bleu De Chanel EDT :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $16 10ML : $19
Bleu De Chanel EDP :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $13 5ml: $17
Bleu De Chanel Parfum :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $15 5ml: $19
Burberry Hero EDP :
1.5ml : $ 7 ( Official Sample ) ​
Chanel Allure Homme Eau Extreme :
2ml: $15 3ml: $17 5ml: $19
Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche :
2ml: $15 3ml: $17 5ml: $19
Creed Aventus EDP :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $17 5ml: $24 10ml: $34
Aventus Cologne EDP :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $17 5ml: $24 10ml: $34
Carolina Herrera Bad Boy Le Parfum :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $15 10ml: $22 ​ ​
CH MEN Pasion :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $15
​Carolina Herrera Bad Boy EDT :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Cartier Declaration Haute Fraicheur :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $10 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Coach New York For Men EDT :
2ml : $7 ( official Sample ) ​
​Calvin Klien Eternity For Men :
1.2ml : $7 ( Official Sample ) ​
Dolce & Gabbana The One EDP :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $15
​Dolce & Gabbana Mysterious Night:
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $15
Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Italian Love :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $15
​Dior Homme Cologne :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $15
​Dior Homme Parfum :
1ml: $9 2ml: $15 3ml: $17 5ml: $24 10ml: $34
​​Dior Homme Intense :
1ml: $9 2ml: $11 3ml: $15 5ml: $18 10ml: $24
Dior Suavage EDT :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Dior Suavage Elixir :
1ml: $10 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $19 10ml: $26 ​
Guerlain L’homme Ideal Parfum :
1ml: $10 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $19
Guerlain L’homme Ideal EDT :
1ml: $8 2ml: $9 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Guerlain L’homme Ideal EDP :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
​Guerlain L’homme Ideal Extreme :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Guerlain L’homme Ideal Cologne :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $18 5ml: $22 10ml: $27 ​ ​
Guerlain L’homme Ideal Platini Prive :
1ml: $10 2ml: $13 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $26 ​
​Guerlain L’homme Ideal Sport :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $18 5ml: $22
​Guerlain L’homme Ideal Cool :
2ml: $15 3ml: $18
Givenchy Gentlemen EDT Intense :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $10 5ml: $13 10ml: $17 ​ ​
Givenchy Gentlemen Boisee EDP :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $10 5ml: $13 10ml: $17 ​
Givenchy Gentlemen Reserve Privee :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Givenchy Gentlemen Society Extreme :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $17 10ml: $24
Givenchy Gentlemen Society :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16
Goblin Parfums Rogue :
1ml: $10 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $22 ​
Goblin Parfums Humidor :
1ml: $10 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $22 ​
​Givenchy PI EDT :
1ml : $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $10 5ml: $13 10ml: $17
Hugo Boss The Scent Magnetic :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $19 10ml: $24
​Hugo Boss The Scent Le Parfum :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $15 10ml: $19
​ ​Hugo Boss The Scent Private Accord :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $15 10ml: $19
​Initio Narcotic Delight :
1ml: 9 ​ 2ml: $14 3ml: $18 5ml: $24
Initio Oud For Greatness :
1ml: $10 2ml: $13 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $26 ​
Initio Paragon :
1ml: 9 ​ 2ml: $14 3ml: $18 5ml: $24
Initio Side Effect :
1ml: 9 ​ 2ml: $14 3ml: $18 5ml: $24
Initio Rehab :
1ml: 9 ​ 2ml: $14 3ml: $18 5ml: $24
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Beau Paradise Garden :
1ml: $11 2ml: $15 3ml: $18 5ml: $21​
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Jean Paul Gaultier Ultra Male :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $17 10ml: $21
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Le Parfum :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $17 10ml: $22 ​
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male Elixir :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $17 10ml: $22
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Beau Le Parfum Intense :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $19 10ml: $29
Jean Paul Gaultier Le Beau EDT :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Jean Paul Gaultier Scandal Pour Homme EDT :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Joop Homme Le Parfum :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $17 ​
John Vavartos XX Teal :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $17
​ ​John Vavartos Artisan Pure :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $17 ​
John Vavartos Dark Rebel :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $19
John Vavartos Dark Rebel Rider :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $19
Jo Malone Nectarine Blossom :
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $19
Khaltat Night Attar Collection:
1ml: $7 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $19
Kay ALi Vanilla I 28 :
1.5ml : $7 ​
Kilian I Don’t Need A Prince By … :
1ml: $9 2ml: $11 3ml: $14 5ml: $17
Louis Vuitton L'Imensite :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $18 5ml: $27
Louis Vuitton Afternoon Swim :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $18 5ml: $25
Maison Francis Kurkdjian OUD Extrait De Parfum :
2ml: $15 3ml: $18 5ml: $29
Memo Paris Irish Leather :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $17
Memo Paris African Leather:
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $17
Montale Arabian Tonka :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Mancera Tonka Cola:
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Mancera Pearl:
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Mancera Amore Caffe :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 ​
Mancera Cedrat Boise :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Mancera Instant Crush :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Mancera Cosmic Pepper :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Mancera Red Tobacco :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Mancera Aoud Vanille :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Mancera Kumkat Wood :
1ml: $7 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​
Michael Malul West Loop :'
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16​
Michael Malul EdgeWater :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16 ​ ​ 15ml: $19 ​
Michael Malul Terra Nova :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16 ​ ​ 13ml: $19 ​
Moschino Toy Boy EDT :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16 ​ ​
MontBlanc Explorer Platinum :
2ml : $7 ( Official Sample ) ​
MontBlanc Explorer EDP :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16 ​
Montblanc Legend Spirit :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16 ​ ​
Montale Honey Aoud :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Montale Arabian Tonka :
1ml: $6 2ml: $8 3ml: $11 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Nishane Ani :
1ml: $10 2ml: $13 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $26 ​ ​
Nishane Hacivat :
1ml: $10 2ml: $13 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $26 ​ ​
Narcisio Rodriguez Bleu Noir EDP :
1ml: 7 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $18 10ml: $19
Narcisio Rodriguez Bleu Noir Parfum :
1ml: 7 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $18 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Nosamatto Baraonda EDP :
1ml: 9 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $22
Office For Men By Fragrance One :
1ml: 9 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $22 10ml: $27
Unisex for Everybody By Fragrance One :
1ml: 9 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $22 10ml: $27
Paco Rabanne 1 Million Prive :
1ml: 9 2ml: $17 3ml: $21 5ml: $26
Polo Red Extreme :
2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $16
Polo Red EDP :
1ml: 5 2ml: $9 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16​ ​
Polo Ralph Lauren Blue Parfum :
1.2ml : $7 ( Official Sample ) ​ ​
Prada Luna Rosa Carbon EDT :
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Prada Luna Rosa Extreme :
1ml: 9 2ml: $16 3ml: $18
Prada Luna Rosa Sport :
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Prada Luna Rosa Black :
1ml: 9 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $19
Prada L’homme :
1ml: 9 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $19
Prada L’homme Intense :
1ml: 7 2ml: $9 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $24​ ​
Prada L’homme Leau :
1ml: 7 2ml: $8 3ml: $12 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​
Paco Rabane 1 Million Prive :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $18
Paco Rabane Phantom :
1ml: $8 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $14
Parfums De Marly Layton :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $18 10ml: $27
Parfums De Marly Layton Exclusif :
5ml: $19
Parfums De Marly Pegasus Exclusif :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $19 10ml: $29
Parfums De Marly Pegasus:
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $19 10ml: $26
Parfums De Marly Althair :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $18 10ml: $29 ​ ​
Parfums De Marly Carlisle :
1ml: $8 2ml: $14 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $31 ​ ​
Parfums De Marly Percival :
1ml: $8 2ml: $14 3ml: $16 5ml: $19
Replica By The Fireplace :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $17 10ml: $22 ​ ​
Replica Jazz Club :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $17
Replica Coffee Break :
1ml: $7 2ml: $12 3ml: $14 5ml: $17
Roja Parfums Elysium :
1ml: $10 2ml: $13 3ml: $16
Rasasi Hawas EDP:
1ml: 7 2ml: $10 3ml: $11 5ml: $13 10ml: $16 ​
Rasasi Hawas ICE :
1ml: 8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $15 10ml: $19​ ​
Ralph Lauren Beyond Romance :
1.2ml : $7 ( official Sample ) ​
Ralph Lauren Romance :
1.2ml : $7 ( official Sample ) ​
Ralph Lauren EDP :
1.2ml : $7 ( official Sample )
Serge Lutens Chergui :
1ml: 9 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 ​ ​ 10ml: 24
Salvatore Ferragamo UOMO EDT :
2ml: $5 3ml: $8 5ml: $12 10ml: $15 ​ ​
Salvatore Ferragamo UOMO Signature :
2ml: $5 3ml: $8 5ml: $12 10ml: $15 ​
Salvatore Ferragamo Casual Life :
2ml: $5 3ml: $8 5ml: $12 10ml: $15​
Salvatore Ferragamo Spicy Leather :
2ml: $10 3ml: $13 5ml: $15 10ml: $19
Tom Ford Fucking Fabolous :
1ml: $11 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $29
Tom Ford Oud Wood :
1ml: $9 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $25
Tom Ford Ombre Leather :
1ml: $9 2ml: $14 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $27​ ​
Tom Ford Ombre Leather Parfum :
1ml: $9 2ml: $14 3ml: $16 5ml: $19 10ml: $29
Tom Ford Tuscan Leather :
1ml: $9 2ml: $12 3ml: $16 5ml: $24
Tom Ford Oud Wood :
1ml: $9 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $25
Tom Ford Black Orchid :
1ml: $6 2ml: $9 3ml: $12 5ml: $16 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Thomas Kosmala Arabian Passion :
8ML: $19 ​ ​
Terre D'hermes EDT :
1ml: $8 2ml: $9 3ml: $13 5ml: $17 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Issey Miyake Noire Ambre :
1ml: $11 2ml: $14 3ml: $17 5ml: $22 10ml: $26
Issey Miyake Nuit Dissey Parfum :
2ml: $4 3ml: $6 5ml: $9 10ml: $17 ​
Issey Miyake L’eau Dissey EDT :
2ml: $4 3ml: $6 5ml: $9 10ml: $17 ​
​Versace Oud Noir :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $19 ​
​Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb EDT :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $12 5ml: $14 10ml: $17 ​ ​
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Extreme :
1ml : $7 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $19 ​
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Infrared :
1ml : $7 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $19
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Infrared EDP :
1ml : $7 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $17 10ml: $19 ​ ​
Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb EDP :
1.2ml : $7 ( Official Sample ) ​ ​
Xerjoff Iommi Monkey Special :
1ml: $8 2ml: $15 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
Xerjoff Erba Gold :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13
Xerjoff Erba Pura :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $22 10ml: $34
Xerjoff 1861 Naxos :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $22 10ml: $34
Xerjoff 40 Knots :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $22 10ml: $34
Xerjoff Apollonia :
1ml: $8 2ml: $15 3ml: $19
​ ​Xerjoff Renaissance :
1ml: $8 2ml: $12 3ml: $15 5ml: $22
Xerjoff Torino 21 :
1ml: $10 2ml: $15 3ml: $19 5ml: $26
​YSL Tuxedo :
5ml: $28
YSL Myslf : 1ml: $11 2ml: $19 5ml: $24 ​ ​
YSL Y LE Parfum :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $16 10ml: $22 ​
​YSL La Nuit L’homme :
1ml: $8 2ml: $11 3ml: $13 5ml: $15 10ml: $19 ​ ​
YSL L’homme Parfum Intense :
1ml: $8 2ml: $13 3ml: $15 5ml: $19
YSL Bleu Electrique :
1ml: $11 2ml: $19 5ml: $24 ​ ​
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Paris Corner Rifaaqat :
2ml: $7 3ml: $9 5ml: $11 10ml : 14
Lattafa Asad Zanzibar :
2ml: $7 3ml: $9 5ml: $11 10ml : 14
Lattafa Khamrah Qahwa :
2ml: $7 3ml: $9 5ml: $11 10ml : 14
Lattafa Khamrah :
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I'm running Puppet Shows and Shadow Plays for the first time and, while I like the module and I think it's going to turn out fun, I've had some issues with parts of it that I wanted to share.
I'd like to preface this by saying that it's a cool scenario, the updated version is an improvement over the original, all of the problems are arguably a matter of opinion, and most of them can be easily fixed.
Lack of meaningful description
What's San Carlos like?
What does the tribal police station, or the medical facility, or the ranch look like?
I don't want block text to read, I just want a few phrases and enough detail for me to sketch the place for the players. (Floor plans would be better, but hey)
Another one where the fix is for me to GM prep, but I paid for a module so I wouldn't have to do too much of that.
This great collection of additional resources (handouts, descriptions of the reservation and key locations) shared by u/kinnygraham in this comment on another thread has been vital for helping me imagine the town.
Rolling for clues
Every other DG RPG module I've read has had most clues based on having 40/50/60 in a skill, but in PSSP (even the updated version) you still need to roll for everything for some reason. I ended up giving my players a lot of clues but they did the right stuff with the right skills and only made them roll when there were bonus clues that would make them look cool.
It's not a major gripe, but it would have been nice to see the updated module make use of the new tech.
Weird Railroady Moments
My least favourite moment in an RPG product is when the author tells you something like "players / a particular NPC, often the antagonist, can't die right here" which sucks IMO, and there's at least one in Puppet Shows. The way I see it, the PCs are largely stripped of power an autonomy by the premise of the game, so taking more power away with set plot-pieces feels cruel and off-genre. That's just me, though.
Not hard to fix, but a real pet peave of mine. I'd be interested to hear about how everyone else feels about this.
Why would I get to the chopper?
This section verges on a spoiler but honestly I wouldn't care if any my players had read this before we played
There's also a moment when the module lays out what happens if the players ask to use the State Police helicopters. I have no idea why any FBI agent whose been asked to assist the state police would push to use their equipment or barge their way into their side of the operation. I had the major mention he wouldn't mind having them along, but really I should have just made the helicopters an FBI asset at their disposal and mentioned that during the FBI briefing, but actually having them go up in a chopper to see a car and come back down is just not that fun.
Not a major issue, because the State Police can share info with the agents, but still it creates a situation where the evidence and briefing at the opening of the module only really gives one lead (the ranch) to go off and chase.

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When I wake up the next day, my head is swirling with questions. As I get up from my bed and go to clean myself, I can’t help but question everything! Did last night actually happen? I am pretty sure it did, but it all felt so bizarre… and wonderful! There’s a planetarium in the city, and it is magical in the most literal sense of the word! There are books on magic there, too! So I can probably start studying and learning more next time I visit!

Speaking of books… I have something to check there, don’t I?

As soon as I am out of the bathroom I go to the living room to get my pills and then, I start passing the pages of Humiko’s book. As I reach the ‘Epilogue’ section, I confirm to my horror that the words have completely disappeared.

In a panic, fearing the worst, I check my notes… oh, good, those were still here.

“What, were you fearing they would simply disappear too? Idiot.”

“Hey, with magic we really know nothing. It could have happened!”

I do feel a little silly but, yeah. For all we know, it could have happened. The point is that it didn’t!

Breathing way easier now, I sit down on one of the couches and sigh. Picking up my phone, I can confirm that it's Friday and it’s already eleven past noon. I guess this time I am justified in sleeping so much? But at the same time, I can’t help but feel a little guilty.

“Because you’re being lazy, even with your free time.”

With another deep sigh, I try to ignore the voices and just look straight up at the ceiling, tapping my chin for a moment.

How do we proceed from here?

Pelafina said I shouldn’t visit the Elysium early, because it gets full of people. I wonder how true that is… actually, I wonder how true anything she said was.

“Since when are you this distrustful?”

I don’t know. I don’t even know why I lied to her in the first place, but I just felt that this phrase, the one long complete phrase I managed to translate, is far more important than I know. I can’t share it… I actually don’t want to share anything with this lady?

“She will probably send the Cloaks if you stop cooperating though.”

That much I know, and I hate it. She has all the control over the situation!

“There’s one thing she can’t control though. She has no idea about your internet activity now, does she?”

… Good point. I have to focus on that!

I actually have to get back to GalaxyTaco, too! See what he's been doing and all that!

“But before all that, breakfast.”

Ah, right. Almost forgot… although, wouldn’t it be better to just ask for lunch at this point?

“Fair.”

Yes! Time for a burger.

“They feel blander and blander every time you buy one. Why even bother?”

Because they are still delicious, and more importantly, they are cheap and fast!

I quickly order a special Bisontian burger, with extra cheese of course, and then sit back down at the table, connecting my computer to the TER and tapping away a message at GalaxyTaco, to let them know I am up. Then, I write down my discoveries in the file I’m keeping. I’ll transcribe them to the notepad later.

I am adding the symbols (which I’ve learned are called Runes after a visit to the Elysium), meanings and effects I’ve learned. I’ve also learned that I can create Glyphs, which are combinations of Runes to create different effects. I wonder if they are phrases in the language!

Speaking of. They don’t even know it’s a language, they just seem to assume the symbols have effects and that’s it! Maybe they use it, but they haven’t fully grasped the implications yet.

That feels surprisingly shallow though. Just how much knowledge do these people have of magic? Is magic a recent discovery?

Or is there something else keeping people ignorant…?

The burger arrives not too long after I am done writing. I eat it while ruminating on the subject a bit further. They are not idiots, are they? To me, the first thing that comes to my mind when seeing symbols if they are part of a bigger language or something like that. Then again, maybe the lack of translation dissuaded them from experimenting further?

Stuff is not fitting as nicely as I wish…

I am about to write a little more when suddenly, I am added to a group in my messenger service. GalaxyTaco is alive! But not only them! There’s two other people in the conversation too.

Panic ensues, at least for a moment.

“Okay. Just keep calm.” I tell to myself. “Take a deep breath… phew… and let’s do this.”

My fingers are preparing to write some quick and tasteless introduction, when suddenly someone beats me to the punch.

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: HIIIIIII!! ^0^!!

Oh no. A weeb, and a very strong one at that. I can feel her aura, her reiatsu, pushing down on me like a wave of augmented gravity. There are two chances here: I either get along real well with this person, or we hate each other on sight. There’s no middle ground among us.

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: don’t be shy! :3 we’re friends here, I swear!

Well they are being real nice at least. Could be worse, they could be souseiseki.

man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): yo, you there?

Who the hell are these people!? I assume they are friends of GalaxyTaco, right? I really want to be patient but, damn it, new people get me nervous so easily…

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Hi there, hi! n.nUu sorry, this whole deal took me by surprise.
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: ohhhh it is fine! uwu gal-kun told us everything!
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: you must be so scared Dx I know I was when I got started!
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Well it has certainly been a journey, heheh n.n but I’ve managed.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I found the Elysium last night so, at least there’s that!
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): good job, that’s a big advancement actually
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): next you gotta find the clinic, though
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: There’s a clinic too? O.o
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): yep. but we’ll explain all that later
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): i’m canny btw. cannedtea at the forum, remember me?

My face burns a little bit when remembering this guy. I wasn’t expecting to find him again so quickly.

“Gay.”

Shut up.

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: the name’s Aoi! ^0^/ UwU28 at the forum!
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: sorry I didn’t comment your topic, i am a bit shy xwxUu
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: It’s all fine, no worries n.n I’m Tav! But you two probably know that already
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): it bears repeating, girl. it bears repeating.
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: yeah! ^^/
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: alright I’m back! sorry I was seeing grandma to bed heheh

I sigh in relief, cleaning the sweat off my brow. Thanks saints, this was going to be a little too much for me to handle alone!

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: oh hey gal-kun ~
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: reading up I see you’re all introduced, good good!
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: now I just gotta introduce the plan to you Tav, so pay attention!
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: I’m ready! o.o
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: alright, so
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: to avoid 82’s wrath?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: canny here will be your voucher.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: huh?
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: just put him in your profile and he’ll cover for you.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: And you’re okay with that, Canny? ;w; really!?
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): eyeup, don’t worry girl. I gotchu.
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: canny-kun and mort-sama covered for me when I just got in too :3 he’s the best!

For a moment I blink. Huh? Covered for Aoi? Does that mean they are also a Bastard Mage? What does that mean? Did they just find the link somewhere, too?

Questions for later, I guess.

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Thank you so much Canny! ;w;
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): no prob bob
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): is it chill if I add you? you seem cool
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ah, of course! :3 Add away! You too, Aoi-chan.
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: EEEEE! Arigatou!! ^w^ <3 <3
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: oh yeah that reminds me.
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: Aoi, ain’t you forgetting something?
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: ah right!!! Tavy! what are your pronouns? o.o!

What?

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: you put you’d rather not say your gender and that’s so cool! I wanna know what to call you though! uwu
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: if that’s okay of course ^.^
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: Aoi that is NOT what I meant damn it!
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): nono, she’s right.
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): sorry i kept callin you girl
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: not you too canny… focus!

I have never been asked that before… I mean, I have, by computers. But by people, it feels… odd.

I like it.

“You’re going to start with your delusions again?”

“They can identify as anything. Stop being so harsh!”

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: … I think I will go with she/her.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Is that okay? n.n
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): girl, don’t ask US
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): ask yourself
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): not the mean voice of anxiety, not the shit your guardians told ya
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): are YOU okay with it?

I feel the words pierce my chest for a moment. I gasp for air, my eyes opening a little more.

“This is all just play pretend. Don’t take it so much to heart.”

Shut up.

“What!?”

I said shut up. This time, this is for me. I decide this.

“You little ungrateful asshole…”

I want this. This makes me feel good and I will seize it. And you can go kiss my ass, you hear me!?

“...”

xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: … Yeah. Yeah, I think I am okay with it n//n
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): atta girl
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): it’s chill to call you a girl right?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yeah yeah, I like it! n.n
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: yayayay Tavy-chan! :3
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: huh. that’s unexpectedly wholesome…
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: but let’s focus! Aoi! do you have the book?
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: right here boss! o.o7

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!! has sent you bastard_recipe_book.pdf
Accept?

Huh? A pdf? I hesitate for a moment but, hell, maybe it’s magic and magic can’t get viruses or something. I just click it.

ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: this is the rulebook for us Bastards, don’t tell nobody about it though OoO!
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: it’s a seecret~
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: A secret book… now that’s cool uwu
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): man, tav’s first secret
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): granny get the camera
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: lol
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: no but really, read it, study it well
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: it’s all vital.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: will do! I’ll print it and get to it right now
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: NO!
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: TAVY-CHAN WAIT
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): wait a sec tav
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Huh? O.o
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: don’t print that one!
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: yeah you can’t print magic books, it’s risky
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): the runes can activate and shit would go boom
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Oh, okay o.o
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Man I hate reading on the computer! ;w;
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: sorry tavy-chan ;w;!! but that’s the only way!
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: yeah… anyways, I gotta go to bed, real badly.
GalaxyTaco to your rescue!: I trust you got it from here right?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yep! n.n
ケンジー・イズ・マイ・ワイフ!!!: byeeee everyone!! uwu see you in dejima!
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): see you around

I sigh and slowly lean back on my chair. That was intense, way too intense… but I am smiling. Really, this is some proper progress! I finally have tools to work on my own! Maybe I can even translate some more after learning magic!

“Are you sure that’s all you’re happy about?~”

… Shut up. Don’t look too deep into the whole ‘pronoun’ thing.

I am opening the file I got when, suddenly, another message hits me.

It’s from Canny!

man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): hey tav
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): if you don’t wanna read it on computer you can get it physical.

Whuh?

man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): you said you found an elysium, was it in a library?
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yeah! o.o
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): thought so
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): look through the mundane part of the library, specifically in the section where you get cooking recipes
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): see if you can find a cheap notebook that says ‘MAGIC’ in it.
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): open it, say ‘jantar mantar’ to it, and that’s your ticket.

My eyes light up. A secret book, hidden under the cloak’s noses like that? That’s perfect!

man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): the book’s written in draconic, which basically means only mages can read the real shit and you can’t destroy it
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Wait what? O.o Draconic? Are dragons a thing here?
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): not anymore they ain’t
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Aww :c
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Wait,I can’t destroy it? O.o No matter how much I try?
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): i mean, you can, but it won’t do nothin
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): don’t worry about it
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ok! n.n but hey I don’t know Draconic D:!
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): don’t worry about it girlie
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yay! n.n I will go get it then
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): get some other books too, in case you’re being tailed.
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): good luck tav
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Thank you Canny!
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ah! I will be on my phone so don’t send me magic stuff for a while, okay?
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): gonna teach you the glyph for your phone later.
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Yipee!! n.n
xXxCallMeBigCookiexXx: Ah hell, sorry for that úwu
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): you’re fine girl
man don’t you lecture me with your $30 haircut 8): good luck.

I feel motivated, so motivated that I stand up immediately, close my computer, and finish my hamburger on the spot.

“Going out again!? Hah.”

I am running out of mean things to say, that’s a good sign.

“Don’t count on it.”

“You are doing great. Let’s go! The day’s young and we have notes to take!”

Yes! I don’t even notice the door in my way this time! I just go out and hop my way over to the elevator.

To the library! Again!

Just for some context, I'm a cover supervisor at a PRU.
After almost having a minor mental breakdown in my first couple of months, I'm 6-7 months in now and love my job. I feel like I have good relationships with most of the kids I work with. I wouldn't say I'm a 'cool' teacher, but I'm definitely a more sort of.. casual one if that makes sense. I'll be firm with certain rules and call out prejudicial language, but I rarely call out casual swearing (as opposed to it being used maliciously).
The biggest difference between my current setting and other settings with children I've been part of is how some of my out-of-school language in carrying over to my in-school language. The biggest offender here is the word 'mate'. It's never used in a way that implies friendship, but more of a way to get a child to focus on what I'm saying.
Some examples are:

• "Mr X, when are you going to sort your hairline out?" "Well, mate, when you crowdfund the £3000 for my hair transplant, I'll get it sorted"
• "Right, Holly, mate, I'll make a deal with you. I'll leave you alone for 5 minutes if you promise you'll come to class, okay?"
• Thomas, mate, do you understand how what you just said made Taylor upset?

I use the word regularly, even in front of SLT and I've never been called out on it. Definitely a bias towards male students, but I also use it with female students.
On one hand it feels very unprofessional, but on the other it also feels very inconsequential? Obviously the fact that it's a PRU changes how staff language is used/accepted, but I still worry it's sometimes a bit too unprofessional and that if I used it in a mainstream secondary school it wouldn't go down well.
For those that work at mainstream secondary schools, how would it go down if you started using the word 'mate', or other borderline language like 'crap' or phrases like 'you're acting like an idiot right now'?

Tissue
Polysemous title- Tissue • Tissue- paper + skin (human life is fragile [criticises arrogance, encourages us to protect]) • Also paper (not alive) + skin (alive)- criticises monotony of life, not really living • Tissue paper- found in bibles and holy texts, but fragile (overinflated importance of identity causing wars and discrimination, really it’s very fragile and identity isn’t real, we’re all just people (tissue as in skin)) • Tissue- used to wipe away tears, togetherness can reduce suffering • Tissue- medical term for deep skin- poem shows deeper nature of humans and our potential for goodness, can be wounded and damaged by outside influences but can always heal
"Paper that lets the light shine through, this is what could alter things" - reference to religious texts paper, light as Jesus and Allah (power of religion) - or coexistence with nature (Dharker is a Muslim Calvinist)
Enjambment- freedom, lack of control of humans, rejecting constraints
Free verse- same thing
"Let the daylight break through capitals and monoliths" - power of nature, criticism of authority, weakness of humans- “break” violent personification, destroying authority, daylight + break = sunrise + hope
"The sun shines through their borderlines" - nature overcomes human segregation identity, criticism of war, power of nature) sibilance shows power, “their” still shows separation, criticise that
"fly our lives like paper kites" - childish metaphor, mocking control of money over life (criticism of authority)
"the back of the Koran" - “the” repetition shows importance, “back” shows it is hidden/shunned by society, still holding onto identity
"Transparent" - repetition, criticism of dishonesty of authority
Exposure
"Merciless iced east winds that knive us" - personification of wind shanking people (first line not about war but nature- more significant) (power of nature)- subtle sibilance (just as dangerous as bullets but most people don’t realise)- Germans were in the east, but the only thing from there is wind
ABBAC rhyme, structure is built only to be taken down (tension of soldiers expecting fight but let down)
Pararhyme- unsatisfying for reader, reflects how the soldiers are always nervous but never get to chill
“What are we doing here?” Rhetorical question to criticise authority, or actual question to show PTSD confusion, can be asking what they are DOING or why they are HERE
"For love of God seems dying" ok 1. The soldier's love of God is dying 2. God's love for the soldiers is dying 3. To show love of God, you should die
"forgotten dreams" - juxtaposition, loss of hope, forgotten dreams on purpose to be less sad? war made them forget? “forgotten” disassociated from PTSD, “dreams” as happiness from the past that seems unreal
“a dull rumour of some other war" reference to the Bible and Armageddon, metaphorical end of the world for the soldiers be suffering "sudden successive flights of bullets streak the silence" - sibilance represents sound of bullets, jolting reader out of relative lack of noises, feel like soldiers
Epistrophe "but nothing happens" cyclical structure, stuck in suffering
“we” “us” “our” collective pronouns, shared experience, comradeship, loss of identity, relatable to all soldiers
Kamikaze
Title- single word, only military rank- only seen as a kamikaze pilot by others
Structure- 6 lines per stanza but free verse and lots of enjambment- conflict between control and freedom (military/social expectations/duty vs love for family/nature/memories/life)
Constant shifts between first person and third person- disconnect from family due to shame
“Her father embarked at sunrise” -sunrise as power of nature + Japan’s military flag- conflict
“a shaven head full of powerful incantations” -incantations are deliberately vague- orders from military? prayers? inner conscience against it? It’s “powerful” tho and influences him, and it’s “full” showing his distress, shaved head like most kamikaze pilots
“green-blue translucent sea” beautiful imagery, “translucent” shows how things are unclear but getting clearer- nature helps him decide what to do
Describes fishes “like a huge flag”- patriotic semantic field shows brainwashing, but reduces as the poem goes on, simile shows how he is starting to disconnect and change his mind,
also as “a figure of eight”- shows thoughts of pride and prosperity-
“The dark shoals of fishes/flashing silver as their bellies/swivelled towards the sun” - • sibilance shows ocean noises and beauty, “dark” -> “flashing silver” things get brighter and easier to see- knows what to do thanks to nature • “Silver”- medals he would have gotten for being a kamikaze pilot, but true reward is in nature • “Sun”- represents beauty of nature and also Japanese flag- conflict but now there’s also nature in the mix • Belly up- death on his mind
“bringing their father’s home safe/-yes, grandfather’s boat- safe” repetition of “safe” shows reason to come back- wants to return to family, memories
“a tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.” • first mention of danger = power in the whole poem, danger to the mission as it causes the pilot to have doubts, true power is in nature and memory • First full stop in the poem and lots of commas- makes us stop and think like the pilot about what he’s abt to do
“laughed” “loved” at the end of the poem- all in past tense- nothing left for the soldier
“we too learned to be silent”- “learned” should be positive but contrasts with what they learnt- criticises how they were taught shame by the older generations- but it’s said in first person, the daughter is criticising this and teaching her children not to think that way
Poppies
Title- honours and grieves dead soldiers, short single word title shows full intent of the poem and how the mother’s life is consumed by grief
Dramatic monologue- emphasis on the domestic impact and how the soldier isn’t present in the poem
Free verse, enjambment- chaotic, lack of control over the son, distressed
Domestic + military semantic fields- life has been ruined by war
“Spasms of paper red, disrupting a blockade of yellow bias”- mix between war + domestic • “spasms” and “red” is injury and pain- mother is worried or is hurt by letting go (spasms is involuntary muscle action- involuntary letting go), • “paper” is the fragility of the son • “blockade” is military language showing her worry abt the conflict, how she wants to “block” her son from going into the military • “disrupting” the fabric - the son becoming a soldier disrupts the peace or she is trying to disrupt him from going to war
“The dove pulled freely against the sky, / an ornamental stitch”- dove represents peace and grief- she and her son is at peace with death, “pulled freely” is an oxymoron- inner conflict with grief or letting her son go, the comma shows a pause to reflect on the grief, the “ornamental stitch” metaphor for the mother (pretends to hold it together)
“I was brave”- takes down ideas of just the soldier’s bravery but also the mother’s, but past tense shows current weakness from grief
“Sellotape bandaged around my hand” • Bandage shows wounds • Sticks them together one last time- cat hairs are removed, no more reason to stay • Claustrophobic feeling- stuck in the domestic role, can’t go and protect the son
“Blackthorns of your hair”- religious connotations of Jesus on the cross, sacrificed for the country- metaphor for the son
History Boys
"Enemy of education" war metaphor and alliteration, opposition between true understanding of literature and grades only used shallowly “Cheat’s Visa”
"a fact of life" indisputable and unchangable, in opposition with Irwin's views on history (truth does not matter to him until now?)
Drummer Hodge: Intertextuality, Tom Hardy (the poet) represents Hector, sympathising with the ordeal of the youth, Drummer Hodge represents the Boys, thrown into the chaos of life without proper guidance
"She's my western front" war metaphor objectifies Fiona, personal pronoun further expresses how women were seen as objects to be owned
“... all the other shrunken violets you people line up" [you people] segregates gay people, [shrunken violets] derogatory language
"Some of the literature says it will pass" looking to literature for solace and comfort during a sexuality crisis
"All literature is consolation" Dakin changes his mind on literature symbolising him changing to Irwin's side. No need to look for solace in literature when he can pursue Irwin
Parallels with "all knowledge is precious" from Hector - A.E. Housman, one of the first intertextualities and used in the intro to establish his character
“cunt-struck” “a cunt”- Mrs Lintott repeats the colloquialism “cunt” twice, to describe Dakin as “cunt-struck” and Headmaster as “a cunt”. This is the hardest swear in the play and is used show that it wasn’t a slip of the tongue, and to break down stereotypes of women being gentle and passive
“history is women following behind with the bucket” - her big scene about women in history at the end of the play (which is typical for Alan Benett’s plays such as “Kafka’s Dick”) so it would be recent and stay in the audience’s mind when the show ended
Irwin intro as politician in the future "etc., etc." while talking abt freedom- that man gives no fucks about freedom really, just waffling on (first impression for the audience too!!)
Parallel with Holocaust debate- Lockwood uses the SAME EXACT PHRASE while talking abt how the holocaust was bad, (dismissiveness of mass genocide? in this education system? it’s more likely than you think) then goes on to argue that they should be unique with their arguments- Irwin passed on thr mindset even on such an important subject
Hector is set up to be looking cool and all (motorcycle scene dramaticness, greek name connotations, fav teacher) but is absolutely uncool when we get to know him- purposeful? "studied eccentricity" and all. clinging onto youth?
Posner is actually rather helpful as the "dictionary person" bc i doubt the audiences know what "otiose" means
SCRIPPS IS THE MOST RELIGIOUS ONE AND CLOSEST TO POSNER it can dismantle the idea that religion is against queerness
Irwin didnt know how nietzche was pronounced bc from what we know of him he would call Dakin out on that

Hello,
Names JCEE.
Like many individuals on this page, we are fans of a wrestling company known as All Elite Wrestling. As a long-time lurker, this fandom comes within many shapes, sizes and sorts. From my time here, there were many highs, All Out 2021 or Wembley Stadium, to the lowest lows, Brawl Out, and whether there were people that have been here since day 1 or just joined recently, we come together due to one simple fact:
WE LOVE AEW.
My origin into this fandom wasn't at the every start, I didn't watch All Out 1 or watched when AEW started weekly TV in its first year.
I was a waning WWE fan and the only weekly stuff I watched was NXT Takeovers and NXT UK because being in a part of Europe where I couldn't watch weekly the main roster stuff so just kept up to date with podcasts or highlights.
(Shoutout OG Whatculture with Pacitti, Jack and King Ross).
Like many fans of the E, I came in as a fan throughout the early 2000's and dropped off and came in again every so often.
The height of my fandom will always be going to Youtube in the old days and watching the Shield vs The Wyatt Family in Elimination Chamber.
Even back then, Mox to me was the leader of the Shield and still salty that they made Roman the leader towards the end. (haha)
Man it was wild to think that the main reason the E gave so much shine to Black and Gold NXT at Survivor series was mostly due to AEW gaining momentum.
NXT Black and Gold/UK will always hold a special place in my heart for two main reasons
1) it was the place where I showed my partner her first proper wrestling match: Adam Cole (Bay Bay) vs Keith Lee Champ for both their belts.
She was sad she coudn't get me the shirt for that match cause it was only available in US
2) Ilja Dragunov vs Walter. NXT UK Pandemic Era
Still to this day, my favourite series of matches that made me realise "man I love professional wrestling".
If any of you still have the old network go out of your way to watch this and their Takeover match, I remember being part of that journey where Ilja basically had to break himself down and build himself up to get another shot at Walter had to be something special to get me to watch a weekly show where only piped in crowd noise was the only response to the action.
However, even though I say these things and had those memories I don't watch the product anymore since my Membership expired. I recently went to a live event a while ago in Germany with my sister to see WWE.
Standout moments were:
a) The Miz cut a promo, in German, about how big his balls are. He faced Cody Rhodes and not gonna lie. Favorite match of the night.
b) Introduction to Main event Jey Uso live and the Yeet chants. Tag match with Sami Zayn that spiraled from an NXT North American Title Match that ended when Dom and JD got the DQ on the FIRST MATCH to set up a tag match.
c) New Day are still great
d) Imperium vs Alpha Academy was great home town goodness.
e) Gunther vs Bronson was easily a slapper. Both figuratively and literally. I was in seats high up in the Arena. I have a feeling most of us would die if Gunther were to chop any of us. It was LOUD.
f) Seth Rollins vs Shinsuke for the World title in a Berlin Street Fight. Gunther should have main evented and that table spot SUCKED BALLS.
After the event, My sister and I chatted, she had a great time. Told her I did too, I still would not watch the product again.
Alright, the preamble is now out the way. I know alot of you guys would consider the above excessive but I feel like I had to paint a picture to get you into the frame of my mind as a fan of wrestling. I'm not coming from a WWE hater but as someone who did love the things they did but, unlike some who dropped out after a multitude of BS wrestling bollocks from E, for myself, I just could'nt find a way to enjoy a company that seemed so.....two-faced.
AEW will always be the company that proved to me that there is a company that would do right by wrestlers who felt they could've been more.
The moment that made me into an avid AEW fan.
Jon Moxley beating Chris Jericho to win the AEW title for the first time.
The guy whose last run involved a gas mask was able to be crowned a champion as HIMSELF in front of an adoring crowd.
Then the Elite/Hangman saga. Eddie Kingston. Darby. Orange. AEW Dark hangouts.
I went into the deep end of this new company and wanting to know more about these new characters and people I was introduced to.
It still feels nostalgic thinking about how the Elite created the BTE title or the Bucks asking Eddie to cut a promo on a pack of cookies.
God that was some good times.
Then the Punk stuff happened.
With the preamble being as long as it was, this section is going to be brief. In summary:
-Exciting when he came in. Loved his match with Darby.
-Brawl Out was a situation where if you go back and just tweak things a little, I have a feeling we would have a different timeline that what we have today.
-Regardless, everyone shoulders blame and things could have been handled better. That said, CM Punk is an entitled baby who realised that just because TK loved him, the rest of the locker room had different opinions.
-Him being fired was probably the best to occur and regardless of what you feel about the video, still not cool to lunge at your boss cause you feel slighted. Leave your "oh it wasnt even that bad, TK got thin skin" bs out the door.
The above point is why Youtube personality Just Alyx soured on me.
"Come on, CM Punk Tony. LIke look at him"
That was the phrase that just made me sad about one of the people I loved to get his views on with the product.
Also JDfromNY. Loved his WWE rants. They were hilarious. With Papa H pretty much running the show, he and Alyx, two dudes I could just listen to and just kinda vibe with became insufferable.
I think the line where one posted "With Triple H finally getting these backstage hands in order and the Rock being one of the board members, I can confidently say that I can just enjoy and not backseat" was the push I needed to get those two off my timeline.
AEW as a five year old company has made mistakes, jesus christ Wardlow I'm so sorry, but it has shown it can grow and it's still a place where wrestlers can call home.
The recent thread on SQ is over 1.5k comments about the low ratings and I didn't click onto it cause I enjoy my mental health but I feel people forgot that Sting had his retirement match two months ago and that was arguably one of AEW's best PPV's. Then Dynasty happened and so on and so on.
There are alot of things that AEW needs to fix but I'm confident that all of us can admit, they have made great strides compared to its start and they will continue to improve without, hopefully, resorting to childish BS in the future
I feel like this post was therapeutic in the sense that I needed to vent about the recent online discourse. So I leave you guy's a question:
What is the one thing you can say that makes you love AEW
I'm JCEE. Thanks for the Ted Talk

Is it just me or none of the LIs have that much respect for themselves?(Pretty sure I'm phrasing this wrong). How "in love" do you have to be to be completely fine with being a second choice? I just finished chap 66, where Noah and MCs family were watching that movie. Mc was cuddled up with Noah and holding hands with Mason it's just really icky. I get it you can't make a decision, so sad, but leading three people on isn't cool especially since I never flirt with Ailer or Mason and somehow these romantic scenes still happen. It's really frustrating to see MC being so wishy washy and everyone is okay with it.

LOOOONG first time trip report! 5/13-5/18, stayed at Beach Club, visited all four parks, bought Genie+ every day, had the standard DDP. Family of 4, two girls 5 and 9. I learned so much from this group over the past year and especially loved trip reports, so hopefully this post will be helpful to someone!
💲BUDGET💲
-- I booked the trip a year out so I could break it up into 12 manageable payments. I opened the no fee Disney VISA, which gives you several months of no interest on charges made towards Disney travel packages, rewards dollars to use at Disney, and a couple other perks like character meet and greets and discounts.
-- I signed up for Disney Movie Insiders. This is what you're supposed to do with all those little codes that come in Disney DVDs/Blurays. You enter the codes in exchange for points, and at 1000 points, you can redeem for a $10 Disney gift card. You also get points for being subscribed to Disney+, seeing Disney movies in the theater, their social media accounts, and a whole bunch of other things. I got $50 in gift cards from this alone.
-- If you want Disney-themed luggage, try thinking outside the box to save money! I got plain luggage in Mickey colors--red and black--and Mickey luggage tags to make them Disney themed.
-- I tried to budget for souvenirs via gift cards... but I failed, lol. Everything is so expensive, $100 is gone in a second. Plushes are like $40, coffee cups are $20, etc. Whatever you're planning to spend, double it! I get what people say about most shops having the same stuff, but it's definitely not all of them, most of the ones post-ride have unique stuff. And honestly it's kind of nice most of them have the same stuff, if you want to get whatever your kid was asking for earlier, you don't have to walk all the way back to the one shop you saw it at.
-- We paid for Memory Maker and I'm on the fence about it. On the one hand, it's really nice to get all the ride photos and meet and greet photos and magic shots. It's also really nice for the whole family to be in a lot of pictures and not have to swap with the other adult or find someone willing to take your picture. On the other, we definitely didn't utilize it as much as I wanted to because a lot of the photographers had pretty long lines and I just didn't want to spend time waiting for a picture I could take myself. If we came across someone with a shortish or no line, we made sure to get it, but for anyone with a long line, we just stood around the same spot and took our own.
🗓️PLANNING🗓️
-- If you have kids and live within easy driving distance of another amusement park, highly recommend making a visit BEFORE going to Disney to get an idea of how they handle that kind of day/environment, especially if they have never been. I quickly discovered we would absolutely need a stroller and I would need to be militant with the kids about staying hydrated. Also to avoid face paint, as heat + tears + paint + eyes = bad day! I felt so much better making these discoveries beforehand and being able to prepare accordingly, rather than making them at Disney.
-- USE AN AGENT! An agent is free to you, so why not have the help? Ours was amazing, she gave us quotes, booked the package, rebooked as needed later when a better deal came out, made all the payments, dining and extra reservations, and was just all-around awesome to work with. It was such a load off to know I wasn't on my own with all this stuff.
-- Watch everything Ear Scouts. No one explains Genie+ better, and Rob and Erick's videos are just so positive and beautiful and well done.
-- I also enjoyed reading Disney Tourist Blog--lovingly snarky but super informative!--and Disney Food Blog for fun tips and news.
-- I didn't find any park to be a half day park, we filled our whole day in every one and still didn't see everything!
-- My kids did really well, whenever they were on the verge of cranky, we had one ride in the stroller for a while, bought a snack (usually ice cream or popcorn), and used the bubble wand, and/or gave them some ibuprofen, and everyone felt better pretty quick. We never tried to do fireworks, we were all done by 8 so always left after dinner. The only park we closed down was EPCOT because we didn't get out of dinner until after close, and that was a really cool experience, the park was so quiet and empty and beautiful!
-- You don't NEED a Magic Band... but man, was it convenient. We just had 1.0 Magic Bands though, we didn't bother with the 2.0s.
-- I guess moving through security fast is important to people rope dropping... but as someone who didn't, it added like maybe 30 seconds to a minute to the experience the couple times my bag got flagged, it's really not a big deal.
-- I'm not saying anyone's lying about bad experiences or exaggerating or anything, but try to remember that far more people go on the Internet to complain than they do to praise. I got so stressed about all the things that could go wrong, and we had a pretty much perfect trip. The only attraction that broke down on us was Muppetvision, of all things. The only "bad behavior" we witnessed was the morning we were leaving, we could hear a dad across the hall yelling at his family, I think they overslept and were going to miss their flight or something? We just turned the TV on so we didn't have to hear him. A couple times we forgot to take our stuff with us when we parked our stroller or forgot some food in it, and neither people nor animals bothered it. The only dicey thing that happened to us was me dropping my phone into the Dumbo moat, the cast members fished it out and it still worked, I sent them a cast compliment for all their help! All the cast members were great, I'm not really sure what people expect but IMO they all do amazing for having to be peppy and helpful all day in absolutely blazing heat, walking a ride conveyer belt nonstop, repeating the same spiels over and over, meeting person after person, etc. I wouldn't last a 2 hour shift let alone 8. Cast members, you rock!!!
✈️TRAVEL✈️
-- We flew Delta, flight there was flawless, flight home was delayed by an hour waiting for crew and was a little bumpy (which is not great for a nervous flyer like me) but otherwise fine.
-- Get TSA PreCheck! Good for a few years, if the adults have it the kids have it too. It made the whole experience so much easier. That said, even PreCheck still moves kind of slow at MCO, so definitely get there at least 2 hours early for your flight. Use curbside check-in for bags, way faster than the long line inside!
-- On our agent's recommendation, we used Away We Go for ground transport in Orlando. They communicate really well, both ways were flawless, no complaints!
-- We used Minnie Vans to get to Animal Kingdom + Sanaa and Magic Kingdom, what a wonderful service! Definitely pricey, but they had cartoons on in the car, booster seats they set up for you, and the drivers were so nice and friendly and had fun trivia to share. I never had any problem requesting one when I needed it.
⛱️BEACH CLUB⛱️
-- We knew we wanted an onsite hotel where you could walk to at least one park. This pretty much limits you to a handful of Deluxe hotels or the Swan and Dolphin. Beach Club won for us because it's "in the Disney bubble" and you can walk to 2/4 parks. Note that while you can technically walk to Hollywood Studios, it is a LOOOONG walk. The boat is a nice not crowded alternative! We did not make use of Early Entry or Extended Hours, we're just not built for either. Beach Club was lovely, we booked a resort view but I think we ended up with a water view, we were right by the quiet pool and could see the water beyond from our room. Stormalong Bay was a little crazy for us but we loved the quiet pool. Best thing about Beach Club though is the location, EPCOT is literally steps away!
🌳ANIMAL KINGDOM🌳
-- We had read that there's really no bad day to do AK, so we started there. We rode: Navi River Journey, Flight of Passage, Kali River Rapids, Everest, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Triceratops Spin, and Dinosaur--so pretty much everything! With Genie+ we walked onto all of them. We also met Moana, Pocahontas, and Russell! The only thing we didn't do here that we wanted to was the Gorilla Falls trail, but we just ran out of time before the park closed.
🌐EPCOT🌐
-- We had read to avoid EPCOT on Fridays and Saturdays, so we went on Wednesday. We rode: Grand Fiesta Tour, Living with the Land, Nemo, Spaceship Earth, Imagination with Figment, Frozen, Remy, Journey of Water, and Guardians--everything we wanted! Again, with Genie+, we walked right onto everything! We also met Anna and Elsa! Tried a couple of Flower and Garden snacks: chicken and waffles, fruit and cheese strudel, and potato pancakes, all were delicious! Everyone had a different favorite day, but EPCOT was personally my favorite day, it felt like we were firing on all cylinders and the day just went really smoothly!
🏰MAGIC KINGDOM🏰
-- We had read that Wednesdays were the quietest days at MK, so we were originally going to try to do it that day, but we could only get a reservation for Cinderella's Royal Table on Thursday, so we switched it up. Definitely the most crowded of all the parks we visited, but I think that's just the norm for MK, everyone wants to go to the castle park with the most rides. We rode: Regal Carousel, Tomorrowland Speedway, Barnstormer, Magic Carpets, Mad Tea Party, People Mover, Dumbo, Small World, Little Mermaid, Pirates, Space Ranger Spin, Jungle Cruise, TRON, and Peter Pan. Again, with Genie+, we walked right onto everything! The only ride we missed at this park that we wanted to do was Pooh, I couldn't manage to get a return time that was earlier than we planned on leaving. Outside of our character meals (more on those in the dining section!) we also met Mirabel, Tiana, and Rapunzel! We had both the Rapunzel and Aurora ice creams, both so good and cute!
🎬HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS🎬
-- We had read that, like MK, it's better to do HS later in the week, so we went Friday. We rode: Slinky, Alien Saucers, Toy Story Mania, Rise, Smuggler's Run, Runaway Railway. Again, with Genie+, we walked right onto everything! The only ride we missed was Tower of Terror, again I couldn't manage to get a return time that was earlier than we planned on leaving. We also met Olaf, be aware Olaf doesn't sign stuff, they just give you a signature card. This park needs more shade IMO, especially Toy Story Land, I know it's supposed to be Andy's backyard, but I don't see why that means we can't have some shade from trees or something. 🤪 Blue milk from Galaxy's Edge was really good, the family was all fighting over it!
🍽️DINING🍽️
-- We almost certainly lost some money on the DDP, but I'm still glad we got it because it allowed us to do more table service meals and have less stress overall about expenses. We easily used up everything but child quick service credits, we had a few of those left over near the end.
Here's where we ate!
BOARDWALK DELI/PIZZA WINDOW: Pizza for the kids, sandwiches for the adults. Tasty and satisfying after our day of travel!
BEACHES AND CREAM: Got the kitchen sink for the experience, but honestly it's not great, all the ice cream and toppings melt together quick and you just end up with weird ice cream soup.
SAT'ULI CANTEEN: LOVED this place, everything was so yummy! Best quick service we had!
SANAA: Since Animal Kingdom closes so early, we thought we'd try to extend the experience by eating at Sanaa. What a great idea, we got seated right by a window and saw so many animals! The food was great too.
AKERSHUS: Our favorite princess meal! We met Aurora, Tiana, Snow White, Ariel, and Belle. They were all lovely, and the breakfast was really good too. Only 1 credit on the DDP!
GARDEN GRILL: Our kids really enjoyed getting to look down over Living with the Land and the fact that the restaurant spins. We met Farmer Mickey, Pluto, and Chip and Dale. They were fun and even came to our table more than once. Food was good!
SPACE 220: Not on the DDP, but wow, what a cool restaurant! Almost like a ride with the theming and the elevator up. Food was really good.
CINDERELLA'S ROYAL TABLE: You gotta eat in the castle! We paid for it OOP because we didn't want to use up 2 DDP credits here. You're really going for the location and the princesses, the food is kinda meh, not bad but not as good as other places. The restaurant is small and they have to turn tables quick, so it's very understandable to me that the princesses have to move fast. It's not that they rush you, they'll take all the pictures you ask for and sign whatever and answer your questions, but if you don't have much you need, they try to keep moving. Akershus is much bigger so they are able to be more relaxed there. The only small bummer is that we didn't see Merida (maybe she was on vacation too!) We did meet Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, and Aurora though!
CRYSTAL PALACE: We are not big on buffets but we enjoyed meeting Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and Tigger!
TOPOLINO'S: Maybe the best food of the trip, steak and eggs were so good! The character artist costumes are so cute too. It was fun to have an excuse to ride the Skyliner to get here from Beach Club too.
DOCKING BAY 7: The theming is great, but the food wasn't as good as Satuli Canteen IMO.
THE MARKET AT ALE & COMPASS: We had quick service credits we wanted to use up on the last day and we didn't want to leave the resort again, otherwise I would have gone somewhere else, food was meh.
✨EXTRAS✨
-- I originally wanted to book Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for my kids, but it's so expensive/competitive that I decided to didn't want the stress. Instead I booked Have Wand, Will Travel to come to our room and bought dresses from Presley Couture and Only Little Once. I chose Have Wand, Will Travel because they keep character throughout. Fairy Godmother Elyse was amazing and so much fun, my kids loved it and kept talking about it all day!
-- That same morning I ordered a Sammicakes breakfast box with beignets for us to eat. I also ordered a pretend letter from Tiana on Etsy to make it seem like the breakfast came from Tiana. My kids also loved this and had fun telling Tiana about it both times we met her. Sammicakes was good but a LOT of food, sadly we didn't end up eating half of it. It can last you at least 3 days!
-- Matching shirts and ear hats, all from Etsy! So many cool designs there, hardest part is choosing!
-- Got my kids a pin trading lanyard with some pins, they loooooved pin trading! It was like free souvenirs.
🧳PACKING🧳
-- Things the Internet Told Me to Pack That I Needed: Scissors, ziploc bags, ibuprofen (kids and adults), garbage bags.
-- Things the Internet Told Me to Pack that I Didn't Need: stainless steel straws (the paper straws are more like cardboard, they really don't break down unless your kid is gnawing on them or something), ponchos (it did rain some most days, but wearing a poncho was almost more miserable than not wearing one, it's so hot and humid to be walking around in a plastic bag! We did better taking shelter and using umbrellas.), wipes (obv you need them if your kid is younger, but mine were older and just never got messy enough to need them.), glow sticks (we never stayed anywhere long enough to use them.) Basically, the less you can get away carrying in the parks, the better. It's annoying to lug stuff around you don't end up needing or using!
🛞STROLLER🛞
-- I know it seems insane that your 5 year old and 9 year old will need a stroller, but mine definitely did. Once I accepted that I was going to have to get one, I tried to make the best of it, and actually got really into decorating it so we could always easily spot it in the sea (the decorations also later made nice wall decor for a gallery of our trip!) The Magic Spotter flag was the best investment, hardly anyone had them so it was easy to instantly spot our stroller anywhere we left it, even if it got moved. That said, I definitely didn't want to spend a lot on a stroller we were really only buying for this one trip, so I got a used Joovy Caboose on Facebook Marketplace for $50. It was very hard to handle with two older kids in it, and even with one it was hard to handle unless the kid was in the back seat. So we basically used it like a single stroller, glad I didn't spend a lot on it since it was so hard to drive!
☔WEATHER☔
-- We had mostly great weather, it rained some every day except Magic Kingdom day but it passed within an hour each time. We wore socks with Crocs so that if/when it rained, we could just take our wet socks off and walk in our Crocs, this worked great! Don't trust the weather reports though, two days it wasn't supposed to rain. One day it actually didn't, the other day it did and we had to walk in wet shoes because we didn't wear the Crocs that day. Just figure it might rain any day and be prepared! See above note RE: ponchos being not great and shelter + umbrellas being better. When it didn't rain, It. Was. Hot. 🥵 In the 90s but definitely felt hotter with the humidity making it so sticky. We felt there was plenty of shade at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT, but hardly any at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios, which I would say slightly affected how much fun we had on those days comparatively.
Phew! That's about it, let me know if you have any questions!

Okay, so, Dual Process's FNAF Theory has become fairly popular at this point. Fun fact, it's the first video on their shared channel and bumped them up to have over 16k Subs, so, congrats to them, that's really cool. The video is also fairly well made but the main point everyone is talking about is CassidyVictim.
Now, CassidyVictim isn't a new theory by any means, it has existed technically since FNAF 4. The idea basically is that BV is the 5th victim of the MCI or was considered the 5th victim of the MCI. This theory started because BV being Golden Freddy was a very popular theory at the time and still to this day, however, the problem people ran into back in FNAF 4 was that if BV is Golden Freddy, then who is the 5th MCI Child? It had been an established part of continuity since the 1st game that Golden Freddy was the 5th MCI child and that perspective hadn't changed throughout any of the first 3 games. But with FNAF 4's release and the connection between the Bite of '83 and Happiest Day being very evident, people were questioning Golden Freddy's identity for the first time since that very first game.
Typically, people who believed in GoldenVictim at the time of FNAF 4 fell into one of two camps on the matter of the 5th MCI kid, the most popular was that the 5th MCI kid was The Puppet while BV was Golden Freddy. The less popular one was BV5th or, as we call it now, CassidyVictim. There were different perspectives on this theory, one was that the Bite of '83 was covered up and so, to the public, BV just went missing, thus being tied to the other missing children. The other was the one posed by the video, that BV survived the Bite but died in the MCI. Sometimes it was reversed so that BV survived the MCI but died in the bite, there's also another one that suggests BV was revived after one of the events and died later, but we won't go into those.
CassidyVictim was always the least popular of the two interpretations and it was typically The Puppet that would be considered as the 5th MCI child despite the trilogy novels having the 5th MCI child being Golden Freddy. It wouldn't be until FFPS and the Logbook that this idea fell out of favor. The Lorekeeper Ending showed 6 graves, the one in the back was generally accepted to belong to Charlie while the 5 in the front were accepted to belong to the MCI victims, this was especially believed thanks to parts of The Fourth Closet being linked mentioning a girl named Susie as an MCI kid who lost her dog and was lured by William using knowledge of that lost dog, allowing the community to connect Susie to the Fruity Maze girl and to the graves.
So, it seemed obvious at that point that The Puppet wasn't the 5th MCI Victim but instead Golden Freddy thanks to the comparisons between the FNAF 3 endings and the Lorekeeper Graves. But Golden Freddy was officially recognized as an MCI child again thanks to the Logbook revealing the name Cassidy, a name that was soon linked to Golden Freddy thanks to the "It's Me" messages found in the Word Search and the faded "My Name" written in a drawing of a grave that Mike made which people immediately linked to the grave that was covered by grass in the Lorekeeper Ending. Cassidy was also one of the MCI children in The Fourth Closet, so it would make sense for her name to appear on one of the graves. This seemingly proved 100% that Golden Freddy was an MCI victim named Cassidy and NOT BV, right?
Well, while it was generally agreed that Cassidy was the name of Golden Freddy and an MCI victim, that didn't seem to be enough for some people to jump ship from BV5th, and soon CassidyVictim was born. The logic was basically that BV NEEDED to be Golden Freddy and since Cassidy is Golden Freddy BV must be Cassidy. Seems simple enough, so, let's explain why this doesn't work.
Firstly, Cassidy is 100%, without a doubt, the name belonging to the Faded Text. The way we got the name Cassidy was thanks to faded text putting the words "My Name" on various pages with either altered numbers and numbers written by Mike. Faded saying "My Name" implies that whatever name we get from the code would have to belong to faded, thus, Faded is Cassidy, no doubt about it. Now, whether you're a LogbookDuo believer or not, there is no debate that faded is asking questions to the BV, I don't think I have to even list those questions anymore considering everyone probably knows them by now. So, if Cassidy IS BV, why is BV asking questions to themselves? It doesn't really add up. The "My Name" thing is directly mentioned in the video but it's never explained why Faded says "My Name" instead of "Your Name" if Faded isn't Cassidy, it's just kind of glossed over.
Another thing I want to mention about this is the duo in the video do believe that BV is the one altering the text. This is important because in the Word Search, altered is the one that asks "Who are you?" and "What is your name?" Why would altered, which the video and a major part of the community thinks is BV, ask for the name of Faded but Faded just not answer? Also, Faded NEVER asks BV anything about his name, just about his memories.
Now, before I tackle the version of CassidyVictim brought up in the video, the idea that BV survives the bite, let's tackled the classic version of CassidyVictim first, the idea that BV's death was covered up as a disappearance and looped in with the other MCI disappearances. Now, in order for two cases to be linked together, they must share similarities and the Bite of '83 and the MCI, just don't, even if the police knew nothing about the Bite, they likely still wouldn't connect the two events.
According to the newspapers, the MCI is an event that took place at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza where children went missing in the late hours of operation after being lured by someone in a mascot costume to a back room. Even if the police didn't know ANYTHING about what happened inside the FNAF 4 location on BV's birthday, they WOULD know that BV didn't vanish at Freddy's, but Fredbear's. The second newspaper explicitly states that 5 children were linked to an incident at FREDDY FAZBEAR'S PIZZA. All the kids disappeared at Freddy's, not Fredbear's. This is even more obvious when we turn to Foxy Go Go Go where the 5 kids are shown dead AT Freddy's. The Trilogy Novels have all 5 go missing AT Freddy's. Into the Pit have the 6 kids die AT Freddy's. The film has the 5 kids go missing AT Freddy's. Every version of the MCI, no matter the continuity, happens AT Freddy's. William is also responsible for killing all 5 of the kids, not just 4 and one being an accident, all of these versions of the MCI involve William being the one responsible for all of them. The only way this works is if all those other depictions of the MCI don't count and the police were told that BV went missing at Freddy's, not Fredbear's which we have no proof of such a lie being told aside from it being the only way this version of CassidyVictim makes sense.
Now, let's focus back on the video interpretation of CassidyVictim. First, let's make it clear that Cassidy is a girl and not a boy. In The Fourth Closet, Cassidy is one of the 5 MCI victims just like in the games and she's described as a girl with long black hair in the books. In the Logbook, the book that revealed that Cassidy exists in the games, we're shown an image of The Puppet giving cake to a girl with black hair on a page that uses the phrase "Happiest Day". This is important as it connects this image to the Happiest Day minigame, the ONLY minigame where The Puppet gives cake to a child and I'm pretty sure the only time in the entire franchise The Puppet gives cake to a child, and it just so happens to be the 5th MCI child, the Golden Freddy kid.
Now, of course, if you believe that BV is the one receiving the Happiest Day in FNAF 3, then this evidence probably isn't something you'll see as good evidence against CassidyVictim. Perhaps the image on a page referencing Happiest Day means literally nothing and is just a coincidence or reference with no lore implication. Or maybe this is evidence that Cassidy is BV since BV is the one that received the cake and Cassidy is the one shown in the picture, Scott's trying to show that these two are connected, perhaps BV is the game universe's version of Cassidy in the novels. That seems like a bit of a stretch to me, but explaining why this is proof Cassidy is a girl and not proof that Cassidy and BV are the same person in this universe would require me to go on a tangent for how BV isn't the Golden Freddy in Happiest Day, so, let's not do that, you've likely heard all the reasons anyways.
So, now, let's cover exactly HOW the video described BV being able to be both the Bite of '83 victim AND the MCI victim. Their theory basically goes like this. After BV was bitten, he didn't actually die, instead he was stolen from the hospital by William and kept in the house or the hospital just sent him home. William does the MCI murders to find a way to save his son from death and after seeing how possession works, decides to stuff his son in the Fredbear suit, causing him to bleed out and die.
So, let's explain why BV surviving the bite is highly unlikely. Sure, a flatline doesn't technically mean death, but let's all remember that this is a story we are viewing. The scene has BV flatline as even more tears come from his eyes and the screen fades to black with the flatline sound continuing on. Now, I don't know about you, but that seems like a pretty clear indication that character is dead, the only way it could be more clear is if the Dark Souls "You Died" text appeared on screen. Typically, in a story, a flatline followed by a fade to black or a long moment of silence before changing to another scene typically means death, I feel like I shouldn't have to inform anyone of that fact but this was a very common rebuttal among anyone who believed BV survived after the bite. The only time a flatline doesn't mean death in a story is if it's followed by a heart beat sound, a sound we don't hear. Is it possible that the flatline is because William unhooked him from the machine and stole him from the hospital? Sure. Is that the thing being implied in the context of the story and the scene? No.
Also, again, why would the police link his disappearances to ones at Freddy's? The video has it be that William said his son vanished from home but nothing about that would lead the police to link BV's disappearance at home to 4 other disappearances at a Freddy's location. And again, there isn't really any proof of William lying about what happened to his youngest son, aside from that it works with the theory they're presenting.
CassidyVictim just can't work thanks to the information from the Logbook and FNAF 4, which is kind of ironic considering that CassidyVictim is a theory that became believed thanks to FNAF 4 and the Logbook. Even if we ignored novel Cassidy and faded being the one to say "My Name" implying Cassidy is faded's name, then the theory still suffers from the evidence being a lot of guessing or assumptions. Again, the theory comes from the idea that BV is Golden Freddy and the 5th MCI Kid is Golden Freddy, both individually having evidence, but the theory ASSUMES that must mean they're the same person and try to make a theory AROUND that idea. So, it ASSUMES that William lied about what happened to his son and it ASSUMES BV wasn't killed in the bite despite the obvious implication. An argument can be made that a lot of FNAF theories involve assumptions, but the thing about this one is that it's ALL assumptions, the evidence for Cassidy being the Bite Victim doesn't really exist beyond the initial premise that both characters are tied to Golden Freddy and thus must be the same person, and I wouldn't really call that evidence.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there is some evidence for CassidyVictim that exists somewhere that I just haven't found or can't remember, if so, let me know, but from what I've seen, there really isn't anything.

Book Two: The Academy- Part 8
Getting to their next class was much less chaotic and dangerous, as this time Buck and company made sure to take the human tunnels. Halfway there, he heard Butterfly begin to pipe up excitedly. “Next class we get to learn how to speak Dragon!”
Buck remembered that was the next class on the schedule. He also remembered very well who was going to be teaching it.
“Isn’t Wren from your hometown?” Sala asked Butterfly.
Butterfly apparently did not remember, but soared when he was reminded. “Yeah! Wren is from Talisman like me! She got banished by the Dragonmancers but she came back and kicked them all out!”
“The so-called legend goes…” Holly commented, “That the Dragonmancers were trying to get rid of Wren by feeding her to a dragon. Instead, she found a baby dragon and raised him. That dragon is Sky, our other teacher in this class.”
“So we’re really being taught by the Savior of Humanity?” Badger breathed, “There’s so many things I want to ask her! Like how she raised Sky, and what Pantala was like, and what the dragons’ faces looked like when she talked to them, and—”
“Didn’t Sunny say that Wren doesn’t like talking about saving humanity?” Patience said.
“She said Wren doesn’t like being treated like a savior,” Holly corrected, “And I don’t blame her. All she did was open her mouth to a dragon, the dragons did the rest really. Now we all think she’s some kind of goddess.”
The class was silent afterwards. The classroom Wren and Sky taught in was apparently on the other side of the school from the classroom they came from. It took some time, but eventually they reached the room. To Buck’s surprise, this classroom appeared to be just for humans. While it was big enough that a dragon could fit in it, there were no seats for them.
But that was not what the other students noticed. What, or whom they saw was at the front of the room. A young woman or teenage girl, standing at the feet of a decidedly small-ish dragon with a scale color Buck had never seen before, more like a salmon or a pale shade of orange. Before he could think about the dragon any further, he spoke.
“Hello, humans! Please be seated. This is going to be such a fun class!”
Buck did a double-take towards the dragon. He spoke in Human almost as if he were human himself. All the other dragons were unwieldy speaking in his language, constantly trying to avoid slipping over their tongues. Sky was such a natural that Buck had to make sure it somehow was not Wren’s mouth that was moving.
Buck seated himself, again next to Bailey. He watched Wren’s eyes, and saw a sort of confidence that came from having done this before. Well, she probably did already teach most of the dragons here how to speak Human.
Wren began to speak to Sky, alternating seamlessly between Human and Dragon, meaning Buck could only catch snippets of their conversation. “Humans… these kids… it’ll be easy… what about it?”
Finally, Wren addressed the class for the first time, giving a loud roar that shocked Buck again. How could a human throat make such a loud noise as that!?
“That, in Dragon, was a formal greeting,” Wren clarified to the class. “Welcome to your first day learning to speak Dragon. As you probably already know, I’m Wren, and this big guy here is Sky. We go back a long way, and you may have heard about me and him from the countless stories that have been made up about us. Allow me to hit you with the truth. Me and Sky have not, to date, beat up any dragons who were assaulting human villages, we have not personally defeated the Othermind, and we have not rescued screaming babies out of the mouths of SkyWings or SandWings.” The class started with horror upon hearing the last part of the speech.
Uhh, Buck thought, Did dragons really ever eat human infants? That’d be low, even for them.
“That last one I made up to show just how ridiculous the whole thing is. Dragons have not and never will be eating babies.” The class sighed with relief. “Going on, I have, however, killed a dragon that was going to assault the Indestructible City, but only because he had kidnapped Sky. This is all I will say about my past in this class. Understood?”
The students nodded. “Now then, I would like you to repeat after me.” She went back to speaking Dragon. “Roar growl human roar snarl snarl.”
Buck repeated her to the best of his ability, but it was like trying to fit a boulder through his throat, he had never tried to get his voice to make such low noises.
When the class managed somehow to repeat her sentence to a satisfactory degree, she translated. “That sentence means ‘I am a human, I am not food.’ While a dragon who still thinks humans are worth eating would likely not listen to a human asserting their rights, it is still an important sentence to know.”
Wren walked to the blackboard behind her and began writing down a bunch of the symbols in Dragon writing. “This is that same sentence, written out. When I’m done teaching you, you will be able to talk and interact with dragons, objectively the best thing ever. While many dragons are learning to speak Human, this will allow you to talk with not just some dragons, but all dragons.”
Sky then spoke. “This may be hard for a lot of you at first. Making dragon sounds with your little human voices can be really painful when you’re not used to it. That’s why we have a large bowl of water off to the right of the desks. If your throat begins to feel sore, drink some water.”
Buck appreciated knowing they cared about their voices, especially since his throat was beginning to become irritated just from saying one sentence in Dragon. Wren began to teach the humans various words in Dragon. As Buck repeated the words, his throat did indeed begin to burn, but the water the classroom supplied was cool and fresh and helped greatly with soothing his voice. Finally, after what felt like many hours of speaking various phrases in Dragon like “The moons shine brightly tonight” and “Have you seen my friends?” the gong rang.
“Good work, class!” Sky said encouragingly, “We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow!”
Buck heard Sala yell “Bye, Sky!” in Dragon as he stood, and he saw Sky’s face light up hearing that. Buck turned and left the room, going back into the tunnel.
“That was a fun class,” Patience said as he caught up with Buck and Bailey.
“Ugh, no.” Holly interjected, “My throat really hurts from all the roaring.”
“Didn’t the water help?” Bailey asked her.
“No. It was like water rushing over molten rock, I think I need to see the nurse.”
“Go do that if you need to.”
“No I don’t think I will.”
Bailey shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Buck pulled his class schedule out of his pocket and looked at it.
12 Noon: Lunch (Dining Hall)
Buck’s stomach grumbled just then, and he realized how long it had been since he had last eaten. He grasped his upper abdomen and looked over to Bailey. “Hey, lunch is next.”
Bailey turned to look at her brother. “Yep! Wonder what they’ll have for us.”
When they reached the dining hall, the dragons had already been seated. He saw Ahi down below perk up as Buck and the others entered. Buck decided to take a better look at the rest of the dining hall, approaching the railing. Just as he predicted, Ahi jumped to her feet and rushed up to the human platform. She gave an excited whine but then, to Buck’s astonishment, spoke in heavily broken, accented Human.
“Hi! Buck! Very good day today!”
“Oh, uh, hi Ahi!” Buck wondered how she suddenly gained the ability to speak his language, but the dragonet was beside herself with glee, apparently knowing she could talk directly to humans was the highlight of her day, enough that she was completely ignoring the platter of fish arriving at her table.
“Daffodil giving me special lessons! I speak like you now!”
Her every word was shouted, which was a bit much for Buck. Nevertheless, he responded: “That’s good, Ahi.” Out of the corner of his hearing Buck could hear a muted scoff come from another one of the dragon tables. He looked over and saw the MudWing from earlier, glaring in Buck and Ahi’s direction. He deliberately ignored him and looked back at Ahi, who was staring at him with sparkling eyes.
“How your shoulder? When you take off that…” She clearly could not find her next word.
“Sling?” Buck finished for her.
“Sling!” She shouted back.
“I don’t know. I think it’s healing pretty well though.”
“That’s great!” Ahi seemed to finally notice her food waiting for her. “I go eat now!”
“Bye, Ahi!” Buck waved at her before turning and finding that his own food was waiting. It seemed to be a huge feast of smoked fish fillets and a salad made up of lettuce, carrots, and tomatoes. Buck sat between Patience and Bailey, who seemed to have left a seat open for him, and began to pile fish and salad onto a waiting plate in front of him.
“Buck,” Bailey told him between mouthfuls, “You and Ahi look like you’re getting along really well.”
Buck paled, then blushed when he realized what she meant. “Uh, it’s not like I haven’t gotten over what happened years ago… or anything. I just know she’s not going to eat me! She’s way too small to even try!”
“That’s a start,” Patience added. “The Buck I met back at the Lodge, he would have not even bothered to go talk to her.”
“I just, can’t get it out of my head, that we might be in danger. It’s like what we heard on the way to Winter’s class, the Scourge is still around here. What if she gets into the school?”
Patience paled. “Hold on, the Scourge is still near the school?”
Just then, a wave of heat suddenly washed over the students, and Buck pivoted his head over into the dragon section to see something that made his heart jump down into his stomach. It was a SkyWing, but in a deep, terrifying red, and her whole body was shimmering with heat. “What is that?” Buck whispered fearfully to Patience.
The dragon seemed to be aware of its heat, and was sliding between tables, its wings tightly folded to its body. Even the dragons seemed to be wary of it, shifting in their seats as the superheated dragon passed by.
“Oh, that’s Peril,” Holly finally explained, leaning over towards Buck, “She’s the security here at JMA.”
Buck swallowed. “Why do I feel like I’m imperiled just by her being here? Is a dragon who could burn me to ash just by being near me somehow supposed to make me feel safe?”
“The point is,” Badger explained, “If any dragon tries to hurt a human here, they’re going to deal with her, and her entire squad of guards. She’s been constantly patrolling the school and the skies around it to look for signs of the Scourge. So yeah, you should feel safe around her.”
Buck shook his head. “As long as I keep my distance anyway.”
Buck decided to ignore Peril and continue eating. He soon had his fill, and he looked back to see Peril in the far corner of the dining hall, eating all alone. The other dragons seem to be scared of her too… I admit, that’s gotta suck, being that lonely.
Though that thought was banished when he saw Clay approach her, and somehow, wrapped a wing supportively around her body before sitting down and eating with her. Somehow he’s not affected by that much heat.
Buck noticed that Bailey and Patience had finished eating, so the three of them stood. “What’s next?” Patience asked.
Buck took out his class schedule and looked it over. “Looks like we have free time for the next hour or so.”
“Let’s go to the library!” Bailey said, “I want to read some more scrolls about the Scorching if they have them.”
“Can I come with you?” Badger asked, approaching them. “I want to read some of those scrolls too.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Patience concluded, “Let’s head over there!”
The library was well lit with sunlight from outside at this time of day, though Buck realized he had not seen the sun ever since he had entered the Academy. He felt cold all of a sudden, realizing he was stuck indoors, possibly for the rest of the school year. Couldn’t they have built, like, a big porch for us to get some outdoors time?
Bailey, Badger and Patience meanwhile were talking with Starflight. “I’m afraid,” the NightWing said, “We don’t have any more scrolls on the Scorching that are up to date with current knowledge. The ones we have… would be highly antagonistic of humankind, probably very offensive to you.”
“Can we read one anyway?” Badger asked him, “History is important to read about regardless of whether it’s offensive.”
“Well, I suppose. Let me go get the one I used to study.” Starflight walked over to the wall of scrolls and pulled one off, then sat on a large cushion, beckoning the children to join him. Buck went over to join him.
“This is the Legend of the Scorching. I contributed my studies of it to the guidebook we wrote after we started Jade Mountain Academy. After finding out who humanity really is… reading it again made me feel a little sick. If at any point you want me to stop, just tell me.”
The kids nodded, and Starflight began to read.
Dragons of the day and age were solitary creatures.
“So you guys didn’t always have a civilization?” Patience asked Starflight, who shook his head.
“It’s how humans managed to survive until the Scorching. I believe you humans call it ‘safety in numbers.’ Forming into communities provides an incredible amount of protection.”
“Probably also the reason why whatever civilization humans could scrounge back from the dead never got any bigger than it is now,” Buck commented solemnly, “Since dragon civilization was now in the way.”
Starflight continued. The scavengers, however, were not content… They killed the dragons’ prey and choked the skies with smoke.
“Smoke?” Bailey said, “What use would we have for that much smoke?”
Badger tilted his head, wondering. “Maybe humans had really big fireplaces back then?”
“We may never know why humans had such an obsession with clogging the air with smog,” Starflight said, “Anyway, let me continue.”
No one knows why a scavenger would steal a dragon egg…
“Well we do know now,” Buck sighed, “But it wasn’t exactly a good reason.”
But we know he stole it from the wrong dragon… And so she found the other dragons… They became their talons and her claws and her ferocious teeth.
“The humans, most of them, probably weren’t aware of Cottonmouth’s scheme,” Patience said, “To them, the dragons would have washed over them unprovoked.”
“And the dragons of the Scorching were also unaware of that,” Starflight continued glumly, “They lumped all of humankind together in their anger.”
When the Scorching was complete, the scavengers who survived scattered into hidey-holes across the world. Powerless, insignificant, no more than prey, as they should have been all along.
“There’s the part that made me sick,” Starflight sighed, “They really didn’t know back then, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t have cared.”
“But you do now,” Badger said, placing a soft hand against Starflight’s talon, “And that counts for something!”
“It’s just… Knowing what we do now about humans is a heavy burden for many dragons. When humans call us ‘man-eaters’ or ‘monsters,’ it cuts deep, because so many of us felt so stupid to not see what we were doing. And the fact that some humans do forgive us, I think that proves to me, that humans are much stronger than dragons. To be able to spend over five-thousand years hiding from our claws and teeth, to have lost everything to us, and still being able to come to us and understand us. I can’t imagine being that strong.”
Buck felt this statement deep within him, and he felt he had to say something in response. “When I knew… knew that my parents were gone, I felt like I lost my whole world. I was a lot younger back then. My parents were everything to me.” a tear formed on Buck’s eyelids. “And yeah, I hated dragons because of it. I wanted to kill them all, or at least any of the dragons who came too close to Vale. And when Winter came to Vale, I thought it was going to happen all over again. That I was about to lose Bailey, and my new father. But then, Winter spoke. And my whole world was shattered again. Because now I couldn’t really call them monsters. It took me a while to get used to that.”
Bailey wrapped an arm around Buck’s shoulder, prompting a light sob from the boy. “Buck, it’s like Starflight said. You showed so much strength in coming out here and listening to what the dragons had to say. Dad knew, of course, that coming here would help you. He’s a really smart man. So I hope you’ve learned from this. The dragons are here to help now. You just have to let them into your heart.”
Buck wiped a tear falling from his eye. “Thanks, guys.”
“Hey, how’s about we head back to our dorm and relax,” Patience let out a big stretch, “We’ve had a pretty long day so far.”
Buck chuckled. “I haven’t even picked a bed yet, since I spent last night in the infirmary. Yeah, let’s head over there.”
“It was a pleasure speaking with you kids,” Starflight said, “Hearing your opinions on everything has lifted a heavy weight off my shoulders.”
“No problem, Starflight,” Bailey complimented, “Now, let’s head back upstairs!”
The humans scurried out of the library to head back to their dorm, and Starflight rested his head on the open scroll, letting out a big, deep sigh. “If only they knew back then… How wonderful they are.”

If you love this type of style where your like "wtf was that drop is's so f**king good and different", check out some of these songs as they have similar "wtf/awesome/mad drops".
Just copy the line of the song and youtube will just find the song (sorry I have not tailored this to spotify) :
Pendulum - The Island - Pt. I (Dawn) [Skrillex Remix]
RÜFÜS - Innerbloom (What So Not Remix)
Illusionize & Shapeless - TIME (I have a feeling you will love this, melty nights and completely gooey!)
Chase & Status - Don't Be Scared (Official Music Video) ft. Takura AC Slater - Bass Inside Wolfgang Gartner & Kill The Noise - Battlestations (F**KING AWESOME AND FUN TRACK! MY SECRET WEAPON TO SHOW PEOPLE!) Don Diablo - People Say ft. Paije Don Diablo - Head Up ft. James Newman GTA - Red Lips feat. Sam Bruno (Skrillex Remix) Loopers - I'm Heavy Mumbai Power (feat. Beam)-Skrillex SCARY MONSTERS & NICE SPRITES (KASKADE REMIX) - SKRILLEX (Just wait for the drop man, it's great and you probably won't have heard it before!) Skrillex, Noisia, josh pan & Dylan Brady - Supersonic (My Existence) Crystal Castles - Not In Love ft. Robert Smith of The Cure Lane 8 - Is This Our Earth? RL Grime - Core Getter - Head Splitter Dog Blood - BREAK LAW Danny L Harle & DJ Danny - On A Mountain (Flume Remix) Flume - Slugger 1.4 [2014 Export.WAV] Knock2 - dashstar* Shotgun Radio - A Bad Place (feat. Mimi Page) (Minnesota Remix) (My favorite track for years!) Chris Lake - I Want You (Just wait for the drop.) Knock2 - dashstar* (VIP) [NIGHTMODE] LOOPERS - I'm Odd Knock2 - REWiND [NIGHTMODE] Skrillex, Missy Elliott, & Mr. Oizo - RATATA Sibewest - Deprived Flume - Go Skrillex & Mr. Oizo - RATATA (KREAM Remix) ft. Missy Elliot (KREAM is killa, check them out. A lot of their stuff is signature sound). ANYMA X GRIMES – WELCOME TO THE OPERA (I know the Anyma synth plucks are going around at the moment but if you haven't heard this sound design it would still be mind tingly.) Tobiahs - Lifetime Martin Garrix - Animals (Of course! ;) )
For songs that have different alternative sounding drops which aren't as insanely different from what you usually hear but are still different sounding drops which are great check out:
Seven Lions - Isis Vicetone - Nevada (feat. Cozi Zuehlsdorff) Birdy Nam Nam - "Goin' In (Skrillex "Goin' Hard" Mix)"
Tchami - "Adieu" OFFICIAL VERSION
Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan - There For You (Official Instrumental) (The original is still "f**king dope! too! Marty has often unique sounding songs and pretty much made his own style of sound!)
Martin Garrix & Dua Lipa - Scared To Be Lonely (Official Instrumental) (Dua was kinda gaining popularity but i feel this was the song that really skyrocketed her into the limelight, the original with her lyrics is still so good!)
Tchami - Shot Caller (Badass madness!)
Lights & Music · Cut Copy (Awesome track, classic for me growing up and just decent for the time it came out!) Martin Garrix & Mesto - Limitless
Nero - Reaching Out
Martin Garrix & Brooks - Quantum
Martin Garrix & Zedd - Follow (F**king great track! Take risks my friend! ;) )
Flume - Say It (feat. Tove Lo) (Illenium Remix) David Guetta, Martin Garrix & Brooks - Like I Do
Bondax - Gold (Snakehips Bootleg) (More chill and not so party party but awesome drop!) Brooks & GRX - Boomerang (GRX is Martin Garrix's alternate stage name.) Martin Garrix & Florian Picasso - Make Up Your MindWarriors Dance - The ProdigyFuji Opener (feat. Alvin Risk)TroyBoi - Do You?Dog Blood - Next OrderOops · Martin Garrix Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike vs. W&W – Arcade (Extended Mix) Savant - Living iPod (Definitely going to love or hate it but it's fun, especially if your a major gamer like me!) Mr FijiWiji - Let The Sky Fall Down Martin Garrix & Jay Hardway Dua Lipa - Don't Start Now (PØNTES Remix) (Awesome, awesome remix and you won't have heard it!) Knock2 - dashstar* (Yellow Claw Trap Edit) [NIGHTMODE] Knock2 - Are U Feelin Me (Ft. DEV) [NIGHTMODE] Shadow Lady · Portwave GRADES - King
For songs which i've come across which are so different from what you'd usually hear but are a complete vibe because they arent "typical sounding" (not saying anything's right or wrong) these are great:
nekoi- exist (Don't be a peeping teemo!) Deadmau5 - Pomogrenate (Original Instrumental)
BICEP ATLAS BICEP OPAL (FOUR TET REMIX)
BICEP APRICOTS (This is really, really different but a phenomenal track. Just be in a good mindset because it's a fricking intense track but really dope!) DJ DIFFERENT - Angels
RITCHRD - PARIS (make sure to check it out on "yotsu"' youtube channel as it's got a cool anime clip!) San Holo - bb u ok? (Drop's great and it's different! Good vibes.)
Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE. (Skrillex Remix) (I don't listen to rap and i f**king frothed this for ages!)
RL Grime, What So Not, and Skrillex - Waiting
RL Grime x Utada Hikaru - Simple To Know [Flipboitamidles Mashup] (Just a feel good song. Your gonna like it or not!)
Deadmau5 & Kaskade - I Remember (Mr FijiWiji Remix/Cover ft. Laura Brehm)
Guy Gerber - What To Do (&ME Remix)
BICEP JUST
BICEP GLUE
BICEP MELI (II) (Live at Love Saves The Day)
Gemini - Fire Inside (Mr. FijiWiji Remix)
The Presets - My People
BICEP SAKU (FEAT. CLARA LA SAN) RL Grime - Pressure Mitch Murder - The Touch Knock2 - SPEAK up! Mt. Wolf - Life Size Ghosts (Catching Flies Remix)Jonas Mantey - Frei Tom Day - Going Home Fracx - In Your Memory Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Soundtrack - Run
Parallel Universe · Franky Wah
&ME - The Rapture Pt.II
Keinemusik (Rampa, Adam Port, &ME) - Muyè
Danger - 0:59 Danger - 6:24 (from Furi original soundtrack)
Danger - 7:53 (from Furi original soundtrack)
Marie Davidson - 'Work It (Soulwax Remix)' (Hilarious track, defs different.) Lacchesi & Mac Declos - Give It To Me (Nelly X-Rated Edit) Ytram & Citadelle - Alive &ME, Black Coffee - The Rapture Pt.III (Also check out Pt.1 & Pt 2. for &ME) Amanati x Roniit - Slow (Oh lover lover!) Phelian - Liturgy (F**king love this track! So good for introspection at night!) Artist's I really, really love as personal preference that are so good:
SIBEWEST // Because of you (F**king love this guy, he's so damn good and so my jam!)
Kazukii // Pull
Kazukii - Need
Grimes - So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth (I love this track and grimes has really grown on me slowly and slowly. If you don't know who the artist is it was Elon Musk's most recent wife (you know the richest guy/might still be the richest guy in the world! The comment that i just saw checking it now about the track is: "just learned that this song is about Grimes being pregnant “It’s about getting pregnant,” she said. “The sort of tragedy of agreeing to it, even though it’s this great thing. For a girl, it’s sacrificing your body and your freedom. It’s a pretty crazy sacrifice and only half of the population has to do it.”"
Please, Stay-Matthieu Faubourg KAZUKII // Return Nero - The Thrill Monrroe Ft. Emily Makis - Never Too Old Arle - Close To You (Icarus Edit) Carpenter Brut - Paradise Warfare (Pretty awesome track, Carpenter Brut is great but dark and intense. Really suggest you play this for yourself instead of randomly showing it to someone. Could put them in a bad headspace if they are tripping bells. You will know what I mean by the end of the track!) Le Matos - Montrose (Le Matos are one of my all time favorites, incredibly underrated going by what you see on youtube!)
Kashuks - Universe
Mononoid - Protoplasm (Original Mix)Moby -- After (Drumsound & Bassline Smith Remix)
Banks - Warm Water (Snakehips Remix) Third ≡ Party - Without You (I love this track, makes me feel so good and the statues are so deep! Look up the burning man wire adult and children statues with the adults with the kids inside!) Kazukii - Tension Franky Wah - Love Me (Official Audio) (Extended Mix) Kaneki サウンド - Evening With U Neon Indian - Polish Girl (Indie electronic more so but still great, loved this back in the day!) Amelie Lens - Hypnotized (My favorite techno artist! So good!) Franky Wah - Cry No More (Audio) Grimes - New Gods Skrillex - The Reason Skrillex - Leaving Skrillex & Wiwek - Killa ft Elliphant
Mr FijiWiji - Sentry (Great song with unique sound design though a bit sad sounding. Love to Wiji my Fiji!) Awesome - The Bloody Beetroots
ARTBAT, Shall Ocin feat. braev - Origin Golden Features - 'Touch (feat. Rromarin) (F**CKING SO GOOD AND STILL UNSEEN! OMG FAVORITE TRACK PROBABLY OF ALL TIME!) Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites (Blueshift's Synthwave Cover) (This is a GREAT COVER if you love the original and synthwave.) Skrillex - Scary Monsters And Nice Sprites (Radar Detector Remix) Katana ZERO OST - Hit The Floor (Extended) UPGRADE-OFFL1NX FISHER - You Little Beauty (SCNDL VIP Club Edit) (Get your filth on son! If you love fishy, guarantee you will love this pure debauchery and raunchery!) Sewerslvt - Mr. Kill Myself Sewerslvt - Pretty Cvnt Sewerslvt - Newlove ZHU - Palm of My Hand Deadmau5 - Aural Psynapse (Mr FijiWiji Remix) Deadmau5 - Strobe (Mr FijiWiji Remix) THE OTHERS' (Radio Edit) TV ROCK Vs Dukes Of Windsor [HQ] (Just wait for the drop mang!) Amelie Lens - Drift Crystal Castles - Baptism M.O.O.N. - 'Hydrogen' (Try not to fry someone with this track.) SebastiAn - Kindercut Sebastian - Tetra NYC Beat (Radio Edit) · Armand Van Helden FKA twigs x Skrillex - Ego Death (Yoseppi's Club Edit)(Pretty much just my favorite parts of the original.) Pizza · Martin Garrix Skrillex - Kyoto (Extended) SKRILLEX - RIGHT ON TIME (12TH PLANET & KILL THE NOISE) Flume ft. Vera Blue - Rushing Back (Ekko & Sidetrack Bootleg) No Time-LastlingsI've Got You · Lastlings Lastlings - I've Got You (Rinzen Remix / Audio) Take My Hand (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Sky Remix) · Lastlings Lastlings - Out Of Touch (CRi Remix / Visualizer) Lastlings - False Reactions (X CLUB. Remix / Official Audio) Lastlings - Last Breath (Adult Art Club Remix / Audio) Lastlings - Out Of Touch (Paraleven Remix) Lastlings - Deja VuLions in the Wild - Martin Garrix · Third Party Grimes & i_o - Violence deadmau5 - Monophobia (feat. Rob Swire) [Official Video] Chase & Status - Mixed Emotions SHDOW - Spirit. Heatwave · SBTRKT (This guys amazing!) Pharoahs - SBTRKTWildfire - SBTRKTSo Far Away · Lazerhawk Martin Garrix - Poison Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike vs. W&W – Arcade (Extended Mix) If I Know You (Tom Middleton Remix) · The Presets Sneaky Sound System - It's Not My Problem (Thin White Duke Mix) Netsky - Memory Lane Deadmau5 - Ghosts N Stuff (Nero Remix) Golden Features - Worship Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman X Steve Angello - Payback (Original Mix) Martin Garrix & David Guetta - So Far Away Madeon - Finale (Netsky Remix) RL Grime & What So Not - Tell Me RL Grime - I Wanna Know feat. Daya Lane 8 - Survive feat. Channy Leaneagh (Bit of an Anthem when your going through a rough time!) MALO - March of Progress The Presets - Talk Like That I Will Be Here [Wolfgang Gartner Remix Edit] - Tiësto, Sneaky Sound System Electric Youth - The Best Thing Knock2 - PARANOiD Le Matos - Light Again feat. Electric Youth Le Matos - Sarah Knock2 - gettin' hott MIAMI NIGHTS 1984 - Saved By The Bell Matrix Reloaded Rave (Zion Dance Party) - Aphrodite Mix (Awesome mix, great when your Hiding the bishop"Fluke - ZionPorter Robinson - Language STRLGHT - Where Do We Go Helax - Tell Me, Tell Me Lights & Music · Cut Copy Cristian Collodoro – Temperature Remix Follow The Storm · Gauthier Bloc Party - One More Chance (Alex Metric Remix) Kasbo - I Get You ft. Lizzy Land (Fakear Remix) Stranger - House Party (AC Slater Remix) Ravager · VIME Grum feat. Electric Youth - Turn It Up Mr FijiWiji - You Worry Enough Hidden Face - Cold Night Pendulum - Witchcraft (Rob Swire's Drumstep Mix) Sublab - In My Blood (feat. Mads) Skrillex, PinkPantheress & Trippie Redd - Way Back Alan Braxe, Fred Falke - You'll Stay In My Heart (Instrumental) [2023 Remaster] Something In The Water X Skepta W O L F C L U B - Tears 3DS Internet Settings · マドロスMERCURY Rules - A Little More Love (Bootleg Edit) Womack & Womack - Teardrops (Rules Remix) Rico 56 x Korzana x twofaced. - Strangers [NIGHTMODE] Kavinsky - Cameo feat. Kareen Lomax KAVINSKY - NightcallKavinsky - Zenith (Someone on youtube was saying this is supposed to be the spiritual successor to Night Call)Playtime Is Over by Le Matos - Studio Session for Mondopalooza Danger - 22:41 Portal · Rebuke Doja Cat - Streets (MCG Remix) The Chase (Rebūke Remix) THAT KIND - Here Comes The Rain Again (Nalestar Remix) RÜFÜS DU SOL - On My Knees (Adriatique Remix)

Hi, I (16M) am tired of living at home. Tired of being a second parent
I live with my mom and my three siblings.
My dad is absent because in 2012 unfortunately, he got MS (Multiple-Sclerosis). He was a good man but didn’t speak up about his health and over time it got worse to the point where he couldn’t walk or talk.
My mom is the only provider in the household. My siblings are younger than me (M9, F10, F11).
In 2022, I had a long conversation with my aunt about a previous problem her and I faced about my mom. In our conversation, she gave me a different perspective on my mom. Before I was 15, I always thought my mom was this perfect person. My aunt gave me a new perspective on her, debunking my one vision on her. Since I’ve been enlightened by my aunt, I’ve realized her bullshit anytime, as I am not blind anymore. (I hope that makes sense)
Because my mom is the only person doing everything for my siblings and I, she expects us (me) to express my gratitude to her by cleaning the house & doing whatever she says with a smile on my face.
My siblings are young kids, but they’re not little-little. They are capable enough to clean up after themselves, cook food (on the most basic level: Top Ramen (preferably in the microwave), anything air fryer related, etc.), and chill out.
My mom expects for me to clean the whole downstairs because I’m the oldest and my room is downstairs. I have no problem with cleaning. But, when my siblings come behind me and mess the place up, because I already did my job, I’m not cleaning again.
She’ll get upset with me because I’m not “acting like a family member”.
She’s putting her responsibility on me. She expects me to watch them, but when they’re doing something I don’t approve of, and I speak out on it, she says “You’re not the parent” “You not the momma or the daddy. You’re the brother. Stay in that place”. Well why the fuck are you giving me responsibilities like that.
“The only thing I ask for you to do for me is to clean up the house, so that when I get home, the place is not a mess”. If I cleaned up, why should I be the one to repeat myself? Those kids are old enough to talk back and make messes; they’re able to clean up.
Its starting to get ridiculous. I don’t have a job. I don’t have a job because she expects me to watch my siblings while she’s at work. I don’t have a problem with watching them, but when I have things that I want to do (especially on the weekends), it pisses me off that I can’t do that because she will get mad at me for not wanting to watch them. I’m not getting paid for it either.
It’s always “Well where are (siblings name) supposed to go?”. That’s not a question that I (THE CHILD) should be answering.
Here we go with the issue with money;
As I have said, my mom is the only provider. She makes stable money; enough to pay rent, buy groceries, and maybe something fun once in a blue moon. Whenever I get money (through gifts, doing something for a family member, etc) I hold onto it. I don’t spend my money on food because food is not something I will have the next day. I spend my money on things that I feel are valuable. She knows that I’m not going to make that money back anytime soon. When I have money, she doesn’t like to do ANYTHING for me. These are just examples: “Me: Mom can you pick/drop me off?” “Mom: Don’t you have money?” “Me: Do you have another screen protector? Mine is breaking” “Mom: You have money. Go buy yourself another one”.
There was a time where she expected me to use my money to pay for gas. When I told her that I spent it all, she tried to make me feel guilty.
She treats me very weird when I have my own money. She’s told me that when I have money, I feel like I can do whatever I want.
On top of the money situation, she doesn’t want to drive me anywhere, but is weird when I’m home, complaining that I never do shit. I (only me) always had to hear the phrase “I’m not an Uber”. No, you’re right. You’re not an Uber… you’re a parent.
Didn’t even want to take me to the DMV to get my permit. Regardless of whether or not I had a car, I finished drivers education last April and could have been had my license since 2023.
My business, what my mom and I go through, is also being aired out. She talkes to her mom (my grandma) all the time. Honestly, my grandma is a bitch because for someone who is not in my life—someone who was present in my life, but was not actively helping when she was needed, she feels that she can talk to me any kind of way. On a disrespectful level.
My mom says that I need to learn how to be independent, but won’t give me that leisure of being independent.
One thing that she tries to do is shame me for “acting like a female”. We are black Americans. I don’t appreciate how because I’m not that type of a guys-guy (likes physically playing sports, getting dirty, etc) she tries to make me feel bad.
I went to my cousin’s house yesterday (Fri 5/17/24). I asked her if it was cool that I go and she said yeah. She asked me what time I was leaving, and I thought she was dropping me off. She alluded (getting loud and talking to herself (indirectly talking to me)) to not dropping me off.
So, I ask her if it was okay if she could get me an Uber, it was only 20$. Her phone is always around, she saw the text, but did not want to open it. I go upstairs to her room to ask in person, and she gets all crazy with me because she doesn’t “have Uber money” and “I set this thing up and I should have figured it out”. Yes, she went to work that day, but for my sister, my mom will pick up or drop her off anytime. So, why doesn’t she do the same for me? Regardless of me being older.
She decided to have kids. When a person decides to have kids, its not just that, its about deciding to be a parent. You made a commitment that for the rest of your life (yes for the rest of your life), you are going to care for this human being.
My cousin ended up paying for my Uber (which I did not want her to do because that’s not her place), which was nice of her. I told my sister to tell me mom that I was leaving. She did that.
I go outside and my mom texts me These are the exact words:
Her “So you walked out the door with no in leaving or anything”
Me “I asked Ever to tell you because the Uber is here right now”
Her “Wow you didn’t ask” “I don’t appreciate you doing what you want and then not responding like you grown just remember you need me”
I don’t know what her fucking problem is, but it’s pissing me off, and I’m doing my best to put my mindset in “This is not forever thing”
I’ve been thinking (wanting) to move out of my mom’s house and live with my cousins; hopefully staying in the garage. I’m not sure. I don’t argue with my mom because arguing is so tiring. I’m nonchalant in the way of, if she’s getting crazy with me, I remain calm, and I don’t say a word. This kind of pisses her off more.
She’s used the phrase before “You’re going to need me before I need you” What do you mean by that?? Are you saying that you don’t need me??
You know why I’m dependent on you?—- because IM A MINOR YOUR CHILD
I want to leave because I hate it here. Yeah, I have good moments with her, but I cannot live with her any longer. I just don’t want her to look at me as selfish because I upped and left. She often says that I don’t think about anyone else but myself. Well, I was an only child, then she had other children, I still feel like an only child. But, that’s just me.
I’m tired of having to be a second parent, not having any money, not being able to go out, and getting blame for something someone else did(n’t) do,
Please let me know if I am in the wrong.

I wrote a post recently that REALLY upset the trolls (I was getting downvotes almost instantly, i.e. they didn't even read the very long post). Therefore, I'm going to keep sharing this clearly very needed perspective. The more they hate it, the more you know it's getting closer to the truth.
Just like I am male-defeatist (I don't believe men will ever change. In fact, I think they'd like us to keep going from wave to wave of feminism, in the hopeless attempt to fix them. Evidence for this is liberal feminism, which was obviously created for their benefit), I'm also defeatist about human interaction in general.
I have come to realise that other people are the obstacle to happiness. I imagine that 99% of people will disagree with that statement when expressed in a serious way (they might agree when they think it's a flippant joke). This is ironic, given that humans seem to have an insatiable appetite for creating societies that cause maximum misery to the greatest number of people.
Therefore, they would like you to have no means of escape. Separatist movements have always been bastardised (clearly, because they actually threaten order). You may not even describe your miseries, let alone expect meaningful change, AND you can never attempt to leave. You are a toy of someone else to do with as they please.
I'm sometimes very saddened by the number of women who don't understand that feminism had to be thought for just as a concept. It's progress just for something to be seen as a concept - systemic, not just a collection of individual accounts that are the fault of the woman. Many don't seem to understand that e.g. marital r*pe and the age of consent are relatively new concepts - concepts that were seen as 'crazy' before they were created. Women have to deal with horrors right now that will (at least I hope), become 'concepts' in the future.
Why do I mention this? Look at how much effort has to go into even LEGITIMISING the RIGHT to just talk about misery (without being called hysterical, dramatic or have one of those eye roll-inducing phrases "that's just the way it is"). Man-made misery. And still nothing has come of it - we objectively live in a worse world now than our mothers in many ways. Humans are addicted to the patriarchy, it seems. Most women now are unintentionally allies to the patriarchy by supporting liberal, 3rd wave 'feminism'. Do you really think people are any different when it comes to other misery-inducing aspects of the world?
Unfortunately, even radical feminists seem to think this is all just 'socialised'. I've even seen some describe permanent separatism as 'fascism' - oh, the irony. It is not my job to fix men, nor do I have to endure living with them while they choose to remain wholly unfixed. This is why I don't buy the idea that people are not inherently the obstacle to happiness because all these power structures are socialised - okay, cool, so go unlearn them. In the meantime, I'll be off. These people would love to keep us in a perpetual, almost certainly fruitless, loop of trying to educate people who know very well what they're doing. No, it's up to people to convince us that they've changed, not vice versa.
People don't seem to understand that there's no need to socialise inherently. Humans become miserable when they don't socialise, yes; but we are unusual compared to other beings. We've evolved to 'need' to socialise because it was evolutionary. That makes sense. We become 'miserable' because our body is literally perceiving that we are going to die. However, in the modern world, there is no need to socialise - these fears are akin to a phobia. There is no threat.
What's also akin to a phobia is the unconscious desire to pass on your genes. I think most humans can rationalise that it doesn't matter whether your genes are passed on, especially since our planet is going to die in 'x' billion years anyway. None of this matters. Your time alive and happiness are all that matter. If you're very maternal, adopt, as I might.
Both evolution-created desires - to pass on one's genes and to socialise - are not real. They're just 'real' because our genes (and therefore brains) have told us they are real. When it comes to socialising, we're running away from a fake threat (the threat of death) towards the lion's den.
This is why I have hope for AI robots. If what we're told is true, one day they might be just like real people. Assuming that they don't actually act like humans 2.0 - that we can program them to be UNLIKE what we're escaping - this would be a great move for separatism. There's certainly more hope with this avenue than trying to convince people to create gene therapy to 'turn off' the 'need to socialise' genes. But hey, they're too busy creating sex robots first - because a man's desires always come first.
How does all of this link to antinatalism?
We're born into a body that's against us from the very start. We're programmed to survive, not be happy. It's additionally farcical that a lot of those survival mechanisms aren't required in the modern world, and are actually very unhelpful. Currently, the 'benefits' from socialising are not worth it, compared to the phobia we have of dying without it, yet we continue to. Additionally, it's too horrible to bring a child into the world but we continue to because of our programming.
Because we're programmed to survive, we all come to have different, opposing agendas. This is clearest when it comes to anything described as a 'market' - i.e. the dating 'market' or the jobs 'market'. And just like capitalism (the 'market'), all of this creates untold misery that eventually becomes more inefficient and a net negative to the majority of people than a socialist system.
Think about how unnecessarily misery-inducing and inefficient the dating market is: take 2 people who are deemed 'unattractive' by our socialised beauty standards. I don't like talking about being in such ways (attractive/unattractive), but to provide structural analysis I have to talk in patriarchal terms unfortunately. Most people want connection - the majority aren't aromantic or asexual - but we reject connection from people we have compatible personalities with because of these unnecessary socialised beauty standards, combined with our evolutionary 'need' to pass on 'fit' genes - i.e. we don't want our children to also be rejected connection. We assume that these beauty standards will be the same for the next generation, which is often accurate (or they just get worse).
Eventually, these beauty standards (or just standards for people to not be rejected connection, doesn't have to be beauty - it could be intelligence, success, etc.) will become so great that it is not worth bothering trying to connect. This has already started to happen - women are 'going their own way', and quite rightly so. As the patriarchy continues to march forward, stomping on our happiness, the beauty standards/gender role expectations will become ever greater, and our treatment increasingly worse (because these are not just concepts in media - it's propaganda that objectively affects how we're treated by every man), more and more women will see that it's not worth it. The downsides and risk will continue to pile up against the supposed 'benefits' - like they even need to get worse.
Therefore, it is not worth being natalist because the world in its current state is hostile to happiness. We have a loneliness epidemic because people are not reaching out, due to the anticipation of being treated poorly and because of capitalism (not having the money to buy a house and raise children). Socialised or genetic? I don't know. I don't care. It's not changing anytime soon either way.
I'm going to assume that people are going to call this 'crazy' or start with the im14andthisisdeep predictable comebacks. I don't care - I've never read such a nuanced, genuinely deep analysis such as this. Autistic people are always at the forefront of social change. This is another reason I'm people-defeatist - all the people in the world, and I still have to create my own 'media', as such, because no one else is out there saying what I'm thinking. I can't find anything that isn't wishy-washy and just meh online or in books.
I'm also going to assume that people think I'm 'salty' from being rejected, given that a lot of this is about the 'dating market'. Please think what you want, I know I'm pretty lol. I got engaged when I was 18. And no, I've never been cheated on. This is called having empathy for other people & recognising that the system is stupid on so many levels. Besides, as standards continue to rise (and they will), the people who were previously calling us 'salty' or 'crazy' will start to change their tune.
Final note:
A little while later, I realised that this could be compared to inceldom, because I'm talking about beauty standards and giving up on the opposite sex/people in general. I find these comparisons to inceldom in general hilarious - please, please keep your sex! You couldn't pay me to have it lol.
Incels are men who don't want to get rid of beauty standards whatsoever, only for men - or just for them. Go on any incel forum and you'll see men discussing how women look - women much more beautiful than themselves - in the most brutal terms. This is why Margot Robbie was infamously deemed 'mid' by men on the internet, as a backlash to the hilariously-fruitless 'feminist' Barbie movie. Incels also aren't talking in terms of connecting with others - it's just about sex. It's always about sex with men.

I visited the Bay Area for the first time recently and was able to hit up Trader Vic’s, Smuggler’s Cove, and Last Rites.
First crazy take: TV at lunchtime was probably my favorite. This probably had to do with the heightened emotions from what I was doing before my visit, and also just the fact that I’m not a super fan of late night bar experiences, especially solo. The other two were definitely cool and I would do them again in a heartbeat.
Second crazy take: I got the Mai Tai from TV. It was really good!! But it also tasted like the one amateur me has made at home with Appleton Signature.
Am I just being crazy/disrespectful? Am I too much of an amateur to really soak it all in?