TLDR - Straight male, 26, looking for a relationship preferably from USA but interested in long distance if we really click. Shoot me a DM if you'd like to talk :)
Hello! I hope everyone is having a phenomenal day today.
I will start this by saying I'm a yapper when it comes to introductions so I'll try my best to keep this short lol. My name is Caleb, I'm 26, and I live in the United States! I work in telecommunications as a project manager but I am (slowly) working on switching careers to data analytics because I think I'll have a better chance at making a long lasting career doing data analytics than I would project management.
Hobbies: I enjoy doing lots of things! I'm usually pretty laid back and open to do anything and I love joining in on my friends/partners hobbies. I mostly spend my free time going to the gym(working on getting healthier), listening to music, watching tv/movies (Harry potter is the best movie SERIES change my mind) and playing video games!
What am I looking for? I am looking for someone who IDEALLY lives in North America so it's easy to travel. Outside of NA is debatable, I think it would be quite hard to see each other, and the goal is definitely to close the distance. If I click with someone then i would be willing to make it work, however I am not interested in moving outside of America at this time, so if we were to have a long lasting relationship I would want you to move to America down the line.
I am also looking for someone with a good personality, a good sense of humor, and someone who can be as bubbly as I am but also be serious when it's needed. I think it's important to have that balance. I am looking for someone who is dating for the long term and someone to hopefully build a future with, I don't want something short term/casual. And most importantly I need someone who is a strong communicator as that is THE MOST important thing in a relationship IMO. Exercise has recently become pretty important too me in my life, not saying you HAVE to be into exercise haha but i think it would be cool to have an accountability buddy :)
Anyways, I tried to not make this too long but also not too short, did I succeed? Probably not, but I'll leave that up to you. If I sound somewhat interesting I'd love it if you shot me a message with an intro of yourself!!!
Start it off by answering this question: If you could drop everything and go on a 2 week paid vacation right now, where would it be and why?
I hope to hear from all of you, regardless have a fantastic day! :)

TLDR - Straight male, 26, looking for a relationship preferably from USA but interested in long distance if we really click. Shoot me a DM if you'd like to talk :)
Hello! I hope everyone is having a phenomenal day today.
I will start this by saying I'm a yapper when it comes to introductions so I'll try my best to keep this short lol. My name is Caleb, I'm 26, and I live in the United States! I work in telecommunications as a project manager but I am (slowly) working on switching careers to data analytics because I think I'll have a better chance at making a long lasting career doing data analytics than I would project management.
Hobbies: I enjoy doing lots of things! I'm usually pretty laid back and open to do anything and I love joining in on my friends/partners hobbies. I mostly spend my free time going to the gym(working on getting healthier), listening to music, watching tv/movies (Harry potter is the best movie SERIES change my mind) and playing video games!
What am I looking for? I am looking for someone who IDEALLY lives in North America so it's easy to travel. Outside of NA is debatable, I think it would be quite hard to see each other, and the goal is definitely to close the distance. If I click with someone then i would be willing to make it work, however I am not interested in moving outside of America at this time, so if we were to have a long lasting relationship I would want you to move to America down the line.
I am also looking for someone with a good personality, a good sense of humor, and someone who can be as bubbly as I am but also be serious when it's needed. I think it's important to have that balance. I am looking for someone who is dating for the long term and someone to hopefully build a future with, I don't want something short term/casual. And most importantly I need someone who is a strong communicator as that is THE MOST important thing in a relationship IMO. Exercise has recently become pretty important too me in my life, not saying you HAVE to be into exercise haha but i think it would be cool to have an accountability buddy :)
Anyways, I tried to not make this too long but also not too short, did I succeed? Probably not, but I'll leave that up to you. If I sound somewhat interesting I'd love it if you shot me a message with an intro of yourself!!!
Start it off by answering this question: If you could drop everything and go on a 2 week paid vacation right now, where would it be and why?
I hope to hear from all of you, regardless have a fantastic day! :)

I'm tired. Very tired. I wish I could just give my "self" to somebody that needs it. I'm pretty sure anyone else can make use of my life way better than me. My soul is just very tired of living.
I work out, eat healthy, meditate, don't smoke nor drink. I've purposefully tricked myself to live healthy so I can get that push to keep going on. But life has been hard since I started a new chapter in life abroad.
University was brutal. It was hard realizing that I'm not smart, but I managed to graduate after lots of failed exams etc. I moved to another town for my masters, which was much easier than my bachelors, but covid hit and it was hard to cope with. I worked part time & finished my studies. I recently graduated and was promised several times to work full time at the current company after I graduated, but they didn't follow through. I'm now looking for a job, got an offer, said yes, did some paperwork but haven't signed the contract yet, more than a month later & after several emails, I still haven't signed the working contract. It feels like they're not going to hire me.
Several years (>9 years) of broken hopes, plans, expectations made me really tired. I'm not looking forward to my future. I wish I could just give myself to somebody that needs it, because I don't need it. But it's such a shame to throw it all away. I look great, have useful degrees, great family background, good habits. People around me would wonder, why would I not be okay.
I'm just so tired.

I'm naturally quite curious and generally do ask questions to learn more about things.
Asking questions on Reddit, seems to get fully misinterpreted with people answering in rude unsolicited life advice, that was never to do with my question.
People irl say " ask questions if you're stuck" so I ask. I'm very careful to amend my tone and I've found no matter what, people assume I've taken something personally or that I'm being judgemental. When really, I just would like more information.
A casual example is recently I asked a tutor why so many people drink energy drinks and eat sweets in morning class. She responded by telling me it's rude to be so judgemental. But for me, I am genuinely interested in why certain behaviours are normalised with groups of people. Also I cannot eat sweets or tolerate energy drinks so I'm quite curious about those who can.
It is deeply irritating to be so misinterpreted and misunderstood over and over again.
I currently work in the MH & social care sector and asked a colleague why a service user was behaving in an aggressive way. I asked what had triggered it. And was met with " don't take it personally"- when I wasn't taking it personally to begin with and genuinely was intrigued what the triggers were.
Am I just asking questions wrong or is there a negative culture to asking questions?
As an audhd person, Its not my first rodeo with being misunderstood but the question thing, just confuses me.

A few years ago I researched this religion, I was 16 and I didn't look to much into it but I recently fell down an information pipe line to try and learn more. I bought a Qur'an and a Hijab after doing a bit of research.
I'm definitely no expert with the information, I want to learn more and I'm looking more into the aspects of the things that are okay or things that aren't.
I'm mostly worried about my identity/marrying into the religion/finding somewhere near I live where I can talk to more Muslims about it.
About me, I'm 18, almost 19. I am queer, genderfluid and afab. I'm white, raised in a half religious household surrounded by Christianity. I'm not sure if this is allowed or okay, I've heard multiple sides of people saying that the Muslim religion doesn't necessarily say anything against it, but I've also heard that if you are queer and you revert you just can't act on those urges or thoughts, that when you follow Allah, they are the only thing that can judge you. I've heard people say everyone's Journey and Relationship with Allah is their own and their connection to the God is not for others to judge.
I have no problem with falling into the woman's role with work and staying home, things like that. As long as I can keep my prefered name and have my identity at least be acknowledged and not erased, I would be fine.
I also don't want to end up being a bad 'representation' of the religion because I wasn't born into it, my parents were Christians who didn't practice fully.
I wanted to look into Islam because I like the values of the community, helping people and caring for your friends, I like the treating of animals and others even outside the religion. I like how accepting everything shows to be, I would consider myself a kind person, I try to compliment people when I think it will help them be happy, I try to donate if I can or help homeless people with food, I'm not sure if this is for me or if I could talk to anyone practicing the religion.
My roommates told me a little bit about it because they've studied religion. They told me how strict Islam was, how I might not be accepted into the religion because of how I identify. That women rarely have a voice and talk much about things that happen to them, like if assaulted, that she couldn't speak up in fear if getting called unclean. Also about how a lot of relationships can turn abusive if you get taken advantage of.
They were also bringing up to me that my health might not be able to handle the I tense fasting, I have an iron deficiency and some vitamin deficiencies that I need to eat and drink for.
I live smack dab in the middle of the us, I'm not sure where to go or what resources I could go to.

Ahoy there! We're on the lookout for one more to join our crew on a Pathfinder 2e nautical campaign. One of our crewmates is currently sailing (studying) abroad for a semester, and we are planning to add a 4th to a group that will become 5 total upon his return.
About the Campaign: We are journeyman pirates, each of us apprenticing under some significantly more experienced officers while dreaming of riches and adventure. As the campaign unfolds, we’ll acquire our very own ship, ready to raid and conquer the vast oceans in our GM’s homebrew campaign setting. But beware, the seas are treacherous, and only the most cunning and courageous will carve their names into the annals of maritime legend. This campaign is aiming to focus on light-hearted shenanigans in a hard-hearted world on the open ocean.
We are currently set to prepare on a months-long voyage to an isle of (potentially) undead in search of a specific person our captain is looking for. Plenty of adventure and exploration awaits!
The party just hit level 3, so that will be the starting level of our new crewmate. The party consists of a Laughing Shadow Magus, an Angel Eidolon Summoner, a Mentalist Familiar Wizard, and an Animal Companion Precision Ranger (on hiatus).
If you are curious as to what style of world we will be playing in, our GM has given us a short summary of what to expect. Feel free to read it!
The World
Ship Encounters: Our DM has created bespoke Pathfinder-friendly rules for ship encounters, adding an extra layer of sea travel and combat. These rules are very granular, so being interested in engaging with this system is a must. This is a new system that we'll navigate together and if playtesting shows things need to be changed, they will be changed (we have already adjusted the system once, and we'll surely do so again if needed). Brace yourselves for naval battles, daring escapes, and unforeseen challenges on the open waters.
Each player will have an assigned role as part of the ship's crew, and these roles are what we will use for ship-to-ship encounters. There are more roles than there will be players, and each role is unique- no double dipping! Also, they are flexible enough to fit multiple attributes, so as long as you can come up with an appropriate reason for it, you can select most stats for the role's key ability score. Roles already taken: Captain, Master, Man-at-Arms. Our Quartermaster is on hiatus.
Roles Aboard The Ship:
Taken- Captain: The leader of the crew, making crucial decisions in the heat of battle and steering the ship to victory. The captain is not the king of the ship, majority rule has powerful sway and the captain’s decision may not always be a final one.
Taken- Master: The navigator and cartographer, guiding the ship through waters, setting course to engage and fleeing combat when in rough waters.
Available- Ship's Mate: The right-hand to the Captain, managing the crew’s morale and assisting in various other ship functions.
Available- Gunner: Mastering the ship's cannons, turning the tide of battle with precise and devastating firepower.
Available- Surgeon: Healing wounds and curing ailments, ensuring the crew is always ready for the next adventure.
Taken- Quartermaster: Managing supplies, overseeing critical repairs, negotiating with ports, and keeping the ship's stores in check.
Taken- Man-at-Arms: Leader of the marines on board, skilled in combat for boarding and plundering.
Other Optional Rules: We are also using the popular Ancestral Paragon and Free Archetype rules, with FAs pending DM approval. We also use incremental level up rules, where you gain one attribute point at each at levels 2-5, rather than getting all 4 at level 5.
Other than these three rules, we plan to run the game entirely RAW. We will also be running everything per the remaster.
About the group: Our group has been playing together for the past 4 years. Although most of our experience is in 5e, we have recently switched to pathfinder. One of the players is very experienced in pathfinder, while the other three have about a year's worth, the rest of their TTRPG experience notwithstanding. There will be a learning curve, especially post-remaster, as we still get our spell names mixed up on occasion.
Additionally, our GM has double-digit years of tabletop experience, including multiple in Pathfinder.
We use voice chat on discord for sessions and foundry for our virtual tabletop.
This will be a strategic and lighthearted pirate themed Pathfinder 2e experience. If you're interested in joining us, please fill out the form below!
The Fooooooooorm!

I (24M) was in a relationship that mutually ended after nearly 8 years. My ex and I grew apart, and stuff like wanting kids, religion, politics, and big life morals/values just became opposite. I know everyone is entitled to their own views, which is why I have nothing bad against my ex, but when it comes to future goals, she wanted to travel, experience life, and not be tied down by marriage or a family, and at the end of the day, we decided stuff like that shouldn’t force the other person to change. Well, I recently met this girl (21F) who sees eye to eye with me on literally everything. She’s basically me, just in female form. Wants kids, goes to church, is a very family oriented person, etc. We clicked instantly. She admitted to liking me since January, but because of the breakup, I needed some time to think and make sure I was ready to be with the right person because I felt like I loved the wrong girl for so long. We’ve had several hour or longer calls and FaceTimes where we discuss going out, and we’ve agreed we should go on a date to see if chemistry in person is the same as it used to be when we first met at work. We haven’t seen each other in person since I’ve been single. She’s had a bad past relationship, which involved physical and psychological abuse, and was actually engaged before breaking it off, but it was before I knew her. Nothing I would ever hold against her either way. We discuss future plans like being together, and she’s even mentioned stuff as far down the road as 6-8 months from now. Recently the talking has slowed, and it feels like we’re working against each other. Should I just be upfront and see what the deal is, or will time answer that for me. I’d hate to push her in wrong direction, especially because of her previous relationship being so rough. If things really do align, is it me that should wait till she is ready to be more involved, or is something WE should figure out together?
TL;DR- I met a girl who’s basically me in female form back in January. We get along super well, and we both admitted feelings for each other a couple weeks ago. We want the same things, but recently talking had declined a lot. Should I see what’s up, or do I be still and wait?

Recently, an artist sampled my own content without permission into which I contacted Spotify and the distributors and had his music removed for using my content without permission A week later, I get a “copyright infringement” notice from my former distribution label saying that I had three days to provide documentation for the song. The distributor would not tell me at first who issued the claim. So I provided documentation and they denied my documentation saying along the lines of “it’s not the featured artist who’s claiming it’s infringement, it’s the main artist.” I was confused as I am the main artist and producer and never sent an email to them about taking the song and the entire album down. Come to find out, the person who sampled my content without permission was the one who contacted my former distributor, pretending to be me, to get it taken down The fact that the distributor did not ask for evidence to prove he was me is insane. After explaining everything to the distributor that I never issued the claim and that it was someone else who was pretending to be me, they decided to do nothing so far. Even more bizarre is that Amuse has my email on file and should have known by my account being associated with the email 

The distributor is amuse by the way

Recently dropped my pair of Costa Blackfin Pros and my glass lenses completely cracked. I sent them in to have the lenses replaced. This was just about 3 weeks ago, so I decide to check in on the status because I have been totally left in the dark (no "we got your glasses!" or "We are beginning your repair now" email updates or texts). Turns out they got them about 2 weeks ago, and they have been waiting for the new lenses to be shipped to their repair center for over a week before they can begin making the repair. Which apparently the repair itself can take up to 15 days?? When I confronted the customer service representative about the ridiculous nature of paying $130 dollars upfront, to then have to wait over a month for a simple repair, he said "if you want to make it cheaper you can have the lenses shipped to you, and have them installed by a Costa Associate for Free!"
So let me get this straight, I would be cheaper, and faster if I did all the work myself instead of sending it directly to their repair center?
I'm not sure if Luxottica is on a mission to have the worst customer service known to man but they sure are steaming down that path.
TL;DR: Costa (Luxottica) Customer Service Repair Center does not have the parts to repair their own sunglasses and I've been with sunglasses for almost a month waiting for them.

I (25F) from London met a guy from Porto, Portugal through Instagram in 2022. We both traveled to Malta at different times, and he found me through a tagged picture. He liked a bunch of my photos and eventually DM'd me with compliments after I followed him back.
Initially, I didn't think it would amount to anything serious, but after months of consistent interaction on Instagram, I started getting to know him. We talked about the potential of dating, considering that London isn't far from Porto by flight compared to other parts of the UK, like my hometown in Scotland.
We spoke every day, and he flew to London to visit me in February. I even started learning Portuguese. Our dates went great, and we felt chemistry in person. Although English isn't his first language, he communicated well but sometimes struggled to express himself fully in conversations, which was easier for him over text.
We began dating exclusively, and he mentioned wanting to make me his girlfriend at the right time. However, he lost his job towards the end of 2022, which was tough. Despite his situation, he still wanted to meet in London, and we planned for me to visit him in Porto in May 2023. Unfortunately, things went wrong. He was still unemployed and often late picking me up, leaving me to spend two days alone. One of those days, he took his roommate’s grandma to the hospital. I paid for some of our meals, but I sensed he felt pressured.
Sadly, on the second day, I found out my close aunt had died unexpectedly, which I told him about, and I was understandably down. Despite that, I tried to make an effort. However, as the days went by, he started picking me up late, and we spent less time together. Porto was beautiful, but I traveled there to spend time with him.
I'm not confrontational and hate awkward situations. After speaking to friends and family, I messaged him before our last day together, expressing that I felt we hadn't spent enough time together. He responded that just because I was on holiday, it didn’t mean everyone else was. This hurt me, and I dropped it. Our last date felt awkward, and I avoided a goodbye kiss. I felt horrible that night, unsure if I should talk more about it.
Back in the UK, I was annoyed and waited for him to contact me. I sent voice notes expressing my unhappiness and the need for better communication if we were to continue our relationship. He didn't respond, and after a week, I sent another message about him ignoring me. He then unfriended me on Facebook. I was heartbroken and blocked him to move on. I eventually unblocked him earlier this year but never really got over him.
Recently, he liked a lot of my pictures but didn't say anything. I’ve been thinking about our situation and realize that communication was hard, compounded by the language barrier and long-distance dating. For a long time, I questioned whether his intentions were even genuine. It’s affected my confidence in getting back into the dating pool.
I'm not sure if I want to get back together, but I do want to speak to him. I’ve followed him on Instagram, and he followed back, liking more pictures.
Should I wait for him to break the ice, or should I reach out?
Any advice would be appreciated

I got a ticket in '21 for no seat belt in Louisiana. Hurricane Ida hit and my house was in shambles. We evacuated and had to live away from our house for weeks. In dealing with the fallout I forgot about the ticket and my license was suspended 6 months later. When I realized this, I payed the ticket immediately.
I then went through the difficult process of dealing with the OMV. They were still affected by COVID and getting in touch with a person was difficult. I can't remember what happened because it was 2 years ago, but I really thought I had taken care of everything with the OMV. I thought my license was reinstated and I could drive. Looking through my records now I can see a charge on my bank statement to the OMV of $17 for reinstatement (it should have been $100). I have no recept or other information of the payment.
Fast forward to this year, I got pulled over for a speeding ticket, and the officer said my license was suspended (still from not paying the seat belt violation). I was shocked. He took my license and gave me 2 tickets (speeding and driving while suspended) but let me drive 3 blocks to my house. I got in touch with the OMV and this time had a super easy time getting my license reinstated and I could see it was valid on the LA Wallet app.
This is where I did something really stupid. I tried to pay both tickets and realized I had to go to court for the Driving While Suspended charge. I went in expecting to plead not guilty and explain to the judge what happened, but that day the judge wasn't hearing anything other than a plea. The young lady in front of me tried to tell her story but the judge said she would have to plead not guilty to have her case heard.
There were so many things going through my head. I had so little time to think, I thought I was in traffic court and I didn't think this was a serious crime. I had yet to find in my records I had paid $17 to the OMV for the first attempt to reinstate. I thought the only penalty was going to be a fine. I just wanted to get it over and done with. So I plead guilty. I paid my fine and went on living and driving thinking this was finished.
This weekend I got a letter from the OMV saying because I was convicted my driving privileges are suspended for a YEAR. Not being able to drive for a year is devastating to me and my family. I had NO idea this was going to happen.
My question is what should I do now? Is there any one I can talk to to have my plea reversed? Should I get a lawyer (I'm really scared of having a large financial burden because of lawyer fees)?
I know hardship license exists but I'm scared of the driving restrictions. I have a job working self employed with a nonprofit. My job is weird. I drive to at least 5 different locations a week. I have conferences and service trips I go to in different states. I have to schedule to meet with people for donation purposes at random times. Not to mention driving kids to school, Dr visits, psych visits for my son's ADHD. But should I give up and go this route and try to work my life around it?
Sorry I know this is an information dump, but I'm not sure what info is relevant. I need help and I really don't know what I'm doing. At least some pointers in where to get started would be helpful. I'm trying to meet with someone from the DA's office today to see if they could help (a friend knows someone there). But if that doesn't help, I want to know what to do next.
TL; DR: Made a dumb decision and plead guilty to to driving while suspended instead of waiting to explain my case to the judge. Didn't realize the penalty and now a seatbelt violation has turned into a year suspension from driving.

Got myself into a Beauty College and graduating in 6.5 months to earn my licenses as a Nail Tech. Costs about 8-10k and financial aid will cover more than half. All my life I’ve been going back n forth from working as a server or construction/welding. Up until a year ago, during the pandemic I realized that the Beauty Industry was one of the few that was still thriving so I took a chance (with the support of family and friends) and decided to pursue this career.
In the beginning it was a little deflating to my ego, the stigma that goes with a male being in a women’s industry plus I wasn’t good at the start ( who is when trying something brand new ) I had no idea what a cuticle was til I went to school. I just knew when it was time to cut my nails and that was that. Never went inside and got a manicure or pedicure before. Not that I ever truly needed one bc I mean most guys do the basic things to clip n clean.
That being said, fellas I’m telling you now. If your an extrovert, enjoy talking to women/making them laugh, take care of yourself physically/mentally, have some sort of dressing fashion, making easy money in AC + tips and want vacations/time off almost anytime you want as long as you give the owners within a respectable time frame. This job is for you! I’ve been working little over a year, no where near as good as my other technicians but I’m pulling in at least 55-60k a year. That’s only doing the basics/simple stuff. Like in every career, you put forth the hunger to learn and get better, you’ll be pulling in more money. My fellow nail techs who have been doing this a long time. A slow week is 1,500 a week for them 5-6 days.
Now I love this job haha. Definitely has its perks, free mani/pedis, the ladies in the salon will take care of your brows, make sure your on point and one thing it has done for me, built up confidence to speak/hold a conversation with women. If you don’t crumble under pressure 😂 servicing a woman’s nails and making her laugh/comfortable at the same time. Whole different ball park. Feel free to ask any questions bros! We need more fresh n fly male techs out here, giving free game to my boys out there who wanna learn the ins and outs
By the way, there is no background check as long as you don’t look hella sketchy, tattoos are now being more accepted but face tattoos will always be difficult for a owner of any business to hire, gang/racial are obvious. But from what I am told, clients enjoy that im a Millennial, relatable, well-spoken/dressed, tattoos and a decent looking Male. You know how us Men would say girls have it easier in certain aspects in a career such as like a barber for instance. If she was pretty or cute, did my lineup or fade and it didn’t come out to nice. I’d still tip and come back because of her looks/personality and made me feel good while be serviced. “Pretty Boy Privilege” is definitely a thing in this industry so it’s the same for us. Being a young male tech has tons of benefits here also if your smooth English speaker haha.
One last thing to add, if you’re feeling embarrassed switching over from a blue collar job, a “man’s man” type of job. I tell my buddies all the time when they tried clowning at me. “While yall are still talking about how you would approach a woman or talk to one, I’m really here doing it and yall are still keeping to yourselves.” 😂

Hey everyone! This is HH Playful Panda, the lead designer behind the new Consumable Boosts. I know players will be curious about the new boosts, which is why I'm here to talk about them!
In this segment, I'll be going over the Labor Surge consumable boost which you'll see in today's Power event. Labor Surge will boost the production speed of an entire industry to new heights. Here’s how you can make the most of this feature!

How Labor Surge Works:

• Labor Surge doubles the production speed of a specific industry. You can choose from:
  • Mini Surge (60 mins)
  • Labor Surge (2 hours)
  • Mega Surge (4 hours)

Each industry has its own version of Labor Surge, so make sure to select the right industry for the best results! You can also stack multiple Labor Surge uses to extend the effect duration.
We’re giving a free Mini Surge of each industry to every player participating in these upcoming events, so give it a try for free!

• Power Underwhelming - May 21
• Potato Export - June 11
• Space Force - July 4
• Ninja - July 11

Designer's Quick Tips 

Target Your Industries: Choose the industry you want to boost wisely. If you have a crucial industry lagging behind, use a Labor Surge to ramp up production.  Combo Power: Combine Labor Surge with Time Warps, Propaganda Boosts, and Resource Airdrops for extra gains! Activate the Surge first, then add the other boosts for maximum efficiency.  Plan Ahead: Use your Labor Surge when difficult resource missions are slowing you down. It’s best used just before you go into long offline sessions.  Free Sample: Don’t forget to use your free Labor Surge samples! It’s a great way to test its power and see how it fits into your strategy.  Offline Boost: Labor Surge affects offline production too, so make sure to use that to your advantage. 

HH Playful Panda's Strategy

Personally, I’d start my play session with a Labor Surge on the industries with my weakest Researchers. I would activate the Propaganda Boost to get even better results. If there’s a particularly difficult mission blocking me, I’d ensure Labor Surge is active just before using a series of Time Warps (including the Ad Time Warp!). Then, just before going offline, I’d activate a Mega Surge on the industry that’s currently blocking me. This way, I maximize my production gains while idling!

I'm currently a 20 year old university student expected to graduate in 2026. I already max out my TFSA every year, so I was considering contributing to a RRSP & FHSA. I've heard that it almost always doesn't make sense to delay RRSP contributions, but I think in my case there might be some merit to delaying RRSP/FHSA contributions since I already know my expected income for the next few years.
I'd greatly appreciate it if someone looked over my calculations below to check if I'm potentially forgetting anything that may alter my conclusions.
Assuming I continue to work for the same company and don't get any raises...

• My income for 2024 should be approx 55k CAD working 4 months of the year.
• My income for 2025 should be approx 110k CAD working 8 months of the year.
• My income for 2026 should be approx 110k CAD working 8 months of the year.
• My income for 2027 should be approx 165k CAD working full-time year-round.

If we assume federal and Ontario tax rates will stay the same from 2024 to 2027, then using the EY tax calculator, I will pay....

• $8191 in taxes for 2024 tax year
• $25108 in taxes for 2025 tax year
• $25108 in taxes for 2026 tax year
• $49122 in taxes for 2027 tax year

Scenario 1

So if I contribute 18% max to RRSP and max $8000 to FHSA every year, then I will contribute...

• $9900 RRSP + $8000 FHSA = $17900 for 2024 tax year
• $19800 RRSP + $8000 FHSA = $27800 for 2025 tax year
• $19800 RRSP + $8000 FHSA = $27800 for 2026 tax year
• $29700 RRSP + $8000 FHSA = $37700 for 2027 tax year

Altogether, the RRSP & FHSA deductions result in a taxable income of $37100, $82200, $82200, and $127300.
So if I max out RRSP & FHSA contribution & claim it from my income every year, I will pay...

• $4456 in taxes for 2024 tax year
• $16208 in taxes for 2025 tax year
• $16208 in taxes for 2026 tax year
• $32523 in taxes for 2027 tax year

Scenario 2

For 2023, the max possible RRSP contribution is $30780 and the max possible FHSA contribution is $16000 (if I contributed $0 the previous year). So delaying deducting RRSP and FHSA contributions from my taxable income to maximize overall tax savings results in taxable income reductions of...

• $0 RRSP + $0 FHSA = $0 for 2024 tax year
• $24210 RRSP + $16000 FHSA = $40210 for 2025 tax year
• $24210 RRSP + $0 FHSA = $24210 for 2026 tax year
• $30780 RRSP + $16000 FHSA = $46780 for 2027 tax year

Altogether, these RRSP & FHSA deductions result in a taxable income of $47000, $69790, $85790, and $118220 each year respectively.
So if I delay deducting RRSP & FHSA contributions to maximize tax savings, then I will pay...

• $8191 in taxes for 2024 tax year
• $12529 in taxes for 2025 tax year
• $17273 in taxes for 2026 tax year
• $28582 in taxes for 2027 tax year

Conclusion

In Scenario 1, I pay $69395 in taxes from 2024-2027.
In Scenario 2, I pay $66575 in taxes from 2024-2027.
So by my calculations, delaying my taxable income deductions will save me $2820 on taxes over the next 4 years. This is a large enough gap that even after accounting for the time value of money at an interest rate of 10%, I still come out ahead by delaying taxable income deductions. Note that these calculations are meant to be a good approximation, but actual numbers will vary due to changing tax rates and student tuition credits.

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."

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/us/politics/trump-biden-fundraising.html

Mr. Trump’s advisers have said privately that his campaign, together with the Republican Party and all of their affiliated committees, raised $76.2 million in April. The Biden campaign said on Monday evening that it had raised $51 million in April with the Democratic National Committee — which was just over half as much as they raised in March, and also a touch less than they raised in February.
In filings with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, Mr. Biden’s campaign committee reported taking in $24.2 million in April, compared with $43.8 million in March.
Mr. Trump’s campaign still lags far behind in total cash on hand, the April filings show. Mr. Biden’s campaign ended April with $84.5 million on hand, holding roughly steady from the preceding month, while Mr. Trump’s campaign had $48 million in net cash on hand, up from $45 million in March.
Mr. Trump had been widely expected to close the fund-raising gap with Mr. Biden once he secured the Republican nomination, because he can now raise money in tandem with the Republican National Committee, collecting checks of more than $800,000 per donor. Mr. Biden has been gathering such large checks for months with his party, building an overall war chest with the Democratic National Committee and their shared accounts of $192 million.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/15/business/wall-street-donors-trump.html

When President Donald J. Trump left office, some of Wall Street’s biggest names, who had taken to him during his first term in the White House, swore they were moving on from him for good. They were fatigued by his leadership style, disappointed by some of his policies and shocked by the U.S. Capitol riot. Some of them even savaged him publicly.
Their stated distaste didn’t last. With Mr. Trump leading in the polls, big financiers on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley and elsewhere are edging into his corner, according to interviews with more than a dozen people who sought anonymity because they didn’t want their personal views to be tied to their employers.
The motivations are manifold. In many instances, it’s less that they’re enthusiastic about Mr. Trump — “I still hate the man,” one hedge fund billionaire said — and more that they’re exasperated with the economic and immigration policies of President Biden. In other cases, the willingness to support a return of Mr. Trump reflects a growing dissatisfaction with what many big Wall Street donors see as the White House’s hardening stance against Israel in its war on Gaza.
A prominent example of the about-face is Kenneth Griffin, a hedge fund magnate and political megadonor who publicly derided Mr. Trump as a “three-time loser” less than two years ago. In recent weeks, the Citadel founder has been in communication with the former president’s campaign about potentially making a major donation, which would amount to millions of dollars.

Earlier this month I interviewed for a teaching position and was offered the job shortly after. It has been about 3 weeks and I have yet to receive anything official from HR. When I called HR, they said they have receive the intent to hire form, but they have not yet started the hiring process for the 24-25 school year.
Is it normal to wait this long for a written job offer from HR?? I really hope I am freaking out for nothing 😅

• Just some background information:
• I recently graduated, so this will be my first year teaching.
• The district I applied to is pretty large. Part of the reason I am so concerned is due to how large the district is, as well as budget cuts and school closures.

I (24F) suspect my close friends Jane (22F) and Mike (25M) are in a relationship with each other, but I'm not sure of it. I had my suspicions, but I always just chucked it up to them being comfortable with each other, but recent events have brought things into perspective.
For context, Mike and I became friends at the start of the first semester in our 3rd year of college. We are in the same major (same as Jane), and we bonded over some 2nd year courses we both had to retake due to some issues. Mike and I have become good friends since then. Our rented apartments are a short walking distance apart, so sometimes I go over to his during exams so we study together and share notes and texts, and other times I just go there to hang out and chill with his flatmates, and vice versa. I stay alone, though. At the time, neither of us were close to Jane; I wouldn't call us friends (with her), but there was also no enemity or anything; we just casually exchanged greetings whenever we bumped into each other or when we met in class.
Jane and I had always attended the same church in college, but like i said earlier, we weren't friends, so we always exchanged hello's and hi's, and that was it. I just knew her as one of the smart/intelligent ones in class. We were both appointed as leaders in different departments in our 4th year, despite the fact that we both didn't want the positions. We bonded over our mutual feelings of how wrong it was that the positions were forced on us even after we voiced out that we didn't want them. Naturally, hello's and hi's progressed to longer conversations, and we realised we had some similar interests and views on certain topics like relationships and marriage, and we also live in the same state and are not that far apart either.
She usually talks about how she can't picture herself in love or in a relationship with someone and usually cringes at display of love, when the topic of relationship comes up or when she sees people gushing about their boyfriends. I found it contradictory since she reads a lot of romance novels, but then there are folks like that. On some levels, I related to her feelings, but I'm not as averse to them as she was. In her words, she said, "It's hard for me to like somebody in a romantic way; I've only ever liked one person, and it didn't last that long." She is not the type to go out of her way to cook or join in meal prep because she doesn't like cooking and finds it stressful, which was something else we bonded over.
Jane and Mike connected through me since I'm almost always with Mike in and out of school. He is naturally a free and friendly person so it didn't take long for them to get close, and so it began: our trio's friendship. We would walk back home together, talking about random things or something related to school. Jane's flat is also not so far from ours, so chilling at each other's place wasn't rare. I still remember the first time Jane wanted to go over to Mike's place. She asked me to come along with her since she was new to the group (by group, I mean including Mike's flatmates) and felt awkward. All we did was just watch movies. That concludes the backstory
Fast forward to finals; we got really busy with projects, seminars, and exams. Naturally, there would be no time for hangouts anymore; at least that's what I thought, but Mike and Jane still had solid communication almost every day and met up quite often. which is why i didn't think much of it when i started meeting up with them again and I noticed the dynamics had changed since i was M.I.A. for while, I was under a lot of pressure that period so i was really focused on school. Now they are done and just waiting for graduation, but I still have some exams to take. Recently, she has been hanging at his place a lot more than before with her younger brother, who recently got into the school.
My reason for making this post is that last Saturday was Mike's birthday, and he asked me to come over for a little get-together of friends. It was really fun. After eating, we cut the cake, and he thanked us for coming. Then everyone was just dancing and having a good time. Eventually, the fun began to fizzle out as it was getting late and people had started leaving. When I was ready to leave, Jane said, "Let's see you off." Then she and Mike followed me out of the apartment, and as we walked, there was this awkward silence that lasted for a minute, which is unusual. I felt out of place, like I wasn't supposed to be there, so I decided to bring up the games they played during the party so we could talk about something instead of the awkward silence that hung in the air, and that was all we talked about till we got to my place and they both went back. There are other things I've picked up on, but this one is the most glaring to me because it has never happened before.
I've been thinking of asking Mike about it, but I don't know if it'll come off as me prying, but I feel like I need to know so I can be self-aware about giving them space or privacy whenever they are together. Some other signs are when she'll want him to support her when we have a disagreement on a topic or when she comes to his defence whenever I'm teasing him about something. She always does it in a she-and-him-against-me kind of way, which I find very odd considering that we are supposed to be friends?. Another sign was the fact she helped with the cooking prep for the birthday and doing the dishes, both things she always firmly says she wouldn't do unless she had to, like when her mom says she should or at her own apartment. Any advice will be really helpful.

Previous Entry
Writing these things has made me realize how different I sound these days. Back when all this started I’m not sure I even spoke English and I certainly didn’t speak like I do now but to be honest, I don’t remember. Trying to recall things to write has made me realize exactly how many little things I’ve forgotten over the years. The sights, the sounds, all those fade into the background of most events.
Even something as visceral as Archer’s basement still takes me a while to recall clearly. I wonder if it’s more than just my long life, we do age after all. I mentioned before that sunlight is not deadly to vampires like myself but very unpleasant, that and it makes us more normal. In the sun I won’t be as strong as I would be in the dark and by my assessment I age in the sun as well. Not any faster than a normal person but I do age, its why I don’t still look like that little boy stuck in Paris anymore.
I did spend quite some time in Paris before I left or rather, escaped. I’m not sure I ever would have left if not for the war. I didn’t have many friends there save for other… I’m not sure what to call them… entities? Whatever you want to cal it I had some friends in the more supernatural parts of the city. A vampire named Belle had become a sort of mother figure to me over the years spent there.
I met her by chance one night as I sated myself in an alley. I was ready to fight but she just laughed and flashed her own fangs at me, ridiculing me for being so careless. It was under her wing where I learned everything I know now about vampires. It’s where I realized not all vampires endure sunlight as well as I do, if anything that one trait is what’s most unique about me according to her. But thats not the story I want to tell on these pages tonight. I want to tell the story of lieutenant Marsh and the real beginnings of the organization that would become Chimera.
When war came to Paris that summer I was unprepared. I never expected the war to spiral out of hand so quickly or for it to force me out of my home. I was with Belle and a few more of her friends whose names escape me waiting out the worst of it and hoping things would blow over in the city soon. Obviously we were completely misguided, it was that sense of invulnerability again just the same as when I was a boy. The world was our playground and nothing could hurt us. It didn’t help that in some ways I really was invulnerable and it went straight to my head.
Only flashes of my memory from that day remain. I remember the nazi soldier kicking in the door and firing at Belle’s friends. I remember the screaming that abruptly ended in a single gunshot. I remember the trail of blood leading to her friends body where it lay staked to the ground in the sun. We heal fast, not instantly but much faster than a human. Put us in sunlight though, and we’re just as fragile as a normal person. It was the first time I’d seen someone with abilities like ours die and it made me feel mortal again for the first time in decades.
The rest of the day is a disjointed blur. Belle and I fled the city, I blank out on the specifics of it but we made it out with some difficulty. After that we hunkered down for the night in a rickety old shack. I remember wanting to push on through the day but Belle protested, she didn’t deal with the sun as well as I did. When night finally fell we fled to the coast and managed to catch a ship heading towards the United States.
The trip was unpleasant to say the least, neither of us made good stowaways. We weren’t living life in the lap of luxury before by any means but we lived comfortably. This was a far cry from what we were used to in Paris and the welcome we received was even worse. Apparently fleeing for your own survival is a crime, both of us were separated and sent to prison on our arrival to the states for stowing away on the ship.
That was the last time I ever saw Belle, I get letters from her every now and then but I haven’t seen her in person since. She does well for herself, works in D.C. as a sort of handler for the supernatural. Regrettably she does work with Chimera, says they have the best interests at heart for the supernatural but she doesn’t see what I see out here. She doesn’t know the part I played in its creation, what it really stood for in the beginning. Chimera tends to kill first these days rather than actually try to help or give the supernatural some kind of place in the world. I think thats why I haven’t been to visit her, I just don’t want to argue with a friend as old as her. Funnily enough I don’t think anyone knows she’s a vampire. I doubt they’d take that very well, she’d probably lose her position. They must have suspicions though because theres no way she’d be able to get letters to me without Baelen knowing about it. Every few months they keep showing up though and I always make sure to write her back.
Anyways I’m getting off topic, back to my story. I was in prison for months until an offer came my way, serve the rest of my sentence or enlist in the army and be a free man when I came back, if I came back. Of course I took the offer, I didn’t realize how suspicious that deal sounded at the time but it actually played out exactly as they said. I also didn’t have much of a choice in the matter either. It was hard to get my hands on any blood when I was almost constantly under watch and I could feel the effects it was having on me. I figured it would be best to get a change of scenery.
The next week I was off to training then not long after, we shipped out to the trenches and met the commander of the platoon I’d been assigned to. That’s the first time I met Lieutenant Johnson Marsh and what a man he was. That first day I was convinced I’d never see a smile ever again, the trenches were a horrible depressing place. But there Marsh was, laughing and smiling and just generally enjoying life with the rest of the platoon. He was either crazy or stupid, thats what my first thoughts about him were. I remember those clearly even today but I couldn’t have been more wrong. If anything he may have turned out to be one of the smartest men I ever knew.
The first few weeks were spent holding our position from the germans. It was brutal but I found I was a decent shot with the rifle I was given. Marsh on the other hand spent those weeks barking orders at us and keeping us in line. He never used a rifle like most of the soldiers used. Instead he kept a Beretta m9 with him at all times. That weapon was the only one I ever saw him use. I remember the name only because he was so found of explaining everything there was to know about the gun to me whenever I questioned him about it. You could immediately recognize the pistol as his by its strange grip. One side of it had a picture of an idyllic scene of a manor house in the middle of a sprawling field. The other had a painting of a woman, his wife I’d guess but he never actually told me if that was there case. He seemed to spend the nights staring with longing at each side of the artistic grip.
I’d never really had a family, even with Belle I’d always felt like I was a bit of an outsider. There was so much I didn’t know about how normal people lived. Even though I’d had friends in Paris we were always kind of hidden away in our own personal corner. There was this separation between us and normal life, even between the other supernaturals in the area.
Here I felt like I was part of something though. Sure I was still lost but so was everyone else, we could be lost together and Marsh would always set us straight in the end. There was something about the man, some piece of him that just understood what we were all going through. He expected a lot from us but he was never unreasonable and several times even argued with command on our behalf when ridiculous orders came our way. I actually wanted to serve with him. The rest of the platoon wasn’t bad but they’d all been given the same deal as me. They were all just there to get out of prison. I’m still not sure what Marsh’s story was, he always kept that to himself but any of us would’ve taken a bullet for that man.
Our first real assignment came maybe three months into my period of indentured service. Our platoon was tasked with rescuing a captured American scientist and capturing a German scientist. The scientists in question were Frank Smith and Stein Hoffman and no, the irony of those names is not lost on me, fits the two of them though. I’m sure doctor Frankenstein wishes he was successful as those two. But before those orders could be acted on we had to overtake a German trench surrounding the compound they were staying in.
That fight was bloody and we lost several good men in the chaos. At one point a trench gun was shoved into my arms and I launched myself into the German trench. I wouldn’t be surprised if ghost stories are still passed around of what I did that day. After I made my way over and into the German trench I lashed out with all I had. Moving with superhuman speed and lashing out with both the bayonet affixed to my gun and my fangs, I fell upon the Germans. They stood little chance as I tore into them and all by my lonesome I ensured we’d face no more resistance.
Marsh was the first over into the now silent trench, I’m glad it was him because I’m not sure anyone else would’ve understood like him. I was holding the German officer to the trench wall, fangs buried in his neck as I fed when I heard footsteps behind me. I dropped him and turned to see Marsh staring questioningly at me. I must’ve been a sight to see, blood dripping from my mouth and covering my bullet torn uniform. Marsh steadied himself for a moment and shouted back to the rest of the platoon,
“Boys hold up a second! Just get down and stay up there a minute won’tcha!”
All of a sudden he took a step forward and a well mannered grin took its usual place on his lips.
“Though You didn’t care for sauerkraut J.?”
The joke stunned me, I fully expected him to shoot me then and there, put me down like the abomination I must’ve looked like to him.
“Lieutenant I…”
But Marsh raised his hands to cut me off.
“Command’d probably want me to shoot’cha, hell maybe I aught’a but I don’t think it’d be right. You seem decent, little odd sure but you’ve got heart, I see it in the way you look out for the boys. Plus I always figured there was some’n off about you. The way you stay out’a the light always seem a little faster and stronger than anyone got the right to be just didn’t figure it’d be…. That.”
Marsh told me pointing to the punctures in the officers neck.
“Thank you lieutenant, Could we keep this between us though sir?”
“Drop the formalities J. Jesus! We’re all friends here.”
“I just don’t want the others to know, they may not be as understanding as you.”
“No can do, but you can tell em’ yourself. Alright men, get on down here!”
In all my years I’d never had to explain myself to anyone up until that point. I guess that day my number was up but I never knew just how understanding people, normal people could be. I’d always lived around the supernatural in Paris, didn’t interact much with the normal people I saw in the streets every day, I didn’t have to. I’d always assumed there was a reason for that but in the moment I realized there wasn’t, not really. I’d just avoided normal people because I feared what they’d think if it came out that I wasn’t like them.
Of course There were some of the men that objected to… what I was. Most of them took after Marsh though. They didn’t really care what I was, I’d proven to them I was a good person and thats all that mattered. I just wish they’d been right about me back then because the truth was I still hadn’t learned to care, not really. Even the ones who objected came around eventually and that night Marsh finally came clean to me about why exactly he was so accepting.
According to him he’d always assumed there was more out there, things beyond human that lived on the fringes of society. Even he always thought he sounded crazy. I was the proof he needed to convince himself he wasn’t. Marsh also told me what we were really doing with the scientists. Both Frank and Stein researched the supernatural, their projects were as secret as secret could be. Marsh’s interests and theories, as personal as he tried to keep them showed up in his file somewhere. The higher ups had handpicked him for this mission because of it. The official story was that Frank had been captured but in reality he defected to further his own research with a like minded individual. Our mission was really to force Frank back into the fold and take Stein along with him.
The more he talked the more I could tell his heart was fully committed to this mission and the final assault tomorrow. I’d never seen someone so… alive. In my extremely long life I don’t think Id ever felt that kind of conviction myself. So I promised him I’d have his back tomorrow no matter what.
Morning broke and with it our assault began. Intel on the German defenses was shoddy at best but we never expected what we’d actually run into. At least three times our number acted as guards so a distraction was in order to give us a window of entry. A few of the men would handle the distraction “however they saw fit” to quote Marsh. Then Marsh and I would make our way into the compound itself and the rest of the platoon would cover us.
For what its worth most of the plan went off without a hitch. A tremendous explosion signaled Marsh and I to press the advantage and rush the confused soldiers that lay in front of us. Some actually turned and ran from me, apparently word of my stunt in the trenches yesterday had spread quickly. The rest of the platoon followed behind us but then our luck ran out with the roar of an engine.
An honest to god panzer tank rolled out of a tunnel we hadn’t seen that ran under the compound and turned its barrel towards us. I almost didn’t hear the blast from how slow time seemed to move. But move it did as the explosion of the shell’s impact scattered bodies left and right. The shell impacted behind us but the sheer force of the blast threw Marsh and I to the ground, knocking us unconscious.
When I slowly came to my eyes couldn’t believe what I was seeing. A man dressed in red priestly robes with a matching red top hat was walking between the bodies. When he approached one that groaned out with agony he’d kneel down and whisper things I couldn’t hear to them, after that he’d snap his fingers. sometimes the person he was talking with would disappear other times they would fall silent and sometimes it didn’t appear that anything happened at all.
Just the sight of the man terrified me and I wasn’t sure why. It was an instinctual reaction, the second I lay eyes on him I froze up and ice cold fear crept its way up my spine. When people accuse me of being the devil this man is who I think of. Even today I’m not sure what it is he does or why. What I do know is that he never looks the same. I’ve seen him appear as male, female, even as an animal on a few occasions but I can always tell. The second I’m near him no matter what he looks like the same old feeling comes over me.
Once my vision had finally focused in on the man he seemed to notice without ever looking at me. I blinked and suddenly he was there, kneeling over me.
“Would you like to live.”
He rasped down at me with a voice that seemed to boom around me no matter how quiet it must’ve actually been. I felt like a child again, staring at Archer for the first time. I’d never really had to fear death before but here I was, sure I was about to meet my end right here. In all honestly I wasn’t injured all that bad, I probably could’ve survived with or without this man help. But something told me that if I said no he’d make sure I would die right here.
“Ye…y… yes”
I stuttered out, barley able to form the words through the pain that stabbed throughout my body.
“You will be my instrument for one night at a time of me choosing.”
The man replied. I stayed silent as I stared into his eyes, trying to determine if the sunglasses he wore were tinted or if his eyes really did burn with an infernal red light. The man cocked his head as if waiting for a response to his question. I’m not sure if question was the right word though, there wasn’t much of a choice for me.
Looking back there was always a choice, maybe I could’ve survived on my own merits, found another way. In the years to come I’d wish I just said no, even if it would’ve cost me my life. But thats not what happened. I nodded and the deal maker snapped his fingers. As soon as he had dark clouds flooded the sky and blocked out the sun, allowing my body to begin repairing itself. The man moved on to where Marsh’s body lay and probably made him the same deal as I felt my body healing. Despite that, my consciousness faded again as I strained to try and hear what the man would say to Marsh.
We never actually discussed the man at all. Not then and not in the years since. Maybe that was all an unspoken part of Marsh’s deal. Maybe both of us just wished that man was nothing more than a waking dream, a vivid hallucination. Whatever the case neither of us ever mentioned that man to each other.
The next time I woke up I was chained to a table next to Marsh. We had been captured and brought before the very scientists we were here to apprehend. There were guards around but they all seemed to be waiting for some kind of order. I was certainly surprised when that order came in perfect English, even more surprised when the order was to let us down so we could talk.
Frank and Stein ended up being quite reasonable people. The two let us stay in relative comfort in the compound as long as we agreed to stay and leave them to their work. That was all the convincing it took for me. I understand that the men I’d served with were all dead and that these two were in some way responsible. Maybe that should’ve bothered me more, today it certainly would’ve. Back then I didn’t think the same way, they accepted me for what I was but only briefly, only out of respect for Marsh. What did the lives of people I’d known for so short a time really matter? Writing this now just makes me realize how cold I was before, I didn’t care for anything beyond myself. I’d made no efforts to find Belle since we were separated and how long had I known her, 100 years, more? I may have pretended I cared but when push came to shove I simply tried to make sure I survived.
Marsh wasn’t as cold as me, in fact he almost immediately reached for where his pistol should’ve been when he was unchained. It took Frank, Stein, and myself weeks to convince him that helping would be the right decision. He didn’t like it at first but little by little I think the scientists grew on him. The guards I’d seen our first day here seemed to thin out the longer we stayed. Wether that was a gesture of trust or simply because they were needed for more important duties I don’t know but it certainly eased Marsh’s mind.
I merely observed the scientists most of the time until Stein asked me for a sample of my blood. It didn’t surprise me that he knew what I was but for obvious reasons I was hesitant to give it to him, especially considering what I’d seen so called doctors do with vampire blood. Eventually he wore me down and I gave let him take a sample just to shut him up. After that I became more involved in their research though not by choice. They had me showcasing my abilities and tested the effects of sunlight on my blood. On a few rare occasions Stein even injected it into other prisoners that were brought in, something I put a stop to very quickly. T
hat sample of blood is why Frank and Stein are still around today. Somehow they managed to isolate whatever part of my DNA allows me to age so much slower than a normal person. They took that and spliced it into their own DNA against my recommendations. The crazy thing was it actually worked. Sure they had a newfound appreciation for rare steaks but beyond that I didn’t notice any of the effects that combining vampire DNA with your own would usually have.
As Marsh and I assisted the scientist’s research however we could we both came to the realization that they needed each other to function. Stein lacked a moral compass and was prone to suggest unethical or risky procedures, sometimes going so far as to carry them out without informing Frank. Frank on the other hand preferred caution in everything he did and sometimes I noticed him personally taking and shredding requests Stein had written for test subjects, hazardous materials, or samples from supernatural entities. The two kept a very delicate dance of checks and balances. Stein ever the daring mad scientist and Frank always playing the role of overly cautious genius.
Marsh and Frank got along extremely well near the end. The two would be up at all hours of the night as Frank explained what kind of things really existed in the world. Marsh always shared these ideas of a world where the supernatural and the normal could live together and I think Frank shared that vision. It wasn’t possible, still isn’t but treating the supernatural as something other than monsters couldn’t possibly be a bad thing. I think thats where the idea of the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs really came from, those talks Marsh had with anyone who would listen.
Overtime one of our favorite conversations was what we would do when the war was over and we could leave this compound. Stein wasn’t sure he would, if his research wasn’t going to a man who’d simply use it to cause more conflict he wouldn’t mind staying. Frank wanted to return home, if that was even possible and he asked if Stein would join him. Those two had also become close friends through our months in the lab. That checks and balances relationship they had made them basically inseparable. Marsh’s answer surprised me though, he said he wanted to get out of the military and start a program, something to help the supernatural live closer to normal lives. At least keep tabs on them so that the quality of their lives might improve. I was stunned, I couldn’t believe he’d throw his career away just to chase this pipe dream of his. I didn’t even know Marsh was concerned with that kind of thing. I didn’t have an answer of my own so I said I’d join Marsh and help with this program idea of his. Actually, even Frank and Stein seemed to agree with Marsh’s way of thinking. Little did we know the war would end less than a month after our talk and we’d all get the chance to actually put Marsh’s little idea to the test.
Once the Americans had come and discovered the compound pretty much abandoned aside from us we were all taken prisoner and shipped back to America. We were all interrogated and they either heard what they wanted to hear, or decided anyone we’d talk to about our experiences would assume we were just crazy. We were released back into society under constant surveillance. They even gave us a sizable home in D.C., it was certainly bugged to its core but thats exactly what we wanted.
Through the next year we used Frank and Steins knowledge and my supernatural nature to track down entities all over the country. We made sure that everything was discussed and planned out in the house. That way however was listening knew exactly what we were doing and how successful it was. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows though, some entities would rather we didn’t know about them. Others were naturally aggressive but some we were actually able to help.
Our escapades as a group of four didn’t last much past the first year. Mostly because our master plan of using the bugs worked perfectly. Ol’ uncle Sam had been listening in and wanted his chance at calling the shots but it meant we became a legitimate organization, the BSA. Technically the acronym was already taken but no one ever complained and Marsh never came up with anything better.
We spent 4 years doing everything we could to improve the lives of supernatural beings everywhere. Not every one of our endeavors was a success but we did some good in the world. One such project was blood banks for vampires. While the blood that gets donated is used for transfusions and the like some was put into cold storage for the BSA. That got distributed to vampires who had come to an agreement with us to stop hunting humans for blood. Some vampires were even selected for jobs at these blood banks, under the supervision of BSA agents of course.
The more human supernaturals like werewolves, vampires, and succubi even used us to find jobs in the world. We made in roads for the supernatural in daily life because of it. Werewolves would use their strength for government construction. Vampire’s long lives made them excellent archivists or history teachers because they actually been there for those events. A succubus’s ability to understand and control someones emotions and reactions made them excellent therapists and conflict deescalation specialists. Those are just some of the fields we managed to get the supernatural involved in. While they usually had to hide their natural they were wildly successful.
Everything went well until that fourth year when I first met Baelen. He was headstrong from the beginning, the powers that be were grooming him for leadership. He was everything they wanted, he followed orders and didn’t question things to much. In short, he was the perfect solution to the inconvenience the four of us caused running the organization as we saw fit. But baleen had a mean streak, he didn’t want to protect the supernatural so much as he wanted to put them in their place. Unfortunately a lot of the research we provided had scared pretty much everyone above us who had never even entertained the idea of the supernatural until now. That meant Baelen’s ideas of monitoring and segregating the supernatural population were popular. So popular that suggesting culling their numbers to keep them in check and under the thumb of the BSA was an idea they actually entertained. That sentiment caught on and our orders became more and more militant.
Every time we disregarded them to do things the way we had envisioned the consequence grew steeper. Eventually Frank, Stein, Marsh, and I just couldn’t stand to see what our BSA had become so we left. We couldn’t do anything else to stop what was coming from the inside, no point in going down with the ship.
After that Baelen quickly ended up heading the whole operation. He still took orders directly from government officials and when the BSA became part of homeland security it became Chimera division. Why they chose such a stupid name I’ll never know but the organization was a shadow of its former self. Before we looked out for the supernatural, tried to help. Under Baelen Chimera just exists to monitor the supernatural and “correct” any issues uncle Sam decides to have with them. They’re glorified enforcers that don’t give a damn how the supernatural actually have it. That’s not to say some good people don’t work for them, people like Belle and even Marsh’s own daughter as far as I’m aware.
It sickens me to think I was a part of it though, for all the good we did maybe it would’ve been better if Johnson Marsh’s pipe dream would’ve stayed just that. I can do a lot but I can’t change the past so I guess we’ll never know. A while ago I heard that something had happened in a little nowhere town out in New Mexico. Pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth. The only reason I even heard about it was through Belle’s letters. Apparently Chimera had to do some huge cover up job and decided it was better if the town just never existed. Maybe I should go myself and see if I can’t piece what happened together. Could be that someone else out there has it in for Chimera and is a whole lot more direct about it than me. I’m just imaging it was some runaway experiment Frank and Stein got up to. I wonder where those two ended up, I’ll have to check up on them sometime. This journal writing is digging up a lot of memories for me but thats probably a good thing. Write them down before I forget again. I think that’ll be all for today then, why do I keep addressing these like someone’s reading them? Not much point to that is there?

I (19F) and my close friend (18F) been friends since high school. Our friendship might not be as long as my others but I love her so much and she was always that one friend that showed me kindness and love, overall she was just a very kind person and friend.
Not too long ago I started talking to this guy that was introduced by my guy friend. My friend was holding a birthday party and he invited all his close friends that’s when I met him since they’re best friends. We found out that we liked each other and started talking. He took me out on dates and we started getting physical towards each other but not sex. It was my first time ever doing anything with someone and he was also my first kiss. But there were so many red flags. After we hung out he would never text me or any of the sort saying “I had fun with you” or all that. We would just vc with everyone else in the friend group in discord. He was a really nice guy but thinking back now I could tell he was definitely not ready to be in a committed relationship. Even before talking to him he mentioned that he just got out of a really bad relationship where his ex cheated on him. I know I should’ve known better than not to talk to a guy who wasn’t fully healed yet because even when we were talking he would bring his ex up often. But his best friend keep telling me that he’s not using me as a rebound and he genuinely liked me and I believed him. I gave them both the benefit of the doubt but turned out that I was wrong. He was wrong. Whenever I was tripping over something they would make me feel like I was the crazy one when all I wanted was the bare minimum. In the end he ended things because he “wasn’t ready” to be in a relationship and he was sorry that if he gave me the impression of leading me on. He DID led me on, but the thing is that all before this I asked him if he still wanted to work on us or not he told me yes he still want to work on us even if he have issues. He gave me a clear answer that from now on he’ll do better but the very next day he ghosted me. I thought I was overthinking but I knew I wasn’t because if a guy really wanted you they would have the decency to simply text you but he didn’t. I was already committed to this guy. We talked for 2 whole months already, went on dates, had sleepovers, slept on the same bed and I let him touched me, and I don’t let just anyone do that because I cherish my body.
I then texted his best friend to tell him to text me and tell me what’s going on because it isn’t fair for me. I even texted him myself before that but he just left me on delivered. After awhile and texting his best friend he finally texted me back saying he’s sorry for ghosting me and that he needs time to think. I understood and patiently waited. Whole week went by and I heard nothing from him. This is when my close friend of mine, let’s call her kam.
Kam was the one I vented to the most whenever I was sad because of him, when I started overthinking, when I cried, she been there for me and saw how shitty he treated me. Kam told me that he plan to write a paragraph to me ending things, she knew she wasn’t supposed to tell me but she wanted me to move on from him quick cause she knew what he did to me wasn’t fair. I thanked her so much for it because it gave me time to prepare and it made me not feel like I was being left in the dark not knowing what was going on. I loved her so much. So then after a whole two weeks he finally sent the paragraph coming up with all these excuses why things won’t work out between us. I was understanding, more than I should’ve been. We ended on a decent note. But something happened with him and that was when I started to despise him and left the friend group and mind u this right after all of this I also ended things with my very best friend of 11 years, that is a whole another story but I had very good reasons to. And when I was dealing with all of that Kam was the one that was there for me, she was the only one in the friend group that understood why I ended my friendship with my bsf and why I despised the guy I use to talk to. She’s aware of everything I went through because of him. But recently she came out to tell me that she’s talking to him.
I never felt like that in my life. I loved her so much I thought to myself how could she do this to me? She said she wanted to tell me because she didnt wanna do it behind my back. But does it really make it any better? She knew what kind of person he is and how he hurt me but how could she just go to talking with him. When I brought up girl code her excuses were that we weren’t even dating and that she’s not serious about him, but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t changed the fact that he was the person who’s hurt me and she been there for me through all that. It’s the principle of things. And how is he suddenly crushing on her, one of my CLOSEST friend right after telling me he’s not ready for a relationship and that he needs to focus on himself. She then blamed me for getting hurt. I never would’ve done this to her. I knew that she were still healing from her ex too and I would’ve never blame her for getting hurt no matter what, alone TALKING to her ex. She told me that if I started talking to her ex she wouldn’t mind as long as I give her a heads up. Like what??…do you have no self respect? No matter how much I love her I have my morals and principles and she crossed the line for me.
She asked me if I’m really gonna end our friendship just because of this one thing after all we been through. I kept trying to tell her it’s more than that. It’s deeper than how simply she made it sound. I asked her if she’s gonna keep talking to him even if it means risking our friendship, she said yes. Because she likes him and “it’s not that serious” that answer alone tells me she values talking to him more than our friendship. I don’t need a friend like that.
So tell me, was I wrong for ending our friendship because of this?

MY SUGGESTED REPLACEMENTS FOR THE EXISTING OPERATION MODIFIERS:
Bugs

• Bile Spewer Colony: Bile spewers, bile spitters and bile warriors spawn on the map. These enemy types only appear when this modifier is present.
• Spore Cluster: Spore spewers spawn all across the map. While within a spore spewer's radius, your radar doesn't work.
• Stalker Colony: Stalker nests and pouncers spawn on the map. Stalker nests and pouncers only appear when this modifier is present.
• Shrieker Colony: Shrieker nests spawn on the map. Shrieker nests only appear when this modifier is present.

Bots

• AA Defenses: Multiple AA emplacements spawn on the map.
• Enemy Artillery: Multiple Mortar emplacements spawn on the map.
• Shock Trooper Presence: Jetpack troopers and berserkers spawn on the map. Jetpack troopers and berserkers only appear when this modifier is present.
• Enemy Air Support: Gunship fabricators spawn on the map. Gunship fabricators only appear when this modifier is present.

PS. Also, please list the operation modifiers on the drop select screen and the loadout selection screen so that you don't end up dropping without knowing what the effect will be. Hiding that information behind multiple clicks is not good UX.
MY REASONING:
I have been reading through all the discussion on unfun operation modifiers, and I think I know an easily implemented way that arrowhead can make them actually contribute to the fun of the game rather than detract from it.
The purpose that operation modifiers would ideally play in the game is to vary up the gameplay so that different mission types feel more different. The problem that we currently have is that the modifiers (particularly on the bot front) don't actually meaningfully change the way you play the game, they just make the way you already play less fun. Lets look at the modifiers we have:

• AA Defenses: Reduces stratagem slots by 1. In my experience this doesn't really change your approach, it just forces you to run away more often as you quickly run out of stratagems when things get hairy. If anything it makes you more reliant on eagle airstrikes than you already are to get the maximum efficiency out of your slots.
• Atmospheric Interference: Orbital stratagems scatter increased. This is the modifier that I always fail to notice in the mission prep screen because it is hidden in a submenu of a submenu and you generally don't want to keep the squad waiting when you are picking your loadout. The main effect on gameplay is that you shouldn't pick orbital stratagems, leaving you even more reliant on eagle airstrikes again. This stratagem also has the dubious honor of being regularly mistaken for a bug by newer players when they don't know why their orbitals aren't hitting their target.
• Atmospheric Spores: Map obscured by bug spores. This is the least offensive of the existing modifiers, but it has the unfortunate effect of making blitz missions ridiculously difficult as you blunder around looking for nests on an already tight time limit. I think this effect would be much more interesting if it was associated with spore spewers instead, as I did above.
• Complex Stratagem Plotting: Stratagem call-in time increased by 50%. This affects all stratagems equally, and so it doesn't really influence you playstyle or contribute to variety, it just makes you weaker.
• Orbital Fluctuations: Stratagem cooldown increased by 25%. This affects orbital strikes far more than eagle airstrikes, giving you yet another reason to rely on eagles more than orbitals, actively reducing the variety of the game.

So, I don't think any of the existing modifiers are very fun or contributing to the replayability/variety of the game, and many are actively undermining both design goals. How can we do better? Thankfully, there are already some systems in the game that do a great job of contributing to the fun and variety of the missions, they just aren't communicated to the players, and that lack of communication makes them less effective. What systems are these? The enemy spawn pools and the enemy tactical structures:
For the bugs we have:

• Bile spewers and bile variant enemies, which will either be common in an operation or never appear
• Stalkers
• Shriekers

For the bots we have:

• Gunships
• Jetpack troopers, which will either be common in an operation or never appear
• AA emplacements
• Mortar emplacements

Unfortunately, since enemies like stalkers, bile spewers, and gunships are very difficult to deal with without specific loadouts, and their presence is impossible to predict before starting an operation, you often find yourself in the frustrating position of having to be prepared for the possibility of their presence at all times, reducing loadout variety. Wouldn't it be better if you knew what you would be dealing with going in? It would certainly make the "kill 8 bile spewers" personal order much less frustrating.
This would also make a very natural way of scaling the challenge on higher difficulties since an operation where you have to deal with spores covering the whole map and tons of stalkers spawning will naturally be much harder than one without those factors. It will also feel much fairer to increase the challenge in that way, because you will have the chance to prepare for it and overcome it, and because it makes the enemies stronger instead of making you weaker.
tl;dr: Operation modifiers should be based on these tangible, fun modifiers that actually modify the gameplay rather than making you numerically weaker.