Four prong dryer adapter

I work in hospitality at a cafe-bar. I have a part time contract with my employer as well as an additional zero hours contract.
My contracts (both of them) specifically say that the rota will be made available to me four weeks ahead of the shifts I work, this basically doesn't happen ever and I'm friendly enough with my boss to understand that it can be difficult to predict what's needed in a customer service role especially as the venue I work at will sometimes have smaller events happen with very short notice so my boss will make changes and adapt as that happens which I do know is often as frustrating to them as to us the staff.
The issues I'm having though are that while I used to be able to be pretty flexible and deal with the fact I often wouldn't know when I'd be working and couldn't plan my life ahead of time at all I've recently had a child and am going back to work now and do need my life to be more predictable so I can be helpful to my wife.
My contracted hours each week is only 15 hours (two 7.5 hour shifts) as I reduced my hours before the birth of my son knowing that with the mess of the rota working significantly less is the only way I can still be of use to my wife and then I can pick up extra shifts as and when suits with my additional zero hours contract (at this place of work the way they do zero hours is to list all the available shifts and then zero hours staff can basically write in for which ones suit so it suits me as I only have two shifts a week which they put me down for and any others I can make sure ahead of time will work around my needs)
However I haven't even started back to work yet (first shift is next Monday) and am already having issues where my boss put me down for Monday and Saturday and then the following week it was Thursday and Saturday, but each time I've logged into teams at least one of those shifts has been swapped - the first Saturday shift was originally a late one, then it's become an early, then the Thursday was originally a Friday but got moved, then the second Saturday I'm working was originally the Sunday early but became a Saturday late. I can see why they've been moved because looking at the rest of the rota I got shifted to where I was more needed because other zero hours staff had better availability and such, but all of these moves have happened in the last week and not one of them was accompanied by so much as a message explaining the change from my boss and this is happening to me and my colleagues A LOT but because our workplace is always touting how "flexibility" is important my boss seems to just think it's okay to change shifts as suits them without considering us - just before I started my statuary paternity leave I had a similar situation where I was phoned and told my next shift (at that point three days away) was being swapped to a day instead of an evening and when I said I couldn't do that due to having made plans my boss told me there was no longer any hours for me in the evening so I either swapped to the day or didn't work at all and would owe them a shift then.
It's reaching the point of just being impossible to predict when I'll be working as I can never trust the rota that comes out will even stay the same and I'm trying to be understanding to how difficult the rota is (I used to be management here so used to be in charge of the rota myself and can fully appreciate it's tricky to manage sometimes but I used to aim for a "rolling rota" as much as possible so staff could at least guess what shifts might be coming up and that's not even remotely the case anymore)
My contract does say I'll have the rota ahead of time which isn't happening most of the time but says nothing regarding things such as short notice changes so I'm wondering how much I can attempt to 'demand' a bit more stability or predictability?
I'm in Scotland
Edited to correct some spelling

Reminder that English is not my native language, I translated this using my own knowledge of English and the use of translation tools, if you find any errors please let me know.
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As Morikawa and Matsui head towards the karaoke together, the other four members of their group have already started with the action.
Uchida finds herself with Kido's member in her mouth, granting the bespectacled boy fellatio, while Yoshizuka is pleasured by Aoyama's fingers. This is a part that the four of them are enjoying just waiting for Matsui to arrive and quote-unquote surprise them in this.
After that Yoshizuka just had to lure him to her and if necessary, ride him so that when they finally call Morikawa and she arrives she sees the 5 of them engulfed in lust, peer pressure is strong and Morikawa, though she would be is not exempt from falling for it.
A simple but effective plan, not the original, but one that had to be created through the unforeseen events they had, from the beginning they knew that not everything would go as planned; therefore, they were always willing to adapt.
At one point the entrance door of the karaoke was knocked, Aoyama released Yoshizuka and Kido hid Uchida behind him in case some manager did not notice what they were doing.
"Come in" Aoyama said, and who indeed entered was Matsui which brought a smile to Yoshizuka's face which instantly vanished as soon as she saw him enter next to Morikawa.
That wasn't part of the plan at all.
"Sorry for the delay" Matsui apologized looking around at everyone present.
It didn't take long to notice Kido with his back turned, who upon hearing Matsui's voice followed the plan without seeing the unforeseen and stepped back enough for the boy to see Uchida perform fellatio on the boy.
The eyelids of both Matsui and Morikawa opened to their maximum as they noticed what Uchida and Kido are doing.
Yoshizuka knew he had to improvise and quickly, especially when he watched Morikawa pull Matsui's hand and head for the exit.
"O please stay, the fun is just beginning" said the bespectacled girl throwing herself into Aoyama's arms and spreading her legs wide enough for the newcomers to see her panties moistened by Aoyama's previous touches.
Acting fast, the said boy brought one of his hands to the girl's crotch and another to one of her breasts, starting to massage both parts causing Yoshizuka to let out a few moans.
Matsui and Morikawa had been stopped by Yoshizuka's words and were paralyzed at the sight of what was being done before them.
Deep down they know it is wrong, that they should leave following common sense, but Matsui watched with morbid attention as Uchida sucked Kido's member and as Aoyama groped Yoshizuka's private parts. Such a sight caused a pressure to build up in his pants.
On Morikawa's side she was no better, the show was doing something to her, she felt her nipples, hardening and rubbing against the texture of her bra, she even felt herself salivating.
The raging hormones in them prevented them from leaving and he was left alone to watch.
"Come on sit down" Uchida said taking Kido's member out of her mouth, but not ceasing to stimulate him with masturbation.
As if they were slaves, Matsui and Morikawa obeyed by sitting together at the farthest point of the orgy.
Confused and aroused they tried to keep some respect, not looking, but his eyes always came back to look at them, no matter how hard they tried.
Yoshizuka felt victorious, they had achieved their goal despite the unexpectedness of them both arriving at the same time, the only thing they have to do now is to keep adapting, having sex with Matsui is no longer an option, the act may bring them to their senses and cause them to leave so it would be best to be content with having sex in front of them causing both of their libidos to reach their limit.
Yoshizuka pushed her legs apart when Aoyama pulled out his member and penetrated her, she didn't hold back her moans at all and kept her gaze always on Matsui making sure he was always watching her.
The two teens who had come together just watched everything mentally debating whether to leave or not, the lust and confusion of the moment prevented their bodies from doing the simple action of leaving.
And both would have stood transfixed on the spot had it not been for Matsui remembering that Morikawa is holding his hand.
He looked towards the green-eyed girl seeing her mesmerized at what's happening in front of her, licking his lips with a clear desire in her eyes, he's not much better as the bulge in his pants shows how much all this is affecting him.
he tries to think of what she should do, leaving was the most obvious option, but at the same time it was the one most quickly dismissed from his mind Why, he doesn't know.
He lifted Morikawa's hand he holds and that drew the girl's attention to him, her desire didn't diminish at all as soon as she did it, worse it increased much more.
With the moans in the air, the smell of sex and the skin colliding Matsui looked at Morikawa feeling more attracted to her than he had ever been, guided by the heat of the moment, the boy stuck his lips with Morikawa’s, and the girl did not push him at all, on the contrary, she accepted him.
Yoshizuka had lost herself for a few seconds in the pleasure given by Aoyama, when she returned her sight to Matsui she watched in disbelief as the boy was making out with Morikawa taking off her jacket and shirt to leave the breasts of the president in full view.
That was an unexpected, but perhaps a welcome one? She didn't know how to regard it.
Matsui stared raptly at the president's breasts, they are free before him, shirt, and bra off, he would have thought it was a dream come true, but lust let him think of nothing else but to take those breasts into his mouth.
He hesitated before doing so, looking into the eyes of the president asking her permission with a silent gesture, she nodded blushing and embarrassed.
Receiving permission, Matsui put one of the breasts of the girl he always liked in his mouth and with his hand began to massage the other, his movements were clumsy and full of hesitation, they were not the sure and exact movements of Aoyama or the rough and obscene ones of Kido.
His were slow, clumsy, replete with all the inexperience a boy of his age doing it for the first time might possess.
Still, for Morikawa, Matsui's tongue caressing her nipple couldn't have felt more pleasurable. She arched her back and covered her face with her hands, trying to lessen the embarrassment she feels from the act they are both performing.
Matsui continued to do so, as time passes gaining confidence and some knowledge of which tongue movements make the president's body tingle the most.
The act, though not physically stimulating for him, made him feel quite good, even pleased and that, increased when he felt the chairwoman's body temper and a great moan stifled by his hand escape her lips.
Although Matsui isn't one to consume so much pornographic material, he at least saw enough to know that the president had just come from having an orgasm and the simple fact that he knew he had managed to get one just by playing with her breasts made him feel terribly happy.
He pulled his mouth away from the president's chest and as he did so he noticed how the four other teens in the place had their attention on them without him knowing it, all attracted by the moan the president let out as she had her orgasm.
Their libido had gone down thanks to what they had just done and little by little rational thinking took power in them and then they realized that they are in a karaoke, in the middle of an orgy with four students they barely know just because they are in the same class.
Matsui wanted the earth to swallow him up on the spot and Morikawa covered her breasts with speed and awkwardness.
Matsui swallowed saliva and looked at everyone again "I-I... We better get going" he said looking towards the president, who nodded frantically, she put her shirt back on as fast as she could leaving her bra aside and together with Matsui, they walked out of the karaoke room.
"Shit... It went wrong" Kido pronounced.
"No, actually, it went well, the first phase was successfully completed, those two are going to want more" Yoshizuka said with a smile. She's partly frustrated that she didn't get to be with Matsui, but also happy that her plan worked, though unbeknownst to her not exactly as she thinks.

Preface:
I am a huge Lord of the Rings fan; I re-read the books typically once a year. I also adore the movies, and find all of Tolkien's legendarium absolutely awesome. Truly one of my favorite hobbies so I'd like to offer some critiques and excitement of flavor gems from Tales of Middle Earth. I won't do every card, but I'll comment on some individual cards and how WOTC did on it. I will comment on the cards abilities but only insofar as it impacts the flavor; i.e. what the card is doing not power level, etc.
To be clear: I understand there are sacrifices you need to make for the greater game, and sometimes those come first. For these articles: I am looking at each card in a vacuum, so if I seem harsh it's because I am using a single lens.
Next up: Long List of the Ents!
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https://preview.redd.it/7hpqtqrfv73b1.png?width=400&format=png&auto=webp&s=f76d5184569b14b2d21df9527aef4d16a6539f25
Color:
Ents are perhaps the epitome of Green in Middle Earth: no issue at all with the color!
Abilities:
One thing I have had to come to grips with as I see the set is how hard it's going to be to adapt Lord of the Rings into card form. There are so many aspects to characters and, especially in the books, action is relatively minimal. What defines Gandalf? The Elves? Dwarves? Men? It's not a direct correlation. But occasionally things hit perfectly and I have to hand it to them: they nailed this one.
This card references the scene when Treebeard (or Fangorn, as he refers to himself) meets Merry and Pippin in Fangorn Forest. He has never seen a Hobbit before and he doesn't know what to make of them! He then sings a song referencing each race/creature in Middle Earth. Here is part of the song (found in Book 3 Chapter 4: Treebeard):

Learn now the lore of Living Creatures!First name the four, the free peoples:Eldest of all, the elf-children;Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses;Ent the earthborn, old as mountains;Man the mortal, master of horses

The song continues to reference beavers, bears and other creatures. But, importantly, Hobbits are nowhere to be found! Pippin proposes a new line:
Half-grown hobbits, the hole dwellers
And this helps bond the three characters together. Merry and Pippin join Treebeard at the Entmoot where the Ents decide to stop Saruman from destroying their home. At the end of the book Treebeard tells the Hobbits that they will be added to the list:
the Hobbit children, the laughing-folk, the little people
The Ents remember, and the Hobbits are equal to everyone else.
Such a lovely little card: nails the flavor, love the abilities (improving each creature type as they're named).
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[prev]
I woke, as I would later learn, about four hours after I had collapsed. My shoulder still throbbed, but now it had progressed all the way down to my fingertips. I did not hear that voice any longer either, which was good or bad, I did not yet know, but at least I was still alive. That’s all that mattered. However, being alive was perhaps not in my best interest at the moment, though knowing to what degree I would have been reset was enough to keep me from just cutting my own throat to try and be rid of this damnable ache.
My eyes opened and I got a good look at the room I was in, or well the floor, as I was laying on my stomach in a hammock. Deja vu anyone? I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked about, trying to get my bearings. I really needed to stop ending up like this, otherwise I’d spend less time doing hero things and more time just lazing about all lazy like. The room was sparsely decorated and had a distinct sterile stench to it. One that nearly made me gag. But I could understand why it was like this, as it was clearly some sort of healing ward. There were others around me, though they had the fortune of actually being in a proper bed.
A sudden throb from my arm caused me to actually look at it and what I saw made my stomach twist. The carapace had twisted into something new and not all that dissimilar to what it had been originally. It looked diseased, but somehow healthy, if… wrong. My already claw-like fingers had elongated into actual claws and looked like they could have delivered some form of virulent toxin into whomever I scratched.
But the worst came when I turned my arm over a bit, and an eye opened up to stare directly into my own. I recoiled instantly, clapping my free and unaltered hand over it. Now that was just wrong, and I would for sure be figuring out some way to remove this affliction of mine. If that was even possible. For now I felt good enough to move, and since nobody was around to stop me I decided to do just that. Grabbing a roll of bandages I carefully wrapped up my altered arm and ensured that at least the eye was covered. I didn’t need it staring at me or anyone else.
Hauling myself through the room on unsteady legs I looked over the wounded. It struck me then that this was what a proper war felt and looked like. It was certainly not as bad as any modern war in the world I had come from, but it was still gruesome. As much as I wanted to get out of this place, I instead took the time to throw my afflicted arm in a sling and hide it away while I checked on the wounded.
Most were out cold, those few who were awake had a distant look on their faces and the rest were doing their best to not weep in my presence. I did what I could, offered comfort where it was wanted and utilized my magic to help heal. But it didn’t make me feel any better, and I knew it was only a temporary solution for these men. They had never faced a battle like this one, their only experiences with combat being fending off the odd beast here and there or dealing with criminals, not a proper army.
Once I had visited the last of them I found my strength had returned more fully, so it was time to get an idea of what was happening outside this room. Luckily the room seemed to be built with larger persons in mind, and by that I mean someone like me, or perhaps a centaur or something. Speaking of I’d yet to see an actual centaur since coming here, perhaps they didn’t exist or were incredibly rare.
Still, I was able to make it out of the room with ease, only to stop and witness yet more wounded. I did not linger, I don’t think my already fragile mental state could have handled it. I needed to get out and into fresh air, so that’s what I did. Picking my way carefully through the beds, cots and bedrolls that had been placed on the floor, stepping over those I could not avoid. I was thankful that nobody I stepped over was awake at this moment, I don't think they would have handled me walking over them too well.
But I made it, and I stepped out into clean, fresh air. It was such a welcome relief, till a voice broke my reverie.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?! You should be in bed and resting! Get back in there this instant!” An elf chastised, their robes stained with blood and clearly of the healing variety. They looked wise and knowledgeable, but also the sort of person you don’t argue with. The man peered up at me, pulling bloodstained gloves off and flapping them in my direction.
“I just… I just needed some fresh air.” I say, finding my voice to be coarse and low. The healer squinted, before sighing, nodding and plopping down on a bench, the weariness he felt becoming quite visible. I didn’t know what to do and so I just stood there, breathing in the rich, cool air as we both got a needed break.
“So… What have I missed?” I asked, and the healer lifted their head.
“Not all that much. The enemy has been regrouping and taking stock of their losses. Those spiders are preventing them from retrieving their dead it seems, which is probably good for you I suppose, since you’re a necromancer and all.” He snorted. “We took heavy losses, but nothing we can’t handle. But we took more wounded than we did dead, so our numbers are holding, there’s just many who can’t fight.”
I nodded, knowing, somehow, that wounding an enemy took them out of the fight in a way that was far more harmful than simply killing them was. All we’d done was lessen the load on their supplies whereas they had only increased the burden upon ours. But what they didn’t know quite yet was that their dead would soon be turned against them, only bolstering our strength. Considering the dead did not need medicine, or sleep, or even any weapons beyond what they already naturally had, they would not be a drain on any resource but my own.
We sat without a word, simply existing and resting. At least till the healer shifted and turned to face me a bit.
“I’m surprised you haven’t asked about your arm yet. Or freaked out because of it.” He said, and I glanced down at the bandaged limb with a contemplative look. As wrong as it all was, I found myself strangely unconcerned.
“I suppose I just didn’t think about it too much, what with everything going on. I’d rather think about others than myself. But…” Now that I was talking about it, I might as well learn what I can, right? “So, what happened to my arm, best as you can tell?” The healer hummed and collected his thoughts.
“Far as we can tell, the enemy has been infusing their arrowheads with some sort of pestilence. Or magic, we can’t tell which. Either way, it seems to be alive, as you no doubt already know. Had you died because of the arrow it wouldn’t have done anything, but since you lived well…” He trailed off and made a vague gesture at my arm. “Best we can tell it’ll slowly corrupt your body and presumably your mind and soul till you switch sides and fight for the enemy. Or not, it may just kill you. We don’t know and all attempts at knowing have met with little success.”
Oh how delightful. Just what I wanted to hear. My fingers curled into fists and I could feel my new claws digging into my altered palm.
“Guess I’ll just have to make the most of it won’t I?” I say, smiling softly at the healer and reached out to give them a pat on the shoulder, only to stop myself from doing so with my corrupted hand. He appreciated the attempt though, and did not stop me when I wandered off. There were things to do and I needed to get a better idea of the situation before making any sort of decision.
Slowly, but surely, I made my way for one of the command structures that had been erected at the base of the wall. From here I could just catch snippets of conversation, even as soldiers rushed around and talked loudly. I could hear Cameron inside the tent, and he sounded tired, far too tired actually. I’d have to make sure he got some sleep, or something. Maybe a nap at the most.
I ducked under the flaps of the command tent and it got quiet real quick. When my gaze rose to look over those that were assembled around a simple table, I found everyone looked rather battered, the blood on their clothes and armor was fresh. Which suggested to even an untrained eye, that something had happened while I was asleep.
“You’re supposed to be resting.” Cameron said, breaking the silence and I waved a hand dismissively.
“Why sleep when there is work to do? Besides, you all look like you could use some sleep yourselves.” I state, and the elves nod in agreement, but don’t make any indication that they’re about to go get some rest. “So, what’s the situation looking like?”
For the next twenty or so minutes I got a rather detailed report on all that’d happened since I had passed out. Not much really had happened, though apparently the enemy had been performing a two pronged attack, one from above, one from below. Where the surface battle had ended in victory for us, the other had pressed on. At least until the spiders had shown up and began burrowing. They’d accidentally broken through into the tunnels, a surprise to both the spiders and the tunnelers.
It didn’t end so well for the tunnelers, and many had panicked, burrowing the last few meters up behind the walls in a desperate attempt to escape the arachnids, only to run straight into the blades and magic of the defenders. Hence the fresh blood splattered all over them. It had been a minimal incursion, many didn’t even know it’d happened hence why the healer had made no mention of it.
I digested all of this and found myself wondering just how we were going to make it through this fight. The arachnid reinforcements could only last so long, and the undead I could raise only lasted for four hours. Perhaps if the other snow elf cities sent their own forces could Moraluna hold out without our heroic aid. Which is what it was eventually going to have to do, since I couldn’t stay here forever. I had things to do and people to find, both of which were impossible to do while stuck behind city walls.
But I wasn’t about to just leave the city to fend for itself, not yet. Not till I was confident it would survive without me or Cameron. So we discussed our options, refining them as quickly as possible and utilizing what supplies we had as efficiently as possible. It was a crude plan, but it would keep us alive a little longer. Considering the enemy had a spidery minefield to pick their way through now, we were confident that we had plenty of time to rest and recover.
So once we were done discussing things, that’s what we split up to do. I returned to the medical wing, slipping into the hammock that was still up and sighing as I closed my eyes. Only for them to shoot open not two minutes later when this terrible, shrill, piercing shriek rent the very air. It sounded as though it came from everywhere in the room, and I could barely hear myself think, let alone anyone else actually speaking aloud.
Scrabbling from the room I went to see if it was just me who heard this terrible racket. Unfortunately, I was not. The wounded writhed and covered their ears if possible, wailing as well, even the healers were subdued, some hunched over on the floor, trying their best to cover their ears as the shrieking wail continued to drone on and on.
I knew we couldn’t withstand such an assault for long, everyone was tired, their nerves frayed, such an auditory attack would only hasten some sort of breakdown in our lines, which would spell doom for the city. But the problem was that I could not locate the source of this noise, this fell sound that jammed spikes of pure agony into my skull.
Going outside only made it worse, and the agony only grew more intense the closer to the walls I got. Just as I reached the stairs and began to climb, the sound stopped, yet my ears still suffered from a ringing tone. My sense of balance was thrown into chaos and I staggered my way up to the battlements, bracing myself on a crenellation so I may not collapse in front of those still upright.
Shuddering, I stared across the bloody battlefield at the enemy lines, spotting the contraption which had made such a terrible sound. What I saw filled me with utter disgust.
[prev]

September 8th, 2017
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I really didn’t see my Friday night going this fucking badly. I should be in Portland right now with Samantha right now, but instead I’m stuck here on a greyhound bus, waiting for the goddamn driver to come back.
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Least I’ve got my laptop, I guess. But no internet, go fucking figure, so I’ve got nothing to do but ramble to myself like a goddamn lunatic.
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It’s been about 45 minutes by now, I would’ve thought the driver would’ve at least come back with an update or something, but apparently not. Maybe he’s still on the phone with someone out there? I can see his flashlight out front so he’s got to still still out there!
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The kid in the seat behind me woke up and he’s crying. I can hear his Mom trying to shush him, but he’s screaming so loud that you can barely even hear her. One of the two old ladies a few seats in front of me got up to coo at him and see if she could help the Mom settle him down, but she doesn’t seem to be having any luck.
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The other old lady just looks annoyed, but she hasn’t said anything yet. Funnily enough, she kinda reminds me of my Mom… and not in a good way. Round face, curly hair, flushed red cheeks and little piggy eyes. I’m half expecting her to get up and start swearing at the kid, just like my Mom always did with my little brother whenever she got drunk.
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See - it’s that kind of behavior that made my Dad divorce her.
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At least the other old lady is nice. I can hear her trying to make small talk with the Mom. I think the kid might be starting to calm down, but I don’t know. I just heard the old lady (the one who doesn’t look like my Mom) say: “Life is a bus ride, isn’t it! It takes you to all kinds of exciting places and you meet all sorts of exciting people!”
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Is that supposed to be a joke?
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Seems kinda lame.
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The guy in the suit near the front of the bus is still asleep. I don’t think he’s figured out that we’ve broken down yet. Maybe he’ll sleep through this whole ordeal. Christ, we should all be so fucking lucky. Looks like the Mom is getting up to talk to the bus driver. Fucking finally. I’ve been waiting for someone else to do it. I don’t really want to do it myself since I’m all pissed off right now and I don’t really want to be the assh
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***
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Okay what the fuck?
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The Mom just fucking told us that the bus driver is gone! As in, he’s straight up not here anymore! His flashlight is just sitting in the fucking road!I even went out there with her to go looking for him! We woke up the businessman (his name is Roberto) to look with us!
The driver is gone.
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What the fuck.
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I’ve been talking with the other people on the bus. None of us have a phone signal right now, or else we’d call for help. None of us have seen any cars passing by either, which now that I’m thinking about it, is kinda weird. I mean, we were supposed to be on the highway this whole time, right? The road we’re on kinda looks like a highway, but there should be people here! There should be other cars! Fuck, what the hell is going on here?
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I’ve got this stupid feeling in the back of my mind that I should be worried… but I mean, obviously, this is just some kind of screw up, right? It’s like 3 AM. Obviously, there just aren’t any cars around. Obviously, someone is going to come and find us. Obviously this is all going to work out!
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But in the back of my mind, I can’t help but wonder what’s gonna happen if it doesn’t.
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Jeez, I can’t stop looking at the highway. Something about it is just so unsettling. It’s like this liminal space where I know there should be people, but there aren’t. This familiar space that’s now weirdly empty. Which probably isn’t that weird considering that it’s 3 AM, right? I don’t know.
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Writing this out on my laptop is the only thing keeping me from freaking out right now. I just need something to keep my mind focused for the time being. The Mom (her name is Karla) and Roberto are still trying to get a signal. Same with one of the little old ladies (the one who looks like my Mom.) I’ve got my phone out just in case I can catch a signal but the battery is pretty low. My laptops got power, at least.
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One of the old ladies (the one who doesn’t look like my Mom, I think her name is Minnie), said she saw someone out on the road a little while ago. I’m hoping that maybe it’s the bus driver? Maybe he came back for us? Can’t promise that I won’t kick his fucking ass if that’s the case… Karla’s saying that she just saw somebody too. I’m gonna go with her to look.
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September 9th, 2017
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I knew something was fucking wrong here, I fucking knew it! I fucking knew it!
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Jesus fucking Christ!
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We left the bus. It’s not fucking safe there anymore. We’ve moved to an abandoned gas station. We might be safe here? We’ve barricaded the doors with whatever we could find, and God only fucking knows if it’s gonna be enough!
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One of the old ladies, Minnie, she didn’t make it last night. When that thing attacked the bus, she couldn’t get away in time.
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Jesus…
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One minute, I was out there with Karla, thinking that our driver had come back from God knows where, and the next everyone was screaming and we were trying to run and it’s all just a goddamn blur and I’m still struggling to piece it all together. I went out with Karla to see if the bus driver had come back. She said she’d seen someone outside, so we went to look and it didn’t take that long to find whoever… whatever it was.
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I’d heard something under the bus, so I’d gotten down to take a look. I’d used Karla’s phone as a flashlight to see, and I’d been greeted with this face staring back at me. At first I’d thought it was a guy, some junkie strung out on drugs. They were pale and way too skinny with bulging eyes, messy hair and this sort of gaping mouth. I was pretty freaked out by the sight of them, obviously but I still thought it was just a person!
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I thought it was a person right up until they started clawing at me from under the bus. They started screaming, howling like some kind of wild animal, violently pulling themselves from out under the bus to try and get to me. Its limbs seemed a little too long, its nails looked a little too sharp. There was so much about it that just seemed wrong somehow, like it wasn’t fully human, not really.
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Karla and I had started running. We’d gotten back on the bus, thinking that we’d be safe there.
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We weren’t.
​
Soon as we closed the doors in that things face, it started trying to smash its way through them. It damn near tore the door off the fucking hinges.
​
We knew it was just a matter of time before it got inside, so we tried to get out. Roberto helped us smash one of the rear windows. We let Karla and her son (Aaron), out first, and tried to let the old ladies go second.
​
Charlene, (the one who looks like my Mom) got out first, but by then that thing had already gotten through the door. Minnie had been right behind us when it made it through… and when it charged at us, it got to her first.
​
God…
​
I watched her try to fight it off but…
​
It had already basically torn her apart before Roberto or I could even think about getting it off of her. She was screaming, crying, covered in blood. Not dead, but close to it.
​
We couldn’t save her. We knew that.
​
So we ran. I went out the window first, and Roberto went second. We ran from the bus as fast as we could, following Karla and Charlene into the darkness.
​
Then at some point, we found the gas station.
​
We spent the night shoring it up, thinking we’d only be waiting for a few hours until morning. But morning didn’t come. The sky stayed pitch black.
​
Even when the clock told us that it was one in the afternoon, the sky was still dark and there was still nobody out there. Nobody human, anyways.
​
I’ll see them sometimes when I’m on watch. Usually they’re across the street, and I’m never sure if they notice us or not. They’re hard to see in the dark. But they’re out there. They usually don’t get too close to the gas station, usually. The few who did, we’ve been able to scare off.
​
They don’t move like people. They walk on all fours, loping like animals. Sometimes I can hear them howling at each other. Those howls don’t sound human.
​
The food in the gas station is pretty stale. Some of it’s so rotten that it’s literally inedible. Roberto and I agreed to try heading back to the bus a few hours ago to see what supplies we could get… it’s how I got my laptop back.
​
Minnie’s body was nowhere to be found. But the blood was still there. We know she’s dead.
​
We didn’t get a hell of a lot from the bus. I had a few snacks in my backpack and Karla had some stuff for Aaron. But other than that, we’re not exactly well stocked. I’m not entirely sure that we’re not going to starve to death out here.
​
I’m already so fucking hungry and the stale granola bar I’ve had really isn’t doing anything to cut it. I don’t know if there’s a rescue coming or not. Roberto keeps saying that we’ll figure something out, but I’m finding it pretty hard to stay confident right now.
​
I keep looking out the windows.
​
I keep seeing those things in the darkness.
​
I keep thinking about Minnie.
​
​
September 12th, 2017
​
Supplies are already starting to run out. It’s been three days. No sun. We’re all hungry, we’re all miserable, we’re all scared.
​
Even Roberto’s been acting differently. Up until now, I’d have said that he was the cheerful one. Always acting like somebody was gonna come for us, but he’s been testy lately. Karla’s been on edge too, but I know it’s just because she’s scared. She’s the one with a screaming kid to feed.
​
One of the creatures came up to the gas station last night, when Aaron was having a tantrum. It tried to smash through the window to get at us. Roberto and I had to go out with some makeshift clubs to try and drive it off.
​
We kept hitting the goddamn thing but it just wouldn’t die… it should have died. But instead, it just kept looking up at us with those bulging eyes, even after we’d smashed its skull to the point where it should’ve been long dead. Even when its jaw was hanging off of its face… it just kept living. Eventually, we got it to retreat, at least. But it was a hell of a fight. The damn thing scratched the hell out of my arm.
​
Roberto seemed to do most of the work. I remember watching him whail on that thing, screaming like an animal all the while. I couldn’t tell who was making that howling noise, him or the creature. I wouldn’t have thought that he had that kind of anger in him… but I also wouldn’t have thought I’d be willing to go out and fight a fucking bug eyed monster with a club made out of broken chair legs. I guess considering out current situation, we’ve got a choice to either adapt or die and none of us really want to die.
​
That said, the more I think about it, the more I worry that sooner or later, we won’t have a lot of choice in the matter. I don’t really see any kind of light at the end of the tunnel here. We’re running out of supplies, we’re all on edge, there’s been no sun in three days and now we know that those things out there don’t die.
​
I want to be hopeful, I do. But looking at our situation, I can’t really say I’m filled with a whole lot of hope.
​
​
September 14th, 2017
​
Is anyone even going to read this?
​
Samantha, are you going to read this?
​
You’re probably wondering where I am… hell, I’m still wondering where I am.
​
Nothing makes sense here and things just keep getting worse and worse by the day.
​
Roberto attacked Charlene last night. He just… he just flipped out on her. One minute they were arguing, he was saying she doesn’t pull her weight, she was arguing that she’s 78 years old and she does what she can, and then he was on top of her, clawing at her, trying to bite her. Aaron was screaming and crying.
​
Karla and I had to fight to pull Roberto off of her, and then we had to drag him, literally kicking and screaming into the old office out back. We’ve locked him inside. But I can still hear him pounding on the door and screaming for us to let him out.
​
At least… he used to be screaming.
Now he just howls.
​
​
After we’d dealt with Roberto, Karla and I sat by the window on watch, eating some stale chips and trying to avoid talking about what had just happened. Although it wasn’t long before she said the thing that I was afraid to say.
​
The things that we see in the dark.
​
The things that are moving out there.
​
They look an awful lot like people.
​
It begs the question… were they human once?
​
Were they the people who got stuck here before us?
​
I’ve been thinking about that for a few days now. But Karla’s the one who finally said it out loud. Are we going to go insane?
​
​
September 15th, 2017
​
There’s a kids bicycle out back of the gas station. It’s so rusted that if you touched it, odds are it would just disintegrate. But it’s there, and it seems to have been there for so long that one of the trees has started to grow around it, absorbing it into the bark. I think about that bike a lot.
​
Roberto is dead.
​
Charlene went into the office an hour ago, and she killed him.
Charlene killed Roberto.
​
She said that it was necessary. That it was the only way we could be safe. But just looking at her, I knew that wasn’t why she’d done it. Looking at the blood around her mouth and on her hands, I knew she’d only killed him for the fresh meat. You couldn’t deny it, not even for a second. The… warm coppery taste of blood in my mouth as I bit open Charlene’s throat was… satisfying.
​
She fought hard. A lot harder than a woman her age should have fought. I’d imagined that killing her would be difficult, but it wasn’t. And the taste of her flesh was… I didn’t think I’d prefer it raw. But the squish of her meat in my teeth was divine.
​
I’m going to lock myself in the office now. It’s better that way.
​
​
September 17th, 2017
​
Aaron was crying today. I heard it when he finally stopped. I heard his voice catch in his throat as he was torn limb from bloody limb by Karla. I sat here and I did nothing. I just listened… and when the screaming was done I let myself out of the office and joined her in the feast.
​
We did not speak.
​
Looking into Karla’s eyes, I know that she is almost as far gone as I am. She didn’t seem to care about what she’d done until afterward. And even then, all she could do was stare pensively down at the bloody mess she’d left behind, unsure how to feel.
​
I caved her skull in from behind with one of the clubs we made during a moment of lucidity.She never asked me to. Not out loud. But when she saw me coming, she didn’t even try to run. There was only a quiet gratitude in her eyes, that she wouldn’t be condemned to live this way any longer.
​
I will be returning my laptop to the bus after this.
Maybe someone will find it. Maybe then, there might be some memory of us.
Maybe not.
​
The woods call to me. The hunger calls to me. But I don’t want to go, and I think there’s still enough of me left to hold out for just a little while longer. I’m going to try and get back to the gas station after this. The fuel from the pumps still burns. And I only need a little to burn myself.
​
Goodbye.
​
And Samantha, I’m sorry.
​
***
​
The entries above were recovered from a laptop discovered in the remains of a bus discovered off of I-5 from Seattle to Portland. The bus is believed to have gone off the road in September of 2017, but was somehow not discovered until March of 2022.
​
The bodies of the passengers, 26 year old Jacob Wilson, 29 year old Karla Solyak and her 6 year old son, Aaron Solyak, 78 year old Charlene Hanley, 74 year old Minnie Shorter and 38 year old Roberto Hunt, along with the driver 47 year old Preston Riles were never recovered and it is unclear what became of them.
​
The Lewis County Police have continued to investigate the accident, including the disappearances and why it took so long for the wreckage of the bus to be discovered, however as of yet have determined nothing conclusive.

September 8th, 2017
​
I really didn’t see my Friday night going this fucking badly. I should be in Portland right now with Samantha right now, but instead I’m stuck here on a greyhound bus, waiting for the goddamn driver to come back.
​
Least I’ve got my laptop, I guess. But no internet, go fucking figure, so I’ve got nothing to do but ramble to myself like a goddamn lunatic.
​
It’s been about 45 minutes by now, I would’ve thought the driver would’ve at least come back with an update or something, but apparently not. Maybe he’s still on the phone with someone out there? I can see his flashlight out front so he’s got to still still out there!
​
The kid in the seat behind me woke up and he’s crying. I can hear his Mom trying to shush him, but he’s screaming so loud that you can barely even hear her. One of the two old ladies a few seats in front of me got up to coo at him and see if she could help the Mom settle him down, but she doesn’t seem to be having any luck.
​
The other old lady just looks annoyed, but she hasn’t said anything yet. Funnily enough, she kinda reminds me of my Mom… and not in a good way. Round face, curly hair, flushed red cheeks and little piggy eyes. I’m half expecting her to get up and start swearing at the kid, just like my Mom always did with my little brother whenever she got drunk.
​
See - it’s that kind of behavior that made my Dad divorce her.
​
At least the other old lady is nice. I can hear her trying to make small talk with the Mom. I think the kid might be starting to calm down, but I don’t know. I just heard the old lady (the one who doesn’t look like my Mom) say: “Life is a bus ride, isn’t it! It takes you to all kinds of exciting places and you meet all sorts of exciting people!”
​
Is that supposed to be a joke?
​
Seems kinda lame.
​
The guy in the suit near the front of the bus is still asleep. I don’t think he’s figured out that we’ve broken down yet. Maybe he’ll sleep through this whole ordeal. Christ, we should all be so fucking lucky. Looks like the Mom is getting up to talk to the bus driver. Fucking finally. I’ve been waiting for someone else to do it. I don’t really want to do it myself since I’m all pissed off right now and I don’t really want to be the assh
​
***
​
Okay what the fuck?
​
The Mom just fucking told us that the bus driver is gone! As in, he’s straight up not here anymore! His flashlight is just sitting in the fucking road! I even went out there with her to go looking for him! We woke up the businessman (his name is Roberto) to look with us!
The driver is gone.
​
What the fuck.
​
I’ve been talking with the other people on the bus. None of us have a phone signal right now, or else we’d call for help. None of us have seen any cars passing by either, which now that I’m thinking about it, is kinda weird. I mean, we were supposed to be on the highway this whole time, right? The road we’re on kinda looks like a highway, but there should be people here! There should be other cars! Fuck, what the hell is going on here?
​
I’ve got this stupid feeling in the back of my mind that I should be worried… but I mean, obviously, this is just some kind of screw up, right? It’s like 3 AM. Obviously, there just aren’t any cars around. Obviously, someone is going to come and find us. Obviously this is all going to work out!
​
But in the back of my mind, I can’t help but wonder what’s gonna happen if it doesn’t.
​
Jeez, I can’t stop looking at the highway. Something about it is just so unsettling. It’s like this liminal space where I know there should be people, but there aren’t. This familiar space that’s now weirdly empty. Which probably isn’t that weird considering that it’s 3 AM, right? I don’t know.
​
Writing this out on my laptop is the only thing keeping me from freaking out right now. I just need something to keep my mind focused for the time being. The Mom (her name is Karla) and Roberto are still trying to get a signal. Same with one of the little old ladies (the one who looks like my Mom.) I’ve got my phone out just in case I can catch a signal but the battery is pretty low. My laptops got power, at least.
​
One of the old ladies (the one who doesn’t look like my Mom, I think her name is Minnie), said she saw someone out on the road a little while ago. I’m hoping that maybe it’s the bus driver? Maybe he came back for us? Can’t promise that I won’t kick his fucking ass if that’s the case… Karla’s saying that she just saw somebody too. I’m gonna go with her to look.
​
​
September 9th, 2017
​
I knew something was fucking wrong here, I fucking knew it! I fucking knew it!
​
Jesus fucking Christ!
​
We left the bus. It’s not fucking safe there anymore. We’ve moved to an abandoned gas station. We might be safe here? We’ve barricaded the doors with whatever we could find, and God only fucking knows if it’s gonna be enough!
​
One of the old ladies, Minnie, she didn’t make it last night. When that thing attacked the bus, she couldn’t get away in time.
​
Jesus…
​
One minute, I was out there with Karla, thinking that our driver had come back from God knows where, and the next everyone was screaming and we were trying to run and it’s all just a goddamn blur and I’m still struggling to piece it all together. I went out with Karla to see if the bus driver had come back. She said she’d seen someone outside, so we went to look and it didn’t take that long to find whoever… whatever it was.
​
I’d heard something under the bus, so I’d gotten down to take a look. I’d used Karla’s phone as a flashlight to see, and I’d been greeted with this face staring back at me. At first I’d thought it was a guy, some junkie strung out on drugs. They were pale and way too skinny with bulging eyes, messy hair and this sort of gaping mouth. I was pretty freaked out by the sight of them, obviously but I still thought it was just a person!
​
I thought it was a person right up until they started clawing at me from under the bus. They started screaming, howling like some kind of wild animal, violently pulling themselves from out under the bus to try and get to me. Its limbs seemed a little too long, its nails looked a little too sharp. There was so much about it that just seemed wrong somehow, like it wasn’t fully human, not really.
​
Karla and I had started running. We’d gotten back on the bus, thinking that we’d be safe there.
​
We weren’t.
​
Soon as we closed the doors in that things face, it started trying to smash its way through them. It damn near tore the door off the fucking hinges.
​
We knew it was just a matter of time before it got inside, so we tried to get out. Roberto helped us smash one of the rear windows. We let Karla and her son (Aaron), out first, and tried to let the old ladies go second.
​
Charlene, (the one who looks like my Mom) got out first, but by then that thing had already gotten through the door. Minnie had been right behind us when it made it through… and when it charged at us, it got to her first.
​
God…
​
I watched her try to fight it off but…
​
It had already basically torn her apart before Roberto or I could even think about getting it off of her. She was screaming, crying, covered in blood. Not dead, but close to it.
​
We couldn’t save her. We knew that.
​
So we ran. I went out the window first, and Roberto went second. We ran from the bus as fast as we could, following Karla and Charlene into the darkness.
​
Then at some point, we found the gas station.
​
We spent the night shoring it up, thinking we’d only be waiting for a few hours until morning. But morning didn’t come. The sky stayed pitch black.
​
Even when the clock told us that it was one in the afternoon, the sky was still dark and there was still nobody out there. Nobody human, anyways.
​
I’ll see them sometimes when I’m on watch. Usually they’re across the street, and I’m never sure if they notice us or not. They’re hard to see in the dark. But they’re out there. They usually don’t get too close to the gas station, usually. The few who did, we’ve been able to scare off.
​
They don’t move like people. They walk on all fours, loping like animals. Sometimes I can hear them howling at each other. Those howls don’t sound human.
​
The food in the gas station is pretty stale. Some of it’s so rotten that it’s literally inedible. Roberto and I agreed to try heading back to the bus a few hours ago to see what supplies we could get… it’s how I got my laptop back.
​
Minnie’s body was nowhere to be found. But the blood was still there. We know she’s dead.
​
We didn’t get a hell of a lot from the bus. I had a few snacks in my backpack and Karla had some stuff for Aaron. But other than that, we’re not exactly well stocked. I’m not entirely sure that we’re not going to starve to death out here.
​
I’m already so fucking hungry and the stale granola bar I’ve had really isn’t doing anything to cut it. I don’t know if there’s a rescue coming or not. Roberto keeps saying that we’ll figure something out, but I’m finding it pretty hard to stay confident right now.
​
I keep looking out the windows.
​
I keep seeing those things in the darkness.
​
I keep thinking about Minnie.
​
​
September 12th, 2017
​
Supplies are already starting to run out. It’s been three days. No sun. We’re all hungry, we’re all miserable, we’re all scared.
​
Even Roberto’s been acting differently. Up until now, I’d have said that he was the cheerful one. Always acting like somebody was gonna come for us, but he’s been testy lately. Karla’s been on edge too, but I know it’s just because she’s scared. She’s the one with a screaming kid to feed.
​
One of the creatures came up to the gas station last night, when Aaron was having a tantrum. It tried to smash through the window to get at us. Roberto and I had to go out with some makeshift clubs to try and drive it off.
​
We kept hitting the goddamn thing but it just wouldn’t die… it should have died. But instead, it just kept looking up at us with those bulging eyes, even after we’d smashed its skull to the point where it should’ve been long dead. Even when its jaw was hanging off of its face… it just kept living. Eventually, we got it to retreat, at least. But it was a hell of a fight. The damn thing scratched the hell out of my arm.
​
Roberto seemed to do most of the work. I remember watching him whail on that thing, screaming like an animal all the while. I couldn’t tell who was making that howling noise, him or the creature. I wouldn’t have thought that he had that kind of anger in him… but I also wouldn’t have thought I’d be willing to go out and fight a fucking bug eyed monster with a club made out of broken chair legs. I guess considering out current situation, we’ve got a choice to either adapt or die and none of us really want to die.
​
That said, the more I think about it, the more I worry that sooner or later, we won’t have a lot of choice in the matter. I don’t really see any kind of light at the end of the tunnel here. We’re running out of supplies, we’re all on edge, there’s been no sun in three days and now we know that those things out there don’t die.
​
I want to be hopeful, I do. But looking at our situation, I can’t really say I’m filled with a whole lot of hope.
​
​
September 14th, 2017
​
Is anyone even going to read this?
​
Samantha, are you going to read this?
​
You’re probably wondering where I am… hell, I’m still wondering where I am.
​
Nothing makes sense here and things just keep getting worse and worse by the day.
​
Roberto attacked Charlene last night. He just… he just flipped out on her. One minute they were arguing, he was saying she doesn’t pull her weight, she was arguing that she’s 78 years old and she does what she can, and then he was on top of her, clawing at her, trying to bite her. Aaron was screaming and crying.
​
Karla and I had to fight to pull Roberto off of her, and then we had to drag him, literally kicking and screaming into the old office out back. We’ve locked him inside. But I can still hear him pounding on the door and screaming for us to let him out.
​
At least… he used to be screaming.
Now he just howls.
​
​
After we’d dealt with Roberto, Karla and I sat by the window on watch, eating some stale chips and trying to avoid talking about what had just happened. Although it wasn’t long before she said the thing that I was afraid to say.
​
The things that we see in the dark.
​
The things that are moving out there.
​
They look an awful lot like people.
​
It begs the question… were they human once?
​
Were they the people who got stuck here before us?
​
I’ve been thinking about that for a few days now. But Karla’s the one who finally said it out loud. Are we going to go insane?
​
​
September 15th, 2017
​
There’s a kids bicycle out back of the gas station. It’s so rusted that if you touched it, odds are it would just disintegrate. But it’s there, and it seems to have been there for so long that one of the trees has started to grow around it, absorbing it into the bark. I think about that bike a lot.
​
Roberto is dead.
​
Charlene went into the office an hour ago, and she killed him.
Charlene killed Roberto.
​
She said that it was necessary. That it was the only way we could be safe. But just looking at her, I knew that wasn’t why she’d done it. Looking at the blood around her mouth and on her hands, I knew she’d only killed him for the fresh meat. You couldn’t deny it, not even for a second. The… warm coppery taste of blood in my mouth as I bit open Charlene’s throat was… satisfying.
​
She fought hard. A lot harder than a woman her age should have fought. I’d imagined that killing her would be difficult, but it wasn’t. And the taste of her flesh was… I didn’t think I’d prefer it raw. But the squish of her meat in my teeth was divine.
​
I’m going to lock myself in the office now. It’s better that way.
​
​
September 17th, 2017
​
Aaron was crying today. I heard it when he finally stopped. I heard his voice catch in his throat as he was torn limb from bloody limb by Karla. I sat here and I did nothing. I just listened… and when the screaming was done I let myself out of the office and joined her in the feast.
​
We did not speak.
​
Looking into Karla’s eyes, I know that she is almost as far gone as I am. She didn’t seem to care about what she’d done until afterward. And even then, all she could do was stare pensively down at the bloody mess she’d left behind, unsure how to feel.
​
I caved her skull in from behind with one of the clubs we made during a moment of lucidity.She never asked me to. Not out loud. But when she saw me coming, she didn’t even try to run. There was only a quiet gratitude in her eyes, that she wouldn’t be condemned to live this way any longer.
​
I will be returning my laptop to the bus after this.
Maybe someone will find it. Maybe then, there might be some memory of us.
Maybe not.
​
The woods call to me. The hunger calls to me. But I don’t want to go, and I think there’s still enough of me left to hold out for just a little while longer. I’m going to try and get back to the gas station after this. The fuel from the pumps still burns. And I only need a little to burn myself.
​
Goodbye.
​
And Samantha, I’m sorry.
​
***
​
The entries above were recovered from a laptop discovered in the remains of a bus discovered off of I-5 from Seattle to Portland. The bus is believed to have gone off the road in September of 2017, but was somehow not discovered until March of 2022.
​
The bodies of the passengers, 26 year old Jacob Wilson, 29 year old Karla Solyak and her 6 year old son, Aaron Solyak, 78 year old Charlene Hanley, 74 year old Minnie Shorter and 38 year old Roberto Hunt, along with the driver 47 year old Preston Riles were never recovered and it is unclear what became of them.
​
The Lewis County Police have continued to investigate the accident, including the disappearances and why it took so long for the wreckage of the bus to be discovered, however as of yet have determined nothing conclusive.

I’ve been grinding away on a lot of writing on credit recruiting, advice for interns, and other career resources for junior peers in finance and have roughly 17,000 words written so far. This will steadily be coming out over the next few months – and we’re kicking it off today starting with advice for interns. My disclaimer for everything I’ll be writing is as follows – one person’s career advice may not be the perfect fit for you and you should combine the opinion of 5-10 people you respect and then determine what is YOUR best path. But alas, I’ve walked the path of being a bulge bracket intern, and have spent a lot of time thinking through the insight I can provide the interns and junior people that follow the account – and here’s what I’ve got.
First – advice for people with interns: Be nice and understanding to your intern.
To be honest, whether we like to admit it or not, this is how most of us came into the industry: A lot of us came into the industry thinking we knew more than we actually did because we read about it in a textbook, got good grades, and saw xyz finance meme. But the reality is a lot of us were vastly unprepared to be a value-added resource during the early stages of our career. One MD said to me once as a college senior “They don’t expect you to know anything. They’re hiring for someone who can learn as they go.” I didn’t realize this as a college senior, but after six months of working this became very obvious to me. Companies are hiring interns for their potential. Their potential comes from 1) having a good work ethic and 2) having a good attitude. As an intern, if you work hard and be pleasant to work with, then you’re going to win 9 times out of 10.
It's hard to remember, but there was a time where none of us had any clue what we were doing. Arguably, this continues on in your career and the humblest investors truly believe this. So look here’s my advice – sure interns be saying the darndest things sometimes – but let’s try to cut them slack, treat them fairly, and remember we were once in their same shoes?
Sure, if a Gen Z intern is out there being a jerk and snobbish, then maybe this isn’t valid, but if they’re hardworking, showing a lot of potential, and are super coachable then it is your job to help them develop into a potential asset at your firm.
Also – this is a relatively more “stressful” year for interns. College kids are always a lot more panicked about the job market than people who already have experience under their belt to begin with - but this economy isn’t lessening their worries. A lot of college kids are seeing the class of 2023 have offers pulled and enter a tougher job market. Now they’re starting to get spooked a bit and may feel a little out of control. Try your best to encourage and develop them – these guys are probably feeling a little like how the 2008-2009 grads felt, to a degree.
Okay – so here’s my 20 point list of recommendations for interns.
First - last year I started a debate over whether banking interns should take vacations in the middle of their internship….and people actually tried countering it. LMAO! I’m going to try this bit again sometime soon to get the people going and let’s still see people still think that while we’re on the precipice of a recession.
1) Be careful with social media. DO NOT MAKE TIKTOKS. Emphasizing this in all caps. There’s a reason all the Finmemes and FinTwit burners are anonymous and not dancing around on the internet. Most TikToks are very cringeworthy and seem to always find their way to HR once they go viral. People will 100% get fired over what they post to TikTok or Snapchat. Your TikToks are very likely to be spread to large audiences on Instagram or Twitter – which is totally fair game (you posted it, you gotta own what you post). With that said, if you ask nicely I’ll take a TikTok down, but other accounts openly will not. In general, don’t take your phone out and record or take photos of stuff, especially given all the sensitive materials we work with. Don’t post sensitive information from your computer on your IG story captioned “grinding hard” “working on the weekend like usual” or some shit.
2) Don’t take a week long vacation during a ten-week internship. Last year, I made this obvious remark on twitter, got a bunch of ppl in agreement, but also riled up a tonnnn of people on twitter (didn’t seem like the typical finance folk though) but it’s true. I want everyone reading this to succeed – which is why I’m telling this hard truth. Bosses in banking will frown upon you missing 10% of your learning experience to go vacation. You can always vacation before or after your internship (this is what I did lol). Remember as an intern, you are trying out for a sports team – you haven’t made the team yet, but you’re getting the chance to make the big leagues. Would you leave the team in the middle of preseason before the roster is finalized? Of course not. It’s that simple.
3) Dress the part without overdressing: You don’t want to wear a significantly oversized suit but you also shouldn’t be wearing Gucci loafers as an intern. Ideally you want to dress in a pretty standard way that isn’t drawing attention to yourself as someone who seems out of place. I’d lose any dress shirts with shirt pockets and I’m not a fan of oxford collars (this one may be too harsh but just my opinion). I just don’t think oxford collars go well with a tie and/or suit. Make sure your dress shirts aren’t wrinkled af. Obviously no Gordon Gekko dress shirts. In terms of shoes, Gucci loafers are frowned upon as an intern/first year because you haven’t really gone through the ringer, may be perceived as entitled, and hence don’t deserve this status symbol. This is the case for nice watches too. This is the perception from senior people, so ya, just wait until after a sick bonus and snag the more-status like attire after your first 1-3 years.
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https://preview.redd.it/fq92pqseg63b1.png?width=717&format=png&auto=webp&s=2b02171dd0c4df030bfbc7b897ddb572cf050a5b
4) You want to look professional, this may mean having a professional haircut: Look – so if I see a Gen Z analyst with that typical Gen Z haircut (I later learned it’s called a “broccoli cut”) I do not take them seriously. I figured this was kind of mean of me, so I went to Twitter to confirm whether other people think this. In fact, they overwhelmingly agree. Older generations think the broccoli cut looks stupid as hell.
​

Again, it’s not about “what’s accepted” by your generation, it’s about what’s accepted (without being said obviously) within the workforce. Again, this is me speaking a hard truth. I’d like for HYH readers to be taken seriously – and I’m telling you a large amount of FinTwit just said this haircut below looks silly! Read the tea leaves.
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https://preview.redd.it/bvgvzcuhg63b1.png?width=477&format=png&auto=webp&s=3ea98cc719152f926751f143066a562ac6421e13
5) Don’t make the same mistake twice: Easier said than done, but the people evaluating you are keeping tabs on whether you’re smart/teachable. They’ve been trained by this philosophy and are judging you by the same standards. If you make the same mistake twice, then they may perceive that you may not have the ability to retain information, learn from experience, etc. Tough, but this is true and happens constantly. I got screamed at once where my VP said “he asked this same question before!!” to a couple of MDs. Tbh the MDs didn’t really care, but wasn’t a great feeling. Try to keep tabs on what you’ve already asked and have been shown.
6) Don’t #REF the model or some important file: When you’re working in an excel model or PowerPoint on your own you should make a copy from the original just in case you totally #REF! the model. Create a copy of “ImportantModel” and name it “ImportantModelYourInitials”. That way if you do something really dumb (who knows, you may change something they don’t like), at least there’s a backup. Tbh you may need to keep doing this throughout the entirety of your career and should engrain this in yourself as a best practice.
7) Steve Schwarzman (Founder of Blackstone) once said this isn’t school – you need a 100% score. This is the most important lesson here. In college, an A is a mid-90s grade. In a famous YouTube video where Schwarzman greets the first year analyst class at Blackstone, he notes how only a 100 is acceptable and As/Bs are not. He says this was his biggest challenge when he was just starting out. I’d strongly recommend watching this video later when you’re done reading through my list. He spits absolute fire here.
8) WFH will happen later in your career….your internship isn’t the time to be remote: In 2021/2022 I got some pushback on this point, but look now! Finance firms have brought pretty much everyone back to the office and a large chunk of front office professionals are in five days a week. Obviously there’s plenty of people at three days a week and four days a week, but I don’t know anyone in finance with “one or two days or fully remote”. I’ve previously noted that I thought a bunch of people were making a mistake by moving to fully remote too soon in their careers. I thought remote workers would be the first to go in a downturn and that has played out a ton over the past year. A remote worker’s connectivity is lower than the people a manager may see around a water cooler. Obviously, someone outside of finance, someone who’s an absolute stud, or an entrepreneur can leverage remote work ofc. I personally don’t think your 20’s are a great time to be too focused on being remote first, and the focus should be on building a reputation first. Obviously your first job (your internship) is meant as mainly a learning experience and a great opportunity to learn from smart people! Therefore as long as those smart people are in the office, you should be there too. If the firm has a 3-4 day policy then you get to follow that, but if you have a couple notable people in 5 days a week, then I would suck it up and get in the office 5 days a week. Also, this may be a great way to differentiate yourself and get more one-on-one time while the rest of the office is empty. Also – you’re trying out for a team! Make the team!
9) Proofread constantly: The more you re-read the higher the probability of catching errors! I’m terrible at proofreading. My ADHD ass is bouncing around constantly and I always miss stuff – but hopefully you guys can do better than me. Some tips: A) read from beginning to end, B) read backwards (from end to beginning), C) say out loud what you’re proofreading under your breath, D) read on a different format (for ex. If you were proofreading in word, try proofreading again in a PDF format), and E) print out the end product and proofread on paper. You don’t have to do all 5…(I don’t)..but you should find a formula to proofread and over-read effectively.
10) Over-communicate: It’s okay if you say or email “Will do”, “sounds good” , or “On it” constantly – I would confirm receipt to every email your direct co-workers send you so the sender knows you’re attentive and understood their instructions. Over-communicating via responding to emails is the move because it allows the person delegating work to you to understand that they don’t have to hover over you. When someone who isn’t your staffer talks to you too, it might be helpful to bring up in conversation – “I’m working with Kevin on xyz deal” or “I’ve been helping with xyz”- this is a good way to show people that you’re 1) staying busy and 2) contributing and people actually know what you’re up to.
11) Write everything down: When someone is speaking to you there is an expectation that you should be taking notes. Would be brutal if you finish an assignment but forget one piece because you forgot and didn’t have that part written down. Part of writing everything down too is so you can review and refresh on the lessons you’ve learned from your internship. I’d recommend reading through the learnings you have written down once a week. And obviously, post internship you can reflect on what you’ve learned and have off hand in case you need it in another setting. On that note, if there’s anything interesting you wrote down or worked on that you need to reference going forward – make sure you grab it and take it with you before your final day. Not the cleanest advice I’m giving rn – but it’s something a lot of people do and post-internship you may regret forgetting to bring home your firm’s powerpoint shortcut pdf, a primer on covenant lite loans, or a certain sell-side research report. Just speaking facts.
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https://preview.redd.it/ltqwpdrkg63b1.png?width=638&format=png&auto=webp&s=ced91af93b5499d0e44f258c374ae73f38e77f8a
12) Predict demands: This may be more for first-year analysts, but figuring out where you can add value and save people time is how you can justify your salary. For interns, it’s more about 1) learning experience, 2) being a good cultural fit, and 3) being teachable. But if you’re an intern tasked with “analyst like tasks” then I would try to take a step back and think of where you can add value. If someone senior asks you to do a task that seems recurring in nature, that’s a good place to take initiative going forward. Just confirm with them of course, that this is something recurring and something they want you to do, as you don’t want to accidentally mess something up or overstep. If you can get started on a task that you know someone is going to ask you to do anyways, go for it. Show that initiative.
13) Network with everyone, leave no stone unturned: I wouldn’t network with people immediately (you need to find your footing the first week or two) but it’s a mistake to not block off time to talk to every relevant person you can get in front of. Personalize your approaches and personalize your follow-ups, but recognize as an intern you’ll get a lot of flexibility to get in front of people that you may not be able to get in front of in a couple of years. Also make sure you chill with your fellow interns. Don’t be the person who doesn’t converse with the other interns. These are relationships that can become pretty important down the line as you will be able to pick each other’s brains as you navigate your early career. Also make sure you remember people’s names and don’t guess if you don’t know. If someone has a name that’s hard to spell – check their email first to make sure you spelled it right before firing it off. Last summer I got called the wrong name a few times by an intern on a different team. I didn’t bother correcting them, figuring it’s funnier to let them keep making the same mistake, and they looked like an idiot when they got it wrong in front of other people near the end of their internship
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https://preview.redd.it/l9nm54fmg63b1.png?width=903&format=png&auto=webp&s=80a2be27ca070587d58a41ce270624d7d29ca2a2
14) Show this is where you want to work after graduation (even if that’s not true): Remember, you’re trying out for a sports team, make sure you show you want to join the big leagues. Look, you may even have to pretend you want to work there after graduation even if that’s a bold faced lie. If there’s murmurs you’re just using this internship as a stepping stone, you will be toast. You’ll have a year to shop for a better gig – just focus on securing the offer! Also – we’re probably about to enter a recession – don’t get cute! Get the job!
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https://preview.redd.it/om9lnonng63b1.png?width=547&format=png&auto=webp&s=a4024053ba716b011164a996d23665ed376bd28f
15) Don’t get sloppy while drinking: This is very important. This isn’t college anymore. Bosses don’t care about how much you drink or how sick you are (I’ve made this mistake honestly). Keep your cool while drinking with colleagues and keep your cool if there’s an intern after party that follows a general work party. Again, this isn’t college, use your best judgement even when impaired.
16) Focus on what you can control, don’t focus on what you can’t control. This was really good advice I got from a MD. You have to accept some things are out of your control, which is tough for the personality types that know they can force a lot of their own future. If you put a lot of work in and are strategic, you can carve your own path forward, but there will still be external stuff out of your control that you can’t sweat over and will have to power through. Differentiating the two is crucial. But if there is something you can improve on that will impact your outcomes going forward, make sure you address that vs. incorrectly think it’s something you can’t control. Once you know what you can and cannot control you’ll be able to shape the path you want.
17) In hindsight you’ll realize you asked dumb questions/cared about the wrong stuff: You may realize over a few years that you panicked over stuff that didn’t matter. Try not to sweat it. It’s all part of the process. The stuff you read on WSO isn’t the bible. Just remember to be fair and helpful when an intern a few years from now has the same level of naivety and comes to you to learn.
18) Don’t beat yourself up over mistakes: I still vividly recall dumb mistakes I made as an intern/first year analyst. Hell, I still remember the dumb mistakes I made in middle school! It’s easier said than done, but try not to be too hard on yourself. It’s important to learn from mistakes, but make sure you learn to forgive yourself.
19) Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t get the offer: This doesn’t mean you’re a flawed human. You may not have been ready yet, the standards of the firm may be unrealistically high, or (more likely than not) they may not actually have the ability to hire a full-time analyst and just wanted a cheap intern. Also, in 2023/2024 – the market sucks. M&A is grinding to a halt and high interest rates are hurting economic activity. Hell, the bank you intern at may not exist in a year. One job will not define you. If there are mistakes you think you can improve on, then recognize what they are and adapt.
20) It’s just a job. All this aside, remember, it’s just a job, not your life. A job is only a way to drive cash flow to fund your livelihood. That is it. You are young, you are energized, you are fungible – you will figure it out even if the path seems unclear sometimes.
That’s all! Best of luck!

The sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” is getting a lift from good buzz and residual fondness for its predecessor, one of the inaugural cinematic forays into all things multiverse. And while reviews are still embargoed, critics flipped for the first one, so assuming the follow-up sticks the landing, the notices could propel “Across the Spider-Verse” ever higher. But it’s a crowded marketplace and five years has passed since audiences were first introduced to Miles Morales and a wide web of Spider-People. Plus, there’s been an ever expanding array of superhero films and streaming shows to turn to, increasing the competition for moviegoers who like their heroes costumed and masked.
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That said, tracking suggests that “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” should have no trouble swinging to the top of box office charts when it opens in wide release on June 2. Initial projections have “Across the Spider-Verse” bowing to $80 million. That’s a big leap forward from the $35.4 million that “Into the Spider-Verse’ debuted with when it launching in theaters. But rival studios and exhibitors believe the sequel has a chance of opening to $90 million or even higher. To hit or eclipse that mark, “Across the Spider-Verse” will need to broaden its appeal, not only attracting teenagers and adults under the age of 40, but also bringing in families.
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It also may depend on how well “The Little Mermaid,” which topped the Memorial Day box office with $117.5 million over the four-day holiday and $95.4 million for the weekend, holds. The Disney remake of the animated classic is looking for a sophomore weekend of roughly $40 million, which would represent a drop of just under 60%. If it over-performs that could make it harder for the Spidey sequel to draw younger crowds.
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Sony Pictures produced “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” for $100 million, which is relatively economical considering that many major studio animated movies cost double that figure. The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson and follows Miles as he teams up with his lady love Gwen Stacy try to save his Spider brethren from a super-villain called the Spot. Shameik Moore returns to voice Miles along with Hailee Steinfeld once again portraying Gwen. The cast also includes Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac.
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“Across the Spider-Verse” isn’t the only new major studio release. Disney’s 20th Century Studios will look to frighten horror fans with “The Boogeyman,” an adaptation of Stephen King’s short story of the same name. The movie was originally slated to debut on Hulu, but the studio was impressed enough by the footage to change things up and re-conceive “The Boogeyman” as a theatrical proposition — hey, it worked for “Smile!” The film centers on a father who works as a therapist but finds himself unable to help his daughters deal with the recent death of their mother. But things get dicier when a desperate patient shows up unexpectedly at the family’s house asking for help, bringing with him a terrifying and sinister force. Rob Savage (“Host”) directs the $35 million production with a cast that includes “Yellowjackets” star Sophie Thatcher and Chris Messina. “The Boogeyman” is on track to open to $15 million, a respectable result for the modestly budgeted movie.

Happy to provide pics of anything you might be interested in. If you would like to buy, see my GameSale post!
If you are local to the Sacramento area I might be willing to do a local meetup. Cash/Paypal also acceptable on either side to help even out a trade.
Thanks for looking! Happy trading!
[HAVE]

PLAYSTATION
Playstation	Legacy of Kain Collectors Edition Triple Pack	SEALED Hard to value.. I don't see this very often at all.. There is one other one on eBay right now for $369 in similar condition.. This one does have some minor wear to the corners/seal as seen in the pics.. I would really like a big item from my list for this..
Playstation	DarkStalkers 3	BL - CIB - Minor Staining
Playstation	GranStream Saga	BL - CIB - Water damaged rear art
Playstation 2	Final Fantasy X Brady Games Strategy Guide	Very worn. Has tear in front cover. No poster.
Playstation 2	Final Fantasy X -2 Brady Games Strategy Guide	Moderately worn. Has smaller tear in back cover. Includes Poster.
Playstation 2	24 The Game	BL - CIB
Playstation 2	Crazy Taxi	BL - CIB
Playstation 2	.Hack Infection	BL - CIB - Cover art has some water damage
Playstation 2	.Hack Mutation	Missing DVD - Complete and pretty minty otherwise.
Playstation 2	Guitar Hero II	BL - CIB
Playstation 2	Guitar Hero Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80's	BL - CIB
Playstation 2	Myst III Exile	BL - CIB
Playstation 2	RPG Maker 3	BL - CIB
Playstation 2	Wheel of Fortune	BL - CIB
Playstation 3	Ace Combat Assault Horizon	BL - CIB
Playstation 3	BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend	Limited Edition Big Box - CIB - Includes Soundtrack, Art Book, and Calendar. Box has heavy wear. Everything else is pretty minty. Game case has some minor shelf wear.
Playstation 3	Dark Souls II	BL - CIB
Playstation 3	Diablo III	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	500 Million Dual Shock 4 Controller	Loose - Has crack in center but otherwise, pretty nice with very low usage.
Playstation 4	7 Days to Die	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Call Of Duty Infinite Warfare	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Dead Cells [Action Game of the Year]	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Evolve	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Final Fantasy XV Deluxe Steelbook Edition book w/Slipcover	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8	BL - CIB - Spine damage/tear
Playstation 4	Middle Earth Shadow of War	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Nascar Heat 3	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Overwatch Origins	BL - CIB
Playstation 4	Resident Evil Village Deluxe Edition	BL - CIB
Playstation 5	Apsulov	CIB
Playstation 5	Babylon's Fall	Sealed
Playstation 5	Death Stranding	Sealed
Playstation 5	Rustler	CIB
Playstation 5	Thymesia	CIB - Case/art has some damage
PSP	PSP 1001 - Loose. PSP ONLY	Body and screen are pretty scratched up, includes a rubber grip cover and I can include a white replacement shell... Charge port can be touchy sometimes so it also includes a replacement port.
PSP	SanDisk Memory Stick PRO Duo	One 2.0GB Translucent Blue and one 512KB Translucent Green available.
PSP	Generation of Chaos	BL - No Manual
PSP	Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life	BL - CIB
PSP	Tekken 6	BL - CIB
PSP	PSP 3000 Box and tray only - No PSP included	Box has moderate to heavy wear with some creasing.
PSVITA	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus	Loose
PSVITA	Wipeout 2048	Loose

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XBOX
Xbox	Blowout	BL - CIB
Xbox	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	BL - CIB
Xbox	Indiana Jones and The Emperors Tomb	BL - CIB
Xbox	Pac Man World 2	PH - CIB
Xbox	Return To Castle Wolfenstein Tides of War	PH - CIB
Xbox 360	4GB - 360 Slim Console	Includes OEM power supply and controller. I can probably include an HDMI cable if needed.
Xbox 360	250GB - 360 Slim Console	Includes OEM power supply, controller and Kinect. I can probably include an HDMI cable if needed.
Xbox 360	Dead Space 3	PH - CIB
Xbox 360	Dragonball Z Ultimate Tenkaichi	BL - CIB
Xbox 360	Fable 2 Limited Edition	BL - CIB* (No special features disc)
Xbox 360	Fable 3	BL - CIB
Xbox 360	Forza 4	BL - CIB
Xbox 360	Grand Theft Auto 5	BL - Boxed w/map
Xbox 360	Halo 3 Limited Edition Steel book w/sleeve (minor damage)	BL - CIB - Includes manual, but no book..
Xbox 360	Hitman HD Trilogy - Premium Edition w/ slipcoveartbook	BL - CIB - Moderate - Heavy wear
Xbox 360	Mortal Kombat	BL - Boxed (No Manual)
Xbox 360	NBA Live 2010	BL - CIB
Xbox 360	NBA 2K18	BL - CIB
Xbox 360	Portal 2	BL - Boxed (No Manual)
Xbox 360	Test Drive Unlimited	BL - CIB
Xbox One	Battlefield 4 Steelbook Edition	CIB
Xbox One	Battlefield Hardline	CIB
Xbox One	Dark Souls 3	CIB
Xbox One	Madden 22	CIB
Xbox One	Prototype BioHazard Bundle	CIB
Xbox One	Rare Replay	CIB
Xbox One	Skylanders Trap Team	CIB
Xbox One	UFC 3	CIB
Xbox One	Watch Dogs 2	CIB
Xbox One	Wolfenstein The New Order	CIB

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NINTENDO
NES	Nintendo of America Letter	w/ Official Nintendo Envelope, Cover Letter, Nintendo Power order form, service center list, Game Pak Directory, Replacement parts list, Nintendo history. Great little piece. Definitely shows some wear and a few markings but the order forms are blank. Not sure how to value this
NES	Bart vs The Space Mutants	Manual Only
NES	Gradius	Manual Only
NES	Mega Man 1	Manual Only
NES	Mission Impossible	Manual Only
NES	NES Advantage controller	Manual Only
NES	Zodas Revenge	Manual Only
NES	Kung Fu	Loose
NES	Ninja Gaiden II	Loose
NES	Skate or Die	Loose - Worn/snagged top label
NES	Wizards and Warriors III	Loose - Worn/torn top label
NES	GAME GENIE	Loose
SNES	DOOM	CIB** - Might be willing to trade box/contents separately.
SNES	Rockos Modern Life	CIB - Box is worn, includes insert, manual and warning slip.. both have some wear, Cart is in great shape! Might be willing to trade box/contents separately.
SNES	Yoshi's Safari	CIB** - Might be willing to trade box/contents separately.
SNES	Buster Busts Loose	Manual Only
SNES	Hey Punk! Are You Tuff E Nuff?	Manual Only
SNES	Lawnmower Man	Manual Only
SNES	Mega Man X	Manual Only
SNES	World Heroes	Manual Only
SNES	GAME GENIE	Loose
N64	Standard N64 Console and gray controller. No wires, but I'd be willing to trade towards an OEM set.	Includes OEM expansion pack.
Wii	Red Steel	BL - Boxed (No Manual)
Wii	Trauma Center Second Opinion	BL - CIB
Wii U	The Legend of Zelda Windwaker HD Edition Wii U	Complete in box** - Super Hard trade
Wii U	The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD	SEALED
Wii U	Super Mario 3D World	NS - CIB
Switch	Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Edition OLED Switch	NEW
Switch	BloodRayne Fresh Bites	Sealed - w/card
Switch	Fire Emblem Three Houses	CIB
Switch	Great Ace Attorney Chronicles	CIB
Gameboy	Ren and Stimpy Veediots	Manual Only
NDS	Red Super Mario Bros 25th Anniversary Edition DSi XL	Loose - With charger. Does have some minor wear and teascuffs on corners
NDS	Mario Party DS	Sealed - (Has some knicks/tear in seal.)
NDS	Pokémon Heartgold	CIB - NFR case, no big box or Pokewalker - Only considering trading this so I can upgrade.. Would also trade FOR the big box..
NDS	Spiderman Shattered Dimensions	Loose
NDS	Spyro The Eternal Night	Loose
NDS	DS Lite Car adaptecharger	NEW - Power A branded, Nintendo officially licensed.
NDS	DSi XL Stylus 5 packs. One of each color set available (2)	NEW - Power A branded, Nintendo officially licensed.
3DS	Animal Crossing New Leaf	CIB
3DS	Bravely Second End Layer	CIB - Minor damage to case/art
3DS	Legend of Legacy	Sealed
3DS	Super Smash Bros. 3DS	Loose

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SEGA
Saturn	Model 2 Console	Loose - Includes power cord + OEM controller
Saturn	Street Fighter Alpha 2	CIB
Dreamcast	Crazy Taxi	Loose

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[WANT]
Some specific items I'm after:

• 3D Dot Game Heroes
• Attack On Titan 2 or Final Battle PS4
• Baten Kaitos - Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
• Castlevania Curse of Darkness - PS2
• Castlevania Lament of Innocence - PS2
• Castlevania Dracula X
• Conkers Bad Fur Day
• Chocobos Dungeon
• Clock Tower (all)
• Drakengard 2
• Earthbound
• Evil Dead (PS1-PS2)
• Folklore
• Geist - Gamecube
• Grandia Xtreme
• The Legend of Zelda Four Swords - Gamecube
• Majoras Mask N64
• Mario Party 6 - Complete only
• Mario Party 7 - Manual only
• Marvel vs Capcom 1 and 2 PS1/PS2 or Dreamcast
• Misadventures of Tron Bonne
• Mega Man 64 - Cart or CIB
• Paper Mario TTYD - Complete and NON Players Choice/Best Seller
• Parasite Eve II - Manual only
• Pokemon Crystal, Emerald, Ruby, and Silver
• Pokemon White, Black, HGSS (Big Box), Alpha Sapphire, Moon, Y, Ultra Sun/Moon
• Resident Evil - Saturn
• Resident Evil - PS1 Long Box
• Resident Evil Code Veronica - Gamecube
• Resident Evil Dead Aim (Also looking for other light Gun games like Point Blank, Time Crisis, House of the Dead..)
• Resident Evil Survivor
• Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles - Highly Prefer the Gun Bundle Version.
• Saga Frontier 2 PS1, Unlimited Saga PS2
• Shadow Hearts - PS2
• Shadow Hearts From the New World - Disc only
• Silent Hill Origins and Shattered Memories - PS2
• Suikoden, Suikoden II and Suikoden Tactics
• Tekken Long Box
• Twisted Metal Long Box
• Valkyrie Profile PS1
• Wario Ware/World - Gamecube
• Xenosaga Episode III - PS2 - Complete only. Lenticular preferred.

[General Wants]

• I'd like to bulk up my Gamecube and Sega collections; Dreamcast, CD/Saturn and Genesis.. I don't really need any hardware at the moment. But a CDX or Nomad would be cool though!
• PlayStation 5 games. Official Sony dual controller charger - CIB or New
• PS1 - PS4 Heavies
• PS Vita Games and maybe certain Vitas.
• PSP Games
• PSVR Games
• PS1 Long Box games
• PSX Console
• Special Edition Sony/PlayStation stuff.
• Switch games, SE Pro controllers
• Gameboys
• DS/3DS games

** Your lists/offers. I am not interested in loose discs or any sort of Greatest Hits, Platinum Hits, Players Choice, etc. Black Label/first print only. Most Carts are ok loose with the exception of games that came in plastic cases such as DS/Vita. If it had a cardboard box I can do without.

The purpose of this post is to discuss the historical period following World War One, as it has interesting things within it to learn about the concept of a "revolutionary period" and what that actually entails. You may have heard someone use that term before but without the proper historical context of what a revolutionary period even is it can be difficult to understand why someone might be saying that something is true or should happen "only in a revolutionary period" as an example. Specifically this thread of ideas I will be presenting will help to understand many of the foreign policy and geopolitical ideas many of us hold intuitively but might provide a theoretical basis to start to understand why it is that we might think or say certain things.
To add flavour I'm going to weave it together with an explanation of the term National Bolshevism as the term was originally coined during the "revolutionary period" of the post-WW1 era, rather than the way the term is used today to describe any group of people who may have labelled themselves "National Bolsheviks" since. The term is generally used today to describe people within the Soviet Union who attempted to adapt Communism to fit with Russian Nationalism, and that became a party itself in the 1993 post-Soviet crisis where Communists and Russians nationalists together resisted the kleptocratic "liberalization" as many careerist former party members took advantage of the collapse of the soviet union to seize control of the state assets they had technical control over.
However the term actually predates even the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922, let alone any other 20th century regime (as it is sometimes erroneously used to describe people who support people who support both the Soviet Union and WW2 Germany, when this is merely circumstantial as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact achieved what the original National Bolsheviks were trying to accomplish before either of those states truly existed) The term was originally used by a German Communist named Karl Radek to describe two other German Communist member he was expelling as "National Bolsheviks". What these people wanted to do was align the revolutionary movement in Germany with that in Russia in mutual opposition to both the treaty of Versailles and the treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
I am specifically defending the prospect of this strategy in particular rather than specifically any person who might have been or could have been advocating for it and any ideas they might have had otherwise, not because it is national, or even bolshevik, but rather because I think it conforms with the idea in the Communist Manifesto of the role of Communists in relation to Proletarians where the Communists do not form separate political programs of their own and instead are supposed to align various proletarians movements together across nationality with respect to the current stage than any of those movements may find themselves in.

In what relation do the Communists stand to the proletarians as a whole?
The Communists do not form a separate party opposed to the other working-class parties.
They have no interests separate and apart from those of the proletariat as a whole.
They do not set up any sectarian principles of their own, by which to shape and mould the proletarian movement.
The Communists are distinguished from the other working-class parties by this only: 1. In the national struggles of the proletarians of the different countries, they point out and bring to the front the common interests of the entire proletariat, independently of all nationality. 2. In the various stages of development which the struggle of the working class against the bourgeoisie has to pass through, they always and everywhere represent the interests of the movement as a whole.

Therefore the irony of this position I am defending is that it was the one advocated for by people labelled National, which would clearly seem to be contrary to being independent of nationality, and Bolshevik who would seem to be sectarians seeking to mold to proletarian movement. The other irony is that for it to have been possible it would have required overcoming proletarian movements in different nationalities operating independent of one another, in addition to overcoming the sectarianism emerging between all the differing "Communist" movements in this revolutionary period. In other words this is another call in an endless stream of "stop infighting!" coupled with "everyone except for me is wrong" which just contributes to the infighting by creating a new sectarian divergence but there is very little that can be done about that. Mostly this is just an excuse to discuss a particular moment I find interesting and inner contrarian in me just wants to make the seemingly most insane position seem the most reasonable as a challenge.
Lenin was not in favour of this so it was a bit of a non-starter. In "Left-Wing" Communism: An Infantile Disorder, he criticizes people who refuse to recognize the treaties, but in addition to the tendencies of so-called National Bolsheviks, he also criticized the Left-Communists that Karl Radek and the other German Revolutionaries were often members. Here we can start to see a problem emerging as you clearly have two different revolutionary movements in two different countries who are having difficulty working with each other (with the problem of the treaties between these countries not even being the main issue they were squabbling over). While not around long enough to have become officially a Left-Communist herself, Luxembourg is associated with them as her writings are cited as a major influence on the tendency, and she is notable for criticizing Lenin's Bolshevism.
In his criticisms of National Bolshevism it is revealed however that Lenin actually seems to agree with my overall position as Infantile Disorder was written in 1920 after which the relevant events were already over.

Lastly, one of the undoubted errors of the German “Lefts” lies in their downright refusal to recognise the Treaty of Versailles. The more “weightily” and “pompously”, the more “emphatically” and peremptorily this viewpoint is formulated (by K. Horner, for instance), the less sense it seems to make. It is not enough, under the present conditions of the international proletarian revolution, to repudiate the preposterous absurdities of “National Bolshevism” (Laufenberg and others), which has gone to the length of advocating a bloc with the German bourgeoisie for a war against the Entente. One must realise that it is utterly false tactics to refuse to admit that a Soviet Germany (if a German Soviet republic were soon to arise) would have to recognise the Treaty of Versailles for a time, and to submit to it. From this it does not follow that the Independents (My Explanation: Social Democrats or Democratic Socialists, I think Luxembourgists might be included in this term, basically the Independents split off from the regular Social Democrats in protest of the regular Social Democrats support of the war, and then they just kept splitting)—at a time when the Scheidemanns were in the government, when the Soviet government in Hungary had not yet been overthrown, and when it was still possible that a Soviet revolution in Vienna would support Soviet Hungary—were right, under the circumstances**, in putting forward the demand that the Treaty of Versailles should be signed**. At that time the Independents tacked and manoeuvred very clumsily, for they more or less accepted responsibility for the Scheidemann traitors, and more or less backslid from advocacy of a ruthless (and most calmly conducted) class war against the Scheidemanns, to advocacy of a “classless” or “above-class” standpoint.

So therefore Lenin was denouncing the people who still insisted on this position despite the revolutionary period in this particular location ending. In the revolutionary period the position the National Bolsheviks wanted was the correct one according to Lenin but they became wrong by continuing to insist upon it after the moment had past.
However notably Lenin only said the treaty having already been signed would only need to be recognized for a time. This implies that a socialist Germany of some kind could eventually overcome the treaty. While not a Soviet Germany, the probably infantile National Socialists were subjected to the same historical realities when they took over, and they too could not immediately begin rejecting the treaty and immediately going to war. For instance by immediately violating the treaty of Versailles army size limits by turning Rohm's SA into the regular German Army. Interestingly the decision to remove Rohm was likely pressured onto Hitler by Hindenburg and the official army (Reichswehr) with Hindenburg threatening to declare martial law and hand control of the country over the army if Hitler did not comply with demands to remove Rohm in the few months Hindenburg had remaining in his life as his health failed.

Both the Reichswehr and the conservative business community continued to complain to Hindenburg about the SA. In early June, defence minister Werner von Blomberg issued an ultimatum to Hitler from Hindenburg: unless Hitler took immediate steps to end the growing tension in Germany, Hindenburg would declare martial law and turn over control of the country to the army. The threat of a declaration of martial law from Hindenburg, the only person in Germany with the authority to potentially depose the Nazi regime, put Hitler under pressure to act.

This challenges the general idea that Hitler was immediately supremely powerful over everything, or that it was Hitler who did not want some apparently revolutionary army taking over in a second revolution. Rather the conservative aristocratic army in coordination with the pressure from international diplomats were able to enforce Hitler's compliance with them, with Hitler deciding to remain in control when given the ultimatum by Hindenburg. In my opinion the fact that Hitler dragged his feet for this long probably has more to do with Hitler realizing that have multiple sources of power was probably better than only having legal power. The article seems to indicate that Hitler "wanted" to do this earlier but held some kind of personal friendship with Rohm that made him reluctant to act against him, but that doesn't actually make sense. Hitler was power hungry yes, but it wouldn't make sense to not want to keep the SA in his back pocket as a challenging force to the military if he was power hungry like his was. It also however exposes the folly of the notion that one could force cooperation between classes in this manner with some supreme leader managing the class differences. Clearly not even Hitler could govern class unbiasedly, the conservative military was not going to allow their positions to be threatened by Hitler's dual-power-in-waiting.
Looping back to National Bolshevism, while the "National Bolsheviks" predated the National Socialists and didn't have anything to do with them, in principle the experience of National Socialism was the most likely outcome of any proposal for some kind of bourgeois alliance with the proletariats relegated to the junior position. The conservative military patriot support to the Red Army in Hungary was with the vanguard who in theory represented the proletariat in the senior position, however the Hungarians were capable of achieving this because it occurred during the revolutionary period where the proletariat was in a position to have the patriots join them instead of attempting to have some kind of revolution by joining the patriots. In short, revolution first, national liberation after. The path to national liberation must lay through revolution instead of seeking revolution through national liberation, because the reactionary classes will always be traitors with class interest upfront before national interest because it is the reactionary classes who have the most to lose in class terms.
Lenin himself seemingly called the November Criminals responsible for the treaty like Scheidemanns "traitors" so it is unfair to blame Bolshevism for the mistakes of the "independents" because they were not associated, and if what Lenin is saying about the situation is accurate it was precisely through calls for "classlessness" that the so-called "independents" abandoned the very class struggle which would have saved Germany from this fate. Therefore calls for classlessness to get out of a situation caused by classlessness were misguided, you cannot merely invert classlessness and get yourself in a different situation than you started in because the situations you found yourself in was never classless to begin with! It will always be the same classes making the decisions regardless of how you might invert your classless approach, and those classes will always be more interested in protecting their particular positions than whatever it is they claim to be focusing on.
There was a lot of confusion in this period and numerous tendencies diverging from one another, the reason being is that in the wake of the Russian Revolution and the end of the First World War there was a period of revolutionary activity across the entire world. While Russia and Germany are often the most focused upon due to the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany being our core 20th century players and many seeing these revolutions as the origin points of these things with a compare and contrast analysis being done to understand why one failed and the other succeeded. In the light of understanding the world revolution as a wave or period, looking at just these two revolutions becomes parochial, as there was clearly one singular revolution going on across the world in the same way as during the Revolutions of 1848 when the Communist Manifesto was published.
Indeed Marx and Engels viewed 1848 as a singular revolution and would have viewed the similar wave of revolutions that peaked in 1919 but spanned from 1917-1923 as a singular revolution. Arguably they would have also viewed all revolutions dating back to the beginning of history as one singular revolution but while they would say things like that they were also capable of distinguishing particular revolutions from each other and would recognize revolutions as being global affairs composed of mutually supporting local revolutions.
While differing in severity there was revolutionary activity in numerous countries ranging from the Two Red Years in Italy to the much less impressive sounding Red Week) in the Netherlands. Even as far away as Canada, Australia, and South Africa there were labour revolts in this period. The case of Canada is a bit emblematic of the obscurity of the scale of these events in popular history, as while the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 is well known, much like with only Russia and Germany being discussed the strike wave nature of the events in Canada just as in the world tends to fall out of discussion, as for instance this wave actually started with a general strike in Vancouver that was crushed by the military.
In the Preface to the 1882 Russian Edition of the Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels even suggested in the wake of the assassination of the Tsar Liberator that the impending Russian (bourgeois) Revolution would serve as a signal for the Western proletariat to have their Revolution, and that the Russian Revolution could end up being communist alongside the West.

And now Russia! During the Revolution of 1848-9, not only the European princes, but the European bourgeois as well, found their only salvation from the proletariat just beginning to awaken in Russian intervention. The Tsar was proclaimed the chief of European reaction. Today, he is a prisoner of war of the revolution in Gatchina, and Russia forms the vanguard of revolutionary action in Europe.
The Communist Manifesto had, as its object, the proclamation of the inevitable impending dissolution of modern bourgeois property. But in Russia we find, face-to-face with the rapidly flowering capitalist swindle and bourgeois property, just beginning to develop, more than half the land owned in common by the peasants. Now the question is: can the Russian obshchina, though greatly undermined, yet a form of primeval common ownership of land, pass directly to the higher form of Communist common ownership? Or, on the contrary, must it first pass through the same process of dissolution such as constitutes the historical evolution of the West?
The only answer to that possible today is this: If the Russian Revolution becomes the signal for a proletarian revolution in the West, so that both complement each other, the present Russian common ownership of land may serve as the starting point for a communist development.

Now 1882 didn't turn into a revolution in Russia and there were several false starts like in 1905, but eventually it did finally happen. However seemingly with Lenin's New Economic Policy, both scenarios discussed ended up needing to happen. The Russian Revolution was both Communist and they felt it impossible to transition straight into Communism and thus had to allow some kind of bourgeois property relation to develop, and then later on had to eliminate this thing they created themselves in a rather unfortunate series of events. Additionally while the Russian Revolution did prove to be a signal for the Western proletariat to have their revolution, the proletariat revolution in this period failed.
In the spirit of this discussion I'm going to be argue that these were not separate incidents but rather the failure of the western proletariat's revolution is why Lenin implemented the NEP in 1922, in part because of internal rebellions calling for these things, and because the international revolution seemingly failed resulting in a loss of hope that the western proletariat would in some way save them, which had to result in some kind of proletarian vanguard party lead bourgeois state emerging on the fly. Stalin would later have to undo both these consequences in the events he is criticized most for, as in addition to reversing the NEP with collectivization, he also undid the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk when as Molotov said "One kick from the German army and another from the Soviet Army put an end to this ugly product of Versailles" in regards to Poland.
Polish independence being quite the unfortunate sacrifice here considering how supportive of it Engels was in the 1892 Polish Preface the the Communist Manifesto.

But the rapid development of Polish industry, outstripping that of Russia, is in its turn a new proof of the inexhaustible vitality of the Polish people and a new guarantee of its impending national restoration. And the restoration of an independent and strong Poland is a matter which concerns not only the Poles but all of us. A sincere international collaboration of the European nations is possible only if each of these nations is fully autonomous in its own house. The Revolution of 1848, which under the banner of the proletariat, after all, merely let the proletarian fighters do the work of the bourgeoisie, also secured the independence of Italy, Germany and Hungary through its testamentary executors, Louis Bonaparte and Bismarck; but Poland, which since 1792 had done more for the Revolution than all these three together, was left to its own resources when it succumbed in 1863 to a tenfold greater Russian force. The nobility could neither maintain nor regain Polish independence; today, to the bourgeoisie, this independence is, to say the last, immaterial. Nevertheless, it is a necessity for the harmonious collaboration of the European nations. It can be gained only by the young Polish proletariat, and in its hands it is secure. For the workers of all the rest of Europe need the independence of Poland just as much as the Polish workers themselves.

(The call for "full autonomy in a nation's own house" is probably worth explaining. Nations that should be autonomous are nations which can be autonomous all on their own without international meddling. Engels was notoriously against all the south slavs for their pan-slavism because their independence was necessitated by interference from Imperial Russia, in part because he was still mad about the revolutions of 1848 not working out where Russian intervened to supposedly rescue the south Slavs. He was even still mad at them 34 years later when he reaffirmed Polish independence alongside Irish independence as the most crucial national struggles to support. The reason being that Poland rejected pan-Slavism and was instead independently nationalist.
That Poland could stand alone (and more importantly that Polish agitation threatened three reactionary imperial monarchies in Germany, Austria, and Russia at the same time. Ireland being important to screw around with the bourgeois British Empire as Marx and Engels increasingly saw the absentee revenues the British ruling class generated for themselves in Ireland as being the key to their parliamentary political dominance in England against both lower class and anti-imperialist challenges which were often the same thing) is why Polish independence was so supported. Standing alone is important because autonomous nations can switch between the rule of various classes without the risk of foreign interference on the part of imperialist reactionaries putting things back the way they were to protect their sphere of influence. The issue is that Polish independence ended up being a thorn in the side of the revolution when Polish independence was granted through Wilsonian liberal internationalism and during the Russian Civil War the Red Army tried and failed to retaliate against Poland when they joined forces with the Entente Liberal Imperialists that were intervening in the civil war in what is called the Soviet-Poland War.
For you NATO fans the opposition to NATO comes from this concept of being against spheres of influence, with a preference for complete independence. The Soviets or even Russia joining NATO however transform the institution from an American sphere of influence into just some vague "nobody invade anybody else okay guys thanks bye" treaty which is what it is sold as. So long as Russia is not included in NATO it fails to fulfill its stated purpose of ensuring peace in europe, and it must be opposed because it does not protect the independence of the nations within it, rather it makes them subservient to the United States. The counter-balance of Russia inside the block is sufficient that the nations within it could seamlessly transfer between spheres of influence, or more importantly, not be in anyone's sphere of influence at all by successfully playing the US and Russia off each other, which puts each nation in a position to pursue development with little risk of the alliance being used to punish them.
If say Luxembourg decided to go rogue it could even use the NATO treaty to argue that anyone infringing upon them should be subjected to retaliation by all the other members, and now you can have a socialist Luxembourg in the middle of Europe and they can't do anything about it because the treaty guarantees their independence with multiple dozen moving parts who might not agree on punishing this Luxembourg so long as Luxembourg doesn't militarily invade anybody. However if the organization is nothing more that an American political block with US bases every where, clearly the US would be able to pressure countries into recognizing the socialist Luxembourg as illegitimate in some way and argue it can be invaded without requiring everyone come to its defense. So NATO is good if Russia is included and US bases removed, and an in NATO Russia still isn't a threat to even Estonia if dozens of European countries are required to defend it, and that isn't even considering a late arrival of the US and Canada when they finally cross the Atlantic. The problem with NATO is that it is clearly an unofficial loosely held US empire, it stops being a problem when it is no longer this)
This whole confused mess could have been avoided had the world revolution not failed. This circles back to the Russian and German revolutions and how they were not united. Therefore the position of those labelled Nazbol is attractive merely for the sake that it would have united these two disparate revolutions. The success of either was reliant on the success of the other. The prior Bolshevik position of Peace Without Annexations or Indemnities would permanently lock in the Russian and German revolutions together in a mutual opposition to the bourgeois treaties, a pact of blood to oppose the pacts signed in ink.
Additionally opposition to the indemnity aspect of the treaty of Versailles would have been in fidelity to the revolutionary history of the Paris Commune which inspired the notion of the dictatorship of the proletariat in 1871, which was prompted in part by opposition to the burden of the reparation payments imposed on France by Bismark in response to Napolean III's failed invasion being placed on the people of France by the bourgeois government that signed that treaty. On a global scale while the opportunity for revolution by the proletariat refusing to enter World War One was squandered by the Social Democrats granting their permission, the proletariat could instead refuse to exit World War One by not granting their permission for acceptance of the bourgeois treaties just as the Paris Commune refused to accept Bismark's treaty.
Indeed opposition to the bourgeois Treaty of Trianon served as the basis for cooperation between the Nationalists and the Communists in Hungary, who unlike the Luxembourgists in Germany, were internationally aligned with the Bolsheviks in Russia with the establishment of the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The alliance however broke down with the establishment of the Slovak Soviet Republic as the Hungarian nationalists questioned why they were participating in the Hungarian Red Army if they were just going to be liberating other countries, this ended up not even being that relevant of a dispute seeing as Slovakia was never fully captured and the Czechoslovak army ended up recapturing it in a month and so the issue only lasted from June 1919 to July 1919. However it exposed the core obvious problem with the alliance between nationalists and communists, as the full Petrograd formula was "peace without annexations or indemnities, on the basis of self-determination of the peoples" so the nationalists opposed to treaties were not going to like it when the second part got implemented later.
Lenin and Stalin ran into a similar issues when Stalin opposed Georgian self-determination in 1922 and wanted them to instead join Russia, with the comical situation of Stalin calling the Georgian Mensheviks "nationalist-socialists" and the Russian Lenin accusing the Georgian Stalin of being a Russian nationalist-socialist in response. We can clearly see that there are vastly differing views on the questions of nationality all over the place and there was no one line being taken, with Hungary and Germany taking vastly different views in regards to the treaties and cooperation with nationalists, to their own unique sets of problems later on with them.
The vastly different ways everyone was handling these issues is why I argue that the best principle would have been to have no principles at all. The only communist principle in regards to nationality is international cooperation. While you had Communist revolutions in German, Hungary, and Russia, the common thread linking them together could have been opposition to the bourgeois treaties, which also would have also united them with the liberal Kemalist revolution in Turkey, thus completing the alignment of all revolutionaries in the central powers and Imperial Russia against the rest of the entente attempting to impose the bourgeois treaties, in effect adding Russia to the central powers after the imperialist war had turned into a civil war in all four imperial monarchies. That Turkey was in a vastly different stage of revolution than the other three would be irrelevant as these revolutions would still be mutually supporting of each other, and the Communists could rest assured safely knowing that while differing countries might be in different stages of revolution, they had the advantage over all others in knowing the ultimate end result of all their revolutions even if the people operating in them might not know it themselves.

The Communists, therefore, are on the one hand, practically, the most advanced and resolute section of the working-class parties of every country, that section which pushes forward all others; on the other hand, theoretically, they have over the great mass of the proletariat the advantage of clearly understanding the line of march, the conditions, and the ultimate general results of the proletarian movement.

As such the notion that one needs to be politically Communist to participate in the revolution is false. So long as a state of revolution remained, the stages of the revolution could continue moving forward. If Turkey was not materially ready for it, that need not matter so long as the Kemalists were willing to join in an anti-imperialist block in the mean time, which they were willing to do until the Soviets later started looking at the straights with desire which eventually pushed Turkey into the arms of NATO where it remains to this day. However at the time the Soviets and Turkey were quite friendly despite their obvious ideological differences merely based on this mutual geopolitical interest in so-called anti-imperialism. This anti-imperialism was selective however, with the "Mountain Turks" and "Mountain Russians" being sacrificed for it, but the benefits of not having principles means you don't exactly have to care about that. Ataturk can make poutine out of the Kurds all he wants if he remains staunchly anti-imperialist on an international level.
This gross cynical realism while obviously questionable is still consistent with Revolutionary History as all prior revolutions do not stand up to moral scrutiny when they are viewed in this way. In fact at the twilight of the 1848 revolutions Engels himself called for the Hungarians to wipeout the "counter-revolutionary" Slavs, while this is obviously not something we should want to have happened, and we definitely should not ever do this if we ever find ourselves in a position to make those decisions, it is important to understand the reasoning behind why he was saying those things, that it is the continuance of the revolution itself is both the most important thing, and something that is largely out of anyone's control in the Hegelian sense of Historicism.

The Magyar cause is not in such a bad way as mercenary black-and-yellow [colours of the Austrian flag] enthusiasm would have us believe. The Magyars are not yet defeated. But if they fall, they will fall gloriously, as the last heroes of the 1848 revolution, and only for a short time. Then for a time the Slav counter-revolution will sweep down on the Austrian monarchy with all its barbarity, and the camarilla will see what sort of allies it has. But at the first victorious uprising of the French proletariat, which Louis Napoleon is striving with all his might to conjure up, the Austrian Germans and Magyars will be set free and wreak a bloody revenge on the Slav barbarians. The general war which will then break out will smash this Slav Sonderbund and wipe out all these petty hidebound nations, down to their very names.
The next world war will result in the disappearance from the face of the earth not only of reactionary classes and dynasties, but also of entire reactionary peoples. And that, too, is a step forward.

A key fact you will observe is that they are often quite over eager in announcing the impending revolution. For instance The Magyar Struggle was published in January of 1849 in Marx's Newspaper, and Louis Napoleon was elected President of France in December of 1848. It seems as if they might have thought that this would have been more significant than it actually turned out to be. This kind of made sense though because Louis Napoleon's main opponent in the election was Louis-Eugene Cavagnac who lead the army to suppress a worker's uprising in Paris back in the "June Days" of 1848. Additionally the Hungarians did not do what Engels said they would, instead they adopted cultural assimilation policies called Magyarization, and late in the revolution into 1849 while the Russian and Austria Imperial armies were barring down on them they adopted minority right protections to try to win them back. However they were ultimately unsuccessful in repelling the Russian invasion regardless of any attempts at outreach.
What I find notable about this is that Engels essentially predicted the sides of the "next world war" (albeit there was a world war in between) that would wipeout entire peoples, but somehow ended up reversing the reactionary and revolutionary sides, as an Austrian German and the Hungarians did engage in a war against the Slavs, but because somehow the "poles of revolution" did somehow invert and head outwards from Russia like Engels said the Slavs supposedly wanted, that war was against the revolution instead of for it.

There is no country in Europe which does not have in some corner or other one or several ruined fragments of peoples, the remnant of a former population that was suppressed and held in bondage by the nation which later became the main vehicle of historical development. These relics of a nation mercilessly trampled under foot in the course of history, as Hegel says, these residual fragments of peoples always become fanatical standard-bearers of counter-revolution and remain so until their complete extirpation or loss of their national character, just as their whole existence in general is itself a protest against a great historical revolution.
Such, in Scotland, are the Gaels, the supporters of the Stuarts from 1640 to 1745.
Such, in France, are the Bretons, the supporters of the Bourbons from 1792 to 1800.
Such, in Spain, are the Basques, the supporters of Don Carlos.
Such, in Austria, are the pan-Slavist Southern Slavs, who are nothing but the residual fragment of peoples, resulting from an extremely confused thousand years of development. That this residual fragment, which is likewise extremely confused, sees its salvation only in a reversal of the whole European movement, which in its view ought to go not from west to east, but from east to west, and that for it the instrument of liberation and the bond of unity is the Russian knout — that is the most natural thing in the world.

However a lot can apparently change in almost 100 years. Russia was once seen as the bastion of reaction celebrated by the reactionaries everywhere for having invaded Hungary to put down the 1848-9 revolution, but then became the center of revolution, taking that spot from France which didn't really participate in the Revolutions despite the 1917 mutinies defused in June by Philip Petain by reassuring the soldiers by calling off the offensives that were intended to try to reassure the Provision Russian Government from the February Revolution to stay in the war and who launched the "Kerensky Offensive" in July which prompted the unsuccessful "July Days" Bolshevik uprising before the later successful October Revolution.
The absence of French participation beyond this is remarkable given how much they played a role in other revolutions and also remarkable how it was later Vichy leader Petain himself who basically defused the situation by giving the soldiers what they wanted and ending the suicidal offensives. The difference between Petain and Kerensky here and that the Russian revolution had not yet gone proletariat at this point while France was dealing with its own situation coming up from the soldiers and that the Russian version of this happened only a month afterwards should probably be focused on more here, in addition to how the differing approaches countries took on simultaneous and similar events from 1917-1923 should be analyzed like how I am suggesting
Since the Russian Revolution the apparent "pole of reaction" where global reactionaries collect as their refuge that Russia represented seemingly shifted to the United States for the Cold War after the pole reversal and global political magnetic field collapse manifesting in the out of place auroral borealis of the inter-war period and world war 2. It would be reasonable to assume that it would be just as possible for the United States to become a new center of revolution in the way Russia took that position from France despite Russia being the most reactionary power of anyone before that happened.

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My husband of nine years won’t prioritize to spend time with me and won’t learn how to do things around the house or contribute because he is tired from work.
My husband and I have been on different shifts myself 0630-1900 3-4 days a week just recently changed to 0700-1300 m-f.
My husband has stayed on 3-11pm for the last six years dispite us agreeing only staying in this position for only two years to climb the ladder for supervisor experience. (He has a masters degree but no work experience)
It has he was supposed to be looking for work for 4 years now and he hasn’t switched jobs. I sent him job positions and he won’t apply for them. In four years he has applied for seven jobs. Most of which has been in the last two months. He is exhausted when he gets home and doesn’t want to spend time with me. He says he is never home because of work, they call him on the days he has off. And at all hours of the night. His job is abusing him and we knew this four years ago but he won’t leave . He is given the most and hardest tasks. He has been promised a day shift for four years then rip it away at the last minuet. After the first time wanted him to leave the department but he won’t leave. So they just string hm along and he keeps believing them. The employees call him at four am ( I get up at five am ) because they think it’s funny. His employees who are my friends tell me because I work in the same building because I got him his first job when he got his visa to work here when we got married. He says he is tired of constantly getting rejected from job applications.
On the weekends he won’t come out hiking, kayaking, out to the movies, go to a hotel our work had paid foinsted wanted to sleep on a overlarge dog cot in his office. Go on vacation to Arizona with me and my family, the only vacation we have been on was to the Netherlands because his family paid fo everything. He won’t participate in yard maintance, refinancing the house, picking out a car for himself when his died. Replacing the laundry room flooring, car maintance, resealing the deck, replacing the broken windows. Fix the wiring in the house , helping our daughter with her homework, changing out light fixtures , fixing our daughters ceiling. Fixing things in the house filing paperwork with the HOA , sending birthday cards and holiday gifts. Taking our daughter to muy tai and BJJ and working out with me.
The only thing he wants to do together is just eat junk food in bed and watch Netflix, go to the grocery store together on the weekend(which I hate) and do the laundry which I also find silly as this is the time for us to be together laundry should be done on the weekdays! he doesn’t want to do them in the morning on before work because he won’t be able to play with his Internet friends before work. And won’t be able to play between loads. I wouldn’t be so upset if he didn’t leave my workclothes in the dryer, wet for days because his clothes are done and he wants to play with his internet friends, and o have to wash the sheets and take over sorting folding and putting things away. He just this year started taking our daughter to the orthodontist appointments and dropping her off at school as the busses were all canceled this yea and I was dropping our daughter off an hour and a half early.
This is not the first time he has refused to do important things that has harshly affected our household he didn’t change over his EU drivers license until we were canceled from our car and renters insurance because he didn’t want to drive in the US and one car was good enough but insurance had two adult drivers and tboth of my cars and they didn’t believe us that he wasn’t driving. We also almost didn’t get our house we live in now because he wanted to think about th putting a deposit down on our house to place a hold on a great house in a time where there were no houses on the market and had to move in the next two months because they were selling our building and we would have been homeless. He says he misunderstood the situation and that he didn’t realize that things were so dire because he is from the Netherlands .
I started buying my own gifts about three years ago for birthdays-special occasions because it’s better than being chronically disappointed and upset over .but then he gets upset that I bought my own gifts so I put him in charge of Mother’s Day which happened to fall on my birthday which was an absolute disaster. After the birthday disaster, I told him we have a year to make improvements or I am done, and filing for divorce. My self esteem and self confidence have taken a huge hit. I used the saddle break horses and build cabins. Scuba dive under frozen lakes and go fishing , and campingin the Alaskan wilderness; now I feel totally worthless,unloved, rejected.I told him he is so out of touch with what is going on in this household that if he doesn’t put in the effort now I will not continue to be in a relationship with a man that treats me this way.
Since we had our conversation he is going on walks with me on the weekends with the dog(1-3 miles) and actually bought the bicycle I asked to buy back in fall so we can spend time together, and he watched some Mandolorian with me.
And yes I am angry and I have my work to do but he still hasn’t even looked for a different job let alone outside our company I don’t know how to encourage him to do the things he needs to do without being hateful at this point. In the meantime I am getting myself a therapist but hit my side hustles and start saving up just incase I need to get divorced or celebrate our tenth anniversary.
Any insight or recommendations would be extremely helpful thank you.

Discord Username: Deus Vult#9488
Character Name and House: Lord Elric Dustin
Age: 55
Appearance: Lord Dustin
Gift: Leadership
Skills: Axes, Tactician (E), Beleaguer, Fortifier
Talent(s): Reading, Writing, Singing
Starting Title(s): Lord of Barrowton
Starting Location: King's Landing
Family Tree: House Dustin
Auxiliary Character: Ser Beren Dustin
Age: 52
Appearance: Ser Beren
Gift: Guardian
Skills: Axes (M), Beserker, Defender
Talent(s): Singing, Stargazing, Reading
Starting Title(s): Knight of the Kingsguard
Starting Location: King's Landing
Archetyped NPCs: 1) Eddard Dustin (son): Logistician 2) Cley Dustin (cousin+castellan): Fortifier
~~~
Lord Elric Dustin was born in 152 AC, the first child of Denys Dustin, the heir to Barrowton. Only a few years prior, Deny's cousin, Lord Brandon, had led forces to fight in the Second Dance for the cause of the Blacks, which saw the deaths of both Lord Brandon and his brother Manfred. Brandon's young son, Benjen, died two years later, leaving his grand-uncle the regent, Rogar Dustin, as Lord of Barrowton and head of the house. Having lost four of its members and many sworn men in two dances, Lord Rogar set a new policy of the house to not openly march to war in favour of the Blacks.
Lord Rogar was the father of Denys, who in turn was the father of Elric. Elric, as eventual heir to Barrowton, was sent to Winterfell to be a ward under Lord Rickon Stark. There, he became acquainted both Theon and Lucamore Stark, although he was closer with Lucamore. He trained with the other boys, followed Lord Stark on his campaigns, and grew into a fine young warrior, although he preferred using the axe over the sword. He was known for being fairly quiet, but highly intelligent, honorable, honest and very upstanding.
When he was 16, he received word that his Father, Lord Denys, had passed away of illness. He rode back to Barrowton, and became the Lord Dustin at a rather young age. He adapted to his responsibilities as Lord, learning how to lead and inspire his men not just through words but through his actions. He married Tysane Mallister, and the two would go on to have seven children, six of whom would live to maturity. In 177, his sister Dacey ran away to Dorne in order to support the newly crowned King Baelon, although he forbade it (judging the time was not ripe for open support).
His leadership would be put the test following the death of Lord Theon in 186, leading the forces of Barrowton against the Skagosi in support of his friend, the new Lord Lucamore. In the campaigns against the Skagosi, Elric proved an invaluable asset to Lucamore as a field commander of the forces on Lucamore's flank, picking up many skills in leading forces for his liege lord. They were ultimately successful in crushing the Skagosi, and making Elric one of the chief commanders in the north.
Since then, he has continued to rule over Barrowton, although he works closely with his friend Lord Lucamore. With the naming of Aegon as Prince of Dragonstone, Lord Dustin finally came forth as one of the chief supporters of the move (alongside Lord Stark), as the house had long held Black sympathies which had been hidden.
Now in his mid-50s, Lord Dustin is one of the preeminent vassals of the North, with connexions to many places south of the Neck through a policy of bettering relations with other Houses. His daughter, Bethany, married the heir to House Stark; his son and heir is well-loved and with a spotless reputation, and his other children are matched with good spouses, and his youngest is a squire for the King himself! Still only one major family issue remains- despite arranging a betrothal of his daughter Jeyne with the son of House Velaryon years ago, Velaryon seems hesitant on tying the knot. Lord Dustin wants the situation resolved, and for the word of Lord Velaryon to be kept just as he keeps his promises.
However, just as things are in Dustin's greatest favour, a terrible tragedy strikes the north. In anger and grief, Elric travels alongside his friend Lucamore to inform the King of the crimes of the Wildings, and with a cool fury prepares to ride again north to enact vengeance for his daughter and his grandchildren.
~~~
Ser Beren Dustin is a Knight of the Kingsguard, and brother to Lord Elric Dustin. Born in 155, Beren was always fascinated by the stories of knights his mother Desmona told him. Longing to becoming a Knight, he was permitted by his father to travel south and become a squire. He trained with a Knight who fought in the Third Dance; there he showed courage in combat beyond his years. He faithfully served his master for years, before finally being worthy of Knighthood.
As a Knight, he made a name for himself for embodying the virtues of the knight, as well as superbly skilled with the axe, a weapon not as common for knights to use. His fierceness and his battle-fury (for when the "joy of battle" is on him, he sings) He refused several offers of marriage in his dream to become one of the legendary Kingsguard. His ability, dedication and service won him a spot in the Kingsguard in the year 180 at the age of 25, thereby fulfilling his life's goal to achieve the pinnacle of knighthood, greater than any fleeting glory of tourney or joust.
As time went on, his ideal vision of the Kingsguard remained, although it morphed and changed with the realities that went with the position. Fighting in the Red War which saw the death of his estranged sister Dacey and her sons, he grew to calmly accept his duties, never swaying from the path which was set before him.
In all of his service, perhaps the hardest thing to do was to prove his loyalty to the King, where he gathered up all of the secret information of House Dustin's covert support of the Blacks throughout the previous half-century in written record for the King to have. Although he had some doubts, he did as his King instructed because it was his duty.
Nevertheless, although the vision that he had as a young knight has not proven idyllic, his understanding of the importance of his position and the gravity of his duty still resonate in his heart- the reality is true to the core of the vision of the ideals of Knighthood. His strong sense of duty and honour carry him, even when sometimes his mind has doubts about the course of action in front of him. He wears his white cloak with pride, unbowed by age or cynicism, and he plans to serve the crown faithfully until death.

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/6SSJEhH
Pics: https://imgur.com/a/9VBRoOJ
Prices are shipped PayPal F&F, comment then PM, bundles take priority
Trades I'm interested in: Arisaka 600, ADM 1.93 30mm scope mount, Lunar Concepts Railwrap, M&P9 23rd mags
​

1. Defense Mechanisms MEPC ranger green size L, no cummerbund $100
2. RMA 1155 shooter cut single curve level 4 plates, plates and carrier both only worn a few times around mom's basement $300
3. Surefire 3 prong flash hider, new with shims $150
4. FCD 6310 5/8x24 birdcage with crush washer, used ~150rds $35
5. YHM Kurz adapter, catch and release $55
6. SB Tactical TF1913, mounted/never fired, like new with packaging $100
7. Primary Arms GLX micro footprint optic mount w/riser, new in box $40
8. 3x CMMG 22lr 25rd mags, ~300rds between all of them $50
9. Dawson Precision Glock sights black reafiber optic front, new in package $50
10. Midwest Industries optic mount for Keltec Sub2000, pic rail version, mounted/never fired $75
11. Aero Precision nitride BCG, new in box $90
12. Aero Precision stripped M4E1 upper receiver, new in box $90
13. Aero Precision stripped M4E1 upper receiver, no forward assist, new in box $90

Add ons

1. Blue Force Gear sling snap hook $5
2. North American Rescue IWB tourniquet holster $10
3. Bushnell laser boresighter .22-.50cal + 12 & 20 gauge $15