1. Lauri markkanen

Seven footer that can stretch the floor, rebound, and get to the rim within 2-3 steps
The 5 out would be beautiful and he compliments the offense amazingly
Capable of playing the 5 but is best paired with a rim protector

1. Deni avdija

6-9 point forward that excels out of pnr. Can shoot, has great instincts, as a playmaker, solid ball handler and can finish well around the rim. Solid rebounder that doesn’t take plays off either.
He’s also 23, high on him.

1. Mikail bridges

3nd wingman, quick feet, long arms, and amazing defensive iq. He offensively excels in; transition scoring, off-ball cuts, along spot-up shooting.
Amazing fit for okc, if they’re willing to bargain with the nets to acquire him.
4 Wendell Carter jr. 6-10 big man who can guard posts up and face-ups, a good positional defender that can cut off driving lanes .
Offensively limited, can’t shoot threes but can finish with both hands in the paint. He would NOT be a starter for okc but a good backup.
Honorable mentions are claxton and Allen.

Looking back at the ENDLESS fight scene between him and ice femboy, did Hakari improve in strength during that one month time skip? I mean he’s survived for 20+ chapters now without his skull being frozen, so he must’ve been stronger right?
So I’ve been thinking about what he could learn to even take down a long-range fighter like Urame:

• CE Output: Hakari improves heavily on CE output and stacks it with his godly reinforcements to have strength rivaling Miguel or Gojo
  
• Output blast: What if he did what the Finger Bearer and Ryu did where they launch a maximum-output beam of cursed energy? It’s not a technique in itself but isn’t used by most people due to how wasteful and inefficient the CE expenditure is
  
• WEAPONS: Oh my god why does he still use his fists?? I get that his cursed energy has abrasive properties but having more range + better cutting power + the ability to concentrate the damage is such a must. Why doesn’t he do it?
  
• Other cursed techniques: If Hakari were to get the help of Ui Ui and slowly learn a CT like cursed speech, it would help so much. Since his domain expansion isn’t an actual CT (Sukuna could only use Shrine on behalf of his domain while using 10s), he should be able to use Cursed Speech and Jackpot in tandem with each other. And the fact how he has unlimited CE paired with near-instant healing…
  

If JJK ends with Urame killing Hakari and telling him that his luck ran out, I’m gonna end it.

Looking for a little advice (or maybe thoughts from someone who was/is in this position). My fiancé [33] and I [31] are having a super small wedding in a couple of months with a bigger celebration to come months after that. I’m a little worried that the look I’m going for on the day of will not be the MOST appealing version of myself to my fiancé though.
I have hair just above my shoulders and I’m planning to cut it back to a bob (which I’ve had and really like on me!) and keep it just wavy and down. I’m also thinking about a short dress for the big day and then a long one at our celebration later.
The problem is, I know my fiancé really likes my hair long and when I mentioned a short dress he seemed unenthused.
Pretty much every other day I do whatever I want and wear whatever I want and I know he thinks I’m beautiful (even if he has a different preference) but I just feel bummed at the idea that what may make me feel the prettiest might leave me thinking he’s not super into it the day-of.
Anyone been through something similar? Should I try to aim for more of his preferences, just for that day?

Paramount: Deal Rumors Aside, What About The Operations? Can The Company Turn A Profit?
May 21, 2024 2:41 PM ET
Summary
Paramount Global remains my worst investment, but I still believe in its potential for success.
Paramount's "lack of scale" is not the reason for its underperformance as it spends about as much on content as industry leader Netflix.
Paramount's loss last year was largely the result of one-off writedowns, both domestically and internationally. These losses will not repeat going forward.
Paramount's streaming operation suffers not from lack of scale, but an abundance of overload waste, which may be alleviated under new management.
The sports slate remains best-in-class, and CBS is still the leader in broadcast scripted. CBS Television City in Los Angeles, Ca, USA. JHVEPhoto/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Paramount Global (NASDAQ:PARA) (NASDAQ:PARAA) remains my worst investment. Let's just get that clear from the start. I said two years ago it was madness not to buy Paramount. That was wrong, wrong, wrong. The fact that I recommended against buying the new Warner Discovery at the same time, and heeding that warning saved a lot of money, makes me feel a little better, but not much.
And no, the fact that Warren Buffett made the exact same mistake as me doesn't help much, either. Mr. Buffett and I are about to part ways, anyway. He is now completely sold out of Paramount, while I am hanging in. Yes, I am still buying. Get all the ribbing out of your systems, and then read on.
Although a few rounds remain to be played in the game, it is no longer inconceivable that none of the various deal permutations that have been put forward for Paramount will pan out, and that it will continue as an independent company. Essentially, Redstone will block a deal with Apollo Global Management, Inc. (APO) and Sony Group Corporation (SONY) and the 'B' shareholders will litigate a Skydance deal to death.
Because so many Seeking Alpha articles are already offering a blow-by-blow analysis of the deal talks - and I absolutely encourage you to read them - I wanted to turn back for just a minute to a more in-depth look at Paramount's actual operations. If it stays independent, can it turn itself around?
Scale Is Not The Issue I'm angry. Usually, when an investment goes wrong, I can manage to be philosophical or even dispassionate about it. Risks of the trade, can't win 'em all, pick your maxim.
But this one is really getting to me. I'm sure part of that is simply the sheer amount of my portfolio that has suffered - I bet a lot more on Paramount than I did on my typical investment, so sure was I that it had the tools needed for success. Fortunately, some of my other media investments have worked out much, much better, or I'd really be hurting. In fact, my Netflix buy has repaired all the damage my Paramount buy has done.
Still, I'm unusually angry, partly because of the sheer amount lost. But it's also that I still don't believe there is anything wrong with Paramount, at its core. It has become quite commonplace to speak of Paramount's "lack of scale" as the reason for its apparent impending demise, or at least subsumption. But I would still argue that that isn't born out by the numbers. Paramount spent roughly $16 billion on content in 2023, the same total as 2022, when $4 billion of it was spent on streaming. That is only slightly less than Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) which leads the industry in market cap and performance, if not in spending. While the gap with other studio peers is larger, I'm not sure spending at Netflix levels equals a "lack of scale."
What's more, a lot of that extra spending by other traditional industry players like Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (WBD) and The Walt Disney Company (DIS) is not spending that investors should necessarily cheer. As I've explained before, Paramount's lower spending total is almost entirely accounted for by its far more profitable approach to sports rights; a lot of that extra spending that Disney and Warner are doing isn't particularly profitable or even sensible.
What then, does account for Paramount's underperformance?
Stock Performance That depends on which underperformance you're talking about. First, the stock price. Paramount cut its dividend in spring 2023. That announcement, with its Q1 earnings, was enough to cause half of the past-year decline in a single day. Paramount went from $21 to $16 with the dividend cut and was still at $16 as late as December.
Since then, the other half of the decline has reflected the increasing evidence that Paramount is more or less ready to throw in the towel, and intends to be a distressed seller to another studio or private equity firm soon. More specifically, it is actually Shari Redstone, who exercises control over Paramount through her 77.3% share of Paramount's Class A voting stock, who is ready to call it quits. The perception that she has no leverage and will be forced to accept a fire sale offer has driven the stock lower.
Operations All that, however, merely explains the stock market decline; what is the operational explanation for Paramount's troubles? The company reported a $600 million loss for full year 2023. How is it that one of the Big Five movie studios, with the most popular of the Big Four broadcast networks, the most popular show on cable (Yellowstone) and the only profitable sports slate in American television, can't make money?
Accounting Element First, we need to acknowledge that there are some accounting factors in that 2023 loss. Paramount took a "programming charge," i.e., a write-down of the value of programming assets, of roughly $2.4 billion in Q1 and Q2 last year. That is money that would ordinarily be amortized over a period of years - it's mostly streaming originals, which Paramount usually amortizes over a 4-year period - that instead saw its red ink taken all at once. Had it been amortized normally, Paramount would have reported an operating profit of roughly $1.2 billion, more or less identical to 2022, instead of reporting an operating loss of the same amount.
Still, that write-down reflects the fact that the content isn't performing well, so those losses were always going to happen, and they're quite real; the accounting change is simply a timing issue. So Paramount is operationally deficient, even if perhaps not quite as operationally deficient as this one-time write-down makes it look. We cannot dismiss Paramount's operational issues by putting them down to accounting distortions.
TV Scripted Content Difficulties Paramount did not break down the programming charge, but outside reports have about half of it owing to the integration of Showtime in Paramount+ as a single service. It's not entirely clear which side of the ledger those losses are coming from; one of the less understood things about merging services is that it potentially makes content on both sides less valuable as it is replaced by more popular content from the other side. Showtime's Q1 2023 viewership was very top-heavy, with just two shows, Yellowjackets and Your Honor constituting 30% of all viewership. Presumably, those two shows reduced the value of some Paramount+ existing content while the rest of Showtime's library may have suffered from competition with P+ content.
Regardless of the exact source, Paramount's content is not performing. That's a little surprising considering that, as I said, CBS content is actually quite popular on the linear side. In fact, in the earnings call following the annual report now-former CEO Bob Bakish reported that CBS had the top 16 scripted programs and 18 of the top 20 in the first week of post-strike broadcasts. Paramount has disclosed in the past that CBS content makes up roughly half of the viewership on Paramount+; and this is despite the fact that P+ isn't even the sole beneficiary of CBS content; roughly $600 million per quarter of Paramount's licensing revenue comes from CBS shows as well.
One possibility that I perhaps did not consider sufficiently was the chance that the unique characteristics of CBS would make it harder for that channel to transition to streaming than its other broadcast peers. CBS is the most popular of all broadcast networks, but that popularity owes disproportionately to more elderly viewers; in the demo, it is actually Comcast Corporation's (CMCSA) NBC which takes the top crown.
With elderly viewers both less appealing to advertisers and less likely to make the transition to streaming, it is perhaps not so surprising that CBS is continuing to perform well on linear but having trouble translating that to streaming.
International Shortfall The damage isn't through yet, either. Paramount disclosed that it took another $1.2 billion impairment charge on content in the first quarter. This one has to do with the international side; a few years ago Paramount commissioned 150 new, original international shows and movies to try to boost international growth. Now, Paramount reveals that even international consumers spend no less than 90% of their time streaming Hollywood content; the local originals aren't doing very much for growth or retention.
About the only good thing that can be said about this complete and utter debacle is that it is a one-off; unlike Paramount's US content spending, which is ongoing and therefore must be made more efficient if Paramount is to survive and thrive, Paramount is gradually exiting International production. In fact, to help cover the losses on its international originals it is selling its share in Viacom18, the network that formerly served as Paramount's onshore operation in India, to its partner Reliance for a little over $500 million.
Where Are The Children? Yet another factor is children's programming. While many have essentially written off Paramount's entire cable channel group, and I agree the prognosis for MTV and Comedy Central is rather grim, I have argued that Nickelodeon remains a real asset, as one of the top two children's channels in linear TV. I believed that would be a powerful subscriber acquisition tool, alongside sports, as the streaming transition continued.
It hasn't worked out. Surveys consistently show the Big 3 for parents with children are Netflix, Disney, and the third is Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) of all things. Neither Paramount+ nor Warner Discovery's Max make the cut, despite ownership of top children's linear platforms/libraries Nickelodeon and Looney Tunes, respectively.
The prognosis here isn't entirely grim. Paramount has reported that half of their streaming subscribers touch kids' content regularly, so clearly Nickelodeon does mean something to the subscribers. It's possible it helps with retention, even if it doesn't drive acquisition. Paramount owns the number one brand for pre-school kids, Paw Patrol.
Paramount has shut down the separate Noggin streaming service and will presumably be amplifying the kids content on P+ as a result, so perhaps this trend will yet turn around. With so many other things going wrong, though, the inability to make kids content more central to the strategy is a painful blow.
The Mismanagement Of Streaming I suspect, however, that Paramount's single biggest defect over the past few years has been the competency of its management. In a streaming world, success hinges overwhelmingly on the efficiency with which a content budget is deployed. That efficiency, in turn, requires avoiding the trap of "overload," something cable doesn't have to worry about but which can kill a streaming service.
What Is Overload? In brief, overload is when a streaming service spends money on content that appeals primarily to those subscribers who were already subscribed and intending to remain subscribed, even without that content. Because revenue does not increase with more viewership, such spending is essentially wasted money. I have been arguing for several years that some economic models of streaming profitability fail to take account of this significant element.
Paramount seems to have had a lot of overload in the last few years. Specifically, its single most broadly appealing piece of content is the NFL, which Paramount is an anchor broadcaster for. Because NFL fans are accustomed to spending upwards of $100 a month on cable just to watch the NFL - over 10% of cable subscribers say that the NFL is the only reason they're still subscribing - Paramount's $6-$12 a month fee for streaming really doesn't need anything more than NFL games to attract these 40-50 million fans.
The Earnings Jaw-Dropper And yet, it seems that's where a lot of the extra streaming money has been going. On the Q2 earnings call last year, CEO Bob Bakish, watching the stock price steadily decline, seemed to be eager to reassure he had a handle on the situation and began describing some of the changes he'd be making. It started out well enough, really; he told investors that NFL viewers churn drops dramatically if they also engage with entertainment titles, which is what you'd expect.
But then, he stunned me and I expect just about everyone listening when he said, "we probably need to do less for [the NFL viewer] in the fall, and more outside the fall because we can rely on the NFL." Compounding the almost Looking Glass-feeling, he then went on to reassure everyone he would be "fine-tuning" the content strategy to address that point in the years to come.
It was, frankly, stunning. Both me and I suspect just about every analyst who was modeling Paramount had just assumed it went without saying that of course, any entertainment content targeted at retaining NFL viewers should drop in the other half of the year when the NFL wasn't playing on TV. My own calculations of the profit margin on CBS's NFL deal had always incorporated that.
And while that was bad enough, it also raised the concern that a management team that didn't understand that going in might have put a lot of other overload in other categories as well. Suddenly, it wasn't so hard to see how the best-scripted shop with the most profitable sports contracts was having trouble making money. Double-loading for 50 million households would be a major drag on the financial performance for streaming.
Light At The End Of The Tunnel Despite all of this, I still think there are bright spots in the Paramount picture, even without a merger. Its operations, as well as its merger discussions, don't seem to lack potential.

1: My Usual Paramount Bull Argument: Sports Profits

One thing that continues to go right is sports content. A few years ago, I wrote that Paramount was a strong contender to become a sustainable streaming business because it had the only profitable sports slate in the business. The stock hasn't gone where I wanted it to go, but that is the one part of my thesis that has been definitively borne out. In fact, many now say that it is CBS's sports deals, at least as much as Paramount's film/TV studio, that the prospective buyers of Paramount are after.
I've covered these in other articles already. The March Madness deal runs until 2032 and the NFL deal runs until 2033, although the NFL has an opt out after 2029 that it will probably exercise given the utterly ludicrous bids the NBA is receiving, so the last four years of that deal might have to be chopped off the profit projections. Even so, Paramount can probably generate $1.25 billion a year in profit just off of those two deals for the next six years.
Those are probably the biggest, but it doesn't stop there. Almost every sports deal Paramount has is profitable. For all the flak management has deservedly taken, Paramount continues to show discipline and focus on sports. You won't find Paramount throwing $2.5 billion a year at the NBA's 'B' package, which is more money than the NFL gets for its 'B' package despite having 10x the viewership.
For all its many, many missteps, a Paramount that can just manage to stay afloat long enough for some of these ludicrous sports bets at other companies to blow up may yet find itself with cards to play later in the decade.

2: Recouping Write-downs Via Preferred Conversion

Another small boon has been the official conversion of the preferred shares. The Paramount mandatory convertible formerly trading under the PARAP ticker was capped at 0.85 shares per common share. Given the initial price of the convertible at $100 per share, that effectively means that a preferred share that was carrying a $100 liquidation value has just been converted into 1.1765 shares of a common stock currently trading around $12. A total value per preferred share of around $14.
And they sold for $1 billion, so that's basically $860 million back into the common equity that management was able to get at the peak of the boom. That actually repairs almost all of the red ink from Paramount's doomed international originals push on its own.

3: An End To Streaming Waste

Finally, a lot of the waste in streaming may soon be ending. Bob Bakish was finally fired a few weeks ago, and while I never want someone to lose their job, he frankly had looked overmatched for a while. Bakish was a lifetime cable executive who seemed to be having trouble making the transition to a streaming-world mindset. Frankly, if I knew about it in 2021, the CEO has no business fine-tuning it into the strategy in 2023.
With international originals no longer draining the coffers and overloaded entertainment programming shifted to months of the calendar where it can be more productive, streaming may yet turn the corner.
Investment Summary I recognize fully that each fall in Paramount stock makes my bullish optimism seem ever more out of step. I do believe, however, that Paramount's failures are more failures of execution than lack of scale or structural disadvantage. Paramount CEO Bob Bakish simply wasn't up to the job. Ironically that wasn't what got him fired; Bakish was almost certainly fired for opposing Redstone's plan to enrich herself at the expense of other shareholders, probably the most competent thing he did in the last few years of his whole tenure.
Paramount has everything it needs to be successful; profitable sports contracts, which is just unbelievable in this day and age, a thriving scripted TV operation, and a viable, if recently somewhat mismanaged, streaming service. An end to overload waste, the continued exploitation of its favorable sports slate, throttling back unhelpful international originals and boosting kids content engagement may yet produce a different streaming picture going forward. Should older viewers start to get more comfortable with streaming going forward and following their favorite programs to Paramount+, that would just be icing on the cake.
It's been a depressing ride the last few years, but I'm sticking with Paramount.

Still struggling 8 months later from addict and or potentially avoidant ex…
Hey guys, I just need to vent and maybe hope to get some advice/support for the situation I am going through.
For a bit of a backstory, here is what happened…
Back in December of last year, I reached out to an ex of mine who abruptly ended our relationship back in September because he had “relapsed”. He totally cut me off with no real explanation or closure.
I had seen him in person. I was crying, but he didn’t comfort me at all, he claimed he didn’t even know I was crying… he just sat there.
We had exchanged messages over the period of a few weeks and things seemed to be “better”. He told me that he loved me still. I thought there may have been a chance of things working out, back to how it was before the break-up happened…
To my dismay, he got angry with me, saying I felt he didn’t care, because, of course, I had extreme trust issues after him abandoning me, and he didn’t seem to be going the extra mile to prove that, so in response to this he ignored me for a week because apparently he has “anger“ issues and didn’t want to say things he’d regret so just blanked me.
We spoke again after this. He said he was hurt that I claimed he didn’t “care” and he knows he needs to get help etc.
But once again, he just didn’t seem to be proving that he genuinely cares and has my best interest.
So I mentioned this, and well, he got angry again, except this time he was calling me names, which of course upset me and had me crying, while telling me what a “drain” I am and how he doesn’t need this in his life. He then blocked me. I haven't heard anything since and am still blocked.
I’ve been trying to heal from this situation but even months later, I am struggling immensely. I just have constant “ifs” and “buts” going around in my mind, not understanding how this person once claimed to have loved me and then suddenly switched up on me.
None of this makes any sense, and it hurts. I don’t understand it. I think that’s what makes healing even harder is not having the answers I wanted to get. I still care deeply for this person even after all they have done to me. I’m just feeling broken emotionally, my self-worth and esteem have taken a massive toll due to all of this, and I’m doing all I can to move forward, but it’s not easy as I still love this person.
I’ve been reading books and looking at different forums about addictions and how many people have been in a similar situation to me, but it doesn't make the pain any less. I just don’t get how someone can act this way and why.
I hate that I still love this person and wonder if I'll ever get over them, because all I can do is think of them and wish things could go back to how they once were.

First / Previous / Royal Road / Patreon (Read 12 Chapters Ahead)

Together, Pale and Kayla dragged the mage back to the cave they'd been using for shelter, barely managing to get him inside before the snowfall began again. Pale tied his hands behind his back and his legs together using some paracord she had in her pack, and the two of them stood over the man, staring down at him.
"What now?" Kayla asked. "Do we wait for him to-"
Pale cut her off by bringing the stock of her shotgun across the berserker's face. He reeled from the strike, suddenly catapulting awake, his eyes wide as several of his teeth came spilling out across the stone cave floor. He coughed, spitting out a glob of blood before fixing her with a harsh glare. Smoke began to rise from his palms, but Pale stopped him by putting the barrel of her gun flush with his crotch.
"Unless you want to lose something, I'd suggest keeping your magic under control," she threatened. "Because if I pull this trigger, there isn't a healer alive who'll be able to give back what you'll lose."
The man snarled at her, but the smoke curling up from his hands stopped all the same. He spat out more blood. "The fuck am I still alive for?"
"I think you know exactly what you're alive for. Now, are you going to play nice and tell us what we want to know, or am I going to have to force it out of you piece by piece?"
The mage grinned at her, showing off a mouth full of missing teeth and liquid crimson. "You really think I'd betray my brothers like that?"
"Last I checked, your brothers are all dead," Pale said absentmindedly. "But still, I was hoping you'd pick the hard way; I needed to relieve some stress."
She let her shotgun hang from its sling, then drew her knife. With her free hand, she grabbed one of his fingers, then positioned the blade at the tip.
"Last chance to offer up what you know," she threatened.
The mage barked out a laugh. "Fuck off. You really think I'd ever-"
His bravado suddenly gave way to an agonized scream as Pale forced the blade of her knife underneath his fingernail. He thrashed in agony as she twisted the knife before roughly yanking it free, taking the fingernail with it. She held the disembodied nail up to him, then flicked it away.
"Have I made my point?" she said evenly. "Because last I checked, you've still got nine fingers and ten toes, not to mention a variety of other things I could poke at and prod at and cut off. And when you run out of those, I can just start skinning you bit by bit."
"Fuck you…" he breathed through gritted teeth. "I'll never-"
She took another fingernail for his troubles. Idly, Pale was aware of Kayla flinching with every scream that erupted out of the man's throat, but that didn't bother her.
Kayla had specified no death, but that didn't mean she couldn't make this hurt like hell.
She again positioned the knife at one of his fingertips, only for him to give a weak, shuddering, pain-filled cough.
"W-wait…" he croaked.
"I see your tongue has been thoroughly loosened," she surmised, though she didn't dare to move the blade even a millimeter away from his next finger.
"What do you have for me?"
"I can give you our leader's name."
"And?"
"What do you mean, and? He doesn't tell us anything, he just pays us and feeds us, like any good leader should."
Pale's expression narrowed. "You had better give me something more substantial to go on, otherwise I have no reason to keep you around."
"Pale-" Kayla began, only to fall silent when she held up a hand. Reluctantly, Kayla backed down, though she continued to look on with concern as Pale's grip around her blade turned white-knuckled.
"Tell me something useful," Pale demanded. "Unless you want to see exactly how much pain I can commit to before I get bored."
"Okay, okay!" the bandit growled. "Fine… our leader's name is Sven Greymane, the warrior-king of the northern isles. He's the one who ordered us to attack certain towns on this continent."
"Is that why you sacked some and completely bypassed others?"
He nodded. "Yes. That was all part of the plan – he'd give us locations to attack, pay us in gold and food to attack them, and then let us keep whatever valuables we wanted afterwards."
"And did he tell you why he only wanted specific locations attacked, while others were to be spared?"
The mage shook his head. "No, and we knew better than to ask questions given how good of a deal it was."
Kayla suddenly stepped forwards. "One of those towns was my village," she growled. "Your friends captured several people, including my father, and took them back to the northern isles."
The mage leaned in, squinting to get a better look at her, before finally shrugging. "I don't know anything about that."
"Liar," Pale hissed.
"It's the truth. I wasn't involved with the attack on any Beastkin town."
"Of course, you'd say that," Kayla said through gritted teeth. "You're worried about what will happen to you if you admit to us here and now that you had something to do with it."
"Don't know what else to tell you. I had nothing to do with the attack on you and yours, and I didn't take any Beastkin slaves."
"Enough of this," Pale snapped. "How long do we have to find her father?"
The bandit cracked a wide grin at her. "You're probably already too late. If the girl's father is anything like her, then he's already been deemed to be useless as a slave – too mouthy for his own good, and mouthy slaves don't last very long among my people."
A vein pulsed in Kayla's forehead as she clenched and unclenched her fists. "Answer the question," she demanded. "Assuming he isn't murdered before we can get there, how long do slaves typically last while with your people?"
"Depends on the slave. Men tend to last longer, provided they're young enough and in good health. Of course, he was taken in the first place, so I assume that someone saw some value in him, at least enough to want him for themselves. Now, that only accounts for a berserker warrior having a bad day and killing someone as a result. If he's unlucky, he'll succumb to the elements before long." The mage shrugged. "It wouldn't make any sense for us to spend all that time capturing and enslaving someone only to let them die so soon, unless they just so happened to be a massive pain in the ass."
"So you claim," Pale said dismissively. "What else do you have for us?"
"I've told you enough," the man grunted. "Now hurry up and let me go."
"And why would I do that?" Pale demanded. "So you can go back to robbing and killing the innocent? Is your life really worth the lives of the people you'd kill if we let you go?"
"It is to her." He motioned towards Kayla, who was staring at him and trembling as she bit her lip, deep in thought.
Pale's eyes narrowed. "Kayla."
Kayla jumped slightly at the sound of her name being called. She hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh. "...You should let him go."
"You know I can't do that, Kayla. If we let him go, he'll just go right back to doing what brought him here. Either we end this here and now and prevent him from taking more innocent lives, or he goes on for however long it takes for someone else to put him down."
"I know!" Kayla spat. "It's just… I don't know what to do… I don't want to be responsible for someone's death like this…"
"I understand that, but this is war," Pale insisted. "Death is an unavoidable part of that."
"What do you mean, war?" Kayla asked, horrified at the prospects of what Pale had just suggested. "You… you really are a soldier, aren't you? That's why you're doing this – it's a chance to do what you were made to do…"
"War is in my nature," Pale insisted. "It is why I was created. You are correct that this is a chance to fulfill my prime directive, but not in the way that you think." She turned her gaze back towards the bandit. "I need to get off this planet and back into the war I left behind before it's too late to save my creators. If killing this man will get me there faster, then I will not hesitate to do that."
"But… you can't know that killing him will help with that," Kayla pointed out. "He's just one man…"
"Every second spent debating his existence is one not spent working towards my ultimate goal. I ask for your input on what to do with him because I value your opinion as my ally, and do not wish to alienate you by leaving you out of major decisions such as that, but that does not mean I will not try to make you see reason when I think you are about to make a terrible decision." Pale sheathed her knife and hefted her shotgun. "You are concerned with the loss of innocent life, yes? Well, letting me kill this man will save an untold number of them. Is his life really worth all of theirs?"
"You can't think of it that way! He's still a person, too!"
"He is," Pale agreed. "But as far as I am concerned, his right to life is now forfeit, as he used it to torture and murder other people."
The bandit suddenly burst out laughing. "Listen to you two! You're honestly debating whether or not to take a life. How quaint, not to mention innocent. Consider me entertained."
Pale bashed him with the stock of her gun once more, knocking a few more of his teeth out in the process. As he coughed on blood and bone shards, she turned back to Kayla.
"See reason in this," she implored. "Letting him live means-"
"I know!" Kayla interrupted. Her wolf ears flattened against her skull, and in a quieter voice, she repeated, "...I know."
Her tail lashed behind her, and finally, she shook her head. "...I was willing to fight for you," she said softly. "I tried to convince you that you weren't just a killing machine – that you had a sjel, and that it was worth something. And maybe I was right. But even if I was… even if you're not just a killing machine… you seem dead-set on trying to be one. And if that's what you want, then who am I to stop you? Do what you want with him, Pale; after all, it's what you were programmed to do."
Kayla turned and marched out of the cave. Pale watched her go, waiting until she was completely gone before acting.
A single gunshot split the night.

Special thanks to my good friend and co-writer, Ickbard for the help with writing this story.

My fellow helldivers im announcing my second leave of absence from the game. For some background im a recent college grad and hd2 has been my favorite pastime thing since I got the game in March. Literally bought a PS5 just to play this game. I’m a lvl 105 helldiver with about 250hrs in the game. I literally play everyday from like 11pm to 3am. Haven’t felt this passionate for a game since halo reach or destiny. Seriously fun game. None of that battle pass crap.
My first leave was when the servers were crashing and you could find yourself getting booted from a game after you spent 30min clearing out everything.
I find this game not fun anymore to be blunt. Repetitive missions, stupid kill counts for major orders, nerfs, toxic players and backlash because of Sony that has left our player base cut down to a third of what it once was are all reasons why I’m stepping away. I miss the times where, as a solo player, I could join a lobby where mfkers are screaming for democracy, major orders held a significance and guns didn’t hit like pea shooters.
I think the guys at arrowhead just have to much fixing up to do to actually make the game fun right now. We need like a two week long major order where the bots come all the way into the sectors surrounding super earth and we have to recapture planet by planet. This type of major order would buy the devs two weeks to put out patches and anything else they need to work on, while giving us a crazy long (and hopefully fun) mission to carry out.
As for the community stop being so damn toxic. All I see now are people complaining about the game and being assholes in game. From YouTubers ranting about all the negatives too in game players team killing and stealing weapons or getting mad because you arnt running all support items because how was I supposed to know that. Like just kick me it’s not that deep. I know I’m ranting now too so I’m no different now but I had to get this off my chest.
Arrowhead hope you see this and looking forward to some good stuff in the future. Till next time. ✌️

• SES Adjudicator of Truth

I have to characters but they seem to similar and it really bothering me. I was able to make there backstorys different little similar but not really but there powers. I was able to narrow it down to able to shape shifting Creepy things like mouths and eyes on their bodies,same kinda claws,reliability for the sense of being creepy.thier back story's are bee:grew up in a mation and seen as a gift from god,angle girl ,mother loved her but she was about aggressive so had to be kept in the house alot, she ran away and was captured and tested on then had to foght her way out of that (still feels guilty) so is more a chaotic self insert (I know she's cringe but she makes me happy:> so leshy was originally bee but I cut them in half and made leshy their own character.this sheep girl is from a cult and had deal with bullying and feeling lefted out for being different and at the age of 12 was sacrificed and survived that...in sacrificing her her village burned themselves to the ground killing everyone else in the process. She roams the forest keeping people out of it and away from the animals she protects Idk I need help as you can tell(please if my rambling is hard to understand lemme know:()

I(20F) and my best friend (21F) have been friends for a long time, since high school. Her bf(20F) is a complete JERK to her. He has cheated on her, gaslighted and manipulated her and so much more. They have been together on and off for about 3-4 years. What’s funny is, I went to middle school with her bf and he was a huge asshole to everyone then as well. When my friend first showed me that she matched with him on tinder, I immediately told her that he’s an asshole and he’s toxic and that she shouldn’t get with him. She did it anyways.
Once they started seriously dating, her bf started being an asshole to me and being racist so I told my friend that I wasn’t willing to hang out with her, if he was around and of course she didn’t want to do anything without him so I unfortunately felt like I had to cut ties with her and I did. Fast forward a year or two, I realized I was missing my best friend and she missed me too so we became friends again. As soon as we started talking again she started telling me all about the shit he’d done to her while we weren’t friends. He cheated on her, she would go through his phone and see him getting at multiple girls(and getting no responses), he would be asking multiple girls to hang out with him and would ask if he could take them on dates. She also told me about all the very rude and disrespectful things he’s said to her! I immediately started telling her that she needs to leave him! She would always tell me she was going to leave but it never happened. There were a few times where she actually did leave him, but they got right back together the next day. Whenever she brings up his name, I tell her ALL THE TIME that she needs to leave him because he’s literally cheated on her several times but for some reason she believes that, just because he’s only texting girls and not meeting up with them, he’s not actually cheating.
Anyways, fast forward a year, she’s still with him and still dealing with the same sht with him, him cheating, texting other girls, and just being a btch overall. She messaged me one day, crying saying she went through his phone and he was cheating… again but this time, he was actually meeting up with the girl and basically having a whole relationship with her on the side. She also told me that she was breaking up with him for good. I comforted her as usual and told her she’d be okay and that she deserves better and the next day she was posting pictures of them together, captioning the post “I love you” again…
This made me very upset because 1. I’m tired of hearing about the drama. Everyday it’s something new with their relationship, always him cheating with someone new, saying something else very disrespectful to her, her going through his phone and finding crazy sht(he also has a prn addiction) and I always comfort her but I’m just tired of it. At this point it’s almost like she’s doing it to herself. 2. I am always the one that has to be there for her and tell her the same stuff I always do, “you can do better” “you don’t deserve this” “just leave him already he obviously doesn’t love you” i’ve told her everything. I’ve been hard on her, i’ve been nice, i’ve been mean. She just never gets it I guess and it’s very exhausting for me! Everyday I hear about this, it’s all we talk about now and it’s annoying
I just want to know if I’d be the asshole, for cutting her off again but for good this time. All of this is exhausting for me and it’s growing old. It’s been 4 years now and she’s been dealing with this for the ENTIRETY of their relationship. Literally 3 months into their relationship, he was texting other girls. She’s basically allowing this to happen to her and i’ve stood by her side this whole time but I don’t think I can anymore. She’s just making herself look stupid. She’s already lost her two other best friends over the same thing and I don’t want to be the bad guy for leaving also but I’m just so tired.

need advice as to how to proceed. last saturday,(may 11th) my friend (27f) sent me (21f) a post on instagram for an upcoming concert (for an artist we both like) and she asked me if i would like to go with her(the concert is on the 25th) … i’ve never been to a concert and really wanted the experience so I said yes.. and this is one of my super close friends and i wouldn’t want to go with anyone but her so- i bought the tickets (with her yes of course). she told me she’d send the money to which i said don’t bother since i knew she’d cover the hotel. this is not an issue whatsoever since up until now, she’s been very reliable and money has never been an object in our friendship. i then confirmed with her the next day, sunday if we’d be getting a hotel and she said of course so i told her let me know before she books it so i can give my yes… and she agreed that she would let me know before she books it. a few days go by ( it’s now the 15th ) and i ask her again if she booked the room and she said no. i was a little nervous since the date of the concert has been getting close but still didn’t think much of it at this point. i give her some time (two more days) and i see her on the thursday the 17th and ask her yet again if she booked the hotel…. she said she hadn’t yet… okay definitely worried now but keep my cool. weekend goes by and now it’s sunday the 19th… the concert is literally in a few days i text her and - no response all day. Monday morning she finally responds and tell me she was on the road all day but she’ll definitely book the hotel today! today today today- i was freaking out at this point because you do not want to be on the roads late at night in nyc especially in Brooklyn. anyway, monday we talk 9:30 ish, and she tells me she’ll call me around 1 to plan everything and make it final… i work full time and she works contract and we both work at the same company. 1:00 rolls around and i get super busy however still pick up her call and discuss the plans. she said she’ll look at some places and i was thinking ‘this should’ve been done a while ago but whatever’ all that came out of my mouth was ‘sounds good, i’ll call you after work around 5:00- does that sound okay? “ and she says yes and that she’ll be prepared by then. 5:00 i text her and ask her if she’s off work and she says yes, and i ask her if i can call and she replies after 20-30 min and says “sure” i call her after 3 minutes and she doesn’t pick up. i then text her “ will you be able to call right now or in a while bc i have to go take a shower and stuff’ — no response again- i give it a little bit of time and then i hop in the shower and as soon as i get in the shower she calls me. i pick up and tell her i just hopped in the shower and that i’ll call her in 20 minutes… she agrees and says that it’ll be better for her then too.at this point im boiling (literally physically from my shower and emotionally because this is one major loose end). fast forward… i finally get out of my shower 20 minutes later, give her a ring and she hangs up or the call cuts. i think that she’ll call me back again but absolutely nothing.. i text her after an hour in case she didn’t see my call and tell her “i called you a while ago, can you call me back?” and boom the messages are green. it’s now 8pm … crickets still don’t hear anything from her. 9:00 i call her again and she finally picks up telling me she lost service. i tell her whatever doesn’t matter and to just book the hotel now asap. we talk about it- i spent about 300$ on both tickets, and was expecting for her to book a decent hotel.. she ended up booking the jankiest motel ever which honestly most probably has bedbugs.
thanks all of reading- she’s now mad at me and is ranting to my other friend that i get too nervous and that she was getting annoyed i keep calling her… so now we’re both annoyed, the vibes are off and basically i just need to know if i was wrong or where i could’ve improved or if i was in the right… any thoughts or opinions you have on this subject matter would be greatly appreciated i was thinking of asking her to pay her for her part of the ticket minus the 30$ she’s spending for the motel.
THANK YOU

Hey all,
Im using a throwaway account for privacy sake.
To start, I am no longer employed with the company I am seeking to mediate/file an EEOC complaint against.
An incident occurred in December of 2021 that left me being harrased and targeted by a member on the executive team. Many other executive members tried silencing him during this meeting, and ultimately his assistant followed me to my car as I was crying after this all took place. The information I provided during this situation outlined the failure of a contract that his other company signed with our company. (Side note- he worked for the company I worked for AND had a few other companies that he would align with the company I worked for as contracting work.)
After this situation he cut off all work communication with me even though we had many things on our project that were dependent on our mutual communication. He then hired people and put them in places to try and undercut the compliance and data management that my job was responsible for upholding and maintaining.
Fast forward to Summer of 2022. He restructured my department and put people in place that left the company vulnerable to neglect of compliance for a major project. He worked to have me work off-site of said project to ensure that I wouldn't be able to communicate to the compliance and executive teams about the cornerns with the project.
At this point I was experiencing many mental and physical issues all stemming from the stress and unhealthy working environment. My doctor took me out on medical leave in the Summer of 2022 and during my medical leave I was sent "separation documents" that had a small sum of money contingent on me signing the documents. I have yet to sign these documents that were initially sent to me in March of 2023. I was told that the department and project I was managing was all being laid off. For what its worth I can still look up and see that the company I worked for owns licences for the project I was involved in. I suspect that they leased this project out to a 3rd party company to side step the company being involved with it any longer.
I have contacted many attorneys and have been told that I have a case. I put together a 72 page document outlining my tenure with the company with pictures and descriptions of the unhealthy working environment as well as the harassment and retaliation that took place. I was not able to afford 2 of the attorneys that would take on my case, and the one that could take me on contingency told me 4 months later that his team hadn't filed any EEOC or CCRD complaints on my behalf and that he did not have the bandwidth to take my case at this time.
My questions are as follows;

1. How can I word an email to the HLegal team of said company that would allow me to mediate a higher "severance/separation payout"? I don't intend on trying to take them for much, mostly just the cost of the mental health treatments I had to undergo due to the situation.
   
2. Should I continue with filing a complaint to the EEOC and CCRD all while pursuing medation?
   
3. Can I leverage the contents of my 72 page document during mediation or should I keep that private so they don't end up gaining access to it? The contents detail many illegal things the company had done over the past 7 years, all of which I don't believe are within the statute of limitations anymore to sue over.
   

I do not plan on having an attorney with me during mediation as I feel confident/comfortable negotiating what my severance could possibly be and dont believe I am willing taking a chunk out of to pay to an attorney.

Micheal Afton MOVESET
Lightweight with 2 jumps
Gimmick
Not really a gimmick just wanted to mention this. Micheal will not be referencing enard at any point During the attacks. As michaels moveset is less about micheal specificity and is more meant to be a security guard composet moveset. Which is the same reason that he will use Ucn items. I know that's williams torment and stuff but it works better on michael.
Basic Attacks
Jab: Flash Light (Mike presses on a flashlight which causes it to flash)
Doesn’t do damage but can flinch
(Flashlights in the fnaf series)
Dash: Foxy Scare (Mike dawns a foxy mask and jumps forward)
Pretty strong Knockback but meh damage
(Michael Scaring his brother and Withered Foxy Jump Scare)
Side Tilt: Decomposing (Slowly Punches at an upward angle)
Does mid damage
(Final walking sprites when micheal fully decomposed)
Up tilt: Walking (Micheal does a basic uppercut)
Does Great Knockback but no damage
(Micheal Walkin down the street)
Down Tilt: Scary Slide (Micheal Wears a foxy mask and slides)
Basic Sliding down tilt. Does minor damage but can cause a stun
(Micheals bed scare)
Side Smash: Faz Coin (Faz Coins start to appear around michael as the move charges)
If you charge for the shortest amount of time you will get a random plushie where he throws the plushie where it acts as a basic gravity affected projectile. Does a lot of knockback and has a 20% chance to freeze but barely any damage. if you charge for a medium amount of time rockstar freddy will punch forward. Does medium knockback and damage. And if you charge the Longest amount of time you get a death coin which Michael will throw forwards. From there it flies into a straight line until it hits a wall or a foe where it will disappear. It does no knockback but tons of damage And if the foes damage was over 80% damage when hit by the death coin, it’s an instant kill.
(Ucn coin purchases)
Up Smash: Wiring Malfunction (Micheal holds a wire that emits flame)
Does decent knockback and has a chance to stun or burn
(fnaf 3 fire)
Down Smash: Music Box (Micheal Spins the handle of a music box)
Does Great Knockback but no damage
(Music Box general use)
Aerials
Neutral Air: Music Box (Micheal Spins the handle of a music box)
Does Great Knockback but no damage
(Music Box general use)
F Air: Death Coin (Micheal Throws a death coin)
It flies into a straight line until it hits a wall or a foe where it will disappear. It does no knockback but tons of damage And if the foes damage was over 80% damage when hit by the death coin, it’s an instant kill.
(Death Coin)
B Air: Plushies (Throws Random plushie behind hims)
A basic gravity affected projectile. Does a lot of knockback and has a 20% chance to freeze but barely any damage.
(Plushies in ucn)
Up Air: Wiring Malfunction (Micheal holds a wire that emits flame)
Does decent knockback and has a chance to stun or burn
(fnaf 3 fire)
Down Air: Panic (Micheal shakes the feet below him)
Hits great damage and knockback
(the panic animation shared between afton and CC)
Grabs
Grab: Flashes opponent with camera stunning them.
(Camera security breach)
Pummel: Uses a fazer blaster
F Throw: A hoard of people crowd surf the opponent
(the events before the bite of 83)
B Throw: A hoard of people crowd surf the opponent
(the events before the bite of 83)
Up Throw: A pedestal with a button appears under the foe that micheal presses shocking the opponent
(sister location controlled shock)
Down Throw: A Fredbear suit appears which micheal puts the opponent into the suits mouth before it crushes them
(Bite of 83)
Specials
Neutral Special: Doors
A Door appears in front of michael. Acts like Steve's blocks with bigger hitboxes and major restrictions. First only can be placed on the ground. Second, only 2 doors can be on screen at a time. But in exchange for those hindrances there are some benefits. First the doors will not disappear unless you make them by pressing the b button near a door or if you lose a stocks your doors still disappear. And second micheal is unaffected by the doors hitbox. Meaning he can walk through them or even attack between them. Speaking of which if you use the jab next to a door the flashlight will now instead freeze opponents. And all projectiles including michaels will disappear after touching a door. So overall its a great way to control the outcome of a match in the right hands but if used incorrectly could give your opponents a major leg up.
Side Special: Audio Lure
Micheal will pull up his computer and use an audio lure. From an icon appears that you can move. Press B at your desired location and a sound will play. From there there’s a 50% chance the opponent will move to the location. Note they will stop at ledges and avoid on stage hazards like lava so you can’t move the foe to their death. But it is still a powerful ability. And you can use side b while charging a smash attack or while doing another special.
Up Special: Dee Dee
Dee Dee picks micheal up and flies with their propeller hat before dropping him. Acts exactly like king k rools up b with a key difference. If michael lands on the stage after using up special one out of six random animatronics will appear each lasting 25 seconds. Shadow Bonnie who will fly around the stage trying to get to someone and teleport the person touches to a random part off the stage before disappearing. Micheal can be that person but it cannot go through Michael's doors. plushtrap acts like a slower moving, bigger claptrap who can’t jump and freezes with light attacks also can’t go through doors. Lolbit and the minireenas who serve the same function of blocking the screen. Nightmare chica who acts like a slower Roden who instead of summoning hands just punches you straight up. And bonnet who acts like plushtrap who can jump. The move can only be used twice within 25 seconds as only 2 animatronics can appear at a time. The second time you use the move xor will appear instead fulfilling the same role. Also no minireenas and lolbit can’t appear at the same time
Down Special: Cameras
Mike will pull up his monitor and check his cameras. The screen will then freeze. As little text boxes appear above the screen basically explaining important info like the matchup of the foe compared to michael, Their weight, counters to there specials, recommended strategies, etc. you can exit it by pressing the b button again where you can’t use the move for 20 seconds. Which is the wise move since just like in fnaf the text will only be on screen for 3 seconds before static appears and disappears with michael being stunned and unable to use the move for 40 seconds. So just like in fnaf you need to scan the scene and focus on what's important and plan your next action accordingly.
Final Smash: Connection Terminated
The move starts with micheal charging up a punch. But before he can punch the opponent the screen cuts to black as an altered version of henry's speech plays before cutting back to the match where michael is mysteriously gone as the screen slowly shrinks with fire on the border. Additionally the entire stage is on fire making the ground no longer safe. The torment ends after 15 seconds where it cuts to an animatic of the fnaf 6 pizzaplex in ruin. When it cuts back to the stage michael has mysteriously come back
Cosmetics
Costumes
Security guard outfit
Purple skin (Ennard and purple guy reference)
Gray skin and shirt (Souls reference)
Blue Shirt (Phone Guy)
Striped shirt (Crying Child)
Pink (Pink Slip)
Orange Hair and pink shirt (Elezabith
Orange Skin with a top hat and blue shirt (Glamrock Freddy)
Stage Entrance: Walks out of his house the same way he does in the fnaf 5 cutscenes
Taunts
Puts On Foxy Mask
Eats pizza
Puts on freddy mask (invincible while in the taunt)
Victory Animations
A Pink slip appears on screen
Fire appears on screen (always happens when winning with final smash)
A Black screen appears Before 6 Am appears on screen (always happens when winning timed match)

Many moons ago I fell deeply in love with Twin Peaks, David Lynch, and everything surrounding it. Presented today on the 7^th anniversary of the premiere date of Twin Peaks: The Return, is an interview with the actress and homeowner of the Palmer house who graciously gave her time to answer some fan questions that have been haunting us for years.
Journey with me to find out some answers you wanted, some you didn’t know you wanted, and some you can’t believe you lived without knowing including how to tour the Palmer home yourself!
Questions by Luke Sweeting
Luke: How were you approached to be an actress in The Return?
Mary: I was standing in the kitchen making sure there were enough donuts and coffee for the few key people DL (David Lynch) brought with him on 2nd of 3 visits before filming, which was the 4th visit. DL came into the kitchen by himself and said, Mary, are you an actress, and I said No. He then said, “Have you ever acted?” I said I hadn't. He then asked, would you like to have a small part in the movie? I said, “Sure”, but was nervous and excited at the thought. He said that it wasn't for sure but that if it did move forward, I would be in my own home and to act naturally, in other words, just be me. He has been watching me interact with some of the people he had brought. I heard he does like to observe people and get a feel for how they interact, look and sound. It is key to him that the person fit the character he is trying to create. He said if it did happen, I would get my script and go to hair and make up with the other actors. He was already trying to make me feel comfortable right there on the spot which I found very empathetic of him.


Luke: Had you ever acted before?
Mary: I really had not acted before other than a few commercials for the local TV station I worked for back in the day, but never a speaking part. I looked at it as definitely out of my comfort zone but who would turn down this opportunity? It was also therapeutic as I was going through a very trying time in life, so it was good to channel those feelings into doing something fun.

Luke: Has anyone recognized you in public yet? If so, do they call you Mrs. Tremond or Chalfont?
Mary: I have been recognized a few times which is funny but kind of cool at the same time. I was called Mrs. Tremond, which made me laugh. That is also on my license plate; I had to take advantage of that:)

Luke: (I know this answer, but I feel people would love to know the answer too) Was being a David Lynch fan the reason you bought the house, or was this just a happy accident?
Mary: I knew about Twin Peaks and about DL before buying the house. It is not why my ex, and I purchased the house in September 2014. It needed a lot of work at the time. The previous owner we purchased it from was the woman who lived here the first time around when Twin Peaks was filmed here. That is quite a story in itself, and I really wanted to sit with her afterward and chat with her about it, but she passed a few months after purchase.

Luke: Was there ever a culture shock moment of realizing you bought THE Palmer house, or did that happen after The Return finished airing?
Mary: This house was our first home purchase and we moved to Everett because of the history, great old historic homes and how much more house we could get up here. This area of Rucker Hill has some great history and amazing houses. The man who built this house was one of the first pitchers for Seattle baseball. We heard rumblings of Twin Peaks returning but it was around 2 months after moving in that we were away for a bit and came home to a notice at the door from the location scout asking us to call him right away as they wanted to do a film here. It was a mystery as to what it would be, but we felt it was going to be Twin Peaks. The whole filming process, when our parts were going to be aired and everything about the Return was a mystery. They actually filmed the Finale at the very beginning, so I had no clue where it was going to fit into the whole Film. Filming was an amazing experience. They were here for approximately 2 weeks preparing the home for both the Hawk/Sarah scene and the Finale. It wasn't until the Finale was aired that I realized how cool this experience was in the whole scheme of things and the impact in the Return itself. I wish I could relax a bit more and soak it in again, just to relive the experience and really study the process. Each person here was so professional and fun to watch do their work with such expertise. I couldn't have asked for friendlier people.

Luke: How has the fandom treated you?
Mary: The fans are incredible. They have been extremely kind to me. They are great gift givers and just very authentic and genuine folks in love with Twin Peaks. I didn't realize how intense these fans were, but I truly get it. There is nothing like this ever made before and it set the stage for a lot of other great TV and film. The fans have been awesome and I have many great friends from this experience.

Luke: Is there anything you wish fans wouldn’t do?
Mary: The only thing I wish for fans is that they don't just walk up to the door at various hours of the day and night. It is private property and not a public place for people to peek in windows and walk the grounds. There have only been a few that have done this; the majority is very respectful to me and my home.

Luke: Is it ever scary to sleep in the proverbial Palmer house? Are there ever guests who stay over and become a little nervous?
Mary: I am not afraid in the least to stay here. I was a tad apprehensive when we first bought it, but like the lady who lived here before would say, "this is just my house." Now a few of the guests who have stayed, they were a bit nervous to sleep in Laura's room, but that may be because I have a life-sized Bob mannequin in the closet:)

Luke: I know that you’re gracious enough to let guests visit this mecca of ours, could you tell me and anyone interested about how and when to properly ask to visit? (You could also mention your favorite flowers or favorite wine? I know I’d feel bad showing up empty handed)

Mary: I prefer people get a hold of me on Messenger or IG or Twitter and ask to see the house, so I can make an appointment for them, especially since Everett is not that close to North Bend and Snoqualmie. I do now charge $25 for a 30-45 minute tour as I have done quite a few. I do love flowers and red wine. I have received some very incredible gifts from some fans which I am forever grateful for. The fans are so very thoughtful, and I have a little spot in my Palmer dining room where I proudly display some of the gifts and artwork.

Luke: I understand if you don’t want to answer this one. What does your role in Twin Peaks mean to you? To us fans I feel like it was the perfect subversion of expectations while also being incredibly meta.
Mary: There are 2 questions I can't answer and one of them is expanding on my character. I do, however, think it is cool to be an infamous Tremond!

Luke: How does it feel to be appreciated as a part of a now 30-year-old piece of media that will last forever and has influenced kids like me to make careers in film?
Mary: It is very humbling to be part of the TP mystique and genre. I am blessed and love being able to share a piece of it with fans who have never been able to see the Palmer House. The responses of people who visit is my gift. I love seeing their excitement and joy at walking through my door and each and every person is a joy for me. I have made great friends, learned wonderful theories and have listed to some reveal trauma in their own lives, which invites me into some very private parts of their lives. It has been a life changing experience for me, and I hope it has been for them as well.

Luke: Finally, what was it like working with David? Are there any fun tidbits or stories of how he directed you / that wonderfully haunting scene burned into our memories forever?


Mary: Working with DL was an incredible experience to say the least and very humbling and rewarding. He is a master filmmaker and director. The gift he gives is what we as individual viewers choose to take away from his art.

He is a wonderful director in that he ceases to tell you how to act, rather use your raw and organic natural emotions to drive the performance. I believe he knew I was going to be a bit anxious and guarded and most of all a bit nervous, which worked well for answering the door at night to 2 strangers. He tweaked a bit but left us to the scene and frankly Kyle and Sheryl would make most people look good. We only had 2 takes which was great. We practiced a bit outside before the scene which helped. Also meeting Kyle and Sheryl in hair and makeup was an introduction to them both that was organic and for me very helpful. I felt like I was acting already with 2 friends. DL and Kyle and Sheryl were very encouraging. DL knows what he wants and how to transfer his ideas out in the scene with great kindness and finesse and humor.

Luke: I’m sorry but I have to ask. Any hints to what was being spoken to you behind that menacing white door?
Mary: There were no hints of who was behind door other than me calling him Honey. He was supposedly answering my questions and then I was relaying answers to Kyle and Sheryl.

I had some ideas and started booking this out. But I lost some and it is not a passion. So I am just going to give my quick idea outline instead of the more in depth monthly breakdown.
Hogan needs to get in line with losing a match to Flair. I still run a 3 match series. Hogan wins 1 and 3. Run the full injury angle on match 2 (See Sting and Rude from a few years before).
Flair will defend the title at WrestleWar against G1 Climax winner Mashiro Chono.
Hogan needs some non-Flair opponents. I will The Boss, Big Ray Traylor become the #1 contender. Traylor will be the Starrcade opponent. Sting (and Vader) will help establish Traylor along the way.
Austin (US) and Regal (TV) will establish their bona fides as singles competitors. Vader will have a feud with Cactus (if we can get him to stay).
Austin will join a reformed Horsemen (with Sherri as manager). Tully earns a spot back against Funk, if he can smooth things over with Arn. Arn and Tully add to tag team depth, as the roster needs to add some talent.
Harley Race takes on Paul Levesque as a protege, and maybe he will stay.
Bobby Eaton and Steve Keirn (Bad Attitude) will be managed by Col Parker. They need some help on interviews, bu5 are great in the ring.
I see Teddy Long coming back to manage Ron Simmoms and Harlem Heat. He is too entertaining to not help Simmons get over and help guide Harlem Heat.
If Catucs and Funk can be kept around, I plan to have a loose collection of loose cannons with Pillman as well. Any can be lone wolf if others do not stick around.
Dustin Rhodes will be fighting for TV and US titles. Steamboat is still around getting great matches out of many opponents. Trying to build Patriot and Bagwell as a face team. The Armstrongs too with a manager (Dusty or Bullet Bob). Not confident in that.
Hogan will eventually drop title to Vader in 1995. Sting, and then Austin are the planned future champs. I will be bringing in Steiners in Dec 1994 or as soon as I can, as the best tag team ever. Flair and Hogan can be slid away from Title as feud and special attraction types. (All over Randy Savage if he comes available).
Nit as good as a gill booking and storyline. But wanted to give the overall plan.

I (21X) been talking to this guy (26M) for three weeks over text. We met at a show, he was really flirty, and we've talked every day since the concert. He just texted me saying he had the best day yesterday because he was hanging out with a friend and it turned into a date.
I'm obviously pretty torn up about this, because I was really starting to feel like he might've liked me as well, but now I'm stuck trying do decide what I should do. Now-- obviously it's his prerogative to go on dates. I don't expect anything out of him and he doesn't owe me anything. What I'm trying to figure out right now is whether I should completely cut off contact with him, tell him I had feelings for him and that's why I'm cutting off contact, or just keep talking, never telling him that I was interested. We really hit it off, and have a lot in common, and I don't have a lot of friends. He doesn't live near me so I would probably never see him again if I cut him off.
I just don't know how to move forward. I want to keep talking to him but I also really don't. I haven't responded to him yet or opened the message I read it on my notifications tab so as far as he knows I haven't seen it yet.