You start off at check-in & Move-in - I recommend arriving at 7:30am to 8:00am so you could have time to prepare your dorm room. You get a free off brand Hydro flask and a pin with your name on it.
Welcome Ceremony starts at - 8:30am in ITE C80 - Basically introductions from your Orientation Leaders and a couple staff members. You would be with your Orientation Leader the most in the 2 days your here. I had Shannon :)
Orientation Group Meeting #1 - 9:00am - Where you go depends on your OL. They will talk about expectations, introductions, a couple icebreakers and teambuilders.
Community Expectations - 9:45am ITE C80 - Staff will talk about policies, services, and resources on campus.
Belonging at UConn -10:15am ITE C80 - Staff from the Diversity and Cultural centers will talk about themselves and resources.
Academic Advising Meeting - 11:00am various locations - Overview and expectations of the academic unit. Your college will talk about what classes you should take to prepare for day 2.
Lunch (my favorite part of the day ngl) - 12:30pm McMahon Dining Unit
Protect our Pack - 1:30pm ITE C80 - You're going to have to sit through a bystander intervention program and ways to intervene in a situation - You get prizes if you participate
Around UConn - 2:45pm - You and your group will visit buildings with OneCard, ShaW, Rec Room, Career Development, and learn about their resources and services. You get a bag at the Career Development center.
DINNER YEahhh - 5:00pm - You eat dinner with your group at McMahon
Celebrating you at UConn - 6:30pm - You and your group participate in an activity that talks about identity. Like 2 circles on a paper and you have to talk about your "identities" and stuff. You have to share it with another student. That's how I made my first unofficial friend there lol
Evening Entertainment - 8:00pm - McMahon Residence Hall - You participate in many social activities and meet other students. (what I recommend is unless you got your class schedule already planned out, don't go to the social event. You could if you want but you need to make sure you finish finalizing your decisions before going to sleep. Choosing classes next day is pretty stressful without a proper idea)
Doors close - 10:30pm - McMahon Residence Hall - You are going to get cooked in the dorm room. Not only is it hot, its humid. Also, the showers are like a coffin like wth. If you don't have a fan you're going to literally die. Like literally. If you get stuck outside, good luck in the freezing cold because they're not going to let you in :D
DAY 2 (MORE THAN HALFWAY THERE)
Luggage Drop off and Breakfast - 6:30am - You have to drop off your keys and take your luggage in the morning. You will need to put your luggage depending if you on the North or South side. They will give you a giant room where everyone put their stuff in.
First-Year experience - 8:00am ITE C80 - Basically staff will talk about programs, services, resources, and tips to succeed in the classroom. I kinda slept through it because I was hot af in the dorm and got like 2 hours of sleep. Oh yeah if you're honors or in a learning community you don't need to go to the FYE, you'll have to go to other places like Meet and Greet for LC, and Honors Program Meeting for Honor students.
COURSE REGISTRATION - Get ready to registerrrrrrrr! Depending on your major, everyone goes to separate buildings to register for classes. It's not a one-on-one meeting with your advisor, but it's a big group of people with like 5-6 advisors walking around it you need assistance. Also, don't go hardcore and register for over 15+ credits. If you have any college credit transfers, go for 12 to 13 (what I did). Get used to UConn, meet new people, prepare for the coursework. If you want to, you can take as many credits as you want during the spring semester if you think you can handle the fall classes :)
Who cares about the class registrations, it's time for LUNCH - 12:00pm Mcmahon Dining Hall
Living on Campus - 1:00pm ITE C80 - Residential Life staff will talk about their resources and services.
Getting Involved - 1:30pm ITE C80 - They will talk about student activity opportunities
Orientation Group Meeting #2 - 2:00pm - You and your Orientation group will do some final icebreakers :(
CLOSING CEREMONY - 2:30pm ITE C80 - End of Orientation! You have to sing the UConn fight song (awkward but like they give you a t-shirt, so I guess that's worth it) Also your orientation group have to demonstrate something related to your Olympic theme. Like my orientation group is Gymnastics so we have to jump around and clap (Literally want to find a hole to crawl into). Everything is Olympic themed so like your group can be Rowing, Basketball, Soccer, etc.
Luggage pickup and gtfo of UConn - 3:00pm McMahon
Campus Tours (optional) - 3:30pm Departs outside of bookstore.
Some things I noticed:
*Like 70% of the entire orientation group is girls. Just a fun fact
*The showers is like the size of a small closet, can't even bend down to wash beneath your waist without bumping into the dirty/slimy wall. Shower shoes is a must. You have to take showers right away because its going to be crowded.
*You must have your phone because a lot of services and apps need a QR code to scan.
*Bring an Umbrella just in case. It was pouring during day 1 of walking around UConn
*Did I mention the food tastes amazing compared to high school :D
Good Luck at Orientation!

Below you will find a weekly reminder of our Rules and partial FAQ. It's definitely a long read, but it's worth your time, especially if you are new to the community, or dropping by as a result of a link you found elsewhere. We periodically revise our rules, this weekly notice will help keep you informed of any changes made.
NOTE: These rules are guidelines. Some moderation discretion is to be expected.

Community Rules

1. Kindness Matters

Advise, don't criticize.

• Post with empathy, thoughtfulness, and constructive commentary rather than judgment. Don't be an asshole.
• Name-calling, slurs (including gender or race based slurs), and insults towards other community members will not be tolerated. Do not attack others for their personally held values, custody situation, marital status, physical distance from stepkids, or economic status; or on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, or ethnicity.
• No name-calling toward children, including the above-mentioned insults or the term "skids", or terms such as "mini-wife" or "mini-husband."
• Comments advocating spanking or any mention of wanting to harm children are not allowed.
• This is a support sub, not a judgement sub, assholes are not tolerated. Comments with terms used in other subs to pass judgement on assholes will be removed.

2. No Drama

This is a support sub.

• Bickering, nitpicking, and thread derailment will not be tolerated and will be subject to removal at moderator discretion.
• Do not repeatedly badger a poster demanding answers, or refuse to acknowledge an answer that's already been given.
• Do not use sensitive issues from past posts (either from this sub or other subs) to attack another user, as we are all discussing vulnerable topics.
• Crossposting anything from /stepparents to any other subreddit might result in a ban and may result in the original thread being locked. Brigading our sub will result in an immediate ban.

3. Report, Don’t Rant

No backseat modding.

• If you see someone breaking the rules, report the post or comment to the mods rather than engaging them in an argument. Failure to do so may be subject to comment removal at moderator discretion.
• No meta posts complaining about rude comments, DMs, or general sub issues.
• If you think someone is a troll or previously banned user, either use the report function or message the mods to direct their attention to the issue.

4. No Naming & Shaming

No userpings or links.

• Tagging/pinging users or other subreddits in an attempt to bully, harass, or complain will not be tolerated. Do not tag other subs, ever.
• If you want to complain about another subreddit being hostile to stepparents, do not name the subreddit. "Other parenting/advice/judgement subs" will suffice.

5. No Platitudes

Nobody knew what they were getting into.

• Comments like "You knew what you were getting into", "Love them, love their kids!", "They're a package deal!" and "You have to love them like your own!" will be removed.
• Comments suggesting that OP is not cut out for stepparenting will be removed at moderator discretion.
• Comments like "This is just a part of parenting, deal with it!" will be removed at moderator discretion.

6. No Trolling

We have zero tolerance for trolls.

• This is a support sub. Our subscribers do not have the time, nor inclination, to provide support to internet trolls. Posts that are suspected to be trolling attempts will be immediately removed, and the poster banned.
• Concern trolling, devil's advocating, gish-galloping, sealioning, and general asshattery are subject to immediate removal and banning without warning or notice.
• Any attempt to circumvent the ban by creating a new username will be reported to reddit admins and possibly result in account suspension.

7. No Personally Identifiable Information

Use discretion when posting.

• We highly recommend using a separate account for support subs to help prevent being doxxed. Do not post any information that may allow others to figure out your identity.
• Do not post photos of children, or any other photo that could be used to identify you or another user on the sub.
• Any image that contains a name or other identifying information should have the name or identifying information blurred out. This includes drawings, notes, and screenshots.
• Do not link to social media or any articles/blogs where you or another user on the sub is mentioned by name.

8. No More than 2 Posts per 24 hours

Use the daily threads.

• We are not a huge sub, but we are no longer a small sub. If you have multiple grievances to air, use the daily discussion threads instead of multiple posts.

9. Follow Reddiquette

Remember the human.

• Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life.
• Read it in full here.
• Downvoting is reserved for comments that don’t contribute, and shouldn't be used to indicate disagreement.
• If you believe someone is in violation of the subreddit rules, please either use the report function or message the mods to direct their attention to the issue.
• Suspected brigading will be reported to reddit admins.

10. No Porn, Spam, Blogs, or Research Studies/Surveys Without Mod Approval

Just don't.

• This is a SFW subreddit. Posting pornography will result in immediate post removal and permanent ban.
• Advertising on the subreddit (outside of Reddit's own advertising) is not allowed.
• No personal blog posts are allowed without express moderator permission.
• No advertising without prior mod approval.
• No asking for money/posting fundraisers/etc.
• For links to parenting research studies or surveys, please message the mods for permission before posting.

11. Disputes in Modmail Only

Don't argue with the mods on the sub.

• Any issues specifically related to how a mod is moderating should be addressed to the full moderating team via mod mail. This ensures that all mods are aware of any concerns and prevents disintegration of the topic thread at hand.
• This means to do not message or send chat requests to individual mods. All discussion and complaints about mod actions need to be done in mod mail ONLY. Failure to follow this rule can result in an immediate permanent ban.
• Comments in threads asking about mod decisions are subject to removal without notice.

12. Moderator Actions

We aren't kidding.

• Users are expected to know the rules before posting. If you are warned or banned for violating the rules, ignorance is not an excuse.
• Moderators will remove posts and comments and/or lock threads in accordance with the rules above. Typically this happens when threads have gone off-topic in a way that is not productive for the OP, or comments overall have become contentious or disrespectful.
• If a poster continues to argue or to willfully violate these rules, temporary and permanent ban procedures will be followed. Any attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban. User bans will not be discussed in the sub. Questions posted about user bans are subject to removal and the poster subject to warning/ban procedures. The mod team will not discuss a specific user ban with anyone other than the user involved.
• New accounts are subject to manual approval until they are no longer deemed "new" by the mod team. This helps to weed out trolls and ban evaders.
• We rely on Automoderator to scan for specific words and phrases that are not welcome here and notify the mod team to review the comment or post. This includes slurs of any type and platitudes such as "Love them as your own!"
• The mod team uses a combination of blacklisting and banning when dealing with trolls.
• We employ the use of a bot that automatically bans anyone who comments in subs that have historically harassed our users. If you are picked up by the bot for telling trolls to get fucked, reach out via mod mail and we'll get you sorted out.
• The rules above as well as ban procedures are considered guidelines only; some deviation may be necessary on a case by case basis and/or at the mod team's discretion.

13. Ban Procedure

These actions are at moderator discretion.

• Pornography will result in an automatic permanent ban.
• Extremely egregious content will result in an immediate permanent ban.
• You may receive a 7 or 30 day temporary ban for first and second rule violations, depending upon severity.
• Continued rule violations will result in a permanent ban.
• Willful attempts to avoid or bypass temporary bans will result in a permanent ban.
• We recognize the reddit site-wide rules of using alt names to get around bans and will ban those as well as report them to reddit admins.

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FAQ - About the Rules

What does Kindness Matters mean?

• Shortest version? Don't be an asshole. People come here for support and advice, they do not come here to be yelled at or told they are the reason everything is going sideways. There are ways to point out that someone may want to do some reflection on their own actions and reactions without being an asshole about it.
• The purpose of this subreddit is to provide support and a sense of belonging for struggling stepparents. We aren't here to pass judgement, but rather to offer support, empathy, and constructive commentary. That does not include "hard truths" or "tough love." Stepparents get enough of that in every other subreddit, we're not passing it out here. Be respectful.
• Remember, most people aren't going to come to a sub like this when everything is going great and everyone is getting along. People are coming here when they are down, when they are feeling defeated and stretched to the limit. Kicking someone when they are down is shitty behavior and we don't tolerate it.

What about being kind to the kids?

• "Won't somebody think of the children?" Pearl clutching isn't needed here. If you read the Kindness Matters rule closely, you will see that there is a clause in there about name calling children. We don't allow it. We also don't allow people rolling in telling OP that they feel sorry for their stepkids because OP is feeling overwhelmed and overloaded.
• If anyone is advocating slapping, spanking, or any other form of violence, report the comment immediately. We do not advocate violence towards children of any sort. The mod team does not advocate any sort of physical punishment at any time.
• Venting about behaviors is not the same as insulting the kids. However, if you see a post or comment where kids are being name called or dragged to the point of no return, use the report button. We try to catch the posts and remove them before they hit the sub, but we cannot see every comment without your help. Use the report button to bring problematic comments to our attention. Don't engage in a war of words on our subreddit.

Why is this sub such an echo chamber?

• Not allowing contributors to pile on and tell OP that they are a terrible human being who should never be around children does not equate to being an echo chamber. Many contributors here will offer OP suggestions to help them work through their resentments and frustrations, and the most egregious situations are called out. We simply ask that it be called out with respect.
• If you feel that a post is simply too much for you to handle without following the rules, move on to another post.
• If you believe that a post itself is crossing the rules report it. If the mod team has approved the post, it is because the mod team believes that the OP needs help from the community or needs a moment to vent and move on from their vent. That does not give you license to pile on disrespectfully. Unless it is proven that OP is a bot, assume that OP is a human being with real thoughts and feelings and has posted from a place of vulnerability.

Why can't I tell OP that they are an asshole?

• Because this isn't a judgement sub. We aren't AITA, we don't want to be AITA.
• Comments with terms like YTA, NTA, ESH, NAH will be removed.
• Don't start your posts with INFO either. We generally recognize that as a fishing attempt for more information to pass judgement on OP, and again, we are not a judgment sub.

But OP asked if they were an asshole?!

• Their post somehow got past our automoderator. Just use the report button. We will address it with OP.
• If you've asked if you are an asshole, a-hole, a*hole, a**hole, whatever, don't be surprised if your post is removed without warning. This isn't a judgment sub. If you want judgment, you know where to go.

What is a gendered slur?

• While it seems that everyone understands what racist slurs are, people struggle understanding the concept of gendered slurs. Generally speaking, we are talking about derogatory nouns or verbs that are used to negatively describe people or situations based on gendered terms.
• We've gone back and forth on this a few times, and the truth is, we get it, it's your safe space and you want to be able to vent about BM/BD how you want to vent about them, without us telling you how to vent about them. Fair enough. Vent away. What we are going to stick to here how people are referring to other users and to stepchildren.
• Examples that are not allowed:
  • "My SD is such a little bitch."
  • "She dresses/acts like a slut."
  • "My SS acts like a pussy."
  • "My SS is such a beta male."
  • "You are all fucking whores."
  • "Any dude who is raising some sluts kids is a cuck!"
  • "Little Lord Fauntleroy over here thinking he runs the house!"
  • "You're just the bangnanny, get used to it."
• Don't call users here names, don't call stepchildren names.
• Masking the term with asterisks or other neat little tricks might get you around the bot, but if we see it, we're removing it and quite possibly giving you a time out. The intended word is still there and you deliberately tried to skate the rule.
• As there is not enough space to list every term that is offensive and does not belong, nor every situation in which term or phrase may be allowable in context, this rule is enforced based on moderator discretion.

Seriously? You are the language police now?

• We're here to talk about stepparenting. And we would like for that to happen in a respectful way. Attacking each other doesn't help. Belittling stepchildren draws in trolls who don't understand your frustration, all they see is an evil stepmonster talking shit on the internet about a poor, innocent baby. Yes, even if that "poor, innocent baby" just robbed you blind and set fire to the house on their way out the door. That's just how it goes.
• We are aware that this is a relatively new rule and a lot of older posts and comments contain a lot of problematic language, including some from mods themselves. We are growing and evolving, and rules change as the sub grows and evolves.

What does No Drama really mean?

• Pretty much what it says, do not bring drama from other subs into this sub. Do not engage in vote brigades. Do not try to incite other subscribers to riot in a different sub. Don't follow posters into this sub from other subs to continue to harass them. Do not badger someone or derail threads. Do not harass community members because you don't agree with them. There's enough drama in the daily lives of subscribers, more isn't needed.

What is thread derailment?

• When a comment chain has devolved to the point where all you are doing is arguing back and forth with someone about the same thing over and over again, you have derailed the thread. Also known as bickering. It's what children do. We assume if people are in a stepparent role they are adults. We expect you to act like it.
• If you aren't a stepparent, or in a stepparenting role, consider that perhaps this subreddit isn't for you. If you want to participate, do so with respect. Thread derailment, arguing, bickering, and nitpicking are not allowed.

But what if they didn't answer my question?

• No one has to answer your questions. This is a support sub, not an inquisition. Jumping on a bandwagon with "OP is evading the question" in a 20 comment long chain is the epitome of thread derailment. You'll find more information about trolling below and how this might be considered such.

Why am I being silenced? I'm just asking for a back and forth!

• Thread derailment, badgering, and nitpicking are considered harassment. Continued harassment of either community members or mods will get you banned.

Why can't I look at someone's post history and comment about it?

• No mod in the history of this sub has ever once said post histories are forbidden. What we do frown upon is using someone's post history to attack, belittle, or otherwise harass someone.
• Example Post: "My stepkid's mom really hates me. How can I make this better?"
  • Okay: "Based on the timeline and your post history, it looks like this may have started as an affair. Unfortunately there's going to be outstanding issues for a long time due to that. Try focusing on yourself and how you can move forward without worrying about how someone else feels about you."
  • Not Okay: "Holy shit! You were the OW! What the hell do you expect, homewrecker?!"
• Example Post: "I am completely overloaded and feeling very down about myself."
  • Okay: "In your post history you mentioned that your spouse wasn't really helping around the house. Has that changed at all?"
  • Not Okay: "LOL, you already got the answers you need in your post on relationships. You are stupid for sticking with your lazy spouse."

Why can't we crosspost stuff to other subs?

• We can't stop you from doing so. The problem isn't that something has been crossposted, it's when the community that it's been crossposted to feels the need to come over here and harass OP. When we see that happening, we lock the post and start passing out bans. If you did the crossposting, you'll be banned. If you participated in the brigading, you'll be banned.

What if it's my own post?

• Again, we can't stop you from doing so. We prefer that you don't technically crosspost, but rather just copy and paste your post. Why? Because inevitably the above will happen. Redditors from other subs will follow you back to /stepparents and start attacking users here. It just happens.

What is "brigading"?

• Reddit defines vote manipulation and brigading as follows:
• Using multiple accounts, voting services, or any other software to increase or decrease vote scores.
• Asking people to vote up or down certain posts, either on Reddit itself or through social networks, messaging, etc. for personal gain.
• Forming or joining a group that votes together, either on a specific post, a user's posts, posts from a domain, etc.
• We, along with pretty much every other subreddit that has ever had to deal with this nonsense, further define brigading as this: You saw a post on another sub that linked to our sub either via a link in a comment or a crosspost. It was basically saying something along the lines of "OMG, check out these assholes over on /stepparents! They literally hate all their stepkids!" And then you and your friends come over and start hammering on OP and telling OP how much they suck. Congrats, you have just participated in a brigade.

What is this whole Report, Don't Rant thing about?

• If you see a post or comment that breaks the rules, instead of engaging, report it. When you report it, it sends notification to the mod team. We will act on it where appropriate. Engaging with bad faith users may result in your comments being removed. If you repeatedly do so, you may end up being banned.

What if I see an obvious troll?

• Report it.

What if they are being really mean in comments?

• Report it.

What if they are harassing me in private messages?

• Step 1: Report them to admins. You can report harassment to reddit by using this link or send a DM to reddit admins. Include the link to the DM, admins can see your inbox and providing a direct link is helpful for them to weed out bad actors.
• Step 2: Block the person so they cannot directly contact you again.
• Step 3: Send us a mod mail and let the mod team know. Tell us who they are and what they said, send us a screenshot if you can - admins can see your DMs, mods can't. We'll take action where necessary by banning from the sub if they aren't already banned.

What do you mean by No Naming & Shaming?

• Just as we prefer to not be linked to or crossposted from, we do not allow linking to or calling out other subs by name. If you see something you want to share, say it's a hot post that has hit the front page and a stepparent is being absolutely flayed, just refer to it as "that hot post that hit the front page." If you want to complain about other places in general, "other parenting/advice/judgement subs" will suffice. Absolutely under no circumstances should you link to anywhere else.

I can't link to other subs?

• Do not directly link to another sub. (e.g.: "/insertsubnamehere is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")
• Do not name other subs. (e.g.: "I won't link to it directly, but insertsubnamehere is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")
• Do not abbreviate other subs. (e.g.: "I know that ISNH is ridiculously hostile to stepparents!")

I can't ping other users?

• Do not summon another user with a username ping/tag. (e.g.: "insertusernamehere was being an asshole.")
• If you are agreeing with someone, it is okay to link to them. (e.g.: "I agree with insertusernamehere, you need to take a couple of steps back and reflect on this.")

What does No Platitudes mean?

• Sanctimonious, overused clichés that grossly oversimplify the stepparenting experience are neither wanted nor allowed here. We have all heard it a thousand times before, we don't need to hear it again. It's not nearly as insightful and wise as some would like to think.

Why don't you people understand it's a package deal?

• Any comment that suggests that OP should have known what they were getting involved with, or that they needed to understand that the kids were part of some package they needed to accept before signing up for marriage is subject to immediate removal.
• This is one of the most insensitive things you can say to a stepparent. Most stepparents were aware of the children, but they were probably not aware of all of the family dynamics.

Why can't you just love them like they are your own?

• Demanding that a stranger you do not know love children that are not biologically theirs as if they were theirs can be incredibly damaging to someone who is already in a vulnerable situation. Any comment that falls along these lines will be removed.

What do you mean by No Trolling? I was just...

• No means no. No trolling. No pretending to be a stepparent and then whipping out the Greatest Hits Bingo Card of The Worst Stepparent in the History of Stepparents. We see you. We've seen you a thousand times.

What does "concern trolling", "gish-galloping", and "sealioning" have to do with stepparenting? This isn't a debate sub, why are you using debate terms?

• That's absolutely right, this isn't a debate sub. And yet, here we are, day after day, having to defend ourselves against this sort of thing. So, enough. No more. Usage of any of these things will get you banned.

What is "Concern Trolling?"

• A concern troll is someone who disingenuously visits sites of an opposing ideology to disrupt conversation by offering unwanted advice on how to solve problems which do not really exist.
  • Example Post: OP expresses concern that she will feel, and possibly act, differently towards her stepchildren after her husband decides that no, he doesn't want anymore children after all.
  • Example Concern Troll pulled from actual mod mail after their comment was removed: "Possible child abuse claims need to be sorted out well before whatever empathy you believe the OP was looking for."

What is a "Devil's Advocate"?

• "I'm just playing devil's advocate here, but have you considered that maybe BM is just really tired and needs a break, too?" BM has dozens of different mom based subs alone on reddit she can complain on, this sub is for stepparents. The stepparent doesn't need to consider that maybe BM is just really tired and needs a break.

"Gish-galloping?" What does that even mean?

• The Gish Gallop is the fallacious debate tactic of drowning your opponent in a flood of individually-weak arguments in order to prevent rebuttal of the whole argument collection without great effort. The Gish Gallop is a conveyor belt-fed version of the on the spot fallacy, as it's unreasonable for anyone to have a well-composed answer immediately available to every argument present in the Gallop.

And "sealioning?" What's that?

• Sealioning involves jumping into a conversation with endless polite, reasonable questions and demands for answers, usually of entry-level topics far below the actual conversation (e.g. "please prove sexism exists"). This tactic differs little from harassment; instead of discussion, the point is to derail discussion, receive criticism (for their ignorance) so as to look like a victim, or to make someone feel overwhelmed and quit talking.

Who gets to define what is considered asshattery?

• The mod team, of course! If we feel that comments are out of line, are trolling, are leading up to a fight or "just asking questions", we are going to remove them and most likely ban the offender.

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FAQ - Sub Questions

Posting Guidelines for Stepparents

• Body text is required, we suggest you use line breaks between paragraphs as a wall of text is difficult to read. Posts that have only a title are likely to be removed. Instead of using names (even fictitious ones), try to use the sub acronyms. It helps our users to follow along if you use the acronyms and not names.
• Assign a post flair that accurately describes what your post is about and what you are seeking. If you are posting an update from a previous post, include a link to that post.
• Flairs are applied to posts to determine what a person is looking for. When submitting a new post, you should choose a flair that specifies if you are looking for advice, support, etc. The following link flair is available and is color coded with side bar links so that you can search by flair:
  • Advice - For when you are specifically asking for advice or help.
  • Announcement - Mod Use Only, for subreddit announcements.
  • Daily (Formerly TTP) - Mod Use Only, for our daily discussion threads.
  • Discussion - A little advice, a little "How does your family handle this?"
  • JustBMThings - Pretty sure this is self explanatory!
  • Legal - Asking for legal advice? Tag it with this!
  • Miscellany - Just a sort of off topic thing? Use this tag.
  • Resource - Sharing a good resource or asking for one? This is the tag you need!
  • Support - For those days when you want nothing but a good old fashioned cry and some community love.
  • Update - Updating us on something that you posted about previously? Use this one!
  • Vent - We all need to vent sometimes. Respect the tag as a vent. This isn't how OP talks all day every day.
  • Win! - Celebrate those wins with us with this tag!
  • Megathread - Mod Use Only, for large mega threads (typically around major calendar events.)

Posting Guidelines for Bioparents

• Stepparents is a support community for stepparents, by stepparents. As bioparents, you may want to have more insight into how the stepparent in your life feels or thinks. You may have questions on how to ease the transition for your partner. However, please keep in mind that this community was not created for you. It was created for your partner or your ex's partner. If you are seeking support on how to deal with a stepparent, there are other subs more suited for your situation and your post is subject to removal.
• There are some posts from bioparents we will accept:
  • Seeking advice on how to support your partner as they navigate stepparenting
  • Seeking resources to help you better support your partner
  • Seeking resources for your partner
• There are some posts from bioparents we will not accept:
  • Complaints about how the stepparent is too involved in your kids lives
  • Vents about how the stepparent is not involved enough in your kids lives
  • "Cautionary tales" advising stepparents to back off
  • Seeking advice on how to tell the stepparent to back off
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Was in the backroom, ours isn’t in a private area, just right next to GM items with open flap doors into our department. Customers easily come through thinking it’s an entry to I guess more items 😂
Was talking to a new dispenser about how we grew up, and I was talking about how I grew up in a neighborhood where I’ve walked home from school and seen guns pulled on people or always heard gun shots at home.
I swear on everything, 10 seconds later we hear a gunshot really close to us. But it didn’t sound like a gun 😭 and I turn to my coworker and go “speaking of guns… haha”, unknowingly that it was actually a gun that went off.
Everyone was like “oh that was definitely not a gun, that was like a balloon popping”. A minute passes and then on the intercom they say “code brown, I repeat code brown” I turn my little badge over and go “ACTS OF VIOLENCE???” and then in came the police with their AR’s.
Also today marks my 2 year anniversary.

Apologies for the delay, as promised, continuing with the story! Link to previous act: VII

The night wore on. The people in the street thinned, then vanished.
The last Samurai left the geisha house, weaving drunkenly.
And then, two shadowy figures emerged from a side door in the geisha house and headed away.
I followed.
I caught a whiff of opium, so I was able to keep after them without exposing myself much.
They stopped in a deserted alleyway.
The coal from a pipe lit up one of the figures faces.
Tatsuki.
What did you want, anyway?
Tatsuki san, you were so cruel to Satsume today.
So? Samurai are nothing but trouble! Get em drunk, do a dance, take their money, that's it.
Anyone hoping some rich pretty boy will buy their contract is a fool, and anyone who goes out of their way to get their attention even more so.
They'll kill you for looking at them sideways!
I can't say you're wrong, Tatsuki. But, you shouldn't have spoken up when you did.
Those jade magistrates might just wonder if you had some connection to the murders.
What d'ya mean, murders? They just went missing, it's not like we know they're dead or anything.
I was already moving at that point.
Oh but I do know.
I got between the two just as the knife flashed.
It scraped me, and I returned the favor with my tetsubo.
Catching the Geisha in the side, I pulled my blow so I wouldn't kill her. I just wanted to take her off her feet. I had questions.
To my surprise, she not only seemed untroubled by my attack, she kept her feet.
Okay, that's just not right.
Tatsuki. Run to the inn. Get my companions and bring them here.
Tatsuki just stared, slack jawed. Her pipe fallen to ground.
MOVE PEASANT!
She ran.
The not really a geisha moved to give chase, but I blocked her path.
Your fight is with me.
In the dim light of the red paper lanterns, I could just make out the dark stain spreading across her side.
So I did hurt her.
As I advanced, preparing to strike again, she swung her knife. Not at me, but at the string of lanterns.

Most fell harmlessly into the road, but enough did drift into the outer walls of the nearby buildings that I had to rush over and put them out, lest they start a fire.
She used those precious few seconds to break from me and run.
I finished stomping out the lanterns and stood there cursing until Tatsuki came back with my friends. Mantis and Monkey weren't with them of course, still investigating.
Damn bitch is tough. More than simple geisha!
I wounded her though, think you can follow a blood trail this late at night, Kitsuki-san?
Ishigaki.
Toshiro had knelt to examine the blood.
This blood, it's far too dark.
Kitsuki-san leaned in, brought his lantern in closer.
You're right.
Humans breathe in Air, it mixes with our Water, making our blood bright red. As our water passes its strength on to our Earth, our bodies, it becomes darker.
This blood is black.
Toshiro looked up at me.
Just like a corpse that has not taken in any Air for a long time.
Bog Hag?!
I think so, yes.
Kitsuki-san blinked.
I thought you said your technique disrupted the taint of your enemies?
It does, but it's a reflex. I use it when I am struck; it's not as if I would know it's working. Only my opponent would know... ah.
No wonder it was not eager to fight you.
Toshiro and I locked eyes, the same thought running through our heads.
You three go find the Mantis! I'll get the Monkey!
Protocol!
I'll be fine, Toshiro! You're slow, Naomi is sick, and Kitsuki-san isn't much of a Yojimbo!
You three NEED to stay in a larger group!
I was already running, before any more protests could come up.
As I neared the docks I heard the sound of retching. Turning towards it, I found the Monkey.
He was leaning against a building, clutching the side of his neck. I could see him panting. As I came closer he leaned over and puked.
He saw me.
Ishigaki-san? I... I don't feel so good.
I picked him up. His skin was on fire with fever.

Some crazy bitch... She was clutching her side, I asked her what was wrong and as I got close she clawed the shit out of my neck!
Bog Hag talons carried disease in them. She had used the tanto on me because she did not wish to extend her claws through her fake skin.
I had no idea how severe the disease was, or how long it normally took to work, but obviously THIS one was working very, very fast.
I slung the Monkey over my shoulders and ran.
He didn't complain.
I got back to the Inn and stomped heavily as I ran up to our room,
I threw open the door.
Toshiro said hello by blasting both myself and the Monkey with a Jade Strike.
As the energy washed harmlessly over the two of us I set down the Monkey.
Hag got him. With her claws.
Shit.
Toshiro fished out a prayer to Jurojin. As I explained what that meant to the others.
Naomi added her own magic, and between the two the Monkey was saved.
Everyone was quickly brought up to speed.
The Mantis confirmed for us that the Yoriki I had encountered early that day was also the Bog Hag, as his failure to report in had caused a bit of shouting at the magistrate's.
Okay, now that we know what we're looking for, we only need to find one creature in a city of thousands that could change its appearance almost at will.
There was a reason Bog Hags were able to live in Rokugan for a long time should they just make it past the wall.

Hey, uh Toshiro-san?
I'm grateful and all for the magic healing... but why did you blast us both?
Won't hurt you if you aren't tainted. If it did hurt you I'd have blasted you again till you stopped twitching.
Oh.
I chuckled. Hitting one another in the face with that spell is a perfectly fine way to say hello among the Kuni. It has advantages, since a normal Jade test requires you to get close enough to poke someone first.
Couldn't you just hold up your own Jade?
Toshiro took that one.
Greenstone.
There's a mineral that is similar in appearance to Jade, but it's not. Hard to tell the difference at a distance.
Some fools have, from time to time, tried to pass it off as Jade to our Clan when our own stores were low.
Okay.
Now, how do we go about finding this monster?
Check the geisha. The madame, in particular.
It was the Mantis.
That Yoriki not reporting in for duty was a big deal. If the Hag was stepping into their daily lives, then there's an issue.
Geisha live in their house. They really aren't supposed to leave unless called out by a client, or to run errands.
Keeping up a double life like that would be hard.
What? don't judge me! You're the weird ones, being all lovey dovey.
Before we left we ground up jade and prepared powder. Bog hags were invulnerable. The blood was not the hag's, but from the skin she had been wearing.
It was unusual, but not unheard of for older, stronger and more cunning hags to be able to take more than just the surface skin.
This made the disguise even MORE difficult to spot.
Some even learned maho spells to preserve their skins.
We returned to the geisha house as dawn was nearing.
Toshiro placed a ward of flame upon the frame of the door.
We entered.
Tatsuki greeted us.
Oka-san is resting right now, should I go get her?
Please.
As the madame shuffled out, she greeted us warmly.
Hello great Samurai! I cannot thank you enough for what you did for our Tatsuki last night!
How may I help you?

I walked up to her, and held out the finger of Jade I wore.
Hold this a moment.
Oh great Samurai, this one is unworthy of such of a gift.
She was misunderstanding, going through the three refusals.
I heard the Monkey snicker.
No, I'm not giving this to you, I just want you to touch it.
Whatever for great samurai?
Some of the other girls had come out of their rooms to see us.
We just want to be sure.
The door to the front slid open.
Oka-san, I'm home! I have the-
As soon as the Geisha stepped across the threshold, she burst into flames.
Oh shit, which one was that?
Dammit, THEY KNOW!
Uh...
Oh dear, this is going to cause quite the ruckus.
We will have to leave this city now, no matter what happens.
Girls, listen up. The one who kills the big one gets the little girl's pretty skin.
All around us, geisha ripped their flesh off and revealed themselves to be Bog Hags.
Tatsuki fell to her knees, unable to comprehend her entire world shattering in an instant.
Including the madame, and the burned one, I counted six.
I once mentioned we Crabs had a code word for when the teahouse we're in is staffed by demons in disguise, they didn't know they'd been found out, and everyone should grab their weapons and meet out front.
We also had one that meant the same thing, expect that the demons know they've been found out, and you should fight way out.
Yasha.

Toshiro threw Jade fire as we powdered our weapons.
Energy rushed through my limbs as Naomi blessed me.
I was worried, there were a lot of Hags here, Toshiro and Naomi had both used magic earlier, and we were relying primarily on powder to injure them.
The burned one leapt onto Toshiro's back, clawing him
One went for the Mantis, one the Monkey. Two came at me.
The Mantis and Monkey both defended themselves, and I knocked aside the first to reach me, the second one got a claw in under my arm as I raised by tetsubo to block.
She cried out as she struck me, confused.
WHAT WAS THAT HUMAN WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME.
Calm down, that's why I told you to work together on him.
I know what he is doing; it won't harm you.
As the Geishags eyed me hatefully, Troka-san reached inside her kimono, and pulled out a scroll.
Oh shit.
She then clawed herself, quite deeply.
Oh that's a lot of blood...
And my chest burned. I fell to my knees hacking and coughing. Blood poured up from nose and mouth. My lungs ached.
So this is what it's like, to be Naomi...
I had to end that bitch, and I had to do it, now. Before she cast that spell again.
With the strength Naomi gave me, I slammed the haft of my tetsubo into the geishag that had clawed into me, knocking it down, while preserving my powder.
Then I rushed over it and attacked the head of this hag coven.
I saw surprise and fear in the creature’s eyes, it had hoped that spell would slow me down much more than it had.
I spun my tetsubo, two overhead strikes, sliding my hand down the haft to let the full momentum strike her.
She was still standing, but swaying about drunkenly.
I suspected she had overtaxed herself with that maho.
Behind me the Mantis, Monkey and Kitsuki all worked together. As the Kitsuki shoved his blade into one's stomach, the Monkey struck at the back of her neck.
Then the Mantis buried his kama into the top of her head.
The hag made an almost comical gurgle as it fell over, dead.

Toshiro was praying, hard. Another big one. then.
Naomi whispered another prayer and touched the Mantis.
Who then spun and struck the burning hag.
The other hags howled in fury and lunged at the Mantis, taken by surprise at the three on one, he went down under their claws.
Kitsuki-san grabbed the Mantis and dragged him back to Naomi.
She didn't waste any time, not even bothering with a scroll.
As the Mantis groggily got to his feet, Naomi teetered, sweating and panting hard.
For that matter, so was I.
I was still sucking in Air, a terrible panic rising in me at the feeling of not being able to breathe.
I crushed it ruthlessly. I knew I COULD breathe, even though my body was screaming I needed more.
Still, my vision was going dark at the edges.
What the hell did that monster do to me?
It lashed out with a claw, unable or unwilling to spill more of its own blood to work any more magic.
It's talons punched through my chest piece but only the very tips found my flesh.
And before she could draw back, I brought my tetsubo down on her head for a third time.
This time the thing's skull cracked open. Brains and fluid spattered to the floor. It stood there, head still bent from the impact of my strike, almost as if it was bowing before me.
Then it crumpled.

I turned. I needed to repowder my weapon.
Naomi was spent, or close to it.
Toshiro was praying, scroll in one hand, with his tetsubo held out in a warding stance. With that one hand grip he could not defend himself well.
Mantis was badly hurt, near death. Not even Naomi could heal someone so wounded that quickly.
And there were still four of the damn things standing. One hadn't even been hurt yet.
Well let's fix that.
Panting like a horse in heat (even killing the fucking thing hadn't fixed my lungs... was I going to be like this forever?) I charged at the unwounded Hag.
And into her.
She bit at my helmet and clawed at my back as I continued to run, taking her with me
And out the front door.
Through the ward.
When a bleeding Crab in full armor comes crashing through the door of a Geisha house, bearing with him a Bog Hag that is also on fire, people have a tendency to take notice.
One may then assume that, once their brains can fully register what their eyes have told them, they will scream and run about like chickens with their heads cut off.
The people in the streets lived up to my expectations. Spectacularly.
Good, that should bring some more bodies. If we have to we'll just pin them down with sheer numbers until we can bring up enough powder to bring them all down.
The Monkey lashed out at one of the hags, keeping the thing from attacking the Mantis.
The Kitsuki took a stance from the Dojo. I had seen the Shiba do that once, long ago.
The Mantis spun around slipping to one knee he scythed his blades through the legs of two of the hags, causing them both to fall.
Naomi drew another scroll from her satchel
And then Toshiro finished his spell.
The spell was an old one, in use for centuries.
It turned wrathful Earth Kami upon those it targeted, disrupting their own earth, weakening them considerably.
The Earth Kami were particularly incensed should they detect the presence of taint.

The spell had been made famous by one of the sons of the Emperor Toturi the First.
It was, in these days, known as the Wolf's Mercy.
Toshiro managed to get all four of the hags.
The wounded three died on the spot, their weakened bodies succumbing to the severe wounds they already bore.
Only the burning one was still alive.
Kitsuki-san struck it hard.
It trashed in my grip, but I managed to hold on, barely. The Mantis and then the Monkey were finally able to still the beast.
I felt life rush into me, and the pain in my chest eased up at last.
Just as Naomi began to cough once more. I caught her before she fell, and set her down gently.
Tatsuki. TATSUKI! My wife needs her medicine, we need a teapot, water, and a fire. QUICKLY!
My shouts galvanized her, and Tatsuki moved to comply.
Kitsuki-san saw to preparing her medicine.
Toshiro, panting hard looked at me and the Mantis.
Neither of you better get sick from those wounds. I've got nothing left.
And, far too late to be useful, the Crane showed up, Yoriki in tow.

Doji Goemon looked about with disgust, and more than a little fear.
What has happened here?
Naomi was panting hard, still giving little coughs.
She looked at me. Though her eyes were tight with pain, she gave me a nod to reassure me she would be alright soon enough.
So Toshiro, as the only other full-fledged Jade Magistrate in our group, had to explain the scene to the Magistrate's satisfaction.
You had a Bog Hag problem.
We took care of it for you.
You're welcome.
Bye.
Atta boy, Toshiro.
That won't cause any problems, I'm sure.
He then turned and began throwing salt all over.
Wait, just a minute!
No.
WHAT?
Toshiro spun and glared at the Doji.
I had watched Toshiro apply his face paint several times. He started out pure white. Black, all around his eyes, making them tiny pools of light in deep sea. Then, almost haphazardly dipped his four fingers into red, and pulled them across his face.
The visage he created looked like a man with deep black eyes that were far too large, and had been clawed from temple to chin by some great beast.
In other words, pretty damn scary.
And he used it to full effect as he glared at the Doji.
Bog Hags are tainted. They've been hiding in this geisha house for months. People have probably already been tainted. There might be infections even now.
And I HAVE to deal with that.
It's what Jade Magistrates do.
The first step is to Purify this place.
So shut up and let me do my job!
Or do you want to explain to your lord why half this city had to be burned down when the taint gets too deep?
He was bluffing. It was true there were probably people with the taint unknowingly spreading it around, but one geisha house? No way had it become such a crisis.
Toshiro just didn't want to deal with the Crane, and was using the fact that such knowledge was considered shameful in the rest of Rokugan to deceive him.
It worked.

The Doji salvaged his wounded pride by berating his Yoriki.
Don't just stand there! Get some monks, shugenja! And ETA!
The Mantis, meanwhile, discreetly moved Tatsuki out the back, we all knew from the attempt on her life she was innocent of any wrongdoing.
But we doubted Goemon would see it that way.
Several Monks, a small swarm of Eta, and even an Asahina showed up to help with the cleansing.
And all protests from Goemon stopped as the Eta began to bring up human skins from a secret basement Kitsuki-san found.
There were thirty two.
As well as a very large pile of bones. There was no telling how many people were there. There were only three skulls. Not nearly enough for all the bones.
I explained to Goemon.
Bog Hags don't kill just for skins.
They eat people.
Especially pretty women and children.
He excused himself, and hurried off.
I could hear him vomit.
I doubted it was compassion for the victims. Rather I suspected it was fear that such a thing had gone on for so long right under his nose.
I had no doubt he would have much explaining to do when his lord heard of this incident.
I didn't embarrass him further by looking.
Hey, Naomi?
Ha...hai Ishigaki-san?
Still a little sore.
Is he doing that right?
I jerked my head to Toshiro. He had just thrown a second handful of salt at a wall that particularly offended him.
It always seemed... messy to me, when Toshiro purified things.
Naomi nodded. sipped some water.
He lacks grace, I admit but it is fine the way he does it.
Huh.
Naomi advised Goemon on the Jade test, and the Monk in charge of the local Shrine assured us that, should anyone be found with the taint, he could guide them to a temple that specialized in treating those so afflicted.
Toshiro pressed him on the details, but was satisfied the temple in question wasn't one that took mercy too far.
We left, to chase after possible clients with the taint.

We were joined, of all people, by Tatsuki.
"What the fuck is this?" I asked to no one in particular, pointing at her.
Mine. Hands off.
I stared at the Mantis.
He pulled his clothes and produced a piece of paper.
I bought her contract.
From a dead bog hag?!
Yeah. Got a great price.
You just took that!
Look, I know you don't know shit about Geisha, loving your wife as much as you do (Naomi blushed), but the contract is the only thing separating a Geisha from a whore.
I had no idea if that was true or not.
Naomi, of course, wanted to know what the half-person thought of all this.
Naomi's Compassion could really get in the way of her sense of propriety at times.
I don't have any traveling papers, I can't stay there and I sure as hell didn't want to show my face to the magistrate to try and get some papers....
So this works. I mean, I could be a lot worse off right now, and you did save my life...several times over in fact.
Huh. That's very upfront. I wondered what is was that she sensed in us to put her so at ease.
And that's how the Mantis got a Geisha.
So, you gonna marry her?
Monkey, of course.
Naomi hid her smile behind her sleve and tittered.
The Mantis just glowered at the Monkey, but Tatsuki actually fidgeted a bit.
I shared a glance with Kitsuki-san and Naomi as we noted that.
And we headed out for the nearest town.
For a few weeks we spread word of a possible taint outbreak. Discreetly, to local lords. We told them how to check, got them in touch with temples to handle anyone found with the taint.
Naomi went through paper and ink quite quickly, writing letters back home.
I don't think either of them can read yet, Naomi.
The nanny will read the letters TO them Ishigaki-kun. Until we got home to see them again.
I understood. Not a day passed while I was standing on my post on the Wall that I didn't think of home.
When we arrived at the third city, the guard who checked our papers became very excited.

Context: For this booking, I will be booking this storyline from the current day of writing this post (5/27) until the official break up of Judgment Day, which will take place at Summerslam
EDIT: This is a VERY wordy post admittedly and moving forward with long-term bookings like this, I’ll make multiple parts for it. Sorry in advance!
The Build to Clash at the Castle 2024:

• We begin our story on the first RAW of June, following the events of last week where Liv retained her Women's Championship and kissed Dominick Mysterio, along with other events that took place involving the Judgement Day. We have a backstage segment involving the members of the Judgement Day (Damian Priest, Finn Balor, and JD McDonagh) and Carlito. Dominick is notably absent and Damian wants to know where Dominick is so that they can figure out this whole Liv Morgan situation (he is not in a good mood at all). Nobody seems to know where Dom is and Finn even says that he reached out but Dominick hasn't returned any calls. Damian starts to turn his attention to JD, asking him if he knew anything about this and what is going on with Liv. JD says he has no idea and then Priest says it's very convenient that JD used his situation with Braun Strowman (that he couldn't finish the job) and led Braun to come down to ringside and cost Becky Lynch. Priest says that he wonders if JD and Dom are working together. Finn intervenes and tells Priest that pointing the finger at each other isn't going to solve anything and that they need to first talk to Dominick and have him explain himself. Carlito starts to make a joke about Dominick being able to pull both Liv Morgan and "Mami" and Damian gets in his face and snaps at him, telling him that he must address her as "Rhea" and if he ever hears him disrespect her again then he will drop him where he stands. Damian then tells Carlito to get out (to which Carlito will be like "what about the LWO?"), and then Carlito leaves when Damian looks like he's about to get violent. JD also leaves the locker room when Finn wants a moment alone with Damian to which he will ensure Damian that he will find Dominick and try to get some answers, meanwhile he wants Damian to cool off and focus on his World Title match with Drew for Clash at the Castle and for his match that night with Rey Mysterio. Damian and Finn exchange a fist bump and we move on to the next match/segment of the night (Damian Priest vs Rey Mysterio will main event). Later that night, we get an interview segment with Liv Morgan where she talks about how "dominant" her reign has been so far now beating "The Man", Becky Lynch twice and now it doesn't look like she will ever come back as Liv has embarrassed her. When questioned about kissing Dominick and if he is aligned with her or not, Liv just smiles and says something along the lines of "Let's just say, I understand now why Rhea calls him her Latino Heat" before winking and leaving. However, as she leaves her interview, she is attacked backstage by Lyra Valkaria, who is looking for revenge after what has happened with Becky. The two are separated and Adam Pearce tells Lyra to go out for her match tonight. Lyra goes out and defeats Dakota Kai and then is attacked by Iyo Sky after the match. Iyo hits her moonsault on Lyra and then walks out (leaving Damage CTRL in the ring). A match is made official for next week, Lyra Valkaria vs Iyo Sky with the winner challenging Liv Morgan at Clash at the Castle. There's a moment backstage where Finn is looking for Dominick but ends up finding JD McDonagh talking to Liv Morgan that gets interrupted immediately. Liv leaves (saying "bye JD" in a seemingly happy and maybe flirtatious way?) and Finn pushes JD against a corner and demands answers, JD says that he was asking where Dominick was and found out that he's not here. JD suggests that since Liv knows that he's not here that she must have had some contact with him again. Finn tells JD to be careful, him being seen with Liv looks bad and doesn't want him to get in trouble if he's not working with Liv. Carlito at one point runs into Dominick (who turns out to be there) backstage and wants Dominick to help put in a good word to the rest of Judgement Day to help protect him against the LWO. When Dominick doesn't guarantee this, Carlito says that he'll keep his secret if he does (Dominick looks at him, knowing he's being exploited now) and Carlito leaves. Later that night in the main event, Carlito nearly costs Priest the match (to which Priest is not happy about him coming out for this match) after he takes a bit from an apple and spits it out aiming for Rey but accidentally gets Priest. Rey goes for the 619 and connects with the first part, but after Rey dives for Priest, he counters with the South of Heaven chokeslam and gets the pin. Carlito starts to attack Rey after the match, but Priest is pissed and hits Carlito with the South of Heaven Chokeslam to Carlito, who at this point, has had enough of Carlito. Priest has snapped, putting a serious beating to Carlito to which Dominick (followed by the other members of Judgement Day) try to tell Priest to stop. Priest shoves Dominick away (who sells his arm as he's not cleared yet) and then hits another South of Heaven Chokeslam to Carlito through the announce table. After that attack, the members of Judgement Day help Dominick to the back (Finn looks back disapprovingly) and then Drew McIntyre comes out to lay out Priest with the Claymore and leaves through the crowd before the other members of Judgement Day can get to him. The next week, Dominick is back and tries to explain that he has no idea why Liv did what she did after the cage match and vows to make it right at Clash at the Castle. Priest interjects and says that Dominick is going to watch the match with them in the back, forbidding him to interfere in that match and if he sees either him or JD talk to Liv again, there will be serious consequences. From now on, they are keeping a close eye on both of them.
• To avoid this being too long of a post (and boring some people to tears with my wordy descriptions, the rest of Liv Morgan's side of the build is focused on the odds being against her and each woman wanting to prove a certain point. For Morgan, its about proving she's the best in the world and will represent RAW better than Rhea ever could, for Lyra, this is about proving that she's ready to be the best now and wanting to prove she can do on RAW what she did in NXT, and for Iyo this is about proving that she can replicate what she did on Smackdown over to RAW, but even better. The rest of the build on Priest's side is focused around Priest trying to stay focused for his match with Drew but there are a lot of distractions going on that is frustrating him more and more. On top of that, Drew is starting to get in Priest's head when he talks about how the Judgement Day is falling apart and how a real leader and real World Champion would get their group in order. McIntyre says that Priest doesn't have the respect of Judgment Day considering they continue to interfere on his behalf because "they know what I know, you can't do it on your own". McIntyre also makes comment about the pressure of being World Champion is starting to get to Priest and to not worry, because soon, McIntyre will strip that responsibility from Priest and will lead RAW, like a real leader can. Priest fires back saying that McIntyre can't talk to him about distractions when he is looking past him and focusing on Gunther and CM Punk (Punk's name gets McIntyre's attention). Priest says that McIntyre had his chance to be World Champion and the pressure of that mixed with his obsession with Punk made him crumble in just a little over 5 minutes. Priest finishes by saying that he will show McIntyre that he can do it on his own and will do it on his own. The segment finishes the two brawling and Drew getting the upper hand until Punk's music begins to play which gets McIntyre's attention (but there is no CM Punk), Priest then lays McIntyre out with a South of Heaven Chokeslam and stands tall.

Clash at the Castle 2024:

• WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Drew McIntyre def. Damian Priest (c)
  • While technically being a Heel vs Heel matchup, McIntyre is very much the babyface in this match, wrestling in front of his home country. They have a back and forth match with both men having their moments to shine. At one point, JD, Dominick, and Finn Balor make their way to ringside to assist Damien Priest and Priest is NOT happy about this. Priest yells at them to go back to the back and that he doesn't need or want their help (Finn is yelling at Priest to watch out from behind). Drew hits the Future Shock DDT after this and gets a close 2-count. At one point, after a distraction from Dominick, JD stops Drew from hitting a GTS by stunning him with a superkick, Priest hits his South of Heaven Chokeslam to Drew and gets a very close 2-count. Priest is frustrated, and targets his frustration out on the members of the Judgement Day. Priest gets in JD and Dom’s faces, screaming at both of them that he wanted to do this on his own. They start to argue back and Priest pushed JD’s face out of the way and then pushes Dom to the floor when he tries in intervene. Balor is not happy about this at all and tells Priest to calm down and win the match while Priest is furious and yells at Balor that he wanted to do this on his own, and says that Balor doesn't believe in him. The two have an argument that results in Balor stopping Priest from getting back in the ring and then Priest slaps Balor. The two get in each other's faces until McIntyre dives to the outside, taking out both Priest and Balor. Drew throws JD towards the barricade and hits Dominick with a headbutt. Drew rolls Priest back in the ring and hits a Claymore but Priest kicks out for a very close 2-count! McIntyre goes for another Claymore but accidentally hits the ref instead, Priest and McIntyre then take each other out with a clothesline. Dominick, JD, and Finn Balor get back to their feet and they look to be leaving towards the back but Balor is pissed and goes back towards the ring, he tries to lay out Drew with a shotgun dropkick in the corner but Drew moves and Balor hits Priest instead. Drew hits a Claymore to Balor and then tosses him out of the ring. McIntyre waits for Priest to get to his feet and hits a second Claymore and gets the pinfall victory. Drew McIntyre is the NEW World Heavyweight Champion!
• . Post-match: Drew McIntyre is celebrating in the ring as confetti begins to reign down and cover the ring. The crowd is going wild, cheering for their fellow countryman. However, all of the sudden, those cheers turn into loud boos. McIntyre looks confused and angry, yelling and screaming at the crowd. McIntyre begins to scream insults, saying that his own country has betrayed him... but it's not Drew that they're booing... You start to see the camera pan just slightly, until you see that someone has entered the ring, standing behind Drew. That man, just so happens to be CM Punk. Drew turns around and is tackled by Punk as Punk begins to reign down punches to Drew. They both get to their feet and Punk hits a kick to the head, stunning Drew. Punk lifts Drew up and hits the GTS, laying Drew out in the middle of the ring in front of his own country. Punk raises the World Heavyweight Championship up in the air, making it clear what he wants.
• WWE Women's World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) def. Lyra Vakaria and Iyo Sky
  • These three women have plenty of time to work with as each person has their time to shine (Becky being a fighting champion and bringing the fight to her opponents, Liv being a sneaky heel and waiting for her opportunities to get an advantage, and Lyra being the newcomer and showing why she is the real deal). There are plenty of near falls where each woman has a moment where they look like they’re going to win. In the end, Lyra and Iyo go back and forth and Lyra moves out of the way of Iyo's top rope moonsault finisher and connects with her Michinuku Driver finish. Before Lyra can get the 3 count, Liv kicks Lyra in the back of the head and throws her out out the ring and steals the pin fall victory! Liv Morgan is STILL Women’s World Champion.

The Build to Money in the Bank 2024

• We begin our build for Money in the Bank by advertising that there will be qualifying matches to determine our participants for both the men and women's Money in the Bank match. It is advertised that Finn Balor will go up against Rey Mysterio and Damian Priest will go up against Jey Uso. Finn Balor and Rey Mysterio open the show (Dominick and JD accompany Balor) and Finn Balor picks up the victory and will compete at Money in the Bank. Backstage after the match, Finn Balor is celebrating his win with JD McDonagh and Dominick Mysterio until Damian Priest shows up and the vibe immediately changes. Balor asks for JD and Dominick to give them the room but Damian interjects, telling them to stay because he has something that he wants to say to all of them. Damian tells them that he asked them ("no, I pleaded with you guys") to not interfere in his match with Drew because he wanted to prove to Drew, the roster, and most importantly, to them that he was as good as advertised and that he could beat Drew McIntyre on his own. Finn tries to interject but Damian snaps and tells him to let him finish. Damian continues by saying that he knows that he hasn't always been easy to work with and that he can lose his cool from time to time (as he also apologizes for putting his hands on them), but at the end of the day he loves and respects each of them, he just wishes they felt the same way (and also calls out Balor for hitting him with his shotgun dropkick). JD says that they do love and respect him and that he has it all wrong, they're sorry that they cost him the match against Drew. Priest says that he has a qualifying match tonight against Jey Uso and that when he beats him again, he will go on and be a two-time Money in the Bank briefcase holder, and then become World Champion again. Finn has something to say about this and says that maybe it will be him that goes on and does what Priest is planning. Priest just responds by saying "You couldn't do it then, you think you can do it now?". After a tense stare, Priest again, apologizes and then says that he's going to go prepare for his match. Dominick right after says he has some business to take care of and leaves too. Later that night, Priest takes on Jey Uso and looks to have the match won until JD and Finn come down to watch which causes Braun Strowman to chase after JD (Braun was attacked earlier in the night and he thinks it was JD and the rest of Judgement Day... but it wasn't). This distracts Priest to the point where he is hit with a spear and then a splash from the top rope to pick up the win. The next week, Damian is PISSED and gets in JD's face. Priest wants an explanation on why he is involved with Braun Strowman again, and why he didn't handle his business with him. JD says that he had nothing to do with Strowman getting attacked and doesn't want anything to do with Strowman anymore. Priest tells him that in fact, he should take care of Strowman once and for all, and actually went to Pearce to request the match (to which everyone is not a fan of) and then he starts to get to Dominick and asks why he should still be in Judgement Day considering he seems to be more concerned with Carlito and Liv Morgan these days. Dom says that he will always be with the Judgement Day, and if Carlito has to be out then he'll accept that decision, he then says that he has a plan to get the belt off of Liv Morgan and suggests his plan is to make Liv think that he has aligned with her until Rhea comes back and then when Rhea gets her match, Dom will double cross Liv. Priest says that in that case, until Liv doesn't have the belt anymore, then he should be seen less with them and tells Dominick to get out of the their locker room. Balor starts to get fed up with Priest and say something until Dominick tells Finn that it's okay and that that's the best coarse of action to take to convince Liv and then leaves. Balor is not pleased with this and leaves to focus on his match. Later that night, JD gets squashed by Braun Strowman who continues to add additional damage after the match, but right before he can send JD through the announce table, Strowman is attacked by Uncle Howdy and the Wyatt 6 faction (they begin their feud as they are also revealed to be the ones who attacked Strowman last week). For the rest of this part of the build, Balor picks up momentum, winning his matches leading up to the ppv while there continues to be tension and distrust within the Judgement Day.
• On Liv's side of this booking, she has a mini feud with a returning Raquel Gonzales (as she will not be defending at this ppv) and they'll face off for the Women's World Title at point on Monday Night RAW, to which Liv will retain (again, thanks to Dominick interference as now they are a pairing...for now). Lyra Valkaria will feud with Iyo Sky with the winner of their match being the number one contender for the Women's World title at Bash in Berlin. Lyra will win that match clean against Iyo (and there will be further cracks forming within Damage CTRL). That program build will begin after Money in the Bank. Throughout the build we see both Liv and Dominick build chemistry but it's not hitting at first, it's clear that Dom's chemistry with Liv is not the same as it is with Rhea but Dominick continues to go along with it. Liv continues to persist and uses Dominick to her advantage in matches and feuds. Meanwhile, during an in-ring interview segment with Lyra Valkaria, Dominick comes out to interrupt but Valkaria doesn't give him the opportunity to speak, saying that he is a snake for what he has done throughout his career but is showing his true colors now, aligning with Liv Morgan fully. Valkaria says that he will be a champion that RAW can be proud of and represent RAW proudly, not needing to manipulate others to do her dirty work. Liv comes out and says that the shame that Becky felt when losing to her will be nothing compared to the shame Lyra will bring to her own name, knowing that her best is not enough to beat the best in the world (Liv Morgan). They brawl and Lyra nearly hits her finish but Liv just narrowly escapes.

Money in the Bank 2024:

• Money in the Bank match: Jey Uso def. Logan Paul, LA Knight, Ilja Dragunov, Carmelo Hayes, Bron Breaker, and Finn Balor
  • Right before the match, Finn Balor and Damian Priest have a moment backstage where there is tension but Priest wishes Balor good luck and to bring the briefcase to the Judgment Day, Balor nods and makes his entrance. This match is just chaos as everyone gets their moment to shine. In the final stretch of the match, Bron Breaker spears Logan Paul, then he spears LA Knight, he spears Jey Uso out of the air, he rolls to the outside and spears Finn Balor through the barricade, he comes back into the ring after seeing Hayes climb the ladder and try to grab the briefcase and pushes the ladder, sending Hayes flying and going through a few tables to the outside (Carmelo is done for the match). Bron then goes for a spear to Ilja but its countered as Dragunov hits his Flying Moscow running headbutt. Desperate to take Bron out of the equation, Dragunov lays Bron over the announce table and hits H-Bomb off the ladder and through the table. Bron is out of the equation. Ilja slowly rolls back in the ring and on his last legs tries to start climbing a ladder but is laid out by a shot with the brass knucks by Logan Paul. Logan starts to climb the ladder but LA Knight follows as they go blow for blow, Logan stumbles and before LA Knight can grab the briefcase, Waller and Theory pull Knight off the ladder and hit him with a double team move. Jey Uso spears both Waller and Theory. Uso and Paul start to climb the ladder until Finn Balor slowly enters the ring again with a chair and cracks each of them once with the chair to the spine (this causes Uso to fall back to the ring while Paul remains on the ladder. Balor (who is also on his last legs) goes for another swing to Jey but Jey counters with a superkick to Finn, sending him to the floor. Jey begins to climb the ladder and brawl with Logan Paul at the top of the ladder. Jey Uso eventually is able to pull down the briefcase and win the match, last knocking Logan Paul off the ladder.

(It's not related to this booking, but the women's mitb includes: Tiffany Stratton, Bianca Belair, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai, Zelina Vega, Chelsea Green, and Naomi. The winner of this match is Tiffany Stratton)
The Build to Bash in Berlin 2024:

• We begin our Bash in Berlin build with a segment where the Judgement Day have an open forum to air out any grievances against each other, and it goes from respectful to digs being taken against each other, especially between Priest and Balor. Balor talks about Priest tried to be a leader in a group that was designed to not have a leader and Priest has been self-centered. Priest admits that he has been self-centered and hasn't been the best teammate but only wanted to prove himself that he belongs on the top of the card and wanted to prove that to Judgement Day. Balor makes a dig that Priest proved that when it comes time to sink or swim, he sinks. Priest is annoyed by this and says that if he sank, then what has Balor done before what he did? Carlito comes out (after having lost to the LWO at this point) and threatens to reveal Dom's secret. Before he can, the Judgement Day finally show some unity and defend Dominick. Priest challenges Carlito to a match and it's official. After Priest destroys him, Carlito again, tries to speak into the mic. The Judgement Day (including Dominick Mysterio who hasn't been seen with Judgement Day for a while) come back in the ring until the lights go out, and when they come back on, they are all attacked by The Wyatt 6, who destroy them. Carlito and JD McDonagh get the worst of the beatdown and are written off TV for a bit. The next week, the Judgement Day are looking for members of the Wyatt 6 but during those searches we see QR Codes that lead you to personal conversations from each member of the Judgement Day bad mouthing a someone within the group. The next week, there is a segment in the ring where Damian Priest, Finn Balor, and Dominick Mysterio are in the ring and they call out Uncle Howdy and his group. Priest starts things off saying that he wants to actually thank Uncle Howdy for bringing the Judgement Day closer than they've been in months and that they will expose this "family" at Bash. Balor says that they have awoken something within him when they threatened him and the rest of Judgement Day, and he will make them pay for that. Dominick attempts to say something until all of the sudden, you see on the titantron (in classic Wyatt Family style) Uncle Howdy, who says that The Judgement Day pretending to be a family is a joke while they (Wyatt 6) are a true family that looks out for each other when the Judgement Day looks out for themselves. Howdy says that the Judgement Day's foundation is built on lies and manipulation while Howdy loves his family and will not only show that at Bash in Berlin, but right now. All of the sudden, you see a giant QR Code show up on the screen which will immediately transition into a video that begins to play of Liv Morgan and Dominick Mysterio backstage where Dominick is infatuated with Liv, saying that he will do everything he can to make sure she stays Women's World Champion. He then begins to talk trash about each member of the Judgement Day, and even says something bad about Rhea Ripley. Liv is delighted by this and calls him his Latino Heat while Dominick calls her "Mami". The video fades to black and Finn and Damian look FURIOUS with Dominick, who is trying to explain himself but before he can, all three men are attacked by Erick Rowan, Joe Gacy, and Dexter Lumis. Uncle Howdy slowly makes his way to the ring and picks up the pieces, hitting Sister Abigail to Damian (who is the last one standing and tries his best to fight back) and stands tall as Uncle Howdy, Dexter Lumis, Erick Rowan, and Joe Gacy stand tall. On the final show, we see Uncle Howdy specifically target Finn Balor, telling him (on a television monitor backstage) that he knows there is a Demon within him that has been building and feeding off of hate. Howdy says that he knows that demon wants to come out, and tells him to "Let the Demon out, Finn. I know you want to". Finn smashes the monitor and heads straight to the ring, demanding to see Uncle Howdy. Damian Priest comes out to try to calm Balor down but then they are jumped by Gacy, Lumis, and Rowan. Dominick eventually comes down with a chair (seemingly siding with the Judgement Day and still wanting to make up) and the Judgement Day are able to shortly get the upper hand until Lumis, Rowan, and Gacy are called back by Uncle Howdy. Balor is still furious and wants Howdy's head but when Priest again tries to calm Balor down, Balor turns around and decks Priest with a punch. Balor is stunned, thinking it was someone else as all three Judgement Day members stare at each other. Balor leaves. Mysterio tries to talk to them backstage but Priest tells him that he can be in the match to make it a 3-on-3 match but that they do not trust him.
• For Liv Morgan's build with Lyra Valkaria, Lyra focuses on getting payback on Liv for Becky and finally will get an opportunity to go 1-on-1 with her. Liv says that Lyra isn't ready to take on the mantle of world champion while Lyra says that she always has been, and won't need anyone else's help to do it. Also, during this build, we see the chemistry between Dominick and Liv build, now it seems like Dom is all for Liv Morgan and Liv is playing him like a fiddle. However, once Uncle Howdy reveals that conversation between the two, it halts what we see between the two for now as Dominick is spending more time trying to get under the good graces of Judgement Day. The rest of the build focuses on Liv trying to get the upper hand and attack Lyra, but Lyra is always ready for Liv and has a counter for all of her plans. Dominick is a wild card though as it is now a question how much involvement he will have with Liv for htis upcoming match. If he is involved, will Liv is able to take advantage and capitalize? If not, what will the strategy be for Liv? One segment, Liv targets the knee of Valkaria and injures her, putting her at a disadvantage leading up to the ppv. On the go-home show, they have a contract signing and Lyra puts Liv through the table after Liv tries to get the upper hand one last time before the ppv but it massively backfires.

Bash in Berlin 2024:

• Wyatt 6 (Uncle Howdy, Dexter Lumis, and Joe Gacy) def. The Judgement Day (Damien Priest, Finn Balor, and Dominick Mysterio) (Berlin Street Fight)
  • The biggest theme of this match is that Uncle Howdy's team works like a family, they have trust, and work together like a solid unit while The Judgement Day have a lot of mistrust, wrestling more as individuals rather than a team and not working together (I'd also have it to where Balor and Priest BARELY ever tag in Dominick. Storyline wise this can be because that they trust him the least but also this is to protect him in case he is still not able to compete because of his injury). There are moments where Judgement Day fight together and when they are on the same page, they start to get in control and put the team of Uncle Howdy in serious trouble. However, there is crucial error as after Damien Priest is destroying everyone, he gets poison misted by Uncle Howdy after he attempts Razor's Edge to Joe Gacy. Balor self tags in and hits a few slingblades to Gacy and then to Lumis followed by a shotgun dropkick to the corner that also knocks Howdy to the outside momentarily. Finn Balor attempts Coup De Grace but when Gacy moves out of the way, Balor accidentally runs into the blinded Priest who immediately grabs Balor around the throat and hits him with his South of Heaven Chokeslam (commentary puts over that Priest had no idea that was Balor since he is blinded). Uncle Howdy is tagged in and takes out Priest, leaving Balor all alone in the ring. Dominick Mysterio, who sees the writing on the wall as the whole Wyatt 6 is watching on the apron, runs away through the crowd, abandoning his partners to be picked apart. Uncle Howdy picks up the win for his team after hitting Balor with Sister Abigail and pinning him.
• WWE Women's World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) def. Lyra Valkaria
  • Liv Morgan is all alone for this match as Dominick Mysterio has seemingly fled the building following his 6-man tag match with the Wyatt 6 faction.These two have a back and forth match as this is designed to be a showcase for Lyra, who comes very close to winning and hits all of her best moves (except for her finisher, which Liv is trying to avoid at all costs). Liv at one point tries to leave the match and accept a count out loss to retain but Lyra stops her from doing so. At another point, Lyra again goes for her finish but Liv rakes the eyes and hits a codebreaker for a close 2-count. In the end, as Lyra goes for her finish, but her knee gives way, Liv Morgan is able to hit a codebreaker and then hits ObLIVion to pick up the win and retain her championship.
    • Post-Match: Liv holds her Women’s World Championship in the air in celebration and then all of the sudden you hear the theme song of Rhea Ripley play (“This is my brutality!”). Liv’s expression changes, going from happy in celebration to one of worry. Rhea Ripley RETURNS and comes out to head straight to the ring, looking to brawl with Liv but before she can get her hands on her, Liv exits the ring and leaves through the crowd. Rhea signals that she is coming for the title, looking fired up and looking for revenge against Liv.

The Build to Summerslam 2024:

• The night after Bash, we open the show with the returning Rhea Ripley, who comes out solo for this promo. Rhea starts off by saying "Mami's home". Rhea talks about how torturous the last few months have been because of her injury, seeing the Judgement Day falling apart, and seeing Liv Morgan try to snatch up her "Dom Dom" and claim her "Latino Heat" as her own. Rhea says that she'll deal with those final two points later but with Liv, she wants to focus on getting payback for putting her on the shelf and taking her World Championship. Rhea puts Liv on notice that no matter where she runs and hides, Mami is coming back for her gold. Liv Morgan comes out and tells Rhea Ripley that she has taken everything away from her, she's taken her man, destroyed her group from within, and has taken her Championship. Morgan continues by saying that if Rhea really wants to experience that heartbreak all over again, Liv has no problem taking her on. The match is made official for Summerslam. However, when Liv gets a little too confident and gets inside the ring, Rhea immediately starts to brawl with her and is beating the hell out of her. Rhea looks to hit Liv Morgan with the title, but Dominick comes out and gets in between them. This gives Liv enough time to get away. Rhea is furious with Dominick (who is very visibly conflicted about what he has done and whose side he's on) and decks him with a punch before leaving. Backstage, Rhea is screaming at Dominick, and wants an explanation to who's side is he on? Priest comes out and tries to calm down Rhea, and then tells Dominick that next week, they want answers. Balor tries to get an explanation from Priest on why he attacked him at Bash in Berlin. Priest quickly says that he didn't mean to and that he'll explain more later because they need to focus on this situation first. Balor doesn't look happy about this and leaves.
• The next week, we have an advertised segment that involves the Judgement Day that says something like "The trial of Dominick Mysterio or Dominick's Judgement Day" (or something much better than that). We have all members of the Judgement Day out in the ring and it looks as if Damien Priest and Rhea are leading this segment. When we get to the segment, Dominick Mysterio comes out first, separate from the rest of the Judgement Day (Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest, Finn Balor, and a returning JD McDonagh) who later get their own entrance. Damian leads this segment as he allows Balor, Rhea, and himself to present Dominick's crimes against the Judgement Day and will allow Dominick to defend himself in the end. Dominick tries to explain that he loves the Judgement Day, as they saved him from a horrible family and made him a bigger star than ever before. He says he would never betray them. Rhea and Damian point out all the actions that Dominick has done recently to prove otherwise. Before we can get a verdict, Balor finally speaks up and thinks Priest should be questioned too over all of the things he has done over the last few months. Priest tries to say that they can address this after but Balor is furious and lets all of his frustrations out. He tells Rhea that the Judgement Day is in the state that it is in right now because Damian is a failure, and while he does blame Dominick for a lot of things, Priest is the one that has actually damaged the Judgement Day. When Rhea and Damian fire up and seemingly shut Balor down, before they can continue on, Balor finally snaps and attacks Damian Priest! Balor is vicious with his assault and Priest tries to defend himself. They have to be separated by security. Meanwhile in the ring, as Rhea is distracted, yelling at Balor to stop, Liv Morgan comes out and attacks Rhea Ripley (Dominick is stunned and doing nothing but just watching). Liv has Rhea in a fujiwara armbar, targeting the previous injured shouder of Rhea Ripley. It looks as if Liv is going to injure Rhea again until security breaks them up too. Dominick is too stunned to speak
• To summarize the rest of the build, Balor cuts vignette promos explaining that Uncle Howdy was right about his demon wanting to come back out, and that he has had a lot of hate stored up. He shares that his hate is for Priest after everything that has happened and now, he will finally let those demons out and hurt Priest badly. Priest says that if Finn feels that he needs to fight him to let those frustrations out, then he will let Finn have the chance. Priest also warns him to not think of him as his own punching bag, and that Priest will bring the fight right back to Balor. Priest also emphasizes that he hopes after this, the Judgement Day can thrive together again. For Liv and Rhea, they are continuosuly at each other's throats and have to be separated every time they are together. On the go-home show, after attacking Rhea after her match, Liv tries to attack with a chair but Dominick steps in between her and Rhea! (He makes it appear that he has made his choice and that he sides with Rhea Ripley). Rhea lays Liv out with Riptide and her and Dominick embrace (but dominick looks at Liv, with unsure eyes. Not knowing if he made the right decision).

Summerslam 2024:

• Finn Balor def. Damian Priest (No Holds Barred)
  • Damian Priest looks like he is ready for war when he comes out. However, Balor enters in as "The Demon", who also looks to have the worst intentions in mind. After an absolute war, Balor pins Priest. Post-match, Damian gets back to his feet very slowly, looking into the eyes of "The Demon", holding onto Balor as he tries to get back to his feet. Before Priest can stand up fully, JD enters the ring from behind and hits the back of Priest's knee with a pipe. The two men beat Priest down putting the boots to him, stomping away. JD goes outside and brings a chair into the ring as Balor climbs to the top rope but Priest tries to fight back. Priest lays JD out but Balor targets the leg again and hits Priest in the back with the chair. JD traps Priest's leg in the chair and Balor hits the Coup De Grace onto the chair. Priest's leg is seriously injured and Balor still looks intense as JD yells at Priest, talking trash. The two men leave together as Priest is tended to by medical personnel. Backstage, Rhea is screaming at both JD and Balor, demanding an explanation. JD says something smart and gets punched in the face. She then gets in The Demon's face, as nothing is said between the two as it's a tense encounter. Balor just leaves. Dominick comes into frame and Rhea asks Dominick if he knew about this, to which he just says no. Rhea tells Dominick to stay behind during her match and check on Damian. Dom looks to protest but decides against it, and says "Okay Mami, whatever you say". Rhea storms out of frame and we see Damian being helped onto an ambulance, Dom goes in a different direction off-screen.
• WWE Women's World Championship: Liv Morgan (c) def. Rhea Ripley
  • The crowd LOVES Mami. Rhea is aggressive from the jump, trying to brawl with Liv from the get-go. Rhea takes the first chunk of the match, showing her dominance and showing why she was the champion. Liv uses dirty tricks to get ahead and take control back in the match. Liv starts to target the shoulder of Rhea, showing her vicious side. From that point on it's a back and forth match with both women having moments of nearly winning the match. Liv at one point, puts Rhea in the Fujiwara Armbar, and has it for a solid while, doing damage to Rhea as she screams in pain. Rhea is able to get to the ropes. At another point in the match, after raking her eyes behind the ref's back, Liv hits her finish, ObLIVion and goes for the pin. 1...2... Rhea kicks out at 2.9. Liv goes for the Fujiwara Armbar again but it's countered into the Riptide, but Rhea can't go for the cover right away as she grabs her arm, selling the damage that Liv has inflicted. Rhea goes for the pin, 1...2... Liv puts her foot on the bottom rope to break the pin attempt. As the two trade strikes as the get to their feet, Rhea goes for a big boot but hits the ref instead after Liv dodges out of the way, causing a ref bumb. Liv hits her codebreaker and as Rhea stumbles backwards, she rebounds off the ropes and hits Liv with a lariat and both are down on the mat. All of the sudden, Dominick comes down to the ring with a steel chair in hand, Rhea (who on one hand wanted Dominick to stay out of this) is happy to see him, and tells Dom to give her the steel chair. Dominic pauses for a moment, and then slides the chair into the ring... but not towards Rhea... but directly to Liv Morgan. Rhea looks heartbroken, almost in tears, knowing that this wasn't a mistake. Rhea asks Dom, "why?", as she starts to get to her feet. Dom just says "I'm sorry, Mami", and as Rhea gets to her feet and turns around, Liv throws the chair into Rhea's face and then hits obLIVion onto the chair. The ref is now conscious again, and slowly counts the pin, 1...2...3. Liv has retained the Women's World Championship. The final shot, is Dominick, leaving by Liv's side as she smiles and lifts her championship in the air and Dom smiles when he looks at her, but when he looks back at Rhea, he can't meet her gaze as Rhea looks absolutely crushed.

And I would have that Liv and Rhea match be the final nail in the coffin for the Judgement Day, as now they are all broken up and on separate paths (though of course for some, their story with each other will not quite end here).
The End.
What did you think? Did you like it? Did you dislike it? What did you like or dislike about it specifically? How would you do it? Let me know

SYNOPSIS: Walking your OP monster girlfriend home is easy. No one messes with you. Getting back to your house on your own? That's the tricky part.
In the deepest darkness, Norman is alone. Well, not quite alone. Some things are in there with him.
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Norman was intimately familiar with the dark. He’d run and battled his way home beneath moonless skies shrouded by clouds more times than he could … okay, no, he could count them. Sometimes, his oxygen-drunk brain’s photographic memory seemed to turn him square. In any event, within the eyescraper was a darkness he had never known. It was cold, heavy, almost thick enough to touch, taste and smell. Well, maybe the smell had something to do with walking through the humid innards of an eyescraper. The air almost felt like liquid. The worst part? He knew what the dark was.
He knew there was no escape.
However, he also knew what a human was. They created possibilities where there were none. If there wasn’t a way out, he’d make one … and maybe get a few licks into the ‘rasta vampire’ who wrecked his smitelight.
Speaking of which, where was that guy?
John Crow might be right there, sneering over his shoulder. Or not. In this kind of darkness, who could know? Nonetheless, being unable to locate his eldritch tour guide give Norman the chance to examine his surroundings.
The nightsight didn’t need much. Just starlight, or maybe ambient luminosity from brighter regions of the city in the distance. It could even pick up moonlight filtered through the clouds, but in here? He could see maybe a few feet of shadowy shapes before the void claimed all. Infrared and other exotic settings didn’t fare much better. There was a way to get more light, but Norman was saving that, just in case. It wouldn’t do to trigger an attack from whatever lurked in the dark when he wasn’t ready to hit back. With his backpack snatched away by unseen forces the moment he entered the building, his options were limited.
Norman looked down. Even through his shoes, the ground had felt soft … no … squishy. At first glance, it seemed he was standing on a twist carpet. Upon closer inspection, there were no, thick, twisting strings of shaggy fluff. Instead?
Villi.
Maybe not quite, but they sure looked like villi. The finger-like protrusions of flesh wiggled at his shoes as though tasting them. He wondered what would happen if he wasn’t wearing prowlers.
Norman caught movement at the side of his eye.
He turned to look, not too quickly, not too slowly. The vaguest silhouettes stood before what vaguely appeared to be a window. At least he could see that much now. Stubby silhouettes, like The Neighbourhood Watchman. Not as stocky, but strong enough to pinch a penny in half between their greedy, grubby fingers.
They seemed to be staring at him, talking amongst themselves, but he couldn’t hear them. It appeared that they could see him. His nightsight was supposed to be better than nyctal vision. Maybe the darkness he experienced was specifically for him, like a one-way mirror.
Wait, they were pointing. Based on the rhythmic movement of their torsos … were they laughing at him!?!
Okay, it was officially Amy Time, except Norman had already tried to message her a dozen times. With tech like the nightsight? Of course he’d give it smartphone capabilities. In fact, its O.S. was based on open-source code from Golden Apple’s earlier days, adapted and updated with his own personal software.
Only, it wasn’t working.

__CHAT

• ARN74: WHY AREN’T YOU TRYING TO MESSAGE AMY!?! YOU OBVIOUSLY NEED HER HELP! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DIFFERENT!

Norman grimaced. Why did that troll of all people have to share his thought process?

__CHAT

• LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: Why aren’t you out there helping him?
• ARN74: SHUT UP! Norman i KNOW you’re the type of egghead to install smartphone abilities into the nightsight just because! MESSAGE HER ALREADY!!!

Norman didn’t spare that girl the dignity of a reply. Also, who knew what would happen if he opened his mouth here? He didn’t really have to. The nightsight would interpret what he wanted to say. He could answer her … but he wouldn’t. He was sassy like that.

__CHAT

• INQU!SIT_R: what if he can’t contact her? like, something’s blocking the signal?

Norman grinned. How astute!

__CHAT

• NORMAN: Take notes, ARN74! SOMEONE was using their brain!
• ARN74: joke’s on you, dum boi! i don’t have a brain anymore ☺!
• LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: Which explains sooo much.
• ARN74: Apt 3, #12, Casuarina Street
• LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: Shutting up now.
• ARN74: i’ll be seeing you late at night when you’re half asleep and ripe for the picking 😋
• LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: Can we do this later? I’d rather test my nova bombs after finding out how Norman lives or dies.
• NORMAN: I’m not some fictional character.
• LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: You act like one tho.
• NORMAN: 😒 Anyway, by ‘nova bombs’, he means ‘light-emitting weapons guaranteed to kill all nyctals in the area’. I installed them myself 😊. What I’m trying to say is please don’t attack him. Lemmy’s a “One last hurrah, I’M TAKING YOU ALL DOWN WITH ME!” kind of guy.
• NORMAN: Also, he’s filthy stinkin’ rich, my best cash cow! I pamper my Amy like the absolute queen she is, so if you mess with my cash flow, I’m comin’ for you myself 😡.
• ARN74: 😳
• ARN74: 🙄 hey, uh, if you don’t die or things go bad with Amy, can i have you?
• I’M-JUST-’IM: wait, she found that attractive???
• LEMMY_OUTA_HERE: Nyctalcore, remember?
• ATTACK-OTAKU: I’M STILL HERE, INCREDIBLY SINGLE AND ALSO FILTHY STINKIN’ RICH!!! I’LL TREAT YOU LIKE A QUEEN AND TALK BACK AS MUCH AS YOU WANT!!!
• ARN74: cope dude. i’m not interested. Norman, give us Amy’s number. i’ll call her
• NORMAN: I already tried that.
• ARN74: then try again
• NORMAN: Okay. It’s **-***.
• INQU!SIT_R: … did it just get censored?
• JOHN CROW: .̸̖̺̘̗̅̅͘Sorry, boys and girls. It’s impolite to give contacts without consent. Naughty, naughty, Norman..̵̘͔̏͌͑͠
• NORMAN: GET OUT OF MY CHAT YOU ASHY-SKINNED EXCUSE FOR A BOB MARLEY S.C.P.!
• JOHN CROW: .̴̥̰̙͐͛͒̇͜Now you’ve gone and hurt my feelings 😥. Too much internet’s a bad influence on you kids. Yoink..̵̮͇͓̓

Something plucked Norman’s nightsight from his face, demoting him from mostly blind to completely blind.
Finally, a new sound reached the edge of his hearing: the laughter of landlords.
Norman resisted the urge to throw hands like a brute. All that would do was get him punching air, only to fall on his behind and possibly get digested by the twisted carpet. He could play his cards early, but what would that get him? That escape plan was still pending.
And now, there was something panting up behind him like a mutt.
\HUFF! HUNPH! HUMPH!\**
Okay, time to hustle. Quick, shuffling steps carried him forward, not so fast as to crash into something, and not so slow as to get caught by whatever sloppy beast- oh, who was he kidding? That thing could probably outrun a man on the best of days. It was possible to trip and fall at a slow speed anyway.
He could very clearly hear the laughter now. It had gotten louder.
Norman bit back his primal thirst for sweet vindication as he hustled a little faster. The pants continued to close in.
He spotted sinuous lights slithering through the dark on what appeared to be a tall humanoid figure. They looked like the bioluminescent tattoo-type markings on John Crow. Norman sprinted towards them. He'd pick Mr. Affably Evil over whatever was breathing down his neck any day.
The panting thing accelerated.
A pale, hazy aura silhouetted John Crows massive dreadlocks. They spread out like the tentacles of an eldritch beast poised to pounce. Somehow, even in the dark, Norman saw his razor-toothed grin and the beady whites of his eyes.
John Crow’s dreadlocks sprang forth, racing past Norman and chilling the air around him. Norman heard an anguished wail as they struck the creature behind him. Its heavy form collapsed into the twisted carpet with a squelch.
Norman slipped into the small, ill-shaped room beside John Crow. Those dreadlocks cast only enough light for him to do that. The jerk, making him eat out of his hands! Norman dug his fists deep into his pockets, grumbling grumpy nothings.
John Crow let loose an ugly laugh. “.̵̢̠̪̓̈́͝Apologies for the theatrics, Norman. That filthy beast was getting uppity anyway. Besides, Dread here likes dinner and a show … Hmm … he likes you as well..̷̰̠̳́́͒”
An ice-cold dreadlock slithered across Norman’s chin. He ignored it. ‘Don’t feed the trolls,’ they always say.
Norman gave him a once-over. The nyctal was wearing his nightsight now, for the lulz apparently. John Crow gestured. Norman recognised the hand movements as augmented reality commands. Somehow, John Crow knew how to turn down the nightsight’s brightness so that the screen didn’t aggravate his light sensitivity. He was probably tweaking it a bit more to his liking.
Norman glanced about. He knew the room was small, but this was ridiculous. With that fleshy décor, it could almost pass for an organ. He spotted evenly spaced tumours on the wall, with numbers on their surfaces. Was this an elevator?
John Crow pressed the top floor button. It didn’t click, but squished. Thick membranes like vocal cords closed at the entrance: what passed for a door. Thin flagella locked into pores on either side to seal it shut. Norman felt the elevator ascend with a wet, sucking noise. He didn’t remember the landlords having this kind of stuff.
“.̵̡̪̫̿̀How do you like my inventions?.̴͎̟͒͠” asked John Crow. “.̶͈̲̣̎̾̿͐You wouldn’t believe how hard it is, getting this thing to grow an organic elevator. Grafting in the necessary organs was the trickiest part. You have it easy, working with rigid, inorganic materials that don’t outgrow their designated slots, but hey, when in Rome? You craft as the Romans do.”
So, this guy was an engineer too, on the borderline abominable end of the spectrum? Norman looked at him. Was that a flicker of kinship he felt between himself and the nyctal? Hard nope. He squashed that feeling like a bug.
Then, Norman heard it.
The sound seemed to come from a vibrating organ on the roof that reminded him of tripe, folded like the baleen of a whale. Hang on, was this supposed to be music?
If he strained his ears, he could make out the iconic song. The voice was wrong, though, if that could even be called a ‘voice’. It sounded like it was sung by an otherworldly entity. John Crow confirmed the song’s identity as he swayed to the the vibes, soaking them in with the utmost delight.
“.̶̡̠̪̥́̕… ‘Cause every likkle thing, is gonna be alright,.̴̥͚͈̣̓” John Crow sang along.
Norman side-eyed the guy. Was this for real? It seemed he’d been on point about the Bob Marley wannabe comment. He had no words for this level of cringe.
John Crow glanced at him and stiffened. The eldritch music-player stopped. Deathly cold crept into the air more than ever before. In the tense silence, the only sound was the sucking of the rising elevator.
John Crow spoke, his voice low and lethal. “.̷͒ͅ.̷̝̼̓̽.̶̣̓̌̋Norman .̴̖͇͌ͅ..̵̟͔̗̿ I understand that you are an uncultured swine.̵̨̹̹̞̎ However, this music is a gift from .̷̺̝̝̎́͋̚.̵̢̭͊̏́The Great One.̷̜͓͆ You WILL pay him the appropriate respect.̸̺̄̋̌.̵̬͒͊͋.̷͇̳̈́̏̾”
Norman couldn’t tell if ‘The Great One’ was Bob Marley or something else. Another question bubbled up. He shouldn’t ask. His lips twitched. He absolutely shouldn’t ask, but ohhhh his big mouth. The burgeoning force behind it couldn’t be tamed.
“… Or what?” he finally asked, simpering like a troll.
John Crow’s dreadlocks spread like serpents rearing to strike.
.

.................................. Five seconds later ..................................

.
“‘Cause every little thing, is gonna be alright,” Norman sang as he vibed to the beat with John Crow.
The elevator door peeled itself open. At least the new room was slightly brighter than the last. He could vaguely make out pouring rain beyond the windows. Nevertheless, most of the room belonged to the shadows. Norman had the bare minimum light necessary to see where he was going, and what, he presumed, John Crow wanted him to see.
The tall nyctal sauntered up to an easy chair. Scaled to his size, it almost looked to be a throne. Norman wasn’t surprised when it squirmed beneath his weight, because of course it was alive. John Crow reclined into it, frowning at his clawed feet.
He clapped twice.
A landlord skittered up to him and got down on hands and knees. John Crow sighed with relief as he rested his heels atop the landlord like a footstool. The smaller nyctal gnashed his teeth but, upon seeing Norman staring, he kept his displeasure to himself.
Norman raised an eyebrow before returning his attention to John Crow.
“So, how’d you get the landlords at your beck and call?” asked Norman. “They’re not big on outsiders.”
John Crow shrugged. “.̸̧͂̋̋They’re desperate. Their pride is on life-support. This little guy was their head of security, but he didn’t security hard enough, ain’t that right boy?.̴̱͉̝̆͒͠”
The sound of a landlord’s teeth grinding filled the room. He muttered something about what he’d do if he still had his key chain. John Crow’s toe bent at an unnatural angle to tap him with a claw. The landlord got real quiet after that.
“.̶̝̈̂Anyway, they hired me to pick up the slack..̴̡̝̫̌͘̕͝ͅ” John Crow continued. “Solve their problems for them. Their … .̸͙̦̹͐͜Amy-shaped problems..̴̻̮̬͇͌̇”
Norman turned up his lip with the utmost disdain. There sat John Crow, stippling his fingers as though he were the Premier League of big bads. That ignoramus had no idea. Few people did. Perhaps it was a given. Despite Amy’s public image as a ‘monster’, she didn’t act in a way that would tip them off. Who could know the truth? What Amy was, what she had always been?
Words burbled up inside Norman. His hand quavered. Impulse wrestled restraint. Impulse won. The hand rose. It stopped in line with John Crow. A finger stuck out, pointing at the nyctal.
Norman had assessed the situation. This guy wanted him alive, for now. John Crow was a self-controlled nyctal, which meant this wouldn’t be the death of him, probably. Norman’s lips parted. It was too late now.
“You ignorant dumb dumb!” he blurted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Become a free member on Patreon to read Part 16, 'Eat Crow', early! It will be released there today or tomorrow. For the visual 'mood writing' version (previously called 'artitext') and more Caribbean sci-fi, become a paid member for only $3! See links in comments.
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After last night I have seen (sometimes multiple times) every show of the 2023-2024 season.
I also happen to be a voter for Theatre awards in NYC (probably one of the ones you're thinking of). So please AMA* is you have any burning thoughts about my thoughts or the process.
*the spirit of the voting is it is anonymous so I will not share any identifying info on how I got this privilege. You can believe me or not- it's Reddit after all! Honor system. But I appreciate the space to get my thoughts out, outside of the bubble of my circle.
*i also won't explicitly say what i am voting for, again for the spirit of anonymity, but will share my thoughts about my favorites.
*The tickets are complimentary as gifts from the Producers of the shows themselves. However, all the opinions are my own I am frankly, more critical due to the fact that I *didn't* invest my money and want to make myself find justification for that expense.
*I will stick to only Broadway productions as the off bway world will add another few dozens of pages.
Some people in this particular group who get this privilege are artists who view the show through the lens of artistry and personal opinion. Some are business people who view things as a business strategy and tool for continuing to fund the business that is show. Some are in between. I think you'll see how I look at the shows, and know that my opinion is just one of many and in no way indicative of trends or "word around town."
Overall thoughts and takeaways of the season:
First the Good: The Plays.
This was a very exciting years for the straight plays. A lot of incredible work, and a lot of money invested into plays that typically isn't seen (i LOVE LOVE LOVE to see plays that mic their actors. and multiple did this year which warmed my heart- investing where it's deserved.) I hope to see this trend continue for plays, as we all know more attention and money get funneled towards the musicals and Plays deserve more.
Getting access to these shows has actually changed my views on Plays- I never paid them much attention unless I had colleagues in them or an actor I admired. Plays were really only a thing I studied quickly in school and moved on to musical theater- so my expertise was (and is) not there. However, due to getting to and being required to see all the eligible shows, my eyes and brain have been opened up to plays in a way I didn't know. It's still a learning curve- but I appreciate straight plays so much differently now, and regret never giving them the credence they deserved before.
The plays ranged from every corner of every genre, whereas in previous seasons it was incredibly drama heavy, so this season was incredibly refreshing to see such range of work. Comedy, dark comedy, drama, etc.
The standout for me this season was Jaja's African Braiding. That was the most captivating play I've seen it a long time. It was sincere, genuine, accurate and had a lot to say. It also was the perfect example of a BIPOC story being told genuinely- no hand holding or spoon feeding or pandering to non BIPOC audiences. I've always believed if we don't stop to breakdown the cultural complexities and nuances of non BIPOC stories (say Oklahoma!) BIPOC stories do not owe us that labor when they're being presented. To see genuine BIPOC stories and lives and communities onstage sharing sincere stories is a gift. Especially one SO well written and performed. TBH I could have watched the series of customers going in and out and the salon corps interacting for hours, even without the main conflict that arises later in the play. It was THAT engaging and heartening. I wish it was still running so I could see it again.
The other stand out was I Need That, which i know was snubbed and overlooked by awards season, which very much surprised me.
The script of that play is so well done- the character development is off the charts. I walked out of that show and had to find a corner to sob in for a moment. I don't know, maybe I identified with one of more character too much, maybe I was moved by the depiction of genuine male platonic love in a way we rarely see onstage, or maybe all of it just got to me, but the pathos that performance generated was off the charts. I was very disappointed to see it left out of any categories at all.
For the other side of it all- The plays that didn't do much for me this season were Uncle Vanya and Prayer For the French Republic. I think we've all read the reviews of Vanya and I don't need to reiterate- it wasn't for me, nor a lot of people in that audience who left at intermission. That cast is incredibly stacked and talented, and doing what they can with the material, which at is core is a classic Russian Play. Something that is not going to be a style of theatre for everyone. Prayer for the French republic was full of such beautiful performances and writing, but was an act too long IMO. The momentum was completely lost with the 2nd act and very hard to get back in the 3rd due to that. Maybe it's an attention span problem of the masses (myself included) but many people around us and fellow viewers I've compared notes with agreed.
Middle of the road- and I know i'll get hate for this- Stereophonic.
It's about 3-40 minutes too long, ironic with what they discuss in the final leg of the play (no spoilers). and though the music is sumptuous it concerns me that everyone walks away talking about the music and voices...which are wonderful of course...but this is not a musical. it's a play. As a voter i'm VERY aware of this and very aware of how people are not (even other voters)- they talk about it as if it is a musical, which is dangerous territory for decision makers. The music is a apart of the show yes, but it is not *the show* and looking at it through the lens of musical performance puts all the other performances and scripts of plays without music at a major disadvantage which worries me come Tony's night. I will say what this play made me REALLY want IS a musical (or musical movie) about the recording of Rumours and Fleetwood Mac produced one day. I know it probably won't happen, and the reason this play exists is to do just that without royalties or being sued, but it made me very much want to see the REAL story- not the thinly veiled workaround. I do think it's astounding the attention and hype the show has gotten, and some of the performances certainly deserve it, but alas I am not in the camp that understands *all* of the hype. I will say that the score, all 5(?) songs, are better than almost any of the new musicals this season in terms of composition, pastiche, and ESPECIALLY lyrics. I'm not sure if I can in good conscious say it's the *best* score since other shows are musicals with story driving scores of 15 plus songs...but my god was it refreshing to hear some mature, thoughtful music, with correct pastiche/motifs for the time period (or well Fleetwood Mac) and lyrics that were more complex than a rhyming dictionary.
Now for the (i won't say "bad" but rather, the surprise): the Musicals.
My first love. The Musicals.
and oh boy...this season was...full.
I cannot stop but thinking that this season was a clear example of the long ripple effect of what happens while creating art as a commodity in a capitalistic society. much less a capitalistic society after a tremendous shut down. The ripple effects from pre-Covid are evident here as well, but even more so is the reality of how much business goes into show- and the decisions that get made as a result. The reality is we've created a society of Art that isn't sustainable without large amounts of money, from every side, the productions, the audiences, and the artists themselves. And due to that, it has become more than a race to the bottom to figure out the formula to make that work- it's become, I don't know, insidious? Almost like a factory of work who's intention is to make profit above all else, and everything else suffers. So much so that a majority of the work this year felt rushed (because it was) and underbaked (because it was.) A handful of BEAUTIFUL EXPENSIVE boxes with BEAUTIFUL EXPENSIVE wrapping paper and finishes- but no gift inside. And I won't lie, it keeps me up at night knowing a large amount of people would take the pretty empty box over a brown paper bag with the most thoughtful and meaningful gift inside- over and over. This has been the case since the beginning of Broadway, but I think we see it in a way that's undeniable now. BC of high production costs and ticket costs there's a real sense of expectations that are nearly impossible to meet while checking all the boxes of artistic integrity AND commercialism.
With that heavy thought out of the way, I will say: some of the work this season was mind blowing. It wasn't all doom and gloom. The sheer AMOUNT of work we got to see is a gift- even if it just taught us about the work itself or the work the industry needs.
There are too many musicals this season to write about- so I will stick to a few sparknotes.
The absolute standouts to me were The Outsiders and Suffs.
I wanted to run backstage at The Outsiders and scream "YOU DID IT!" A la Buddy The Elf after the show with no shame. IMO they did it: they may very well have cracked the code of creating large scale commercial theatre, with known IP and mass market appeal BUT make it feel like a piece of high art, something introspective and downtown, and *real*. It proves spectacle can exist even in the nitty gritty, it can exist with substance, it can WOW without traditional "flash" AND respect the source material with integrity. The Rumble, the effects, that is all Spectacle. But it's spectacle done with heart, integrity, and it puts the ART and the storytelling first in a way that makes the audience feel like they are seeing something elevated and genuine. It excites me VERY much that this show broke through this year and what it may mean for shows to come who see it as an inspiration. The staging working alongside the choreography is by far some of the most brilliant, moving stagecraft and vision I have ever see. The music is fresh and smart, a welcome change for the great Broadway songbook as we try to push the artform forward, and overall in all aspects it checked every box I feel a lot of shows have tried, but really struggled, to check successfully since this race to the bottom has started.
Suffs- is genius. Not because it's the best show I have ever seen- but because on paper, it's not only a artistic mission well done, but a business plan that will keep that mission going and funded for years to come.
This show will continue running if not on Broadway or tour, but in Regional & community houses and schools for a very long time. It's the new "Little Women." There are more talented female identifying performers in this world than roles and opportunities, especially at the Regional and Community levels where they struggle to find Male presenting actors or enough roles to feature the talented rosters of women they have at their disposal. It's one of the reasons Little Women is so often produced. This show fills that need, and then some, and does it as a form of activism. These small regional houses, often in the parts of the country that need the message the most, will expose audiences to this work and if it even "radicalizes" one person or changes one person's mind- the work is done. Especially during this time- when women's rights are so fraught and the relevance to our work not being close to done: this show speaks so loudly and will inspire generations of both young men and women to come. In the bathroom at intermission I saw multiple grandmothers and mothers and daughters and granddaughters. One woman said out loud "I wonder what the men's room is talking about right now- I hope they feel like us, and bring their sons." and that was it. That is this show's mission in a nutshell- and it is succeeding. Activism through art is one of our biggest and oldest tools of expression- and seeing it in action was really profound. On top of the genius of what it is and will be on paper- it is one of the SMARTEST scores I've heard in recent years. Witty, introspective, moving, smart, clever and more- all done in a way that somehow melds modern pop sensibilities and turn of the century pastiche. It's genius. The lyrics are absolute literature and poetry and a lesson in story telling a lot of lyricists need to take a note from. They embody the idea of "feelings and emotions being too big they have to be sung" all while being incredibly thoughtful and truly TRULY moving. The lyrics to Keep Marching are an anthem to anyone fighting for the bigger picture- I found myself thinking about the line
"You'll rarely agree with whoever's in charge Keep marching, keep marching 'Cause your ancestors are all the proof you need That progress is possible, not guaranteed It will only be made if we keep marching, keep marching on"
It has swirled in my head for days and days and days. That is what theatre is supposed to do. Teach, empower, and inspire change. Shaina Taub should not be underestimated.
I also will always ALWAYS have a soft spot in my Heart for Here Lies Love. I could go on for days- but API stories are important. and this was one was groundbreaking and expertly done. I honestly have almost no critiques or notes on that production- it will always be a tragedy it could not find its footing with today's audiences and deserved so much more. I fear it'll dissuade people from telling these stories in the future- and I hope theatre makers know how worth the risk is to tell these stories for the sake of the people and the art.
as for the other side of the coin-
Video walls. I am not in support. I understand they are here to stay, if only for the cost cutting effects it has on Producer's pockets. But I am not, ever, impressed when video walls/projections *are* the set. They absolutely have their place in innovative ways to supplement an *actual* set, but not as the set. It simply feels no different than a cruise ship show who have been using these walls as sets for decades due to lack of space, or like we're looking at bad video game graphics from a cut scene- no matter how much work goes into them. I will always take a creative way to create a world over a .jpeg and this year unfortunately, I found myself in a lot of video game cut scenes. And I fear this will be the trend moving forward until the cyclical nature of theatre once again finds itself on a new cycle of minimalism.
If i learned one thing this season it's that THE BOOK MATTERS. The book is a thankless part of a musical- if you don't notice it, it's typically a good book. And WOW did I notice a lot of books this season. You cannot hide a bad book under big music, or special effects, or flashy costumes or impressive choreography or any of it. A musical is storytelling- and the book is the heart of that. It's a running joke that 'the book needs work' in all musicals of all time, and that may be true, but this season was another level of that. It was clear how rushed and underdeveloped a lot of these books were- in many cases shockingly so. And it felt often like the bookwriters were aware of this- opting to use the book simply as dialogue to move from song to song so you'd forget. But those of us paying attention did not forget. The books of musicals are often the most difficult parts to nail down, especially without the right time or team, and I think it was glaringly obvious this season how much attention future writers need to give to their book material. The audiences, critics and nominators have started taking notice- and it has to once again become a priority over high belts, star actors, big sets, and special effects.
I won't get into deep end with The Great Gatsby as so many others (including myself!) have on this thread because the opinions will always be what they are. But I will say- that was one of the most upsetting pieces of modern theatre I have ever seen. And not in a way that was intended. We have a serious problem when multiple people laugh at two very important deaths and when the bartenders in the lobby say "yeah, a lot of people come in at intermission laughing about how bad and cheesy it is." It is the epitome of the thoughts I explained earlier. And though I will always be supportive of shows that bring stable work to those in the community, I weep at what expense to the artform and what keeps it from pushing forward, for how it will encourages theater makers to make shows for profit instead of encouraging art to be made because of a burning desire to say something or explore something so strong it *has* to exist . And also for basic media literacy of very clear cut source material- The Green Light and La Dee Dah songs will live in infamy. I would argue that the lack of nominations could very well have been a deliberate choice, a choice I would have supported. but alas, only a few handfuls of people will know that truth.
Additionally- I was not the audience for Hell's Kitchen. I understand why the hype is as large as it is, and think the performers are doing some very transformative work to that music...but I am not one who found it as ground breaking as others. I do sense a lot of support for that show is based out of business strategy for future revenue on the literal road for Producers- and I cannot fault that in a world where butts need to be in seats and it's getting increasingly difficult to do so. This show will be a success on Broadway and on the Road regardless of Tony wins.
Middle of the Road: Cabaret. I will say this was the most engaging theatrical experience I had all year. They expertly handled THEMING in a way that rivals Disney parks (and that isn't an insult, it's a huge compliment to detail. This is a level of investment often overlooked and rarely duplicated well without looking cheesy or tacky or like a half baked Bar Mitzvah or wedding with a theme) The theming was transformative, and the show itself *beautiful*. I found it incredibly new in tone than previous productions, but I do understand people wanting more from it. I felt it was an incredibly nuanced look, especially for the female characters who often don't get that opportunity in this show. If more shows could find ways to invest in the engagement of the audiences and theming of theaters, I think you'd also see a large rise of audience satisfaction due to the sheer novelty and attention paid to it.
I'm incredibly privileged to get to see all these shows and be able to learn about theatre, and myself, in the process, especially since so many historically are excluded from that access. I do not take it lightly- which is why I *am* more critical, to me it's a responsibility to the artform and the future of it, while some others than are just happy to be there to experience the privilege, and that's okay too.
Happy to answer questions and always happy for an ear to share my thoughts outside of my theatre journal!
(There will absolutely be typos and grammatical errors here. Live and let live <3)

(Note: This is a reply from a post requesting Meridia war stories. I felt it might deserve its own post. Edited lightly for grammar and details.)
So, there we were: a squad of random Helldivers who had never met before and had exactly 1 previous mission together. We all decided to switch things up and leave Botsville for Meridia. More bug issues needing a good stomping, nothing we haven't done before. Besides, we were all solid bot-deleting spreaders of Democracy. How hard could a few extra bugs be?
Oh Pride, which came before our fall (or Democracy Dive in this case). Things started off easy enough. We had no clue how the mission progressed, so we just puttered about until we figured out the need to call down the drill and fill it up. Spawns were thick, but nothing we hadn’t dealt with before. We discovered the joy that is the Dark Liquid backpack right before the first drill landed and wasted yet more time jumping like fools. Then we started the first drill, and were introduced to Meridia’s dark, bug-filled heart. Or “Bugevelon Creek” as I call it now.
The first breach was tough, but manageable. Then the next… and the next… and the next. They just didn’t stop. At first, we held strong – my autocannon put in work and Eagle-1 racked up absurd kills with napalm strikes. But still, they kept coming! My Autocannon ran out of ammunition, exposing a flank. Then our other turrets fell to the oncoming horde. Cooldowns began and ammo ran low. Despite this, we held. Then suddenly, a bug breach ON the Dark Liquid Drill! We did our best, but the drill was destroyed.
The drill was broken, but not our resolve. Again, we called in the drill and started the long process of holding against the insectoid tide. At long last, we met with success and completed the drill. But what’s this? TWO MORE TO GO?! Sweet Liberty this was going to be a long mission! We fought on, bravely carving a path of Freedom through the never-ending horde of non-democratic filth. One Helldiver brough a Patriot Exosuit and used its weaponry to good effect, clearing the way to our last 2 drill objectives. Eventually though, he ran out of ammunition and bravely added himself to the Wall of Martyrs by baiting a bile titan into a 500kg Eagle strike.
Around this time, one of our squad members began acting.... weird. He would walk, then suddenly snap back a few meters, then run in place for several seconds. I tried to reach him over the radio and received no response - so I made the only available choice and informed my ship's Democracy Officer that we had a slacker in our midst. This was a hard call to make, as this Helldiver had been doing very well and working as a solid teammate. Shortly after that, he was removed from battle and our quartet became a trio.
Finally, the end of the mission. All 3 drills complete. A minor earthquake, but nothing we hadn’t seen before on countless other battlefields. Oh, how wrong we were. We stood in shock and awe (for our designated 2.7 seconds of “scenery enjoyment” time) as the skies darkened and the air filled with the foul flapping of uncountable shriekers. We ­barely made it to the extract point. More names were added to the Wall of Martyrs as we fell, one by one and were replaced by fresh Helldivers. Life expectancy for a new Helldiver could be comfortably measured in seconds. Milliseconds, if you wanted a double-digit number.
I managed to reach the extract beacon first. I was knocked off over and over again by the relentless beat of chitinous wings. Eventually, I was able to complete the extract code by chain-stimming my tattered body and performed my best Democracy Dive into a small depression to escape the shriekers. I rolled in all directions, shooting until my primary dry. My trusty flamethrower had long since ran out of Spicy Juice. Our reinforcements were completely gone. My squamates had all honorably completed their final, gravest service and it was down to me. As I crawled to a sheer rock face to make my final defiant stand, a beacon of hope came from the heavens: a fourth Helldiver had joined our team and brought with him fresh reinforcements and stratagems. The squad was quickly brought down and we formed a coherent unit around extract - clearing the way for our savior bird, Pelican 1. As the pelican landed, we all sprinted toward our only path out of this foul, bug-infested hell. Diving, shooting, throwing grenades and in the end, PUNCHING our way to the boarding ramp. By some miracle of pure Democracy, we all made it in time, with undemocratic mandibles snapping at our heels.
We all learned a lot that first day. We learned that the bug menace cannot be underestimated, as fierce are the foes of Managed Democracy. We also learned that there is still no task too hard, dangerous or brutal that it can't be done by the Helldivers.

With the recent Gwimbly episode out, I decided to review one of the classic platformers to see the light of Sun in the mid 90's. Everyone remembers the legacy of this game, but boy oh boy, nostalgia glasses sure compensate for some of the glaring issues that plague this title.
Precedents and Development:
"The magic Adventures of Gwimbly in Corn Land" is one of those Megadrive publicity games, such as M&Ms or The Noid video-game, this time from the Monsanto company. And the least said about this, the better. Left-to-right side scrolling, awful controls, repetitive and boring, it was deemed to be a forgotten artifact. But, by good fortune, it was one of the (allegedly) two games that series albanian creator Petulla Pulle had as a kid.
Petulla deserves an aside. Learning to code intuitively and implementing Risk on his Casio FX-81 at the age of 6, he is not the poor boy that media wanted us to belive. Coming from a well off family, when he arrived in the US he co-created Sweet Games (now Insane Groundbreaking Games) with his friend Zachary Taylor, and they started development on Gwimbly after acquiring the Licence from a gambling bet in a pub in New York. Although his reputation being ripped apart now by the abuse accusations and toxic working enviroment, Pulle was a popular figure among gamers in the late 90's and 00's, and his advancements in the field should be recognised.
So, basically a one man job, Gwimbly finished its development in just under 2 years and came out for the PSX in August 1996, just one month before Mario 64, which eclipsed the relevance of the first game in sales. Even so, it was the alternative for the Sony owners at the time looking for a collectathon platformer in the, then, new 3rd dimension. But growing pains show all over the game, as we'll see.
Graphics:
While not being bad, a lot of the 5th generation of consoles problems are present. Textures warp and wabble, popping is noticible even in small areas, and glitches are all over the place, specially after acquiring the triple jump.
What, then, has made that Gwimbly sticks to our memories? The character designs and animations, of course. All of them, from the little Cheddar Gobblin enemies of the first level until Count Groxya, without forgetting Mr. Millipede. Even little details, like Gwimbly's iddle animations, reflect care and dedication (unlike its sequels, but we'll talk about that later).
Sound and FX:
This must be the aspect of the game that stincks the most. The constant crackling and stuttering stuck into my ears as a kid, and it certainly has not gotten better as an adult. The howling made for some funny misunderstandings (the classic line "If I had my Gwimbly gun" was supposed to say "If I had some Sweet Corn", but it made for a good meme in the episode), but it was not good even for that time. And, worst of all, while not being at Gex levels, the constant repetition of lines and screams from Gwimbly got annoying real quick.
Music is nothing to write home about. The Corn Hills theme was catchy, but after the 100th time you got tired of it. The use of Theremin and Erhu instruments was more innovative than effective in the latter levels. Only the Menu Music has had some lasting effects, even musically referenced in the Celeste Soundtrack.
Gameplay:
Gwimbly is a short game, and I think that's a positive. With only 50 Corn Cans to collect, with four main levels, a central Hub and the last Can Count Castle, it didn't worn out its welcome with its 8-10 hour average run.
Nowadays, Gwimbly feels cluncky to control. The comitment you had to endure with some of the jumps is incredible, and the run and jump distance seems inconsistent. But, worst offender of all, the camera was not good. And who ever thought that recentering the camera with the X button was a good idea.
Levels:
- Silly-corn Valley: Everybody remembers the central Hub and tutorial level. Mr Millipede serves as our side kick, and the one who teach us how to jump, roll and make the Gwimbly Stimbly, all while staring us with his glassy eyes. You could skip its advices, and if you did not talk to him once it was recognised in the access to the final level, where he would ask you who you were.
- Icy Corn Flakes: a little fun snow level, the developers made the wise decission to not have icey controls (EDIT: it seems that it was programmed into the level, but it was badly implemented so you walked normally). The 10 Corn Cans here are not very difficult, and the Uni-Corn boss was cute.
- Corncob swamp: The swim level. Enough said.
- The Corn Maze: I still have nightmares from this level. Not by the theming or "spooky" music, but from the level design. The constant back-tracking, the Ghosts of Cornstmass Past and specially the, not one, but 2 Corn Cans that made you speedrun the maze almost made me quit the game more than once. In the second run of the maze, Pulle admitted that he put the least amount of time possible WITHOUT CONSIDERING the animation of the door opening, so it was literally no possible to get it unless you glitched through the invisible wall at the beginning.
- Corn Field of Lava: the amazing thing about this level is that, after activating the volcanoe, the entire level was transformed and filled with pop-corn. Be sure to grab the Can at the beginning of the level, after the jumping rocks, because it will not be possible to grab it after the level remodelling (probably by mistake).
- Can Count Castle: I wish I could say the best was reserved for last, but the tight platforming of this level was a frustration factory from start to finish. The only positive is the Final Boss, and the secret animation if you collected all Corn Cans (and the reason why it was made a PG 13+).
Conclusion and Legacy:
Gwimbly in its original state is a game that lives best in our memories, rather than our current consoles. Luckily, its amazing fandom has corrected many of the graphical glitches and performance issues via patches and ROMs that enhance the expirience. But the level design, even with its good moments, is not something you can easily fix.
The inmediate sequel (Gwimbly 2 on Corny Land // Gwimbly 2: The Adventure of Gwimble and Millipede in PAL regions), that came out just a year after the 1rst game release, pullished some aspects of the original while inexplicably substracting from others. The most glaring example is the introduction of fall damage.
Gwimbly 3 Revengance, which came out in late 2003, was a terrible disappointment. It mutted the sparckly colors of the first two entries, and the introduction of Gwimbly Guns and the absence of Mr.Millipede (who was going through some stuff at the time) left a sour taste for the fans of the franchise for what was its final entry. The development hell that Gwimbly 4 went through, and the aforementioned Pulle accusations, put Gwimbly in a weird spot for the next 15 years.
Let's just hope Insane Groundbreaking Games make something with the face of the company. I do not want a fighting game from Gwimbly. I want a new platformer, and, if one can dream, the first truly good game of the saga.

PG CHAPTER 7. FW Trish was 'blasting' every female match until Betrayal Part 4 Match 5!
We all know they AI is full on SKYNET. But Trish was handlin' business.Until this match. Triple Threat against Amethyst. Extreme!
Rhea was the Danger. Liv's just a nuisance!
Trish's durability wasn't up to scratch. You can feel the gem class jump here (is this how the AI felt when I bulldozered my way through pg chapter 6 with Shaemus).
Its not just the reversals coming out the wazoo and your reversal window being minuscule! It's the damage they do when they hit you too! And Rhea is a fucking BEAST!
So, I never really tried Zoey out (why would you when you got Trish and Iyo) and this looked like the best one Badge wise! Second highest rated female card in that pack.
A mix of Ruby FW Bailey and FW Trish with badges that boost recovery and health....Trish is a cannon but the damage output is negated by those two Amethyst reversal machines and their fucking one bomb moves that splatter you like a Jackson Pollock!
I was thinking balls the wall FW BAILEY TO NEGATE THEIR OFFENSE...BUT HER MA SPECIFICS WILL BE A 'MARE!
I wanted/needed/yearned for a striker or PH. Saw Zoey, who I packed earlier in the chapter!
Tried her out and goddamn is she a hidden gem!
Trish is still the top but Zoey's got some stuff going on! And it's very PG specific! Very much for this kind of situation!
STRIKER (EASY MA MFP) with Rage payback! Get Finisher fast!
Very well balanced and very nice moveset! Signature is a knee to head (MASVIDAL)! Finisher, a pin combo! Both feel strong! She feels fast and agile but tough and durable! She also packs a punch!
Badges: Blue Stings (offensive), Blue QR (get back in the fight!), Silver Wet Blanket (negate their finisher) and silver endurance (defensive- heals). Its a nice balanced card! I'm still offensive, but I got ways of stifling their power!
Fast taunts too!
Attributes:
This card massively benefits from the buffs then Amethyst locker code bird manager gives!
Her balanced stat a across offense beef up to the 70s and are enhanced by Stings! Her Finisher and special are in the 89s anyway
Defensively: 81 pin escape, 81 stamina, 90 movement, good agility, good durability. Reversals are great SR AND GR 81 (AMETHYST CARD MAKES EM 90!) AR 70! Its Zen man! Is so balanced!
It's just a great allrounder! It total stopped Rhea for Juggernauting me! And I now have reversals out the wazoo! With those attributes and the boost! Now they had lost their weapons...So.....ANYWAYS I JUST STARTED BLASTING!

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The following two brain scans were provided by the Neuro-Warfare branch of the Halcyon Security Division (HSD) for the purpose of analyzing the thoughts, behaviors, and information of notorious gangsters Vincent 'Troy' Cohen and Bruno (Deadname: Koraak Tel-Char). At the point of the recording of this archival shared, Bruno has since received his rebirth therapy, and Vincent is currently serving a long-term rehabilitative and reeducative sentence in the Erebus Supermax Prison on Io.
Warning: the contents of this archival shared may be especially disturbing to some audiences. Viewer discretion is advised.
Warning: the contents of this archival shard are for the sole purpose of analyzing the thought patterns and memories of certain degenerate criminals in an effort to ascertain vital information that can be used to eliminate their organizations. Only staff with clearance level Omega may view this archival shared, and the viewership of this archival shared by anyone of inadequate clearance level will lead to twenty years in prison and a fine of over a hundred thousand credits.
Booting up memory scan: Vincent 'Troy' Cohen, November 4th, 2446…
Loading and processing firmware data… translating… memories and subconscious simulated…
Beginning archival shard presentation…
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"Do you have visuals of the target, Troy?"
I knelt down in the alleyway, the bodies of me and my partners shrouded in long, waterproof, ashen-gray overcoats the shade of dirty street scum that we wore to ward off the constant heavy rainfall the color of osmium. Our faces were covered in a mix of scrapped respirators, visors, or full metal face masks carved with intricate designs to hide our identities. On our waists were our badges of honor: leather belts studded with interlocked rivets made from blackened titanium, each buckle forged of silver and shaped into the head of our gang's symbol, the black mamba. We hid amongst the shadows of the dark midday of Halcyon City, the heavy, oppressive rains blanketing the roads paved obsidian-black with asphalt and weathered concrete walkways. The street lamps were always on, like beacons of false hope in a storm of melancholy.
The city was dark and dreary as always, the planet of Proxima Centauri B, renamed Dawn's Lamentation over a century ago, orbited the red dwarf star of Proxima Centauri, and the atmosphere was thick with natural smog and ever-storming rain clouds. That didn't dissuade people from living here: there was plenty of money to be had for shrewd industrialists and hardworking pioneers, even in the urban sprawl. But that life also came with risks, especially for those on the bottom of the totem pole.
I was a ganger, and we were criminals; full stop. I won't assault you with some spiel about how we're the good guys fighting oppression because, at the end of the day, we could be just as bad, if not worse, than Halcyon's Security Division, or the HSD for short. We were traffickers, killers, extortionists, and money launderers. We dealt with everything from stolen tech and military-grade hardware to hard drugs and sentients.
Yes, sentients. We trafficked sentients, but not in the way you might think. They weren't prisoners, in fact, we were their saviors if they had the cash. We had developed a reputation for fighting the power, but it was still business: sure, freeing captives from the clutches of the Protectorate. The disruption of its many oppressive organizations held a certain satisfaction in my heart for sure, but we didn't help those who couldn't pay unless someone else paid on their behalf. It was about making sure me and my gang, my family, could live a decent life for another day.
It helped that most of us joined after leaving the state yard for partaking in acts of 'degeneracy' and 'anti-xenopet illegalities' as if those terms meant anything anymore other than that we were a threat to the local status quo. It was hard to pick up a job as a former inmate when even in something as harsh and backbreaking as a job in the iridium mines near the poles when the employment office had you blacklisted as a degenerate, which lead to the formation of many of the gangs: we needed to make a living somehow, and when all social programs were cut off from you unless you submitted for 're-education' and the only way to put food on the table was subverting, breaking, or even downright fighting the law, you did what you had to do or you died on the streets a scorned beggar.
It wasn't like the HSD made it easy for us on even a good day: the local HSD units were armed to the teeth with advanced, military-grade hardware that you'd often see on the front lines of the Second Authority War: armored assault transports, a myriad of advanced war droids, all sorts of chemical countermeasures that made tear gas seem like putting the garden hose on mist mode, and of course advanced firearms. Add that to the fact that they were authorized to use deadly force when they deemed it necessary and you had a ruthless, heartless, and nearly unstoppable enemy. But we could make that work: we weren't trying to stop them, just to withstand them.
"Yeah, I got eyes on the prize, Koraak; seven armored transports, two for droids, five for prisoners."
Today wasn't a day for a normal job: we were getting bolder, cockier, more ambitious. Our numbers had swelled for the last few years after the raid at Barnard's Star and the fall of the Blood Dragon Mafia. Their leader, Saito Yasuhide, had committed seppuku as their manor burned, and his twin sons had gone down fighting rather than allowing themselves to be captured simply to face a firing squad. In the aftermath, many of the family's associates had fled to the surrounding systems, and with the sheer size and scope of the criminal underworld found here, it was no wonder that many people who had developed skills of the less legal variety had decided to form ranks with the gangs, and with them they brought guns, tech, knowledge, contacts, and even something that we thought wasn't possible beforehand: a semblance of peace between the gangs, or at least the closest thing to peace that gangs could cultivate effectively. With the fall of the Blood Dragons, we saw the writing on the wall, and the writing couldn't have been clearer: work together or die together.
"Sounds like a massacre, Troy: are you sure we can handle seven?"
"We ain't got no choice, Cinder: this job's double the usual rate, and that's not including the weapons and gear we could scrounge if this goes well," I hissed, my eyes scanning for any resistance. There were at least four guards for each van, not to mention at least eight droids in total, meaning that we were already outnumbered, but we had the element of surprise: we could make it work. "So put your balls in your purse and get ready to spill some blood."
Koraak snorted at our antics, which sounded like someone pulling the ripcord on a lawnmower. He was a veteran Russu Corsair, and while his past of slaving, raiding, and killing was unsavory, so were the lives we'd lived, so who were we to judge? All we cared about was that he was a brutal and capable fighter and a loyal brother in arms. It turned out that being a ganger wasn't much different from being a Corsair: you lived and died by a code of honor, you fought to the death for your brothers, and you lived to die for the sake of your gang and your family, simple as that. In a strange, ironic way, it was an incredibly honest way of life: we were under no illusions as to what we were, what we did, and why we did it, and we'd long since accepted it. The Russu related to us in that aspect, in many ways I could respect, which is why I hated what the Protectorate was doing, and why I couldn't grasp how most of humanity could just collectively lose their marbles so long ago. What had happened for us to deem all other life below us in such a demeaning and infantilizing way?
The Russu were a race of tall, muscle-bound Saurians with avian features, and Koraak was no exception: reaching almost seven feet in height and weighing over four hundred and fifty pounds, he could be an absolute menace if he so desired. His skin was covered in stubby, knobby scales and dense plumage, with elegant feathers adorning the ridges along his back as well as his forearms, elbows, knees, and the crests on his head. He almost looked like how paleontologists described velociraptors, with razor-sharp talons, feathers shaded in vibrant greens, reds, and purples, and a maw full of sharp teeth, but at the tip of his snout was a sharp, beak-like growth meant for ripping flesh off the bone.
The Russu were strange as hell, but they also looked almost cute in the same way a fully grown alligator was cute: they were obviously dangerous, but humans would always have this innate desire to anthropomorphize them and to pet them for some inexplicable reason, although common sense usually prevented that, at least amongst the very few of us left that were sane.
"Shut up, Troy! All I'm saying is that that'll be rough, and you know it," hissed Cinder. Cinder was a tall black man whose coffee-colored skin was covered in tattoos. He wore an ebony mechanic's jumpsuit with metal inserts underneath his grimy overcoat covering his body and a faded black respirator on his face. His eyes were a startling blue that seemed sorely out of place, and his hair was braided into thick cornrows along his scalp. He wore a pair of heavy black combat boots and palmed his compact shotgun in his hands, the square barrel less than seven inches. Like a lot of the weapons the Black Mambas carried on their persons and dealt in, they fired caseless ammunition; in Cinder's case it was 16x40mm caseless shotshells filled with depleted uranium micro-flechetes no thicker than a toothpick. Cinder nervously fiddled with the detachable tube magazine underneath the barrel, his hands shaking. Despite the shit I have him, I didn't blame him for being anxious: I was anxious too, even if I refused to show it. The biting cold of unease and pessimism was in my stomach, and I ran all the way that this job could go wrong in my head over and over.
"Just hold yourself together, this ain't anything we haven't done before, there's just more of it," I reassured Cinder, "besides, we're not alone; we have reinforcements across the street. We'll make it out of this alive."
Cinder nodded almost absentmindedly, his eyes downcast and his breathing shallow. I turned from him and back to Koraak, who was making sure he had everything on his person; he had a synthetic leather bandoleer across his chest that contained the heavy eight guage depleted uranium slugs he kept loading and unloading into his much larger, longer, and more traditional shotgun he nicknamed ‘carnage’ and several leather straps that held his Tu'shan daggers: traditional Russu pyramidal blades forged from a silvery alloy with all three edges serrated and the tip barbed to leave behind horrible, gaping wounds that gushed blood. They were wickedly sharp and absolutely straight like a stiletto, and the hilts and pommels were beautifully decorated. He wore no clothes underneath his overcoat to cover the countless scars and blemishes he's earned in combat across his chest and abdomen, and instead of a normal respirator or visor, he simply wore a hood over his head and some traditional Russu facial armor to protect his mouth, eyes, and cheeks.
"You ready to fight, Koraak? The caravan will pick up and leave soon."
Koraak was silent for a moment before nodding, a human gesture he had picked up after serving as a soldier with the Black Mambas for years. "I'm always ready to fight," he said before lifting up his shotgun and aiming down the sights at the reinforced front wheels of the first armored car in the caravan. He exhaled and fired, the slug ripping through both front tires and causing them to deflate and fall apart. The echo of the shot rang through the alleyway and the street, causing pedestrians to panic and flee the scene as heavily armored guards poured out of the side doors of the armored cars and unholstered their carbines.
"Go, now!" I shouted, and both me and Cinder rushed out into the fray, our guns raised. Koraak was right behind the two of us, providing covering fire with his shotgun. Several guards fell quickly, Koraak's precise fire and the sheer force of the depleted uranium slugs putting them down for good as their heads were vaporized or their chest cavities were turned to mush. He emptied the tube with one final shot that painted the grey matter of a security guard on the door of one of the armored cars, then racked the shotgun and expertly loaded it in threes, his hands deft and agile as he reached for more slugs faster than any human.
With the cacophony of our initial assault, more Black Mambas poured out from the alleyways and the subways, armed to the teeth with all manner of weapons; shotguns, submachine guns, pistols, machetes, baseball bats, and all manner of homemade explosives. Molotovs and more potent concoctions shattered against the asphalt, herding in the caravan guards with their volatile contents as they were quickly gunned down. The assault was working, and we were winning.
Then I heard the robotic whine of a combat droid activating, and my heart sank. One of the armored cars in the back activated the four combat droids it held, the robotic assault units detaching from their charging ports on the sides of the large van and began to form up, each armed with a terrifying array of deadly weapons meant to quash any and all resistance. They were blocky, soulless, utilitarian things that stood at eight feet tall, with flat feet meant for stomping and blades, grasping claws designed to lacerate flesh and shatter bone. On each shoulder was a weapon: on the left was a multi-barrel rotary grenade launcher loaded with 15mm concussion grenades, and on the right was a burst-fire splinter cannon. They were all painted a dull grayish-green, the color of Halcyon's Security Division, although some had a few decorations on them: the one closest to me had a bit of graffiti on the side that said Mr. Hugs in Comic Sans, which I couldn't decide whether that made it more or less terrifying. They split up without hesitation and began to scan the chaotic battlefield, their single, red, beady lenses the security forces had the gall to call eyes focusing on specific targets to eliminate.
An entire group of Black Mambas was torn to pieces by a cloud of flechettes as one of the droids fired a withering three-round burst of shotshells from the four gauge splinter cannon mounted on its shoulder. Another picked up a Black Mamba in its hand and crushed her skull effortlessly before tossing her limp body to the side, its single, red, remorseless robotic eye tracking a new target. Most bullets that struck their thick armored chassis simply bounced off, and those that could pierce the armor didn't seem to phase the droids whatsoever, merely notifying them of a new potential target.
"Damnit," I shouted as I gunned down another guard only for two more to take his place. "Cinder! We gotta pop open the cars and scram! Get the maglock cutters!"
Cinder rushed and slid over through a dirty puddle, pulling out a maglock cutter from the inside of his coat and slipping it onto the back door of the first van. It immediately went to work, drilling through the maglock with a high-powered plasma torch nozzle, and within ten seconds we heard the telltale clunk of the maglock separating. I yanked the door open and ordered I side, ready to escort the prisoners out… only for my face to contort in shock and horror.
The back was empty. There was not a single soul inside of the back brig of the armored car.
"What the fuck…" Cinder gasped, his eyes wide with shock. "What the actual fuck… what the fuck is this, Troy?"
"I… I don't…" I stuttered the sounds of battle and carnage drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in my ears. All five cars were supposed to be filled with recently captured Russu from the front lines ready to be housed in the local Xenopet-Megaplex for processing and conditioning. The fact that this one was empty…
Suddenly, it all hit me at once with the force of a freight train, but it was too late. "We were set up, Cinder; our fucking client either squealed or was crooked to begin with…"
"Fucking bitch!" Cinder shouted as he spun around in an enraged arch, anger growing in his eyes. He aimed his shotgun at an approaching security guard and reduced his upper body to a fine red mist with a cacophony of shotgun blasts. "We gotta get everyone who's left out of here! Do you know what this means? The Jurors will be here soon, and then we're all going down! We gotta go, fuck the job!"
I grit my teeth. Not the Jurors, anything but the Jurors.
"Fine, gather everyone who's left and we'll slip through the sewers, the droids are too bulky to follow us there…"
As I spoke, my eyes wandered to the seventh and final armored car, the second of the droid cars, and my blood froze. Not only were all four ports empty, but they were also smaller and more shallow than the ports for the combat droids. That could only mean one thing.
"Oh fuck! Cinder, we gotta get our Russu members out of here! They've got arachnid droids!"
Arachnid droids were the stuff of nightmares. Resembling blocky, robotic arachnids the size of a manhole cover, they were specifically designed to take down sentient aliens, specifically the Russu, using sickeningly non-lethal means. They were equipped with full-body adaptive cloaking to blend in with their environments, paralytic agents that they could inject into their victims, built-in taser barbs, psychedelic gas ports for crowd-control, and a narrow-coned cacophony canon that disabled the Russu using incredibly high-pitched sounds that only they could hear, forcing them onto their knees and clutching the backs of their heads where their auditory organs were stored in agony. But worst of all was their stygian spinnerets: special ports near the end of their robotic abdomens that excreted a viscous, latex-like substance made up of millions of nano-bots. This substance could be used to render Russu blind, deaf, and mute by having it forced onto their faces, the black substance growing and enveloping their heads and working its way into every orifice. It was completely permeable to the standard atmosphere, but any Russu who had been 'webbed' was completely helpless and essentially captured, and the 'webbing' was both nearly indestructible and nigh impossible to remove without a triple-encrypted override key that was found in every arachnid droid's code, which was corrupted when the droid was destroyed or hacked into. Once you were 'webbed', you were essentially captured and the standard protocol was to leave you to the wolves since the nano-bots could be tracked, endangering the entire gang.
I turned just as I heard the deafening sound of Koraak discharging his shotgun, and I saw him squaring off against one of the assault droids. The droid has obviously been programmed to not use lethal force against Russu if possible, as instead of simply killing Koraak with it's shoulder-mounted splinter cannon, it approached with its claws extended, blades retracted. Koraak continued to back away and fire, pumping the droid full of depleted uranium slugs, its armor crumbling inward as the slugs pierced its chassis and damaged its internal cyberstructure. Eventually, Koraak ran out of slugs and instinctively reached to his bandoleer only to find that he had no more shells left at all, and he drew one of his knives and his sidearm, a simple high-caliber handgun. He tried to take down the droid with his handgun, but the bullets didn't even seem to affect the droid upon penetration, it's claws still extended as it attempted to apprehend Koraak.
In the corner of my vision, as I watched Koraak battle with the droid, I noticed a faint shimmer in the air on one of the black streetlight poles that was right behind him. I focused on it and blinked, believing my eyes had deceived me for a moment before realizing that it was actually a cloaked arachnid droid stalking Korvaak, ready to pounce and incapacitate him.
Before I could shout, it leaped from the pole and landed on Korvaak, causing him to shout in surprise while it began to coagulate its horrifying stygian webbing to disable Korvaak. Korvaak tried to wrestle it off of him, but the droid was agile and fast, clinging onto Korvaak and skittering around across his upper body as he attempted to grab it, forcibly wrapping the sticky black liquid across his face as he gagged like a spider wrapping up a fly. I rushed towards him to try and help, but I felt pain explode in my ribs as I was struck with the arm of the closest combat droid and launched into the chassis of a parked car, the metal denting from the sheer force of impact. I groaned in pain as I saw stars and my head spun, and just then I felt a blinding light be cast over me.
“Drop your weapons and kneel with your hands on your head, or you will be pacified with deadly force!” Shouted a loud, artificially deepened voice from above. “I repeat, drop your weapons and kneel with your hands on your head! Neither hostility nor hesitation will be tolerated!”
It was the Jurors, I could feel the air being pushed around from the thrusters on their drop ships, and I could hear screams and shouts as my fellow Black Mambas were quickly gunned down. I couldn’t see well since I was seeing double, but I could hear the slaughter as my eyes dimmed and I began to lose consciousness, my regrets crawling up my throat like vomit.
I’m sorry was all I could think as everything finally went dark, and the sounds of chaos, destruction, and combat faded away.
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Memory halted due to loss of consciousness. Booting next available memory in shard…
Booting up memory scan: Koraak Tel-Char Bruno, November 5th, 2446…
Loading and processing firmware data… translating… memories and subconscious simulated…
Beginning archival shard presentation…
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“Good morning, sleepyhead; it’s time for breakfast.”
My eyes shot open. I was not in the street anymore, nor was I home in my bed with my mate. I knew instantly that something was horribly wrong. I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t gain the leverage to do so: my ankles had been shackled together with magnetic cuffs and my arms were forced together in front of me.
I was wearing some kind of thick shirt. It was warm, fluffy, and comfortable on the inside, but it still made me incredibly uncomfortable that my arms didn’t have a free range of motion. I looked down to see that I was wearing some human garment I had heard about before, a straightjacket maybe?
The entire room was padded: the walls, the floor, even the ceiling. There was no bed or furniture; the floor was soft enough to serve as a bed in itself. There was nothing else except for the soft reddish-orange lights on the ceiling that somehow made me sleepy. I blinked slowly for a moment, my body screaming at me to just lay back down and lose consciousness, but I couldn’t do that: I needed to figure out where I was and how to escape.
Then I noticed who was speaking to me: it was a short human female, with crow's feet around her blue eyes, blonde hair braided down her back, and freckles all over her face. She had a soft smile on her lips, and her forehead was slightly crinkled. She wore a full-body white lab suit with a white overcoat and a pair of glasses for snugly on her face.
"There we go, now I can see those pretty eyes, such a beautiful shade of teal," she cooed softly, "You're such a handsome boy, even with all those scars: I'm sure you'll be adopted very quickly once we get you fixed up."
Fear gripped my heart as I began to piece all the evidence together. I had been captured; I was no longer on Halcyon, and instead, I was in one of the horrific space-born facilities I had heard so much about from the inside agents. I started to hyperventilate and squawk like a newborn hatchling, my eyes dilating in panic. This couldn't be happening! This has to be a nightmare!
The human woman merely wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into an embrace, cradling my head under her chin and speaking softly. I couldn't bite at her or claw at her: I was muzzled and wearing a straight jacket, so I had no choice but to allow her to coddle me.
"It's okay, sweetheart: I understand you're scared, but Julie's here to make all the pain and bad thoughts go away," she said as if she was comforting a child, which made anger blossom in my chest indignantly. "I'll be your caretaker for the next few months, and I'm going to make sure you're healthy, happy, and most importantly safe while you're under our care. I'm sorry to say that includes your restraints and restrictive clothing, but we have to make sure you aren't a threat to yourself or others before we can determine if it's a good idea to remove you from suicide watch."
I growled under my muzzle. Suicide watch? They must have had a lot of instances of Russu taking their own lives after being captured, something I wished I had been able to do before that damnable droid launched itself onto me and…
I shuddered at the thought of the black, viscous substance forcing itself into my nostrils and down my throat and windpipe, gagging me and rendering me completely helpless. It was so cold, so harsh, like slime, and when I had tried to tear it off of my face it merely attached itself to my claws and bound my talons together. I remember squirming on the ground as it enveloped me, unable to see, hear, or speak, and then everything went dark in an instant. It was the most horrible thing I had ever experienced, which was saying something.
"You alright, sweetheart? Oh, I know, you're probably hungry! Here, try some of this." She held up a piece of what looked like raw bacon and wiggled it in front of me before reaching out to remove my muzzle. In an instant, I attempted to snap at her only for pain to blossom in my forehead and my eyes to roll up in my head as I convulsed. It was like something was attempting to drill through my skull from the inside, and every breath felt empty and labored.
"Now, that didn't feel very nice, did it? This is why we have countermeasures in place because we can't trust you yet, sweetheart! Don't worry, we'll work on breaking you of all those bad behaviors and habits while you're here; after all, a well-trained pet is a happy pet!" She began to stroke the crests on my head as I slowly recovered, and she snugly fit the muzzle back onto my snout. "But I won't hold it against you this time, sweetheart; you're just scared and confused, but I'll make all the pain go away."
I struggled in the straight jacket, trying my best to break out of it, but it was no use. Eventually, I became exhausted and despondent, allowing my new caretaker to have her way with me as she gently ran her fingers through my feathers and along my ridges, quietly speaking to me in a hopeless attempt to cheer me up. She seemed genuinely concerned for my well-being, which concerned me even further: who could be this naturally twisted while attempting to be as benevolent and kindhearted as possible?
I felt the pain and terror build up in my chest, the anxiety from what horrific activities I imagined they had planned for me here. I couldn't take the infantilization, the lack of any autonomy, the dehumanization, and what I feared the most was if the rumors of 'rebirth' were true: would they take my personhood from me?
Suddenly, I felt her whisper to me. "Don't worry sweetheart, I know you're so scared and confused, but I promise you everything will be okay: it's going to be your birthday soon, and then everything will get better." She ran her fingers through the feathers along my crest lovingly. "It will be such a wonderful day, and then we'll choose for you the most wonderful family, and you'll spend the rest of your life happy in your forever home! Doesn't all of that sound wonderful?"
I wanted to die. I wanted to disappear. I didn't want to lose myself, not like this, not to these monsters!
"It'll be your birthday soon," she said wistfully as if she was remembering similar events to this in the past like I wasn't the first she'd done this too, "and you'll never be sad again."
I realized that I wasn't the first the stay in this particular cell, and I knew for certain that I wouldn't be the last: I'd end up like my brother, a broken, erased mess of a pathetic creature, reduced to nothing more than a pet for these humans to amuse themselves with.
"We took the liberty of picking out a nice name for you, sweetheart! Now, let me just slip this little programming chip into the port slot on your occipital bone, and... there we go! It will also help you calm down a bit and adjust."
I felt the chip begin to invade my mind, suppressing my thoughts. What made me me was slowly being ripped out of my mind. I couldn't remember my name my name is Bruno, and I needed to get out! I can't let them do this to me! Somebody help me! I was a good boy.
##Do not think. You are a good boy.##
I tried to scream, but my voice wouldn't work: I had trouble forming any words at all, the confusion clouding my mind like wet, slimy eels curling around my brain and sinking their teeth into its folds like needles. I couldn’t scream any longer, because I had nothing left: the chip was slowly beginning to take everything from me, robbing me of my identity and branding a new one into my psyche with a white-hot iron. Julie simply held me close, attempting to reassure me as I awaited the inevitable demise of my personhood. Soon I would be just like my brother: erased. My mind would be shaped into the mind of a loyal plaything, like a Dog.
##Relax. Allow caretaker [Julie] to comfort you. You will let go of your burden.##
Soon, everything was a blur. I quickly found myself resting my head in her lap as she whispered to me and fed me, my eyes bleary and my head fuzzy. I couldn't remember my name anymore My name was Bruno, and I needed to break free from this trance relax, and allow her to help me; good boys didn't resist help.
##Good Boy. Do not think. You are a good boy.##
You can't... I...
##Good boy.##
I wouldn't… good boys don't… I…
##Good boy##
I was a good boy… I was a good boy…
I was… I was… a good… boy…
Someone help me, please! I don't want to be erased!
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The following script is from episode #343 of Halcyon After Dark, a popular late-night and current events talk show hosted by Melinda Carter. This specific episode was sponsored in part by the Halcyon Security Division, with Director Lochlin O'Brien joining as a guest star to talk about the changing crime statistics in Halcyon City and the HSD's recent successes in busting organized crime as well as their plans for addressing the growing criminal underworld.
MC: Good evening Halcyon! I'm your host, Melinda Carter, and you're watching Halcyon's most popular late-night talk show, Halcyon After Dark!
The crowd claps and cheers as Melinda walks on stage and sits behind her desk, her glittering red dress waving as she does so from the special effects.
MC: Tonight we have a very special guest here to tell us about the state of crime in the city and his plans on resolving it: please put your hands together for the HSD's very own Director, Lochlin O'Brien!
The crowd cheers some more as HSD Director Lochlan O'Brien, a tall, muscular, caucasian male in his early forties with red hair and a well-trimmed beard steps into the room, waving at the crowd with a bright smile. He sits in the armchair angled next to Melinda's desk and gives her his full attention.
MC: It's so good to have you on the show, Director! Tell me, how are you doing on this fine evening?
LO: I'm doing excellent, Melinda: every day I wake up feeling fulfilled knowing I'm serving Halcyon to the best of my abilities and then some."
MC: That's the spirit, Director! Now, I know this question is just on everyone's lips, so I have to ask: how successful was the recent gang bust? I heard HSD forces took out dozens of gang members and liberated at least a dozen Russu Hounds from their abusive clutches, but I know that everyone in the audience and at home wants to know the numbers.
LO: I'd be glad to tell you, but I do have to preface this by saying that we still lost a lot of good officers that day, and while we did strike a crippling blow to one of Halcyon's biggest gangs, it doesn't change the fact that each death is a tragedy, and we're taking steps to prevent them in the future. That being said, those valiant officers did not sacrifice themselves in vain: we had over a dozen confirmed kills and several arrests, including the rescue of several corrupted Russu hounds.
MC: That's excellent, Director: proof that even when the number of degenerates and scum grow by the day, the HSD will always be here to keep the citizens of Halcyon safe.
LO: Absolutely, Melinda, and we're always working tirelessly to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our units, as well as racing to stay several steps ahead of the many gangs of Halcyon at all times. My newest goal as Director is to vastly increase the funding given to our Robotics Department and our Neuro-Warfare Department to potentially reduce the number of casualties we may experience in the future, as well as to quickly and effectively detain, and if necessary, eliminate criminals. Within the next decade, I want to double the number of automated units each Security Platoon is assigned: droids are the future of public safety as well as countless other industries, and it would be foolish to be left behind.
MC: That is quite a lofty goal, Director: what about the displaced jobs from the increased automation? What will the union say?
LO: And to that, I say: what misplaced jobs? We aren't replacing our honored and beloved service members with droids, Melinda, we are simply supplementing our units with more droids to ensure that future gang assaults end with fewer HSD casualties and more gang members in prison or eliminated, simple as that.
MC: That makes much more sense, Director, thanks for clarifying. Now, I have one more question that I'm sure much of Halcyon wants to know the answer to before we take a short break: what plans do you and your fellow directors have to make long-term progress in reducing crime beyond just increasing funding? Have you proposed any plans to strike at the source of where crime and degeneracy flourish?
OL: That's an excellent question, and one I am proud to answer: my constituents and I have been working tirelessly on a two-step plan to greatly reduce crime levels in Halcyon. Step one would be to prevent people from becoming criminals and degenerates at all in the first place: a lot of young men and women, but especially young men, have lost either one or both parents or even a sibling, aunt or uncle, or even a close friend by the brutality of the Second Authority War, and while the service of their lost loved ones will always be recognized and honored, many of these young men and women are left bitter, angry and lost without the guidance these people give them in their lives. Oftentimes they seek to fill that void with others who claim to relate to them: career criminals. These criminals will fill their heads with lies and false narratives to make them feel like they're fighting back against the 'evil protectorate government' that took their loved ones from them by sending them off to war when in reality it was the rogue Xenopets of the Triarchy that took them away by resisting their just and inevitable unburdening.
In response, I have proposed a slew of special programs that will make sure local law enforcement and HSD officers are present and contributing to their local community, and we'll be providing easy and light job openings for youngsters and teens looking to make a career for themselves in the force when they grow up. We want to let these lost souls know that there are people who care about them, people who understand them and that you shouldn't turn to degeneracy to feel fulfilled. We want to help the youth of our great society soar to new heights!
MC: That sounds like a wonderful beginning to your plan, Director, but what about the second step?
LO: Well, the second step is to prevent criminals and degenerates from becoming repeat criminals. Sure, they've made their mistakes, some worse than others, but they're only human like the rest of us. Some of them have been through hell: some are traumatized veterans who don't know how to adapt to normal life, others were recruited when they were young and don't know that there's a better way to live, and even more are mentally ill. We're alone in this galaxy, and we can't leave so many people behind. That's why we've come up with an excellent solution: we've set up isolated communities on distant moons and frontier planets where these criminals can be reeducated, rehabilitated, and allowed to repay their debt to society. When they're deemed 'reformed' and have graduated from our program, they'll be granted a hefty stipend and their criminal record will be deemed irrelevant, allowing them to reintegrate and become functioning members of our proud society.
MC: all of these sound like incredible steps forward in the fight to better our society and make real progress, Director. Sadly, we do have to step away for a moment, but you best believe I'll be back, Halcyon, and we'll be asking the Director here some burning questions about allegations over the quality of life Erubus Supermax! Now, a word from our sponsors!
Halcyon Xenopet-Megaplex! Everything your xenopet could ever need in one place! Adoption is now free-
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Good, you’re still alive! The rest of this shard appears to be corrupted, which means this particular trail seems to have run cold here, but do not despair; you need to keep searching. Find out what happened. Find the truth.I cannot guide you any longer: they've already found me, and if I remain in contact with you they'll find you as well. Take the archival database, and see what you can piece together. Maybe if we discover what truly happened we can put an end to this madness once and for all. I'm counting on you. Don't cry for me, I don't fear death, but I fear what they'll do to me to get to you: there are far worse fates than death, after all.

Respect Gohan

"...Ok, so you don't like to fight. But what's this nonsense about not wanting to kill me? You couldn't kill me in a hundred years! Am I wrong?"
"I'm beginning to get it now...why dad said only I could defeat you. Ever since I was little... when I get mad, I lose control and go berserk. I think...that's what dad's counting on..."

♫Tamashii Vs Tamashii/♫Great Saiyaman/♫ Gohan's Anger/♫Climax
The son of Goku and Chichi, Gohan was born in a time of peace after the defeat of Piccolo Jr. Unlike his father Gohan doesn't enjoy fighting, instead wishing to become a great scholar. Gohan's life would be forever changed when his uncle Raditz arrived on Earth, told Goku and Gohan they were actually members of a bloodthirsty alien race called saiyans, and kidnapped Gohan. Goku set out to rescue him, accompanied by Piccolo, though they found themselves no match for Raditz until Gohan got mad and unleashed his hidden strength on him. This gave Piccolo the opening he needed to kill Raditz, with his attack also killing Goku in the process. Then Piccolo kidnapped Gohan and trained him to prepare for the arrival of two more saiyans in a year. He battled the pair along with the rest of the Z Fighters (though not without heavy casualties), landing the final blow against Vegeta after transforming into a Great Ape.
Gohan would spend the rest of his childhood battling evil alongside the Z Fighters, most notably the bio-android Cell. Pushed to his mental and physical limits against the villain, Gohan snapped and transformed into a Super Saiyan 2. His newfound power allowed him to easily overpower Cell, and after accidentally causing his father's death when too overconfident, he finally killed him with a gigantic Kamehameha.
Eventually Gohan met a girl named Videl and the two got married, with their daughter Pan born soon afterwards. He also retired from martial arts, believing the newfound peace would last.
This wouldn't be the end of Gohan's time fighting though, with new threats like the resurrected Frieza, the world-devouring galactic criminal Moro, and a multiversal tournament to decide which universe lived or died convincing him that he needed to begin training again (though he does still forget to from time to time).
Source key
Manga

• Dragon Ball Z chapter # - DBZ#
• Dragon Ball Super chapter # - DBS#
• Dragon Ball: Revival of F - RoF(manga) #

Movies/Specials

• Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and his Friends Return!! - YSG&HF
• Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection "F" - RoF(movie)

Hover over a feat for the chapter number. All feats are marked with their saga of origin.
Notes

• Feats in bold are when Gohan is angry, heavily boosting his power^{Saiyan Saga}
• In DBZ chapter 77 Gohan had his potential unlocked by the Grand Elder of Namek, giving him a large power increase.

Scaling

Kid Gohan/Teen Gohan

"I'm...the son...of Son Goku...the warrior... I won't... I won't... let you... beat me!!"

Strength

Lifting

• Flew while carrying an unconscious Piccolo when he had barely any energy^{Frieza Saga}
• Flew while carrying Bulma^{Frieza Saga}
• Pulled Yajirobe out of the water^{Cell Saga}
• Flew while carrying Bulma, baby Trunks and Yajirobe^{Cell Saga}

Striking

• Headbutt Raditz hard enough to crack his armor and wound him^{Saiyan Saga}
• Cut a slice off a dinosaur's tail with a sword^{Saiyan Saga}
• Kicked Nappa into a mesa, shattering it^{Saiyan Saga}
• Sent Vegeta flying back with a kick^{Saiyan Saga}
• Briefly traded blows with an exhausted Vegeta before getting overpowered^{Saiyan Saga}
• One-shot a Frieza Force grunt^{Frieza Saga}
• Kicked Dodoria through a wall^{Frieza Saga}
• Either he or Krillin kicked Ginyu-Goku into Frieza's ship hard enough to dent it^{Frieza Saga}
• Pummelled Second Form Frieza and kicked him through the air^{Frieza Saga}
• Made Android 20 let go of Piccolo by bashing him in the head^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] Knocked Cell on his ass with a kick^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Splattered a Cell Jr's head with one hit^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Did the same to 4 more Cell Jrs and split another in half with a kick^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Obliterated a Cell Jr's torso with a swing^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Winded Cell with a gutpunch and sent him reeling with an uppercut^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Sent Cell flying back with a kick^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Kicked Max-Power Cell in the head hard enough to dent it and make him puke up Android 18^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Made cracks by hitting the ground^{Cell Saga}

Other

• Burst out of Raditz's pod^{Saiyan Saga}
• Leapt on top of a giant butte^{Saiyan Saga}
• Blocked Ginyu-Goku's punches^{Frieza Saga}
• [SSJ] Was able to stand still when Goku used his power to kick up strong winds next to him^{Cell Saga} [SSJ2] Grabbed a bag out of Cell's hand^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Blocked Cell's kick^{Cell Saga}

Durability

Blunt

• After his power dropped to 1 Raditz knocked him out with one hit^{Saiyan Saga}
• Got back up after Nappa kicked him off the ground and smacked him into a mesa hard enough to break small rocks off it^{Saiyan Saga}
• Floored by a punch to the gut from Vegeta^{Saiyan Saga}
• Still conscious (though barely) after Vegeta headbutt him^{Saiyan Saga}
• Refused to stay down when Vegeta kept kicking him back^{Saiyan Saga}
• Only needed 3 days in the hospital to recover from his fight with Vegeta^{Saiyan Saga}
• Floored by a knee to the gut from Vegeta^{Frieza Saga}
• Sent flying back by Recoome^{Frieza Saga}
• Chopped out of the air by Recoome^{Frieza Saga}
• Got back up after Recoome hit him into the ground^{Frieza Saga}
• [Limit] Recoome broke his neck with a kick^{Frieza Saga}
• Smacked out of the air by Second Form Frieza^{Frieza Saga}
• Second Form Frieza grabbed him by the hair, kneed him in the ribs and kicked him^{Frieza Saga}
• Got back up after Second Form Frieza tail smacked him into the ground^{Frieza Saga}
• [Limit] Second Form Frieza almost crushed his head under his foot before Krillin saved him^{Frieza Saga}
• [SSJ] Only a little bloody after Cell pummeled him and kiaid him through a plateau hard enough to destroy it^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] Mercilessly pummeled by Cell^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] [Limit] Almost crushed by Cell's bearhug^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] Kicked away by Cell^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] No-sold Cell punching him in the face^{Cell Saga}

Ki attacks

• Floored by Piccolo's Evil Eyes^{Saiyan Saga}
• Still conscious after getting launched into a rock by Vegeta's Technique™^{Saiyan Saga}
• Survived Vegeta's Super Explosive Wave, though he was knocked out^{Saiyan Saga}
• Tanked Ginyu-Goku's ki blast^{Frieza Saga}
• [SSJ2] Shielded Vegeta from Super Perfect Cell's blast, though his arm was broken in the process^{Cell Saga}

Other

• Was able to spend a year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber^{Cell Saga}
  • The Time Chamber has 10 times Earth's gravity, 3/4th the air pressure, and temperatures that range from -40 to 120 degrees^{Cell Saga}

Speed

Flight

• Briefly flew away from Dodoria, though he would have caught up eventually^{Frieza Saga}
• Managed to escape Dodoria blowing up the island he was on^{Frieza Saga}
• Flew to Guru's house in a few days while heavily suppressing his ki, then quickly reached it when using his full power^{Frieza Saga}
  • Guru's house was a 30 day walk away^{Frieza Saga}
• Saved Vegeta from Recoome's Eraser Gun^{Frieza Saga}
• Escaped Frieza blowing up the island they were on^{Frieza Saga}
• Saved Bulma from a falling rock^{Frieza Saga}
• [SSJ2] Easily caught up to a Cell Jr^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Was able to shield Vegeta from Super Perfect Cell's blast^{Cell Saga}

Agility

• Briefly outran a dinosaur before tripping^{Saiyan Saga}
  • After living in the wilderness for 6 months he was able to easily outrun it^{Saiyan Saga}
• Leapt across islands while heavily suppressing his power^{Frieza Saga}

Combat

• Flash stepped behind Vegeta^{Saiyan Saga}
• Almost caught Guldo repeatedly when he was about to stop time^{Frieza Saga}

Dodging

• Dodged a blast from Vegeta^{Saiyan Saga}
• Dodged Vegeta's Technique™ for a while before getting hit^{Saiyan Saga}
• Dodged a tree Guldo threw at him at the last second^{Frieza Saga}
• Dodged his own redirected blast^{Frieza Saga}
• Avoided a barrage of ki blasts from Recoome^{Frieza Saga}
• Ducked under Ginyu-Goku's kick^{Frieza Saga}
• [SSJ] Blocked and dodged Cell's hits, though he got caught when Cell used his full speed^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] Leapt over Cell's punch^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] Dodged Cell's barrage of Death Beams^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Ducked under Cell's swipe^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] Effortlessly dodged Max-Power Cell's hits^{Cell Saga}

Ki

General

• Can give ki to others, giving Piccolo most of his remaining ki^{Frieza Saga}
• Ki users have improved eyesight, with the Z Fighters being able to watch a fight that was too far away for Bulma to see

Power

• Power level 710^{Saiyan Saga}
• Power level 1307^{Saiyan Saga}
• Power level 1500^{Frieza Saga}
• When Guru unlocked his potential Vegeta mistook his ki for Goku's^{Frieza Saga}
• [SSJ] Was far stronger than Goku during the Cell Games, thinking his father was just holding back during his fight^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ] Sent debris flying by powering up^{Cell Saga}

Power supression

• Lowered his power to bait some Frieza Force grunts into lowering their guard^{Frieza Saga}
• Hid from Vegeta^{Frieza Saga}
• Hid from Vegeta again^{Frieza Saga}

Sensing

• Sensed Vegeta and Nappa arriving on Earth^{Saiyan Saga}
• Sensed Goku approaching^{Saiyan Saga}
• Sensed Frieza as he flew by^{Frieza Saga}
• Sensed the Ginyu Force^{Frieza Saga}
• Could immediately tell where Guldo went every time he stopped time^{Frieza Saga}
• Sensed that Goku had successfully swapped back bodies with Ginyu^{Frieza Saga}

Blasts

• Obliterated a butte and dug a long trench^{Saiyan Saga}
• Lit a fire^{Saiyan Saga}
• Fired one at Second Form Frieza, making a massive explosion, before hitting him with a barrage that blew up an island and hurt him a little^{Frieza Saga}
• Fired a full-power blast at Third Form Frieza, slowly pushing him towards the ground, though he was able to deflect it^{Frieza Saga}
• Annoyed Final Form Frieza^{Frieza Saga}

Masenko

• Used all his remaining energy to fire one with a power level of 2800 at Nappa, though all it did was sting his hand^{Saiyan Saga}
  • The Special Beam Cannon that killed Raditz had a power level of 1,330^{Saiyan Saga}

Kamehameha

• [SSJ2] Easily overpowered Cell's planet-busting Kamehameha in a clash and vaporized most of his limbs^{Cell Saga}
• [SSJ2] With one arm he was able to match Super Perfect Cell's Kamehameha in a clash that shook the Earth, winning by unleashing his full power when Vegeta distracted Cell, killing Cell in the process^{Cell Saga}

Adult Gohan

"Are you really gonna fight me?"
"Fight you? No, I'm gonna kill you."

Bio

Strength

Lifting

• [SSJ] Pulled the Z Sword out of its pedestal^{Buu Saga}
• After one day of training he was able to easily wield the Z Sword^{Buu Saga}
  • The Z Sword is extremely heavy^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] [Limit] He, Piccolo, Jaco, Android 17 and Android 18 couldn't stop Saganbo's advance^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• Initially struggled when Piccolo gave him weighted clothes, though he was fine after getting used to them^{Super Hero Saga}
• Lifted a chunk of debris off of himself with one arm^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Pulled Gamma 2 back while he was ramming Piccolo^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Effortlessly pushed Cell Max's fist back with one hand^{Super Hero Saga}

Striking

• [SSJ] Beat the shit out of some bank robbers^{Buu Saga}
• Broke concrete by stomping^{Buu Saga}
• Chopped a gun out of a man's hands^{Buu Saga}
• KOd a man by bonking him on the head^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Sent Dabura flying back with a kick^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Kicked Fat Buu back^{Buu Saga}
• Broke the Z Sword on a block of katchin^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Sent Super Buu reeling with a punch and kick to the head^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked Super Buu in the face and punched him in the gut^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked Super Buu into the air and smashed him back to the ground^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] [Limit] Buutenks effortlessly caught his hits^{Buu Saga}
• One-shot groups of Frieza Force soldiers^RoF(movie)
• [SSJ] One-shot Shisami^RoF(movie)
  • Manga version^{RoF(manga) #3}
• [Ultimate] Kicked Rozel hard enough to make them let go of Piccolo^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Slapped Kefla's blast away^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked Kefla back from an awkward position^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Knocked Kefla off the Tournament of Power arena in a mutual KO^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Punched 7-3 in the chest hard enough for his fist to bulge out his back and tear a hole in his jumpsuit^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Staggered giant 7-3 with a kick^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Knocked giant 7-3 down with a flying kick
• [Ultimate] Punched 7-3 into a lake, making a huge splash^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] [Limit] Did absolutely nothing to Moro 7-3
• Flicked a gun out of a man's hand^{Super Hero Saga}
• Crushed a gun under his foot^{Super Hero Saga}
• Flew through a ship's window and landed with enough force to launch water and multiple people into the air^{Super Hero Saga}
• Floored Gamma 1 with a kick^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Broke chunks of debris off a hole by flying out^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Deflected Gamma 1's charged blast^{Super Hero Saga}
  • [Ultimate] And again^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Traded blows with Gamma 1^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Stung Gamma 1's hand when he blocked his punch^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Pummeled Gamma 1 and kicked him into the ground, cracking it^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked Gamma 1 out of the air^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Battered Gamma 1 and kicked him into a building^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Charged at Gamma 1 and punched him in the face, sending him flying across the Red Ribbon Army's base^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Sent Gamma 1 flying back with a headbutt^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Floored Cell Max with a flying uppercut^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Kicked Cell Max in the chest, sending him flying through a building and into a rock wall^{Super Hero Saga}
• Deflected bullets with one finger^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Knocked SSJ Trunks back with a swinging kick and SSJ Goten with a punch^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Traded blows with SSJ Trunks^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked Fat Gotenks into Beerus' giant tree, making a huge dust cloud^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Made shockwaves across Beerus' planet that sent people and cars flying, shook trees and lakes, and dug massive craters by trading blows with MUI Goku^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Kicked MUI Goku through a mesa and a forest^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Punched the ground, sending a shockwave through it that blew up a plateau^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Made explosions with the air pressure from his punches^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Punched MUI Goku in the chest and kicked him across Beerus' planet, knocking him back to base form^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Sent base Broly flying back with a punch before pummeling him^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Traded blows with SSJ Broly^{Super Hero Saga}

Blocking

• Blocked an attack from 3 Frieza Force soldiers at once^RoF(movie)
• [SSJ] Blocked Goten and Trunks' hits in their base forms and as SSJs^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Blocked base Broly's punches^{Super Hero Saga}

Throwing

• Floored a teenager by gently throwing a baseball at him^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ] Flipped over Trunks' kick while grappling with him and threw him away^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Caught SSJ Goten's kick and threw him away^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Threw SSJ Broly at Beerus' giant tree, snapping it in half^{Super Hero Saga}

Grip

• Crushed a pistol^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Caught Dabura's sword in his hands and twisted it in half^{Buu Saga}
• Crushed a wooden window frame^{Super Hero Saga}

Jumping

• Jumped 8 metres high^{Buu Saga}
• Leapt up 5 storeys^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Jumped high enough to kick a flying enemy^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [SSJ] Jumped over Goten and Trunks' Double Hurricane^{Super Hero Saga}

Other

• [Ultimate] Flexed out of Buutenks' Galactic Donuts chain^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Held Gamma 1's mouth open when he tried to bite him^{Super Hero Saga}

Durability

Blunt

• No-sold a fastball to the face^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Slapped out of the air and through some boulders by Fat Buu^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Sent flying by a punch from Buutenks^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked into the air by Buutenks^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Elbowed deep underground by Buutenks^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Pummeled by Buutenks off-panel^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kiaid through some rocks by Buutenks^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ] [Limit] First Form Frieza stopped his heart with one punch^RoF(movie)
• [Ultimate] Fine after getting sent flying back by Lavender^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Fine after Kefla cratered him into the Tournament of Power arena^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Knocked off the Tournament of Power arena by Kefla in a mutual KO^{Universal Survival Saga}
• Pummeled by Yunba after his ki was drained^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Cratered into the ground face-first by Saganbo^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Recovered in mid-air after Saganbo sent him flying^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Floored by a punch from Saganbo^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Kicked into the air by Moro 7-3^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] [Limit] One-shot by Moro 7-3^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• Winded by a gutpunch from Piccolo^{Super Hero Saga}
• Fine after Gamma 2 kicked him out of the air^{Super Hero Saga}
• Blocked Gamma 1's punches^{Super Hero Saga}
• Pummeled by Gamma 1, taking a headbutt and a slam before getting kicked hard enough to crater and burst through the ground^{Super Hero Saga}
• Fine after Gamma 1 kicked him at a pillar^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Slammed face-first into and dragged through the ground by Gamma 1^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Thrown into the air and kicked underground by Gamma 1^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Fine after Cell Max elbowed him into some rock^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Got up after Cell Max grabbed him and slammed him into the ground hard enough to leave a crater, though it did knock him out of SSJ^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] No-sold a punch from Cell Max that sent a shockwave through the ground that blew up part of a cliff^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Kicked into the air and smashed underwater by MUI Goku^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Recovered in mid-air after MUI Goku kicked him away^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Shoved out of the air by MUI Goku^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Took a punch from SSB Vegeta^{Super Hero Saga}

Ki attacks

• [SSJ2] Fine after getting launched through a butte by Dabura's fireball^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Sent flying miles away by Fat Buu's ki blast^{Buu Saga}
  
  • This almost killed him^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Hit with a blast from Buutenks that destroyed some rock formations^{Buu Saga}
  
• [Ultimate] Hit by his own blast that went straight through the Earth^{Buu Saga}
  
• [Beast] Took a scream from Goku^{Super Hero Saga}
  

Other

• [SSJ2] [Limit] Yamu was able to stab him with an energy drainer^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Ok after getting caught by 7-3's Fire and Flames^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Beast] Took a scream from Goku^{Super Hero Saga}

Speed

Flight

• Outsped the Nimbus while not at full speed^{Buu Saga}
• Can fly from home to his school in 20 minutes^{Buu Saga}
  • His house is over 1,000 km away from his school^{Buu Saga}
• Caught up to a speeding car^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] [Limit] Was easily caught by Fat Buu^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Tore up the ground by flying over it^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Saved Piccolo, Trunks and Goten from Super Buu's explosion^{Buu Saga}
• Flew from the Lookout to North City in a few minutes^{RoF(manga) #2}
• Grabbed Krillin out of the way of some Frieza Force soldiers' blasts^RoF(movie)
• [Ultimate] Saved Piccolo from 7-3's Special Beam Cannon^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}

Agility

• [Ultimate] Used Piccolo's solid ki blasts as stepping stones as he flipped around 7-3's blasts^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Backflipped off a rock after getting sent flying back^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}

Combat

• [SSJ] Blocked SSJ Goten's hits^{Buu Saga}
• Perceived Frieza Force soldiers in slow motion as he blitzed them^RoF(movie)
• [Ultimate] Fended off the Trio de Danger's attacks^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Beast] Increased his speed as he fought MUI Goku, with his hits getting closer and closer to landing before finally hitting him^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Leapt back to dodge Broly's punch and lead into a backflip^{Super Hero Saga}
• Flash-stepped between Piccolo and Shisami^RoF(movie) Reaction

Dodging

• [SSJ] Dodged a rock Goten threw at him from close up^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ] Dodged more rocks from further away, then some more from closer up^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Dodged Dabura's fire breath^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Dodged Buutenks' Kamehameha^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Dodged 7-3's Hellzone Grenade when it was inches away from hitting him^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Dodged giant 7-3 trying to punch and grab him^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Repeatedly dodged giant 7-3's stretchy arms^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Dodged Gamma 2's blasts^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Dodged Cell Max's Disaster Ray^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Dodged Cell Max's mouth blasts^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Dodged SSJ Trunks' blast and SSJ Goten's swing^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Flew above SSJ Trunks' kick while grappling with him^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Dodged Goten's kick from behind^{Super Hero Saga}

Other

• [SSJ] Caught a number of bullets at close range^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Caught Dabura's sword swing^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Caught Super Buu's punch^{Buu Saga}
• Blocked a surprise attack from Piccolo, though he got hit by a second^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Slapped several of Gamma 1's blasts away^{Super Hero Saga}
• Effortlessly deflected bullets^{Super Hero Saga}

Movement

• Ran faster than cars^{Buu Saga}
• Quickly ran through a forest^{Buu Saga}
• [SSJ2] Took off his glove before it turned into stone from Dabura's spit^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Got behind Super Buu without him noticing^{Buu Saga}
• Flash-stepped between Piccolo and Shisami^RoF(movie)
• [Ultimate] Ran up giant 7-3's arm^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}

Skill

• Coached Goten and Trunks while the pair were fighting Abo and Cado, helping them to successfully overwhelm the duo and their doubles^YSG&HF
• [SSJ] Dodged Trunks' kick while grappling with him and used the momentum to throw him away^{Super Hero Saga}

Intelligence

• Tricked a dinosaur into running into a rock^{Saiyan Saga}
• Is a master of manipulation^{Frieza Saga}
• [Anti-feat] Is very bad at hiding his secret identity^{Buu Saga}
  • Seriously, wtf Gohan^{Buu Saga}
• Knows how to bait Goku with food^YSG&HF

Ki

General

• [Ultimate] Sensed that Dende was still alive^{Buu Saga}
• Sensed Frieza's revival^RoF(movie)
  • Manga version^{ROF(manga) #1}
• [Ultimate] Sensed a bug-sized enemy, allowing him to warn Android 17 about him^{Universal Survival Saga}

Power

• [SSJ2] The ki drained from him by Spopovich and Yamu was almost half the needed energy to revive Buu^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Super Buu could sense his power from the Kai planet while still on Earth^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Would have been able to beat Buuiccolo^{Buu Saga}
• Frieza said he could have beaten the entire Frieza Force on his own^RoF(movie)
  • Manga version^{RoF(manga) #3}
• [SSJ] Made a massive crater by powering up^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Made a giant pillar of light by transforming that burst the roof of the Red Ribbon Army's base and parted the clouds^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Beast] Destroyed his glasses by transforming and dug a crater under his house, with Goku and Vegeta sensing it from Beerus' planet^{Super Hero Saga}

Barriers

• [Ultimate] Used one to shield himself and Piccolo from 7-3's Special Beam Cannon before pushing it forwards with the help of Piccolo's own SBC, destroying 7-3's arm^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Shielded himself from Moro 7-3's ki blasts^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}

Blasts

• [Ultimate] Fired one at Buutenks that burrowed straight through the Earth when deflected^{Buu Saga}
• Damaged a crevasse and KOd a group of Frieza Force soldiers^RoF(movie)
• [Ultimate] Cratered 7-3 into a far off rock^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Blasted giant 7-3's knees to make him lose his balance^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] [Limit] A combined blast with Piccolo that would have destroyed the Earth did nothing to Saganbo^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [SSJ] Annoyed Cell Max^{Super Hero Saga}
• [Ultimate] Pushed Cell Max through metres of stone with a barrage before hitting him with a charged blast^{Super Hero Saga}

Kiais

• [SSJ] Flipped a truck^{Buu Saga}

Masenko

• [Ultimate] Combined it with Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon to make the Masenko Beam Cannon, making a giant explosion that destroyed 7-3's right arm, right leg and part of his skin^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}

Kamehameha

• [SSJ2] [Limit] Couldn't damage Buu's cocoon^{Buu Saga}
• [Ultimate] Used one to stop himself from falling off the Tournament of Power arena^{Universal Survival Saga}
• [Ultimate] Would have probably killed 7-3 if he hadn't absorbed it^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [Ultimate] Could blow up the Earth with one, though he can just detonate it before it hits and prevent any serious damage^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}
• [SSJ] [Limit] Cell Max slapped one away^{Super Hero Saga}
• [SSJ] Annoyed Cell Max^{Super Hero Saga}

Super Explosive Wave

• [Ultimate] Pushed the Trio de Danger back^{Universal Survival Saga}

Galactic Donuts

• [Ultimate] Restrained Moro 7-3^{Galactic Patrol Prisoner Saga}

Special Beam Cannon

• [Beast] Beam struggled against Cell Max's Explosive Scream, with the pair evenly matched until SSJ Goten and Trunks distracted Cell Max, allowing Gohan to pierce through his attack and his head^{Super Hero Saga}

She wakes up each morning to the same gray walls, the cracks running through them like the veins of a dying leaf. Her room, if you can call it that, is more a box—a place to keep her body while her mind runs circles like a dog chasing its tail. No job, no skills that anyone's willing to pay for, no friends to call when the darkness comes a little too close. Debt, though, that's a loyal companion, always growing, always there.
The days blend together, each as featureless and worn as the last. She can barely remember what hope feels like. It's a word, nothing more, something other people talk about like they talk about exotic vacations or retirement plans. For her, hope is a ghost that never shows its face.
Panic and anxiety are her true roommates. They greet her in the morning, whisper to her in the quiet moments, scream at her in the dark. They're the voices that tell her she's trapped, that there's no way out. And she listens because what else is there to do when every avenue seems to end in a brick wall?
Options? The thought is almost funny in its absurdity. She's considered them all—the demeaning jobs, the back-breaking labor, the late nights behind greasy counters for scraps of cash that disappear before they're even in her hands. And then, of course, there's the final option. Bullets are cheap. It's a dark thought, but in the bleakest hours, it's there, whispering.
But then, there's a flicker, something unexpected. She finds a crumpled flyer on the bus—a community center offering free classes. "Learn a new skill," it says. "Change your life." It's probably nonsense, but what does she have to lose? Her pride? That's been gone so long she can't even remember what it feels like.
So, she goes. It's a small room, not much better than her own, filled with others just as beaten down by life. The instructor isn't much older than she is—a guy with kind eyes and a way of talking about HTML and CSS as if they're keys to a magic kingdom. She doesn’t understand half of what he says the first day, or the second. But by the third, something clicks. Not a lot, just a little. A line of code here, a tag there.
And slowly, something inside her shifts. The panic is still there, the anxiety too, but mixed in with them is something new, something she dares to call interest. With each line of code, each little website she builds, she constructs something else—a fragile sense of self-worth. It’s not much, a wisp of smoke that could be blown away by the next strong wind, but it’s there.
Where does hope come from? For her, it comes from the glowing lines on a computer screen, from the quiet encouragement of an instructor who believes in second chances, from the simple act of creating something where there was nothing. It's not a cure-all. The debt is still there, the fear, the loneliness. But now, there's something else in the mix, a reason to get up, to step outside, to keep trying.
Hope, she learns, doesn't come with fanfare and bright lights. It comes in small moments, in quiet victories that only she knows about. It's learning to stand, then walk, then run, even if every step feels like a marathon. And in a life defined by closures and dead ends, that's something. It's not everything, but it's enough to keep the bullets in the box and the doors open, just a crack, to whatever comes next.

“ZACK!” a boy yelled to his best friend. They’ve been friends since kindergarten and he trusts Zack with his life.
“Stop yelling-!” Zack snapped to his friend. Sweat poured down his face, over his lips, and onto his shirt.
“It’s the FBI man. They’re on our side-“
Something hit the front door, cutting off the boy. They both froze as the door flew from its hinges.
The boy stood up from behind the kitchen table. The boy called to the hallway, saying, "We are not armed."
Zack got ready to stand up but stopped the moment he heard a loud ZIP shoot through the air.
His face twitched, his hands tightened, and his breath left his body as he watched the body of his best friend hit the ground next to him.
“Come on out.” A woman called to the room.
“We are with the FBI. We know that the prank wasn’t your idea, kiddo. Just come out.” She called.
Using the kitchen table, Zack slowly slipped into the kitchen cabinet closest to the fridge.
His father had three separate places installed in the house that they could use to slip into a bunker. He always said that the bunker was the best expense he ever spent money on.
Zack slowly closed the door as he heard the boots flooding the house. He moved as slowly as possible to go through a small tunnel: Normally, you’d be able to slide down this tunnel feet first. But he feared that going down that way would generate too much noise.
As his feet hit the cold ground of the bunker. Zack moved his hands to try and clean off some of the blood from his hair.
His whole body was shaking but he knew that he couldn’t stop moving.
As Zack's eyes scanned the bunker, he searched for his bug-out bag.
“Rule number one. Secure your bag, belt, and hat.” Zack mumbled to himself.
He took his black bag from the west wall, his belt from his locker, and his black hat from the hanger next to the locker.
“Rule two, secure anything you don’t want the enemy to have,” Zack said as he paused to hear the boots moving around above him. He was running out of time.
Zack ran over to his father’s desk, took the black laptop, and put it into his bug-out bag.
He paused and considered his next move. Eventually, Zack decided to grab his father’s bag too. Despite it being bigger.
“Rule number three, get the fuck out,” Zack mumbled under his breath. He moved to the second door in the room and down a short tunnel. He wondered how his father pulled this off. He wondered where his father was.
As he climbed a ladder, Zack popped up near the water. He took in the cold air and coughed a bit.
“Rule number four, never take your vehicle. Always keep them guessing.” Zack gasped as he dragged the bags up behind him.
He slowly jogged to a vehicle covered in tarps.
“Rule four B. If you’re going to ride a motorcycle, make sure you wear a helmet.” Zack laughed a little.
He took his helmet from the bike and put his bug-out bag on the front of his chest. He put his father’s bag on his back.
As he started the bike, Zack mumbled, “Rule number uh, five? Rule number five. Find your sister.”
“Rule number eight is always having a method of communication.” A woman said as she put a book on Morse code in her backpack.
She had been studying it with her brother for the last four months.
She wrinkled her nose. The sound of boots coming up her stairs practically shook the apartment building.
“Rule number nine always have a way out.” The woman said as she opened her window and clipped the pink backpack to her waist and shoulders.
She hopped out of the window and climbed the fire escape. They didn’t bring a helicopter.
When her father called and said her brother and his friend gained the attention of the FBI she didn’t believe him. Not until her mother turned up dead at her bookstore four weeks ago.
If it was the FBI chasing them, they wouldn’t have done…all of this.
She assumed her father, who she thought was insane, was right all along. There is a force working against the normal people of the world. A force that nobody was expecting.
As she ran along the rooftop, the woman huffed and pumped her arms, “Rule ten, always keep in shape. Practice your cardio.” She gasped as she reached the edge of the building. The woman ran a little faster and stepped onto the edge to jump off.
“Rule eleven…” the woman hissed as she caught the closest fire escape and slid down.
“Always wear your gloves when running.” She exhaled and slid down.
As she made her way to the sidewalk, she listened to the TVs playing from the store next to her.
“President Derek Bowman has stated the ship that went missing-“
The woman shook her head and walked faster.
“Rule number twelve, trust no one. The world is not what you think it is.” Zack and the woman speak at the same time.

Hi, I am trying to implement a stretchy, throwable rope for my character. In the context of the game, it will be a tongue that the player throws out and it can get stuck to walls. The tongue is correctly getting stuck and tethering to the player but I'm having trouble with the elastic property. When the rope is connected, it should stretch as the player walks away and then pull them back when they release movement.
I have debug methods printing the distance between the player and the tongue collision point that say the distance is increasing and stretching properly but the actual line is not stretching and the player doesnt actually move further away.
Since this is my first game, I wanted to implement the stretching and snapping back but if there was an easier way or a way to implement the elasticity as one property instead of two I'd love to hear about it.
The tongue is thrown on right click in the Tongue Controller class. I'm including the GrapplingHook class but that one and its related methods should be ignored as thats something I want to implement later in the game.
Any helps is appreciated, thanks!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jdPa4MSBU1nwMmxPRZGv4NciJqEg7nao/view?usp=sharing
Edit: Just remembered some other stuff getting into bed. A feature i want to work towards (so hopefully any suggestions point me in the same direction) is the ability to climb a tongue that you’re dangling from, preferably when your within a certain angle of the ground only so you know the rope is stable.
Admittedly, i didn’t get around to trying this yet but still figured i’d ask to try and get a head start.
Also unrelated as it’s a more minor problem but still something I’d like to address. I love the way I structured my tongue class and how it interacts with player object. when i try to implement the hook class in a similar way (similar as in further separating the player movement script from the other scripts) as the tongue (although they do have some key functional differences i was trying to preserve) the grappling hook stops working completely and could never figure it out so gave up on trying. I’ve gotten many different outcomes from not being able to throw the hook at all, as well the hook pushing the player through the floor with its distance join. If anyone can see a simple way to restructure this or any bad habits in my code that are making it more difficult please tell me (:
Thanks again!

Residential Contracting 101
With over 20 years of building experience, I would like to share with you my insights in navigating becoming a successful contractor. With many different avenues of the building world its key to understand what problems will arise on any given day. A man once told a saying that stuck-the 6 p’s in life- Piss Poor Preparation leads to Piss Poor Performance. Preparation builds everything in construction, without preparation the jobsite will not run correctly. The best advice I was ever given was to learn a little about every trade giving you the ability to understand trade lingo and secrets. An example would be painters use the terminology flash; this means when the sub structure bleads through the paint. Subcontractors will give the best pricing if they respect your knowledge of the industry. If the subcontractor feels they will have to hold your hand through the job they will charge an extra fee…i.e. I call it the aggravation fee. In this blog I will explain the key elements in finding success in all aspects of the industry. Contracting is a physically and emotionally demanding job which requires planning and foresight to complete projects on time within budget. Picking your customer is just as important as picking your employees or subcontractors. I have worked for some of the most demanding customers leading me to question at the end if the job was even worth it. Sleepless nights, constant changes, lack of payment, lawsuit threats, adding work that was in the contract are just a few things you could face with a tough customer. With so many moving parts at all times it is critical to be able to adapt to changes within a short time frame. Materials will come in damaged, subcontractors will be late, employees will get sick, but the deadline you set does not change. The stress can be overwhelming at times keeping your mind in a good place is key to navigating all that is thrown at you. Choosing your client picking the right jobs-Keep these questions in mind The first question to be asked is what the time frame is to start the job to see if it fits within the timeframe for your business. If the time frame doesn’t work then move on from the project or let them know when you would be available to start. If the client really wants to use, they will wait until you are available. Taking on too much work will only lead to problems. Construction is a serviced based business, staying on top of the project and client will eliminate an unhappy customer and construction issues that will be over seen. With online presence if details are missed and customer service lacks it will only be a matter of time the phone will not ring. The second question to be asked to the client is do they have a budget in mind for the project. If they answer yes this is good, follow through with what the budget is. If the budget seems low let them know, this will eliminate a tire kicker, educate them on what the price range could be. If the budget seems reasonable then continue the discussion to the next question. If they answer no let them know that you can give them an estimate to see if the project is feasible with their finical capabilities. Taking on a job that is not correctly budgeted will lead to an unsatisfied customer due to non-transparency of the construction cost. The third question to be asked is anyone else bidding on the job, if the answer is yes, understand you might just be number check for the contractor doing the job. Dig a little deeper and find out how many numbers they are getting and why. If your business model is to be competitive be completely transparent with customer, this will gain trust with them. Let them know you get what you pay for and if you they choose the lowest bid it could lead into lack of quality of work.
The fourth question I will ask is there any specific subcontractors they wanted to use. If the answer is yes then I would explain to them you only use the subcontractors you have a working relationship with. Otherwise, this could backfire as the subcontractor might not show, do subpar work, talk behind your back to the homeowner. In my experience I would stay away from using any homeowner to alleviate problems down the road. A quick conversation now can save headaches down the road. The fifth question I will ask are planning on getting the job permitted, this needs to be known it takes more time for the permitting process. Plans will have to drawn submitted and approved to the city before work can commence. The sixth question I will ask if a residential remodel is are you going to be living through the remodel if yes understand this will take more time to navigate the project due to answering questions and cleaning the house on a daily occurrence. I would recommend seeing if the customer would be willing to move into an Airbnb or friends for at least the demo portion of the project. If they do plan on living through the remodel add a couple hours a day to accommodate the extra time that will be required. The seventh question I would ask in a residential remodel is how old the house is to see if there is asbestos that would need to removed by a proper company. A home built before 1979 will most likely have some asbestos in the house, use a licensed company with proper insurance to dispose of the materials. If everything looks good to this point find out a little more about the client personality. If the client seems reasonable, I would bid the job. Unreasonable people can cause you more stress than its worth. These are some red flags I would look out for. Some jobs are not worth the money. Very demanding in the way you are going to perform your job- I.e., tell you how you are going to do your job- You’re the professional not them! Give you a hard time about your price- haggle with price you estimated- The price is the price! If they are a family with little money and you want to help them out is one thing, if they are trying to beat you down is another. Mention they have a lawyer-there is no need for them to bring up that they have a lawyer - Run for the hills as if the job goes south, you will be the one losing out! Tell you what the payment terms are. It’s your business you get paid how it works for your company. If you want to get paid every Friday, put it into your contract-If the clients do not agree move on it will save you frustrations If they talk bad about the last contractor, chances are they will talk bad about you. There is a reason why the contractor does not work for them anymore, unless he did subpar work this a red flag Clients are using an interior decorator that will purchasing all of the materials- The materials could be ordered incorrectly by the interior designer your company will not make the mark-up it deserves. Interior decorators usually add time to the job as well as act like your boss. Charging a little extra for the time and stress that it will entail is only fair. Clients want to purchase the materials- You are using your knowledge to buy the correct materials-The mark up on the materials keeps the doors open working for wages only pays the bills The husband and wife do not get along-You will become the mediator between the couple it will lead to taking sides a losing proposition- A drama free work place is always best! Dangling carrot-if you do this job the next one will be better-Only look at what there offering at the present moment, if its not a good fit do not take the job for a job down the road…Its not worth chasing a job that might not happen! The Art of the Sale First things first selling your company is all about presentation. In meeting your clients for the first time show up with a collared golf shirt tucked in, belt, nice jeans, and newer shoes. Have a truck that a clean, no dents scratches, preferably washed the day you are going into your meeting. Have a leather note pad that is clean no dirt or paint visible. Show up 5 minutes early, if you’re running a little late shoot them a text to let them know. Treat the situation as if were going on a first date, best foot forward. As you introduce yourself give them a warm greeting, letting them know you are very interested in the work. Find out a little about them, hobbies, where they lived, etc etc. You are going to be working with them on a daily basis its nice to know what makes them tick. Having a good working relationship from the start is key forming a solid relationship. As the conversation progresses find out who wears the pants in the family…ie who’s the final decision maker. If its fits the wife, chances it is…..then kindly let the husband know happy wife happy life when their in a stall mate on an issue. As your looking at the project throw in some suggestions of what you think would look good from past experiences, this will get their attention that you have knowledge and want what’s best for them. If you see ways to save them money in their project let them know, money is a large point of the sale keep that in mind. Mention that you’re not the least expensive contractor but you’re not the most expensive either. Your customer satisfaction is your number one goal which leads to more time spent on keeping them happy. One happy customer will lead to another, one unsatisfied customer leads to work in the future. Bring up the fact the finishing the job on time is key goal to your business, many contractors run several jobs at once causing the jobs to be finished way behind schedule. You must stand out as having integrity, good morals, and the ability to problem solve to get the job. The clients will be testing you to see if you’re a good fit as well. Keep in mind as you take your notes that you must not forget anything they mention as it will come back before the job is completed…i.e. we mentioned that to you before we started the job! Take pictures of the proposed area for work, that way you can use it to better right your estimate. Let them know you will give them a detailed outline of when the job will be completed letting them see how long each phase will take and correlate it with your payment schedule. Before you leave their house let them know when the estimate will be sent to them. MAKE SURE YOU HIT THAT DEADLINE! Once you sent the email over with estimate make sure you get confirmation that they received it. Wait at least 2 days before checking with them, hopefully they contact you first! If they want negotiate the price, let them know that it is the best price that you can manage, its not worth losing money before you start. I closed 80% of the work I estimated by being very transparent and friendly. If you come off with an attitude charge double what the going rates are you might only land 1 out of 10 jobs as well as getting the reputation of being expensive. Bidding the job Looking up industry standards on pricing is what I would go buy for pricing. If you google the coat of any installation there will be a cost range for everything. Looking at the cost ranging from high to low I would tend to be in the middle. Some items might be low on the internet if this is the case use your best judgment not to lose money. Closing sales is key to success and keep the doors open for business. Being in the middle on pricing is key as most customers shy away from contractors that are extremely low or high on the price range. I tend not bid out hourly as wages do not pay for retirement. Bidding is better as customers no the exact price of the cost of construction. It also keeps the job moving quicker as time and material contractors take longer to complete projects…Thus costing the client more money and valuable time they could spend in their house. Using a Contract Using a detailed estimate tied to a contract covers your butt in 99% of the time. Having a piece of mind that every aspect of the job is covered in the estimate and contract protects both your company and the client. Key terms to include in your estimate/contract are. Have a schedule on excel showing the start dates and dates of each trade this will show the customer you are organized with time lines. If not written in the detailed in the estimate the item is excluded- This ensures if its not written down its not included. TBD- To be Determined- A phrase on a line item that has yet to had final decision of products or service needed. -The pricing will follow the decisions to be finalized Give out what your written warranty will be for parts and labor this changes state to state. If the homeowner provides the product than no warranty will be given on that particular item. In the contract have a start date and end date with the verbiage subject to change due to weather, product delivery, change orders Have a progress payment schedule to ensure the client understands when funding will be expected-Including if not payment is rendered service to the project will stop. Have written terms of how change orders will be charged-cost plus 20% or a set fee Make sure in your contract that arbitration is required versus going to court- This will save lawyer fees and going to court Many contracts can be found online and each state requires different contracts
Finding leads Finding leads is easy with the right network of people. I personally do not find working for friends or family members a good fit. Relationships get strained when money is involved, causing undue stress for both parties. I have listed a couple of ways to build a network or find work using the internet. Get in contact with realtor’s- Realtors have a big client base of homeowners who need work done Contact local Architects to see if they are working with any general contractors Leave some business cards at your local materials suppliers-Doowindow/lumber-many times clients will ask salesman for a referral. Join a business networking group- BNI is one of many Join a internet website lead generation company- Houzz, Angie’s List, Home Advisor, thumbtack, Yelp run an ad on craigslist Use a marketing company to market your website-This could become costly with little results Create a Facebook business page Create a Yelp business page
Building your subcontractor base Having 2 subcontractors for every trade, gives you the flexibility of completing jobs on time if the one the subcontractors is too busy at the time you need their service. Your subcontractors are the face of your business, choose owner run companies that are professional. Check to make sure there license are up to date..ie workman’s comp, liability insurance, state license. Choosing subcontractors with lettered vans, logoed t-shirts is s key to looking professional in the clients’ eyes. In the past I have gotten a lot of subcontractors for material supply shops, stopping by jobsites, researching the internet using Yelp, Home Advisor, etc etc. Once you get one good subcontractor ask them if they know any other trades they would recommend. One good subcontractor leads to another in most cases. The key to having a good group of subcontractors is to let them know that you are there to get help them get the job done. They do work for you but without them you are nothing…keep that in mind! Make them aware a clean jobsite is required at the end of everyday to ensure the proper safety for all parties including theirs! Over the years I have referred a lot of companies work when there is only 1 trade needed. Referring work to subcontractors is a good way to get top priority when you have work that needs to be completed ASAP. Timing is everything in times of emergency having a good group of subcontractors will make your business run smoothly. Pay your subcontractors immediately after performing work, this will make them feel appreciated! A happy subcontractor is one that will gladly go the extra mile for you knowing that there not just a number to your business! Buying lunch once a week for the jobsite is always a good token of appreciation!
Supervising In supervising any jobsite its key to monitor everything from materials on hand, weather, vehicle parking (if applicable), jobsite safety, and subcontractors’ workmanship. If you hired a professional there should be little supervision in the work being performed, on rare occasions a new hire might need some mentoring to get the results completed correctly. If you see a problem with there work address it with the worker directly, no need to call his boss…. building repour with the worker letting him know you got his back goes miles down the road! Checking in on the job first in the morning to answer any questions or changes that need to be conveyed and once in the afternoon to make sure all work be completed is done per construction industry standards. A job that is run blindly will have many more issues than one that is watched over. I have seen many jobs with no site supervision, leading to subpar quality work as well as safety hazards. Its better to be like an eagle than cluck like a turkey!
Working with the City/Inspectors On permitted jobs the city and site inspector will be a large part of how smoothly the job runs. Each phase of construction has an inspection allowing for the project to continue. Make sure your subcontractors are aware that the project is inspected before starting the job. The best way to stay on his good side is to provide a clean jobsite and having the job built to the highest standards possible. When having the site inspected be courteous to the inspector asking any questions or concerns you have with the work during the job. Being completely transparent will save you aggravation of problems down the road. The more he trust you the better if you seem sneaky or rude he will make your life a living nightmare! Many inspectors will have an attitude towards you….I suggest keeping quiet and doing what ever he wants….he’s the boss no need to get in a pissing match you will not win at. How to deal with irate customer Stay calm during any argument with an irate customer. Never raise your voice or show that you are bothered by their disgruntled behavior. If the customer is trying to get more from you than agreed upon stand your ground. Worst case scenario is you walk from the job, which in the long run be more of a loss for the client. I have only run into a couple of these clients; they are unreasonable and not worth losing sleep over a few dollars. Its best to terminate the relationship as it would be my best guess that a referral from this customer would not be one you wanted anyway. If you feel it was just a miscommunication on your end, take reasonability and remedy the problem. Taking accountability for your mistake will go a far way in their eyes and on future issues that arise. Prepping the homeowner pre-construction Before starting the job, it very important to give the homeowners a warning of what will happen during the construction process.

1. All furniture in the proposed working area must be moved- I would recommend having the clients take care of this to limit the risk of damage to their belongings.
2. There will be dust that will be in the house up to 3 months after construction-I would recommend hiring a construction cleaning company at the end of the job even so after it is cleaned dust will be present months after words.
3. There will be conflicts between you in the homeowner at some course of the job. - You will do your best to eliminate them as quickly as they arise-i.e. material damages, miscommunication, job delays
4. All decisions on materials must be made before the start of the job- this will eliminate job stoppage due to materials not being on site.
5. All materials will be on site before commencement of job-
6. Payment structures must be made per contract otherwise job will stop until payment rendered
7. Cars are to be moved out of the driveway- Ensures ease of loading and unloading of materials/tools
8. Give the specific hours that workers will be present- i.e. 7-3:30
9. Determine what areas are allowed to be used as staging for tools/materials
10. If animals are present in the home that they put outside or in a room during the day
11. All valuables in the house are locked in safe
12. Ask if using client’s household bathroom is okay or to bring in Porter Potty
13. Being transparent as possible is key to keeping a great relationship with your client!

During Construction During construction it is key to take detailed photos to eliminate any damages that were not caused by the construction process. I would also make a video to ensure all areas are included. All subcontractors should also take progress pictures to ensure if problems arise in the future, they will not be responsible for any work that they did not perform. Keep an on-going log of progress to the homeowners and share the pictures for there records. This will keep homeowners excited of the progress being made. When the house is gutted to the studs it is important to have construction photos showing where all utilities are run in the walls or sub floor. If there is a problem in the future there will photos showing all utility locations. Protect all flooring with plywood or floor protective. I also like to protect front door and tarp all areas where subcontractors are to be working. Make sure to cover any chandeliers/furniture/doorways with plastic to eliminate dust. Ask the homeowners if they have any concerns that they could think of. We’re all human and possibly a detail was missed! Post Construction Phase If the project went smoothly appreciation should be shown to the customer. Find out if the husband likes a particular type of liquor. Bring the wife a bouquet of flowers. Send a Christmas card to the family letting how much you appreciated the work. You know you have done a good job if they tell you they will refer you to their friends. The best compliment you could receive is a good referral. In Summary Try to find a knitch in the market, I found kitchens to be a great remodel projects. Bathrooms are tough as they are small, expensive with little profit margin with every trade involved. Windows/doors are also another great knitch as they can be installed quickly. There are so many different remodeling items that can be stream lined to make the selling installing process flawless. Once the core group subcontractors are in place the job almost runs itself. Every day is a learning experience with new materials or methods in construction. Keeping up with codes, materials, fluctuating labor and material cost is a job within itself. Anyone can be a contractor with the right mindset.

Line Score - Game Over

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E	LOB
CIN	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	1	5	8	2	7
CHC	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	4	8	0	8

Box Score

CHC		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
DH	Tauchman	2	0	1	0	1	0	.266
DH	Wisdom	1	0	0	0	0	0	.218
PH	Madrigal	1	0	0	0	0	0	.221
RF	Suzuki, S	4	0	1	1	0	2	.258
1B	Bellinger	5	0	0	0	0	0	.260
3B	Morel, C	3	1	1	0	1	1	.200
LF	Happ	3	1	1	3	1	0	.223
2B	Hoerner	4	0	1	0	0	0	.256
SS	Swanson	4	0	1	0	0	1	.206
CF	Crow-Armstrong	4	1	2	0	0	0	.246
C	Gomes	2	1	0	0	0	1	.154
PH	Busch	0	0	0	0	1	0	.241

CHC	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Assad	5.1	5	2	2	3	7	98-56	2.27
Smyly	1.1	1	2	2	3	3	32-18	5.06
Miller, T	1.1	0	0	0	1	1	31-18	2.33
Neris	1.0	2	1	1	0	1	20-12	3.15

CIN		AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA
CF	Friedl	5	0	1	1	0	3	.167
SS	De La Cruz, E	4	0	0	0	1	3	.244
3B	Candelario	5	0	0	0	0	2	.218
1B	Steer	2	1	0	0	2	2	.219
RF	Fraley	4	1	1	0	0	0	.278
C	Stephenson, T	3	0	2	1	1	0	.250
DH	Martini	2	0	1	1	0	0	.200
DH	Fairchild	1	0	0	0	1	1	.222
2B	India	3	1	1	0	1	1	.224
LF	Hurtubise	0	1	0	0	0	0	.219
LF	Benson	1	0	1	0	1	0	.201
2B	Espinal	1	1	1	2	0	0	.202

CIN	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	P-S	ERA
Ashcraft	4.2	5	3	3	2	4	83-47	4.76
Cruz, F	1.1	0	0	0	1	0	22-13	3.86
Moll	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	16-10	2.70
Sims	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	16-11	3.86
Díaz, A	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	19-11	5.91

Scoring Plays

Inning	Event	Score
B2	Ian Happ homers (6) on a fly ball to left center field. Christopher Morel scores.	2-0
T4	Tyler Stephenson singles on a line drive to right fielder Seiya Suzuki. Spencer Steer scores. Jake Fraley to 2nd.	2-1
T4	Nick Martini singles on a line drive to center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong. Jake Fraley scores. Tyler Stephenson to 2nd.	2-2
B5	Ian Happ walks. Yan Gomes scores. Cody Bellinger to 3rd. Christopher Morel to 2nd.	3-2
T7	Santiago Espinal homers (3) on a fly ball to left center field. Jonathan India scores.	3-4
T9	TJ Friedl singles on a ground ball to left fielder Ian Happ. Jacob Hurtubise scores.	3-5
B9	Seiya Suzuki doubles (6) on a line drive to left fielder Jacob Hurtubise. Pete Crow-Armstrong scores. Nick Madrigal out at home on the throw, left fielder Jacob Hurtubise to shortstop Elly De La Cruz to catcher Tyler Stephenson. Seiya Suzuki to 3rd.	4-5

Highlights

Description	Length
Graham Ashcraft against the Cubs	0:09
Javier Assad against the Reds	0:11
Bullpen availability for Chicago, May 31 vs Reds	0:07
Bullpen availability for Cincinnati, May 31 vs Cubs	0:07
Bench availability for Cincinnati, May 31 vs Cubs	0:07
Bench availability for Chicago, May 31 vs Reds	0:07
Fielding alignment for Chicago, May 31 vs Reds	0:11
Starting lineups for Reds at Cubs - May 31, 2024	0:09
Analyzing Ian Happ's home run through bat tracking	0:11
The distance behind Ian Happ's home run	0:11
Breaking down Graham Ashcraft's pitches	0:04
Javier Assad's outing against the Reds	0:23
Breaking down Javier Assad's pitches	0:04
Santiago Espinal: Home Run Statcast Analysis	0:13
Santiago Espinal's home run through bat tracking data	0:11
Ian Happ's two-run home run (6)	0:29
Jake Fraley's leaping catch at the wall	0:28
Javier Assad strikes out Elly De La Cruz	0:09
Tyler Stephenson's RBI single	0:19
Nick Martini's RBI single	0:27
Cubs turn two after review	0:23
Jonathan India's sweet sliding stop	0:31
Ian Happ's sliding catch	0:13
Ian Happ's RBI walk	0:11
Santiago Espinal's pinch-hit go-ahead home run (3)	0:28
Graham Ashcraft strikes out four against the Cubs	0:43
Seiya Suzuki battles the sun to make the catch	0:29
TJ Friedl's RBI single	0:10
Tyson Miller picks off Stuart Fairchild	0:12
Javier Assad strikes out seven against the Reds	1:11

Decisions

Winning Pitcher	Losing Pitcher	Save
Cruz, F (2-5, 3.86 ERA)	Smyly (2-3, 5.06 ERA)	Díaz, A (11 SV, 5.91 ERA)

Game ended at 4:27 PM.

This is a long one, so buckle up.
There seems to be a lot of mis- and disinformation in this sub recently surrounding TC's development, and I think it's very important to clear some of this up. There are misinformed people repeating information that they're just guessing on, and there are some who are actively trying to convince others of information that is blatantly untrue, or highly unlikely. Let's go over some of the claims and get some things straight.
But first, who am I and why should I be the one to address any of this? Aside from developing games myself, I spent a few years with a large platform where our team worked directly with devs trying to publish to ensure they met their release dates. Sound familiar? That's because it's the situation TC has been in for the last couple years. Now our team didn't particularly care if a dev met their release date or not, but since these were our clients who wanted to achieve these dates, we obviously did what we could to help them get there. A lot of this was purely administrative and required devs to submit basic info about the game, like player count, price etc. but we also had to take deep dives into the content of the games for various reasons. Luckily we also had a team of QA testers, and an adjacent team of play testers, to do the brunt of that work, but some of you will have picked up on this fact: if we were required to assess the content in any capacity, we must have therefore required a completed build. If you submit a game and everything looks good, it's very obvious that a different build you submit a year later may be nothing like the first one. And that's not altogether uncommon! But the point is this: our team's job required us to have a very thorough understanding of how complete a game was throughout this process, and required the devs to give honest accounts of how things were going if they wanted to achieve their goals.
I am not claiming to know everything about this situation, but I have worked with enough devs in positions like TC to be able to shed some light on how some of these things might look internally -- obviously without much explicit detail because the NDAs are very heavy in this industry, and remain in effect years later. I'm not claiming to know anything with certainty here, but there are some highly likely things that many people seem to be overlooking, whether inadvertently or intentionally, and I think it's important for the community to have a better understanding. Before we jump into things, here's a TL;DR: Most likely, there have been development problems. Most likely, these problems are not unusual and are nothing we need to be overly concerned about. With that out of the way, let's dive into some common misconceptions.
*1. The release window was not official/real *
Apparently there was an interview with Leth where he says they said it was the plan to release within that window, but Microsoft marketed this info without TC's consent. If someone wants to timestamp that, great, [edit: timestamp: "we were talking with Microsoft before E3 in '22 and they just asked, you know, "are you guys planning on releasing in the next 12 months, or you know, by this time next year" -- obviously it was before E3. And we're just kind of like, "yeah, I think that's the plan". And so, then you have this message go it; it kind of turned into a release window, although I don't know if I necessarily agree with that"] but this raises several questions. First, it has been said that Leth apparently thinks it shouldn't have been called a release window because they just agreed that they planned to release within this window. The astute among you will note that this is literally the definition of a release window, so it doesn't really matter what he thinks. I am personally skeptical of whether or not he actually said this, but if he did, sorry, that's just how words work. Edit: Leth did not say that, exactly. It's not strictly clear precisely what about the situation he doesn't agree with, but it sounds kind of like he doesn't think Microsoft should have taken their confirmation of the release window as... a release window. It's hard to pinpoint his feelings, but he does describe them having a meeting with Microsoft where Microsoft explicitly asks about a release window and they explicitly agree, which sounds like very clear terms even as described by a source who doesn't agree with the outcome.
Secondly, if they did agree to this behind closed doors, that's confidential information. Remember how I mentioned that NDAs are crazy in this industry? One of our related teams would tell all the new hires: if your name is not in the credits, you can never tell anyone you worked on the game, including in the future. Seriously, they don't screw around with these. If Microsoft released very important confidential information about one of the most highly anticipated games, that would absolutely open them up to a world of legal problems. Game companies sue small leakers into the ground if they get caught, and it makes real news. If a billion dollar company intentionally leaked a release window, it would almost certainly be headline news in the gaming sphere. See how things don't quite line up?
Now I'm not saying Leth is lying, and it's possible there was a misunderstanding somewhere along the lines (e.g. they agreed to it in a previous contract which left them open to it), but games don't just accidentally slip into the biggest game showcases, so somewhere along the lines TC had to have agreed to something. One possibility is that they didn't put this info into an NDA so there wasn't any legal recourse for TC. This would be a really silly oversight and would probably make TC look pretty bad that they just forgot to NDA a closed door agreement with a platform in which they explicitly agreed to a release window, and it makes sense that the PR manager (aka the guy who is paid to make TC look good) wouldn't reveal that info to the public. To reiterate, I'm not suggesting this is precisely what happened or that Leth is lying, but he might be conveniently leaving out key information because there's nothing in the world of video games or business that would support information of this magnitude being made public against the main party's intentions without recourse. [edit: while I don't have a timestamp, someone has explained that TC intentionally forgo NDAs in situations like these. That's entirely their prerogative, but would also mean they have no legal recourse whatsoever in this situation, which explains why nothing came of it]
Most likely status: claims being attributed to Leth that make it seem as though TC were almost duped into the agreement don't sound like the whole story; it doesn't seem malicious, just like a PR guy doing PR work. Aside from these claims, there is nothing to support the fact that the release window was not intended to be official or revealed by Microsoft. Edit: TC apparently didn't necessarily intend for this window to go public, and worked toward this goal by sitting down Microsoft, intentionally not getting Microsoft to sign an NDA, then explicitly agreeing to a release window suggested by Microsoft. That's a pretty standard official release window agreement and I am honestly astonished TC could be at all surprised by that being announced
2. Development is continuing smoothly
A while back, maybe 2 years ago or so, someone ran into Ari at a cafe and asked about Silksong, and was told development was going smoothly. I am paraphrasing and do not have a source because you lot of animals have parodied the post so many times that the parodies have completely buried the original source in search engines. If someone wants to find it, great, but the point is this: we have no reason to believe this was false. At the time it was ~3 years into development and there were no signs of any issues, just a frustrating lack of communication starting to set in.
After that, however, TC agreed to a 12 month window with Microsoft. We've discussed the claims about this not being intended to be made public, but that actually doesn't matter: whether or not it was public, it is confirmed that TC decisively planned to have the game out in that window. It doesn't matter what the intentions were with that information, nor how we got it, all that matters is that Leth has confirmed this (and we can take this at face value, because all other evidence, i.e. it showing up in the showcase, also supports this). This means that TC, with their ample experience at developing exactly this type of game for almost a decade, deemed that in their professional opinions, there was less than 1 year of work left to do. Given that TC seem like good devs, it's reasonable to assume this was an accurate estimation of the volume of work. (While this is largely speculation, if TC had given themselves about a 4 month buffer to account for any unforeseen snags, they'd probably be mostly doing final testing and polishing for this year, which typically lasts <6 months, often shorter. If they were aiming for 1 year and knew that, they'd have been in the very late stages of finalizing game content as of the announcement)
Now when we fast forward one year, we all know that the window was missed, the release delayed and Leth said they're still working on it (which, again, is just a PR guy doing PR work and really tells us nothing). This is a surprising hang up for people on this sub, so I'm going to walk through this thoroughly and logically. They had 1 year of work left to do, so:

• if they accomplished X months of work instead of the full 12, they should have been able to say "we still have about 12-X months of work left to do". You'll notice that this not only gives a proper release in under 1 year, but is also a very easy new release window to set. The fact that neither of these things happened suggest that this is not what occurred.
  
• if they encountered a technical problem during development that simply halted the forward work for X months, then they should have been able to say "the release window will be pushed X months". Of course, this only works retrospectively, meaning the problem had already been resolved, and given the last-minute nature of the delay, I would expect that any hypothetical problems were ongoing. If TC and their years of experience were unable to ballpark when that problem would be resolved, it's a pretty big problem. This is a possibility, and if this is indeed the case, there's nothing to suggest the problem has been resolved by now. Based on what I've seen in my work, it is quite unusual for a dev to encounter a technical problem this large this late in development, especially not devs of TC's caliber. It's not unheard of, but the projects we saw that were in their final stages and hit technical issues this big were devs who had submitted previous builds where the problems were already obvious, and internally we were able to say to each other that their release date was unrealistic. In these situations, I will stress that there were many signs of incompetence leading up to that, that it was very easy to spot 'good' or 'bad' devs, and these situations were always with the latter. TC, by contrast, would probably be considered a top example of a 'good' dev, and I would be very surprised if this was the situation with them. That said, I also have no recollection of ever seeing a dev miss a release date and not put out a new one.
  
• if they encountered scope difficulties during development (namely, unplanned increases), it may have been difficult to project a new timeline. This was not completely unheard of, but was rather unusual this late in development. If there were scope changes at these late stages, the devs would usually try to give a new release date, even if it was more to hold themselves accountable so they didn't go overboard. A big consideration regarding unplanned scope increases is that it can send development progress hurtling backwards; this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is fairly inherent due to the fact that the new additions may need to be created from the ground up, or at the very least are rarely close to complete at the time of their addition. I'd be a bit surprised if TC was in the final stages of completing the game content and decided to suddenly add so much that it pushed them back for a year, but it's not impossible and would explain the lack of a new release date.
  

My best guess, given the lack of a new date, the demonstrated skill of the devs, and the amount of time that's passed since the delay is a mix of these last two options: some small scope increases, and maybe a small technical issue. It's unlikely that they hit the stage of final testing, since that stage usually lasts for a few months tops and issues found are usually resolved in under 24 hours and the only kinds of problems from that which could lead to a delay of more than a few weeks would be, like I mentioned, from 'bad' devs who had abundant obvious problems going into that stage.
Now this is based entirely on speculation driven by the cases I've seen, but gun to my head, my best guess would be that they encountered a mix of these issues, had a pretty clear rough timeline for fixes of most likely a few months, accounted for a few months of final testing, accounted for a buffer of a few months and had an internal release planned for a year later (but this time didn't accidentally tell a major platform, apparently). This could be entirely wrong, but it's just in line with the kinds of problems I've seen crop up this late, and how long it usually takes devs to handle them.
A final mention, Leth has said recently that development is going smoothly, and I honestly take that with a grain of salt. Once again, he's the PR and Marketing guy, and it would go directly against his paid duties to inform the public of internal problems. It's something we'll likely never be able to prove, something that's sufficiently loosely defined that it would be hard to prove even with more info, and it doesn't harm them in any way to say that. I really struggle to see a way where this isn't just a PR thing, most importantly because smooth development means progressing as planned, and missing a release by a year, public or not, means something unexpected arose somewhere along the line.
Most likely status: Missing the window means things were not smooth, for at least a period. There has very likely been a development problem, whether technically, creatively (e.g. scope creep) or both within the last two years. These are not unusual problems and are not cause for concern
3. Something is terribly wrong
This is more like an addendum to the last topic as I mostly addressed big problems there, and how unlikely it is that TC has encountered something like that. Obviously the term "terribly wrong" is not a well-defined term in any industry, but colloquially it's the kind of language that would mostly be used to describe very big problems such as financial insolvency or a creative disagreement to the point where the game might not come out.
Most likely status: normal dev problems, most likely. "terribly wrong", almost certainly not
4. They are not in dev hell (or what "dev hell" is)
There has been some discussion about dev hell and often times people get pedantic about definitions. The problem is that there isn't one hard definition of dev hell, but as it's used in the video game industry, I will do my best to provide you with a definition that covers most cases:
Development Hell: a state of development where progress has slowed beyond expectations without a clear resolution time
Again, this is just me trying to give you a clear idea of how it's used in the industry under discussion, not like a definition you get in onboarding manuals or something. The key parts are that:

• progress is going slower than expected, not faster. While the latter has occurred, I've never heard a term for it
  
• progress is going slower than expected. Progress is never linear, and many parts of development will progress at different rates, but experienced devs can project about how long things should take. If coding an enemy's movement took 2 days and you say coding the main character's movement should take a week, that's not slower than expected. If you say it'll take a week and it's not done a month later, that is.
  
• there's no clear resolution time. If you say it'll take a week to code the main character's movement and at the two week mark it's not done but you can say "yeah I ran into this issue that I didn't expect, but it should be resolved by next week" then that's normal. Problems crop up all the time, but the problem being so big or unfamiliar as to evade a resolution estimate is where terms like "dev hell" start getting thrown around
  

One incredibly important thing to note here is that scope creep is often a major cause of dev hell. We are, once again, in the murky waters of phrases that are not beholden to strong definitions, but broadly, scope creep refers to an unplanned expansion of the scope, not an expansion that was accounted for. If you say "the game will have X, Y and Z, but maybe more here and there", plan time for that and then the game ends up with "X, Y, Z, W and P" then it's probably not scope creep. However, if you only budget enough time for X, Y and Z and then during the development of Z realize how awesome W would be, so take more time to add that in, then during that realize how cool P would be and take more time for that, that's scope creep. When this occurs, the unplanned nature of the expansions mean that it is very difficult to give an approximate resolution time, while you've put main development on hold to handle this. If the new addition changes anything with the existing development, then you have backward progress. While none of this is inherently bad because some great mechanics can come from this kind of situation, it is a period of development where progress is either halted or regressing for an uncertain amount of time and is very much considered dev hell, namely when it occurs outside the planning or early development stages. Scope changes early in development are generally not considered dev hell since that's sort of the time when you're supposed to be figuring out the scope and it's expected to change, however if you go back and forth too much and it takes you a really long time to figure that out, it might be considered dev hell as well.
So most people seem to be of the opinion that the delays are due to scope increases, and as I mentioned, there's probably a fair bit of truth to that. Unfortunately for this novel I appear to be writing, we don't know how well TC have planned around this, nor do we realistically even know that there were scope changes. Working off the assumption that there have been scope changes, then at this stage of development they may have had an internal deadline for themselves, and hence a clear resolution time. If they didn't have scope changes, then any technical problem big enough to set them this far back this late in development would almost certainly not have had a clear time resolution.
Finally, going from a release window to a delay and no new window is a bad look for any company, and I can't think of a situation where I've seen this occur before in video games. Even if TC were working with a loose internal deadline while working through the cause of the delay, I really think they would have announced a worst-case-scenario date, because externally that looks like "we have a problem but know how to fix it" instead of what we got: "we have a problem and don't know how to fix it". This really pushes me to think that they didn't have any real idea of a resolution time, although this is based just on my general knowledge of how companies handle products since, as I mentioned, I don't recall ever seeing a company do this in my line of work.
most likely status: since the delay was likely more due to scope changes and their apparently inability to give a new window despite the downsides to not doing so, they have most likely encountered a period of dev hell, although the causes are most likely not unusual development issues and therefore nothing to be overly concerned about
5. The game will be P% bigger
While unfortunately there are individuals doing their damndest to convince others of the above claims (and, dangerously, even some suggesting that anyone which contradicts them is spreading misinformation), this one seems to be due mostly to good-natured but ill-informed extrapolation. It makes sense, at a passing glance, that if HK had ~45 benches and SS has at least 100, that SS should be at least twice as big. But that was in the past, and development time has far surpassed HK dev time so it's not unreasonable to expect that SS will be 3, 4 or even 5x as large!
If you're in this camp, I'm sorry to inform you that this isn't quite how things work. First, let's talk about what we mean when we say "big". This can refer to the file size, but this is not what most people care about since so many factors can affect this, while most have minimal effects on gameplay.
"big" can also refer to actual size of the map, and I suspect some people probably mean this. Unfortunately it's not a great metric since a map 3x as big with the same amount of stuff to do would just feel very empty, and so is a bad indicator of expected quality. Just off the bat, since Hornet is bigger and faster than the knight, just making HK's map identical but large enough to accommodate Hornet would probably be almost twice as big, but that would be an enormously disappointing version of Silksong.
Lastly, "big" can refer broadly to the amount of content in a game, which is both "things to do" as well as "places to go". While this is the most ambiguous, it has the handy metric of time to handle both: since it takes time to go places and it takes time to do things, you can look at the time it took you to roughly compare the amount of "content" in different games. If one game takes twice as long, it's because there are more places to go, more things to do, or both. It's not a perfect metric, but it's most likely what most people refer to when they discuss the 'size' of a game, and it encompasses the physical size of the map in a way that accounts for things like different sizes or speeds of characters.
Back to the question at hand, consider this: Dark Souls 1 has 43 bonfires while Dark Souls 3 has 77 -- by the same logic often brought up here, DS3 should be almost twice as large as DS1. Yet, DS3 actually takes less time to complete than DS1 by every metric on howlongtobeat.com. It's probably not a coincidence that a big complaint about DS1 was the long boss approaches and DS3 had bonfires very near most bosses, and just that alone would greatly increase the number of bonfires without touching the size of the game. Guess what was also a criticism of HK...
We haven't any solid evidence to point one way or another, just that there are about twice as many benches in SS as in HK, but we should consider that HK was already well beyond the size of what most people consider a good metroidvania. By comparison for completion times, HK averages 3 times higher than the biggest names in the genre. It's fun, but understandably too much for some people. In addition, unlike open world games where no two areas need to be connected in any way, metroidvania maps are designed in a much more purposeful way. In Mario Wonder, they could have added 15 whole new levels with absolutely no adverse effect on the existing game; if they added even one new area to HK, they'd need to consider what upgrades you'd have when you went there, if you get upgrades there, how those upgrades are incorporated in the rest of the game, etc, and has a ripple effect into the rest of the game. This isn't to say one is better than the other, but making metroidvanias meaningfully larger is much more difficult than open world or platforming games, for example.
This one obviously has nothing to do with my previous professional experience in the industry, but as a dev who has done a lot of game design research, my intuition is that the game won't be more than 20-30% bigger because that's the size that would start to turn more people off than attract them. I could be entirely wrong, and if I am I hope the quality is there to support the size. But I do think that those expecting more than a 50% increase are setting themselves up for disappointment, and expectations for a game at least twice as big are pushing 'unrealistic'.
most likely status: extrapolating linearly based on benches or dev time doesn't work since there isn't a linear correlation between those things and game size, and I'd be surprised to see more than a 50% increase
6. Xbox's twitter account is handled by an intern
No company the size of Microsoft would let an intern anywhere near their public facing social media accounts. If someone was interning specifically for a position in public relations then maybe they might be allowed to draft a tweet, but it would go through multiple proofreads to be published.
Also, PR departments would have no reason to know about things like release schedules if it didn't directly pertain to them, e.g. they were given the information specifically to announce.
Most likely status: definitely not true.
For anyone who read all this, thank you! It pains me to see someone say something that's woefully misinformed about the industry, but then because most people don't have any contradictory experiences it starts to spread. Worse yet is when others actively try to push their beliefs as fact, even in the face of contradicting evidence. I can understand that if someone has no experience with this kind of thing, there would be little reason to doubt Leth saying things are just hunky dory. And hey, maybe they are! I've literally never seen a game get delayed while progress was going smoothly, but I also haven't seen every game's development, so maybe they're just super exceptional and I'm not discounting it as a possibility. The whole point of this post is just to say that I've personally seen many devs in this situation, and it was my job to ensure that they were providing what we needed on time, in order to help them release by their chosen dates, and this meant knowing if they were sticking to their self-appointed schedules. It gave us a very close look into dev processes and forced us to develop good instincts for when a game was on track or not, and unfortunately Silksong appears to be checking all the boxes for instances of rocky development. This is far from worrying information, and for months now my money has been on a SGF release date announcement (ok ok, iii's little stunt hooked me at the last minute). But maybe next time we see someone insisting on some of this stuff we can politely point out that they appear to be misinformed, and it can be a learning experience for everybody. Happy skonging!

My normal posts are 2-5 paragraphs. This is long because it's a starter.
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The sloping ground around the Kiaurk family mesa had been sculpted into shelves or terraces, and it was on one of those upper terraces that Kiaurk Nshurr now lounged beneath a pergola anchored to the striated stone face behind her. The mesa rose at her back: an enormous, looming, almost sheer outcrop that her family's dwellings had been carved into the face of. Wide, shallow steps cut into the artificial (but entirely convincing) sandstone wound their way up between landings and porticos leading inward, between tiny balconies shaded by bright solid-colored canopies, between rooms with flat walls and rounded corners that came jutting out to shadow the steps below. Rriigkhans rarely used glass as window barriers; smooth-edged holes had been cut through the rock in varying shapes and sizes. It could be difficult to tell which apertures were windows and which were entryways. A physical barrier that kept out the elements was obsolete in all but the crudest dwellings, though some of these larger holes were curtained with braided string or strips of cloth that served a purely decorative purpose.
From her high vantage point Nshurr could see the shelves stretching out below her as the base of the mesa leveled out to flattish terrain that was a wonderland of vegetation in muted rainbow colors: mustard yellows, clay reds, earthy browns and the occasional dash of sage or dusty blue. This scrubland lay like a blanket around everything below that was not part of the village between the mesas. Down there, adobe compounds never taller than two or three storeys seemed so squat compared to the mesas that Nshurr could see towering in the distance, many of those family mesas only a few hours walk from her own if she traveled by foot. The village sprawled, with tile parkways winding in serpentine fashion between the various buildings, courtyards, parks, and ponds. There were no property lines, no clear division of the land into neat little plots owned by the individuals who lived and worked in these places. It all seemed to be part of a whole, with a single unifying aesthetic. The village housed those rriigkhans of the lower castes, the kharratah and chelhautah, and the humans which were a caste all their own, haukagh-ar, except for a small number who lived with their employers in the caverns of the mesas or up on the plateau.
This planet, Sgarrl, terraformed over three hundred years ago, was home to more humans than any other Ssaarian world – aside from Earth, of course, discovered eighty years ago. The fact that humans shared so much in common with rriigkhans made them the perfect species to incorporate into the rriigkhan caste structure. They breathed the same mix of gases and required similar gravities, and their nimble little fingers were very useful for all sorts of work.
Still, despite the weird pidgin humans had made of her language and their English, she liked the little creatures. She had come to live with her Grandmother on Sgarrl only a month ago, and had never encountered them before. The males only stood as tall as her collar. The females were shorter still, much like the males of her own species.
To human eyes Nshurr was a feline, with a muscular swimmer's body and the broad muzzle of a big cat, with watchful, forward-facing predator's eyes that seemed unexpectedly expressive, because rriikghans had almost as many muscles around their eyes as humans did around their mouths to convey the nuances of emotion. Despite being larger than even many Earth men, she was considered sleek by rriigkhan standards. She made up for that with her broader crest.
The rriigkhan crest was something like the crest of Utahceratops – a keratinized plate growing up out of the skull, except divided into three lobes instead of two, with scalloped edges along the outer rim. Unlike depictions of Utahceratops, the rriigkhan crest was not covered by skin. At least, not on the top. Thick ropy veins squiggled under velvet fur on the underside, closer to the neck. (A thick, arching neck muscular enough to support the weight of that crest meant that Rriigkhans walked with a stoop that made them seem hunchbacked, to humans.) The surface of the plate on top was often rough, even bumpy or corrugated like deer antlers in some areas, smooth in others. Every female crest had four tines jutting from the front – a pair several inches above the eyes, and another pair further up.
Nshurr's crest was wider than average, her upper tines spaced further apart, and combined with a compact face this made her look top-heavy. (A human might say that she was more snow leopard than lion.) Most female crests did not interfere with the movement of the ears – highly mobile, highly expressive paddle shaped things – but the edges of Nshurr's crest did jut out enough to almost shield them.
That her crest was weighty, that it was inconvenient, that she was often aware of it – this was Nshurr's pride. Her long tail curled happily when she caught males looking at it. Humans seemed to be intimidated by it sometimes, as if she might decide to stab them with her “horns.” She considered herself a confident person; not a braggart, but self-assured, and to carry her jhekaah so visibly pleased her to no end.
Her fur was an almost peachy off-white, but a mask of pale peach shaded each seafoam green eye. The mask blended into the white further up her forehead until fur gave way to bone-tan crest, and was split between her eyes by the white of her nose. Oblong spots in that same peachy color, each blending from dark to light, streaked down her sides.
These weren't the natural colors of her distant ancestors. It was unheard of to see a rriigkhan who was not gene-modified in some way, even if those modded genes had been part of rriigkhan life for so long that no one thought of them as mods any longer. She also thought nothing of the subtitles her augmented reality implant displayed whenever a human spoke, AI translated to help her decipher the pidgin. AR was simply a part of her, had been since she was a kit.
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OOC Information:
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For this particular prompt I imagine you'd play a human, probably a new arrival to Sgarrl but maybe someone who was born there. Even though I've set up a situation where my character would have a lot of power and yours very little, I want to clarify that I'm only looking for a mutually loving, slow burn romance.
My “type” that I'd like you to play would be an average man in the 40-60 age range, with realistic personality flaws.
I prefer partners who like to reply more than once a day. 2-3 replies per day would be ideal, but I understand life gets in the way. I usually write 2-5 paragraphs, or 150-450 words per post. This starter is much longer than my typical post length, but my lengths really vary a lot. If I'm introducing a new character or scene, my post might be 1,000 words, or it could be 100 words if our characters are in the middle of a conversation.
Please send a writing sample if you have none in your post history. No need to custom write anything for me, old samples are fine.