I've been working on this story for... 3 months? 4? who knows, with my ability to keep track of time I could have started this yesterday, anyway, this is a story that has sci-fi elements, and some fantasy, although the fantasy stuff is mainly dragons so lets say adventure for now, (cause I don't know shit about genres, I just wrote the story) , Keep in mind, this has been written in free time, of which I don't have a lot, so if you don't like the story it is probably my fault, here is a look at:

Dragons wing

I slowly drift from my sleep and think to myself, ow, why is everything warm? I check the thermostat and see that it is at a temperature as cool as Canada and when I turn back to go back to bed so that I can sleep in, I see that my stuff has been knocked over? Oh sorry, where are my manners? I'm James O’Maley, I put everything back into place, and lay down on my bed but nothing is comfortable! I just decide, you know what, whatever, I’m just gonna get ready for work, and with that i get dressed, everything feels harder to put on, but it really hits me when I go to brush my teeth, when I looked into the mirror, I saw that their were, wings on my back, and a tail, growing out my butt like a lizard, I obviously spend several minutes having an existential crisis about this shocking revelation, and I decide to look at what these wings can do, I open a window, crawl out, with some difficulty and some slamming the window on my tail. I go to the edge of the fire escape railing, hop on, and jump, and I flew, higher and higher, until i nearly flew into a mountain but that's when I suddenly breathed fire, from my mouth, and bore a hole straight through the cliffside, I could spend all day flying, breathing fire, and fiddling with my tail, but I began to feel as tired as if I’d just gotten back from lifting weights with tigers, I landed on a cliffside and fell asleep. When I woke up I wasn’t on the cliffside anymore, there were monitors and scientists all around me. I tried to show some sign that I was awake, but I was chained up! I spent several moments struggling to get free, I must be free, I am not something they can chain down! I struggle, I roar, I attempt to move my head enough to burn the surrounding area, but I can’t, until someone finally talks to me,
“Hello there, James, please forgive us for our caution, but with your kind we can never be too careful.” I can see the scientist, I read his name tag, Dr. Crane William, I roar out
“My kind!? Get me out of these chains!” I breathe fire, claw, kick and swing my tail, trying to free myself, until I see two other people watching, one with weird whiskers, a long tail and a smug look on his face, and the other with a similar appearance to me but her wings are her arms. The next few days go by, until the two finally decide to talk to me, and in those days, My face becomes a snout like a komodo dragon’s, the one with the whiskers opens his mouth first and I already hate him
“Would you look at that, he’s even uglier up close!” I glare at him with absolute hatred, that seems to anger him more,
“What are you mute or something? Speak before I tear you apart!” he takes one step closer and that's all I need, I Bite his shoulder and use his head to break the chains on my right arm, I continue to break the rest of them with ease, and tell whiskers
“You want to fight? Let’s fight!” I leap on top of him, clawing at his face, he tries to slash me with a blade on his tail but I grab it and stab the wall with it, until I feel a burning sensation in my veins, The girl had bitten me! She looks at me with sadness,
“Sorry about this,” I look at her and drift into unconsciousness, when I wake up next I’m in some kind of, medical wing, ha, wing, as I look around I feel that my mouth is bound shut, but other than that, I can move my body, I get up off the gurney and just when I think it looks nice, whiskers shows his face,
“Well thanks a lot freak, now I’m on probation with Dr. Crane.” I motion to my mouth and he seems to have enough brain cells to understand what I mean
“Ha! You got the boot, Lily had that on her when she wouldn’t stop biting staff, I’m Ryan Mist.” I just walk away and try getting this muzzle off, That's when Crane walks in,
“Well, I must say it has been a while since we’ve had to use the boot, Ryan, your behavior was unacceptable!” I can tell that Crane is annoyed, and right as he finishes his sentence, click, the boot falls off my face and clatters to the ground. I don’t bother trying to fight Ryan again, I’m just happy to be able to talk!
“Well that’s a lot better, now, talk, I want answers.” I growl, Crane and Ryan seem surprised that I got the boot off but they talk, turns out, I’m what’s called a dragonkin a Human who has dragon genes in their genome, Lily and Ryan are also dragonkin, although they can’t breath fire, Lily has fangs and a venomous bite, turns out she’s the girl that bit me, and Ryan just looks weird, apparently we are the only dragonkin who evaded the organization that Crane works for, Called ‘Kadmus,’ into adulthood, Lily being found at 22, ryan at 20, and me at 24, on top of that, we are the only dragonkin who have survived that long, it’s at that moment that I notice Lily looking at us from behind some glass, I decide that I’ve heard enough and open the door, and I leave the room.
As I leave the room I can tell that Lily was not expecting me from the look on her face, I start a conversation with her, trying desperately to be friendly and not notice all the scientists glancing at me nervously.
“Hey, Lily, Right?” I say in the friendliest tone I can, “I’m James.” Lily looks at me with a calculating look before answering
“Hello, yeah my name is Lily, Lily Megan.” she clearly is wary of me, but I can tell a few things about her, making herself look small, clearly smarter than she lets on, seems shy,
“How did you get it off?” Lily breaks into my train of thought with the question,
“What?” I ask her, confused,
“The Boot, how did you get it off?” She gestures to the room where Crane and Ryan were having an argument, but more specifically to The Boot, laying on the ground
“Oh that? I once took a lockpicking class when I was younger.” I explain
“Huh, you mind teaching me that sometime?” She catches me off guard with that one, I can tell that she is being genuine so I agree, And we begin working out what time works best.

The next few weeks go by in a flash, but I’ll summarize it for you, I ended up getting my own room like Ryan and Lily, I start teaching Lily how to pick locks, and we end up having a few game nights where we played games like charades, poker, even monopoly, lets just say that we will never play monopoly again. However, the most important thing of all, we ended up finding another dragonkin! We aren’t sure what dragon ancestor he has, but we think he’s another eastern long tail, like Ryan, the new guy’s name is Dillian, He’s great, absolute goofball, he’s from Australia, and according to him, his family has never been anywhere but the land down under, weird, but the guy’s like a little brother to me, so it’s cool, and that catches you up. “Hey Dillian!” I lean my head into his room, “Wanna come hang out with the rest of us? It’s movie night!” Dillian just looks at me, unreadable, 

“Okay, your loss.” I try to hide how unnerving that look felt, but something doesn’t feel right. I go back to the lounge, where Ryan, Lily, and Crane are all waiting for me,
“Sorry guys, Dillian, isn’t up for it.” Lily looks at me disappointed,
“Aw man, and we're even watching Dune!” I just look at her with a sad look, but Ryan manages to lift the mood a little bit,
“Last time we let Crane pick the movie!” Crane just glares at Ryan, I can tell he’s about to lecture him so I just start the movie, around one hour in, boom, everything is blurry, and there is dust swirling, everything hurts. I see Lily and Ryan helping evacuate the scientists, I don’t see Crane anywhere! But that's when I see it, Cranes lab coat, soaked red and underneath a piece of rubble, I try to run towards it, but I can't stay on my legs, I call out,
“CRANE!” My friends hear me, they rush towards me and they see the lab coat, Lily tears up, Ryan is too stunned to speak, then we hear it, we hear him. Dillian, he’s laughing, laughing at the lab coat, laughing at us, My head snaps toward him, I feel the rage burning, my wings flare out, fire rises in my throat, I grab Dillian by the collar, and I roar,
“Do you think this is funny?!” Dillian just keeps laughing, “Crane is deadI!” Dillian looks at me, and he finally stops laughing, he pushes me off and spikes erupt from his skin, his tail wraps around my throat, and he growls,
“Don’t touch me you cretin, my ancestors were nearly wiped out by yours, I’m just returning the favor.” I look at him confused, Ryan seems to have been just as confused as me because he asked,
“What do you mean? The Eastern long tails have never had an issue with the Flying flame drakes.” Dillian just flicked his wrist and one of the spines shot out and nearly sliced Ryan’s head off!
“Do not compare the Wyrms to those foolish sky beasts! They have ruled the land for centuries!” Dillian roars, at this point I finally manage to choke out,
“Wyrm? Like the dragon inside the mountain Wyrm?” I struggle against his tail, I finally get a claw hooked under it and pull, it takes all of my strength to get my head loose and retreat, and then I see Dillian fully for the first time, pale skin covered in red spines and a long tail that could probably crush a normal humans windpipe, if I wasn’t a dragonkin I’d be dead.
“So, you do have a brain. Indeed, my ancestors were the Wyrms, Masters of the land, and the only dragons to be nearly forgotten by time, if it weren’t for the colony under Australia, I would not be a dragonkin.” Dillian snorts, and after saying his piece he leaped up, dived down, and bore through the earth, I try to go after him, but Lily holds me back,
“James you're hurt, and you would not stand a chance against him in your current state!” I hate to admit it, but it’s true, I would not stand a chance against Dillian, oh man, my leg hurts, I look at my left leg and I see that it has a shard of metal sticking out of it, and then everything feels heavy, I hear Lily yell out my name, but she sounds so far away, I don’t try and fight it, I just let the darkness envelope me, at least in the dark I can’t hurt, when I wake up I’m in the medical wing ha, it’s still funny, I have a bandage around my leg and then it all rushes back to me, Crane’s lab coat, Dillian laughing, the rage, everything, replaying over and over in my mind, I immediately try and stand up and I find a lot of difficulty in that, but I manage to stumble off the bed, I avoid putting weight on my leg, and I use my wings when necessary,
‘Well it’s about time you woke up, and here I was thinking that we had wasted time and resources.” I spin around to see a lady in a suit and glasses looking at me with a look of disdain,
“Hello, I am Dr. Leanne Vern, but you can call me Leanne. I am your new head researcher, I hope you are ready for your next few tests, Dr. Crane wasted a lot of time ‘bonding’ with you.” It’s right as she finishes that sentence when I feel the urge to make it her last, I feel rage burning under my skin and I glare at her with every last ounce of anger possible,
“What.” Either she didn’t get the memo or she is just a jerk, because she did not care, but either way I continued,
“Do you think that now is a good time to either ridicule Crane, or tell me that you need to run tests on me? I am not your lab rat” I grab her collar “I am not something you just get to boss around, If you say something like that again I will send you straight to the underworld where you belong.” I shove her back and go look for Lily and Ryan, I find them in the cafeteria, I get some food and sit down across from them,
“Mind if I sit here?” It clearly lightened the mood, but not even Ryan found the humor to reply, but we started to talk turns out I had been knocked out for two weeks, when I asked about Dillian Ryan tensed up, he explained to me that Dillian goes by ‘Death Wyrm’ now, he’s spent the last two weeks tormenting the city, and eventually I brought up Leanne,
“That Dr. Leanne is a jerk though, when I got out of the medical wing she just introduced herself, told me that she would run some tests and insulted Crane.” Lily seemed to agree because she replied,
“Yeah the first day she got here she told me I was ugly, and had me escorted into the testing chamber and forced me to fly for as long as I could or else I would get shocked.” Upon hearing this I feel rage flare up inside me, I flare out my wings and fly straight towards Leanne's office,
“You threatened Lily with being shocked?! What is wrong with you?” Leanne just looked at me stone faced and told me,
“You dragonkin are nothing but freaks that look interesting, you should not be treated like humans, you are tools.” I just stand there, shocked until the dam just breaks, I roared, I grabbed her by the collar and I slash her face with a claw,
“Tools? TOOLS?! The only tool in here is you! First you insult Crane, someone who died only two weeks ago! Then I learned you threatened one of my friends with a shock if they stopped playing your sick little game!” I feel the fire rise in my throat, I open my mouth, but then I see the look in her eyes, fear, absolute, paralyzing fear, I hesitate, and think to myself, oh my god, what am I doing? I release Leanne and walk out of the room, as I’m leaving I hear Leanne bellow from behind me,
“Where do you think you’re going?” I glare back, I don’t need to answer her, but because I know she will hurt my friends if I don’t I tell her what I’m doing, I explain.
“I’m going after Dillian, don’t try to stop me.” I can tell that Leanne is angry, I can feel her eyes shooting daggers at me, she clearly disagrees with me,
“Oh no you don’t, listen to me you bloated gecko, we did not spend millions tracking you down for you to play superhero!” I just walk away from her and go to the cafeteria to tell Lily and Ryan, they of course freak out at me, saying that I should not go after Dillian, that he’d kill me, and that I should stay here, but I look at them with all of the emotion in the world, I tell them
“Look, I know that Dillian would probably kill me, but I at least might tire him out enough for the police or military to stop him, but it’s more than that, I can’t let him hurt innocent people.” Lily and Ryan look at me, Lily hugs me, and tells me,
“Don’t you dare die or I will kill you.” I look at her, And I say to Ryan,
“I hope she’s joking.” Ryan looks at me and punches my arm,
“You are a good friend man, I hope you live through this.” I look at Ryan and Lily, knowing that this might be the last time I see them, I hug them both, and I flare out my wings and I fly off.

As I sped off towards Dillian, no, Death Wyrm, he stopped being Dillian when he killed Dr. Crane, one thought was going through my mind, am I going to survive this? It doesn’t really matter, as long as Death Wyrm gets what he deserves, when I arrive in the city I look around from above first, I decide to stop by my old apartment, I remember when My dad helped me find this place before he died, it has looked weird since I had my stuff moved into my room at the Kadmus site, I decide to sit down on the floor, when all of a sudden I hear a click and a secret safe opens from the wall. Inside I find a video message to me from my dad, along with an envelope, with the words for when I’m gone written on it, I look through the envelope and I find an old Kadmus keycard for my dad, so that's what his work was, I knew he was secretive but damn, A few other papers that talk about dragons, turns out, Kadmus had been looking into the dragons for years, although these papers are odd, as if my dad had prior knowledge of the dragons. The ball drops when I play the video message it says, 

>Hello, James, if you are watching this then I’m probably dead. In the envelope that you have found alongside this message, there is also my old keycard, it will give you full access to any Kadmus site. Along with my personal notes on the Flying flame drakes, the Eastern long tails, the Wyverns, and some vague knowledge of a supposed fourth dragon species, including some vague diet, and possible weaknesses, but if you’ve already read them, then that means you have seen that the Flying flame drake notes are more definitive, that’s because I am also a dragonkin, I only inherited physical strength from our ancestors, but I have a feeling you will have more characteristics, but I am saying this because you need to know the history behind our ancestors, and the rest.<
I look at the message and wait for it to continue, until a small piece of paper slips out of the metal box that is the message, when I open it I find out that in the beginning of the dragons, there were supposedly four species, the Flying flame drakes, the Eastern long tails, the Wyverns, and the Wyrms, until the Wyrms struck out, they had felt as though due to there inability to fly, that the other dragons thought less of them, the dragons were forced to lock away the Wyrms deep beneath what would one day be called Australia, and then man arose, and along with them the first dragonkin, Tiamat, a Flying flame dragonkin, as my dad called him, but the humans lived in fear of the dragons, eventually driving them to the bleeding cut edge of extinction using their advancing technology, eventually humans all but forgot about dragons, reducing them to myth or fairy tales. That was more or less all that was written, I committed all of this knowledge to memory, and then I heard a loud boom and some maniacal Dr. Doom esc laughing, I peer out of the window to see Death Wyrm, tormenting people, I leap out of the window and into the air, getting a good angle before dive bombing Death Wyrm, breathing fire on him and slashing him with my claws,
“Hey Dillian, did you miss me?” I laugh, I tried to pull a Ryan and joke myself into feeling confident, and it kinda helped, Death Wyrm roars out in rage,
“Why didn’t you stay out of my way?” He whips his tail up, shooting spines out at me, although thanks to my practice I manage to dodge them, I decide to not make a joke and just stay quiet for now, I remember something a security guard once told me, if the enemy is in range so are you, don’t just talk, actually attack, I know that I am in range for a fireblast but Dillian doesn’t know that, I shout out,
“Those spines must really hurt, but not as much as my claws!” I suddenly make a sharp turn and get in close with my talons, I first duck beneath Death Wyrms hook, and slash at his stomach, I then dodge a spine shot, and quickly follow up and through with a tail whip, knocking him off balance, then quickly blast fire right at his feet, but I didn’t see that Death Wyrms tail had grabbed my leg before it had already thrown me two blocks away, I was getting up when I felt a Burning pain in my arm, when I looked to see, it was one of Death Wyrms spines, It had only penetrated the outermost muscle tissue, I would heal in a few weeks but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hades, I rip the spine out and breath fire on the wound in order to cauterize it, when I suddenly feel Death Wyrms tail around my throat, choking me, and I am all of a sudden pinned to a wall, with my mouth bound shut, great it’s the boot all over again, I see Death Wyrm, he’s grabbing the spine I ripped out, he walks towards me, and he gives me a small speech,
“You know James, if you weren’t so noble I’d actually have let you join me, I never wanted to kill you, but you leave me no choice.” He lifts the spike up, when all of a sudden he is blasted back seemingly by a freakishly strong gust of wind, wait, that's a thermal updraft, I turn to see the best sight I could have seen, Ryan and Lily! Ryan opens his mouth first and I couldn’t be more thankful for his humor,
“Nobody treats James like that but me!” He then flies into battle riding on a thermal, while Lily freed me, she slices through the binding on my mouth and I immediately ask,
“What are you guys doing here?” Lily opens her mouth to answer but Ryan cuts in with being thrown into a wall
“Me and Lily are saving you, idiot, speaking of which a little help here?” Me and Lilly help Ryan up and we all get ready for a fight, but before we can charge in, Lily hands me a headmic,
“Here put this on,” I do as she says and suddenly Leanne's voice buzzes in through the speaker,
“Well it’s about time,” I am just happy to have some help with knowing my surroundings,
“Whatever happened to ‘we didn’t spend millions tracking you for you to play superhero?’” If Leanne heard me she didn’t answer, I just started to run towards Death Wyrm, before I took off alongside Lily and Ryan, I felt a familiar rage build up in my veins, I allow the rage to drive me forward, I feel the heat, the fire, rushing to every vein in my body, building along with all of the rage in my life, I gather my thoughts, a raging body is good for combat but a raging mind is bad for victory, when this feeling washes over me, I finally feel calm, I feel at peace, I never want this feeling to end, I open my snout, and unleash a twisting, flowing, blooming tunnel of flames,wounding Death Wyrm and distracting him long enough for Ryan to swing in with a bladed tail to his back, followed by Lily, biting into Death wyrms tail, as Death Wyrm roars I dive in and I do something unexpected, I talk to him,
“Dillian, I thought of you as a little brother, but you killed someone I cared about, I am sorry but, we need to take you in.” Death Wyrm roars, he writhes, up until Lily’s venom takes hold and he falls to the ground, defeated, a news reporter had been, well reporting, nearby and walked up to me, and asked me for an interview,
“Under normal circumstances I would agree, but not right now.” I wave as I signal to Ryan, it takes an embarrassingly long time for him to get the hint that I want him to create a thermal under Death Wyrm in order to transport him, but he follows my lead, and before we know it, we are flying toward the Kadmus site, but as we fly, I yell behind me,
“Hey, go ahead, I’ll… I’ll catch up.” Lily looks at me while Ryan just zooms ahead, no questions asked,
“Okay what are you doing?” I just look at her, feeling conflicted about telling her about my dad, for all I know this could get me in trouble, or worse, I make a split second decision,
“I… I think I saw something.” surprisingly it works, I swoop back towards the city and back to my old apartment and I grab the message from my dad, his keycard and the papers, I then fly off with them clenched between my arms and my body, I then fly into the Kadmus site, and discreetly go to my room, in order to hide them, I then get out of the site, and fly back into it acting like nothing happened, and to my surprise, there was a celebration waiting for me, there was cake, and wine, and even a nice Irish whiskey, eventually I asked about Death Wyrm, and turns out he was placed in a secure facility, deep under the site, and that anyone with high enough clearance could go down there, I decide that that is probably for the best.
After the celebration, I go into my room, and pull out the message, I look over it, Dad was a big fan of puzzles, so maybe this message is a puzzle? After several minutes fiddling with it, the message began to whir, and it then showed a place for a fingerprint, gotcha, I placed my thumb on the finger print and it pricked me, like I was getting my blood drawn. After that a key fell out of the message box, and a keyhole on the side, I of course used the key, which then played a different message,

Hello James, and I know it's you who will be watching this, at the time of making this message I am about to help you “find” an apartment, this is one that will only play for other people if you give them access and get a blood sample, the key you used is a one of a kind, and allows you full access to pre-recorded messages, and answers for certain questions, I hope that there will come a time when you don’t need it, but, knowing you, you will probably forget what the messages say within an hour, but anyway, I hope that this helps you greatly, here is a list of topics that the message box can give you data on.< The video then becomes like an interactable encyclopedia, where I can read the list at my own pace, I skim through it before my eyes lock on one entry, Dr. Crane Williams, I open the entry and i read about Crane, turns out, he was my fathers research partner and close friend, and the two of them met in college because they had managed to win a competition that landed them tuition for any college of their choosing, and they became friends after my dad stopped somebody from messing with Crane, there was a whole lot more there about Cranes upbringing, his family, his education, but I had to cut it short when Leanne entered my room, unannounced,

“What are you doing?” She glared, in her usual condescending tone, I am not in the mood for this “Jump off a cliff.” I growl, as I tuck the message away, but she sees it, and by the look on her face she could tell what I was looking at, “Let me guess, a message you don’t want anybody seeing?” I hate her but damn it she can connect the dots well, “Was it obvious?” I don’t bother denying it, she’ll just be a jerk about it, “No, I’m just used to being lied to, who's the message from?” Leanne nods at the message box, 

“It’s from my dad, he apparently worked at Kadmus and was friends with Crane.” The fact that my dad both worked ant Kadmus and was friends with crane seem to shock her, what’s really shocking though is what she asks next,

“Was your dad by chance Shane O’Maley?” I look at her, confused, “He was, why?” Leanne immediately seems to get shell shock, as she starts to geek out, “James your father was pretty much science royalty, I would have done anything to speak to him, oh my god I insulted the dead friend of Shane O’Maley, and of his son!” I feel angry that she brought that up again, but now feels like I can get something good out of this, “Ok I’ll make you a deal, if you only do tests with me and the other dragonkin willing to do so, and make sure not to do things like threatening to shock us if we don’t do what you want, I’ll tell you stories about my dad, deal?” It was almost impressive how quickly she answered, 

“Deal! Shock threats, exhaustion tests, and anything else like that is gone!” I am really happy that I can do stuff like that. That is the best ability ever.*1
*1 WIP

Deep Dark Wrath is a hand-drawn, card collecting, dungeon-crawler where you fend off countless enemies and find its source with the help of powerful Enchanted Cards. It's a lightweight and grindy 2D Topdown Dungeon Crawler ARPG that I solo developed and took me over 7 months to make. I have released this game last Monday. Feedback is still greatly appreciated.
◼️ v1.0 Gameplay Trailer ◼️ https://youtu.be/blhyjUgBf_k?si=V75xTKTkT22K0sdQ
Quick Key Features

• 5 Dungeon Areas to get used to and (not) get lost in
• Lots of ways to build your Adventurer's Enchanted Cards each run
• Easy-to-learn mechanics and controls
• Partial Controller Support

What is Deep Dark Wrath?
The Wrath is a looming darkness that lurks and corrupts anything within the Dungeon. The Dungeon has a mostly fixed layout, filled with unique areas, strong enemies to fight, key items to gather, and many Points to plunder. You'll also need to be quick or find ways to quell the Wrath's anger as you dive deep to the heart of the Dungeon, or you might face the Wrath! One way is with the help of Enchanted Cards.
Enchanted Cards are your main way of getting stronger so you can dive deeper into the Dungeon. These give you stat buffs and effects that can change you or the Dungeon to make it much easier to venture and escape. You can only use 3 at the start of the Run, so choose wisely!
Hidden deep in the Dungeon is the enemies' source, the Oracle Piece. Finding 7 of them, and appraising them into usable Oracle Enchanted Cards, will hopefully help you quell the Deep Dark Wrath.
You'll be finding yourself exploring labyrinths, discovering secrets, mowing down enemies, and collecting Enchanted Cards, hopefully, to destroy this darkness. Are you up for the challenge?
The game has fully released on Steam and Itch, but it has Free Demos you can try out if you’re simply interested. GIFs and Gameplay Screenshots are also in the links below!
◼️ Steam (Windows PC) ◼️ https://store.steampowered.com/app/2891520/Deep_Dark_Wrath/
◼️ itch.io (Windows PC and Android) ◼️ https://craftedcircuitry.itch.io/deep-dark-wrath

alright so, i found this from this watzatsong post the song itself was posted in a freddie dredd discord server and i believe is unfinished, the op of the watzatsong mistook the song for a real freddie dredd song (it honestly could be but i really don't think it is), since i was able to locate the full clip, I'd like to find the sample in it as well, lyrics in it from what i can tell are "walking by the sea in the morning rain, we were young and our hearts were free, we were happy then that the world would see" and a bunch of it i can't hear.. i cant find any song with those lyrics, so any help is appreciated, if this is found, the results will get back to the op of the original post by me or someone else who does it first.
https://voca.ro/1gOHY5hI2Ueg

i'd like to know the sampled song that's heard here https://www.watzatsong.com/en/name-that-tune/824664.html
the lyrics sound to me are " walking by the sea in the lonely rain. we were young and our hearts were free, we were happy then and the world to see."

Introduction

The Moschitta Framework is a cutting-edge, modular, and asynchronous Python framework designed for modern application development². While Python is great for rapid development, certain performance-critical components can benefit from Rust's memory safety, concurrency, and low-level control. In this guide, we'll explore how to create a Rust library that complements the moschitta-core module.

Why Rust?

• Memory Safety: Rust's ownership model ensures memory safety without a garbage collector. This is crucial for robust and secure code.
• Concurrency: Rust's lightweight threads (async tasks) allow efficient concurrent programming.
• Performance: Rust provides zero-cost abstractions and efficient memory management.

Creating the Rust Library

Step 1: Set Up Your Rust Project

1. Install Rust by following the instructions on the official Rust website.
2. Create a new Rust project: bash cargo new moschitta_rust_lib cd moschitta_rust_lib

Step 2: Define Structs

In Rust, we'll use structs to create custom data types. These will serve as the basis for our functions. Let's define some example structs:
```rust // src/lib.rs
pub struct AuthService { secret_key: String, }
impl AuthService { pub fn new(secret_key: &str) -> Self { Self { secret_key: secret_key.to_string(), } }

pub fn start(&self) { println!("AuthService started with secret key: {}", self.secret_key); } pub fn stop(&self) { println!("AuthService stopped"); } 

}
pub struct JwtUtils { // Add fields relevant to JWT handling }
impl JwtUtils { pub fn generate_token(&self, user_id: u64) -> String { // Implement JWT token generation logic // ... "sample_token".to_string() } } ```

Step 3: Implement Functions

1. AuthService:
   
   • new(secret_key: &str): Creates a new AuthService instance.
   • start(): Starts the authentication service.
   • stop(): Stops the authentication service.
2. JwtUtils:
   
   • generate_token(user_id: u64) -> String: Generates a JWT token for a given user ID.

Step 4: Build and Test

1. Build your Rust library: bash cargo build
2. Write tests for your functions in the tests directory.

Step 5: Python Bindings

To use your Rust library in Python, create Python bindings using the pyo3 crate. Add the following to your Cargo.toml:
toml [dependencies] pyo3 = { version = "0.15", features = ["extension-module"] }
Then, create a Python module in src/lib.rs:
```rust // src/lib.rs
use pyo3::prelude::*;

[pymodule]

fn moschitta_rust_lib(_py: Python, m: &PyModule) -> PyResult<()> { m.add_class::()?; m.add_class::()?; Ok(()) } ```

Step 6: Use in Python

1. Build your Python extension module: bash cargo build --release
2. Import your Rust library in Python: ```python import moschitta_rust_lib
   auth_service = moschitta_rust_lib.AuthService("my_secret_key") auth_service.start() ```
   

Conclusion

By integrating Rust into the Moschitta Framework, the framework can achieve better performance, memory safety, and concurrency.
Feel free to customize the Rust structs and functions according to your specific needs. Remember to adapt the examples to the actual functionality you want to implement.
Note: This post assumes basic familiarity with Rust and Python. If you're new to Rust, check out the official Rust book.
Source: Conversation with Copilot, 6/2/2024 (1) Overview of the Moschitta Framework : MoschittaFramework - Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/MoschittaFramework/comments/1cv9rloverview_of_the_moschitta_framework/. (2) Interaction of moschitta-core with Other Moschitta Modules. https://www.reddit.com/MoschittaFramework/comments/1cyx3mf/interaction_of_moschittacore_with_other_moschitta/. (3) Moschitta Framework Module Proposal Template : MoschittaFramework. https://www.reddit.com/MoschittaFramework/comments/1cz16g0/moschitta_framework_module_proposal_template/.

I accepted a $6 1.8 mile little caesers order, usually the LC by me is pretty solid when it comes to pickup orders unless they are really slammed with people, most of the time the order is in the pizza locker so I just enter the code, grab the order and leave.
However this time the order was not in the locker, I asked the employee and was told a 15-20 minute wait. Usually I do not mind a quick 5-10 minute wait, but 15-20 is pushing it especially for just $6. I do not want a potential CV for lateness or for my completion rate to go down, so I start my chat with support about the long wait time. Not suprised, it takes a long time for me to connect with support and when I’m finally connected I voiced my concerns about the order not being ready by the expected time and for them to cancel soon without reducing cancelation rate since I waited a long time at the restaurant.
“One moment please while I check this ,” (for some reason doordash support agents use commas for periods?)
This moment takes a while, and while that time passed the order was ready. At this point I was like whatever this support agent is taking forever so I pick up the order, hit confirm pickup, walked to my car, fired up the GPS, started the car and was ready to deliver the damned thing. Only then…
THE ENTIRE ORDER DISAPPEARS.
“I have now cancelled the order because of the long wait time, feel free to continue with other deliveries ,”
“I see you confirmed the pickup, do you now have the order? ,”
BRUH. HOW INCOMPETENT CAN DOORDASH SUPPORT GET? YOU JUST CANCELED THE ORDER I JUST PICKED UP AND NOW YOU ARE ASKING IF I HAVE THE ORDER. YES OF COURSE I HAVE THE DAMN ORDER WHY ELSE WOULD I CONFIRM THE PICKUP?
i got half pay AND the customers order as well. will this affect me in any way? i did what i was supposed to do and reported long wait times as i should, however i truly feel like this is all supports fault for not confirming the cancel with me at all; even after i marked the order as picked up.

I'm in that part of my career where I'm ready to start my own thing. I ran a branch of someone else's company for 2 years way back in the day, but the rest of my career has been in the field.
Things are gathering momentum, and I'm pretty stoked.
I also have a lot of well-meaning people in my life who are 100% optimistic and positive regarding my business model. Which is awesome - having cheerleaders in life is the coolest.
I've also been through startup before, and I've watched up-close as plumbing businesses succeed and fail. I've been spending a lot of time recently trying to punch holes in the model, and to figure out where I'm wrong. That's been helpful, but I'm pretty biased, lol; so maybe I'm not my most honest critic.
So, plumbers of reddit with field experience, and those of you who started your own thing from the ground up - please rip this idea to shreds. Seriously, I want to know everything that's wrong with it, and how it's going to fail.
I'm starting with 3 trucks - one plumber, one apprentice per truck, plus me in a smaller service vehicle, also with an apprentice. So, 8 field staff.
I have not structured or budgeted the office staff yet, but I have designated funding.
Compensation: On day 1, everyone, including me, is salaried. Going forward, all staff will be salaried after 90 days, excepting apprentices, who are hourly for their first year (this is for their benefit - I want new folks to feel free to leave with no hard feelings or negative consequences if the work isn't their bag).
Monthly revenue bonuses wil be paid out when a truck's revenue exceeds it's expenses by $10k. The size of the bonus will, of course, increase geometrically as the truck's margin increases that month. I haven't decided if I'm doing calendar months or rolling 4 week periods yet - I'll likely hand that decision to the crews. I want to incentive folks to earn, but I don't want them to be under pressure to earn every single week just to live.I also want them to know that their check is enhanced when the truck is hot - because high-revenue months are usually high-hour months.
Quarterly and/or annual bonuses to be paid out based on personal and general performance and growth. Company has a big year, everyone gets a piece.
The Employee-Owned Part:
Currently, I own 100% of the company, but that's a polite fiction. In reality, 90% of the startup funding is from a bank that has decided to roll the dice on me. 9.5% is my personal stake, and 0.5% is my wife's stake (bc she's awesome). By lunchtime on day 1, I will own 79.5% of the company.
On day 1, the 3 plumbers become 10% shareholders between them. They have decided how to split that fairly among themselves, which was pretty cool to see.
The 4 initial apprentices will receive a 5% share divided evenly among them, 1.25% each.
Going forward, apprentices who start their apprenticeship with us will be owners after their first year, and licensed folks who join up will become owners after a period, but we haven't decided what that tenure should be, yet.
Office & shop staff will receive a similar deal, but we can't structure that until we structure that staff and those positions.
My goal is for employees to control 45% of shares within 5 years. I'm open to the company being majority employee-owned eventually, but not until/unless the company pays off startup debt and is stable.
Accountability:
This company will operate in a 'right-to-work' state. The staff - field, office, & shop - have been tasked to form an in-house union within the first year of business. Honestly, I hope they get it done in the first month, but I also kinda hope we're so busy that they need more time haha.
The company will cut a check to help with consultation, training, legal, etc costs to get them off to a running start, but the union will fund itself going forward.
Part of the union's duty will be to keep me accountable. A 3rd party arbiter will be hired on retainer (shockingly cheap, btw) to keep everyone accountable, and to help prevent disagreements from becoming disputes.
Another responsibility of the union will be to present a plan for structuring many aspects of the employee-ownership system. I will have a benefits package secured for the first year of business, but I'd like the employees to have control over that sooner rather than later.
So, if you're still here, thanks, and please let me know what's going to screw us first 🙂

Background: I (19F) transferred to a new college closer to home because it was more affordable, but even with these changes, I can barely afford to pay for food, rent, and classes. I’m constantly sick and underweight from stress and lack of nutrition. I know people have it worse financially, and this might sound whiny, I’m just struggling atm. If I “act out” (do art, relax, be introverted, dress/talk a certain way), my finances are threatened, which stresses me out because I share ownership of my bank account with both my parents. And if I need financial support, I often have to call and beg. I don’t like doing it, and she doesn’t like it either, and tells me about how she was able to do it all back when she was in college. And my family is well off, I went to school in a good area, got multiple Christmas presents, and would always go on summer vacations growing up, so money in the family is plentiful. In contrast, my brother is having a wonderful college experience traveling across the country, going out at night with friends, and eating at nice restaurants all paid for by my parents. And since I’ve been out of the house, they travel more frequently. We got that dough! Well, they do. I might sound a bit bitter, and that's because I am, but I’m at least glad that my brother doesn’t have to feel this stress.
The Tea: Now for where this subreddit is relevant. My mom has been working to start a business for a year. It started with social media, and I think she blew up? I don’t check social media much these days. She has a loyal fanbase, and she started putting all her effort into opening up her own shop. I’ve helped her with content, aesthetics, marketing, products, a couple times a week since the start, because she seems so excited; and with her busy with this, there’s been way less of her dumping all of her problems (financial, depressive episodes, or otherwise) onto me, and our relationship has gotten a lot better, or so I thought.
She’s been really anxious recently because my dad is ready to retire and live a quieter life, away from the hustle and bustle, which means leaving behind this lavish lifestyle and live more simply, or in short: downsize. Less shopping hauls, presents, and vacations. He’s worked hard for so long and he’s tired and he gets sick often, nothing serious, but I think it would be healthy for him to stop, plus he’s lucky enough that he is able to do so; but she’s doesn’t want to lose it, and change can be pretty hard sometimes. She called me last week asking me to move across the country, to a building she purchased, not remotely close to home, and work as the manager. I would be the only employee, as she wants to only hire people she can trust. I would do all the marketing, create all the merch, learn and eventually to operate inventory, keep track of all sales, bookkeeping, and essentially run the shop.
When I heard this, I knew I didn’t want to do it. I was happy to help her this much, but all of this is so sudden and not what I’d signed up for. I want to stay in school and explore my own life, and I don’t want to put that on hold for anyone. I’m in the interview process for an internship, I work summers, overload classes so I don’t have to spend as much, plus I’m working on a business myself, but I don’t really have funds, so it’s really small now, but it’s something, and I have regular supporters that frequently purchase from me.
I told her this, and safe to say, she was quite upset, and sends me paragraphs upon paragraphs regularly, to remind me. “This is just what kids do for their parents” “You’re being selfish, only thinking about yourself, and not my dream” “This will be a good for you, this is the best job you’ll ever have, you’ll hate everything else out there” “The kids of all my friends are working harder, you’re slacking off” “Do you really want to stop traveling? I know I’m not going to give that up” (By the way, I haven’t been invited to a family vacation since high school, so that never really applied to me.)
She especially didn’t like that I had started my own business. I launched it a month ago, and I’ve made $150! It’s not much, but I’m proud of myself, especially working from nothing and no support, but she told me “I make more money than you, so this should be prioritized.” So I asked her what payment would be, because at this point we’ve been talking for 2 hours and I’m exhausted, and she said that we could “come up with a compromise that would work for the both of us.” So does that mean I don’t get paid?? I asked and she didn’t answer at first, later saying payment would come if she deemed I was working hard and putting in effort. Um…? and now she’s beginning to move my stuff, like my bed, over to the location so I can live nearby.
As for my dad, he’s gone silent, I got one email from him last week, basically saying that ‘he’s ok, he’s taking care of a lot of things right now, things are stressful, but not unexpected.’ I haven’t been able to get ahold of him since, which concerns me because I don’t know if something is wrong, and I’m so anxious. My mom tells me worse and worse things about what’s happening to him, and I could make it better if I took some responsibility and supported the family.
And no, she hasn’t asked my brother for help, she doesn’t talk to him about the serious stuff, they just kinda joke around and do fun stuff together when he’s around. I’m the oldest, so I always grew up needing to be the role model. I’ve already started rolling out her ad campaigns and logos and product design (for free), because I feel so guilty for not repaying my family for everything they’ve done for me. (Yes, I’m a doormat.) I don’t want to be selfish, or troublesome, or lazy, or mean, and I’m trying my best to balance it with my school and my work, but I want to live my own life and find what makes me happy, I have so much hope for what I can do to make a difference in this world! My way! But at the same time, it just feels so strongly like what I want to do is the wrong thing to do. I’m not exactly financially independent, and my main support system is gone, so I’m at a loss for what to do.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading.<3

Just bought a new Framework 13 with an AMD chip in it, and installed Kubuntu 24.04 on it. Downloaded the AppImage from GitHub, but when executing, it won't get past the loading screen. If I run from the terminal, I get this output to stdout:

me@framework-13:~/Downloads$ ./FreeCAD-0.21.2-Linux-x86_64.AppImage FreeCAD 0.21.2, Libs: 0.21.2R33771 (Git) © Juergen Riegel, Werner Mayer, Yorik van Havre and others 2001-2023 FreeCAD is free and open-source software licensed under the terms of LGPL2+ license. FreeCAD wouldn't be possible without FreeCAD community. ##### #### ### #### # # # # # # # ## #### #### # # # # # #### # # # # # # # ##### # # # # #### #### # # # # # # # # # # # # # # ## ## ## # # #### #### ### # # #### ## ## ## MESA-LOADER: failed to open radeonsi: /uslib/dri/radeonsi_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /uslib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri:\$${ORIGIN}/dri:/uslib/dri, suffix _dri) failed to load driver: radeonsi MESA-LOADER: failed to open radeonsi: /uslib/dri/radeonsi_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /uslib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri:\$${ORIGIN}/dri:/uslib/dri, suffix _dri) failed to load driver: radeonsi MESA-LOADER: failed to open swrast: /uslib/dri/swrast_dri.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory (search paths /uslib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri:\$${ORIGIN}/dri:/uslib/dri, suffix _dri) WebEngineContext used before QtWebEngine::initialize() or OpenGL context creation failed. QGLXContext: Failed to create dummy context Failed to create OpenGL context for format QSurfaceFormat(version 2.0, options QFlags(), depthBufferSize 24, redBufferSize -1, greenBufferSize -1, blueBufferSize -1, alphaBufferSize -1, stencilBufferSize 8, samples 0, swapBehavior QSurfaceFormat::DefaultSwapBehavior, swapInterval 1, colorSpace QSurfaceFormat::DefaultColorSpace, profile QSurfaceFormat::NoProfile) 

I checked /uslib/x86_64-linux-gnu/dri and I see radeonsi_dri is there in my system. So I don't know why the AppImage can't find it? Or is it missing from the AppImage itself? Does anyone know how to fix this?

Hello guys! I’m a path collector and I just wanted to ask what things botheirritate you about samples you receive? What things would you ask collectors do to make your life better? Please feel free to rant/vent in the comments no hard feelings 🩵

The song starts with a robotic voice that says "Free your mind, and the rest (or "your ass") will follow". It's hard to tell. I just found today on Google the song "Free you mind" by Olimpo that has the same robot voice saying the same thing. But it wasn't that song.
Edit: go to 40 seconds
After the robot voice a synth rhythmically goes "wah wah, wa-wah wah, wa-wah wah" and goes up and down in pitch. then builds up gradually to have this sick drop (what else) with the wa-wahs going higher pitch and really intense. I guess it was house? But no other vocals than the intro. So maybe trance? It was really intense yet very floaty.
I remember the song was really popular in after hours clubs I went to in Ottawa in 1998 and/or 1999, like Atomic. And I definitely remember it played at Black & Blue in October 1999 at the Olympic Stadium in Montréal.

Set 1 Aiming at ya head (get ya freak on sample) Id? (run the jewels so you should pump this shit sample) Id? Id? Id? (Gorillaz sample clint eastwood) Id? (Troyboi sample) Still night Id Id Id (it's tricky sample)
Set 2 Let the world hurry by Total fascination Id Id Id but josh knows it spilling over every side Id (ive got a beat inside my heart sample) Sunshine sample Id (shaggy angel sample) Id (mac miller Derek rendition) I can see it in your face Id Timbaland sample Hot like sauce Finally moving
Was doing my best to keep up while in the crowd but there was a ton of stuff I didn't recognize. Feel free to chime in and I'll edit. I also think he played forever lost at some point in set 2.

Today's anniversaries are:
1937

• Alban Berg - Lulu (opera)

2009

• Jordan Rudess - Notes on a Dream (Rock)

2010

• Té - 敢えて、理解を望み縺れ尽く音声や文字の枠外での『約束』を。 (Aete, rikai o nozomi motsure kotogotoku onsei ya moji no wakugai de no “yakusoku” o.) (Asian Music, Pop)

2012

• Sean Archibald - Sean but Not Heard (electronic, ambient, bass, bass music, beats, experimental, experimental electronic, microtonal, numbers, split-notes, United Kingdom)

2015

• Codas - Currents (experimental, metal, drone, drone ambient, heavy, industrial, instrumental, mathcore, progressive metal, New York)
  
• Consider the Source - World War Trio (Parts Ⅱ & Ⅲ) (experimental, rock, world, instrumental, jazz, progressive, New York)
  
• Leprous - The Congregation (Rock, Hard Rock, Metal)
  
• Pyrrhon - Growth without End (extreme metal, metal, death metal, progressive death metal, progressive metal, technical death metal, New York)
  
• Sein zum Tode - Siamese Second Cousins Never Removed (metal, avant-garde metal, circus music, Columbia) Read our review.
  
• The ILY's - I've Always Been Good at True Love (Alternative, Rock, Indie Rock/Rock pop)
  

2016

• Féroces - Juliette (rock, new wave, post-rock, Besançon) Read our review.
  
• Instar - Instar (metal, ambient, progressive, Austin)
  

2017

• '68 - Two Parts Viper (hard rock, noise punk, punk, rock, blues rock, math rock, noise rock, post-hardcore, post-punk, Atlanta)
  
• A Trust Unclean - Parturition (death metal, djent, metal, progressive metal, technical metal, heavy metal, United Kingdom)
  
• Art Contest - Two Songs (rock, indie rock, math rock, noise, pop, probability & statistics, Georgia)
  
• Dark Matter Secret - Perfect World Creation (technical death metal, progressive metal, Nashville)
  
• Dougmore - Outerboros (folk, art folk, avant-folk, banjo, chamber folk, dreamfolk, indie, indie folk, lush, mythic, progressive bluegrass, psychedelic, psychedelic folk, singer-songwriter, storytelling, New York)
  
• Dystopian Future Movies - Time (alternative, garage rock, hard rock, post-rock, prog-rock, psychedelic rock, Nottingham)
  
• Eidola - To Speak, to Listen (experimental rock, groove rock, post-hardcore, progressive metal, Provo)
  
• Elder - Reflections of a Floating World (rock, armageddon shop, doom, heavy psychedelic rock, prog, progressive rock, stickman records, Berlin)
  
• Emperor of Mind - Resistance (atmospheric, experimental, metal, progressive metal, djent, mathcore, Salem)
  
• Fabian Almazan & Rhizome - Alcanza (jazz, chamber music, cuba, piano, New York)
  
• Gentiane Michaud-Gagnon Trio - Eternal Cycle (jazz, Montreal)
  
• Ghost - Everything We Touch Turns to Dust (ambient, denver, electronica, experimental, idm, electro, electro-acoustic, Oakland)
  
• Gravetemple - Áthatolhatatlan félelmek (Impassable Fears) (experimental, drone, experimental, free rock, metal, ritual, New York)
  
• Hands that Lift the Oceans - Impetus (black metal, experimental, metal, post black metal, Würzburg)
  
• Hot Flash Heat Wave - Soaked (dream pop, oakland, pop, rock, bedroom pop, dreampop, new wave, post-punk, psychedelic rock, San Francisco)
  
• Human - Fractured Lands (improvisation, improvised, jazz, new music, London)
  
• Inertia - The Process (alternative, metal, pop, rock, alternative rock, ambient, dark, darkpop, djent, post-hardcore, post-rock, radio rock, Apple Valley)
  
• Miss Cantaloupe - Miss Cantaloupe (alternative, avant rock, enchanting, ethereal, fairytale, psychadelic, Philadelphia)
  
• Mutoid Man - War Moans (rock, metal, punk, New York)
  
• Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal - Under the Influence Suite (Jazz)
  
• Sikth - The Future in Whose Eyes? (Metal)
  
• Thunkfish - Renegades (jazz, experimental, funk, fusion jazz, pthronk, rock, sample-based, Edinburgh)
  
• Time Lurker - Time Lurker (black metal, atmospheric black metal, metal, atmospheric, France)
  
• Völur - Ancestors (ambient folk, metal, doom metal, folk, Toronto)
  

2018

• Spectral Wound - Infernal Decadence (black metal, metal, power pop, Montreal)

2019

• Alex Fournier Sextet - Triio (jazz, canada, canadian jazz, creative music, free jazz, improv, jazz, new music, toronto, Toronto)
  
• Bitter Lake - New Branches on Old Trees (metal, avant-garde metal, black metal, jazzcore, post black metal, United Kingdom)
  
• The Pen Club - Data Retrieval (contemporary jazz, jazz, free jazz, Sydney) Read our review.
  
• Άντη Σκορδή (Andys Skordis) - In… Se… (gamelan opera) Read our review.
  

2020

• Hex Wound - Averse to the Universe (blackened death metal)
  
• Pixel Archipelago - Intervallic Prism (experimental rock, microtonal)
  

2021

• Clément Janinet - La Litanie des cimes (contemporary classical)
  
• Ivy to Fraudulent Game - 再生する (Saisei suru) (math rock)
  
• Skeletonized Quartet - Future Shock (avant-garde jazz)
  

2022

• Black Particles - Loss Function (post-metal)
  
• Etno histeria World Orchestra - 2021 (folk)
  
• Neperia - Ptesmata (symphonic death metal)
  
• Nito - Awakening (post-rock)
  

2023

• A Fool's Errand - The Art of Leaving Things Behind (post-rock)
  
• Adjy - June Songs, Volume 1 (progressive folk rock)
  
• Æffect - Theory of Mind (progressive death metal)
  
• After Ours - Music for Cats (nu jazz)
  
• Ash Trio - Ash (jazz fusion)
  
• Cloutchaser - Metallica (mathcore)
  
• David T Little - Black Lodge (contemporary opera)
  
• Depuis l'abîme - L'Incendie (post-hardcore)
  
• Einar Solberg - 16 (pop)
  
• Gorgeous - Sapsucker (avant-prog)
  
• Goyard Ibn Said & غيث (Ghais Guevara) - Goyard Comin': Exordium (experimental hip-hop)
  
• Hills like White Lions - Meander (progressive metal)
  
• Illegal Crowns - Unclosed (free improvisation)
  
• Jack Cooper - Arrival (contemporary classical)
  
• John Liberatore, played by Zohn Collective - Catch Somewhere (chamber music)
  
• Joshua Jaswon Octet - Polar Waters (modern jazz)
  
• Kid Millions & Sarah Bernstein - Forest Park Live (free improvisation)
  
• Knower - Knower Forever (pop)
  
• Koningsor - Death Process (mathcore)
  
• Lars Fredrik Frøislie - Fire fortellinger (progressive rock)
  
• Lausch - Love & Order (alternative rock)
  
• Linda May Han Oh - The Glass Hours (modern jazz)
  
• Mary Ancheta Quartet - Level Up (jazz fusion)
  
• McKinley Dixon - Beloved! Paradise! Jazz‽ (hip-hop)
  
• Moral Collapse - Divine Prosthetics (progressive death metal)
  
• Nōn serviam - Death Ataraxia (experimental black metal)
  
• OK Goodnight - The Fox & the Bird (progressive rock)
  
• Phonem - Geometriks (modern jazz)
  
• Pupil Slicer - Blossom (mathcore)
  
• Quiet Sonia - Quiet Sonia (slowcore)
  
• Risin Sabotage - Macabre (stoner rock)
  
• Sarah Pagé - Voda (ambient classical)
  
• Sébastien Parent - Projet Seb Parent (big band jazz)
  
• Signe Emmeluth's Onomatopoesia - Syntax (modern jazz)
  
• Solarium - Aube/Nocturne (jazz fusion)
  
• Sophie Ellis-Bextor - 花 (Hana) (pop)
  
• Surema - Surema (post-metal)
  
• Thantifaxath - Hive Mind Narcosis (avant-garde black metal)
  
• Travis Orbin - Travis Orbin (progressive metal)
  
• Unfurl - Ascension (blackened post-hardcore)
  
• Vacuous - Katabasis (death metal)
  
• Void of Nihility - Above the Stars of God (avant-garde black metal)
  
• Vulfmon - Vulfnik (funk)
  
• Yoni Mayraz - Dybbuk Tse! (nu jazz)
  

Just for some background info, I’m a server at a restaurant/bar and there’s this young woman (around mid 20s) that comes alone a couple times a week and sits in different sections. She has stiffed me before (left me $0 tip), usually on $25-35 tabs. She has never left a tip for any of my co-workers, and has been coming for the past couple of months. On top of that she is fairly rude and never says please/thank you.
She came in and I told her that I’m afraid I can’t serve her, that I am uncomfortable being her server and that she can sit at any section other than mine. She was confused as to what she did and understandably asked for my manager. My manager is aware of the situation with this woman and basically told her that his employees make their money from tips and it’s unfair to them to leave them zero every time. She responded that she simply doesn’t have the money to tip, which was a bit strange since our restaurant is not the cheapest place and she comes by a few times a week. While I think the whole tipping system is very flawed in the United States, it’s frustrating when people serve for a living and they get stiffed.
Since then I have felt conflicted about what I did. At our restaurant we have the right to refuse service to anyone, and I have never had to do this before. On one hand, I feel bad about asking someone to leave a restaurant if they like the food and want to eat there. On the other hand, I know that she comes in multiple times a week and stiffs every time; I simply don’t work for free and I’ve got bills to pay- if you are going to stiff at the very least one could be a nice person. Am I the asshole for asking her to leave? Maybe this even sparks a conversation about tipping in general. Pay servers hourly!

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Gonna be a long read, thanks for going through it.
I'm in Canada. I attended Uni for 1 year studying IT but dropped out, I did not like a single moment about it. It killed my passive mild interest in coding. I wanted to study social work but threw that idea away after feeling completely apathetic after helping homeless people in the city. During my NEET years, I fell in love with a game. Eventually, I got a full-time day job working on a computer, and at night I taught many other players how to get better at that game for free, and some were willing to pay a couple bucks. I tried to advertise myself through YouTube, but it didn't take off fast enough and I had to call it quits from stress of overworking myself after 6 months. I wasn't given the opportunity to work part time to be able to focus more on being able to make it work.
I absolutely loved every second of it. Filling in my free time with coaching sessions, building and maintaining new relationships with players, constantly brainstorming new lesson ideas for videos, working on scripts, recording and editing videos, designing the thumbnail. Every single video I released I cherish with all my heart and am very proud of myself for what I have made, and I love coaching players so much I continue to do it to this day for free, though much more sparingly than I used to.
That was a year ago. Nowadays, I pay $500 in rent to live in my parents home and just go full degenrotting whenever I am not at work. When I am at work, I miserably and quietly suffocate, begging internally to be saved by the grace of spontaneous death or a time skip to the weekend, even though its only just an hour into Monday. It is not an exaggeration when I say it feels like suffering to be at work. This is not a case of the 'I hate Mondays'. I've already used up all my sick days and vacation hours to avoid work as of last week, so that leaves me with 6 months of no paid time off remaining to use. It's only Saturday night as I type this, and I am already dreading and stressed out about how I have to go back to work soon.
The job itself is like gold compared to any other minimum wage job around I've seen for no degree. Insurance benefit, well air conditioned, I sit by a window with a view of trees and grass, work hours are 7-2:30 M-F with 30 min paid lunches, the work is easy too as it is just basic data entry, and travel takes only 5-10 mins by car. My supervisors and manager are extremely passive as well and basically completely leave me alone, not even so much as a progress evaluation or anything of the sort. Because of this, I spend at least 60% of my work time (if not more) just browsing reddit on my phone and take bathroom breaks constantly, occasionally I will get high in the middle of the work day too. I am the worst employee, no doubt about it, but I truly can't bring myself to care because I find it gratifying to think that I will be fired. I do not talk with any coworkers and have no friends both inside and outside of work.
Typing out that last paragraph and reading it back, a part of me genuinely thought, Wait, that sounds like a dream job. Yet, despite being in it... I hate it, and it sucks that I do :( At work, I often fantasize about escaping in unhinged ways, like jumping from the second floor, calling in a bomb threat, injuring myself to be admitted to a hospital, and other such ilk. I often question what's wrong with me, and wish I just could be okay with where I am in life, but I deeply feel like my life sucks. I have ADHD, I am taking meds for depression, and also seeing a therapist.
I also like to cook, but love learning new dish recipes even more. I would hate cooking if I worked in a restaurant, and I don't have the chutzpah to become a personal chef.
I appreciate you for reading this far. If I could be allowed an additional luxury, please, if you have any suggestions to help me, please make it as detailed as possible; include the exact steps or relevant resources that would take to achieve your suggestion, as well as a description of what the path you suggest looks/feels like. I need to know not only *what*, but also the *how* and *why*. I understand if not every one is willing to do this, I appreciate you all the same for even just responding.
Thankyou

So, as the title suggests, this is my idea for the Indigo Park Timeline and Lore, including the time before, and the game's events. This will be one of three parts due to character limitations, this part dealing with the time before the events of the game.
BEFORE THE GAME
So, this game is clearly based loosely on Disney, if it wasn't obvious enough: a man by the name of Isaac Indigo opening Indigo Park (Walt Disney, Disney World, self-explanatory), starting out with cartoons in the early 1900s.
Mr. Isaac Indigo started out his business ventures in the cartoon sphere, specifically with Lloydford L. Lion, or more commonly known as Lloyd the Lion. The reason that it's Lloyd specifically, and not anyone else, can be seen when interacting with the Retro Lloyd Plush, both from the protagonist and Rambley the Raccoon, the modern day representative of Indigo Park.
Protagonist in regard to the Retro Lloyd Plush: "Lloyd obviously had an older look in the classic Indigo cartoons, but I'm not sure it looked like this. I guess nostalgia sells..."
Rambley AI in regard to the Retro Lloyd Plush: "Ugh...I don't get why we even have those. And why did they only make one of LLOYD? Is it because he's the loudest? I CAN BE LOUD TOO! WHERE'S MY LIMITED-EDITION THROWBACK PLUSH?! WHERE'S MOLLIE'S? WHERE'S FINLEY'S?"
Protagonist in regard to the Lloyd Plush: “I feel like as a kid, Indigo used Loyd a lot more.”
If it wasn't obvious enough by Rambley's rather frustrated demeanor regarding the plush, only Lloyd received this sort of plush, while none of the others received such a collectible. Well, it's possible Salem the Skunk received one, since Rambley didn't mention her, but that might be more representative of his intense dislike for Salem, something that will be discussed down the line. Another thing to note is that this plush does not look like the original Lloyd Lion, which is a detail I will discuss in depth towards the end.
Anyways, over the years, the other mascots we know and love, Mollie the Macaw, Finley the Sea Serpent, Salem the Skunk, and Rambley the Raccoon are added. I would like to put forth the idea that Mollie, Salem, and Rambley were all added in the same general time period, thanks to the Rambley Rush Arcade Game.
The quick rundown of the game is thus: Mollie Macaw crashes somewhere in the depths of Rambleberry Woods, and Rambley goes to find her. Along the way, he must jump across rivers and pits, collecting Rambleberries, and stomping upon evil purple squirrels, eventually reaching Mollie, who is still near her crashed plane. When she gets up, she claims that she crashed because her vision became rapidly obscured, at which point Salem Skunk appears and takes credit for that, claiming that she needed better test subjects for her potions than a bunch of squirrels. Infecting Mollie with the potion, Salem flees, not before Rambley and Salem exchange some barbs. Rambley eventually knocks Mollie out by stomping on her a few times, and the game glitches and crashes.
This arcade game is important for several reasons, one of which is that it introduces us to the dynamic that Rambley and Salem have: one of enemies, different than with Lloyd, because Rambley is merely jealous of the fact that Lloyd came before him, and was the main character for a long period of time. There is also the fact that Salem's area in the Rambley Railroad is completely destroyed. Not even Lloyd's area is so damaged.
From my basic understanding of early black and white television, based on the Chapter 1 opening cutscene of Isaac Indigo, Indigo Park opens somewhere in the 1940s to 1950s, as the grainy, blurry footage and somewhat muffled audio is reminiscent of such times. All sorts of rides and attractions are available for families to explore, such as Rambley's Railway, Jetstream Junction, Oceanic Odyssey, and Lloyd's Main Stage Theater. Again, interesting to note that Salem doesn't have such an area dedicated to her, though that might just be a way of putting off that area for later in the game. People in costumes (note, not called Mascots themselves, as I will use the term to address the replacements of these costumes) roam about the place, likely acting like modern day Disney Cast Members do today, interacting with guests in character.
After a long period of time, and possibly into the early 2000s, the focus is drawn away from Lloyd and onto Rambley, and specifically after the park was open, and not before, because in that same commercial that I dated to approximately the 1940s or 50s, the front gates are decorated with artwork of Lloyd, which is different than in game, where the Lloyd artwork has been replaced by art of Rambley. The reasoning for this is unclear, though I do have a few speculations. It is noted, both by the Rambley AI and the protagonist when interacting with the limited Golden Rambley Plush, that the idea is kind of cheap.
Protagonist: "So wait. They were so money hungry that they just recolored a regular Rambley plush and called it a new product? Kinda lazy don't you think?"
Rambley AI: "... Seriously, our employees had to clean up SO many stray teeth and nails. Hard to believe that there was all this demand for a regular Rambley Plush we blasted with gold spray paint..."
The idea of cutting corners and lowering costs comes up a fair bit. This might be the reason that they swapped main characters, after all: it's easier to animate a cute, small raccoon with a bandana than a large lion in a full on suit. This might also be the reason that the park transitions from costumed staff members, or "Ranglers", to Mascots.
Another reason for the change could have been growing awareness of animal welfare issues at the time, with many circuses and zoos facing criticism for how they treated their animals, lions and elephants specifically, and is an issue that is still ongoing, so perhaps Indigo Park didn't want the negative press to come to them, so they swapped. However, it is important to note that these are purely my speculations, and no concrete reason for the swap was ever introduced in Chapter 1 (to my knowledge).
A third possible reason could be in reference to what Indigo Park represented, at least in the time that it was built. According to Isaac Indigo:
Isaac Indigo, giving a press conference outside Indigo Park: “Indigo Park offers a slice of the American dream to call your own. In this place, echoes of days gone are brought back to life as a new generation captures a glimpse of the exciting potential of Tomorrow. Indigo Park pays homage to the values, dreams, and unwavering truths that gave rise to our great nation.”
Let’s take a step back. Remember how I dated the opening of Indigo Park to the 1940s or 1950s? If that was true, that means that Indigo Park opened in the shadow of the Second World War, the deadliest human conflict ever recorded, with a death toll of over 50 million people, both soldier and civilian. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, it was eventually public knowledge that the USA still decided to drop the second one, even after Imperial Japan had surrendered after the first one had been cast.
It's entirely possible that Indigo Park was, in some way, propaganda. Think about it, Lloyd the Lion was the mascot. And what do lions represent? Strength, power, unity, leadership. Lloyd could have been a symbol to the American people that proclaimed themselves as leaders, people who thought of the future, while trying to sideline the negative press the USA received.
After a while, however, there was no need to justify their victory. People, for the most part, accepted their victory, and as the world headed into a Cold War, there was no need to justify themselves; many people were afraid of the Communists, the Red, and the influence it may have. Clearly, the USA and its allies were the good guys. Communism was a threat to democracy, everyone knew that! So there was a switch to a more child friendly character, Rambley, as the main man himself.
That might also explain why the retro plushie doesn’t look like how Lloyd did in the old cartoons, as stated explicitly by the protagonist; perhaps that older Lloyd was more mature, older, and signified some much darker. There’s no need to stir up bad memories of WW2, so they changed his design to be softer, younger, much more unassuming.
The Protagonist, regarding the Retro Lloyd Plushie: “I always find it weird when companies make merch that’s supposed to look old. Lloyd obviously had an older look in the classic Indigo cartoons, but I’m not sure Lloyd looked like this.”
There’s also a case to be made that Disney also participated in some good old propaganda of their own, mocking Nazi Germany and their ideals.
Now, disregarding politics, because that thing is a minefield to safely navigate, this is just my theory. I am not trying to radicalize the game, and if you hate this theory, you can go about ignoring it! I personally don’t think it’s the correct answer, just a potential answer.
Another change that soon occurred was the change from costumed "Ranglers" to living, breathing, flesh and bones Mascots, introduced to us in the Rambley AI interaction with the Rambley mask.
Rambley AI, playing an old tape in the database in regard to the costumes: "First Person - Hey Jackson! You hear about the new mascots? Jackson - Yeah, you think it will put us out of a job? First Person - I think so, Old Sport, and right after we got this damn raccoon costume."
An important note to this is that this interaction is considered an Easter Egg to a FNAF fan game called Dayshift at Freddy's, alongside some other references such as the Golden Rambley being a reference to Golden Freddy, and the Poodle Plush being a reference to another FNAF fan game Playtime with Percy. Despite this, these items seem to carry a bit of significant lore in them, something that I think is an interesting way of hiding it. It opens up the possibility to state that it should be disregarded, since it's supposed to be an Easter Egg to something else, but I don't think so.
This quote makes me think that the switch from costumes to Mascots happened quite early on in Indigo Park's lifetime, considering it's said that the Mascots should appear quite soon after the introduction of the costumes, perhaps yet another clue that Indigo Park was looking to cut costs. After all, why pay people when you can have Mascots roaming about, doing just the same, if not better, of a job?
And everything seems to be going fine for quite a while. The protagonist notes several times that his family, and especially his mother and himself, were avid fans of the place and characters, his mother liking Mollie Macaw the most, while the protagonist favored a few, such as Lloyd the Lion, while disliking Finley due to his large size, which was revealed when interacting with a few different collectibles.
When the protagonist interacts with the Lloyd the Lion plush: "I feel like as a kid, Indigo used Lloyd a lot more. He was always one of my favorites."
When the protagonist interacts with the Mollie the Macaw plush: "I remember when my mom took us to the parks one summer. Her favorite was always Mollie, so when they first opened new Mollie Meet & Greet in Jetstream Junction, we were some of the first in line."
When the protagonist interacts with the Rambley Ears: "My dad promised me he'd buy me a pair when we went."
When the protagonist interacts with the Souvenir Rambley Cup: "When I was a kid they used to have free unlimited refills on those things. I once drank so much Bird Up that I got sick and threw up while riding Rooftop Races. That poor kid behind me..."
Anyways, we got the point: the family went there often and were huge fans of the park. What could go wrong?
Well, apparently a huge evacuation and closure of the park with no explanation whatsoever, to the point where the authorities also were not able give any reasoning or answers.
This comes from the newspaper we see in the beginning cutscene, after the old video of Isaac Indigo introducing Indigo Park. So, let's theorize a bit. Out of everything in the park, what could possibly lead to such a drastic evacuation of a place so well loved? Oh, I don't know, maybe the killer Mascots that try to kill you in Chapter 1 ...
What isn't so clear is what happened to them. Clearly, they were well behaved and safe to be around, even for small children, as the park remained open for 50 years (minimum) without issue, and almost as long with the actual mascots themselves. Obviously, they went rogue, as can be seen when the protagonist has to run away from Lloyd the Lion's attempts to attack and have the Rambley AI save the protagonist from the Mollie the Macaw by killing the Mascot with a metal door. I don't think it had to do with resources such as food, since the Mascots remained by themselves in the park for 2920 days, exactly eight years, and only seemed feral. Besides that, we see a bunch of vendor stations and a few cafes, still with food in them. Moldy, perhaps, and expired, but there's still food. There's also water (possibly) available in those self serve drinking fountains. The last time the park was operational was October 7th, 20XX (with the exact year being a mystery), and the reason I say operational is because of an announcement seen on one of the Rangler monitors in the reception area.
Announcement: "Attention Ranglers. The date is October 7th, 20XX. Charge guests the SATURDAY pricing indicated in your Rookie Rangler Handbook! Thanks! - Management."
What jumps out immediately is the way Saturday is so bold. So, what can we assume? The last operational day we have knowledge of was Saturday, October 7th, somewhere in the 2000s. Unless this is the future (which we have no reason to believe), we can assume this Saturday occurred somewhere between 2000 and 2023 (2023 and not 2024 because the creator, in a livestream, ended up giving a vague message of the game taking place in 2023). Looking up old calendars and looking specifically for an October 7th that lands on a Saturday reveals a couple potential years: 2000, 2006, and 2023. We can discount 2023, as we know the park was closed for 8 years. I did try to find a date on those three monitors the protagonist uses in the opening cutscene, but only found the time, 7:32 pm. Unfortunately, Harmony, a knock off of Discord (antonyms) also doesn't have a date, or even a time, for that matter. And besides, we know that we're the first actual person to visit in quite some time. So, we're left with 2000, and 2006. Assuming this game takes place in 2024, I have a feeling the year it closed is actually 2006.
First foremost because of the Rambley AI. Having AI Rambley be as advanced as he is makes it seem like the park was closed in 2023, but again, there is no evidence to say the game takes place in the future. And AI's back in 2000s and 2010s eras were good, but nothing like we have today. They were capable of basic object identification, and navigation, but the capabilities were limited, compared to today. And in 2000, it was much more basic. Image recognition consisted of identifying edges. That's it. Edges, not distinct features, and even then, the accuracy was pretty bad. At the time, AI was mainly used for data retrieval and predictive modeling, mostly for things like language translation, text classification, and such. They were basically office assistants.
Of course, that's assuming that the AI was introduced back then. It is entirely possible, and likely plausible, that the AI was introduced later. After all, the park may have closed, but Ranglers were still visiting the place as late as 2015, which was the last time the AI Rambley notes an actual person arrived. So, if that's true, then I am still not too sure as to which of the two years the park closed.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. And the present of the game and my conclusions shall be posted in separate posts, as there is a 40k character limit. Leave any theories of your own in the comments, and I'll be happy to theorize regarding and questions or concerns yall have!

Yesterday, I had my graduation ceremony. After years of university with absolutely no help besides occasional rides to the bus stop and, very rarely, to campus, I finally graduated. Here's what my parents have done in the lead-up to graduation and the day after instead of supporting me.
My parents spent months leading up to the graduation freaking out about how I'll get a job, trying to control my hair and clothing (even implying I'm ugly when I choose my own hair and clothing), harassing me to hand out business cards to everyone I meet (especially if the situation would be an immense faux pas), grilling me on if my grades are good, lecturing me relentlessly about how I need to keep in contact with people in my class and it's soooo important and would I like to hear about how my dad got a job through nepotism for the eightieth time, asking me questions they already know the answers to (Yes, I'm still talking to my former classmates. Yes, I know that you worked in the Yukon when you were 18. Yes, I know about your friend who worked in a weather station. Yes, I know you had to move to find a job in the 1980s. Yes, I am aware that it is a possibility I might have to move too. Yes, I know that it's okay to invite people over to the house, you've only "informed" me about a hundred times. Yes, I know that school is important.) Every single thing that they "inform" me about is something I have very clearly expressed that I understand, and is just thinly veiled criticism. But my dad needs to lecture more than he needs oxygen.
Just constant nitpicking, criticism, and nothing I ever did was enough. I couldn't even focus on grades, because they would in their own words "put pressure on" me to do what they wanted. To handle their emotions for them. They're obsessed with the idea that I would have to move to a tiny town or work in a coal mine to find a job, because I'm more highly educated than my dad (who dropped out of university despite having all expenses paid by his father), and because my dad worked in the Yukon for two summers. He will never shut up about that, and he even goes so far as to hold us hostage with implicit threat of a massive tantrum to listen to him tell us the story again and again and again and to show us pictures of the place he worked on Google maps and point to everything he remembers. Sometimes he can go on for half an hour just repeating himself over and over.
Last summer, my parents even went and took action without my knowledge or approval to try and get a job set up for me cleaning up a mine contaminated with arsenic in the middle of nowhere, NWT. They tried to guilt and shame me into it ("What are your plans instead? Do you have another job lined up? Because you need to have a job. You can't sit around all day." This coming almost literally one week into summer vacation after my second-last year of university, when I could be using my energy to find interesting co-ops or explore hobbies or travel, instead dealing with their harassment and obsession with trying to literally trap me in a fucking arsenic mine.) They went on and on, lectured me over and over, implied that I would be embarrassing my grandfather if I didn't go, and so on. Eventually they said "You can go work or get a certification", and I picked the certification, but then they got grumpy anyways, and every week for the entire summer they would ask "Are you still working on the certification?". Of course, dipsh*t. I've told you fifty times how long the program lasts.
They don't care about what I'm learning in class, don't care about my hobbies or interests, only care about my friends as either a means to get backdoored into a job or a "nice French Canadian woman" to have babies with. They don't care if I'm struggling, and are completely unavailable to help in any regard. Any request for help would result in a guilt trip. Even if I actually couldn't eat dinner with the family for one day because I had a test, my father would get raw emotions and I'd have to walk on eggshells for a few days. The one time I mentioned I was having trouble studying, instead of shutting up and no longer ranting in the main floor where I could hear him or turning the TV off, he just dragged a table into the unfurnished boiler room (without asking me) and then told me that I would have to study there. I wasn't allowed to choose not to, because he'd already set it up. Ironically, my anger at him did let me study pretty well for the one day that I was forced there. He tried to keep me there long-term because he thought it was just such a great idea, but I managed to trick him into thinking I didn't need help studying anymore, so I got to study at a desk with a light on it and flooring that wasn't bare cement. Hooray for the most minor victory imaginable.
In the months leading up to graduation, did they care about how hard I was working at my capstone project and offer support? Absolutely not! Did they care about how well my sleep quality was, how many times the cat woke me up because they didn't play with her enough or give her enough attention? Nope! Did they care about how exhausting it was to deal with their constant lectures on the same topics, and to have to give them affirmations ("Yes, you're right, that's right, good job, nice, very tasty, good work, oh really?, neat, that's cool, how'd you make that?, mhm, I agree, you're being reasonable, they're being ridiculous, that's crazy") a hundred times a day? Not even in the slightest!
We spend more time talking about my dad's college friends than about anything I or my brother care about.
Then, leading up to graduation. all I've gotten are the most humiliating, infuriating, insulting messages and lectures from my parents. I get almost daily emails and texts saying "You need to get a job, it's important to look for a job" despite the fact I've told them I am looking probably fifty times. Too cowardly to say it to my face. I've been texted literal links to a Google search for "[degree name] jobs [city]" more than once. Both my parents treat me like I don't listen, when I do. They treat me like I'm lazy, when I've put myself through university with no help even after they lied to me about giving me financial aid and made me out to be a bully demanding more money when all I did was say "alright" and then pay for it myself. They must have sternly given me a talking to about how "I'm not going to pay for university, you know that, right? You need to pay. Don't expect us to pay. Because we paid for your first semesters, you know that, right? We've already paid for enough." thirty times, even after I'd made the final payment. They treat me like I'm stupid when I have expressed understanding before. They treat me like I'm a bully while I always bend over backwards for them, just because I don't play my role as "surrogate mommy but this time I get to tell her what to do" well enough.
It feels like they're almost raising me into a replacement or surrogate parent. Like my dad wants me to be his mom or dad, except this time he gets to be in charge. And my mom wants me to be her mom, except this time when she freaks out or has her deer in headlights look, she'll get someone to step up and take care of everything for her. I distinctly remember having to comfort her even for things she did to me, like tell me that a pair of comfortable shoes I picked out was good and she'd get them, and then immediately scream "take it out, take it out!" after it was scanned at the register. I could not have been older than twelve. And for my dad, he always rants and raves to me exactly like he does to his parents, except without including blame for them sending him to boarding school and instead having tons of old "life updates" like where he worked when he was 18 and what music he liked to listen to in high school, stuff like that. Then he expects me to praise him or be interested like his parents never were (he always tells me that his parents only cared about his car when they called).
So now I graduated. All they had to say in the days coming up to it was to grill me on the time I'd have to be at the venue and the time I was planning to leave the house to get there on time, with a distinct air of "you're too lazy to think of this in advance and too stupid to figure it out without a plan". Of course, I had to answer this question probably five times, because they don't care to ever listen to me. Before the ceremony I got text messages showing they were way more excited about themselves being here than anything relating to me, with multiple messages expressing how they arrived and it was exciting, then they asked me how the atmosphere was and their only reply was a one-word "nice" with no punctuation, because they don't care about me and only ask droll questions to segue into their next bit.
After grad, there was two generic sentences spoken with no emotion about how it was nice I graduated, and then they made a whole song and dance about the amazing gifts they got me. It was a degree frame I picked out myself that my dad presented as new and exciting (because he never pays attention to me, of course, when I told him I had picked one out and ordered it with my mother. Also she had another freakout about price and acted like I was holding her hostage by taking her unforced offer to buy me the second-cheapest degree frame on offer.). Then he presented the free gift small frame they got with it as though I should praise him for it, then a congratulation card that was alright I suppose if only because my brother drew a little creature in it that made me smile (my parents did not add anything special or meaningful to it). There was also a cap, which I genuinely enjoy and is nice, and a cheap ballpoint pen for some reason. He said there was more gifts at home, which okay, I don't care about gifts but I'd like him to at least be as excited for my graduation as he was for the picture frame. I didn't get any souvenirs from the bookstore because I knew if I got something he'd also gotten he'd freak out and accuse me of not listening to him or whatever, so I waited. When I got home my gift was Skittles. I don't know why I thought me might have gone to the bookstore and gotten me something special related to my actual interests. He doesn't care to know what those are anyways. I guess I hoped that at least this one day would be different.
Today, the day after graduation, all I've gotten from my parents is:
- Involved in a lecture and manufactured drama about my brother not using my car to drive to his job, even though my dad had the exact opposite position the entire rest of the year, because "what if you need to drive somewhere?", trying to manufacture a fight between my brother and me while also guilting and shaming me for not driving as a hobby like he does.
- A text message from my mother asking me if I'm awake because she wants more ammo to paint me as lazy. Nevermind that I barely slept the night before to make it to grad (of course neither of my parents would care enough about me to come with me as a family. I was literally the only person I saw who went on my own and without their family showing up early too, to support them. I walked past so many families in the parking lot knowing my mother couldn't be bothered to change out of her pajamas for me.) Nevermind I had a huge day that day, and that I was taking care of the cat's energy all that night too because attending my grad is apparently soooo draining my parents can't look after their own pet, and somehow it falls to me. All that matters is she woke up early and I didn't (after I handled all her inconveniences for her, funny how that works).
- Rapid knocks on my door because my dad is making bread as a hobby and apparently "needs" me there to help him with it, and then also "needed" me to stay and make cookies with him.
- A lecture about someone I never knew who apparently once threw something at another kid on my street when I was about 5, and about how he died and how his wife's hobby was really expensive or whatever and if I really don't remember him?
- I went to a showhome for fun and brought back the brochure. My dad jabbed his finger at the pictures on it to explain the house to me like I wasn't the one who literally brought the brochure back. Never asked if I cared or anything, just immediate launch into lecture and expecting me to stay and listen and praise him for being so smart or whatever.
- A lecture about D Day for some fucking reason. My dad is obsessed with history, and he doesn't have any friends to talk to (wonder why) so his lectures always fall on my ears.
- An email from my mother explaining in an extremely condescending way how important it is to have a cover letter when applying for jobs (just completely assuming I don't write them and also am too lazy or stupid to think about having them) including copy-pasted text from a sample cover letter that is no doubt one of the first results on google for "cover letter example"
- An angry email from my mother including a job she found on google
But, contrast that to my neighbors across the street. I was friends them in grade school, haven't seen them in like ten years, and just on my way past to the showhome we said hi and chatted in a genuinely nice conversation that wasn't a one-sided lecture like usual in my house. They could sense my emotions and didn't try to keep me there longer than I wanted to rant, they were genuinely interested in me and gave me space and interest to express myself, their mother even hugged me for graduating and it was the most genuine hug and congratulations I've ever received in person. Every other hug was my family members forcing me to hug them for their own sole benefit. I admit I cried a bit later on my walk thinking about it.
Compared to my parents, the parents of old friends care more about me, trust me more, believe in me more, have more hope for my future, are more interested in me, and understand me better. It's tremendously sad that all throughout my graduation ceremony I was worried about my parents becoming upset for some random reason and blowing up at me. I'm glad I at least focused and made myself feel some pride and joy in myself for graduating.
Even the random people I met who were also taking part in the open house were nicer and better conversationalists than my parents. A random elderly couple I have never seen in my life can have a better interaction with me than my own parents. The realtor was more chill and less perfectionistic than my parents by a mile. His million-dollar house sale was something he was less stressed and perfectionistic about and something he beat himself up over less than my parents are about my hairstyle when I'm going to class because "What if you meet someone in industry and they see you're not professional".
It's absurd.

Hey guys, did you know that in terms of sampling, Daft Punk if objectively the best ever? They mostly sampled 70's disco for their music (at least in the Discovery album). Or.. Billy Joel! Yes, they have a whole song that is just tons of sample fragments of a single Billy Joel song (and like 2 from another one). The song is called High Fidelity, with a whopping 20 samples in total! Oh, but that's not it, you see.. There's a song called Face To Face, which is also made up of many many samples! And not just Billy Joel, of course, since none of the people they sampled in that song were Billy Joel. In total, the song has 19 different samples! It definitely shows how Daft Punk plays samples as if they're their own instrument, and it is truly amazing! But that's not it! There's more, of course, but I don't think I can tell you every single instance. Instead, I'm just gonna tell you every song that contains a sample from the Homework and Discovery albums! Because I can! And I have too much free time! Daftendirekt, WDPK 83.7 FM, Revolution 909, Da Funk, Phoenix, Fresh, Teachers, High Fidelity (obvi), Burnin', Indo Silver Club, Alive, One More Time, Aerodynamic, Digital Love, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger, Crescendolls, Superheroes, High Life, Face To Face (obvi), and last but definitely not least, Too Long!