Craftsman 100 table saw

Sorry in advance for the long read ....
So, I have a lot of experience playing Magic. I have a *ton* of cards from ~'94-'99 sets. I would like to start playing again at a reasonably competitive level. One of my sons has caught the bug and we've been having a blast with a few precon EDH decks and a fistful of the "battle decks" from CK.
Sadly, it seems as though CK has stopped actually making battle decks (they've been OOS for ages) and, that's OK. I want to get back into deck building, anyway.
My issue is that "back in my day" we used to just buy boxes of expansions to crack and build with. This, of course, would leave with loads of cruff and dupes I didn't want but, HEY, *that's* how you build a collection, amirite?
I'm informed by numerous sources that this is no longer "the thing to do" and I'm supposed to, instead, get my value by designing a deck (or finding one I want to try) and buying the singles.
Perfect. No sweat. I have a debit card and the internet. I understand the assignment.
Here's where it goes wonky, for me.
I find a deck that I think is about in my price range (let's just say 50 bucks) and I hit the "Buy it at TCGPlayer" button.
Well, now I have 40 different orders, for 60 cards. All charging 1.50-5.00 for shipping and the cards that filled the order aren't the ones I want. They're at the high end of the price guide, or they're from slow sellers, or those with a few negatives. So, now my 50 dollar deck, is going to be 200.
"Fine" says I. I'll go find a few larger stores and see if I can consolidate my orders to them.
No dice. The larger stores that have some of the cards, don't have the majority of others. This works no matter which store I pick.
"Fine" says I. I'll hit up CK, they'll have everything in one spot. But, CK is 50-100 percent higher on every card. Even with free shipping, my 50 dollar deck, is going to be 200.
So, really, how do you fine folks do it? How do you get the 50 bucks worth of cards for *around* 50-60 bucks?
I'm about to just go buy 350 dollars of EDH precons and call it a day, even if it doesn't help my collection the way I want it to (and even if EDH isn't my favorite format, or my kid's favorite). Or just buy three boxes of play boosters, even if I can't build the decks I want out of them.
Can y'all drag me into the new century and explain what I'm missing in my process, please?
I honestly enjoyed the value that 12 bucks worth of CK decks brought to the table. But, I can't get that kind of stuff anymore (apparently) and it's really not a great way to get a bunch of cards to brew with.

Content Warning: Blood and personal injury related content
(For the Reader: having grown up with Mr. Turner, I know his parents very well and this is a story that can be confirmed 100%. Medical records, receipts from the little league that year, scars...If you knew Mr. Turner you would know how deeply this incident effected him and still does to this day. He rarely shares this story with any one and this is the first time he has ever told it from this perspective. Somewhat like regression therapy. It was hard to hear my good friend tell this story. You would never know the difficult things he has encountered in his life because of his good nature and high spirited, out going personality.)
1996
Baseball.
Americas pastime.
I wipe the sweat from my brow as the sun stares down. The bill of my ballcap is rendered useless as the sun is just above eye level. I'm only playing catch with my buddy Dan, but it's a fun challenge. Were playing along the first base line just off the field.
It is the end of the season and me and my team are having a Banquet to celebrate our run in the final tournament. We dominated all summer. We were second in the league only but only because we missed one of the first couple games.
Chicken pox.
I'm only 8 but I'm good at the game. I was constantly overhearing the other adults making comments back and forth "He's a natural!", "'Raw talent' in that one" some would say.
My dad taught me everything I know. He was a coach himself and had played since he was a boy. He even took me to see a few Mariners games at the the 'King Dome'. Edgar Martinez, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner...Ken Griffey Jr! They were living legends. Baseball was my thing.
Dan tossed the ball to me and I held my glove just below eye sight. I adjusted my body a little and 'THWAP' the ball struck the palm of my mitt. "Good Throw Dan. Excellent aim!" I say scooping the ball up with my free hand. I warn "Comin' in HOT!" as I wrenched my arm back and unloaded a fastball in his direction.
'THWAAP!'
"Good catch!"
I was having a blast. I couldn't wait to eat! The adults were setting up the food tables.
"Pop Fly!" Screamed Dan as he launched the ball into the sun.
The food smelt so good. I hadn't eaten at all that day just so I could have room for everything. Mac n Cheese, mashed potatoes', BBQ chicken, burgers, dogs. My mouth watered in anticipation. I was planning on eating like a king this evening.
I was so lost in the smell that I hadn't heard the warning cries from a couple adults. I was trying to stay ahead of that ball. I couldn't really see it but I knew its flight path. It would come into view and I'll be right under it.
Just as the ball finally came into view I could see I was right under it. I reached my hand up in time for the ball to fall right into the leather.
Before I could relish in my victory emulating catch, I'm jarred with such stopping force my head hurts. I'm beyond confused as my vision is not working correctly. Everything is dizzying and hard to make out or focus. The pain in my head was getting mor intense and more precise. My hearing was impaired to a degree. It sounded like I was under and I could hear screaming but it was muffled.
I tried to speak but I was incapable. I realized at that moment that the pain was radiating from my mouth. I let out a deep groan in panic and pain. My eyes were swelling up with tears but my vision came to and I'm tangled in the aluminum side line bleachers.
The cold metal shocked the rest of my body's senses back into order and I fall back to the ground as my dad fly's from out of no where to console me. The pain was so intense at this point and I felt like I was drooling a lot. As painful as this was it was also extremely embarrassing. I couldn't control my bodily functions properly. Trying to walk would have been impossible had my mom not made it to me. Some how she levitated me away from the impact site.
I passed one of my teammates and saw the look of horror in his face as he pointed at me and said "I've never seen that much blood in my life!"
My eyes widened as I look down at my hands cupped under my mouth to see the thickest red syrup like liquid I've seen this close. Bright red flooded my hand like an overflowing tube. My mouth was like a leaky sink dripping into a bucket. The sun light pierced it causing it to shimmer vibrantly. Mesmerizing!
Unfortunately I didn't get to eat like a king that evening and wouldn't even eat normal for the next few weeks and months with all the surgeries.
(Final Notes: Thank you for reading. -Dev)

A strange wish, a very unpopular one lol. Even for me, to seriously think and say like wow I literally don't know what my parents look like is weird.
If you look through my post history its apparent I have tons of issues with my appearance. These issues mainly stem from experiences, but I'm beginning to think that the general unease of not looking like anyone around me plays a big role. Just looking at my own face, always seeing myself as different (regardless of how pretty/ugly I may be) I guess has just been weird. I think that would be 'weird' for anyone right? I don't know if I've ever thought about this stuff meaningfully before. I know the feeling it gives me, but its just hard to identify specifics and such
I wish I knew, mostly, what my mom looked like. Damn this is making me emotional I have literally never thought about it this hard! This is actually crazy typing out 😂 But I want to know what she looked like so bad. I want to know what I got from her, I want to know if we have the same face, if we are the same height. I want to know what my dad looked like, and I so badly want to know if I have bio siblings.. I want to know what traits I inherited from my parents :C I want to know if my (hypothetical) siblings are like me, if we would get along. If I had a little sister, I wonder if she would look up to me. And I wonder if (if they exist) my bio siblings and I are alike? If we have similar personalities. Damn, imagine being able to accurately say "I get x trait from my dad haha" or something! I want to know about my extended family, my aunts and uncles and cousins. I wonder how they would react to me. If they saw me and would be able to recognize me ? I have a discernable birthmark on my face (which I hate), I wonder if one of my parents/sibs have it too. I wonder what music they listen to, and what sports they like. What the house looks like. If they would be proud of me. What they think about my appearance
When I was born they (whoever it was) left me at the orphanage OR they just left me somewhere and the police brought me to the orphanage, I don't know. But they didn't give me pictures or anything or a note. It makes me sad to think about! Then I was adopted at about a year old and brought overseas. It was a one child policy thing in China. And I know I've said this but damn it is SO weird to think about. I ACTUALLY HAVE FAMILIAL LINEAGE. It is actually mind blowing to say that about myself. I guess I've always seen myself as a lone wolf, at least subconsciously I did. I knew I was different but as a child I genuinely don't remember questioning it/wondering about my bio parents (then again I don't remember most of my childhood). I just accepted it yk, I knew I was adopted and that's that.
Even a picture, that would have been great. I wish I was left with something. I guess a note would be more meaningful. I wonder what it was like when they dropped me off? If it was hard for them to do, if they kissed me goodbye, I wonder if they're even alive. What are their occupations, what are my grandparents like? This is making me cry!!! This is crazy. I wonder if my bio parents are funny. I wonder if my dad is a funny old man, if he makes dad jokes. I wonder how they would like my adoptive parents? I wonder how they'd react. They probably wouldn't care lol. I wonder if they were a couple, I want to know how I came to be, and I hope it was not heinous like some sexual abuse or something. I wonder what my life would be if I wasn't given up, but I am almost 100% sure my quality of life where I live now is better than from where I came from, it didn't seem like a very affluent place. Yuck (I can't believe I've never done this before?), when you search up the city I came from literally all of the stuff is about dog meat... 🤢🤢 no patriotism from me lol
I really really do wonder how my bio parents would react to me now, and to my adoptive parents. If they would get along. I so wonder how they would feel if they saw me, if I would get a hug or something. I wonder how I would have been raised if I hadn't been given away. I think that they would be happy that I was adopted to a financially stable family as I assume they weren't. I wonder if they would like my voice, and if I'd like theirs. I want to know how tall they are!! People ask me that a lot. I wonder if they'd judge me for being so whitewashed, lol. I wonder how my AP would react to BP... wow. My adoptive dad probably couldn't even face my bio dad, he hates the idea I'm 'not his'. I wonder if my adoptive parents have ever thought about this? I wonder if my A mom would like my bio mom. If they'd judge each other.
I have also recently been looking into doing a 23andme sort of thing. I mostly want it because I want to know what my ethnicity is, if I'm fully chinese, because literally no one thinks (guesses) I am. I also want to post myself on rphenotypes because I guess I have a weird fixation on people guessing where I'm from lol. I don't know why. Maybe it makes me feel whole, someone saying I look like I belong somewhere (even tho no one guesses right lol). I am sure the test would not provide answers as to who my bio parents are, I haven't even considered that and I'm not going to get my hopes up. Plus, maybe it's something I don't want to know. It's funny, what triggered this is me looking at pictures of supermodels siblings and thinking about how interesting genetics are, how you see your parents and siblings and family in yourself. Then I'm like damn lol I cannot relate
Also, what does 'adoption correction' mean? I see a flair labeled that. And also I sometimes say 'parents' and I sometimes say 'bio parents' when referring to my bio parents so sorry if I made it confusing. If anyone even read. Lol

im not sure when else to fit this in but this was when i (F19) was 17. well to start, to say "i went," was an understatement. my parents came into my room at 12 am on a sunday night with school the next day and said "we need to talk" followed by "we're sending you away." and within 3 hours i was on a flight across the country with 0 idea on where i was heading with 2 people i had never met before. but before i get into all of that ill start from the beginning and give some back story; im not going to lie, i was a shit kid. i stole from my parents, anything from alcohol to money to their vapes. i snuck out on multiple occasions, i lied (A LOT). and this all sounds like typical teenage behavior until you factor in the serious mental health issues (depression, anxiety, etc) and serious drug use. and less important but i had straight A's until my behavior got worse and i started failing almost every class. so although my parents were epitome of helicopter parents, i cannot completely blame my parents for sending me where they did, especially after exhausting every other option they could think of, this was their last resort. now back to me on a flight, my brain was exhausted and didnt want to fight anymore after i had screamed and cried about going for an hour straight so i slept both flights i got on, i barely remember going through the airports. i lived in the midwest at the time, never travelled west before and was never told where i was going, so imagine my surprise when i wake up in texas, i get on another flight, wake up again in colorado. ill spare the boring details but at this point i was filled in on what was happening and told id be joining my group in just a few hours then we'd all head to utah together. at this point im still getting fast food and the adults im travelling with are letting me pick the music in the car (little did i know this was like last time id experience anything "normal" like that for the next 100 days). now i join my group and it goes well, everyone is accepting and nice enough. we get to dinner, oh god, i think i cried bc it was just straight up burnt instant mashed potatoes. everyone else here was used to that, the last thing i ate just 4 hours ago was a chipotle burrito and a chocolate chip cookie. i know i sound like a drama queen but i did get used to it, eventually and things werent that bad once you figured out the tricks to make it better. and i know im making all of this sound like i was pretty unbothered but trust me i was LIVID with my parents. we could send each other a letter once a week, for the first month all i would write is "hi, im doing fine. -(my name)" i probably wouldnt send anything if my camp guides didnt make me. now i know a big question a lot of people have about wilderness therapy programs are "did you get abused?" and the answer to that is no, not at all, and i never saw it happen either. there was a VERY strict no touching at all policy for both staff and kids. and any kid had to be with 3 people at all times (example, if it was a kid and a kid there had to be another staff with them, if there was a kid and a staff there had to another staff or another kid, basically kids couldnt be alone with anyone) it was definitely a legit program and im thankful everyday i did get fortunate to get to go to better one than others. every week we'd go on a hikes and camp at a different spot each night, we'd do that friday- monday. tuesday-thursday we'd do chores, showers, therapy sessions, etc. (yes, one shower a week, we were allowed to take more but we'd have to carry the shower bag and soap on trips with already 40 pound packs, and usually when we were done hiking it was near dark and time for dinner then bed, so i never saw anyone take more than one a week) i dont know how all of this worked or when it clicked in my head that i cant be a little shit anymore but it did. 2 years later i can confidently say my parents and i's relationship has gotten significantly better. i moved out after wilderness bc i had my 18th birthday while there (trust me ik, it sucked, not to mention i also missed halloween, thanksgiving, my dads bday, christmas, and new years,) i moved to the east coast and moving out was probably the best decision, i had broke the news to my parents while in wilderness still, parents/siblings (my brothers stayed home for school) can visit about 2 months in for a few days, i dont think ill ever forget the shock on their faces when i told them i wasnt moving back in after this. i told them i was talking to my therapist about what they called aftercare which was essentially exactly what it sounds like, a place to go after wilderness therapy for more care. my therapist and i had found a place on the east coast and my parents agreed to pay for it, seeing i was doing much better and they wanted to keep it going. after i got there and got access to my phone back, i did what any single newly 18 year old would do and downloaded tinder, within a week i had a date with a guy who after another 2 weeks became my boyfriend. (sounds fast i know, he told me he knew i was the one after he found out i could start a fire without fuel or a match, he's a big outdoorsy guy lmfao, thanks wilderness therapy for teaching me bow drilling?) he was really accepting and understanding of my situation, it was hard to see each other because i was still under strict rules in my aftercare (only allowed to leave for 2 hours a day without reason 24 hours ahead of time) but we made it work until i confided in him i was getting harassed by my roommate there. after that he moved me out with him within a couple weeks even though we hadnt even been with each other 2 months yet. (i say all of this for a reason, you'll see) now i dont know what me and him were thinking because i had just moved and had 0 money to my name, and he would go out of town for trips once a month which worked for him but now his rent and food costs doubled but we were determined to make it work, especially because we wanted to prove my therapist wrong who had said before i moved out of the aftercare house "if and when, because inevitable you will ask your parents for money because you wont be able to do this alone" this aftercare was supposed to help me get things like my GED, a job, my license, or anything else to help me become independent. and, 2 months of being there, they didn't do any of that. i was basically in the same state i showed up in. so yes after moving in with my boyfriend we did struggle for about a month, then i got my GED, then a job and my license process started within 2 months. here i am a year and 3 months after moving in, we have our own place, i still have the same job, i have my license, i have a car, and obviously im still with the same guy. i guess my point of this post were a couple things, 1. parents, please please please do your research before giving someone else complete care of your kid, i have no doubt in my mind that if i was sent somewhere worse for my mental health i would be a lost cause at this point if not worse, it is so extremely important that the '"help" you're giving is actually helpful 2. has any one else gone through something similar? havent met many with the same type of backstory. 3. there is hope and things do get better. and 4. i guess just to share my story.

I want to set server to play with my friend. I try to do it with map AMIO(all maps in one). The server gived me a lots of errors abput assets and spawn tables, i was looking for fix, and saw that cause is hawaiithat use special assets, and u need to install them from workshop. But now, with this assets, i dont have any problem same that in first try, but a lots of vanilla game assets giving me an error. What i can or need to do, to fix this?

Hey team its your relatively lovable bartender here to stamp out some of the shit fires that were 100% our fault...well kinda.
first, we didnt get shit for heads up about layout, the past 2 years have had "leaks" of our maps, so now we dont know where anything is until we are allowed in at 5pm...i didnt know where to take a shit until midnight and I got there at 230 (lots of checking it, waiting, more checkins, security, waiti ng, and more waiting..it was 2.5ish hours of waiting until we were even shown our bars.)
second, the bars were not set up at all minus signage...no tables, no coolers, no ice, no product, no point of sales, we raw dog built that shit in under an hour and a half...but still, by the time we realized how fucked we were it was too late.
third, there were 20 barbacks...total...we had 3 drop from heat exhaustion just in my/my surrounding bars. We did yhe best we could to stock, but we were taking care of them and had no product AND NO FUCKING ICE...LIKE HOW??? whatsoever to even stock, the main company, Levy, fucked us.
fourth, this isnt really relevant, but we were told multiple times that we would be provided tip jars and anyone that brought one would be sent home....well guess what wasnt provided?
I get it, it didnt go great, im on 3 hours sleep and clock in in 2 hours for another 14hr, 1 30min break shift... but I promise we are doing our best and we give a fuck...for example i drove on my last 1/4 tank of gas to drop off a dudes keys that he left at my bar to his hotel front desk(not a brag, but i hope it shows that we care...the company may not, but we do)...we arent supposed to give out ice cups, we (mostly) all will, water is the same, just ask if youre really needing it. if you have an issue i strongly advise to let your voices be heard towards Levy (for not supplying enough product, safe workplace, staff etc) they run it all and then contract out to even shadiesketchier agencies to which I work for, but it all starts with them.
i love you all, please be patient with us...waking up with morning wood alone in a hot car is bad enough, having to read the bummer times had by yall made it way worse.

I'm not a native English speaker so I hope you will look over the grammatical errors.
I came over to her house to have dinner but ended up spending the night but before that as she was cooking, I found a photo on her table and I thought it was us but it was a photo of her with another guy beside it was our photo. I'm not sure why she had it out there but I check the photo 3 times. The first time I was just shocked but I acted normally. She was cooking so she didn't notice me.
I checked it twice and she didn't notice it but she looked like she noticed it and kept it away directly. I think she forgot it and left it out there. This was before we met since the date was written on it. It kinda bothers me but I know it's the past and she was honest that she kinda slept around but didn't expect to get in a relationship.
After that when I met up with her the next time, she asked a questions and I was able to bring it up saying I saw a photo and she misunderstood that I saw it on her phone.
But I explained it and she said she didn't throw it out because she looked pretty and was contemplating whether to throw it or cut it out. But said she'll throw it if I wished for it to be thrown. And she didn't mean for me to see it.
The thing that bothers me is that it was near her bedside table..and I don't know tbh. I want to know some honest opinion or any similar experience.

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

I saw the post about the uses of where 1=1 and that inspired my post about this thing I have used with SQL scripts. It’s a comment hack I do that combines comment lines and comment blocks in scripts... If you do this or find this interesting then leave a comment. Without the sql and just showing the comment lines and blocks these two examples are valid
—/* —*/
/* —*/
First example, any sql between the comment blocks is not actually commented out in the block. Single line comments can do this… 2nd example, this comment block will comment out the sql and the closing comment still works the same as */
I’ve used this in scripts that I’ve shared with call center support that needed to see what an update statement may change before it’s ran. Here’s how with pseudo code
Select * /*
Update d set foo =‘bar’ —*/
From table d where some=‘thing’
Changing the script to then update just takes adding the double dash comment line in front of the Select…
I would be wowed if someone else has used this before from this subreddit.

TLDR: My libido was normal before HRT, but since HRT it's faded away almost completely. My partner is Demisexual and has a higher libido due to their strong feelings for me. How do we mitigate this?
I started HRT about 10 weeks ago. I'm on Estradiol patches, and Progesterone. Idk if there's any correlation here, but I got off of Spironolactone cuz it made me extremely depressed. I start Bicalutamide this week and fingers crossed that this one won't do the same thing to me. I saw another post about Zoladex injections but my doctor insisted those are implants and it wasn't good fit for me.
Content:
It's hard to encapsulate the entirety of what's happening in our relationship into a reddit post as there's complex traumas mixed in, special needs kids, and the usual day to day stressors living in corporate america.
In their experience, it comes off like all I wanna do is play phone games, write music or watch anime all night. We're both switches, but I used to be the main one to initiate. Ive expressed that I believe I'm growing to prefer when they initiate. Which has proved challenging. We're usually either watching my kids, working or running errands all day. This usually leaves being spontaneously spicy during the day off the table most of the time. We have tried table top intimacy games and massage kits but it always seems like I'm not interested in doing them cuz I don't ever bring up that I want to use them. I'm still struggling to understand all these new feelings I'm having during this transition. It's all very overwhelming.
Does anyone here have any experience with losing their libido entirely since starting HRT? Could this have been a Spironolactone thing?

As an aside, I got an incredibly much needed laugh when I saw my firefox thumbnail for this tab labeled as "lgbt:submit". That's hilarious.
I had a few posts on here before, but TLDR; I met someone online (asexual nonbinary dfab who I've emotionally supported getting the meds they need to be more androgynous) who not only helped force open my perception of all things gender related, but also opened up my heart. I eventually asked them out, but they shot me down.... because I'm too masculine.
A few months ago, I got to have another vacation where I got to spend time with this friend, and at one point, I presented the idea: "would you have dated me, if in another world or life time, I could have been your girlfriend?" They gave the correct answer of "you should make that decision for yourself, not for other people". But it certainly got us talking about my gender identity, and apparently "subtle" hints and flags I've apparently been giving off for years.
I have mixed feelings about transitioning. Not on other people; I will FOREVER be an Ally, because Justice shouldn't have asterisks or exceptions. Do no Evil and let people live their lives if they aren't hurting anyone else. And I've seen how effective it can be on folk. Even when I assumed I was 100% straight, I've seen transgirls who absolutely peek my interest. I'm glad science has progressed enough to allow people to push towards living however they want to. Again, I've been supporting my friend in that matter from the bottom of my heart.
On me, I'm very anxious of the idea. I've always been judged on "not being right".
I'm not honest or trust-able enough, while also being too open and forward. I'm not "black" enough while also having faced discrimination for it. I'm not "white" enough despite being raised by the boogie-st white mother possible. (I see myself as multiracial/mixed, with a White-Irish Birthmom, and a Nigerian-French Birthdad). I'm not traditional enough in my views to count as faithful to my religion, despite also defining that as part of who I am. I've always been teased for not being manly enough or being too sensitive... and yet for the first time, seeing myself as a male has finally been something else I don't fit right, either.
So transitioning without it being as "instant"/"complete" as it is in fiction (where a single pill or shot, or outright magic, can complete the change either way overnight, if not instantly), I'm not sure about the idea of giving it a try and "not being enough of a girl", even with estrogen and bottom surgery. Even if I had the support of someone I'd love to spend the rest of my life with, it's still pretty daunting.
...at least when awake and actively thinking about it.
Apparently, I've made comments for years, if not maybe even over decades, that have made my friends question my sexuality and gender.
-discomfort with my body and fitness, and not feeling attractive enough as a man (as well as wondering if my legs and butt can be attractive in ways I didn't think I was supposed to have them be)
-Preferring to play as Female Characters in Video Games.
-Having a wish to be reborn as a girl, for all the fun options in regards to nerd things that I don't have the balls (haha) to do as a boy. Cosplays and jokes and what not. -On that note, being somewhat jealous that it feels like there are more cosplay options for girls in regards to characters and crossplaying than for guys. (as a guy, for example, I could only be Ganondorf. As a girl, I could probably still pull off Ganondorf, or also be sexy-femme Ganondorf too.)
-imagining myself in said alternate life, as the buff yet curvy amazonian friend/girlfriend to my dream twinky nerdy partner
-joking that the two of us could just switch bodies and make both of us happier (apparently it's easier to access Estrogen than Testosterone, so making me girlier would be easier than them trying to even themselves out)
-having spent years roleplaying online as my own younger sister, enjoying presenting as the opposite gender
-having tried on my sister's bra in middle school (which gave another reason to change for gym in the bathroom, away from the other boys and bullies) because I was uncomfortable with how my fat and chest were feeling
-being bullied for being a sissy and sensitive and a f** and all that, even when I was trying to be a boy (if still nerdy as heck).
-many of my roleplay characters being girls, some of them I've had more fun with than the non-girls (particularly when romance is involved, though I'm a sucker for romance anyway), and being significantly open to non-heterosexual relationships in my roleplay in the past few years
-saying that if I could just be completely body-swapped with like a week of time at most into my dream figure, I'd do it in an instant
-being torn on the idea of bottom surgery unless it was complete, because I'd want the option of being able to have kids one way or another, even if I currently don't want any, and science isn't quite there yet, even with how far it has progressed.
-thinking that if I were in better shape (or a better body) a cute crop top jacket to show off abs sounds unironically neat, and imagining other things I could wear if I didn't have this body.
-joking about how I'd have had more fun when I used to be a sign-spinnedancer, and could have been a waitress rather than a frycook, when I was starting out my jobs...
-I didn't realize it until I started looking back, but there had also been a lot of manga and comics and such involving trans media that I had been following for years, largely M2F.
-it's probably some sort of sexuality flag that I find femme characters or versions of me still willing to be involved with girls or boys, as well as becoming a bit more open about being willing to fall in love with anyone if they're cute and nerdy, at least hypothetically, even if I have a preference for girls. In trying to shake off family values that I find are heavily outdated, I imagined supporting my friend if they became so non-femme their sex also changed... and I might have fantasized about still being with them in that way too.
Is it possible to have all those thoughts rattling around in the back of my head for years (even if magnified when I spend so much time talking with someone very versed in gender related matters) and still be just Cishet?

Hi all,
Returning back to the “main classic” timeline after spending almost a year away from Wrath playing other games and dabbling in SoD & Retail.
I’ve never really paid attention to demographic sites and just picked a realm with my friends that displayed a high population in the realm list.
Returning back for Cataclysm, I’m all alone and have no allegiance to any realm, faction, or character. I won a Twitter giveaway for the Blazing Epic Upgrade, so I decided it’s a good time to start afresh.
I’m on EU servers and went on IronForge.pro and saw Gehennas with around 7.5K players, but 100% Horde, and the rest of the servers around 4K players with a mix of faction balances.
Is the data taken from player log-ins or from something like raid logs ect?
I wanted to know how accurate this is because I’m most likely going to be playing solo and pugging a lot of content in unsociable hours and wanted to pick a realm where I’m not going to struggle too much to find a group.
Is Gehennas the best option, or will other realms likely gain a couple thousand more players on the release of Cata?

Hi, I just turned 17F and so about the main topic today went to eat ice cream with my siblings and I saw this really cute guy sitting across our table I kept staring at him the entire time I didn't even realize that I was doing that until my sister told me to stop staring at him by text 😭😭that was literally the most embarrassed I have ever done in my entire life and keeps getting worse because my sister knew him and he was the son of my mom best friend and my sister told me that I made him uncomfortable and was staring like a creep😭 I literally want to die. This was the only time I had ever done something like this I swear... I want to hide myself forever, please recommend me something or some self-help book or anything so that I won't do this ever again please

[FIRST][LAST]
Atlantis Commission
Officer Report - Lieutenant Colonel John Shepard
CLEARANCE LEVEL 5
Well this had definitely been a very interesting couple of hours. This dimension and its people had very odd opinions and ideas. Apparently the prey species of this dimension were all obligate cowards, whose instincts compelled them to be non-violent and run from threats. At least according to themselves. There were apparently some of them who were “predator diseased” as they called it, a disease which often resulted in increased violence, aggression, lack of empathy, and unheard like behavior. It sounded to me like some form of infectious psychopathy, but the venlil assured us it shouldn't affect us since we were predators, which didn’t really ease my fears, but hopefully it was something we could figure out when we got home if it ever became a problem.
Gotta love mandatory quarantine periods woo hoo!
As scary as this odd disease sounded, my main concern at the moment was to try and turn a professed coward into someone who could at the very least defend themselves.
I looked down to the table of gear ahead of me and then over to the mostly naked Venlil to my side, and then even farther to Tiel’c who thought It would be a good idea to help oversee Farva’s rapid fire training course. I fiddled with the bluetooth earpiece which was rigged up to one of our handhelds to run a translation program to speak directly with the captain. A big step up from our unknowingly one sided communications earlier.
I stepped on the other side of the plastic table and placed my hands down upon it and looked on at my new student..
“Welcome Captain Farva to our very impromptu accelerated course on Human arms armor and basic infantry tactics.” I said gesturing to the hodge podge gear we had managed to assemble for the good captain. “Are we ready to begin?”.
She flicked her ears, somewhat nervously by the looks.
“I’d take it that's a yes then?”
“Oh yes sorry”
“Alright then, well given that most of our crew is human and the only other alien struts around naked all the time, the only gear we have on hand is for humans, So you're going to be running size smalls and it's all going to fit all a bit big” I say as I toss her the tactical vest. ”Here try this on, we can try to tighten it up if it's a bit loose anywhere”. The captain wrestles with the buckles a bit, and Teal'c helps her tighten up some of the top straps, as the Venil’s shoulders weren't as broad as humans. Farva gave Teal’c an odd look, but seemed appreciative none the less.Once finished, she grasped the vest in her paws with interest. “This armor seems quite lightweight, which is nice, weight is often an issue that causes us to forgo armor, since heavy armor would hurt our running ability.” Farva remarks. “Also the sheer amount of pockets seems quite excessive, what do you need all these for?”
“Well for starters it's currently missing these '' I hand Farva one of the armor plates which she looks over. “That is a depleted Naquadria ceramic composite plate. It’s designed to stop bullet impacts and dissipate energy weapon blasts. It slots into that chest compartment in the front and back of your armor.”
“This isn't quite what Id imagine for the armor of your kind”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well judging by your ships I would have imagined you would put more emphasis on defense Your predatory nature would make you less likely to run away from conflict allowing for more encompassing armor to cover more than just your chest, since you have less need to run.”
She would put it like that.
“Well there are a number of reasons for that, a lot to do with those excess pockets you mentioned. For starters you will not be carrying the same amount of gear that the standard infantry unit would normally be carrying, we are preparing you for a quick in and out op. Normally us expedition teams need to be deployed into unknown territory for extended periods of time, we need to carry everything we might need with us from food, bullets, weapons, to comms gear, sensors, repelling equipment etc. The weight from all that gear adds up fast; In order to stay sufficiently mobile and combat effective; we only carry enough armor to protect our vitals, head and torso, anything else can hopefully be patched up by a field medic.”
Tielc gave his piece as well. “It is important to know when to run both towards and aways from one's foes, not every battle can be won through strength alone, but by strategy and cunning. Being able to reposition oneself quickly is therefore highly advantageous”
Farva seemed to freeze at Teal'c's statement, not out of fear I think, she instead had a distant look in her eye. To snap her out of her slump I handed her a standard ballistic helmet.
Seeming to get the idea she looked at it oddly and tried it on. It confirmed to her head shape decently well but depressed her ears to either side of her head, kind of resembling what one might imagine a sad bunny rabbit to look like “I don't think this will be something I can bring with me” she said ” I can't use ear signals and this will muffle my hearing.”
“Why don’t you keep it on for the time being, I think any extra hearing protection might be useful considering what we are about to try next.” I hand Farva some ballistic ear protectors, slightly modified and somewhat ramshackle. “One of the corporals worked closely with Nurse Fila to get an idea for safe decibels levels for your kind, we were also able to get these earbuds molded to fit into your ear canal better”
Farva took them and slipped them in. “These are a bit uncomfortable, what do I need these for?”
“You'll need them for this” I say as I unsnap the clasps on the weapons case revealing its contents.
The content seems to capture Farva’s interest, getting a slight tail wave.
“Okay So this here is a p90, It carries a 50 round top loading magazine of teflon coated armor piercing ordnance. With a cyclical rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute.”
Farvas ears perk up at this. “This seems like an efficient design, I take it these are a flashlight and laser sight for accuracy?” She asked, pointing to the top of the weapon.
“Yes we also have holographic and acog optics which will help line up targets from farther away.” I look on as Farva picks up the weapon and inspects it, testing the weight as I note that it will weigh a fair bit more once loaded. But she doesn't seem to be struggling with the weight. I can't help but notice good firearm safety as well, she keeps her finger well off the trigger and takes care to keep her weapon pointed aways from anyone else.
“This seems like a solid design but I'm not sure how useful those weapon optics would be, as they are not designed for my side facing eyes”
“I'm sure our master at arms can figure something out, why don't we give it a test fire first tho, before we send it off to make adjustments.” I instruct her on how to load the weapon and turn the safety off. I warn her of the sound it makes. And while definitely taken aback by the recoil and sound at first, she quickly gets the hang of it, she has some respectable shot groupings in both single fire and in short bursts. And keeps the rounds reasonably centered while firing in full auto.
She did a whole lot better than I would have initially suspected given her performance in the hanger bay a day before.
“The rate of fire seems useful” Farva spoke “This would be useful for our soldiers, our accuracy falters when we are panicked, and the increased shot count should guarantee some hits based on volume of fire alone” she finished with a dejected expression.
She quickly places the weapon back in its case, as if it burned to touch.” I don't know if I should be armed for this mission, at least not with that weapon, I don't want to miss and hit one of you in the back!”
“What? Nonsense, you are a great shot, and this is just a precaution in case we get separated or flanked and need some covering fire. If our guys are doing their job right you shouldn't need to fire a single round anyways.”
Captain Farva’s breathing started to hasten, earlier I might have thought it was fear, but I was starting to get an idea of what the captain's issues were. I’ve seen this before.
“I.. I can’t be trusted with this responsibility, every time I am left in charge of something, every time people put their lives in my paws I ....”
“Farva, don’t you start with me now you hear.” I said sternly, swiftly capping off her inevitable spiral of self doubt.
“But.. no.. you don’t understand”
Stopping her again I spoke. “But nothing, what happened before on that ship, and back at that colony is in the past. I don’t know your whole situation, but from what I have gathered from the crew It was nothing good. You feel responsible and it's eating away at you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if that's true or not. Accidents happen, people make mistakes, and when that happens we need to learn, take those lessons to heart, and don't let it stop us from helping people in the present. If you let guilt, or fear of mistakes stop you, then bad guys have already won, all without having to have fired a shot”
Farva is quiet for a short time, I was hoping I got through to her, I'm not the best and pep talks and this certainly wasn’t your typical weapons demo, if only everyones could go as smoothly as Ronan’s.
Farva spoke quietly, arms pressed up against her chest, she looked so sad, defeated, and small. Well more than usual anyways. “We can't be strong like you humans, we are too emotional and when we are scared we run away or we lock up and...”
“And that is clearly not the case with you captain Farva” Teal’c finally reentered the conversation having heard enough. “You have shown courage with every action you have taken so far, your actions have saved the lives of many of your crew, every time you have been threatened you acted not just to protect yourself but others as well. You attempted to contend with beings many times your size without even thinking about it, all in the effort to protect others, and this is only in the time we have known you, this speaks nothing of your actions over the colony. You are a warrior of admirable courage Captain Farva, your self doubt is unearned.”
A single tear rolled down Farva’s eyes which she quickly wiped away. “That was very nice of you to say, but I'm not brave like you say, I was terrified out of my mind the whole time.”
Teal’c looked puzzled. “I did not call you brave, I said you were courageous.”
Farva shot back with the little venlil one up one down ear flick I had very quickly learned was confusion.” I'm confused you just said brave twice”
“Hmm it appears your language does not contain the word I am using, I apologize I am not used to speaking through a translator” Teal’c relented “ There are two words I am using admittedly in slightly different forms, bravery and courage. Bravery or to be brave is to lack fear, to not be afraid to begin with. Courage tho, Is a trait far more admirable. Courage is to be afraid, to have fear, to worry about one's own mortality and personal safety. It is to acknowledge risk, danger, to feel fear, but to act in spite of it.”
“Had I not met your kind before I would have thought predators don't feel fear.”
“Everyone fears feel Farva, It is how we overcome it that determines our worth as warriors”
Teal’c picks up the p90 and returns it to Farvas hands.
“Your people need a warrior Farva, a warrior who protects the innocent and guides the lost to safety. You have shown how collected you can be in the heat of battle, You have already proven your worth in our eyes Farva, now you must do the same in your own. The greatest enemy lies not without” Teal’c places his hand firmly on the venlil’s chest “But within”.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Chief Engineer Donu
I fiddled with my holopad, Its small surface area proving to be a consistent source of annoyance in my current endeavor. Gone was the large workspace afforded to me by my holotable back in my office. Instead I had to work with the scaled down portable holotablet I was just fortunate enough to have strapped to my person when I was beamed away from our last ship. I was stuck with its smaller keyboard and slower rendering speeds.
An annoyed smooth skin alien looked over my shoulder at my device, attached to it was a jury rigged fiber optic cable, slotted into a terran silicon to crystal patch cable, which would convert the electrical signals broadcasted by my tablet into a bandwidth that the terrans crystalline based computers; which they used for highly complex tasks like hyperdrive and transporter systems; could use, and then It was patched again in a even stranger connector to patch into the odd asgard computer stones.
All in all it looked like someone tried to plug a regular computer into some crystal construct like you would find in a fantasy holonovel, and again plugged that into a harchen heat rock sauna lounge. Finally branching out from this conglomeration was a simple copper based wire that connects to a computer terminal at which currently sat the late Doctor Rodney Mckay. A title upon initially hearing led me to believe he was a medical doctor, which led to a flurry of medical questions that he had absolutely no means of answering.
While this odd alien nomenclature was interesting, what intrigued me more was his actual area of expertise, theoretical astrophysics, as well as a number of other diverse specialties and fields. Not to mention not only was he a great scientist who had he been raised in the more civilized portion of this galaxy, would have knowledge and aptitude that would put him alongside some of Aafas greatest minds, but he was also an engineer without peer, at least in this galaxy. His interactions with general Samantha Carter hinted at her possibly being his match if not more. For a species that was supposed to glorify violence the decision to have a scientist be arguably the most senior member of what was by their admission a military vessel spoke to their commitment to knowledge and understanding, a very noble prey-like goal.
I looked warily at the lines of code at my screen, the asguard translation program had earlier scanned our ship and was able to parse written languages, but complex files, like images and 3d design schematics were harder to encode and decode from our perspective systems. As is stands we have 3 completely separate computer architectures, the asguard can talk to human computers and the venlil computers can talk to the asguard computers, It sounds like we would have everything we need to get a human C.A.D schematic into a venlil holotablet right? Wrong! And you're stupid for entertaining such a idiotic notion! Parsing text from raw binary is relatively straight forward, you're just looking for patterns, repeating bit combinations that might infer letters and then iterating them over millions of times looking for patterns, letters, words, and then with a bit of help from some undecoded analog audio transmission, spoken language. This is a far cry from actual procedural communication protocols,the ones that allow for file transfers, exactly what we needed if we were to get Rodney's redesigned part schematics into a format and medium that can be plugged into a suitable fabricator. Assuming one still exists, which I can reasonably assume it does.
Speaking of which, I have just made something of a breakthrough. For upon my screen appears a simple geometric hydrogen cube, we’re talking vertices, planes, material data, everything we need for a usable design file.
I let out an excited pent up yip, the culmination of hours of frustrating software integration work. Unfortunately I startled Rodney, who lets out a panicked gasp and clutches his chest pelts with one of his paws.
“Oh god…..” He gasps, pointing at me “Please.. don’t do that”
“Sorry!” I say a bit meekly. I slowly approach him so as to not make him unnecessarily uncomfortable and show him my work.
“I got the file exchange set up, all we need from you is to finish any modifications to your part, upload them to my holopad, and then we can print away at any class 3 or above fabricator we can scrounge up on Brayga colony.”
“Ok.. um.. got it, I'm almost done i’m just you know” He points a lone grasping appendage at his screen,”Running some simulations, making sure everything is up to spec.” keeping his response kurt. “Sorry for freaking out there.”
I nod my head in the human display of affirmation and return to my workstation to further bug check my work, to test potentially problematic edge cases for when he finishes. Tho Rodney's continued odd behavior intruded on my thoughts.
I should have felt empowered, being able to intimidate this ‘massive beast’, but I didn't. I didn't like being feared, his people have been nice to me, Rodney himself courteous to a fault and desperate for positive attention.
I thought I could expect predators to be fearless but that clearly wasn't the case, rodney was fearful, nervous, had I not known better I would say defective, and while it annoyed his crew, they didn't berate him for it, or attempt to assert dominance, they encouraged it even with placating words and tried to help him through it, they encouraged and supported him like a proper herd, even if sometimes it took the form of what the human would call a playful ribbing. I supposed I could help him as well.
I approached him again, careful to make my approach known to him, making sure to approach from within his limited field of vision. He looks up at me with a wide eyed glare, had I not known him I might have assumed it was hunger, but I did and knew it to be concern.
“Uh high Donu.. um whats up?”
“Why are you afraid of us rodney?”
“Wa-What, me afraid?” he gives out a panicked laugh ”uh no no, I'm not afraid, you know just a bit weirded out I'm just getting used to you all, it's not a fear thing it's a a…. Just getting used to new aliens thing, ask Hermirod we went through this whole song and dance right buddy”
Hermirod furrowed his brow and gave an irritated sigh from across the room.
I reached out to take Rodney by the paw.
His whole body flinched at my mere touch, I quickly withdrew my paw.
“Oh.. um.. I didn't…”
“Rodney! It's okay, your crew doesn’t seem to care when you show fear, and neither do I. Why are you afraid of us? You are almost twice our size and surely double our strength, most venlil would scream and run in terror at the mere sight of you. What's wrong?”
Rodney let out a sigh. “Oh its, we don't have to talk about this, I can deal with this, I deal with scary situations all the time, it's fine, I'll be fine.”
“Rodney, my people are a very emotional, empathic people, we are open with our feelings and with our fear, and the fear of the one can affect the herd, please let me help you. I don’t know what to expect from your society but I promise I wont judge you for your fear or emotions, I mean look at many of my crew mates, we are no one to judge”
Rodney shot back “You didn't seem to be so bothered”
“I’m too old to care, I was about to retire, hell I was about to die as far as I knew, Brayga colony was supposed to be a quiet place to lay back, work on some hobbies, plant a garden and pester the young men of my colony until I either dropped dead of boredom or got lucky” I joked.
That seemed to raise Rodney's mood somewhat. He sighed and seemingly relented.
“It’s… a dumb story, I don't even know why it affected me so much, I come from a place on earth called Canada, people don't usually believe me when I say I am from there, us Canadians are notoriously friendly and I guess I haven’t exactly filled that mold for a lot of my life, but hey I'm working on it, people like me, I have lots of friends back at Atlantis” He says the last sentence in a way as if it isn't me he's trying to convince.
“I'm sure you do, Rodney, You seem like quite the charming individual when you're not cowering!”
“Ha ha thanks, maybe you could come and visit sometime. Tell that to doctor Becket, really nice guy, smart man, he would love to meet you, he loves investigating new species. But back on topic, oh boy, so me and my sister Jeannie were on a family trip to rural Vancouver to visit my grandpa's farm, he kept a lot of goats, not for eating or anything, they were essentially pets that he would use for milk”
“Wait hold on? You drink milk from other animals! Do your females not produce enough milk for their young?”
“Oh um no, we just sort of drink it or ferment it into cheese!”
“Ferment? You mean spoil?
“Yeh”
I reeled from this plasma blast of a statement, I like any right minded venlil had a number of nightmares about being an arxur’s cattle before, especially when I first learned about those things in primary school, but never once had it crossed my mind that we could be used for something so weird. What the speh was I supposed to do with that information?
“Maybe you should get back on topic”
“Yeh sorry about that uh.. Anyways the momma goat had just had a litter of babies, and their real cute when their little, so late in the day when my grandpa was asleep we snuck out to the pens so we can play with the little baby goats, our grandpa told us not to but you now how kids are.”
At this I think back to a young Nyan, as I teach him the inner working of the hyperdrive, I tell him he’s not cleared yet to operate in this engine compartment alone, but I could tell from the occasional caught black hairs and dropped writing implements, there had been a number of curious unauthorized expeditions into its inner workings, he didn't really listen either.
“My sister as always was trying to be the voice of reason, wanting to take it slow. If I was paying attention I might have noticed the angry moma goat who didn’t appreciate the strange human messing with her children.”
The color seemed to drain from his face.
“I uh…” He began to stutter again ”I screamed, a lot, it was rather undignified, she ran right at me, thank god it wasn't a male goat, one with horns, I tired to run but I was hit in the back and knocked over and kicked real good in the head, like wake up in the vet clinic a quarter mile down the road kind of bad”
“This goat was a prey animal?”
“That would be what your kind focuses on”
“Oh sorry”
“Anyways It seems dumb but I have just never been good with animals since then, especially ones that look like you; no offense; I'm getting better but when I first saw you guys in the hangar bay, I was just that dumb kid again, getting in way over my head, scared for my life. I guess there is something to be said about childhood trauma. I really should be over this, I'm getting better with it I swear it’s just”
I take his paw again, he doesn't flinch this time.
“I'm a venlil, a prey animal, I know fear, I know what it is to live in fear, It rattles your brain, it turns your paws to wet grains. It takes great strength to overcome it, to push it aside just long enough to protect the herd. Your herd relies on you Rodney and you are doing a great job in spite of your fear, in spite of having to work with those you fear. You have achieved intellectual feats that rival the greatest minds of the federation and all that while struggling with a traumatic experience. Fear isn’t dumb and there is nothing wrong with you for feeling it.”
“Thank you” Rodney says “That means a lot, I won't be like forever I promise, I just need some time.”
“We will laugh about this someday,” I assured. “Nothing as big and intelligent as you should be afraid of anything”
“Are you calling me fat?” Rodney exclaimed with fake offense.
We both chuckled.
My kind words had resulted in a more upright posture, and a more cheerful demeanor from the human, almost like when I congratulated Nyan on his work, and it got me a look at that happy snarl of his, that I was starting to grow quite fond of.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Apprentice Engineer Nyan
Oh wow! I get to write a report for this mission! I never get to write reports, Donu says they're too boring, but there’s so many interesting things going on all the time. Sometimes I sneakily write my own! Just for fun of course, nobody sees them, which is probably for the best as I sometimes get excited and embellish them slightly. One of the reports I wrote was about the time Donu used nothing but a wad of electrical tape, a bottle of high grain venlil alcohol and a pocket knife to repair a venlil medical ship just in time to get out of the way of a big scary space predator, with glowing red eyes and a million tentacles!
Anyways Im not sure If im suppose to write these In present tense first person or past tense. I asked the captain and she said it's whatever so long as I make sure any pertinent dialogues are properly quoted(“”).
“Nobody usually reads these things anyways.” She said, but this one is surely going to be so exciting, who could look away!
I mean who's gonna scoff at a chance to read about friendly predators from another dimension! A dimension of friendly predators who give warm head scratches and hand out yummy strayu not strayu treats called donuts, that are somehow fluffier than strayu, and have a nice moisture to them. I asked for the recipe but Samantha said we wouldn't have the ingredients back on Venili prime to make them, and Teal'c said the recipe is an old family secret. Its weird predators would be so protective of their plant snacks.
There are so many weird things about these predators, they have nurturing instincts that make them find us cute. They stay perfectly balanced even if they don’t have tails, swinging their arms and body all over the place to keep upright like a lopsided gyroscope, it's pretty funny looking!
They also wear artificial pelts all the time, which I thought was weird, I thought maybe the ships temperature was set by the angry gray alien since he’s the only crew member beside the venlil who walks around naked all the time, maybe he had a fit when it was to warm, and the humans obliged him cause they were worried they would make him even angrier, and wore clothes to make up for the cold. I thought this made sense, a lot of their technology does seem to come from the Asguard, maybe he has more say in the goings on of the ship because of that. But apparently humans just like wearing pelts all the time. They feel uncomfortable without them and don’t like it if you try to remove them or look up their upper artificial pelts they call shirts.
The humans are so weird, I don’t even have to embellish my reports to make it more interesting. Like that time with the big tentacled space predator. That may sound real compared to this stuff but it Isn't, Ha! I bet you fell for it at first, hook line and sinker! Like the humans would say. I think I used that saying right, I'm not sure what it means, but Shepard brought it up when he was telling a story about the wraith.
The humans are so nice, instead of exterminating their predators they try to cure them! Their doctors are working to modify the wraith so they don't have to eat humans anymore, so they can be friendly predators too.
Anyways I should probably get to the actual report part of this report. Farva says I should start after I went off with Samantha to work on some special astrophysics equations she said I would be good at. I kind of wanted to go with Donu to help Rodney get the new parts they needed, or Farva to help rescue our people, but the humans and even the angry gray alien got really weird when Farva mentioned taking me on the mission. Samantha seemed to want me to help her really badly so I didn’t mind. Samantha says I have the most important part to our mission. She's teaching me about how humans communicate through subspace, and about stellar drift equations. We are working on what she calls the exit strategy.

So this is kind of a last effort kinda thing, because i dont know what to do.
A cat which we presume is from the neighborhood walked into our house, because the front door was open. We didnt notice it at first, however after a while i went into a room and saw her. She instantly ran away and is now hiding under tables and multiple other things, its pretty much impossible to move the stuff shes under without potentially harming her or having a risk of it falling apart. We tried to get her out with multiple things: cat food, meat, toys, talking, sounds, rumbling the stuff shes under etc. She barely moves and doesnt really care about anything we try. We think she is scared and doesnt move because of it, however she also seems really sleepy and barely is able to keep her eyes open. We dont know who exactly the owners are, and its fairly late and we would rather not ring on every doorbell in the neighborhood to ask where the cat belongs too. Do you have any advice on how to get her to either come along or feel comfortable enough to leave?
(We have tried just to ignore her and leave all doors wide open, so she can leave on her own. However she hasnt moved away at all in the last 2 hours.)
If needed she could sleep in our house, for the night. But thats only if there is no other way.
Hope you have tips.

In recent posts about the FFP regulations I saw people complaining that its the FFP`s fault, the Roman boys can´t come back to Rome. The two roman boys, who explicitly said that they want to return to their boyhood clubs beeing Scamacca and Frattesi. Both were persued to bring more attacking spice to Rome and especially Scamacca looks like he was worth his money this season. Budget was around 25 Mill.
WestHam wanted 30 Mill for a player that completly flopped in England and scored only 8 goals. Roma offered a loan with an obligation to buy, if criteria for goals, appearances and CL qualifikation are met. Loan + transfer fee would have been 28 Mill but Westham stayed adamant. The only other offer at this time was Inter with 25 Mill on the table. Maybe there already were things going on in the background but Westham really gambled to get more then those already ridiculous, combined 28 Mill and eventually Atalanta came sweeping in out of nowhere offering 30 Mill. So it wasn´t FFP or a lack of money but Westhams stupid stubornes and unrealistic price expectations (typical for PL clubs).
The other Roman Frattesi was playing for Sassuolo at the time and since relations between the two clubs are very good fans tought this one will work out. Roma also had a 30% sell-on-fee from when they sold him to Sassuolo which enabled them to offer up to 30 Mill but Sassuolo valued him at 35 Mill. Eventually Volpato and Missori were sold to Sassuolo and at least I thought that there has to be a under the table trade for Frattesi in place. But no Roma wasted two young talents without even installing a buybackclause for Volpato and Frattesi went to Inter for a combined 34 Mill. I would love to know what was going on behind the scenes back then but ever since I hate Sassuolo.

WARNING ITS LONG.
Here are my ideas for the deep north and what I think it will be like
It’ll be similar to the Ashlands, where it will most likely be cut off from the sea and you’ll have to sail there, you’ll have to navigate icebergs, big and small and once you land there you’ll have to deal with cracks in the ice that you’ll have to navigate or create platforms to get across from place to place however, these gaps are not large, and can be jumped across with some difficulty but some gaps will need to be crossed using other methods of which there are many, similar to the lava, you will not want to enter the frigid cold waters of the deep north. There will be large mountainous terrain, large portions of flat land similar to the Plains, large rocks similar to the mist lands, combining a lot of aspects from multiple biomes and a lot of stuff, they’ve learned from the previous biomes when making the game to create this final one, because it has to be different from anything else and not just like the mountains.
The storms will be dangerous because it will slow you down and you won’t be able to see much because of the snowstorm Very similar to the mist in the mist lands, there will be portions of the land in the deep north that will have deep snow similar to the water in the swamp, which will make your movements sluggish, and if you go deep enough in the deep snow, you won’t be able to attack properly or at all if too deep.
I feel like in the deep north there will be even more worship for a god or something or someone then other biomes like the Ashlands had so for that reason, I think will see a lot of temples and ruins of worship as well
I personally think the boss will be different than any other boss we’ve fought before and for that reason, I think it will most likely be a serpent of some kind, and the mechanics, for it will use a similar item to the balsalt bomb To create new platforms to stand on, that the boss will break, however if the boss runs into enough of these platforms that you create, it will be stunned allowing for Melee, which is what it will be weak against the most, and it will be resistant to Pierce so that it is possible to kill it with ranged attacks, but it won’t be the most fast or effective way and you’ll want to use the mechanics of stunning it to take it down quicker.
It’ll have attacks which include ranged attacks, A whirlpool attack, charging attacks, wave attacks to knock you off your platform into the water, where you would end up getting damaged if you stay long enough in it and a frost debuff 5sec even if you get out quickly.
New accessory Belt of Eternal Emerald Flame craft by using the megingjord & the new boss item from the Ashland to keep you warm in the deep north without it, you freeze to death, it’ll be similar to the strength belt already in the game but you’ll be able to upgrade it later by unlocking a new crafting upgrade for the black forge in the deep north by using the gems to add new powers based on your Play style.
The blood gem will give you increased defense the lower your health is by 0.2%
Ancient lords belt The jade gem I will give you 100% stamina regen when you apply a Immobilized affect
Storm lords belt The lightning gem Will give you 100% eitr regen during storms, add an additional 25% to all lightning damage
Two new gems will be added an ice and a fire one
The fire gem based around attack speed and fire damage related
Ice gem based around preserving and extending the durations of buffs and ice damage related
They will add in new weapons to fill out the rest of the weapon categories that do not have gem upgrades like the atgeir, battle axes, knives, Shields and sledgehammers
which will add 20 new weapons plus an additional 4 New shields and another additional 14 new fire, and ice gemmed weapons for the previous category of weapon types from Ashland, which is not counting any new staffs or individual new weapons
They will add one brand, new armor set, but add in customized upgraded variants for the deep north armor and variants the three armor sets from the Ashland similar to the gem upgrading to provide players with more variation in their place style and builds and cool new looks
The blood gem armor set Will provide an additional 15 base health, her blood armor piece, and if wearing a full set, will bump it up to 25+ base health per armor piece
The jade gem armor set will provide a similar 15 additional base stamina, and with a full set being 25+ base stamina per piece
The lolite gem armor set will provide a similar 15 additional base eitr and increasing it to 25+ base eitr with a full set
The fire gem armor set provides a increased attack speed at the cost of increased calories giving a 5% increase to attack speed And if wearing a full set, will give you a 8.33% increase to attack speed, but will consume your food at twice the normal speed meaning your food duration is cut in half
The ice gem armor set provides a chilled slower metabolism, allowing you to maintain longer durations for your food and a longer rested buff increasing by 25% per piece and 33% for a full set
A new resource that must be harvested however, it is encased in a very thick durable layer of ice and I must be broken with a new siege weapon a flamethrower, Or if you were lucky enough to get dyrnwyn it’ll be slightly less effective at melting ice, or if you have a staff of embers, which will be the least effective method at clearing the ice.
They will also be new fortresses to conquer in the deep north which will require any of the previous siege weapons however, the new flamethrower will be more effective at breaking down specific areas of the fortress that are more weak to fire, allowing for quicker entry to the fortress, these new fortresses will have a dungeon inside them as well, more akin to a temple
There will be the Dvergr outposts there as well, holding some of the new resources
New enemies: ice golem ( slightly larger, with more variety of attacks, including a wave of ice spikes, shooting ice spikes)
Freezling spiders made of what looks to be a hard like Crystaline ice and it’s cold to the touch, they’re the size of a neck, and will run away unless attacked or approached closely enough(similar to boars), and a queen mini boss providing you their eggs, so you can breed them to Farm their silk
iceling (similar to surtlings),
woolly lox(slightly bigger and fluffier with horns, spawning in families pairs of 2-5 with a minimum of 1 parent and 1 baby, and a maximum of 2 parent and 3 babies)
The chilled(similar to the charred but they look like frozen heavily armored Draugr but move much slower, but are capable of very fast bursts of speed to catch you off guard with more erratic movements, making them more unpredictable, also able to phase out into particles of snow, and then reappear closer to you ready to attack) Variants include a great sword and great shield commander variant, A crossbow variant, and a standard battle axe variant.
The commander can rally his troops that are at 20% Hp to provide healing similar to the gray dwarf shaman, but is capable of being interrupted, if hit hard enough resulting in low morale debuff to his troops, reducing their damage, and attacking less frequently by 25%
Phantoms (similar to ghosts and wraiths but more dangerous wielding a sword and capable of magic, however have a weakness they guard their remains slightly below the ground, if located using the wishbone and unearthing their remains allowing for an easy kill)
A new Miniboss providing you with a new tame being the woolly lox. The Miniboss will be a alpha version of the woolly lox where you enter a ruined building It was using as its home to gain access to its children and new food, which can be tamed so you can start breeding them, and a rare new plantable food frost berries that the alpha woolly lox left to feed her kids, which you can now plant to now used to tame other baby woolly lox aswell and cooking recipes, and you can also milk your woolly lox’s too
A new serpent, based off the hatchlings of the new boss serpent similar to the Drake hatchlings of Moder which will roam the seas of the deep north
Adolescent Drake hatchlings about 2 to 3 times bigger than the ones you seen the mountain and are also the children of moder but have grown up more and have moved to the deep north, they can also land on the ground and do attacks similar to moder
A new food resource that you mine: salt
New lighting options using each of the gems also a variety of candles,
A new king size bed,
A new chest providing one extra row on the bottom, or being the same storage size as a black metal chest but smaller allowing for more to be placed in a similar area,
A new chair,
A new bench and throne,
A new table,
more color variety for banners with more colors and shapes,
three new rugs woolly lox rug, chilled fortress rug, ????,
more gold decorations to bling bling up your base,
New shotgun staffs for each element,
New pots or vases,
More flametal building pieces like a smaller door and variants of all the grausten pillars and beams,
New spike walls,
New foods,
New potions,
New arrows
A new portal that allows for the transportation of tames,
New ornaments to put on your buildings, new ones preferably made of metal
A new smaller windmill that doesn’t have to be outside that uses dvergr Technology to run without needing wind, and is able to hold more barley

Everyone needs to read this. Info on todays battle!!
Seen this some Where else Not me. Not my post. Just trying to spread this information. Vote this up so everyone can see it!!!!!!
From another post (spread it around):
Are you asking yourself: "what now?" Here's an answer in "ape speak" for what we are waiting for. Please like and comment so others can see this post.
Okay so we held out with FFIE and ended the week nearly 2300% above what it was last week. This by itself is an amazing feat which accomplished 2 things:
We kept FFIE above 1 dollar, so it stays listed on NASDAQ (until it drops to 0.10 per share for 30 days which isn't likely for quite a while).
We made intentions for a short sale known to those who were betting it would be delisted, and eventually drop in price.
So what happens next?
Well, now the hedge funds have a decision to make:
They can cut their losses, and buy up the shares at current market value (this is the beginning of a cascade where we all get rich). Essentially, any share that a hedge fund purchases to mitigate their losses will increase the value of our shares.
They can continue to hold their shorted stock "loans" and hope the market drops again next week. If this is the case, we will need to continue to hold our shares until they crack (they pay a lot of money for each day they continue to short)
As of 1 h before market close, there were still 36 million shares being shorted.
What does this mean? It means that because Hedges believe our efforts are short lived, they didn't cancel their shorts and buy back their shorted stocks.
They are pretty much betting that the "meme" will die down soon and they can buy back their shorted stocks at a much lower price than it is right now.
Say, for example, the flame dies out, and people begin selling because they are scared or burnt out, and the share price on Monday (or aftermarket today) drops, they will be able to cover their shorts at a MUCH lower price.
This DOES NOT mean that the stock still wont jump up. But it does mean that it will jump up much less than it would've had we held out at 1 dollar. The higher the price per share, the more it will jump when the hedge funds are forced to buy back their shorts.
In the end, we only need to hold out long enough for the fees that they pay to become more expensive than it would be to just buy back their shares. Either way, they bleed. But one way, we take their money and get very wealthy.
Once one hedge fund cracks, and covers their shorts by purchasing shares, all of them will follow as it will become too expensive for all the hedge funds to hold out. This creates a "parabolic curve" as many have likely heard on various posts. Once the first hedge fund folds, this becomes officially known as a "squeeze." We hold until eventually all the hedge funds are either bankrupt (for not paying back their shorts), which will then be covered by the federal government, or until they all take MASSIVE losses and buy back their shorts.
Now, as for today, many people likely sold at peak, or once they started seeing red. Especially those who have never experienced a squeeze before (I was there in 2021 and sold out of fear). If this fits your description, please read the following:
The drop today was a maneuver known as a "SHORT LADDER."
This is a technique used by hedge funds to attempt to squash a short squeeze, and bring the price down of the stock. This is the hedge funds attempting to break you, using psychological warfare. Heres how they do it:
Step 1: They increase the share price (usually very quickly) to excite retail investors and make them think what we are doing is working. We saw this today starting about 1h after market opened this morning bringing price from 2.69 up to 3.87.
Step 2: Quickly sell every stock they bought to bring down the price to what it was before. This began approximately 2 hours after market opened today.
Now theoretically, this should only bring down the price to what it was before they bought right? Well with retail squeezers (us dumb apes), you see the shares dropping and start selling your shares in the hopes that you can still walk away with some earnings if you do it quickly enough. This is where they win.
If we all hold, the day ends at 2.69. But instead we ended at about 1.00. Meaning their ladder attack worked so well, that you monkeys got scared and sold your shares. Many of us (myself included) held out to give us another try next week and keep the flame alive.
Step 3: The hedge fund bears will try again, and again, and again (to look like a downwards staircase on the graph, hence the term "ladder") to make the fear worse, and worse, and worse, until there's nothing left and they can get away with shorting a company with very minimal losses.
Our solution, is to mimic exactly what DFV (AKA roaringkitty) did in 2021 with GameStop. We simply hold our shares. Will it put more pressure and make the spike come quicker if we buy more shares? Of course. But the reality is, at 2300% over what they shorted at, if we just even hold where we are at, eventually a hedge fund will fold and our shares will skyrocket.
Now to answer the big ticket question: When will we sell? The answer is as follows: after hedge funds crack, we will see the number of shorted shares decline dramatically. You cant base it off of the price of the share because they can manipulate those numbers to make it LOOK very promising.
Heres the link where you can check FFIE shorted shares numbers: https://fintel.io/ss/us/ffie
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As of right now, the exact number is 36, 342,623. It has hardly changed since we began our squeeze. Once this number begins dropping, we broke a hedge fund and the cascade has begun.
The only risk at this point, is if we sell. We will be our own worst enemies. They will use tricks to make us sell. They will manipulate us. They will flood media with articles describing how we failed. They will use every tool in their power to scare us. But in the end, if we HOLD OUR GOD DAMN SHARES, they cant win.
There will be red days. There will be shutdowns of subreddits (like wallstreetbets back in 2021). There will be news articles. (like the hundreds already published demeaning us). There might even be threats of legal action (like they did to DFV). However, short squeezes are 100% legal, and will make us rich + make billionaire cheaters bleed.
Good luck fellow FFIE advocates. Buy at the dips to get back in. Hold your shares to ensure profits. And no matter what, remember,
APES. TOGETHER. STRONG.

Living alone and working remotely made me into a huge hermit. I've been in survival mode since, and the past few months have featured lots of personal changes where I wasn't even thinking about sex or dating (my dog dying, moving cities, work stuff). But I've started to settle in and want to embrace my sexual confidence.
I just, don't know how, to be frank. I masturbate a few times a weeks but usually it's quick. Growing up my parents were so anti-sex and I wasn't well socialized and I'm still socially awkward.
I admire woman who are so good at this! Things like -

• while sitting down at a table, talking with their hands then after they are done speaking to whoever they are flirting with, they rest their head on their hands with a slight smile and slightly lowering their genius (this was genius when I saw it lol)
• While going in a for a hug, lightly scratch the other person's back
• Being animated and bubbly when they are relaying a story (this might be more personality oriented, I'm just not a bubbly person, I tend to be more stoic)
• While walking somewhere, look around at other people to make any eye contact instead of looking at where you're trying to go

I would love to hear if anyone has other similar flirting tricks! And while these are "flirting", these women are clearly sexually confident. I wouldn't be able to pull off the above right now because I don't have it yet and I still feel awkward.
At home I wear tees and shorts, but I might try to either wear something sexy while alone at home. I also just signed up for a lap dance 101 class this week! lol.