Early guns exist like muskets and revolvers, but it is believed true power comes from pride and guns grant no pride in combat and ambition (unless used by a person with it as their weapon), people rather use swords as they are a symbol and believed giver of pride ambition, and those who use guns are shamed. Guns are often expensive as well as there are not many gunsmiths.) (me making up bs reasons on why I want to use only swords in this world) This is a modern fantasy world inhabited by humans around the 2020s but much less populated.
Backstory:
5000 year ago, the God’s were all powerful, except Roesa the Goddess of love and the granter of peace who was weak due to her ability to only love. Each God looked after a specific part of the Earth, making the Earth different physically and culturally. These God's lived in the atmosphere of Earth, hovering over their selected regions. The effects of this can sort of still be seen today. They were good God's, kind, just and helpful, often shrinking down to the Earth to party with the Humans. They brought balance. The God's brought balance by the Doxology, a list of 5 laws of the universe which they put in place. Those being: • God's are supreme and above anything. • A lie of the truth given is an evil assault on the God’s holy name. • If needed, blood shall be shed by the God's commands. • Mortals shall not murder unless given divine authority. • Your ambition is to serve the God ruling over the region you were born in. Any breaking of this rule would increase your Misó on your krísi meter, which is a sort of sin meter. People with negative Misó would be executed in grand displays in large towns. While helping society and following these laws would decrease your Misó and those with very low negative Misó would be rewarded with tools or land. However their downfall was destructive, it is believed it started when a parasite snuck into the king of the Glod's, Zlamen, brain via his ear during a party. This parasite travelled via communication, as Zlamen spoke to his fellow God's they all began to feel its symptoms. These symptoms were similar to rabies but slow and brought painful stings to the brain which was actually their brain slowly being eaten, the God's slowly became paranoid. And so, they began to theorise. They began to believe if they consumed the Goddess of love, Roesa, they would regain their sanity, and so they forged a plan to lure Roesa to do just that. The plan worked and they lured Roesa into a secluded temple, the temple that housed the tree of love. They partied with Roesa, giving her poisonous drink which eventually caused her to sleep. After this, they consumed her, ripping and tearing every limb while the now poisoned blood dripped down the temple onto the Earth below, landing on the Earth but partically landing on the Balkan nations, forever making it a place where love cannot exist, also creating sort of blood mountains, which surround the Balkans. Unconditional benevolent love on Earth was destroyed and the tree of love shrivelled, the God’s plunged further into madness, now in grief of their actions. The God’s, so demented with grief, used their power to attack each other, believing they were next to die, starting “θάνατος συντριβή” (Death Shattering) which caused each region of the world to go to war with each other in a massive free for all. As the war went on, an unknown stronger being came to remove the God’s power. Each God was imprisoned and locked into chambers in different universes one by one. However, the now poisoned blood of Roesa made an unremoveable stain, creating πρόλογος events which made sure anybody who was becoming perfect would attract negative events and also go mad with newfound power. The unknown stronger being replanted the tree of love which stopped the world from collapsing and allowed good deeds to be done again, but he couldn't remove the stain of Roesa from the Earth. This unknown stronger being, lets call him Rob, is a mysterious figure, nobody knows if he even exists, this is just one of the many theories of the God's disappearances. Right now, it is believed to be in slumber. Some suggest it may awake, but nothing has happened yet. Even though Death Shattering was a while ago, Human’s still use this as arguments for war. Some also still pray to these God’s and beg for their return as they feel it gave them a purpose. Some people even started a religion to try to contact the God’s called “οι θεοί επαφές” (The God Contacters), which house Vigils, the last remaining thing that the God’s left. Society has rebuilt, yet there are constant wars everywhere as the fight for power the God's once had continues. Governments are destroyed as fast as they are made. Because of this, many people resort to local gangs to protect their small rural villages from invaders, often being led by a person with a Reccundi.
Many different religions have formed around this central idea of ‘What happened to these God’s?’. These religions are called a “Thesis”. They are incredibly hostile to one another, their main point being ‘A lie of the truth given is an evil assault on the God’s holy name!’ There are many, many interpretations, but here are the most important/main ones:
• οι θεοί επαφές (The God Contactor's), prevalent in the south Balkans and its most powerful Thesis, there are not many, but most have a stronger Reccundi so they are generally left alone. Their theory is the theory I explained above, that the God’s were trapped by a stronger being and are caged somewhere. They believe they are still alive and can be contacted via a large amount of prayer as it is stated in the ‘αλήθεια δεν έχει ειπωθεί ακόμα’ (truth yet to be spoke) written by Zlamen that if the God’s disappear, they can be contacted via this method. However, it is said this wasn’t actually written by Zlamen and was instead written by a bookshop owner wanting to get a quick buck. People say this as the language used in the book is described as more ‘modern’ then the known books written with proof by Zlamen. Both can’t be proved, but there are hardly any other hopes of contacting them. Their founder, so called ‘Paulan’, may be real, maybe not. It is written in a book called ‘Μέρες ως ο μελλοντικός σωτήρας’ (Days as the future saviour) about his early developing of the church and what happened to the God's, but it was not written via ink, it was written via precise engravings of small yellow scratches on very, very thin paper that have been said to be glowing, this material has still has not been identified to this day. This as well as him proclaiming early that he is a ‘Saviour’ has created a divide within The God Contactor's, between those who think Paulan was a Messiah of sorts and exist make to this Thesis so Humans could contact God’s, and those who think Paulan is a ‘Forgotten’ God who created this Thesis to help humans contact them, ‘Forgotten’ as his name isn’t written in any past books. Conflicts has started over this, resulting in destruction of temples and one of the bloodiest conflicts in European history, the ‘άρση της άγνοιας’ (Removal of ignorance). 76 million deaths, started in the Bulgarian region for your reference, made the religion nearly extinct as strong Reccundi’s destroyed the innocent and themselves to remove those who went against their beliefs, causing other countries to go to war with these Reccundi. But, because most of these countries hate each other, it would only take one misfire from one side to start a full free for all. 200 years later, and the shadows still haunt the Thesis to this day. The God Contactor’s have been more bloody in their past have been very bloody, crusading throughout southern Europe and North Africa to try to find Vigil bushes and young Ineffable Reccundi’s, so they can take them to their temples to ‘protect them’. This led many people to dislike them, but they cannot do much as most God Contactor’s are original Reccundi users who have stronger Reccundi then usual. Due to most of them having the original Reccundi given by the God’s. • MORE COMING SOON
Countries:

Countries are built up of small towns that all follow the same religion, if you do not have a religion in this world you are seem as evil and will be attacked.

Magic system: In this world there is a sin meter called krísi. As you commit more good deeds, you attract people who want to kill you but you also attract people who want to love you, but if you commit bad deeds, people become intimidated by your Misó, which leads to less people wanting to kill you and less people wanting to love you, but attracts stronger people who want to kill you. This was created by Zlamen, krísi and Misó existed as a concept before the Death Shattering but Zlamen edited it as a last-ditch effort with the last of his power so people would fight.
When you commit more bad deeds it creates energy in your soul called “Misó”, this energy fuels your Malice and as the energy increases so does its power and capacity. It also fuels your ambition further, making you want to follow your deepest desires more. Having negative Misó makes it so you can take Misó from enemy attacks better due to lack of Misó clashing, basically making your health higher. Misó switches its location between your weapon when it is unsheathed and your body when it is sheathed and can be concentrated into a specific spot onto a weapon to deal more damage. Your soul slowly dies as your Misó increase, making you slowly unable to stop your ambition. It is very hard to use this energy in attacks as if two blades with high Misó, or two people with high Misó, clash it creates a small powerful shockwave. This makes it so every attack must be precise as it still deals a ton of damage. But as you clash more, you get used to this small shockwave and begin to tank it. Bad deeds increase Misó, good deeds decrease Misó. Anything below half Misó on your krísi meter is considered negative Misó.
Ambition:
Without the God's power being over people anymore, people developed ambition. Every person has a deep-down ambition. Their Reccundi and its abilities are specifically made to try to complete this ambition. A persons ‘main goal’ in life, is to complete this deep-down ambition. People with opposite ambitions are ‘pulled’ to each other, like magnets. They must cross paths in their life to battle, as person with opposite ambitions is actively stopping your ambitions, removing them will allow you to complete your ambition.
How to get a magical ability?:
To get a magical ability, you must have to have had committed at least 95% of good deeds in your life. If you are like this and are about to die, a golden sweat drop will drip from your forehead, being granted from the blood of Roesa. This is called a πρόλογος event (Prologue event). The attacker will then be frozen in a state of paralysis and the user will gain the attackers weapon for life. The weapon will not leave the user and becomes encased within the user's spine. It can be accessed by doing an unsheathing motion at the top of the user's spine. If you are shot by a bullet, you will retrain the gun as your weapon and instead of being encased within your spine, it is encased within the right side of your pelvis. This may seem like a blessing at first, but this means the Earth will never be peaceful and will always be in conflict no matter what due to humanities natural ambition when given power. This is a newer version of obtaining a Reccundi, the old method was a special fruit the God's would feed people that granted much stronger Malice's and agápi, but those fruits are now exinct as they were required a very specific creation process. Some of these users are still alive and fight over their regions as it also granted them a longer lifespan.
Rules:
• The weapon will be moulded to relate to the user's personality. E.g a dagger will turn into a dagger with 3 blades for a person with deep down violentness. (Very cool) • The destruction of these blades will kill the user. • The weapon evolves as the user changes. If the user becomes more sinful then the weapon will become longer but if the person becomes more justful then the weapon will become a part of them, leading to their agápi form. A person, however, can get a short version of their agápi form by stabbing their left eye. • The weapon also changes to which would most fit their deep down personality and attacks, e.g you may start with a dagger, but it will slowly turn into a scythe. • The user’s left eye will get a specific pattern. • Veins are inside of your weapon; these veins contain the Misó to unleash magic and refill when sheathed • As Misó increases, your weapon will start to glow an aura the same colour as your eye. • Once you complete your deep-down ambition you are given a new one.
If you have an ability, you are labelled as a “Reccundi”: There are 3 types of Reccundi: • ενικός (Singular Reccundi) - Has normal abilities relating to the user’s deep down sinful desires. E.g if a person deep down wants to control a country into believing they are their God they are given a small piece of new knowledge of the universe on how to obtain that goal, for example a person who wants to take over a country will be given knowledge on how to create fire using their Misó to cause destruction. However if your deep down desire is Good, you will be given knowledge that you can use to prevent harm still achieve your goals. This unique form of your Reccundi's powers is called your "Malice". It will start out weak, however as a person delves into these desires, the malice becomes more powerful. Doing the opposite of these desires can flip your Malice’s ability. • άφατος (Ineffable Reccundi) - A person who has the blood of a God inside them (a God has to be in your past family tree) will gain a small fraction of the God’s malice (their affilated power), they're a result of the "partying" the God's did. The person will also be guided in dreams by the God into question into doing their bidding which is usually to kill other άφατος as the God’s still hate each other. These people do not need a πρόλογος event, but rather are born with these powers instead. These people also do not have a weapon, but rather their power is unleashed via selected sounds from their mouth, like a whistle. They are also born with a false Agápi, but instead of becoming one with their Agápi, they summon it instead to fight for them, still controlling it. Ineffable Reccundi are also aided through visions which only they can see, these visions are the God’s guiding the Ineffable Reccundi on where to go to complete their ambition. If you go against these visions, they may begin to haunt you with scary imagery of your worst fears. • αίμα (Blood Reccundi) - When a person in your bloodline has died beforehand with a εξουσία, you will recieve their weapon and malice as well as their skills learnt. These people do not have access to an Agápi, and so do not have a special eye pattern, but rather they have 3 eyes; one normal right one, one special left one they have and a 3rd one on their forehead which their past family member once had. This 3rd eye goes right into their brain, allowing the past family member to speak to the Blood Reccundi. but have a much stronger forge in which the past person in your bloodline takes over your body and mind.
How to use this magic?: To use your weapons magic, you must train it to unleash magic when you do a specific motion with it. You first need to enchant your voice. To enchant your voice, you must have control over your weapon. To show control, all you need to do is win a fair duel against another Reccundi user. This will grant you one non-physical token which when enabled by saying the name of your weapon, enchants your voice for 60s. When your voice is enchanted, you are granted infinite knowledge, relating to your given Malice, on how you can use the Misó inside you to control your Malice. Then all you need to do is imagine it with your eyes closed the Misó coming out of your weapon, in a form relating to your Malice, when you do a specific motion and say a certain phrase, and boom. When you do that motion again while saying that phrase the Misó will come out the same way. You can learn one move per enchanted voice.

Ineffable Reccundi learn the same way but instead of doing a motion, they do a sound.

DIFFERENT WAYS OF USING THIS MAGIC:
Agápi, false and true:
The user's Malice will be shown slightly through their weapon, but the real power resides when they stab their left eye with said weapon, they will go into a short, false version of their agápi form which unlocks the user's imagination and gives the maximum Misó, also transforming them into a figure in which they are completely a being of their ambition. The surroundings are also affected by your ambition and act subconsciously to aid in your ambition to defeat your foe. The God's created this so Human's would be more powerful on the battlefield. However, a side effect of this is that you cannot leave the enemy's vision. After this short version is finished, the user will stumble for a minute then fall into a deep coma and will only awake after consuming the olive of a Greek olive tree, which were planted by the God's to aid in this. After consuming the olive, the user’s left eye will be repaired, and they will awake with no memory of what had happened. Doing this too many times may lead to blindless or dulling of powers. People think this is the true version of agápi, but it isn’t. It is a lie that most cannot truly comprehend over. Your true version of your agápi is when you dismiss your deepest desires, overcome your ambition and become one with the blood of love, while also losing your weapon. This version of agápi unlocks your heart and mind, the user becomes invulnerable to harm and unable to give harm which also means they cannot speak as words can be interpellated differently. Because of this, most true agapi users are seen as strange people who lack the basic skills to communicate and due to krisi, it makes most people hate them. This means they are not common in society due to most of them leaving for greater peace. These people usually live humble lives by themselves.
False Agápi rites: When you gain an Agápi, you gain a unique ‘Rite’, This grants the user unique knowledge on how to use that imagination to their advantage. A person can only have one Rite, but you can learn how to utilize it better via consuming Vigils.
Forges:
As your Misó increases, your soul slowly dies. At this point you have fuelled your Misó so much your soul is crying for help. A forge is a tattoo that is slowly engraved onto your forearm as your Misó increases, it is the words of your soul begging for you to stop. When these words are spoken, it releases the Misó inside a person, a person can concentrate the energy into a large area or into a very small area and into any form or shape. The concentration is controlled via how fast the forge is spoken, the faster the larger the area and the slower the smaller the area. When the area is smaller, the damage is higher due to higher concentration and vice versa. Having Negative Misó can make the area bring in people instead of launching people away. It can do extra damage due to the clashing of Misó’s. If the concentration is low enough, it can even force an enemy out of their Agápi. Unlike apápi, you will not fall down after it is finished but you will not be able to use your weapon for a while, shorter for more sinful people, longer for less sinful people. For Blood Reccundi, their forge is stronger as the sins of their past family member takes them as their host.
Forge Wrapping:
Blood Reccundi’s can channel their Miso onto their blades, creating a thin layer around the blade in which Miso cannot escape. By doing this, the Miso begins constantly bouncing between the weapon and the Wrap. This turns the weapon into a sort of saw which can rip through tough things.
False Agápi and Forge mixing: Mixing your Agápi and your forge will allow the user to control the area the forge is covering using their imagination. You do this by stabbing your eye as you are reading your Forge.
Ineffable Reccundi Temple Technique:
Ineffable Reccundi, through extreme, painful concentration, can exchange their Miso for Divine blood to be bestowed upon them. This divine blood trickles down from space and rains down upon them and is absorbed through the skin. If a normal human/Reccundi drinks this blood, they will die. When they have Divine blood in them, they gain a short burst of immortality for a singular minute and have heightened strength and senses, being able to track even the smallest of movements to hit very precise. When all Miso has been exchanged into Divine blood, they can use a special incantation. By covering their left eye with a unique hand gesture while this is active, the ineffable Reccundi uses all their divine blood into one move. Forgotten temple: (The God’s name). By doing this, the Ineffable Reccundi shatters the reality around them and transports those in their small radius to the temple in which their God used to reside. This temple does not abide by any natural rules, it is simply a space in the universe in which existence has manipulated to create this temple. In this temple the Ineffable Reccundi gains 1% of the God’s power (a lot), rage and control over the temple and the God’s element. The God voices that were talking to them in their dream also become real, they help the Ineffable Reccundi to decide how to destroy their opponent. But Forgotten Temples main thing is the editing of the Doxology. The ineffable Reccundi can ‘edit’ a rule out and create their own law that must be followed in this dominion.
Τέλος (End Form):
The Τέλος, also known as the end form, is the mixing of a false Agápi, forge and an Ultimate Vigil. It traps the enemy in the users mind where user can control everything, including the enemy's imagination, Misó and knowledge. It starts at only 5 seconds, but consuming more Vigil can increase the time spent here by 5 seconds each Vigil. The get an End Form, you need to have no soul, and you must have obtained an ultimate vigil. Once you have done all this you need to stab your eye to activate your false Agápi, read the forge on your arm and stab your heart during a battle with the enemy. It will then activate, and you and the enemy will be transported into your dominion. People are unable to die in this dominion, as that would remove them from your imagination. As you deal damage and come back into the normal world, the damage stays with the person who was attacked.

If the enemy somehow activate their Τέλος during this, you both are transported back to the world facing back to back with each other.

Vigil: Vigils are integral to gaining power in this universe. They are small blue circular fruits about the size of a raspberry and are believed to be what gave the God’s their power. But as the God’s fought over Earth, they planted them so Humans could gain a small amount of power to win their battles. They used to be common, but as time went on, they became scarcer. The God Contactor's crusaded over them and housed them in temples as it was the last remaining thing the God’s left, resulting in people not liking the God Contactor’s as they pillaged to find these Vigil’s using their superior Reccundi. They increase the flow of your Misó, making your more ambitious. When swallowed, they unlock your false Agápi. Temples can be found in many places; on ground, underwater, in mountains. If there is a place that is said to get you closer to God when you pray, a Church has probably built there. There are 5 things you must do to get a Vigil: • Visit a holy temple of the old God’s, located in the Balkans. There is a Priest of the old God’s located inside. • Present him the head of a άφατος (ineffable reccundi) • Defeat the Priest (who is a strong Reccundi user) because he is angry you killed one of the God’s children. You may also have to kill other people at the service, who may be Reccundi themselves. • After he dies (he will be reborn the next century), his spirit will be forced to guide you to the Garden of blue, which is a small garden surrounded by an indestructible steel barrier, located in the back of the temple. • He will cut one off its vine and ask you who do you hate the most, he will then bless the fruit against their name, then hand it to you for you to eat. After consuming, you gain your false Agápi as well as its Rite. Consuming more will increase your chances of coming across an ineffable reccundi user, increase your ambition and increase your knowledge on how to utilize your false Agápi technique. Information is also revealed on the person who you said you hated the most about their Reccundi and Malice, consuming more reveals more information. Some temples still hold the original Vigil bushes which give you stronger, God level, powers, akin to ineffable Reccundi. These are called ‘Sacred temples’ However, these sacred temples are much more protected, some Reccundi users devoting their lives to just standing there, waiting for a person who is trying to steal one. These sacred temples are rare sightings as there is a Reccundi user whose ambition is to teleport these sacred temples around, making it so it's almost impossible to obtain an original Vigil.
Types of Vigils: Each temple has a certain type of Vigil which influences a specific part of your false Agápi. Vigil of Destruction – Increases your knowledge on how to cause more destruction. Vigil of Protection – Increases your knowledge on how to defend against destruction. Vigil of Time – Increases time in your Agápi but also increases cooldown time. Vigil of Pace – Reduces time in your Agápi but makes it so you can use your Agápi more frequently with a shorter cooldown.
Cursed Vigils:
Every Vigil has a unique amount of Misó inside of it, the higher the Misó inside a Vigil the harder it is to consume but it will give you a higher effect depending on what Vigil you consumed.
Ultimate Vigil:
An ultimate Vigil is a very hard thing to obtain, it is a red circular fruit that replaces your heart after eating via dissolving the heart and embedding itself inside your body. It was once used by the God's to kill each other in the Death Shattering. You obtain it by: • Consuming 7 Vigils, having them blessed in the God you want to fight’s name. • Kill the person who is against your ambition. • Sacrificing a limb in a circle of the blood of Roesa which triggers you to go to the God you had blessed against’d . • Defeat the God. • When the God dies it will sprout a tree, consume the singular fruit of the tree. • You have gained an Ultimate Vigil. Ultimate Vigils are used to obtain your Τέλος (End form)

Synopsis:
Carlos was an ordinary software engineer on Earth, up until he died and found himself in a fantasy world of dungeons, magic, and adventure. This new world offers many fascinating possibilities, but it's unfortunate that the skills he spent much of his life developing will be useless because they don't have computers.
Wait, why does this spell incantation read like a computer program's source code? Magic is programming?
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High Lord Recindril Tostral stared across the practice yard at his opponent with intense focus, never blinking both eyes at once, for losing sight completely even for a literal eyeblink could be fatal in combat at his level. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the courtyard around them, the racks of practice weapons and a few trophies hanging high on the walls, and a part of him was alertly watching for any hint of danger from any direction. The bulk of his attention, however, was squarely on the younger man facing him with drawn swords at the ready.
It was remarkably similar to looking in a mirror. The young man in front of him had the same strikingly red short-cropped hair, the same alert brown eyes, the same angular chin, the same well-muscled but wiry frame, strong without being overly bulky. Even the youth's stance was identical to his own; right foot forward, knees bent, feet ready to dance like the wind across the ground, right-hand longsword extended forward to threaten an attack, and left-hand longsword held closer to parry. The family resemblance with his firstborn child and heir, Recindren Tostral, was unmistakable.
The younger Tostral finally made the first move, a short step forward and a lunge, but the high lord could tell it was only a feint. The movements of muscles and mana gave away his opponent's intentions to his finely tuned senses, and he responded with only a minute shift of his left sword, prepared to slap the strike away if Recindren tried to convert it into a genuine attack mid-lunge. Recindren withdrew his feint and shuffled to his right, trying to find or create holes in the elder's guard.
Lord Recindril rotated in place to stay facing his son and continued watching closely, analyzing for even the slightest flaw in the young man's movements. He fended off a rapid series of thrusts and slashes, practice swords ringing almost musically as their dulled edges clashed repeatedly. Soon, it would be time to counterattack and test the boy's defenses as well, but for now he merely played at being a hard target. That was an exceedingly scarce commodity for his son by this point, as only another noble would ever be able to stand up to the hurricane of steel the young man was unleashing on him. Most commoners, even high level adventurers, wouldn't even be able to see the attacks, much less block them.
His son needed a sparring partner he couldn't instantly overwhelm, and Recindril was happy to fill the role. It gave him some much-needed practice as well, though he still had to hold back. His heir may have been empowered by their mana wellspring, but Recindril himself had received that power as well, and had developed further beyond that point in the years since then. He had an advantage of 8 more levels of compression in his mana, and the additional speed, skill, and strength from that could have ended this fight decisively in fairly short order. Neither of them would learn much if he pushed that advantage as hard as he could, though.
The lord watched his son commit to a double lunge, one sword stabbing at his eyes and the other at his right shin, which was his most exposed body part. The move was superbly timed, with the eye strike coming just enough before the other to potentially distract from defending the leg. Against an opponent less able to keep calm, it likely would have scored a wound, maybe even a crippling one. Recindril just leaned his head a few inches to the side to barely dodge the eye stab and swung his right sword low to deflect the other. In the same movement, he smoothly pivoted forward, moving inside his opponent's guard to bring his left sword forward in his first attack of the bout.
He moved a bare measured hair less quickly than he could have, turning what could have been an instant defeat for his son into an opportunity for learning and recovery; a kindness he would never show to an actual enemy, such as those upstarts, Carlos and Amber. Not that either of them would be an issue much longer. Their souls should be dissolved already by now, and he was expecting a report of mission completion from the Black Blades very soon. That report is actually overdue at this point. Could something have gone wrong?
Recindril's mind was suddenly forced back to the sparring match by a stinging vibration in his left hand, accompanied by twin clangs of his son's swords hitting his left sword on opposite sides, trapping it between them and twisting it out of his hand. An instant too late, he realized that his son's attack, while genuine, had also been intended to bait exactly the response he'd made. He immediately stepped back and held out his empty left palm. "I yield."
Recindren backed off, lowering both of his swords, and frowned. "What's wrong, father? That move should not have worked that well against you. You seem unusually distracted."
Lord Recindril sighed, then walked over to the side and placed his remaining practice sword back on its storage rack. "Your sister's incident in Dramos should have been tied up neatly by now, but the report is late. The Black Blades are usually very punctual and professional. An unexplained delay from them is concerning."
The younger man pressed his lips together in silence as he put his practice swords on the rack too. "Concerning, yes, but it's unlike you to let any incident with a mere minor house weigh on your mind like this."
"Yes, but… which house is it?" The lord retrieved his disarmed sword from where it had fallen and added it to the rack. "At first I attributed Jamar's ignorance of that detail to merely her not having memorized every minor house's children, but I do not recognize them either, by name or description, nor have I found them in our records. I find myself wondering exactly what house we have come into conflict with. Their ignorance of the rotation agreement also seems strange." He sighed again and shook his head. "There are too many oddities in the situation for comfort, and Jamar's report is light on detail."
"Could they be foreigners? Have you checked the Crown's records? Maybe send Jamar back to investigate?"
Lord Recindril let out an amused huff. "A foreign house is technically a possibility, but would be an utterly bizarre mix of competence and stupid carelessness. I think it unlikely, and I hesitate to risk drawing the Crown's attention to a matter where they might regard us as being in the wrong. As for sending Jamar…" He turned and walked to the practice yard's door. "Send someone to investigate, yes, but not Jamar. We need someone unrelated, who no one might recognize. Jamar will just have to wait for her next slot in the rotation."
"You know she'll hate that." Recindren spoke lightly, simply stating a fact as he joined his father's walk.
"It can't be helped. Besides, a lesson in patience might be good for her." Lord Recindril hesitated, then nodded decisively. "It would soon be time to hand off Dramos to the next house in rotation anyway. Come with me, my son, and we'll tell House Golarn our concerns. They'll want to investigate it themselves for the security of their own scion's visit, and their investigators will have no connection to us."
Recindren nodded. "Of course, father." He walked alongside his father as he thought and wondered. If the Black Blades simply failed, they should still have reported that by now. What could be delaying them?
___
Deep inside the royal palace, below ground in a hidden and warded room, Captain Granlan of the Black Blades examined his gauntleted hands as he slowly curled them into fists, released them, and turned them over. Small sparks crackled and danced over the surface of the enchanted steel armor, and he reveled in once again feeling how the substance of lightning subtly permeated everything. He grinned widely and turned his head to look at the royal mage standing next to him. "Ahhh, that feels much better. And just this morning, I was sitting in prison and wearing suppression cuffs."
"Her Highness ordered your supervised release. Therefore, we released you." The mage, despite being a foot shorter and half Granlan's width, somehow seemed to be looking down at him while dryly stating an explanation fit for a child. "Now, we've removed your suppression, cleaned you, and returned your equipment. Are you ready to start on the tasks required to earn the Crown's mercy?"
Granlan bowed slightly. "Of course I am. Which of them would you prefer to discuss first?"
"How you prevented the equipment of two royal guards from detecting your intrusion or signaling for aid."
"Hunting down the details that you want will likely be as difficult as proving my client's identity, unfortunately. I was telling the truth when I said I do not know the mechanics of how it worked. I just wasn't telling the entire truth." Granlan smiled a little cheekily, but the royal mage just glared at him. "We used single-use specialty enchanted items from an anonymous supplier. The items destroyed themselves when used, and I truly do not know who the supplier is. The Enchanters Guild is the obvious suspect, of course, but I looked into them many years ago and found not even a hint of any similar items in guild stores. The items are runic in the manner of guild-made enchantments, not dungeon-made; I know that much, at least. But either there is someone else who knows how to make enchanted items work, or the guild is keeping these items a closely held secret."
The royal mage continued glaring for a moment, then nodded in acknowledgement. "I see. This self-destruction was in the same manner as how the soul decoys spontaneously disintegrated? How did you come into contact with this mysterious supplier, and how do you get the items from them? Are you able to acquire more for us to examine? Have you ever shown one to a guild enchanter?"
"Yes, same as the soul decoys, which came from them too. I tried bringing an item from that supplier to an Enchanters Guild store once. The item disintegrated as soon as I came near the store, and I received an irate letter the next day, admonishing me to never try that again." Granlan shrugged. "I decided it wasn't worth the risk of potentially pissing off a valuable and irreplacable business partner, and stopped pursuing it. As for our history with them, they contacted me decades ago via the anonymous channels I had set up for potential clients to hire us through.
"They included a sample item as proof that they truly could make things that I had believed were impossible. Their message directed me to leave my response, with a sample of my mana signature, in a specific location where their own arrangements would get it to them. They wanted to be kept informed of what jobs I took and for what payment. In exchange, they offered to sell special items to me, for very reasonable prices, as needed to enable me to successfully complete jobs that suited their purposes and that would otherwise be impossible." Granlan raised a hand to ward off the mage's response. "And before you ask, no, I have no idea what their purposes are. They refused to say, and I see no apparent pattern in which jobs they have offered to help with."
"Hmm." The royal mage tilted his head in thought. "I take it you can't just request to buy an item, then. You have to tell them about a job you've been offered and wait to see if they're interested."
"Correct."
"What did you tell them about the job that brought you here? You were not aware that the guards you faced were the Crown's, I believe."
Granlan cracked his knuckles. "I wonder if perhaps my client was unaware of that fact as well." He shrugged. "In any case, I gave them all of the information that my client gave me. I told them the objective, that the targets were young nobles named Carlos and Amber of an unknown house, that they had two competent, professional, and well-equipped guards, and that they were staying at a high-quality inn in Dramos. My mysterious supplier responded with an offer of two soul decoys that would adjust to match their designated targets, plus an item that would subtly disrupt the sensing and communication capabilities of the guards' equipment. No idea how, that's just what they told me it would do."
The mage raised an eyebrow. "Soul decoys that can adjust to match a target after being made? And that do so without an enchanter working on it?" He shook his head. "Are such things typical of this… supplier of yours?"
"Honestly? Yes. After all the things I've seen from them by now, I didn't even blink at this one."
"Hmm." The mage chewed his lip. "We will have to be cautious. How would you suggest attempting to find or identify them? Have you given the matter thought over the years?"
"Send them a message about a new job, try to track it, and pray that my stealthy tracking capabilities can somehow beat whatever their countermeasures are. I considered my odds of success, or even of my attempt going unnoticed, to be rather dismal." Granlan crossed his arms and smirked challengingly. "I'm sure the Crown will have better odds, of course."
The mage laughed. "We do have rather considerable expertise available for the problem, even if it's not the Crown's specialty. Very well, we will prepare for that."
Granlan rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, the Crown's specialty of utterly overwhelming force is undisputed and unchallenged. Now if you want to try the same sort of thing for proving that my client was House Tostral, we do have an opportunity for that too in a report I'm supposed to send, but time is running low for that. We'll have to get me back to my company before they declare me lost and my second-in-command sends his own report in my stead."
It was the mage's turn to smirk this time. "That will not be a problem. Just tell me where I need to teleport you to."
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Hi there,
Curious if any Canadian bros have had similar experiences. To start, I know there’s a wide array of cultural differences within the two countries as well.
Anyways, I’m on an extended road trip through the western U.S. and I’ve experienced swiping on apps like tinder and hinge (I’m less hook up oriented so I don’t frequent Grindr often) and it’s been refreshing to say the least.
Minus LA where I currently am (which has an intense superficial energy to be blunt), every city I’ve been in from Salt Lake City to Denver to Phoenix and even smaller hubs like in Montana, I’ve found men more serious about life if that makes sense?!
Now I’m in Vancouver, one of the most expensive cities in the world and my theory is it’s partly economics at play here…
I’m a more traditional guy. I want the husband and eventually family/kids. I find it’s like a needle in a haystack finding any man under 45 remotely interested in that life. And being in my early 30s I guess I’m ahead of the curve but I know in my bones I want this life so I’m not prioritizing the fast life anymore.
I’ve really put a focus on career, getting a dog, car and building out my lifestyle since turning 30 so I can craft myself more into the type of man I’d want to settle down with.
But down here? Hell I had a date with a 27 year old software engineer already saved up for down payment on house outside Denver. Knows he wants family. Another dude I’m talking to on hinge outside of Seattle. 29, retired military, law school graduate just bought a house and looking to settle down.
I’m just like mouth agape at the refreshing energy of it all. Men who want what I want exist?!? And they exist all over the 🇺🇸.
So I figure many men in my city with the cost of living and sluggish Canadian economic prospects have just sort of given up on having more than a nice rental condo, regular vacations and nice clothes and a dog? Nothing wrong with that life if that’s what one genuinely wants. But I do feel the economy sometimes kills the ambition in men where I live to dream big.
Now I also know 🇺🇸 has the same flakey gay energy abound anywhere else. I find as a more outdoorsy jock/bro that my market is inland…I’ve honed in on SLC/Phoenix/Denver (and possibly Austin, haven’t bin there yet) as my prime markets. LA, San Fran and most coastal cities seem similar dynamics to Vancouver.
I guess this boils down to how damn refreshing Denver and Phoenix have been. I feel so alive after few dates with men actually serious about wanting to build lives that are more than just the urban fast life.
Anyone else experience this? I’m at point now I want to strategically use my vacation time next few years to do pride ski weeks and multiple weeks at Airbnb rooting myself in some of these cities I seem to thrive in. It’s like after this roadtrip it’s not even just the dating — it’s the overall culture. I’m just so much more culturally in tune with the direct friendly ambitious energy down here. So much of Canada feels like we’ve given up on the dream of a better life…
So I feel like a lot of Canadians I’m creating an American strategy for my future. Plan #1 is date exclusively in 🇺🇸 markets through combo of vacation time spending minimum 2 weeks in one city and while at home focusing on boys in WA state and Seattle area where I can meet up on a weekend.
Strategy #2 is harder but 1-2 more promotions and a transfer to a cross border company and I should have a path to corporate visa sponsorship. But finding love is the simplest path for Canadians.
Anyways. It’s all bittersweet spending over a decade of my life in Vancouver. I’m grateful to be here. It’s the most beautiful part of Canada. But I know it lacks a soul and culture that will provide me the future I want. I’m starting to check out and focus my limited resources on cities and states I feel a pull too. For me it’s all about the SW now — Utah,Arizona and Colorado.

I have seen a number of posts debating whether the Imperial Truth is, in the setting of 40k, false. The Imperial Truth is a form of naturalism and therefore also atheism. The debate seems to have two basic arguments. On the one hand, the setting of 40k contains the Ruinious Powers, daemons, souls, a region called the “warp” which does not follow the same rules as the physical world, and faith which can produce miracles. The existence of any of these things is denied in the real world by all those who call themselves naturalists. On the other hand, there are those who argue, like u/Runktar that “The Emperor was right chaos is just another version of reality with it's own admittedly very strange xenos.” In other words, everything that seems supernatural in 40k is, in fact, explicable in terms of natural rules, and what seem like supernatural entities are really just very strange natural entities. Daemons are aliens, not supernatural entities.
As a philosopher of religion, I find this debate interesting because there it has real-life parallels, so I thought I would weigh in on this debate. Accordingly, in what follows, I argue that, given the meaning of the terms 'atheism' and 'naturalism' in our own world, the Imperial Truth is indeed false. Those here who have argued that supernatural powers are not divine are making an interesting and useful point, but that point does not, in the end, save the Imperial Truth.
My argument has two parts. First, I will argue that within the setting of 40k, atheism if false. Second, I will argue that naturalism more broadly is either false or trivially true in 40k. Let’s begin with the question of atheism. The most troublesome problem with defining “atheism” is that it depends on the dominant religion in the culture of the speaker. Here are some examples:

• In ancient Rome, Christians were called atheists because they believed in hardly any gods. They only believed in their one, montheistic God, and to the Romans that was indistinguishable from believing in no gods at all.
• In the medieval period, under the influence of Aristotle’s writings, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophers articulated what has come to be called Classical Theism. On this view, God is something very specific: God is being itself, the First Cause, the only being of Pure Actuality. This view of God does not see God as part of the ‘furniture of the universe.’ If you counted everything that exists in the universe, God would not be among them any more than Shakespeare would be counted among the characters of “Romeo and Juliet.” God has an infinite, qualitative difference from anything in the universe. It was during this period that Anselm of Canterbury formulated the test for whether someone is talking about God or not: God is “that which nothing greater can be conceived.” According to this test, Zeus doesn’t count as God because we can conceive of a greater being—namely, one which is eternal (Zeus was the son of Chronos), morally perfect, omnipotent, etc. So, on this view, polytheistic religions’ gods don’t even get close to the transcendent definition of God, and so there is a sense in which they are therefore atheistic.
• In the early modern period we find Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza, who held that God was identical with the sum of all parts of the universe. Spinoza didn’t think that God was something transcendent or which arose out of all things; he simply called the collection of all physical things “God.” This has puzzled philosophers. Is Spinoza a pantheist or an atheist?
• Mormons have an unusual combination of polytheism and monotheism, where there are multiple gods, gods used to be human, humans can become gods, but in this life there is only one relevant god and that god should be worshiped monotheisticly as the true God. Again, Classical Theists would charge that Mormons don’t believe in God because their divinity isn’t transcendent enough to meet the minimum requirements. Does that make Mormons atheists?
• Some strands of Buddhism, Unitarianism, and Quakerism are religious in practice yet do not require any metaphysical believe about the divine. Are these atheistic?

What these examples show is that “atheism” is relative to a domain of comparison. Relative to Classical Theism, which has very strict requirements for divinity, practically every other religion is atheistic. Relative to Buddhism, practically every other religion is theistic. In my view, this is where the disagreement about the setting of 40k comes from. Whether the Ruinous Powers, for example, seem to prove atheism false within the setting will depend on a particular person’s real-life cultural religious context. Those who have been predominantly exposed to the Abrahamic religions will tend to view the matter through the lens of Classical Theism. Those from polytheistic or pantheistic cultures will tend to view the matter more loosely. However, given that, within the setting of 40k, the Imperial Truth puts itself in opposition to *all* religious claims of any kind, we should take it to be false if it condemns even the loosest claims about the divine, such as those of Buddhism or the physical pantheism of Spinoza, not the strictly specified ones of Classical Theism. And on that interpretation, the Imperial Truth is certainly false.
On to the second (shorter) part. Is the setting of 40k naturalistic? Well, the trouble is that even contemporary philosophers really struggle to articulate what naturalism, other than the rejection of the supernatural. (See: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/naturalism/) But it is worth saying that if naturalism is true in 40k, then it is trivially true in real life. Take the following statements from users on this subreddit: u/EidolicField writes, “Warp xenos are quite powerful, but this isn't proof of divinity, it's just a fear-reaction to the prospect of failing to provide sufficient supplication to a thing you don't understand.” u/Second-Creative writes, “The fact that chaos has an underlying structure to it of any kind means that it runs on internal laws or rules that can be rationally described.” The trouble with these arguments is that they make naturalism trivially true in the real world. In other words, on this interpretation of naturalism, if God exists in the real world, then the fact that God could (at least, according to theists) be in principle rationally described would make God part of the natural word. If coherence and being rationally described are all that is required, no religion could, even in principle, fail to qualify as naturalistic. Even the God of Classical Theism would count as just a “very strange xenos.” But if nothing, in principle, could fail to fit into a category, then that is the very definition of a trivial category. For the idea of naturalism to retain any usefulness, it must be incompatible with the existence of at least some things. Thus, naturalism is either false in 40k, or true in a sense too trivial to be useful.

Ever since 261, the discussion of Yuji's place in the story has become very contentious, especially with whether or not he will kill Sukuna. I am on the side that he will not kill him, although I don't have any idea of who will.
The thing is, I don't think he won't kill him because of an ethical reason. I think at this point, he's given up on Megumi and will worry about that after Sukuna dies. Maki, in 251, used the Soul-Split Katana, and has now essentially ripped a permanent hole through Megumi (and Sukuna)'s heart, and considering the planning of their 'Kill Fraudkuna' plan, I'm pretty sure the vote would have to be unanimous to allow that to happen.
Also, although I don't know Gege, and neither do 99.9% of people on this sub, I believe that this will be a key moment where he subverts the expectations of the audience, at such a critical point. He's done it before in 'less important' moments as now, and doing this as well would really cement him as one of the goat mangakas, bypassing all unspoken rules of manga, the one who left it all behind to create true peak:
We think Gojo wins the fight, literally everything points towards his victory - Chapter 236 happens
We think Gege respects women He has Maki take 2 black flashes, with the first one having 3 points of view, and occuring not too long after International Women's History Month
We think Gege respects women (2) He creates the character Naoya Zen'In
We think he forgets about Todo as a character Chapter 259 happens
There are some more, but I'll digress.
But, being real, I believe in Gege, he would be able to create a functional story where Yuji doesn't commit the final blow. I don't like how fickle a lot of fans of JJK are, especially since Shibuya, believing he doesn't know what he's doing anymore and just adding and removing characters and elements for shock value. He's clearly been shown as a writer who, when it counts, has a deep knowledge of the manga he is creating, and uses the absence of dialogue and actions for a while to create an expertly woven narrative - Mahoraga's been foreshadowed since Chapter 1, and didn't get a full reveal for years, he built up the return of Kamino for 4 years, Todo was gone for almost the same amount of time, Yuji being able to use Shrine has been foreshadowed for like 5 years, and many other points.
What I think will happen here is that the cog mentality he had for a long time comes back in some way. He is fine getting the assist, as long as someone else still scores off of his work, but he won't be the one to score.
I hope I cooked, and I would like to see everyone else's beliefs on my statement. Thank you for coming to my Tedo Talk

So, for context my husbands granny,whom raised him, recently passed last week. We lived next to her and saw her almost everyday. I haven't dreamed since it happened. That was until lastnight. I had a dream that my husband was driving in a red car (we have a silver fusion and a white cord pickup) and I was in the backseat. We where riding and all of a sudden I looked up and this beautiful hawk came flying into the window. It wasn't graceful, it was aggressive and scared me. Then the hawk softly appeared on my arm ,or maybe it was my hand. And the hawk turned its head to the side and put its golden eyes up to mine and just stared into my soul. I went from being petrified to calmly holding the close eye contact. Then all of a sudden it was gone after we had that moment and I looked up to my husband with two tears running down his face and I was like "what just happened, are you okay, what was that!?" I went to go comfort my husband I believe, and then I woke up. Does anyone have any meaning of this or can dissect it anyway to give me some ideas of what it could mean. I tried Google first, but it all said the basic same thing. I couldn't find any meaning about the hawk flying into the car that way, so I'm hopping good ole reliable Reddit can help me out. Thank y'all in advance!

Control was very good, even if the AWE expansion fell flat.
Quick note: I have not finished the Foundation missions at the time of writing, though I will be going back for them. This is about the main game and the AWE expansion.
Control has been a game I've been meaning to play for ages, but never started for some reason. Last week though I finally took the plunge, and while I did have some issues, the game was overall great.
I loved Control's worldbuilding and atmosphere. Building an action game inside a constantly evolving set of offices is such a great idea, and the Oldest House does not dissapoint. I also loved all the files scattered about giving details on the games various Objects of Powers and Altered World Events. Normally I feel collectable notes like these are tacked on, but they make sense in Control's setting. I love the games sense of tension, even if its not really a horror game.
I also enjoyed the narrative, for the most part. This was my first Remedy game so I'm sure something went over my head, but Jessie (and Polaris') journey to find Dylan was captivating. I also enjoyed Emily (the lady in the board room) a lot, she was a nice contrast to the harsh environment. And Jessie coming to terms with her role as Director is a good arc.
The combat is also solid, with your launch ability being the start of the show for making the environment feel important. The Service Weapon was also very flexible, and most of the modes felt good to use (apart from Spin).
My main issue with the combat was Jessie starting with way too little health. Like, being two-shot by even common enemies at the start of the game. This would not be a problem if you started with Launch and Dash, but those are locked behind progression (with Dash technically being optional) so the early game ironically felt harder than a lot of the mid game.
Thankfully, Control's assist mode is great and really allows a player to fine-tune their experience, from increasing damage resistance (which I ended up doing) to energy recovery, to one shot kills. It's a very fun mode to mess around with! I know most of the hardocre Dark Souls 1 hp warriors are going to faint at this section, but sometimes being powerful is fun.
Overall, Control is great. It's a shame the AWE expansion then was so rough. The combat setpieces here are just really bad compared to the main game, with repetitive layouts. You only get to talk to one other character in a one way voice call. The side quests are tok mundane, with it asking you to fill mail orders and shine light on plants. The main enemy cannot be damaged in the dark, which means a lot of power puzzles where you can barely see, culminating in a horrible boss fight where he keeps turning off the lights and regenerating.
TLDR The main game of Control is very good, but you may want to use the assist options. AWE expansion was dissapointing and you can honestly skip it unless you're going for a platinum.

Here’s my story. A couple of months back I went on a date with this guy who I met on this app called Yubo (to mention we talked for a month or two before deciding to meet up). As the day started to approach, we planned it out as we were going to meet at the bus station and head to the mall. As the day came, he picked me up and went to this grocery store called Mayrand which looked like a bootleg of a Costco but you can buy in bulk as well individually. Throughout the shopping, he kept commenting on how this place is a place for poor people to shop and that I'm too rich and would never understand that. (I would like to mention that I’m a nurse but before that, I went through a lot of hardship in poverty, immigrating to Canada, learning a new language by myself and working hard to get where I am now). I should've taken this as a big red sign as every conversation always came to an end that I’m a rich girl but as I mentioned before, I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. The next stop is where we went to the mall. Now for what I thought would be finally start to look like a first date, it turned into me becoming a babysitter as I was consistently chasing after the guy because he was walking too fast and didn't even bother looking behind to see if I was still next to him or not. Eventually, after 30 mins of him looking for me through text and 2 hours of shopping, we left the mall and suddenly he said “I need to head to Winners” which I didn't mind. As we head there he goes to the underwear and socks section and proceeds to ask which size he should take (an S or M) as well as which designs he should take. A quick reminder that it's our first date and despite talking to him a month or two before that I don't know much of the guy. This is where it started to feel super awkward and I didn't know what to say because of how shocked I was hearing that. Moving on, I noticed how dark it was outside and asked if he wouldn't mind dropping me home (10 minutes by car). At first, he agreed but then as I got out of the Winners store I wanted to go to the washroom first. I noticed his car wasn't there so I guess he decided to leave me behind. I ended up taking the bus home which took forever and got home very late. I don’t know what to say, I'm very flabbergasted :(

Rob opened his eye in a dark, empty plane.
Shortly after seemingly being painted out of existence by Barbara's brush.
It was dark, and cold.
With no signs of life.
"Hello? Is anyone here?......" Rob tried calling out to see if anyone was present, he called out for a few more minutes, until something spoke to him.
"Rob." Called an unknown voice.
"Wha- who's there?" Rob asked for an answer.
"ROB." The voice called out louder, more aggressive this time.
"Show yourself!" Rob demanded.
"Rob, Rob, Rob." The voice echoed his name seemingly endlessly nearly driving him crazy.
"Leave me alone! Get out of my head!" Rob covered his ears trying to block it out, but it was still coming through.
Eventually, the voices ceased.
And a light shined on top of him, revealing the floor to be a black and white checkered exterior.
"Wha- what's going on?...." Rob whimpered to himself.
"ROB!" The voice flat out yelled at him causing him to jump, and the source seemingly revealed itself.
It was a tall, cloaked figure with red glowing eyes who spoke to him in an aggressive and firm tone.
"ROB. I bet you are wondering why you are here..." The dark cloaked figure spoke to him.
"Wha- who are you? Where am I?!" Rob panicked.
"My identity is none of you're concern, boy. But as for where you are, you are in the space where those who lived in Elmore have....... Passed." The figure revealed.
"You mean..... Am I dead?...." Rob asked the figure.
"mmm, in a sense. You see, this space determines whether a person gets to come back to the world of the living, or not. And if they don't, if they are good enough to ascend to the skies...." They point above to clouds with bright lights.
"Or to the very BOTTOM." They point below a hole in front of them with fire and echoing screams below, causing Rob to panic.
"And you Rob, are DEFINITELY not ascending to the skies...." The figure warned.
"I- I don't understand." Rob said. "To clarify, you have made several choices that hurt numerous people. You have committed numerous CRIMES in your short, sad life span. hurting numerous innocent people just so you could..... What was it again? Oh yes, destroy someone and everyone they love?" The figure mocked.
"You- you don't get it! It was Gumball! He made me this wa-" Rob was about to make a statement but was interrupted by the figure.
"YOU MADE YOURSELF THIS WAY!!!!!" The figure screamed at him, catching Rob by surprise. "He only suggested you to be bad, he never FORCED you to do it."
"But- You have to understand. My intentions for kidnapping Barbara was for a greater cause. please! You have to understa-" Rob is once again interrupted.
"IT doesn't matter what you're intentions were, you still took away an innocent woman away from her family, and threatened her to do your bidding." The figure clarified. "Every single bad decision you made was out of PETTINESS. Just because you weren't saved when the world deemed you a mistake. Has it ever occurred to you that your actions have consequences? That every decision you make has an impact on the lives around you? You can't outrun or undo your decisions, your actions, your choices. Not even with a universal remote." The figure threatened.
"What are you gonna do to me?" Rob asked.
"You already know where you're going boy, it's DOWNSTAIRS FOR YOU." The figure stated before nearly pulling out Rob's very soul out of him and dragging it to the fiery pit below.
"WAIT!!!!!" Rob cried, causing the Figure to halt their action.
"Let me prove myself! Let me prove that I can change, that I can do good. Please, give me a chance...." Rob begged for mercy.
"Hmmm..... Very well." The figure placed Rob's soul back into him. "You get one, more, CHANCE. If you show that you are worthy enough not to be sent down there, then MAYBE, just MAYBE, I will send you back. Deal?" The figure asked.
"Deal." Rob agreed. As he shook hands with the figure.
"Ok, I know that what I did was because I was angry at Gumball for not noticing me, but when I was trying to be his enemy, he actually helped me lean into that path." Rob stated.
"And your point is?..." The figure asked.
"That he tried to care about me, he tried to help me find myself and we had fun doing so, it was also the first time he strictly remembered my name. I only denied being friends with him because I refused to show my soft side for his help, I made a promise after all and didn't want them to think I wasn't going to keep it." Rob stated.
"That doesn't really help your case, keeping your promise doesn't excuse you destroying Darwin's cookies. And what's worse is that you were willingly to destroy all of Elmore and everyone in it just to destroy Gumball. Only agreeing to stop it because you didn't want to die too." The figure judged.
"Ok, let me make another point. When he went to the void to try and save me after I destroyed everything and everyone he loved, I saved him from being erased from existence. I couldn't end him after he had gone through all that just to save me. And I rewound everything up to that point to destroy the remote so I couldn't do it again." Rob stated.
"What are you trying to say?" The figure asked.
"I'm saying I learn from my mistakes. I notice when I do something wrong and I try to fix it, I only continued being his enemy after because he couldn't remember after I pressed rewind, he wouldn't want to be friends because technically I'm still his enemy." Rob stated.
"But you still could have asked to be friends with him and he wouldn't have thought much of it. You may have learned from that mistake but you still made several others you didn't fix." The figure judged.
"Ok, let me make one last point. One to solidify why I'm capable of changing. I CARE." Rob stated.
"What are you talking about?" The figure asked.
"I mean I care about what happens to people! Every decision I made was because I cared about the people around me, not because I did it for the sake of it. If I was incapable of change, then I wouldn't care. but I do! And it's not impossible for me to get along with Gumball, I see tons of positive qualities in him! One time I simply stopped hating him because of the one time he saved me! And the sole reason I kidnapped Barbara was so I could save him and everyone else from Elmore being obliterated! Say what you will about my decisions, but I am doing my best to save everyone and everything from being destroyed, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure Elmore stays standing!" Rob cemented.
The figure stood there staring at him for a few seconds, then he spoke. "Well, you may have started having petty intentions but you seem to have developed and gained good intentions afterwards. Maybe, you do deserve to be sent back." The figure stated,
"Sigh, thank you." Rob thanked.
"But I'm warning you Rob, if you do anything selfish or try to destroy anyone again. You know where you're going when you pass again." The figure stated as they pointed to the fire pit.
"Gulp, I understand." Rob said.
"Oh! And one more thing." The figure said as they snapped their fingers, causing Rob to grow a pigtail.
"Wha- what's this for?" Rob asked.
"It fits you, you were always a pig to me based on how you behaved and a little tail never hurt anybody. The figure smirked to themselves.
Rob growled, but the figure once again snapped their fingers and Rob suddenly jolted back on the floor.
He was back in the building where he kidnapped Barbara, he got up and thought what to do next.
Then he thought of something he said earlier.
"I'm capable of changing." The thought echoed to him several times, then it came to him.
If he's capable of changing, why can't everyone else?
He grabbed a few materials stitching together a costume of a superintendent.
The end

I've gotten a lot of different opinions from people in my life on this situation so I want to ask some unbiased people.
I (24f) have been working at my job for a year and a half. I do a good job, my reviews have all been good... except for how I dress. This is my first "corporate job". I put it in quotes because it's not really your average desk job. It's a sales office, we sell credit card machines. Its a company made up of 50 people, its a very laid back office environment. I am the receptionist... and part of the marketing team... and I do tech support... and I do office upkeep... I'm including this to show that I do a lot there. I don't just sit at the front desk and smile at people and transfer calls.. We do not have customers come into the office, the only people that come in that are not part of the staff is the occasional interviewee.
The dress code is jean casual. I signed a paper saying jeans and a nice top is the dress code. When I first got the job I felt like I was over dressing. I would wear slacks and a blouse, or a dress, or a pencil skirt and a button up.. you get the point. Business wear is not my style whatsoever... I'm an alt girly. But I know a job is a job and I sucked it up and bought clothes that were professional looking. but as I continued working I noticed everyone dressing extremely casual... I'm talking ripped jeans, leggings, slides, graphic-t's, baseball caps, hoodies.
As I continued working I realized that some of my job duties were pretty physical, sometimes I have to go into the bathroom to change the soap (if you've ever had to do that, you know sometimes that means literally laying on the bathroom floor under the sink to twist the bottle on..) or do major cleaning where I would be getting dirty. Wearing a dress or a satin blouse, was not it... So I slowly started dressing slightly down. Jeans that are not ripped, a nice top (not a t-shirt) and sandals or a clean white pair of slip on vans. Even that was more put together than 90% of the staff. Plus I was much more comfortable and confident.
I am the youngest employee, I feel like I still dress appropriately and I follow the dress code that was described when I accepted the job. The executive assistant Linda (64F) has taken a liking to me and has helped me be more professional with the way I interact with the CEO and things like that. She typically wears something like tights, ballet or the pointy flats, and a blouse or sweater (but shes 64 so the blouses are well... older lady longer blouses.. you get the picture). She did my first review and said I was doing great. Later in the week she pulled me in and told me that the CEO wants me to dress better. I was still new and trying to make a good impression so I again , bought some clothing that I felt were a little nicer but decided to stick to more of my style and colors that I liked. Since everyone else seemed to dress how they wanted too with no issue I felt like I would be able to do that too while still maintaining a professional look.
Well.. I guess not. Something is always wrong with how I dress but they always beat around the bush and don't tell me what they don't like. It's always so hush hush.. I don't wear leggings, I don't wear ripped jeans, I come with my hair done, jewelry... its business casual but like I said I'm a little alt so my outfits are black or sometimes patterned, I wear silver jewelry, I have a nose ring, that they said was fine... I even asked if they wanted me to change it to a stud and they said no it was okay. My tattoos are covered up... my hair is not an unnatural color... I don't wear like heavy alt makeup.... but I'm not a preppy blonde "clean girl" like their last receptionist.
I had my one-year review. Again, they said everything was great except... "Your dress isn't quite where we want it to be yet." At this point, I was fed up because I was really trying and I told them "You guys tell me this every review, I've bought a whole new wardrobe of business casual clothing even though the described dress code is jean casual. I feel like I dress more business-like than everyone else. I don't get what I'm doing wrong." Mind you this was my one-year review and was fully expecting a raise... they've added many more job duties than what I was originally hired for... I didn't even get a $0.50 raise. I said that I have already spent a substantial amount of money on clothing to wear at this job, I can't keep on buying different clothes for this job. They do a thing around Christmas where the higher-ups have to get their subordinates a Christmas gift. My higher-ups are the executive assistant, the sales manager, the marketing manager and the IT manager... I think they all assumed the others would get me something but none of them did. I really did not care about that at all.
Two weeks ago the executive assistant brought up the Christmas gift (she realized no one got my anything). She said that as a late Christmas gift, she wanted to get me some clothes for work. I felt pressured and in a sort of uncomfortable position so I just agreed. She suggested just ordering stuff online, I told her Shein was cheap and had a lot of variety (please don't come at me for supporting shein... i know its terrible.) I was fully expecting her to explain the kinds of clothing they were looking for and then I would be able to have some say so in like the color at least... but no... she basically had me sit there... she picked out different tops... they were all very older lady looking and colors and prints that I would never ever choose for myself.... floral blouses, bright orange, bright yellow... One of the tops came in a leopard print. I said "oh I like leopard, I can wear that with the black slacks I have." But no... i had to get the white with blue flower print. She got me gold jewelry.. like I said, I wear silver, and shoes with heels, and the pointy toe flats.
I was getting frustrated so I just let it happen. The clothes came in... and I was upset. I felt like they just dont like my style. I wore one full outfit she got me and I just looked like her.. not an outfit a 24 year old would wear. I decided to mix in the stuff that she got me with some of my own stuff. Yesterday I wore a pair of boot cut jeans, a nice black long-sleeve shirt, the gold jewelry and a pair of heels that she got me. I honestly thought I looked very nice. In the middle of the day she pulled me in and said that she was getting comments about my jeans from one of the male higher-ups. The jeans had no back pockets, but they were 100% denim. I was wearing heels, so I guess that like accentuated my legs. She told me that someone was saying that I needed to wear a top that covered my butt if I was going to wear jeggings.
I was having a rough day and I finally snapped a little. I said I felt like I was getting unfairly targeted about how I dress. I told her that I follow the dress code as described, the pants I was wearing were no jeggings, I wear the things they want me to wear, but the other women I work with continue to come in wearing leggings without their butt covered, tops with cleavage, graphic t-shirts, sweat pants, tight jeans, jogger shorts. I come in dressed in business casual even though the dress code is jean casual and there is still something wrong with my outfit almost everyday. I would understand it if I was wearing clothing that was inappropriate but that's not the case. I also said I'm starting to feel uncomfortable that everyone has something to say about how I look, I am the youngest woman here and I feel like they think they can push me around about things that don't affect my job performance. I walked out because I was sick of being insulted about how I dressed and made to feel insecure.
I have a meeting with her and the CEO tomorrow about it. Now I'm nervous that I'm going to get in trouble. Is this situation weird? Am I not seeing something? Or is this unreasonable and borderline workplace harassment?

F33 survivor but broke
My dad was arrested when I was 14 for abusing my older sister. Turned out my dad was a creep. He got 14 years. But it gets better, my mam, bro an myself fled when we found out, to my maternal grandparents. My mam had fallen out with them years earlier, but a few months before my dad was arrested, my mam randomly started talking to my nan again and built their relationship, otherwise we would of had no where to flee, no auntie, no friend etc. my two oldest bros were living alone, it was only me and my bro left. My sis moved out with her secret bf at 16 (secret cos of my dad, he wouldn't let her out, got jealous etc looking back the signs were there but never in a million years did anyone suspect anything,y sis was gobby and a handful so we all assumed my dad was trying to keep her on the right track......anyway so my dad got arrested and we moved up in with my nan, grand dad and uncle.
My uncle at the time was sooooo cool to me ,he played guitar, smoked weed etc I was young and naive and loved him, he started teaching me guitar, then my bro joined in. It was a good time of music, weed and forgetting and adjusting. This was in April. But October my dad got sentenced and the whole ordeal was heart breaking, soul destroying, confusing cos I still loved him but he was a pedo. Literally three months later around my bday and Xmas, I remember me, my bro and unc would go to blockbuster and choose some films to watch over the weekend. One night I was on the sofa next to my uncle, and my bro was laid on the sofa, I remember it like it was yesterday my bro fell asleep, we were watching the wickerman with Nicholas cage.
Me and my uncle we like 'finger wrestling' it was silly, I was playing, I trusted him and naive. He took my hand and placed it on his armoured member, I remember my stomach dropping and I froze. Eventually after him rubbing my hand on his arousal, he took my hand and whispered let's take it to the kitchen. I was scared, confused, but went with him. He started kissing me( I had never been kissed, not held a boys hand, I was a shy, quiet kid) then he dropped his trousers and took my hand.... After a few minutes he took his hands away, and I will never forget, he said 'finish me off' well I didn't. I backed away, he was like it's ok blah blah. I didn't finish him off. I went to bed and didn't even cry. I just thought that's it. My life is tarred. I'll be an eight year old woman, still with these memories. This went on in secret whenever we were alone. He would get my bro go to make tea, and in them twn minutes move over to me and start kissing me etc.
I eventually gave oral, and he would touch me. He would be so rough and hurt me. And I just led there looking up with a balled fist screaming in my head, that my dead paternal grandparents looking down on me can see I didn't want this. Awful memories. Then it got worse after a year as my bro joined the military. That's when the oral etc started.
He had me all to himself. I didn't even have friends as I had moved away and started home schooling. Like I said earlier also I had no aunties etc to turn to. I couldn't turn to my sister as she was not speaking to us at the time. I couldn't tell my grandparents as my uncle was an angel in their eyes, especially my nan, her baby. Also to note, my uncle has Asperger's. And lastly, which really hurts me the most is I couldn't tell my mam, would never dream of it. My dad had crushed her. Broken her. She was a very happily married woman of nineteen years. She was broken by him, and I, here being hurt by her brother, how the hell am I to tell her that? It would send her over the edge! So I ensured for four years until.....
That's as far as I'm going to go for now as it's really long. But there is a ending, it was an awful fall out that I'll leave for another day.

Hey all, so I've finally got enough MH3 playtesting in that I feel like I can properly put a list together like this! Overall, I'm really excited for what MH3 offers the format - it's not filled to the brim with "must include staples" like MH2 was for better or worse, but there are some really exciting new role players, hate cards, and cards that should be a huge boost to more fringe strategies.
This is going to be aimed to focus mainly on I think will see the most competitive Modern play post-MH3 release with a strong consideration of the current metagame. But, like any Top 10 list, I'm sure my own preferences and pet cards will sneak in, so let's see where this goes!
First, no Top 10 list would be complete without it secretly being like a Top 15. So on to the honorable mentions!

Honorable Mentions

• [[Guide of Souls]]: I would have liked to include this in the Top 10 itself, and time may prove me wrong on this idea, but I think this is both one of the best Energy enablers and payoffs in the set. It's one of the few ways in all of MH3 to generate a, well, degenerate amount of energy off abusing creature ETBS and playing a strong go-wide strategy. And, as this list will prove, there is a metric TON of great new White creatures in the format.
  
• [[Phalia, Exuberant Shepherd]]: Another really great card that is likely to serve as another core piece of a white deck moving forward. Having to attack to do anything makes me less excited for this, but it can absolutely run away with games if left unchecked, and Flash is a nice touch to save it from sorcery speed removal the turn it comes down. Much like how MH2 gave red decks a strong core of Ragavan, DRC, and Unholy Heat, White got this really great package of new early creatures including Guide of Souls, Ocelot Pride (which isn't on this list but is still very good) Phalia, White Orchid Phantom, Ajani, and Static Prison. If these cards are powerful enough to support a new archetype remains to be seen, but there's a lot to be excited about for white mages this set.
  
• [[Static Prison]]: I feel like this is one of the best Energy cards in the set. 1 mana nonland permanent removal is insane, and alongside a reasonable amount of energy generation it's pretty trivial to keep it "powered" for a lengthy time period. If there's a white based Energy deck that helps to take shape in this format, it'll likely largely be thanks to this card. And if you're missing Galvanic Discharge from this list, I'd probably place it right around here also (did this just become a Top 16?).
  
• [[Amped Raptor]]: This is a card that started out extremely high in my list but has dropped off in testing. This is a sweet card, but it's far from the second coming of Lurrus in that its upside really isn't worth building your whole deck around. I had built a RB Raptor list (inspired off the old RB Lurrus lists that were popular post-MH3), and Raptor just felt more like a liability most of the time, cutting off access to higher curve, higher impact cards like Grief, Necrodominance, Fable, and Blood Moon. When it works great, it's awesome, but I still don't think it's worth heavily restricting your deck around. If a really heavy Energy deck comes to light that can power this further, we definitely may see it become a major player, but I'm pretty skeptical and cold on this for right now.
  
• [[Flare of Cultivation]]: I know a lot of people are excited about this card, but personally I just haven't been able to come up with a shell where I'm really excited to play it. One of the main issues is that saccing a T1 manadork for this is a fairly mediocre play - you likely would have had three mana on turn 2 anyway, and now you've just given that creature and another card up to turn it into a basic land and have one other basic in hand, and if you're playing Arboreal Grazer and Elvish Pioneer to it, you also need to run a high amount of lands. While this line naturally sets you up to slam some crazy card advantage engine like a One Ring or Necrodominance early, your deck is filled with a lot of chaff in the forms of lands, your Flares, and your Grazers and Pioneers. And Flare of Cultivation gets worse and worse as games go on, as do your enabler dorks. I think if someone can combine all these moving parts well into a deck it'll likely be extremely powerful, but I haven't been able to pull it off yet personally.
  

10. [[White Orchid Phantom]]

I've been calling this "the Dauthi Voidwalker of the set" in the sense that it is a hate card that's so consistently powerful that it's worth maindecking. It also has the comparison of being an evasive beater on top of the hate it creates. I think this is a pretty defining staple in Modern moving forward. The tension it has with Harbinger of the Tides and Winter Moon and friends is noticeable though - much like you couldn't run Path to Exile in a Blood Moon deck, you don't want to be giving your opponent basics at the same time you're trying to punish them for not having them.

9. [[Ajani, Nacatl Pariah]]

This card has been overperforming consistently. A two mana army in a can that complicates combat and blinks well is really impressive, and its walker side is actually awesome - cranking out a Cat token every turn is really good, and if you are running it alongside Red cards and also shooting things off that ability, the game quickly snowballs around Ajani. And when Ajani dies, it's almost always a 2-for-1 anyway. It's also nuts with Ocelot Pride, and those cards will likely work side by side together for a long time to come. The card will need a home since it doesn't really seem like a natural fit anywhere in Modern currently, but I'm pretty confident it (and the other MANY great White cards waiting in the wings in my Honorable Mentions sections) will help put smaller white-based strategies back on the map in the format.

8. [[Nethergoyf]]

Nethergoyf is just an awesome Magic card. It's pretty hard to say anything other than that - it plays just about as well as you'd expect and is an awesome new staple for Black-based decks that are heavy on their graveyards. I've found a ton of homes for it in my brews just because it's leagues better than any other Black one drop in the format, and it's absolutely awesome alongside Dragon's Rage Channeler. I've played it in several brews and it's always done its job well - I've yet to even Escape it in playtesting, which I think is a testament that that ability is all upside on an already incredibly efficient beater.

7. [[Nadu, Winged Wisdom]]

I can't tell yet if this is a card I'm absolutely going to love or hate, and that probably depends on which side of the Nadu brew I'll be standing on. While there's a lot of hype for all in combo brews that go deep with [[Shuko]] and [[Thassa's Oracle]], I imagine that, like Yawgmoth before it, this totally insane creature value engine will probably be at its best when it's less worried about going all in on combo, and more about serving as an absolutely busted means to draw a ton of cards alongside some other really good creatures and spells.

6. [[Harbinger of the Seas]]

I cut my teeth on the Modern format by playing Blue Moon piles, so this card is 100% up my alley. I think this redefines Merfolk (and maybe even helps a Blue-based Wizards deck shine alongside this and Tamiyo), and completely changes a lot of matchups for decks that previously needed a strong way to punish nonbasics but didn't have access to red. It also changes deckbuilding significantly - after well over a decade of loving Blood Moon, it's pretty weird to suddenly be ensuring to run a Mountain (and fetch it early) in anticipation of Harbinger of the Seas. I do think the effect is overall weaker than Blood Moon in the sense that often we want to cut our opponents off from Blue, rather than enabling it, but it is also MUCH easier to facilitate in UR decks that always wanted to slam Blood Moon asap in certain matchups but also had to stumble around having enough Islands. And that's just an analysis on what it represents before we jump off the deep end and try to use it to facilitate Armageddons with Boil!

5. [[Flare of Denial]]

Flare of Denial is either going to stand out as a game changer or one of the biggest "what ifs" of this set. I'll be honest, I haven't found a shell for it yet (and my hopes of getting it to work in Living End have yet to be realized). I think this is another insanely powerful card that needs a home (sans Merfolk), but that will likely help to insanely boost any archetype that can support it. It's worth mentioning that its hardcast mode is just 1 mana more than actual Counterspell, so it's actually absurdly hard castable in most cases. Like Flare of Cultivation, this is one of those cards that pushes you into scouring Scryfall for good synergy pieces. While some decks will have to change (or develop entirely) to accomodate Flare, I see this card as just being so insanely strong and bound to find a home at the top tables of the format.

4. [[Ugin's Labyrinth]]

This has been the card I was originally most excited for, but over time I've soured on it pretty heavily. The main reason is that the Eldrazi decks and "Myr Enforcer-heavy" Affinity decks that are necessary to facilitate it just don't feel very good in most cases. I think running 12+ Imprintable cards is a tremendous ask, especially for a card that gets blown up by all types of nonbasic land cards. But at the same time, I'm an absolute sucker for fast mana, and I think there will definitely be some way to make this work in competitive Magic at some point in time.

3. [[Phyrexian Tower]]

Again, I'm a sucker for fast mana, and I can't deny how much easier Phyrexian Tower is to enable than Ugin's Labyrinth. This will likely help empower some new strategies, but it's already awesome in any Black based deck in the format, with Grief and Orc Army tokens being amazing choices to sacrifice. Turn 2, pitch casting a Grief, then saccing it to Phyrexian Tower to cast Necrodominance feels like one of the absolute defining lines of post MH3 Modern.

2. [[Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student]]

My heart wants to make this #1, because this is definitely my favorite card of the set, but I tried to show a little restraint here. Tamiyo is absolutely awesome and feels like a combination of two of my all time favorite Magic cards, Ragavan and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. It's a snowbally card advantage engine that stonewalls Ragavan, dodges a lot of the format's early removal, and is trivial to flip in the right deck. I've really enjoyed this in UR Murktide, although I anticipate it will find other homes as well. T1 Tamiyo + Bauble, into T2 attack with Tamiyo, crack the clue and flip Tamiyo sets you on track to hit Tamiyo's game winning "draw half your deck" ultimate by Turn 5. Meanwhile, you can also just not exert a lot of resources into flipping Tamiyo if the flip isn't favorable, and can just use it to essentially net you a Clue token every turn, which is absolutely nuts in slower, interactive mirrors. Its plus is great at protecting the card and excellent in racing situations (scenarios where UR Murktide often finds itself when trying to tempo someone out with a DRC or something similar), and its minus is even more insane card advantage. There's just so much to love about Tamiyo, and so much power in a relatively unassuming 1 mana 0/3.

1. [[Necrodominance]]

After playing with this card a bit and watching Spike and YungDingo test it on their stream, I feel a bit like The Giant in Twin Peaks warning "it is happening again.". Nearly three decades after [[Necropotence]]'s format warping power level created the infamous Black Summer, somehow we're staring down an only slightly less powerful Necrodominance that's Modern playable and instantly fits alongside some of the other best Black cards in the format. My thoughts from this card went from "this will be busted in one specific combo deck" to "this is good, but I'm not sure fair decks want it," to "it's going to be hard to find Black decks that don't want to build themselves around this."
It's tremendously hard to not envision this card being the defining staple of the set, and the card people are talking about panic banning within the coming weeks, whether founded or not. You play it and you start drawing a ridiculous amount of cards every turn and the game just ends so quickly. It's cheaper to cast than The One Ring and infinitely more explosive, and if you're running some incidental life gain (or another one of the best black cards in the format, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse), the downside becomes trivial. Phyrexian Tower makes casting it as early as Turn 2 possible (especially when powered off a Grief that takes your opponent's interaction for the card), Orcish Bowmasters becomes great as a Flash threat if you've drawn past your maximum hand size of five (and is also great at hedging in Necro mirrors) and even [[Flare of Malice]] serves as another 0 mana way to empty your hand if you've drawn too many cards in your end step.
Its downside of exiling anything that goes to your yard is worth mentioning, and it does mean your deck needs to be conscious of that fact (it also stops the card from being great in Reanimator shells, which would have been a great natural home). It has an instant home in RB and Mono Black Scam style decks - while they won't be able to Grief + Scam with it out, I don't think it's going to matter in any matchup where you get to untap with Necro. It also might be good enough in Yawg even with it turning off Undying, but that remains to be seen by people who actually can play Yawg. It also looked insane in the BW Scam style build that Dingo played on stream yesterday, since Solitude works as both a great hedge for the life loss it causes and is a 0 mana instant speed proactive card you can cast in your end step before moving to discard. One way or another, I think this is a major staple and player in the format moving forward, and its absurdly high ceiling and ability to fundamentally warp games around it earns it my top spot for MH3.

End Step

I'm sure I left a decent amount of cards off, but that's kind of always the nature of these lists. Again, my priority was trying to assess these cards with the Modern meta in mind and how effectively these cards fit into the bigger picture of the already existing format. I will say in passing I'm not a big believer that Eldrazi are going to be viable despite the support they received, so if I'm wrong there, my list could shift tremendously. I'm also not hugely excited about an Energy deck since the archetype is mostly regulated around smaller, single serving payoffs, so I've kind of snubbed a few big cards there. And while I'm thrilled that [[Kappa Cannoneer]] is in the format, and I have enjoyed resurging Beanfinity with [[Kozilek's Unsealing]], and I love the other new Affinity creatures like [[Etherium Ptermander]] and [[Refurbished Familiar]], I'm still skeptical I'm going to be able to get anything higher than a consistent 3-2 finish out of the bots, but that's not going to stop me from trying!
Is there anything else I left off? Anything I undervalued/overvalued? Anything else you're excited to brew with? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Dearest gentle player,
It is with much delight that this Game Master welcomes you into the dazzling and glamourous ton of the Adamant Empire.
In this world of socialities, schemers and sycophants, you will be assuming the role of debutantes, bright and accomplished Gems, who are either just now being introduced to society or who are returning to it after being away for a very long time, with the intent of securing respectable matches for themselves.
Armed only with your wits, wiles and charms, you must charm suitors and navigate the rigid society of the Empire while avoiding scandal and ruin. Gods forbid you end up being dragged through the mud in the mysterious Lady Quartz's society papers!
What will you strive for, gentle player? Will you search for that perfect one, throwing caution to the wind in the pursuit of true love? Will you prove to be the most sparkling of Gems, earning yourself the favour of her Grace, the Queen Consort Ciyradyl, and the title of the Diamond of the season? Will you aim to rise as high through the ranks as possible? After all, why be content with being a Mrs. when you can be a Duchess? Or will you strive to forge a different path for yourself, forsaking what your family and society has set out for you? Something in between?
Whatever your goal is, be weary, dear player. For in this world, secrets are a dangerous currency and scandals can destroy entire families. Be an example of fine society or embrace infamy, tis your choice. Just know that the ton is always watching, judging in hushed whispers and giggles.
So, follow my lead and dance through candlelit ballrooms as we create together a tale of thrilling character drama, love, passion, ambition and bitter rivalries, all that which makes a heart flutter with enthusiasm and dread.
And if our darling debutantes unwittingly end up entwined in a conflict much grander than they could have ever anticipated? Well... is it truly a D&D game without some heightened stakes?
Campaign Pitch
Thank you for reading through my ramblings. I will be running a bit of a niche idea for a campaign. Those who have seen the Netflix Series Bridgerton or have consumed any media inspired/related to Jane Austen probably have a fairly good idea of the kind of story I am going for.
Essentially, this game will focus a lot more on your characters, their goals, desires and tribulations while they wade through the social season. There will be a main plotline as well as many other storylines linked to NPCs and factions that the players might interact with if they so wish, but ultimately I enjoy focusing on what my players find most enjoyable.
This will be a very roleplay heavy game. Combat will occur on occassion. This is D&D still after all so I am essentially contractually obligated to allow you to bonk at least a few times, but combat will only happen when the story demands it-and the story likely won't demand it that often. I suppose you can theoretically go out to the wilderness and do a dungeon crawl and I will play along with it, but if that is what you are seeking out of your D&D experience, this is sadly not the game for you.
Besides from roleplay, there might be some degree of urban exploration within the city of the Summit, the capital of the Empire and the setting of our campaign. There will potentially be some opportunities for sleuthing too if that is an avenue the players decide to explore more.
Instead, most of the game will be focused on exploring the lives of your characters and for those around them as well as that of your larger society. You can expect a lot of talking to each other and to NPCs so I encourage you to get deep into your character's mindset, to flesh them out as a person and to allow yourself to get vulnerable while playing them. Those are the moments my current table thrives on. We have quite literally cried as result of scenes. So never hesitate to speak up, try something new out and go deep into your character's soul.
As for me, I will strive to create an immersive, breathing world. I want my NPCs to feel like real people and for you to bond with them as such. I want your environment to react to and remember your actions, what makes you who you are. For this purpose, I will work with each of the players to intergrate their characters into the Adamant Empire and to best accomodate what you want to do in and out of character.
Speaking of the world, during character creation, we will work together to create the province you are from as well as your family and their place within society (status, any connections to guilds they might have, etc). So, you will be actively involved in creating at least a few small parts of it.
Once I have gathered up all players and received their backstories, there will be a two weeks gap between that and starting the game so I can get some more GM prep done with all the factors in mind. I want to try and begin either at the end of this month or at the start of the next one, but I won't push on this too hard.
Once we have started, I want to settle on a consistent schedule so schedule compatibility and consistence is quite important for me. I do not have a specific end date in mind for this game. I believe campaigns should last as long as it takes for them to have a satisfying conclusion. That being said, my games tend to be on the longer end so keep that in mind too.
If any of that sounds like your cup of tea, feel free to fill in the form down below! Hopefully we will get to create a great story together.
Lore
There is some lore within the Adamant Empire and the continent it is a part of, Kosmos, but nothing of massive importance that you would need to know right out of the bat. It has its own history and pantheon of Gods, etc, but honestly I am more than happy to work with the players to adjust the existent lore or to add entirely new one. Never hesitate to reach out to me.
The basics of the world are these though:
The Adamant Empire is thousands of years old. It is fairly similiar to the irl British Empire in many ways. It is extremely powerful and influential and it has supposedly independent colonies that in essence function as puppet goverments all over the continent. Few can match them in power.
That was until a hundred years ago.
King Edmund Diamant was determined to conquer one of the last remaining nations that could potentially rival the Adamant Empire, the elven isles of Yara Ambar. He miscalculated gravely, however, and that led to the Empire's first true loss. Taking advantage of the distraction, multiple colonies revolted and enough banded together to form the City States of Andora. With the assistance of their infernal supporters, the revolutionaries have gained some level of independence and are now almost certainly plotting to claim more and more of the Empire's lands for themselves.
The Empire's legions, coffers and reputation took a significant blow and they were forced to sign a treaty with the elven royalty.
Prince Orion was betrothed and later wed to an elven noble woman. This was a significant event because for centuries now, since the reign of Cedric the Conqueror, it had been strictly forbidden for non-humans to be part of the Adamantian nobility. The Oldblood families, the most ancient of bloodlines within the Empire, protested against the decision, but there was little to be done.
King Orion and his consort Queen Ciyradyl have reigned together for 70 years now. During their rule, peace and prosperity has largely been maintained and the people are content. More and more non-human families have also made their into the ton, a most scandalous occurence at first, but one that the ton has grown to accept with time, albeit some races more than others.
Alas, it is uncertain how long peace will last still. With the 99 year old King growing ill in body and mind, his wife and children have primarily taken over his duties. The City States of Andora stand proud to this day, a mark of shame upon the pride of any true Adamantian. Much conversation remains over what is to be done with them. Simultanously, there are many other forces who would benefit to see the Empire crumble on its knees.
Life in the Adamant Empire is about to change. Whether that change shall be for better or worse and what role you might play in it is yet to be revealed.
There is yet another element that needs to be discussed when it comes to the lore and that is the Gems/Steels separattion.
In essence, I and my players wished to replicate the sort of narratives one might encounter in the books of Jane Austen, where for example the Bennet family must marry all their daughters or they will end up with no inheritance (gasp!), but we still wished to be able to have PCs be male or to explore queer romances and narratives.
So, we settled on the following idea:
There is a secondary label by which individuals are put into one category or the other. People either bear the Mark of the Gem or the Mark of the Steel. This system of social distinction in essence replaces the era accurate existence of sexism.
Gems and Steels can be male or female, it does not matter. Similarly, Gems and Steels can be in relationships with men or women, that also does not matter. Creating offspring is still important within society, but magic can also accomplish that so gender or sexuality is not a factor.
What matters is that Gems are not allowed to inherit property and titles and are very limited in the careers that it is appropiate for them to have. They are expected to spend their time at home, tending to the needs of the household and the family. Steels have none of these restrictions.
Your characters are all Gems, meaning they need to marry -and marry well- in order to secure the best possible future for themselves.
Idea might be slightly altered in the future, but the skeleton of it should remain the same more or less.
As you might have figured out from this, while we will be trying to keep the spirit of the era and many of its customs, we won't be going for 100% historical accuracy (if you did not figure that out from the fact that magic exists). So, if that is what you are looking for, sorry but this table probably won't perfectly match your taste.
Table Rules
Given that we will be very focused on roleplay, character creation will have some according adjustments. you can find those down here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a7JdKnUQEfsoEOufrb8hACKmDBzIGaKEzXGKtT1sD7o/edit?usp=sharing
If you require some guidance in creating the narrative elements of your character, you can use this doc as a well as a sort of guideline:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qAudZPqYzCS9lDZGp7E6ZtWQExmCvP3DQnUqFZ9u3Ww/edit?usp=sharing
Some more rulings to keep in mind:

• Social PvP is allowed, but combat must be discussed by the players and the GM beforehand.
• For inspiration, you can have up to 3 at a time.
• Drinking potions is a bonus action :)

And we might come up with more as we play.
Plot Hook
The Player Characters all have town lodgings in the same neighbourhood, Fairbrooke Square. Thus, they might know each other to some degree or they might not. That is up to the players.
Regardless, as you were all neighbours growing up, you would have grown up alongsides the at the time Viscountess Kristina Royce (Steel). The specific relationship and dynamics that you had with Kristina can be fleshed out later between you and I, but everyone knew her in some shape, way or form.
Ten years ago, Kristina's parents died, making her Countess of Stirling and shortly after she left to roam the sea as Royces tend to do. Whether you maintained contact with her afterwards is once again your decision to make.
Kristina has now returned to the Summit, shortly after breaking off her betrothal to Emil Pleasant (Gem), son of the Baron of Fairbrooke Square and another one of your neighbours. You can also decide what kind of dynamic you have with him too.
While your whole street is whispering about the impending social season and the latest hot gossip, you (the PCs) each receive an invitation to dinner from Kethryllia Royce, Doawger Countess of Stirling, grandmother of Kristina and former handmaiden to the Queen.
It is uncertain yet what she wishes to discuss with you about, but that private dinner will be the inciting incident of our game.
Player Requirements
If all this sounds good to you, then now it is time to see if you would be a good match for the table! The ideal player for us would match the criteria down down below.

• Is 18+.
• Has a decent internet connection.
• Has a laptop cause you need that for Foundry.
• Has a mic and camera and is comfortable with having the camera open for sessions (yes, this is obligatory. I understand why some might not like it, but I find roleplay flows much more smoothly when you can see the other's face so this is must. Sorry.)
• Is available every Sunday from 4 to 9 BST.
• Is LGBTQ+ friendly as I am not going to allow any kind of hate at my table.
• Loves roleplaying.

As you might have noticed, level of experience is not a concern here. Newbies and experienced players are welcome alike!
Player Application
If you match all the criteria above, wonderful! i can't wait to hear from you. Go ahead and fill the application in. It is a bit long, but I hope it will be as fun for you to fill in as it was for me to make.
I already have three amazing players and I am looking for two more to fill out the party. The form should remain open for around a week so take your time.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXCoA6pUYSWk2WzsNq0Vb1N7xj3BSB8C3DEPVOmYfPAJ3KJg/viewform?usp=sf_link
Afterword
If you have read through all my ramblings, thank you very much! Remember to include the word "bonbon" in there so that I know you did.
This is a rather new experience for me if I am sincere. I have been GMing for a few years now, but this will be a very different sort of game to what I usually run and I am also rather new to Foundry too.
I cannot promise it will be a perfect experience, but I can promise that I will always strive to make it an enjoyable one. I am always open to critique and willing to adjust things for the entertainment and safety of the group.
I have bored you enough I would say. Farewell for now, gentle player. Let us not keep the ton waiting.

Hey all, so I've finally got enough MH3 playtesting in that I feel like I can properly put a list together like this! Overall, I'm really excited for what MH3 offers the format - it's not filled to the brim with "must include staples" like MH2 was for better or worse, but there are some really exciting new role players, hate cards, and cards that should be a huge boost to more fringe strategies.
This is going to be aimed to focus mainly on I think will see the most competitive Modern play post-MH3 release with a strong consideration of the current metagame. But, like any Top 10 list, I'm sure my own preferences and pet cards will sneak in, so let's see where this goes!
First, no Top 10 list would be complete without it secretly being like a Top 15. So on to the honorable mentions!

Honorable Mentions

• [[Guide of Souls]]: I would have liked to include this in the Top 10 itself, and time may prove me wrong on this idea, but I think this is both one of the best Energy enablers and payoffs in the set. It's one of the few ways in all of MH3 to generate a, well, degenerate amount of energy off abusing creature ETBS and playing a strong go-wide strategy. And, as this list will prove, there is a metric TON of great new White creatures in the format.
  
• [[Phalia, Exuberant Shepherd]]: Another really great card that is likely to serve as another core piece of a white deck moving forward. Having to attack to do anything makes me less excited for this, but it can absolutely run away with games if left unchecked, and Flash is a nice touch to save it from sorcery speed removal the turn it comes down. Much like how MH2 gave red decks a strong core of Ragavan, DRC, and Unholy Heat, White got this really great package of new early creatures including Guide of Souls, Ocelot Pride (which isn't on this list but is still very good) Phalia, White Orchid Phantom, Ajani, and Static Prison. If these cards are powerful enough to support a new archetype remains to be seen, but there's a lot to be excited about for white mages this set.
  
• [[Static Prison]]: I feel like this is one of the best Energy cards in the set. 1 mana nonland permanent removal is insane, and alongside a reasonable amount of energy generation it's pretty trivial to keep it "powered" for a lengthy time period. If there's a white based Energy deck that helps to take shape in this format, it'll likely largely be thanks to this card. And if you're missing Galvanic Discharge from this list, I'd probably place it right around here also (did this just become a Top 16?).
  
• [[Amped Raptor]]: This is a card that started out extremely high in my list but has dropped off in testing. This is a sweet card, but it's far from the second coming of Lurrus in that its upside really isn't worth building your whole deck around. I had built a RB Raptor list (inspired off the old RB Lurrus lists that were popular post-MH3), and Raptor just felt more like a liability most of the time, cutting off access to higher curve, higher impact cards like Grief, Necrodominance, Fable, and Blood Moon. When it works great, it's awesome, but I still don't think it's worth heavily restricting your deck around. If a really heavy Energy deck comes to light that can power this further, we definitely may see it become a major player, but I'm pretty skeptical and cold on this for right now.
  
• [[Flare of Cultivation]]: I know a lot of people are excited about this card, but personally I just haven't been able to come up with a shell where I'm really excited to play it. One of the main issues is that saccing a T1 manadork for this is a fairly mediocre play - you likely would have had three mana on turn 2 anyway, and now you've just given that creature and another card up to turn it into a basic land and have one other basic in hand, and if you're playing Arboreal Grazer and Elvish Pioneer to it, you also need to run a high amount of lands. While this line naturally sets you up to slam some crazy card advantage engine like a One Ring or Necrodominance early, your deck is filled with a lot of chaff in the forms of lands, your Flares, and your Grazers and Pioneers. And Flare of Cultivation gets worse and worse as games go on, as do your enabler dorks. I think if someone can combine all these moving parts well into a deck it'll likely be extremely powerful, but I haven't been able to pull it off yet personally.
  

10. [[White Orchid Phantom]]

I've been calling this "the Dauthi Voidwalker of the set" in the sense that it is a hate card that's so consistently powerful that it's worth maindecking. It also has the comparison of being an evasive beater on top of the hate it creates. I think this is a pretty defining staple in Modern moving forward. The tension it has with Harbinger of the Tides and Winter Moon and friends is noticeable though - much like you couldn't run Path to Exile in a Blood Moon deck, you don't want to be giving your opponent basics at the same time you're trying to punish them for not having them.

9. [[Ajani, Nacatl Pariah]]

This card has been overperforming consistently. A two mana army in a can that complicates combat and blinks well is really impressive, and its walker side is actually awesome - cranking out a Cat token every turn is really good, and if you are running it alongside Red cards and also shooting things off that ability, the game quickly snowballs around Ajani. And when Ajani dies, it's almost always a 2-for-1 anyway. It's also nuts with Ocelot Pride, and those cards will likely work side by side together for a long time to come. The card will need a home since it doesn't really seem like a natural fit anywhere in Modern currently, but I'm pretty confident it (and the other MANY great White cards waiting in the wings in my Honorable Mentions sections) will help put smaller white-based strategies back on the map in the format.

8. [[Nethergoyf]]

Nethergoyf is just an awesome Magic card. It's pretty hard to say anything other than that - it plays just about as well as you'd expect and is an awesome new staple for Black-based decks that are heavy on their graveyards. I've found a ton of homes for it in my brews just because it's leagues better than any other Black one drop in the format, and it's absolutely awesome alongside Dragon's Rage Channeler. I've played it in several brews and it's always done its job well - I've yet to even Escape it in playtesting, which I think is a testament that that ability is all upside on an already incredibly efficient beater.

7. [[Nadu, Winged Wisdom]]

I can't tell yet if this is a card I'm absolutely going to love or hate, and that probably depends on which side of the Nadu brew I'll be standing on. While there's a lot of hype for all in combo brews that go deep with [[Shuko]] and [[Thassa's Oracle]], I imagine that, like Yawgmoth before it, this totally insane creature value engine will probably be at its best when it's less worried about going all in on combo, and more about serving as an absolutely busted means to draw a ton of cards alongside some other really good creatures and spells.

6. [[Harbinger of the Seas]]

I cut my teeth on the Modern format by playing Blue Moon piles, so this card is 100% up my alley. I think this redefines Merfolk (and maybe even helps a Blue-based Wizards deck shine alongside this and Tamiyo), and completely changes a lot of matchups for decks that previously needed a strong way to punish nonbasics but didn't have access to red. It also changes deckbuilding significantly - after well over a decade of loving Blood Moon, it's pretty weird to suddenly be ensuring to run a Mountain (and fetch it early) in anticipation of Harbinger of the Seas. I do think the effect is overall weaker than Blood Moon in the sense that often we want to cut our opponents off from Blue, rather than enabling it, but it is also MUCH easier to facilitate in UR decks that always wanted to slam Blood Moon asap in certain matchups but also had to stumble around having enough Islands. And that's just an analysis on what it represents before we jump off the deep end and try to use it to facilitate Armageddons with Boil!

5. [[Flare of Denial]]

Flare of Denial is either going to stand out as a game changer or one of the biggest "what ifs" of this set. I'll be honest, I haven't found a shell for it yet (and my hopes of getting it to work in Living End have yet to be realized). I think this is another insanely powerful card that needs a home (sans Merfolk), but that will likely help to insanely boost any archetype that can support it. It's worth mentioning that its hardcast mode is just 1 mana more than actual Counterspell, so it's actually absurdly hard castable in most cases. Like Flare of Cultivation, this is one of those cards that pushes you into scouring Scryfall for good synergy pieces. While some decks will have to change (or develop entirely) to accomodate Flare, I see this card as just being so insanely strong and bound to find a home at the top tables of the format.

4. [[Ugin's Labyrinth]]

This has been the card I was originally most excited for, but over time I've soured on it pretty heavily. The main reason is that the Eldrazi decks and "Myr Enforcer-heavy" Affinity decks that are necessary to facilitate it just don't feel very good in most cases. I think running 12+ Imprintable cards is a tremendous ask, especially for a card that gets blown up by all types of nonbasic land cards. But at the same time, I'm an absolute sucker for fast mana, and I think there will definitely be some way to make this work in competitive Magic at some point in time.

3. [[Phyrexian Tower]]

Again, I'm a sucker for fast mana, and I can't deny how much easier Phyrexian Tower is to enable than Ugin's Labyrinth. This will likely help empower some new strategies, but it's already awesome in any Black based deck in the format, with Grief and Orc Army tokens being amazing choices to sacrifice. Turn 2, pitch casting a Grief, then saccing it to Phyrexian Tower to cast Necrodominance feels like one of the absolute defining lines of post MH3 Modern.

2. [[Tamiyo, Inquisitive Student]]

My heart wants to make this #1, because this is definitely my favorite card of the set, but I tried to show a little restraint here. Tamiyo is absolutely awesome and feels like a combination of two of my all time favorite Magic cards, Ragavan and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. It's a snowbally card advantage engine that stonewalls Ragavan, dodges a lot of the format's early removal, and is trivial to flip in the right deck. I've really enjoyed this in UR Murktide, although I anticipate it will find other homes as well. T1 Tamiyo + Bauble, into T2 attack with Tamiyo, crack the clue and flip Tamiyo sets you on track to hit Tamiyo's game winning "draw half your deck" ultimate by Turn 5. Meanwhile, you can also just not exert a lot of resources into flipping Tamiyo if the flip isn't favorable, and can just use it to essentially net you a Clue token every turn, which is absolutely nuts in slower, interactive mirrors. Its plus is great at protecting the card and excellent in racing situations (scenarios where UR Murktide often finds itself when trying to tempo someone out with a DRC or something similar), and its minus is even more insane card advantage. There's just so much to love about Tamiyo, and so much power in a relatively unassuming 1 mana 0/3.

1. [[Necrodominance]]

After playing with this card a bit and watching Spike and YungDingo test it on their stream, I feel a bit like The Giant in Twin Peaks warning "it is happening again.". Nearly three decades after [[Necropotence]]'s format warping power level created the infamous Black Summer, somehow we're staring down an only slightly less powerful Necrodominance that's Modern playable and instantly fits alongside some of the other best Black cards in the format. My thoughts from this card went from "this will be busted in one specific combo deck" to "this is good, but I'm not sure fair decks want it," to "it's going to be hard to find Black decks that don't want to build themselves around this."
It's tremendously hard to not envision this card being the defining staple of the set, and the card people are talking about panic banning within the coming weeks, whether founded or not. You play it and you start drawing a ridiculous amount of cards every turn and the game just ends so quickly. It's cheaper to cast than The One Ring and infinitely more explosive, and if you're running some incidental life gain (or another one of the best black cards in the format, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse), the downside becomes trivial. Phyrexian Tower makes casting it as early as Turn 2 possible (especially when powered off a Grief that takes your opponent's interaction for the card), Orcish Bowmasters becomes great as a Flash threat if you've drawn past your maximum hand size of five (and is also great at hedging in Necro mirrors) and even [[Flare of Malice]] serves as another 0 mana way to empty your hand if you've drawn too many cards in your end step.
Its downside of exiling anything that goes to your yard is worth mentioning, and it does mean your deck needs to be conscious of that fact (it also stops the card from being great in Reanimator shells, which would have been a great natural home). It has an instant home in RB and Mono Black Scam style decks - while they won't be able to Grief + Scam with it out, I don't think it's going to matter in any matchup where you get to untap with Necro. It also might be good enough in Yawg even with it turning off Undying, but that remains to be seen by people who actually can play Yawg. It also looked insane in the BW Scam style build that Dingo played on stream yesterday, since Solitude works as both a great hedge for the life loss it causes and is a 0 mana instant speed proactive card you can cast in your end step before moving to discard. One way or another, I think this is a major staple and player in the format moving forward, and its absurdly high ceiling and ability to fundamentally warp games around it earns it my top spot for MH3.

End Step

I'm sure I left a decent amount of cards off, but that's kind of always the nature of these lists. Again, my priority was trying to assess these cards with the Modern meta in mind and how effectively these cards fit into the bigger picture of the already existing format. I will say in passing I'm not a big believer that Eldrazi are going to be viable despite the support they received, so if I'm wrong there, my list could shift tremendously. I'm also not hugely excited about an Energy deck since the archetype is mostly regulated around smaller, single serving payoffs, so I've kind of snubbed a few big cards there. And while I'm thrilled that [[Kappa Cannoneer]] is in the format, and I have enjoyed resurging Beanfinity with [[Kozilek's Unsealing]], and I love the other new Affinity creatures like [[Etherium Ptermander]] and [[Refurbished Familiar]], I'm still skeptical I'm going to be able to get anything higher than a consistent 3-2 finish out of the bots, but that's not going to stop me from trying!
Is there anything else I left off? Anything I undervalued/overvalued? Anything else you're excited to brew with? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

SOMEONE TELL MY IM NOT CRAZY!!!
My relationship with her only lasted 1month and 21 days, but that time felt like years. I don't know why.. Before knowing her, she was with someone for 1yr and 8 months, then got back together with that same dude after a few months, and again, he broker her heart. That is when I met her, she was going through it all, she was on the verge of killing herself when I met her. That's where I came in, and this isn't my first time having to repair someone's heart due to someone else fault.. I'm that type of person that will put all their effort to see you smile again.. She too did love me (I think), we would do everything together, sleep together (even on the phone when we wouldn't see each other) All of a sudden, this same guy kept trying to get back with her while I was going out with her, and she was transparent about it, she would tell me he would be texting her and she would feel a bit harrassed by him (she made it seem that way, idk..) A week ago she told me he needed to speak with her, and that's when he told her that he's nothing with out her, that he is a lost soul, and to make things better he will be buying a house for both of them to live forever... I dont believe in one word he told her, but she says she's in love with him. She called me to meet up and tell me these things and we cried out eyes out, I felt like dying right then and there.. I assumed what was going to happen, but I still couldn't believe that she was going back with the same person that hurt her mentally and physically at many points in her live.. I know this sounds like the dumbest thing in the world. But I learned to Love her and didnt care at the moment. Now I am lost, scared, and dont know what to do with my time. I am a diagnosed B.P.D. and this just hurts sooooo much. As mentioned, this is not my first time repairing a broken heart and that person leaves me for the same person that broke it, this is my 3rd time..
She liked everything we did together, she started listening to my music, she started to like what i liked (anime, my way of thinking, my humor, my sayings) Those nearly 2 months were everything i've asked God to provide me with, and all of a sudden it gone. Why!? Why did she have to back with someone that would tell her not to touch him becuase he doesnt like to be touched, that he doesnt want marriage, doesnt want kids.. WHY!!??
She's the most loving person in the world, she loves to be touched, being told that she is beautiful, that she is not the one at fault for having bad relationships. She is everything a man can want.. But yet, she goes back to the "comfort zone", why does she think a third time with him will work?? I cannot comprehend this and this is what is keeping me from sleeping, and makes me want to go jump from a bridge and be ran over by an 18-wheeler...

For years I wanted to get into soulslike genre, but I was unable to because of my lack of understanding of these games. It finally clicked for me, when I gave Bloodborne (another) chance and absolutely loved the experience.
Bloodborne was so good, that it left me with a hole in my soul. I did not wanted to play any other game. I've literally forced myself to complete Bioshock Infinite, but it felt like empty, corporate slop. And my girlfriend must have noticed that, because she got me a PS5 remake of Demon's Souls for Valentine's Day. And what a great gift that was.
There is something really funny about Demon's Souls. In my opinion it is one of the most important and influential games of the last 20 years. It has a fascinating origin story, of its development starting as a "Oblivion killer" until the man, the myth, the legend Hidetaka Miyazaki turned it into what it is today. It's also funny to think, that president of Sony at the time, Shuhei Yoshido, after spending some time with pre-release build of Demon's Souls said that "This is crap. This is an unbelievable bad game". Everyone at leadership positions basically had written the project off as a failure, so Miyazaki had freedom to do what he wanted. I strongly recommend to everyone (especially soulsborne fans) to watch some development documentaries. It is funny to think, that Demon's Souls almost did not happened.
It's also funny to think, that pretty much entirety of soulslike experience has not changed since days of Demon's Souls. If you ever played Dark Souls or Bloodborne, you gonna feel right at home. I'm going to say it right here - I strongly recommend you to play any version of Demon's Souls, whether PS3 original, the PS5 remake or to emulate it on a PC. Not only if you are the fan of FromSoft's modern RPG's. It's a gaming's equivalent to reading "Crime and Punishment" by Dostoyevsky - you might not like the book, but it is important read.
I personally love this game. And I'm impressed with the work BluePoint did with the remake. Yes, there were massive changes to the art direction, controversial even. But the visuals and especially audio are spectacular. The game runs with a silky-smooth 60FPS, there is even a mode with higher resolution, but honestly I could not tell the difference in visuals and it was not worth slashing the resolution in half.
But since we are on the subject of slashing - let's talk about gameplay. As I said earlier, this is a standard soulslike. If you lived under the rock for the last 15 years, this is a type of action RPG a set of punishing mechanics. The biggest selling point of these games is the challenge these offer. Demon's Souls is the most distilled form of that challenge - it does not bother with nature of humanity, or themes of cosmic horror (not directly anyway). The plot can be summarised as - there was a Kingdom, whose King decided to start using demonic powers that corrupted the land, go kill the Demons and save the Kingdom. The game also is very upfront about its challenge. Right after your first death, your characters health pool is halved. There is character and world tendency mechanic, that can make your playthrough harder if you keep performing "bad actions". It is very intimidating at the start, but Demon's Souls is also very easy to bend into submission. One of the areas is probably fastest soul farming route of the soulslike genre, where at the cost of few bow arrows you can get around 4000 souls (a currency for leveling and other things). The magic class is not only an "easy mode", its downright broken from the start. But that is another thing I love Demon's Souls for - it rewards curiosity and exploration.
I also love the structure of the game. It works a bit like Super Mario 64 (or, well, Bloodborne). Its levels are not interconnected like in subsequent Souls games, but rather separate areas with distinct themes. We have a defensive fort, an ore mine, a prison and my favourite - a stormy island.
Okay, there is one more - the poisonous underground swamp. The only location I actively disliked. But I have to admit, that even my least favourite level has a point and place in the souls game. Because, unlike how some people like to think, the main selling points of these games are not super hard boss battles. I found most of these pretty manageable, and just like in Bloodborne - I was mostly able to beat them on my first attempt. Not because these are easy, in fact I found myself on the edge of the seat (especially on the final boss of the Boletaria Palace, that has a special little surprise that almost killed me when he was one hit from my sword from dying - those who played Demon's Souls know what I'm talking about!) on every boss encounter, and super hyped after beating them. The real challenge is getting through the bullshit game will throw at you on the way to boss arena. The poisonous swamp is a great example of that. Your movements are not only slower, but you are way more exposed at more direct threats - the enemy attacks. You almost feel the relief when getting into a boss arena - because there will be way less bullshit there.
So in conclusion, Demon's Souls is amazing. It's one of the greatest, the most influential games ever made. It's a perfect distillation of a genre, it single-handedly sparked. It's a brutal challenge. I'm done writing this. New Game+ awaits.
Bring more souls, slayer of demons

Hi!
I wanted to discuss what I think Hades II could evolve to be and hope some people want to bounce ideas around and hopefully Supergiant might even find something useful from such a discussion.

1. I really like the idea of a farming system, but as it is currently it is merely time-gated resource collection. Maybe a slightly more complex, but still friendly, system with seeds and crops could be implemented.
   
2. More bosses would go a really long way - as it stands the bosses are pretty easy to get used to like in the last game and it would be pretty awesome if it was more Dark-Souls-like with a lot of bosses requiring a lot of mastery from the player.
   

That being said, fighting through many dungeons to get your ass kicked by a boss you have no way of knowing how to counter would suck - so maybe a third route/arena type mode could be implemented where it is boss only/boss-focused combat.
These are just my thoughts on the amazing job Supergiant has done so far in the Early Access, please let me know if you guys have had any similar brainstorms.

Hey, Hey,
A few new items and price changes below. Also including a couple of pieces of album-related art and a few framed RIAA awards. Everything ships from Boston and is a flat $5 to CONUS no matter how much you order. All vinyl is visually graded (media/sleeve) unless otherwise noted. Next mail run happens tomorrow (Wednesday, June 5th) After that, I'm on vacation until Monday. If you're interested in anything, please contact me via CHAT ONLY, please. Cheers.
Born Of Osiris Angel Or Alien (Neon Magenta/Neon Green) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is near pristine. Jacket stored in shrink. $30
Death Cab For Cutie Transatlanticism (2LP) (VG+/VG+) Grading the vinyl somewhat conservatively. It's very clean. Top right-hand corner of the jacket has a bump and there's a different UPC sticker (reading LPN RR 074294764) affixed to the back cover over the original UPC. $20
Derek & The Dominos Layla And Other Assorted Love Songs (M/NM) Factory-sealed copy. $23
Jurassic 5 Quality Control (Blue Opaque) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is near pristine. $35
King Gizzard I'm In Your Mind Fuzz (Green/Clear split with Black Splatter) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is near pristine. Jacket stored in shrink with minimal shelfwear. No hype sticker. $50
King Gizzard Infest The Rats' Nest (Orange in Clear w/Black Splatter) (M/NM) Factory-sealed copy with hype sticker. $30
Lemon Demon Spirit Phone (Red and White Spinner w/White Splatter) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl is near pristine. Jacket stored in shrink. $40
Low Double Negative (Purple) (VG+/VG+) Grading conservatively. Vinyl is closer to NM. Jacket stored in shrink. $30
Magnetic Fields Charm Of The Highway Strip (Yellow) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is near pristine. Jacket has minimal shelfwear. $30
Charles Mingus East Coasting (VG+/VG) So, the vinyl is very clean but the jacket shows evidence of some previous water damage on the bottom half. There isn't any discoloration but the bottom of the sleeve (by his legs) is a bit wavy and there are a few different spots with scuffing/missing laminate. $8
Soundtrack (Hoenig & Robinson) The Gate (Hot Pink w/Gold Swirl) (VG+/VG) Vinyl is very clean. Sleeve is largely very sharp but I'm grading it VG due to the state of the additional mock cover which is thin paper that has a fair bit of crumpling and a small tear or two along the top edge. $25
Soundtrack (Myrow & Seagrave) Phantasm (Red/Grey Swirl) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is near pristine. Jacket is very clean. $30
Tweedy Sukierae (White Sleeve Promo - Signed by both Big and Little Tweedy) (NM/VG+) Vinyl is unplayed. This is one of the early advances that came in a generic white sleeve that was signed by both Jeff Tweedy and that there little Tweedy. Includes the original one-sheet. $40
Geinoh Yamashirogumi Akira Symphonic Suite (Mispress) (VG+/VG+) So, little bit of a strange one. This copy was meant to be part of Light in the Attic's Red and Black Marbled run (the matrix numbers are identical) but instead of colored vinyl, this one was pressed up on standard black. Believe the labels ended up sending out the few misprints as promos. Copy has some paper scuffing from the sleeves but nothing that affects play. $25
Steve Keene Art
So, not an album but a couple of fun little pieces of wall art. If you're unfamiliar, Steve Keene is an artist who was commissioned to do a number of different album covers in the 90's including Pavement's Wowee Zowee, Silver Jews' The Arizona Record, stuff by The Apples In Stereo, Band Of Horses, etc. For years, he's been doing this SK series in which he recreates album covers in his own style. He cranks them out and they tend not to be very expensive but, unless you bump into him in New York, you can only order blind grab bags from his website. I've got both a Malkmus Mirror Traffic and Apples In Stereo up for grabs. You can find images here. These were given to me years back but I've got a few others of his on the wall in the record room and would prefer that someone else enjoy them on theirs. For reference, the Malkmus is about 12"x12" and the Apples In Stereo is probably more like 6"x12". Each one is $20 shipped. If you're buying records, as well, they'll need to ship separately for a flat $5.
RIAA Gold and Platinum Awards
So, at the moment, I'm sitting on a number of RIAA awards for various albums. Pricing these out involves a fair amount of guesswork because they're often not really readily available in the marketplace. I've sold a couple for $600-$750 and others for $10-$20. Just sort of depends on the artists/release. These were only ever issued to folks who were somehow involved with the creation and/or promotion and sales of the album. The ones I've got on hand were largely presented to a buyer working for a major retail partner. They each includes plaques that are personalized to that original recipient but, y'know, they're still fun little collectibles and you could always change your name. Please note that I'm not going to be able to ship these until I'm back from my vacation. I'll need a couple of days after my return to source appropriate boxes and packing materials. If you're in the Boston area and up for picking one of these up and saving me the trouble of shipping, I'll cut you a deal. I'm just tossing up a couple for now but I'll have a bunch more in the near future including awards for Vampire Weekend's Contra, N.W.A.'s N.W.A. Legacy, a Warped Tour comp, Warren Zevon's last album, Mos Def's Black On Both Sides, De La Soul's 3 Feet High And Rising (this one spins the record), and more...
Beastie Boys Paul's Boutique platinum award. This one is kind of fun. Sadly, it doesn't include a record but the CD/Cassette combo is pretty perfectly 90's. On the smaller side. Still sealed in the original shrink. $200 shipped.
In Flames Soundtrack To Your Escape. This was just a CD plaque sent by the label to commemorate 100,000 scans of the album. It'll be $20 shipped.
The Postal Service Give Up I know, I know. I should open this one up and get better pictures. Can if needed but it's wrapped up so nicely. This is an RIAA gold record award for Give Up by The Postal Service. Asking $500 shipped.
Snoop Dogg Presents Tha Eastsidaz. Platinum award (everything went platinum back then) for Snoop Dogg Presents Tha Eastsidaz. This one features a record, cassette, and some unique art. Still sealed in the original shrink. $175 shipped.

Hey all, so I’ll preface this by saying that we went into this knowing that dogs are a lifelong commitment. My husband and I have both had dogs all our lives, and come from families where your animals are an extension of yourself and you love them like they’re your own flesh and blood.
Our household before our new puppy was 2 cats and a 4-year old German shepherd. Our German shepherd LOVES other dogs and has never had a problem with them before. He’s actually the sweetest soul on the planet. His vets/techs continuously tell us he’s the best behaved German shepherd they’ve ever dealt with at the vet, he’s well trained and loyal to the core. Our cats also lived harmoniously with him before the puppy. They cuddled together, played together.
My husband is disabled, severely, and due to this fact the animals all bonded heavily to me as I’m the one who can take them outside, feed them, etc as my husband is mostly bed-bound unless his pain is ok enough for activities which is only a few days a month.
We decided to get a puppy of his choosing, with the hopes of it becoming his emotional companion animal. We’re three-weeks in (and I know that’s not a lot of time for adjustment and stuff)- but our German shepherd is severely depressed and our cats are one edge.
I’ll explain.
Since we got the puppy, our German shepherd who used to be super lively barely eats, no longer wants to play, and is developing a resource guarding habit. We’ve been working with a trainer for the puppy and with that as well she has been helping us navigate nipping the resource guarding in the butt, and his lack of appetite and play is not anything medical as he gets check ups very often due to his array of medical issues.
We keep the puppy penned off from the rest of the animals, and let them come in the pen of their own free will and leave whenever as well. We’ve managed to train the puppy to not chase the cats, or nip our German shepherd, but they still absolutely hate her. Our cats have started attacking our German shepherd whenever the puppy is so much as chewing on a toy. They take one look at her and take it out on our other dog.
To answer some possible questions, the other animals have not been lacking in attention or care since we got the puppy. Our puppy sleeps with my husband at night in the bedroom and I sleep in the living room with the other animals. When the puppy is not seen by them, they all live harmoniously at night, all of us cuddle up together and go to sleep. I take our German shepherd on walks by himself and give him quality play time just one on one without the puppy nearby, but he still just lacks any enthusiasm for it.
My husband and I are really worried that we are causing emotional damage to our other animals by bringing home a new puppy and wonder if we made a mistake. It’s a really hard situation for us to try to navigate because it is not the puppy’s fault, nor is it our other animals fault. We know introducing a new animal into our family was going to cause a shift in the harmony- but never expected the shift to be so drastic because we had never had that happen before.
We’ve watched other animals for friends and family before and never experienced this. We’ve housed other cats for weeks, dogs come over and play with our German shepherd all the time and no one has ever had any issues, he never resource guarded toys from them or anything.
We feel like the thought alone of contacting her breeder to help us rehome her makes us absolutely terrible people as she is such a sweet puppy and we really do love her deeply and it would feel like we’re disappointing everyone around us by making this big life choice and then changing our minds- not to mention the thought of giving our puppy away is not a happy one. I don’t even know how to explain the emotional dilemma we are facing. We don’t want to lose the puppy, but we don’t want to damage our other animals in the process of keeping her.
It all feels very unfair to all animals involved. The cats and dog for bringing in a new animal that they are uncomfortable with, and the puppy for even thinking about rehoming her. She really is such a good pup and has done nothing wrong.
Any advice, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, or even if anyone has experienced something similar let me know what you did and how it affected you/the animals please.