84 inch bathroom vanity with tower | | "She Was So Rude, My Family Is No Longer Allowed To Listen To Her Music": 34 Of The Absolute Best And Worst Celebrities People Have Ever Met

ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I’ve met Harry Styles several times, and he is so nice and considerate. He actually put off going out with his team just to sit and talk to my 15-year-old daughter and me. I’m sure he was exhausted, but he seemed to enjoy relaxing and chatting with us. My daughter will most likely live on that memory for years to come!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Jennifer Aniston is a sweetheart. She seemed very genuine and kind. I met her in a restaurant bathroom of all places. We talked for so long, her friend had to come and find her."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Lorne Michaels when I worked at a 5-star restaurant. Everyone who worked with me knew I’d been a fan of SNL since I came out of the womb, so when I picked up the phone to make the reservation and spoke with his assistant, I told them I was Lorne's biggest fan. When he arrived with his wife and son (who went to a local boarding school), they were so kind, and he said, 'Oh, I heard you’re my biggest fan, and that’s amazing because I don’t have fans — the cast always has fans!' I almost died. I gave them my favorite table, which they were thrilled with, and when he got up to leave, he left me an envelope with a pretty sweet bonus tip inside. I wasn’t usually tipped doing my work, so it wasn’t necessary, but it was so thoughtful and appreciated. All three were true gems. You’d never know he was famous or rich at all."
TOTAL NIGHTMARE: "I met Roseanne Barr for work once. I went to shake her hand, and she looked me up and down and said, 'I don't shake hands,' then walked away."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Matthew Gray Gubler after he did a talk years ago at my college! Only the first 100 people who got tickets were supposed to be able to do a meet and greet. He said 'rules were made to be broken' and that he would stay and meet with everyone until they kicked him out. Not only was he incredibly sweet to me (literally introduced himself...so humble and posed for a goofy pic), but he seemed so genuinely kind to everyone there. Just amazing energy all around."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "A friend and I visited my boyfriend while he was doing security at a jazz festival in Malibu. He told us Adam Sandler and his family had been there all day and tons of people took pictures with him. We ran back to the car to grab the digital camera, looked up, and saw Adam, his pregnant wife Jackie, and their toddler leaving. We went up to them. Adam was clearly done for the day, but his wife said, 'Honey, let me hold [toddler's name] and you can take a picture.' We handed him the camera and he took a selfie with us. Still have that picture on my fridge. Love the Sandman!"
TOTAL NIGHTMARE: "My little cousin played one of Rob Schneider's kids in 50 First Dates. Rob was stuck-up, never got to know the children or their parents, and always went straight to his dressing room. I'm an introvert, so I like my alone time to recharge, but apparently the vibes he was giving off were that he couldn't be bothered to care about anyone else there. Also, the little girl in the movie was apparently a spoiled brat who threw tantrums and made them have to redo so many takes. I can see why Rob maybe didn't want to play with her, but the other kids were great!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "My husband met Rihanna years ago and said she was super nice. He was working as a ground handler at an airport and was setting up something on the ramp for her private plane. She came out, approached him, asked him about his job, and they chatted for a few minutes. Not sure if she was killing time until the gate opened, or if she went out of her way to talk to him for the heck of it, but he had nothing but nice things to say about her."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Jerry Springer while bartending almost 20 years ago. He was thinking of getting back into politics and had a meeting in our private dining room on the second floor. It was happy hour and the bar was packed. Someone spotted him and started chanting, 'JERRY, JERRY,' while he was about to walk up the stairs. He then came to the bar, ordered a $2 beer, walked through the entire bar, shook hands, and took pictures. When he finished the loop, he set the full beer on the bar and handed me $40. Regardless of his show, I will always think of him as a class act."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "My story is that I was actually horrible to a celebrity. In the '70s, I was obsessed with Donny and Marie. They were playing at our state fair that year. My dad tried to get tickets, but it was sold out. He took us to the fair anyway. A few times we could hear the music, which infuriated me at 7 years old. When we were leaving, my dad had to stop the car because there was a big crowd of people. As they cleared to let us through, two people popped their heads in the car window to apologize. It was Donny and Marie. I refused to believe it was really them, and I told Marie, 'You're not Marie. She's a lot prettier than you.' My family was horrified."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Hands down nicest celebrity I've ever met was Taylor Swift. I met her at a concert as part of her security at the Houston shows. She was polite and introduced herself to everyone. She was obviously very busy, but she seemed interested in what I had to say and signed an album cover for my son."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I have been lucky enough to meet Sir Ian McKellen twice: once after a performance where I also met Simon Callow and Patrick Stewart, and once during his tour of 80 shows for turning 80. Absolutely lovely man. He is my #1 dream dinner guest. I wish I was his friend."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I did a photo-op last year at my local con with Ewan McGregor and, even though it was so quick, he was super sweet. We shook hands, and he asked how my day was. He’s gorgeous in person!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Matthew Lewis at a local con at his booth and he was lovely (and gorgeous in person). I told him how jealous my Harry Potter-obsessed sister (who was working that day) was going to be, and he told me to tell her he sent his regards! It totally made her day at work when I texted her about it after!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Pink around 2000. She performed at a teen club I was at, and she was a sweetheart. After her performance, she even danced with us for a little bit."
TOTAL NIGHTMARE: "I’ve heard nothing but bad things from people who've met Bill Nye. One friend said he was at some children’s art show and made fun of the artwork in front of the youngsters. What a jerk."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "When I was in college in Boston, I was making a late-night Taco Bell run. As I was walking in, this white limo pulled up in front. I went inside and placed my order, and a guy in a white jumpsuit with a white bandana tied around his head came in. There weren't that many people in the restaurant, but he stopped and signed autographs and was chatting everyone up when I left. It wasn't until a few years later that I realized that person was Steven Tyler. This was in the late '80s before Aerosmith had that string of hits."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "The most genuine interaction I've ever had with a celeb was with Bert Kreischer. I saw a show (during which he mentioned his grandma was in the hospital). Then, he told the audience he would be going to the bar next door after the show if anyone wanted a picture. When he arrived at the bar, he waded through CROWDS of people and made sure everyone who wanted to was able to get a pic or a moment with him. I stayed at the bar for a drink until he was on his way out (by this time the crowd had dispersed). I called out as he passed, 'Hey, I didn't get a chance to say it before, but I hope your grandma does well.' He stopped, turned around, and had a very genuine conversation with me."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Jason Momoa was really fun to meet in person when I saw him at a Nine Inch Nails show. Really fun guy!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Jennifer Lopez. I went to where they were filming Air last year (I live in LA) because I wanted to meet Ben Affleck. I met Matt Damon as he wrapped before he left. He was a SUPER nice guy. I waited for Ben as his Escalade pulled up, but I DID NOT expect JLO to get out. She got out right next to me. She was only with her driver and he didn’t tell me to move or anything, so when she got out, I was like ‘Jen! Can I get a picture?' and she said sure. We talked about Selena because I’m Latina and she’s super important to me, and the movie means so much to me. She was SOO nice and sweet. She didn’t give any vibes that I was annoying her or that she had to Go. We also spoke in Spanish. We took our picture and then she went inside to get Ben. When they got out, Ben was NOT HAPPY (I don’t blame him. He was acting and directing), so I just stepped aside."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "In 2004, I met Tony Curtis. He exuded 'old Hollywood.' He made his way around the room, speaking to each person, and when he approached me, he extended his hand and held my hand through the entire conversation. He focused on our conversation as if there was no one else in the room. As we said goodbye (he was still holding my hand), he raised my hand to his lips and kissed it. He was dressed impeccably and was in fine form. I have had many celebrity encounters, but nothing rises to the level of Tony Curtis. Absolutely the best celebrity encounter I've ever had."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Sir Patrick Stewart at the Peabody Hotel in Orlando. We were both hanging out with friends in the lobby. He told stories, made lots of jokes with his friends, and included us in the conversation."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I went to college with Muhammad Ali's twin daughters. He came with them for move-in day, and they arrived in a chauffeured Rolls Royce. He was gracious and took as many pictures and signed as many autographs as people wanted. I even have a picture where he is pretending to punch me. I told him that I grew up down the street from the house he had in Chicago before he donated it to the Nation of Islam. He asked me if they were good neighbors and laughed when I told him not really."
TOTAL NIGHTMARE: "My sister met Katy Perry at a restaurant, but she was being rude to the bartender and all the employees who came over to help, so now my niece and nephew aren't allowed to listen to her music."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Tori Amos, and she was an absolute sweetie pie. She hugged me and told me she liked my shirt. We spoke briefly. I was starstruck, but it made a lasting impression on me."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I grew up in a tiny town (pop. 3,000), and every year for his twins' birthday dinner, Michael J. Fox would bring his whole family to the restaurant my mom worked at. She almost always ended up being their server and she said he (and his family) were the nicest people. They were unobtrusive, friendly, and excellent tippers."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "James Earl Jones was super sweet. My father and I met him when I was young. His voice is deep, but sweet!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I met Dennis Quaid, and he was the nicest guy ever. We chatted about dogs for a while, and he was more than happy to take a few pictures!"
TOTAL NIGHTMARE: "I helped host a book signing for Bobby Flay, and he's a jerk."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Every time Dave Matthews plays at the venue across the street from our bookstore, people want to be working in the cafe because he randomly shows up for coffee the morning of his concert and gives the people waiting on him free tickets."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Nicest celebrity I've ever met was Cole Sprouse. This was way before when he probably got sick of being on Riverdale and decided to just show his true colors. He took the photo of us together because I was shaking from nerves and excitement."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "I was a bartender at the Troubadour for five years and have so many stories! Jeff Bridges was the first celeb I met. His band was playing. Before we opened, after his sound check, he made a point of coming down to us bartenders to introduce himself and thank us for helping out that night. SUCH A GEM!"
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "Jason Schwartzman came into the bar I worked in on a night that had a bunch of teenage bands playing and was super sweet to any of the kids who came up to him."
ABSOLUTE DREAM: "When I was young, I went to an Olivia Newton-John concert. I grew up watching Grease on repeat and had always loved her. At the concert, me and another young girl were invited on stage to give her flowers and introduce ourselves. On stage, l asked to get her autograph and she told me she would after the show. Post-concert, I waited with my family to get an autograph and she invited me and my dad into her fitting room and no one else. Once back there, I was so starstruck and amazed that she remembered my name! She was so kind and took pictures with me and my dad, signed a photo, gave me the set list, and wrapped it up by giving me a hug and kiss on the cheek. She spent probably an hour with us just hanging out in her room and chatting. To this day, it's one of my most cherished memories."

Darkness engulfs me. It devours me like the creature I fear most. I try opening my eyes but there’s no difference. All I see is total black nothingness.
It wouldn’t be so bad if I weren’t deathly terrified of the dark.
At home there’s never a time when I allow darkness to fully overwhelm the light. I have night lights and security lights lining every hall and in every room. I’m never one hundred percent in the dark. That is, not until now.
I feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead at the mere thought of what could be lurking in the inky blackness that envelopes me. Even the most mundane holds terror when you can’t see it but your mind tells you it’s there. A throng of spiders waiting just out of reach to make me its next meal. A pit of snakes that you dangle perilously close to the precipice.
If you can’t see, how can you tell if your eyes are open or closed?
I reach down and press my hand against the cold floor that I lay on. I stretch out my fingers, laying them flat to feel it. The cold creeps into them, its tendrils invading my body like a virus. It feels like the darkness is digging through my skin deeper down inside me to my bones, to my marrow, to my soul.
I’m lost in this sea of gloom. I don’t even know where I am. I’m terrified to make a move lest I tumble over the invisible edge.
I don’t know how I got here.
I don’t know where here is.
I’ve no idea why I’m here, unless…
As fearful as this mysterious place makes me, the thought of unless chills me to the marrow. The darkness is even set aside for a moment in my mind, displaced by the unless.
It seems so long ago and at the same time, it feels like it just happened. The deepest, darkest place in my soul. The thing I keep locked up tight, never to ponder let alone discuss. The unless is untouchable. Only in my worst nightmares does my subconscious toy with the idea of the unless.
No. I can’t let it consume me. My thoughts running rampant won’t help me to discover what this place is. I must do that first if the miracle of escape is even possible.
I slowly slide my hand outward as far as it will reach. Each micro-moment prepared to withdraw it if harm is approached. With my senses diminished, the only way to search for harm is to sacrifice my hand. Like sending out a scout to see if the area is clear or the enemy is close by.
My hand reaches its limit unmolested. I change direction from straight out to an arc. Feeling for anything like a one-winged snow angel.
My hand discovers nothing, but the movement has stimulated something of my lost senses. I hear the sliding of my fingers on the floor’s surface.
It echoes back to me quickly. I try once again, faster and louder this time. The echoes return almost immediately.
My mind absorbs the details and makes a conclusion. The room must not be very big. It augments the conclusion with the supposition that the floor is concrete. The smoothness, the cold, and the sound it makes all seem to come together.
I further test the conclusion by forming a fist and knocking on the floor.
The sound and feel cement the hypotheses.
As I congratulate myself on my deduction, I hear something. Having not moved, I don’t think the sound came from me. It happened only briefly and I wasn’t listening for any sounds outside the ones I’d made.
My mind replayed it and came to a startling conclusion. It sounded like a sigh.
As if someone was my unwitting cellmate in this murky prison.
Relief and despair fought a furious battle at the prospect of another in my company that I know nothing about.
Company in this tenebrous place would be a welcome happenstance. It may even lead to our escape if we work together.
However, if I am here about the unless then what horrid crime had they committed to be relegated to this torturous existence?
Caution seemed the most prudent course. Perhaps my cellmate was unaware of my existence. Keeping it that way until I could discover more seemed a prudent goal.
Armed with the knowledge of the floor’s composition and the existence of a potential cellmate, I set about to gather more information about my surroundings.
I rolled onto my back slowly, so as not to make any noise that would alert the other to my presence. I then used my other arm to search for any obstructions within its arc.
Finding none, I proceeded to move my legs as far to the side as possible, completing my concrete angel.
Next on my list for this absurd exploration, I slowly rolled over onto my stomach, making sure to feel as far out with my hand should a sudden drop-off present itself unannounced and end my journey in the most horrific fashion.
Finding nothing to impede my progress, I took the next step of taking my first step.
As I did, my shoe brushed the floor, making a sound that under normal circumstances would barely be noticed. However, I wasn’t in normal circumstances.
The effect was immediate and terrifying.
This time there was no sigh. It was a low-throated growl.
I became a statue as liquid nitrogen rushed through my veins. The growl was deep and throaty, like a lion’s only somehow different.
Every inch of my being clenched in a group effort to stay as still as humanly possible. My hope was that this thing would think it had made a mistake and hadn’t heard the movement of its next potential meal. It was more than a hope, it was the key to my survival.
The problem was I was trapped in a position kneeling on one knee, about to get up. My knee on the hard floor was starting to complain and I knew it was only a matter of time until my balance wavered.
I couldn’t hold this position for long. I was already starting to shake from the effort. My balance was wavering, beads of sweat formed on my forehead. I hoped it couldn’t smell fear because I was throwing out waves of it.
My leg was shaking, my knee was screaming. I had to make a decision. Do I sit back down or go all the way to standing?
Whichever I did needed to happen fast before my knee gave out and I collapsed to the floor in a noisy heap.
I decided to stand. Putting one hand on my knee and the other on the floor, I pushed up and ascended. As I rose, my knee popped. It wasn’t painful, but it was loud in this quiet room. So loud that it echoed back to me.
I made it all the way to the standing position before I heard the growl again. This time it was followed by sounds that were much worse. First was a sniffing sound as if it was testing the air, searching for its prey. The second was the soft yet unmistakable sound of a footstep.
I didn’t breathe as I waited to hear another. I listened for any sound, and unfortunately, I heard one. It was this thing’s breath. It was long and slow as if this monster’s lungs were huge to accommodate a massive body.
The sniffing continued but the second footfall didn’t come. Perhaps it was as confused as I was as to why it was here.
I was never so glad about the darkness as at that moment. I was still terrified, but at least the darkness had become my ally if only for a moment. I couldn’t see the monster, which was a blessing in itself. My imagination was already picturing the most horrendous, demonic thing that ever cursed the planet with its existence. But the darkness was a double-edged sword. It couldn’t see me either. If I stayed quiet enough, it might write me off as nothing more than a figment of its imagination.
With only rhythmic breathing and no sound of pursuit, I took my first standing step away from the beast. With measured and calculated caution, I stepped away from the sound of my bane and felt silently and cautiously with the toe of my shoe to make sure there was a floor to step onto.
My foot landed with the impact of a feather. I transferred weight to that leg and stepped with the other. With the lights on and no demon waiting to devour me, my motions would’ve been quite comical.
As the situation was, they were anything but.
I continued the arduous task of silent escape, listening intently for any change in the monster’s breathing.
Time had no meaning in this place, but if I were to guess I would say it took me nearly half an hour to take ten steps.
The eleventh step, however, was the problem.
When I put my foot out, it hit something.
I immediately froze. I couldn’t tell if the something had been hard like a table, or soft like another creature lying in wait for some poor stupid person to stumble into it.
I drew my foot back and waited to see if whatever it was reacted. The darkness didn’t abate. At times I considered holding my eyes closed. At least that would keep them hydrated. For some strange reason, it also seemed to help my focus.
I listened for any sign that this object was alive and/or about to devour me. After a few moments, the only sound I heard was my own breathing. I tentatively stuck out my foot and touched the object again.
It was hard and unyielding. I reached out with my arm and also touched something solid. I felt around on it and bent down all the way to the floor.
It was a wall.
The rough texture and ridges told me it was made of concrete block. I reached as high as I could, even getting up on my tiptoes, trying to find anything useful.
I explored the wall, feeling my way to the right until I reached a corner. As tempted as I was to turn and feel down this new wall, I knew it ended on the side of the room where the monster dwelled. I had no desire to approach that thing without light and a very deadly weapon.
As much as my fingers had become my eyes, my ears became my sonar, staying tuned to any sound. To this point, there hadn’t been much.
That didn’t last.
There was a shuffling sound that made me freeze. It was followed by the sounds of scraping on the concrete floor. Its soft breathing had gotten deeper and steadier.
It was getting up.
I stood in my corner not moving, barely breathing as I heard one soft footstep after another, getting louder with each step.
It was curious about the other side of the room… my side of the room.
I had to focus not to give it a strong smell to follow. I hadn’t used the bathroom in hours. Not that there was a bathroom in here that I knew of, but I would’ve used the other corner and then never returned to it until nature called again.
As the monster continued across the room I could hear sniffing.
It was hunting for me.
My nerves told me to run. My mind told me to stand still. My bladder didn’t care as long as it was emptied soon.
The footsteps continued to approach. There was no doubt it was searching for me, and it would find me. My mind ran through every option available in a blindingly dark room with a beast searching for its next meal that was slowly approaching.
I hugged the wall and started toward the other side of the room.
Common sense argued that I had no idea if there was another creature on the far side of the room, but there seemed to be no choice.
As we continued our silent dance, I pictured the creature passing by as I slid along the wall toward its side of the room.
When we had both reached the halfway point, it suddenly stopped. I froze and held my breath as it sniffed the air. For a long moment, it was totally silent. It seemed to be holding its breath as well as if listening for me.
I kept my eyes squeezed shut and focused on being totally still. My lungs were burning from holding my breath. I knew I would soon spew out the stale air and gulp in fresh.
I also knew that would be the end of me. The creature would know I was here and it would use the sound to track me down and tear me to bloody shreds as it devoured me.
The countdown had begun in my mind. It was a matter of seconds until my lungs gave out and I had to breathe the last breath.
10…
9…
8…
7…
I heard a footstep. The creature was moving again.
I held my hand over my mouth and slowly exhaled, then just as slowly inhaled. It was difficult to keep my oxygen-starved lungs from demanding more air, but I was able to catch up quietly without breathing so hard as to make noise.
I continued on my perilous journey toward the unknown, carefully listening to the creature also continue its journey.
As I reached the corner of my nemesis, fear gripped me as I stepped on something soft. I waited for an attack that never came. Slowly, I reached down to explore this newfound softness. It was hair. Soft fur the kind that an animal would shed.
All my suspicions were now fact. There was an animal here. It wasn’t just my imagination. My fear and anxiety were fully justified.
As I made my revelation, I heard my nemesis reach the far wall and bump into it. It then began sniffing in earnest.
It must’ve caught my scent.
It knew I was real too.
The sniffing was getting closer. I allowed myself a moment of panic before the realization that the only thing I could do was continue my course around the room. I made my way through the blanket of fur and headed for the far wall, feeling as I went for the one thing that may hold my potential rescue, a doorknob.
So far, there had been no indication of a door whatsoever. I prayed that the unexplored wall would remedy that.
I continued on this insane and deadly game of ring around the Rosie, stepping up my speed as much as possible while still staying silent. It’s one thing to know you’re being hunted, it’s another thing altogether to ring the dinner bell by giving your position away.
I was counting on it becoming confused when it circled back to its own nest. It was still as dark as ever and apparently, this thing didn’t have any better night vision than I did.
I reached the far corner and hope surged through me that I would find a door. My escape seemed imminent. I stepped up my search, going faster along this wall, but also feeling as much of the surface as possible in search of the desired door.
My hopes came crashing down when I reached the next corner without finding anything.
It couldn’t be.
It had to be here.
How else did this demon and I enter the room?
My despair crushed me like a ton of bricks. There was nothing left to do. This thing would eventually catch me. There was no escape.
In the middle of my pity party, I noticed something. The room was silent.
I couldn’t hear it sniffing.
I couldn’t hear it breathing.
I had no idea where it was.
I tried to keep my breathing under control as panic washed over me. There was nothing to do but wait.
In the darkness, I felt something soft brush against me.
It had found me.
The subtle growl was no longer across the room, it was right here in front of me.
OhmyGodOhmyGodOhmyGod!
I felt a river run down the inside of my pants as my bladder finally gave up the fight.
A sharp claw ran across my throat, not hard enough to cut, but enough to let me know I was about to die.
I couldn’t take it anymore. The darkness. The silence. The menace.
I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I screamed over and over. It wasn’t even words, just primal sounds that escaped me. Every wail as a baby. Every cry of pain. Every shriek of fright as I woke from a nightmare. I let them all out. The screams of my victims as they suffered at my hands. The screams of their families as the court sentenced me. The screams inside my mind in a cell alone thinking only of the unless.
The unless.
The unless…
The unless!
Suddenly the lights came on.
I covered my eyes to ward off the brightness. As I slowly adjusted I was able to look around the room.
The creature was gone.
No, it couldn’t be.
I looked over at the wall where I had walked through the fur, but there was none. I looked all around, but there were only blank walls.
Where is it?
Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit?
I turned round and round, but it was gone. Had it ever really been here?
A door opened and two large men dressed in white came in.
“No,” I screamed. “Don’t come near! It’ll get you!”
They marched across the room oblivious to the danger and picked me up.
“It’s time to go back to your room,” one of the men said, picking me up under the shoulder. “The doc says you’ve had enough therapy for today.”
“Did you see it?” I said.
They carried me out without answering. We came into a hallway that stretched forever. I tried to look back at the open door.
“Don’t let it out,” I said. “You’ve got to keep it in.”
They didn’t bother to look back, just continued down the hall.
I turned and saw it peek it’s head out of the room.
“No!” I screamed.
They didn’t stop, didn’t slow, just picked me up so my feet dangled off the floor until we reached a room. They unlocked it and set me in on my bunk.
“You should probably get cleaned up,” one of the men said as I tried to get up but he held me down.
“You know how this goes,” he said. “You stay on your bunk until we lock the door.”
The second man backed out of the room then the first man released me and followed him.
I ran for the door.
“You don’t understand! It’s loose. It’ll kill you all!”
They turned and walked away.
“No!” I screamed at the tiny window in my door.
I pounded on the door for a long time, but no one else came by. Maybe it had already gotten them. Maybe it would come to my door and peek in my window with blood dripping from its mouth.
I stepped back from the door, feeling exhausted. I looked over at the tiny shower stall and did what they suggested.
Everything was built into the wall. The shower, the sink, the table, the bed, there was nothing I could use to hurt myself or defend myself.
After I took a shower and put on fresh clothes, I sat at my desk and wrote what had happened with the monster. When I was done I laid down, hoping to be able to rest.
At the appointed time, the lights went out.
The darkness engulfed me.
It devoured me like the thing I fear most.
I lay there with my eyes open, waiting.
In the black nothingness, I heard it, a soft growl.

Me 23F and my mother 59F have never gotten along very well. For as long as I can remember my mother has had incredible outbursts both in public and private where she would either react to nothing or over react to small things. She is not a good mother but it’s not entirely her fault as she has some mental issues that cause her to be depressed and angry a lot. Growing up I did my best to not be mother this I tried to not react to things physically or emotionally and now very little can rattle me. Now on to the story. The past few weeks I’ve been staying with my parents as they invited me and some other family on vacation with them. We just got back a few days ago and I was making myself some ramen when my mother turned around and told me to “clean up that mess you’ve made in the kitchen” the counters were spotless and clean and I had only just gotten out the bag of ramen and a bowl. So I asked her what mess and she began yelling at me. I know it sounds like I’m skipping something… I’m not. She said all I did was go around making messes I told her that I had just gotten out of bed and had barely begun to make my ramen breakfast, thus I hadn’t done anything. I could see that she was getting frustrated so held up a hand and told her we could continue the conversation when she was more relaxed. She didn’t like that one bit and got less than an inch from my face and began threatening to “slap the shit out of me” if I spoke to her like that again and that one day something horrible would happen to me and she was excited because she wanted to watch. I was backed up against the counter so I simply told her to “leave and do not touch me”. We both left to cool off for a bit and my dad who was sick asked me to get some medication for him from their bathroom. I said yes of course and walked in to find my mother putting away clothes she yelled at me to get out but I simply ignored her and after giving the meds to my dad returned back to the kitchen to find my mother still in a bit of a state. Here’s where I might be the asshole. When she tried to speak I held up a hand and told her that I didn’t have time for her attitude and drama and that I would talk to her later once she had gotten herself together.
I know it was rude but I don’t enjoy fighting with family and it’s a waste of time. I’m a very emotionally detached person and expect others to be able to handle things without crying or getting angry and such. Personally I don’t think I’m the asshole. As there’s no reason I should have to endure threats from a close family member.
AITA?

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This is going to be a little bit more on the serious than most posts on here, but I feel I can’t post this on splatoon because I will also preface that I don’t want to play this season because Stringer has been my favorite weapon, and now feels borderline unplayable. This will be a long read, so I appreciate if you read until the end, but I don’t expect you to.
For context of who is creating this rant, I was in S+7 rank last season making it with only Stringer. So now I’m currently in S rank. I also play Salmon Run more often than not, dabbling into PVP to spice things up every now and then.
BEFORE YOU COMMENT: Please for fuck sake don’t make any gross comparisons or invalidate anything I say unless they are actually good reasons. It’s rude, and I will ignore your comment if I notice it. Yes, I know Brellas still have their issues, but Brellas are moreso a victim of Splatoon’s bad net code, which this does not cover the same issue as the one I talk about here. I’m going to discuss more about why this specific season unknowingly decimated the weapon they try to constantly advertise to the public.

Backstory: Stringer Has Always Been a Bad Weapon

A lot of people don’t exactly know how this weapon works. That’s only fair, since there are no top players who bother with the thing. To put it briefly from my point of view, Stringer tries its best to be a kill assist tool, as well as attempt to provide area denial for certain areas from a distance. Because of this, Stringer can do well on Tower Control, but will struggle in basically every other mode.
Since landing critical hits from Stringer are terribly inconsistent, you’re generally encouraged to find nuanced ways to kill your opponents with the ground explosions and the arc the bullets create. Toxic Mist compliments this ability very well, while Killer Wail 5.1 is… meh. With the ability to shoot vertically or horizontally, it makes for a mid-to-back liner that requires creativity to get kills, which actually is incredibly fun to me.
However, this is also the reason the weapon is bad: because of the way damage is distributed, Stringer fails to consistently get kills when they were already well earned. A hit from all three dart explosions deals 84 damage. That sounds good right? Well, your opponent can just… shake it off in less than a second before you you get a chance to hit them again. I have been in situations where I have hit people well between 5-6 times in a single interaction(hitting with both the darts and explosions), just to die to the same guy I was just shooting at ACCURATELY for 5 straight seconds because he ran up and started shooting his Splattershot. Interactions like these are generally what leads to the downfall of a game.
Despite this, I have still found the weapon to be fun and would still play it regardless of the weapon’s flaws. Before I get into why I feel this season is unplayable for Stringer, I should probably explain the general matchup flow for Stringer before the new season.

Matchups

Generally, Stringer can do pretty well against weapons with average range and movement. There are some exceptions to this, like the fact that Stringers can usually safely apply pressure to Splatlings from a distance. Strangely, it’s significantly harder to apply pressure to chargers, as you usually need to make yourself vulnerable to a 1-hit KO every time you emerge from a wall while aiming.
So that being said, the counters to Stringer before Sizzle season are as follows: Range Blaster, all of the Ink Brush variants, Jet Squelcher(s), and Chargers. Let me go into a few specifics.
Range Blaster: Range Blasters generally want to threaten and intimidate back liners, which is fair since the weapon is very good at that. Generally If you get hit once by a range blaster and don’t notice where it is, it basically spells the end for you. However, there is a way you can fight back at the cost of compromising your position. If you try to swim closer and kill the Range Blaster with squiffs, you can actually take them down since they struggle to hit up close. For this reason I think this matchup is completely fair, while still favoring the Range Blaster.
Ink Brushes: Remember how I said Stringer is mainly about area denial? Brushes can completely ignore any trap a Stringer can set up just by running. Add the fact the most of them are out to flank me, and you have a matchup that is literally un-winnable unless you land a critical hit WHILE THEY’RE MOVING. You can’t run from them since they can just chase you down, with the only thing you can do is try to fight them in a pitiful attempt to deal a maximum of 60 damage(which most of the time it’s only 30 damage). Yes, this applies to all brushes.
Chargers: to dumb it down, it’s “one-shot or get one shot.” I have successfully won interactions with chargers in the past, but the precision required to even approach a long distance interaction with a charger, in comparison to what is required of the charger, simply isn’t worth it. It puts pressure on them allowing your team to move more, sure. But if you lose the interaction, which you basically always will, you leave your team with one less support weapon and a charger on the loose.

Sizzle Season

Firstly, thank you if you read this far. I know I had to give a lot of information before telling you the actual problems with this season, so I appreciate your patience. Unfortunately, I feel the information I had to dump was necessary to allow people to understand the general struggle of this weapon since it doesn’t have any known representatives. Now then, the problems with the season:
3a. The New Weapons
After talking about the weapons that counter Stringer, I think you can see where this is going. The most popular new weapons feel like an un-winnable matchup, and they’re EVERYWHERE. And based on the positive reception towards the new kits, they’re not going to slow down anytime soon. Since this is a subreddit for venting, I kind of want to go why you can’t fight any of the following.
S Blast ‘92: Remember when I said you could counter Range Blaster by attempting to fight it up close? Not an option anymore. The close shot is ENORMOUS, so it eliminates the counter play you could’ve possibly had to begin with. The only thing you can do is shoot them before they get close, but the gap to get close enough to secure a kill for S Blast is tiny. This basically forces Stringers to never interact with them under any circumstances.
Painbrush: Yep, just another brush that’s impossible to hit. With the added fact it has RANGE now. The two new main weapons feel like specific insults to Stringers.
Wiper Deco: This is honestly a problem just in general, but the amount this weapon refuses to interact while helping the rest of their team forces me to constantly be on the lookout for beacons and missiles, while never actually finding the source of it. Add that to the fact the main weapon is already good(not necessarily a counter), and I am forced to be on the move constantly.
Splatling Deco: Remember how I said that you can usually safely apply pressure to splatlings? What would happen if we gave a panic button? Basically if I didn’t one shot the Kraken, they can just… run or become a Kraken. Now I’m the one under free pressure for not being… precise enough? With an inconsistent weapon? Haha, skill issue, laugh it up. Fuck this thing.
Light Tetra Dualies: Stringer already stood no chance against this weapon from a moderate distance. Now it can hunt down back liners for free with Zipcaster. Coool. Oh yeah, and the dodge rolls make it so you literally can’t escape it, unlike Octobrush where you play a mini game to time it out until you’re safe.
The other weapons feel like I can stand somewhat of a fighting chance against them, and they definitely have solid enough kits to at least be an even matchup. My issue is that the weapons listed above are FAR more popular, and are WAY worse for Stringer. Will this change in a few weeks? Possibly. But with how the new weapons have been received, I doubt it.
3b. The New Stages SUCK
This is not a Stringer exclusive problem, but the design of these are very bad for Stringer in general. For some godforsaken reason, a charger can reach me over the gap on Barnicle and Dime when I’m on the OPPOSITE SIDE, but I can’t reach them.
Humpback Pumptrack is just flank points galore, and I die for not covering multiple players at the same time. I can’t play in the center since I’d be susceptible to attacks from all directions.
Add this with the new problems with matchups, and what the living fuck do I do??
3c. A Buff… I Don’t Think That’s Enough
When I’ve talked to people and try to explain Stringer, I’m usually asked “how could it be buffed?” I’ve said that the buff would need to be an overhaul to even stand a chance against the meta as well as other casual weapons, but is that enough? I don’t think making the main weapon better will change the fact that I’m still being hard countered by the community’s favorite weapons that I’d see every time I play PVP. The buff it would need to change the matchups would need to be absurd, and I don’t want to break what makes Stringer feel like a special weapon. Though, even if it doesn’t counter the weapons that I’ll be forced to fight, here’s what I would change to add consistency:

Direct Dart Damage(charged): 35 -> 40
Dart Explosion Damage: 28 -> 32
Apply more ink to the ground at full charge by 30%(why am I currently spending more ink for LESS paint?)
Anyone hit by direct hits cannot heal for 4 seconds.

These changes, as mentioned earlier, are just to make the damage more reliable and consistent. The buff that prevents healing is mainly to make sure you at least have enough time to attempt at least one follow up attack on your target, as well as being equally as threatening as other support/back weapons.
The full charge buff is more of a logical buff. You actually cover LESS ink by charging the move up completely, and I feel that doesn’t make sense. I feel the added paint would give additional incentive for players to shoot full charge shots more often, as they’d get more meter from the shot. After all, Stringer is probably the easiest of the back line weapons to approach.
The increased damage is to match up with how much damage chargers do, making it so landing a critical hit will score 120 damage. Triple explosions are not a guaranteed one hit KO, but the damage increases from 84 to 96, making the weapon more threatening from a trapping perspective.

It DESPERATELY Needs A New Kit

If buffs don’t get added, I can at least live with a new kit. They don’t have to counter any of the mentioned above specifically, but there needs to be more ways to play Stringer. This ends where I talk about the issues. Thank you for reading this far(if you actually read everything). With that being said, here are some of the kits I made up. Until Stringer has been fixed in some form of fashion, I’m gonna play Salmon Run. Y’know, an actually well designed game.
Here are some kits I came up with.

Squidforce Tri-Stringer: Fizzy Bomb, Wave Breaker

This kit would be a more aggressive kit and especially good at threatening players hiding behind walls, as well as comboing darts with Fizzy Bomb, or using Fizzy Bomb to threaten certain movement options. Wave Breaker would help the Stringer locate stragglers and continue to threaten them from a distance with arc shots and Fizzy Bombs again. Generally, Stringer also benefits from specials that allow it to fight immediately, which Killer Wail 5.1 actually does get correct.

Tri-Stringer Nouveau: Point Sensor, Big Bubbler

This kit would be more supportive and defensive, while also providing a good amount of poking opportunities after revealing each player’s location. Big bubbler mainly serves to protect against weapons that have enough range to poke at it, such as chargers and range blaster. If those weapons aren’t on the opposing team, the stringer can try to provide a good jump point for their team.
Rockenberg Tri-Stringer: Splash Wall, Ink Storm
This also a fairly aggressive kit, making it so you can threaten back liners by placing a wall in front of you, and then forcing the enemy to scatter using Ink Storm. As an added bonus, it will probably be easier to see your enemies in an ink storm, so you can try to shoot darts to either pick them off, or trap them inside by trying to read their movement.
P. S. If anyone says “Just play a different weapon lol🤓,” I’ll answer that now: No. Other weapons haven’t been fun for me in PVP. I tried shooters(Splash-O-Matic, Tentatek, Hero Shot), rollers, sloshers and splatanas. The only mildly fun class was Splatana, but that’s just because of how fun they are to use in Salmon Run(again, better game mode).

Hey Everyone!
Let’s go….
Newly Covered Today:

Interesting news about the currency in one of Cardano’s biggest metaverse projects. https://twitter.com/Pavia_io/status/1664240389610704896
Messari has released an article on operational decentralization in proof-of-stake crypto. https://messari.io/report/evaluating-validator-decentralization-geographic-and-infrastructure-distribution-in-proof-of-stake-networks
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has MASSIVELY revised their figures on Q4 of 2022. No surprise, the numbers were much worse than they told us. https://twitter.com/FrogNews/status/1664253845399130113
Looks like DAOs are getting a little hesitant about fee switches due to possible legal/tax implications. https://twitter.com/FrogNews/status/1664253845399130113
We even have Arctic block production. https://twitter.com/Laponia_pool/status/1664226409466740737
Questions are being raised regarding the blockspace consumption of dApps still on Plutus v1. https://twitter.com/matiwinnetou/status/1664385383122051073

Previously covered, but still interesting:

IOG wants you to know about the advantages of native tokens on Cardano. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1654077799697727488
Cardano Movies! https://twitter.com/coc_space/status/1653862307439542275
We really need to primary some members of the U.S. Congress. https://twitter.com/BradSherman/status/1653928972026093569
Wow! Not surprised at what’s being said here back in November. Just surprised it’s being said publicly. https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1654239504574853120
Here’s the longer video of that FDIC meeting for context. http://fdic.windrosemedia.com/index.php?category=Systemic+Resolution+Advisory+Committee
Looks like Western Alliance is up next. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1654133106037739522
The weekly development update from IOG is out. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1655248376194105347
It’s not hard to make a meme coin on Cardano. https://twitter.com/nmkr_io/status/1654923697885532160
Still a crazy amount of mark-to-market losses that haven’t been absorbed by the system. https://twitter.com/BillyM2k/status/1655207860572422144
Warren Buffet gives a not too comforting answer to a question about the status of the dollar: “America…we’ve got everything going for us…but…you can’t print money indefinitely as debt.” https://twitter.com/GRDectestatus/1655203348033810439
…and then everyone remembered what fee markets look like in busy times. https://twitter.com/CryptoStylesUSA/status/1654711146673479680
…same for Bitcoin. https://twitter.com/MatthewPlomin/status/1655320093084057600
Cardano hit 94% load. https://twitter.com/SebastienGllmt/status/1655624561789112321
he MEV game is getting out of control over on Cardano’s biggest competitor chain. Convince me this shouldn’t just be called “theft” or “fraud”. https://twitter.com/0xNox_eth/status/1655615309695586306
Cardano Native Assets are vastly superior to BRC20 and ERC20 tokens. https://twitter.com/TheOCcryptobro/status/1655673557710692352
Rumor: SEC is going to make a move against Binance. Will the DOJ also? https://twitter.com/AP_Abacus/status/1655546961968103425
At the end of Q3 of last year, 722 banks reported unrealized losses greater than 50% of capital. https://www.federalreserve.gov/supervisionreg/files/board-briefing-on-impact-of-rising-interest-rates-and-supervisory-approach-20230214.pdf
Wyoming is inching closer to a state stablecoin. IOG’s significant presence there may turn out to be a huge advantage. https://cowboystatedaily.com/2023/05/09/wyoming-stable-token-a-multibillion-dollar-opportunity-as-officials-wrestle-with-how-to-make-it-happen/
Paypal disclosed almost $1 billion in customer crypto in its latest 10-Q. https://blockworks.co/news/paypal-discloses-1b-crypto
MiCA is shifting the balance of crypto investment to Europe. https://twitter.com/paddi_hansen/status/1655883224726241281
Today (May 10) will be a joint hearing of the Agriculture and Financial Services Committees on Crypto. The CLO of Kraken will testify. https://financialservices.house.gov/
This is a legit point about centralized L2s: the best ones are called Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance. https://twitter.com/el33th4xostatus/1655845787593502720
There’s already a new version of Lace Wallet out. https://twitter.com/lace_io/status/1656347737355608066
A nice thread on the many strengths of Cardano. https://twitter.com/TobiasIlskov/status/1656388178369212416
Remember, lobster traps are a thing. https://twitter.com/TheCardanoTimes/status/1656064744225120257
Today (May 11 at 1pm EST) there will be a Messari Cardano Analyst call with Charles & Frederik. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1656272372452954112
I think we all love it when they start making our case for us. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1656379837823561730
Ethereum is lamenting many of its poor design choices that Cardano already fixed. https://twitter.com/moo9000/status/1656215016016683008
Drunkenmiller says this is the broadest asset bubble he’s ever even studied let alone seen firsthand and we’ve only had a few soft landings since 1950. https://twitter.com/Stephen_Geigestatus/1656416819312222219
Live footage of meme coin investors accepting their ROI. https://twitter.com/KaylerSmithTV/status/1656130092966264834
Here’s the Messari call from today with both Fred & Chaz. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouUhWwF74MM
People really seem to be enjoying the CF’s Blockchain Education Alpha Program. https://twitter.com/andreassosilo/status/1644263843743293451
The US Chamber of Commerce brief in the Coinbase case is calling out the SEC for acting “unlawfully”. https://twitter.com/MetaLawMan/status/1656737447756038177
About that whole self-custody thing we’ve discussed… https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1656706653801136132
The SPO poll on K and minFee starts today (May 15)! You should redelegate if your stake pool doesn’t vote the way you would vote! https://cardanofoundation.org/en/news/entering-voltaire-poll-experiment-live-on-mainnet/
There are also a series of forum topics for discussion of the various options in the Cardano.org forums. https://twitter.com/Lovecoach_nic/status/1657700010148896770
Coinbase spotlights Empowa! May be the first time they’ve ever given such a spotlight to a Cardano project. Tides are turning. https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1657081243518005254
Wow. Leaked “Key Messages” document for the joint committee meeting in the US House last week. Best part: they basically complain about separation of powers in point three. https://twitter.com/EleanorTerrett/status/1656362002577772544
Dr. Vanishree Rao on ZK-Rollups. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1657778843854274560
Here’s a new Decentralized Identity article from IOG. https://iohk.io/en/blog/posts/2023/05/11/atala-prism-pioneering-digital-identity-with-decentralized-solutions/
There are reasons we’re in a hard capped cryptocurrency like Cardano. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/15/business/argentina-interest-rates-inflation/index.html
What is a dRep? This video is for you. There will be additional categories of default dReps that vote abstain or no confidence on every vote. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1658034085401337857
The US Dept. of Justice is officially saying they are targeting exchanges. Great. Great. https://www.ft.com/content/5aac457e-cc80-44ae-ac40-9b51d9b601a3
Wow! Ledger just made what is possibly the greatest PR blunder in the history of crypto. Trezor will be poppin’ bottles tonight. https://twitter.com/Ledgestatus/1658458714771169282
People are claiming that the hysteria is a misunderstanding of cryptography. But, that’s not what’s going on here if Ledger plus one of the other two shard custodians can reconstruct your private key without having to use your private key. https://twitter.com/nimuepool/status/1658517533836574720
The Ledger Recover FAQ seems to support this understanding as it suggests you use a brand new device for recovery. https://support.ledger.com/hc/en-us/articles/9579368109597
Wow. Unfortunate timing for this. https://twitter.com/Ledgestatus/1658095051375800321
Ken Kodama will be doing a Japanese language interview on CardanoSpot on May 18. https://twitter.com/Emurgo_Ken/status/1658838077136162828
The stake pool operator poll on network parameters of K and minPoolCost is live. See the results here. The re-delegation phase will begin on May 25th. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
Cornucopias dropped some new in-game footage. As expected, Solace is beautiful. https://youtu.be/j5iwNsQVMDQ?t=1846
Wow….the Ledger shards are encrypted with “a master key that is contained in all devices”. Wut? https://twitter.com/P3b7_/status/1658809445965606913
Sadly, the Ledger CEO seemed to be denying exactly the above just a day ago. https://twitter.com/_pgauthiestatus/1658508082941403144
Here’s why 340 ADA minPoolCost promotes multi-pools. https://twitter.com/ArmySpies/status/1659387255537176581
Numbers are emerging on the benefits of K=1000 over K=500. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1659398551917727744
Here’s the latest on the Stake Pool Operator poll. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
Rep. Tom Emmer is trying to help crypto by cutting crypto assets out of the definition of a “security”. He creates a new non-security asset category called “investment contract asset”. https://twitter.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1659291641281146886
Prof. Wadler (co-inventor of Cardano’s Plutus) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society joining the likes of Einstein, Darwin, Hawking, and Isaac Newton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLOm-dWje-M
Huge amount of voting for economic self-interest by multi-poolers in the SPO poll. Earlier today (May 21), 84.73% by stake of the vote for K=500, Min Cost 340 ₳ was multi-poolers. Only 15.6% of the vote for K=1000, Min Cost 170 ₳ was multi-poolers. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
Large pools also voted heavily for economic self-interest with the K parameter. 70.02% by stake of the vote for K=500, Min Cost 170 ₳ was pools with delegation over 35 million. Only 30.57% of the vote for K=1000, Min Cost 170 ₳ was pools over 35 million. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
Apparently Cardano has its own wiki now! Probably better given our previous treatment by the big wiki group. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1660383700243329024
Rep. Tom Emmer is getting some reactions on the bill he sponsored with Rep. Soto. https://twitter.com/GOPMajorityWhip/status/1660329932495486977
You’re really gonna hold up a debt ceiling deal because you hate crypto so bad? https://twitter.com/gaborgurbacs/status/1660248530135515138
Looks like a few big multi-poolers have voted in the poll since yesterday. Pretty easy to predict what they didn’t vote for. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
Reports coming in that DCG has defaulted on the payment owed to Genesis. https://twitter.com/AP_Abacus/status/1660671386388504577
Ledger Recover would allow governments to confiscate crypto assets by subpoena? Called “not a real concern in the end.” Really? https://twitter.com/TheBTCTherapist/status/1660677064700178436
Frederik Gregaard on DeFi and regulation. https://twitter.com/F_Gregaard/status/1660655806709211137
Don’t Forget, the May Cardano 360 will be on May 25th. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1660621805017608194
Here’s the daily check-in on the status of the SPO Poll. We have surpassed 590 pools voting (as of May 23). https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong has decided to get our hopes up with a proposed regulatory framework for crypto exchanges that could mean more trading for coins like Cardano. https://apps.sfc.hk/edistributionWeb/gateway/EN/news-and-announcements/news/doc?refNo=23PR53
Here’s an IOG thread on the latest out of Atala Prism and Self-Sovereign Identity. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1660904360925188097
Here’s an IOG article on Cardano native tokens. https://twitter.com/InputOutputHK/status/1660975383997448193
The difference in decentralization between Cardano and Bitcoin is still…laughable. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1660979639907500033
Ledger is finally caving (a little) to the backlash. It’s reported that they will focus on open sourcing parts of their code and only release the “Recover” firmware after that open sourcing is finished. https://twitter.com/NFTherdestatus/1661026174779420672
Looks like the Hong Kong announcement yesterday might have been a hint of what’s coming. https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1661391542504902664
The Cardano Layerverse is coming to life. https://twitter.com/TobiasIlskov/status/1660697833115385856
Wow! Incredible! Thank you for voting in favor of decentralization, 1PCT! https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1661460222203002880
Federal Reserve report debunks claim that crypto is not useful to people in the US. https://twitter.com/SebVentures/status/1661063483369177108
The SPO phase of the poll is over. Nearly 800 pools voted. Now it’s your turn to see how your pool voted and re-delegate if you think they voted against decentralization and for their own pocketbook. https://adastat.net/polls/96861fe7da8d45ba5db95071ed3889ed1412929f33610636c072a4b5ab550211
The May Cardano 360 is out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_bCa_xCoxA
Charles dropped an update today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfL2U2hAGWw
Sen. Cynthia Lummis declares her opposition to the 30% tax on bitcoin mining. https://twitter.com/SenLummis/status/1661803569341759495
Lots of volume being transacted on Cardano recently! https://twitter.com/cwpaulm/status/1662929296329981952
Recent subpoenas to the Python Package Index don’t bode well for those hoping to store seed phrases with third-party custodians. https://twitter.com/_jonasschnelli_/status/1662531840606093312
Transaction volume is looking very interesting right now. https://messari.io/charts/cardano/txn-vol
JPG Store has now launched Android and IOS apps. https://twitter.com/jpgstoreNFT/status/1663281982262919170
It’s true. Cardano is straight killing it on the security leg of the trilemma.https://twitter.com/cardano_whale/status/1662987243655684096
Just checked. Yep. The centralization in ETH is still staggering. https://twitter.com/StakeWithPride/status/1663222056870350848
There’s a documentary about a 2022 Plutus hackathon in Argentina. https://twitter.com/LarsBrunjes/status/1663111319732535297
Pavia is testing NFT gating. This could get very interesting. https://twitter.com/Pavia_io/status/1663153213988823040
Marlowe is on mainnet! You can now code Cardano smart contracts in javascript or blockly via Marlowe! This is an amazing leap forward. https://twitter.com/marlowe_io/status/1663480828016435200
Don’t forget! We are still in the re-delegation phase of the CF Poll. See how your stake pool voted! If they were voting for their pocketbook instead of decentralization, you should re-delegate! https://twitter.com/Cardano_CF/status/1663564854572244994
Wow! Cardano projects are doing big things these days! https://twitter.com/CardanoCrocClub/status/1663468916843114498
The CCP has dropped a white paper on how it will develop Web 3 including NFTs and the metaverse. https://twitter.com/milestones_nft/status/1663458500922712064
Lace is now open source! https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1663953642045714433
Binance is back and apparently they don’t care if someone had that ticker first. https://twitter.com/pool_pm/status/1663809731603906560
Summon is now allowing for multichain swaps of ADA & ERG. https://twitter.com/N8iveToEarth/status/1664038846563225600
Charles did a Twitter Space with World Mobile. https://twitter.com/IOHK_Charles/status/1663984094252810283
Here’s an easy infographic on CIP-1694 Voltaire governance from IOG. https://twitter.com/Hornan7/status/1664007623799185409
Apparently, Cardano sushi is a thing! https://twitter.com/Allison_Fromm/status/1663841386074976257
This kind of sums up the problems with central bank behavior over the last 20 years. https://twitter.com/JeffWenigestatus/1664012650781585409

~Army of Spies

“It’s a hard truth to accept, son… but you need to let her go. You need to understand that your daughter is dead. Gone. Whatever's left… that’s not your little girl. Not anymore.”
Those words broke me, but I needed to hear them.

Pastor Sanders put a gentle hand on my shoulder as I bowed my head, feeling the tears come.
“I’m sorry, Father…” I said, expecting him to take his hand away, to chide me for my weakness. But he did no such thing. Ever the gentle shepherd, he comforted me in my moment of need. He was a kind, but stern looking man, with a comforting smile and greying hair.

“It is natural to mourn the death of your own child,” He said. “That’s what any good father would do.”
“I tried… I tried to raise her right… tried to take care of her.”

“You did your best, my son,” Pastor Sanders assured me, “That is all that a man can do. But Satan is relentless. He is devious. He never comes with horns and a pitchfork. He chooses a more innocent form. He comes bearing what seems like wisdom, he comes in the form of a teacher, a friend, a mentor. Your daughter is not the first child whos life he has slithered his way into… and until the day where he is vanquished along with all the demons of hell, she will not be the last. Children are among Satan’s favorite targets. He seeks to indoctrinate them for his glory, he corrupts them and destroys them. I know what it is like as a parent to watch as he takes the child you raised and leaves something evil in its place. Not knowing or understanding what is happening. It’s a horrifying experience.”

“It happened to you too?” I asked.
Pastor Sanders nodded solemnly.
“It did. The pain you’re experiencing right now, I know it all too well. I lost my son about two years ago. He… he used to be a good boy. A proud boy. Then he met some girl…” His voice lowered into a hiss of disgust, “She lured him away from God. Turned him into something he wasn’t. She took him away from me.”

“How did you get him back?” I asked.
“I didn’t,” Pastor Sanders replied. “There comes a certain point where they are too far gone to save. When your child has forsaken God completely, there is no returning from that. There is no life without God, there is only despair and the only salvation that can be offered to them is to prevent them from comitting any further attrocities before God.”

My heart seized up in my chest.
“Father…?” I asked.
He had a far away look in his eye.
“I brought that boy into this world… I took him out. It was the only way I could save him. The only thing I could do to spare him from eternal Hellfire. I sent his soul to God, and through God I hope he may be purified.”

I was silent, unsure what to say to that. It almost sounded as if the Pastor was talking complete madness. He looked back at me, studying my expression for a moment before smiling at me.
“You’re wondering how I could do it, aren’t you?” He asked.
“Your own son, Father?
“Yes, my own son. It was necessary, to save his soul… and if you want to save your daughter…”
“No!” I said, standing up suddenly, “No! No, I couldn’t!”

He remained seated in the pew of the empty church, looking up at me.
“Then your daughter will be condemned to Hell.”
“There must be some way to save her!” I said.
“If there were, I would share it with you. You know that I would. But there is nothing. Nothing more that I have to offer you, here. The only path forward is to deny the Devil his soul.”
“Please, Father… please, I can’t…”

He finally stood up, turning to leave me.
“Father…?” I asked, as he stepped out from between the pews. He sighed before looking back at me. He paused, studying me for a moment before speaking again.
“As I said before, your daughter is already dead. My son was too. Whatever remains isn’t really them. Not anymore. You won’t get her back. All you can do is set her free. In the eyes of our children, we are their greatest heroes, Bill. And the task of a hero isn’t always an easy one. It never has been, even in the oldest myths. Think of Perseus… that’s a name you probably know, isn’t it?”

I nodded. The Greek hero who’d slain Medusa.
“Perseus ventured into the lair of the Gorgon, Medusa as an act of penance. When the King, his stepfather had invited him to a banquet, Perseus had no horse to offer him as a gift. So he asked the King to name his price. He requested the head of Medusa… and so Peresus sought it and when he returned, he earned his redemption. See yourself in Perseus, Bill. Do what needs to be done.”

With that, he left me there, broken in the pews and struggling with the truth he had bestowed upon me.

I already knew what needed to be done. And I knew that I had no choice but to do it.

Pastor Sanders was a stern teacher… but there was always purpose in his lessons. He was a man who spoke only truth, I knew this. It was why others feared him, ostracized him, persecuted him, and those who followed him. He had come to me at my lowest point about a year ago and I had given everything to follow him. My home was his home. My wealth was his wealth. People said I was a fool for what I did, but I knew that when the time came, they would wish that they had made the choices that I had made. I knew that the Lord would reward me for my loyalty to Pastor Sanders and to Him, for my faith in the Lord could not steer me wrong.

That said - I will admit that what Pastor Sanders told me tested my faith in him a little. But only a little. I knew in my heart that he was right. My daughter was dead. All I could do was deny whatever was left of her the chance to sin again, and perhaps free her soul. Maybe then, I might see her again in heaven. Maybe…

I would see her in heaven.

I would see her again and I would have my little girl back and that would be my reward! God willed it! God would make it so!

I knew what I had to do… and by God, I would do it. Like Perseus I would hunt the demon who had taken my daughter from me and I would destroy it, and grant her salvation!

Hallelujah.

***

I knew that I’d raised my little girl better than this. I knew that I’d raised her right. That I’d raised her to be honest, faithful, pure.

But the girl I saw walking down the street looked like none of those things. My daughter had natural hair, she didn’t dye it! She didn’t put on makeup like some whore, she didn’t dress like a whore! But the girl I saw walking down the street wore short shorts, had dyed blue hair, she had tattoos, good Lord! I almost didn’t recognize her as my own flesh and blood, and were it not for her aryan features I might not have recognized her at all.

I’d known that she had been sick… that she had been twisted. But I hadn’t realized just how bad it had gotten. I should never have let her leave home… I should never have let her leave me four years ago. But she’d begged and pleaded with me to let her go to college. She’d said that getting an education would be good for her. But I’d said no. I’d said that she didn’t need to waste her time on such things! A woman has no business slaving away for a wage. That’s a man’s job. That’s a man’s duty. But she’d begged and begged… and in the end I’d given in. I thought that maybe if she saw the depravity of the world for herself, she’d understand why I was so against her leaving. She’d understand why I didn’t want my precious flower to be poisoned by the sickness that has infected this world!

Clearly, I was wrong.

Once my daughter was gone, she never came back. I was sure she’d come home when I refused to continue to pay for her indoctrination at some college, but she persisted. She stayed in the city, put herself in debt to pay her way through school and started living with some other whore, who she paid rent with.

When I demanded that she return to me, she refused. She said that she wouldn’t go back under my roof! Even when I drove into that city to drag her out, to bring her home by force she locked herself in an apartment and had her ‘friends’ stand guard out front, telling me that she refused to see me.

I would have pushed past them, but they fought me tooth and nail. One of them, a particularly tall and somewhat lanky girl that she lived with. This girl I remembered most prominently. She’d had sharp, roman features, intense eyes and a large beanie that she wore on her head that made her look like some stoner, hippie freak. I swore that I even saw dreadlocks under there. She had been the strongest of them, to an almost impressive extent. She’d kept me from even making it into her apartment.

I’d sworn to her that I’d be back, but she hadn’t bothered indulging me with a reply. And when I had honored my word and returned with my brother and some of his friends, we found that someone else had taken over that apartment. My daughter and her whore friends had fled from us… and we weren’t able to find out where they went.

For years, I had not heard a single word from my daughter… and I missed her every day, or at least I suppose I missed the girl she had been, once upon a time. When I had tried reaching out to her, she had ignored me. I even tried getting in touch with some of her friends, but they refused to talk to her on my behalf.

This was not the girl I’d raised! The girl I’d raised would have honored her father, she would have known she owed me her respect and her obedience, she would never have treated me with such contempt!

No… this was nothing like the girl that I’d raised! This was something else although just what, I did not know. Pastor Sanders had said that only an actual demon could change someone so drastically, and I wondered if perhaps he was right.

I’d tried hiring a lawyer to look into some legal avenue I could pursue to have her brought back to me, and when that proved fruitless I tried to sue the college, for indoctrinating my daughter and taking her away from me, but that didn’t get me anywhere either.

My options dwindled away into nothing… and as much as I hadn’t wanted to accept Pastor Sanders truth, it was the only thing that I had left to cling to. Finding my daughter again after all these years was no easy feat… but I was patient and God was on my side.

She didn’t even notice me as she’d walked past my parked car that evening, but I saw her in all of her depravity. I saw the way she held hands with that tall girl I had seen before… the one who wore that disgusting beanie on her head. I watched as they chatted among each other, I observed the way they lingered so close to one another and I knew that they were more than just friends.

The sight of my daughter in some girls arms sickened me… my daughter, corrupted by this vile woman. The way that the woman in the beanie kissed my daughters cheek confirmed it. And as I watched them, I made the silent decision to kill her first… to teach my arrogant, faithless daughter… or whatever was left of her a lesson. To remind her that there was no place on this earth where she was safe from God!

The gun sat in my glovebox, it was loaded and ready. I watched as my daughter and her lover entered an apartment building. I already knew what floor they were going to, and I already knew which apartment.

Finding them had not been easy, but as I said I was persistent and blessed by God on my holy mission. The strength of Pastor Sanders kept me going and my faith was ironclad.

The sky was growing dark. After a few moments, I left my car and made my move. The gun rested heavy in my hand. It may not have been the most divine weapon, but it would do the job.

Floor 7, apartment 721.

That was my destination.

Like Perseus into the lair of Medusa, I stood stalwart and strong. I stepped out of the elevator and into the hall, feeling my heart race with every step. The voice of Satan whispered in my ear, begging me not to slaughter my own child. But I needed to do it. Killing her was the only way she could attain salvation! It was the only way she could return to God’s light!

My heart raced as I pounded on the door.
‘The task of a hero isn’t always an easy one.’
I was a hero, wasn’t I? I would be her hero!

I could hear footsteps approaching the door. I recognized them.

My daughter was close. My daughter was coming.

I would save her.

I exhaled, and when the door open I moved, forcing it open. I saw the wide, terrified eyes of my little girl as I closed my hand around her throat and pinned her against the wall. She tried to scream, but I forced her not to, pressing the gun into her stomach.
“Not a word…” I growled.

Her big blue eyes were fixated on me, wide and full of tears. For a moment, I remembered the child I’d used to know… the child I’d used to love.

I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do this…

I needed to. FOR HER SALVATION!

Grabbing my daughter, I dragged her deeper into the apartment. I didn’t see any trace of her girlfriend but I could hear a bath running in the next room. I tossed my daughter into the living room, sending her crashing to the ground and keeping the gun aimed at her. She didn’t utter a sound, she just stared at me, knowing what I was going to do.

“Wait…” She said, her voice trembling as she raised a hand to me, “D-Daddy wait…”
I didn’t answer her.

I heard the bathroom door open. Her girlfriend had likely heard the commotion and come to investigate.
“You will watch this…” I said to her, before turning to send the whore who had corrupted my daughter straight to hell.

No sooner had I turned around, did I see her emerging from the bedroom, dressed only in a bathrobe, with a towel wrapped around her head. She seemed to tower over me, and she fixed me in that intense stare of hers, recognizing me and immediately realizing what this was. I aimed the gun at her and watched her freeze.

“You took my girl away from me…” I hissed, “You took her from me…”
My finger pressed down on the trigger. There was no hesitation here. Only rage, pure and unfettered.

I would shoot this woman dead without batting an eye.

It would be easy.

And yet while the gun went off, the bullet missed.

I felt my daughters weight slamming into me, trying to stop me from killing the whore who had corrupted her. I heard her screaming at me, begging me not to. I threw her off of me. She was always a petite girl. She couldn’t stop me for long. I tried to aim the gun at the girlfriend again, but she had taken full opportunity of the distraction that my daughter had produced to close the distance between us. She grabbed me by the wrist with an iron grip, and kept me from aiming the gun at her.
“NO!” I spat, “DIE, YOU WHORE! DIE!”

With my free hand, I clawed at her face. I tore the towel off of her head and then…
Then…

Then I saw what lay beneath it… and my heart froze in my chest.

My daughter's girlfriend seemed surprised for a moment, but not for long. The things on her head on the other hand, seemed almost relieved to be free. They writhed and twisted on her scalp, hissing at me as they fixed me in their burning yellow eyes. They bore their fangs at me, rearing back to strike, but didn’t.

I stared into the eyes of Medusa. Beautiful, yet hideous with tangled emerald serpents for hair… and she looked back at me with a cold disgust that flayed me down to my very soul. Perseus would have stood brave! Perseus would have fought! I needed to fight too!

I struck her again, screaming in both terror and rage. She tried to stop me, but she wasn’t fast enough. I’d hit her across the head once, and was swinging my fist at her again when she caught it. One of the emerald snakes upon her head struck at me, biting my hand. Its bite left a searing pain behind.

I screamed as the Medusa pushed me off of her, sending me crashing to the ground. The gun slipped from my grasp as I gripped my burning hand. Its fingers clenched into a fist, but would not unclench.
No… no! I would not succumb to whatever this was! I would not succumb to the Gorgon’s poison!

“Gabrielle!” My daughter called, rushing to her side. She ran into the embrace of the Gorgon, before looking down at me. Her eyes settled on the bite in my hand, and a solemn look crossed her face.
“Don’t look, May…” The Gorgon said softly, and my daughter turned her head from me.

I tried to stand, but my body was already starting to burn. My muscles felt stiff and moving felt harder and harder… but my skin still looked like skin… it didn’t look like stone! I collapsed, gasping for breath as I did. Watching my skin, I could see something beneath it shifting. It could see my skin begin to bulge and deform. I could see new bone growth appearing in those deformities. My body was burning, growing, changing, coming apart.

I tried to reach for the gun, but my arms would not move anymore.
This shouldn’t be happening!
This shouldn’t be possible, God was supposed to be on my side! I shouldn’t be falling to one of Satan’s monsters! I shouldn’t be dying at the hands of the demon that held my daughter!

I looked up at them one last time. The Gorgon held my daughter close, comforting her as my body turned against me. Every movement caused fresh new pain to erupt through me. Breathing became impossible, as my lungs and throat became solid.

I lay on the ground, gasping for breath until no more breath came and then, when there was nothing left I only watched as the Gorgon gently took my daughter into the next room so she wouldn’t have to watch me die.

The room was empty when I finally slipped away into darkness… and when I did, I knew that God would not be waiting for me.

Today I got the most irrationally mad that I've been in a while.
A friend ruined a concert for me last night. This morning I woke up a with a killer headache. I was running late for work and my belt broke when I went to put it on. A busy intersection on the way to work was choked down to one lane because of construction, so it took like 10 minutes to get through, and when I was waiting for the light some asshole in a lifted pickup truck, with a vanity license plate with something along the lines of "M0nst3r" on it (That's not what it said, but same idea, they were proud assholes) forced it's way in front of a car in front of me making me miss another light cycle.
When I finally go to work the parking lot was full, and I made my way to what appeared to be an open spot somewhere in the middle of it, but when I got there I found that the car parked in one of the spots next to it was needlessly overlapping the line by about 2 feet. It clearly wasn't a case of the car next to them parking poorly and then pulling away leaving them to look like the asshole, they clearly turned into the parking space from the wrong direction and did nothing to straighten their car to fit the spot. The spot that they were bleeding over into was on the driver side, so it was clear when they left the vehicle that they were parked poorly and they still left it.
Anyway, I had park at the far corner of the parking lot, around 100 yards further.
Even though 100 yards isn't far, and I could have written it off, at that point I was blind with anger and was honestly considering going home because my head was killing me and I was worried that I'd come in too hot and get myself in trouble. I chose not to do that though.

Walking to the front of the store I had to pass the vehicle that had been parked poorly, and impulsively I grabbed my keys from my pocket and dragged them as hard as I could across the entire back of the car as I walked by.

I instantly realized how fucked up that was, and started regretting it. I walked straight back to the bathrooms in the store and hid there for like 10 minutes to stop seeing red and then started my shift as if nothing happened. They day went on as normal, and nothing came of it. I know the cameras don't really cover that part of the parking lot, and I did it in a way that I don't think was obvious, so I don't think it will ever come back to me, but I feel bad about it.

    Fog rolls up, wisping through and across her vision, gradually covering up the figure reflected in the silverbacked glasswork. For a moment, she stands hunched over, letting the water condense and run through hills and valleys between her cyan scales, liquid tinted by colour, traveling down her tail in a stream of droplets. Drip drop, streaming off the end into clear pools that reflect a shimmering clearer view. Water inches up the yellow walls, coating them with a thin film of liquid, that, when gathers enough, trickles down and enlarges the puddles dotting the floor, turning it into a nascent ocean. The last glimpse she has of the mirrored figure, before it's replaced with a cyan smudge, is the expression of unease, ever present, always concealed carefully behind grey fog.
    Her inner sanctum is soon left behind, doors closed, wet feet slapping against wooden floors scattering droplets, exchanging mental safety for physical sensibility. One arm slips past another, entering the wardrobe, fingers dancing across different shirts and jackets, tip tapping, stopping on the Torimine suit. Soon, tail slipping through skirt, arms maneuvering through shirt and jacket, shoes     slipped on, business-ready. Well-fitted, but a time away from being well-worn. There's not much left for her to grab from the room, just a quick bite to eat, leftovers from yesterday, hidden away in a darkened cupboard, and then out the door into Salazsar.
    It's pre-dawn, sky suffused by cloudly dark grey, smatterings of snowflakes whispering through the wind, backlit by lamps and magelight. They stick to her dress and scatter around her whenever the wind changes its aimless flow. She moves down a spiral-staircase, gliding to a lower, more mercantile, level. A much slower, clumsier, snowflake, crystallized by life, not temperature. Step-by-step I descend, until the bottom appears, stonework smoothed from the timeless passage of pedestrians. For a moment she pauses, deliberating, reflecting. Does she really want to do this? She scoffs, no question about that, a false question, then followed by the real one. Does she really want to to this, today? Joints grind back into gear, rust shaking off and flaking away, the answer apparent. She has to.


    "Revlii?"
    She looks up from the paperwork on her desk, staring in the direction of the concerned, male, voice, that softly rumbles through the doorway into the dim office. The light outside is brighter than inside, making it hard to see a clear figure, instead he's more fuzzy silhouette, eyes glinting against the darkness.
    "Yes?"
    My eyes meet his for a moment, before he glances elsewhere, pretending to stare at the other objects that litter the room, like the paperwork splattered over her desk. They don't stick to any one object for lengthened time, afraid any errant gaze will be imprisoned into eye-contact if it lingers.
    "Listen, are you doing alright? If you need to take a day off you can, okay?"
    She gives him an exasperated look, accompanied by a smirk. A hint of teeth poke through the gap in her smile, scales at the corners of her eyes crinkle, head tilts.
    "I'm fine. Trust me on that. If I needed a break I would take one."
    A perfect smile, happy quick exhale, through the nose, fingers clutching a quill delicately preparing to be put to page, documents to be signed. The Gnoll looks mollified turning to leave, but not
    "Well, just remember. If you need to take a break I'd be happy to cover for you, it's no issue."
    The last word is rhetorical, he leaves without leaving room for reply. Just her in the office, alone, once again. The only sound the sounds of the paperwork rustling when she places and replaces documents. Lots of paperwork to do, organized into three sections ,one pile growing taller than the others, a combined mix of them.
    In the air is a stale smell that sticks to me, seeping into her clothing, into the chair, into the documents. It's unclear where it comes from, not smelling like ink or paper, but something other, not foreign, however. It's all she smells, nothing else, not the pungent ink, not the dusty office, not perfumed Drakes or mouth-watering foodstalls. But it doesn't matter, work to do. Quill reappears against page, drawing lines of ink, curved, straight, forming letters and then words. On this page the final words appear, her signature, always signed, "Revlii Darktongue", exactly the same every time. She places the sheet into the tallest pile, and then places claws upon another and draws the paper over. And then writing again, and signing again.


    It's


    Street slowly winding upwards, Drakes and Gnolls huddled close together, trying to fit further into the crowd, but also struggling for warmth, this close contact being secretly treasured by many. She aswell, is huddled with them, skirt scraping against other garmets, head covered by wayward snowflakes, face made wet by foggy breath, all     their faces wet. The kind of cold misery that forms bonds, and strengthens friendships Her shoes carefully step over small patches of ice, and once or twice a member of the crowd helps her catch her balance when she slips, and she too, for them
    The sky is a brilliant orange, beauty magnified by the spires and towers that surround me, distant rooftops glinting orange reflections, eternal burning away of daylight into night. Her path travels upward s, stairs passing beneath her, railings caught, shoes ever click clack and stomp when a slip threatens. The spot appears, between two spires, an opening where the city can be seen down a line, sunset perfectly positioned in the middle.
    Revlii takes a minute to take off my shoes, placing them on the ground, and then carefully clearing a clean patch to sit on. A white exhale slowly comes, relaxed, as she gets into a good mental position. The sun slowly falls, distant orange chased by coming clouds that arrive from faraway lands. Work was okay today, she thinks, more of the same, but sometimes lack of change can be good. I might even Level soon if I keep it up.
    Another exhale, tension leaving her body, flowing into the air, quickly washed away by cold winds and burned through by the orange light. Her daily routine is to sit here and watch the sunset, regardless of the weather. There are many views like this one in Salazsar, but this one feels personal, only belonging to me, and her alone. More snowflakes fall, amount increasing, wind also getting colder.
    She dislikes Winter, her favourite season being Spring, but Winter always brings a calmness with it. Maybe it's how sounds seem to be dampened, the world almost still, vibrations sucked away into snowfall. Maybe it's how the sky looks, blues darker and more inviting, oranges brighter and more vibrant, vying for dominance and turning the sky brilliant shades with the rise and set of the sun. Tommorrow is the weekend, which is nice, I think. Soon the solstice will come, and she'll be back on track towards more favoured seasons less inclined to snowfall and chilly air. Another     exhale. Life is good.

I basically I lost my virginity with my cousin doing anal. I was visiting family from out of state and staying at my grandparents house. I was 15m and my cousin was 14m at the time. So after a couple days of being at my grandparents house. I was hanging out with my cousin and we asked if he could spend the night. Everyone agreed and he would be staying in the spare room with me. There was a king size bed and a tv with alot of clutter and boxes they barely made space for me to stay. A day or so earlier I took a regular lotion bottle and put it under the mattress to jerk with.
So fast forward to the night time We tell my grandfather goodnight and go into the room preparing to go to sleep. My grandfather stayed in the TV room with his lazy boy chair and watched TV. It was probley 11pm and he never would stay up past 12am. So once we settle into the room we turn the TV on, get undressed get into bed. We were in our boxers and undershirts. We were talking joking around and somehow got onto the truth or dare game. We had seen eachother naked when younger took baths showed eachother our dicks but nothing serious. So we decided to change the rules on the truth or dare. If you turned down 2 dares then the third dare you have to do no matter what. So I started and asked him truth or dare. He said dare I say I dare you to scream fuck really loud. He thought about it and said he didn't want to. My grand father was still awake in the next room we could hear the tv still. So I said ok then I dare you to walk around the house with your butt showing he though about it and he said no. So I said since you didn't do the 2 dares you have to do the last one. He agreed and I though about it and said "it would have to be a good one". I said that he had to suck my dick for 30 seconds he said "are you sure you want me to do that" and I said yes. So he agreed right then I could feel my dick get instantly hard as a rock. He went under the covers and I pulled down my boxers snapping my hard dick out of the elastic. He put my dick into his warm mouth and began to suck me slow and from my dick being soft enough hard everything he did was feeling so good. I told him to let me touch on his dick and balls while he sucked me so he pulled down his boxers and I started touching on his little dick which was also hard by now.. he kept sucking for a couple minutes and stopped and said his turn.
So we started with the truth or dare again. He asked my truth or dare I said dare. By now we could hear that my grandfather was going upstairs to bed. So the first dare he asked was to run upstairs and wake my grandparents up by screaming I said no The second dare was to go in the front of the house naked and I said no. So now I had to do the last one He said "I dare you to suck my dick now" I said are you sure he said yes. So i went under the covers and he pulls his little hard dick out. It was maybe 4 inches and skinny and mine was 7 inches and thick. I Put his little dick in my mouth and began to suck and lick he barely had and hair and his dick and balls smelled very nice and clean but there was a skin smell that turned me on. He began to touch on my hard dick and balls and I rubbed his balls and sucked him After I few minutes I got tired of sucking and was ready for my turn.
So I ask him truth or dare. He says dare. By now I was so horny and hard I knew I wanted to keep going. My grandparents were upstairs sleeping and we had some privacy. I asked him to do 2 dares I knew he wouldn't do and now I'm at the last dare that he has to do. I said "I dare you to let me put it in your ass". He said are you sure and I said yes. So told him to turn on his side facing away from me. I never fucked before but I knew I would need some lubrication. So I reached under the mattress and got the lotion. He pulled his boxers down and I took a little lotion and put it on his hole and lubed my dick up. I never notice that his ass was so thick and round. He didn't have any hair at all it was smooth and soft to the touch. I line my dick up with his hole and slowly pushed in. He was hurting a little but I was going slow. I would push inside a half inch then back out a half inch. The next stroke I would go a little deeper until I was all the way in. I told him to relax and push back into me once he was loosening up. I pushed into him and grabbed his ass and pulled him into me until I was as deep as I could go and I held it there for a couple seconds. He was so tight and warm around my dick I never felt that kind of sensation before. My dick was as hard as it could get and I knew that it would be very easy to cum. I started to stroke a little faster while grabbing his juicy smooth asscheeks making sure to go as deep inside as I could. Pushing deep at the end of everything stroke. I was moaning from how good it felt and he was moaning everytime I was all the way inside. I reached around and started to play and jerk his dick and balls while I was fucking him. He asked if he could touch my balls and ass and I said yes. So he reached in between his legs and grabbed on my balls while I was stoking into his tight ass. The tingling from him grabbing on my balls and fucking him at the same time was intense. Then he tells me that he wants to stop. I was so rock hard and close to cumming I didn't want to stop. So I said "can I stick it in 10 more times". He said yes so I started counting at the end of each stroke. Making sure each stoke was long and penitrated deep. One ......... twoooo..... I say push into me. And he does three.... fourrr....... five..... push into me harder sixxxx....... seven....ughhhhhhh I moan with pleasure... eightttttt....ughhh I feel my dick begin to throb and my cum started to squirter into his tight smooth fat ass nineeeee....... I continue to throb and shoot my cum inside him . Tennn....... i say "push into me" as my dick was throbbing cum inside of him.i felt the heat and wetness surround my dick as i filled his hole with my hot cum. As i finish cumming the most intense orgasm i ever had i tell him "i think i came" he said "in my ass" i said yes. I know he had to feel my dick throb inside of him. so he was just acting like he didnt know. I pulled my dick out of him still hard and ready to go again. He went to the bathroom and I heard him push my cum out of his ass in the toilet. I went into the bathroom while he was on the toilet and washed my dick off. Curious to see if my cum came out of him. We went back into the room and layed down. I was still horny and ready to go again. He was going to sleep. I asked if i could feel on his dick and balls while we went to sleep and he said yes.we played with eachother for a little longer then fell asleep. I still think about how amazing it felt to cum inside of his smooth fat ass.
If you enjoyed my little secret feel free to comment or write me

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.
*playing games that require good cpu or gpu (modded minecraft or Battlefield 1) at 4k +60fps as well as emulating my wii u

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

5200$ CAD but can go higher

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

⁠in a month from now. i'm going to spend the month watching websites and buy the stuff if they go on sale. if not, then i'll buy everything at the end of the month.(unless there is something new to look forward to?)

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

Tower. i have a laptop so i might be able to pull the windows 10 license from that.

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

Québec, Canada. nearest micro center is 6h away so no

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

i have a mouse, keyboard and headset: blackweb programmable gaming keyboard model k336, Blackweb RGB Programmable Gaming Mouse Black , and sennheiser PC38x

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

i don't know anything about over clocking so i will be learning and potentially overclocking within safe limits to not shorten the lifespan (if that's possible) for both.if it isn't possible, then no.

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

i want a 4090 with a decent warranty. CPU should be the Ryzen 9 7950x3d to leave room for upgrades because of the new am5 (idk what that is but people are saying it has room for future upgrades.) SSD with 4TB storage (two 2TB or 1 4TB) 64gb of ram. i have no tools or anything needed to build the pc: stuff like anti-static bracelets,thermal paste or needed screw heads. AIO Liquid cooler wanted. needs to be able to connect to bluetooth(is that always included?)

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

*should be ATX/full-tower. I don't care about rgb but glass is fine.Colors should be black but isn't necessary

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

i have a laptop with windows 10 that came with it. i might be able to pull the license from it?

Extra info or particulars: i have an ethernet cable. i would like stuff that is compatible for next gen (idk what ddr5 is but it's currently not at its peak and will probably be the best?) if anyone knows any websites that track stuff across different stores or a guide on maintaining your pc or something like that, i would be grateful. i also need 2 slightly curved monitor near 35 inches if possible.(whatever aspect ratio is best).(both +120hz) but don't include in the budget. pls note: i only spent like 3 days reading stuff before making my decisions so if somebody has any advice please share :). also thank you in advance

I haven't built a new rig from scratch since 2012 and since my mobo of 11+ years finally died(rip m5a97), a new rig is in order, looking for a sanity check

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.

Mix of gaming(cod, Diablo, league, racing Sims, civ, and total war), CAD(d365), video/ photo editing(not sure how much yet, been a while)

What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?

Trying to stick around 1000

When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.

I'm making orders for parts as soon as today

What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc)

case and gpu are handled, I've included them in the current pcp list for reference,

Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?

United States, no

If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.

Reusing monitors, speakers, keyboard, mouse, these will get their own upgrade and attention once the tower is back in action. I have a 1080 that will be seeing action but will get bumped within a year

Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?

I'm not comfortable with overclocking and would prefer to avoid it

Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)

I'd like a decent storage buffer, but I upgrade parts regularly(hence the old rig lasting 10 years)

What type of network connectivity do you need? (Wired and/or WiFi) If WiFi is needed and you would like to find the fastest match for your wireless router, please list any specifics.

I have a wireless router as backup, otherwise it will be connected to hardline

Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?

Case is selected, I like the fractal pop air, just did a build with it for someone else and it works well for me. Atx mobo size though

Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?

No,I'll be cloning my old boot drive to an m.2

Extra info or particulars: I feel pretty committed to AM5 and an atx size board as I like to upgrade ram, storage and gpus as I see fit. I'm used to low setting gaming but I'm looking to improve that

PCPartPicker Part List

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 4.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$241.56 @ Amazon
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-L9i 33.84 CFM CPU Cooler	$45.98 @ Newegg
Motherboard	Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard	$219.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory	$92.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory	$99.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$79.98 @ Amazon
Storage	TEAMGROUP MP33 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive	$72.98 @ Amazon
Video Card	NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB Video Card	-
Case	Fractal Design Pop Air RGB ATX Mid Tower Case	$0.00
Power Supply	Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply	$99.99 @ Best Buy
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$953.46
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-01 21:08 EDT-0400

Good with projects etc ( diesel mechanic by trade 25 years ) and willing to learn about something before diving in head first with blinders on. Here’s my situation in the Master Bathroom. I am aware this has been covered previously but nothing conclusive found relevant to my situation.
Last week every flush started gurgling in the shower drain . ( no tub in master bath just a stand up shower) Never had this happen before. Every drain is emptying normally, toilet, sink and shower is draining as it has since we purchased a year ago. Actually bought the toilet auger because I thought it was restricted. Snaked the toilet and it Didn’t change anything. Cleaned out sink trap etc. Big hair ball in shower drain floating under the snap on cover. Discarded. Still gurgling.
Read online and Reddit about vent clogs or restrictions causing the toilet to siphon “ air “ from shower pan trap. gurgling. So, I borrowed a ladder and pulled my dumb ass up on to the two story roof and ran a jet of water through a straight nozzle on my garden hose. Decent pressure through the 3 inch and 1.5 inch vents above Master bath. ( 1/2 bath on 1st floor below Master by the way ) I thought I could feel the hose push through some leaves on the way down pipe but could just be my imagination. I thought in the moment that I got it! Had my son flush toilet while I was running water through stack/vent and hoping for a change. No change. Ran shower to fill trap and every flush, still gurgling. Son said water was backing into sink just a little bit until he flushed toilet. Is this a clue?
It’s a 4 & 2 1/2 colonial of late 60’s vintage and everything under the sun including bathrooms, main sewer lines ( all PVC in bathrooms, under kitchen , the main is PVC and then meets cast I think near exterior wall. Everything is updated by the same plumbing/heat & AC & electrical outfit in my area. Well established company and the work looks solid. Nothing is older than 12-15 years old. What can I check next? There are clean outs on main downstairs but I’m no plumber and would love to save a few bucks with AC season upon me. Thanks for reading!

TW: SH
ive been friends with Erika for a while. used to be just me and my other friend, Bernice. but Erika started to hang out with us bc her former friends said that she “says mean things” and thats probably “why her friends leave her”.
i gotta be honest, i see what they mean. before, i would buy her stuff. like if i bought something, id buy her smthng too so she wouldnt be left out. now i feel like she’s taking advantage of my kindness. i live fairly close to my university, just a few blocks away. and she ALWAYS invites herself over, not even asking me if she could. she also had a phase when she would invite other people over to MY house. but i talked to her about it and thankfully she understood and stopped doing that. one time, i told Erika and Bernice to go to my house ahead of me (Bernice had a key to my place) because i was running some errands. then Erika messaged me that she unlocked my LOCKED drawer to borrow my charger. i was flabbergasted. i locked that drawer for a reason. she always does that, get anything she needed from my stuff without asking me first. but before i even talked to her about it, she apologized and realized it was wrong. and she’s so fucking rude, i was getting fitted for a uniform and asked the seamstress to add a few inches when sewing my uniform so it would be a little loose on me. and Erika said “youre really not gonna try and lose weight?” and she was overweight herself so idfk why she would say that. and i have PCOS so its harder for me to lose weight. and she always talked over people. when Bernice is talking, she would sometimes shout so Bernice would stop talking. and she always wants things done her way. one time, her and i went to a water park with some friends. i already showered and was dry but she wanted to go to the pool. i told her i cant. and our other friends were cold so they cant either. she complained and groaned for at least 15 minutes straight before my other friends accompanied her. then after that, i was talking to someone and she started talking to me, i raised my hand to signal that i was talking to someone else. and when i was asking her about it, i tapped her shoulder and she shrugged me off. i was so fucking done with her attitude so i didnt bother asking her again. then after a while she talked to me like nothing happened. and she ALWAYS complains about everything. she throws tantrums like a fucking child. and she c*ts herself and shows it off to me, always saying it hurts or “how cool the blood looks” knowing full well i have a history of SH and im still seeing my psychiatrist for my depression.
edit: she also broke my bathroom door
im venting here because i cant open up to her about all of these things, her rudeness, her insensitivity, and everything else because i know she’s going thru a lot and i dont wanna make things worse.