For those not in the know, Florida isn't only the birth place of Florida Man memes, but also the birth place of Death Metal.
Yes that Death Metal: the next step of the metal genre's brutal evolution. It took the new found speed, chaos, and mayhem of Thrash Metal (Metallica, Slayer, Exodus, etc.) and turned it up to 11 with even faster tempos, wilder solos, harsher vocals, tech-ier drums, and bloodier, gorier imagery. While death and gore was just flavoring to Thrash Metal's relentless pursuit of destruction; Death Metal put death and gore center stage and turned it into its main protagonist. The themes of death and gore was either played straight (early Death), turned up into 11 (Cannibal Corpse), or used as a graphic metaphor for IRL issues (late Death).
Florida didn't just give birth metal, but also pioneered it. Floridian Bands like Death), Nasty Savage, Deicide), Monstrosity), Morbid Angel, Atheist), Obituary) took Death Metal and evolved it past its "ooga booga br00tal" phase. Not only that, but Death metal has become so ubiquitous that it also gave birth and influenced other genres - genre's like Deathcore, Death'n'roll, Goregrind, etc.
Basically, because of Florida's huge contribution to the Metal genre as a whole, it would be fitting for GTA VI, a game set on an expy of Florida, to have a radio station dedicated to extreme metal. Bonus points if its not an official radio station but an underground pirate radio station - a contrast to the other mainstream radio stations that would operate in new vice city. Vice City already did it with V-Rock which hosted a couple of radio friendly hard rock and glam metal songs with an occasional bit from Slayer and Megadeth; and Vice City Stories version of the radio station had even more hard hitting hard rock and NWOBHM hits.

Even though the relationship didn't last long, at the time it was great. I felt like we were soulmates because we had a lot of things in common. She was very special for me because she was very kind, sweet, caring and I also never thought that a girl could find me attractive. I was pretty much in love with her. She had some issues with intimacy which I had nothing against and I made sure to let her know multiple times that I am OK with it. I should also mention that she was constantly stressing out about some things and constantly overthinking.
2 days after Valentine's Day she decided to break up with me, out of the blue. We spent the last days of our relationship talking about the relationship itself and how important communication is and what do we both want out of the relationship. This is why it was so shocking to me why she just dumped me out of the sudden. This completely fucked me up mentally. She said that she wasn't as attracted to me as she thought and that she didn't feel safe and that the relationship wasn't going anywhere. I spent the next days struggling to fall asleep because of headaches.
Fast forward a week, she says that she wants us to get back together and that she did a terrible mistake. She said that she was constantly overthinking the fact that she is not that intimate and that I was going to eventually end up breaking up with her. I have never said anything like that and I always told her that I am ok with the intimacy thing. The thing is, during this week she constantly went back and forth between insulting me and then telling me that she is going to be with someone else. I just told her to leave me alone because I wasn't feeling well. She didn't leave me alone.
At one point I said ok to us getting back together, but I told her that I just want 2 days without her texting me or calling me so I can clear my head. She didn't give me those 2 days, instead what she ended up doing is she extended this 2 day period to a whole week just out of spite. She later told me that during that period she went to another guy's place and kissed him. When I said that I don't want to get back with her after that, she changed the story, that they didn't kiss, they just kissed their hands.
To this day she just refuses to move on and I can't help but feel bad for her. I got to know her personally and I know that she usually doesn't let people that close to her. She doesn't have many friends. I wanted to be there for her so we can both move on, but she just refuses and wants us to get back. She started telling me how much she loves me and wants to be intimate with me which was a complete 180 compared to how she was in the relationship. It's just that I was the only one she could vent to and supported her when she needed it. Now that I am not there, she just cries all the time and this makes me feel bad.
I don't want to leave her like that because I feel bad for her, but at the same time I want to move on. I was thinking about starting dating, but every time I talk to her she just kinda stunts that progress. I think about her a lot to this day, I loved every single second of our relationship, I know that secretly my heart and body want her, but at the same time my brain finds it hard to forgive everything she has done.
I'm confused and I don't know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My fiancé had a habit of lying to me since day one and I discovered another lie on Thursday, three days ago. It caused an argument and so much frustration, depression, anger, and disappointment in me. He promised again and again that he was done lying and I would believe him, only to be stabbed again in the back when another lie came out a week or a few weeks later. He kept trying to say it was my fault that he would lie to me and that I was overreacting. No apology involved. He also told his mother about the argument even though we discussed in the past that it was not right to do because he only would tell a small portion of the story and of course, he makes himself look like the victim and I'm the one in the bad light. Plus she almost caused us to break up back when we were just dating because of him running to her after fights and she would give him terrible advice to leave me because of the one-sided stories she would hear. Last year when that happened, he would pretend to be all loving and happy with me but then run to his mom if we had the slightest of arguments. For example, if we set some boundaries for ourselves and he wasn't consistent with them, I would confront him. He would tell his mother a terrible version of it and she spun up that I was abusive. So they would talk behind my back like this over lies while he smiled in my face. That's when I knew he could put on such facades and lie so easily. I should have left then, I saw the signs, but I was a fool. There was a part of me that suspected this would happen one day, not the ghosting because never in my dreams would I have imagined him being this evil, but I had a feeling this might not work out. I mean I was always questioning my reality and him especially when he would lie and tell me I was imagining things while swearing on his life, my life, our future unborn children, his parent's life, and on Jesus that was telling the truth. Only later find out he was actually lying and I wasn't imagining it. I mean I gave him my trust again and again, which was so hard for me to do in the first place, and he just kept shattering it even knowing how much it hurt me. So I told him I needed some space for the evening and I asked him to get a hotel just for the night, which he did. The next day, I go into work and I receive one single text telling me I made one small thing into a huge deal. He would try to gaslight me at times and he was HUGE at twisting the role and playing the victim. I responded with the reasons why it was not okay for him to keep lying to me because it hurts me so much and why it wasn't just "one small thing," because behind that lie, so many other issues were there too. I didn't get a response. He usually would text me all day everyday and would be so loving and attentive so it was odd. So I went home that day expecting him to be there to talk about it. I arrive home and his truck isn't there. I walk inside and all of his stuff is moved out and gone. I called and called and texted and texted yet no response. I was begging him to come home to talk. I apologized for getting upset the night prior and that I just want him back home with me. I just couldn't understand how he could do this. It was all delivering too so I wasn't blocked. It wasn't until 10pm when he blocked me after I texted asking why hasn't he blocked me if he's really done? That was me trying to find hope in the situation that maybe he would return and that's why he didn't block me. Well after that, I was blocked. His mother also removed me from the family group chat. It made me wonder if he was just sitting back and laughing at my pleads for a response and possibly even sharing my distraught and sad messages to others. I suspect his mother played a huge role again because again, she almost caused a break up last year because of getting involved and turning him against me with the knowledge he shared, just enough knowledge to make me the villain. It has been two days and I have been ghosted by my fiancé. He also did this the day of my best friend's wedding rehearsal (I'm her maid of honor) and her wedding was yesterday (which he ghosted them for as well). Imagine how hard it is giving a speech for your best friend and her lovely fiancé, now her husband, when you were just horribly ghosted from your own a day prior and are now single. His empty chair was taunting me the whole time too, it was so hard especially with the love songs but I had to pretend to be happy for them. He was such a coward that he never even gave me an explanation or an apology or a goodbye. He ghosted his ex in the past when leaving her yet he at least gave her a phone call. Our relationship was much, much more serious and significant than that was too (theirs seemed more like a high-school type relationship) yet I still received nothing. We lived together, were engaged, spent every second together when we weren't at work, we had so many vacations planned (a weekend away to Lake George next week and an Alaskan cruise next month), on each other's insurance plans & phone bills & renters insurance & even pet insurance, we had a retirement plan set up, we were so close, things were so good because we meshed so well together. Yes, we argued here and there but every couple does, especially those that spend so much time together but his lies were what caused the most distress especially because the negative impact carried on for so long. I have my own issues as does he but he always said we would work through them together and that I never have to worry about him leaving. I would always put him and his needs before me. I would wake up a lot earlier than I have to in order to make him breakfast and lunch for his work day before I started getting ready for work myself and I would just throw something together sloppy, real quick for me. I was so good to him. Again, I do have my flaws and we argued at times but most of the time things were so wonderful. And what really blows my mind is that just days prior to this, he was telling me he wanted our wedding to be in October, we were both planning to move to Colorado and have been getting interviewed for jobs, how excited he was, he would tell me daily again and again that he loved me so much unconditionally, was fully committed to me for the rest of my life, and that he would never leave me. Then he did this. After so much time together, after I brought him into my home, my life... he couldn't even give me the respect or decency to communicate to me. I thought God brought this man into my life, the one I thought I was waiting for. Now I can't help but feel angry at God. He would call me his best friend, soulmate, his entire future. He promised away his life to me like I did mine. I guess it never meant anything to him. How could you treat someone you claim to care for and love like this? It is hard because I know he loved me, I do think if he didn't have his mother in his ear, he wouldn't have done this. But either way, he did do it. He is awful and she is just as bad. I hope karma comes their way. He knows I have abandonment issues and trauma yet he did this without any remorse, it seems. I'll never know.
What kind of monster... I just can't wrap my head around it. No closure. My friends and family are just as shocked and tell me it will hurt for now because it really is mourning a loss but it is a blessing in disguise. That I wouldn't have been happy in a marriage full of lies and distrust. All I know is that I am hurting really bad still. I am hoping I feel better soon. I have never experienced this kind of treatment or hurt before.
tl;dr My fiancé moved out without my knowledge when I was away at work for the day and he has since ghosted and blocked me without any communication. This was two days ago. What do I do? I miss him and our relationship. But I don't think he's coming back. How do I cope?

🪞
Welcome back to the Asylum write-up, where we explore the decade-long slow-motion car crash that is the Emilie Autumn fandom.
Sorry this installment took so long to upload! Just a heads-up, I may take some time to deliver the last one too – these posts take forever to format on Reddit's finicky-ass editor, and my dumb real life is currently keeping me from precious Internet time. Thank you for your patience! You have my word that everyone who pre-ordered the final installment will receive a PERSONAL, HANDWRITTEN letter autographed and illustrated by me, a list of the snacks I consumed while composing this write-up, some exclusive behind-the-scenes secrets, and a pony.
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4.1 – Part 4.2 Part 5

Places, everyone This is a test Throw your stones Do your damage Your worst, and your best (...) And if I had a dollar For every time I repented the sin And commit the same crime I'd be sitting on top of the world today (“God Help Me”, 2006🎵)

Quick recap of where we left off. First, there were five to ten halcyon years of pleasant and meaningful interactions between EA and her blossoming fanbase, prominently by way of her official forum. Then, circa 2009-2010, EA's online presence shifted towards sudden anger outbursts, ban-hammering, and an increasingly top-down communication style.
This created a sort of primordial rift within the fanbase, between those who supported EA's right to speak her mind and regulate her own fan spaces however she pleased – and those who thought that her reactions were rude and inappropriate (at best), and that even fan spaces should allow for reasonable, non-abusive criticism of the artist.
Between a poorly-handled book release (see Part 3), the controversial (Part 2) or dubiously true (Part 4) contents of said book, and serious shade from various former collaborators (Part 5), more and more fans had pressing thoughts about EA's work ethic and choices. EA attempted damage control through drastic forum rules that made it virtually impossible to voice any “serious” critical opinion. It didn't work, of course: instead of squashing the mutiny, she created a schism.
Critical fans and active haters started congregating on unofficial platforms.

“WITH MUFFINS LIKE THIS, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES?”: TROLL LIKE A GIRL

So here we were, the early 2010s. The official forum (which had about 700 members in 2006, if you recall) was now thousands-strong, reaching just over 12,000 registered users in 2012 – not all of them active, but still. In terms of sheer numbers and content creation, the party was POPPIN'... but increasingly in parts of the Asylum that escaped EA's jurisdiction, such as Tumblr, where they could speak their mind freely.

You play the victim very well You've built your self-indulgent hell You wanted someone to understand you Well, be careful what you wish for, because I do (“I Know Where You Sleep”, 2006🎵)

In one wing of Asylum Tumblr, a smattering of call-out blogs emerged, which laid out EA's various lies, faux pas, shitty takes, and general deep-seated terribleness in detailed timelines and screenshots (or, short of that, long-winded bullet points). While many such blogs framed it as “serious” whistleblowing and did their best to remain as fact-based and neutral as they could, there was some genuine disgust, animosity and creepiness towards EA on that side of Tumblr; for some ex-fans, “exposing the truth” was mostly justify obsessive hatred, prying and verbal abuse. Some, for instance, felt the bizarre need to side with EA's mother in their estrangement. (One user, with the URL “emilyautumnfischkopf”, argued in a serious and down-to-earth tone - but with zero sources - that EA's upbringing had been nothing but peaceful and supportive until she ungratefully kicked her loving family to the curb for no reason at all. They were later revealed 🔍 to have an alternate handle as “eaisalyingcunt”.)
Either way, through these blogs, a number of potential drama bombs that had mostly flown under the radar were dredged up from over the years – some of which were hard to ignore, even for supportive fans. Where to begin?
There was that nonsense in-joke song, captured twice on camera during the 2009 tour (to very little outrage, at the time), crassly called “Manatee Retard”📺. Or EA's scathing response, in print, to a wheelchair user who found it insensitive that she used a bedazzled wheelchair as a prop to do sexy acrobatics on stage. (“Your offence taken at my hard-won self-acceptance proves that I indeed have something to fight against”, she wrote). Spoken word tracks where she made trivializing knock-knock jokes about serious mental illnesses she didn't have, like schizophrenia and OCD. Multiple instances of calling Britney Spears a “bimbo” and a “Hollywood fucked-up”, resentfully claiming that she only shaved her head because she was “hopped up on drugs” and certainly not because she was “bipolar”, a word the press liked to wield as an insult anyway. (“That's almost like calling someone a retard!” Yeah, heaven forbid.) The meanest, most distasteful paragraphs in the book. Basically everything problematic EA had ever said or written.📝 In retrospect, it had been a long time coming, but it was a lot to take in – and certainly more off-putting, even to less emotionally invested fans, than silly lies about her age and last name.
In another wing of Asylum Tumblr, some fans had had it up to here and just wanted to have fun. 🎵 If Plague Rats had learned one valuable lesson from EA, it was how to crack a joke in the face of absurd tragedy – and the general state of the EA fandom certainly warranted a few.
In 2012, Fight Like a Girl was released. After six long years, three of which had been peaceful, the Opheliac era was officially over. The new album and ensuing tour confirmed that the Asylum had entered a process of glamorous Broadway-style militarization. 🎵📺
The mood board was “Roman general meets Vegas showgirl meets Victorian street urchin”.🪞 The color palette was, to naysayers, “musty pink and rotten, stale piss yellow”. 🐀 The keyword was “REVENGE” (through the power of... self-expression! sorority! brutal assault with rusty medical implements!). The chorus of the title song had an intriguing run-on line about getting “revenge on the world, or at least 49% of the people in it” 🎵 – which seemed like an awful lot, and was widely interpreted (to cheers, boos, or uncomfortable sighs) as a misandrist jab at literally all men on Earth.
The show was essentially a demo version of the musical, in that the setlist vaguely reflected the order of events in the story – but prior reading was essential in order to get what the hell was going on on stage. This one Broadway reviewer had not perused the literature before seeing the show 🔍, and hated: the set, the choreography, the skits, the plot, the lyrics, the music, the concept. (Seriously, you should read the review. It's not even my show and I feel like quitting show business.)
Pre-show VIP encounters, now violin-free, were lorded over by EA's new manager🐀, whose official title was “Asylum Headmistress”. (Interesting choice – she sounds fun!) The swag bags were less substantial than before, and the “greet” part of the meet-and-greet was rarely more than a quick hug and photo op.
On Twitter, EA continued to embrace her “I am very badass” fronting attitude...

Often wonder if cyberbullies r aware they’re fucking w/ a girl who’s BFs w/ maker of the SAW films & is marrying a knife-throwing scorpion. (🐀📝)

...and her taste for needlessly inflammatory statements. About an aisle sign in a supermarket:

If this does not infuriate you, then you're a fucking potato.

(Again with the confounding crypto-ableism, EA! 🔍) She also went through a phase of raging against Lady Gaga 📝, who had stolen her idea of using a wheelchair on stage as an able-bodied woman. 🔍 That failed to convince anyone that she wasn't the histrionic diva that haters made her out to be.
Spurred on by EA's rallying cries and “us vs them” mentality, loyalists turned the white-knighting up to 11. On Twitter, some Plague Rats got into cat fights with Lady Gaga's Little Monsters (what a time to be alive). Others tried to balance out the Tumblr negativity with initiatives like “Spreading a Plague of Love” – a “positive-only” confession blog, whose extreme fangirling, comically drastic rules and hyper-defensive tone📝 did not debunk the increasingly popular notion that “true Plague Rats” were a bunch of authoritarian and hopelessly brainwashed fanatics.
EA truthers and other anti-fans started lashing out at anyone who dared express any positive opinion of EA, solidifying claims that the backlash against EA was just a conspiracy of bitter, hysterical bullies.
All this to say: every passing day brought new reasons for fans to get mad at EA and each other, and everyone in the Asylum was in need of a laugh. It's not easy having a good time.🦠
Leading up to Fight Like a Girl and in the years that followed, user-submission-based meme blogs took off, most notably “Spreading a Plague of Lulz / Troll Like a Girl”. A lot of the early submissions were absurdist humor and toothless, cheezburger-Impact memes (a style that was, oddly, already dated at the time). Those often originated in good fun, and from loyal fans, on the official forum. But there was also true snark, satirizing EA's questionable ethics, outrageous claims, and easily spoofed artistic gimmicks. A new slang of Asylumspeak emerged: Glittertits (slight NSFW), GAGA!!, EA Gusta and all its memeface variants, Get outta mah house!, Are You Suffering?, Fight Like A Goat, [Random celebrity] copied EA (a subgenre in its own right), ...
Most of the “trolling” was directed at unrepentant bootlickers and, to a lesser extent, red-in-the-face haters and creeps. Meme blogs would post joke comments under “serious” or gushing submissions on Wayward Victorian Confessions, and taunt loyalist accounts by tagging them in their posts. When a few people complained on WVC that almost all of the Bloody Crumpets to date had been thin white able-bodied women, and a few fans responded by sharing their dream-casts for a more diverse line-up, the blog was flooded for days with confessions that “X should be a Crumpet” (candidates included RuPaul, Mitt Romney, Nicki Minaj, EA's therapist, and the WVC admins). Farcical shenanigans like that.
Ah, but some people will always cross the line, won't they. EA threads popped up on merciless, bully-friendly snark platforms like Lolcow, Pretty Ugly Little Liar, and Encyclopedia Dramatica. Snarkers with a mean streak and obsessive haters mingled in some of the more aggressive, 4-chan-spirited retaliation against EA – which would be called “brigading” in modern parlance. This included flooding EA's Goodreads page with one-star reviews (see part 4), repeatedly editing her Wikipedia page to include her legal name and birth year, and ensuring that Googling said name would bring up current pictures of her.
All of this compounded agitation fragmented the once-united fandom beyond recognition.🦠 Through substantial disagreements among fans, personal bickerings, layers upon layers of inscrutable in-jokes, and cross-platform telephone games, the Asylum morphed into a booby-trapped Escher room.
Satire blogs were taken in earnest. Earnest fan blogs scanned as satire. Memes would get called out as abuse. Appreciation without attached criticism would get mocked as bootlicking. Obvious jokes made by EA would be taken at face value. One divisive confession could trigger days and days of debate, to the point that WVC eventually banned confessions in response to other confessions. New waves of infighting created a confusing web of rival sub-factions🐀, each accusing the others of being toxic, cliquish, and delusional.
The shared fantasy was broken, the collective vision had crumbled, no onez was speaking the same language anymore. Fans would jump down the throat of other fans who held almost identical views about EA, except for that one thing she said or did that one time. Everyone had differing thoughts on what should or shouldn't acceptable to discuss, question, excuse, make fun of.
War is hell.

SCORCHED EARTH SHENANIGANS: HONEY, I SHRUNK THE ASYLUM

Would you tear my castle down Stone by stone And let the wind run through my windows Till there was nothing left But a battered rose? (“Castle Down”, 2003🎵)

Haters vs sycophants is not really the kind of conflict where one side can come out on top (if you're participating, you've already lost). But in the long tug-of-war between “grassroots” and “EA-sponsored” fan spaces, the ultimate winner is obvious – in that the former is gasping in agony, a shriveled husk of its former glory, while the latter... is non-existent. This is due in no small part to EA's tendency, like the Czars of old, to settle conflicts by setting Moscow on fire.🔍)
That's not entirely fair: unlike EA, the czar only did it that once.
By early 2013, as EA was gearing up for her third Fight Like a Girl tour at the end of the year, the official forum was... not as lively as it once had been. Not just because of the stifling rules and disgruntlement towards EA, or because EA herself hadn't really posted anything on there in years; the Internet was also changing, and forums in general were fast becoming passé.
This made it difficult for EA to create a safe space where she could talk to fans, and fans could talk to and about her, in a way she deemed suitable (ie, a space she could gate-keep and regulate enough to keep it completely free from negative criticism). Social media was a minefield; she still posted regularly, but didn't interact very much. So EA and the Headmistress came up with a way to filter out the unbelievers: an official fan club📝, aptly called the “Asylum Army”, with a $100 entry price.
Joining the AA came with a dog tag, a sew-on patch, and a lifetime membership certificate signed by EA and – for some reason – the Headmistress. (Unlike EA's best friend and sound engineer back in the forum's heyday, I don't think fans ever really embraced the FLAG-era manager as part of the Asylum in-group. She came across more as a coordinator / businessperson / adult chaperone, at best.🐀) So, slightly better goodies than you'd get by joining the other AA 🔍 ... but not by much. The main appeal was that members would have access to exclusive content, special merch, giveaways, early bird tickets for future shows, and regular video chats with EA.
The concept itself drew a fair amount of criticism, as you can imagine. Between the name🐀, the price, and the inherent gatekeeping of a pay-to-join fanclub, many balked at the monetizing of a concept that had once (like, three years back) been significantly more DIY, grassroots, and inclusive. 📝🐀
Then again, many also longed for a positive, drama-free space where fans could just be fans. And while the creation of the AA was generally recognized as a quick cashgrab, a lot of people were surprisingly cool with it. EA was trying to finance her dream musical, after all – although a number of fans wished she had gone about raising funds in a less sketchy way.
So around 400 fans shelled out (which, according to the Headmistress📝, “basically cover[ed] the cost of running the fanclub itself – keeping the database up, website, etc.”). Enough for a close-knit, but sizable community. But already, there was a conflict of interest: a high fanclub entry fee essentially demands that you pledge loyalty to the artist over loyalty to your fellow fans, who wish to join but can't afford to. Sharing, caring, and ensuring no one felt left out were some of the more positive values cultivated in the fandom... but leaking exclusive content would surely piss off other paying members🐀, and make EA feel betrayed all over again. (And she had barely just started to mellow out on social media!)
...But then again, this is the internet. After the first month of secret AA drops (lyric sheets, some photoshoot outtakes – nothing too juicy, really), there were, yes, some leaks. EA was predictably miffed, and retaliated by... ghosting the fanclub for weeks at a time in its first few months of existence (great look!). She eventually found the “solution” to her problem, by providing something you couldn't right-click-save (and which had been part of the promised perks to begin with): live interaction.
Over webcam, she was her usual in-person bubbly, charming, funny self. Everyone seemingly had a good time during the fanclub video chat, and this gave people faith and hope.
There were a few more events, giveaways, etc. As promised, ahead of the fall 2013 tour (the last one to date, it would turn out), AA members got priority access to show tickets and VIP bundles. The latter were much pricier than before, and only included soundcheck, a photo-op, and three goodies: a tin of loose-leaf tea, a signed printer-paper setlist, and a small flag that said “F.L.A.G.”.🔍 Some stuff continued to leak – but, as some of the outlaws pointed out (scroll down to the Disqus comments), they were mostly relaying information that was relevant to the entire fanbase, such as updates about ongoing projects (the dragged-out recording of the audiobook, for one).
In early 2014, lifetime memberships were closed, and replaced with monthly, quarterly and yearly subscription tiers. Bizarrely, you ended up paying $3 more per month if you bought a $99 yearly subscription📝 – but it did include the patch, dog tag, and piece of paper!

Sometimes I kind of want to be part of the cool kids and register to the Asylum Army. Then I remember how it came about, what you could get for the same price a couple years ago, how the whole thing was and is handled, and that I won’t support any of this bullshit. (And then I roll around naked in all the money I’m saving.) (🐀)

Still, a number of fans rejoiced at the affordable monthly option, and joined – if not for the exclusive content and merch (which were... okay, but not much to write home about), then for the friendly, drama-free exchanges with an artist they actually did love, in spite of all the frustration.
For the still-too-poor or still-undecided, there was always the forum! It wasn't as active as it used to be, but a few die-hards still managed to keep the lights on... until, inevitably, Someone Did Something and Ruined Everything. (Once again: EA's wrath is spectacular, but rarely completely unprovoked.) The incident features one notable figure in the Asylum community. Let's call him the Collector.
OK, so maybe you remember the meme I linked to in Part 4, with Christian Grey and the ginormous EA hoard. Well, that's the Collector's collection. The “Violin” promo that I called the "Holy Grail of the fandom" in the same paragraph? Also his. The handwritten lyrics that went for $940? Guess who won that auction. Over the years, the Collector had probably spent five figures on EA merch and shows, and although that fact was a little unsettling, he was a very active, easy-going, and generally well-liked fixture of the fandom.
One day in 2012, shortly after the Headmistress had replaced EA's old Chicago BFF as main forum admin, the Collector's account got banned or restricted over something dumb. When the ban wasn't lifted as quickly as he hoped, he took it... the way one takes things when one is unhealthily invested: he started spamming Headmistress and the mod team with increasingly rambling and abusive emails (lost to time, probably for the best). When that didn't work quickly enough, he tried a different route.
One of the many auctions that the Collector had won, some years prior, was EA's old iPod Touch📝 – which contained all of her favorite tunes and, buried somewhere in the data cache... a phone number. Which the Collector tried calling. And wouldn't you know it: EA picked up. She congratulated him on his sleuthing skills, listened patiently as he made his case, apologized for any distress caused by the unfair account restriction, and then they got married.
Kidding! She freaked the fuck out, hung up, and banned him for life from the forum and all EA shows and events.
After his ban, the Collector allegedly still tried to attend at least one VIP pre-show (one source in the comments says he was allowed to buy some merch, refunded for his ticket, and escorted out). He joined the Reform forum to bitch about EA and try to rally people to his cause, possibly made revenge posts about her on darker snark forums, and continued to hound the Asylum mod team. So in June 2014, EA came up with a radical and unexpected fix to the Collector problem.

The official Asylum Fan Forum has been shut down permanently. I have personally paid thousands of dollars each year to keep the forum safe and secure for you ... Unfortunately, the forum has not been kept safe and secure for me, a truth which disappoints me greatly, instead becoming a place where people who have physically threatened myself and my staff prey upon forum members, pressuring them to contact me and my staff on their behalf. If the gullible wish to humor my stalkers (who live in their parent’s basement at age 30 something) and thus put me in danger, they may do it on their own dime. They may also fuck off, because stupidity can kill, and I won’t be your victim. To those who enjoyed the forum, you know who to thank for its closure. (“On the closing of the Asylum Forum”)

Voilà! This is how a decade-long archive of shared history ends: not with a bang, but with a dirty delete and a sod-off communiqué.
The obliteration of the forum took everyone by surprise...

I was actually on the forum when it was taken down. I was navigating between posts and when I went to click on a different board, an error message came up. I honestly cried a little, I'm not ashamed to say. (WVC admin on Reddit, 2024)

...and I do mean everyone:

Chicago BFF / ex-admin, the next morning: Whoa, EA forum shut down? Ex-mod: It turns out that if someone spends enough years actively “waging war” to destroy what they can’t have, eventually they’ll be successful. * eye roll * Not even mods got prior warning. Just all the sudden, poof, gone. BFF: Really? She did not let the moderators know?! This is sounding worse and worse. Uggh. I’m so sorry. Such a loss. (...) Ok, threats are serious, but why not just put it in archive mode so no one can post? (...) Sad. I shall light a candle in the forum's honor. (Facebook posts; scroll down for screenshots)

It was a gut punch, especially for people who had poured countless hours into the community, or could have used some prior warning to save years of their own writing from the role-playing threads. One last chance to take a look around the place that had meant so much to so many.

From the wording of the announcement of closing the forum and a number of other things, it sometimes seems like EA doesn't like her fans much. :/ (🐀)

Three months after the forum was nuked, Battered Rose (a venerable EA fansite, which had been around since the Enchant era and had one of the most complete EA galleries online) announced that it was shutting down too.📝 The admin, who had also been a long-time forum mod, cited a lack of “time, energy, passion, or money” to keep the website going... and being upset at the sudden disappearance of the forum. It was, truly, the end of an era for the Asylum.
...Well, no point in living in the past. For those who could afford it, and still wanted to talk to/about EA after that (not everyone did 🐀), there was always the Asylum Army fanclub!
Over the summer of 2014, EA held regular live chats and Q&A's, and... many attendees really enjoyed them, and thought the AA was well worth the money after all. She also quietly parted ways with the much poo-pooed Headmistress around that time.

Just spent over 4 hours giggling, drinking tea and playing guessing games in chat with EA and other Asylum Army members ... No griping, no downers, just lots of fun. I think I like the way the ‘new fandom’ is going and now I’m really glad I finally decided to join the Army. (September 4, 2014🐀; Battered Rose had closed the day before)

The forum was lost forever, but perhaps that was a chance for a fresh start. Could this fanclub thing really be the Asylum Renaissance that fans had been longing for?

...I have come today to a very difficult but necessary decision, and that is to discontinue the Emilie Autumn Official Fanclub. The site itself, and the community chatroom, will remain open to you indefinitely, but I will no longer be making updates to the site. (Newsletter, September 8, 2014📝)

...Never mind, then.
Turns out the fanclub had been the Headmistress' idea all along. EA had been reluctant from the start, and although she really enjoyed the live chats with a safe community of people “who are there for the right reasons”, she couldn't overcome her fundamental discomfort with the concept. Lifetime and regular members would receive a bunch of digital downloads and a -35% coupon on the Asylum Emporium for their troubles. EA said she would definitely pop back once in a while for live chats, for free, just for fun, but to my knowledge, she never did.
And so the most devoted fans were left standing in the rain...

She is happy, she made it. She is fulfilling her dreams, found love and happiness after all the pain. I understand that she now doesn’t need “us” anymore ... That doesn’t change the fact she broke my heart with taking the Asylum Army and the forum from me. Yet, I am happy for her. (🐀)

...while naysayers pointed and laughed, Nelson-style.🦠

I don’t feel sorry at all for the people that paid for the Asylum Army fan club. Most of them knew that EA is an atrocious business woman and has broken many promises before. In fact, I laugh at them. They seriously thought that EA would actually stay consistent with this? (🐀)

EVERYTHING MUST GO: THE ASYLUM WHOLESALE

EA fans were left without an “official” home for about three years. This gave them plenty of time to be annoyed at EA for: not releasing the audiobook on time, not materializing any new project for a while... and the new sin of peddling random, ridiculously marked-up AliBaba jewelry as “merch” on her official store. Think faux-antique cameo pendants and $30 Big Ben rings (...because the Asylum story is set in London, get it?).

The whole accessories section looks like a tacky overpriced English souvenir shop. (🐀)

The fanbase lost a lost of steam in those in-between years, because there wasn't much to stick around for. As evidenced by the positive reception of the AA live chats, even in the midst of unresolved drama, out-loud interactions in a friendly environment have always been EA's saving grace. Considering the amount of online hate, there are shockingly few accounts of bad IRL encounters with EA: most people say that in live conversation, she comes across as a fun, warm, and genuinely sweet person. Some report that their negative opinion shifted after meeting her.
But there were no chats or live shows anymore. There was only social media, where she ignored questions and vague-posted about overdue projects – and the newsletter📝, which was all saccharine love-bombing to promote bland dropshipped trinkets. For fans who remembered the handcrafted merch (and two-way communication) of the early years, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

CONTINUED IN COMMENTS

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I personally don't think so. I did enjoy it though, I think it's a fun movie. But Bullet Train seemed more contained as a story. The Fall Guy had me suspending disbelief a little too much with all the heightened antics, mainly the contrived main plot line. A lot of set ups and not much pay off, like Gail secretly being bad, and Colt faking his death. Just fell a tad flat for me and took me out the movie. Some of them were solely for comedic relief I understand, her dream movie to direct is cowboys & aliens meets dune?! But the motivations of Colt doing the whole spiel lay heavily on the fact he wants Jody to complete her dream project.
Also, it can't just be me who thought most of the stunts were CG enhanced till the credits proved me otherwise. It was glazed with an odd polished color grade that downplayed the very impressive stunt work. I get everything can't look like Mission Impossible but some of the stunts were on par with Mission Impossible, so why not? But obviously I still liked the movie. Ryan Gosling is just charisma personified, and the chemistry he has with Blunt is great, and he's funny. Also, Aaron Taylor-Johnson was wasted on The Fall Guy. He was so much fun in Bullet Train, I had my hopes up for this.
Bullet Train didn't overcomplicate itself, and that's what I really liked. One location, character personality put into the stunts, funny, looked great (except the train crash finale). I'm still confused to why it got hate initially, but to each their own. FYI This is just a fruitful discussion, not trying to start a war. RELAX. Just very curious to hear how people might agree or disagree and why, please and ty x

I found out I was pregnant in October 2022, and in July 2023 I’ve delivered my little girl the whole time I had my insurance from my employer that I had had for years. My husband had picked up insurance on me as a secondary insurance. I had no problems with billing the entire time I was pregnant. I had to see specialist have extra scans, bloodwork, etc. anytime I had anything to pay out of pocket. I did so in office and then after my daughter was born, I went for my check up. I was told I had an outstanding balance, which didn’t make sense because I always paid so I followed up and come to find out my primary insurance that had paid all my bills had unpaid everything. I had never heard of this so I I tried to get a hold of the insurance company, but I had already terminated the insurance as I did not go back to work after I gave birth. They did not want to speak with me because I no longer remember and give them my information. Finally I found my member number. I was able to talk to someone explain the situation to them. They argued with me. I told them that this was my primary it always has been. Why would they pay my bills? I never got any answer they told me they would put it down as a dispute And a request for repayment, but I was never sent a letter or informed them paying any bills. They’ve never told me if they are going to cover any of the bill. I’ve tried to call back and talk to someone but I just had to keep telling the same story over and I never get anywhere. I’m getting bills and collection notices for other doctors offices. Come to find out they have unpaid every bill. They have paid from the date that I took a pregnancy test at the doctor, but I was never informed of anything. Just bills and collection notices. How should I resolve this? Should I reach out to a lawyer or should I write them a letter? If so, would anyone have any sample letters? I could try to follow my credit score is in the 805 have worked very hard to get it there and I don’t want the years worth of medical bills piling up. Also, my daughter is 10 months old now I’m worried that my insurance is going to tell me. I’ve waited too long to dispute this, but I’ve tried to contact them over the phone several times and I get nowhere with them.

Hey Guys so i just completed the anime and started manga 2 days ago and now i just finshed 168 - 329 so i wanna know when 330 will release
Also i think manga is about to end lol whole story is over and last thing is left when will kazu and mizuhara become couple, and i truly believed they will became couple after this date.
as mizuhara already feel she is in love with kazu in chapter 303

Voilà, voilà, tout est dans le titre. Je suis un Mister catastrophe. Malgré mon petit QI j'ai eu mon bac. Je rendais des copies à moitié vides, mais bon. Sur league of legends, mes capacités font que je suis très limité. Pas facile de monter en elo quand on réfléchit comme un escargot. J'ai raté mes études supérieures. Mes faibles capacités intellectuelles m'ont pourri la vie. Encore aujourd'hui je rate tout. Il n'y a rien dont je sois fier. Hier soir j'étais tellement malheureux que j'ai physiquement blessé mon corps. J'aimerais qu'on me voit, qu'on me reconnaisse, qu'on m'aime. Je voudrais me sentir essentiel ; et pourtant je ne suis que remplaçable. Je ne suis qu'une horreur génétique grasse et gluante qui hante les rues de ce monde.
Mes envies de trépas sont revenues. Je voudrais laisser la Terre qui sera mieux sans moi et mon petit QI. Je ne sers qu'à consommer pour chier de toute façon, autant qu'on m'enterre. Et dans un cercueil en carton, je veux pas laisser de traces. Non je sais pas, jetez mon corps à la mer, ou dans n'importe quel endroit où ça dérange pas. Donnez-le aux cochons. Je donne mes organes prenez ce que vous voulez.
Il n'y a rien à sauver chez moi. Vous allez me dire "Mais si tu as des qualités tu dois regarder au fond de toi." Mais bien sûr. Tu sais que je suis antivax, contre l'écriture inclusive, que je vote à droite, que l'esperanto c'est moche, que je fais de la lithothérapie et de la voyance (vrai métier), que je suis pas écolo, qu'aux yeux de certains, je serais raciste, que je grignote tes impôts. T'as toujours envie qu'je reste ? Non. Alors voilà.
Je pense de plus en plus à mourir, ce serait mieux pour tout le monde. Je n'ai pas ma place sur cette planète. La bouteille à la mer d'un sous-homme.

Story time! I have posted about my absolute nightmare of a narcissistic mother here before. I know this forum is typically for mother-in-laws, but my ex-mother-in-law is an absolute delight and one of my dearest friends.
My mother is a different story. My entire life she has intentionally set out to be dismissive, cruel, insulting, and judgmental. Here's the latest. About 5 weeks ago, I let her know that my partner and I were purchasing a house and finally moving to be full-time together after 3 and 1/2 years of living part-time together. The entire family was over the moon for us, especially as we are making plans to see everyone the same amount of time that we had before. It's a great move for us and we are all thrilled with how it's turned out.
Not my mom though! She called me up and after the big heavy dramatic sigh, let me know no less than 10 times (I stopped counting after 10 ) that she was very disappointed in me, that she expected higher of me. In fact, she started the whole thing with you want to explain to me why you're moving in with someone before getting married? To which I responded well, it's none of your business and how dare you come at me like this? How old do you think I am for Pete's sake?
She then went on to say that she had higher standards for me than other people, even though both my brothers lived with their significant others for several years before getting married. She basically said the quiet part out loud that she has been thinking for years, which is she has always thought I am up to no good, that my brothers can do no wrong, and I am basically some sort of idiot that has made it this far by doing Lord knows what.
In addition, good Lord. I am a middle-aged woman with a mortgage and full-time job, I have multiple degrees and a thriving career. I think I know what I'm doing with my life here. It is absolutely fucking ridiculous that she felt that she could say these things to me and I said so to her. At one point I did say who the hell do you think you're talking to right now?
I continue to put down some pretty heavy duty boundaries, and she continued to push against them. I mean at one point she practically called me a harlot LOL. It was sort of ridiculous. She ended the call with well. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to it and tolerate your lifestyle and I was like no you will absolutely not have to do that. And hung up.
Fairly ridiculous but this is what I have gotten from her for my entire life. I have gone pretty much no contact at this point. She did this right before mother's Day and I didn't do anything for her. And I will not be doing anything for her for her birthday. Enough is enough. My brother and I had a good laugh about it. I am sort of curious at what she thought she would accomplish with this smug church lady bullshit.

I’ve been reading and writing Drarry for almost twenty years now and I like to think I’ve covered all classics. However, I see Away Childish Things by lettered mentioned a lot and I’ve not read this.
Now, I love lettered. Great author. I love long fics. I love slow burns and hurt/comfort and seeing the characters deal with the emotional/mental consequences of their upbringing and experiences. One would assume I would love this fic based on these things.
However… de-ageing. This is something I’m not keen on.
Can you lovely people please summarise this for me and sell it to me? How long is the de-ageing in play for? Is it physical de-ageing or a mental age regression? Is it both? What part does it play in the story? How do they navigate this together? Am I going to feel weird about ages and underlying relationships?
Can anyone sell this fic to me as someone who is an old lady and gravitates towards stories of adulthood and fully formed adults?

(ep 1a) changes: Have anne be sad. Thinking about marcy possibly being dead. Have anne and the gang being up sprigs near death anne calamity powers and have serious talk about it.
(Ep 1b) Turning point (30 minutes): sasha sees marcy gets stabbed by andrias. Sasha and Grime arrive in wartwood. The people of wartwood question sasha and Grime. On where is anne and the planters. Sasha tells everyone that King andrias is evil and is going to destroy amphibia. The people of wartwood are shocked knowing that the king is actually evil and going to destroy their home. Sasha and Grime say they are going to protect wartwood mayor toadstool and the rest of wartwood to happy to that someone is going protect them from danger. Sasha gives an unsettled smile and then turns to a sad look on her face. Grime and sash are the planter family home, but sasha refuses to step inside. Grime asks if she is OK, but sasha says she is fine and going to sleep the shed where Bessie and micogeangelo are. A few days late, sasha and Grime see one of andrias's robots near the planter family home. While the robot's not looking, Grime destroys the robot with his hammer. Sasha's talk with Grime stays the same. Sasha goes into the basement of the planter house and reads anne's diary. After reading anne's diary, sasha have full on meltdown. Crying her eyes out, sasha monologues about being a better person stays the same. We then cut to sasha, telling wartwood everything about true colours and anne and the planters being stuck in another world (earth). Sasha tells wartwood that she is going to protect their home. But before anyone in wartwood says anything to sasha. Some of andrias's robots attack wartwood. Meanwhile, Grime thinks about his life choices. We flashbacks back seasons 1 and 2. Grime realised he was a horrible person and went back for sasha. We cut back to sasha as he started to fight the robots. Things are going well until the robots manage to pin sasha down. And just when it's seen to be it for sasha. Grime comes in and saves sasha.the sense between Grime and sasha stays the same. The rest of the fight stays the same. After the robots are defeated. Wartwood After learning about sasha's true colours, betrayal, and everything before. Admit that it is going to take a while for them to trust sasha. But they can see that sasha is trying to change and become a better person. Wartwood asks sasha what to do now. Sasha looks at Grimeand Grime spinks at sasha. And then sasha says to everyone. We start fighting back. As they start building the rebellion.
(Ep 2a) Hop till you drop: gabby mentions sasha and marcy, making anne really uncomfortable. While we see what anne's life on earth was like before, she got stuck in amphibia.
(Ep 2b) Adventures in catsitting: have b plot where anne and her mom are at the dentist cause anne was gone for like 5 months. Over all the a plot stays the same.
(Ep 3a) croaker in war: Mrs. croaker helps sasha with her toxic traits. As sasha tries to protect her from andrias's robots. only to feel snap of croaker. Ending the episode with sasha learning from croaker. Not to use people to get what she wants. Because it's makes people hate her for it.
(Ep 3b) Wally to help: Wally is playing his instrument. Then he sees sasha looking sad while sitting on a rock. Wally goes to ask sasha if she's OK. Sasha tells Wally she's having a hard time being herself as she is both a manipulator and liar. Wartwood is still on edge working with her against andrias and doesn't know how to start being herself in a way that isn't deceitful. Wally then tells about the time anne helped stand up to his father. And express his true feelings. Wally then tells sasha lies, and manipulation may be a part of her, but it's not the whole her. She still has to own up to those awful parts and leave them behind. That way, she can be the best true version of herself. Sasha, thanks Wally about everything. Wally then said no problem, sasha. As the two say their goodbyes.
(Ep 4a) fight at the museum: the episode stays the same but with a few changes. The conflict between the frogs, newts, and toads is foreshadowed in this episode. Anne, at first, would have trust issues, but by the end, she slowly starts to trust people again over time. And make a slow but eventually recovery.
(Ep 4b) temple frogs: No changes. The episode's perfect the way it is.
(Ep 5a) Withered (original 11-minute episode): The story is about anne having a hard time trying to forgive sasha after everything before and after true colours. Anne and the gang find sasha's parents who are living in regret and sadness after sasha went missing. They hate themselves for how sasha acts. Anne talks forgiveness to sasha's parents. Ending sasha's parents pulling themselves together. Anne gives sasha's parents a hopeful look and a tear falling down her eye. Letting them know that she going to be their daughter back safe and sound.
(Ep 5b) ivy and sasha (original episode): ivy after some thought deicide to go comfort sasha who having big regrets about everything she did. thinking if anne actually comes back to amphibia and is probably still mad at her. Ivy After some talk with her mother. Ivy found sasha feeling down. Ivy asks sasha if she is okay. Ansmd sasha no. They talk friendshops with anne and sprig. This episode sasha feeling a bit better after her talk with ivy. Sasha decides to sleep and falls fast asleep.
(Ep 6a) Fixing frobo; the episode stays the same except for the ending. Where frobo is fixed and turned into a race car as we see in s3b.
(Ep 6b) anne-sterminator: The episode would mostly stay the same, but with a few big changes. Like, when anne, her parents, and the planters are in the junkyard, and anne's parents question her about the colckbot trying to kill her. Anne thought her parents saw the same as she was before amphibia. she breaks down in tears and reveals she has been hiding. Her parents are shocked. comfort their daughter and apologies for what they said whileSprigg overhears everything. After the colckbot easpse's with the bomb remove from his chest. Anne tells her parents about what happened to sasha and marcy.
(Ep 7a) sasha and toadie: sasha is chilling until toadie comes out. Toadie and sasha go on a walk and talk. Sasha asks toadie, "Tell toadie about some of wartwood's unhelpful ideas. Toadie tells sasha that she listens to people ideas even if some aren't helpful. Sasha thanks toadie like she did in battle of the bands. Toadie tells sasha he was happy to help. As it looks up the night sky. Ending the episode.
(Ep 7b) thinking about marcy: sasha see maddie sisters being attacked by andrias robots. Sasha managed to save maddie sisters and get to safety. Sasha is thanked by maddie for saving her sisters. Maddie then noticed sasha looking distress and asks sasha what's wrong. Sasha then tells maddie about how marcy is the reason she and anne were stuck in amphibia. Maddie is shocked to hear it. Thinking marcy wouldn't do something as bad as this. Maddie After hearing what marcy has done. Maddie decided to help sasha on why marcy did what she did. Maddie tells sasha how she ignored her sisters as she got older. Making sasha realise she was also a horrible friend to marcy aswell. Sasha ignored marcy's needs and interests like anne did. Sasha realised and attended that she was also a horrible friend. Sasha thanks maddie for helping her about her mixed feelings towards marcy. Maddie then said: no problem sasha. I just didn't think marcy would do something as bad as this. But I'm happy to help. Sasha then smiles a little. Knowing she feels better after her talk with maddie. As she fell asleep. Ending the episode.
(Ep 8a) Mr X:Thee episode stays the same.
(Ep 8b) Sprigs' birthday: molly Jo plays a bigger role in this episode. Since spider sprig in an eliminated from this rewitte. Molly jo plays as a new friend for sprig. Sprig also confronts anne about what he hear back in anne-sterminator. Considered for his friend's well-being. Bu she says not to worry cause she wants Sprigs' birthday to be perfect. But Sprig says being with anne already made birthday perfect. Anne gets all emotional after what is wholesome. Anne and Sprig hug.
(Ep 9a) as life goes on: the episode begins with anne and the planters trying to find marcy's parents. Once they find her home. Someone else is already living there. Anne more so then ever I'd shocked that marcy's parents left without their daughter. Sprig question's why marcy's parents just left their daughter behind. At least sasha's parents stayed waiting for they daughter to return. After some time they managed to find marcy's parents by a discord call. Anne asks them why they leave they daughter behind after she went missing. Mr wu explained that the offer started immediately so they had no choice but to leave without marcy. Anne and the planters reflect on what marcy's parents said and what marcy had done. The episode ends with anne and the planters after the talk with marcy's parents l. Saying goodbye to Wu's and the call ends. Anne knowing why marcy stranded her and sasha in amphibia. Finally understanding marcy more thanks to her parents.
(Ep 9b) Olivia and yunan: The episode stays the same.
(Ep 10a) If you give a frog a cookie: anne noticed that the planters are homesick after she made cookies. Then doctor Jan calls anne about a way back to amphibia but they help with it. Anne and the planters are happy. Later they Go to Doctor frakles and meet Terri. As colckbot comes back but this time to help anne and Terri save the planters from Doctor frakles. By throwing the cookies at frakles causing the kids to attack her. As anne and the planters and Terri easpse. Ending the episode.
(Ep 10b) workout time: loggie deicide to do some training with sasha since war is coming. So he goes to sasha and starts training. While training sasha almost goes too far. Telling her that she can not push people to they limits because it will make people leave people behind like percy and Braddock. As there is still a chance to make things right with anne and marcy. Making Sasha reasiled she almost gone too far and apologies to loggie for almost pushing him to his limit. Regret about what she did to percy and Braddock. Sasha the deicided to not always do things her way. Loggie tells sasha that they would do it in a more comfortable way. That can help them beat andrias. Sasha thanks loggie for realising she almost made the same mistake as she did with percy and Braddock. Loggie then says don't mention it sasha I'm Happy to help. After they are done with the training. Sasha looks at the bffs photo of her anne and marcy. Promising to be a better friend in the future as the episode ends.

When I watched the finale of The Big Bang Theory, I was really annoyed at how they undid all of Old Sheldon's character development just so they could re-do it over the course of those two episodes. The ending was great story-wise, but Sheldon's entire character was destroyed and built back for literally no reason.
And they did it again. Sheldon starts the episode not wanting to go to his son's hockey game, and has to become a good dad over the course of a 20 minute runtime. It makes no sense.
These are memoirs he's been writing for probably months of in-universe time, he should've become a good dad during all that. He shouldn't have to realise everything his father did for him just one sudden moment. The episode should've been about him happy to go to the hockey game the whole time, and loving his son despite their differences. Talking about how much his father meant to him, and how he hopes to be as good a father as George was.
I just can't believe they spent all of The Big Bang Theory making Sheldon a better person, undid it all for the finale, did it all again by the ending, then UNDID IT AGAIN for the Young Sheldon finale, then DID IT AGAIN. He's gone through the same development 3 times total now.
It's insane to me because the writers did everything else great. All the young Sheldon timeline scenes were amazing, the cast were all great, everyone was written perfectly, and Sheldon at Caltech was a very satisfying ending after the tears we had at the funeral.
These are writers talented enough to make me cry over the death of a fictional character, yet not able to keep a consistent character development for old Sheldon. I can only assume it's force of habit, and they spent so long with him being a bad person that they didn't at all consider that he isn't anymore.
I highly doubt we'll see old Sheldon again, but if he gets just ONE scene in the georgie and mandy show where he's written decently, I'll be happy.

It's a documentary about an investigative journalist who was investigating government corruption. He ended up dying in an apprent suicide but it was suspicious. The current documentary maker started looking into what he was investigating and met with his sources and was untangling this Web of secrets that linked to several different murders, the cia etc. The sources kept saying their lives were in danger and slowly releasing bits more secrets that led to more links and more conspiracies.
The point is that eventually the current documentary maker just realised that it was all bullshit. That the sources were just mentality unwell and were just making up more and more confusing lies probably due to some mental health issue. He realised what likely happened the original reporter who died was that he was broke and finally realised he wasted years of his life on stories he realised were bullshit, got depressed and killed himself.
It strikes me that the whole UAP sphere is so like this. All the "authorities" greer, lue, coulthard etc are like the sources who kept promising more information and would release small pieces of information that just lead to more questions and confusion.

Hey furries, u/The-Woop hasn't made one of these in a little bit. I've always liked these posts so I thought that I'd help him out again by taking over until he gets back.
Users have sometimes stated that it is difficult to express their sorrows or misfortunes on this sub because they do not want to feel burdensome or unwelcome in what is normally a very happy-go-lucky environment. And so, this thread is to encourage furs to open up with their issues, not only on here but on the sub as a whole. If grief has been on your mind or something has been bothering you as of late, big or small, please leave a comment for myself and others to see if we can be of any help, or at least lend a sympathetic ear.
Alternatively, if you feel pretty nice about yourself today, don't be afraid to browse any existing comments and see if you can make somebody's day a little better. Maybe you have experience with what that person might be dealing with. Or perhaps you just want to let them know that they have a person to talk to. However, there are the principles that should be considered:
1:If you are responding to a comment do your best to be as thorough and insightful as possible. Do not just comment and forget about the other person afterward. While little pick-me-ups can help, do your best to be there for the other person. Encourage discussion and do not be afraid to have more in depth conversations. The comment section is always fine, but if either of you feel that you must talk in a more private setting, do not be afraid to use something such as PM, or a different instant messaging service.
2: I am aware that unfortunately, misfortune does not have a curfew. This thread is not in any way meant to contain negative emotion on the sub, but is meant to be a convenient place for others to open up and find somebody to talk to. If you experience strife at any other time during the week, do not feel like you must wait until Saturday to state it. Please feel free to make your own post.
3:This thread is not meant to replace professional help. If you feel that you could have depression or any other similar psychological condition, you are still invited to post, but it is highly recommended that you seek a form of professional help as well as look into the resources below.
4: Suffering is not a competition. Do not feel like your issues are too slight, or insignificant to post. You are invited to express your problems no matter their scale. Your sadness is just as valid as any others.
5:If you are not looking for advice and would just like to receive emotional support or simply get something off of your chest, you are more than welcome to state so. After all, a shoulder to lean can be a great remedy.
Last but certainly not least, here are a list of resources that anyone can contact. Please do not hesitate to use them if you feel the need. It is better to call and it not be worth it, than to not call and forgo the help you deserve.
International Suicide Prevention Hotlines
National Suicide Prevention Hotline (USA): 1800 273 8255
Distress Centre (Canada): 416 408 4357
UK The Samaritans or 08457 90 90 90
Samaritans (Ireland): 1850 60 90 90
Lifeline (Australia): 13 11 14
Lifeline (New Zealand): 0800 543 354
Greece KLIMAKA Center for Suicide Prevention or 101
Japan TELL Tokyo Lifeline in English/Japanese or 03-5774-099
Spain Teléfono de la Esperanza or 902500002 2
Chile Teléfono de la Esperanza or (00 56 42) 22 12 00
Germany Telefonseelsorge or 0800 111 0 111 (or 222)
Brazil CVV or 141 France S.O.S Amitié International Association for Suicide Prevention
More numbers - http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide- hotlines.html
Trans Lifeline
Trans Lifeline - translifeline.org
UK Support - http://www.allabouttrans.org.uk/support-organisations/
LGBT Resources
The Trevor Project 24 hour hotline - 866-488-7386
Website - http://www.thetrevorproject.org
Twitter - u/thetrevorproject.org
Addiction Resources
Alcoholic Anonymous - http://www.aa.org
Narcotics Anonymous - http://na.org National
Eating Disorders
Eating Disorders Association's toll-free hotline (Mon–Fri, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PST) - 1-800-931-2237
Crisis Chat
In the United States Chat anonymously with an Active Listener: http://www.7cups.com
Self Harm
Alternatives for Stopping Self Abuse or 1–800-DONT-CUT (366–8288)
Rape and Sexual Abuse
Rape Abuse & Incest National Network or 800-656-HOPE (4673)
Finding a Professional
https://findtreatment.samhsa.gov
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/mental-health-and-stigma/help-and-support
Feel free to comment with a link to where others can donate something to help you out. Also, unfortunatly, there seems to be no globe wide way to find food banks, but from what I can tell, Google Maps should give a good starting point to find your local ones.
And as always, if anyone has any ideas on how this thread could be improved upon or if the concept is in any way flawed, please do not hesitate to send u/The-Woop a PM.

Pessoal, sou homem e tenho 27 anos e recentemente terminei um relacionamento longo. Não consigo desenrolar com as mulheres. Toda vez que chamo alguma, mesmo as conhecidas, a conversa não desenrola. Não me considero um cara chato ou desinteressante, faço na maioria das vezes perguntas abertas para que elas possam falar e também não fico só falando de mim. Só que em toda interação elas respondem apenas "sim, não, faço xxx, gosto de yyy" e não perguntam nada de volta, em um "e você?". Isso já aconteceu umas 4 vezes, todas as vezes que eu tento conversar com alguém. Aí eu acabo desistindo dessa conversa. Teve uma amiga antiga, que faziam anos que eu não via e que terminou recentemente que me viu na rua esses dias, trocamos um olá e uns dias depois me seguiu no insta. Segui de volta e comentei um storie, mas foi isso, por mais que eu incentivasse ela a falar, ela era monossilabica e não perguntava nada de volta, eu não queria que a conversa ficasse como um interrogatório e parei de chamar. Eu tô errado em agir assim? Não sei mais conversar?

Hi, I hope someone from Waves reads this.
I recently wanted to use a DeBreather, but they all have their downsides. I tested Waves, RX and Era. I don't use this on clean vocal tracks, I use this on podcasts, youtube etc. There is always something playing in the background, like music, gameplay etc. And normal DeBreathers duck the whole audio which is very distracting so it's better to deal with the breathing than with the constant audio on/off bouncing.
My propose is that we need a new neural network (AI) DeBreather, that is simple to use, like Clarity RX. My idea: with Clarity you can seperate vocal from background. Do that, apply a new DeBreather model to the vocal track and output the fixed vocal mixed with the background sound. This should you give a better experience, no audio bouncing.
You could expand this idea to MouthDeclick etc. you know the drill.
Thank you :)

The church's earliest visitors on Sunday are a group of kind-hearted do-gooders. And Lucas is there too.
The group, including Lucas, is diligently doing last-minute preparations, carefully and skillfully tending to the food they expertly prepared yesterday. Every single person involved in the work does their part with impressive ease and earned confidence. Lucas's careful contributions, both his direct, visible work, and the boons conferred by his presence allow them to do their work with newfound ease, confidence, and remarkable luck. Lucas occasionally makes minor missteps, but those are due more to the drawbacks he is enduring than anything he actually does. And every time he makes a mistake it's so minor a few deft movements are enough for him to overcome them. All the while he is texting Hannah and is visibly excited to volunteer, even though his motives are still quite selfish.
Lucas wisely does not take a leadership role here. The diligent figure follows the lead of his more experienced peers, and his endless, untiring contributions are enough to allow the group to be ready in an hour, completing work that normally takes them two or three thanks to the various perks Lucas grants them, as well as his actual, material contributions. When the group is ready, Lucas suggests they all swap stories about what led them to volunteer here.
The five volunteers and the pastor encourage the newcomer to go first, and he deftly weaves a tale that incorporates bits and pieces of the backstory he constructed for himself at his job. He explains that he grew up as the only child of a family in a small town and that he has been volunteering in minor capacities his whole life. He tells his new friends the same fanciful lies he told his coworkers and is a bit shocked when he gets the "Storytelling" skill. After that, his companions share their own stories with him. The pastor goes first, explaining that when he took over the church not one charitable act was occurring here and in only a few short years the pastor has massively changed that. The others all share various stories about how they've needed food before, or known people who needed a meal, and so they wanted to make sure that if someone needed a meal they could get it. The stories stir Lucas's heart, and he feels a pang of sincere admiration for his new friends. That said the pragmatic figure is not someone who is so kind-hearted that he'd lose sight of his larger objectives here.
While his companions share their stories he activates "Rogue", but focuses the skill on his hands. This decision almost completely cloaks his hands, rendering them invisible just long enough for Lucas to pour healing magic into the soup. He pours all of his magical energy into the stuff, exhausting himself but that is a minor inconvenience given one of his handy toys and especially when he receives a notification alerting him that he has gained an "Overcharge" skill; the ability to empower something by putting more into it.
As soon as everyone finishes their stories there is just enough time for the group of volunteers to go and get ready for the first of the arrivals at the kitchen. When Lucas is out of view of everyone he reaches into his inventory and pulls out his nifty arcane potion and downs it. The instant that the golden liquid touches his lips his power begins to flow back into him, suffusing his very soul. Minutes later the lad is welcoming guests and visitors to the church. People excitedly greet him, stunned in two different ways by his appearance.
Firstly there is the fact that Lucas is stunning, aesthetically. No matter one's preferences, no one can honestly deny his wholesome movie star looks, and no one tries to. But here, in the soup kitchen, that's the less important part of his appeal. The more important aspect of his appearance is his newness. Many of the people who appear early are people who come to the church regularly, and they recognize everyone there but him. This gives the young volunteer a chance to make several new admirers, and he navigates these social interactions with aplomb. The figure, at this point, doesn't even rely on his perks, having grown accustomed to his new life and reality.
As the figure encourages the visitors to come and grab food he is extremely pleased when he feels time freeze the first time someone tastes the food he made. This is due to the fact that he is making progress towards his quest to become a "White Mage" the formal name given to the "Healer" class he received a quest to become earlier this week, The quest asks him to heal 100 people, and this marks one of the first times he has made progress towards it. The figure smiles internally as he deactivates the notification that froze time and continues the important work he's been assigned; welcoming guests and working to log in the information they're willing to give about themselves. To achieve this task the eager go-getter has a clipboard and is stationed near the entrance to the part of the church that houses the kitchen where the chefs made the food. Every time someone new eats the food he spelled to be restorative the figure has to deal with paused time, but only the first time someone lifts some of the ensorcelled food to their lips, and each time his excitement at the prospect of obtaining a new class grows more intense.
For the first hour only long-term, regular members of the church's congregation, and their hungry friends, come to the kitchen. The pastor is one of the figures serving them food, while Lucas continues the important work he was asked to do. During this time 22 people make their way through the kitchen, greeting Lucas with excited smiles and happily volunteering the same information they've volunteered before to other individuals tasked with doing Lucas's current work. The young jumper listens to distant conversations even as he writes down the information of various individuals. He smiles internally whenever he overhears someone saying that the food tastes different somehow, better than it has before. Such individuals also sometimes notice how immediately the pain they're in lessens, their old aches and pains fading and in some cases disappearing altogether. They don't know about the magic that is repairing their bodies, the sacred energies that course into them with every faint bite or spoonful of food they eat. Also during this time the chef gains more experience
Lucas doesn't consciously know this but his decision to pour all of his magic into the food has supercharged it. If not for his decision to infuse the food with healing magic again time, coupled with the diffuse nature of the soup would have weakened the healing properties of the magic, but Lucas's choice to suffuse the food with as much magic as he could in short order before the hungry congregants and community members began to arrive has sanctified the food and empowered it's naturally restorative and fortifying properties almost making it something like a potion of sorts.
More people begin to arrive during the second hour of the meal serving period. Some of these people are brand new, and of them a handful gawk at Lucas. These individuals, include homeless youth. teen parents, and college students can't resist the urge to take in the cool glass of water on a hot day that is the charming volunteer. His ability to feign kindness and his almost but not quite eerie sense of their emotional states is enough to allow them to develop crushes, platonic or otherwise, on the figure. And in the space of the hour 40 such individuals come through and eat more of Lucas's cooking, enough to allow him to level up his chef class one more time. He eagerly takes a new class ability, one that allows him to grant food he cooks very minor buffs, though he finds that it's not retroactive.
During this time the pastor gives a very brief address to the crowd of gathered individuals, and introduces Lucas to everyone though Lucas has already been social enough and diligent enough to do that himself. Lucas eagerly thanks everyone for joining them today, and during this time he experiences a very subtle glitch where he says a word but no one notices it. The young adventurer simply ignores the glitch, but not before noting that it's the first one he's experienced in a public situation.
During the last forty five minutes of the meal more people come through, and this group is the oddest and the largest. These folks are the irregulars; people who occasionally need the meals the kitchen provides but who don't love prospect of coming to the kitchen. This group numbers a total 45 of individuals, and by the time they eat the effects of the food are less miraculous, but still solidly strong. At the same time when the next to last person to eat grabs a spoonful of soup and lifts it to her lips she is unknowingly responsible for time freezing and Lucas gaining a new class, The excited hero immediately changes classes and gains a boost to his intelligence and charisma as a result of it as well as just enough experience to boost the power of "Support", making this the first time that a perk of his has been directly strengthened to a quantifiable extent.
"Support" is the most subtle of Lucas's perks other than "The Devil's Own Luck". This perk makes him a more effective leader and teammate, and boosts the efforts of his c;lose-by allies by the equivalent of a "+2", until just now, modifier in TTRPG terms and weakens the efforts of his c;lose-by enemies by "-2", or now "-3". In layman's terms all of the efforts of his allies by a tiny but noticeable margin and weakens the efforts of his enemies by an equal amount. The perk also allows for buffs or debuffs to affect all allies or enemies in close proximity to each other, but Lucas has not had many chances to buff allies or fight enemies. One effect this perk has had is that it allows his friends to cook food that is more delicious, more filling, and healthier than their past efforts. Another effect of it is that it has helped those who eat said food to ingest it more easily and thus allows them to eat it without fears of stomach pains. New spells also appear in the hero's mental grimoire, ones that offer minor buffs or debuffs to friends and enemies, targeting their attributes, but none that consider Lucas a viable target.
The hero delights in his new class and is excited to have the chance to grow as a healer and support provider but the day isn't done. When the last of the crowd leaves Lucas and the rest of his friends stay behind to clean up. Lucas is eager to put his newly enhanced perk to the test, and during these efforts Lucas gains the "Cleaner" class, a class whose initial benefits to him include a boost to his senses and to his skill with anything intended to be used to clean something. During the cleaning, Lucas does not quite gain enough experience to level up, but he knows that he will in time.
Eventually Lucas bids his new friends farewell and makes his way to the gym. He works out somewhat intensely during this time, gaining a series of new skills in the form of swimming and boxing, thanks to his time engaging in a decently stimulating jaunt around the lap pool, followed by his participation in a class that revolves around self-defense. Thanks to "Master of All" and his decision to swap classes to "Fighter" he manages to level up both his "Mage" and his "Fighter" class, opting to give himself a boost to his endurance as a class skill for "Fighter", and a boost to the rate at which he regenerates arcane energy as his class skill for "Mage". It is during this time that Lucas figures out that for his classes to level up he needs to gain class-based experience, but this is the first time that he has seen that he can level a class up without having the class equipped, there just seems to be some relative debuff to the experience gained by the classes he doesn't have equipped. This insight boosts his intelligence, the realization itself serving as a sort of training of the attribute.
By the time Lucas returns to his apartment he is immensely satisfied with the day he has had. The moon is visible in the night's sky when he steps into his apartment he is ready to spend the rest of the day honing his skills and gaining valuable experience. He immediately starts this off by using some of his magic to mess with some of his possessions, positioning and repositioning them as he pleases with telekinesis. For the first time the figure shuts his eyes and practices his telekinesis by feeling alone, an exercise which results in the acquisition of a strange new skill: Extrasensory Perception, or ESP. The figure excitedly practices this skill, even as he levels up his "Spatial Magic" skill and gains an expensive new spell: "Minor Teleport". This particular spell lets him teleport objects he can see and hit with a small magical ray, causing light, small objects he hits to appear in his hand. The mage's skills with this are enough to allow him to hit a kitchen knife with it and teleport it to him without any issues. Lucas's mind fills with possibilities as he takes in the wicked potential of this spell. Still, the spell costs enough that he can only cast it once or twice without waiting for his pool of arcane energy to recover which limits it's usefulness somewhat but that's only a short term problem.
Monday rolls around and when it does Lucas is delighted to find that he is familiar enough with his surroundings that he settles into a routine. The jumper almost immediately throws himself into his work the minute he arrives at the office and he quickly grinds the day away. The only notable event is his realization that Amy is developing a crush on him, something he notices during lunch when he is eating with her and their small cadre of colleagues, when she eagerly asks him about volunteering. On Monday afternoon the lad goes to the gym and works out, taking another dancing class and leveling up the class partway through the workout. He gains a class skill which allows him to more easily persuade anyone who sees him perform a few dances, which he realizes probably won't be very useful in this jump but might mean something later on in his "Chain" as his employer called it several days ago.
The figure spends part of the night leveling his rogue class and gaining skills associated with it thanks in part to his "Rogue" perk and his new spells. He sticks to public places, and stays out just long enough for some shopping outlets and malls to close. He limits his targets to small objects like keys and wallets with his magic, and occasionally targets people with debuffs. He also levels "Observe" enough that he can learn the moods of living things just by using the skill, When his rogue class levels up he snags a new skill which boosts the effectiveness of his actions when he is unseen by the people he is targeting. He also snags a title: "Arcane Sneak", which boosts his magical regeneration when he is unnoticed by people or in the immediate aftermath of him using magic to take something that belongs to someone else.
The next month and a half passes in a blur, and Lucas develops a decently strict schedule he sticks to. On Mondays he trains a specific class, not necessarily rogue but definitely something. On Tuesdays he works out, including taking Zumba, a boxing class, and swimming. On Wednesdays he does meal prep and stays at home honing minor stuff. On Thursday he does some sort of volunteering, and on Fridays he actually relaxes and does something like writing or website design. The weekends are filled with volunteering and city exploration.
During this time his classes, other than chef, dancer, and mage, are slow to level up. He actively practices magic, he is a regular chef, and he turns a passive admiration he once had for dancers into something he is surprisingly passionate about. He also begins to volunteer at the hospital he visited, spending a few hours every Saturday in a small room in the back of the hospital looking through paperwork and doing stuff he didn't anticipate a hospital volunteer doing. Still, he quickly racks up trust and admiration from the few hospital staff members who know of him, thanks to his ability to just not complain, coupled with his stunning effectiveness at what he does.
As he begins to approach the two month mark he is a level 10 chef, level 12 dancer, and a level 6 mage, and a level 3 fighter, rogue, and white mage, as well as a level 4 cleaner. It turns out that each class levels a bit differently, which has inadvertently skewed his leveling but he's become an advanced enough chef that his food can be actively beneficial or detrimental and that there is now a 5% reduction in how long it takes him to cook something. He can also now gain modifiers to his interactions with people who've eaten several dishes he's made, provided they enjoyed them. His dancing is similarly useful, and he is a much better mage now than he once was. The figure can also cast spells and use an ability that prevents something from getting dirty, or magically cleanse objects. Despite all of this he remains a level 1 human, having not gained any experience that would level him as a member of his species; it seems that for him to gain such experience he needs to engage in combat and even when he's sparred with people he doesn't fight them to unconsciousness.
He leaves his apartment on the last Monday in October with a smile on his face, ready to begin a new work week.

She told Javier that she didn’t know if he was ready to be a stepmom and still married David then acts like David is a horrible person.
David isn’t a bad guy for not coming back to the house. I’m sure he tried and was stopped because of the walkers. After a certain amount of time I’d assume they were all dead as well. Just as Kate and Javier thought David was dead as well.
But Kate tried to pull moves on Javier literally the same night David and his’s dad died. She broke a mug and she was freaking out and then tried to hold Javi’s hand.
I hate her so much and I hate how no matter how rude I am to her, David and Javier still get into a fight. Even if you pick the option where you say it was all Kate after she gets pissed and saying “I can’t believe I loved you. Both of them.”
She’s selfish. Also her whole story line of her wanting to leave the city to her changing her mind because she broke the wall down because she suddenly wants to do the right thing??