Kolhapur, a city celebrated for its rich culture and vibrant lifestyle, is also home to an emerging beauty industry. Among the many beauty services available, nail salons have gained immense popularity. Whether you're looking for a simple manicure or elaborate nail art, finding the right nail salon in Kolhapur is essential for a pampering experience. This guide will introduce you to the best nail salon in Kolhapur, where you can indulge in top-notch nail care and creative designs.
1. The Growing Popularity of Nail Salons in Kolhapur: In recent years, nail salons in Kolhapur have seen a surge in demand. As beauty trends evolve, more people are seeking professional nail care services to enhance their personal style. From classic French manicures to intricate nail art, Kolhapur's nail salons offer a wide range of services to cater to every preference.
2. Why Choose a Professional Nail Salon? Opting for a professional nail salon ensures high-quality services and a luxurious experience. Here are some reasons to choose a top nail salon in Kolhapur:

• Expert Technicians: Skilled nail technicians with extensive training and experience.
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3. The Best Nail Salon in Kolhapur: When it comes to nail care, one salon stands out as the best in Kolhapur. Known for its exceptional services and talented staff, this nail salon has become the go-to destination for beauty enthusiasts. Here’s what makes it the top choice:

• Glamour Nail Studio: Located in the heart of Kolhapur, Glamour Nail Studio offers a comprehensive range of nail services. From manicures and pedicures to gel nails and stunning nail art, their skilled technicians ensure every visit is a delightful experience.

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• 3D Nail Art: Eye-catching designs with three-dimensional elements like crystals and beads.

6. Tips for Maintaining Beautiful Nails: To keep your nails looking their best between salon visits, follow these tips:

• Moisturize Regularly: Use hand and cuticle creams to keep your nails and skin hydrated.
• Avoid Harsh Chemicals: Wear gloves when handling cleaning agents and other chemicals.
• Trim and File: Regularly trim and file your nails to maintain their shape and prevent breakage.
• Protect Your Nails: Avoid using your nails as tools to open or pry things.

Kolhapur's vibrant beauty scene is enriched by top-notch nail salons that offer a blend of quality services and creative designs. Whether you're looking for a relaxing manicure or want to experiment with the latest nail art trends, the best nail salon in Kolhapur is your go-to destination. Experience the ultimate pampering and elevate your nail game to new heights.
Call to Action:
Address
C S No 1590/97, E Ward, Swarajbhakti, Unit No 301,Near Jaibhawani Mandal, 5th Ln, Rajarampuri, Kolhapur, Maharashtra 416008
Contact
9579824240

I 31F was married to 32M Zack. Me and Zack were sweet love birds and graduated together in 2010. We decided to work together and save up enough money for our dream wedding. Now to the story, It's mid February, Me and Zack decided we'd saved up enough money and we'd get married. I was dress shopping with my friend Jessica 30F. I had though i'd found my perfect dress, but every time I pick one she always lowers my self esteem and brings me down saying "The dress is ugly" or "You look fat" Mind you I have what you would call a snatched waist and barely any stomach.I tried to brush off Jessica's comments, but they started to weigh heavily on me. I began to doubt my choices and felt increasingly self-conscious. Despite her negativity, I still considered her a good friend and decided to ignore her comments, believing she might just be having a bad day. A few days later, Zack and I were finalizing the guest list for our wedding. I noticed that Zack seemed a bit distracted and distant, but I chalked it up to stress from work. As the wedding date approached, things only seemed to get worse. Zack was coming home later than usual, and we weren't spending as much time together. One evening, I received a call from an unknown number. The voice on the other end was hesitant but eventually revealed herself to be Emily, an old high school acquaintance. She told me she had some urgent news about Zack that I needed to hear in person. Feeling a mix of curiosity and dread, I agreed to meet her the next day. Emily and I met at a quiet café. She looked nervous and kept glancing around as if she was afraid of being seen. After a few minutes of small talk, she finally blurted out, "I saw Zack with Jessica last week. They were having dinner together and looked very... intimate." My heart sank. I felt a rush of emotions—anger, betrayal, confusion. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Emily showed me a few pictures she had taken discreetly. There was no denying it: Zack and Jessica were indeed together, looking very cozy. I went home that night, feeling like my world had been turned upside down. Zack was already there, sitting on the couch. He looked up as I walked in, and I could see the guilt in his eyes. I didn't know what to say or how to start the conversation, so I just stood there, tears streaming down my face. Zack got up and approached me, but I stepped back. "How long?" I finally managed to ask, my voice barely above a whisper. He sighed and looked down. "It's been a few months. I didn't mean for it to happen, and I never wanted to hurt you." I felt a mixture of rage and heartbreak. "With Jessica? My friend? How could you?" He tried to explain, but I couldn't listen anymore. I needed time to think, to process everything. I decided to stay with my parents for a few days to clear my head. During those days, I received multiple messages from Jessica, all apologizing and trying to explain herself. I couldn't bring myself to respond. I felt betrayed by two of the people I trusted the most. Eventually, I returned home to talk to Zack. We had a long and emotional conversation about our relationship, our future, and the betrayal. It was clear that things could never go back to the way they were. The trust was broken. We decided to call off the wedding and go our separate ways. It was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make, but I knew it was the right one for my own sanity and well-being. As for Jessica, I cut her out of my life completely. The betrayal was too deep, and I couldn't see a way to ever trust her again. It's been a few months now, and I'm slowly starting to heal. I've learned a lot about myself and the importance of surrounding myself with people who truly care about me. It was a painful lesson, but it's made me stronger and more resilient. I know that one day, I'll find the happiness and love I deserve.
(If I get any updates i'll tell u guys)

Like the title said there's a coworker who's been targeting me trying to get me fired. First she claimed I made her feel unsafe and tried to get another worker to back her up on that. The other worker left and none of the other five women I work with feel that way. Now she's claming I'm inappropriate with the girls in the program and I've had two meetings about it. This coworker has bullied and harassed several employees before I even worked there and she has had it out for me because I've had multiple confrontations with her about not doing her job. I have expressed how I'm feeling targeted even before she started saying these things and multiple people have talked with managers about her not doing her job while she's working. They've been sweeping it under the rug and don't fire any employees but the in the last meeting my manager mentioned how they had a bigger meeting with her about these allegations and I wasn't even told when it happned. I have the number of the vice president and the email of the president of the program and was told by other employees to tell them but I guess my worry is doing that will get me fired because they'll take these allegations more seriously than my being targeted because the managers have been sweeping all of her infractions under the rug and not keeping evidence of it. If I had to go the legal route what way should I do it and how would I go about involving HR?

Hey guys,
My pawn is stuck when I draft him he can't undraft since his action bar has disappeared. I read online that this might be caused by mods and stuff but these are old posts.
Anyone know how to fix that ? (apparently its pretty common)
My modlist if you think it can help :
[Mod list length: 86]
Harmony [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2009463077\]
Core [https:// no link (local mod)]
Royalty [Official DLC] [https:// no link (local mod)]
Ideology [Official DLC] [https:// no link (local mod)]
Biotech [Official DLC] [https:// no link (local mod)]
Anomaly [Official DLC] [https:// no link (local mod)]
Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2775017012\]
HugsLib [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=818773962\]
Allow Tool [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=761421485\]
Vanilla Expanded Framework [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2023507013\]
Alpha Biomes [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1841354677\]
Vanilla Psycasts Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2842502659\]
Better Quest Rewards [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2671237934\]
Bionic icons [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1677616980\]
CM Color Coded Mood Bar [1.1+] [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2006605356\]
Camera+ [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=867467808\]
Compact Hediffs [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2031734067\]
Defensive Positions [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=761219125\]
Designator Shapes [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1235181370\]
Door Mat [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1505423207\]
Doors Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1316188771\]
DragSelect [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2599942235\]
Dubs Mint Menus [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1446523594\]
Dubs Performance Analyzer [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2038874626\]
Geological Landforms [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2773943594\]
Interaction Bubbles [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1516158345\]
More Faction Interaction (Continued) [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2379076640\]
No Forced Slowdown [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1419593453\]
Numbers [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1414302321\]
P-Music [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=725130005\]
Performance Optimizer [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2664723367\]
Pick Up And Haul [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1279012058\]
Quality Colors 1.5 - Forked [https:// no link (local mod)]
QualityBuilder [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=754637870\]
RandomPlus [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1434137894\]
Replace Stuff [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1372003680\]
RimFridge: Now with Shelves! [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2898411376\]
RimHUD [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1508850027\]
RimPy Mod Manager Database [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1847679158\]
Vehicle Framework [https:// no link (local mod)]
Save Our Ship 2 [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1909914131\]
Smart Speed [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1504723424\]
Smarter Construction [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2202185773\]
Trade Ships Drop Spot [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1969732297\]
Vanilla Animals Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2871933948\]
Vanilla Animals Expanded — Endangered [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2366589898\]
Vanilla Apparel Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1814987817\]
Vanilla Apparel Expanded — Accessories [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2521176396\]
Vanilla Armour Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1814988282\]
Vanilla Backstories Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2861806869\]
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Ancients [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2654846754\]
Vanilla Factions Expanded - Mechanoids [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2329011599\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Architect [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2608762624\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Art [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1968134023\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Farming [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1957158779\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Medical Module [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1718191613\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Power [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2062943477\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Production [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1880253632\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Props and Decor [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2102143149\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Security [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1845154007\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1718190143\]
Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Spacer Module [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2028381079\]
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Icons and Symbols [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2552609458\]
Alpha Animals [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1541721856\]
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2636329500\]
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Relics and Artifacts [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564895018\]
Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Splits and Schisms [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2573138902\]
Vanilla Nutrient Paste Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2920385763\]
Vanilla Outposts Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2688941031\]
Vanilla Persona Weapons Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2826922787\]
Vanilla Plants Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2134308522\]
Vanilla Textures Expanded - Variations [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2493234474\]
Vanilla Trading Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2785616901\]
Vanilla Traits Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2296404655\]
Vanilla Vehicles Expanded [https:// no link (local mod)]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Coilguns [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2375692535\]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Grenades [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2194472657\]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1814383360\]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Heavy Weapons [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2329126791\]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Laser [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989352844\]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Makeshift [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2419690698\]
Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Quickdraw [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1906780517\]
What's That Mod [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2258431182\]
Yayo's Animation (Continued) [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2877292196\]
[GMT] Trading Spot [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2874517333\]
RocketMan - Performance Mod [https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2479389928\]

Throughout my 15-year career, I've often been frustrated with acceptance criteria. But at my current position, I've been especially frustrated with the fact that I, an IC, am writing all of the acceptance criteria for the projects I work on.
Here's my current role in project planning:

1. PM comes to me with an idea and asks about feasibility.
   
2. Later, PM comes back with a basic PRD and a design and asks for a gut check estimate (i.e. small/medium/large).
   
3. PM and designer take design to the rest of the product and design team for feedback.
   
4. PM and designer incorporate feedback into design. PM then creates an epic with a Spike ticket, which is assigned to me and pulled into the next sprint.
   
5. I thoroughly review the PRD and designs and make comments right in Confluence or Figma to ask clarifying questions. I may schedule time with PM and designer so we are all on the same page.
   
6. I write the JIRA stories and add acceptance criteria and estimates (the expected outcome of the spike).
   
7. In Sprint Planning, PM determines the team's capacity and asks me to pull into the upcoming sprint a specific number of points from the project (there are usually multiple projects in flight at once, plus some additional bugs or "quick win" stories as well).
   
8. PM prioritizes the sprint, and during the sprint, team members take tickets off the top of the queue. So, while I am the project lead, I may not be actually completing the tickets. Engineers complete stories according to the acceptance criteria I have written.
   
9. When stories are completed, the ones tagged for QA are picked up by the QA engineer, who determines if the work completed matches the acceptance criteria. If not, they add bug tickets to the epic, which I then review and pull into the sprint to fix.
   
10. Once all stories are completed and have gone through QA and all of QA's bug tickets are completed, the PM then takes a look at the feature themselves and turns on the feature flag.
    

I have a number of issues with the way this goes, but the biggest one is this: the acceptance criteria in the PRD are generally very sparse. If the feature is for adding a new page for viewing a report on contact activity, the acceptance criteria might just say "As an administrator, I can view contact activity on the new report page."
It is then my responsibility to come up with specific acceptance criteria by combing through the design, reading comments, looking through various Slack threads, etc. So what other engineers and what QA is basing this project on is coming from me, not from the product owner.
The PM generally does not review the tickets in the epic. They do not look at the acceptance criteria I have written to ensure all of the work is encapsulated there. They barely review the project as it is in flight. It is up to me to self-report on how the project is going.
The result here is that after the project is released, the PM often comes back and says, "Why does this work like this?" and "Why doesn't this do this thing?" and it really frustrates me because all I really had to go off of what the designs, which don't always include everything. It's up to me to remember to include things like empty states, error states, loading states, and other unhappy paths. Additionally, a lot of the time certain parts of a project will just be summed up with "Make it work the same way as this other feature does", but of course there are always nuances with older code. Plus, that means that when I write acceptance criteria, I have to comb through another feature's UX and code and try to document everything it does so other engineers and QA know how to implement and test it.
Is this the way things go for you? Is there a better way? Should I be expecting more from my PM or is this just what I have to deal with?

(I WILL POST A WORD DOCUMENT IN THE COMMENTS WITH THE FULL EXPLANATIONS + GENERAL BUILDS)
Strategy to Clear the Doom Warzone (World Conqueror 4)
Setup:
The generals used, refer below to the build for each general below.
Order of explanation:
Strategy for each mission along with the builds:
1 (Navy Mission):
Generals used: Darlan, Donitz, Horton.
Strategy:
Put excellence medal on Darlan (or the best navy general you have). Put Darlan on the super battleship, Donitz on the other super battleship and Horton on the submarine.

1. Destroy the ship on the top port and lure the other ship from the bottom port. Then you attack both cities to lure out the troops from them and allow new troops to spawn.
2. Destroy all the generals (prioritize this as it gives the most points), Bring down all the fortresses down to 1 hit and hit all of the mines. Do not capture any ports or cities as this can decrease the number of points you receive.
3. While waiting for the time to pass, destroy any unit being spawned. Use the carriers for clean-up and make sure that your generals deal the most possible damage.
4. On the last turn, destroy the fortresses. This mission should be a pretty easy 100% as navy generals are not used in any other mission.
   
5. Infantry mission
   

Generals used: Konev, Schmidhuber, Yamashita.
Strategy:

1. Put excellence medal on Konev as he will be the main damage dealer for this mission. Konev goes on the triple stacked Rocket artillery. Schmidhuber goes on the tank and Yamashita on a spawned Hawkeye force (can put him on special forces as well). Use the laser on the ship far from the shore as it will not approach the shore.
2. With Konev take out the closest general in the first turn, use the tank to clear up low hp units. Then attack the fortress and tank general in the top right corner of the map, kill the general and leave the fortress on low hp. Use the special forces and Yamashita to clear up any units which spawn from the top fortress. Step on any mines (that gives you points)
3. With Konev and the tank, attack the large fortress and other enemy tank general, after one attack to each, attack the ships in the port to allow the next one to spawn. After that go back to attacking the enemy tank general.
4. On the last round, kill any remaining units (you will need to use air force to destroy the ship in the bottom left corner) and try to destroy the fortresses.
   
5. Artilery mission
   

Generals used: Rokossovsky, Leeb and Wainwright.
Strategy:

1. Put excellence medal on Rokossovsky. Transfer all possible medals to the generals you are using. Roko goes on the trip stacked Heavy tank, Leeb on the star level super arty and Wainwright on the mechanized infantry.
2. Use the single rocket arty to attack the bottom left city to lure the enemy infantry forwards. The generals will attack to the right towards the top right city. Destroy the general inside the city and use the mechanized infantry to deal some damage to the fortress. Make a single assault infantry and trigger the mines.
3. After the top right city, attack the bottom left city and destroy the general (do not capture the city itself). After, attack the bottom right city and destroy the general there.
4. Deal damage to the fortresses and kill any units which are spawned (remember to use the nukes that you spawn with, I recommend putting the Airforce medal on Wainwright because of the extra damage).
   
5. Tank Mission
   

Generals used: Brooke, List, Pavlov and Chennault.
Strategy:

1. Excellence medal on List and Airforce on Chennault. The rest of the medals transfer as best as possible. List on the Super tank, Pavlov on the other super tank, Chennault on the triple stacked heavy. Brooke on the super arty.
2. First attack the bottom left city, trigger the mines and then destroy the general. Use Chennault to attack as well.
3. Attack the top right city and destroy the general, keep Chennault close enough that he can go into the city in 1 turn worth of movement. The rest of the generals clear out any troops being spawned and then attack the top left city to destroy the general.
4. Deal as much damage as possible to the fortresses. (You need to attack each one 10 times to bring down their armor value to 0, you can do this over multiple turns).
5. On the last turn, use all the nukes on the fortress which has 0 armor and try to destroy both fortresses if possible.

5 Air force Mission:
Generals: Rommel, Dowding, Helfrich and Tito.
Strategy:

1. Excellence medal on Rommel and Airforce on Dowding. Dowding on the rocket arty, Rommel on the Super tank, Helfrich on the other super thank. Tito on the mechanized inf.
2. With Rommel and Dowding attack the bottom right city, destroy the general and then all of the troops around it. Use Helfrich to defend the city you have and Tito to deal damage to the fortress.
3. After, Rommel and Dowding attack the bottom left city and destroy the general. Bring down the armor of the fortress to 0 and then use all of the nukes on it (remember to keep the general with the airforce medal the one to drop them). With the Tanks defending the city, attack one of the fortresses or troops to deal additional damage.
4. Do your best to clear any units spawned and step on all the mines. Prioritize units over the destruction of fortresses.

6 Final Mission
Generals: Guderian
Build:
Strategy:

1. All the best medals on Guderian. Spawn an elite tank (Lvl 5 super Pershing used by me) and put Guderian on it. Use any remaining generals on the surrounding troops.
2. Attacks the city to the right, destroy the general and deal damage to the fortress, with Guderian go down and attack and destroy Colson and all the troops surrounding him. Destroy the ship in the port.
3. The rest of your units should destroy any troops that spawn at the top fortress and slowly wittle down its hp, but not destroy it completely. You should spawn an assault infantry to step on all the landmines for extra points.
4. Guderian then attacks the bottom left city and damages the fortress. Destroy all the units around and then simply wait for the last round before the end, then destroy the remaining HP of the fortresses. (Using this method I got 2133 points on this mission, while the game says I can only get 1953).

All this combined should be enough to win the Warzone.
Remarks:
Remember to transfer all the medals between missions.
The generals used can be upgraded or changed out for different ones.
This is mostly F2P, the one P2W thing I have is the excellence medal (admittedly very busted for Warzones).

https://archive.is/QKZin
Michael Magee of Orange is urging the Athol Conservation Commission to oppose legislation filed by state Sen. Jo Comerford for the Quabbin Reservoir.
Comerford and state Rep. Aaron Saunders of Belchertown filed a bill (S 447 / H 897) that would impose a 5 cent per 1,000 gallon excise on Quabbin water. The lawmakers estimate the tax would produce $3.5 million, which would be directed to Quabbin watershed communities and local nonprofits with a focus on these towns’ health, welfare, safety and transit.
That bill also would mandate that the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) analyze potable water in western Massachusetts across multiple watersheds. The studies would include an assessment of the kinds of infrastructure that would be needed to provide water to each community from local resources.
In an interview, Comerford said her bill would also expand the number of western Mass representatives to the MWRA board from one to three.
“And that one person is not necessarily speaking on behalf of Hampshire or Franklin counties,” she said. “It’s important, I believe, to have a greater voice. Three people would have a better chance of communicating the many things our communities care about.”
Another change would come in the way PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) payments are made. PILOT payments are made to communities for property owned by the state, but which are not subject to local property tax assessments. Comerford said that land lying under the Quabbin is not counted when figuring the state’s PILOT obligations.
“And yet the communities around the Quabbin are stewarding this public land in order to make sure the water is pristine,” she continued. “In my mind, the area covered by water should be part of the PILOT payment back to communities.”
The bill is currently under consideration by the Legislature’s Energy & Environment Committee.

‘It’s a crazy idea’

While he served on the Orange Conservation Commission years ago, Magee told the Athol Daily News he’s lobbying against the bill as a private citizen. Magee went before the Athol Conservation Commission at its meeting on Tuesday, May 28.
““I’m just now writing to a bunch of other conservation commissions,” he said. “I’m going to contact everybody I can. As I said last night (May 28), it’s a crazy idea.”
At the top of Magee’s concerns is the potential strain on the Quabbin Reservoir that could result from expansion of the MWRA’s service area.
“I remember years ago, when the water was so low in the Quabbin, they proposed putting a pipe in that would go all the way to either the Connecticut or the Millers River to replenish it,” he said. “I understand that sometimes these crazy ideas actually become law because nobody says anything.”
Magee claims that, under Comerford’s legislation, water from the reservoir would be piped to the north and south shores of Massachusetts Bay, and to more communities in MetroWest.
“Once those communities get Quabbin water they’re not going to take care of their own water supplies anymore,” he said. “They already have plenty of water. But once they’re on Quabbin water they can do any development they want…and they’ll become dependent on Quabbin water.”
Magee pointed out that several times in the last 60 years, climate conditions led to the water level in Quabbin becoming “extremely low.” Magee said that one of the worst droughts occurred between 1964 to 1972, with others happening between 1983 and 1989, 2000 to 2003, and most recently between 2015 and 2017.
“It will happen again,” Magee predicted. “It’s inevitable. And then what? We have to take care of our existing water supplies.”
Magee also argues that the additional PILOT payments are inadequate to compensate Quabbin towns for the sacrifices made for the Quabbin watershed.

Comerford defends bill

Comerford refuted Magee’s contention that she is interested in sending Quabbin water to eastern Massachusetts or beyond its current service area. She said the MWRA recently did three studies on the potential availability of potable water supplies in eastern Massachusetts, as well as of expanding the distribution of Quabbin water to that part of the state.
“Truth be told,” she said, “I’ve been trying to put the brakes on that.”
The senator said the time has come for the state to conduct similar studies in western Massachusetts.
“I am worried that if we open up the taps on Quabbin water to eastern Mass that we will go above safe yield and there wouldn’t be any options for us to look at in western Massachusetts,” she said.
Comerford said recent reports that the MWRA is undertaking a study to pipe water from the Quabbin Reservoir to the towns that surround it are incomplete.
“That’s a limited take,” she explained. “They are absolutely looking at whether western Mass towns could access the Quabbin. But they’re also looking at other things, like aquifers, existing wells and other watersheds. They understand the Quabbin could be a resource for some (communities) but that it won’t work for all.”
Comerford also said while the legislation would mandate that MWRA to explore opportunities to expand into new communities, that doesn’t mean the water authority would have any control over how communities address their own drinking water needs.
“There would be not jurisdiction for MWRA to mandate anything in any community,” she said. “The MWRA can’t tell Northampton, can’t tell Athol what to do. Athol’s town government makes those decisions.”
Comerford also disputed Magee’s contention that the bill would encourage communities surrounding the reservoir to get their water from Quabbin, something, he says, which “would cost billions of dollars.” More than half the small towns around Quabbin get water exclusively from wells, while Orange, Belchertown, Ware and Barre have a mix of public water and private wells.
“We’re not saying that these communities must have access to Quabbin water, but we are saying the state has a responsibility to make sure they have access to potable water,” Comerford said. “So, it may not make any financial sense to ship our Quabbin water to a community, either because they don’t have the infrastructure or they’re too far away. But I do think the state has a responsibility to understand the current potable water structure to understand where wells might possibly be dug. Communities out east all have had these studies done on the state’s dime.”

On Spotify, there's this artist with a lot of music I like. My favourite song of this artist is called "Daily Show", but there are a lot of other ones I like as well. Unfortunately, it seems almost all of their music has been taken off Spotify. I once listened to this artist on Apple Music, but it seems it has been deleted there as well.
First, here are some artist links:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7fWRZNl81BDvxtY0rhHD7W
https://music.apple.com/id/artist/frankie-four-fingers/1058839103
https://www.deezer.com/en/artist/10399244
You can see that all pages are completely empty now. On Spotify, there are 0 monthly listeners and the About section is empty. There is still a button for Franke Four Fingers Radio. If you click it, you'll see a playlist with multiple songs of theirs, but they are all greyed out. All, except for one, which is weirdly still listenable, called Deep Dance Party.
Some direct links can be found by doing a Google search or searching on Twitter, but none of these songs are playable. For example, this is the original Apple Music link for the song I'm looking for (it just shows an empty page): https://music.apple.com/us/album/daily-show-single/1169623248
And here's another favorite of mine, Westfield, on Spotify (it shows some information, but the music is not playable)
https://open.spotify.com/track/49tJVJzcDIVkqjupuudYJY
As you can see, almost every album cover of this artist is a white square, with the text in the middle, colored using a red-to-black or blue-to-black gradient. I believe the song I'm looking for had a similar cover, using the red color scheme.
I was able to find a automatically generated Youtube page. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6Jxo4b3gLuNhEFwHK3vtOg
Here you can find 10 songs (plus 2 songs from a different artist that I believe don't belong on this page). Again you can see the same style used for the cover, but the song "Daily Show" is not listed there.
Going to the song Griezmann, I noticed it was released by Music Kickup. Searching for that company in Google, it seems like they may not exist anymore. Their website www dot musickickup dot com isn't available, and on Reddit there was a brief discussion in which multiple artists didn't get paid by the record company, and the company got put on a list of companies unable to pay their taxes.
https://www.reddit.com/audioengineering/comments/nf382s/is_musickickup_gone/
On Twitter, there a a lot of accounts called Frankie Four Fingers, and none of them seem connected to this music.
So, does anyone know if the song "Daily Show" is still listenable somewhere?

This post looks at the success of countries at UEFA competitions during the 21st century (2001-present). This list is for club football.
Finals represented by two teams from the same country are counted as wins for that country, as two distinct finalists, and as one final.
Unique clubs are the number of unique clubs participating in finals from that particular country: eg., Portugal has had four clubs compete in EL finals, therefore their number is four.
Also, note that the EL and UEFA Cup refer to the same competition.

EL/UEFA Cup Finals

Country	Total Finals Contested	Total Finalists	EL Finals Won	EL Finals Lost	Unique finalists	Win%	Notes
Spain	13	15	12 Wins	1 Loss	7	92%	Alaves lost in 2001 to Liverpool via the Golden Goal rule.
England	8	9	4 Wins	4 Losses	6	50%	Middlesborough and Fulham have both contested EL finals.
Portugal	5	6	2 wins	3 losses	4	40%	Porto has won the EL twice this century, including an all-Portuguese final in 2011.
Russia	2	2	2 Wins	0 losses	2	100%	Russian clubs (CSKA Moscow and Zenit St. Petersburg) won their finals in 2005 and 2008.
Germany	4	4	1 Win	3 Losses	4	25%	Dortmund, Leverkusen, Frankfurt, and Werder Bremen have made the finals, but only Frankfurt won.
Italy	3	3	1 Win	2 Losses	3	33%	The first EL final for Italian sides this century was in 2020.
Netherlands	2	2	1 Win	1 Loss	2	50%	Feyenoord defeated Dortmund in 2002
Ukraine	2	2	1 Win	1 Loss	2	50%	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, the Ukranian finalist in 2016, has since become defunct after falling into bankruptcy in 2018.
Scotland	3	3	0 Wins	3 Losses	2	0%	Rangers (2 finals) and Celtic (1 final) have made the EL final this century.
France	2	2	0 Wins	2 Losses	1	0%	Marseille is the only French team to make the EL final in this century, losing both.

• France is the only country with only one unique finalist.
  
• Post-2001, Spain has been undefeated in EL finals.
  
• There have been five final penalty shootouts.
  
• Spain's 7 participants is the highest number of finalists. The teams are: Sevilla, Atletico, Valencia, Villarreal, Athletic Club, Espanyol, and Alaves.
  
• England's four final losses have all come against Spanish sides.
  

CL Finals

Country	Total Finals Contested	Total Finalists	CL Finals Won	CL Finals Lost	Unique finalists	Win%	Notes
Spain	13*	16	11 Wins	1 Loss	4	92%	While Valencia and Atletico have played 4 finals this century, 3 came against Real Madrid.
England	12	15	6 Wins	6 Losses	6	50%	The most unique teams (Spurs, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Chelsea, and City).
Germany	7*	8	3 Wins	3 Losses	3	50%	Leverkusen lost in 2002 to complete being runners-up in all 3 club competitions - the league, the cup, and the CL.
Italy	7	8	3 Wins	4 Losses	3	43%	The finalists from Italy have participated in at least two finals this century - Juventus (3), Milan (3), and Inter (2). Juventus is the only one not to win once this century.
Portugal	1	1	1 Win	0 Losses	1	100%	Porto won in 2004
France	2	2	0 Wins	2 Losses	2	0%	Monaco and PSG have both loss finals this century

• France is the only country to have made the final this century but not win.
  
• Spain is undefeated following Valencia's 2001 defeat to Bayern on penalties.
  
• There have been six final penalty shootouts.
  
• Except for one loss (2007), England's final losses have come against Spanish sides (5 losses).
  
• Three clubs have made multiple finals but are winless this century: Valencia (2), Atletico (2), and Juventus (3).
  

Summary of EL/CL

Country	Total Finals Contested	Total Finalists	Finals Won	Finals Lost	Unique finalists (EL+CL)	Win%	Notes
Spain	26	31	24 Wins	2 Losses	9 (11)	92%	Undefeated in finals since 2001 when Alaves lost to Liverpool (5-4 via golden goal, EL) and Valencia lost to Bayern on penalties (CL).
England	20	23	10 Wins	10 Losses	10 (12)	50%	English teams have lost and won exactly 50% of finals in the EL and CL respectively.
Italy	9	10	4 Wins	5 Losses	5 (6)	44%	Atalanta became the first Italian team to win the EL this century.
Germany	11	12	4 Wins	6 Losses	6 (7)	40%	CL final to be played
Portugal	6	7	3 Wins	3 Losses	4 (5)	50%	Portugal was the first country to win both the EL and CL this century.
Netherlands	2	2	1 Win	1 Loss	2 (2)	50%
Ukraine	2	2	1 Win	1 Loss	2 (2)	50%
France	4	4	0 Wins	4 Losses	3 (3)	0%	France has failed to win any EL or CL finals. Monaco and PSG have lost in the CL, while Marseille has been beaten in the EL.
Scotland	3	3	0 Wins	3 Losses	2 (2)	0%	Rangers (2 finals) and Celtic (1 final) have made the EL final this century.

• The longest streak for consecutive EL/CL finals contested by country is England between 2005-2013, where at least one English club made either final.
  
• Spain has the most European doubles (EL+CL) with five this century. England is the only other country to have won both the EL/CL in the same season (once, in 18/19).
  
• Inversely, England, Italy, and France have had clubs qualify for the EL and CL final(s) in the same season but subsequently lose both. France lost in 2004 (Monaco in the CL/Marseille in the EL), England in 2006 (Arsenal in the CL/Middlesborough in the EL), and Italy in 2023 (Inter in the CL/Roma in the EL). Germany can do the same in 2024.
  
• The biggest loser (with at least 3 finals against) vs a particular country is England against Spain, with a loss percentage of 90% (9/10 finals lost).
  
• Spain has won the EL/CL at least every other year since '98.
  

By Club (min. 2 finals)

Club	Country	EL Finals	CL Finals	Total Finals	Wins (Win %)	Loss	Notes
Sevilla		7	0	7	7 Wins (100%)	0	Undefeated in all seven EL finals.
Madrid		0	7*	7*	6 Wins (100%)	0	Match in hand vs Dortmund
Atletico		3	2	5	3 Wins (60%)	2	Both losses vs Madrid
Barcelona		0	4	4	4 Wins (100%)	0	One of the few remaining clubs to win the CL multiple times, but not the EL.
Valencia		1	2	3	1 (33%)	2	Lost both CL finals
Liverpool		2	5	7	3 (42%)	4	Losses against Madrid (x2), Sevilla, and AC Milan.
Chelsea		2	3	5	4 (80%)	1	Sole loss came against United in 2008 CL
Manchester United		2	3	5	2 (40%)	3	Losses against Barcelona (x2) and Villarreal
Manchester City		0	2	2	1 (50%)	1	Finals in 2021 and 2023
Arsenal		1	1	2	0 (0%)	2	Losses in 2006 (CL) and 2019 (EL)
AC Milan		0	3	3	2 (66%)	1	Miracle of Istanbul...
Juventus		0	3	3	0 (0%)	3	The most consecutive CL losses without winning this century.
Inter		1	2	3	1 (33%)	2	Inter was the first Italian team to compete in an EL final (2020) this century.
Bayern Munich		0	5	5	3 (60%)	2	Losses in 2010 and 2012 CL
Dortmund		2*	1	3	0 (0%)	2	CL final to be played
Leverkusen		1	1	2	0 (0%)	2	The only club to make the EL and CL this century, but not win either.
Porto		1	2	3	3 (100%)	0	The first club to win the EL+CL this century
Benfica		2	0	2	0 (0%)	2	Losses against Chelsea and Sevilla in back-to-back years.
Marseille		2	0	2	0 (0%)	2	Loss both EL finals
Rangers		2	0	2	0 (0%)	2	Losses against Frankfurt and Zenit St. Petersburg

• Sevilla holds the longest winning streak this century with seven consecutive final wins (all EL). Madrid will match them with a win vs Dortmund.
  
• Porto is one of four teams to win the EL + CL this century: United, Porto, Liverpool, and Chelsea.
  
• These teams have won all their finals (min. 3): Porto, Madrid, Sevilla, and Barcelona.
  

May got out to a lightning start for me, continuing the torrid April pace for a while before cooling off a bit in the back end of the month. That's partially by design, as I jumped into a pair of longer games (one enormously so) which I won't finish until deeper into June, but I've also noticed I'm slowly bleeding gaming time from my evenings. As my kids get incrementally older and the days grow incrementally longer entering summer, an hour that would previously be my own is now deferred to them, and that adds up over the course of an entire month.
Not that I'd trade my kids, you understand.
(Games are presented in chronological completion order; the numerical indicator represents the YTD count.)
​
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#27 - Contra: Hard Corps - GEN - 8/10 (Great)
It's been fascinating to watch the Contra series evolve over time, and Hard Corps on the Sega Genesis is no different. With no Mode 7 (the SNES' proprietary isometric viewpoint mode) available on the system, necessarily some of the top down content from Contra III would need to be altered or removed, and that begged the question of what would take its place: after all, a return to basic sidescrolling action might feel like a big step down, and we can't have that. So I think I expected Hard Corps to throw in a new wrinkle to keep the formula a bit more fresh. What I did not expect was for it to make three enormous changes.
For one, Hard Corps has four different characters to choose from, and each is actually unique. It's not just the look - where else can you play a cybernetic wolfman? - but they've got different sizes and hurtboxes as well. And while each starts with the same basic low power machine gun, each has a completely different loadout of possible weapon upgrades, ensuring that all four play very differently from one another outside of the fundamentals of movement. To that end, the two weapon toggle of Contra III is expanded in Hard Corps, allowing you to hold all four of your upgraded weapons simultaneously and switch between them at will, which adds a new layer of depth and strategy to the action. Building upon this notion of enhanced player choice even further, the second big change is that the game has branching paths. After the first stage you make a choice that determines where you head for the second level, and then later on you make another choice that creates further divergence, such that the game has four main endings (and a secret fifth!), all with their own dedicated unique stages. It's for that reason possibly the most replayable game so far in the franchise; I myself did a run through of each ending using a different character per run to get a feel for them all.
This leads to the final big change, which is the only one I don't regard a resounding success: the entire game is basically a boss rush. Let's zero in on the main path that I followed on my primary playthrough and add up all mini-bosses and full boss phases. What number might you expect that to come out as? A dozen or so? Well, sorry about your naiveté, but the answer is 43: it's bosses all the way down. This is a MUCH more mentally taxing load than previous Contra games where you could kind of skate through the non-boss sections with good fundamentals. And that's just one of four possible paths through the game! It's absurd! It's also way more fun than it sounds it would be from the description, but I've heard people say Hard Corps is the toughest Contra game and now I know why. I do miss just running and gunning and dropping dudes in one hit before a thrilling finale; it's hard to be properly wowed by a boss fight when that's all you ever see. But nevertheless Contra: Hard Corps is lives up to the legacy of greatness the franchise had up until that point established...just steel yourself mentally for the extensive memorization it requires of you.
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#28 - Ancient Enemy - PC - 5.5/10 (Semi-Competent)
Solitaire is one of those games that nobody really wants to play. It’s a game of convenience and opportunity, only attractive in the absence of something better, which is to say “nearly anything else at all.” Slightly more entertaining are variations on the form, such as Mahjong Solitaire or Free Cell, where certain cards/tiles are locked until the ones above them have been cleared away. These are still just time wasting games for people with nothing else to do, but when presented as a discrete set of challenges there’s a bit more appeal. Do you know they say that every one of the 32,000 numbered games of FreeCell on classic Windows operating systems was supposedly beatable? Did you know a very bored teenage me once decided to see if I could prove it by playing and beating every single unique game of FreeCell in order? I got into the low 30s or so before I questioned what the hell I was doing with my life and wisely moved on.
Well, Ancient Enemy is a game for people with nothing better to do, masquerading as a game that would qualify as "something better to do." It’s an RPG, I guess, but the gameplay revolves entirely around a solitaire variant. You have a deck of “stock cards” numbered 0-9 and start each encounter (“hand”) by flipping the top one. Then on the board you have to collect a card with a number adjacent to the one you’re displaying - 0 serving as a bridge between 1 and 9. Getting a card reveals any card trapped immediately below it and enables that card to be collected as well. If you can’t make a move, you can flip a new stock card over to get a random new number until your deck runs out. Some levels are simple puzzles in this vein, trying to clear all the cards from the board. Most encounters though are battles, where you do the exact same thing, except the color of the card you collect enables you to attack, defend, or cast a spell. So it’s turn-based combat, except each turn is you basically clearing as many cards as you can from the board to juice up your attack or bolster your defense, and that’s about it.
Now, at first, this is actually way more fun than I’m making it sound. I mean, I like solitaire type games for what they are, and the extra mechanics definitely do enrich the experience. You get consumable wild cards, battle boards have bonus cards with instant benefits, you get powers that manipulate the board, new types of cards appear, all good stuff. The problem is that the game completely runs out of these new ideas about a quarter of the way through, at which point you’re just going through the motions until the end, accompanied by a complete nothing of a story that I was confident I had figured out, only to find that the ending was somehow worse than the cliche I’d been anticipating. Thus, the game sadly settled into that exact same niche of games it was supposed to improve upon and supplant. Which I suppose is ok…if you’ve got nothing better to do.
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#29 - Snakebird Primer - PC - 7/10 (Good)
I follow a general rule of always playing game franchises in order, but Snakebird Primer is a unique case wherein the developers of the original Snakebird decided that it was too off-putting to new players, and so they made a sequel that they explicitly wanted newcomers to play first. A "primer" in truth to ease you into the overall Snakebird challenge, as it were. So when I decided to check out Snakebird, I thought all right: just this once I'll do it your way.
So how does Snakebird Primer shake out? Well...it's fine. It's a jaunty kind of puzzle game, with bright colors, friendly art and music, and general good vibes. In each stage you control one or more segmented "snakebirds" and have to get them all to the rainbow portal to complete the level. Sometimes you need to eat fruit to open the portal as well, but that's the entire game in a nutshell. It's a very simple concept, complicated only by the fact that a snakebird that has no body segments touching the ground will fall, and so each stage is a kind of pathing challenge, tasking you to figure out the right order of operations to reach the end. The levels are very well paced and designed if you just go in order: there aren't any hand-holdy tutorials, but new ideas are introduced organically at various intervals, and the challenge always feels reasonable, especially because you can undo any number of moves at will, like stepping through code to find an error.
There is, however, a significant difficulty spike for the last couple levels, which is pretty jarring. And when you add to that the fact that the designer of Baba Is You said he built a lot of his design philosophy around the original Snakebird, I've got to admit I'm a lot less keen on checking that one out. It's in that same realm of "enter these six dozen commands in precisely the right order" that made Baba Is You eventually feel more tedious and frustrating to me than anything else, so I think for now I'm happy to have just played the "lite" version instead.
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#30 - It Takes Two - PS4 - 8.5/10 (Excellent)
When trying to write down a genre for It Takes Two in my tracking spreadsheet, I wanted to put "Yes". It's as though the developers wanted to make a bunch of different kinds of games and, rather than accepting any limitations (self-imposed or otherwise), they just found a way to do it all at once. It Takes Two is a platformer. It's a third-person shooter. It's a puzzle game. It's a rhythm game. It's a racing game. It's a stealth game. It's a boss battling action adventure. It's a minigame collection. It's a romantic comedy. It's an exploration playground. One minute you're flying around on a jetpack chucking Captain America shields at devils and the next you're literally playing a timed game of chess. None of the things that It Takes Two does would be characterized as masterpiece forms of their respective genres, but that's not the point. There's sufficient depth and development of each mechanic that it never feels like a lazy tack-on to check a box - and that in itself is beyond impressive - but it's the sheer number of different ideas tossed into this package that make it truly special.
It's hard for me to even review this game, frankly. Part of that is because I feel a strong bias towards the game for the audaciousness of what it tries to achieve, and for the way it inspires me to keep stretching myself in new ways however I can. But it's also hard because I don't remember the whole thing. It Takes Two is both fresh in memory, having just finished it, and yet far away and mingled in my mind with similar bits of similar other adventures (Tearaway foremost among them). Why is that? Well, I first booted up It Takes Two in May of 2022 as a co-op experience to share with my wife - quite fitting, as it turns out, given the nature of the game's plot of trying to reconcile an embattled couple. We'd only play in smaller bursts of 1-2 hours at a time, but every session we played it felt like we were playing a new, different game. Music to my ears, but much harder on my gaming-challenged wife, who took longer to adjust to each mechanical shift. Pretty soon we were playing less and less often, even as I was playing a game like Tearaway early on that occupied some similar design space in my head. Soon we stopped playing at all. When I tried to suggest resuming this title over the past year, I was repeatedly rebuffed until finally a month ago I managed to wear her down enough that we picked it up again for about an hour a week. So it is that the first half of the game is fuzzy and nebulous to me, even as I recall that I loved playing, whereas the back half is much fresher, and it's nigh impossible for me to separate my wife's frequent frustrations from my own experience - especially since I've been playing on a controller experiencing heavy stick drift, so managing the camera was a nightmare through no fault of the game's.
All that said, how could I not recommend this game? It's best played with two experienced gamers, but the story only fully lands if you play as a couple, so there's a bit of potential for a disconnect there, as I experienced. It's not a perfect game. But it is an incredibly ambitious one that had me routinely grinning from ear to ear, despite the grumblings on the couch next to me. When I pointed out to my wife that we finished the game in May 2024, almost to the day when we started back in '22, she said "They should've called it It Takes Two Years." We're both glad it's over, but I think for very different reasons.
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#31 - Rogue Legacy 2 - PS5 - 7/10 (Good)
Some game sequels try to really shake things up and try something different from the one before. Final Fantasy is probably the biggest and most obvious example of this, but you can also see it in virtually every Super Mario Bros. game, in the Castlevania series, and the list goes on extensively from there. On the other hand, some game sequels treat their predecessors like rough drafts to be perfected. With these, the idea is to take the vision for the previous game, use the increase in time/budget/developer expertise now available, and try to execute on it more completely than was possible before. When a game like this is successful, there becomes almost zero reason to ever play the original game (other than possibly its story), because the new version has replaced it entirely as the definitive experience.
Rogue Legacy 2 is one of these latter types of games. Everything from the first game is pretty much still there (bosses excepted): enemies, basic combat and room design, character classes, traits, progression, etc. It immediately feels like "Hey, I've played this before," yet a cursory look reveals a huge wealth of additional content over the first game. Classes are better differentiated, you get new weapons, more spells, special abilities, new items, new upgrades, new explorable regions, new mechanics, new new new. It truly is a total replacement for Rogue Legacy 1 in this regard, a "go ahead and uninstall that thing forever because we've got it all right here and then some" type of mission statement. I was amazed at how I kept finding ever more avenues of progression and discovery, even many hours into the game, In fact, I never did manage to play as every class, and each class has a variant form as well, most of which I didn't even unlock. It's overflowing with stuff.
And I think that's why it didn't work quite as well for me as the first game: it's all too much. Now there are four different types of currency, all acquired in different ways, all for different upgrade paths. You're always competing with yourself on what to level up between runs because there are too many choices and all of them seem pretty good, but as you're finding your early groove the game throws a big wrench in there: labor costs. While each upgrade has a set gold cost that increases as you level it up, early on the game adds a universal tax mechanic to the entire upgrade tree, making it increasingly prohibitive to spend your money on stuff, and it feels awful. Rogue Legacy 1 had a similar system where each upgrade cost 10g more than the previous, but in the sequel these escalate far more rapidly, to the point where you'll complete a huge run and still feel like you can only afford one or two upgrades that barely move the needle. It's a pure inflationary grinding system meant to pad playtime, and I'm not about that. I played RL1 through multiple New Game + levels, but I was thrilled to beat RL2's final boss and move on because the economy is so frustrating. Other than that though, it's got quite a lot going for it.
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#32 - Undertale - PS4 - 7/10 (Good)
When is some information too much information? Undertale is notorious for its rabid fan community insisting that there is only one "right" way to play the game, and so if you've ever heard of Undertale there's a good chance you already know what that preferred method is: pacifism. Undertale takes a unique approach to the JRPG in two primary ways: first, that defending against enemy attacks is an active system pretty much akin to dodging in a bullet hell game, and second that you almost never actually need to choose the "Fight" command from the battle menu in order to succeed in an encounter. The argument from the community is that you must play in this fully pacifist manner, largely because of a design decision that thoroughly punishes players who do not, only revealed after the game's conclusion. Thus, these players are "helping" curious newcomers by saving them from falling victim to a fairly vindictive design choice that would create a lot of frustration.
The problem with that approach is that Undertale makes it abundantly clear from the outset that you have the option for these alternative combat approaches, trains you on how to use them, and then gives you a positive feedback loop for choosing that direction with your gameplay. Which means the discourse surrounding this game effectively undermines not only the game's own ability to surprise and educate you, but also the authorial intent of that same design decision, which in context is a conscious player decision to go against the grain and suffer the possible consequences of doing so. In short, I wish I'd never heard of Undertale before I played it, as I'm sure I would've had a much better time.
As it stands, Undertale is still a highly creative take on the genre that, despite an aesthetic I didn't care for and writing that leaned a bit too hard at times into "lol I'm so random" territory for my tastes, still managed to get me invested with some of its characters and even make me laugh aloud at times. I was particularly impressed with that aforementioned approach to combat, as each enemy introduced unique hazards to avoid, so fighting a new monster was far more exciting here than in a standard turn-based RPG where the only meaningful question is "How much damage did this whatever move do to me?" So for those reasons I applaud Undertale. Even still, there's a lot of walking back and forth with no major purpose beyond "it was decided the game should be a little bit inconvenient here," adding some unnecessary tedium to the mix. In short, Undertale's a generally good time, but if you want it to be even better, just pretend you haven't read anything I just said.
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#33 - Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales - PS5 - 7.5/10 (Solid)
2018 was a big year for Miles Morales. In the fall he showed up in the PS4 title Marvel's Spider-Man as a major supporting character, and by the end of the year he was stunning cinema audiences in the fantastic Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as the primary protagonist. It's no surprise then that by 2020, with his brand so hot, Sony and Insomniac Games would cash in with a follow-up title to the hit PS4 game with Miles front and center. And for the most part, the game is what you'd expect it to be from that basic pitch: more of the same from 2018, only focusing on Miles' family, his new home of Harlem and its people, and his path to becoming a fully fledged hero in his own right. That's all fine, but here's the problem: all of it has been done better before, and recently to boot. Miles' story of personal growth and family drama was handled better in the Spider-Verse series, even though MSM:MM wisely walks chooses to walk some different beats along the way. "Superhero of Harlem" was done masterfully by Netflix with the Luke Cage series (the first season, at least) back in 2016, and MSM:MM doesn't even try to address any issues beyond the most surface level. And the "more of the same" gameplay?
Well, admittedly that's still pretty good. Web swinging is as fun as ever to the point that there's an XP challenge to web swing at high speed for a full cumulative hour of real time and I caught myself thinking, "Hmm, maybe..." There are fast travel points that unlock relatively early on, but the joy of traversal feels like the main point of the game, so why would you bother? Miles also gets some new Spidey moves related to his bio-electric powers, and these are really fun and impactful to pull off, such that "more of the same" isn't in this case a damning phrase. And yet, it's also distinctly not "more, but better." In order to emphasize your new powers, the goons you fight (now including women for the first time I can recall ever seeing in a superhero game like this) have upgraded their own abilities as well, which means the simple pleasure of chaining big combos is a bit diminished. Maybe this enemy just blocks all your basic attacks and stops you cold. Maybe this one turns the tables to dodge and counter you. Or maybe you're just constantly surrounded by a flood of dudes with guns and rocket launchers and you feel like you never get a chance to press "punch" without being thoroughly punished.
Now add to that the game's relatively brief length and general lack of meaningful activities compared to its predecessor, as well as its truly awful villains and the ho-hum plot that they service, and you've got a title that's decidedly a step back from what came before. Of course, what came before was excellent, so even a step back still lands you in territory that's quite fun to play around with. My 6-year-old summed it up best when he came downstairs to ask me a question one day and caught me playing: "Whoa...how are you Spider-Man?!" Which is to say that Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a game that really makes you feel like a wannabe Spider-Man who hasn't gotten it all figured out just yet. And I guess that's all right.
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Coming in June:

• I've had less time for PC gaming lately for a couple of different reasons, but I'm expecting that to be a temporary thing, and I don't think I'm in danger of failing to finish Mass Effect 3 by the end of June. I didn't realize the version of the game I had included all the DLC. Nor did I actually know what any of the DLC was. So I was quite a ways into the game and feeling great about my progress when I got suspicious that the section I was playing wasn't actually base game content. I looked it up and found that, in fact, about 90% of what I'd played to date was DLC and I'd barely actually started the base game itself. That explains why the main story was taking a while to get off the ground, at any rate.
• Speaking of getting off the ground, my journey through The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom began impatiently a few months after release, but I took an extended break from the game and have now spent pretty much all of May continuing my thorough trek through the game world. I'm well over 200 hours into the game and am only several days away from having explored the entirety of the game's map. At which point I believe I'll finally advance the main quest past its initial stage.
• In my review for Rogue Legacy 2 above I mentioned the Castlevania franchise, which I feel I can speak to as a whole given that I've finished nearly every game in the series to date. Unsurprisingly I felt most drawn to the metroidvania style games, so there was a layer of disappointment in exhausting the last of those to discover. Disappointment that will soon be temporarily eradicated when I boot up Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, produced by that same creative mind.
• And more...

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This might be a long one, I apologize for the length. Also on mobile, so formatting as well. TL;DR at the bottom
Backstory -
My biological father and I had never been close. I have grown up with 2 stories about my childhood- from my mother that he abandoned me and from him that she kept me away from him.
I’ve accepted the fact that I will never know the truth of the matter and that is okay, but at 18 I attempted to cultivate a relationship with him.
About 3 years later, at 22, I moved in with him (or rather, my great grandmother, he lived with and still lives with her) due to exiting an extremely abusive relationship.
One day, out of the blue he came into my room, yelling at me about how the day before I blew him off. I tried to explain to him that I had gone into work that day (a sales job) to try to close on some deals and he called me a liar, etc etc.
Additionally he made some comments regarding my last name.
I had been adopted by the man I call my dad, and took his last name, got married and divorced and took my maiden name back on - he seemed to be confused as to why I didn’t take back on HIS name.
Anyway, after going around and around in arguments that just didn’t make sense, I felt like I was in a loop; he slapped me, and (this was VERY WEIRD) stuck his fingers down my throat when I was yelling back at him. Eventually he kicked me out; he told me to never tell anybody he was my father.
So I left, changed my number and removed myself from social media - this was about 10 years ago and I went no contact.
During this time, I realized a huge abandonment wound was opened.
On my 30th birthday I sought help outside of traditional therapy and drank ayahuasca after seeing the change within my own mother when she drank it.
We have had multiple ceremonies together, all of which have helped me to diminish the hurt I had been carrying, but not the anger within me.
This month we had a mushroom ceremony together and this finally allowed me to release the anger I had still harbored.
Now:
About 4 days ago, my biological father’s mother found my phone number online from when I was a realtor. Having felt that I had let go of the trauma and pain of 10 years ago, I accepted the call, with a hope that he had done ANY self reflection and told her I would be willing to have a conversation with him.
Last night he called me. I had the phone on speaker with my partner nearby because I know bio dad’s tactics and I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t allowing my ego to flare up and get out of line to make the situation worse.
During the conversation I attempted to see the situation through his eyes and he AGAIN continued the loop of “your mother kept you from me” “you believe everything she says” “you should have picked up the phone, I tried to contact you” and told me that the things within the fight DIDNT happen. It was as if this 10 year old fight, one that I moved on from, happened THIS AFTERNOON for him.
Also during the conversation he mentioned to me that he tells my half brother that he believes me to be a survivor and he, my brother , to be weak, essentially. Why one would say that to their child I cannot comprehend.
After realizing he would never express sympathy or acknowledge any wrongdoing on his part, he asked is I was planning on having children - I am still unsure at this time, but if it happens it happens - and he asked me not to keep them from him. My hypothetical, future children. I told him I could not speak to an event that is not currently happening.
I should have never cracked the door open. I have a peaceful, wonderful, tranquil life and he thrives off of drama, hate and anger.
I am starting to feel anxious that he will expect a relationship between us.
I guess what I’m looking for is - how have others in my situation handled this?
TL;DR: 10 years no contact, father found my number - don’t want a relationship, how to handle?

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My first reddit post, hope you guys go easy on me.

1. Her

I met her (let's call her missybusy) through a common friend group. My friends from my previous school were still connected to me and I often used to meet them. She was new to that friend group and it was her first time coming for a meetup. My friend has a pretty big place so a lot of us could accommodate at the same time. I am usually quiet and I talk less. I was sitting in the corner on the sofa and then I saw her enter through the door along with one other friend of mine. And oh my god, I was in awe and amazement because truthfully, I had never seen a girl so pretty and radiant. Her eyes were bright like the moon at night, her complexion fair like milk and her smile was just so beautiful I can’t even describe it in words. She was the quiet one as well so we both were seated in the corner having small to no conversation. This was my first meeting with her and then we met on multiple other meetups and it was always a few words of exchange. One of my friends (let's call him Dave) was actually sort of close to her and they both used to talk frequently. However, some problems arrived between Dave and missybusy and so Dave reached out to me for help. So, I tried to solve matters by talking to both Missybusy and Dave and this is how I started talking properly to Missybusy. I tried to solve the matter and, in the process, I became friends with Missybusy. And she was really fun to talk to! all this time I perceived her to be quiet and less talkative but when I started to talk to her, I realized that she has an amazing personality besides being so pretty. And around that time my friendship with her strengthened and we used to talk frequently but not every day. And somewhere among these conversations I developed a liking for her and so did she. We used to flirt a lot and it was so fun and pure. This went on for around 3 to 4 months and we continued to flirt and talk. And it was around the time of January when she had returned from the farewell of her high school and she showed me the pictures and she looked gorgeous. An absolute angel. And that night of constant flirting I always kept mentioning about another her in front Missybusy, I did that so she wouldn’t suspect that I liked her. But then she got serious and she confessed that she liked me and I was in a small shock but then I confessed to her as well. At this point one would think that this is it, this is where you guys get into a relationship. But no, I actually asked her to wait for our final exams to be over and even she wanted this. Around One and a half month later we went on our first date. And it was peaceful but it was a very dull date to be honest I took her from one place to another which I feel was terrible. I screwed up the first date. But she told me it was really peaceful and so I didn’t think much of it back then. We kept talking over WhatsApp and Instagram for almost another 2 months but we were not in a relationship yet because she said she wanted time and I believed I shouldn’t pressure her so I kept waiting thinking we have all the time in the world. She was an introvert and she didn’t go out much she liked staying at home more and I sort of found this trait cute, although it meant we didn’t get to meet a lot. 2. Dates and Love In the month of June, we went for another date and spoiler alert, this is the day I fell in love with her. We went to watch a movie- Spiderman, into the spider-verse, and to be honest the movie was decently funny and every time Missybusy laughed I looked at her and adored her smile. I noticed she was shivering, she felt cold because the cinema hall was actually very cold so I wrapped my arm around her so she wouldn’t feel cold and she just came closer and the annoying armrest was like a wall in between. In that moment, I made my purest and most honest wish to God (I’m very spiritual and religious). I asked God to always keep Missybusy happy no matter what. After the movie we exited the hall and we were standing near the exit of the mall and just talking and laughing. It was a blissful moment I can never forget that moment ever. She just jokingly pushed me and I literally fell down and I’ve got to say it was funny as hell. And while I was on the ground I saw her laughing so loudly and openly that I… I also fell in love. I was madly in love. We laughed and talked for another half an hour more and then the both of us went home. While on my way to home I realized that I had fallen for her and everything around me felt so soothing, so amazing and I was so happy. This was my favorite day with her and my best day yet. It was perfect, it was divine it was full of amazement and I for the first time felt what is it like to love. One problem I’ve always had is expressing my feelings. I end up thinking what the other person is going to think about my feelings and I’m going to be judged. But I still told her I love you but she hadn’t said it back yet. Another date we went on that she considered her favorite day with me was when we went to have pizzas. At first, we just walked around, talked a lot and laughed together. Held hands and roamed the paths. Then we came across a pizza shop and decided to have some pizza. Oh boy did I know what the day was going to unfold. She has two siblings so she always had been a fast eater when it came to pizzas and ice creams and at that time, I didn’t know that she ate pizzas so quickly. She finished her whole pizzas before I could finish two slices and to be fair, I’ve always been a slow eater and I didn’t eat very spicy food at the time. So, she was done with her pizza way before I had. She added chili flakes to my pizza slice which slowed my pace even more and she just sat there watching me eat and laughed at me while I was just trying my best to eat the pizza. I realized how much she was enjoying this so I just prolonged this whole thing, I ate slower, I made faces and I even called her a bully and she was laughing so much and, in my heart, I enjoyed that so much. I usually don’t allow people to mess with my food but seeing her laugh I just wanted this moment to last forever. A couple of time later, when everyone was busy filling applications for college, one of our friends (let’s call her jane) hosted a birthday party. The plan was that she will invite us all to our house and then from there we’ll go to a restaurant. So Missybusy and I went to buy gift for our friend and we bought two identical plushies for Jane. Anyways, that day was so special. Because when we all went back home and when Missybusy and I were talking over WhatsApp she said ‘I love you’. For the first time ever, I heard it from her, although it was still on text, I was jumping around screaming in joy and a few tears of joy appeared. I was beaming with joy. I was so happy. This should mean we were finally together, right? Nope. Our colleges were about to start soon and we both were enrolled in a different college, she said she wanted to see how our college life is going to affect our relationship. I didn’t think of it much since what could’ve gone wrong? College started and one month in and I could feel the distance increasing between us and she seemed busier than usual obviously but somewhere because of this she wasn’t giving me much time either. It was a Sunday afternoon when I confronted her about this and she seemed to have realized this as well and she said she’s really sorry about all this. But in the end, she said a relationship doesn’t seem possible. I was devastated but I didn’t shout or yell at her I tried to convince her in everyway possible. But it was futile. It seemed impossible to convince her. And the call ended with a goodbye.

1. The real end

Another problem that I had this whole time was not knowing when to give up trying and give up trying to keep her happy instead of myself. One day later she texted me and she asked if we could meet because she believed I deserved a proper goodbye. And I eventually went to meet her the very next day. And we talked a lot. She said she felt really sorry and she told me that I deserved the best. She told me she was overwhelmed by college; she saw so many faces together and it was difficult for her. I was just super sad but anyhow I controlled myself and I didn’t cry in front of her. But she did, she started crying and I couldn’t hold back then, I hugged her and patted her head telling it’s alright. After she stopped crying, she said she’s sorry and she told me she changed her mind, she had some expectations from a relationship and one of them was physical touch and since we lived far from each other that seemed less likely but she said one has to sacrifice something for love, and I was just confused. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. I said I’ll let her know. Less than an hour after we went back to our homes, I messaged her saying that I’m ready and I want to be with her. Because I thought God had given us a second chance and I believed that it is very much possible and I shouldn’t take too long to tell her.
Everything was perfect for about a month. It was the month of October; we had a small quarrel over something and the next day I called her to apologize. But something seemed different, something felt off. She said it’s okay but I could feel something was off. The worst day of the year and the worst time of that day. She told me her brother had run away from their house because of something that happened with him and a girl and their family was in a lot of panic, and she was obviously worried and scared. She prayed to God to return her brother and she promised that she will never date someone again. I stood there, without movement, without words and I realized what it had meant. It meant an official goodbye. Breaking up in a way one could never expect. She told me to promise to not tell this reason for breakup to my friends (common friend group). I was the one who was given up. The call ended with both of us saying I love you but for the last time ever. I wasn’t at home; I was outside in a park. I felt as if someone had stabbed me right through the heart. I couldn’t feel the wind anymore. People seemed to have stopped talking. The sky lost its color, the birds stopped chirping. My whole world had come to a pause. I couldn’t think straight. I returned home acting normal. My father had come to visit, he rarely visits the city because him and my mother are separated so I don’t get to see my whole family together often so I didn’t want to spoil it. My mother and sister knew about Missybusy. Later that night I told my mom and sister that we broke up and my mom was worried but I told her to not worry because I was fine and I never told them the actual reason either, I just keep telling them I got bored of her so that they won’t worry about me, besides I had created such a wonderful image of missybusy for them I thought I should let it be that way. I couldn’t tell me friends what had happened, I didn’t tell my mom and sister what actually happened. I just kept it to myself and it hurt. It hurt really bad. I felt as if I had given her my heart and she shattered it and threw it away. I never hated her for it and I always blamed the circumstances.

1. Life goes on

I was broken. And as any person after a breakup felt sad and sorrowful, so did I. But I kept my emotions bottled and never told anyone the actual reason. I did everything possible to keep myself distracted, I played games for many hours in a day, I talked to multiple people at once, I scrolled Instagram for hours and I was even addicted. I was losing control and I was falling in a huge pit. Days went by, I was in a terrible mental state. I attended every meetup possible even the ones I didn’t feel like going to, I was spending money like I was a millionaire or something, and I was running out of it. In the month of December, I went to visit my father and when he went for work I was alone and bored so I re-installed snapchat and just took a snap and sent it to all, I didn’t realize it went to Missybusy as well. She replied to that snap and asked how I am doing and we started a small conversation, we were just catching up and all. I was still in a poor mental state but honestly it just felt good talking to her again. And I asked her one question- “When exactly did you move on” and she replied she hadn’t. I felt bad because I realized it must’ve been difficult for her as well, college was tough for her. She told me she dated someone for two days. I was devastated yet again. So that promise for which we had to break up meant nothing. But for some reason a part of me was relieved anyway because she didn’t deserve all this. But what about me? I felt self-pity at that point honestly. When she was gone, I felt as if a part of me was taken away. I never asked for this and I never thought that I’ll have to go through all this when I first said I love you to her. Although we decided we should keep talking but I just couldn’t, after everything I could not just see her as a friend, I’ll always see her as my first love. I always try my best to smile and fool around my friends because that's who I was before I met her but I didn’t force it back then. When I returned to my city, I knew I couldn’t let these bad habits be my future. I knew what happened with me wasn’t fair but I couldn’t let that destroy my career or life. I started learning new things. I got into the stock market learnt a bit of trading and made good sum of money. I was still playing games and was still somewhat addicted. But slowly but surely, I was recollecting myself. I tried avoiding meetups with my school friends’ group because they always bring up this topic and I just hated that. I wanted peace. No matter how the days went by the night were always difficult, I didn’t hate her but I hated that the thought of her kept coming in my mind. It was always hard to fall asleep.

1. The Present- I’m still not over her completely. A part of me will always have hope for her to come back even though my mind knows otherwise but the heart is just weird. I met my school group friends after a long time and I felt good. There were four of us (Me, Dave and let’s call the other two Bob and Marley). I get along with Marley very well, he has his college in a different city so whenever he comes here, I make sure to meet him separately. When I met Marley, we went to a café just to have food and talk really, he asked me why does no one know the real reason for my and Missybusy's breakup. I just told him that it’s complicated. Then Marley told me that he heard from Bob and Dave that they told him that Missybusy started to like someone else that is why you both broke up. It was unprecedented to me. I felt weird, I felt a weird sting. I went back home and I messaged her to confront about this, I was taken away by my impulses. She assured me that wasn’t it and then we started talking like normal people do, talked about each other’s friends’, each other’s college life and so on. Then she asked if it’s possible to meet because it had been so long! And I was honestly scared to meet her but I just agreed anyway. 30th of may we met at a bowling and pool café. We sat there and talked about each other’s life. And honestly it seemed God did listen to my wish for keeping her happy because she had made good friends at college and obviously, she did have some problems but overall, she did seem happy and I was happy for that. The moment I saw her again after such a long time I realized nothing changed, she was just as pretty, her eyes were glowing just as usual and her fashion game was on the top. We made several eye contacts throughout and I could see a little pain in her eyes. It was the pain of guilt or pain of just losing, I won’t know for sure. When we were talking about our lives and what all had happened in these 7 and a half months, I felt so peaceful inside. But as soon as I mentioned what all I had to go through after out breakup she kept saying sorry and it felt as if I was just there to make her feel sorry. So, I refrained from talking about that. But then what did I have to talk about? Most of these months I had spent in misery and apart from that I told her about the little breakthroughs that I made in the market and I told her how I made some good friends at college. But that was it really. So, she did most of the talking. I was just listening. I didn’t want to talk about what I had to go through all these months because I felt I’ll just pressure her with more guilt. I didn’t come here to meet her and just listen to her saying sorry. I only cared about her smile.

My failure of expressing came back to me, I couldn’t tell her that I still loved her, I couldn’t tell her I still miss her. I just listened to her and laughed with her. She asked me once more before we left the park where we were walking at the moment, can we still we be friends? I was hesitant. But I told her we couldn’t. I told her we won’t be able to give time to this friendship and besides I have my competitive exams in December so I need to focus on that. But that’s just a part of it, I can never view her as my friend but always as the person I loved.
When we exited the park, we were standing near her car (oh she drives great by the way!). I told her to go while I wait for my uber. I pushed her away (not physically), I kept telling her to go away. That was it, no hugs just goodbyes. I wanted to hug her but I didn’t want the part of me that still had hope to grow. As she drove away, I realized in the end, I did end up hurting her by telling her to just go away. I came back home, acted normal as usual. Lied to my mom and sister again and told them the 'meeting was fine but it was boring'. The next day when I was home alone. I burst out crying. I never cried this much before. Only I know what I have lost. I didn’t want the part of me that had hope to grow but I also didn’t want it to just die. I cried for hours until eventually I washed my face and waited for my mom and sister to return. Missybusy was gone. I know what I’ve lost. And I blame myself for it. I can physically feel the pain in my heart at this point. It hurts so much. I wish I never met her after she told me a relationship isn’t possible. I wish I was never in love. I wish I never love again. I wish to be never this vulnerable again. I had gone through so much pain in those months and tried to act normal in front of everyone. I can’t tell how many thoughts crossed my mind daily. I just kept it bottled up within me. In the end I think God doesn’t like my heart. When I was in my mother’s womb it was found that I had a very faint heartbeat. As soon as I was born, I was taken into the ICU for surgery. Five years later it was found I have a low BPM. And so many years later my heart was broken into pieces. God doesn’t like my heart.

“So you’re a traveler from another world, with strange powers, here to help us out?” The commander of the unit summarized as the rest of the unit approached the still super train, preparing to salvage it.
“Yup,” I said nervously.
“Okay,” he replied after a moment.
“That’s it?” I asked, surprised.
“Good an explanation as any,” he shrugged, “considering you took down that war train and aren’t objecting to us taking it, I’m prepared to give you at your word.”
“What are you scavenging it for anyways?” I asked, turning to look at the massive vehicle, “you that hard up for metal?”
“There’s plenty besides metal,” the commander explained, “for one the parts in this thing are manufactured to far more precision than the human hand could manage. But even past that, these things carry vast stocks of coal and water, both of which can be hard to come across.”
“Not to mention oil for lubrication,” his second in command added.
“Finally there’s weapons and ammo, without access to factories of our own this is our best source of munitions.”
“Makes sense,” I nodded, “what’s the world like? Humanity still out there?”
“I don’t know about the world at large, but there’s a decent number of us hiding out within the machine’s territory,” sighed the commander, waving to a group of what appeared to be steam powered cars to pull up, each of them pulling a large cart for supplies, “to give you the short history of the war, a dozen years back the machine came online, with orders to expand. So it did, and hasn’t stopped yet. Everywhere it goes it turns into wastelands like this,” he motioned to the endless expanse of flat desert around us, “mountains, forests, lakes, doesn’t matter, it bulldozes it flat and builds factories or mines.”
“Why flatten everything?” I ask.
“Defense,” the Harmony answered, the commander nodding, “it relies on sonar for detection so fewer obstacles the better.”
“That was our guess too,” agreed the army man, “there are a few places it wasn’t able to pave, where we’ve been able to survive. In our case we live in a volcano, the damned thing tried to dig it out before the magma forced it to give up.”
“What about other nations? Surely not all of humanity has fallen.”
“On that front I admit to having less information,” he shrugged, “a few years ago we heard rumors that people outside managed to stall it, though I’m not sure how.”
“It seems to understand some natural phenomena can’t be overcome,” the Harmony commented, “perhaps they found a way to trigger that response along the entire front?”
“Good a theory as any?”
“I’m curious as to who would build such a thing,” I said, motioning to the mega-train, “I can’t think of much of a use for this kind of device.”
The commander looked around, nodding to his second in command who turned and left to coordinate the salvaging operation.
“Come with me,” he said, leading me away from the tracks. For several minutes we walked back towards where his men had dug in to assault the train. They were busy packing up the large guns that I recognized as being the main weapon of the train, only modified to rest on a foldable base and operate without clockwork. More steam-cars were being used to pull the guns once they were folded away, a half dozen tents of various sizes had been set up, the largest of which was white with a large red cross. It was also easily the busiest, with nurses and wounded constantly moving in and out at a frantic pace.
The commander led me into one of the side tents that appeared to be a makeshift command post, tables covered with maps filled the space, leaving little room to walk.
“Since you helped us out I’ll tell you what we know about the origins of the damned machine, but this is sensitive information, so don’t go sharing it around,” he warned me with a long glare before continuing, “the official story is the machine went rogue, some fault caused it to refuse to shut down. From then it’s simply kept expanding, seeing humanity as a danger.”
“That was our theory,” the Harmony replied.
“Unfortunately its not true,” he sighed, “the creator deliberately ensured his machines wouldn’t shut down. The flaw was intentional, exactly the same fault is found in every one of the base plans the machines use.”
“Why would he do that?” I asked.
“The man was brilliant, but in the end he seemed to go crazy. We don’t have much information about the last years or exactly what pushed him over the edge, but he seemed to think this was the only way to, as he put it, ‘defeat eternity.’ We think something drove him insane and he thought the universe itself was out to get him.”
“That’s,” the harmony started, but didn’t continue. We’d encountered multiple people who’d mentioned eternity by now, the most memorable was the man from the unchanging world. But the Conductor and a few others had brought it up by now.
“Ya, crazy,” the commander shrugged, seeming to take the Harmony’s comment another way.
“If true it’ll make fixing this thing much harder,” the Harmony said, “ordering a simple repair of damaged parts is one thing, but fixing a design flaw purposefully built into the blueprints of the entire mechanism?”
“Yup,” he sighed, “honestly our best bet is to just keep taking out trains where we can and hope to eventually out last them.”
“There might be another way,” the Harmony said slowly, “I noticed the machines only use a single frequence of sonar. Is that true across all their units?”
“Yes, near as I can remember,” the commander said after a moment.
“I should be able to design a few noise canceling patterns that work on that frequency it should allow you to approach their factories without being noticed.”
“Wait, you can make us invisible?” he asked, leaning forward.
“At least until the machine figures out the trick and varies up the sonar devices,” the Harmony warned, “but if you use it strategically it could net you large wins.”
“Will it work on moving objects?” I asked, “most passive noise cancelling only works on static objects, like in rooms.”
“It should, only because the machine uses a single frequency for its sonar,” the Harmony replied, sending me a series of calculations it wanted me to run through our datalink, “and it won’t be perfect, anyone using it will have to be exceptionally careful to not make too much noise or bump anything that could tip off the machine.”
“If its easier to hide immobile objects, then could you hide a derailing device?” the commander asked, starting to look excited, “if we could reliably derail the trains without them knowing why we might be able to starve out a section.”
“Stationary things are easier,” it agreed, looking over the results of the calculations I sent back. Its image projection crystal flickered on, displaying blueprints for a couple devices on the table, “I don’t know if a standard train derailer is enough to force a train of that size off the tracks, but you should be able to double the size of the one here without impacting its effectiveness.”
The commander’s eyes grew wide as the image appeared, rushing to the entrance of the tent and shouting for someone. In a minute a half dozen people were present, copying the diagrams along with a few variations the Harmony added.
“Hard to believe a few odd angles can disrupt sonar so easily,” one of the techs remarked, looking over one of the blueprints.
“It’s only possible because the Harmony is an entity basically made of sound,” I replied, “I doubt I could come up with something like this.”
“And I have to stress, this will only work until the machines change their sonar frequency,” the Harmony added, “as soon as they catch on these devices will become ineffective.”
“But could you design new patterns for whatever frequency they switch to?” the tech asked.
“No, if the machine is smart, and it seems smart enough, it’ll start using a few different frequencies. A single pattern can only cover a single frequency effectively.”
“Still, making a change like that across the machine’s hundreds of facilities and thousands of trains is a slow process,” the commander said, “even if it catches on, we could have years before all of it is altered to counter this.”
“Very true,” the Harmony agreed, its crystals even bobbing as if mimicking a nod, “it’s not a permanent fix, but it’ll help.”
“Speaking of, we encountered something odd,” one of the technicians spoke up, “seems like you understand the machine better than most, perhaps you can help us figure it out?”
“Sure,” I shrug, motioning for him to lead the way. Ten minutes later I’m in the mega-train once more, looking at a bank of gears arranged in a chaotic, but clearly intentional pattern.
“Right there, see those main gear trains?” the man asked, pointing at a cluster of mechanical bits that stood out against the rest, “that appears to be the main protocol mechanical computing, they’re what tell it what is or isn’t part of the protocols, if something violates them, and so on.”
“Right,” I nod, only to scowl, “one set of gears per protocol?”
“Yup,” he nodded.
“Then why are there four sets?”
“That’s what confused us,” he replied, “this place is directly above the engine room so we’ve never captured it intact before, so we’ve never noticed the extra-protocol set.”
“A back up?” the Harmony offered, “or error correction?”
“I don’t think so, it doesn’t match any of the other stacks, and error correction is over there,” he pointed to another set of gears, “you seemed to be well informed, maybe you could shine some light on this?”
“Seems pretty obvious to me,” I said, looking up to see both the tech and the Harmony staring at me, “what? Clearly there’s a fourth, hidden, protocol.”
“There’s only three protocols though,” the tech replied, “expand, defend, seek approval, we’ve known that for years.”
“Seems like the machine has a fourth,” I countered, pointing at the extra gear stack, “perhaps something secret the designer put in without anyone knowing?”
“Or the machine is evolving,” the Harmony replied softly, earning an alarmed look from me, “it seems quite rigid but, like you said, it’s been operating for years. If it can alter the design of its trains, then why not its own computation systems?”
“that’s… worrying,” the tech remarked, “honestly I hope its like the Traveler said, that it’s a hidden protocol.”
“Either case shouldn’t matter much,” I said, “there’s a limit to how fast mechanical systems can process data. It should hit a limit to how far it can evolve if that’s what’s happening.”
“I disagree,” the Harmony countered, “I’m living proof that multiple overlapping systems can produce intelligence far beyond what individual parts could come up with. Sound can only carry so much information at a time, but I can operate far beyond that limit due to my nature. It could stumble upon something similar for mechanical computers.”
“Seems unlikely,” I replied, and the Harmony didn’t disagree, but the thought was worrying regardless.
***** Discord - Patreon *****

What is Bhagwa Atheism ?

A hypocritical and privileged form of atheism that is critical against any religion (particularly Islam), but harbours sympathy for his religion in which they were born i.e. Hinduism.

Why is this sympathy?

The answer is simple ...casteism, we shall discuss this later on how this is deeply rooted in caste based privileges that facilitates such thinking. To understand this let me explain from my point of view:

According Marxism, in a feudalist/semi-feudalist/capitalist society there are two types of classes mostly, namely: the Bourgeois (the ruling class who controls the means of production and generates profit from the exploitation of working classes labour power) and The Workers (or Proletariats) (who do not own any means of production and has no power to purchase labour power of others, and they survive solely by selling their own labour power).
These classes emerge only at a certain stage in the development of the productive forces and the social division of labour, when there exists a social surplus of production, which makes it possible for one class to benefit by the expropriation of another. The conflict between classes there begins, founded in the division of the social surplus, and constitutes the fundamental antagonism in all class.

This holds true in case of several capitalist nations such as US, Canada, South Korea, etc. But however in case of India this classification becomes complicated due to yet another form of classification which effectively nullified any form of possible class conflict, 'Casteism'.

What is Casteism in Hinduism ?

Hindu Casteism (from material basis) is a form of hereditary class based on hierarchal order which ensures the flow the capital to the top most caste order and control over modes of production with the help of religious decrees itself.
It's a classification which sets 'permanent classes' based on their 'assigned' modes of production and their position within it's societal superstructures according to their hierarchy set by the 'permanent' ruling classes.
Once you take birth in one of these castes (hereditary classes), you'll be automatically assigned to the forces of production according to the 'order', which you'll do for the rest of your life.
Unlike Class, Casteism severally restricted upward mobility of people belonging to the lower strata of the Caste order, exception being a few handpicked intermediate 'gate keeping' castes loyal to this system. Who were sometimes rewarded by promotion, to become ruling classes itself.

So what changed this ?

Pre-arrival of British colonisation, caste and class were very much indistinguishable. Apart from ruling class there were hand picked bourgeois intermediate classes (vaishya) who were in direct service to the upper caste (sometimes the roles were reversed). The proletarian class (shudra and pariahs) were pretty much same as their european counterparts, lacked capital and hence no control over their means of production, in addition to that they also faced inhumane discrimination because of the caste in which they were born in. Thus were looked down upon as inferior subhumans.
This discriminatory system ensured poverty of the lower caste and prosperity of the top order, despite the lower caste comprising 90% of the population, as well as guaranteed cheap labour and exploitation of the working class 'caste'.
However with the introduction of colonial capitalism by Britishers the modes of production of old feudal order 'fused' with it to become a semi-industrial semi-feudal economy. This is when for the first time the European styled working classes began to take shape in India, parallel to hereditary classes that is casteism. This also introduced new bougeois classes within every community irrespective of their caste, but it's topic for another discussion.
Irrespective of the changes the older hereditary classes still affected this new order, those belonging to upper caste still had access to privileged jobs, better positions and capitals, hence were comparatively in better & prosperous position to that of those belonging to the lower strata of the older caste based order. With the introduction of 'English Education Act 1835' and later 'Macaulay Committee 1854' by Britishers, it further cemented caste order within this new colonial administration, ensuring the hierarchy of the upper caste and exploitation of oppressed castes.

Privileged classes and Caste blind class struggle

In words of Thomas Babington Macaulay:

"We (Britishers) should try to create a class of people, who would work as translators between the people who we are ruling and us, even though they may look like Indians by color; but their likes and dislikes, morals and thinking will be like an Englishman"

As, we can see the British were ok with the casteism as long as it ensured their hold and smooth management of their empire. Sure they helped abolishing the gut wrenching misogynistic practices such as 'Sati' but made almost zero effort to abolish caste system and untouchability (as this would mean they'll loose insubordination of intermediate 'gate keeping' classes that were in service to the British crown.
This new Intermediate urban classes had privileges to several rights within colonial administration in comparison to ordinary classes, however as we have mentioned earlier that with the introduction of colonial capitalism majority of castes further split into binary classes, economically forward and backward classes (note : this was only in case of upper and intermediate castes, majority of oppressed castes were still under poverty). The economically forward classes were infact the privileged classes and the economically backward classes began to fall in the borderline category between Upper-intermediate castes and Lower castes.
And this where 'caste blind' atheism, secularism, and socialism originates from. Who saw capitalism as well as colonialism as cruel system/occupation with respect to their material conditions but failed to emancipate and recognise inhumane treatment faced by those below their classes.
But does this mean that they were barred same as oppressed communities in upward mobility within this colonial capitalism?
No, They still had access to capitalist progress and upward mobility within the society. Simply put,

Casteism filtered oppressed castes from upward mobility within this new capitalist order while capitalism ensured that there will be limited progressiveness within the upper caste friendly circles.

So, whenever an economically backward class member transitioned into economically forward class they carried out his former progressive social ideas to their new found social position within society, while simultaneously giving up their resistance to capitalism. This new default ideology was known liberalism.
British colonial administration in India had many parallels with Apartheid system, but that is debate for another topic.

Consequences of Caste blindness in other '–isms'

With important positions still in access to powerful 'caste blind' and 'casteist' members of the society, they began to clash for power struggle. But they all had one commonality, they didn't gave up their caste identity.
During independence this power struggle began to materialise in two types of ideologies basically – 'caste blind' Leftism and 'meritocracy' based liberalism/conservativism but non of them were seriously against at each others throat as they were getting equal opportunities for their personal betterment.
But, what did the oppressed caste proletariats gain from this? Nothing.
They only got a chance at betterment when Dr. Ambedkar, Jyotiba Phule, Savitri Bai Phule,etc began to make efforts at upliftment of them. However their efforts lacked anti-capitalist approach which emphasized less on capitalist oppression more on caste based emancipation. Which later proved detrimental in their efforts.

Modern day India and caste based wealth inequality

After the ( ½) implementation of Mandal Commission and Naxal Uprising, it began to perturb this harmonic 'clash' between conservatives and progressive left-liberal dynamics as it began to inject more and more political conciousness within the oppressed communities for reservations and political participation.
This is where the concept of savarna meritocracy, comes forth.

Illusion of Meritocracy

Meritocracy is a belief that affirmative actions results in positive results and vise versa in reality is a capitalist hypothesis, a fallacy which fuels the illusion that we are in a merit-based system.

Meritocracies tend to stratify over time. Successful people will pass on their wealth and privileges to their children and can perpetuate a widening inequality of opportunities. It can lead to the misplaced belief that only their talents and hard work account for their success, neglecting the support they have received. — Chan Chun Sing, Min. of Education, Singapore

This meritocratic illusion began to impose predetermined conditions which were biased and opaque on underprivileged candidates, missing to match their criterion in fixed amount of time means ruining of candidate's dreams. In other words it was an underhand tactics to filter out 'representation based/unfavourable candidates' and simply stereotyping them as 'unworthy', disregarding the unequal support the competing candidates got due to their material conditions and pretends that they 'reward the best of the best,' also overlooking the possibility of discrimination faced by oppressed caste students at hands of Upper caste dominant faculties.

After 1960 more and more population of the United States spent more than one-fourth of their entire lifetime in schools, from ages two to twenty-two. As on so many other levels and ways of mass democracy, inflation had set in, diminishing drastically the content and the quality of learning: more and more young people, after twenty years in schools, could not read or write without difficulty. Schools are overcrowded, including colleges and universities. In this increasingly bureaucratized world little more than the possession of various diplomas mattered. Since admission to certain schools-rather than the consequently almost automatic acquisition of degrees-depended on increasingly competitive examinations, the word “ meritocracy“ was coined, meaning that the rising positions to be acquired in society depended on the category of the degree and on the category of the college or university where from one graduate. In reality the term “meritocracy“ was misleading. As in so many of these spheres of life, the rules that govern the practices and functions of schools and universities were bureaucratic rather than meritocratic. It is bureaucracy, not meritocracy, the categorizes the employment of people by their academic degrees. The number and the variation of degrees awarded by higher institutions grew to a fantastic, and nonsensical, extent. Besides being custodial, the purpose of institutional education was now the granting of degrees to provide instant employment. – John Lukacs (At the End of an Age)

Final Conclusion

Provided all factors what we can conclude that Bhagwa Atheism, is form of Hindu upper caste exceptionalism (Agonistic Atheism) which believes in:
•the illusionary meritocracy that their material conditions is due to the (upper) caste in which they were born in.
•hating all religious dogma belonging to all faiths (including hinduism) but still hold dear to their caste based identity, hence the sympathy for hinduism.
•merit based order, refuses to acknowledge caste discrimination and caste wealth gap, sees it as inherited inability.
•convenient switching between Atheism and minimal Hinduism.
•convenient switching between liberalism and conservativism.
Thus, it's a type of agonistic atheism which does more & more damage to gnostic atheist beliefs and their critical thinking potential, making them more and more susceptible towards theism. In case of ex-hindus it's hinduism.

Edit: The downvotes have begun but hopefully that means people are reading till the end too. Will have to try the BridgertonRants sub as that seems more accepting of discussions and debates. : )
Would super appreciate it if everyone reads this long-ass thesis of a post with an open mind and to the end...its me being vulnerable in an anonymous reddit sub because i think these things matter in the larger framework of a uniquely special show and the big, bright, beautiful, multicultural gorgeous world we all as humans live in. My last post in this sub was downvoted to hell which btw totally ok...and i dont depend on reddit currency for my livelihood so its all good. I just care about my posts being read...specially this one.
Some context:
I'm very new to this community and reddit as well. Currently have time off work and going ham on reddit and venturing very scared into the deep dark of world of rabid fandoms and small niche communities. Getting a little burnt along the way but also learning from some super talented fans with their own eye-opening ideas and funny posts. Fans of all kinds, Im peeping into profiles, so white, black, brown multicolored rainbow of the world right here.
I'm also an aspiring writer and well...some of my best ideas have come from reddit lurking on cool and active subs with bridgerton sub being new for me. Jet lagged, anxious and just a tad bit antsy, I'm trying to go down and deep and maybe open some deeper discussions here.
I am Indian and lived primarily in India my whole life and now for the last 10 years between London and Canada (why am I sharing all this like and am I also going to tell you my weight, my height etc too...No but hopefully you'll understand this revelation as you read ahead without me spelling it out)
So I've been trying to figure out why fan wars as they pertain to this show prick so personally, so particularly.
I think fandoms anywhere in every country are full of insane people, obsessive chronically online people who find comfort through living through their faves..your beyonce stans, your rihanna stans, your Taylor Swift stans, your harry styles stans, your k pop stans, etc etc..
This show also has some rabid fans..But there is a conversation I want to open up only because I think it's important...Is fighting extra hard for your poc fave because you know their representation in pop culture is limited, their getting jobs is limited, subconscious biases exist even though we have been making great strides and even eradicated overt biases in employment, in accessibility, in government service etc etc ..and their culture not as dominant, their worlds not as seen or coveted.
Our ideas of beauty are framed by the extensiveness and longevity of colonial rule across the world.
there are shit people across all ethnicities religions and genders and nationalities. Barbarians, conquerors, invaders, pillaging villages raping women destroying livelihoods suppressing the peasant class, mutilating and diluting cultures- exist in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, East asia, middle East etc so not just Britain. Basically being brown, black or East Asian and Middle Eastern doesnt grant you moral superiority over white people and you can be racist and casteist and colorist and bigoted and biased and just all around shitty and criminal as a black, brown, east asian middle eastern etc etc person just as much as white people.
So now that thats settled, lets look at specific issues that POC only face because that eventually streams into the show and its politics and its discussion as well.
But for whatever reason ...the British were able to colonize on a scale that the other countries and ethnicities were not able to.. African and the Indian subcontinent's conquests and invasions were limited in area and time period...their scale of conquest limited to a small radius around their own countries...and not foreign lands travelled via sea etc.
As a result and only as a result and not because and I cannot emphasize enough that black, brown or east asian invaders, rulers etc were morally superior, kinder, less assholes...the culture that became dominant was white british culture..or european culture...if Indians had conquered the world, they would have imposed their culture on the lands and countries they invaded, if different African countries invaded the world to the extent of the british colonists, same thing...the dominant culture that would have been forcibly imposed by the people of african ethnicity would be their culture... Black skin would have been considered beautiful, white fair skin would not have been the standard....thats history....thats something we know to be true even through modern wars...the victor dictates...But that simply didnt happen.
it's not because t Africans or Asians or basically non white people are morally superior, more virtuous, incapable of terrorist acts or colonizing or I don't know were like we don't invade and conquest, we so good. But because that's history. They just didn't manage it. thats simply our current historical reality.
Being that the country or countries that did manage to conquer the world or close to 9/10ths of it were Europeans or more specifically British white nationals..which means as would happen even if another nationality had managed to invade the world, the culture that is dominant across the world is a west/white slanted world..
Colorism as a concept didnt exist until colonization: Why would it? If everyone existed under the same harsh sun, had the same skin color with minor variances...why would they think fair is more beautiful. Its because they wouldnt...the first blond haired blue eyed people would have been introduced to India via early traders of east india company in India and dutch colonists before them...Its like if everyone around you is brown, you assume thats just how everyone else looks like...thats the only reality you know...you simply havent seen anyone look any different..you havent seen blue eyes or anything else....same for africans and within that framework as humans are wont to do you create ideas of beauty.
So yes. POCs across the globe had just as arbitrary ideas of beauty as white people (chiense mutilated young women feet cuz small feet more beautiful, in africa genital mutiliation) because humans are humans and humans mess everything up...and animals are so much better...but color as a construct is a colonial one and one which managed to find deeep deep roots because of the extent of the rule, the sheer longevity, For context, India has been independent for the last 75 years..from over 200 years of colonial british rule...Not even the length of the life of a single human. Not even as long as Britains former queen was alive. It will take some more time for that in fighting and ideas of colorism deeply penetrated from the inheritance of our rulers to get dismanted...and totally thrown own...because you can freee from literall bondage more easily, the mind takes longer to adjust and form independent thought. But it will happen.
White people are not more or less racist than POC. Thats not a thing. There are shit people and you can find shit people anywhere...I have shit people right in my own home country, bigots, destroying the diversity of India by bullshit tactics...
But as it stands...because this cultural superiority of British and white people took over, the framing of beauty, of whats fashionable, of whats cool, of whats civilized is all seen through the lens of white culture...eating with hands which many cultures across the world do uncivilized unhygienic, paris fashions and made in italy...mark of excellence...made in India and China...cheap, low quality, scammers and shit people, (thats not to say shit people and scammers dont exist in India and China and there arent industries of scammers across these poorer nations but there is also denying the equisite craftasmanship across fashion and beauty in both countries-China and India.
Brown skin bad, even darker skin even bad etc etc...We wear clothes that our colonial masters did across the world, you wont find people in china wearing Chinese clothes, same for India, african countries etc...everything from clothing, to beauty, to furniture, to houses everything indigenous was changed to a foreign ideal from our rulers. The same would have happened whoever whichever ethnicity had invaded the world...like i said above..
Now and thanks for reading whoever read till here and I hope a lot of people did-on to to the show...
There is this frequent refrain and accusation of oppression olympics that I read about when it comes to this show, in general online discourse and also this insanely disgusting article fat shaming Nicola Coughlan in The Spectator.
And i really really want to open up this conversation...cuz race gets discussed a lot on this sub and other bridgerton subs and therefore a perfect place to have that conversation...Do Non-POC really believe in the concept of oppression olympics and that all kinds of biases are equally treacherous to navigate?
So I was overweight in my teens...I had a close friend who was wheelchair bound. my life was hard and I was bullied but surely surely I do not think that my plight was the same as my friend in a wheelchair...In class 10th, a close friend's father passed away, the same year my grandmother passed away, surely, surely, I dont think we are experiencing the same pain the same setback to our life...Class 10th in India is akin to A levels in Britain and SAT in the USA..
You know why I didnt think any of this and why if I had i was wrong, because there is a hierarchy to opression, .to loss, to struggles. There simply is. Opression Olympics is rooted in reality.
Pain is pain, loss and bad foundations suck ass...but privilege is a thing and some pains some loads just lighter compared to others. I could lose weight and get over the oppression I was facing because of my weight in school. My wheelchair bound friend didnt have that option..I wouldnt get my grandmother back...but my fathers loss would have a more immediate affect on my life and my friend who lost her father and her loss was just simply deeper. She needed more support, more help, more people crowding around her saying you've got this Niharika..well make sure your life doesnt change permanently cuz youlve lost your dad.
So when show fandom compare Jonathon Baileys struggle to Rege Jean George or say Victor Ali, they are simply pointing out that yes while Jonathon Bailey is gay...there is a difference between being white and gay and being black and gay or simply harder being black. And therefore there is a hierarchy. Why POC are less loath to crticize the average acting of their POC faves because they know the opportunities for them are limited. Lets do an exercise name 5 shows led by a POC in the USA or Britain or Canada-any POC..brown, black i dont care. And im not talking about black or brown actors in a show or film, im talking leads...
Also biases are self perpetuating....When black or brown led films fail, the opportunities immediately dry up because it shows that its just fairness and the numbers dont lie..Except this is not maths.....Maths would be first making equal amount of shows starring black or brown people, and then comparing...Now if the end result is white led shows do better-that would be correct math...but ratios and comparisons and statistics need to first start with an even scale...thats not even me taking about diversity...thats just math formulas...
If lets say there are 500 actors who are white in hollywood and 200 who are Black in hollywood, and lets say all 200 black actors are shit...would you say the statement...god white actors are so much better than black actors...no cuz the maths is not adding up...you compared 500 actors who were white of which 300 were excellent 200 bad and you made that into the conclusion that white actors are better because you were comparing only with 200 black actors to begin with...the actual math formula yieled equal number of bad and good actors..
Why people defend Kanthony harder...or wanted Simone Ashley to be promoted as much as Polin is because (lets go with my Math analogy again) all things being the same) unless Nicola and Luke are really bad actors compared to Simone Ashley, theyll still have it easier in acting...they simply will. they wont have to change their confusingly, long foreign sounding name, they wont have to work at assimilation in other ways, lets say they were muslim they wouldnt have been trying hard to sell themselves as Im just as liberal as you, im not a threat. And I love Luke Newton and Nicola Coughland-both seem like throughly, likable, personable, kind hearted beans..
Now my own experience. I have stated in an earlier post on this sub that I'm a Shonda Rhimes fan...because I have personally benefitted from the diversity she has included so naturally, so elegantly in all her shows. My own ideas of beauty, have been tested and transformed. In fact I know exactly the moment it happened...watching Christina Yang as a 14 year old...and thinking god meredith is so beautiful and I want to see more of HER and Izzie but then seeing christina again and again and again over each episode over hundreds of hours of binging, school, college, masters, big move outside India, my own constant this show..my brain was soft mushy and impressionable and christina yang, korean Sandra Oh became suddenly but actually slowly and then all at once became beautiful to me...I dont know when it happened but like the book Colin telling Penelope I dont know when or how and why others dont see it but you ARE beautiful in the book carriage scene. I found her hot, I found her cool. I cared to learn more about her Korean mother and her Jewish father and it didnt matter that the show never covered that culture..Christina was atheist and could handle her shit..even around racists.. But I still wanted to learn more about HER..a woman I simply didnt think was beautiful comparable to meredith and Izzie..me an impressionable 14 year old..just made that turn because of a show.,..a fluffy...not that deep soapy as hell show.
But it was only possible cuz I saw 24 episodes day in day out,...over many many years....for that to happen. I had many more years of falling asleep to dawsons creek joey and dawson, joey and pacey, gilmore girls rory and jess rory and dean rory and logan..i imagined and dreamt of windswept Mr. Darcy...and of course I luckily had my own countrys pop culture cuz I grew up and lived in a country where I was repped plenty eveywhere... So i found bollwood heroes hot and I found White americans or british people hot...my brain simply didnt have a framework for East Asians hot. And I needed to seem them constantly and frequentlyn and in Hot front and center, desirable covetable-their culture, their families all respected, admired again and again and again over many years for that switch to happen.
So why do we fight for our POV faves.. fight hard (some fight really ugly too which....they are not my people ( as in I dont know them) so sorry for that)....because we know how much more repping they need...we know how much MORE MORE MORE important it is to see POC culture done right...because it simply is not accessible,...cannot be to people outside..
K POP is making waves super..., people love themselves some MANGA and kimchi...so good and progress...but a lot of countries pop culture is in the native tongue...people outside of it cannot access it...in the same way one would English language content-books, podcasts, news, films, shows etc etc. And hollywood does our culture wrong, played up for laughs, stinky curry, stinky indians, scamming Indians, uncivilized heathens, oh so funny that Sofia Vergara and her funny accent (The Ellen Show), niche shows that dont become popular behemoths because it stars all ethnic casts-Fresh Off the Boat.
You simply will not understand how brilliant and gorgeous my country's embroideries, temple art, clothing and fashion, actors and sculptors, museums and writing and authors are...not because YOU are racist..but because you dont speak-my language and my culture isnt dominant or wide spread enough-insert again-my above explanation of colonialism and dominant and suppressed cultures. History made one culture the most widespread...again not because white people = bad and racist...brown and black people = good and not racist and benevolent..but because some people simply were the victors...for centuries...plural.
We want to fight harder for Rege and defend him leaving the show (im not even black but when you live outside of your home country, all POC seem like a united underrepresented group and you find kinship everywhere) because any potential cancellation or quote unquote unlikeability and hes difficult accusations would hurt him far far more than Nicola Coughlan, Luke Thompson, Newton, Phoebe etc. for the same "crimes" And there just arent enough of us to begin with to lose even one. For what is quite honestly a mid Netflix show with seeds of promise but a lack of ambition.