Alien madness interactivelien madness

Summary: we were on vacation visiting my sisters a little while ago and my 3yo son was asking someone to play with him.
"In a minute, bud!"
"Just a sec honey we're making dinner."
That's when my niece (5yo) comes up to him and says "no one wants to play with you!" Of course we didn't hear that. Only later when he was sad and mentioned it.
Now whenever he wants to play and we are busy, he BURSTS into tears and says "no one wants to play with me!!" Even if we just got DONE playing with him.
He never said that prior to her teasing him. And now he's conscious of us not playing with him rather than just going and doing his own thing.
It's too late to say something, but the damage continues to show.
I'm just pissed off. Idk.

I own easily over 500 4K Blu-Rays, so I know what I am talking about. My UB820 player recently broke, and gone with it was the ability to adjust brightness and light levels. I streamed HoD and thought that it was way too dark. I watched the first episode on my UB820 and didn't notice anything off, but that's because my UB820 had its HDR brightness optimizer enabled.
Movies like The Abyss, Terminator 2, etc. have awful post-processing and other effects that degrade image quality...but in this case...I LITERALLY CAN'T SEE SHIT!
I've now been watching HoD on my consoles (Series X and PS5), and it just awful. According to some experts, the average ambient brightness of some scenes is ONE NIT. That is not a typo, I used letters to spell it out. Dear God, I literally can't see shit. I've turned on the Dynamic Contrast to its highest levels and so many scenes are still so ineligible. What the actual fuck? People complained to HBO about this several times before the 4ks were released and they claimed that it were entirely intentional. This is MADNESS.

Do your tastes in fiction run a bit darker than most? Do you find yourself rooting for the bad guys in movies? Do you enjoy a good tragedy over a happy ending? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, this post is for you.
If you're anything like me, you've probably found yourself chasing the Abercrombie dragon after completing The First Law, standalones, and The Age of Madness trilogy, only to find that nothing else quite scratches that grimdark itch. Whether it's Joe's unforgettable characters, sharp dialogues, or epic battles, there's just something missing from other offerings in the genre.
So, as a thanks to all the authors of various recommendation threads from which I've picked up some wonderful books, I've put together this list to share where my wanderings have taken me and to hopefully point others like me in the right direction.
In no particular order:

1. Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb (fb: Royal Assassin, Assassin's Quest)
2. Dune - Frank Herbert (fb: Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune...)
3. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
4. Blood Meridian - Cormac McCarthy
5. The Shadow of the Torturer - Gene Wolf (fb: The Claw of the Conciliator, The Sword of the Lictor, The Citadel of the Autarch)
6. The Black Company - Glen Cook (fb: Shadows Linger, The White Rose, Shadow Games, Dreams of Steel, The Silver Spike, Bleak Seasons, She Is the Darkness, Water Sleeps, Soldiers Live...)
7. Heroes Die - Matthew Stover (fb: Blade of Tyshalle)
8. Theft of Swords - Michael J. Sullivan (fb: Rise of Empire, Heir of Novron)
9. The Darkness That Comes Before - R. Scott Bakker (fb: The Warrior Prophet, The Thousandfold Thought, The Judging Eye, The White-Luck Warrior, The Great Ordeal, The Unholy Consult)
10. Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence (fb: King of Thorns, Emperor of Thorns)
11. Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson (fb: Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, House of Chains, Midnight Tides, The Bonehunters, Reaper's Gale, Toll the Hounds, Dust of Dreams, The Crippled God)
12. Blood Song - Anthony Ryan (fb: Tower Lord, Queen of Fire)
13. Metro 2033 - Dmitry Glukhovsky (fb: Metro 2034, Metro 2035)
14. Red Rising - Pierce Brown (fb: Golden Son, Morning Star, Iron Gold, Dark Age, Lightbringer...)
15. The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell (fb: Enemy of God, Excalibur)
16. The Traitor Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson (fb: The Monster Baru Cormorant, The Tyrant Baru Cormorant...)
17. Horus Rising - Dan Abnett (fb: False Gods, Galaxy in Flames)
18. Xenos - Dan Abnett (fb: Malleus, Hereticus, Ravenor...)
19. Red Sister - Mark Lawrence (fb: Grey Sister, Holy Sister)
20. The Ember Blade - Chris Wooding (fb: The Shadow Casket)
21. Priest of Bones - Peter McLean (fb: Priest of Lies, Priest of Gallows, Priest of Crowns)
22. The Conspiracy Against the Human Race - Thomas Ligotti (fb: Songs of a Dead Dreamer)
23. Kings of Paradise - Richard Nell (fb: Kings of Ash, Kings of Heavan)
24. Empire of Silence - Christopher Ruocchio (fb: Howling Dark, Demon in White, Kingdoms of Death, Ashes of Man, Disquiet Gods)
25. We Are the Dead - Mike Shackle (fb: A Fool's Hope, Until the Last)
26. The Black Prism - Brent Weeks (fb: The Blinding Knife, The Broken Eye, The Blood Mirror, The Burning White)
27. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City - K.J. Parker (fb: How to Rule an Empire and Get Away with It, Practical Guide to Conquering the World)
28. Blackwing - Ed McDonald (fb: Ravencry, Crowfall)
29. A Game of Thrones - George R. R. Martin (fb: A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons...)
30. The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks (fb: Shadow's Edge, Beyond the Shadows)
31. Chasing Graves - Ben Galley (fb: Grim Solace, Breaking Chaos)
32. Soul Hunter - Aaron Dembski-Bowden (fb: Blood Reaver, Void Stalker)
33. Berserk - Kentaro Miura
34. Beyond Redemption - Michael R. Fletcher (fb: The Mirror's Truth, Swarm and Steel)
35. The Warded Man - Peter V. Brett (fb: The Desert Spear, The Daylight War, The Skull Throne, The Core)
36. The Barrow - Mark Smylie (fb: Black Heart)
37. Winterbirth - Brian Ruckley (fb: Bloodheir, Fall of Thanes)
38. Scourge of the Betrayer - Jeff Salyards (fb: Veil of the Deserters, Chains of the Heretic)

If you enjoyed this list, please drop some recommendations! I'm always hunting for more quality grimdark.

So my sister, F19, and I, F20, are pretty close with one another, enough to go out with each other on the weekends and lending each other our things. This past weekend my sister was going out on a date and asked me to help her out and get ready. I happily obliged as I want the best for my sister and she seemed pretty excited. One of the things I did was let her borrow a pair of Converse that I admittedly don't wear too often but are fairly expensive nonetheless. I figured that I shouldn't be too worried because my sister takes care of things that she borrows so I could let her use some of my more expensive things as it was an expensive restaurant they were going to. As she doesn't live with me I told her to just bring the shoes back whenever she could. Well today her and her boyfriend came to return my shoes but when she returned the shoes she told me that the strap tore off of it and showed me. When I looked at it I saw that the strap hadn't been completely torn off but it was unrepairable. I looked at her bc and got mad, asking how it happened as I've had them for a bit and the strap shouldn't just tear like it did, and that it had to have been from neglect. Both her and her boyfriend denied that but didn't say a reason as to how it was almost completely torn off. Still fuming I told her that if she ever wanted to borrow my stuff again she'd have to pay for a new pair of shoes to replace mine. They both got mad saying that I hardly ever wore them and it was an accident and that I shouldn't be so mad about it or ruin our relationship because of it before they left my house. So am I being an asshole

I’ve developed hard trust issue just because they keep lying for no damn reason. Every time I ask them to do something for me they either one don’t do it or two do the complete opposite of what I told them. Example A: There was a school trip happening at my school and I asked if I can go they said yes and I even suggested they should let me get a job the beginning of the year so by the time the trip started I’ll have enough to fully cover it. They said don’t worry about they’ll have the money come 2 weeks before the deadline of the trip they told me to forget about it because they didn’t have the money. I was so livid I missed out on an good opportunity because they can’t just let me get a damn job to afford the trip and the only reason they said they can afford is because they have some weird pride that their rich or something but can’t even afford common school expenses. Example B: When they finally let me get a job, I worked my ass off for a year to save money for a car that I really wanted just a simple 2012 Chevy Malibu that they said I can get with my money. When I finally saved enough money they got mad at me for even suggesting that I’ll be even be able to buy my car by myself because I don’t know anything and that I should give them my money to hold on so later they can combine with whatever money to buy me a brand new car. MIND YOU I never fucking asked for a new car I specifically said that I wanted that car over and over again a simple ass sedan. When ever I bring up the issue with my car or say that just put the money back into my account they get mad at me and say I should never bring it up again. Then one day they decided to bring home an ugly ass SUV and say that I should just drive till they have enough money for a brand new 2023 car for me.
That whole car situation pissed me off because I had the money to buy what I want and I had everything laid out to the expense so that’ll be able to save enough money for it and they just took it to buy some stupid car that I never asked for or wanted. Now thousands of dollars and year of my life is gone and I’m stuck with an ugly ass car. Why do African people do this every single time I have something planned out they always make it ten times worse or do everything in their power to prevent me from do it. But whenever they need money and I say I have nothing for them (which is true) they get mad at me and call me stingy, ungrateful, wicked, etc. and start rambling how they don’t even need my ‘small money’ I’m making. I swear they have to be jealous of me or something there is no reason for a parent to do they’re absolute best to make their child’s life harder. I’m so done and tired with this stupid manipulative bullshit I’m moving out the minute I turn 18 and getting the damn car I want.

Basically as the title states. My son will sometimes hug me and touch my breasts or when I walk with him I’ll put my arm around his shoulders and he’ll touch my basckside. At first I thought maybe it’s an accident , but then I’d notice it more and more so always correct him sternly when he does this. A couple of times I’ve gotten mad at him and yelled but his response would be of genuine confusion. Amy other mom deal with this ? Is this normal , perhaps he’s just curious ? Idk but it makes me very uncomfortable and even after getting told not to do it he still occasionally does it .

I'm looking for a book which included a side plot in which a farm owner (or possibly worker) gets upset at a manufacturer of farming machines. He wants to make a formal complaint and starts to work up the chain of command from his local dealer to that dealer's supplier, to the manufacturer to the executives of the company. He keeps finding that the person responsible for the initial thing he wanted to complain about always seems to be one step up until eventually he is left complaining to the abstract concept of a corporation.
I think I read this book in high school and it was considered a "classic" or at least a commonly taught book. I at first thought it was of mice and men but I couldn't find any synopses which mentioned such a side story. I thought it could also be a Kurt Vonegut book as I was reading a bit of his stuff at the time but I couldn't find anything there either.

I’m not sure how much attention this will get or if I’ll do this right, because I don’t think I’ve ever really made a public apology like this, but still, here goes.
Exactly 121 days ago(according to my post, which has now been deleted), I made a post on CringePurgatory, titled “If ‘punchable’ was a person”, and it showed a YT short from the channel “The McFive Circus”. The post managed to attain over 2.1K upvotes before being taken down, but I did receive plenty of comments by people who, putting it lightly, were really rubbed the wrong way with my usage of the word “punchable” to describe a child. These comments made me realize how crappy of a thing that was, not only because I advocated for violence against children, but some users also pointed out that Isabel was most likely innocent, and that she was being coerced into making the video by her parents. Looking back, I wholeheartedly agree. And honestly, seeing these comments made me feel a lot worse, because not only did I call a kid “punchable”, but I was also getting mad at a most likely innocent person, which made me feel like even more of an asshole.
So, overall, I wanted to apologize for my poor choice of words, as well as my misdirection of my hatred
Here’s the short if you guys wanted to see it for yourselves. Also, the comments used to be turned on before I made my post, but they seem to have been disabled now. Hopefully it’s not because of my post, though I doubt they saw it.

So my partner and I have been in our current apt for about 4 years. We had a new upstair neighbor move in about 1year ago. Right away I began noticing tons of cigarette butts and ash on my balcony. For the first few weeks or so I would sweep them up myself (I dont like confrontation) but eventually it started getting worse, cigarette butts, lit cigarettes(one of which burned a hole in our chair cushion, a major fire hazard), teeth flossers, food items and other trash. Once when they were out on their deck my fiance shouted up to them, "can you please stop dumping your stuff down here?" They later talked to us and said they accidentally dropped them but we really didnt buy that because there were so many and the variety of stuff that was there. Fast forward to a couple months ago, we began seeing large bags full of trash being thrown down into the woods below often times trash would fall out of the bags and land on our porch. We were also getting tons of dry ceral on our porch(our balconies face thick woods with a creek about 100ft below) anyways we saw this happening pretty often, atleast once a week. We asked them again to please stop throwing trash. They denied it claiming they never threw trash, they're the top floor so unless someone is living on the roof, its them. I would also like to include that our downstairs neighbor also gets tons of garbage, cigarettes and cereal on their balcony. They are just as frustrated as we are. Anyways the upstairs completely denied throwing trash ever. The evidence is visible by looking down off our balcony. Bags, trash all kind of stuff. Plus our downstairs neighbor and us have seen it being thrown with our own eyes. The downstairs neighbor got really mad and went up and full on yelled at them. I dont condone this but I was really hoping they would finally stop. They had this big dramatic reaction, "OH im SO sorry! I had NO idea, it'll NEVER happen again!" Cue the next day we see trash being thrown off again, with some landing on our balcony. I finally sent a complaint to our apt manager because it was very frustrating and I was tired of interacting with them. That leads us to today. My partner and I get back from a date and they're outside packing things. They say to us, "just so you know Ive been given a 30 day notice to vacate, I told you I didnt throw anything."
Im really shocked. I didnt want them to get kicked out. More a fine or stern talking to just so they would finally stop. Before them we had a literal meth lab up there that management wouldn't do anything about. So im really dumbfounded that they would kick someone out over this. I never meant for this to happen and I feel really bad.

How do you get over the guilt that comes with the second child? Or is it just me?
Guilty that I can’t give my first as much attention as he’s used to and guilty that I can’t give my second as much attention as I gave my first.
I feel like my newborn spends so much time in her bassinet while with my first I held him all day. I feel so guilty like she’ll think I don’t love her. Probably irrational but skin to skin is a real thing with babies.
I’ve tried a carrier with her but I’m worried she’ll get hurt - my son is 3 and he has had some regressions with his sister coming along - more hitting, kicking, biting, not listening, pooping in his underwear, just generally acting out etc etc. I feel like I’m playing defense the entire time I’m alone with them - today he got mad I couldn’t get him something bc I was breastfeeding his sister and so he ran up and tried to pull her hair and then when I pushed his hand away he tried to slap her head and I pushed him away harder and then he grabbed my hair to pull and was dragging my head down whilst I’m trying to feed her and I yanked him off and yanked on his hair… he started bawling… I feel like such an awful mom. I apologized and we talked about it but idk. How do others do this?? How do you protect your newborn from a younger child while simultaneously keeping both of them alive?
He’s not in daycare, we have a part time nanny but she will be ending with us in two weeks bc my son will be starting preschool, but he doesn’t start preschool until the end of August.
I’m 4 weeks postpartum. Luckily my little girl is so far pretty chill - much more than my son was at her age - but I’ve resorted to quickly feeding her and then putting her back in her bassinet to keep him away from her. But then I feel awful she’s alone in her bassinet all day and night except when I’m feeding her. She’s so sleepy it’s not like she plays much yet.
And then of course I feel awful that my firstborn is so clearly struggling with this change. I’m tired and although we try to do one fun thing a day, we definitely aren’t on the go like we used to be and I simply can’t give him my undivided attention.
In general just feel like I’m failing both of them and like a really shit mom 😭
Any suggestions? Does this get better or easier at all? Am I ruining my newborn? Am I ruining my son?

Bashing trump is mandatory here. Wanna have a conversation about basketball? Nope. Football? No, not talking about trump enough. Video games? Forget about it buddy you didn’t put “fuck trump” anywhere in your convo.
Wanna point out weaknesses of Biden? You’re a Russian troll.
Criticize the current sitting president? You’re obviously a trumper. And you’re brainwashed and drank the maga juice, possibly racist too who hates queer people as well.
If you’re any of the above people For the love of God. Go the fuck outside. Touch grass. Go to a gym, consistently. Stay off line please. It’s literally ruining your mental health. Some of you WANT to be mad at something and wonder why you’re fucking depressed. You wonder why you’re fucking sad is because you just look at your little depression squares you have in your pockets and SEEK OUT depressing news to complain about depressing things.
Some of you repeat THE SAME DAMN CYCLE EVERY DAY, and have the balls to ask yourself “why am I so mentally unwell” well dummy it’s because you’re literally doing the definition of insanity….. every day. And expect shit to change (it won’t) for fucks sake yall scroll thru threads like this and think it’s ok for your sanity…. Log off and go find a purpose for your life please.

All I can remember is about 2 kids playing in like a desert or hot environment and one falls down a deep hole and the dad or grandpa is unable to get them out since it's a really deep hole. So all they can do is drop food to keep the kid alive and later on they stop giving food since it's no use but the other kid keeps dropping food even after the adult gets mad and tells them not too

Day 48 of qotsa March Madness! Today's matchup is a battle of two heavyweights, Regular John vs I Think I Lost My Headache. Like always, if y'all don't know the rules, read the background below!
Background:
Hey guys! As it is March, in the College Basketball world, it is March Madness, and as a Basketball fanatic and a qotsa fanatic, I thought that bringing the two together for the subreddit would be a fun time to pass the time before the band embarks on the Canada/NA Leg! For the 64 songs in the bracket, I took (for the most part) the top 64 most streamed songs on Spotify. Then I did a random generator, generating each seeding. That's why you may see that some of your favorites that didn't make it unfortunately. Every day when the polls expire, I will upload the next matchup. I will have all the brackets linked in each post updated with the scores. May the best song win!
Block A
Block B
Block C
Block D
View Poll