I think ima start with who I am, like that, idk i guess later when ima read back those post ima be like, damn i changed? I go by the username Hayashi, i am curently 21 year old turning 22 in like 3 month xD I am a frenchie from Quebec :P I am honestly a nerdy, weeb girlie pop.
I've been watching anime for years now and like to collect alot of stuff about my favorite one, talking about that, my favorite anime of all times are : Sk8 the infinity and Vanitas no carte.
I am also a Magic the gathering player! I mainly play and collect the cards but i am not really into like the price and all of it. I play for fun mainly commander with my friends. Red, green are like my go to colors X)
I am also a avid boardgame player, I play alot alot alot of boardgame. I think I own around 150 games and have played more than 250 :) idk what i actually like about boardgame, i guess the different mechanics and style and how i need to use my little brain make it fun? My friends often say that I have a autistic brain for boardgames xD
I am also known to be one of the only person in my friend group to enjoy playing League of Legends! Man, I truly love that game, i love the game play, i love the4 champions and i love the lore. I have read all the lore of every champions. I am a adc/support main but i can also play a little bit of mid and jungle. Thats the main game I play and after years I still enjoy playing it :)
So yea, like I said. I am a nerdy girlie :) I am know to be really extravagant and funny. I like to always make people laugh and just have a good time. I can also be really shy with new people or a too big group. I am also in a long distance relation ship, but i think i will make a whole other post to explain that xD
I think thats it for my about me post :) and if u ever read that in the future, I Naomi!

"Heya guys I am Brandon Sanderson pleased to meet you"
This line has been appearing without end in my dreams as of late. On the walls, glowing red on the insides of my eyelids, scrawled in coagulating blood on mirrors... I just can't seem to stop it. Well, you know how writing is, tee hee! The ol' voices only stop when you put pen to paper (not literally. I use a keyboard most of the time? Though I've heard most still use paper and quill from a trusted source.).
So, in order to appease them, I've decided that I should put Brandon Sanderson in my novel and have him say this. However, I'm not sure how to go about it. Do I literally put the guy, as if this were some isekai, coming to my fantasy world post-die, straight as he is, not batting an eye? Or do I just slap his name onto one of my characters and call it a day? (I'm worried the latter could be considered inauthentic. I've never read any of his stuff, but I've heard that if you do, you have to take him on as your patron saint, and as I mention below, I'm not the type to want to be affixed to a cross! Let alone by nerdy book-reading zealots...)
Also, I'm a little concerned about copyright. Is Brandon Sanderson a copyrighted character? Do you think they'd make the exception for me? I really wanna be published, so this is important, but I also don't wanna be crucified by the voices for going against them (they've been dragging it closer to the foot of my bed every 7 days to remind me who's in charge) so I need to find some compromise.
And just one last thing, all my characters tend to be really racist. It just happens. Write what you know, if you get my gist. I think it makes them more nuanced and really shows that not all racists mean any harm! But I get that the masses don't get this and someone from the legal team might be forced to issue a cease and desist because of all those angry fans who don't know what's best, or, worse, the houses would refuse to publish my special novel (this would be bad because I wouldn't get published). Assuming we get the earlier paragraph sorted out, how racist do you think I could make him? Maybe just some implications here and there? Or maybe it's okay if I do show don't tell and make him express his feelings through actions instead of walking up to the camera (I write so it'll be adapted into a movie someday, for context) and stating everything that composes him as the rest of my characters do?
Thanks for the help. Gee, writing can be tough, huh? Luckily we have each other.

The myth cards unlocks key storylines in the game. And if you're into the combat portion of the game, having myth pairs unlocks legendary companions and weapons. These are crucial in farming diamonds from the Senior Hunting Contest and climbing Orbital Trials.
Personally, I do not purchase level-up resources (outside the discount event packs and Secret pass), and I have achieved 36/36 medals in the last Senior Hunting Contest (HERE), using mostly level 60-65 cards (not ranked up) and +3/6/9 protocores. But when I swapped out the myth companions for the regular ones, I can only get 30/36 with the exact same cards/stats on the team (myth and all).
On both of my F2P accounts, if I don’t use any myth cards or companions, I can only get 21/36 (530 diamonds) after 2–3 months of play. If I were to have all the myth pairs (unranked) on those accounts, I estimate I can get 30-33 medals while using only lunar 4* and 5* found in the permanent bannewishing well (at least until Paper decides to add in power creep). For reference, 33 medals will give you all 840 diamonds from the SHC.
This illustrates how crucial myth cards are. Lunar 5* will give more stats, but myth 5* will give you overpowered companions.

“Great, so how do I get myth cards?”

The current Lumiere event is the only chance to acquire Xavier's time-limited myth pair (as of now), and next month Zayne's time-limited myth pair will be released. See HERE for a post on how much wishes/diamonds are needed to guarantee the pairs.
The regular myth cards can also be found in the permanent banner. Players will receive two free SSR Myth crates from the permanent banner, one at the 150th pull and again at the 300th pull.
The chance of getting a 5* is 1%, meaning the statistical average is one random 5* in every 100 wishes. With the pity system, the chance in total increases to 2%, meaning the statistical average is one 5* every 50 wishes or 7500 diamonds. (Fun fact: in the Top Up section of the shop, spending $100 USD will get you enough diamonds for a bit over 50 rolls, which is the statistical cost of one 5*)
There are fifteen 5* in the permanent banner, and six of those cards are solar myth cards. Thus, the chance of hitting any random myth card is 40% (6/15).
Below are the chances of getting a non-duplicate myth card when you pull a 5* from the permanent banner. For each myth crate you prematurely open, your chances of completing the set decreased, and your statistical cost increases.
Scenario 1: when you save both your SSR myth crates
1st myth card: 6/15 = 40% (statistical average: 125 wishes or 18,750 diamonds)
2nd myth card: 5/15 = 33.3% (statistical average: 150 wishes or 22,500 diamonds)
3rd myth card: 4/15 = 26.7% (statistical average: 188 wishes or 28,200 diamonds)
4th myth card: 3/15 = 20% (statistical average: 250 wishes or 37,500 diamonds)
5th myth card: from crate
6th myth card: from crate
Total statistical average: 713 wishes or 106,950 diamonds
Scenario 2: when you save one of your SSR myth crate
1st myth card: from crate
2nd myth card: 5/15 = 33.3% (statistical average: 150 wishes or 22,500 diamonds)
3rd myth card: 4/15 = 26.7% (statistical average: 188 wishes or 28,200 diamonds)
4th myth card: 3/15 = 20% (statistical average: 250 wishes or 37,500 diamonds)
5th myth card: 2/15 = 13.3% (statistical average: 375 wishes or 56,250 diamonds)
6th myth card: from crate
Total statistical average: 963 wishes or 144,450 diamonds
Scenario 3: when you don’t save any SSR myth crates
1st myth card: from crate
2nd myth card: from crate
3rd myth card: 4/15 = 26.7% (statistical average: 188 wishes or 28,200 diamonds)
4th myth card: 3/15 = 20% (statistical average: 250 wishes or 37,500 diamonds)
5th myth card: 2/15 = 13.3% (statistical average: 375 wishes or 56,250 diamonds)
6th myth card: 1/15 = 6.7% (statistical average: 750 wishes or 112,500 diamonds)
Total statistical average: 1563 wishes or 234,450 diamonds
※Please note: This chart is for comparative use only. It is generally NOT advised to spend diamonds in the permanent banner. Save them for the limited banners instead!
In summary, saving the myth crates gives most players the best chance of collecting all the myth cards and myth companions. And for players who are looking to rank up all the myth cards, this will likely save a lot of money in the process.

“Nooo! I’ve already used up all my crates!”

Which is why we need to demand Papergames for more myth crate rewards. It’s completely unreasonable to lock such crucial parts of the gameplay (lore and combat wise) behind a RNG system with no end in sight. The statistical average means absolutely nothing if the RNG gods hate your guts in particular.
One more myth crate at the 450th pull and another at the 600th pull is completely fair.

Love and Deepspace have made more than $200 million USD in revenue so far:

• Assuming LnD will generate Papergames a very conservative annual revenue of $600 million ($50 million per month)
• Assuming a conservative industry EBITDA margin of 40%, this makes the EBITDA $240 million
• Assuming a conservative industry EV/EBITDA multiplier of 6x
• This gives us a company that’s worth 1.44 BILLION US DOLLARS — a very conservative evaluation. In reality, it’s probably worth way more

Tl;dr: Save both your SSR Myth crates until you are two cards away from completion. And Papergames can afford to give us 2 more crates.

My brother married an actual psychopath. My brother (40) married the scummiest scum of the earth. Who can only be described as a whore, a psycho, sociopath and an all around terrible human being. It was against the wishes of EVERYONE. For back story…She had a child by another man… and only had him (in november) to live off the government. he met the stray hoe took care of her and her unborn child. they started dating in september and by christmas she had drained his bank account. He moved in with her days after christmas. Proposed. And got married sometime between march and june i honestly can not be bothered to know exactly when. The night before brother was admitted to the er for staph infection in his berries. After the “wedding” that was in the back yard of some pastor . they had a “reception”. Where i photographed/observed the following. A used tampon on washing machine. Shit filled diapers littering the nursery. A surreal amount of clothing on the bed. I said nah im good. And went home. The wedding was in may and she got my brother to legally adopt her child. Im forever convinced if not for my brother she would casey anthony her child. She Munchausened her kid and my brother. Self diagnosing the kid with autism. Pushed or made my brother fall and get multiple concussions. Drugged him with date rape drugs to keep control of him. She was a frequent flier to the ER going to the emergency room for unnecessary reasons. She refused to parent her child insisting that its the worlds job to teach him the bare minimum. She refused to clean as well. Her cockroaches had cockroaches. Cleanliness was mental illness for her. She kicked my brother out asking for divorce. But realized she had to leave bc he paid the bills. She stayed with whoever the hell would take her. Was forced to walk wherever she needed to go. And uttered the words “well i had to walk in the rain so theres my bath for the week” after growing tired of not having his card and money she came crawling back. She avoided parenting like the plague. Every excuse. Uti. Migraine. Yeast infection. Its a tuesday. When her son was 2 she left to go to another state and go to school for being a truck driver. Had no qualms of leaving her kid behind for weeks. Then she dropped out of 18 wheeler school. It seems the wheels on her bus fell off. For someone who doesnt believe proper hygiene was important she didnt believe bathing him and basic care was important. Feet encrusted in dirt and dirt under overgrown nails. It was so noticeable that when i cut his nails his teacher made comment about it. Her family was just as absent as you would expect. Her mother only went to the first birthday party when the child was 6. And didnt even know her own grandchild. Asked another child at the party if he had the best birthday! My mom looked at her and said “yeaaa thats the wrong kid…” Fast forward when the first born was 6 and she birthed her second. This had no change and her parenting never improved. Another child encrusted in dirt. After the youngest turned a year and a half my brother had knee surgery and stayed with us (me mom dad) to recover because she would have made him cook clean and parent. While he was healing for the week he was there she moved in her boyfriend AND girlfriend. By the way she not only a hoe she is a promiscuous hoe with no moral compass. I promised my mom id never call CPS however when the second was 2 i had a friend call cps. Like a special ops team cops went in at 2 am and gathered the children and brought them to me and my parents. We had the 2 year old and a friend of the hoe had the 8 year old. For 2 weeks my brother agonized over his kids being taken. And she had a vacation. She treated it as if having your kids repo’ed as a right of passage. Told the world. Told the teacher. And had the time of her stupid life. In the 2 weeks i had them i had minions collecting screenshots of statuses of her being a bad mother. Which was super easy bc every thought made it to facebook. Such as. “My dentist suggested i brush my teeth at least once a day” “i guess i was doing (brother) with the wrong meds and made him sick” “why dont grandparents raise our children” i gathered these gems and photographic evidence of the state of the house and cleanliness of children to cps, police and eventually divorce lawyer. During their time together the hoe broke my brother mentally spiritually emotionally physically financially. The food stamps ran out in the first week of every month spent on junk soda and unnecessary nonsense. They had to ask my mother for money that accumulated to the tune of $10,000 over 10 years. She is also a gofundme whore. She would start a gofundme 10-12 times a year for any and everything. She decided at one point to go back to school and did an amazon wishlist for school supplies and a gofundme for “gas food and other expenses”. Being the trash human she is she is friends with people of unsavory character. An actual crack head bought her entire amazon wishlist. Which she put on facebook. Yikes. At one point she found a dog and instead of finding the owner she finders keepers that poor pup. Making yet another gofundme for dog expenses. I told my friends i would paaaay them to claim the dog as theirs so my mother didnt pay for yet another mouth to feed. If youre curious about the gofundmes and if they were ever fruitful… when a bull milks a calf will her gofundme work. The final year of their marriage was no less chaotic. The christmas of 2019 she posted on facebook that its so wonderful that her husband is out working and her boyfriend is sleeping next to her and her girlfriend is cooking. Tagging the aforementioned on facebook. My brother was humiliated because infront of church members family and friends his marriage and all the stupidity that came with it was out in the open for all to judge. My brother was at the time a corrections officers and let his kind nature and naivety get him in trouble. A person asked him to take some taco bell to an inmate and in what could only be called a moment of stupidity (sorry mom) he did so. what he didnt know is they put drugs in it and when it was scanned he was arrested. My mom and dad had to bail him out too him home and around 3 am he called me “they voted me out” beyond confused i asked what the hell does that mean? As it turned out. Hoe boyfriend and girlfriend unanimously voted him out of the house. Mind you. Single wide trailer housing 4 adults 2 kids a dog and cats. June of 2020 he moved back in a month later if the children followed. after the actual breadwinner left the house the unemployed baboons could not pay the rent and were kicked out. The three went down to two with the girlfriend being let go. Hoe and boyfriend moved in with her mother. And boyfriend wrecked the car in my brothers name. Dui and head on collision. Car gone! The children stayed with us. The youngest was 2 at the time and began calling my mom “mommy” which pissed off the hoe. And she never contacted them. At the hearing for the divorce she stated all she wanted out of the relationship was not money or visitation. But her maiden name back. TAKE IT. AND LEAVE US THE HELL ALONE. She also used a photo of her kids on a gofundme to get sympathy and posted that to a fetish website. Seeing as the photo was them shirtless i believe that was on purpose. She dumped boyfriend and found a new love in new hampshire. She was in NH for 8 months with her new boyfriend and he lost his job so they moved back down. After a summer of no contact she called and told the children “when i get home we are going to….” And listed about 10 events places and activities to look forward to. None of which she delivered on. After not spending time with them again and choosing to give up her weekend with them to play video games for 30 HOURS STRAIGHT. She eventually in 2024 decided that her and her boyfriend were moving to Massachusetts. Seeing how she is a practicing witch my only hope is the salem witch trials reconvene. She married the dude she abandoned her kids for. On mothers day the children who no longer give a damn she exists were forced to call and tell her happy mothers day. Where the 6 year old proceeded to tell her the older brother got a phone and didnt wanna give her his number. She assured him that as his mother its quite alright to give mommy dearest the number to which the youngest said yea no he doesnt want to. The mouths of babes. She cried and posted on facebook not only do her children hate her but she had to give up her cats too. And wished the “real mom’s of the world a happy mothers day” shes a shit cat mom too! A week after we had spaghetti for dinner and the 6 year old said “i never used to like spaghetti. I only tried it at… whats her names house? Jordan? Yea her house” With their father engaged to a good Godly woman with morals and standards the worst mother to ever mother has been replaced and so far we are all living happily ever after. The moral of the story is if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas what if you lay down with whores end up with bedbugs and that was a very costly moral

I apologize in advance for the length of this thread, but by far this is the user that wrote the most comments in the video of our song. At first, he suggested Scepter and Reign, but he debunked this lead by saying: "Scepter and Reign can be crossed off. I have been corresponding with the lady whose name is mentioned in the legal document, Naomi (first name used with her permission, and only her first name) since Thursday. She was legitimately shocked her name was on the document because in all these years NOBODY ever contacted her regarding it. She thinks they may have realized how much money it would cost and probably withdrew. She knew both bands fairly well, scale of 1-10 she answered "6.5 maybe 7'ish". She designed 1 "logo" for each band that was literally just a sketch she made with their band names on them she could print out in the Xerox store she worked at. Scepter's original name was actually "Dungeon Master" but they changed it to fit their name on her design. As for the abandoned demo from Scepter, she said they abandoned it because they couldn't afford to produce it. They didn't even make it far enough to name their 3 or 4 songs. So, on to the big question, are either bands involved with this song? According to her both bands came out in 1985, and according to her this "The Falling King" song predates both bands by a year or 2. This is not Scepter or Reign, this song is older than both bands. According to her, she first heard this song on a Detroit station while visiting family. Even back then, the Detroit station personnel had absolutely NO CLUE who this was. She remembers her father making fun of the singers accent claiming it was a "Posh" accent and also used to think the lyric was "The fall, the fall in the king" lol. I explained how this song was recorded off of several stations in 1987 and she replied "How many songs do you hear on the radio that are several years old?". She was stumped this was played on Z-Rock because this does not sound like an amateur band to her. She is not the only person to make comments that this does not sound like an amateur band, this sounds professionally recorded and produced, something EXTREMELY few amateugarage bands could have done. I thought i had something, but at least i tried. By the way, apparently Reign still performs in the Pittsburgh area under the name "Metallic Thunder"." (THIS IS HIS LATEST COMMENT) If this is true, it means our search will be even more difficult.
In one of his earliest comments he said this: "My 2 oldest sisters (born in 1970 and 1972) actually remember this song being played by garage bands and local talents in the Coatesville PA area. However, they both swear on mom and dads ashes that the first time they heard this song, a local music festival in Exton PA, I was NOT born yet (I was born in 1984). Even back then nobody could say who it was or what the title was. In fact the one band from Downingtown PA used to refer to it as "The Dungeons and Dragons song". And by that i mean, according to my sisters the lead singers girlfriend (or his sister....they could never tell?) would be in the crowd and when they were ready to end their performance she would shout "Play the Dungeons and Dragons song". My sisters also remember the adults thinking this song was somehow a promotional thing for the PA Renaissance Fair. Unfortunately they cannot offer any clues to the identity of this band or songs title, their guess, back then and still today, was Manowar."
At first, he claims our band is Manowar, explaining: "I do not think Manowar is an obscure band, nor do my sisters. The "obscure" bands mentioned in my postings are all the local garage/amateur bands that they remember playing this song and most of those garage/amateur bands even back then, along with my sisters, were under the impression this was a Manowar song. Many people, not just on this post but others feel this is Manowar "pitch" song, other bands thrown around have been Iron Maiden, Overdrive (Or Overkill, i'm not sure if it's the same band?), Blackmane, Axis and Cirith Ungol (spelling?). Keep this in mind, it's not that uncommon for mainstream/well known bands to have unreleased music in their "library". A good example, ask the most diehard Rammstein fans what their first song ever was, they'll probably answer Du Recht So Gut or Rammstein. Most people have never heard their 1992-1993 pitch song, "Tier" (Monster, beast). In fact, Till Linderman himself stated in 2018 he was unaware Tier was ever recorded by anyone, yet alone put up on the internet. Like this "Fall of the King" song, "Tier" was toted as an mystery song for years but was in a group of 4 or 5 other songs that Rammstein did but never released. One of my favorite bands, Corvus Corax, actually had something similar happen, a song they did back in the early 90's, "Vampire", opening for another band was recorded by a fan in the audience and made rounds on the Neo Folk community ages later. Corvus Corax themselves heard it on a radio station in Denmark roughly 2009'ish and called them asking how and when they got that song because they NEVER recorded it for public use. Personally i cannot give a wager who this is? I am not that good with this genre so i go with what people older than me and much better with this music say. To me it could be Manowar, something they never intended to be released publicly, it could be the Z'Rose a bunch of people feel it is, it could be Overdrive/Overkill (i do not know if these names are the same band or 2 separate ones?), it could be me time traveling impersonating my great uncle Fred......ok that last one was just meant to be a joke lol." Then someone says: "has your sister contacted erik to see about the the song?" and he says "OH HELL NO!!! They haven't spoken since they broke up in 1991-1992. I did reach out to his brother probably a year ago and never heard back."
He suggests it's either Manowar or Sarissa (he mispelled them): "@aSome1 There's some confusion, my sisters never said Z'Rose was playing the song in our hometown area. Local teenage to early college yrs bands were playing it. They recognized this song when I was on a family Zoom chat, i had this song on in the background (by accident actually lol) and my oldest sister (#1 born in '70) asked what i was listening to. I turned it up and she shook her head and asked the other sister (#2 born in '72) "Oh my gosh isn't that that stupid Manowar song Erik and his brother used to play all the time?". Erik was the name of her high school boyfriend. They remember hearing it first at an amateur music fest when my brother (born in '82) was still a baby. Mainly they remember mom fitting all of them in her old "Batmobile" station wagon. By the time i was born in '84 that station wagon was gone for at least several months. The band names they specifically remember playing this, and keep in mind these were "Garage bands" from the 80's were: Venomous Vomit, Razors in your Coffee (Erik's band), Ash to Ash, Cauldron Kings, Coven of Metal, Pridesville, South of Hell and Purgatory. They said there were a few more, but didn't remember....or care....to know their names. (Disclaimer: Several peoples associated with those mentioned bands have been contacted by me and several have replied.....the most common reply is "How the hell do you know us!?" lol)
"I have actually been looking at this song for almost 3yrs. I've had some "good leads" and some "bad leads" and i've also had "WTF leads".......but at the end it is still unsolved. So far the biggest contenders, from people way better with this music than me (I'm more a symphonic or extreme metal person) have been: Manowar, Iron Maiden, OverDrive, Overkill, Onslaught of Destruction and Sonic Mahem. My sisters really believe it is possibly an unreleased or "pitch demo" of Manowar but they also said it might be a Greek band from the early 80's called Sarassa or something like that?"
Then he denies it's Z-Rose: "@lostwavefinder587 I have seen that name tossed around a lot on forums and random chats (this being one of them). Most people way smarter and better with this music than myself seem to have the opinion that it is not Z'Rose. They range in reason from: the equipment sound professional and they were not, the dates don't add up, Z'Rose only did covers so even it is them in the recordings it's still not their song.....one individual (a supervisor at work who lived in Texas during this time frame) actually said "Z'Rose wouldn't have been sober enough to finish that song". I have only heard 1 Z'Rose recording, and unfortunately the person who recorded it (I think the date says 1989?) spends the majority of the 5 minute video talking during the performance so all i hear is them and not the singer. I have to emphasize about %99 of this info i'm presenting is NOT from me but people who know this genre of music way better than me....i'm more Symphonic metal and neo folk (Corvus Corax, Heilung, Faun etc."
"Out of curiosity, since a lot people think this might be Z'Rose, has anyone contacted the family/families of Nick or Joe Cavazos? My "team" is looking into a blog page from 2018 of a pretty intense exchange between a blogger and a woman who is believed to be "Rocker Joe's daughter. In this exchange she states this song is NOT her dad and uncle's band. But it gets pretty rough because the blogger keeps pressing and let's just say some NSFW language is exchanged. I will only say this, the woman's name does match one of the names in Julio "Joe" Cavazos obituary, but they can't tell if it is actually HER or someone posing. I also find it interesting that in another posting of this song someone is claiming to be the nephew of both Nick and Joe.....but about a dozen people ask about this song and he does not answer them......but someone else will ask something unrelated to this song and he answers??"
"About a year ago on another posting of this song, someone had a link to a conversation with a woman who was allegedly Joe Cavazos daughter. She very adamantly denied this was her dads band, Z'Rose. They person kept pressing her and she did not budge a single inch, "NO, its not my dad's band". The only thing that could be confirmed was the woman's name did match a name in Julio "Joe" Cavazos obituary as his daughter. But if it was her or not I can't say? Many peoples on other postings and on forums have all claimed to have gotten in contact with Z'Rose and stated they responded "No" to this being theirs.
So the "Kings Fall" song by Bernard Cavazos is actually a completely different song. He is also not related to the Z'Rose Cavazos. Somewhere I read that the "Kings Fall"/"Fallen King" song by Bernard Cavazos is about a corrupt politician or mafia like "king" not an actual king. Again none of this is from me, it's from things I read, not me.
When 'Wang' did a video about several mystery songs he included this one. In his video (I don't know if he made more than one?) he talked about how that Bernard Cavazos has been contacted and has denied this is his Fall of the King song. If my memory is correct Wang read a message from him explaining his "king" was a corrupt politician or gang leader like king. Wang also mentioned there was another Bernard Cavazos who was a doctor and he is sick and tired of people contacting him about this song"
Someone that replied to him said:
"@CharlesMarkward probably this tape recording was an attempt from them to make something of their own, many bands have started this way, an example is the Brazilian power metal band Angra, they were first meant to be an Iron Maiden tribute but as things went by, they have decided to release things of their own...I couldn't find anything about this "Z'Rose" band in metal-archives, neither at Google with a simple research, but the data gathered until this moment make sense: the Z Rock radio is from Texas, the so called "Z'Rose" band is also from Texas, it was the 80's, so, without internet, this was the way bands used to promote their work...but your story adds some drifts from this sensible data available until now...they are/were from Texas, ok...but until then, they weren't any big group, which means they were probably 9 to 5 salarymen whose musician activity was on weekends and the money earned wasn't enough to keep up with, so, a trip from TX to PA is a long ranged one and expensive for their then standards, I can remember when I've read the Mick Wall's Metallica biography, in which they highlight how hard was for them to go all the way from CA to NY to record Kill em' All, well, unless someone sponsored the so called "Z'Rose from Texas" (like the Zazula couple to Metallica) to play in the events you've mentioned in PA...which means they were good and had potential (this "mysterious recording" doesn't let me lie), because it takes a lot for someone at the other eastern extreme of a big country like the USA to call someone all the way from TX to play in an event when probably there were good bands around and without the need of a sponsorship to travel and get some place to sleep and eat..."
Therefore Charles says: "Also, i am not the one saying it's not them. People much better with much more access to metal archives/records are saying it's not them. BUT, everything you said makes perfect sense to me and I have no argument against any of it. It would make perfect sense if it was a possible pitch demo Z'Rose recorded and kept along for a few years before a station played it. My sisters are %98 certain it was a Manowar song, the only other band they mentioned as a possibility is a Greek band i can't find anything about called something like Sarassa??"
Someone told him to contact Erik: "A little bit ago someone in here suggested i contact my sisters ex and ask where he got this song. I could not get a hold of him, but i did get in contact with his brother he played with. According to the brother they got the song from their aunt who lived in Philly (Center City) and would send them tapes of songs to play. This song was on a tape sandwiched between "4 or 5" Manowar songs. He specifically remembered this for 2 reasons: 1, their aunt wrote "Killing of the king by No Name" and 2, the last song on the this tape was labled as a Venom song (he did not recall which) but was actually "Melody of Love" by Bobby Vinton😂. So i think this is why my sisters keep saying it's Manowar, because if it was on a tape with a bunch of their songs that chances are they heard a crapload of times?"
He contacted Erik's brother (Erik is supposedly the ex boyfriend of one of his sisters) and received this reply: "Erik's brother returned another email I sent about this song. I made a post about it about a week ago. The brother says their aunt who lived in Philly included this song on a mix tape of stuff for him and his brother to play. This song was sandwiched between several Manowar songs and the last song on the tape was supposed to be a Venom song but was actually Bobby Vinton's "Melody of Love" 🤣"
Therefore debunking the possibility it's a Manowar song, he also adds: "She (the aunt) passed in 2014. She would record songs off the radio for them. She lived in Philly (Center City) but also had a place in Florida, so he was never sure which cities radio stations she would record from. This song she wrote "Killing the King?" As the title and "???" as the band name, but it was between several Manowar songs. I think this might be why my oldest sisters are so insistent this is a Manowar song because they may have listened to it with Erik and his brother.....it's a theory lol"
He also thought of Iced Earth as the possible band: "lostwavefinder587 I immediately thought of Iced Earth when I heard this song. Although it's likely just a coincidence, it's interesting to note that Iced Earth was originally called "The Rose".
Someone said to him: "if that's any help, the Greek band's name you're talking about is probably Sarissa. I don't think it's them, though: the vox sound kinda different, and their songs are mostly Ancient Greece-themed." And he replied: "Yes, thank you! All this time I've been spelling it wrong. I gave a quick listen to a demo of theirs from '86. In terms of sound and beat and tempo etc, they are pretty close to this song. In terms of vocals, they sound nothing alike." Therefore, he debunked Sarissa himself.
Now here he changed his version and provides a new lead given by his sisters:
"Holy crap for some reason my last post got cut in half and didn't include the following info, sorry! So the individual i spoke to and got the new possible lead is the former singer of the one band my sisters mentioned, Purgatory, (i do NOT have his permission to use his real name but his stage name was Tarantula). He confirmed he played this song "once or twice" but didn't know the lyrics so they just repeated several "blocks" over and over again. He heard it from a band in NJ and when he asked if he could use the song they replied along the lines of "It's not our song, we don't care" but gave no indication who it was or they even knew who it was? He suggested the band "Knightmare" because they were from Texas and he remembers all of their songs being medieval or medieval fantasy related. Supposedly they wore what looked like full on plate armor (he does not know if it was actual metal armor or something made to look like it). He saw them perform a handful of times because he spent summers in Texas on his grandfathers (mistakenly said uncle in my last post, sorry) ranch and would sneak off at night to "the metal scene" (i do not know if that was a club name or if he just meant that in general?). He began visiting his grandfathers ranch in 1980 and stopped when his grandfather retired in 1992. He gave an estimated timeline for "Knightmare" of 1981-1989."
He corrects himself by saying they are not called "Knightmare": Interestingly, my supervisor at work lived in Texas during this timeline (roughly mid 70's to mid 90's from what i can gather?) and when I asked him about Knightmare he had no idea. But when i mentioned they dressed up like knights in armor he suddenly looked startled and said "That wasn't their name, their name was Battle Battalion or some s*** like that".
But then he says: "So i posted a few months ago about this song, my sisters remember garage bands in the area playing this… I checked every band called Knightmare on Metal Encyclopedia and it doesn’t look like it’s our band." "Forgive my French.....Damn. I thought maybe it could have been a lead but i guess like dozens of others I've come across, dead end. I did a quick search for Knightmare a few weeks ago and I got all excited i saw one band dressed up like monks or Druids, but that band only came out in 2017. I think it's safe to say the name has been used by many bands."
Then someone asks him: "Does the name "Battle Battalion" show up on any Metal "pedia" sites? That's what my supervisor claims this "dressed up in medieval armor" bands name was?" and another one told him: "I saw some bands with Battalion on the metal encyclopedia and discogs and none of them are our band. I don’t think we should go based on what a band wears as our lead."
Then he debunks the Knightmare (and the Conquest) lead: "So a little bit ago i mentioned a band name "Knightmare" as a possibility for this song. Well the band was actually called "KnyghtBlyde" (Knight Blade) and i got in contact with the daughter of the vocalist last night. I played this song for her and after some confliction/hesitation she said it is NOT her dad. The biggest thing was all of her dads songs were based of Aruthurian lore and filled with references to Camelot, Arthur, Morgana, Lancelot, Excalibur etc. Since this song has none of that, its not them. She has no idea who this is. I did a quick search "Conquest 80's metal band Texas" and found 3 results. Conquest from San Antonio, split in either '85 or '87. Conquest from Dallas, '86 - '90. Khan'quest (possibly same band as Khanquistador?), no location given but split up in '88 then reformed in 2000 then......nothing? I could not find anything about any of their songs or demos or releases or band members. But it's obvious I was thinking of the wrong Conquest bands 😂 Conquest was ruled out. Someone who owns the tape was contacted and told us this isn't them."
And he says the singer of KnyghtBlade is convinced this song is from Battallion:
"So a little bit ago I mentioned getting in contact with KnyghtBlyde singers daughter who states that this is NOT her dad. She contacted me this morning, her father thinks this song might be by a band called Battalion. But her father said Battalion also went by the name AAA, Anti Aircraft Assault (or Artillery) in their early days. According to her father AAA/Battalion were from Texas but at least 2 of their members were originally from Chicago. Has anyone ever heard of either Battalion or AAA, Anti Aircraft Assault? The closest I can say is my one supervisor at work mentioned a band Battle Battalion from Texas when he lived there."
Then someone replies to him: "you are right there is a band named Battalion formed in 1984" He says: "I cannot find a single piece of music from this particular "Battalion"? From what I could find they formed between 1983 and 1985, split, reformed under a few possible names, split, repeat. 2 people I asked did say they remember a band of some sort from "out west" Anti Aircraft A-something, but neither could give any info."
Now here, he suggests it could be a Talon song:
"So here's a potential lead for everyone: I was just playing this song for a friend who is obsessed with all metal music. She asked me "Where did you get that Talon song?" Talon was/is a German heavy metal band from the early 80's that released several demos and full on albums between '83-'89. Almost all of there songs were medieval themed, especially their 2 demos. Herr's the thing, they supposedly have 3 unnamed tracks from both demos, one allegedly called "King Slayer". I listened to a bunch of there songs and I have to say there are several songs where the singer sounds exactly like our mystery singer, but then the next song they sound nothing alike. There was one song called something like "Execution" that the opening guitar sounds like this songs opening only slower? I'm not saying it is Talon, but it is possibly something to look into or at least consider?"
He also claimed the singer sounds like Bruce Dickinson (which has been suggested many times):
"I've said many times that I personally feel this vocalist sounds extremely close to Bruce Dickinson. There is a clip of Bruce singing Tom Jones' "Delilah" on either a talk or game show, and his opening of that song is nearly identical to this Fall of the King vocals! Tone, tempo, cadence, pitch......it's really really on spot. I am NOT saying it is Bruce, I'm just saying whoever it is does a good job singing like him."
He says this song could be made by Eviscerator:
"Hello again everyone, has anyone ever heard of a band from Britain, late 70's through late 80's called "Eviscerator"? Very very long story short: I played this song at a Viking/Pagan/Neo-Folk/Black Metal "bar" about half a mile up the road from my place and the one patron who looked like Elvira and Lilith Bathory had a daughter together (HOT HOT HOT) comes over and asked me to replay it and she sang along with the recording with about %95 accuracy! Oddly, at the end after the 4 or 5 "The Fall of the King"s, she suddenly sang "The evil one now wears the crown, all hail the evil one" and head banged for a few moments. According to her, this song was by a band called "Eviscerator" and they always claimed this song was written as a pitch track for the movie Heavy Metal? I mentioned how this song by numerous accounts was recorded here in the USA in 86-87 from stations in Texas, Chicago, Cleveland, NYC and (by only one account) possibly Florida. She didn't feel there was an issue with that as stations will often play random things just to fill the spot including songs that are several years older. I asked about her added line at the end and she stated "I didn't add s*** bud, whoever recorded it must have cut it off before they got to it". I mentioned how numerous people strongly believe this is the work of Z'Rose, she said they probably covered it a bunch of times but it is not their song and even stated that this particular recording sounds like it could be them covering. She was more familiar with Z'Rose than me, she commented "The 3 Cavlaros brothers from Texas right? The singer was the oldest brother Jeff?" (I know that's not their name, i only included it for aunthenticity per context of our discussion, the last name is Cavazos and there was only 2 of them right?). She also told me Z'Rose had about a dozen other names through their years including "Gypsy Rose". I asked how she knew this British band "Eviscerator" and she answered that she lived in London from 78-85 and this song was played a lot on "amateur hour" on several stations, especially university stations. This kind of took me by surprise because i thought she looked younger than me (I'm 39) but she lived in England for college and her first husband in the late 70's??"
"In my last comments i mentioned a bar i went to was going to have a mini concert featuring bands that specialize in black metal and 80's tribute metal and i would play this song to see if any of the band peoples or concert goers would chime in. I did just that and got a few hits on the radar with a few of the band members. The one band, Inviaat, the singer says he remembers this song being played on a radio station in Philly PA for an entire summer because that station was trying to find the band. He does not remember the specific station but said it was near the Taylor University campus (my understanding is that there is several?) because the station thought it was the students from that university's music program. When i asked him when exactly that would have been he said Summer of 1983 because he was married on Halloween 1983 and was hoping the station would find the band so they could play at his wedding. A member from the local band "inductus Mortis" said he recalls that song being played "somewhere in the mid 80's" but does not remember if he heard it in Chicago or Cleveland because he bounced between them. I asked several bands, include the Venom tribute band Poisonous Whisper if anyone had ever heard of a band name Eviscerator from the 80's. Only one person thought he heard the name but it wasn't a band name it was a compilation album of NWOBHM from roughly '83-'84, but couldn't tell me anything other than that. As for the other concert goers, the #1 response i got from them was along the lines of "Dude you can sing, you should go pro!".....in other words they thought it was me promoting myself (I wish i could sing like that!!). the #2 response was people thought it was Manowar. After those 2 the guesses were the usual ones i have seen here and everywhere else this topic comes up: Blackmaine, Axis, Overkill, Overdrive, Black Sabath, Iron Maiden, Anthrax, Slayer, WitchAxe and 2 people even asked if it was an Ozzy Osbourne demo."
"I asked around, including my oldest sisters I've mentioned in my postings, about Eviscerator. The only person who heard of them, the one from this time-frame not the other 8 or 9 bands from the 2000's with that name, said they were a generic ManowaIron Maiden/Judas Priest tribute or more accurately, ripoff, band who sucked. I am not saying I buy this woman's account, but i'm also not discrediting it or calling her a liar. Her familiarity with this song and her accuracy with the lyrics makes me believe she knows this song from somewhere.....what that somewhere is, i can't comment because i don't know?"
"So far my friends and I have several "pings" to look into, the name Eviscerator has absolutely nothing from the time frame we're looking at. But there is (was?) a "Lee Lesaat" Canadian/British "mercenary" (did not belong to any band but would play for others) drummer who now lives in NYC my friends are looking into.
There is an 80's metal/black metal tribute concert this Saturday at the bar I was at last weekend. After the bands play their sets they have an open mic like set up where you can play your own music (as long as it fits the theme). I'm going to try and play this song and see if anyone, bands or crowd or food vendors etc, have any reaction.
And by "pings" I just mean responses/possible possible long shot leads. The guy or girl claiming to be a psychic vampire who time traveled and wrote this song for The Lost Boys movie is NOT going to be one of them😂"
Then someone asks: "What band is this Eviscerator ? I found a band that was formed in 2012 . Furthermore tthe song is not in the metal archives I searched through lyrics was not found." He says: "Allegedly they were in England in the 1980's, but the woman stated 2 of them had New York accents. If all of her account is true and accurate, they were NOT a professional big name band. I did find several bands with the title "Eviscerator" (in different variations) but all of them were from the 2000's. The only "pro" band with that title I could find was a Hungarian band from the mid 2000's. I asked Satanic lady if she remembered any of the other bands that played alongside "Eviscerator" and she only remembered 3: "Band-Shee" (an all female band....get it?) Gargoyle, and Werewolf Tears."
"I have a very very small update for everyone, but it's still an update nonetheless. The mystery succubus looking woman who said this song was by Eviscerator and sang along to it (even when I "accidentally" muted my phone to see if she was just repeating what she was hearing.....she was not) has been identified by my journalist friend! We are going to try and get in contact with her and see if there is anything else she can remember about "Eviscerator" that could help. I'm not going to get my hopes up, but her familiarity with this songs lyrics and the fact she sang almost in perfect synch with the beat makes me feel she really did know this song from somewhere in her past. That or she is a very good actress? Lol
I found only 1 solid, confirmed band with that name but they were from mid 2000's Hungary. But several peoples now and then tell me they remember hearing that name in the 80's as various things; crappy garage band, NWOHBM compilation album/work, some sort of event space or name, most recently someone claimed he thought it was the stage name of a singer but didn't know who or what band. I'm trying to get in touch with the woman who originally mentioned that name."
He posted this comment that lead nowhere: "2 very small updates for everyone:
1) The Viking/Pagan/Goth/Black Metal themed bar just around the corner from me is having a New Years event tomorrow night. They actually agree to give me a "booth" where i can have a "guess this song" set up. And, it will be right next to where the bands play...I'm going to be between the "stage" and the food truck lol
2) The one radio station i submitted this song to will play it on their "X hour" on 1/8/24. It is not a hugely popular segment, maybe a few hundred listeners, but it's better than nothing.
Here's to the New Year and hope this song and numerous others get solved!"
"So the station played this song Sunday night/Monday morning. They played it 4 times between 2:07am - 3:12am. They received 9 calls about it and about a dozen emails (I seriously didn't know they had an email!?!?!?). Unfortunately the majority of contacts were people either asking for them to replay it or people thinking it was Manowar. There were a few Iron Maidens and one or 2 Ozzy Osborne's. Only 2 people stated they heard this song before. Unfortunately they heard it from "some kilt wearing guy at blank bar plays it, I think it's him self promoting". Yes that's me they referenced and no it is not me singing lol"
He suggest matrixx as a possibility: "There's a band called matrixx that has been giving me interest. They were only around for two years due to financial struggles in their stage. If you look up attaxe and fiinal notice they share two members of matrixx. Their drummer and guitarist sound very similar to the band from this song. It's pretty crazy too because they have a song called defy the king. They also had a label to produce their songs which is called Suma Recording Studios. This may be the reason why the audio sounds too good for a small band. I hope that this is the band! Too many good clues that I found"
He debunks the Steven Lindfield lead: "One of the names thrown about here and there on posts about this song is a Steven Linfield ("Lindi") who bounced between Chicago and NYC in the 1980's. His alleged involvement varries between being the DJ who allegedly played it on a NYC station, to being a Chicago stations record manageclerk etc etc. I got in contact with him yesterday. He denies having ANYTHING to do with the airing of this song and does not know how or why his name came up. While he did work at 2 stations (NYC, then Chicago during the summer) he was an overnight watchman (security). However, he does recall this song being played on "some amateur hour crapshoot" in '86 in NYC a bunch of times. At that point in '86 he claims people were referencing it as "The King Song" or "The song of the King" (drawn out to match the singers "The Faaaalllll, the fall of the kiiiiiing") and it was already 2 or 3 years old at that time. He did explain that at least at the Chicago station there was an amateur drop-off slot that the dj's would pick through and play random "no namers" labeling them as "space filler". Because they would be played, literally just to fill space, they were NOT mandated to keep any records of them. Sometimes the dj's would just make up names to some of these. One of his main duties was to check the drop-off to make sure there were no bad things thrown in there instead of cassettes. Another dead end, but at least we rulled out one theory......silver lining??😂 LINDFIELD, not Linfield. Darn autocorrect on this phone."
He is convinced it's a professional band's demo: Thats why a lot people I have introduced to this song think it's a professional band, or at the extreme least an amateur band playing with top level equipment/sponsor? 1983 guy stated they sound like they have equipment his garage band "couldn't even afford to dream about looking at yet alone use". It's also one of the reasons my 2 oldest sisters insist this is a professional band (sister #1 says Manowar, #2 says Manowar or Sarissa) because there are no goofs or mistakes or errors. My sisters gave an example of a garage band from their Kutztown university days, "Freefall Abyss" that self released a demo and in one song you can hear a telephone ringing in the background and in another you can hear a fan or ac unit going.
He contacted a girl named Della: "This song was actually played on an old Philly/NJ station on the segment "Della names your tune" in 2009. I was able to get in contact with "Della" (real name withheld by her request) who at first stated "I played thousands of unnamed songs bud, I probably played this one 100 times, sorry i wont be much help" . Then a few days later replied "I do recall this one, it was sent in from a local listener who had it labeled as Dungeon Master or maybe Dragon Master on a CD with a bunch of old early Manowar, JudaPriest, Iron Maiden, Megadead, Metallica and AngelWitch songs. He or she claimed their father had this song on a tape from his college days. Nobody knew what or who it was back in '09 or '10 and as far as I know nobody figured it out when I left the program in '15." The only name she gave, and I don't know if this was even a real name or the drummers "stage name" was Leopald Lestat.........I do have 2 people looking into it (from a metal dating site of all places). Disclaimer: I know some of those bands are misspelled, I purposefully left it that way because that's how she sent it to me."
"I went down that road, you nailed it right on the head. There is no way to track down who that listener was. The only hint she had, in the form of the note attached to the CD was the person said they were from Radnor PA. I couldn't tell you because the other songs kind of bounce around in terms of year: there's a Judas Priest and an Angel Witch song both from 1980 but then there's a song from Megadeath (I believe Megadeath came out in '85?) and a Metallica song from '86? For some reason my one comment didn't show up? Della gave a pretty big hint, she said the mailing address on the CD was from Radnor PA, but the phone number included was a landline for a Chicago address. Her and the station managers assumed it was a "shadow number" and didn't bother keeping record of it. A lot of her requests had local addresses with out of state phone numbers, cellular and landline."
He suggests Dungeon Masters: "I have a potential lead, "Dungeon Masters" from Pittsburgh PA? Long story short: everyone at work talks about a "hot nerdy chick" who works at the one antique book store in town and she is a music genius and knows EVERY song people play. So i decided to test it. I played this song and she stated "I think thats Dungeon Masters, they were from my hometown of Pittsburgh PA back in the early to late 80's. Thats either Dungeon Masters or someone doing an incredible job imitating them?". Given that Cleveland is only a 2-3 hr drive from Pittsburgh (from what Steelers players say) i think this could be a possible lead and explain the Cleveland recording? Again, this is only a POSSIBLE lead, but i think it has potential?
Currently my one "source" is looking into it. He is not always accurate (as evidenced when we were looking into Conquest) but its better than nothing."
And someone adds this: "Della said the same Dungeon Masters so better look into it"
But he says this: "Close, "Della" stated the listener who sent in the CD had this song labeled as "Dungeon Master?", not a band name. But I am looking into it as best as I can. I found a Pittsburgh band "Dungeon" but they're NOT metal they're an Omnia/Faun like band (neo-folk I think is the term?) formed in 2018. I sent word out to the people I know and my "team". Now it is a waiting game."

So, I want to rest a but and ask to name some of your sources where you got inspired to write something. Or you dont need inspiration and writing is just typing something for fun without any meaning?
Because i personally cant write any meaningless text, or one, wich i have no intrest in idea (basically the same, but its meaningless only for me). I can get an random idea from anything and try to make it into the project, or make it something else, etc.. It can be idea from song, other media, random funny quotr from dms and so on.
So, what about your expirience?

(Typo in the headline - 10+ years)
A week ago, I posted that I was about to "trauma dump" on my therapist of over a decade. I was about to disclose several episodes of sexual assault ranging in age from childhood to 33, and I was panicking. Some people understandably objected to the phrase I used, which is why I put it in scare quotes there, but I'm trying for continuity.
So anyway, we had that session, I emailed her a letter outlining 8 events I wanted to go over, plus some dissociative symptoms I've been having that have been scaring the hell out of me and making me question my own mind. And all week, I was watching my email wondering if I'd get any reply before our next session. I did get a short reply saying "I received it," but that was all.
We met again yesterday. It quickly became evident she hadn't read it at all. I began by saying how holes in my memory are really distressing me. I was upset that I had tried to write down all the incidents of trauma in my letter, but even so, I had forgotten one that I had to add to the list. And she was confused and asked, "List?" So I started talking about some of the incidents, and she quickly became muddled, and it was apparent she had no idea what I was talking about - didn't know about my uncle, didn't know about my ex-husband, none of it.
Then she asked, "Have you thought about writing it all down like a timeline?" I had to pause a moment so I wouldn't scream or cry or I don't know what before I said, "But that's what I sent you already."
Worse, she tired to cover it up. "I did read it but I'm going to ask you to explain it to me like I didn't," she said. But then a few minutes later, she opened up the email and started reading it aloud and it was obvious she was reading these things for the first time.
I'm ... gutted. It would have been so much better if she had just said, "I'm sorry, I forgot," or "I didn't have time." But to lie? My trust is just. Gone. I didn't tell anyone for decades because I was sure no one would care and now. I'm also heartbroken because I actually got a master's degree in counseling, even though my career went a different direction, and now I feel like such a goddamn idiot for believing in this profession and spending so much in tuition and time on it - _but that's not fair to therapists overall, I know that, it's just how I feel right now._ I just feel so betrayed.
I'm really stuck on what to do next. I can see six options:

1. Do nothing. This would be my normal go to.
2. Confront her about my disappointment and try to keep working with her, but I'm not sure how after this?
3. Confront her and seek a new therapist, preferably one better grounded in trauma and dissociation.
4. Confront her and just quit therapy altogether.
5. Ghost my existing therapist and do 3.
6. Ghost her and do 4. (Probably the most comfortable but I'm guessing also the least productive)

Thoughts?

I’ve been in this relationship for six years now. it was going great right before we had our child and we’ve hit a rough patch, which is a story in itself. That has been rough very rough for me. It’s gotten to a point where there’s isn’t any available daycare for our son so I can actually work. I had a job that I got at a daycare, but it ended up falling through because of sit situations out of my hand. And that was the only option that I opened myself up to being. I never wanted to be a daycare teacher. So we haven’t had any daycare I’ve called around I’m on waiting lists. Some places aren’t even bothering to answer the phone or reply back to me. my partner works a seasonal job that’s whether depending. And he hasn’t been making all that much a year with this job. Initially he wanted me to stay home and take care of our son which I did for the first year but he didn’t cover all of my bills. He just paid for my car bills. Everything else I took care of with the exception of rent which is extremely low. We were only paying 800 for rent at that time and for this last year we’ve been paying 1000. And the electricity which isn’t that much either we have to pay for this year but prior we didn’t have the $800 rent. this is the first time he’s ever lived on his own and it’s also a surprise child we did not plan for. I get he’s having some sort of issues. But I feel like I should be the one working and I’ve mentioned this to him multiple times and it doesn’t seem to be something he’s on board with even though I would bring in more money. The job I had give me 41,000 a year minimum and I always had overtime which that does not include. Currently the last two years that he’s been working for this company he’s only brought in $25,000 on the books and maybe an additional 5000 from other side jobs and another guy he works with off the books. For the last year I’ve been covering all my bills and since losing my job in February I went through my savings, my very small tax return and now I don’t have anything. I was forced to use my credit cards in order to pay some of my bills and yes I’m sure you all cringed hearing that I’ve ruined my credit paying my bills and I’m trying to work on consolidating them. It’s manageable for me to get out of this I am working. I’ve mentioned to him, and he seems reluctant. And I’ve also mentioned that that I could screw him over and make it so he couldn’t leave for work. Since my job requires me to be at work by 3 o’clock in the morning to start baking I would be leaving three hours prior to him even getting up to get ready for work. He doesn’t seem to care that I am financially dependent on him right now, because our son doesn’t have daycare available and no one to watch him. Would I be an asshole to do this to him? I could be making more money paying the bills and not be struggling. I don’t see the problem in that. he has a drinking issue he’s definitely an alcoholic and he wouldn’t be able to do that while taking care of our son. Would it be a rude thing to do to your partner when they are financially screwing you over while you’re taking care of the child? Maybe I’m out of line some outside perspective might be nice. We’ve had a rough time the last two years together. He’s been absent for most of the time, and when he is here, he’s glued to his phone and still drunk or drinking. Would leaving for work and just leaving him screwed with his job make me an asshole? he is screwing me over financially?

I know the title might come across as a little weird so I’ll explain lol.
Where I live there’s a Starbucks super close to me; sometimes on the side of my main job, I’ll deliver food for UberEats. I know a lot of food delivery drivers get a bad reputation because a lot of them can be rude, so I always try my best to be extra polite to the baristas working when I pick up orders for UberEats, and especially since at my main job I’m a service worker as well.
I’m not sure if it’s because of my autism or neurodivergent mannerisms that comes off as off putting but some of these baristas at this particular location would be a little rude to me. For example, I always wait to be acknowledged because I don’t want to be rude and shove my phone across the bar (unless they ask to see it) or yell out their name; one time the store was empty with like five people working and they all went out of their way to avoid making eye contact with me ☹️ so I left. I know some drivers are mean but I’m 100% not one of them. I try not to take it personally cause I know how draining a job like this is but sometimes it does hurt.
There’s one barista at this location though, she’s the best and I love her so much because she always so kind and sweet to me 😭♥️💖 no matter if I’m picking up a delivery order or placing an order for myself. And she remembers my name. I think she maybe a shift lead or supervisor. I don’t want to say her name for her privacy. Today I went in to get a drink with my partner and I asked my favorite barista for her drink recommendation; that’s when she let me know she is currently pregnant and can only have certain drinks and gave me a recommendation of her current favorite.
Is it weird if I get her a congratulations card with a baby related gift card inside?
I don’t want to be weird or anything but I remember I worked as a cashier at a grocery store during COVID, at the very beginning of lockdown when people were the worst buying $500-$700+ of groceries. I had a few kind customers give me gift cards and cash while I was working there during that time period. It’s not the amount that matters, but I felt very appreciative of the fact I was seen. So I just wanted to pay those acts of kindness forward. But at the same time I don’t know how to read social cues and I don’t want it to come off as inappropriate.

Ive read danny's apology and for the record i have no issue with him or his apology or the fact he wasnt aware so dont waste your time telling me to leave danny alone (also its weird that you feel like you have to protect this grown and fully capable man from repercussions, though idk maybe people were sending him death threats or something tell me if so. And for the people who say that danny is a husband and has a kid hes not the only guy who has to take care of a family whilst also knowing about the stuff in gaza 😀 like im literally sitting my gcses right now and i know a bit about it?? Its not hard to take 15 or so minutes looking for reputable sources)
I saw like 5 top comments saying stuff like "coffee is coffee", or "asking people to boycott is too much to ask in a recession!!" Or something similar that undermines boycotting or the genocide in gaza
Im not gonna argue with that here because i know im not gonna convince anyone who's reading this and believes that but i just wanna say your priorities are really strange buddy. Im also not arguing with people in the comments if you want to try convince me that "coffee is coffee", or that it was "just a cup" 😭😭 literally just do your own research so you can realise that it really wasnt even about the cup in the first place i put links in the description and there's a bunch of helpful creators on tiktok but i dont have any specific accounts that come to mind right now so feel free to share
Its very strange that some of your first reactions to danny coming under fire is to minimise the situation in gaza and say that their reactions were extreme (again, maybe they were being extreme and sending death threats or something but that doesnt mean that danny shouldnt say something about gaza) I like danny too (hence why im on the subreddit) but some of you seem too willing to defend him tooth and nail if he really did support israel which is ummm questionable 😁
Id like to point out that it is very much a privilege that we arent experiencing everything firsthand, and that we have the ability to tune out!!
Anyways!! Umm heres some links if you actually want to know more
https://www.instagram.com/bdsnationalcommittee?igsh=bHYzd3J3bThjNWZ3 the insta page for the official BDS movement (the organisation leading the boycott)
https://www.instagram.com/wizard_bisan1?igsh=bmpiMXI4ZG43bGhp the insta page for bisan, a reporter live from gaza
https://www.instagram.com/wissamgaza?igsh=cTc4aXF6YTY0MDBo the insta page for wissam, a reporter live from gaza
Theres probably more helpful accounts so feel free to share in the replies but please make sure its a reputable source beforehand to prevent spreading misinfo. Also the reason its mostly insta accounts instead of news sources is because most of those are biased and not firsthand like the reporter accounts

With a lot more people playing Jean Grey now I am surprised I am struggling finding an official status on the Jean Grey / Goose interaction.
I just had a game where my opponent had JG and Goose in the same lane. I only had 4 or greater cost cards in my hand. I couldn't play any of them ANYwhere.
I thought this was confirmed a bug roughly 10 months ago based on my search of this sub. Then I see this post from 5 months ago where it's not working this way and the non-JG player could ignore the JG restriction because they had no cards that were below 4. So this tells me this change occurred between the last 10 and 5 months or so.
But this change does not seem to be applying now based on the interaction I just had.
Does anyone know the current JG/Goose interaction? Is it a bug or not?

I ordered 4 items from Etsy from the USA from a seller. He shipped all four in four different boxes. I got four letters with four reference codes for four customs to pay. I did the Parcel Force instructions and paid all four. Each one was £52 and the total was £208. It is all done and paid.
Today, three of the boxes showed up and not the fourth. The tracking says three have been paid for, but the fourth says it hasn't been paid for, yet I did pay for all four since I did all four together and got a total of £208, which I confirmed with my card reader.
Does this sometimes happen where one says it isn't paid for, even though it is and just takes a little longer, or do I need to escalate it? I'm thinking because it is four boxes they just had someone deliver three. And taking the fourth another day as it is too much to carry. But it doesn't make sense why the tracking tells me there's a fee to pay that's been paid.
Thank you!

EDIT/Update: link to previous post:
https://www.reddit.com/feeld/comments/1cto306/im_polyenm_but_im_mostly_seeing_monogamous_o?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I went ahead and paid for majestic and things have improved quite a bit. Which does make me wonder if Feeld is way more pay-to-play than it seems? There's something off putting about how big a differential paying for majestic has had in such a short time. Admittedly, I haven't used OLD in years and this is my first time using Feeld so I could be missing some detail that the rest of you probably know better than I.
Nonetheless, I haven't got any new matches as of my upgrade. I'm curious how that's going to go.
Anyway, thanks to all of you that commented on the previous post.

Hey y’all. It’s my SO birthday soon and I wanted to make a card One Piece themed with maybe a little rhyme or pun that is from the show. He’s turning 25 and his favorite characters are Zoro and Brooks, and his favorite song is Binks Brew. I have never seen the anime/read the mangas so I’m kinda drawing a blank… if anyone could help me out it would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

My fellow gamers, for too long has our community suffered the indignation of an intolerable culture that has denigrated, besmirched, exploited, and has outright demonized our culture of unique individuals with a genuine love of a hobby that they see as profitable and progressive. They have taken beloved IP’s (Intellectual Properties) and twisted them into their own personal ideological crusade of undermining and humiliating the core aspects of characters they deemed as “Toxic” or “White Supremacy”. Through the guise and protection of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity) & ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) they have used our influence in the entertainment industry to push their narratives and agendas that have stigmatized our culture with numerous anti-consumer practices that they call “being progressive”. But the truth of the matter is they were never really looking to be a part of our community, they simply wanted to use our community as a tool of activism and propaganda in the entertainment industry as it was extremely profitable, and they wanted inclusion in that division. Ever since GamerGate & Female Frequency, we have had to endure the incursion of forced ideologies, xenophobic behaviors and inferior overpriced products that have never been in our best interest and have been flat out disgraceful towards foreign media.
Before Gaming had become a major source of entertainment, we were often categorized as anti-social or societies rejects where because we found more enjoyment in playing fictional characters and not spending as much time out and about, we never fully assimilated in society (which is a good thing if you ask me). From 1998 to 2007, at the height of innovation, creativity and production, Gaming had reached a golden age in which it had revolutionized society. Hollywood Execs who had ruined the movie industry turned their attention to video games as a source of income since video games had outperformed movies in terms of profit. No one was concerned about gaming, much less diversity or inclusivity until it became profitable. This makes people like SBI look extremely disingenuous as they were not interested in gamers as a community with its own culture. They simply wanted to use it as another weapon in identity politics.
Microtransactions; the hidden enemy to gamer progress and inducer to mental laziness of our community. Microtransactions have been around for a long time; however, it has never been more potent and apparent than in recent years. It has aided in the dismantling and segregation of players on the ideology of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and has created another sub-culture of gamers who have no real drive to be better outside of how much money they put into the game. This has degraded our culture as well as we have become “fat” off transactional gaming but at the same time we have been “starved” of purposeful gaming where our achievements were our sustenance. I am not saying that microtransactions are bad, but when they are exploitative and predatorial like they have been and don’t give gamers room to grow, we become lethargic and unwilling to improve ourselves as gamers. Oversaturated microtransactional games are one of the many reasons why we have become complacent and unwilling to fight against the exploitative tactics used by big brand game companies such EA, Ubisoft, ActivisionBlizzard, NaughtyDog and so many other western business model companies. Western style games were not like this in the past, they had much more depth and actual effort put into them with the gamer in mind. This has not been the case for over a decade and our connection to western developers has been whittled down to just being transactional. That is one of the reasons why you see so many remasters and remakes in today’s gamer community. They have lost their willingness to improve as developers of games and simply accept corporate/share holder rules.
Game journalists also do not have any real integrity or purpose outside of being funded for their involvement in promoting IPG (Identity Political Games) in a positive light to the public whether it’s positively received or not. They are not interested in what we have to say, they all support the same agenda and that is why they are a dying breed. Within the next couple of years, they will be out of the job and more than likely they will not be able to stay in the industry giving how they have responded to past articles that have clearly been scripted on the premise of diversity and racism. Not only that, but most of them are also extremely hostile to the community as they stereotype and defame the individuals that are a part of the community they are supposed to serve. We have been mentally liberated from their lies and coercive tactics as we tend to laugh at their obvious attempt at virtue signaling while hiding their misdoings so that they can play the victim.
My gamer brothers & sisters, I would not suggest the following action that we must take now without good cause. I have weighed our options and the best option for us now is this…...CULTURAL SECESSION. Naturally this is a form of segregation where they would more than likely claim they are being segregated by the dominant culture of the gaming community but that is incorrect. For years now we have been the ones who are often marginalized and ostracized for the smaller portion of our community. And when we aren’t, we’re exploited for more funds so that these companies can stay in business only to subject us to low quality products that coincide with the “WOKE Agenda” that are often huge expenses to these big brands i.e. AAA/AAAA games that will eventually flop for its obvious forced diversity and bug infested product which will undoubtedly piss off the consumer to the point of wanting a refund. Losing copious amounts of capital and stock in the process, not to mention their reputation is permanently marred.
We must separate on every cultural level in terms of entertainment and ideology. We must reject everything from the west that promotes toxic western beliefs, practices, and exclusion from other cultures (i.e. Southeastern Countries such as Japan and Korea). Japan & Korea have been the targets of unjust discrimination from Western Developers, Western Journalists, Western Localizers (The Wokelizers) and Western Society Prejudice regarding their sense of aesthetics as Westerners hate the aesthetic sense of these countries. The reason why they resort to such base tactics isn’t just because it weaponizes the ideal female form but it’s also because they have deep-seated insecurities about their own looks so when they see attractive female characters, they use terms such as “unrealistic” or “hypersexualized” to establish the moral high ground. But the truth is, they want to feel superior to that which is ideal, so they insult and dehumanize this figure that portrays natural female beauty because they see it as an insult to their own social superiority in what they believe is a hierarchy of them being at the top of all other women. Because of this and so many contributing factors, their movies flop harder than the Fat Chocobo landing on a group of enemies and their games seismically fail just as much if not more. We must sever our connection to Western Developers, Publishers, and ALL Western-Centric Entertainment for they seek to mentally enslave us to their Xenophobic ideology.
Let’s define Western Culture and its traits. Western Culture/Society is composed of more than several different ideologies that work in unison with one another to facilitate dominance over multiple aspects of society. Business, Social, Political, Technological, and sometimes even Global Affairs are affected by these ideologies that portray a specific mindset of Western beliefs. What are those ideologies you ask?

• Perpetual Victimhood: By weaponizing the fact that they are marginalized and of a small portion of western society, they can push their agenda to absurd standards that ultimately ostracize the main demographic. And when companies don’t capitulate, they are labeled as anti-progressive/misogynist’s or cohorts of White Supremacy. They use this to cancel their targets and silence them through societal defamation to keep the public on their side. They also use this mindset to justify their own lack of self-agency as they tend to throw companies who do adhere to their demands but miserably fail to turn a profit under the bus so that they can maintain face in front of the public while denying their actual involvement. They will never accept “Sense of Agency” when it’s negative but will gladly accept it when a positive outcome shines on them as if they are entitled to it.

Official Wiki GamerGate Page)
​

• Societal Terrorism: This is another form of ideology weaponization that they use in order to make companies “toe-the-line” with their agenda. By weaponizing cancel culture, they exert dominance over these companies but in exchange they also reimburse those companies with DEI & ESG funds that raise their credit score as well as having social status with the marginalized demographic. However; cancel culture has not succeeded in years and developers and publishers probably only want the money and the DEI ESG rating. But they have to maintain the image of having social economic power so that they can continue to strong-arm other developers into compliance and promoting financial benefits of DEI & ESG. In other words, if you are not for sale, they discredit and stigmatize you in the industry.

Asmongold Clips.
https://youtu.be/Iq86DnmX2xY
​

• “Its not us, its you who’s wrong” Mentality: This mentality is especially annoying as they tend to use it to hide their incompetence. They often look down upon gamers who are not in the industry to hide their obvious lack of knowledge on game development thinking that their job title grants them special status that they believe gives them the right to be condescending. But the truth they never wanted revealed has already strangled their careers of all credibility. They were never GAMERS, they were INVADERS. Community Colonists that seek to indoctrinate next generational gamers into their hive-mind and brand previous generations of gamers as villains.

@GeeksandGamers
https://youtu.be/1HbrTkqQFuM
​

• Double-standard Enforcement: By labeling something as “unrealistic” or “hypersexualized”, they can claim this is morally wrong if it promotes traditional dynamics between men and women. Heterosexual relationships are condemned while at the same time Same-sex relationships are praised. Additionally, heterosexual relationships with main white male characters turn antagonistic and spotlight stealing. This is deliberate as to promote the “Girl Boss” ideology to indoctrinate women into the Feminazi state of mind. While at the same time, should a male character also adopt the “I don’t need male/female” ideology its seen as Toxic Masculinity which isn’t even a real thing. The idea of a strong male character is taboo while enforcing strong female characters is the ideal.

@MugenLord
https://youtu.be/to5Uciy_yeg
@EndymionTv
https://youtu.be/7TPTR8-qmbk
​

• Dehumanization/Demonization: This is something that most military branches use in order to remove conscious inhibitions such as mass slaughter is wrong or categorization. By enforcing ideologies to denounce humanity in certain targets, it deactivates your conscience by saying this is not human therefore its ethically okay to treat this target without compassion and deny the fact it has sentience. We gamers fall under this category for journalists, developers, companies and society at large. This is a tactic we are familiar with to an extent as it implies that we are not normal when we do not do what everybody else is doing. “Geeks are the worse” or “Nerds need to fall into a pit of lava” are verbal dehumanization forms that most people in society say and we as Gamers tend to be relegated to those categories. This is their way of imposing the social hierarchy on us by establishing superiority. We know this as Gamers as we see it very often in the games that we play and some times experience it in real life.

https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Gamergate#The_end_of_their_relevance
​

• Deflection/Projection: This is basic psychology 101. By redirecting the conversation away from their mistakes and back on to the opposing view to avert blame and justify their innocence they can avoid criticism. However; deflection is a CONSCIOUS decision, meaning they have no real argument to justify their incompetence. If you can consciously process the situation, you have self-agency which means you don’t have a legitimate excuse. Projection is something else entirely. Most times, Projection doesn’t work on conscious decisions rather it is automatically deployed when feeling threatened, anxious or both. Instead of accepting accountability for feelings or actions that are deemed socially unacceptable they accuse others of committing that unacceptable behavior thereby exonerating themselves and proving that those feelings and/or actions are not their own.

@TheTrentReport
https://youtu.be/bPIPSKruYRo
These traits are so nefarious and unconscionable that I have a hard time believing that anyone could harbor them. However, given the social, political, and economic climate that we are in, those in power who use their influence on controlling society most definitely possess these insidious traits. Everything that they do is all about control and since video games are the biggest market in the world, they want control over it and the communities built around it to accrue more wealth and to use that wealth to subjugate other cultures. Mainstream media is a tool as well as mainstream organizations and sites to help accomplish this goal.
The government recently announced its intentions towards what they believe is “GamerGate 2.0” and now even the ADL has made an official appearance, referring to gamers as “extremist’s”. We know EXACTLY what they are doing, and they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore because they don’t think we are aware of their motives. This is just a pretext for them to exert even more control and we know why, it’s because they want the influence we as a community have to must serve them. So here is what we do my fellow gamers-
“In light of recent events and years of mainstream stigma, we the members of the Global Gaming Community [GGC] must officially renounce ALL TIES to the corporate western video game market. We have been financially exploited through predatorial monetization schemes, pelted with numerous articles of disdain and intentional misrepresentation from game journalists, news outlets regarding us as dangerous individuals and, even subjected to inferior products not only riddled with bugs but also products meant to push political agendas. For the preservation of our community and its unique culture, apart from a few select game development studios we officially sever all connections to western owned video game companies & their mainstream affiliates. From this point onward, we will no longer support western corporate developers, journalists and publishers that do not coincide with the goals of our community.”
Naturally this is completely optional. If you are okay with the state of the gaming community as it is, feel free to ignore this. But if you wish for real change and a break away from oversaturated monetization in the games you play and the push for radical ideological reform, then you are in the right place. Lets sever these rotted miasmic ties once and for all so that our community can be preserved and made better for future gamers. If you agree with this, share it with whoever you think might be interested. The more gamers who get involved, the easier it will be for us to finally break free from mainstream game companies and their associates.

TL;DR As a high schooler, I lost 1000$ I've been saving up for months, and I have no idea how to get it back
My journey with gambling started when a few months ago I won 5$ on coin flipping with my friends (were all very drunk), and from then on it became a running joke in our group how talented of a gambler I am.
Fast forward a couple of months, I had the idea of trying sports betting (partially because of my love of football, and partially because of my "reputation" as a gambler) just to see if I would have any luck with that. I put 20$ into it, and after a whole day of betting on matches, I ended up with a staggering 1000$ (yeah, early wins are a recipe for disaster), which then I lost just as fast as I earned it. But the harm was already done, it felt as if my huge success couldn't have been due to insane luck alone, but that I somehow cracked the code with my sports expertise. So it was only a couple of days until I added more money to my account trying to win "back" those 1000$ I never really lost anyway, but a string of losses followed and I was already in the negative so now I just had to earn back my money, get to net 0 and leave it forever, except breaking even wasn't that easy as I kept uploading more and more of my money I saved up and earned from my monthly scholarship at my high school. I just gambled away my last 100$ today trying to make up for the other 1000$ I already lost during my 2 month affair with sports betting.
You might come to me and say it's no big price for a lifelong lesson, but at the end of the day I'm still just a high school senior, preparing for college in autumn, living in a relatively poor Eastern European country where this money would be 2 months wages for the average dude. My parents would kill me if they ever found out about what I did to my savings. It's a beautiful thought that I should just come clean to them and they would understand me, but unfortunately that's far from reality. Our family has no bond at all, we are almost like strangers to each other. I could never ever share a problem of mine with them. That's why I felt (and still feel) like I need to earn it back before they could potentially ask me how much I have saved up from months of scholarships and all the previous money I had, and do it in a way that they couldn't track. Taking up some summer job? They would know about my source of income. Borrowing some from my brother? He is just as broke as me, but instead of gambling, he wastes his money on drugs and alcohol. My friends who know about my gambling don't trust me enough with their money (understandably so) to lend me some so I can show my bank account to my parents if they ever asked about it. I think it's at least understandable why I thought that gambling was the only way out of this hole, but in hindsight this plan was doomed to fail. Do you have any advice?

So near the end– while we only get half of a conversation I'm pretty sure we can come to some conclusions, of which Ame seems to have jumped to immediately. Indri is not an Ally. By the way it sounds, Mirara is the one who wants to end the World's Heart station, and wants it so eagerly that she jumped to it with confidence upon the first meeting.
As Indri mentioned, Mirara in her hastefulness failed to account that Hacaea wouldn't immediately jump to destroy the station of the World's Heart. Or, perhaps less that she wouldn't and more that Hacaea needed rest. She traveled all the way to the North Pole, is very old, and immediately upon arrival jumped into a Conclave Meeting.
But what's most intriguing to me was how malicious Indri was being. Almost as if she wanted the World's Heart station gone even more than Mirara, maybe? From what I can tell, Indri and Mirara are the strongest contenders for wanting the World's Heart to go. Some may say Grimore should be up there but I think their situation is a bit different.
From Ame's insight, the last thing she saw in Grimore before she left was fear. In context, what Grimore mentioned before hand was effectively, "you want all of us to fix your problems but we have our own" and with the idea and emotion of fear behind that, I believe this is an in for Ame to find an ally.
Here me out– I think Grimore's fear about what may be happening within her own station, that she's tagging along with Mirara and Indri's plan. We don't know where this fear stems from, exactly. We can guess for now.
There's a possibility that she's afraid of what the World's Heart station can do, and by extention she's afraid of Ame's latent power of being within her Station. I don't exactly think this is the case– but it's definitely possible.
There's the chance that's Grimore is afraid of any retribution from Mirara and/or Indri for not siding with them (which would explain as to why she immediately jumped with Mirara to try and destroy the station immediately) giving cause for the possibility that Grimore is afraid for her station as well. Almost like, if its not The World's Heart on trial to be destroyed, then
Finally it could be matters within Grimore's domain having turmoil within itself that she is putting on a fierce aggressive face to hide the fact that her station is vulnerable.
So what should Ame do? I think the smartest thing is to go to Grimore and explain that to destroy one station, another must go. And if Mirara and Indri are working together, that leaves Grimore and Hacaea as possible options to be destroyed. I think Ame should try to convince Grimore that her ferocity is a threat to Mirara and Indri, and that if they had a chance to destroy 2 birds with 1 stone, then that makes Grimore the most optimal choice to get rid of. If Ame can convince Grimore that she herself is at risk, all they have to do is keep that knowledge to themselves.
Grimore's passivity in this matter give Ame more of an argumentative edge. The moment everyone starts throwing daggers at each other, fighting that one station is more deserving to be destroyed, then eventually 3 can come together and agree on one to be destroyed with Ame, but if 2 are silent on the matter, resigned that no station should be destroyed; assuming Indri and Mirara wouldn't turn on each other, then unless Hacaea is willing to allow Grimore to be destroyed as wwell, it seems we may have an impass in which all 5 stations will continue.
Hacaea is definitely a wild card still, but it's better than Grimore being a loose cannon, throwing her power and weight around as she seems to want to do. I believe Ame must wrangle her to her side– to show a modicum of control, and suddenly Indri and Mirara lose a strong resource– their "fall guy."

I'm using stock Android 13 (with One UI if that makes a difference), and for some reason, I get a message saying "No system file picker detected" even though I have the system's default "Files" app installed and available. I've even tried installing a third-party file explorer and the issue persists.
My ROMs are stored on an SD card, and the app's built-in navigator won't allow me to navigate to my SD card, so I have no way to select my game library folder. On other standalone emulators (Dolphin, DuckStation, PPSSPP, etc.), when prompted to choose my ROM folder, the default Files app will open and I can easily navigate to it. M64Plus FZ is the only emu I can't load my ROMs in from an SD card.
Anyone else have this issue or know how to fix it? The N64 cores in Retroarch just don't work as well. :(

Over the past few days, I experienced three bans that resulted in a permanent ban yesterday. Three of my friends are experiencing the same thing after our mutual friend's account got hacked. So far I am the only one with a permanent ban - their bans have been overturned (for now).
I went to a store today to get a new SIM card so I could get a new number for my WhatsApp account. The tech support guy at the store said he has seen hundreds of people this year with the same type of issue I had - random bans for no reason, as well as bans after one of their contacts got hacked.
I understand that WhatsApp isn't very lucrative for Meta, but it has billions of users and is the primary messaging app in my country and many others.
I know this story is an anecdote etc. etc, but this, along with the insane amount of people in the comments on WhatsApp's Twitter and Instagram pages (and this subreddit), makes me think that this is probably a widespread problem. I just don't understand why there's basically no customer support for these types of issues, and NO explanation/reason given for bans.

After many people have reached out to me personally following software bugs and other issues that have led to visa appointments not being upheld or visas being denied I have decided to see if anybody would be interested in holding them to account as a collective.
As a monopoly they have no reason to provide adequate service or to listen to customers. It makes no difference to them and you cannot "vote with your wallet/feet" as we often need visas regardless of how difficult they are to obtain or how expensive and there is no alternative company to apply through.
My personal backstory: Following a software fault that allowed me to book my appointment in Manchester, that TLSContact confirmed as "valid" 72hr before, the staff refused to see me in Manchester stating that my visa could only be processed in London.
As this was a blue card visa for moving to France permanently this led to loss of income and further damages to the tune of some thousands of pounds.
I sought a CCJ against the company and secured one. However I still have not yet received compensation many months later. They have sent threatening legal correspondence and if I didn't feel so incensed by the injustice being done to us all as visa applicants I would have settled for the measley half they offered me.
Their software fault has cleared me out financially and to take the money would have given me some respite, however, I'm still fighting because I believe the company should not be able to operate and exist in the state it is - however it does simply because it is a monopoly gating access to a good (visas) that have inelastic demand.
The dispute I have primarily focuses on the lack of acknowledgement of the impact of their software issue and complete failure to take any steps to remedy the situation at any point thus leading to excessive damages. I had no power to change the situation and had to just eat all the losses.
They could have offered me a fast track service, they could have offered to fill in the visa form again during the appointment so it could be processed. They could have offered me a refund. They could have done a million things but this does not fit with the company's business model as a monopoly who makes money from us failing, making it easier for us to fail and then requiring we repay and resubmit an application.
There is no doubt in my mind that TLSContact is part of dystopian future of profiteering from "computer says no" culture that will only become more impenetrable and difficult as AI becomes more widely trusted as the "source of truth" over and above human common sense.
Consequently, I am looking to muster collective action against the company - serious action where we lie within the law. Make them take notice of us. Make others take notice of us making them take notice of us.
I already have a case brewing personally and the more who join me the stronger we are. Who knows, we might bring about change.
We can take a collective legal case to them. We can drum up a media storm. We can protest in person. We can protest online. We can review bomb. We can take political action and move to a change in the law by contacting politicians.
If you have been wronged by this company please reach out.
If you have experience in this sort of collective action please also reach out with advice.
If you have contacts in law, politics, journalism also please reach out.
Even if you have not been wronged personally by TLSContact in terms of substantiative damages but understand the frustration of having to wait 2 weeks for an automated vapid email response, spend 2 hours on the phone to poor customer service, have felt their website was unduly convoluted or designed to trip you up please also get involved!
We can bring about change if we work together and not allow this sort of bullying and abuse of power take place.

This is a crossover fanfiction between original fiction titles: Nature of Predators by SpacePaladin15 and The Last Angel by Proximal Flame respectively. All credit and rights reserved goes to them for making such amazing science fiction settings that I wanted to put this together.
You can read The Last Angel here: Be warned, it's decently long, and at its third installment so far. I highly suggest reading it before reading this, or this story will not make sense.

Otherwise, enjoy the story! Thanks again to u/jesterra54 and u/skais01 for beta and checking of work!
First Prev Next (soon)
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
What I was doing was risky.
I kept thinking this, as I prepared to spring the idea I worked on. I had Samantha and Carlos look into acquiring a shuttlecraft, for the purposes of infiltrating Aafa. It took a day and a half longer than the UN's initial start date, but I promised them it was worth it. They believed that, and set to work on getting one through their few Venlil resources in the UN. Now that it was in my hands, I was on a trip to Aafa, alone, with no backup or human handlers to my name. They believed I wasn't a flight risk...a mistake on their part, but in a way, I was still performing their goal.
I was still suspicious of Federation governance, even before the humans took stage on the galactic scene. The Sivkit's refugee crisis turnaway, the Krakotl's military extortionate practice, the Federation was full of shady characters who ought to be exposed. I was even working on a source towards what I thought was frivolous and mismanaged Kolshian military spending budgets, but it was interrupted by the human's arrival, and I had set it to the wayside.
Though, neither of those were supposedly leaked by 'me'. Cilany was the one who put it into proper public eye, even if I was her source...
How I wish I could have her here with me, her sharp skill for coercion and interrogation of valuable info in interrogation and interview alike. But the colony she was on was under siege by the Arxur, who struck while the Federation fleet had gone to Earth. All the more fuel for the fire of my suspicions...
I could only hope that Cilany, and by extension the rest of the people there would hold out despite their actions against the humans. None deserved the Arxur thrust upon them.
It would have been far too risky to try and stop by a planet under siege by the Arxur. I would be, at best, blown to smithereens without hesitation, and at worst...eugh...don't think about it, don't think about it!
Plus, I didn't want to give any human assets an idea on my plans currently. I was already going behind their back on this, betraying their trust on this front.
If my hunch is correct, then the Arxur might be coordinating with them, and by extension, feeding info about Federation homeworlds back in their twisted little game. Seeing me pop up in a report would turn heads.
I'm sorry Humanity, but this is for your own good. You cannot trust the Arxur, and the only way we can prevent your manipulation by their Dominion is through convincing a proper attack on them from the Greater Commonwealth.
But now, I found myself on a course to Aafa, alone, all on my lonesome, seeking to do something akin to Noah, but to the most powerful person in the galaxy one-on-one...Nikonus. I felt my ability to pull rank and my reputation would precede me better than the predatory reception of humanity, even though they didn't deserve it. This was a pragmatic decision, not an emotional one…
The trip was not very eventful, roughly [6 days] one way in a ship with as underpowered of a FTL drive as this, but I was trying to sell an infiltration mission, not a courier one. I wouldn't have my claws on anything top-of-the-line for speed in a shuttle. But as my ship hit disruptor fields in-system, and I got a ping from Gunships asking for classic hailing codes, intent to visit, and the like, I sent a message that likely would have shocked their crew.
"This is Captain Sovlin of Federation Fleet Command. I have escaped human custody, and need to request an audience with Nikonus."
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Memory transcription subject: Chief Nikonus of the Kolshian Commonwealth
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
I walked the outer rungs of the capital gardens, looking for relief to the mounds of bureaucratic paperwork back in-office. A good walk could clear ones mind of most stresses every now and then, and given the circumstances nowadays, I think a longer one is in order.
The Affliaf blooms are quite vibrant today. That's a good omen, for what it's worth...
With the state of the galaxy in a comprehensive deadlock over what to do with humanity, I had to take to some under-the-table talks with Nishtal's military. While the Kolshian Commonwealth was not publically for humanity's invitation into the Federation, they were clearly vocal that they did not wish for the problem to be removed, so to speak. And so, I had to get my tentacles dirty planting seeds of inspiration to some military leaders in and around the Krakotl Alliance. They, thankfully took the predator threat as seriously as they ought to, and mobilized to rid ourselves of the pests.
It should have simply ended there. Humanity should have been exterminated, status quo restored, the whole cropland tilled. But no, a fleet of twenty-thousand failed to even kill a fledgling space-faring species like humanity! Even with the Venlil Space Corps on their side, the battle should have been a wash! And the worst part, was that the true believers on Venlil Prime were giving me garbage intelligence on the matter.
'A ship of unknown origin swooped in and saved humanity? One that was unheard of up to this point'? No, a wad of ectolan spulk, there was no chance it was humanity keeping something in reserve that could even the tide! They likely were feeding false data to their allies, the manipulative little apes. No, humanity being saved stunk of the Dominion's play, and that was worrisome.
Did Giznel and his lackeys go back on our deal, seeing blood in the water? I knew we groomed a deal out of Betterment that'd give them all the wrong ideas...
Needless to say, I had to now figure out where to start on approaching them and confirming our deal was still on the table, and to cease and desist assistance with humanity at once. If they didn't want to play ball anymore, we'd have to consider some Shadow Fleet excursions to pave a path for a public route to invasion. That would change the whole dynamic of the Federation's control structures, and was absolutely not the path this great galactic Commonwealth should go.
So now, I am stuck in a dilemma. Do I assume Giznel and the Dominion are still in on the deal, and haven't made allies with humanity in the backdrop, or do I take the only opportunity we get, and start mounting an offensive while the Dominion's unprepared.
Decisions, decisions...
Not long into my musings, an aide contacted me over holo-prompt. Odd, I didn't have anything scheduled this soon, and central planning proceedings weren't set to start up again until the following day, what was it?...
"Chief Nikonus. There's been a development on the outer edge of the system. Bulwark Patrol states that a shuttlecraft of Venlil-make warped in, one individual alone on scans. They identified itself as Captain Sovlin, seeking refuge from human captivity."
Oh dear. That's not anything I could have expected. The last thing I need right now is more complications...but that wording...
"Why hasn't he been boarded and processed yet? I am hardly the first authority to come to for a asylum dispute."
"He asked for you specifically, your graciousness. Said to request an audience with utmost urgency."
"Is that so?...Hmm." I am currently free of responsibilities for a solid chunk of time. While I did not know Sovlin personally, his record spoke for himself. If he truly was escaping human custody, it was likely he found something out about them that they shared by accident, not knowing he wasn't loyal to them.
If he's come here for the reason I think he might've, there's a very real chance...
"Send him my way as soon as possible then. He's lucky I can spare an audience now."
...that said opportunity has just walked itself right into my garden.
Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, Federation Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
There was thankfully little fanfare or media attention in bringing my shuttle in. The decision to come alone clearly disarmed their initial worries of human sympathizing or terrorist actions, and soon enough, I found myself amongst an escort of soldiers to Aslou's government district.
I had been to Aafa various times throughout my life. In my tenure as captain, you tend to visit the homeworlds of the larger species at least once in a lifetime, if not several. Most times were not very exciting or noteworthy...but this time, the visit felt downright off.
The gardens were as beautiful as ever, but there were little walking them. The Songbedas were oddly quiet, making an unsettling atmosphere. The population out in the outer and medial rungs of the city split to make way for my escort, as if expecting trouble on their doorstep should they draw attention.
Given what happened with humanity, I wouldn't put it past them. Why is it so...empty?
It was forced to be pushed aside as we finally reached the inner rings of the Capitol Spire. A gleam ran up into the heavens, and a sequence of block outcroppings spun around the structure, green architecture patterns spiraled up and up. It was a beautiful idol of the dedication of megalithic engineering and urban planning of the Kolshian Commonwealth. Under any other circumstances, I would have once felt comfortable walking under its shadow, but now I felt only unease at being in its monolithic shade.
Across from us, not far up the steps leading to the Capitol Spire, was Nikonus and his guards. They were clearly waiting for me. Nikonus looked pleased to see me, somehow. Was there no clear indicator...?
Does he trust my cover?
"Captain Sovlin, your reputation precedes you! I could have sworn you were interred so deep you weren't getting out. Yet, you say you broke out?"
Here goes nothing. Make it believable, Sovlin...
"I...yes, your graciousness. After I was imprisoned on Venlil Prime, the humans kept trying to get me to turn on the Federation. They were convincing, but my loyalties ultimately lie in this government, Chief Nikonus." I put my chest into the last bit of the statement, trying to give emphasis.
He seemed to mull on that for a split second, before he made a gesture to follow him. "We may talk more about your escape inside. I assume what you have meant to say to me is not for public ears?" He glanced about, subtly tilting his head out at the few gathered crowds out and about Aslou's Capitol District. Given how open and flat the area was, with the slightest elevation, you could practically see for [kilometers].
He was right on that. My suspicions would not be for the general public to hear, lest it cause a panic. "Yes. It would not do for the media to run wild with. It could cause unrest."
The Kolshian's eyes seemed to glint at that. "On that, you and I can agree. Come, to my offices." Him and his troop started up the stairs, and I followed soon after, my 'escorts' following closely behind. I could not yet tell whether I was actually in good trust with Chief Nikonus, or whether he was playing up the kindly elder act. Politicians were always shifty like that...
We walked a long way, took several lifts to reach the original Kolshian suites of the Capitol Spire. Passing through halls of elaborate aquatic decor, and indoor habitats, we approached our destination: Chief Nikonus' personal office.
He waved away all but two guards to stand outside the office, as we walked in. As he sat down, and the door closed, the visual look of the Kolshian shifted. His old, elderly demeanor sharpened to a politics-honed edge. The tone of the room felt far more off.
"I hope you know how much your position here is troubling, Sovlin." His voice had none of the kindness it held before. In its place, laid a piercing tone of seriousness. "If I'm anticipating right, you came here with distinctly bad news, given the state of galactic politics and military scuffles. That is...if I can even trust your story at all." He got up from his chair in a way that betrayed none of his age from before, and began to pace.
Or was his earlier light hobbling also just a disarming act?
"I mean really, you mean to tell me you turned yourself in to humanity for 'crimes against sentience', and then go back on your self-inflicted punishment? All so you could come to Aafa to let me know of something I'm already decently certain I know of before you even tell me? Your loyalty in question is a mind game Sovlin. I do not appreciate mind games. You'd best get to your point quickly and succinctly."
There was a chilling quality to that statement. I did not want to see what lied on the end of that thinly veiled threat.
A hitch came to my throat, but I pushed through the discomfort. "I...Chief Nikonus...I do not revoke my feelings about humanity's sentience, but neither do I revoke my faith in the Federation's dream. Despite their predator biology, they are capable of empathy and care for things outside what we'd consider stereotypical predatory behavior. They still deserve a chance at being within the galactic community, of being part of the Federation; no matter what preconceptions are of predators, they are clearly different. But, there's something we distinctly missed about humanity, and I think the Arxur are making an attempt to exploit it."
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Memory transcription subject: Chief Nikonus of the Kolshian Commonwealth
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
"You've seen the empathy tests, right?" Sovlin mentioned. Of course I had, it was only the thing that had kept me from having their ambassador Noah shot on the spot, where was he going with this?
"Yes, I have. Are you saying there isn't empathy for them?"
"No, Chief Nikonus. They are just as empathic as before. The problem is in how they use it. If a protective instincts in herbivore's is to block the danger from the person, then a predator's instincts is to remove the danger."
Huh?
"I'm not seeing the problem here, Sovlin. Aggression versus protection is a choice all sentients can make, even if one is uncouth for most herbivores to make."
But my rebuttal didn't shake his look any. No, there was mortification interwoven throughout it still.
"Follow with me here, still. The human's empathic desires to latch onto anything as a companion is an odd case, but a documented one. They are looking for friends among the cosmos, and given the first thing they found was the Venlil, they took to them immediately. When they found the Federation, they too attempted to befriend us. And over the Cradle, despite our best efforts to dissuade them, they were curious of the Arxur too. I would know, I was there."
Hmm, so the humans have been making some attempt at contacting The Dominion. Given their Prophet's Word, and their temperament for predators, they likely would act receptive if given some chance. More fuel to the fire...
I motioned him on further. "They...interrogated a Arxur above the cradle. They told them of how Federation first contact went; how the Arxur were starved by the Federation releasing a bioweapon, and how it lead them into conflict during the uplift."
I walked over to my desk, and sat down. My tentacle hovered over a concealed sidearm underneath the lip, just in case. "And...did you believe what that Arxur said was true, Sovlin?..."
Sovlin sighed in denial. "No, your graciousness...but I'm afraid...the humans do." He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he talked. "The Arxur have picked up on a weakness we didn't see, Chief Nikonus. Likely due to them being predators themselves. They know humanity is a pack predator, so they're seeking to manipulate the humans onto their side using their empathy."
I brought my tentacles away from the gun while I considered, because this was only meaning one thing.
Those bastards ARE going back on the deal! Sovlin, your loyalty has just saved me a world of hurt...
But before I could get a word in edgewise, he continued. "They are using the empathy the humans latch on with to some effect. Given the choice between a galaxy that shuns and tries to kill their species, and a fellow predator lending a claw in the interim, why would they pick anything but the Arxur? Why wouldn't they pick self-preservation?"
Sovlin looked at me with a worried face. I shared in the worry too, the long-term survival of the Federation was unraveling from the worst case scenario. "The humans might be coaxed into cruelty as bad as the Arxur because of that. We missed how their empathy was their bloodlust. And now the Arxur are here to collect on our mistakes."
This is bad. While we had some agreement beforehand with the Dominion, the human's existence on the galactic stage changes the game. The Dominion would look to seek true control of everything, rather than just playing even with us. The [Prisoner's Dilemma] is broken.
...But there is still a solution. And Sovlin proved himself loyal enough to help with it.
I turned back to him, trying to assuage his worries. "Sovlin, while this is very bad news, there is a solution that the galaxy isn't considering here."
Sovlin piped up. "Yes. We'd need to form an intense first strike on Wriss itself, to devastate the head of their government, and collapse their attempts to indoctrinate humanity. Humanity might protest, but it would be for their own good that the Arxur fails to get their claws on them. From there, we can try to reestablish friendly connections, even as strained and painful as they are..."
Oh, you poor naive fool Sovlin. Don't worry, there is a better way.
I enabled a soundproofing field interladen in the walls of my office, for what came next was sensitive. "Not...quite Captain Sovlin, a good plan, and one that will be considered soon. But...what if I told you, there was a way to remove that fellow predator’ link?..."
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