**Fujimaru Ritsuka, the Last Master of Humanity, Enemy of the Crypters, Ammo of the Black Barrel, Feller of Goetia... is batshit insane.
Let me explain.
...

Lack of Basic Understanding of Causality

Fujimaru's bizzare tendencies show up from the very beginning of FGO. According to the game, he joins Chaldea after seeing a poster and deciding to take the job on a whim.
However, Chaldea is in Antartica. The implication is thus that Fujimaru abandoned his family, abandoned his life, abandoned everything he'd ever known and loved, to go to Antartica for a job that he had no idea what was, with zero guarantee of getting the job, with no certainty of a return trip-
On a whim.
Immediately after this, while getting lectured by his potential boss, being told everything he needs to know to pass the entry test, he decides now would be a perfect time to take a nap. Understandably, his boss is miffed by the new intern with zero experience taking a nap right in front of her while she's explaining the most important part of their job, and she decides to fire him.
Fujimaru reacts to this with... nothing. He's a little concerned and stressed per his dialogues, but you'd think he'd be significantly more horrified about needing to walk back home through the Antarticas or join an oil mine at the bottom of Chaldea. Instead, he just... chills with the doctor?
When he finds out Chaldea is on fire and even all the skilled, significantly better Masters than him are dead, his reaction isn't terror or fear. Instead, he remembers a girl he talked to ONCE, and immediately rushes over to the literal origin site of the fire to check if she's alright. Then he sees that she's buried under a building. As a regular guy, he has no prospects of saving her. And the longer he stays, the lower his chances of survival get. His response?
Ignore everything to hold her hand and stay there till no hope of getting out remains.
Presumably CHALDEAS itself is impressed by what is either the tremendous love of Ciel-lookalikes or the complete lack of basic understanding of consequence in this man, and it sends him to Fuyuki presumably in hopes to unite him with fellow madman Shirou so that their collective insanity can open a path to the Root or something.
...

What's Self-Preservation? Can I eat it?

Fujimaru is teleported to a hotter fire surrounded by skeleton upon skeleton. Fortunately, the girl he held hands with turned into super servant Galahad. She can protect hi-
Ritsuka why the hell are you throwing yourself into danger when you have a LITERAL SHIELD at your side?
No Fujimaru do not sacrifice yourself trying to protect someone WHO LITERALLY WEARS ARMOUR AND HAS A SHIELD!
Fujimaru taking a page from the book of Shirou Emiya has a violent martyr complex and nearly dies dooming all humanity in the first twenty minutes of the game. Very fortunately, Cu Chulainn notices this and not wanting to be outdone by someone else dying before him, saves the day.
Ritsuka later proceeds to instantly grasp the concept of Shadow Summoning and turn it into his technique which further raises the question of if brain damage in the Nasuverse just lends you power somehow when we consider the strongest techniques in the series:

• Unlimited Bladeworks (manifested by swordtism)
• Tsubame Guashi (manifested by fightingtism)
• Strong Punch (manifested by Soujuuro)

Ritsuka then acts normal for some time till we reach the end of Singularity-F. He finds out about the END OF HUMANITY.
He is somehow barely fazed by this and determines to save it all himself. This random chump with no mage skills, no Master experience, nothing at all, is entirely confident. This is presumably the true reason why Servants keep being summoned - not by Mash's roundtable shield - but because Fujimaru's balls are just so big they've developed their own gravitational fields and draw in Servants from the Throne like a blackhole.
...

Psychopathy in the Singularities

Fujimaru Ritsuka, Humanity's Last Asylum Escape, then goes to Orleans, sees several thousand dragons, ignores the terror of that sight, murders a fanfiction OC, murders his way through Septem without going insane in the process despite interacting with Nero, and finally we reach the madness that is Fujimaru in Okeanos.
Fujimaru in Okeanos:

• Volunteers to race against HERACLES
  
• He WINS this race against HERACLES
  
• He, a completely inexperienced magus, fights a woman WHO HAS SINGLE-HANDEDLY KILLED POSEIDON AND IS BEING POWERED BY A HOLY GRAIL and wins?????
  
• Fujimaru also wouldn't have full understanding of Shadow Summoning at this point, so the implication is that Fujimaru just half-assed it and then made up the difference by fistfighting her? What sort of gym is this kid going to?
  

We continue on to London. Fujimaru sees a Goddess, the human equivalent of a God, a fragment of Amaterasu, one of the Heavenly Kings, all back to back and is completely uninterested.
He trusts Mordred, literally known as the Knight of Treachery and Jekyll whose best known myth is him pretending to be another person to get out of the consequences of his desire to be evil and betray all his friends.
From this we conclude Fujimaru Ritsuka has no understanding of basic human minds and operates on some greater level of humanity known only to him and Soujuuro.

Train him wrong as a joke? Wait, we were supposed to train him?

Fujimaru walks across the entirety of America on foot in less than a month. In Lord of the Rings, this took over a year. Now, this wouldn't be surprising for a mage. They can boost their physical capabilities so-
What do you mean Fujimaru doesn't know how to enhance his body?
Yeah, as it turns out, contrary to a number of doujins and... basic expectations, not a single person taught Fujimaru Ritsuka, Last Master of Humanity, the guy on whom the entire world depends, basic f***ing magecraft. You know, Da Vinci, maybe some things are more important than making fun of Romani for liking Vtubers? Maybe you could have taught the kid literally the most important fundamental to keeping up with Servants?
This is shown in Lostbelt 1 where Kadoc is surprised that Fujimaru can't enhance his eyes before Fujimaru reveals that he doesn't know anything about enhancement at all, which is... C'mon, Paracelsus, Avicebron, Circe, Medea, they're all literally part of the team. Did not one of them consider "huh, I wonder if I should teach the Last Master of Humanity, the guy on whom all humanity depends, magecraft?"
Shirou was trained wrong. Ritsuka? Somehow Chaldean staff are even more negligent than Kiritsugu. He wasn't trained at all!
...

Fujimaru tells God to eat Shit

Fujimaru goes to Camelot. He's almost normal for most of it besides a tad too deep sense of social justice shared by Mash.
Then he confronts the Lion King. The Lion King who could smite him with a single thought. The Lion King who wields the Pillar of the World. He looks at her, this terrifying force of nature, an actual divinity, God to mortal.
...And he tells her she's a dumbass.
"Humans aren't butterflies you can put on a board!" says Fujimaru Ritsuka, having for unknown reason decided to try to refute a GOD. And flabbergastingly, this works as Lion King takes brain damage presumably from the sheer bafflement that a child with no special abilities is talking down to her, causing her to go berserk and lose when Bedivere activates his Bitch-Slap Airgetlam.
...
Then he goes to Ancient Uruk/Babylonia/I still have no clue where this is. He meets Gilgamesh, King of Heroes, several tiers beyond what Fujimaru will ever be.
"I'm going to skip the line to talk shit to you and ask you to join me," decides Ritsuka. Gilgamesh, unimpressed tries to make him do housework. Fujimaru reveals that in addition to being Humanity's Last Master, he's Humanity's Last Housewife and perfectly does everything till Gil is forced to respect his impressive janitorial skills and they go off to Literal Hell together.
Fujimaru's insanity then makes him befriend several people he shouldn't including:

• God known for betraying everyone she knew (Ishtar)
• God trying to kill them (Gorgon Lily )
  
• Other God trying to kill them (Jaguar)
  
• the Grim Reaper (King Hassan)
  
• The Grim Reaper if it was an anime Waifu (Ereshkigal)
  
• Merlin, who if you've studied Arthurian mythos, you know is the LITERAL ANTICHRIST.
  

Somehow, he gets all of these to work together including mortal enemies Gilgamesh and Ishtar, and inspires King Hassan to give up his Grand title to become a different Grand- a Grandfather.
Fujimaru Ritsuka fights with Lucha Wrestler God trying to kill him by attempting to... suicide tackle her by being air dropped for some reason instead of just breaking the damn magic stone powering her because Fujimaru has offscreen developed telepathy and knows exactly what Lucha Goddess wants.
Having befriended a fourth god trying to kill them, they go to befriend Mom by beating her to death. The gang cheers as they succeed and Waifu Grim Reaper is outed as a tsundere.
...

Coughing Baby vs Omnipotent King of Seventy Two Demon Gods (the baby wins)

Fujimaru goes to outer space. He meets unsurmountable odds. Seventy-two immortal Demon Gods. His reaction?
"Nah, I'd Summon."
Fujimaru transforms the game into a Kingdom Hearts story as the bonds he formed along the way act as a catalyst to summon EVERY SINGLE SERVANT IN THE THRONE to fight for his ass. Goetia screams like a baby as Fujimaru performs the ultimate JJK beatdown by calling in every damn person to ever do anything of note to kick Goetia in the balls through the sheer overwhelming power of friendship.
Goetia reveals himself to be a fraud and pulls "with this treasure I summon Ars Almadel Salmonis: The Time of Birth Has Come, He Is the One Who Masters All!"
Fujimaru calls in additional support from Archetype Eggplants to block an attack that destroyed seven humanities. Following this, he calls in Goetia's dad to put his omnipotence on timeout.
Then, Fujimaru Ritsuka, this untrained regular human with zero enhancement skills, solos Goetia with a Shield he's never used, beating him in a straight boxing match.
Combined with the Francis Drake thing, it makes me wonder if he's secretly the FGO version of Soujuuro.

Conclusion

You liars told me he was a regular ordinary human and the most boring Type-Moon protagonist with no mental problems like the rest.
What the hell did you mean? I have never met a man more on the spectrum, insane, off the walls, unhinged, bonkers and genuinely weird than this guy.
How did I let myself be fooled? He's a Type Moon protagonist! It should have been obvious from the get go!

Fujimaru Ritsuka is Completely Insane.

FIN.

This is a bit of a random question, but considering Death Grips often critiques the internet in their lyrics, I wonder what this sub thought. I personally hate it, though I unfortunately spend a lot of my time on it due to a lot of my friends being made online. I don't want to seem annoying or out of touch when I say that. I just truly see very few pros to it. For example - and this is the main reason I dislike it, or one of the main reasons - you'll often hear that the internet can be a vehicle for change. But I disagree, though I once agreed. The reason for my change in thinking is that the internet, in a way, takes away the need to actually go out in the real world and fight the horrors out there. This might be a hot take (though I don't think it will be here), but I think that we should be rioting over the genocide going on in Gaza. Yet it seems all we do is scream online or at most cause a slight annoyance in the real world by holding a few signs and chanting a few words at a protest. And it's doing nothing. But I feel as though we've been fooled into thinking that it is doing something, or that it's the most we can do. This isn't to say it's performance activism or anything - just that we've been fooled.
That might have nothing to do with the internet though. I was born with it, so I don't really know how things were without it, because I sadly haven't educated myself enough on history. I just remember reading a Walt Whitman line where he said something along the lines of "revolution should never be taken from the people", and I thought, damn, it definitely has been. I don't know to what extent that sentiment was actually put into practice back in the nineteenth century, but still, at least the sentiment was there (because Whitman as far as I know wasn't what was considered radical, so I don't think that sentiment would've been considered odd). We don't even have that.
I could see one pro being that we have access to uncensored information, but I don't know if we would've had that before the internet. It seems that we might've, considering people seemed well-informed and it seems like a lot of leftist movements had their prime pre-internet. But I really don't know. I should look into history to find some answers.
I'm totally open to being wrong about all of this, which is why I ask the question. I want to spark a discussion on a topic that I don't think gets talked about much here and is such a key component to Death Grips' lyrics, and I also just want to figure out my own beliefs.

... and to dealing with non-armoured foes.
TLDR The compulsion to bring more direct damage anti tank weapons against bugs is more restrictive, and indicative of [false] difficulty, than -1 stratgem. Particularly if you de-prioritise anti-dropship weapons.
Although gunships existing has put a bit of a foil to the second part of that.
Losing 4/16 strategems against the bots is much more playable on all difficulties than playing bugs and overloading on strategems which can take bile titans in 2-6 shot.
At the moment [generally] for BT management you need spear and supply backpack or 1 person with EATs and 2 people with direct fire anti tank at a minimum and usually additional 3-4 Red anti armour stratgems which usually, in my opinion, results in a total of 7.5 strategems in the 4-6 hits to kill a bile titan, on average 5 more than you would take if you only expected to face chargers.
On difficulty 6 I would typically witness 3/16 strategems capable of taking out charger heads. On diff 7-9 that rises to 7-8 strategems.
Although if you know the team won't split up you can get away with 3-6 strategems on high difficulty.
I personally had not been able to understand the complaint against -1 until I (and my friend groups) played only bots for 2 weeks (and then returnin to bugs). Getting to the point that both with randoms and my friend groups, a realisation that shooting down dropships, more specifically bringing stratgems specifically for shooting down dropships, is a masterclass in misdirection by AH.
Bug drops can't be interupted or shut down, and technically (I do believe bots that haven't commenced their drop when the dropship is hit should be dead) neither can bot drops, they're always too numerous on 8-9. And the cost of taking stratgems for shooting down the dropships hurts the team's ability to deal with or flee from the dropped enemies, or enemies in general, much more than is obvious because to compensate for the increased anti-dropship weapons, you have to be very consistent on actually hitting dropships.
Now, high skill ceiling players than I, I am sure, will disagree and be able to take out the drop ships more effectively. And I like that higher skill brings rewards in this game. But on paper, if you don't loadup with stuff to kill dropships, or at least you ignore that some stratgems can do that, I find your team has more versatility to actually deal with the enemies from those dropships.
At the moment, Spear and supply pack is completely overpowered, I recently did a 9 where that and one eats was the only anti tank the team had. It was one of the easiest 9's I've ever done, I believe we totalled 11 titans. And because the team had 13 strategem slots to work with for enemies below the titans, it was also very low deaths. The only time it went wrong for about 8 minutes was unsurprisingly when the spear guy (me) got killed by a cluster bomb.
BT might be only "mid tier", but they are easily the most tedious enemy in the game, I hear people say it's hunters and devastators, but did you ever shoot a devastators ankles(?) and hunters are designed to take out lone players, they're useless against 3-4 ppl.

I (27M) broke up with my ex (27M) last year. We were close friends for about 2 years before deciding to try long distance relationship for 1 year. Long distance was not for us, and we mutually agreed to break things off cause we saw no future with each other. Despite this we still remained close friends and would text each other everyday.
Cut to a few months later, I started dating another man (26M). We hit things off really quickly and decided to make ourselves officially boyfriends. On one of our dates, my bf brought up my ex (he knows him personally and not just as my ex) and I told him we still talk frequently. I could tell he was shaken even though he tried to be stoic about it. After that day, I decided to reduce my contact with my ex but then my ex started to get upset, like he was losing his best friend.
When I brought up that my ex was upset to my bf, he was so irritated at us. He mentioned how he went no contact with his ex after we started dating. He said he won't control who I can or can't be friends with, an instead he wants me to make my own choices and how serious I want our relationships to be. If I want to still be close friends with my ex, he won't mind as long as it isn't romantic/sexual. However, my bf was upset that I would turn to him for advice about my ex, saying that he was the wrong person to ask and that he hates hearing about my past relationships.
At the end I decided to maintain no/limited contact with my ex. I know that even if my bf "allows" me to be close friends with my ex, it will be running at the back of his mind and I really want to show him that I am committed only to him. I told my ex that we should "move on" and just stop talking for a while. My ex was of course extremely upset about the whole thing and was cussing out my bf and calling him controlling.
The whole situation makes me pretty upset cause there are no winners. I lost my best friend and things with my bf are awkward (at least for me). I feel like I did the right thing, and yet it was hard and painful.
Firstly, I would like to know if I did the right thing, or I could have resolved this in another way? And also how to move on from this? My bf and I are now talking like usual, but I keep thinking about my ex and how upset he was.

I suppose I’m trying to understand if anyone else ever went through something similar.
I was a continent away from my family for my studies. It had been two months since I’d left.
I spoke to my parents almost every other day. At 55, my father was the most fit person in the family. He ate healthy and exercised.
They say a person knows or at least gets a hunch before leaving. My father didn’t. He had numerous plans for that day and the next. I spoke to him on video call the day before.
He was perfectly fine, until he wasn’t.
I got that call from one of my father’s friends. My mother didn’t have it in her to break it to me. It was a massive heart attack.
I didn’t cry then.
Alone in my room some 4,000 miles away from home, I didn’t have an active choice to let grief take its due course - that would have to wait. What could not wait was looking for the earliest flight back home while I packed everything, knowing right then clear as day I wouldn’t be back, at least not in a while. I was the oldest child, and I had a younger sibling to take care of. And my mother deserved time to grieve while I handled the aftermath - death certificate, documentation, insurance, and so many other materialistic bullshit spewed at you as if you don’t have to process the loss of a whole human from your life.
Shit needed to be handled, so handle is what I did. I emailed my university that I wouldn’t be able to make it for a course final presentation. I notified my workplace that I won’t be able to make it for a meeting that day. I got to the airport and bought all the chocolates and cashews for my mom and my sibling because them having enough food in their system to survive the next few days was my biggest concern.
I made a to-do list sitting in the plane, noting everything I need to take care of in my father’s absence.
I was so..aware.
I spoke to every immigration and security officer like a regular traveler. I thanked the air hostesses every single time they gave me something to eat. I even wished one of them saying, “Have a good day” before leaving the plane because she was kind enough to dim the lights around me and give me a paracetamol when my head was pounding.
I really went to the immigration officers, looked them dead in the eye, and asked them to make an exception so I could book another flight and get home faster without having to wait 8 hours in transit. They had no idea, but they relented in the end because I stood right in front of them waiting for an answer.
I was hyperaware since the minute I landed. I vividly remember holding my mom, not only because I wanted to shield her from her grief - but also from people - because it was the same day I realized most people have the EQ of a brick wall, especially when it comes to loss.
I hadn’t cried in front of people, not even when they took me to the morgue to see my father, all eyes on me.
People asked my mom about it. My mom did, too.
It positively is not denial. Denial doesn’t make you create a to-do list even before you saw your person.
Sometimes, it’s still difficult to believe this is how things had to be. I never saw the light leave my father’s eyes - I never even got to feel his warmth for the last time. He was freezing cold in that horridly shallow freezer by the time I arrived.
And now, everything feels like a distant memory. Life feels a lot like ‘before’ and ‘after’.

I (24F) am having issues with my friend group over the man (31M) that I picked. I’ll have to provide the long background story for context.
My friend group consists of several individuals. The specific few I will talk about I will refer to as “J” “M” and “A.” They are all (24F). J and M are a couple. These girls seem to have the strongest opinion about the ordeal. I met my friends in middle/high school. We didn’t become close until our college years. I love these people and we’ve gone on many trips and shared many experiences together.
In early 2023, I was asked out by a guy who frequented my place of work. He had apparently noticed me for some time. It is quite rare for me to “date,” but something about him gave me the sense I could trust him. He gave off good vibes overall. We went on a date a few days later and discovered we have everything in common. EVERYTHING. From our morals, values, hobbies, childhood upbringing, family dilemmas, favorite foods, love for traveling, etc. we are the same person in two separate bodies. The date was such a success and I knew then in my gut that he was going to be someone special.
Unfortunately, our beginning took a turn. We initiated dates back and forth that fell through due to valid reasons dealing with weather, conflicting schedules, etc. During this break between dates, he took the time to think if he was ready to start a new relationship. Although he liked me a lot, he was a little unsure unbeknownst to me. He’d been in several relationships before and they ended with him getting hurt whether they ended on good or bad terms. He was getting cold feet and didn’t know how to communicate that to me. He didn’t want to officially end it and he also didn’t want to lead me on so he said nothing for awhile. Although it wasn’t necessarily thought out, he was buying himself time until he knew how he felt (I learned all this later on). Then came about a month with no contact. During this time, he was dealing with family drama and I was becoming anemic. I eventually did need a blood transfusion. I mention this because that month apart went by fast and we didn’t have much time to linger over the thought of each other. I did notice he hadn’t reached out though. I’m certain now that he wouldn’t have ignored my messages had I sent any, but I was honestly waiting for him to reach out first. I was a little hurt to think that he had changed his mind and didn’t have the guts to tell me.
Sometime in that next month, when I returned to work after my hospital stay, I saw him at my job. I thought he saw me. He left and said nothing. I was actually devastated. He had been so kind and I didn’t know why he had a change of heart. At least he should’ve told me about it anyway. I decided that I was going to text him that night. I mentioned I had seen him at work, thanked him for the initial first date, apologized for not reaching out on my end, and I sort of wished him farewell under the assumption he wasn’t interested. It was very professional and I let him know that there were no hard feelings had he changed his mind. I was expecting some lame, typical excuse response if I even got one. He sent back this long text message apologizing, explaining himself, and asking me questions. He explained his fears and asked if we could start a “friendship” of sorts to keep a slow pace. There was chemistry of course, but he was afraid of me and now I was afraid of him. There was enough there to where we wanted to spend time together, but I needed to be sure I could trust him with my feelings and he also needed to be sure he could trust me with his heart. To this, I agreed to see him again.
We spent time going on casual dates and talking a lot. He became my friend. We talked a lot about what happened with the break over the following months. I told him how hurt I was and how communication is important to me. He understands the impact of going no contact abruptly. It has been entirely resolved and I also take responsibility in my part of not reaching out to him either. Ever since the break, he became consistent. We’ve talked every single day since. He was patient with me and I was patient with him. We earned each other’s trust and are now madly in love. It happened slowly and quietly. I have never met such a soft, kind, understanding, sensitive man. I am more myself with him than I ever have been before. If soulmates are real, then he is mine.
Now to the tea. Of course, my friends knew (most) all of this. I told them about the big events as they were happening. They were excited for me on my first date, they sympathized with me when he no longer reached out, etc. They were surely surprised when I decided to spend time with him again. I asked them to trust me. I didn’t think he was a bad guy. What happened was a mistake. As my man and I spent more time, my friend J would reach out asking me questions about him. I told only her about my concerns in the beginning. Back then, I was guarded and nervous to proceed, but it was something I knew I had to do. I had to find out for sure what kind of person he was.
Now, J, she’s a fireball. I love that girl, but I’ll admit she’s one to hold a grudge, keep score, and quietly judge. She’d never admit it. I made a mistake in choosing her as my confidant in those early days. I was looking for advice when speaking to her because I do value her opinion. She then went and told the other friends in my group, M and A included, about my man—what a bad person he seems to be, using her words, which frankly, are very different from mine. What makes me mad is she got to tell them about him, not me. Not even any of the positives either. This was all before they had even met him and they already didn’t like him. They had no problem scolding me for being with him.
Months down the road, I arranged a meeting for everyone. My friends thought a bar would be a great place. Still not sure about that. It was awkward. Nobody talked more than a few words. My man was shy and my friends didn’t really do anything to make him feel welcome. I was the only one babbling all night it seems like. You’d think that as time goes on, it’d be different. More meetings will help everyone be comfortable. Nope. Every time after was awkward. They haven’t spoken more than a few words to him at a time. It’s very “surface level” talk even now—a year later.
My last birthday had come around and J, M, and A took me out for drinks. It turned into a lecture session about how I seriously need to break up with him. They scolded me on “allowing a man to waste my time.” They criticized his career choice, our age difference, his “character,” etc. Mind you, this is based off of this one experience and a few other things that I mentioned to J in private that were no longer an issue. I cried myself to sleep that night thinking I was going to have to break up with him to please them.
Of course, I couldn’t. They still invite him to events and friend functions out of politeness, but it’s always the same. They don’t acknowledge him. It makes me especially sad when my man makes comments like, “I’ve never seen so many shy people in one room” (He thinks my friends are just shy when they’re really just ignoring him). He’s printed out their pictures for our scrapbook and labeled them as “new friends.” I haven’t told him the truth and I probably never will.
A few months ago, J, M, me, and my man had plans to go to this local indie concert. Tickets are free. The concert was on a Friday. The next day, Saturday, was scheduled for my man’s nephew’s 2nd Birthday Party. His brother’s family would be traveling from out of town to celebrate their son. Well, things didn’t go according to plan. The brother decided to come a day early, the day of the concert. I should have cancelled the concert date then when I learned this news, but I told J and M we were still coming because my man still wanted to go. We figured we’d be able to sneak away since the brother had come by himself and wanted to come over and take a nap since he works odd hours. Well, my man’s dad dropped by and the brother didn’t take his nap as he’d planned. Now, having company over with expectations, I made the difficult decision to cancel with my friends last minute. I realize it is rude, but something came up. I didn’t see how we could go anymore.
My friends let me have it. J and M were so angry. They told me how rude we were and how disrespectful it was to their time to opt out of the concert which was free and in town by the way. There was also the two of them and they could have easily gone on a date. I think it would’ve been equally rude to leave our company or rush them out the door. I picked my battle. I should have gave them more notice, but I didn’t know we weren’t going until the last minute. It couldn’t have happened any other way. We fought over text for awhile. She accused me of being so different now, saying and doing things out of the ordinary for me. The truth is, I’m just growing up. J ended the conversation saying, “Well, we’re just going to stay mad.” She claimed to understand my circumstance, but she didn’t. We didn’t talk for weeks after.
I eventually got invited to a breakfast date to which I declined. I have been avoiding all of them for awhile. I keep getting “I miss yous” from J. She keeps asking when we’re gonna hang out next. It’s also true that J and M are now moving 4 hours away at the end of the month. My problem may solve itself. That does sound awful though. I feel like an asshole. I have not been a good or present friend lately. I’m so busy, tired, and I have no room for petty drama. I’m not giving up my friends yet, but I will gladly choose this boy over them. He’s given me more peace in one year than they have in five years.
My boy and I are now engaged. I told my friends the news. They said some nice things I guess. J texted to let me know “If I’m really happy, she’ll support me.” This would be nicer if it was coming from a concerned friend. To me, this whole situation feels controlling. It’s more than concern. There’s venom behind it. They don’t care about the wedding either. They don’t ask me fun questions or get excited when it comes up. When I eventually explained how he proposed, they seemed disinterested. I could tell they were judging the experience. When I finally showed J the engagement ring in person all she said was, “Take it off” in a snippy tone so she could try it on.
I’m so disappointed in my friends. I always wanted a big friend group and especially to share this big milestone with. I haven’t even gotten excited about wedding planning because I’m dreading going over the bridesmaids list. Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, thanks for listening. I definitely need to get this off my chest and outta my life. I can’t believe I’m losing my friends over a boy.

I’m new to this subreddit and by the looks of it most of you in here can relate in some way so I figured why not confide in those who share my struggles even if it’s barely.
So I 19M am currently just wondering what the point is at this point. I’ve got some goods going for me, if you could even call them that. I have a job that not only pays amazing for someone who graduated from highschool 2 years ago, but also doesn’t need to have a degree to have so that’s an upside I guess. I have 1 one my dream cars (even though it doesn’t fucking drive at the moment). And that’s really it.

 Nothing else is going good for me and it’s making think what to do. I got injured at work and am currently in a lawsuit with the state because of it. Due to missing work so much because of this injury I am around $3,000 in debt because of a loan I had to take out to pay for the medical expenses. I’m at risk of losing my job also due to my attendance because of this injury. I haven’t had car insurance in almost 3 months now because once again, no money. Very few friends 1-2 of which don’t feel comfortable around me because i don’t express myself or act like they do in public (im a very introverted person and have to keep my behavior in check because if i just let loose and let my mind and body act as they want im probably gonna kill someone), no girlfriend (for a number of reasons but primarily im not good looking and trust issues). I barely talk to my parents because i feel as if they’re disappointed in me and that’s why they wanted another son so badly. I’m not particularly smart. Dropped out of college before the semester even started because I knew I would fail since I barely graduated high school. And am in constant pain for various reasons. And to top ALL OF THAT OFF, I’m also black (mixed but it’s not like people can tell the difference) so I also have to deal with racism and discrimination everywhere I go. So to sum all of that up, I’m broke, lonely, have trauma because of a bunch of other shit, depressed, tired, in pain, ugly, hated because of my skin, stupid, and a disappointment. So I ask you people of Reddit. What the fuck is the point of going on with life. I know it’s not all sunshine and rainbows and the world’s not fair. But idk how to keep going. I’ve been dealing with depression for the past 15 years and the other day my mom asked me while i was visiting her if i was depressed because im also constantly tired. KNOWING I WAS. I didn’t even answer I just looked at her. And when I told her why she stared at me and didn’t know what to say. Not even my grandmother who is a licensed therapist had any words to give me. Makes me think that if not only a therapist can help me then what’s the point. Here’s the other thing that sucks. I have so MANY thoughts that run through my head but if I share them with family or friends. I’ll lose the last bit of familiar interaction I have. I have a lizard to keep me company at my apartment but I’m barely taking care of him. He’s doing even better than me. Free food, water, shelter, entertainment. 

I want nothing more than to die but nothing scares me more than death. Ironic isn’t it, how the thing I want most is also my greatest fear. Almost poetic. So please, tell me what to do suggestions are welcome.
PS: for those who wonder what my job is I’m a correctional officer. I can’t say what state for a few reasons but it’s in the Midwest.

So a friend of mine got a pair of Portra Pro's and this basically introduced me to Koss. After a *little* hours of research and comparing their products, I wanna get the KSC75 - but my phone doesn't have a 3.5mm port.
I have a random 3.5mm to usbc dongle laying around, I think I got it from my CAT S22 flip phone.
My question are:
1.If I use this dongle to connect the KSC75s to my phone, will that affect the sound quality? 2. If yes, are there any 'best' recommended dongles I could look into?

1. Or is there simply no way to use the KSC75s without losing sound quality if one does not have a 3.5mm jack?

I don't wanna spend like 4 times more to get Portra Pro's utility + their damned 20$ usbc cord lol.

My friend urged me to try and play the game for my first time ever on lethal.
I've had to reset some fights 15 to 30 times to overcome just a few enemies. But now, a few hours in, I am LIVING this game! Every single sword strike carries SO MUCH meaning behind it. If I choose the samurai armor it increases my survivability like thrice over and the ronin armor makes the already fast combat even tighter.
And somehow this never felt frustrating?! I only had two short bursts of annoyance but even those quickly vanished and I got back into it. I'm usudally not a fan of super difficult content but lethal mode is actually SUCH a joy with how both sides dance on the verge of death constantly.
Best difficulty decision ever. Just needed to vent my excitement, hope that's okay xD

Losing my mind! YA/children’s novel
Okay I read this book probably around 2009/2010, and I have tried EVERY book finding engine, etc. with a very vague description and cannot find anything - this is my last hope, so thank you in advance!!
Children’s novel/chapter book about a young girl who lives in Texas (I think Abilene?) and she rides a bike. I remember her vaguely making a friend and being outside for much of the book. The biggest detail I can remember is that her uncle/dad is building some sort of sculpture?
I know that is so jumbled and vague, but I would appreciate any ideas that come to mind lol! Thank you so much!

Dear Gus,
I hope this letter finds you well. I've been thinking a lot about our friendship lately and felt it was important to reach out to you. You mean a great deal to me, and I value the bond we have shared over the years. That's why it’s been so difficult for me to notice how distant you've become lately, and I find myself struggling to understand why.
We used to talk about everything and spend so much time together, but now it feels like there’s a wall between us. I’ve tried reaching out, but it seems like you’re always busy or uninterested. I can't help but feel a deep sense of loss and confusion. It hurts to think that something might be wrong and I don’t know what it is.
I’ve always thought of us as more than friends, almost like family. Your presence in my life has always been a source of joy and comfort. But now, with this growing distance, I feel a profound sense of sadness and worry. It’s hard not to take your apathy and indifference personally, and I find myself questioning if I've done something to cause this change.
If I have done something to hurt you or upset you, please know that it was never my intention, and I deeply apologize. Your feelings are incredibly important to me, and I want to understand what’s going on so we can work through it together. Ignoring the issue is only causing more pain and misunderstanding.
Please, can we talk about this? I miss the closeness we once had and I genuinely want to know how you’re feeling. Our friendship means the world to me, and I don’t want to lose it. I am here for you, ready to listen and to make things right, if given the chance.
Take care, and I hope to hear from you soon.
With heartfelt concern,
Bruce

Hi everyone! This chapter will read a bit quicker due to all of the dialog. As always, comments and upvotes let me know you're still interested in the story.
First / Prev / Patreon
_______________________________________________________
Once everyone was aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, Mira seemed to relax a little. Davis and Thompson were chatting away with Vebi and Fennis. Povin still stayed near Mira when the officers were chatting with each other. She felt a little lost now that her services as translator was no longer needed. The winds were much stronger here, and one of Povin’s wings got caught in the wind, causing him to lift up. He reflexively opened his other wing.
“Povin! Remember! Glide! Do not flap!” Mira yelled at him.
“What was that Chief?” Thompson asked.
“I’m sorry sir. Ensign Povin’s wing got caught on a draft. They come from a lower gravity world so if he tries to fly, our gravity will break most of his wing bones and tear through his wing skin. The atmospheric belts they wear can maintain their own atmospheric conditions, but it can’t keep up if they full on fly.”
After riding the currents and getting used to how it felt under his wings, Povin was eventually able to land. He quickly wrapped his wings about himself tightly to avoid doing that again. The rest of the remaining Drala quickly tightened their own wings about their bodies.
“I see. Let’s get everyone inside.” Admiral Davis replied. “Chief Rodreguez, your Captain Martinelli sent over your uniforms.” He called over a sailor who had a duffle bag which was handed over to Mira.
Mira looked a little closer at one of the Destroyer escorts. “Sir, is that the USS Bainbridge I see?”
“Yes, it is. You think your Captain would allow us to come get you and not be a part of the escort? Once we stopped receiving responses, he has called in almost daily to NASA to get answers. Honestly, I was willing to bet that if we denied his ‘request’ to join the escort, he would have gone rogue to be here.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Captain Martinelli wouldn’t break protocols like that. He might have been hailing like crazy until someone gave him answers, but never would he go rogue.” Mira replied.
As she finished saying that a sailor came up the Admiral, “Sir, Captain Martinelli of the USS Bainbridge is on the horn for you.”
“You were saying, Chief?” Davis chuckled. “Maybe you should go take that call. We’ll be in the Ready Room. Come see us there after you have spoken with your captain and made yourself Navy presentable.”
“Yes, sir!” She saluted, received the return salute, and headed to the comms room. In the comms room, she was directed to the receiver. “This is Chief Mira Rodriguez speaking.”
“Chief. It’s good to hear your voice again. Do you have any idea how many calls I received from my nephew? I don’t know how he was able to get people to patch him through so frequently while on duty himself, but he’s very resourceful. I have to admit that. Did those aliens treat you well? And who took down communications like that?”
“Yes, sir. I was treated extremely well. I haven’t had a chance to be debriefed yet, so I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say over comms.”
“I understand. You should be able to say at least if the comms were interrupted by the aliens.”
“Not by the aliens I was with, sir.”
“I understand. Go do what you have to do, Chief. I hope to see you back on the Bainbridge soon.”
“I hope so too, sir.” She replied. The call ended and a sailor took her to where she could change her clothes as well as where the Ready Room was located. Once she was in her khaki-colored Shipboard Working Uniform, she headed to the Ready Room and then waited to be told she could sit. The Flx’usri each had their specialty chairs, and the Drala were able to manage the human chairs.
“Is Captain Martinelli well?” Admiral Davis asked.
“I believe his is calmer now, Sir. However, I suspect he will grill me himself once I am returned to his ship.”
“That sounds about right, Chief. I wouldn’t expect any less of him.”
“Grill? Are you in danger, Chief Mira?” Vebi asked worriedly.
“Grill is slang for question soundly, Rear Admiral. I promise that I will be completely safe with my Captain.” Mira looked around and noticed Commander Morris wasn’t in the room. “Excuse me, Sirs. What happened to Commander Morris? I thought he had survived the assault?”
“I’m sure he’s somewhere on board the ship. When we left to this room, he had been distracted. You know how these ships can be hard to navigate for non-Navy enlistees.” Davis replied.
General Thompson added, “If I had not spent my earlier enlisted time on board Navy vessels, I likely would have also been confused. I always did enjoy the Marine Taxi Service.” He joked. The Admiral gave him a poke with his elbow good naturedly. It was a sign that they had been friends as well as coworkers for a long time.
Admiral Davis explained to the aliens, “The General and I belong to different branches of service. Each branch has a love-hate relationship with all of the other branches. We all have our strengths, and our weaknesses are proudly backed up by the strengths of the other branches. It’s like having siblings. I can tease and make fun of my siblings, but if anyone else does, I will fight them to submission and make them apologize to my sibling.”
“Ah, I understand,” Vebi replied. “I feel the same way about my spawn-mates.”
Fennis cut in, “I understand the diplomate you had intended for us was lost in the conflict. We would prefer if Chief Mira were to be this for us. She has lived with us, and we have forged mutual respect for each other.”
“I believe that can be arranged.” Davis replied after a few moments of thought. “Bureaucracy takes time, and the rest of the Chief’s enlistment will have to be accounted for, but I believe this can be arranged.” He chuckled. “Captain Martinelli will be both happy for you and pissed we’re taking away his highest-ranking Machinist Mate aboard the Bainbridge.”
They began talking and getting to know each other and finally, Vebi asked, “I understand you will need to speak with others to make a real decision, but do you think your people will join the Federation?”
General Thompson beat Admiral Davis to it as he said, “They touched our boats. No one touches the US Navy’s boats and gets away with it.” Davis gave Thompson a small elbow to the ribs showing that the two men were friends outside of their official responsibilities.
Eventually, Commander Morris found the Ready room and General Thompson gestured for him to take a seat. “Now that we’re all here, Chief, how about you give us a full debriefing. Start from leaving Earth.”
“Yes, Sir. The mission started off great. Roger was able to correct course as needed, but the autopilot we were using was very accurate. We were all asleep when it happened. I’m a light sleeper and the pings against the hull woke me up. Looking back, there must have been a harder hit that woke me up first, but at the time, all I heard was the lighter pings. I got up to take a look around and then the alarms went off that we all knew meant to get into our space suits. Once I was in my suit, I realized no one else was in the room with me.
“I grabbed a suit with the intent to help someone into it and then we could go back and help others. They were all dead. The atmosphere in the ship was completely gone and we were no longer noticeably moving. I was staring at either a short and rough death once my air ran out, or if I could fix the life support, I could be looking at a long agonizing death from hunger. I never turned away from a challenge, so I was determined to fix the ship.
I fixed the life support and power at the same time. Now I was only going to face a long agonizing death. It was then that I jettisoned the dead. Hindsight being 20/20, I realize it was the wrong choice. I know that Commander Morris felt I should be able to make a refrigeration room, but if you look at the ship and the schematics, but assuming that I knew I was going to survive and make it back home, that ship did not have rooms that were airtight. They are close, but do not seal all the way. Secondly, I didn’t have the materials to make it so that the air didn’t circulate out of any room I put them in.
“At that time, I fully expected that I was going to die out there. It would take time for any message to get to Earth, time to fabricate a new ship and crew it, and time to get out to me. Time that I didn’t feel I had.”
Davis interrupted. “The seals weren’t airtight?”
“The exterior ones were, but any of the interior doors were not. They used a different kind of seal material, and in some cases, we could see light through a closed door. Even the door that was supposed to be the airlock for if we had to open the exterior door for anything. That one was the best seal, but there were still leaks.”
“Continue.” Davis said.
“I was out fixing the thruster when the crew of Black Hole found me. You haven’t met them, and I don’t think they can even come down here. The federation uses color outlines on their emblem to denote classes of ability to survive on worlds, I guess would be the best way to put it. Black Hole is a Green Class. They have the fewest worlds they can touch down on and survive. It’s based on allergy. If they were to even touch the plants here, they would get hives. The Meteor's crew is a Black Class. They can go to nearly every inhabited world. They might have to be careful of gravity, or if the air quality or temperatures are too extreme for the atmospheric belts to handle. Our world is classified as a Black Class planet.” She then relayed the rest of her journey.
“Do you think we can speak with these other heads of ships?” Thompson asked the aliens.
“Of course.” Fennis replied. To Vebi he said, “If you hail Commander Xuan’rawis, I’ll hail Captain S’sveta.”
After getting their targets on a video call, they both headed over and got their counterparts in view too. “We still have two hours until our nocturnal counterparts awaken. We’ll have about an hour of overlap, and then we will need to rest ourselves.” S’sveta said.
The leaders all spoke with each other, leaving Morris very confused as he did not receive a translator implant. Thompson told Mira she could act as his translator, so she did.
_____________________________
First / Prev / Patreon

can anyone else relate?
— “shutup unless you’re spoken to” —> now i don’t reach out to friends unless they talk to me first, leading to a one-sided relationship and then those friends giving up on me.
— “i’ll smack you if you cry again“ —> now i can’t bring myself to speak to anyone when i’m in emotional pain. i force myself to cope on my own because of how afraid i feel of someone being angry at my tears. overall constant fear that if i’m ever upset, people won’t want to be close to me and may even punish me.
— “be wary of outsiders and only trust your family“ —> now i repeatedly lose contact with legitimately great people i meet on my own because my wounded inner child/subconscious feels they may bring some form of yet-unseen danger. they taught me to be scared of people who treat me a million times better than they do. people who actually see me.
— “you must do the career that we want you to do, everything else is a waste of time.” —> ended 5 years at a job i loved in japan only to come back home to them and become totally depressed. granted, my dad was sick and that was part of why i came back. but i know i would’ve been happier if i’d just stayed there and came to visit sometimes.
it’s like everything they taught me growing up to “protect me“ just ended up crippling and destroying my adult life and every semblance of happiness i managed to find in it. the more i learn about narcissistically abusive parents the more i realize what has been happening and it’s so painful and isolating. there’s so much fucked up shit in my brain i have to unlearn because of them. and i’m terrified that some of the problems their brainwashing has caused (like the friendships i abandoned due to distrust and paranoia) may not be reversible…

Yes, Exodus wallet can theoretically go bust, like any other company. While the risk might seem lower compared to traditional financial institutions, it is essential to understand the potential scenarios and precautions you can take.
Exodus is a software-based cryptocurrency wallet, which means it doesn't directly hold your funds. Instead, it provides a user-friendly interface for managing your private keys and interacting with blockchain networks. Your assets are stored on their respective blockchains, not within Exodus itself. Thus, even if Exodus were to go out of business, you would still retain control over your cryptocurrencies through your private keys.
However, there are a few considerations:

1. Software Dependence: Exodus is a proprietary software, and its availability is crucial. If the company ceases operations, you may lose access to updates and support, making your wallet vulnerable to security risks over time. Therefore, it's advisable to back up your private keys or use recovery phrases to import your assets into another wallet if needed.
   
2. Security Breaches: Although Exodus employs robust security measures, no system is entirely immune to breaches. If the company were to suffer a significant security incident, it could undermine users' confidence and operational capabilities.
   
3. Regulatory Challenges: Changes in regulatory landscapes could impact Exodus’s ability to operate. Regulatory pressure might force the company to cease certain services or even shut down.
   
4. Financial Health: Like any business, Exodus’s sustainability depends on its financial health. Poor financial management or unforeseen economic downturns could potentially lead to its closure.
   

To mitigate these risks, always ensure you have your recovery phrases securely stored. Diversifying your assets across multiple wallets can also reduce dependency on a single service. Regularly update your software and stay informed about the latest security practices in the cryptocurrency space.
For a secure trading experience, consider exploring other platforms as well.
J0IN THE BEST CRYPT0 EXCHANGE

I want to play with friends but I’m trash at the game,bad positioning bad aim,I’m good at tank buy my friend group doesn’t allow me to play as a tank or a dps because everyone is better than me at these roles,I’m the reason why we lose some games.

Hey so this is a big rant but I need to get this off my chest and don't really have anyone in real life to talk about this stuff to.
I've had a string of bad luck recently in terms of an abusive relationship and moving homes, getting a restraining order against them, and being dropped by a close friend group unexpectedly a few months ago.
I've also become a total shut-in, I can't help but feel like everyone hates me or something like that even when I have no reason to believe that.. Maybe this is related to the friend group stuff and some unprocessed trauma I don't know but now I'm in this place where I really want friends and to have a solid friend group again but I'm losing the motivation to try as whenever I go out to events I'll have conversations with mutual friends and they always say something like "we gotta do something soon!" but the plans always fall through. I'm so over putting in effort and feeling like its one-sided or getting played, both platonic and romantic relationships.
I have people mention to me that I must be so busy all the time and that I must have lots of friends. I tell them I don't really have friends or that I feel like everyone hates me people are always really confused to hear it and say that it's actually the opposite, but I just can't shake that paranoia that people just put up with me to be polite or something. I've only felt this social anxiety this bad in this last year.
I am tired all the time, although I sleep a lot. I used to wake up early and sleep 7-8 hours, exercise, hang out with people, work 5 days a week, study well, and now I go to bed at 4am (I can't fall asleep well anymore) and then I wake up at midday, feel bad about myself for that, don't exercise anymore because I'm still tired, never hang out with anyone, and quit one of my jobs because my mental health got so bad at one point I couldn't work as well as I used to. So now I only work 1-2 shifts a week, which weirdly feels like the biggest effort. I have become so exhausted and lack any motivation to do anything nowadays.
This is all stressing me out because I'm finding it hard to focus with my studies which isn't the best timing because I've got exams in a month and I must do well this semester.
I just feel like a failure because I'm 22, am only just in my first year of a bachelor degree (I switched degrees recently so I have to restart my whole degree again), don't really have friends, not really on good terms or close with my family and haven't become good or skilled at anything because I'm so disorganised and tired all the time, I've got an ex who keeps harassing me and although I'm really trying to stay positive about it all I'm really feeling a bit like life keeps trying to turn me into a villain or something.
Just curious what everyone else does for their depression, anxiety, trauma etc?
Been dealing with bouts of all the above lately and the things I usually do (art, music) aren't really fixing it like they used to.

What the title says basically. I have a realm, and I wanna be able to NOT lose my items upon death, BUT l want to lose all my experience points, because I think that is fair. I think I have done something like this before, but I'm not sure if it's still possible or not, and google is no help for me. Maybe I am using wrong search terms.... I honestly don't know...pls help?

“The past and the future, considered apart from the consequences of their content, are empty as a dream, and the present is only the indivisible and unenduring boundary between them.” ― Arthur Schopenhauer, The World As Will And Idea

In Chapter 3, it's revealed by the medical records disk that Isa's name is shorthand for "Isolde." I wasn't familiar with this name, but I felt it was distinctive enough that there had to be some meaning behind it, so I did some digging.
One use of the name "Isolde" that caught my attention was that it is the name of a facility at CERN- the ISOLDE or Isotope Separator On Line DEvice, used to produce and separate radioactive isotopes of elements for research purposes. Given the game's frequent use of motifs relating to nuclear science and the health risks of radiation, it felt too specific to be incidental. Still, there wasn't much meaning I could derive from it, but I thought it was interesting enough to be worth pointing out.
The most prominent instance of that name is from the story of Tristan and Isolde, a celtic legend and a romantic tragedy often described as a precursor to Romeo and Juliet. There are many versions of the story told across different times and cultures, but given the game's many references to Romantic Era art from the German speaking world such as Schubert's Serenade and Böcklin's Isle of the Dead, I'm inclined to think it's specifically referencing Richard Wagner's opera "Tristan and Isolde". I'll give a quick synopsis here and analyze the parallels that I think may reflect Isa's role in the story. (To avoid confusion, from now on I will only use 'Isolde' to refer to the character from Tristan and Isolde while 'Isa' will refer to the one from Signalis, unless otherwise stated.)
It begins with Isolde on a ship, being escorted by the knight Tristan, from Ireland to Cornwall to marry Tristan's uncle, King Mark of Cornwall. It is an arranged marriage she is not keen on going through. In a fit of rage, she curses the ship, hoping it sinks and takes all of them with it, particularly Tristan. After learning that Tristan killed her original fiancé, she issues him an ultimatum that she will not willingly leave with him until he drinks with her as an atonement. In truth, she is planning to poison the both of them, and he suspects as much, but in an attempt to prevent this, her attendant replaced the poison with a love potion.
Though she ends up marrying King Mark between the first and second act, Tristan and Isolde can't ignore their passionate love. They realize the only time they can safely pursue their relationship is at night, when the King and the court aren't watching. As their patience for the night grows thinner, they realize the only way to realize their love is through the eternal night: Death. But at the same time, they are caught together by the King and his attendant. Without even attempting to explain his betrayal, he asks Isolde to follow him into death and impales himself on a sword.
In the third act, Tristan partially recovers from the suicide attempt but remains delirious. At the sound of a shepard's pipe in the distance, he reflects on the death of his parents, believing the pipe to be death now calling to him. He laments drinking the potion and how it led him to live a life of madness desiring something that can never be. He dies in Isolde's arms and she follows him into death. As the King arrives to the scene, Tristan's servant kills the King's attendant in revenge and then himself. Amidst all the death, the king reveals he had learned about the love potion and had simply come to offer his blessing to Tristan and Isolde, and the story ends with them finally realizing their love in the afterlife.
In writing this adaptation of the classic story, Wagner was reportedly inspired by the work of Arthur Schopenhauer, particularly his work "Die Welt ais Wille und Vorstellung" or "The World as Will and Representation." In "The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy", author Bryan Magee identifies Wagner's use of day and night as respective metaphors for "phenomenon", the aspects of the world we can perceive and "noumenon", the fundamentally unknowable reality beneath it. Both concepts were first named by Immanuel Kant, but Schopenhauer further argued that the gap between them is the cause of misery and suffering for all sentient beings; our individual pursuits and efforts to move towards a more personally favorable 'phenomenon' cannot be reconciled with a fundamentally uncertain state of the world and its other inhabitants. That to fulfill one desire requires the quashing of ten others. Illustrating this, he writes:

"...he saw an immense field entirely covered with skeletons, and took it to be a battle-field. However, they were nothing but skeletons of large turtles five feet long, three feet broad, and of equal height. These turtles come this way from the sea in order to lay their eggs, and are then seized by wild dogs... with their united strength, these dogs lay them on their backs, tear open their lower armour, the small scales of the belly, and devour them alive. But then a tiger often pounces on the dogs. Now all this misery is repeated thousands and thousands of times, year in year out. For this, then, are these turtles born. For what offence must they suffer this agony? What is the point of this whole scene of horror? The only answer is that the will-to-live thus objectifies itself."

Returning to Signalis, this quote immediately calls to mind the first-person Shores of Oblivion scene, in which skulls are buried and littered across the sand, and a quote from one of the nearby scattered papers:

we should have never left
the primordial soup
only through death can i escape
the call of the one who rules
above all life

Tristan and Isolde, realizing that their personal passions were irreconcilable with the interests of the material world they were in, concluded the only answer was to leave it behind altogether, so they made a death pact. A "promise", if you will. So upon finding Tristan dead, Isolde takes her own life. Much like how our Isa, who upon losing hope of being able to find Erika in the living world, disintegrates.
Another related theme connecting these stories is the lamentation of fate. Just as Isolde prays for the ship carrying her to her destiny to sink with her on it, and as Tristan regrets drinking the potion that led him to a life of desire for something that could never be, two early game quotes from Isa show that she is seeking Erika not just with love and concern but with regret for how they left things:

"Erika, if you find this note, despite everything that's happened. I've come to look for you."
"Have you ever wondered if you're speaking to someone for the last time without knowing? I wish I could go back, so I could say something else."

The details of this regret are deliberately ambiguous. It sounds like they had a fight or falling out, but 'everything that's happened' implies a deeper conflict- a disagreement or choice that they couldn't reconcile. Something important enough that it took Isa away from her sister, yet also something she regrets so greatly that she would take it all back just so she can see her sister one more time.
As Schopenhauer said, "A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants." The great tragedy at the center of Tristan and Isolde is that even if we have control of our actions, we are at the mercy of the desires we were given by fate. It's a theme that permeates not just Isa's story, but Signalis as a whole.
Elster never chose to love Ariane. Had she not, she might have found the strength to end her suffering before it was too late. So she ran away from the "day" of Ariane's suffering into the "night" of keeping her in cryosleep.
Ariane never chose to love art. Had she not, she could have had a simple and comfortable life fitting in with her peers. So she ran away from the "day" of the Eusan Nation's surveillance and social ridicule into the "night" of Penrose-512.
Falke lost any hope of finding happiness after becoming burdened with emotions and identity that she could do nothing to satiate, and quite literally went from the "day" of life into the "night" of dreaming.
And then there's Adler, all but crushed by helplessness as he tries in vain to hold back the death of reality, as Elster and Isa continue to bring about its apparent decay in pursuit of their own wills. The relationship between Adler and Isa is interesting and I think quite important, as he's the only character besides Elster who gets direct screen time with her. As the game bluntly mentions the first time Adler meets Isa,

NONE OF US ARE HERE BY CHOICE (And No One Will Miss Us)

It's from this and the Schopenhauerian interpretation of Tristan and Isolde that I think Adler represents phenomenon while Isa represents noumenon.
Adler wishes to preserve the light of day. To awaken from the dream and return to shared experience of a common, coherent reality. One where what you see is what you get. Where experiences can be trusted, and results are predictable.
Isa wishes to live in the night. The world of passion and of choice. Valuing the experience of familial love over all else, even the world or truth, she continues to live only in pursuit of another reality amidst the abyss of uncertainties, one where she made amends with her sister before it was too late, or never fell out with her at all. And when she finally accepts that she cannot find it or manifest it, much like her namesake, she concludes the "eternal night" is her last recourse.
There can be no perfect reconciliation between these two wills. It can never be day and night at the same time. And yet they do find themselves together- falling into the bottom of the mine. In the Nowhere, at the end of all things. At the sunset, the liminal space in between the night and day, between dreaming and waking. Because, one means nothing without the other.
To me that is the important take away from her story. That if we don't want to live in regret over the hand life dealt us- hating ourselves for being unable to fulfill the desires we were stuck with, before its too late, we must confront the question of which world we want to live in.
Is it truly better to have loved and lost then never loved at all? Is it truly better to have tried and failed than to never try? I don't want to believe the answer is no, but none of us can be certain for ourselves until we reason with ourselves honestly about why we struggle with the question in the first place- what the true value of each side of the coin is. Perhaps then we can accept what is beyond our control.
To quote Schopenhauer once more:

Every individual, every human apparition and its course of life, is only one more short dream of the endless spirit of nature, of the persistent will-to-live, is only one more fleeting form, playfully sketched by it on its infinite page, space and time; it is allowed to exist for a short while that is infinitesimal compared with these, and is then effaced, to make new room. Yet, and here is to be found the serious side of life, each of these fleeting forms, these empty fancies, must be paid for by the whole will-to-live in all its intensity with many deep sorrows, and finally with a bitter death, long feared and finally made manifest. It is for this reason that the sight of a corpse suddenly makes us serious.

like we lose almost NO main characters ??? Theon Greyjoy and he dies in the stupidest way possible ????!???
and like the secondary characters we lost was both too little and the wrong ones. like, oh no, lyanna mormont ??? Beric was brought back to life eighteen times to throw a sword at a wight ???????????? MELISANDRE WAS RIGHT THERE YOU COULDVE BROUGHT HIM BACK !!!
so like basically we lost almost nothing (except a couple thousand unnamed soldiers) and we defeated global warming by faking it out with a cool knife.
Who i thought they could’ve (or shouldve) killed this episode (at least) - Sansa - Tormund - Brienne (Or PODRICK at LEAST) - Davos - Samwell - Grey Worm - Jorah & Beric are alright to kill i guess.
I feel like after this idk what do these characters have to do. I don’t know because i havent finished season eight, but
The way it stands, right now how i feel and how i think the characters feel is like: At least the night kings dead, but there’s a bunch of bodies in winterfell and a handful of our friends are dead. But now we can go kill Cersei !!!