SINCE I CAN'T POST THIS IN THE WINDOWS 11 SUBREDDIT BECAUSE THE AUTOMODERATOR MALWARE BOT REMOVED IT, I'LL POST THIS HERE!
me and a friend have had this weird problem crop up recently where, whenever we close a game or try to uninstall something, the process disappears in task manager BUT, in the case of uninstalling things, some files get left behind and attempting to manually delete them results in windows popping up an alert telling us to close the relevant process first as those files are being used by it.
using dark souls 3 for an example of the app part of the issue.
after i finish playing the game, i close it like normal. BUT while the games process disappears from task manager, if i bring up this other app (system informer) i can type "dark" in its search bar and...the games process is still there.
except now, the parent process has closed and this process is marked as "suspended" and is unkillable. checking its properties shows pretty much all info as N/A and the parent process is "Non-existent process (parent process ID number here)".
in the case of uninstalling things, it usually leaves behind a few .db files and maybe some other things.
upon attempting to manually delete these leftover files, a pop-up appears and says
"the action can't be completed because the file is open in 'process name here'"
and that completely blocks me from deleting the remaining files.
so far...the only thing i've been able to learn about the problem in my...not that tech savvy research (mainly cause i have no clue what this issue even is to begin with), i have learned...little to nothing about this and nothing at ALL on how i might possibly fix it.
all i do know about this is somehow parent processes are being closed before the child processes (which tells me something in windows is doing things BACKWARDS) and...doing that makes the child process completely unkillable. and i mean completely unkillable short of rebooting my pc to FORCE windows to let go of the damn processes it's keeping in a strangle hold.
they don't appear in task manager and neither console commands NOR system informer can force kill these processes even with admin level permission.
these processes are completely immortal until i reboot which i'm about to do to clear 3 dark souls 3 game processes.
does anyone here have any idea what i'm talking about and how i might fix it? i did 2 full system scans and a quick scan after those to make sure and i came up clean on windows defender outside a few false positives (bout all i ever get outside "once in a blue moon" situations).
i don't know what this is or how to fix it beyond this rebooting. i am at a complete loss here.
edit: i don't need a damn BOT helping me. i need a HUMAN!

Prompt: Tom (or Tamsin, as a genderflipped version) Riddle was, originally, Cassandra: a seer cursed by a powerful wizard (the really powerful wizards are generally remembered in muggle mythology as gods) for turning him down. Sometime after the curse, she sees a future where muggles ruin the world with unholy fire, killing everyone and everything, but of course any attempt to warn is either ignored completely or, worse, repackaged and used as fodder for violence that makes the coming ruin more likely, not less.
Over centuries of being reincarnated - of being born, slowly regaining memories, not being able to do much and sometimes making things worse, then dying and having to wait anywhere from decades to centuries before being reincarnated again - they become more and more desperate. In the current lifetime, as Tom/Tamsin, they come into memories relatively early - helped by their magic - and realize that the world is in the precipice: that the unholy fire they had no way to recognize so long ago was nuclear war. Desperate not to die, knowing that any lengthy delay would be catastrophic, they create more horcruxes than anyone has ever before dared, then take the offspring of one of their corrupted warnings - this so-called 'purism' - and attempt to steer it toward their own ends. If that means killing all the muggles, it may have to be done. If it means decimating wixkind, then so be it. But for anyone to survive, the threat of rending the fabric of reality must be dealt with and, if no one will believe warnings, they'll make sure it gets done by doing it themself. The worlds will be separate and the last war will not occur, even if they have to personally drench soil and concrete in blood to ensure it.
~
This grows out of a relatively popular trope that Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort is at least partially justified in his goals (though exactly what those goals tend to vary from fic to fic), particularly because he has firsthand experience in exactly how destructive muggle warfare can be and how little magic would be able to do against modern muggle weaponry. I also recall at least one fic - though I don't remember the name - where Tom had received a prophecy or vision or something about the danger of muggles. That directly contributed to his deciding to become a Dark Lord rather than a politician, and was also the reason he took the prophecy about Harry seriously when, under other circumstances, a literal infant should not have been a cause for concern. This prompt blends all that with the myth of Cassandra, mostly because I think it would be awesome to have a story where Cassandra eventually goes "Fuck it. I'm done trying to get others to do or not do what I want; I'm going to make it so they have to obey me and that's that."

Sixth year redditor but longtime viewer of this subreddit and I need some help.
I (26M) have just started dating a coworker (24F) named Sierra. I get it, getting involved with a coworker isn’t always the best but I’m willing to take that chance with her. We work in different departments and she is radiant, plus she makes me laugh and everytime I look up and see her it makes my day and I just enjoy spending time with her. Her and I have been dating, only for about five weeks so it’s still pretty new and eventually I would like to have the define the relationship talk (DTR) after getting to know her more but I’m a little hesitant moving forward and here’s why:
First, some back story about her: Sierra has a handsome three-year-old boy and from what she has told me (and shown in pictures) he is extremely smart and a spitting image of her. She is independent, firm, and introverted, which I respect and value to no end. Her words not mine, “I am a mom first and I will always put my son before me.” As someone who wants to be a dad someday I could not agree with her more and cannot BELIEVE I was lucky enough to meet someone that has so much love to give and care for their son. I am in no way, shape or form ready to meet her son yet but wouldn’t mind it someday. Sierra is very to herself, she doesn’t like going out a lot, and shes not a huge people person and I am the complete opposite. I am definitely an extrovert and I love hanging out with friends and going on theatrical dates that have meaning but I’ve taken it a step back because of Sierra. Here lies my dilemma:
In a five week period, the first two weeks of us going on dates were GREAT, everything from cute walks in local parks, to just driving around and laughing, along with cute bookstore and dinner dates. Sweet and affectionate moments with a lot of firsts. Around the third week, we shared a really passionate night together, and I really do think that brought us closer and it means alot because I’m a very affectionate person (physical touch and words of affirmation are my love languages).
The morning after we had a great brunch date, laughing and just spending time together, but I could sense something was a little off. She informed me that she was waiting on her birth control to be re-upped and how going off of it, would cause a lot of hormonal changes and differences. Now I have dated past partners who took birth control and I have read that book/symptom list and holy shit. Those who take it, do not, and I mean DO NOT get the credit or value they deserve and I know a lot of the reasons aren’t just for sex but it can help with irregular periods, stopping periods, and balancing out estrogen levels. Something I’ve found out recently is it can also help with acne.
For about two weeks, she has been a different person, not FaceTiming me as much, not calling me as much, and none of the cute nicknames or silly jokes/phrases we were saying to each other in the beginning. The biggest thing is the physical affection and hand holding even, where I have to ask for that kind of stuff. I truly believe her when she tells me that her body is adjusting and going through the wringer but I don’t want to overstep my boundaries and make her feel uncomfortable. She has been even more antisocial and has only thanked me a few times when her and I have gone out compared to our usual witty and fun banter afterwards. I have talked to her about everything, my thoughts, my concerns, and she gives me reassurance about things going back to normal but It’s short lived because I’ve truly never been in this situation before. I know I get in my head and I want to see where this goes.
I sent her a long text explaining my feelings and how I want things to work but she had ignored it and went on snap chatting and texting like it never happened and dismissed my feelings. Could it be hormones or something else?
All the best and thank you for reading!

Just saw this reddit post the other day, (sorry it's all in French) about unemployment benefits in France and other european countries. Everywhere but in the UK you get a percentage of your last salary for up to 30 months.
The 2nd column is the number of months you need to have worked (8months out of 20 for France), 2nd columns is the number of months you are covered for (6 to 15 months for France) , and last it's the percentage of your old salary and the max threshold (57% of your former salary up to 8811 euro per months).
What's refreshing is it's usually something you can live off. Which mean that when you loose your job in Europe you got plainty of time to adjust and rebound and aren't immediately at risk of homlessness. The UK is the only place listed with similarly low benefits as Australia.
https://www.reddit.com/france/comments/1d1lnrd/indemnisation_ch%C3%B4mage_des_r%C3%A8gles_diff%C3%A9rentes_dun/?share_id=hS8R3oz5FsI8sqzIXfEj0&utm_name=androidcss

[Let me know if a chapter a week is okay; I'm thinking it might be a bit too often. Run Zero: https://redd.it/1csb71x Run One: https://redd.it/1cwxbsg]
The mining foreman refused to go to sleep, and watched intently as Tightniks finally reached over and set it home with one hand. Its last nervous little sigh was the only thing he remembered-
The ship is without power, and Tightniks can't run the radar much without draining the batteries...
32s: First trap.
He built it big this time, and there are six trimps in there. They look familiar somehow, the light one with dark hair and an unusually short and broad tail compared to the rest, a big-eared green one, a grey one, a yellow one, and a red one with big paws and "XIII" on its rump, and a brown one with pink ears that takes the lead and cheers, "Kakka!" Once he lets them out, they all follow him intently around like just-hatched birds do their mother. He shows them the busted off cockpit and forward cabin of the ship he just crashed and they get inside and start da- ...nope, sticking with "dancing". He busies himself looking for the survival pad.
Until he hears the squeak of a baby trimp. They're feeding it- ...rocks. Carefully selected, aluminate rocks. What the heck are they doing? Whatever, I've got to get some conventional food for- What's that? He's got the survival pad already, but this was outside the ship, it must have materialized when he descended through that glowing grey mist getting out. He gets it flipped over and turned on.
"Manual portal activation 2 successful:" it displays, "rare shield equipped 54%Stg 14%Atk MT 0 Nu loaded / 399 He loaded / Metal challenge active / Total portal activation 956"
Metal challenge? The human selects it.
"You have the Metal challenge active. Tweak the portal to bring you to an alternate reality, where the concept of Miners does not exist, to force yourself to become frugal with equipment crafting strategies. If you complete The Dimension Of Anger without disabling the challenge, miners will re-unlock."
He's so confused, What the Loy is a Dimension of Anger? I think I have a headache from this high gravity. Sits down for a moment.
Notices that one of the trimps is sleeping in a small deep hole just at the edge of the garden, apparently to have a nap in standing upright.
I don't believe you, "portal". I'm training that one first chance I get!
56s: Pop full.
There are ten of them already?? I'm still working this derpy little potato patch to get enough food to bulk up just ONE of the- He looks at the portal pad and blurts out loud, "Fifty-six SECONDS??" He postulates that he's in a time-dilated environment, and that the portal is measuring time somewhere "out there", this "map frame" environment. It's like those Star Trek episodes he can't remember "Wink of an Eye" and "Blink of an Eye" that he can't quite remember. [One of them is Star Trek TOS, and one of them is Star Trek: Voyager and I forget which one came from where.]
1m57s: Arable in Z1c13.
The human walks along and one of the trimps viciously fights the various hostiles that try to come at him, staying ahead. Just behind, he finds that hole-digger busted into a cave big enough for 9 of them, and they start raising babies to fill it up.
3m37s: Miners in Z1c30.
It's broken! he notices of the data card he just picked up. It's one of the ones that flew out of the ship when he undogged the ship's side hatch, but it didn't survive. What was on it? He's got a vague memory of a big tanuki-tailed trimp, much bigger than the- Wait! This memory is of hole-digger all grown up. So this is- he looks at the smashed data card in his hand, ...this is the Miners card. At least there's some lying about so we're not totally deprived of metal.
That's odd. I'm sure I spent longer training this little guy than "one second map frame." The human looks at the black trimp with the grey head fur and silvery eyes, "So, can you say something yet?"
"Shijou." [Takane and Takanya are not black, it is their favorite clothing color.]
"Okay, can you say something else?"
9m12s: Zone 1, 40 pop, 3.5s RC with Z0/1, 13m19s turkimp. 12m55s: First scientist.
"Tai," his first scientist waves at him.
"Hmm," the human tries to think of a better test, "What color is the sky?"
"Shijou." The exasperated human is about to sigh in despair when he notices a card in its hands, with one word on it, "Blue."
"What?" he takes it, "You can't speak but you can write, huh?"
"Shijou," it twirls its paw off the end of the card in his hand. The human turns it over, and in small writing, it has "Technically, the sky isn't blue, it's a foible of Rayleigh scattering in an oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere. And you have 'TIGHTNIKS' embroidered on the left side of your uniform."
A look of astonishment sweeps over the human. I never taught it about Rayleigh scattering. Apparently, the scientist training has unlocked its brain to access the collected knowledge of a previous life! Then he looks at his uniform and groans, spanking his eyebrows in realization. The trimp had apparently noticed him wandering around the camp wracking his brain and talking to himself trying to remember his own name, and it's right there the whole time! He spanks his eyebrows again.
The very well fed grey-headed trimp starts doing experiments, leaving him to take the turkimp back to his farmers. Too bad it's only a quarter as fast at it as he is.
32m25s: Zone 3, 79 pop, 4.5s RC with Z1/2; c16, 79 pop, 6.8s RC with Z2/3.
"Nano! Nano, nano, nano." The D&B (that's dodge and block) foreman has an impressive yellow mane, light face, green body, and brown hind limbs, and moves like a blur when it decides to. When asleep, it's as unarousable as an exhumed fossil, except with the food article Yellow the scientist calls an "owny geary". [Puchim@s Afuu]
Helping it out is a brown-maned white trenching expert Tightniks finds oddly familiar. It has no problem mining, but couldn't start a fire if its life depended on it, so smelting is out of the question.
I guess that's how the Metal challenge really works. Too bad I suck at it. Tightniks is spending all his smelting time smacking out nails and joist hangers for the houses, and has nothing left for fighting gear.
1h53m25s: Zone 9, 306 pop, 7.9s RC with Z8/15, no turkimp.
The white trimp with the brown head fur- ...whichever one it is because it, or one that looks just like it, sometimes (apparently) burns itself up or blows itself up trying to build a metallurgical furnace. This one is digging a hole right now, into the concrete of some ruined building's foundation. It hits some strapping and rebar, makes a happy sound, follows it along and gets it sorta clear of the concrete bonded to it, and rips it out of the ground to throw on the metal pile. It now seems content to do that instead of trying to smelt ores.
"Red?" Tightniks glances at one of his scientists, "Do you think we could take it to- What's that place you said you visited five hundred years after some misty fight or-"
"Cloudy strife," it says, "Yeah, Midgimp is like that, we could probably map a route through there. Lots of metal. Especially the part that had an avalanche happen and fell down. Broke all that stuff out of the ground already." [Final Fantasy VII and Advent Children cinematic and Sector 7 collapse.]
"Okay," Tightniks says, "Let's do that."
5h32m02s: Zone 21, 2042 pop, 14.9s RC with Z20/232, no turkimp.
"Ooooookay," Tightniks growls, "There is something off about this thing."
"Shijou?" the grey one looks at the yellow one with concern about their human starship pilot friend.
The human stoops, picks up the little green gem on the ridge between Zone 20 and 21, looks at it, huffs, and asks, "Any idea where this comes from?"
"Err..." the red one seems hesitant to say, "I think you made it."
"Really?" the human huffs, "How could that be?" Then he tosses it at Red, "See if anything reacts to it. It might be radioactive, so we should take turns to minimize exposure."
"Really?" Red's holding it now, "What makes you say that?"
"Because I'm pissed off for no reason I can figure out," the human says, "I think it's coming from-" he gasps, "Waitamint!" He starts searching for the portal pad.
"Frags," the red one says quickly, "I think it's arranging a route. You're good with maps," it tosses the gem to the grey scientist.
The human has his portal pad up and reads aloud, "You have the Metal challenge active. Tweak the portal to- yada yada yada. Tiss tiss t- complete The Dimension Of Anger without disabling- miners will re-unlock."
\BOOM\** They turn to see (another of) the white brown-haired trimp'/s' attempts at a metallurgical furnace explode, and it seems both very frustrated and has really hurt its toe.
He snaps his fingers, "That's gotta be it. Although, does it mean 'miners' or 'furnaces'?" He re-reads the portal pad while the scientists shrug.
"Shijou," the grey one has just finished tracing the route map the gem was showing.
"Are we going any faster than on previous cycles, you think?" he asks Red.
"What's a cycle?" Red asks.
"We're stuck in time loop, you realize?" the human says.
"Well," the yellow one jumps off a little rock spire it was using to see farther ahead, directly into a seated position on the ground with an impressive thump the human can both hear with his ears and feel through the ground of the more-than-Earth gravity planet, "that explains a few things." The little scientist trimp seems quite morose at the news.
"This thing says the fastest we've ever got this 'anger' map done is ten hours, thirty-five, but the clock right now is at five hours, thirty-four." Tightniks tilts his head, frowns one eyebrow, and taps, "Getting it done faster increases attack damage somehow, and oh-"
"What now?" the yellow one asks, still seated beside the spire.
"It says we already got a 2.5%-er for having a million traps," the human says, "I don't remember doing that. Maybe..." he sighs, "Maybe that's a good thing, 'cus I'd probably go insane building them all. Still though, it says we're going faster, but it doesn't feel like it."
"How'd you know how it feels," Red asks, "if you don't remember it?"
"'Day jaw voo' I think is the term," the human says, "or something. The sense that all this has happened before, but I'm not quite remembering and there's no physical evidence of it."
"Shijooooooooooo..." the grey one moans, waving a card at him. On it:
"In order, but we don't know if that means chronological order or frequency/proportion of memories:
"- The ship crashes (pretty sure that happens every time) "- The human builds huts "- The human teaches some trimps to speak and do science "- The human builds houses "- The human makes maps "- The human builds mansions "- The human blows up and gets himself killed somewhere around Z17 to Z21, often on a dragimp "- The human only recently/occasionally builds hotels "- The human only recently/rarely tamed a dragimp "- The human only recently/rarely mapped the Dimension of Anger"
Tightniks sits down and offers it back.
"Tai," it flatly refuses to take it back, paws up and eyes closed.
"It's kind of a relief," Tightniks rubs his temples, then looks at it again, "knowing it ain't just me."
6h17m43s: Portal PB, 1% AP for sub-8h, 45 He, 7.149 He/hr, 2209 pop, 13.6s RC.
The last head of the map's boss monster goes limp as one of the fighting trimps' dagger points goes into it, and the huge thing settles on its tail, resting on the package that seems to be the prize of this map. And there's a popping sound, and then something mechanical.
Is that a scroll compressor? Tightniks looks at the package. The deflating monster's lifting envelope material drapes over everything underneath it. "Yellow, Shijou!" he snaps and points, "roll up that side of it. Keep this part from sucking down on the extractor nozzle!"
All ten of the scientists jump in, literally, pushing the gas in the bag towards the compressor. Tightniks as well, rolling up the front.
Until he kicks, and nearly trips over, a smaller package that might be the explanation for the reason why the center of the monster's defense seemed to be a little away from the big package he could see. It's in the right place, he realizes. He gets it uncovered and reads stenciled-and-sprayed block letters on it:
"DT TIME PORTAL / THIS SIDE DOWN"
Perhaps the Dimension of Anger is so named because of the rage suddenly rising up in Tightniks' throat. It isn't so much as the free-floating aggression suddenly has an answer, there is definitely a fresh batch of rage and anger as he grips the nearest Dagger V, Mark 2 with both hands-
Refocusing on surviving the next few seconds, the pilot turns on the radar for the final approach and takes a last look around, then straight ahead at his forward camera and primary flight display...
He crouches, sets the dagger down gently, then starts clearing the debris from the box's grab iron. He tries to lift it- Damn, this is heavy! As he gets it turned over, gravity finishes the job, and it shakes the ground with an impressive thud as it falls right side up.
"DT TIME PORTAL / THIS SIDE UP" There's a square cutout in the middle of one side of it, with a sliding cover at the bottom of it.
"Get the pad!" he screams, seeing that his scientists are almost done rolling up the megablimp.
The grey one already has the survival data pad and offers it to him.
"The big one," Tightniks clarifies, "The big one." he picks up wide flat rainbow cable and its edge socket in one hand, "It goes here," he points at it with the other. "It must have come with me-" He had taken the small survival data pad and notices something, "Oh?" He starts looking around, "Hey!"
The white trimp with the brown hair is napping in a hole next to the smouldering remains of its latest attempt at a smelting furnace.
"Hey, mining buddy!" he whistles at it, "Mining buddy!"
It wakes with a start and rushes over, but doesn't seem to be in a good mood. But as soon as Tightnik shows it the survival pad, with all of the mining data installed just as if all those broken data cards and scorched scrolls were intact when he found them, fireworks goes off in the little trimp's eyes and it rushes off with the pad. Within minutes, the first furnace that works is chugging away at some ore and it returns to give the survival data pad back to Tightniks.
7h24m49s: Fresh turkimp; 7h25m30s: Labor reallocated.
The big-eared green lumber foreman's mood fell much further than the mining foreman's mood was before Tightniks packed up the turkimp roaster and moved just about everyone over to the smeltery.
The brown-haired, big-tailed white mining foreman was surprised at the change, and very happy. It had climbed up onto the helium compressor cart to check something on the pad a couple cells into the zone.
"Are you upset with me?" the red one asks the human.
"No, not at all," Tightniks says, "Are you getting the feeling that we had an upset at this point last cycle?"
"How would you know it was only the last?" Yellow asks, "Your memory's no better than ours."
"Right," the human sews another patch into his uniform, "However, I've only actually hit the switch on the portal twice, the first one on a challenge called Discipline, and the second on a challenge called Metal, which we just finished. It's easy to sort out from the statistics. I'm nervous it'll get harder to sort out when we're up to, oh," done fixing his uniform, he pops a bit of turkimp into his mouth and chews a couple times, "a few dozen or hundred manual cycles."
"Friggin' solve this faster than that, please," Red grumbles, "I know the emergency counter got to nearly a thousand, but..." he kinda trails off. Finally, he says, "I think we're remembering more cycle to cycle as we get more helium into it. I mean, I'm glad that isn't the only mechanic."
"Can't miss the supernova if it is," the human ponders.
"What?" Yellow chuckles.
"I'm remembering something from before all this, I think it was called a video game, where you'd go forward real-world in the simulation of a time loop, and your real-life head remembering what you did on previous cycles was the only mechanic," the human takes another bite, then dons his uniform shirt while chewing it. After his head pops out of the not-so-crisp-and-fresh uniform neck hole, buttons still done up, he finishes, "one of them had a supernova." [That would be Outer Wilds among the bunch of games with this mechanic, er, Minnit (I know it's spelled differently than "minute"), 12 Minutes, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, and- ...I'm sure there are more.]
11h19m28s: Starting void 1 (L30).
With the thermal gloves on, Tightniks gets the void map into the portal device slot. It dematerializes and his fingers close where it used to be in his hands, then he yelps, stands up and starts dancing, "Oh crap, it's cold!" He quickly starts looking for stuff to bundle up. Once not too uncomfortable, he notices something, "You're having trouble, too?"
"No," Yellow and Red look at each other, "Well, not with the cold; this route has a poisonous atmosphere, slows down our young assimilating aluminum at the proper rate."
"Manning the traps will work at full speed, right?" Tightniks says.
"Should if your fingers can handle it," Red confirms.
11h33m57s: Void 1c100.
"You are one ugly muthaf[garble]!" he says when he sees the void boss, "Stay here, I'll be back." Runs some traps, grabs a couple helmets for the fresh volunteers, "Put these on."
"Shijou?" the grey one looks at the red one, really rather perplexed.
"I agree, that's not his usual accent," Red tilts his head, "Tightniks, what has gotten in to you?"
"Stop cheering me up," the human grumbles, "You think this is the real Quaid?"
"I think the cold is affecting him more than he realizes," Yellow offers.
"Phased plasma rifle in the forty watt range," but what the dizzy pilot actually throws at the zone boss is a Mace V-4, "and then I was thinking of breaking your neck."
[Felt like some- "Arnie? Well, the union is pulling out all the big guns today, huh?" (Tom Hanks as Sully) ...no, brain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, not Arnie Gentile (it was really funny to background Sully and listen to that line instead of "That's definitely you" in Terminator 2 while he's posing with the Minigun.) Arnie lines from Predator, Terminator 2, True Lies, Total Recall and The Terminator.]
"Tweak the portal," reads Tightniks from the portal controller aloud, but quietly, "to bring you to an alternate reality, where Trimps are bigger and stronger, to force yourself to figure out a way to build larger housing. Your Trimps will gather 50% more resources, but your housing will fit 50% fewer Trimps. If you complete The Dimension of Anger without disabling the challenge, your stats will return to normal."
"You will also open a new memory coolant unit," Yellow reads, "You think that'll cause a housing bonus?"
"Shijou," the grey one hands him a card saying "We have enough for another gateway."
"Oh, good," Tightniks hands it back after signing it, "Yes, build it."
"We're doing that next?" Yellow asks.
Tightniks sees the little fellow sitting on top of a mound that the human thought was a bowel movement pile from Draglimp, but it must be something more geological if trimps can climb it, let alone want to. "Yeah, I guess," the human answers, "It kinda scares me, I mean I'm going back, but what happens to you guys?"
"We have too much day javo or whatever you called it," Red says. He's usually on all fours, shakes his left hind leg as though something got stuck to his foot, "This isn't incrementing, I'm sure. 13 is less than 956."
"According to this, you'll be twice as big," Tightniks sets down the portal controller pad and stands up from the cart, "It's hard to imagine, especially for Shijou and Diggy. We'll clear thirty-six, that's it."
14h04m37s: Z33c95, IC.
"Are you sure we can make Zone 37 start?" the red one asks.
The yellow one is standing on Red's shoulders.
"It said we did last time," Tightniks taps on the crude leather bag strapped to his back, the portal pad inside it, "though maybe..." he tilts his head, rolls whatever he was sucking on in his mouth for a moment, "it just happened while I was building those traps. No, I'm sticking with that plan."
"If it's going to take that long," Red grinds its jaws sideways for a moment and lets its eyelids get lazy, frustration clear in its tone, "why do it again?"
"Because I've got a bad feeling about this 'Size' thing," Tightniks says, "it drops our resourcing by 75% assuming we build the same amount of housing as before, which we won't because of the reduced resourcing. We needed 65 capacity in the cabin and huts before we could do run the gypsum/paper wall machine we found. I have a funny feeling that never changes."
"We don't need 65 trimps to run it," Yellow says, "just three."
"Yeah," Tightniks says, "but a particular three that know what they're doing, and my day javoo is telling me the last of those is always the sixty-fifth."
"Shijou," the grey one moans from the other side of Tightniks. Didn't have a note this time, just kicking a little rock along as it walks.
"It thinks you're right," the red one growls forlornly, "Hating to say it, but I do too."
14h16m06s: Skel in c1, 50 bones purchased whipimp.
There's a thump at the cart, and then some commotion around it that's noticable enough for Tightniks to come over and take a look. The bone box is empty, all forty-nine titanium bones in it are gone. Tightiks brings his right hand up in front of him, and it's just a balled fist, the bone he was holding a moment ago is gone. As he starts looking for where he must have dropped it, he realizes maybe it's all related. Looking in the bottom of the empty bone box, he finds a note.
"I got you the whipimp. This new Bad Guy will begin spawning in your next zone at an average of 3 spawns per 100 enemies. I hope it helps, but I can't tell yet."
The note is in Tightniks' own handwriting, although lazy but with more consistent kerning. Is this from an older version of myself? Friggin' time travel.
14h18m48s: This L34 moun 160/27/79 calls itself "Magical Mountain" - I can't remember whether the Disney trademark is that or "Magic Mountain" ...I've seen a "Black Mesa" before, that's a Half-Life thing, and somebody on Reddit made pretend that "Dank Hill" was a King of the Hill thing (which is actually *Hank Hill, I think - it's hard to remember, it wasn't very good and I haven't watched it since the 1990s.)
19h32m00s: Doom/AT, 12816 pop, 80N, 37.7s RC with Z34/5298.
"Okay, we got that friggin' thing chocked," Yellow wipes its brow and almost bonks itself with the Mace VI-2 that it's holding, puts it down and makes sure the wedges are secure.
Grey, Red, and Green are packing more stuff around the huge boulder that chased them down a tunnel to make sure it doesn't do that again.
"Getting any day javoo?" Tightniks pants, hands on his knees, but apparently uninjured, or nearly so.
"Not at all," Yellow vehemently responds, slashing the air with its paw, "You?"
"Oh," Tightniks gets his breathing under control, "I think it was a human movie."
"Like a video on that pad?" it gestures at the human's pocket with the small one.
"No, a bigger screen," the human says.
"Fifty-five inches?" the trimp scientist chuckles.
"More like fifty-five feet," the human rubs the sweat out of his eyes, "Lots of people watching. It was called a sin."
"Ah," the trimp ponders, "Like a crime, vice, psychopathy or bad habit?"
"Er..." the human taps his forehead trying to remember, "Sorry, a cinema."
[The whole thing is obviously an homage to something I remember only slightly better than Tightniks, I think it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. As I'm posting this, I sadly realize that Nick Rekieta's arrest was between when I wrote this and now.]
19h58m55s: Zone 37, 473 He, 23.67 He/hr, 13088 pop, 81N, 32.1s RC with Z34/5298, 2806 pop short, no turkimp.
The ship is without power, and Tightniks can't run the radar much without draining the batteries...

With the surging success of Thrones of Decay and the recent positive news regarding Pharaoh, I'm honestly looking for a enjoyable project to ponder throughout the weekdays before heading home to work on my latest campaign. As such, I'm pleased to announce the introduction of The Newcomer's Guide to Army Composition, a multi-part series featuring effective generic and themed builds for each race within TWW3.
Every few days (ideally), I'll drop a different breakdown of a specific race's generic lord/hero/unit roster with effective, dynamic ways to fill out an army. Overall, these army composition recommendations hold to three core doctrines:

• Form follows function...these armies are designed to win battles, and the opportunity cost of utilizing a 'cool' unit over another 'less cool' unit means a great deal when we're talking about the defense of your empire. You know what's cool? Winning, and winning consistently and effectively.
  
• Cost-Effectiveness...we're not here to break the bank, and we're certainly not building 'doomstack' clones (seriously not fun). Great army compositions have layers with a variety of backfill options available...you can't always afford the highest level in every category for every army, so the name of the game is cost-effectiveness.
  
• Flexibility...if you take one thing away from this guide, I hope this tops out your list: variation, flexibility and durability are the saving graces of the best army compositions. I’ll admit that opponent specialization has certain advantages, but generally speaking, I despise the idea of sitting around for ‘X’ amount of turns globally recruiting the ideal niche unit designed to defeat [insert race here]. Instead, I find a force capable of challenging virtually every race much more useful in the mid-game and down the stretch of long campaigns.
  

Alright, on to the good stuff…first up, a personal favorite: the Dawi.
While I personally recruit based on the legendary lord and which advantages they provide certain units, whether that's through their unique trait or via their unique skill line, my goal with this breakdown remains typical army compositions for non-legendary lords...here's how I approach a relatively generic build:

• First and foremost, pick yourself a lord type...the generic lord is really solid, the runelord serves as more of a support specialist and the new daemonslayer offers a extremely different melee approach. Unless you're building a slayer-themed army, I'd generally suggest one of the first two as the daemonslayer truly works best when utilizing a good number of slayer units. Total Units: 1/20
  
• Next, and I've found this is an unpopular decision on this forum, I utilize a strict one hero per army rule with a few minor exceptions (VC, for example). I also offset my lord choice with a hero of opposite specialization...so a runesmith would pair well with a dwarf lord while a thane works perfectly with the runelord. The master engineer slots in well with both, so just modulate your needs accordingly. And if you're the type who prefers more heroes, throw in one of each, all three are excellent. I'll note that the new dragonslayer is also quite brilliant, really knows how to take on large entities and a great option to throw into the mix as well, especially if you're going to be fighting tomb kings, dark elves, greenskins, etc. Total Units: 2/20
  
• Six frontline infantry designed to hold the line...these traditionally are well armored and shielded and just generally stay alive. They aren't your damage dealers and they aren't designed to generate kills...they hold the line to ensure your actual killers have time and space to do their job. Start off with Dwarf Warriors (easily the best Tier 0 unit out there) before upgrading to Longbeards and, finally, Ironbreakers. The latter offer some excellent punch with their short-range explosive toss, excellent in the late game against heavily-armored troops such as Warriors of Chaos or the Dawi-Zharr. Total Units: 8/20
  
• Behind your frontline, you need two kinds of damage dealers: ranged and melee. First up, let's talk about the ranged units...Thunderers are the way to go, bar none. I'd argue both variants -- the traditional and the grudge-rakers -- are exceptional, with the latter maybe being slightly better due to a quicker reload time. The traditional have slightly better range and accuracy, though, so there's some trade-off. My go-to from now on will be two of each, to be honest. If you’re a bit strapped for cash, quarrelers are always a solid choice, plus you can run some simpler formations as those crossbows shoot up and over your frontline units. Total Units: 12/20
  
• Now you need some hard-hitting melee, and fortunately you have some options. Hammerers were the original choice on this front, but with the addition of doomseekers, it's a bit more of a toss-up. The question you have to ask yourself is survivability...hammerers, with their high armor and high numbers (100 per unit), will hold up in most fights. Doomseekers with their zero armor and lower numbers (32 per unit) don't have that advantage. That said, doomseekers have some sick animations and way outclass the hammerers in their general stats (better MA, MD and charge bonus), so it's still a bit of a toss-up. I bring two total to help my frontline with particularly tough enemies, and with both offering magical damage, ensure targets consistent of the undead or daemonic, when applicable. When you’re cost-strapped, look to the great weapon variants of long wards and dwarf warriors. Total Units: 14/20
  
• Not much of a Dawi force without some artillery...the usual approach on here tends to be an overwhelming amount in this category, but I honestly think two total truly works perfectly within most armies. Start off with grudge throwers before upgrading to cannons and then organ guns and flame cannons. Full honesty, I’m completely sold on the new flame cannons…they absolutely melt most units, and with a Rune of Seeking, full on chef’s kiss my friends. Pair with an accurate damage-dealer such as organ guns and you’ll have enemies severely crippled well before reaching your infantry frontline...that'll do nicely. Total Units: 16/20
  
• Moving on to war machines...these are the units you'll need to micro during battles to get the most impact, so just prepare for that inevitability. Prior to ToD and the 5.0 patch, the unit of choice was the gyrobomber, but I've honestly been forced to reassess a bunch the past couple weeks. First off, the Thunderbarge is a no-brainer, grab one of those as soon as you can (assuming you can afford it)...just float that sucker over the enemy army within range of your thunderers (for protection) and it'll take care of virtually anything. Second, the gyrobomber is still great, and it's a solid option for harassment, but I really appreciate the utility of the gyrocopter (brimstone guns)...they mop the floor with a heavy majority of opposing ranged options, freeing up your thunderers and Thunderbarge to focus on the opposing frontline. Mix-and-match between the gyrocopters and the gyrobombers for best results, but I've found just one with a thunderbarge to work really well. Total Units: 18/20
  
• Finally, the flex positions...I tend to slot in some anti-cavalry units for these two final spots, just to ensure my artillery doesn't get ravaged by boar riders or the like. Surprisingly, Bugman's Rangers work exceptionally well in this hole...they have this under-the-radar 'Charge Defense Against Large' ability that makes them ideal for taking on cavalry, and up until the point they get charged, they're a solid missle unit as well (same effectiveness as a quarreler). However, my favorite unit for these two spots are Irondrakes (Trollhammer Torpedoes)...they crush it against large entities, can hold their own in melee for a decent amount of time due to their armor and just generally look super cool. Total Units: 20/20
  

A Slayer-Themed Composition
As promised, I also included a great slayer build that I have come to enjoy tremendously:

• Daemonslayer for the lord slot…a must-have for this composition, feels strange to run anything else. Total Units: 1/20
  
• Dragonslayer in the hero position…again, a must-have, and truly excellent as a single-entity killer. Total Units: 2/20
  
• Doomseekers…prior to the addition of these beasts of the battlefield, slayers were entirely focused as anti-large specialists. Doomseekers changed that entire dynamic, and I recommend running six of these gems as your ‘frontline’ for this comp…a bit expensive, sure, but if you’re building themed armies, you’re already rich. Total Units: 8/20
  
• Giantslayers…still the anti-large champ in regards to slayers, and highly-effective on your flanks protecting your doomseekers from cavalry charges and monstrous infantry. I personally grab four, two on each end to ensure the integrity of my frontline. Total Units: 12/20
  
• Slayer Pirates…an extremely fun unit with some late-game purpose in this composition: ranged firepower with a bit of flanking capability. Like I noted earlier, I appreciate flexibility on the campaign map, and the last thing you want to run into with a themed stack is a couple enemy units virtually untouchable by your forces. Slayer Pirates solve that problem well as your anti-flying shield, and when that need isn’t as ‘needed,’ per se, they make solid flankers with excellent armor-piercing ranged ammo. I bring four for safety. Total Units: 16/20
  
• Goblin Hewers…not exactly my favorite of the slayer units, but definitely fun in the right context and against any lord boasting a large mount. I toss in a pair to absolutely delete enemy leadership or large single-entity monsters, and they’re the type of ‘artillery’ you never have to worry about since they’re manned by another couple dozen slayers…cavalry charges need not apply. Total Units: 18/20
  
• And finally, a few Gyrocopters (Brimstone Guns)…I know, I know, not technically slayers, and while you may be absolutely correct, the advantage of a pair of brimstone copters takes root in their capability taking out ranged units. Slayers, as we all know, sprint into battle sporting zero armor, making them vulnerable to even the sloppiest of archers. In steps a pair of brimstone guns, and suddenly you’ve got very little ranged to worry about plus some post-battle barbecue options for your surviving slayer comrades. Total Units: 20/20
  

Enjoy the Dawi, they are an absolute blast to play with now, and I highly recommend experimenting with some of their mid-tier units as well as virtually all variants of grudge settlers…the flame cannons and trollhammer copters are unreal out in the field.

Six minute read
So I go to college in CO but am from MN which is where my boyfriend and I met in senior year of highschool. Everything was great, I even moved to CO so that I could go to school near him because he was moving there. Once college started insecurities started to show, after being SA'd by a guy at college he demanded that if I am hanging out with people I have to tell him the names of everyone one there. He also to this day says that I technically cheated on him when I was SA'd because I didn't tell him the name of the guy right away. I've been r*ped for three months in a past relationship so it was an honest trauma reaction when I didn't tell him the name and I told him that. The controlling got worse and worse to the point tha I would be anxious to the point of being nauseous if I hung out with even friends that he knew. If I was asked to go to the club I would have to ask permission which would 100% of the time lead him saying no. I should add that after the SA incident we broke up for three months, I expected to never talk to him again and was really happy being single and free but he wiggled his way back into my life leading to us getting back together. This last winter break I was so done with it, I gathered the courage to have a serious talk about his controlling behavior specifically about him saying I can't go to the club, not because I wanted to go party but because of the fact that he thought he could tell me yes or no. In my mind I was ready to end things based on how he reacted to the talk, but he reacted well and so we stayed together and now I am allowed to go to clubs etc. I also must add that when we are in person hanging out everything is fine, we don't fight, we just chill and have fun. We just don't know how to communicate until things start to boil over because it makes both of us very uncomfortable to talk about issues in our relationship in person (I know that is not good and have been working on it) I do feel that things aren't the same as they used to be, there is a feeling of walking on egg shells around him a good amount of the time, things have been better recently. If one little thing happens he will be crabby and just shut down the rest of the day, even losing a game. When my older sister F(23) came to visit a few weeks ago he said that he would take us to the aquarium, we were getting food at the dining hall at my school and so I went out to his car to invite him to sit with us until we are ready to leave. He was in one of his "moods" and was angry, he just said no and that he will wait for us in his car and then hit the gas and loudly sped away when I was three feet away from him car. Later that night we were all drinking and he admitted with a laugh and smile on his face that he acted like that because he was listening to logics new album or something and "just needed to grind" whatever the fuck that means. My sister was driving in his car alone with him for maybe 15 minutes max. and said that even she felt like she was walking on egg shells and that she understood me now because he would get upset at the smallest things. It honestly just embarrassed me that he couldn't try to be nice around my sister, that just shows me that he doesn't care.
So now to get to the actual story, sorry that I rambled, I am currently visiting my family in MN for two weeks, he is still in CO. A week ago I went to visit one of my only friends from highschool for a sleepover, we went down to eat dinner and when we came back upstairs I saw that I had a missed call from him, I then saw this exact text: "Hey J***a! I miss you a lot right now. I know you're having a fun time out in Minnesota with your friends and your family. I love and care about you very much, I know you know that. It's time to move on from each other. This hurts a lot and I'm shaking while typing this. But I need to fly solo for a while and figure some shit out on my end. " My honest reaction was "I think blank just broke up with me?" My friend was so nice and then asked me how I felt, I honestly didn't feel sad, I was mainly just confused because of how random it was, he was acting completely normal up until then. I tried calling him back but it went straight to voicemail sp I texted him this: "I wish we could've had this talk on the phone. I was eating dinner downstairs when you called. I tried calling but you aren't answering so.
I agree, I feel like we haven't been in love like we used to for a long time, and I think moving on is the best thing for both of us." He never replied the rest of the night. The rest of the night I didn't cry or feel sad, I called my girl friends that I'm living with in CO, after them asking me how I felt and stuff we just started making fun plans for our single girl summer. Every single one of my friends does not like my boyfriend including my sister. They have been telling me to break up with him for months but I am honestly too scared and uncomfortable to, plus things are good when we are hanging out in person so I figured to just not worry about it. The next day my ex snapchatted me asking if we could have a phone call later if that is okay with me, I said sure expecting him to just tell me why he wanted to break up. But instead he said that the night before he saw some old screenshots (from the old SA incident) that made him go into a downward spiral. I will say I said some awful stuff behind his back which was the screenshots he was looking at. He then convinced himself that I had cheated on him and that I didn't actually get assaulted and that all of the times that I studied with my guy friends or hungout with them that we were fucking. So he just sent that text and powered off his phone. I will also say that I have never cheated on him. The next day he woke up and regretted it, he admitted that he also felt nauseous and scared which is think means he was just scared to be alone because we've been together for so long and he doesn't have any IRL friends in CO, so he would've basically been alone. So anyways on the phone the day after breaking up with me he told me why he sent the text and then started talking about how he was sad because he wasn't thinking lastnight, that he was only thinking about the bad things but then started thinking about all of the good times we have had and that that was what made him so sad the next morning. He said he truly loved me and wanted to at least say that he tried to get me back. I was again just very confused and shocked at this information, I tend to feel really bad for people even when they don't deserve it and so when he said he would've regretted this for the rest of his life and that he really loved me I caved and agreed to see if we can work things out. That being said I made sure to let him know that what he did was really shitty and not normal, and that it of course hurt me the way he went about it all. I have been telling him that he needs to go back to therapy for a year and he kept saying no, so on the phone I told him that if I'm even going to consider getting back with him he is going to get therapy. I know that may be shitty and I don't like telling people what to do but that is honestly what I think he needs if we even have a chance at getting better as a couple. At this time we are also planning to see eachother when I get back to CO to have an in-person talk about a lot of stuff. I told him that we can "stay together" but that I need time to think and I don't want to be official until I see major amount of change from him. Which historically has never really happened or the changes he made he eventually let slip and went back to his old ways which were toxic.
So now I am here, not sure what to think. I have been trying to really think about what I want and how I feel without thinking about his feelings but it's been really hard. We agreed to reconvene and see if things are better at the end of the summer, allowing him time to work on himself. But I don't know if I want to do that. I feel like things won't change, only because they haven't in the past when he said that they would. I also don't know how to end things if I were to.
If you were me what would you honestly do? It's hard to end such a long relationship.

I don’t know where else to say this. No one believes me, no one that hasn’t seen it already. But I have to say something so here it is and the world can decide.
I was a good worker. I showed up for my shifts and did what my written job description said, never missed a day or a chance for a day off. My goal was to be average, to not be good enough to noticed and given more responsibilities, but also not be bad enough to be noticed and put on watch. It’s what I’ve done all my life. Fly under the radar, be easily missed during inspections and blend into the crowd. I got B’s in school, had no intention of going to college or university, not like I’d ever be able to afford it, just wanted a secure job to let me afford my underachieving lifestyle. Took me almost ten years to find something like that, drifitng from one job to another, leaving when too many people started to notice I was much better at the job than I let on.
And eventually I found the perfect fit for myself. I was an overnight security operator, don’t get excited it’s a fancy title for spending all night watching security monitors, for a commuter train. I can’t say which one or where for the safety of others and myself. The job was simple, watch the camera feeds of my designated train and write a report for anything unusual. On a rare occasion make a statement to the police, and I mean rare occasion. In my five years doing that job I spoke to the police maybe twice before the incident.
I think that’s enough background so onto the point. It was a regular Thursday night, shift started at 10pm, working with Larry, Bob, and Sue (not their real names for their safety and more importantly, mine) watching the cameras. Made some notes, forgotten umbrella (wasn’t raining), camera glitch, group of 4 drunk men, person in hoodie doing the drug addict lean (you know the one). The camera glitch was expected, an extension to the rail line was recently completed which included a very long tunnel through a hill side, which about the middle of it was so deep that the cameras would cut out for about 2-3 seconds. It was actually pretty amazing that we got any signal from the trains in the tunnel at all. The wonders of signal boosters. But something about that night caught my attention. I didn’t know what it was at first, just felt something was off. I ignored it that night because at 3 am, everything feels weird. At the end of the shift, about 930am I made my report for the night, handed the desk over to Bill (again, not their real name) and went home on the same train system I monitored.
But the feeling was still in my head. Something happened on the train that night that I wasn’t consciously aware of. I ignored it still, drank my favorite cheap whiskey and went to bed. The feeling stayed with me the next few days. That damned feeling that you know something isn’t right but you can’t figure out. It’s like when you accidently put your phone in a different pocket than normal. So finally on Monday night (you have no idea how busy security monitors get on weekends) when my trains were in the depot getting cleaned I brought up the Thursday night footage and scrolled through it. Same things I made note of were there but the feeling was still there. So I went through it again. And again. The fifth time through I finally found it.
On the third wagon, almost in the blindspot between the cameras, at 2:58am was a regular person just playing a game on their phone. The camera glitched for 2 seconds, and they were gone. I though maybe they just moved completely into the blindspot but no, they were gone. Didn’t get off the train, didn’t reappear. I checked the entire recording of the night. I had no idea what to do. I should have told someone, or made a report, or anything. Instead, I told myself that was really weird and kept doing my thing. Flying under the radar, trying to be mostly invisible.
Two weeks later on Monday night, I saw it again. The camera glitch, and someone disappearing. I scrolled back the footage to make sure. Again, I did nothing. This time telling myself it was just shadows on the lense or the plastic bubble around the camera was dirty. But you know what they say; once is odd, twice is a coincidence, thrice is a pattern. The third time I did something. I made a report. Yeah, real brave i know. Making a comment about “shadows on the lense after tunnel glitch” on my daily report. But that night I started looking into missing people cases. Larry asked what I was doing, I said reading the news while my train was getting cleaned. Better than Bob, who was usually watching youtube and/or playing games on his phone while his train was still making rounds.
Anyways, I found some leads. 3 missing people, last seen heading to the public commuter train before disappearing. But there were more, so many more. Dozens over the past several years, all last seen heading into the area above the new tunnel. Unsurprisingly, they had all been alone at the time.
I won’t go into detail about how this troubled me for nearly a year. Just know that eventually curiosity got its way. On a night off I got my jacket and went out to a train station. Late spring night, a bit colder than prefered, 2am train. The last circuit before this train would make for the depot for maintenance. And I was on it. It would take nearly an hour to reach the tunnel and I was scared but I had to know. Like all those times you watch or read some horror and the character starts reaching for the obviously dangerous thing, you mock them endlessly but I understood now. Fear of the unknown is strong and just seeing what is obviously evil will help you put it out of your mind. But I knew the rules. Be ready to run, have two exits planned, don’t look back.
I sat near the door because I didn’t want to stand the whole time. And when the train finally barreled into the tunnel I started to regret my choice. It was nearly a mile long and just enough room for the train and a very brave worker on each side. I watched my watch 2:59am and ticking closer to 3am. Tick, tick, tick. Who knew a twenty year old analog watch could be so ominous? But then my watch stopped. I looked out the windows and the train had stopped. Not rolled to a stop like trains need to do, just complete dead stop and I didn’t notice. But the lights on the walls were stretched out, the effect that you can only see when you’re moving past them really fast in the dark. My first thought, being a sci-fi fan was that time stopped, yet I moved.
Then I heard a scream and footsteps at the end of the train behind me. I thought about the rules of survival I made and then thought about time being stopped, would the doors open? WOuld I be safe jumping from the train? I’ve seen what happens when someone gets clipped by a train (one of the reasons I had to speak to police) and it’s messy. I heard another scream, desperate and afraid, then the sound of someone tumbling to the floor and something scratching over the floor. A phone bounced off my foot and spun to a stop in front of me. I looked down at it as the screams behind mean grew more horrified and pained. I dared a look at the window to see the reflection of what was happening. And the best I can say is smoke pouring over someone but it was completely shredding the person like a blender but not making a noise and vacuuming up the shreds. Some mental fortitude I didn’t know about kept me from puking and stock still. The screams eventually came to a wet gurgling end and in the reflection I saw a pair of lights flick on in the smoke. Looking back they were eyes but in the moment they were two neon blue lights looking at the window, then making eye contact with me in the reflection. I held my breath.
The smoke soundlessly glided up the aisle and I kept still, not moving at all, keeping my eyes exactly were they were focused before. It drifted closer and closer to me and by god I wanted to cry. It hovered there letting me catch a scent and I want to say it smelled like something burning, or like rot and death, or anything bad. But it was worse, so much worse. It smelled like cooked pork, lightly burnt. It hovered for what felt like hours beside me, I was desperate for air, my eyes were burning from not blinking and those neon lights were staring into my soul. Then the train wobbled as it passed a bend. I have no idea when the thing disappeared or when time resumed, felt like I blacked out for a moment but I know that's not what it was.
I sat there in my seat blinking and breathing deeply to recover. And then I looked down. The phone was still on the floor near my feet. I left it there but I kept staring at it, like when you notice broken glass on the ground and focus on it so you can avoid stepping in it. At the next station i got off the train and went to an always open fast food place. I got a coffee and started writing this. It would be two hours until a train back towards my apartment, one that takes the old long route around the tunnel.
I didn't sleep that day. How could I after watching someone get shredded and devoured? So I sat at my PC and wandered through my games library all day. Think I fell asleep a couple times for maybe an hour. Next night I went to work like normal, focused on my usual behavior. But after two hours I was called into my supervisor's office.
It was relatively normal, they check in with night shift people every few months to make sure we're doing okay. See if we want to change to day shift for mental health. Was all normal until he put his clipboard down and off to the side. He took a deep breath and looked at me, like really looked. That deep penetrating look when someone can see through your lies.
“You saw it.” He said. Three simple words that felt like he was telling me I had a fatal incurable illness. I just nodded. “You have two choices now. Like all of us that know. Either you leave and find a new job and never speak of the incident because you will be a suspect in the disappearance; or you keep doing your job as you always have but with a raise to ignore the camera glitches.” I sat for a while assuming I had to make a choice then and there.
That conversation has been burned into my brain. I still remember it verbatim. And I wish I could say I made the morally correct choice. But I'm an underachieving coward always looking to take the easy path. So I still watch the cameras through the night, but with some extra money to ignore the occasional camera glitch on the extension. I found out accidentally that Larry and Sue also knew about the incidents and made the same choice I did. And we all knew the same amount of nothing and we prefer it that way.
So that's why I'm putting this out there. Maybe someday someone better than me can figure this out.
I still can't eat pork.

My maternal side of the family has been keeping an unintentional name theme for a long time: my great grandmother was named Margarita (meaning daisy), her daughter is Aurora (as in aurora borealis), my mom is Rocío (the Spanish word for morning dew) and I'm Carolina (a type of rose that grows in my country, also a species of poplar trees). They hadn't noticed until I pointed it out a few months ago! Plus: my grandma's best friend is called Estela (our word for the reflections of the sun in the water)
Do you guys have any ongoing theme in your family? Would you like to, what would it be? Also, how should I name a potential child of mine?

Inspired by another post comparing two place names with the same spelling but different origins. However, this is more about places with names that you assume you know where it comes from, but end up being wrong.
For example, Reno in Nevada sounds like it obviously comes from Spanish. Reno is indeed a first name in Spanish-speaking countries, and Nevada has a long Spanish history. However, it is actually named after US Army officer Jesse L. Reno, whose last name is apparently an anglicized version of Renault, a French last name.
Inyo County in California sounds Japanese, and for good reason because “inyo” is a real Japanese word meaning “yin-yang”. Even more coincidentally, Inyo County is also where 120,000 Japanese-Americans were put in internment camps during WW2. However, apparently the name Inyo County does not have any Japanese origin and instead comes from the Native American language of Mono.
These following two are less objective, but still kind of confusing in my opinion. Both Provo and Pocatello sound like they could have some Spanish origin, especially since they’re in the American West. However, Provo comes from a guy named Provost (French name) and Pocatello comes from a Native American language.
So what are some other examples of this kind of thing happening?

I've commented a few times in a few posts about my family's experience going through the F-1 to H-1B to GC route to migrate to the US and I've received a lot of questions over the DM, many of which I thought were pretty basic. I thought it might be helpful to put this primer together so folks know the right questions to ask and approach their planning more strategically.
This post is going to be very candid. I've noticed that the questions I've received come from misconceptions about higher education, F-1 visa, and what comes after graduation. I want to give folks the right information, but also temper expectations and give a realistic portrait of what it means and takes to use the student pathway to legally and permanently reside in the US. It is not a stroll in the park, and I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea.

BACKGROUND

Two of my siblings plus myself are all here in the US via the student visa route. I received my green card in 2021 after being in the US for nearly 4 years. After receiving my Masters at a prestigious university, I was hired immediately by an organization willing to sponsor my H-1B, which they did so after two years of employment under STEM-OPT work authorization. My employer started putting together my I-140 (Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker, which is the start of the process for an employment-based green card) shortly after receiving approval of my H-1B. As the paperwork was being put together, my partner and I decided to get married and I switched from employment-based green card to marriage-based green card. The employment-based green card would have added around a 3 year wait if we went through with it, while my marriage-based green card was approved in less than a year.
Both my siblings are currently in the same pathway. One received their Bachelors last year, was hired before graduation and has recently received approval for her H-1B. Their employer has committed to sponsoring their employment-based green card next year. My other sibling received their MFA last year and is now in the process of getting their O-1, which is a different kind of work visa. Like me, they both came to the US with a student visa. We were all very strategic about the programs we chose and how we approached networking within our industries.
We also prepared for years. I knew I wanted to get my Masters and permanently reside in the US even before I finished college in Manila. My siblings also knew that early on. So as a family we planned for years, including preparing financially because we knew that we had a very slim chance of getting free rides for our planned degrees. Our early planning also helped with our professional decision-making, because we became very strategic about what kinds of jobs we took after graduation in Manila (except our youngest sibling, who did her Bachelors in the US, so her planning revolved around her academic career in high school). I would say from start (initial planning) to finish (with the last sibling also now on the way to permanent residency), it took about a decade.

GETTING STARTED

Is the student pathway the right pathway for you?
The first question you should ask yourself: can you afford the student pathway to permanent residency in the US? Higher education in the US is not cheap. Universities very rarely offer full scholarships to Masters programs, and those that do are incredibly competitive. So you cannot depend on scholarships to help you pay for your degree--doing so will likely end in disappointment.
(PhDs are usually free and includes a living stipend, but the application process for PhDs are on a whole other level. I will not cover it here but I can answer any questions related to applying for PhDs.)
Most Masters programs in the US are two-year programs, and the average cost of a Masters degree is around $60,000 per year (source). That's $120,000--almost Php7,000,000--in two years. That is a lot of money. That does not include your cost of living, which depending on the location can vary. I personally spent around $1000 on living expenses every month (housing was through the school, so the cost of that was included in my tuition statement)--and that is living frugally in a very high cost of living city. That's an additional $12,000 per year. Of course, you can lower than number by living with family if that option is available to you.
So on average, you would need around Php4,200,000 per year for your Masters degree. Again, a lot of money. It goes without saying that the student pathway is a very expensive pathway to permanent residency in the US. Can it also be a quicker pathway than, say, being sponsored by a sibling? It can be, but that depends on how long it will take for you to save up for tuition.
What if you can make those numbers work? What else should you know?
I need to put this upfront: the F-1 student visa is a non-immigrant visa. Meaning that it is a visa meant for people who will enter the US on a temporary basis. This is why the student visa has no direct pathway or benefit to permanent residency in the US. You need to change status inside the US to one with immigrant intent or double intent to be able to be on that pathway or receive that benefit. That's where visas like the H-1B visa comes in.
You also cannot work outside of your school on an F-1 visa. During the school year, you are allowed to work part-time on campus, and during the summer you are allowed to work full-time on campus. Work outside of the school is only allowed if it's part of your curriculum (i.e. your program has a class for "onsite internship") and you are allowed to be paid while that opportunity is going on. You can do this part-time, but most legitimate universities will have limited opportunities for this (i.e. under your program you're only allowed to take credit for onsite internships one or two semesters). However, your eligibility to work full-time after getting your degree will be affected if you do this full-time for one year. If you want to jump from F-1 to H-1B, this is not something you want to do.
Your ability to bring dependents to the US on a student visa is also limited. You can only bring your spouse and unmarried children under 21. Dependents of F-1 visa holders are not allowed to work in the US (although children under 21 can go to school full-time). This means your spouse cannot work while in the United States, and that includes working remotely for a company in the Philippines.

APPLYING TO PROGRAMS

The student visa still seems like my best option. What's next?
The next step starts with you. I've received a good number of DMs asking me "Is Master of ABC the right course for me?" or "Will a Master of DEF get me a green card?" These are not the right questions to ask because they're not going to get you any good answers. Yes, we know the ultimate goal for taking your Masters in the US to get permanent residency. But the true purpose of getting a Masters in the US is to make you highly marketable and competitive to US employers that will be willing to sponsor your work visa and petition you for your permanent residency.
So you need to view this degree as a way to level yourself up professionally. I absolutely do not suggest getting a Masters degree in something "you already know"--the objective is not to coast while spending Php4,200,000 a year--but to be so much better at what you're already doing. Here's an example.

Maria Clara graduated from Accounting at a good university in Manila and now has around 2 years of experience as a CPA at the finance and accounting department at a multinational corporation based in Makati. She wants to get her permanent residency to the US via the student pathway and has done a significant amount of research on possible Masters programs and career paths in accounting in the US. She started reading into forensic accounting and realized how interested she is in various aspects of this career path. After looking through universities and programs, she has put SUNY Albany's MS in Forensic Science at the top of her list for a variety of reasons. One, it meets the education requirements for certified public accountant licensure in the state of New York. Two, even without a scholarship of financial aid, the costs for international students is not exorbitant at $23,000/Php1,320,000 for the year-long program--with some frugal living and help from relatives in the US, she can save that amount in 3-4 years. Three, New York is the center of global commerce--all the biggest companies and their accounting firms are either headquartered or have large offices in New York City, so she has a wide swath of employment options. Now she just has to get her ducks in a row and make sure her Bachelors meets the requirements for application, as well as put together a shortlist of other programs she should apply and create a timeline for herself and the milestones that need to be hit to make this dream a reality.

Bottomline is, your starting point in this entire process is reflection and research. You need to reflect on your own professional experience and skills, as well as your interests. You need to figure out which pathway will give you that professional and technical boost and do your research on available programs at reputable universities, what the job market looks like for your target profession, which companies are known to hire in this space.
Of course, you should also take into consideration your limitations. For example, you can only go to school in San Diego because you can stay with relatives while you're studying. That means your research is location-limited to however far you think you can commute.
When this is properly done, it should lead you to a place where you have a shortlist of programs to apply to. Each program will have their own application and testing requirements, as well as their own deadlines, so make sure to keep track of that.
PRO TIP: while grades during college are an important part of your application, many graduate programs put a lot of weight on your personal statement and professional recommendation letters. This is why the first step on reflection is critical--it gives you a good direction from which to build your story, which you will need to convince admissions committees to accept you into their programs.

ACCEPTANCE

I got into one of my top programs and I have my finances in order! What happens now?
Now it's time to apply for your F-1 visa. Your university will provide you with the documentation you need from them (this is mainly the I-20 and your acceptance letter), but the bulk of the documentation you need to present to the visa officer will mostly come from you. Namely, because the F-1 is a non-immigrant visa, you need to show strong ties to the Philippines. This can take a variety of forms, and oftentimes your mileage may vary especially depending on the school you will be attending (i.e. there will be less scrutiny if you're going to Harvard as compared to a university that's not that known).
If you did not receive a scholarship with your acceptance, you also need to show that you are able to afford the first year of matriculation. So bank statements containing the total amount of tuition, as well as room and board, will be important (usually the I-20 that the university will issue you will include this amount).
At the interview, be polite and only answer the questions asked. Do not offer up information not asked by the visa officer. I suggest you have a ready answer if the visa officer asks you why this particular school and program, but you should have this answer already if you followed my advice about reflecting and researching before applying to programs :)
Visa is approved and on hand! What do I do while I wait to leave for the US?
Networking starts the moment you receive your passport with your F-1 visa. You absolutely cannot and should not waste a single minute of your active student visa, so this is the time you start telling people that you're going to be studying in the US. You need to work your current network and find peers and mentors who will be willing to connect you with colleagues they know who work in the US or have ties to the US in your professional field. Let's go back to Maria Clara as an example.

Finally, after years of hard work, Maria Clara has her desired acceptance into SUNY's MS in Forensic Accounting program, and her F-1 visa was approved by the embassy without any issues. After celebrating with her family, she lets her boss know about her visa approval, who has been one of her most ardent cheerleaders during this entire process. Her boss has also offered to introduce her to their counterparts in the US once she got her visa approved, which is really important to Maria Clara--she knows she needs to get ahead of networking professionally since her time in the US is limited. She has also reached out to other people she knows in the company that engage frequently with teams in the US. She's messaged her college professors as well, as she knows that a number of alumni from her college have migrated to the US. Her plan is to get connected with as many professionals in her field as possible, connect with them in person once she's in the US, and build a rapport with as many connections as possible so she can be guided accordingly and stand out when the time to apply for jobs comes.

Remember that unlike US citizens (USC) and legal permanent residents (LPR), your time in the US is limited and bound by the rules set by your visa. So you have to be creative and get ahead in some way. You need to be more prepared and more strategic than USCs and LPRs because you simply do not have the time to dilly dally. Yes, enjoy and savor in the moment of seeing the fruits of your labor, but the hard part begins now. You simply do not have time to waste.

DURING THE PROGRAM

I'm in the US now and working harder than ever! Is there anything more I can do to set myself apart from others?
Other than to make sure you have high grades and you're setting aside time to build professional relationships, it's time to think outside the box. Remember that you are limited by the rules of the F-1 visa, so experiences such as an off-campus summer internship is off limits to you. You will need to find ways to strengthen your resumé that doesn't include working off campus, and that could take many forms. One of the most effective recommendations I've received on this is to do an independent research during the summer--you could do it via a professor whose class you really liked, or if you've made inroads with some of the connections you've been building since getting your visa, have a professor oversee a research project you could do with those connections. (This is still academic work, and many programs will give credit for this, so it is not considered off-campus work under the eyes of USCIS.) You can use your research to really elevate your skills and experiences when applying for jobs.
It's also time to seriously start looking at potential employers. You can use the connections you've built to get a sense of what the professional landscape is for your field, learn about peoples' experiences at various companies and organizations, and get a feel for hiring processes. Remember, you don't have a lot of time to apply for jobs once you near the end of your program, so you have to be armed with the right information to guide your job hunting strategy. You will need to put yourself out there and be the best version of your professional self if you want employers to disregard that they will need to spend more money to hire you rather than a USC or LPR who doesn't need sponsorship.

LAST SEMESTER AND GRADUATION

I'm in my last semester of my program! Any tips?
The last semester is usually job hunting season, so make sure that resumé is polished and your network is activated. By now, if you've done the leg work, you will have a shortlist of potential employers and you will have made connections in most, if not all, of them. Time to check-in and ensure that they know you're interested in joining their company and you'd like their support and guidance in doing so. This is one of the harder parts of this journey, and you have to be relentless. Use all the resources at your disposal to ensure your resumé is seen by as many eyes as possible, and that includes speaking to your professors, especially your favorite ones, so they can also lend a hand.
More importantly: submit your work permit application (more commonly known as OPT) as early as possible to avoid delays and getting stuck in the USCIS backlog. You need this permit to be able to work after graduation for a limited time (one year for graduates of non-STEM programs, with an additional two years for graduates of STEM programs) without needing to immediately require H-1B sponsorship.
Getting employed by a company willing to sponsor you is not the end of the line. All for-profit companies are subject to the H-1B lottery, which means you will be competing with other internationals for the limited number of H-1B visas allotted every year. So even with an employer willing to sponsor, the H-1B visa is still not guaranteed. You can work around this by joining what is a called a cap-exempt organization instead, and USCIS classifies those as institutions of higher education, nonprofit entities related to or affiliated with an institution of higher education, nonprofit research organizations, and governmental research organizations. That means more research, and more targeted strategic networking, given that your employer pool now is limited.

EPILOGUE

The student visa is not an easy or cheap pathway to permanent residency in the US. It is getting harder and harder to beat out USCs and LPRs for great jobs in companies that have the experience and resources to sponsor H-1Bs and GCs. You need to do your research every step of the way and prepare to do some really grueling work in order to be the better investment for these companies. Plus, there is the luck element of the H-1B lottery. But it's not impossible. It can and does happen--my family is a great example of it (we're 3 for 3 in this pathway now). Your preparation and willingness to go the extra mile is critical, and you have to be ready to grind for a while. Rest often only comes when the green card is approved.
For those still considering the student visa pathway to migrate to the US after reading this very long post--good luck, and may the force be with you.

It's no secret that spiritual themes appear in the original "The Fast and the Furious" (Dom's cross, Jesse's prayer, etc.), but there seems to be an entire religious subplot written into this film. This isn't hard to believe, considering this film was rewritten before production started. The script was entirely written by Gary Scott Thompson who originally set the film in NYC and all the racers were Italian. The rewrites were performed by David Ayer who is considered "...one of the five most influential Christians in Hollywood." His knowledge of Scripture is made evident when studying the 13th chapter of Revelation. This chapter foretells the unification between America and a well-known ecclesiastical superpower. This is symbolized in the film by the alliance formed by Dom and Brian.
The name Dominic means "of the Lord" and is the root word for "Domingo" which means Sunday. It was a name given to baby boys born on Sunday. Sunday is spiritual institution of the Roman Catholic Church; the world's most preiminent church and state power (Revelation 13:1). The Catholic Catechism states, "2192 "Sunday . . . is to be observed as the foremost holy day of obligation in the universal Church" (CIC, can. 1246 § 1). "On Sundays and other holy days of obligation the faithful are bound to participate in the Mass" (CIC, can. 1247)." Priest Brady, in an address, reported in the Elizabeth, NJ ‘News’ on March 18, 1903 stated, "It is well to remind the Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, and all other Christians, that the Bible does not support them anywhere in their observance of Sunday. Sunday is an institution of the Roman Catholic Church, and those who observe the day observe a commandment of the Catholic Church." Dominic holds a barbecue every Sunday for those who attend church (Mass). (This is explained on the Fast and Furious Fandom website.) The car Dom drives is a 1993 Mazda RX7 FD. The engine is driven by rotors as opposed to pistons. The rotors are Releaux triangles and they are featured on Gothic style Catholic Churches. The Releaux triangle is also the base shape for the triquetra; a pagan symbol for the Trinity. The Trinity is not the God of the Bible, but a rebranding is the pagan Trinity, that is found in virtually every worship practice from Hinduism to Wicca. The most famous Trinity is the Catholic Trinity and this was not only the inspiration for Dom's RX7, but also the three Honda Civics he used to rob semi-trucks. The "veil" in Scripture is a symbol for Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:20). The body kit featured on Dom's car is made by "Veilside." The Pope, the monarch of the Catholic Church, believes that he is Christ on earth. Dominic is an allegorical representation of the Roman Catholic Church.
Brian is a symbol for American Protestantism (Revelation 13:11). Brian is a police officer or keeper of the law. Protestant America was founded by those escaping the persecution of the Catholic Church, so they could uphold the Law and Word of God. Brian, whose name means "nobility", is at one time a rival of Dom but soon finds himself compromising. Revelation 13:11 says that the lamb (a symbol for Christ) will begin to speak as a dragon (a symbol for Satan). Brian drives a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GS. The symbol for Mitsubishi is a trinity of rhombuses. The engine for the Eclipse is NOT Japanese, but American; a PentaStar "4 banger" built by Chrysler. Brian starts attending the Sunday barbecue insinuating that he is now attending Sunday Catholic mass. Brian's compromise is sealed when he commits fornication with Dom's sister Mia. Shortly after, he lies to his superiors. Brian, the noble keeper of the law, is an allegorical representation of America and Protestantism.
Brian and Dom start working on a Supra after Brian's Eclipse is destroyed. The Eclipse, with it's eagle graphic, was also a symbol for America. Today, amidst our countries turbulent civil and social issues, the nation is on the brink of destruction. Uniting with a "moral" leader such as the Pope, may seem like the answer to all. Pope Francis came to America in 2015 and addressed not only the nation from the White House, but also a joint session of Congress, where we pass laws. The Supra will symbolize the allegiance between America and the Vatican. The Toyota Supra also represents the Trinity. The emblem is comprised of a trinity of ellipses. The codename for the 1993-1998 Supra used in the film is the "Mark 4." The Mark of the Beast is forced Sunday observance and worship aka a Sunday Law. The Pope should have never addressed a joint session of Congress in a country that is constitutionally church and state separate. The Supra represented the unification of two formal rivals who are bound by Sunday Sacredness and the Trinity. By the end of the film, Brian hands the keys to Dom, symbolizing the forfeiture of control of America over to the Vatican.
Although moves are already being made to fullfil the prophecy of Revelation 13, Jesus Christ can lead you through this strange and dark time in this world's history.
Please take some time to watch this film that goes into greater detail 🙏🏾🙏🏼
Swift to Mischief: A Prophetic Exposition of The Fast and the Furious

My name is Jessica, and I live in a small central American city of about 80,000 people.Today I'm going to share a story about Korea.First, I'd like to tell you a little bit about my family.When I was born, I already had an older brother.I don't mean just a little sister with an older brother.My brother was adopted from Korea.It's an unusual situation, isn't it? My parents struggled with infertility for several years before I was born, and they ended up adopting my Korean brother.Then, a few years later, they got pregnant with me, and I was born.My brother had different hair color, skin color, and eye color than me, but we got along very well.Even though we knew from a young age that we were adopted because of our differences, we got along well, and we were a family that loved each other deeply.
We played the same games, read books together, and spent a lot of time together. He always took good care of me, and he was a good brother who made me laugh.
I would say, “Brother, let's read this book together!” and he would always smile and read it to me. I think I liked and enjoyed his warmth to me, rather than focusing on the content of the book.
When we left our cozy home environment, it was time to go to school, and during this time, my brother and I were asked a lot of embarrassing questions.One day, while my brother and I were playing together, a friend asked me, “Jessica, why does your brother look different from you?”The question gave me pause, but he smiled and replied, “Because we are a family, looks don't matter. His positive attitude had a good effect on me, and I'm sure he had a good effect on himself, too.Watching him grow up right, and our family became interested in Korea. If he was a troublemaker and always in trouble, he wouldn't have had the time to take the time to learn about his country of origin, Korea, but when he studied well, didn't fight with his friends, and was a good person who always loved and cared for his brother, we couldn't help but wonder about his roots.
I think my parents also had the will to share Korean culture with my brother and me, to learn what they could, to broaden our horizons and deepen our family's understanding.Many years ago, when I was in middle school, my family visited Korea for the first time, and the experience left a great impression on me.
We visited many tourist spots in Seoul and saw the harmonious combination of Korean tradition and modernity.And Korea, with its many dark-haired, dark-eyed people like my brother, was somehow not foreign to me.For Americans traveling to Asia for the first time, this could have been difficult because people look different and give off different vibes, but not for me. My parents, of course, were very excited to revisit Korea, the country of my brother's birth, and spoke so many blessings about the land of my brother's birth.Of course, there were many good things to see and many fun things to do in Korea, but the most memorable moment was when I suddenly developed a high fever.
It was a quiet night in Korea at the time, and I suddenly developed a high fever.This change was so sudden that my parents panicked.Eventually, with the help of the hotel we were staying at, they were able to get me to the emergency room in Korea, where I was quickly treated.Upon arrival, the medical staff quickly assessed my condition and ran the necessary tests.The whole process was organized, and thanks to the professionalism and quick response of the medical staff, I was able to get comfortable quickly. My situation was so serious that my head hurt like a rock and I could barely understand what was being said around me, but thanks to their quick response, my fever started to come down and I was able to return to my senses.The tests showed that I had a severe flu, which had been contracted in the United States and had incubated in Korea.I had to stop traveling in Korea and be admitted to the hospital for treatment, but thanks to the fast and efficient healthcare system in Korea, this was not a problem.
My parents breathed a sigh of relief and expressed their deep gratitude to the Korean healthcare system.“If it wasn't for Korea, I would have been in trouble,” my father said.Although my family had to stop our trip to Korea and spend the rest of my stay in a Korean hospital, looking back, it was also a unique experience abroad.
Many years later, as an adult, my relationship with my brother was still good. We enjoyed Korean dramas, movies, and music together, cooked Korean food together, and learned Korean together.
However, there was a clear difference between me and him: he seemed to be better at learning, even if he spent the same amount of time studying, and he went to a prestigious university, while I failed to get into college and became depressed.
He helped me with my studies every vacation, taught me how to study, and helped me to get into a prestigious university, but the results were not good. I was rejected by all the universities I applied to, and I was going through a very difficult time. After he graduated from college, he moved back home from the East Coast of the United States and helped me study for the college entrance exam, and with his help, I was able to get into college, albeit late.
Although I didn't get into a prestigious university like my brother, I still had a satisfying college experience and broadened my horizons.Naturally, I discovered that Korea has been on the global radar lately, which was very exciting.Korea may be the latest trend for Americans these days, but for me and my brother, it's like going back to our roots.I've always loved Korea, and it was very interesting and fond to reminisce about my trip to Korea when I was in middle school and look through my photo albums, even though half the time I was sick. So, my brother and I decided to visit Korea again, and this time, we had several goals for the trip: we wanted to make sure that we got it right this time, because we didn't get it right the first time, and my brother wanted to get to know his Korean roots better, even though he is now an adult, working as an American and living as an American, and I wanted to get to know my Korean roots better in relation to my major in college, and this time, I wanted to research more about the Korean healthcare system that I had experienced as a child.
Of course, I also wanted to have fun in Korea and enjoy the freedom to roam around the country unlike when I was a student, but I didn't take it too seriously.
Korea was so different from the U.S. It had the look of a big city in the U.S., but it had its own unique vibe. It was much more developed than the neighborhoods we live in in the U.S., and everywhere you looked was filled with people, and there were hundreds or thousands of stores selling a variety of things. If you were walking around and traveling, and you got thirsty and needed a break, there were cafes all around you that you could just pop into and take a break, and you didn't have to go far to find a restaurant that had one Korean food and sold it, because all the infrastructure was there.
Everything is around you, and everything you want or need is always right around the corner, which is why people call city life so convenient and love it.The public transportation system in Korea, which is light years better than the big cities in the U.S., helped us get around without any difficulty.It was also so much fun to get a T-money card, carry it around, and use it to get around Korea for a very low cost.
And when my brother and I would walk around, going to cafes, restaurants, and other places where there was something to do, many Koreans would tell us that we made a good looking couple.When I would tell them, in a pleasant and complimentary way, that we were actually brother and sister, they would look surprised and apologize.
But it's completely understandable, because even in the U.S., more people think of us as a couple or friends than they do as siblings, and there's not much of an adoption culture in Korea, and no one adopts and brings European or American children to Korea, so it's no wonder we get these funny misunderstandings.
To be honest, even in the U.S. nowadays, you can still encounter people who ask my brother and I questions about our relationship with unpleasant intentions to hurt us, assuming that we are not a couple or friends, but maybe even a man.A recent memory is of an American grandfather in his 70s who made a very rude remark to us, asking us what kind of father our father was to have two women give birth at the same time.
In the U.S., most people are friendly and kind to me, but the problem is that some people sometimes make fun of my brother because he looks Asian, but this was not the case in Korea at all.No one discriminated against me because of my different appearance.
And there's actually a story I wasn't going to tell in this article, but I'm writing it down because I had my brother's permission to do so.After arriving in Korea, we decided to search for my adopted brother's birth parents in order to trace his roots.My parents and I respected his decision to pursue this endeavor in Korea, and of course, we decided to support it. We visited the Korean adoption agency and requested my brother's adoption records.The representative provided us with all the information possible and was eager to help us, saying that efforts to find one's roots are ongoing every day.Together, we were able to find some important clues in the records.
My brother decided to visit his birthplace based on those clues, and of course, I joined him on the journey.We were always laughing since we came to Korea, but at this moment, there was more seriousness than laughter.We visited my brother's birthplace together and talked to the local people.
At the time, there was only a vague record of my brother's father and mother, but no proper records, so we only knew where he was born, and we had to go there and find someone who had lived there for a long time.But Korea is a very fast-developing country, and the sad thing is that the area where my brother was born and spent the first few months of his life was already torn down and replaced by a huge apartment complex. We felt that if we had come sooner, at least before these new apartments were built, things would have been at least better than they were, but there was no point in regretting what had passed.We visited the social welfare center and police station in the area, explained our situation, and asked for help.The Korean people were very kind, listening to my brother's story and letting us know what we could do.
We were told that when a new apartment building is built in Korea, new people who have no connection to the area move into the apartment, but that some of the people who live in these new apartments have been living here for a long time, most likely elderly people, and that the best thing to do is to find them and ask them about their past.We felt that this information would be very useful to us, as we were very confused and frustrated.
So my brother and I, along with a Korean lady who felt sorry for us and wanted to help, approached the elderly people who came in and out of the apartment and asked them questions.But despite all our efforts, we were unsuccessful in finding my brother's biological parents.We had many clues and information, but we were unable to find any conclusive evidence.My brother was disappointed, but we were comforted by the fact that we had done our best. Maybe if we could have spent a few weeks, maybe even a few months here to find and talk to an elderly person with memories of the past, we could have found a clue to the solution, but we couldn't stay in Korea, so in the end, we had to give up without proceeding any further.When I saw the look on my brother's face as he said that if he had the chance, he would visit Korea next time for this sole purpose, I felt a great sense of disappointment.“It's a shame that we couldn't find them, but thank you for trying,” he said to me.I couldn't say it anymore.
It would have been great if he could have completed his homework, but he didn't.Contrary to my initial expectations, the Korean adoption agency tried to be as helpful as possible, and I was very grateful to the government officials in the place of my brother's supposed birth, who were very sympathetic to his situation and actively tried to help him, and to the Korean lady who passed by.
Having been treated by the Korean healthcare system in the past, I took this level of care for granted and thought that it was something that everyone could enjoy, but then, when I was a high school student in the U.S., I was seriously ill and did not receive the same care as I did in Korea, so I remember suffering terribly and tried to understand why this difference occurred.
Before I came to Korea, I had already arranged to meet with someone, and although I didn't get to visit any specialized institutions, I was able to meet with Korean college students, and I learned a lot of information from them: medical students, pharmacy students, and I was able to get a lot of information from them.
The Korean healthcare system was different from the U.S. in many ways: it was fast, efficient, and provided a high level of care at a relatively low cost.The quick response and organized system for emergencies was especially impressive.The emergency rooms in Korea were very reasonably priced, allowing people to go to them for minor and mild symptoms.At this point, I thought that if there were a lot of people going to the emergency room for minor symptoms, it would be a problem if someone came in who needed emergency care, but the hospitals in Korea made it very easy to answer that question. I also learned that when a really urgent patient comes in, the emergency room prioritizes the emergency patients and treats them first, ignoring the minor ones. It's so simple and obvious: the doctors have the skills to determine the severity of the patient's condition, and they can prioritize the treatment accordingly.
Not only that, but it was very easy to get an appointment in Korea and the wait time was short. The Korean medical staff emphasized patient care and prompt treatment, and they utilized the latest medical technology and equipment to provide the best possible medical care.
In the U.S., medical care is often very expensive, complicated, and difficult to access quickly, and many people are unable to get proper treatment due to insurance issues.I also received prompt treatment in Korea when I was in middle school without insurance and had to pay a reasonable price, but the experience was a nightmare as I remember being very sick in middle school and high school, and I felt that the Korean system was far superior.I felt that the Korean healthcare system is not for profit, but is dedicated to protecting the health of the people.
Through my experiences in Korea, I learned about a much broader world than what my brother and I knew before.There are many factors that make Korea such a great country, but the culture and system that my brother and I experienced firsthand helped us understand why.And most of all, Korea is the country that made my brother.I have grateful feelings for Korea, which is also my brother's roots.
My brother and I could tell without speaking to each other that through this visit, we saw in each other a willingness to continue to love Korea more and more, and to strive to learn and understand Korean culture.
Korea is now a country that has special meaning to me as an adult, and I think it will be a great pleasure for me to honor my brother's roots and watch Korea develop and grow.I will continue to connect with Korea and try to help more people discover its charms.
And next year, he plans to visit Korea to find his roots once again. He plans to stay in Korea for more than a month, and he will continue his best efforts during that period.

Hello folks, I have been using ergonomic chair and other smart furniture stuff for a while and just wanna share a bit of my experiences (and issues, too) when using these "ergo" thing so that anyone who's looking for a purchase can have a better reference. I also made a similar post for standing desk that you can check out here: https://www.reddit.com/StandingDesk/comments/1cu0tww/sharing_my_standing_desk_experiences_tips_fo?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
So what should you consider when looking for a good ergonomic chair? While it's highly subjective and depending on each person's preferences and styles, I have summarized some bullet points that I believe lots of people will relate to:

1. Seat padding & backrest quality should be top priority: because these 2 parts will affect 90% of your experience and feeling when you sit on the chair. For me there's 2 popular types of seat padding in the market right now: Cushion (or Foam) and Mesh. It's a short statement, high-quality mesh is more comfortable than a cushion since it's breathable (wich support better air flow and don't make you feel overheated when sitting during long hours). But it doesn't mean that cushion seat sucks. If a chair makers use a high-density foam and incorprate lots of memory foam (a material made from PU, and also used in mattress to enhance comfort) layers, then the outcome quality of the cushion can be comparable (to some extent) with a mesh seat as well. However, with a normal person it's not easy to check this info, and as far as I know, most of brands don't public these details (density specs and foam layer technology). So if I have to make a suggestion, going for a mesh seat would be an easier option. And if you still prefer the cushion seat, consider choosing reputational brand like Herman Miller or Harworth. About backrest, I highly recommend you go for the mesh materials. Leather backrest is not meant for ergonomic, it's meant for gaming and some specific office/home decoration style. Fabric backrest is not worthy to invest, even though it's fairly cheap. And design? for me a single-panel backrest design is enough, but there're some products that offer multi-panel backrest (like the Sihoo DORO S300) for even more customized positions - which is also good because it can perfectly adapt to your exact position and create a good form for your back. But be notice that it will cost you extra $100-$300, so if you have generous budget, go for it. if not, there is no problem at all with a single backrest design
2. Lumbar support, armrests, and headrest are 3 core adjustability features that you need, anything else is optional. A luxury chair can offer up to 10 different adjustability points. More adjustability features mean more expensive the price is, so I recommend that you just focus on certain things that really matter to you, and for me there are 3 of them: lumbar support, headrest, and armrest. Lumbar support matters the most because it directly affect your spine and back posture. A good lumbar support is the one that's highly adjustable in different angles/position, and you can check this out on the spec info on the brand's website. Do not go for fixed lumbar support because you will never know if the size of the chair fits with your body or not. I would be really mad if I buy a chair just to find out that its lumbar can not adjust to fit my sitting position. With headrest & armrest it's more easy to decide. Headrest should at least be able to go up/down and tilt to adapt to your head's proper position. 3D to 5D armrests should be fine for me, and going from 3D to 5D totally depend on what you need. with 3D armrest, you can move it up/down, forward/backward, inward/outward; 4D armrests can rotate left/right, 5D ones can rotate vertically. You won't need to pay more for 6D armrest, unless you are a real hardcore gamer or have a specific task that require it (with normal use case, I don't think that most people will need 6D armrest on your chairs). Additionally, there's couple of things you need to notice about armrests & headrest design: armrest should be lockable because sometime you will find it really annoying when you try to focus on something and would need the armrest to just stay in same position. With headrest it's a bit similar, some low-quality made headrests can easily slide up and down when you sit even if you don't want to, which is very irritating. There're not best practice on how to avoid this, so I recommend you checking different actual user reviews of the chair you intent to buy.
3. Price: A basic ergonomic chair usually ranges from $199 - $299. With this price you will have basic material (foam, tpe plastic...), basic adjustability, and you can't expect all features that I recommend above (I take price reference for US market only, and my opinion could be wrong in some markets). With a bit higher budget, like $399 - $499, there are quite lots of choices that check 90% of my recommendations. I can name some including Flexispot C7 (mesh seat, 2-panel mesh backset and even a footrest), Autonomous ErgoChair Pro (mesh backrest, high-quality cushion, but their lumbar only offer up/down adjustments, you can not tilt it or push it forward or backward), Branch Verve Chair (this one have a fabric back, not the mesh one, but one of my friend who use it said she has no problem with that, it's still comfy for her). That is just my personal opinion and you should always look for more actual reviews of them before you make any purchase. Regarding the high-end segments, it's no longer about the specs but about the look and feel of the products, as well as how trusted the brand is. You can spend around $1200 on a HM Aeron Chair and can just forget about this post, simply because at HM they put lots of efforts in R&D, and the outchair is already made from finest materials, huge adjustability features and more importantly, its design is unique (the impressive thing about HM is that you can actually go to their website and find out who created which products, like the HM Aeron Chair is created by a designer named Bill Stumpf). Other familiar brand names in this segments that you can take a look is Harthwork (not actually a different brand but like a collection under HermanMiller name), SteelCase...

TL;DR: Seat Pad & Backrest should be considered first, and go for highest possible quality for these parts. About adjustability, focus on 3 most important feature: lumbar support, 3D-5D armrests, adjustable headrest; Pricing: choose what suits your budget - a chair under $399 do not offer lots of premium features; a chair from 399 offer most of standard features and quality; if going above $1000 then care about brand's reputation

(I’m pretty pissed rn so i’m just blabbering and not sure if it will make sense). I (20f) met my friend group that consists of 5. I’ll be giving fake names, Danny, Ivan, Ivory and Daisy. I met them in my second semester of university. This particular “friend” Daisy specifically in the friend group stood out the most since she was the first one I became friends with and got along right away. We started hanging out more with the rest of the group 3rd semester (2nd year fall semester). At that time I was dating my boyfriend (still am) who is abroad right now, so I haven’t seen him for a while. They were aware about him and at that time I was already dealing with a sh*tty roommate, so I was hanging out their dorm constantly. But once 3rd semester came around then we started spending Fridays and Saturdays at Daisy’s dorm. Keep in mind my dorm was a 25 min walk and near a forest and I would get home usually around 12am. Those days we chose to hang out we got high together and it became our norm. Somewhere in late September and Early October I started having really serious issues with my boyfriend and he honestly wasn’t treating me well at that time and I told my friends, because he brought up the plan of marriage and I was hesitant when the group asked me if I really wanted to marry him. Late October I was telling Daisy about it and she told me its best to break things off with him and how she did the same with her ex boyfriend because he was bad for her, and I’m pretty sure she says she misses him (but yeah I kinda forgot). I really didn’t want to breakup with him but I knew I needed to cut him off, so I got home at midnight and called him and broke up with him and instantly regret it. I was already dealing with so much other shit and I almost una****d my self after. But plans didn’t work so I kept my mouth shut. (I’ll get to the point I promise.) Late December I got news that a contract i signed over a year ago with a friend whose father owned a business offered me a job meaning I was going to move to another country. ( I ended up changing the contact for a later year) I would be super close to my boyfriend and I was pretty hesitant since so much had changed and I called my boyfriend who was my ex at that time and told him everything and we talked for a while. Long story short we missed each other a lot and we acknowledged that we both did terrible stuff but in the end if we worked it out together then our relationship could work. We set boundaries and rules for us to follow and we are currently together and I’m really happy right now. I didn’t tell my friends about me getting back with him because I knew they would be upset which I understand. I told Ivory first in late March and I asked for her to be understanding that he changed and she was upset but told me that she’ll always support me and be there for me which I needed to hear. Daisy didn’t find out until 2 weeks before my birthday and Daisy was super pissed at me and ever since she was cold and rude, ending all the convos with the gc that replied to me with periods. Since January I’ve noticed that Daisy would be pretty rude and only think about herself mainly and not the rest of us. There would be some days where I would ask if we can hang out at my place instead and I would always hear the same thing how my place was too far and that it’ll be late when they leave which did annoy me a lot since that was exactly how I went home. I walked back home a lot at midnight, ALONE and high. The 2 times they had came over they all left as a group since Daisy, Ivan and Danny lived in the same building and they would drop off Ivory on the way, while I was the only one who lived the furthest. When we would hang out at Daisy’s place she would ask what we wanted to watch we give ideas and would usually 85% of the time say no to our suggestions and pick the movies she wanted to watch instead. None of us have cars so we rented zipcars and I noticed a while after that when it was only convenient for her and when she was the one who needed groceries then she would text us like the day before or the day and sometimes an hour or so before of whenever she needed to run errands and when we weren’t able too then she would get mad. But when it came to us asking if we can go then she didn’t want too or was low on money which that one i understand. She would get pissed or annoyed a lot at Ivory for being herself sometimes, which honestly imo it pissed me off so much for the way how Daisy was with her. I slowly started distancing myself from the group for a while since I had my own shit going on and I was getting overwhelmed with it. My breaking point was when 2 weeks before my birthday Daisy found out about my boyfriend and went radio silent with me and was ignoring me in the gc and I remember her reposting posts on insta that were targeting me. I sound selfish but I was really looking forward to my birthday, but a week before my birthday I got a call that my mom was in the hospital and I was 12 hours away from her and I was an emotional wreck because I was just hearing she was dying. I didn’t tell my friends about it. I was FaceTiming my boyfriend and crying to him because I felt so alone and needed someone, but I figured celebrating with my friends would kind of help distract me. Since a lot of uni students were doing “peacefully protests”, my campus was shut down and there were many cops on campus and we werent allowed back on campus or else we would get arrested or idk. But the day before my birthday Ivory texted me saying (copied and pasted) “Daisy and Netty would have to walk across campus for it and I asked if there was a way to cancel it still and Dulce said yeah and I was like I don’t want yall to get arrested and then Dulce is being weird and was like “then we’ll cancel it problem solved” and long story short the car has been cancelled”. The plan was that we were going to rent a zipcar and get jack in the box and dutch and then head over to Daisy’s dorm (which i didn’t want and asked if we can maybe do it at my place) and just hang out. But I really didn’t feel like walking 30 minutes back to my dorm (since I couldn’t walk through campus and had to go around). But I’m not sure it just got confusing and in the end everything was canceled and being sad was an understatement. I was really sad about it because it would be my first birthday party with a group of friends who I thought were my actual friends. The day of my birthday and got myself a tiny cake and celebrated by myself in my dorm. Ever since my “amazing” birthday I was just depressed and figured it was time for me to move on to the next chapter of my life. ( I had other problems with my life besides them.) Right before school ended i texted the gc that I was leaving and never coming back and I miss Ivory because she was a really good friend and I miss her a lot.. can’t say much about Daisy because today I posted an instagram story note saying “(uni name) is is greedy and mean just like em. glad im gone” i got sent a letter saying how the school was asking me to pay the remaining medical bill which was like 144$ and idk it just reminded me of the many rude people i came across on my campus. I wasn’t directing it at her until she posted her own insta note and it said “ that’s so crazy, not my fault your delusional” which i know was directed at me. I want to text her and call her out for her the stuff she had done and tell her to grow up. But I’m not sure if I should just block her and move on. I kind of need closure and advice on how to handle the situation.

My girlfriend (19F) and I (18M) are getting married in a few weeks. We sent out invitations, but we didn't invite her best friend, "B." B and my girlfriend have known each other since elementary school but only became close in the last two years. I also knew B since elementary school, but we never spoke until we ended up in the same college elective. I introduced myself, and we had about five brief and general conversations. She seemed chill and nothing out of the ordinary.
Months later, I started dating my girlfriend. During a conversation, I found out that B had been badmouthing me to her. B didn't know my girlfriend and I were dating, and my girlfriend felt uncomfortable telling her because of B's negative comments. According to my girlfriend, whenever I was mentioned, B would make wild assumptions about me, like claiming I was trying to talk to a lot of girls. Every time I was slightly brought up, my girlfriend noticed a shift in B's tone, making it clear B didn't particularly like me. This was shocking because, in my brief interactions with B, I had been nothing but respectful, friendly, and polite.
Eight months into our relationship, I urged my girlfriend to tell B that we were dating. B apologized to me, saying she didn't mean any of it and tha just hates on people for fun. I dismissed her previous behavior, and we all hung out once after that, which went well. Months later, B asked my girlfriend about marriage and how she and I had probably talked about it. At that stage of our lives, we weren't thinking about marriage, so my girlfriend gave a general answer like, “We've talked a bit about it, but nothing serious yet. We're so young." According to my girlfriend, B spent hours insisting that she should give me an ultimatum about marriage, suggesting she should threaten to break up with me if I didn't commit. My girlfriend tried to change the topic, but B kept discussing it for hours.
Recently, my girlfriend and B had an argument about B's behavior. While I was giving my girlfriend advice, she received an Instagram message from B with a meme about a girl moving on from her ex, captioned with my name and laughing emojis. This felt like B was mocking our relationship. Given all this, I told my girlfriend I didn't want to invite B to our wedding unless she really wanted to.
My girlfriend was unsure since B has been her best friend for many years, but she didn't get mad at me for not sending an invitation to B, so we didn't. Now, B is bombarding me with messages, demanding to know why she wasn't invited and making me feel like I'm the bad guy.
NEW UPDATE: So since then everyone agreed with my take and not wanting to invite her to the wedding and I showed my gf and she agreed kinda. Now since then she and the best friend talked and my gf confronted her about everything.
Girlfriend: “Hey B, remember that post you sent me?”
B: “Yeah, what about it?”
Girlfriend: “Well, I was with him the other day, and he saw it too. We were both like, ‘What’s this?’ I felt weird about it and was wondering where it came from. Even though it seemed pretty straightforward, I was curious about what you meant by it.”
B: “Wait, omg, he saw that? He wasn’t supposed to see it!”
Girlfriend: “Yeah, but it was weird to send even if it was just for me.”
B: “Okay, it was purely a joke poking fun at the fact that we used to have fake beef.”
Girlfriend: “I get what you mean, but the post seemed like it was taking a dig at our relationship, not just a lighthearted joke about my boyfriend.”
B: “I understand why you feel weird about it now. I didn’t see it that way at all. My intention was different, but your feelings are valid.”
Girlfriend: “Yeah, but you know, it’s not a great feeling to see something like that. I’m sure he doesn’t appreciate you sending me stuff like that because he knows how close we are. It comes off as weird, like you’re against our relationship.”
B: “I completely get that. Please tell him I didn’t mean it that way at all. I’m just silly and send stupid posts all the time.”
Girlfriend: “Okay, I’ll let him know. But what’s your plan going forward?”
B: “I’m definitely going to try to be more mindful about what I’m sending. I didn’t think about how it would look, even though it was straightforward to interpret. I maybe want to have a chat with him as well to sort things out and show I’m apologetic. But I’ll sleep on it first because this is a lot.”
Although she’s not invited my gf is reconsidering inviting her which somewhat annoys me. My gf doesn’t have many friends so I understand why she doesn’t wanna let go of her but at the same time I was hoping for more of a harsh outcome rather than this casual conversation.

So I've only been separated for 4 months and it has been made clear she wants a divorce. At first she was no contact remaining under the same roof in another room. She brought me papers and when she did talk it was just nasty with threats galore. Fast forward to now, she has texted me multiple times and even called about kids stuff. She has sent me reels. We discussed transportation. She has said nice and mean things through text once she opened up. Yesterday she messaged asking if my therapist will see both of us for a "couples" session (not in her words). That was out of nowhere and I have been a nervous wreck. Like why does she want to come in? Does she want to tell my therapist whatever I'm saying isn't true? That these are my real issues? That I need to work on this set of things the most? Everytime I get a text or call and her name appears my insides tense up almost like flinching and starts to shake and becomes kind of difficult to breathe. This intense fear where I almost freeze overcomes me for a few moments.
How do you all go about knowing what to do after separation/divorce? Like part of me wants a companion for life and the other part of me is heartbroken and wants nothing to do with that. Like she has my heart and I don't think I could give it to anyone else. The effort to try again doesn't seem worth it at the moment. It's hard telling your heart to stop loving someone and also your mind to stop trying to do stuff you know will only hurt worse before healing. How do you know what healing feels like? How do you know if that hookup idea just to see what it's like again is going to do more harm than good?
Right now my focus is on getting better, moving on, and being the best parent I can to my 4 kids. They're the most important thing now and not screwing them up. I would be extremely selective if I ever decided to date again. I don't think I can. I wish I was a POS so that I could do these unhealthy coping mechanisms I hear others do, but I can't. Therapy helps, books help, and I'm moving forward with my wants and needs. I just don't understand any of this honestly. 18 years married and 20 together. I don't wish this on my worst enemy. Any advice? Tips? Podcasts? Books? Etc. you may have found helpful in the next steps or what to do and not to do? I've been getting out in nature, listening to music, processing feelings/emotions, biking, and occasionally writing. I like to quiet my mind when possible and just calm my nervous system when possible. I know I'm not perfect and I contributed to whatever happened.
Thanks.

To preface: I love Chaos in 40k/30k. Its my favorite faction in the setting, and that will not change
Think, for a second if you will, about Chaos in 40k. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, my favorite overarching force and conglomerate of factions within the entire setting. Why? Well, as others have gone to great lengths to point out – both in and outside of the lore perspective and POV – Chaos is us; our thoughts, emotions, hopes, dreams and sins, dialed up to 11. You may start down the road to hell with noble intent, and you may even die on that same road nobly. Live long enough, however, and accrue too much infamy and corruption, you will court the favor of the Dark Gods, their neverborn, and a myriad of other warp entities, and it will damn you eternally.
With that being said, I think 40K Chaos, as it currently stands, gets absolutely shafted in one realm that AoS and, hell, even The Horus Heresy does better: the mysticism and esoterism surrounding corruption and ritual, as well as the variety in which the various “faces” of Chaos are presented.
Lets examine our “modern” 40k for a moment, shall we? It is often said that unsanctioned knowledge of the Chaos Gods most popular names - Khorne, Slaanesh, Tzeentch and Nurgle – is grounds for immediate execution and the purging of all known (and suspected) family and associates. Fair enough, you are invoking the names and the attention of four deities who’s desire is to add this universe to the infinite number of realms they’ve already subsumed with the warp in their Great Game. Even if that attention comes in the form of some undivided lesser daemon, maybe appearing as a shadowy figure in the rough shape of a human, that one daemon could spell utter doom for a Hive World of trillions.
Ok, yet, the “true” names of the Gods are subjective, aren’t they? Khar’neth, Nurgleth, Slaaneth, Tzaarneth. The more archaic, brutal sounding titles? She Who Thirsts, The Bloody Hunter, Lord of Ravens, and Grandfather Crow? Oftentimes, when Ecclesiarchal missions descend upon a world, especially feral planets, they encounter preexisting religions among the human populace. More often than not, via religious syncretism, the co-opt the tribal deities and spirits of these planets, supplanting them with Imperial Saints and directing total and unwavering devotion to a singular deity, the one true God Emperor of Mankind, in any face that may take. Yet, these planets are not populated by overt Chaos worshippers more often than not, are they? Some tribes, of course, may be deemed too barbaric and flirting with the Pantheon, and thus put to the sword. Yet, more often than not, they merely become new branches of the Imperial Creed.
Now, we all understand worship goes somewhere in the warp. More and more within the lore, the human emanations of faith is psychically reflected, applying the calculus of “structure” in the random, roiling seas of the empyrean. The Emperor of Mankind has, it would seem, indeed become The God Emperor of Mankind. Trillions-Quadrillions of humans, across millions of worlds, over ten thousand+ years, had supplemented The Emperor’s own singular psychic might into something that, if not truly divine under known definitions, warrants their re-examination.
So, where am I going with this? Well, the Chaos Gods operate under as many names and guises as there are planets and cultures within the galaxy. In the Screaming Vortex, whole tribes of warriors drench their blades in the vitae of their enemies in order to earn the favor of Baphtar (Khorne). Thagus Daravek, Abaddon’s main rival for the title of Warmaster during the formative years of the Black Legion, refers to Tzeentch as The Shifting Many. So on, and so on. In The Solar War, reference is made to the billions of mortal auxiliary soldiers on the side of The Warmaster’s Horde, cultists and Imperial Army alike, who “worship the same old gods, with different names” (paraphrasing off memory there, forgive me any inaccuracy).
Those forgotten and repressed faiths, surviving in the dark temples and cult lodges on the fringes of Imperial society, in ramshackle underhive temples or feral world sepulchers of painted rocks and skulls, formed much of the basis for esoterism and occult ritual much of 30k’s more nuanced and detailed approach to Chaos comes from. Maloghurst, burning incense and using Cthonian death coins as the catalyst for sorcerous ritual. The importance of ingredients like horsehair, or more mundane offerings like the tears of a virgin or the blood of a king, or how swords and other melee weaponry, through their symbolism, are far more effective at combatting daemons than conventional weaponry such as autoguns, lasrifles and bolters.
30k just did it better. The cosmology of Chaos – especially with the recent references of Aetheric Dominions – is so much more fleshed out, or to put it more aptly, diverse than in current 40k. Undivided Daemons running amok, ritual that isn’t just virgin’s blood being dumped on the bodies of psychic children daubed in the tears of those lashed 8-by-8 times to summon Borgathula, Eater of a Thousand Stars. The True Names of the Dark Gods are considered a privilege to know, and even then, what are they?
If I were to take it a step further, I’d even argue Age of Sigmar, for its flaws, does so as well, with its Warcry Warbands (boo GW for discontinuing the bulk of those models, shame on you) and their lore providing some of the most interesting lore on just how certain groups can come to worship of their own aspects of Chaos. The Everflame? Coiled Ones? Great Gatherer? Supreme Predator? Tarantulos? Those are F****** awesome. Even in the Lord of the Endtimes novel, we get a superbly interesting depiction of a monk-like daemon prince, who’s followers offer their worship in caste-like tithes. The lowest of the mortal dregs in this prince’s fortress tithe their worship to more powerful warriors, who in turn pass their worship to mortal lieutenants and bound and subjugated daemons, who then offer their worship to the daemon prince, who is the only one allowed to offer the sum of their worship to the Dark Gods. Any others who do so are punished with death.
We get so much of that in 30k/Fantasy/AOS that just translates to so little in 40k, and I think that it’s a damn shame that more writers aren’t going that route
Or, are they?
Now, I understand that after 10,000 years and trillions/quadrillions of loyal Imperial souls imparting the significance of their own symbology into the warp, things may change. A bolter blessed by the local Ecclesiarch in incense and sprinkled with bone dust of holy men may be just as effective in combatting daemons as a sword these days, though I’d find that to be -slightly - lazy writing in context of time. Yet, I’d argue right now, certain writers are looking to The Horus Heresy for inspiration
We’ve had sprinklings of it throughout the decades. Balphomael, greater daemon of Chaos Undivided and a spirit of Faustian bargains, was the first reference we received in a while via FFG Dark Heresy supplements that Undivided Daemons were not simply retconned out of the setting. Then came Samus, first described as an undivided daemon, then assigned a “KHORNE” keyword, then a proto-daemon of The Dark King, and now once again undivided. Madail, Great Daemon and Herald of Undivided. Hell, from what I’ve recently read, even Malice was recently referenced as an entity of Chaos, still worshipped by the titularly named Sons of Malice as recently as BFGA 2. With that seems to be coming a re-examination from a small bit of writers, especially those who write Chaos well. I’ll cite examples such as the Fabius Bile trilogy, where it is acknowledged that the worship from the innumerable lines of mutants and new men spawned by Bile’s gene-tampering clings to him like a cloak, and “Pater Mutatis” is coalescing, or perhaps even already exists, as a chaotic entity within the warp. Vashtorr, Greater Daemon Undivided and Lord of the Soul Forge, has at least one warband who view him as a patron and focal point of worship, and he, as other daemon’s of sufficient power, offers them blessings and mutations in line with his sphere of influence. Yesugei, sealed away in the Blood Gorgon’s Cauldron of Blood, is their patron daemon, while the warband itself still venerates the Pantheon yet declare themselves free of the slavery to them other warbands and legions are bound to. Hell, somewhere in the warp, Madail still exists, Greater Daemon and Herald of Chaos Undivided
I think, as time goes on, many more writers are going to begin taking the nuanced, diverse approach to Chaos. I’d challenge the idea that Aetheric Dominions are a means of introducing future Chaos Gods to the setting, but rather that the five “open seats” or points on the octed star operate as contested spheres, planes of Chaos in which the big 4 all have stakes in, and thus those under which more powerful and, distinctly undivided entities can spawn and operate. With any luck, I believe even more diverse and interesting Chaos Cults may be featured, one’s whose beliefs don’t just boil down to “HARHARHAR I sip the blood of virgins from the skulls of my enemies in the name of my Dark Masters! Now bring me more heads to bash with my axe!” No, instead we’ll start seeing things like “The burning man comes, the head of a black wolf atop his ash-flecked molten form, and he commands me to spill the blood of the dishonorable… and there is none among this whole planet with honor aside from myself and my kin.”

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