19M I myself think that i am dumb af with certain things. Like extreme stubborness. Inability to change currect action, even tho there are more important things to do.
Little childhood background. Told by everyone i was gifted, very smart child. Learned to write and read at the age of 4-5. Basicaly nonverbal, wouldnt want to talk with anybody, extreme stuttering, scared of everything -> very curios and wanted to know everything about my surroundings and the world. Always asking questions. Didnt have any friends bcs i was wierd. Spent around 8 hours a day building legos/solving puzzlez. Forgetting to eat/sleep. Extremly determined. But if i wasnt good at something first try, i was the maddest person on the planet -> would do anything of my power to actually solve my problem. This resulted in extreme agression towards anyone who would intervine with my current problemsolving session. When i was doing my first iq test. Some of these questions vere actually hard, and maybe for the first time in my life i became challenged, trying to do everything in my power to complete the test. Result? 130ish. My parents were shocked, and said i need to attend gramar school. So as 10/11 year old i started my first year in grammar school. Fast forward to current day i am really paranoid, everyone is againts me, i can tell how fake and fabricated conversations in my school are. Noone is genuene. But then, i myself am unable to have smalltalk, i learned that people need smalltalk to connect, but i just cant do that. Im having a hard time replying to my surroundings overthinking everx aspect of my intination, word selections everything, with people i care about(parents, gf, couple my friends) i feel like a robot, having my place, doing the same things every day, i dont even know what day is it, i wxperience extreme time blindness. I always need to do something in order to not let my mind wander around my dark future thoughts. I want to sleep but think of my broken bracelet from a month ago, i am like nah lets do it tomorow, but then i cant sleep thinking about it for 40 minutes with my eyes closed, rumbling in bed forcing myself to sleep, impossible. I get up and repair my bracelet, its 2:45 in the moring and my alarm goes of in less than 4 hours. I am like, how i was just watching a video from 3 blue 1 borwn like 30 minutes ago, turns out its been 4 hours :)) i reflect, what did i actually do. My mind then fabricates these fake memories of actually studying for physics test, texting my friend and watching a hockey match with my parent and went to sleep. Wrong i havent done any of that now in the morning i am stressing having intense halucinations my mind wanders of to extreme depths, seeing images of myself kicked out of the house, homeless, begging for food, then i see my present self bringing my homeless self a hotdog. WHICH IS SOMETHING I DID LIKE 2 YEARS AGO AND WANTED TO HELP A HOMELESS MAN OUT. Seeing this ultimate cycle of life gives me chills. I believe we are all conected somehow. But thats not the point. I dont even know where i was going with this anymore. My mind is racing at milion mph and sometimes i cant fabricate single thought or keep simple instructions in my mind like please bring a shampoo to the bottom bathroom my mum says. I get distracted by taking a dump, then forgetting completely, cuz in my mind i see myself handing my mum the shampoo and her thaking for my service. THIS IS EVEN WORSE IN MORNING, i see myself getting up, eating breakfast, texting my gf good morning text, UNTIL I REALISED IT WAS ALL JUST A WIERD DREAM AND I OVERSELPT 40 MINUTES. Dont even get me started on my dreams, these are to most complex storylines with multiple parts since dreamworld passes slowly compared to realworld time so sometime i csnt wait for second part of my dream which mostly happens next evening i go to sleep, i am now keeping track of multiple dream plotlines where in one me and my friends have our own comunity survival typa thing. My fav dreamseries :D. Honestly i cant unsee how depressing and dystopian current world-state is. Honestly i see myself dead in nomore than 10 years during ww3 where trump gets elected, refuses to help eu with russia invading The baltic states. I was believing i was going dummer and dummer. I resit my iq test, spend like 3 hours answering questions, 144. I started researching if inteligent people go crazy, found a lot of evidence, thats why i am asking, could this be my case?? I havent told these things my psychologist, dont wanna endup in psychward lol, currently we are discusing my adhd, along ocd i was diagnosed with as a child. I honestly want things to end, but i cant imagine getting my family friends and gf this sad. Im so lost and dont know what to do

Stunningly Simple & Beautiful Crochet Pattern - Free Beginner's Online Tutorial Tığ İşi. https://youtu.be/d_QDWxjwq0E?si=APcnrzDO3IMBxKAh *

Stunningly Simple & Beautiful Crochet Pattern - Free Beginner's Online Tutorial Tığ İşi. https://youtu.be/d_QDWxjwq0E?si=APcnrzDO3IMBxKAh *

Stunningly Simple & Beautiful Crochet Pattern - Free Beginner's Online Tutorial Tığ İşi. https://youtu.be/d_QDWxjwq0E?si=APcnrzDO3IMBxKAh *

Stunningly Simple & Beautiful Crochet Pattern - Free Beginner's Online Tutorial Tığ İşi. https://youtu.be/d_QDWxjwq0E?si=APcnrzDO3IMBxKAh *

I wrote a forward auth server in TypeScript and Deno.
Checkpoint 401 is a forward auth server for use with Nginx.
https://github.com/crowdwave/checkpoint401
I’ve written several forward auth servers before but they have always been specifically written for that application. I wanted something more generalised that I could re-use.
What is forward auth? Web servers likes Nginx and Caddy and Traefik have a configuration option in which inbound requests are sent to another server before they are allowed. A 200 response from that server means the request is authorised, anything else results in the web server rejecting the request.
This is a good thing because it means you can put all your auth code in one place, and that the auth code can focus purely on the job of authing inbound requests.
Checkpoint 401 aims to be extremely simple - you define a route.json which contains 3 things, the method, the URL pattern to match against and the filename of a TypeScript function to execute against that request. Checkpoint 401 requires that your URL pattern comply with the URL pattern API here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/URLPattern/…
Your TypeScript function must return a boolean to pass/fail the auth request.
That’s all there is to it. It is brand new and completely untested so it’s really only for skilled TypeScript developers at the moment - and I suggest that if you’re going to use it then first read through the code and satisify yourself that it is good - it’s only 500 lines:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crowdwave/checkpoint401/mastecheckpoint401.ts

https://github.com/crowdwave/checkpoint401
Hello I use Caddy and I made an open source forward auth server to use with Caddy.
I’ve written several forward auth servers before but they have always been specifically written for that application. I wanted something more generalised that I could re-use.
What is forward auth? Web servers likes Nginx and Caddy and Traefik have a configuration option in which inbound requests are sent to another server before they are allowed. A 200 response from that server means the request is authorised, anything else results in the web server rejecting the request.
This is a good thing because it means you can put all your auth code in one place, and that the auth code can focus purely on the job of authing inbound requests.
Checkpoint 401 aims to be extremely simple - you define a route.json which contains 3 things, the method, the URL pattern to match against and the filename of a TypeScript function to execute against that request. Checkpoint 401 requires that your URL pattern comply with the URL pattern API here: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/URLPattern/…
Your TypeScript function must return a boolean to pass/fail the auth request.
That’s all there is to it. It is brand new and completely untested so it’s really only for skilled TypeScript developers at the moment - and I suggest that if you’re going to use it then first read through the code and satisify yourself that it is good - it’s only 500 lines:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crowdwave/checkpoint401/mastecheckpoint401.ts

Are you looking for a unique and special-interest design in a bracelet? Look no further than the Ethnic Style Natural Strawberry Quartz Bracelet. This exquisite piece combines the beauty of natural gemstones with a special design that is sure to make a statement.

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Why choose an Ethnic Style design?

The Ethnic Style design of this bracelet adds a unique and cultural touch to your accessory collection. The intricate patterns and details in the design showcase the craftsmanship and artistry of the piece, making it a standout accessory for any outfit.

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Not only is the Natural Strawberry Quartz Bracelet a beautiful accessory, but it also offers a range of benefits for the wearer. Strawberry Quartz is believed to promote love, positivity, and emotional healing, making it a great stone to wear for overall well-being.
Additionally, the special-interest design of the bracelet adds a touch of personality and individuality to your style, allowing you to express yourself through your accessories.

How to style the Ethnic Style Natural Strawberry Quartz Bracelet

This versatile bracelet can be styled in a variety of ways to suit your personal style. Whether you're dressing up for a special occasion or adding a unique touch to your everyday look, the Natural Strawberry Quartz Bracelet is the perfect accessory.
Pair it with other gemstone bracelets for a stacked look, or wear it on its own to let the beauty of the stone and design shine through. The Ethnic Style design of the bracelet makes it a statement piece that can elevate any outfit.
Overall, the Ethnic Style Natural Strawberry Quartz Bracelet is a special and unique accessory that combines the beauty of natural gemstones with a special-interest design. Add this bracelet to your collection for a touch of culture, style, and positive energy.

This week’s vintage batch features black hard rubber pens from three of the Big Four American Makers of the 1910s-20s. Nibs range from Flex to Wet Noodle. As always, all are fully restored and ready to write.
 
ALBUM & TIMESTAMP
 
Pastable link: https://imgur.com/a/R5fpCKe
 
Condition (n.b.): All pens listed below have been disassembled, cleaned and restored with new sacs installed in the last couple weeks. Each of these pens is guaranteed to fill and write as designed without leaks or other problems. Nibs have been adjusted when necessary to ensure that all lay down a smooth and consistent line.
THESE PENS HAVE NO CRACKS, CHIPS, PERSONALIZATIONS, LOOSE OR MISSING PARTS, BENT NIBS, MISALIGNED TINES, BROKEN/WORN OFF TIPPING, OR THREADING ISSUES.
 
Line Widths and Writing Samples: To provide buyers with as much information as possible, I have started to adopt the following line width standards: XXF (.1-.2mm); XF (approx .3mm); F (approx .4mm); M (approx .6mm); B (approx .8mm). Nib flexibility is determined by variation (max line width under pressure) and softness (amount of pressure). Flexibility designations based on variation generally run as follows for an XF/F nib: Semi-Flex (approx. 1mm); Flex (1.2-1.9mm); Superflex (>2mm). All line width measurements are taken with a digital caliper but should be considered approximations providing a general guide. Width may vary slightly depending on type of ink and paper used as well as amount of pressure applied. All writing samples are on Rhodia dot paper using Waterman Serenity Blue.
 
 
1. 1920s Waterman 92 1/2 (BCHR, GPT, lever filler, 14k XF Flex nib). This slender (1/2-sized) model is longer than a ring top but slightly shorter than a 52, measuring 4 3/4” capped and 6” posted. Not to be confused with the later, celluloid 92, this 92 1/2 is made of black chased hard rubber with gold-plated trim. It’s the first I’ve ever encountered. Cap came clipless from the factory (no holes drilled for a clip), but has been outfitted with a gold-plated accommodation clip. Based on its absence from US catalogues, I believe this model was made strictly for foreign export. The barrel has a Canadian imprint while the nib reads “Ideal / England,” it being a common practice for Waterman’s Canadian pens to be finished in England. That 14k nib is a Flexible writer (note change from writing sample after taking measurement. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 3B+ (approx 1.8mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it a great choice for shaded writing. Condition: fine [C]. This pen has no functional flaws but does show some use. Hard rubber is an even dark chocolate color – still much darker than the brown these can turn. Chasing is significantly yet evenly weakened across the cap and barrel. Hard rubber surface is smooth with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Gold-plating on the lever has a sliver of brassing in the center and parts of the clip look tarnished, though I’m not sure this amounts to full-fledged brassing. Manufacturer imprint on barrel and number stamp on barrel end are weakened but fully legible. An affordable user and a lovely writer for those wondering at what all the fuss is about early Watermans. Price: $150
 
2. 1910s Waterman 12 Eyedropper (BCHR, German Silver clip, eyedropper filler, 14k F Superflex nib). This full-sized model measures 5 1/8” capped. This slip-cap eyedropper is made of black chased hard rubber with a rivet clip marked “German Silver” – less common than the standard nickel clips. This pen is an eyedropper. The section unscrews for the barrel to filled using an eyedroppepipette – holds far more ink than a lever filler of the same size. My usual caveats about early eyedroppers apply here. If carried, it is not uncommon to find a little ink on the nib or in the cap. Super-Flexible 14k Ideal NY #2 nib lays down a smooth and consistent F line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.5mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Easy variation and reliably wet flow over its full range of flex make it a great choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: excellent- [B-]. Hard rubber of the cap is dark black with virtually no fading but center of barrel shows fading to dark chocolate under certain lights. Chasing on cap is sharp and deep but barrel chasing is very light and only visible when the light strikes it. German Silver clip is pristine with no brassing or other notable wear. Hard rubber surface is smooth with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Manufacturer imprint on barrel is weak but mostly legible while number stamp on barrel-end is all but worn away. Price: $190
 
3. c.1918 Waterman 52 (BCHR, NPT w/ Sterling Silver clip, lever filler, 14k XXF Needlepoint Superflex nib). This full-sized model measures 5 5/16” capped. A nice example of Waterman’s celebrated workhorse made of black chased hard rubber with a sterling silver Ideal accommodation clip with “Waterman’s / Made in France” stamped on one side and a hallmark that reads “GP” on the other side (DETAIL PHOTO). This pen came clipless from the factory (no holes drilled for a rivet clip). Super-Flexible 14k Ideal NY #2 nib has a needlepoint width and superb snap-back that gives it a surgically precise feel when writing. It lays down a smooth and consistent XXF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.2mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Insanely responsive snap-back, needlepoint hairlines, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another excellent choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: excellent [B]. Hard rubber retains its dark black color with virtually no fading. Chasing is weakened a bit yet readily visible over the cap and barrel. Hard rubber surface is smooth with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Manufacturer imprint on barrel is quite weak and only partly legible while number stamp on barrel-end is deep and fully legible. Price: $260
 
4. c.1918 Waterman 52 in Box (BCHR, NPT, lever filler, 14k M/B Superflex Factory Stub nib). This full-sized model measures 5 5/16” capped. This pen comes in its original factory box with 5-page pamphlet including care and filling instructions as well as other offerings from Waterman (BOX PHOTO). It’s a clean 52 made of black chased hard rubber with nickel-plated trim including earlier, wide rivet clip. 14k Ideal #2 nib is a Super-Flexible Factory Stub that manages to deliver sharp unflexed variation without compromising smoothness. Under normal pressure it lays down a smooth and consistent M/B line (approx .7mm) on the down-strokes and XF line on the cross-strokes. And the line widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.0mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE – note change in flex grade after measuring). A versatile nib whose responsive snap-back, easy variation, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it well suited to shaded notes under normal pressure and calligraphic writing styles under flex, the Stub grind keeping one’s letterforms neat and straight. Condition: excellent+ [B+]. This pen and the one below came from an estate of someone who seems to have purchased these pens, wrote with them a few times, then stowed them away in their boxes. This one is definitely collector-grade, having seen very little use. Hard rubber retains its dark black color with no discernible fading. Chasing is evenly sharp and crisp. Hard rubber surface is smooth with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Manufacturer imprint on barrel and number stamp on barrel-end are deep and fully legible. Box is in sound condition with no torn ends but original owner managed somehow to burn a couple small holes in the paperwork. A boxed 52 with an uncommon nib in uncommonly clean condition. Price: $310 [ON HOLD]
 
5. c.1918 Waterman 55 in Box (BCHR, NPT, lever filler, 14k XF Flex/Superflex nib). This oversized model has a thick girth and measures 5 1/2” capped. This pen comes in its original factory box with 5-page pamphlet including care and filling instructions as well as other offerings from Waterman (BOX PHOTO). This pen is made of black chased hard rubber with nickel-plated trim including earlier, wide rivet clip. Commensurably oversized Ideal NY #5 nib yields Super-Flexible variation with Flexible softness. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.1mm) under moderate pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE – note change in flex grade after measuring). Condition: excellent+/near mint [B+]. This pen came from the same estate as the 52 above and also resembles an artifact of a time capsule. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with no discernible fading. Chasing is factory sharp and crisp. Hard rubber surface is smooth with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Manufacturer imprint on barrel and number stamp on barrel-end are deep and fully legible. Box is in sound condition with no torn ends but original owner managed somehow to burn some small holes in the paperwork for this one as well. These big fellas are getting tougher to find, especially in this condition. Price: $440 [ON HOLD]
 
6. c.1921 Wahl Pen 72 (BCHR, NPT, lever filler, 14k XXF Superflex nib). This standard sized model measures 5 3/16” capped. Having purchased the assets of the Boston Fountain Pen Company, Wahl began manufacturing fountain pens in 1917. Wahl’s first pens were essentially rebranded Bostons and Tempoints (a NY company they acquired in 1918). The first full-fledged Wahls, dubbed simply “The Wahl Pen,” rolled off out of the factory in 1921. This 72 one of those pens. Its’s made of black chased hard rubber complemented by nickel-plated trim including Wahl’s patented roller-clip. The Wahl Pen is chiefly distinguished from earlier designs by its patented Wahl lever with apexed center. Super-Flexible 14k Wahl Pen #2 nib is a lovely writer. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.4mm) under light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Needlepoint hairlines, superbly responsive snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another great choice for calligraphic writing styles. Condition: excellent/near mint [B+]. Hard rubber retains its factory black color with virtually no fading/oxidation. Chasing is factory deep and crisp with no discernible wear. Surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes. Nickel-plated trim is exceptionally clean with no brassing or other noteworthy blemishes apart from light scratching to the clip. Manufacturer imprint on barrel and number stamp on barrel-end are deep and fully legible. Price: $280
 
7. 1910s Parker Lucky Curve 20 (smooth BHR, eyedropper filler, 14k XF/F Superflex/Wet Noodle nib). This full-sized model measures 5 5/16” capped. Parker collectors know all too well how much harder it is to find early Parker eyedroppers compared to say, Waterman 12s. This simple, utilitarian Lucky Curve eyedropper from the early teens is made of smooth, black hard rubber. Slip cap came clipless from the factory (no holes drilled for a clip). Long Lucky Curve feed is intact. This pen is an eyedropper. The section unscrews for the barrel to filled using an eyedroppepipette – holds far more ink than a lever filler of the same size. My usual caveats about early eyedroppers apply here. If carried, it is not uncommon to find a little ink on the nib or in the cap. Early 14k Lucky Curve #2 nib with teardrop breather hole yields Super-Flexible variation with softness and flow verging on that of a Wet Noodle (comparable to a soft dip pen nib). It lays down a smooth and consistent XF/F line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.4mm) under very light pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Thin hairlines with a light hand, strong snap-back, and reliable flow over its full range of flex make it another great choice for calligraphic writing styles such as Copperplate and Spencerian. Condition: excellent [B]. Black hard rubber retains its factory black color apart from minor fading to a deep, dark brown on the barrel visible under certain lights. Surface is smooth and lustrous with no deep scratches or other notable blemishes aside from a group of short scratches to the left of the imprint (see imprints photo). Nib shows a small scuff here and there and a scratch on one tine that has no effect on durability or performance. Manufacturer imprint on barrel and number stamp on barrel-end are deep and fully legible. A lovely writer and the first example of one of these I’ve ever offered. Price: $270
 
8. c.1915 Parker 16 Overlay (gold-filled over BHR, button filler, 14k XF Wet Noodle nib). Measures 4 5/8" capped and 6” posted. While Waterman overlays of this period aren't particularly common, they're far more numerous than their Parker counterparts today. Parker overlays like this one were commissioned to the George W. Heath company in New York, who is credited for some of the finer overlays on early Watermans and Conklins as well. The gold-filled filigree over this black hard rubber ringtop features an exquisitely hand-engraved Art Nouveau pattern as well as an indicia on the barrel for engraving. The pattern is the earlier, more intricate design that's more sought after than the simpler Art Deco pattern of the later 1910s-20s. Barrel overlay is stamped "Parker Fountain Pen" along with patent dates from 1891 and 1905. Pen has an Xmas tree, Lucky Curve feed and knurled blindcap unscrews to reveal brass button for filling. To fill, one simply unscrews the blind cap, submerses the nib, and depresses the brass button once. The fine workmanship of this pen is complemented by an early 14k Lucky Curve #3 nib, a scarce “Lazy S” variant with long tines. The nib is a Wet Noodle with softness, variation, and flow comparable to that of a dip pen nib. It lays down a smooth and consistent XF line that widens to a 4B+ (approx 2.5mm) under minimal pressure (see WRITING SAMPLE). Another nib with astonishingly responsive snap-back giving it a precision feel and you maximum control over the line. Together with its thin hairlines and reliable flow over its full range of flex, this makes for an ideal choice for calligraphic writing styles. Condition: excellent+ [B+]. Overlay shows no brassing, dents, or other notable flaws aside from some pin-sized dings confined to the knurled portion around the top of the cap. Hard rubber retains its dark black color with scarcely any fading. Knurling of blind cap isn’t quite as sharp as it once was and number stamp on barrel-end is faint but legible under bright light. Manufacturer imprint on barrel is deep and fully legible. Price: $380 [ON HOLD]
 
 
 
Shipping: Pens purchased on the weekend are mailed on Tuesday. Otherwise they are mailed within 2 business days of payment. All pens that do not come with their original boxes are packaged in PVC or thick plastic tubes to protect them in transit. To CONUS locations the following shipping options are available:

• USPS First-Class with tracking for $5 Due to the delivery delays that continue under postmaster general DeJoy, I strongly recommend that the Priority shipping option be chosen. All packages will include full insurance (covered by me). Rest assured that a full refund is guaranteed (issued through Paypal) in the event of a lost parcel and you will not have to wait until I receive a reimbursement from the USPS.
  
• USPS Priority with tracking for $9
  

International Customers: Please contact me for shipping quote if located abroad (delivery confirmation required). (Note: due to the issues stated above, my international shipping options are currently limited. PM for more info). Please do not ask me to commit mail fraud by altering the declared value of a pen for customs. Not only am I registered as a business but shipping insurance is based on declared value.
New York Customers: For tax purposes, I am now required to add an 8% sales tax on any sale made in the state of NY. If your shipping address is in NY state, please let me know before payment to receive an adjusted total. Discounted shipping is included for NY State residents to help defray the extra cost.
Ordering: Pens are placed on hold for the first person to reply to the thread and PM me with firm request to purchase (no chat DMs please). A request with the words “I'd like to purchase [pen number]” would be best to avoid confusion), to which I’ll reply with payment details. Please note that a message inquiring into a price discount does not suffice to place a pen on hold. If I haven't received Paypal payment within 24 hrs after a hold is placed, then pen(s) may become available to the next person.
Payment, & Guarantee: Payment by Paypal only. All pens are guaranteed to be in the condition in which I've described them. If I've missed something objectionable or the filling mechanism is not fully functional, the buyer may contact me up to 7 days after receiving the pen for a full refund (issued once I receive the pen back in the same condition as sold). Buyer must ship the return no later than 2 weeks after it was delivered to receive a refund. I've sold pens online for over a decade. Please check my past listings here as well as on the classifieds and historical sales forums on FPN (username: Estragon) and FPGeeks (popcod) for some of my previous offerings.
 
 
OTHER OPEN LISTINGS

• Vintage Montegrappa Extra Edacoto
  
• Waterman Nurse’s Sets
  
• Off-Catalogue Sheaffer Stubby Balance Lifetime
  
• Psychedelic Bayard Excselsior
  
• Waterman Taperite Citation
  
• Conklin Enduras, Nozac
  

(as of the May 19, 2024 version of Fortnite Festival – standard controllers only)
Why this Matters:
Having improper calibration settings can adversely affect your enjoyment of Fortnite Festival, but unfortunately, the built-in tool for calibration is sub-par for actually getting your calibration right. Moreover, everyone’s audio, visual, and gaming equipment setup is different, so there is no one-size-fits-all setting that can be universally applied. One must spend the time and effort to get the calibration settings correct in order to turn missed notes into “Good” hits…and “Good” hits into “Perfect” hits.
But how does one do that? A frustrating fact is that the results of a song’s gameplay session give you data about your A) note hitting accuracy and B) your offset (early or late)… but many people don’t know how to apply this information to make the right kinds of adjustments. This guide attempts to help players do that in a systematic way.

What Exactly is Being Calibrated?
The game has an interplay between three things:
1) What you see on your screen
2) What you hear when the music is playing, and
3) Your button presses
Ideally all of these line up, which is the whole point of calibration. The game registers a “hit” note when it receives the button press at the same time as the falling note gem hits the very button of the screen at the same time. So, theoretically, you could play Fortnite Festival with the audio off and just simply concentrate on hitting the notes when they hit the bottom of the screen, and simply ignore the song.
But who wants to do that? No one!
The whole fun of the game is HEARING the music and pressing the button at the same time you HEAR the note in time with the music. That is why this is called a “rhythm game” not a “visual note dropping button pressing game”
So, the game registers “hit” notes based on the falling gem, but your brain registers its own “hit” when it hears the beat of the music, and both are tied together with a button press – e.g. you press the button when you hear the beat, and that button press should also be at the same time the note gem hits the bottom.
If all is properly calibrated, then everything flows perfectly and you have a fantastic groove session with most notes being hit or missed based on your SKILL, and NOT a mismatch between the audio, visual and button input.
So how do we get there? Read on…

Step 1: Have the Tune-up Roadie Help You
In the organ lobby, do the in-game calibration using the Roadie. She will not give you the best settings, but the thing is, we need somewhere to start from and this is as good a place as any. Do your best and don’t worry about whether the settings are any good – we’re going to fix this all later.
As you take the steps below, you will change the track speed, A/V offset, or Input Offset in the settings screen (accessible in the organ lobby, results screen, or during a song itself).

Step 2: Get Your Video Settings Right First and Foremost
Now, the FIRST thing to calibrate is make sure that a note hitting at the bottom during a song seems like it is truly hitting the bottom at the same time as the beat of music. But this is kinda hard to do with the naked eye. It also requires you to still play the notes so you can see when the note light “flashes” when it actually gets to the bottom The best way to really see if this visual component looks right is by cranking up the track speed as high as you can as you’re playing a song.
“But Mad Dog” you say, “I can’t play a song with 2.5x track speed to do this - it’s too fast” No problem – what you will do here is play a song that meets the following criteria:

1. You know it really, really well
2. It has a DRUM element that is around 1, 2 or 3 bars (in other words, relatively straightforward patterns)
3. You play it on a difficulty level that is not beyond your capability (ideally you can get 100% every time – doesn’t matter if it’s Easy, Medium, Hard or Expert – just hit most or all the notes)
4. The song has a simple, constant repeating pattern for most, if not all of the song’s length.

I like to choose drums on “Call Me Maybe” or “Blinding Lights” on Expert when I do this, but you can use whatever song and difficulty setting you like as long as it meets this criteria (the criteria also is just a suggestion, not a requirement).
Play the song with highest speed you can tolerate (faster is better) and as you’re playing, watch closely to see where and how the note gem is falling in time with your music. Play your button presses as you would normally to the audio cues of the song, but notice if the gem seems (to your eye) to be hitting the bottom at the same time as the intended beat, or if it is falling a little late, or is falling and hitting the bottom early. Unless your video calibration is accidentally perfect right off the bat (unlikely), you will notice that the gems fall and hit the bottom either early or late. A faster track speed will allow you to see this much better than a slower track speed, so this is why I recommend as fast as you can tolerate.
Based on what you’re seeing, go into the settings and make the following adjustment to the A/V Offset:

• If the gem is getting to the bottom too quickly as compared to the music beat (early - you see the note hit bottom before the beat), then **ADD** 5 or 10 milliseconds to the value of the A/V Offset.
• If the gem is getting to the bottom too slowly as compared to the music beat (late - you see the note hit bottom after the best), then **SUBTRACT** 5 or 10 milliseconds to the value of the A/V Offset.

Don’t worry about the Input Offset setting AT ALL here. Don’t mess with that part in this calibration stage….all you’re focusing on is how the gem LOOKS In terms of it getting to the bottom in time with your music, and making adjustments ONLY to the A/V Offset. You can do this after the song is over, or in the middle of the song (recommended) so you can see if the gem is really getting to the bottom at the right time.
You may have to play your song a few times and make real-time tweaks to the A/V Offset for a while, but eventually you should be able to get the gem to look like it’s falling and hitting the bottom in time with the music. Again, you are concentrating on the VISUAL component here. Make adjustments by 5 or 10 milliseconds at a time to the A/V Offset until it looks right.
After a while, you should get to a point where the falling gem is hitting the bottom exactly at the right time with the beat. Congratulations! You’ve now figured out the most important thing which is aligning your “visual targets” of the falling note gems to the beat of the music.
IMPORTANT!!! Once you’ve gotten to this point DO NOT ADJUST THE A/V OFFSET ANY FURTHER. All future offset value changes should be done to the input offset only (because you are now sure that if you miss a note, it would be because your skill is off or your button input offset setting is off, and not because the gem is not hitting the bottom in time with the music).
On to the next step.
Step 3: Figuring Out Input Offset Settings
The Input Offset accounts for the tiny (but significant) delay between your press of the button when you are trying to hit a note, and how the game registers that press as accurate or not as compared to the falling gem. If the setting is off, then the game may score your press as a miss (or a “good” instead of “perfect” hit) even if you have great rhythm and hand-eye coordination and are truly pressing the button in time to the actual music.
Moreover, it’s difficult to adjust input offset settings because you don’t know if your timing is off because of your SKILL or because of your INPUT LATENCY. But don’t worry, we have a plan:
Now that you’re sure the video component is good, change your track speed to whatever speed you prefer. It doesn’t matter at this point because the falling gem will always hit the bottom at the same time as the beat no matter the track speed, so the goal here is to have the track speed be as comfortable as possible for you.
Then, play a song that has the following criteria:

1. You know the song really, really well
2. You know the song’s chart really, really well
3. Pick any instrument for that song which you’re best at (or prefer most)
4. Pick a difficulty level as high as you can pick and still feel confident that you can get 99% or 100%

Song choice and pattern choice don’t really matter here. What matters is that you could probably get 100% repeatedly with it over and over again. It’s totally fine to do this with an Easy difficulty, but I encourage you to use a higher difficulty if you can because that will get you more “data points” (e.g. notes to hit) that you can use to reference when making your adjustments.
Play the song all the way through. Try to get 100% accuracy (don’t worry if they are Good or Perfect hits….just get all the hits).
If you successfully play the song to 100% (or 99% - we don’t need to be this picky, just pretty close to 100% will do), then observe and WRITE DOWN the “Avg Offset” data you see when you press the “More Details” button on the after-song results screen.
Now, sit back and play a few songs like you normally do when you play Fortnite Festival just for fun and aren’t trying to do a bunch of calibration stuff. BUT, start writing down your results FOR EACH SONG by listing:

1. Your current Input Offset number in the settings, and
2. Your “Avg. Offset” number on the results screen, and then,
3. The SUM of each for a particular song playthrough.

For example:
Say I played a song and my Input Offset when I played it was set to 55ms and the results screen when I was done showed my “Avg Offset” was -15 (late), I would write the following
55-15 = 40
And then I play another song and my Input Offset when I played it was again set to 55ms and the results screen when I was done showed my “Avg Offset” was +10 (early), I would write the following
55+10=65
I then play a bunch of different songs (let’s say 8 songs) and get a “data point” listing like this:

• 55-15-=40
• 55+9=64
• 55-21=34
• 55-17=38
• 55-2=53
• 55-14=41
• 55-10=45
• 55-3=52

I then want to take the average of the SUM of all these latency/offset scores and that would be the likely “correct” Input Offset setting number I should use.
Example:
40+64+34+38+53+41+45+52 = 46 average.
Which means I should now go into the settings and make my Input Offset number as close as possible to that figure, which in this case is 45 (since Input Offset values only change in 5 ms increments).
Repeat as necessary and ONLY MAKE CHANGES TO THE INPUT LATENCY! (NOT the A/V Offset!!) until you are consistently getting “Avg Offset” results that are within a range of -10 to +10.
NOTE: For best results in this step, be sure to only use data (scores) that are resulting from play-throughs that result in a “Flawless 100%” rating. If your skill in the game is such that you can’t get 100% flawless that often, either lower the difficulty until you can, or just do the best you can and only use “data points” from song playthroughs with as high an accuracy score close to 100% as possible.

Step 4: Fine-Tuning for Maximum Awesomeness
You should now have A/V Offset and Input Offset values in your game settings that are probably pretty good for your system setup. You can now be (relatively) confident that if your “Avg Offset” is higher than +10 or lower than -10, it's probably you and your skill that caused the discrepancy, and not because you were fighting the calibration settings.
Remember, if your accuracy and “Good”/”Perfect” percentages are not where you want them to be, it could be because you just didn’t have a good song session, or you just need more practice with that song chart. Finding great calibration settings doesn't directly translate to higher accuracy or scores...it translates to a more *accurate representation* of your accuracy and skill level.
There’s also been some anecdotal reports here on Reddit of some songs having a different “feel” to them in terms of the built-in song latency and note “hit” registering being a little different than other songs, even with spot-on calibration settings. Who knows? I am intrigued by this and would like to explore this further, since I could see it as entirely possible that different individuals at Epic are creating song charts for different songs, where, if their own systems are calibrated differently to each other, that could that perhaps affect the scoring and gem hit registers for different songs. I am not sure, but I am open to the idea. More likely, though, (in my mind) is that people still have video calibration issues that are unresolved when they are seeing this in their own experience. But then again, who knows?
Anyhow, as you’re playing, keep a tally log of your song Avg Offset scores. Note your sum total of your existing Input Offset setting combined with your Avg Offset results and use these numbers to determine if and when you should tweak your Input Offset setting. If you think you need to make an Input Offset value adjustment, only do so because you’re seeing figures indicating such an adjustment is needed over MULTIPLE playthroughs (and not because you just had one poor performance session). In order words, only make an adjustment if you CONSISTENTLY see Avg Offsets being generally higher than +10 or generally lower than -10.
REMEMBER:

• If the Avg Offset result is NEGATIVE/EARLY then **DECREASE** the Input Offset value.
• If the Avg Offset result is POSITIVE/LATE then **INCREASE** the Input Offset value.

ALSO:

• Repeat the entire process in this Guide if you ever change ANY of the components of your audio, video, controller or gaming system. This includes using a headset or not. For me, I have to use different settings when I use my soundbar in my living room versus when I use my wired headset plugged into my PS5 controller, even if I am using the same screen and controller (because it's a different audio setup)
• If you EVER feel the need to change the A/V Offset value in settings, realize that you MUST then start collecting and using new Input Offset and Avg Offset data to fine-tune your accuracy.

Now Go Have Fun
I know this sounds tedious, but trust me, the payoff is worth it. There’s no better feeling than watching your scores climb the leaderboard because the system settings are accurately reflecting your skills, and knowing that a poor performance is because of YOU and not your game settings.
Hope this helps! If you want to friend me and challenge me to a bass duel, you can find me on Fortnite Festival under MadDog182, often wearing the Relaxed Fit Jonesy skin.
Enjoy! And Thank you Epic for bringing this game to Fortnite!

IP: harmonyreloaded.minecraft.best
Discord: https://discord.gg/6u7kMwVVKJ
Are you tired of joining server after server of “vanilla” servers, only to discover they aren’t vanilla at all and have land claim, economy, teleport, and more? Are you sick of joining anarchy servers to discover a spawn that’s impossible to escape and a chat full of slurs and toxicity? Have you ever wanted a server that got back to the basics and simpleness of real vanilla gameplay without being filled with hackers and cheaters? Well, look no further because this is the server for you.
Harmony Survival was originally a MCPE server started in July 2015. However after several successful years of running it had to be shut down due to the limitations of server hosting software at the time. True to the original vision of the first server, Harmony Reloaded hopes to capture the same magic you felt when you opened Minecraft for the first time. Before servers became polluted with plugins, flashy ranks, and pay to win mechanics. A time when the game was about exploration, creativity, and friendship.
This is what we have to offer. A blank slate for you and your friends to write your own adventures. Will you be a lone wolf who lives off the land in a hidden bunker? Will you join a larger community and help create a massive fortress? The choice is yours on Harmony Reloaded.

Features

• True vanilla gameplay
• Active and growing community
• Clean easily readable chat
• Active moderation to prevent toxicity
• No pay to win mechanics
• Crossplay on all platforms
• Difficulty: Hard
• Hosting: US West
• World Border: +/- 40,000 to encourage player interaction

Trailer: https://youtu.be/YIXwa8mlnn8?si=Pz3JGjPSBQRCgpxv

I went to a party yesterday. I felt optimistic, i wanted to socialise because i have been so isolated recently. My old friend group was there. Someone who i had a HUGE falling out with, because they talked down to me and were overall not nice was there. We spoke normally. It was VERY strange, but welcomed, because we were best friends. It was fun! i felt somewhat included, some weird looks or comments here or there but i chalked it up to me being paranoid since i havent socialised and have been quite isolated.
Then the "tea time" happened. I am not exaggerating, fifteen people in a circle in the garden in blankets, used their trauma as entertainment for the party. Very intimate details of many people i did not consent to hear. I thought I WAS the weird one being horrified, because, everyone else seemed fine. I left early, and cried on the way home.
I found out today, the day after the party, nobody wanted me there, and the person i had a HUGE falling out with was actually being "two faced" and expressed immense relief when i left the party to everyone there. If they talk shit about others and use others "down fall" as story time, i know i will be next. I have cut contact. The kicker? THEY ARE ALL AUTISTIC / ADHD.
I feel so embarrassed i didn't realise the person i had a BIG falling out with wasn't actually being nice to me. I am so upset that i know they all don't like me.
This is all to say, this happens. A LOT. All of my close friendships have blown up in my face because of

1. Them not communicating something i am doing or saying is hurting them, then blowing up at me and ending the friendship because it should've been "obvious"
2. Them deciding to become my bully
3. Me being too mentally ill for them (not anymore, i have worked on this and i am very proud of my boundaries and way of handling my mental illness)

How do i try and make friends, when it feels like this pattern keeps happening? I just want friends, but, all of the people i have tried to be friends with have ended up as being very drama loving and self cantered. I used to be that, but i have grown out of it. I was like that to mask, and potentially they are too.
Blegh. Thank you for reading <3

--⧼ BEGIN Broadcast Message ⧽--
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Priority Level: Urgent
:: From ::
Center Arm of the Emperor, Planet Laran
:: To ::
All Survivors of Fellow Royal Cast Broods
:: Message ::
The Emperor has graciously permitted the use of his Excellency's summer home on Planet Laran, located in the Empire's Center Arm, as a temporary refuge during the unprecedented violent Terran offences against His Holiness and the holiness of the Omni-brood of Ix.
:: Attachments ::
Coordinates and Flight Key
:: Royal Cryptographic Signature ::
Lord La'Ix, The Emperor's Right-Center Arm
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
--⧼ END Broadcast Message ⧽--

earlier

"CURSE THEM! The great houses are going to have my bloody head for this! There is no way this should've happened and under my command too! The Golden Emperor's own exotic holiday world has gone to ash and the only one to blame is going to be me. Well it was basically my watch anyways. Curse. Them. All"
Those were the only legible sounds one could hear among the frantic stamping of one particular Ixian lord as he hurried away through the underbrush of the royal reserve just outside the centre palace. The same Ixian lord that, only hours earlier, was delighting in his typical cooked boar while enjoying his evening's entertainment of a young Terran girl running for her life from a loose Laran tiger. Something about the way those bipeds run always makes him laugh. Some similarly caste Ixian would call this form of entertainment childish, lowbrow, and immature. He would tend to agree. But sometimes he just wanted cheap slapstick humour. The day to day life of the royal caste tends to get dull with all the fine arts an Ixian of his caste is meant to enjoy.
"How did it all go to shit!?! I was always attentive, and there hasn't been an uprising since those terrans were tamed for the palace. I mean we mostly neuter the problematic ones anyways, so why all the sudden aggression?", he shouted in agitation at the emptiness in front of him.
Speeding through the royal garden which in actuality is a repurposed Savannah of the island the palace is on. The Ixian was a beast of speed. Perfectly honed and trained over decades, and genetically maintained over eons, he always proudly held that he was the fasted in his brood of 16. Making a name for himself among the other broodkin for being the most genetically suited for the rank of high general (not that there was any need for generals, there hasn't been need for war in so long). Of course the Ixians always pride themselves in having no excess potential, and adapting your environment to suit your biology, but it never hurts to have perfect biology. That's the true pride of an Ixian.
That innate need to change the universe rather than changing themselves is what led to their vast interstellar empire. One that reached from constellation to constellation and then eventually to the arms of entire galaxies, terraforming worlds to the same environment they were already adapted to. Since forcing nature into one's bidding was the most sacred duty of any that shared a lick of Ix biology.
Which was why the Ix was confident in themselves. This Ixian in particular surely felt surprised, but mainly he was only moderately upset at the sudden change of situation, from being comfortable in the royal dining hall to sudden exercise.
"Everything can be changed back. Everything can be changed back." It repeated the mantra to itself. As it began to relax and turn its snarled sharp mouth into a toothy grin.
"Yes, there is nothing to worry about at all. Then let's make a game plan. Just need to make it to the space port at the harbour. Grab a ride out and find someone else to take the fall. That old royal butler is as ancient as the dirt of the broodworld. Hell, he probably was there when it vanished in the shadow of the holy empire's long past." chuckling to himself at the quite witty remark, but saddened that no one else was there to hear it.
Should be realistic enough for the others to believe. But first things first, I need to reach the harbour-master. It thought while its dense muscles powered the beastly lizard-like form on its journey, as it bound in the direction of its destination at top speed on all fours.
The blood red sun was already kissing the horizon by the time the Ixian went to nearly collapse under exhaustion of the extended sprint. He hasn't ran this far and fast than when he a young broodling that won competitions and competitions in the royal sports. I think I might have overdid it. He thought while massaging the oncoming threat of a sneaky cramp in his hind leg.
The Ixian were well known for speed. But their stamina was another thing. There bodies simply didn't have the evolved features for long distance travel. There was never truly any need in the past, as their very steady and controlled climate and sparsely diverse ecosystem on Ix never truly required much challenge.
It turned its panting head to face the way it came, gazing proudly at the great distance it made in such a short while.
But something was off by that view. Something different to what he was expecting. The view itself was mostly fine. Well, as fine as a smoking mark in the distance, presumably from the summer palace being engulfed in flame and spitting great plumes of black smoke. But no, something about this view chilled him to this spine. Craning his neck from his vantage point he could swear there was a small speck in the distance.
What on great Ix is that?
All of a sudden realisation hit like a rock on a peaceful pond. Something was following him. Something unknown and cold was making its way to his location. He was certain it wasn't any of his guards, all guards permitted to serve under the royal summer home were Ixian of course. Physically bred for their strength and speed, and placed into roles of importance like protecting the higher caste such as himself. (Whereas this day being the only exception). It did look like he was the only Ixian that actually made it out of the palace so far. Ixians are able to cover short distances in phenomenal speed, akin to a scaly 4 legged beast of the hunt.
No this was something else.
Feeling a very small panic build up inside, but veiling that cold, unwanted terror as impatience at how far he still needs to travel yet. Lord La'Ix flexed his anterior legs and sped on leaving behind a red-yellow cloud of dust in his wake.
He frowned. Feeling strange at a never before felt sensation. Like something in the back of his perfectly designed brain was screaming a silent, but terrifyingly familiar warning.
"Ix itself is an ancient world. Temperate in climate, while abundant in vegetation and small game. It is unknown how the Ixian was formed on paradise.
The old priest can drum into your heads that I'Ix made us into being by indenting his form in the sand of the first beach and filling the shape with his life. Moulding us into being.
The heretic would counter and say we evolved from a previous species akin to ourselves over the course of untold lengths of time.
The philosopher would suggest that only on paradise would the sentient universe fill in the space for the perfect beings to enjoy the fruits of existence.
Lastly, even the lowest caste Ixian would point and laugh at the rest and say 'why talk about antiquity, when we can make more paradise to fill the heavens'."
-A popular Ixian parable
Lord La'Ix bolted up all of a sudden from his resting spot. Heart suddenly beating frantically. The stars had barely enough time to shift positions when last rested his weary body, only a couple hours must have passed since dusk fell and the world plunged into night.
The silence of the Savannah made sound from afar travel better. Aside from the quiet rustling of the wind he wasn't so sure what he heard. Assuming his bored ears were playing tricks on him.
Calming down, curling up on the flat cool rock he found he started to drift to the shadowless lands where all Ixian go when they dream...
Drums, no, not drums. Some sort of mechanical tool? Not that I ever heard of a tool that just beat the ground senseless. A strange beating sound could be heard, pounding into the ground. As he stayed frozen and very awake, he could have sworn it was getting louder. Closer.
CRACK. SNAP. CRACK.
Suddenly the entire valley echoed the sounds of a few broken sticks.
La'Ix jumped up, whirling around, and came to face something approaching fast that could only be described as a cold predator, not that there were any predators on the homeworld's recorded history. But every cell in his aching body reacted the same. DANGER, DANGER, RUN, RUN.
The silver light of the planet's 3 moons barely lit the valley but what that light bounced off of was a figure in motion. Front Legs pumping up and down, nostrils flaring, eyes too close together, and pupils so large it was like staring at darkness itself.
Hold on there are only 2 legs right? Sudden familiarity hit him hard, memories of last night's entertainment stained his mind. In the name of Ix is that a Terran?!?
La'Ix didn't realise it then, but it was looking at a Terran, despite the Terrans characteristics looking different to the standard slave he was used to seeing. The pumping body of the runner was made for such long distances. Sweat acting as a cooling mechanism, making the man glisten in the harsh moonlight, the enlarged nostrils taking in all the air the body needs for this type of strenuous activity. And the enlarged pupils, made for adjusting to low light environments.
Down on the plains of the Savannah were two creatures. One a perfect evolutionary miracle, practically evolution's first try gone right, Perfectly made for its environment and was never truly exposed to varying climates and environments. And the other, having crawled through the primordial ooze, and struggled and fought its way through dangers, diseases, and competition on its own horrifying world. Where deadly heat in deserts can dry out any living thing, and such freezing poles that can turn anything that enters it in pure ice.
The man's lean and sweat-slicken form was steadily making its way towards the frozen statue of La'Ix. Just as he got within 50 paces did La'Ix sprint away scattering pebbles in its path the echoes of which bounced back from the valley's sharp walls. Undeterred, the chaser kept steadily running. Jaws grit. Eyes locked on afar.
And afar was its prey. Sprinting away.
HOW IN IX'S NAME DID THAT THING KNOW WHERE I AM? The La'Ix in a fit of sudden excitement mixed with a heavy dose of panic, began its high octane sprint from the sudden looming threat of being found. Hind Legs propelling the creature's body forward, while its front arms, which were historically also for four legged locomotion, pulled the terrain closer with each stride. Increasing its momentum until it reached max speed.
"Broodling La'Ix!" said a stern but educated voice.
"Huh? Oh! Yessir!" a young Ix jumped to attention still thinking about more enjoyable things specifically outside of the classroom walls.
"Well? Can you please answer my question or will you make your other broodkin wait until Ix falls to ash first", the tutor said expectantly, prompting several muffles giggles in the room.
"Sorry sir. What makes the Ixian race its place in eternity is the attention we put in perfection. After our home-world of Ix's climate and terrain began to change, the leaders from antiquity decreed we carry on the spirit of the home-world in maintaining a consistent biological and genetic profile that will always be suited to Ix's surface. As we change worlds to be more like Ix, we can spread the spirit of Ix to them. As such, Change is- uh, change is..."
"Change is the poison of perfection, Remaining unchanged for Ix enable us to carry its spirit to other planets in the heavens", continued the tutor. "Well you certainly paid some attention to today's lesson at the very least. But remember that final part. It's the last of the core tenants you will need to remember."
"Yessir!"
A good half night passed on the surface of the Savanna. Where a previously noble and alert Ixian who took great care in appearances and status was no longer to be seen. Instead of that proud domineering alien representative of ix was a dishevelled, dusty, ragged creature, dehydrated, hungry, and exhausted from the various sprints it forced itself to endure to stay ahead of fate's ever closing hand.
Is this the sword of Damocles that was mentioned in the ancient Terran records? Always hanging down on those who hold power and seek more? Fate's sharp blade? But why me? I was never in any real power. All I wanted out of this life was a comfortable posting with no dirt and grime from the lower worlds. Why me? Why now? Why do I-
La'Ix snapped himself out of a daze. Is he here- No, no I should be far far away from that Terran now. Maybe I can find some-
A dim glow interrupted its train of thought. Much too early to be the Sunrise on the Emperor's summer planet, and much to low to be the light from one of it's 2 moons. It was a light from a town.
"That's right!" The Ixian barely managed to rasp in between haggard breaths. Its body barely able to continue the amount of self inflicted abuse it has suddenly been put in.
A lot more hunched over than the Ixian was earlier. It made its way towards a small town it knew was in between the palace and the harbour. The emperor loved his royal rustic towns and villages. It is said that his royal emperor would sometimes tour around them marvelling at the romantic theme of a simple rustic life. Although getting a personal town full of Ixians required a lot of lower caste be forced into long and expensive work contracts as background entertainers for the king's planet, all this excessive show of wealth was partially for peackocking the emperor's reputation, and partially for his own personal enjoyment. The Emperor is almost culturally required to flaunt his royal wealth in all forms in order to keep connections with all the royal houses. An emperor that doesn't shower their supporting aides and houses with grand gifts is fated to eventually be found cold on the floor of the royal banquet due to 'suicide from accidentally ingesting poison', as was the previous emperor.
To avoid such an unfortunate passing, the Higher Royals would trade vast resources, delicacies, and even exotic slaves to court 'royal favours'. Slaves of the Terran variety especially are considered to be the most unique of gifts the empire has ever acquired.
Terrans weren't necessarily large and bulky. Fighters were assigned to the Slave Obniraks. Powerful creatures used to fill the fields on tougher worlds where mechanical services would be deemed to expensive. The growth of a Obnirak into full working adulthood is only a few cycles. Meaning mass producing a workforce is quite an easy feat.
Terrans instead would take vast cycles to mature from a childling to an average adult. Meaning growing a slave force would take vast quantities of resources, immense patience, and strict guidance from their owners as to not create faulty creatures. All of which increases the general standing on any house that manages to keep a vast amount of Terran slaves in the best quality.
Terrans weren't necessarily docile and obedient. That role was perhaps given to the oldest slave race the Ix ever controlled. The Iralisa. It was known that they were made remarkably docile due to generations upon generations of select breeding, and pruning off the 'aggressive traits' from the gene pool. However, that led to the adverse effect of physically weakening them to a point where such docility and lack of a frame to keep up with their workload led to a general lack of Ixian interest and were subsequently purified.
Terrans are notoriously independent and herd-minded in larger quantities. Similar to growing a very stubborn Terulian Rose Vine. Which only looks impressive when great care have been given. Terrans need to be given an illusion of being ever so slightly free. Which typically involves owning vast amounts of land and nature to let them roam and graze. Of course, the only ones that can accommodate grand work forces of Terrans are the larger houses with the appropriate territory for humans, as is studied in the Ixian art of Servitude.
One can only guess which species is the Emperor's favourite.
The following town should indeed have both, low caste Ixians, and possibly none of the Emperor's favourite slaves.
The Ixian approached the glowing town. As it reached closer it straightened its back, upright on its hindlegs in the royal fashion. And proclaimed. "It is I! La'Ix, royal courtier. Lend me aid imme-"
Something is off. Not a single shadow in the town, I can see lights but no movement, where is every-
After turning the corner to the center of the small town, the dustied and weary creature froze in its tracks when it saw it. A pit nearly as wide as an Ixian land cruiser and who knows how deep filled with a stench so powerful it watered his eyes. Despite the Ixian's lack of a proper sense of smell. It knew the foul fetor of death.
The crudely dug pit was nearly overflowing when he approached it. Large, smoking, smouldering pyres cast that eerie light that had drawn him in.
"H-how? Wha-What the..." he trailed off when a local species of Laran boar growled and squealed as it tore a dead Ixian limb from the mountain of corpses.
"Who could've..."
He stopped. The shock of seeing his own kind laid like broken dolls in a bleeding pit slowly faded, replaced by a numbness. The Ixian had just noticed they were of Ix. Only of Ix.
Not a single terran colour was visible in the black and spotted pit of bodies. Not a single slave body was visible.
I-Impossible...
His legs gave way, either from the strain of the entire nights run, the horror facing him, or the threat from behind. He just dropped.
Minutes passed, or hours. It was hard to tell. But the Ixian lay slumped. Body unwilling to move further. Battered flesh unwilling to be propelled by a shattered spirit.
Mind slowly spinning up again. Thoughts began whirring to life in its mind. Could the rumours actually have been true? It had read the sparse reports of odd activity from certain Ixian-controlled worlds on the outer arms of the empire. Small uprisings of unknown origin. Hardly anything of note. If it had no affect on the greater houses then it was of no real concern to Ix and its emperor.
Could this threat have made its way to the centre arm already? Impossible. But what else could have done this to us?
Something caught the Ixian's eyes. In the middle of the pit it stood. A large stake, wet with deep Ixian crimson, dripping ever so slowly. Towering over the pit like a battlefield flag was a head of an Ixian rammed onto the tip of the spike. But the particular detail that caught the Ixian's eyes was a symbol cut into the flesh of the large forehead.
Looking from the outward-in. Eight concentric rings, which proceeded to get smaller and smaller in size until it reached a dark mass at the centre of the symbol. The Ixian never forgot the symbol and the affect it had on it.
Eight concentric rings, and a centre mass. Eight rings, and a mass. Eight- Eight what? Eight planets? And a star? ...
A growing pool of cold dread rose in its guts that made it shiver despite the fair night. This dread reflected the sharp reality on its frigid surface.
This Ixian was well-bred, well-trained, and well-educated. Although anyone with a basic education would know of such a pattern.
Terra and her sisters. THEIR star system...
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
It's not possible!-
Knowing what that sound meant, the Ixian tried to whirl around, its body barely being able to heed its masters commands. Just when it was starting to move again it felt it.
Sudden sharp agony. Sudden sharp, raging agony. The Ixian looked at it's hind leg. A sharpened wooden stake was jutting out of it.
It loud out a tight lipped scream, as it grasped the pulsating wound as one does immediately after an injury. It barely had enough time to look up at its attacker when the Terran bolted forward, shortening the distance between hunter and prey from metres to mere paces. The Ixian barely had enough time to block the hand grasping the knife as the arm flew forward at the last minute with a crash.
What phenomenal force!
Using the momentum from that sprint plus the wind up of his arm. The Terran was able to impart a phenomal show of force for a creature its size. That's when La'Ix for the first time saw a human in its raw unchanged form. Great beads of sweat collecting dust on its brow, to prevent it from entering the eyes. The constant release of sweat from the countless pores on its soft fleshy skin. Constant cooling? Even the visible veins and capillaries visible from the fire light.
What a beast of endurance-
Suddenly the horizon fell before the Ixian only to reveal the inky black sky dotted with pigments from stars like a painters masterpiece. When did I look up? Then a crash and blunt force from the ground.
The Ixian had been toppled over by that ferocious exchange of force.
Barely able to get up due to the wind being knocked out of its single large lung, the searing pain in its hind leg, and the exhaustion from the chase. It was too late. The terran was already on top of it. Taking up the entire view of the sky as the terran stepped forward into its field of vision.
The sudden perspective change made a once small and frail looking slave look grander than life, grander than all the legends told to Ixian broodlings.
The punches rained down. Repeatedly. A constant bombardment of beating rained like the drops of rain before the first dew. The previous pain in its leg forgotten, to invite a new visitor in the form of blunt force trauma. So ferocious were the raw blows to its carapace that the Ixian felt the exoskeleton crack under the increasing pressure and strain.
Something cracked, another thing snapped. The amount of pain too much to comprehend. The neurons firing in its second brain just assumed it was everywhere. Its half-working eye glimpsed the fist as it came down for the nth time. Red and split knuckles, revealing pure white bone beneath—a reinforced weapon. The perfect natural offence. All the muscles moved to propel it downwards where something else cracked and split.
Is this where I die?
As if understanding its fate the Ixian's form slumped over. Its body barely holding onto the natural exoskeleton shielding that covered its chest and facial area. Fluids leaking from the cracks that went too deep, and who knows how many internal ribs are shattered.
Its body, knowing that that more movement will cause more injuries, and further stimuli would confuse it further. It simply shut down.
The last moments it had as it fell backwards on its side. Was a small running figure. Hand clutching wooden spears. But the truly petrifying sight was behind it. A vast shadow flickering from the light of the lit pyres from the hunter in front of it. A shadow cast so large, jagged, and menacing it appeared to swallow the town whole.
And into a hole did the Ixian fall. A vacuum with no sensation or thought. Just darkness.
How... did we never notice such a... monster... in their... shadow...
All Ixians were taught about 'violence' and 'conflict' at an early age. As a sort of rite of passage that any of them would go through as they survive their early broodling days. As Ix have no natural predators, they had begun to instil a serving of some necessary conflict to keep their generations fresh and somewhat physically strong. As a precaution, only rudimentary forms of civil sports, races, shows of strength and courage were ever really explored. But always in a controlled and calm settings, as there would never be any true need for actual conflict.
As there was always a need to maintain ones own environment. The need never arose for the development of fighting techniques and schools of training. That was one of the best parts of being an Ix that many thought. Having supreme control over the worlds you inhabit means setting gravity, atmospheric pressure, humidity, and temperatures to the perfect levels for comfort replaced any need for biological change. Why grow when you can keep everything the same way, how you like it.
They were a vast empire. An empire of statues.
-Excerpt from the history of extra-solarian species, Author unknown
It awoke to a burning radiating heat from in front. The large sun was already starting to set on the horizon when it awoke. Had a whole day passed? Or two?
Trying to block the setting sun from its eyes it couldn't. "What?...", barely made out in a whisper.
I'm tied up.
And indeed the Ixian was right. Tied up next to a small brook, with a scorching fire in front of it. The monster nowhere to be seen.
"No good... it's too tight", it grunted in an attempt to escape its bindings.
Going slack in defeat it avoided any additional movement. Not having the energy to spare to move. It was lucky to have always been lazy at shedding its carapace - a frequent nag from its broodmother - might just have become its salvation in this case.
Thank Ix.
So there it stayed.
Hours passed. The Sun fully set and the stars awake in this dark world barely lit up the wildlands. Only the prisoner in this cone of firelight existed out here.
A rustling up ahead caught the prisoner's attention disturbing the eerily still silence of the Savannah night. And ungodly horror of a squeal ruptured the air invoking a deep visceral terror within the bound prisoner. Something. Something close but just outside the firelight was eyeing it, glinting from beyond the light. Those dark predatory eyes stabbed the prisoner with a sudden coldness. All while the squealing suddenly halted. SNAP. SQUELCH.
Now it came, emerging into the light. A beast. Holding a knife in one bloodied hand, dripping on the dirt. And dragging by the leg, a massive adult Laran boar grotesquely smearing thick blood still warm from the cut in the neck on the dirt.
The prisoner watched, barely moving, barely breathing. Frozen with the horror in front of it as the bloodied carcass was skinned; fur sliced away with harsh, scraping sounds with the crude knife. Spurting remaining blood all over the site.
The pink naked flesh then washed in the brook, leaving a distinct smell of oxidised blood in the air, before being skewered and roasted over the roaring flames. Fat popping violently in the heat.
In this gruesome display, the beast revealed not just a fate for the boar, but a dark hint of what might come. The realisation struck deep—this could be more than just a demonstration; it was a terrifying preview of its own potential end.
It passed out again.
Only to be awoken by the haunting echoes of a wild, desperate squeal that once thrummed through the savannah's eerie silence. Dare it open its eyes?
After a great heavy effort -utilizing its every last drop of courage- one eye cracked open. And what it saw. Made it regret ever having done so.
Right across from it, the hunter was a grotesque silhouette against the flickering fire. Grasping a severed boar leg was a mouth viciously biting, ripping, tearing into the flesh with primal ferocity. Each bite was deliberate, each tear of sinew was a clear, calculated demonstration of supreme savagery. Its jaw muscles bulged with the force of a bite.
All the while, the eyes—deep, abyssal pits—fixed intently on the prisoner. Deepest black pits stared back at it. Watching. Observing. Calculating, with a dark intelligence. it was calculating. It was relishing the terror it inspired and the control it exerted. Or planning its next meal.
The sounds of ripping flesh filled the thick, blood-soaked air. Deep into the night. Deep into this never-ending nightmare.
Never once did the prisoner move. Not an iota. Frozen in abject horror.
The night passed quietly. After the feast the human had, or the desecration of life that the prisoner saw, whichever way you look at it. The human nodded off to sleep. Content in the success of his mission. But the tied up creature had no such rest. Sending silent pleas to the stars that it might be saved. But not daring to make a sound, less it awaken that sleeping horror. Or was it sleeping? Dear Ix, it might be watching me. Feigning sleep to keep an eye on its meal. Dear Ix I'm next...
All through the night, the demons plagued its mind. Until the warmth of the morning rose, and with it the sound of an Ixian cruiser.
Elation could not be an understatement for the tired, tied, beat, and bruised thing. Craning its neck to the direction of the sound about to bellow out an Ixian warning to the demon resting next it.
"BE CAREFUL! THERE'S ONE HERE-". It stopped speaking. That previous elation it felt at a saviour arriving to rescue it from the demons grasp, fizzled out like a drop of water in a drought.
That all so familiar cold remained. And the dryness of despair. As pairs of dark pupils shot back at it.
On the cruiser were tall adult Terrans. Clean cut, well fed, well dressed Terrans. Four, no Six, no eight of them. All hanging onto the side of cruiser while it made its way to their location. Compared to the demon waking up beside it, these creatures were organised. A savageness neatly packaged in a uniform with a symbol. The prisoners eyes grew wide in its sunken sockets. 8 rings, and a centre mass. They must be the cause of, well all this.
Accepting fate, its head fell in part defiance, in part to avoid the stinging eyes of these others. It felt their gaze burn through—cold, cruel, calculating. There is nothing I can do any longer.
"You're finally here. What took you so long?" The runner said to his approaching comrades, "Took all night to catch up to him."
"Hey Jan, great work", the tall militant woman shot back. With a playful punch to his arm. "Guess all that cardio really paid off, didn't I tell you it would!" She let out a playful guffaw.
"Thanks Chel", replied Jan.
"Ok chop chop people, we're on a schedule. We need to reach the port ASAP remember? Come on Jan, rest up all you like, you're still on the clock."
"Aye sir." Jan shot back in a mock salute, gaining a sneer from the commandant, then a sneaky smile.
"Don't forget your trash. And make sure its breathing still."
It creaked open its eyes, seeing pairs of boots moving towards it and standing in front. In silence. Then all of a sudden, felt pairs and pairs of hands pull and tug. and lift it up The thing let out a pathetic silent sob. While it was loaded in the back of the cruiser, face up. Staring at eyes, piercing black dots peering back. It could never understand what was being felt by those eyes and those faces.
Ixians wear their emotions on their carapace; spots and stripes would slowly appear in certain parts, representing emotions and feeling that their bodies felt in a general sense. But the most private thoughts were of course, still kept private.
But this. This was just too foreign. The eyes never stopped. Even in the swaying movement of the cruiser the pupils never broke contact. Those eyes. As if it was peering into it, envelops your entire mind. There was no way to hide, even hiding in his inner self would do no good. Those eyes. Those predator eyes can find me anywhere I try to escape to. Inside and out.
Some times passes.
"You know. I lost good friends to the royal caste. Especially to this one's brood clan or whatever they like to call it." One of them was looking right at it when they said it. It turned its eyes over to the source. A short one, with a slave scar on the neck said it. A scar that shot through his memories. A scar inflicted to property owned by, his brood. This one is dangerous..., it thought.
Jan, and the others didn't look but felt it. The cold darkness in that tone made it clear what it intended to do.
The female militant, Chel, I think her name was. Slowly reached to the side arm on her holster. Sensing the oncoming problem.
"You still understand me don't you? I've had to watch good people die. Damn good people." The scarred one one stood, grabbing the upper rail of the cruiser to steady themselves. "I hear that even if you get ill, you become the entertainment for the night. What was it now?" She paused for a brief second. "Oh I remember".
"Stil" Chel said slowly. "Cool it". Hand still on the butt of the sidearm.
Not hearing or not wanting to reply. Stil continued. "Torn apart by those raptor pets. Hands or feet cut off as souvenirs for those fucked-up parties and those fucked-up guests. Oh yea, and the 'toy play' or whatever they call it. Can't have Ken and Barbie fight back now, can we?"
Stil leaned closer to the now cowering, shaking thing, "I wonder which one was your favourite." The words cut through La'Ix like an icicle. This was the first time these demons actually spoke to it directly. And it didn't like it. It could sense the venom from the words.
"Stil..." Chel slowly got up, hand still at the ready. "I said cool it." The line had a steely warning to it. Chel wouldn't risk the mission. Even if it meant doing what must be done.
Agonizing seconds passed. The cowering, shaking thing seemed to grow whiter and whiter by the second, It's spots clearly showing what it felt. Staring up, Not willing to move but being unable to hide. It felt the absolute crushing weight of the present. Grinding it down to a paste.
Everyone stayed still. The two militants didn't move. The rest didn't seem to even have paid attention to the converstation, still looked away.
Longer passed.
Stil smiled, "Oh come on Chel, you know I wouldn't do anything to our friend here? You know I was just playing around." Stil laughed. Chel didn't react.
Stil immediately crouched, faced the shaking prisoner inches apart eye to eye, and in a whisper said "Right friend?"
She wants me to reply? Dear Ix I can't even think with those eyes in front of me What do I do?! What do I say?!
"Right. Friend?" Stil repeated slower and colder. Like the blade of a surgeon hovering over skin, ready to plunge.
The gears of its Ixian brain grinded to a screeching halt. In utter desperation to find a reply it simply gave up. Instead, it felt a warmth slowly spread. Slowly spread between its hind legs. It had released its bladder.
"BAHAHAHAHA LOOK AT IT" Stil roared in laughter. The sound of it rattling the prisoners brain with the sound. Disorienting its senses. "NOW THAT'S CLASSIC TIMING IF I'VE EVER SEEN IT!" She plopped back down face red and still laughing.
The Ixian didn't know what to do but tremble and sob silently on the cold surface of the cruiser surrounded by laughter. and the warmth of its piss. It tried to plug its ears. But the sound still came. Laughter. Laughter. Laughter. Dear Ix, what are these demons... where are they taking me? To hell?...
The cruiser kept cruising. Towards the port across the island. Trailing laughter behind. Or to the sobbing wreck of a thing, demonic cackling.
The scent of familiarity wafted into the senses of the prisoner as the cruiser started to slow. The smell of the salt, the chirping of familiar aviaries. Sound of the crash of sea. The port.
Braving a sentence for the first time in for what seems eternity. It let out a question "...w..w..where ... why... are... ... we ...h... here?" It managed to say shakily, eyes downcast.
As if in response, a sharp shove greeted it from the back and a hard hit on the ground was as much of an answer it was getting.
"Move it", Jan said gruffly.
They walked. the ixian still bound but free to walk in the middle of the group of humans. Towards a destination still not known. The walk twisted, and turned, and twisted again. One thing struck out to the prisoner. It was too clean, especially for what it was expecting, it's last experience being in the previous blood-soaked town laden with bodies and carrion eaters.
The port town was completely silent, free from the regular hustle and bustle it usually had even when the emperor was not present. And superbly clean. Not a single piece of dirt to be seen. Not a single Ixian either. Where did everyone go? Did they make it out somehow when these invaders came?
In the background, the surf broke relentlessly.
Piercing eyes caught the prisoners glance, as it wandered curiously around the town. Realising its mistake La'Ix tried to look away but the burning gaze gripped his own.
As if reading its soul. The human answered the hidden question bubbling up in La'Ix. "You should've seen them your royal majesty". The one called Stil said while bending in mocking courtesy.
The surf pounded the shore even more loudly now.
"They don't swim well. Especially the young ones. They dropped like stones. Turning all white by the time they stopped moving."
Louder now. The sea roared.
Nothing came. Not a thought in La'Ix's mind. Its mind struggled to comprehend the depth of what was said by Stil, the scarred human.
The waves boomed louder now. Louder than the sun, echoing louder than the screams of all the Ixians that must have perished.
It saw the lips of the standing-devil in front of it. But all the came from its blood red lips were obscured by the sound of the pounding of the waves. The echoes of drowned kin, thudding and slapping against the shore, merged with the relentless surf in La'Ix's mind.
This is for our sins.
Wave after wave, the relentless surge continued, each one a haunting reminder of the souls lost to the sea, each crash a ghostly thud of bodies hitting the shore.
Very slowly did some exhausted neuron in the Ixian's head come to a conclusion as to how these creatures in front of it can be so relentless, so cruel, and so evil. When pushed to beyond its breaking point, did their true carnivorous instincts rear their ugly head.
Oh dear Ix. What sort of environment could breed such demons?
La'Ix didn't remember what happened next. The memories feel like a distant dream now as he sits watching the port sky now.
The aching brand on his forehead of the 8 ringed system, pulsed in pain—a departing gift from his newly made friends, stung from the salty sea air.
He barely recalls the staggered walk from the empty inter-arm transmission office and the inputting of his biometric royal seal. He barely even remembers the message that was sent under his name and signature
And even less does he remember what he heard what will happen next.
All alone now, he stares at the sky of the empty port town. As he watches more royal ships enter the atmosphere.
He gazes upward, thoughtlessly, statue-like Knowing fate will come for them all. Fate in the form of piercing black eyes and a monster so large it can fit in a shadow.
A single thought, carried its way from above the despair to the surface. Slowly. Like a bubble in a pool of tar.
What was I meant to tell the emperor again?

I went to a party yesterday. I felt optimistic, i wanted to socialise because i have been so isolated recently. My old friend group was there. Someone who i had a HUGE falling out with, because they talked down to me and were overall not nice was there. We spoke normally. It was VERY strange, but welcomed, because we were best friends. It was fun! i felt somewhat included, some weird looks or comments here or there but i chalked it up to me being paranoid since i havent socialised and have been quite isolated.
Then the "tea time" happened. I am not exaggerating, fifteen people in a circle in the garden in blankets, used their trauma as entertainment for the party. Very intimate details of many people i did not consent to hear. I thought I WAS the weird one being horrified, because, everyone else seemed fine. I left early, and cried on the way home.
I found out today, the day after the party, nobody wanted me there, and the person i had a HUGE falling out with was actually being "two faced" and expressed immense relief when i left the party to everyone there. If they talk shit about others and use others "down fall" as story time, i know i will be next. I have cut contact. The kicker? THEY ARE ALL AUTISTIC / ADHD.
I feel so embarrassed i didn't realise the person i had a BIG falling out with wasn't actually being nice to me. I am so upset that i know they all don't like me.
This is all to say, this happens. A LOT. All of my close friendships have blown up in my face because of

1. Them not communicating something i am doing or saying is hurting them, then blowing up at me and ending the friendship because it should've been "obvious"
   
2. Them deciding to become my bully
   
3. Me being too mentally ill for them (not anymore, i have worked on this and i am very proud of my boundaries and way of handling my mental illness)
   

How do i try and make friends, when it feels like this pattern keeps happening? I just want friends, but, all of the people i have tried to be friends with have ended up as being very drama loving and self cantered. I used to be that, but i have grown out of it. I was like that to mask, and potentially they are too.
Blegh. Thank you for reading <3

So, I have the dubious honor of having owned both the Luba 2 5000 and the Husqvarna 450X EPOS at the same time for the same yard. I also have the Husqvarna 315X wired version as well. But in this post I want to provide a comprehensive comparison between the Husq 450X EPOS and the Luba 2 5000. There are already tons of vendor marketing materials, YouTubers with their reviews, etc. My goal is to provide a real comprehensive review, with no fanboyism, no hidden agenda, just as a homeowner who wants something that works reliably and that lasts.
In this post my goal is also to provide new information that I was not able to find anywhere when I was comparing these two prior to purchase, if you have any questions that you want answered that I did not cover here just let me know.
MY YARD
My yard is a pretty simple Florida rectangular acre with about 5 big oak trees and plenty more overhanging my yard from my neighbors' yards. I have about 1/2 acre in the back and about 0.30 acres in the front. I use the Husq 315X to mow the front and decided to buy a wireless version to mow the back. I also have a thin strip outside of the front fence that I mow on occasion after opening the gates and fences.
LUBA2 5000 vs HUSQ 450X EPOS
Below I have arranged my findings by categories, with the most surprising being first.

• RTK / Wireless Performance (Winner - Luba) - This was without a doubt the biggest surprise for me. I thought I had a simple yard after setting up the Luba. I put the RTK antenna in the attic, set up the base station, mapped out the yard and was done. The Husq EPOS on the other hand performed 10x worse than the Luba. Same house, same attic, but the EPOS system would not lock onto the satellites. After an hour of fiddling, I moved the RTK antenna out of the attic and mounted it on a pole in my yard. The performance is still terrible, while mapping out my back yard even within 50' of the RTK station, the signal only shows 73%, and I spent hours having to drive the Husq 450X to the middle of the yard to get a signal then rushing back to the last waypoint to try to finish mapping. It took about 4hrs to map 0.5 acres. That was just the beginning of my problems though. It now likes to sit for up to an hour in one spot for some reason even though the app says it has a good EPOS signal. No idea if this is a hardware problem or a software problem but hopefully it can be fixed via software update. If this keeps up, I may have to set more no go areas and mow those areas with my lawn mower.....not a good thing.
• RTK App Feeback (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 is great about showing you all of the satellite information; co-viewing, RTK satellites, and Luba 2 satellites. The 450X is the opposite, all you get to see is if EPOS is working or not with no way to troubleshoot it except to keep driving the mower around until it is fixed.
• Hardware Build Quality (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 feels much sturdier and better built than the 450X. Also, the Luba 2 includes an RTK mounting pole whereas the 450X does not. The 450X EPOS is an older design and it does not appear that Husqvarna updated anything other than add an RTK module to their existing product line while doubling the price.
• App Useability (Winner - 450X) - The Husq mower app while not perfect is much better than the Lubas. Mapping is more intuitive; I like the way they used waypoints which is more accurate and more familiar than driving the mower from place to place without clearly defining points. The mowing pattern selection is much more intuitive as well and adding a mowing angle to a work area is perfectly done by simply dragging two dots until the line overlay matches the look you want. I do like Luba's way of showing the amount of work remaining/completed via shaded areas vs the eyesore redlines that Husqvarna uses. As previously mentioned though, the biggest shortcoming is that you can't do any satellite troubleshooting in the Husq app. With the Husq app you can also pause mapping and pick back up where you left off, you can save multiple mowing profiles (i.e. winter vs summer), and you can pause any mowing task, go do something else, then restart the mowing task instead of fiddling with percentages like in the Luba 2's app.
• Lawn Damage - (Winner - 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS hands down causes less lawn damage than the Luba. No more crop circles, no damage in front of the charging station, it is a real joy to watch it turn on a dime with no endless grinding itself into the dirt. The Luba 2 got stuck all the time at the ends of rows, bases of trees, etc. as it tried to turn around in the soft dirt. It also killed untold numbers of seedlings which I will probably need to overseed.
• Mowing Speed - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 has multiple mowing speeds that you can pick but if you are like me, you have no idea what is too fast or what is slower than necessary. The Husq has no mowing speed options but if you watch it, it automatically slows down on thicker patches of grass and speeds up on recently mowed patches. This not only gets the yard done faster while extending the battery life, it also makes the setup simpler.
• Mowing Height - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 lets you set the height and so does the 450X, the nice thing about the Luba is that it gives you the exact height in inches (or cm) vs the 450X where you have to do you own math to figure out what 1 or 2 or 3 mean in inches or cm. The reason why the 450X still wins for me though is because it is much faster at adjusting the height when it needs to. The Luba 2 bogged down a lot and ground itself into the ground when the blade was too low for the terrain. The 450X seems to adjust its blades in real time and never seems to stop and get stuck on bumps even with the blade set at 1".
• Connectivity - (Winner 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS includes 10yrs of LTE data and also includes Bluetooth connectivity. The Luba 2 relies on wireless and Bluetooth and if you want LTE you have to buy your own SIM and data plan. Many times the Luba 2 would grind itself into the ground then just turn off. I would then need to go hunt for it in the yard, turn it on, connect via Bluetooth, move it out of the hole it had dug, then wait for it to get a satellite fix before I could get it to do anything. The 450X with LTE is always accessible until the battery dies. With the improvements in connectivity, the anti-theft features are also much better.
• Audible Beeps (Winner 450X) - This was a big problem for me with the Luba 2. It beeps all the time (when its adjusting the cutting height, returning to the charging station, searching for a satellite signal, starting a mowing job, on the charging station, leaving the charging station, etc, etc.). The charging station is right outside of my bedroom window so I had to start running it in the daytime just to keep from being woken up. The 450X EPOS does not do any of that, it shows everything via the app and the status LED on the top, no endless beeps.
• Perimeter Mowing Logic (Winner 450X) - I never understood why the Luba 2 put so much emphasis on perimeter laps, to me it's just the first row to be mowed, apparently the 450X EOPS thinks so too and treats it as such. The perimeter was being badly chewed up by the Luba 2 since it is the least level areas of my yard, the 450X EPOS just mows it without fuss and no digging in and getting stuck at the base of my fences.
• Battery Replacement (Winner 450X) - the 450X EPOS battery can be replaced in about 10min and they are readily available from a dealer, eBay, and others. The Luba 2's battery replacement story is still very murky to me.
• Blade Performance (Winner 450X EPOS) - The Husq automowers spin both clockwise and counterclockwise after every recharge, this means that you do not have to flip the razors over every xx number of hours. The Luba 2 does not have this feature.

OVERALL WINNER (TIE)
Right now both the Luba 2 and the Husq 450X EPOS have a fatal flaw; the Luba 2 badly chews up my yard, and the 450X EPOS can't seem to find its RTK/Satellite Signals. At this point in time I do not know if the Luba's or 450X EPOS's problems are just software or a fundamental hardware problem. Mammotion is addressing their hardware design with the release of the Yuka, I can only hope the RTK problem with the 450X EPOS can be fixed via a firmware update.
I know the 450X EPOS won a lot of categories for me, but if it sits around in my yard all day searching for a signal then none of the rest of its features matter. RTK is so important to the fundamental operation of a wireless RTK robot that it supersedes all else in my book.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Luba 2 - I would recommend the Luba 2 if any of the below are true:

• Hilly yard - obviously the Luba 2 is the better of the two with its AWD
• Mature grass/hard ground - if you have a mature yard with hard clay or dirt that can handle the Luba 2's grinding donut turns then I would recommend the Luba 2
• Cost - If cost is your only concern then obviously the Luba 2 is a no brainer
• Trees / Obstructions - If your yard has even a few big trees or big obstructions, at least for now, the Luba 2 will far outperform the 450X EPOS when it comes to RTK performance

450X EPOS - I would recommend the Husq 450X EPOS if ALL of the below are true:

• You have a perfectly wide open yard with no trees or other obstructions
• You have a yard with new turf or soft dirt/sand
• Your yard is relatively flat

Wired Solutions - My front yard Husq 315X wire guided mower is great, problem free, and still uses a wire. I used a trenching machine, bought heavy duty 14 gauge wire, and buried it around 8" deep. In my opinion, if you can deal with installing the wire, not being able to change things later, and risk the wire breaks, wired is still the most reliable way to go. I think wireless mowers are very close to being mature, but something needs to come along to reduce the problems with satellite reception, RTK placement, and blockage from buildings and trees. We don't all have that perfect wide open yard with no trees or buildings.

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Insights on Chatbots & AI, where we embark on a journey into the transformative realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots. These technologies are not just reshaping customer service; they're redefining how businesses interact with their customers, offering unprecedented levels of personalization, efficiency, and engagement.

The Rise of Chatbots in Digital Strategy

Chatbots have undergone a remarkable evolution since their inception. What started as simple, script-based programs have now blossomed into sophisticated conversational agents powered by advanced AI capabilities, including machine learning and natural language processing (NLP).
This technological leap has empowered chatbots to understand and respond to human language with remarkable nuance, enabling them to engage in contextual, dynamic interactions that can anticipate and cater to individual customer needs.
As chatbots continue to advance, their strategic importance in the digital landscape is becoming increasingly evident. Businesses that embrace these AI-driven solutions are positioning themselves at the forefront of customer experience innovation, gaining a competitive edge through enhanced engagement, personalization, and operational efficiency.

Transforming Customer Service with AI

In the realm of customer service, AI and chatbots are ushering in a paradigm shift. Gone are the days of frustrating wait times and generic, one-size-fits-all responses. AI-powered chatbots have redefined what it means to provide exceptional support by offering 24/7 availability, instant responses, and tailored solutions based on each customer's unique preferences and interaction history.
Imagine a world where customers can receive personalized recommendations, resolve issues, and access vital information seamlessly, without the constraints of traditional support channels. This is the reality that AI chatbots are bringing to life, revolutionizing the customer service experience and setting new standards for responsiveness, convenience, and satisfaction.
But the benefits of AI in customer service extend beyond the customer-facing aspect. By automating routine tasks and queries, chatbots alleviate the workload on human support teams, allowing them to focus their efforts on more complex issues that require human expertise and empathy. This synergy between AI and human agents creates a cohesive, efficient support ecosystem that delivers the best of both worlds – the speed and scalability of automation combined with the nuanced problem-solving capabilities of human professionals.

AI and Chatbots in Sales and Marketing

The impact of AI and chatbots extends far beyond customer service, permeating into the realms of sales and marketing. In these domains, chatbots serve as powerful tools for engaging customers, guiding them through the sales funnel, and ultimately driving conversions.
From the initial touchpoint, chatbots can capture leads, gather pertinent information, and seamlessly hand off qualified prospects to sales teams. Throughout the sales process, they can provide personalized product recommendations, answer inquiries, and even facilitate transactions – all through natural, conversational interfaces that enhance the overall buying experience.
On the marketing front, AI plays a pivotal role in delivering data-driven insights and personalized campaigns. By analyzing customer interactions, preferences, and behavioral data, AI algorithms can uncover valuable patterns and trends, enabling businesses to craft targeted marketing strategies that resonate with their audiences on a deeper level.
Moreover, chatbots themselves can serve as effective marketing channels, engaging customers through interactive content, quizzes, and personalized offers, all while gathering valuable data to refine and optimize future campaigns continually.

Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

While the potential of AI and chatbots is undeniable, their implementation is not without challenges. Data privacy and security remain paramount concerns, as businesses must ensure that customer information is handled with the utmost care and compliance with relevant regulations.
Additionally, the dynamic nature of AI and NLP technologies necessitates continuous learning and adaptation. As customer preferences and language patterns evolve, chatbots must be regularly updated and fine-tuned to maintain their effectiveness and relevance.
However, these challenges should not be viewed as obstacles but rather as opportunities for innovation and growth. By addressing data privacy concerns head-on and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement, businesses can position themselves as industry leaders, setting new standards for ethical AI adoption and customer-centric experiences.

Spotlight on Conferbot: Elevating Chatbots to New Heights

In the ever-expanding landscape of chatbot platforms, Conferbot has emerged as a standout solution, democratizing access to advanced AI and chatbot technologies for businesses of all sizes. With its no-code approach, Conferbot empowers organizations to create and manage sophisticated, AI-powered chatbots without the need for extensive technical expertise or resources.
At the core of Conferbot's offering is an intuitive, drag-and-drop visual builder that simplifies the process of designing and deploying chatbots. This user-friendly interface, coupled with robust natural language processing capabilities, enables businesses to create conversational experiences that feel natural, engaging, and tailored to their unique needs.
But Conferbot is more than just a chatbot builder; it's a comprehensive platform that seamlessly integrates with existing business systems and processes. From CRMs and marketing automation tools to e-commerce platforms and analytics dashboards, Conferbot's extensive integration capabilities ensure that chatbots become seamless extensions of an organization's digital ecosystem, streamlining operations and fostering cohesion across various touchpoints.
As businesses continue to navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape, solutions like Conferbot become invaluable assets, empowering organizations to stay ahead of the curve and deliver exceptional customer experiences powered by the latest advancements in AI and conversational technologies.

Conclusion

As we stand on the precipice of a new era in business-customer interactions, the importance of AI and chatbots cannot be overstated. These transformative technologies are not fleeting trends but foundational elements of a future where digital engagement is personalized, efficient, and omnipresent.
In this rapidly evolving landscape, staying informed and adaptable is key to unlocking the full potential of AI and chatbots. By embracing these technologies and fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation, businesses can position themselves at the forefront of customer experience excellence, delivering unparalleled value and cementing their competitive advantage.
As we conclude this inaugural edition of Insights on Chatbots & AI, I invite you to explore the possibilities that platforms like Conferbot offer. Whether you're seeking to enhance your customer service, automate sales processes, or simply explore the potential of AI in your business, Conferbot provides a powerful starting point for your journey.
Thank you for joining me on this exploration of chatbots and AI. In future editions, we'll delve deeper into industry-specific use cases, best practices, and emerging trends, ensuring that you remain at the forefront of this transformative technological revolution.
Together, we'll unlock the future of customer engagement and redefine what it means to deliver exceptional experiences in the digital age.
Welcome to the inaugural issue of Insights on Chatbots & AI, where we embark on a journey into the transformative realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbots. These technologies are not just reshaping customer service; they're redefining how businesses interact with their customers, offering unprecedented levels of personalization, efficiency, and engagement.

The Rise of Chatbots in Digital Strategy

Chatbots have undergone a remarkable evolution since their inception. What started as simple, script-based programs have now blossomed into sophisticated conversational agents powered by advanced AI capabilities, including machine learning and natural language processing (NLP).

So, I have the dubious honor of having owned both the Luba 2 5000 and the Husqvarna 450X EPOS at the same time for the same yard. I also have the Husqvarna 315X wired version as well. But in this post I want to provide a comprehensive comparison between the Husq 450X EPOS and the Luba 2 5000. There are already tons of vendor marketing materials, YouTubers with their reviews, etc. My goal is to provide a real comprehensive review, with no fanboyism, no hidden agenda, just as a homeowner who wants something that works reliably and that lasts.
In this post my goal is also to provide new information that I was not able to find anywhere when I was comparing these two prior to purchase, if you have any questions that you want answered that I did not cover here just let me know.
MY YARD
My yard is a pretty simple Florida rectangular acre with about 5 big oak trees and plenty more overhanging my yard from my neighbors' yards. I have about 1/2 acre in the back and about 0.30 acres in the front. I use the Husq 315X to mow the front and decided to buy a wireless version to mow the back. I also have a thin strip outside of the front fence that I mow on occasion after opening the gates and fences.
LUBA2 5000 vs HUSQ 450X EPOS
Below I have arranged my findings by categories, with the most surprising being first.

• RTK / Wireless Performance (Winner - Luba) - This was without a doubt the biggest surprise for me. I thought I had a simple yard after setting up the Luba. I put the RTK antenna in the attic, set up the base station, mapped out the yard and was done. The Husq EPOS on the other hand performed 10x worse than the Luba. Same house, same attic, but the EPOS system would not lock onto the satellites. After an hour of fiddling, I moved the RTK antenna out of the attic and mounted it on a pole in my yard. The performance is still terrible, while mapping out my back yard even within 50' of the RTK station, the signal only shows 73%, and I spent hours having to drive the Husq 450X to the middle of the yard to get a signal then rushing back to the last waypoint to try to finish mapping. It took about 4hrs to map 0.5 acres. That was just the beginning of my problems though. It now likes to sit for up to an hour in one spot for some reason even though the app says it has a good EPOS signal. No idea if this is a hardware problem or a software problem but hopefully it can be fixed via software update. If this keeps up, I may have to set more no go areas and mow those areas with my lawn mower.....not a good thing.
• RTK App Feeback (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 is great about showing you all of the satellite information; co-viewing, RTK satellites, and Luba 2 satellites. The 450X is the opposite, all you get to see is if EPOS is working or not with no way to troubleshoot it except to keep driving the mower around until it is fixed.
• Hardware Build Quality (Winner Luba) - The Luba 2 feels much sturdier and better built than the 450X. Also, the Luba 2 includes an RTK mounting pole whereas the 450X does not. The 450X EPOS is an older design and it does not appear that Husqvarna updated anything other than add an RTK module to their existing product line while doubling the price.
• App Useability (Winner - 450X) - The Husq mower app while not perfect is much better than the Lubas. Mapping is more intuitive; I like the way they used waypoints which is more accurate and more familiar than driving the mower from place to place without clearly defining points. The mowing pattern selection is much more intuitive as well and adding a mowing angle to a work area is perfectly done by simply dragging two dots until the line overlay matches the look you want. I do like Luba's way of showing the amount of work remaining/completed via shaded areas vs the eyesore redlines that Husqvarna uses. As previously mentioned though, the biggest shortcoming is that you can't do any satellite troubleshooting in the Husq app. With the Husq app you can also pause mapping and pick back up where you left off, you can save multiple mowing profiles (i.e. winter vs summer), and you can pause any mowing task, go do something else, then restart the mowing task instead of fiddling with percentages like in the Luba 2's app.
• Lawn Damage - (Winner - 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS hands down causes less lawn damage than the Luba. No more crop circles, no damage in front of the charging station, it is a real joy to watch it turn on a dime with no endless grinding itself into the dirt. The Luba 2 got stuck all the time at the ends of rows, bases of trees, etc. as it tried to turn around in the soft dirt. It also killed untold numbers of seedlings which I will probably need to overseed.
• Mowing Speed - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 has multiple mowing speeds that you can pick but if you are like me, you have no idea what is too fast or what is slower than necessary. The Husq has no mowing speed options but if you watch it, it automatically slows down on thicker patches of grass and speeds up on recently mowed patches. This not only gets the yard done faster while extending the battery life, it also makes the setup simpler.
• Mowing Height - (Winner - 450X) - The Luba 2 lets you set the height and so does the 450X, the nice thing about the Luba is that it gives you the exact height in inches (or cm) vs the 450X where you have to do you own math to figure out what 1 or 2 or 3 mean in inches or cm. The reason why the 450X still wins for me though is because it is much faster at adjusting the height when it needs to. The Luba 2 bogged down a lot and ground itself into the ground when the blade was too low for the terrain. The 450X seems to adjust its blades in real time and never seems to stop and get stuck on bumps even with the blade set at 1".
• Connectivity - (Winner 450X) - The Husq 450X EPOS includes 10yrs of LTE data and also includes Bluetooth connectivity. The Luba 2 relies on wireless and Bluetooth and if you want LTE you have to buy your own SIM and data plan. Many times the Luba 2 would grind itself into the ground then just turn off. I would then need to go hunt for it in the yard, turn it on, connect via Bluetooth, move it out of the hole it had dug, then wait for it to get a satellite fix before I could get it to do anything. The 450X with LTE is always accessible until the battery dies. With the improvements in connectivity, the anti-theft features are also much better.
• Audible Beeps (Winner 450X) - This was a big problem for me with the Luba 2. It beeps all the time (when its adjusting the cutting height, returning to the charging station, searching for a satellite signal, starting a mowing job, on the charging station, leaving the charging station, etc, etc.). The charging station is right outside of my bedroom window so I had to start running it in the daytime just to keep from being woken up. The 450X EPOS does not do any of that, it shows everything via the app and the status LED on the top, no endless beeps.
• Perimeter Mowing Logic (Winner 450X) - I never understood why the Luba 2 put so much emphasis on perimeter laps, to me it's just the first row to be mowed, apparently the 450X EOPS thinks so too and treats it as such. The perimeter was being badly chewed up by the Luba 2 since it is the least level areas of my yard, the 450X EPOS just mows it without fuss and no digging in and getting stuck at the base of my fences.
• Battery Replacement (Winner 450X) - the 450X EPOS battery can be replaced in about 10min and they are readily available from a dealer, eBay, and others. The Luba 2's battery replacement story is still very murky to me.
• Blade Performance (Winner 450X EPOS) - The Husq automowers spin both clockwise and counterclockwise after every recharge, this means that you do not have to flip the razors over every xx number of hours. The Luba 2 does not have this feature.

OVERALL WINNER (TIE)
Right now both the Luba 2 and the Husq 450X EPOS have a fatal flaw; the Luba 2 badly chews up my yard, and the 450X EPOS can't seem to find its RTK/Satellite Signals. At this point in time I do not know if the Luba's or 450X EPOS's problems are just software or a fundamental hardware problem. Mammotion is addressing their hardware design with the release of the Yuka, I can only hope the RTK problem with the 450X EPOS can be fixed via a firmware update.
I know the 450X EPOS won a lot of categories for me, but if it sits around in my yard all day searching for a signal then none of the rest of its features matter. RTK is so important to the fundamental operation of a wireless RTK robot that it supersedes all else in my book.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Luba 2 - I would recommend the Luba 2 if any of the below are true:

• Hilly yard - obviously the Luba 2 is the better of the two with its AWD
• Mature grass/hard ground - if you have a mature yard with hard clay or dirt that can handle the Luba 2's grinding donut turns then I would recommend the Luba 2
• Cost - If cost is your only concern then obviously the Luba 2 is a no brainer
• Trees / Obstructions - If your yard has even a few big trees or big obstructions, at least for now, the Luba 2 will far outperform the 450X EPOS when it comes to RTK performance

450X EPOS - I would recommend the Husq 450X EPOS if ALL of the below are true:

• You have a perfectly wide open yard with no trees or other obstructions
• You have a yard with new turf or soft dirt/sand
• Your yard is relatively flat

Wired Solutions - My front yard Husq 315X wire guided mower is great, problem free, and still uses a wire. I used a trenching machine, bought heavy duty 14 gauge wire, and buried it around 8" deep. In my opinion, if you can deal with installing the wire, not being able to change things later, and risk the wire breaks, wired is still the most reliable way to go. I think wireless mowers are very close to being mature, but something needs to come along to reduce the problems with satellite reception, RTK placement, and blockage from buildings and trees. We don't all have that perfect wide open yard with no trees or buildings.

Hi all,
So I have this friend from work with whom I talk daily since Dec last year. We have shared almost all of our darkest secrets and we call each other brothers.
Last weekend he called folks from work for a weekend party. He was really busy with them (and called our common friend “family away from family”). This is a regular pattern with me that whenever he gets too comfortable and talks with his other friends, I become extremely jealous. Last week he was saying words like “bro you are the best” “you are my family” and it hit me so hard. I was depressed and felt that in this friendship, I don’t mean that much to him as he means to me.
This is so weird. Is this normal friendship jealousy?

1. I always wait for his calls. Whenever he calls, my mood lightens up and my day becomes happier. It’s fixed he will call for sure, but then again I am just waiting and waiting and thinking about him all day.
   
2. He has a habit of saying “bro”, “you are so good bro” “you are the best boi” etc to others. But still I feel jealous.
   

Am I experiencing platonic love? I will be honest here, I sometimes watch gay porn but I have no romantic interest in men. I sometimes think about hugging him and all. But I don’t want to suck his dick. I just want to cuddle him like a kid, kiss him on the head and say that I am lucky to have a friend like him. I just want happiness for him is all.
Any advice what am I experiencing?

Afternoon. I was leaving to a gig last night and running through my samples and patterns. I hit shift/sub pad to get to my projects and the buttons all turned yellow and now I’m stuck there instead of the green buttons that held all my projects. I can’t get out of it at all. I’m sure it’s simple but I’m lost and had to gig without it last night. Thanks in advance for your help.

Hei, hi and hello!
I’m Onsie Onsfjord or Fjord feel free to call me whichever is not mind to me.
I’m a 26-year-old English Norwegian who’s mainly lived his whole life in the United Kingdom and graduated from university with a degree in Computer Networks and is now working as a DIE for the NHS (Digital Infrastructure Engineer).
Caught you off guard with that job title acronym huh? Yeah, trust me when I first started it had me in fits of laughter, but you get used to it after a while.
So a bit about me; - I’m an introvert and tend to avoid public crowds, events and such and just try to vibe with friends on a nice game of anything (which you’ll see below) - I’m an avid IT nerd and will most likely remain this way for my whole career as IT is my education and career at this point - On top of IT you guessed it I’m also a very big avid “gamer” I mainly play PC and PS5 games with my current interests being in Helldivers 2, Star Wars: The Fallen Order, and Jedi: Survivor amongst a few other things like WoW, CoD, SWTOR and so on. - I love learning, whether it be history, game lore, languages, cultures, etc. You name it, and I’ll probably be interested in it (Trust me, you give me a flag of any country, and I’ll be able to tell you the country’s name and political structure. - I’m also an avid book reader and you’ll most likely see my shelf full of different manga from all types of genres, I don’t particularly watch anime, I mainly read instead because I find it more “interesting” for better or not. (Not that I'm opposed to watching it) - I’m trying to learn to cook myself but not very good at it as my most recent attempt I ended up giving myself food poisoning so it’s sufficient to say you will have a big gamble if you’d like me to cook ha-ha. - I do watch football from time to time and do support a few clubs from around the world (mainly northern Europe, the UK, and the US) feel free to guess if you’d like! - I’m currently on a VLCD and have lost about 2 stone within 1 month which I’m super super happy about.
In terms of looks and such I’m what an average 26-year-old would look like who is 6’1/6’2 with a picture on request.
Please don’t judge too much as I’m still working on improving myself.
What am I about? I’ve always made it a goal to help, care for, and support those close to me, whether it be friends, old friends, or the equivalent of my family. They’ve been there for me, and I’ll go hell and back for them as they’ve stood by me through thick and thin, even through the loss of other close friends; they’ve picked me up and brushed me down and set me straight to which I will always forever be in their debt and have helped them being.
Whilst I’ve been shot and backstabbed by many of those who I thought were close to me I just try and see the positive and avoid the unnecessary drama and arguments as life is just way too generally short for that kind of stuff and we should all get along with each other in my mind.
What am I looking for? I apologize if this comes off as really picky - Someone in the realm of the US, Canada or Europe - Someone between the age of 20 to 28 years old - Someone who has an interest in IT, manga, gaming, and such (It’s easier to talk to people with the same interest I’ve found though you don’t need to work in IT at all) - Just be a kind honest individual who I can back and vice versa. Be there for each other.
I am looking for a monogamous and serious relationship and not a friendship, however, I’m fine with starting out as friends whilst getting to know each other etc.
The end? Well, I’d like to say that this was the short and sweet version of myself without giving much more away about me but hey hopefully you’ve stayed this far and if you have, I have a very small simple request for you!
If you do decide I’m someone you’d like to get to know and all of that stuff then when messaging me, please make a somewhat attempt of an introduction (I’m not asking for the mass of paragraphs or anything) just a hi, your name (doesn’t have to be your real name), where you’re from, how old are you, what you do, hobbies, etc and we’ll go from there!
Low-effort chats & messages will be removed also, so I know that you’ve made it this far please put your answers to this question (wrong answers don’t matter, it’s what is attempted counts)
“I was born in the winter on a remembrance day, which day was this?”
Take care and hope to see your message 😊