32-year-old male finding his way through life, ready to begin the next chapter in life!
☆☆☆☆ 3 Customer Reviews 4 Answered Questions
Price: Varies ✔ Small chance he is eligible for Amazon Prime.
Stats: 6' tall / 195lbs Hazel Eyes INFJ
Appearance: https://imgur.com/a/L9Nf9Ej *^{He plans on growing his hair back out 2025}
Only 1 In Stock. Images show minimal wear or tear and may include a lifetime warranty.
He has called Maryland home for the last 10 years and is open to relocation.
He's got his life together and is ready to share it with someone special.
This post's TL:DR is just a gamer who enjoys traveling, learning, and staying active, looking for a connection.
Product Description
The product is currently traveling across the United States via Airbnb. The journey started in January 2024 and has been West Coast focused so far. Currently, the product is visiting Boise, Idaho, until June, when he will go to Portland. The product plans to visit Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, Grand Rapids, New York, Boston, and anywhere in Florida during the winter.
NotGatling is a down-to-earth, semi-nerdy, sarcastic, witty human with semi-dark humor. It is hard to pinpoint his personality as it can jump from goofy and playful to serious, depending on the event/occasion.
NotGatling's interests and hobbies range from gaming/geek things to exploring nature and cities, whether it's hiking, kayaking, backpacking/camping, or going to pop-up shops/events, concerts, new food places, or museums. When he isn't exploring, he can usually be found gaming, watching his comfort shows(Bobs Burger, Community, Parks N Rec), or watching Hockey. RIP, Caps playoff. At least we can watch Ovechkin beat Gretzky's goal, right?! He better. It's going to be a long rebuild.
Product Information
Education

Level of Education	Details
Bachelors	Network and Cybersecurity
Future Plans	Wants to acquire a Masters or begin a Bachelor program in the science field.

Work Experience

Job	Details
Army	2011 - 2017
IT Engineer / System Administrator	2017 - Current
Dream Job?	He thinks its teaching. But with IT pay. One can dream.

Customer Questions & Answers
Question: Why is he trying out the digital nomad lifestyle?
Answer: His work is implementing hybrid work next year. He is taking advantage of his last year fully remote to explore.
Question: What is he looking for in a potential prospect?
Answer: He is seeking someone who shares his interests. He usually vibes best with people who like playing video games and exploring nature, cities, or new food spots.
Question: Does he want kids and to have a family?
Answer: He had a vasectomy back in 2022 once Roe vs Wade was overturned. He doesn't want to 100% rule out the possibility of a family but leans heavily towards the DINK life.
Question: What does a breakdown of his day look like?
Answer: He lives the early birdlife and finishes work just after lunchtime. After work, he can be found exploring a nature spot, going to the gym, or checking out a local attraction. When he isn't out and about, he is usually gaming or researching what's next.
Customer Reviews
☆☆☆☆☆ The best son I've ever had. - A text from Mother
A blessing from god. You're down to earth and never ask for anything in return. You could stop by and visit more often, but I understand you're living your life.
☆☆☆☆☆ Truly an amazing person. - An old Army friend.
Thank you very much for taking this trip with me. I truly appreciate you and all you have done with me and for me since I first met you at WLC 2 years ago. Stay wonderful and beautiful you! Try your best to find joy in everything you do.
☆☆☆ Why don't you visit more often? By the rest of his family. *^{When he lived in Maryland}
You live 2 hours away?! Why don't you drive up here every day and visit us?!
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It will be long grab your snack. So I'm starting work at Walmart in 2020, within 8mo I get a promotion to TL but do follow up on when the offer will come but keep getting excused until I give up and just back to regular Associate. In 2022 I took FMLA and couldn't keep to my attendance but my HR said if I called off use pregnancy I shouldn't get points. Back from FMLA with a new SM and a bunch of people who other people complain that they suck at their job being TL. I'm back as ON and then ask if there's an opportunity to level up. My HR claimed my SM didn't know me well although everyone knows I have a good work ethic, and always do good in every task I've been assigned. I debated her until at the point of she mentioned attendance, at that time mine was 3.5 which is 1.5 occurring during the stupidity of my TL but she won't admit it and won't wipe it anyway so I'm not wasting time arguing with a dumb. To get the upper position I enrolled in Walmart education on Leadership certification and Bachelor in business. I just graduated in March. Now I'm in family hardship. Contact my HR on how to get approval to apply for the higher position when I'm less than 6 months in a new department. I told her how I'd be interested in getting a higher position and higher pay plus my attendance of 1.5. Her response is upsetting me. Instead of encouraging me, she suggested I look for the position of Deli/Bakery if want higher pay when she knew that was not what I wanted and there's TL position available at my store. Someone ever told me that our management is racist and told me to pay attention when see the Leadership board and YES from 30 people management is only 3 people of color and most of those 3 worked hard to get to that position compared with others who in that position who constantly get complained of how terrible they are as leader. What's my option here? Resign? Lawsuit? I feel like wasting time on taking education benefits and still not being considered to go up. When that's the promise of the education benefit. PS: I'm Asian and when I was starting at Walmart there was another Asian who had worked for years with good ethics too, but eventually gave up on fighting to ask to move to another department because wanted to get a $3 raise so she chose to resign. Do you think my HR or the management is racist? I mean how many people color in your place that is TL? Mine is 1 coach, 2TL that's it

Forgive me if this question should be asked elsewhere but I could really use some advice.
I’ve been a journalist full time at the same company in Huntsville, Alabama for the last 3 years. I started out at my university newspaper in 2013 before graduating and moving to New Orleans where I wasn’t able to book work consistently enough to truly say, “I’ve been a journalist for the past decade.” There was a 1-2 year period where I thought I didn’t have what it took.
My current situation has been very satisfying from the beginning. My boss owns a magazine and a business journal focused on Huntsville and the surrounding area. Most of the assignments have been limited in the amount of exposure you could ever expect as with most other community based journalism but Huntsville is also home to NASA and Redstone Arsenal. It requires more effort a long with putting yourself out there much more consistently, but any determined journalist can find stories locally that will generate readers far beyond the city and state lines.
In August of 2023, I had an instance where my luck and determination peaked at the same time when I was able to track down the son of a former Chinese immigrant turned Huntsville scientist, Dr. Ning Li. She wasn’t famous, not even among most Huntsville residents, but in the early 2000’s she had a run of published papers that made her extremely well known in the science community and even resulted in publications like Wired running multi page spreads about her work on anti gravity technology. I’m going to be REALLY short here but she seemingly disappeared after leaving UAH to start her own company for her research in 2002. Records show initial funding from DoD but the paper trail ends there and she never had a public appearance again.
Eventually this “disappearance” was noticed and some reporters were asking about her publicly at the time, but no sure fire answers ever came. This, along with some public rumors of her defecting back to China with US secrets, eventually resulted in a large community of people who were still asking for answers 20 years later in the form of YouTube videos (Barely Sociable had a big one with 2+ million views) or various science / conspiracy based websites. It only grew as more people started making claims that a lot of the UAP reports being publicized described technology that seemed to resemble her initial theory that gained promise.
I was able to track down her adult son’s phone number. After a series of phone calls over the next month, I gained his trust and was invited to his home where he was able to give me all of the answers except ones about the success of her research on her top secret work funded by the DoD. He didn’t know if she was ever proven right or wrong because she worked at the Arsenal every day until the day she was struck by a car driven by a student on UAH campus. She suffered a TBI that immediately rendered her as if she had late stage Alzheimer’s. Never spoke again and he cared for her around the clock until she died 6 years later.
He was unable to learn anything further about her work, but he gave me a lot of information that wasn’t known at the time and I was able to fully disprove any rumor of her turning traitor to the US for a return to China.
I published the story and it did really well in mid-late 2023 amongst the crowd who already knew of her obviously and the regular Huntsville readers of ours found her life story very interesting. It was immediately the most successful story of my career as other reporters were making stories about the fact that I was able to solve her mystery. It died down like I figured until 4-6 weeks ago.
The UAP disclosure hype has resulted in more people talking about her than ever before. I’m hearing my name and seeing my picture on videos with over 1 million views for the first time ever.
I was very happy but didn’t think it changed much for me because it’s not like it could grow more realistically. Until Joe fucking Rogan reads pretty much the whole story and talks about it for 5-10 minutes on the podcast with largest following in the world.
My excitement turned to disbelief that day and it’s still crazy to think about sometimes. I never realistically thought I would write something that would generate traffic numbers around 5-6 million readers on a single story. That number is over course of 8 months which is very far removed getting those same numbers in the span of a week but the increase in exposure has been noticeable in my inbox ever since the Rogan podcast.
Noticeable enough that it feels like I’m very possibly having a moment before it’s just a moment before THE moment if that makes sense.
I haven’t had any career advancing job offers but there’s been some who have reached out in support to suggest various story topics that run parallel to that story as follow up ideas. Maybe I’m overestimating here but I feel like if I capitalize on my recent success correctly, I could see my career advance a step farther than I thought was possible for the year of 2024 when it started.
But…. I’m not at all sure how of the specific road map that could achieve such a thing. Yeah, I proved I can put together a story that results in traffic from both readers and “cultural trendsetters” but only once.
If anyone has ever been in a similar position, I would love some advice on the best way to turn this exposure into interest from publishers 1 step up the totem pole from where I am now. That also applies to people who haven’t been in this position, the more feedback I can get, the more prepared I feel I can be.
Sorry this post has been so long, it’s just been heavy on my mind for the last 1-2 weeks and I needed to hear from people who are both A: familiar with the industry and B: Not my boss.

Hi- need serious advice. I know this is a novel, I’m so sorry but I would appreciate anyone who reads it. I’m a 20 yr old F and I live with my brother, 19 M, and my two parents. My parents are abusive. There is no way to get around it. Physically when I was young and mentally now. I can’t describe what they put me through now- it’s awful. I promised myself all throughout high school I would leave the moment I turned 18 but something kind of switched and they became more tolerable, almost nicer, so like a fucking idiot I stayed. I started my bachelors, started working and tried to convince myself it was alright. The other reason I stayed was for my brother. I’ve taken care of him my whole life. I didn’t have any other choice, and I didn’t think I wanted one. It was my duty to take care of him and I did my job as best as I could only being 11 months older. I have gotten in the middle of fights, taken beatings, punishments, paid for him, drove him, etc. Time and money I didn’t have to spare spent on him with no repayment, and I’m talking about he wanted a new $60 game so I asked him to help me while I cleaned my room (vacuuming, taking down dirty clothes, wiping down my fan). This has been going on for years. I was the one to complete his college essay, to call his advisors to get his transcripts, to do his homework, otherwise my ass was on the line with my parents. I have done everything I could for him. Plus, he didn’t even get into college because I told him he had to complete his 200 word prompt for his college application, leading him not to get accepted because he didn’t fucking do it. He’s in his first year while I’m almost in my fourth. I have had jobs for the last 3 years in my field while he has done nothing. I begged my parents for a car and drivers license for 2 1/2 years while he, at 19, only got his 4 months ago. He does the bare minimum. Less than that, actually. The night before fall semester started he got into a fight with my father, physically, left the house, and made me go looking for him and try to convince him to go back home until 5am. To say my semester was fucked after that is an understatement. It’s constant but I stay because I’m his sister. It’s my job. It’s also a cultural thing I guess. I know I’m venting but I’m getting to the point I promise. A month ago I asked him to help me clean my room so that I could study since he has a habit of fucking his room up, coming and staying in my room, taking up my bed, and asking me to buy him food. I had just returned from the library, brought him Taco Bell, and wanted to clean a bit before continuing to study for my final the next day. To be clear, if I didn’t pass this class I wouldn’t be on track to graduate or get into my optometry program. He said he didn’t want to help and bitched and moaned but when I pointed out that I had gone out of my way to get Taco Bell for him he agreed to aid. I asked him to just bring up some cleaning stuff and take down my clothes so I could have them clean for work and he left. After an hour or so of waiting for him (yes I was procrastinating and purposely didn’t ask why he was taking so long) I heard him come upstairs with a plate full of sandwiches and go into his room. I was pissed. I started to text him, angrily and cursing I’ll admit, about him not doing shit and being so annoying. I called him a bum for never following on his promises or doing absolutely fucking anything. He started texting in all caps not to call him that otherwise he swore to god I would regret it, and I, being the person that I am (a fucking idiot) called him it again. He rushed out of his room, kicked open my door and threw his phone at me as hard as he could and left me with a bruise. He started standing over me, threatening me, saying shit like he was going to throw me done the stairs, snap my neck, etc. I’ve seen him get that way before- he smashes shit to pieces, breaks anything in his sight, and generally destroys things. For some context he’s a big guy, almost 300lb and used to be able to deadlift 500+lb. I got scared, saw a knife on my counter from dishes I had yet to clean, and pulled it on him. He slowly backed off and went to his room, before I, again, a fucking idiot, called him a bum again. A stupid decision, I know, I would definitely be the bitch that got knifed in a movie and you’d cheer for her death. This time I closed the door before he could come in, he tried to break down the door while I was on the other side, and in response he smashed something made of glass on the other side and punched a hole in my door. I contacted my dad who was far away and he sent my mother home. My mother and I haven’t spoken to each other in a few months since she called me a burden for asking her to help me get my work clothes ready for the week. She came in, spoke to my brother I guess, then came in and spoke to me. She said it was unbelievable and she didn’t know what to say and when I explained what happened and then told me to study for my test. She also went back to talk to him and came back to talk with me, asking me if I pulled a knife on him, which I admitted to, only because I was seriously afraid of him pushing me down the stairs or knocking me out. After that I locked the door and when texting my parents about the situation they only told me not to worry about it, just study. I couldn’t, and I swear to god I tried, all night. I was scared and I think in shock. I got to the lecture hall early and tried to study there but that didn’t help either. I had done alright in the class, done very well in the lab, but knew I bombed the final. I went home and didn’t speak to anyone at home for days. After about 3 days I went downstairs and saw my dad who tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal. I explained how insane and irrational the entire situation was and how I wanted to move out. I couldn’t handle dealing with all of their shit, and if I was the problem like they said I was then I would be fixing that too. I have a very important board exam this summer that I also have to take to get into optometry school and I proposed that I would live on campus, only for the summer. He refused, angrily saying that it wasn’t me place to move out, that he would never support me, and that if that’s what I wanted to do I could get the fuck out right now. A few things- I pay partially for my school. I don’t make much but I put a lot of what I do have toward school and the rest towards little things for me and my brother. Secondly, almost every single thing within my bedroom I have paid for. Excluding the mattress, furniture, and my phone, I have paid for everything I need or want through hard work. Thirdly, both my parents are currently unemployed but wealthy. Wealthy enough that they can go on vacations, pay for four cars, go out with their friends, and pay for their son’s tuition with no hassle. It’s only mine that poses a problem, which is the reason they let me work. They attempt to dictate how I should spend my money constantly. The argument went on for an hour, him accusing me of failing because I chose to, him proposing that he get a lock for my door, telling me I could move into the basement, etc. When my father refused to budge I went upstairs, used a loc that I had bought for when your staying at a hotel to barricade the door and have not spoken to him since. It has been a month now and I have not spoke to anyone in person, though my mother has been trying to guilt me into making me give up my refrigerator in my room by telling me my grandfather is in hospice, there will be a funeral soon, and me having that fridge is making me too fat to be presentable, as well as trying to be nice and hugging me when I have to leave for work in the morning. Now, with all of that context, here’s what’s going on. Since the entire incident happened I have been trying to figure out a way to leave. I have looked into campus housing but it’s an additional $7000 per semester that I don’t think I can afford even if I take out student loans and do FAFSA. I’m scared of the position. It’ll put me in when it comes to going to school. I do have another choice though. I recently toured an apartment complex that is beautiful it’s my dream place and the rent is less than $1500 a month. The only problem is that I only currently make being part time 12 to 1300 a month I just got a raise to $18 an hour but even then that’s not gonna be enough to cover it if I’m going to school at the same time, I’ve looked into some options and FAFSA and loans wouldn’t be able to cover any of my housing outside of living on campus. The only problem with living on campus is I can’t make the morning drive less than an hour and a half to work and I’m afraid with how it all affect my schedule and will to study. I was honestly giving up the idea of moving out at all because it seems so impractical and there was no way that I could actually leave and take my stuff with me without a fight. However, I recently learned that my parents tomorrow are leaving on a five day vacation to Vegas with Little to no thought of how that affects me and the position that I’m in with my brother, if I can figure out a way to somehow be able to afford the rent for this place afford a car to get to work because we have really bad public transportation in my area then I think I would just drop out of school and go. I love optometry more than anything and that’s why I was willing to deal with all of this but maybe school just isn’t in the cards for me. I don’t want to give it up but I don’t think that I’ll make it out of here alive, in all honesty. I can’t keep up with everything it’s ruining my life and I’m only 20 years old. But it’s so scary that I don’t know if I can even take the steps to moving out. I just paid tuition for the spring summer semester and have only $500 to my name. I would need to take out a loan to be able to put down the down payment for the car and the apartment and what if I don’t get approved? What if my work doesn’t give me full-time? what am I gonna do then? I don’t have anybody in my life that could help me. I also have a big family that would all be on their side and agree with them and what if I leave and they come back and cause a scene that causes me to lose my job? They would 100% do that. I know for some people it’s a no brainer but put yourself in my shoes. I have no money, family, friends, or support. At least here I have car and my room and sometimes they’re tolerable. I would only have to do it for 1-2(?) more years. On the other hand, this place is destroying me. I hate who I am becoming because of it. Would it be worth giving up my future for getting my dreams or moving out? If you read all of this you’re amazing, thank you so much. I can only stare at a pros and cons list for so long 🙃

5 months post-break up. I’ve posted in detail about this many times but in summary, my ex (29M) and I (27F) were long distance for 2.5 years. I was at the stage of sorting visas/jobs to move to him when he said he wasn’t ready to commit or be in a relationship. Really devastated me and flipped my life upside down at a critical point of my life. He breadcrumbed me hard the first couple months. I blocked him for a while. April 3rd, we started talking again and we both said our feelings were still the same and were open to the idea of seeing where things go. All of a sudden he shut down again and we stopped talking April 13.
I messaged him on April 29 and he said he doesn’t feel the same way, doesn’t love me, miss me or feel sad etc. He wants a relationship with gender roles. A full 180 in a couple of weeks. He also said he hadn’t been with anyone new. A couple of days later, his family blocked/deleted me off social media which actually really upset me and seemed so out of the blue because they were liking my posts just a couple of weeks before and I had a good relationship with them. I was so confused. Obviously, one didn’t get the memo and I saw a video they posted of my ex with his new chick at a family dinner on May 10. I think that was the worst moment of this whole breakup because there was no warning and he lied and told me he hadn’t been with anyone less than 2 weeks before. I didn’t expect it at all.
I did some digging and this girl is 21/22, still in college. He started following her mid April, right when he shut down again with me. This guy has a fear of commitment and the mind of a little boy so someone that young and inexperienced who hasn’t figured out their life yet is PERFECT for him. He’s got about 5 years to figure his shit out before she starts asking to settle down. At first I was inconsolable that he moved on that fast and forced his family to block me so I wouldn’t see. It wasn’t to protect my feelings. It was to protect his guilt and reputation. I was plagued with the thoughts of “does he say the things he said to me? Does he call her my pet names? Has he taken her to our places?” But honestly now, I think this has really helped me move on. What a LOSER! It’s actually hilariously embarrassing 😂 All the tears and intrusive thoughts about this pathetic human who doesn’t give a damn about me. I’m sorry but your feelings cannot change that quickly. You can’t say after months you still feel the same way and want to maybe try again and then 10 days later, your feelings are dead. This man has so many issues that he has not worked on so I’m sure this relationship will fizzle out as he is incapable of having a healthy one. I really was struggling with no contact but I have no desire whatsoever anymore. I’m not sure if he knows I know. But why lie? That’s the part I don’t get? You can tell me how little I mean to you, so why not say you’re seeing someone new? What is wrong with him???
Anyone have a similar experience? Do you think he’s really gotten over me or is this a distraction? He’s severely avoidant. He literally told me “I’ve been pushing down feelings my whole life, this was just another I needed to overcome”. Part of me feels he’ll reach out one day and part of me wants him to so I can laugh in his face. Anyway, I’m off to disappear into the abyss. Good luck you POS. Thanks for nothing.

The episode resumed on a shot of Zee and Jo, their skin tones back to normal, running up to a smiling Chris. "Welcome back," he told the camera. "Zee and helper Jo are the first to arrive here, at the world's largest mud puddle!" The camera pulled back, revealing that the trio was standing near the edge of a large lake of burbling mud, a measuring stick rising out of it at the nearest edge.
"It's eight feet deep," Chris explained over a close-up of the measuring stick showing the mud reaching up very nearly to the 8' mark, "and 200 yards across. And," the camera quick-panned to the far right side of the 'puddle', "since it's too thick to swim through," the shot cut back to the couple and Chris, "the only way to the other side is with one of you piggybacking the other."
"Umm...," Zee said hesitantly, sharing a wary look with Jo, "doesn't that mean the person on the bottom..."
"Will drown?" Chris finished. "Yes."
"What?!" Jo said in wide-eyed shock.
"Unless they use this garden hose!" Chris added, a light chime playing as he held up a length of green hose.
Zee let out a breath. "Okay then. Guess I'm on the bottom, then."
Jo's eyes widened a bit in a brief bit of surprise, and she looked at her partner. "I should be objecting to this since I'm supposed to be the helper, but hey. No heavy lifting from me."
"Yeah…" Zee agreed half heartedly.
Confessional: Zee
"I was able to hold Jo onto my back while we were skiing," Zee told the confessional. "I can still do the same while under mud."
Confessional Ends
"I know that I said you were weak in the past," Jo said, "but that was until I saw that you were able to make it this far in the game."
"You thought wrong about me," Zee replied. "I wasn’t active at first in challenges and finding food, but with Julia eliminated, I was able to grow and become a finalist."
Chris suddenly stepped between the two. "How touching. Now start the challenge."
The scene cut to Zee and Jo jumping into the mud, the former disappearing below its depths while the latter, on his shoulders, held up the length of the hose. They started moving forward, and the camera panned back to the left to show Harold, Scarlett, and Chris holding up another length of hose.
"Yeah, I'll be on top," Harold stated.
"Pardon me?" Scarlett countered, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't trust you not to let me drown," Harold told her. "Self-preservation comes first."
Scarlett groaned. "That's fair," she said, taking the hose from Chris, "but if you let me suffocate, I'm dragging you down into the mud with me."
"Crustal," Harold deadpanned, and as Scarlett crouched down, she jumped onto the brainiac's shoulders. Scarlett stood back up and put the end of the hose in her mouth, and she jumped into the mud.
The tense music faded away as the camera moved onto Chris, the host sighing as Chef walked up. "You think the mud was a bad idea?" Chris asked. "It's a little quiet… oh yeah," Chris said as if in sudden realization, "almost forgot about the Peanut Gallery. Bring 'em back in!" he said into a walkie talkie he only then pulled out.
Moments later, the wind kicked up around them, and the camera zoomed out to show the large helicopter flying in with the former contestants still hanging – and screaming as they swayed ominously – below it. "Would you let us down already?!" Leshawna shouted angrily. "It's freezin' up here!"
"Yeah, I want to cheer for Zee!" Julia chimed in.
"If I wasn't tied up right now, I'd have half a mind to pound you!" Duncan shouted at the host.
The camera focused on DJ. "Hey, Chris?" he looked forward and asked loudly. "Just bring us down before anybody else gets miffed at you!"
"No, and I don't care," Chris answered with a calm smile, until Chef whispered to him. A flat note played over a close-up of Chris staring blankly at him. "Huh...good point," he admitted. "Ooh!" he said with a sudden grin. "I just had an idea!"
A flash took the scene to Zee and Jo, the tense challenge music resuming at a low volume and slow pace in the background. They were still slogging through the mud, Zee out of sight but Jo only submerged up to her stomach. She looked back over her shoulder, smiled, then said "Keep going!" into the piece of hose she was holding. "They're way far behind!"
Confessional: Zee
"So as it turns out," Zee said, "being submerged in the mud is kinda like being trapped in the dark. But there aren't any animals below to scare me."
Confessional Ends
The music ramped up as Jo suddenly stopped moving, then seemed to turn around and start moving back towards the start. "Uh, Fruit Loop?" she asked into the hose. "We're going the wrong way!"
The camera cut to Harold, looking somewhat bored as he held the hose atop Scarlett's shoulders, before noticing the other team and frowning. "Why are they coming this way?"
"Ugh! They're too safe to sabotage each other!" came the sudden voice of Chris McLean, the camera cutting to him standing in the show's jeep with Chef at the wheel, speaking into the microphone of the jeep's loudspeaker. "Deploy the 2.0 model!"
The shot cut back to Harold and Jo as they looked around with strange expressions, the sound of something like a rocket taking off coming from somewhere in the distance. They looked up and to the left, and the camera shifted to their viewpoint to show a large object shooting up through the sky overhead...
...then abruptly diving towards them, revealing itself as a red-eyed robotic bear with small jet engines coming out of its back. Harold and Jo screamed as their respective partners continued in their previous directions, getting out of the way as the Bear landed in the mud. It hit with enough force to cause a wave of mud, which shot all the way across the puddle carrying the finalists and their helpers along for the ride. All four immediately began to cough upon landing in a muddy heap.
Confessional: Harold
"At least I have a better shot," Harold said. "We're tied right now, but who knows what other tricks Chris has up his sleeves."
Confessional Ends
A close-up of the nozzle of a fire hose in Chef's hands preceded him blasting the muddy finalists and helpers with water, all four screaming where they'd landed on the shore of the 'puddle'. Moments later, the water was shut off, leaving them drenched but clean.
"We're all tied up," Chris announced with a smile. "Perfect time for a little break. First, let's bring in the Peanut Gallery again." He took out his remote and pointed it at a patch of ground nearby, a hole opening up in it and a rather shoddy-looking set of stadium seats shooting up out of it with the ten former contestants seated – and still tied-up – in it.
"Sha-finally," Lightning said, the shot cutting to him sitting in the top row with B, DJ, Duncan, and Max and Leshawna, Ella, Julia, Sammy, and Amy in the bottom row. "Are we gonna get to watch the rest of the challenge now?"
"Yup!" Chris answered with a happy smile, pressing the button on his remote again so that a large widescreen television emerged from another hole in the ground near him and the finalists.
"Will you untie us too?" Ella chimed in.
Chris huffed. "Whine, whine, whine," he said in annoyance. "Don't I do enough for you kids as it is?"
"No," all fourteen of the season's cast members replied at the same time.
A flat note played over a close-up of the host pursing his lips. "Yeah, I owe Chef twenty bucks about that," Chris said, the camera zooming back out again to show the finalists and helpers. "Everyone, grab a seat," he instructed, and the four reluctantly sat down on the logs lying behind them. "I'm gonna show you some of my favorite clips from the show..." He pointed his remote at the TV, and the shot focused in as it switched on and started to play footage of a confessional...
"Dunderhead was already pretty useless," Jo complained. "But now he's making moves on one of the actually decent players on the team? Not on my watch!"
The camera cut in close to show Jo pausing and looking back. "Something on your mind, Anti-Squeakerbox?" she asked, the camera shifting to show B peering at her and shaking his head.
“It's not what you think it is," Jo told him. "As long as they are on this team, Julia and Zee will not date."
“Not exactly how I wanted the elimination to play, but hey. Julia’s gone and with Zee still in the game, I could manipulate him into doing whatever I say,” Jo grinned.
The footage paused, and Chris leaned out in front of the television with a wide and mischievous grin. "Seems like there isn't a shipper on deck…" he said impishly.
"So you were trying to keep me and Julia apart?" Zee said as the camera moved to him and Jo, his eyes wide with shock. "Does this mean that...,"
"Yup. I convinced Julia to quit," Jo replied. "I didn't expect her to fully go through with it since I was gonna vote you out!"
"I can't believe you'd try and do that!" Zee said with a glare!"
"If I didn't do what I did, then you two likely would've blown challenges for us like the dueling one!" Jo argued back.
The camera focused on Julia in the Peanut Gallery. "I was trying to defend my boyfriend, but sure," she said dryly.
"I'm just worried what Chris is gonna show from Scarlett," Sammy said. "It looks like he wants to mess up the finalists and their helpers..."
"Maybe he won't show anything?" Amy suggested. "I mean, it's not like Scarlett and Harold were that close to begin with."
The shot cut back to a smiling Chris. "Oh, don't worry, I have no intention of leaving those guys out of all this fun," he said happily.
"I don't see how," Scarlett said. "Harold already knows everything about me now. I’m practically an open book."
Chris laughed. "Seems you forgot that the cameras are always on. So here's some more juicy information that everybody gets to hear." The screen on the TV went from static to a scene from the fifth episode.
Scarlett herself grabbed the dueling stick Ella retrieved, fished an electric eel out of the water, and tossed it to Max. "Max!" she cried, and her teammates looked at her in confusion, prompting her to pretend that she had coughed. "Pardon me!"
“The plan was for Max to be the only one not in the trap, so the team would know he built it and vote him off!” Scarlett confessed.
"I overheard Leshawna and Harold's conversation when they were foraging together, and Leshawna being on to me is something that I refuse to let happen," Scarlett claimed. “Zee's really gullible enough to deceive, and I'll try to talk to Ella.”
A deep, dramatic note was struck over a shot of Harold in shock. "So it was you who got Leshawna eliminated!" he scowled in Scarlett's direction.
"I wasn't ready to come out just yet, and between the two of you, you were less likely to warn anyone about me!" Scarlett retorted.
"So all this time, Scarlett was aiming to usurp her master!" Max ranted.
"I don't blame her," Leshawna commented. “As much of a pain as she is, I would've done the same thing and sent your annoying behind home.”
"Okay," Chris said happily as the shot moved onto him, "I'm sensing some major hostility and I'm liking it. I'm out of popcorn, though, so we should probably get back to the challenge."
"Seriously?!" the finalists and helpers alike exclaimed.
"Obviously, the helpers aren't gonna be very helpful anymore," Chris replied. "So, instead of helpers, Jo and Scarlett will now be hinderers." As he spoke, Chef walked back into view with a pair of video game controllers, tossing one each to Scarlett and Jo. "The island is now back online," Chris continued, "and, with these controllers, they will be able to throw up obstacles to throw you down, or, completely crush you."
The shot cut to Scarlett as she looked at her controller and smirked. "Good to know."
"Looking forward to it," Jo said in determination.
Harold and Zee gulped, and Chris laughed. "That was the good part," he said. "Let me tell you the bad part. You have ten minutes to finish this challenge," he told Zee and Harold. "If neither of you do, Scarlett and Jo get to split the money."
"Dude, what?" Zee said in shock.
"You can't do that!" Harold protested.
"I can! I will! I am! GO!" Chris announced, blowing his airhorn right in Chef's face, earning an annoyed sigh from the man. Harold and Zee immediately ran off, but the camera cut to a close-up of a thoughtful Jo.
"Well...I want the money, but I'm not really comfortable with how this is set up," Jo said to herself. "But...I guess it wouldn't be too bad if I just made this a little more challenging for them..."
"Do what you want," Scarlett said, the camera panning over to show her grinning darkly with her controller in hand. "I'm getting my justice."
Confessional: Jo
“And I thought I was an underhanded person,” Jo mentioned to herself. “Velma has less morals than me and Gnome Master.”
Confessional: Scarlett
"I was snubbed in the last episode," Scarlett confessed. "And now that I've been given permission, I can stop the finalists from winning without getting electrocuted!" She pulled out the remote from the seventh episode. "I don't even need this device. I have a controller to do the job for it."
Confessionals End
A few quick drum taps opened up a deep and dangerous challenge theme, the scene returning to Zee and Harold sprinting across the open field only to gape in shock as the pine trees in the background starting launching like rockets.
"What the heck?" Harold said. "Rocket trees?"
One landed right behind them, forcing both finalists to roll forward out of the way. "This island is wild!" Zee cried as the two continued running, more and more trees landing behind them like massive spears.
The two were shown together in a brief close-up, raising their eyebrows in surprise. A quick-pan ahead revealed the landscape changing, trees and rock formations rising up out of the artificial ground to form a large, dense barrier.
Harold jumped ahead of Zee as they climbed over the first big rock formation.
Zee vaulted downward and dashing forward along a lower 'path' among the rocks. Just as he was about to jump down onto grass, however, a boulder shot upward – and he landed on it groin-first. A close-up showed him letting out a high-pitched squeal of pain.
Harold's wince drew the camera's attention back upward to show him leaping from a boulder and grabbing onto the branch of a tree, only for the tree to suddenly shoot back down into the ground – causing him to yell as it dragged him down and slammed him back-first onto a fallen log.
Zee gave him a quick concerned glance as he jumped onto the same log, then upwards onto a rock formation before climbing onward and to the right and out of sight.
The scene cut back to the hinderers, both still working their controllers with Scarlett still looking considerably happier about it. "No need to change what works," Jo said uncertainty.
"What happened to that cutthroat attitude you've been displaying?" Scarlett asked. "Don't throw it away when I can get something out of it. And lower some of those trees. They're giving them too much cover from this storm I'm whipping up."
The camera panned onto the monitor to show Zee and Harold struggling against a powerful wind as they walked through what looked like a dense forest as leaves, dust, branches, and various small woodland animals blew past them.
A focus on the monitor's screen transitioned the scene back to the challenge. "I think...I can see the finish line in the distance," Zee said, pausing for a moment as he struggled against the intense gale.
"They're not making this easy on us," Harold commented.
The pair briefly passed behind a thick and mossy pine tree, the camera zooming in slightly as they reappeared. "Would you?" Zee asked.
"...I guess not," Harold answered after a moment.
The shot cut back to the Peanut Gallery to show them watching with worry and anticipation. "C'mon, Harold," Leshawna spoke. "Just hang in there."
"I know you can win this, Zee," Julia said. "You deserve it after everything."
Then the camera cut back to the hinderers, Chris standing next to their monitor with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. "Ooh! They're getting close!" he said excitedly, prompting Scarlett to scowl and Jo to frown.
Once more the scene moved back to the finalists, their arms raised to buffer themselves against the winds – snow beginning to fall and lightning beginning to crack in the background - with Harold in the lead. "Two minutes left!" Chris called out over the island's loudspeaker. "Two minutes!"
"I...," Harold said with glee. "I think I can make it!"
"Not if I can help it!" Zee shouted, speeding up as the dense trees around him and Harold began to recede into the ground – and the tense and dangerous challenge music resumed. "If I win, me and Julia can go out and change the world together."
"I have to win this," Harold told him. "I've been undervalued and looked down on by my peers, friends, and even my family. I need to prove my might."
The snowy ground below their feet began to crack. A hollow sound played, then all at once, the ground shot up under them, earning startled yells from both. The shot soon cut to the new peak they were standing on rising up into the sky, then stopping.
"Drats..." Zee muttered, both finalists looking down with wide eyes. his final word echoed as the camera zoomed out, revealing the snowy mountain they were now at the top of.
The Peanut Gallery was shown gasping, as were Jo, though Scarlett was smiling as their misfortune. "Twenty seconds left...!" Chris said as the camera moved on to him looking at his watch.
The shot cut back to Harold. "I guess it's over," he sighed. “Scarlett wins after all.”
Zee noticed a bulge in the snow beside him. The boy shoved his hand into it and pulled out the phone Duncan stole from Chris. "I don't know how this got here, but we have to get down. Start stomping the ground."
Harold nodded and stomped on the ground at his feet, and after a few cracks, Zee hurled the phone down, breaking the device apart. Their eyes widened as the mountain began to crumble under them, and the ground imploded in on itself.
"Six! Five!" Chris began to count off, the music cutting out save for a single plodding note to highlight each number. "Four!" The camera panned onto the television, showing both finalists tumbling through the snow and rock. "Three! Two! One!" The shot cut to the finish banner, then zoomed out to show the avalanche stopping just under it – with neither finalist in sight. "GAME OVER!" he announced, blowing on his airhorn as a subdued but triumphant riff played.
Jo stood up in surprise, and Scarlett started cheering.
"My mission was a success!" Scarlett said in victory. “Now hand over my well-deserved prize!”
"Congratulations Jo and Scarlett," Chris said with his usual smile. "Revenge is sweetest-" he glanced at the monitor- "ohhhhh, what have we here?" he said with a sudden look of shock, the music cutting out as he pointed at the television screen.
A sharp note played as a familiar hand stuck out of the snow lying just past the finish line and waved. Scarlett's jaw dropped in shock, and Jo let out a sigh of relief.
The scene cut to the finish line, the camera pulling back a little ways as Chef walked up with a stretcher, dressed as a female nurse. Leshawna ran onscreen and pushed him out of the way. Chef flew off frame with a shout, and Leshawna grabbed the arm and pulled, freeing a shocked and snowy Harold from the aftermath of the avalanche. "Oh," he groaned, looking around as Leshawna dropped him on the stretcher, "what happened?" he asked as the victorious music began to play again with much more enthusiasm.
"You won, Ginger Baby!" Leshawna answered with a smile, the camera pulling out even more to show Harold looking back at the finish banner.
"I did it!" Harold said excitedly. "Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady V has claimed victory! Boo yah!" he raised his arms and cheered, the shot cutting away to show all of the Peanut Gallery cheering.
“We weren't able to talk to each other as much, and it's clear we like each other as more than just friends, but how about we hang out a little bit back home and see where things go?” Leshawna suggested.
“As long as we don't rush into a committed relationship, I'd like that,” Harold smiled back.
The camera panned to the left to show Julia frantically pulling a dazed and half-conscious Zee from the rest of the avalanche, and picking him up onto her back.
"Julia," Zee said weakly, "I'm sorry that I-"
"Be quiet," Julia said with a weak smile as she carried her boyfriend over to the stretcher and set him down next to Harold. "You need to rest."
"But-" Zee tried to say.
He was cut off by Julia grabbing his head and kissing him full on the lips. "You didn’t win the money, but we can still provide for the world in our own ways, and with the power of love," she said with a smile as she broke the kiss, leaving Zee looking dopey.
The capstone theme began to play as the footage skipped ahead to a shot of the open sky, the double-rotored helicopter soon flying up into view. "That's it for this very, very off season," Chris began, standing in the open doorway with Zee and Julia sitting on the edge letting their legs dangle freely with Julia leaning into Zee; Harold and Scarlett standing on either side of Chris, the latter annoyed and the former grinning while holding the suitcase full of money to his chest; and the rest of the cast, crouching down and peering over in the gaps between and behind the rest, constantly jockeying for position as they tried to get one last shot of themselves on camera.
"This is Chris McLean, saying if you can't stand the pain-" the handsome host continued, the shot cutting in closer- "stay off the Total! Drama! Paaaahkitew Island!"
"RE-VENGE!" Max suddenly yelled from behind Scarlett, shoving her out of the helicopter, and the brainiac screamed as she fell.
The camera lingered on the dumbfounded looks of Chris and the other ex-campers, all of them staring at Max in shock. "This is how a traitor should be rewarded," he said, crossing his arms and closing his eyes defiantly.
The ex-campers and host burst out laughing, and a fun and energetic tune started to play. The camera panned over to the windshield to show Chef laughing along with the rest of the cast from the pilot's seat, and the helicopter flew away.
The music soon faded away, though, and the scene quick-panned down to show a screaming Scarlett landing in the giant mud puddle. She quickly surfaced with a shocked splutter, and pulled herself out onto dry land. "How am I going to get home now because of those imbeciles?!"
A few ominous notes were struck, and a ferocious growl caught Scarlett's attention. She looked up, and the camera zoomed out to show Scuba Bear 2.0 standing over her, eyes red. "Heheh," the brainiac laughed nervously. "You're not going to hurt me are you?"
The scene abruptly cut outward to the full long-distance shot of the island, the ominous music ending as Scarlett's scream and Scuba Bear's snarl echoed across the lake.
(Roll the Credits)
Lightning - 14th
DJ - 13th
Amy - 12th
B - 11th
Julia - 10th
Max - 9th
Leshawna - 8th
MERGE
Jo - 7th
Duncan - 6th
Ella - 5th
Sammy - 4th
Scarlett - 3rd
Zee - 2nd
Harold - 1st

[ First / Previous ]
Memory Transcription Subject: Hileen, Krakotl Fugitive Recovery Agent
Date [standardized human time]: November 28th, 2136
It'd been a while since I sat in Marlig's office for a talk face-to-face. Given the agency's secluded location at the edge of the downtown region, it was a chore to drop by when it wasn't for business, but I'd deemed the matter at hand to be worth my time.
I passed by Nampi at her desk on my way to the door and she gave me a coy glare as I carried on. Trying to ignore her risible ear waggle, I turned the corner to the door with my boss’s name painted on the glass panel where I could hear the frantic crumpling of paper.
Quietly, I entered Marlig's office without prompt as I knew he hated to be spooked by knocking. My mentor was surprisingly spry for a bird at his age, sorting through papers with one wing and an eye while using his talons with the other to set away the papers he had splayed out.
“Hileen!” he chirped. “Glad you could make it in today. I was just finishing up my paperwork. Take a seat.”
It was always nice to hear him drop the professional motif for a more grandfatherly attitude when speaking in person. I did as he suggested and took a seat while he grumbled to himself over the sorting. My eye caught a few of the old contracts he was rifling through and saw that some dated back to his days as an agent.
Eventually, he left some sitting out as he sequestered the rest back into their files, sorted by a dichotomy that only he and Nampi could comprehend fully. He motioned with a wing for me to peruse and I turned the first one to face me to find it was my first contract, signed by me in a sloppy fashion. “This takes me back a couple of years.”
“Slick bastard thought he could get away on a forklift but you showed him! Certainly more exciting than my first day!”
“Mm-hmm. And it was when I nearly got impaled that you had the idea to commission all of us utility vests.”
He chuckled, “I really should’ve done so sooner. Cuts and scratches were already a risk, but a forklift was a new one!”
I flipped through the pages of each report, finding that Marlig's notes were filled with praises of my work. There were highs and lows, but I was flattered to find that the grizzled krakotl held my performance in such high regard.
“Flawless interception!” read one footnote about me catching a runner. “Couldn't have done it better myself!”
Marlig waited patiently as I browsed quickly through each page, realizing more and more how the notes also marked improvements in my work. How I found it easier to talk down a rowdy client, or apprehend them in the case that they were beyond helping on my part. Flowery language plastered most pages with him fawning over my work as a doting father would to his prodigal child.
The trend took a sharp turn as the notes became fewer and more critical the closer the dates reached to the present. I brushed the others aside with a wing to peruse the final paper. “And this…”
“Is Tac. Your latest contract. The most recent in a line of declining performance since the interview. This has become a pattern, Hileen, and its consequences are beginning to reach beyond yourself. Paji and Vesek resigned recently for personal reasons, which leaves us even less hands on deck than before. That's four people to cover the entire municipal region, and maybe even beyond, should needs arise. Three, if we include this little probation I have you on.”
“What was I supposed to do? Marlig, these ‘jobs’ you've got us working on overstep the contracts we were signed on with. Our job is to make sure people obey their court-mandated duties, not drag them off to the facilities ourselves!”
“... So the trip we took to the facilities did bother you.”
A sigh clicked in my throat as he reminded me. “Is that what happens to the people we take in, Marlig? Is that what would've happened to your wife?”
His feathers ruffled.
“That's what happens to those who are too dangerous to the general public to be left roaming free. Not everyone we deal with winds up there, but everyone can be subject to it. Miskela sued for her exoneration and proved in court that she was not diseased. I brought you there to show you how it helps the people, but I see now that it was a mistake. I understand why you were so perturbed, really, but it's how things have been for centuries. It's how we've protected ourselves from the dangers out there.”
“You were willing to let Barsul be interned there, too.”
Marlig flinched and sighed as he swept the papers towards himself once I'd signaled I was done. He turned one eye to me while he sorted them.
“There's no room for favoritism, girl. I negotiated for him to be allowed to walk free, and look where that got me. That boy - your neighbor - suffered the consequences of my nepotism. So too would the girl, had nobody intervened.”
“Like Richard.”
“The human, yes. Or you. Or the police. Where does this sudden obsession with humans come from, anyway? I get notifications of you talking about the acceptance of them all the time on forums.”
“Does it even need explaining?”
“Well, I guess not, no, but it's certainly an about-face from the way you used to talk about them with me beforehand.”
“People can change, for better or worse. Which one I fall under remains to be seen.”
Marlig stroked at the plumage on his neck as he finished his sorting. “I hope it's the former, for your sake. Was there any reason you came to talk, or were you just checking that I hadn't gone senile?”
“Well, I was hoping to borrow your secretary for the evening.”
He perked up while his eyes narrowed and he laced his fingers together with curiosity. “You… want to spend an evening with Nampi?”
“It's not what you're insinuating, but yes.”
“I was insinuating nothing,” he warbled coyly. “Go ahead and take her, and make sure to split the bill at dinner.”
“Pain-in-the-ass geezer. I'll keep in touch if your friend causes any more trouble.”
“Keep in touch regardless. Miskela and I get lonely in our old age,” he called back. “Take care.”
I stepped out into the hallway and turned toward the desk where I could hear the secretary's claws tapping furtively at her keyboard. Nampi sat silently with her ears and tail in a relaxed position that implied a bored demeanor. There was barely any response as I stood before her, waiting politely for her acknowledgment that never came.
Hesitantly, I cleared my throat.
An ear raised in acknowledgement, but her focus remained on the screen of her computer. “Mhm?”
“Do you…?”
Her ear rotated toward me, though she still maintained a passive attitude as she continued to glare mindlessly at the monitor.
“Are you free this evening?”
“Well, I'm quite booked, I believe. Why do you ask?”
I was surprised at her curt, dry tone. She hadn't spoken with me like this since we first got to know one another.
“Well,” I started. “I realized something. Every time we went out, whether it was clubbing, or dinner, or even walking around the parks, you always footed the bill. And so…”
Slowly, her other ear perked up and I saw her keystrokes slow down as she listened in.
“I wanted to return the favor?”
Her lips smacked as she opened her mouth, though paused before she spoke. “How could you possibly do that?”
“With a little gesture of friendship.”
Nampi's horizontal pupil turned up toward me and her tail twitched.
I continued, “So that belt you're wearing? It's the same belt you've worn since we first met. And I know you're the pragmatic type who'd never spend a credit more than she needs to, except for all the times you do"- her ears twitched in indignance -"I wanted to see about getting you a little something… extra?”
Her paws raised from the keyboard and she leaned in, resting her snout on her palms. “Go on.”
The bubbly venlil's tail sold out her collected facade as it twitched with anticipation. She was cornered and she didn't even know it yet.
“Well, I found just the place on the other side of town where we can start. It's a place almost as rich and indulgent as yourself.”
“The Platinum Paw? I mean3”
Her ears folded back in embarrassment as she cracked. She wasn't cut out for acting anyway.
“So that's what it's called! Jeez, I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was called. Now what do you say? We go over there and find you something nice—”
I hadn’t even finished my thought before Nampi had grabbed her bag and was out the door, giving me a playful tail flick that said come and get me.

The place I suggested was in a shopping center on the opposite side of town, though easily accessible because of its proximity to the transport rails. Nampi had insisted on grabbing something to eat beforehand and so now gleefully bit into a bundle of stalks that had been “grilled” as explained from the food truck we'd stopped at.
Her tail flicked back and forth with her usual enthusiasm as we entered the massive complex of stores. The roofless plan allowed the natural, orange sun to flood the upper levels while artificial lighting illuminated the ground level wherever the light couldn't reach.
The place was built in the last decade by the previous City Magister in a bid for popularity, though ultimately for naught as he would lose the vote following a scandal involving an iftali priestess and a carved bar of soap. I had to say that despite being sick in the head, he sure had a great sense of decor.
Nampi snacked away, joining me in admiring the scenery as we continued to the place I’d planned out for us. Aimless chatter all melded together into a single, thrumming murmur as pedestrians navigated the many levels and stores offered in the place.
A troupe of children passed by us, held in a chain of tails and arms as they were escorted by a pair of venlil who I assumed were students and teachers on a school trip. I caught a whiff of a sweet, aromatic breeze and found it to come from a perfume shop on the same level as us; naturally, venlil were not to be found inside.
We passed a fountain where a couple sat on the edge, their tails twined together as they giggled and flirted. I turned and caught Nampi watching them as well, though she awkwardly returned to sucking the remains of her meal from her claws when we made eye contact. Her ears lifted when I raised a wing to signal to the store we were going to stop at first.
“Platinum Paw, The Greatest Fashion Emporium For Everyone!”
The title alone was painfully cliche, taken to the tenth power by the brightly lit store taking up three department slots. Despite the flashy exterior, though, it was the best place to shop for belts, brooches, and bracelets alike. Customers who looked like they earned my yearly salary in a week browsed the higher end brands while I brought my friend to the section I wanted to show her.
Her ears were held up as we stood together next to a shelf chock full of fashionable bags and bandoliers of every variety.
“Pick one,” I told her.
Nampi's ears shot to a straight pose in surprise, “Any?”
“Within reason. I've got a few extra credits to blow and I know nobody better to spend it on.”
With an inviting headtilt, I let Nampi peruse the shelves at her leisure. Her lips pursed together and her tail flicked with glee as she fingered at every piece that caught her eye. I chuckled at her outburst of enthusiasm while turning to find my own items to gloss over.
A breeze from outside nipped at my beak while I considered what I’d like to purchase. The place dripped with an atmosphere of faux hospitality, from the bright blue-stained floorboards to the radio prattling off advertisements in a sickeningly sweet tone to the faint, fruity aroma of scented cleaner. It was oppressive as only a fissan-owned company could be to the senses.
What I wouldn’t pay to see how a human would fare in such an environment.
I knew they were social creatures at least, but I had no doubt that the predatory senses of a human, so honed to hunting, would get overstimulated in this center of gaudy indulgence. Knowing I was something of a predator myself made me sympathize provided that even I had to squint to keep the pale lights inside from searing my eyes. I could only imagine how the arboreal eyes of a Terran would fare. I was so lost in thought imagining how lost the Terrans would be that I could almost ignore the obnoxious giggling and metallic rattling coming from behind me.
Risking a peek at the source, into my sight came a pair of venlil, one a male carrying a pair of bags as well as a couple more strapped to his belt. The bored expression in his eyes was not one of a man who was in high spirits. The other venlil was a woman who was the source of the noise.
Her mottled gray pelt was accented by a tasteful belt design, free of almost any practical functions but not flashy or excessive in garnishment either. At least, that’s what I would say, were it not for the braid of beads that dangled on the belt, jingling with each bounce of the lively woman’s stride. It was clear that such a gaudy accessory was intended to draw attention to her, though why was a mystery. Certainly, the shiny braids seemed designed as decoration first and practical second.
She turned about and I faced back to my browsing before she could catch me staring. Nampi was nowhere in sight, though I figured she was somewhere behind the shelf, sifting through every accessory on the section I'd suggested.
Clink.
Something pelted to my immediate right. I tilted my head to spot a tree nut shell clattering to the floor. Without being able to guess where it came from, I had to wonder what could've launched it over this way. Even with my keen eyesight, nobody in the crowd seemed to be a suspect.
Clink.
Another shell pelted my vicinity, ricocheting off of the floor and hitting the shelf I was standing next to. I ruffled my feathers in frustration - clearly, someone was trying to get my attention, though I couldn't make out who it was. Out of the corner of my vision, the woman from before eyed me curiously as I looked about, though I wasn't interested in engaging with her.
Thwack.
One more shell came flying and, unfortunately, the aim on this one was true, nailing me on the beak. Irritated, I stormed out of the store to find the source of the instigator. I scanned over the bodies to find anyone who could've been responsible for this indignity, eventually concluding that it came from the dining area across the walkway.
Whoever was responsible was in for an earful and I was already structuring which of the offender's family members would be acceptable as fodder for stray words. As I approached, I found the tables were mostly empty save for one, which made my heart begin to drop as I met eyes with the only occupant. Suddenly, I was much less inclined to hurl insults.
“Oh, hi there!” Qitel called out in a sickly sweet tone. “Come, take a seat! We have much to discuss!”
The Exterminator clutched a bag of tree nuts in his claws, a pile of discarded shells already gathered on the table next to him. He grabbed another as I approached, effortlessly prying the shell in half between two claws and tossed the contents into his mouth. “Good protein, these,” he commented as I sat down.
“Must be for that good arm you've got there,” I mumbled. I caught sight of a couple of bags beneath his chair, seemingly from one of the tech stores contained within the center.
“Bah, it's guesswork. So how are you? I haven't heard from you since we worked together!”
“I was just spending time with a friend, shopping and enjoying my time off.”
“Your time off? Oh, am I interrupting something?”
His snide tone irked me, though now wasn’t the time for interjections. “You are, Qitel,” I replied with no shortage of vitriol in my tone. “But I see no harm in chatting for a bit.”
“Good, because I have some merchandise”- he reached into his belt pocket and deposited a couple of items onto the table -“and you’re just the person to look into it, human sympathizer.”
I drew a terse breath in shock, but my worries were quelled when I considered that if Qitel had the power to do anything about it, he would’ve done so instead of approaching me so discreetly. A glance down at the item on the table showed that he was presenting what looked to be a tracker as well as a personal drive. “Found in the garbage,” he told me.
“The guild resorts to dumpster diving when they already have such a bloated budget now?”
“No, featherbrain, I have decided to keep this for myself. These items were found together, sealed in a plastic pouch, and placed in a garbage bin. The city has bans against electronics being placed into public bins, and so I was curious why this wound up in there. Managed to get my coworker, a techie, to crack it open and…”
Qitel reached into his belt again, glowering at me with the same condescending gaze he’d given me when I first saw his face. He seemed to revel in digging for the item as slowly as possible to waste my time. Finally, he found whatever he was looking for and revealed it as a printed piece of paper, folded into eighths. The snobby yotul threw the unfurled paper on the table and rolled it toward me.
I craned my neck to look at the parchment, though I was immediately perplexed by the text on it; it appeared to be some sort of form, going by the boxes with words on the inside, followed by blank lines. “Found on the drive, here,” Qitel told me, jabbing a claw to the storage. “Translator shows it as Terran writing.”
Drawing my holopad from my satchel, I held it over the paper with the translator to get an understanding. Surely enough, the language on it came up positive as a variant of Terran writing and I was affirmed in it being a form of some sort based on the wording of the text. The boxes seemed like an odd sort of job application, asking for the typical name, contacts, and prior work experiences, but quickly took a strange turn as it began asking for where their home on Earth was prior to arrival, what family they had on Venlil Prime if any, and where they worked, implying that they were seeking individuals who were already employed.
I knew little about human employment methods, but I didn’t imagine that sourcing individuals from other jobs was the most efficient way to gain a workforce. Terran service industries already dotted the planet while many humans also found work in local environments. So what was the angle that the creator of this application was going for?
Most concerningly was that the paper had no insignia, identifying marks, or noted address to return the form to. “And where did you find it again?”
“In the garbage, alongside this intact tracker that was activated at the time of recovery. Y’know, when I was dumpster diving. Text on the document showed it was addressed to one ‘Choctaw Nexus’.”
“A pseudonym of some sort?”
“Clearly. Short sorting through the archives shows the first name traces back to the group out east - perhaps you've heard about them. How the name and the items we have here are connected is beyond my understanding, but-”
“Well, this has been an absolutely riveting discussion about your collection of trash, Qitel,” I told him as I stood up to leave. “But this really sounds like an issue to be resolved by your fellow guildsmen.”
The sound of another shell splitting rang out as I turned away.
“I'm not through talking with you, predator.”
The sting as a piece nailed me in the back of the head prompted me to whirl back around, sticking my beak in the insolent yotul's snout. “Perhaps you've forgotten, little man,” I cooed in an equally bittersweet tone to the one he gave me before. “The krakotl never had a problem with settling issues the old-fashioned way before the interview. Try me and find out why I'm in the line of work I am.”
“Oh, we wouldn't want that in such a"- he waved his paw to a group of passersby who had stopped to gawk at my display -”public forum. Please, contain yourself.”
I had to force the feathers on my back to settle and I raised my head away from him. “What else is it you wanted, then?”
“Well, I'd appreciate if you took this merchandise off my paws,” he told me as he brushed the electronics and printout toward me.
“Why would I do that?”
“Because you're closer to the humans than I'd ever care to be, and may be able to find out who this Choctaw Nexus is. Something about the package just feels… off. And I know when to trust my feelings. Besides, we both know that you know where Tac is, don't we?”
“I don't-”
“We have videographic evidence that you conspired with a human - of the aforementioned squatters, no less - and let the kid escape. You're not as sneaky as you think, and if we find this ‘Choctaw Nexus’ turns out to be a bad actor that can be traced back to them - and by extension, you - well, there’d be no talking down my boss from having you dealt with. By helping me find out who this is, you may yet be able to clear your name of any wrongdoing.”
I clenched my beak tightly to maintain a straight face. Qitel stood up with a flourish and discarded the bag he was carrying in a bin.
“See, the krakotl were never special for using threats and bullying to get results. It's because you were good at killing predators,” he jeered. “Now, if you don't mind, this primitive has appointments to attend to… old lady who got trampled courtesy of the humans and all. You stay out of trouble, Hileen, and stay in touch.”
The self-assured marsupial melded into the crowd in a matter of seconds, leaving me with a table containing dumpster trophies and a pile of shells. Reluctantly, I swept the shells into my wing and dumped them into the bin before gathering the other two items he'd left me and stuffing them into my bag. I'd been gone from Nampi long enough and she would notice my absence before long.
Crossing the walkway again, I could spot from where I stood that Nampi was indeed still in the Platinum Paw. I approached, and soon I found that while she didn't seem to have noticed me stepping away, she was definitely in a soured mood based on the sagging of her ears and tail. With my talons clacking on the floorboards, I hustled to her side and her mood chippered up ever so slightly as she heard me approach.
I chimed in, “Find anything?”
“Everything. I want everything, Red, and I can't decide on what I want. They all just look so great!”
From behind, a voice called out, “Nampi!”
We both jumped at the exclamation and turned about to spot the venlil lady I'd seen before spring from behind the shelf. The man poked his head from behind the shelf too, though less enthusiastically and with yet another bag in his clutches. My friend's eyes widened in surprise with her tail and ears perking up in kind. With a light in her eyes, she exclaimed, “Nalek!”
The two embraced with shrill squeals and laughter as Nalek's accompaniment and I traded awkward glances.
“It's been too long!”
“You never stayed in contact!”
The women exchanged giddy greetings and the pompous stranger turned to me, leering over me as though she was sizing me up.
“Who's your friend here?”
“Oh she's actually my-...”
Nampi paused for a moment, looking back to me.
“Yeah, she's a friend.”
“A friend,” Nalek repeated while her eyes flicked between Nampi and I. “Right.”
Somehow, I get the impression that that was judgemental.
“I'm Hileen, by the way,” I chirped, “if names are to be exchanged.”
“Hileen, that's a lovely name! And such plumage to match, it's a wonder you aren't swarmed by suitors!”
Internally, I groaned at the notion. The idea of being approached by someone to state their interest in me made me queasy, to say the least. Thankfully, I never had that issue growing up as most of the other drakes in school were too busy chasing girls who didn't have a lousy pigmentation mutation such as myself.
“I'm flattered,” I told Nalek before turning to the man whose name had yet to be introduced. “May we get your name?”
“Sask.”
His response was succinct and tonally flat, though there was a brief silence as I expected him to elaborate. Nalek's beads jingled as she lashed him on the calf with her tail.
“I'm Sask, Nalek's fiancée,” he added, throwing her a look to see if she was satisfied.
Nampi gasped with her paws over her snout. “Fiancée! Nalek, you're getting married and you never even told me!”
“Well, I felt a little guilty since it technically broke our pact we made when we were pups. You remember that?”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? ‘Let she who bonds through betrothal first be cast out unto the world for all to admonish her!’”
Sask and I both gave inquisitive expressions. “You two spoke like that as pups?” Sask asked.
“Well, I'm paraphrasing,” Nampi admitted with a playful ear waggle. “But you get the gist.”
“Indeed, they do, sweet Nampi. Now, may I ask what you're doing bringing your avian friend here into this store on this fine claw?”
“Oh, no no, she's the one treating me! Isn't that right, Red?”
I saw her tail twitch and was sure it took restraint not to tickle my neck with it as we stood before her old friend.
“She's been a good friend,” I explained. “So I wanted to reverse the roles for once and treat her to something myself.”
Nampi skipped over to me and wrapped her arm around me, glancing back to her old friend. “See? We'd all be so lucky to have a… friend like her.”
“So I've witnessed. But perhaps you're a bit stuck, as I've seen you prancing up and down these aisles for a while, no? Maybe you don't know what you want?”
“Nalek, you know I've never been good about making my mind up.”
“Some things never change, you ditz. Tell you what: you and Sask go find us a seat and we can catch up all we'd like when we're not taking up aisle space, yes? So shoo! I'll help Hileen here pick one out for you!”
With a bored grunt, Sask made off with the goods he had strapped to himself, followed by Nampi who gave me one more playful tail flick before dashing off into the crowd. I looked back to the mottled snout of Nalek who watched her friend wander off with a wistful glance.
“She was my first, you know.”
“Your what now.”
“Love. Way back when we were growing from pups into young adults back in private education, we explored much together. We saw each other through a lot, including the less savory parts of finding a mate. When Nampi realized it wasn't the boys she was into, she turned to me, and I offered my hand as her stalwart companion… to a point.”
“You weren't interested in her the same way?”
“I'd grown up seeing her as a sister of sorts, so ultimately, when we split it off, we stayed close as friends and she never seemed to be bothered by it. She struggled to find others in school who had the same interests as herself, but she never fussed about it.”
Nalek's claws browsed over a set of pouched bandoliers made with intricate embroidering. “Have you two… spent the night together? Alone?”
Spiritually, I reeled from the inquiry. The whiplash from that question was equitable to being smacked by a human. “Wha- why? How's that pertinent to the subject at hand?”
“That sounds like a ‘yes’ to me,” she purred with a smug glance my way.
I didn't need to begin to list the different ways such a question was violating to our privacy, and yet this woman was treating it like a game.
“Not really your concern, ma'am.”
Nalek chuckled as she picked out one of the bandoliers and inspected it with her claws. “I'd like to think that she and I still have that old connection, despite everything. And to that end, I know that she's no slag and doesn't trust easy. To see her be so vulnerable around you and to talk so highly of someone who's clearly below her income level as a predator…”
She stretched the bandolier out to appreciate the design in its entirety.
“Well, that's something special. Here"- she foisted the accessory into my wings as I stood gobsmacked -"this just screams her name.”
“This is, like, double my budget.”
“Love don't come cheap, darling. You wanna see good things happen, sometimes you've gotta step out of your comfort zone and grasp for it!”
“I'm being lectured by a rich woman on finances.”
“It's a philosophy that goes beyond money, ‘Red.’ The humans have a saying, in their horrendously predatory nomenclature, that contains a kernel of truth: ‘you miss every shot you don't take’.”
Yep, that's definitely a human phrase.
Nalek's steely braid rattled with every flick of the tail as we proceeded through the checkout.
“You want things to change between you and her?” she continued. “Don't just wait for it to happen.”
She let the conversation rest there as we finished the purchase, possibly to let me recuperate mentally from the damage done to my account. Outside, we found our respective partners sitting at a table with Sask looking up in boredom as Nampi chatted away, though she immediately shut up and turned to me with excited flicks of her tail as she saw what I was carrying.
I held it toward her and she happily shot to her feet, effortlessly removing the tags with her claws and clipping it to her belt. Nalek clapped and waggled her tail as the giddy lady did a whirl about to let us admire the accessory. While I'd have preferred one with pockets to give it a more practical use, I decided to let Nalek have the victory as our mutual friend clearly enjoyed it.
The rest of the paw was a blur as the two friends chatted without end until Sask eventually reminded his betrothed that they had a schedule to attend to. Though Nalek offered to call us a taxi home as a gesture of kindness, I saw through her ruse to determine that she was trying to pull a fast one on me - the clever ear flick she gave as we boarded the automated vehicle sold it for me.
We sat in the seats as the vehicle took the express ride home.
Nampi cleared her throat before she spoke, “Thank you for taking some time to spend with me, I know you've had a lot less free time as of late.”
“It's a prison of my own design, if I must be honest. A feedback loop of working a job that doesn't guarantee a paycheck to pay for rent that keeps going up, and thus needing to work more.”
The venlil giggled and chided me, “You really should've stayed in university.”
“There's a lotta 'should haves’ that've led me to this point. No use wondering what could have been.”
“There's always a use for wondering what could have been, Hileen.”
She wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“Every decision I make, I always wonder what I could've done differently that it'd have turned out better,” she explained as she waved her free paw to the sky. “It's how you grow as a person, Red.”
Her silky pelt felt heavenly in contrast to the chilly air from outside, making it hard to let her words sink in.
“You rich types seem chock full of philosophy. I wonder if I'll become a brooding orator when I get some cash to my name.”
The cab filled with laughter as we veered around the final corner to my neighborhood, as it was the closest stop. The door popped open accompanied by a chime from the drone, signaling for me to depart.
But before my talons could even hit the pavement, I felt Nampi's scrawny arms wrap around my waist and she let out a pitiful mewl again.
“You don't need to get off here,” she told me with a pouty expression. “We can spend the rest of the paw at my place.”
“I'd love it, but I need to water my plants and get the month's bills sorted before they're due. Again.”
One claw at a time, I plucked her paws from around my waist and the childish venlil conceded, giving me another ear waggle as I departed. “I'll see you tomorrow?” I asked her.
“If you still have eyes by then, then you can bet your ass!”
“I still don't gamble.”
“You'll come around to it eventually.”
I shut the door to the taxi and watched as it carted away the one venlil who I ever truly felt on the same wavelength as. Fiddling with the lock felt like more of a chore than usual at this time as I felt a little voice tugging at the back of my head.
“You miss every shot you don't take.”
The lock felt jammed as I began to jiggle it more vigorously with the electric key. Either the RFID or NFC readers were messed up, as the lock refused to accept my key. I looked up and down the street, though Nampi was now long gone for me to rescind my earlier rejection.
“Every decision I make, I wonder what I could've done differently.”
The door rattled as I grew more and more infuriated with the lock. Qitel's smug expression as he threatened me so boldly in public played back in my head, and I wondered what would've happened had I decided to go through with insulting his mother. Better yet, I wondered what could've been had I not backed down in the face of his unflinching confidence.
Bzzt. The lock rejected my key again.
“Raagh! You fucking useless hunk of junk!”
I squawked in anger and kicked against the door, careless of the consequences of having Markol back down here to admonish another of his tenants for causing a ruckus. The walls were surprisingly sturdy for how ineffective the venlil architecture looked on the surface and I reeled back in pain as my leg throbbed.
Click.
I looked to my left to see that it wasn't my door that came open, but that of the twins. The door cracked open ever so slightly, no doubt nudged by the force of my tirade and I sighed. Nobody was expected to be home at this time, with Vili being away and Luka leaving early to get a head start.
Luka had been given a stern talking-to by the landlord for allowing one of those cats into his apartment through neglect, and I was disappointed that he seemed to have not learned his lesson this time. In fact, it seemed he hadn't even thought to lock the door this time.
I took it upon myself to shut the door for him before turning back to my own apartment door. Grasping the key with one talon, I turned it ever so gently, though the lock still refused to give in.
With a bit more force, the torsion applied to the key felt as though it should've snapped it by now. Markol sure didn't waste any expense for the security for this place, doubtlessly as a result of his history in electronic security, but I wished now that he had provided a way in that didn't rely on privately sourced locks.
Considering my options as I stood trapped outside, I realized that I had never gotten around to paying for a new lock for Tadi. I'd considered contacting her to inform her that Tac had made it out of town safely, but that'd involve also telling her that her son was now in the care of humans, as if that was a better outcome to her.
Stepping out front, I realized that there was one more option I hadn't considered: my window. I usually forgot to lock it after I was through letting air circulate and I was silently grateful to myself for this absentmindedness now more than ever. Sticking a foot on the threshold, I lifted myself in a way that'd allow me to have leverage to force the window open.
The window made me fight for every inch, but I felt a strange satisfaction as it slowly opened up into an entrance that I could squeeze my way through. I let out a sigh as my talons clicked against the cool floor and slid the window shut.
I laid my satchel on the couch and turned back to the door, ready to unleash my fury on the disobedient object. But as I reached for the lock to manually open the door, I noted that the lights on the RFID interface both flashed at once, blinking erratically. Red and green flickered without rhyme or reason, indicating that it was both active and inactive.
As pretty as the colors were, I now knew that Markol's locks were not as reliable as he had touted them about: typically, such would not occur unless the device was damaged deliberately, and yet nothing indicated that I'd had uninvited guests. One could pray that those cats didn't secretly know how to cobble together an ECM jammer, but my personal wager was on faulty equipment.
Settling in, I browsed my favorite soaps on the television. For what was intended to be a day of relaxation and show of affection for a friend, I found myself rather wound up over all the things that added up. Couples threw around flowery words and swooned over one another on screen as I felt the tension diffuse. My holopad rang and I turned it over to spot that Nampi was informing me that she'd arrived home safely.
>>> Feels empty here, all alone.
She made sure to drive the point home with a sticker of a venlil making a pouty expression.
Next time, I thought to myself, I'll get it right for you, Nampi.
[ First / Previous ]

Saturday morning a Woman enters the store immediately after the doors are unlocked, I haven't even finished printing out & sorting my order tickets for the day. "How can I help ma'am?" She tells me she has wants to get something printed on cardstock, and she has a release code. "Oh, so if you have a release code I can set you up on one of our self-serve machines but that will come out on regular printer paper. I'd have to run it as an express order behind the counter if you wanted it on something special like index paper." She tells me 'this is always how she does it', and I don't even bother asking her to send it to the print.marketing email. "Give me the release code and I can pull it up for you and have it out in a few minutes ma'am". She does, I enter the code, download the images she wants, and print them out for her. Theyre the wrong size, she wants them 5x7. I leave those on the counter and run them again at the right size. She snatches the new ones, as well as the old ones and throws them in a bag, and I print her order ticket and go to check her out. "Looks like it's gonna be $x.xx for the 4 color prints on cardstock, are you paying with cash or card today?" She looks at the card terminal, dumbfounded, and asks me disgustedly what the $2.xx express charge is. "That's just for getting the order to you within the hour." I am becoming less convinced by the minute that she 'does this all the time'. She's furious that I 'didn't tell her about the charge beforehand', and demands I take it off. "I can set this up as a regular non-express order, and get it to you by 4PM today ma'am." She insists that I take the charge off and check her out, and when I tell her I can't do that she tells me she'll be seeing my manager, but doesn't move. I won't have my print supervisor in until noon, so I call for MOD on the radio. While I wait for him to arrive I set up another ticket for pickup at 4PM (and so without the express charge). MOD arrives, he escorts the furious customer away with my new ticket, and that's that. He tells me a bit later over the radio to 'not worry about it', and then I'm let out early at 1:30PM on the account that they're trying to cut down hours for the weekend. Jokes on them though cause I just remembered I didn't cancel that 4PM ticket so they probably printed it out and ran the order anyways and maybe even called her once it was done lmao.
I put my two weeks in last Sunday, I know it's in my contract that I can quit (or be fired) on the spot and without notice, but out of respect for my colleagues in P&M (who have been entirely friendly and helpful for my short time working here) I didn't want to leave one or all of them to pick up my slack. My store is understaffed and the print & marketing (& happy/express returns & ipostal & ups/usps dropoff) department is never not busy. I make less putting together orders worth upwards of hundreds of dollars than if I started working at my local Wawa making $4 hoagies (No disrespect intended to the heroes in the trenches at Wawa). I love working in print & media, and I'm optimistic that my experience here will help me get a job at a local print shop or something akin this summer, but as it stands I cannot keep working at this home office store that tries (and fails miserably) to be so much more than it is. Good luck to the rest of you still out there on the front lines.
EDIT: Can't remember how much 4 color prints on cardstock ran her but I know the express charge wasn't more than $3

I have been in one of the worst depressive episodes of my life ever since being broken up with and blocked on everything in December of year; the day after Christmas to be exact.
It gets better and then it gets 10x worse. I genuinely don’t even want to date anyone else and I can’t stop thinking about them. I don’t even know what I miss about them so much. They treated me horribly and like I was disposable, especially towards the end. They’ve painted me as a manipulative and emotionally abusive person and I’ve lost friends because of it, yet I still miss them. I think I’m just holding onto the similarities we had as people and just the sheer potential.
I genuinely don’t understand how I can feel so horrible after dating someone for 7 months when we never even connected on a deep emotional or physical level. This has been worse than breakups I’ve had after dating people for 2+ years that were VERY physical and deeply emotional.
The worst part is how drained I am as a person. I want to make new friends and put myself out there but I either don’t know how or I lose interest in someone I’m talking to romantically because I’m scared to commit now or I don’t want to lead them on and say “Yeah I’m obsessed with my ex.” I’ve matched with some gorgeous women who treat me well, people that I would have jumped to date at any given second but now I’m not even the slightest bit interested.
The worst part is easily how the breakup has affected my motivation/energy and ability to work. I lost a good job due to not being able to cope with being broken up with after trying so hard to patch the relationship together when they wouldn’t communicate what was wrong just to ultimately discard me without telling me what I did, leaving me without any form of closure. I still have no idea and doubt I ever will. All I know is that I’ve been painted as this monster who was emotionally abusive and manipulative for calling them out on being insanely distant. If you ask me they were the one who was abusive with how they created so much distance and would convince me everything was fine whenever I brought it up and just told me I was being “too needy”. They would do that or either straight up ignore a problem I’d bring up. Don’t even get me started on how they’d disappear for hours any time I asked them what was wrong just for them to return like nothing ever happened.

To keep our community informed of changes, we're (re)starting a long running post that will be used as a "Public Mod Log." This post will be stickied for approx. 2 weeks whenever there are new additions to it.
Feel free to comment on this post with suggestions or questions (old comments may be deleted periodically). You can also drop your feedback via ModMail or on our Discord, or just message/chat u/FanaticFandom here on Reddit anytime. Thanks!
​

May 2024:
New Rule Created - Help/Request Details (Priority #2) - When Making a Help/Glamour Request, Please Tell Us Details to Narrow Down Results
AutoMod Adjustment for new rule (asking for details on "question" posts)
New Rule Added to Old Reddit page
Added "Basic Glamour Resources" to Old Reddit page sidebar
"Post Removal Reasons" vocabulary adjusted for consistency
Updated Flair For Dawntrail New Jobs (VPR and PCT) is acknowledged and will be done soon

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May 2024 User Requests	Actions
Megathread for Questions/Requests/Help	Poll planned for early June to gauge community opinion
Sticky Announcements for New Events In-Game (that feature glamour or gear) w/ Start & End Dates	There is a logistics issue with this, since we're only allowed 2 sticky posts. Brainstorming solution...

May 2024 Personal Notes:

• Personal Side Project (based on common community requests) - Viera Visible Headgear Database
  • Website Created - WIP
• Requests to update "tattoo" post - See project above, I'm a little busy. I'll try -.-

Two species, both alike in advancement,
Spanning the vast emptiness of black space;
Expanding borders create encroachment,
Interstellar ships brings foes face to face.
Whence from their cradles the worlds issue forth
A vast pair of exploratory fleets,
Whose collisions do readily transport
A balanced wave of death whence they shall meet.
Cultural ignorance breeds the great hate,
Foreign ideas permeate all the norms,
Whereas pastimes do, the soldiers lives abate,
These trinkets have the power to transform.
That which matters not to one may save all
For its meaning may be hard to recall
false significance plastered on the wall
May yet bring peace and prosperity all.
—-------------------
The klaxons shattered the silence of the station, blaring through all of the corridors and reverberating off the bulkheads. The cacophony of sounds, as the entire crew leapt from their bunks and quickly grabbed their most prized, or irreplaceable, possessions, grew in intensity as the red lights flared in an oscillating sequence.
The crew were halfway through packing before the klaxons were punctuated by instructions: “All hands, prepare to abandon station. M’quezniok Battle Cruiser is inbound. Repeat: M’quezniok Battle Cruiser inbound. Take only what you must and make your way to the nearest escape craft.”
The drills had been effective. All hands of the terraforming station were accounted for in the various slipstream escape craft within 7 minutes of the initial detection of the inbound warship.
All possessions were secured within another 3 minutes and the small fleet of vessels were free of the atmosphere 5 minutes later. In formation they slid silently through the blackness and away from the approaching insatiable appetite of conquest.
27 hours later, the twinkling effect began at the bow of each vessel as they pierced the veil of reality and speared their way into the void between the planck lengths of spacetime.
Earth Command received them a mere 49 hours, 29 minutes, and 37 seconds after the last of the escape craft abandoned the terraforming station.
The station became another dot on the map of conquest of the M’quezniok, a line that seems to be expanding in all directions away from their homeworld much faster than the humans can build up and sort of defensive perimeter.
The M’quezniok culture lacks subtlety and nuance; it lacks empathy. It only has room for measurable strength and their measure lies in whether or not property can be taken and held. If it can, it belongs to whomever can do so… and that someone, in their eyes, should always be them. They have no mercy and eradicate all citizens of colonies that they conquer. They raze every building that cannot be readily adapted to their purposes. They devour any animals that they cannot use for brute force. They are ruthless and their culture lies entirely in the glory of the expansion of their empire, in an unsustainable need for personal edification for each military commander.
—--
The ground forces commander entered the station ahead of her troops. There were no humans here. They fled like the cowards they were, well in advance of the arrival of her ship. There was no honorable conquest to be had at this location, just the claiming of an abandoned complex. As such, since there were no spoils of individual combat for any of her crew to claim, the entire base was hers for the first-taking. None of her crew dared touch anything in a way that might suggest an interest in it for, the appearance for claiming spoils out of turn could result in punishments far greater than any rewards to be found here.
The Commander walked through the terraforming station, going through bunk after bunk, finding nothing of value and even less of military value. There were no secrets here. There were no riches here. There were… clothes, little trinkets, manuals for the equipment, nasty human food. The commander was greatly disappointed in the raid but, in order for her crew to split the meager offerings that were present, she had to take SOMETHING. So she chose a box on the floor at her feet. This room, like all the others, was a no-frills crew bunk. Like the others there was nothing of apparent value in it. So, she took the box and declared that it was the entirety of her prize. The crew cheered and vanished into the station, each one searching for anything that they might deem of value for their own trophies.
The Commander took the box and returned to her quarters where she opened it to see what personal secrets it may have, what stories of the former crew member who fled the station like a coward at her approach. She found, much to her shock and utter amazement, a vast collection of tales of superior warriors. Brave individuals who, in the times of greatest need for the human civilization, had risen to the challenges within their own society to defeat the misguided evils that sought to undermine the human way of life as it existed then and as she knew it to exist now. These stories, laid out in a bizarre format that seemed to mix a form of graphic depictions alongside the human language as text, reminded the Commander of many struggles within her own empire’s history; times when it took massive competing armies to determine which philosophy should rule their future; times when the death tolls where high and the waste of resources on putting down rebellions was tremendous. The Commander reviewed these documents left behind by the unknown crew member of the human terraforming station and pondered where these great heroes of humanity were, if not already devastating the front lines of M’quezniok fleet.
That’s when it occurred to her. The humans were giving the M’quezniok a chance to prove themselve worthy of living. They were giving the M’quezniok an opportunity to stop their conquest against the humans on their own before they unleashed their most powerful military forces. The Commander, stunned by her realization, dropped the volume of deeds and turned to her communications terminal.
“We have made a grave mistake in violating human space” she began her message. “I have uncovered a volume of histories which outline the capacity that humans have when situations exceed their tolerance. I have uncovered this box, quite by accident, as an item of abandoned loot in my most recent raid. Please review the contents, as I have put them into the end of the this transmission. Consider that all we know of humans through direct contacts is corroborated in these volumes: they always try to allow those who have wronged them to change their ways and, only when those ways are not changed, does it appear that they will unleash tremendous force to utterly defeat and destroy their foes. Note, in sample 17, that the humans in the story, after being unable to reach a peaceful accord with their opponents, wiped and entire sentient race from the cosmos to end the conflict with them. Note in samples 3, 9, and 47, that they have the mind to develop weapons that can be silently deployed among their enemies and which will only affect their enemies, causing them to die of disease whether the battle reaches them or not. Note that, in samples 5, 9, and 62, that the humans have a history of boarding enemy vessels in small numbers and converting the vessels themselves into weapons to destroy huge components of the enemy fleet. Most importantly, in all of the above examples, note that humans will often sacrifice themselves without promise of lasting glory or honor or riches to merely inflict harm on their opponents. There is no methodology of these tales that makes sense in our culture and that, we should all agree, makes the humans infinitely more dangerous than we previously expected. More than all of the previous, note that the humans have the capacity, when needed, to reveal their strongest military assets; single individuals who carry the power of an entire legion of our finest soldiers. Single fighters who can destroy warships without any equipment or weaponry. Single individuals who, according to these volumes, have the ability to turn our very minds against us if we face them in battle. As you are all aware, it has appeared that the humans have given up all efforts to defend themselves against us and the war is, essentially, over. There is no more honor or glory to be found in fighting humans. We arrive, they retreat. We arrive, they abandon what they have built. We arrive, and they fall back, taking all of their observations of us with them. As you can see from volumes 1, 6, 19, 33, 42, 54, 68, 71, and 98, this is when their greatest warriors emerge. It is my tactical advice that the abandonment of this specific box of intelligence on human culture was left as a final warning to us; a warning that, should we continue our actions against them, we will pay the consequences as they unleash their greatest technology and soldiers against us. If you agree, order all Conquestors to halt their advancement and return to the edge of our space.
—----
Humanity Space Command received the transmission. The statement of complete cessation of M’quezniok incursions and a promise that the last 79 encounters, in which humans had abandoned the facilities before the M’quezniok could even arrive to start fighting, would be surrendered peacefully, and permanently, back to human control.
The message indicated that the worlds conquered by force would be the new, permanent, boundary between the two empires and that humanity need not fear for any future incursions. The message also outlined that, should humanity absolutely require it so as to not unleash their greatest warriors in retribution, a list of worlds could be presented as negotiable assets that could be returned.
Human Space Command was baffled. Astounded, pleased, elated, even… but more than anything else, baffled. The best humanity had been able to offer was defeated in every dispute against the M’quezniok. Their individuals were faster, stronger, and harder to kill than humans. Their weapons were more powerful. Their defensive technology vastly outclassed anything humanity could throw at them. Their declaration of cessation simply made no sense and their outlines that they wished to avoid humanity unleashing their greatest warriors and technology as retribution made even less sense. But the top brass of HSC was not about to continue a war in which humanity had no hope of winning when the opposition declared they were done.
The HSC’s final conference on the subject, prior to transmitting the acceptance of the M’quezniok’s declaration, ended with a compound question: “who is this Lois Lane and why do they want her to be the liaison should we have to open negotiations?”

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About Temu Temu, which stands for Team Up, Price Down, is an e-commerce company that connects consumers with millions of merchandise partners, manufacturers and brands with the mission to empower them to live their best lives. Temu is committed to offering the most affordable quality products to enable consumers and merchandise partners to fulfill their dreams in an inclusive environment. Temu was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2022. Lightning Deals Temu’s Lightning Deals are limited-time flash discounts with significant discounts on select items. New offers are added daily and featured directly on the homepage. There will be discounts in several categories, including home goods, sports gear, jewelry, and gifts.
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More Quick Temu Savings Tips Sign up in the app for bonuses, coupons, and offers. Subscribe to Temu's email newsletter for bonus coupons and deals: 1.Visit the site each day to "spin the wheel" for bonus Temu coupons 2.Get free shipping on many items across the site 3.In the app, click "earn credits and gifts" to save 4.Refer a friend via the app to earn gifts 5.New customers get a free Temu coupon bundle worth AU$100 via the app 6.Enable push notifications on your phone to receive instant access to new discounts and coupons via the app How to Use a Temu Coupon Code 1.Sign in or sign up on Temu 2.Add items to your shopping cart 3.Proceed to the checkout 4.Look for the "apply coupon code" field Apply your Temu coupon code there to save!
Temu FAQs How do I get a discount on my first Temu order? Sign up on the Temu site and check the promos within your account, and you will be eligible for a new customer offer. You can take advantage of a signup bundle with AU$100+ worth of coupons. When are the huge discounts on Temu? Check out Temu on significant shopping holidays such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Halloween, etc. They frequently do special offers around these times and may also offer extra Temu coupon codes to save on your order. Can I buy now and pay later at Temu? Yes, customers can take advantage of several financing methods at Temu. Afterpay or Klarna will spread your total over four installments, while Affirm can provide low monthly payments. Each service has its terms and will not apply fees if you pay on time.
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I decided to switch carriers and chose Boost Infinite... I went with the best Samsung plan they had. They sent me my phone on May 3rd, when I went to set everything up turns out the Sim card was bad. On the 5th the girl I talked to put in an order for a new sim to be sent to me. Now mind you I was porting my number in from Mint Mobile my old carrier, when I attempted to set up my new device the port in was successful and my service with Mint was shutoff and the number given to Boost Infinite. I waited days and days for my new SIM and after awhile started getting really frustrated, contacting Boost Infinite everyday trying to find out where my new SIM was. Because they have my number but haven't given me a working sim I had no phone service, just a very pretty new phone that's just good to look at. I lost thousands of dollars in work, I can't access my online accounts because they have 2 step authentication and I need to get a text to my phone number that Boost Infinite has control of and I've missed countless important calls and texts because I still don't have working service. Well, finally on the 15th the sim card arrives!! Mail arrived late so I had to wait until the next day to activate it, the next morning when I get in touch with somebody to activate my new sim card they tell me they can't activate it!!! They had to escalate the case to tech support.... well, for some reason their system sent me emails EVERY hour to tell me the ticket was created. I got the same exact email every hour!! Well finally I got an email that tech support had been trying to get ahold of me, they were calling the number I'm trying to get service on!!!! I call in on the number they left in the email and the, are no help at all they tell me they have to escalate the case even higher. So now I'm back to waiting, I waited a couple days and guess what? They still haven't contacted me. Well all of a sudden yesterday the 18th I get another sim card in the mail. WTF?!? Well I get in touch with them and tell them what's going on and they tell me that I can't activate this sim card because there is a ticket in on the other one and they don't want to screw anything up. So here we are the night of the 19th and I have this beautiful Samsung device with no service, 2 new sim cards that for whatever reason they won't activate and I'm still locked out of some very important online accounts, my business is still losing money because they have my phone number with no active service and I'm still missing a lot of personal calls and texts, some of them medical and important in nature. I don't know what the hell is going on over there but I would love if they would get their shit together and activate one of these brand new sim cards I have sitting here. Oh and everyone I've talked to totally disregards all that I've lost because of this, they say giving me a bill credit for my first month of service is the best they can do. Very bad first impression from a company I was looking forward to doing business with for a long time. This isn't the way you treat customers.

PREFACE APOLOGY: I hate how long this post is, but there are so many nuances that are applicable to the intricacies of my situation - so for best chance of receiving tangible advice, I felt I had to give a good amount info (this is just the tip of the iceberg lol but I'll save the rest for the Titanic)
First: Explanation of title above; I am a first-gen college and current medical student. The relevancy here is I come from low-income and uneducated (does not mean stupid or that you need to be educated to know about financing or alternative solutions at all) parents who don't know much about how to approach finding options as it pertains to either acaedmia or financing
Second: In full transparency, my mental and physical health is hanging on by a thread so while I very much want honesty, any advice along the lines of "you're SOL", "damn that sucks...medicine isn't for everyone", or "it just is what is is", while valid thoughts, would only further harm me right now. So if tangible advice is not feasible, words of affirmation work wonders as well <3 THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR EVEN CLICKING ON THIS AND/OR READING THIS
Situation overview:
Without going into too much detail, I am essentially on what is commonly referred to as a "research year" in med school - which is when you take a year in between the normal four years to do research. This can also be used to catch up on exams, finish academic makeups, or slow down due to life circumstances while remaining an active student. These years are less than half-time where I go, which means that students qualify for zero federal or state financial aid for living expenses. From what I understand, a lot of students traverse this via one of the following: paid research positions (2 birds, 1 stone but extremely competitive and hard to find), financial support from family, obtaining a private student loan, or simply getting a full-time job (depending on if they have remaining academic items to finish first or if they don't want to do an LOA but still need a break and don't have anything academically to catch up on).
Applying above dynamics to my circumstances:
Personally, I had a major med school exam to finish and a couple smaller ones after during said research year. Originally, my hopes and intentions were to do research during this year, but life and changes in school policy resulted in that not being the case. At the start of this year 20 months ago, I was extremely open with faculty about my needing to get a job in addition to these academic requirements, despite our common shared opinion that the aforementioned exam is itself a full-time job and is extremely high stakes. However, since they stated they could not offer me any grants or aid, quite literally having a job was a matter of life or death as I needed to eat and afford stable housing. Flash forward, I began communicating how balancing the two was causing me to be spread thin and I was still struggling financially, which resulted in delays in academic progress in terms of exam readiness. The only advice I was given was taking an LOA (which was so frustrating and hurtful as we regularly get grants from donors) - but I was always so against an LOA for much of this time because this seems to be their solution for everything rather than actually finding tangible solutions and student support (have a cold? Take an LOA. Boyfriend dumped you? Take an LOA). Additionally, I knew while on an LOA I could not finish the items required of me since I would not be an active student - so it would solve nothing while further pushing me behind another year from graduating. Flash forward, I've had 7 months of food insecurity, using food pantries, utilities being cut off, trying to maintain some semblance of self-worth and mental health.....all while trying to be a med student. I also don't feel bad for myself, it sucks, but I'm not new to this, I'm true to this" life lol. I have just been trying to navigate the situation to the best of my ability - because even though I don't feel this way right now - I'm meant to be here and deserve to be here. I have overcome far to much to get here to begin with.
I can't go into why - but essentially, right or wrong, this is make or break for me. And I have 6 weeks to get said remaining academic criteria done (preparing for it is a full-time job). The school has since gotten the year that I'm on to qualify as half-time enrollment status, so students will get aid and don't have the problem I am having. However, this change doesn't apply to me (naturally lol), as it will only be in effect for new students starting out on said year.
Summary/overview of current sitution:

• no guidance or financial support institutionally, but with increasing alluded consequences
  
• family who is helping as much as they can but is also low-income
  
• credit score is poofair range (624 Transunion, 596 Equifax) that doesn't qualify for private student loans (even with a co-signer as my parent also does not meet requirements) or new credit cards + $17 in my account and no additional money in sight
  
• spent the last two weeks looking for remote work I could balance with exam prep, GoFundMe didn't gather much, already sold most of the clothes and shoes I own, can't get paid to donate blood due to anemia that developed this year from food insecurity, grocery delivering in my town earns less than minimum wage with the gas you use that isn't reimbursed
  

What can I do? I am beginning to look into emergency personal loans, but I really don't understand how these types of loans and pay day loans work? Does the APR kick-in after 30 days? If so, if you pay it earlier do you avoid all the APR? How soon can you get these deposited into your account if approved? I'm sure it's all specific to each lender but according to my initial loan match, my APR would be 99% lmao. I essentially only need 2k in personal loans to get me to July and finish this exam. My hope would be to use $200-$300 of these funds to apply for online MPH programs that starts in July (I've always wanted to do this anyways while in med school), which would qualify me for financial aid that I could get in the next couple weeks and then I could use these funds to pay off payday/emergency loans by July - which is when I will be all in the clear and can get a full-time job OR take an LOA without dire consequences academically - and will be able to finish required exam in the next 6 weeks.
Final info is that I asked about taking an LOA given extreme circumstance, and I was told no/that it would not be good in the long term (sort of implying I could get dismissed as soon as I come back for not taking the exam by 6 week deadline)
ANY TIPS/ADVICE ON LOOPHOLES TO NAVIGATE THIS IN ADDITION TO PERSONAL LOANS AND MPH/FIN-AID OPTIONS STATED ABOVE WOULD BE IMMENSELY APPRECIATED.

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Are you ready to revolutionize your shopping experience? Say hello to Temu, the online shopping platform that's taking convenience and affordability to the next level. Much like we offer incredible deals for your needs, Temu brings a similar excitement to the world of e-commerce with exclusive offers and discounts.
Exclusive TEMU promo code: Use code “acn117179 ” for up to 30% OFF!
About Temu
Temu, which stands for Team Up, Price Down, is an e-commerce company that connects consumers with millions of merchandise partners, manufacturers and brands with the mission to empower them to live their best lives. Temu is committed to offering the most affordable quality products to enable consumers and merchandise partners to fulfill their dreams in an inclusive environment. Temu was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 2022.
Lightning Deals
Temu’s Lightning Deals are limited-time flash discounts with significant discounts on select items. New offers are added daily and featured directly on the homepage. There will be discounts in several categories, including home goods, sports gear, jewelry, and gifts.
On top of these flash promotions, the Temu lightning deals can help you find 50-90% off items. Promotional banners with links to individual discount pages will be displayed throughout the site.
​
More Quick Temu Savings Tips
Sign up in the app for bonuses, coupons, and offers. Subscribe to Temu's email newsletter for bonus coupons and deals:
1.Visit the site each day to "spin the wheel" for bonus Temu coupons
2.Get free shipping on many items across the site
3.In the app, click "earn credits and gifts" to save
4.Refer a friend via the app to earn gifts
5.New customers get a free Temu coupon bundle worth AU$100 via the app
6.Enable push notifications on your phone to receive instant access to new discounts and coupons via the app
How to Use a Temu Coupon Code
1.Sign in or sign up on Temu
2.Add items to your shopping cart
3.Proceed to the checkout
4.Look for the "apply coupon code" field
Apply your Temu coupon code there to save!
Temu FAQs
How do I get a discount on my first Temu order?
Sign up on the Temu site and check the promos within your account, and you will be eligible for a new customer offer. You can take advantage of a signup bundle with AU$100+ worth of coupons.
When are the huge discounts on Temu?
Check out Temu on significant shopping holidays such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Halloween, etc. They frequently do special offers around these times and may also offer extra Temu coupon codes to save on your order.
Can I buy now and pay later at Temu?
Yes, customers can take advantage of several financing methods at Temu. Afterpay or Klarna will spread your total over four installments, while Affirm can provide low monthly payments. Each service has its terms and will not apply fees if you pay on time.
​
Team up with us, watch the prices go down, and discover why smart shoppers are making Temu their go-to destination for everything they love and need. Your adventure in saving starts now – are you ready to shop smarter, not harder? Join Temu and turn every click into a celebration of savings!
Exclusive TEMU promo code: Use code “acn117179 ”for up to 30% OFF!

Okay, so long story short marriage wasn’t ideal with wife, we made a child together and I love him tremendously, but a few years in she got paranoid about me cheating (and I didn’t) there were just rumors from folks wanting a good story to tell. So she asked to move to apartment and hour or so away from our town, but when she didn’t have to work she’d be back home with the family. To keep peace and to do as she needed, I complied. I wanted my marriage to work regardless, we’ve known each other since we were kids.
So the bright side of this was we get to date each other again which is kinda fun. One weekend she’s working and staying in her apartment, she asked me to drive up and have a date after work. I’m so excited, I shower get all ready plan out how our kid can stay with a grandparent and I go. It’s a really good night, really, so I hope this isn’t too graphic but we had been arguing about adding another child to the family, and I was so happy to be with her well, not to be too graphic but I tried to do it twice and did. I didn’t care if she got the kid she wanted even though I wasn’t excited about it , I was excited that maybe this weird and awful part of my marriage was done .
Cue to a few weeks later, she seems really off, worse than usual and she doesn’t want to be in the apartment at all she’d work 14hr shifts and still drive an hour back home. But I get some exciting news, I get promoted to a new job, I’d be traveling and teaching stuff with my company. And she’s home with us most of the time which is good. The day I was to drive 4 hours to start my new work. She tells me that she’s pregnant.
After our date this didn’t sound odd at all, I wasn’t happy about the second kid but new job and training folks. I left for work.
But things get more and more odd, her first pregnancy she was so happy, just delighted to be carrying my child. So 2 months passed by but she felt like I was right our family could not sustain another kid, she mentioned abortion multiple times which was odd. But I was okay with it. But she’d go to the clinics for appointments then tell me that she couldn’t do it and she’d leave the clinic, I told her it was her choice. Anyway, things felt so wrong, I had an intrusive thought. What if it’s not mine? By this point it was 6 months.
So I probe, I dig, I naw at it, I couldn’t stop. Finally after a while she told me it may not be. I felt like death, I wanted her to go. I wanted her gone. But then she said it, she was SA one night and didn’t knows what to do. She just said the lock on her apartment broke and there was a party downstairs, she was tired from work, and one of them cat called her on the way up. I’ll spare any more gory details.
This entire event broke me as a person. Up was down, right was left. I cried balling for a whole day over what happened to my wife. But I still needed to know. I paid almost 2 grand to find out who’s kid it was all the while doing my best for her although this broke me. We got the results, it’s not mine. I spend another day weeping. But I had to explain this as I could to my parents. Because the kid woulda been mixed and we are both white.
And we live in a small town, news would spread, and is vehement that she doesn’t want folks to know she was SA’d, and before anyone chimes in with “lol naw brah” go fuck yourself, you didn’t see the fear in her eyes when she told me. She had a more successive career she coulda just left with someone else.
Anyway kid is born, and my dad told me it doesn’t matter, you love her that’s your baby, so I do that. As far as he knows I’m his only father. He’s still pretty young. But this whole ordeal broke me. I started to drink a lot. Eventually and yeah this is too long. She asked for another full separation. But still wants sex but I can date and fuck other girls I do.
But I stopped having sex with her six months ago and am ready to move on , when I’ve tried to do this before it gets ugly af, threatens to take away the kids etc, but I met someone I really like and am ready to move along. How can I do that without her going ballistic on me?

I am going to keep some of the information sparse to invoke some sense of mystery, and not because I'm not good at selling myself *wink*
24M from CST timezone (USA). I have a new job, but the problem? There is no one around my age. There goes that tried and true method of friendship! The other problem? I've worked third shift for the last 4 years... so my social life is pretty nonexistent. You can see why I am on this subreddit tonight LOL.
I am down to make some friends or even new best ones, but all I ask is that you are not a dry texter and 20+.
I like to read fantasy/ science fiction books and sometimes watch anime (could use some recs!) I have a bad habit of wanting to be a cheapstakes so you can often find me fixing my car because I was too stubborn to take it to a mech. I like to walk down trails and drive back roads with the windows down. No one can hear me blast Taylor Swift that way! I like to find new places to explore and be able to drive out to them. I also want to start switching up my clothes and style and could use suggestions!
I have been growing my hair out for the last two years, but I am inching closer and closer to getting the chop since it is starting to become annoying. I have my nose + ears pierced and want some tattoos in the future when I have the extra money to afford a decent artist. I like to listen to a whole bunch of different music genres, but I feel that a lot of my knowledge is shallow because of this. I would love to get some decent recs to add to my playlist. I have been in a country mood lately with the great weather. Some genres I like: r&b, pop punk, metalcore, rock, hiphop, OSTs, etc.
I am not much of a gamer, but I am willing to try some out with you if we happen to click. The main issue that I have is that I cannot remain interested all that long, and become bored too fast. I am not really into competitive games though, since it sounds like a bother to maintain. My dream job would be to become an author with enough success to have a sustainable and secure future, but I find myself never writing when I am off work lol. I am hard of hearing; throwing that out there because it could be cool to meet others as well.
Phew. I meant for this to be a lot shorter. So much for mystery, huh?
If you've read this far, hmu!

Priority 0-0-0 Distress call
Flee! And keep fleeing!

End off message

I'm a domain breaker. Every civilization that develops FTL eventually runs into them: domain walls. A leftover from the earliest moments of the universe. With catastrophic consequences when traveling faster than light. Such craft would suddenly seem to crash into an invisible wall. Nothing identifiable remains in the atomized remnants. You might think I have a dangerous occupation.
It is not. Sensors show where the domain walls are. With almost [1 light year equivalent] margin of error. my job is to map out where exactly those domain walls are. Flying sub-lightspeed on my thrusters. Most would find it a boring and lonely job. I love it. Breaking a domain wall was sometimes exploring new things. The thrill of discovering something new. I could spend all day dreaming about it.
Like when the Ranbar, a race of wingless creatures, discovered a rectangular domain. The domain could only be artificial. Inside they found a giant mass accelerator. A doomsday weapon. Those filthy [roaches] repurposed it and patented it for cargo transport. Now they monopolize the interstellar trade AND make flying spaceships between habited systems dangerous.
That all happened a few [hundred years ago]. Hell, even the Newest-Sight-To-Behold price had been awarded [about 80 years] ago. Long before the few other precursor domains had been located. Some had wonderful technology. Many were empty. A few had warning buoys and active defenses. No one got past those.
Zero-point energy. Not understood by anyone, the precursor tech was powering my thrusters. I went to maximum acceleration, A lot to do. The domains around this large spiral galaxy. Scans around a few small ones and then a somewhat smaller spiral galaxy. I was planning to go up to 0.9c. My shields would struggle at anything faster. My regular front cameras showed the fireworks of impacting particles already. I was not even at 0.6c yet.
Time dilation and all, I still had a long journey ahead of me. I set the computer to alarm me when we crossed a domain and went off to sleep. I put on the comfortable buzz of a hive and fell asleep. Only after what was to my feeling a short time be awakened. The alarm indicates a domain wall. "That soon"? I buzzed. I must be getting old: I slept over [6 hours].
I ordered the computer to prepare the jump drive. Natural domains are big. Unless they collapsed to a black hole, but that's another story. I could jump a few thousand lightyears now and scan again. Repeat until I find the next wall. I both hoped and did not hope to find an artificial domain. My job is -mostly- not dangerous.
I kept mapping out the safe places to travel beyond light speed. Not that much special to report about those galaxies. I hardly scanned them. That's a job for explorers and maybe diplomats. I had an Explorer license too, but it expired. Maybe I should renew it and fly a bit around that big spiral galaxy. It had close to a trillion stars. No doubt there were new friends to meet.
The last galaxy had so many domain walls I nearly missed it. A perfect spherical domain centered around a big star. I got lucky! Payday! I already imagined myself lavished with unfathomable wealth. I was getting ahead of myself. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was death. As explorer's tradition, I send my diary together with my official report of the anomaly.
Priority 5-5-5 Anomaly report
Spherical Domain located in galaxy y965b67 Radius estimated at [about 2] light years. Centered on star y965b67n98374957.

attached

My speed was still high compared to the motion of stars in this galaxy. I had chosen my FTL jumps in a way I did not need to slow down. I could just make a dip into that bubble. I would be in and out in no time. Relative speaking. I could read a few books while getting through that domain.
I shouldn't. I might get fined. I did it anyway. It was too tantalizing. Who knows what secrets were hidden in this domain? I set course for that big star. This was what I lived for.
As soon as I passed the domain wall I started to receive a message. It took the computer only a few seconds to translate: "WARNING BIOHAZARD. WEAPONS TEST AREA. DO NOT APPROACH". A buoy. A buoy that was a warning. Not a threat. I could ignore it. Should I ignore it? I'll tell them I did it for the hive. Of course, I ignore it. I'm an explorer.
Scans of the system quickly revealed something was going on around the third planet from the star. Life! The atmosphere there is mostly compatible with my biology. Throughout the whole universe, only a few templates of species reached the stars. While their chemistry or details might differ, many are very similar. Something with congruent evolution I'm told. I wonder what template was favored on this planet.
Even though the atmosphere was breathable, I stayed in orbit and launched the recon probes. The probes. The horror when they returned their data.
This world did not favor a single template. It favored all of them. That's not the horror. I've seen the biohazard. Seen it! It is a giant! Hundreds of times larger than the largest Xzusian. The giants were mercilessly slaughtering all the Ranbar-like, Xzusian-like, and even creatures like me. Every sapient template got stamped on, pulled apart, and swatted by those giants. That was not the worst. In some places, they had inescapable traps with light to confuse. Ten-thousands were drawn into the traps and killed. Those giants must be merciless brutes to come up with such a contraption.
Desperately I transferred blueprints for interstellar drives to the poor suppressed creatures. To mock me the giants sent a message that translated as "thank you". Those giants were not mere brutes. They managed to translate my broadcasts. It won't be long before they manage to break out of their domain. I was so angry my stinger came out. Angry at those giants. Angry at myself. I send a warning message with the highest priority, add my diary part 2, and hope I get away. That anyone get away.

28M 5'10, 188 lbs, South Asian
Some Context: During college. I was in a town about 1.5 hours away from home. My dad lost his job and we were short on funds.
I had a psycho roommate who was making my life living hell so I slowly started sleeping in the library at night.
Eventually he forced me out and I didn't have the heart to tell my parents to get me a new place especially as my grades were dropping. So I just slept in the library under bright fluorescent lights on a small dirty couch for 4 nights a week (I used to come home for weekends). Sometimes I used to find random places to stay up, and I used to sleep in the library on the couch during the day even though it was loud and raucous.
Sometimes I just used to sleep on a chair.
Eventually I just stayed up all night in the library, and found another couch in a quieter part of another building where I used to sleep during the day.
I did this for about 2 years intermittently. Sometimes I slept in a friend's bed in their dorm. I think I always managed to get about 4-5 hours of sleep and definitely slept a lot on the weekends when I was home.
I never slept outside on a park bench or anything... even for a day.
I want to know how this would have impacted my cognition and my brain.
To be fair, my long term memory is solid and phenomenal. My biggest achievements have all come after this episode. My salary is over 200k...
But I'm failing to perform at my job. I'm having extreme anger at those who mistreated me to the point where I start flailing my arms in public imagining me standing up to them even though it's been 10 years.
I routinely forget where I kept my phone, wallet or keys. I'm bad with following step by step instructions.
How do I know if there was any impact to my cognitive faculties and to my brain?
Can cerebrolysin help me?
Thank you so much for helping me recover my life

Not sure if this is exclusive to my family but… I was over at my cousin’s place yesterday for her birthday, she just turned 25. At some point family members had settled in the living room and the discussion switched to my cousin’s new job. Background here is she used to work at Google as a solutions engineer or something… idk. Now she has this new job as a solutions architect. Anyway, the entire family started talking about how much money she’ll make (not actual numbers more like in the future hypothetically making more money) and not to settle for someone who makes less than her etc. her younger brother chimed in and said, “everyone (at school—he’s in hs) thinks we’re rich” and immediately her (my cousin) and her mom said “omg don’t say that” idk if it was because they were embarrassed by him vocalizing what they wanted the rest of us to think or because they didn’t want to get bad luck because it was said out loud but the thing that fucking annoys me is… you are constantly talking about money, how much you make, how much I make and now apparently calling you rich is too over the top? I mean they’re definitely an upper middle class family so why pretend that that’s not what you are? It’s like this fake veneer of modesty they want to put on for who I have no idea. Honestly growing up with them it was like this constantly even when my cousins didn’t have jobs (her older brother is a dr) even when it comes to the places we live. They’re always making fun of the city I live in because there’s a higher immigrant population than theirs and on the surface it all seems like a joke but there’s an underlying layer of competitiveness and superiority from these comments. On top of that I make so little money in comparison and I’m five years older lol. I can definitely admit it’s jealousy on my part but I just feel like that entire family wants to be the main character in my story haha. The most annoying part is my cousins grew up much more privileged than my sister and I… our parents both worked and didn’t have skilled jobs so they didn’t progress up any corporate ladder whereas my uncle was the sole breadwinner for his family but had a skilled professional job which paid well so he could support his family of 5 on a single income. Tbh it’s also a matter of drive, I’m not as ambitious as my cousin’s family but ugh just so sick of people talking about income constantly. I can’t even tell if anything I wrote is coherent/resonates with anyone but whatever I’m not double checking this.